OMC: In a way, what you did reminds me of another Australian with Milwaukee ties. David Nilsson, who played baseball for the Brewers, got involved in an ownership group with a team in Melbourne and I think he eventually ended up owning and running the league. I don't know that he got a lot of return on that investment.

AB: Owning a club, while I'm in my playing career, now would be absolutely stupid. It would be too much of a distraction. I would want to be 100 percent involved.

OMC: You would have to be. Even teams with full-time owners who have extensive business backgrounds have trouble turning a profit.

AB: I'm not looking to make money (with the Spirit). It was just more of a donation -- a way to help out a friend. It was a small amount for me and it was a small amount compared to what they need, but I think it got the ball rolling a little bit.

OMC: Do you see yourself being involved in the business when you retire?

AB: Once I retire, I definitely want to be involved in the game somehow. I'd love to be the GM of a club in Australia or maybe buy a club and run it the way I see fit. I would never buy a club as an investment. That'd be downright stupid. I'd do it more as a hobby.

OMC: Do you ever get a chance to talk to Sen. Kohl or other people in front-office positions with the team or the league about the business side of things?

AB: We have a lot of meetings for that, anyway. They give us a business of basketball seminar that we had to go to a couple weeks ago. That was mandatory. They told us about making money and all those types of things. I'm definitely interested in that, but the NBA is a completely different level from what I'd be involved in.

I'm pretty sure I'm not going to retire here (in the U.S.) and be working here once I'm done playing. I'll be back with my family in Australia, so whatever I do would not be on a big level.

OMC: Even though you've got a lot of years left to play, it sounds like you're preparing yourself for what comes next.

AB: One thing I've learned is that while you're playing in the NBA, everyone wants a piece of you. At the same time, you can get a piece of everyone else. You can learn from journalists, you can learn from everyone. I started my Web site. That's another hobby of mine. I'm going to try to get involved in different things.

I'm sure the best businessmen in Milwaukee would want to meet me as much as I'd want to meet them. It's a great honor to be able to do that. Once your playing career dies and you're older. it's much harder to do that. I think it's better to learn as much as you can while you're on the floor and see where it takes you in life.

OMC: A lot of players work their way into the business side of things by getting involved with charities and foundations. They make contacts that way. Is that something you've done?

AB: A little bit, but I don't like people coming and asking me for money. I'll give without people asking and I've done that a lot. But, I get uncomfortable when people ask me for money.

With the Spirit, they wouldn't have approached me in a million years. But, I saw they needed help and did it on my own. I'd rather give that way.

I don't like being approached and being kind of made to feel guilty. I'd rather just do it. I've done a lot of things in the community that people don't know about. I've done things with the Hunger Task Force and things, but I don't like to get the media involved because it's not for the right reason. A lot of guys like to get media pub(licity), but when you donate to a charity, a lot of people do that. Why should you get notoriety out of it?

I had my foundation for a while, but I'm pretty much done with that. I found it was a waste of time. I was paying guys to hand over a check to a charity. Now, I just go straight to the source.

OMC: You're about to spend your fourth winter in Milwaukee. Have you adjusted yet? Any snow removal problems?

AB: No, I've got a four-wheeler with a plow on it. It's getting messy, though.

OMC: This is a tough time not to be in Australia, isn't it?

AB: Right now, the temperature there is about 95.

OMC: What's it like having Christmas in the summer?

AB: It's the same as here, really. Everybody talks about the white Christmas with the snow. At home, we have a lot of parties on the beach. That may sound strange, but it's normal. It's pretty cool. I live right on the water back home. If it's 90 degrees, I'll take that, any day.