As one of the stars of The Girls Next Door,¹ basketball might be the last thing that comes to mind when you look at Kendra Wilkinson. But Kendra is a self-professed tomboy and Lakers fan, and she often can be found at Staples Center or at home in front of the TV, cheering on the purple and gold.

You live your life with cameras following you around.
They’re outside my door right now...

Do you get to go to games at Staples Center?
Yes. We’re all friends with Jerry Buss and Jeannie Buss. Jeannie Buss goes to my salon and we always talk. Hef likes to make a trip once a year to a game, but I like to go a lot more than that. We’re really busy these last couple of years, but I make it there about five times a season.

Courtside or skybox?
Box, but during one of the Lakers-Clippers games I got to go on the court.

Who are your favorite players?
Of course, Kobe Bryant. I like Brian Cook a lot right now. I like Andrew Bynum and Luke Walton. Those are my top players.

Bonus Points

1. E!’s reality show about life in the Playboy Mansion for Hugh Hefner’s three girlfriends: Bridget Marquardt, Holly Madison and Wilkinson. 2. Kendra was the only girl on a coed basketball team as a kid, but the boys were mean and would never pass her the ball, so she stopped playing organized basketball and gravitated toward softball and soccer. 3. The 21-year-old Wilkinson hosted an All-Star party in Las Vegas.

All kinds of sporting events happen at the Playboy Mansion, like fight night and tennis. If you get to stage basketball night, who plays?
Oh man, that would be like an All-Star³ Game. I’d take Kobe, Dwyane Wade, Gilbert Arenas, of course Allen Iverson, Amaré Stoudemire; I also like Alonzo Mourning.

You’ve proudly proclaimed that you’re not just a sports fan, but also that you love to play sports.
I go to this gym called LA Sports Club, and NBA players and ex-NBA players go there and train. It’s a cool gym. It’s a Magic Johnson gym. I like to play with them. They treat me like a player and they pass me the ball. I kind of suck, but I try to keep up.

How has The Girls Next Door changed your life?
It wasn’t a dream come true, because I never dreamt this was going to happen. I was a tomboy from down in San Diego. Then all of a sudden, in the blink of an eye, I’m here at the Mansion. Hef has given me a reason to dream. I’m having so much fun and I’m living it up to the fullest. The things I love the most are sports: the boxing matches, the golf tournaments and all that stuff. I got to go to the ESPY Awards. Those things are the best because I get to meet all my idols. Last year I got to be the coach of the NBAE game. I was coaching guys like Snoop Dogg. It was great.

On the downside, people see your messy bedroom on TV.
Hey, it’s not messy anymore. You’ll be seeing that in the new season. I’m real. I don’t care if the cameras are here or not. I’m going to be me. If you don’t like it, then you don’t like it. Some people can pull off the fake thing on the cameras, but I’m way too lazy to be fake. If I’m mad, I’ll be mad. If I’m sad, I’ll cry. I’m human and I’ll express that on TV. I like to show the world I’m human.

From the May/June 2007 issue