The Post’s Steve Serby chatted with the 5-foot-9 Knicks guard about life as a dad, playing the Garden stage, the possibility of defending his slam dunk title against LeBron James, and much more.
Q: Give LeBron (James) a recruiting pitch to come to the Knicks.
A: Well, he already knows the city would be his. He’s already on billboards and everything in New York City. It’ll be sellouts. . . . The crowds are gonna love him regardless. There’s like no other place like playing here in the city. This is the best city . . . and (the Knicks) have the best colors – orange, white and blue. I’d tell him he can probably design any kind of jersey he wanted (laughs). We’ll have a different jersey for every game – we’ll let you do that if you come to the Knicks.
Q: You belong on the big stage.
A: I would love to stay a Knick for the rest of my career. If not, that means God has other plans.
Q: Your sons – Nahmier is 4 and Nyale is 2.
A: They watched the slam dunk contest on TV, and they were like, “Daddy, you dunk? You win?” And then (Nahmier said), “I love your green shoes, I love your green jersey.” It’s kinda cool to see both of them guys excited about the dunk contest.
Q: The 4-year-old obviously understands.
A: He’s starting flag football in April.
Q: What have they meant to you?
A: They’ve meant the world to me. . . . They always make me be the bad guy when we play cops and robbers, and we play tigers and lions, I’m always a tiger ’cause the lions are more of a king of the jungle, them two are the lions, and they always beat me up.
And it’s fun going to Toys R Us being able to get toys for my kids, and do things that they love to do. They love riding bikes. I take ’em to this little racecar track for kids. . . . It’s fun being a dad and seeing my kids grow and becoming older and older each year and them understanding the game of basketball and knowing that daddy plays basketball. It gets sad because when I leave on the road . . . I miss ’em a lot, but good thing, the cell phone’s got videos. My girlfriend, she tapes ’em a lot and sends me a lot of videos of my kids when I’m on the road.
Q: You play tigers and lions, but on the court, you’re . . .?
A: Definitely a lion.
Q: What’s it like being a star in New York?
A: It’s awesome. It’s funny, like sometimes meals are on the house, so that’s kinda cool. The people appreciate your hard work.
Q: What’s it like being you on top of your game in Madison Square Garden?
A: They keep it dark back in the crowd, and they light up the stage and . . . it’s like you’re performing. Sometimes I feel like I’m a rock star, and everybody’s coming to watch our team, our band, play, so I think that’s kinda awesome.
Q: How does Mike D’Antoni motivate?
A: He believes in you more than you believe in yourself.
Q: Why didn’t you dunk over David Letterman?
A: That’s a good question, I don’t know. Hopefully he wasn’t scared, I woulda cleared him easy.
Q: Why do you want to retire as slam dunk champion?
A: Honestly, I really don’t think the world wants to see me do it for a fourth time.
Q: Why not dunk over Yao Ming?
A: I don’t know if I could do that. . . . I gotta probably ask him to try to get a gym to practice that one.
Q: You don’t think you can do that one?
A: I might.
Q: So there it is, that’s how we can lure you back.
A: Nah, I’m retiring on top.
Q: But LeBron’s coming back to challenge for it, right?
A: If he wins it, he wins it.
Q: You’re a competitor . . . you’ll change your mind.
A: If he calls me out or something, it’d be different then. . . . I want to be the first one to win the slam dunk competition, three-point contest and skills challenge, so those are my goals . . . and to be an All-Star one day.
Q: Do you watch little men in other sports?
A: Yeah. (Darren) Sproles; Maurice Jones-Drew; Chris Paul; Earl Boykins; Allen Iverson; Tiny Archibald. A lot of short people come up to me and (say), “You give a lot of short people hope,” just to see somebody of that nature go and play amongst giants, so it’s kinda cool to get recognized like that.
Q: Your trash-talk to Ben Wallace on the free-throw line?
A: Sometimes he makes one, then he’ll airball one, and I tell Ben, “Ben, the hoop is movin’ left to right, so you gotta just stand straight in the middle, and aim for either one.”
Q: Celebrity Row favorites?
A: Will Ferrell; Chris Rock; when we go to LA, Jack Nicholson; Denzel (Washington); Spike Lee.
Q: Nicholson say anything to you?
A: “Take it easy on us, Nate.”
Q: How pretty is Beyonce?
A: Gorgeous. I don’t like her coming to the games though, ’cause I won’t focus. I’ll be sitting there staring at her the whole time. It’s funny because you run by, you look, gotta get a little glimpse, but Jay-Z be right next to her so you gotta kinda keep your eyes on the game, can’t keep your eyes on his girl.
Q: Favorite New York City things?
A: Taking my kids to Central Park. I go to this pizza spot on 43rd, forgot what it’s called but they got the best pizza, right by the Marriott Marquis, and my man Gabriel, I always get a pepperoni pizza and a fruit punch Snapple. He always gives me an extra slice to go home with.
Q: What did you pick up from studying Steve Nash?
A: This year, I do a way better job of keeping my dribble alive.
Q: (President Barack) Obama?
A: For the most part, he just wants to make the world a better place, and it’s good to see. . . . I think he’s gonna do a fantastic job.
Q: Best dancer in the NBA?
A: Probably me . . . Dwight (Howard) . . . a couple of other guys.
Q: If you’re still a Knick, would you guarantee Knicks fans a championship during your tenure?
A: I wouldn’t really guarantee anything, ’cause any team can get hot – but it’ll be a close guarantee – it would be like, “We’ll definitely get to the Finals.”
