CHRIS NEUMER: I’m glad to meet with you. I’m not only a big basketball fan, but I played in college myself. So we’re going to have all sorts of things to talk about. I’m from Chicago, so I just got done watching that really great series that turned out really really badly for us.
MARKO JARIC: Yeah, well it was good for basketball.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now I have to ask you: is Rajon Rondo as annoying a player to you on the court as he is on TV?.
MARKO JARIC: I mean he is definitely very, very active. Very active defensively and offensively. He is very quick. He developed into a great player. To have a point guard like that at a young age… He is smart, also unselfish. To be a very willing point guard to superstars like that you have on your team, it’s not an easy thing. So to make everybody happy on your team and also know when to shoot the ball and also score 20-30 points a game, it’s not an easy thing.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’ll give you that. But it seems like he’s like one of those guys like I mean, I remember playing against some guys like this where it’s just like you hate to play against them because they’re always poking at you like this when you have the ball or they’re grabbing on your shirt a little bit-
MARKO JARIC: [chuckling] Well …Well I’m like that too a little bit.
CHRIS NEUMER: You got to be crafty.-
MARKO JARIC: You know I’m a little bit like that too. I can respect that. You know what? You’ve got to do anything to win a game. Sometimes you’re going to be annoying. No, but honestly I prefer to be that guy who does anything to win.
CHRIS NEUMER: Nocioni used to play for the Bulls, and he was great at irritating players. LeBron hated playing against him, because he was always grabbing and poking—
MARKO JARIC: [With] some guys… there’s no other way to stop them. You know you’re playing against LeBron, against Kobe; you need to find any way to stop those guys. You remember a couple years ago, Phoenix stopped the Lakers playing that way. [They had] people like Raja Bell playing like that. Every team needs to have a player like that to get under the skin of the other guy. I think Boston Celtics need a guy like that, basically doing the dirty work.
CHRIS NEUMER: Who do you guys have on the Grizzlies that does that?
MARKO JARIC: You know what like I said—
CHRIS NEUMER: That’s you!
MARKO JARIC: I translate winning teams with having that. Teams in winning situations…
CHRIS NEUMER: You know this is one thing I was actually curious about: I was looking where you’ve been. I know your contract situation, and I thought to myself; you had just mentioned the winning thing. Now you’ve played for the Clippers, the Timberwolves, the Grizzlies: It’s a horrible run really for anybody.
MARKO JARIC: It is.
CHRIS NEUMER: But how do you keep yourself motivated? You’ve got a ton of cash, you’ve got a great wife who is one of the best looking women in the world and you play for these teams. How do you keep work going forward?
MARKO JARIC: Because you know what, I’m just working hard, waiting that things are going to come my way a little bit, in my career. I know to be persistent. I came to the NBA to be persistent in working hard. Some players just [had] their dreams [made] by getting drafted by the Lakers and being the fourth, fifth or sixth player on the team; being an average player. But you know what, they won four championships, they have a good contract, they have great marketing and everything. Or some players they can be great players, and end up teams like that. I’m not saying I’m a great player, but you know, I’m trying to say, definitely a lot of things need to come together to have a successful career. And I strongly believe that basketball—basketball is my life and it has also influenced my private life.
CHRIS NEUMER: Wait, how has basketball influenced your private life?
MARKO JARIC: In sense, I need to be happy on the court to be happy off the court. And you know what, by coming to the NBA, a lot of coaches and a lot of GMs told me that basketball is not everything. In one way, I understand basketball is not everything. I’m like, “Yes I know,” but I grew up playing basketball. I’m not going to back down till the last kernel of my energy is invested in basketball. And hopefully—I know actually I’m going to have a couple significant years in this league and, like I said, I’m looking forward to it. So I like I said, I’m working really hard and things can happen overnight.
CHRIS NEUMER: I actually write about film. I was curious to talk to you to get your thoughts on basketball in film. Do you watch a lot of movies?
MARKO JARIC: I like to watch movies.
CHRIS NEUMER: Have you found that there are many really good basketball films out there? Anything you gravitate towards?
MARKO JARIC: You know what; it’s very hard to. First of all, to me, to make a GOOD basketball movie. Because me as a basketball player, because when I watch basketball movies, and I see the way how they move in the movie-
CHRIS NEUMER: Oh you mean, how the guy shoots by pushing the ball or something?
MARKO JARIC: Yeah, shots and stuff. And then, you know, it starts looking funny. Unless if you’re watching like He Got Game, where Ray Allen is in it. If they’re using real basketball players. But [pause], but you know, other than that, it is hard to find a good good basketball movie.
CHRIS NEUMER: It’s surprising, because you know; you got a lot of great baseball films out there. But then I realize that baseball scenes that it might be easier to recreate than basketball.
MARKO JARIC: I think, it’s actually, it’s easier to teach an actor, how to throw a ball. And in basketball, you can see how natural the moves are… or are not. Like somebody is naturally playing good basketball or not. So definitely you need to get somebody who played basketball to be the actor in those movies. I mean, just talking for us NBA basketball players to really get into it.
CHRIS NEUMER: Okay, so He Got Game.
MARKO JARIC: You know what, your going to have to remind me of some movies because-
CHRIS NEUMER: White Men Can’t Jump
MARKO JARIC: Well let me say- at the time I loved that movie, because, I was growing up, basketball was my like [everything]. It was the thing I was eating, breathing, you know. It was the only thing on my mind. I loved that movie, I need to admit. But, I agree when I watch now, when I see going back to what I said before, When I see them play now; I was like oh my God. But at the time I was really young, so I was really impressed.
