Toronto Raptors Media Availability | March 26, 2024

Toronto Raptors Media Availability | March 26, 2024

It’s been obviously an eventful 24 hours uh what was your reaction when you heard the news about the investigation surrounding jonte um I was just praying for him um obviously you don’t want to see somebody go through something like that um but other than that I mean I don’t know

What’s going on so um I don’t I don’t want to comment too much cuz I don’t know what’s going on have you reached out to him at all are you allowed to I have not yeah I’m I think I’m sure I’m sure I’m allowed to read out to him um I

Seen him after the game one of these games I’ve seen him but uh I’m not going to talk to him anything about that have you ever been approach if even my friends asking you know some some’s playing is uh any kind of sort of no my

People know not to hit me up about stuff like that even if they do like I I wouldn’t I won’t answer um I won’t say anything so um not not too much no uh do you have to kind of tell some of them say listen this is can’t do this no

Everybody knows I can’t do it I mean I mean everybody knows the rules people around me know the rules so they know I’m I’m not for any of that have you seen interactions with fans change as gambling becomes more popular these days over the past few years definitely on social media um

That’s what all everyone’s DMS after games is about um but I mean it is what it is comes with the game what’s that like for you very easy I don’t really care Bruce I mean this has obviously been a crazy season for this team only

Been here for half of it but even in that time with all the on court stuff off the court stuff how challenging has it been to keep the focus on basketball and how as a team you guys get through stuff like that I think it’s been easy I

Mean obviously you have this stuff you can’t control right RJ situation quick situation like you can’t control those things um so the guys who are here um we just focus on what we can control and that’s hooping we have games that we need to try to win um so that’s our main focus

Just what was your reaction when you heard uh the news about yesterday we don’t really know anything that’s going on so I mean it’s hard hard to comment on that you guys probably know more than us which is how these things usually work yeah mean just a reiteration of

Policies and rules regulations for the NBA teams Etc but um nothing outside of that at the moment have you ever been a coached or know players have been approached by just simple stuff like you know who’s playing tonight uh you know are you playing tonight these kinds of

Things where somebody might to a little bitant n no I mean not outside of my mom who’s worried for my health or yeah no and and when you had in this case where you know allegation is basically performed under his level you potentially hurting the team’s prospects how does how competitors look at

That I mean we don’t we don’t know the story yet so it’s hard to say anything um you know I I go out giveing my all the best of my abilities every single night for myself organization the team my city and my country um plain and

Simple um but yeah that that’s all I can coment on is my I do myself um but yeah have you noticed uh interactions with fans have changed in the past few years as gambling has become more common more prevalent yeah not as much with fans like face to face more like online

People are always just like you screwed up my parlay you couldn’t get three rebounds you whatever they say yeah I mean yeah for sure online a lot face to face not really you’ve seen a lot in this league obviously in your years and you haven’t even been here all season

But there’s a lot that’s happened in the last few months on the court off the court experienced anything like this and how kind of challenging has it been to keep the focus on basketball and there’s been so yeah I mean it’s been really tough I mean it’s been a gauntlet of

Injuries you know off the court stuff um you know just know hard-hitting stuff um you know it’s something that you literally cannot prepare for um and so I mean it’s it’s tough to to handle as as players staff organization in preparation um but I think it’s one of

Those things like you know you know all in all it probably makes you stronger and makes you come together as a as a unit and team more and you know that’s the kind of the way you have to use it is um you know keep fueling yourselves and

Keep getting better and a lot of guys are getting opportunities here that they may not have gotten um and I hope that they’re you know seizing those opportunities and taking them taking advantage of them to the best of their abilities and you know hopefully it can parlay into something for them that

Maybe they wouldn’t have other got the opportunity to do so um yeah I think I think it’s it’s tough It’s really tough but um there’s always a silver line and you got to look at the positives and and everything and the opportunities that rise have you talked

To I have not um no I mean he’s been away from the team you were sort of asked about this before the game and that was before the news of J’s investigation came out but as a leader of this team a very young team so much going on on and off the

Court this year H how challenging has it been to navigate some of these things while keeping the focus on basketball in um as as I said last yesterday you don’t invite you don’t want those things to happen but they they they they happen and uh for me as a leader of this team

Is uh to try to help the team and organization everybody to handle it in in the right way and to keep our mind on the right things and uh that’s always for us keeping our mind and focus on basketball and uh you know to do what

What would do best and uh to to help our team uh I do not know has the NBA reached out to you or to the best of your knowledge the players as part of the investigation uh nobody reached out to me and as as far as I know they did

Not reach out to players no comments on that what’s that no comments on that yeah I cannot comment the investigation is ongoing and so all of those questions they got to go straight to to to the league and they will be the best equipped to answer those questions

Uh we just acknowledge what what happened and that they need to keep our focus on basketball and what’s next for us you guys shared an update that Emanuel and RJ are conditioning to get back they work out today and any update on them moving forward uh they uh they

Today was their first uh Team practice uh for them to to get Incorporated and we’re going to go Day by day with them just to to see how they’re going to react to to workloads to play groups and all of that any possibility I’m sure maybe they’d want to play

Teamorrow um Poss possibility yes but we’ll see how realistic he going to be I saw Yak in a Raptor’s t-shirt there is he doing anything uh Yak is is doing quite a bit on a court uh you know in a process of reconditioning and lot of

Skill work with his right hand and stuff that we can you know ball handling passing all the stuff that he’s allowed and and capable to do at this point not clear no not not clear for any contact or you know and still he cannot use his

Left hand yes Scotty doing any kind oft work at all same thing they’re in the same actually they’re uh you know working out together and they’re really doing like rightand uh passing and uh you know skill work that they can do with right hand thanks for watching the Toronto rappers YouTube channel check

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Players and Coach speak with the media following Tuesday’s practice.

00:00 – Bruce Brown
02:00 – Kelly Olynyk
05:36 – Darko Rajakovic

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