Hornets’ Kai Jones isn’t feeling the offseason pressure: ‘I’m having the most fun ever’

If Kai Jones is feeling any pressure during a huge summer, the Charlotte Hornets big man surely isn’t letting on and showing it.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

“I’m having the most fun ever,” Jones said Wednesday. “I’m enjoying it so much. I enjoy waking up and hooping every day. That’s what I love to do. I did it in the spring leading up to this, took a little break, came back and started working out every day, every day.

“That’s just what I love to do. So, I’m just hooping and trying to get the ‘W.’ That’s my life. I’ve always been doing that. I love basketball.”

Although this is a big offseason for Jones, the 20-year-old is keeping it all in stride. He’s still the same boisterous individual with the aqua-colored hair, a look that makes it even easier for the 6-foot-11, 230-pounder to stand out in a crowd.

Jones hasn’t quite reached the crossroads of his career just yet, but there has to be some tangible progress over coming days and weeks if he is going to have any legitimate shot at cracking the rotation under coach Steve Clifford consistently in 2023-24 after getting a brief taste this past injury-ravaged season for Charlotte.

In the Hornets’ 98-83 loss to Golden State at the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, Jones was much more of a factor than he was in Monday’s California Classic matchup against San Antonio. He posted 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, grabbing four rebounds to go with four steals, a pair of emphatic blocks, an assist and five personal fouls.

“A little bit better effort, but I would like to see more than one defensive rebound from Kai, especially in a game where we kind of got murdered on the glass,” said Hornets assistant Marlon Garnett, who’s serving as the team’s summer league coach. “I think that right there alone ... be a guy that cleans the glass. Own the glass.”

For that to happen, Jones has to develop a different mindset with laser focus.

“It’s a combination of physicality, it’s a combination of tracking the basketball,” Garnett said. “Just approaching it that I’m going to get 15 rebounds tonight. And maybe that’s 15-plus. So, it’s just a mentality, too.”

That’s how players separate themselves from the pack. There is no hiding these days from talent evaluators, and after Monday’s summer league opener, Jones drew the ire of at least one person in the league whose job involves examining other rosters.

But Jones’ enriched involvement against the Warriors evened things out a bit.

“Better today. Focused,” a pro player personnel director of one NBA team told the Observer. “Hope he stays that way in Vegas.”

Jones understands he can’t deviate too much from any positive advancement he’s making. He intends on becoming something more than a human highlight reel and insists he’s all about the team — professional and international. Everything else is secondary for the Bahamian native.

“I want to win in the league, I want to win in summer league, I want to win in the Olympic trials,” Jones said. “So, just keep being hot every time I touch it. That’s my goal every time I touch the ball. So, go win the next game.”

After his latest outing and before the Hornets headed over to Vegas to continue their summer league action, Jones spoke with the Observer about his extremely important summer, how he can specifically improve in certain areas and more.

Roderick Boone: Marlon Garnett mentioned he wants you to be better on defense. How do you go about doing that?

Kai Jones: I’m going to dive in more next game on the defensive end. When the ball is going, I’m just going to dive in, go grab the ball from everybody. I think that will help us a lot. So just diving in and being fearless. I think that’s the key for me.

RB: So, it’s about having a certain mentality?

KJ: For sure. Have that (Dennis) Rodman type. Jump in there and be fearless. So I think that’s big for me, dig in my heart and jump in.

RB: You’ve blocked a few shots emphatically during these first two games. How much are you working on timing and keeping it in play?

KJ: For sure. Keep it in play is something I’ve worked on since high school. So I’ll try to beat it off the glass or try to keep it in my hands and cuff it so we can go the other way and score. Same with the steals. Just being neat with those when grabbing the ball from the opponent. I try to hit bodies but I’m also going for the ball and that’s why I’m getting in a lot of foul trouble. So I’m trying to be neat on that end because defense is technique in itself. That’s something I want to be excellent at in life. So I continued to work on that tonight and (now) it’s the next game be even sharper.

RB: How key is it for you to stay within the game plan and not freelance?

KJ: Sure, just be sharp in the screen techniques and put it in the bucket every time you touch it. That’s the rule around here. Nobody is against you having fun and being yourself. Coach has never told me, ‘Oh don’t shoot this, don’t shoot that.’ He just wants me to lock up on ‘D’ and score it every time I touch it.

That’s the mentality around here and coach is real positive with that. They’ve been like that since I’ve been here --- the GM (Mitch Kupchak) has always told me that. So have a positive mentality and lock in on defense and be coachable. Lock in on the details and be coachable. So, just continue to do that.

RB: What’s the biggest thing for you in your growth this summer as you head into the fall and season three in the NBA?

KJ: Just continue to hit shots. Work on my game every day, and continue to hit my shots and lock up on ‘D.’ Lock in on the details like we talked about during the middle of the season. Really lock in on those here and get a ‘W.’ Just get that ‘W.’ That’s the biggest thing for me. I really want to win that game, come out scoring, come out locked in.