Antawn Jamison Talks Dark-Horse Wizards, UNC Basketball, More in B/R AMA

Ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season, two-time All-Star Antawn Jamison stopped by for an AMA session with Bleacher Report.

Jamison discussed his current employers, the Washington Wizards, for whom he played for six years and now works as the director of pro personnel. Not surprisingly, he's bullish on Washington's potential for the year ahead.

The North Carolina legend also talked about his alma mater, hitting on his decorated career and Chapel Hill and the Tar Heels' current stable of stars, among other topics.

The following is the transcript from the AMA session.

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Via B/R: Wizards are celebrating their 25th anniversary. Can you talk to us about some of the stuff the team is doing to celebrate that along with what you think of the throwback jerseys they unveiled?

They got some unbelievable ideas. I helped create a basketball hat. They helped incorporate some of the black and gold from those uniforms. Just some cool things that brought me back to my time playing with the Wizards. I've seen some of the photos of the guys wearing the throwback jerseys. It just brings me back to the balance we had, the relationships we had.

The most important thing is that fan base we had. It was electric. You knew that with Gilbert, myself, Caron, Larry Hughes, we were going to go out every night and compete at a high level. And they always showed up and brought that burst of energy. The city was so behind those teams and loved those teams. Even when I go back. It always brings back good memories to hear them bringing back the jersey and just me with the Wizards as well.

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@BoltsAndBuckets Growing up, who inspired your play style? Was there a specific teammate who was most impactful on your development?

Like everybody else, I always had favorites. Of course, Michael Jordan at the time. I can't say I emulated these other guys but, David Robinson and Scottie Pippen were also two of my favorites. David was a big man but he could still put the ball on the floor and was an unbelievable leader. I wish I had Scottie's abilities too. He was the ultimate glue guy. I always felt my role on the team was that of Scottie. I felt like I could be that guy who could score the ball, pass, rebound if needed. Whatever the coach asked, I felt like I could do it. Those were probably my three favorite guys to watch. My style was unorthodox. I just worked on fundamentals and expanding my game. It was a different style from the guys that I respected.

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@MoneyMakingMitch7 What was that '97-98 UNC team like? Greatest team you've been a part of in your career? (Final Four appearance, national player of the year award )

We talk about it all the time. I live in Charlotte, so no matter where you go, you get 'that was the best team to never win the national championship.' In a couple of weeks, it's bittersweet, but they're going to recognize that '97-98 team. When you talk about just being a total team, especially that year. That's the year that Coach Smith retired. We lost the previous season in the Final Four and we were just so focused. Nobody had an ego. Nobody wanted the credit.

It was special. The relationship I have now with those guys. We reminisce about the great times It's tough because I've lived this unbelievable life. I've lived out my dream. I played at UNC and the NBA and now have five kids. But, if there's one thing I could go back and do a do-over, that would be the one situation that I wish I could go back and those first 5 minutes against Utah, be more poised or help out the team more.

I don't have any regrets those first few years at Carolina. That helped mold me into the person I am today. That team was special. Vince Carter throwing it off the backboard, probably the best missed dunk you would ever see in your life. Those guys made the game easy for myself. They're the reason why my jersey is hung up in the rafters and why I won National Player of the Year that year. We did it all together, but just came up short to the ultimate goal. It's always good when you talk about that team. That one thing you wish you could get a do-over on that you can't—it was that Final Four in San Antonio. Definitely, as they would say around here in North Carolina: 'the best team to never win a national championship.'

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@Jzsc4ever You scored 35 points while touching the ball for 53 seconds and not just against anyone ... in a blowout against No. 1 Duke. What goes through your mind when you still hear that?

Especially when it was happening. I remember Dicky V saying I was unstoppable. Probably about 4 or 5 years ago, I watched that. It was just a testament of me being relentless. It was totally a team effort, but when you score that many points in a rivalry game against Duke. I thought for sure in the second half that they would make changes, but I kept getting screens and looks. Just an attest of the way Coach Smith wanted us to play: don't care about who gets the credit. It was a big game. Everybody knows the Duke-Carolina rivalry. All the stats are thrown out the window. Just do whatever it takes to win the game. I just remember the energy that night. I've been to a lot of games at Dean Smith Center. There was one other Duke-Carolina game that might be up there, but that was probably the loudest, most unbelievable game I was a part of. To have that many points with the ball not in your hand was special. If it wasn't for my teammates, none of it would have been possible.

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@WillCanipe How do you feel about the incoming UNC team this year (Leaky Black, Bacot, Caleb Love, some 4 star recruits?

