Five questions for ... Jrue Holiday

When Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday joined the team three years ago, he was the NBA's youngest player. Today, he's a seasoned pro who's adopted Philly as a second home, but kinda wishes his girlfriend, pro soccer player Lauren Cheney, a forward for the Boston Breakers and U.S. women's national team, lived a little closer by. He talked with Lauren McCutcheon about soccer, long-distance romance and the one kind of couple time he avoids.

1. Have you always been a soccer fan?

I used to play soccer when I was little, but everybody played soccer when they were little. I wasn't a fan until I met Lauren, and saw her play. She's really good. She was the leading scorer at UCLA.

2. How'd you two meet?

When I was a freshman, she was a junior, but we didn't really start talking until after I left after my freshman year. I actually met her playing basketball. She's a really good basketball player. She got recruited by North Carolina for soccer and basketball.

3. How was seeing her in the World Cup last June?

It was a crazy experience. I've never been to an Olympics, and I've never seen an arena so full, or people cheering so loud. It was just nuts, like, even as a player, that's something I'd want to be a part of.

4 When do you get to see each other?

Maybe four days out of a month. There's emailing, there's a lot of expensive phone bills, there's Skype ... But it's still tough, because you can't really talk as much as you want to. I keep myself busy, hang out with people, play video games, read, watch TV, sleep. I actually sleep a lot more when she's gone.

5. Do you two work out together?

No. She's crazy. She works out like 10, 20 times harder than I do. I can't hang with her. We worked out a little bit last summer. She did my workout. I can probably jump higher than her, but I don't really want to race her ... I think I'd rather see her win. You can't have your girlfriend mad at you.