We sat down with the Clips cagey veteran before tonight’s game against the Knicks. Cassell took a trip down memory lane to the League’s golden days when physical play didn’t result in flagrant fouls, and he defended two of his teammates who don’t get the credit he thinks they deserve…

On his early days in the NBA…
“I came into this League early, I won early. That’s a long, long time ago. When the real NBA - when the League was all about men. The game is very, very soft right now. I saw a guy get a flagrant foul the other night - wow. Tayshaun Prince got blocked or pushed a little bit by Erick Dampier and they gave him a flagrant. WOW. If you fall to the floor hard it’s a flagrant foul now. Some nights that wouldn’t have been a call. But, I know a lot of guys - Oakley and them, couldn’t play in the game like it is right now. Otis Thorpe, LaSalle Thompson, Buck Williams, wouldn’t have a chance with how the game is called. The enforcer, 12th man on the team would be cut now. There would be no need for him. The game was tougher, the game is not tough. It’s like protecting the quarterback - which, I think the Commissioner does a good job trying to clean the game up, but it’s not as tough as it used to be. I wish it was that way back when I came into the League in ‘93. Maybe I wouldn’t have had elbow surgery back in ‘95. It is what it is, it’s a great job to have.

On Al Thornton…
“Al [Thornton] can play. Al can play. I’m just disappointed that he’s not in the rookie/sophomore All-Star game. He averages almost 10 points a night - I don’t know the circumstances of why he’s not in. He definitely should be in in my opinion - which doesn’t mean a lot. But he should be in. I don’t know a better scorer as a rookie right now than Al Thornton. Give him the shots that Durant is taking and he could do the same thing as that. Al would be able to score 19 points a night playing 37 minutes. I think he has the same type of scoring as a Kevin Durant, easily. He’s a hell of a post scorer, he finishes around the basket. He’s strong.

On his days in Minnesota, when the Wolves won the Midwest Division in ‘03-04 with a 58-24 record…
“I don’t think that was my most fun year [playing in Minnesota with KG and Latrell Sprewell]- all my years be fun. We just had that chemistry, a chemistry that was unbelievable. The three of us and the guys who were on our team understood that we were going to take the majority of the shots. Mark Madsen, Ervin Johnson, Trenton Hassell - they understood that, and that’s what made us successful. Everybody knew their role and was satisfied with that role - they might not like that role - but they were satisfied. That’s a winning process if you can accept that you might not get 14 shots a night. I knew if I got seven shots going to the full court, I would end up with 15, 16 shots for the rest of the night. No matter what - we just knew it. Same as Spree, same as Kevin. Spree had it going on, Kevin had it going on. Over the course of the game it all comes back. We want y’all to shoot the ball. But also in the meant while, with guys that don’t shoot the ball - you gotta get Trenton Hassell an open look, four or five points - because he’s the defensive guru. When we get Trenton Hassell 13 or 14 points, we’re up 13 with Trenton Hassell. My job was to get Ervin Johnson a lay-up every night. I’d get him a baseline jumpshot and everyone would say ‘Shoot it!’ The majority of the nights he missed, but the nights he made it, we was all happy and we knew he was going to get 10 rebounds that night.

On Latrell Sprewell coming back to the League…
“Spree don’t want to come back. He has a sour taste in his mouth about the game of basketball. Spree is a good guy, he is a good guy. It bothers me when people don’t say good things about him because they don’t know him. If I say it, y’all might say ‘That’s just because it’s your boy.’ But if Mark Madsen, if Mad Dog says it y’all like ‘Wow.’”