Speaker 1: Mm hmmm, mm hmm. Welcome back all the smoke. Jack.
Speaker 2: We get to close out with a good one, real run. Yeah,
Speaker 2: come on, man, that's dot Man. Uh someone I've got
Speaker 2: a chance to play it for a long time. Brief teammates,
Speaker 2: but great career. But to me even better person.
Speaker 1: We know. Yeah, man, a good dude.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the show, Sean Livingston, appreciate you, thank you.
Speaker 2: Come on, man, it's been in the making. Last time
Speaker 2: we tried to get you, what happened. You got scratched
Speaker 2: in the eye or.
Speaker 3: Something and eye infection. Kids happened dirt Yeah, who knows.
Speaker 2: Dirty fingers got the eyeball and we had to push
Speaker 2: it up.
Speaker 1: But we're happy to have you here.
Speaker 2: Man, Man, three time NBA champs, four time champ overall,
Speaker 2: because you want to ring as an executive. What's life
Speaker 2: been like post career for you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, it's nothing like playing, right, nothing like playing.
Speaker 3: But you know, I'm man, I'm grateful just for the
Speaker 3: journey because without playing on all the different teams and meeting,
Speaker 3: you know, all the players and getting a chance share
Speaker 3: my story, I had an opportunity to stay around the game,
Speaker 3: you know, coaching or front office and so I chose
Speaker 3: the front office life just having a young family, wanted
Speaker 3: to be there for the kids, watch them grow up.
Speaker 3: So you know, it's my third year doing it and
Speaker 3: so just enjoying being, you know, being around the game.
Speaker 2: As you said, third season doing it. This season Golden
Speaker 2: State obviously started off a little rocky with the Draymond
Speaker 2: and Pool situation, and you know, through Draymond's podcast, you
Speaker 2: kind of hear more and more of his thought process
Speaker 2: through the whole entire thing as someone who has shared
Speaker 2: the locker room with that core guys. And then now
Speaker 2: you're in the front office or we're just kind of
Speaker 2: your thoughts overall on the from the beginning to you know,
Speaker 2: the second loss, a second round defeat.
Speaker 3: I think I was in the camp of, you know,
Speaker 3: this team, you know, maximized what it had from that
Speaker 3: standpoint of the energy. I mean, you guys have been
Speaker 3: in the locker rooms and you guys know what teams
Speaker 3: have a chance based on how we rock with each other.
Speaker 3: You know what guys are rocking together, and it usually
Speaker 3: start at the top with the best players.
Speaker 4: It starts there.
Speaker 3: You know, coaches gym obviously, but the team, the players,
Speaker 3: you know, that's what makes everything go. You know, they
Speaker 3: control what happens on the floor, so uh, they have
Speaker 3: to be locked in, right, and it starts in the
Speaker 3: locker room, starts off the court. Really, you know, get
Speaker 3: a chance to be authentic and be vulnerable and you know,
Speaker 3: do do things to.
Speaker 4: You know where it builds trust.
Speaker 3: And I think this year, you know, with the incident
Speaker 3: Draymond Jordan, right, Uh, some of that trust was lost
Speaker 3: and uh, a ricochet throughout them the locker room and
Speaker 3: just with Draymond just you guys know his presence, you
Speaker 3: know that that's that's his value when when he walks
Speaker 3: in the room, you feel him immediately, and so you know,
Speaker 3: just that whole dynamic working through that all throughout the year,
Speaker 3: getting to the playoffs, you know, saying Okay, now's the
Speaker 3: time to turn it on.
Speaker 4: It's hard to turn to switch on.
Speaker 2: If you're one of the best teams ever to do.
Speaker 4: It, it's hard to do.
Speaker 3: So I think this group, ultimately, you know, we we
Speaker 3: maxed out. We've lost some veteran pieces too that were
Speaker 3: I think crucial to that fabric.
Speaker 4: So you know, this team pretty much maxed up.
Speaker 2: A lot of movement with upcoming contracts, and you know,
Speaker 2: a good friend of all of ours, brob Myers, deciding
Speaker 2: what his decision is going to be as someone who
Speaker 2: is in that office and plans on moving forward. What
Speaker 2: is kind of your guys' overall view on just you know,
Speaker 2: resigning key guys or you know, is you know Bob's decision,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Obviously you can't give us
Speaker 2: too much, but what can you give us on that?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it starts with Bob, right, I mean,
Speaker 3: he he's the architect, and then his value is the relationships.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I watched the interview you guys had on here and
Speaker 3: and Bob's just you know, he's great, uh, fantastic communicator,
Speaker 3: Like he could talk to anybody about anything, and it
Speaker 3: just levels the playing field. Obviously we have some big names,
Speaker 3: big stars, you know, those guys hold a lot of weight,
Speaker 3: you know, but Bob can walk in the room and
Speaker 3: just really you know, level out the playing field, make
Speaker 3: everybody feel comfortable, you know, all all three layers, you know, ownership, up, coaching,
Speaker 3: coaching staff, players. Uh, he's the guy, you know, and
Speaker 3: so him and Steph you know, and in my eyes
Speaker 3: Steve as well, you know, really make that organization, you know, spend.
Speaker 3: So it starts with him, uh, seeing what he's gonna do,
Speaker 3: and then you know, obviously they have some decisions to make, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, a couple of guys, Straymont situations, contract situation.
Speaker 3: Everybody knows what he means for the Warriors, what he's done,
Speaker 3: what he's accomplished. You know it's been said, but you
Speaker 3: know I got a stamp it as well, Like you
Speaker 3: don't have one championship without him, you know, I mean.
Speaker 2: That's Can you speak to that though, because from the
Speaker 2: outside looking in and we live in a world now
Speaker 2: where everyone has a motherfucking opinion, and I say the
Speaker 2: same thing you do. Speak to his importance on the court,
Speaker 2: off the court, leadership, just what he brings to that
Speaker 2: organization as a whole.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Man, it's it's hard to just you know, it's hard
Speaker 3: to really put in words. You you know, I'm a
Speaker 3: big energy guy, you know, so you feel the vibes
Speaker 3: and you know he's a guy that you know, he's
Speaker 3: cut from similar caughting, you know the same as you
Speaker 3: guys like you know you see him coming right like
Speaker 3: you know, he's he's a guy that he is who
Speaker 3: he is.
Speaker 4: He wears his emotions on his sleeve.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, he doesn't mind defending people because
Speaker 3: he's out to tell the truth and to seek truth,
Speaker 3: you know, and also his mindset from a standpoint of
Speaker 3: wanting to maximize his potential, you know, and the potential.
Speaker 4: Of everyone around him.
Speaker 3: You know, like if he sees that you're not giving
Speaker 3: one hundred percent effort, he gonna call you out on it.
Speaker 3: And it don't matter who it is. And you know
Speaker 3: again that it starts with him with setting the tone.
Speaker 3: You know, he keeps guys honest, right because he's not
Speaker 3: gonna let you walk in and just bullshit your way through, right,
Speaker 3: Like he's gonna call you out and say, man, you
Speaker 3: you know, we need more, you know, and uh, he
Speaker 3: he holds.
Speaker 4: Himself to that standard. And that's what leaders do.
Speaker 3: And so uh he's been the leader, you know for
Speaker 3: the warriors, you know, throughout that whole run. You know,
Speaker 3: with him coming into that that light when David Lee
Speaker 3: got injured, uh, stepping into that spot, you know, he
Speaker 3: just he wore it on his sleeve and he wasn't,
Speaker 3: you know, afraid to be front line.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: So I think that's you know, it's the personality is
Speaker 3: who he is, the mindset, but then also the skill too,
Speaker 3: like you know, like his IQ is second to none,
Speaker 3: Like he knows the games, he knows tendencies of the
Speaker 3: other players, you know what they do well what.
Speaker 4: They don't everyone in the league.
Speaker 3: I mean it's it's I mean seriously, like guys that
Speaker 3: you know, I don't even watch him, like yo, how
Speaker 3: you notice you know it's like he barely play Bro,
Speaker 3: but he he remembers plays.
Speaker 4: It's just, you know, it's it's it's crazy.
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful mind. Yes, yes, s Dot. Where did
Speaker 2: that nickname come from? When someone over here claims he
Speaker 2: started it.
Speaker 4: He definitely shouted out.
Speaker 1: I don't know nobody was staying it before me. I
Speaker 1: probably not being a razor, but I was the one.
Speaker 1: You say it all the time on TV and everywhere.
Speaker 1: One made it popular.
Speaker 4: He had he had a speakerphone.
Speaker 1: I was creating Dot.
Speaker 4: He had the mic. Yes, I was, yes, sir, A
Speaker 4: big fan.
Speaker 1: I was a big fan Dot.
Speaker 4: What not rookie year? Rookie year?
Speaker 3: It was actually uh Corey mcghetty jumped it off back
Speaker 3: in the day. I had the old rebox. You know,
Speaker 3: slippers check out of high school. You know Clippers, Yes, sir, Clippers,
Speaker 3: Clippers and uh the old reebox s Dot Carters jay
Speaker 3: Z had the you know, the shoe line. So I
Speaker 3: kept a pair of all whites on like air forces,
Speaker 3: you know, and it just stuck those No, no, just
Speaker 3: coming in the locker room, you know, s Dot you
Speaker 3: know see what you got on.
Speaker 2: That's back when the Clippers. That's back when the Clippers
Speaker 2: really didn't have a locker room.
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, we was day Southwest Community.
Speaker 1: Yeah, crazy, we're talking about that. Man. What was life
Speaker 1: like growing up Peoria?
Speaker 3: Mike Robinson from Yeah, Yeah, yeah, Mike Robinson, Man, I
Speaker 3: grew up in a time actually where it was like
Speaker 3: the Golden Age was a basketball around Illinois, especially Peoria.
Speaker 3: Like my my o GS was around your age, Mike Robinson,
Speaker 3: Frank Williams, A J. Goyton played a little you know,
Speaker 3: a cup of coffee in the league. Uh, but our
Speaker 3: true o G was Howard Nathan. I was just telling
Speaker 3: one of the guys. He man, he was like the
Speaker 3: guy all the swag. He was like, you know, uh
Speaker 3: Wesley and New Jack City man, Like everybody wanted to
Speaker 3: be like him.
Speaker 4: You know he was.
