Former Washington Wizard Jason Smith LOVES What the Organization is BUILDING | Stix Joins The Show

Former Washington Wizard Jason Smith LOVES What the Organization is BUILDING | Stix Joins The Show

On today’s show, we got the man himself, former Washington Wizard Jason Smith, current analyst with the Monumental Sports Network as well. He joins, he’ll detail some of his time in a Wizards uniform from years back and what he sees going forward for this Wizards organization. Don’t miss it here on Lockdown Wizards. [Music] You are Locked On Wizards, your daily Washington Wizards podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. DC family, this is Locked On Wizards, where you’re part of our family. We thank you for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every single day. We’re part of the lockdown podcast network where it’s your team every day alongside my co-host Abdullah a DC sports content creating savant. Check him out on his Instagram page. He’s the host of the NBA sports known page. I’m Ben Shrober and I cover all things DC sports for 1067 the fan and the team 980. And today we are honored to be joined by former Washington Wizards Jason Smith. Jason spent three years with the Wizards from 2016 to 2018 and now still involved with the Wizards Nation as an analyst for the Monumental Sports Network. Jason, we appreciate you for making some time for us. What have you been up to this offseason, man? Now, you know what? I’ve been spending time with my family. We’ve been going to the beach a lot. Pool time. It’s hot out there in the summertime, but you know what? Basketball season is right around the corner. So, like you said, we’re going to talk a little hoops today. Let’s do it. Let’s do it, man. Real quick, today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. So, as we get into the dog days this summer here, Jason, you and I were just talking about everyone’s football, football, football right now. Uh, so I feel like it’s a good time to reminisce on the past just a little bit. We’ll do that throughout the first segment. Talk about your time as a Washington Wizard. And then moving forward throughout the show, we’re going to break down how you’ve seen this organization change over the past couple years. And we’ll touch a lot about another sevenfooter 7footer to sevenfooter connection right here. You and Alex Sar, how he will develop here in year number two. But just to start things off, wanted to talk about that 201617 season. One that was so special uh to Abdullah and I because I mean really in our lifetime that was the most fun we got to have as Wizard fans. It was a game away from the Eastern Conference Finals. We hear all the uh the smoke about how this Wizards team would have given the Cavs a real real tough shot there in the Eastern Conference final, but I just wanted to ask what was the vibe like in the locker room with that team, John, Brad, Markeff, Marchin, and all those guys. What was it like in that year? You know, it was a lot of fun uh playing with all those guys. You went into games knowing that you’re going to win the game. Uh it it was a lot of fun to see Brad go out there and develop as a scorer. John going through any and every defense, getting to the rim, dunking with his left hand even though he’s a right-handed player. So, for me coming to the team, I was like, “Okay, I know they’re a good team, but seeing those two operate at a high level was amazing to me.” Then getting on the team with Marching Gort, I mean, the Polish hammer. He’s setting screens left and right. He’s going out there catching passes that not many people can catch in the paint, and he’s going up and finishing. Having a combination of one through eight, nine, 10 people on the bench, every single person. You knew that the starters were going to get you a lead. As a bench role player, I knew, okay, my job, don’t let the lead go. Make sure that we keep the distance or extend that lead. But I thought that it was a lot of fun for me, especially coming to the Wizards. I was like, you know what, this is going to be a great opportunity for me to get an opportunity to play. But there was a lot of people in front of me. I had Yan Mahheim. I had Andrew Nicholson, but injury after injury, I made sure I stayed ready. I got opportunities to play. Coach Scott Brooks gave me the opportunity to say, “Go out there and do your thing.” And playing with John was very easy. All I had to do was literally set a screen, watch him go run to the basket. And I was like, “All right, well, he got a layup. Let me just run back on defense. This is pretty easy. I kind of like this.” Jason, you never miss a mid-range shot. You probably know that. But I mean, oh my goodness, as a kid watching you, like there were games where I would just be like, “Yo, just give him the ball and move out the way.” But going back to that season, what was it like with with the Heat the Heat arrival with Boston? I mean, you were there when Kelly Uber and Kelly Oolen had that confrontation. Like, did you guys legit like was was there some tension there when it came to playing the Celtics? Because Isaiah Thomas was I mean, he was averaging what 30 points per game, Jay Crowder, Avery Badley, and John Wall game six winner. Just all that in general, like was that rivalry a true thing? Absolutely. There was no, “Oh, they’re just putting on a show.” They genuinely did not like