Mavs’ Dereck Lively II Speaks After Rising Stars Practice 2024

Mavs’ Dereck Lively II Speaks After Rising Stars Practice 2024

Here we go took me a second there we go here we go whenever youall ready how does it feel to be here you know it feels amazing you know just being able to be invited to be able to be here at this event you know there’s a

Lot of people who wish they could be here so you got to be able to be grateful for the position that you find yourself in when the injury happened did was one of your first thoughts like oh no am I not going to be able to do allar

That even crossed your mind I mean yeah that definitely crossed my mind so I just had to make sure that I was taking my time and making sure I was being very very focused on making sure I’m taking care of my body taking care of my mind

And making sure I’m getting back from my nose saw a couple of pictures of you of your journey here can you tell us about that uh yeah was being uh being able to just uh came in with the Mad facility team there was a lot of people who

Hopped on the plane there was a lot of people where who supported me who’ve been able to help me get to the spot and I’m grateful for them you know there was there I was there with Nico I was there with our PR people we were there with

From my media people we were there photographers we were there with everybody my mom being able to know I have my people who got my back with me just Mak me feel that much more confident allar usually brings out all the stars not just NBA but all across is

There anybody that you’re kind of hoping like I hope to see this week um I’d definitely say uh a Jurassic world character or a Jurassic Park character I’d say that’d be that’d be a very that you see a very yeah you see a very big smile on my face if I did

That D what would you say was your welcome to the league moment um that’s hard uh you know when we were in Abu Dhabi after flying 14 hours overseas then I get dunked on in one of the first games so that’s an NBA moment or just being able to just play in a

Different city every other day so you got to be able to be always have your bats packed and always be ready to play on the maths who’s one teammate you would not let drive your car um that’s a good question that’s a good question course let me think about that

Uh I’d say Luca Luca cuz he he got so many cars he just wouldn’t care he wouldn’t care that’s what I say does the allstar break and being here does this kind of provide an opportunity to reflect back on I’m sure your rookie season feels

Like a whirlwind does it sort of be like okay here’s what I’ve accomplished up to up to this point yeah it’s kind of looking at not like a halfway point but almost just being able to kind of reflect on what I’ve done from game one

To now and just thinking about how and I improved going forward so it’s kind of just taking a second to catch your breath uh get your bearings and realize what you have to do moving forward what are the things you’re most proud of when up to this point of your Rook year and

What are some of those things like are what I want to try to get better at uh being able to be a starter as a rookie being able to be an impactful player help in Impact winning being able to earn my teammates respect and Trust uh

And just being able to go out there and laugh at one another and have fun that’s definitely been something that I’ve loved and that’s the main thing that why of my job I want to get better at being able to just be more effective on the

Offensive end and being able to be more of an impact so that not all the focus is on L and Kai so they can have some possessions off that they can save their breath later on in the game deron’s gonna play his 20 on Sunday um being

Around clutch and I’m sure you’ve heard stories about the kindal work he’s been in but what what is that what kind of message does that send to the younger players in this Le about the potential for these careers that that span 15 16 you got to just think about how he takes

Care of his body you know how he’s always focused and he’s always working on his body you know there’s always uh clips and uh little tweets out there about how much money he spent on his body how much time he spend on his body

So he got to be able to think about that and be able to be focused I’m 20 years old and he’s in his 20th Allstar so he’s been playing basketball for pretty much the entire time I’ve been alive and just being able to see how he’s been able to

Be this consistent throughout his career you got to be able to be to learn from it and be able to take things from it working with with Rich and the team of Clutch and being you know I saw your leag games last year playoffs and stuff like that have you heard any stories

Like crazy stories about how he’s been able to kind of do this and is there anything that you’ve seen in competing gu where you’re like to your point like this dude has been playing your entire I mean when it comes to him playing through injuries when it comes to him

Figuring out the game plan of what they need to do against teams to going up against him uh I’ve heard a lot of stories of him being able to just sit there watch film and really study the game of basketball of each player and then going out on the court you could

Really tell how he can dis dissect the game and figure out where’s the where’s the right play and where the ball should go does it change what you think your potential is for the length of your career uh I mean I’m not comparing myself to LeBron but you got to be able

To just learn from him you know you got to be able to pick his brain you got to be able to learn from how he reads the game and how he’s been able to just pick apart the defense and being able to just find the right shot growing up uh did

