Former Creighton Bluejay center Anthony Tolliver catches up with the Creightonian after finishing up his season with Oakland’s Golden State Warriors.
Q: Rate your overall experience being a member of the Golden State Warriors.
A: My overall experience as a Warrior was phenomenal. I had the best time of my life playing for coach Nelson and my teammates. We didn’t have a chance at the playoffs by the time I got there, but we still played hard and had fun.
Q: How did it feel playing so well in the game that ended up putting Don Nelson at number one on the all-time wins list?
A: It felt great. I’m glad that I decided to have a career night that night because now that game is going to go down in NBA history. It was just great to be a part of something so significant.
Q: Did you have any “welcome to the NBA” moments when you realized you were playing basketball at the highest level in the world?
A: Every night that I stepped on the court in the past two years, I had a “welcome to the NBA” moment. One specific time is when I got dunked on by Amare [Stoudemire].
Q: What was your journey to the NBA like? What did it take for you to finally make it in the league?
A: My journey was pretty short compared to most people that take the long road to the NBA. My first year I made a roster [Cleveland Cavaliers] but never played, but then the next year I made a roster and played 19 games. So I’ve been blessed with ample opportunities to play at the highest level.
Q: Have any favorite games from this season? If so, what made that particular
game special?
A: I have two favorite games, the first being a game against the Dallas Mavericks earlier this year when I had 10 points and 20 rebounds in the second half. Then our last game when one of our players fouled out and we only had five players that were healthy, so he played even though he was already disqualified from
the game.
Q. What are you planning on doing to continue your improvement as a player?
A: I just plan on working even harder than I did in the past and continuing to try and perfect my craft. The Warriors staff has got me going in the right direction and now I just have to continue that trend.
Q: Are your plans for next year solidified?
A: No, I am a free agent so anything could happen and I could end up anywhere, but I would love to be back in Oakland.
Q: What was it like to play against Kyle Korver as a member of the Utah Jazz?
A: It was a lot of fun playing against Kyle. He is a great player and an even better person. It felt good to have two players representing Creighton on the court at the same time.
Q: Are you still involved with the Creighton basketball program in any way? How often do you talk with Coach Altman or any of the other coaches?
A: I still go back to Omaha and play pick up and workout with the current players. I’ve tried to work with Kenny [Lawson Jr.] every summer, and this summer I plan on working with Greg [Echenique] quite a bit. I keep in contact with all of the coaches. I talk to Altman the most, but I still keep in touch with all the coaches that ever coached me at CU including [Kevin] McKenna and [Greg] Grensing.