I just think he'd be fun as hell to crack a beer with and B.S. about anything in general.


"We'll see them bandwagon ass-cats come May and June," Wallace said.


Also I read this in Maxim I thought some of this was funny C-Note got mentioned couple a times.


Need one good reason why you shouldn’t ignore pro basketball like you did last year? Try four: Robert Horry, Baron Davis, Jermaine O’Neal, and Dwyane Wade.

Maxim, November 2005

Let’s start by talking about your peers. Which draft pick will kick the most ass this season?
Davis: Chris Paul’s my favorite.
Wade: I like the kids from North Carolina. And Hakim Warrick. He’s skinny, but he’s underrated.
O’Neal: Danny Granger. He could give us that boost we need to win the championship.

Who’s the most overrated guy out there?
Horry: I’m not gonna touch that one, come on!
Davis: I don’t like talking %%%% about people. %%%%, half the NBA is overrated, but I’m not going to call them names…15 percent of players and coaches should just go jump in a %%%%ing lake, because they can’t hack it here.
O’Neal: I wouldn’t go as extreme as half, but I would say 20 to 25 percent.

OK, fine. Who’s the best player no one talks about?
Wade: Chauncey Billups. He’s the leader of the Pistons and very tough, night in and night out.
Davis: Joe Johnson. He’s like Scottie Pippen with offensive skills.
O’Neal: Al Harrington of the Hawks. He had a chance to really get his feet wet last year, and I think he can be a real star in this league.

Who’s the dirtiest?
Wade: Everybody fouls me, so I don’t think one player’s dirtier than another.
Davis: Bruno Sundov—that mother%%%%er’s dirty as %%%%. He’s just clumsy.
Horry: People think players are dirty because they play hard, but everybody throws an elbow here and there.
O’Neal: Nobody’s dirty, but we have some extremely wild guys. He’ll probably be pissed when he reads this, because he’s a friend, but: Bo Outlaw. He plays so hard that you know you’re gonna get elbowed, you’re gonna get tripped.

Who has the nastiest elbows?
O’Neal: Chauncey Billups. He likes to elbow people. When he’s coming off the ball he throws them out like little chicken wings.
Wade: Mutombo. No question about it.
Horry: Yeah, you don’t want to run into one of Mutombo’s. Those will skin a man up.

Your choice: Shaq or Kobe?
Davis: Shaq.
Horry: Shaq.
O’Neal: Shaq.
Wade: Shaq.

Robert Horry—legend or lucky?
O’Neal: It’s never luck. Not when you do it as many times as he’s done it. I mean, he’s won six rings. It takes a lot of guts to take the shots that he takes, and it takes a lot of talent to make those shots. He’s definitely a legend.
Wade: He’s in the middle. He’s not lucky, but he’s not a legend yet. But everybody will remember him. He’ll be a borderline legend because he’ll be talked about forever.
Davis: He’s one of the best clutch performers in NBA history. He should be a Hall of Famer.

Ron Artest is back. Discuss.
Davis: I’m glad. He’s a friend of mine, a guy who made a mistake and paid the consequences. And he’ll be back with a vengeance.
Horry: There’s no question what he did was wrong, and if he messes up again, he could get himself a ban. But I’m happy he’s allowed to come back; everybody deserves a second chance.
O’Neal: I’m excited. All the tough times our team went through last year brought us together as a family. We really feel like it’s our time to win the championship.

Be honest: Are European players soft?
Wade: You know what? They’re not. I went overseas, and I was in the Olympics, and I played with them. Those guys aren’t soft at all. They’re just not used to our game. Just like when we go over there, we’re not used to their game.
O’Neal: They’re very talented and skillful, but not as strong. It’s a different game in Europe.
Davis: Some of them are very skilled, and they deserve to be in the league. A lot of guys get drafted based on potential, but sometimes it’s all about being in the right situation.
Horry: Nah, I don’t think so. Just look at Manu.
But he’s Argentine.
Horry: Manu’s a European player—if you ain’t from America, you’re considered European. We lump them all together.

Is Michael Jordan really the best player in NBA history? And if not, who is?
O’Neal: I don’t think anybody else is even close. Second best, Bill Russell—because of the way he dominated both ends of the floor.
Horry: Yes. It depends. If you like big men, it would be Wilt Chamberlain. Or if you’re racist, you’re gonna pick Larry Bird.
Wade: Jordan was the greatest player that we have seen in our lifetime. In other lifetimes there’ve been other great players. And when his lifetime ends, there’s going to be another great player. Even though he wasn’t the most talented guy, I think Bill Russell is one of the greatest ever. Eleven rings in 13 years. That’s unbelievable.
Davis: Jordan was the most physically gifted: the perfect height, the perfect weight, the perfect athleticism. No offense to Jerry West, but Michael Jordan should be the NBA logo. If not him, then definitely Magic Johnson.

