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Speaker 1: This has been my favorite artist since I can remember, right,

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Speaker 1: So the end.

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Speaker 2: Of the light skinned dudes gotta hang together. Got you

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Speaker 2: gotta stick together, right, I got you, I got you.

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Speaker 1: Forward. I mean, I just end up. This is how

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Speaker 1: life works. I just end up in Toronto. I end

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Speaker 1: up here. You know what I'm saying. I've been here

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Speaker 1: and I look like him since I was fifteen years old.

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Speaker 1: So it's just funny, right.

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Speaker 2: And what's a perk of being being down with Drake

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Speaker 2: Ski with Champagne Pappy on game Present, Conversations with a legend,

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Speaker 2: and now here's LeVar Arrington.

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Speaker 3: What's up? Everybody?

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Speaker 2: Welcome into another exciting addition.

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Speaker 3: You know what it is.

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Speaker 2: It's up on Game for since, conversations with a legend

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Speaker 2: and we're keeping.

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Speaker 3: It ball, but we went from oblong to round ball.

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Speaker 2: I got my man Fred van Bleet on the senior

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Speaker 2: by the way, and make sure you get it right.

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Speaker 2: You know what I mean, because when there's a senior,

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Speaker 2: that means that there is a junior that's nearby.

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Speaker 3: So man, appreciate you coming on, my guy. Man appreciate it.

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Speaker 2: You're you're my first player non football that I've had

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Speaker 2: on as as a legend. So h this is historical

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Speaker 2: in some regards and some aspects. And uh, you got

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Speaker 2: a great story, man, So it couldn't have been a

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Speaker 2: better dude to have be the first guy.

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Speaker 3: So I appreciate you. Welcome into the show.

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Speaker 1: Man, Thanks for having me man inor appreciate.

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Speaker 3: It indeed, indeed. So let's get to it. Man.

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Speaker 2: You're from Illinois, That's that's your spot. And they played

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Speaker 2: basketball there now for what is worth?

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Speaker 3: For what is worth?

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Speaker 2: And I come from a time when you know, I

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Speaker 2: played against Ashwan Walker and all them dudes, that's my ear.

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Speaker 2: I was playing for a team out of Pittsburgh and

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Speaker 2: we traveled around in one of the team's main teams

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Speaker 2: out of Chicago had Anchwan Walker. Right, So you six

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Speaker 2: to one, dog, Yeah, six to one, and you're balling

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Speaker 2: in Chicago, you're balling in Illinois.

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Speaker 3: What was that like?

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Speaker 2: I mean, because basketball is is a thing obviously where

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Speaker 2: you're from, and and and the first thing people look

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Speaker 2: at is how tall are you? Everybody want to see

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Speaker 2: the eye test? I mean, what was that like coming

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Speaker 2: up in the game and everybody, I would assume people

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Speaker 2: was like, I like, I like that kid, Fred, But man,

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Speaker 2: the dude over here, like like the Anchwin Walker's they

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Speaker 2: handling the ball and they six eight six ' nine,

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Speaker 2: Like what was that like growing up?

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Speaker 1: Well, it's funny because Illinois is definitely a basketball state,

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Speaker 1: so you know that's just embreded and the culture out there,

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Speaker 1: I mean from you go way back to guys like Seek,

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Speaker 1: but obviously on MJ's imprint in Chicago and just what

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Speaker 1: that meant to basketball, it just kind of flooded the community.

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Speaker 1: So the way it worked out with the hype for

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Speaker 1: me was I actually played with my two older brothers,

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Speaker 1: so I was the rent of the group anyway, just

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Speaker 1: by age, you know what I mean. I played two

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Speaker 1: or three years above my age pretty much from the beginning,

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Speaker 1: and then by the time I got older to play

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Speaker 1: with kids my age, I was so much far advanced

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Speaker 1: and more mature than my peers that I was able

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Speaker 1: to make up a lot of what I lacked in

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Speaker 1: like size and even athleticism to a certain extent, with

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Speaker 1: just maturity, toughness and you know basketball IQ. So where

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Speaker 1: I grew up, Rockford, so I just grew up as

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Speaker 1: an underdog. You know, we grew up in the shadow

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Speaker 1: of Chicago, So I was always fighting against that. I

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Speaker 1: was fighting against playing with guys older than me, and

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Speaker 1: I was fighting against, you know, the stigma of being

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Speaker 1: the little guy. So I knew that where I wanted

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Speaker 1: to get to one day, and I just studied all

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Speaker 1: the guys in the pros and the college level that

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Speaker 1: was doing it at my size, and that's something that

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Speaker 1: I found a lot of success in. Was like, all right,

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Speaker 1: I know it's possible. It's gonna be a little bit

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Speaker 1: harder for me, for sure, but it's definitely possible when

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Speaker 1: we seeing guys do it.

