1
00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:11,640
Speaker 1: This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up

2
00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:16,959
Speaker 1: straight Fire, fam, It's me Jason McIntyre. Straight Fire for Friday,

3
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:21,279
Speaker 1: May Memorial Day Weekend is here, and do we have

4
00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,520
Speaker 1: a great podcast for you. I try not to rate

5
00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,480
Speaker 1: the guests we have because like yesterday's Mark Badino was outstanding,

6
00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,920
Speaker 1: heard some really nice comments from you guys about him.

7
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,040
Speaker 1: And we've had a tremendous list of guests in the

8
00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,519
Speaker 1: last six months. Hell over the last two years. I

9
00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:38,879
Speaker 1: think we just passed episode five. Remember I was making

10
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,600
Speaker 1: a big deal out of it. Stuff got so crazy

11
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,120
Speaker 1: in life and on the podcast. I forgot we passed

12
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:50,600
Speaker 1: five hundred. We're passed episode five. I actually think, guys,

13
00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,560
Speaker 1: today's interview, if it's not top three, I think might

14
00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,440
Speaker 1: be number one. I don't know. Today's interview guest is tremendous.

15
00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,639
Speaker 1: Drew Handlon. He works with all all top NBA players,

16
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,600
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, Joel embat Yes, he gets on my case

17
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:08,839
Speaker 1: for going after him beat a little bit. He works

18
00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:10,720
Speaker 1: with Zach Lavine, who you know, I'm a fan of.

19
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,920
Speaker 1: I had never spoken to him before, just seen his stuff.

20
00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,600
Speaker 1: The guy's incredible, uh inspirational. He is a hard worker.

21
00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,120
Speaker 1: His story is awesome. I mean, I'm not gonna steal

22
00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,479
Speaker 1: his thunder, but he's like a five eleven white guy

23
00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,200
Speaker 1: who basically was one of those winning basketball players. You know,

24
00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,320
Speaker 1: I ribbed Kyrie Irving is not a winner. This guy's

25
00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,000
Speaker 1: a winner. Five eleven white guy, winter state championship in

26
00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,360
Speaker 1: high school, get some offers, goes to Belmont to your starter,

27
00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 1: gets to the n c A tournament, led the country

28
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,280
Speaker 1: in three point shooting like this is this? This is

29
00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,400
Speaker 1: basically if I carve out the back entire basketball career,

30
00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,560
Speaker 1: it's like basically what this guy had, Like, you know,

31
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,960
Speaker 1: just high school star, undersized, tenacious and makes it plays

32
00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,600
Speaker 1: college d won basketball like that. That was like pretty

33
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,800
Speaker 1: much my dream forever. It got humbled real quick around

34
00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,440
Speaker 1: seventh or eighth grade. Um that being said, it's good.

35
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,320
Speaker 1: I I it helped me get passionate about sports and

36
00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,519
Speaker 1: land where I am today. Everything kind of happens for

37
00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,840
Speaker 1: a reason, and I love hoops and talking with Drew

38
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:15,760
Speaker 1: Hanlon is tremendous. We went a little bit long. I

39
00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,880
Speaker 1: hope you guys don't think it's too long before we

40
00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,960
Speaker 1: get to Drew. I don't think we need to crown

41
00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,960
Speaker 1: the Warriors Western Conference champs. Right, we did that earlier

42
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,600
Speaker 1: this week. We knew this was coming. Golden State is

43
00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,880
Speaker 1: unbelievably unstoppable. When Clay Thompson is hitting eight threes, I'm sorry,

44
00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 1: you're not beating them. You're not The Celtics are not

45
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,840
Speaker 1: beating them. When Kevon Looney is going for ten and eighteen,

46
00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,000
Speaker 1: you're not beating them. Steph Curry had an off night,

47
00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,520
Speaker 1: five or seventeen did not matter. He turned his ankle early.

48
00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,440
Speaker 1: He's got a week to recover. Jordan Pool did his

49
00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,880
Speaker 1: thing off the bench, but it was Clay Thompson just splashing.

50
00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,120
Speaker 1: And that's the weirdness of this team. Man. We know

51
00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:57,880
Speaker 1: Curry is great and he's the most consistent. But if

52
00:02:57,919 --> 00:02:59,959
Speaker 1: Clay can have one game in the finals and Jordans

53
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,200
Speaker 1: we can have one game in the finals, you can

54
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,560
Speaker 1: bet your bottom dollar. I think people still SA always

55
00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 1: say that Steph Curry will deliver and the Warriors will

56
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,960
Speaker 1: win the title. Uh. We we don't do any bidding

57
00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:14,000
Speaker 1: at you to the Dallas Mavericks. I'm sure we'll talk

58
00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,919
Speaker 1: about them a lot, because you know I'm a Luca guy.

59
00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,640
Speaker 1: Shots not his best night. Spencer Dinwoodie did a pretty

60
00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,520
Speaker 1: damn good job. I think, you know, if you want

61
00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:27,320
Speaker 1: to show some Spencer Dinwoodie footage for teams that may

62
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,360
Speaker 1: be interested in him, if you're looking to try to

63
00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,079
Speaker 1: package Dinwiddie and Brunson and up, bring on a star

64
00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:36,119
Speaker 1: if if that's possible, you showed. You showed Dinwitdi Games

65
00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,440
Speaker 1: seven against the Sons, maybe Game six, two, and then

66
00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,960
Speaker 1: Game five against the Warriors. He he was tremendous. Six

67
00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:47,080
Speaker 1: points on twelve shots. He he was excellent. But ultimately

68
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:48,800
Speaker 1: this is about the Warriors. They go to the finals,

69
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,720
Speaker 1: and we find out tonight that the Celtics will probably go.

70
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:53,680
Speaker 1: We don't know if Tyler hero is gonna play. By

71
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:58,200
Speaker 1: the way, today's guest Drew Handlon works with Tyler hero Um,

72
00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 1: I don't think Jimmy Butler is healthy. Miami would need

73
00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,640
Speaker 1: to be Boston back to back. That is extremely difficult.

74
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:06,800
Speaker 1: Correct me if I'm wrong, Rob, I don't think the

75
00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,760
Speaker 1: Celtics have lost back to back games in the playoffs yet. Uh,

76
00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,160
Speaker 1: They've had a couple tough losses. I don't think they've

77
00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 1: lost back to back. I don't think they did against

78
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,560
Speaker 1: the Bucks. That could be wrong, but Warriors Celtics is

79
00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:19,960
Speaker 1: going to be tremendous. They sent out the schedule late

80
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,760
Speaker 1: last night. If you want to put it on your calendar,

81
00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,680
Speaker 1: Thursday June two, certainly you don't want to miss game one.

82
00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,719
Speaker 1: Game two is Sunday night. Now, listen, I don't like

83
00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:32,839
Speaker 1: the two of the finals games are on Sunday nights.

84
00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,800
Speaker 1: You know, I have my back basketball league. Obviously, I'm

85
00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,359
Speaker 1: not missing a basketball game for the NBA Finals. Sorry, guys,

86
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,320
Speaker 1: we want to go undefeated, run the table. Well know

87
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:43,240
Speaker 1: next week if we get bumped up a league. We've

88
00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,080
Speaker 1: asked the commissioner because we've just steamrolled our opponents and

89
00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,000
Speaker 1: it's clear we're too good for this league. Can we

90
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,240
Speaker 1: get bumped up? As you laugh, I don't, We're waiting.

91
00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,640
Speaker 1: Uh so wait, there's the side note. Quickly. There are

92
00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:03,240
Speaker 1: six uh groups of team that play on Sundays. Total teams. Right,

93
00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:05,640
Speaker 1: there's an A league, in a B league, three of each.

94
00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,640
Speaker 1: We're the second highest scoring team through two weeks. That

95
00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,880
Speaker 1: doesn't mean much, but I'm telling you we're damn good.

96
00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:16,320
Speaker 1: We're pretty damn dominant. Anyways, Thursday, June two is Game one.

97
00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,400
Speaker 1: Game seven will be Sunday June nine. I think the

98
00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,120
Speaker 1: final day of school for most kids, at least where

99
00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,400
Speaker 1: my kids are, is that weak. I know a lot

100
00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:26,160
Speaker 1: of people are gonna start vacation. You don't want to

101
00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,479
Speaker 1: miss game seven should there be Celtics Warriors Game seven,

102
00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,840
Speaker 1: But frankly, Rob I'm gonna start here. I think Boston

103
00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,120
Speaker 1: gives them a lot of problems. But ultimately I do

104
00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:43,440
Speaker 1: believe Golden State with home court advantage, with extra rest

105
00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,600
Speaker 1: possibly probably just a day, but possibly more, and if

106
00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:54,280
Speaker 1: they can get clay Pool and Curry going, I don't

107
00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,359
Speaker 1: think they lose. My official bet is Golden State Warriors

108
00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,640
Speaker 1: and six, well, you got robbed oh so much. It

109
00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,960
Speaker 1: depends on how early, well if at all, Boston's able

110
00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,279
Speaker 1: to close out my and that that that's not because

111
00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,039
Speaker 1: like I think Boston is the better team, but they

112
00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,599
Speaker 1: have been. This series has been jekylin Hide. You know,

113
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:17,320
Speaker 1: like you can't have all time worse quarters in the

114
00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:19,440
Speaker 1: NBA Finals, like you just you can't do that, and

115
00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,839
Speaker 1: Boston has done that a couple of times here in

116
00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:26,160
Speaker 1: the series. Um, I haven't really made an official pick,

117
00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:28,279
Speaker 1: even if I do assume that it's going to be Boston,

118
00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 1: but I will say, Boston's defense is going to give

119
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,920
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors more problems than anybody has this

120
00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,200
Speaker 1: entire postseason. You're going to see a lot of think

121
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,159
Speaker 1: pieces leading up to the Finals talking about the Splash

122
00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,720
Speaker 1: Brothers are back all of a sudden. It's a Splash trio.

123
00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,280
Speaker 1: You can't stop def Con five when they have the

124
00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,600
Speaker 1: small ball lineup and when they run into Boston, assuming

125
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:59,000
Speaker 1: it's Boston that is gonna get shut down so quick.

126
00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,040
Speaker 1: George in Pool will no longer be talked about as

127
00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,280
Speaker 1: a twenty five million dollar player. Andrew Wiggins will get

128
00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:07,080
Speaker 1: brought up at old Maybe he's more like the guy

129
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:08,880
Speaker 1: in Minnesota than the guy we saw this season in

130
00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,680
Speaker 1: Golden State. Because everything that Golden State does, which is

131
00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,040
Speaker 1: all the motion, the movement, the backdoor cutting and everything

132
00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,240
Speaker 1: like that, the only defense that has a chance to

133
00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,320
Speaker 1: slow that kind of stuff down is you just switch everything,

134
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,200
Speaker 1: because if you try to stay man demand, Saf's gonna

135
00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,240
Speaker 1: come up with five screens, he's gonna hit the three

136
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:31,560
Speaker 1: in your eye. It's gonna be deflating. Where Boston has

137
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,560
Speaker 1: a huge advantage is that they can switch everything. For

138
00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:42,400
Speaker 1: the most part. Smart uh Tatum Brown Williams especially can

139
00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:46,240
Speaker 1: cover all of these guys all around the floor. Draymond Green,

140
00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:49,440
Speaker 1: aside from last night, is a like a net negative offensively,

141
00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:51,840
Speaker 1: Like if he's not passing from the top of the key,

142
00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,800
Speaker 1: he does nothing on the offensive end. He's not a

143
00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,200
Speaker 1: threat to score at all. Kevin Looney is not going

144
00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:04,760
Speaker 1: to dominate the boards against Boston, unlike Dallas, Unlike he

145
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:12,760
Speaker 1: might Okay, unlike Dallas, unlike Denver, maybe Memphis, I'm not sure,

146
00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,240
Speaker 1: but unlike those with other two teams, specifically, Boston can

147
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,320
Speaker 1: get to the rack with Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum

148
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,920
Speaker 1: that you're gonna need some kind of interior defense to

149
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,080
Speaker 1: keep them out of the paint, because that's not something

150
00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,800
Speaker 1: Dallas was doing. That's not something Denver can do. Um.

