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NBA DRAFTJune 26, 2014Andrew WigginsBROOKLYN, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Andrew, if you'd just start off opening remarks, feeling going No. 1. ANDREW WIGGINS: They're just crazy, man. A thousand thoughts are going through my head right now. It's a dream come true. I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a little kid. My dream was just to make the NBA. Now going to high school and college, the opportunity and possibility of going No. 1 came into talk, and now I accomplished that. So it's just a crazy feeling right now. I don't really know how to feel. It doesn't even feel real right now. Q. Just wondering the significance now of the second No. 1 pick overall in two years coming from Canada and just outside of Toronto. Can you discuss what that means to the game and the growth of it in your country. ANDREW WIGGINS: Pardon me? Q. If you could speak to the fact we've now had two back‑to‑back No. 1 choices for Toronto. ANDREW WIGGINS: Great thing for Toronto. Great thing for Canada, actually. Before this, no player from Canada has been No. 1, and now we have two back‑to‑back No. 1s. So it's a huge accomplishment for Canada. It just makes‑‑ opens so much more doors for all the kids in Canada, just international basketball by itself, and I'm just looking to playing it for my fellow Canadians, A.B. and Tristan. Q. Could you talk about today and how nerve‑wracking it was. When did you find out? And did you think how long you were going to be the No. 1 pick? ANDREW WIGGINS: Today has been busy, busy, busy, a lot of running around, just preparing for this moment. It all just came so fast. You know, this time last year, I just graduated from high school. So this time just came so fast to me. What was that other question? Q. Did you think you'd be the No. 1 pick all along? ANDREW WIGGINS: I always wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but come draft night anything can happen, trades or anything like that. You never know what to expect. So when they called my name, I was just all over the place. Q. Cleveland just recently hired a new coach in David Blatt. Have you had any discussions with him? And maybe what do you know about him as a coach? ANDREW WIGGINS: I talked to him. I ran into him when I went to go work out for Cleveland, the facility. I know he's a great coach, a European coach. I asked around, no player has never not liked him. He's a great coach, and I think he's going to do great things for our team and just help us on the come‑up. Q. Andrew, and you Jabari came into college at the same time. Now you go 1, 2 in the draft. You may end up playing the same position, similar regions in the United States now. Is it inevitable that this may be the beginning of a rivalry or the comparison that you two will be facing each other for quite some time? ANDREW WIGGINS: Good players will always be compared to each other, you know, but I never think of anything as a rivalry. I think that's what the media portrays it to be. On the court, doesn't matter who I'm going against, I'm going to go hard. I'm going to go to win and kill. Off the court we can be friends, but on the court, it's a different story. I'll never treat one person differently on the court. Whoever is guarding me, whoever I'm guarding, I'm just going to win. Q. You mentioned Tristan and Anthony Bennett. Talk about the chemistry you have with them and how excited you are to be able to play with them again. ANDREW WIGGINS: Well, I played with Tristan for a summer AAU, and I played with Anthony for a while, AAU circuit and the national level, too. So I'm just excited. You know, the chemistry is already there with those guys. I played with them already. So I think big things are to come. Q. Hey, Andrew, obviously, it's a big honor to be drafted No. 1. There's immortality, you're going to be highly compensated. But don't you wish you could have the right to negotiate with all potential employers in this industry instead of just being limited to one? ANDREW WIGGINS: Shoot, I just feel like I can fit in anywhere, whatever team was‑‑ Q. Sure, you can. But don't you wish you had the right to negotiate with all for compensation to see who could give you the best deal instead of have one employer make the best offer? ANDREW WIGGINS: I don't really mind it. Q. Andrew, congratulations. What does this mean for your family? In that moment, what did your dad say? What did your mom say? What does it mean for you and your brothers and sisters? ANDREW WIGGINS: It's a huge moment for me and my family right now, especially because my parents were pro athletes before. Now they can kind of like live the dream again through me and just watch their youngest son just