Q&A: Hanif Abdurraqib speaks on the NBA trade deadline (!), Nick Bradford (!!) and his new basketball book (!!!)
Since Streak Talk last spoke with Hanif Abdurraqib, he’s been on an unholy tear.
The National Book Award Foundation named his book A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance a Finalist. He received a MacArthur “Genius” grant, and I forgot to ask him if he is allowed to use that money to buy Jordan 85s. His Paris Review column Notes on Hoops set the tone for a new book that he’s currently working on, and when I call him at his home in Columbus, he’s in the thick of it.
“I do much research and prep that the writing comes last,” Hanif said. “But then it comes quickly. So it’s tough to say what the book is going to become.”
I don’t get many requests for specific posts, or sequels to specific interviews. But multiple Streakers have asked when Hanif is coming back to dispense his insights. Wait no longer!
Connecting last week—a day after the most memorable NBA trade deadline of the last five or so years—we talked about Kenny Gregory, the new book and yes… THE DEAL ZONE.
You’re just beginning the process of writing the new book, which I’m really excited about. What do you think it will end up looking like? What’s the angle?
HANIF: I’m telling a story through a somewhat personal and historical lens about basketball in Ohio, from the Cavs championship back through the late nineties. Of course, it has LeBron James at the center. It might be told through the central lens of LeBron's movement. But it will also be populated with the players I watched in high school and the players I played against in high school and the players that came out of my block, the central one being Kenny Gregory, who lived four houses down from me.
So there's, there's a personal story, but it will also include interludes on things like basketball films. I sketched through some of those rough ideas in The Paris Review column. And so it's gonna be an expansion on that too.
Are you researching or watching anything that’s inspiring you right now? What are you gravitating toward as you’re researching?
HANIF: One interesting thing that I've been diving into is reading about LeBron in high school, reading the reporting. LeBron and I are the same age, and when I was in high school, I wasn't reading much about him. But I was on a high school sports message board when the Hummer thing happened, when he got the Hummer in high school. And reading about that inspired me to go back through the archives of that era. And it is hard for me to believe that the people in this state ever loved LeBron James. And it reminded me that so much of affection for athletes—for Black folks and in particular performers and entertainers—hinges on what can be provided to the public.
Some resentment existed because he was so good for so long. But I remember being so in awe of him. I remember, even back then, what a miracle that we had gotten him for so long in this high school realm. But there was a resentment—one that maybe recalled vaguely due to being around that message board—but I didn't realize how robust it was. And so that has set me down a research path.
It’s been good to be in the rabbit hole of that time of high school basketball in central Ohio. LeBron James wasn't the only fascinating player. I've been thinking a lot about Kevin Martin who came out of Hanesville around that same time and who, if not for LeBron James' presence, might have been a two-time Mr. Basketball himself.
We gotta talk about the trade deadline. Where were you yesterday when it was all going down?
On deadline day, I was on multiple sets in Columbus where I was like the only person who could check my phone with any regularity because everyone else was setting up. I felt like Woj for a minute—I have information that no one else here has. It was intoxicating.
Yesterday was the most intense trade deadline I can remember in recent memory. That last day always gets a little wild. But there were some things that, you know, reading, reading between the lines… when Ben Simmons got vaccinated, last week things like that. I wasn't sure if it was gonna be Brooklyn for Simmons, but I was pretty sure that he was gonna go somewhere like that. So weirdly that was the move I was expecting, especially when Harden leaked that thing that was like, “Well, I'd love to be traded with Philly, but I just don't want to ask publicly, cause I don't want people to think…” Come on, man.
An absolutely amazing leak.
That’s like something you do as a kid where you're like, “I really want to ask this, but I'm really afraid.” And then another adult will be like, “You can have it!” That trade is fascinating because I think everyone gets what they wanted. Simmons goes from the worst situation to maybe the best situation in the league for him, a role that will be smaller and more defined, and will have significantly fewer expectations. That is assuming Kevin Durant is healthy and eventually Kyrie is able to play in home games.
But Brooklyn getting Drummond… he was playing great basketball! And Brooklyn needs what Drummond can bring. If Joe Harris keeps having these setbacks and you need Seth Curry.
Some of the other interesting trades for me are happening around the fringes. The Blazers seemingly deciding to kind of give up on the season and pursue this mythical fantasy of pursuing a free agent with their cap space. But who’s going there? So that's always a really strange pursuit when you're a mid to smaller market team.
I love Damian Lillard. I love his game. I just wish that Portland were in a situation where things could happen for him there. I think at some point, if you're him, you gotta start watching the clock. Because he's not old and his game is still effective.. I know he was playing through some injuries this year and it looked bad. But at some point, if you're Damien Lillard, I think the question is, what kind of career do I want to end up having? What do I want the final act of my career to be? Because I'm just not sold on Portland, bringing in someone who is going to raise the ceiling there.
What did you think about the Halliburton deal? That was wild to me.
It's heartbreaking because—or not heartbreaking, I don't wanna be dramatic— but it's a bit of a bummer because Halliburton really wanted to be there. He really wanted to change the culture. That's rough because not a lot of players are eager to be in Sacramento and really want to change the culture of the team at. Because he was in a good position to do that, you know?
You mentioned a shoot with ESPN, and teased it on your ‘gram. What are you working on there?
About three years ago, ESPN approached me about making a short film type of thing out of my essay about Allen Iverson. “It Rained In Ohio The Night Allen Iverson Hit Michael Jordan With A Crossover.” It got delayed, it had to be rewritten in some ways, and it's been delayed with COVID and all that, but we finally started filming it on Wednesday. It’ll be out in a month which is, wow…. Because it was stagnant for so long and then we made it in two days.
What does it look like? Are you narrating?
Yes, I'm narrating it. It'll be about seven minutes with some cool shots of the park in Columbus IIgrew up playing in. It’s got me shooting some baskets, which was great but also rough because the ball was cold, there is still snow on the ground. And so the ball became like a, just a vessel for freezing. It was like a frozen rock. I was proud of myself for still making shots near the end because it wasn’t easy!
Have you watched the Jayhawks at all this year? When you think of the Jayhawks what do you think of?
So the player I was thinking about recently is Nick Bradford. Because he played on some really great teams. He was the glue guy. He was a defensive specialist with very limited offense, to say the least. But I felt like he was a little bit ahead of his time. I know he wasn't drafted and he didn't really stick anywhere. But I think if he were playing today, an NBA team might take a flier on him because he was such a singular defender.
That is really interesting!
I loved Jacque Vaughn. I grew up loving college basketball and I felt really connected to it due to the Fab Five. So ‘91 is kind of where I came to it. So that earl, mid-nineties run of college basketball, there were a handful of teams that were always on. Kansas was one of them, Kansas, Michigan, Duke, Kentucky, Carolina, Ohio State because I was in Columbus. Jacque was such a great example of like a prototypical point guard, like a pass first point guard who could do some damage once he got into the lane. So I really loved him. I thought he was really special.
And of course, there’s Kenny. Which is almost unfair to the rest of the Jayhawks.
There’s a lot of history there.
He was back in Columbus recently and we talked a little bit. I think he bounces around a bit. His game definitely had limits without question. But in a way he was perfectly suited for college and not nearly as suited for the league. The jump shot just never came around with any consistency. He was a little undersized to play power forward in the NBA, which is the position he’d probably have to play. Although again, he's someone who nowadays would have a different outlook. It might be tricky with his defensive limitations, but I think someone would take a swing at him in the NBA now.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.