So why is Smith worried about the Thunder?

“The West is wide open. If Oklahoma City won it or lost in the first round, I might not be surprised,” Smith told LBS. “I just think their youth … they’re talented but they’re still inexperienced in certain areas. Because of their inexperience, it wouldn’t surprise me if they lost to a lower seed.”

When reminded that the Thunder made it to the Western Conference Finals last season, Smith said he still has some concerns.

“I was a little surprised the way they handled the adversity last year with the whole Russell Westbrook stuff. If they can get over that, then they’re the team to beat in the West,” Smith believes, “but the way they handled that wasn’t beneficial. That’s going to show its head again. There is going to be a game where he takes a lot of shots and people say ‘he shot too much,’ and I don’t think they handled that well.”

Whoever comes out of the Western Conference will likely face the Heat, Smith thinks.

“I still like Miami. Even though Chicago is probably the best team collectively, I think the individual talents of Miami are still too great, and they still play as a team.”

We talked about whether Kentucky could beat an NBA team the way so many informed people, including his colleague Charles Barkley, believe. He tried to put that talk to rest.

“They can’t beat an NBA team,” Smith stated. “Just remember Kemba Walker dissected the entire NCAA tournament last year, and he’s on the worst team in the NBA. But I get what everyone is saying — they have so much NBA talent on that team. They have great players, great coaches, great potential on that basketball team, but that statement is a little far fetched.”

Even though the Magic have been a topic of concern for several issues, Smith isn’t worried about them. He dismissed the notion that partying the night before in New York City was a factor in the Magic’s blowout loss to the Knicks last week.

“If they had a diary on guys who went out in New York City the night before they played the Knicks, the Knicks would win every game. New York City is what? The city that never sleeps. There are guys who test that on every team that comes in. The Orlando Magic lost [that game] because they haven’t figured out what makes them great night-in and night-out. They have internal issues with Dwight Howard, even though he said he’s going to be staying, that still are around. That has a lot more to do with it than coming to Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta — all the cities where guys traditionally test the night life.”

I asked if he thought Dwight Howard made a mistake by waiving his contractual right to become a free agent after the season.

“I don’t think he made a mistake. He’s a gamechanger. When he’s part of your franchise, he changes the face of the game wherever he is. Instead of going somewhere, he just needs to get someone there. If one guy comes there, then they’re all of a sudden a different team. He doesn’t always have to seek to go somewhere because if he gets another piece in there, he’s going to do it.”

When asked who he thought the Magic should target, Smith had a tough time because he said it’s hard to know what might be available.

“Because of the playoffs, guys become available that you didn’t think would be available,” he explained. “We didn’t think that LeBron would leave Cleveland, but he’s gone. Chris Bosh — gone. You don’t know until a season’s over if franchises are disgruntled with their key superstars or all-star players.

“What if Miami loses in the first round? They might say ‘this three thing isn’t working,’ and my first reaction would be to tell them ‘give me Dwyane Wade.’ Anything could change. Russell Westbrook, if they lose in the first round, the Thunder could say ‘this point guard thing isn’t working.’ The playoffs always dictate who’s available.”

Smith didn’t think too much about Magic team leaders Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson not joining a team huddle last week.

“I know that there’s 82 games and that some things become monotonous. When you’re around people that much, there are going to be some things that rub people the wrong way,” he explained. “If you don’t realize that as a general manager or a coach, then you’re really missing the boat, because things are going to happen over a long season.”

Smith couldn’t recall not being in a huddle, but he recalls not paying attention during a huddle at times. He likens the situation to having a roommate with whom you become irritated from being around so much.

I asked The Jet how he would handle Andrew Bynum, who reportedly has become a headache for the Lakers, and who is being defiant about shooting threes.

“If I were coaching, the first thing I would do is have a conversation with the player. We’re not going to have a media talk — I’m going to talk to you,” Smith said.

He would also want Bynum to stop bombing long range shots.

“I don’t need him to shoot threes. Why is he experimenting? We know how great he is in the post, why is he shooting threes?”

TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show added Shaquille O’Neal to the mix this season, so I asked him how that’s working out.

“It’s been great,” Smith said. “Shaq is so closely removed from the league, so he’s got an information pool that Chuck and I don’t have. He’s played with the guys that are playing right now, and that’s going to be valuable over the course of the next few years.”

We talked with Warrick about his time at Florida State, his pro career, and the running back wall. He had some really interesting thoughts on Tim Tebow, his former Atlanta teammate Michael Vick, and his former Falcons coach Jim Mora, who is being considered for the UCLA job. He also talked about his biggest regret as a player. Our conversation follows.

How did you end up at FSU over LSU if you’re from Baton Rouge?

It felt like home. I felt at ease when I went on a visit, and I just felt like it was the right place for me to be. Coach Bowden made me feel at home, and the players and community accepted me. In hindsight, it’s the best move I’ve ever made in my life. I bleed garnet and gold.

At the time, LSU wasn’t as good as they are now. I wanted to play running back and Florida State gave me the opportunity to play running back. LSU had six running backs coming in, all who were the top running back in their respective states, so it’s kind of hard to compete with that when I was an option quarterback in high school. I was kind of lucky that Florida State was recruiting my running back at the time.

When you were in the NFL, you generally played in two-back systems throughout your career. Do you think we’re at the point where that is the only way for teams to go?

