Heyyyyyy worrrrrld!!! Hope all of y’all out there had a really good Christmas. We had a bad taste in our mouths from that Boston loss on Christmas Day, but some time off after that game did us some good. We actually started real slow last night, but we exploded in the second half against Milwaukee. We need to keep that up because we have a tough three-game roadtrip coming up.

Seeing Brandon Jennings play for Milwaukee last night had me thinking back to my days as a 18-year-old fresh out of high school in the NBA. They don’t let kids do that anymore, so Jennings had to go to Italy first before he could come to the NBA. He’s going to be really good someday.

Back when I was a rookie straight out of high school I was just a young buck trying to become the man that I am now. It was like a sheep being thrown out there to the wolves.

Really, it was a fun time for me because I was around a great team, a great organization and a great city. All of that stuff factored in my career and I was blessed to come to Orlando.

I had some good vets around me like Tony Battie and Grant Hill, and Jameer was a lot older than me even though we were rookies together. Otis Smith was just coming up as our GM and Stan Van Gundy was just getting here. It’s all a key factor in my success. All of those guys did a good job of molding me into the well-groomed young man that I am now.

For me, it was never hard being around those grown men even though I was a teenager because I’m such a fun guy. They enjoyed me and I learned a lot from them. Even now, getting together as a team brings joy to all of us.

I really wish high school players could still come straight to the NBA, but everybody has to go through something different to get to this level. High school to the NBA is tough physically and mentally on kids. It’s something that you have to be well prepared for.

Coming out of high school and not knowing how to manage money and deal with money and all the things that come with playing in the NBA, all those things take time to learn. You might even have to go through a couple of bad experiences to learn from them sometimes.

All of that stuff shaped me into the player and the all-around good guy that I am today. I’m laughing y’all as I write that. But I wouldn’t change a thing about the way I got to this point. College would have been a lot of fun, but I’m glad I went straight from high school to the NBA. It’s been a cool ride and I just want to keep getting better and get as many championships as I can. Hopefully this is our year.

I’m outta here y’all. Be safe out there on New Years cause that’s amateur night for a lot of people. Holla back at ya boy.

—D-12

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