Brandon Jennings Ruminates on Panda Express, Hang-Drying His Clothes and More

After the workout, all four held court with a large contingent of D.C. media members: Price and Curry being sober and serious, while Flynn and Jennings flung one-liners. Jennings gathered the largest crowd, and he didn't disappoint, discussing life in Italy ("they have a lot of struggles"), the physical nature of Euro ball, and his own game. "I think I'm the best guard in this draft," he said at one point, which was the highlight of his basketball discussion. More highlights from Jennings's session, and please remember that much of this was said with a wink:

Are you glad to get away from international ball, just to get back over here in the States so guys can see where you are with your game?

Well yeah, I have my swagger back now, I'm playing my position, the point guard, back on U.S. soil, so I'm back where my friends and my family and my fans are, so real happy about that.

Many would wonder why you did it if you had the struggles that you had over there.

Just to see how mentally tough I was. It was an up-and-down situation, but I thought I handled it real well, I showed my mental toughness. It was a great experience for me and my family, off the court I learned a lot about life. You know, we don't know how good we have it until you step out of your boundaries and go to a different place. So it was real good.

What'd you learn about life?

That over here, it's just great over here. Over there, you know, they have a lot of struggles. You know, the economy's not that great, they don't make a lot of money, just the way they live is different from here.

In Italy? What's different?

Well, we don't have a drier. We have to hang our clothes outside. So that was one thing that was really tough for us, you know, hang-drying our clothes. You know, not having all the fast food. Just the way they live is totally different. A lot of things be closed on the weekends and things like that.

What fast food did you miss the most?

I would have to say Panda Express. You know, I'm a big Chinese food guy, I love Chinese food.

A lot of wine though, right?

Yeah, a whole lot of wine, and a lot of hours with lunch. You know, they take a three-hour lunch break, and then everything else is closed, so you can't go shopping or anything, you've got to wait until everyone's done eating lunch....

You've been very vocal about obviously Ricky Rubio's game, made a lot of headlines. In the paper in New York yesterday you talked about playing for the Knicks, maybe having LeBron there in 2010. Do you think the way that you're being vocal can help you in this process?

The Ricky Rubio situation, I think I went a little overboard about calling him all hype. You know, he's a great player, he has the most experience out of all of this in this draft, he's been playing pro ball since 15, so about him being over-hyped, that was wrong of me. I have much respect for the dude. We did a photo shoot together for Slam Magazine, so I got to know him off the court. He's a real good guy. So I just got a little overboard with that. Being vocal, you know, I just want to be the best point guard in this draft. You know, I can't be the No. 1 player of course, because Blake Griffin, he is the best player in this draft, I'm not gonna lie about that. So I'd rather be the #1 guard or the #1 point guard.

So if you had to pick a guard first in the draft would you take yourself?

Yes. Because I think I'm the best guard in this draft. Besides Ricky Rubio, I have more experience than any other guard in this draft by playing pro basketball....

You went hightop fade in the McDonald's All American game; I can only imagine what your suit's gonna look like draft night.

The suit is gonna be simple. The hair I don't know yet. I might do something special for the hair. Right now I have the mohawk, so hopefully I'm trying to still grow it. We'll see.

So who cut your hair when you were in Italy?

Nobody. I had that European ruff look, you know, that look like I've been in jail for a couple of years....

In terms of being bumped off the ball, are you ready for that in the NBA, which is more physical?

It's more physical in the NBA? I think it's more physical overseas. You know, they don't call anything. You can grab, you can choke a player out, you can do anything. It's real rough over there, so I think it'll be kind of easier for me in the NBA. You know, I won't mind getting bumped or being hit, because I've been hit all year.

Who was the most physical player you played against over there?

Oh man. I think it would have to be the team from Siena. You know, they're a real big team in Italy. They're real rough, the refs don't call anything, and they'll bump you off screens, you know, hitting you, everything, grabbing. It's like a dog fight, man. It's crazy.

Did anyone choke you out?

No, no, I didn't get choked out. You know, I stayed to myself. I didn't want to get in none of those fights with the fans or anything like that, because those fans is crazy.

What are the fans like?

Uh, whooo. It's like being at a soccer game. You know, they have flares, they're smoking cigarettes, singing, playing the drums the whole game, yelling at you, throwing stuff. It's real, real, real exciting though.

Did you learn any of the songs?

No, not really. I mean, you can't really understand what they're saying, they're just screaming the whole time.

For more of Dan Steinberg, visit his blog with The Washington Post, D.C. Sports Bog. For more NBA coverage, visit SportingNews.com's new NBA blog, The Baseline.

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