Read what Myles Turner said to reporters in Brooklyn after the Pacers drafted him 11th overall:
I wasn’t supposed to be here, man. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I’ve been through a lot, and I’m happy to be part of the Indiana organization now, and I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to give everything to the city of Indianapolis and just the organization itself. Words just can’t describe how excited and elated I am right now.
Indiana has made no secret that they want to play faster. You worked out for them. How do you feel you fit in with them, Paul George, George Hill and those guys?
I think it’s a perfect style of play for me. I feel like I’m starting to get up and down the floor a lot better than I was at the collegiate level. I like playing fast. It’s just definitely what the NBA game is starting to turn into.
As you head into the NBA, what aspect of your game would you say needs the most work?
Probably just the details on everything, whether it’s defensive positioning, footwork, in the post, certain things like that that I’m sure Mr. Bird or Coach Bird can show me.
Seems like David West is on his way out of town, Roy Hibbert potentially could be, too. How do you feel about potentially having to replace two big pieces of that front court, obviously Paul and George in the backcourt, but how do you feel about replacing those two guys or potentially playing with Roy this year?
I’m comfortable with it. I feel like those are two big names in the NBA. This season might not have gone the way it was supposed to for them, but they’re still two very capable players, and I feel very fine and very fortunate to be playing with such great bigs.
You said you weren’t supposed to be here. Kind of expand on why you say that.
Right, right. Basketball was just something I did for fun when I was younger. It’s not really anything I really took that serious, and I think that there was a lot of obstacles in my way that were telling me that I shouldn’t be doing this, as far as whether it was people telling me that I’m not going to be any good at this, tall, lanky and goofy, you’re not supposed to be doing this, why are you playing? Whether it was having a big injuries a couple summers ago. There was a lot of things that came my way, but I overcame it just through my faith and hard work and dedication.
Walk me through your outfit.
So I figured no one would do the color purple, and blue is actually my favorite color, but I feel like purple goes well with my skin tone, so I had to bring it out there. I didn’t want to go all purple, so that’s why I went with the white top, as well.
Going to the Indiana Pacers, playing with a guy like Paul George, has that processed yet? Have you thought about what you’re going to bring to the dynamic?
Yeah, I feel like I bring versatility. That’s one thing I pride myself in being able to do, defend multiple positions, play multiple positions, and I feel like that’s one thing Paul George is very capable of doing, just because of his height and skill level, his ability to shoot the ball and handle the ball at 6’9″, 6’10”. I think we are similar players. He’s a lot more seasoned than me, so I feel like I can learn under him, as well.
You said that you played basketball at the beginning just for fun and people were discouraging to you about it. What kept you going? Why did you stick with it?
I’m a competitor, man. I love proving people wrong. That’s one thing that’s always kept me going. I actually played baseball for a long time. I thought I was going to go pro in baseball, but your boy started growing too much and that strike zone got way too big. Man, people can really throw that ball. It’s coming at 80, 90 miles per hour, it’s like time to hang it up.
Then I started hitting my growth spurt, started getting better and better and started improving. As a competitor I just wanted to go out there and prove all these people wrong.
Was wearing glasses an issue growing up?
Not necessarily. My dad made sure I was fitted right with the sports goggles, the Rec Specs, all that. I definitely got made fun of a lot, but at the same time nobody discouraged me because I was out there doing what I do.
Any optical endorsement deals on the table now?
I guess we’re about to find out.
[Transcript via the NBA]