You watch the allstar game of course moment kind of jump out you see I started watching basketball a little later in my age if you could call it uh I’d probably say like the most memorable memorable moment for me is a 2016 Slam Dunk Contest you know I feel like that’s

Where everybody even at home was standing out of their seats like wow he just did that so you know I’m just excited to see what this year’s done contest and Three-Point Contest got in Sword a ton of energy and momentum behind the Mavericks right now after

Those trades did you guys feel that when did you start feeling that game one uh being able to go out there and uh we had two new pieces who never played with us before and they fit in perfectly you know we’re being able to just we’re starting to build chemistry we’re

Starting to build trust with our new teammates and we’re already on a six game Run so we know coming back from this All-Star break we’re going to be able to get in the gym we’re going to be able to get our schemes down get our game plans down and be able to move

Forward and get some dubs how bum were you that you couldn’t do the Philly trip oh it was terrible it was terrible it was funny because uh my surgery was the day of the Philly game so you know I was going to have a lot of people there I

Was going to have a lot of family a lot of friends a lot of people have been a part of my journey there but you know I got to be able to make sure I take care of my body you know I’m know I’m going to be in Philly eventually so I’ll be

Able to see everybody when you look back on your just your upbringing and like people always talk about how Philly like carries with them through the rest of their life what are what does that kind of lead to um it’s the East Coast hustle you know being able to just you know

There’s a lot of things that’s always going to be stacked against you there’s going to be a lot of things that’s always pushing down in you but you got to be able to push through it you got to be able to shake by and be able to just

Carry and do the job that you need to do you know I feel like that’s my my dad taught me that my mom taught me that my grandma taught me that my aunts my uncles outside of Jurassic characters is there any are there NBA legends that

You’re to me uh I hope to meet AI i’ say AI would be a good one he’s always been one of my favorite players and hopefully Shaq you know I feel like Sha’s going to be around here that doesn’t surprise me if he would and uh you know I feel like

I’ve watched their game since I first started watching basketball you know it’s being able to watch their highlights and meeting them in person would just be a great moment the last time I asked you about this you had not had a chance to talk to Jason about his

First experience and what he soaked up have you had a chance to you ever talk to him about he just keeps telling me to just go enjoy yourself you know it’s a lot of things going to be thrown at you you’re going to be in a lot of different

Positions but you got to be able to enjoy yourself in a new world in a new atmosphere so yeah that’s what he told me Jaylen dur was here a couple minutes ago and he he uh talked about your a times and he honestly do some shade at

You he said when we were in eth grade Derek could not walk and Sh gum at the same time oh no he’s right he’s right I I was like six seven I couldn’t dunk yeah so I had like I had legs this big and you know it’s just going up against

Him for years and years and years and years he was stronger than me he could jump higher than me well you know I got dunked on a lot of times but it doesn’t mean I would stop playing basketball so I just kept grinding I kept playing and

Then we ended up winning PM is it wild that you guys are both here now it’s crazy it crazy CU you know we were playing in the same aou team what two and a half years ago and now we’re both at the rising stars allstar game so it’s

Being able to see how both of our paths have gone different ways to come back and they’ve crossed each other again when he was going through his rookie season last year and like making a impct was that somebody that you’re like okay like like I guess how much did you

Follow that I definitely watched a lot of his games he had a couple of 2020s last year he had a lot of double doubles but you know he was always a he’s always a beast in the glass he was always a beast in the paint tossing shots and

Being able to Dunk Dunk the crap out of the ball watch my words real quick what’s been that one welcome to the league moment for you so far that one where it’s like yo he got me I’d say Rudy Rudy got me one in uh Abu Dhabi

Where he uh drops that dunk on me I know he was watching that one but uh you know I’ve been able to get my get back on him but you know I’m not worried about getting dunked on because you got to be able to take the ball out and get to the

Next play so you’re a high flyer obviously who’s the one guy that’s on high on your to-do list who’s like the guy you’re trying to bang on uh let’s say jayen let’s say Jaylen yeah jayen Jaylen durren you know just old old teammates old friends just being able to

Just have that uh competitiveness and just have that going out there is just always having fun fair enough who’s the one guy in NBA history past or present you wish you could have been teammates with at one point um that’s a hard question that was a

Hard that was a hard I would say AI I was about to say Shaq but I’m gonna say AI why AI you know he was crafty everybody’s going to focus on him so that’s going to be able to kind of just play off of him like I do Luka and then

