NBA Q&A: Drew Gooden

Courtesy of Jodie Valade

Q: What do you have going on with your goatee? It's really long.

A: This is something I started doing last season, I wanted to see if I could go the whole summer with it. Then summer was over, and it was training camp, and coach (Scott Skiles) asked me when I was going to cut it off, and I told him, "End of season." So now I guess I'm going to have it throughout the season. I've got everyone (on the team) growing one now, too.

Q: Do you always have to do something unique with your facial hair? You had a beard for a while, and the infamous "Duck Tail."

A: I took a break for a couple years, but this might be the last one growing where it's all the way black. I'm getting some gray hairs, so this might be my last young goatee.

Q: You had a Twitter war going on with Chicago's Joakim Noah recently that ended with a contest in which a fan sent a picture of Kirk Hinrich's jersey in a toilet. How did that happen?

A: He (Noah) responded to something I said when I was in Chicago after the Bulls just beat us. Then he Tweets at me, "Quit clowning and just eat your food, Goodybags," That's an inside joke between me and him, but then everyone else thought it was funny. So I had to respond back to him with a P.F. Chang's Tweet. It went from that and I started catching a lot of [flak] from the Chicago fans, so I was going to give two extra tickets away, and I needed to come up with something clever. Unfortunately it ended up being Kirk Hinrich's jersey. It actually shows you the power of Twitter. You know what I'm saying? You can tweak it and use it in the right way, and it can be beneficial.

Q: What are your fondest memories of playing in Cleveland?

A: I think those battles against Detroit and the playoff series when we won to advance to the Finals is probably one of the most memorable games to be a part of. That's probably the highest level of basketball I've ever played in my life. To have the opportunity and actually get to that point was amazing.

Q: You're a pretty gregarious guy. Have you ever said anything to a reporter that you wish you wouldn't have?

A: Nah, nah. Never. There's actually a couple times I wish I would have said something. But I've had to bite my tongue and stay professional.