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Norman Powell: "Being 33 and making my first All-Star, it's very funny because I don't feel 33. It was one of the personal goals that I had set out for myself when I was a little kid. I finally accomplished it, even though it's in my 11th year, it's still a great feat."
Legion Hoops: N3on: “Who is the most overrated team in the NBA?” Norman Powell: “The Lakers”
Heat Central: Norman Powell believes the Heat got WAY BETTER with the Giannis trade: “Anytime you get a generational talent like that it automatically puts you into contention. He’s a generational player… They got some dawgs. Shoutout my man D Mitch. Off night and Bam. They gonna be good. I’m excited to see how it all comes together. They signed Klay. That’s a good pickup for them. They made some good moves”
Heat Central: Norman Powell says Davion Mitchell is one of the hardest working teammates he’s EVER had: “I’ve been around some great players. Dame is a good one. Being around Davion, Davion genuinely loves basketball. Seeing how much he pours into the game every single day. Davion was the one person I seen that I say ‘ok, this guy works out like me.’ He’s committed to the grind.”
N3on: You think if you could have made the NFL? Norman Powell: Yeah. At UCLA, the coaches wanted me to try out for the team, but I'm cool with all the… money is not great cuz it's not fully guaranteed. This the health insurance isn't that great. So, I don't rock with how they don't take care of their players in the NFL after retirement. You know, all the CTE stuff. Sweeping it under the rug and stuff like that. So, yeah. I don't mess with the whole industry around football. Even though I love watching it, like I don't like how they treat the players.
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Bobby BP Portis: Yo Norm @npowell2404, I always respected ya game from a distance. We in the same draft. Shout out to 2015. Only bout 9 of us left but keep my name out your mouth brother. I ain’t no throw in piece. From champ to champ respectfully king. Be blessed brother.
Was it as simple as once Miami got Giannis, you knew you’d have to pursue other possibilities because of their cap situation? Or did you get a sense even beforehand that you would have to consider other options? Norman Powell: “Honestly, I thought I would be going back to Miami throughout the course of the year. We knew they wanted to get Giannis. We heard some rumblings that ‘Norm, Bam [Adebayo] and Giannis sounds really good.” So I thought that was the path. But when the trade is on the table, that was in the season and I don’t know the talks behind it. I don’t know what Milwaukee’s stance was. But it seemed like they were like, ‘If you want Giannis, you have to take Bobby Portis.’ I think that played a part with the CBA rules and the hard cap with sending out money and receiving money. That put a tough swing on things, in my eyes. But I could be totally wrong.
Norman Powell: They could’ve made moves and done things if they wanted to. Obviously, Wiggs [Andrew Wiggins] would have had to opt out [of his player option] and take less than his $30 [million] and they would have had to move Niko [Nikola Jović]. But teams are going to do what they want. They didn’t make the moves necessary to do so. So it’s about being ahead of the game and seeing how things play out. Khalid and Glu were really on top of giving me the outline of what free agency would look like, who’s available and who’s interested. As the news was coming out with different guys’ contracts and trades, they kept me really informed on what was going to be next, who was on the board and off the board. It wasn’t as cut and dry.”
What’s your expectations on what the Jamaican national team can do going forward? Norman Powell: “It’s about retooling and seeing what we need to do. We have a lot of interest from NBA guys – Devin Vassell, the Thompson twins, the Champagnie brothers, Isaiah Stewart and a couple of other guys that want to play. So it’s about figuring out how we can get as many NBA guys and top-talented guys that are a part of the team. Jamaica is in a tough spot because they have that rule with FIBA where you have to have your Jamaican citizenship or passport the time you’re 16 to 18 years old. We’re trying to get FIBA to get the rules changed. A lot of the guys that have Jamaican descent or heritage are being penalized for something that their parents didn’t do or their grandparents moved away from Jamaica. They didn’t know the national team was a thing since it’s been 15 years since we first played a game. So we’re trying to work with FIBA to get it changed or altered. It’s putting a damper on what Jamaica is able to do with being able to compete at a very high level because a lot of these guys’ parents didn’t get their dual citizenship. That’s tough.”
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Norman Powell: Nothing to set straight. People will see things on social media and run with their own opinions and assumptions. I know what I said and how I meant it. Everything else is just outside noise, but it’s fun to go back-and forth with fans that think they know everything.
thenbpa: Good bumps only at the PLYRS UNTD runs in Andalulcía, Spain 🇪🇸🔥 @klaythompson @normanpowell4 @nickeilaw
“Did I want to return to Miami? Yeah, I did,” Powell said to a group of Chicago-based media in Las Vegas on Saturday. “But obviously, it’s a business. They made their decisions and made their moves and things happen. And it is what it is.”
Powell downplayed the fact that the second year of his contract with the Bulls is not guaranteed. “I go in every situation wanting to be where I’m at and help win,” Powell said. “Looking at the business of it, I’ve been around so long that it crossed my mind. But I’m focused on being in the moment.”