Speaker 1: The word was you did not perform in the super
Speaker 1: Bowl show because the halftime show was because you are
Speaker 1: not vaccinated? Is that true?
Speaker 2: Ah?
Speaker 1: That was a rumor. Why okay, so tell me I'm
Speaker 1: such a rumor.
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 1: Tell me why ice Cube, legendary West Coast rapper was
Speaker 1: not invited to perform at the super Bowl. How is
Speaker 1: that possible? We get into it on this edition of Naked.
Speaker 2: It's the greatest suspension entertainment can naked Wind carry Champion
Speaker 2: and carry Champion is going to be a champion, a champion,
Speaker 2: then carry Chappie and a champion and carry Champion then
Speaker 2: carried Sheppy.
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome to you a new edition of Naked.
Speaker 1: So glad that you guys are all here. You're gonna
Speaker 1: enjoy today's episode. We have ice Cube on the show.
Speaker 1: This is his second appearance on Naked. When I initially
Speaker 1: started the podcast some three years ago, he was one
Speaker 1: of my first guests and he's always willing to come
Speaker 1: on and talk, especially if he has something he wants
Speaker 1: to talk about. And at issue for him now is
Speaker 1: the Big Three. He is talking about the league in
Speaker 1: which he created and how happy he is it's doing well. However,
Speaker 1: ice Cube is running upgainst some problems, and it's fair.
Speaker 1: It's fair that he's running up against problems. I understand
Speaker 1: when you're new and you're a small business and you're
Speaker 1: trying to do things in a major way, you're going
Speaker 1: to find a few roadblocks. So, just by way of background,
Speaker 1: i'll set the scene. In twenty seventeen, ice Cube, along
Speaker 1: with an entertainment executive, founded Big Three and the hope
Speaker 1: was that this league, which consists of twelve teams featuring
Speaker 1: former NBA and international players, would give people some form
Speaker 1: of athletic inertainment when there is none. The Big Three
Speaker 1: doesn't play when the NBA season is in. It is
Speaker 1: right after the season, and it goes honestly with the
Speaker 1: idea that there are very few summer sports. Makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1: He's been able to amass some of the greats in
Speaker 1: terms of people who play for the league, who coach
Speaker 1: for the league. Some true legends are there. And I
Speaker 1: think it's interesting because he does a tour around different cities.
Speaker 1: In fact, they'll be playing at Barclays by the time
Speaker 1: you hear this podcast. They have done this for the
Speaker 1: last six seasons or so, and I'm very impressed. But
Speaker 1: what I didn't know is that Ice Cube has been
Speaker 1: trying to get the NBA commissioner and Adam Silver on board.
Speaker 1: He's been trying to get Adam Silver to help him
Speaker 1: get more sponsorships to perhaps have the NBA partner with
Speaker 1: the Big Three, but that hasn't been the case, and
Speaker 1: he believes that they can work together. In fact, he
Speaker 1: said his own words, which you'll hear in the podcast,
Speaker 1: he and Adam Silver used to be friends and now
Speaker 1: it's been a bit contentious. If you follow ice cubout
Speaker 1: any of the socials, you know that he's been talking
Speaker 1: about this daily and for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: I think he feels as if the Big Three is
Speaker 1: being blackballed. And he is very honest about a meeting
Speaker 1: that he had with Adam Silver he talks about on
Speaker 1: the podcast today where he wants to see the Big
Speaker 1: Three go. The reason why I think this is important,
Speaker 1: especially in my world of sports, we're watching in real
Speaker 1: time sports washing. That's what the term is. Sports washing.
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabia has already bought the PGA, they're moving to tennis,
Speaker 1: they're already in wrestling and racing. It's only a matter
Speaker 1: of time before they get to the NBA. You heard
Speaker 1: it here. I'm being honest. That's just what it is.
Speaker 1: Money conquers everything, Cash rules everything around me, y'all know
Speaker 1: that's all. So with that being said, I asked Cube
Speaker 1: if in fact he would be interested in working with
Speaker 1: the Saudi Arabian the Investment Public Fund is what it's called,
Speaker 1: and he said he would rather keep everything here on
Speaker 1: American soil. But if it goes that way, it goes
Speaker 1: that way. It's an interesting conversation about what I thought
Speaker 1: was a family friendly league, the Big Three trying to grow,
Speaker 1: and those around him and his opinion, in Cube's opinion,
Speaker 1: not allowing it to grow. We also get into, which
Speaker 1: I think is really super interesting, why the heck he
Speaker 1: was not at the super Bowl during the West Coast
Speaker 1: honoring do y'all.
Speaker 3: Did, y'all?
Speaker 1: Would you ask y'rself? Sad, why the heck was he
Speaker 1: not there? I thought it was because I heard a rumor.
Speaker 1: Clearly he clears it up. I thought it was because
Speaker 1: he wasn't vaccinated, y'all, he keeps it a buck. I
Speaker 1: was shocked by it all. And then finally I get
Speaker 1: into what's the biggest misconception about Cube. You guys will
Speaker 1: enjoy this edition of Naked, Sit back and relax as
Speaker 1: he gives. He gives us a little education, a small
Speaker 1: education on what's going on with the Big Three.
Speaker 2: Champion and carry Chapion and carry Chepy.