do something special with his life and play at the highest level of basketball. So it's a big thing for me and my family. We cherish moments like this. So it's great. It's great for us. Q. And what did your dad say? You gave him a big hug, and he gave you a big hug. ANDREW WIGGINS: My mom and dad and brothers kept saying how proud they were and they love me, everything like that. My mind was racing. Q. Andrew, you've been under the spotlight for a long time, been dealing with a lot of hype and pressure. How have you been able to stay grounded through that? And how do you feel it will help you now that you're the No. 1 pick and you'll have it even more? ANDREW WIGGINS: I think college really prepares you for a level like this, especially a big‑time basketball school like Kansas or a Duke or a Kentucky, where you're always under the spotlight. You always have to watch your surroundings and watch what you do. You're basically treated like a rock star on campus or wherever you go in that state. I think that really translates to the NBA. Q. Andrew, obviously, as you know, LeBron James is a free agent this summer. There's been reports he may want to come back to Cleveland and play on his old team. If you had to pitch to him why to come back to Cleveland and be your teammate, what would you tell him? ANDREW WIGGINS: I want to win. If he wants to win, we'd be good together. Q. Andrew, did you hear Joel go third behind you? ANDREW WIGGINS: Yeah. Q. What were your thoughts then, the emotions? ANDREW WIGGINS: I was just proud. It was a proud day. Me and Jo Jo, we became so close this year at Kansas. It was so good that I had the chance to really share the journey with somebody that's close to me, you know. So I'm just proud of him. He worked so hard. He didn't let nothing get to him. He always stays motivated. So I'm just proud. It's a proud moment for Kansas. Q. And I know your time at Kansas meant something to you. Danny Manning, the last No. 1 pick from KU. Paul Pierce has been carrying the torch for a while for KU. Do you feel like you're ready to do that? ANDREW WIGGINS: I feel like I'm ready. Q. Andrew, question, I'm feeling that jacket. Can you tell me the concept behind it? Who designed it and why? ANDREW WIGGINS: Well, this is Waraire Boswell.  He customized this suit for me. But a style by Brandon Williams. We just wanted to do something really different to just stand out and try to win on both points, stylish points and become No. 1. Q. How beneficial has it been to have a father that was in the pros to be able to help you prepare, help you be able to see the game a different way than others? ANDREW WIGGINS: It's been really good, really helpful, especially in times if I got down or I need some advice or wisdom or had any questions that needed to be answered. He was always there for me because he's experienced, he's been there, he's done that. So he knows right from wrong, and he's always leading me in the right direction. That's why I lean to him and my mother. Q. As Matt mentioned, you're the second No. 1 pick Kansas has ever had and first since Danny Manning in '88. Can you just talk about what that means to you and what do you think that means to the city of Lawrence and the university? ANDREW WIGGINS: I think it's big time, you know, just making history. The Kansas fans, they all just supported me throughout anything, a bad game, a good game. They were always loyal fans. Kansas has the best fans in the world to me, just how crazy it is, the atmosphere in Allen Fieldhouse. I know this is a proud moment for me and Jo Jo. I know they're proud of us, too. Q. Andrew, some outlets list you as a small forward, some show you as a shooting guard. Any sense of which of those positions you feel is going to be the place for you on the next level? ANDREW WIGGINS: I think I can play both. I think I'm tall enough and skilled enough to play the two or three. Q. Do you have a preference? ANDREW WIGGINS: No. Whatever the coach wants me to play, I'll play. Q. Hockey's obviously the big sport in Canada. What do you think this does now having two No. 1 picks back to back? What do you think this does for basketball in Canada as a whole? ANDREW WIGGINS: I think it's huge. Like I said before, it opens doors for all the youth and everyone in Canada. It gives them hope, you know, because coming up when I was in Canada, I wasn't ranked or nothing. I wasn't known. I didn't have no offers or anything like that. But I just kept my head straight and kept working on my game and look where I am today. I just think it gives everyone in Canada hope that they can accomplish what I do because it's possible if they work hard. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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