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NBA ALL-STAR 2020

February 14, 2020

Zion Williamson

Chicago, Illinois - Rising Stars

USA 151 - World 131

Q. Zion, did you realize on that dunk in the second quarter that you bent the backboard/rim/basket?
ZION WILLIAMSON: Not at all. I think, went into halftime and my teammates started telling me about it. I don't know which dunk it was on, but I don't think it was me.

Q. Zion, what was your favorite moment of tonight's game your first time?
ZION WILLIAMSON: I think you guys are going to like this one: When Ja threw me the lob from half-court. Reminisced on that, back to ninth grade.

It was crazy, honestly. Because after I caught it and we got like a timeout or we got subbed out, I was thinking about our Hornets days, and I keep thinking never in a million years would I have thought we'd have been in this game or been in the situation we're in. So it was that moment.

Q. Hey, Zion, how are you? From Mexico. Just wanted to know who are you going with for the Slam Dunk Contest tomorrow?
ZION WILLIAMSON: I've been asked that question a lot, and honestly, I can't give an answer. Just to be honest, it's who goes out there and executes and gets it on the first try.

So whoever gets it, they get it, but I can't pick.

Q. What was it like sharing the court again with RJ? And what were you thinking when he stopped you on that fast break?
ZION WILLIAMSON: It was great sharing the court with RJ again. I missed it the first time when we went to New York, the Pelicans, and I wasn't able to play due to injury. But it was great to get out there again and play with my brother.

When he stopped me on that fast break, I was kind of like, man, you're the last person I thought that would do that, but it was all fun and games because he let me get -- he basically let me get the next one. I mean, it's just brothers messing around.

Q. From getting in at like 2:30 in the morning or something like that to all the media earlier today to the game, what's this been like this first 24 hours at All-Star for you?
ZION WILLIAMSON: Honestly, I don't -- until the game time, I don't think I could tell you what time it was throughout the day. It was just shootaround, event, event, media, media, arena.

So it was a great experience, but it went by fast, if I'm being honest. It went by too fast. I think I'm going to have to sit in my room later like when I get back home and just take in the whole day to truly enjoy it.

Q. Hey, Zion, I saw you got a chance to talk to President Obama earlier today. He said that he was paying attention when you had 32 last night. Just how cool is it that President Obama is paying attention to these games?
ZION WILLIAMSON: First off, he's a cool dude, man, like it's Obama. Come on. But I gained so much more respect from him just by him saying that. I was like, you probably have one of the most busy schedules in the world, and you're able to keep up with a rookie, like superstars, college people, even high school people, and tell them their stats and like what they've been doing good, what they can work on.

So when he told me that, I just gained so much more respect for him.

Q. That was the first time you got to play against Luka this season. What was that like, and did you pick up any interesting Luka stories across the day?
ZION WILLIAMSON: Honestly, I don't even know if I can count that as my first time playing against Luka. I felt like he was just -- he was just chilling. Like come on, you all know he was just chilling.

He's a great player. His résumé shows it. And, no, I didn't really hear any Luka stories today.

Q. Zion, I know you weren't born yet when the Bulls were winning championships here. I just wonder how you learned about them. What was your frame of reference in learning about them?
ZION WILLIAMSON: It was my mom that led me to watching Michael Jordan and the Bulls. I asked her, when I first started playing basketball, who should I go watch? And she told me Jordan, Bird, and Magic. I watched -- I think I started with Magic. I was like, man, he can pass the ball.

Bird, you know, he can shoot. He's an all-around player.

But when I got to Jordan, she told me to watch full games, not highlights, and I watched full games, and as a kid, the stuff he was doing, it was incredible to watch, getting a steal, saving it, and then doing a backwards layup or floating through the lane, like through three people, dunking it. So as a kid, that really caught my attention, and from then, I just watched every full game Michael Jordan clip I could find.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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