We’re pretty sure Nick Young was the perfect interview yesterday during Lakers media day. He was witty, bombastic, hyperbolic, continually self-referential, and basically a reporters waking dream during a day that can drag and turn monotonous for players and reporters. Not so with Swaggy P on the mic. He talked to the media about training with Kobe Bryant, hazing rookies and a hysterical — possibly farcical, it’s hard to tell — conversation he had with coach Byron Scott about the team’s defense.
Early on in his chat, Swaggy said “Kobe worked out with me. I didn’t work out with him,” and the smirk on his face when he said it needs to be printed out, framed and put on the wall in our office. Such an unbridled look of joy.
“I had a conversation with coach Byron Scott about how we should play,” Young added among more guffaws from the surrounding press. When pressed to elaborate, Young answered in true Swaggy (i.e. grinning irony) fashion:
“Oh just about defense. I told him, you know, we need some guys just in the back, so in case I get blowed by, we need some guys to block some shots.”
Young also said he talked to Carlos Boozer about blocking some of those shots, but he couldn’t stifle a laugh at that point.
He also mentioned his requirement Jordan Clarkson call him “Daddy Swag,” and Julius Randle call him “Uncle Swaggy” because, “It’s a family affair here.”
“In the streets, they say ‘Oh Swaggy,'” Young continued about how his self-made moniker has taken off, with the Lakers coaches even referring to him as Swaggy P. “I miss Nick, Nicholas, sometimes.”
Less sarcastically, Young says Steve Nash looked “unbelievable” during scrimmages, and Young was shocked to see both Kobe and Nash out on the court playing five-on-five earlier in September. Then he mentioned this Kobe story:
“I remember I really tried to foul Kobe when he was shooting, and he still made it. That night I end up texting him, like ‘I really tried to foul you.’ He wrote back, ‘Get some years, you’ll do that one time.’ I [sent] ‘laugh out loud [LOL]’ back and I told him ‘That ain’t gonna happen tomorrow.’ I’ll prolly clip him or something because [Kobe’s shot] was for [the] game.”
Perfect.
(video via Laker Nation)
What do you think?
Follow Spencer on Twitter at @SpencerTyrel.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.