Speaker 1: What is your ultimate goal for the Big Three? Are
Speaker 1: you is it? Is it happening now or do you
Speaker 1: have a different vision or you want to grow it
Speaker 1: in a different way.
Speaker 3: Well, we're going to the league. You know, the league
Speaker 3: continues to grow. We want to be a viable option
Speaker 3: for ballers who find itself for some reason. You know,
Speaker 3: with the NBA it's not always skill level. Sometimes it's
Speaker 3: a numbers game. It's only twelve spots per team or
Speaker 3: fifteen spots per team, so a lot of you know,
Speaker 3: quality great ballers get left out or washed out. So,
Speaker 3: you know, we want to have that place where you
Speaker 3: could still play. You don't have to go overseas. You
Speaker 3: can play in front of your family and friends and
Speaker 3: fans here in America. Professional at the highest level. And
Speaker 3: how we're growing this sport is we're now selling teams
Speaker 3: and we're in the process of selling teams to owners
Speaker 3: and they'll put teams in different cities and we'll be
Speaker 3: able to grow, you know, from there and expand to
Speaker 3: sixteen teams and twenty twenty four and so on.
Speaker 1: What owners are you selling them to? Are you selling
Speaker 1: to NBA owners? Are you're selling to people who have
Speaker 1: the money to buy the team. And what's the typical
Speaker 1: buy in if you don't mind sharing.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean NBA owners want to buy in. Several
Speaker 3: big name owners have you know, show to show interest.
Speaker 3: But because of the bylaw that is in place that
Speaker 3: you know that Adam Silver and Martin Tatum, they can
Speaker 3: really wave it. They're they're saying the law says they
Speaker 3: can't invest in a competing league. Now out in no way,
Speaker 3: shape or form, anybody can see that this Big Three
Speaker 3: is no way competing and compete with the NBA. So
Speaker 3: we're not competing. So we think that claws need to
Speaker 3: be dropped when it comes to the Big Three. Now,
Speaker 3: NBA owners can invest in pickleball, they can invest in
Speaker 3: the TBT League, which is the basketball league. They can
Speaker 3: invest in slam ball, which is coming back. But you
Speaker 3: know what makes the Big three so special at the
Speaker 3: end of the day, so we believe that you know,
Speaker 3: we're being basically looked at unfairly by those two or
Speaker 3: the top rast at the NBA as a competitive league
Speaker 3: and we're not.
Speaker 1: Who do you so you're okay, So if you can
Speaker 1: test this, this law, this rule that they have created,
Speaker 1: how do you go about doing that? Because you guys
Speaker 1: aren't competing? Why why is it that you all are
Speaker 1: the issue? So how do you contest it?
Speaker 3: It's what I'm asking, Well, I think you appealed to
Speaker 3: the UH players, you appeal to the to the owners
Speaker 3: to UH to try to talk to Adam you know,
Speaker 3: he's he's really the only force that's stopping this great collaboration.
Speaker 3: The thing is is we have a place for players
Speaker 3: in the NBA when the NBA doesn't. So you know,
Speaker 3: why would he stop. You know, he's not going to
Speaker 3: give Ice Man a head coaching job, or Rick Barry,
Speaker 3: you know, or or Michael Cooper or you know. And
Speaker 3: these are guys who went through the NBA, you know,
Speaker 3: made the NBA what it is, and now they're coaching
Speaker 3: in the Big Three. It's head coaches and and they're
Speaker 3: trying to stop the league every way, shape or form.
Speaker 3: So it's just it really don't make crazy man sense,
Speaker 3: and so we just want we want somebody talked some
Speaker 3: sense in Adam Silver, because I think this is going
Speaker 3: to end up hurting his legacy more than he know.
Speaker 3: At the end of the day, he's going to be
Speaker 3: known as the guy who tried to stomp out the
Speaker 3: only black All League in America with his former players
Speaker 3: and coaches. Don't make sense.
Speaker 1: June twenty fifth, you released a video on Twitter and
Speaker 1: you called them a club of gate keepers. I want
Speaker 1: to make sure I have that accurate. Specifically. Later on,
Speaker 1: in an interview with Sports Illustrated, you said NBA Commissioner
Speaker 1: Adam Silver is an opposition to Big Three, and you
Speaker 1: said they're blocking sponsorships from companies like Nike and calls
Speaker 1: them to question anti trust laws. He says, you say
Speaker 1: that you've had contentious meetings with them, and you don't understand.
Speaker 1: Why do you know for a fact in terms of
Speaker 1: proof they they're blocking sponsorships, they're telling people not to
Speaker 1: sponsor the Big Three.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we've had you know, people we call, uh,
Speaker 3: you know from the c suite, the CEO, cmos, c
Speaker 3: os basically tell us that they can't do nothing because
Speaker 3: we haven't worked out a deal or whatever with the NBA,
Speaker 3: and so you know it's definitely them telling these not
Speaker 3: only sponsors, but also networks. We had a great deal
Speaker 3: going that got you know, somehow stumped out because of
Speaker 3: our relationship with the NBA. So you know, we we've
Speaker 3: had people actually tell us now I don't want to
Speaker 3: name names because obviously they're scared of the NBA or
Speaker 3: nervous about their relationship with the NBA, so you know,
Speaker 3: they don't want to step on any toes when it
Speaker 3: comes to that. And so I just think it's so
Speaker 3: hell it's not right, pretty sad, and it has to
Speaker 3: be dealt with the best way we know how, which
Speaker 3: is you know, making it no publicly and then exercising
Speaker 3: all the rights that we have.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of and it happens all the time.
