Q&A: Kyle Korver

Courtesy of David Aldridge

Me: You said a couple of years ago, when Budenholzer was first named coach, that if people checked back in a while you'd have something really great going on. Was this season -- not the results so much as the way you have played as a team -- what you had in mind? 

Kyle Korver: I think this was kind of the vision I thought would I hoping would happen. I don't think anyone knew it would happen quite this quickly. But we've come together really well. We're just a bunch of pieces that fit together well and a bunch of people who work hard. Yeah, I guess it's happened faster than anyone felt it would. 

Me: Sometimes, when teams or people are on runs like you all had in December, they think they're playing so well that they believe the opponent is the game itself and not who they have on the schedule. Did you have any of that kind of feeling during the streak? 

KK: It was interesting. Up until that point, that kind of streak made us legitimate in some people's eyes. Like, 'they're actually a really good team.' As much as we believed we were a good team, during that winning streak we just kept growing with confidence. You're like, okay, we can do this, and we beat this team, and we went out west, and we beat this set of teams all in a row. I think it was during that stretch that I think we started to really believe in ourselves. Not that we didn't, but you've still got to do something to really believe. And I think it helped us get to where we are. 

Me: What is the process like between you and Bud or the other coaches when it comes to making suggestions for sets, for tweaks, any types of changes? How receptive are they? 

KK: Very. Bud, I mean, it's such an interactive exchange. Every coach says they have an open-door policy. Every coach says that. But there's also a lot of guys who Bud has a good amount of respect for, and how guys play. No one's out there to draw up plays that I can score on? It's how do we get this concept rolling so we can score on that team? So when you come at it with that point of view, when it's a discussion about the team, I think both sides, we obviously are going to respect whatever Bud says, and I think he thinks the same about us. 

Me: What are you most looking forward to seeing about your team in the playoffs? 

KK: Winning. We want to go out there and really, really play well. I don't know. I don't know how to answer that all the way. We don't, like we talked earlier about this team, just getting to this point, and your vision. We don't feel like we're there yet. We're still evolving. We haven't won a playoff series. I think we have too much respect for the game to say 'we're going to go and we're going to accomplish that.' We understand you've got to earn respect in the playoffs. You've got to go through some good times and some bad times, and hopefully you're able to recover from the bad times. I think we're excited to go out there and compete. We haven't played a meaningful game in quite a while, and we're going to go out there and play a whole bunch of them in a row and have some fun. 

Me: What's the ultimate sign of respect you've gotten this year from opponents -- on the floor, after games, whenever? 

KK: I think there's been a couple of times during a game, end of games, when we're gonna win, and the other team will come up and say 'man, I love how you guys play.' They just got, you can tell, they're like, I would love to play for your team. That's the ultimate sign of respect in the NBA. When you're on a team, and your team's supposedly good, but man, I'd rather be on your team. It feels good to hear that. 

Me: How are the ARK kits coming? 

KK: They're going really good, actually. We're shipping our first out, we're trying to send them out, ship them out. We'll send them anywhere in the United States. I think the first one is going out this spring. It's going to Washington state. That's a big first step for us, and we're looking to get that process better and better. There's some really cool things in the works. 

Me: How are people finding out? Do they check the website, word of mouth, some combination? 

KK: Word of mouth. Obviously People Builders http://www.peoplebuildersutah.com has a website. We're in Utah, mostly, now. We'll probably target the different areas where the Foundation has been, and where I've played, just because you have connections and you have ways to get the word out there. But we're really trying to get our process down really well before we really spread out there. But we're getting pretty close, and there's a lot of really exciting things happening.