Big Baby discusses his first season in Orlando, the Dwight Howard saga, the NBA Finals and his new line of signature headphones.
SLAM: Even with all that happened in Orlando in your first year with the team, you finished with career-high averages in points and rebounds, so how did you feel about the season as a whole, personally?
GD: The season? It was…It was up and down for me, as far as confidence-wise. It was mostly just tough for me to fall into the new culture. The Orlando Magic culture is different from the Celtics. And it bit me in the foot a couple times. I got suspended for two games for getting into it with Stan, for just not falling in how I was supposed to be, for trying to do what I used to do with the Celtics. It was tough for me. And then I was playing bad at the same time. So to play well in the postseason and to play well that last month, putting up numbers, I felt like it was way past overdue. It was due that it was time for me to put a streak of games on because I know I can play at a high level. When it was coming—I had a 31-point game against Detroit—it was because I felt that I had an opportunity to show and do something to show people I can play this game at a high level, and really be good.
SLAM: What was Stan like as a coach, and were you surprised when you heard he was let go by the team?
GD: You know what’s going on as far as the mood, the groove of how things are going, especially during the season with the talks about him and Dwight, like Dwight wanting him fired. You hear those things, so you know things are going on—so it’s not like a shock, like, “Oh my god.” It was like, “Oh, Stan got fired. Wow.” At the same time, my dealings with him were in a short period, this past season. Everybody tells you, “Stan, he’s a different coach”—everybody says that, but at the end of the day, my experience with him was that he was a hell of a coach. His tone may be different, but you gotta listen to the message. If listen to what he’s trying to tell you to do instead of all the other stuff, you won’t get frustrated. Because you’re out there playing and you’ve got to execute a gameplan. You listen to him, listen to what he’s got to say, but you don’t listen to all the [screams]. You don’t listen to all that. You listen to, “Hey, move the ball,” “Pass the ball,” “Set the screen.” You hear those key words and that’s what you do.
SLAM: You just listen for key words?
GD: Yeah, because if you listen to anything else you’ll be mad, you’ll be pissed off. You’ll be T’d off. Like, “What did he just say?”
SLAM: You’re on Twitter, you watch SportsCenter, with all the stuff between Dwight and Stan this year, how did you deal with it all, and where was your outlet?
GD: There’s really no outlet. The team, we try to stick together, try to let each other know, but I don’t think as a team we did as well as we should have. There were some things that we should have done differently, as far as dealing with Dwight and things that were going on, it could have been done a little differently. But sometimes we don’t hear stuff until you guys hear it, and I don’t think the media should know before the team. That’s one of the problems we had on our team was trust, and a family-oriented team, things we didn’t have. At the end of the day, we just tried to work through it and take it as it is.
SLAM: The Magic are obviously a team in transition, needing a new GM and head coach. Are you nervous about what’s next? Excited? What’s the feeling heading into this summer?
GD: I’m excited. I’m not really nervous, because I feel like I’m headed in a different direction. I’m excited, because I want to win, and whoever is going to be in those positions wants to win, too. Whatever it takes to put this organization on top, I want to be a part of that. I don’t have a problem with whoever comes in, but the mentality they need to have is winning. Winning Championships. That’s all I know. Playing with the Celtics, that’s all I know. I didn’t know anything else and we didn’t think about anything else. Every time I walked in the arena I saw a Championship banner. That’s the only thing I want, if they were to ask me. If they were to come to me and say “Hey Glen, what do you want in a GM and coach?” I just want to win. And also a different personality coach. A player’s coach.
SLAM: Last summer, you had at least one hilarious YouTube video during the lockout. Can we expect some more videos to pop up this summer?
GD: Yeah, most definitely, especially when we get close, we’ll make up some stuff and hit the web.
SLAM: What’s your favorite silly moment of your career to this point?
GD: I would have to say…I have no idea, there’s a lot of moments to pick from.
SLAM: You tweeted a picture from one of the Playoff games this year when you were hanging out with your old teammate Nate Robinson. You guys still tight?
GD: Yeah, me and Nate still tight, man. We saw each other at the Miami game. He was already out there, I came out there with my fiancé to watch the game. We were just having a good time, catching up. It was cool.
SLAM: Tell me about your new BiGR Audio “Ayo Baby” headphones. Where did the idea and inspiration come from?
GD: It’s the Ayo Baby headphones. We partnered with BiGR Audio on the headphones. We wanted to get up with them on the urban side, the hip-hop side. We saw a lot of these new headphones coming out and thought it would be cool. Thought it would be cool to look and see, “Who are these headphones for? Oh these are mine, this is my line!” We had an opportunity to partner with those guys and it’s been great. We’ve been getting a great following already, believe it or not. Hopefully it can be a little starting step for my career after basketball.
SLAM: And some proceeds of each sale go toward your charity, right?
GD: Yeah, some proceeds go to my charity, because it’s all about the kids and you’ll love the headphones also. It’s a great opportunity to do things that I’ve always wanted. Be a part of a brand and also give back to the community.
SLAM: What music is bumping in your headphones lately?
GD: I’m bumping a lot of Wiz Khalifa, always bumping Wiz, that’s my man. Gotta bump some Drake, gotta bump some Rick Ross. Maybach Music is getting really, really big right now. There’s a couple others out there—the Lil’ Boosies of the world, Lil’ Wayne. Oh yeah, Young Jeezy, too, as my fiancé just said. She’s laying here half asleep singing, “I want Jeezy…” Isn’t she crazy? Put that in this interview, my fiancé is so crazy. Ain’t she crazy?
SLAM: I’m writing that down right now.
GD: You’re writing that down? I appreciate that, I appreciate that.
SLAM: Last thing—give us your prediction for the rest of the Finals.
GD: I don’t know, bro.
SLAM: Your official prediction is “I don’t know?”
GD: You can kind of see the inexperience in OKC on certain possessions, but Kevin Durant is just so awesome and when he gets the ball, he’s just really good. They’re so young, this is a different world for that young team. This isn’t the Playoffs, this is the Finals. This is their first time in the Finals. Those guys came in and lost at their home. This situation has never hit them before. That’s why they got Perkins, that’s why they needed Perkins so bad and that’s why they said, “We need Derek Fisher also.” Because those guys have that Championship experience. They are the keys. They’ve got to tell these guys how big these possessions are. They have a problem starting off, they always get down. That’s being young. So I’m thinking Miami’s going to win it. The LeBron thing is done, he’s going to win one, everyone will get off his back. All this “Who’s the closer?” stuff, in [Game 2] they both played amazing. LeBron is amazing in the post.
Read the SLAMonline Discussion Rules before posting.