University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Kenny Gaines
March 02, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Georgia men's basketball senior Kenny Gaines is always capable of putting on a show, as he's demonstrated to us multiple times in his career. And given his musical skills, the hardwood isn't the only performance space in which he feels at home.
This season alone we've seen his 35-point explosion against Murray State back in November, when he hit seven 3-pointers, and last Saturday he not only scored 23 points but also played a big role in holding Ole Miss' best player, Stefan Moody, eight points below his SEC-leading scoring average of 23.0 points per game.
The Bulldogs (15-12, 8-8 SEC) have two regular-season games remaining, starting Thursday night at South Carolina. Gaines and fellow senior Charles Mann will say goodbye to Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday when Georgia hosts Alabama. After that comes the SEC tournament. There's still time for a few more big performances before Gaines' Georgia career comes to a close.
On Wednesday, before his morning shooting session, Gaines sat down for a quick chat about Stephen Curry and the Warriors, playing the piano and drums, his first dunk and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: If you could have played with or against anyone in history, who would it be?
Gaines: Kobe Bryant has been my favorite player since I was young. I'd play with him because there's so much that I could learn from him. I'd love to just sit and listen to him talk because he knows so much. I'd really just use him as a mentor.
Frierson: I find Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors just about the most entertaining things in the world right now. As a high-level player and a really good shooter, what do you make of what we've been seeing for more than a year now?
Gaines: One, for the team it's a great feat to be able to play so consistently well. The NBA schedule is so tough, playing every other day and sometimes even back to back, and to see that consistency and to see that team come out and play so well and with so much energy, it's something you want your team to model itself after.
Individually, with Steph Curry, I've been known as a good shooter at times. To see him be able to do it off the dribble, catch and shoot situations, the range, the IQ overall — it's like he's found the cheat code on basketball, or made his own cheat code. It's definitely something to watch.
It's crazy how he shoots the ball so well and you expect it to go in, but then when it does [like last Saturday's overtime game-winner from about 33 feet at Oklahoma City] you're just like, I can't believe it.
Frierson: It's like Curry has taken video game basketball ...
Gaines: ... and made it real.
Frierson: What do you do to get away from sports? And how often do you need to put basketball aside so that your brain can decompress?
Gaines: Every day I try to set aside a little time. I have a dog, she'd five-and-a-half months old, she's a pit bull and her name is Nala, and she takes up most of my time whenever I'm not in here [Georgia's practice facility]. Just to watch her run around and see the innocence in her life, it encourages me and I sort of feel like a father, having to train her and watch her.
Playing with my dog, I'm real heavy into music, I listed to a lot of music, and whenever I get a chance I try to play the piano if there's one in sight or I know there's one around. I just try to make life simple when I leave here.
Frierson: Is playing the piano the most creative thing you do?
Gaines: I play the piano, I play the drums, and I'd probably say the drums is a little bit more creative than the piano, for me, in the sense that it's just a lot of different combinations you can play — a thousand different rhythms.
I used to draw a little, but now I window-shop a lot. I piece outfits together and I have no intentions of buying them but I kind of try to dib and dab in fashion a little bit.
Frierson: When you're playing drums, what are you playing? Are there specific songs or a particular style of music?
Gaines: Most of the time when I'm around a drum set, it's usually at the church, so I play gospel songs. Whenever I have a chance to listen to music, I kind of remember the bass lines and the different rhythms of it, so sometimes I can just play it, even without the rest of the music.
Frierson: If you could have played any other sport for the Bulldogs, what would it be?
Gaines: I would do football. There was a point in time when I actually thought I could do both. I did my freshman year [at Whitefield Academy in Atlanta] but I stopped when I got injured, and I liked basketball more than football. ...
[Tight end] Jay Rome was my roommate here at one point and just to see their lifestyle, the training that they go through — it's just a different aspect to playing sports. If I were able to play football, it would be another challenge physically for me and I like challenges.
Frierson: Take me back to your first dunk. How old were you and how big a moment was it?
Gaines: The first time that I dunked on a 10-foot goal, I was in the seventh grade and I was outside [my house] and it might have been 10:30 p.m., and I had a cat at the time that always sat at the bottom of the goal, on the base of the goal, as I shot for countless hours.
That night I just kept trying over and over, but I couldn't palm the ball back then and I couldn't find a way to wiggle it in. Then one time I found enough juice and got up high enough to put it in, and I shocked myself. Our goal was kind of old and I actually cut up my hand on the rim.
I got so hyped I picked my cat up and was dancing around with her like, oh my God, I can't believe I did it. And I couldn't do it again that day, I'd lost the juice.
The next time did was in an AAU game. ... It was in warmups and I told my teammate to just lob it up and I'd go get it. I was the only person on my team who had the potential to dunk at the time and I went up and dunked it. Ever since then I've always been able to do it.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
