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NBA BASKETBALL
2002 All-Star Game NBA Player Interviews
PHILLY - Feb 10, 200 - EAST player
interviews conducted by all media.
BYRON
SCOTT
Q: Don Nelson was in here saying
that sometimes players kind of go throw the motions,
try to be showmen in an All-Star game and don't really
play defense. Kobe seems to have an intensity and purpose
in an All-Star Game, can you talk about that and why
he performs so well when he plays against the best?
A: Today he was head and shoulders above everybody.
His purpose in this game was to play both ends. I don't
know if his purpose was necessarily to get the MVP award.
I think he wanted to win the game, first of all. When
he's on the court, the thing about him is he's going
to guard you. He's going to guard you on the defensive
end, the offensive ends, he can take you down low, he
can score from the outside. He's just one of those guys
that he's a wonderful basketball player to watch play.
Q: Can you talk about what it
was like coaching Michael for the first time?
A: You know what, it was really good. Michael, he's
one of those guys you can tell his competitive nature
started to come out, especially in the third quarter,
he really wanted to get back into the game and really
wanted to win it. Just for us, we didn't have things
work out our way. They did a heck of a job of pushing
it up and down the floor, they out rebounded us and
we had too many turnovers and that might have been because
we were playing a little too loose. For me, myself,
being a first-year coach at this particular event, I
just wanted the guys to have fun and enjoy it.
I thought in the second half,
what I started to try to preach to them was get back
on defense and let's rebound a little bit better and
try to get ourselves involved in this game. The guy
that is normally knocked down shots were just not making
shots for the entire game and when did he did get a
run going, we got the game within 13 point, 10-point,
something like that and he went ice cold again. And
you have to give them credit on the West because they
started to guard again.
Q: So what about next year?
A: I can't do it two years in a row. I told them in
the locker room, it was a privilege and a pleasure to
coach those guys. Unfortunately, I will not be able
to do it next year, but I will the year after that,
so we'll see what happens.
Q: You watched and played against
juror Jordan. You've now watched and coached against
Bryant. How would you compare Kobe at this stage with
Jordan?
A: Very similar. Kobe has the total package. When Michael
first came in the league, the only thing he didn't do
extremely well was shoot the ball and all of a sudden
two years later, he was shooting it better than anybody
and then he started to increase his range. Whatever
you said that he was not good at is what he worked at,
and the same thing with Kobe Bryant and he entered this
league at 18 years old. He's been in here a little bit
longer at this particular stage of his career than Michael
has, but when you really look at both of these guys
play, you see a lot of similarities. Kobe, he's a high
flyer, he's a guy that can dominate the game on both
ends of court just like Michael when he was younger
and Kobe has that competitive nature. He really wants
to win and he wants to win every single time he's on
the court.
Q: What did Michael say to you
as you walked off the court that made you laugh the
first time?
A: Well he wished me luck. He said that, you know, "
I want to wish you luck for the remainder of the season
except for the next two times we play you guys."
That other time, at the heat of the moment right during
the game, I'm saying things to guys and I went up to
A.I. and I asked Deke if they wanted to play any more.
They said, no, we have a bunch of young guys and Allen
was instrumental far as telling me let Baron play some
more. Like I said, as an All-Star coach your hardest
thing to do is divide the minutes and I tried to do
that to the best of my ability and try to give these
guys a chance to go out there and showcase what they
can do.
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RAY ALLEN
Q: What was the key for the West?
A: They just ran up and down the floor. That’s
typical Western Conference basketball. We played our
brand of basketball and didn’t get the job done.
Q: What was your reaction to Michael
Jordan’s missed dunk?
A: Mike is the type of guy when he sets his mind to
doing something, he’s gonna do it and he’s
gonna do it hard, and he has an extreme amount of focus.
On that dunk, he said he was thinking, what should he
do with it, what kind of dunk should I do. He didn’t
want to play much. He wanted to go out and celebrate
being an All-Star, and being around these guys. I think
we all got reacquainted this weekend. This has been
the best All-Star Game I’ve participated in as
far as guys in the locker room having a great time.
