Dream Chasing – an Interview with Antoine Mason

Antoine Mason is currently playing professional basketball overseas in Spain for CB Ciudad de Valladolid of the LEB Oro in Spain. Son of Knicks legend Anthony Mason. Growing up in the 90s in New Rochelle, New York, with a father on the Knicks inspired Antoine to one day play in the NBA. To this day he has never given up hope on his dream.

His father, Anthony Mason, was one of the most historic figures in New York Knicks basketball of all time. During the 90s with teammates like John Starks, Patrick Ewing and Charles Oakley around him, Mason seemed to be the true heart and soul of the team. 

Anthony Mason was drafted 53^rd overall in the third round of the 1988 NBA Draft by the Portland Trailblazers. Eventually he ended up on the New York Knicks where he blossomed into the 6^th man of the year and helped the team contend for championships. However, the journey to get to that point wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. 

Mason asked for his release from the Blazers as he couldn’t see himself contributing there due to the team having a strong front court. From then on Mason had a tough journey to reestablish himself as a main roster NBA player. After spending a few years bouncing around from overseas to ten-day contracts in the NBA, he finally landed the perfect opportunity. In 1991, Mason was given the chance to join the Knicks summer league team where he impressed head coach Pat Riley earning himself a spot on the main roster. The rest was history.

I was lucky enough to get to interview Antoine Mason, who’s basketball journey is so far similar to his father’s. Antoine’s father suffered a heart attack on February 11^th, 2015. Unfortunately, Anthony never fully recovered from the heart attack and passed away February 28^th, 2015. 

I spoke to Antoine about the significance of his relationship with his father and its influence on him growing up.

“It was more than a father son relationship,” Antoine said “He was my best friend, when I was younger I didn’t really grasp the concept of having a famous dad. To me he was just my dad. As I got older I realized why people were coming up to him in public, why people were excited to see him. When I started playing basketball I understood that – Wow he’s special, not just to me but to a lot of people in the world.” 

But off the basketball court is where Antoine felt his relationship with not only just his dad but both of his parents was most important to him.

“Outside of the basketball court,” Antoine said. “Having my parents around was tremendous and a big influence to me. To have somebody, not just on the basketball court, but somebody that’s just always there to talk to or vent to. I literally used to talk to my parents – it was funny all my friends would say; “Do you talk to anybody else?” – I would talk to them at least three to four times throughout the day. Our relationship was just best friends. As close as you get could get to a human being.”

When it came to basketball Antoine explained that his parents never forced him to play they pushed him to try out other sports first.

“Like I said,” Antoine said when talking about his introduction to the game. “They never forced me to play basketball. They actually introduced me to basketball last, they tried to throw me into different sports, but I always ended up with a basketball in my hand. I guess just going to the games, watching my dad as a Knick, I just wanted to be there. I wanted to be in that position to play for my hometown. It’s always been inside of me, it’s still my dream.”

After four years at New Rochelle High School, Antoine played NCAA Division 1 basketball at Niagra University from 2010-2014. Suffering a stress fracture in his foot three games into his first-year, Antoine decided to red shirt. I asked him about how he went about facing this adversity in his first year of college ball.

“When I was hurt I felt like I picked up so much on the game. When I was in a boot watching the games, I was just picking the mind of our senior point guard who had the four-year experience. Watching the game, you really pick up on things you wouldn’t have if you were on the court. Ultimately, I felt like learned so much and once I was ready to run around again, I knew it would be an uphill battle but I was ready to dedicate myself to improving my craft, and I feel like the game slowed down a bit.” 

He came out the following year starting every game and finishing the year being named to the MAAC All-Rookie team. He continued to dominate the rest of his career at Niagra averaging 18.7 points per game his next year (second in the MAAC) earning first team All-MAAC honors and MAAC All-Tournament team honors. His last year at Niagra, Antoine averaged 25.6 points per game ranking second in all of NCAA Division 1. He then transferred to Auburn for his final year of eligibility prior to entering the 2015 NBA Draft. However, during his final year at Auburn is when everything changed. 

“When people ask me about Auburn, I tell them I felt like I never had my senior year.” Antoine said. “For all the adversity I had to deal with throughout the year. My first game I played well but I suffered a high ankle sprain that left me missing 6-8 games. Then I had to recover from that and get myself back in shape. Then I lost my great aunt that year in Janaury. I was playing through it and playing well, then my dad was sick and then he passed away. So, it was just a lot that year that I was dealing with mentally. I felt like I was playing well that year averaging 14-15 but I know I could’ve played a lot better if I didn’t have those issues going on.”

This was the moment that I, as an interviewer, realized how strong of a person Antoine Mason is. Imagine transferring to a new school, playing for a new team, with a new coach and it’s your last year of college ball. Antoine had extremely high expectations for himself in hopes of getting drafted at year’s end, which already put a mountain of pressure on him. Then, everything aforementioned hits him all at once mid-season. His strength is unbelievable.

Antoine went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft. He then took his talents overseas signing with the Apollon Limassol of the Cypriot League. After his tenure there, he signed with the Halifax Highlanders of the NBL in Canada where he played until 2018. He averaged 20.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in the 2017-18 season, earning Second Team All-NBLC.

In 2018, he signed with the Fujian Lightning in China, where he played one season before returning to the Halifax Highlanders in 2019. That year he averaged 25.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game landing himself a spot on the First Team All-NBLC. He currently plays for the CB Ciudad de Valladolid of the LEB Oro in Spain.

I asked Antoine about his experiences within each organization and how they have helped him grow not only as a player but as a person.

“During Cyprus my first year I wasn’t mentally there, dealing with my dad and everything. But I learned the overseas game, had good friendships with teammates, who I still talk to today, that helped me through that process. Canada, I felt the love for the game again. I developed and got my confidence back. In China, I learned a lot, it was more physically demanding of me because I had to control the pace of my team. So, I developed my leadership skills, even though I didn’t speak the same language, I just lead through my actions. Now in Spain, this is a good challenge for me because normally I have the ball in my hand making plays. But this season my coach has me more off the ball, which is a challenge for me. Getting better and expanding my game so I don’t need the ball to be effective. So far, for me personally, I always set goals and I’m not there yet but it’s coming, I can feel it.”

Obviously, Antoine has had a lot of success in his basketball career. He dominated at Niagra, earning MAAC All-Rookie team honors, first team All-MAAC, All-MAAC tournament team, and was the second leading scorer in all of Division one basketball. He played well in the SEC against NBA competition like Devin Booker. Then he continued his success overseas. But when asked what his biggest career accomplishment was this is what he was most proud of.

“My biggest accomplishment?” Antoine said. “Is that I never gave up. My story of losing my dad, my best friend, during my senior year. Losing family members throughout that course. I lost four family members throughout that year. It took a toll on me mentally. I didn’t even know if I wanted to continue to play ball. My mom, my backbone, she told me to take a week or two off, not do anything, not touch a ball, just relax, then see how I feel. During that break I just started getting that itch again. I spoke to her and said “I want to do it”. I told myself I’m gonna dedicate to myself and my family. I don’t take things for granted anymore. I have a chip on my shoulder and I’m just going to keep working and hopefully I get that chance to reach my goal and play in the NBA. That would just be my story, that I never quit.”

Hearing Antoine speak straight from the heart with such passion I could tell how determined he is to make this dream a reality. He will truly never give up and it was beyond inspiring to hear his story and all that he has gone through. On the court this guy can flat out ball, and off he is one of the most genuine human beings you can find. “My biggest accomplishment is that I never gave up.”