Q&A: Chris Rock
Posted: Thursday September 22, 2005 3:00PM; Updated: Thursday September 22, 2005 3:00PM Last week, SI writer Richard Deitsch interviewed comedian Chris Rock for the magazine's Q&A.
SI: You once interviewed Michael Jordan for Vibe, getting him to answer whether or not he used condoms. If Sports Illustrated gave you the space, what athlete would you like to interview?
Rock: You guys once had an article on white players in the NBA. I'd love to get those guys in a room. All seven of them. They kind of fascinate me. So does a guy like Milton Bradley. Baseball is so white. And I don't mean white players. Aesthetically, it's very white. Basketball, football, aesthetically, they seem to have adopted a hip-hop culture. Even hockey has a swagger to it that's more rock and roll than baseball. So I'd interview any black baseball player with flavor .You would also want to know about Kobe because he's one of those players with controversy around him. A.I. is fascinating. That's one of the problems with the NBA right now. Everybody always says the league misses Michael Jordan. No, the league misses Charles Barkley. They miss guys with really great personalities.
SI: Anybody else?
Rock: Jeff Kent. That would be the guy to interview because he's a reputed ass---- which I respect (laughs). And he's probably the best hitting second baseman of his generation. As a Mets fan, the Kent for Carlos Baerga trade was the worst trade in the history of sports. Jeff Kent for Carlos Baerga? What the ----?
SI: What teams should be contracted?
Rock: You probably don't need two baseball teams in Florida. I think attendance tells us that. I would say the Devil Rays have to go. At least the Marlins have won championships. But baseball needs to contract. All those highlights of empty seats? It's starting to look like a USFL game. And I love the city of Atlanta but there is something up with the Atlanta Hawks. They can't win for whatever reason.
SI: Which athletes are the easiest to make fun of?
Rock: Boxers, because they have these long press conferences and they end up saying really weird s---.
SI: The best celebrity to sit next to at an sporting event?
Rock: Jack Nicholson. Enthusiastic. And of everybody I have ever sat with at any game, this guy knows more about the game than anybody. I've been to baseball and basketball games with him and he knows every player, every coach, every assistant coach. You almost think he's a scout or something. You look at him like: How the f--- did you know that?
SI: You're a Knicks season-ticket holder. Tell me how Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson can all play together?
Rock: Trade for Shaquille O'Neal and it will all make sense (laughs). It looks like Jamal will be the odd man out on that one. But if we get some size, we can run a three-guard rotation. I think Jamal in a lot of ways will be the backup point guard. But it will work out. We have a great coach and it will be better.
SI: How many more wins is Larry Brown worth to the Knicks?
Rock: Here's the thing that I tell Isiah [Thomas] all the time: I don't know how many wins he is going to get the first year but we'll be more competitive and we won't lose as many games as we did this last year. You can't evaluate talent unless the talent plays in a system. You just don't know what you have. So for the first time since Jeff Van Gundy, we're going to actually know what we have. Then we'll be able to make real moves instead of reactionary moves. So I don't know how many wins it will be but it should be a few.
SI: Is Isiah receptive to your GM advice?
Rock: He's a little receptive. Anybody who is good at anything has to have an ear open to anything. I've gotten great jokes from bus drivers, and the oddest people have said funny things that I've used on television and in movies. I remember when I worked on In Living Color for a minute and Jim Carrey was there. I didn't even know the guy. I was probably there a day or so and he was asking me, 'Gee, you think this joke is funny? I was like, This guy will go to anybody'. He was smart. So Isiah is open. And you have to be open with what he was dealt.
SI: Is hosting the Oscars anything like playing in the NBA FInals or Super Bowl?
Rock: It's harder than the NBA Finals. The NBA Finals you got seven games to get it right. You thought the Oscars were good? Give me five more chances and it'll be insane. But not harder than the Super Bowl. That's one game.
SI: The best athlete's cell phone number you have?
Rock: I think I have Vince Carter's. But he hasn't called in awhile.
SI: What NBA player has trash talked you?
Rock: Reggie Miller has told me to shut up.
SI: As a big Mets fan, what are your thoughts on Carlos Beltran's season?
Rock: Even if he had a s----- year, he'd hit .290 and hit 30 home runs. There's only four guys getting $100 million. AND THEY'RE ALL GOOD. Except one guy. We could have had Miguel Tejada. He was cheap and in his prime. I mean, [GM] Omar [Minaya] had to sign Beltran. His numbers and how old he was said you had to do it, but the question is was Beltran on steroids. And give up on the "Tom Glavine is going to win 300 games" thing. It's over. He should have stayed with the Braves.
SI: You are the oldest of seven -- six brothers and a sister. How many of your siblings are better athletes than you?
Rock: All of them. Everyone of them including the girl.
SI: Why do you have so much respect for athletes?
Rock: I respect anybody that can do something I can't do. So I have a tremendous respect for all athletes.
SI: What athletic feat are you most proud of?
Rock: I work out at the Reebok Gym in New York City and I can pretty much hit six out of 10 NBA 3-pointers.
SI: Will we ever know who is legit in baseball?
Rock: We'll never know. I know fat cokeheads so why can't there be skinny guys on steroids. Rafael Palmeiro doesn't strike me as a guy where you say: 'That guy is built. Look at his physique.' But he went down hard. He may actually take the Dave Kingman Award. The guy with the most home runs not in the Hall of Fame.
SI: Best sporting event you have seen because of your celebrity?
Rock: You have to realize every sporting event where I am sitting is because of my celebrity. I've been to a couple of NBA Finals. But I was in Yankee Stadium the night [Game 4 of the 2001 World Series] Tino Martinez hit the home run against the Diamondbacks. That was the best game I ever saw. That was incredible. I was also at the Baseball All-Star Game for Home Run Derby in the big 'roid year, the year Mark McGwire was hitting them to Martha's Vineyard. It's so funny now when you think about. It was like Globetrotter baseball.
