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NBA DRAFTJune 27, 2013Michael Carter-WilliamsBROOKLYN, NEW YORK MICHAEL CARTER- WILLIAMS THE MODERATOR: Please start with opening remarks. MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I'm just real, real happy. Couldn't have gone any better. I'm just so blessed and thankful. My family and friends are happy, also. It's just a dream come true, really. Q. Congratulations. How are you doing? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: Thank you. Q. I wanted to ask you about Philadelphia. Seems like you have the keys to the car now to drive it. So what are the things in your game you feel you have to work on so you're completely prepared to be able to lead this team? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I think that I've been working on my overall game a lot, and I've been working on my shooting. I've been trying to get back in the groove of just doing defensive slides and different man‑to‑man drills. So I'm ready. I think I'm a quick learner and I'll adapt to the NBA fast. Especially like you said, how I have the keys to the car. So the NBA speed is different. So I think I'll pick it up real quick. Q. Michael, congratulations. Welcome to town. The Sixers are a team that's in great transition. According to reports, they traded Jrue Holiday, which opens the door to come in and show what you can do at the point guard position. They don't have a coach right now. I wonder how much you know about the direction that team intends to take and where you fit into the Sixers' plans right now. MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I look at the bright side. They don't have a coach. As soon as they get a new coach, he's going to come in and want to get started on a positive note. He's going to establish the way he wants to coach a team and the way he wants us to play. So I think it couldn't go any better. I can learn from it right away and learn the right way from the beginning. Q. Michael, the Sixers have just traded an All‑Star point guard. Basically putting you in that spot. How do you feel about that pressure? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I haven't thought too deeply about it. I'm just happy right now. But I realize it. I just‑‑ I have a lot of confidence in myself, and Philadelphia has a lot of confidence in me. I'm going to go there and play my best. I'm just going to go out there and perform every night like I can. Q. It looks like you'll have Nerlens Noel with you. Having a big guy like that, starting to get excited about this opportunity? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I'm really excited. Me and Nerlens grew up together. We're best friends. We played on the same AAU team in high school. It's like a dream come true. We always talked about how we were both going to make it to the NBA. For us to end up on the same team is a blessing. Q. Mike, I actually had the pleasure of watching you grow up and play in Boston, being from Boston. And I think I played against you in a camp when I was younger. Talk about what it means to represent the city of Boston. With Nerlens down in Philadelphia, and have you talked to him already? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I haven't talked to him yet. I can't wait. But it means a lot. We're big leaders and idols for the kids in Boston. And a lot of people look up to us and follow us. So it means a lot. For us to just play on the same team is great. I'm sure we're going to have a lot of support and a lot of love. We just appreciate it. Q. Just sticking with the Nerlens pick. How many years have you played in the ABC with him? He went sixth. I'm sure you thought he was going higher. MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I played two or three years with Nerlens, but I was surprised I went sixth, but it's how things end up. It was meant to be. I'm sure he has a chip on his shoulder now, and who knows, maybe that's what he needed for him to be great in the NBA. Maybe this pushes him to work harder. That's what it should do for him. I know he's happy as ever to play with me, also. So to look at it in that perspective is great. Q. Would you like to play the point guard or the two guard or do you think you can switch, combo? Which position would you like? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: I think offensively I have a point guard mindset. I've come from the point guard position. I think on the defensive end since I'm a bigger guard, I'm going to be able to defend two or three positions. So either way basketball is basketball. But I think that I'm a point guard at heart. Q. You're basically going to be a starting point guard in Philadelphia in a rebuild. That seems like a lot of pressure. I'm sure you haven't thought about it yet. How do you think you can deal with the pressure? And just the expectations you'll have going into a city with such passion fanbase like Philadelphia? MICHAEL CARTER‑WILLIAMS: There is some pressure there. No doubt about it. But I'm just‑‑ I'm going to use it as motivation and just work hard every day to try to get better and better. I've been dealing with a lot of pressure coming from Syracuse and having the ball in my hands my sophomore year after a bunch of guys left, and it was my job to lead the team. It's not the exact situation. But it's a similar situation. So I'm just going to do my best. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Michael. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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