Let's Get It On

What’s up, everyone. This is Donyell, checking in on Opening Day.

It’s hard to believe the season is already here, even though you could say that was a long preseason …

Our record was not good, but I think if you look at last year, we were in the same boat. We had two wins and one of them was against a European team – Maccabi Tel Aviv – which is not really even a legit victory. And I think if you look at the situations – we were playing our third-string free agents late in the game, and teams made some runs on us.

We used the preseason games the way you’re supposed to: getting back in sync, learning to play as a team, getting in some conditioning and work on defensive and offensive stuff. And I think that’s what we did.

If you look at Miami, they were 0-7. There are a lot of teams that didn’t do well in preseason. Last year, Dallas didn’t do well in the preseason, lost their first four games and won 50 of their next 55. We know it’s going to be tough, but we can’t look at the preseason to tell us that.

We have the “X” on our back now and teams from the East are going to try to take what we have. There are teams out there thinking that what we did last year was a fluke.

We know it’s going it’s going to be a tough start to the season. We open up with Dallas and go right on the road for a six-game-in-eight-day road trip out West. A lot of people are thinking that’s going to be our season. But that’s not going to be our season.

It’ll be good to get that trip out of the way. It would be one thing if we started the season off poorly and looked at the schedule and saw that trip coming. If we start out slow, we know we have that trip out of the way and we have a good schedule the rest of the season.

It’s strange opening the season without Anderson and as far as how that will affect me in the rotation, I don’t know what’s going through Coach’s mind. I know I’m going to have to earn minutes. I’m going to have to go out there and play effectively every night. And I can’t think about Andy not being here. I have to go out and perform and play well.

I’m older now and the body’s not what it used to be. But I can still play this game. I know I’m going to be called on to do different things. My game’s not always to score 10 or 11 points. Sometimes, it’s going to be the little things. Rebounding, playing good, hard defense, showing on pick and rolls and knocking down some shots.

I hope to do a little of all of those on Wednesday night. This is my 14th opener, and this one’s probably a little different. This one, I’m actually excited about. I know the Eastern Conference Championship banner is going up – a first for the franchise and a team I was on.

This is as excited as I’ve been since my rookie season.

Close Call in Macao

What’s up, everyone back home. Our trip to China is winding down, and this week, I had a pretty strange and scary situation come up.

Ater practice was over on Thursday, a couple of us were planning on going to Hong Kong. So we were looking at prices for the helicopter to see how fast it would get us over and get us back. Then, Coach pulled me over and said, “I’ve got some bad news.” And, at first, I thought he was joking. But he wasn’t. He said, “They lost your passport.”

I got angry at first, but I kind of loosened up when they told me I had to go to Hong Kong to get the passport, because I figured while I’m over there I’ll just stay for a while. (It’s about a 45-minute boat ride and a 15-minute helicopter ride.)

Marvin (Barnes) – the Cavaliers head of security – was telling me to hurry up, that we have to get over there because it’s a national holiday in Hong Kong on Friday. They have it twice a year – I think it’s called National Grave Cleaning Day, where you go to the cemetery and clean your loved one’s or ancestor’s graves. They have picnics there and everything. The whole city shuts down. So if I didn’t get my passport on Thursday, I wouldn’t have gotten it at all.

I had to fill out paperwork in the NBA offices. After that I had to go to the police station in Macao. I was in the police station for three hours and they wouldn’t let me leave the country. They’re telling me there’s a procedure I have to follow, and it’s going to take a couple days. Of course, we’re leaving Saturday and I don’t have “a couple days.”

The Consulate called and told them to release me. We got the paper work done so I could get out of the country. When I got to Hong Kong, immigration was there with the Consulate so I can get into the country. The woman at the Consulate agreed to stay a little longer, and I got my passport about 7:30 at night.

