AGent Zero Says it

came out of a quick retirement for this blog. I wanted to announce that I’m happy to remain a Washington Wizard.

Wizards fans, go ahead and renew your tickets. We got the team back, we’re going to be healthy and I don’t know what the slogan is for next year, so I can’t say it. Before I could say like “Ready to Rule” or “Go All In,” but they haven’t told me the new one yet, so I can’t say it.

But really, I wanted to blog to tell you all about my trip.

Shanghai, Beijing
I was gone for a total of 12 days. We started out by going to Shanghai, the kingdom of Yao.

You know how when you’re on a plane for 13 hours and you start thinking about everything in the world? Well I was watching an episode of Dave Chappelle in Asia and he was like Godzilla compared to everybody so I was having the same little thought process like, Damn, am I going to be like four feet taller than everybody over there?

Wrong.

Everybody was tall.

I felt short. I was surprised. It wasn’t what you thought. Everybody was tall and long. All the basketball kids were long and lanky.

Anyway, when I got to the airport there was probably 100 fans out there, plus media and paparazzi … you know, it felt nice.

From there, I did a whole bunch of interviews. Doing interviews in different countries is a little weird because if they don’t speak English, you need an interpreter. And then if the interpreter doesn’t speak that good English, you need an interpreter for the interpreter. So, it was interesting, but it was fun.

I did one live online interview in Shanghai and there were 500,000 visitors who streamed into the chat. That blew me away. A half a million people. Whoo!

I helped adidas open up the biggest adidas store in Beijing. Beijing was nice, a lot of smog out there, but other than that it looks like New York. New York’s got rats and dirty gutters, they got smog. Same thing. It’s worse than L.A. smog. You would think it’s either early in the morning or about seven o’clock at night all day. It looks like that all day. It’s like you just woke up and are waiting for the sun to kick in and it never quite gets there. It’s just a black cloud over the city, in Shanghai and Beijing.

Hong Kong
After that we landed in Hong Kong. (We were only in Hong Kong for about an hour, but I have to count that as part of the places I’ve visited.)

Manila
Then we stopped in Manila. It was a different world. I’ve never seen fans like that in my life. These pictures can’t even do justice to what was going on out there. I had a reception at a small, little venue to welcome me to the city and there were 200 people there.

One thing I want to say about Filipinos: they’re very warm people, very good-hearted people. Like, everybody was nice. You know, you meet nice people, but a whole country of nice, genuine, warm-hearted people was unbelievable. These are diehard fans.

I really didn’t know if I was in Game 7 of a playoff series, I couldn’t tell the difference. Everywhere I went it was just bananas.

I also want to give a shout out to my man from Maryland who flew from MD to the Philippines and told me the reason he flew all the way out there was to get autographs from me because he knew I was going to be there at that date and time.

I did a couple mall tours. I also helped a kid with his wish. It was in one of the poverty areas in Manila and there’s a group called GK that builds homes for people all over the world. They helped this community out by putting people in homes. I guess a couple weeks before we got there, a hurricane hit and destroyed their community and GK helped build it back up.

One little kid who lived there wanted a basketball court for his community so all the kids could play so I donated – with the help of GK and adidas – a basketball court to that community and the kid was very happy.

You have to look at the Agent Zero posters they had out there. They put me in a cape at one of my last events in Manila. It was at one of their biggest malls and they were predicting it was going to be crowded. I mean, crowded to me is a Saturday afternoon at the mall where you have to wait in line for 10 minutes to pay for your jeans. Their crowded was probably four or five thousand people in the mall. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve seen crazy fans all over the world. It was like Golden State against the Dallas Mavericks with Game 3 back in Oakland. It was that type of atmosphere in the mall.

I was stunned.

They made me feel like an NBA star.

Any NBA players out there: If you’re having a bad day, or you’re having a bad career, go to Manila. They’ll bring your spirits up, trust me.

I felt like I just won the NBA championship, to be for real.

After we left the mall we were looking at pictures from the event a couple days later and we were telling ourselves, "Man, that was unreal!"

