Links: NBA Finals Diary, Day 2 (part 1)
Ducktails!
SAN ANTONIO — Just got back from this morning’s practices. Actually, I didn’t see anyone practice, just went to the team’s media sessions. They had the bigger names (LeBron, Duncan, Tony Parker) in the interview room, which I avoided. All the other players were out on the floor. Some random notes…
• Spurs went first, being the home team. Francisco Elson was drinking some sort of protein drink out of a metal envelope. Very strange.
• Jackie Butler’s beard really is impressive. He said he is growing it out until the Playoffs end, but that he has been trimming it up to keep it from getting “distracting.” Too late, Jackie.
• Jackie also has three gold teeth, randomly distributed in his mouth.
• Oh, and he loves baseball, and he played in high school back in Mississippi. He played first base, was a pitcher (threw a fastball, curve and splitter) and he played “hind catcher.” Made me recall growing up in the South with “hind catcher.”
• While everyone else was rocking practice gear, Matt Bonner had on khakis and a plaid button-up shirt. I asked one of the Toronto beat writers why Bonner was dressed like that: “That’s just how he rolls.”
• Quin Snyder was in the house. Or maybe it was Andrew McCarthy. He looked pretty smarmy. That could just be me projecting because I know he went to Duke.
• Spurs GM RC Buford rolled in wearing jeans and a button-up with loud collars and cuffs. I don’t know if Bryan Colangelo’s biting off him or the other way around.
• Drew Gooden calls his haircut “the ducktail,” and he says it was a big thing when he was growing up back in the ’80s in the Bay Area. I took a close-up shot of it while Drew was fielding questions from the media. It’s really thick back there. And kind of gross.
• I also got Drew to give me his five favorite things about the ’80s. It’ll be posted here on SI.com eventually.
• I stood with Drew the entire time, maybe 20 minutes, and he was asked 10 questions about LeBron James. The only interesting thing he said about Bron is that he can listen to a rap album once and memorize all the lyrics.
And that was that. Fun, right? I’ll be back at some point tonight with more from the Finals…
43 Responses to “Links: NBA Finals Diary, Day 2 (part 1)”
Jun.8 at 2:45 pm
Reggie Evans says:
First …
Jun.8 at 2:48 pm
Rasheedionics says:
FIRST?
Jun.8 at 2:48 pm
Rasheedionics says:
Damn you Reggie Evans!!!
Jun.8 at 2:51 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Is the duck tail shaved underneath, too, so that it’s a bunch of long hairs in a row, or is more of a patch?
Jun.8 at 2:53 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Saying Drew’s duck tail is only “kind of” gross is like saying the Cavs are only “kind of” outmatched in this series. An understatement, in other words.
Jun.8 at 3:03 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
What a horrible/awesome/perfect photo to choose for the front of the site.
Jun.8 at 3:24 pm
Homie says:
I prefer ‘vertebeard’ (read that on Simmons’ blog the other day) to duck tail.
Jun.8 at 3:26 pm
Colin says:
Lang you were right about seeing Stan Van Gundy in New York. The Sacramento bee reported that he faxed a contract to the Magic from a Kinkos in Sacramento and then flew to New York and from there to Florida. So you were right all along!
Jun.8 at 3:27 pm
Ben says:
Paul Wall would say: “CUT IT DREW!!!”
Jun.8 at 3:29 pm
white hot eboy says:
Lebron better memorize the Spurs double teaming patterns with the same quickness.
Jun.8 at 3:41 pm
Richie says:
The fuzy grayish-green tint of the photo makes it even more gross that it already is. Lets just hope they dont make headbands with the ducktail attached for fans to wear a la ponytail caps.
Jun.8 at 3:44 pm
Silky Slim says:
Maybe Drew will grow it long enough to braid it. Then it will go from being a duck tail to being a rat tail. I’m sure one of the things on Drew’s list of favorite things about the 80s is the Atari 2600!
Jun.8 at 3:49 pm
Silky Slim says:
Lang, you’re right about the phrase “hind catcher.” That’s southern lingo right there!
Jun.8 at 3:54 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
favorite things about the 80’s? gi joe,transformers (i will see the movie but with fingers crossed), voltron, cold cereal out of a big mixing bowl, acid washed jeans, trapper keepers, public enemy, prince and mj (no the original one)….
Jun.8 at 4:00 pm
Dennard says:
A ducktail!!!! That’s mad funny right there, I rocked one of those in the 2nd grade….
Jun.8 at 4:07 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Yeah, too bad you can’t eat cereal out of a bowl anymore Khalid. Damn new millennium.
Jun.8 at 4:09 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
true. the millennium is taking our jobs…(slam staff gets it)
Jun.8 at 4:11 pm
Silky Slim says:
Favorite things about the 80s? Converse -Weapons and Chuck Taylor shoes. Nike - the first Air Jordan commercial and Nike’s Revolution commercials were cool, too. Coleco - Donkey Kong, Atari 2600 - Pitfall.
Jun.8 at 4:16 pm
Ryan Jones says:
?
Jun.8 at 4:51 pm
JZ says:
I’m from the bay and just a few months younger than Drew…but I don’t know anyone who rocked a “ducktail” like that! Eeew…..