Speaker 3: He had you know, the hottest girl, the hottest car like,
Speaker 3: but he was just like man on the court. He
Speaker 3: was that guy. He was in y'all seen the movie Hoop, Yeah,
Speaker 3: he was in. He was in that one putting arch
Speaker 3: what's my guy? He uh he put him out the
Speaker 3: state tournament he was went to Peoria Manual and uh,
Speaker 3: he was just a legend.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: So growing up watching him.
Speaker 3: You know, obviously Mike and the Bulls was you know
Speaker 3: whoever every standt Yeah what I'm saying that was the
Speaker 3: gold standard. But high school basketball, man, it was big
Speaker 3: in Illinois. You know, the original March madness, you know,
Speaker 3: and we made our name going up to Chicago and
Speaker 3: you know really uh, you know, showing our game. So
Speaker 3: small town probably one hundred thousand people, you know, cornfields
Speaker 3: on the outside, but you know, not sweet on inside.
Speaker 3: It was a city. Yeah, it was a city segregated
Speaker 3: like most cities. You had a good part up north
Speaker 3: was a lot of the you know, wealthy folks live
Speaker 3: in Southside below the hill what we called it. You know,
Speaker 3: that was where a lot of a lot of poverty
Speaker 3: was public schools. But man, I'm grateful for it because
Speaker 3: It gave me humble beginnings, you know, uh, learn how
Speaker 3: to grind blue collar city.
Speaker 4: You know, you really earn what you get. You know,
Speaker 4: nothing's given.
Speaker 3: That was kind of the era that we grew up in,
Speaker 3: you know, and they really didn't let you off the hook,
Speaker 3: you know, even if you did have game. Coaches you know,
Speaker 3: held you accountable. You know, run back on defense, you
Speaker 3: know what, you pull you out the game like. So
Speaker 3: I'm grateful for that because it'll you know, it humbled me.
Speaker 3: You know, it never allowed me to get the big head,
Speaker 3: even though I had a lot.
Speaker 4: Of fanfare in high school.
Speaker 3: But I grew up watching you know how it was
Speaker 3: supposed to be done.
Speaker 5: Your parents split at a young age. Where did basketball
Speaker 5: and then pushed the basketball come from my pops.
Speaker 4: It was pops.
Speaker 3: He took over custody of me and he raised me,
Speaker 3: him and my grandpa. And so I grew up in
Speaker 3: a house household full of men, you know, no women around.
Speaker 3: So it was just different, you know, uh, not a
Speaker 3: lot of motion in there.
Speaker 4: It was you know, like, yeah, go with your yeah,
Speaker 4: you know so.
Speaker 3: Which helped me because naturally I was more introverted, quiet,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, cool, just laid back, so it
Speaker 3: was like, no, come on, let's go like just and
Speaker 3: that helped, you know, really harden me, just you know,
Speaker 3: being more competitive on the court, being able to go
Speaker 3: back at guys, being able to you know, stand up
Speaker 3: on my own, and you know at school. And it
Speaker 3: was I was I was grateful for that. And my
Speaker 3: dad really showed me the way. I don't know where
Speaker 3: he got it from, but man, you know, taking me
Speaker 3: around to camp after camp, you know, uh, it was
Speaker 3: almost like I mean, he had he had the vision,
Speaker 3: you know, like, look, that's what we're gonna do. You know,
Speaker 3: you're gonna go to school and we're gonna go practice. Right,
Speaker 3: I played baseball, We're gonna go play catch. You know,
Speaker 3: you want to be great, you want to play, you
Speaker 3: want to be MJ. Penny Hardaway. You got to put
Speaker 3: the work in. Come on, let's go. So I was
Speaker 3: grateful to have that, you know, that direction, you know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying, Like, so I empathize for guys who.
Speaker 4: Don't have that direction.
Speaker 3: Don't judge, you know, don't judge a book by his
Speaker 3: cover because you don't know what he went through, what
Speaker 3: he didn't have, the lack of resources, right, usually that's
Speaker 3: you know, it's what makes you and what builds you.
Speaker 3: But you know a lot of people break under that.
Speaker 3: So I'm grateful to my dad, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: for forgiving me that I wasn't always grateful, right, you know, like, man,
Speaker 3: I don't want to do this while I'm doing this,
Speaker 3: you know, just you know, working too hard, you overwork,
Speaker 3: You're pushing me, right, And.
Speaker 1: What age is that?
Speaker 2: Not to cut you off because I'm a dad with
Speaker 2: teenage boys and try to find that fun line. And
Speaker 2: what age do you feel like it switched to? Like damn,
Speaker 2: I have to do this to I want to do this?
Speaker 1: Yes? What was that?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 3: Man, To be honest with you, Matt, it was probably
Speaker 3: probably like I did it early.
Speaker 4: Then I got burnt out, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: I got burnt out.
Speaker 3: By the time I got in high school, you know,
Speaker 3: start you know, liking other things. So just life, man,
Speaker 3: and you know, just running with some of the wrong
Speaker 3: crowds sometimes, and you know, wanted to do other things
Speaker 3: other than kind of what got me, you know, the
Speaker 3: recognition and what got me to people knowing my name
Speaker 3: and everything else. The work that I was putting in
Speaker 3: as a young kid, so I was I was ahead
Speaker 3: of the game, got burnt out, and then my first
Speaker 3: two years struggled, went to you know high school struggle,
Speaker 3: you know, getting kicked out of practice. Uh, just butted
Speaker 3: heads with the coach. And then just I wanted to quit,
Speaker 3: so I quit. They talked me to going back on
Speaker 3: the team, and then sophomore year transferred schools grew three
Speaker 3: four inches.
Speaker 4: And then it was just yeah, it was like, man,
Speaker 4: I went to the.
Speaker 3: Circuit ABCD camp, got invited, you know, went to a
Speaker 3: I went to so if you AU tournaments before then
Speaker 3: put On got the invitation of ABCD, and then it
Speaker 3: was on from there.
Speaker 5: Two thousand and four, mister basketball, straight out of high school?
Speaker 1: How did that decision come about?
Speaker 3: Man, I couldn't top top seven, top five. I told myself,
Speaker 3: if I'm not top ten, I want.
Speaker 4: To go to college.
Speaker 3: Because I was probably one hundred and sixty pounds, so well,
Speaker 3: you know, it looked like twelve years old out here,
Speaker 3: you know, like many.
Speaker 4: Yeah I did that, so I look older.
Speaker 3: Just it was you know, like I knew that I
Speaker 3: needed to mature physically.
Speaker 4: I knew I knew that.
Speaker 3: Was signed to go to Duke play for coach k
Speaker 3: get up and down showcase myself. But man, you know,
Speaker 3: towards my high school season, I'm looking in the crowd,
Speaker 3: I'm seeing Chris Mullen, I'm seeing John Packson.
Speaker 4: Like, man, they I.
Speaker 3: Know them, like they I watched them, you know, I
Speaker 3: watched them play. They Oh they worked for some day
Speaker 3: the GM with the Bulls and the Warriors. Wow, it's real.
Speaker 3: So you know, it started getting real. And then did
Speaker 3: the McDonald's All American Game, did Round Ball Classic, which
Speaker 3: was Sonny for Carl's Game. Man, it's just the buzz
Speaker 3: started building up mock drafts and I did one workout.
Speaker 1: Went.
Speaker 3: I was going to Chicago at the time, working out
Speaker 3: Tim Grover his gym.
Speaker 4: He had a gym called Hoops.
Speaker 3: He was rented out and you know, guys would come
Speaker 3: back and play. And so during this during pre draft
Speaker 3: around this time, I do one workout. I didn't hire
Speaker 3: an agent. He put me through the workout. It was
Speaker 3: thirty scout thirty NBA GMS. Steve Kurr was there. He
Speaker 3: told me about the story. Like after that, Tim Grover
Speaker 3: walked up to me, he said, man, and Alanta Hawk said,
Speaker 3: you're not you're not going past seven.
Speaker 4: They take us seven. Said, shit, I gotta I gotta.
Speaker 3: Go there because I mean, just the chances of you know,
Speaker 3: getting hurt, getting injured, which I dealt with, you know
Speaker 3: my first couple of years in the league.
Speaker 4: It's like, you know, it just made too much sense.
Speaker 2: Eighteen years old, LA. What was your first impression of LA?
Speaker 2: You talk about small town?
Speaker 3: Yeah, man, my first walk on Vence Beach was crazy.
Speaker 3: It was like, you know, seeing some of the things
Speaker 3: I saw out there, it was different.
Speaker 4: You see what I'm saying. It was just different.
Speaker 3: So you know, but it was actually for me, it
Speaker 3: was it was just you know, it was kind of
Speaker 3: cool to see because, like I said, coming from where
Speaker 3: I'm from, it's very segregated small town vibes, and you know,
Speaker 3: you get some of those you know, underlying conditions of
Speaker 3: you know whatever it may be bigotry, racism, things like that.
Speaker 3: So you know, coming out to coming out to LA
Speaker 3: and just you know, seeing the vibes. Everybody messed with
Speaker 3: each other. You know, it was the diversity, you know,
Speaker 3: it was like a big melting pot. So my first
Speaker 3: walk on Venice Beach was cool, just seeing you know,
Speaker 3: obviously seeing that much water I've never seen before. And
Speaker 3: then just you know, just seeing the vibes out there.
Speaker 3: You know, I was kicking it. Yeah, yeah, a lot
Speaker 3: of vibes, a lot of vibes, all of it, all
Speaker 3: of it.
Speaker 4: It was just but it was in the open hold
Speaker 4: on this two thousand and four.
Speaker 2: Different Any Donald Sterling stories, white party stories, anything, what
Speaker 2: you got for us.
Speaker 3: I wasn't invited to the white parties. Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 3: know so, but no, it was it was It was
Speaker 3: definitely different. It was something different going on there. I
Speaker 3: just I remember being in the locker room and just
Speaker 3: you know, him always bringing his friends back there. Weird, right,
Speaker 3: you know, and one time it is just you know,
Speaker 3: just man being you know, it's like Mugg's in the
Speaker 3: locker room, people going back and forth to the shower
Speaker 3: and you know, like he was just lingering around back there,
Speaker 3: and you know.
Speaker 4: It's watching. Yeah, it was just like, man, it was weird.
Speaker 4: It was weird.
