Mickell Gladness made his way to the NBA out of Alabama A&M and now, at age 30, is entering the tail end of his professional basketball career. Standing at 6-foot-11, Gladness once led the NCAA in blocks and still holds the NCAA record for blocks in a single game (16). He later transitioned to a starting role for the last seven games of the Golden State Warriors' 2011-12 season following a solid stint with the Miami Heat.
Like many of the participants at The Basketball Tournament, Gladness also has a large body of experience in the NBA D-League and overseas. Competing with Team Trained To Go at TBT 2016, Gladness made it to the Super 16 at Philadelphia University. While there, he took the time to speak with VAVEL USA about his career and what he has observed in his many years playing the game of basketball.
The interview
Zach Drapkin (ZD): What can you say about TBT’s impact on you as a player and where you might decide to play next?
Mickell Gladness (MG): As a player, it gives me another level of competition. Of course, we have a good level of competition in Atlanta, we always have stuff going on, there’s always games, there’s always other tournaments around, so it’s not a shortage of competition. But, the guys we see at TBT are a lot different. You have the best of the best, you have a lot of overseas guys, and it gives me a chance, personally, to play against those top guys, the guys that I feel have proven themselves, you have some veterans here that played overseas and Euroleague and also NBA. I just want to prove myself once again.
ZD: Were you thinking about being part of this team or did they just invite you?
MG: Last year, I actually had a chance to play with these guys and I turned it down because I got back late in the summer and I just wanted to spend time with my family. It’s always been something I’ve thought about, throughout this whole year, throughout my season and stuff, so it was just getting my body right and being ready to play when Marc [Hughes] called, being ready to take the opportunity.
ZD: In terms of individual exposure from TBT, are you looking to get some NBA teams’ eyes on you? Have you gotten any looks from NBA teams lately?
MG: I had a short spurt in the NBA, so for me, it would be great to get back to the NBA. I’m slowly working my way back and trying to prove that I’m still the athletic energy guy that I once was, and I’m still the rim protector. Nothing’s changed. I’ve gotten better, I’ve got more experience, so I’d still love a chance to get back in the NBA. This could be it. Who knows?
ZD: Can you talk about your experience in the NBA and any positive or negatives that came with it?
MG: I would say a lot of it was positive. Of course, it’s negative because I’m not there anymore but playing with the likes of LeBron [James] and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, then that list goes on, Steph Curry, the whole list. But just getting that experience and then in my mind, I know I can play at that level now because I’ve played at that level and I’ve started at that level. Now having in my mind and in my heart that I can play at that level, to get back there and to get the right opportunity is just the thing I’m looking for.
ZD: What was it like being on future championship teams? Did you learn anything from specific players or coaches?
MG: Juwan Howard and his professionalism and just how to take care of your body. He played in the NBA for a very long time, so just taking care of your body. I actually have to go ice right now. At a young age, I would have never thought about that because I was like ‘I can still run, I can still jump, I’m okay, I don’t have any bumps, any bruises, why ice?’ But that’s what he brought to me.
"The contracts are going the right way if I'm trying to get back in the NBA. Keep raising up the NBA salary cap."
ZD: Do you want to see any changes in the NBA or professional basketball, regarding play style, contracts, rules?
MG: The contracts. I feel they’re going the right way if I’m trying to get back in there. Keep going with the NBA salary cap, keep raising it up.
ZD: You did a full four years at Lawson State and then at Alabama A&M. What do you think about guys now going one-and-done more often and do you regret going to a small school for four years?
MG: I think it’s a plus and a minus with that. It’s a plus because I got the confidence. My coach had confidence in me to start from day one. The minus is, yes, I didn’t get the amount of exposure I would have liked to, but what my high school coach always told me was that if you’re good enough, they’ll find you. I’ve made it to the highest level, of course, I didn’t stay there as long as I wanted to, but it’ll happen. I don’t regret anything, I can’t regret anything in the past. I just have to keep moving forward for the future.
ZD: Do you think going to a small school changed your career path at all?
MG: Definitely. If you go to a smaller school, whether you start all four years or whatever you do, lead the nation in scoring, lead the nation in blocked shots like I did, it doesn’t have the same effect. If you go to a bigger school, you could sit on the bench and you can play maybe ten to fifteen minutes a game and you get a better shot or an equal shot to as if you were the leading scorer at a smaller school. It definitely has an impact.
ZD: If you’re not getting signed by NBA teams, how do you weigh the choice of going to the NBA Development League as opposed to going overseas?
MG: I made that sacrifice over and over again when I was younger. Now, I’m starting to have my own family, so it’s basically price over reward. I feel like now NBA teams know who I am, they know what I can do. It’s the thing of do I want to stay here and keep making that sacrifice and keep trying to answer the question of what do you do for more money after the season, or you go overseas and you’re stable. You just hope that you get the right looker and you get to come back and go to the NBA after that.
ZD: Would you consider a return to the D-League?
MG: The D-League is a great opportunity for some guys. At this juncture in my life, I don’t think that is a good opportunity for me anymore or a good decision to make for my family. Despite the money, people get it really misunderstood when you go into the D-League. If you go into the D-League, I think you have to be one of those guys who is right on the cusp of getting into the NBA. A lot of guys go to the D-League with no chance really of getting in and it’s like what are you playing for? What are you in the D-League for? What are you sacrificing for? You get better jobs overseas. It should be more of an NBA-form league than just going there.
ZD: What are the differences basketball-wise between the NBA, overseas, the D-League, and even college ball in the US?
MG: Going overseas is a lot more physical. Of course, in the NBA, you have the defensive three-second violation so the floor is a lot more spread. Overseas, you have to create spacing and basically, bully your way to the basket. You have to go through fouls because they’re not always going to call fouls, especially for the Americans. It’s just a different game. When you’re over in the D-League, it’s even more helter-skelter than the NBA is. It’s even more open. It’s even more run-n’-gun. It’s a quicker pace. Overseas, you’ve got older guys, you’ve got more experienced guys, you’ve got stronger guys that aren’t going to just let you get away with certain things. When you come into the lane, they’re going to give you a hard foul and you’re going to get some body contact. It’s a lot different, it’s a lot more physicality.
ZD: Now that you’re starting a family, how does playing overseas affect that and your comfort level of where you’re living and raising your family?
MG: Everywhere I’ve gone to, I’ve been pretty comfortable with. It’s not like my career has placed me anywhere I’ll have to fear for my life or my family will have to fear for my safety or theirs when they came over there. It definitely puts a strain on family life when I’m overseas like this past year in Israel and my family’s in America, but it’s a sacrifice and I won’t be able to play basketball forever.
"I've seen Steph and Klay make all those shots in the gym. And they look exactly the same."
ZD: You were on the Golden State Warriors for a short time. What can you say about the team, the star players, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and how you’ve seen them change over the last few seasons since you left?
MG: I’ve seen them make all those shots. I’ve seen thousands of shots in the gym. And they look exactly the same. I think it’s just more of them getting the confidence, getting the right guys on their team to kind of accentuate them and help them out in different parts of the game. Klay has been the same knockdown shooter off the floppy set and Steph I think got a little better off the dribble but their shot has been the same. You could kind of see it coming regardless of his years in college to his rookie year but you could see it coming. You could see it coming. He just works hard.
ZD: Have you stayed in touch with any of those guys you played with in the NBA?
MG: Some guys. Like I said, Juwan Howard was really like my mentor and I’ll still talk to him to ask advice, even if it’s just life advice. So yeah, I still keep in contact with some of those guys.