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"FacebookPinterest\n\n Blog Entry #10: February 28, 2011\n\n In Which Kevin Recounts His First NBA All-Star Experience\n\n Like I've said all along, it doesn't matter how you make the All Star Game, as long as you get there\u2014because once you do, nobody can ever take it away from you. Well, I'm an NBA All Star now, and I always will be. But the way I got there was a bit unusual, that's for sure.\n\n Just from talking to my agent, a few other people around the league and doing the math in my head in the days leading up to the announcement of the Western Conference reserves, I knew it most likely wasn't gonna happen this year. But all along, we knew that David Stern, the NBA commissioner, had to pick someone to replace Yao Ming, who was voted to the team but couldn't play because of an injury. We knew that slot was out there, and we always thought I had a pretty good shot at it. So when the picks came out for the reserves\u2014and I wasn't on the list\u2014I wasn't too surprised. But I also knew it wasn't over. And I couldn't complain about any of the reserves. Tim Duncan is a future Hall of Famer, and he's on the team with the best record in the league so far this year\u2014obviously he has to get picked. Blake Griffin\u2014he's having a great year, the All Star Game is in Los Angeles, and the Clippers are having a better year than us. How can you be bitter about those guys? \n\n When the reserves were announced, I was in Toronto for a game, and after I saw them, I just turned off my phone for the night. I didn't take any calls, didn't read any texts. I just kind of let it be. I didn't want to deal with all the condolences\u2014but also, I knew it wasn't over. David Stern still had to replace Yao. The next day, the whole afternoon went by and he still hadn't made his pick. So 45 minutes before the game, I checked my phone one last time. No texts, no calls, nothing. So I turned it off and tossed it in my bag. Thirty-eight minutes before the game is when we start our team meeting, and usually they clear out all the reporters and cameramen. But this time Coach Rambis said, \"Hold on, we have an announcement to make.\" I had no idea what was going on. That's when Coach told everyone I had made the All Star Team. The video of me reacting\u2014you can see how shocked I am; I really thought Coach was messing with me\u2014is on YouTube. They even showed it on SportsCenter that night.\n\n After the game\u2014which we lost, by the way, so that sucked\u2014I had a ton of texts, phone calls, everything, and I didn't open any of them until I got back home. But the first call I returned was to my dad, and that was a pretty emotional phone call, because he was the one who put the ball in my hands from an early age. It was one of those moments, just like when I got drafted, when I played my first game, signed my first contract. While we were talking, that was when it finally really sunk in\u2014the moment where I was like, \"Damn. I'm headed to the All Star Game.\" \n\n Now let me tell you about All Star Weekend, and it'll be fast, because man, it was constant motion. There was never really any stopping or any downtime. On Friday, we had a meeting for all the Western Conference All Stars at the Marriott in downtown Los Angeles. All the players are there, and the purpose of it is just to go over the basics for the whole weekend\u2014practice times, where you need to be and when, what to wear, stuff like that. But you walk in that room, and it's a pretty amazing group. You got Dirk, you got Kobe, you got Manu and Tim. All down the list. And then you have the young'uns\u2014the first times, Blake, Russell Westbrook and me. There's a point where you take a step back and you're like, Whoa, look at all these guys. It was very cool.\n\n Spurs coach Greg Popovich led the meeting, and he was pretty funny. He said, \"Guys, we're gonna go out and have fun. We're not really gonna run any sets. We're gonna get up and down. And all of you are gonna play a lot and get good minutes\u2014except for probably Russell, Blake and Kevin. You guys are all f--ked.\" We get it\u2014we were the new guys. We know we're not gonna get too much All Star love from a coach who's been there as often as Pop. All the vets got a kick out of that line.\n\n Most of the weekend was autograph signings and meetings with sponsors. But it was a good time. And during the rookie / sophomore game at the Staples Center, I was up in a box with some NBA legends\u2014Bill Russell, Bill Walton\u2014and some big-shot corporate folks. David Stern was there and he called me over to come say hello. So I got to say thank you and tell him that he definitely made the right pick.\n\n That night, I hosted a big party with Blake Griffin at the Congo Room. We had Fabolous and Snoop Dogg performing, so it was a real good time. Hosting a party is nice because it doesn't really come with many actual duties. You bring as many friends as you want, you get a whole section roped off right next to the stage, and \u2026 that's basically it. We just partied the whole night. It was one of the few chances all weekend where I got to kick back and just have a good time. And since this is GQ, I know it was important to look good, and I have to say: I did well for myself. I had on a nice suit, brown shoes, and a sweater with a button up underneath.\n\n Saturday night was the three-point shooting contest and the dunk contest, and I was courtside. Unfortunately, the three-point contest was, well, it was a very, very cold competition this year. A lot of guys just didn't shoot well at all. And that added to my bitterness about not being in it. Yeah, that's right: I wanted to be in the three-point content. My shooting percentage was good enough, but I don't think I had enough attempts, so I wasn't eligible. That is a big future goal of mine. I'm gonna win that thing someday. Because the skills competition\u2014the dribbling race\u2014that's probably never happening for me. And the dunk contest? That's definitely never happening for me. But the three-point contest? Shoot, I could've won that this year!\n\n As for the dunk contest: definitely entertaining\u2014especially compared to last year's, where the consensus was that it was not very good at all. This year? I thought we had seen just about every dunk imaginable, but they came up with some new ones this year. And for my money, the two-hoop dunk by Javale McGee was the best of the night. There's very few people\u2014in the history of the NBA, really\u2014who could have done that dunk. He's a seven footer and just so lanky. Not many guys have the length and athleticism to put down a dunk like that. But at the same time, some of Blake Griffin's attempts were unbelievable. And I know some people think the dunk itself wasn't so great when Blake jumped over that car, but still: the guy jumped over a car! On national television! How many people can say they've done that? Right: one.