Heyyyy world!!! Hope you all had a good Christmas!!! Mine got started off bad with that ugly loss that we had against the Celtics, but it got better. I got to spend Christmas night with my son and it was so much fun watching him tear open presents.
We actually had a couple of days off after the Celtics game. It was the first time since camp started that we’ve had two days in a row off with no practice or game. I think that will help us sort of re-charge our batteries for this big stretch of games that we have coming up.
People ask me all of the time who I looked up to as a player when I was a kid. Ya’ll are gonna think this is crazy, but it was actually Wilt Chamberlain. I know he stopped playing before I was even born, but I’ve read all about him and watched highlights of him. He was, without question, the coolest big man of all time. I actually have an old article about Wilt in my locker right now and I sometimes read about him before games.
I just loved the way that Big Wilt dominated games. He changed how teams played the game and he changed how big men played the game. The paint used to real narrow, but they had to widen it because of him. He would just stand in the paint and score, so they had to change the lane and they had to change how people blocked shots because he would just go up and block every shot.
I’ve read up on Wilt and he they would just throw the ball up to him and nobody could stop him. He was so dominant that they had to change the rules for him. You know you are good when they have to change the rules to stop you.
He was unbelievable, he was talented and he was a people person. He had it all that you would want in a great player and a role model. I read up on him just because ever since I was little I’ve always admired him. One of my coaches in high school always told me that I could run and jump just like Chamberlain. And when we were in Philly last year a guy came up to me and told me that I reminded him of Chamberlain and he had played against him. To me that was a huge compliment.
I read Wilt’s book and Bill Russell’s books and those are the only two basketball books ever written that I have read. I just love those guys and want to pattern my career after theirs.
Well, I’m gonna bust up outta here. We play Milwaukee tonight and then we’re on the road for three games in Minnesota, Chicago and Indiana. It wouldn’t be a holiday if the Magic weren’t playing. We’ve already played on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and now we’ve got New Year’s Day, too. But it’s all good. Ya’ll be safe on New Yr’s.
—D-12
Fans: Be sure to check out Dwight on Twitter, Facebook and Superfan
