Speaker 1: This is kJ Live with Chris Johnson, and Chris is
Speaker 1: having conversations with influencers in the sports world and entertainment
Speaker 1: in a strain. Now here's Chris Johnson. You are now
Speaker 1: tuned in to kJ Live. I'm your host, Chris Johnson,
Speaker 1: today's guest on the show. Played in the NBA fifteen seasons,
Speaker 1: winning a NBA Championship as a member of the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors in two thousand seventeen. Since retiring, this former
Speaker 1: u C. L. A. Bruin has carved a night's niche
Speaker 1: in the sports media space, covering the NBA for ESPN
Speaker 1: and as co host of the award winning podcast All
Speaker 1: the Smoke. Please welcome Matt Barnes to kJ live. What's up, man,
Speaker 1: and Chris? What are you going to speak with that
Speaker 1: serious intro voice the whole conversation? Yeah, you know that's
Speaker 1: my sick voice. You know I had to give him
Speaker 1: that song. Well, you know, you gotta keep the listener
Speaker 1: as soon as they if they hear a weird old voice,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be I'm out, man. You gave them what
Speaker 1: they're looking for. Man, you're you're already on my hand man,
Speaker 1: And like we go back and forth with the light
Speaker 1: skinning thing all the time, bro, And that's something that
Speaker 1: I'm og light skin and I get it all the time.
Speaker 1: The other day, Clay Thompson deep book Ye that light skin,
Speaker 1: light skin, light skin. What did you make of that
Speaker 1: little nothing beef or whatever you want another? I like it,
Speaker 1: and I haven't seen that out of Clay. You know,
Speaker 1: ironically enough, we had just interviewed play the week before,
Speaker 1: so maybe you know some of all the smoke rubbed
Speaker 1: off on them, But you know, I love it. You know,
Speaker 1: Devin Booker is one of the top two guards in
Speaker 1: the NBA. Clay has a Hall of Fame career, and
Speaker 1: you know he's trying to come back from two tough
Speaker 1: injuries to kind of get back in that top two
Speaker 1: guarden conversation. So I mean, I think I think it's dope.
Speaker 1: You know, two really good teams that should probably see
Speaker 1: each other, you know, late in the season in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And when you played in the league, Matt you you know,
Speaker 1: you were tough, you were hard nosed, developed the reputation
Speaker 1: as a guy that didn't take no ship. Um, do
Speaker 1: you think today's NBA versus the time that you played
Speaker 1: in the league. Do you think it's soft now or
Speaker 1: how would you characterize I think it's just different. I
Speaker 1: think it's different. Um, I wouldn't say soft, it's just
Speaker 1: it's it's transitioned into a different direction. Uh, it's more
Speaker 1: about scoring and scoring and scoring and highlights. Um. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, that's the same thing that continues
Speaker 1: to make the game grow. You know. I broke it
Speaker 1: down to someone too. You know, I miss when you
Speaker 1: played or how it used to be or how used
Speaker 1: to be before. And I'm just like you know, this
Speaker 1: is a culture of headline reading and quick edits so
Speaker 1: when you see highlights, you want to see step shooting
Speaker 1: from damn near half. You want to see someone dunk,
Speaker 1: and you want to see more excitement. So the old
Speaker 1: you know, the days of the defensive games. You know,
Speaker 1: I think we're gone. And although I was, I was
Speaker 1: a defensive type player, I don't mind it. There's something
Speaker 1: to be said too, uh, for the culture that we
Speaker 1: live in and the way people respond to certain styles
Speaker 1: from our athletes. We see it in all sports, right,
Speaker 1: Baseball you have celebrations now dudes are just going crazy
Speaker 1: and bat flipping. Football you have the situation where you
Speaker 1: can't touch the quarterback. Things are really light rough in
Speaker 1: the pastors called nearly every single play and then basketball, right,
Speaker 1: you have the situation, the hands off and all that.
Speaker 1: Do you think that the entertainmentization of professional sports is
Speaker 1: the move do you do? You mean, do you feel
Speaker 1: like because there's a lot of purest out there, Man,
Speaker 1: I get it. I mean, I just don't want it
Speaker 1: to affect the quality of the game. Like I don't
Speaker 1: you know, we were talking about us on ESPN the
Speaker 1: other day, Like the Memphis Grizzlies are the new age
Speaker 1: of what the NBA is heading towards. They dance on
Speaker 1: the court, they celebrate, but they also play hard and
Speaker 1: good basketball, you know what I mean. So if I
Speaker 1: don't mind with this, because we always have to adapt
Speaker 1: that no matter how pure we are, you know, the
Speaker 1: game's going to go the direction it's gonna go, and
Speaker 1: it's always gonna be a youth movement pushing it. So,
Speaker 1: you know, being someone who coaches thirteen year olds and
Speaker 1: and has kids and just understand that this is a
Speaker 1: TikTok dancing era, I see that's where the game is going.
Speaker 1: So that, like I said, I don't mind it as
Speaker 1: long as just that, you know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: see the competitive you know, I think the competitiveness is
Speaker 1: a little it's taking a few steps back because everyone's
Speaker 1: friends now, you know what I mean, We we knew people.
Speaker 1: But when it didn't matter. You know how close you
Speaker 1: and I are when the both of us when the
Speaker 1: ball went up, we could fight during the game and
Speaker 1: then have a drink after, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So it's just like, I don't want to see the
Speaker 1: competitors and the quality of the game take a step back. Um,
Speaker 1: But I don't mind what this new age is bringing. No.
Speaker 1: I love it. I love today's NBA. I love the
Speaker 1: skill set, and I love the way that that that
Speaker 1: they're allowed to get off. You know, I thought I
Speaker 1: was gonna hate it all the dribbling a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago. If you would have talked to me, I'd
Speaker 1: have been like, oh man, too many five dribble step
Speaker 1: back compos Now I'm kind of like I like that stuff.
Speaker 1: I like it. But at the same time, you don't
Speaker 1: see that from the really good teams, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. And it's you know, they the recipe to
Speaker 1: win hasn't changed, you know, you gotta play defense, you
Speaker 1: gotta play hard, you gotta move the ball. So they're
Speaker 1: are the guys that have the ability now to really
Speaker 1: dance with it, But you don't see the really good
Speaker 1: teams doing it too often. What did you make of
Speaker 1: the Draymond Green Jordan Pool situation. I know you guys
Speaker 1: were up there to do some stuff and it happened
Speaker 1: around the same time we got there the day after
Speaker 1: it happened. Um. I think the bigger issue is that
Speaker 1: it was leaked. Um. We really haven't heard if, if,
Speaker 1: if whoever leaked it. You know, I want to see
Speaker 1: that person's face. I want to see their name. I
Speaker 1: want to make sure they're black ball because that was wrong.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, you know, the incident just
Speaker 1: it's it's unfortunate. But you know, as well as I do.
Speaker 1: With you know, your dad being in the NBA and
Speaker 1: you having your running in college and professional basketball, fights happen.
Speaker 1: Fights happen. Um. You know, I just don't think it
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool is expecting that type of energy. Um. But again,
Speaker 1: fights happen. Um. You know, will the relationship ever be
Speaker 1: the same? Who knows? Will this mess the team up
Speaker 1: by any means? Absolutely not, And I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people were trying to say, oh, this is this
Speaker 1: and that, and Draymond needs to go and Jordan's shouldn't play.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, both these guys are professional. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, Draymond has been a part of a dynasty.
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool is next in line, and you know that
Speaker 1: foundation is too solid for a fight to let although
Speaker 1: it was it was a punch that not even a fight,
Speaker 1: a punch that was seen around the world that that
Speaker 1: the foundation of that team is too sturdy, from the
Speaker 1: top to the coaches to the players. Let anything like that,
Speaker 1: you know, come back and bite him in the ass
Speaker 1: down the road. So um, you know you don't want
Speaker 1: to see it, but you have to understand that in
Speaker 1: competitive sports that happens. Yeah, it does, especially on the
Speaker 1: pro level. I you know, I had mixed feelings about
Speaker 1: it because in one hand, it's kind of like my
Speaker 1: first thought was like, you know, what did Jordan Poole
Speaker 1: say to kind of do Draymond like that? But then
Speaker 1: it was like, man, Draymond didn't really have to respond
Speaker 1: that way. As I've gotten older, Matt and I'm sure
Speaker 1: you have to you reflect on decisions we make and
Speaker 1: how and Draymond talked about in this podcast. Now you
Speaker 1: know he's he's how his effects everyone. George's got to
Speaker 1: deal with it, caring about the next man. And that's
Speaker 1: what I like to see and hear from people. And
Speaker 1: I think that's something that we kind of grew up
Speaker 1: not really caring about just empathizing with that. There was
Speaker 1: no empathy. Bad but you don't there's no empathy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've put myself for your shoes and I don't care.
