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Q: How soon did the Knicks opportunity come about for you in free agency?
A: “They contacted my agent and the Knicks sent me a video of Madison Square Garden — actually on July 1. So they were always interested in me, but I just wanted to keep my options open and just look everywhere to see what would be the best situation for me. It took one month and the Knicks were really pursuing me. I talked to my wife and we thought this would be a very good fit, a good team. I’m very happy to be back on a playoff team and we definitely can make a run for a title.”
Q: What did you learn about what it takes to become a champion during your time in San Antonio, which you hope to bring to New York?
A: “What it takes is just to be a team and to definitely have good players. There has to be chemistry and everything has to be right. That’s how it was in San Antonio basically. Tim Duncan didn’t care who scored the most points. He’s a Hall of Famer, but he was more about the team. He just wanted us to win. Sometimes he scored 30, and the next day he scored 10, but he still was very, very productive in rebounding. Everybody has to work for each other, especially on the defensive end. I think we have enough scorers on our team now, but we definitely got to step up and basically defend first and then rebound the ball.”
Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York