Despite all the hoopla that goes on, the reason I want
to be a part of the All-Star team is to share the camaraderie
in the locker room with the guys.
Q: How do you think Byron Scott
did?
A: As a head coach here, he’s trying to fit in
as much as the players and I think he did a great job.
Q: What did you think of Kobe
Bryant?
A: I was at first trying to figure out why the crowd
was booing, was the East getting booed because we were
playing bad or was he getting booed because he was taking
all the shots. And then I had to think about where I
was and I was like, I’m in Philadelphia right now,
and in Philadelphia, they boo everybody. You kind of
have to take it with a grain of salt.
Q: Did the lack of defense help
the West?
A: I don’t think we really played defense throughout
the game and that gave them a lot of confidence.
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ALLEN IVERSON
Q: Allen, when you saw Kobe experience
the boos today and the way he was greeted, was that
at all reminiscent of what you experienced with him
in Cleveland back in '96 in the Rookie Game?
A: Definitely. I felt bad for him. I felt real bad because,
you know, at a happy moment, a happy time like that,
you just want to enjoy it. Then by them booing him,
it took a lot away from it, you know, because he is
from here. You just don't want to see that. But I think
a lot of people, if they took the time and thought that,
what if that was their kid up there, then it probably
would not happen. But, you know, that's the way this
life is. That's the way this profession is. You know,
you want to try to bring up a reason for it, but for
something like that, you just can't find a reason.
Q: I really didn't think you were
serious about playing the humble host and laying back
and not trying to dominate the game.
A: Yeah, because I mean, for what, you know, people
in Philly get to see me all year round, and they get
to see me play every game like it's my last. You know,
I'm playing with so many great players, you know, I
think it's unfair to just come in and try to take over
the show. I mean, I just was honored to just be in the
game and run up and down the court with some of those
guys and get a chance to be on the floor with Jason
Kidd, Michael Jordan. It was just fun for me. You know,
we got a long season left, so, you know, I was kind
of saving some of my energy for what we have to face
ahead.
Q: I was just getting ready to
ask you about your energy level, it's been busy this
week, how is your energy level?
A: It was great. It was fine. One thing about me, I
might not shoot the ball well or I might turn it over
or not pass the ball, play great defense, with you one
thing, I'm going to have great energy every time. And
I'm confident in that, just like God gave me the ability
to play basketball, he gave me enough stamina to be
able to play 48 strong minutes.
You know, I feel good about my stamina night in and
night out. I prepare myself for the game. I was able
to play the whole game if they wanted me to.
Q: Guys in the locker room were
saying that this is -- Michael's demeanor in this game,
he was a lot more low-key than in All-Star Games past,
and I guess they got on him a bit for missing the dunk.
A: He didn't even want to play as long as he played.
It was just an honor to just have him in the game. You
don't expect him to come out there and try to put on
a crazy show for everybody. You know, everybody, with
the All-Star Game kind of approach it is like they are
going to let the game come to them and that's the way
I approached it. I was not trying to overexert myself,
and I don't think he was, either. Obviously, he was
trying to win, but it just didn't go our way tonight.
Q: How would you describe the
way Kobe approached this game?
A: It looked like he wanted to come out real aggressive.
You've got to kind of expect that, him being from Philly
and everything. You want him to come out and play well
in front of his friends and his family and the people
that care about him. You know, everything was great
tonight for Kobe, except the response that he got forgetting
the MVP. You know, I think it was wrong, and I feel
bad for him because all he's trying to do is what's
right and what he thinks is right. You can't fault him
for nothing like that. I mean, they won the game. I
could see if he was out there just shooting up a whole
bunch of balls and they lost the game. But, I mean,
he did it -- in the framework of the game. You can't
knock him for that. I just hope that he's able to recover
from it like he's supposed to.
Q: Do you think part of it might
have been things that he had said last year in the Finals
about Philadelphia?
A: What?
Q: Just that L.A. is his town
now, I'm paraphrasing, but kind of disavowing that he
was from here?
