Childress' infatuation with his sneakers means he has to dedicate an entire room in his American home to store his prized possessions.

Some might say it's a little over the top, but for the number six pick in the 2004 NBA draft, he could not care less.

"I've spoken with [Kings head of basketball operations] Tim [Hudson] and I'm gonna try and ship some there," Childress told Fairfax Media from California. "I love my shoes and I've already spoken with people who work for Nike in Sydney and it's just part of what I enjoy.

"I'm going to try and simplify things and not come over with too many. The funny thing is I'll tell myself I won't do it, and I probably will bring more than I should. It's just the nature of who I am."

 

Childress has never been to Australia because his off-seasons have fallen in our winter, but he is making sure he will pack more than enough "casual" shoes when he departs later this month to join his new teammates.

"I've heard the city is very clean and there's some nice areas, but I'm not gonna bring a bunch of my nice collection to the beach," Childress said. "So I'm probably going to throw in some stuff that's more casual and just not as near and dear to my heart.

"As well as that, my dog's name is Beast. He's a chow chow and I'm sure if you took a look at my Instagram you would probably see a few pictures of him. I'm bringing him and my shoes, that's about it."

Beast even has his own Instagram account - beastchill.

The 31-year-old studied sociology at Stanford University and away from basketball is right into his digital media technology. Childress confirmed he is still being paid $7 million a year by the Phoenix Suns, who used an amnesty clause to wipe him off their books in 2012, three years before his contract officially expired.

Despite being a single man in a foreign country on a massive salary, Childress said he won't be hitting the Sydney nightclub scene as often as people might think.

"I can't say I never will, but I don't plan on being a party-goer," Childress said. "I've done that and I've been there, that's not really my style anymore."

"I enjoy seeing new places and experiencing new things and not being solely defined as a basketball player. That's part of just growing and experiencing life. I never imagined being able to travel the world and play basketball, so I'm going to take advantage of it as much as possible."

The man who goes by the nickname of 'J-Chillen' to his 63,388 Twitter and 9443 Instagram followers doesn't regret leaving the NBA in 2008 to play in Greece with Olympiacos Piraeus and has fond memories of his 391-game stint in America.

"The NBA is a collection of the best players in the world." Childress said. "Night in, night out you're playing against top-notch talent. It's the pinnacle of basketball.

"But there's good basketball leagues elsewhere. My main focus is to not come over and score a bunch of points and make myself look good because at the end of the day how does that help the Sydney Kings? I'm really gonna buy into being a team player and trying to help the team win as many games as possible.

Childress said he has not made contact with Patty Mills or Andrew Bogut, but reinforced how keen he was to play an Australian style of ball.

"I've played against them (Mills and Bogut) but I don't know them," Childress said. "I haven't had a chance to chat to them, but they're good players and obviously Patty being a big part of the Spurs and then winning a championship, I think is big for Australian basketball. I would love to talk to the guys at some point.

"I made an informed and educated decision about coming over. I think my philosophy on basketball and on life is similar to coach Cotter. We have a great synergy and it made the decision easier for me."