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Speaker 3: Indeed, so you end up at what you're tall?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you heard it the Kansas Yeah, I mean was

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Speaker 2: it by choice?

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Speaker 3: Was it by necessity? Was it? Like? What? What? How?

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Speaker 3: How did you end up at in Kansas? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Well, I just I didn't really like being recruited, being

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Speaker 1: that I was at underdog and being that I always

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Speaker 1: had two chips on my shoulders, that the recruiting process

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Speaker 1: was really uncomfortable for me because I just felt I

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Speaker 1: never felt like it was genuine from the colleges and

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Speaker 1: I was trying to find a place where I could

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Speaker 1: play and win and have an opportunity. So all of

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Speaker 1: the big schools that I wanted to go to, the

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Speaker 1: big name schools, you know, whether it was Illinois, none

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Speaker 1: of really the Illinois schools recruited me. Those big name schools,

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Speaker 1: they didn't really recruit me. There was a guy from

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Speaker 1: Illinois on the staff at Wichita by the name of

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Speaker 1: Dana Ford. He found me. We created a relationship, and

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Speaker 1: I just looked at it like, Okay, this team is

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Speaker 1: going to the tournament, they have a great fan base.

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Speaker 1: They're telling me I'm going to have an opportunity to play, like,

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Speaker 1: let's go see what I can do down there. And

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Speaker 1: I just committed early. So I committed a little bit early,

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Speaker 1: like my junior year, and then I played out the

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Speaker 1: rest and I got more interest after that, but I

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Speaker 1: was already committed and locked in to where I wanted

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Speaker 1: to go. So I just went out there and gave

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Speaker 1: it a char.

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Speaker 3: Then you go to what you ta, You do your thing.

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Speaker 2: NBA draft rolls around, they don't call your name right,

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Speaker 2: they don't call your name right.

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Speaker 3: How did that make you feel? Man? Oh?

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Speaker 1: I was heartbroken. I was heartbroken. Man. You think about

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Speaker 1: really twenty two years in my life that it to

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Speaker 1: the sport the way I was raised and the way

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Speaker 1: that I grew up everything and my world revolved around basketball.

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Speaker 1: That was our way out. That was first of all,

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Speaker 1: my way to get a free education, and second of all,

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Speaker 1: this is how I'm gonna take care of my family.

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Speaker 1: So mind you, I've been playing well against all of

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Speaker 1: these guys that I'm seeing their names getting called. I

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Speaker 1: had one of the top college careers out of anybody

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Speaker 1: in my class. I played well, I played well against

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Speaker 1: other guys, but I just didn't match the eye tests

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Speaker 1: and I didn't have the measurable So I had a

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Speaker 1: good feeling going into the draft that there was a

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Speaker 1: chance I wouldn't get drafted. So it wasn't that much

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Speaker 1: of a surprise. You know, my agent, he kind of

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Speaker 1: prepped me for it. But at the same time, I

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Speaker 1: was just devastated because you know, that's part of the dream.

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Speaker 3: Still wanted to happen.

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Speaker 1: That's part of the dream that you don't plan for.

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Speaker 1: You don't plan to not get drafted. When when you're

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Speaker 1: at home and you're working on your game or you sleeping,

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Speaker 1: you have dreams. You don't think like, oh, yeah, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna go on drafted. You dream about getting that put

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Speaker 1: the hat on and shaking the commissioner hand. So I

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Speaker 1: wasn't really prepared in that regard. But you know, my

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Speaker 1: ultimate goal was to have a long NBA career. I

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Speaker 1: didn't really care about draft night that much. That was

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Speaker 1: just the beginning of the story.

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Speaker 3: I could dig.

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Speaker 2: So you knew you was going to make your way

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Speaker 2: even if it wasn't by draft, because I was going

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Speaker 2: to ask you, did you feel like like man, like

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Speaker 2: some dudes they don't get drafteds, Like is this it?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I go somewhere else.

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Speaker 1: You know, you never really knew, you know what I mean,

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Speaker 1: up until maybe like two days before the draft. We

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Speaker 1: started having conversations. And then that's when they got explained

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Speaker 1: to me, like, Okay, these guys in the first round,

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Speaker 1: their contracts looked like this. The end of the first round,

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Speaker 1: their contracts looked like this. All of those guys you

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Speaker 1: see get picked in the second round, a lot of

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Speaker 1: them money is not guaranteed. Half of them may get

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Speaker 1: sent to Europe or you know, to the G League

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Speaker 1: or whatever maybe. And so that opened my eyes a

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Speaker 1: little bit to say, Okay, it's not only about getting

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Speaker 1: your name called. It's about trying to position yourself in

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Speaker 1: a way to make a roster, because that's all that matters.

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Speaker 1: At the end of the day. There's guys that get

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Speaker 1: drafted every year that won't make it through the year.

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Speaker 1: So once I started to understand the business of it,

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Speaker 1: it really made me hungrier and just made me go

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Speaker 1: harder and say, Okay, now I got to find a

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Speaker 1: way to make an imprint when I get my chance.

