Lajae Jones interview: Warriors rookie discusses college basketball journey | NBC Sports Bay Area

Welcome to the Dove Talk Podcast. Lajae Jones out of Florida State, St. Bonaventure Community College, small school. You're a world traveler, my man.

Yep.

Talk about that travel, uh, through college basketball on your way to the NBA.

Um, out of high school, I didn't really have— I only had one offer my junior year to North Florida. Uh, it was non-committable, so they used up all their scholarships, and the coach was like, if somebody transfers, then it's yours. And nobody transferred. But, um, Tim Floyd, I think—

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, he happened to be at one of my games, and he got me in contact, um, to 4 coaches. One of them was, uh, UTEP, Southern Miss, East Tennessee, and Tarleton State in Texas. Um, they were in the transition period at the time from D2 to D1, so I ended up going there for my first year. It was very rough. Um, during summer, EKGs kept on coming back abnormal.

Mm-hmm.

They thought I had, uh, MCR. I don't know the medical thing, but they thought I had a heart problem. So I pretty much missed almost all their summer session. Um, I was just there. I couldn't, uh, lift or be a part of the team.

Oh, wow. Oh, that had to be rough, man. Yeah.

So I'm just there the whole time on the sideline, just cheering everyone on. Uh, it was definitely, uh, a struggle, especially like being a man in high school, going through that.

Right.

Also being the only freshman as well. Uh, and then it's like the first time I like really never played at all, like getting multiple DNPs, maybe like 3 minutes, 2 minutes. So It was definitely a struggle and mentally challenging.

Then you go to community college where you're probably— we were just talking to Axel, um, well, you're probably playing in front of 150 people. You go from like— because I know the state of Washington, you guys are big in high school hoops. They really love their high school basketball. And then you go from small school where you're not playing, as you just mentioned, to community college. So those first couple years mentally had to weigh on you, right?

But, um, in middle school I moved away to to Jacksonville, Florida. So I finished up, uh, middle school and high school in Jacksonville. That's where, um—

Florida, still good, uh, prep high school basketball?

Public school.

Public school?

Yeah, public school. Wasn't really the best area, but I mean, made the best out of it. But after Tarleton, decided to hit the portal. Didn't— had one Uh, Incarnate Word, they reached out. They was like coming unofficial and, uh, try to get a scholarship, uh, while playing pickup. And then 2 days before, whole staff got fired.

Okay.

So it was like unfortunate, but I end up got a phone call from Barton. I was about to commit to Pratt and then Uh, my mom told Coach Gillespie and he basically said no.

Mm.

Uh, he's like, I'm gonna put you in contact with coaches. And a whole bunch of Florida JUCOs, Texas JUCOs, and Kansas JUCOs reached out. And Barton reached out, where my dad went. And on the second phone call, just committed. No visit at all. Uh, after I finished up at Tarleton with the school, just Drove up there, stayed for a few days, uh, came home for that summer session. Spent half of my summer in Florida and then the other half in Washington where I was able to play in the crossover and the Zeke-In.

Okay.

A lot of people thought I was pro. I was like, no, I'm going, I'm going, uh, juco. And they was like, wow.

Yeah.

And then I was able to win. We ended up going 36-1, winning, uh, regular season, conference champion, and national championship. I was able to be tournament MVP and second-team All-American, where I went on to go play at St. Bonaventure in Olean, New York.

Mm.

It's very cold. Uh, yeah, it was very cold, but Diehard fans out there. They traveled really well too, especially when we played in Florida and, uh, North Carolina. Great community out there, great, uh, basketball, and it was just a great program. And I used that to just go up one more time to Power 5, where I ended up at Florida State, where Coach Laux was actually on staff here.

Yeah.

With the Warriors. Um, also warm weather, ACC, so you can't really beat that. And yeah, I just knew I wanted to go there, especially since I knew I always wanted to go to the NBA, and a coach going— coming from the NBA, I just felt like it made sense.

But I know, come on, I mean, you— when you're at Tarleton in Texas and you're not playing and, you know, you got these Somebody questioning your health and all these things are going on, and you're in Texas, which you hadn't been a Texas dude before. That had to be tough.