Speaker 3: It was weird, super weird. That's all I was saying.
Speaker 3: It was weird to me, weird. So I just I
Speaker 3: didn't know how to take that, you know, nineteen twenty years.
Speaker 2: Old, Like what the fuck with all owners and you're
Speaker 2: watching Dick crazy since all the teams do it.
Speaker 4: Man, Yeah it was, it was, Yeah, it was. It
Speaker 4: was weird a little different.
Speaker 1: But talked to us early too.
Speaker 2: I mean we laugh and joked, but I was there
Speaker 2: two years before you got there and then got up
Speaker 2: out of there. But that team didn't have a practice facility.
Speaker 2: We practiced south by Southwest US. Definitely the back door open,
Speaker 2: so people didn't break into your cars, like there was
Speaker 2: no shower like talk to us about because again you're thinking, NBA,
Speaker 2: I'm a number four pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: This is a it was almost to step down.
Speaker 3: Yes, it was a step down. It was a step
Speaker 3: down to crazy. So I mean, I just I didn't
Speaker 3: know what to expect. I just expected better know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying. And it's just you know, our first practice
Speaker 3: being at again, we was at Southwest Community College and
Speaker 3: then uh just I remember one of the guys they
Speaker 3: got their car broken into during practice.
Speaker 1: Bro practice, so it was just breaking your car, it was.
Speaker 3: It was it was just wild that, you know, we
Speaker 3: were going through that, and then you know we finished practice.
Speaker 4: You know, we're on pretty much like.
Speaker 3: One side of the gym, you know, and then Uh,
Speaker 3: we finished practice. We go in the locker room and
Speaker 3: here come to the football team in there. You know
Speaker 3: you kind of I'm like, no, I am and take
Speaker 3: the shower pill take into the crib like huh. It's
Speaker 3: just it was. It was, you know, it was rough.
Speaker 3: It was rough because I think it back. I try
Speaker 3: to you know, I don't focus on the past and
Speaker 3: everything else, but just like what what would be of
Speaker 3: those teams if they had the resources?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 1: There was a lot of in.
Speaker 3: The direction you know that young guys need when you
Speaker 3: come in the league. I mean it matters, you know,
Speaker 3: I don't care who you are, it matters. So uh
Speaker 3: started out there. Then we upgraded. Actually Mike Dunleavy junior
Speaker 3: senior came in and he was able to get us
Speaker 3: over to the Spectrum Health Club.
Speaker 1: You go a football team, you know, so we cover.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 1: It was crazy.
Speaker 2: Who were some of the some of your early vets though,
Speaker 2: because although they were vets, they were young.
Speaker 3: Elton Brand, Corey mcgetty, Uh, Bobby Simmons, you know, Chicago guy.
Speaker 3: I was tight with q Rich. He ended up leaving
Speaker 3: going to Phoenix. But that was you know, that was
Speaker 3: kind of like my big homie at the time. And
Speaker 3: then uh my second year Sam, Sam came in the
Speaker 3: cat the Tino Mobile.
Speaker 1: Chris Brayman, I mean Cayman, Yeah, he did.
Speaker 2: He was someone that was scared of water and showers
Speaker 2: and tooth brushes, but came in had game.
Speaker 4: He did. He did. He came in a year before me.
Speaker 3: But again, come from the Midwest, you know, country dude,
Speaker 3: you know, Central Michigan. Uh, it was just you know,
Speaker 3: he's kind of out of his environment a little bit,
Speaker 3: you know, and just making it work.
Speaker 4: Like I remember this dude, he had a paintball.
Speaker 3: Uh, he got a paintball little arena in his basement.
Speaker 4: You see what I'm saying of his crib.
Speaker 3: Though, Like I'm like, man, what I mean, that's just
Speaker 3: you know, like he was just kind of backwoods like.
Speaker 2: That second season forty seven wins, good young core, first
Speaker 2: winning season fifteen years, lose to the Suns in the
Speaker 2: in the first round in seven games. What was your
Speaker 2: first taste of the playoffs?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 4: It was addicting.
Speaker 3: It was addicting for real, Like, uh, that's what I
Speaker 3: expected of the NBA, you know when I first got in.
Speaker 4: Uh, what surprised me was how.
Speaker 3: Normal losing was to guys, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: because there's so many games and it hit me hard,
Speaker 3: you know, my first year because I'm like, man, we lost,
Speaker 3: like I'm I'm coming from winning two state championships. We
Speaker 3: went in all the time like you know, just that
Speaker 3: that's I played the game to win, like that was
Speaker 3: my mentality. So you know, but obviously you know you
Speaker 3: got to have amnesia and so but man, that that
Speaker 3: first trip to the playoffs, I'm like, yes, this is
Speaker 3: it like this where you know, this where we belong,
Speaker 3: This where I belong bat Denver that year they had
Speaker 3: mellow Andre Miller Kenyam Martin talented team. George Carl's team
Speaker 3: beat them in the first round I think like five games, and.
Speaker 1: Then you wasn't on that team. Julina might have.
Speaker 3: Been yep six O six yeah, and then lost the
Speaker 3: lost to Phoenix seven games.
Speaker 4: Rajah Bell hit a corner three.
Speaker 3: Accident, man, he said accidents what I said, man, And
Speaker 3: then just you know, we was about to go up
Speaker 3: three two and uh they beat a stubble overtime game
Speaker 3: five and ended up closing it out at home game seven.
Speaker 3: But just the experience if you haven't been there. It's
Speaker 3: hard to talk about it. It's hard to know how
Speaker 3: to win, you know, it's hard to know what to
Speaker 3: do when when it get tight, you know, playing on
Speaker 3: the road, you know, like what's that like going in
Speaker 3: was you against the world? Mentality? Like that's you know,
Speaker 3: until you actually go through the fire. It's hard to
Speaker 3: talk about, you know what it's like.
Speaker 2: Right, But you're a young player too. Steve Nash is
Speaker 2: one of your favorite players growing up? Yeah, and you
Speaker 2: get a chance to see him in the playoffs?
Speaker 1: What was that like? Oh?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know what.
Speaker 3: Steve Nash was the person who surprised me the most.
Speaker 3: I knew nothing about him growing up, Like you know, like, uh,
Speaker 3: my favorite player was Penny you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Penny Grant Hill, Uh, you know those those were some
Speaker 3: of my favorite players.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: My first year I got the the Clippers, we had
Speaker 3: to play we had to play Phoenix like six or
Speaker 3: seven times. The first person who surprised me was Joe Johnson.
Speaker 3: I'm like, who is this and why have I never
Speaker 3: heard of him?
Speaker 1: That's the only person never really couldn't my whole career.
Speaker 3: Like why why isn't he not featured, Like, why don't
Speaker 3: we know who he is? But this was like again
Speaker 3: his fourth year, he playing his role. But Steve, that
Speaker 3: was his first MVP year And uh, man, just I'm
Speaker 3: just like, man, who just this? Why nobody told me
Speaker 3: this guy was this good shooting you know, three pointers,
Speaker 3: coming down three on one fast break. Just you know,
Speaker 3: it's like he was doing a lot of the things
Speaker 3: that you see Steph doing. You see a lot of
Speaker 3: guys doing. He was doing that back then.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: But what attracted me the most is his energy. What
Speaker 3: you know, how he built everybody up around him and
Speaker 3: gave them empowered them, you know, like he he slapped
Speaker 3: high fives with everybody coming and on the court, going
Speaker 3: off the court, like he kept you engaged, like.
Speaker 4: Man, I belong.
Speaker 3: You know, you never know, you know when you may
Speaker 3: need a guy, and you just saw how he was
Speaker 3: the spirit of that team, you know, like when they
Speaker 3: was winning going you know, and plus his skill, you know,
Speaker 3: man shooting left hand, left hand hook shots, and you know, like, man,
Speaker 3: he shouldn't be this skilled, but he can barely run
Speaker 3: up and down like you know, he ain't the most
Speaker 3: athletic guy, right, And so I just respected how he
Speaker 3: was able to affect the game without you know, taking
Speaker 3: all the shots, without hogging all the you know, all
Speaker 3: the basketballs, and uh, you know, he wasn't necessarily a
Speaker 3: you know, a killer right on the court like you know,
Speaker 3: Mike and Kobe they projected at you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: like that fear, but he his was a little bit
Speaker 3: more internal, you know, it was more kind of uplifting, like,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm in power, guys, I'm you know, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna stay positive.
Speaker 5: Year three, you go through some through probably the most
Speaker 5: difficult moment in your career, your knee injury.
Speaker 1: You end up missing two years.
Speaker 5: Me and you had many conversations about this because you know,
Speaker 5: I've always wanted to talk to you about it. But
Speaker 5: for people that don't know, how hard was it in
Speaker 5: and mentally? What did that do to you? You know,
Speaker 5: trying to be able to come back from that, man.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's man. That's it man. It's the it is.
Speaker 3: It is the mental journey, because it really take a
Speaker 3: piece of your soul from from fighting the injuries. Uh,
Speaker 3: you know, like the love of the game. You know,
Speaker 3: sometimes you know when you could just wake up and hoop,
Speaker 3: you know, you take it for granted. You know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying, Like you you just wake up and just
Speaker 3: go hoop. You know, it could do that all day.
Speaker 3: We used to ride around looking for basketball games. So
Speaker 3: like I loved the game, you know, like study the game,
Speaker 3: watched all you know, watch y'all come up, and you know,
Speaker 3: watched a lot of the old heads come up.
Speaker 4: You know, kind of was a student of the game.
Speaker 3: And then you know, just going through the injury process,
Speaker 3: it's the mental hurdle of you know, having to fight yourself.
Speaker 3: You know, have to battle yourself because you're not playing
Speaker 3: against nobody. You know, I didn't touch the court for
Speaker 3: about you know, eight months, you know, so.
Speaker 1: Talk to us.
Speaker 2: Not to cut you off, but what exactly did you
Speaker 2: tear and how back? Because this was a horrible knee injury.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I dislocated my knee, my my femur tibia,
Speaker 3: uh toward three of the four of my ligaments, uh
Speaker 3: toward three out of four of my ligaments and my
Speaker 3: knee and yeah, man.
Speaker 4: Just it was it was a whole day.