Speaker 1: It's big brother, little brother. And when they have the
Speaker 1: power of most people, everyone wants to deal with the NBA.
Speaker 1: But it sounds like you're saying, for lack of a
Speaker 1: better term, they're blackballing you. Like they're saying to you,
Speaker 1: don't deal with them. If you deal with them, you
Speaker 1: can't deal with us. Is that what you're feeling?
Speaker 3: That's what I'm f and that's happening too. You know,
Speaker 3: some of the major sponsors out there that that deal
Speaker 3: with basketball, you know, it's not a large pool, it's
Speaker 3: it's it's very small pool of major fortune five hundred
Speaker 3: companies that advertise and push their products through basketball. So
Speaker 3: having them talk to one let alone multiple, having them
Speaker 3: talking to one network, let alone multiple. If you think
Speaker 3: about all the networks that that run basketball, you know,
Speaker 3: you can count them, you know, mainly on on one hand,
Speaker 3: and you don't need your thumb. So there's a very
Speaker 3: small amount of people we can go to to get
Speaker 3: this product more exposure. And to have them going to
Speaker 3: those people and discarding them from doing it is it's
Speaker 3: heartbreaking in and got a stop because at the end
Speaker 3: of the day, you know, they think they hurt nice
Speaker 3: cue on one guy. You know, I pay these guys,
Speaker 3: so they're not hurting me. What they're hurting is the
Speaker 3: guys who depend on this check, depending on this exposure
Speaker 3: to continue their career, depend on this game the Big
Speaker 3: Three for a lot of mental health that we provide
Speaker 3: just by giving guys who are professional athletes place to play.
Speaker 3: So we're doing so much for people, so many people
Speaker 3: make a living off the Big Three and earn money
Speaker 3: when the Big Three come to town. It's just a
Speaker 3: shame to have such a giant like the NBA using
Speaker 3: their might to stump us out. And what's crazy is
Speaker 3: it's not working, so they really need to stop.
Speaker 1: Is it personal? Does Adam Silver have a personal issue
Speaker 1: with you? What does he believe about you that would
Speaker 1: make him think he doesn't want to be in business
Speaker 1: about with you?
Speaker 3: I don't know, you know, like I said, the meeting
Speaker 3: we had, it was we was explaining to him what
Speaker 3: we were trying to do. We was actually offering the
Speaker 3: NBA a piece of the league free, and he basically
Speaker 3: said thank you, but no thank you. And then you know,
Speaker 3: we was telling them what we were gonna do with
Speaker 3: the league and that we thought that him not letting
Speaker 3: a few players play because they were under these like
Speaker 3: emotional contracts with teams, that we thought that wasn't right,
Speaker 3: that we would fight that. And so he probably didn't
Speaker 3: like how to me and it And why didn't he
Speaker 3: like it? Maybe because we told him that he wasn't
Speaker 3: going to kill our league in the womb. You know,
Speaker 3: he probably didn't like that.
Speaker 1: So now you have been very vocal about what is happening,
Speaker 1: which normally does not happen. That's the opposite of how
Speaker 1: I'm sure people handle the NBA when they're not happy
Speaker 1: with the NBA. And you have made it very clear
Speaker 1: that since its inception, your your league has been doing
Speaker 1: very well. Now you are hoping that somehow someone talks
Speaker 1: some sense in Adam Silver. Do you think that relationship
Speaker 1: that you have with him as a foregone conclusion in
Speaker 1: terms of any type of mediation and working it out,
Speaker 1: Not at all.
Speaker 3: You know, we're businessman, you know, you know we're not
Speaker 3: to me that far apart, but you know it's really
Speaker 3: a to him. You know. I don't, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 3: I'm not holding the grudge at all on that, you know.
Speaker 3: I think at the end of the day, we tried
Speaker 3: for six years to handle things behind the scenes, and
Speaker 3: when they continue to happen and they hurt the league,
Speaker 3: it's our job to do whatever we can to protect
Speaker 3: the league, and this is part of it, you know.
Speaker 3: So I would hope the other owners see that this
Speaker 3: is no good for the NBA to take this position
Speaker 3: against the only black owned basketball league in America that
Speaker 3: has their former players I'm pretty sure their players don't
Speaker 3: like it because one day they may look up and
Speaker 3: find the Big Three as an option for them. So,
Speaker 3: you know, it really comes down to Adam Sewer and
Speaker 3: the Todd Brass to not consider us competition. They don't
Speaker 3: have to get rid of the bylaw. I think what
Speaker 3: they should be worried about is, you know, I'm hearing
Speaker 3: that the ABA is coming back. You know, a bunch
Speaker 3: of foreign money is about to be you know, putting
Speaker 3: into five on five five excuse me, five or five
Speaker 3: pro basketball. So what they really need to do is
Speaker 3: to be connecting with another American clan to make sure
Speaker 3: that we protect American basketball because at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, the money is gonna dictate where players go
Speaker 3: usually and if foreign money comes in with the a BA,
Speaker 3: they're gonna have a lot more problems to deal with
Speaker 3: than the Big Three.
