NBA — Andscape

How Victor Wembanyama’s unearthly size and still-growing feet made him Nike’s ‘Alien’

Aaron Dodson — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 12:36:21 +0000

As soon as “Wemby” landed in conversation, Nike CEO and president John Donahoe beamed in fascination of basketball’s French-born, 7-foot-4 anomaly, Victor Wembanyama.

The moment occurred in early April at Palais Brongniart, the former home of the Paris Stock Exchange. Donahoe reaffirmed Nike’s early investment in Wembanyama, who signed with the Swoosh years before his NBA debut.

“Victor is a generational talent,” Donahoe told Andscape at Nike’s “Nike On Air” event for the 2024 Paris Games. Set for his Olympics debut, the 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs star forward represents his country and first footwear brand, approximately four years after Nike first heard of the uniquely sized teenager playing in France’s top league.

“It’s remarkable how much he’s experienced at 20,” Donahoe said. “He’s handled everything with grace and had a standout rookie year.”

Wembanyama’s initial multiyear Nike contract carried into his unworldly 2023-24 debut NBA season as the Spurs’ No. 1 overall pick. After averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and a league-leading 3.6 blocks in 71 games, Wembanyama emerged as the unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year, a milestone Nike celebrated with the release of his own special-edition sneaker.

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San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama's Nike G.T. Hustle 2 is inspired by his outstanding talent.

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The insoles of San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama's sneakers include the extraterrestrial logo.

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The outsoles of San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama's Nike G.T. Hustle 2 includes the tagline "Be Unique Every Day," a guiding motto for the French star.

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San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama's Nike G.T. Hustle 2 features his "Alien" logo.

Nike

The glow-in-the-dark elements of San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama's Nike G.T. Hustle 2.

On May 15, the Nike Air Zoom G.T. Hustle 2 Victor Wembanyana dropped online for $170 a pair. The shoe sold out in minutes.

“The relationship with Nike, it makes sense to me and feels good because I can’t see a more ambitious brand that matches my own ambition,” Wembayana said during his Rookie of the Year news conference. “They’re thinking ahead, outside of the box.”

Highlighted by a custom alien head illustration on the heels and insoles, Wembanyama’s Hustle 2s, from Nike’s “Greater Than” (G.T.) series launched in 2021, marked the first retail shoe release of his young career. However, the true beginning of Wembanyama’s Nike origin story took shape exactly a year before his alien-adorned debut shoe came out.

On May 16, 2023, Nike hosted a lottery watch party for Wembayana at the company’s Paris headquarters. After the Spurs secured the top pick, Nike reps handed out celebratory hats adorned with an alien graphic, according to The Mirror and San Antonio-Express News.

“I met Victor and his parents in Paris last year,” Donahoe said. “And when I shook his hand, it completely engulfed mine.”

Though Nike has yet to confirm whether terms of Wembanyama’s endorsement include the design and launch of an official signature shoe line, rumblings in basketball and sneaker circles speculate it’s a matter of when — not if — Wembanyama will become Nike’s next NBA signature headliner. The Swoosh, however, has already delivered a concept sneaker designed exclusively for Wembanyama.

Nike created a size 21 concept shoe for Victor Wembanyama for its A.I.R (Athlete Imagined Revolution) project.

Nike

At the end of the Paris activation in April, Nike unveiled a collection of 13 sneaker prototypes, each inspired by one of the brand’s Olympians. Wembanyama’s A-I-R prototype, displayed inside Palais Brongniart, materialized in a design resembling a spaceship than a sneaker.

“Just look at the prototype of his shoe concept,” Donahoe said. “Victor’s foot is really THAT big.”

With the Olympics opening this week, Wembanyama’s A-I-R prototype remains on display in Paris, where people can go see the concept shoe finalized in size 21, Nike confirmed to Andscape. Wembanyama’s prototype, exhibited at the historic Centre Pompidou museum, looks like a UFO you’d imagine he arrived on from the extraterrestrial world Nike is building its basketball brand around.

Yet, an even more alien reality: Wembanyama’s feet are still growing.

Back in October 2022, that one word — “alien” — organically aligned the stars of marketing inspiration for Wembanyama and, eventually, Nike.

During an NBA preseason news conference, Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James became the first person to call Wembanyama an “alien” after Wembanyama’s 37-point game with France’s Metropolitans 92 on U.S. TV.

“Everybody has been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien,” said James, praising Wembanyama’s fluidity and grace on the court. “No one has ever seen anyone as tall but as fluid and graceful as he is out on the floor.”

For the past few years, many have considered Wembanyama — by metrics of athletic ability, uniqueness of size and global marketing appeal — the most-hyped hooper to surface since James entered the NBA at 18. James’ debut signature shoe, the Nike Air Zoom Generation, was released in October 2003 at the start of his rookie season. Three months later, Wembanyama was born in early January 2004, five days after King James’ 20th birthday.

Now 20 himself, Wembanyama also received his first Nike shoe, though not technically a signature model, as an NBA rookie.

“At his size,” James said in 2022, “with his ability to put the ball on the floor, shoot stepback jumpers out of the post, stepback 3s, catch-and-shoot 3s, and block shots … He’s, for sure, a generational talent.” His words foreshadow Nike CEO John Donahoe’s acknowledgment of Wembanyama as one of the brand’s highest-profile signings since his tenure began in 2020.

“Wemby is nothing short of an awe-inspiring, difference-maker of a generation,” Nike’s basketball footwear director Deepa Ramprasad told Andscape. “Our team has a uniquely exciting challenge to meet the call-to-action of an athlete who a lot of us think has the opportunity to redefine and reimagine how the game of basketball looks.”

Yet even before James classified him as an alien, Wembanyama had begun to pinpoint his foreign differences, which extended beyond his physical stature.

A Nike advertising banner depicts France’s basketball player Victor Wembanyama on a street ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games on July 21.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

“I feel like I’m an artist on and off the court. I love thinking about a lot of things — I love drawing. I love building Legos. I love writing,” Wembanyama said during an ESPN2 interview in August 2022. That summer also marked the 40th anniversary of director Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which tells the story of an alien — named Zrek, but famously known as “E.T.” — trying to find his way as the only of his kind on Earth.

As weird as it sounds, E.T. ‘s nostalgic narrative and Wembanyama’s real-life experience aren’t all that different, save for a pair of plot points. The two actors who portrayed E.T. stood around 2-feet-10 — exactly 4½ feet shorter than Wembanyama. And unlike his movie character comparison, Wembanyama is in no rush to leave where he’s landed in the NBA.

“I like being called an alien,” Wembanyama said in a Sports Illustrated profile before the June 2023 NBA draft. “I’m really glad [LeBron] said that because I didn’t like to be called a unicorn. I like [alien] because it’s just something not from this world. It’s really what I’m working to be — something unique and original.”

It’s almost as if Wembanyama took James’ alien assignment and translated the words into a creative challenge of personal branding. Before Nike’s Paris draft lottery party in May 2023, Wembanyana began doodling Alien heads, stick figures and spaceships — drawings he proudly presented to Nike and the brand’s longtime ad agency, Wieden+Kennedy, in meetings.

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“The Alien concept came from Wemby,” Rampsarad said. “That was something that the team talked about in partnership with him. ‘Hey, how do we want to position you and storytell?’ Specifically through some of the player-exclusives that you saw him wear this season. So, the concept arose during a collaborative conversation with him and our design partners.”

Within minutes of the Spurs winning the No. 1 overall pick, Nike posted a custom image on social media with Wembanyama positioned in front of a Paris backdrop with a green streak flying over the Eiffel Tower. By mid-August 2023, Wembanyama appeared in his first brand campaign, promoting Nike Tech gear. “The Extraterrestrial has landed,” read the caption of Nike’s post.

“Wemby is all for the Alien storytelling,” Ramprasad said. “I think it’s kind of cool to see his confidence in our ability to tell an athlete’s story.”

True to Wembanyama’s alien fascination, one of the NBA’s most complex X-files concerns the mystery behind the 20-year-old star’s correct shoe size.

For this story, no representative — from the NBA’s league office, the Spurs organization, his agency or even Nike — would confirm Wembanyama’s official shoe size. Yet, there’s tangible evidence to substantiate the unearthly, yet not improbable, reality that Wembanyama’s feet grew as much as two sizes during his first NBA season.

You read that right.

If the claim still seems unfathomable, follow the trail of reports linking Wembanyama to wearing five different shoe sizes throughout his rookie year.

Last fall, ahead of the 2023-24 season, the NBA provided Andscape with an official spreadsheet featuring the apparel and footwear size of every player on the roster, reported annually by all 30 teams as a league requirement. Initially, the Spurs listed Wembanyama’s shoe size as 20, tying him with five fellow players — Rudy Gobert, Robin Lopez, Boban Marjanovic, Karl-Anthony Towns and Ivica Zubac — for the title of biggest feet in the NBA.

Yet, during the preseason in early October 2023, the league’s @NBAKicks social media handle posted a photo of Wembanyama sitting courtside wearing a pair of Nike G.T. Runs. The caption: “Size 20.5!”

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama stretches in the training room before the game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on March 27.

Reginald Thomas II/San Antonio Spurs

According to healthline.com, “feet usually stop growing at age 20 in males.” Midway through his rookie season, Wembanyama turned 20 in January, around the same time Nike reportedly began designing his A-I-R prototype to be unveiled at the brand’s Paris Games activation in April. According to Nike, the concept shoe’s final product measured at size 21. Yet, by the end of his rookie season, Wembanyama disclosed to at least one NBA writer that his shoe size had reached 21.5, the anonymous reporter who covered the Spurs substantially this season told Andscape.

“We’ll let Nike handle the shoe size question,” wrote Jordan Howenstine, director of basketball communications for the Spurs, in an email to Andscape when asked to confirm Wembanyama’s shoe size. As for his endorser’s explanation: “All of the Nike Basketball footwear worn by Victor is built to his exact specifications,” said a brand spokesperson.

But there’s at least one known pair of Wembanyama’s rookie Nike sneakers in a size 22.

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama’s shoes from a game on February 16, 2024, Wembanyama’s career All-Star Weekend Debut, are on display at ‘Sports Week’ auctions at Sotheby’s in New York City on April 4. The box’s label indicates the shoes are size 22.

On April 15, renowned international collectibles broker Sotheby’s listed an auction featuring a bright yellow pair of Wembanyama’s player-exclusive Nike GT Hustle 2s. Nike included the shoes in a batch of PEs, and the brand provided Wembanyama with options to wear while competing in multiple events during February’s NBA All-Star Weekend. Wembanyama never wore the bright yellow Hustle 2s in a game this past season. Yet, official photos of the sneakers released by Sotheby’s show the box’s label — clearly reading size 22.

“The G.T. Hustle 2s fit absolutely true to size,” explained Stanley Tse, a footwear product tester and contributor for WearTesters. And while it’s worth noting that many players wear custom insoles or orthotics, requiring them to go up a half or full size, the common NBA footwear trend isn’t exactly necessary with the GT Hustle 2 silhouette.

“The caveat is there’s already an insole in the Hustles that’s cut a specific way because the Zoom strobel cushion is directly under foot for comfort and impact protection,” Tse said. “However, it’s known that Nike customizes models for players to their exact liking.”

“I’m sure Nike did a clay molding of Wemby’s foot to get exact measurements,” Tse said. “But if his foot is still growing, which I wouldn’t put past him, Nike’s gonna have to keep doing moldings.”

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama wears Nike Zoom GT Run sneakers, which feature a hand-drawn UFO, during the game against the Dallas Mavericks on March 19 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama wears Nike Zoom GT Run sneakers, which feature his hand-drawn alien logo, Feb. 23 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles.

Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images

If Wembanyama’s foot size officially reaches 22, he will be tied with Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal and center Bob Lanier for the largest in NBA history.

“One of the things that’s the most unique about working with Wemby so far is how he’s continuing to develop in his body, not just his game,” Ramprasad said. “For us at Nike, it’s about how do we keep up with Wemby’s evolvement anatomically to meet all the needs he may have from a footwear perspective.”

