Josh Hart Media Availability – July 12, 2020
On his skill set being compared to a utility player in baseball:
“I’m kind of like a second baseman. I play second base, (but) if I need to, can play shortstop. If the third baseman gets hurt, I can play there. I think that’s kind of an accurate statement. That’s probably not the one I would’ve used, but it’s definitely an accurate statement. I just try to help the team win, do whatever I can do, play different positions, rebound, defend, score…just whatever the team needs me to do at that point in time, I just want to do it and win.”
On having defined roles once the Pelicans got healthy and how much that benefitted the team:
“It makes it a little bit easier. Obviously if you’re Jrue (Holiday), BI (Brandon Ingram), JJ (Redick), Zion (Williamson), D-Fave (Derrick Favors), or Zo (Lonzo Ball), you know you’re going to start. You know for the most part what your role is going to be. For the bench it was back and forth, back and forth. (Kenrich Williams) started some games, I started some games, (Nicolò) Melli started some games. Frank (Jackson) was in and out of the lineup…Jah (Okafor), same thing…Nickeil (Alexander-Walker), you can go down the list….Jaxson (Hayes). So, the last thirty games where we had been healthy for the most part and were able to just go out there and just know exactly what we had to do on a nightly basis. It takes the pressure off, it takes (away) the stress of not knowing. Sometimes the stress of not knowing if you’re going to play or not play can kind of mess you up mentally. Being able to have that confidence of knowing your role and knowing how much time you’re going to get and where to make your impact makes it so much easier.”
On if the three practices in Orlando have felt familiar or like a new training camp due to the time off:
“It definitely didn’t feel new. There’s definitely a couple of plays that I forgot we ran. We kind of went over (the plays) and I kind of remembered it right after. We’re really kind of picking it (up) where we left off. Everyone knows their roles. We’re healthy for the first team, really the whole season. We’re really just trying to, like you said, pick up where we left off. We don’t want to start where we did at the beginning of the season and start 6-22, but we’re just trying to keep going and keep rolling. We were on a roll right before the season went into hiatus, and we want to just keep moving (from) where we were then.”
On how excited he is to watch JJ Redick shotgun a beer on the golf course this afternoon:
“The beer thing, I’m very excited to see that. When he’s doing that, I’ll have a little cool white Burgundy off to the side. Honestly, I’ll probably be recording it. That’s fun. I can’t wait for that.”
On if he has had anything special delivered to him in the bubble:
“I’ve had so much stuff delivered so far. Obviously you saw the gaming setup. Even before I got here, I had a small little wine fridge delivered here. I have like a fourteen or fifteen bottle wine fridge in my room. So I’m getting wine brought in or buying wine. I’ve been getting packages every single day. Our equipment guy Jaxon (Markworth) probably hates me right now, honestly. Just trying to make it as comfortable as I can and as close to home as I can. I don’t really do much besides game, drink wine, and hang out with the family and the dog. I don’t have family or the dog (in Orlando), but I’ve got the wine and the gaming so I guess it works out.”
On how important depth will be in Orlando and how the Pelicans’ defined roles will benefit them:
“It’s going to be really important. I mentioned all those guys and forgot E’Twaun Moore who has been in the league for nine years, so we have a lot of depth. We’ve got guys who have started seventy, eighty-plus games in one, two or three years, so that depth is definitely going to help, that experience is going to help. For us, we like to get up and down and sometimes it’s like a platoon system. We’ll sub three or four guys in at one time, and we’re just fresh and we just keep going right back and keeping that pace up. When you’ve got that experience from number one to number fifteen on the bench…when you have experience like that and you have the unselfishness and the willingness to do whatever it takes to win and make sure the next person is successful, that’s when you win and have a winning culture. That’s what we have here and that’s what we’re continuing to build on. It’s definitely going to come in handy for these eight games, and then when we make the playoffs.”
