Nick Young is a character. He’s without a doubt one of the most unique, fun-loving personalities on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster if not in the entire NBA. The veteran guard is all about enjoying his time in the league while supporting his trademark smile both on and off the court.
— Get 15% off everything in the Lakers Nation Store right now by using the promo code ‘Lakers’ —
Recently, Young showed his willingness to have a good time off the court in an episode of ‘Here’s The Rub’ with Nikolai Popov aka comedian Andrew Santino. Here are a couple hilarious clips of Santino interviewing Young at a Russian spa in which the two got a massage, went through a Russian leaf treatment and soaked in the jacuzzi while sharing a couple of beers.
These clips are only a glimpse of the pure comedy that took place in Popov’s interview with Young. Check out the entire episode with Popov and Young in its entirety: Here’s The Rub
We got a chance to talk to Santino this week about his experience with Young.
“Nick is the best,” Santino said of the Lakers guard. “Nick is exactly who you think he is. He’s a fun-loving, relaxed chill dude who is kind of down to goof around and not take himself so serious. I dig him, dude.
“He is a real cool dude, and a real fun guy to sit down with to get a real piece of who he is, which is nice. A lot of athletes try to have one persona and are totally different, but he is who he is, that’s what I like about him.”
We also asked Santino a few other Lakers-related questions like whether he thinks Kobe Bryant would be open to doing an interview with Popov.
“I doubt it,” Santino said. “We would absolutely love to have Kobe on, and you know, anybody of that stature, but I doubt they would want to do something like this. Kobe is retired now. He wants to take his time and focus on whatever he wants to focus on. S***, we would love it. I love Kobe. I think he’s arguably one of the best, if not the best basketball player other than Michael Jordan, of all time.”
And finally, which Lakers player, past or present, would he like to interview.
“Magic [Johnson] would probably be my first pick of all time,” Santino told LakersNation.com. “If I could pick somebody from the history of the Lakers, I would actually say Magic. I mean, what a dynamic character, what a dynamic person, and probably one of the most spectacular players to see when I was growing up. He was one of those guys. There’s only so many in your life that you see that are just unbelievably good. I remember watching him as a kid and loving him. He was so much fun to watch.”
As for current, it’s no surprise Santino went with the man formerly known as Ron Artest.
“I think if there were someone I’d pick now other than Swaggy because he was fantastic, I would probably go to Metta [World Peace] just because Metta is so interesting, goofy, and weird and we love him. Who doesn’t love Metta, man? He’s the best!”
After watching this hilarious episode with Young, who wouldn’t want to see World Peace getting interviewed by Popov? Hopefully, if Metta gets wind of this, he’ll be the next up for beers in the jacuzzi or whatever crazy situation the Here’s The Rub crew comes up with for an interview.