From 1992 to 1995, O’Neal’s foot grew from size 19 to 22. In five months, from October 2023 to February, Wembanyama laced up, or at the very least received, pairs of sneakers in sizes 20, 20.5, 21, 21.5, and 22.

“We’ve had athletes before who are considered big in the space of basketball and footwear,” Ramprasad said. “But, it almost feels like Wemby and his feet are ever-growing, right? An athlete that young, whose body is evolving at the rate his is? The best word to use is dynamic.”

When Wembanyama’s signature Nike line debuts, his suspected size 22 shoes will be the largest ever for a Nike headliner, surpassing Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning, who wore an 18 in his two Nike signatures from 1997 and 1998, and Kevin Durant, who also wears a size 18.

“The similarities between Kevin and Wemby are insane,” said Nike footwear designer Leo Chang, who crafted Durant’s first 12 signatures. “What I saw in Kevin was that he was almost this superhuman who had adapted to the game of basketball. He was this ultimate hybrid player who could play all positions. After growing up, he developed the handles of a guard but then stretched and could play even in the center.

“I think Wemby has similar versatility to KD,” Chang said. “And what’s amazing is Wemby will continue to develop that versatility to inform his footwear product.”

Durant’s signature line, which debuted 15 seasons ago during his 2008-09 sophomore NBA campaign, transformed the 6-foot-11 star into the “Durantula” and “Slim Reaper.” In 2019, Greek-born star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who wears a size 17, launched his ongoing signature series that branded him as the “Freak” of Nike Basketball.

“Just like LeBron said, everybody’s been a unicorn,” Wembanyama told reporters at Madison Square Garden in November 2023. “But, there’s just one alien, right?”

By NBA All-Star Weekend in February, Wembanyama debuted his alien-inspired Nike G.T. Hustle 2s. Before wearing the shoes on the court during the All-Star Skills Challenge, Wembanyama showed off the glowing green PE colorway on social media. Specifically, Wembanyama made sure that cameras caught his iridescent logo embossed on each shoe’s heel.

“An alien I drew one day,” Wembanyama said at All-Star in February, the first and only time he donned the special-edition G.T. Hustle 2s. Out of the 71 games he played this past NBA season, Wembanyama only wore Hustle 2s five times, and favored the Nike G.T. Run model, which he laced up in 66 games.

Yet, neither Wembanyama’s alien affinity nor his innate creativity were limited to the G.T. Hustle silhouette that Nike chose as the canvas for his first Alien-themed shoe. At some point during the 2023-24 season, Wembanyama’s customization of his light pink G.T. Runs showed up in images of his most-worn rookie PEs.

Wembanyama drew an alien’s face and spaceship in black Sharpie on the back of his left shoe.

The 7-foot-4 star couldn’t wait for Nike to put his official alien logo out in the world.

In the past 40 years of Swoosh lore and marketing, Nike has launched Air Jordan’s Jumpman, Penny’s 1 Cent, King James’ crown and the Black Mamba’s sheath. Yet, no signature logo in Nike Basketball history experienced a rollout like Wembanyama’s alien.

Before the end of the 2023-24 NBA regular season, Nike unveiled Wembanyama’s extraterrestrial branding in a commercial opening with the line, “Somewhere in South Texas,” before a drone image reveals a crop circle in the form of an alien head flanked by two swooshes. Nike strategically released the 45-second spot — with the tagline “The total eclipse has just begun” — on April 8 during the afternoon that marked the first full eclipse to pass over North America in seven years.

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Approximately four years ago, the first correspondence swirling Wembanyama sparked between a Nike sports marketing rep in Europe and the head of the brand’s sports research lab back at headquarters in Oregon. The message essentially decoded as, “There’s an athlete out here in France, unlike any being we’ve ever seen.” Soon, Nike embarked upon the challenge of solving for Wembanyama’s unique body type through footwear.

“Wemby is an athlete who really just inspires us to rethink our systems and innovation in a way that, without him, we may not be catalyzed in the same way,” Ramprasad said. “It’s nothing short of incredibly exciting. And it’s also one of those, ‘watch him in this space’ moments. Because his journey is only just beginning. And so too is ours in partnership with him.”

In the past 12 or so months since Wembanyama entered the NBA, Nike has closely examined the evolution of his growing feet while honing in on the exact fit and sizing of sneakers he needs on the court. Wembanyama has already begun testing another silhouette after announcing on social media in early July that the new Nike G.T. Hustle 3 will be his “shoe for the summer,” which he’ll lace up exclusively during the 2024 Olympics.

For the size-20-something wearing Wembanyama, a Nike signature line certainly doesn’t land outside the worlds of imagination or possibility.

“It’s a very beneficial relationship and it’s working,” Wembanyama said of his Nike partnership in May. “But, what we’ve done so far is not enough. We want to do more.”

French NBA rookies await their turn on Olympic team

Marc J. Spears — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 12:22:23 +0000

Andscape at the Olympics is an ongoing series exploring the Black athletes and culture around the 2024 Paris Games.

LILLE, France – Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and the French men’s national team play their first game of the Olympics as host nation Saturday against Brazil. Two interesting omissions from the French roster are the 2024 NBA draft’s top two picks: Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher and Washington Wizards forward Alexandre Sarr.

“Surprised? No. I wasn’t surprised that I’m not there,” Risacher said the day before the Hawks selected him with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft on June 26. “I wanted to be on the team. That was a goal from the beginning of the season. But I didn’t make it … I have good things coming up with the draft and everything. I’m happy to be there in the NBA and I have some [years] to realize my dream.

“I wanted to be on the national team, especially for the Olympics in Paris. That would be great. But that is not going to happen. But I’m not mad. I’m just living the great life of a basketball player. Why can I be mad?”

So why didn’t Risacher and Sarr get picked?

Several NBA executives told Andscape it’s par for the course that lottery picks don’t play for their national teams during the summer when they get selected in the NBA draft. Memphis Grizzlies rookie center Zach Edey, drafted ninth overall, wasn’t selected to play for the Canadian national team at the Olympics but played for his new team in summer league action. French men’s basketball team coach Vincent Collet explained the omission of Risacher and Sarr from his standpoint to Andscape.

“I knew they would get drafted very high and our Olympic committee imposes us to give the final roster before [the] 7th of July, which meant we couldn’t see them before giving the final roster,” Collet told Andscape. “They are very good and could make the team in another situation. But we couldn’t select them without seeing them.

“It wouldn’t be fair for others. They will be part of the French basketball upside.”

Victor Wembanyama of France in action during the International Friendly match between France and Canada on July 19 in Orleans, France.

Christian Liewig/Corbis/Getty Images

Collet coached Wembanyama with Paris Metropolitans 92 during the 2022-23 French Pro A season. But Wembanyama didn’t play for the French national team during World Cup play in 2023. The 7-foot-4 center was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs and played two games on their summer league team instead. Not playing for France last summer also gave Wembanyama an opportunity to adjust to the Spurs and San Antonio.

The 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, a league-high 3.6 blocked shots and 1.2 steals last season. Washington Wizards forward Bilal Coulibaly also didn’t play for France during the 2023 World Cup but is on the Olympic roster now. Coulibaly averaged 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists as a rookie with Washington last season and is expected to have a bright future with the franchise.

“It would not be realistic in terms of development and not careful in terms of health,” Wembanyama told L’Equipe in 2023 about his decision to miss FIBA World Cup. “I hope people will understand. It’s frustrating for me too. The France team is still my focus. I want to win as many titles as possible with it. But I think it’s a necessary sacrifice.”

Perhaps being away from the Olympics could be a good thing for Risacher and Sarr, since both struggled at the NBA 2K Summer League recently in Las Vegas.

In two games, Risacher averaged 14.5 points (39.3% shooting, missed 12 of 16 3-point shots), 5.0 rebounds and 2 assists in 29.5 minutes per game. In four games, Sarr averaged 5.5 points and missed 38 of 47 field goal attempts (including 15 of 17 3-point attempts) while averaging 7.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Now, they can adjust to their new NBA towns and teams while watching France on television.

“Every day is kind of new,” Risacher said. “A new experience. That is what made the [draft] process exciting. I’m still discovering a new country, new cities. And that is special, too …

“My first year it’s going to be important to do whatever coach asks me to fit on the team. I think that is the advantage I will have on everybody.”

The next Olympic Games are 2028 in Los Angeles. While USA Basketball is always laden with top NBA talent, French basketball will be expected to be a medal contender as well with the possibility of young talent like Wembanyama, Coulibaly, Sarr, Risacher, Olivier Sarr and two rookies drafted in the 2024 first round, Tidjane Salaün and Pacôme Dadiet.

“We should be amongst the best teams and other players are coming,” Collet said.

“It’s amazing to see how we are growing as a nation,” Risacher said.

Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole holds youth basketball clinic for Washington-area children

Martenzie Johnson — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 12:55:31 +0000

WASHINGTON — A child is waving his hands and shaking his head at Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole while waiting in line.

In the middle of Poole’s free basketball clinic at the team’s practice facility in southeast Washington, the very small child — barely 3 feet tall — is clearly talking trash to the former NBA champion. While I sit a few hundred feet away, I can make out that the child is boasting about what he’s about to do in the upcoming drill, which is focused on off-ball movement and finishing.

When it’s finally the camper’s turn to go, he quickly drops the trash talk, sprints from his spot on the baseline towards the top left of the key, stutter steps and turns his body as he shifts to a spot beyond the 3-point line, where he receives a pass from a counselor.

As the camper beelines toward the basket, another counselor is waiting to contest the basket. The camper — in a white T-shirt, all-white Nike shorts with a giant black swoosh across the front, white and orange Nike sneakers and a faded haircut that mirror’s Poole’s — quickly pivots his body for a Euro step, perhaps taking one extra step, contorts his small body in the air and releases. The ball hits front rim and slides through the net.

“He definitely traveled,” Poole said later. “He for sure traveled.”

A few feet away, Poole and other campers go crazy, cheering for the little boy, giving him dap, slapping his head and back. As it turns out, this little baller who looks and moves just like Poole is actually Poole’s 8-year-old nephew, Kendall.

When Poole turns away from the aftermath of Kendall’s basket, he’s flashing a megawatt smile.

Poole, headed into his second season with the Wizards after being traded from the Golden State Warriors in 2023, has always wanted to put on a basketball camp, but he wanted to wait until his mind was clear and the right timing before doing it.

On July 20, he hosted a couple of two-hour sessions of basketball drills and techniques for more than 200 local children, ages 6 to 14, at the Entertainment and Sports Arena (ESA), where the Wizards practice and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics play home games.

Free clinics are part of Poole’s basketball journey to the NBA, so he understands the importance of providing resources for young children, whether they’re interested in playing sports or not.

Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole laughs at his free basketball clinic at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington D.C., on July 20.

Jordan Jimenez

When Poole was growing up in Milwaukee, attending basketball camps helped shape who he is both as a player and a person. “That’s just where a lot of my time as a youngin was spent,” Poole said. “A lot of my learning, especially a lot of my summertime [learning], [was] at camps; a lot of my social interactions [was] at camps.”

He understands how money can be a barrier for many families when it comes to basketball education, so he made this camp free-of-charge to all those who attended. While Poole may do paid camps in the future, he wanted this clinic to be tailored toward those who can’t afford expensive basketball clinics. A Wizards spokesperson said they reached out first to families that live near the ESA which is located in the district’s Ward 8, a predominantly Black and underserved community.

“This is really for the kids,” Poole said. “It’s not really about the money right now.”

Poole’s former Golden State teammate Stephen Curry imparted to him that no matter how locked in on your job you are, no matter what level of fame you reach, don’t forget to be there for all the children who look up to you.

“You can never be too busy for the fans,” Poole said. “Especially the younger kids because it’s wholesome energy, it’s natural, it’s genuine, it’s authentic, and they’re just being themselves.

“They watch me on TV, they’ll come to the games … but being able to personally interact, talk to them, ask them questions: What do they like? Favorite team? Favorite food? Stuff like that goes way further than basketball.”

