Q&A with former UNC men's basketball player James Worthy

As a former member of the North Carolina men's basketball team and the Los Angeles Lakers, James Worthy is considered to be one of the best basketball players of all-time.

During his three-year UNC career, Worthy helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1982 national championship, where he was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player. He was also named the National Player of the Year that year.

After the 1982 season, he was drafted by Los Angeles with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft. He played 12 seasons in the NBA — all with the Lakers — in which he was a seven-time NBA All-Star, a member of three NBA title teams and the MVP of the 1988 NBA Finals.

Worthy's stellar playing career led to him being inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2003 and being named a member of the 2016 ACC Legends class.

Prior to Friday's ACC Tournament semifinals, Worthy spoke with reporters about his current role as an assistant coach for the Lakers, his playing career and his memories of Coach Dean Smith among other topics.

Q: How does it feel transitioning from working TV to coaching now?

JAMES WORTHY: It’s fairly easy for me. I’ve always worked out with the guys a lot in the offseason, so I enjoy the teaching aspect of it. I’m not like full-time. I don’t travel with the team. I usually go to all of their practices. But it’s a little bit different trying to be the coach and learning how to deal with personalities — a lot of young kids come out of college. But it’s been rewarding.

Q: When you win championships either in the ACC Tournament or a national championship, does the sense of accomplishment grow over the course of time?

JW: It does. I think when you win it — whether if it’s your first one or your second one — over time it’s like a fine wine. Over time they get more important and it means a lot more. So winning a championship, you never want to settle for anything less after that.

Q: How much has the ACC Tournament changed from the way it was in the 1980s to the way it is right now? What do you notice about how this event has grown?

JW: I feel like I’m in the Big East conference all of a sudden in a lot ways. To me, it’s always the same. The ACC Tournament, March Madness, I don’t really know what the rules are — if they’ve changed or anything like that. But it’s always the same and intense. Ever since I was watching it back in ’73, ’72 when I was a kid, they’ve always been this memorable and intense.

Q: What UNC memory do you hold dearest after all of these years?

JW: Probably meeting Coach (Dean) Smith for the first time in eight grade, getting a scholarship there and then winning his first (national title). They all kind of go together.

Q: You won two ACC Tournaments. Does the second one stick out for you a little bit more because you won the national championship a few weeks later?

JW: I think it does. I think the fact we had lost to Indiana the year before and we were on a mission to try to get Coach Smith’s first one. So I think winning that one in Greensboro kind of guaranteed we were going to be playing in Charlotte and Raleigh. So that was a good start.

Q: What was it like in 1983 winning the national championship and then getting drafted by the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers?

JW: It was great. Usually the No. 1 pick goes to the worst team. I got a chance to go to the Lakers, because I think in ’77 or ’78 they made a trade to Cleveland for Cleveland’s No. 1 draft pick and then Cleveland fell straight to the bottom and we were able to get the pick. So I went to a team that really didn’t need me. I didn’t have to start, I didn’t have to go through all of the things a No. 1 pick usually goes through. So it was a blessing in disguise really. I was there with Mitch Kupchak — he’s a Carolina guy. It was great. I just wish we could have won my rookie year.

Q: Did it help your development?

JW: I didn’t get thrown into the fire like a lot of first-round draft picks do. I was able to sit behind Jamaal Wilkes, Bob McAdoo — they both were Hall of Famers — and Michael Cooper. So I was able to come in a little easier than most guys in my situation.

Q: Any fond memories from playing with Michael Jordan his freshman year?

JW: I remember Michael’s recruiting weekend. He came in on a Friday in the dorm, and I heard him before I saw him. He was just like, ‘Where’s James Worthy at?’ He always thought I was the best. He kind of bullied me a little bit, because he always wanted to play one-on-one. Whoever the best was at anything — backgammon, cards, it didn’t matter — he wanted them. I was better than Michael for probably a month and a half, but he was just an amazing, confident guy.

Q: What lasting impact did Dean Smith have on you?

JW: Dean showed me how to be a humanitarian. For the most part, I found out he was more of a civil rights activist than he was a coach. I was a very young kid, 8 years old, when I heard all of this commotion in my house about Charlie Scott being the first to come. So I knew Coach Smith stood for more than just basketball. I just loved the way he enrolled people. He was a people guy. It didn’t matter if you were Michael Jordan or Michael Johnson. He just enhanced kind of what your parents started for you. He made three promises. When you come to Carolina, you’re going to go to class; if you stay four years, you’ll graduate; and if you stay four years, I’ll take you on some trip somewhere. That was it. He fulfilled them.

Q: What are your memories of Roy Williams?

JW: Roy was the JV coach when I played there. He and Wanda lived in a little, one-bedroom apartment off campus where he drove his ol' beat up ’73 Ford Mustang he had since college. I actually thought Eddie Fogler would be next in line, and then after Roy came back from Kansas, he was kind of like a clone of Coach Smith. That’s why he’s been able to succeed.

Q: What do you think about this year’s UNC team?

JW: I like this team. I think they were ranked No. 1 at the beginning of the season. They’ve had some ups and downs the last month. … I still don’t think they’re individually as good as they could be, as a team they look pretty good. Joel Berry has moved Marcus Paige over to the 2 guard, which is a good move. I think we play big. … I like our chances.

Q: What’s your reaction to the academic fraud scandals that went on at North Carolina?

JW: From my understanding, it was just one class. … It’s very unfortunate. Coach Smith would have never stood for anything like that, and I don’t think Roy would either. It sucks that happened, that a professor made that class available. That’s not what I remember when I was there, definitely not what Coach Smith started, nor did Roy. ... Every university has easy courses, but nothing like that. You actually have to do the work. It might be an easy class, but you actually have to do the work. That one, that was not Carolina to me.

Q: As you get older, how much more do you appreciate the Carolina family and how everybody stays in touch with one another?

JW: It’s what Coach Smith started. That’s how he enrolled people. I think his No. 1 criteria to recruiting people is get over yourself. If you get over yourself, you make a good teammate. He stretched it, and he taught it to us on a daily basis. I remember going to basketball camp there and meeting Phil Ford and Walter Davis, and that was in the eighth or ninth grade. It’s quite a fraternity he started.

Q: What’s been the past year been like without Coach Smith?

JW: It’s very unfortunate he started to loose his memory quite a few years ago, and the thing I think we all looked forward to were his memories. He had a memory like a computer. So that was the sad thing. His death was what it was, but just not being able to talk to him and reminisce — that hurts a little bit.

Q: Can you tell the story of the first time you met Dean?

JW: I met Dean in basketball camp in the eighth grade. He didn’t really spend a lot of time with me, but when he started to recruit me, I just remember being at a high school game in a packed house and all of a sudden Coach Smith walks in and I get nervous. He was just an awesome guy. He really believed in people. 

I remember meeting him, he came in my house and talked to my mom and dad for about 30 minutes, and that’s during a time when you’re being heavily recruited. Your heads a little big. You’ve got UCLA one day, Kentucky the next day. You’ve got all of these schools coming at you, and they’re all making promises. And Coach Smith comes in, and I’m sitting there waiting for all of these promises, like I’m going to start. He talked to my mom for about 20 minutes, talked to my dad and then he looks at me and says, ‘I promise you three things. I promise you you’re going to go to class, I promise you if you stay four years you’re going to graduate and I promise you I’ll take you out of the country if you stay four years.’ And you had to go to church you’re freshman year. Once my mom heard that, that was it.

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