Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: Search seventy Sixers podcast Wherever you get your Pods. When
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers were on the clock in this year's draft,
Speaker 1: they saw someone who they didn't expect to be there.
Speaker 1: The Philadelphia seventy Sixers select Tyrese Maxie from the University
Speaker 1: of Kentucky. The reaction from the Kentucky's Tyrese Maxie and
Speaker 1: his family was fantastic. He was widely regarded as a
Speaker 1: lottery great talent, and his former college coach feels the
Speaker 1: Sixers got to steal. If we would have played the
Speaker 1: finish of the season, he would have been a ten, eleven,
Speaker 1: twelve pick, maybe lower depending on how well you played.
Speaker 1: So they've got that pick where they got twenty one.
Speaker 1: With workouts in training camp just days away, Maxie is
Speaker 1: actiously awaiting the start of his NBA career. That's gonna
Speaker 1: be one of my main attributes to the team is
Speaker 1: that my defensibility, and I feel like it's going to
Speaker 1: be really cool and played a different guys like Dan
Speaker 1: and other guys on a team that who enjoy playing defense.
Speaker 1: I'm Brian Seltzer and this week on the broadcast, it's
Speaker 1: our Meet the Prospects miniseries. Up first the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: top pick Tyrese Maxie. Exciting times in Sixers Land. There's
Speaker 1: the big Draft Night with some big moves a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago, and then two days after that, the start
Speaker 1: of an active free agency period for the Sixers, and
Speaker 1: now when the calendar flips from November to December, the
Speaker 1: start of individual one on one workouts for the Sixers
Speaker 1: at the training complex on December the first. It is
Speaker 1: crazy how fast things are moving, just three weeks out
Speaker 1: essentially from the start of the twenty twenty twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one season. Hobey at a great holiday weekend. I got
Speaker 1: a chance to enjoy it in whichever safe and fulfilling
Speaker 1: way that you could. Yes, this week it is going
Speaker 1: to be Meet the Prospects week here on the broadcast.
Speaker 1: Very excited about that. Each episode, and there's of course
Speaker 1: going to be three of them because the Sixers made
Speaker 1: three draft picks. We're gonna hear from the pick himself
Speaker 1: and also we'll interview his former college head coach. So
Speaker 1: on Wednesday it'll be Arkansas's Isaiah Joe and his head
Speaker 1: coach Eric Musselman, a former NBA coach, and then on Friday,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from DePaul's, Paul Reid and Dave Lado. But
Speaker 1: to tip off this series, we begin by featuring Tyrese Maxie.
Speaker 1: We'll get more analysis about him from his head coach
Speaker 1: John Calparry from Kentucky in a bit. But first, Lauren
Speaker 1: Rosen went one on one with the number twenty one
Speaker 1: selection the morning after the NBA Draft. First of all,
Speaker 1: we're thrilled to have you. We're excited to see you
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia. Did you get any sleep last night? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I did. I did. I want to sleep last night, man,
Speaker 1: I mean getting I get up early in the morning,
Speaker 1: so you know, workout starts early in the morning, so
Speaker 1: I like to sleep at night. But I did. It
Speaker 1: was this exciting night. I'm very blessed and thankful for
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia as an organization and I really appreciate at
Speaker 1: the opportunity. Well, we're excited to have you. I'm curious.
Speaker 1: Are you in Texas right now? Are you're in your hometown?
Speaker 1: I am, I am. I just got here Monday night. Awesome. Well,
Speaker 1: I happen to be in Houston right now, so not
Speaker 1: too far away. What I wanted to ask you though,
Speaker 1: normally today we'd all be in Camden at the training complex,
Speaker 1: we'd be getting to know you in person. How does
Speaker 1: this all feel to you? I know growing up you
Speaker 1: must have imagined sort of last night and today, but
Speaker 1: how does it feel to be doing it from home
Speaker 1: in this crazy year? Honestly, the draft at home was
Speaker 1: kind of cool because you can get you can kind
Speaker 1: of have like a more intimate, you know, setting, like
Speaker 1: when my family was there, and it just like kind
Speaker 1: of it was really cool. It was really cool. I
Speaker 1: know it's different and uh, you know via zoom. It
Speaker 1: was cool to be the inaugural in a class of
Speaker 1: doing that. I don't know how you know, all playoff
Speaker 1: for years to come, but you know, it was really cool.
Speaker 1: It was still a blessing. I think about the same way,
Speaker 1: and like I said, I'm very very thankful of the
Speaker 1: organization for taking that chance. Well, we're excited to have
Speaker 1: you as well, Not that I had anything to do
Speaker 1: with it at all, but I really excited to see
Speaker 1: you come along. So just logistically, like, take me through
Speaker 1: how does this all work now? Because normally we'd be
Speaker 1: getting ready for free agency. You probably meet us at
Speaker 1: the summer League. Um, we'd have a couple of months,
Speaker 1: you find a place in Philadelphia. What does the next
Speaker 1: ten or eleven days look like for you in this
Speaker 1: sort of sprint to training camp. Um, probably like a
Speaker 1: little in a exploited process that you just said, I mean,
Speaker 1: just all that bundled them, like you said, those well
Speaker 1: eleven to twelve days, so you know, it's it's amazing
Speaker 1: time and it's exciting time. And that's one reason why.
