When Caron Butler and I were on the Lakers together, we clicked?immediately. He would come to my house all the time; he would?work out with me all the time. We would play one-on-one before?and after practice. We would really push each other. In time, he?adopted a lot of my footwork. You could see it, once he was traded,?in his pull-up jumpers and turnarounds in the post.

It was really hard for me when he got traded. I had invested a lot of?time in him that summer, and we worked together constantly. I?thought he was poised to have a breakout year for us.

I thought that because Caron was a great student of the game, and?someone who, dating back to college, always excelled at the?fundamentals. It’s weird, actually— fundamentals aren’t really?fundamental anymore. A lot of players don’t understand the game or?the importance of footwork, spacing. It’s to the point where if you?know the basics, you have an advantage on the majority of players.