NBA DRAFT

July 29, 2021

Chris Duarte

THE MODERATOR: Start off by talking about what you'll bring to the Pacers.

CHRIS DUARTE: I'm a guy that's not just a shooting guard. I'm a guy that can put the ball on the floor and make plays for his teammates, a great defender. I'm a winner, a great guy on and off the court. So that's the type of guy they're getting.

Q. Being from the Dominican Republic, not many NBA players you see come from out of there. How does it feel to be able to go out there and represent your country?

CHRIS DUARTE: It feels amazing. A kid from the Dominican Republic, like you said, not a lot of kids make it out. So me being one of those kids, it's a blessing. I'm grateful for my family and the people that helped me to get here. I'm grateful for the work I put in. It feels amazing, man. I'm really excited about the future.

Q. I know you probably have a dream matchup that you want to face in the NBA. Is there a particular player that you're looking forward to matching up with?

CHRIS DUARTE: I'm just going to go to the NBA and try to win games, try to help my team win. Whatever it takes to win games and help my team, I'm willing to do it. If I have to defend the best player on the other team, I will do it.

Q. They didn't bring you in until late in the process, I guess, to pre-draft workout. Did you have any sense that they were looking at you in this way? Do you know the reason that you were drafted? It seems they wanted somebody who was not a developmental guy but a guy who was ready to play and contribute now. Is that the sense you got from them and the feedback and why you're here today?

CHRIS DUARTE: My workouts were great, so I knew I was going to go from 9 to 15. I went to Indiana and I had a great, great workout over there. I met with the people, with the front office, and we really connected well. I talked to the coach and I talked to everybody over there, and it was really, really good. We went out to eat. It was a great experience. I really enjoyed my time over there.

When I left Indiana, I left confident in myself. So I knew if I was on the board by Indiana coming to pick, I knew that there was a high chance that they were going to take me.

Q. To encapsulate your journey, to go from Puerto Plata and the path you took in Philly and rural Massachusetts and being hungry on the bus, the sixth man in junior college, to now being a lottery pick in the NBA and the first of Coach Altman's tenure at Oregon, what do you say to you mom, what do you say to your girl and your son tonight about what this journey was and what the last 10 years of your life that got you here?

CHRIS DUARTE: Well, I'm going to say this in Spanish so my mom can understand.

Mi mama, la amo bastante. Ella que me siempre apoyaba, la buena y la mala. Mi papa que me crió, y mi familia que nos mantenemos siempre juntos, que siempre que me ha soportado, me ha apoyado mi mujer, mi hijo, cada una de esa persona que me ayudaba.

I'm just grateful for those people that helped me, that helped me to get here, my coaches, every coach I played for. Steve DeMeo. Going to Oregon, Dana Altman. And other coaches that helped me. I'm just grateful for those people. I'm just really excited and happy.

Q. Have you heard anything about Rick Carlisle as a head coach? And what are you looking forward to with Rick Carlisle being your head coach for the Pacers?

CHRIS DUARTE: Well, he's a great coach. I spoke to him when I went there. He's a great coach, and I know he's going to get the best out of me.

Q. I'm curious, they described you as kind of a 3-and-D guy. I'm curious about being able to guard kind of wings and bigger guys at the NBA level. How prepared do you feel like you are for that and how much are you looking forward to that challenge?

CHRIS DUARTE: Like I say, I'm ready to play. I'm ready to play. When I say I'm ready to play, that means offensively, defensively, on and off the court. That's all I can say. I'm ready to guard through one three. I'm trying to get ready to guard one through four if that's possible. So looking forward to it.

Q. I'm curious, when you were here we asked you about your transition and how you didn't know the language and all that, and obviously you've become a father. How has all the challenges that you have faced up to this point helped shape you to now where you can enjoy this moment?

CHRIS DUARTE: You know what, all that helped me to get here. What I went through coming from the D.R., going through high school in Boston, Massachusetts, and going to juco and then going to Oregon and now here, having a kid my first year in Oregon, everything helped me to get here because now I think different. Having a kid made me think different. Now before I do something, I think about him. Now it's not me anymore; it's him, my girl and me. Everything just helped me to get here mentally.

Q. How hard was it to find a suit to match your kid's? It couldn't have been easy with his size.

CHRIS DUARTE: He got a 12-month size. That was not hard to find, the suit. And then mine is customized. So thank God that that was easy to do that.