151
00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,120
Speaker 1: I expect the long series, whether it's I think it's

152
00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,679
Speaker 1: gonna at least six games. But I don't expect whoever wins,

153
00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:38,560
Speaker 1: any of these games are gonna be blowouts. I think

154
00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:41,280
Speaker 1: they're all going to be very close games. We know

155
00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,400
Speaker 1: the Celtics health is a major factor. Robert Williams, Marcus Smart.

156
00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,520
Speaker 1: I will add this, with a week to get healthy,

157
00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,400
Speaker 1: will the Warriors get back Otto Porter, and don't scoff

158
00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,720
Speaker 1: at Auto Porter. Honestly, he's a He's a pretty great

159
00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,520
Speaker 1: Like if Otto Porter's your sixth best guy, you're in

160
00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:58,640
Speaker 1: great shape. He was like a number three like three

161
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:01,560
Speaker 1: years ago. I don't Porter is gonna get healthy. Will

162
00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,680
Speaker 1: Andre Igudala be able to play at all? Will we

163
00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,040
Speaker 1: see him a turn back the clock game or two?

164
00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:12,280
Speaker 1: Defensively from Agudala against say Jayson Tatum and Gary Payton

165
00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,640
Speaker 1: the second? How can we forget Gary Payton the second?

166
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,720
Speaker 1: Really good defender, did a tremendous job on job before

167
00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,800
Speaker 1: getting injured, I should say getting taken out. Um Gary

168
00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,360
Speaker 1: porton Gary Porter. Gary Payton the second is a very

169
00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:28,800
Speaker 1: good defender. He could be a factor. I mean, all

170
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,120
Speaker 1: of a sudden, if the Warriors get those three guys back, Rob,

171
00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,120
Speaker 1: I mean, does Kuminga get minutes? I don't know. Mostes

172
00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,040
Speaker 1: Moody was forced into action in this series. He was serviceable.

173
00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:41,480
Speaker 1: But now you're looking at Okay, you've got the starting

174
00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 1: five and then you have options. You're like, Okay, we

175
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,720
Speaker 1: know Pool is gonna be the sixth man. Can can

176
00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,680
Speaker 1: you Goudala give us ten minutes? Can we get I

177
00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,440
Speaker 1: don't know eleven minutes out of Peyton? Can we get

178
00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:54,880
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes out of Porter? And next thing, you know

179
00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,280
Speaker 1: Boston which really only plays six, seven, maybe eight guys.

180
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,079
Speaker 1: I mean Peyton Pritchard is like kind of a maybe.

181
00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:04,960
Speaker 1: Now the one factor, Rob, I will give you this,

182
00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:12,679
Speaker 1: it's just tough. Steve Kerr has a losing record against

183
00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,400
Speaker 1: one team as the coach of the Warriors playoffs in

184
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:21,000
Speaker 1: regular season included just one. It's the Boston Celtics because

185
00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,200
Speaker 1: of their wings and switch ability. Now they only played

186
00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,560
Speaker 1: twice a year, so it's a small sample size. But

187
00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,800
Speaker 1: this team, for whatever reason, like you said, with that defense,

188
00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,280
Speaker 1: they can give the Warriors problems when they're doing all

189
00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,800
Speaker 1: these handoffs and these to Curry runs and hands off

190
00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:40,319
Speaker 1: and switches into the corner, like Celtics are gonna be

191
00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,480
Speaker 1: all over that. Now Boston has faced Kevin Durant, they

192
00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,880
Speaker 1: have faced the honest, they haven't. What they haven't faced

193
00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:51,120
Speaker 1: is a three point assault like the Warriors. And that's

194
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:53,080
Speaker 1: why I'm going Golden State in six. Are you official

195
00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:54,760
Speaker 1: on the board for Golden State in six or seven?

196
00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,520
Speaker 1: I haven't decided if I'm picking Golden State yet at all.

197
00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,199
Speaker 1: Um so much thing you said depends on health. If

198
00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:04,679
Speaker 1: Tatum's shoulder is if that week off doesn't hail him

199
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,720
Speaker 1: up the way that we expected it will, Because if

200
00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,280
Speaker 1: he's the version that we've seen the last game and

201
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,280
Speaker 1: a half against Miami, then I'm absolutely picking Golden State

202
00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:18,160
Speaker 1: because that shoulder is clearly limiting him and his effectiveness. Um,

203
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,600
Speaker 1: Robert Williams. If that knee flares up again, which there

204
00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:23,640
Speaker 1: has been no rhyme or reason as to why and

205
00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,040
Speaker 1: how it's it's flaming up, but it's just doing it,

206
00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,080
Speaker 1: that's a big deal. So assuming both teams are healthy,

207
00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,680
Speaker 1: I would lean Boston right now. How about this Rob

208
00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:43,600
Speaker 1: in the Immortal Curry Kobe Bryant. See what I did

209
00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,120
Speaker 1: their debate By the way, I have a good good

210
00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,440
Speaker 1: friend who's a Warriors fan, a good good friend who's

211
00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,600
Speaker 1: a Kobe Bryant fit, and I floated it to them

212
00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,880
Speaker 1: over text message and it prompted like any texts, and

213
00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,760
Speaker 1: I don't know, fifteen minutes fired up. People are fired

214
00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,520
Speaker 1: up about Kobe Curry discussion. People don't want to have

215
00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,280
Speaker 1: it because you know, Kobe's a two way player. And

216
00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,760
Speaker 1: I saw Rob get a little heated on Twitter about this.

217
00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:13,320
Speaker 1: Can we use Western Conference Finals? Um m v P.

218
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:15,839
Speaker 1: Does that count as a mark in the ledger of

219
00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:20,680
Speaker 1: Curry because it was just created this year. It's a

220
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,360
Speaker 1: little silly, but folks, listen, we're gonna do a lot

221
00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,440
Speaker 1: on the finals next week. I think we may have

222
00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:28,560
Speaker 1: one NFL guest I'm working on him. We'll say I'm

223
00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,600
Speaker 1: efforting that. Um, but you guys are gonna love Drew Handlon.

224
00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,600
Speaker 1: He is really really good at his job. A fascinating listen.

225
00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,200
Speaker 1: It's funny. My guess is, after you listen to Drew

226
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,560
Speaker 1: Handlon here, you're probably gonna go on iTunes and search

227
00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,600
Speaker 1: his name and see if you can find another interview

228
00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:46,920
Speaker 1: that he's done. Because this guy is a great talker.

229
00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,439
Speaker 1: Let's bring him in, uh NBA trainer to the Stars,

230
00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:57,280
Speaker 1: Drew Handlon Jason likes to think he knows everything when

231
00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,480
Speaker 1: it comes to sports. I know what sports they it's one.

232
00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,640
Speaker 1: But for everything he doesn't, he knows a guy who does.

233
00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,800
Speaker 1: Let's just say I know a guy who knows a

234
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:11,320
Speaker 1: guy who knows another guy. Okay, let's welcome into straight fire.

235
00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:15,439
Speaker 1: One of the foremost NBA trainers out there. But he's

236
00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:17,480
Speaker 1: more than a trainer if you guys have read about

237
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,480
Speaker 1: him or listen to any podcast he said, some of

238
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,680
Speaker 1: his stuff is pretty awesome, and I also say most

239
00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:25,880
Speaker 1: of it, and I'm gonna have my kids listen to this. Foreshure. Uh,

240
00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,880
Speaker 1: let's bring in Drew Handlin NB A trainer to the greats,

241
00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,199
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, everybody's favorite Joel and B Drew, how are you, man,

242
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,080
Speaker 1: I'm doing great. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, No,

243
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,120
Speaker 1: I mean, listen. We could start with one of your clients,

244
00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:41,160
Speaker 1: Joel Embid who you love, but I just have to

245
00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,880
Speaker 1: let the audience know who we're talking to here. Um

246
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,200
Speaker 1: and Drew. As an undersized guy who has loved basketball forever,

247
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,640
Speaker 1: I badgered my parents for them to send me to

248
00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:52,880
Speaker 1: a camp that I could not hang with obviously because

249
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,079
Speaker 1: I loved hoops. You basically lived out my youth basketball dream, right.

250
00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:01,920
Speaker 1: You were like an undersized guard right tiny. And then basically,

251
00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,880
Speaker 1: through work ethic, desire, grit, you win state championships, you

252
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:08,720
Speaker 1: go to the n c A Tournament, you lead the

253
00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:12,120
Speaker 1: country in three point shooting. I don't I don't know

254
00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,000
Speaker 1: where to start in your story, Drew, but I feel

255
00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,560
Speaker 1: like work ethic is probably something that's driven to you

256
00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:19,760
Speaker 1: to where you are no doubt. You know, I was

257
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,480
Speaker 1: one of those dedicated kids that wasn't blessed with you know,

258
00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:26,920
Speaker 1: great height or great athleticism, But what I was blessed

259
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:31,600
Speaker 1: with was a dedication and work ethic that was truly unmatched.

260
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,560
Speaker 1: And so you know that starts win. I was twelve

261
00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,200
Speaker 1: years old, I gave up sweets and you know it

262
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,840
Speaker 1: was a month long challenge that ended up you know, uh,

263
00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,160
Speaker 1: sticking with me for ten years. I didn't eat sweets

264
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,400
Speaker 1: until I was done playing college basketball at twenty two

265
00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,119
Speaker 1: years old. So I can honestly say as a teenager,

266
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,359
Speaker 1: I never had soda, never had ice cream, never had handy,

267
00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,120
Speaker 1: not one time, not one bite. Um, you know here

268
00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,080
Speaker 1: I am. I'm thirty two years old, still never tastes

269
00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,920
Speaker 1: an alcohol, never smoked, never done drugs. So I'm just

270
00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,040
Speaker 1: one of those guys that have been or laser focused

271
00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,040
Speaker 1: and um, you know that that bled into my athletic

272
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,880
Speaker 1: career and now it's fled into my my training career

273
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,320
Speaker 1: and also you know the life coaching, motivational speaking career

274
00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,080
Speaker 1: as well. But you know, the big thing that I

275
00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,800
Speaker 1: believe in is if you truly want something that your

276
00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,560
Speaker 1: actions or are going to back and match exactly what

277
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:21,760
Speaker 1: you're after. And so as a player, you know, I

278
00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:23,000
Speaker 1: was a guy that I used to wake up at

279
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,760
Speaker 1: four am. You know, I thought it was cooler waking

280
00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:27,640
Speaker 1: up in the forwards than the fives. I meet my

281
00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,600
Speaker 1: high school principal at the gym at five fifteen. I

282
00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,040
Speaker 1: shot a thousand shots every single morning before school. You know,

283
00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,560
Speaker 1: we win a state championship, I go on, I play

284
00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,800
Speaker 1: two NTA tournaments. Um. But more importantly, my work ethic

285
00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,040
Speaker 1: was very highlighted around the sing Louis area and that

286
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,040
Speaker 1: led to a lot of other players around the same

287
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,960
Speaker 1: most area wanted to work with me. And one of

288
00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,760
Speaker 1: those players was Bradley bald And you know, I started

289
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,080
Speaker 1: working out Brad when Brad was a freshman in high school.

