Friday, August 12, 2005
KINGS SIGN FREE AGENT FORWARD SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM
Press Conference Quotes
Geoff Petrie on the newest King:
“It gives me great pleasure to introduce the newest Sacramento King, Shareef Abdur-Rahim who we just signed this afternoon to a contract. He is a proven NBA player of a very high-caliber and we think he’ll improve our team in areas where we wanted to get better and give us dimensions on the block. He’s not only been a high-caliber player but also a high-caliber citizen. I really think you’ll enjoy him as a person and an individual. It has been a little bit of an odyssey in how he arrived here at this point in time. We spent some time with him earlier in the free agency process and had a great visit and that time and I think it was a terrific opportunity for us to become re-involved again and make him a Sacramento King.”
Abdur-Rahim on his thoughts about becoming a King:
“I thank God for this opportunity. The fans here and the overall atmosphere here is very exciting and I think it’s going to be a great experience. Things happened in an unpredictable manner regarding the New Jersey situation. Even when I made the decision to commit to New Jersey, it was between coming here or going there. Sacramento moved on and wouldn’t have become an opportunity and I would’ve been left scrambling to go anywhere, so more than anything I’m thankful that this situation was still here for me. I’m excited to come here and compete with a great group of guys and try and win a championship—and at this point in my career, that’s what it was about for me.
Answering questions about his health:
“The only thing I can tell you is that I’m healthy. I guess they (Nets) did their physical and some something that made them uncomfortable. I’ve never missed games or practices because of my knees so like I said, their concerns came out of the blue to me. As far as what went on in New Jersey, my focus, my heart and my attention is here. I’m ready to move forward and be apart of this team.”
About locating to Northern California:
“Since college I’ve always like this area. I spent two or three years after college here in the off-season so if I have a second home other than Atlanta it would be here.”
On what attracted him about the Kings:
“The biggest thing for me was trying to get on a team that had a chance to win and win big. That’s what I want to try and do for the rest of my career. The guys that are already here are accustomed to winning and competing at a high level. I’m looking forward to coming in and being a part of it. It’s a nice fit for me here.”
On playing with Mike Bibby in Vancouver early in their careers:
“I thought we had fun together. I had fun playing with Mike. I think it was tough on everyone because we were two to three year-old franchise and playing in a country that wasn’t a basketball country but nevertheless we enjoyed each other. It’s going to be fun great playing with him in a better situation.”
Kings Head Coach Rick Adelman on Abdur-Rahim:
“We haven’t had much of an inside game the last few years with Chris’ (Webber) injury and Vlade (Divac) leaving. Shareef gives us a presence inside and a proven scorer inside. He’s also a guy that can step out a face the basket and shoot the ball, which blends in nicely with what we do. I think we’ve been able to add pieces that are going to fit together well. The challenge this team has is that so many new players have to come together quickly. I talking with Shareef and the other players we have, we’re all about trying to win as a team. I’m excited this worked out.”
