The Raptors locker room is open to media for 45 minutes beginning 90 minutes before the game, and for most of the past two years the go-to spot was the farthest side of the wall where Joey Graham, Kris Humphries, Jamario Moon and Anthony Parker lived. The Raptors have always had good locker rooms. Juan Dixon, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Jose Calderon, Garbo, T.J. Ford, Jason Kapono – even Bosh, though he’s usually pretty focused before games – have always been fun guys to chat with when time allows. But the far side of the wall was a bit unique. Hump was hilarious, intentionally and unintentionally. Moon? I’ve never met anyone like him, Joe Geezy? You couldn’t meet a nicer guy; it made you wish he could better follow instructions on the floor. AP was like Dad to those guys, or at least like a big brother. They’d be saying crazy stuff – Hump mostly – and Moon would chip in with some country wisdom and Joey would seem a bit bemused, as if he was late to a Hall of Fame luncheon, or something. And AP would just watch and laugh or egg them on, which didn’t take much.
It was all very entertaining, as I tried to capture a couple of times with Ask Hump (RIP) last year. A lot of times when you say nice things about professional athletes – like when someone says nice things about reporters, not that that happens very often – it’s qualified: He’s a nice guy for an athlete; he’s pretty smart for an athlete, etc. It’s stupid, but it’s tradition. AP required no qualification. He was smart, nice and has several other good qualities by any standard. All of this to say I’d have no problem cheering for him to earn an NBA ring with the Cavs. Anyway, I wrote a story that appeared in the paper today, but thought I’d post the transcript of the interview here.
What was it like to be a free agent for the first time?
"It was stressful, we prayed a lot. I was going to have a job, it was just the stress of knowing this could be your final contract; you want it to be a good situation but also knowing you want to get the best deal financially as well, so you were weighing a lot of options.”
Did you have a lot of choices?
“It was tough and there were a lot of good teams in the mix as well, but Cleveland showed a ton of interest from the beginning and made it clear that I was part of what they wanted to do, that was a big thing.”
“It’s definitely a good feeling knowing teams like that are coming after you. Three years ago I was overseas and now I’m here. But even then Bryan Colangelo was the guy that showed interest early and stayed with it and that meant a lot, and Cleveland was like that this time.''
I can guess, but why do you think so many good teams were interested in you?
“I guess for what I do. I’m someone who has played major minutes in the NBA, I’m willing to come off the bench; I can shoot, I’m a solid defender and I’m not going to do anything crazy in the locker room.”
It must be wild to be playing on the same team as LeBron and Shaq?
“Again, three years ago I was playing overseas and now I look on one side and it’s LeBron and on the other side it’s Shaq, it’s pretty cool. They make things a lot easier and they take so much pressure off everyone because they command so much attention, it allows someone like me to focus on what I do and do it better.”
LeBron seems like a good team guy; someone who enjoys being part of a group rather than tolerates it?
“That’s part of the appeal for all the players in the league about LeBron, it stands out. He’s a team guy and in a team concept he can’t help but shine, but the fact is his mindset is team first and he’s shown it with the strides he’s made on the defensive end and he’s got the ability to lead but not in an outspoken or brash way; he’s a hard worker. It’s good to see.