290
00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,160
Speaker 1: I was a senior in high school. The part of

291
00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,200
Speaker 1: the story that a lot of people don't realize is

292
00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,080
Speaker 1: we were actually working out together. It wasn't me training

293
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,360
Speaker 1: Brad at the start. It was Brad training with me

294
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,040
Speaker 1: as a player. And then I remember, you know, because

295
00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:09,800
Speaker 1: I was still a college basketball player, so at that

296
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:11,920
Speaker 1: time I was still better than Brad. You know, we

297
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,840
Speaker 1: always joke around because, um, you know, we like to argue,

298
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:16,840
Speaker 1: we don't know who's exactly up in our all time

299
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:18,880
Speaker 1: one on one series. I think I am. He thinks

300
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,840
Speaker 1: he is, but he always he always reminds people. You know,

301
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,400
Speaker 1: Drew got a lot of wins early on when I

302
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,160
Speaker 1: was still younger in my high school journey. But you know,

303
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,000
Speaker 1: that's that's how it all started. And then you know Brad,

304
00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:31,720
Speaker 1: you know, goes from eight points a game as a

305
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,359
Speaker 1: freshman to twenty four points a game as a sophomore.

306
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:39,240
Speaker 1: Everyone said, wow, what happened during that summer and he said,

307
00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:40,800
Speaker 1: you know, I was working with Drew and that really

308
00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:43,920
Speaker 1: started my training career, which led me to David Lee,

309
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,000
Speaker 1: another St. Louis player, was my first NBA client, and

310
00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:48,720
Speaker 1: then to all the guys that you know I worked

311
00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,160
Speaker 1: with today. Right, so we'll come back to beal I

312
00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,960
Speaker 1: I just quickly. Did he start when he was a

313
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,680
Speaker 1: freshman and you were the senior? So we were at

314
00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,280
Speaker 1: different high schools. We were at different high schools. Yeah,

315
00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,480
Speaker 1: so we actually play against each other, um, and did

316
00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:04,679
Speaker 1: all that. But it was it's funny because when you

317
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,080
Speaker 1: look back, you know, people don't realize what I was

318
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,119
Speaker 1: so young when I started, you know, training Brad when

319
00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:12,800
Speaker 1: I was still you know, a high school basketball player,

320
00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:15,439
Speaker 1: and then training countless other you know athletes. I had

321
00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,439
Speaker 1: ninety six kids that were in my academies while I

322
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:20,600
Speaker 1: was a junior and senior in high school. So I

323
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,159
Speaker 1: was training ninety six local players. I was running a

324
00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,399
Speaker 1: full fledged training operation. Had wrote, I had wrote a

325
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,040
Speaker 1: basketball training book my junior in high school that I

326
00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:31,879
Speaker 1: started selling, you know about, out of my backpack and

327
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:33,680
Speaker 1: out of the back of my trunk my senior year.

328
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,160
Speaker 1: And then, you know, David Lee was my first NBA

329
00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,120
Speaker 1: client that I started working with as a sophomore in college.

330
00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,720
Speaker 1: So here I am at Belmont, playing at a mid

331
00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,840
Speaker 1: major you know college, and you know, my first NBA

332
00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,360
Speaker 1: client as an NBA All Star. You know, I remember

333
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,520
Speaker 1: sitting there at at Cheesecake Factory. Were actually you know,

334
00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,919
Speaker 1: at Cheesecake Factory when Steph Curry had just signed his

335
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,159
Speaker 1: four year, forty four million dollar deal. I think that

336
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:58,960
Speaker 1: was after my junior in college. And um, you know,

337
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:00,600
Speaker 1: I had known staff because I had worked with David

338
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,960
Speaker 1: and they were both teammates with the Warriors. And I

339
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,919
Speaker 1: remember David asking Steph, hey, are you gonna go to

340
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,880
Speaker 1: you know, the the your brother, you know, Seth Curry's

341
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:12,720
Speaker 1: opening night game. Uh, they're playing against Drew. And he

342
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,080
Speaker 1: was like, oh, man, that's so cool. I didn't know

343
00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:16,840
Speaker 1: you coach college too, and he said no, no no, he

344
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,120
Speaker 1: plays in college. And Steph kind of looked at David.

345
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,840
Speaker 1: He was like, first off, I didn't realize how young

346
00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:24,679
Speaker 1: you were. But second off, why are you listening to

347
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,000
Speaker 1: a mid major basketball player? And uh, you know, David

348
00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,280
Speaker 1: said something truly impactful. He said, hey, listen, Phil Jackson

349
00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,119
Speaker 1: can't beat Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O'Neil or Michael Jordan

350
00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,479
Speaker 1: one on wall. He's not better than them, but he

351
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,080
Speaker 1: helps them become better. And he goes, Drew isn't better

352
00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,239
Speaker 1: than me as a basketball player, but he helps me

353
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,720
Speaker 1: become better. And uh that was that was super powerful

354
00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,119
Speaker 1: for me to hear early on, because I realized I

355
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,160
Speaker 1: don't have to be one of the greatest players ever

356
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,320
Speaker 1: to be one of the greatest trainers ever. My job

357
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,680
Speaker 1: is just to help the best find ways to constantly

358
00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,560
Speaker 1: get better. And you know that's what I do full time. Now.

359
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,880
Speaker 1: I'm assuming you locked down Korean that matchup right, Actually

360
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:05,640
Speaker 1: I had a great game. You know, it's funny because

361
00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:07,200
Speaker 1: Seth and I are obviously friends. You know, he was

362
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,240
Speaker 1: teammates with Joel and so we got to you know,

363
00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:11,040
Speaker 1: spend a lot of time to do with each other.

364
00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,280
Speaker 1: But um, yeah, I actually outplayed you know Seth. If

365
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,640
Speaker 1: you go back and look at that game, and uh,

366
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:18,240
Speaker 1: it's just fun. You know, they had a great team.

367
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:21,240
Speaker 1: They had him, they had Austin Rivers, they had the

368
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:25,200
Speaker 1: Plumbly Brothers, they had they had a loaded team. We

369
00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,760
Speaker 1: lost by one. It was opening night game that season. Um,

370
00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:30,280
Speaker 1: but it was just so fun. I mean think about

371
00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,040
Speaker 1: it as a as a little kid that you know,

372
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,879
Speaker 1: used to work out in the driveway at local parks,

373
00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:38,560
Speaker 1: at local community centers to be playing in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

374
00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:40,440
Speaker 1: You know, I had four threes in the second half.

375
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,560
Speaker 1: We we rallied back and uh, you know, end up

376
00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,560
Speaker 1: losing on a on the last second, you know, kind

377
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:49,240
Speaker 1: of bank shot. Um, those are the prices moments that

378
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,720
Speaker 1: that that really show you that hard work can get

379
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,160
Speaker 1: you anywhere. All right, So let's rewind to this four

380
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,240
Speaker 1: am wake up because there's a lot of dad's you know,

381
00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,359
Speaker 1: I coached my kid in hoops and now he's playing

382
00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:01,920
Speaker 1: some club baske and all the dads in the area

383
00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,240
Speaker 1: kind of we listen to some what these trainers say

384
00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:08,480
Speaker 1: and work ethic is like the number one thing Drew,

385
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:12,959
Speaker 1: were your parents saying, hey, f am, you should wake up.

386
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,399
Speaker 1: And then what did your parents like do job wise?

387
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,120
Speaker 1: Or were they former big time athletes? So my mom

388
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,879
Speaker 1: played college soccer, my dad was high school you know,

389
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,480
Speaker 1: uh football players, So it wasn't like, you know, there

390
00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,840
Speaker 1: were you know, professional athletes or anything. The one thing

391
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,639
Speaker 1: that my parents did was they made sure that we

392
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,520
Speaker 1: had every opportunity to get better if we needed or

393
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,719
Speaker 1: wanted those opportunities. So they were never, um, you know,

394
00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,480
Speaker 1: forcing us to do you know, the hard work in

395
00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:40,840
Speaker 1: the mornings. They were never forcing us to do additional

396
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 1: work after practices. But what they were doing was early

397
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,919
Speaker 1: on they just put us around sports as much as

398
00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,440
Speaker 1: we could, so we fell in love with the game.

399
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:50,240
Speaker 1: I think that's the number one thing you like. I

400
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: have parents all the time reached out to me and say, hey,

401
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:53,879
Speaker 1: I gotta you know, an eight year old kid, what

402
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 1: kind of you know things should they be doing with

403
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:57,879
Speaker 1: training wise? And I'm like, to be honest, with you

404
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,760
Speaker 1: at eight years old, you should just have them watch basketball,

405
00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:02,879
Speaker 1: you know, as much as they can, you know, be

406
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,119
Speaker 1: around basketball, Take them to high school basketball games, you know,

407
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: go to the rec center with them. Just get them

408
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,359
Speaker 1: to love the game. Because if they don't love the

409
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,920
Speaker 1: game at some time, you know, they're they're they're not

410
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 1: gonna be able to push through adversity. They're not gonna

411
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:16,879
Speaker 1: be able to to put in the long hours that

412
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,159
Speaker 1: are required to really become special in in the sport.

413
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,120
Speaker 1: And so the first thing they gotta do is fall

414
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,199
Speaker 1: in love. And then once they fall in love, the

415
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,440
Speaker 1: second part is mastering some basic fundamentals that will allow

416
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,280
Speaker 1: you to build on them later on. So you know,

417
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:35,320
Speaker 1: that means you know, getting really good with dribbling, passing,

418
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,280
Speaker 1: and finishing with both hands. You know that means getting

419
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,920
Speaker 1: really good at shooting fundamentals, just good wide balance base,

420
00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,520
Speaker 1: you know, a straight follow through and having good hand

421
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,840
Speaker 1: placement on the ball. Because a little kid, they're gonna

422
00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:49,760
Speaker 1: shoot from their belly button. They don't have the strength

423
00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:51,240
Speaker 1: to get it up to the you know, to the

424
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,440
Speaker 1: hoop at that age, and so you can't teach them

425
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,720
Speaker 1: to shoot like Clay Thompson so what you have to

426
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 1: do is you have to say, hey, let's get good

427
00:21:57,119 --> 00:21:59,120
Speaker 1: hand placement on the ball, because that's hard to change

428
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 1: later on. And then let's just get them shooting a

429
00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 1: straight high follow through. We'll worry about their pocket later.

430
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,719
Speaker 1: And let's work on them maintaining balance so that they

431
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:10,399
Speaker 1: understand that, you know, the less you twist, you know,

432
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,800
Speaker 1: the less you miss. And so those two things are big.

433
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,880
Speaker 1: And then the last thing I always think is footwork.

434
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:17,560
Speaker 1: You know, you've got to be able to stop and

435
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,120
Speaker 1: start and change directions, accelerate, decelerate, and so being able

436
00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 1: to just remain on balance. But those are my three

437
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,680
Speaker 1: core principles. And if you can get those in kind

438
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,800
Speaker 1: of the middle school you know, if you can master

439
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:33,240
Speaker 1: those in the middle school ages, then the rest is history.

440
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 1: Then you can kind of start picking and choosing what

441
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,159
Speaker 1: can really impact your game the most and build on that.

442
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 1: But I think the problem is most parents skip the

443
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 1: first step. They don't get their kids to fall in

444
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,720
Speaker 1: love with the game. They're trying to almost, you know,

445
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,640
Speaker 1: kind of force their kids to do these things because

446
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,879
Speaker 1: they think they know what's best for their kids. And

447
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,399
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean basketball. You know, people always ask me.

448
00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:54,040
Speaker 1: I don't have any kids, but they're always like Drew.

449
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 1: You know, you have two nieces and two nephews, you know,

450
00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,360
Speaker 1: and eventually you're gonna have kids, you know. I'm sure

451
00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:03,080
Speaker 1: you're gonna start training them at an early age. And

452
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 1: I'm like, know what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna

453
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 1: find out what they love. And if they happen to

454
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 1: love basketball, great, They've got the greatest resources they can

455
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,840
Speaker 1: possibly have. I'm gonna make sure I pour, you know,

456
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: all my energy and effort into him. But if it's soccer,

457
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,760
Speaker 1: then we're gonna go all in on soccer. If it's piano,

458
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,439
Speaker 1: we're gonna go all on piano. Whatever they love, you know,

459
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 1: we're gonna make sure that we give them all the

460
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,440
Speaker 1: resources and all the opportunities to improve and to take

461
00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:28,359
Speaker 1: it as far as they want to take it. Who

462
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,879
Speaker 1: was your Who was the guy you first loved basketball for?