Speaker 3: They basically compared it to a car crash, so you
Speaker 3: know that's you know, it's like a skiers you know,
Speaker 3: like you skin a lot of a lot of skiers
Speaker 3: have that type of accident dislocations. Uh, but I you know,
Speaker 3: I was just so skinny man, and you know, one
Speaker 3: came down the wrong way and it just basically exploded.
Speaker 3: And so, you know the hardest part was getting through
Speaker 3: you know, the hospital. That whole situation, you know, is
Speaker 3: my my knees, my leg gonna be okay. And of
Speaker 3: course they was talking about the whole uh you know,
Speaker 3: amputation and all that. They do that around early because
Speaker 3: of the you know, blood flow and all that. Once
Speaker 3: that was good, Okay, I'm out the woods. Now what's
Speaker 3: the timeline?
Speaker 4: All right?
Speaker 3: Nobody else has done this? So what's the timeline? You
Speaker 3: know who's done? You know who can I bounce it
Speaker 3: off of? What's the blueprint? Doctors don't have nothing. They
Speaker 3: ain't give me nothing. So how am I supposed to
Speaker 3: know when I'm actually able to come back? Where am
Speaker 3: I tracking at right? Where am I head of schedule
Speaker 3: and my behind schedule? Where you know, where am I at?
Speaker 2: All the questions you had needed answered at as a
Speaker 2: young kid.
Speaker 1: The doctors don't even have the answer.
Speaker 3: They have it, they they have it. It was like
Speaker 3: you know about it. They just gave me a year,
Speaker 3: you know about a year you should you know, that's
Speaker 3: kind of give or take. That's the timeline. But it
Speaker 3: it's just the mental process of again trusting yourself because
Speaker 3: uh you know, for me, like some guys, you know,
Speaker 3: they you boring, you know, born with a lot of confidence,
Speaker 3: born with you know that that that ultimate belief you know,
Speaker 3: For me, like I got that through working, you know,
Speaker 3: through putting in the work practice, you know, playing and
Speaker 3: when I couldn't do that on the court, you know,
Speaker 3: it's like you got.
Speaker 4: To build that back.
Speaker 3: You have to build that belief system back in yourself.
Speaker 3: And it was it was just a struggle man physically
Speaker 3: not the same person, uh man having to ice your knee.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I was icing my knee five six times a day
Speaker 3: when I came back, you know, playing in the G League,
Speaker 3: you know, icing my knees between halftime, like you know,
Speaker 3: just trying to get to swelling down. Just all the
Speaker 3: little things that you know, people that you had an
Speaker 3: injury before you got to go through. But for me,
Speaker 3: I just didn't have a blueprint to follow. I'm so young,
Speaker 3: you know, and I mean just the timing of it all.
Speaker 3: I'm like, man, this I'm supposed to be on a
Speaker 3: whole different wave right now, you know, in my mind.
Speaker 3: But you know that was my reality. So, uh, the
Speaker 3: faster that I accepted my reality and put it behind me,
Speaker 3: you know, the more I could get get to it.
Speaker 2: How long did it take you to feel like yourself
Speaker 2: again once you got on the court? Man, That's the
Speaker 2: people to understand is that that you could talk to
Speaker 2: the mental side. But it's really that mental side of
Speaker 2: trusting that need again.
Speaker 4: Yeah, trusting it. That's right, That's absolutely right.
Speaker 3: It was probably about man, probably I say about five years.
Speaker 1: Five years, can you imagine that?
Speaker 3: So, I mean that's that's about the time we was
Speaker 3: Charlotte Milwaukee. I mean when I got with Jack and Charlotte,
Speaker 3: that was the first time that I played all the
Speaker 3: way through the season, you know, like without any complications
Speaker 3: to my need.
Speaker 4: I missed a few games, but you still was.
Speaker 1: On top of it every day with that Still he
Speaker 1: was on top of it.
Speaker 4: Had to had to.
Speaker 3: I mean, it was it wasn't like it was mandatory
Speaker 3: because if I didn't do it, you know, it was
Speaker 3: like just the the regression that I was going to
Speaker 3: have was just you know, again not being able to play,
Speaker 3: not being able to get up and down the court,
Speaker 3: and I was barely able to maintain like I was
Speaker 3: a fringe NBA player at that point, trying to call
Speaker 3: my way back in the league and stay on the
Speaker 3: roster and you know, show a team that you know
Speaker 3: I can contribute and in a certain type of way.
Speaker 3: Where before that, you know, it was here go the ball,
Speaker 3: I'm saying, run the team, brace to sleeve to nothing.
Speaker 1: That's right, you know what I'm saying. That's how I
Speaker 1: Gradually I was right there with him.
Speaker 4: That's right.
Speaker 3: And then the first you know, having to wear the brace.
Speaker 3: I mean that was like a whole leg on top
Speaker 3: of my legs. So just you know, again just having
Speaker 3: to adjust. You got to adjust your mindset. You got
Speaker 3: to humble yourself, you know. Uh that was That's the
Speaker 3: hardest part of it. And then you got to persevere.
Speaker 3: You know, like the biggest thing you know at the
Speaker 3: time was just like, man, can't feel sorry yourself at
Speaker 3: the end of the days. It is what it is.
Speaker 3: You got to bounce back and once you get between
Speaker 3: them lines, nobody else is feeling sorry for you.
Speaker 4: Bro.
Speaker 2: You got they coming for that, get him he he.
Speaker 3: Here go to weeks like, yeah, we're gonna run every
Speaker 3: play at him. So uh So for me, it was
Speaker 3: just like, you know, I didn't want to use that
Speaker 3: as a crutch, as an excuse. Everybody knew what happened
Speaker 3: the story, but you know, at the end of the day,
Speaker 3: it was just about, you know, get in where you
Speaker 3: fit in.
Speaker 5: How good did it feel for you to be there
Speaker 5: for Clay? He went through a tough injury stretch and
Speaker 5: to have you there for him to that's right. Experience
Speaker 5: is the best teacher.
Speaker 2: He mentioned you on his recovery process and and words
Speaker 2: you were giving him.
Speaker 3: Man, that's a great question, Jack, because man, Clay actually, uh,
Speaker 3: when we played in Oakland, it's my neighbor. I'm talking
Speaker 3: about four houses down. We called it the fry House,
Speaker 3: you know, so he was, uh, you know, like he
Speaker 3: was right right next door. So I used to get
Speaker 3: him a ride after after the games. This when he's out,
Speaker 3: he's in the boot and uh, you know he's out
Speaker 3: the whole year, but uh, you know it's killing him,
Speaker 3: it's killing him. You know, the team's up and down
Speaker 3: that year. I think we had just missed Uh, missed
Speaker 3: the playoffs, lost in the you know, playing Yeah, and uh, man,
Speaker 3: it was just killing him because you know, he's an
Speaker 3: ultimate competitor. I mean, Clay might be one of the
Speaker 3: most competitive guys for real, and people say that, but
Speaker 3: like you know, when you play with a guy like
Speaker 3: how he take you know, how how he take his
Speaker 3: his role, how he take the game? Do he take
Speaker 3: it serious? You know, how's a losing affect him? You
Speaker 3: know when he played bad? How so you see all
Speaker 3: that and you know what cut you know what it
Speaker 3: means to him. But for me to be able to
Speaker 3: share my experience with him what I went through at
Speaker 3: a young age. H Clay being from l A his dad,
Speaker 3: you know, obviously with the Lakers. I mean he grew
Speaker 3: up watching people out here, you know. Uh, and I
Speaker 3: played for the Clippers, so he knew kind of my story.
Speaker 3: So I could kind of speak truth to light, you know,
Speaker 3: and he knew that it wasn't just coming from a
Speaker 3: place where I just want a lecture, you know, or
Speaker 3: just tell him, Oh, it's gonna be all right, man,
Speaker 3: you know, like no, some days it's not all right.
Speaker 3: You know it's not. But just know it's coming from
Speaker 3: a good place. It's coming from a place where you're
Speaker 3: competitive and you want to you want to be out
Speaker 3: there because you know what you can contribute.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 4: And man, he was coming off of twenty nineteen where
Speaker 4: that was probably his best year.
Speaker 3: That was one of his best years, Like you know
Speaker 3: that finals, I mean, really carrying the load.
Speaker 4: KD went down, So.
Speaker 3: You know, he had a lot, a lot of expectation
Speaker 3: of himself and it was it was it was a
Speaker 3: struggle for him. But I'm proud of the way that
Speaker 3: he bounced back because even coming back, you know, people
Speaker 3: kind of you know, he's not the same Clay and
Speaker 3: he's not you know, it's like, you know.
Speaker 4: It's it's hard to deal with as a player.
Speaker 3: You know when people talk about you and you know
Speaker 3: how much you know that you put into you know,
Speaker 3: your craft and the game, you know what it means
Speaker 3: to you. It feel like they slandering you. You know, like, man,
Speaker 3: put some respect on my name, right, right. But you know,
Speaker 3: at the end of the day, like for him to
Speaker 3: you know, it's about how you respond, right, And I
Speaker 3: mean you see what he's been able to do this year.
Speaker 3: You know, it's it's up and down, like everybody, But
Speaker 3: you know, it's like man Clay will be there. To me,
Speaker 3: he's been one of the guys that's gonna be there
Speaker 3: when you need him, you know what I'm saying. Even
Speaker 3: and if you know, if he does have a bad game,
Speaker 3: like he gonna leave it on the line right right,
Speaker 3: Like he's not just gonna disappear.
Speaker 2: He's gonna leave all the bullets on the court. They
Speaker 2: may not go in, but the whole clip. Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: what you want through from especially for when your.
Speaker 5: Best scores right twenty twenty fourteen, you play with ten
Speaker 5: different teams.
Speaker 1: We played together in Charlotte. I always tell people all.
Speaker 5: The time, if you want to ask how good I was,
Speaker 5: ask Baron Davis, ask Jamal Crawford, ask Sean Lives because
Speaker 5: they are three people that always was in my ear
Speaker 5: when I played with them, to let me know how
Speaker 5: good I was. But how difficult wasn't for you that time?
Speaker 5: Knowing that you already had a rough start. You know
Speaker 5: what I'm saying, You deserve to play. You was trying
Speaker 5: to figure out I was just being bounced around, getting
Speaker 5: waved four times.
Speaker 1: I've been through it, But what was your ministate going through?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Like I said, I was on the outside looking in.
