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Speaker 2: Slash Baseball. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. Here at
Speaker 2: the Volume presented by Chase Freedom. We have a very
Speaker 2: special guest for you guys today, Hi Mayhawk has Junior
Speaker 2: Ford for the Miami Heat also on the USA Select Team,
Speaker 2: something I'm very excited to talk about today. But before
Speaker 2: we get into that, we're taping here at the MBPA
Speaker 2: Brotherhood Deli presented by Chase Freedom. In front of an
Speaker 2: incredible crowd of both Chase Freedom customers as well as fans,
Speaker 2: some of whom you've had the opportunity to meet already.
Speaker 2: So before we even dive into the episode, can we
Speaker 2: take a moment to talk about how cool this is,
Speaker 2: what does this mean to you, and what has this
Speaker 2: experience been like so far.
Speaker 1: It has been a great experience, a chance to connect
Speaker 1: with fans. Everybody who loves basketball always knows that Summer
Speaker 1: League is the place to be Las Vegas. This is
Speaker 1: I think a mini mecca of basketball when you think
Speaker 1: of you know how many people come and play not
Speaker 1: just in the NBA but au tournaments around you know,
Speaker 1: teams around the country always come to Vegas to play.
Speaker 1: So this is a mini mecca and it's great to
Speaker 1: be here. Yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 2: You're walking around the casinos and you see all the
Speaker 2: kids run into their camp games and stuff like that.
Speaker 2: It's literally just a basketball event where everybody comes around
Speaker 2: the country. So I want to start with you and
Speaker 2: say Select Team. So I think this is a particular
Speaker 2: literally a particularly amazing honor because it's getting selected to
Speaker 2: the USA Select Team is not just about your talent.
Speaker 2: What those guys are saying. The guys who are the
Speaker 2: decision makers for Team USA are saying, you can help
Speaker 2: make the main team better.
Speaker 1: It is a.
Speaker 2: Payment of respect to you being a winning basketball player.
Speaker 2: That's why I think it matters so much. Did you
Speaker 2: expect to be invited? Was this like a goal of
Speaker 2: yours that you achieved or were you surprised when you.
Speaker 1: Heard about it? I would say I was pretty shocked
Speaker 1: when I got the news. My agent had called me
Speaker 1: and let me know that I had been selected to participate.
Speaker 1: I was blown away. I didn't think that was going
Speaker 1: to happen. It wasn't like a goal of mine or
Speaker 1: something that I was thinking about. But you know, when
Speaker 1: you get honor like that, you have to take advantage
Speaker 1: and jump into opportunity.
Speaker 2: So that's what I did, And like, honestly, like if
Speaker 2: someone asked me to explain Himehawk as his game in
Speaker 2: like ten seconds, it would just be a really good
Speaker 2: basketball player, just well rounded, does everything well. That's the
Speaker 2: kind of guy that helps push people and make other
Speaker 2: people better. That's why they wanted you there. That's why
Speaker 2: they wanted you to compete against the best players in
Speaker 2: the world. I thought it was such a cool, honor
Speaker 2: tell us more about the process. Was there like a
Speaker 2: ton of scheme implementation at first, Like were they trying
Speaker 2: to just inundate you with a ton of sets and
Speaker 2: defensive coverages or was it more just kind of they
Speaker 2: trusted you guys to go play basketball and you just
Speaker 2: competed against each other for a few days.
Speaker 1: I would say that, you know, the first couple of
Speaker 1: days was a lot about putting an offense and defense
Speaker 1: and a lot of what the Olympic team would see
Speaker 1: during their competition. So we you know, got a bunch
Speaker 1: of plays put in and for the very first day
Speaker 1: so that we go execute the next day. A lot
Speaker 1: of that and a lot of defensive principles. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, they just told us to
Speaker 1: go out there and who play our game and you know,
Speaker 1: really push those guys and give them a challenge because
Speaker 1: that's what they're going to face.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. Was there a particular player on the
Speaker 2: select team that you matched up against and like competed
Speaker 2: against and then you left the that experience like feeling
Speaker 2: more respect for that player, like a player you were
Speaker 2: impressed by.
