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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 25, 2019

Markieff Morris

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. Kieff, did this portion of the season turn out how you expected when you signed on?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: No, I mean, I would have thought for sure we would go deeper in the Playoffs. Basketball-wise, I thought it would be better for myself. I thought I would bring more to the team. But it didn't happen that way. I definitely had a great time here. They have an A-1 organization, players, training staff, Sam, coaches. You couldn't really ask for more.

Q. You brother was pretty critical about the way that your minutes were handled. What were your thoughts about that if you did read it, and how your minutes were handled in the postseason?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: Well, at the end of the day, that's my brother. He's going to have his opinion. He's a man of his word. He spoke up. I didn't play much. Wanted to play more. Thought I could help more. But I'm not the coach, and that's not my job to put me in the game. That's the coach's job.

Q. You seemed to immediately connect with Russ, Paul and just a lot of the guys, Raymond. Why was that so easy, do you think, coming into this environment?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: I know I bring this grime and this grit, this seriousness about myself that some people can't take, and if you don't know me, you might think different of me. I've played against those guys for eight years, and it's just something normal. It's natural. I'm a likable guy. I've talked to those guys before I got here, so it was kind of like a relationship building before I even committed to OKC.

Q. We talked to some of the other veterans about Terrance. After he's had a season like he has where he's improved so much, now he's moving on to season No. 3 for him, a lot of the other guys were saying that that transition from two to three was really important and like a big -- especially Paul was saying, it's a big defining time in his career. What was that like for you?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: I never seen Ferg play. I honestly thought this was his first year. I thought he was a rookie. That's really big. I mean, I think he handled it well, playing on that stage that he played on. It was big. With the vets that he has here, I think it'll be an easy transition for him because he has a role, and as long as he sticks to his role and does his role at a high level, he'll be okay. Not much is expected of him as a young player because you have superstars on the team. So I think his transition is easy, he's just got to get better at what the team needs you to do.

Q. What are you looking for next as you go into the summer trying to figure out where you want to play?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: You know, free agency, raising my daughter, being a good husband. It's not too much about basketball because I know basketball is going to take care of itself.

Q. You said when we first talked to you that you hoped to be back here next year. Is that still the case?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: Yeah, I like it here. If I'm playing the same minutes, then I probably won't be back here. I'm just going to be honest. I thought I could have brung more to the team. But as far as the organization, I loved being around these guys every day. I loved coming in and working with the training staff every day. I think it's really professional here. I think it's top-notch, and I think basketball didn't work out for me as I wanted it to, but this was the best stop of my career as far as everything else.

Q. The game is always changing. Most teams are trying to take away catch-and-shoots. In this last playoff series you got a couple of guys who all they do is shoot off the dribble. How as a big man, kind of as your career moves forward, how do you see defense having to change? How do you see how having to guard has to change?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: The centers are not going to be as big a couple years from now. A couple years -- Golden State did a great job of changing the game. Me personally, I feel like I can play the center, power forward. Guards are hard to get, you've just got to play the numbers. Hard to guard, you've just got to play the numbers. Guys of my magnitude are going to be the most valuable players in the league because you're in position to do more, play multiple positions, guard multiple positions, and that's going to continue to be the league unless somebody else takes over and they bring the dinosaurs back.

Q. You spent most of your career as Russell Westbrook's opponent but this season as his teammate. How do you feel about the criticism that's his often come his way?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: I mean, every player is going to get criticism. LeBron James, the best player in the world, still gets criticism. It's just how you take it. I told Russell after one game, it was before he had that 20/20 game, man, me and him was fierce opponents. We never really liked each other. We always competed and talked s--- to each other to the utmost when we played each other, but I told him like I got a different respect for you because every single game you're ready to play. Every game you're giving everything you've got. Some people don't like his shots. People are going to talk about your numbers, how bad you're shooting, but you're competing, and that's for 82 games, and 95 percent of the league can't do that, and he can. Even if his shot is not going, he doesn't let that affect him. Even if he's not feeling good that day, he doesn't let that affect him, and I told him that, like my respect level changed for you as a basketball player because I have never been around anybody that can do it like how he can.

Q. You talked about the changing offenses and all the three-point shooters. How does playing defense for a guy like you, how does it look different? What are the different dynamics there now as opposed to maybe even a couple years ago?
MARKIEFF MORRIS: You're guarding smaller guys that can move. When I came to the league, I was used to guarding Blake Griffin, Zach Randolph. They were posts and power forwards. You don't have to move as much; we're closer to the paint. You don't have to worry about getting switched on smaller guys.

But the game is expanding. You've seen where Dame shot that shot from. Next couple years, it's going to be a nice amount of people shooting from that distance, so you know, you've just got to be able to expand your game. For me personally, I need to slim down a little bit more, get a little bit more agile so I can play higher on the floor.

Q. And maybe that's everybody is playing that power forward position. Is that almost a must nowadays to be able to --
MARKIEFF MORRIS: If you want to get paid. (Laughter.) Because you know, teams play with different schemes, but the guys that are getting paid, the guys that are standing around longer are the guys that can shoot the three. The guys that can guard multiple positions and guys that can get up and down the floor are going to move the ball.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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