Real quick last one what is one question that you’ve never been asked by a media member that you wish somebody would just ask you one day how’s your day going how was your day going you know I’m good we here at the All-Star Game I ain’t eat yet but we’re going to here

We’re having fun and we’re just meeting a lot of people so yeah have you not eaten yet I woke up came down here and made sure I got here on time that’s all I’m GNA say appreciate that one more I forgot my B gotcha three celebrities

You’d want courtside at a Mavs game to watch you ideal On Let’s do let’s do baby Meek little baby Meek Mill and Future Mark Cuban you guys 101 what’s the final score 211 yes game 11 make it take it is he getting any buckets CU I know he I’ll

Give him he can shoot I’ll give him Sho I’ll give him two shots because I’ll disrespect it I’ll give him two shots out of respect out of respect and then I’ll go back and dun yeah 112 gotta you attribute that to as far as coaches teammates system

Uh coach Sweeny Tyson Chandler and just being able to have my teammates trust you know there’s a lot of things that’s going to happen on the court that wouldn’t happen if we didn’t help the helper or if we didn’t ex out and then wheel over to the other corner it really

Just comes down to a lot of communication and a lot of if I do this I know the player behind me is going to do what he needs to do hey Derek what’s going on man LeBron he’s been hooping since the Stone Age what’s your earliest memory

Of I feel like the heat was like the the first time I really I watched him on the the Cavs I was really too young to remember that whenever he was on the heat with him dwade and Chris BOS that was really the time I was like oh so

That’s bra he different that the scariest version yeah they was going at The Rim let me ask you a question a defensive a former defensive player of the year that you really want to DK uh could be past K oh give him the fing swag I hear that all right cool cool

Cool D can you look at this camera and I know we did this yesterday but a message to the MLS gotta that got you here for you know so what is this Allstar practice media Rising Stars Rising Star practice what’s up everybody it’s D L thei here we’re at Rising Stars media at

Practice and reaching out to the mass fans thank y’all for supporting us please stay tuned it’s going to be a great weekend see y’all soon one take one story um it’s hard um him kicking the ball from the other other end of the the court and

Going in him throwing a behind the back half quarter um in game when it was I think it was the Nets game where he just slung it and it kissed off the backboard and then uh just him being 24 25 and he acts like a 13-year-old so it’s uh it’s hilarious

Just uh his personality and his character toughest European you’ve had to Garden league so far that’s hard I’m going say Luka I’m going say Luka that’s what I’m that I’m not going to give anymore his favorite European soccer team Argentina the only one I know it’s

The only one I know I don’t even think that’s European that’s not European it’s not got you International I wasuh they cooked us they cooked us one of the things that Nico said the other day on the radio is that your nose is broken in three different places yeah yes it was

Uh what what was your reaction when you found that um I got I got hit pretty hard um you finished the game which pretty amazing yeah um you know I felt my my nose was throbbing the whole time but you got to go out there put the little

Thing up your nose and go ho and uh we went out there got a couple stops couple rebounds and then uh that that one lob to finish the game so that was a it was an amazing time it was a lot of energy I love the energy of the crowd the fans

Everybody in there was having a great time it was a great game that kind of complicates the like your comeback right because you had to actually have a procedure yep so uh can you actually point to like where so it was it was mainly here there was like one in the

Top and I think there was two on the right side so like everything kind of just shifted over yeah it was nasty but when so dere what’s your favorite throwback jersey of all time H I love the old sixer jerseys I have uh the old uh car I have the old Malone

Jersey in my closet that’s like on top of everything so I always see that whenever I go to my closet old old school yeah no no no old old school for sure gotr so far uh you know they’re not my first Australian teammate you know I have Tyrese Proctor as well so it’s

Being able to have all those Aussies is they’re always bringing a different type of energy different type of athleticism and they always bring a different type of concept to the game because they’ve been taught of the game a little different way D what’s one former player from Dall

That you would have loved to play with Durk Durk or Tyson got have a good one

Dallas Mavericks rookie spoke to reporters about a wide variety of topics after Rising Stars practice at 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend.

X: https://twitter.com/GrantAfseth
Facebook: https://facebook.com/GrantGAfseth
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GrantAfseth
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/grantafseth

Check out my full Dallas Mavericks coverage on https://DallasBasketball.com for daily updates, analysis, and exclusive interviews. Check out my NBA work at https://NBAAnalysis.net.