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy that I was probably matched up
Speaker 1: the most with was probably Lebron. You know, I already
Speaker 1: have incredible respect for what he's been able to do,
Speaker 1: the longevity with he was able to play with. I
Speaker 1: mean obviously still playing, but just how hard he goes.
Speaker 1: Even Coach Bo was telling me that this guy, you know,
Speaker 1: still wakes up at six am in the morning before
Speaker 1: everybody else, that gets his lift in, and the way
Speaker 1: he prepares for practices is like he's playing a game.
Speaker 1: So you get to see that, and you know, those
Speaker 1: are things that I want to take and implement into
Speaker 1: my routines and my lifestyle, and you know, just being
Speaker 1: able to see that was incredible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw a quote from Katie the other day
Speaker 2: talking about how like how he just the amount of
Speaker 2: energy Lebron brings every day, how it's like contagious and
Speaker 2: a basketball season is a grind. It's hard to bring
Speaker 2: it every day. So when you have a guy that
Speaker 2: brings that energy, it just kind of lifts everybody up
Speaker 2: and then you get a little bit more out of
Speaker 2: every practice and it just makes it better. Obviously, the
Speaker 2: selects team, that whole process includes the famous scrimmage against
Speaker 2: the actual national team, and it's like goes all the
Speaker 2: way back to nineteen ninety two when they actually beat
Speaker 2: the Dream Team, right, and so this is kind of
Speaker 2: a famous game for basketball players. Like where did that
Speaker 2: stack up for you with your other core memories as
Speaker 2: a basketball player, Like you played in that famous game,
Speaker 2: Like what was that experience? Like?
Speaker 1: It was absolutely incredible. I use that word a lot,
Speaker 1: but that's really the only way to have to describe it.
Speaker 1: I would say, you know, you got guys Lebron, Steph, Katie,
Speaker 1: you know Kawhi, you know some of the younger guys
Speaker 1: as well, like Tyree's an ant. You know, this collective
Speaker 1: together as a team. It's like the NBA is in
Speaker 1: a transitional period. You got guys like you know, Lebron, Steph,
Speaker 1: kd On there, you know, who knows how many years
Speaker 1: they got left, and you know they're on the floor
Speaker 1: together at the same time, and you never know when
Speaker 1: that's ever going to happen again. So just to be
Speaker 1: able to be in that position experience that was amazing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especial shout out to Steph, Kde and Lebron for
Speaker 2: like still being this good as the younger generation is
Speaker 2: coming up, because it kind of makes for this cool experience,
Speaker 2: Like I was at the game on Wednesday and like
Speaker 2: seeing the bench unit come in and bring all of
Speaker 2: their youthful energy, but then also watching the starters get
Speaker 2: off the way that they did. It's such a cool
Speaker 2: basketball team because it's like two completely different generations playing together.
Speaker 2: Let's get into your NBA career. So before we get
Speaker 2: into some of the specifics, did you actually have like
Speaker 2: pretty good intel that you were going to end up
Speaker 2: in Miami or was that a surprise to you.
Speaker 1: I didn't have intel, but I had faith. Okay, I
Speaker 1: was going to land there. I didn't know for sure,
Speaker 1: but I don't know. After one number eighteen was called
Speaker 1: to pick, I just had a feeling that my name
Speaker 1: was going to be called.
Speaker 2: That's awesome. You obviously had a very successful first NBA season.
Speaker 2: You played over two thousand minutes for a playoff team.
Speaker 2: The heat were two point two points per one hundred
Speaker 2: possessions better with you all on the floor versus when
Speaker 2: you were off. According to Cleaning the Glass, you had
Speaker 2: nine to twenty point games. So to put it simply,
Speaker 2: you were a good rotation player for a good team
Speaker 2: right away as a rookie, which is super rare in
Speaker 2: the NBA. Was did you have any goals going into
Speaker 2: that season that you lived up to or is there
Speaker 2: anything that like, did you have any other specific goals
Speaker 2: for next season, like a next step you want to
Speaker 2: get to in your second campaign.
Speaker 1: I was having this conversation actually the other day about
Speaker 1: goals and mindset and you know, expectations, and one of
Speaker 1: the things that I've learned is that, you know, I
Speaker 1: go in to have no expectations and just be ready
Speaker 1: for my opportunity. So I went into my rookie season,
Speaker 1: you know, not really knowing what was going to happen.
