Laker reflects on B.C., basketball
Backup centre chats about high school, the Grizzlies, and Kobe
No one wants to win as much or needs to win as much as Kobe Bryant.
But this year the Los Angeles Lakers are simply figuring out how to win.
Only the Philadelphia 76ers have lost more than the 12-50 Lakers, going through a painful rebuilding process as the 37-year-old Black Mamba completes his farewell tour of the National Basketball Association.
Courtside as Bryant’s brilliant career winds down is Rob Sacre, the seven-foot backup centre from North Vancouver who finds himself the second-longest tenured Laker behind Bryant at age 26.
Though he went the NCAA route (Gonzaga) after winning the B.C. high school Triple-A championship 10 years ago with the Handsworth Royals, Sacre spent Thursday morning on the phone with Vancouver media, pumping the bladder for the CIS Final 8 basketball championship at UBC from March 17-20. Q Your connection with Canadian university basketball is pretty tenuous. Why get involved?
A I don’t have a deep connection, but I had a good friend who played for the University of Alberta. And I definitely think basketball needs to grow in Vancouver. It’s been 44 years since the tournament was at UBC. I give basketball a push in B.C. whenever I can. Q When you played in the 2006 provincials (Handsworth defeated Kitsilano 82-65 in the final at the PNE Agrodome), did you ever think it would lead to an NBA career? (Sacre has appeared in 183 games for the Lakers, averaging 14.5 minutes since 2012).
A I did. I’ve had the goal since high school, when we collectively came together to win the B.C.’s. I just needed to take it a step at a time and focus on what I needed to do to get here.
Q What’s it like to be considered a “big brother” to players such as D’Angelo Russell (the Lakers’ rookie point guard who turned 20 on Feb. 23 and scored a career-high 39 points Tuesday vs. Brooklyn)?
A It’s interesting. I’ve definitely seen a lot in the four years I’ve been here. I try to be a mentor to the younger guys, help them out in any way I can. That’s what a veteran player is expected to do.
Q For much of his career, Kobe was never the easiest teammate to play alongside and dismissive of anybody he didn’t think was worth his time. Has he mellowed?
A In the past, Kobe was always going to be Kobe. But a tiger can change its stripes. He’s become extremely more open and talkative. It’s been fun, and obviously a little sad, to see a great Hall of Fame career go out like this. Q NBA in Vancouver. Think it will ever happen again? A If Memphis has a team, why shouldn’t we? I think there needs to be an NBA team in Vancouver. I’ll give it a push any time to make it happen. Growing up with the Grizzlies inspired me to set goals for myself.