LA CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 1, 2021

Terance Mann

Press Conference

Q. Terance, obviously revery incredible year for you as far as your personal growth. What did you learn about yourself and this team over the course of the season this year and what are you looking forward to doing in the off-season to prepare you for next season?

TERANCE MANN: I mean, I learned a lot. I learned a lot about these guys. It was great being out on the court with them. I'd go to battle with any one of these guys. Everybody was ready to fight when their name was called. And just about ourselves, I learned I'm ready to fight when my name is called. I'm ready to win and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to win.

So I'm kind of excited to attack this off-season and take my game to the next level.

Q. Great season for you personally. What did you learn -- who did you learn the most from on the team? What was the most significant lesson that you learned this year?

TERANCE MANN: I wouldn't say I learned the most from one person. You know, everybody had a hand in my development this season, and when I say everybody, I mean from top to bottom from Pat Beverley to Reggie Jackson to Rondo to PG to Kawhi, to Serge, to everybody just helping me give advice. Marcus Morris was a big help just keeping my confidence.

So I can't attest it to one person or one thing. One thing I've learned, I took something from everybody's game. I stole something from everybody's bag this year and tried to add it to mine. So that's just how it was this year and everybody was happy to have me. Everybody was happy to help me develop.

Q. Last fall you talked about shooting; is there anything you want to focus on the most to get going into your third year?

TERANCE MANN: I haven't really thought about that yet. Not something I'm going to focus on the most. I'm going to watch film, get feedback from the coaches, the front office, ask them what they want me to do and whatever that is, I'll do it.

Q. Because it's now been a couple weeks after that Game 6 performance against Utah, have you had much time to think back about what that moment was like for you, almost like an out-of-body experience, 39 in a game like that? Have you reflected on what that meant for you in your career?

TERANCE MANN: I haven't even had time to think about it. I haven't even had time to, you know, look back and see what I did, watch the film of the game or anything, really. So I will one day, but now is not the time. Now I'm just going to get ready for this off-season and definitely take my game to the next level.

Q. As you sit here today, can you reflect back on training camp and the resilience this team showed in the face of adversity throughout the whole year?

TERANCE MANN: At training camp, we had everybody. Everybody was healthy. Everybody was excited. Everybody had a bad taste in their mouth from the year before and the bubble. Everybody knew our goal was championship.

But to do what we did with the injuries we had was great. We got to a place this organization has never been. So you know, it is what it is. But you know, in training camp, we were all excited for the season and ready to do exactly what we did; prove people wrong, shocked a lot of people. We knew we had a lot of depth. We knew it was going to be different guys all the time because we had so much depth. It came up just how we thought it would. We just came up six wins short.

Q. Ty early on said the theme for the year would be adaptability. How did that allow you guys to overcome COVID and distance between each other to come together?

TERANCE MANN: Yeah, I mean, you just said it. That was the theme of the year for sure for this team, guys going in and out, guys going down. You know, different guys stepping up, all the way to Coffey stepping up some parts of the season. It was just crazy how everybody was coming in and filling the voids or filling the spots, and that's great to see. That's what helped us in these playoffs.

Q. I wanted to ask you, you really kind of worked your way into the heart of the Clipper fan base, and I wanted to ask about your relationship with fans and their outreach to you. And randomly, but specifically, about the tee shirt you wore to Game 7 against the Mavs, what's all that meant to you?

TERANCE MANN: So, yeah, the fan base has been great. They have been great to me. They love me and they love what I bring to the game. I think that's why they cheer for me so hard, just because I play so hard and I give them everything I got when I'm out there, and I really appreciate them. It really keeps me going. You know, I get chills when I walk out there and I hear my name being called and everyone going crazy. Like that's just a dream come true as a kid. It's amazing and being part of this organization and this fan base.

And in terms of that tee shirt, that was a special tee shirt to me. That's one of the best teams I've ever been on, one of the most special teams I've ever been on, so I decided to wear a tee shirt with everyone's face on it because that's the one thing that we just talked about, everybody stepped up this year. So it was just great to have a tee shirt with everybody on it.

Q. From last year in the bubble to this year, how did you specifically see Kawhi and Paul grow as leaders, and did any moments of individual leadership from each of them stick out to you this season?

TERANCE MANN: They grew a lot as leaders, I'm not going to lie. It took them some time to figure out the team out, figure out what everybody was about. But a big part of it was having T-Lue back. It wasn't too new. Everything wasn't unfamiliar just because T-Lue was with us before. He played a big role in helping Kawhi and PG learn the team and lead the team.

In terms of something specifically that I can think of, I can't really think of one just because it's been such a long season. I mean, so many games, so many ups and downs, so many different scenarios where these guys had to step up and be leaders, which they did. But yeah, I mean, I think through their play mainly through their play, Kawhi, I think it was Game 6 in Dallas I want to say, just completely changed the game and how he played. Kept us in the series.

And then PG what he did this series for us, just took everything on his shoulders and every single game played as hard as he could. Those two guys definitely played a big role in their leadership.

Q. You mentioned Ty. How did Ty allow you guys as a group, the players only, to really kind of have a voice in things? Because I know you guys really tried -- he gave you the space to try to figure things out on your own. How did he do that?

TERANCE MANN: He just let us be us. He always communicated to each individual player that he wanted you to be yourself when you step into the game. When you hear a coach say that, it gives you a lot of confidence as a player.