Plus, with the security I had, I felt like I was the President. I felt like I was Obama. I really felt like I was running in the presidential election, especially when I got to meet the U.S. ambassador out in the Philippines. We had a great time talking to each other.

We actually went to a college basketball game together. Their college game would be like if it was Duke and Maryland playing each other and you split the crowd in half, 50-50. One side of their gym was blue and one side of their gym was green and everybody was just yelling.

Backstage I met Manny Pacquiao, he’s the town hero. I have to be honest, they made me feel even bigger than him at the moment. I talked to him and he invited me to his November fight, so if I have time and depending on if we have a day off, I might go see that. Oh, I also met Jet Li in Shanghai, can’t leave him out.

On top of everything else in Manila, I stayed at the best hotel I’ve ever stayed at – The Peninsula. I was in the mack daddy “El Presidente” suite and was like the Fresh Prince with Geoffrey – I had a live-in butler.

One more note on Manila, just so you guys can get a picture of what kind of people they are and how much they adore and love entertainers and the NBA. Think about this: If you’ve ever been to a Beyoncé concert, or anybody’s concert in the states really, if they sell out an arena it will be 20,000 fans. Last year in Beyoncé’s hometown, Houston, she pulled in 12,000 people to her show. D.C. was her biggest sell, she put 18,000 people in the seats. Meanwhile, she was in Manila for two days to do two concerts and she had 85,000 people, two nights straight.

She couldn’t even do it in the arena, she had to do it on the lawn. Like, “Everybody, y’all just get in the grass, I’m going to perform.”

That’s how the people are out there.

Berlin
So the trip continued and we took that energy to Berlin and that’s another 13-hour flight. We spent half the time talking about how crazy Manila was, so it didn’t feel too long.

Jewish people will say Berlin is home to “him,” everybody else says it’s home to Hitler. Our driver was telling us the history of the whole thing and how Germans are ashamed of him. He also showed us the remnants of the Berlin Wall and the history behind that and what happened. I was interested because when you’re in America, you don’t really pay attention to stuff like that. You hear about it, but you don’t pay attention. So it was intriguing to hear the driver tell us all of the history from a first-hand perspective.

Germany was a great place. Once I left Asia I was done with the adidas tour. Going to Germany was for the NBA to promote Europe Live. I did a full promotional tour. I did all my radio stuff, did my business meetings, got my mingle, used my charm, you know.

I was giving them my little grin, putting my little smile on. Just showing the ladies the pretty eyes and the smile, trying to get some corporate deals done. No big deal.

I met with the developers of the new O2 Arena out there. The first basketball game that will be played there is the Wizards vs. the Hornets during Europe Live. It’s coming together really nice. The guy that designed the STAPLES Center is helping out with the O2, so there’s a lot of glass on the outside and it looks really nice.

What was funny about Berlin is: 1) It’s a very clean city (that’s not the funny part, but it’s a very clean city) 2) The funny part is, their cabs were Beamers. So, NBA players, if you driver a Beamer, your swag is questionable because if you go to Berlin, that’s just a cab.

Another funny thing was that we landed at 10:30 at night and it was still light outside. It was still basically day time. Back in D.C. the sun is going down around 8:15 at this time of July. It’s crazy. So it was finally dark at 11 o’clock in Berlin and then at four o’clock the light was back on, the sun was up again. They have the shortest nights I’ve ever seen in my life. It was messing me up because I’m a dark person. I go to sleep when it’s dark. So I was wide awake a four o’clock and then I’m trying to make it through my interviews that morning.

The people in Berlin were so nice though. One night we went to dinner at a nice restaurant and we didn’t have cash and it ended up being a cash-only place. (I’ve never heard of that before.) So we only had a credit card and we ate probably 90 euros worth of food – which is probably $140 American since Bush done messed up the economy - and they gave us the meal for free. It’s kind of funny, Bush. We can’t even go to Europe and be big ballers any more. They come to the U.S. and feel like kings now. Gas out there for us is nine dollars a gallon, I did the math and everything.

