The Official Site of Jordan Farmar

Tue, May 5th 2009, 12:11

Jordan's Playboy.com blog: Five on 5 - May 5, 2009

What’s up, guys! Watch the NBA playoffs and you’ll find yourself saying things like “That’s just sick!” or “Ridiculous!” or “Are you kidding me!” Like the TNT theme goes, “amazing” happens every night in the NBA.

I’m blogging from the second round and listening to Rick Ross’ cool song “Magnificent” off Deeper Than Rap on my iPod. Since we had a week between series, I also caught some great games on TV, like you guys. For me, the most amazing things are the NBA plays that happen on a daily basis, things that are considered normal. If these things happened in college or overseas, they’d be the most miraculous shots ever. These playoffs highlight just how good NBA players really are. The regular plays are the most amazing things. We all saw guys knocking down clutch free throws, then buzzer-beating shots, like in that great Celtics-Bulls series (which had four of seven games go into OT). We had Ray Allen dropping 51 points, LeBron’s awesome jams and Kobe’s sick fadeway jumpers. If these plays were made in any other league, they’d be out-of-this-world. But they’re normal in the NBA because of how great the players are. So kick back and enjoy the feast!

With the second round underway, our overall goal to win the championship hasn’t changed. Everything’s been geared towards that. We were so close last year, and let it slip away at the end. So we’ll do whatever it takes this time around. After every game, coach writes down how many more to go — still 12 after Monday’s tough loss against Houston.

The Rockets’ Ron Artest and Aaron Brooks are both really good but have different styles. Brooks is a quick and crafty guard and likes to shoot coming off screen and rolls. Artest is extremely strong and very competitive, one of the best perimeter defenders in the game. He’s a good match-up for Kobe and is going to try and make him work. In our March game against the Rockets, Kobe and Artest were really jawing and going at each other, two of the biggest competitors in the league. After the game when someone asked about that battle, Kobe quipped, “I kicked his ass.”

While it’s fun to watch, it’s even more fun to be part of that competitiveness. Yao is an immense presence inside, a huge man with a good touch on his shot. The Rockets like to get it inside so we’re going to have to continue bringing our A-game. BTW, Yao’s impact has been huge on the international NBA audience.

About two-time Oscar winner, Mr. Nicholson, one of our big fans. Jack is Jack, Mr. Laker, paying something like $2,600 each game for that regular season courtside seat. We get to the Finals and a courtside seat costs more than $5,000 per game. Through mutual friends, I got to know Jack and his family when I was in college. So I knew him before I became a Laker, but I used to watch him, just like the rest of us, gesturing and cheering for the Lakers on television. A bigger-than-life personality. Even though his seat is near the opponents’ bench at Staples, when you’re on the court, you can hear him talking. Sometimes, when you’re playing defense, he’ll tell you, “You’re by yourself,” little stuff that can be helpful. Sometimes, you can’t hear or see your teammates or opponents, and he’ll say, “You’ve got help in the middle” or “Watch your back!” He’s a big fan. And we’re all big fans of him from movies like The Shining to A Few Good Men, or as the Joker in Batman and wiseguy Frank Costello in The Departed.

Resident Evil 5 and Halo Wars are two of the hottest new videogames. My man Luke got Halo Wars but he didn’t like it that much. We’ve still been playing a lot of NCAA College Football, and we’ve also been getting into the FIFA Soccer 09 game. “Los Lakers,” as we are called on the NBA’s Noche Latina, have a huge Hispanic fan base, many of whom are real passionate about soccer, so they’ll love to hear this story. My teammate Adam Morrison is a huge soccer fan, and I’ve been playing at lot of that with him. Chelsea in the English Premier League is Adam’s favorite team. There a European flavor on our team, like Pau and Sasha and Kobe lived over in Italy, so there’s a good understanding of the sport. What’s cool about the videogame, if you’re a good basketball player, you can play soccer. The controls are similar, a pass button, a shoot button, stuff like that. You can see your teammate make a good run into space and you hit him with a good pass, or you can dribble yourself. You can appreciate this videogame being a basketball player. We play two on two, usually me and Luke against Adam and somebody else, in the hotel room together when we’re kicking it on the road or online when we’re back home in LA.

So who’s the best gamer on our team? It depends on what game we’re playing. Adam is a best FIFA player, but when it comes to Madden and College Football, it’s probably me or Luke, depending on who’s on his game that day. When we’re playing two-on-two FIFA, it’s usually Adam and whoever plays with him, although sometimes Luke and I can beat Adam and Lamar. I love Lamar, but he’s the weak link in that game. Actually, he’s kinda the weak link in all the games, lol! Luke and me were playing FIFA, I think it was like USA against France, who have world soccer superstar Thierry Henry (pronounced like On-ree in French) on the team, and Adam passes to Lamar and “Henry” scores. Lamar is shouting, “Goaaaaaal!” and then adds, “Hey, this Henry guy is pretty good!” Lamar doesn’t really know the soccer players or that Thierry is a superstar, and he’s calling him Henry like in English. And he’s going on, “Hey, what do you say, Henry’s pretty good!” He was hilarious, we were all dying. I think he’s still calling him Henry and doesn’t have a clue who he’s talking about. We love Lamar for that.

For my far-flung fans, my MogoTXT updates will now be translated in Chinese, just like for Houston’s Shane Battier. One more thing, while the Bulls really pushed the Celts, until someone knocks them off, Boston’s still the champions. So bring it on. Check in again next week for my next dish.

— JFarm