Anne Stein

Bruce Bowen
Forward, San Antonio Spurs
Age: 36

Bruce Bowen went undrafted out of Cal State-Fullerton, but things turned out OK; now in his 12th NBA season, he’s the owner of three championship rings and leads the league in consecutive games started and played, at 500. Though his defensive moves are criticized by opposing players and fans, he’s been named to the NBA’s All-Defensive team the past seven seasons and last year finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year. 

What’s been the favorite moment of your career? It would have to be high school. The enjoyment of the game, no pressure as far as politics of the game. You’re just out there being able to be with your guys and enjoy the moment. That’s my best experience, other than the NBA championships. For the pureness of the game, I’d say high school, in Fresno, California. The camaraderie we had, I haven’t found it in that pure level since high school. It was just a chance to play basketball and enjoy yourself.

What’s been the toughest moment of your career? That would have been early on in the NBA, trying to prove that you’re something other than what the media says. You work so hard in this game and you want people to appreciate what you do, but you don’t realize that certain media have an opinion and that doesn’t always fall in line with what you’re about. So at a certain time in my life, I realized I have to be who I am and not worry about what’s being said. It was always, "he’s just a defender." Even though there were times I led the league in three point field goal percentage (he currently ranks 13^th), nothing was ever said about that. I realized (the media) have something to say regardless of what goes on, and you deal with it.

If you weren’t playing basketball, what would you do instead? Something with kids. I used to think I wanted to be a teacher until I saw what my aunt and uncle go through. Teachers are the ones who should have the high-priced salaries — they spend more time with kids than parents do during the week, yet we still give them crumbs. Teachers have to fight for so much, and there’s so much they have to deal with in terms of standardized tests, and if the kids don’t do well, parents want to look at the teacher and say it’s the teacher’s fault. I think I’d do something like the Boys Club, because I was part of Boys Club growing up.

Is there an athlete you admire in another sport? There are a few. I went to one of the Team USA baseball games when they had Baseball America in Phoenix. It was A-Rod, Derek Jeter, three years ago, I think, and I had a chance to go in the clubhouse and watch Derek Jeter interact with people. I don’t know him personally, but the way he carries himself is really something to be proud of if you’re a parent or someone who really enjoys the game. He wasn’t talking a lot, he wasn’t trying to show off and say hey, I’m with the Yankees. You have that a lot with sports, where people feel like they need to tell you how great they are — or you can tell someone’s arrived because of how loud they are. But I didn’t see that with him and I was really impressed. I spoke with him for a while and he was as welcoming as anyone off the street.

What’s your favorite book? Two books that really moved me were "Dreams From My Father," by Barack Obama, and "Tuesdays with Morrie." "Tuesdays with Morrie" is very rare, where you have people who can convey the ill decisions of their life. I found that the professor going through things and sharing life lessons with the student was awesome. "Dreams From My Father" was Barack being able to say, ‘I’m a child of biracial parents and I don’t know a lot of my ancestors, but I’m willing to go over to Africa and try to  find them, to spend time with them and learn about who my father was.’ And he discusses the different injustices that may happen with biracial kids. When you hear certain names and things like that, how do you respond? You can’t be pro-black when your mom’s not (black), and you can’t be pro-white cause your dad’s not. So it’s quite a quandary for situations like that. I think those two books stand out right now.

Slide show   The Week in Sports Pictures Teeing off at the Taliban, death at the Derby, fans and ballplayers don’t mix, and more. more photos

What’s your favorite movie? I really enjoyed "Man on Fire." I like a lot of stuff Denzel plays in. I liked this particular movie from the standpoint of someone questioning the rights and wrongs in his life because of things he’s had to do as far as killing -- and this little girl ends up giving him new life, where he was questioning so much.

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