A: I don't know why. I don't know why they did it. It's
just something that you've got to deal with. I've played
in Philly for six years, and they boo us in the first
quarter if things are not going right. (Laughter) So,
it's just something you've got to deal with. You just
have to handle it like a man and understand that everything
is not always going to be peaches and cream. There's
obstacles you've got to go throw in life and it's important
for you to overcome them. I bet that this is something
that he will learn from and be able to deal with if
it happens to him again.
Q: How did it feel to wear No.
6?
A: It felt good. I think I'm going to do it next year
-- after the game, my son asked me why did I have on
somebody else's number. I mean, he don't really know
right now. I'll explain it to him later on, but it was
just an honor. It was fun.
It felt -- it felt kind of weird, but to have it on,
to talk to Dr. J before the game, just to get a chance
to play in front of a Philly crowd, it just made me
feel good about who my mother raised and it made me
feel good about my mother, just to be able to be in
a situation to be able to wear a legend's uniform like
that. It was just something special, something that
I will cherish for the rest of my life.
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MICHAEL JORDAN JORDAN: All right. Who's going to be
the first to ask?
Q: Your did you have second thoughts
about coming up here after missing that dunk?
JORDAN: I laugh at myself. If I can't laugh at myself,
I can't laugh at anybody. It's one of those situations
where you've got a wide-open dunk, every, I guess athlete
who loves to create, loves that opportunity. It has
been in a while since I've been in that circumstance.
Obviously that told it's own story, and the wheels started
turning. I start trying to figure out, well what will
you do? And at the last minute, you think, well, just
dunk it. And you just lose concentration, you know.
As much as you wanted to be creative and you listen
for all of the signs in your moves and your body and
you're just worried about something popping or whatever.
As you get older, just don't have the same type of confidence.
You've got to go through a checklist. (Laughter) and
I went through the checklist and by the time I was ready
to dunk the ball, I wasn't there. (Laughter). I did
dunk one. It was fun. I'd laugh at myself, I guess.
Q: Thoughts and feelings about
Kobe being booed in his own hometown?
JORDAN: I think that goes back to the playoffs, you
know, where I'm pretty sure they had heated concerns,
obviously, Allen and Kobe, and the Lakers won. That's
the way I saw it. Kobe is the type of player, he's going
to go out and play aggressive. The boos don't stop him
from playing. I'm pretty sure the boos would not stop
me from playing. Probably gives him more energy to go
out and play. He's played in hostile territories before.
If you win, who cares. But the way I saw it, it was
more or less going back to the playoffs.
Q: Could you comment on what you
saw in Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady today?
JORDAN: Obviously, they are very creative in these types
of games. They can be electrifying at the drop of a
hat. I was sitting there and talking on NBC when I missed
the dunk, throwing it off the backboard, Jim Gray just
totally took my mind away from the game, and that's
the moment and in that quick moment, you can miss something
exciting. Good thing we've got replay. But both of those
guys are so exciting that you cannot lose focus of the
game and you can't go get popcorn and you can't talk
to the guy next to you or you just might miss something
spectacular. That's the beauty of the game of basketball,
that's the beauty of being creative. I remember when
I used to be like that. It's truly a great thing to
see.
Q: Those of us who know your competitive
juices wondered if you would really hold yourself to
12 minutes. You ended up with 23.
JORDAN: It took me about three minutes, four minutes
to get loose, with all of the things that we had to
do before the game. I was hoping we would get a chance
to go back out and go through some layups, but we didn't.
It took me about four minutes to break a sweat. Obviously
when you get out on the basketball court, sometimes
it's tough to drag yourself away from a competitive
moment. It was good to get some running. I know I had
not ran in a couple of days, and you break a sweat,
and we have practice tomorrow and go right back at it.
I was looking to play 12 minutes, but I played 23.
Q: I think people always look
to see similarities between yourself and Kobe in the
way that not only you play, but the way you are wired,
when he came in here, he was shook up about being booed.
He said he was upset and hurt and didn't have the words
to describe it. If you had felt hurt or upset, would
you even get up here and admit that?
JORDAN: To be candid, yeah, you have to say that. If
you don't expect something, well, obviously, if it shook
him up -- all he wants to do is play the game of basketball.