Every camper was provided with an all-white shirt that read “Jordan Poole Academy” on the chest and asked to wear it during the clinic. But special privileges were given to campers in Poole jerseys, of which there were at least three. Another camper had on a University of Michigan T-shirt, where Poole played for two seasons from 2017 to 2019.

The clinic took the campers through a variety of exercises and drills to better prepare them for the next levels of basketball. They learned breathing techniques from Poole’s mental performance coach Joey Hewitt, and were put through a circuit of drills by the Wizards’ director of youth basketball Shannon Clancy.

The campers were broken up into smaller groups to be taught footwork, shooting techniques, off-ball movement, off-hand and crossover dribbling, passing skills and finishing layups. At one point, Poole acted as a rim protector at the layup station, throwing his 6-foot-4, 194-pound frame into the campers as they attempted a shot; most of them took Poole head on. The skill level of the campers runs the spectrum: some appear to have never picked up a basketball before while others can pull off Euro step dribbles or convert reverse layups. Either way, they all seem to be having a ball, particularly when Poole walks by.

At other stations, Poole stands among the kids, encouraging them and dapping each of them up as he walks by; one female camper prefers a hug to a dap. Poole, wearing a pair of Nike Zoom Kobe 4 Protro “Philly” sneakers, takes time to admire the gray Nikes of one camper.

The children look at Poole in awe as he speaks, smiling and being attentive. Despite only starting in just over 50% of the games he’s appeared in in his five-year career, Poole is one of the most popular players in the league. At the end of the 2022-23 season, his final year in Golden State, Pooled ranked 15th in player jersey sales, according to the National Basketball Players Association.

One camper playfully argued with Poole that he made a basket during a shooting drill, and another flexed his muscles as he bumped Poole’s chest – well, as much as a kid barely 4 feet tall can bump chests with someone Poole’s size. They all crowd him to sign their T-shirts, mini basketballs and sneakers once the session comes to a conclusion.

Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole shows a drill to campers at his free basketball clinic at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington D.C., on July 20.

Jordan Jimenez

Of all the techniques the campers learn in the two hours, Poole said he hopes their biggest takeaway was the breathing techniques. Learning to dribble and shoot are important, of course, but learning how to control your breathing is just as important in a sport like basketball where it’s nonstop running for minutes at a time.

“I know at a young age some things resonate more than others and some things stay with you more than others,” Poole said. “So if there is any kid who took a little bit or a little piece of that breathing to incorporate when they’re at school or at recess or in class or at AAU, that’s all I care about.”

The camp was the rare public appearance Poole has made since the Wizards’ season ended in April. He joked that he’s not used to having such free time in April and May: In his final two seasons with the Warriors, the team won the Finals and made it to the second round of the playoffs.

“A long ass f—–g offseason,” he said. “I ain’t used to that.”

He spent a month in Europe after the end of the season, visiting London, Amsterdam and Paris, where he linked up with French teammate Bilal Coulibaly, the Wizards’ first-round draft pick from 2023. Coulibaly was Poole’s rookie this past season, and the two have grown close since then. While in Paris, they attended a Paris Saint-Germain F.C. soccer match together, which was documented on Instagram.

“Me and Bilal talk all the time. We’re texting, FaceTiming,” Poole said. “I don’t talk to many people in general, but Bilal is my guy.”

Washington has spent its offseason taking steps to improve a roster that finished with the second-worst record (15-67) in the NBA last year, at one point losing 16 games in a row. Interim head coach Brian Keefe, who replaced former head coach Wes Unseld Jr. in late January, was given the official job in May. Last month, the Wizards drafted Frenchman Alexandre Sarr (No. 2 overall), former Pittsburgh guard Bub Carrington (No. 14) and former Miami forward Kyshawn George (No. 24) all in the first round of the NBA draft. Poole traveled to Las Vegas last week to see the three draft picks play in summer league.

“Really excited about our young players,” he said. “Credit to our front office again because we got a guard, we got somebody who can play the 2-3 stretch, and then we got a big man in Alex.

“Good people, great attitudes, great personalities.Want to learn, want to get into the gym, want to get better. That’s really all you can ask for, especially coming into the league.”

In order to draft Carrington, who will likely take on ball-handling duties with Poole, the Wizards had to trade veteran guard Deni Avdija. The 23-year-old Israeli national was drafted ninth overall by the Wizards in the 2020 draft and transformed into one of the team’s better players in his four seasons, bumping up his scoring average from 6.3 points per game his rookie season to 14.7 points per game this past season.

Poole was surprised by the trade, but he understands that the NBA is a business, and longevity with a franchise is not a guarantee. Poole himself was traded from the Warriors in 2023 after four seasons and after helping the franchise win its fourth championship in 2022. It’s tough to lose a great guy like Avdija, Poole said, but Avdija can stand to benefit from his new team as well.

“I think in the situation that we’re in, the beta process that we’re in, people get traded all the time,” Poole said.

Poole has the same feeling about a slightly more pivotal trade that happened with another former teammate this offseason. After 13 seasons with the Warriors, guard Klay Thompson was traded to the Dallas Mavericks when Thompson and the Warriors could not come to an agreement on a new contract. Thompson is one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, his tandem with Stephen Curry playing a pivotal part in those four championships and other record-breaking moments. But when it came to business, the relationship ended.

Poole wasn’t shocked by the breakup.

“There was an opportunity that Golden State had to make a very elite franchise transition, which is rare,” he said. “I think it’s rare because obviously it must be really hard to do that with the older guys transitioning to the younger guys, but it just didn’t pan out that way. Luckily we were able to get a ring a couple of years ago, making it their fourth, but all good things come to an end at some point.”

He believes Thompson, who he said is “obviously a Hall of Famer,” will benefit from the gravity of Mavericks guards Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic, which will allow Thompson to flourish as a knockdown 3-point shooter.

“It [the Warriors] could’ve continued to be a dynasty powerhouse but they’ve done so much, and he’s put so much time in, it’s probably just time for him to get a change of scenery, go play some competitive basketball. And he’s going to a really good situation, especially with the style that they play.”

Despite all the ups and downs of last season and all the new changes to the roster and coaching staff this offseason, Poole is optimistic about the coming season, saying that he’s in a “really good space.” He believes the team is headed in the right direction with Keefe, general manager Will Dawkins and team president Michael Winger all having a shared vision.

“I think we have more of a sense of direction, a sense of style and identity going into this season. Which will be extremely helpful when you’re playing at the highest level,” Poole said. “Knowing what we’re doing; what our cadence is, in and out; what people are playing what position. It’s not so much in the air, up for interpretation, a figuring-it-out type of thing.

“We have more balance, more structure, know what we’re going to go into, know what plays we’re running, know what offense we’re running, know what guys are going to be paired with what guys, what coverages we have going into the new season, and I think that will be extremely helpful.”

For Stephen Curry, the stars finally align for chance at Olympic gold

Marc J. Spears — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 12:11:31 +0000

Andscape at the Olympics is an ongoing series exploring the Black athletes and culture around the 2024 Paris Games.

PARIS – Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry doesn’t have much room left in his trophy case thanks to his two NBA Most Valuable Player awards, four NBA championships, an NBA Finals MVP award and even a Joe Dumars Trophy as the 2010-11 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner. At 36 years old, about the only thing Curry is missing is a gold medal that could soon be his at his first Olympic Games.

“I’m surprised a lot of people are realizing that this is my first time playing in the Olympics,” Curry told Andscape on July 8. “I did play for Team USA in 2010 and 2014 on the World Championship team. I missed out on the three Olympic opportunities I’ve had while I’ve been in the league. So, I’m excited about it. I have a little bit of FIBA experience. The team that we have is amazing. Paris, where the world competition of basketball is right now, there is no cake walk. It’s going to be tough for us to win.

“So, personally, it’s the one thing I haven’t been able to experience: Being an Olympian. Hopefully we will win gold. At this stage in my career, it’s give me an opportunity to just be so present in the moment and have fun playing basketball. It’s such a pure expression of the game. We’re all just trying to win, so it’s cool.”

Curry first played for USA Basketball on its 2007 USA Men’s Under-19 World Championship team that won the silver medal. He played sparingly on USA Basketball’s 2010 World Championship team winning gold with the likes of Chauncey Billups, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose. Curry was also a starter on USA Basketball’s World Championship team that won a gold medal in 2014.

So why didn’t Curry play in the Olympics in 2012, 2016 and 2020 for USA Basketball? There were varying reasons for each, but with the Warriors not playing in the 2024 NBA postseason, he had a lot of time to rest and get ready for these Paris Olympics.

“In 2012, I didn’t get picked because I wasn’t on the level I needed to be,” said Curry about the 2012 USA Basketball gold medal team that included Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. “In ’16, I was coming off the Finals run and I didn’t feel I would get the rest I needed to get ready for the next season. And in 2020, it was a COVID year. And just that whole process, I don’t remember what was going on family wise. But it wasn’t a good time for me.

“[Warriors teammate] Draymond [Green] played. He won twice (2016 and 2020). So, obviously I was watching him and missed out. This year, the stars aligned. It feels great. I’ve obviously had some time off for the ramp-up and Paris. It is all really cool.”

The following is a Q&A with Curry in which he talks to Andscape about attending the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as a kid, the departure of former Warriors backcourt mate Klay Thompson, the state of the Warriors and his future with his beloved franchise and what he wants to do outside of basketball in Paris.

USA Basketball guard Stephen Curry (left) smiles during the game against South Sudan as part of the 2024 USA Basketball Showcase on July 20 in London at O2 Arena.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Did you grow up watching the Olympics?

My first memory of the Olympics was when it was held in the U.S. [in 1996] in Atlanta. And we drove down from [my hometown of] Charlotte to Atlanta. We watched a [Olympic preliminary] swim meet. I remember staying in some random rental house with my family and we stayed there for a week. Did the whole thing.

My godmother worked for Nike at the time and they had some the experience that they built out. I was just a kid and I went over there to go have fun with that. There was chaos around the Games. I had been to Atlanta before. It was just a different energy and just a grand scale of everything. I haven’t been around the Olympics in person since.

Are you really excited to embrace the Opening Ceremonies on Friday?

For sure. I remember watching the opening the ceremonies and everybody was walking around the track, holding the flag. These are the best athletes in the world at their craft. And they are all in awe of that environment, and that experience. Everybody’s got their phones out.

I remember back in 2016 the athletes were coming up to the NBA guys [from USA Basketball] and getting pictures while they were waiting to go out. And they were [posting] all that on social media and stuff. So, I’ve envisioned that part, but I don’t know if we’re going to wear the Olympic outfits. I don’t know what the ceremony looks like in Paris, but I’m excited to be a part.

Are your wife and four kids coming to Paris?

No. My wife might come the last week when the medal rounds start. We have a new baby so it makes it tough to travel.

What is it like not only playing on this star-studded USA team, but also playing with LeBron James for the first time?

Obviously, me and LeBron have never been teammates in a competitive environment. And seeing how our games match, complement each other has been awesome so far… Everybody is just here, having fun, and understands the moment from top to bottom. The team that we have: myself, KD [Durant], LeBron, the champs [from the Boston Celtics], J.T. [Jayson Tatum], Jrue [Holiday], Joel [Embiid], I know that this is probably my one and only [Olympic] playing experience and I’m playing with guys I probably will never play with again at this level; it’s special. Me, K [Durant] and LeBron took the [same] picture that MJ [Michael Jordan], Larry Bird and Magic [Johnson] took [during the 1992 Olympics]. I can’t wait to get that on my wall and get them to sign it. It’s just an honor knowing what we’ve all done in our careers. The fact that we are the elder statesman with ’Bron still playing at a high level.

In terms of state of the Warriors, how do you see it now with life after the departure of Klay?

It’s still weird, man. I really haven’t figured out the emotions yet just because it’s one of those pieces that really won’t sink in until you get into October and you go to the locker room and you’re in your familiar sights and sounds of the Chase Center.