\n\n And last but not least: the main event\u2014the All Star game itself. I'll remember my first one forever. I got to take three shots, and I made one of them. I got on the board. You know, big men don't get a lot of love in those games. But I got a few rebounds, a few shot attempts, and I had one great outlet pass to Chris Paul before the half. And I did some jawing with Kobe, which is always fun. Every time he got a rebound, he would look at me and point and smile and wink. He clearly wanted to outrebound me, and Kobe almost always backs up his talk. He ended up with fourteen for the game. So bottom line: All Star Weekend was a great experience. And it made me very thirsty to get back.\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #9: Jan. 31, 2011\n\n In Which Kevin Vents About Yet Another Heartbreaking Loss and Breaks Down His All-Star Prospects\n\n For some reason, it seems like every post on this blog comes just after a heartbreaking loss. It's been happening a lot this season\u2014just one of those things a young team on the rise has to go through, I guess\u2014and this time it was against Oklahoma City. They beat us in overtime after we had led most of the way, and I had a chance to win the game with a buzzer-beater at the end of regulation. And I thought it was going in: it was a 15-foot hook shot\u2014not the easiest shot\u2014but when it left my hand it felt good. I keep telling myself, \"Man, that thing's in.\" And it went down and around and rattled out and did everything but go in. So then we went into overtime, and that's when Kevin Durant just completely took over. He was just unbelievable. It's tough to stop a guy who's 6-foot-11 with a 7-foot-5 wingspan and he's shooting right over the top of people. In the NBA, good offense usually beats good defense, and especially when it's the guy who's the leading scorer in the league. You hope he'll miss one every once in a while, but at one point he rattled off something like 15 points in a row.\n\n These close losses are getting tough to take. When it's a blowout, obviously that's tough too, but it's different. Those close ones\u2014when you're right there until the very end\u2014and they keep stacking up and stacking up... It's a very tough pill to swallow. Luke Ridnour, who sits to the left of me in the locker room\u2014I can see it wearing on him, because he's never been in a situation like this. He's been on teams before that have lost games, but not as many as we've lost, and the way we've lost them. And he has to carry a lot of the load at the point guard position, and I can definitely see it bugging him. But he still keeps coming in every day, working hard. He's a consummate professional. And that's what you have to do. Keep your head up every day in practice, remind yourself that you're living the dream right now playing in the NBA. Also, it's a reminder that we are a very young team. We know that there'll be changes to the lineup\u2014maybe sooner, maybe later\u2014but the cornerstones of this franchise are already here. And we're only going to get better. \n\n After we lost to the Thunder, their coach Scott Brooks said, \"They are where we were two years ago.\" And I think he's right: there are a lot of similarities. That season they only won 23 games, but they had so much talent and they were one of the youngest teams in the NBA. And they had a lot of good-character guys who were willing to do what they had to in order to take that next step. That's what I keep telling myself: that's going to be us soon.\n\n One big factor in our future is Ricky Rubio. He's either going to come play for us and have a real impact on our team, or he's going to have a lot of value around the league. One way or another, he's a vital piece hanging out there. And for us to move 100 percent forward, something needs to happen with him soon.\n\n On a personal note, as most of you know, I've had a pretty good year so far. And as a result, there's a lot of talk out there about me making the NBA All-Star Team. Which would be excellent, because this year's game is in Los Angeles, where I played college ball at UCLA. One way or another, I'll be there, either as a player or a spectator. Hopefully I'll be playing.\n\n Right now, it looks like it's gonna be really close. I've got a shot at a reserve slot, and the coaches pick those. Here's how it works: the head coaches in the Western Conference all get ballots and they have to pick two forwards, two guards, two centers. I think I have a pretty good rapport with the coaches. And as far as numbers go, I'm a lock. But at the same time, the coaches could say, \"OK, well, Kevin has had a great season so we should give him recognition\u2014but at the same time the Timberwolves haven't been doing too great.\" Because it's not just about individual play. So I'd say my chances are probably 50-50. Maybe even a bit less. I'm hoping and praying. It would be great for the Timberwolves, great for my family, and obviously great for me, but we'll see.\n\n At this point, I'd say it's probably between me, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge\u2014for one spot. And with the game being in Los Angeles, Blake probably has an edge, especially when you consider his high-flying dunks and the way the Clippers have been playing as of late. It's going to be hard to deny any one of us. There are going to be a few guys left off who are well-deserving, and I'm just hoping that it's not me. The roster is announced on February 3rd\u2014this Thursday. So wish me luck.\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #8: Jan. 12, 2011\n\n In Which Kevin Explains Why He's Rejoining Twitter and Hypes His Big Appearance on The Suite Life with Zack and Cody\n\n The big news in my off-the-court world is that I rejoined Twitter just before New Year's. Yes, re-joined. Back in 2009, I was in that first wave of professional athletes who got on Twitter, and if you ask me, I was pretty good at it. I was pretty big name for a while. I had a huge amount of followers, and I really enjoyed it. I loved the connection with the fans.