Speaker 1: The the NBA season is so crazy, so many ups
Speaker 1: and downs. You know, guys get hurt, and then you know,
Speaker 1: it's an opportunity for me to step in and be
Speaker 1: able to play my game. And then so that's kind
Speaker 1: of what happened. And then you know, this next year,
Speaker 1: obviously you know everyone's pretty much healthy. So you know,
Speaker 1: my job is just to be prepared as I can,
Speaker 1: you know, for whatever opportunity calls, and just be ready
Speaker 1: to play my game and go out there and help
Speaker 1: win games.
Speaker 2: That's actually a really interesting point because every season has
Speaker 2: a different roster, a different health based on you know,
Speaker 2: how things go over the eighty two games, so your
Speaker 2: role could shift from year to year, and so yeah,
Speaker 2: like you can't let your personal goals get in the
Speaker 2: way of that. You have to just be ready for
Speaker 2: whatever's next. That's kind of what it is. You know,
Speaker 2: You're just ready for whatever comes.
Speaker 1: You know, one day, you know you're asked to, you know,
Speaker 1: handle the ball, to play play the point guard. The
Speaker 1: next day you're asked to, you know, guard the best player.
Speaker 1: So I just try to be ready for anything at
Speaker 1: all times.
Speaker 2: I actually have a quick follow up on that. How
Speaker 2: much harder was defending at the NBA level compared to
Speaker 2: the Pack twelve level. Were you like blown away by
Speaker 2: the speed? Like was it a tough transition?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think well, when you talk about college basketball,
Speaker 1: everything is so condensed and packed in the paint, whereas
Speaker 1: you go in the NBA and you know there's three
Speaker 1: second three seconds defensive and the key, so so you
Speaker 1: know there's not anyone there, and it's a little bit
Speaker 1: wider of a court. The spacing is just much bigger,
Speaker 1: so there's a lot more room. So defensively, it's definitely
Speaker 1: makes it a lot more of a challenge because you know,
Speaker 1: in college you got guys helping. You know, you get beat,
Speaker 1: there's a guy helping on the baseline for you. And
Speaker 1: you know that's not always the case in the NBA.
Speaker 1: You know, you try to, but it's it's just a
Speaker 1: lot harder.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you like containing in space. It feels like it's
Speaker 2: one of the most important things you have to be
Speaker 2: able to do now. And like we even saw with
Speaker 2: the Celtics in the finals, it's like if when you
Speaker 2: can drive and kick and get the defense in rotation,
Speaker 2: it just makes everything so much easier, and so being
Speaker 2: able to contain the ball is so important. So obviously
Speaker 2: every good basketball player has like a healthy amount of
Speaker 2: respect for the Miami. Their organization is famous for good reason,
Speaker 2: their championship organization. Obviously, like you've been a fan. I
Speaker 2: would assume of Spoe and of Jimmy and Vam from Afar,
Speaker 2: But like you were in the trenches with those guys
Speaker 2: this year, So what was that.
Speaker 1: Like, Man, it was a it was a great experience.
Speaker 1: There was no other people I'd rather be in the
Speaker 1: trenches with than those guys. You know, I suppose one
Speaker 1: guy that you know talk about bringing every day, that
Speaker 1: guy brings it every single day to practice, you know,
Speaker 1: Jimmy and Bam the same way. You know, it was
Speaker 1: just a it was just a perfect storm for me
Speaker 1: to be able to go in and learn from those
Speaker 1: guys right away. And I was just really blessed to
Speaker 1: have that opportunity.
Speaker 2: I actually think Eric Sposer is the best coach in
Speaker 2: the NBA, I would agree, And he's kind of a
Speaker 2: psycho competitor. How does that like personality meshin with the
Speaker 2: locker room? Does it almost like feel like there's just
Speaker 2: another player in there because he's just as amped up
Speaker 2: as you guys are.