All things have to come to an end at some point. I wish it would’ve turned out differently. I wish we could have rode into the sunset, all three of us [Curry, Green and Thompson] as Warriors for our whole career. [Thompson] made a decision that he felt was best for himself. What we were able to do for how long we were able to do it and together, it’s special and it speaks to how hard it is to do that. So, I’m going to choose to celebrate all the things we accomplished and all the experiences we had instead of feeling any type of resentment or getting pissed off about it. It’s still weird though.

“If it is a situation where you’re a bottom feeder and it’s just because you want to stay there [with the same team your entire career], I’d have a hard time with that. But I don’t think that’s going to be the reality.”
– Stephen Curry on playing his entire career with the Golden State Warriors

Is there something you need to see in terms of roster improvement from Warriors management next season? Do you need to add a No. 2 scorer?

I always say I want to win and I understand how hard it’s to win in this league. What we look like, I don’t know. It’s hard to envision all the change that’s happened. I know we have some talent that’s ready to blossom with JK [Jonathan Kuminga], BP [Brandon Podziemski], Trayce [Jackson-Davis]. I know we have some brought in some vets in De’Anthony [Melton], Kyle [Anderson] and Buddy [Hield]. It’ll look different.

You have to make the necessary adjustments and evolve how we play to maximize the team that we have. I have an optimistic attitude that it’s going to work and that we are going to be a competitor, be in the mix until proven otherwise. That’s the only way I can think right now.

You saw the type of lackluster teams that Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki had at the end of their careers while staying for one team. Should we not assume that you’ll be fine playing with just anyone during the rest of your career playing solely for the Warriors?

It’s tough, right? I’ve always said I want to be a Warrior for life. At this stage in my career, I feel like that’s possible. And you can still be a competitive, it doesn’t mean you guaranteed the championship. It doesn’t mean winning. Winning is always a priority, but obviously you’re realistic. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen if you stay the course. You need to shake things up and keep reimagining what it looks like to evolve with what league is at right now, with where some of these talented teams are now.

I’m taking it one step at a time to be honest. I think that’s the only way that will protect my happiness. Also, it allows me to enjoy being myself when I’m out there playing. And I’ll continue to make the decisions that are best for me and for my career at the end of the day when it comes to just the imagination. I want to win. Let’s put it this way, it’s a longwinded way of saying that it if it is a situation where you’re a bottom feeder and it’s just because you want to stay there, I’d have a hard time with that. But I don’t think that’s going to be the reality.

USA Basketball guard Stephen Curry shoots a 3-pointer during the game against South Sudan as part of the 2024 USA Basketball Showcase on July 20 in London at O2 Arena.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Do you have any plans to see Paris or Lille while playing out there, or to watch any other Olympic events?

I want to go to a golf round at Le Golf National. I want to go see beach volleyball. There’s a lot of volleyball in my blood (Curry’s mother and sister played college volleyball). And I’d love to go see [USA sprinter] Sha’Carri [Richardson] in person. So those are the top three. And then it just depends on the timing. I want to be just a fan in general. I need to look at the list and I need to see what the most random event that I can get to. Archery. I want to see something crazy, off the grid.

I’ve been [to Paris] before and we’ve done the touristy stuff. Been to the Louvre. Been to the art [museums]. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower. If I have some spare time, it’s just about getting to as many events and seeing the sights and sounds of the Olympics I’m excited about. You have to have the balance. You got to be focused on the job at hand, but also know I won’t have this experience again. So, I will try to maximize it.

What would winning an Olympic gold medal mean to you?

It would mean the world. You commit to doing something like this. You understand the challenge that is ahead of us to do some of these things. This is historical stuff. The Olympic stage has had a lot of history that has gone on in this sport. From ’92 when The Dream Team played until now, USA has had supreme dominance and it’s our job to continue that. So be up on that podium, hear a national anthem and have the gold medals. That’s the vision. That’s why I’m here.

What does having USA on your chest mean right now with so much going on in our country?

It’s interesting knowing that it’s an election year. I know the country is in a very interesting space right now. But I just know what we stand for. The fact we represent ourselves and our families, we’re going to make ourselves proud. We’re going to make our families proud. And I know it continues to raise our platform on speaking on things that matter and showing what respect and love and gratitude really means in the way we represent the country and really prepare ourselves. Sports brings so many people together.

And at this stage, you know what the conversation is. Not to say that it’s going to solve some of our national issues or how the election goes and that type of stuff. I’m just happy to know we can change what representing your country means.

Langston Galloway helps USA Basketball prepare for the Olympics

Marc J. Spears — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 11:46:32 +0000

The experience of a lifetime for former NBA guard Langston Galloway as a member of USA Basketball’s Olympic team ends tonight in London. However, the memories of playing in exhibition games wearing a USA jersey and having handshakes with Vice President Kamala Harris and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James will last a lifetime.

“I’m truly thankful. I’m truly thankful for everything that has been coming my way. I put myself in the right place at the right time,” Galloway told Andscape in a phone interview from Abu Dhabi last week.

Galloway played a reserve role in over 452 regular-season games with the New York Knicks, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings, Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets, and Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 to 2022. After an NBA G League stint, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native played overseas for the first time last season in Lithuania with Rytas Vilnius and in Italy for Pallacanestro Reggiana. With USA Basketball, Galloway has previously played on FIBA World Cup qualifying teams in 2022 and 2023 and the Select Team.

Galloway was named as a member of the 2024 USA Select Team, which trained alongside the USA Men’s National Team during training camp. After Team USA’s training camp, Galloway, Micah Potter and Nigel Hayes-Davis accepted invitations to serve as practice players for USA Basketball’s senior men’s national team during exhibitions in Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi and London in preparation for the Paris Olympics. All three’s role is to participate in USA’s practices, workouts and even exhibition games when needed before the Olympics.

“Langston has been great,” USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill told Andscape. “He was with us last year during our World Cup run as well. He really understands the FIBA game, having played professionally in Europe and being a member of our World Cup qualifying teams. He, Micah and Nigel play an important role in our overall preparation for Paris. We are thankful for their presence and contributions to our team’s success.”

Said USA Basketball’s head of men’s programming Sean Ford: “Langston’s commitment and contribution to USA Basketball has been incredible. No player had a bigger impact on getting us qualified for the World Cup than him, playing in five windows in a row and leading us to an 8-2 record. Langston, Nigel and Micah have all contributed to a successful training camp. For them to take three weeks out of their offseason to help other players train for the Olympics knowing that they won’t be able to be a part of the team in Paris is an incredibly selfless act. It is a reflection of the character of each of them and I hope this opportunity helps them advance their careers.”

The following is a Q&A with Galloway in which he talks about his unique experience as a practice player with James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and USA Basketball, being able to play with them with his vegan signature shoes, his favorite moments on and off the court, his hopes of getting back to the NBA and much more.

Can you talk about the process of becoming a practice player for USA Basketball’s senior men’s national team?

I’ve heard about it on other teams. I don’t think it was as publicized as it is now because there’s so much publicity around the team. And then also too, to be able to play, that’s a blessing in disguise by itself. During this past season with Italy, I’m in the season with probably two weeks left, I got a text from Sean Ford around April 15. He was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about coming to help us this summer?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I would love to help you.’ He said, ‘I want you to come back and play on the Select Team and help us get ready for the Olympics while traveling with the team as well.’

So, I was like, ‘Hey, let me get back with you. Let me talk with my wife, make sure everything is good, make sure she understands.’ She was like, ‘Well, it’s your decision.’ And hey, the rest is history. I did a little bit of this last year with the World Cup team. I was just a fill-in guy if somebody was injured or wanted a break. And it was explained to me that it was the same thing this year. You have a lot of seasoned guys who take a rep off here and there, and I could jump in and help from time to time. That sounds like a plan because I am all for it, especially the opportunity to play on the court.

What was the reaction of the players, your family, and your friends to seeing you be a part of USA Basketball before the Olympics?

It’s been a lot of love over these past couple of days to get in the game. Well, obviously, to run out there, dress out for the first game in Vegas, and get the reaction from just dressing out. I played maybe two minutes in that game. I didn’t know if I was going to dress out or not. I got to the arena and saw my jersey, and it was like, ‘Whoa, okay, all right, well, I might have to play tonight if we’re up big or something like that.’ Just being able to get in there — and I don’t want to say showcase; I still got it. I’ve never lost it — but it’s just a special moment.

It’s just a full-circle moment because I played against so many of these guys during my time in the NBA. Everybody knows what I can do, and I continue to showcase that. They know I can do it. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. And hey, maybe it’s a full-circle moment. Maybe I’ll be able to get back in the league at some point.

USA Basketball Men’s Select Team guard Langston Galloway (back left) and USA Basketball center Anthony Davis (back right) joke with USA Basketball forward Jayson Tatum (front left) and guard Tyrese Haliburton (front right) after a practice session during the team’s training camp at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV on July 8 in Las Vegas.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

What has been the coolest thing about the whole experience?

Just being on the bench. Dapping everybody up, talking to different guys. And just being one of the guys. To see the embrace. Sometimes, you’re ostracized. You’re an outsider. You’re not actually on a team. You’re there as a fill-in. And so, to be welcomed means the world to me because that means that I was respected when I played in the league at that time. I’m respected by my peers. So that’s a good thing.

Tell us about when Vice President Kamala Harris visited the national team at practice and you met her.

That was a special moment. It’s funny because I have some friends who are close to Kamala from the political side, and meeting her in person is a special moment. It’s a special moment to be able to wear the USA across my chest, introduce myself, and just be in that moment with everybody else. So that was special, really special.

I was introducing myself: ‘Hey, I’m Langston Galloway.’ And that was it. She said, ‘ Nice to meet you. ‘ I was going to bring up my friend’s name, but I was like, it is not the right place at the right time. So, I just introduced myself and moved on.

What is it like to be on the floor with the best collection of talent in the world?

It’s special. I look around, and this is kind of like a branding [opportunity]. Everybody on this team has a shoe deal for the most part. There’s a couple of guys that don’t. And to be in the room with basically the top-tier guys, the superstars, the guys that will be Hall of Famers one day is honorable. And so, for me to be on the bench and to get a couple of minutes here and there sparingly and to be able to wear my shoes, Ethics The Brand, on the court. I’ve also interacted with other guys on the team who see what I’ve been doing. And getting their reaction is pretty cool. It’s a great conversation.

Everybody is like, ‘Look, we see what you’re doing. We love what you’re doing.’ More guys should do it because you can use your name and likeness to go out there and find, do your due diligence, and build your own sneaker. But I’ve gone out there, and I’ve done it and continue to do it. I’m coming up on my next prototype and building out the next shoe I’ve been wearing on the court.

Tell me about the shoe Ethics The Brand and your whole concept.

So, I started Ethics The Brand about two years ago – just me and my wife, Sabrina Galloway. And we have a great designer. We’ve been slowly but surely building out the brand. It’s a performance vegan basketball sneaker. We’re unique because we are the only vegan basketball sneaker in the marketplace. Very focused on creating something different for the masses. I’ve been a vegan athlete, and I’ve taken veganism to a whole other level with how I prepare and take care of my body.

But I’ve taken that to a whole other level by having a shoe brand that has also embraced it. Having everything ethically made as part of the shoe brand is everything. So, I enjoy the journey. We take it one step at a time, not building too fast and just crawling before we can walk.

What makes the shoe vegan?

So, all the materials, everything that’s into the sneaker—I don’t want to say mostly biodegradable. There’s a piece that locks the shoe in, so you have to do that. But everything else, from the materials of the bottom to the upper to the shoelaces—is thought through and put together with vegan products that are good for the environment. Having a small imprint on the environment means the world, not just for myself but for everybody who wears the brand.

What has been your favorite moment connecting with the USA players?

[July 17 against Serbia], I’m on the bench and normally dapping up everybody. LeBron actually came up with a handshake for us [three practice players]. I was like, ‘Whoa!’ That was a moment. I know he has all these handshakes with everybody, but that was special. That was special. He doesn’t have to do that. Obviously, he has everything else going on, but that was cool. That was cool. We have our handshake and that was his idea. I didn’t have anything to do with that.

USA Basketball guard Langston Galloway dribbles the ball against Serbia during the 2024 USA Basketball Showcase on July 17 in Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates, at Etihad Arena.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Monday night’s game is the last one for all three practice players. Will you then head back to the United States from London?

