The Washington Wizards had their media day on September 30 and we heard plenty from rookie and veteran players, along with head coach Brian Keefe.
Keefe was named head coach of the Wizards back in May after leading the team in the interim head coach role. He received many questions about offseason roster additions to the Wizards such as the acquisition of veteran NBA guard Malcolm Brodgon.
“Another guy who can attack the rim and put pressure and collapse the defense,” Keefe said
Keefe also spoke about the team getting younger in spite of veteran additions.
“We’re gonna expect a lot from them. We know that the progression is sometimes gonna be up and down, but we’re gonna have high expectations,” Keefe said.
Speaking of players both young and old, Brogdon himself displayed excitement when asked about greeting to work with a young talent like Jordan Poole.
“Jordan is one of the best young talents we got in the league. He gets a lot of criticism but you only get a lot of criticism when you’re really, really good…he works his butt off, man,” Brogdon said.
Poole, who has been in the league now since 2019, spoke to reporters about how he could come back from a less-than-optimal 2023 season with the Wizards. After playing a large role in the Golden State Warriors success, there have been big expectations for Poole from the moment he landed in D.C.
“Just the setup we have going into this year, having a year under my belt, the coaches–the organization–are just allowing me to be myself,” Poole said.
Additionally Poole spoke about his mentality as a leader for an increasingly young team.
“Just have fun,” he said. “Obviously there are gonna be times games get tough, losing streaks, all of that. But the joy of us playing basketball is the thing we’ve been having as kids and I just want to reiterate that,” Poole said.
Speaking of young players, Alex Sarr, the Wizards second overall pick from the 2024 NBA Draft (the highest pick for the team in 14 years) was asked about the learning curve coming into the NBA.
“The game schedule is definitely different. There’s way more games in the NBA,” Sarr said.
Sarr also spoke about the dynamic of having another recently drafted french player like Bilal Coulibaly on the team.
“It’s great having him,” he said. “It’s really special for me to have a teammate like him, he’s been through his rookie year, so anything I can learn from him I’ll ask and I think we can both make eachother grow,” Sarr said.
Coulibaly was the seventh overall pick from the 2023 NBA draft. He played for the French team this past summer in the Paris Olympics. He spoke on what the biggest thing he learned from the unique experience.
“Staying ready,” he said. “There was some games I was playing, some games I was not.”
Coulibaly, like Sarr, was also asked about the impact of having another young French player on the team.
“Easy–we can talk trash to other guys in french,” Coulibaly laughed.
Not to be forgotten, the Wizards also picked up two more high picks from the most recent NBA draft in Baltimore native Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George.
Carrington, the No. 14 overall pick from the 2024 draft, who joined the team via trade from the Portland Trail Blazers in July, spoke about the lifestyle change that comes with being an NBA player.
“The professional side of this, we’re not just basketball players. We gotta make appearances, fundraising…everything off the court,” Carrington said.
Kyshawn George, the No. 24 pick from the 2024 draft, who was also acquired via trade in the offseason from the New York Knicks, talked about his biggest desire for his first year.
“Everybody wants to play. That’s my number one goal this year,” George said.
Talking about playing, new Wizards center Jonas Valančiūnas has played a lot. The decade-plus NBA veteran was traded to the Wizards from the New Orleans Pelicans in July.
When asked about the Wizards leading the league in pace in 2023, Valančiūnas said, “Y’know, young core. They have to be running. I’m here to keep up with that fast pace and give different looks. Physicality as well, that’s my thing.”
With all the new talent, longtime guard and forward for the Wizards, Corey Kispert, spoke about what he was doing to help all the new players.
“I wanna be able to make sure that when the season gets going and we kind of get into the grind of things that they feel like they can be themselves. That’s the most important thing,” Kispert said.
