Travis Reed Q&A: Love for the Lakers, Childhood Collection of Jordan Cards, Mancave Dreams
Los Angeles, California born and raised, Travis Reed was a blue chip prospect in high school and eventually made his way to his dream school of UCLA where, from 1997 to 1999, he teamed up with Baron Davis, Earl Watson and other Bruins stars leading the team deep into the NCAA tournament.
Reed played 10 seasons of professional basketball in numerous leagues all around the world. He starred in professional leagues in Columbia Poland, France, Belgium Holland, Estonia, Germany, Australia and more.
The skilled big man was the league MVP in Holland in 2004. He also won the league MVP and finals MVP in Estonia and was also the Baltic League MVP in 2006.
Reed currently hosts a podcast called Travis Reed: A Basketball Life, which is available on iHeartRadio Spotify, Podbean and other platforms. He also launched a program on YouTube called An Athlete's Journey, which showcases stories of various athletes from around the world in various sports.
In this exclusive interview, Reed talks about his admiration for Lakers greats Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, collecting basketball cards as a kid and dreams for a huge man cave.
Tony Reid-You were a standout on the hardwood from a very early age. Who were you drawn to for inspiration as a kid?
Travis Reed-Being from L.A., being born and raised in L.A, there was nothing bigger than Magic Johnson. That was during the Showtime Era. There was nothing bigger than the Lakers. No team was bigger than the Lakers and no team was bigger than the Raiders. The Lakers ran this town. They ran L.A. Magic was the king of L.A. I can name all of the players from those Lakers teams. Magic is who everyone wanted to be like.
TR-Being a star and being local, did you have interactions with the Lakers?
TR-I used to go to Magic Johnson camp all the time. I went to A.C. Green’s camp a few times. I played at UCLA in their camps. I grew up watching everybody that played at UCLA and I grew up watching everybody that played for the Lakers. UCLA was my dream school growing up. I always wanted to go there. The Lakers were my dream team.
TR-Do you remember the first time you were asked for your autograph?
TR-It was probably in 8th grade. Back then I played AAU Basketball. I played with Jason and Jarron Collins. They both played in the NBA for ten plus years. We would go to the Nationals. A lot of kids wanted our autographs.
TR-You played basketball professionally for ten years. You played all around the world from Columbia, Poland, France, Belgium, Holland, Estonia, Germany, Australia and I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. Are there certain fan bases that you enjoyed playing in front of more than others?
TR-Out of those countries there are two fan bases that stood out. The one in Groningen, in Holland and the one in Estonia. The one in Holland I played for a team that had a lot of clout and a lot of money. They hired one of the greatest coaches in the country’s history. He is their Phil Jackson. He won like 18 or 19 championships. I was on his last championship team. The first year that we came together I was a young and up and coming player. The fan base was incredible. Every home game was sold out. Every game was like Game 7 of The Finals or something. I had never been a part of anything like it. When we won the championship we had a parade. 30,000 people showed up for the parade. The Mayor of the city came and gave us a key to the city. The fan base was crazy. People started naming their kids after me.
In Estonia the fans are crazy, too. They would sing and dance and they would have a blast. They would know where you were at in the club and buys you drinks. It was insane.
TR-You played on some great teams at UCLA with Baron Davis and crew. What was it like when you guys were on and playing at Pauley Pavilion? Can you put into words what that experience was like?
TR-No I can’t. Pauley Pavilion and UCLA is one of the most storied schools in the history of college basketball. They have the greatest player in the history of college basketball and, in my opinion, the greatest player in the history of basketball period in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. People don’t give him his just due. When we were there we had a lot of talent. It was always rocking and rolling when we were playing. There were 15,000-16,000 people there. The gym is beautiful. It’s like heaven running out of the tunnel. You hear the fans screaming and the fight song. That meant everything to me. It was my dream school since I was a kid. It was my father’s dream school, too. It meant a ton to me going there.
TR-You were the MVP in Holland in 2004 and the MVP in Estonia in 2006. You were the Baltic League MVP. Do you have an office, a room or mancave where you have trophies and memorabilia displayed?
TR-No. I have a box. It’s too much stuff to display where I live. I only have a few things. I lost some things. I lost some trophies. One day when I get a bigger house I am going to frame up all of my jerseys. Once I get a huge house it’s going to be decorated. It’s going to be a mancave.
TR-Being very successful in your career around the globe, what was the most interesting piece of memorabilia that was created of you during your playing days?
TR-In Estonia, they sold my jerseys in their Foot Locker. Nike made a shirt of me in Estonia. It’s a shirt by Nike that has the Nike logo on it. It has a picture of me dunking. It says ‘No One Can Stop Reed’ on it. That’s the craziest item that was made if me.
TR-You collected sports cards as a kid. What are the most memorable card from your collection?
TR- I had the 1987 Michael Jordan card. I had John Taylor cards. My friend had Jerry Rice cards and I tried to trade him for it but he wouldn’t do it. I had Roger Craig cards. I had Bo Jackson cards. That’s when he was still playing. It was big but it wasn’t as big as it is now. I had basketball and football cards but not too many baseball cards.
TR-If you could go back somewhere in the world and swap jerseys with former opponents, who would you want to trade jerseys with?
TR-There is one person I can think of in Europe and it would be Marc Gasol. I played against him right before he went to the NBA. He was drafted that year and he finished his last year in Spain. I played against him that year. He would be one. I would want to have swapped jerseys with Keith ‘Tractor’ Traylor. I played against him my freshman year at UCLA. We beat them to go to the Sweet 16. Another guy would be Elton Brand. I have been playing against Elton Brand since we were kids. That last one would be Ricky Rubio. I played against him, too. I would have loved to trade jerseys with him. I knew he was going to go pro but I didn’t know that he would have a fifteen year career in the league.
Tony Reid spent more than a decade covering combat sports at the highest level. He has written hundreds of articles and conducted hundreds of interviews about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett, Sports Collectors Digest, and Sports Collectors Daily. Reid worked full time at a sports card shop in Central Pennsylvania for a number of years. A lifelong collector, Tony treasures his rookie card collection of star players in baseball, basketball, and football. If you want to discuss the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr., you can reach him at @tonyreidwrites on all social media platforms