That will be the last game I get a chance to play in unless USA and Sean Ford and those guys feel like it’s best for me to come with the team and still help out. And I would love to do that to continue my run with the team. I’ve done a great job just being there for the guys and being able to be supportive. But whatever’s next, if I do go back home after the London Games, look, I’ve enjoyed my journey and this trip, and I wish them nothing but the best to get the gold [medal]. That was the beginning goal. And that’s going to be the end goal. The only thing on everybody’s mind is getting the gold, and bringing it back home.

Have you three practice players ever had a moment together when you were like, “Can you believe this?”

When we get a chance to play, those are the moments when we laugh with each other. I was able to be alongside all these guys. You think of the dreams and moments you hope come true. And then when you’re playing amongst these guys and against them, from all my experiences, it is special, those special moments.

How do you reflect on your NBA career?

I really don’t because I’m in the moment and still playing. I’m enjoying the journey of it all. I haven’t had a chance to reflect, so I think of eight years of playing in the NBA. There have only been, what, 5,000 players in the world over the last how many years the league has been in existence to ever play in the NBA. There are billions of people on this planet. It’s unbelievable to think about in that aspect.

But for the most part, I’m just enjoying the journey. Playing overseas right now is where I’m at right now, and I’m going to enjoy that journey until, hey, I see if something else opens up and I’m able to do that, I’m going to do that. So yeah, keep playing until I can’t play anymore.

Do you hope that this experience could get you back in the NBA?

That is definitely the goal. If I can get an opportunity from any team to lace them back up in the NBA, that’s the goal. I have a few [European] offers on the table. I’m just waiting for a couple of things to unfold with the EuroLeague, EuroCup situation team-wise, and then my team as well that I played for this past year. Obviously, they’ve offered me, but I’m just waiting for a couple of other teams, EuroLeague to unfold. Then, I can make a decision and see what is next.

In France, former NBA guard Tim Frazier embraces the overseas experience

Marc J. Spears — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 15:23:27 +0000

Black Americans in France is an ongoing series highlighting African Americans living abroad during the 2024 Paris Games.

USA Basketball star forward Anthony Davis had a long conversation with his old New Orleans Pelicans teammate Tim Frazier recently at a wedding in Memphis, Tennessee. The talk had nothing to do with basketball or New Orleans. Rather, the subject was Paris as Davis will soon be there with his family for the 2024 Olympics just months after Frazier played professionally there.

“He and his wife were asking, ‘Hey, what should we do when we get out there?’ ” Frazier said during a recent phone interview with Andscape. “And I said, ‘Hey, man, it’s going to be crazy-packed. But if you can, obviously you see the main stuff. See the Louvre. See the Eiffel Tower and experience that with the kids. And there are so many great restaurants out there to choose, so when you get out there, just let me know.’

“We all know what to do when we go to Paris, for the most part. But I gave them a couple of restaurants. But I think obviously you hit the most touristy spots … He knew I was out there in Paris. And I said, ‘Man, just try to experience as much as you can.’ Paris was already busy when I was living there. So, I know it was going to be busy during the Olympics.”

Frazier averaged 4.9 points and 2.3 rebounds while playing in 289 games as a journeyman guard in the NBA over eight seasons. The Houston native suited up for the Pelicans, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2015 NBA G League MVP last played in the NBA during the 2021-22 season.

In search of more playing time and adventure, Frazier began playing in Europe during the 2022-23 season in Greece for AEK Athens. His next two stops in Europe were in France with SIG Strasbourg and Greece with Prometheus Patras. And on Jan. 29, Frazier returned to action after being sidelined with a foot injury. He signed with Paris Metropolitans 92, the former team of San Antonio Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama. The only other time Frazier had been to Paris was when he played in a European tour in college for Penn State.

“It’s been great. I’ve embraced the experience of going overseas,” Frazier said. “Obviously, it’s nothing like the NBA. But France is, as far as living in Strasbourg and living in Paris, that was some of the best you can get in France outside of living in the South of France, Monaco, Nice and places like that. But I’ve had a great experience where I saw two different things. Strasbourg is very slow-paced because it’s on the border of Germany. And Paris is just fast-paced.

“The traffic is bad in Paris. There are so many people there. It is a tourist town as well. But it’s the closest thing you can get to the States as far as shopping goes and meals. There is Americanized food as well.”

Guard Tim Frazier plays for Metropolitans 92 in 2023.

Tim Frazier

The Metropolitans 92 made it to the 2023 French Pro Finals after a 23-11 regular-season record with Wembanyama and now-Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly. The Metropolitans 92, however, had a 3-18 record in the French Pro A league when they signed Frazier. While the record was poor, the hope was that Frazier could help the franchise stave off relegation to the second division.

In 13 games for Metropolitans 92, Frazier averaged 11.1 points and 6.1 assists in 28.3 minutes. The Metropolitans 92 finished the regular season with a league-worst 4-30 record and were relegated to the second division.

“I was coming off of injury and at the time I wanted to get out there and play,” Frazier, 33, said. “There were a couple teams that had reached out. Paris was one of them and I jumped on the opportunity to stay, to live in Paris. Obviously, I knew about the team because I had played in Strasbourg last year. I knew Wembanyama was on the team. I know how well they did last [season].

“They weren’t doing as well this [season]. But I jumped on the opportunity to be able to play and be a focal point. I’d be living in Paris. And I think a lot of it for me was just to showcase that I was healthy from the injury that I had in Strasbourg. It was a great time, especially for me getting to play basketballwise. We wanted to win more games, but I was able to experience a different culture.”

Frazier started hearing that Metropolitans 92 could fold due to financial issues and French media articles supported those rumors. The rumors rang true as Metropolitans 92 folded due to financial difficulties in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt that the team had resided in for 17 seasons. In a statement, Boulogne-Billancourt Mayor Pierre-Christophe Baguet said, “these painful decisions are unfortunately imposed on us,” and also noted the financial support in recent years.

“There was some chatter about it before that last game,” Frazier said. “And then when the news came out, I started getting all these calls. They saw Wembanyama the [season] before. From there it’s like, ‘Oh, man, the team has decide to fold. Is it a money issue?’ I had a French teammate translate a lot of the stories. They were just saying it wasn’t a money issue, but the mayor of the town didn’t want to fund the team anymore.”

Despite the financial concerns, Frazier said, the Metropolitans 92 gave him a three-bedroom apartment in Paris, a Peugeot car to use and paid on time. He told Davis that his favorite restaurants in Paris were Beef Cut Restaurant, Beefbar and Verde. Frazier also told Davis’ wife, Marlen Polanco Davis, that the exchange rate in Paris works to an American’s advantage and there is a tax credit for purchases upon departure from France. Although Frazier doesn’t speak French, he said, he was able to get by because most people in Paris speak English.

“A lot of times they didn’t speak English until it was time for the bill,” Frazier said with a laugh.

Former NBA player Tim Frazier walks by the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Tim Frazier

The Metropolitans 92 played their last game on May 11. Frazier, who was in France alone, stayed in Paris for four more days after the season to enjoy the City of Lights before leaving for Houston. He added that Paris was his favorite city in France and described his final days as “joy.”

“I spent time at the Louvre, where you can get to the museum,” Frazier said. “I went to the Palace of Versailles, the garden [The Jardin du Luxembourg]. I touched up on the history of the city and did some shopping, too. I experienced some of the nightlife. I just used that experience as, ‘I’m done. Let’s see what all Paris has to offer.’ I spent a lot of time walking, which was one of the best things I did.

“I drove in, parked by the Eiffel Tower and I just walked. I walked alongside the Seine River. It was beautiful. At that time, it wasn’t raining. It was nice out. People were taking pictures. It was cool to experience the region. You sit outside. Go to a coffee shop. That was my joy those four days.”

So, what’s next for Frazier?

“I’m still waiting to figure it out,” Frazier said. “I’m not calling it a career yet. I’ve been blessed. I’ve played in Greece and France. I’d love to go back to Paris and play for another team in France. But I definitely want to try to experience something else different as well.

“I was thinking maybe Italy. I would love to go out there to experience something nice and to live out there as well.”

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum arrives at USA Basketball with that championship feeling

Marc J. Spears — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 13:41:03 +0000

“What’s up, champ?”

That simple three-word greeting has been music to forward Jayson Tatum’s ears since the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship. And that privileged phrase sounds even better when it is coming from your esteemed USA Basketball teammates.

“The guys who have won championships understand the feeling, what it’s like and what it takes,” Tatum told Andscape. “Every time they see me, they say, ‘What’s up, champ?’ It’s definitely good to hear that from your peers.”

Being an NBA champ who heads to the Olympics also means more basketball mileage and a short offseason, which Tatum says is a “great problem to have” while playing in the Paris Olympics for USA Basketball.

Tatum played 35.7 minutes per game in 74 regular-season games for the Celtics last season and was fourth in the NBA in minutes played (768.4). The 26-year-old also played a team-high 40.4 minutes per game in 19 postseason games en route to the title. The Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship on June 17.

USA Basketball began training for the Olympics on July 7 in Las Vegas. Tatum was given permission to arrive on July 8 for personal reasons, rest and to sign his new mammoth five-year, $313 million contract, USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill told Andscape. After two practices, Tatum had eight points in 17 minutes off the bench during USA’s 86-72 exhibition victory over Canada on July 10 in Las Vegas. Tatum had seven points, five assists and four rebounds as a starter in 21 minutes of a 98-92 exhibition win over Australia on Monday in Abu Dhabi.

With a roster of 12 NBA stars, there probably won’t be a need on most nights for anyone to play heavy minutes for Team USA.

“It definitely feels weird going out there and playing,” Tatum said after the game against Canada. “It’s definitely going to take some time to get my rhythm and get my legs back under me. Mentally, it’s good. It’s good being back around these guys. You think you’re going to come out here and relax. But as soon as you get back in the gym and lace them up, I want to get back in that mode …

“It’s USA Basketball. We got 12 great guys we try to maneuver. We have to figure out how coach is going to play us. You just have to be ready to do amazing things out there. We just have to understand that we have a good team. When you go out there, do your thing. When you are not, cheer on your teammates.”

From left to right: USA Basketball and Boston Celtics teammates Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Jayson Tatum during practice on July 14 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Tatum is a USA Basketball veteran who has won gold medals in the delayed 2020 Olympics, 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship, 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship and the 2013 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. When asked if he was worried about Tatum being fatigued, the 51-year-old Hill joked that he was more worried about his fatigue and not someone nearly half his age.

“Jayson has been a part of USA Basketball going back to his high school days,” Hill told Andscape. “A guy who has won gold medals on a junior level, played in the World Cup. Won a gold medal in 2021. He has had a lot going on in the last month for him.

“We knew he’d be ready and he’d be a professional. He’s super-engaged even when he was apart. We connected with him and made sure that the messaging we had as a team he was put into. He’s not only a guy that can help us win this summer, but he can help us win for years to come.”

Tatum isn’t the only Celtics player on USA’s roster at the Olympics. as he will be joined Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. White was a late replacement for injured forward Kawhi Leonard, who withdrew from the team July 10. Not on the roster is Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, who expressed disappointment on social media when he wasn’t added after Leonard’s departure.

Tatum told Andscape last week that he had not talked to Brown, but he was ecstatic to be joined by two Celtics teammates.

“We’re adding more championship DNA to the roster,” Tatum said.

In 1992, USA Basketball stars Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who played for the Chicago Bulls, were the first NBA players to win an Olympic gold medal and championship in the same year. LeBron James won an NBA title with the Miami Heat in 2012 and a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics. In 2016, Kyrie Irving won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers and an Olympic gold medal. Holiday and Khris Middleton also won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and a gold medal in the delayed 2020 Olympics the same year.

With a gold medal in Paris, Tatum and White will make that list of NBA champions and Olympic gold medalists. Holiday and James would become the only players to do it twice.

“It would be a hell of a year. A hell of a summer. I got no complaints,” Tatum said.

