There's a lot of pride I have coming from Chicago because so many great players have done so many great things in the league. I definitely want to keep that tradition going. So yeah, I want to represent Chicago in the best light possible.

Shaquille O'Neal was probably my favorite athlete growing up. I loved how dominant and unstoppable he was, but also his charisma off the court. He was someone I gravitated toward.

I've always gotten credit for being a big man who doesn't want to shoot threes. Throughout my entire basketball career prior to coming to the NBA, I was praised for doing that.

I always knew I wanted to be in the NBA and play myself in a video game. That was my goal when I was a kid.

When I was at the 'Philadelphia Inquirer,' I was promoted nine times in my first 13 years. I ultimately went from general assignment to beats on St. Joe's and Temple, to backup writer, to NBA writer, to NBA columnist, to, ultimately, in 2003, to general sports columns.

The truth is, the sport of skiing takes so much effort, setting up and traveling with equipment, that you can only train for a certain number of days in the summer. Most of my peers ski between 40 to 60 days. I ski about 55 days.

Video games and outdoor sports - that was my childhood.

What makes it all worth-while is what I've been able to do for my parents. They were poor and worked all their lives. Like all boys in London, I dreamed of winning the football pool and doing for them. Well, this is better than any football pool. Now they don't have to work. I've given them a nice home and a car. It's a good feeling.