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Shaquille
O'Neal: "When you are 60, hang out with 60-year-olds, not 20-year-olds.
That is all I got to say about Jerry Buss."
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HoopsHype.com Interviews Jalen
Rose: Vecsey crossed the line
With all that has gone on in the preseason, are you anxious to get the regular season going and start playing games that mean something in the standings? Jalen Rose: Yes I am. I’m really anxious to get out there and play. Fortunately we got through with no major injuries and now we get a chance to have a fresh start on the 30th. Speaking of injuries, how is your health? JR: I’m very good. I’m blessed. I had a stint with tendonitis real bad in my right knee and it’s coming out real well. Now it’s a matter of working out these next few days and play hard on the 30th. Jay Williams has not even played a regular season game as a professional, yet there is already talk that you two will not be able to get along. How unfair is that to both of you that are not even being given a chance? JR: Really, that’s just foolishness that I chose not to entertain. That’s really just the bottom line of it… That’s just an individual that feels like he wants to get the ball rolling. But (Williams) my rookie. I’m going to put him in a headlock when he’s not where he’s supposed to be, I’m going to pat him on the back when he’s doing well. The bottom line is that we’re teammates. Have you and Jay had a chance to talk much one-on-one and get to know each other? JR: Yeah that’s my guy. That’s my guy. Like I said, he’s right under my wing. I’m not going to let anything happen to him, I’m not going to let anyone say anything bad about him. He just can’t wear his Blue Devils uniform and gear around me. How frustrating was it for to have Peter Vecsey’s comments come out a week before the start of the regular season? JR: To be honest, it wasn’t that it was so frustrating to me. It was an irony that kind of crosses the line between being a professional ballplayer and somebody trying to take personal shots at you and make accusations about an incident that nobody found funny. My passenger that was in the passenger seat did get shot… If the bullet wouldn’t have hit the headrest he would have gotten killed. So I don’t think that’s anything that you should try to draw an analogy to. I just thought that was a low blow. Other than that, I’m not against negative journalism. It’s for all of us athletes; it’s for all of us entertainers. You just got to take the good with the bad. How did you respond to the personal nature of the comments made? JR: Anybody that has family, anybody that has kids, and I’m pretty sure that he has both, wouldn’t like his child to be subjected to that kind of incident and would hope that that would never happen. In that, you’ve just have to continue to move on. There’s people out like that out here, unfortunately. Why do you think it got to that personal a level? Obviously it goes back to your days at Indiana. JR: Really, it’s chronological. It goes back to a few incidents, that like I said, I don’t choose to entertain. Bottom line, I’m a pro ballplayer and I’m free game. If he chooses to take shots at me, I have to be the bigger man, and I will be. You had a conversation with (Bulls GM) Jerry Krause in which he tried to put to rest recent trade rumors involving you. How tough is it for you to trust management in that situation, having been burnt in that situation before? JR: The reality of being a professional athlete is that management will tell you what they need to tell you while you’re in their uniform. And that’s just business as well. Nobody’s untradeable. If you think (someone’s) not tradeable, let the Lakers pick up the phone and tell you Shaq’s available and then anybody’s gone. In that, you take the good with the bad, you play the best you can and be the best example you can while you’re with the team and hope that you find stability. Speaking of stability, is it tough to find a sense of stability with the rumors out there and the Vecsey comments coming out? It’s been a crazy preseason for you. JR: It can be, especially when you have family and friends involved. They move and leave when you move and leave. They read the articles and things of that nature as well, so I’m pretty sure it can be a lot tougher on them than it is for me. I just have to understand that I’m here, I like being here. Krause told me he wants me here, (head coach Bill) Cartwright loves me being here and my teammates love me, so that’s all I care about. Steven Koek is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com Tell us what you think about this interview. E-mail us at HoopsHype@HoopsHype.com _____________________ |
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