Interview, pictures and RedSportsTV by Leslie Tan and Dawn Yip
A career as a professional athlete is something many dream of but few achieve, much less one that pays handsomely. Yet NBA player Desmond Mason of the Milwaukee Bucks has managed both. Red Sports spoke to the affable 1.96m basketballer on the sidelines of the adidas nations camp, and found out about his journey from regular high-schooler to million-dollar basketball star.
Desmond's preferred sport as a kid was American football. But as a tall quarterback in high school, he was often a target for tackles. "The guys would dive at your feet and your knees. So I decided I was done with football and I started to put a lot more focus on basketball."
The NBA was just a dream though, and alongside basketball, the young Desmond gave a lot of attention to school, thanks to parents who were "really strict", a situation many Singaporeans will be able to identify with. Desmond was required to deliver a minimum B grade in all subjects; otherwise his parents would ground him until his next school report card 9 weeks later. "So for 9 weeks, we couldn't leave the house. We would go to school and then come home. And that was it. No going to see your friends or hanging out. It was motivation for me to make sure I had my grades."
High school was also when his game took a turn for the better. He was eventually offered basketball scholarships by an incredible 92 universities. He went on to take a full scholarship from Oklahoma State University, where he majored in studio art.
It was in his second year there that becoming an NBA player began to look like an attainable goal. "I was in the first team all conference, and got national recognition," recalls Desmond of the college playoffs. "I was really athletic – running and dunking – and that was kind of attractive to the NBA."
Despite brightening prospects as a professional athlete, Desmond remained a dedicated student who took both basketball training and his classes seriously. As one of the few athletes doing studio art, he also stood out in a different way. "The kids that walked in had on overalls that had paint, and boots, and I had on basketball sweats and tennis shoes. So I felt out of place a bit."
And of course, his parents did not let up on their insistence on good grades. "When I got to college, I bought myself a car, a 1972 Chevy Nova. I paid $600 for it. And my freshman year, I had one C on my first report. I knew the rules. So once I got the C, I didn't know what my dad was gonna do but I knew he was gonna do something," recalls Desmond with a smile. As it turned out, his father drove 4 hours from Texas to Oklahoma. "He just knocked on my door one day and he had a truck and a trailer. He took my car and he left me a bicycle."
After his outstanding performance in collegiate basketball, Desmond was drafted into the Seattle Supersonics. He was the first Sonics player to win the NBA Slam Dunk competition. It was during his next stint with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets that basketball fans saw a different side of Desmond. While on a plane ride, he wrote "We Dem Hornets", a roll-of-honour rap dedicated to his fellow teammates. "They wanted me to sing it to them so I sang it to them. And they were like ‘That's really good!' " The Hornets videographer then came up with the idea of turning it into a video. "I was kinda nervous about doing it because I'm not a rapper by any means," Desmond recalls with a laugh. But the video was made anyway, and became such a hit that it was played at the arena before Hornets games, much to the delight of the fans.
In July 2007, Desmond signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. Reflecting on his 7-year NBA career, Desmond deems Kobe Bryant and LeBron James the best he's ever played against (though the best he's ever watched is Michael Jordan). His take on the most important basketball skill: old-fashioned hard work. "Speed is good. But you can be really fast and not a good dribbler. If you work hard every game and every practice, you can always do something."
Since the Milwaukee Bucks is one of the few NBA teams with a Chinese player, Red Sports took the opportunity to ask Desmond what it was like having China's Yi Jianlian onboard. "His media entourage is huge," exclaimed Desmond. "Every city he goes to, there's just so much media. The first time we went to Houston, he played (Chinese NBA player) Yao Ming for the first time. They had to take him out of the locker room for the interview because there were so many people!"
"We joke with him about it a lot. You can just tell sometimes. He has another interview, a practice, a game, he comes in the locker room and just puts his head down. He's so tired. But he's handled it very well."
Pulling back to reflect on how the NBA as a whole is developing, Desmond said, "There are so many good players coming in, from Europe, from Asia. They're talented, they're athletic, and they know how to play basketball. And it's been really good for the league because basketball is really global and it's being watched all over the world."
"I think eventually the NBA is going to get outside the USA. I think the (NBA) commissioner is making a push for that. I don’t know if I'll ever see that or be a part of that. But it'll be exciting to sit back and watch the development of where the NBA goes. I think it's gonna be really good."
Desmond Mason dunks for Red Sports
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZWaEBMFVRw#GU5U2spHI_4
hi,i watched the u18 adidas vs national match.the adidas player were selected at a selection rite??wil ther b a selection for a u14 adidas team?
yes the camp is over. Our local players went automatically into the second round; only those from China had to compete for a limited number of places.
is the camp over? did any of our local players get to the 2nd round of the selection?