SECAUCUS, NJ, Dec. 13, 2007 -- If you go to Michael Bivin's MySpace page the song "Poison" by his group, Bell Biv DeVoe, plays in the background. Part of the lyrics of the song, "It's oh, so beautiful, relationships they seem from the start," can be applied to the Boston Celtics, Bivins' hometown team that has opened up to an 18-2 start under the Big Three era of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

We caught up with Bivins to talk about basketball, music and his new feature on TNT Overtime where he combines the two. Be sure to watch TNT's Thursday double header tonight starting with Wizards-Heat at 8 p.m. ET followed by Spurs-Lakers at 10:30 p.m. ET.

You’re doing this thing for TNT Overtime and it’s sort of perfect timing having your favorite team doing so well. How proud does it make you as a Boston fan seeing them returning to the glory days?

Bivins: I think over the summer, as you seen the team coming together, everything looked good on paper. Then I think once they had the time to go overseas it looked like they sat down and figured out what the goal was going to be and that was for all of the different solo stars to come together and form this one group.

I think that’s what we’re seeing. We’re seeing no egos. We’re seeing great ball movement. Doc Rivers is doing an excellent job. The young boy, Rondo, the point guard who everybody thought wasn’t going to be able to distribute the ball and keep the Big Three happy, he’s coming into his own. It’s like no one could have predicted it on the court, but everybody predicted it on paper because they thought they were going to have things against them. But that’s the good thing about it, they’ve overcome it and they’re looking like they can go all the way to the Eastern Conference championship.

Have you had any time to spend around the team yet?

Bivins: I was at their practice maybe a week and a half ago and I interviewed the Big Three separately. Just even after practice, you could feel it man. When you walk into T.D. Bank North, it feels like the old Garden. That feeling is there again.

What can you say about KG? I was at Europe Live with the Celtics, so I got to spend some time around him, and he was so impressive to me. His level of professionalism, his intensity, his commitment … What did you think about being around him?

Bivins: I think everything you just said. The guy has been through a lot. He’s been on the losing end for many years and I think he’s matured to the point where now, you know, he had to make the decision to come to Boston which I’m sure wasn’t his first choice. Just in that decision itself, you can tell where his head is. He turns me on every time I see him. If you’re down and you’re around him, you’re going to get a burst of energy.

In your position as sort of a jack of all trades in the entertainment business, you’ve probably run across these athletes outside of the basketball setting. Do you think all those relationships you’ve built are going to help with this feature that you’re doing for TNT Overtime?

Bivins: Oh man, I’m the man! (Laughing) I know all the ball players. I get inside and access, as my producer Drew Watkins would say. I see the PR lady and she gives us that look that it’s not going to happen and before you know it, it happened. The interview is going down. Then she’s like, “Oh my God! How did he do that?” And I say, “That’s us at TNT. We got inside access.” (Laughing).

A lot of people know you for New Edition and Bell Biv DeVoe, and some people saw you on Making the Band, but what’s been going on with you these days other than TNT?

Bivins: I’m a married guy, got a beautiful wife, I just had a beautiful daughter named Savannah. I’m just kind of staying in my lane. Whenever there’s basketball and there’s music, I’m at home. I kind of just don’t let the music industry and the latest trends take me off course. That’s what I do. I lead a really simple, parallel road. Either I’m into sports and fashion, or you know, I’m just doing the music thing because that’s where my strong points are at.

What music do you listen to, what artists do you like?

Bivins: I’m an old school guy. I’m the ‘80s, I’m the ‘70s. I like soul. I’m listening to the O’Jays, I’m listening to when music was good. I’m listening to Jay-Z, I’m listening to Jeezy, I like Lil’ Wayne. I’m a little bit across the board. It depends what mood we’re in when we’re making our move that night, what we want to hear. When we need energy, we do rap. When we want to hear some love music, we put on the ‘70s and the ‘80s and get that going. (Laughing).