Speaker 1: That's the exact reason why my whole thing during this,
Speaker 1: you know, the quarantine process and this this layoff was
Speaker 1: my body right uh, standing up getting the best shape
Speaker 1: of my life because you I never known when you
Speaker 1: know they were gonna snap their fingers and we'll be
Speaker 1: lane drafted. Is the eighteenth, the training camp December first,
Speaker 1: So now I feel like I'm in the best shape
Speaker 1: of my life and I'm ready to go. That's awesome.
Speaker 1: You said that you felt like it was maybe a
Speaker 1: little bit cooler to do the draft at home, more
Speaker 1: of an intimate experience. Can you tell me what it
Speaker 1: was like to have your family react alongside you. When
Speaker 1: you look back at last night, what are you going
Speaker 1: to remember the most I think I'll remember in a
Speaker 1: laughing at the table, in the conversation, just throughout the
Speaker 1: whole process before the draft started. You know, those are memories,
Speaker 1: the pictures that my sisters, my three sisters were taking,
Speaker 1: the Snapchat videos, and my mom sitting there last. You know,
Speaker 1: just just that that whole experience was great. You know,
Speaker 1: it means a lot for me, you know, for those
Speaker 1: my family members to be there, just because I know
Speaker 1: they sacrificed so much, you know, for me just trying
Speaker 1: to change these dreams. My sisters, my oldest sister, I
Speaker 1: tell her thank you. I'm thankful for her so much,
Speaker 1: just because I had to travel so much, my parents
Speaker 1: had to spend a lot of different money just because
Speaker 1: you know, the path I was trying to take. And
Speaker 1: I'm very thankful for that. And as soon as you
Speaker 1: got drafted, I know usually you guys get a call
Speaker 1: from some important people in the Sixers front office. Who
Speaker 1: did you get to talk to and what were those conversations?
Speaker 1: Like I got talked to a lot of different people,
Speaker 1: you know Highlight, you know, coach Doc Rivers and Ben Simmons,
Speaker 1: and you know a great conversation. You know, men would
Speaker 1: just saying how happy he was and just seeing them
Speaker 1: in Las, seeing him workout, seeing him seeing me workout,
Speaker 1: you know, building NAX type of relationship. It was really cool,
Speaker 1: really cool to get, you know, get drafted to a
Speaker 1: team where someone like Ben Simmons own clutch family and
Speaker 1: that I know him and coach Doc River was just
Speaker 1: telling me, you know, he can't wait to get started.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Ben, and I do want to ask you
Speaker 1: a little bit more about that. What do you just
Speaker 1: as a basketball player, What do you admire most about Ben?
Speaker 1: And how excited are you to now be teammates. I
Speaker 1: don't mind his creativity. I mind his creativity and his
Speaker 1: work ethic. You know, every time I saw him, he was,
Speaker 1: you know, putting work in the gym, and you know
Speaker 1: that's that's something that someone of his caliber is really
Speaker 1: you can you can tell the work that he's put in.
Speaker 1: So and I'm the same way. I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: a gym right and I'm getting up in early in
Speaker 1: the morning and that the things like that they impress me.
Speaker 1: So yeah, like I say, it's creativity. The way he
Speaker 1: plays the game fast paced, the way he defends, you know,
Speaker 1: the way he takes you know, pride and actually defending
Speaker 1: in the passion that that that's the one thing I
Speaker 1: really really appreciate. I know you also spent some time
Speaker 1: with Lebron James and Rondo as well. What have those
Speaker 1: guys been like for you as mentors as you get
Speaker 1: ready to join them in the same league. It's been great.
Speaker 1: And the Rondo it was, he was amazing for me. Um.
Speaker 1: I was able to work out with him pre Bubble
Speaker 1: at six o'clock in the morning every every single morning
Speaker 1: before you know he left, and I'm very thankful for
Speaker 1: him letting me come in there. Um. I told trainer
Speaker 1: Chris Josh that I wanted to be the first one
Speaker 1: in the gym, and he said, okay, well then you
Speaker 1: know you're gonna work out Rondo at six untill he leaves.
Speaker 1: And then I worked out by myself to the end.
Speaker 1: But you know, it was great. He taught me a
Speaker 1: lot of different things. Like I felt like I learned
Speaker 1: so much in a short window, Like I was only
Speaker 1: willing for like three or four weeks, but it was
Speaker 1: every day, so I feel like I learned like something
Speaker 1: new every single day. It was. It was. It's a
Speaker 1: great feeling and I really appreciate it for that, and
Speaker 1: then go into the Lebron situation. You know, it's just
Speaker 1: a family, family oriented, like we clicked even with Ben
Speaker 1: Lebron and different other different guys around the league, and
Speaker 1: I really appreciate them as my older brothers, and I
Speaker 1: can't wait to get started. I feel like that's something
Speaker 1: that anyone going into a new career would be happy
Speaker 1: to have, right, people that are already successful at what
Speaker 1: they do, that are willing to offer you advice and
Speaker 1: willing to sort of guide you. What types of questions
Speaker 1: are you going to have for those guys, Like what's
Speaker 1: top of mine? Now? Is you get ready to make
Speaker 1: this transition? Oh? I don't know. You know, It's gonna
Speaker 1: be a lot of different questions. I'm a very curious person.
