NBA DRAFT

July 29, 2021

Jalen Johnson

Q. I wanted to ask you, have you had any previous conversations with the Hawks before tonight, and if so, could you share some of what you guys talked about?

JALEN JOHNSON: You know, I had a conversation with them at the NBA Combine. Other than that, I didn't work out for them. The conversation, general conversation, good conversation, I remember that, us just talking about a lot of things. But other than that, nothing too much.

Q. Who do you kind of pattern your game after? Who would you compare yourself to league-wide?

JALEN JOHNSON: Jalen Johnson now, I'm in the league now, so that's who I compare myself to. But there's a lot of guys I looked up to, of course LeBron, Ben Simmons, those bigger play-making guards. But I'm a Jalen Johnson fan now.

Q. How do you see yourself fitting in with this roster and how do you think you can help this team?

JALEN JOHNSON: I'm going to help this team in whatever way I need to help them. They came off a great season this past year, I'm just willing to do whatever it takes to add on to that. The next goal is the Finals now, make it to the Finals. I saw they got to the Eastern Conference Finals this past year, but I feel myself fitting in right away with this young, talented group and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Growing up in Wisconsin, when did you think that this dream was possible for you? And what was it like just getting on the stage and shaking the Commissioner's hand?

JALEN JOHNSON: This is something I dreamed of my whole life. It doesn't seem real, to be honest. Being from Wisconsin you don't see a lot of guys, a lot of NBA talent. Recently we have had a couple guys but prior to that, the dream just didn't seem as real. But I'm blessed to be in this position.

Q. Did you get to watch any of the Hawks during the playoffs? And if so, what were your impressions of them?

JALEN JOHNSON: They're a crazy young talented group. Like it's so fun to watch. Trae, he was a bucket the whole playoffs and he was just entertainment, pure entertainment. I'm excited to play with him, the other guys, Cam Reddish. It's just a great young talented group. I feel myself fitting in just great there. So, they're definitely going to make some more noise in the next couple years.

Q. Wondered what did you do to prepare for the NBA since February when you left Duke?

JALEN JOHNSON: I did everything. I worked on my shot a lot this past season or this past offseason. Training with Chris Johnson, I credit a lot of my improvement to him. He was consistent with me in the gym, two-a-days, three-a-days, and I improved a lot just overall, every aspect of my game, even the things I'm good at I sharpened up and continue to work on. I'll never be satisfied. So, at the end of the day I'm always going to work and continue to improve.

Q. You said you talked to the Hawks at the NBA combine. Do you remember how those conversations went and what they told you about how they see you fitting in?

JALEN JOHNSON: It's kind of tough to remember that because I interviewed with like 15, 16 teams. But I do remember them just having, being genuine, yeah, but I don't really remember too much of the conversation. I remember some of the things, but it wasn't nothing crazy.

Q. This might be something that you probably didn't expect anyway, but did you have any idea that when you woke up today that you would be with the Hawks or did you have any inclination that Atlanta was interested in you?

JALEN JOHNSON: I didn't know and I kind of, quite frankly, I didn't want to know. This day, I've been anxious just to find out wherever I was going to end up. I had no clue who was going to pick me and I feel like, I felt I went to the Hawks for a reason. Atlanta picked me for a reason and I'm excited to just give them my all. They showed belief in me by picking me, that's the least I can do is give them a hundred percent every day.