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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: TRAIL BLAZERS VS. WARRIORS

May 13, 2019

Klay Thompson

Oakland, California: Practice Day

Q. You're from the Portland area. What does Portland mean to you, and what does it mean going back?
KLAY THOMPSON: Well, it's always fun to go see family, but what Portland means to me? Well, they're my opponent, so I really don't have much love for them at the moment until the series is over.

Q. How much family do you still have up there?
KLAY THOMPSON: A ton. A ton.

Q. Your mom?
KLAY THOMPSON: Mom's side, yeah. A ton.

Q. Klay, Steve was just saying that the backcourt that you guys just faced might prepare you a little bit for CJ [McCollum] and Damian [Lillard]. How much do you kind of -- can you gain from that?
KLAY THOMPSON: Well, they're similar in the way that their entire offense runs through those two guys, just like Houston, and deservedly so. They're very potent, and they can score from anywhere. So you understand why. They're just a lot to handle. It's going to take a group effort.

Q. Damian's had some good games at home in Oakland. Is he always just a tough guy to stop? Do you try to make him uncomfortable somehow?
KLAY THOMPSON: I mean, he's tough to stop. Has he had a lot of wins in Oakland?

Q. Well, he hit a game winner in December. He's had some good games in Oakland.
KLAY THOMPSON: It's playoff time, though. He has had good games. Yeah, he's a great player. I mean, there's history between us, obviously, the franchises. We've seen them a lot in the last five years. They're playing great, and they're on a roll. Our antennas are definitely up for these guys. We respect them.

Q. Klay, what was the biggest benefit for you having the weekend off?
KLAY THOMPSON: Just a couple days to relax during the playoffs. It's very nerve-racking. So just to have a couple days to be able to get away from the game is always nice. It does a lot for the mind.

Q. Is Portland different or tougher than they were two years ago when you faced them in the playoffs?
KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, sure. Just from an experience standpoint alone, they've gained so much. They're obviously hungry, being swept two years in a row. You can tell those guys are playing with a certain fire and confidence and chemistry they've built up. So they're definitely better than they were. Just playing with each other -- that same core's been together for a few years now. So they get better every year.

Q. You said rest is really good for the mind, and you also mentioned visualization and meditation after the last game. Are those things that are new to your toolbox to get ready for games?
KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, I'd say last year or two, we try to -- the mind's so powerful. Just try to train the mind to deal with adversity in situations that are unpleasant but make you better in the long run. That's what I try to do.

Q. Who coached you in that stuff? Like is there a program that you use?
KLAY THOMPSON: No. Just a lot of reading on the Internet and learning from Coach [Steve] Kerr. Learned from Tony Robbins, too. It was cool talking to him last year. He had a great outlook on things. Just from veteran players. David West taught me a lot about that side of the game, the mental part. Yeah, those guys I mentioned.

Q. Klay, can you imagine how special this might be for the Curry family?
KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah. Oh, it's awesome. I'm happy for them. I feel like a part of it, just knowing Steph and Seth [Curry] for a decade plus. It's a split household. I wonder who they're going to root for, but it's a win-win situation for them. It's pretty incredible.

Q. Has CJ McCollum taken his game to another level recently, or has he been at this level for a while?
KLAY THOMPSON: He's been doing this for years now. He had a big game in Game 7, but all the moves he did and the shots he made, we've seen him do this for a long time. He's just, obviously, more consistent because of his experience, but him and Damian are very dynamic. It makes it tough on all of us.

Q. Klay, when you meditate, is it something you do in the mornings when you first get up?
KLAY THOMPSON: I try to do it at night before a game. Andre Iguodala told me that Tiger Woods visualizes every single shot he shoots on 18 holes on the golf course, so if he can do that, that's incredible. That's so many golf swings. I try to do the same approach to basketball. I just try to visualize, get in my spots, what my opponent is going to do. Yeah, so when you come to the game, you've kind of seen it before.

Q. Do you listen to anything when you do that, like music?
KLAY THOMPSON: Try to put on classical Pandora or some nature sounds. Can't listen to like rap or hip-hop when I do it because then I just get distracted. Something pleasant in the background, it's nice, man. It's a challenge. It's much harder than working out. Especially for me, I've got like my mind racing. So it's a good practice for me.

Q. Do you have a favorite classical composer?
KLAY THOMPSON: No, man. Mozart? I don't know. Beethoven.

Q. How long can you go for? 10 minutes, 15?
KLAY THOMPSON: I try to go 30 minutes.

Q. 30 minutes?
KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, it's hard. It's very hard. An hour would be nice, but you've got to work up to that.

Q. How much of a difference have you seen in your play, in your game play after you have been meditating?
KLAY THOMPSON: I still will have bad days once in a while, but that's just being human. It's something I've incorporated in my routine for at least the past season, especially when I was going through that shooting slump. That really helped me. It's just nice to manifest things. Kind of like speak into existence, just kind of think it into existence.

Q. Do you do it at the same time every day?
KLAY THOMPSON: No, just whenever I have down time. I could be in the backyard or could be while I'm in the driveway. Just random.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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