463
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:35,680
Speaker 1: Was it? Uh? Local? I'm from St. Louis I I

464
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 1: grew up in the nineties. I was born in eighty nine,

465
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,160
Speaker 1: So Michael Jordan was everything. I mean, if you grew

466
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 1: up in the Midwest, there was only one person like I.

467
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,119
Speaker 1: It was the goat you know, I had, you know,

468
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's every jersey that he had. You know, that's

469
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,360
Speaker 1: what I lived in. I had the old school starter jackets,

470
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,520
Speaker 1: you remember the starter jack and uh even had the

471
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 1: reversible jerseys back in the day that you could have. So,

472
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,200
Speaker 1: I mean, I was a Michael Jordan guy, and um,

473
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,080
Speaker 1: you know, that was the number one player that I loved.

474
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 1: That's what made me love basketball. And then after that

475
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 1: it was funny because I kind of transitioned out of

476
00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 1: the NBA and fell in love with college basketball and

477
00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,439
Speaker 1: Jay Williams and Jason Garden and Jason Gardner there were

478
00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,760
Speaker 1: undersized guards that were just tough as nails that really

479
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 1: got busy, and uh, those are two guys that that

480
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,720
Speaker 1: I used to love watching as a youngster. So when

481
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: you become like a high school player, were you one

482
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: of these Instantly as a freshman you're starting and then

483
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: you're doing the A A U circuit? I mean, or

484
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: was it was the AU circuit even what it is now. Um,

485
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,159
Speaker 1: you know, did you face off with any amazing you know,

486
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,120
Speaker 1: players that got to the NBA at that age? Yeah,

487
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,440
Speaker 1: for sure, I was. I was very fortunate that, Um,

488
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,320
Speaker 1: you know, I started playing on one of the best

489
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 1: teams around St. Louis as a third grader, and so

490
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,560
Speaker 1: were we were doing like the AU Nationals and um,

491
00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,479
Speaker 1: you know, competing against I remember you know, my uh

492
00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:58,399
Speaker 1: I think was sixth grade or seventh grade year we

493
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: played in the Final four or at um, you know,

494
00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,199
Speaker 1: at the Walt Disney Sports Complex down Orlando and Nationals.

495
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:06,440
Speaker 1: We played against the mar De Rosen and Brandon Jennings.

496
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: They played on Little Romeo's team and Master p was

497
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,600
Speaker 1: a coach. Um. So I mean I grew up just

498
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:13,960
Speaker 1: playing there. We played against the New York Gauchos that

499
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,160
Speaker 1: had Kemba Walker and a bunch of other pros. Um.

500
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:19,359
Speaker 1: You know, we played against the O. J. Mayo's and

501
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 1: Bill Walkers back when though they were the biggest things

502
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,159
Speaker 1: in high school basketball. So I mean I was fortunate.

503
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 1: I played against a ton of great players both in

504
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 1: high school um and college. Um. But really for me,

505
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:33,960
Speaker 1: it was all about if you wanted to be the best,

506
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,040
Speaker 1: you have to compete against the best. And you know

507
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,160
Speaker 1: I knew that My goal was, you know, first getting

508
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,679
Speaker 1: a college scholarship. I wanted to get my education paid for,

509
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 1: and second I wanted to play in the NCA Tournament

510
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:48,679
Speaker 1: in third I wanted to play in the NBA, and

511
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,439
Speaker 1: you know I fell short on the third one. But

512
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: in pursuing, you know, that goal of being an NBA player,

513
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 1: I realized, you know what, hey listen, not only can

514
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: I still live the same NBA lifestyle, but you know

515
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 1: I can. I can impact the n B a a

516
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,920
Speaker 1: ton because if you look, you know my clients, it's

517
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 1: really who's who of the Eastern Conference. You got Joel

518
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:13,640
Speaker 1: e and Bean, who you know was one of the

519
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 1: best players in the NBA. But you know the seventies

520
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 1: sixers face of the franchise, you got Jayson Tatum Boston Celtics,

521
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,520
Speaker 1: you don't face of their franchise. You got Bradley Beale.

522
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,160
Speaker 1: Next year has a chance to break the all time

523
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:27,159
Speaker 1: scoring record. You know in Wizard's history, you got Tyler

524
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 1: Hero second leading scorer just by a fraction of a point.

525
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,880
Speaker 1: You know, for the the he you got Zach Lavine,

526
00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: you know, if not the best player that you know,

527
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 1: second best player at one A, one B with him

528
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,680
Speaker 1: and de ros and up in Chicago, Tyres Halliburton, who

529
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: now is like the face of you know, the Indiana Pacers.

530
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: You start going down. You've got New York Knicks are

531
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,160
Speaker 1: j Barrett. So, I mean it's literally the Eastern Conference. Um,

532
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:51,800
Speaker 1: and it's so fun for me that, you know, I

533
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 1: am the guy that's responsible for helping these guys, you know,

534
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,160
Speaker 1: find ways to fine tune their game and constantly get better.

535
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 1: One more before we get to the current players. Um, well,

536
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 1: you did you have a ton of offers coming out

537
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,879
Speaker 1: of high school? Or was like Belmont far and away

538
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,159
Speaker 1: one of the best one. No, honestly, I had a

539
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,679
Speaker 1: bunch of high major offers. Um as well, I just

540
00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:13,720
Speaker 1: thought Belmont was the best fit for me. You know,

541
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,840
Speaker 1: when I'm when I remember helping players in recruiting process,

542
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 1: I always tell them, you know, there's a there's three

543
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,200
Speaker 1: things that I always look for. Number one, don't just

544
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,080
Speaker 1: go to a school that is gonna be fun for

545
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 1: four years. Go to a school that's gonna prepare you

546
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 1: for the next forty years. And so I love their

547
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,480
Speaker 1: entrepreneurship program. I knew that, you know, at that point,

548
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,320
Speaker 1: once I got to the you know, college, I knew

549
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:36,000
Speaker 1: I wasn't gonna be an NBA player, And so I

550
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,760
Speaker 1: had already got rolling with my training career and so

551
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 1: I was like, I need to find a school that has,

552
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 1: you know, great entrepreneurship program. So you know, two of

553
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,680
Speaker 1: my finalists were Penn because the School of Warden, you know,

554
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 1: their business school is unbelievable, and then Belmont because their

555
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,919
Speaker 1: entrepreneurship was also unbelievable. So that was my first big thing.

556
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: My second thing is you gotta make sure that the

557
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 1: basketball program, you know, fits you as a player. I

558
00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 1: was a guy that was a high volume three point shooter.

559
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,119
Speaker 1: Belmont was you know, very up tempo, and so I

560
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: was like, you know what that fits from a basketball perspective.

561
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,920
Speaker 1: And then the third thing was you gotta love everybody

562
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: that's involved with the program, the players, the coaches, the

563
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:17,920
Speaker 1: training staff, the administration, because you're gonna spend of your

564
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: time with them for four years of your life. And

565
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 1: so if you don't think that, you know, you're going

566
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,240
Speaker 1: to you know, it's the cliche of where a family,

567
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: where a brotherhood, but it really is, they become your

568
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,199
Speaker 1: best friends and they become the people that you you

569
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,800
Speaker 1: spend four critical years of your life around. And so

570
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,199
Speaker 1: I just thought, Belmont fit. I love the players, I

571
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 1: love the coaches, I love the you know the staff

572
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 1: and even the academic Um, you know, counselors. I thought

573
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 1: the program was a great fit, and then academically I

574
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 1: thought it was gonna really help me, you know, take

575
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 1: the next step in my journey. Um, as a businessman,

576
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

577
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,520
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports

578
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,720
Speaker 1: Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app

579
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:02,200
Speaker 1: search f s are to listen live at Speaking of

580
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: the business, Um, I don't, I mean we I personally

581
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:07,720
Speaker 1: love Jayson Tatum. I went on you know, one of

582
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 1: the f S one shows and said he was the

583
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 1: best one on one player since Kobe and all these

584
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,120
Speaker 1: players lipped me up. Uh, these you know, these idiots

585
00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: on the internet just go after you. And here we are,

586
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,560
Speaker 1: you know, two months later, and Jayson Tatum looks like

587
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 1: arguably one of the five to seven best players in

588
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 1: the league. Um, obviously, Drew, you're gonna take some credit

589
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:27,480
Speaker 1: for but for for what he's done. But how was

590
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:29,440
Speaker 1: this guy made the leap here in the last I

591
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 1: don't know, two years to become you know, one of

592
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,239
Speaker 1: the I think he's gonna you know when it at

593
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: least an m v P at some point in his career.

594
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: Here's what I'll tell you. I'm gonna take you back

595
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 1: to thirteen years old. The first time I started working

596
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,960
Speaker 1: with Jason, and I remember, you know, the first work

597
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 1: out we had, I just killed him because I wanted

598
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: to see if he had it. And if you don't

599
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 1: know what it is, you know you probably don't have it.

600
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,760
Speaker 1: That like special sauce, like that special like you don't know,

601
00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 1: but they're just willing to do whatever it takes to

602
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: to get over whatever hurdles in front of them. And

603
00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 1: and so I killed him to the point where he

604
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 1: was like throwing up, passing out, like that's the first

605
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 1: workout as a thirteen year old kid. And I remember

606
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 1: I got a call from his mom after that workout,

607
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't know what she's gonna say

608
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 1: at that point, because this is the first workout. His

609
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,960
Speaker 1: mom said, Hey, I got something really cool, uh to

610
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 1: share with you. You know Jason, when I asked him

611
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 1: how it was, because you know, his aunted brought him

612
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,040
Speaker 1: to the workout. Um, he said, Mama, listen, y'all were

613
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 1: gonna have to carry me off the court before I

614
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 1: gave up. This is a thirteen year old So that's

615
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 1: when I knew. I was like, Okay, he's got something

616
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,600
Speaker 1: you know different about him. He's got that hit factor.

617
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,800
Speaker 1: And then after that, I said, Jason, listen, if you

618
00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:37,320
Speaker 1: want to be, you know, an NBA player one day.

619
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:38,720
Speaker 1: And again he's thirteen, so we don't know he's a

620
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,760
Speaker 1: bone a fight NBA player. At that point, I said,

621
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,880
Speaker 1: we've got to master the fundamentals. It's gonna be a

622
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 1: boring process, but it is going to be a beneficial process.

623
00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 1: And so we spent the first week on just the

624
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 1: jab step. We're watching Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Tracy McGrady,

625
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 1: Carmelo Anthony, We're watching all this footage of these thirteen

626
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,720
Speaker 1: think about thirteen year olds. They're normally just jacking three pointers,

627
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: you know, checking their phones after every you know, three shots,

628
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,000
Speaker 1: and he's out there working on Japson. We didn't do

629
00:31:06,040 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 1: anything besides the jab step for four days and then

630
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: finally on the fifth day, I was like, all are

631
00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 1: you ready to move on? He's like, man, thank god,

632
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 1: and I'm like, now we got the jab won derable

633
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,640
Speaker 1: pull up. He was kind of like, oh man. But

634
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 1: the reason I take you back to thirteen is because

635
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:25,400
Speaker 1: Jason has put in so much work. He studied the grades,

636
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,960
Speaker 1: he's emulated them. He's taking every step of the process

637
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,480
Speaker 1: so seriously since he was that young, and that's why

638
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 1: you see the powers version you see of him today.

