Jaylon Tyson | Intro Press Conference | 6.27.2024

Jaylon Tyson | Intro Press Conference | 6.27.2024

thank you guys thanks everyone for coming uh obviously it’s always a special day uh to welcome a new draft pick to the family um but to jaylen’s family I wanted to welcome you guys to Cleveland um it’ll be a tremendous time for you guys I want you to really enjoy this process it only happens once uh but just know that your son worked so hard to get here um and really elevated his status throughout the process you know he came into Cleveland um and I’ll let you talk about a little bit more but Dynamic workout right really left an impression with us both character-wise um how he performed on the court and then just gave us a vision on how we can use him in terms of he’s going to elevate people around him you know that that’s the mark of a really good player he’s going to help the te his teammates you know it wasn’t just scoring it was offensive rebound it was driving kicks it was getting Guys open shots and it was just a three on three workout but it left us with such a tremendous impression um and then such a high character individual and so it became pretty obvious when he got to 20 that we’re going to take him um we were very excited uh to for him to be here so I want this to be his day obviously uh Mike gansy spoke to you guys yesterday uh Mike gansy our general manager Brandon Williams our assistant general manager do such a great job uh with with the draft process um and put us in a position to to make this kind of selection so I know he had some some great words about Jaylen yesterday um and so I wanted to open it up for questions uh for him today and uh I know people also want to talk about our new coaching hire um Kenny is here he he made it to town uh was it yesterday from France um and uh we hope to introduce him to you guys on Monday and so we can definitely shift gears to that uh on Monday but for today just wanted to to welcome Mr Tyson to town Vegas all right we can open up for questions Tom thanks hey Jaylen Tom withers’s Associated Press as Kobe said and Mike said last night you made quite an impression we also understand your back was kind of locked up when you got here so how did you kind of grind through that and was that was that part of just trying to make a great impression showing that you can kind of fight through things um going into it like I knew I wasn’t going to sit out there’s no way I’m going to sit out I want to play I’m a competitor um um I all I needed I told him just put a hot pack on it make it hot and I’ll be straight um but yeah I wanted to make a great impression you know this is a great organization a winning organization you know so I was I was going to play and I wanted to show that I’m a winner if I could follow did you know that you were high on their radar from the start I know they they tracked you most of the season um I would say so a little bit you know but I wanted to make sure it was very clear that I’m a really good basketball player so that was my goal coming into this for sure Dam Danny Cunningham Cleveland magazine Jaylen what was last night like for you emotionally thousand words um a lot of emotions a lot of obviously y know my journey I’ve been through a lot to get here you know but it’s only a beginning I look at it yesterday was yesterday today is today um man it’s a lot it’s a lot I can see the future you know I want to build I want to win a championship so today is a different day um yesterday is in the past so I’m looking forward to it and I know while you were at Cal you had a lot of creation responsibilities offensively and know you just said you want to be able to see the future what do you envision your role as an NBA player being um I think that’s what makes me so special I could play a lot of roles and whatever role they see me in I feel as what I’m going to thrive in because I’m going to work my tail off on it um but you know there’s a lot of things I can do and there’s a lot of things I want to learn to do I want to learn from great players that’s in this organization already so I don’t know what that role looks like now but I’m looking forward to finding out Eden s cleveland.com uh knowing that you had a coach who previously played in the NBA previously coached in the NBA Mark Manson what were the conversations that you guys had to understand how to convert your game from the college scene to the NBA floor so when we were going through this when I first met him he told me most of the stuff that we’re going to run is NBA sets so a lot of the NBA sets we were running I kind of know like some of the stuff we were doing in three on threes and stuff I knew what we were doing doing because of that experience Coach Madison get instilled into me um he a lot of of a learning curve that I had this year was learning to play point guard so I had to learn different spots so I kind of know how to play almost every spot on the court I don’t know how to play the five but I know where they’re supposed to be um but you know I gu I can go on about Coach Madson for about an hour now um but he he’s definitely turned me into this who I am today obviously I put the work in but he’s helped me get through this process and I told myself I wasn’t going to cry yesterday but when I hugged him I had to cry I had to yeah you said before that you compare yourself to guys like kayn Martin Josh Hart guys that do the dirty work and do the things that any team asks of them for you to come in and have played all those different roles what do the Cavs and what do the Cavs fans be able to expect from you a winner one hard worker and everyday guy that’s the three things that would describe me you know I have a lot to work lot of work to do to get to the point where I want to get to but I’m looking forward to it and I like to I want to learn from these these vets you know I want to learn um I’m coming in to this opportunity with an open mind um obviously my story and my journey has helped me have this open mind and a mature mindset you know so I’m just I’m just looking forward to just becoming a really good professional basketball player uh Terry political clev playing deer jayen um say a year ago at this time where did you think your career was where