Reunited Redd, Mason Likely To ’Fill Lanes’ Soon

Mason and Redd forged a good friendship when they were first teammates from 2003-05. (Getty)

And there will not be a basketball in the house.

Redd and Mason, who formed a close friendship during their two and one-half seasons as Milwaukee Bucks teammates from 2003-05, are both excited at the prospect of wearing the same uniforms again. Their partnership was recreated on July 23, 2007, when the Bucks signed Mason, an unrestricted free agent, to a multiyear contract.

The two players were a dynamic duo for the Bucks, particularly during the 2004-05 season. Redd averaged a team-best 23 points per game that year, and Mason was the team's second-leading scorer, putting up a career-high average of 18 points per outing.

Before Redd and Mason hook up as running mates on the basketball court again, though, chances are they'll renew a rivalry first -- on a bowling alley.

Redd and Mason are among a growing number of National Basketball Association players who have become avid and accomplished bowlers.

“Me and 'Des' used to go bowling all the time," Redd said. "That’s all we did. We loved to be competitive. We got into it heavy."

Redd remembers some intense battles between himself and Mason, but their bowling outings weren't always confined to games of one-on-one.

"That team, the last year 'Des' was here, Erick Strickland was here then, too," Redd said. "We and a few of our other teammates used to go bowling all the time.

"'Des' was pretty good.”

Redd isn't bad himself.

“My highest score ever, I think, was 254," he said. "I love playing. I average between 170 and 180.”

Redd's bowling prowess, like his marksmanship when it comes to shooting the basketball, came from years of practice.

“I’ve been bowling since I was a little boy," he said. "My dad and mom were avid bowlers. They used to bowl in college. They had their own balls and everything.

"As a family, we used to go all the time. That was one thing we did as a family a lot.”

Redd discovered that he had a passion for the sport, and it stoked his competitive fire, too.

“As I grew up, I got more serious about it," he said. "I got my own ball, my own equipment."

And as the years went by, he made sure he kept the family element in mind, too, when he hit the lanes.

"Me and my wife, before she got pregnant, we used to go bowling all the time," Redd said. "She got her own ball as well.”

With the arrival of Michael Redd II into the family -- Achea gave birth to the couple's first child on June 9 of this year -- the Redd family bowling outings are bound to involve all three someday.

“Bowling’s fun," new father Michael said. "The family element is great. It’s stress release, too, being able to shoot the ball and knock those pins down ... it’s fun.

"I will continue the tradition in my family.”

Redd likes the competitive side of the game as well, and he has no problem finding opponents when rival NBA teams visit Milwaukee.

"There are a lot of NBA players who love to bowl," Redd said. "Whenever Rasheed (Wallace) is in town, he usually calls me up and we go bowling. He’s pretty good, too.”

New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul, one of Redd's colleagues in Team USA camp this summer, is another bowling buff. He even became a spokesman for the United States Bowling Congress this year.

“Chris and I are teammates on the national team," Redd noted, "so we’ll have to go out and get it crackin.’”

Paul's passion for bowling has roots with his family. He has been bowling since he was a youngster, and during the offseason, he joins family and friends to bowl as often as twice a day at AMF Major League Lanes in Winston-Salem, N.C.

During the basketball season, the former Wake Forest University All-American tries to bowl once a week. He even toured USBC Headquarters in Greendale during the Hornets' visit to Milwaukee last season.

In an interview with USA Today, Paul was asked, "What would you rather do - score 50 points or bowl a 300 game?"

Paul's reply was, "I said a 300 game because once I got to 11 strikes in a row, I'd be way more nervous than trying to hit a free throw in front of 18,000 people."

Like Paul, Redd takes his bowling seriously. But he readily admits that he has watched the movie "Kingpin," which does not quite portray the sport in the same vein.

"I saw it a long time ago," Redd said with a chuckle. "It's one of the funniest movies. Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray ... and Randy Quaid.

"It was hilarious.”