Morrison checks in

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – “This is Adam Morrison, the newest member of your Charlotte Bobcats,” said Adam Morrison, the newest member of your Charlotte Bobcats.

Morrison reads the message, which he is asked to record for season-ticket holders, into a telephone at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. When he gets to “integral,” he stumbles.

“Sorry,” he said. And he is. He really is.

Morrison tries again, gets to “integral” again and stumbles again. He drops his head, his long dark hair falling almost to the surface of the desk at which he sits. He’s embarrassed.

“Integral,” he said. “How come I can’t say that? How come I can’t say that?”

These are Morrison’s first stumbles Wednesday, and they are his last.

It’s not that Morrison, the 6-foot-8 forward whom the Bobcats selected with the third pick in Wednesday’s NBA draft, is slick or smooth or cool. It’s that he doesn’t try to be slick or smooth or cool.

Spend 2 1/2 hours with him Thursday and at no time does he do the NBA shuffle, also known as, I’m a basketball star and you’re not.

Ask his dad, John, and his mom, Wanda, about him, about how’d they describe him to folks that don’t know him, and they talk about his passion for basketball, and about how if his team needs a stop in the last two minutes, you’ll see defense, and about the work he does for diabetics, especially children that are diagnosed with the disease. Morrison has Type I diabetes, which was diagnosed when he was in eighth grade.

But is he a nice guy?

“Oh, thanks for asking,” said Wanda. “He is such a nice guy.”

Morrison, who in 19 days turns 22, is a quiet guy who loves to play basketball, a laid-back guy who loves to win, a fisherman who is remarkably intense. A good day is a day he spends two to three hours a day in the gym.

His lone concession to his new lifestyle is a Range Rover he bought after signing with an agent.

“The old cliche that everybody does these days,” he said about the car.

It’s black on black with 22-inch rims, and in its CD player are Lynyrd Skynyrd and Dr. Dre.

Morrison is believed to be the only Bobcats pick that has Skynyrd and Dre in his CD player.

“I like classic rock, Zeppelin, Floyd, and old-school rap, hip-hop,” said Morrison.

Morrison attends a party at the New York club 40/40 after the draft, goes to sleep at 2:30 a.m., and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. He lands in Charlotte at 9:15, checks into the Westin Hotel, grabs an hour of sleep and eats an omelet.

He meets Bobcats owner Bob Johnson and the Bobcats staff late in the morning, and when he walks into the room, Metallica plays. Morrison loves Metallica, loves to work out to their music.

Morrison meets the press, poses for pictures and signs autographs for fans, including a kid wearing a long-haired wig. Hope it is a wig, anyway.

With him is his new jersey, No. 35, which he wore at Mead High. He wore No. 3 the past three seasons at Gonzaga, but Gerald Wallace wears it for the Bobcats. Only a number, Morrison said.

On his third try, he says integral.

He does a radio interview with Bobcats announcer Steve Martin. Asked to say something during the microphone check, Morrison quietly says, “Hello.”

He does a TV interview with Bobcats TV play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin, drives to sports talk radio station WFNZ to appear on the “Primetime with the Packman,” drives to the Wachovia Atrium to sign autographs. The line is long and Morrison is tired, and he signs every piece of paper and throws in a smile or a handshake.

What he’s asked to do, he does with grace, and in a blue pin-striped suit and silk tie.

You always dress like that?

“Not even close,” Morrison said with feeling. “Not even close.”

If fans in his new town thought he always dresses this way, he would be mortified.

“T-shirts and jeans, T-shirts and shorts,” he said.

He was thrilled to be asked to endorse EA Sports NBA Live video game. When he plays it he is always (Dirk) “Nowitzki,” said Morrison. “He’s unstoppable. He’s also my favorite player.”

Another favorite is Duke and, now, Orlando Magic guard, J.J. Redick, Morrison’s cross-country rival this season for player of the year and scoring honors. Their friendship “is not media B.S.,” said Morrison. It’s real.

Morrison has two older sisters, and one, Brandie, will move with him to Charlotte.

“So the laundry’s done and I’m coming home on time,” he said with a laugh. Could not tell if Brandie laughed.

The Bobcats work hard to get Morrison and his family back to Spokane on Thursday, but there are no direct flights.

You don’t want to catch a lot of connecting flights, somebody suggests.

“Dude, I don’t care, as long as I get home,” he said.

He has been on the road, auditioning and training, most of the past six weeks.

Morrison finally leaves Charlotte for Los Angeles at 5:45 p.m. After that, he’ll fly to Seattle or Portland or even Las Vegas, and then to Spokane, where his bed, his friends and Skynyrd and Dre await.

By now all the autographs have been signed, all the pictures taken and all the questions answered.

Anything left to say?

“Thanks, Charlotte, for picking me,” said Morrison. “I’m really excited. I really am.”