It was very rough. Only freshman, so I'm like trying to lean on the older guys who played for Coach Gillespie too, and also like some of the assistants. But I feel like at the end of the day, I had to do what's, uh, what was best for me. So that's why I decided to transfer.

Who did you, who did you watch growing up again? Like, besides Kobe? I know you were a Kobe fan, but who did you watch in the league that you thought, okay, you know, these guys got some game that I like?

I like the Clippers with Chris Paul, Jamal, Blake Griffin.

Lob City?

Yeah, Lob City was like always fun to watch. I remember one time they got— they lost a regular season game. I started like crying.

You were into it, man.

Yeah.

I had 3 jerseys. Blake Griffin with the Clippers, Steph Curry jersey, and then a Thunder KD one, like the blue one with the thunder going down.

Oh yeah.

Those are my first 3. And like, I always just loved the jerseys and then the little like, uh, player thing that you could put on the wall.

A little Fatheads?

Not even that, like the full body one.

Oh, the full body one. Oh, wow.

Okay, yeah.

Yeah, kept on coming off, so.

But I mean, those Clippers teams, you know, with the Warriors, those were rivals, man. Those teams did not like each other.

It was just always entertaining to watch. And then, yeah, it was always entertaining to watch. Then by the time I got to college, I was more focused on watching more college.

Yeah.

Especially while I was still playing. But now, once I finished my collegiate career, it was more watching NBA and playoffs as well. And then just interviewing with teams and working out for teams too.

It's one thing to talk about the guys that you, you watched play and you were fans of, but things that you take from guys, I mean, moves or whether whatever it is, I mean, What are the, you know, what, what 2 or 3 pet moves you might have or things you might do that you saw somebody else doing? Oh, that's nice. You know, how did that play out for you?

The pump fake reverse pivot shot that Kobe did. I'm not going to do it in the game because it's not— it works for him, but I don't have the ultimate freedom that he did to work on stuff like that.

Maybe someday.

One day. But, uh, yeah, no-look 3. Everyone practices that, but you know, if you do it, you better make it. Um, the little like behind the back, double behind the back that Jamal does.

That's Jamal though, he can do that. Jamal can take it in his sleep.

Yeah, he's smooth.

Yeah, mid-ease too.

Okay, okay.

The middy one's iffy, especially how NBA is now.

Yeah.

Uh, more 3s than layups, so.

But if the middy's nice though, right?

I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah. Klay Thompson shot the middy here, Wiggins shot the middy here, Steph.

Yeah, they're allowed to.

They're allowed to. They're allowed to. Maybe you make enough in practice, you gotta work your way up, right? You gotta work your way. So, you know, you burst onto the scene, obviously you're playing at Florida State and We all Warrior fans now know who you are because of what happened in the ACC tournament against Duke.

Yeah.

Obviously, they got Boozer, they've got some lottery picks on that team. In that game, you're feeling it. You shoot 4-for-8 from the 3-point line, you score 28. But then all these mocks have you rated low. Some people didn't think you would be drafted. So what was your big takeaway coming out of that game? Did that make you feel a lot more confident about being drafted? And then once the process started, you see your name Where nobody's talking about you. Take us through that and how that went throughout that whole process leading up until the 2nd round, uh, this past week.

One, uh, it honestly hurt losing to Duke. Uh, I just knew, like, if we would have won that and won the ACC Championship, I would have, I would have got a pair of shoes, uh, PEs that probably not that many people seen ever in their life from Coach Laux. So I wanted to do that and also have the opportunity to play in March Madness, but I just knew after that game I just went out on a bang. Um, I mean, mock drafts, you see a lot of them. It's just a lot of players' opinions or a lot of people's opinions who may or may not have any, like, insight. Uh, just seeing that just, uh, brings a fire to me. It's like, no way I believe they think this guy is better than me, right? It's just always something to prove, just a chip on your shoulder. Even the workouts too, you just want to shoot well, compete, and have really good interviews. I felt like Portsmouth helped too because we, we won the whole thing there.

Mm-hmm.

Being able to play well and just interview well. But I'd say the craziest thing was just hearing my name called.