\n\n So then here's what happened. A few days after the end of my rookie season, I was out in Maui on vacation. The Four Seasons. Really nice. It's one of my last days there, and I see I've got a text from Kevin McHale, the Timberwolves' head coach at the time, and he says, \"Hey, sorry, big fella, I just wanted you to be the first to know that I'm not going to be back next year.\" Now, I'm on vacation, so I'm checking my phone maybe once a day, I haven't seen the news, I don't even have my laptop with me. So immediately I'm thinking, everybody already knows about this. It's a big deal, but at the same time it's no big deal because everybody knows. But of course I'm upset by it, so immediately I decide to tweet it. I wrote, \"Today is a sad day ... Kevin McHale will NOT be back as head coach this season.\" Well, as you can probably guess, everybody didn't know. Actually, pretty much nobody knew. I fid all that. And oh man, it was everywhere. Pardon the Interruption. Around the Horn. It was even on the news ticker in Times Square. It was basically the first time a player had broken a huge story like that on Twitter, and I didn't even mean to do it.\n\n In case you're wondering, no, I didn't get yelled it. But I certainly took a lot of crap for it. Lotsa grief. And then every time I did something or someone told me something, they'd be like, \"Now make sure you don't tweet this.\" And most of the time I'm thinking, \"Well, I'm going to do whatever I want. What happened to the first amendment?\" I mean, that's what we have Twitter for, as long as you keep it within the confines of reasonable behavior. And for me, I just wanted it to be something I could do that was mine and not have anyone telling me to do this or that. So after a while, I was like, \"Screw it. I'm going to take a little break and come back eventually.\" I shut down my account completely, lost all my followers.\n\n Why am I coming back now? It's New Years. Fresh starts, and all that. It was time. Plus people kept asking me wherever I went when I was coming back, whether it was fans or teammates or guys around the league. And at the World Championships in Istanbul, it kept coming up: when am I going to get back on twitter?\n\n Well, here I am. Follow me. I've got about 6800 right now and I want a lot more, so help me out.\n\n My other big news\u2014and I know you guys were all waiting for this one\u2014is my guest appearance on The Disney Channel show, The Suite Life With Zach and Cody. It's airing this week, on Friday, Jan. 14, and here's a little teaser about the episode. We filmed it this past summer, right before I went home to Portland for the 4th of July weekend. I had heard of the show, and my sister was a fan, so when they asked me to come on I was like, \"Of course.\" The whole episode is about basketball, and I'm on with Dwight Howard and Deron Williams. Those guys have good personalities. Especially Dwight\u2014he's like a little kid. He acts like he's young enough to be on that show on a consistent basis. Everybody was very laid back, very cool, and fortunately we didn't have too many lines to memorize.\n\n My editor here at GQ teased me a bit about my wardrobe on the show\u2014it's true, Dwight definitely outdressed me. He brought it out his best for this one. And I remember that right before we filmed, I had just had two suits dry-cleaned, and one was a bit more flashy, and one was a bit more subtle and professional. And since it was Disney, I went with the subtle one. What can I say? This was before I started this blog with GQ. If that happened now, I'd call those guys up and be like, \"Hey listen, I'm going to need some help with Disney real quick. I have to look very, very GQ for this.\"\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #7: Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Gets in the Christmas Spirit By Selecting Very Special Gifts for All of His Teammates\n\n We just wrapped up a terrible road trip. Six games, and we lost all of them. And Tuesday was the worst of all of them\u2014we played the Clippers at the Staples Center and got beat pretty badly. Just brutal. Nothing was going right for us. Nobody had fresh legs. And we didn't ecute as a whole team. When your team is out of sync in a game, you can feel it right away. And early on against the Clippers. I was thinking to myself, \"This just doesn't feel right.\" We kept turning the ball over. We were settling for nothing but jump shots, and we're not a jump-shooting team. The effort just wasn't there. To be at the end of long road trip and play that poorly\u2014especially when we really needed a win\u2014was very frustrating. The plane ride home was definitely on the quiet side. If we had won four out of six, or five out of six, we would've been loud and crazy. But we didn't even get one. So it wasn't the happiest flight in the world. Getting home really helps. You get to sleep in your own bed, eat a home-cooked meal, use your own shower, lay on your couch\u2014simple stuff like that makes a difference. \n\n Especially when it's the week leading up to Christmas. So for this blog post, I'm gonna do something a little different and give \"gifts\" to all of my teammates. Not actual gifts\u2014we have a Secret Santa thing on the team for that. More like what I think each guy could use in the new year. So let's get to it.\n\n Mike Beasley: A SpongeBob SquarePants: The Collectors Edition DVD Box Set.\n\n Whenever we're in the training room, he's got SpongeBob on the TV and he's sitting there laughing his ass off. It helps him relax, I guess. That's just Beasley. Sometimes somebody will walk in and see him, shake their head and just keep on moving.\n\n Luke Ridnour: A UCLA jersey for his son, with \"Lil Rid\" on the back.\n\n His son is a year or two old, and I wanna turn him against Oregon (where his dad went to college) and get him focused on the right school as quickly as possible. The kid will probably never see it. His dad will probably use it as a diaper for the kid, but that's OK. Gotta start somewhere.\n\n Corey Brewer: An unlimited, all-you-can-eat, lifetime pass to the Old Country Buffet.\n\n We need to put some weight on that guy. Because he is 6-foot-9, 185 pounds. Which is insane.\n\n Darko Milicic: A NASA-engineered adamantium coating, like the thing Wolverine has. \n\n So he can recover more quickly from his injuries.\n\n Wayne Ellington: A Snuggie\u2014the blanket you put your arms and hands through.\n\n That guy sleeps constantly. Every minute of every flight we take. If our plane was going down, he'd still be asleep. The deepest sleeper I've ever seen.\n\n Bassy Telfair: A new set of very expensive earrings.