Speaker 1: Oh definitely. I mean that guy is always, uh all,
Speaker 1: his mind is always racing thinking about basketball plays and
Speaker 1: what he can do to, you know, help our team
Speaker 1: get better. You know, I was telling they just asked
Speaker 1: me a question. You know. One of the funniest moments
Speaker 1: or craziest moments. I remember, Coach Spoe was lifting in
Speaker 1: the weight room, well like he always does in the mornings,
Speaker 1: and I walk in and he's listening to you know,
Speaker 1: zig Ziggler. I was born to win. I don't know
Speaker 1: if anybody knows what zig ziggler is. Do you know
Speaker 1: what that is? I don't I needed and I. But
Speaker 1: I walked in and I was like, what is going on?
Speaker 1: I was warrant win and you know it was like
Speaker 1: something that was like almost hypnotizing him. And you know,
Speaker 1: I was listening to it while I was working out.
Speaker 1: It was, it was, it was. It was an interesting
Speaker 1: experience for sure. So zig Zigglar everybody.
Speaker 2: And he was a He was a guard I want
Speaker 2: to say at the mid major level, wasn't he? If
Speaker 2: I remember correctly, Like he played in college, so like,
Speaker 2: I'm sure he's just wired like most most people that
Speaker 2: come up through that mid mid major level too, where
Speaker 2: they just have a chip on their shoulder and they're
Speaker 2: always super super competitive. He came up through the film room,
Speaker 2: so like that dude is grinded for everything that he's had.
Speaker 2: So it just fits so nicely with your guys' identity.
Speaker 1: I would agree. I would completely agree. He brings it
Speaker 1: every day. You know, he always has that chip on
Speaker 1: his shoulder. That's kind of our our identity as the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat and part of our culture.
Speaker 2: So I want to dive into your game for a
Speaker 2: little bit. You were an excellent post player right away.
Speaker 2: This year, you averaged one point twenty six points per
Speaker 2: possession including passes. According to Energy, out of sixty three
Speaker 2: players in the NBA last year that ran at least
Speaker 2: seventy five post up you ranked post ups, you ranked third. Okay,
Speaker 2: so you were one of the very best post players.
Speaker 2: You were one of the best post players in the
Speaker 2: NBA last year. You personally, on your own shot attempts
Speaker 2: out of the post shot fifty percent. Like what, it
Speaker 2: really looked like it clicked for you. When I went
Speaker 2: back and watched your film, it looked like it clicked
Speaker 2: for you. That junior year at UCLA was the year
Speaker 2: where you really started to develop that post game. What
Speaker 2: drove you to to develop your low post game.
Speaker 1: I would say watching Kobe Bryant working from the elbows,
Speaker 1: work from the post, you know, mid post, low posts,
Speaker 1: all of that. So he was one guy I really
Speaker 1: looked up to. DeMar de Rosen is another guy. You know,
Speaker 1: the face of game, the pivots, everything, the fakes. So
Speaker 1: those are guys I really looked up to. And you
Speaker 1: know when I was a well, when I was a kid,
Speaker 1: I would go to the park all the time and
Speaker 1: just you know, work on my game, just me versus nobody,
Speaker 1: and just try to be as creative as I could be,
Speaker 1: you know, thinking of moves and how it gets scored
Speaker 1: to basketball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the specific things you do really well,
Speaker 2: most most basketball players when they go into a drop
Speaker 2: step have to pick up their dribble. Like so they'll
Speaker 2: spin towards the baseline and they'll pick up their dribble,
Speaker 2: and so if they don't get a decent look, they're
Speaker 2: in trouble. They're like trapped down there. And one of
Speaker 2: the things you do is you keep your dribble alive
Speaker 2: as you go into that half spin, like as you
Speaker 2: drop step back and forth, and so you kind of
Speaker 2: do like almost like a post up from the three
Speaker 2: point line sometimes where you're just kind of spinning and
Speaker 2: spinning until you get into the lane. That's like a
Speaker 2: little piece of like footwork and and just you know,
Speaker 2: coordination that I know you worked insanely hard on behind
Speaker 2: the scenes. So like what is your skill training regimen, Like,
Speaker 2: Like what in the off season do you have like
Speaker 2: a super regimented day by day kind of approach do
Speaker 2: you have like, oh, this day I work on post work?
Speaker 2: Like what is what is the process of making yourself
Speaker 2: the best possible basketball player?
Speaker 1: You can be.
Speaker 2: What does that look like, Well.