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Speaker 2: So you had more than two chips at that point

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Speaker 2: you said you was going into it, You had two chips.

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Speaker 2: You had more than two chips by that time out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, they're still there too. I just came around with

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Speaker 1: me every day.

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Speaker 3: Truth.

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Speaker 2: So you end up on G League and you had

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Speaker 2: to work your way through the ranks.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 2: Part of the reason why I love doing this show

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Speaker 2: is I love having the conversations where the struggle of

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Speaker 2: making it through and figuring out at some point within

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Speaker 2: the struggle that there's a process and sometimes that process

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Speaker 2: got to lay out differently for some of us, but nonetheless,

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Speaker 2: the struggle is real.

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Speaker 3: So you end up in G League.

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Speaker 2: So let's stop right there, because we're gonna come back

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Speaker 2: to the triumph of it.

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Speaker 3: But let's stop right there. And you mentioned earlier.

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Speaker 2: The free education, the only way of making it out

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Speaker 2: and different things like that. Now I know who you are.

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Speaker 2: And not only do I know who you are, but

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Speaker 2: I even you know. I'm like, I'm curious. So when

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Speaker 2: I'm when I'm about to have conversations with dudes that

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Speaker 2: that I bang with, I start doing my I start

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Speaker 2: doing a little bit of homework.

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Speaker 3: You know what I mean.

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Speaker 2: And you know you talked about you know, you mentioned

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Speaker 2: your brothers and stuff like that. Now you're in business

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Speaker 2: with your brothers and you guys do which I do.

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Speaker 2: Obviously I do production and stuff like that. You guys

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Speaker 2: started a production company. But I saw one of the

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Speaker 2: posts your brother had it us. Man, we came a

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Speaker 2: long way. I think it was getting off of a PJ.

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Speaker 2: And he was like, you know, we went from what

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Speaker 2: we went it sounded like the muck of the mud

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Speaker 2: to now we're doing it. We're getting it the right way.

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Speaker 2: So now let's go back to the beginning. Let's go

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Speaker 2: back to the beginning. How did you come up? What

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Speaker 2: was what were the struggles that you guys had to endure?

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Speaker 2: I said, you mentioned being outside of Chicago, But what

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Speaker 2: were the struggles that y'all were dealing with when y'all

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Speaker 2: was coming up. I know, the farther part of it,

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Speaker 2: I don't know. You know, I don't want to go

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Speaker 2: down any roads you're not comfortable going down.

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Speaker 3: But you know, I like to.

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Speaker 2: Give these kids perspective, you know what I mean, So

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Speaker 2: talk to me about the beginning.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's important, and I've grown to learn how to

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Speaker 1: open up and share it because I've learned that I'm

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Speaker 1: not the only person with this story, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean, There's millions of people with these stories. So

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Speaker 1: just to go all the way back to the beginning,

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Speaker 1: which was as early as I can remember. My biological

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Speaker 1: father was killed when I was five years old. So

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Speaker 1: now it's me and my oldest brother, Darnell, and it's

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Speaker 1: my mom and my grandparents, and you know, she making

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Speaker 1: do it what she can to jobs. We were kind

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Speaker 1: of living like more on the white side of town

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Speaker 1: where you know her family was from, so from maybe.

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Speaker 3: Like your mom, your mom is white, mom is white, right,

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Speaker 3: so now.

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Speaker 2: You got you got, you got the light skinned babies. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: and y'all on the white side of town. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 2: and you you ain't that old, but you ain't you

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Speaker 2: ain't old.

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Speaker 3: Enough where you know.

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Speaker 1: Right, no doubt. Yeah, So so I didn't I didn't

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Speaker 1: experience like overt racism, you know what I mean, But

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Speaker 1: I still got the like, you know, I was out

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Speaker 1: of place a little bit.

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Speaker 3: Like trying to figure it out, right.

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Speaker 1: So I had to learn how to play both sides.

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Speaker 1: And I think from maybe five years old to like

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Speaker 1: eight or nine, I think when my mom eventually met

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Speaker 1: my stepdad, you know, they moved in, we moved in

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Speaker 1: with them, and so she went, you know, my dad

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Speaker 1: kind of was he was he was making it do

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Speaker 1: what it do. You know, he was running around trying

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Speaker 1: to make amends for his family, and she kind of

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Speaker 1: went from that to a cop. So he got with

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Speaker 1: a cop and my stepdad is like a military cop discipline.

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Speaker 1: So we kind of went from like running around, you know,

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Speaker 1: the white side of town having fun and you know,

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Speaker 1: we staying out as long as we want to. My

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Speaker 1: mom's just trying to make it work for us to

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Speaker 1: like discipline resum. I mean, you gotta be on point,

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Speaker 1: you gotta you know, like it was just a different environment.