Atlanta Hawks No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher has always had basketball in his life

Marc J. Spears — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 15:04:10 +0000

LAS VEGAS – Atlanta Hawks rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher has taken a lot of inspiration from French basketball players. Tony Parker was a four-time NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP in 2007. Rudy Gobert is a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Victor Wembanyama preceded Risacher as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in 2023.

For Risacher, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, however, his top basketball role model has always been Olympic silver medalist Stéphane Risacher, who is also his proud father.

“That was the first player I ever watched,” Risacher said. “When I started to grow and I got my first iPad and iPhone, I would go to watch my father’s highlights on YouTube.”

“Those words means a lot. Basketball has been so present in our lives since the very beginning,” Stéphane Risacher told Andscape.

Risacher, 19, was selected as the 2023-24 French League Best Young Player after averaging 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds last season for JL Bourg of France’s LNB Élite league. Risacher is one of four international players in NBA draft history selected No. 1 overall.

With his parents Stéphane and Sandrine in attendance, Risacher debuted in the NBA summer league Friday night against the Washington Wizards, scoring a team-high 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in 29 minutes. On Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs, Risacher had 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block in 30 minutes. The Hawks play next against rookie Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, and the Lakers on Wednesday (ESPN, 9:30 p.m.).

“I try to play the way we want me to play,” Risacher said after Friday’s game. “So, like I said before during the draft process, I’m ready to do whatever the coaches want me to do. So, if the coach wants me to take 3s, I’m going to take 3s. And if he wants to be aggressive, I’m gonna be aggressive and that’s just a part of a player that I am.”

Risacher talked about his father’s influence July 25, a day before the NBA draft in Brooklyn, New York. And while his father never played in the NBA, he certainly made a name for himself as a pro basketball player in Europe.

Pau-Orthez forward Stéphane Risacher (right) drives to the basket against Le Mans during the France ProA basketball championship on Dec. 11, 1999.

PASCAL BATS/AFP via Getty Images

Stéphane Risacher began his pro career in 1987 at 17, playing with his older brother, Marc, with the French Stade Clermontois BA in France. Stéphane Risacher had a very successful 23-year pro basketball career, playing primarily in France and in Greece and Spain. The six-time French League All-Star also won a Spanish National Cup and Greek National Cup and played in EuroLeague action during eight seasons.

“My first year I was able to play with my brother and the second year I switched teams and we were in the same division,” Stéphane Risacher, 51, said. “So, I played against my brother and then I was very fortunate to move up from one team to a bigger team every contract until I went to play for a bigger [opportunity]. I was able to leave France and play for Olympiacos and then in Spain for Malaga. So, I do not have any kind of regret.”

Stéphane Risacher played for France on various levels 10 times. The global highlight of his basketball career took place during the 2000 Sydney Games. He also was on the floor for perhaps the greatest dunk of all time.

Stéphane Risacher played for France when they won a 2000 Olympic silver medal after losing to a USA team that included Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett and other NBA stars in the gold medal game. Risacher also played against USA when Carter stunningly jumped over 7-foot-2 Frenchman Frederic Weis for a remarkable storybook jam. That often replayed dunk came after a wild behind-the-back pass from French forward Yann Bonato to Risacher was stolen.

“I had a chance to have a dunk on the other end, but the pass was stolen,” Risacher said with a smile.

Stéphane Risacher said he never had dreams of playing in the NBA, although there was one opportunity with the Toronto Raptors. In 2001, he said, he participated in Toronto Raptors veterans camp. He said Carter, then a Raptors star forward, remembered him and approached him warmly after one of the workouts. However, he wasn’t signed by the Raptors or any other NBA team.

“What I remember is that I felt very good about it. Everything went very well, I thought,” Stéphane Risacher said. “But it’s not that I have any regrets because at the very beginning as a kid, the NBA was not even in my mind. I didn’t think this possibility could exist for me.”

Atlanta Hawks rookie forward Zaccharie Risacher (right) with his father Stéphane Risacher (left) in Atlanta.

Atlanta Hawks

Zaccharie Risacher was born on April 8, 2005, in Malaga, Spain. His father was playing for Baloncesto Málaga in Spain at the time. His parents recall their son being intrigued by basketball at just 5 months old as he watched his father from warmups to the final buzzer of his games.

“I was able to take Zaccharie to the matinee games on Sunday and he would sit on my lap. He would sit there quietly watching the game, moving his head back and forth just like he was watching a tennis match,” Sandrine Risacher said.

Stéphane Risacher said his son “grew up in the gym from the very beginning.” He placed his son in a baby carriage in the gym during his basketball workouts late in his career, and he loved to dunk a small basketball on a children’s indoor hoop as an infant.

“We used to have an apartment in Paris when I played before I left France, right behind the gym where my team used to play,” Stéphane Risacher said. “So, I got the keys and I was going to practice by myself in the small gym. And once Zacc was 1½, 2 years old, when we were coming back this summer, he was coming in the gym with me every day. So, from as far as we remember, there been a basketball in his life. There was a very, very small one before he was even able to walk. We have pictures showing him grabbing the wall to make a dunk with a small goal.”

Risacher was 5 years old when his father’s pro basketball career ended in 2010, when Stéphane Risacher was playing for Élan Chalon in Chalon-sur-Saône, France.

“I was young when he was playing for Malaga [Spain] and Chalon-sur-Saône,” Risacher said. “I wanted to be in the gym to remember him on the court.”

The Risachers’ offseason home in Lyon, France, had a basketball goal in the backyard, where the kids loved to play. Stéphane Risacher said that he played basketball-themed games with his son and daughter, Ainhoa, when they were infants. Ainhoa, 17, is a member of France’s 2023 FIBA Under-16 Women’s European Championship team and also plays for Lyon ASVEL Feminin.

“I remember I used to roll a pair of socks, maybe Zacc was 5 or 6 months. And we used to play ‘Prepare your hands,’ ” Stéphane Risacher said. “You throw the pair of socks and you see your baby grab the socks. The name of the game was prepare you [to catch and pass]. So, you’re teaching them how to catch a basketball. That’s the first lesson, man. They thought it was just a game. I was able to trick them.

“Everything has to be a game. But you need to translate very serious things into a game and find a way to make it feels like we are playing. But, yeah, behind this you can hide some very serious concepts into a game and kids can learn everything very easily.”

Risacher also tried soccer, volleyball and track and field. Even with his father’s basketball influence, he said, basketball naturally was always foremost in his heart. And when he was 9, his father came to believe that his son was truly in love with the game.

“He’s coming back from practice at 9 years old and he said he’s pissed off because he missed a left-hand layup,” Stéphane Risacher said. “And two hours before next practice he is going directly to the back of the yard and making jab steps and left-hand layups for an hour and a half before practice. And it’s not because we said anything. It’s just because he was pissed off the day before because he missed the layup.”

Atlanta Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher dunks the ball during the game against the Washington Wizards on July 12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images

The Hawks and NBA will learn a lot about Risacher’s talent during summer league and his rookie season. And in his play, he believes you will also see a lot of his father’s game.

“I was looking [at his highlights] and that was basically everything he taught me,” Risacher said. “That’s the perfect way to do it. I remember telling myself that is the way I want to play to be great.”

Stéphane Risacher did say he had one regret during his French Basketball Hall of Fame career. He didn’t enjoy his success as it was taking place. And his main advice to the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft is to take the time to savor his accolades.

“I remember as a player always trying to analyze things,” Stéphane Risacher said. “And in my basketball life, if I achieved this, I want to be prepared for what was next. And finally, at the end, I feel there are things that I could have enjoyed more in the moment. You got to be able to have the right to tell you to be happy at the right moment when you achieve something, because it’s good for your brain and your health. And you cannot pass to other things without sitting down and enjoying the moment.

“When things comes about Zaccharie, I try also to teach him you have right to be happy and to be proud of yourself and then you go back to work, and think about the daily work and have a what’s next strategy about objectives and about how you’re going to handle things. But enjoy the moment.”

Spencer Haywood remembers his legendary Olympic basketball run in 1968

Marc J. Spears — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 15:55:41 +0000

LAS VEGAS – Olympic gold medalist Spencer Haywood smiled proudly and reminisced as he studied a bottle of vintage 1968 wine from Freemark Abbey Winery that he later enjoyed at a private luncheon Wednesday.

Back in 1968, Haywood was known as “The Kid” during the 1968 Mexico City Games, where he unexpectedly led the United States to a gold medal in men’s basketball at 19 and becoming the youngest American basketball player in Olympic history. He also saw American track medalists John Carlos and Tommie Smith get thrown out of the Olympic Village after they raised their fists in a Black Power salute on the medal stand. USA Basketball has been celebrating its 50-year anniversary this week here, including a guest appearance by former President Barack Obama at a private dinner Tuesday night and 50 former Olympians representing each team dating back to the 1974 Olympics and beyond. John Stockton, Carmelo Anthony, Lisa Leslie and Patrick Ewing were among the greats in attendance.

While there are USA Basketball Olympians dating back to 1964 being honored this week, Haywood’s time in the Summer Games was as rewarding and tumultuous as perhaps anyone who has donned the red, white and blue.

“I did a video for them last night and I explained that this is the most honorable thing you can do, especially at this time in American history, because it was similar to my history year in ’68 where we had turmoil, we had all kinds of things going on,” Haywood said at Sadelle’s restaurant in the Bellagio hotel Wednesday. “And the same thing is going on in America here now. And this is a unification Olympic team more so than just a regular team. This one here means so much because it will bring us together as a nation when we are scattered. And so that’s what I tell you, bring home [gold], and you’ll bring America back to realization. Everybody.”

Haywood, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015, and USA Basketball gold medalists Tim Hardaway and Carlos Boozer reminisced about their Olympic moments from 1968, 2000 and 2008, respectively, at a luncheon sponsored by USA Basketball sponsor Kendall-Jackson Wines. USA Basketball also honored male and female players and coaches from past years during USA Basketball’s exhibition game against Canada on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The following are excerpts from Haywood’s words at the luncheon, where the 75-year-old talked in detail about his unique, life-changing basketball experience at the 1968 Mexico City Games:

From left to right: Former NBA players Carlos Boozer, Spencer Haywood and Tim Hardaway appear at a luncheon sponsored by USA Basketball sponsor Kendall-Jackson Wines on July 10 in Las Vegas.

Marc J. Spears/Andscape

I’m not like [Boozer and Hardaway] — you guys were selected. I’m staring at that bottle because I had to come into a big arena in Albuquerque in ‘The Pit’ and we had NAIA, AAU, the Armed Forces, NCAA [Division] I, II and III. So, they put us all in this big place and we were going to play seven days of games. I was just there to get me some gear. I was 19 years old. I was playing for Trinidad State Junior College in [Trinidad], Colorado. I signed with the University of Tennessee because I want my family to see me play in Mississippi and Mississippi State. I was the first Black, so [the SEC] was a little tight. And [then-Kentucky coach] Adolph Rupp said [he] was supposed to get the first Black player because [they] had just lost to Texas Western.

So, that’s when the argument came about. And [basketball coach] Will Robinson, who raised me like his son, he shot me down to Trinidad and so that’s where I was playing. And [USA Basketball] just said, ‘Well, we are going to get sued if we don’t invite anyone from a junior college.’ So, I was the MVP of the junior college [players], but I was a freshman. So they were like, ‘Well, just throw him in.’ And I still was thinking at least I got to get that [USA Basketball] gear, man. I’m going to go back to Detroit [after tryouts] and show up [wearing it]. So, they started with the selection of the team. Once we were playing all of these games and they kept cutting people, they cut Pete Maravich, who was averaging 44 points a game. I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ They cut Calvin Murphy, who was averaging 33. I was like, whoa. And they cut all of these players.

We were also in 1968. There was this revolution going on in America. Now, they had Tommie Smith, John Carlos, all of us was on that [USA Olympic] team in Mexico City. We had to have a meeting with Martin Luther King with John Carlos, Tommie Smith and Dr. Harry Edwards just before [King] got murdered. [Olympic gold medalist] Jesse Owens came down [to speak to the 1968 USA Olympics team]. And so, we were like, ‘Man, I’m going into the fire.’

