The recently retired NBA center talks about how he found the sport, what it was like coming to the states, the art of shot-blocking, and so much more in part one of our fascinating conversation

SCOTT JACOBS

Adonal Foyle was never an NBA superstar.  The casual sports fan might not even know his name.  But behind the stats of every professional athlete is a story, and boy does Adonal have one heck of a tale.  Born in the Caribbean islands, Foyle didn’t take up the sport of basketball until the age of 15. He turned his god-given gift of height into a long NBA career as a defensive specialist and a shot blocking machine.  I had the privilege of meeting Adonal at an Orlando Magic game back in December and I knew right when I met him that I wanted to interview him.

But what you may not know about the longtime Golden State center is that he has a great sense of humor, he’s incredibly articulate, and he’s just a really great person.  We talked for so long (20 minutes plus) that I decided to break up this interview into two parts.

So without further delay, here is part one.  Enjoy!

Juiced Sports: Your story is a really interesting one. You were born in the Caribbean and you only learned about basketball when you were 15. What did you do before basketball and how did you get so good at basketball so quickly?

Adonal Foyle: Well, I tried a lot of different sports. I started off with track and field. I was terrible at that. Then I went to cricket and I was too tall, so I did not like that. Then I tried goalie.  I was a goalie for while and I thought that they were trying to kill me, because they were kicking balls at my head. So I thought that my sporting career was probably null and void until I came across basketball on another island.  I started playing and I was terrible at it. But I was tall, so I was definitely pretty stoked the sport more than any other, because height is a prerequisite for most of basketball. I started playing and I was lousy, but I was good enough to get a scholarship to come to the United States to go to high school.  From high school I got a scholarship to go to college and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

JS:  I read that two professors actually adopted you when you came to the states. Tell me about that.

AF: In Dominique they were doing a tournament there and they asked me if I had ever thought of using my basketball skills to get an education. Two weeks after that they were asking me to come to the states with them.  It was absolutely surreal how quickly it happened: Two people, really going out on limb and taking a tremendous opportunity and risk by bringing somebody they hardly knew and me leaving the island, the only home I ever knew to come to this country, not knowing what to expect.

JS:  How difficult of a decision was it for you to leave for the U.S.? Or was it something you knew you wanted to do right away?

AF: It was something that I wanted to do, but there’s no kind of cure I suppose for leaving your family and everybody and everything you knew, to come to another country to pursue a dream.  I mean it’s one of those things you felt compelled to do, yes, but at the same time it was so different in that you were literally leaving everything behind that you had been used to, that you got used to: your family, your friends, and everything.  That was tremendously difficult.

JS: In college you broke the NCAA record for blocks in a college career with 492. (That record has since been broken and you’re now third).  You’re also the all-time leading  shot-blocker for Golden State as well. How did you become so good at shotblocking? What are the secrets to your success?

AF: I think one of the first principles of shot-blocking is that I’ve always liked the idea of dominating a game defensively, as most people like to do it offensively.  I always felt that everybody can score, but the person who can find a way to determine the game defensively more than that will win the game.  One of the first things is you have to be willing to get dunked on.  It’s one of those things that nobody in their right mind would say, ‘I’m going to do something, but it’s always going to be one milliliter away from being a hero or a goat.’  When you’re trying to block a shot the margin of error is so small, so you literally could get dunked on or you could make a spectacular play. So the first thing, is you have to be the guy who’s not afraid to get dunked on.  Then you have to worry about your body and being able to block with both hands: being ambidextrous when it comes to shot-blocking. Then it’s being able to come off on the weak side, reading and doing your homework on a guy’s inclinations and tendencies.  Always sizing up the floor and your opponent, knowing how he jumps, how he likes to dunk, how he turns his body in the air, what’s his lifting ability is he a floater? All of these different things, and when you see a guy you make a combination and most of the time I was right because I did the homework and really learned about the guy.  There’s a lot of things that go in it, but I think those things are the most important.

JS:  I think that’s the most in-depth story I’ve ever heard about shot-blocking.  That was impressive.

AF: (Laughs)

“When Baron (Davis) was with Charlotte, I ran him down on a fast break and he was about to tomahawk it home, and I remember pinning him against the basket.  He was still mad at me years later when we played together in Golden State.” – Adonal Foyle

JS:  Is there any guy that dunked on you, any specific guy that you got dunked on that sticks in your memory?

AF: I remember a few times.  I remember one in which Kobe and Shaq were coming down on the fast break and I had to decide between the two, and I think I took Shaq.  Kobe came in, and I thought I could get back in the air, and he moved the ball while he was in the air, and I thought, ‘o boy that’s going to be ugly’ and you know, he dunked it over me.  Derek Anderson, he was on a fast break once, and I thought I could chase him down, but I didn’t quite catch up to him.  There’s a lot.  Amare got a few in, where I had my hands up, and he literally took me to the basket. As I like to say, ‘if you do this, you remember the ones that hurt.’  Those hurt.  But those are certainly ones where you’re like ‘o crap.’

JS:  Let’s put you on the other side of the equation.  Any favorite blocks that you’ve had that just have been like, ‘wow, I can’t believe I blocked that?’

AF: I think when Baron (Davis) was with Charlotte, I ran him down on a fast break and he was about to tomahawk it home, and I remember pinning him against the basket.  He was still mad at me years later when we played together in Golden State.  That was one that I definitely remember.  There’s so many.  I also got Ray Allen going in for a dunk when he was with Seattle.  So I had my share and I’ve certainly got my share.

JS:  Baron Davis played for the Warriors, let’s talk about the Warriors.  You were drafted by Golden State and you played for them for a decade.  What’s it like to play for the same team for such a long time?

AF: I remember one thing you do get. You get to really enjoy the community and you get to enjoy being in that community for a very long time.  The Bay Area is an amazing city.  It’s an amazing place to be. So I think that part, that was great, but we had a pretty terrible team for many years so that was very difficult.  I think, just being there for so long you really learn to  appreciate the fans, you learn to hang with them, and you see the desperation they have for winning. But you also see the facts.  I think the first year I got there we won 16 or 17 games.  I mean, it was really, really difficult.

JS:  You talked about Golden State and how they had some troubles, but they did have that one year where they shocked the Mavericks in the first round as an eighth seed. I believe you were on that team. That’s correct right?

AF: Yeah I was, and I think for me, I didn’t play very much that year, but just seeing the hunger and satisfaction of finally making it to the playoffs and finally having a chance to win, I think that was so terrific in many ways.  I think I was much more happy for the fans than anybody else.  When you were with them, it was like a 10 year labor of love to that point. Seeing us actually making it to the playoffs and actually winning in the first round, they were like so excited and they were so proud, the fans.  They were out there before the game, hours before the game, just wanting to see us, and letting us know how appreciative they were of what we were doing.  It was just a terrific series and it was a terrific year and it was really that one shining moment.  It was really, really amazing to be a part of something that special.

Read part two of our interview with Foyle

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