each other. But that’s the competition. That’s the blood pumping. When we get out there on the floor, we know that Boston’s a great team. We knew that we had a chance to go out there and do something great. It was kind of one of those best scenarios where you get into the playoffs, your your backs against the wall on a game six. John, I mean, originally the play was supposed to go to Bradley Beal, but John saw that Brad was getting a little bit harassed out there. He wasn’t getting open. So, John goes out there, takes the initiative, gets the ball, and the rest was history. Knocks down a three that will forever live on in my memory as one of the greatest shots that I’ve ever seen in playoff history. Personally, sitting there right there on the court, I was like, “Oh my gosh, our playoff lives are in the back.” Oh my. You just don’t even know what to do. you’re like, “Okay, that that was nuts. The adrenaline’s pumping.” And then you go up to a game seven in Boston. The playoff atmosphere there, you had them right there and just couldn’t finish the deal. Granted, Isaiah Thomas was a great player at the time, that entire Boston roster. But like you said in the beginning, we had a chance if we got past Boston. Cleveland didn’t want to mess with us that year because we kind of had their number. We were prepared to go against Cleveland. It’s just Boston clipped us before we got the chance. Yeah. I mean, the the games against Cleveland throughout the regular season were just so entertaining. Ridiculous. Nobody. It was that seven. Sorry to cut you off. It was a 17 game home winning streak, I’m pretty sure. And then LeBron with that cheese bank of a three. I mean, you were Jason. Like, what was your reaction to that as well? I mean, that had been something in the crowd. I see that all the time on Instagram and I’m like, “Oh, there I am on the bench.” And I’m like, “Oh, yeah, there I am. I remember this shot.” He catches a fullcourt pass from Kevin Love, fading away from the wing, falls into our owner, Ted Leonis, as he banks the three, and I was just like, you got to be kidding me. There is no way he just made that. But that is LeBron James. I mean, the one thing I remember about that year specifically, and I know Abdullah just touched on it, the 17 home uh winning streak that you guys went on the Verizon Center then was was rocking night in night out uh for Wizards basketball in such a prosperous time. Um just how do you feel like the organization right now c can get back to that type of environment? Because, you know, we’re not going to sugarcoat it. We haven’t been able to see those kind of crowds uh in really a few years. I mean, the excitement just hasn’t quite been there as much for this organization, but how can they get back to crowds like that they had a few years back? You know, the biggest thing for us back then was consistency to make sure that we went out there, we protected our home floor. And the way that we kind of did that tough, hard-nosed defense, making sure that everybody’s on a string. I know that the game has evolved a lot in going from mid-ranges or layups to a lot of threes. You kind of got to pick and choose your battles with the threes. If it’s going one night, sure, go ahead and let her rip. But if it’s not going, you got to find other ways to score. And I think that with this team currently, I think they’re doing a really good job of scoring the basketball. It’s the defensive side of the basketball that becomes the difficult part. A lot of young guys struggle to communicate out there on the floor. But from what I’ve seen from a lot of the older guys, Rashan Holmes, he was great last year. whenever he got opportunity minutes to go out there, you could audibly hear him screaming the calls. It didn’t matter if the the crowd was chanting, whatever, you could hear him. You could see his mouth moving. You knew that the last line of defense is the big he has to be the best communicator, pointing to directions of where the weak side help is, where the screen’s coming from to point guards. If you can communicate as best possible to your point guards on the defensive side of the basketball, that makes so many things easier for everybody on the floor. The shifts that you have to make, the calls that you have going into each game, you know that it’s not going to be the same throughout the entire season playing against the Boston, playing against the Charlotte, there’s going to be ups and downs. Do you play well against the good teams? Do you play bad against the bad teams? You need to remain consistent throughout the entire season. And I think that’s just really hard for a lot of young players to kind of go out there and do. Don’t get too high when you get a win. Know that, hey, we got one win, let’s get two. All right, let’s get three. That was when we were on our 17 game winning streak. We knew that throughout the seven or eight games, we’re like, all right, we know that we’ve got about seven or eight games right now under our belts. Let’s get more. You always want more. It’s an 82 game season. It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. Jason, you talked about uh Scott Brooks under when you were there. Washington. How important is coaching in basketball? A lot of people don’t talk about how development is key, especially when you have a guy who knows what he’s doing when it came to your playing time