NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

May 31, 2023

DeAndre Jordan

Denver Nuggets

Media Day

Q. How was it waiting for this to start?

DeANDRE JORDAN: It was fine. Nine days is a very long time, especially when you're every other day here. Okay, like maybe we find out who we play tonight, maybe we don't. Obviously, we found out two days ago or so.

I think during this nine days, we were able to be smart about managing -- continuing to stay sharp, staying in good shape, but also get the ability to rest that a lot of what's needed as a team. Somehow find a balance and take advantage of that.

Q. You've played for a lot of coaches in your career. What makes Michael Malone special and what do you like about him?

DeANDRE JORDAN: Because he cares a lot. He's a competitor at heart. We can see the fight and tenacity that he has. He wants to win just as much as we do, and I think when you have a guy like that at the helm it's very important, and it's contagious to the players, and I think we all kind of rub off on each other. He can see what we're fired up and he's ready to go. When you've got guys like Ish who just come in and try to bring the morale down [laughter], it's great, but we have other guys that are very positive.

Q. What's it like playing with Reggie?

DeANDRE JORDAN: Oh, man, I've played against Reggie for a lot of years when he was at OKC, when he was in Detroit, and I always hated Reggie just because he was such a--. I'm being honest as a competitor, because he's such a good player. He's able to get downhill, he's a great shooter. He also can find guys. Him being able to kind of cut your defense apart was very annoying.

With him being on our team and him playing in spurts, whether he plays or not, I think that his knowledge of the game and him being able to help guys, I think that has been beneficial to a lot of our guards, and our energy has just been great, and I think guys like Ish and Jeff have done the same thing, and we really pick each other up out there, so that's great for our team.

Q. How have your studies at Brown University this year helped you with your mindfulness practices for the Finals?

DeANDRE JORDAN: You know what? That's a great question. I think for me, it's something that I practice a lot. I just wanted to go and try to learn from people smarter than me and peers about the subject that I was already kind of diving into on my own.

Basketball and everyday life, life is kind of a roller coaster, it's up and down, the emotions are high, stress level. I just wanted to be able to be able to find a better way to manage that throughout the course of my life on and off the floor.

Q. When you played against Nikola and now that you see him every day, are you even maybe to this point still in awe of his game?

DeANDRE JORDAN: Yeah, I mean, when you kind of see greatness like his every day, you kind of get used to it. It's kind of bad to say that, but we'll come in after games and like KCP had 20 points and Bruce off the bench, 17 points, nine rebounds, it's great, Nikola, another 30-point triple-double. It's kind of like, we've said that about 65 times, so it kind of gets repetitive after a while. You kind of start to just take it as normal when it really isn't normal for somebody to do that throughout the course of the season, throughout the Playoffs, shoot at such a high percentage and be okay when he's not shooting the basketball. He's such a selfless player.

Jamal, Mike, whoever, Aaron, KCP, he's going to feed those guys. Sometimes we have to force him to shoot the basketball, which is crazy to think about. When you have a guy like that who is the head of the snake of the team, it's kind of -- it's great to be a part of that.

Q. Did you think he was this good when you played against him?

DeANDRE JORDAN: I knew he was good. Just every night like that, that's great to see. I'm just glad to be a part of it.

Q. You mentioned the stress of life. How do you guys cut through that stress, especially in a very stressful time and keep it light for a shootaround like this?

DeANDRE JORDAN: I think that's the thing. We've got a group of guys who are varied. We've got some great veterans, we've got a guy in KCP who's won a championship, who's been there, Jeff, myself, Ish, who have been in a ton of playoff runs with different teams, and some young guys who kind of keep it light and fun.

When it's time for us to focus and lock in, I feel like we do a great job of doing that, but also kind of -- ultimately knowing that this is basketball, this is fun, this is why we got to where we're at, because we have fun with it and we focus when it's time to focus.