I think having a two-back system works better. The season is so long, the guys take a beating, so to ensure you have consistency every game, you have to have a two-headed monster. Sometimes it takes away from a guy’s stats, but if you’re exceptional, you’re going to get the ball consistently and during crunch time. You can still be productive and add a lot of value to your team in a two-back set.

We hear so much about running backs not lasting long, or dropping off at a certain period of time. Did you ever experience anything like that? Is there a point where after a long season where it’s tough to recover, or do you ever hit a point where you no longer “have it” as a running back?

It just comes all of a sudden. It just happens all of a sudden that it comes, and you’re not that elite back. You can have it one year and it just changes. The hits and everything else just add up over time. You get accustomed to that, but you have to take advantage of that one particular year, and then you move on to the next. For running backs, the lifeline for a running back is only three and a half years, so take advantage of it while you have it.

In Atlanta, you played with Mike Vick as your quarterback for most of those years. He admitted that he did not work hard enough while he was there. Did you feel like that was the case when you were teammates?

When you look back on it, you say ‘yeah, he didn’t do enough.’ But at that particular time, we all have to believe that your starting quarterback is doing everything he can to make himself better. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t. It happened. I think he’s a better person and better player today than he was in Atlanta.

I’m just happy he was able to grow. He’s a better overall teammate and player to the guys he’s playing with now.

At the time, you did not feel like that was the case, or you did not think about it?

You don’t think about it. We’re all trying to take care of ourselves and do our part to help our team win. But looking back on it now, I can see that if you’re not the last guy to leave the building, you’re not doing everything you can to be the best. He made his mistakes, move on.

What he was able to do last year with Philadelphia, did that surprise you? Did you know he had that in him?

It just showed a lot of maturity. He’s a guy that grew a lot, matured, and became a better player. I think he had to go through some things, and he found the right place at the right time with coach Andy Reid and Philadelphia.

One of your coaches with the Falcons was Jim Mora. He’s being mentioned for a few jobs right now. What did you think of him as a coach, and what were his strengths and weaknesses?

I liked him as a coach. He’s a players’ coach. He understands the game. He can motivate. I think his weakness was that he was new to the position, and he was just young. First head coaching job, sometimes they worry about the inexperience. I think he’ll be a great coach. He’s learned a lot from his time in Atlanta and I know he had a brief stint with the Seahawks, but he should be OK. He can motivate people to always be at their best.

When you were in Tampa, Tony Dungy was your coach. It’s been said that he has a different coaching approach from others. He’s not a yeller, he doesn’t cuss. Was that the case, and is that an approach that you like from your coach?

Yeah, that was the case, and I respect that. You become so accustomed to [yellers], that when someone cusses you you’re like ‘Wait, this person did not just do that.’ It’s one of those things that you get used to it and that’s what you expect from every coach. But Dungy’s an exception to the rule. He’s just an exceptional guy that held you to a higher standard and didn’t have to curse to get you to always be at your best. He gave you a look, and you understood what that look meant.

His motivational tactics — there was always reasoning. He put stuff together and it all made sense why it happened.

I know you’re a spiritual/faithful person. Tim Tebow has captured attention for the way he mentions religion on the field. Do you have any problems with that or do you think it’s a good approach because he’s just spreading what he believes?

Everybody’s going to handle things differently. Some guys can accept that, and for other guys, after a while, it gets old. The majority of people believe in God and are Christians, they just don’t want to hear it every day. Tim is glorifying the Lord in ways that only he knows how. So you have to accept that, and not try to change him, or anyone else.

He has a platform where he’s able to spread his word, his religion, and his faith, and we all have to accept it. Some people love it, some people don’t. It’s a touchy situation just because you’re dealing with religion.

Would it bother you at all if he were a teammate?

I played with religious guys, they just weren’t outspoken. I’m sure the leaders with Denver probably approached him, but he’s winning football games — there’s not too much that you can really say to him right now.

I don’t know if it would bother me, if it did, I’m sure I would go and talk to him like a man. But I’m fine with Tim and what he brings right now. He’s really exciting and he’s really starting to change the perspective of a lot of people in pro football about his talents.

What was the best thing about your career, and what was the biggest regret of your career?

My biggest regret is that I wasn’t in one of those offenses where I utilized my receiving abilities as much as I would like. Being in the slot, creating the match-ups, and being in one of those offenses that utilizes the back in the passing game like other backs were able to do would have been nice.

The biggest things I was proud of was being able to rush for over 10,000 yards, and being able to play 12 years. Being an undersized guy and having to prove yourself consistently, for me that speaks volumes. I was able to have longevity in a tough environment, in a tough game — in a big boy’s game.

LBS: When you were hired for the pregame show to replace James Brown, what were your thoughts then and what are your thoughts now?

Menefee: Being 100% honest, I never looked at it that I was hired to replace James Brown. I was hired to be Curt Menefee. There’s always an opening somewhere, and I was hired to be me, not to replace someone. So that was my approach from day one — to try and fit in with the unit that was there, and to be the perfect teammate to make the team successful.

Going into it, obviously with James Brown having been there before, and knowing JB, I talked to him and he was helpful giving me some insight with what they were looking for. There was a relationship that helped me along, but I never looked at it that I was replacing him. I viewed it that I was hired for a great gig and that I had to do what I needed to do.

LBS: The pregame show has had a lot of success over the years. In your eyes, what goes into making a successful pregame show?

Menefee: What makes ours a successful pregame show is probably a better question, because I think it’s different for every show. It depends on what your goals are and the team that you have. David Hill, who is the CEO of FOX Sports, is the guy who put all of us together, and I think he’s done a great job of understanding the kind of guys that will work together as a unit. I think that’s what makes our show work.

