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Nets Point Guard Deron Williams: I Don't Feel Like A New Yorker

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Deron Williams might play his home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but that doesn't necessarily mean he feels at home in New York.

Just ask him.

"I'm not going to lie -- I don't really feel so much like a New Yorker," the star point guard told Resident Magazine. "I grew up in an apartment in Texas where you could send your kids outside like, 'Yeah, go play in the sun.' Here it's more challenging. The process of getting them into school is a nightmare. Even private schools where you pay are an ordeal.

"In Utah, you just send your kids to the first public school in the area because they're all great. Truth is, we enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle and going back to Utah every summer. It's a relief to take that timeout. No traffic. No crowds. My daughters still have their friends there. There's a big backyard. They go to the pool, the playground and they jump on the trampoline.

"Kids running wild and free here in New York? I don't think so."

The three-time NBA All-Star was traded to the Nets in 2011 when the franchise was still located in New Jersey. In 2012, he signed a five-year, $98.7 million deal to stay with the organization.

"Taking the subway ... which, by the way, I love to take," Williams told the magazine in regard to what makes a New Yorker. "Yes, of course I have a chauffeured car. But the subway is way faster. Second thing is the New York/Brooklyn accent, which I don't have. Third thing is New Yorkers are tough. Or at least they think they are."

Williams averaged 14.3 points, 6.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 64 games for the Nets last season.

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