for Russ damn welcome to Denver Russ thanks man um your coach and your general manager have already spoken about the kind of impact you're going to have on the team's work ethic and attitude I'm curious what you think about your on court role with the Denver Nuggets um just compete play hard lead um I have many traits and Leadership is probably the one I um um really enjoying doing most on and off the floor um and Leadership is something that can transpire through a locker room through a culture through organization um and on the floor
that's primarily where um I will lean into more Russ what made Denver a destination that that you wanted to end up in this summer um just a culture uh looking out you know from outside looking in um team has always been at the top for the Western Conference um you know always in the hunt to win a championship always play the right Brandon basketball I'm always you know at this stage of my career looking to play the right way regardless of the wins or losses understanding that playing the the proper band of basketball allows uh
everyone to kind of get involved allows team to grow and also allows you to be able to win at the highest level and um the Nuggets uh you know has been doing that for years and I'm grateful to be here hey Ross uh welcome um you have played with a lot of talented guys uh all in in your career but what what are your thoughts about of course Nicola yic before you played with him have you talked to him um what do you think what what are your expect expectations to be with him in the
court um honestly just just to to be on the floor with him is a a grateful honor and and and I'm I'm grateful for that um and you know he does so many different things on the floor um that allows other people to be great and I'm just happy to be able to be a part and not playing against him um or scouting against him and I'm able to kind of see his greatness up close and see the things he's able to do um not just on the court but off the floor as well and
um I'm grateful for that Russell Russell you talked about the the culture here I'm curious if there was anyone on the team that you spoke to in the off SE season to to kind of get a feel or a read on on what it's like here um I talked to a multitude of people but primarily I talk to DJ a lot me and DJ are close and um you know we talk about a lot of different things but the culture and and how things were here um you know he kind of springboarded that conversation and
you know from then on I kind of talk to everybody else as well Russ uh Calvin boo was saying that you maybe had a relationship with nicoa people that's kind of been the talk where does that stem from what's it been like to get to know him over the years um I think just competing at the highest level um respect level I think um out of utmost respect for Nicole and the things he's been able to do in his game thus far um and I think it's it's vice versa and us having that allows us
to you know mesh immediately immediate conversations understanding what it takes to win and obviously he's won a championship so he knows exactly what it takes to win and uh I'm here to be able to hopefully bring another one here well Russ on that right here how how important is that Championship to you you've accomplished so much where where where is that in terms of your desire and motivation um honestly it's it's I think this time of the year everybody's going to say they want to win a championship everybody's going to say the same thing um
it's not like uh live or die to be honest um I love playing the game of basketball I love having fun I love using this platform to do do other things um and winning a championship is very difficult and very hard and a lot of things has to go your way I think long as we as a team uh put our best foot forward we can live with the results and if that's a championship then I'm grateful for that and if it's not I'm also grateful for the opportunity and be able to learn through a
process that um you know you may not be able to encounter for years uh Russell what side it's my dog Russell um two two of the things that you know the Nuggets kind of missed last year was Rim pressure off the dribble uh in in in half in half court and rim pressure in transition um when you make a decision you know kind of in free agency was the Dak play into it well and because those are two things that you have done you know traditionally over the course of your career that those are kind
of some of the strengths of your game um yes and also so um just understanding you know what the team and the coaches will ask of me um that conversation is yet to kind of be had but I do know uh some of my strengths and things I can bring to a team um and rim pressure not just for scoring but pace and and understanding I can get in the paint to create for other people um to me is what I'm most forward looking most likely looking forward to Russ you had a very busy offseason
with Westbrook Academy can you just explain to a lot of people what that process was about it's years into make it man um I'm grateful for um the opportunity to be able to bring um a school not just for kids but for families WRA around services to the South La area growing up in Intercity of Los Angeles being able to make an impact in other ways but education is a huge part of um you know the underserved Community especially in Los Angeles and um I'm just grateful and and happy that all the kids are able
to kind of endure all the different services that we do have at Westbrook Academy and I'm grateful for the uh you know for the future to come and more to come you know for those students and you know it's a blessing to be to do something like that especially in Los Angeles Russ here on your right how do how do you see your role on this team and I guess has it been a fun challenge as your career you know as you get up there in years and it Chang is what's asked of you and
