Boom Tho Movement Hits Toronto
It’s not too often that a player from the D-League can steal the show at the Air Canada Centre. However, that’s just what happened this weekend when the Toronto Raptors held a free agent camp and one of the more prominent names in attendance was Rod Benson. The talented 6′10″ rebounding machine has played in the D-League All-Star game the past two seasons but that’s not why most basketball fans know him, instead it is due to his rising to fame on the internet through Ball Don’t Lie and his own personal blog. Benson has achieved a level of notoriety that most D-League players haven’t as he’s found a way through the internet to connect with fans across the globe due to his honesty, engaging personality and unique sense of humour.
After a grueling workout on Friday evening, Benson took some time to talk with Hoops Addict about the free agent camps he’s attended, the Boom Tho Movement, and a host of other topics.
Hoops Addict: I hear you’ve been working out in Sacramento with Gus Armstead. What kinds of things have you been working on to prepare you for these free agent camps?
Rod Benson: First of all, he brings in a lot of guys that he thinks will push me in ways that will help when I get down here. There are a lot of bigger, stronger guys than me so that’s the first thing. We also do a lot of ball handling and shooting. He feels like if I improve my jumper I can really help my stock considering I’m already a pretty good rebounder. I’m just trying to get a well-rounded game and there are a lot of guys there to push me and help me do that.
HA: I believe you were in Seattle last week and Toronto this week. How are the free agent camp workouts going?
RB: I think I’ve done pretty well at all the workouts. I’ve only been here one day but I feel like I’ve shown some things that they didn’t really expect and that’s really the goal of these things. When they watch me play 50 games this season, what else can I really show them? That’s the only way I can think about it. I’m just trying to show them something they haven’t seen before and I think I did a pretty good job of that so far.
HA: What are your plans for the summer? Are you going to take part in summer league?
RB: Maybe another one of these and then the summer league. After that who knows, the chips will fall where they do. I can’t really tell.
HA: You’ve had two solid D-League seasons. Will you go back for a third or will you head to Europe if you can’t make an NBA roster this fall?
RB: I’m not going to go back to the D-League again. The only way I would do that is if I signed somewhere for a partial guarantee and then I was released at some point during the season. If I get cut during training camp or if I don’t feel like training camp will be in my future then I will go overseas.
HA: You are the only guy here with your own custom shoes. Can you explain what the Boom Thoo Movement is?
RB: It started as just a couple funny music videos but as my basketball career progressed it’s just become more of a push to bring some of my fun and realism back to pro sports. I just want to have fun while I’m doing this and if you can’t have fun while doing it then why do it? That’s the whole spirit behind it.
HA: You write for Ball Don’t Lie and have your own website. How have these helped you become more noticeable and well known to basketball fans?
RB: I think for one, it really helped the D-League to get some notoriety because when people go to Yahoo to read about the NBA, there are pictures of guys like KG, Kobe Bryant and Rod Benson. They would go, “Who’s that guy Rod Benson?” I think it really helped to bring some notoriety, and towards the end of the season I really started to see a lot of internet readers start to come out to watch some D-League games who may not have come out to see them before. You can always help yourself by increasing your fanbase so I’m pretty thankful for that.
HA: Plus, I hear in Sacramento there’s very little to do…
RB: Someone asked me the other day, “How do you have all this free time to do it?” It was someone else who plays basketball and I was like, do you realize as a profession we have more free time than any other profession? I asked what they did during their free time and they couldn’t answer for me. If you have free time you might as well do something besides lay around and play video games.
HA: Alright, final question for you. I heard in San Antonio they had the special Gatorade shakes that you love. Have you been able to find them here in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre?
RB: I haven’t. I actually walked around and there’s none around. I’m still trying to find one, I need one right now!
HA: Good luck with that search and good luck this summer, Rod.
RB: Thank you.
Click here to listen to the audio of this interview.
Photo Credit: Icon Sports Media
This article was written by:
Ryan McNeill - who has written 208 posts on Hoops Addict.
Ryan McNeill is the editor for Hoops Addict and has appeared on NBA XL and WSRQ 1220. Ryan has covered the NBA with media credentials since the 2007 season.
Comments
By rashad on June 23rd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
sign this man up for a guest column
By Blake Murphy on June 23rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Get him a Raptors uniform, too. You’re telling me he can’t provide a little toughness and rebounding for a few minutes a game at the NBA level?
By Ryan McNeill on June 23rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Rashad - He’s way out of our price range. Slam and Yahoo! already have dibs and they have a much large expense account…
Austin - You’re preaching the choir, man. Benson would be amazing with Toronto or any of the other teams he’s taken part in free agent camps with (Seattle, Miami and San Antonio).