Interview With A.C. Green

MJ: AC Green, thank you for joining us today.

AG: All right, thanks a lot, Mark.

MJ: You're one of the most respected basketball players in the N.B.A. Tell us about your career in basketball.

AC: Well, first of all, I wasn't... I grew up in Portland, Oregon, but I wasn't the kind of kid who said "I'm going to be a professional basketball player when I grow up." Things just kind of happened. I went to high school, all my friends were playing basketball, so I played basketball. About my junior year, I received a scholarship offer, getting ready... for me to go to college at Oregon State University, and all of a sudden, I decided, hey, I can go to college, wow, this is good, basketball's going to be fun. I went to the college _cell_ two or three years into the college, then all of a sudden, one of my teammates got drafted for the pro's. And I'm like, "Hey, maybe there's an outside chance." And then I started to hear my name coming up that I possibly could be an N.B.A. player one day. And things sort of evolved for me that way. In 1985, I got drafted by the Lakers, great team, the year before, they were in the finals, they had lost... they won the year before, I went there, Magic was... Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Byron Scott, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper, you name it, all the great lineup, the whole cast was there. And so I went to a great team, and had a lot of fun, eight wonderful years with the Laker team, and four finals I've played in, two of them I've won. I'm now with... currently with the Phoenix Suns team, and I'm playing with some more great guys there. I'm just having a great time of it.

QUESTION: As a kid growing up, did you dream of being a

basketball star?

AG: No, I really didn't. I mean, I think everyone in my

family, my two older brothers, and even probably my older sister thought

they would be in the NBA before I would. It was just the way things

happened for us. Growing up in that neighborhood, you know, we played

every single sport you can imagine. But basketball was just one that sort

of I stayed with all the way through. Believe it or not, when I went into

high school, I was five foot ten. Now, that's tall, you know, for a

freshman, but at the same time, for a person who entered at 5'10", I left

high school at 6'7". I did all my growing, it seemed, in high school, five

inches I grew my freshman year.

QUESTION: What is it about basketball that makes it so much

fun and so attractive?

AG: I just think it's such a release of a lot of pressure

for a lot of people, you know. It's something you can do either by

yourself, you can do it with another guy and another girl, you can do just

a group thing, it's just something that everybody has fun doing. And the

object, put that round thing inside of another, a bigger round thing, you

know, a basket, and you're just like, let's have fun trying to do this, you

get exercise, it's competitive, it serves a lot purposes, and I just think

people all across the whole world have found it to be a universal truth.

QUESTION: Does it serve as kind of a valve to release

tension, or anger, or anything for you?

AG: For me, no, I do it for... 'cause it's fun. It's just

something that I've enjoyed over the years. I can't say I just love the

game of basketball, but I do like it a whole lot. You know,it's one of

those things.

QUESTION: Who do you have to thank for your great height?

AG: I guess probably God Almighty more than anybody, but my

parents are... My mom is 5'8", my dad is six foot, so come on, it sure

didn't come from them, right? I think my grandfather was maybe 6'2", it

wasn't height inside of our generation... inside our genes, in the "Green

genes", it just wasn't a lot of height. I don't know where it came from.

My older... my older brother is 6 foot 7, two inches smaller than me. My

brother that's in the middle, one year older than me, he is 6 foot 4. And

so the guys inside of my family are very tall. We all are taller than my

dad. My dad is just like, he's down to there to us.

QUESTION: One of our previous guests, Rick Dees, talked

about how when he plays golf with his friends, or people he may be in

business with, he can tell something about their personality. Can you tell

something about people you play basketball with, about how they will act in

life, or in business?

AG: I think you can probably get a read on some people. I

think the guys who seem to go out there, and are just loafing a lot, you

know, the ones who just "Huhh", you know, I want to win, I want the

victory, but I don't want to do... to take the hard work, you know, and do

the hard things that's going to equate to that victory. Let me find a way

to get there a little easier. By and large, you find those are the kind of

guys that have a little bit more confusion, disorganization in their life,

they don't really have everything together at the time. Then you find some

other guys who seem like they are there early, they go to practice early,

they stay there, and they do everything that the coach asks for them to do,

plus a little more. Well, those seem like the kind of guys that pay their

bills on time, the kind of guys that have their house in order, and since

they know how to take responsibility, and make sure things get done off the

court, the same thing they do on the court.

QUESTION: Now, you guys in the NBA have an incredibly

grueling travel schedule. What's that like? Tell us about that.

