Bleachers' Brew #217 Character Driven

This column appears in the Monday July 12, 2010 edition of the Business Mirror.

Character Driven

by rick olivares

Derek Fisher looked amazed. Here was someone who is a millionaire many times over, has been a part of five NBA championship teams, and played with some all-world teammates and a-one-for-the-ages coach, yet sitting at the Cisco Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai, China, the man they call “Fish” had the look of genuine wonder in his eyes.

He knows his basic technology but he confessed to be totally unlike Los Angeles Lakers teammate Andrew Bynum who he disclosed has over a dozen computers and is an uber techno geek. As a guest of the World Expo, Fisher was given a demonstration of the Cisco TelePresence technology that will greatly change the way people do their business, go to school, or review medical findings among many things. “Think ‘Minority Report.’” said a Cisco official about the sci-fi technology that true to its capabilities, left their media guests with looks of awe and like Fisher, wonder. Who said that first impressions were wrong?

Fisher has been interviewed a gazillion times since the day he picked up a basketball and decided to make a career out of it, yet he was pleased to hear some new questions tossed his way by members of media from seven Asian countries including host China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The media representatives were seated in a small room with huge television screens that provide high definition video and spatial audio. The difference being is there are microphones and several cameras that link up separate rooms that it’s like being in one room with everyone else.

Think webcam in huge plasma screens in high definition. Whoa!

If you aren’t careful and unmindful of what your doing (e.g. yawning), the others seated hundreds of miles away could see your cavities.

The media representatives for each country got to ask at least three questions each. And while I silently thanked God that no one asked inane slum book boxers-or-briefs types of questions, there were some not particularly bright ones. But overall, it was just as much fun to hear other journalists pose some really good questions. We Filipinos like to think that outside the Americans, we are pretty learned when it comes to the game of hoops and its history. And next to experiencing new things such as a TelePresence interview, debunking misconceptions is good for one’s soul. Thailand isn’t exactly known to be a hotbed of hoops, but the journalists from the Bangkok Post were pretty much hoop junkies who knew their NBA basketball. Their enthusiasm was so evident that it wasn’t hard to appreciate it. We are not alone, gentlemen.

By the time the microphone was passed to the Philippines, the championship and Kobe related questions had been posed. On my part, I asked him two things: one, how he felt being one of five LA Lakers to have won five NBA titles (the others are George Mikan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, and himself); and two, if there is a sequel to his autobiography Character Driven was in the pipeline.

Said the man who beat the San Antonio Spurs with 0.4 of a second left, “It’s pretty surreal, pretty unbelievable. I don’t play basketball for trophies or to win championships. But it really does bring me a great deal of satisfaction and gratification in my career. That’s a small list of guys and for my name to be on that list feels good and I look forward to adding more championships as my career goes on.”

He was likewise thankful that I purchased his autobiography Character Driven. Fish said that it was written at a specific time and chronicled what he went through as a child all the way to his pro career to his daughter being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and up to the Lakers’ fourth title during the Phil Jackson years. He isn’t so sure at the moment if there will be a sequel because it will take another span of time for the next chapter of his life to be written about but he hopes that there will be just as much material to draw from.

Having interviewed a lot of NBA players through the years, I can certainly say that Fisher is one of the better interviews as he gives insightful answers and he doesn’t feign interest or radiate displeasure at being asked to travel thousands of miles away to be interviewed by a bunch of skinny Asians. His sincerity, candor, and openness were a welcome sight for all the media folk.

After the seventy-three minute interview where he answered questions about Thai food (only when he does go to Bangkok can he legitimately say that he’s eaten real Thai food), playing alongside with Kobe (a great experience), what he wishes he could do as President of the NBA Players Association (make NBA basketball bigger than the World Cup and football, the NFL, MLB etc), and much more, Fisher graciously thanked everyone for an entertaining Q&A and for people taking an interest in him and his career. We all applauded at the end of the session.

And speaking of character, The Defection is still hot topic and in my opinion, it showed an astounding lack of poor judgment and poor character first by LeBron James and to a certain extent, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. Just to be clear on this: it is LeBron’s right to leave and go where he thinks is best for him. But did he really have to pull off that media stunt? So I guess him quitting at the end of the series with Boston sure does add up to his decision to bolt for greener pastures. As some writer put it, no one has gone faster from being beloved to hated is so short a time except for those who root for that team in South Beach.

So let me poke fun at The Defection -- Bleachers’ Brew style.

How many Miami Heat players does it take to change one light bulb?

One. Why share when the others can have their own spotlights, er, light bulbs.

If changing the light bulb came down to LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, who will get the opportunity to do so?

I’m not sure. I think we better ask Paul the Octopus.

How will LeBron James change a light bulb?

He will sleep on it then go on a one-hour special on ESPN to reveal his decision.

Why did the chicken cross the road to South Beach?

Because the chicken witnessed its inability to get over the hump and thought that South Beach was where its dreams could come true.