Tiger Poker Interview with Former NBA Dunk King Fred Jones: Clay is the best pitcher

Tiger Poker October 31, 2004 Recently, the NBA 2004 dunk contest champion, former Pacers player Fred Jones began a trip to China. Today, Jones gave an exclusive interview to Tiger Poker, talking about what he thinks the league's best dunk and pitcher, reviewing the infamous "Auburn Hill Palace Incident" and so on. The following is a transcript of the interview (where "Q" represents the question and "A" represents Jones's answer):

Q: You were the NBA 2004 Dunk Contest Champion, and you managed to prevent Jason Richardson from winning his third Dunk Contest title trophy. What does the title of Dunk King mean for your career?

A: The title of Dunk King has made me more famous, and more people around the world know me. Also, more importantly, this title gave me confidence and made me feel like I belonged to the NBA. I used the dunk contest as an opportunity to show my abilities, which showed that I could play at a high level. You know, it gave me the confidence to play and play my own performance.

Q: You can show great dunks in the game with your athletic ability, even against a good blocker Ben Wallace, how did you get such an outstanding bouncing ability? Is it talent, or is it more dependent on acquired training?

A: I think it's both, of course, thanks to God's blessing, I have such a talent, and my parents have made me have such an ability. And the effort I put into it to make that ability even better. I had a very good coach in college who focused on stretching and body coordination, and he taught me how to maximize my explosiveness and jump from all angles to complete the movement. There are a lot of people who are good dunks, but they're all dunks themselves, and not a lot of people can complete dunks or complete the dunks in confrontation. I think it's great to do both.

Q: At what age did you first dunk?

A: Grade 7, almost 12 to 13 years old.

Q: In your mind, who is the greatest player in NBA history when comparing dunks?

A: Oh, Vince Carter.

Q: Aside from Carter, who among the active players has the dunk you like the most?

A: Among the active players... Then I'll pick Zach Lavin and Aaron Gordon, and he's pretty good. I think these two players are probably the best.

Q: After 2004, which year do you think the NBA dunk contest was the most exciting?

A: It was a few years ago, Zach Lavin and Aaron Gordon, and it was the best one.

Q: What type of NBA game do you prefer? Is it a fast-paced game with a lot of three-point projection, or a slow-paced game of physical confrontation?

A: Of course it's a fast-paced game, and I like the kind of game that opens up space on the pitch. I like that there's a lot of competition in the game and playing a good defensive performance. But usually, a good defense is beaten by a better offense, and at the highest level of play, you have great players to make it all seem simple.

Q: If you were to return to the NBA now, which team would you most like to join?

A: Now it must be the Warriors, that can become the championship, hahaha.

Q: Does this mean that you already have an answer to another question: "Who will win this season's championship"?

A: I think the Warriors are of course the most promising, and the Celtics, I think they're going to be good this season.

Q: What do you think will happen to your old club Pacers this season?

A: The Pacers are good, they haven't built up to the point where they can win championships, but they can be the top four teams in the East, they can compete in the playoffs in a couple of rounds, but they don't have enough talent to compete for championships.

Q: Do you think the Pacers will be able to reach the Eastern Conference Finals this season?

A: Yes, they can do it. If they've played well this season, they can have home-court advantage in the playoffs. The Pacers are good at home, they're not doing very well on the road, so if they can have home-court advantage in the playoffs, they'll have a chance.

Q: Who is your favorite Pacers player right now?

A: Favorite Pacers player right now... Corey Joseph was a good friend of mine, and of course Victor Oladipo.

Q: You had a good three-point shooting percentage when you played for the Pacers (38 percent in 2004-05), so why didn't you choose more three-point shots (averaging 3 shots per game)?

A: When I played in the NBA, the three-point shot wasn't what it is now. This is a new trend in NBA games. NBA players now shoot more three-pointers because they know more about the data analytics side of basketball than they did before, and they know more about it than I did 15 years ago when I played in the NBA.

