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He chuckles. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Not usually. Not until I get what I want.”
“No. I didn’t demand a trade,” he tells me. “I wasn’t thrilled with all the losing we’d been doing in recent seasons. That wasn’t a secret. And I didn’t think ownership was making the right moves to get us back in contention. But even with all that going on, I didn’t demand a trade.”
“And that blowout you had with your coach on the sideline?”
Ben laughs and shakes his head. “I thought this was supposed to be some puff profile piece you were writing for the team?”
“Well, the first thing is that I don’t work for the team. I work for the paper. And the second thing is I don’t write puff pieces.”
“Don’t you worry about the team revoking your access?”
“I’m not going to be intimidated into being a mouthpiece for anybody,” I reply. “I’ve got more integrity as a journalist than that.”
Ben sits back and nods, a look of what I interpret to be respect crossing his face. It emboldens me.
“So, the blowout with your coach in Dallas?” I press. “Do you think that had anything to do with you being traded to LA?”
“Maybe. Probably,” he says. “Coach Q wields a lot of power in Dallas. We argued because I didn’t like his rotations. I didn’t think he was maximizing the talent on the roster or putting us in a position to win games. It got heated. I regret getting caught up in my emotions in the heat of a game and not taking a step back and discussing it with him in private. That’s my bad. But I’m a competitor. I want to win.”
“I think everybody understands that.”
“But not everybody appreciates it. Coach Q doesn’t like to be challenged.”
Almost all athletes talk a good game about wanting to win. For most of the guys I’ve dealt with, though, winning is secondary to max salaries, endorsement deals, and the fame that goes with being a pro athlete.
There are very few who are as committed to winning as Ben Givens. He wants to leave a lasting legacy in the league. He wants to be known as one of the best to have ever played the game. Ben wants it with his heart and soul. I can see it in his eyes and hear it in every word he speaks. It’s a rare quality, and if I’m being honest, it’s an attractive one.
“My turn to ask a question,” he says. “Are you married? Boyfriend?”
My face immediately grows warm, and I look down at the recorder in my hand. “That’s probably not something we should get into.”
“Hey, you got to ask me a personal question, so I get to ask you one.”
Everything in me is telling me I shouldn’t answer that question. That I shouldn’t even open that door. Not even a crack. Nothing good can come of it. Especially since I’m still trying to make my name in this industry. It’s hard enough for women as it is, and the last thing I can afford to do is get a reputation as a ball bunny at this early stage of my career.
I shake my head. “I don’t think?—”
“It’s a simple question,” he says. “Like I said, you’ve got to give to get.”
I open my mouth to tell him we need to move on when my body betrays me. “No and no. No husband, no boyfriend. I’ve never had either.”
“Never even a boyfriend? Interesting,” he says. “Why is that?”
“This interview isn’t about me. Honestly, I’m not all that interesting.”
“Oh, I disagree. I find you utterly fascinating.”
As my cheeks redden, a wolfish smile spreads across his lips, and my eyes widen with mortification at the words that just slipped from my mouth. The interview is getting away from me, and I feel out of control. That’s never a good thing. I need to steer it back on track.
“You look uncomfortable,” he says.
“To be honest, I am a little bit. I don’t tend to get so personal when I’m interviewing somebody. Now, can we get back to the interview?”
“Of course.”
And to his credit, he doesn’t push the issue. He sits patiently and answers every single one of my questions. Although I’m learning quickly that he is very adept at sidestepping questions he doesn’t want to answer, talking around them instead. Over the next hour, we have a fun and engaging conversation. I find him to be a lot humbler than I'd expect a play of his status to be. He’s cocky. He knows how good at this game he is, but he’s not a prima donna.
