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NBA DRAFT

June 23, 2011

Chris Singleton

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY

CHRIS SINGLETON (No. 18)
WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Q. Chris, if you could just start with an opening statement, feelings about being drafted by Washington.
CHRIS SINGLETON: It's totally a dream come true. I'm just glad I can sit here and to be in the presence of you guys right now. Not a lot of people get to do what I do on an everyday basis and not a lot of people get to have this experience, and I'm just glad I had it.

Q. Coincidentally Coach Hamilton coached the Washington franchise. So talk about what advice he will give to you to be able to adjust to the NBA, as well as the City of Washington.
CHRIS SINGLETON: He knows a lot of things about me. He knows I have a high basketball IQ. He knows that I can get up and down the court. We have the best playmakers, I feel like, the young playmakers. I feel like I'm going to fit in right off the bat. We have an up-and-coming team and we are going to try to push to the playoffs.

Q. Given the Knicks need for defense, did you think you would go to them as a possibility?
CHRIS SINGLETON: Yeah, my agent narrowed it down to me and a couple other guys, but they didn't pick me. It's life. It's a business. I know. That I can't take it to heart. I just got to go out there and play basketball.

Q. What do you feel like you're going to bring to the Washington Wizards? A lot of guys your size play your position. How do you carve out your niche for a team like the Wizards?
CHRIS SINGLETON: Right off the bat, it's just my defense right now. I'm a developing offensive player. Everybody knows that. My shot is getting better and my ball handling is getting better and my play handling is getting better. I feel like the team we have got, we are going to build that chemistry and just go over that hump.

Q. You've compared yourself to Scotty Pippen with some of the things you've done on the defensive end. Talk about that.
CHRIS SINGLETON: I grew up watching him and Magic mostly, and those are two guys that I just tried to emulate growing up. There's a lot of things that you have jet to see from me, I feel like, especially just in this game of basketball, it's a little different in college. I feel like this NBA level is something I was made for and something I dreamed about and something I'm going to take full advantage of.

Q. There are good, young, big men in Washington, AndrÃ© Blatche, as well as JaVale McGee. How are you looking forward to growing with those guys and they are pretty good defensive players themselves?
CHRIS SINGLETON: At the No. 6 pick, I feel like that was a good pick for our franchise. I feel like me and him, right after the bat, if he's able to come over here, I feel like we can contribute a lot to the team.
It's just that those guys, just being veterans, so to say, on the team, I feel like I can learn a lot from them. Those are special players and I feel like it's going to be good.

Q. Leonard Hamilton is known as a very good defensive mind. What did you learn from him that can help you as you adjust to playing defense in the NBA, as opposed to college?
CHRIS SINGLETON: Just you've got to dictate on defensive end. You can't always let the offensive player just get where he wants and like. That and you've got to scout teams. That's one thing we did a lot. We broke down teams and that's something that he said was going to be in the NBA and something I'm going to have to get used to.
I think he made me most prepared than any other spot I would have went to.

Q. When you worked out with the Wizards, did they give you an idea of what they are asking from you?
CHRIS SINGLETON: They just liked my overall game. In my workout, they saw what I'm capable of doing, especially with the ball. But just in terms of they know I'm going to bring my defense, and that's one thing that probably just put me in the position where I am today is my defense. I'm not going to take that for granted and I'm going to continue to work on that, and my offense is going to rise.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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