Bivins would like to see J.J. in Celtic green.
Fernando Medina/NBAE/Getty Images

You’re an artist and you sort of ended up becoming a producer and went behind the scenes. Not that the Celtics have done a bad job, but if you could play GM and basically produce the team, is there anything that you think they could still use?

Bivins: I think I would get another shooter. I wish we had J.J. Redick. I wish he was there, only because, I just think when you got that real, hot, cool white guy mixed in with the black kids, you have the perfect Boston Celtics. Our tradition is based on Red Auerbach having it across the board. That’s why Larry was so successful with what he brought to the table and everything. That’s just me. I’m just a pure Boston guy, that’s what I think. I just wish we had another shooter so that if anything would happen to Ray or he would go down, they would cover it. Right now he’s the difference because he’s the other option.

Looking at the rest of the NBA, what are other teams that have your attention and impress you?

Bivins: I like different players. I like the backcourt in Golden State with Ellis and Davis. I like that style of ball, that hardcore street ball when necessary. I like Iguodala in Philly. I like what he’s doing. I like a little bit of that Chicago Bulls thing too with Hinrich and Gordon. I just think that at different times, different backcourts can be exciting. I’m more of a backcourt kind of player because I think the tempo of the game and the ball movement starts up top.

You ever play basketball on any level like high school?

Bivins: I did all of that. I played in All-American tournaments like the Boston Shootout. I participated in certain levels of AAU in Boston. You know, that’s part of the reason I’m here, it’s because of my knowledge and my love for the game. I’ve been around it since I was eight.

A lot of people don’t know, but I can tell you, my singing group New Edition, we actually merged entertainment and basketball. Part of our deal with our managers when we were kids was, if we’re going to do all these radio station interviews and all of that, then maybe we should play against radio DJs in basketball games so we can have fun and it doesn’t just feel like work all the time. We actually started the whole celebrity-basketball forum. People don’t realize it, but that’s where it came from. That’s where the whole celebrity thing came from. It was New Edition vs. The DJs. You can imagine us little guys playing against these older guys.

Is there ever going to be a New Edition reunion or anything?

Bivins: We’re always together. We’re always together. It would just be more shows. We’re constantly doing shows. Definitely.


Gus Williams was Bivins' first favorite player.
NBA Photos/Getty Images

Growing up, what were the players you looked up to?

Bivins: My very first NBA player I liked was Gus Williams for the Seattle SuperSonics. That was my first. I just liked Gus. I thought Gus was nice. I liked Tiny Archibald, George Gervin, Dr. J, World B. Free and then I started getting into the Michael Jordan and the stuff like that as that thing happened in the ‘80s. I seemed to pick up on ball players that I thought played the game, but didn’t necessarily always end up at The Finals. Very few of them ended up at The Finals. I’m just a player of style.

I was going to say, I think you would appreciate a Walt Frazier …

Bivins: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. But I didn’t have the pleasure of enjoying him as much in the ‘70s because I was only like eight-years old. I think it was right after that is when I found my first player because I think it was the Seattle and the Bullets championship series in 1978-79 when I realized, “OK, now it’s time to really look at somebody and idolize.” That’s when Gus Williams came in. Him and then Dennis Johnson came in. Loved that backcourt.

What’s something viewers can look forward to seeing on your feature on TNT Overtime?

Bivins: First of all, we’re going to definitely continue to give the insight and access. We’re going to get the top ball players, the top movie stars and celebrities. So we’re going to give you Entertainment Tonight, we’re going to give you Sports Center, we’re going to give you lifestyle away from the arena, asking them certain questions that you don’t typically hear at the end of a game. We’re going to be young and fun. It’s going to be infused with MTV, BET, mixed in with TNT so it’s going to have a musical edge and a sports edge. It’s going to be real. My thing is never to attack them. My goal is always when you see a piece to be able to see a ball player that doesn’t smile, smile because that will be a sign that he’s enjoying himself.