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Speaker 1: So I got to see both sides, and you know,

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Speaker 1: the schools that I went to and grew up in

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Speaker 1: At the time, it just felt like, you know, I

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Speaker 1: was a normal kid. But looking back, you know, it

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Speaker 1: was some rough circumstances and things that I'm not sure

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Speaker 1: I don't want my kids to have to go through.

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Speaker 1: So I've seen a lot at an early age, and

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Speaker 1: I think it just toughened me up a little bit,

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Speaker 1: hardened me up a little bit, gave me a unique

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Speaker 1: pace perspective on life because I got to see poor white,

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Speaker 1: poor black. I got to see middle class black, and

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Speaker 1: then eventually, you know, go to college and now I'll

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Speaker 1: see white money, you know what I mean, certain things.

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Speaker 1: So I got to experience a lot of that and

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Speaker 1: it just gave me a great perspective on life. But

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Speaker 1: one thing that my parents really embedded in us was

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Speaker 1: like we had to be above average. We just we

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Speaker 1: couldn't be average. And I think that they instilled that.

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Speaker 1: My parents sacrificed their entire lives to make sure that

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Speaker 1: me and my brothers got educations and we played sports.

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Speaker 1: We didn't have to work, we didn't have to pay

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Speaker 1: bills as teenagers. A lot of my friends did, a

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Speaker 1: lot of my friends had to make ways for theirselfs

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Speaker 1: and as teenagers to help their families and we got

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Speaker 1: to be kids. And that's one thing that I will

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Speaker 1: never be able to repay them for. So Rockford is

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Speaker 1: like one of those rust belt towns where you know,

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Speaker 1: there was the big manufacturing plants, you know, christ learn

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Speaker 1: things like that, and then I was see, as those

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Speaker 1: things move on, you're stuck with the leftovers. And so

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Speaker 1: they created it creates a tough environment for kids to

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Speaker 1: grow up in, not much opportunity and not much hope.

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Speaker 1: But we just we just formed a family built around

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Speaker 1: sports and love, and you know, everybody poured into that

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Speaker 1: and I was ultimately the one who was able to

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Speaker 1: take it the fireless.

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Speaker 2: What was one of the biggest challenges during that time

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Speaker 2: was it was it about balancing what what you were

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Speaker 2: living as as Fred the person and with your family.

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Speaker 2: Was it just just being able to overcome the odds

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Speaker 2: being being that. I know, for me when I was

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Speaker 2: in high school, I had a lot and I come

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Speaker 2: from a good family. But my family, they they you know,

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Speaker 2: they come from from bangers. You know, they banged and

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Speaker 2: and so it's like the balance of good and evil,

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean. You got one dude on

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Speaker 2: this shoulder, that's saying, you know what I mean, like,

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Speaker 2: do what you need to do. You got the other

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Speaker 2: dude on this shoulder, saying, man, f it, you know

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Speaker 2: what I mean, like be a real one, you know

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Speaker 2: what I mean? Whatever that meant at the time, You

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Speaker 2: know what I mean? But how did you for you?

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Speaker 2: What was what was what you needed, what you felt

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Speaker 2: you needed to balance to to get immersed in that

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Speaker 2: process in order to be able to put yourself in

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Speaker 2: the position, because there's.

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Speaker 3: A lot of things. You got to get good grades,

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Speaker 3: you got to be in school.

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Speaker 2: You know, you got to handle I don't know if

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Speaker 2: you handle you dealt with girls, you know during that time,

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Speaker 2: or if you was too focused whatever it was. But

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Speaker 2: I know I dealt with girls, and that threw my

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Speaker 2: focus off at times too.

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Speaker 3: Because you're immature, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 2: Man, another dude then hollered at her and she and

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Speaker 2: she went for it, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 3: So now I'm dealing.

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Speaker 2: With that, you know what I mean, Like, you're dealing

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Speaker 2: with a whole lot of different things. What did you

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Speaker 2: have to like, what did you have to balance in

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Speaker 2: order to achieve what you were able to cheat to

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Speaker 2: get to what you dall state.

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Speaker 1: You know what, I'm a big faith guy and very spiritual,

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Speaker 1: and so now I can look back. I'm not that old,

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Speaker 1: but I can look back to when I was ten

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Speaker 1: years old at nine years old, and it's just nothing

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Speaker 1: that I can say but God. Right. So I try

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Speaker 1: to tell people like I had a great family too.