Speaker 1: I would say, for you know, specifically post subs. I
Speaker 1: think the only way you really get good or great
Speaker 1: at that is by going against somebody and having someone
Speaker 1: guard you in those areas. So that's something that I
Speaker 1: really like. I like going against live competition. But as
Speaker 1: far as regimen, I mean, you know, one of the
Speaker 1: things I like to I like to get up a
Speaker 1: lot of shots. I like to get shots on the
Speaker 1: move stan stills, you know, mid ranges, trying to everywhere floaters,
Speaker 1: get up as many shots as I can. And then defensively,
Speaker 1: you know, work on my defense, you know, guard guys.
Speaker 1: Instead of me just playing you know, one on one
Speaker 1: versus them, I'll go and guard and work on my
Speaker 1: work on my defense, try to find angles and really
Speaker 1: play around with stuff like that. So it's all to me,
Speaker 1: you know, thinking creatively about how I can be the best,
Speaker 1: what works and what doesn't. And that's really the approach
Speaker 1: that I take.
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Speaker 2: That's interesting because like there are there are a lot
Speaker 2: of young basketball players that play too much and they
Speaker 2: don't do enough skill work. But then there are also
Speaker 2: players that do so much skill work and they're not
Speaker 2: going against live bodies, and you have to go against
Speaker 2: live bodies. And I find that fascinating because specifically with
Speaker 2: your post game, you are a master of leverage on
Speaker 2: the ground. Because I actually wanted to ask you about this.
Speaker 2: I saw a tweet going around or just one one
Speaker 2: of the videos of that scrimmage against Team USA and
Speaker 2: you were driveling up the floor against Lebron and you
Speaker 2: attacked him in the post and you drew a foul
Speaker 2: on him, and we all remember the famous shot from
Speaker 2: the and I'm a Laker fan, so it was a
Speaker 2: little devastating for me. But you hit like a left
Speaker 2: shoulder fade along the right baseline over Lebron that was
Speaker 2: going everywhere. But then I started digging through your film
Speaker 2: and it's like, oh, here's he's taking a step back
Speaker 2: in the post against Isaiah Stewart, Like oh, he's got
Speaker 2: Herb Jones on him, and he just posted him up
Speaker 2: and hit a hook shot over the top. You have
Speaker 2: this like obsession with the attacking taller players in the post,
Speaker 2: like are you just challenging yourself or do you see
Speaker 2: an advantage there?
Speaker 1: I mean, I would say, I don't know. I hear
Speaker 1: what you're saying. I mean, Herb Jones, I think we're
Speaker 1: about the same height. I the story is definitely tall.
Speaker 1: But as far as attacking other players, I think you
Speaker 1: know it's expected, you know, especially you know if you're smaller,
Speaker 1: No big guys expecting a smaller guy to post them up.
Speaker 1: And you know that's a place where I feel comfortable,
Speaker 1: and a lot of the times you know they're you know,
Speaker 1: they're expecting something else. So it kind of is a
Speaker 1: is a switch in their mind, something that they're not expecting.
Speaker 1: And you know, when I see a big guy, I
Speaker 1: try to, you know, face up, try to take them
Speaker 1: off the dribble, and if I can't, then you know,
Speaker 1: I just get back to what I know, try to
Speaker 1: post up. And you know a lot of the times,
Speaker 1: you know, you pump take a big guy there, most
Speaker 1: of the time they're going to jump. So you know,
Speaker 1: that's something that I always keep in the back of
Speaker 1: my head.
Speaker 2: Well, and then again it goes back to that ground
Speaker 2: battle piece, Like that's what I think of when I
Speaker 2: watch you in those situations, Like you're seeing that you
Speaker 2: can win the battle on the ground. I can pivot
Speaker 2: around this guy, get to my spot, and then you
Speaker 2: have the left shoulder fade, you have the right shoulder fade,
Speaker 2: you have the left shoulder hook. So like those are
Speaker 2: all over the top shots anyway, they're designed to be
Speaker 2: hit over length. So like I think you see that
Speaker 2: you just have an advantage there and that and that
Speaker 2: you can go to work. Let's uh, what do you
Speaker 2: think is your biggest area of improvement for a player
Speaker 2: As a player.