Speaker 3: I was trying to really cement myself back in the league.
Speaker 3: So I was bouncing around a lot of teams at
Speaker 3: the time. And I think then, y'all just the Charlotte
Speaker 3: just went to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Year before, Yes, ye, Orlando, right then they swept.
Speaker 4: That's right, that's right.
Speaker 3: So just coming off that year, it was a lot
Speaker 3: of expectations Charlotte, like, man, we you know, we're coming
Speaker 3: that That was the vibe, that was the energy, you know,
Speaker 3: and it started kind of when you got there, right like, uh,
Speaker 3: just giving him that confidence and that swag.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: Jerald Wallace at the time was an All star, you know,
Speaker 3: So I mean it was just a lot of buzz.
Speaker 3: So for me, Raymond Felton has just left to New
Speaker 3: York and so kind of the starting job was kind
Speaker 3: of up in the air. And I remember I was
Speaker 3: still going through, you know, my struggles with my physically,
Speaker 3: you know, my knee injury, just kind of swelling and
Speaker 3: all that, so just not being able to be myself.
Speaker 3: But it was just like man, go you know, like
Speaker 3: go after it. And then uh we got Larry Brown.
Speaker 3: That was he loved you.
Speaker 4: That was. That was so he was.
Speaker 3: One of the guys that helped bring me there, and
Speaker 3: he was that was an experience, you know, going through
Speaker 3: it with him because man, just you know, I was
Speaker 3: a new guy and I'm like, man, this team just
Speaker 3: went to the playoffs last year, right, and then we
Speaker 3: started out you know rough.
Speaker 2: It was rough, and I was like this how it
Speaker 2: was because he was Larry Brown knew that here on
Speaker 2: his way out.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, he was on his way out, right, was
Speaker 1: on his way in.
Speaker 4: That's right, that's right.
Speaker 3: And then midway through the season, we had a coaching change.
Speaker 3: Paul Silas came in and.
Speaker 1: The whole different crew.
Speaker 4: That's right, that's right, that's right. It was.
Speaker 3: It was like a lineup change, just five in, five out.
Speaker 4: Substitutions, and it was it was.
Speaker 3: It was wild, but we kind of found our footing,
Speaker 3: you know, we uh picked up you know, picked up
Speaker 3: some steam and I just you know, like I just
Speaker 3: always you know, that's why, man, at the end of
Speaker 3: the day, for me, like I always tell people you
Speaker 3: my top one of my top three teammates, because it's like, man,
Speaker 3: the battery that you put in that team's back, right,
Speaker 3: Like you see it from that standpoint of it's like
Speaker 3: when certain people like you know, Draymond has some of
Speaker 3: that energy. It's like when you you come in, you
Speaker 3: you know, you feel that person in the gym, right,
Speaker 3: and it's one thing to talk it, but it's another
Speaker 3: to show it up and back it up.
Speaker 4: And I think you know, you.
Speaker 3: Could see, you know, with the players that was there,
Speaker 3: you know, guys DJ, Augustine and some of the other players,
Speaker 3: like they move with a different swag, you know, like
Speaker 3: especially when you was on the court, right, and so
Speaker 3: it was just keeping you on the court, you know,
Speaker 3: facts right, And uh.
Speaker 1: That was the hardest thing. Yeah, yes, job in itself.
Speaker 4: That's how you know.
Speaker 3: You know, I remember a timeh MJ came in and
Speaker 3: he practiced with us.
Speaker 4: Yeah remember that story, and uh served.
Speaker 3: Us, yeah, man, And I was on his team actually,
Speaker 3: and it was just like wow, because I was you know,
Speaker 3: I was on the were the bench team, and they
Speaker 3: was the starterst was going there and they going back
Speaker 3: and forth and you know, Mike cussing him out, Jack
Speaker 3: cussing him, Mike, I'm like cussing him damn.
Speaker 4: You know, it's just you know, it was new to me.
Speaker 3: Again, but uh, what the teams though, again just just
Speaker 3: the confidence, right, It's like we're not backing down from anybody.
Speaker 3: We we belong and to me, I think as a
Speaker 3: as a player, that's the journey that I talked about
Speaker 3: when you first get into the NBA.
Speaker 4: It's like you got to establish yourself.
Speaker 3: You got to like make your way because, uh, it's
Speaker 3: not given. You know, it's it's not given. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think certain certain players get opportunities maybe that you know,
Speaker 3: may or may not deserve it, but you know, for
Speaker 3: the most part, like when it comes down to winning,
Speaker 3: especially at the highest level, I mean, the best player
Speaker 3: is going to play and it's usually the players that
Speaker 3: earned that. So you got to have that ultimate confidence
Speaker 3: at all times, especially if you want to win at
Speaker 3: the highest level.
Speaker 2: Fourteen, you laying with the Warriors. How did that happen?
Speaker 3: Oh Man, Bob Myers, Jerry West, Steve Kerr. You know,
Speaker 3: they they sought me out. Twenty fourteen. Had a good
Speaker 3: year with Brooklyn, played with them. You know, that's probably
Speaker 3: my best year after post injury. Played like about seventy games,
Speaker 3: so I was healthy, played in the playoffs, and then
Speaker 3: we got to the second Yeah, got to the second
Speaker 3: round loss of the Heat, which they lost the Spurs
Speaker 3: that year, and then man, the Warriors was right there.
Speaker 4: You know, like they was going back and forth with
Speaker 4: the Clippers.
Speaker 3: You know, like like y'all was kind of big bro
Speaker 3: at the time, and you know, y'all y'all had to
Speaker 3: experience more established players than guys, but they was next.
Speaker 4: They was kind of next up.
Speaker 3: They had, you know, a young nucleus, you know, and
Speaker 3: at the time, it was just you know, for me,
Speaker 3: what it came down to, it was like, I just
Speaker 3: want to be in a competitive environment. You know, I
Speaker 3: had been on a lot of losing teams trying to
Speaker 3: make it back in the NBA, and I'm grateful for
Speaker 3: that opportunity because that gave me the platform and a
Speaker 3: chance to play. But man, it's rough. It's rough, you know,
Speaker 3: losing losing like that. You know, you know, as a player,
Speaker 3: I always wanted to win. So I just wanted to
Speaker 3: be in a competitive environment. They had just went to
Speaker 3: the playoffs in the first round, so you know, I
Speaker 3: knew they kind of had that experience and was looking
Speaker 3: to get over the hump, and man, I wanted to
Speaker 3: be a part of that.
Speaker 2: You guys, first year sixty seven and fifteen steph one MVP.
Speaker 2: Was that the first time you first unanimous MVP in
Speaker 2: league history? Like you said, you were just looking to
Speaker 2: be competitive. Did you know that motherfucker is gonna be
Speaker 2: that good?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna be that good.
Speaker 3: No, no, no way. I mean he was already he
Speaker 3: was climbing, he was descending like he was. There was
Speaker 3: no doubt about it. Like the two playoffs that he
Speaker 3: had obviously a year before they played, y'all, they got
Speaker 3: to the second round, and so he was able to
Speaker 3: kind of show, you know, like man, it's like he's
Speaker 3: on his way. But I mean to say that we
Speaker 3: all knew he was going to be at this level.
Speaker 3: You know, I don't think anybody expected that. No, none
Speaker 3: of us expected to win a championship our first year.
Speaker 3: That wasn't the mentality. It's like, let's get to the
Speaker 3: playoffs and you know, let's make our mark. That was
Speaker 3: kind of the mindset.
Speaker 4: But I I just.
Speaker 3: Remember that year. You know, I start out hurt again.
Speaker 3: I broke my toe, so I was out like the
Speaker 3: first all training camp. Came back the beginning of the season,
Speaker 3: and these dudes they rolling, I'm talking about you know
Speaker 3: they get off fifteen and two, sixteen and two. I'm like, damn,
Speaker 3: I ain't never went sixteen and two before, Like you know,
Speaker 3: this is this team actually all right? And so but
Speaker 3: I was wasn't contributing like I knew I could contribute,
Speaker 3: you know, like I was coming off a career year
Speaker 3: in Brooklyn, and I'm very I'm playing like you know,
Speaker 3: real backup minutes, you know, ten twelve minutes a game,
Speaker 3: you know, coming in for a breather type. So I'm like, man,
Speaker 3: you know I want to play more like I got to.
Speaker 3: And so I started, you know, getting myself into shape,
Speaker 3: you know, started healing up. Then by January started playing better,
Speaker 3: and I mean by that time, we got the best.
Speaker 4: Record in the league.
Speaker 3: Draymond is starting lineup, you know, like he kind of
Speaker 3: you know, he doing his thing.
Speaker 4: Splash bros.
Speaker 3: Is you know, they taken off and you know Steph's
Speaker 3: got all this MVP chatter, and it's like, damn, like
Speaker 3: we could we we might have a chance to win
Speaker 3: this thing. You know, like you know, you've been on
Speaker 3: teams where you know you hit them stretches in the
Speaker 3: regular season, like yo, we rolling right now, and we
Speaker 3: ain't just rolling, rolling.
Speaker 1: Over, rolling over people.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so like we you know, we might be
Speaker 3: one of the best teams out here, and we think
Speaker 3: we had that.
Speaker 2: Bob Myers went on record saying, here, pre share the
Speaker 2: championship the most for you. When you think about your journey,
Speaker 2: jumping straight out of high school, franchise player, that's what
Speaker 2: That's what the Clippers envisioned you in. You know, terrible injury,
Speaker 2: bounce around. You're looking for a role and you weren't
Speaker 2: even a role player. You're just looking for a role
Speaker 2: to play. You land on this team, find your footing,
Speaker 2: you know, midway through the season, and you get a
Speaker 2: chance to you know, feel that confetti come down in
Speaker 2: that champagne spray on you. Like, what was did the
Speaker 2: journey flash? Were you in the moment? What were you
Speaker 2: first thinking?
Speaker 3: Man I was in the moment, But the first thing
Speaker 3: I thought, I'm like, man I deserve this.
Speaker 1: Yeah right, yeah, yeah, Like that's.
Speaker 3: That's how it felt like I deserve it, you know,
Speaker 3: like all the man it is, you know, it's the journey.
Speaker 4: It's all the bs you got to go.