When you look at other shows, I can’t really comment about how they put it together, but I can tell you that we have a group of guys who truly are friends, and I genuinely mean that. We spend time in the offseason visiting each other. My girlfriend and I have been to Howie [Long] and his wife’s place, we all go to Jimmy [Johnson's] place in the summer, Michael [Strahan] and I live two blocks apart, and I go play golf with Terry [Bradshaw], and we all watch college football together every Saturday.

When we sit down in front of those cameras on Sunday, it’s not five guys who took separate limos there and just showed up, and now we’re going to pretend we like each other and we’re going to joke around. We’re five guys who are genuinely friends, who have dinner together, who talk during the week, and we’re sitting there and you turn the cameras on, and we’re talking football. It really is the same show that it is the rest of the week without the cameras.

LBS: A lot of the different networks have many former coaches and players involved in their pregame shows. Do you think there is a maximum amount of people that should be involved in a pregame show?

Menefee: I don’t know if there’s a maximum — once again it goes back to chemistry. I think there’s probably a maximum number of people that looks good on a television set. I think probably five is about it. I think once you get to six or seven people on a set, it looks awkward for a viewer. It also makes it hard to get in and make a comment or valid point without one guy trying to one-up another because they feel they need to make their comment stand out. So they can get into trouble that way by having too many.

You look at our show, we have five guys on the set, and we have people in other roles. We have Jay Glazer, Frank Caliendo, and then Pam Oliver does features. Sometimes we’ll have Troy Aikman or John Lynch doing things, so you can have other parts or elements.

LBS: After Michael Strahan retired he was added to the show. How did that come about?

Menefee: I think it goes back to when there were four guys on the set. On their bye week, some players would visit on the set. Michael, over the years, did it numerous times, so we did get a chance to see how he worked in that dynamic. We saw his insight, his personality, and it just kind of stood out right away.

I’ve known Michael since 1995 when I was a local guy in New York and he was playing with the Giants, so my chemistry with him was natural. I remember thinking 10 years ago that he could do anything in television he wanted. His personality — he’s got that dynamic personality, he’s got the smile, the gap teeth works for him perfectly — there’s something about Michael that makes everyone love him.

I think that he’s a lovable, likable guy, and I think the audience accepted him as another member of the show.

LBS: A video came out recently that showed Michael reacting when the Giants pulled off the win over the Patriots. He was really celebrating like he still feels really strong ties to the team and the players. What’s it like watching games with these guys who have strong ties to the franchises that they played or coached for?

Menefee: Yeah, if you think that after 15 years as a Giant, that he’s not going to be partial to them, you’re nuts. Howie has allegiance to the Raiders the rest of his life, Terry with the Steelers. I think it’s absolutely natural. Michael’s standpoint is that there are still a lot of guys on the team that he played with, that he still talks with, and sees when he’s in New York. So I think that’s part of it.

I do think that one of the things that got lost when we were showing that is that Michael was celebrating picking the Giants as an upset in the pregame show. It was as much about that as anything. That’s what you’ll be surprised at.

Each and every week, [our analysts] will pick four games, and they are hanging on every single game, wanting to be right with their picks, because they know people will give them a hard time for missing on a pick more than anything else. So he was thrilled by being the only one to get the upset pick right, in addition to it being his former team.

LBS: The pregame show is very influential and so many people watch it including the family and friends of players. How frequently do you hear from players and coaches about things that are said on the show, and what kind of reaction do you get?

Menefee: It’s not infrequent. We talk to people to get our information. So every week you’re calling people and you will hear about something on the set someone said, or you said, both positively and negatively. But it hasn’t been an issue because when you mess up, you mess up. And if you deal with people on a regular basis, and you’re fair and honest with them, I think people can respect you even if they disagree with you.

If you continue that relationship, and continue to call those people, and continue to show your face around those facilities, I think they can respect you. It’s when you throw jabs at people and you disappear and you never talk to them, or have a chance for them to respond, that’s when people lose respect for you. As long as you are still willing to listen and talk, even if your opinions are different, guys are professionals and they understand and they have no problem with that.

LBS: I know Jay Glazer adds a lot to the pregame show because he has unique information through his reporting. How critical is he and some of his scoops to the show?

Menefee: I think that Jay is as big a part of our show as anything else. Everybody has their information guy, their insider. I will take Jay Glazer against three of anybody else — combine them. They don’t break the scoops that Jay breaks. They don’t have the information that Jay has. And people rely on that, not just for the gossip aspect of it, but for the injury aspect of it. He’s getting it directly from the coaches and players, not from the PR guys who are trying to mislead you.

Everybody around this league, all the information guys have ties, but no one has the relationships that Jay Glazer has. I think he is vital to our show, I think he is critical to the success of our show, and I think it would be a whole different dynamic were he not a part of it.

LBS: What was the time you were most impressed with a scoop that he had?

Menefee: When he got the tape of the New England Patriots [filming coaches], that impressed me more than anything else. I’ve had conversations with Roger Goodell about this, and he doesn’t understand where Jay got this from, and they launched an investigation to try and figure it out because they were not happy about it. That impressed me more than anything else.

It’s one thing to get information over the phone, but to actually have the evidence and the videotape to show it, is a whole different animal. To be able to put it on national television, and then have the league office not even know how you got it, nothing impressed me more than that.

Jay double-checks his sources like you wouldn’t believe. He says he puts out 3% of what he knows. It’s very little. You’d be stunned at what he knows.

