NBA Q&A: P.J. Carlesimo

Courtesy of Steve Serby

Q: The [Latrell] Sprewell incident (Sprewell choked his coach at Warriors practice in 1997) ... how do you think it changed you?

A: I don’t think it changed me a ton. Obviously, it probably makes you a little more sensitive, overly sensitive to player-coach relationships, and if they ever look like they’re gonna escalate, I’d probably be a little more sensitive than most in that way. Again, a horrible situation that you went through, and again, what are you gonna do? It happened, and you gotta deal with it. It was disappointing the way it all became almost turned around, but you couldn’t control it. It was what it was.

Q: What advice did your father have for you at that time?

A: I don’t remember a specific conversation, but if we did, it certainly would have been, “Hey, take the high road and just try and handle it as best you can, as diplomatically as you can.”

Q: And your mom?

A: This is where it was a flip — she would’ve been more emotional in that. My mother is not really an emotional person. I remember all the things that ever happened in the family, and I think other than when my father died, she’s just always unflappable. We play a team that I got fired from or something like that, she wants to beat them. She’s gonna hold a grudge a lot longer than my father.

Q: Did Sprewell ever apologize to you?

A: We talked. ... The first time I think we were face to face was a Knick game I was working for NBC with Mike Breen, we did the Christmas Day game in New York. He came over, he might have been coming over to do an interview with Clyde [Frazier] or something like that. We had been face to face because there were hearings and things like that, arbitrations and everything, so we had been together. But I don’t think we’d ever been together where you could talk.

Q: So what was that conversation like?

A: I actually forget, but the tenor of it was, “It’s over, let’s move on.”

Q: But you don’t remember him ever apologizing?

A: Truthfully, I can’t say, I don’t want to say he didn’t, ’cause he might say, “That’s bulls--t, I did.” But I don’t remember us having a conversation of that nature.

Q: Were NBA stars supportive?

A: A lot of NBA players and coaches were great during that time.

Q: Did you have to deal with hecklers in the stands?

A: Oh, yeah, still do. Those days, all the time. Three games aren’t gonna go by now that somebody’s not gonna yell something. But they just yell Spree’s name. All they ever do is yell “Sprewell” or something like that.

Q: Chuck Daly?

A: Brilliant coach, fantastic man. Really, really incredible insights into dealing with NBA players and handling people. Good, good friend and a great mentor for me.

Q: Coach K?

A: Along with [Boeheim], maybe my closest friend. No one, I think, understands or practices the psychology of coaching better than him. He’s a phenomenal X and O guy, but he’s so competitive and he’s so good managing people.

Q: Jim Calhoun?

A: All you had to do was play against his Northeastern teams, you knew how great a coach he was, how competitive a coach he was.

Q: Gregg Popovich?

A: You got a combination of Boeheim and Krzyzewski in terms of clearly the X and Os and his understanding of the game, but maybe his stronger suit is the way he handles people. I think he knows a ton about basketball — he knows twice as much about wine, or about international politics.

Q: Why do you think you’re the best man for the Nets job?

A: If you are a good basketball coach and you don’t feel that way, there’s something wrong. I think all of us should feel we’re the best person for a job, whatever that job is. I believe that I’m a very good basketball coach, so I believe I can do as good a job or a better job here than anyone else is gonna do. And I think if you don’t feel that way, you probably shouldn’t be coaching.

A: Mikhail Prokhorov?

A: I love him as an owner, because first of all he’s clearly very intelligent. But he’s very direct, and he wants to win. Everybody says they want to win ... you can’t talk to him for a half-hour and not understand that’s what he wants to do. And in the NBA, that’s the perfect owner. He wants to win and he’s willing to commit the resources to win and he’s not gonna interfere with you, but you better get results. That’s the perfect NBA owner.

Q: Three dinner guests?

A: Jesus, my parents.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: “Camelot.”

Q: Favorite actor?

A: Denzel Washington. I’m prejudiced. I coached him for two years at Fordham, he’s a good friend. He went to the Lincoln Center campus, it was a real pain in the [butt] for him to come to practice every day. And just his enthusiasm. He was a good player.

Q: Point guard?

A: More of a 2.

Q: Favorite entertainer?

A: Jay-Z and Beyonce.

Q: Favorite meal?

A: Italian.