\n\n Oh man. He has very nice jewelry, and early on in the season we were messing around on the bus\u2014he was hitting me in the face, giving me wet willies, so I smacked him, and his earring fell out. And we could never find it. I felt terrible. Let's just say it was a pretty nice earring. Luckily insurance pays for stuff like that. But still, let's get him a new one for Christmas.\n\n Martell Webster: Oreo cookies. \n\n Needs no explanation.\n\n Anthony Tolliver: A black trenchcoat, sunglasses, and a cameo role in Blade 6. \n\n If you've never seen him, he looks exactly like Wesley Snipes in Blade.\n\n Nikola Pekovic: Size 14 velcro sneakers. \n\n This video should explain why.\n\n Jonny Flynn: A chance to be the warm-up act for comedian Kevin Hart.\n\n He is loud. Gregarious. Always laughing. Always joking. He is a funny guy. He has a very infectious laugh. Everyone's drawn to it. And everyone calls him Kevin Hart.\n\n Sundiata Gaines: A copy of The Idiot's Guide to Boo-Ray, and an advance on his next paycheck.\n\n He's always losing his money in the card games on the plane. Always.\n\n Wes Johnson: The new Michael Jackson dancing video game\n\n He's always dancing. Weight room\u2014dancing. Locker room\u2014dancing. He's pretty decent, too. I'm not really one to judge.\n\n Lazar Hayward: A Ray Lewis jersey.\n\n Because he looks just like him\u2014we actually all call him Ray Lewis\u2014and he's a strong kid.\n\n Kosta Koufos: A lifetime supply of CertainDri anti-perspirant.\n\n He sweats constantly, like no one I've ever seen. He reminds me of that scene in Along Came Polly, when Ben Stiller's face gets mashed into that guys sweaty chest. Kosta is that guy.\n\n Head Coach Kurt Rambis: A new barber.\n\n And I'd also have him bring back the Clark Kent glasses from back in the day, and that baller 'stache.\n\n Assistant Coach Bill Laimbeer: A size XXXXXXXXXL orange hunting jacket. \n\n He likes to go hunting, and he's a huge guy\u20146-foot-11, like 330 pounds.\n\n And last, since I've taken some shots at all the other guys, time to dish it out on myself....\n\n Kevin Love: One free grooming seminar from GQ's style experts.\n\n In case you didn't know, there is a lot of irony in me doing a blog for GQ. I can't grow my beard in all the way. I'm not at all well-groomed. I could use the help.\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #6: Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Discusses LeBron's Return to Cleveland, and Teammate Michael Beasley's Breakout Season For Minnesota\n\n The big conversation around the league is LeBron going back to Cleveland tonight for the first time. Everybody's talking about it\u2014in the paper, on Twitter, Facebook, on ESPN, at GQ. It's hard to avoid, and yes, it's definitely the hot topic in locker rooms around the NBA as well. All season, everybody's been looking at the box scores and saying, \"Oh, how'd the Heat do? Did they win? Did they lose again? Wow, they lost again?\" A lot of us are kind of in shock that a team everyone said was going to go 72-10, like the 1995-96 Bulls, is now just barely over .500. Everybody has their opinions about what's going wrong, but I just think they haven't played together enough, so the chemistry's off. That said, I'd be really interested to see what's going on in that locker room, what's happening at practice. Because it's a crazy situation, and it's going to stay that way all year long because of the big three they have.\n\n And then there was that bump with LeBron and Miami's coach, Erik Spoelstra. Some guys in the league think the whole thing was bogus\u2014just an accident getting played up. Other guys think LeBron was definitely showing up Spoelstra, like him saying, \"I'm the man on this team.\" Personally, I don't know what it was. I wish I could see the video from the other angle, because in the footage you only see LeBron from behind. You can't see his face. Still, it was weird to watch. I kept looking to see if LeBron put his arm out after the bump, like \"my bad,\" but he just kept moving. And whether it was intentional or not, it's crazy to see a guy bump into his coach like that. But I really don't think it was intentional. LeBron is very conscious of his brand. And I just don't think he'd do something like that on purpose.\n\n Some guys around the league are definitely enjoying watching the Heat struggle. I'm sure Dan Gilbert, the Cleveland owner, is chuckling. And I'm sure he's looking forward to the game tonight. I can only imagine what it's going to be like in that arena\u2014and if the Cavs found a way to win, what will that be like? I can't even imagine what people will be saying if that happens. But if I had to wager on how LeBron is gonna play, I think he's going to try to absolutely kill them. And look, regardless of all the other stuff going on, Miami needs to win, so I think LeBron is gonna step up and play great. I think he's gonna have a triple-double night.\n\n Here's what I do know: We don't have a game of our own tonight, so I will definitely be watching. Just as a pure basketball fan. There will be lots of eyes on television sets tonight, including mine.\n\n Before I wrap this up, I wanna talk about the Timberwolves, and especially about how my man Michael Beasley is playing, because he arrived in Minnesota with a lot of question marks and he's just been awesome. People ask me a lot if I'm surprised at how he's played, and I say, \"Well, I'm surprised at the 42-point games, but I'm not surprised he's putting up great numbers.\" I've been friends with Mike since the seventh grade. He's always been that talented, he's always done stuff like this, and that's why I was telling everyone before the season that he was gonna score consistently in the 20s every night. Because that's what he's always done.\n\n Coming out of that Miami situation, where they traded him away for so little, it definitely put a chip on his shoulder. It hasn't been extremely visible, but I can tell it's there. He wants to prove himself. He likes the opportunity to show he can be an elite scorer. Defenses are gonna focus on him a lot now, but I promise he'll keep finding ways to score because he's such an unorthodox player: he's too big for the threes, and he's too quick for the fours.\n\n I remember when I first heard about our trade to get Mike, I was just in shock because I knew his value. I knew he had some personal stuff going on, but I wasn't really worried about that, because I know Mike and I know he cares about winning and being a great player. And to get him for just two second-round draft picks? To understand the trade, you first have to look at what Pat Riley was thinking. And he was thinking, \"I have a chance to sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh AND keep Dwayne Wade.