LBS: What do you envision for the future for the FOX pregame show?

Menefee: I don’t envision any changes. Things are going great now. I think the chemistry is perfect, I think the bosses seem to be happy, and the ratings are doing well, why would you change something that’s successful? I can’t imagine anything being any different between now and the day that someday Jimmy retires. Jimmy is approaching 68 years old and someday he’ll retire, but hopefully it’s not for another 10-15 years. He enjoys doing this and says he’s going to keep doing this as long as he’s having fun, and he seems to be having fun.

Ever since donating his kidney, Coach Walter has been helping to raise awareness for kidney disease and organ donation. He says he’s feeling great and that Kevin is progressing well in his recovery. We had a chance to speak with Coach Walter on behalf of National Donation Life Month and we encourage you to visit www.kidney.org for more information on organ donation.

Our conversation with the heroic Coach Walter follows.

LBS: How has your life changed since you donated the kidney to Kevin?

TW: Well it’s certainly changed in terms of recognition. People are still sending emails and letters and calling, which has been great. Often times they share their stories of how organ donation has affected their lives in a positive manner, so that’s been an unexpected but very nice side effect to all this.

And then personally I’m more aware of organ donation as a whole and the need to increase awareness. My desire to be involved has grown exponentially.

LBS: Do you think it’s changed the team at all, like in a way that it brought people together more?

TW: We were a pretty close-knit group before this, but if anything, it made us more aware of the value of sacrificing for one another.

LBS: How is your recover coming along since the surgery?

TW: Everything has been pretty seamless. I’m back to exercising, my diet hasn’t changed, I’m not on any medication, so I’d say I’m 100% back to normal.

LBS: I got an email explaining some of the tips for being a donor and one of the things they said is that donating an organ can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a person’s life. Has it been that way for you?

TW: Without question. Just seeing Kevin Jordan and his improvement has given me a great sense of satisfaction. Kevin went from being 198 pounds when we recruited him down to 158 pounds when he arrived on campus. Now he’s back over 185 and he’s back swinging a bat and running sprints and lifting weights. Just the fact that you’re able to help a young man change his life is reward enough.

LBS: What’s Kevin’s timetable like? Is he supposed to be back to full strength by the summer and be ready to be with the team in the fall?

TW: That’s the plan. I don’t think anybody knows how his body is going to react to all of this and if he can get back to his original form, that would be a great bonus. But just being a normal student and not being hooked up to a dialysis machine would be great. Next year he can have a roomate and just be a normal college student, and if the baseball happens great. And if doesn’t, then so be it. That’s the timetable.

LBS: I read about him still going to school, still going to classes despite having all that dialysis and all those problems. The character he displayed, did that make you want to help him out even more?

TW: Well, I feel as though I would have done it for anybody on my team truthfully. But the fact that Kevin is the person he is certainly made it more gratifying. He certainly embodies courage, strength, and character. We can all learn a lot of valuable lessons from Kevin. While I would have done it for any one of our team members or coaches or anybody in the Wake Forest athletic department for that matter, it certainly is more gratifying because Kevin is who he is.

LBS: I’m really in awe of what you did. For myself, I know I really would have wanted to help, but I probably would have had second thoughts down the road and wonder what I got myself into. Did you ever have any of those second thoughts?

TW: I really didn’t, I made up my mind very early that if I could help I would, and then I just left the rest up to the doctors. I was getting assurances every step of the way that they wouldn’t let me do it if they didn’t think I would make a full and complete recovery, so I just put my faith in their hands. At no point did I have any reservations about it from day one.

LBS: I know you said you’ve been getting a lot of emails and letters from people sharing their stories. Has there been any difference in the visibility of the program, or maybe the people who are interested in playing for the team now?

TW: I don’t know about that. I do know that certainly when you sit down with a young man and you tell him that ‘at Wake Forest we’re a family, at Wake Forest we make sacrifices for one another,’ I think it gives added credibility to the things coaches say. I know a lot of people have the impression that coaches will do and say anything to recruit someone. Maybe because of all this I’m a little more believable I guess. I don’t know if it’s given us any increased exposure or not, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt.

LBS: Definitely, it’s a sign that whatever you say means something. How is the program doing right now?

TW: Well we have our first recruiting class on campus right now so we’re playing a lot of young guys. We’re playing a lot of freshmen and a lot of sophomores and we’re about where we expected to be. I think as far as being in year two of taking over a program that’s a rebuilding situation, I think we’re about where we thought we would be. We’re certainly nowhere near as good as we think we will be in the near future, but we’re making progress every day.

LBS: I know you also used to coach at New Orleans and managed that program. I can’t imagine what it was like to move around as much as you guys did [because of Hurricane Katrina]. You played at Las Cruces, New Mexico and then Mobile, Alabama what was that like?

TW: In a lot of ways, that was more taxing and nerve-wracking than anything that’s happened here because of all the uncertainty. The only uncertainty here was whether I was going to be a match or not. With the hurricane, it was totally different because there was so much uncertainty. ‘When is campus going to reopen?’ and ‘What’s it going to be like when we get back?’ and you’re dealing with recruits, trying to convince them to come to the school. There was a lot more uncertainty.

We thank Coach Walter for his time and for inspiring us to be more generous and giving with our life. For more information on kidney donation, go to www.kidney.org.

LBS: I know you’re repping the five seeds for Subway, which one do you think has the best chance to advance?