did I think my career was yeah and Mark mson say no I’m um cuz had you transferred to Cal by then at that point or um like last summer last summer last summer I was in the transition of going to cal um honestly I knew I had a breakout year coming um I always thought in the back of my mind I could be NBA player I had a lot of confidence in myself right I just know I had to show it you know um it’s a difference between knowing it and it right so I knew I had to get in the right system with the right coach who really believed in me and obviously that’s why I’m sitting here today cuz I made a pretty good decision to go with Coach Manson yeah I just how did did you have a connection with him or anything or how did you end up there so when I was at Texas Tech my big man far he M um he was with Coach Madison previously at um Utah Valley MH um he he was going on and on about him why was at Tex Tech man I love M man this and that so I kind of had an idea who he was I’ve actually never seen him play I’m a little bit too young to see him play sorry um but I’ve heard a lot of great things about his game you know so that was the connection and then once my big man went it was kind of like all right this is the decision like I’ve heard great things and I have wanted to go see it for myself went on my visit it was a done deal going to C I just one last Kobe did how long have you guys been following him well it’s interesting because you know he’s he’s had an interesting Journey uh with with different colleges along the way and so um it’s not like we started the season like that’s someone we have to see right you know you certain you have your list in the beginning but you know all of our Scouts are in town and um we it’s kind of sad it’s the last year of the Pack 12 but Pack 12 you got to visit you got you got there’s a lot of great talent out there obviously we drafted Evan Moy from there we have Isaiah Moy from there so um Pack 12 is something you got to see and so he put himself on the map this year to where you had to go see him like who is this kid that keeps putting up these numbers and and then turning Cal into a winner right you know when Cal’s pick to finish bottom of the league um and then they keep winning winning winning and putting themselves in a position to where nationally they’re getting that recognition um it made it obvious that we had to go we had to go see them and you know our guys our guys have seen him a ton in person um obviously on TV and then I will say this man like it’s never over to it over and his draft process really elevated him I mean you know we can watch film we can um we can scour the numbers um but when someone makes that kind of impression on you um in person um especially with how the agents are trying to play this mystery game with us all the time now um he wasn’t trying to be a mystery I’m here I’m going to compete I’m going to show you what I got and uh that was meaningful to us darl Daryl rer 9 to 3 Fan Jaylen um even though you and the team have come in saying not really sure what your role is going to be versatile Wing is a need for them so how much does that excite you coming in and just how do you see yourself fitting in with the you know this group that made the playoffs man I want to win a championship honestly I want to ring first year that’ll be some a lot of people don’t get to say that you know so um the role piece like I just want to be a part of a winning culture that’s what I want to do um obviously I want to play right but I know that takes time and obviously throughout my course I understand it takes time to be able to do that right so just learning just learning how to be a professional you know that’s that’s the biggest thing I can say right now I can’t tell you what the future looks like because I don’t know this is new to me right um but I’m looking forward to winning that’s that’s the biggest thing and when we talked to Mike yzy last night he he mentioned multiple times how you like checked all the boxes in the evaluation process and that so as you come into the NBA in this team what part of your game do you feel that or know that you need to elevate I want to be an all defensive player for workie year that’s my goal if I do that now you talking about every box being checked right there that’s every box right um that’s the biggest thing I’m going to work on I’m going work my tail off to be able to accomplish that goal because when I have goals I’m I’m looking to set them I’m not just setting them just to just to try to find a goal you know I’m actually trying to hit these goals so that’s my biggest goal Ser hey Serena sorter for the gaps I’m just curious have any of the the other players reached out to you your new teammates yet and if so kind of what’s the response has been I talked to um George niang he’s actually number 20 so I had to I’m switching numbers this year switching numbers but um he he reached out to me about 10 minutes after the draft um first dude that hit me up and that that just meant the world you know that means there love here you know that shows good culture right some teams you go you won’t you won’t talk to the vets you know what I’m saying they got other things going on but the fact that he took time out of his day to reach out to me that meant the world and I know you just got here but but what do you know about the Cavs what do you know about this organization what have your impressions been maybe even watching this team last year I mean obviously I thought they should have made it deeper but now they got a good addition to help you know help in the locker room you know um but obviously it’s a winning culture right um one in 2016 made a second round last year no me yeah last year um we ain’t going to do we ain’t doing that this year it’s not going to happen um obviously we got a lot of lot of um movement to do and make sure we get the right pieces and I trust them with that right but um I’m looking forward to learning about the state you know I’ve never never actually been out here U don’t spend a lot of time out here I’m a homebody so this is my home now so this where I’m be spending most of my time in all of your answers I mean you just kind of exude this this confidence about you where does it does it