GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 17, 2024

Lester Quinones

Media Conference

Q. Lester, what sort of things are you going to be working on this summer?

LESTER QUINONES: Honestly, just I feel like just the mental part of the game. Stuff kind of like reads on defense. Things that will get me on the floor next year. My shot making ability. I feel like the off-season just started, so I really have to plan all that stuff out, but I'm kind of excited for it and I'm ready to work for sure.

Q. A lot of mental notes throughout the year taken from these guys?

LESTER QUINONES: Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I feel like I did a great job of kind of just watching those guys, like Steph, CP, Klay, Draymond, Wiggs, all these guys who just been doing this stuff for the pass decade or more. Trying to be a sponge and just soak up as much as I can from the little things they did to just prep or going before they go on the court, to the recovery that they do after the court, to their pregame routines. I was there for all of that and I definitely took notes and I would say I'm ready to steal all the stuff that I kind of added up and get ready for the summer.

Q. What do you feel like you showcased this year when you were able to get minutes?

LESTER QUINONES: Definitely showcased my ability to affect the game as soon as I check in. I feel like my energy, my pop, my scoring ability, my talent, everything kind of just shows when I'm out there. Just really getting an opportunity to go out there and show it was what the biggest issue was, but like I said, when I did get my chance and I was out there, I showed what I was capable of and everybody kind of saw a little sneak peak of what I could do.

Q. When you were coming along you saw a lot of what Steph and Klay could do when the Warriors were rolling. Now you got to work with 'em alongside those guys. What was it like just watching those guys work every day and being able to see them up close and personal?

LESTER QUINONES: Oh, like I said, I was just stealing as much as I could. Myself being a Warriors fan growing up I kind of watched them all my life already. So watching Steph, Klay, and Dray and watch how they move and knowing the Warriors system and everything, it was kind on an, like of second nature to me. So being here now and being in it wasn't a really hard adjustment. Just playing the right way. Like I said, watching 'em throughout my whole kind of up in way coming up through here, now that I'm with 'em, it's just, it's even easier for me to see the things that they're doing. So, like now I can see every little thing to where it's like Steph and Klay and Dray their shooting group, I was at almost all 82 shooting groups for pregame, sitting out there watching 'em, watching how they move, watching their movement, watching their moves, watching how they shoot, how locked in they are. So I feel like picking that up, and like I said earlier, just being a sponge, I definitely have a bunch of stuff that I can go into this summer with and be prepared to come in next year.

Q. Of those guys, your profile is probably closer to Klay's than anybody else's, so on him, on watching him and what did you see of him and what kind of appreciation did you develop for what he's trying to do out there on the court?

LESTER QUINONES: Just his professionalism. Going out there every night, keeping it simple and just really being a machine. Like with the shooting thing, Steph and Klay, those are in my opinion, the two best shooters ever. So, watching 'em go out here and just be simple with stuff and not do too much, I feel like that's the biggest thing I could have stole from them. Just really being a true professional, coming in, making sure I shoot the same exact shot every single time and just be locked in on really being perfect on every single aspect of shooting. That was just a great thing to just be around and witness it firsthand. Like I said, I'm there, right there, any time you see them shooting you'll probably see me over in the corner somewhere just really watching. It was just amazing and I'm just thankful for the opportunity to actually be there and it's, like you don't get a lot of chances like that, where, like, for me, Steph is my favorite player. So being around him every day asking him questions every day, and how he's just so open to helping and teaching me, I just have to take advantage of the full opportunity that I have.

Q. You're a restricted free agent. How do you view kind of your future?

LESTER QUINONES: Definitely just really talking with 'em here, negotiating it once it's time to negotiate it. But I'm just really controlling what I can control now. Like I said, I'm really focused and locked in on just me and doing what I could do as far as like working out, getting better, getting stronger, getting faster. With the season being over that's really all I can do. Obviously, the negotiating, I leave that to my agent and stuff like that, but from a basketball standpoint, I feel like there's not really much I could do but put may head down and grind right now.

