As the Wizards' starting point guard Thomas Jr. was expelled after 88 seconds, his substitute Ismail Smith had to appear early.
After the game, Fred Katz asked Ismail about the situation at that time. Ismail replied: generally, I go back to the dressing room after the appearance ceremony and come out later in the first quarter. When I came out today, the situation was urgent. People ask me: are you ready? I was full of question marks and thought, 'what's going on, what's going on?'
Subsequently, the reporter asked Ismail what would happen if he didn't arrive in time. Ismail said: they will go back to the dressing room to catch strong men. I usually go back to the dressing room, take off my sweaty warm-up clothes, watch the game in the dressing room, and then go back to the field. My bench time is almost like this step by step. See? Today's negative situation has something positive.
Ismail played 7 minutes more than the average playing time and scored 16 points.