GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 28, 2026

D'Anthony Melton

Media Conference

Q. D'Anthony, how has your summer been, and how cool is it to have Brandon on the team?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: My summer has been well. It's been well. From here and L.A., it almost feel like fate, you know what I mean, from going from high school to now especially, you know, playing in a league with somebody that went to high school is crazy, but now being on the same team is insane.

Q. Compared to the end of last season, how much better does your knee feel to start this one?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: My knee feels a lot better. I think it felt pretty good at the end of the year too as well, so it wasn't necessarily my knee came with, like, you know what I mean, nicks and stuff like that at the end of the season. It was just other things. My knee has been feeling well for a while.

Q. Do you expect to play back-to-backs this year?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Yes, I definitely do. I definitely plan on doing that. It's something I'm looking forward to, too.

Q. What is it like to have a summer where you're not, like, constantly rehabbing or doing stuff that you've been doing the past couple of summers?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Man, I mean, it's a little different, but I think every year and every summer I used to kind of go through not necessarily a rehab stage, but a time where you work on managing your body and managing what you have going on and making sure you're reaching tip-top shape once the season rolls around.

I think for me it was just more so just maintaining and getting strengthened in certain areas.

Q. What did you work on this summer, because everybody talks about when you're healthy, you want to work on certain parts of your game?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: For me, I think it's also working on everything from shooting to playmaking to passing and just the ball handling as well. So for me, I think I play so many different roles for this team and throughout my career that I kind of have to work on everything and just, you know, be expected to do whatever is out there.

Q. It looked like last season after Jimmy and Steph went down, you adjusted your game. You changed your game a little bit, and at times you didn't look like you, you were trying to do stuff. What were you going through during those times when you were trying to do all those things?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: I think going through those times was just trying to figure out the best ways for my team to kind of win honestly, to be in the best position. I think some of the instances where I had to stay aggressive, and I think at the same time coaching staff was telling me to stay aggressive and try to create advantages.

Sometimes, you know, it may not have looked the prettiest, but I think at the same time it's just, like, trying to win the game and, I think that's what the summer is, to work on certain things and just to cut out certain bad habits.

Q. Is there a certain, I guess, refreshing part of coming into a season feeling the way you feel right now?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Most definitely. Just to be able to start from the jump is definitely refreshing for me. Just to get off to the year at a good start is important.

Q. What do you think of the addition of Frank Vogel to the coaching staff and what he can do for the defense?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Frank, I think he's going to add an interesting piece to us. His expertise in terms of scheme and his experience throughout the league is important. I think he's going to provide what we need to really take our defense to the next level.

I think for us and other players probably speak for, we want to go for a top-3 defense in this league. Some would say we want to go for the best defense in the league, but I think ultimately just starting, you know, trying to get top 3 week after week, and I think weeks will start to add up.

As long as we aim for that, I think we'll be in a good position.

Q. In terms of declining the player option and then deciding to return, what was that like in terms of weighing options around the league versus wanting to be here?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Ultimately this is a place that I love to be at. Ultimately, I think also I just wanted to see what the league thinks of me. I think that's the most important thing. Just you never know what's out there.

When you kind of accept what you accept, so then you kind of don't get to see what the league is doing and what's going on. You hear certain things and certain teams are moving, but ultimately, I think coming back here was obviously my first priority and first choice.

But I think also always weighing your options is important and just to get a gauge for what the league thinks of me, I think that was more so the main point of it.

Q. D'Anthony, Jimmy described Yaxel as F'ing massive. What was your thought when you first saw Yaxel in person, maybe played a pick-up game with him? How much is that size sort of welcome? You guys aren't very big.

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Yax, he a big kid. He a big kid, 1,000%. I be joking with him. I mean, to me, you know, online was telling me he's 26 years old, so to hear that he only 23 is crazy to me. But, yeah, no, he a big -- he a big boy.

For me that's somebody I like to guard, so I've been bumping and pushing him around just because, just to see how he reacts to it nowadays. But he definitely is strong, and going downhills he's massive for sure.

Q. How has he responded to it, and how do you -- I mean, logically from afar it seems like his skill set fits this team pretty well. How do you view that?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: For sure. I think Yax can do so many different things, and I think, you know, since the offseason I've just been motivating him just to continue to go, continue to be aggressive, continue to be everything, honestly. That's what I him tell him. You can do whatever you want, you just got to do it. In this offense no standing around and stuff like that. Whatever you feel like doing, you can do.

He's so skilled and he's such a smart player that he's going to make the right decision once he gets into position.

But yeah, I mean, we got faith in him and confidence that he's definitely a winner.

Q. Melt, on Yax, age-wise you're right in between him and a lot of the vets on this team. There's been a lot of kind of back and forth online with him and Draymond this summer. How do you think his personality is very unique? How does he mesh in this environment and this culture with Draymond and Steph and those guys?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: I think for us we got a decent amount of old dudes, but they got young souls, you know what I mean, from down the line from Al to KP to Dray, Steph, Jimmy. All them dudes, they have young souls too at the end of the day.

Yax, he's young, and he's a kid, but at the same time, I mean, I think he has a certain sense of maturity to him. I think also the vets have a certain sense of, you know, not necessarily immaturity, but they like to laugh and joke around and have fun.

It's definitely a great balance, and for me being right in the middle, I get to play both in both worlds. I get to laugh with the old heads and joke around with the young bucks and stuff.

Q. Then on Steph, obviously signing an extension here. Took ultimately less in year one, potentially the option -- as a guy that signed a two-year deal, seeing that and him kind of clearly him prioritizing flexibility with that, what does that mean to you even knowing that, hey, that might free up some space to reimagine the roster, build more in terms of competition?

D'ANTHONY MELTON: Yeah, I mean, Steph is such a team guy. He's such an organizational helper that, you know, him taking a cut just to give us flexibility, it's important because I think he understands that it takes a team out there. Also, you know, given his age, we're going to need more help and more people to do it.

So I think giving the organization the flexibility to go out there and get and to pay players that they feel like that is needed is important, and just for me and stuff like that, just given my situation, I think it's important for whoever is here as well at the time.

You know, him doing that is important, and I think it's a huge step too.