NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

May 31, 2023

Ish Smith

Denver Nuggets

Media Day

Q. Throughout your NBA career, when you look back at your professional journey, what does it mean to get to this point?

ISH SMITH: Man, it's been gratifying. I can't thank the Lord enough, to be honest with you. It's been a great ride. Like you said, it's been a long run, 13 years, 13 teams. To get to this time and this level, it feels really, really good. I'm excited about it, but we've got four more to go. I'm a kid that has always been somebody -- I don't really kind of realize I'm in it until it's over with, so now that we're in it, we've just got to get four more, and I think I'll kind of soak it all in.

Q. When you guys clinched in L.A., take me back, what was that feeling like for you personally?

ISH SMITH: Yeah, me, DJ and Jeff, I guess we're the old heads, so for us, you could see DJ in the back kind of soaking it all in. Me and Jeff hugged each other -- I think I hugged him tighter than I hug my wife.

It was just a situation where we were like -- I think the young guys don't really understand the grind that you go through. So it felt good. It felt really, really good.

Like I said, still four more to go, but then it settles in and you're like, hold on, this is just the Conference Finals; now we've got to get to the Finals-Finals and go from there.

Q. What does it mean to be a Denver Nugget in your eyes?

ISH SMITH: Oh, you know what, we talked about it in training camp. This organization has been really, really good. I know I haven't been here for a long time, but it's been very organized. It's a team that knows what it wants, the plan, how we want to play, from the top to the coaches, everybody.

It's been great. It's been fun. I can't even lie to you. You usually don't say that when you're not playing and you're in like a leadership role. But it's been fun. When we won the (Western Conference) Finals, we all had a moment in the back of the plane. That kind of like sums everything up how much this year has been.

Families have enjoyed it, so it's been good. It's been really, really good. The Nuggets, man, we're going to be here to stay for a long, long time, especially when you've got 15 (Nikola Jokic) and 27 (Jamal Murray). It goes a long way when you've got those two guys.

Q. What's the secret to sticking around for as long as you have?

ISH SMITH: Honestly, I think you've got to take constructive criticism. I think when people tell you you can't do something, don't take it personal. Realize what you have to do to get better, find your fit, whatever that is. And then on top of that, just keep going, keep pushing, keep pressing.

Like I said, I can't thank the Lord enough about this journey, how it's been. It's been fun. But that's the biggest thing I try to tell people: Don't take anything personal. Whatever people tell you, take it as constructive criticism, try to get better at it and just keep pushing and pressing.

Q. How long do you want to go?

ISH SMITH: You know what, I'm still moving pretty fast, so we'll see. We'll see. Right now I'm just enjoying this, and as long as I'm here, as long as they want me to be back here or anywhere else, I'm going to be here.

Somebody told me, a vet told me, he was like, you don't want to have any regrets, so when you're done, you don't want to be like, man, I can still play. Until they cut off the lights and say don't come back, I'm going to be out here playing. You're still going to see No. 14 running fast.

Q. Is altitude a thing, and how long did it take you to adjust when you first moved here?

ISH SMITH: Yeah, altitude is a real thing. It usually gives you about a week and a half, two weeks for you to kind of get adjusted to it. Then after that, you find your flow, you find your feeling. You really feel it when you go to opposing gyms. So when you go and play other teams, you realize you can run longer and faster and harder. It really is an advantage. But it takes you about a week and a half, two weeks. For me it did. I don't know about everybody else.

Q. When you were a kid watching the NBA Finals, what do you remember most watching on television?

ISH SMITH: MJ. I was truly thankful about my journey going all the way around. I think I've been on 45 different teams. One of them was in Charlotte. Having Mike as an owner, meeting him -- it's funny because that's what I grew up on, NBA on NBC. So you see MJ and it was just a surreal moment to sign with him.

That's what I think about. When I think about the Finals, that was my era, the '90s. I was a kid. Mike dominated the '90s. There were a lot of great players. That just speaks to how great he was.

Q. This is a series, a time of year that is made of moments, isn't it?

ISH SMITH: Yes, sir, and he made a lot of moments.