in Washington, what you learned from under Scott Brooks. Just how important is coaching, especially if we’re a young guy in this league. You know, coaching is really key um to really work with guys, especially young guys. And like we said, the Wizards are a very, very young team. We’re talking about 19, 20, 21 year old guys going out there trying to figure it out. But with the coach giving you an opportunity, especially with these young guys coming in, most of the time NBA players don’t get a chance to play right away. The fact that they’re getting major minutes in their first, second, third years, it’s very, very good for the development moving on into their careers. And I think that with Washington, if they can keep this core group together and the coaching allows them to go out there and play freely, but also holding them accountable, developing the relationship, hey, getting better game by game, not just ripping into them and saying, “Oh, that was a horrible performance.” Well, we’ve got to hold each other accountable. Maybe coach didn’t call the right play. Maybe coach didn’t do this. Well, the players also have to go out there and execute those plays. And if they’re not doing it, more often than not, the coach gets thrown under the bus. Awesome stuff here from Jason Smith, former Washington Wizards Center. We’ll take a quick break. When we come back, we’ll discuss how the organization has changed over the past couple years because things are very different than they looked just three years ago. We’ll hit that next on Lockdown Wizards. Have you ever decided at the last minute to head to a ball game with friends or family? Maybe it’s game day and you suddenly realize you want to be in the stands. That’s exactly where game time comes in. It’s the easiest way to grab lastminute ticket deals without the stress. With the money you save on tickets, you can splurge on food, drinks, merch, or even invite a bigger group to come with you. Game time makes buying tickets fast and simple. Prices on the app actually drop the closer you get to the first pitch. And they’ve got incredible lastminute deals, clear seat views, and a lowest price guarantee that takes the worry out of buying. Game time is the official ticketing partner of Lockdown MLB, making it easy to browse the app for an exciting upcoming MLB game. And I know Nationals fans, it it’s been tough. It’s been really tough to watch that team, but I still enjoy getting out to the ballpark, still seeing some of the young players. Wood, who’s been struggling, CJ Abrams, a star in the making. I want to go out there and see those guys play while they’re still on this home stand. So, game time is where I go for that. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown NBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L O C K D O NB for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. We’re joined by Jason Smith today on Locked on Wizards. Spent three years with the Wizards organization, still now with the Washington Wizards, part of the Monumental Sports Network. The past couple of years, Jason, this organization has completely uh flipped its way of thinking. Essentially, we’ve seen a completely new approach, a complete tear down, a new direction, something that the organization badly needed for quite some time. In your eyes, what about this organization has changed so much? Oh, man. From top to bottom, from the president, the GM, the coach, players. I know very few people that were still in the organization when I was around. So, it’s fun to see that changeover if you get success, but I think right now we’re kind of in the tear down stages of making sure that we build from the ground up, build a good base. I think that with the young guys currently on the roster, you have that. I think moving forward as they develop, you want to see more success. And I think that coming into these next couple years, it’s going to be fun to be a Washington Wizards fan because when you go from the lowest of lows and start making playoff anticipations, that’s where the fun starts. But you have to put in the work. And I think all these guys are putting in the work right now. You brought up young guys. The young a young guy that we love is Trey Johnson out of Texas. Jason, we we were very high on him before the draft. And the fact that he fell to the wizard at six was just had had us flabbergasted. My question is, do you think he has a legit shot at winning rookie of the year? Cooper Fl’s talented, VJ Ed talented, but I think the opportunities that he’ll get here in Washington is going to be more than some of these other guys around the league. Just like you said, he’s going to have an opportunity to go out there and showcase what he can do on a very consistent nightly basis. I think that if he can take advantage of that, you can go out there and make a Bub Carrington type of year, an Alex Sar type of year. I mean, it’s fun to watch the young guys, but it’s because they get an opportunity to play. When you come in and you’re drafted in the first round, you might get some playing time on other teams, but with the Washington Wizards, you’re going to get a ton of playing time. You’re going to get it consistently. Now, granted, a lot of people say, “Oh, they’re just throwing them into the fire.” That’s a great thing. They’re going to have have mistakes, but they’re also going to be like, “You