Speaker 1: But now you see more empathy. And I think as
Speaker 1: a sports culture as a whole, that's that's a better
Speaker 1: way to kind of start dealing with stuff. Um Man,
Speaker 1: everybody out here in l A. He's talking about Westbrook
Speaker 1: and the Lakers. Man, I gotta get your take on
Speaker 1: what's happening with the Lakers and and how can they
Speaker 1: fix that situation or can it be fixed? Marks? It's unfortunate,
Speaker 1: you know, with with Russ being a Brewing brother, and
Speaker 1: I've always been a fan of him, whether I'm playing
Speaker 1: against him or watching him. The way he approaches the game,
Speaker 1: I love um but that particular style just has an
Speaker 1: aged well, um, you know, he's not the the arguably
Speaker 1: be he's been the most athletic point we've ever seen
Speaker 1: in the history of the game, and he's just not
Speaker 1: there anymore. So it was, you know, to me, I
Speaker 1: was thinking, you know, what's that in the next evolution
Speaker 1: of his game? You know, how do you start to
Speaker 1: change speeds and and use more of your mind than
Speaker 1: your your body? You know, as we get older in
Speaker 1: the in the league particularly, That's what it really becomes about. Um,
Speaker 1: because I still think he has a lot of game left,
Speaker 1: but I just don't think he was a very good
Speaker 1: fit for this team to begin with, because he's best
Speaker 1: with the ball in his hands. And on the flip side,
Speaker 1: you have Lebron James who's going to be the number
Speaker 1: one score in top ten and assists, so you want
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands. Um, can it be fixed?
Speaker 1: Who's the blame? I don't know if he could be fixed. Um.
Speaker 1: I really empathize with what Russ from a standpoint of
Speaker 1: this is home for him, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And it looks like all the noise has taken the
Speaker 1: joy out of the game for him, you know, because
Speaker 1: he's always been one of the most mentally strong players
Speaker 1: we've ever seen. Nothing's ever bothered Russ. But I can
Speaker 1: definitely tell that l A noise is bothered Russ because
Speaker 1: there's so much of it. They've attacked his family, the
Speaker 1: disrespect on the on and we can get to this
Speaker 1: later on. You know, the the media outlets that the
Speaker 1: sports channels like crossing the line, like not criticizing game,
Speaker 1: but you know, disrespect think the person. And I'm never
Speaker 1: with that. Um. You know, I'm not someone that thinks,
Speaker 1: you know, send him home. I'm going to send him
Speaker 1: home and I try to find a trade and try
Speaker 1: to find a trade for him, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And we talked about this the other day with Rachel
Speaker 1: on on on all the smoke. It's just like, you know,
Speaker 1: if if they can wait till June, you know, Russ
Speaker 1: is gonna come off the books, they have a max
Speaker 1: slot and they can completely flip the face of this
Speaker 1: team for the first time because they're gonna finally have
Speaker 1: some flexibility, um, and keep their draft picks that have
Speaker 1: they have them for down the road or do you
Speaker 1: make a move during the season. I never understood why
Speaker 1: the Buddy Healed and Miles Turner trade didn't get because
Speaker 1: I think that would help the Lakers shooting, and Miles
Speaker 1: Turner is an active big, a real big. They can
Speaker 1: block this who has led the league in shot blocks before.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure why that one has been held up
Speaker 1: to me. I think that's been the best look if
Speaker 1: there are going to be a trade. But it's just
Speaker 1: a shitty situation. The Lakers are and I always tell
Speaker 1: people because I played for both teams, but there's nothing
Speaker 1: like being the Laker. I would give a funk if
Speaker 1: they're the worst team in the NBA that hasn't won
Speaker 1: a game, or they're on the verse to a championship
Speaker 1: that the magnifying glass year underneath is is great and
Speaker 1: it could be horrible. And for this instance, so um,
Speaker 1: I don't know if he could be fixed. Um. I'm
Speaker 1: always wishing for the best for Rust and I always
Speaker 1: want to see Lebron do well. But this is again
Speaker 1: a poorly constructed roster, and I just with puzzle pieces
Speaker 1: that I don't think necessarily fit, which brings me to
Speaker 1: my next question. If the roster is everyone knows it
Speaker 1: is poorly constructed, right, no shooters this and that last
Speaker 1: year you had like eight guys they signed that were
Speaker 1: will pastor Prime didn't really contribute. So why is it
Speaker 1: that Russell gets the brunt of the criticism versus say
Speaker 1: Rob Polinka, who built the frenchise or who you know?
Speaker 1: Who you know? Who? Who is who's really making the decisions?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean that that's my questions who's
Speaker 1: really making the calls? You know, because I don't really
Speaker 1: know and you know, you know you you hear there's
Speaker 1: a lot of influence over there, um, so who is
Speaker 1: making the decisions? But absolutely right, you know, like Lebron
Speaker 1: is best through his entire career when you put shooting
Speaker 1: around him playing and simple, like when you put shooting
Speaker 1: around and playing simple, you know, I think you hear that.
Speaker 1: You know, even DeMar said in the interviews, DeMar thought
Speaker 1: he was coming here. You know, DeMar could have been
Speaker 1: that kind of fit. But though you you give up
Speaker 1: the last of you know, obviously to get a d
Speaker 1: they had to give away all those young pieces and
Speaker 1: all those young pieces outside the ball being hurt. But
Speaker 1: even when he plays, all those guys are flourishing man
Speaker 1: looking great. But when they've ever got to that level,
Speaker 1: because they wouldn't have been able to have the ball
Speaker 1: in their hands this much on the Lebron James type team.
Speaker 1: And then the second time around, when you go get Russ,
Speaker 1: you give up Kuzma who's having a great year. You
Speaker 1: go up KCP who hit big shots in the in
Speaker 1: the finals. For you, you don't resign Caruso, who was
Speaker 1: a fucking spark plug that who everyone loves. Everyone loved him. Um,
Speaker 1: so you know decisions have been made. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: who's made them. Um, but Russ is definitely not the problem.
Speaker 1: Like we're losing, we're owing for because rusting you play
Speaker 1: last night, you still lost. So it's just like Russ
Speaker 1: is the scapegoat. Russ is one of one of the problems.
Speaker 1: But it's not not saying it's that seem same problem.
Speaker 1: I'm saying it's he's not playing well, so that's kind
Speaker 1: of a problem. But who knows, man, it's it's a
Speaker 1: big mess and I don't know who's going to get
Speaker 1: blamed or who's involved. But so you know, fingers have
Speaker 1: to be pointed. Again, it's a laker, So you're just
Speaker 1: you're not expecting stuff like this, I mean that owing
Speaker 1: four do At what stage do you start to question
Speaker 1: or pointing something to blame it? Lebron and question Lebrons
Speaker 1: leadership is it I mean, do you do that? You
Speaker 1: you can? You know you can because I mean it's
Speaker 1: his you know, it's his team. You know, so it's
Speaker 1: not necessarily that he's per se doing anything wrong. But
Speaker 1: we have to understand, like this is your twenty and
Speaker 1: be getting his motor started. We know it's it's definitely
Speaker 1: a marathon for him, not a sprint. Um. But again,
Speaker 1: you gotta put pieces around him, especially older in his
Speaker 1: as they could really do something. And then you know
Speaker 1: eight has been playing well, which is a which is
Speaker 1: a good thing that hasn't translated into win. But outside
Speaker 1: of eighty, you gotta put pieces around Lebron that fit,
Speaker 1: and when you don't, it can get ugly, no question.
Speaker 1: We've seen it early this season on the other side
Speaker 1: of the down the hallway, the Clippers starting out to
Speaker 1: believe too. And two they look decent this year. Do
Speaker 1: you think the Clippers if Kauai is healthy, PG stays healthy,
Speaker 1: do you think they have enough to win the champion? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: I think health aside, this is probably the deepest team
Speaker 1: in the league. Um. You know, obviously they're really monitoring
Speaker 1: Kauai's load. Is that a good mover. Is that you're
Speaker 1: okay with that. I'm fine with that. Kind of always
Speaker 1: been a load guy, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 1: he still produces when when when the time is right.
Speaker 1: So I think I've been a big fan of what
Speaker 1: Tyler has been as a head coach. You know, we
Speaker 1: didn't really know if in Cleveland wasn't Lebron, but this,
Speaker 1: this is clearly Eilu having these guys buy into what
Speaker 1: he's telling them, you know, being stars in their roles.