Speaker 1: My first question is like I want to know how,
Speaker 1: like the gym works, the facility works, Like do we
Speaker 1: have twenty four hour access? How can we you know?
Speaker 1: Because like I like to work in the morning, like
Speaker 1: six am, So like can I just walk in and
Speaker 1: work out? I don't know how it works? Yit so
Speaker 1: because at college I could just when I wanted to
Speaker 1: work at six I could just go in and scam
Speaker 1: out a little my eyes in, you know, walk right
Speaker 1: in and work out. So I'm just that was my
Speaker 1: movie my first question. And then you know, just a
Speaker 1: little tours of the cities, like you know, I know
Speaker 1: a lot a little bit about Philly just because just
Speaker 1: what I've seen on the Internet and what I've seen
Speaker 1: it in movies like Rocky and different things like that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I just can't wait. Well, I can tell
Speaker 1: you you're in very good hands. I know after you're
Speaker 1: done speaking with me, you're going to meet some of
Speaker 1: the folks at the facility, and normally you'd get the
Speaker 1: Grand Tour, but I know that that's coming soon enough.
Speaker 1: And I think that you keep mentioning how early you
Speaker 1: work out, how much effort you put into your craft
Speaker 1: and into your game. And I can tell you for sure,
Speaker 1: people in Philly are gonna love that. People in Philly
Speaker 1: are all about hard work and going the extra mile.
Speaker 1: Where does that come from? Do you just love the game?
Speaker 1: Are you? Are you focused on self improvement all the time?
Speaker 1: Where does the fire come from for you? Yeah? One
Speaker 1: is my respect for the game, you know, and my
Speaker 1: thing is I want to get one percent better every
Speaker 1: single day at the end of the day, like when
Speaker 1: it's all saying down and the ball stops bouncing. I
Speaker 1: want to be able to say and I put my
Speaker 1: all into it. I want I don't want to be
Speaker 1: I don't want to have any what ifs or dang
Speaker 1: I wish I would have did that and and that's
Speaker 1: not that's not how I roll. I want to be
Speaker 1: able to say, I put put it all on the line,
Speaker 1: maximize my potential, and well, like I said, got one
Speaker 1: percent better every single day. So before we dive in
Speaker 1: a little deeper to the basketball side of things, I've
Speaker 1: been in the league myself a couple of years now
Speaker 1: doing what I do. And as soon as the Sixers
Speaker 1: drafted you, I had some friends around the league say,
Speaker 1: you got a great guy. He has a great personality,
Speaker 1: he's so fun to work with. What does that sort
Speaker 1: of reputation mean to you, and how would you describe
Speaker 1: that personality because clearly it's a vibrant one. But who
Speaker 1: are you as a person off the court? This is me?
Speaker 1: This is me on the court off the court, Like
Speaker 1: one thing about me is yes, I am a very
Speaker 1: competitive person and I love to win and you're gonna
Speaker 1: see it. And I feel like from day one. You
Speaker 1: know they're gonna realize that. And I don't like losing.
Speaker 1: Whatever it is. You know, it doesn't matter whatever I'm whatever,
Speaker 1: if it has a winner in it, I want to win.
Speaker 1: I mean, ain't what it is. Life is a competition
Speaker 1: in my eyes. But this is just me, this is
Speaker 1: my personality. I mean, I enjoy life. Um, I'm very
Speaker 1: very blessing of the Lord has blessed me to do, uh,
Speaker 1: do what I love get up every morning and a
Speaker 1: lot of people can't say that. You know that they're
Speaker 1: able to do that. So get on my knees and
Speaker 1: pray every single night. And you know he has helped
Speaker 1: me keep this smile on my face all the time.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's just it's it's great and I
Speaker 1: really like enjoy it being like this. Well, it's very
Speaker 1: clear that that you're an awesome, engaging Sorry, it's the
Speaker 1: word I was looking for, guys, So we're stoked to
Speaker 1: have you. A couple other things I heard about you
Speaker 1: off the court. I've heard you're a big marvel guy.
Speaker 1: Is that true? That that is? That is one hundred
Speaker 1: percent true, man, that's one hundred percent. That used to
Speaker 1: be like a secret now every I think everybody knows
Speaker 1: about it. They exposed you, they got me. Man, Man,
Speaker 1: it's okay. It's a good thing. So what about that
Speaker 1: universe excites you the most? And do you draw any
Speaker 1: comparisons maybe to any of the heroes in that world.
Speaker 1: My thing when Marvel is is like the way they
Speaker 1: create the narrative and how it just it goes from
Speaker 1: story to story and all ties in as one big
Speaker 1: story like that, right there is an amazing to me
Speaker 1: how they're able to keep that, you know, in mind,
Speaker 1: and all the different the different movies, different filmmaks. And I,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, like I like I
Speaker 1: like acting, so like when I was younger, I was
Speaker 1: in The Wizard of Oz. So at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, I want to become I want to be
Speaker 1: one of those, you know, one of those characters. And
Speaker 1: and that's that's one of the reason why I think
Speaker 1: I really like the Marvel Cinematic University. So, if this
Speaker 1: NBA thing doesn't work out for you, are you gonna
Speaker 1: go the acting route. I'm well, let's hope it does.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm work extremeal hard to make it work out.
Speaker 1: And then you know, like I said, when a bass.