But on this team, when they got to me, [then-USA Basketball men’s coach] Hank Iba said, ‘Well, we got our first player picked. I’m taking the kid.’ Nobody gave me my name at that time. I was the kid.’ He said, ‘I’m taking the kid.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, s—, I got a real uniform, not just some gear.’ And so they said, ‘Well, you guys must put in your birth certificate and your passport. I was like, ‘Oh s—. Where am I going to get a passport from and where am I going to get my birth certificate?’ So, we called my mother. Did you have a birth certificate? No, I was born by midwife in Silver City, Mississippi, and she just wrote it in the Bible on John: 21. My father was John. So, they had to go down and take a picture of the Bible, get it to the Jackson [Mississippi] vital statistics, and they created this birth certificate.

And when they came back and I was like, ‘Hey, that’s not my name. It says Spencie.’ And so they changed my name and we were off to Russia and to Yugoslavia [for exhibitions]. We get into Russia and they like feeding us this filet mignon. They was like, ‘We have the best steaks ever. This filet mignon. And [USA teammate] Jo Jo White [made a horse noise]. And I started saying, ‘Wait a minute, this is what I ate in Mississippi. This is horse. This was horse with gravy on it.’ So [USA teammate] Charlie Scott, he’s from New York. He just nearly died. We had to send him back home because he couldn’t eat the horse. It was delicious. Yeah. [In my youth] we ate squirrels. Well, a rare time I knocked out a possum, but only a rare time. Roadkill is not far out of our diet [in Mississippi].

So, here we are in Russia and we are just playing. We went down to one end of the court and we are up by 24. We come back down, the score is even. We were in Russia. So, they ended up beating us of course, and then we worked our way back to play the [New York] Knicks in a scrimmage. And [then-Knicks center] Willis Reed was saying, ‘You guys got a good team. You might be all right.’ We wasn’t expected to win s—. We were not that team and they were just getting introduced to me. And so, we played against the Knicks, we killed them, and they were like, whoa. Then we went to Cincinnati, we played Cincinnati and Oscar Robertson took us upstairs and we had a little lunch with him and he was talking about, ‘You guys gotta stand up for America.’

And we also had John McLendon, who was a legend, as one of our coaches, and we had Hank Iba, who had coached two Olympics at that time. We had a strong group of men, we had military, we had [a] junior college freshman [nicknamed] The Kid. So, it was a beautiful thing. But we got into Mexico City and there was this shoot-out between the college students and the Mexican army. So, they were sweeping up the blood from all of the murders they had created in there. Then we got into the village and I’m seeing this big old guy coming around. ‘Hey, man, me and you going to eat this place up?’ It was George Foreman. He still eating it, made a lot of money from it.

But we had a great time down there. And at the end of it, when Tommie and John won the race and put the [black] glove up, we was like, ‘Yeah, man, this is beautiful.’ So, the [USA] Olympic committee said they get kicked out of the village. They kicked them out of the village, took our passport and said, ‘If you all think about protesting or just doing anything […] you’re never going to come home.’ And that’s why you saw when George Foreman knocked out the Russian, he had a little American flag. George said, ‘I got to get back home.’ So, everybody’s asking George, ‘What about that American flag?’ ‘Man, I was just trying to get back to Houston.’

So, that was a heavy thing. Now when I got on the podium and we won all of our games and we got on the podium to receive that medal, I was thinking in my mind, I started crying. Even times when I talk about this, I start just bubbling a bit because when we was writing my book [The Spencer Haywood Rule: Battles, Basketball, and the Making of an American Iconoclast], I was bubbling up again because three years before I was a slave basically in Silver City, Mississippi. We were sharecroppers picking cotton from sunup to sundown. No money, no nothing. And now here I am with this gold medal on my neck and a passport and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this could only happen in America.’ And so, I just cried. And Jo Jo White gets up on me and says, ‘Get up, stand up and stop acting like a damn [freshman].’ But that was my emotional period.

Team USA center Spencer Haywood dunks in the gold medal game against Yugoslavia in Mexico City on Oct. 25, 1968.

Bettmann

It was life-changing… They know your name now. And I was worried when Howard Cosell said, ‘When you get back to Detroit, the Detroit people are going to, they’re going to shun you because you went to the Olympics,’ because we had a boycott that year as well. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar boycotted. Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, all those guys signed a pro contract. We were only taking amateurs. I thought I was going to be hung in Detroit by the brothas. When I got back, we landed in Detroit at the Metropolitan Airport. 4,000 people were there, Blacks, Whites. Everybody was like, ‘He did it. He brought glory to America and to Detroit.’ And that was a wonderful thing. They gave him the key to the city, the governor. Not Mitt Romney, but his dad, George Romney. Yeah. It was powerful.

Very proud of that moment because we did something against the grain because, like I said, there was a Black boycott of that ’68 Olympics, and we did something incredible. We won all of our games. The exhibition game against Russia was the fluke. But other than that, we did really great. And everyone was so proud that we stuck it out because there was protests everywhere about us being there. And then when we won the gold, America was like, yeah, this is what it’s all about. So, it was a powerful, powerful thing.

I averaged 16.1 [points per game]. I held the [American] record in the Olympics and I held it for 44 years until Kevin Durant broke it in 2012. But I keep telling you that it’s not a real record that he’s broken because he shot 3s and we didn’t shoot 3s. We only had 2s. I was like, ‘Just like a damn Sonic.’ We both played for the Seattle SuperSonics. And I blamed Kevin. I said, ‘That’s why we don’t have a team [in Seattle anymore].’

I was amongst everybody [Tuesday night]. The young players like Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, LeBron [James], and all of ’em were there. Before I could say, ‘Hey, guys, I’m this guy,’ they were like, ‘We know what you did for us …’ They are just wonderful young men and it’s been a wonderful time. I’m so blessed to be alive and well.

Grant Hill on USA Basketball’s Olympic preparation: ‘Everybody wanted to be a part of this’

Marc J. Spears — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:07:50 +0000

LAS VEGAS – Thirty-two years ago, Grant Hill was part of a select team of college standouts that stunningly beat Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and USA Basketball’s senior men’s national team in a scrimmage. That USA team was nicknamed Dream Team after routing the competition in the 1992 Barcelona Games and is widely considered the greatest basketball team of all time.

As USA Basketball’s managing director, Hill has put together his own elite collection of Americans for the 2024 Paris Games led by the NBA’s career leading scorer LeBron James, the NBA’s career 3-point leader Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum and many more stars. So, knowing what it would take to beat the Dream Team, could the 2024 USA Basketball squad beat Jordan & Co.?

“Comparing eras is always difficult,” Hill told Andscape. “It would be an exciting game. I’m not going to answer that question. I’m not going to incriminate myself. I don’t know. We beat them in a scrimmage. It wasn’t a real game. It’s hard to say. I don’t know.

“At this point in time, I don’t know. But ask me at the end of the Olympics.”

On April 3, 2021, USA Basketball hired Hill as the 2021-24 managing director of the USA men’s national team. Hill succeeded Jerry Colangelo as managing director after the Tokyo Games. The 1996 Olympic gold medalist is a 19-season NBA veteran who is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and won two NCAA championships at Duke University. Hill played for five USA Basketball teams, won two gold medals and one bronze medal and compiled an overall record of 26-1. Hill’s first USA Basketball team as managing director, however, finished in fourth place in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

USA Basketball plays in its first exhibition game Wednesday night against a star-studded Canadian team at T-Mobile Center. But with a group primarily of veteran NBA stars led by James, USA Basketball is expected to win its fifth-straight gold medal.

Hill took part in the following Q&A with Andscape on Monday and talked about being the first African American to hold his position with USA Basketball, James, the key to success for gold, the challenges of putting the roster together, playing against the Dream Team and much more.

USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill (left) and guard Stephen Curry (right) greet each other during USA Basketball men’s training camp in Las Vegas on July 7.

Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

As the main person that put this Olympic team together, what is it like when you see the likes of LeBron, Steph Curry, Durant, Tatum, etc., arrive?

When I landed here Wednesday, it’s like, ‘OK, it’s real.’ And then as guys started arriving, Steph got in late Thursday night and then we saw Bam [Adebayo] in [Friday] morning and guys slowly coming in, we had a welcome sort of meeting. So, it was sort of the first time that we’re all together. Tatum got in Sunday night. To see everybody together, it was a bit surreal in a way. And then [head coach] Steve [Kerr] and I, we talked to the team and we addressed them, we welcomed them. We talked about what this is, and then we all kind of went in the other room and had dinner, just real informal.

Here we are. We’re ready to go. And I think there’s a nervousness. I’m not a coach, but I went through it as a player. But now, kind of on the other side as management, there’s a nervousness for that first meeting and there’s a nervousness for the first practice. And once you get through those two firsts, you fall into the routine of it. And there may be some nervousness for our first exhibition game. But getting to [last] Saturday night, it was like, ‘OK, I can exhale a little bit and get a little rest.’

Just seeing all these guys — all this talent in the same room and all these guys are on the same team and you’ve seen some of them together in All-Star games and pickup games — but to know you’re going in the trenches with these guys and looking at them, you’re like, ‘Wow.’ Half the guys are [going to be] in the Hall of Fame and then the other half are on their way. And so, there was a little bit of awe watching them interact with each other and I respect their excitement. I sensed it when we handed out jerseys before the playoffs, the one-on-one encounters. And they were really excited almost in some cases like kids to the surprise of formally and officially being selected. To see that same excitement when they got together was really cool.

What’s the main message you and Steve gave them?

The main thing is the FIBA game is different than the NBA game. And that’s something that we will just continue to emphasize the whole way. And there’s things that we’re doing from a film standpoint, from a drilling standpoint, to just reinforce and maybe change some of our habits that work in the NBA but need to be altered a bit with FIBA competition. We told some personal stories, but it was good and I was excited to see how receptive they were. All these guys, from the time they’ve been selected, they’ve been responsive, they’ve been professional, whether it’s texting, conversations, just getting ourselves ready for this moment. It’s been impressive — their desire, their engagement, their professionalism.

How easy and hard was it to put the roster together?

That’s a great question. The way you phrased it is appropriate. It was overwhelming, the excitement and the interest from our players here in the U.S. Everybody wanted to be a part of this, and that’s a really good thing. It speaks to what the experience is, what USA Basketball is, the Olympics. Maybe it’s Paris. But it also speaks to these guys making exorbitant amounts of money and these guys wanting to be a part of this. So, we had a pool of players to pull from, which I don’t know if we’ve had that large of a pool of guys expressing interest probably in quite some time, maybe not since 2012. And so, from that standpoint, it made it great.

What was tough was that you only had 12 spots. You wish you could have had a roster of 15. You could have had a roster of 20. Because there’s so many guys that are deserving — guys that had won championships and All-Stars and won gold medals for us, guys who’ve been a part of our program — and you want to honor those guys and you want guys who have experience. We have 10 guys on this team who have had FIBA experience. We have eight guys who’ve won gold medals, whether it’s Olympic gold medals or World Cup, a World Championship in Steph’s case. So, that institutional knowledge and understanding that FIBA is different, they know, they understand that. The challenge is, it’s like a puzzle, man. You got to put the pieces together that fit and that complement. And so, as a result, you are leaving guys off who are really good and guys that I’m a fan of. I’m a fan of a number of the guys that weren’t on the team.

But a coach once told me that a team is like a piano recital. You got piano movers, You got piano tuners, and you got piano players. And you need all three to put on a good show. You can’t have all piano players. And so that may fit this or may not, but you need roles and you need guys that fit. And so it wasn’t that I didn’t like guys, it was just I got to put together a team. So, that was hard. And that was also having to tell people, call people and let them know that they’re not on the team.

So, you actually called players and told them they didn’t make the team?

I did. And if I couldn’t reach certain people, I spoke to their agents. So, as we were going around handing out jerseys, it became apparent that certain people were about to leak it. So, now we’re scrambling. I felt like these guys deserve to hear it from me. Not everyone, but certain guys. And so, I called a number of guys and had to have that conversation. And it wasn’t easy, but I think they deserved that. They all were difficult. Everyone was very professional and understanding and respectful, so there was no issue.