Q: Klay Thompson shot 14 three-pointers in the game yesterday, who do you think is the better shooter compared to Stephen Curry?

A: Oh, 14 three-pointers, that's incredible, it's incredible. I think Clay and Curry are different, Clay is the best three-point shooter, yes, the ability to catch the ball, and at this point, Clay is the best. Curry can shoot in a lot of different situations, he can throw, he can shoot in the run, he can shoot at medium distance, dribble and shoot, in this case I will choose Curry. To catch the ball and shoot, Clay is the best pitcher I've ever seen.

Q: The best you've ever seen? Better than Ray Allen and your former teammate Reggie Miller?

A: Yeah, haha, I wouldn't tell Reggie about that, hahaha.

Q: Speaking of the league's top scorer, will Devon Booker be on your radar?

A: Booker is very good, he's a good pitcher, he can score very easily, all kinds of scoring methods. If I had to pick a player to execute the shot, I think I would pick Clay.

Q: You used to be a point guard in the team, so who is your favorite point guard among the active players?

A: There are a lot of good point guards in the league, I can name several, I'm a russell Westbrook super fan, I like his strong performance in the game, you know, how hard he plays. I'm also a super fan of Damian Lillard, he's a good friend of mine and I admire him. Of course, I'm also a fan of Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving, and I'm a fan of a lot of point guards.

Q: In recent seasons, NBA players have been injured frequently, what do you think is the reason behind this?

A: I think the reason is... You know, playing is not an easy thing to do, every day you have to pay continuously... It's a lot to get into the NBA, and the team's assistant coaches and staff provide a comprehensive training program, which is very physically demanding. I think when some players don't get their physical condition right and train with people who don't know your physical condition properly, it can damage the health of the players in the long run.

Q: Do you think NBA players will make fewer impacts on the basket for fear of injury?

A: No, it won't be like that, they have to hit the basket, and as a player, you don't think about injury, you play as you want on the court. If you think about injuries on the pitch, then you're going to get hurt.

Q: What do you think about the change in the rules of the NBA today, the rules now encourage offense, speed up the pace, so the score will be high, for the team and for the individual.

A: It's all about the rhythm of the game, all the rules are to speed up the game and make the score of the game higher. I think the rules at the moment liberate the movement of the players, and that's the most important thing, any time the player moves on the court and then you have more opportunities to shoot or make a layup in the open space, that's how to improve the score of the game.

Q: If you choose to return to the NBA, what aspect of your ability will you focus on improving?

A: I'm definitely going to be a better pitcher, (Q: You had over 38 percent shooting from three-point range at the time), which was a very good shooting performance. If it were now, my three-point shooting percentage would be above 40 percent, hahaha.

Q: Stephen Jackson said in an interview that he was working on a documentary about the "Auburn Hills Palace" with Jermaine O'Neal and Ci Shiping, and Jackson said that there would be a lot of things that were not known behind the scenes, and people were always criticizing the players involved. Can you share your opinion on this?

A: It's definitely worth a look, hahaha. Everyone will want to see this. Jackson was absolutely right that people didn't know everything that happened at the time, even weeks, or even months after the clashes. I think it's going to be interesting and I'm looking forward to being a part of it myself.

Q: You were playing for the Pacers when the "Auburn Hill Palace Incident" occurred, what impact do you think the conflict had on the team at the time?

A: I think, unfortunately, bad things happened. We were the best team in the NBA at the time, and we could easily win the NBA championship. Unfortunately, there was a fight, so none of us was able to achieve our dream of winning the NBA championship. It's the most important thing we've lost, and it's sad about that. But, you know, we have all 15 players, we respect each other, we're brothers, we take care of each other. I don't have any bad words for my brothers, it's just that unfortunately, bad things happened and that prevented us from winning the championship.

Q: You averaged 10+points (10.6) per game that season, and you consistently played well.