Speaker 1: Would you, and we've been talking about this a lot
Speaker 1: lately in sports about the Saudi Investment Fund? Would you
Speaker 1: take money from the saudiast to to build up Big
Speaker 1: Three and make it more competitives.
Speaker 3: I would do what I need to do to protect
Speaker 3: the league and protect it and investors. But why should
Speaker 3: I want this enough American bread money people out here
Speaker 3: to to make it happen, you know, so we would
Speaker 3: hope we wouldn't have to go that route, but we
Speaker 3: are not taking any of our options off the table
Speaker 3: when it comes to the survival or the Big Three.
Speaker 1: And then one one other question I want to make
Speaker 1: sure I'm clear on if you want to grow the
Speaker 1: league and you're asking owners, NBA owners more specifically to
Speaker 1: buy teams and put big and put the teams in
Speaker 1: their cities, is that what you were saying, not.
Speaker 3: Just owners and jumps. We've been talking to a few
Speaker 3: Major League Baseball owners, a couple of NFL owners, so
Speaker 3: we're talking to, you know, people who won't who want
Speaker 3: to own a Big Three team. You know, the appreciation
Speaker 3: value team ownership is through the roof, so it's definitely
Speaker 3: a great investment. So we're just looking for the right people.
Speaker 2: To do it.
Speaker 3: And there are a lot of NBA owners that want
Speaker 3: to do it, but because of this by law, they can't.
Speaker 3: And that's a shame because these are basketball people who
Speaker 3: understand the game inside out and could help row the
Speaker 3: league and they and you know, they they love what
Speaker 3: we're doing. They love what we're doing for players. They're
Speaker 3: keeping them here in America so they don't have to
Speaker 3: go overseas. Heah play. So it's it's a great thing
Speaker 3: that we're doing and it's gonna work.
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, don't go anywhere. Cube has already broken down
Speaker 1: what happened with the Big Three When we come back.
Speaker 1: I also ask what's going on with the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: He didn't perform? Why is that? He tells us in
Speaker 1: just a few moments, thank you for listening to Naked.
Speaker 2: Every Champion and Kerry Champions to be a champion out
Speaker 2: of Champion and Kry Chappion and Kerry chap out a
Speaker 2: Champion and Carry Chapion and Kerry Chaps and entertainment and
Speaker 2: Naked Weird Kerry Champion and Cary Champion is to be
Speaker 2: a champion, a Champion and Carrie Champion.
Speaker 1: They go play got a Champion, the Cary.
Speaker 2: Chapion and carried Shep And then.
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome back to Naked. Thank you for being
Speaker 1: patient and fast forwarding through the commercials. But we have
Speaker 1: to pay the bills. As we say, without further ado,
Speaker 1: here is a legendary West Coast rapper Ice Cube. I'm
Speaker 1: making it plain so I know that I understand it.
Speaker 1: You are very honest in the fact that you believe
Speaker 1: Adam Silver is blocking an opportunity for players and for
Speaker 1: the Big Three and for the basketball community as a whole.
Speaker 1: There should be another option if you're if you don't
Speaker 1: play in the NBA, or if you're not in the
Speaker 1: G League and you're a young kid, there should be
Speaker 1: another option. And that option, in your opinion, is the
Speaker 1: Big Three. And you're finding Adam Silver saying no, I
Speaker 1: don't want to be a part of it because he
Speaker 1: fears the competition of the of what he believes people
Speaker 1: will enjoy more than his than his league. But it
Speaker 1: makes no sense because you don't you're not playing during
Speaker 1: the NBA season, So I don't I don't get why
Speaker 1: there is such a back and forth or why he
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to support it.
Speaker 3: Like I said, you know, it doesn't make sense, and
Speaker 3: we don't want to just think about those same old
Speaker 3: things and we always think about when things don't make sense. Okay,
Speaker 3: So at the end of the day, him the end
Speaker 3: of the day, At the end of the day, I
Speaker 3: don't understand why he will want to hurt former.
Speaker 1: It's fair to say that if you as a black man,
Speaker 1: there may be an issue. There may be an issue there.
Speaker 1: It's fair to say that, not that we want to
Speaker 1: go there, but it's fair to say that that race
Speaker 1: always is a factor. It's never not a factor. It
Speaker 1: would not be not be true, especially in the time
Speaker 1: that we live in today, what's going on in the
Speaker 1: world as of late today, that just would not be true.
Speaker 1: Can you tell everybody when the next game is so
Speaker 1: I can make sure that I publicize this or where
Speaker 1: can they go? Get the schedule? Big three dot com
Speaker 1: and get every all your TV schedule and who's playing?
Speaker 3: Yep, Big three dot com. My next game is at
Speaker 3: Barclays and Brooklyn and this Sunday, and you know, we
Speaker 3: got games all day. We're celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of
Speaker 3: hip hop. Got submit on New York groups coming through
Speaker 3: like a mop and I'm gonna keep it moving. And
Speaker 3: Tony Allen just joined the league, which is great.
Speaker 1: Congratulations, you're still doing it.
Speaker 3: Hit barked in and we hit Mett. Yeah, you know
Speaker 3: he's still doing it. Coming together, yeah, coming together.