know what? I’ve been here before. I know what to expect. I know the coverages of this guy or the plays that this team runs or the strategies that they go through. When you’re a rookie and you don’t get a lot of playing time, sometimes you can get a little bit distracted. But if you’re going out there and having to really lock in and focus and and work on your craft on a nightly basis, that’s only going to benefit you in the long run. It’s no question that we see these young players make plenty of mistakes. We’ve already seen it through the first couple years and something that’ll continue to happen while they’re early on in their career. The Wizards still do have a nice couple of veterans, CJ McCullum, who they just added to the mix, uh Chris Middleton, who’s still around. How important are those guys uh for helping these young guys learn from those mistakes and improving day in day out? That is the glue of the team, especially CJ McCullum getting him. Everybody was like, “Oh my gosh, what are we doing?” This is a great pickup for the Wizards. I was excited to see him actually stay with the Wizards. It’s going to be fun to watch the young guys learn from him on a nightly basis. He may not look like he’s a very vocal leader, but behind the scenes or in the locker room or on the plane, he’s going to be watching film with the young guys. He’s going to be holding them accountable. He’s going to try and help this coaching staff point them in the right direction. But going with Chris Middleton, he was a teammate of mine up in Milwaukee. He is through and through the most professional player, probably one of those that I’ve been around. He takes care of his body. He eats right. He gets rest. He’s He’s just He doesn’t get too high emotionally. He doesn’t get too low emotionally. Now granted, he’s been around the league for a long time, but you only do that if you become a consmate professional, and that’s exactly what he is. And if you have the young guys looking up to a player like that, that is a-okay in my book. From sevenfooter to sevenfooter, Jason, what would you tell Alex Sar right now to help him prepare for year two? Truth. Alex Sar, more of the same, please. Be consistent on the defensive end. Know that teams are going to try and attack you at the rim to try and get you in foul trouble. Make adjustments. You did a great job last year of of learning how to pick and choose your shots. I mean, there was a little bit of a struggle with the three ball, but then he figured it out and teams are like, “All right, we can’t leave him open anymore.” Like, it’s an adjustment period, but as a rookie, if you get those opportunities more and more, you get better. And you saw the progression of Alex Sar. He did a phenomenal job in the middle part of the season and especially finishing the season of going out there and producing. I think that for him it’s just really being a more vocal player. I mean, obviously, he’s going to get a little bit bigger and a little bit more strength at his as his years go on. I think for him, more of the same, consistency. He had a great rookie campaign. I want to see a little bit better three-point shooting. I want to see better shot selection here and there, but diving to the rim. It’s It’s so hyperritical because he can do so many different things. He can shoot the three. He can pick and roll. He can catch lobs. He can block shots. It’s like, man, uh what else do I want him to do? He does a lot of different things really, really well. One of the things that you preached uh just a couple minutes ago was how important defensive chemistry, team defense was to your guys success uh in some of the best years you had here in Washington. And I know this organization has taken this new approach where defense first has been the mentality instilled here by Will Dawkins, Brian Keef, a big defensive guy. What about the personnel in place right now gives you confidence they can succeed defensively? Well, if you have Alexar going out there and making sure that you’re calling out the defensive coverages to the point guards, that’s step one, the communication on the defensive side of the basketball, I want you to be uncomfortable yelling so loud the coverages. Then you get used to it. When you’re in a packed arena and fans are screaming, it’s in the fourth quarter, it’s tough to hear. But if you’re consistently screaming to your teammates, hey, there’s a screen coming. Hey, there’s this coverage. Hey, we need to send him down to the baseline. Those things become a lot easier because you get more trust in each other’s games on the defensive side of the basketball. Making sure to have a tight closed-in defense when a team is attacking the paint, but also making sure to get out to the three-point line because we all know there’s a lot of three-pointers being shot in this NBA game nowadays. And if you can’t guard the three, you might as well just say, “Hey, here’s a free three. Go ahead and shoot it.” that’s not going to have a lot of success. If you can kind of contain the paint and threes, that’s where the analytics say, “Oh, there’s hardly any more mid-range game anymore.” So, if you can go out there and do that, you can point yourself to that success of saying, “Hey, we’re going to protect the rim with Alexar. We got to get out to the threes. And if they do happen to get past us, you can trust that Alex is going to be there