Kyrgios Has A Blast Visiting NBA TV Studio

Nick Kyrgios is having so much fun in Atlanta he might want to make the BB&T Atlanta Open an annual stop on his ATP World Tour calendar.

On Tuesday, the Aussie star visited the NBA TV studio for a segment on the network’s flagship program “GameTime” with hosts Vince Cellini and former NBA player Steve Smith.

The trio talked about the BB&T Atlanta Open, where Kyrgios will make his singles debut later this week. “This is a massive tournament for me,” he said.

The No. 18 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings also discussed his love of the Celtics, his own basketball talent and if he could score a basket on Smith, who played in the NBA for 14 years and won an NBA title.

But all of that came after Kyrgios pulled his eyes away from the glossy NBA team logos on the studio walls. “This is unbelievable right now. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said as he walked into the studio.

“Where my boys at?” he said. Then he spotted the logo of his favourite team, the Boston Celtics, and snapped a photo of it with his phone.

Kyrgios became a Celtics fan as a kid because he played an NBA video game and he thought the Celtics logo – a leprechaun balancing a basketball – looked cool. The 21 year old played basketball seriously until he was 14 but still plays the sport when he can, including in between tennis matches.

On Sunday evening, he played at Georgia Tech in Atlanta with fellow ATP World Tour players Taylor Fritz, Christopher Eubanks and Reilly Opelka. Kyrgios and Eubanks made a repeat visit to McCamish Pavilion on Tuesday for some more hoops.

“I’m enjoying my time in Atlanta. There’s obviously plenty of basketball hoops around where I’m getting some shots up,” Kyrgios told the NBA TV crew.

Watch the NBA TV segment

“This guy’s a hoopster.” Cellini said.

The three of them also watched footage of the two-on-two games at Georgia Tech.

“You’re not getting a lot of resistance,” Cellini said of one play when Kyrgios shot a three-pointer against the 6’11” Opelka.

Smith offered a kinder critique. “Now you’re on the block, nice pump fake. Oh, OK, OK,” he said.

Kyrgios said he’s an all-around basketball player. “I like to shoot the three but I love defense as well,” he said.

Cellini closed the six-minute taping by scheduling an intriguing return visit. He said Smith and Kyrgios would face each other in basketball and then on the tennis court.

“You won’t score in basketball but I might score in tennis,” Smith said.

Kyrgios eventually disagreed. “I feel like I’ll score,” he said.

“No, you won’t score,” Smith said. “Not in my sport. Not so much.”