Media Availability | OKC Thunder vs Philadelphia 76ers | Salt Lake City Summer League | July 7, 2025

Media Availability | OKC Thunder vs Philadelphia 76ers | Salt Lake City Summer League | July 7, 2025

What did you see better today compared to game one? Uh I thought we just took a step forward all the areas that we talked about um over the last day and I thought the guys did a really good job of having a mature approach. Um even asking the loss, win or loss, I thought they just had an like just getting better. I mean improving to the next game. That’s all we’re trying to do. We’re trying to be a better team at the end of Vegas than we are. Right. Uh is it Gortman? Yes. Yeah. He uh he has some potential there. What what you see from him tonight? Yeah. really good player. Uh just proving it time and time again. I thought we got a lot of good performances from a lot of different guys. He was aggressive and arguably everybody was aggressive that played tonight. So, we got a lot of production from all the guys. Nicole Zopic again showed why he’s one of the top picks in last summer’s draft. What did you see from him tonight compared to what you saw the day before? Yeah, just improvement. I mean, it’s his second game, right, in 15 months. He’s 19 years old. Uh so, all we’re asking of him, right, is just to stack days just like the rest of the guys. I thought we have a lot of rookies on the team and I thought that was really impressive for all the rookies to come out, get better, have the experience of a loss, feeling that first even as competitors. Um, and taking the next challenge and next challenge tomorrow will be getting back ready. Uh, get it ready for Utah. Bartiser shows his toughness first half, gets his teeth knocked out again, just keeps on playing. Just kind of shows what he is. Yeah, that’s exactly who he is, right? He’s a really tough player. He’s team- minded. Um, he’s all about the team. He plays within the team and he’s always supportive of other guys as well, whether he’s playing or not. It’s just really cool to see how into the team he is. Two games under your belt here. How nice is it to get there competing against someone else? Uh yeah, it feels nice to be back after quite some time off uh of the court. It feels nice to be back. A little bit weird still getting used to it, but but it’s going back to What have you liked about your game so far through two? I mean obviously many things many things uh things I disliked. Uh I think I’ll work on uh every one of those those things and uh and be better. What do you what do you hope to accomplish out of this summer league to get ready for your uh just to get in a game rhythm? Uh play back to backs, play two games in two days, uh play six games in 10 days just just to get in in that game rhythm and game shape. What was it like this season to to watch from the sidelines as they made that championship round? What was it like for you? Yeah, it it was weird, but uh it was it was really really cool to be around those guys and uh just to be able to to watch them was really uh was really great and uh I mean obviously we won a championship so couldn’t be better. How did you handle having to sit there and watch? It had to be frustrating but Chad had to miss some time. AJ missed some time as well. Did they kind of help you through it? Yeah. Yeah, it was hard but uh everybody was there for me. Uh I could talk to anybody like uh Chad was obviously there. Chad went through the same thing. So I think that helped uh helped a lot and just talking to him. But overall uh at the beginning it was like tough but uh later on it easier. How’s your relationship with Chip? One of the best when it comes to shooting. Oh Chip. Chip is a Chip is a legend. Yeah. Chip Chip is really one of a kind. He’s He’s a great guy. He brings energy energy to the training facility to the arena every day. He’s he’s the same every day. What do Thunder fans need to know about your game? Why should they be excited about you? I mean, I can I can pass a little bit playmaking. I can do uh a lot of things, but they never see. What do you think about the new rookies coming in, Sorber and Barnheiser? Happy to help you guys out. They have been great for us. Uh especially uh Brooks. I mean uh Thomas is not playing. Yeah. Uh but he’s there. He is he’s full of energy. He’s very young. I mean my age, but he’s really showing that and he has great energy around him. Uh Brooks is also a great defensive player and I think everybody everything should have a player. What are your impressions on Mark Gagnol? Seems like a player’s coach everybody loves to play for. Yeah, I mean he’s a he’s a great coach. Uh I would say he’s a he’s a better he’s a good person also. Uh, which makes it makes it easier to uh kind of talk to him to uh Oh, yeah.

Hear from Coach Daniel Dixon and Nikola Topic following the Thunder’s 89-78 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the second game of the 2025 Salt Lake City Summer League.

0:00 Coach Daniel Dixon
1:33 Nikola Topic

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