Patrick Patterson conducted his exit interview the same way he carried himself all season, with professionalism. Patterson covered season expectations and movies.
Patrick Patterson signed a below market deal to come to the OKC Thunder. Patterson became the first free agent to ever do so in Oklahoma City. When Patterson was introduced in July he said the team had championship expectations, those expectations never materialized.
The Thunder promised Patterson a starting position when the team acquired Carmelo Anthony Patterson’s role shifted to the bench. Patrick Patterson deserves high praise for the professionalism he displayed throughout the season.
With that, let’s get to Patterson’s quotes.
Patterson on his first season in OKC
"It wasn’t what I expected as far as productivity goes, my involvement with the team. It wasn’t what I hoped and thought it would be.At the end of the day, it wasn’t what I expected, it wasn’t what my teammates and coaching staff expected or even the fans, so what happens now is just playing in the proper schedule in the off-season as far as workout regimen goes."
When asked to sum up the season in one word Patterson choose entertaining. Entertaining does sum up the Thunder’s season quite nicely. Despite the season falling short as it did it was entertaining none the less.
On how his health is now
"I’m good. Knock on wood, no procedures need to be done. Knee is healthy, ankles are good, shoulder, wrist is good. Cleared by the docs. Hopefully that stays the same way throughout the course of the summer."
Health was a huge talking point during Patterson’s exit interview. For good reason, Patterson missed all of training camp due to an arthroscopic knee procedure performed August, 10th, 2017.
Hearing Patrick Patterson discusses his full health should come as music to Thunder Nation’s ears. Patterson was a key contributor on the Toronto Raptors during his tenure there. If Patterson can go through an entire training camp with OKC this fall he can develop a rhythm, rather than search for rhythm the entire season.
On if he has higher expectations going into 2018-19
"More from Thunderous IntentionsStealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC ThunderShould the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absenceAleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injuryDamian Lillard does not fit with the OKC ThunderDefinitely. With everything out of the way, coming in healthy, being able to have a training camp, practice, get my legs, my timing, everything, underneath me. I definitely expect it to be 10 times better than my performance this year."
When listening to Thunder players talk a common theme is usually moving on and looking forward. It’s a fine line between dwelling on past vs using past failure as motivation. Patterson sounds like he is ready to do the latter.
On his summer agenda
"This off-season for me, of course working on life after basketball, so internships with movie production agencies, and of course working out in LA, a little bit in Toronto, and of course here, as well, trying to be with Darko, Coach, Donovan and the rest of the team as much as possible."
Patterson is no longer an inexperienced rookie trying to establish his voice. He is the savvy veteran with a great deal of perspective and advice. Patterson understands he must prepare for life after basketball because NBA tenures go by quickly for even the best players.
Patrick Patterson says he expects next season to be “10 times better” than this one, given that he expects to come into training camp healthy.
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) April 28, 2018
On what a movie internship entails
"Meeting the president and CEO of that whole spiel, meeting other producers, picking their brains, picking their minds about where they got and how they got to where they are and just working on my craft at the same time."
Whether its media day or exit interviews this scribe always enjoys these extended sit-downs with each player. It offers an unfiltered and free-flowing environment where you get a feel for each player’s personality.
Patrick Patterson said he's possibly interning for Marvel this summer: "I don't wanna jinx it. It's been in the works right now"
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 28, 2018
Patrick Patterson is a massive movie buff, his passion for movies started when he was younger when he would go to the movies with his mom. Patterson hosted movies screening when he was in Toronto and continued doing so in Oklahoma City.
His top three Marvel movies of all time
"The first one would be the original “Avengers”. The second one would be “Black Panther,” and then this one, “Avengers: Infinity War” after that. And maybe “Dead Pool” fourth."
There you have it Thunder Nation these are the top-three Marvel movies of all-time. No really this is only Pat’s opinion. This scribe is no expert on Marvel films so I can’t offer much of an opinion on this. However, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a fantastic film. What are your favorite Marvel movies? Let me know in the comments or by hitting me up on Twitter.
That’s it for me today Thunder Nation have a fantastic weekend.