AG: That traveling is probably one of the hardest things

about playing professional sports. I'm a single man, so I speak from a very

shallow perspective. But even being single, being gone so much, being away

from my friends, my family all lives in Portland, Oregon; now as I said, I

live in Phoenix, but you're always going on a plane. You're going

somewhere, you're going somewhere, you're going to a game, you're going to

a hotel, you're going to another city, you're going to another city, so

it's very tough, it really is, but it doesn't wear you down, only because

you sort of get your body and your mind used to it. You sort of govern

yourself. You're like, OK, "I have to go on a trip in a week, so let me

plan and prepare". And then it's OK. You don't get all sore on the plane

anymore. I think the first two weeks, three weeks of the season are the

toughest. And then after that, you sort of push the button on cruise

control, and you're just able to make it throughout.

QUESTION: How many days out of the year are you on the

road?

AG: Probably... let's see. The season's about nine, a

little over nine months, I think. On the road half, I don't know, half the

time. A little over... majority of the time we're on the road, I would say.

It's just constant. It is. And I think for the guys that have families,

if you ask their wives, their wives will say they're on the road 300 out of

365 days. It's like they're always gone. And you ask their kids, the kids

will tell you, "mommy... daddy seems like... every time I look in the sky I

see an airplane..." they think it's their father flying around somewhere. I

mean, that's the cutest story, but it's the saddest thing too, because

you're like, oh no, you know, they feel like they're always gone.

QUESTION: Now, we hear rumors about how, what it's like to

be on the road for basketball players. I think that Wilt Chamberlain, his

book, and also Magic Johnson's experience talks about how there are girls

at every city, who sort of throw themselves at you. Is that really the case

when you travel?

AG: I think there's, yeah, there are a lot of opportunities

as far as female involvement cause... yeah, but I think that's really the

same as any businessman going on a business meeting. You run in and across

any opportunity that you might imagine yourself to. I don't think it's any

different than any other profession, that's all I'm really saying. At the

same time, I think, you know, really, you are sort of aware of that, you

know that is out there to happen. But what about the guy who is out there

trying to sell you something that you shouldn't even really get involved

with? Or what about the guy who's trying to sell you some stocks or bonds

that you really have no business even making an investment in, you know? Or

the person who's trying to get you, to sell you some insurance on the road?

Who say,"Oh, let me cover you and your family for life. You guys are going

to have this great policy." There's just a lot of shysters out there, and

so I don't think the trap is so much always the women, in trying to deal

with the sexual part of it. But I think it comes in a lot of forms and

facets, and a lot of areas that we have to deal with.

QUESTION: You've won two championships, and you've played

with some of the greats. You talked about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic

Johnson, James Worthy. What was it like playing with those guys? What kind

of things did you learn that maybe people on the outside don't know about

these guys, or the way they play ball?

QUESTION: I think more than anything, I mean, let's paint

the picture first that there's always the glamour of it. O.K. there's fun,

it's exciting, there's slam dunks, there's fancy passes, you know, this

guy's in his rhythm, shooting the ball, this guy's in his rhythm, giving us

nice dunks, I mean you always find that going on, and everybody's high

fiveing, you know, "Good job," this and that. But after all that's gone,

then you really see the guys for what they really are. And I think more

than anything, the common denominator I found is that the guys are very,

very team, family kind of oriented, in the sense that they really want

relationships. They starve and hunger for relationships. And I speak as

myself too. Being with someone for nine, almost ten months out of the year,

you really, really get to know them. And if you like it or not, you're

going to get know them, because you're there. You're in each other's face

all day. And I think that's the one thing that the guys on that team, and

the Laker team back in the '80's, that's what the guys who have retired

since then, who have said, you know, who have said, "You know, the thing I

miss most is the relationships. I miss riding on the team bus going to

practice. I miss riding on the team bus going to a game. I miss being on

the air... in the airports, on the airplanes, with you guys, just hearing

all the jokes, talking and laughing with each other. I really think the

relationships are the things that made that team so strong, and makes any

team in the NBA very strong right now.

QUESTION: AC, we're here in the off season right now, and

you're dressed in your best business attire. Tell us what's going on here

in your offices at the AC Green Foundation.