Speaker 3: Through and listen to people talk about, you know, stuff
Speaker 3: they don't know. He ain't that he can't do that,
Speaker 3: he can't do this, can't do that. So you know,
Speaker 3: it's again for me, like I felt validated in that way.
Speaker 4: I think we all did. You know obviously.
Speaker 3: That that twenty fifteen that Calves team, they ask some injuries,
Speaker 3: you know, but at the end of the day, you
Speaker 3: play who was in front of you, right, you know,
Speaker 3: And so that's that's how we felt about it. And
Speaker 3: you know, man like when we lift that trophy up,
Speaker 3: you know, it was worth it. It was worth all the grind,
Speaker 3: it was worth all the work, the hustle, bouncing, all
Speaker 3: them different teams, all the rehab, you know, all the
Speaker 3: coaches that you know I didn't like, played for it,
Speaker 3: did the right thing right, said the right thing, didn't
Speaker 3: you know, burn no bridges like all, you know, just
Speaker 3: trying to trying to make the right decisions throughout all
Speaker 3: the way through. Then you get to that finish line,
Speaker 3: you're like, yep, this this is it. This, this, this
Speaker 3: is it. This is good.
Speaker 2: We had Clay on the show earlier in the season.
Speaker 2: He said the three greatest shots in NBA history are
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan's turnaround, Kareem Skyhook, and Sean Livins didn't mid range? Bro,
Speaker 2: what's the secret to your mid range shots?
Speaker 4: On the internet? Man?
Speaker 1: And jump eight feet off the ground shooting the mid range?
Speaker 4: Man?
Speaker 2: Where did you get that from? Because you would never
Speaker 2: So this is what you think about. I mean this,
Speaker 2: this team is not necessarily your style. Looks like like
Speaker 2: they launched threes and run up and down and that
Speaker 2: wasn't necessarily your game no more. But you've created such
Speaker 2: an important niche on this team. But where did that
Speaker 2: that mid range they used to post them up? I
Speaker 2: was there, I seen it. It was that was used
Speaker 2: to post them up. My bapple got yous on that team.
Speaker 4: Yeah, man, that's all I said.
Speaker 1: Though I forgot you was on the team.
Speaker 2: I forgot I was on the team.
Speaker 4: He can't let me Joe go.
Speaker 1: He got to kill hisself.
Speaker 3: Jump Yeah, reverse man. Probably that was always my game.
Speaker 3: I was never a range shooter. Uh, you know, even
Speaker 3: coming in the league, that was kind of my achilles
Speaker 3: hell working on the jump shot stress, you know, being
Speaker 3: able to stretch the court. You know, it was starting
Speaker 3: to expand to that, you know, through my injury. And
Speaker 3: then once once my injury came, it was like, man,
Speaker 3: how am I going to be effective on the court.
Speaker 3: And it was like, you know, focus on your strengths
Speaker 3: and at the end of the day, things that you're
Speaker 3: not good at just you know, like, man, just stay
Speaker 3: away from those or lead, you know. So I was
Speaker 3: basically you know, staying in my sweet spots and and
Speaker 3: finding a way to affect the game being a threat
Speaker 3: on the court. How can I be a threat on
Speaker 3: the court? And for me, it was making defenses pay,
Speaker 3: you know, because I wasn't on the top of the
Speaker 3: scouting report, you know, I was you know, that was
Speaker 3: you know, that was the main guys. But it's how
Speaker 3: shacks say to others, you know, like that's you know,
Speaker 3: that's what ends up you know, winning playoff games and
Speaker 3: championships and things that nature, because you need those guys.
Speaker 3: You know, when you you out there that that low
Speaker 3: get heavy. You know, you're trying trying to score thirty
Speaker 3: forty you know, seven game series.
Speaker 4: So I knew that I could create, you know, a lane.
Speaker 3: And then also my basketball mind, I always had a
Speaker 3: you know, a knack for the game, just i Q
Speaker 3: knowing you know, where the ball is supposed to go, right,
Speaker 3: who should get the touches? You know, and then when
Speaker 3: we played, it was the big man, right, so you
Speaker 3: know you had to play inside out, but just man,
Speaker 3: just being a thread on the court. And then when
Speaker 3: I got to Golden State, man, they was they was
Speaker 3: launching threes, you know. Uh, and I'm stubborn, you know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying. So I'm like, man, I'm you know,
Speaker 3: I'm sticking with what I do. You know, like I'm
Speaker 3: rocking how I rock and uh, you know, we're gonna
Speaker 3: find a way. And I'm smart enough to figure this
Speaker 3: out to be on the court with him, you know,
Speaker 3: stay out the way. But you know, also they're gonna
Speaker 3: you know, defense not gonna guard me. I'm gonna make
Speaker 3: him pay. Right at the end of the day, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna tell you to death. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: your ball to death.
Speaker 4: Man. You know it worked.
Speaker 3: It worked, especially because of the personnel that I had,
Speaker 3: and that that's for me. That's that's what I know
Speaker 3: I needed. You know, I play always played well with
Speaker 3: a Foo spacing next to me, a shooting big, So
Speaker 3: that's that's why it worked out.
Speaker 1: How was it being on the seventy three and nineteen man, boy.
Speaker 3: That was some of the best basketball that in the
Speaker 3: year KD got there. It was some of the best
Speaker 3: basketball I probably ever played, you know, just from a
Speaker 3: sense of like being in sync, Like we were so
Speaker 3: in sync. And when I say we was in sync,
Speaker 3: like it was just scary.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 3: It was like we knew where each other was gonna
Speaker 3: be on the court, right, guys have roles. We was
Speaker 3: you know, it was all kind of you know, it
Speaker 3: was it was kind of defined, especially because we won
Speaker 3: a championship. And then I think also too, coming off
Speaker 3: the first championship, there was a lot of chatter about,
Speaker 3: you know, like we didn't earn it because of the
Speaker 3: injuries and the whole nine. So there was like a
Speaker 3: chip on our shoulder a little bit like prove it
Speaker 3: all right, Like yeah, like we got to go out
Speaker 3: and you know, go out and show us now. So
Speaker 3: I think we carried that into the season, you know,
Speaker 3: and Draymond is his first time, you know, now he's
Speaker 3: really locked in as a starter. He just signed a
Speaker 3: new deal, and uh, we had a lot of guys.
Speaker 3: We we rock with each other, and the personalities in
Speaker 3: the locker room. You know, Uh, if it would have
Speaker 3: been three or four Draymonds, maybe not. You know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying like, I mean that matters, you know too,
Speaker 3: I think that matters. And so we we had enough
Speaker 3: guys around him, the right Vets, you know, to let him,
Speaker 3: you know, be himself. Also Stephan Clay, you know, to
Speaker 3: like we wasn't hating on them, right like the Vets.
Speaker 3: We you know, we everybody wanted to see each other shine.
Speaker 3: And I think that was the difference maker when you
Speaker 3: got guys that are willing to fight for the next
Speaker 3: guy because it's like, I'm I'm rocking with you, bro.
Speaker 3: We you know, we're gonna we're gonna play hard for
Speaker 3: each other, especially when it hit the fan. That's when
Speaker 3: you really see, you know, if the team is you know,
Speaker 3: really together or not. And that team was together. We
Speaker 3: just we didn't get it done. So you know, that's
Speaker 3: that's that's what people gonna remember for show.
Speaker 5: Y'all got y'all getting Lebron in the finals. Take me
Speaker 5: back to the moments to Kyrie shot.
Speaker 3: Man, I felt like that ball hung in the air
Speaker 3: so long. I'm like, man, it's better not drive, it
Speaker 3: better not going, It's better damn it went in. But
Speaker 3: what crazy part about it is like he hit that shot,
Speaker 3: But I mean all of us still believe we were
Speaker 3: still gonna win that game because you know, Steph still
Speaker 3: had a chance to you know, to uh knock a
Speaker 3: shot in. But it just the thought of us losing
Speaker 3: that series just did not cross our mind.
Speaker 4: And so it was just h it was shocked, man.
Speaker 3: And I think they don't get enough credit to, you know,
Speaker 3: just especially Kyrie, like for what he was able.
Speaker 4: To do in that series, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, I tell people like Clay he
Speaker 3: you know, for a long time there he was one
Speaker 3: of the best two guards, you know, two players in
Speaker 3: the league right on the ball and then back on
Speaker 3: the other end. But I mean that was one of
Speaker 3: the only matchups I really seen somebody probably get the
Speaker 3: best of them, you know what I'm saying, Like, uh,
Speaker 3: for three straight games and it was just like this
Speaker 3: dude is.
Speaker 2: They was still contesting too. He was just about hitting
Speaker 2: right there, and it's like it's better.
Speaker 3: Oh, but it's like you don't want to say that
Speaker 3: because it's like, no, we got to find a way.
Speaker 3: He's just happening, you know, they will was just crazy.
Speaker 3: So uh, that was obviously, you know, a low point
Speaker 3: for the Dubs. At that time because everything we went
Speaker 3: through to get that record too, Like we went after
Speaker 3: that record knowing that probably you know, it was a
Speaker 3: lot of slippers towards the end of the year, like
Speaker 3: we was a team who knew how to win, you know.
Speaker 3: So like especially we start off for like twenty four
Speaker 3: and oh so like we would get into three quarters
Speaker 3: we bs and you know, and the fourth quarter. You
Speaker 3: know what I'm saying, it's like we knew how to win,
Speaker 3: like and then a lot of teams if you don't,
Speaker 3: like I said, if you don't go through that fire
Speaker 3: and start trusting each other, believe you know, a team's
Speaker 3: gonna crack, like they gonna fold, you know.
Speaker 2: So when did that conversation first start coming.
Speaker 3: Up that we can get that record towards Probably around
Speaker 3: All Star.
Speaker 4: Right after All Star, you know, let's go get it,
Speaker 4: let's go get it.
Speaker 3: We went on the East Coast swing, and I remember
Speaker 3: I think we were in Orlando. We had just beat
Speaker 3: Miami and you know, going through Miami, you know, and yeah, man,
Speaker 3: it's just you know, so we got.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we and.
Speaker 3: Then we got Orlando the next night and then.
Speaker 4: So we just you know, we boo boo.