The main thing, though, is the guys were thrilled [to get their jerseys] and for us to capture those moments and surprise them with the jerseys, that was a nice touch and it was great that we could execute it under the radar in this day and age, which we did for the most part.

Who was the most touched by getting the USA jersey?

Symbolically, the first person I went to speak to formally about the Olympics was Joel [Embiid]. And that was back in fall of ’22, actually a week before their opening night. And I knew that earlier that year he had obtained his French citizenship and we found out that summer he obtained his U.S. citizenship. So, I called up [Philadelphia 76ers general manager] Elton Brand in early October. I said, ‘Hey, man, I got to get an audience with Joel. Can you help facilitate that or come to practice, whatever?’ Shout-out to Elton. He basically connected me and said, he wants you to come to his house. So, I went to his house …

But I didn’t know if he’d give me 10 minutes, he’d give me 30 minutes. So, I sat with him and his assistant 90 minutes. It was an incredible conversation. He was thoughtful, engaging, asked great questions. I thought he knew a lot about the logistics and Lille. He had done his homework, didn’t commit to anything. But I was just impressed with who he is. I didn’t know him that well. I interviewed him once for Inside Stuff years ago. Really smart, really thoughtful. And I felt like he really wanted to play in a FIBA competition. And so, it was a sales job, but it was also just talking and answering questions. And so, we kept in contact via text. So, I felt like, now let me go to him first. He was the first guy I spoke to. He’s the first guy. And I’m not saying there was a pecking order or anything like that, but everyone else didn’t have a choice of what country to play for. He had a choice [of us, France and Cameroon] and he chose us and it was beautiful.

So camp is beginning and there was some noise about the French team and the managing director there putting some stuff out, almost like an ultimatum, if I remember correctly. I called Elton like, ‘Hey man, training camp, I want to come see Joel. Let me know if it’s OK.’ And this was Oct. 3 and my birthday is Oct. 5. And so, Elton is like, come tomorrow. I said, ‘I’ll come to Philly.’ He said, ‘Oh, we’re in Boulder, Colorado.’ And so, I fly out to Boulder and they’re doing training camp out there. There was a beat writer there in the hotel. So, I had to act like, ‘Yeah, I’m here doing the television, I work in media. I’m here doing a little TV interview.’ But we had a little conference room and we sat and talked and a continuation of the conversation from the year before.

And I answered questions and I told him, ‘Look, we’re not giving you an ultimatum. We have time. And so, I just want you to have peace of mind with whatever decision you make. Good to have options.’ And so, he said, ‘I’ll let you know when I’m ready.’ And I flew out and he called me the next morning and said, ‘Happy birthday, I’m playing with you guys.’ Wow. So, I told my wife, ‘You got to top that birthday present!’ But it was good, Joel, they all were excited.

I did Joel, it was tough logistics. We had three or four days. Steve Kerr did Steph. Spo [USA Basketball assistant coach Erik Spoelstra] did Bam. [USA Basketball assistant coach] Ty Lue did Kawhi [Leonard]. [men’s national team director] Sean Ford did LeBron and AD [Anthony Davis] because they were in New Orleans. And then I hopped around Philly, Minnesota, got Ant [Anthony Edwards] and then KD and Book [Devin Booker]. They were there, Boston and then Indy [for Tyrese Haliburton]. They were going to get Steph after his game. I was in Philly that night. I did Joel’s game and [Golden State Warriors senior vice president of communications] Raymond Ridder was going to call me on FaceTime when they were doing the whole thing. And so literally it’s like 2:30 in the morning, I’m sleeping, I’m in the hotel in Philly. Phone rings, I wake up, and Raymond’s like, and he gives me the steps. So, I don’t know what I said, but even over the phone on FaceTime, this guy [Curry] has done everything and he was fired up. They all were. So that was really, really special.

From left to right: USA Basketball center Bam Adebayo, guard Devin Booker and managing director Grant Hill talk during USA Basketball men’s training camp in Las Vegas on July 6.

Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images

What did you learn from your USA team finishing fourth in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and did anything pain you from it?

I learned a lot. You can interview others who’ve gone through it. You can watch a ton of tape, but unless you go through that experience, it’s hard to really understand what it’s all about. And there’s just an understanding of how different the game is, how it’s officiated, how hard it is, how long it can be, how everything’s accelerated; the habits need to change. That played a lot for me in shaping this roster. And I think there’s more diversity and styles of play in the international game than there are in the NBA. Not [many] teams over there play two bigs in the paint like they did 25 years ago. We don’t see that in this game. But then you see a team like Canada who goes small and they spread it out. And so, you get different styles. We have the ability to play different styles and hopefully play well. Joel is someone that we haven’t had in years. Dwight Howard was the last true center in ’08. But Dwight was great defensively and rebound. He wasn’t necessarily offensively what Joel is. Prior to that, you got to go back to ’96 with Shaq [O’Neal], Hakeem [Olajuwon] and David Robinson.

We had some versatility. We have flexibility. We can go big, we can go small. We have shooting and we have experience. Our guys last summer were great. They gave us everything. They were young and this was their first FIBA experience and I think they’ll be better for it if they get the opportunity down the road.

You’re the first African American to be the managing director of USA Basketball. Any thoughts on that?

One hundred percent, I think about that. I’m very aware of that and I understand there’s a responsibility that comes with that. And we have to succeed. We have to have success, and not just for USA Basketball, not just for whoever might succeed me one day and having someone else being inclusive in terms of who that person is. But I just think in all sports management positions it’s important for us to have success and do it the right way. And so, there’s a burden of responsibility, an opportunity, however you want to look at it.

But I’m very conscious of it and proud of that and I’m excited for that. And this was something that I wanted, I sought this out and I’m grateful that USA Basketball strives to be inclusive. And I think not just with the staff that’s based in Colorado Springs, but with the women’s team and with 3-on-3. We should reflect the country that we represent. And USA basketball 100 percent lives that and embraces that. I’m grateful for the opportunity and that just creates opportunities for the next person of color.

Do you feel more pressure for this to succeed than anything else you have done in basketball?

One hundred percent. As a player, it’s just a different pressure. As a player, there’s pressure but then when competition starts you get lost in the game and you’re just competing. There’s a bit of an arm’s length distance between being on the management side versus being a player or even being a coach, for that matter. But it’s not just because I’m a Black man. It’s also because we’re USA. There’s an expectation in any sport for us to do well, but particularly basketball. We’re at an interesting time in the game of basketball in terms of where it’s at on a global stage. And what I mean by that, you have 30% of the NBA is international players. A number of recent MVPs are international players.

We’ve had some teams in the last 20 years on the FIBA stage who are contenders. Argentina had a great run. Spain had a great team as well. France gave us everything we could handle in ’21. Now you have five teams that believe they can contend. And so, it’s an interesting, on one hand, growth of the game, the globalization of the game, the impact of David Stern and the Dream Team in ’92 and all the moves and things that have happened since then that have inspired multiple generations. The game is now where it’s at, and it’s beautiful and it’s great for business. USA Basketball makes it a little harder. We have champions, we have legends, we have competitors. Part of why they want to do this is they want that challenge and they want to show that we could be the best.

There is 100% pressure. You feel it. I still have that bad taste in my mouth from last summer. When you play in NBA as a player and you have a game and you have a bad night, you can’t wait for that next game. And you hope it’s a back-to-back so you quickly can get that bad taste out of your mouth. You got three days in between games, so I’m ready to play again. I’m ready to go through this. And it’s a similar feeling, just a little bit more.

Getting LeBron James to join the Olympic team, what does that mean at this stage of his career and his longevity?

It’s a credit to him. At this stage with all that he’s done, he wants to do this. When Joel committed. LeBron texted me, ‘Good job.’ He’s in. Not only is he in, he’s emotionally invested. I didn’t know LeBron that well. I’m a little old school. But I’ve gotten to know him and connect with him more so over this last year. I’ve just been impressed with his passion for the game, his passion for USA Basketball and his desires. You would think he’s Year 3, never won, hungry. All that he’s done, he is approaching this as if he’s accomplished nothing. And that’s in part what makes him so unique and certainly one of the best to ever do it.

What was it like to wear that jersey as you did as a member USA Basketball’s gold medal winning team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics?

It’s big. I was young when I wore it and probably didn’t fully appreciate it. I was the youngest guy on the team in ’96 and I just assumed that I’d have more opportunities and that was taken from me for the injuries. But growing up watching the Olympics, watching Carl Lewis, watching Mary Lou Retton, watching Edwin Moses and the ’84 Olympic team … You can represent Duke or you can represent the [Detroit] Pistons. But when you’re representing your country, there’s a real honor and there’s a privilege.

And even with some of the challenges that we have at times with our country, it’s still an honor and a privilege and it’s big. There’s a pride that comes with that. There’s a pride wearing the USA basketball polo. And I’m not an overly patriotic person, but you feel that sense [of pride]. You feel that honor when you put it on.

You mother, Janet Hill, made her impact on this country serving as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Army, a liaison to the office of the Secretary of Defense, the White House, the Congress and other government agencies and was also appointed by President Obama as a member of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She died in 2022 knowing you were in this position with USA Basketball. What did your connection to USA Basketball mean to her?

My mom would probably be here in Vegas right now. She would definitely be in Paris with us on the trip. When COVID just happened and we all instantly shut down, this is when I kind of concocted this idea. I had heard that Jerry Colangelo and [the 2020] Olympics were to be his last. And sometimes I am an idea-a-minute. I am always thinking of interesting things, opportunities, ideas. And I remember talking to her and saying, ‘What do you think about if I pursued this? You think I’m crazy for wanting this.’ And so, she was the one that encouraged me, ‘No, you got to do it. You have to do it.’ And so, a lot was going on and the league and [NBA] bubble. And so fast-forward to a year later, ’21, I was in the bubble in Indianapolis for the Final Four. And I was getting ready to do my first game [broadcast]. I was actually at West Lafayette outside of the arena where Purdue plays. I was on the phone with someone from the board at USA basketball and they basically told me I had been selected. And the first person I called was my mom. And then she got sick later that summer.

So, she knew. She was excited. And so, she would be proud. She was proud of everything I did. But she would’ve been there. She probably would’ve been sitting on the other side of [my wife] Tamia, or maybe I would’ve been sandwich in between the two of them at the games. But she loved sports, she loved competition. She loved to go to events. She even would go to All-Star game and post up in the lobby, come to the Final Four. And there is no greater event than this.

And of course, my dad as well, my parents have always been supportive and proud. And I think my dad, he’s not flying nowhere. He’s a homebody. So, they’ve been great. He’s been great. He has been asking, ‘How do the guys look?’ It’s great to always get that support from them.

What was it like being on the Select Team that practiced against the Dream Team in 1992 and beat them in a scrimmage?

It was a while ago, but it was a different time back then as a top player in high school, even college. It’s a chance you’ve met one of these elite pros. With the exception of Christian [Laettner] and Pat Ewing because I was around Georgetown, I had never met any of these guys. I don’t think any of our guys on the Select Team had either. I had Magic’s [Johnson] poster and Michael’s [Jordan] poster on my wall in my dorm. And then next thing you know, I’m going out here and I’m playing against him. It’s a different time now.

I’ve talked to Allan Houston, [Chris] Webber, Penny [Hardaway], when I see them. That may have been the best basketball experience of my life, looking at it through the lens of a 19-year-old. And I had just won two national championships and that summer I got a chance to do that. Man, I could have retired right then and there …

The first day I guarded Michael. I just remember that feeling. I guarded him many times afterwards. We found out three weeks before and the next thing you know, I’m like, I’m guarding Michael Jordan. And look around. it’s Magic. All my heroes are right here. We spent time with them. First time I ever golfed was with Scottie Pippen. We were in the room when they were gambling. Just being around them. It wasn’t just on the court. They took us under their wing. So, we got a chance to hang out with them. And it was one of those things where the scrimmage, the time with them, you can’t even describe how incredible it was. No one believed you. You can’t even put into words what that feeling was like for all of us. It was incredible.