Amsterdam
We stopped in Amsterdam for an hour, I got to mention that. Just the airport though …

Barcelona
Finally, we flew to Barcelona, home of Pau Gasol. That was a beautiful city too. Spain is beautiful. The home of Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz and one of my favorites … El Calderon! He’s not actually from Barcelona, but the Spanish are Spanish. Actually, they have a lot of pros in the league, believe it or not. They have Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Calderon, Garbajosa, Navarro and Rodriguez and Fernandez from Portland. That’s about seven players.

Oh man, but all of the interviews started the same way. I had an interpreter by my side but I heard all the Spanish I needed to hear: “Calderon.” I was thinking, Oh, shoot. Here comes the El Calderon. So, I had to do a lot of speaking about him. It was funny though.

They were very knowledgeable fans about basketball out there. They were asking me questions that I haven’t heard since I was a rookie. They did their research on questions, I was very surprised. I thought I was going to get the same questions … “How does it feel to sign a $100 million deal? … How is your injury? … Can you get the Wizards out of the First Round? … How does it feel losing to Cleveland?” I thought I was going to get the same old questions that reporters say in the states. But, no, they were pulling out some great stuff.

The Barcelonians – I think you can call them Barcelonians – told me, “Yeah! You saved the best city for last!”

It was just a wonderful trip. Tiring, I couldn’t wait to get back to the states, but I’m glad I did it. I’m glad that I didn’t back out of it. It was an “unsurreal” experience. It was surreal, it was unreal and it was needed. Before you leave you hear the media say all that they can say about you – about your contract and what you’re worth and what you’re not worth – and then you go to countries where people actually genuinely love you, it puts you on a high.

To be honest, it’s the only reason I’m blogging again. I’m not even going to lie. Everybody in China, Philippines, Berlin and Barcelona, all they kept saying was, “I love your blog. Keep blogging! What are you going to say about us?” When I told them, “I retired due to technical difficulties with our media,” they were like, “Noooooo! Do it in Chinese so they can’t read it! Do it in Spanish so they can’t read it!”

Free Agent Season
I’ve been paying attention to what’s been going on and I know that Maggette better thank Baron Davis for the contract he has because Baron opened up the market for him to get paid because if Baron hadn’t opted out there wouldn’t have been any money out there for him.

Elton Brand --- whoo! Elton Brand in Philly … it’s hard to tell how that will work out. The way Philly played last year, I would have went after Josh Smith hard. You got long, agile, up-and-down players and if you had Smith at the four, Dalembert at the five and Iguodala at the three, you would have had a jumping, running, young and exciting team. If you want to utilize Elton Brand, you’re going to have to slow the ball down. That should be interesting to see how that actually pans out.

Richard Jefferson going to Milwaukee …. HAHAHA! Oh man, now that is funny. When I heard that, I started laughing. Oh man, did I start laughing. You know why? Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I’m sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee. From him going from New Jersey, actually from New York (because he lives in New York), from New York to Milwaukee is like going … let’s just say it’s not going to sit well with you. That was a funny one when I heard that one. I know Yi is happy though.

Baron Davis in L.A. … my biggest concern is whether he’ll be able to focus now that he’s in his hometown. He has a lot of stuff going on. He’s into movies, he’s home, a lot of people are going to be latching on to him … it’s going to be up to him whether it’s going to be successful. He wants to be in a bigger market, but the Clippers are the third team in L.A. First it’s the Lakers, then it’s the Dodgers and third might be the Clippers. And depending on the time of year, you might have some college teams more popular than the Clippers. But, good luck to him.

Corey Maggette and the Warriors … I’m still trying to figure out how they’re going to play him because they already got Captain Jack at the three. Maybe they’ll play Jack and him at the two and the three, then I guess it makes sense, but I don’t know. They have a lot of players at that position, that 2-3, small forward position.

Wizards Pickups
I don’t see James Posey coming, even though he did win his second ring. He might go ahead and go for the money, but if the thinks he can get a third one he might go back. It would be nice to get a backup three now that Roger is with the Spurs.