to block some shots.” So, it’s a lot of intricate details that go into the process, but I think if the Wizards go out there and have a mindset, hey, we’re not just going to run and gun and try and outscore a team. We’re actually going to play some defense, which by the way is very rare in the NBA, then you’ll give yourself a chance to win the game. Unfortunately, Jason, you were one of the last ones to actually shoot the mid-range shot. After that, everyone just was watching Steph Curry and said, “I’mma shoot it from 40.” Um, going into back to the young guys, I want to talk about Belula Bali, Jason. Year three coming out of France was very, very raw offensively. Defensively, he’s only there. He’s only going to get better. Just how excited should Wizards fans be for year three? Because the first two years both season a career season ending injuries and a lot of people have high hopes for him, especially with the extension talk. So, what should we look forward to in year three of Bal? You know, with Bal, I like his defens’s pre presence out there. He gets to guard the best player on the other team majority of the time. That’s no easy feat for him. If he can go out there and do that, but also be a three and D player. They always talk about those types of players. He has the defense. If he could have the consistency on the three-point level, I think that would be extra valuable for this team. But he can get downhill. He can get to the rim and finish. I want to see that consistency. Like you said, he’s had two season ending injuries in his first two years. I want to see him healthy out there. Now, does that mean we have to restrict his minutes a little bit? give other guys an opportunity. We’re not saying that you’re doing anything wrong. We just want to make sure that you’re out there for the full 82 game season. And when we start to make those playoff pushes, you’re going to have more games coming at the end of the season. So, you’re looking at 90 games, 100 games in a season. Those are things that you really got to prep your body for going into a season in the weight room with your nutrition, getting good rest. If you do have any lingering issues, make sure you talk to that training room. make sure that they are massaging you, getting the treatment, the stem, the ice, all of it. But if he can do that and stay consistent out there, I’m looking forward for him to go out there and be a little bit more of a scoring presence for the team, but also leading some of the younger guys. Say, “Hey, these are the experiences that I had going into my rookie year. We’re a young team, but like I said, there’s not too many veterans.” You want to have those guys that are having the consistency out there on the floor try and lead that team by committing. You look at OKC, they’re a young team. Why can’t the Washington Wizards be like them? Couldn’t agree more. And to your point with the the shooting to be a 3 and D guy, it was good to see him show some efficiency for France the other day. Let’s take one more time out here when we come back. Uh we’ll touch a little bit more on Alex Sard and his development and maybe get some predictions here for the upcoming season from our guy Jason Smith. Stick with us on Lockdown Wizards. If you’re running a business, you know that every missed call is money left on the table. Think about the last time you had an urgent need, maybe for a plumber or a service provider. If the first person didn’t answer, did you wait? Probably not. You moved on. That’s why you need Open Phone. Open Phone is the number one business phone system built to streamline and scale your customer communications all from an app on your phone or computer. Open Phone lets me manage business calls and texts from a single app. The shared inbox feature is a gamecher. Your team can jump into any conversation instantly without missing a beat. And their AI agent handles after hours calls, answers common questions, and captures leads so you never miss a customer. Open Phone is offering my listeners 20% off your first 6 months at openphone.com/lockonba. That’s op.com/lockedonba. And if you have existing numbers with another service, Open Phone will port them over at no extra charge. Open phone, no missed calls, no missed customers. Final segment with our guy Jason Smith, former Washington Wizards Center. We’ve talked a lot in this episode already about Alex Sar. And one of the things we noticed from the friendly against Montenegro the other day where Alexar led France with 19 points and put on an absolute clinic efficiency-wise, seven of 10 from the field. One thing I noticed from just watching some of the film from that game is we didn’t see the same hesitation that we saw from him early on in his rookie season and maybe at times even later in the year early on in the summer league. Why is his assertiveness being aggressive so important to his game offensively? You know, that is a pinpoint accuracy topic right there. You want to make sure that you go out there and play assertive, play confident. He’s got the talent. He’s got the ability to go out there and do a lot of different things. You saw him dunking the basketball. You saw him going and driving to the rim. But the thing that I saw, he had no hitch, no hesitation in his three-point shot. And that’s a very big key because if you can go out there and have the self-confidence to let it fly, know