I’ve been surprised at how well you guys have played this season. I think most people thought it would take you guys another year or two to come together, but you guys are a six-seed in the West right now.

Other than the little slide we had just before All-Star, it’s been great to just be involved with it. I think if we can just continue to chip away, continue to improve, we’ll be all right. You know, if someone told us we would lose five straight games and still be sixth in the West, that’s unbelievable. We had an edge early on, and then it kind of weighed on us a little bit. We kind of got complacent, didn’t play much defense these last five games. So this will be a good time for us to regroup and get back to what we were doing.

You’re from Ames, Iowa, basically middle America. What is it like living in Oakland?

Life is different. It’s unusual. The Bay has it’s own unique character. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been there. It’s completely different from any ever place I’ve ever been.

I imagine it’s pretty different from Iowa.

No question. I’m used to good steaks, and seafood is HUGE in San Francisco. And you get the authentic stuff out there.

Not the grocery store sushi?

Exactly. Which is what I’m used to.

And you say GQ is your favorite magazine?

It is, man. Well, I also like SLAM, because I wrote for SLAM.

You wrote the high school diary.

Yes. So that’s near and dear to my heart. But GQ is always in the locker room. Everyone wants to be on the cover of GQ. Everyone always reads it, everyone always goes through it.

Is that because GQ represents being recognized for something bigger than just sports?

Yeah. It’s totally unrelated. You kind of see the trend, where fashion in the League is starting to get bigger. I think Dwyane Wade was probably one of the players who stepped onto the edge. You can see now guys trying to be more fashionable. It’s like, "Oh, we can dress business casual?" It’s not a negative thing. It’s like, "I can incorporate my little style, my little flow, into my clothing."

You’re also into comic books?

I used to have a huge comic book collection back in Iowa, man. My favorite was...(long pause)...Batman. I just thought the comics were better. I had a huge collection of Spiderman, but I thought the Batman books were great.

What do you do when you have some time off?

I’ve been watching a little bit of soccer. Been watching more of that, actually.

What’s your team?

I’m Barca for La Liga, and then also Man United. But really I’ve been watching "Being Liverpool." Have you see that?

The TV show with Clive Owen narrating? That show is great.

Crazy good. I’m also a TV show addict.

Reality TV?

(disappointed) Not reality. "Homeland," "Breaking Bad," "Scandal," "Boardwalk Empire." We take so many flights that it’s easy to watch an entire season in a few days.

What do you get into when you’re on the road with time to kill?

It’s either movies or bowling with our team.

Bowling again! What is the deal with bowling and NBA players? I just talked about this the other day with Mike Conley.

It’s weird. You know, Steph is so good at it...

[Suddenly, Pistons rookie center Andre Drummond arrives. Drummond missed the Rising Stars game with a sprained ankle, but served as an honorary assistant coach for Team Shaq.]