Name: Iman Shumpert on Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie, Joe Harris and more
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Iman Shumpert on Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie, Joe Harris and more

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Jan 12, 2021 spent only 13 games with the last season, but his presence provided Brooklyn a solid perimeter defender, something a struggling Nets defense has lacked at times this season.Shumpert is currently home in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters waiting for his next playing opportunity. The Athletic caught up with him to talk about how he’s preparing for that next opportunity, and Shumpert offered some thoughts on some of his friends on the Nets current roster.Hey Shump, thanks for doing this. What have you been up to lately?Right now, I’m just working out and spending time with family. My wife just bought a production house. That’s how we brought in the new year. In celebration of that. But I’ve been working out and staying in shape, knowing it could be one of those situations like it was last time (with the Nets) where with a shorter season and a lesser break, teams might end up needing somebody to help try and finish the season.Who are you working out with?I play pickup. It’s usually a couple retired pros, it will be some collegiate guys that come through, a couple of overseas guys, actually a lot of overseas guys, and they just bring a different style of play.Would you compare your situation to your former teammate in that you’re unsigned and could be asked to come in and produce immediately?I think it’s just one of those things where this is a game that has proven time and time again to be that you’re going to get out what you put in. And focus on that time and be ready when it’s your time and everything will be all right. I’ve actually had some conversations with Melo on this. It’s that constant conversation on who you want to be and what do you want to do. People are going to do what they want to do. It seems like a lot leaving your family, but I’m finding time on the day-to-day to take care of my body and make sure I get in the gym because one, I love to do it, but two, that’s the task at hand. I’ve spent the last nine years of my life playing basketball, so now you don’t start on opening night (on a team), that’s motivation for anybody to keep working.What’s Melo’s advice to you been?Just to stay ready. The game’s changed and you got to make the adjustment. He’s been speaking to me about the game changing and embracing it rather than fighting it. Understanding it, mastering it. As a competitor sometimes you run into those moments where you’re stuck trying to not fit in, trying to get it done your way. And as the game has changed, you have to sort of reinvent yourself within that game. With the game turning into what it is, that’s just what I’m trying to do.What’s your sales pitch if a team reaches out to you? Is it your defense or something else?I think the game has changed into a perimeter skill set. So much of my game has always been predicated on the inside-outside, and now the game has flip-flopped and you have to carry the threat from the outside, and everybody’s playing that way and certain players won’t buy into that. I feel like because of my style and how I want to play, it causes hesitation that if they want to play the other style that they feel they can’t get a rhythm with me … I’m just watching more and more film right now and just watching the rhythm just getting messed up maybe, where there was one or two passes, where in my mind it’s, “Keep running.” And in their mind it’s about getting that 3, stretching the defense out to where it’s a my layup or their 3 and they’re making a decision like that and my style is more to I’m always thinking, “Let’s get to the basket.” (For example) where I’m supposed to be the back man on a pick-and-roll and I know it’s supposed to be a 3 and they fell asleep and I want a lob, those misreads and those small errors that I can save. It’s been all about developing the mindset that we’re playing outside and down, so to speak, and guys that are playing inside-out are usually ball dominant guys, which everybody sort of just falls in line and learns to play by.What parts of your career have you been watching film from?Most of the Houston stint (in 2019). I think watching that, you’re playing with someone like , you’re playing with someone like . How could I have helped more? How could I have capitalized more on two ball dominant guys? Watching this again now that I’m a year and a half removed, you watch it and I see how I feel about it now. Where I can step and take advantage of (playing) pickup. A lot of times at pickup I’m just going strictly as a wing and there’s other times I’m working on something that really bothered me on film that I’m trying to correct. I got to use these pickup games to do stuff like that so when that call comes and I’m making my way back in, I got to be ready to go and I have to have a plan on what I can bring to the table in this “new” game.What’s a recent example of something that bothered you on film that you tried to apply in pickup?Yeah, the indecision 3. I just decided on a visual note on closeouts: If I see somebody in a certain position, once