Houston said he only hears about trade rumors from friends or reporters. Often criticized harshly after bad games, he has taken to ignoring the sports sections of newspapers.

''I don't want to know what they're writing,'' Houston said. ''To me, why should I allow negative stuff to go into my head? It's not healthy for me.

''I understand that there are times when good stuff is written, too, but in New York, where it's so competitive, there has to be something negative written. That's the nature of the market, and I understand that. So I make a conscious effort not to see the papers. If I see one, it's not like I'm going to run from it, but I never stop at a newsstand and pick one up.''

Houston has become comfortable in the spotlight during his time in New York. Latrell Sprewell may be the Knicks' most popular player, but Houston is the club's most visible on a national level. He can be seen shooting jumpers in a television commercial or appearing in a magazine advertisement.

He also had a role alongside Ben Stiller and Claudia Schiffer in the movie ''Black and White,'' which was released last spring. While Houston said he enjoyed the experience and would want to continue acting, he has felt some remorse about appearing in the film because some scenes were sexually explicit. None of his scenes were, however.

''Regret is a strong word, because I did enjoy being in the movie and seeing how I could act,'' said Houston, a born-again Christian. ''But there were certain things I regretted about doing it. When I had my daughter, my perspective kind of changed. Now I'm looking at it like, 'One day she might watch it.' She probably will. But hopefully, at that time, she'll be grown enough where she'll be able to handle it.''

He added: ''Instead of it being like 'Remember the Titans,' or something inspirational like that, it was a movie with everything in it. If I did something now, I would prefer doing something more on that level. But I can't lie. It was fun being in it.''