639
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 1: You know, he still watches countless hours of film. You know,

640
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,560
Speaker 1: he's constantly working on his game, like during even you know,

641
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,800
Speaker 1: this playoff run. It's funny because normally I stay at

642
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 1: his his place, you know, in Boston. When I go

643
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,240
Speaker 1: up there and work with him, you know, right now,

644
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 1: he's like, hey, listen, I need to get a hotel.

645
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,720
Speaker 1: I'm not letting anybody in my house. I need to

646
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:56,040
Speaker 1: you know, stay locked in. And so you know when

647
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 1: I've gone to you know, different places to work with

648
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,400
Speaker 1: them throughout the playoffs, it's he's just hyper focused on

649
00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 1: I got a job to do. I gotta deliver, and

650
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: um that's why he's special, you know, it is because

651
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 1: he has every step along the way prioritized improving at

652
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,040
Speaker 1: you know, kind of the fundamental, fundamental level to the

653
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 1: now I'm gonna get into the micro skill level and

654
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,800
Speaker 1: then now I'm gonna master all the little nuances that

655
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,560
Speaker 1: you see him able to do today. Listening to you

656
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 1: say that, Drew, I I instantly think, okay, what other

657
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,360
Speaker 1: players are tacticians like that? You've got Luka don Cheich, right,

658
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:36,120
Speaker 1: and frankly, not a lot of other Americans have that.

659
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,560
Speaker 1: You know that drilled down, We're gonna work on fundamentals

660
00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:41,400
Speaker 1: for an entire week. You just don't really see that.

661
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 1: And here comes Luca and the honest who has improved

662
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 1: his game, and you know Yokich obviously, and you're your

663
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,080
Speaker 1: guy embat as well. Is there something about the lack

664
00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,880
Speaker 1: of that you know, micro fundamental level that's that's not

665
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,920
Speaker 1: good for NBA players right now? I wouldn't say that.

666
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,040
Speaker 1: I think that something. You know, It's funny because I

667
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:00,880
Speaker 1: see the media always talking about out like, you know,

668
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 1: Americans they have a problem when it comes to develop

669
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 1: you know, men't and uh, you know they skip steps.

670
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,360
Speaker 1: And I woul just turned the Olympics and say, listen,

671
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 1: we we dominate the Olympics. We you know we could

672
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 1: we we we could send our C team and usually

673
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:16,400
Speaker 1: win the championship. But you know we're not even sending

674
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 1: our top you know, guys, I always joke around with r. J.

675
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,160
Speaker 1: Barrett about that because you know, we have that friendly

676
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 1: rivalry when it comes to USA Canada, and I'm like,

677
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: if we legitimately sat down and listed the number one

678
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,720
Speaker 1: American all the way down, if we took our C

679
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:33,040
Speaker 1: group or D group, we could still beat you all.

680
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 1: R J. So I think that sometimes people don't realize

681
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,200
Speaker 1: that we still have the best players and so the

682
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 1: system isn't broken. But I do think that, you know,

683
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:47,480
Speaker 1: the American system right now, UM has heavily favored athleticism

684
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,640
Speaker 1: and just straight you know, getting a lot of games,

685
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,360
Speaker 1: they do get that experience and they get that confidence. UM.

686
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,240
Speaker 1: Whereas the perfect blend is when you have that athleticism

687
00:33:57,280 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 1: and you have the game experience, but then you also

688
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 1: have the fundamental training that allows you to be polished

689
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:05,640
Speaker 1: as well. But you know, I mean, I think there

690
00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:07,800
Speaker 1: are a lot of Americans that are are very polished.

691
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:09,359
Speaker 1: I mean, look at you know, some of the guys

692
00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: I have, Zach Levine, super polished skill set. You know,

693
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:15,640
Speaker 1: Bradley Beale is one of the best. You know, you

694
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:17,720
Speaker 1: look at Damian Lillard, who's not one of my guys,

695
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:22,359
Speaker 1: but Damian Lillard super highly skilled. You start going down

696
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 1: the line and you say okay, and then and then

697
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,920
Speaker 1: you do turn to. They always talk about the um

698
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:28,839
Speaker 1: you know, the international players, and they said, these are

699
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:30,080
Speaker 1: the best players in the world. And you look at

700
00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:32,920
Speaker 1: guys like Jannice, no doubt, one of the best players

701
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,600
Speaker 1: in the world. But I mean it's still he hasn't

702
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,960
Speaker 1: shown the ability to shoot jump shots, you know. Does

703
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 1: that mean that the international system flawed him, you know?

704
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 1: Or do you look at the opposite way and say, hey,

705
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,839
Speaker 1: look at what he was when he came over here.

706
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,520
Speaker 1: He was very raw and then American trainers were what

707
00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 1: helped develop him into the player he is now the

708
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 1: two time MVP that one of finals, you know, and

709
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:59,000
Speaker 1: had fifty points in the game seven. So you know, there,

710
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,400
Speaker 1: that's what I look at. I look at, you know,

711
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,919
Speaker 1: I think that the best trainers in the world get

712
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 1: their players to do exactly what they need to do,

713
00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,280
Speaker 1: and that is first master the fundamentals, then start adding

714
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,880
Speaker 1: one skill at a time until they have a polish

715
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:15,000
Speaker 1: and refined version of their game that translates into in

716
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,720
Speaker 1: game success. All right, So let's go to Joel embiid

717
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:22,319
Speaker 1: polarizing player on this podcast. Uh listen, he I don't

718
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,160
Speaker 1: know that he totally lumps into the international given that, uh,

719
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:27,600
Speaker 1: you know, he went to Kansas for a year, but

720
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:29,360
Speaker 1: Drew I I don't know if you've seen the highlight

721
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:31,399
Speaker 1: where he was I guess, you know, like tenth grade

722
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:33,719
Speaker 1: or whatever. And he tries to do a layup on

723
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:35,840
Speaker 1: a fast break and like I think, totally misses the

724
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,600
Speaker 1: backboard and it's one of these like this guy has

725
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,120
Speaker 1: become one of the best players in the league. Um,

726
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:43,319
Speaker 1: I guess talk about his work ethic before we drill

727
00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,080
Speaker 1: down on on some of the other stuff. First off,

728
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that before we got on this podcast,

729
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 1: I made it very well known that I found a

730
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,880
Speaker 1: clip of you kind of hating on Joel. I'm just

731
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,800
Speaker 1: Joel led the NBA in scoring. He gets double and

732
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 1: ripple teams like no one else. You know. That's That's

733
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,400
Speaker 1: the thing when I was making so many counter arguments

734
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 1: the Yo kids Joel kind of MVP conversation on on

735
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,040
Speaker 1: social media. You know, I pointed out to like at

736
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 1: the end of the game when Draymond Greene stole the

737
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 1: ball from Yoki, and I'm like, he was on an island.

738
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,480
Speaker 1: You can't find one possession where you know the other

739
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:21,880
Speaker 1: team is single covering Joel and saying, I dare you

740
00:36:21,920 --> 00:36:23,759
Speaker 1: to score, because there's not one player in the world

741
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,719
Speaker 1: that can stop Joel single handedly. So to go to

742
00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,360
Speaker 1: his work ethic. You know, he had that same Ezack

743
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,760
Speaker 1: process that Jason did, but he didn't get to start

744
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:33,640
Speaker 1: as early. You know, I got him, you know, right

745
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 1: before he started his NBA career. But there's not a

746
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,040
Speaker 1: player that watches I would say, half as much film

747
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,000
Speaker 1: as Joel does. And I work with a lot of

748
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,480
Speaker 1: special ones. Joel is a kind of guy that on

749
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:48,600
Speaker 1: a random Tuesday in the middle of the season, he'll be,

750
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,399
Speaker 1: you know, watching a Indiana Pacers or Sacramento King's game

751
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:54,880
Speaker 1: on NBA League Pass and you're going, why are you

752
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,279
Speaker 1: watching that? It's just because he loves basketball. You know.

753
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 1: He's watched every single may field goal of Kevin Durant's career,

754
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,520
Speaker 1: everyone of Dirk's career, everyone of Kobe's career, everyone of Shock.

755
00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 1: It gets to the point where he'll say, hey, can

756
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 1: you send me more of Hakim? And I'm like, just

757
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,160
Speaker 1: you know everything that it's in the database and I

758
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:13,920
Speaker 1: sent you That's that's all that there is. Like, we

759
00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 1: can't we can't go back and tell that came to

760
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,040
Speaker 1: play more games, like you've already watched everything, and so

761
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 1: you know that's the biggest thing that stands out to

762
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,680
Speaker 1: me about his work ethic. You know, he's just obsessive.

763
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:26,839
Speaker 1: You know, he faced time. He actually yesterday and um,

764
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,239
Speaker 1: you know, he was watching Jason play. Obviously, all my

765
00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 1: guys are really good, you know, friends just because they

766
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 1: spend the summers together. And he was like, Hey, I

767
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,080
Speaker 1: was in my living room, you know, working on you know,

768
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,400
Speaker 1: a certain thing that we're we're working on this summer

769
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,920
Speaker 1: as far as driving and attacking from the perimeter. And

770
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:43,759
Speaker 1: he's like, I was in my living room working on it.

771
00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 1: You know, this is a guy that just you know,

772
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 1: just got knocked out of the playoffs, still watching all

773
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,239
Speaker 1: the games. Most NBA players once they get knocked out,

774
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 1: they don't even want to talk about basketball. Look at basketball.

775
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:56,239
Speaker 1: They're immediately in vacation mode. So while still studying every game,

776
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:58,759
Speaker 1: hitting me, do you see this coverage? Do you see that? Oh?

777
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 1: I really like that play the three minute second mark

778
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,680
Speaker 1: that Miami just ran for BAM. You know, make sure

779
00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:06,320
Speaker 1: you clip that so that we have that for the

780
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,479
Speaker 1: start of next season. I Mean, he's just a guy

781
00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:13,200
Speaker 1: that loves basketball, and he's honestly obsessed with becoming the

782
00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:15,160
Speaker 1: best version of himself, which is why each and every

783
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,000
Speaker 1: year he's improved. And the thing that I credit most

784
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:21,000
Speaker 1: to him is all he wants to do is win.

785
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:23,880
Speaker 1: And so when he came in the NBA, you know,

786
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,040
Speaker 1: he was like, hey, listen, you know he made one

787
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:29,239
Speaker 1: three pointer at Kansas. He was one for five, that's it.

788
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,080
Speaker 1: And then his rookie season he shoots like thirty percent

789
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 1: from three, and everyone's like, whoa, we didn't know he

790
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 1: had that. Because he wanted to add that. Then he

791
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,880
Speaker 1: started with the low post movies dominant low post, and

792
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:40,640
Speaker 1: then it's you know what, it's too easy to get

793
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: double teams. So then it's midpost. Well, that's too easy

794
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:44,839
Speaker 1: to get double teams. So now I go, you know,

795
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:48,120
Speaker 1: the to the nail where dark Nowinski dominated, Well now

796
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:49,920
Speaker 1: they can't. My teammates can't get me the ball. So

797
00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:51,560
Speaker 1: now I gotta work on all the off the dribble

798
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,320
Speaker 1: stuff that you see. And so every year he's basically said, hey, listen,

799
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:57,840
Speaker 1: I don't want to make excuses of what my teammates

800
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 1: can't do or what I don't have on my team.

801
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:02,799
Speaker 1: I'm just going to become that shot creator, become the

802
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,200
Speaker 1: you know, go to score, or become the perimeter threat

803
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:07,480
Speaker 1: that we need, which is what makes them truly special.

