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NBA INDIA GAMES 2019

September 27, 2019

Kevin Pritchard

Mumbai, India

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for joining us today. We're going to go to Kevin Pritchard now, the president of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers. Kevin, do you want to get us started?

KEVIN PRITCHARD: Yes. First of all, thanks for having me. We're really excited about getting to India. We've talked a lot about it internally, and we kind of feel like we're pioneers. This is the first game, an NBA game, in the country. I think that there's excitement from the players, that they want to be prepared to put on a good show. In two games, I can see where there's going to be two different teams playing. One will be more of our starters, and then one will be more of our backups, but we've been preparing for about a month in our gym. Most of our guys are in. It's not mandatory, but they're here getting in shape, and I think the idea of going to a place where no other NBA game has ever been is something that we're truly looking forward to.

I think one of the coolest things is with our owner, Herb Simon, and Mr. [Vivek] Ranadive, who owns the Kings, their friendship and their bond has led to this game because we had talked about this a couple years ago about how do we get this game done. There's been a ton of logistics, there's been a ton of preparation. I think now it's really up to the teams to go and be as prepared in a few days to put on a great show, but more than that, we know we have the honor and the ability to spread this beautiful game that James Naismith came up with many, many years ago.

It's funny, I was reading "The 13 Rules of Basketball," and being a great sportsman is a big part of that. So we're going to go over there. We're going to try to win both games. The Kings are going to try to win both games. But at the end of the day, I know that it's going to be great sportsmanship, and hopefully we can teach. We can also learn about new cultures. But at the end of the day, if we get fans to our game and they enjoy this game, I think we'll have done our job.

Q. Along with being the first India game, another first that is going to happen with regards to the Indiana Pacers is that your summer acquisition Malcolm Brogdon will be playing his first game for Indiana. How big of an acquisition do you think he is, and what do you think the fans in India and worldwide can expect from him?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Well, I would tell you this, that in the history of the Indiana Pacers, we've had some good offseason acquisitions. As we've gone into the offseason, Malcolm was our highest priority guy, and we feel very fortunate to have him. He was on a team that was super successful last year, and if you ever get a chance to meet Malcolm, you'd know that as good a basketball player as he is on the court, he's a better human being, and some of the things he's doing with his charity work and giving back to the communities is truly impressive.

But on the court, he did something that very few players have ever done, and that is what's called a 50/40/90. He shot 50 percent from the field, he shot 40 percent from three-point, and he shot 90 percent from the free throw line. And not many players have ever done that. I think Larry [Bird] and Reggie [Miller] have done it, but I think there's been seven or eight players in total do that.

So we know we've got a heck of a basketball player. We're going to ask a lot out of him, especially early on in the season with Victor [Oladipo] being out, but we see him as a pillar of our organization, and as we've gotten to know him over the summer, he's exceeded all our expectations.

Q. You have so many new players on this roster; how does a trip like this kind of impact the bonding process, helping the players get to know one another?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Yeah, I think it's a great question. I think one of the things that we maybe obsess and worry about and at least try to plan, you know, chemistry on a basketball team is hard to get and easy to lose. But as we've dug down deep and tried to understand each player and sort of had the ability to implement what we call our 3T culture, the feedback has been phenomenal. The early preseason workouts and pickup games have been unbelievable. They're highly competitive yet very friendly and team oriented. And I see this team already bonding. We're actually going to be doing some things on the plane in terms of bonding. We've got some videos. We've got some materials. So it's going to give us an opportunity to spend 16 or 17 hours together, and we didn't want that to go to waste. So one of the things we've done is, again, we have a video, we have some reading materials, and I think Coach [Nate McMillan] is going to have people talk and talk about themselves to try to understand who we are and what we're really about.

To be honest with you, I'm really excited about the flight, which sounds kind of crazy, but we're going to try to make it productive.

Q. You mentioned a video; what kind of video would that be?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Well, it's going to be a private video, but we interviewed a lot of the players about who they are and what they're about, and so that video is quite comprehensive, and that will be shown on the team plane. It's just a simple video to try to understand who your teammates are and what they're about. If you have a deeper understanding of who's sitting in your locker to your left and to your right, you tend to embrace and walk out that door and meet the challenges.

I'm a big believer of I kind of like hard times every once in a while, so I think this team is going to have some ups and downs just like every year, and our goal is to come together, start bonding on this trip, and let's see them grow together as the season goes on.

Q. What impact does a trip like this have on just your preparations for the season? Does it -- you mentioned it helps the bonding process, but will it impact just the basic preparations on court for the season?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Well, it's a little different. You know, the NBA is very thoughtful in what they do with this. So they give us a few days where we can start a little earlier, and what for us is -- because it's a pretty good trip over there, we wanted to make the most useful time of that over and back. But the implementation of the offense and the defense will come on the court, and we'll have some practice time over there, and so the very beginning -- and here, but we'll implement here, we'll have the flight over there where we'll try to understand each other a little bit, but we'll have some time to watch a lot of video.

I can see us watching quite a few video edits of the first game as a teaching tool for the second game. One of the things Nate really does very well, Coach Nate McMillan, is that he really identifies the strengths and the weaknesses of a team pretty early on and really tries to work on the weaknesses and get to those strengths.

That will start from the first two practices on Saturday all the way up until our practices in India.

Q. Kevin, you've been a part of trips like these before. As you look back on them, can you kind of summarize the benefit of them?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Of the trip?

Q. Yeah, of making a trip like this, where a team goes to another country and plays games, whether they be regular season or exhibition games.
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Well, I would say this: Number one, we're trying to get prepared for the actual season, but beyond that and maybe more important, we have an opportunity to open up the eyes of the Indian people to this brilliant, wonderful game that we all love here in the United States and that if we can share that and show these amazing talents and how good a human beings on the court but how talented they are off the court, I think if we do that and spread this game as it's a beautiful team game that is wonderful to the eyes and the way you can get up close to a game and see how fast and how tough and how physical it can be at times but yet how skillful and graceful it is with these amazing athletes, I think that would be the number one thing is how can we share this beautiful game. If in 10 years you see kids out at an outdoor basketball park and they've got a Pacer or a King jersey because of this game, I think we've done our job, because at the end of the day it's about exposing kids because the principles you learn in basketball are principles you use the rest of your life: Teamwork, being a hard worker, understanding that there's something bigger than you that you're involved with. Those kind of principles are beautifully trickled down to life.

Q. Are clinics part of this trip? Will the players be doing clinics for kids out there?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: Yes, yes. There is that. There's also a coaching clinic. But yes, a big part of this will be getting into the community, and hopefully we'll be embraced in that way. I know we're going to embrace the culture, the Indian culture, and we're super excited. We've spent some time talking a little bit about that.

On the way over, one of the things we're going to do is spend an hour or two and talk about the city and the country and the people and try to understand what they're about and reciprocate those thoughts.

Q. Do you have any idea what kind of attendance the games will have? I don't know how big the arenas are, but do you have any idea? Have you heard any feedback on how many people will be attending these games?
KEVIN PRITCHARD: I don't know, but I've heard it's already limited. It's very limited, based on what I've been told, that it's very difficult, but I don't know that specific answer.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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