Speaker 3: Out there on the court, and uh, Steph, Man, he
Speaker 3: just you know, he go into a thing and he
Speaker 3: just really he will us together, like he win that
Speaker 3: game pretty much. You know, I ain't gonna say buy himself,
Speaker 3: but by himself. Like and then I'm like, man, this dude,
Speaker 3: he's on he's on one right now. Like you know,
Speaker 3: I'm like, man, we you know, Steve had to talk
Speaker 3: with us.
Speaker 4: He's like, look, I was on the team.
Speaker 1: You know that team record.
Speaker 3: He was like, there was plenty of nights that we
Speaker 3: we probably shouldn't have won some of those games, but
Speaker 3: Mike was you know that good. And uh he was like, man,
Speaker 3: you guys have a real shot with the pieces that
Speaker 3: are in play right now, with how they're you know,
Speaker 3: how they're orbiting and you know working, It's like, you
Speaker 3: guys have a real shot to go get this. Do
Speaker 3: you want to He asked us, do you want to
Speaker 3: go for this record? We all looked around like yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, and Draymond obviously first one, like man, I
Speaker 3: want to go for it, you know, and then you know, Steph,
Speaker 3: and it was just all of us.
Speaker 4: We wanted to be a part of history.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: It was just it was an opportunity that you know,
Speaker 3: you don't get and I'm like, man, why are we playing?
Speaker 3: We all here to win, but now like let's make
Speaker 3: our mark out here. And you know, we had a
Speaker 3: couple you know, Uncle Andre I call him, you know, Uh,
Speaker 3: he just you know, he didn't want to necessarily go
Speaker 3: for it at the time because he saw the slippage
Speaker 3: and he like, man, we if we do all this
Speaker 3: and we don't win, it don't mean you don't mean nothing.
Speaker 3: So you know, like he he was in our ear,
Speaker 3: you know, because he was kind of like the wise man.
Speaker 3: Uh but man, we just we saw the you know,
Speaker 3: we we saw it in the distance. It was like, man,
Speaker 3: we got a chance to go get this. Let's go
Speaker 3: do it. And uh, we did have some slippage, you know,
Speaker 3: like trying to win some of those games, like just
Speaker 3: not building the right habits in exactly because you want
Speaker 3: to be rolling on all cylinders when you get into
Speaker 3: the playoffs. You know what I'm saying, Like you don't
Speaker 3: want to just have to flip that switch because that's
Speaker 3: may not like, man, it ain't working.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So you.
Speaker 3: Know that it was I'm grateful we went after I'm
Speaker 3: thankful in hindsight looking back and we got it. But
Speaker 3: of course you know, give me that ring, that ring.
Speaker 1: Help is on the way. Help, It's on the motherfucking.
Speaker 5: Way, signed KD. The next that's something I know, y'all
Speaker 5: was like, yeah, wait till we get back the eye
Speaker 5: ass again.
Speaker 3: I remember where I was at. I'm in the barber
Speaker 3: Sea and back in Puorre. I'm it coming. Look at
Speaker 3: the phone. What what man, listen, we got KD. We
Speaker 3: just got you, hear me. Like it was just it
Speaker 3: was in shock. Like I said, I wasn't on that
Speaker 3: that that trip to the Hamptons, but at the end
Speaker 3: of the day, it was like, man, it was just
Speaker 3: it was shocking to me to see that, like like, man,
Speaker 3: it's my like one of the best players in the
Speaker 3: world and what we just went through and he about
Speaker 3: to come, Like man, it's it's it's it's over. We
Speaker 3: about the we about the wreck shop, and we was
Speaker 3: coming off, you know, losing, so we already was we
Speaker 3: already was hungry, you know, and we had that chip
Speaker 3: you know, on our shoulder, and we had something to prove.
Speaker 3: So now with him coming in the fold, it was
Speaker 3: just like all right, let's go it's it was kind
Speaker 3: of like Us against the world mentality because we knew,
Speaker 3: right it was like it's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 3: you know, front runners out there talking, you know, talking trash.
Speaker 1: But you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 4: It is what it is.
Speaker 2: Before we get into that, that team and the run
Speaker 2: you guys went on, what was it like, what was
Speaker 2: the fandom like with that team, like off the court,
Speaker 2: going into different cities, just moving around.
Speaker 1: What was that like with the Beatles?
Speaker 3: It was, man, it was nuts. It started the year
Speaker 3: before when we was on the record. Uh, and it
Speaker 3: was Steph Stephan was you know, the main one that
Speaker 3: was just like yeah, man, it was like, you know,
Speaker 3: Michael Jackson out here like y'all got to go home,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 3: But you know, just I remember documenting, you know, how
Speaker 3: many people were outside at the bus when we were
Speaker 3: going to the game A couple of those times, like
Speaker 3: it really looked like you know, the Dream Team when
Speaker 3: they was you know over there overseas. It was that
Speaker 3: many people following and building, you know, and the Warriors
Speaker 3: already had you know a fan base in the Bay
Speaker 3: loyal and lawyer and I mean that kind of started,
Speaker 3: you know, y'all era, you know, like they love the Warriors,
Speaker 3: you better not say nothing, you know, like.
Speaker 4: For real, especially with that clanse your life.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it was, uh, you know, the fan base,
Speaker 3: it was you know, you start winning, you start you know,
Speaker 3: building up some fans and you know, but I think
Speaker 3: what we appreciated was, you know, there's a lot of
Speaker 3: loyal fans that's been there since day one, you know,
Speaker 3: and and in the Bay Area that's been there when
Speaker 3: they couldn't give away them.
Speaker 4: Tickets, you know, so we we appreciated them fans.
Speaker 2: So Kevin Durant comes in, one of the best players
Speaker 2: in the world. You continue to speak on how your guys'
Speaker 2: team was like this, and you think to add a
Speaker 2: superstar to a team like that, there would be some
Speaker 2: hiccups or some growing pains. But it outside, looking in,
Speaker 2: it looked pretty seamless. It may not have been, but
Speaker 2: it looked pretty seamless. Once you guys started rolling talk
Speaker 2: to us just about seeing nights.
Speaker 1: No, I was never there.
Speaker 2: So when you would see Clay, Stephen and k be
Speaker 2: out there just clicking, like what is that like?
Speaker 3: Man, it was like basketball and Nirvana for real. It
Speaker 3: was just and it was. It was a seamless fit.
Speaker 3: All the puzzles, all the piece to the puzzles fit.
Speaker 3: You know, like you got to you know a point
Speaker 3: guard who was you know, could play off the ball
Speaker 3: right and he wasn't selfish. He would get off of it,
Speaker 3: you know, like you bring it up. Uh, you know
Speaker 3: you got Clay who was a sniper out there, didn't
Speaker 3: need it, you know.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 4: And then KD.
Speaker 3: Man Man, people don't know how much this man is
Speaker 3: a student of the game, like just his work ethic.
Speaker 3: Like we talk about it, Me and Drake talk about it.
Speaker 3: It's like what kids need to do, is they need
Speaker 3: to like don't even watch practice, Watch after practice, watch
Speaker 3: after practice. How he go through his routine Like it's that.
Speaker 3: It's like, man, it's just you know, it's so you know,
Speaker 3: it's like a tactician man, Like he's just you know,
Speaker 3: surgical with his movements. Uh, you know, with the footwork,
Speaker 3: balance with the balance, with the form, you know, like
Speaker 3: and it means something to him. You know you can
Speaker 3: tell like he's studying, he watching taping home you know,
Speaker 3: like that man is you know, like he he lived
Speaker 3: the hoop for real, and so you know, watching him
Speaker 3: put the work in it was crazy because it's like, man,
Speaker 3: it's really a seven foot guard out here, you know,
Speaker 3: with these handles, dribbling like this, shooting like this, Like man,
Speaker 3: he shouldn't be able to do this and move this
Speaker 3: way beat his tall but uh, it fit because again,
Speaker 3: he was he was bought into from a standpoint of
Speaker 3: just wanting to win and play good basketball. Like that's
Speaker 3: you go back and look like that's always what he
Speaker 3: talked about, like I just want to play good basketball,
Speaker 3: like make the right plays. And I think that's something
Speaker 3: that we were building as an organization, as a as
Speaker 3: a team franchise.
Speaker 2: Like a standard, yeah, a standard of like.
Speaker 3: Man, just make the right play. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: Like you ain't gonta be the home run. It may
Speaker 3: be a time for that, and we'll get there when
Speaker 3: that happened, but let's build these habits because you never know,
Speaker 3: you know, you never know when you need you might
Speaker 3: need this person and you need them to do you know,
Speaker 3: do the right thing. And and so you know, that's
Speaker 3: what he bought into when he got to the Warriors.
Speaker 3: But then it was also times where it was like, oh, man, go.
Speaker 4: Go to your thing, like please.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, hold my drink, I got you.
Speaker 2: That was the one thing I used to tell people
Speaker 2: to dot was was seeing him and Steph after practice,
Speaker 2: because like you said, it was a seven foot version
Speaker 2: and then there's a six to two version doing the
Speaker 2: exact same balance thing. And there was no lucky shots
Speaker 2: because they worked on all these backboard angles. Level of
Speaker 2: the backboard balance ship was unbelievable.
Speaker 3: And when they would work out to most of the
Speaker 3: time they work out separate gods to have their own courts.
Speaker 3: Klay got his own course, Steph kd Andre and then
Speaker 3: sometimes they'll work out and got Steve Kerb or Steve Nashrica.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness. It was like a movie. It was
Speaker 3: a movie because it was like, man, it was like
Speaker 3: watching there's a video game. Man, they wasn't missing, but
Speaker 3: just again the footwork, you know, the technique, shooting off
Speaker 3: left leg, shooting off the right leg, glass you know,
Speaker 3: just man. And it was form, you know, it was form.
Speaker 3: It was fundamentals, you know, And that to me is
Speaker 3: like what I think the youth, you know, that's what
Speaker 3: you need to see and watch watch they footwork, Watch
Speaker 3: how you line is his feet up before you even
Speaker 3: catch the ball you ready to shoot, you know, and
Speaker 3: they were just so methodical with the way they went
Speaker 3: about it and consistent. That was the biggest work, the
Speaker 3: consistency of doing it time after time at the time.
Speaker 3: And we all professional athletes and so we worked put
Speaker 3: a lot of time in our game.
Speaker 4: We take our craft serious.
Speaker 3: But I mean, man, them dudes, man like it was.
Speaker 3: It was literally like routines every day every day to.
