Celtics JR Giddens (photo. Matt Brown)

We’ve all heard the stories, but did you ever wonder if NBA rookies really were tortured by their veteran teammates? Yesterday I was able to get up with Celtics rookie JR Giddens – the last pick in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft – and talk to him about fetching late-night faxes, his Anaconda skin Air Force 1s and what he’s listening to on his iPod.

Dime: As a rookie on the World Champion Celtics, what do the guys have you doing for them?
JR Giddens: Well it’s nothing crazy, just you know, run to the store, get stuff for the shower and stuff like that. You gotta make sure everybody has lotion and a toothbrush. Little runs like that. Sometimes you get food, and if they need something picked up from the store like Gatorades or little knickknacks, you just go and be courteous.

Dime: What was the craziest thing anyone every asked you to pick up?
JR: I haven’t had to do anything that was that crazy, but something did happen to me when I was just really tired. I was dead asleep and Kendrick Perkins – which is my guy, you know we’re real cool, my dude – he just needed me to go pickup a fax for him. And I stay probably like 15-20 minutes away from like where he needed me to pick it up and then take it to him. So then I get there to pick up the fax and I’m like dang, I cannot find it. It’s not in any of the fax machines. I’m asking around, so I’m like you know what, I’m just gonna chill up here. So then I get in a chair and I’m dog tired and I got my AAU coach with me and I just kind of doze off, drift off to sleep. After I called him and texted him, he finally hits me with a call and I’m like, ‘I couldn’t find it,” and he’s like, ‘Well, don’t worry about it then rook.”

Dime: (laughing) What was the first thing you bought after you signed that first NBA contract?
JR: I got myself my dream car, a Range Rover and I got my Dad a truck.

Dime: Before you play, what are some of your pre-game rituals?
JR: Sometimes I don’t have the greatest habits of drinking water all the time, so before games I really try and get those in – make sure that I’m hydrated. That’s when I really start to crush ’em ’cause that’s when my body is gonna need ’em.

Dime: What kicks are you going to be playing in this season on the court?
JR: I’ll be rockin’ the Nike Hyperdunks. Real light, feel good on my feet. Got the special soles from my bone doctor down in New Mexico.

Dime: Are you a sneakerhead?
JR: Nah, I normally give a lot of my kicks away to my peoples. Ya know, the homeboys, this and that. Sometimes I have a collection, sometimes I don’t. The hottest pair I got now are the all white, Anaconda skin Air Force 1s.

Dime: What’s on your iPod these days?
JR: I listen to mostly R&B as I like to sit there and rock, but also Jay-Z, Nas and Biggie. I mean, I got alotta slow jams because I’m really more into slow jams than anything, but music that’s so vicious and hard like Wayne, and stuff like that, I gotta get hype to that for games and stuff.

Dime: You ever find time to catch a flick?
JR: I haven’t been out to the movies lately but I always order movies in my hotel room on every trip.