804
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 1: So again, I I know I said I'm not a

805
00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 1: huge fan of Embid. Obviously, I love the work, ethic

806
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,239
Speaker 1: and the desire. You've seen him make the leaps. What

807
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:16,359
Speaker 1: I didn't love was the kind of the jab at

808
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons after the Atlanta series. Uh. And then he

809
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,759
Speaker 1: said something about Harden after this playoff loss. And I

810
00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,239
Speaker 1: know some of it is, hey, he's never made the

811
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 1: conference finals. But then look at the supporting cast and

812
00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,360
Speaker 1: then he comes out. I guess after you guys spoke

813
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:32,719
Speaker 1: about with the tweet about how Miami needs help, and

814
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:35,440
Speaker 1: it's like, I don't know, Drew, come on, Like, I

815
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,000
Speaker 1: know he's having fun and getting engagement and everybody's talking

816
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: about him on podcasts and shows. But what do you

817
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:43,720
Speaker 1: tell your clients about social media? Do you say anything?

818
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,680
Speaker 1: Or you just mostly stick to basketball? No? I mean,

819
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,359
Speaker 1: obviously I'm helping them in basketball, I'm helping him in life.

820
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:51,439
Speaker 1: I'm helping him with mentality. But you know, I want

821
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 1: everyone to be themselves, you know, like it's funny because

822
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 1: let's talk about Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time.

823
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,000
Speaker 1: You know, Michael Jordan's you look at the last dance.

824
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,359
Speaker 1: What was he doing all the time. Now, he didn't

825
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 1: have social media, but he's over there smoking a cigar,

826
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:07,879
Speaker 1: you know, hitting the battle. You know, anyone can talk

827
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 1: trash when you know they're up, but that was who

828
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan always was. You know, there's countless stories of him,

829
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:17,279
Speaker 1: you know, being you know, pulling up his Ferrari, you know,

830
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 1: to block off the bus and him smoking a cigar,

831
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,160
Speaker 1: celebrating before Game six, before they had even played the game.

832
00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:24,640
Speaker 1: You know, he was the original trash talker. But also

833
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 1: you gotta remember Michael Jordan average at forty three points

834
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 1: a game against the Celtics is third year in the

835
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,120
Speaker 1: NBA or a second or third year in the NBA,

836
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:33,919
Speaker 1: and didn't and he got swept. So even Michael Jordan

837
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,600
Speaker 1: didn't win without Scotty, and didn't win without Dennis Robins,

838
00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:39,160
Speaker 1: didn't win without Steve Kerry like all these guys. And

839
00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:42,600
Speaker 1: you look at Shack. Shack didn't win any titles without

840
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade. You know, you look at

841
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,719
Speaker 1: all these players. You look at Lebron, Lebron hasn't won

842
00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:51,120
Speaker 1: a championship without at least two All Stars on his team.

843
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,919
Speaker 1: So it's like at some point you're looking and you're going,

844
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:58,400
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's had somebody, nobody's ever won a championship

845
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,799
Speaker 1: on their own. And so you know, I think that, um,

846
00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:04,800
Speaker 1: you know, I think did Wade well, I guess Wade

847
00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,480
Speaker 1: had a late shock, right, he still had shock. You

848
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:11,239
Speaker 1: know what about Dirk was probably the best case of

849
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:14,040
Speaker 1: of winning one kind of where he's single handedly, you know,

850
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:16,200
Speaker 1: put the team on his back and said, hey, listen,

851
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,440
Speaker 1: I'm taking us, you know, taking us through. But you know,

852
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:21,359
Speaker 1: that's one thing that we always talk about is, you know,

853
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,120
Speaker 1: can you get yourself to a point where you can

854
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:27,279
Speaker 1: carry a team? And it's something I talked with all

855
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:31,040
Speaker 1: my guys about because that's the true, you know, essence

856
00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 1: of being the best player in the world or one

857
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:36,800
Speaker 1: of the best players ever is when regardless what the

858
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 1: situation is, regardless what the circumstances are, is when you

859
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,080
Speaker 1: have the ability to throw your team on the back

860
00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:44,279
Speaker 1: and carry him home. And to me, that's what made

861
00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:46,759
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan the greatest was. You know, if you were

862
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,720
Speaker 1: in a room full of people and you're watching Michael

863
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: Jordan's and it's game, you know, five or six in

864
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:56,240
Speaker 1: the NBA, you know, finals, and the Bulls were down fifteen.

865
00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:58,319
Speaker 1: If you looked around and said, hey, guys, listen, the

866
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:00,680
Speaker 1: Bulls are down fifteen points under in the fourth quarter,

867
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: but I'll bet you know a hundred dollars that Michael

868
00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,560
Speaker 1: Jordan wins, no one would take that bet because you

869
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,920
Speaker 1: just knew Michael Jordan was gonna find a way to

870
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:10,800
Speaker 1: win the game. It's like Tiger Woods when Tiger was dominant.

871
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:14,000
Speaker 1: You know, if Tiger had a lead, he wasn't given

872
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,279
Speaker 1: it up. But if Tiger was a few strokes back

873
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 1: and you made the round of that turn and you

874
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 1: started hearing the Tiger roars, you just knew he was

875
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,280
Speaker 1: gonna find a way to come back. Fox Sports Radio

876
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,200
Speaker 1: has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch

877
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 1: all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com

878
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:34,279
Speaker 1: and within the I Heart Radio app search f s

879
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:37,160
Speaker 1: R to listen live. Drew, I've heard you, i think

880
00:42:37,239 --> 00:42:39,839
Speaker 1: say three times that Jordan's the greatest of all time.

881
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:42,760
Speaker 1: Clearly you are aware of the Jordan Lebron debate. Um,

882
00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:45,640
Speaker 1: I am curious. You grew up on nineties n b A.

883
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,719
Speaker 1: You look at that NBA when Jordan dominated, you know,

884
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:50,200
Speaker 1: Magic and Bird kind of were at the end and

885
00:42:50,239 --> 00:42:52,360
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas was at the end, and you look at

886
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 1: today's NBA. If someone's making the case Lebron is the greatest,

887
00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:00,080
Speaker 1: as I have He's done it on multiple teams, I

888
00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:04,359
Speaker 1: think three different teams, Cleveland, Miami and the Lakers, and

889
00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:06,280
Speaker 1: he's done it. And I think, what is the toughest

890
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 1: era in the league when you can factor in the

891
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:12,720
Speaker 1: international players, uh, the lack of expansion which happened mostly

892
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:15,280
Speaker 1: in the nineties. Would you say today's NBA is tougher?

893
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,279
Speaker 1: Is that like an argument to help Lebron in this discussion? Oh,

894
00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:21,040
Speaker 1: for sure, there's no doubt that today's players are better

895
00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:24,319
Speaker 1: and that this era is tougher. There's no doubt about that. Um.

896
00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:26,560
Speaker 1: And there's there's also you know, if you look at

897
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:29,440
Speaker 1: the superstars and the talent, you know, if you put

898
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:33,520
Speaker 1: a star from today's game back in the eighties, they

899
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:36,320
Speaker 1: would dominate. Like if you what is Zach Levine scoring

900
00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:40,200
Speaker 1: in the eighties, is it's ridiculous? Yeah, it's ridiculous, you

901
00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:41,840
Speaker 1: know what I mean. If you put Joel Embiid in

902
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 1: the in the eighties, I mean it's a clean sweep,

903
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:45,960
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. I think we're telling different stories.

904
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,759
Speaker 1: If you put Jayson Tatum doing sidesteps, they would think

905
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:50,200
Speaker 1: he was an alien, you know what I mean. Like

906
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,200
Speaker 1: you think about Steph Curry if he was shooting from

907
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 1: that range back in the seventies or the eighties or

908
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:57,600
Speaker 1: people would be like, what are you talking about? You

909
00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:00,279
Speaker 1: know what I mean? Like the best shooter was Steve

910
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:03,640
Speaker 1: Kerr and his you know, efficiency was through the roof.

911
00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,120
Speaker 1: But I mean he wasn't even thinking about shooting off

912
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:08,880
Speaker 1: the dribble thirty five footers like Steph Curry's trying to

913
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:12,399
Speaker 1: hunt throughout the game. So today's era way better. It's

914
00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:14,719
Speaker 1: not even close now. I will say this, when you

915
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,800
Speaker 1: go back eras, you also got to remember that everything evolves.

916
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:21,480
Speaker 1: You know, the fastest you know, fastest runners ever, they

917
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:24,319
Speaker 1: keep getting their records broken. You know, the fastest swimmers ever,

918
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,080
Speaker 1: they get their records broken. You know, all sports have

919
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:30,479
Speaker 1: have improved over time because you know, the science behind

920
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:33,160
Speaker 1: it has improved, the training has improved, and then overall,

921
00:44:33,200 --> 00:44:35,719
Speaker 1: athleticism just grows and develops because we learned from other people.

922
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,279
Speaker 1: You know, we're out there studying film of you know, Jordan,

923
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:40,560
Speaker 1: and we're taking everything that he has and adding it

924
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,640
Speaker 1: to the modern day era. When you look at Jordan's

925
00:44:43,680 --> 00:44:46,520
Speaker 1: he didn't start lifting until halfway through his NBA career.

926
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:48,920
Speaker 1: You know, when you look at Jordan, he didn't have

927
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,080
Speaker 1: all the analytics and all that that kind of stuff

928
00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 1: that he would have had if he put him in

929
00:44:52,719 --> 00:44:55,040
Speaker 1: today's game. But I mean, there is no question that

930
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:57,839
Speaker 1: if you take away hand checking and if you put

931
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:01,359
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan today's game, I mean, he's leading the league

932
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,440
Speaker 1: in scoring every year and it's and it's by a

933
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:07,360
Speaker 1: large margin. M And then if you look at the

934
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,040
Speaker 1: two way, if you look at the two way, I

935
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:12,640
Speaker 1: think the best I think the best argument was this

936
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 1: if I said this, If I said, there is a

937
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:22,120
Speaker 1: made up player and they have two NBA Finals, you know, championships,

938
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:28,239
Speaker 1: they have one m v P, they have nine scoring titles,

939
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:31,759
Speaker 1: and they have a Defensive Player of the Year, and

940
00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:35,400
Speaker 1: they have X amount of other things. Would that imaginary

941
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:37,880
Speaker 1: player be a Hall of Fame player? You'd say, no doubt,

942
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:43,040
Speaker 1: that's how much better Michael Jordan's accolades are then Lebron James.

943
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,920
Speaker 1: He has two more finals, he has one more m

944
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:50,279
Speaker 1: v P, he has a defensive Player of the Year,

945
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:52,920
Speaker 1: he has nine more scoring titles, and and so on,

946
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,920
Speaker 1: steal titles, et cetera. And so when you look at

947
00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:59,560
Speaker 1: it from a how much more Michael Jordan dominated his era?

948
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:03,800
Speaker 1: You know? And again Lebron ten finals appearances, and you know,

949
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:06,160
Speaker 1: I want to ask about that, Lebron is two to me,

950
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:10,640
Speaker 1: but it's just Michael Jordan had a different level of

951
00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:13,239
Speaker 1: two way greatness that I don't think you've seen the

952
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:16,360
Speaker 1: two way. I would agree with better defensively, but like,

953
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 1: how do you value Michael only six trips to the

954
00:46:19,400 --> 00:46:21,359
Speaker 1: finals in fifteen years, and he did win all of them,

955
00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:24,320
Speaker 1: but only got there six times, whereas Lebron, I believe,

956
00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:28,560
Speaker 1: is something ridiculous like ten in eighteen years, something something

957
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 1: absurd like that. Basically, wherever Lebron goes, he's winning the championship,

958
00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:37,640
Speaker 1: whereas Jordan's needed Phil Jackson, who arrive didn't win without him,

959
00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:40,360
Speaker 1: needed Scottie Pippen to arrive, didn't win without him. And

960
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:44,080
Speaker 1: when Jordan's retired, slash quit whatever you want to say.

961
00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:47,440
Speaker 1: They still won like fifty something games, drew no doubt,

962
00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:49,480
Speaker 1: And I think those are all great arguments. My my

963
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:52,160
Speaker 1: big thing is one Michael Jordan did retire in his

964
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:56,680
Speaker 1: prime twice. He wanted three retired. He wanted three retired,

965
00:46:57,160 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 1: and so we don't know how many he would have won.