GH: I played Kansas State last year and they’re very long and athletic, and they have a great guard in Jacob Pullen who can lead them down the stretch. That’s the five I think that has the best chance.

LBS: You were really able to build your draft stock in the tournament. Take me back to last year when you were thinking about entering the draft. How tough of a decision was that for you?

GH: It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make. Coming from a program like Butler where they do things the right way, there’s great people there, it’s 20 minutes from my house and I had my friends and family there, so it was a very difficult decision.

LBS: And what about your decision to go to Butler, you happy with that?

GH: Oh yeah, that was the best decision I ever made.

LBS: I know you played a lot of tennis in high school, do you ever get a chance to these days?

GH: I actually haven’t played tennis since I lost in high school in the state tournament. Basketball was always my first love but tennis was right there, and I wanted to compete in both sports. I played multiple sports my whole life, so after I was done in tennis, I decided I was going to just concentrate on basketball at Butler. I haven’t had a chance to play tennis now I’ve been so busy with basketball. But tennis is a sport you can play until you’re 70 or 80 years old, so maybe I’ll pick up a racket down the road.

LBS: How far do you think you could have taken it had you concentrated on it?

GH: That’s a good question. You have to play year-round now if you want to be good. You never know what could have happened if I only played tennis.

LBS: I know you hurt your foot recently, how’s that looking?

GH: I actually practiced [Tuesday] and it felt a lot better. It’s been kinda sore, but I had an X-ray and it was negative, so hopefully I’ll continue to get treatment and get back onto the court as soon as I can.

LBS: It’s March right now and it’s a long season, what’s it like being in an NBA season compared to college? Is it more difficult?

GH: It’s a lot of games — 82 games is much more than two college seasons. So it is a grind and it’s mentally a grind with all the traveling. It is a job in every aspect of the word.

LBS: On Friday you had a really good game making all five of your threes, would you call it your best game of the season?

GH: I don’t know if it was the best of the season because we lost, but individually I did have a good game.

LBS: When you got drafted last year going to Utah, they’re one of the most stable organizations. They have great fans, one of the best coaches, and a team that’s been winning and makes the playoffs almost every single season. All of a sudden in your first year there’s changes. Have all of the changes surprised you?

GH: I think with all the changes it just opens up your eyes to the fact that this is a business. You can’t look at anybody and say they’re not untradeable. It was kind of shocking, especially being a rookie, you’re talking to Deron Williams one second and the next he’s traded to New Jersey, but it opens your eyes and makes you realize the NBA is a business.

LBS: Do you think it’s hurting competitive balance for the league? Do you think stars leaving the team that drafts them hurts the league?

GH: I don’t know that it necessarily hurts the league. I know there’s been a lot of changes this past year and the past off-season with a lot of the superstars changing teams. I think this year for the NBA was the best year they’ve ever had. I think the fans are into it, and everyone is high on the NBA. They’re doing well and we’ll have to see come playoff time how it all goes.

LBS: I read one of your tweets recently where you talked about having a hard time finding some donuts. Is that pretty typical where you have to get donuts as far as the rookie hazing goes?

GH: I get bagels when we’re home, but we were in Minnesota and the vets wanted donuts so they sent us out. There were no donut places around the hotel! Usually there’s a Dunkin or a place around but there wasn’t one. Anytime the vets need something they turn to us. Only a couple months left and then I won’t have to worry about it anymore.

LBS: Are you pretty good about cooperating with it and being a good sport or are there sometimes when you really don’t want to do it and don’t?

GH: For the most part you have to suck it up and do it, and it’s only for a year now. But there is a line where everyone has their limit, so there’s a line that they probably can’t cross where we’d stand together and say we’re not doing it. For the most part, the vets have been great about it and they haven’t asked us to do too much.

LBS: I know you were getting all kinds of crap about the Olive Garden deal, did you think it would become that kind of a fiasco?

GH: No, I really did not. It wasn’t a big deal for us — we were just eating somewhere very familiar for us. We like to go familiar places before games, so it wasn’t a big deal for us. I usually go to Subway before every game.

LBS: You get it on game days? What’s your favorite sub at Subway?

GH: I usually get in on game day, get a turkey and provolone sub, chips and a drink. It’s a nice healthy lunch for me.

Former UNLV All-American and NBA All-Star Larry Johnson was the inspiration for the famous Grand Ma Ma character Converse marketed. Starring in the commercials that promoted “React Juice,” Grand Ma Ma was easily one of the most successful sneaker campaigns the NBA has seen. Years after Johnson’s NBA career came to an end, the Grand Ma Ma character is still beloved by basketball fans. Larry has used it promote a new line of Sweet Teas his beverage company is producing. Folks on the East Coast can begin to look for Grand Ma Ma’s Southern Sweet Tea on the shelves, and before long the hope is to have it in stores across the country.

Larry Brown Sports was lucky enough to talk with the former UNLV, Hornets, and Knicks star and we covered a wide range of subjects including the National Championship Game against Duke, his association with Converse and how a slight from Nike began that relationship, his feelings on coaching, and much more.

Larry Brown Sports: Recently Paul Silas said that Michael Jordan could still score 20 points a game in the NBA, what about you, how’s your game?

LJ: No, I can’t get two rebounds or score any points now. I left it all on the court when I played, my back is so bad.

LBS: Is it bad enough to hurt doing day-to-day activities?

LJ: I know my back by now so I have the day-to-day thing figured out, but I keep my weight down to keep the stress off of it. I’m an avid golfer now so if I play two days in a row, I know the next four-five days I need to ice. Sometimes I’ll show some basketball stuff to my sons and after 15 minutes, I’m done for two days.