I love it. If you would have asked me this question 3 or 4 years ago, to the rest of the world, Carolina isn't a blue blood anymore. They can't get the top recruits or that they're not a top team anymore.

It was the best feeling in the world to be in the Final Four last year. To be there with so many alumni and to sit behind Coach Williams to talk about how proud he was of Hubert Davis and the staff. To see those guys come up short, I know how I felt coming up short in the semis.

Then, fast forward, I took my kids down to Carolina and we're out there shooting and stuff. And they hear the players on the team talk about how focused they were and how they had unfinished business. It put me back in the mindsight I had when I was in college. We put in the work to make sure we got back. To see those guys recognize they were so close, but they're not finished. We have a lot of the same players back and a great nucleus of young talent who is going to pave the way for the future and also those guys who came up short last year, to see their focus, I'm excited. The only thing that can prevent us from accomplishing their goals are injuries. As long as they're injury free, I think the sky is the limit and I think those guys are mentally prepared for the journey. I know they want that feeling back. They're focused so it should be an exciting year for us Tar Heels.

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@TheDudeyaKnow What was it like being traded on draft night?

It was emotional, to get traded for with someone that you just spent the last 3 years with, to take the journey of leaving our parents and coming out as men. Knowing the amount of work he put into his craft. And knowing that our goal to play in the NBA was special. We doing this together. We getting traded on draft night. That was wild. It was always going to be intertwined.

The other part was my parents. Your agent might get a heads up that something may happen. I'm sitting there and I kind of had a heads up. All I remember is David Stern saying I was going 4th to the Raptors. All of the sudden my mom is like, 'hold up, we didn't say anything about Toronto. It's cold up there.' At that time, they really weren't in the cards, but I was just trying to assure her everything was going to be alright and that I thought I might get traded.

Just knowing all of the hard work that I made it to the NBA. It was a feeling I cherish still to this day.

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@Awesomeray25 What was your 'welcome to the NBA' moment?

I remember it was the lockout year so we had 50 games in how many nights. We were playing Houston. I don't play 1Q. 2Q I don't play. 3Q comes in. I got front row seats for my parents and I'm in the game. I go in and I'm guarding Charles Barkley in the post. He goes 'hell no, I got a rookie on me. Get out the way.' He gets the ball. He's just backing my little ass down. He kicks the ball out and asks for it again 'give it back to me.' I had no answer. I played a minute and a half that game.

Charles Barkley telling everybody: 'get the out the way I got this rookie on me and I'm about to go ahead and embarrass him.' It let me know what I was going to expect for that first season.

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@Fuzzbubbles Did you have anything special planned for the 2000 dunk contest before your injury and were you bummed you weren't able to participate?

I was not bummed because I knew how capable the other guys were. I had no clue what I wanted to do. They probably would have said, it was the worst dunker in the history of the contest. I wanted to participate, but I knew I was probably going to finish last.

Creativity is not my forte.

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@DuBaby What were some differences between your time with LeBron vs. Your time with Kobe? And was there a guy you preferred playing with?

I think my time with LeBron, LeBron was trying to find a way to be a champion. He was trying to navigate toward what he needed to do. After LeBron left for Miami, I think that's when he figured out how to lead a championship-caliber team. When I had him in Cleveland, he was still trying to figure that out. Still one of the most talented players in the NBA, but he was still trying to figure out how to lead others to the top of the hill.

When I got to LA with Kobe, he had been there done that, but wanted one last ring. LeBron was trying to figure it out. He needed some help and he did. When I got to Kobe, he was like 'I just need one more.' When I look back: I played with Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Dirk, Steve Nash. I think LeBron was still trying to figure it out. At the particular time I didn't like it, but I did respect it. You have to humble yourself and ask for help to be willing to figure it out.

That was the reason why I went to LA. The last thing I wanted was to experience as far as being part of a championship caliber team.

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@Therealwillepps1 Any dark horse teams you think may surprise the league this year?

The Washington Wizards. That's my dark-horse team. If we stay healthy, Porzingis, Bradley Beal, I think that's going to be a lethal combination. I think we got guys like Monte Morris, who in Denver really didn't get the opportunity to showcase he can be a true PG and a PG who can run a team. Will Barton is an unbelievable vet and we got a great combination of young talent too.

The difference for us to stay healthy, get the chemistry down pat. I love Wes Unseld Jr. His coaching staff has been doing some unbelievable things. We're going to make a lot of noise this year and that will make my job easier this year as well.