Speaker 1: They've done a great job of that, you know, the
Speaker 1: last two years with you know, no quite all last
Speaker 1: year PG for thirty games, they made the playoffs with
Speaker 1: no star, which is no no star, you know what
Speaker 1: it means. So you get your two guys back, you
Speaker 1: get a hungry John Wall who's been impressive um his
Speaker 1: ability to still get downhill and score and get to
Speaker 1: the foul line. I think, along with Golden State, to me,
Speaker 1: those are the two best teams in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: Golden State Clippers. And I'm not even saying this from
Speaker 1: because I think both these teams, not to cut you off,
Speaker 1: know that it's a marathon, not a spending their goals
Speaker 1: to be playing in June They may not be the
Speaker 1: top two seeds in the Western Conference, but I think
Speaker 1: they're the two best teams in the Western Conference. Who
Speaker 1: do you like the East? I like Milwaukee. I really
Speaker 1: like Boston, but I don't think Boston. Boston is gonna
Speaker 1: be a good team all year. Um, but I don't
Speaker 1: think they make noise in the playoffs unless Robert Williams
Speaker 1: is healthy. He's big, big athletic, does everything you need
Speaker 1: from a big in today's game. So they definitely need
Speaker 1: Robert Williams. Um. You know, the the jury is going
Speaker 1: to be out on Brooklyn until they prove it, you know.
Speaker 1: With k D and KAUAI think they're young. I like them.
Speaker 1: I like them. I have to see more. You know,
Speaker 1: none of the guys on the team have necessarily won,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. You gotta and knowing how
Speaker 1: to win and and and winning and closing games to
Speaker 1: win and then when it gets later in the you know,
Speaker 1: end of the season and playoffs, like experience is the
Speaker 1: best teacher when it comes out. But I like their
Speaker 1: young roster, and and and and went Donovan Mitchell Donov
Speaker 1: mitchells a hooper and and Daris Garland's coming into his
Speaker 1: own being the first time All Star last year. So
Speaker 1: Devin the young boy from usc um Evin Mobile, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean they got a good core of Jared Allen,
Speaker 1: so I like what they have. I think they're more
Speaker 1: of a mid pack. I think they're around that five
Speaker 1: six area in in in the Eastern Conference. But they
Speaker 1: could peak at some point to get hot and be
Speaker 1: like a third seed for a while. But I think
Speaker 1: they're more of the middle of the pack when it
Speaker 1: comes to the Eastern Conference. Yeah, I mean it's four
Speaker 1: or five games into the season, so it's a lot
Speaker 1: of basketball. As a pro somebody that spent fifteen years
Speaker 1: in the league. You you know the deal like us
Speaker 1: as fans, and you know the peanut gallery. It's like
Speaker 1: we're losing put people pulling out their hair. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's I think the NBA goes in a couple runs
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the season. You know, guys are active. Uh,
Speaker 1: it dies off after Thanksgiving until Christmas. Those Christmas Day
Speaker 1: games are always popping and then it's gonna die off
Speaker 1: in January. Um, going to the All Star break, you know,
Speaker 1: guys are gonna be laying better to to make the
Speaker 1: All Star team and then after the All Star break,
Speaker 1: to me is when the season really gets going. You know,
Speaker 1: you got anywhere from twenty to thirty games left, and
Speaker 1: it's go time. You know, you gotta understand who's going
Speaker 1: to be there with those rotations, are with the chemistry
Speaker 1: with those guys are and get ready to tighten down
Speaker 1: your lineups going into the playoffs. Do you, and having
Speaker 1: explained that, is there times during the season where you
Speaker 1: turn it on as a pro more than other times?
Speaker 1: Or does are you just one way where you just
Speaker 1: one was just always energy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But it's just there's a lot that goes into it.
Speaker 1: Um you know, like it's just a lot that goes
Speaker 1: into it. So I was always someone who played hard,
Speaker 1: but just I think the overall energy of the basketball
Speaker 1: is just because it's such a long season, long season,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, So to be the whole
Speaker 1: entire time for some of these stars, although they play hard,
Speaker 1: it's just tough, you know. So you know, I think
Speaker 1: there's a few spots for basketball. And that's not to
Speaker 1: say in those downtimes I said, you're even get back
Speaker 1: to get good basketball. But I think just the overall
Speaker 1: product is the best in those times, I said, yeah,
Speaker 1: facts switching gears to the A. You youth basketball level.
Speaker 1: You're heavily involved in the development of your Your two sons,
Speaker 1: Isaian Carter, their their high level for their age group,
Speaker 1: and you know you've kind of been on the grind.
Speaker 1: Describe yourself or describe the type of basketball parent that
Speaker 1: you are. I am a dad that when you're in
Speaker 1: between those lines, play hard, period, no matter what that's
Speaker 1: you know, you can't control everything, but you're you're the
Speaker 1: two things or your attitude and your energy. And I
Speaker 1: was someone whose attitude was this, So I want my
Speaker 1: kid's attitude to be more consistent, um, but in their
Speaker 1: energy always up. UM. As far as skill development, I
Speaker 1: was never really a dad that was going to push
Speaker 1: my kids, you know, um, because I think too often
Speaker 1: parents make it a job too early. Parents try to
Speaker 1: vicariously live through their children. Um. You know, they missed
Speaker 1: on their glory day, So my kids gotta be it.
Speaker 1: And every parent thinks their child's going to the NBA.
Speaker 1: So it's just that there's a lot that goes in there.
Speaker 1: That that's the toxic side of the bat one of
Speaker 1: the toxic sides of AU basketball. But I never pushed
Speaker 1: them just because, like again, I wanted them to want
Speaker 1: to find the love and the passion to do it,
Speaker 1: because I'm not gonna be able to push them all
Speaker 1: the way through. So I'm not gonna start pushing them
Speaker 1: early on, like they have to want that, because that's
Speaker 1: if they wanted. It's the only chance they have even
Speaker 1: having a chance to make it, is they gotta wanted. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they've been around the game a lot. You know,
Speaker 1: they were in the locker rooms with Code. They're in
Speaker 1: the locker rooms with CP and Blake. They were in
Speaker 1: the on the plane with Katie and Steph and Clay
Speaker 1: for the finals, and in the you know, in the
Speaker 1: locker room with those guys. So they they're they're basketball.
Speaker 1: I Q has always been high, but like most kids,
Speaker 1: they like to play video games. So they were always
Speaker 1: good at a younger age because their i Q was
Speaker 1: so high. But then as they started getting older and
Speaker 1: other kids are working out and they're not working out,
Speaker 1: other kids started catching them. You know. So as a coach,
Speaker 1: you know, one starting in one isn't you know, And
Speaker 1: it's not to say that the second one that's not
Speaker 1: starting couldn't start He's just they have to work on
Speaker 1: their games. So I think that kind of they started
Speaker 1: father that they they say, you know, they started wanting
Speaker 1: to work out more. Was I surprised him for their
Speaker 1: tenth birthday with the workout from Kobe. We drove, We
Speaker 1: drove out to Orange County. He put them through hell.
Speaker 1: One of them was crying at the end. It was
Speaker 1: funny as a motherfucker. But that I remember when we
Speaker 1: went in there because me and Cope talked the night
Speaker 1: before just about what this like, What do they like,
Speaker 1: what do they like to do? What's their games like?
Speaker 1: And we were talking and when we got in there,
Speaker 1: he's like, where you guys want to go to school?
Speaker 1: And in Unison? So we're going to U C. L
Speaker 1: A and clubs like not to play basketball, And they're
Speaker 1: like the fuck. They're like, you know, your dad said
Speaker 1: all you want to do is play video games. He's like,
Speaker 1: do you guys, do you guys work on your games?
Speaker 1: And they look at each other. No. He's like, all right,
Speaker 1: well you guys can go there because you're gonna be smart,
Speaker 1: but you're not gonna play basketball. And I kind of
Speaker 1: like sucked him up a little bit and he put
Speaker 1: them through a tough workout and it kind of to
Speaker 1: me it turned the lightbulb on, but it wasn't all
Speaker 1: the way on. So, you know, over the next their
Speaker 1: thirteen now, so over the next maybe a year, they
Speaker 1: would you know, have days where they it was just me,
Speaker 1: and they would have days that they want to do it.
Speaker 1: We'll go out and you know, go go out in
Speaker 1: the backyard and shoot and get a good work out in.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't consistent. So I still wasn't going to
Speaker 1: push them. But then as they continue to get older
Speaker 1: and they see their friends getting better, they're like, okay, Dad,
Speaker 1: we're ready to start working out. So that probably happened
Speaker 1: at about they'll be fourteen in November, so that probably
Speaker 1: happened maybe a year ago that they wanted to start
Speaker 1: getting serious. So I found Chris Johnson and and just
Speaker 1: hoop and he, to me, he's one of the best
Speaker 1: trainers of explaining the game to these kids I've ever
Speaker 1: seen um and I can just see their game improve
Speaker 1: so much. I mean, the one thing they can do
Speaker 1: is shoot the ball, which which is needed, but they
Speaker 1: shoot the ship out of the ball, which I love.
