Brandon Jennings interview
By Jeff Lenchiner | Sept. 15, 2009
Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings didn't take a conventional route to the NBA. After high school, instead of going to college the 6-1, 170-pound point guard went pro overseas and played a year of basketball in Rome. Selected 10th in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft, Jennings has a great opportunity to have an instant impact on the Bucks.
This exclusive interview was recorded when InsideHoops.com met with Brandon in early August. Enjoy the Q&A:
InsideHoops.com: What was your favorite thing about playing overseas?
Brandon Jennings: Just getting a chance to play professional basketball for a year. And playing against grown men every day. That's one of the things I did enjoy. But now when I come out here it becomes easy for me.
InsideHoops.com: I love Rome. Hope you loved it too. What was cool about being there?
Jennings: Doing a commercial at the Coliseum. Being at the Spanish Steps. And being in the center of Rome was awesome.
InsideHoops.com: Rome nightlife is amazing. Beautiful women everywhere, and they stay out all night.
Jennings: The people are out dining at 9 o'clock at night, then off to the club. It's really cool.
InsideHoops.com: You used to be on Twitter, and then pulled off it, after the Joe Budden thing (InsideHoops.com note to readers: A video chat between rapper Joe Budden and Jennings was posted and it revealed Jennings saying some things that weren't meant to be public.) Was there ever resolution for that?
Jennings: I just wanted to give everything a break for a while. I'm trying to get back on now, but for a while I wanted everything to cool down a little bit, because there was too much going on at one time.
InsideHoops.com: Everybody pays attention to what's said on there. And then sometimes people judge a bit more seriously than maybe they should.
Jennings: Judge stuff the wrong way, and stuff like that.
InsideHoops.com: Was there ever a public explanation, for what happened with Budden? It was supposed to be a private conversation, right?
Jennings: I thought it was private. I didn't know I was getting recorded at all. So at the time I thought I was just talking to a friend. We were joking around, laughing.
InsideHoops.com: And friends obviously often say stuff to each other that they're not going to say to other people or in public.
Jennings: And the thing about what I said about the Knicks, the dude is a Knicks fan. He's a big Knicks fan. And he told me, if I would have went there he would have gave me a hard time and everything. So we were just going back and forth about stuff. It's a lesson learned. But then again, I still didn't know I was being recorded.
InsideHoops.com: Everyone in the world knows that people talk differently to friends than they do to other people. Lots of famous people might talk trash about a player or a team, but it doesn't really mean they actually always really mean it or that they'd try to make that team or player look bad.
Jennings: When I'm with my friends, I'm going to talk! I feel like I can express my feelings. And joke around and say whatever. But that's just my friends. They know I'm not going to take it to heart, and I know they're not.
InsideHoops.com: So you will be back on the web eventually.
Jennings: Yeah, I'll be back on.
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