GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 29, 2023

Javan Johnson

Media Conference

Q. Take us through your draft night, the point where the Warriors reached out to you, said they wanted to bring you in, your feelings in that moment and kind of that pairing between you and the team?

JAVAN JOHNSON: Yeah, for sure. I came here on my workout, and I had a pretty good workout. I knew that they was really interested and stuff. But like right after the draft, they had called me and basically told me that they wanted me to play with the team and stuff. It felt really amazing because I always wanted to live in California, and I love the Warriors, so it was like a perfect fit. It didn't take me too long to make the decision to come out here.

Q. First practice is behind you. How did it feel? How would you assess your first practice? Any surprises coming into this first practice with the Warriors and trying to get used to the Warriors' system?

JAVAN JOHNSON: I felt like it was great. We got a chance to compete and play with each other and figure each other out. I feel like I did pretty good my first day. Just going to try to continue to build and just stack days.

Q. What do you think separates you from others in terms of talent on this Summer League roster?

JAVAN JOHNSON: My ability to be able to spread the floor and shoot the ball, play off the ball. Just playing multiple positions, so I feel like that kind of separates me from some.

Q. You had a couple different stops in college. Can you kind of explain to me your road to get here and how that might have helped you continuing going forward with the Warriors and your pro trajectory?

JAVAN JOHNSON: Yeah, I feel like each stop really helped me in different ways. I learned a lot from each different coach and different systems, cultures of the programs. So I feel like it'll really help me in the long run.

In the NBA you never know, you might be traded, have to go somewhere else, pick up right where you left off. I feel like it'll help me in the long run. Like I said, I feel like I learned a lot from each stop.

Q. Undrafted players have found a lot more success in the NBA recently; you've got GP2 here, in the NBA Finals we saw Max Strus, Gabe Vincent. Does that give you a little bit of extra motivation or a little extra confidence that it doesn't matter draft-wise, if you can play, you can play?

JAVAN JOHNSON: Yeah, most definitely. I actually know Max. He went to DePaul. I actually talked to him a couple days before the draft, and I feel like there's really no disparity from undrafted and drafted because we compete against each other so much.

A lot of these guys I already knew coming into this, so it's really not much of a disparity with talent. You've just got to go out there and prove yourself when given an opportunity.

Q. Can you share Max Strus's message to you as far as one of those guys, as well?

JAVAN JOHNSON: Yeah, just to stay focused, and wherever I end up, just play hard and find my niche, find what I can bring to the team and what would make me stick.