Speaker 1: So to me, they have a high i Q. They
Speaker 1: naturally shoot the ball. So now to me is where
Speaker 1: now we can learn the skill, because you can always
Speaker 1: learn the skill, but shooting is something you have to have,
Speaker 1: and to me, the i Q is something that's very important.
Speaker 1: So they have those two things and now they're just
Speaker 1: adding the skill to it, um, which is great. So
Speaker 1: it's it's good. It's it's a fun journey to watch
Speaker 1: now because they want it. It's not about me, but
Speaker 1: obviously you know now that they want it, I'm going
Speaker 1: to give them every opportunity and resource to have. You know,
Speaker 1: they also trained in boxing, so you know they're starting
Speaker 1: to get their cardio right in their hands right because
Speaker 1: you know they're going to get pushed as light skinned,
Speaker 1: curly hair boys like we did. And our hands are
Speaker 1: always ready, but they're not gonna grow up like we
Speaker 1: grew up. So I got to make sure that you know,
Speaker 1: their hands are ready and and and overall just a
Speaker 1: good cardio work. So you know, now the journey starts
Speaker 1: and it's um, it's dope. Like I said, it's it's
Speaker 1: really joyful being able to see your kids fall in
Speaker 1: love with something and then you start seeing their improvement.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean, and I'm giving them the
Speaker 1: the the ins and outs and the integral sides of
Speaker 1: the game. So we'll have to see what happens. But
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Speaker 1: Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app
Speaker 1: search f s R to listen live. There's nothing better
Speaker 1: than seeing your child discover their passion and then you know,
Speaker 1: go after it and chase it without you having to
Speaker 1: tell them or wake them up in the morning, like
Speaker 1: they're getting up before you and just already at it.
Speaker 1: I know, we remember what Will man, Yeah, the journey
Speaker 1: when he was you know, when it was to when
Speaker 1: the whole organ stuff was coming about, and kind of
Speaker 1: how nervous as a father you were and what that
Speaker 1: was like, you know what I mean, Like that's a dream,
Speaker 1: Like I hope it. You know, I'm in your shoes
Speaker 1: one day when it comes to that and and just
Speaker 1: kind of get to experience that because I like, I'm
Speaker 1: loving it. At thirteen, I couldn't imagine, like, Okay, they've
Speaker 1: always want to go do you see oh ship? You
Speaker 1: see this an opportunity now, like, yeah, let's go get
Speaker 1: this ship. Hey, hey, yea. One of the things that
Speaker 1: an obstacle for the young athletes today is sort of
Speaker 1: this social media versus reality situation, right because you know,
Speaker 1: you see something on social media, you might think a
Speaker 1: guy because the video has a million hits and you
Speaker 1: you're automatically think this guy is legit. Um they make you.
Speaker 1: Social media sometimes make you feel lesser than what you
Speaker 1: truly are. I mean, there's a lot of self esteem issues.
Speaker 1: How do you protect your kids or school your kids
Speaker 1: on how to handle social media. I know they're active,
Speaker 1: they have a podcast, so how do you handle that?
Speaker 1: Bar just talk to them, you know, And I waited, um,
Speaker 1: you know, they just started getting excuse me active on
Speaker 1: the social platforms maybe about right before they turn twelve,
Speaker 1: because I just knew what kind of dangerous negative area
Speaker 1: that is. You know, it's it's beneficial if if it's
Speaker 1: used right, and there are people that use it the
Speaker 1: right way. But you know, we just live in a
Speaker 1: generation of just negativity and hate, which is which is crazy.
Speaker 1: You don't want, Yeah, you don't want that at a
Speaker 1: young age. For like you said, those kids, you know,
Speaker 1: or some adults you know, justify their their their their
Speaker 1: value by likes and comments, you know, So I just
Speaker 1: want them to understand that it it really is almost
Speaker 1: two different worlds. Enjoy it, but enjoy it like a
Speaker 1: video game, like you gotta come back to life, You
Speaker 1: gotta do your homework, You still gotta go to bed
Speaker 1: at nine thirty, Like there's real life ship going on,
Speaker 1: Like you still gotta work on your game. But just
Speaker 1: understand that people are going to come for you, um,
Speaker 1: you know, especially because you first of all, because you
Speaker 1: know you're my kids. Um. Second, because you know you're
Speaker 1: pretty decent in basketball. And third is because you know
Speaker 1: we're talking about business in life around here, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So they have a successful podcast and
Speaker 1: they're starting to do other ship outside of just being
Speaker 1: you know, student athletes. So there's gonna be some there's
Speaker 1: gonna be love to with that and negativity that comes
Speaker 1: with that. So just really just trying to spoon feed
Speaker 1: them real life game because real life is happening to
Speaker 1: them now. And the earlier you get the real life game,
Speaker 1: you know, the shell shock of it all, it's like
Speaker 1: the better you're gonna be off just prepared, yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: and now and speaking them as young businessmen and you know,
Speaker 1: they have a social media presence. And are you thinking
Speaker 1: about N I L and are you going to have
Speaker 1: them balance both? Yes, I'm definitely gonna have them balanced both.
Speaker 1: I haven't really thought about n I L because at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, that's just gonna. It's far away.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's just a new thing that we
Speaker 1: have to think about. It just gonna. It's you know,
Speaker 1: if if they do everything they're supposed to do, in
Speaker 1: I L will be an option for them, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So we can't shortcut the process. We
Speaker 1: have to understand that. You know, that's the goal, but
Speaker 1: that's not the only goal, you know, are you know
Speaker 1: the goal is to get to college. You know, if
Speaker 1: you get to college at a higher school, most likely
Speaker 1: you're gonna you know that N I L stuff willcome.
Speaker 1: But you know, if their goal is to make it
Speaker 1: like that, this is great. But let's remember why we're
Speaker 1: here and and and you know, keep our foot on
Speaker 1: the gas. So um, I think it's cool. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I wish we had it. I remember being on campus
Speaker 1: and you know, I had a cool little car in
Speaker 1: an apartment. But you know, maybe fifteen hundred on a
Speaker 1: good day when you know when I would when I
Speaker 1: would be blessed, But I couldn't imagine having a couple
Speaker 1: of hundred thousand in Westwood because we might not have
Speaker 1: made it out. You know, we would have fun, well
Speaker 1: we talked about this. With more money, more problems, man,
Speaker 1: we would have fun. But like you you think about
Speaker 1: you know, there's NBA guys the first handful of years
Speaker 1: or even vets that blow their money, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. So you're imagine you're getting these seventeen year
Speaker 1: old kids, eighteen old kids, um all this money, and
Speaker 1: you know when you go to these major programs, you're
Speaker 1: the man on campus. You know, you go to these
Speaker 1: big programs like at U c l A. We would
Speaker 1: you know, we were the ship, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So to having all this money and you're making more
Speaker 1: money than the coach sometimes and to me, I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna want like our kids gonna lose the hunger? Can
Speaker 1: they stay focused? Can they you know, stacking bricks like
Speaker 1: we're gonna like our Bordek says, are they going to
Speaker 1: continue to stack bricks? Because they are having not only
Speaker 1: success and recognition, but now money at a young age.
Speaker 1: So that's the most good part though, that keeping that motivation,
Speaker 1: that hunger because when you because the reason you're doing
Speaker 1: it is to be paid to be able to take
Speaker 1: care of people and have resources to be able to
Speaker 1: enjoy your life. So once you achieve that, how do
Speaker 1: you keep the hunger? I mean advice to you to
Speaker 1: these young because a lot of high school athletes or
Speaker 1: listen to this will remember why you're being paid, Like
Speaker 1: I don't think you can never forget that. Then that
Speaker 1: goes for you know, this level of sports and and
Speaker 1: and even in the league, like you can if there's
Speaker 1: so many pitfalls now and social media is such a
Speaker 1: prevalent thing in society that you get, like I said,
Speaker 1: you get caught up and think that that's real life sometimes,
Speaker 1: so you know, look at that like a video game.
Speaker 1: But remember like you're getting these people are looking at
Speaker 1: you and loving you and hating on you, and you're
Speaker 1: getting this bread because you're doing something well. So you
Speaker 1: have to continue to do that well and elevate and
Speaker 1: keep pushing yourself because if you don't, if you stay stagnant,
Speaker 1: all that ship disappear and they don't care about you.
