CJ McCollum Talks Championship Mindset

Like his other teammates, CJ McCollum of the Portland Trail Blazers is involved in many things on and off the court, especially as the recently-elected president of the National Basketball Player’s Association. However, one thing is clear: he still has a championship mindset. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report asked about the odds of the Blazers winning the title, and McCollum was clear: if you do not believe you can win, get off the court.

I think whenever we step on the court, we have a chance to win a championship. If you don’t have that mindset and that mentality, then you shouldn’t play. That’s my mindset and mentality every year—to compete at the highest level, to really focus on being the best version of myself as a player to help us win. That being said, I feel like every year we have a chance to win a championship. But in the NBA, there’s so many things that go into that. You need a little bit of luck.

McCollum and teammate Damian Lillard have speculated as to what a championship parade in Portland would look like.

“We have discussed it in detail, on multiple occasions,” McCollum said. “What it would feel like, what it would look like, from down to what car would you take? Are you driving the drop top? Is it a pick-up [truck]? It’s something we think about, something I think about often, whenever I take the drive to the arena, how nice it would be to have that parade.”

Rip City agrees.

You can read the rest of Fischer’s piece, which touches on coaching changes, free agency, and more here.