NBA FINALS: HEAT VS. NUGGETS

June 8, 2023

Aaron Gordon

Denver Nuggets

Practice Day

Q. You guys have had a couple days now in Miami. Do you think you could expand for us on that Jeff Green dinner at his house, maybe how that impacted you guys after what was a tough Game 2 loss?

AARON GORDON: Man, I was a little under the weather, so I had to skip that.

Just the fact that JG opens his doors to the rest of his brothers and the rest of the organization is just a testament to what we've been doing all year long, looking out for the camaraderie not only on the court but off the court as well.

So to come together and break bread with the team, understanding win or lose or draw, you got family, is a very important fundamental piece of being a good team.

Q. How would you assess Nikola's defense throughout this postseason? What does he do on that end that might be overlooked by people who aren't on the court?

AARON GORDON: Really good. His defense has been really sound all Playoffs long. Really all year his defense has been really sound.

He's great with his hands, has great feet, great footwork. Like, he led the league in kick balls, so he does have great feet, great hands. Is in the right spot. Does a good job communicating. He's just smart. He's cerebral about his defensive approach. He gets the right space that he needs. Plays with an arm's distance, kind of plays the game within the game, you know what I mean? Makes the defense think about what they have to do.

That's all you really want to do as a defender, make the opposition think about what they want to do and it kind of takes them out of rhythm.

Q. You guys were running off of all those rebounds, dominated on the glass. They know you want to do that. Can you describe that battle as far as what makes it tough and why is it so important to push off of those rebounds?

AARON GORDON: We want to score in transition. In the Playoffs, you want to get easy buckets, as many as you can, because the game gets stymied towards the end of it.

Throughout the entirety of the game, you want to get out and push. Also, it creates cross matches. If I get out and push, if a point guard takes me, then maybe I can post up then draw a double-team and kick it. Same thing for Joker. It creates cross matches.

Q. What kind of a guy is Michael when it comes to working through a shooting slump? Is he someone that he knows what he needs to do and deals with it internally? Does he benefit if you guys give him a bunch of atta boys and encouragement. How do you keep him from drifting if he's not contributing in the way he does best to keep him engaged?

AARON GORDON: I don't think Mike has a bigger critic than himself. I think he's hard on himself. We tell him just to keep shooting. That's the one thing that this team has encouraged since I've been here, is when you get an open shot, shoot it. That doesn't change whether you're making it or missing it.

Mike is one of the best shooters on planet earth. He has one of the best jumpers that there is, of all time, one of the best jumpers.

We're not worried about that. Mike's going to make shots. While he's not making shots, I just encourage him to get touches. What I mean by touches is, any time you can touch the ball is how you get energy in the ball for yourself, then the balls start going in. Whether it be on offense, trying to get an offensive rebound, a tap-back, a deflection or a steal, a strip. Any time you can touch the ball, just do that and it will start to feel more rhythmic for you. The basket will open up, the balls will start going in.

Q. During the Lakers series you said that Jamal and Joker were an unstoppable duo. Last night you see them go out and do what they did. I know you're a fan of the game. Are they comparable to any duo you watched growing up? Which duo would you say they're most like?

AARON GORDON: Really unique. Let's see. Who would I compare them to? I don't know. They're their own guys. Never really liked comparisons.

They're special in their own ways. Very unique players. So I don't know if I'd compare them with anybody. But, yeah, they're a force to be reckoned with.

Q. You were a top five pick, a cornerstone in Orlando. How long has it taken you to find your footing in this league to figure out your role, be comfortable with that? You're a good guy, a good player on a good team. How long did it take you to find that comfort, to get into winning as opposed to personal accomplishments?

AARON GORDON: I've never really cared about personal accomplishments. My first six years in the league, I had six different coaches. Not only was I 19 or 18 coming into the NBA, I was also having to learn a system each and every year.

I'm learning a new system, trying to make my way. It's hard. You can't really nuance the game how you would like to nuance the game.

Now I've been with Mike Malone for two and a half years, I'm understanding what he's looking for, I'm understanding what the team is looking for, the organization, where I can kind of manipulate the game in my own right, where I can play within myself, where I can kind of stretch that, the area of what I can do.

I've always came in with defensive minded as my niche, then a guy that can make plays and do a multitude of things out there on the floor.

At the end of the day I'm just out here to help my team win, so however it displays itself in that sense I'm fine with.

Q. You mentioned you missed the dinner. How are you feeling now? Is the sickness behind you?

AARON GORDON: Yeah, I'm feeling much better.

Q. We saw a ton of the Jamal-Joker two-man game. What is your responsibility when they're in that two-man game? What can you do to give them more space or make that combination more lethal?

AARON GORDON: I do what I love to do. That's what's so great about it. I get to play the dunker. So I work the baseline, catch alley-oops and drop-off passes and get to bang out. It's awesome (smiling).

Q. Can you describe how the skill set of your two leaders seem to perfectly complement each other? Also how Nikola seems to be changing the world of basketball being able to do a little bit of everything?

AARON GORDON: Yeah, they complement each other very well. They are both three-level scorers. They can both use the pick-and-roll. One setting it, one coming off of it, vice versa.

They're both just downright winners, just gifted at the game of basketball. Talented. Yeah, Joker is redefining the game. You are going to start seeing more and more players that can just do everything, regardless of size.

He's kind of like breaking that mold, kind of like how Magic Johnson did with the point guard position. He's breaking the mold of the center position of not being only dominant down on the block. Now he's being dominant from 40 feet, out of everywhere on the floor.

Q. You've been doing a great job slowing down Jimmy Butler. What are the keys defensively?

AARON GORDON: To stay down on pump fakes, so I don't go to shot fakes. Do your best to stay out of foul trouble. Make things difficult for him. To be physical with him. But mostly just stay down on pump fakes and stay out of foul trouble.