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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 24, 2018

Abdel Nader

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. Basically since you were born you've bounced around not only basketball-wise but just life-wise. How is that process of moving to different spots, transferring in college, and now being traded from Boston to Oklahoma City, how has that helped you try and understand what needs to be done in order to solidify yourself in a role with one team?
ABDEL NADER: Well, it started off, like you're right, it's prepared me throughout my whole life, when I moved from Egypt to Chicago, transferring schools, things like that, getting traded here. I think a lot of it is just you've just got to take it how it comes and just work for the best and prepare for the best.

Q. People around here remember you from your college days because you'd come down here a few times a year and play basketball. What do you remember about your Iowa State experience and how that prepared you for the NBA?
ABDEL NADER: Iowa State was a big-time experience for me, especially because I just learned a lot, especially under Fred Hoiberg in his time there. He had played in the NBA for a long time, so he was a big-time player's coach, and it was a lot, from understanding the game on and off the court, and just being in that kind of environment.

Q. We're seeing players these days get drafted, go into the G-League and that's what happened with you in Boston. How did they use the G-League to sort of develop your skill set and get you more prepared for today's NBA?
ABDEL NADER: Well, a lot of it is -- I think it's more just to do with like -- every team is different, so Boston had no roster spots available. The D-League was going to be a good opportunity for me to play a lot -- or I'm sorry, the G-League. It was called the D-League back then. But it was the opportunity for me to play tons of minutes and actually build and work on my game, work on my craft, whereas if I was in Boston with them that year, I probably wouldn't have played as much, wouldn't have benefitted me as much from a career standpoint.

Q. You having the prior relationship with Deonte, did that help you coming into this transition, and what were those conversations like since he had spent a summer with the team and he had had a successful season with the Summer League team?
ABDEL NADER: That's a good question. Me and Deonte, we were really tight at Iowa State, and when he went to -- I think it was Korea, we weren't really talking as much and stuff like that, so when I found out he signed his two-way here, I gave him a call, talked to him about it, and literally like three days later I get traded. I mean, it's good having someone you know, and he's like a brother to me, so I mean, it helps.

Q. I know you had surgery on your wrist in June; how did that go and how is it now?
ABDEL NADER: Oh, it's great. I fixed an ulna fracture that happened to me when I was 16 years old, and I had no idea about it. It's better than ever.

Q. I would assume most people in this room don't know a lot about Egyptian basketball --
ABDEL NADER: I don't.

Q. What can you tell us about how in a place that's not known for basketball, how did you develop the skills to get pretty good at it?
ABDEL NADER: Well, to be honest, I didn't start playing basketball until I was around 13 years old, and I moved to the States, probably Chicago, when I was eight, nine. Definitely not a big basketball place. My first sport was actually soccer. I was playing that from early, early age to probably 15, then I picked up basketball.

Q. When you find out that you're being traded and then you also -- you're following the team and you're seeing these other players getting traded there, as well, guys that are young like you, guys with a lot of promise, does that almost like help you anticipate -- are you almost like more relieved, like okay, there are other guys coming here that are also going to be finding their role? Does that help kind of with the bonding when you get there and there's a group of you that are coming into this new situation and you guys are all together kind of finding your role with the squad?
ABDEL NADER: I mean, to an extent. I try not to look at things that happen on the outside with me, especially from a career standpoint. My big thing is compete, don't compare. Even when they're on the same team, I kind of -- I try to use the same logic, although we're all brothers and things at the end of the day, it's still your career, and I try not to look at it that way.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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