Speaker 1: I'm very I'm very very happy for you. I'm happy
Speaker 1: to see your your dreams materialize. That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1: Speaking of dreams materializing, I had my full dream. I'm
Speaker 1: going to do a hard, hard, hard right turn here.
Speaker 1: So so you've answered this question, but I'm curious. I
Speaker 1: missed you at the super Bowl and we were like,
Speaker 1: where's Q Now. The word was you did not perform
Speaker 1: and the super Bowl show because the halftime show was
Speaker 1: because you are not vaccinated? Is that true?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: No, that was a rumor. Why. Okay, so tell me
Speaker 1: I was such a rumor.
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 1: Tell me why I wasn't You weren't invited to perform.
Speaker 3: I wasn't invited to perform. I actually had to show
Speaker 3: that day too. I think it was Utah. They saw
Speaker 3: Lake City. Yeah, okay, I want to go back. Uh huh.
Speaker 1: They do attribute to West Coast hip hop and ice
Speaker 1: Cube was not invited to perform. Is that what you're
Speaker 1: saying to me?
Speaker 3: That's exactly what I'm saying. Okay, okay, So Trip, you
Speaker 3: know why, because I feel like, when I do the
Speaker 3: super Bowl, do it do ice Cube show? I get it.
Speaker 1: I know you didn't.
Speaker 3: Trip.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the people who want to tell you.
Speaker 1: I'm speaking for fans. I get You're fine. I'm talking
Speaker 1: about the fans who were like it just the the
Speaker 1: sentiment was very clear, it was special, but it just
Speaker 1: would have been on a whole nother level if Cube
Speaker 1: was there. Are you saying that they were like, we're gonna,
Speaker 1: We're gonna not include him. Is that is it because
Speaker 1: is there a personal issue there? Or is it because
Speaker 1: what you may represent somebody?
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't get why you're not invited.
Speaker 3: I think it was really about uh songs and the
Speaker 3: artists that Dre you know, kind of personally touched in
Speaker 3: a way. Okay, they you know, we were in the
Speaker 3: same group. We kind of came up together. But but
Speaker 3: I left the group in eighty nine, like I left,
Speaker 3: I left the the group in eighty nine. Trey was
Speaker 3: a different producer in eighty nine than the years now.
Speaker 3: He's done different things between now and then. You know,
Speaker 3: Chronic Snoop fifty, Eminem, you know, those are when Dre
Speaker 3: was totally fully matured as a producer. So I just
Speaker 3: think he he took more of the groups that were
Speaker 3: really under his wings. You know, we was in the
Speaker 3: group together, Okay, Okay, I guess so, okay, Well, this
Speaker 3: the only thing I can say that it was. It's
Speaker 3: no animosity.
Speaker 1: I can tell you I felt the way you didn't feel.
Speaker 3: No worry about it. I felt nothing. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 3: doctor Drayda left me off the songs before. So anybody
Speaker 3: know that's you know, he gonna gonna do what he
Speaker 3: feels is working and what makes the show right for
Speaker 3: the time and who you know. It's hard to understand
Speaker 3: some time with Trey is thinking, but you genis we
Speaker 3: roll with it. I mean when he called, were ready.
Speaker 3: When he don't call, We're still ready. You know what
Speaker 3: I mean?
Speaker 1: All Right, I respect it. Look you you're not mad.
Speaker 3: I can't be mad.
Speaker 1: Let me let me didn't tell the Let me tell
Speaker 1: the Cube Hive did to chill out like we're all
Speaker 1: good over here. Then it's good, so good. So when
Speaker 1: you do the super Bowl, it will be the ice
Speaker 1: Cube Show. It will be it will be all about
Speaker 1: you and we'll and when you do do it, do
Speaker 1: you bring out anybody? Do you bring out?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I'll bring out a few people. You know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying, I bring out you know what makes sense?
Speaker 3: But yeah, you know, I don't want to jump on
Speaker 3: nobody else should the man I'm kind of glad I
Speaker 3: was an axe, you know, because I'd rather wait and
Speaker 3: do it myself when it's an ice cube show.
Speaker 1: Okay, we'll let this claimate it's done. Then it is done.
Speaker 1: All right, Then I'm there. I'm at that super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Make sure it's warm. Let's get a warm location. I
Speaker 1: want to I asked you about this past weekend. You
Speaker 1: performed the essence and I believe he forty.
Speaker 3: Was with you.
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: How was that? How does it?
Speaker 1: How does it feel to literally you just mentioned you
Speaker 1: were like you left the group in eighty nine, or
Speaker 1: it's so interesting. How does it feel to be a
Speaker 1: pioneer in this game and it's still so very young.
Speaker 1: We're celebrating fifty years of hip hop and it's still
Speaker 1: so very young even at fifty. But honestly, a pioneer
Speaker 1: in this game, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 3: It feels great, like you know, as a younger, see,
Speaker 3: that's where you want to be. You want to be respected, influential,
Speaker 3: You want to have a couple of classic hits under
Speaker 3: your belt, and you know people give you love and
Speaker 3: respect wherever you go. You know this is where you
Speaker 3: want to be. So you know, I feel great. It
Speaker 3: could have won a whole different route, a whole different way,
Speaker 3: and so definitely better than being a one hittered quitter.
