 Pat Garrity: Too big for Space Mountain
|
Straight Shooter| When you first got signed, did you buy anything really stupid? | I didn’t really buy anything stupid at all. At that point in my life, I was still in college mode, trying to get everything I could for free or at least at a steep discount. I can remember setting up my first checking account in Phoenix. With my first paycheck and a bunch of other checks from trading-card companies (the sole source of any income for me during the lockout of 1998), I was able to open an account with about $90K and I was convinced I was a high roller. The first big-ticket purchase I made was the deferred premium I owed from the insurance policy I had taken out in case of injury during my last two years of college. I didn’t even buy a car until after my first year. I was lucky enough to finagle a loaner from a car dealership in exchange for hanging out every so often with the owner and agreeing to do a few autograph events at his store. |
| What’s it like in the locker room during halftime for the losing team? | It depends how the team is playing. If we’re playing well and the margin is close, the mood is not much different from a winning locker room. NBA games can change so quickly that not much stock is placed in the halftime score. Everyone knows that the game is won or lost, with the exception of a few times a year, in the last six minutes of the fourth. |
| What’s the difference between playing for basketball fans in other countries as opposed to America? | American fans are much tamer. I’ve never feared for my safety in America, which I can’t say is the case for the times I’ve played in games overseas. My international experience is limited to a few traveling teams that I was on in college, but I’d have to say that fans from the countries I visited, particularly the Greek fans, had a passion that bordered on violent rage. I can remember one game we played against Turkey where the game was delayed because a Turkish fan had set off a flare in the stands. The delay wasn’t to remove the guy, of course; it was just to let the smoke clear. |
| Who was your favorite player growing up? | Michael Jordan, without question. I think every kid who grew up in the mid-’80s and early ’90s would say the same. |
| Do your NBA skills translate into carnival-game basketball (shooting baskets for prizes or the machines with the mini-basketballs and the timer)? | I haven’t tried my skills much on the carnival circuit, but I’d imagine they would. Even though the baskets are smaller and set at a greater height, I would hope that I could compete at a higher level than the average Joe. |
| What’s been your most embarrassing on-court moment in the NBA? | I haven’t had a moment where I was truly embarrassed, although my greatest fear is that someday I will check into a game without either my jersey or shorts on. One might ask, how can this happen? Well, before the game, I shoot in workout gear and then change into my uniform prior to coming out to start the game. It’s not inconceivable that my mind would drift during the long NBA season and that I would put on my warm-ups after I change out of my workout gear but before putting on my uniform. To avoid this, I check that I’m properly attired at least four or five times between the anthem and the start of the game. |
| Do people hate you in movie theaters? (because of your height obstructing their view) | It’s not much of a problem during movies, but one place where I get a lot of hateful stares is at concerts. Luckily for me, the concerts I’ve been finding myself going to recently have had a high proportion of hippies, and it’s my experience that hippies are generally passive and avoid confrontation. Or maybe it’s just that they think that they are having a hallucination that a giant just came upon them to ruin their view of the stage. |
| Especially since you’re in Orlando, do you have a problem getting onto the various rides at amusement parks? | After riding Space Mountain about five years ago, I swore off rides. Along with the front of the car smashing my knees, I genuinely feared that I was going to be decapitated every time we entered a tunnel. I cowered the whole time and prayed for the end. I’ll stick with shooting on the 11-foot hoops for giant pink stuffed hippos. |
From the July/Aug 2007 issue