CHRIS NEUMER: You didn’t realize how bad Wesley was carrying the ball? Or how Woody was launching his shot from behind his head?
MARKO JARIC: [laughs] Yeah, but I loved that movie.
CHRIS NEUMER: Apropos of nothing, have you ever encountered a situation where people are actually betting hundreds or thousands of dollars on a pick-up game like that just out and about?
MARKO JARIC: Money? No. In Europe, I should say, certainly where I grew up, street ball was pretty big. You really played to win hard, but not to win money.
CHRIS NEUMER: I’ve played pick-up in New York, I’ve played pick-up in Chicago, I’ve played pick-up in L.A., I’ve played a ton everywhere, all seasons, I’ve never come close to seeing anything like that.
MARKO JARIC: Yeah, I’ve never seen…. I mean I’ve never played here…pick-up games because I was already pro when I moved to states. But, I definitely was there when they like played really really hard to win games. Never money.
CHRIS NEUMER: I was thinking of the idea of performing in the NBA versus performing in Hollywood, sort of acting on that. Do you find that there’s a lot of acting that you have to do, even when you’re not on the court, that goes along with the job?
MARKO JARIC: There’s a lot of acting. And in one way, I get a little bit disappointed about that in the NBA. It’s so much about marketing and about acting. Growing up in Europe, that’s not how you’re taught to play basketball. It’s not about attractive moves; it’s not about how you dunk the ball. It’s only about the win! Winning and losing. It’s not about how you look on the court, making fancy moves; it’s about winning, winning, winning. And then, moving here… I think David Stern is doing probably the best job in professional sports. He realizes how to promote basketball in the right way. And, I’m not saying the way how I grew up is the right way, I’m just saying it’s very different than the way, how I learned to play basketball. But definitely, they figured out marketing NBA and marketing players. You’re right, it’s acting and charisma is so much more important.
CHRIS NEUMER: Have you found that during the last two years—I’m assuming that there has been slightly more spotlight on you, for the last two years or so. Have you found that you have a new appreciation for celebrities with this limelight being thrust upon you?
MARKO JARIC: You know what, that thing is very relative in my life, because since I grew up, I’ve been to places where people have no idea who I am. [Then I go] to places where the whole place worships you as being a hero.
CHRIS NEUMER: Where’s one of the places where they don’t know you?
MARKO JARIC: You can go to so many parts of the states [where they] don’t even know you. I’m an average player in the NBA, some people they don’t even know who the superstars are in the NBA. It’s relative. You can go to areas where everybody recognizes you—especially the countries I play in in Europe, or the cities I play in here in the NBA. Or you got to some places where nobody has any idea who you are. So you know what, and I have been through all this period through my life, so I get used to. I get a bit of extra spotlight in my life because of my private life, but, you know what, I got used to it, so it’s not a big deal.
CHRIS NEUMER: I was just doing some research on you and I could not find any story that didn’t involve your wife or the unfortunate incident in Philadelphia earlier this year. I was surprising to me; I was expecting at least something on your balling. I know Mark Madsen’s not getting this.
MARKO JARIC: No, I agree. Like I said, people these days are very, very interested in what other people are doing and [what’s] going on in other peoples life. That’s why all these gossip magazines are doing so well.
CHRIS NEUMER: Is that true in Europe as well?
MARKO JARIC: It’s in Europe too.
CHRIS NEUMER: Are there certain countries that do you don’t like to go to as much because of it?
MARKO JARIC: I think living here, living in Greece, living in Italy, living where I’m from in Serbia, [made me realize that] I think in Italy it’s worse because they worship celebrities. They really worship celebrities over there. I understand it works for some of the big celebrities, I understand if Brad Pitt shows up over there, but sometimes they worship somebody just because they were a part of a commercial on TV. Suddenly he walks along and they say, “Oh my God, he’s from TV!” and everyone is staring at him.
CHRIS NEUMER: I know Jamal Crawford has said time and time again that he never leaves his room when he’s on the road. I think Eddy Curry, for better or for worse, always has an assistant who packs up his Playstation and stuff like that whenever the team travels…which would be good if he wasn’t eating at the same time.
MARKO JARIC: Yeah.
CHRIS NEUMER: Do you find when you travel that a lot film becomes…is it something where you track down the DVDs, or, better yet, how does film play in your life?
MARKO JARIC: You know what; I’m a big Mac [computer] fan. I have everything on my iTunes, believe it or not. I will admit that I was a big movie lover, but now I start getting into the TV shows. First of all they’re connected; the whole series of episodes is connected. Then they have a lot more time to develop the characters inside instead of you know 24 episodes, 16 episodes or 12. Also you can watch and watch, the NBA season is long. So, you have still time to watch one episode, two episode. Movies you just see one time and that’s it. I’m not a big fan of watching it again. I know some people like that, but I really not a big fan of it, to watch movies a couple times.
CHRIS NEUMER: Now, when you first came into the league, I heard some stories about you renting out the penthouse of a hotel. You were living a very unique lifestyle in your first year here in LA. It seems like a slightly different approach when you first broke in the league.
MARKO JARIC: I don’t understand. What do you mean exactly?
CHRIS NEUMER: It seems like when you first came in the league, that there was a lot of partying. Now when you’re describing, it seems like a lot more, you know, boring.
MARKO JARIC: [chuckles] Oh definitely! You know what? It’s a growing process. First of all, you’re a totally different person when you’re 22 and when you’re 30. You definitely need to get things out of your system.
