Doug Christie, Jawad Williams, Keon Ellis, Colby Jones | Mini Camp Media Availability 7.5.24

Doug Christie, Jawad Williams, Keon Ellis, Colby Jones | Mini Camp Media Availability 7.5.24

uh how much you look forward to this opportunity um I mean just like every opportunity I feel always feel blessed um it’s it’s super exciting I mean the fact that you know Coach Brown the Kings trust me with the ability to uh continue to grow is big time so I appreciate it and you guys know how I attack stuff so I just try to put everything I have into it and um teach them as much as we can in the days that we have so we put together a product always that the Kings fans can be proud of biggest goal is it is it winning is it development combination of come on SE is it winning uh you you always want to win but I think that like what you said they all go together so the development the continuity all those things like even though you don’t have time you got to find ways to try to get that because that’s ultimately what lead you to the win so uh don’t don’t worry so much about the end goal let that be a byproduct of the work that we put in what excites you about the talent that’s here um I think that we we have a little bit of everything and that’s always exciting because the way that we play with the big Club the way that we play with Stockton and the way that we play ultimately with the summer league the ability you know we got Kobe we got Mason we got Keon um we got two ways as well like um looking at Isaac looking at Isaiah these guys they they’ve come in and they’ve done some really good stuff so like I’m excited to watch them work and then see them succeed yeah you said um you said you know you got a gumball mix of uh players and stuff like some you are familiar with but what is it like you know when you have other players coming into the mix and you trying to get them activated real quick it’s interesting that you say that cuz I think this might be the first time in summer league history where we we actually had two teams in training camp so that was kind of interesting trying to figure out timing and drills and making sure that the Reps were enough and all those type of things and then I think that to your point you get the ability to see what a guy does and what he has and we try to put him in so many different situations because you don’t get the ability to practice and play a whole bunch so you got to find out about them did I go watch tape on mostly all of them so I can kind of get a feel for who they are and what they do but you also have to remember that’s what they did like all of us were the best where we came from but when you get here you usually have to find your Niche and find your role and that will be up to them to do that when it looks like for Colby and Keon where have their progressions been the most noticeable at least on day one with you um I would say that’s a good one because I I think that this is a different animal for them like in the season they are who they are to his point they are who they are for the Kings now you come to summer league and it’s a chance for you to expand your game a little bit now how do you do that do you do it in leadership do you do it in scoring do you do it in even more defense and it’s hard to say because I think that as I’m watching them I’m seeing a little bit of all of it but really it’s the games that matter and then the the work that they put in off the floor so that’ll be one of those questions I think I’d be able to better answer at the end as we watch them progress as you obviously won’t have Devon competing but is that is he someone you want to have kind of close by to you or or this team kind of is these weeks kind of develop you know uh my son and Devin were friends I’ve seen him for a long time with his dad Anthony so super excited and and proud to watch what they’ve done as a family um yeah I I I hope that and I believe that he will be in Vegas and he’s been here every day so he has the ability to see it to you know sit down and talk with him and just kind of see where he’s at and what he’s doing but great kid I’m super excited I I can’t wait to get him on the court yeah how much of a voice will you have pairing down the two rosters for Vegas um you know that’s always above my pay grade right there right um I think they’ve already kind of worked that out but it it’s it’s going to be I think a little bit of work in progress because you you never know they go to San Francisco and somebody just jumps off the charts you got to give them I mean that’s part of who we are as a team is we we give people the opportunity and then we we we shake their hand and we bring them along once they have the success so if we got somebody that goes up there and just as like out we’ll probably see them in Vegas I would think obviously an opportunity for you as well how are you taking this to kind of improve as a coach man um every single aspect like I’ve gained so much respect for what I watch Coach Brown do on a day-to-day basis from the training p uh training camp aspect to the coaches meetings aspect to when the clipboard is handed to you on the sideline aspect to the calling timeouts in game Deal deal with your coaches dealing with players like all of that just hit you in the face and it’s good like I’m that’s what I’m here for so um I’m trying to absorb it all which is difficult because I I tried to do that last night and it was just uh you you leave with a a feeling of um you’re proud for the players but you’re always self- critiquing in a way that probably is not healthy yeah yeah yeah is it hard to prepare for I mean it’s hard enough I guess with having this many guys this many players in the gym not many practices but a team like the Chinese National Team probably adds a whole another dynamic in terms of familiarity uh absolutely I I think we’ll you know we’ll look at it but more than anything for a team like that now if it was like our third or fourth game and they have played it’d be a lot easier but since we haven’t played I think that more of the emphasis is on focusing on who we are what we do and when the Kings hit the court this is how the Kings play regardless of who the opposition is and I think that that’s what I expect in my talks with them that’s what I expect from them like we’ll go back and watch how it played out