Speaker 1: Right now, I would just say for me, being consistent
Speaker 1: knocked down three point shooters one of the things that
Speaker 1: I'm looking to to really improve this offseason, as well as,
Speaker 1: you know, just being a hound on defense, being able
Speaker 1: to you know, guard the best player on the opposing
Speaker 1: team and shut them down.
Speaker 2: Yeah. You your junior year at UCLA, according to Synergy,
Speaker 2: you got zero point seven to nine points per jump shot,
Speaker 2: zero point eight seven. The next year zero point nine
Speaker 2: to one with Miami. So you're steadily tearing up as
Speaker 2: a jump shooter every year. And it's funny because I
Speaker 2: listen to people like either commenting underneath my videos or
Speaker 2: just people talking about basketball on Twitter, and they're under
Speaker 2: the impression that, like, you just go in for a
Speaker 2: summer and you can come out a great jump shooter.
Speaker 2: And it's like, no, it's a grind. You got to
Speaker 2: shoot thousands and thousands of jump shots every single day
Speaker 2: for months and months and months, and it's a slow grind.
Speaker 2: And so there's obviously signs that you're making improvements on
Speaker 2: that front, And honestly, I would imagine that's something that
Speaker 2: they need within that Miami offense actually have a follow
Speaker 2: for you on the.
Speaker 1: Post up stuff.
Speaker 2: Did Eric Spolstra approach you and say like, hey, I
Speaker 2: watched her film at UCLA. I saw how successful you
Speaker 2: are attacking matchups in the post Let's incorporate that or
Speaker 2: did you demonstrate it? And then everyone was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: he can do this, Let's let's try to build this
Speaker 2: out more.
Speaker 1: I would say he definitely watched his film because some
Speaker 1: of the sets that we ran were like almost identical
Speaker 1: to the ones I ran at UCLA. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, that's just how great of a coach he is.
Speaker 1: He knows what his player's strengths are and he tries
Speaker 1: to you know, expose that on the court and then
Speaker 1: give us an opportunity to play to our strengths. And
Speaker 1: that's just what makes him such a great coach. And
Speaker 1: you know, going back to you know, the jump shooting thing,
Speaker 1: that's one of the things that we talk about a
Speaker 1: lot is you know, success is not linear. You know,
Speaker 1: it's not a straight uphill. You're gonna go down, you're
Speaker 1: gonna go up, and then you're gonna go down again,
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna go up and then you know,
Speaker 1: to see those jumps. It takes time and it's like
Speaker 1: you said, it's a grind.
Speaker 2: Well, especially with jump shoot because jump shooting is it's
Speaker 2: such a head game too, because you can go cold
Speaker 2: and miss four or five in a row even if
Speaker 2: you're doing everything right, and it can just be frustrated.
Speaker 1: So mental, it's it's such such a mental thing. You
Speaker 1: shoot somebody shots, you're like, how do I miss? So
Speaker 1: that's what I think.
Speaker 2: So specifically with spolshra, was there a set? Is there
Speaker 2: a specific set that they would draw up for you
Speaker 2: to get a bucket that was your favorite that you
Speaker 2: can think of, like in the huddle, it's like we're
Speaker 2: running this for high may he's going to attack this matchup.
Speaker 1: Is thereveryone that you have in mind? Yeah, there's there's
Speaker 1: a few that I like. The cross green on the
Speaker 1: baseline is one that sticks out to me. And then
Speaker 1: we have a little nose where I catch it around.
Speaker 1: Uh well they set it downscreen for me and I
Speaker 1: and you know go up around to the elbow winging
Speaker 1: area and then catch it and pick a roll. So
Speaker 1: those are those are two much.
