Bobby Simmons Most Improved Player Award Press Conference Transcript

Posted: April 29th, 2005

Clippers VP of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor

“I am very pleased about Bobby winning this award. I think it is a well deserved award. I have not met a player who is as reliable and committed as Bobby. Bobby really worked hard all summer to raise the level of his game, and I think after the way he played this year he really deserves this award. On behalf of the NBA and the Clippers organization we want to congratulate Bobby on the fine job he did this year.”

Clippers Head Coach Mike Dunleavy

“It has been a great pleasure to coach Bobby the last two years. From the time I talked to his agent when we brought him in to the gym a couple of years ago to take a look at him, I knew he was going to be a player that fit very well in my system, but I never dreamed that he would take it to another level the way he did. The work ethic that he showed last summer after our meeting, talking about different areas of his game to work on, and the way he went about it shows he is an incredible professional, not only from a work ethic standpoint, but he is very cerebral as a player. He understands the way he plays the game and what he needs to do. He has been a great match for us. This award is very much deserved. People around the league were talking to me about it along the way. There wasn’t another in the league, I don’t think in his class, in that regard, as far as someone who has over the last two seasons improved his game to a level that Bobby has taken his to. Again, it is a great testament to his work ethic and his knowledge of the game. We have certainly been very fortunate to have him, and we hope to have him for many more years to come.”

Clippers Forward Bobby Simmons

“I want to thank the Clippers organization, Coach Dunleavy, Andy (Roeser), and Elgin (Baylor) for bringing me here. Fortunately it has been a great two seasons for me and this award has been unbelievable. I put in a lot of hard work, a lot of time, and it’s been a long time coming. Fortunately, I thank you guys for being here today and voting for me.”

Q: How do you feel about free agency? Do you want to come back here?
Bobby Simmons: “Next year I want to take it to a higher level. Fortunately I am here in LA. Next year I would love to be here because I love my teammates. Fortunately we have a bond now that I didn’t have in the previous years and they made it a lot easier for me here as far as on the court and off the court. Growing with those guys and getting experience on the next level is going to be great.”

Q: Where were you when you got the call this week, what was your reaction, and what did it mean to you?
“I was watching a playoff game when I got the call from Elgin (Baylor). It caught me off guard. I was kind of half asleep watching the playoff game. Once I got the call I had to call my mom and dad and pretty much just let them know that I did get the award because they kept asking me when are they going to announce, when are they going to announce, and once I called them they were happy for me.”

Q: Were you here in LA or Chicago?
“I was here in LA.”

Q: Bobby, did this kind of validate you, because I remember back in Chicago being a star at DePaul, you always knew what you had in you but coming in you had a rough time getting out of the starting gates. Does this kind of validate what you thought back at DePaul and what you thought would happen in your career?
“Yeah of course. I always had it within and unfortunately I just didn’t have the opportunity to showcase it out on the floor and Coach Dunleavy gave me that opportunity this year and also last year. Coming in we had a lot of guys who play heavy minutes and until someone got injured, this year Kerry Kittles, the minutes weren’t there as much. I just wanted to take every game as if it was my last, and that was pretty much how I was brought up, live every minute to the fullest, and that is one thing I wanted to do this year, leave everything out there on the floor.”

Q: Bobby does this make you hungrier to reach for higher achievement in your career, both individual and team wise?
“Of course. It is a great individual accolade. As far as the team, I am guaranteeing looking for the playoffs next year, because I knew we were so close this year that we could almost taste it. Then watching the guys play now is like, man we were so close. I think that next year I would love to be in the playoffs and hopefully playing for a championship.”

Q: How did you go from where you were last year the season before, which was a solid role player, to being such a great jump shooter? How did you improve your jump shot? Was it always there and you just didn’t have the opportunity? Was it your summer workout?
“I think overall it was a little bit of both. Fortunately, I made a lot of baseline shots last year, as well as this year. It’s just a point of putting in work and having the patience to work on your game everyday until you feel comfortable with it.”