Name your all-star team of current players. Who would you want by your side to make a run at the title?
Davis: LeBron, Shaq, Kevin Garnett, Kobe. And Amare Stoudemire as the sixth man.
Horry: Jason Kidd, LeBron, Shaq, and Garnett.
Wade: Shaquille O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, Eddie Jones, and Damon Jones.
O’Neal: I always run with the high school players. I’d take LeBron, T-Mac, Kobe, and KG.

Speaking of high school guys, does the new under-19 rule suck or what?
Wade: I’m not gonna say it’s good or bad, but if a kid is good enough to come into the league and play, I think he should be able to do it. Some of the best players in the game came out of high school—LeBron, Tracy, Kobe, Jermaine O’Neal. At the same time, some other kids weren’t picked.
Davis: I have mixed emotions about it. For me, going to college was a tremendous opportunity, but some guys are just naturally smart. Like LeBron: He didn’t go to college, and look how intelligent he is. I don’t think the rule is necessary.
Horry: Even one year of college makes a difference. A lot of high school kids say, “Well, I’ve got the talent. I’m not even worried—I’m going to the NBA.” College makes them try to learn something. That’s why I like it. Not to keep them out; just to prepare them.
O’Neal: It doesn’t really make sense. Age shouldn’t determine whether you’re ready. The people the NBA promotes are the high school players. LeBron came in two years ago and brought such a buzz to the league and got all these people who don’t normally even watch basketball to start watching it. The idea that you’ve gotta be 19 to play pro basketball is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard.

Outside of a Lakers-Heat final, what can the NBA do to improve its lousy ratings?
Wade: They need to push the people who are positive. There are only a couple of people who are bad for the league. But if somebody is positive for the NBA, they need to promote him.
O’Neal: Pick better games. You can’t feel like you owe teams the right to be on TV. The teams that deserve to be on TV should be on TV, and any team that has a losing record should be dropped. Nothing against the Clippers, but nobody wants to watch the Clippers.
Davis: Put a few Maxim girls on the sidelines. The cheerleaders are cool, but you just need some models every two or three minutes for a break.

Does having huge numbers of women desperate to sleep with you ever get old?
Horry: You know what’s funny? When I first got to the league, everyone was talking about the groupies—how they’ll be at the hotel waitin’ on you. My first road trip, I was ready! And, man, there wasn’t nobody in the lobby! I didn’t see no girls or nothing! That whole rumor is not true. But later, in Minnesota, these two girls walked up and said, “We know what hotel you’re staying in, so which one of us are you takin’ home?” I said, “Neither one of y’all.” It was too forward.

O’Neal: It doesn’t get old, but it isn’t something I look forward to every single day. It’s something that comes often. But, you know, I don’t really look at it like that. I look at it as people who are fans of basketball. But people exaggerate. Women at the hotels? It’s not like that anymore.
Wade: You like the fact that—oh, man, I’m trying to get around what I’m saying—you’re attractive enough that people want you. But at the same time, I mean, my wife would kill me.
Davis: That’s old. Boring. Like, OK, I’m young, I’m successful, but I know no girl’s going for me because of my looks. That’s what a lot of us don’t realize—it ain’t your beauty, it’s your pocket. You can see groupies coming from a mile away. They stick out like %%%%in’ orange clouds in a blue sky. They’re like a concierge service—when you don’t want to go out for dinner, you just call.

Who has the worst visiting locker rooms?
Wade: I think Boston’s is the same locker room the hockey players use, and they sweat a lot.
Horry: I’d have to say New Jersey. It’s just old.
O’Neal: The Pistons’ locker room. The drainage is always backed up.
Davis: New Jersey’s is disgusting. The showers don’t even work. It’s between them and Detroit.

Will the Spurs repeat? And if not, who’s gonna take the title from them?
Davis: We are! The Warriors. I’d be a fool to say we won’t.
Wade: Miami Heat.
O’Neal: Indiana Pacers.
Horry: I’m not gonna make guarantees, but we got a great nucleus. We got a great chance.

__________________

I don't know about you guys but J.O. sounds like he has Pistons running thru his head whilst he sleeps.

First I don't know when the interview took place, but I find it very interesting that Wade wants to go for his championship run with 2 players not on the team anymore and 1 relegated to bench duty. Second, nothing like a little home field advantage making the visting lockerroom as uncomfortable as possible. Even facilities management doing there part for the red white and blue.

couldnt agree more. He seems very focused on what team he wants to beat. I think the rest of the league will slowly begin to realize that it isnt the heat that is the force, but rather the winner between Indy and detroit. They're the team I am most scared of.

HAHAHAHAHA

I have to agree. C-Note has the nastiest elbows in the NBA? C'mon Jermaine, you getting beat up by a point guard?

Yeah i know always saying junk about us, it sounds like Wade doesn't though he said Chauncey was the best player no one talks about.

He's just trying to soften him up

yeah, it was cool to hear Wade say Chauncey was "the best player no one talks about"

I know this is the November issue but how old was the interview before being printed??