Speaker 1: Do you think the game is in a better place?
Speaker 1: College basketball. You think it's in a better place than
Speaker 1: we played because and abandoned, fought for what these kids
Speaker 1: have now are one of our o G So okay,
Speaker 1: So my point and when I asked you this is
Speaker 1: do you think that the game is in a good
Speaker 1: spot as far as doing right by the college athlete?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think NILS is a great idea. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, the n C Double A is
Speaker 1: not the one giving up this money. You know, they're
Speaker 1: the most corrupt organization, one of the most corrupt organizations
Speaker 1: out there, you know, So all those kids are getting
Speaker 1: money that has nothing to do with the n C
Speaker 1: Double A giving it to them, you know. So I
Speaker 1: don't know if I would say the game isn't a
Speaker 1: good spot because you know, these days, college is almost
Speaker 1: frowned upon, like, oh, you gotta go to college. You're
Speaker 1: not that nice, right, you know what I mean? We
Speaker 1: had a black I mean, I wouldn't trade college for nothing.
Speaker 1: You know, I was in that four. If I could
Speaker 1: have stayed longer, I would have. You know, I had
Speaker 1: a great time in college. But now if you stay
Speaker 1: to your junior senior year, like they're like, oh, do
Speaker 1: you have enough game? And then there's so many other
Speaker 1: avenues now. You know, I'm working for o T. You know,
Speaker 1: that's an avenue now where kids to go, you know,
Speaker 1: if they don't want to go to college, there there's
Speaker 1: other avenues. So I wouldn't say it's in a better place.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's fine, But I think the
Speaker 1: competition back when we played was really because no matter
Speaker 1: how good you were, normally you stayed at least three
Speaker 1: or four years, you know, so it just it was consistent.
Speaker 1: You would see guys grow right in front of you,
Speaker 1: and teams would be better because they had more chemistry.
Speaker 1: Guys weren't just in and out, one and done. So, Um,
Speaker 1: you know to me that everyone's goal is to get
Speaker 1: to the league, so if they can, you know, mainstream.
Speaker 1: And I'm not mad at it, but I really personally
Speaker 1: enjoy college. Absolutely did. The time is our life? You
Speaker 1: mean you did too? You had a really good time.
Speaker 1: Do we have to read that up right now? It's
Speaker 1: well documented how much fun I had in college. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't trade it for the world. Um, let's talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about what you're doing now. Just you know,
Speaker 1: you've carved out this role in media where you're doing well,
Speaker 1: are all over the place. I see you all over
Speaker 1: the place and have a major league pod. How did
Speaker 1: you start setting yourself up for the career after the
Speaker 1: game doing while you were pro or in college? Is
Speaker 1: this something that you started talk to me about when
Speaker 1: you started to want to go down that route? I wanted,
Speaker 1: you know, I started thinking about transition. I played to
Speaker 1: lot of thirty seven. I started thinking about transitioning at
Speaker 1: about thirty two. You know, just like, Okay, who knows
Speaker 1: how much longer to be playing? Um, you know, let
Speaker 1: me start investing in aligning myself with brands that you know,
Speaker 1: I like. So when I'm done, hopefully this is moving. Bro.
Speaker 1: The media came out of nowhere. I had no plans
Speaker 1: and do a media zero, you know, because I just
Speaker 1: there was as an athlete. There's a huge disconnect between uh,
Speaker 1: media and and and athletes and and and it's almost
Speaker 1: like and it don't overthink this reference, but it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, street people talking to two cops, like they
Speaker 1: just we didn't like to talk to them. We talked.
Speaker 1: There's a few they were cool that you would talk to,
Speaker 1: but you never really wanted to have to because you
Speaker 1: just there's always so many angles and and and you
Speaker 1: know narratives that that that that can be spun so
Speaker 1: media and ever once thought about I'm gonna get out
Speaker 1: and do this. I'm gonna get out and never Um.
Speaker 1: But luckily a friend of mine is just like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know you, you're always so well spoken in your interviews.
Speaker 1: You should try it. I was like, I want to
Speaker 1: learn how to produce and direct and be behind the camera.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be around it. I just don't
Speaker 1: want to be in front of it. Luckily I listened,
Speaker 1: and um, it was cool. I'm just like obvious, just
Speaker 1: shoot the ship and what do you like about it?
Speaker 1: I just like that it wasn't the point of view
Speaker 1: and and and don't take me wrong, because there are
Speaker 1: guys that haven't played they have a good point of view.
Speaker 1: But I just like that I was able to give
Speaker 1: like a in the locker room point of view on
Speaker 1: the court point of view suspended from a game a
Speaker 1: real game, lose the money point of view, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean? Like I can give you that. And
Speaker 1: I think that's what fans appreciate because they really want
Speaker 1: to know, like what is it really like? You know,
Speaker 1: so you no matter how good Stephen A. Smith Is
Speaker 1: or you can name another one. They can't really give you,
Speaker 1: like what it's really like. They can explain what they
Speaker 1: think it's like, but they can't give you what it's like.
Speaker 1: So I knew that I can carve out lane that way. Um.
Speaker 1: I was getting positive feedback. And I think what really
Speaker 1: helped me, Chris was just staying me, like, you need
Speaker 1: you know me. I've always been me, Like every room
Speaker 1: I walking on me. I'm not saying you do I
Speaker 1: need to be today Da da dah, like I'm always me.
Speaker 1: And I think that unapologetic realness um that I played
Speaker 1: with translated into this space in a different way. Um.
Speaker 1: So it just kind of took off. You know, I
Speaker 1: started doing Fox in ESPN and then ESPN locked me
Speaker 1: in to a multi year deal and I just signed
Speaker 1: my second multi year deal with them. Um. But it's
Speaker 1: just been cool man and and and from there, obviously
Speaker 1: the podcast came. You know, Jack was in a similar
Speaker 1: he didn't know what he you know, I knew what
Speaker 1: I wanted to do, but he didn't really know where
Speaker 1: he was at with it and what was next. And
Speaker 1: he didn't know that you know, speaking could you know
Speaker 1: be as lucrative as has been, and you know, we're
Speaker 1: both getting the same feedback. One day, we're at my
Speaker 1: house in the Bay, um medicating and you know, I
Speaker 1: was just like, you've got to do something together, um
Speaker 1: in this talking space because we're both really talking real
Speaker 1: ship and he's like, I'm down. It's like, what do
Speaker 1: you want to do. I was like, let's do a podcast.
Speaker 1: He's like, what's the podcast? Like, I don't know, but
Speaker 1: I know we could cuss and we can smoke and
Speaker 1: we can drink, like we could really be us because
Speaker 1: you know, at Disney is ESPN and then Foxes. You know,
Speaker 1: he kind of have to walk that corporate line. But
Speaker 1: you know, I just from the pot the few podcasts
Speaker 1: I've seen, people are just really loose being themselves. So um,
Speaker 1: he left me with the business side. He's like, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm in, so if you get lined up, just let
Speaker 1: me know. So I just started grinding, you know, lightning
Speaker 1: in the bottle. A friend of a friend introduced me
Speaker 1: to someone the showtime. I pitched them in the idea,
Speaker 1: just pitched them no sizzle, no real, no no deck,
Speaker 1: no nothing. I just told him what I wanted, which
Speaker 1: was just a relaxed, comfortable setting, like a man cave,
Speaker 1: you know, like you've been over to the house and
Speaker 1: you know you've been lost in the sauce and just
Speaker 1: having cameras on something like that, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: not like, hey, what did you think? Like we're kicking back,
Speaker 1: you know, you're talking it, I'm talking, we're watching the
Speaker 1: game and then and that kind I felt like that
Speaker 1: because we have around the world, there's so many great
Speaker 1: conversations in those settings without cameras, whether you're professional or not,
Speaker 1: they're just great conversation. So that's what I wanted to
Speaker 1: bring to this world. And you know when I kept
Speaker 1: telling people like, yeah, we're going to change the podcast, right,
Speaker 1: there's so many podcasts. How can you change the game.
Speaker 1: And we came in and we did that, you know,
Speaker 1: in our first year. We want Sports Podcast of the
Speaker 1: Year and I just keep you know, I really think
Speaker 1: we set them. Although we were the first, I think
Speaker 1: we set the bar in this space. Um and I
Speaker 1: literally we just started season four and I told our team,
Speaker 1: you know, coming into the season, like I feel like
Speaker 1: we were still the barometer. But I feel like there's
Speaker 1: people in the same room as us now. So we
Speaker 1: gotta elevate. We gotta go to the next level, you know.