Speaker 1: I was bouncing, and I want to my personality. I
Speaker 1: feel like I can do a lot of different things.
Speaker 1: So you know, I think I have a common being
Speaker 1: a commentator in mine because I like to talk, you know,
Speaker 1: I'd like to engage with different people. And then you know,
Speaker 1: the acting the side as well. You know, it just
Speaker 1: being you know, personal being having this personality, smiling all
Speaker 1: the time and being able to hold conversations with people.
Speaker 1: I think that's you know, some of them my liking. Well,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be lightening it up on the court and
Speaker 1: stealing my job at the same time. I can already
Speaker 1: tell so I need to up my game to keep
Speaker 1: up with you. Yeah, hey, you know, I may have
Speaker 1: a play and then you know, do the interview. Never know,
Speaker 1: I can tell you that will happen. That is a
Speaker 1: thing that happens. So you need to get ready for
Speaker 1: that first moment. All right, So let's do talk about
Speaker 1: basketball a little bit now, even though I could go
Speaker 1: on about this stuff forever. Actually, who did you play
Speaker 1: in the Wizard of Oz? I need to know before
Speaker 1: we move on. I was so I played the lead
Speaker 1: of the man what is it called the henchmen for
Speaker 1: the Witch that's what I was. I was that and
Speaker 1: then I did I did something else with them. What
Speaker 1: do they called the um I can't even remember the name,
Speaker 1: but the evil side. You were on the dark side. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for my for my main part, but I was an
Speaker 1: extra in a different situation too. I can't remember what
Speaker 1: the little things were called. But you know, it was
Speaker 1: really cool. I would have continue with it, like when
Speaker 1: a little further. But I mean, I love basketball so
Speaker 1: much and it took up a lot of my time.
Speaker 1: Like I said, the six A workouts and different things
Speaker 1: like that. You know, that takes up a lot of time.
Speaker 1: So when it's all setting done, you know, at the
Speaker 1: end of it, I'm definitely gonna an adventure over the
Speaker 1: munch there it is, man, I can't even I'm you know,
Speaker 1: my my theater tip. You're gonna be mad at me
Speaker 1: if you see this. So you did. You were one
Speaker 1: of the henchmen, you were one of the munchkins. Maybe
Speaker 1: a utility player on the stage. Now you're a versatile
Speaker 1: guy on the court. I'm working on my segways as
Speaker 1: you might be able to tell, but if you could,
Speaker 1: if you could describe your game a little bit, maybe
Speaker 1: for folks that haven't gotten to watch you play that much.
Speaker 1: Who are you on the court? I think I'm a
Speaker 1: competitor first and foremos. I think that you know, that's
Speaker 1: the that's my I feel like that's a skill. Winning
Speaker 1: is a skill. You know, it's a it's an attribute
Speaker 1: to have to your game. And I feel like that
Speaker 1: that's my main my main pitch to people like, um,
Speaker 1: I'm a very like I said, been talking about the
Speaker 1: whole time off its cars, dominant doesn't matter. I compete
Speaker 1: and I think that's what the Philadelphia fans are gonna
Speaker 1: see from day one. That and I like to win.
Speaker 1: And I'm really glad to be a part of the
Speaker 1: organization because you know, they're contending. In my eyes, you know,
Speaker 1: the guys like Jodlan bib Ben Simmons coach like Doc Rivers,
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, they have they have one
Speaker 1: goal in mind, and you know that's that's a common
Speaker 1: goal of Mint in whatever situation I'm in. But you know,
Speaker 1: just just going into play style, I feel like I
Speaker 1: can play on and off the ball. I feel like, um,
Speaker 1: you know, at the University of Kentucky coach Kal I mean,
Speaker 1: all my life, I've been playing on the ball, point
Speaker 1: different things like that. But when I got to Kentucky,
Speaker 1: you know, they already had four starters. So he told
Speaker 1: me he had one spot for me and to play.
Speaker 1: He needed me to do this. He needed me to
Speaker 1: you know, defend, and he needed me to play off
Speaker 1: the ball and you know, trying to you know, get
Speaker 1: it how I live. And that's what I did. And
Speaker 1: I really appreciate him for that because now I feel
Speaker 1: like I fit into the role of the hybrid guards.
Speaker 1: And then the new age NBA guys like Jamal Murray,
Speaker 1: the guys like c J. McCullum, guys who can play
Speaker 1: on the ball so asiliate for their teammage runner team
Speaker 1: and score while they're on the ball, and then play
Speaker 1: off the ball as well, and play off guys like
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and knocked down open shots. Well,
Speaker 1: you mentioned Ben and Joel. And to wrap this up,
Speaker 1: I don't know how much you might have watched the
Speaker 1: Sixers prior to the draft, but what excites you most
Speaker 1: when you think about this roster. I'm sure you sort
Speaker 1: of scrolled through last night. What gets you the most
Speaker 1: excited about joining this group? I think the defense of
Speaker 1: the potential defensively, Like, it's just a lot of different
Speaker 1: guys on this team that looks like they enjoy playing defense,
Speaker 1: and that's that was my main thing. I enjoy playing defense.