\" And as far as rookie-scale money goes, Mike was getting paid pretty well. So Riley obviously wanted to clear out some space so he could fit those big three in and sign some veteran guys around them. Meanwhile, here's what I was thinking: \"Hell, yeah! We're getting Mike Beasley! We're getting a guy who has a chance to be a star in this league for essentially nothing!\" And that's exactly how it's worked out.\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #5: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Talks About his Historic 30-30 Performance\u2014his Post-Game Encounter With the Heckler Who Inspired It\n\n A quick post today, because GQ wanted me to talk about my 30-30 game over the weekend against the Knicks before we get too far away from it. If you haven't heard, I scored 31 points and pulled down 31 rebounds in our comeback win against the Knicks, and I found out afterward that it was the first 30-30 game since Moses Malone did it in 1982. When I heard that I was kind of in shock. I had no idea it had been so long. I didn't know what to say. All I could think was, \"Well, I guess I'm in pretty good company.\" The only other time I've had 30 rebounds in a game was in high school\u2014I think I had around 35 during a national tournament game in Florida, and it came against Brandon Jennings and his old high school from Compton. And I only know that because after the Knicks game, all my high school buddies reminded me about it.\n\n As great as that game was for me, the best feeling was making that big comeback. When you're down 21 points like we were in the third quarter, you don't come back because of just one or two guys. We were really feeling it as a team. And that was the loudest I've ever heard the Target Center get. I've been around for almost 200 games now, and it was pretty special to hear the crowd go nuts like that.\n\n The funniest thing about that night: early on I was getting heckled by a Minnesota fan. The guy was screaming at me: \"Run back on defense! If this is how you're gonna play, we're gonna trade you!\" The whole first half I kept hearing him, and that kind of enraged me inside a little bit, so I came out and had that big second half. After the game, I kept looking his way and shaking my head, flexing at him, like, \"What do you say now?\"\n\n But it gets even funnier. After I left the arena, I went out to grab a drink with a couple of my buddies at this place called the Loon Caf\u00E9\u2014and who's the first person I see when I walk into the bar? The same guy. The heckler. And I'm just like, \"No. Way.\" So he comes up to me and says, \"Listen, Mr. Love, I'd just like to apologize.\" (This is a grown man, by the way.) And I just kept saying, \"You're the guy! You're the guy! You were heckling me the whole way! Did you see me at the end of the game?\" He goes, \"Yes. And I just wanna take back everything I said. We really believe in you. Do you mind taking a picture with us and signing a few autographs?\" So I'm thinking, first of all, you wanted to trade me. You wanted me out of Minnesota. And now you want an autograph and a picture? But the guy was actually really friendly, and his friends were great. So we had fun with it. But it was just funny how quickly perceptions can change. I guess he decided to give me another chance after that second half.\n\n The rest of that weekend was crazy. I think the final count was 114 text messages. Plus all the phone calls and emails. I heard from people I hadn't talked to in three or four years. High school buddies I haven't talked to since graduation. High school teachers. My high school basketball coach called to say he was glad he didn't let me play football when I had the chance. And I also talked to a few guys from around the league\u2014Al Jefferson, Tyson Chandler, Russell Westbrook. The big guys especially showed me the love, because they're battling inside every night and they know how hard it is to have a game like that.\n\n I want to end on a subject that's also been big news in the NBA so far this season, and that I've neglected to address so far: the infamous Awkward Handshake between me and Wes Johnson. (If you haven't seen it, here's a link to the video.) Let's just say I'm amazed at the phenomenon this has become. Now, I had already seen the footage of it on ESPN. But a couple days ago, a pal sent me an email and told me I had to check out the video on YouTube. So I looked and the video had 1.2 million views. I was like, \"WHAT?\" One point two million? Really? Like, really? For an awkward handshake? There's hundreds and hundreds of comments, too. But you know what? I love it. It was really funny. If you go Timberwolves.com, our PR guys posted a spoof video about it earlier this week, and it's really, really good. Make sure you go check that out. I promise you'll laugh.\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #4: Friday, Nov. 11, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Discusses his Big Game Against the Lakers, His Rebounding Philosophy and Why Michael Beasley Was So Hot At a Teammate During the Rockets Game\n\n We just wrapped up our second road trip of the season, which ended with a nice revenge win against the Kings. Before we get to that though, I want to start with the earlier games, especially the one against the Lakers, because it's always nice to come back to Los Angeles, my home away from home.\n\n Playing in the Staples Center is a unique experience. First off, you've got the celebrities. I try to just block them out because if you don't, the Lakers will embarrass you. They play in front of that every night. Still, I have to say hello to my friend Steven Jackson, the chairman of LA Gear, as well as his family. I know them from back when I was at UCLA, and Steven has a bunch of courtside seats. If Jack Nicholson is there I have to get in a word with him too. He loves to remind me that my dad was in a movie with him, even if it was only for two seconds.\n\n The celebrities are just one part of it, though. Playing the Lakers now is like playing the Bulls in the 1990s. There's an aura around the Staples Center, especially when they dim the lights and the announcer calls them the back-to-back champions. Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom\u2026 they just have so many big-name players. They're a special team, and if you can't get up for playing them in LA, you might as well go home.