CASTROL RISING STARS POSTGAME

February 13, 2026

Carter Bryant

Team Vince

Press Conference

Team Vince 25, Team Melo 24

Q. Hard feelings with Dylan and Steph?

CARTER BRYANT: No. I don't know if they have hard feelings, but I'm great. I'm amazing right now.

Q. Something that Steph was saying is you guys have obviously been a little bit ahead of schedule and that can sometimes create daunting expectations. Do you feel like you all don't really think about that too much? You are where you are and that's that?

CARTER BRYANT: I don't think we're ahead of schedule at all. I think you just trust your process. Every team has their own process. Every organization has their own process. I think from our front office to the coaching staff down to the players and the equipment and everybody in between, everybody through the cracks, whatever the case may be. Everybody respects each other's process, and we're with each other every day.

So I don't believe we're ahead of schedule at all. I think this is well deserved. Everybody on our staff works their tail off night in and night out. I don't think we're ahead of schedule. I think we're going to just keep rolling. We have a ton of talent. We have great vets and we're learning and growing every day.

Obviously we're a very young team, but there's no reason we can't make the playoffs and push for a championship. It would be great if it's this year, but don't set limits on yourself.

Q. Carter, when you speak to Spurs, the whole experience, what was it like?

CARTER BRYANT: Like I said, everybody respects the process and everybody helps each other with their process. You don't find that too often. Understanding that if we help each other, we're going to grow a lot faster. That's something the Spurs have stood for for so long, and it runs in the blood of the Spurs. Obviously, we're capable of getting back to the upper half of the whole NBA, and we just have to continue it.

The second half of the season is nothing if we can't continue the way we're playing and keep executing. We have a lot of basketball left to play.

Q. How much are things just slowing down for you overall? Defense has been there, but you're hitting your three-pointers. You're more comfortable going to the basket, spin moves, just the whole package.

CARTER BRYANT: I think for myself, it's working. Working, working, working. Whether it's watching film, whether that's getting on the court and actually doing work, whether it's watching my teammates' film when I don't get a chance to play in games, it's constantly learning.

I'm a competitor. I want to play. I want to compete. I want to help us win games. Understanding my timeline is different than everybody else. I don't have to have the same timeline as everybody else.

I still believe at the end of the day I'm going to look at this in 15, 20 years, and there's going to be a lot of people saying how did we pass on this guy?

Understanding my process, I just have to be patient. Obviously, we have a great coaching staff, and they instill confidence in me every day. The community around me, they speak nothing but positivity and so on. Just grateful to be where I'm at. Just growing day by day. Not rushing my process. Good game, bad game, I treat it the same way.