Speaker 1: I enjoy stopping people. I enjoy, you know, smothering different
Speaker 1: guys and making guys feel uncomfortable. And that's that's gonna
Speaker 1: be one of my main and one of my main
Speaker 1: you know, attributes and attribution to the team is that
Speaker 1: you know my defensibility, and I feel like it's going
Speaker 1: to be really cool and to play with different guys
Speaker 1: like Ben and other guys on a team that who
Speaker 1: enjoy playing defense. Yeah, I can tell you right now,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have some teammates that are going to be
Speaker 1: thrilled to go wire to wire with you on the
Speaker 1: defensive end. So, Tyrese, thank you for doing this with
Speaker 1: me today. That's all I've got for you. I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to meeting you in person. You seem awesome on
Speaker 1: and off the court, and we're really excited to work
Speaker 1: with you. Likewise, I really appreciate y'all. Nice meeting. Thank you, Tyrese, Maxie,
Speaker 1: thank you, Lauren Rosen. We'll hear from John Caliparry in
Speaker 1: a moment, just a quick PSA before we get to
Speaker 1: that interview. If you like what you are hearing, you
Speaker 1: are not yet a subscriber to the seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: podcast network. Change that, and if you're listening on Apple,
Speaker 1: please give us a rating. Wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 1: all you gotta do is search seventy six Ers podcast
Speaker 1: and that should take you right to our fee. We
Speaker 1: know this already from either watching highlights we're hearing his
Speaker 1: chat with Lauren Rosen. Tyrese Maxie is full of energy.
Speaker 1: Well so is the guy who coached him at Kentucky
Speaker 1: last year, John cal Parry, who, by the way, not
Speaker 1: sure how many of you out there remember this. He
Speaker 1: was a seventy Sixers assistant during the nineteen ninety nine
Speaker 1: two thousand season in the iver scenari of the year
Speaker 1: before the seventy six Ers went to the NBA Finals.
Speaker 1: A cool footnote which we're definitely gonna bring up in
Speaker 1: a few minutes, but right now it is a pleasure
Speaker 1: to be joined by coach cal John. What type of
Speaker 1: prospect of the seventy sixers getting in Tyrese Maxie, Well,
Speaker 1: I think it's for both it's gonna work well. I
Speaker 1: have great respect for Doc, always have one of the
Speaker 1: most authentic people. Forget about coaching, one of the most
Speaker 1: authentic people you'll ever meet, not a whole lot of
Speaker 1: bs with him. Keeps it real. And then they also
Speaker 1: have Sam Cassell, who has tutored two of my other guards,
Speaker 1: John Wall and Shaye Alexander. And now he gets Tyrese.
Speaker 1: Maxie called me right away and we're getting another one,
Speaker 1: and so I'm happy for that side of it for Tyrese. Tyrese,
Speaker 1: if we would have played the finish of the season,
Speaker 1: my guess is we would have been an Elite eight,
Speaker 1: maybe better team. I thought we had a chance to
Speaker 1: win the whole thing because of how we were playing.
Speaker 1: He would have been a ten to eleven twelve pick,
Speaker 1: maybe lower depending on how well he played. But he
Speaker 1: was playing really well. So they've got that pick ten
Speaker 1: eleven twelve where they got it twenty one, So they
Speaker 1: got steal. He's another player, and I've had many that
Speaker 1: I'll say on draft night, the people that passed on
Speaker 1: Tyree's will regret. They'll look back and say, what were
Speaker 1: we thinking? He's He's a competitor. Um he'll he's not
Speaker 1: he'll earn everything. He's not expecting everything to come his way.
Speaker 1: He'll go take what he wants. He'll bet on himself.
Speaker 1: He's a gym rat. His father was a coach, coached him,
Speaker 1: really good coach Tyrone was, and so he's learned from
Speaker 1: an early age dribble drive, spacing, That's what his dad taught.
Speaker 1: He took it from Memphis when I was there and
Speaker 1: brought it in to where he was in Dallas. But
Speaker 1: he did it better than me. When I went watched
Speaker 1: the team actice, I'm like, jeez, you're running our stuff
Speaker 1: better than we running. So the kid understands lane touching,
Speaker 1: running downhill, floaters, spacing the court, being able to get
Speaker 1: by people straight line drives, all that stuff physically good
Speaker 1: enough to guard, like really get on you, play through
Speaker 1: pick and rolls, play through screens, be able to stay
Speaker 1: in front of people, so they've got they got to steal.
Speaker 1: Do you mind us sort of walking us through the
Speaker 1: beginnings of your relationship with Tyrese? When do you remember
Speaker 1: watching him first and how excited were you to bring
Speaker 1: him to Kentucky. Well, you know, we watched these kids
Speaker 1: early and then they grow he was on one team
Speaker 1: and AU went to another, and now all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: wasn't the same guy. And then went back and I
Speaker 1: liked what I saw when he wasn't playing as well,
Speaker 1: wasn't connected to the teammates, because you always want to
Speaker 1: know when it doesn't go right, how will they handle it?
Speaker 1: Because it doesn't go right all the time, and there's
Speaker 1: points of your career that you may take a step back.
Speaker 1: How do you deal with it? He was unbelievable. Never
Speaker 1: stop smiling. He's another one to walk into Jim and
Speaker 1: have the biggest smile on his face. And when you're
Speaker 1: coaching it, you walk in and you love to see
Speaker 1: him like he makes you happy. The other thing I'll
Speaker 1: tell you we went into home the first time. There
Speaker 1: were two things. He walked me up to his bedroom
Speaker 1: because he wanted me to look at a picture he
Speaker 1: had drawn as a ninth grader with him in a
Speaker 1: Kentucky basketball uniform. So now I already know, all right,
Speaker 1: I want to coach this kid. Let's see where this goes.
