Williams details summer workouts with DeMar DeRozan originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
DeMar DeRozan promised Patrick Williams “hell” in the form of joint summer workouts during his exit interview with local reporters at the end of the 2021-22 NBA season.
To hear both Chicago Bulls forwards tell it at the organization’s annual media day on Monday, DeRozan delivered.
“Yes we did,” DeRozan told reporters with a smile when asked if he and Williams followed through on the above plans. “Ask him.”
And so, Williams was asked about his time in Los Angeles training with DeRozan when he stepped to the podium.
“I think he put me through everything,” Williams said. “If that wasn't everything, then he's different.”
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Williams added that those sessions challenged him both physically and mentally, and deepened his appreciation for DeRozan as a player and person.
As for what goes into a day in the life of DeRozan in the summer? Williams wasn’t apt to spill all the details immediately, saying his teammate’s routine isn’t for him to give out.
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But after a follow-up, he eventually ran through the approximate schedule for reporters.
“The workout starts at 5 a.m. Starts at 5 on the dot. Not 5:01, not 4:59 — 5 a.m.,” Williams began. “You can't be pulling in the parking lot at 5 a.m. We probably got there at 4:30. I was still sleepy when he came to pick me up, so I don't know exactly what time. But we definitely got there around, like, 4:30.
“We’re warm and we started to work out, the lift, at 5. It's a tough lift, for sure. It's mostly core, pushing yourself to exhaustion and then seeing what you can do after that.
“Then, after that, it’s on to the court. He puts himself through every situation he can possibly be in in the game – every double-team, triple-team. It's different. One-on-one, one-on-three. It's just different.
“Then of course he has a family. He goes home and tends to them, be with them, still be a father. Kind of seeing he gets his work done early and now he has the rest of the day to be a dad, a family member, a brother or whatever. Then we go back in the afternoon for more.”
It’s a rigorous routine, to be sure. But Williams took it seriously. After entering his second NBA season, he reflected, “a little bit overweight,” he begins training camp this year feeling more athletic and mentally sharp.
“Everything DeMar does is mental, so you're going to take a jump in terms of how you look at things, how you approach whatever it may be, whether it's a practice or a game or whatever,” Williams said. “Whether it's life or basketball, just how you approach things, how he approaches things is something I kind of picked up on.
“You have no choice but to make a mental jump because you have more attention to detail with everything you do.”
Music to the ears of the Bulls and their fans, who hope for a leap from the 21-year-old in 2022-23.
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