KYLf: What about off the court? A. C.: Off the court there's the travel, the schedule. It takes me until a month-and-a-half into the season before my body gets used to it again. About the only thing I'm used to is that almost as soon as I get on a plane, I can go to sleep now. That's about the only normal thing for me. Mentall y it's tough also. You have to try to train your mind because over the long run it will try to wander on you. There's a lot of other things you start thinking about right in the middle of the season; you might wish you were here or there with your family or friends, or wish the vacation would start early. It takes a really strong discipline to keep your mind on your occupation. KYLf: Tell me a little bit about how you deal with
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REACHING BEYOND YOUR GRASP BEING SMALLER than mos t of hi s oppone nts is a challenge A. C . Green faces in almost every game. But size isn 't everything when it co mes to ge ttin g rebounds, according to the 6-foot-9, 224pound Gree n. Hi s success in that category for the Lakers de monstrates that a disadvantage in size can a lso be a n ad vantage in quickness. " I try to take advantage of mental and physical quickness in my battle against these bigger guys. It comes down to the basics for me as far as re bounding." •BOXING OUT. "I try to be in position to block out my man, for the offensive or the defe ns ive rebound." •PURSUIT. "I always pursue the ball, assuming that every shot is going to be missed. I don't wait until it comes off the rim to go after it." •ANTICIPATE DIRECnON. " I read the overall flight of the ball , trying to pic ture which way the ball's going to come off the rim. For example, if it's a corner shot, I think it's going to come off on the other side, heading toward the opposite corner. I might try to move my body over there or keep my man from that position." •QUICKBS. "If I'm smaller than my opponent, I can usually get to a loose ball first. On defense, I use my feet to out-quick him. I keep him out of the position he really wants to get to. Maybe he has a favorite spot to shoot from, so I try not to allow him to get there in the first place." •
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'Spiritual toughness carries over into every other part of
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my life.'
all of this. Do you have a pre-game routine to get yourself prepared so your mind doesn't wander in the midst of a long season that can have over a hundred games for a competitive team like the Lakers? A. C.: My game schedule starts the night before the game. I'm normally in bed by 10 o 'clock. I might not fall asleep for a while, but I try to get in bed at least by that time. The day of the game the only thing I do is make sure I eat 5 to 6 hours before the game starts, and then get at least an hour or two nap in the afternoon. And I try not to do a lot of running around, doing little things that will get my mind off of the game. Those are the only special things I do for the game itself. But my normal everyday discipline I do for life itself. When I wake up, I will spend at least an hour just reading my Bible and the n praying. I don 't call it a game routine, because I normally do it every day, early in the morning before I go to practice. That's why it's so important for me to get my rest the night before, so I will not be really tired and have to fight to get out of bed. KYLf: It's refreshing to hear that your identity as a player hasn't so dominated you that you make the game the center of your universe. It sounds like your daily disciplines are even more important to you than your basketball disciplines. A. C.: Yes, that's true, that's very well put, Kyle. It's really important that a person di scipline himself for life, period, and not just for his occupation, whatever the job may be. If you try to tailormake your disciplines or your strengths, you start to limit yourself in other areas. It is important to have discipline in your job; like fo r me in basketball, I need to have strengths in certain areas, true enough. But mainly I need to develop the discipline for life, to have victory in life. That's the most important area for me, and that's why I don't put everything in and around basketball. KYLE: Do you see any pa rallels be tween the physical discipline that g ives you the toughness on the court and the discipline that develops character throughout all of life? A. C.: Well, I look at it like this: you need to be tough and very spiritually-minded in the things of God , knowing what God has promi sed you, knowing what God has planned for you, knowing that there 's a purpose for your life. Spiritual toug hness, in the sense of fig hting for those things, obtaining and ho lding on to those things, carries over into every other part of my life. KYLf: The re's no doubt that you've dealt with the wide-bodies and the super-tails, the Patrick Ewings, the Karl Malones, the Charles Barkleys, and those kind of people. What are the "widebodies" in your spiritual life that are the greatest challenge to you? A. C.: Pride would be one; pride a nd ego trying to make you think of yourself as more than you reall y are. And pride would really try to keep me from spending time with God on a daily basis. KYLE: On s u c h a hi g h - profile tea m , with