LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 10, 2020

Reggie Jackson

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We have Reggie Jackson with us. We'll jump right into questions.

Q. You were thrown into this team midway through the season, in February. You had eight, nine games played with your teammates. What have you been able to learn about the Clippers' offensive system over the past few months, having that time to talk with Doc, coaches, learn the playbook and the team even if you weren't playing together?

REGGIE JACKSON: One of the biggest things I learned I guess offensively on this team, obviously is we want to get a lot of stops, get up and down the court, use our athleticism, use all our wings that we have, slash guards, use our bigs to really score.

Offensively the league is kind of a copycat league. A lot of guys run very similar offenses. Just the play calls are different.

Best thing about being here is honestly Doc is a player's coach. He's played. He understands the simpler you can keep it for guys, the more they can use their talents. We have very simple play calls.

If you know anything about basketball, anybody would know what we're doing. He puts it on the players to go out there and be unstoppable. That's the best thing about being here thus far.

Q. What was the hiatus like for you in terms of keeping in shape? You got to L.A. probably late February, less than a month the NBA gets put on pause. What was the hiatus like for you getting used to L.A. and staying in shape?

REGGIE JACKSON: The hiatus for me is something I guess I'm used to being a military kid. Moved my whole life, bounced around every three years. Where you stay is where you stay kind of.

I was in a hotel. It was different just being there for four months, not having the regulatory going outside necessarily, going to work. I think that was hard for everybody.

For myself, I found ways to stay continually working. Great staff here sending offense workouts, Zoom calls doing workouts, finding trails to be able to run, ones that were open, hills, getting on the bike, just finding ways.

Being in L.A., I think the terrain, bunch of flatland, mountains, just sand, it's variety. It allows for guys, I think anybody that was in L.A. with knows weather, the terrain, everything out there, it was probably easier for us to train more than a lot of guys in other cities. Just blessed.

Q. If you were in a hotel for four months, can you walk us through your ability to play basketball or train with a basketball, dribble, shoot during the hiatus.

REGGIE JACKSON: Fortunately enough the hotel I was in, nobody was allowed to be on the floors under me. I found myself dribbling at times, knowing I didn't have other people occupying rooms near me. Shooting was difficult.

But fortunately enough, I had a teammate in Paul George who had a second home in L.A. that apparently he's just not at. I would bother him about going up there and just being able to at times shoot on an outside court. That was kind of my way of working on basketball. Of course, it's not regulation or anything, but just to keep my sanity. Those have been kind of my workouts.

Keep a ball with me at all time. I haven't necessarily been in a gym gym as I want. Had a few opportunities to get in here and there by knowing some contacts, having gym available. It has mostly been playing the mental game, watching a bunch of film, keeping a ball on me. Doing things similar that I did as a kid.

Q. You were still new to this team when the pandemic hit. You know PG really well. You're still getting to know your teammates. How did the pandemic affect your ability to still develop a bond with the guys on this team? What is the craziest thing you or your teammates brought to Orlando?

REGGIE JACKSON: First part of the question, during this break, guys kind of splitting up, I thought it would be difficult in terms of getting to know guys. Can't do the dinners, can't necessarily hang out as much.

The one thing I noticed coming over to this team that they're very great at, somebody is throwing hello texts, doesn't matter, something goofy in chat. It's always an icebreaker, conversation starter. Guys find a way to stay in contact daily, whether it be talking trash, checking up on guys. It's been fun getting to know the guys through that, see what everybody has been doing.

They have been more themselves since we haven't had basketball. They have been playing games, guys are driving cars they like, playing with their kids, sending over videos. We've been able to delve into each other a little bit.

Q. What's the craziest thing you or one of your teammates brought with you?

REGGIE JACKSON: Everybody has been bringing their game systems, bringing snacks, trying to figure things out. I think Trez is one of the biggest forward thinkers. He brought a portable sauna, which is the coolest thing. Got to see that. Lou brought his studio. Hopefully after this championship run, he'll drop on EP talking about this whole experience.

Q. You're big on meditation. How might that help in this situation, life inside a bubble, and the last few months, as well?

REGGIE JACKSON: I think my meditation has been one of the biggest factors just in life and my game. Meditation I think helps you practice acceptance. The biggest thing is you control what you can control. The things coming your way, deal with them the best you can, make the most of it.

I accepted that when the pandemic hit. I truly wanted to go back to my house in Detroit where I had my training equipment, call on my chef. But the best thing for me was to stay in Los Angeles, train, try to stay ready mentally, be ready for the call if we were to come back. I've accepted that.

I'm not going to lie, I don't think anybody likes these circumstances or loves it. But I've accepted it. I have to be here. I have undergo everything what everybody does to do something that I love to do, which is to play the game of basketball. I'm enjoying that.

Like I said, when I accepted that, it makes it easier. We all have to do things we don't like in life to do things we do like. When I look at it like that, it's easy.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Reggie.

REGGIE JACKSON: Appreciate it. Have a good one.