Everyone, it seems, knows Ahmad Rashad. The host of NBA TV's Tuesday night coverage has been in the public eye forever. Like so many other kids all over the world, I grew up watching Rashad on "Inside Stuff." Rudy Gay did too. The Grizzlies' star spent his Saturday mornings glued to the television set. That's probably why he looked a little nervous when he stood on the set with Rashad, Chris Webber and Gary Payton during a guest appearance with O.J. Mayo last week in Atlanta. "It was my favorite show," Gay would tell me the next day.

Rashad has certainly made his mark over the years, and as you'll see, he still has a passion for entertaining people. This is the final interview in a series of Q and A's that I conducted with the show's personalities, during my behind-the-scenes look at NBA TV.

Ball Don't Lie: Are you guys trying to recreate the success of "Inside the NBA" with the work you're doing on NBA TV, or are you trying to create your own?

Ahmad Rashad: We're finding our own way. I think we feel like "Inside the NBA" is one of the best sports television shows on television, and so we still look up to that. That's a wonderfully produced show, one of the best that you'll see, so we're just trying to do our own thing. We have a different sort of flavor, a different personality that we approach the game with. Basically we're all the same family, we're just doing it from a couple of different standpoints.

BDL: You've hosted a lot of different studio shows in your career, what is the key to a good one in your eyes?

Rashad: If you can be informed and entertained at the same time. If you can laugh, have a laugh, because it's only sports, it's not anything that's more serious than that. And to be able to sit here and watch basketball with two of the best players to ever play [Webber and Payton] is a highlight in itself. Who better would you pick to watch a couple games with?

BDL: It seems like the three of you have already built a solid chemistry on the air, do you feel the same way?

Rashad: Oh, absolutely. But, I've known both the guys for a long time. I've known them from day one. When Chris first got drafted, I remember going to Detroit and doing stories with him, and talking to his father, and seeing the red car he bought his father, when he first got drafted. And Gary, I've known for, geez, since he was probably 18, 19 years old. So, it's great that we can all come and work together, it's really a perfect group I think.

BDL: I don't mean to make you feel too old, but I grew up watching "Inside Stuff," and absolutely loved it. Do you miss that show?

Rashad: That show was the first of its genre, and the best. And everything that came after that, never lived quite up to it. It was a show that, not only you grew up watching it, a lot of these players grew up watching it. Chris [Webber] grew up watching it, Gary [Payton] grew up watching it. So, it's anything that makes me feel older, it's just that it was some quality work that was done, with a show that was created and went to its fruition. It was a beautiful, wonderful show, and I see people every day of my life, in any place I've ever been in this world, that people say "I grew up watching Inside Stuff," and I think that's a real plus. I mean I was in Paris two months ago walking down the street, and a Chinese guy walked up to me and said he grew up watching "Inside Stuff," so it's pretty cool.

BDL: Where's Willow Bay? Do you still talk to her?

Rashad: I talk to Willow on a weekly basis. She's married now to Bob Iger, who runs Disney. She says [the Inside Stuff recognition] happens to her too. People walk up to her and say that they love "Inside Stuff," so you know; it was a good period in life [when that show was on the air]. It really was. Willow and I had the same sort of chemistry that I have with [Webber and Payton]. We had a great time, and it was a great job.

BDL: So let's clear something up, who really is your main man?

Rashad: (Smiles) I can never reveal that.

BDL: Even now?

Rashad: I have to wait until I retire, and then I can revel who that is. I've got a lot of them, though.

BDL: Anybody reading this, is going to say that it has to be Michael Jordan.

Rashad: He's my main man. Yeah, that's my main man.

BDL: Is that main with bold and capped letters?

Rashad: (Still Smiling) That's my main man, but our whole [relationship] goes further than basketball.

BDL: In terms of what?

Rashad: In terms of friendship.

BDL: How did that come to be? How did you guys become so close over the years?

Rashad: Our families were close. Our kids knew each other. We spent a tremendous amount of time with each other. We played thousands of rounds of golf. We speak on a daily basis. Even during the day, when I was covering basketball on a weekly basis, Mike and I talked every day, but very seldom about basketball. Very seldom about basketball.

BDL: Do you guys still talk about basketball now?

Rashad: Yes, we do. We talk about basketball now. Who he likes, who I like ... it's a lot of fun to find out the players he likes, but back in the day, we used to sit on the phone and watch an entire game, just talking like we were sitting in the same living room, except he was in Chicago and I was in New York, and we would talk about a game we were watching. So, it's different now. Now, he's not a player anymore. He's actually in the business of trying to build a team in Charlotte.

BDL: Did you ever find it hard to be critical of him in your role on NBA telecasts, because you guys were so close?

Rashad: I never found it hard to be critical ever. Never. Never. If you're reporting, you just report the truth; there was never anything that we ever did that was off-limits. We never had conversations where [he said] this is off the record. Everything was on the record.

BDL: You were one of the most prominent sideline reporters in sports broadcasting; do you think there is a role for them on television?

Rashad: (Pauses) Yes, I do. Even though the cameras have so much access now, they even have microphones on players, which I think all that stuff is wonderful; I just think the sideline reporter has to really be careful about reporting drivel.

BDL: You think a lot of their "reports" are just because ...

Rashad: Yeah, just because they're on the show and we just go to them. I think anytime they come on, they should have something to say, and I think that sometimes becomes a lost art. All of the sudden they say something, and you go, "What?" I used to try to always get [information] from the players; any of them, all of them, anything. Just get something that somebody told me, or something somebody said, I think it's important to stay with the game, to be able to add things to the telecast. One of the things I would do, I would listen to the telecast, and I would try to add things along the same storylines that the announcers had. I don't think you can have a sideline reporter, just to have one, they gotta have a role, and they should be reporting on things that make you go, "Wow, that was interesting," as opposed to, "What kind of bull**** was that?"

