Nick Young Exclusive Interview: His Standup Comedy and Rap Careers, Rookie Hazing, and Chicken and Waffles

Before writing my Wizards preview, I spoke with DCLS favorite Nick "Young Sushi" Young, 48 hours before the opening tipoff, about several topics, including the upcoming season, his entourage, DC late night food, and rookie hazing. Part 1 is posted here, about Nick's prediction for the team, and thoughts about his role in the rotation. This portion covers all the fun stuff.....

DCLS: So Young Sushi won our nickname contest, what do you think?
Nick Young: I've been saying Young Sushi all summer, so I'm not too surprised. It's a kitchy little name............everyone likes sushi.

DCLS: Please tell me you asked Gil about you wanting your nickname to be Agent-Double-0.
NY: Aw, naw, I haven't had a chance to talk about it. Did you put it out there yet? Yeah I forgot, I got to tell him that.

DCLS: Just don't get your clothes cut up or whatever, but do tell us what he says about the nickname. Staying on the subject of Gil, I think his lack of media interaction is opening the door for you to the be the biggest personality on the Wizards.
NY: Yeah, you know, he always funny. Gil been Gil, he hasn't been talking since ya know.

DCLS: Not even any good locker room pranks?
NY: I dunno, I don't wanna give out his secret. I dunno what he got up his sleeve..........I dunno, I don’t want Gil mad at me right now. He always saying he’s not gonna pass me the ball, so I want him on my side.

DCLS: Don't let him lull you into a sense of security. So we saw how you got hypnotized this summer at training camp and galloped around the stage and did a James Brown impersonation.
NY: It was crazy, I dunno, I was going along with it because I didn’t want him to feel bad onstage, but I think it worked a little bit........

DCLS: And you did a standup routine that went so-so….
NY: We had the rookies sing their school song and stuff, and I never got a chance to do all that. They didn’t take us like that to go somewhere and make us sing happy birthday or something.

DCLS: What about picking up the check for the vets?
NY: Oh I had to do that, I had to do that. But I never had a chance to sing and do all that, so I did the standup instead of singing this year. They gave me a choice (between singing and standup). It was little jokes here and there. Everybody was laughing, but I was kinda nervous, there was more than just our team in there, there were a lot of people in there and I knew they’d try to boo me real quick just to be funny.

DCLS: So you're nervous doing the standup but have no problem playing basketball in front of 20,000 people live and 1,000s more watching on tv?
NY: No problem, no problem. I got other people out there messing up too (in basketball).

DCLS: Any jokes you can tell us from the standup?
NY: All of it was in-person, I gotta re-act it out. I had ‘em going, I killed it, I killed it. You know I think that might be my next, my calling, standup.

DCLS: So tell us a bit about your entourage.
NY: I have a decent entourage. In DC, I have 2 or 3 people including my brother John and Adrian “Fat Boy”, people may know him as “Fat Daddy”. But I can’ t have them living with me here. In LA, I have everyone I grew up with really, you know it’s cool, it’s like a circus act when I come out man. I got my circus crew with me.

DCLS: I probably met that crew when we initially met at a late night food place in LA; have you ever been DC ‘s Ben’s Chili Bowl?
NY: That’s a big thing out here in DC, it’s like our Roscoe’s in LA, that’s your Ben’s Chili Bowl. I haven’t been yet, but I wanna go, where’s it at?

DCLS: It’s near Adams Morgan and Dupont, and nowhere near where you live in Upper Marlboro.
NY: How far is it from the arena?

DCLS: Like 3 metro stops..
NY: What time it close? I’ll go tonight!

DCLS: I’m gonna guess you’ve never heard of the like 1 chicken and waffle place around here, called Marvin, it’s right near Ben’s Chili Bowl.
NY: Marvin? Aw man, yeah you gotta text me the address or something. Let’s go there. I think I need a chef or something. I was barbecuing today, but I miss having Dom(inic McGuire) as my chef cooking for me and all that.

DCLS: Anything else you wanna say to the world?
NY: Look out for my CD coming out, I gotta CD coming out, I’m about to be a rapper......

DCLS: Wait, seriously? You have a CD coming out? Are you going Artest on us?
NY: Yeah look out for my mixtape, Javale’s gonna be my producer, he adds a fire, haha................................................................................naw I’m just playing!

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)