The Bradley Braves Examiner site is committed to bringing you the most in-depth coverage of the Missouri Valley basketball anywhere on the web. Our new Tuesday interview series will feature personalities from around the league, past and present. "Nine Questions for..." will focus on learning more about the league and the people that make it wonderful.
The fourth interviewee in the series is Cleveland Cavaliers guard Anthony Parker, who played at Bradley from 1993-97 and is a member of their All-Century team. Parker was one of the best all-around players to suit up in a BU uniform, and he has enjoyed a lengthy professional career, both in the NBA and in Europe. He signed a 2-year, $6 million deal with the Cavs in July, and will team up with LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal to make a run at the NBA Championship. AP was gracious enough to take time out of his schedule for this interview.
Parker recorded his answers on an .mp3 file, so the following is the transcript from the interview. Should you wish to listen to the actual file, email Joe at examinerjoe@hotmail.com!
Nine Questions for... Anthony Parker!
1. How did your time at Bradley prepare you for life in Israel?
My time at Bradley I felt prepared me for life in general, and you learn a lot of lessons. You're either late or you're early, and that's something that has stuck with me even until now. I always try to be early for everything, be on time, be honest, and work hard.
2. What lesson that Coach Molinari taught you has stayed with you throughout your career?
Actually, the answer to number one is kind of what number two is. You're either early or you're late, and Coach Mo… obviously in college you have a rule where if you are late, everyone has to get up and run, and so to this day I still wake up in the middle of the night looking at the clock to make sure I haven't overslept. So, thank you Coach Mo!
3. Would you ever consider returning to the college ranks as a coach or mentor?
I would love to stay in the game of basketball, and certainly coaching is a way to do that. However, I do know how much of a sacrifice that is time wise, and I've spent a majority of my professional career away from my family, so immediately going into my next career, I don't think I'd want to spend that time away from my family, but somewhere down the line, maybe that's a possibility.
4. After your first stint in the NBA, did you ever consider giving up pro basketball, and how did you catch on with Maccabi Tel Aviv?
After my first three years in the NBA, I went to the CBA, and basketball just wasn't fun in the CBA. I remember thinking that if I had to do the CBA for a year or two, it might be best to retire. Fortunately, one of the scouts for the Orlando Magic had a good relationship with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which was my last team, and he thought that I would fit perfect for what Maccabi was looking for. So I sent him a couple tapes, Maccabi was interested and that's how we hooked up.
5. How excited are you to play alongside LeBron and Shaq this season?
Those are two guys that make everybody that plays with them better. So who wouldn't be excited to play alongside LeBron and Shaq? You've got one of the most dominant forces the game has ever seen, and the other one many consider to be one of the best players, if not the best player, in the game right now. So that makes everybody else's job easier.
6. What is the major difference between living and playing in a foreign country, and being a part of NBA life?
On the court, obviously the rules are different. It's more of a team game because we don’t have the defensive rules, so you can play zones and all that. It becomes more of an emphasis on moving the ball and playing more of a team game, as opposed to the NBA where you have those rules defensively and they try to keep the lane clear. It's probably a more physical game overseas, as well. Off the court, it's a foreign country. People are speaking a different language. In Israel, all the signs and everything are in Hebrew, so it's hard to tell if it's a grocery store, a post office or a restaurant until you get familiar with the area, but you adjust and it's really been a great, great experience living overseas for so many years and I think it's made me a lot of who I am today.
7. At 34, how do you prepare to face Eastern Conference guards, some of which are 10-15 years younger than you?
I still feel like I'm in pretty good shape. Obviously, at 34 maybe you lose a step or so, but you gain experience and you gain intelligence over the course of that time, and so you just gotta be smart. The 2-3 position is probably the hardest position to guard night in and night out.
8. How is the NBA different now from your first three years in the league?
Overall, I just think it's a younger league. The average age is a lot younger… when I first came into the league, the rule changes allowed you to put your hands on guys a lot more and emphasized hitting the weight room and being as big and strong as you could. Now, with the rule changes, you got to move your feet more, and it's not as physical. It's more of a free-flowing game. Those are probably the two biggest differences I can see.
9. How often do you talk to Candace, and what experiences do you share with her that will make her a better person and player?
Candace is my sister and we talk every other day, schedule permitting… as much as we can. It's funny because lately, with the birth of her first child, most of our conversations are talking about kids and what stages her child is going through, and we talk about what to expect next. Basketball wise, she's experienced almost everything, so there is very little that I could share with her that's going to make her better. Just like any other family, we are critical of each other, so if I see something she's doing, I tell her, and likewise, if she sees something I'm doing, she'll tell me. That's the relationship that we have.
One more thing… tell me one funny story from your time at Bradley, either a prank that was played on someone, or something that Coach Mo did to make everyone laugh.
This is a dangerous question! I'll give you one… I'll give you one. And Coach Mo, if you are listening, we apologize. Coach Mo, when he would start talking to us as a team, I don't know if it was a habit or what, but anything that was on the floor, he would walk by and pick it up. So, we used to kind of put some things on the floor to see if he would pick them up. You know in college you try to do anything to keep your attention… make it funny, keep it light. So a couple times, some guys would put little pieces of paper or something like that… when he walked by. We would wait until he would come back and pick it up while he was talking. That was our little inside thing that we did.
The Bradley Braves Examiner would like to thank Anthony Parker for being a part of the "Nine Questions for..." series. AP is an excellent representative of Bradley and we wish him luck in his quest for an NBA title ring! A very special thanks goes out to the extremely cooperative media relations team with the Cleveland Cavaliers!
The Nine Questions for... series will continue, with upcoming interviews from Wichita Eagle writer Paul Suellentrop, Bradley SID Bobby Parker, Peoria Journal Star beat writer Dave Reynolds, and former Bradley coach Dick Versace. If you have someone that you would like to see interviewed, drop Joe a line at examinerjoe@hotmail.com.
Past interviews in the "Nine Questions for..." series:
Bradley legendary play-by-play man Dave Snell
Missouri Valley Commissioner Doug Elgin
Creighton Director of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen
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