Luol Deng holds a key to the Bulls' season. If the talented forward can stay healthy throughout the season and produce, the team may very well make the playoffs -- and some noise. But if the 24 year-old can't stay on the court, the Bulls will once again have to figure out a way to go on without him. It's been a recurring theme over the past two seasons, and one that the Duke alum hopes will finally come to an end.

I caught up with Deng just before the regular-season opener last week. We touched on a number of different topics, including his famous high school teammates, his favorite soccer player, his dreams of playing in the Olympics and why we don't see more crazy celebrations in basketball .

What's it like having your face on the team's schedule? [Deng is one of several players featured on the team's pocket schedule.]

Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images

Luol Deng is averaging 15.7 points per game for the Bulls so far this season.

Luol Deng: It's not just me. We change them around. It's good; we have a few guys on the team, their faces are in there. (Smiles) Someone else may look at it differently, I appreciate it.

So your friends and family have seen them?

LD: Friends have seen it and all that, but I always tell my friends to not ... if they do anything do it behind my back. Just try to keep everything down-to-earth, everything the same way. It's an honor. It's the team that I play for. All that doesn't mean [anything]. I think you just got to go out -- the way you play is everything.

I read where one of your role models growing up was Manute Bol. Was he your favorite player growing up as well?

LD: No. I just never saw myself playing inside. Manute was a great player, a great man, one of my favorites. But I paid attention more to guards. I enjoyed their game more.

You obviously didn't take after Manute's shot, either.

LD: (Laughs) No, I didn't. No, I didn't.

You were a high school teammate of Charlie Villanueva's [at Blair Academy in New Jersey]. Do you guys ever see each other and go, "Wow, we made it. Look at our contracts, our teams ..."

LD: It was actually me, Charlie and Royal Ivey who's in Philly now. And we always talk about it. And we're just glad that the three of us are doing what we wanted to do as kids, basically. It's always been our dream. We used to talk about it -- and we're living it.

It says a lot about where we come from, our families and also the school that we went to and the coaches that we had. They just did a good job of keeping us focused on what we wanted to do.

Do you guys ever look at each other on the floor and go, "Man, this is cool ..."?

LD: It's unbelievable, honestly. Especially for me, I have friends that are not in the NBA, way beyond. I have friends growing up in Egypt. I have friends in England. And they just can't believe that what I used to say, it used to be almost like a joke. I used to say I'll be in the NBA one day ... When I talk to them [now] they can't believe it.

Switching gears a little, do you still talk to Coach K?

LD: Yes.

When you speak to him does he still give you advice?

LD: Yes. I spoke to him actually [last Wednesday]. He wanted to call before we get it started and he wished me luck and he said he would be watching and he would give me feedback. And also, Coach [Chris] Collins does that. So it's been great.

If you had to pick your dream starting five of Duke players -- who would it be?

LD: I would have, just because I've seen him play, Jason Williams at [point guard]. I would have, because I played with him ... I think I might have to take J.J. [Redick] at [shooting guard]. I'll take Grant Hill at the [small forward]. I'll take Christian Laettner at [power forward]. And I'll take Carlos Boozer at [center].

Would it be cool for you to play against Coach K in the Olympics? [Note: Deng is expected to play for Great Britain at the London 2012 Games]

LD: Yeah, yeah I think it would be great. I try not to think that far ahead, but I think it would be exciting. It would be great.

How about having Ben Gordon as a teammate again with Team GB?

LD: It would be exciting, because I played with Ben for five years, so having him back would be great.

Would it be weird at all considering how things ended here?

LD: Not at all. I think we understand we want to play together, but we also understand that a business part of [the game] comes in. But I think when we're on the floor you forget all that and you play for the joy of the game.

I read that you were on the cover of "NBA Live 09" in Europe. You got hurt last year. Is there any sort of Madden-like curse in the NBA?