Jun.8 at 6:00 pm
chiqo says:
we had ducktails in texas, but never with a bald head and never with hair of that texture.
Jun.8 at 6:02 pm
joe says:
After that pic, no longer El Cerrito’s finest. :-(
Jun.8 at 6:18 pm
Dennard says:
@Chiqo, yeah Drew is doing something way different from the ducktail in the 80’s.
Jun.8 at 6:44 pm
me says:
how does gooden remember what was big in the 80’s? he’s only 25
Jun.8 at 6:51 pm
Waters says:
Am I the only one who remembers the cartoon “Ducktales”? I loved that show.
Jun.8 at 7:12 pm
Dennard says:
@me - The ducktale was a late 80’s thing. That thing Drew is wearing is not a ducktale. It’s a neckstache or vertebeard as mentioned by Homer.
Jun.8 at 7:41 pm
me says:
he still would have only been 7 or 8 years old
Jun.8 at 11:21 pm
Adrian Zapata says:
By the way Lang, why are you eating at chipolte? Dude, that is just nasty mexican food. You need to go to Taco Tote off of I-10. Please dont go to those nasty spots anymore. And get away from downtown!!! Head to the Northwest side!
Jun.9 at 12:33 am
whooo! says:
wonder how big jackie butler was in high school as a pitcher? or if he could even squat as a catcher… his beard is quite l.j.-esque, but i totally forgot bout melvin ely till i saw him behind the bench. now THAT is a bad-ass beard!
Jun.9 at 12:35 am
whooo! says:
actually, dude should rock the fro like he did at fresno state
Jun.9 at 1:20 am
Buckets says:
Drew Gooden can ball but he is f***in retarted. does he think that sh*t is cool? they shud jump him in the locker room n shave that thing
Jun.9 at 1:28 am
whooo! says:
maybe, somebody should just play him and bet his hair for cash or something? wwf style head shaving! and i guess it’s to compensate for his premature balding, but i read an article where he says it’s hot w/ the ladies. i dunno if he’s that naive, but there’s no way it’s the hair-patch they’re after n not his millions.
Jun.9 at 5:37 am
Michael Spand says:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Air-Up-There-And-or-How-to-Increase-Vertical-Jump&id=594028
80es? what about Chuck Norris?
Jun.9 at 6:12 am
Esco says:
Dudes on the Finals Blog on NBA.com refer to it as “a reverse soul patch”
Jun.9 at 8:00 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Lang, couldn’t you use your powers of persuasion to convince Drew he simply must shave that thing off? I get physically sick every time I see it, which makes watching the Finals even more of an arduous task.
Jun.9 at 8:01 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Plus, Drew’s bringing shame to his Finnish (yes,really) roots.
Jun.9 at 8:03 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
With that monstrous patch of hair, I mean, not his game, which was the best thing the Cavs had going for them in Game 1.
Jun.9 at 12:05 pm
Bolegz says:
Ducktalis??? I Had One Braided Up With Beads On It And The Oily Fade And A Big Ol’ Part In a Angle Like I Was PLay From Kid -N- Play
Jun.9 at 3:02 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
Drew should have a face tattooed on the back of his head with the ducktail as a beard to distract defenders.
Jun.9 at 3:19 pm
» Links: NBA Finals Diary, Day 3 (Part 1) - SLAM ONLINE says:
[…] After yesterday’s practice, Ben and I hustled back to the hotel. I posted practice notes, then ran over to a nearby mall and grabbed some lunch. By 2:15, Ben and I were back on the road, heading over to The Quarry. Once it was decided that the Finals were going to be in San Antonio, we started researching golf courses in the area. A few of you readers even gave us advice. And the one course everyone seemed to like was The Quarry. Basically, it’s an old rock quarry that you can play golf down inside of. Remember how on The Flintstones, each episode began with Barney and Fred getting off of work at that rock Quarry? It was just like that, but with a golf course in it. And less dinosaurs. It’s really unique and it was all well-run, and I can’t say anything bad about it at all. I’d be more positive about it if I hadn’t finished just over 100 (Ben finished at 94). We had a great round out there. […]
Jun.10 at 9:59 am
» Is this series over already? - SLAM ONLINE says:
[…] Not if LeBron can help it. For each of the last two day’s practice sessions/media availability, I spent most of the Spurs’ time rapping with Jackie Butler (some of which Lang recapped in his Friday notes) and a few of the series’ other bench warmers (a breed who I will discuss at longer length in my column on Tuesday), and then headed into LeBron’s press conference. […]
Jun.11 at 4:44 pm
tike says:
Yall call it a Ducktail..i call it a soulpatch…but whatever it is that guys needs 2 shave it…i mean wat planet is gooden on!!
Aug.14 at 5:51 pm
SLAM ONLINE | » Links: BREAKING NEWS: Drew Gooden’s Ducktail Is Dead says:
[…] Drew Gooden’s ducktail haircut has spawned millions of blog posts this season. It became a trademark of sorts…a very weird, strange trademark. Drew arrived at training camp this season with the haircut — basically a lone, insolent patch of hair on his neck — and rode it out all season long. It was an homage, he said, to the ’80s, a popular haircut in the Bay Area back in the day. […]