but we do not change what we do this is who we are and this is how we get down and that’s what I expect last one Cal classic uh they obviously nameing an award after Mitch Richmond just what’s your thoughts on them honoring him in that way well the rock is the rock man I I I’m like a fan um as a peer super respectful and for our city our team to continue to honor some of our great players I think is an absolute must it just Builds on the Legacy it builds on who we are so that’s fantastic and it also means he’ll probably be in the building so that’s always good right do how much are you looking forward just to this uh this opportunity I’m looking forward to it a lot uh I’m thankful for the opportunity coach Brown’s giving me a chance to grow and learn this game even more so I’m definitely looking forward to it and I got a great group of guys to help me yeah what if you just learned about them in the short amount of time you’ve been around I learned their competitors and that’s the biggest thing if I got guys that go out there compete we got a chance every single night you were kind of a new face last year to be put in this position where you’re leading a team like this what do you hope Kings fans see from coach Williams well hopefully my players are reflection of what I am uh go out there play with toughness play hard and uh great things that happen for us when did this opportunity kind of Come On Your Horizon and and you deciding hey I want to maybe try to do this well I didn’t decide anything they told me this what I was going to do that was a Mike retive yeah it was a Coach Brown thing uh Coach Brown wanted me to do it and anything he asked me to do I’m going to do it so I’m looking forward to the opportunity like I said it probably was presented to me about a month ago you feel like the opportunity helps you become a better assistant or or just kind of below Mike and understand the things that he goes through of course of course so now I’m in the hot seat you know I got to make the right substitutions I got to make the timeout calls and all that type of stuff but I’m looking forward to it how much do you enjoy working with guys that are trying to sort of find their way throughout the league and helping oh I love it cuz I’ve been in I’ve been in that I’ve been in their shoes some of these guys they remind me of myself like trying to fight to make a roster uh it happened for me and hopefully I can help it happen for some of these guys being an assistant I mean what taking this role on coming from a former player aspect I mean what’s the ultimate goal for you I mean it’s head coaching something that that is a definitive goal for you down the road no I don’t have a a definitive goal I get asked that question a lot being a head coach is not my final goal I’m enjoying the process every single day I come in I work put my head down just do the job um whatever happens happens this last year how much was it a learning experience it was a big time learning experience for me you know I coached one year previously before coming to the kings in Japan so I had a little bit of coaching experience but it’s a little different when you’re dealing with athletes at such a high level um but the guys have been very receptive to me being that I played I’m able to speak to them from a different perspective from the from the squad that you’re coaching in San Francisco is there anyone there that you have a genuine curiosity for I mean obviously you have some familiarity with a couple guys but is there anyone that you’re super curious to see super curious to see all my guys you know I want to go out there biggest thing I think I got some dogs on my team so I know they’re going to go out there and compete that’s what I’m mainly looking forward to can’t complain Fourth of July was great yesterday yeah it was yeah sure did you get much sleep with all those fireworks no I actually kept me up a little bit last night it’s about 12:31 but it was cool like you can see him from my place is with the window so it was a good good little sight how much um do you feel this experience is going to be a little bit different from what you experienced last year um yeah just the I would say last year it was just a lot of unknown um Coming In Summer League you didn’t know really anything really so this year I feel like I have a good understanding of what’s happening what’s going to happen so just having that uh being comfortable with that I feel like it’ll be a lot easier on me this year do you feel much different uh yeah my I feel completely just more confident in my game uh physically and mentally I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of things to prepare myself um so yeah when it comes to Summer League what are you looking to show at least Le maybe not on day one but just throughout the next two weeks into Vegas and everything like that uh just my progression as a player uh things that the coaching staffs wanted me to try to improve on so hopefully I can show those um and just want to go out there and win obviously uh with the group that we have I feel like we should go out there Rock up some wins so looking forward to that thoughts on drafting Devin Carter 13th overall another guard that you’ll be competing against probably for some some minutes and a roster spot as possibly as well yeah I feel like it’s a great pick for us uh he’s a great player obv I had the chance to play against some when I was in college a couple times so it was good having a familiar face coming in I know he’s going to come in and do so I feel like he’s a great addition to the program mention some of the things coaching staff kind of wants you to work on if you don’t mind sharing what are some of those things and how do you feel like you progressed in those areas um just consisteny and my my three-point shot um whether that’s taking those and making those uh and then on the defensive side being able to get a stop um and all time I feel like my cardio is kind of part of that on defense so I feel like those two kind of play A Part um yeah I feel like those two are main big Focus for me and I feel like I’ve been working on those a lot when it comes to the shot is it is it form is it confidence just getting reps um definitely I feel like a little bit of both uh definitely made a couple tweaks so I just getting reps on that