Speaker 1: So now we're gonna you know, we did Clay Thompson
Speaker 1: on his boat after practice, driving back to Tiberan, you know,
Speaker 1: on the water rather vibes, you know, the vibes. And
Speaker 1: and Clay doesn't talk to nobody, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: play the shoes off, feed out dog on the couch,
Speaker 1: and you know, talking about he had a little dying
Speaker 1: bag and just wanted to play rock band and the
Speaker 1: police and pollment suck it up, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And then man, we just had Will Smith on Monday.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, and Will was so first we had to
Speaker 1: go see his movie Emancipation, which was incredible. Uh. Then
Speaker 1: we went interviewed the man and he laughed, he cried,
Speaker 1: he talked ship, he was vulnerable, he was real, he
Speaker 1: was transparent and it was just such a dope interview.
Speaker 1: So what is it about y'all man that allows you
Speaker 1: guys to get that transparent, that realness out of your guests.
Speaker 1: You guys get so much good. I think it's the
Speaker 1: environment that we create, you know what I mean. Like
Speaker 1: if you come up to the set, like it's not stiff,
Speaker 1: it's you know, we're smoking, there's food, we're drinking, we're laughing,
Speaker 1: we're having a good time. Like we just we want
Speaker 1: our our guests to feel comfortable enough to have a
Speaker 1: good time, you know what I mean, and a little
Speaker 1: green or you know, some wine or you know, your
Speaker 1: your your choice of beverage. You know, everyone kind of
Speaker 1: just exhales little bit. And then again what I mentioned
Speaker 1: a second ago is just our realness, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: Jack and I are going to be ourselves regardless. So
Speaker 1: you know, you should know coming into our set, we're
Speaker 1: not trying to find no clickbait and we're not trying
Speaker 1: to give people a platform to you know, sabotaze themselves
Speaker 1: like we really want again a good kickback conversation. I
Speaker 1: always take, you know, pride and humanizing our guests, you know,
Speaker 1: because we're fortunate enough because I played, I get a
Speaker 1: chance to see the other side of these people and
Speaker 1: our fans don't. So how can I show our fans
Speaker 1: the other side of our guests? So that's kind of
Speaker 1: my approach every time I go into it, and and
Speaker 1: we've done a good job at that. When you run
Speaker 1: into sort of the I won't say controversy, but it's
Speaker 1: sort of like a little hiccup with that. He made
Speaker 1: Doka situation earlier in the Celtics where you said something
Speaker 1: about it, you came out. I mean, what happened was
Speaker 1: you know, I came out initially saying that, you know,
Speaker 1: although it's not you know, adultery is not right, it's common,
Speaker 1: not only in you know, professional front offices, but the world.
Speaker 1: It happens. It's a normal thing. So again, I'm not
Speaker 1: condoning it, I'm not justifying it, and I'm definitely not
Speaker 1: criticizing it because I've committed it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So you know, all my mistakes are very well documented.
Speaker 1: So I was just trying to say, it's just like
Speaker 1: where I was coming from. Was the only reason I
Speaker 1: even spoke on it was because Robert Sarver the Phoenix
Speaker 1: sun Ship, he got a one year suspension. So when
Speaker 1: I heard that Emai got a one year suspension for
Speaker 1: like what allegedly was going on, I'm just like, how
Speaker 1: the fund is that fair? So that's why I came
Speaker 1: out to his defense initially, Um I posted it, someone
Speaker 1: close to the situation kind of told me it was
Speaker 1: a little bit more and then someone close to the
Speaker 1: situation told me it was a little bit more. So
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, Ship, let me backpedal a little bit.
Speaker 1: And I'm not about you know, I'm not That's what
Speaker 1: I'm seeing that I'm not a backpedaler. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: So backpedal then and just apologize it. But you know
Speaker 1: what's funny was I got a lot of love, it
Speaker 1: also a lot of hate. Oh now you're not supporting
Speaker 1: our brother. Now you're this is and that, and you
Speaker 1: need to tell us and this kind of stuff. And
Speaker 1: it's just like I feel like too often in media
Speaker 1: when people misspeak, it's just ship goes on instead of
Speaker 1: being like, no, you know, maybe I was wrong. I
Speaker 1: didn't have all the facts. You know, we gotta let this.
Speaker 1: I think the one mistake I said is I think
Speaker 1: something like it's a hundred times worse. Maybe that like
Speaker 1: threw people off, like, oh, but you know from what
Speaker 1: I heard, it was just it was a lot deeper. Um.
Speaker 1: You know. Then then then then meets the eye and
Speaker 1: and still a little bit deeper than actually come to light,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So again, it's not I
Speaker 1: just felt like from the direction I took and it
Speaker 1: was only because I didn't feel like from what the
Speaker 1: world the information we had at the time that email Judoka,
Speaker 1: we're hearing, you know, an affair and what roberts Are
Speaker 1: did were on the same level because they both initially
Speaker 1: got the same suspension. So again, once I kind of
Speaker 1: heard a little bit more, I was just like, all right,
Speaker 1: let me just back up off this because you know,
Speaker 1: this is no fun for no one. And again I'm
Speaker 1: not judging in one because I've committed adultery, you know.
Speaker 1: So it's just like, let me just back up out
Speaker 1: this space and and and and let the information come
Speaker 1: out as it will. Yeah, I was dope that you
Speaker 1: fell on your sword. I thought, you know, again the
Speaker 1: part of the evolution to Matt Barnes, you know, you're
Speaker 1: just gonna come out on it and then move forward.
Speaker 1: And that's what that's what I respect about you. Um,
Speaker 1: the Robert Sarver situation, do you feel like the league
Speaker 1: did the right thing by making him have to sell
Speaker 1: his team? And was it too little? Is it too little?
Speaker 1: Too late? Give me some thought. No, it's not too
Speaker 1: I mean because at the end it's not the league's fault,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, we have the Sterling situation. You know,
Speaker 1: in the playoffs with Golden State. You know, we're trying
Speaker 1: to be the young Hungry if people remember, we were
Speaker 1: the last team to beat Golden State before they went
Speaker 1: on that dynasty run. So we're dealing with a young
Speaker 1: Hungry on the rise Golden State Warriors team and are
Speaker 1: idiot owner gets caught you know on tape that was
Speaker 1: doing ye that, Yeah, that's why it dropped during the playoffs.
Speaker 1: We're actually making a show about it. They're filming right
Speaker 1: now called The Sterling Affairs coming out on f X six. There.
Speaker 1: It's dope and it's sick document this whole space. Um,
Speaker 1: but the Starver situation again and when the when the
Speaker 1: Sterling ship hit, I'm like, he's not it was. It
Speaker 1: wasn't a big deal to me from a standpoint of
Speaker 1: you know, racism is still alive. But I faced real
Speaker 1: racism in my life, you know, with my high school
Speaker 1: nearly being burned down and a green light being put
Speaker 1: on my head and I had to move because they
Speaker 1: were trying to kill me. So I faced like real
Speaker 1: life racism. So when you hear older white men you know,
Speaker 1: talk talk disrespectful talk racism, just like you know, fuck you.
Speaker 1: But they're not the only one to think like that,
Speaker 1: and they're just the only ones dumb enough to get caught.
Speaker 1: So in this situation is the same thing I've just
Speaker 1: Starver's just always been an arrogant asshole to me, you know,
Speaker 1: just always arrogant, thinks he's the smartest guy in the room,
Speaker 1: always needs to be a center, to be the center
Speaker 1: of attention. I just never really funk with that. So
Speaker 1: I didn't have any racial incidence with him, because he
Speaker 1: probably knew not to play that around me. Um. I
Speaker 1: did have an incident with him, and I said it
Speaker 1: on the Sharp podcast not too long ago, but we
Speaker 1: had a him out there one time after I had left,
Speaker 1: and I was going back and forth with like a
Speaker 1: young teenage kid and his dad. But it was like
Speaker 1: a fundly like talk trash back and forth. There wasn't
Speaker 1: no disrespect, no hate. And we're at the free throw
Speaker 1: line and I hear someone say, stop sucking talking to
Speaker 1: my fans, or don't fucking talk to my fans. So
Speaker 1: who is talking? I turned around. It was him in
Speaker 1: the corner with his wife, and I looked at it.
Speaker 1: I'll come smack the ship out of you in front
Speaker 1: of your wife say something else like tightened up real quick,
Speaker 1: and I just ran back down the court and he
Speaker 1: told on me and I got fined. How much you
Speaker 1: get for talking to the owner like that? But the
Speaker 1: owner was but the owner talking to me like so,
Speaker 1: how did they vet that out? What was the investigation?
