NBA Q&A: Iman Shumpert

Courtesy of Steve Serby

Q: Do you think you’re perfect for the New York market?

A: I think so. I think I fit in.

Q: Fit in how?

A: I think New York just wants somebody that doesn’t care about anything but winning. I think a lot of big cities are like that. It’s a city thing. In Chicago, growing up there, that’s how we played. You play for something more than just yourself. You play to win, and that’s all that really matters. Something for me that’s big us like seeing a guy like J.R. [Smith] struggle throughout the game, and all of it goes out the window at the end ’cause all he wants to do is win. Things like that, that gets me amped up. ... In times of need, I don’t really care if I made the shot. ... I don’t care if a guy’s scoring on me — I mean I’m gonna be [ticked] that a guy’s scoring on me the whole game — but as long as I get that stop at the end and we win, I’m all smiles after the game. I could play terrible, [but] as long as we win I’m good.

Q: How badly do you sense this team wants to bring a championship back to New York?

A: It’s a bloodthirst. Like [Friday], we had an optional practice, and the guy that wanted to be at the practice the most is Carmelo [Anthony]. You got Melo dripping sweat, had to change shirts in an optional practice. You got Stat [Amar’e Stoudemire] on the side working his ass off. Only reason he didn’t play four-on-four was just because they forgot to bring his goggles. ... The motivation is there, the hunger is there. And when it starts with your best guys? It’s easy for it to trickle down.

Q: What is your definition of bloodthirst?

A: This is gonna sound bad me saying this, but I’m willing to fight for it. Like, that Boston-Knicks game at home, when the guys are like almost fighting? That’s what it is. That’s how bad people want to win.

Q: On this team?

A: On this team. I think there’s a lot of guys in the league like that, but when you got a whole team, and a whole city, that is willing to do whatever, like whatever goes in this game, is we want to win it that bad.

Q: What has Clyde Frazier told you about winning in New York?

A: He said there’s nothing better than winning a championship, but when you win it in New York, there’s no better city to win in ’cause New York is so uptight and everybody’s moving fast, and so mean and everybody’s going at each other. And it’s like, Knicks win a championship: “Oh hey sir, How you doing? How’s today? Your day going all right? Oh, don’t worry about it, keep the change, this round’s on us, man,” stuff like that. And he’s telling us, man, as long as we buy in to our head coach and we lock on as a team, we can win a championship and bring it back to New York, and that’s what we’re working to do.

Q: What’s so great about being you?

A: I’m the youngest guy on the Knicks, and I made it through an ACL year. Plus I got a head coach that actually likes me (chuckle). I know a lot of guys as rookies in the league, they’d be like, “Man, my coach, he messes with me all the time mentally,” I got a head coach that says, “I realty don’t care what you do as long as you play hard.” So it’s like I got all the confidence in the works, and I got guys like Melo and Anar’e that take so much attention off if me and key me just play off ’em. For so long, I’ve always been the guy on the team that’s gotta defend the best player, get a lot of rebounds, get a lot of assists, score the ball — I gotta do pretty much everything. It’s like, finally I could just sit back, play off people, who’ll [help] on certain parts of my game so that when the time comes in the league where I do have to be the go-to guy, I’ll have polished a lot of skills in my game.

Q: What is Knickstape?

A: Yeah, everybody’s always asking me about it. It’s a mixed tape of guys wearing a Knicks uniform. That’s all it is. It’s a mixed tape of guys and we thought it would be cool to take “mixed” out and put “Knicks.”

Q: What’s one anecdote about coach Mike Woodson that makes him unique?