Speaker 3: So having longevity and I feel blessed at a very
Speaker 3: high level for a long time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't happen, even in sports, like I say
Speaker 1: what you want about Lebron, like his shape, physical endurance,
Speaker 1: being in his prime for twenty years, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: And that is very much the equivalent of your career,
Speaker 1: the longevity, how you've been able to do different things,
Speaker 1: leaning into things that you know are better for you,
Speaker 1: or what you can do here like showing different sides.
Speaker 1: Did you ever think growing up in South Central that
Speaker 1: and maybe you did, but you'd be in movies, you'd
Speaker 1: be this entrepreneur. Did you see this vision?
Speaker 3: I mean I dreamed of it. All of this got
Speaker 3: you saw all of I mean I got it. No,
Speaker 3: I didn't see it. I dreamed of being in a
Speaker 3: position where I could be creative on different levels musically,
Speaker 3: you know, I could be as creative as I want
Speaker 3: to be. And now movies, which teach you how to
Speaker 3: be creative in a three dimensional way, and now sports,
Speaker 3: which is creating a stage for great athletes to show
Speaker 3: you what they got, you know, so it's uh, it's
Speaker 3: all creating and I'm just I just felt blessed that
Speaker 3: I wasn't stuck in one area, like I wasn't just
Speaker 3: stuck doing records and nobody would know what I have
Speaker 3: to offer movie wise, and people love my movie so
Speaker 3: and now sports, I think people love the Big three
Speaker 3: letter has something to do in the summer when it's born,
Speaker 3: you know, just envision the league as it grow and
Speaker 3: we have more games during the week and things like that.
Speaker 3: You know, It's it's sometimes hard to convince people what
Speaker 3: you got before they can fully see it. But if
Speaker 3: people give you a chance and grow with you, they'll
Speaker 3: see exactly what you was talking about. And I'm just
Speaker 3: blessed that I'm unable to do that in different areas.
Speaker 1: Congratulations, I'm happy for you as well. I'd love to
Speaker 1: see you thrive, not survive, but thrive.
Speaker 2: Right, Every champion and Kerry Champion is to be a
Speaker 2: champion of Champion and Kerry Chappion and carry Chappy out
Speaker 2: a champion and carry Chappion and Kerry chaffraid is this
Speaker 2: Sportson entertainment can naked wear every Champion and carry Chappion
Speaker 2: is to be a champion of champion and carry Chappie
Speaker 2: and the girl compleaty got a champion and carry Chappion
Speaker 2: and carry Chappy. Afraid is the sporting entertainment cant naked wear?
Speaker 1: What do you think is the biggest misconception about ice cube?
Speaker 3: That? I mean.
Speaker 1: Right, because when it's accept I mean shocking. Why would
Speaker 1: people say that because you don't smile? You very get you.
Speaker 1: You could do a half a smile. I see you
Speaker 1: do half a smile one time. But why do they
Speaker 1: think you're mean? Be Could you just mind your business
Speaker 1: and you say to yourself?
Speaker 3: Probably because I'm direct and I don't try not to
Speaker 3: mince words. Sometimes they they meant because.
Speaker 1: You know, yeah and wait.
Speaker 3: But but for the most part, you know, I try
Speaker 3: to just be direct and yeah. Some people guess they
Speaker 3: like you, yes, yeah, yes, pleasant all the time. I
Speaker 3: don't know what the hell it is, you know it
Speaker 3: relas you be pleasant. I'm pleasant, but I'm just not,
Speaker 3: you know, always chipper, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Schipper doesn't go with your swag. No, no, it doesn't
Speaker 1: go with that. The swag that you have. I don't
Speaker 1: ever see that, Okay, so if you had a choice,
Speaker 1: these are my closing questions for you, and you could go.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about your typical vacation. Would you want to
Speaker 1: go to a city or a beach?
Speaker 3: Beach?
Speaker 1: If you could take one item with you, like one
Speaker 1: thing you cannot live without on this beach, what would
Speaker 1: it be.
Speaker 2: On?
Speaker 1: You could take one thing? Yeah, iPad? Because what's on
Speaker 1: your what's on your iPad? That's how you do your business,
Speaker 1: is how you communicate iss your brain has all the
Speaker 1: stuff in there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you know it's it's it's a way
Speaker 3: to to enjoy, enjoy your vacation, but still answer them questions.
Speaker 3: They need to be answered, you know. So I don't mind.
Speaker 3: You know some people like when I when I go
Speaker 3: on vacation, I want to throw everything down. No, I
Speaker 3: don't want to wait ten days before I find out,
Speaker 3: you know, I mean tell me now, Yeah, I need
Speaker 3: to know, you know what I mean? As it happens,
Speaker 3: I need a you know, I need a on the
Speaker 3: on the same reporter you need what went? Now?
Speaker 1: How did it happen? I don't want to wait ten
Speaker 1: days for something. I'm using that. That's going to be
Speaker 1: my new quote. I don't want to wait ten days
Speaker 1: if I happened, and then if you My other question
Speaker 1: then would be if you take your iPad and that's
Speaker 1: the one thing you need to you have for you
Speaker 1: so you can respond someone comes to you and says,
Speaker 1: you can only do one thing. You're really great at
Speaker 1: these two things, but you can only do one of
Speaker 1: the two. Would it be rap or would it be act?
