Q&A: Shabazz Napier

Courtesy of Darnell Mayberry 

Q: What’s it like to go from national championship game to your next competitive game is summer league?

A: That’s the biggest thing. I haven’t played competitively. I’m with a new team, and it’s kind of tough because I have to understand my teammates on the fly.

After struggling in your debut down here, what was the difference that allowed you to bounce back with a much better performance in your second game?

Losing helps you understand how to prepare for the next game. I was just looking at the tape, figuring out things that I should have done in the first game. I was nervous. I usually never get nervous before games or during games. That first game was just one of those games, I guess.

When is the last time before Saturday that you were nervous going into a basketball game?

I don’t know. That’s crazy. I don’t know. That’s actually the first time I’ve ever been super nervous during the game. I always have the jitters before every single game. That’s just common basketball stuff because you want to play as well as you should. But that was the first time I was actually nervous during the game. I can’t even remember back to my freshman days when we were going through the runs that I was nervous. So it was definitely something new for me and definitely a great learning experience.