A: The first day he became head coach, at halftime of the game — Melo’s going off. Melo’s got like 16 or 18 at half. We’re blowing the Trail Blazers out, we’re already up by 15, and we’re all hyped up. We’re like in the locker room laughing, everybody’s like talking, communicating like, “Man, we need to do this, ah you missed a layup on this though, we gotta clean this up, we gotta do this,” so we’re all talking. And Woody comes in there, he looks like he’s [ticked]. And so we all like sorta tighten up. He goes straight up to Melo: “I don’t give a damn how many points you got. You have no rebounds right now. You can’t play for me with no rebounds.” I think Melo finished with like seven, eight rebounds after that. But it’s like the fact that he walked in, and just walked straight up to Melo’s face and did that, I think it established in the room for the rest of the year how serious he was about he doesn’t care how much we’re winning by if we’re not doing the things we’re supposed to do.

Q: How would you characterize his motivational style?

A: Break you down and build you up. He’s probably the best I’ve seen at breaking you down, building you up and then giving you that confidence when we’re out on the floor. If you make a mistake, it’s not like, “Man, you’re dumb for doing that.” It’s like, “Man, you’re way better than that.”

Q: Guys love playing for him?

A: He’s a player’s coach. He played the game, so I think he just knows how to deal with it. ... I might not touch the ball a whole half, and he’ll still yell at me like, “You don’t got no points,” and I’ll be like, “Man!” He’ll be like, “You act like you can’t steal the ball and go lay it up. I didn’t say you couldn’t steal the ball and go lay it up.” And it’s stuff like that that just gives you that self-check like, “You’re right.” He’s like, “You’re 6-5, 225, you’re telling me you can’t steal the ball and go lay it up? You can’t get an offensive rebound and dunk it on somebody?” It’ll challenge you.

Q: Do you feel like you can be a star in this league?

A: I do.

Q: What was emotional low point following your ACL injury in last year’s playoffs?

A: After surgery. And after the first couple of weeks, you have to stay laying down, not doing much, stay drugged up. And then, you’re supposed to slowly start getting off the drugs, so you have to deal with a lot more pain. And I’d say just sitting down, not being able to get comfortable, not being able to sleep. And then just seeing the world move without you. I had my best friend with me. He’s taking care of me, making sure I’m good, but it’s like he’s got other stuff going on he wants to do, so I can’t tell him, “No you can’t do it ’cause I might need you,” so I would just try and tough it out sometimes. But then once I let him leave, it’s like, “Man (chuckle), I wish somebody would be right here with me right now.”

Q: What was it like watching the road games in the playoffs on TV?

A: It’s like at times you fight yourself, “Like maybe I coulda helped.” Maybe I couldn’t, but I wanted to be out there with my guys.

Q: You knew it was a serious injury when it first happened?

A: Yeah ... yeah. I never felt nothing like that

Q: How would you describe what it felt like?

A: It felt like something popped, and then, it felt like a grinding, twisting feeling. As soon as I felt it, I just pulled my leg up, and then it felt like it went back in the socket. It felt like it was detached and then went back to where it was supposed to be. By that time, I could already feel it swelling up.

Q: Did you fear that it could be a career-ending injury?

A: I didn’t know what it was to tell you the truth, but I just knew it was bad.

Q: How long will it take you to get back to 100 percent?

A: Well, health-wise, I am 100 percent. I think just skill set and rhythm, I don’t know, ’cause I never dealt with nothing like this. So I hope soon but, we’ll see.

Q: Are you playing with your old swagger?

A: I think confidence-wise I’ll never really struggle. I know that sometimes, maybe I’ll have a drive that last year was a clear layup, but this year I might pull up or mishandle the ball and cause me to have to go to a counter move or something like that. Soon I’ll get my rhythm back. I know it’s just me not playing in nine months, and my original instinct has to match with my skill set ’cause I [was] out for nine months, so it’s just a constant battle of those two catching up, and when they finally do ... as long as it’s before playoffs, we’ll be fine.

Q: How gratifying was the moment you made it back on the court?

A: It was the best thing I could remember on my life, man. I thought making it to the league was the best feeling ever, but I think getting through that eight months, nine months ... wasn’t a better feeling than that.

Q: Why are you so confident?

