Me: Do you think you’d be just as effective with the old rules, under the old system?

IT: Where you can handcheck? I think so. I like being physical. I think that’s one of the strengths of my game. I feel like in any era, I would have adjusted and just went off those rules.

Me: I saw where you tweeted that you liked the change to the rules this year where players will now get a vote for All-Star. What do you like about that?

IT: I like it because the players know who the real All-Stars are. The players know who the most valuable player on each team is, because we go up against each other each and every night. I always thought the players should get some type of vote, because they’re the ones who really know who’s got game and who doesn’t.

Me: So, you voting for yourself?

IT: Yes. I put too much work in not to. But I’ll vote for my other teammates as well. But, definitely got to give myself a vote.

Me: Do you remember exactly how you found out you’d been traded to Boston?

IT: Yes. I was on a bus headed to the airport. We were in Phoenix, going to Minnesota. We were waiting for the trade deadline to pass. We knew Goran Dragic was going to get traded; we didn’t think anybody else was. My name was called next. And Brandan Wright, who was on my team in Phoenix, actually said, ‘IT, you just got traded.’ And I said, ‘no I didn’t.’ And he showed me on his phone. And a coach came to the back of the bus and got me, and that was all she wrote.

Me: I’m still dumbstruck by that trade.

IT: I am, but I thank them. I appreciate it. You changed my career, how people look at me. And I’m on a winning team that’s making the playoffs and looking to go further. So, I’m happy with it.

Me: But you came to a spot where guys like KG blew up, too. What do you think when you hear how he praises you?

IT: It’s an honor. My first NBA game was the Sonics versus the T-Wolves in ’97, and I got to see Kevin Garnett. It’s an honor for him to talk highly of me, and I just try to follow in his footsteps. Try to be named the Little Ticket instead of the Big Ticket.

Me: I love the story about him woofing at you when he set the picks on you.

IT: Yeah, it was Sacramento versus Boston. And you always hear the stories of KG talking, and trash talking. One time he set a pick -- he set a few picks, and I was getting upset, because they weren’t calling the illegal screen. And I said something to him, and he barked right back, ‘shut your little midget (bleep) up.’ And I kind of laughed. I was like, there you go. I was in one of those scenarios where he was talking trash. But one day he came up to me and he told me he respected how I played, and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day.