Willie Green Interview
By InsideHoops.com / Feb. 24, 2005
The Philadelphia 76ers just traded Corliss Williamson, Brian Skinner and Kenny Thomas to the Kings in exchange for star forward Chris Webber, Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley. The addition of Webber gives Allen Iverson and the Sixers the star big man they've needed for a long time. On Thursday, in Madison Square Garden, during the first Sixers pregame session since the trade became official, InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner met with Sixers guard Willie Green for an exclusive interview.
InsideHoops.com: What was your first reaction to the trade?
Willie Green: I was excited, but at the same time, some of the guys that we lost, I was close to; Corliss Williamson, Kedrick Brown, Kenny (Thomas). But I think it's a great addition to the team, and it's going to give us a low-post presense that we've been missing the last couple of years.
InsideHoops.com: How'd you find out about it?
Willie Green: Somebody called me, and my phone started ringing a lot, and I was wondering what was going on. I thought I was traded or something. But once I turned on ESPN, I saw the trade that went through. And being from Detroit, and Chris Webber is from Detroit, so it'll be definitely fun to play with him.
InsideHoops.com: So you saw your phone ringing, but ignored it, but the thing kept ringing so you figured something big was up.
Willie Green: Yeah, you know how it rings one time, and you don't pick it up, then it starts just ringing and ringing, and finally I picked it up, and it was somebody telling me about the trade.
InsideHoops.com: On InsideHoops.com we started a poll for Sixers fans, and after just 20 minutes or so, like 98 Sixers fans said they love the trade, and three said they hate it - and you never know if those three were even real Sixers fans or not. The point being, Philly fans are ecstatic right now.
Willie Green: It's definitely putting us as a contender, a strong contender in the Eastern conference. Having Chris Webber along with Rodney Rogers, Matt Barnes and Michael Bradley. It's going to be a great addition, and will give us a lot of depth down low. We're looking to just progress from here.
InsideHoops.com: On paper, you guys look like you can now compete with the top teams in the East. Or pretty much anyone.
Willie Green: Yeah, we still got to welcome those guys with open arms and try to let them know how we play, and get them accustomed to doing that, in order for us to be as good as we are on paper.
InsideHoops.com: How did other guys on your team react to the deal?
Willie Green: I think everybody was pretty excited, but like I said, we lost some guys we were close to. We're like a family. From the team standpoint, everybody was pretty excited.
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