Speaker 1: They also had their whole family there, including grandma. He
Speaker 1: wanted his grandmother there to okay me as a coach
Speaker 1: and me as a person and it's the kind of
Speaker 1: family and you look at it and say, look, he
Speaker 1: gets unconditional love, but they challenge him, they hold him
Speaker 1: accountable all those things. So all the stuff that maybe
Speaker 1: some other kids are going through that ain't gonna be it.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be Jim time. How do you want me
Speaker 1: to play? Tell me what you want me to do?
Speaker 1: He could play on the ball like Jamal Murray, off
Speaker 1: the ball like Jamal Murray. Same with Tyler Hero, same
Speaker 1: with Shale Alexander. Those guards don't have to have it
Speaker 1: the whole time, but if they do, they can play
Speaker 1: pick and roll, make place. They can be a place
Speaker 1: starter if you need him to be. So you mentioned
Speaker 1: that he's smiling all the time. He's told us about
Speaker 1: that work ethic that you also alluded to his six
Speaker 1: am workouts. So when it comes to obviously he has
Speaker 1: a lot of grit and a lot of drive, but
Speaker 1: he does seem like a really smiley, happy, engaging type
Speaker 1: of guy. Can you just tell us a little more
Speaker 1: about his personality and sort of who we're getting off
Speaker 1: the port. Yeah, that's that's who he is. He's another
Speaker 1: one that I said about Doc being authentic. This kid
Speaker 1: is authentic. None of that is fake. When you see fake,
Speaker 1: whether you're a team teammate or a coach, you know like,
Speaker 1: oh no, you you know when you walk in with
Speaker 1: him every day, you say, this, dude is authentic. This
Speaker 1: is there's a spirit about those kind of guys. Jamal
Speaker 1: Murray used to walk in our practices and be smiling
Speaker 1: and look at me and point to his mouth, tell
Speaker 1: me to smile. And Tyrese is the same. They're comfortable
Speaker 1: in their skin, They're comfortable with where they're going. They're
Speaker 1: comfortable earning their way. You don't have to guarantee something.
Speaker 1: You don't have to run every play too. How many
Speaker 1: guys in the NBA that are rookies walk into the
Speaker 1: league and are volume shooters and you were running everything
Speaker 1: through you. There are none you got And if you're
Speaker 1: at a program, and I always say this, here, they
Speaker 1: learn to fight. They earn their way here. If you
Speaker 1: don't fight, it's flight you run. It's one of the two.
Speaker 1: You earn your way here. Nothing is guaranteed. And you
Speaker 1: understand the competitiveness of practice every day. Not you play
Speaker 1: a thirty one game schedule. There's eight guys as good
Speaker 1: as you during the year that you're plan every day
Speaker 1: in practice. You got to bring it to get better.
Speaker 1: And he's gone through it. He's a guy that was
Speaker 1: in the gym in the morning. At night if he
Speaker 1: had a bad shooting night, he went in the gym.
Speaker 1: I mean, there you're and again with Doc, with Sam,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a kid that is going to be
Speaker 1: tutored to be something special. You can correct me, coach
Speaker 1: if I have this wrong. But something interesting and reading
Speaker 1: up on Tyres in this past season that I saw
Speaker 1: was after a game in February. I think it might
Speaker 1: have been ad Vanderbilt put up some great numbers, but
Speaker 1: I think you were quoted as saying after the game
Speaker 1: that was really the first time he showed some toughness
Speaker 1: and some real fighting him After that game, can you
Speaker 1: tell us what that meant to you, what you observed?
Speaker 1: And then for a rookie, especially you're going to the
Speaker 1: next physical level, despite Tyres being a physical specimen, what
Speaker 1: that toughness could do for him trying to carve out
Speaker 1: his first year in the NBA. All right, so let
Speaker 1: me tell you what all these When I get guys here,
Speaker 1: my biggest challenge is teaching them and getting them to
Speaker 1: create professional habits. A high school habit is you bounce
Speaker 1: it beside yourself and then maybe enough. A pro habit
Speaker 1: is the ball is by the man. You can't get
Speaker 1: the ball by the man. You're not getting by the man,
Speaker 1: so you gotta think in terms of ball by the man.
Speaker 1: Second one is in high school, you get bumped, what
Speaker 1: do you do? You spend you step back, you're doing
Speaker 1: individual work. Pick up the tennis ball, kick the volley ball,
Speaker 1: go through the cones, step back and shoot. Well, you
Speaker 1: gotta be a pro. Habit is one bump, two bump,
Speaker 1: keep going. A high school habit is bump's been away,
Speaker 1: step back. So he came in with some of that,
Speaker 1: and in that game, it was the first game I
Speaker 1: saw him playing through bumps. He created the contact before,
Speaker 1: not avoiding it. He created it physically stepping in, taking
Speaker 1: a charge. And it went like, if that's who you are,
Speaker 1: you're on an unbelievable path now. But it's all these kids,
Speaker 1: it's it's what we have to teach. Some of them
Speaker 1: will fight you, and it takes longer. Some of them
Speaker 1: are delusion on, say you don't understand I can shoot
Speaker 1: these step backs. Hey, you make thirty percent, seventy percent
Speaker 1: of the time, we lose the game. So we're trying
Speaker 1: to win. And you won't believe this. This is not
Speaker 1: about an individual workout. It's about winning. It's about competing.
