Q & A: Former IU basketball guard Lamar Wilkerson addresses the media following NBA workout

• Alex Bozich

• 1h ago

 

Former IU basketball guard Lamar Wilkerson addressed the media on Monday afternoon following a workout for the Golden State Warriors.

Wilkerson addressed a variety of topics, including his journey through college basketball, what he’s hearing about his chances to get drafted, his experience in Bloomington and more.

A full transcript of his comments is available below:

On the workout with the Warriors:

“It was a great workout. Got a lot of shots up, competed at a high level. Came out here to get better, just showcase our talent.”

On whether it’s his first time in San Francisco:

“Oh yeah, it’s my first time out here.”

On what stands out about the city:

“Man, y’all on top of each other. All the houses I’ve seen, they’re right there on top of each other, man. Got no privacy, huh?”

On where he is in the workout process:

“This is my fourth one and I think I have about eight or nine left before the 18th.”

On the advice he’s gotten through the workout process:

“Just take care of your body, man. It’s a long process. Just going from the college game where you play 32 games and then coming over to the NBA level where you potentially got a chance to play 82 games. Just take care of your body and make sure that you’re at your best every day.”

On what he’s trying to show in workouts:

“That I’m an everyday guy. I bring energy on both sides of the ball. And of course, the reason they got me here is shooting the ball and being able to make shots. So continue to be me, but also incorporate the stuff that the teams want to see.”

On an aspect of his game that might be underrated or that he might be trying to showcase:

“Just the defensive side of the ball. While I’ve been playing, I’ve always been labeled as a scorer, but I’m trying to be a two-way playmaker. So that’s what I’m trying to get better at.”

On a potential fit with Golden State:

“Everybody knows the Warriors. Steph Curry, even before they know Monta Ellis and stuff like that, just the way they move the ball, the ball movement, of course, making shots, just playing at a fast pace. I think I can help with just my shot making ability and my unselfishness on both ends of the ball.”

On the excitement working out for the Warriors:

“To be frank with you, just being up here at this level, whether I’m at this franchise or another one, man, I’m just grateful for the opportunity to come up here and just work out with these teams, be around greatness.”

On whether he’s had a chance to reflect on his journey and where he’s at now:

“I kind of reflect on it here and there, but in my mind, I haven’t made it yet, so I’m trying to get to the point where I established myself in this league and be sustainable and then I could sit back and finally be like, okay, you did it. But as of right now, like I’m not giving myself no credit every day. I wake up and it’s like I’m still at JUCO or trying to get to the college level. So that’s just how I’m just going about it.”

On seeing other guys who were overlooked make it to the NBA and if that gives him confidence he can get there:

“A hundred percent, man. Like you just said, everybody’s path is different. Everybody got a different story. Everybody got a different journey. All the way up to my collegiate career at Indiana, I had to take the longer route. So if I had to take the longer route to get to be able to wear the NBA on my chest, that’s fine.

“I’m just going to be grateful for the moment, be grateful for the opportunity and then just make the most of it.”

On why he made the transition from Sam Houston State to IU look so easy:

“Just consistency and the team I had around me, the coaches at Indiana, they made the game easy for me. And they just took a risk and brought me in. So, I just felt like I owed that to them to come in and give them my best every night and do what I did at the mid-major at the high major level.

“Just coming in and just being me, like I said at the end of the day, I just want to be me and it’s gonna always pay out.”

On what he took away from his time in Bloomington and from coach Darian DeVries:

“Just being an everyday guy, coming to the gym with intention, not just coming there, just to come in there and say that I came to practice today, but to come in there, get better, make my teammates better, be that light in the gym, even if we came off a loss or came off a losing streak, just come in there, have that same energy, whether we up or down.”

On the feedback he’s gotten about potentially being drafted or getting a two-way contract:

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m just enjoying it right now, man. I tell my agents, I don’t want to know about that right now because I’m just enjoying it.

“I’m just taking it all in. Of course, I got feedback of the stuff that I do well, the stuff I can get better at. And like I said, take care of my body, the little 1 percent stuff, but as far as just like what I’m projected and the two ways and everything else, I told them that I don’t want to hear that.

“I just want to go in here and just live in the moment. So that’s where I’m at.”

On why it was important to give back to Sam Houston State:

“If you went back a couple of years ago and you asked anybody in my hometown, would I be playing Division I basketball? 99 percent of them say no. So, just for them to come out and believe in me as I believed in myself.

“There was a family, they welcomed me with open arms for my first visit and they just took me in and they taught me the right way how to do stuff. From a JUCO kid, my habits and stuff like that wasn’t good. So they really just took the time and developed me not just a player, but as a man.

“And it was a lot of times where I went in that office and we had like a heart to heart, a 15-minute meeting turned to a two-hour meeting. And then my last year, after my last season at Sam Houston, I went in there for my exit meeting and coach was like, ‘you’re not coming back here.’ He’s like, ‘I want you to go in the portal and I want you to make the most out of your talents. I want you to help your family out and stuff like that.’

“So that just hit home for me. And I was blessed to receive some NIL and Sam Houston and mid-majors kind of struggled with that. So for me to give back, it just speaks for itself.”

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