Q. Do you feel a sense from them even today that you are part of --

LESTER QUINONES: Definitely. Definitely. And like I said, I feel like I would fit in perfectly to where I've been watching the Warriors for years now to where now this I'm actually in it it's pretty much easy for me to know certain reads or certain plays or just the flow and rhythm of the offense. Steph, watching him so much, it was basically mirroring him, going out there, seeing the reads that he does, and you guys know it, it's something amazing that somebody's going to do on this team every single night. We had Chris Paul, we had Klay, we had Wiggs, JK, Steph, all these guys how much just extremely talented, to where I'm the type of player I'm not just going to sit here and only watch Steph and try to take stuff from him or only watch Klay, it's like if I see anybody around I'm asking 'em like, Wow, how did you do this, or what did you do to get here. Or, for example, like CP, he's going on year 20 almost in the League, so it's like -- he was my locker buddy this year, I'm constantly asking him questions all the time. His prep and what he eats and what he does and just trying to just steal all of that stuff from him, so I kind of could just know my own kind of formula for it.

Q. Will you stick around here and work out of the facility?

LESTER QUINONES: Definitely. Definitely. I'll be around here, for sure.

Q. Do you think summer league?

LESTER QUINONES: We spoke about it, but I don't know yet. I'm not sure. It's a couple months away, so like I said, it's only been a day since the game yesterday, so it's a lot of planning to do, but I'm excited for the summer already.

Q. You played for Seth Cooper last year and you had such a great year in the G League, now he's been more with the NBA side. What's he meant for your development?

LESTER QUINONES: He's done great job this year with the development. From the travel days, to the off days, to the low-minute guys getting what they need to get, he just did a great job of making sure everybody got their work in. Whether you're Steph or you're me or your Dray or you're somebody else, he made sure everybody got their work in or everybody got what they were supposed to do in. Just a huge shout out to Scoot Man. Seth, he just does an amazing job with that. And he's very persistent, so he has that trait to him that he's going to make sure everything gets done.

Q. Being around Steve and his son Nicholas also as coaches, what's the similarities and maybe the difference between the two of them?

LESTER QUINONES: Oh, yeah, I would say Nick was definitely way more laid back, passive as a coach (laughing). But he was a great coach. You could see just the potential in him as a coach to where -- obviously, he's Steve's son, so he has to have something in the brain or something. But yeah, he's just a great coach. This was his first year. I'm excited for his journey as a coach, too. It was point where it was like I kind of had to tell him to kind of get on me a little bit, you know what I mean, where he was learning. So it was his first year coaching, he did a good job this year down there. We made it to the second round I think in Santa Cruz of the playoffs, so huge shout out to Nick. I'm excited to see what he's going to do with this coaching stuff, because he definitely has the ability to be a great coach.

Q. You're going to be with the Dominican national team this summer?

LESTER QUINONES: Definitely I have a call next week, so I'm going to meet with 'em, but I'm definitely considering it.

Q. In the past how has playing internationally helped in your development?

LESTER QUINONES: It was great. Going over there with FIBA, just getting that whole different aspect of basketball to where the game the pace is different, the rules are different, there's no three seconds over there. It's just a whole different basketball, I feel like a whole different basketball world, really. Where the game might be a little bit more physical, it's just certain things there where I feel like FIBA is more so you have to really think the game more; where, out here, I feel like guys are more a little more talented to where talent kind of overrides some of that stuff where FIBA and overseas and all of that. It's really just effort over there, who is going to play harder, who is going to out smart you or make certain reads to where they're really thinking the game more. I feel like it did help me to where coming back here more so thinking the game on that aspect of not just -- there's guys in the NBA where they can come in and like the talent in the NBA now days is amazing, so just mentally I feel like it definitely helped me the mental aspect of my game.