Where have you heard the name Chris Robinson? Well, if you've been paying attention, you've at least seen it on the bottom left corner of your screen when you're tuned to MTV. Robinson is hip-hop's premier music video director and has shot videos for such acts as Faith Evans, Method Man, DMX and Snoop Dogg. And no doubt you saw Puffy's Bad Boy for Life (Ben Stiller was a trip, right?).

Robinson is also a lifelong hoops fan. So no surprise when Kevin Garnett called him to direct his latest And 1 shoe commercial. I chatted up the big fella on set in Minneapolis about KG's mind, heart and favorite movie.

CPalm: How much of KG's attitude in this commercial is him and how much is he playing a character?

CRob: This is all him. All him. The subject matter of this commercial is KG answering his critics. From working with KG in the past I know how passionate he is and how emotional he is about winning, working hard and trying to be the best. These are things that he cares deeply about. When I talk to him on the phone he's passionate like that. At our first production meeting at his house he got up in the middle of the room and just went crazy. He let out how he felt about wanting to get better, taking his team deeper in the playoffs and just how desperately he wants to win.

	Chris Robinson has the task of harnessing the energy that is KG.

CPalm: Who comes up with the ideas for his commercials?

CRob: All the ideas for his commercials are based on reality. It's all based on his thoughts and the way he thinks. It's all real. The first commercial (Feb. '02) was about his life in South Carolina and him dreaming about making it one day.

CPalm: So this commercial is about KG at the crossroads?

CRob: This spot is about what he's going to do. If you remember, people criticized him at the end of the season and he was concerned with that. His thing is he wants to show and prove. He wants to let everybody know who the real KG is. That's why we got such a passionate response out of him.

CPalm: You can see all the frustration from getting bounced out of the first round five years in a row.

CRob: Yeah. We prepped him and let him know that this wasn't going to be your average nice little shoot. We put him in a hot box, we let him be irritated, we let him get pissed off and everything really came out.

CPalm: How did the Scarface influence work into the commercial's concept?

CRob: KG and I are both products of the hip-hop nation and Scarface is hip-hop's all-time classic film. We're always calling each other up and quoting Scarface. We thought about doing an interview-style commercial or maybe a press conference set-up like Iverson did a couple of months ago. We thought it worked best in that Menace II Society interrogation-Scarface kind of vibe.

CPalm: Why is Scarface so popular with hip-hoppers?

CRob: Because we understand Tony Montana (Al Pacino's character). He came from nothing and he attained the world. A lot of ballplayers and rappers can identify with that, going from nothing to something. That's what drives you to be the best. That's what keeps you out on the court when everybody else is partying and chillin'.

CPalm: What is the public going to think about KG after these commercials?

CRob: They'll see that Kevin realizes this is a serious situation. When he first came into the league he was just happy to be here. Now he knows there is more to it than just that. If you remember his early commercials (Nike's Fun Police spots), they reflected his mood at the time. This commercial does too, but his mood is very different now. He's a more serious cat now and he wants that reflected in everything he does.

Chris Palmer covers The NBA Life for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at christopher.palmer@espnmag.com.