Speaker 1: It was me? It was It wasn't even an investigation
Speaker 1: to me. How can the owner cussing me and I
Speaker 1: cussed back and get fined? That's wild? Crazy? Um so again,
Speaker 1: never had no racism ship with him personally, just asshole
Speaker 1: didn't like him, and which is who cares? You can
Speaker 1: still be an owner with that. But then you know,
Speaker 1: our brother, Earl Watson had his running with Sarvereign and
Speaker 1: the ship. The Earl told me, I'm just like really
Speaker 1: like really that was crazy. I never really talked about it,
Speaker 1: but I kind of set behind the scenes knowing what
Speaker 1: that dude was. Wild wild. He's luckily he hasn't got
Speaker 1: sucked up. Honestly, violence is never, but but sometimes it is.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's my famous quote, but sometimes it is.
Speaker 1: They put that meme on whenever I twitted, they put
Speaker 1: your so I mean again, we really you don't want
Speaker 1: to see it ever go that far in our older
Speaker 1: ages now, but I'm not younger age. We're okay with that, um.
Speaker 1: But you just knew there was a matter of time.
Speaker 1: You hear Earl's incident, and you hear other incidents, it's
Speaker 1: only a matter of time before you know, people are
Speaker 1: just going to start being like, Okay, hey, this is
Speaker 1: who this guy is, and all to cover up him
Speaker 1: and his wife tried to do was bullshit. You know,
Speaker 1: some people might lie, but that many people aren't lying,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So again, you can't blame
Speaker 1: the NBA for having people like this. There's still more
Speaker 1: in the NBA, can I guarantee it? There's still more,
Speaker 1: and not only than the NBA and MLB and foot
Speaker 1: Old and probably even more. Um. But again, when it when, when,
Speaker 1: when it finally showed itself, you have to be stern
Speaker 1: and you have to know pun intenda. You have to,
Speaker 1: you know, make a stance that there's no room in
Speaker 1: our game. There's really no room in the world, but
Speaker 1: particularly professional sports for racism. So you know, I initially
Speaker 1: thought that the fine and the one you're suspension was bullshit,
Speaker 1: But you know, I knew that people are gonna start
Speaker 1: speaking enough like me. They were saying, you know, this
Speaker 1: is bullshit. And you know, the bigger guys start speaking.
Speaker 1: When le Broun and then starts speaking, that's when ship happens,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And then sponsors start pulling out,
Speaker 1: that's when ship happened. So, you know, luckily, he you know, thankfully,
Speaker 1: he made the decision that he should sell the team.
Speaker 1: So you know, so he made a mistake, and he's
Speaker 1: made several mistakes, but at the same time, he's you know,
Speaker 1: it's don't feel bad for him for people like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is not enough. He's you know, he's thirty ner
Speaker 1: of that team. So that team sells for a couple
Speaker 1: of billion. He's, you know, he's he's gonna eat. Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f
Speaker 1: s R to listen live. But I think that one
Speaker 1: of the bigger things, like racism is definitely issue pro sports.
Speaker 1: But I think misogyny is a huge, huge epidemic in
Speaker 1: pro sports. We see Daniel Snyder, the owner of the
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders, now coming out of under fire, Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: and wishing weeks on the NFL side of things has
Speaker 1: been under fire. Um do you do you think that
Speaker 1: the misogynistic sort of foundation that pro sports is where
Speaker 1: they act that way or actively, you think that's ever
Speaker 1: gonna change? And how can it change? I do, because
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's probably been going on for a
Speaker 1: long time and never spoken on, and now now at
Speaker 1: least a conversation. And remember back in the day when
Speaker 1: we wanted we'd legalized, it was a long way, but
Speaker 1: then they started talking about it. It was deep and
Speaker 1: the next thing you know, it's here. You know. So
Speaker 1: when things are finally that that we know and not
Speaker 1: again and not only in professional sports, but just these
Speaker 1: boardrooms around the world, when it starts getting talked about,
Speaker 1: it's coming. You know. That means I think more change
Speaker 1: is on the way. Will we be able to see
Speaker 1: it in our lifetime, I'm not sure, but it's definitely
Speaker 1: changing now because it's just a more righteous country or
Speaker 1: we try to be, you know, just a more wrong
Speaker 1: is wrong. Finally in some cases we're getting here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So to me, it's starting to change. So um, and
Speaker 1: I say the same thing with the racism you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. I think there's just a certain standard
Speaker 1: of these seventy plus old you know, oil billionaires, are
Speaker 1: real estate billionaires that are team owners, and that's just
Speaker 1: kind of the life they've lived. A nigger will slip
Speaker 1: out here and there, nigger this nigger, you know, and
Speaker 1: that's just kind of the way. That's the way they
Speaker 1: talk normally privately, but sometimes it's slipping out. But I think,
Speaker 1: you know, once they you know, pass on from our
Speaker 1: game and in in just everyone's game in general. I
Speaker 1: think these next you know, new wave of CEOs and
Speaker 1: owners are just understanding more of what our culture is about.
Speaker 1: And that's not to say that some young racist is
Speaker 1: gonna slip in, but I think overall, look that people
Speaker 1: just starting to understand. Man, there's just we're all here together,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, black and brown people have been
Speaker 1: called minority for so long, but we're actually the majority now.
Speaker 1: You know, they try to use the word minority to
Speaker 1: keep us in our place, but we're really the mind. Uh,
Speaker 1: we're really the majority. So just kind of having to
Speaker 1: understand how the world is now. I think, you know, eventually,
Speaker 1: to answer your question, I think eventually it will change
Speaker 1: and it is changing. I just don't know how soon
Speaker 1: we'll see it. Why do you think more hasn't been
Speaker 1: done to get Britney Grinder out of jail? Oh man,
Speaker 1: it's unfortunate. Me my girl actually talking about it last night.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's it's bad man, because cartridge, when you
Speaker 1: think about it, it's a cartridge. It's not even actual flower.
Speaker 1: There's no like real weed being found. But I think
Speaker 1: it's timing. I think time, you know, Chris, every timing
Speaker 1: is everything. And I think she got caught in the
Speaker 1: middle of a war with Ukraine, UH and Russia, and
Speaker 1: then you know, the the United States giving Ukraine money. Oh,
Speaker 1: when we have one of your NBA female stars or
Speaker 1: w give me w n b A stars over here,
Speaker 1: you know we're gonna make an example. Unfortunately, I think
Speaker 1: they're trying to make an example out of her. Um.
Speaker 1: You know she just heard her bail denied the other day. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: She's like, I got a nine year sentence. So I
Speaker 1: think I'm praying that, you know, the president and someone
Speaker 1: can really make something happen. But I think this might
Speaker 1: be a situation where I don't think that she They
Speaker 1: say something like she's close to eight years left because
Speaker 1: you know, time served. Yeah, but I think that she's
Speaker 1: and I hope I'm wrong on a couple of different levels,
Speaker 1: but I think she's gonna probably do a couple of
Speaker 1: years and then they're gonna freer. That's crazy because honestly, man,
Speaker 1: I really feel like this is unfair because if this
Speaker 1: was a male professional athlete, any one, right, this would
Speaker 1: not happen. Right, it would have been swift. You know,
Speaker 1: calls would have been made, Folks would have been on red,
Speaker 1: you know, that bad phone talking to Putin and then
Speaker 1: that dude's out of here. So but Brittany now has
Speaker 1: to pay the price right for the timing of everything.
Speaker 1: And I appreciate the people that is using their platforms
Speaker 1: to try to try to whatever. You know, and it's
Speaker 1: using your platform if you look at it, although it's
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a it's a it's a gesture. And
Speaker 1: we do love and and and we we hope she's
Speaker 1: safe and and and sending love out to our family
Speaker 1: doesn't really it doesn't really do anything, which is which
Speaker 1: is messed up. I wish there was more tangible things
Speaker 1: that that people can do to to really help. But
Speaker 1: you know, right now, we're kind of at the mercy
Speaker 1: of their their judicial system and and and their president
Speaker 1: and how they see holding her fit, which is unbelievable.
Speaker 1: So yeah, Man, I just definitely pray for her, pray
Speaker 1: for her family, her loved ones, and you know, she's
Speaker 1: just an example. There's a lot of people around the
Speaker 1: world that are in similar situations. You know, she's just
Speaker 1: happens to have some fame and money behind her name,
Speaker 1: so that's why it's it's so front and center, not
Speaker 1: that it doesn't deserve to be, but there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people in similar situations. So it's just like it
Speaker 1: just kind of just shows how crazy this world can be. Man,
Speaker 1: I have a story from my time overseas. Um and
Speaker 1: Risk I took doing something similar as pretty Grinder. I
Speaker 1: was in Malaysia Man playing in the Damn Asian champion
Speaker 1: Ship in two thousand and one. Uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: got Stas Boseman out there with me. We're playing against Jr.
