Do you want?

Last time we saw you, you were devastated.

And I understand why.

Because shot the Kawai hit was unbelievable.

You defended it.

Amazingly, that shot doesn't when you guys might be getting a ring in a couple of weeks.

How were you able to recover from a man?

The main thing I was a man, remember?

From that time when he actually happened?

I don't I don't remember what was going through my mind.

I was just thinking that I let my team down.

Obviously, you can't control sickness or when it's gonna happen on when he's not gonna happen.

And have you seen my knee?

I was about bother made the whole second half of the season and the playoffs.

But all I was thinking about was Ah, what can I do to, like, make sure I don't let my teammates down again on my team or the whole city?

Basically on I was should just take better care of my body, walk on the stuff I never really paid attention to.

Andi has been going with the whole summer and I'm excited about the season.

Do you feel like you let him down.

I mean, you played the one of the best season, if not the best use of your career.

You played great in the playoffs despite your knee.

And you defended that shot.

You were all over him on that shot.

I don't think anybody could say you didn't do it.

You're all well, may I'm competitive.

I think everybody knows that about me.

Like to compete.

I wanna win.

Yes, I feel like I let them down.

Man, I wish 27 a half points during the regular season, and I think the players I didn't even average 25.

So my production gotta go up in the playoffs instead of like, going down eso.

That's why I feel like I let them down.

And we also had a great chance off winning the whole thing.

You know, like you said, if that shot hadn't gone down, you don't know what was gonna happen.

But I can't think about it anymore again, you know?

Think about wants to come what the future might look like.

Control what you can and go from there.

So you've lost 20 or £25 in the off season was your motivation for doing that?

A man, it was.

It was the man.

Thing was, I just looked at myself.

I'm, like, care.

Like the way I play basketball, you talk about a guy that's like seven whatever foot and, uh, being able to, like, play like a God I put on the floor, I shoot off the dribble, all I do everything on the basketball court, basically.

And then I just looked at myself and I was like, Obviously like, I'm not having even I'm not even before the £20 on our loss.

I'm not heavy us life for my size, But I just felt like my game till I take less stress on my body.

I just felt like I just needed to get lighter so he doesn't put his must trust on my bones because I you know, when you if you got a pit, I could go like you gotta be able to move freely on as a big man.

It takes a lot out of U.

S.

O.

I just felt like I just needed to get lighter Teoh be able to accommodate my game to whatever I felt like doing on I mean, Andi goes by what I walked on this summer, especially because we lost Jay, Jay and Jimmy.

Uh, the space is going a tighter You don't have down one, God that they're going to guard the way they gotta.

JJ, you can't give him my age, and then this year is going to be a little different.

So, you know, now you start thinking you like, you gotta add some new stuff to you game there.

Sure enough, the dribble actually pay like a god, because to be able to be to school from the post consistently back to the basket is becoming hard because people can just send a double team any time they want.

Get the ball out of your hands.

And what else do you have?

So you gotta find out the waste.

Like, make sure that you like stead.

Domnitz.

Ah, I know these guys are gonna look up to me when he comes across them when he comes to score, so I gotta be able to not let them know you guys got a plan and think about the long haul May June.

What is the plan to protect your body going into the season for you.

Well, well, we've talked about it, Um, is not is not big changes the way we look at it right now, I'm a large sharp played the most games I've ever played.

64.

The shot See myself playing over 70 games.

She's gonna be good for us because we're trying to get the no Morency and we're trying to win over 60 games.

And then he's gonna help me because I need that same success if I want to be able to win NDP or defensive play of the year, but she look at it.

Last year I kind of started to like you was to house and I was 35 36 minutes a game.

And then and then I started slowing down.

So this year we got to make sure start off snuffed low, not Min illustration.

But we started for the white number, like 30 31 minutes to start off the season.

And then as the season goes on, you keep ramping up, ramping up.

And then, by the time playoff comes, she found and then okay occasionally makes a couple of games and stuff, but I see myself, you know definite play overseas.

70 games.

So how do you balance that?

Because you are very proud guy.

You're a top of your profession.

You want to win the M v P.

You want to win defensive player that you just mentioned wanting to get the number one seed.

But your health is almost, I would say, the most important thing for this team.

How do you balance that wanting those?

It's hard.

It's hard.

I'm competitive.

I want to be out there with my guys.

I want to win.

It's hard on uh and you can You can still are completion of stuff.

Even playing 70 games has been every piece and defensively of the year that I played like 70 to 75 games is he can happen, is possible eyes very possible, but then won Rookie of the year.

You know, almost one working of the year playing 31 games.

I will finish second, playing 31 games.

I think you should thank you.

Next.

You should world M v p next year now, but I trust me, I got I got I got a great schism coming, but what I've learned much other lot like two years ago.

I used to fight a lot with the team like I want to play, I want to play.

I want to play because I have something to pull.

But I had to like I wanted to prove that I was injured point, because when you talk about a guy, that's Andrew Polo.

I had that many injuries.

I just had injuries that I've taken too long to recover from, like the for two years and then order.

And now, like I had the tendon nineties and that's all I can think about S.

O.

I wanted to, like, prove that I was an injury upon, and I hate that term or wasn't made a glass on whatever, and that was just something that I wanted.

But you're much and there you go through situations where you lose in Game seven of the but buzzer beater, and then you lie.

You gotta think about the big picture.

Like last year.

I wasn't Herford in the playoffs side issue.

I want to make shop with myself in the best situation possible to be hurt because that's what matters.

You gotta win the whole thing.

You don't want to finish my career where I don't even have a championship.

Because it doesn't matter.

People would want ever look on me.

And I know the way you guys have 46 foot 10 guys and your starting lineup in 2019.

Teams are going smaller and fast.

You guys, we're focusing on defense.

Can you win a title playing the side of you guys are gonna play this year?

Yes, for sure.

You say I need a little bit, uh, off the shoulder, guys.

I guess especially.

That's why J.

J.

Was so great.

Force Jimmy wasn't short, but he was so great for us.

But we've always had I'm entirety off bully ball.

You know, Ben does.

It is scores inside.

I do.

All is gonna do it.

I watched him.

He's gonna do it, Tobias.

She's like or do.

We likes playing outside, but he can also post up eso.

You got to find that balance.

And I think you can win that where you don't have to be shooting.

1002 is a game to be able to win.

You got to make him.

But you don't have to be shooting a lot to win it so, but we're going to find a way.

I was going to take a bit of a time to adjust new guys.

Uh, but we're gonna be falling.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Jolan be.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thanks for watching ESPN or YouTube.

For more sports highlights and analysis, be sure to download the ESPN app and for live streaming sports and premium content, subscribe to ESPN, plus.