54 overall. Now, you came here for a workout last week.

Last week.

And a lot of people thought you were an afterthought. Everybody's focused on the other guys who were in that workout. Take us through that workout and how well you did, because obviously you made an impression on the Warriors brass.

It was a, it was a really great group too.

Yep.

2 guys went first round. Other 2 guys, very good college players too.

Mm-hmm. Other 3. Yep.

One went to the Final Four.

Mm-hmm.

Trey White at Kansas, very good player there. Barry Dunning from Pitt, who we beat them, but then he torched us. Anthony Dello Orso at Arizona, just really great player. I remember watching him on film when he was at Campbell because we played the team that— I think it was Radford— and he was just killing it. Yeah, yeah. But it was a very great group. Uh, LeBaron Phylon.

Yeah.

Very great player. Played him in exhibition, uh, earlier in the year. That was a very fast-paced game. You don't really see 2 teams scoring 100 points, right? And then Ben Sturtz, uh, very similar but different story, just D2 to making the jump to D1, being player— pretty sure you got Player of the Year at Drake, and then just balling out at Iowa too.

You talked about having a chip on your shoulder. This franchise built championships with guys who had a chip on their shoulder. Yeah, I mean, Steph, oh, he's too small, too fragile. Klay, all he can do is shoot. Draymond, second-round pick, you know. And so you come in, I think they like that attitude. Do you feel like, you know, you're confident in your game, but do you feel like you just need to show folks sometimes?

I would say so, just for just To prove myself right. I mean, at the end of the day, it's all about self-belief and confidence. And you know the work that you put in. Everyone else is just outside looking in. They don't know what you're doing, um, in the gym, how you're recovering, how you eating, all the like little things that goes into it. And people outside looking at it just think it's easy when it's really not.

Mm-hmm.

Then just hearing a lot from the media, it's hard to block out sometimes. But as long as you just have like a good circle and good mentors to like keep you grounded and believe in you, then I feel like it's a good process.

Outside of basketball, outside of basketball, what, what do you like to do? Are you a gamer? You like to go eat?

You like to travel? I like to go eat.

Yeah, what's some of your favorite dishes?

Tallahassee, I really like Gordo's.

Is it Gordo's Taqueria?

Cuban cuisine.

Cuban cuisine?

Oh.

I'm thinking Gordo's. We have a Gordo's Taqueria.

Yeah.

It's not Cuban.

No, it's not the same, but. Yeah, I would go there like 4 times a week sometimes.

Oh, shit.

Yeah, I went like 4 days straight. I'll just walk in there and they'd be like the same thing.

They knew what you wanted.

They knew what you wanted. Have your dish ready.

Yeah, pretty much.

We've got a lot of food out here in the Bay Area to choose from.

I mean, we're known for Cuban food here too. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm also big into like anime as well. Okay. Just relaxing, just, uh, very chill.

You brought up sneakers. Are you not a sneakerhead or— I like those.

Yeah, I mean, I have a whole bunch of shoes, but I like to be comfortable. Uh, those aren't really like broken in, right?

You got your favorites that you like to put on?

Yeah.

Okay, I'm right now more like chill and then It's like, all right.

Yeah, I was gonna mention—

Put on the fit like every year, every time here and there.

Yeah, I was gonna say, Monty, you come off as a chill dude, maybe coming out of the house, just comfortable shoes, a sweatsuit, a hoodie, and then go to the gym. That's basically who you are then, huh?

More laid back, chill, and then on the court, just, I'll say more like a silent assassin. But I know that gotta change, gotta be more talkative. Uh, just to find playing time.

But you, um, you obviously don't mind defending. How important is that part of the game for you to be, if not a lockdown defender, at least somebody that people know is gonna, gonna dig them up?

My first 3 years of college, like at Tarleton, defending rebound, just for you to get on like the rotation team in practice and you do that, you still might not get on the court. So it's like, I feel like that's just the baseline just to get on the court or even like the rotation group in practice. And I just carried that over to Juco. Defensive-minded coach.

Mm-hmm.

Well, he, uh, he's able to let me play freely, so defense and offense. And then Bonaventure, defense. And then Florida State, like, just be disruptive without fouling and just guard everyone.

