Q+A: Bill Bradley
SI: Did you ever imagine that you would one day share a microphone with Howard Stern?
Bradley: Well, separate microphones, same network. The key thing is to get subscribers, and if he brings subscribers in, so much the better. But my favorite radio guys are Imus and Garrison Keillor.
SI: What's your show like?
Bradley: The show is about telling stories. Stories you tell about yourself, your family, your job, your country, your life. We usually have a sports segment. So far I've interviewed the No. 1 high school football coach in Texas, a guy who has the largest collection of sports memorabilia in the world, and Grant Hill. I try to mix it up.
SI: Do you like the current NBA product on the court?
Bradley: The teams that win the championship still play as teams. As a fan, I don't particularly like the three-point rule. I think the objective of the game is to get the easiest shot closest to the basket and do it with a maximum amount of movement.
SI: Could you have achieved what you did politically if you had not been a famous athlete?
Bradley: It's hard to say, but probably not. Certainly I had an advantage when I ran for the Senate for the first time: I had been in people's living rooms twice a week on television in New Jersey for 10 years. That meant when I ran, there were 300 people in a room instead of 50. Of course that meant I could fail before 300 people too.
SI: Do you see yourself running for public office again?
Bradley: I don't think it's in the cards.
SI: When is the last time you went on a court to shoot?
Bradley: Probably four years ago. I have some hip issues. But once you learn how to shoot, you always can shoot. --Richard Deitsch
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COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF BILL BRADLEY (BRADLEY)
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JAMES DRAKE (BRADLEY PLAYING