NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

May 31, 2023

Reggie Jackson

Denver Nuggets

Media Day

REGGIE JACKSON: Yes, I am glad to be home. I am on the best team in the NBA, I believe, and yeah. Hopefully you all enjoy the series as much as I plan to.

Q. In all sincerity, how does this feel?

REGGIE JACKSON: It's great. It's been 11 years removed for myself being in the Finals, just exciting especially to be at home and be part of this team. Just feel blessed to be welcomed where I was when I came over. We're glad that it's finally here. It's been a long time waiting.

Q. Is it one of those things maybe you appreciate it a little bit more because you're older and you've had to wait so long to get back here to the Finals?

REGGIE JACKSON: Yeah, a different appreciation. I think I appreciate them all. You just try to live in the moment and enjoy it, but yeah, being a little bit older and being removed so long, a little bit different appreciation for it.

Q. When you were at Russell Middle School, did you ever think you'd be playing for the Nuggets and playing in the NBA Finals?

REGGIE JACKSON: I wasn't sure what team I'd be playing for, but I thought I'd be playing in the NBA Finals every year, so I'm just blessed to be in my second one in my 12 seasons. I know how few and far in between they come, so I'm just thankful.

Q. For a guy that's been in the league as long as you have, can you speak to how impressive it is for guys like Nikola and Jamal to level up this time of year? Just maintaining excellence in the Playoffs is hard enough, but they seem to level up as the stakes get higher. Your thoughts on that?

REGGIE JACKSON: No, no such thing as leveling up. Great quote: You do not rise to the level of the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. I think that's all that shows. Usually, the best players in usually every sport, the best at their craft usually last because they put the work in, so we get to see minor fruits of their labor, but we don't get to see their complete true excellence because, like I said, you sink to the level of your training.

These guys have been putting in the work all day they're showing, and they've been playing amazing. This team has been playing amazing. I'm proud and I'm blessed to be part of it.

Q. This looks like an all-time matchup for emotive faces. Who do you think has the better scowl, Jimmy Butler or Jamal Murray?

REGGIE JACKSON: I've got a series to figure it out.

Q. How would you describe Nikola and Jamal's two-man game?

REGGIE JACKSON: Special. It's special. Their connection is amazing. They've been together for an amount of years. They've played each other's positions growing up, so I think just having the spectrum of Jokic starting from one, growing up and now being a five, playing like a point-center, and having Jamal starting as a big and now he's a point guard, going through that spectrum, I think they get to see the game in so many different ways. Like I said, they were special already coming in years ago, so getting to see their continuity and how it's built is just amazing. It's hard to stop. It's been fun. It's been tough playing against it in my career, and it's been fun now being a part of it and watching.

Q. Given all the moves during your childhood, when people ask where you're from, what do you tell them?

REGGIE JACKSON: I definitely rep 719. I'm from Earth.

Q. All those moves, how did they shape you as a person and did it help you adapt to new situations when you've been in the NBA?

REGGIE JACKSON: It just prepared me for the NBA life, moving every two, three years when you're traded. Hearing the rumors, it doesn't really faze you. You've been the new kid your whole life, so you find solace in being yourself and being alone.

Q. How many tickets do you have for family and friends?

REGGIE JACKSON: It's been fun. They had a good season. Yeah, I don't know if the NBA is going to be making too much money off of me buying seats.

Q. I was wondering how you would describe Jokic's leadership style?

REGGIE JACKSON: It's been fun to watch. It's been fun to watch. I think he leads through action, leads through example by the way he comes in and prepares each and every day.

Extremely great basketball mind, so he implements himself at times being the coach by what he sees on the court. He doesn't do too much, he just strives, I think, for excellence, and he just holds people accountable.