Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 4:38 pm  |  33 responses

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Nate Robinson Speaks

On 2K10 and life as a Knick.

by Konate Primus

Nate Robinson has to be the coolest NBA player in the history of NBA stars. And I don’t mean ‘cool’ because of how he dresses or because he can charm women out of their under garments, but ‘cool’ as in I felt like I went to high school with this guy. That kind of ‘cool.’

This realization came to me on a Thursday afternoon in the company of Nate himself while previewing the brand-new, extremely realistic NBA 2k10. In NYC’s Giraffe hotel penthouse, sweeeeeeeeet.

SLAM: [With the new issue of KICKS in hand] What’s good, Nate? It’s been a while homie. How’s everything!?
Nate Robinson: Everything is cool. Is that the new joint? Oh, nevermind, that’s the new KICKS. I didn’t get that yet, but I just got the Melo cover.

SLAM: Aww man, you slipping fam. You know….
NR: When y’all gonna do a story on me?

SLAM: We did. We did.
NR: I know the Streetball joint but that was mad long ago.

SLAM: No man. I just wrote one about you in this issue. See! I was trying to get at you, but you were in Spain remember.
NR: That was you, for SLAM? Oh my bad, but this is dope! Good looks.

SLAM: So Nate, what are we gonna do this year about these damn Knicks?
NR: We are going to win, make the Playoffs you know. Last year we felt good offensively, and this year we are putting it all together with a bigger defensive effort.

SLAM: How have you personally tried to up your defense?
NR: Well, I like to always stay in shape and really workout through the offseason.

SLAM: That’s wassup, man. I appreciate that as a native New Yorker. [Straight face] What I’m about to say may be a lil’ unofficial right now, but speaking as a fan, we just want to be competitive. We can not let Kobe and Bron come in and do ‘that’ to us.
NR: [Chuckles] Yeah man, I feel you! But… aight, OK. I’m not making an excuse, but we had L.A., Boston and Cleveland that week. OK, maybe I am making excuses, but that was a tough week. We don’t want that, either. Nobody wants to be the laughing stock of the League.

SLAM: We will always have the Clippers, brother. Don’t worry!
NR: You wrong for that, but this year we believe in ourselves even more than last year. Our coaching staff really gave us a lot of confidence. Its just a process. People that make airplanes have to keep trying new things until they get it right, and that’s what we are doing now.

SLAM: So let’s talk about the game for a bit. 2K10. What’s new about it?
NR: All the little things in terms of detail are more exact. The movements that the players do, the body language, the graphics are so accurate! It’s really amazing! Even the sweat and jersey moves… that crazy!

SLAM: What about gameplay features?
NR: There is a new downloadable feature where it’s the Draft combine and you start your player from there and he might not get picked up, but he could come in through the D-League. We got new crossovers it’s very realistic. Watch. [Playing as the Knicks, Nate hoists up a three and misses. A kind of awkward pause follows].

If a player gets hot during the season, it will transfer to on the game and also the announcers aren’t saying the same couple lines anymore. They are updated with the season as well.

SLAM: Damn that’s crazy, let get into some Nate off-court things. What kicks are you rocking this year?
NR: For now I have some Kobes. I NikeID’d.

SLAM: You not rocking the new Brons?
NR: Nah, I haven’t seen ‘em yet.

SLAM: [I show him the new Brons from KICKS.]
NR: Eeeeh, I’ll rock last year’s all black joints. If anything, those were the best ones.

SLAM: So what’s new with you?
NR: I just had a baby bout two months ago. So that’s been special.

SLAM: Word! Congrats, man. First one?
NR: Nah, third.

SLAM: Daaaaaamn. Man, you ever heard of birth control?
NR: For what? I love kids, mine especially. And I take care of them.

SLAM: True, well go ahead and build your army, man! Thanks for your time. I’ll catch you at the Garden, right?
NR: [Laughs] Yeah, man. You already know.