NBA Draft Thursday, July 29, 2021 Brooklyn, New York, USA James Bouknight

NBA Draft Thursday, July 29, 2021 Brooklyn, New York, USA James Bouknight chance and I'm not going to let them down. Q. How excited are you to play with LaMelo Ball in Q. You're heading into Charlotte with a team full of a Charlotte? lot of young, electric talent. You've got Miles Bridges, LaMelo Ball. How do you look to add your talent to JAMES BOUKNIGHT: I'm super excited. I think we're both this team for your rookie season and what are your young players that play with a lot of flare, have a lot of expectations for the first year? swag in our game and it's going to be exciting to watch. JAMES BOUKNIGHT: Oh, man, I have high expectations Q. What were your emotions like during the course of for myself. I never try to sell myself short. I think we're the evening? Was it a roller coaster for you or did you going to be one of the better young teams in the league. kind of anticipate where you were going to be picked, We're going to be a team that's fun to watch, super athletic what were the emotions like for you as things played on the wings. Like I said before, just playing with a lot of out? flare, a lot of excitement. We're going to be box office. JAMES BOUKNIGHT: I say it was up and down. I felt like Q. Was it tough -- obviously Coach [Danny] Hurley and I started to slip a little bit, but I feel like I kept my Coach Kimani [Young] couldn't be here today. Was composure. I know that on draft night anything can that tough, and what did they kind of say to you early happen, and I was just waiting for my name to be called in the day maybe or what kind of advice did they give and when it was called all the sadness I guess you could you or support did they give you earlier today? say went away and it was just a big joy. JAMES BOUKNIGHT: Oh, yeah, it was definitely tough. I Q. Charlotte is one of the more exciting teams in the found out what happened at the same time everybody else league with LaMelo Ball running the wings, and one of found out what happened, and I was actually talking to the things Mitch Kupchak had mentioned is the fact Kimani on the phone in the Green Room. He was just -- that he said that they didn't expect you to be on the they were just telling me how proud they are of me, nothing board at 11. They had you ranked much higher. What less, nothing more. Just how proud they are and to keep are some of the things that Hornets fans should expect making UConn proud. from you and is that a compliment when a general manager says we didn't think we were going to get you Q. I was wondering what your day was like being at 11, we thought you were going to go much higher? obviously back home in Brooklyn and what this night being in Brooklyn, did that add anything to you, make JAMES BOUKNIGHT: Oh, yeah, man, so Charlotte was it more special at all? my first workout. I went into that workout and I was ready. It was definitely easily my best workout. I think it for sure is JAMES BOUKNIGHT: Oh, yeah, this is definitely a a compliment that he thought I wasn’t going to fall, but legendary moment. Like I said it before, I'm going to keep since I was here and he picked me, that's big time and I'm on saying it, not many people can say that they're from excited to be here. Brooklyn and they got drafted in Brooklyn, in the Lottery at that. So, this moment for me is definitely a legendary one. Q. You mentioned about being sad about dropping in the draft, but is that an extra chip on your shoulder FastScripts by ASAP Sports.... and something to prove inside the NBA? JAMES BOUKNIGHT: Oh, a hundred percent. The whole time, every pick, pick after pick I was just sitting there in my head like, okay, I got a chip on my shoulder again, they sleep, you know what I'm saying? So, it's nothing different. My whole life I've been slept on and Charlotte took the 110870-2-1043 2021-07-30 02:11:00 GMT Page 1 of 1.

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