and then yeah just the Reps being comfortable with and being confident with it I feel like it all plays a part do you come out do you come out with a sense of I need to play an elevated role with this team oh yeah definitely being playing last year uh just having one year most guys coming into summer league haven’t played at all so uh just being a leader um for the guys just being a voice for the guys and um just trying to take this role for summer league and hopefully it can translate with Kings Kobe U You Know M asking have you jayen SL W be here uh this season at all I just want to know how you chat with him and get an understanding you know what his plans is for the future oh yeah I was actually uh I actually helped him move out uh when he was leaving so I got to spend the last night with him um I think he’s going over to Detroit so hope he playing Summer League with them so um but yeah everything is going to work out for him I know that’s my guy so came in with him but uh yeah I wish the best to him than last one relationship like with Doug going to be the head coach here and and sort of your familiarity with him and the things he preaches yeah this season my guy uh had a great chances this past year for our relationship to continue to grow and obviously this off season with him being the head coach uh we’ definitely gotten closer but I love playing for a coach like DC CU he played in NBA he knows what he’s doing and he knows what to say and everything he’s saying it comes from love but he’s going to be tough on us and that’s something I respect a lot can’t complain can’t complain it was cool it was cool just chilling yeah I was really just chilling watching fireworks nothing to Great up or um no it didn’t keep me up I had no trouble sleeping at all so yeah yeah for you coming in the Summer League this year c classic just what are you looking to accomplish and improve especially with a guy who got significant minutes down the stretch last year um honestly I’m saying mission just trying to go out there and win uh obviously I know I probably had a ball a little more um expected to do more things but uh at the end of the day still just trying to go out there and win you know help others look good make myself look good um yeah that’s that’s it is this is this much of a surprise at all what that you’re here in this position playing in summer league again um no not really a surprise just uh I would I definitely would to say it’s a surprise you know um I kind of always go into any situation just expecting to do you know whatever um so so kind of like going into the summer I was going with the mindset of probably playing the California classic and now I’m playing so um I kind of had that thought process the whole time so um you know it was just on track for me Doug was talking about elevated roles is that kind of something you feel they expect of you to kind of kind of play that elevated role for you ah for sure for sure I mean obviously um probably played the most minutes out of our guys here so definitely will be um out there expected to kind of lead the way and you know um show guys you know correct guys you know if if things are going wrong out there or whatever guys are messing up on just you know kind of shed the light on them and the knowledge that I have so that way you know know they’re learning as well read like a Keegan situation last year where he played in the Cali classic then not summer league do you kind of try to do the same thing that he did last year in that respect um far as like he did really well here he was able to really progress his game and got to show off really the new ances of his game and work on it in live games would you I’m hoping you’re probably looking for to do the same thing am I get WR yeah for sure for sure I mean uh the whole summer we were training knowing that I’d probably play in it so just work on things to I mean even for for real games you know whenever you know the the ball gets to me and you know it’s time to create or do whatever you know just for situations like that as well but I think now is a time to go out and show it in you know long stretches throughout the game so um for sure you mentioned uh creating there is that some of the things you’ve been working on that kind of handling yeah yeah yeah cuz I mean like I said uh I probably have the ball more a little bit um so definitely will be expected to to do more creating than I would in the in the regular game but yeah for sure and you’re kind of in that leadership now I guess you’re kind of the vet on this team in a way is that a a new feeling to you in a way um yeah it’s been a while I mean you know I guess when you’re a senior in college you know at a school that you’ve been at for longer than other guys that’s that kind of is the role that you take but so it’s been a minute since I’ve had to you know since I felt like that so uh yeah for sure do you have guys coming to you kind of knowing what to expect being that you’ve been through this a time or two uh no I haven’t really had any questions um but I mean I know how it is like everyone’s new everyone’s trying to you know figure everything out so I’m just going to guys and telling them cuz I mean I wasn’t really asking questions like that um so I’m just going to guys you know just telling them you know if they mess up here or you know they make the wrong read or cut wrong but I I just go to them and tell them like whatever Mike Brown would tell me so just trying to give them that before it gets to you know training camp you know whatever so um that’s really all I’ve been doing for real and what you mean of just Devon the addition of Deon Carter overall um I I think it’ll be a good addition for us you know there you can’t go wrong with more defense so I mean I haven’t like seen them play um but I’ve I’ve heard he he’s really going on the defensive end so I think he’ll definitely be a good contribution to the team for sure

Doug Christie, Jawad Williams, Keon Ellis and Colby Jones speak to the media following Mini Camp for California Classic. The Kings will have two separate teams competing in Sacramento and San Francisco from July 6, 7, 9, and 10th.

0:00 – 6:46 Coach Doug Christie
6:46 – 9:09 Coach Jawad Williams
9:09 – 12:33 Colby Jones
12:33 – 16:20 Keon Ellis

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