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Speaker 1: You know, I had two parents at home, my stepdad,

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Speaker 1: I don't call it my stepdad as my father. He

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Speaker 1: raised me. He took me at my brother in so

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Speaker 1: we were very safe at home. We had a very

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Speaker 1: safe environment. Neither of our parents smoke, they didn't drink,

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Speaker 1: they didn't fight. All they did was go to work

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Speaker 1: and take us to a basketball football practice. So I

340
00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,520
Speaker 1: was very safe. Now as soon as I lead at house,

341
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Speaker 1: I'm in the rest of the world. So going to

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Speaker 1: and from school was really like the most treacherous stuff

343
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Speaker 1: I had to try to maneuver as a young kid,

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Speaker 1: because when I get to this school, there's not really

345
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Speaker 1: anybody else in the school that has the situation. I

346
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,240
Speaker 1: got it the best out of everybody, and we're not

347
00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,399
Speaker 1: doing great, but we're probably doing better than most of

348
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Speaker 1: my fears. So somehow, some way, sixth grade, as I'm

349
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Speaker 1: going to middle school, we just formed maybe it was

350
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Speaker 1: four three four five of us. There was like three

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Speaker 1: four five of us friends who just kind of all

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Speaker 1: had the same energy and just wanted to be cool.

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Speaker 1: But we didn't really want to do the street thing.

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Speaker 1: And we liked playing sports, you know, we like girls,

355
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Speaker 1: So we just kind of bonded over that. And my

356
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Speaker 1: best friend his dad was just like my parents, and

357
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Speaker 1: so we just kind of locked in and formed our

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Speaker 1: own bond and just by the grace of God, we

359
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,119
Speaker 1: just ran into each other. And those are still the

360
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Speaker 1: guys that I'm with to this day. So I think

361
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Speaker 1: I was able to create my own world inside of

362
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Speaker 1: what we were living in and allowed me to stay focused.

363
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Speaker 1: So my friends was kind of on what I.

364
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Speaker 3: Was trying to do the same thing.

365
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Speaker 1: You don't You're trying to do the same thing. So

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Speaker 1: we used to look at the other people and be like, damn,

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00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,399
Speaker 1: you know, so and so. Man, Like there was a

368
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Speaker 1: kid who he was driving to school in sixth grade,

369
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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like he's got his he's

370
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: got his little duffle bag on. There's nothing in there.

371
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Speaker 1: But at three eighty's no book, there's no.

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Speaker 3: Principal, ready to get busy.

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Speaker 1: It's a three eighty in there. This ten years old,

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Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. At the time, we thought

375
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Speaker 1: it was normal. We didn't think nothing of it. We

376
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Speaker 1: just like, all right, we know we don't want to

377
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Speaker 1: do that. We don't want to do that, and then

378
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Speaker 1: I'll never forget it was like eighth grade, ninth going

379
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,920
Speaker 1: into high school. That was one of our guys. He

380
00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,000
Speaker 1: played on our basketball team. His name was a Spider,

381
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Speaker 1: and he ended up getting killed that summer, and I

382
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Speaker 1: think that was like a shock to all of us, Like, yo,

383
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Speaker 1: this shit real, you know what I mean. I had

384
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Speaker 1: it as a five year old. I didn't really understand

385
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Speaker 1: it at the time, But at thirteen fourteen going into

386
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Speaker 1: high school, we know we want to get to wherever

387
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,600
Speaker 1: we want to get to, Like, okay, this is what's

388
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,080
Speaker 1: gonna happen if we go down that path. And we

389
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,760
Speaker 1: never blamed and we never judged nobody, but we just

390
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,040
Speaker 1: knew like we got to try to do something different.

391
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Speaker 1: We gotta do something different than anybody from this city

392
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Speaker 1: has ever done. And you know, thank god we was

393
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Speaker 1: able to do it.

394
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Speaker 2: How does that play a part in how you deal

395
00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:25,119
Speaker 2: with everyday people?

396
00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:26,920
Speaker 3: Because for what is worth?

397
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Speaker 2: I mean, you you an everyday dude, like I could tell,

398
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,160
Speaker 2: like by your vibe, you you you just you.

399
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,119
Speaker 3: You're a good dude. How does that play a part

400
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,159
Speaker 3: in how you you interact? You know?

401
00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,680
Speaker 2: Because I know for me, like I said, it means

402
00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,600
Speaker 2: everything to me, that story's played out way too I

403
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,080
Speaker 2: got too many spiders, you know what I mean. So

404
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,840
Speaker 2: for me, it's always about trying to give back. Like

405
00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,520
Speaker 2: I'm gonna leave here and go coach a football game tonight,

406
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,640
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Like everything is about trying

407
00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,320
Speaker 2: to educate these babies. And I don't give it damn

408
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,680
Speaker 2: what color they are in matter of fact, out here

409
00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,960
Speaker 2: in Cali, you know, it ain't just black and white.

410
00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:07,359
Speaker 3: It's black white.

411
00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:12,520
Speaker 2: It's more Mexican and an Asian than it is anything else. Right,

412
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,840
Speaker 2: So when you think about kind of you know that

413
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,760
Speaker 2: giving back aspect, it's about giving back, not about who

414
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,920
Speaker 2: I'm giving back to outside of it being the younger generations.

415
00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:26,959
Speaker 3: How do you approach that?

