NBA FINALS: BUCKS VS. SUNS

July 5, 2021

Brook Lopez

Milwaukee Bucks

Media Day

Q. What's this like for you? You're a ways into your career. This is your first Finals. What are you doing to take this in?

BROOK LOPEZ: I'm excited to be here. Just enjoying the moment. Not really trying to worry about anything, be too far in the future or anything like that. I just kind of want to soak everything in.

Q. If you would go to Disney, I feel like you would get souvenirs. Are you trying to do anything like that here?

BROOK LOPEZ: If there's a souvenir shop, I'll probably get my wallet and buy something. So, I don't know, maybe that's what the NBA's missing out on, like, merchandise for the actual players. I don't know. That's a new angle.

Q. For you, just what have you thought of the way that, you know, Bobby and P.J. have kind of helped give that edge, that toughness? I was talking to Bud about it the other day and the veterans you had last year in George Hill, Marvin [Williams], I think of as calm, chill, like, individuals, but Bobby and P.J. kind of bring that edge. What do you think that has done to your locker room chemistry?

BROOK LOPEZ: Yeah, I mean, just the way Bobby and P.J. play any game, whether it's a preseason game or a Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, they're just going to play with so much energy and so much intensity and that is just naturally contagious and everyone feeds off it. People can't help but feed off it. So, it is so big-time for us.

Q. I'm sure you've watched Deandre Ayton on film and I just want to know, what can you tell us about his development and what kind of challenge will that be for you?

BROOK LOPEZ: Yeah, I mean, he's obviously developed very rapidly and even this season and even in the playoffs, he just continues to get better, and so I know he's going to be a load down there. He's very talented in the post. He can step out and shoot it. He's great in the pick-and-roll, and he crashes the offensive boards hard, just plays hard in general. So, he's definitely going to be a load to guard and it's going to be a fun matchup.

Q. Your teammates have echoed your sentiments of just like taking this all in, but then at the same time, after Game 6 in Atlanta, P.J. was, like, we're already talking about Phoenix. So how can two things be true, taking in the fact that you're in the Finals, which is great, but also understanding that there's a task at hand?

BROOK LOPEZ: Yeah, I mean, you know, we obviously can kind of do both those things. We had film right before we got here. We watched Phoenix, their offense, their defense, everything, and talked about what we were going to do and game plan. So, we're all on the same page there.

And then after we go through this, we're going to go on the court and walk through some stuff. So, it's just kind of taking turns, doing certain things at a time, but we obviously have our focus.

Q. I know this is all preview, like, once you get on the court, everything changes, but in this moment right now, what do you think the series could come down to?

BROOK LOPEZ: I think it's just going to be kind of what we have hung our hat on as long as I've been here and that's defense. We got to come out, play defense, respect the Suns, which we definitely do. They're a great team. And we have to just come from the jump, be ready from the jump, and play a full 48 minutes each and every night for seven games.

Q. What does Vin Baker mean to you and having him around? And then, secondly, how have you seen him grow as a coach, specifically in his time as his position has sort of elevated?

BROOK LOPEZ: Yeah, I mean, having Vin on the sideline and as a resource for me has just been invaluable. It's, I mean, at first, for me, obviously, just as a basketball fan, I was, like, this is awesome. I got Vin Baker pretty much as my big-man coach. But just getting to know him and becoming great friends, you're almost like family, and I call him my older brother. To have him on the sideline, someone who is done everything in the NBA, been through what we're going through right now, it's great to see, and it was actually really special. We were talking, and I said, you know, he had never been to the Finals before, so he's living through this as we are, too. So, it's just, it's been a special bond that we have created. And he's such a great basketball mind as well. Like I said, just having played on an NBA floor, he sees things sometimes the coaches miss. He knows what it's like, and so it's very special having him on the sideline.

Q. What are the keys, especially if Giannis is not available in the early part of the series?

BROOK LOPEZ: Obviously, Giannis attracts a lot of attention. He's a huge part of what we do. But I think, in a way, with or without Giannis, we know we have to just go out there and play Bucks basketball. We're going to have to play great team basketball, rely on each other, play together, and, again, play great defense, play great defense for 48 minutes.

Q. Describe this road to the Finals.

BROOK LOPEZ: On the road to the Finals, for us, we had, I think, different matchups each round. Miami obviously gave us a different look. Brooklyn was different, and Atlanta was different. And I think, honestly, Phoenix will be a different look. So, it's kind of like a, what we have been doing all season long, that's just obviously respecting our opponent, but focusing on ourselves.

Q. Obviously, your team’s goal is always, like, the championship for the past two or three years, right? But is there any moment in this playoffs you feel like the goal is more clear for you guys? Is there any moment?

BROOK LOPEZ: I don't know if I can speak for everyone, but for me personally, I think I just, there hasn't really been any doubt for me throughout this playoff run, just, whether we were up 2-0 against Miami or down 2-0 against Brooklyn, I think I've had that confidence and -- I'd try to change what I said earlier. I would like to be able to speak for everyone else and saying that we have all had that confidence going through, that we can achieve that goal of winning a championship.

Q. Tomorrow there's going to be 17,000 fans. It's going to be rowdy. It's going to feel relatively normal. Is it hard to believe that eight months ago teams were getting schedules knocked off because of COVID? There was nobody in the crowd. I mean, like, just kind of put in perspective what this journey, I mean, not just for you, but everyone, has been this season?

BROOK LOPEZ: Yeah, it's definitely been bizarre. I mean, we were in Chicago maybe, gosh, it might have been a couple weeks before the season ended, and they still didn't have fans in the stands. So, to go from that and to be fortunate enough to be playing in front of 17,000, like you said, that's, I mean, that's every kid's dream to play in the NBA Finals and you want to be able to experience that environment. And that's something Giannis, P.J., Jrue, they have just been saying the whole time, is like, we want to enjoy being on the road, playing against all those fans, going crazy cheering against us. That's all part of that, all part of enjoying being in the situation, so I think we're all very excited for that.