 Pat hamming it up for the rim shot
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Straight Shooter| Is it odd knowing all of your “coworkers” and “bosses” (head coach and GM) salaries? | I have a general idea of the range of salaries paid to head coaches and GMs but I’ve never had any reason or interest in researching the matter further. As far as teammates and other players around the League, I only know from what I read in the papers (which are often wrong) and don’t actively seek out the exact numbers. The matter is of interest during contract negotiations to determine market value, but since I haven’t been in that position for a number of years, the information is of little use to me. I do know that Dwight [Howard] and Jameer [Nelson] signed lucrative long-term deals and although I don’t know exact numbers, I do know that I’m never picking up a check when I go out to eat with them. Or Rashard Lewis, for that matter. |
| Do you have your own personal parking spot, Orlando Magic business card and/or an @orlandomagic.com e-mail address? | A few years back all of the players did have assigned parking spots at our practice facility, but when the team changed GMs the new guy took all of the nameplates from the spots down. The funny thing is that people still park in the same spots, so in reality nothing changed. I don’t have a business card, although I have often considered carrying around a bunch of trading cards of myself to exchange with people who give me their cards. Knowing what I shot from three during the ’01-02 season wouldn’t be of much use to them if they were trying to contact me however. I don’t have a Magic email domain either. Just a good old Gmail account. |
| Did your friends and family vote you in for All-Star? | Is it even possible to have write-in candidates for All-Star? I think one has to be on the ballot to even get a vote, and since I’ve never been on a ballot, I don’t think I’ve ever received an All-Star vote. |
| Have you/would you ever double-date with a teammate? | I’ve gone to dinner with teammates and their wives but my wife and I generally go out with other friends who are not part of the team. |
| Do you ever miss the cold weather? | I don’t miss living in a cold weather climate but I do enjoy traveling to cold weather cities during the season. It allows me to expand my wardrobe beyond the shorts/t-shirt/flip-flops ensembles that I rock when I’m at home. It is also the only time I go to Starbucks, even though I get hot apple cider rather than coffee. Speaking of Starbucks, I went to one in Portland [recently] for an apple cider and was perplexed when I heard the person behind the counter call out an order that, among other descriptions, contained the adjective “extra hot.” Is that even a legitimate thing to ask for at Starbucks? Doesn’t the water used to make coffee or lattes or whatever come out of the machine at close to scalding anyway? Why the need to go “extra hot?” You can’t even drink an “extra hot” coffee until it cools down to just “hot.” Someone please enlighten me. |
| How deep does your entourage roll? | My entourage usually rolls two deep and consists of my wife Paula and 2.5-year-old son, Henry. I think one of the biggest mistakes I made as a young player was to not have an entourage. I could have had friends do everything for me and then belittle them for not working and mooching off of me whenever they failed to do as I ordered them. Ah, the follies of youth... |
From the Mar/Apr 2008 issue
