New York City’s Rick’s Cabaret might have formed the all-stripper Rick’s Basketball Association to help fill 
the basketball-void left by the NBA lockout but they didn’t have a head coach.
Until yesterday.
And if you would have pegged a former NBA star to get the job, Dennis Rodman would seem the obvious choice. But you would have been totally wrong. Try former Slam-Dunk champ Spud Webb.
Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
That’s what I thought.
Spud was announced the head coach of New York City’s Rick’s Cabaret team at a press conference yesterday and I got a chance to speak with him one-on-one.
I got his thoughts on the NBA lockout, Michael Jordan’s hard-line stance with the players during the CBA negotiations, his fondest memory playing in the NBA and more.
Hey, it was a tough job but someone here at Crossover Chronicles had to go to a Rick’s gentleman’s club, be surrounded by beautiful women, and talk NBA with Spud.
Jeff: OK Spud, how did you get mixed up in all of this?
Spud: (laughs) I’m trying to figure that out too! A lot of the guys I know that run Rick’s in Texas and a good friend of mine works out there, out in Dallas said ‘Man they are looking for a coach and your name came up,’ and I was like, ‘Man there are a lot of big name guys out in New York,’ and he said ‘No they want you.’ But it’s fun, I love it.
With my deal is that the money I make off of it, is going to my charity. I have the “Spud Webb Foundation.” I deal where if something happens to a family I can donate the money so I can donate it to a charity that I grew up in or associated with like with my golf tournaments or basketball camps.
Talk about a job any guy will want to have but will you actually be running these girls in practice?
(laughs) Well I am going to have to! But it’s going to be fun. The girls have great attitudes about it. Probably half of them played some kind of sports. My work is cut out but it’s going to be a joy to work with them.
Though technically there’s still an NBA lockout, what were your thoughts on the tentative agreement?
The biggest losers were the people that work around the arenas and stuff like they were the biggest losers but the winners are the fans now that they get the opportunity to see the best athletes in the world. I’m just delighted it’s over with because every bar, every restaurant, every school or wherever you walk into, people asked ‘When is the lockout going to be over?’ and I am like ‘I’m hearing just the news as you hear it.’ I’m happy for it. It’s a lot of money on the table to lose. Glad the owners and players, and David Stern has worked it out where we can have basketball again.
With a shortened season, do you think it will favor any particular teams?
Well they say the older teams but I don’t see that because if you look at the football strike a lot of injuries came out because of their strike. Hopefully a lot of injuries don’t come out of this lockout and they bring them along slowly. But I don’t see how it favors a team.
I know in the last lockout New York was an older, veteran team. San Antonio, the year they went to the Finals. I just think better teams will win games anyway. In a seven-game series, the better team is always going to win.
What were your thoughts on Michael Jordan when he took such a hard-line approach against the players during the lockout?
Well he’s an owner of a team (Charlotte Bobcats). He’s on the other side of the fence now and he is going to fight for what is better for his franchise and it’s a smaller market team. That’s normal. I mean why wouldn’t he not take a hard-line stance? That’s just Michael.
What is your fondest memory playing in the NBA?
Playing in the playoffs. When you play in the playoffs against the best teams, that’s what you live for. You know, we would play Detroit (Pistons), Chicago (Bulls) and Boston (Celtics) and those were the teams that were winning every year other than the (Los Angeles) Lakers who would slip in there every now and then. But we played the best teams every year in the playoffs and that’s what you live for. You want to beat the best, and you want to play against the best.
How were those matchups against Boston?
It was like every year or every other year we had a playoff series against Boston but they were so good. We had the young legs to try to run them in the ground but they had such a veteran-game. They just hung in there, hung in there, and if you let them hang around until the end, a veteran team with Larry Bird will find a way to win.
How are things going in the D-League?
Yeah the D-league is a great opportunity for guys that don’t make the NBA and don’t get the opportunity to go overseas. Hopefully the NBA will be more passionate towards it to have it as a minor league farm system.
How are things with the Legends?
We’re great! We just try to put a product on the floor where the fans come out. We have a family-friendly arena. We have great corporate sponsors. We’re in good shape. We’re affiliated with the Mavericks so that helps.
To read the complete Q&A with Spud, click HERE to visit Project Spurs.
