The following was taken from hoopshype.com
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Hi again people,
It’s been a busy week for me in Barcelona. Like in the NBA, we don’t take any breaks here for Christmas.
Had practice on Christmas Day… We had an important game against Real Madrid days later and we also practiced on New Year’s Day, so no rest for me. But it worked out perfect because we had two wins!
We’re on a roll right now. We have a good chemistry and we continue to build on that. My coach Xavi Pascual is doing a great job. We trust him, we go out and do the job he wants us to do. In this team, you have to sacrifice your minutes sometimes. All the great teams. They have to do it.
NBA CALL
I was very surprised to hear this week that the Knicks have inquired about my situation with FC Barcelona. Or maybe not so much. I go way back with the Knicks. On draft day, they traded for me. I had a great experience being there with Latrell Sprewell, Glen Rice, Chris Childs, Larry Johnson…
Maybe I was closer to Spree and Childs, although Johnson was like a big brother to me. I actually I had Christmas dinner with him and his family. That was a big learning experience thing for me. You know, I was in the NBA, I was alone and Larry Johnson helped me out. He actually bought me 20 suits because coach Jeff Van Gundy said I needed to wear suits at games. I wasn’t playing at the time. Coach said I was a rookie and I had to wait my turn. I had guys like Sprewell, who I spent time with playing PlayStation, playing Madden and NBA Live… Marcus Camby joined too.
I had a good time there. For them to inquire about me, it’s not the same as another team doing it. If another team does that, they don’t know me as well as the Knicks. Some of people at the front office that traded to get me, they’re still there. Of course I would have liked to get some playing time. I could never showcase my game, but you know, I understand that I was only 22 and Sprewell and Rice were playing in front of me. Those guys were making like $15 million a year. I just did my work everyday. I got to gym early, I left the gym late.
That year, although I was not playing, just watching those great players play, really helped my game. Playing with them at practice, I learned a lot. They were so talented, so smart. It was such a veteran team. The year before they got to the Finals and lost to the Spurs.
Knowing that they have expressed interest is a different feeling. If it was some other team, I wouldn’t really have any feelings about it. But it’s New York. And I never really got the chance to play there. Playing for a great college team at Cincinnati, being an All-American… And all of a sudden, I don’t play. You can’t understand that. It’s not that I couldn’t play. I just never got the chance. I got encouraging words: “Wait your turn, your time will come.”
Well, it has come. It didn’t come in the NBA, but it has come and I’m very happy where I am at right now. As far as the Knicks inquiring about me, I’m here in Spain playing for FC Barcelona and it’s my focus. Everything else is business. That’s why I have agents. Inquiring about me is one thing. Actually having me on their team… That’s not easy. But you never know.
MY TWO FAMILIES
I’m used to being without my family during Christmas. Actually I think it’s my fifth year in a row without them. My family will be here in Spain next month – first time in Europe!
Meanwhile, I have to say that the team is like a family. We had a team dinner the other day, which is nice. Players, managers, coaching staff… We had Secret Santa and we all had a great time with the presents we bought! I got one bottle of Moët & Chandon, which is a very nice present. I’m saving it for special occasions, though. That’s all I can say! I cannot tell which present I bought, but I’m positive the teammate who got it really liked it.
The fact that it’s Christmas time doesn’t matter when it comes to remembering my brother, murdered when I was young. It’s an everyday thing. I don’t have any sad feelings about that situation. Obviously I struggled with it when I was a kid, but I overcame that situation and it made me who I am. It shaped my life. There’s two ways to go when bad situations happen to you… You can go down or you can go up. It motivated me to do everything the right way. It motivated me to stay on the basketball court, staying in the classroom and do my studies.
When somebody is close to you, somebody who cares about you, plays basketball with you, it’s a difficult thing. My family is strong, they’ve been through a lot. We stuck together in that situation. Whatever I imagine, I can do it. That’s my thing. Wherever my career takes me – NBA, Spain, or somewhere else – I’ll continue to do it. Never had an ego about it. It’s not so much exactly about the ACB, the NBA, the Euroleague… It’s my League, it’s where I am at.
MY TAKE ON ARENAS
Everybody has an opinion on carrying a gun. For me, it’s a very sensitive subject. I mean, my brother was a victim of gun violence. But if people feel they need to carry a gun and they got a legal permit to carry one, then they should carry a gun. That said, bringing guns in a locker room… Come on.
Arenas made that decision. Now there could be consequences. It’s up to the grand jury to decide his fate.
About the gambling thing, well, I know very well that kind of game.. Back in NYC, it’s called In-Between. It’s a game where money goes away very, very fast. When guys played it on a two-hour flight, I liked to watch it, not playing it. It happens: you play, you lose, big debts, and then there’s guys that don’t want to pay, or they pay late.
Nobody knows what happened exactly. Only Arenas and Javaris Crittenton. This next week maybe we will know what really happened. I don’t like speculation because I’ve been in situations where people talked a lot about me. Last year, they speculated about this passport issue I had. At the end, none of the things they said in the newspapers were true. And that’s why Arenas said he’s gonna sue the New York Post. In the States, you cannot write bad things about people if you don’t have the facts. Here in Europe, people write things all the time, and people then think everything is true. I never had anything to do with the passport issue. You can’t write false information about people!
Happy New Year everybody!
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