Speaker 1: This is about battling, about being tough, about being efficient.
Speaker 1: How about this one. Make a really really hard play
Speaker 1: look easy. Don't make a layup look like some circus.
Speaker 1: It's a layup. It's a layup. But when you can
Speaker 1: make a step through Euro off the wrong foot, Tyler
Speaker 1: hero and lay it in lefty. Only the people that
Speaker 1: play basketball, other players, coaches, you say, holy Kyle, and
Speaker 1: he made that look easy. That is a special player.
Speaker 1: But again the M one tape showtime, whoa you know
Speaker 1: stuff they get in high school. Oh, you'll see that.
Speaker 1: It's all those things. You don't try to break habits
Speaker 1: too hard because they've been doing it for ten years.
Speaker 1: You create new habits. And that's what we did with him.
Speaker 1: And let me just tell you again one of the
Speaker 1: great stories. A team that was trying to get him
Speaker 1: fell in love with them, and they called me and said,
Speaker 1: here's why. And I want to know you two tell
Speaker 1: me how do analytics evaluate this? How would an analytic
Speaker 1: what numbers go to this? Okay, we want he played
Speaker 1: three bad games, and they went back to all three
Speaker 1: of the games and said, you know, what about this game?
Speaker 1: What about this game? What about that game? And he
Speaker 1: went like this, We won all three games. Now, how
Speaker 1: do you analytically evaluate that? I'll say this to you.
Speaker 1: In those games where he didn't feel it going offensively,
Speaker 1: he stepped back, and he stepped up defensively and rebounded
Speaker 1: in creating shots for his teammates. Tell me where the
Speaker 1: analytics are in that? Where are the analytics? How do
Speaker 1: you analytically rate a guy that's gonna shoot twenty five
Speaker 1: times every game and no one else on the team shoots,
Speaker 1: and you analytically say, but his numbers and this and this,
Speaker 1: Tell me how you analytically rate that? And Anthony Davis,
Speaker 1: I'll give it to you. In the final game, Championship,
Speaker 1: National Championship, Millions, it's two big teams, blue bloods, Kansas Kentucky.
Speaker 1: He can't make a basket. He's over six. At halftime,
Speaker 1: he's running into the locker room. Anthony Davis says, can't
Speaker 1: make a shot. I'm gonna block shots. I'm gonna rebountle
Speaker 1: like crazy and defend you guys, score the balls. He
Speaker 1: goes one for ten for the game, and we win
Speaker 1: the national championship and he's the most outstanding player. What's
Speaker 1: the analytics on that? And that's what again here, it's
Speaker 1: about winning. It's about if you have to step wall.
Speaker 1: I was told I was going to play off, and
Speaker 1: it's all right, so we're gonna follow you off the cliff.
Speaker 1: You're one for twenty two now and you just keep
Speaker 1: the world again. How do you anna politically rate a
Speaker 1: player who could be on the ball but is willing
Speaker 1: to play off the ball and do whatever he has
Speaker 1: to to help the team win. How do you where's
Speaker 1: the analytics? And that's why my guys go to that
Speaker 1: league and they perform beyond where they're drafted in most cases,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say seventy percent of the time. And that's
Speaker 1: why collectively our guys in eleven years I think will
Speaker 1: make their contracts add up to currently, not from forty
Speaker 1: years ago when I was coaching. I'm talking now, it's
Speaker 1: almost three billion dollars. Three billion. I didn't say million billion,
Speaker 1: no shoe contracts. I take million. Honestly, I would take million.
Speaker 1: And it's not shoe contracts, it's not endorsements, it's none
Speaker 1: of that. It's not seeing Anthony Davis with his hands
Speaker 1: out and Gator. It is contract. And that's why that
Speaker 1: means to YouTube, Lauren, they got to get to second
Speaker 1: and third contracts. Well, how do you do that? You're
Speaker 1: ready for the league. You're going and perform. And like
Speaker 1: I said, it's not every single kid, but as seventy
Speaker 1: percent of them. So to wrap this all up, I
Speaker 1: will say, we were already excited to have tyreech join us,
Speaker 1: and now you've made me even more amped about it.
Speaker 1: So your enthusiasm is shining through for sure. Just to
Speaker 1: wrap this up, I know we started with your connection
Speaker 1: to the Sixers. Do you have any memories that stick
Speaker 1: out of your time on this staff, of your connection
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia? What stands out to you when you think
Speaker 1: back on those times. Well, it is a great sports tale,
Speaker 1: a great sports twe I love walking in that building,
Speaker 1: you know, I love you know every time you walked
Speaker 1: in and again we had terrific guys. Ai and I
Speaker 1: got a little great I mean, you know, he and
Speaker 1: I to this day Aaron McKee who's now coaching the temple,
Speaker 1: you know you had hill. I mean, we had guys
Speaker 1: that all clicked and came together, and it was a
Speaker 1: ball to be around them, all of them. And my
Speaker 1: time spent there, I learned I was with coach Brown again,
Speaker 1: where I My whole thing was how do I help
Speaker 1: him so that I make his job easier? And that's
Speaker 1: all I tried to do. And part of that was
Speaker 1: creating relationships with the guys. Eric Snow, I love Derek Snow.