LD: (Laughs) Oh wow! I didn't even think about that. [Gilbert] Arenas was on the cover of it, too. Nah, I don't believe in that. I really don't. I think things happen. I don't know how. I think injuries happen. You can prevent a lot of them, but some of them you can't. I really don't believe in that, though.

I was going to say, is there anything you can do to prevent an injury?

LD: Yeah. You can take care of your body, stretch it. Just the little nagging injuries. I think the big injuries, like the [leg] fracture, the ACL, a twisted ankle -- those you cannot prevent -- those just happen. It's just a freakin' accident. But the little nagging injuries, the little pulled hamstrings sometimes. A sprained something, those little ones, I think you can prevent by taking care of your body better.

How tough was it for you to watch that Boston series last season?

LD: It was tough. I didn't even want to think about it, honestly. It was so tough it ruined my whole summer, honestly. I just never wanted to be there again.

Would it be fair to say that experience was the most frustrating experience of your life?

LD: Yeah, I think so. It's hard because you knew you could win. And you just know what you could bring to the team, and you can't do it.

I read where your first love was soccer. Are there any parts of basketball and soccer that are comparable at all?

LD: Yeah, footwork. Especially for big guys, when big guys play soccer in the post. A lot of players, like Kobe [Bryant] played soccer. I really think it helps with your footwork. It helps with your speed, agility, definitely. I think there's a lot of stuff that it helps with.

Why don't you think we see more crazy, soccer-like celebrations on the basketball floor -- especially during timeouts and stuff like that?

LD: I'll tell you why. I know exactly why -- because [celebrating] was one of my favorite things when I played soccer. In basketball, if you celebrate whenever you score points, if you're a good player and you go into a game knowing that you're trying to score a lot and give your team a boost, you're going to be celebrating a lot. If you come off the bench and you get two shots, I understand when you celebrate. That's the difference right there.

And also, if you celebrate just because of two points and the game is so long. See, soccer is different. When you go ahead by one goal, for that team to tie it you still get a point for the tie. You celebrate for that advantage, basically. In basketball you could be up 20 with five minutes and you could still lose the game.

Any thought of doing any celebratory dances and stuff after games this year?

LD: Nah, honestly I try to stay in the same mode. I try to let my highs not be too high and my lows not be too low. And I do that just because I try to control my emotions. You could easily lose focus when you do that.

I read that your favorite soccer player is Ronaldo. How did he let himself go so much after he stopped playing?

LD: I think he had the knee injury. He had an ACL injury ... and he also had epilepsy, I'm not sure what he had, he had something that really troubled him a lot playing. I thought at his best, he was one of the best I've ever seen. If not the best. I always argue that I really thought at his best, with his power and everything, he kind of changed the game at that time.

And he started playing professionally when he was 13, and I always thought that's unbelievable, because I left England when I was 14 to come to high school. I can't see myself being a professional back then at that age.

Aside from yourself, who is the best soccer player on your team right now?

LD: Last year we had Thabo [Sefolosha], we had Noch [Andres Nocioni], the international guys always seem to get it. But I think this year I might go with Kirk [Hinrich]. He showed me a couple footwork [moves], so I'll take Kirk Hinrich.

Not Joakim and Brad?

LD: Not Jo, for sure. (Smiles)

But he's got the hair ...

LD: He's got the hair. He knows the game, everything. But, his footwork is terrible right now.

We'll wrap it up on this one: I read that you are President Obama's favorite player. Is that a pretty cool feeling?

LD: It's really cool, but you know what's even cooler is the reason that I am. It's not even because of basketball. Obviously, because I'm an athlete, but it's more of my work what I try to do [off the court]. And I know that once I'm done playing, I'm going to do more and I really enjoy that part better because what I do off the court is something that's a passion I always wanted to.

I really feel great when I help somebody. And for the president, I think the best president; the U.S. president to recognize that is unbelievable. Not that [the recognition] is what I want. But it just shows you that there are people out there that actually pay attention to the great things that people do.

It doesn't hurt that he's a Bulls fan, either.

LD: No, that definitely puts pressure on you, though. (Laughs)

Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted