When you were at the vet status, when you were talking to young players, whether it was with the Bulls or the other teams that you were on for forever, what What advice would you give rookies about how to pace themselves going from, and now guys are playing like 37 games or whatever in college, but to go from that pace to the pace of an 82-game season, what advice do you give young guys?

I would tell them to still continue to work hard throughout the 82 games.

However, in the summertime, and this is key because You see now Anthony Edwards is having surgery on his knee.

A number of players in the league have gotten hurt or out, and we're only like four or five games in.

I think that my advice for young players is after the season, take a month off.

Do nothing.

Let your body heal.

What's going on with Matas Bouzelis in terms of his comfort level working with Caleb Wilson and working in this new Tiago Splitter offense?

What advice would you give rookies about how to pace themselves going from, and now guys are playing like 37 games or whatever in college, but to go from that pace to the pace of an 82-game season, what advice do you give young guys?

I would tell them to still continue to work hard throughout the 82 games.

However, in the summertime, and this is key because you see now Anthony Edwards is having surgery on his knee.

A number of players in the league have gotten hurt or out, and we're only like four or five games in.

I think that So my advice for young players is after the season, take a month off.

Do nothing.

Let your body heal.

What's going on with Matas Bouzelis in terms of his comfort level working with Caleb Wilson and working in this new Tiago Splitter offense?

What advice would you give rookies about how to pace themselves going from, and now guys are playing like 37 games or whatever in college, but to go from that pace to the pace of an 82-game season, what advice do you give young guys?

I would tell them to still continue to work hard throughout the 82 games.

However, in the summertime, and this is key because you see now Anthony Edwards is having surgery on his knee.

A number of players in the league have gotten hurt or out and we're only like four or five games in.

I think that So my advice for young players is after the season, take a month off.

Do nothing.

Let your body heal.

Because time is precious.

Yaxil Lindenburg.

Mm-hmm.

Yaxil, Yaxil Lindenburg had, uh, 17 points last night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

So all of these guys are performing.

You know, I really want to see Caleb come out and also do the same thing, you know? I, I think that the Bulls got lucky, and here's the reason why I say that, because had Caleb not broken his thumb last year and been able to play a full season healthy, been able to go through the NCAA tournament, he possibly would've been the number one pick in the draft.

Because I thought that after watching film on him that he finishes the best at the rim.

They did not let him shoot three-point shots, which is, which is what he displayed in the summer league.

Mm-hmm

But as a fellow top five pick for yourself back [laughs] in the 1990 NBA draft, man, w- w- what do you, uh, if you could place yourself back in that time, but also kinda can relate to Caleb in terms of what those expectations are for him being a top five pick and being one of those names and players that is looked to turn a franchise around?

Well, the first thing I have to get used to with Caleb is not calling him Williams, his last name, because [laughs] you know, of the Bears quarterback and everything and, uh, and, and you know, I'm so used to saying Caleb Williams and everything like that, and then n- now we gotta say Caleb Wilson.

We gotta catch ourselves.

But you know, I think him being the, the top, uh, top five pi- pick and, and the way that he has come in and shown his confidence so far lets me know that he always thought he was the number one pick.

And, and after you gave me the heads-up last season, I think you, I think you, Cam, I think you told me about him maybe halfway through the season.

You said, "No, Kendall, take a look at Caleb Wilson and you will see what I see.

I think he's the best player in the draft." And I think you were absolutely right, Cam, because the, the Bulls...

How do you kinda, as a rookie particularly, as you're trying to learn the NBA, how do you strike that balance of, you know, not falling in love with the jump shot, you know, still u- utilizing some of your athletic skills while you're learning a league where guys are as big, as strong, as athletic, as fast as you? I mean, that's go- that to me seems like a pretty steep learning curve.

Granger, for the ones who get it done.

done.He, he's coming off a All-Star year, bro He is ... an All-Star year.

He should've been an All-Star the previous year, too.

He should be a two-time- That's also true.

Yeah ...

he should be a- But he was in the West, that's the thing ... right, he was in the West.

Yeah.

What is the likelihood that you see for Minnes to have a legitimate breakout year where he's maybe, like, getting a handful of All-Star votes?

de temps est-il raisonnable Je ne sais pas si je veux signer pour ça, mais je pense que nous devrions si nous devions.

Je pense qu'il l'a bien fait.

J'ai un plan de 6 ou 7 ans ici.

Mais je crois que son objectif est de faire 2 ou 3 ans.

C'est toujours bien de jouer en conservative, de jouer en sécurité.

Mais je pense que la façon dont ils ont drafté, je pensais que c'était un excellent draft.

Je pensais qu'ils alliaient Nick Claxton in the trade was excellent.

Au moins, ils peuvent faire ce que Caleb Williams est capable

What's it like for you to see Illinois back to that? And what do you think Brad has done to lead Illinois back?

Well, it's been great because for a long time there, you know, I can remember, you know, driving down the street and listening to sports talk radio here in Chicago.

And they're saying, well, Illinois is now a mid-major program.

You know, that kind of hurt, you know, because we were not getting in the tournament.

We were not producing, uh, NBA draft picks.

And, uh, And that's something that we had done in the past.

So to have your school, your alma mater looked upon as what it really wasn't was disturbing.

But what did you make of his year? What do you make of him as an NBA prospect?

Mm-hmm

... that are, are, are, are big personalities in, in sports, you know, reached out, so, a- and recognized, uh, Stacey King, you know? And that just lets you know that they were watching too.

Not [laughs] not just us, not just the people locally in Chicago.

Um, y- you know, a- and I, I have to say, Adam, and, and also too, Mark, with, with you and Stacey when you, when you filled in for Adam sometimes, I mean, it's just a must-watch, you know? Because of the, it was the entertainment value, the, the description of the game, the...

even when, when Stacey would read advertisements, it was entertaining, you know? So [laughs] uh, that, that's, that's the one thing that, that I am really gonna miss, man, because I, I really, really enjoyed...

and, and I'm not, I'm not saying this because, you know, I, I work with you guys, but I've watched thousands and thousands of basketball games.

I really enjoyed the entertainment value that you and Stacey brought, uh, each and every night, and, and, and I'm gonna really, really miss that and, and, you know, being tuned in and, you know, it's just...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah

... because free agents, that's not a free agent destination.

Chicago, you know, is somewhat of a free agent destination if you have the pieces here to win, you know? And, uh, you know, but this isn't the first place the free agents look.

So he, he, he understands that.

It could possibly be done, you know, with the way that Charlotte did it with myself, Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, then put other pieces around us.

Like they, like we had Muggsy Bogues, Dell Curry, Johnny Newman, guys like that.

So, you know, it is possible.

But there are elements in his game that really could fit any type of system, but it feels like him going at five to the Clippers would be an ideal fit for Walker and starting his NBA career.

Do you think that there are any breakout, I don't know, sleeper hits that we might see coming down the road here as things kind of ramp up to the Elite Eight and then move forward to the Final Four?

Well, there could be some breakouts.

I mean, we already know about Keaton Wagley.

He was, of course, a three-star high school player coming out.

I think he's from Kansas, coming to Illinois.

Nobody knew about him.

But, you know, there's always players in the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight or the Final Four that break out, and now you start following them.

What is it about Chicago and the Chicago area that makes it such a basketball crazed town?