416
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Speaker 1: Yeah? So I think for me, I always I just

417
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,360
Speaker 1: got started, like my second year, maybe my second year

418
00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,399
Speaker 1: in college, they had me come back to do the

419
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:39,200
Speaker 1: graduation speech, you know what I mean. So I'm nineteen

420
00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,760
Speaker 1: speaking to seniors like and then we come back again

421
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:44,879
Speaker 1: we do a basketball camp. So I just knew I

422
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 1: wanted to stay in tune with the community because I

423
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,640
Speaker 1: know what my parents and my good fortune did for

424
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,200
Speaker 1: my mindset and just having the hope and the belief

425
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,359
Speaker 1: to be able to go do that right. So now

426
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,840
Speaker 1: as I'm in a better position, I'm trying to afford

427
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,639
Speaker 1: opportunities to those who wouldn't have them otherwise, and so

428
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,080
Speaker 1: I keep that real close to my heart. Now, I

429
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 1: still do anything that pulls on my heart strings, whether

430
00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:15,200
Speaker 1: it's hospital stuff or whatever. You know, we do Thanksgiving

431
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,359
Speaker 1: and Christmas giveaways. So before I even knew what a

432
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:21,320
Speaker 1: foundation was or how it worked, we were just trying

433
00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,760
Speaker 1: to give back to our communities. So now as you know,

434
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:26,399
Speaker 1: we build it out a little bit more, we're kind

435
00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:29,639
Speaker 1: of more strategic with it. But I think the biggest

436
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 1: thing for me is going to those underserved communities and

437
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:39,800
Speaker 1: being present, being around the kids, being a voice and

438
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,240
Speaker 1: a voice of reason or or just the hope, and

439
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:45,480
Speaker 1: just to give them that knowledge. Because I had so

440
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,320
Speaker 1: many great mentors as a as a young kid that

441
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,679
Speaker 1: helped me develop into the man that I am, and

442
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,320
Speaker 1: I think that's one big thing that's missing is you know,

443
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:58,240
Speaker 1: you can throw money at a wall, you can do

444
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,480
Speaker 1: whatever you want. But I think being there and being

445
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:06,439
Speaker 1: able to help these kids grow and really like nurture

446
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 1: their minds because you never know what these kids are

447
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:10,880
Speaker 1: going through at home.

448
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:11,520
Speaker 3: That's right.

449
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 1: And I grew up with a lot of them, right,

450
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,200
Speaker 1: so I know, like with their situation, they taking care

451
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,680
Speaker 1: of the family at you know, twelve thirteen years old,

452
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,359
Speaker 1: Like that's a lot, that's a lot to handle. So

453
00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 1: for us, I think we try to use our platform

454
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:32,040
Speaker 1: to create things that will help those kids first and

455
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:33,160
Speaker 1: then we build from there.

456
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,360
Speaker 2: So you end up going pro play G League, make

457
00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:43,560
Speaker 2: it onto the regular squad, and then y'all go win

458
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:50,119
Speaker 2: a title. Yeah, you set you made history. You scored

459
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,439
Speaker 2: the most points ever in in playoff game from somebody

460
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:58,120
Speaker 2: who was undrafted. You, you made your mark on on

461
00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:04,439
Speaker 2: the basketball court. But you took your success and you

462
00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 2: and you you built a business with you and your brothers,

463
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,520
Speaker 2: and and that kind of kind of goes back to

464
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 2: you saying given the support. Now, if I read it

465
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:17,160
Speaker 2: correctly or if I absorbed it correctly, your production company

466
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:23,320
Speaker 2: is creating opportunities as well for people that are aspiring

467
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:27,160
Speaker 2: to what is it going to the production uh business

468
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 2: or is it content creating stuff like that. I think

469
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:35,560
Speaker 2: that's super dope because honestly, it's always been about people

470
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,600
Speaker 2: try to tell you, don't build your brand like be

471
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,320
Speaker 2: a be a player, like be a player, Like, nah,

472
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,960
Speaker 2: build your brand too, you know, because you want your

473
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 2: brand to be recognizable, whatever that brand is. I want

474
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 2: my brand to be recognized as somebody who works hard.

475
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,040
Speaker 3: I'm a common dude with not so common.

476
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 2: Expectations, Like that's my brand, you know, And I'm a

477
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 2: bad motherfucker, you know what I mean?

478
00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,920
Speaker 3: Like that, that's my brand, you know what I mean.

479
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 2: So in the end, I'm looking at what you guys,

480
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 2: what you've accomplished on the court. All these shows can

481
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 2: do interviews on what guys have done on the court, Like,

482
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 2: all right, you got that Jay scored them points.

483
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:13,840
Speaker 3: That's that's great.

