Sundance darling Streetballers fulfilled its dream when it premiered in Hollywood recently. The passion project got the attention of major stars when the Lakers’ Josh Powell agreed to host the first night screening at Mann’s Chinese 6 complex. We caught up with Powell on the red carpet to talk about street ball and the upcoming season. 

Crave Online: What’s your connection to Streetballers? 

Josh Powell: I’m presenting sponsor. A lot of these guys are guys that I know. I’m just here to support the idea in the film and everything that’s going on with it. 

Crave Online: Is it important for basketball fans to appreciate how it’s played on the street? 

Josh Powell: Of course but at the same time, basketball as well as other sports is a way for the youth and people to stay out of the streets and stay out of trouble. There’s a lot of things we have to deal with growing up. Being active in sports and things like that is something to help us do things productively in our lives. 

Crave Online: Could you still play street ball? Would the NBA let you? 

Josh Powell: That’s a good question. I think so. I’ve seen a lot of guys on street ball, they’re on mix tapes, DVDs, playing basketball in that type of way so I wouldn’t see why not. 

Crave Online: How do you feel about year two with the Lakers? 

Josh Powell: I feel really good about it. I think that we have a group of guys that are more focused, extremely humble, hungry to get back at it and get another ring. 

Crave Online: It’s your first second year consecutive with a team. What can you do now that you’ve developed a year of foundations with them? 

Josh Powell: After speaking with the coaches, I did a lot of film watching and talking to some of the guys, especially ways I can be productive on both ends of the floor. So that’s just been my main focus this summer and I’ve been working on that a lot, making sure that I’m up to par in everything that I need to do to just add a lot more to my game than what I had a year ago. 

Crave Online: How much play time do you anticipate getting? 

Josh Powell: I mean, it’s tough. We’ve got a stacked team and everybody knows that so I think it’s just a situation like last year. We all have to just be ready, make sure we’re doing what we have to do and when our number’s called, we go out there and we take care of business. 

Crave Online: What’s the biggest challenge facing the Lakers this year? 

Josh Powell: Ourselves. I think that if we don’t come and play like we know we can, it’ll show as the season goes. I just think that we have a good team. We have a really good team with a lot of good players and as long as we can play together, do the things that got us a championship last year, I think we’ll be fine. 

Crave Online: Has Ron Artest come in yet and worked with you and gotten to become part of the team? 

Josh Powell: Yeah, Ron’s a hard worker. He’s been in there every day. He looks good. He’s just ready to get at it and get himself a ring too. 

Crave Online: Who are your college picks? 

Josh Powell: [Long pause] Ask me that in a couple weeks and I’ll have a better answer for you.