It was a rather basic interview on France’s main channel so people can get to know him more, I guess (basketball is not that mainstream here in France especially when you compare it to football). Anyway, here is what they talked about:
– about his ‘alien’ nickname: he said he likes it because he wants to be original/unique in all aspects of life and he hopes that one day it will fit him 100% – talked about the disadvantages of his height, especially before he got famous (people staring at him on the street, saying mean stuff to him and such) and how it’s difficult to move a body like his – about his basketball IQ: said it’s a lot about ‘feeling things’ and compared it to playing chess (he confirmed he plays chess in his free time) – about reading: he reads every day, mostly fantasy and never about basketball. He said it helps him to un-focus because when you give all your time and energy to the sport, especially after games, it can be really hard to un-focus/get your mind off the sport/stop thinking about it (he uses the word ‘deconcentrate’ but i’m not sure how well it translates in english) – about the NBA life/rhythm : it gets exhausting mentally and physically with all the games, travel and jet lag during the season, very different from his rhythm before the NBA (less games, little travel) – about being ROTY: he’s proud of it and they ask him if it has an impact on his salary and he says no lol – about his salary and what it feels like to earn millions: he says it’s very reassuring for his future, for his family because it brings security and comfort – about his childhood: he used to be coached by his mom as a young kid but would act unserious at times because it was his mom and he thought he could get away with it, said he got noticed around age 10 and understood what it meant to be a pro player around age 12/13 and that if he was able to do it then he had to do it and that’s when he knew he was going to be an NBA player – about his ambition: his ambition is very big but he doesn’t like to talk about it much because he feels like it’s often not well perceived by people so he only talks about it with people he is very close to (mostly his family) – about his dad: used to be an athlete and taught him how to run and would make him practice his run and athletism, teach him the right techniques during the holidays – about his parents: they gave him freedom, didn’t push him to be a basketball player but instead supported him and did everything they could to help him achieve what he chose to do and said that if tomorrow he wanted to quit basketball to become an accountant they would 100% be behind him and support him – his family is very important to him, they help him not feel any pressure. He says multiple times that he doesn’t feel the pressure at all, he doesn’t feed off it, it doesn’t drive him or gives him thrills so he doesn’t really think about it – about the Wembamania & the city of San Antonio: he feels the fervor of the people and the city but it’s only positive and not intrusive unlike some cities he’s been to before like NY where he’s been bothered multiple times for example by people who wanted his signature and knocked on his hotel room door looking for him (where was security??) – about being compared to Mbappe: he appreciates the comparison but they have their own journey and write their own unique stories – about not doing many interviews/media stuff: jokes he’s lazy about it and that he doesn’t have that much to say anyway then explains he wants to write his story in an organic way and not force things – about the olympic games: it’s special and important to him, it’s with the french national team so it brings another dimension and a different type of energy, it’s patriotism because it represents a big chunk of what he wants to do and titles he wants to win in his career – says he can’t accept to lose against another country when he’s wearing the french jersey and represents France and that his ambition for these olympic games is to win the gold medal, that there’s no room for error because it’s only 6 games so very fast and intense – he says he pictures that the games are going to be fast and hard because there won’t be time to make ajustements the day after or the next week, it’s right now or never but he believes he’s going to win
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It was a rather basic interview on France’s main channel so people can get to know him more, I guess (basketball is not that mainstream here in France especially when you compare it to football). Anyway, here is what they talked about:
– about his ‘alien’ nickname: he said he likes it because he wants to be original/unique in all aspects of life and he hopes that one day it will fit him 100%
– talked about the disadvantages of his height, especially before he got famous (people staring at him on the street, saying mean stuff to him and such) and how it’s difficult to move a body like his
– about his basketball IQ: said it’s a lot about ‘feeling things’ and compared it to playing chess (he confirmed he plays chess in his free time)
– about reading: he reads every day, mostly fantasy and never about basketball. He said it helps him to un-focus because when you give all your time and energy to the sport, especially after games, it can be really hard to un-focus/get your mind off the sport/stop thinking about it (he uses the word ‘deconcentrate’ but i’m not sure how well it translates in english)
– about the NBA life/rhythm : it gets exhausting mentally and physically with all the games, travel and jet lag during the season, very different from his rhythm before the NBA (less games, little travel)
– about being ROTY: he’s proud of it and they ask him if it has an impact on his salary and he says no lol
– about his salary and what it feels like to earn millions: he says it’s very reassuring for his future, for his family because it brings security and comfort
– about his childhood: he used to be coached by his mom as a young kid but would act unserious at times because it was his mom and he thought he could get away with it, said he got noticed around age 10 and understood what it meant to be a pro player around age 12/13 and that if he was able to do it then he had to do it and that’s when he knew he was going to be an NBA player
– about his ambition: his ambition is very big but he doesn’t like to talk about it much because he feels like it’s often not well perceived by people so he only talks about it with people he is very close to (mostly his family)
– about his dad: used to be an athlete and taught him how to run and would make him practice his run and athletism, teach him the right techniques during the holidays
– about his parents: they gave him freedom, didn’t push him to be a basketball player but instead supported him and did everything they could to help him achieve what he chose to do and said that if tomorrow he wanted to quit basketball to become an accountant they would 100% be behind him and support him
– his family is very important to him, they help him not feel any pressure. He says multiple times that he doesn’t feel the pressure at all, he doesn’t feed off it, it doesn’t drive him or gives him thrills so he doesn’t really think about it
– about the Wembamania & the city of San Antonio: he feels the fervor of the people and the city but it’s only positive and not intrusive unlike some cities he’s been to before like NY where he’s been bothered multiple times for example by people who wanted his signature and knocked on his hotel room door looking for him (where was security??)
– about being compared to Mbappe: he appreciates the comparison but they have their own journey and write their own unique stories
– about not doing many interviews/media stuff: jokes he’s lazy about it and that he doesn’t have that much to say anyway then explains he wants to write his story in an organic way and not force things
– about the olympic games: it’s special and important to him, it’s with the french national team so it brings another dimension and a different type of energy, it’s patriotism because it represents a big chunk of what he wants to do and titles he wants to win in his career
– says he can’t accept to lose against another country when he’s wearing the french jersey and represents France and that his ambition for these olympic games is to win the gold medal, that there’s no room for error because it’s only 6 games so very fast and intense
– he says he pictures that the games are going to be fast and hard because there won’t be time to make ajustements the day after or the next week, it’s right now or never but he believes he’s going to win
Kid is the illustration of jackpot win