LBS: We wrote about the Grand Ma Ma’s Sweet Tea release two months ago, how did that come about?

LJ: I started a beverage company a few years ago and started out selling spring water. We moved into a sports drink, and the guy I’m partners with came up with an idea with Grand Ma Ma’s Southern Sweet Tea to piggy back on the Grand Ma Ma Converse ads.

LBS: The Grand Ma Ma character was always huge for me growing up and popular with all my friends. Do you still get love for the Grand Ma Ma character?

LJ: Absolutely, absolutely. I can be out in public and some people will remember me for my basketball, and others might remember me for the Grand Ma Ma character.

LBS: Who came up with the idea in the first place, was it something Converse did, was it a joint effort?

LJ: It was Converse. When I signed with them they had a bunch of young guys working for them full of energy and ideas, and that one took off. It’s a funny story how it started. Coming out of college, I was going to be the number one pick. I was coming out of UNLV which is a big time Nike school and that’s all we ever wore. I couldn’t wait to sign with Nike coming out of college.

And believe it or not, Nike did not sign me. They flat out told me they didn’t think I was going to be a good pro. They went after Billy Owens, Kenny Anderson, and Dikembe Mutumbo as their three main guys. I was the number one pick and they didn’t have faith in my abilities. Converse came to me after that saying ‘we love you, we have a great idea for a commercial.’ And they pitched me a great idea.

They said I would be on a gurney like I was being operated on, and they would have Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as the doctors. They would do a mock operation, and when they’re finished they’d say ‘we have the perfect basketball player’ and they were going to argue over his name with Bird saying “Larry” and Magic saying “Johnson.” I signed on the dotted line, I bought my mom a house, and they came back four months later saying they were going to shoot another commercial with me in a dress and I’m like ‘what happened to Larry and Magic?’ Eventually they told me one of the guys didn’t want to do it — they didn’t say who.

LBS: Let me ask about your career. Being from Odessa Texas, how did you wind up at UNLV?

LJ: I didn’t have the grades coming out of high school so I went to junior college. I made the junior olympic team coming out of high school — just one of three high schoolers to make that team — and my roommate on that team was Stacey Augmon for six weeks.

Everybody on the team was telling me to come to their team except him.

You can’t get 10 words from him — he’s just one of those laid back guys that doesn’t speak a lot. Stevie Thompson kept trying to get me to go to Syracuse, Gary Payton was trying to get me to go to Oregon State with him, and Stacey was the only guy not trying to get me to come to school. We kept in contact, and then we went to try out for another team a year later and wound up roommates again!

LBS: Did you give any thought to those schools guys were trying to recruit you to?

LJ: No, no, not really. The schools that recruited junior college players well got in the picture like Oklahoma and Georgetown. It was just like four schools I was looking at and UNLV was one of them.

LBS: I know you went back to school recently to get your degree, what made you decide to do that?

LJ: I needed the degree. When I have the beverage company all set, I wouldn’t mind getting into coaching. I tell people all the time I love the game but I don’t like all the b.s. that a head coach has to deal with at the pro level and sometimes at the college level. If I could do something at the high school level or even the junior high school level where I get directly to the youngsters I would love to do something like that, so I had to go back to get a degree for something like that.

LBS: What are some of the challenges that guys in the pros face as head coaches?

LJ: Unless you’re Phil Jackson or those guys in the pro level, when things are going wrong they get rid of coaches before players, so now you gotta deal with these million dollar egos — I know because I was one. Stacey’s an assistant with Denver and I ask all the time how he does it. I’ve actually turned down three assistant jobs including Chicago where I’m really close with Tom Thibodeau.

LBS: Do you think you could go back to the NBA and work as an assistant without much of a problem?

LJ: I would hope so. I go back to these New York games and see these youngsters and they almost make me cry with all the love they show me. I told Amare Stoudemire he’s the man, and he throws it right back at me. I have a really good reputation with the players and I don’t want to mess it up. I think I could coach — Thibodeau wanted me because of my passion — but I just wouldn’t want to mess it up. I had to tell [Thibodeau] that my heart wouldn’t be in it, and he said he wanted me because of my passion and my heart.

LBS: Do you think it would change for you one day where you would want to do it?

LJ: My heart is watching the guys, not being an assistant coach in the NBA.

LBS: A lot of guys say the young players don’t respect the older players or know the history as well, but it seems to me it’s the opposite for you.

LJ: Yup, it’s the total opposite for me. When I went to the Knicks game, I was getting all sorts of attention from players constantly — and those are young guys. If some of the young guys don’t know the history, they don’t know. When I was 19 there were things I didn’t know, but you never disrespect anyone. I definitely don’t see the youngsters being disrespectful and that’s what’s important.

Read Page 2 of the Interview
Larry talks about Charles Barkley being a hypocrite, coming into the Duke game unprepared, and the HBO documentary on the Runnin’ Rebels

But what really got Ty chapped was the lack of coverage of PBR on the four-letter network. PBR is televised on rival networks NBC and Versus, but he still feels it should be on SportsCenter with all the other sports. I know I wouldn’t mind seeing a few bull riding highlights mixed in.

Here’s a sample of what Ty had to say, and you can listen to our interview below.