AC: Really, five years, oh boy, going on six years now I

started the AC Green Programs for Youth. And really what we've done... it

originated... I wanted to really get involved with youth. I have ten

wonderful nieces and nephews back in Portland. And I think that's been my

life bond... I can't... like it or not, they're going to be with me, you

know, they like me, I got to be with you, if I don't like them, you know,

we're there. We're stuck with each other. But I think because of that, it

gave me a desire and a heart to really be involved with other youth. I want

to see them... the opportunities that they had, and that maybe slipped past

them, I want to try to bring those opportunities back to them. I want to

provide a sense of hope, a sense of confidence, build up their self esteem,

try and help build and identify even their own morality. And knowing who

they are, and how to respect themselves, and not really get so involved and

tied up in the peer pressure, but teach them how to overcome that same peer

pressure also. And so that's really what we're trying to do here, with the

Youth Foundation. We have a program, we have a youth leadership camp, which

is our very first program we started. A basketball camp, eight hours a day,

the first four we spend teaching them skills and drills. But then the

latter four, which are the more important part to me, I take them on field

trips. I take them before business men, small and big companies, and try

and help them understand the business world. And why do I do that? It's to

let them know that maybe you can be successful. Not through athletics, like

I have been, but through the normal, hard working, you got to go there,

punch a time card in, give what you can give at that job, at that place,

the best you can, and then punch that time card out, but take something

from there also. And so try to give them a sense of "You have to work for a

living." You know, you can't just do it through athletics, and that that's

going to be your meal ticket. And so that's why we started the youth

found... That's why we started the program with basketball, but then our

job mentor program is also what we try to help place kids in jobs. We're

trying to give them an opportunity to work with the business world, and the

youth, and we're sort of the bridge in between, you know, to help find and

place them inside different occupations. And then the last thing is the

Athletes for Abstinence. That's one that deals with what is abstinence?

What is sex... what is safe sex today? Once again, what is safe sex today?

That's a question that I've been hearing a thousand times a day, it seems

like. And I've... I always say that safe sex is through abstinence. That's

the only, truest form of safe sex. No sex until the time that a person get

married, you know. And if for some reason or another, a person already's

been engaged, or have already practicing sex, it's never to late to start.

You can stop, you can make a stop because you have to make a decision

first, and then practice abstinence through that time, from that time on.

That's something I've applied to my life, something I apply even today, and

I say I'm going to practice this until the time that I get married, then

when I get married, I do believe I will see the fruits of my waiting. I

will be able to say, "Hey, you know what, it's worth the wait," because

this wife that I have, I feel that she's probably going to feel and believe

the same kind of way, and it will be a perfect... not a perfect marriage,

but a well waited, well resulted kind of marriage. And I think also the

whole question of why did abstinence, or why safe sex even come on the

forefront, is one, a lot of people think I sort of started this Athletes

for Abstinence campaign, and program when my teammate Earvin "Magic"

Johnson made his announcement that he had to retire from basketball because

he has contracted the HIV virus, where actually I started a little bit

before he made that announcement, but at the same time, when he did, that

set a lot of people's minds, and triggered something in their mind, because

now they said, "Hey, I don't want that to happen to me, I have to protect

myself." And they think by protecting themselves, they have to get a

condom, and that's going to prevent any possible chance of catching any

sexually transmitted disease. Well that's the furthest thing from the

truth. Only way you can protect yourself is practicing abstinence. It's a

false sense of security; any other method.

QUESTION: That's interesting, because Magic Johnson's

message is often "Prevent AIDS transmission by wearing a condom." But that

seems to be quite different from what you're saying.

AG: Right. I think, first... Magic's had a couple different

messages, you know. When he first retired, he came out and said "Abstinence

really is the best way." And then a month or two later, he changed it

around, and said, you know, "Abstinence is the best way, but if you can't

refrain, then at least wear a condom," you know. And then he says, "Wearing

a condom is the best way." And so it's sort of been a little confusing, but

the one thing about what I've said, I've stuck with it, and I do feel it's

the only, truest form of safe sex, and that's through abstinence. And so,

yes, we do have two different messages. And I guess it's going to be like

that until he probably changes, 'cause I know I won't.

QUESTION: I was talking to a Laker fan, he was, he was

grumbling about your leaving the Lakers, still, but he was also talking

about, he was talking about, he wanted to know, if you were really a

virgin. You've talked really publicly about your sexuality in a way that

most people don't. Why?

AG: Well, I don't think it's anything to hide. You know,

it's something that I don't think I have to wear a shirt, and say, you

know, "I am a virgin, and I will this, I will that," no, I don't think I

have to do that, you know. I don't honestly think there's probably

anything wrong with it, but at the same time, I think the point that I'm

bringing out is that the message of abstinence is one that I believe in

firmly. And if I believe in something, I commit my life, I commit my time,

I commit my resources to that very cause. And I said hey I'm a living

example. There's no better validation or confirmation I can give about

abstinence other than what I've learned myself. I've seen the pitfalls of

not waiting, I've seen the results of waiting, and I said, "Choose A or

choose B? I think I want to wait."