A: I’ve never seen a not-confident person get any respect. Where I’m from, it’s almost as if you gotta have some sorta cocky mean streak or else you can’t even get on the court. When I was younger, I remember calling “Next,” and somebody just sorta bullied me out — “No, no, we called it,” whatever, and I just waited. And then, as I waited, “No, we called next,” and then this person was like, “No, we called next after him,” and it was like before I knew it, I was like four games out. So it’s like next time, it’s like, “No, I got next. If you want to run with me, you can. If you got a problem we could fight.”

Q: What’s the difference in the on-court temperament of year’s team?

A: This year we got Jason Kidd and Raymond Felton. They just have a great feel for the game, and I think it keeps our team at ease. Now when we’re in a jam, we know, everybody just be cool, [Jason Kidd will] probably go pull something out of the hat. And then you got the luxury of if everything else fails, throw it to Melo, and he might just hit a turnaround at the buzzer,

Q: Do you think this team is a legitimate championship contender?

A: Definitely, I think so. I think it’s a whole mental thing, us getting out of the first round. I think once we get out of the first round we’ll be fine. It’s not only us, it’s the city, and I think this year, adding a Jason Kidd, already having a Tyson Chandler, a Rasheed Wallace — these guys all have rings. ... Rasheed Wallace is on my ear during a game telling me on the road, “Look, we only have to be within six points with six minutes to go.” When I see six minutes in the fourth quarter, and we’re down six, in my head, I’m thinking, “Man, we need to hurry up and get a steal. I need to hurry up and start getting things moving. I’m not trying to make this a free throw match.” And they’re in no sort of panic at all. Jason Kidd is trying to almost grow me up as fast as he can with just learning time, score, situation. He’s trying to say like, “Look, it’s gonna be a time where you’re gonna have to make these type of decisions — let me tell you what I know about this, this, this ... how the ref’s [are] calling it, what we need to do. Every timeout, he’s right here.

Q: So if you get past the first round, what do you see?

A: I think that’ll have just the whole city behind us. After we get out of the first round this year, you’ll have a totally different look at the team. But until we get out of the first round, people aren’t gonna take us serious, and we know that.

Q: Then once you get out of the first round, how far can this team take it?

A: I already told you, I think we can be championship contenders.

Q: Should Knicks fans look forward to some Shumpsanity this spring?

A: No. I don’t do Shumpsanity. I’m not piggybacking off of other players and what they do. I don’t like that. It kinda [ticks] me off. Even the Linsanity thing, it kinda [ticked] me off, ’cause there was Vinsanity. You can’t do Linsanity if there was already Vinsanity. Even Jeremy [Lin] was mad about that. Jeremy didn’t say do, but I know he was mad about that.

Q: Are you recognized around town?

A: Yeah.

Q: Do you enjoy that?

A: I think it’s cool. I like that people are such big basketball fans, that they even know me is an honor. I do like to not be recognized, though, sometimes I just like to chill. ‘Cause I’m 22. I like to have fun. I like to joke around and just chill, so I like when I’m in an environment where I could just be me and just chill and be mellowed out.

W: What’s it like being one of New York’s most eligible bachelors?

A: (Chuckle). I don’t know. I guess it’s cool. I haven’t gotten a chance to pay it much mind. But it’s definitely cool to be single in New York.

Q: Could you elaborate on that?

A: Being single in New York, you’re around all the stars, you’re around high fashion, you talk about women that can dress their [butt] off, and ... I love fashion. I like all the food. I’m always at restaurants and stuff, and you see beautiful women everywhere. The best seat in the house is to be watching a game at Madison Square Garden — and we’re the show! So, I’m the youngest guy on the show. (Chuckle) What better position would you be in? Plus I got a high-top fade (smile).

Q: When did you start rapping?

A: I’ve been rapping since I was in like sixth grade. ... It’s a great brain exercise for me ’cause I’m not in school right now. Some people read . I like to put words together.

