For Singleton, casual workouts will do until NBA lockout ends

Chris Singleton was selected by the Wizards with the 18th overall pick in this spring’s NBA draft. In the second of a series, Singleton shares with The Washington Times’ Carla Peay his thoughts on an NBA dream put on hold and his plans for the lockout.

I’m hanging out in D.C. right now, getting in some workouts. Dray [Andray Blatche] gave me a call and I came to town so we can all work out together. So far, it’s going good.

We work out in the morning, and in the evenings, we play pick-up ball with some of the local guys. We’re playing in Columbia. Just the players; we’re not really trying to draw a crowd. We have work to do.

I am really impressed so far with the attitude I see from Dray. He said that last year, some of the guys on the Wizards acted like a bunch of kids, but now it’s time for everyone to grow up. I was glad to hear him say that.

I think Dray knows he got some of that criticism in the past, but he’s talking like he’s really ready for all that to change. I think he’s trying to prove that he’s ready to take on more of a leadership role by organizing these workouts. He’s the one who put all this together.

H’Town [Hamady Ndiaye] is here, and Trevor Booker is supposed to come, and John Wall is supposed to come too, when he’ not playing in Vegas. He’s traveling a lot, a lot of the guys are. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with everybody’s schedule.

I also want to see some of these Vegas games. I’ll head out there, if my schedule works out.

I know Booker is going overseas, and I see a few more guys are going overseas, too. I’m not planning to do that, but I think that everybody is in a different situation. I completely understand that for some guys, it’s a great idea, and it’s the right thing for them to do for their family.

I’m in town until Thursday, then I go back to Florida State. Luckily, I can take some of my classes online, so I’m not missing school.

It’s been good to be back at FSU. I like the environment. I’m taking three classes and an internship, and working on my clothing line, Doupghe Clothing. We’re looking for a few investors. My internship is going to help me with the business aspect of things.

I sometimes think about what it would be like right now if there wasn’t a lockout going on. I know one thing - the workouts would be brutal right now. We’d be practicing probably three or four hours a day getting ready for the NBA season. I’d be learning the Wizards playbook, and getting ready to take on some NBA guys.

Our workouts are a little different, because we have no interaction with the coaches, but I still feel like I’m learning a lot. Dray is teaching me a few things, so hopefully when the season starts, we’ll be ready to go.

Right now, I’m trying not to feel like I’m just in limbo, but until this lockout is settled, we really are all in limbo. Sometimes, I’m just really looking forward to the season, and other times, I’m just not sure what’s going to happen. But when this is finally over, I can’t wait to pack up and head to D.C. for good.

I’m keeping up with what’s going on, but all we can really do is hope for the best with the labor talks. The two sides need to get this worked out.

I’m glad football season is back. I think that if they could work their issues out, we can do the same. I know the issues are different, with the NFL it was mostly about dividing up the money, and things are different with our league, but I still hope we can follow their lead and get it done.

I have four teams I follow. I like the Falcons, Ravens, Colts and Eagles, and my Seminoles. We have a big game this weekend [Saturday] when Oklahoma comes to town. A shout out to my man [FSU cornerback] Greg Reid - I’m not missing that game.