QUESTION: Do you feel a lot of pressure on you because of

the stand you've taken in this organization, to really live up to people's

ideals of you?

AG: No, because I think the most important idea and

expectation I honestly have to match is that what my Creator has already

did for me, you know, what God wants me to do, and the standard that he's

set for me, that's the one that I really want to match up to. I think my

parents have a certain expectation also, and that's very, very important to

me. And so I sort of keep that in mind also. But by and large, I just have

to know I am doing the right thing within my heart, and knowing that I am

making not only a difference for myself, but also for my family that's

going to be coming up after the fact.

QUESTION: In your book Victory, you talk a lot about

basketball, but you also talk a lot about your spiritual beliefs. What are

they and how do they relate to the way you play basketball?

AG: Well, I think my spiritual beliefs, me being a

Christian, it really relates to it, because I see inside like the Bible

itself, and it says, whatever I do, do with one hundred percent. So what

does that mean for me in basketball? I asked the question. I said, "OK., now

how do I apply that to basketball? OK., I heard what it said, now." I said,

"OK., well, I do this a hundred percent." You start asking guys around the

league, or you ask coaches, and one thing about AC Green, most of them

will probably tell you that the guy doesn't stop working. He's going to

always try, he's going to always give effort. And I think I just find ways

to apply one to help out the other, as far as my own internal belief

system. And I think that's really, has been my strength, when the times are

very high, we're on a roll, we're doing great, you know,we're playing in

the playoffs, I know how to keep it on an even keel. I say, "OK., don't get

too far ahead of yourself. Tone it down a little bit. You know, take it in

stride. Know who you are, but take it in stride." But then when you're like

on a losing streak, you shoot and you can't hit anything, you're shooting

at the wrong team's baskets, you're fouling out of every game, you know,

you're going through just a bad streak, "OK., well, hey, things are going to

get better. It might be dark now, but it's a bright day coming." You know,

and so you learn how to balance things out, and don't get too dipped on

one, and too high on the other.

QUESTION: You also talk about good and evil, God and the

devil. Is this like the devil with the jumpsuit and the horns, or what?

Talk about that a little bit.

AG: No, this is the devil that really tries to destroy any

man or woman's life. The real deal, you know. The kind that really just

doesn't want you to become the very man that God has really sort of

created you to be. You know, and that's a message that I've taken across

the country and across the world. Even when I was in Tokyo ten years ago,

that same message I carried with me over there. That there's a better

purpose and plan for your life than what you probably just think it is

right now. And you need to get connected to that purpose and plan, and know

who gave that plan.

QUESTION: Now, some people can't figure you out, because on

the court, you're this aggressive, you know, you'd say trash talking, elbow

bumping kind of guy, and you get off the court, and you seem to be a nice

guy. How do you reconcile those two different natures?

AG: 'Cause it's really one bowl, and it's... and they just

put all different kind of ingredients inside of it, and just stir it up,

you know, and I came out. You know, that's just the way I am. I just think

they compliment one another. I mean one produces the other. Because I am

one that is focused, know, I know what I believe, I know why I believe it,

I know where I'm going, and I know the method I need to get there, which

all equates that I have a lot of room to learn and grow, but at the same

time, I know I have to be aggressive to go after those things. And

basketball is no different. You know, if I see an opportunity on the court

to get a rebound, I'm going for it. If I have to go through somebody to get

the ball, then OK., well I'll apologize later, you know. And it's the same

way, you see an open lane to drive the ball to the basket, well, you drive,

and you and get, you try and score. You might hit someone, they might hit

you. Don't get offended, just get yourself up and keep playing. And so it

just sort of happens, you know, to balance one another out. But I just

don't think the game is made for any wimps or sissies, that's all. I mean,

that's just the way it is, you know. Life isn't made for wimps or sissies.

You can't take shortcuts in life, you can't take it in the professional

game of basketball either.

QUESTION: Do you think you ever encounter players who know

your image off the court, and maybe think you're going to be a pushover on

the court?

AG: I think there are some players initially had thought,

"Let me see." You know, "Let's just test this water, and see what

temperature it's going to come out on." Thinking that I might just be a

little soft. Honestly I'd like for that same person to give an evaluation

after the game, you know, and just see what they would say.

QUESTION: You're working here in the .... one more time.

Hi. OK.

You're working here in the inner city, helping kids, trying

to help kids. There's a lot of despair, a lot of hopelessness. Do you see

hope?

