 Pat Garrity: Autograph + $4 = cup of coffee
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Straight Shooter| Do you exchange Christmas gifts with teammates? | We exchange gifts with teammates at our team Christmas party every year. The format is one whereby each guy purchases a gift (usually with a $100 minimum price) to bring with him to the party. Numbers are placed into a hat and drawn. The person with the highest number chooses first. The next guy can then either choose to take the guy’s gift who chose before him or choose a wrapped gift for himself. After unwrapping the gift, you are obligated to take that gift. Thereafter, the person choosing can take any of the previously open gifts or choose a wrapped gift. I’ve had mixed results over the years. My most successful year netted a pair of Cartier cuff links; my worst year, a maroon leather briefcase (courtesy of Darrell Armstrong). |
| Do players and coaches socialize outside the arena? | This can be a tricky area. I would say that during the season, coaches and players generally do not interact socially outside of the job. We are together quite a bit and do spend time together talking about subjects other than basketball, but we generally do not go to dinner or movies with each other. I think it’s better that way. During the summer it’s a different story. I’ve played golf or gone to dinner with coaches and their wives and we have a great time. But during the season, in order for them to do the best job they can in coaching us, and players being able to accept criticism from a coach, I believe having social boundaries is necessary. |
| Would you ever do a reality show? | As fun is it sounds to date 15 women at the same time (The Bachelor), I’ll take a pass. First, I don’t like the idea of editors being able to paste together clips of me to create an entertaining caricature that paints an entirely different picture of who I really am. Second, I have no desire for publicity. No matter what anyone who has ever been on a reality show will tell you, the reason that they do it is because they want to be on TV. I hate being on TV, so I don’t think I’d make much of a reality star. |
| Do you get bothered when people don’t recognize you (especially when you’re with other teammates) and don’t mob you for autographs? | To be honest, I used to get bothered when I was with a teammate who got approached for an autograph and the fan didn’t recognize me, but that was when I was younger. Egos are fragile for young guys in the NBA. Now, I could care less. What does annoy me, however, is when people apologize for not recognizing you after they find out you are an NBA player. I’ve never understood this. Why be sorry for something entirely not your fault? Also, I’ve never understood people who ask for my autograph even though they don’t know who I am. It usually happens when someone sees me signing an autograph and thinks they might be missing out on something. I want to tell them that with my autograph and four bucks, they can get a cup of coffee at Starbucks. |
| Can you describe what it’s like taking a charge in the NBA? | It hurts! |
| Do your wife and child go to every game or watch it on TV? | My wife and son go to almost every home game, and except for West Coast games that air too late for them, they watch all of the games they can on TV. My son is two-and-a-half years old now and my wife says that he only watches for a few minutes before wanting to go play himself. By the time he’s three, he’ll have gone to more NBA games (and have had better seats) than most of his friends will in their entire lives. I always look up to make sure they’ve made it safely and when I’m out of the game, I frequently look up to see if my kid is behaving himself. |
From the Jan/Feb 2008 issue
