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NBA 2K LEAGUE DRAFTApril 4, 2018Mitchell FranklinNew York, New York Mitchell Franklin was selected by Kings Guard Gaming with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2018 NBA 2K League Draft. His gamer tag is Mootyy. Q. You were just the fourth pick in the draft. Obviously three guys went ahead of you. What do you think, should you have been No. 1, or did you go where you thought you were going to go? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: I can't have any hate towards my guy Dimez. There's nobody really better than him out there, especially putting in the work. But I'm so satisfied with where I went, man. I always like preach that I wanted to go to the team that I didn't have a preference, that believed, that valued me the highest. But hearing that announcement about Shaq [Shaquille O'Neal] and seeing the facility, I had a little favoritism towards him, especially in my conversations with him. I told my mom earlier today, I was, like, the Kings is the spot I would love to go to. Q. It's life-changing. What does it mean to you, going out to Sacramento, right? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: Yeah. Q. So what does it mean to you to be going out to California? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: It means the most, man. Like I was telling people, I knew it was going to be emotional and stuff, but I didn't think it was going to feel like this. All the risks, sacrifices, the grinding, late nights, taking a risk of taking a semester off at college, it's so surreal, man, that this moment means everything to me. Q. Dimez said he plays about 16 hours a day. Where do you think you are? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: Easily from 12 to 14, and in the league, it's just more motivation, just for being paid under the NBA organization putting in more work, game play, that is, but I'm in the film room until 6:00, 7:00 a.m. Q. Obviously you were the first non-point guard to break the mold there. What do you bring at the four spot that everyone was saying it would be a point guard-heavy first round? What do you think you bring at your position? Do you think that would make you worthy of that? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: Honestly, if the combine was any indicator of what the builds and archetypes are going to be like, it's no disrespect to any guards, but you're only limited to doing so much on a 6-3 guy that can't do ankle break or shoot that well, and the difference between the stats of the guards and the bigs were immense. The bigs just put up ridiculous stats. I feel like the most successful teams are going to have a tough frontcourt and that bail-out bucket in a big. Q. People keep calling you guys professional athletes. How do you feel about people calling you a professional athlete? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: I mean, it's surreal, honestly. Reality is sinking in. I definitely think we should be considered in that tier because of just the amount of work. Physically it's not a comparison to an actual professional athlete, but mentally, the mental game is arguably stronger than an athlete. You're sitting there staring at a screen, putting in countless hours, watching film. There's so much put into it. The guys that are in the 102, they're special. Their work ethics are insane. Q. Do you have a coach? Do you guys have coaches? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: I don't believe Sacramento has a coach, but no, we really throw down -- we kind of pride ourselves, we're all kind of leaders. I was that vocal leader and captain, and we kind of made up our own plays and ran with it. Q. Since you're the first one that got picked from your team, are you the one that's going to be the leader? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: Oh, absolutely. I intend on fully being that captain, that vocal leader, bringing that energy every single game. I'm really excited for the role. I'm definitely experienced enough and prepared for it. Q. There's a lot of gamers that are sometimes very quiet. Some people like you are very vocal. MITCHELL FRANKLIN: Absolutely. Q. How do you bring your personality to this team? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: Honestly, part of me being vocal and how I am in game, it's just my passion for the game. I truly love 2K, and it was kind of an escape for me where I was younger, so just going and playing 2K for countless hours, I've been telling people, I would do this for free. I'm like obsessed with Pro-Am. They say to make what you do into an obsession, and I've kind of done that. It's crazy. It's hard to form words right now, honestly. Q. Have you been to Sacramento before? MITCHELL FRANKLIN: No. I'm in Virginia, so that's going to be a long flight, but hey, summer in California doesn't sound too bad to me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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