CJ McCollum Expands on Steve Nash Workouts

NBA Media Day 2015 was in full swing this afternoon and the Portland Trail Blazers stepped up to the plate with several interviews. You can find a rundown of the event as it unfolded on social media here and find video and audio from various participants across the site.

Here's a transcript of the interview Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum gave to assembled media, including David MacKay of Blazer's Edge.

CJ, you worked out with Steve Nash this summer, how did that come about?

It’s something that came up from Coach [Jay] Triano and DV [David Vanterpool]. Obviously, coach Triano is head coach of the Canadian national team and DV was hired as the assistant this year. It’s something I think we’ve tried to put together in past years but just didn’t work out with scheduling and logistically speaking due to travel, but once I got the dates confirmed early on, right when the season ended, and kind of broke down my schedule for the year, I just wanted to find at least a three day span with Steve because he’s in and out of Canada and headed back to Cali all the time because of the weather and stuff. So I just wanted to get a nice three days with him, and I got three days with him, and I ended up staying through the entire week and just working out there, but that’s kind of how it came about; just trying to get our schedules to match up once he expressed interest in actually wanting to do it. I was already in from the beginning, so it was more about him figuring out who I was and then wanting to work with me.

What specifically did you work on with Steve?

We worked on everything. We worked out in the mornings and then at night I’d work out with him, then I’d work out with the team. They would have little, individual workouts and skill stuff. We worked on pick-and-roll stuff, pick-and-roll reads, which you look at when you’re coming off the pick-and-roll, like the process of kind of breaking it down, and transition stuff, and he actually just worked me out. He rebounded for me, he’d use the resistance; he’s got this resistance thing he uses to work on your balance. You know, he had some back issues throughout his career so balance is big for him – just being able to get in and out of your cuts, in and out of yours screens while not turning your back to the defense. Just simplifying the game, simplifying coming off and being able to keep your balance and make your read whether you shoot, pass, or get to the cup.

Do you anticipate playing significantly more point guard this year?

I think that’s a question better suited for coach Stotts, but I’m sure I’ll play some point guard.