Don't let his size (5-foot-5) fool you. Guard Earl Boykins has a big presence in the Denver Nuggets' lineup. Last season Boykins averaged a NBA career-best 12 points per game.

Q: Do you get many commercial endorsement offers?

Boykins: I do. I get a lot of advances. But I turn down most of them. I want to project myself in a positive light. I get a lot of gimmicks. I turn down every gimmick because it's not how I want to project myself.

Q: So you do get them, but you're guarded about them?

Boykins: I turn down about 70 percent of them. Anything where it's me and large props, I automatically turn it down. Every time.

Q: True or false -- you will dunk in a game before the season's over?

Boykins: Oh, man. (Laugh) I'm too scared to try it in a game.

Q: But you do it in practice, right?

Boykins: I can get up, yeah. Yeah, I can get up. But in a game . . .

Q: What's your vertical?

Boykins: About 37, 38 (inches).

Q: Is there a guy in the league that you look forward to going up against?

Boykins: Not really, because at this level everyone presents a different problem. The point guards at this level are the best. They're the best. It's so hard to get into the NBA and play point guard -- there are more point guards than anything. So, no, there's no one in particular I look forward to playing against.

Q: Do you still have guys back in your hometown (Cleveland, Ohio) who can't believe you play in the NBA?

Boykins: It happens all the time, because in the summer I go home. I'm home all summer in Cleveland. You get a lot of guys who want to challenge you. (Laughing) It's still the same.

Q: Do you talk trash at all on the court?

Boykins: No, I don't talk much.

Q: But guys talk stuff to you?

Boykins: No. Not anymore. I think when I first came into the league guys used to talk. Now it's more of a respect thing. Once you prove that you can play, guys don't talk trash anymore.

Q: What about a guy like Shaquille O'Neal? He seems like he might talk some stuff to you.

Boykins: Shaq talks trash to everybody. When you're 7-foot-2, 320 pounds, you can do that.

Q: What are some of the things you used to hear?

Boykins: Most guys . . . when I first got into the league everyone wanted to post me up. That was the big thing. Most guys would say I was too small, so they'd go down to the block. It made the game easier for me.

Q: What do kids say to you when you talk to them? Do they say you give them hope?

Boykins: I get a lot of that, from kids -- and from parents who have kids that are small in size. I just tell the kids if they work hard you can do whatever you want to do.

Q: You ever wish you were taller?

Boykins: I'm fine. I'm fine, because if I was taller I would be a different player. I wouldn't play the same because I wouldn't have to work for everything. When you're taller, things are given to you (laugh). I would be a completely different player -- I don't know if I would be in the NBA.

Q: Tell me something odd about your workout regimen that might surprise people.

Boykins: Actually, I don't run a lot. I don't run on treadmills or tracks. I don't lift weights with my legs. I just play. The only lifting I do is with my upper body. No squats or anything.

Q: How do you get away with that?

Boykins: I don't know. I've been blessed. I don't do anything with my legs. I hate running, period. The only time I run is on the court.

READER COMMENTS

Why do u play ball? And haw many shoots a day do u Shot

Love EArl, but regarding the nba? Hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey,
hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey, hockey. When I'm not watchin' football.

NBA is dead last on my list of sports to watch. That being said, I freaking love watching Earl Boykins play basketball. He is what basketball should be. Fun, and exciting. So many players are so damn arrogant, the polar opposite of a team mentallity, basketball has gone right down the toilet over the last 10 to 15 years. Guys like Earl boinkin', and the mvp guy in phoenix, the guy with the nice hair, can't remember his name, but if there were more guys like them in the nba, i would actually tune in and watch more than 2 games a year without getting irritated about their attitudes and changing then channel.

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