Speaker 1: At this stage career? Oh really?
Speaker 3: Oh? All day? Yeah? Because you know I can make
Speaker 3: songs how I feel them. Movies are a comedy. You know,
Speaker 3: a lot of people that chime in, a lot of
Speaker 3: people have to bring their skills and talent to create
Speaker 3: one movie. But I could create, you know, three four
Speaker 3: songs in a day. If I'm moving, you know I'm rolling.
Speaker 3: So I like that that creative freedom, you know, lord
Speaker 3: and making movies.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Ice Cube literally a trailblazer in every
Speaker 1: sense of the word, and someone who disbelieves in what
Speaker 1: he believes in and stands by it. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining me on the podcast and taking time
Speaker 1: to explain what's happening with the Big Three. My hope
Speaker 1: is that you get this worked out with Adam Silver.
Speaker 1: But if not someone else comes along and helps you
Speaker 1: build this to where you want.
Speaker 3: It to be. Yeah, man, I appreciate it. Thanks for
Speaker 3: having me on. I'll come on anytime. The thing is
Speaker 3: me and Adam was cool before I started the Big Three.
Speaker 3: I bet, I bet. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's like it's like the this when the student becomes
Speaker 1: a teacher. You're like, wait a second, I thought you Okay, now,
Speaker 1: your competition it's it's the name of the game in
Speaker 1: every way, in every single way.
Speaker 3: No problem, no problem, we not competition. We will we
Speaker 3: let's do this together and we don't make something you
Speaker 3: want unity in mangus. Yeah, of course, you know the
Speaker 3: players wanted to.
Speaker 1: And I don't know why ice Cube would say. People
Speaker 1: think he's mean. It's just shocking, shocking, guy shocking, and
Speaker 1: I'm being sarcastic. That's the sarcasm dripping through my body
Speaker 1: right now. I definitely am afraid of that man. I
Speaker 1: don't know about y'all, but it's nice to hear his perspective,
Speaker 1: and I do. I do want to reiterate that he
Speaker 1: is very clear that he wants to work with Adam Silver.
Speaker 1: There is no beef. He wants to make it a
Speaker 1: friendly association not necessarily a competition in any form or fashion.
Speaker 1: So this isn't an anti an anti Adam Silver podcast.
Speaker 1: It's just saying, Hey, this is what's going on. I
Speaker 1: want to bring it to the attention of people. Maybe
Speaker 1: somebody can help. Maybe Adam Silver is not seeing it
Speaker 1: my way. Maybe calmer heads will prevail. I don't know
Speaker 1: who knows, but I appreciate him for saying that. At
Speaker 1: the end of the day, he's trying to be a businessman.
Speaker 1: If you will. I want to get into something a
Speaker 1: little more personal, something that happened this past week with
Speaker 1: affirmative action ruling. Every now and again, I use this
Speaker 1: platform to talk about things that I find completely unfortunate
Speaker 1: in society. But i'd be here all day if I
Speaker 1: did if I didn't do that in a way that
Speaker 1: I felt was smart. So today I'm going to try
Speaker 1: to do that in a smart way. So no affirmative action.
Speaker 1: Supreme Court rules that race cannot be a factor in admissions.
Speaker 1: Race as itself separates you from people, period, so that
Speaker 1: doesn't make any sense. However, they're okay with legacy admissions.
Speaker 1: I mean, if your parent or grandparents went to a
Speaker 1: certain school, you automatically for the most part, are accepted
Speaker 1: into that school. That's called a legacy admission. You know,
Speaker 1: if my mom built a building at UCLA, you better
Speaker 1: believe anybody and our family is going to go to
Speaker 1: UCLA for the rest of their lives because we have
Speaker 1: a legacy there. If you will, that's what that means.
Speaker 1: And there are a lot of people who feel like
Speaker 1: affirmative action takes away opportunities for other qualified majority students
Speaker 1: and that's just not the case. And I am speaking
Speaker 1: to you as a beneficiary of affirmative action. I went
Speaker 1: to UCLA, and when I was admitted into UCLA, it
Speaker 1: was very clear that standardized testing wasn't on my side.
Speaker 1: I did not do well on the SAT, but there
Speaker 1: are a lot of things that go into that. The
Speaker 1: school district that you're in, the preparation that you can
Speaker 1: either pay for or get for free. We obviously could
Speaker 1: not afford to pay for preparation, so I was able
Speaker 1: to take these classes for free that my local high
Speaker 1: school offered. Now, if Tim goes to a high school
Speaker 1: and his parents are doing well and they can give
Speaker 1: him a different type of preparation for the SAT, you
Speaker 1: better believe he's gonna probably do better than me. And
Speaker 1: now I'm not saying Tim should be faulted because his
Speaker 1: parents have money and society has allowed them to flourish
Speaker 1: in a different way than my family. But what I
Speaker 1: am saying is that I'm just as qualified. I just
Speaker 1: need the opportunity to show that I am so. Tim
Speaker 1: and Carey both enter UCLA. Carrie gets in with the
Speaker 1: help of affirmative action, and Tim gets in because you know,
Speaker 1: he has great grades and he did great on his SAT.
Speaker 1: But Tim and Carey both graduate at the same time.
