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For Hump, Celebrity is Kim's World, NBA Basketball is His

The rumors are rising again, the ones that say Kris Humphries will soon propose to Kim Kardashian. The two joked about it on Twitter. It's not likely to happen soon, but Kim's confidantes swear she is in love and she herself says the Net is the "perfect" fit....even if the two are separated by more than a foot.

But around the time of his GQ photo shoot, he was also interviewed by SLAM's Franklyn Calle.  He's what he had to say.

Good things happen to those who wait. Just ask Kris Humphries.

Selected by the Utah Jazz with the 14th overall pick in the '04 NBA Draft, Humphries arrived in the L as the first freshman in the Big Ten to lead the conference in scoring (21.7 ppg) and rebounding (10.1 rpg) in the same season.  Only 19 years old when he hit the NBA, Humphries would find himself battling for minutes behind Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko.

After a couple of years in Salt Lake City, Humphries would bounce around  the League for the next four season, with stops in Toronto, Dallas and ultimately New Jersey.

"I think in live you go through everything for a reason. I think there are things to learn from that," says Humphries, reminiscing. "it was a tough road for me. I just continued to battle. I learned a lot along the way. And when you get the opportunity to play consistently, you gotta be ready for it and make the most of it."

And that's exactly what he's done as a member of the Nets.  As of February 10, Humphries season averages, stand at 8.8 points and 9.3 rebounds (9.6 and 10 now)--both career highs.

He's also been making headlines off the court. The gossip blogs have been bombarded with talk about his relationship with girlfriend Kim Kardashian. "I try to keep all that other stuff seperate when I'm here. All that other stuff in her world,"  says Humphries after a game Kim watched from the front row.

Humphries, the team's leading rebounder, moved to the bench in early January, a move the franchise made to speed the development of Derrick Favors. In a league where players ask to be traded after seeing their roles diminish, Humphries demonstrated his personality, giving up his starting forward position for the betterment of the team and embracing his new role.

"Regardless of any personal things, I gotta play and try to help my team. Everyone in the league wants to start, play and be the man," he says. "For me, it's about doing things that people typically don't do or don't want to do out there."

--Franklyn Calle