Speaker 1: And Sam got in the final. But you know, I
Speaker 1: needed some weed. I need to smoke that week, and
Speaker 1: you know here in Malaysia, Kuala Lumplu or whole in
Speaker 1: other country. So I ended up going to find it
Speaker 1: and everything like that, right, So I find it out
Speaker 1: there and freaking Malaysia, which you could have gotten in jail.
Speaker 1: First of all. So I'm smoking in my hotel room
Speaker 1: with stays in the hotel and stays and in the
Speaker 1: bathroom or in Damad in my bedroom, so just toweling
Speaker 1: the door must have been playing really well at the time.
Speaker 1: Thirty six or better didn't matter. I was feeling investable, right,
Speaker 1: So look, we got all this, we got all this
Speaker 1: stuff in Malaysia. We win the championship. I take you'll
Speaker 1: beat him? We beat him? Would you get six? Eight
Speaker 1: and eight in the final? Sham God was guarding me. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he was just guarding sham guys. He was
Speaker 1: you know, he was doing all the defensive stuff and
Speaker 1: he's just letting me just get off. So that was beautiful.
Speaker 1: So I ended up taking the stuff back to Qatar.
Speaker 1: Now you know, that's like, it's worse than taking some
Speaker 1: stuff back to real bro. But just to show you
Speaker 1: why where my mindset was and how people just you know,
Speaker 1: I read a lot of comments on Twitter about how
Speaker 1: could she even think to do something like that? Trust me,
Speaker 1: when you're at a certain status at a certain place
Speaker 1: in this in basketball, and you're overseas and you gotta
Speaker 1: feel like you need something to make your body, your bone,
Speaker 1: something that you have used for a while that help
Speaker 1: you play well. Okay, yeah, your mental state. Come on,
Speaker 1: my mental state, bro, I'm risking all that for that.
Speaker 1: I think about that story. I've never told that story
Speaker 1: to anyone, but I think about that when I've been
Speaker 1: thinking about that since Brittany, Like, damn, thank god that
Speaker 1: I made it out, because if I would have got
Speaker 1: busted with that, bro, it would have been it would
Speaker 1: have been bad. Yeah. I was, you know, I was.
Speaker 1: I was taking those chances on vacation. Yeah. I didn't
Speaker 1: even need it to play or anything like that. I
Speaker 1: just felt like I needed it, Like if I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go on vacation with this thing, I'm going over the
Speaker 1: water is like I need it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It just is what it is because to me, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not a big drinker. I definitely don't pop pills.
Speaker 1: It's just what I feel, like, Mike, Mike, I said,
Speaker 1: it is. That's my medicine. And and the fact that
Speaker 1: for a cartridge, she may have to spend years in
Speaker 1: jail is is and we definitely not condone smuggling marijuana,
Speaker 1: not over international waters, something that the crime definitely doesn't
Speaker 1: match the punishment by any means, nor it doesn't. Man
Speaker 1: One more thing for your brother before you go, I
Speaker 1: just want you to give some advice. You've just your
Speaker 1: second act, if you will, from business to media coaching.
Speaker 1: How did you or how do you stay locked in
Speaker 1: and how did you have the vision to kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, know, where you wanted to go with your
Speaker 1: career active basketball. I didn't, like I said, I invested
Speaker 1: because I thought, you know, I was going to be
Speaker 1: a cannabis owner and I just thought I would have
Speaker 1: a few other businesses. Um, but you're still gonna do cannaby. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm still in it. I'm just not as heavy anymore
Speaker 1: because like media is kind of so that kind of
Speaker 1: works for itself. Um. The media stuff is really media
Speaker 1: and content creation that have been number one. And Chris,
Speaker 1: I just say, it's it's it's cool, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: I love doing it, you know what I mean? Like that,
Speaker 1: I got the luckiest, luckiest job in the world to
Speaker 1: play you know, professional basketball for fifteen years and get
Speaker 1: paid for it and now you know, I get to
Speaker 1: still talk about it and create and create content around it,
Speaker 1: and that that ship is fun and you know, for
Speaker 1: to be ESPN and Showtime and NBC Bay Area because
Speaker 1: I worked for the Kings and Baller Vision, because I'm
Speaker 1: working for the Clippers, that the bombership he's doing. I'm
Speaker 1: doing color commentary for Ote, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So all these people, you know, want to pay me
Speaker 1: to talk about basketball, and it's it's good pay, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So it's just like ship, it's
Speaker 1: a lot it's it's you know, I don't like that
Speaker 1: I have to travel a lot um. I'm missing time
Speaker 1: with my kids. But at the same time, it's just
Speaker 1: like you know, used to just like you kind of
Speaker 1: have to strike. Why the iron is hot. The iron
Speaker 1: is hot right now more doors continue to open, man.
Speaker 1: So I just you know, I continue to stay real
Speaker 1: and authentic in me know, and be transparent. I funked
Speaker 1: up on the Odoka thing. I apologize you know a
Speaker 1: lot about but a lot of people respected that. The
Speaker 1: people who needed to respected their respected, you know, which
Speaker 1: means which continues to make me okay, like he is
Speaker 1: really So it's just like, continue to be me, continue
Speaker 1: to be gracious, continue to be thankful. You know, we
Speaker 1: were talking about the other day. I was at Better
Speaker 1: Paint and said, with a guy named Ron Everley's name
Speaker 1: goes by Boss, he's Kevin Hart's trainer's my training and
Speaker 1: uh we did his little penicipit his crib and that
Speaker 1: he was telling a story to a bunch of guys
Speaker 1: in the circle. Then when he met me in two
Speaker 1: thousand seventeen, after I won a championship at a big
Speaker 1: old house on Dohini for the summer, and this is
Speaker 1: my first time I'd always seen him, so I hit
Speaker 1: him up and I was like, I want you to
Speaker 1: train me and probably can play. You know, another year
Speaker 1: two I decided to retire, but he was telling a story,
Speaker 1: how I guess. One day we were working out, and
Speaker 1: the one thing I told him is just like shake
Speaker 1: hands would be cool with everyone because you never know
Speaker 1: who is who, you know what I mean, like and
Speaker 1: especially I tried to do that because I think there
Speaker 1: was such a misconception that I was a thug or
Speaker 1: bad guy or dumb or any of that kind of ship.
Speaker 1: So I just I go out of my way to
Speaker 1: be cool. With people, and you never know where that's
Speaker 1: going to lead you. It could lead you nowhere, it
Speaker 1: could lead you everywhere. And it's it's led me to
Speaker 1: a lot of different places now because you know, I
Speaker 1: played a long time in the n b A. I
Speaker 1: went to U C. L A and and and and
Speaker 1: and I'm you know, I'm touchable from you know, So
Speaker 1: I just I like to be out and about and
Speaker 1: and in in good rooms and communicate with people and
Speaker 1: and see, if you know, friendships or business come from it.
Speaker 1: And you know, that's kind of been my recipe. Um.
Speaker 1: And then you know, obviously when you get these opportunities,
Speaker 1: you got to continue to grind, you know, kick these
Speaker 1: doors in. You know what I mean. It's I got ESPN,
Speaker 1: so I gotta study the whole league. And then I
Speaker 1: got the King, so I gotta study the Kings. Then
Speaker 1: I gotta study the Clippers, and now I gotta learn
Speaker 1: all these little young O t E kids. So the
Speaker 1: twins are go. My twins are gonna school me on
Speaker 1: that because I don't have time to watch them, and
Speaker 1: now I'm getting paid to do it, so I need
Speaker 1: to know it. So it's just like you know, it's
Speaker 1: still work but it's fun work and it's you know,
Speaker 1: it could be a lot worse type ship. So and
Speaker 1: that's why I just continue to grind and hopefully I
Speaker 1: motivate people from a standpoint of I was a journeyman
Speaker 1: role player, you know what I mean. Like you see
Speaker 1: guys that move into media that that that have these
Speaker 1: kind of careers are like all stars or Hall of
Speaker 1: Famers and all that ship. And I'm not so to me,
Speaker 1: I think that shows other guys it's more attainable. Like literally,
Speaker 1: anybody could do it. You just gotta be good at it.
Speaker 1: You gotta know how to you know, work your rooms
Speaker 1: and talk your ship and shake your hands and you
Speaker 1: know anything, it's possible. Man. So I just want to
Speaker 1: continue to motivate and elevate myself and elevate everything that
Speaker 1: I touch and see where it goes. Man, you're doing
Speaker 1: the hell of a job, brother, Keep doing what you're doing.
Speaker 1: We love the show, Love you on ESPM man, and
Speaker 1: we're looking out for the Isaiah Carter business of basketball.
Speaker 1: They're coming, ladies and gentlemen. Matt Barnes