I flew over to Hong Kong on a helicopter. It was my first time on a helicopter and I was actually kind of scared at first. But once we got up in the air, it was pretty cool. It was a twelve-seater, not one of those “bubble” helicopters that you see on TV. It was a good experience – you have a lot of little islands and boats and like 300 big cargo ships in the bay near Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s a beautiful city, too. There’s buildings on top of buildings. It’s way different than Shanghai. They say it’s like New York, and it is like New York. I actually made a little trip out of it. And I took the 10:30 helicopter back.

I know a lot of guys are going to Hong Kong right after Friday’s practice. Even if you only get over there for a couple hours, you can say you’ve been in that city. And I was glad I got a chance to do that.

Even with the problems on Thursday, the whole trip has been a cool experience. The people have been great – very receptive.

I think I’ve lost about five or six pounds since I’ve been here. I know a lot of the guys have talked about losing weight, as well. It’s not that the food is bad; it’s just different. And we haven’t eaten as much as we normally do. We’ve been practicing hard and just not eating normally.

But when people from other countries come to the States, I’m sure they find our food really different as well. And you know, you’re scared to try stuff at first. If I wasn’t sneaking in a McDonald’s here and there, I probably would have lost more than the five pounds.

The fans here are really incredible. Preseason games back home, yeah they’re necessary. But they can be kind of boring. Here, people are cheering. They’re really into it. The fans here make everybody feel like they’re a superstar. If you do something well – no matter who it is – they cheer for you and they have a good time.

I feel big here. I feel real good. I love it – for real. They had a big billboard of me in Shanghai. People around see me and they say, “Marshall! Marshall!” It’s great. I’m surprised at how well people know me over here. They’re calling LeBron “The Little Emperor” on this trip. Maybe I can be “The Mini Emperor.”

This trip has really made me appreciate where I’m at. You take basketball for granted sometimes. When we landed in Shanghai, I turned to my wife and smiled because I look back at what basketball has brought me. I don’t have to struggle. My kids don’t have to struggle. Maybe it took coming to China to show me what basketball has brought me.

It’s been great. I’m really glad we came.

Get Out of Town

Greetings from Shanghai, everyone. It’s already been a trip – in every sense of the word.

Going to the huge outdoor market was really great. We read a lot in advance about negotiating with the street vendors, so it was fun doing that as well as just walking around. I felt like I was like LeBron or Kobe or Shaq – with people following me around. I don’t really go through that kind of thing in the States. To be here and everyone coming up to you, it was pretty interesting.

I’ve been really just taking in the whole city – the crazy traffic patterns, the structures of the high-rises. I just put my headphones on and walked around the city on Sunday.

I think it’s good for the team to get out of town for the camaraderie, but it’s also an excellent chance for us to see a different part of the world. I got into the hotel yesterday and was just amazed – even being in the league for 14 years – at what basketball has brought me. I would have never thought I’d be in Taiwan this summer. I never would have thought I’d be in Shanghai. I was with USA Basketball, but it was a different experience. Now I can come to a place like this and afford to get things and have fun in a different country halfway across the world. And it’s an amazing feeling.

Being on the road with the guys, we always say throughout the year that we only have each other. And when you’re over here, that’s really all we have. We’re the only people who understand each other, really. So it’s a good time to bond as a team. The food is different, so most of us go out to eat together. It’s a great place to bond.

You can tell by the response here in China that basketball is becoming a world sport. I don’t know if it’ll ever replace soccer, because if you go to Brazil, for example, that’s a soccer country – even though they’re starting to put out some really good basketball players. Yesterday, I’m sitting in my hotel room and ESPN International is talking about football, and I’m getting ready to watch a football game – until I remembered that they’re talking about soccer.

Being in Taiwan earlier this summer got me somewhat prepared to travel here to Asia. But Shanghai is completely different – the buildings, the structures, the people. Taiwan has a ton of shopping and I haven’t done too much shopping here. There, there was a huge mall on every block, but here I just picked up a couple of suits.

My wife is here with me, and she’s enjoying it. Anytime she can go shopping, she’s enjoying any experience. She’s more of a sight-seer, which is what she’s doing right now. I think that’s what I’ll do when we finish practice. And I’ll catch up with you a little later this week.