I see it’s there, it’s got to go up. Whether I think I can jump and drive past or not, I’m just going to let this one go so that I know in my mind I can hit the same shot. A lot of times I wonder if I shot fake, he’s gonna fly by and then he doesn’t, and you go through with the shot, that little indecision causes a hitch in your jump shot. I’ve tried to make things better, just move certain angles to the basket, this is going to be a bank shot, sometimes it’s a bank, sometimes it’s about trying to get a certain look and that’s what I’m trying to work on in pickup games. Just a consistency. A lot of times I go into games and you know I understand the role, the 3-and-D role, and a lot of those shots are sporadic but within those sporadic shots and in those ticking time bombs, where you get it and you got one second and you just got to get one up, within those four random shots that I’ll probably have to shoot, I need to have a game within that that I know every game I’m going to shoot these shots, my team knows I’m going to shoot these shots, they know how to rebound if I miss these shots, they understand what I’m trying to get accomplished every single game. If I can do that, I feel like I can really help a ballclub.Have you found a silver lining in the past 18 months? Some players have said the pandemic has led them to being around their families the most in years and get some other hobbies of sorts.I became a pretty good handyman. I started fixing a lot of stuff around the house. My wife and I started realizing we could do a lot of these things instead of paying somebody each time. And like you said, you don’t realize how much time you lose when you’re in a routine since high school, since college. Waking up knowing you got to be somewhere, and knowing you have to get a meal in because you have another workout afterward, you got school, you got all these things that keep you in line and go on all the time. When you think about the quarantine time, for me, I’m picking out small things like that.Were you as equally as shocked as a lot of others in the NBA were when joined the Nets staff? Everyone seemed to think he had a good thing going overseas and his other business pursuits.Amar’e is a basketball junkie. He can’t stay away from it. We talk about people having other things going on, they do. You’re going to have other interests because you’re a person. But once you have kids, you have a wife, you start doing other things, you start to grow as a person. To go over there in Israel and do what he did and win and come back and want to be around the game more and being humble enough to pass it along to the young guys coming in, I just love it. I love seeing guys that play and guys that really wore a chip on their shoulder breathe a new life into the league. That’s what we need.When you were in Cleveland with he was a second-round pick at the end of the bench. Did you ever see him becoming what he is now?Joe can hoop. He’s always been like that. We had plenty of wars at () practices. When Joe was on our team, we knew Joe was a bucket. I think it just needed to align with Joe and with his confidence. He’s now on his own and being in a position where he’s played big minutes, it’s allowed him to get comfortable. And with that comfort comes a lot of confidence. Once he applied that to a starting lineup, you’ve seen how it’s gone. He deserves every penny.Kyrie said he couldn’t see Joe getting a tattoo when you all were in Cleveland …(Laughs). I’m happy for him man! I was pumped when he joined the club. Joe is a good guy.Kyrie was pretty young when you guys were in Cleveland and you guys remain good friends. He’s hit some pretty deep 3s this year and said he’s still regularly amazed at watching him play. Is there any part of his game that even surprises you these days?I don’t see what the problem is. I think Kyrie’s always shot the ball extremely well. Those shots that Kyrie probably did shoot and work on back then, those were probably considered bad shots. That 35, 40-footer, those were considered bad shots. But with Steph Curry and coming along and , CJ McCulloum, you got guys that will, they have the confidence to shoot it that deep. Carrying that threat causes defense to play different and it makes a layup easier it makes an error on the defense. I bet Kyrie is just happy he doesn’t look crazy anymore. It’s not a bad shot and he can make that shot.(Photo of Shumpert from November 2019: Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)

Jan 12, 2021 spent only 13 games with the last season, but his presence provided Brooklyn a solid perimeter defender, something a struggling Nets defense has lacked at times this season.Shumpert is currently home in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters waiting for his next playing opportunity. The Athletic caught up with him to talk about how he’s preparing for that next opportunity, and Shumpert offered some thoughts on some of his friends on the Nets current roster.Hey Shump, thanks for doing this. What have you been up to lately?Right now, I’m just working out and spending time with...

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Iman Shumpert on Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie, Joe Harris and more

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