484
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 2: But in the end, you're building something that's not only

485
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 2: sustainable for you, you're building something that's sustainable for your siblings,

486
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,639
Speaker 2: and you're building something that's sustainable for your kids to

487
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,919
Speaker 2: transition into as well. Just talk about that mindset. How

488
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,800
Speaker 2: did how did that come about y'all getting into the

489
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,920
Speaker 2: whole content creating deal, and and how did that play

490
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,399
Speaker 2: a part in terms of you know, you going to

491
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 2: the league and you I'm certain you were the catalysts

492
00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 2: of making that happen. So how did that how did

493
00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:45,360
Speaker 2: that all come about?

494
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,679
Speaker 1: Well, just to be honest, man, I'm just like, you know,

495
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,880
Speaker 1: we talked about the upbringing a little bit, so I'm

496
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 1: just more of like make the most out of everything

497
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 1: kind of guy. So with that being said, I kind

498
00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 1: of got my hands in as much stuff as I

499
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 1: can without. You know, I'm gonna keep basketball first.

500
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 3: I know.

501
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,240
Speaker 1: That's what afforded me this platform. And at this stage,

502
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:11,399
Speaker 1: you know, as you had a great, long career, it

503
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 1: becomes second nature. You know what I mean, you can

504
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,680
Speaker 1: do that. I can go play basketball like that part

505
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,760
Speaker 1: is not that out of this world. I gotta focus

506
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. But as I'm creating relationships and

507
00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: I'm building up this profile and this platform, I think

508
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 1: one thing I do is I keep my guys close.

509
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 1: So number one, we're all learning together at the same time,

510
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,720
Speaker 1: and number two, we are all accessing and having the

511
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,560
Speaker 1: same access to the opportunities at the same time, because

512
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,760
Speaker 1: it's not just about me, and I can go and

513
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 1: have a long, successful, rich, wealthy career, but if all

514
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 1: of my family and my friends and nobody else grows

515
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,880
Speaker 1: along the way, then that's gonna be a pretty lonely road.

516
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,920
Speaker 1: So I think for me, I just always looked at

517
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:02,800
Speaker 1: it like where we get stuck on American dream first

518
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 1: generation millionaires. But it's like, okay, then what like okay,

519
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,160
Speaker 1: then I've never the longest guys playing, maybe in their forties,

520
00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 1: forty two, forty three, maybe I don't know how old

521
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,119
Speaker 1: time Brady is now, but like forty five, right, And

522
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 1: that's I heard of.

523
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 3: That's I heard of for basketball and football.

524
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:25,360
Speaker 1: You know, you got, let's just be generous a ten

525
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:27,879
Speaker 1: to fifteen year window, right, and then you've got a

526
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,120
Speaker 1: whole lot of life to live after that whole life.

527
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:30,480
Speaker 3: Yeah.

528
00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 1: So I understood that from day one because I'm much

529
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,160
Speaker 1: more than a basketball player. That's just what I do,

530
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,520
Speaker 1: and I used try to use the platform to create situations.

531
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 1: So we're kind of in every space you know, we do.

532
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,679
Speaker 1: We're in content, we're in management. My best friend is

533
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,600
Speaker 1: my manager, which is how we ended up on this show.

534
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,960
Speaker 1: He was just next to plaques at the FBR. Here

535
00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 1: we are. So my brothers is my business partners and

536
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: my other brothers my basketball trainer. So it's ways to

537
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,919
Speaker 1: do it. And they teach us to protect your money

538
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: and don't spend and don't help people. But it's like,

539
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,639
Speaker 1: you can do it. You just you have to be smart,

540
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:15,399
Speaker 1: you have to be strategic, and it's not going to

541
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: be easy, but you can definitely help your people along

542
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 1: the way, just about putting them in positions to win.

543
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:24,920
Speaker 3: Indeed, that's well stated. Man. I got two more questions

544
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:26,399
Speaker 3: for you, and I'm gonna let you ride u.

545
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:33,080
Speaker 2: First question of two, you didn't pass the eye test

546
00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:37,119
Speaker 2: because of your height and all that growing up whatever hoops.

547
00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 2: But then you make it to Toronto and you're playing

548
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 2: for the Raptors and you gotta look like Drake Dog.

549
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,639
Speaker 2: So now you all of a sudden, now you're passing

550
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:47,240
Speaker 2: the eye test.

551
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt.

552
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 2: What's the relationship like with Drake? And how funny is

553
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,199
Speaker 2: that that you got, you know, iconic dude. That's that's like,

554
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 2: you know, I'm certain he's a friend and super cool

555
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,159
Speaker 2: with you based off of everything y'all got going on

556
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 2: with the team.

557
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 3: And stuff like that. That created an opportunity to bond.

558
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,960
Speaker 2: But what's that relationship like, and do y'all ever try

559
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,080
Speaker 2: to do stop double type type action?

560
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:14,360
Speaker 3: Man?

561
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's crazy, right because I remember being maybe

562
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: I was a freshman in high school or sophomore high school.