Speaker 1: He was showing me and teaching me stuff. So all
Speaker 1: those guys that were there, George Lynch and I shouldn't
Speaker 1: have started naming names because then I'd have to name
Speaker 1: every name. But it was a ball there. And the
Speaker 1: one thing I'll tell you a great sports town, can
Speaker 1: I disclaimer? If you're winning, If you're winning, if you're winning,
Speaker 1: it's unbelievable. But why would you want to be anywhere
Speaker 1: else other than engaged fan base, whether it's baseball, football, basketball,
Speaker 1: they are engaged and they want to win, and they
Speaker 1: take pride in the city of Philadelphia. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is and it is the most. I mean. Herb McGee
Speaker 1: is a good friend of mine. Herb mcgie and I
Speaker 1: were in we coached the USA Basketball stuff together in Denver, Colorado.
Speaker 1: He had never been out of Philly. I said, dude,
Speaker 1: when do you leave Philly. Not only doesn't he leave Philly,
Speaker 1: he doesn't leave his area. He has the same restaurants,
Speaker 1: the same thing where he goes to lunch. He's like
Speaker 1: the normal Philadelphia fan, coach, player, person. It is Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: He hit a ball in Denver, we're playing golf, wouldn't
Speaker 1: stop because we were high, and the ball kept going
Speaker 1: and kept going and kept going and kept going. He
Speaker 1: looks at me and says, I'm moving to Colorado, which
Speaker 1: was we both left because he ain't leaving his little niche.
Speaker 1: But that's Philly. That's why Philly is the way it is. Tremendous. Well,
Speaker 1: I think we'd all agree that one of the lasting
Speaker 1: impressions of this past NBA season in the bubble was
Speaker 1: Big Blue between Anthony Davis, Tyler Hero of course, absolutely,
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray. So we can only homes right, Let's keep
Speaker 1: the juju going? Well, can I keep going? They were
Speaker 1: like all these guys performed and ended up being like
Speaker 1: the face of their teams. I mean, you know, how
Speaker 1: about Kelton Johnson, how he was one of their best
Speaker 1: players San Antonio Spurs in the bubble, I mean, And
Speaker 1: I could go on and again missing guys. But how
Speaker 1: about Devin Booker You even mentioned ain't know? I mean,
Speaker 1: and there he was scorn thirty a game. How about him?
Speaker 1: He played on a team with other really good guys.
Speaker 1: He didn't even start. Still mad at me today, But
Speaker 1: he didn't start because I had two returning twins and
Speaker 1: I wasn't gonna break them up, and they got us
Speaker 1: to a final four of the year before the national
Speaker 1: championship game. But he played with Tyler Tyler Ulis and
Speaker 1: he played together and could tell how good he was.
Speaker 1: But it's all these guys. They earned their way, They
Speaker 1: learned to fight, they learned what competition was. You don't
Speaker 1: have to say, we're running all this stuff for you.
Speaker 1: How about if that's how you played your whole career,
Speaker 1: You're like, why aren't you gonna run my place? No, dude,
Speaker 1: the game has become random. It's it's lane touches, It's
Speaker 1: how do we get started and then just play where
Speaker 1: the rotations coming from? Where how are we they're not
Speaker 1: plays their actions? It's random. Well, every player was run
Speaker 1: for me. And they ain't playing. That's not how it
Speaker 1: is right now. And so I'm proud of our guys.
Speaker 1: I'm proud of Tyreees. I still have a special place
Speaker 1: in my heart from Philly because I was there, stayed
Speaker 1: on City Line av you know, right near the practice
Speaker 1: facility at that time where it was. But Pee come.
Speaker 1: But I wish you guys well, I'll be watching from
Speaker 1: a distance. And you know, I'm good friends with Doc,
Speaker 1: I'm good friends with Sam, so I'm gonna be watching close.
Speaker 1: Tremendous coach cal Really appreciate the time. That was great,
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thanks from stories about Tyres Maxie to a
Speaker 1: great story about Philadelphia Icon heard McGee. Excellent stuff from
Speaker 1: John cal Parry. Really appreciate him taking the time. With
Speaker 1: the Wildcats season now underway, meet the Prospects a week
Speaker 1: here on the broadcast continues on Wednesday, we hear from
Speaker 1: Isaiah Joe and I definitely, you know, can't hope with
Speaker 1: the Staxus. You know, I've watched Ben, Joel Tobias, so
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to playing with all of them, playing
Speaker 1: with Tyree's, playing with Paul, So I think we're all
Speaker 1: ready for that. For the next step we're gonna have
Speaker 1: a great team. Now, it's all about building that chemistry
Speaker 1: on and off the court, and you know, waiting for
Speaker 1: what's happening to Nick. And we'll also talked with Isaiah's
Speaker 1: former college head coach at Arkansas, Eric Musselman. Then on Friday,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from Paul Reid and his college head coach
Speaker 1: at de Paul Dave Leato. I'm Brian Seltzer, Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Talk to you next time here on the broadcast. See
Speaker 1: him