AG: I do, Mark, I really do. I mean that's probably what

keeps me here right now. You know, I know I'm a product of the inner city.

I didn't grow up with a lot of money. You know, I grew up in a family that

had both parents, which is very unusual today. Most families do not have

both parents inside. We did not have babies raising babies, in my day,

growing up. But I know it's here today. I'm not forgetting where I've come

from. But I also recognize the time here. And I know because it looks so

dark right now, inside the inner cities in particular, inside the middle

class, which a lot of people are forgetting and overlooking, it's the same

similar problems. I just know that, hey, I can be a voice that can make a

difference. I can be a person that will try and come in, not only in my, my

country, but also across the world. You know, that can come in with a

message, and come in with a heart, come in with concern, and a little love

and attention, that can really make a difference in a kid's life. And not

only a kid, but even a family's life, because, I mean, I've gotten more

letters from parents, or a parent, than from children themselves. And it's

just really amazing when that started to happen, because now you start to

see there's a link, you start to see there's, there's a communication now

taking place with even the parent. And most of the time, unfortunately,

it's only one, but you know, that's just the way things are, but we can

make a difference.

QUESTION: You talk in your book about, I'm going to quote

here, you say, about your time in Japan, "Nothing fit, the pants weren't,

the pants weren't long enough, our legs didn't fit under the dining tables,

and transportation was cramped." Tell us about that.

AG: Mark, I was there, at that time, the early '80's, in

the Suntory Ball. I was with my college team, Oregon State University. And

you know, we were there, you know, just there for a basketball tournament,

there. But it was just a lot of fun, the trip itself, but I... that was my

first eye opening experience. That was the first time I had ever left the

country, so my eyes were like, "I'm going out of the country, I'm going out

of the country." And lo and behold, yes as I got to the hotel where we

stayed, I mean I was in a can. I mean I was 6'8" at the time, and I was

just tucked inside the bed, trying to, like, "How do I sleep," you know?

And I remember we used to ride buses everywhere, but at this one particular

time, for some reason we went to like a, like a taxi, a transit system, a

vehicle. And we got in there, and I

t was me and another one of my big teammates, so he's like 6'10", about

250, and he's three times bigger me, it seems like. And I mean we were

shoulder to shoulder, and every time the guy drove, you know, and we'd like

ride on one another. I mean it was just a real eye opening experience, but

it was a lot of fun because the thing I remember more than anything, as we

went down the streets, into the little, just the different shopping kind

of areas, everywhere we went, we would just walk, and then we'll stop, and

we'll have at least five people behind us, measuring up to us, you know,

and going, and seeing how... And it was just hilarious, every time, and so

we just got used to it. At first we didn't know what was going on, but then

we said, they're just having fun. They've never seen anyone so tall.

QUESTION: What advice would you have for, maybe aspiring

basketball players, both on and off the court?

AG: My advice would probably be, you really need to first

know that... work hard, be willing to be committed to something. You

know,if it is going to be basketball, OK., don't kill your dream. Work hard,

make the effort that it's going to take, to one, finish high school,

academically, then be the best basketball player you can be in high school.

Hopefully that will be able to open the door for you to go to college. But

without education, no, you're not going to get there. And it's not many

guys, if you check the statistics, that go from high school to, to the

pros. And so you're going to need education. At the same time, you've got

to have a second option. You've got to be realistic with the situation.

There's a million times ten people probably that want to play basketball

in the, in the NBA Some are over the age that can play, some are right

there. But there's probably 50 million jobs that you possibly can have. And

it's not as competitive. Be real, be realistic, with the fact that you can

do something that can be just as fun, just as successful, and you can have

fun, get paid having fun, in another profession of some sort. And I think

life will go on very happy for you.

QUESTION: AC, you were telling me earlier that you've

been trying to go back to Japan again, since the thirteen years ago when

you were there. What's going on?

AG: Well, I don't know, Mark, it's just something... that I

want to get back over and go into Japan, and now that I'm a little bit

older, I probably can even appreciate even more than I did then, and get to

see more, relax..., in a more relaxed setting, and at the same time, my

heart is I guess universally for kids, and I'd love to come over there and

meet some of the youngsters, or talk to them, maybe do a camp, maybe do a,

you know, a speech or something of that nature. Just really get to

interact. I mean, I just love talking with the children, and it's just,

it's cross-cultural, I feel. I think the problems here are very similar to

the problems there. Not identical, but similar. And I just think that the

message that we bring in the AC Green Programs for Youth needs to come to

Japan.

QUESTION: Well, thank you for joining us today.

AG: I appreciate it, Mark.