\n\n As it turned out, I had one of the best games of my career, and afterward a lot of people we're asking me about how it felt\u2014\"Oh, you had 24 rebounds, a career high at this point, 23 points, your second 20-20 game.\" But we lost. And we had them. We could've given them their first loss. We were winning with just a few minutes to go, but we ended up losing by five. We had our chances; we just had too many turnovers. That's been telling for the whole season. If you look at a box score for one of our games and you look at the turnover column, you can tell right away, \"Okay, they're a young team.\" That turnover number is all you need to know.\n\n It was also bittersweet for me, personally, because I had a nice game. Sometimes you're aware of that as it's happening. Like, I knew that I had a lot of rebounds at halftime, especially on the offensive end. I wish I would've gotten a few more of my offensive tips to go\u2014if I had, we might have won the game. I think I had 11 offensive rebounds, and four or five of them were tips, so if I had gotten all of those tips to go in\u2026 Anyway, when I'm grabbing a lot of rebounds, I'm definitely aware of it, but mostly what I'm thinking to myself is, \"Keep going to the glass, keep going to the glass.\" Because one thing you can always do is rebound. If you aren't getting your shots, or you're not working your way into the offense, you can always go to the glass. We have some pretty good shooters on this team but even the best players only shoot 50 percent, so you have to go for every rebound.\n\n For me, rebounding is all a mindset. My dad told me back in the day that there is no such thing as a selfish rebound because it's a team stat. If you have to fight one of your own teammates for a rebound, do it\u2014as long as you get it. Also, I studied the greats. Dennis Rodman had it figured out: he knew that most shots are going to come to the other side of the rim. So that's how I position myself. And Bill Russell always used to say that 80 percent of rebounds are below the rim. I'm not the kind of guy who's going to jump and touch the top of the square every time. I use my body for positioning, and I work relentlessly underneath the rim. You don't have to be the most athletic guy in the world to get a bunch of rebounds, so I just try and take what my dad said to heart, what Rodman said to heart, and most importantly what Bill Russell said to heart. He's got 11 championship rings so I think he knows what he's talking about.\n\n After LA, we went to Sacramento, where we finally picked up another win, 98-89. Mike Beasley had just found out his girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy, and we were all so happy for him. He was showing us pictures and everything, but they didn't name the boy yet. I knew he wanted to be home, but he focused on basketball and came up with his biggest game of the year &amp;amp;#x2013; 42 points! That was nice to see since he caught some flak after the game in Houston. I remember when it happened, but I didn't realize it had gotten picked up on the Internet, so when my editor at GQ told me about it, I went and checked it out on YouTube. Basically what happened was, after we scored a basket, one of our rookies, Nikola Pekovic, this kid from Serbia-Montenegro, noticed that his shoe had come untied. So he motioned at the ref, like, \"Hey, can we stop? I need to tie my shoe.\" What can I say? He's a rookie. He's still learning. Anyway, he bent down to tie his shoe, and the play kept going\u2014it was a fast break. The Rockets threw it to Yao Ming, I tried to steal it, and Michael Beasley went up and got what looked to me like a clean block, but he ended up getting his third foul of the first half. After the whistle, he had some, well, let's say he had some choice words for Nikola. You could hear every word of it on YouTube.\n\n In a different situation you might need to react another way, but in that case emotions were running high, Mike already had two fouls and we were beat down the court. And for a young team like ours, we need a great player like Mike to step up and be a leader. I think he had the right response, and I'm sure now our teammates will think twice about not getting back on defense.\n\n\n\n Blog Entry #3: Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Discusses the Loss to the Kings, Facing LeBron and the Heat tonight, and Watching His \"Potty Mouth\"\n\n This is my first post since we opened our season at home against the Sacramento Kings\u2014we lost, 117-116\u2014and there was a bit of a fuss about my playing time down the stretch that night, so I'll start there and we'll move onto the Miami Heat, who we play tonight down in Miami. And then I'll wrap things up with a few words about my potty mouth. (Sorry, NBA!)\n\n As you may have heard, I didn't play as many minutes as I would've liked down the stretch on opening night. I definitely had a couple of defensive lapses, like a lot of the guys on our team that night, and we got away from where we were as a team in the preseason. Obviously we put up enough points to win, but in the end our defense just wasn't good enough. So, opening night didn't really go according to plan, both from a team aspect and from an individual aspect.\n\n When I was on the bench, I was thinking to myself, \"Damn, I wish I was out there right now, but if I'm going to be a leader on this team\u2014even at a young age\u2014I have to cheer on my teammates and hope for the best.\" Do I wish I was out there? Of course. Any competitor wants to be in at the end of the game, especially when it's close like that, because that's what you work for your whole life\u2014moments like those. So I was really anxious just sitting there. And if Coach Rambis calls my name, I'm sprinting to half court and trying to check into the game as fast as I can. But my name wasn't called.\n\n After the game, Coach told the media that me not playing was more about how well Anthony Tolliver, my teammate, was doing and not about anything I wasn't doing right. I heard about what he said, but I try to not read the press clippings too much. If anything is said about me, whether it's good or bad, I just try to keep an even keel and let it be. It was only game one out of 82, so you just have to sit there and bite your lip if you're upset about it, or just keep on rolling if you're not.