Post-Draft Availability l Ja’kobe Walter- June 28, 2024

Post-Draft Availability l Ja’kobe Walter- June 28, 2024

Jobe uh welcome to Toronto and uh what’s been the last 48 hours is that what it is yeah 36 hours with just maybe walk us through that just from we spoke to you on draft night but what’s uh what’s it been like uh prior to arriving here today um hectic a lot of a lot of Media stuff um really just um learning a lot about the city early um been talking to a lot of people I’m just super excited uh you know got here yesterday um this morning uh just did a few things medical wise um talk to Darko so really just getting to know everybody um and enjoying this enjoying the city what did uh based on talking to Darko obviously he came in here and had a very specific idea of what he how of how he wants this team to play offensively uh what did he express to you and how do you think you fit into sort of what he expressed yeah uh we haven’t gotten into that um we just uh just been building our relationship uh we just met for the first time in person um not too long ago so um really just getting to know each other um talking to each other that’s really it who’s been your go-to for getting up to speed on what Toronto is all about everybody everybody cuz I I’ve never been here so this my first time so I just been asking questions um a couple places where I should go or see remind you of anything from down in the state City New York yeah on draft night you had the purple suit on and then can you talk about the photos that were in the lining of your jacket yeah um just my family members uh people obviously um mean a lot to me um they’ve helped me this whole journey supported me um really done whatever they could so um I just wanted to have them kind of with me um the whole way so put the put the pictures inside just to always remember jacobe have you had a chance to speak to any of your new teammates on the Raptors and if so who and what were those conversations like yeah IAL uh Emanuel he he texted me right after um he said let’s get to work uh just like that um so I mean you can see where the mindset is so we already trying to get to work did you uh follow Davon Mitchell growing up and as Baylor guy um he’s one of the biggest reasons that I even committed to Baylor um he’s what made me take Baylor serious when I saw the way he was playing and um the way that their whole play style was I love his energy he’s came back to Baylor we’ve um played against each other so um it’s kind of cool just to know that now he’s going to come over jacobe uh I’ve heard on a podcast that you said one of the B misconceptions about your game is that you can’t create your own shot looking forward into the summer are there like areas that you want to work on almost immediately kind of figuring out what you want to do yeah um obviously getting to the NBA uh there’s a lot of things I need to learn um uh the game um even more IQ wise um the speed of the game um strength uh so there’s a lot of things I need to work on um I think my main focus will be uh just how to play off the ball and um create for others question the uh I mean what’s your first impression I mean I guess through your draft process you’re probably in and out of a lot of practice facilities I mean just driving into the City and seeing where you’re going to come to work every day what uh what do you take away from that uh I think this is one of the best facilities I’ve seen this whole process um I went to a lot of spots but this one I say is up there for sure it’s a really nice facility I know you didn’t know or you didn’t really expect Toronto to be picking you um but how much of a shock was that considering you didn’t do the workout um I mean we we were still high on Toronto um this is still a place that I thought I fit very well so um when I heard that I was going to be picked I was excited um a lot a lot of people thought I wasn’t excited but um I was just there was just a lot of emotions running and um just all the the happiness it just all came down on me um real quick um so uh yeah it was it was it was a cool experience how long did it take for for the moment to kind of feel real and settle in uh when when they got on the clock um when they got on the clock all the emotions started started running through my body and uh just had to put my head down pray real quick um just for my future and um and then when my name got called all the tear started flowing you’ve been uh you know five star Prospect coming out of high school a guy who’s been on the national scene for a while now is there a moment you can think of growing up that you were like know I can play in the NBA um I say when I got my first offer uh to Baylor um I wasn’t really expecting it and I was just I was just working uh I wasn’t even trying to focus on the scholarships and um when when I got that that’s when I was like okay I can now I’m going to the next level um but I still need to put in work cuz I know what the end goal is have you had a chance to look at your social media at all and see how Raptor fans have kind of flooded every single post yeah uh I’ve gotten a lot of messages I’ve read the comments um the fan base is already insane uh so just knowing that I got um feels like a whole country behind me um it’s just really a blessing and I’m just really grateful for it thanks for watching the Toronto Raptor YouTube channel check out our latest videos and subscribe for more [Applause] Trent answers back Gary side step great got it

Toronto Raptors 19th pick Ja’kobe Walter speaks with the media #Raptors #TorontoRaptors