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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 24, 2018

Andre Roberson

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. Dre, how do you feel about where you are in terms of your progress, and do you feel like you'll be back to contact soon?
ANDRE ROBERSON: I feel great. Every day I feel better, more comfortable on my leg, more comfortable in my abilities. For me right now staying focused, staying committed to the process, don't get ahead of yourself, don't rush things. It's been a long, tedious process. Eight months, going on nine. So getting there. I'm excited. Day by day progress is showing, but more so week by week, so I'm good, just grinding it out. You know, contact will be soon.

Q. With seeing the team decline defensively after your injury last season, obviously you wouldn't wish them on that and you're a good dude, and I know you wouldn't do that. But what I'm wondering is is that a boost to your confidence, like when you're coming back this season, you see what a vital cog to the defensive effort you were to this team. What does that do for your game? Do you come back even more invigorated than maybe you were before?
ANDRE ROBERSON: I mean, I felt like I always played that end of the floor pretty hard, and that won't ever change. So I guess you can kind of answer that question yourself. I'll come back the same, same attitude, same mindset, just continue to work hard. Not only my rehab but my overall game, just been practicing and doing a lot of things. It's been a great downtime for me to better myself, not just my physical aspect but mental, as well. So it showed me a lot of things in different perspective, which was great. So it's good.

Q. With you rehabbing, everything like that, what could you actually do on the floor to improve your game?
ANDRE ROBERSON: Right now?

Q. Yeah, like just throughout the summer.
ANDRE ROBERSON: It's been tough to get to this point where I'm at right now, where I'm pretty much doing a little bit of everything. It's just very limited because we don't want to overdo it, over-push anything, so I'm being monitored very closely. But it's just been stages to where I've just been doing chair things to standing, just doing regular standing stuff, to bending knees, dribbling, shooting free throws, and extending my range to the three-pointer. Just slowly progressing. Just fundamentals of the basketball game. It's just good to kind of touch the ball and keep it in my hands. It's coming close to almost a year not playing basketball, so just got to keep with it and stay strong mentally. Touching the ball helps, and I'll do anything and everything I can to kind of keep that swagger, I guess you could say, so it's good.

Q. I asked Steven this when he was in here a few minutes ago. You guys are good friends, but is he as quirky and funny in private as he is with us and with media?
ANDRE ROBERSON: With media?

Q. The Steven we see, is that who you guys see?
ANDRE ROBERSON: For sure, yeah. Just a little bit more censored around the media, put it that way. But he's definitely the same dude. Definitely, nonetheless, same dude.

Q. He says that may just be the New Zealand way. He may not be -- he might be just a normal Kiwi. Do you think that's true, or do you think he's just naturally funny?
ANDRE ROBERSON: I think it's a mix, a mix of both. The Kiwi way and the American way. New day and age now, you've got to play the media into your hands, and I feel like a lot of guys are starting to do that around the league, as well. You know, just expressing themselves. But Steve is a little different. He has a different background, different culture, which is totally different than America, which is -- it's a good, positive way. But he's just mixing both, both worlds, and creating his own, which makes him special, so it's good.

Q. How nice is it after -- unfortunately you had to watch, but to come back with Paul and with Jerami coming back to the team and just what that adds to your excitement about this upcoming season.
ANDRE ROBERSON: I mean, it's great. You know, signing back PG, signing back Jerami. It's great. Unfortunately we didn't keep Melo, one of my good friends and a good teammate. But you know, it's pretty much the same guys coming back minus a couple pieces and picking up Dennis, Nerlens, TLC and Abdel is going to be great. I feel like we're a lot more versatile team this year, and the game of basketball is changing in a way, and everybody is trying to adapt, and I feel like we've got a lot of pieces. That gives us a lot of versatility and different styles of playing the game of basketball, so it's going to be good. Big Steve on the inside, Nerlens to kind of back him up or play alongside him, a lot of stretch 4 guys like Pat, Jerami, so it's going to be good. Going to have a strong team this year in my opinion.

Q. Billy has talked about this in the summer and so has Sam, but the need to play faster, not just in speed of play but speed of thought. What are your thoughts on that philosophy and how you'll apply it this season?
ANDRE ROBERSON: I actually like it, to be honest. The game of basketball is only getting faster. The game is changing, it's evolving. Small ball I guess you could say, less bump and bang as it was back in the day. But you know, you've got to be able to adjust on the fly, and I think that's what they're talking about, being able to accept things, accept roles, different play thrown at you or a different adjustment to an opposing team or maybe within our team. We've got to be willing to accept that and be professionals and adjust on the fly.

Q. You said a few weeks ago in San Antonio in a TV interview that you kind of expected maybe December or even maybe Christmas as the timetable for your return. Are you still consistent with that, or are you hopeful now maybe it might be a little quicker?
ANDRE ROBERSON: I'm not really putting a specific Dayton anything. I just said around December is -- for me, there's a return to basketball and there's a return to performance, being back to my elite self on the defensive end and me just being cleared to play basketball is two different things. And it's going to be a process to kind of get back to where I was, just me being comfortable with my leg again and me getting back into the rhythm of basketball sitting out so long. It's a lot of variables that go into it, and that's why I kind of said December in my eyes. I'll probably be cleared before then for basketball, it's just the transition for me getting back to that elite status again. It's going to be good. I'm enjoying every bit of it. It's challenging, but it's helping me grow. I love it.

Q. You're enjoying rehab? It's a nightmare, right?
ANDRE ROBERSON: It's a nightmare, but I enjoy it. You've got to love it. There's ups and downs in everything, everything you do in life.

Q. Do you enjoy it now because you can kind of see the finish line?
ANDRE ROBERSON: It's just I dreaded it, but I've come to peace with myself now that I accept what is, and everything happens for a reason, and you've got to twist it in your favor to make it a positive light. That's what I've done along the way to help me accept it a little better. I've definitely enjoyed it. It helped me grow and helped me become a better person and a better man and a better basketball player, so yeah, I enjoyed it.

Q. With the year away from basketball, like you said, have you done anything away from the gym or away from the court to kind of keep your morale up or keep your spirits up?
ANDRE ROBERSON: That would probably be the biggest battle, just a lot of questioning myself. But I've did some traveling here and there, tried to go to places I'd never been before. I went to Hawai'i. I had never been to Hawai'i, went to Spain, went to Alex's wedding. Took a quick trip to Mexico, little trips here and there to kind of relieve myself of pressures I put on myself I guess you could say, just the everyday grind of rehab, and it's just kind of a little getaway and refresher to keep building. You know, like you said, it wasn't fun, but I come to a point where I'm at peace with myself and I'm just grinding it out every day, so it's good.

Q. Paul George credited you and your relationship with him as one of the reasons he came back. Did you reach out to him this summer and recruit him, or what kind of role did you play in that?
ANDRE ROBERSON: I mean, we have an off-the-court relationship, and I think he kind of understands how I feel about him, as well, and I think he knows that I wanted him back. But I necessarily didn't reach out to him or try to recruit him in any way. I think we both knew where we stand on that. He knows I want him here, obviously, and vice versa. He's a great guy, nonetheless. But I'm very happy and pleased that he stayed, for sure. I think I can say that for every Oklahoman. So yeah.

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