When did you know this is what you wanted to do?
Since the ninth grade, I think. When you’re that young, you’re just playing for the love of the game, you know? You’re just going off the love and how fun it is to put the ball in the basket. I never thought I’d do this for a living, but I always wanted to.
I’m assuming this is your day job, so... what do you do for fun?
Everything! I love golf, I play tennis, videogames. I’m always on my PS3, PSP, watching movies.
In what ways do you feel your job is important?
I guess when you’re a professional in any sport you serve as a role model to other kids. So you really got to be on top of your game on and off the court—a responsible person. And I think it’s really good to help out and give back to the community. I always go back to my high school and help out the kids—put on some basketball camps, just trying to show, you know, if you really want to do this, you really can do it full-time, if you put in the hard work.
Is this the first professional basketball team in Edmonton?
There was one before: the Edmonton Skyhawks. They didn’t do too well, though. I think they were only on for three, six months. They didn’t last the year. There weren’t enough fans. But that was before basketball came to Canada, before the Toronto Raptors and everything. Basketball’s growing as a universal sport. I think it’s the second biggest sport in the world next to soccer.
I have to ask out of pure ignorance. What league do you play in?
The IBL. The International Basketball League.
What other cities do you play?
We play Portland, Tacoma – there aren’t any teams from China this year, but there are a couple teams from there. We’re playing central Oregon tonight, uh, Tri-City, Chicago, Michigan. We’ve played Vancouver and the Washington Volcanoes. Edmonton has a history of failed sports teams: The Drillers, The Trappers.
Do you think Edmontonians will be more receptive to basketball?
Definitely. The sport’s so fast-paced—it’s a great game. Not like baseball, where you have to wait on the pitch, throw, you’ve got to hit, you’ve got to run, it’s up and down. But [basketball] is fast-paced, like hockey. People love hockey.
Do you have any pre-game rituals?
Yes and no. I’m not really superstitious in that way; you know, tie my shoelaces the same way or anything like that. But I do play PlayStation NBA a lot. Always. Hours before the game. I’ve been doing that for years. So that’s my pre-game ritual. I guess that’s how I try and visualize it before I go out.
Do you have a favourite running shoe?
Nike Huarache 2K4s; favourite basketball shoe of all time. If I could buy them in bulk, I would buy them right now. They don’t sell them anymore; you have to go on eBay to find them. And for my feet (size 14), they’re really tough to find. But if I do see them—and in a good colour too, because they have them out right now in purple and I don’t want to wear purple with the red seams—then I would.
