Here is the link: http://gr8life.msnbc.com/
Here are his 3 entries thus far...
ME AND GP
On Monday, Nov. 28, we got to go to Miami to play against the Miami Heat. Like the game against the 76ers, this was also a thrill for me because I got to play against Gary Payton.
I’ve known GP for a long time. My Dad knows his whole family. In fact, I used to play for his team.
When he played for the Sonics, he used to sponsor our AAU team, the Gary Payton All-Stars. I was a sophomore at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle at the time, 16 years old. He brought us to his house and everything. And we got to see his nice house in Vegas and he got us all some shoes and clothes and stuff. And now playing against him in the NBA was just crazy.
He talked to me a little during the game. He’s a cool dude. I told him I liked his shoes he had on. He brought back the old GPs. He didn’t talk any trash to me, not really. He just said “Welcome to the NBA.”
I also got my first NBA dunk in that game. It was cool I got it, but we didn’t win the game, so I didn’t care that much. If we would have won, it would’ve been sweeter.
GAME-WINNER IN THE GARDEN
It was an unbelievable feeling to play against Allen Iverson on Nov. 26. I got to play against my favorite player. It was great. I talked to him before the game and he just told me that he loved the way I play and to keep playing hard. It just meant a lot to me because I was in Madison Square Garden, playing against A.I. It was just a great moment.
He came up to me and asked me how I was doing playing for Larry Brown. (editors note: Iverson played for Brown for six years in Philadelphia). I told him it was fine, that it was tough and it was a challenge. And he said “listen to the man because he’s going to make you better.” He just said to keep at it and keep on working hard.
The actual game was great, too. We won it in overtime when I hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer over Iverson. The game was fun because I really got a chance to play, and play a lot (a season-high 33 minutes). I had 17 points and six rebounds. And it helped to get to play against Iverson. To get to guard him and get a feel for how you play against a player in person who is that good.
I also managed to draw a couple of charges against him. To do a pretty good job on defense against Iverson, that just boosted my confidence and as a player, that made me feel pretty good.
The finish to the game was amazing. Iverson made a 3-pointer to tie it. After they scored we knew we just had to get a bucket. We didn’t want to call a timeout because we didn’t want them to get their good defenders in. So we just held with it. Steph (Marbury) brought it down and made a move to the basket. Iverson kind of helped a little bit by sagging down on him, and that freed me. When Steph got me the ball I just shot it. It felt good once it left my hand. I put arc on it and everything to get it over Iverson, and it just went in.
The celebration was great. A couple of the guys told me they didn’t think a Knicks rookie had ever hit a game-winner in the Garden at the buzzer.
GETTING TO KNOW NATE
What is it like playing for Larry Brown?
It’s fun, it’s a challenge for me to get used to a coach that is always on me. I mean and it’s good for me because I’m learning. He’s helping me to learn the point guard role and to become a great basketball player. I think that have a coach who’s hard on me helps me develop faster. I’m one of those people in the world that needs somebody to be hard on them so I can learn.
Do you get homesick at all?
Homesick? Definitely. My cousin came down to live with me. His name is Sylvester. He helps me out with a lot of things that I need help with. Just by him being there for me, he makes things easier for me. I come home from practice and the house is clean, and we go out and eat dinner.
We go out and do so many things. We went out to see the Statue of Liberty. Going downtown to Times Square, just walking around, seeing everything about New York. Visiting Rucker Park, things like that. The things I’ve been wanting to do ever since I was a kid by watching “Above the Rim” and every movie that’s been in New York. So I got to see some of the sites that I’ve been dying to see.
Who on the team has been helping you out?
Oh everybody. All the way up to Jerome James, everybody helps me out. That’s how it is with me and everybody here on the Knicks team. We have great team chemistry. Everybody is there for each other. And when you have a team like that to pick each other up it makes it that much easier.
We have three rookies on the team and we hang out a lot and we do a lot of stuff together, you know, catch a bite to eat, stay after practice late to get up some extra shots, things like that. Visiting Q-Rich (Quentin Richardson), he lives up the street from our house, like five, 10 minutes away. They invite us over to come eat with their family. When you have guys doing things like that, it just shows how much love they have for us on the team.
You got into a scrap with teammate Jerome James in practice. What happened?
We had a little altercation while we were doing a box-out drill. We both were getting a little physical. In basketball things like that happen. It just shows how hard we were going and we’re so competitive, but we also have love for each other. It was not a big deal. Once something like that happens everything blanks out. Then you come back to Earth and everything is fine.
Has it been fun getting to know your teammates?
The guys on the team, they made us sing at dinner one time. I went through that in college when I played football. I mean, honestly, it’s just fun. Just being around these guys has been a plus in my book. I mean, growing up watching Steph(on) (Marbury), watching all these guys playing in the NBA. I mean, I play with Penny Hardaway, and he was my favorite player growing up. It’s just unbelievable. God’s blessed me with that.
Do you ever get in awe that you’re in the NBA?
I’ve seen so many different people that I’ve been watching since I was a kid. It’s just unbelievable. I just can’t get caught up in it because then I’ll be just sitting there thinking “I’m guarding Baron Davis.” And I’m like “this is really Baron Davis and I’m guarding him. I’ve been watching him ever since he was at UCLA.”
It was unbelievable. I was speechless. I talked to him before the game. I remember talking to him in college when he came to the University of Washington to work out with the team before they played the Sonics. I was asking him what it takes to make it to the NBA and all that stuff. And he told me it took hard work. You gotta work harder than everybody. And he said ‘yeah I remember talking to you.’
I remember him coming to one of my Summer League games and he came to watch us play. And he said a couple of things about us three rookies, me, David (Lee) and Channing (Frye), and he was pretty positive and said we were a great group of guys. It’s just been great, honestly.