Speaker 2: That get you to a good spot at the defender
Speaker 2: and trail positions, you have a little bit of an
Speaker 2: advantage for sure. Was it hard for you to pick
Speaker 2: up Miami's offense or was it pretty like it was
Speaker 2: a pretty standard read and react five out stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, it's basketball. I think the difference
Speaker 1: in the NBA versus colleges and the NBA a lot
Speaker 1: of actions versus sets. You know, we got to get
Speaker 1: to this action. Okay, let's get to another action. You know,
Speaker 1: usually you got you got two ball swings and then
Speaker 1: you need a shot because of the short you know,
Speaker 1: twenty four seconds and versus college where you can swing
Speaker 1: the ball maybe three times and get a shot. But
Speaker 1: it's all actions. It's all you know, basketball stuff. So
Speaker 1: it wasn't too complicated. So you played with Jimmy Butler. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this is a guy that you probably were fan of
Speaker 1: from Afar for a long time. What was it like
Speaker 1: being his teammate? I mean it was great, man. You know,
Speaker 1: that was my favorite player growing up, so you know,
Speaker 1: now to be his teammate, it's it's a little weird,
Speaker 1: you know, having you know, one of your idols now
Speaker 1: become you know, one of your teammates slash friends. So
Speaker 1: it's it was such a cool experience.
Speaker 2: And then you're doing commercials together and stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Cool.
Speaker 2: Have you guys had some battles in practice?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we had some battles, you know, the one on one.
Speaker 1: That's something that we do a lot after practice is
Speaker 1: have one on ones and you know, from different spots,
Speaker 1: whether it be the low post elbows, even on the wings,
Speaker 1: and then shooting competitions as well, it gets it gets competitive.
Speaker 2: Did you talk some trash to you at the beginning.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we definitely try to test me for sure.
Speaker 1: You know, I stepped my ground, which I think you know,
Speaker 1: he respected.
Speaker 2: So so what's the plan for the rest of the summer.
Speaker 2: You're gonna take some time off after the Select team?
Speaker 2: Are you going to get right back into it?
Speaker 1: Oh? Well I got a game tomorrow, so oh okay,
Speaker 1: yeah I'll be playing here. Oh you're playing with Summer League. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's already three three tomorrow. I got a game. So
Speaker 1: you know, it's been working continuing. We have practice this
Speaker 1: morning and then you know, got a game tomorrow. Excited
Speaker 1: for it.
Speaker 2: What's different about Summer League this year compared to last year?
Speaker 2: Do you just feel like so much more confident?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I was confident before. I think I
Speaker 1: just got a year of the league under my belt,
Speaker 1: and you know, now it's not the first time of league,
Speaker 1: it's a second. So that's pretty The biggest difference.
Speaker 2: Are the summer league practices. Is that do you feel
Speaker 2: like you get a lot out of them? Do you
Speaker 2: feel like this is a good offseason workout for you anyway?
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. I mean any practice as you do,
Speaker 1: I think is good practice. You know, you have to
Speaker 1: also practice with intentions, so you know, it would be
Speaker 1: able to get out here, you know, connect with some
Speaker 1: of the guys, you know, Kalou Pele or two draft picks.
Speaker 1: It's been great seeing how they work and operate and
Speaker 1: getting to connect and you know, start you know, being
Speaker 1: that guy that welcomes the new guys and like you know,
Speaker 1: they did they did to me the last year.
Speaker 2: All right, we'll one last question before we get out
Speaker 2: of here, before we wrap up. I saw some awesome
Speaker 2: merch here at the Chase Free at the Brotherhood Deli
Speaker 2: presented by Chase Freedom and the MVPA designed by Scoot Henderson.
Speaker 2: That's a pretty awesome collaboration. And there's also some limited
Speaker 2: edition mini basketballs by Susai, are you walking out here
Speaker 2: with one of those?
Speaker 1: They'll give me one. I'll I got here with a
Speaker 1: sue side basketball all right.
Speaker 2: Guys, Hi Man, thank you so much for taking the
Speaker 2: time to sit down. I sincerely appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: Good luck to you with the rest of the Summer League.
Speaker 2: Good luck, but next season I'll be here to tomorrow watching.
Speaker 2: I'll be covering you closely next year. You've been one
Speaker 2: of my favorite players for a long time. It was
Speaker 2: awesome to sit down and talk some hoops with you. Everybody.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for the support as always, and
Speaker 2: we will see you next time.
Speaker 1: Thank you the volume.
Speaker 2: What's up guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening
Speaker 2: to and supporting hoops tonight. It would actually be really
Speaker 2: helpful for us if you guys would take a second
Speaker 2: and leave a rating and a review. As always, I
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take
Speaker 2: a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.