that he’s put in a ton of work in the offseason. He’s going out there playing for the France national team. And if you can have that consistency come back to his Washington Wizards team and going into this season, going out there being aggressive to the rim, shooting the three without hesitation, not many people are going to block his shot. He’s seven feet, he has a good release, high point is if you can go out there and make sure, hey, if they’re going to leave me five, six feet open, shoot it as if they were contesting it. Shoot it the same way every single time. That is a very difficult thing to do. because you kind of want to have that cool thing of like, all right, I’m going to take a dribble. I’m going to relax. That’s majority of the time when you miss the shot. I think with Alex going into last year, a lot of people were like, you know what, he doesn’t have that three-point consistency. We’re going to let him shoot it. He developed it. You saw him knock it down and then everybody was like, oh man, we can’t leave this guy open. He doesn’t stop making these shots. So, I think for him heading into this next season, everybody knows what you can do from your first year. They got a very large sample size. He can block shots. He can run like a deer. He’ll block the shot, lead the transition. That’s the nice thing about him. He’ll catch a rebound and he’ll start the trans. He doesn’t even need to outlet it to a point guard. That’s what makes him so special. And he has very good decision-making skills out there. So, it’s a lot of fun to see what Alex has done in that small sample size with France. I want to see him bring it back to the Wizards this year. It’s going to be exciting year two. Alex Sar Jason, which young player doesn’t get enough love in your eyes? This Wizards team is very, very young. Who should we not be surprised to see if they take a big step forward? Not enough love. Ooh man, you know, that’s a tough question. There’s a lot of players that get an opportunity to play, but there’s one guy that has such beautiful hair out there. He’s got a big old It’s so nice. Ah, can you remind me who that might be? Khan George. Yeah, that’s the guy who doesn’t get enough love in my opinion. He does a really good job. He struggled coming out of the gates last year, but he was kind of that odd man out. You had Bub, you had Alex, and then there was Keshan. And a lot of people didn’t really know about his game, but when he went out there, he made it look so incredibly smooth. He shot the three. He struggled in the beginning of the season. Let’s let’s be honest. But as he went on, coach gave him so much praise saying, “Hey, you know that you’re a good shooter. We know you’re a good shooter. Continue to keep on shooting.” And he did just that. He set a lot of games on fire making six threes, seven threes, but then to see him have the ability to put the ball on the floor and it looked so easy for him giving a little pass fake to the corner and laying it up, faking out the entirety of the defense and sometimes even the cameraman would kind of pan. Oh wait, he still has the ball. It was so much fun to watch him go out there. the fact that he didn’t get an all-star nod on his own, I kind of felt like he didn’t get that much love. And that’s why I think that he’s a guy who heading into this year, if he can do what he did at the middle to the end of the year, oh boy, he’s going to be a fun player to watch. Not only on the offensive end, but the defensive end. He’s so long. He’s athletic. He plays great defense. I want to kind of categor categorize him as a 3 and D player, but he’s got so much more to his game that a lot of people haven’t seen yet. So, one of the things, Jason, that we’ve talked a lot about this organization, this team going forward for this year is that the uh the whole thing of a top eight protected pick and how that might play into how the Wizards play things out throughout this season. But kind of moving that to the side right now and maybe, you know, just not worrying as much about it for for this conversation specifically, what kind of ceiling do you see for these guys going forward? Maybe not next year because of that thing, but a year or two from now if they do add another really talented piece in the draft, how where where are we looking at timelinewise maybe for this Wizards team in your eyes? You know, this team is still in the rebuilding phases. you’re adding young talented players and it’s going to be a a long building process. I don’t know if they’re going to have success this year like you said with that protected eight pick. I think that you want to go out there as a Wizards fan and watch the progression of these young Wizards players. We have a lot of young guys that are going to go out there and get a lot of playing time. You’re going to have an opportunity to say, “Wow, I really like this guy. I really like that guy.” I want to see the progression as a team though, as a fruition. You don’t want the individual accolades. That’s great and all for individual players, but as a team, you want to see them go out there, have good quality wins against good teams, but also don’t play down to the bad teams in the league. Everybody’s going to be coming into the Wizards and saying, “Oh man, this is going to be an easy win.” Go out there and make it the most difficult game possible for them. And I think that’s