\n\n Anyway, the whole thing definitely got blown out of proportion, and that's probably because of what happened last season between me and Coach. If you don't know, he and I butted heads a few times. I was coming off the bench a lot, and we weren't on the same page about my playing time. I thought that I was being very productive and efficient when I was on the floor, doing great in practice, working my butt off, and that I had earned more time than I was getting. But we didn't see eye-to-eye about that. Still, we sorted all that out during the offseason. And the morning after the Kings game, we talked about it again, about how we're not going to go down that same path this season. We told each other that everything was cool, and we laughed off the way people reacted to the Kings game.\n\n The thing people should know about Coach Rambis is that he's a player's coach. He's a very sarcastic guy, and he keeps all of us fresh\u2014he keeps things fun but he also knows when it's time to get down to business. He's been around a plethora of championship teams with the Lakers\u2014he played for them during the heydey of Showtime, and he was an assistant coach for Phil Jackson when they had Shaq and Kobe. That sort of thing matters to players in this league: he knows what it takes. He's done it as a player and a coach. So when he speaks to us, all of the attention is on him, all eyes are on him, and he has our respect.\n\n Tonight we've got the Heat down in Miami, and this is obviously a huge game for us. Every game is important, but the fact is, there are some games you circle on your calendar and this is definitely one of them. They lost their first game to Boston and everyone went nuts about it, but Boston is a really good team, and I just don't think they had found their rhythm yet. They've barely played together because Dwayne Wade hurt his hamstring in the first few minutes of their first preseason game. Once they get on the same page, it's gonna be a pretty quick fix. And you kind of saw that already the very next night when they rolled over the Sirs. Look, they've got three of the biggest superstars in the game. They're going to be pretty good. We just hope they're all healthy so we can really measure where we're at as a team.\n\n This game is one where I really feel like it's on me to make a difference. I think we can win the rebounding battle against them. Obviously we're going to have a tough time stopping the charge of that Big Three they have, but we have advantages too. We can outrebound them and push the ball. We just have to play a no-turnover type of game. Which is easier said than done. But we know that's what it's going to take.\n\n OK, before I go, one last subject: the language in this blog. If you've been reading so far, you've probably already noticed my tendency to drop F-bombs here and there. I took a little bit of flack for it\u2014not a lot, just a little!\u2014from my own representatives, from the Timberwolves and from the NBA. And I get it. They're trying to build a family friendly league, and I understand that. So I just wanted to explain where I'm coming from.\n\n The thing is, I want people reading this blog to get a sense of what it's really like to play in the NBA every day, and it's tough to explain how it is without saying it EXACTLY how it is. Especially when I'm talking about my teammates and what we're like around each other. It's just part of the language in the locker room and whenever you're hanging around the fellas. That's how it is.\n\n Also, in my opinion, you can talk that way and still be a gentleman. I feel like I talk that way when I'm around the guys, and at the same time, I'm still a good dude. I'm courteous to people. Do I have a \"potty mouth,\" as my mom would say when I was a kid? Yeah. Maybe so. But hey, if you haven't heard those words or read those words, come on, how sheltered are you? We've all seen it. It's not going to hurt anybody. And plus, this is GQ! My plan is to talk to you guys and be myself, like a couple dudes having a good conversation. And if I feel the need to say \"f\u2014k\" once or twice, we'll use dashes (like that), or maybe just \"expletive\" so you get the point. Deal? \n\n Kevin Love, GQ's guest blogger for the 2010-11 NBA season, is a third-year power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves.\n\n\n\nBlog Entry #2: Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Breaks Down the Sacramento Kings and His Fellow \"Clowns and Idiots\" on the Wolves\n\n Our first game of the season is tonight at home against the Sacramento Kings, so I'll talk a little about them first, and then I'll introduce some of my teammates\u2014the guys you'll be hearing a lot about in this blog during the season.\n\n Sacramento's best player is Tyreke Evans, a 6-foot 5-inch long, athletic point guard who was the league's Rookie of the Year last year. He's definitely their up-and-comer. And they've also got a rookie out of Kentucky, DeMarcus Cousins, who's 6-foot-10, 6-foot-11, and very very gifted. Myself, Darko and our other big guys are going to have our hands full with him. I look at Cousins and I think, \"Man, he could be a 20-10 guy in this league and be an absolute monster.\" He fell a little bit in the draft, and I definitely think he's out to prove people wrong, show every team that passed on him that they made a mistake. And that includes us, by the way\u2014we took Wes Johnson right before Sacramento took Cousins. So we know he'll be coming after us. And I don't blame him. But I love our guy Wes. He can really shoot the ball. You'll hear more about him in a minute.\n\n Now it's time for some introductions. I'm sure I'll get to everyone eventually, but in this post I'll just start with a few guys.\n\n Michael Beasley is new to our team, but he's old news to me because we've been friends for so long. I've known Mike since I was 13 or 14 years old. We played against each other on lots of travelling teams. Even then he was always real loud, the guy at the back of the bus who's screaming and yelling and goofing around, and the coaches in the front are always yelling at him to knock it off. And now? It's like he's 22 years old going on eight. When our team trainers are giving us our vitamins\u2014Vitamin D, all that kind of stuff\u2014he's like \"Oh, no, I'm not eating that. I gotta have Flinstones vitamins.\" He's that kind of guy. He still loves Spongebob Squarepants. You'll be hearing a lot of crazy stories about him. On the floor, he's adapting great to our team. He's a sexy superstar type of player. People come to watch him. They'll get up on their feet even for some of his mistakes, because even his mistakes are so exciting. He's a great player and he really gets the crowd involved.