Brooklyn native wowed by Barclays Center ... even though he plays for the Bulls

It's a continuing story: an opposing player gets a look at Barclays Center (and particularly the bus elevator and rotating turntable) and he talks about how impressive it is. Taj Gibson is the latest, but the Bulls' power forward has a unique perspective: he grew up blocks away from the arena site and remembers what it was like a decade ago when he left for prep school in California.

"I remember it was a construction zone but there was no construction going on," said Gibson, whose Bulls played the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. "It looked bad. I always saw drug dealers. I always saw people hustlin', selling used stuff, I never really saw a lot of stores. It was a rough area."

And now?

"It's great," he said. "I think it's just amazing to come in here and see a lot of new technology, and it shows that they put a lot of time in, a lot of money into it and it's good for the community to see little kids come in here and see that good things do happen in Brooklyn so it's good ...

"It's kind of one up on the Garden right now."

• Brooklyn native Gibson wowed by Barclays - Nick Friedell - ESPN Chicago