Q: So on a road trip you’ll put words together?

A: If I feel like it. I haven’t lately because I sat out nine months. I’m so happy to be in basketball, all I’m doing is just studying, studying, studying ... my last game. I’m studying what’s to come, who I have to guard. ... I’m trying to rid myself of all the mistakes that I’m making just from sitting out nine months, that I don’t have time to think about anything else. ... I do have time, but right now, I’m so locked in that I can’t. ... I’m like a kid in a candy store. All I want to talk about is basketball. I’m like annoying my teammates (chuckle). I think Melo’ll be like, “Shump, we at lunch, man, right now I’m worried about my sandwich. I’m not really worried about you getting better right now. I’m sorry. You can’t talk about basketball with me all say. I didn’t sit out nine months. You have to calm down.”

Q: If there was a national emergency, would you let Air Force One land on your head?

A: (Laugh).

Q: You get a hard time about your flat-top, right?

A: Yeah, I get all the corny jokes.

Q: How would you describe that hair style?

A: It’s throwback. All the guys that I watched ... Robert Horry had it. Penny [Hardaway] had it. Stephon Marbury. ... Maybe they didn’t grow it as high, but they had the high-top fade. I don’t let it grow anymore. It was just until I returned, so I could see the progress of how long it took.

Q: You bought a game-worn Mike Woodson jersey you bought on eBay.

A: I’m getting it framed.

Q: What’s your favorite tattoo?

A: I just got one on my forearm. It’s “Mama’s Boy, Daddy’s Reflection.” It’s me giving my mother a hug and a kiss, and then a picture under it of my father in his wedding tux, and he’s in the mirror, and I’m looking in the mirror, so I’m seeing him. “Mama’s Boy, Daddy’s Reflection.”

Q: You have a basketball camp in Illinois for special needs kids.

A: In high school, I had gym, and with me just being so competitive, I would go too hard in gym class. So one year, I went so hard I got hurt in gym. I went up for a dunk and I broke my fall, and hurt my wrist. Everybody’s like [ticked] — “Like Shump, we got a game today, you’re hurt.” I still played well enough for us to win, but everybody was mad at me for going so hard in gym. What they came up with as an alternative was, they give me a credit for gym, but I wouldn’t go to gym. I would help with the special needs kids. At first, I was kinda like, “I kinda want to be with my friends.” And then the first day I go ... it’s like those kids gravitated towards me, for whatever reason. I m a nice person, but I’ve never seen kids be so excited that I was hanging out with ’em. And, it was like every day after that, even if I had a horrible, horrible, horrible day going, when I [got] to that class, I was smiling, and I would have fun. And, there was kids in wheelchairs, there’s kids that can’t talk, there’s kids that maybe they just don’t have any social skills. ... There was a kid in there named Joe, and he could dunk a basketball. And his only thing was he couldn’t express himself at all to anybody. But he could go out there and really play a sport. Those guys, they really love doing what they do, but maybe they just don’t have that one thing that makes them quote-unquote normal, and holds them outside of being with the rest of the kids. It was a great learning experience for me to be around those kids. ... I love putting a smile on those kids’ faces, because it’s not their fault that they have something that makes them in need of special care. So I always try and keep that open place in my heart to make sure that those kids smile. ... It’s a bond that you can ‘t explain. It’s a feeling you can’t explain, and that helps me when I have those days where ... especially during rehab, you got that day where you just don’t feel like being there: “I don’t feel like going through this pain today.” And you got that little memory of, “These kids would love to be in this position with only having to rehab their knee.”

Q: Do you have a message to Knicks fans?

A: Thank you for being not only patient but behind me during my rehab. ... And, I’d say, moving forward, just stay behind this team, just stay with us, because this team could do something special, and we need that energy, we need that focus and we need that support, so I say just stay behind this team and stay with us, because it’s gonna be a good outcome. I really feel that in my heart.