It didn't matter where, it doesn't matter who he's playing
against; he plays hard. He plays to win. Those are traits
you just cannot hold back. You can't just kind of come
off the pedal. I feel bad that he felt that way, because
as a basketball enthusiast, as a fellow competitor,
I like when guys come out and be aggressive and be competitive.
It shows your love for the game, and I think the fans
here probably wanted Allen to come in and play that
way, and win, and get off and play exceptionally well.
He cares about the way people perceive his attitude
about the game of basketball. I'm definitely supportive
of the way he goes out and is aggressive. I feel bad
that he's embarrassed by it.
Q: When is the last time you were
booed?
JORDAN: The last time I was booed? In front of my home
crowd?
Q: Anytime?
JORDAN: Cleveland. I'm always booed in Cleveland. (Laughter).
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JASON KIDD
Q: Jason, how was your day?
A: We had a fun time. The West jumped on us. We had
it at 50-50 and they knocked down three straight threes.
Overall it was a great weekend. We had a great time.
We have a lot of guys in their first year playing in
an All-Star Game who were a little nervous. Overall
I thought it was an entertaining game.
Q: What about your performance?
A: It was all right. I didn’t do anything to hurt
myself or hurt anybody. The good thing is that everybody
is healthy. This is what the season is all about, the
second half.
Q: Would you have liked to shown
a little more tonight or does it not really bother you?
A: It doesn’t bother me. You can never question
the coach. We had a lot of good guys on this team that
deserve equal amount of time. I think Coach did an excellent
job spreading out the minutes.
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TRACY McGRADY Q: Describe the dunk you did, when was
the last time you did that in that setting, and what
went through your mind?
A: I think the last time was preseason last year playing
against Boston Celtics. I have done that dunk numerous
of times in high school; so I just wanted to try it
on the NBA level. Got the rebound. I kind of wanted
to do it all along, but it was a great opportunity to
pull it off. Got the ball in transition, there was only
one guy back there, I think it was Dirk, and he bit
on the lob. I guess he thought I was throwing it to
one of my teammates, and I just threw it down.
Q: Do you think that maybe you
thought you could all turn it on again at the last minute
the way you did last year, down by 21 in the fourth
quarter?
A: We started rallying. We came back, but they just
had too much. I think we wore ourselves out. We got
a little tired. But it was like an exciting game and
we put on a show for the fans that definitely came to
see the action that we put on.
Q: You had said you wanted to
sort of be a gunner today, did that really happen?
A: I told you all I was going to shoot the ball this
time. Last year, I had the jitters, and I was just trying
to fill out the game. It was my first All-Star Game
and I was kind of nervous. But this time, I was more
relaxed and I had a feel for the game. I just came out
gunning. I think once I hit my first shot, then it was
on from there.
Q: Did you talk to Britney today?
A: I said hello to Britney. (Laughs).
Q: Kobe said that he was shook
up a bit by the booing.
A: I felt bad for him. This is his hometown. I thought
he played well. I don't know why they don't like him
in his own city, but, I don't know, it's real frustrating
when you come home and play in front of your hometown
and they boo you.
Q: Did you think that today was
the Dunk Contest? And you and Kobe came out and did
quite the show, the two high school kids; with so much
talk about how they want to make the age go higher and
all that, what kind of statement do you think you made?
A: Well, the first question, I definitely think the
dunks in today's game could have won a Slam Dunk Contest.
But we're two competitive guys, guys that just like
to participate and just come out and play 100 percent
no matter what type of game it is. We came out, we competed,
we put on a show for the fans. Fortunately enough, Kobe
won the ballgame; he got the MVP.
Q: About Michael Jordan, if your
dunk is the most memorable one, his missed one has to
be another memorable moment from this game; talk about
that. What do you think that he got out of this game?
A: Jordan, everybody misses dunks. I don't know why
everybody is tripping because Jordan missed a dunk.
He is not that Jordan that he used to be where he could
put his hips up to the doggone rim. It was great for
me to just participate in this game and Jordan to be
a part of it. I think the guys really enjoyed themselves
this weekend. Although, just being around Mike, being
on the same court as Michael -- we definitely got a
lot out of this.
