TJ Ford talks Texas, Final Four, Carmelo Anthony, giant shorts and more

You may know TJ Ford mostly for the giant shorts he was forced to wear during his rookie photo shoot with the Milwaukee Bucks back in 2003. But he had a respectable eight-year NBA career as a prototypical floor general, and all that came after a star-making turn in two seasons at the University of Texas.

Ford led the nation in assists as a freshman and helped lead Texas to the Sweet Sixteen. He followed that up with a trip to the Final Four, before bowing out to freshman phenom Carmelo Anthony the eventual champion, Syracuse Orangemen. As March Madness takes off, Ford is starring in a new AT&T ad with Melo, and he spoke with FanSided about that and some of his best basketball memories.

Check out TJ Ford in the AT&T March Madness spot “Boxy Boys”, also starring Carmelo Anthony and Kendrick Perkins.

FanSided: Can you talk about how it feels to be involved in this campaign spot with AT&T and kind of be back in the middle of March Madness after so many years?

Ford: It was a great collaboration with AT&T, you know March is the best basketball month of the season. And then be able to be connected back with the brotherhood of Carmelo Anthony and Kendrick Perkins, just establish those old conversations, talk and have a bunch of fun and hope that this campaign will give a lot of people in our area a lot of joy, a lot of fun, a lot of laughter.

I know you only had two years at Texas but you had some serious March Madness moments — Sweet 16, Final Four. What do you remember most about those two tournament runs? And which of those two Texas teams do you think was better?

Well, obviously I came into college as a freshman. I didn't have a clue. Obviously. I was able to do some amazing things as a freshman, lead the country in assists, I was the first freshman to do that. And being able to make it to the NCAA Tournament and get to the Sweet 16 before we lost to Oregon with a tough team. A tough Luke Jackson.

And then we're playing in Madison, Wisconsin — freezing, freezing there. I mean, I've never been that cold day in my life. But that just enabled me to just have this different hunger, these different expectations from myself. I just felt like it motivated me to take my my work ethic to the next level, my commitment to the next level.

And nothing is like making it to the Final Four. That's the best thing, and the best experience I think. Just knowing coming into the season, to know what you're working for, engage and focus on. You know, to be able to do things that most people didn't expect, right Texas basketball. I was able to help put it on the map, on prime-time TV every week. And we created this basketball fan base that still is in existence today.

I know that your Final Four run ended at the hands of Carmelo in Syracuse. Full disclosure, I was a sophomore in college that year and went to school in upstate New York about an hour from Syracuse. So, I remember that Syracuse run really well. I was a big Melo fan back then. Do you have any memories specifically? About that match-up in that last year?

I'm in my office, right? I can turn my camera, I got my Texas jersey right here. Man, he just had an incredible performance that should be talked about even more. It took me 10 years to rewatch that game and to see how efficient he was. I mean 33 points is a lot of points, I think that was the most points somebody put on us.

So we look at Carmelo Anthony and the impact that he's had in college basketball that he's had on the NCAA Tournament, it's one of the greatest performances of the tournament of all time. Freshmen. The guy leading his team to a national championship, almost didn't get into the tournament and actually ran through everybody.

To watch what he was able to do with his career, it was amazing. To be in the same draft class as him was an honor. He's forever integrated into the game of basketball and tissue of basketball and he will be a Hall-of-Famer. So, to be able to relive those moments together for being able to do it on camera for AT&T, I think it's gonna be something that people will not expect. But for us to get a good laugh out of it and be able to connect, I think it will definitely bring people back to YouTube and watching that Syracuse versus Texas game.

So you played both with and against a lot of future NBA players when you were in college. Too many to count but you had Melo, you had Royal Ivey on your team. That Oregon team had had Fred Jones and Luke Ridnour. You played a UConn team with Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor at one point. When you were with Texas, how easy was it to tell who was around you that had an NBA future? Were there people that you played against or played with who you were surprised were successful in the NBA? Or anyone that you thought like, 'oh, that guy is going to be a star at the next level,' and it didn't work out for whatever reason?

Man, I'm always gonna go with the best surprise to me and he's the one guy that nobody expected would be an NBA basketball player, play 10-plus years, and now he's an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets — I look at my best friend Royal Ivey. He is somebody nobody envisioned would be an NBA basketball player and him being able to get drafted in the second round, I think that was the biggest accomplishment.

Well, go back to that era, you know, the D-League basketball program that for those years, allowed him to change his life. Obviously, I had the status, but the glue guy that worked his butt off and nobody thought that he would even be a Division ! basketball player. To be able to play in the NBA and now be in the NBA as a coach. It's one of the most amazing things and I'm lucky to have him as a friend.

What he's doing with South Sudan is incredible. I was just reading an article this morning about him coaching them. It's fantastic. A really, really cool story.

Yeah, very cool story. I mean, he had to go against Carmelo Anthony. He ate a lot of those points. I was watching those clips though. I didn't realize he scored so many points on myself. He had at least 15-20 points on me.

So I want to squeeze this one in before I run out of time. This one's personal to me. I grew up in central New York. But weirdly, I grew up as a Pacers fan. And so I loved the time that you spent with Indiana. I was a big fan of yours when you were with the team. It was a weird era, you know, sort of the end of the Reggie Miller era and the beginning of you know, whatever came next. There were so many interesting players on those teams.

One of my most visceral memories from that era, I think it was your last season with the Pacers, was that game against the Nuggets where you guys went 20-of-21 in the third quarter, scored 54 points and made every shot except for Josh McRoberts. He took a 26-footer at the buzzer and missed it. It was it was the only shot you guys missed all quarter.

I was wondering if you remember that game. I double-checked the stats and you were on the court for part of that quarter. You had a couple of assists — hit Tyler Hansbrough for a layup, and Mike Dunleavy for a mid-range jumper.

Yeah, I recall having one of those games like that. Wames like that. And the Pacers, man, that was one of the most challenging times in my career. To kind of slide from this you know, elite basketball player, star player, to being able to transition basically a role player and then sometimes not playing at all. But, you know, that was a unique experience. You know, it was fun. I had a lot of good teammates.

That was a good time. It was kind of a unique style of basketball, as the franchise was transitioning. One public opinion, and trying to change that perspective. At the same time, we will did a good job of showing up to work every day, and doing all the right things. And then we look at the Pacers franchise is doing amazing and you feel like you are still a part of not the success but that natural transition.

So this is the last one and I'm sorry but I feel like I have to ask. For a lot of NBA fans younger than me, you're known as the guy with the giant shorts — the rookie Bucks photo. I know you've told the story about how that came about, that photo shoot. But now, do you appreciate having that as a part of your legacy? Or is it something that you look at and wish nobody could see that photo?

I think I need to hang that photo in my gym. That photo was so legendary that every time he gets around draft time in the summer, that picture is going to resurface and it's the new generation of kids that's coming into the league for the first time seeing it, witnessing it and also having some type of context of what it's about.

It's definitely refreshing right, refreshing for them to be able to get the laughter. It creates this tradition and the conversation and, you know, it gave me a second life in basketball. So it's just fun to see it on social media. It's fun to see people talk about it and around draft time, I'm excited to see the photo.

This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.