Speaker 1: Tim and Carey both go on to be successful. Carrie's
Speaker 1: arguably more successful, and that is the benefit of affirmative
Speaker 1: action someone who normally would not get the opportunity based
Speaker 1: on their circumstances. I cannot be faulted, but this country
Speaker 1: does allow that to happen. I should not be faulted
Speaker 1: for being born into circumstances that are underprivileged. I deserve
Speaker 1: to have an opportunity. I deserve to have the right
Speaker 1: to sit in classes at UCLA, learn and prove that
Speaker 1: I do belong. Because affirmative action doesn't take your tests
Speaker 1: for you. Affirmative action doesn't do your exams affirmative action
Speaker 1: doesn't write the many papers that I wrote. Affirmative action
Speaker 1: didn't work the three jobs that I worked during my
Speaker 1: time in college. Tim didn't have to work. And I'm
Speaker 1: happy Tim didn't have to work. His parents had money.
Speaker 1: He didn't have to drive back and forth in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night from whatever local restaurant he had
Speaker 1: to host that so that he could pay for his
Speaker 1: school books because his parents had money. And I am
Speaker 1: not faulting Tim, but what I am saying is that
Speaker 1: a system that doesn't take those things into consideration is unfortunate.
Speaker 1: We're not asking for a handout, We're just asking for
Speaker 1: a little help.
Speaker 3: Up.
Speaker 1: Hold the door open. Hold it open. I'll walk right
Speaker 1: on in and I'm gonna kick ass when I get there.
Speaker 1: I don't need you to do anything else but just
Speaker 1: hold this door open. I don't need you to give
Speaker 1: me any money. I don't need you to teach me
Speaker 1: how to read write, or take my or do the
Speaker 1: exams for me, or help me or push me through
Speaker 1: school and give me any extra special favor. Support is great, right,
Speaker 1: I would love that, but I don't need it. And
Speaker 1: thank goodness, affirmative action was in play when I was
Speaker 1: at UCLA because I would not have had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to show those who did not believe that I could.
Speaker 1: And so in real time, we are watching our society
Speaker 1: remove very important rights for the marginalized. And I hear
Speaker 1: all the time, and I'm gonna get real real with you, guys, Carrie,
Speaker 1: what do you know about that?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 1: You're successful, you have money? You da da da dah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I work hard, I absolutely do. But I still
Speaker 1: can't forget what I didn't have, and I still cannot
Speaker 1: forget how hard I have worked to get to this point.
Speaker 1: And I still don't forget that when I walk in
Speaker 1: a room, you see my color before you see me.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately, because society is not color blind, like the
Speaker 1: Supreme Court would like us to believe, it's always an
Speaker 1: issue in some form or fashion. At this big old age,
Speaker 1: I'm still proving myself this big old age, I have
Speaker 1: to pull out my resume and tell people what I've done.
Speaker 1: And I don't mind. But what I do mind is
Speaker 1: closing the door to those who are just asking for
Speaker 1: a little help in the sense of hold it open,
Speaker 1: you know how, like the visual of you're racing to
Speaker 1: get to an appointment, and you want to get on
Speaker 1: the elevator, and it's only one elevator and it's about
Speaker 1: to close, and you really don't want them to close
Speaker 1: the elevator because you got to get to this appointment.
Speaker 1: And someone is kind and generous enough to say, oh, no,
Speaker 1: I got it. And you see this hand come out
Speaker 1: of nowhere and it holds the door open and you
Speaker 1: hop in and you're like, ooh, that's a relief. I
Speaker 1: gotta get ready for this appointment. I need to be
Speaker 1: there in thirty seconds. You really helped me out. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you, sir. What does it matter? What does it matter?
Speaker 1: What does it matter that person who helped the elevator
Speaker 1: for you, for me, for whomever, What does it matter
Speaker 1: to them? In fact, you should feel good about helping somebody.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately we don't see it that way. Supreme Court
Speaker 1: anyway doesn't see it that way. Katanji Brown Jackson, Justice
Speaker 1: Katanji Brown Jackson, let me make sure I get that right.
Speaker 1: I'm a little too familiar. In her dissent and her
Speaker 1: message that she wrote, she said, no one benefits from ignorance,
Speaker 1: and that was an ignorant decision. Affirmative action does not
Speaker 1: take spots away from people who deserve them. It creates
Speaker 1: more opportunity for those who are overlooked, who are pushed
Speaker 1: into the corners, the marginalized. It all levels out, it
Speaker 1: really does. No one is coming for your job, if
Speaker 1: it's your job. No one is coming for your college position,
Speaker 1: if it is yours to have no one And I
Speaker 1: know some of you don't see it that way. I
Speaker 1: know you don't, and that's fine, but we forget what
Speaker 1: this country was built on. We're not colorblind. We're not
Speaker 1: we're not biased blind either. So my hope is that
Speaker 1: if you're listening and you know what's going on with
Speaker 1: affirmative action, you take some time to reach out to
Speaker 1: your local congressman, your local senator, whomever represents you if
Speaker 1: you know who that is, and send a note and
Speaker 1: saying you're willing to participate, you're willing to use your
Speaker 1: platform to talk about the benefits of affirmative action, or
Speaker 1: how can you help because this is a grassroots effort.
Speaker 1: I'm off my soapbox. We'll be back next week with
Speaker 1: another addition of naked truly appreciate you off or listening