Josh McRoberts wants to be a fan favorite again

*Full audio of Josh McRoberts’ interview

Josh McRoberts, who is known as the guy with the highest vertical on the Lakers, had his exit interview on Wednesday. In his first season with the team, he averaged 2.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 14.4 minutes a game.

Below are the highlights from what he had to say about his experience as a Laker.

On whether he would like to remain with the team: “I have another year left on my contract... I’d love to be back. I think that’s the plan.”

On what he needs to work on over the summer: “Continue to just shoot the ball, I think that’s my biggest thing during the summer.... For me, just finding a comfort level — I think this year, it was a little bit tough on everybody with the shortened season and no practice. I think especially for a guy in my position where you’re coming into a new place and you don’t really have time to prove yourself or show what you can do in practice or in training camp. Not to make any excuses at all, but I think it was just a little bit different than what I’m used to.”

On seeing his minutes reduced throughout the season: “It’s a challenge. You want to be out there, you want to play. Especially coming in and playing a lot at the start of the season, it’s something you want to continue.”

“It’s happened to me before early in my career being in Indiana and being in Portland. It’s part of it. I think you have to deal with it. I think it’s tougher on some guys than on others, and for me, it’s a challenge but it’s part of the job.

On whether he talked to Coach Mike Brown about why his role changed: “It’s not something I really asked about. I think it’s a combination of things. Other guys played well and did well with their opportunity and their chances that they had.”

On if he’ll play more minutes next season: “I hope so. That will be my goal coming back. I know that I’ll work as hard as I can this summer to put myself in the best position coming into camp next season.”

On whether his youth could have helped the team more: “I would’ve loved to be out there. I think I would’ve done everything I could to try to help where we needed help at.”

On what it was like to be a fan favorite in Los Angeles: “It was a lot of fun. I think it was a new experience for me coming here and getting an opportunity to play right away. It was kind of a whirlwind, fast, and you never really take it in, I guess, as it’s going on. But to be able to reflect on that, I look forward to kind of getting back to that role in the future.”

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Josh McRoberts wants to be a fan favorite again