JaVale McGee, from what I’ve seen on YouTube, is very long, very agile … a little on the thin side, but block shots. Hopefully he’ll be a little like a Tyson Chandler, maybe he can score a little bit better, we’ll have to see how his development goes. He reminds me of a young Marcus Camby a little bit. He has a little soft touch.

I liked Dee Brown when he was in college with Luther Head and Deron Williams, they had a nice little trio over there. Good luck to him trying to make the team, I know he’s going to be out in Vegas with them this week.

What Did I Say?
Some people got mad at me when I said that guys shouldn’t turn down money … Hey … that’s all I can say … Hey. For somebody who’s been in the league seven years and knows what to look for, it may have gotten agents and fans and my dad mad that I made that comment, but like I said, nothing is guaranteed. I was fortunate to get a contract this summer and some other people have been fortunate, but you never know. You never know what management’s plans are. They’ll ship you out. It’s like a recycling bin. People come in, people leave. I see Derrick Rose went to Chicago, so now Chicago has to deal with Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes … somebody has to go.

Then you have Okafor too, he’s another guy who if he doesn’t go back to his own team, there’s not much money out there for him. And since their teams know there’s no money out there for them, what does that mean? There’s no competition, that means the teams can give the players whatever the teams want. Either that, or the players can sign a one-year deal. It’s kind of sad that I was right, but I’m just a player that wants to see everybody get paid. That’s the business. You want to see everybody get paid.

Good Luck, Brandon Jennings
Brandon Jennings, the kid who is about to open up another level of doors and make history by playing overseas out of high school. I’m kind of intrigued to see what’s going to happen. I’m rooting for him: 1) Because he was going to go to Arizona if he had made his grades and 2) If he goes overseas and becomes successful and comes into the league next year, every high school kid has a way out now. It’s just like jumping from high school to the pros again. They’re not going to be making millions. They’re going to be making Second Round money – in the $200,000 - $300,000 range for one year (actually those are euros … so that’s probably about $600,000, ha) and then come into the NBA, be a top five pick and get his millions.

I don’t think the language barrier will be a problem. At the end of the day, basketball is basketball. If you understand, “Pass the ball,” or “Shoot the ball,” the rest of that mumbo jumbo he doesn’t have to worry about. Players from America go to play in Europe every year, he’s just going to be a young player going to do it. If he ends up doing it and he turns out fine, I guarantee you’ll see a whole crop of players going from high school to Europe in the future.

And then what happens with the European leagues? They are already signing European players at 12 years old. So what’s going to happen to high school basketball in America if American kids start signing in Europe at 13- or 14-years old? Somebody start doing some research. There are loopholes open and people are climbing through them. But hey, they always say that rules are meant to be broken. The top of the crop always finds a way to do what it needs to do. It’s just like an animal in the wild that knows how to adapt. He adapted to the rules and found a way around it.

Getting Healthy
Right off the plane I went straight to the treadmill and then straight to the gym to work out. Then I came home to my pool to do some swimming.

My knee feels good. It got a little sore on the airplane from the altitude up and down, but now it feels fine. I finally gave it some time off.

I’m just getting ready to get back. I’m getting in shape. I’m just going to start working.

I love the SLAM shoe and all the other GilIIZeros I promoted in Asia. I wish I was healthy this past season to show all the shoes off that came out. A lot of people put a lot of hard work into it and I ended up getting hurt again. I’m going to be responsible this time and take care of my body and get back on the court, and from there, move forward.

I’m not going to play basketball until August. I’m going to go out there and do some basic dribbling and then go back to fundamentals stuff like passing and all that. But I’m not going to do anything jumping wise until August.

Just remember people, if you want to feel like a king and feel like a star, you know where to go: Manila. So, Pauly Shore, after you finish reading this, you head to Manila to jumpstart your career, baby. You’ll be back in the business, baby. You’ll be doing Jury Duty 2 in no time.

Man I am one of your fans and also my dad is your fan

i hope the adidas team with you and billups will have a tour here at manila i cant wait for it. i hope it happens.