Kenneth Faried hears all the noise, but he didn’t need to. He already knew what he had to work on this summer.

“My defense, I’ve focused on that,” Faried said in a phone interview from Johannesburg, where he played in NBA Africa Game 2015 on Saturday. “I’ve been watching film on guys that I consider my toughest matchups, and I’ve been able to dissect them so that when the season comes around I’m able to guard those players — and become the player I want to be, and that’s hopefully defensive player of the year one day and first-team all-defense.”

Faried, a high-energy player, has the raw tools to be a defensive stopper. It will be up to new Nuggets coach Michael Malone to help him get there. What’s new is that Faried acknowledges his defensive shortcomings.

But that’s not all.

“I’ve added some things to my game,” Faried said. “I’m able to do things that people always mocked me for.”

So, yes, he has heard the criticism of his defensive shortcomings and his offensive issues.

But for Faried, who is one of the NBA’s best rebounders and energy players, the goal is simple: doing whatever it takes for the Nuggets to get back to winning and into the playoffs. He has talked to Malone and been in the gym every day, he said.

“That’s priority No. 1,” he said. “My summer’s gone well.”

He spent last week in Johannesburg. Faried and the other NBA players were there as part of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program. Faried said the game was secondary in his mind to interacting with the kids.

“It means so much to me, because I’m in a (situation) where I can talk to a million people, and to me if I can change one person’s life or one person’s point of view of what they think, or if somebody is having a bad day and I can change that person’s whole day around, or whole life around … that to me is enough reward,” Faried said. “Just to change one person’s life.”

The trip also gave Faried a chance to explore his roots. He recently found out is that he is half African and half Jamaican.

“It was just amazing for me when I first got here,” Faried said. “Just to touch ground somewhere that’s basically part of me because my father’s side of the family is African.”