I just tuned in to a re-run of last night's Wizards-Lakers game to pass time before our game starts and they said they will have an interview with Steve at the end of the game. I'll fill you in on what was said. Damn this is cool. Stevie on brit tv!!
I'm going to England in a couple of weeks. What type of chance is there that I can watch Steve & company play?
You can only get NBA coverage on satellite tv, unfortunately. And even then it's only a game or two from the night before. And even then it's only the "big" teams. It'll be a culture shock for you.
AND they've just shown Steve's Reebok ad. Is it my lucky day or what?? Still waiting for that interview....
Finally the interview came on!! Apparently Steve was in London this summer on a promotional tour. I didn't know, otherwise I'd have gone to meet him. Anyway, this is pretty much word for word what was said. On the All Star Game: I felt so nervous. I was excited because I always wanted to be in an All Star Game, always wanted to start on All Star Game, let alone it was in Philadelphia which is just down the road from my home town, Washington DC. You could tell I was nervous - I shot 1 for 9. I only made one shot and that was in the closing seconds of the game. I was just excited to be in the whole atmosphere with tons of media and the best basketball players in the world. on being drafted by the Grizzlies there were so many things going on. I definitely wanted to express my feelings - I'm an emotional type of guy. Even before the draft, that scenario was played through my mind a million times and then I was just escited to have my name called...but by the Vancouver Grizzles. It was tough. On trade to Houston The ideal place. Houston is a lovely city. Playing with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley in my first year was probably one of the best situations I could have had. #1 pick and Ming There were so many different options that we could have taken, maybe trading the pick. Our team was under scruting for just thinking about about not taking Ming or thing of taking him. there was so much there. they tried to put so much pressure on the GM and coach. I thought we handled it great. Ming's future He's young. he's 21, I'm 4 years older than him. And he's good at 21, you know, he's very mobile to be his size. He has court savvy. When I say that, I've seen film of him, I've watched him play to where he knows where some of the guys are on the court. he's also a good passer. We need this coming from a center in the Western Conference. Pitfalls of being an NBA star People wanting your money. From your best friend in high school, or some girl who didn't like you in 1988 - everybody's after you. That to me has been one of the things that I had to get hold of early because I've seen a lot of players go different directions in that situation. I never wanted to be one of those guys. Playoff chances? i think the chances are great. Last year we had a lot of injuries, guys were hurt. I think this year, with patience, the addition of Yao Ming, everybody playing together and hopefully an injury free season, I think we can do it. How close are Houston to the title? Realistically, it can happen now. Even when Houston won the title in 94 and 95, the coaches were always telling me we came in as low as the 6th seed and just got hot in th eplayoffs. And we had a great inside-outside game, kicking the ball into Hakeem, getting the double or triple teamed, kicking the ball out again and able to hit. The end.