A: Before the "Auburn Hill Palace Incident", I was the sixth man on the team, and I played quite well. After the clashes, I became the guy on the team, and overnight, I changed my mindset – how do I play? Chance, the most important thing for me is the opportunity, the opportunity to show that I am that type of player, I can get it. They gave me the opportunity and I played well.

Q: Do you agree with the statement that every NBA player can perform at the star level as long as they get the opportunity from the coaching staff and management?

A: Every player who goes to the NBA deserves that opportunity, and they're in a league because they play basketball well. The NBA is a lot about opportunities, and when you get that opportunity, you have to be prepared. There are some people who get this opportunity, but they are not ready, which does not mean that they are not good enough, it is just that they do not take advantage of that opportunity. The most important thing for a player is to be prepared when the opportunity comes.

Q: Maybe this sudden opportunity will be a difficult test, when you get off the plane at 4:30 a.m. on an away trip, and then sleep for a few hours and have to get up to prepare for the night's game, how do you cope with this test?

A: The players understand that this is part of the game. We're able to have a rich life precisely because we're playing in the NBA, our salary, and everything else, and you don't complain about it, you know it's something you have to face.

Q: A lot of basketball fans want to be athletic enough to dunk on the basketball court, what advice do you give them to make them stronger and able to complete dunks without injury?

A: You'll have to prepare a few things for that. When I was young, I was able to play several sports, which helped me exercise different parts of my body, especially my legs. When I was a toddler, I would play speed skating, which helped me exercise the strength of my legs. Put it this way, the different things you do will help you strengthen your legs. You have to do different types of exercise outdoors, which makes my body stronger.

Q: Have you also been involved in rugby? Many NBA players have considered football before choosing basketball.

A: Yes, when I was a kid, I played rugby. I played rugby until grade 8 (around 14). I don't know why I chose basketball, I'm better at basketball. I also played football well, but playing basketball has a better future for me, so I started playing basketball.

Q: After you retired from the military, you opened a training gym with very advanced training equipment. Which aspect of how do you help young players mainly through this kind of training? Is it a stronger body, or is it to focus on teaching basketball skills?

A: There's no doubt that it's focused on technique, training shots, passing and dribbling. The main focus is on these things. And then there's faith, and we help the church help kids develop faith, you know, to make kids happy and enjoy what they're doing. It's about improving your basketball skills while enjoying yourself.

Q: Basic basketball training can be very hard and boring, how will you help children stay focused?

A: I think this is where our training gym does better than any other. We use technology to engage children in training and keep them learning at different levels. Another point is that today's children are different, they are all technology-oriented, and they have to rely on their way of learning. So, through technology, through software to let children learn, we teach children to play basketball in this way.

Q: In your experience, what are the mental and physical difficulties to overcome, and which aspects of the challenge are greater for young players?

A: I think most of the difficulties come from the mindset. Because self-confidence is a very important thing, you have to have confidence in yourself, if you lack confidence, physical strength and other factors will not play a role.

Q: Now you play the role of a coach, teaching a new generation of basketball players and training their skills.

A: Yes, I have teaching assistants in the training gym, and sometimes I go to the training gym to provide guidance. What we have to do is to exercise the children's abilities, let them have their own dreams, let them work hard to chase their dreams. I have two sons, one 9 and one 5, who give them the opportunity to pursue basketball as their career and it's fun to see kids enjoy it and make them better and thrive.

Q: Have both of your children inherited your basketball talents?

A: Well, I don't think that inheriting talent is something that can be inherited, you have to work hard to get talent. They're all pretty good, but they still have a lot of effort to put in, and that will need to improve every day. You can be very talented, but... There is a saying that having talent but not working hard doesn't work. You have to work hard and match your talents to achieve greatness. In fact, the saying goes, "Hard work can beat talent, if talent isn't hard enough." （Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard ）”

Q: Thank you very much for your interview with Tiger Poker and I wish you a pleasant life.

A: Thank you.

(Editor: Xiaohe)