966
00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:02,000
Speaker 1: I don't ever do IF's game, because again, any anything

967
00:47:02,000 --> 00:47:04,360
Speaker 1: could change, you know, if he stays, maybe the salary

968
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: cap you know, hits and they don't have the same

969
00:47:06,239 --> 00:47:08,200
Speaker 1: team for the second three pep you do. We never know.

970
00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:11,680
Speaker 1: But twice he retired in his prime. I just look

971
00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:13,520
Speaker 1: at it when I when I think of greatest, I

972
00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:15,759
Speaker 1: think of when they were at their best, and I

973
00:47:15,800 --> 00:47:19,960
Speaker 1: compare those players, and to win three times in a row,

974
00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:23,120
Speaker 1: you know, twice, it's just a level of dominance we

975
00:47:23,120 --> 00:47:25,279
Speaker 1: haven't seen. It's why I think Tiger Woods is the

976
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:28,240
Speaker 1: greatest golf forever, even though he doesn't have the most majors,

977
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:31,000
Speaker 1: you know, Jack Nicholson, because Tiger Woods won five in

978
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:33,360
Speaker 1: a row and he had a dominance that over a

979
00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:36,719
Speaker 1: decade no one else had. And so if you take

980
00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:39,600
Speaker 1: them at their best, at their prime, I just don't

981
00:47:39,640 --> 00:47:42,600
Speaker 1: think that there's a comparison. You know, when you talk

982
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:45,480
Speaker 1: about the goat of the goats, I think that you know,

983
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:49,080
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan is the best player ever. Now I still

984
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,520
Speaker 1: got Lebron the number two, and I think you know

985
00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:54,080
Speaker 1: that that. I think that sometimes people don't understand there

986
00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:56,719
Speaker 1: can be two really great players. It's just when you say,

987
00:47:56,800 --> 00:47:58,719
Speaker 1: you know, I think too many times when people say

988
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:01,280
Speaker 1: this guy's number one, it means number two and everybody

989
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:03,360
Speaker 1: else sucks. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying Lebron

990
00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:06,279
Speaker 1: is a special talent. He's one in three places. But

991
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:10,160
Speaker 1: Lebron also needed pieces. You know, everyone needs pieces to

992
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:12,759
Speaker 1: win a championship, So that that's just my argument. No,

993
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,759
Speaker 1: that's fair. We can wind down here. Um, you know,

994
00:48:15,800 --> 00:48:17,560
Speaker 1: I I know you're not. I don't expect you to

995
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:21,080
Speaker 1: really reply and hammer anyone here. But one of the

996
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:24,120
Speaker 1: most underrated player in the league, who isn't one of

997
00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:27,600
Speaker 1: your clients? Um, who would you say? Because I actually

998
00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:29,480
Speaker 1: would say Zach Levine I think is one of the

999
00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:32,239
Speaker 1: most underrated. He's often hurt, which doesn't help us case.

1000
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:34,200
Speaker 1: But can you give me one most underrated and then

1001
00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:37,399
Speaker 1: overrated if you want? I know that's a big ask.

1002
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:40,359
Speaker 1: I would say Kyrie Irving, I've said that many times. Uh,

1003
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:43,000
Speaker 1: super talented, but the rest of the stuff, like you

1004
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:46,120
Speaker 1: were a winner drew in high school, you want everything

1005
00:48:46,200 --> 00:48:48,319
Speaker 1: in college, you want at Belmont, got to the door

1006
00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:52,120
Speaker 1: like Kyrie just not a winning player, but a great,

1007
00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 1: great talent. Um so overrated, underrated if you're into that,

1008
00:48:55,640 --> 00:48:58,239
Speaker 1: I would stay away from the overrated just because I

1009
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,279
Speaker 1: want to. I want to be respectful, because I think

1010
00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:02,400
Speaker 1: the big thing is even the worst players in the

1011
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:05,080
Speaker 1: NBA are some of the best players in the world,

1012
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:07,799
Speaker 1: and so that's that's what I you know, I love

1013
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:10,480
Speaker 1: when you take, you know, a guy on the bench

1014
00:49:10,680 --> 00:49:12,920
Speaker 1: and you throw them in a random, you know, college

1015
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:15,600
Speaker 1: pick up run and they just dominate. It's like you

1016
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,720
Speaker 1: gotta remember, like even like like Patrick Beverley, who everyone's

1017
00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:20,799
Speaker 1: like he's a great defender, but you know he he

1018
00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:22,920
Speaker 1: sucks on offense. And you're going, do you realize the

1019
00:49:22,920 --> 00:49:24,760
Speaker 1: average like thirty eight points a game in high school

1020
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:26,759
Speaker 1: or something crazy? You know, I forgot when I don't

1021
00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:28,800
Speaker 1: know the exact number, but I remember reading that somewhere

1022
00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:31,800
Speaker 1: and it's like, these guys are all really really special players.

1023
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:36,080
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna stay away from the overrated underrated. You know,

1024
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,200
Speaker 1: I look at underrated. It's weird because to me, I

1025
00:49:38,239 --> 00:49:40,480
Speaker 1: look at underrated as a lot of times the glue guys.

1026
00:49:41,080 --> 00:49:43,160
Speaker 1: Because this is something I talked about with my clients

1027
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:44,560
Speaker 1: all the time. If you look at the teams that

1028
00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:47,640
Speaker 1: are remaining, Okay, just right now, guys were recording this podcast,

1029
00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:51,120
Speaker 1: there's four teams remaining. You got you know, the Boston Celtics,

1030
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:54,640
Speaker 1: who have guys like Robert Williams who when he went out,

1031
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:57,359
Speaker 1: you know, bam ade Bio went crazy. He comes back,

1032
00:49:57,680 --> 00:50:00,440
Speaker 1: Bam comes back down to earth. You got eyes like

1033
00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:05,480
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart, who you know again just lockdown defender, defensive

1034
00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:08,000
Speaker 1: player of the year, just you know, now playing his role.

1035
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:10,200
Speaker 1: But you also have guys that they traded for during

1036
00:50:10,239 --> 00:50:12,840
Speaker 1: the season, you know that are you know, like white

1037
00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:15,239
Speaker 1: guys like that that are just glue guys. So then

1038
00:50:15,239 --> 00:50:17,560
Speaker 1: you go to the Miami Heat and you've got guys

1039
00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:20,040
Speaker 1: like p J. Tucker, just tough, you know, guys that

1040
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:22,640
Speaker 1: you know, just again one with Milwaukee. Now he's helping

1041
00:50:22,719 --> 00:50:25,719
Speaker 1: you know, Miami be really good. Then you go, you know,

1042
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:28,560
Speaker 1: out to Draymond Green, Draymond Green only one time in

1043
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:30,959
Speaker 1: his career is average over twelve points a game. That's

1044
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:33,719
Speaker 1: crazy to me. One time in his career average over

1045
00:50:33,760 --> 00:50:36,400
Speaker 1: twelve points a game. But again, the impact that he has,

1046
00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:39,319
Speaker 1: he makes Steph better, he makes Clay better, he makes

1047
00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:41,399
Speaker 1: his team better. You know, when you've got a bunch

1048
00:50:41,440 --> 00:50:43,799
Speaker 1: of guys like that that you know or like that,

1049
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:46,600
Speaker 1: and then you go to Dallas and Dallas has a

1050
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:48,840
Speaker 1: ton of those guys that you know are guys that

1051
00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:51,800
Speaker 1: were undervalued. You look at you know Spencer did with

1052
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 1: he somebody like him in Washington at the beginning of

1053
00:50:54,080 --> 00:50:56,160
Speaker 1: the year. Then he gets a new opportunity, a new role,

1054
00:50:56,200 --> 00:50:58,439
Speaker 1: and he steps up and and plays a big part

1055
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:02,879
Speaker 1: in and their success. So when I look at under underrated, undervalued,

1056
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:05,400
Speaker 1: what I look at is the guys like mcel bridges,

1057
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:09,200
Speaker 1: the guys like pre j Tucker's, the guys um you

1058
00:51:09,239 --> 00:51:12,000
Speaker 1: know like that that that are glue guys, because I

1059
00:51:12,040 --> 00:51:14,480
Speaker 1: think you need those guys to win games. And to me,

1060
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:18,440
Speaker 1: the most valuable skill of player can have his impacting winning.

1061
00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:22,080
Speaker 1: And so I think there's a lot of talented players

1062
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:25,279
Speaker 1: that don't necessarily impact winning. And so those are the

1063
00:51:25,320 --> 00:51:27,480
Speaker 1: guys that immediately pop out when I when I think

1064
00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:31,080
Speaker 1: of impactful players that don't get enough loving credit for

1065
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:34,720
Speaker 1: how they really take the team from a winning team

1066
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:38,160
Speaker 1: to a contender. That's what I think of, all right

1067
00:51:38,200 --> 00:51:39,920
Speaker 1: and Drew, you know, I look at your client list

1068
00:51:39,960 --> 00:51:43,360
Speaker 1: and basically everybody you have has popped and bead beal

1069
00:51:43,719 --> 00:51:48,160
Speaker 1: Tatum obviously, Levine. I would say Tyler hero is popped

1070
00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 1: the sixth ban of the years scoring machine they heat

1071
00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:54,040
Speaker 1: have obviously created without him. I need to ask about Haliburton,

1072
00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:58,680
Speaker 1: Um and Barrett because it feels like Halliburton may have next.

1073
00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:00,200
Speaker 1: He could be an All Star. He's on the eyes.

1074
00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:03,880
Speaker 1: You know, the analytics community loves this kid. Can he

1075
00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:06,920
Speaker 1: succeed in Indiana? And then r J Barrett, Like, I mean,

1076
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:10,440
Speaker 1: the Knicks will fall way behind after last year's great year.

1077
00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:13,520
Speaker 1: And Julius Randall sounds like he wants out badly? Uh?

1078
00:52:13,800 --> 00:52:15,759
Speaker 1: Can can Barrett be the guy there? We can wrap

1079
00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:18,000
Speaker 1: up on those two for sure. I mean, let's start

1080
00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:20,000
Speaker 1: with r J. When I've worked with r J since

1081
00:52:20,040 --> 00:52:22,720
Speaker 1: his high school days, I mean, tough as nails, super

1082
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:26,440
Speaker 1: hard worker, craves improvement. You've seen him get better each

1083
00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:28,360
Speaker 1: and every year he came in the league, couldn't shoot

1084
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:31,560
Speaker 1: the basketball thirty percent his roogie season, you know, from

1085
00:52:31,560 --> 00:52:34,000
Speaker 1: the three point line. The second year this year started

1086
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:37,480
Speaker 1: adding uh, you know, a variety of more highly contested

1087
00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:40,919
Speaker 1: shots and still had a good three point percentage um.

1088
00:52:40,960 --> 00:52:43,919
Speaker 1: You know, for him, he's he's gonna take the next

1089
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:47,840
Speaker 1: leap in his playmaking ability this summer, and it's finishing ability,

1090
00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:50,080
Speaker 1: which is gonna make him more efficient. The thing I

1091
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:52,880
Speaker 1: love is it's hard to get guys to have the

1092
00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:55,759
Speaker 1: mentality that they need to be really successful, and he's

1093
00:52:55,840 --> 00:52:58,759
Speaker 1: always had that. He is a guy that has won

1094
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:01,719
Speaker 1: in high school one in college. He's a guy that

1095
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:03,880
Speaker 1: just you know, he's going to figure out ways to

1096
00:53:03,920 --> 00:53:06,000
Speaker 1: get it done. You know, he was the first he

1097
00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:08,800
Speaker 1: led the Canadian youth you know you nineteen team to

1098
00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:11,000
Speaker 1: the first time ever be in the U nine team

1099
00:53:11,120 --> 00:53:13,839
Speaker 1: USA team. It's just he's a guy that is is tough,

1100
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:16,680
Speaker 1: and so as we continue to refine his skills and

1101
00:53:16,719 --> 00:53:19,600
Speaker 1: polish his skills and add one thing each summer, I

1102
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:21,320
Speaker 1: think you're gonna see him over the next couple of

1103
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:24,080
Speaker 1: years continue to take you know, leaps every single you

1104
00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:27,399
Speaker 1: know year. Hal Burns a guy he makes everyone better.