going to be a Wizards kind of mantra, saying, “Hey, we’re going to go out there and play hard. we’re going to play aggressive and we’re still learning. So with the fans knowing that if they can go out there and get the job done on a nightly basis of saying, “Hey, we got better tonight. We didn’t win the game, but man, we had great individual efforts. We had great team efforts for these certain minutes.” They just have to extend those minutes into an entire first quarter, an entire second quarter. It’s baby steps right now. We’re not going to run right away, but we’re making steps in the right direction. One last thing, Jason, going back to your NBA career, did you ever have like a welcome to the NBA moment? You played 10 plus years in the NBA. You’ve seen a lot of great players. I always like asking former NFL NBA players because it’s very interesting. My welcome to the NBA moment was when we played Dallas. I was with the Sixers. I checked in and I was standing next to my idol. He is forever going to be a Dallas Maverick’s Hall of Fame legend. Do you know who I’m talking about? I think I might have a clue. Hm. He’s seven foot. He’s from Germany. He had the most silkiest smooth shot that I could ever imagine. But boy oh boy, that was my guy that I was like, man, I want to be like Durk, a sevenfooter who can shoot, who can drive to the rim, athletic. Now granted, when I checked in, I was like in awe sitting on free throw line like he’s standing right next to me. Oh my gosh, I have his trading card. I want his jersey signed by me. Then I proceeded to have the next three plays. They knew that I was a rookie. They knew that he was Durk. They said, “You know what? Give Dirk the ball. Let him go to work.” I was like, “All right. He’s not faster than me. He’s not more athletic than me.” But boy oh boy, did he just tear me to bits technically. He’s like, “Oh, your foot’s there. Oh, okay. I’m just going to drive this way, get a foul, get an and one. We’re going to go to the free throw.” I was like, “That’s first mistake.” Did the same thing again the second time. I was like, “All right, that was on me.” I was like, “All right, coach. I got this. I got this.” He does it a third time, gives me a counter. I jump for a stupid pump fake. He gets me a foul again. Coach says, “Nope, you’re done. Come sit down on the bench.” I was like, “Oh my gosh, my idol just did that to me.” Dirk Noitisky was my guy. That was my welcoming to the NBA. I was like, “Man, I got to get over this. I am on this level now. I gota I got to go out there and play with these guys.” And it’s it’s a fun progression as a rookie, but the faster you get over that welcome to the NBA moment, the better off you’ll be. That’s that’s an awesome story. I feel like everybody needs that at some point because maybe you you forget in the moment because you’re just overwhelmed. The fact that you’re on the NBA floor and then you get shredded by one of the best ever doing. You’re like, “All right, I’m actually I’m really on the NBA floor.” It’s it’s it’s time to really lock in. So that’s that’s a great story, Jason. Uh, a lot of fun having you join us here today on Lockdown Wizards. We appreciate you making the time. Hopefully, uh, we’ll see you around the building at some point this year. Absolutely. Can’t wait. Awesome. Jason Smith, one of the best to do it, one of the best in the business. We thank him for joining us and we thank you for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen today. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast where there is no offseason. Doug, Matt, and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Lockdown NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. Part of the Locked On podcast network where it’s your team every day. Berg guy Jason Smith, shout out to him, former Washington Wizard, for joining us on Locked on Wizards Today. That’s my co-host Abdul Aubie. Check him out on Instagram, host of the DMV Sports Zone page. I’m Ben Strober, and you can follow me on social media at Strober Sports. Wizards Nation, we’re out. [Music]

Special Guest for today’s edition of Locked On Wizards! Former Washington Wizards Center and current analyst for Monumental Sports Network, Jason Smith, joins the program! He touches on some his years with the Wizards, which included him playing on the team in 2017 that was a game away from the ECF. Stix also details his observations on how the Wizards organization has completely changed its thinking, and they are on the cusp of something really special. Hear his thoughts on the rebuild and specifically, Alex Sarr.

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
5-Hour ENERGY
Time to fuel up and turn it up with 5-hour ENERGY®️ Transfusion! Go to https://5hourenergy.com today and use my promo code LOCKEDONGOLF to receive 20% off your order.This offer is only valid until September 30th on one order and cannot be used with other promotions. The code is not good on subscription orders.

OpenPhone
Streamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonnba

Monarch Money
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first year

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.

FanDuel
Right now, new customers can get ONE HUNDRED FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-wizards/

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nba/

#WashingtonWizards #NBA #Wizards