“We’re not going to rest until you turn on SportsCenter and can see something on a regular basis that has to do with the world of Professional Bull Riding. The fact that the ESPYs don’t even consider us in the ESPYs, I feel like that’s something that has to be changed. I don’t know how you can claim to understand sports and what’s involved in athletics and not see us in that realm. You’re trying to take something that’s physically and athletically speaking very hard, but you couple in the fact that it’s the most dangerous sport, from an athlete’s perspective, that really makes something that’s difficult already even more difficult when you factor in how dangerous it is.”

To hear more from Ty, listen to our interview below:

Interview Part I

Interview Part II

Ohno has a busy upcoming schedule — he’s in Ft. Worth, going to New York, Las Vegas, and then he has a few other stops on the West Coast all in the next few days. He said he’ll be rooting for the Steelers on Sunday because of his trainer, John Schaeffer, who’s a Steelers fan. During our conversation, what stood out most to me about Ohno were his values of hard work and being a proper role model.

I was curious how much being an Olympian was the product of talent and how much came from working hard. Ohno told me it’s a combination of both, saying “talent can get you on the right track, but it doesn’t mean you’re doing it the right way.”

Working hard has never been an issue for Ohno, and in fact he pridefully states that “I’ve seen hundreds of athletes who were more talented than me, but if you beat me, it wasn’t because you outworked me.”

Moreover, he considers his hard work an important part of the message he disseminates to fans. When asked about his long-term goals, Ohno said he wants to “inspire as many people as possible,” adding that “hopefully I’m able to get more people involved [in speed skating].” Ultimately, Ohno would “love to leave a long lasting legacy of hard work, very good work ethic, and being honest.”

While Ohno embodies and represents all the core values for which LBS is a proponent, we had to ask him his thoughts on Michael Phelps, who in the past was viewed as more of a partier. Phelps has been wildly successful as a swimmer in the Olympics, but he was photographed with a bong two years ago.

Asked about the incident, Ohno said “I think it was unfortunate. He’s so unbelievably talented — what he’s done won’t happen again.” The talented skater continued, “athletes are looked at with a double standard — we’re all human, we all make mistakes and nobody is perfect.”

Ultimately though, “becoming an Olympic athlete, responsibility comes with that” and that’s a role Ohno has embraced. “I really started to understand that we as Americans, just as important as the performance on the field, we really care about your performance off of it. We care about what you have to say; there are a lot of kids out there watching what you say. But you shouldn’t feel afraid to say what you have to.”

His observations are spot on, and it makes sense why he’s been able to develop into such a popular figure. And with all the success he’s had as a speedskater, one of his goals is to make the sport more popular.

I was curious how Ohno got into speedskating int he first place, and he said it came from watching TV, the same way many other athletes got hooked. In fact, Apolo said he wanted to box and play football growing up, but his dad didn’t want him to.

After seeing speedskating at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehamer, Ohno was hooked on what he thought was “an amazing sport.” Luckily his father was able to support him, and it wasn’t long before Ohno realized he had plenty of natural talent.

Keep your eye out for Ohno who will be running in the NYC Marathon against Jared from Subway, and many thanks to him for the interview.

Talking with Oney on Saturday, you could sense his frustration in what he called a contradiction with the White Sox organization, “You want to keep stuff private but you approve a reality show for the team. You say you want to keep stuff in-house but you agree to do a reality show. It’s contradictory, don’t you think?”

Oney was confused because he never felt he was critical about the organization on his twitter account and because he had been posting tweets for over a month without the team telling him to stop. While he did concede that the organization probably wouldn’t want him to influence decisions with his tweets (he made several positive remarks about Andruw Jones and even advocated for re-signing A.J. Pierzynski), he was disappointed that they never approached him to talk about the issue.

“I didn’t tweet anything bad at all,” Guillen lamented. “I only heard stuff through the grapevine. If they had asked me to close down the account I would have but they never said anything.” Oney said he felt there was a double-standard because other members within the organization have twitter accounts and that didn’t seem to be a problem. He felt he was being watched under a microscope because of who his dad was, not because of what he was writing.

Tension seemed to have been brewing within the White Sox organization the past few months. First, the team grumbled when Ozzie Guillen signed up for a twitter account. Then, when Ozzie had plans to expand his thoughts onto a website, the team nixed the plans. Oney’s resignation seemed to be the culmination of mounting problems that could last into the season, but it’s his final words that will ring true for most Sox fans, “Why are we worrying about what a 24-year-old kid is twittering instead of winning games?”

Opening day is only two weeks away and suddenly a reality show doesn’t look like the best of ideas for a club that’s already engaged in a soap opera.

Most of what everyone sees is just the final product from all the work and practice. How much time and how much preparation goes into getting ready for a performance?

It actually takes a lot of time, we practice about 8-10 hours a day. Not every celebrity’s natural ability to dance is the same. For those that struggle, you spend a lot of time trying to get the steps down. For those that are able to do it, you put in extra time because you know they can do that much better. So it takes a lot of work, firm muscles, and sore feet, but the end product usually is what you’re striving for.

Compare preparing for the show with a celebrity partner with preparing for an international competition with a professional partner. Is it about the same type of workload?

It’s similar, but it’s also different. When you’re practicing for an international competition with a professional partner, you kind of understand each other without talking. The level of intensity and detail that goes into practice on a professional level is a lot higher, so going into rehearsal and practicing 10 hours with a professional partner, you’d probably collapse at the end of the day. When you’re working with a celebrity partner, you’re making it a priority to make sure that they look good and that they look like they know what they’re doing.

You’ve worked with a wide range of celebrities. Which genre of celebrity seems to have made the transition to being the best dancer?

