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NBA DRAFTJune 25, 2015Rondae Hollis-JeffersonBROOKLYN, NEW YORK RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: I'm really excited to be here. I'm looking forward to this press conference, looking forward to being in Portland. It's a great experience to be here. It's a great experience to be drafted. I'm a little nervous at first, all the names called before me, but I'm just happy to be here, and God has a plan for everyone, and I believe this is in my plan. Feel free to ask away. Thank you. Q. With that outfit, did you know the Blazers were going to take you? Second, what was going through your head waiting in that green room for your name to be called? RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: I would say for the first question, no, I didn't know that they would draft me.  Red is my favorite color and I wanted to do something different. I like different. Second, it was tough. It was tough, just being there waiting, and you're seeing a lot of your guys, peers going, and you're excited for them because you knew them for so long, but you also want to hear your name being called. It was tough after a while, but then I was just waiting patiently. Q. And also, you had Stanley here, you guys were teammates. What was it like to share that experience with him tonight? RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: It was really cool. When his name was called, I stood up, gave him a standing ovation. Just being proud, as a teammate, as a brother. Happy for him. Couldn't be happier. Q. You had your own little fan club here tonight. You brought 40 kids up from Chester. Tell us about that and how that all came about. RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: Well, I'm a big community guy and I wanted my people where I'm from, the tri‑state area, to experience it and see what it was like to be a part of that. I talked to my family and my people, the close ones that I'm closest to about bringing some kids up to the Draft and let them get that experience and see how it is, and they were all for it. I talked to my agency, and it just happened to work out like that. We had the kids do essays about their life goals and their aspirations and what they want to be, and it turned out well. 100‑some kids filled out the essay; 40 of them won, and it was great. Q. Have you interacted with them and are you going to? RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: Yes, I will after that. They'll be waiting, long but patiently. Q. Portland Trail Blazers completely remade a lot of their roster, and they made the trade for Noah Vonleh and Gerald Henderson. How do you feel like you fit in with that group? RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: I'd say versatile. Me being versatile, defend, transition, I feel like I fit in well, and then they're young guys. I play with Noah and I feel like we all connect well on a trust level, on a teammate level, and we'll flow and it'll go smoothly. Q. The Portland Trail Blazers are a team that the year before made it to the second round of the Playoffs, then lost in the first round this year. How can a Rondae Hollis‑Jefferson bring the Portland Trail Blazers to where they want to be? RONDAE HOLLIS‑JEFFERSON: I bring a lot of intensity, energy, athleticism, just the little things that teams need, that extra spark off the bench or if I do start, whatever the case may be, all teams need that extraness for their team to make them better, and I feel like I'm that dude that brings that. If it's a swagger, if it's charisma, whatever, I feel like I bring all those intangibles to the team. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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