Lindy Waters III on Joining the Golden State Warriors | July 3, 2024

Lindy Waters III on Joining the Golden State Warriors | July 3, 2024

where were you when you uh heard the news and just what was your uh reaction uh I was on a family vacation in Mexico um just hanging out with them by the pool but I kind of understood the situation um leading up for months so uh I wasn’t really surprised but it took me a little bit of time to process you know it’s my first time going through something like this so uh I’m thankful that I have my family with me well welcome to Golden State and just going back to your visitors out here with OKC what sort of impression do you have about Chase Center the fan base just everything like that the organization yeah I mean I’ve already experienced you know fans on the street um you know welcoming me to the bay and uh just the hospitality it’s amazing um I grew up watching The Warriors and their style of basketball and it excites me so I’m more than excited to be here you said you understood the situation what do you mean by that just the playing time obviously had dropped was that were you were kind of figuring something might happen I think being around the league for the last three years um seeing you know guys situations and how the business Works um you know sometimes good things come to an end and uh new doors open up so uh whether I stuck around in OKC for another year or two um I was ready for whatever opportunity you mentioned watching Warriors basketball growing up and everything like that how much did a player like Steph and just that style influence your game game 100% um spreading the floor shooting the ball playing fast um you know it’s just like the style of basketball that we grew up playing um you know my dad was my coach growing up so he wanted us to play fast and we always watched film on them growing up even as kids like I didn’t understand what I was watching I just saw Stephen Clay um burning those Nets so um they influenced most of my game Aon Wilson with KRON for San Francisco you’ve had a journey to up to this point in the league all of it really taking place in one place now you’re coming to a story team with obviously big names on that team how welcomed are you or welcoming are you to this new place playing here and playing with guys that you’re about to you know step out there with um it’s pretty crazy coming coming from where I come from to be able to make it through um you know pretty much all the cities in Oklahoma and then get into the big league so um that alone just gives me confidence knowing that I can take my talents wherever um and be successful so um like I said the the style of play the organization um I’ve been watching them ever since I’ve been in love with basketball so um I’m just excited to be here excited to meet new new faces uh and play great basketball you talked about the way way the Warriors play how how in what ways does your game fit do you think and and the one thing that jumped out looking at your numbers was your three-point percentage and how much it improved last year which is they’ve Steve CER has been very open about they need shooting here and obviously Klay left one of the all-time best Shooters so I’m curious just sort of your fit here how you how you see that um I’m here to shoot the three and uh play defense and do whatever the team needs me to do so um yeah whatever coach KR asked me to do I’m going put my head down and work for it and related question sort of why did your three-point shooting improved that dramatically I mean that’s pretty significant jump was there a mechanical change was there you take different kinds of Threes what what triggered that um I think a little bit of help from you know playing in the G League um getting more experience um practicing more um difficult shots different situations um and not just practicing you know stagnant catch and shoot threes or um you know always trying to make it a challenge every single day make it harder and harder so that the games become easier Ron mentioned the three-point shooting but what what’s maybe an aspect of your game that will surprise some people um I try to do all the little things great um you know be there for my team help defense uh rebounding boxing out all the little stuff that that’s not going to show up on a stat sheet I try to I try to be great at you talked a little bit about your journey and where you come from can you can you talk a little bit about the pride you have in in your heritage and just how important that is to you to be representing that in the NBA yeah it’s uh it means everything to me there’s not too many people that are able to ever do something like this uh coming from where I come from and I know I have a huge influence on my community um and especially coming from Oklahoma I see a lot of people that look just like me so trying to be an inspiration for them making sure that I’m trying to do the right thing um and continuing to show them that these things are possible what is kind of the reaction among family and friends and and you know people like around you to this trade and to the I it’s a it’s a more high-profile situation in some ways even though OKC obviously had a great year last year but yeah I mean there’re you know to see me go like I said I’ve been in Oklahoma my whole life so um you know I’m going to miss them but you know they’re happy for me so I get to play for the Golden State Warriors and one last thing uh from me have you heard from stuff at all since the trade and how much is there any specific ways you’ve sort of learned from watching him you know maybe the shot you talk about you’re obviously a a three-point shooter is part a big part of your game what have you learned watching you you know him shoot over the years uh he hasn’t reached out yet uh but that’s okay I’ll see him soon and uh you know give him a hard time about that but um just the way that he approaches every single day and tries to challenge himself um and you know it doesn’t matter how many threes he hits he’s going to come in the next day and work just as hard as if he’d never hit a three so that’s something that’s inspiring to me and I can’t wait to be around that every day you played with uh Trey young in high school if I if I’m not mist and just what was that experience like what did you learn from him or learn from each other or push one another to to reach new heights I mean we grew up together since we was little boys um and just watching him grow into the player he is and uh the father he is has been amazing so uh we got to be on this podcast got to talk a little bit and catch up but um I’m just I’m happy for him I do have one last one um following up on the question about your heritage sort of what how did that shape you growing up I mean who you are today like you said it’s kind of a unique background for an NBA player how did that affect and shape who you are now uh just remembering that uh there’s more important things in life than uh what we see on the TVs there’s a family there’s uh Traditions there’s your culture um and you know the the materialistic things come and go and you can never control those things but the things you can’t control is how good of a person you are um and yes I think being around my family and being around my relatives and tribes and trying to give back to my community uh I think that’s shaped me into the person I am today and that just translates to the basketball court what ways are you still involved um I have a foundation so um I do uh golf scholarship fundraiser um out in Tulsa I do you know camps for kids in North Dakota North Carolina Oklahoma um I have a basketball tournament at the end of this month on my birthday uh where I hand out scholarships to kids going off to college um last year we handed out you know 10 or 11 a couple thousand scholarships to kids and just try to continue to push them to to get out and not be afraid to go for their dreams

Lindy Waters III met with the media to discuss his trade to the Golden State Warriors.