Usually it’s either an athlete because they’re used to the discipline and the work that is required to be good at what they’re doing. Also music — usually people who can sing naturally have a sense of rhythm. Like with Mario right now — he’s an R&B singer and he has a natural feeling of rhythm.

You were paired with Floyd Mayweather Jr. last season. We’ve seen him be very skilled in the ring, what was he like as a partner and a dancer?

Honestly, I got to see a side of Floyd that was completely different from what you see in all the 24/7 series or in the boxing ring. He does have a big heart, but he kind of plays a lot into the character he’s portrayed as in the boxing world. It’s hard for him to walk away from that character because then he feels he’s walking away from his comfort zone. He could have been very, very good — he could have been good enough to win this whole thing easily. He does have the ability, he does have the rhythm. But for him to be vulnerable in front of millions of people was not easy, and every time he kind of came across an obstacle or difficult step in dancing, he would say ‘I’m a boxer, what do you want? I’m a boxer.’ So it wasn’t easy, but it was definitely very enlightening and educational.

So would you say he was putting on a front and fitting into a role and character, and that he wasn’t being genuine all the time?

First of all, he’s not used to listening to a woman preach and tell him what to do, so that was a little bit difficult for him to comprehend in the beginning. And then coming into the ballroom world of dancing when you’re not from that world, you have to kind of let someone guide you through it — at least in the beginning. Floyd kind of didn’t fall in love with listening to me tell him what to do. Second of all, as soon as he would get into that competitive mode when it was all couples together, he would kind of stand back.

When it comes to the show, how much is it campaigning for votes and how much is it based on the actual dancing? What was the disappointment like for you and Mario [Lopez] when you lost in the finals?

Mario was hands down a better dancer than Emmitt [Smith] and everybody knows and sees that, but this is not purely a dancing show. It’s as much a personality and popularity contest as it is a dancing show. And as much as I like Mario, he’s nowhere near the popularity as Emmitt Smith — he’s a three-time Super Bowl winner and a household name. The only thing that was weird was they had Emmitt playing the underdog role, and I thought that should have been the other way around. Honestly, I had no idea who Mario Lopez was before the season started, but I knew who Emmitt Smith was, and that says a lot.

Wow, Mario Lopez was in Saved by the Bell, I figure most of the voting audience would have known who he was.

Maybe, but I remember Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell, I didn’t remember A.C. Slater. Now I remember, but when they told me I had Mario Lopez as my partner, I had a picture of George Lopez in my head … I was like ‘Oh shoot.’

So what did Mario think of that? Have you told him this story?

Well, I told him some of it, but I didn’t tell him that I remembered Zach Morris from Saved by the Bell more than him — I didn’t go into all the details. I did tell him that I didn’t know who he was when they told me I had him. I told him that I had a picture of George Lopez because he and George are very good friends. So when I told that story to George, he loved it. He said ‘I can’t believe she knew me but didn’t know you.’

Being on the show, what has it done for you in terms of your celebrity status?

Well, the show’s been amazing for dancing in general. It’s brought out ballroom dancing to the level where people know what it is. Even though dancers knew who I was, I wouldn’t have people come up to me on the street saying ‘We love you, we love the way you dance.’ And now it happens on almost a daily basis and it’s amazing, it’s flattering.

One of those perks it seems like — FHM released its 100 Sexiest list and you made it — what did you think?

I didn’t know — I got an email from a friend saying congratulations. That’s huge, 100 women in the whole world and I made the list? It kind of felt surreal, when I looked at the picture I had to remind myself that it was real.

I know you’re with Mario, but our readers want to know, what is your taste in guys?

I don’t think I have a certain type in men, as long as they are extremely strong personality and character and they know where they’re going and how to get there, I think it’s kind of sexy. It’s like the reason why women love James Bond — he’s so cool and he kind of knows everything and he knows how to read women and treat them. I’ve always been attracted more to darker guys — darker hair and darker eyes, I’ve never been crazy about blond hair, but there’s always a first!

Working with a partner, you spend all that time together, all these hours. How easy is it for stuff to develop romantically?

You know, when producers pair you up with your celebrity they’re actually trying to fit your personalities together so you automatically become good friends if your personalities match. And when you do spend a lot of time in a dance studio with the same person literally attached at the hip, it’s not that hard to develop certain feelings. But you have to remind yourself that it is a show, it is a job, and even if you do find your dance partner attractive, you kind of know that it’s just a three-month relationship and then you kind of move on to the next celebrity. You kind of develop feelings for every person you get paired up with, you pretty much go into a serious relationship three-four times a year.

How many times have you caught someone trying to put a move on you. And be honest here.

Honestly, it’s an old role story — a doctor and a nurse, the teacher and the student — usually it’s up to the teacher to make that decision of not going further than is necessary and keeping it professional. As a teacher, it’s not something new so you know how to handle it.

OK, let me ask you this. What if I were to say it’s just dancing, how hard can it be? People do it in a club, what’s the big deal? What would be your response?

Well first of all, clubs are not prime-time national television with millions watching. And besides that, it’s live, so if you mess up they see it. And then you’re put in a vulnerable position in front of the judges who criticize you and call you names and pretty much make fun of you in front of half the country. So it’s a lot more nerve racking and I don’t think it’s even comparable to going to a club. And on a pure dancing level, it’s not easy. It’s multi-tasking to the beat of the music, doing the right steps, and moving in-sync with another person you’ve just met. So it’s a lot of hard work.