NBA Q&A: Kendall Marshall

Posted by Unknown on Saturday, March 23, 2013 with No comments
Courtesy of Paul Coro
Question: What is the story behind the photo of you as a kid and Jermaine O’Neal at All-Star weekend?
Answer: There was a thing called the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA. You do this little clip of you playing basketball. It was 11 shots and they select 10 guys from across the country to come. We went there and we got to play a little game and Bill Walton was my coach and that was cool. When we weren’t doing something with the Jr. NBA, I was just sitting in that lobby waiting for players. We were staying at the players’ hotel. I would just stand and wait for them to walk by and take pictures with them. I had a whole photo album of pictures with them. I was waiting in the lobby for like five hours one day. I left to go get a bag of chips and they said Kobe (Bryant) just walked by so I didn’t get to meet him. It was a fun experience that I definitely treasure.
Q: Who were you most excited to meet that weekend?
A: Adam Sandler. It was definitely him. At that time, my favorite movie was “Mr. Deeds.” So when I saw him, I didn’t even recognize him as Adam Sandler when I was that young. He was Mr. Deeds.
Q: What about which player you were most excited to meet?
A: I was excited about Richard Jefferson. I was looking forward to seeing Dirk Nowitzki, but I didn’t get to see him. He was my favorite player.
Q: Why were Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Williams, the “White Chocolate” one, your favorite players?
A: My favorite team was Dallas. And before Dallas, my favorite team was Sacramento. I was a big Jason Williams fan when he was at Florida and the first time I watched him play was at Madison Square Garden and I just kept with him from there. I liked how much he passed and he was a spark that was fun to watch.
Q: As a pro player, have you adopted anything from your heroes?
A: Some of it comes up in passing from Jason Kidd, Jason Williams, Steve Nash and players like that. I try to reciprocate because those are great players.
Q: What did Jermaine say when you showed him that photo?
A: He was surprised. He said it made him feel old. It’s something that I don’t think a lot of people get to say comes full circle like that. It is definitely something to cherish.