1105
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:28,920
Speaker 1: I mean, he is one of the best pastors in

1106
00:53:28,960 --> 00:53:31,919
Speaker 1: the NBA UM and takes care of the ball doing so.

1107
00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:34,480
Speaker 1: His next step is looking to score more so that

1108
00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,520
Speaker 1: he can be one of those guys that puts pressure

1109
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:38,799
Speaker 1: on the defense in a variety of ways. Instead of

1110
00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:41,279
Speaker 1: just driving to kick, He's gonna have to also drive

1111
00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:44,439
Speaker 1: to score, especially because you know it is the next

1112
00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:47,160
Speaker 1: couple of years in Indiana. It's not like he has

1113
00:53:47,239 --> 00:53:49,359
Speaker 1: superstars that he's going to be kicking out too. So

1114
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:51,640
Speaker 1: he's got to be more forceful when it comes to

1115
00:53:51,719 --> 00:53:55,160
Speaker 1: looking for his own shot and becoming more dynamic on

1116
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:59,600
Speaker 1: that end. But again, special, special passer, a great kid, um,

1117
00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:02,000
Speaker 1: super hungry. I remember when I started, you know, working

1118
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:03,880
Speaker 1: with them. You know this season, it's funny. I went

1119
00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:05,680
Speaker 1: up and watched him play against the seventies sixers and

1120
00:54:05,719 --> 00:54:08,160
Speaker 1: after the game, we're out there on the court and

1121
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:10,480
Speaker 1: we're waiting around because Joel had to finish his press stuff.

1122
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:13,799
Speaker 1: And he's out there, we're walking through pick and roll

1123
00:54:13,880 --> 00:54:16,279
Speaker 1: coverage right after a game in his flip blops and

1124
00:54:16,280 --> 00:54:17,880
Speaker 1: he just he's like, hey, how can I do this?

1125
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:20,480
Speaker 1: And then Joel comes out there and he starts asking Joel.

1126
00:54:20,560 --> 00:54:21,719
Speaker 1: He's like, hey, what do I need to do? And

1127
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:23,040
Speaker 1: Joel is like, you know, one of the hardest things

1128
00:54:23,080 --> 00:54:25,319
Speaker 1: for big guys is to guard this and they and

1129
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:28,879
Speaker 1: he's just trying to pick everybody's brain, which again makes them,

1130
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:31,600
Speaker 1: you know, have the the ability to learn and grow.

1131
00:54:31,719 --> 00:54:34,919
Speaker 1: So I wouldn't take on a guy if I didn't

1132
00:54:34,920 --> 00:54:36,719
Speaker 1: believe in him, you know, so obviously I'm gonna have

1133
00:54:36,760 --> 00:54:38,759
Speaker 1: some bias, uh, you know, kind of opinions when it

1134
00:54:38,760 --> 00:54:41,239
Speaker 1: comes to those guys. But I mean they're both so young,

1135
00:54:41,560 --> 00:54:43,799
Speaker 1: you know, you think about r J, and you think

1136
00:54:43,800 --> 00:54:46,479
Speaker 1: about Tire. Those guys could be like college basketball players

1137
00:54:46,520 --> 00:54:48,520
Speaker 1: are just wrapping up, you know, they're college basketball players

1138
00:54:48,560 --> 00:54:51,239
Speaker 1: and so um. You know, I think this guy's limit.

1139
00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:53,520
Speaker 1: I think both those guys will be all stars, you know,

1140
00:54:53,560 --> 00:54:55,560
Speaker 1: within their careers. And I could ask you a million

1141
00:54:55,560 --> 00:54:57,319
Speaker 1: more questions. The only thing that popped into my head

1142
00:54:57,320 --> 00:54:59,840
Speaker 1: the last one. Zach Lavine. You said earlier that like

1143
00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:02,799
Speaker 1: you were looking at colleges, you were looking for fit

1144
00:55:03,040 --> 00:55:07,080
Speaker 1: and academics and everything, and Belmont lined up perfectly. What

1145
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:09,720
Speaker 1: do you tell your clients, like a guy like Zach Lavine,

1146
00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:11,239
Speaker 1: who people are out there always he gonna be a

1147
00:55:11,280 --> 00:55:13,360
Speaker 1: free agency. He asked for a trade. You know, what

1148
00:55:13,440 --> 00:55:16,359
Speaker 1: do you tell your clients if they say, hey, you know, Drew,

1149
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:18,160
Speaker 1: what what do you think about this? I'm maybe it's

1150
00:55:18,160 --> 00:55:20,240
Speaker 1: time for me to ask out because that's been popular

1151
00:55:20,280 --> 00:55:23,840
Speaker 1: in the NBA lately. You know. The good thing for

1152
00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:25,279
Speaker 1: me is a lot of times the star players and

1153
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:27,759
Speaker 1: I've worked with, they have, you know, been able to

1154
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:29,920
Speaker 1: stay home. You know, You've got Brad Beale who's been

1155
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:32,400
Speaker 1: super loyal to Washington. You've got Joel Embiid who has

1156
00:55:32,440 --> 00:55:35,200
Speaker 1: been super loyal to Philly. You got Jason that's you know,

1157
00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:38,440
Speaker 1: Ben in Boston. So they've been able to find those homes. Um.

1158
00:55:39,040 --> 00:55:41,800
Speaker 1: The thing that I like about my clients, and again

1159
00:55:42,200 --> 00:55:44,160
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's it's the right thing to do

1160
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:46,600
Speaker 1: or the wrong thing to do, but they fight. Man.

1161
00:55:46,640 --> 00:55:49,400
Speaker 1: They don't run from adversity. They try to you know,

1162
00:55:49,440 --> 00:55:53,160
Speaker 1: they really try to be impactful where they're at. And

1163
00:55:53,239 --> 00:55:55,520
Speaker 1: so I think it's more meaningful if one of those

1164
00:55:55,520 --> 00:55:58,800
Speaker 1: guys does bring home a championship. Um, instead of chasing

1165
00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:01,640
Speaker 1: those you know, champions ships other places by teaming up

1166
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:03,400
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. And so you know, I know

1167
00:56:03,560 --> 00:56:06,920
Speaker 1: Zach wasn't drafted by Chicago, but he was traded to Chicago.

1168
00:56:07,120 --> 00:56:10,200
Speaker 1: And again, it's just one of those things where it's

1169
00:56:10,239 --> 00:56:13,560
Speaker 1: amazing how undervalue he's been. You know, he comes in

1170
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:16,120
Speaker 1: the league I got, you know, I have countless articles

1171
00:56:16,120 --> 00:56:19,200
Speaker 1: and screenshots from analysts that said, I don't know why

1172
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:21,480
Speaker 1: zac Lavine thinks he's ready for the NBA when he

1173
00:56:21,520 --> 00:56:24,640
Speaker 1: can't even you know, contribute at the college level. Good

1174
00:56:24,719 --> 00:56:27,279
Speaker 1: luck in uh you know, main red Clause Jersey next year,

1175
00:56:28,200 --> 00:56:29,960
Speaker 1: you know, I've got all those and and then to

1176
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:31,919
Speaker 1: see him improve and grow and then he's a twenty

1177
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:34,080
Speaker 1: point scorer in Minnesota. Still doesn't believe in him, they

1178
00:56:34,080 --> 00:56:37,480
Speaker 1: trade him away, and now you know the you know,

1179
00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:40,359
Speaker 1: the All Star appearance, you know in Chicago, you know,

1180
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:43,520
Speaker 1: him being a great score. It's just like every year

1181
00:56:43,520 --> 00:56:46,400
Speaker 1: he gets better. He's a worker. And so the countless

1182
00:56:46,440 --> 00:56:49,280
Speaker 1: theme that you can hear is I only like guys

1183
00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:52,880
Speaker 1: that that work extremely hard, that crave improvement, and that

1184
00:56:53,000 --> 00:56:56,600
Speaker 1: have this burning desire to want to get better. And um,

1185
00:56:56,680 --> 00:56:59,239
Speaker 1: you know sometimes that what comes with that is a

1186
00:56:59,239 --> 00:57:03,080
Speaker 1: mentality that you know, you're not gonna run from adversity

1187
00:57:03,160 --> 00:57:05,480
Speaker 1: and you're gonna stick there and you're going to try

1188
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:08,560
Speaker 1: to figure out how to win with what you have,

1189
00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:10,839
Speaker 1: and so I respect it, you know what I mean.

1190
00:57:11,080 --> 00:57:13,000
Speaker 1: You see, Kobe Bryant was with one team, you know,

1191
00:57:13,080 --> 00:57:16,080
Speaker 1: Dirk was with one team. Michael Jordan was was one team.

1192
00:57:16,120 --> 00:57:19,200
Speaker 1: That's another case when we talked about the Michael Jordan's

1193
00:57:19,240 --> 00:57:23,600
Speaker 1: you know, kind of Lebron thing is you know Lebron

1194
00:57:23,680 --> 00:57:27,200
Speaker 1: had to leave to win. Yeah, he could not. Again

1195
00:57:27,200 --> 00:57:28,919
Speaker 1: he came back, but when he came back, he also

1196
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:31,200
Speaker 1: brought a lot of people with him. Lebron had to

1197
00:57:31,280 --> 00:57:34,360
Speaker 1: leave to win, you know. Michael didn't, Kobe didn't, you know,

1198
00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:36,680
Speaker 1: and I'm hoping that some of my guys don't as well,

1199
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:40,240
Speaker 1: because I see how connected they are with their fan base,

1200
00:57:40,720 --> 00:57:44,320
Speaker 1: and I see how, you know, um, how much that

1201
00:57:44,560 --> 00:57:47,800
Speaker 1: they want to win a championship for their city and

1202
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:50,760
Speaker 1: it really is their city, and so um not saying that.

1203
00:57:50,840 --> 00:57:53,320
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes if if if the front office and

1204
00:57:53,360 --> 00:57:55,560
Speaker 1: the coaching staff, and you know, if if they don't

1205
00:57:55,560 --> 00:57:58,480
Speaker 1: put the right pieces around you, sometimes the best decision

1206
00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:01,040
Speaker 1: for you and your career is to leave it. I've

1207
00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:02,720
Speaker 1: been kind of proud that, you know, my guys have

1208
00:58:02,760 --> 00:58:05,280
Speaker 1: stuck faithful to you know, the teams that have drafted them,

1209
00:58:05,280 --> 00:58:07,880
Speaker 1: and and they really do care about the cities that

1210
00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:10,560
Speaker 1: they're in and the fans that have supported them, you

1211
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:13,880
Speaker 1: know from the jump. Yeah, alright, Drew Handling, Um, these

1212
00:58:13,880 --> 00:58:16,840
Speaker 1: guys amazing. The story is great. Congrats on all your success.

1213
00:58:16,840 --> 00:58:18,440
Speaker 1: Obviously all of it's earned. And you've got a lot

1214
00:58:18,440 --> 00:58:20,440
Speaker 1: of great clients and I like that you would engage

1215
00:58:20,480 --> 00:58:23,000
Speaker 1: in Jordan Lebron even though we disagree. Thanks a lot

1216
00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:25,600
Speaker 1: man that that was outstanding. Really enjoyed it, Drew, awesome,

1217
00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:26,320
Speaker 1: Appreciate you