BDL: A lot of younger people may only know you as one of the faces of basketball on television, not knowing that you had a great football career, how did you make the transition into basketball?

Rashad: Well, there was really no transition. When I finished playing football, my last five years I worked in local television, in Minneapolis, and I covered everything: hockey, baseball, basketball, I did the girl's basketball tournament in Minnesota. When I got a chance to go to the network, NBC was the only network that allowed me to come there, and not only do football, but do their [version of] Wide World of Sports, they had a sports show on Saturday's I got to do, SportsWorld is what they called it, I did track and field, I did baseball, I've done four Olympics. So, it wasn't any sort of transition, I just looked at myself as a sportscaster. I also did football, but when we got basketball, I did football and basketball, and then we lost football, so I was only doing basketball at that time, and that was right about the time we started to show "Inside Stuff," so it just got to the point where NBC lost all its sports, they didn't have any sports, so my thing was with the NBA, so I continued to do the NBA ... It's a double-edged sword to have such an illustrious career as an athlete, and have people forget about it because you've done so well as a reporter. When you look back, as you get older, you go, "Wait, I also was a pretty good athlete."

BDL: Do you find it weird that most people probably know you more as an announcer and not as a player?

Rashad: I think that's a good thing, because I always know that if they do that, then their parents knew me as a player.

BDL: So you've covered all the generations.

Rashad: (Smiles) I've got them all covered.

BDL: Speaking of the Olympics, there's a YouTube video of you from the Sydney Games, in which you wouldn't jump off the 10 meter diving board, do you regret not doing that?

Rashad: (Laughs) No, absolutely not. That was like jumping off the top of a house, higher than a house, there was no way I was going to jump off the top of that thing, no way, it was too high.

BDL: Getting back to basketball, what do you think the biggest difference is between the NBA game in the early 90s and now?

Rashad: I thought the NBA sort of peaked [during the early to mid 90s], and then it had a little bit of a fall off because the players were a little bit different. There's a group of players that came out that weren't particularly about the team. There was a lot of hype, and it was always about them, posses, and all that kind of stuff, and that started to take a turn, and [the NBA] has now out-peaked the 90s. There are so many great players, so many great guys, playing now, that's it's at an all time high. There's a lot of stars in this league right now, and a lot of guys who know how to play team basketball, so I think the game has really taken off, in the last five or six years.

BDL: In terms of current players, is Rashard Lewis one of your favorites?

Rashad: (Laughs) I've got so many favorite players ...

BDL: But, he's got your name. He was named after you.

Rashad: He certainly was, even though [his parents] added an R.

BDL: Yeah, where did that come from?

Rashad: I don't know. (Smiles) I guess his mom wanted him to have his own [identity] I guess ... I'm a big LeBron James fan. I think he is one of those athletes that come along once in a generation, for sure.

BDL: So you would put him in the same category as Jordan?

Rashad: (Pauses) I think he has a chance to be in that category, he's gotta win five or six [championships]. As an individual athlete, I'd put him in the same category as some of the great athletes that have come down the pipe in all sports. He's one of those guys. The guy is 250 pounds, he's 6'8, he runs like a deer. He's ahead physically and mentally than a lot of people, I don't think you get many of those [types of athletes] in your lifetime. We get Kobe and LeBron.

BDL: Do you feel like a journalist in this era will be able to have the same sort of relationship with LeBron, that you were able to have with Michael?

Rashad: Absolutely, yes. I think [my] relationship with Michael had an effect on all players. There's some sort of a carry-over that when you're growing up, you see the guy [in Jordan] who is the greatest player ever, and every time you see the guy, you see me talking to the guy, maybe you're wondering, "I want to get to the point where this guy is talking to me." [The relationship between journalist and player] sort of goes that way. It's like, "If [a player like Jordan] is ok with him, then [heck] he's ok with me." ... I see a lot of similarities between LeBron and Michael. In terms of personality, in terms of how they carry themselves on and off the court, what kind of people they are. They're both caring people, they're both sort of old souls. You would think Michael is the oldest person in his family — he's not, and LeBron acts like he's 20 years older than he really his ... the similarities I see are that they're both nice guys, both nice people.

BDL: On a much different and lighter note, how did the touch screen training with John King go?

Rashad: The thing with John King is, I've know John for quite some time, and we always talk basketball, always talk basketball, and last year during the All-Star game, he was there with his kids, and I was asking about the screen, because I thought it was fabulous. And his son was going, "Ah, it's so easy I could do it." ... So, I just think that [the training] was a really great thing. John is a great fan, and shoot, he can really work that board.

BDL: Any thoughts of bringing back "Caesar's Challenge" one more time?

Rashad: (Smiles) Those are for the grandmas. I've got every era [covered], the grandmothers know the "Caesar's Challenge." The parents know my football career, and the kids know [about my career] in basketball.

BDL: You're nowhere near retiring, but what will are you going to do for a career finale?

Rashad: (Smiles) There's no finale. My finale is when I shoot four under par somewhere. If I shoot four under par at Pebble [Beach] that will be the finale.

BDL: OK, but what's the next step in your career going to be? Is there another one, or is this it?

Rashad: The next step is I've got to go do a post-game [show] in a minute. (Smiles) [The finale] is too far way, that's too far away. Life is about now. It's about living every single moment.

BDL: You've done that.

Rashad: Well, I'm going to continue, I hope.

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