When did, when did you kind of figure out that the Warriors maybe were interested in drafting you? And what did Coach Lachs kind of tell you about this system and this culture here with the Golden State Warriors?

It was with my workout here. I used, after all my workouts, I would call my agent, uh, let him know my opinion on how it went and wait for the feedback. He told me Golden State was texting him during the workout, so I had a feeling like I was going to end up here, and it did happen. Then I went to Tallahassee as soon as I got back from my last workout, which was on Monday. Uh, talked to Coach Lax, and he said, you know, Warriors called me about you. Said it like 5 times. Uh, watched the first round there, and then Watched the second round back in Jacksonville, and then next thing you know, I got my name called.

What'd he tell you about the Warriors, Coach? Because he has a lot of experience here. He was part of those championship teams.

He said be in shape. Yeah, because he wanted to bring the NBA philosophy down to college. Play fast, like 33 threes up a game, which is a lot in college. We want to be the fastest-paced team in college and The most shooting.

That's good.

Yeah, like most shooting 3s, makes and attempts, uh, in college as well. So I feel like for you to embrace that, he know what he's talking about because he just coached at the highest level. So I feel like that should be easy to— not easy, but like a more smooth transition, especially to the next level.

You watch much TV? What do you watch when you watch the internet? Are there shows that— 2 or 3 shows you like to watch?

Uh, I'm big into One Piece. I'm an episode behind. It's like over 1,100 episodes.

I've never heard of this show.

One Piece?

You heard of One Piece?

No, I've heard of it, but I'm not aware. I don't know what it is. I've heard of it.

Uh, I watch like a lot of anime.

Okay.

YouTube. Uh, big into Family Guy, South Park. Okay.

I sound like my son now.

Boondocks is a great show.

Oh yeah.

Boondocks is classic.

Yeah. What about music? Like, I listen— Do you listen to a lot of music or what do you listen to?

A lot of R&B.

Yeah.

R&B and rap.

Okay.

Drake's probably gonna be my number one 'cause he got a lot of classics, but he's not even like my favorite artist.

Got a lot of classics.

Who's your favorite artist?

I like J. Cole. J. Cole, okay.

Yeah.

I like him. He's probably my favorite, like, all time. But it's been a lot of Drake, uh, Lil Shimmy, Steve Lacy. Uh, they have like a whole, like, classic, um, yeah, I actually have a whole bunch of playlists, uh, to switch over. I'm digging the NoCap as well. Okay, for that new album. All right.

Okay, well, get acclimated to the Bay Area. You know about the Bay Area rap scene?

Find some locals.

It's different.

I know. What I heard, S.O.B.

Okay.

R&B. I think they're making a comeback. Um, I think there's another artist named Callen, For Real For Real. I think he's from Cali as well. So I listened to like a few of his songs last night because I was just listening to music and it just came on. I was like, I like this song.

Yeah, guys come here, man, and they always, they always discover somebody. I always think back to when the Warriors signed Kelly Oubre.

Oh yeah.

And I was like, Kelly, have you heard any music? Oh man, I love Rex Lefurgey, you know. Like, so guys find stuff out here, man.

So you're gonna have to find the classics too.

I mean, Too Short.

There you go. Yeah, E-40, Too Short. Yeah, Kilo's hot right now.

Yeah, Mike Shurm.

Mike Shurm. Yep, no doubt.

You know, he knows already.

He knows.

Jay, man, we can't wait to watch you play. Uh, you seem like a chill dude. I think the Dub Nation is going to love you and your demeanor.

Yeah.

You kind of remind us, you kind of remind us of a guy who helped win 4 championships here. Have you ever been told that you kind of remind people of Klay Thompson?

Um, he got it done.

He got it done.

I'm still trying to prove myself.

No doubt.

But in terms of personality, he was very chill when he first got here.

Yeah, yeah. Human Wikipedia.

Oh yeah, there you go. You got a sense of humor, man. We can't wait to watch you play. Welcome to the Bay Area, man. Best of luck to you in your NBA career. Thanks, Lajae.

Let's do it, man.