Q: How about the in-bounds passes
where you got the layup on the reverse, did you see
that coming?
A: No, I didn't see it coming. Not at all. Just moving.
You know, you can't stand around. You've just got to
move. Those guys, in this game, if you do a lot of moving,
guys don't want to really work hard on defense. That's
why you score so many points and that's why you see
so many exciting plays because guys really try to play
defense like it's a regular game.
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ALONZO MOURNING Q: What was it like out there?
A: We wanted to win. I was getting on the guys, telling
them we needed to play some defense out there. They
weren’t listening to me. They were just out there
having a good time. That’s what it’s all about,
being on this stage, just having a good team.
Q: Ready to go back to Miami?
A: I’m dreading that 3:00 practice. It’s going
to be a tough one.
Q: What did it mean for you to
be out there?
A: Anytime you play in the big games and the talent
level is high, you raise your level of play. I’ve
been around talented players all my life. You just learn
to adjust to it and play at a high level.
Q: How was the weekend overall?
A: The weekend was a blast. The weekend is even more
of a blast for children. Just watching the kids having
a good time and seeing the smiles on their faces, because
they see a lot of the people they look up to. That makes
it all worthwhile. I’ve been to these things time
and time again, and it’s the same routine thing
for me.
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DIKEMBE MUTOMBO
Q: Unfortunately you did not get
the job done tonight, but what was it like being out
there?
A: It was great. We were trying to have a good time
out there. We understand that the game was important.
We try to share the minutes, but it was very good. They
just played good and shot the ball very well tonight.
That is why we got beat.
Q: How about Kobe (Bryant) especially
since he got a lot of minutes and flow out there?
A: Looking at the first quarter, we knew that Kobe would
try to get his numbers and he deserves the MVP. Everyone
on the bench was talking about it that he was going
to come out and try to the best out there. Especially
when you are competing with a guy like (Allen) Iverson
and Michael Jordan, you always have something to prove.
Q: What do you think about his
less than warm reception from the fans? By the end it
was a little out of control.
A: That tells you that you can’t say anything bad
about the city of Philadelphia. When you say something
about the city of Philadelphia, they are going to get
you back.
Q: How has this week been?
A: It has been great. Myself, my wife and the kids enjoyed
it. I met so many people. It was very nice. I enjoyed
it.
Q: Do you think Allen (Iverson)
was upset that he didn’t get to play as much as
he wanted to?
A: I don’t think so. Each one of us was just trying
to go with the flow of the game. We tried to do our
best.
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JERMAINE O'NEAL
Q: Did you use that first aid
kit you brought out here?
A: I used it all. I have pain patches and I wrapped
it all around my ankle when I got up. I was just trying
to prepare myself. The weekend was great, but now it
is back to work.
Q: What were you thinking on Tracy
McGrady’s dunk?
A: He threw it and I saw him catch it. That was one
of the best dunks I have ever seen in a game. I have
never seen anything done in a game like that. He threw
it from an angle and caught it on the other side.
Q: What did you think on Michael
(Jordan) miss dunk?
A: I couldn’t really see it because I was at the
end of the bench. He has made millions of dunks and
he will make a million more. We gave him a hard time.
We told him that his legs aren’t as young as they
used to be. He just smiled.
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PAUL PIERCE
Q: What happened out there tonight?
A: Kevin Garnett at the three spot killed Jordan. That
hurt us.
Q: Do anything interesting this
weekend?
A: I just enjoyed the weekend, went with the flow. It
was my first time here. Just kind of followed the other
guys, followed their lead and I’ll be back next
year with more experience, knowing what to do and make
another run at it. It’s a great experience. I just
want to keep working hard so I can keep coming back.
Q: Learn anything this weekend?
A: It was really like a weekend vacation. But not too
much vacation. You deal with the media, you interact
with the fans. Sort of giving back.
Q: How did Byron Scott do?
A: Coach Scott did a good job. I thought he played the
starters too long. It’s hard to choose when you
look down the line and have Tracy McGrady, Paul Pierce
and Michael Jordan. But, we all had fun, regardless
of the scoreboard. We enjoyed ourselves, we competed
hard and that’s the main thing.
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