\n\n Gotta talk about the rookie, Wes Johnson. He's 6-foot-7, a long, athletic, shooting guard out of Syracuse. He can really shoot the ball. We've got a bunch of characters on this team and he's definitely one of them already. He's kind of like the instigator, the guy behind the scenes making everything happen, pulling all the strings. He's sneaky. You gotta watch him. He's got this golden-boy image\u2014and he is\u2014but you just gotta watch him. He's quiet, and it's the quiet ones you've gotta keep an eye on. He instigates on and off the court. During games, he's the guy looking at the other bench, going, \"I'm gonna kill this motherfucker.\" And off the court, he's always behind the scenes, saying, \"Did you hear what so-and-so said?...\"\n\n Then there's Johnny Flynn. He's hurt\u2014he's coming back from a hip injury, so he won't be ready at the start of the season. Which is too bad because he's our hype man. He is loud. He's got a gregarious personality. When he's laughing the whole world is going to hear it. He hypes us up, wherever we are\u2014off the court with girls, on the court in games, or during practice with the coaching staff. It's always him and Wes instigating because they're both Syracuse guys.\n\n This offseason, we resigned Darko Milicic, and he'll be our starting center. He's something else, that guy. He gives us that international flavor. There's something about that Serbian accent\u2014whenever he's making fun of somebody or telling someone to shut the fuck up, it's just funnier.\n\n Luke Ridnour is the oldest guy on our team, and he's only 29. He has twins on the way. He went to the University of Oregon, and I grew up in Portland, so I used to watch him when I was a kid. He was on that great team with Luke Jackson and Freddie Jones and all those guys. On our team, he's the veteran leader. He's been around the league awhile, so he's been in lots of different situations\u2014he's been in the playoffs a couple times, and he's been on some teams that didn't do well, so he knows how to handle it all. He'll be the vocal guy on the court and lead by example. At the same time, though, he's a laid back guy, and he fits right in with the rest of us clowns and idiots.\n\n Kevin Love, GQ's guest blogger for the 2010-11 NBA season, is a third-year power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves.\n\n\n\nBlog Entry #1: Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010\n\n In Which Kevin Introduces Himself, Picks a Name for His Blog and Calls Out ESPN's Sports Guy Bill Simmons\n\n Since this is my first blog post of the season, the first item on the agenda is to pick a name for this blog, and the guys at GQ gave me a head start with a couple of options. If you're reading this, you know what I ended up deciding. But here are the names they suggested and I thought I'd share them with you, along with what I thought of each one. Tell me if you think I made the wrong call.\n\n The Love Shack&amp;amp;#x2013;Of course. When we're in Minnesota, hey used to play this one after every basket I made, until I made them stop. . Either that or they play that \"What Is Love?\" song\u2014you know, from A Night at the Roury. It is not my favorite. I think I've got enough clout now to put a stop to that one by the time our first game comes around this week. But anyway\u2014The Love Shack? I don't know. It's kind of corny.\n\n Love Bites&amp;amp;#x2013;That's fresh. That's original. But I don't know. It might make people think, you know, different things as well.\n\n The Love Doctor&amp;amp;#x2013;That's not too bad. That might get the females on my side. But it's not even about basketball.\n\n Love Will Tear Us Apart&amp;amp;#x2013;That's pretty badass.\n\n OK, let's talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves this year, because I am very excited about our team. We've gotta be the youngest team in the league. [Editors note: The average age of the team is 23.6 years old.] Luke Ridnour is our oldest player, and he's only 29. And what being so young means is that it gives us a chance to grow together. Look at Memphis, or even more so, Oklahoma City\u2014those were young teams for a couple seasons, and now they've really taken that step forward and built a winning mentality. That's what we want to happen here. And the biggest thing is all of us sticking together, growing as a family and getting on the same page. We're happy with where things are now, and tomorrow night against Sacramento, we want to get this thing started off right.\n\n Over the summer, the president of our team, David Kahn, took out a full-page ad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and he wrote an open letter to our fans, in which he said that while our team is young and exciting, we probably won't be contenders again this season. The letter caused a bit of a fuss, but we didn't really pay it any mind. We don't want to worry about what the front office is saying, or what anybody else is saying. We just want to go out and win ballgames. They're not going to help us do that. Only we can do that. So yeah, we heard it. Yeah, we listened to it. And they can make all the excuses they want. We can make the excuse that we're young, or whatever, but at the end of the day, it's just us\u2014those 20 guys, players and coaches, together in our little foxhole. And we're going to have to fight for everything. We're going to have to be the hardest working team in the NBA.\n\n Sure, we have to be realistic about setting our goals, and we know going into the season that we're probably not going to win the championship. But I don't think the playoffs are too far out of the picture. Whether it's this year, or next year. And we know we're gonna surprise some teams. If you're playing back-to-back nights and you decide not to run with us, we're going to blow you out of the gym.\n\n I wanna end this first post with a message for my man over at ESPN, Bill Simmons. I heard that on his podcast, he was going through all the Vegas over-unders for every NBA team's 2010-11 season win totals. Apparently, according to Vegas, the over-under for our team is the lowest in the league, just 23.5 wins. Well, first of all, fuck them. No, I'm just kidding! But then I heard Bill took the under on our team\u2014he said he thinks we're gonna win LESS than 23.5 games. Well, OK, Bill. You're my guy. You're a good friend. But you take it out on the Timberwolves a little too much. You need to give us a little more respect! And don't worry, that respect will be earned. We will GLADLY show you. Mark my words: we're going over 30 wins this year.\n\n Kevin Love, GQ's guest blogger for the 2010-11 NBA season, is a third-year power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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