you have to figure out how you fit in best versus you know when you're winning MVPs and running the show yeah man you know I'm I'm a team guy whatever the coach asks of me that's what I'll do so um whatever that is um and we practice tomorrow we get closer to the season whatever my role is whatever is needed for me to be able to win games that's what I'll do hey Russell uh like Kobe Bryant in the past you've always been kind of Public Enemy Number One in the Denver area in terms of
uh fans love and hate what's it GNA be like playing in front of a Denver crowd that will pump you up you know I don't know I don't know if it's Public Enemy Number One I think I I this how I look at it um over my course of my career a lot I've been booed and all that stuff everywhere else but I I I take it a sign of respect just like the late KOB Bryant when people boo you they understand it's a it's a level of respect and it's a reason if people don't
say anything then you should be worried and for me um I take it as a level of respect and I'm I'm grateful now to be a part uh of the loud and yell and screaming and um my job is to make him scream louder um and have fun and enjoy the game so Russell you're joining a point guard room with Jamal Murray just what's that what are those conversations what are those those moments espe like on and off the court do you think are going to be like just with somebody as competitive as him and
as you uh it's gonna be great my job is to be able to push Jamal to be the best he can be um and play the highest level he can he's an unbelievable player and he has still has so much room to get get better in a lot of areas and I'm grateful to be able to be here to be able to to help him alone the journey um and vice versa um I'm always open and understanding and be able to learn from other guys as well because that's how you expand your game that's how
you stay around longer and I'm grateful and looking forward for the opportunity Russ Russ we just saw pton called you called you his Idol um how excited are you to tap into his potential and be around him a lot more as Cali guys uh very excited you know Peyton is excited um he's he's young uh he's ready to compete and my job is to better teach him some of the things I've learned over the years understanding how important it is to be able to not take a day a game a practice for granted and understanding
how important this part of his life is have an opportunity to be able to play in NBA and understanding what that entails for him and his family and I'm going tap into him all areas not just basketball but life um and you know that's a part of leadership as well so you've touched on the leadership aspect a couple times this is a pretty young roster in a lot of areas with guys who were even growing up watching you play earlier in your career I what's it kind of just been like to be around all those
guys so far even at workouts in that kind of setting and it's good you know it's uh it's probably look this is probably last year not so much this year is probably the first time I've heard like a lot of different stories from some of the young guys of when they saw me play when they were in high school or when they saw me play uh years ago so hearing some of those stories is one inspiring for me I I love to just know and understand and and understand people's journey and and how they're how
they're why um so it just it just gives me more confidence and it pumps me up more to be able to tap into them more um and and lead them in a way that uh they' never been LED before so Russ have you over here yeah Russ have you and nicolea talked about the triple double race at all uh how do you anticipate your game Ming in that regard no we have not um have not had a conversation about it um and I don't know if there's a race or not but we have not talked
about it at all Nia is um you know the best player in the world and and he's playing at the highest level um and all we care about and he probably take you the same as is winning basketball games and and that's it Russ you you talked about mentoring pton and trying to help him along and teach him about the game and life did did you have a player when you came into the NBA that helped you along that uh uh that that showed you the way so to speak yeah I mean when I was
in Oklahoma Nick Collison U was um we're still friends to this day uh help me in so many different ways and you know he probably doesn't even know this but just off the floor how he manages everything else besides basketball allowed me to be able to be uh you know a good basketball player at the time and uh I'm grateful for for him and his knowledge that he shared with me as a as a young player coming into the league I'll ask uh you you're glad you're not scouting against Nia anymore yeah what was the
experience of trying to scout him like on previous teams that you've been um Good Luck that's it just hope that he missed or I hope it's nothing you can do uh which is you know you want to be able to be on the team with somebody that that's literally unguardable and I'm grateful to be on this team so your known is pretty intense yeah have you mellowed at all over the years or are you you're going to rage to the to your last breath let me think I'm never changing I'm not going to change who
I am uh I'm not going to change anything about me um my intensity and I think that people confuse like intensity with competitiveness and like when I compete like I don't know when I'm on the floor I don't I don't want to be walking around shaking hands kissing babies I don't really want to do that I'm there to excuse my language but kick some ass um and besides off the floor I'm chill I'm mellow I'm not as intense as you may think um I just like to have a good time and have fun but when
I am competing I want to compete at the highest level um and that part of me will never change as long as I'm competing uh in this game and I'm grateful for the opportunity and um you know the rest will go in history appreciate you yeah yeah thank you