563
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 1: His first tape came out and I was running it

564
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,639
Speaker 1: around sharing it to everybody. You know, nobody really had

565
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 1: heard of him at the time, Like, Yo, you gotta

566
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,000
Speaker 1: listen to this dude, Like this has been my favorite

567
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,640
Speaker 1: artist since I can remember, right.

568
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,960
Speaker 2: So, light skinned dudes gotta hang together, got to stick

569
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,240
Speaker 2: to you. You gotta stick together, right, I got you,

570
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 2: I got you.

571
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: For I mean, I just end up. This is how

572
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: life works. I just end up in Toronto. I end

573
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 1: up here. You know what I'm saying. I've been hearing

574
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,600
Speaker 1: I looked like him since I was fifteen years old.

575
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 1: So it's just funny, right, And he's such a great

576
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,760
Speaker 1: dude that he played into it, you know what I mean.

577
00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,800
Speaker 1: He kind of put his arm around me a little

578
00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,960
Speaker 1: bit and we just were able to develop a nice

579
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:09,000
Speaker 1: friendship over the years. I'm going on my seventh year there,

580
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: So yeah, he's just a cool dude. Man. He means

581
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 1: so much to that city yea, and to Canada as

582
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 1: a country, and yeah, even to our team. You know,

583
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 1: he's a that's a good ambassador to have.

584
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,360
Speaker 2: Give a per man what's a perk of being being

585
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,640
Speaker 2: being down with with Drake Ski, with Champagne, Pappy.

586
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,440
Speaker 1: I mean, he's just I'll just say, he's very generous. Like,

587
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 1: he's very generous. He's moving pretty heavy. So you know,

588
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: if you if you find yourself in the in the

589
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 1: same vicinity, you know what I mean. He's a very

590
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 1: generous dude. He's a good dude.

591
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, all right, Last question number two?

592
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 2: What is Fred van vliek sor when it's all said

593
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 2: and done, when they sitting there and they saying their

594
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:08,120
Speaker 2: final here are my goodbyes. Here, here's how I'm remember him.

595
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 2: What is it that you want to know? What do

596
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 2: you want to hear being said in that moment? What's

597
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 2: your legacy?

598
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:24,000
Speaker 1: I think my legacy is being a stand up dude,

599
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 1: first and foremost, a good guy, a stand up guy,

600
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: a family man, somebody who took his family from where

601
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,520
Speaker 1: they was to where they are now, created opportunities for

602
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 1: everybody involved, and just took the name from you know,

603
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 1: being nothing to a staple and really just changing families

604
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 1: live Like I'm gonna tell his quick story before we

605
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,440
Speaker 1: get out of here. So my high school basketball coach,

606
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,720
Speaker 1: very religious and spiritual guy, and he sat me down.

607
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 1: I was having trouble being a leader. I was cussing

608
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:01,240
Speaker 1: my friends.

609
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:01,400
Speaker 3: Like I was.

610
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,520
Speaker 1: I was terrible. I was I was a bad teammate.

611
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,160
Speaker 1: And he made me read the Book of Songs. And

612
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 1: somehow within that time frame, I just remember it hit

613
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 1: me like I found what my purpose was. And my

614
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: purpose was to take my gifts and take it as

615
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,520
Speaker 1: far as I can, and with that, you're gonna create

616
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 1: change that helps so many people. And it used to

617
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:25,239
Speaker 1: be like I want to say the world, and then

618
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:27,480
Speaker 1: I got a little older, I understood that's not realistic.

619
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna just I'm gonna just save my world,

620
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And I'm gonna put everybody

621
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: in position and we're gonna live long, happy, healthy lives

622
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 1: and take care of these these babies that we got

623
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:40,800
Speaker 1: and you know, keep it moving forward.

624
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:42,520
Speaker 3: And that's the legacy.

625
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, hey bro, appreciate you man, no doubt man,

626
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 1: Thank you.

627
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 3: Keep banging man, Keep chopping wood, you know what I mean?

628
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 1: Or every day, one day, time you did all day.

629
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 1: Appreciate I beat you one day. Man, We're gonna get together.

630
00:31:58,840 --> 00:31:59,960
Speaker 1: We're gonna get together for sure.

631
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,880
Speaker 2: My gee, my geez, been real man. I appreciate you.

632
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,240
Speaker 2: But before I let you go, let's let's do thou

633
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 2: the outro. Here's the oultro, y'all. This is up on

634
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 2: Game Presents Conversations with a Legend, And I.

635
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:14,760
Speaker 3: Talked to a goat, a legend in his own.

636
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 2: Right, my man, mister van Bleet, Freddy, if you're nasty, Freddy,

637
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 2: Freddy Freddy?

638
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 3: Hey all right, man, hey, you be well, man, you

639
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:24,000
Speaker 3: take care of all right.

640
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:24,640
Speaker 1: Being touched.

641
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:32,520
Speaker 2: I'm mad, yes, sir, yes, sir, all right, okay,