Jamario moon

Written on 8:57 PM by Admin

leon powe, anthony parker, marquis daniels, delonte west, lebron james

Talking hoops, LeBron and Shaq with AP

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.

“When your best player is one of your hardest workers, the rest of the team follows suit. If he’s staying after practice to get up shots, you better be sure that you’re getting your shots up as well.”

Any good Shaq stories yet?

“I can’t believe he’s older than me; he’s got so much energy and he’s always joking around, I have to remind myself he’s the guy I’ve been watching all these years. He’s fun to be around.”

Those guys have so many things going on off the court; do they have time to be good teammates, too?

“That’s part of the whole thing, being able to juggle all those things and still remember why you have those opportunities. Shaq’s had a career of being able to do that and LeBron seems to be doing that really well as far as having a lot of balls in the air and still being able to get better at the game of basketball.”

Are you used to playing with them yet?

“At the beginning it’s like, ‘there’s LeBron and there’s Shaq’, but as you get to know them, like anybody, you get past the superstar thing and you see – it’s sounds corny but it’s true – they’re just people. They say funny things, they do funny things, they’re not always right, they have the same problems everyone else has. I definitely feel like we’re at that point where, yeah, there’s Shaq, there’s LeBron and you just go to work.''

Will they be able to work together?

“It looks that way. They can complement each other and it’s not a situation where they’re going to have to work hard to try and complement each other. The trust and all that comes over time over the course of a season, but there’s certainly that respect level and the trust starts from there.

How’s Jamario?

“Jamario is still Jamario. We have all kinds of guys on this team, some real characters, and Jamario’s one of the country guys. Actually, J.J. Hickson has Jamario beat, if you can believe that.

"Jamario is kind of our translator for JJ, when we don’t understand. When he says a whole sentence that sounds like one word, we look at Jamario and he’ll tell us what JJ said.”

What’s it like to play on a team expected to win an NBA title?

“It’s a different challenge. There’s not pressure to make the playoffs, there’s not pressure about what we’re going to do in the regular season, it’s more the goal is championship. It’s a different sort of pressure, it’s a different level, but it’s exciting to be a part of it. People are talking about it; your family gets to see you on TV, all those things.

“When we travel now, it’s a little different, when we pull up to the hotel and there are hundreds and hundreds of people waiting, I’m not going to say it’s like The Beatles, but it’s different. You feel that excitement level whereever we go.”

So how is it guys like you or Jamario are no longer with the Raptors but you're going to be important parts of a potential championship team?

“For players like me it’s all about getting in the right situation. When you’re in the right situation you can seem a lot better than you actually are and when you’re in a bad situation you can seem a lot worse than you actually are. Those difference makers are few and far between and its tough to get them on your team, and we have two difference makes here in Cleveland.”

And it looks like you’ll be starting?

“I just hope that I don’t have to do any dances or anything. That’s not my style.''

Kind of cool to be coming to Toronto so early in the season?

“I’m excited; it’s like a free trip to a place where I called home for three years. It’s exciting to go back and compete against your old team as well, but it’s weird because I didn’t play against very many of those guys.”

What do you think of the Raptors?

“They have a deep team; top-to-bottom it’s a better team, Jarrett Jack will really help. It kind of reminds me of my first year because there are so many guys who can come in and play.”