come from my work and my love my passion for people for the game um I really love this like not a lot of people can sit there and look you in your eye and tell you I really love this like whatever happens with my journey like I’ve been through so much right A lot of people wouldn’t make it to this point right but I the reason why I keep going is because I love it like peep inside and I just I’m just looking forward to my future for sure Jason Jason lawyer the athletic can you just walk through why three schools in three years um it’s all part of God’s plan in my opinion um you know there was obviously a lot a lot of questions I had to answer during this process right um and all I could do is say the truth right um I had to grow as a man I had to grow as a human being grow as a basketball player right and I feel like that’s what put me in this position today um those three schools that I’ve been to I’ve learned learned a lot from every single School I’ve been to right and it’s going it’s going to prepare me for this level that I’m encountering on right um but I I don’t look back at it as a negative and I don’t want y’all to look at it as a negative because I promise you once you get to know me I care about everybody I mean I don’t know y’all yet but I promise you I care about y’all a little bit you know um but I’m just excited you know um I’m glad that God put me through those challenges and um I’m just looking forward to it it’s also a different landscape now I mean we uh it’s totally different than when I started I mean it’s more common now that players have been to multiple schools if not three when when we look at the second round this today you really want to do your research you’ll see that most of these guys have been in different schools and that’s just a different landscape it’s a sometimes it’s a business proposition sometimes it’s a better career move um to make that transition to another college and so you know maybe the perspective Ive back in the day was like oh he’s transferring all the time it might have been the right decision for your career and and so I think it’s way more of the norm now where you see different until they find the right fit find the right coach find the right role um which is the best for their career and now he’s sitting at 20 so I don’t take that as a negative uh Jackson flicking Jer s SP Nation um you’ve talked about your journey can you go into specifics of what your journey has been and how it’s uh turned you into the man you are now growing up I was never the most talented never most athletic um never made middle school and never made 18 got cut my going into my 10th grade year um so I’ve been through a lot you know basketball’s taking me through a journey but it’s also it’s been Pros it’s been cons of right I’ve learned a lot and I’ve been through the struggle I’ve been at the bottom the lowest of the lows right um I had to work for everything I’ve ever gotten everything you know I’m not a generation Talent which quote unquote right but the one thing I have that nobody else has is the love for the game and the will to win and I feel like that’s that’s the separator for me um and that’s due to my journey right A lot of people didn’t get to go from the bottom to the top back to the bottom you know what I’m saying and I’ve been through that so I understand what it’s like to be at the top and I understand what it feels like to be at the bottom so I I honestly think that’s why I’m here today so I would say this maybe like a top moment for you so how does being on the bottom as you said like help you Propel forward you’re not getting lower than that you a getting lower than low um man just you got to understand it’s a process um like I said being a everyday Guy I learned that’s what you got to do like in this business that I’m in you have to be a everyday guy um you got to learn from your losses and you got to keep moving on with life cuz life is going to throw obstacles at you and I’ve learned that at a young age Spencer Davies Cavs Insider uh Jaylen can you kind of describe your relationship with Al Harrington and how did you end up kind of connecting with him and and what has he meant to your U you know career so far who who’s that again Al Harrington I don’t know who that is no I’m just I’m just playing I’m just playing with you no man he sorry supposed to be he said he was coming where is He Man he’s like a big brother to me honestly um he’s he’s one of the ones that he’s on me 247 um obviously yesterday was a really really big day for me I was super nervous um he told me man go sit down go sit down man go go sit down and obviously like y said my back was hurting during the workouts I call him like yo my back killing me so what this was me get ready for tomorrow so I mean that’s that’s what type of dude he is obviously he’s been there he’s been through the highs and the lows of the NBA right he’s been Su successful at this level so I’m I learned a lot from him you know um he just just keep picking his brain about what looks what what a good career looks like right and I just want to take his career and then build on it you know and Kobe just hearing that he has the endorsement of el Harrington and obviously you guys talked to Mark Madson just guys who’ve been through it and and know this game uh how much did that play a part in this that was great man so I I grew up idolizing Al Harington um in high school and watching him play um way for his time right this multifaceted power forward that can play point guard um and so it’s still for me a thrill to get a call from Al Haron um and and when he’s telling me and it’s more not so much the game but when he’s talking about the character piece like he’s been around a lot of different people he’s been in this ecosystem for a long time and so when Al gives the endorsement you know I go back to my high school days I’m like I look up to Al uh I trust Al um and now Al is going to be in Cleveland Bunch so you guys will see him around Kobe uh how does his game fit into like what you’re looking at you know fitting to just

The newest Cavalier spoke with the media for the first time since being drafted with the 20th overall pick at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence on June 27, 2024.