Speaker 2: Watch, yeah and speak think about it. I mean, you
Speaker 2: coming from where you came from where once you guys
Speaker 2: were done when your rookie year the court and you
Speaker 2: go in the locker room, like when you go on
Speaker 2: that Golden State, Like you said, everyone has their court,
Speaker 2: the young players on the far end running, but all
Speaker 2: the main guys have their own basket. And every single
Speaker 2: day they shot every day, every single day, bro.
Speaker 4: Every day, every day.
Speaker 3: And it was it was you know, like sometimes man,
Speaker 3: Steph was just like we you know, we'll catch ourselves watching,
Speaker 3: you know, as players, because you know it's like, man,
Speaker 3: this dude, you know, like he'll shoot all these crazy,
Speaker 3: crazy ass shots in the game, you know, and they going,
Speaker 3: you know, and so but you see what he's working on,
Speaker 3: right and it's like, oh, this isn't extraordinary, you know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying, It's just the ordinary work that he's
Speaker 3: putting in time at the time, at the time to
Speaker 3: get to that place. And then also I say another thing,
Speaker 3: like his touch is unbelievable, you know, and Katie has
Speaker 3: that you know, soft touch, but his touch like you know,
Speaker 3: man to be able to shoot shoot them shots all
Speaker 3: the way up in the air like that, and you know,
Speaker 3: like he him and Joker to me like you know, they.
Speaker 4: Got some of the best. Yeah, they touched different.
Speaker 2: So sixteen and one get you another championship going to
Speaker 2: the next season. Uh, and you guys are able to
Speaker 2: capture three championships in four seasons. Where's your mind at
Speaker 2: at this point into the eighteen season?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 3: Well man, it was just you know, it's like all right,
Speaker 3: we went went back to back. You know, it was
Speaker 3: just like, you know, we got a chance. Let's let's
Speaker 3: let's keep winning. Let's keep doing it, you know. Uh
Speaker 3: that was twenty eighteen and then Boogie signed, and then
Speaker 3: Boogie signed and it was just like, oh man, they
Speaker 3: about to give us Boogie like you know, like, man,
Speaker 3: this is is about to get real unfair because you know,
Speaker 3: he we never had a scoring big like you know,
Speaker 3: like that that had game on.
Speaker 4: The block, post work, shoot three.
Speaker 3: Dime, you handle that thing like man, bugs cold, you know,
Speaker 3: like for real and uh and so he came in
Speaker 3: that year, you know, and he was working his way
Speaker 3: back from injury and uh, you know, I just remember
Speaker 3: another one just he you know, bug was misunderstood man,
Speaker 3: just you know, like having a chance to come into
Speaker 3: our organization and prove his word, prove himself. You know,
Speaker 3: he was determined to do that. And so like I
Speaker 3: built up a lot of respect for him in that
Speaker 3: journey because he was going through the rehab process, getting
Speaker 3: himself back and trying to prove the people he you
Speaker 3: know what he could do.
Speaker 2: That's the first winning, real environment he's been in since college.
Speaker 4: Ain't that crazy? And that matters for young players.
Speaker 3: So where you go, you know, like being able to
Speaker 3: have an environment where you know, they they preach about
Speaker 3: doing the right things, you know, and about what is
Speaker 3: your preparation, what's your approach to the game, because it
Speaker 3: matters because it's like, you know, we all talented, you know,
Speaker 3: and especially coming into the league, you was the man
Speaker 3: wherever you was at in college, high school, whatever, you know, hey,
Speaker 3: you wherever. So the mentality is like, you know, you
Speaker 3: made it, but it's like you really got to prove
Speaker 3: yourself again, like I was saying, But it's it's you know,
Speaker 3: it's the preparation that goes into that. And so with
Speaker 3: bug Man, like twenty nineteen, he just you know, you know,
Speaker 3: he had a pretty good year solid. We were up
Speaker 3: and down, had a lot of injuries that year. I
Speaker 3: ended up losing to Toronto and the finals. KD obviously
Speaker 3: went down, Clay went down, We shot all our bullets.
Speaker 4: We were just we was on fumes.
Speaker 3: But that was like, man, I was five straight years
Speaker 3: of going to the finals.
Speaker 4: So it was just like, man, it was you know,
Speaker 4: we was we was we.
Speaker 3: Was burning out, you know, like mentally, emotionally, you know,
Speaker 3: kind of getting desensitized about the game and about the moment.
Speaker 3: You know, we're supposed to be really in it and
Speaker 3: enjoying it, and I think, I don't I don't want
Speaker 3: to say we were taking it for granted, but it
Speaker 3: was just the standpoint it's like, oh, we did it,
Speaker 3: you know, and so we can do it again. And
Speaker 3: it's not that it was the norm for y'all exactly
Speaker 3: exactly that one game KD came back the game he
Speaker 3: got hurt.
Speaker 5: I know, everybody was like, the first couple of shots,
Speaker 5: oh that's over.
Speaker 1: He hit the first couple of threes, like, oh he
Speaker 1: back yards over. They've been to blow him out. Then
Speaker 1: he went down.
Speaker 3: Man, Listen, we were so hyped when he came back though.
Speaker 3: We was I'm talking about before he even got out there.
Speaker 3: We you know, doing the whole pregame. You know, he
Speaker 3: did his dance and when I tell you, the whole dance,
Speaker 3: we was watching the feed making sure it's like, make
Speaker 3: sure he goodn He hit that dance so hard it
Speaker 3: was like, oh yeah, we about to do it.
Speaker 4: And then he went down.
Speaker 3: Man, it was just it was it was tough to
Speaker 3: watch because knowing that, you know, he put it on
Speaker 3: the line right, knowing that he was about to be
Speaker 3: a free agent, and uh, you know, man, listen, at
Speaker 3: the time, you know, like we knew. I think, you know,
Speaker 3: I knew personally like I was on my last leg,
Speaker 3: but I felt like I knew that, you know, he
Speaker 3: had a calling to be somewhere else and he wanted
Speaker 3: to test the Water Free Agency and find his own lane.
Speaker 3: So you know that was that was tough to see
Speaker 3: because again, like you know, he didn't have to do that.
Speaker 3: He could have just you know, he could have just
Speaker 3: played the cut and say, you know, I'm injured. But he,
Speaker 3: you know, he put it, put it on the line
Speaker 3: for us, and uh, you know, obviously we're grateful.
Speaker 4: Wish it wouldn't turn.
Speaker 3: Out that way, right, but uh, you know, man, I mean,
Speaker 3: he he gave it all.
Speaker 4: He gave it all to us, though he gave it
Speaker 4: all to him.
Speaker 2: That's seventeen team, one of the greatest teams of all.
Speaker 3: Time, definitely, I mean, just that much of talent, that
Speaker 3: much talent, Like you know, you it's hard to stop everybody,
Speaker 3: you know what I'm saying, Like it's hard to compare
Speaker 3: errors now, Like I grew up on the Bulls, so
Speaker 3: that's always going to be a cream Dela Creme for me,
Speaker 3: you know, Mike and Scottie. But man, all the weapons
Speaker 3: and then they fit, like I said, the pieces of
Speaker 3: the puzzle fit, like you don't have people stepping on
Speaker 3: each other's toes, and especially you know towards the end
Speaker 3: of that run. You know, obviously the media get involved
Speaker 3: and you know, like a yeah, trying to find the cracks.
Speaker 3: You know, they trying to trying to break us up,
Speaker 3: and you know it's it's the Warriors and KD. You know,
Speaker 3: it's Katie and the Warriors, and so all that dissension
Speaker 3: and stuff start, you know, playing in the locker room
Speaker 3: and stuff. But I mean, like, man, when you talk
Speaker 3: about I seen him locked in, Like when we all
Speaker 3: locked in and all together and he bought in and
Speaker 3: we bought in, It's like, you know, it's another level.
Speaker 3: It was another level. It's another level of basketball. So
Speaker 3: I vote yes, Yeah, you're tied in twenty nineteen. Did
Speaker 3: you do you ever get a chance to sit back
Speaker 3: and say, I wonder for your career was.
Speaker 4: I did that year I took off?
Speaker 1: I did?
Speaker 4: It was tough.
Speaker 3: It was tough because you know, basketball was like the
Speaker 3: only thing that you know, I.
Speaker 4: Knew since the cradle. So it was like a death.
Speaker 3: Right like you know, it's like a death in that way,
Speaker 3: like morning the game, you know, And I was talking
Speaker 3: to you about it, you know when we was we
Speaker 3: was playing just mulling, you know, seeing the handwriting on
Speaker 3: the wall and you know, trying to get tips on
Speaker 3: you know what to do, not having you know, having
Speaker 3: a lot more time on your hands and all that.
Speaker 3: But it's I'm I'm grateful man, Like I'm working on
Speaker 3: the book, you know, gotta tell the story, you know,
Speaker 3: if not meeting who what's the title? I got to
Speaker 3: work on that you need? But let's roll up after this.
Speaker 3: He'll give you a couple of title this. Yeah, I
Speaker 3: know you got some some cooking for me. But yeah, yeah, definitely,
Speaker 3: it was. It was. It was a good journey. I'm
Speaker 3: grateful for it, and I wouldn't I wouldn't change the thing.
Speaker 2: Quick hitters first thing to come to mind. Let us know,
Speaker 2: bron Cole, m J rank.
Speaker 4: Them favorite or just best? What we're talking a little
Speaker 4: bit of both? Oh man, m J. Cole, Bron.
Speaker 3: I mean maybe it's an era thing, but you know,
Speaker 3: like that's that's that's where I'm not. That's where I'm
Speaker 3: at the greatest. You know, Mike, what he did? What
Speaker 3: do your coin push? You know, watched it? Felt it
Speaker 3: uh cold, you know, the greatest player I ever guarded, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, on the court and bron Wood he's accomplished.
Speaker 2: So yeah, Robert always sat there yesterday and so it
Speaker 2: was the same thing.
Speaker 4: Yeah really, yeah.
Speaker 5: That's how I go up. But they kill me for
Speaker 5: saying that, though damn I was. It was just they
Speaker 5: killed me for saying.
Speaker 2: That because you They killed me saying that you got
Speaker 2: any good cold stories, cold stories.
Speaker 4: I remember when I came in the league. He was
Speaker 4: grilling me.
Speaker 3: You know, young fella, you love the game, you know,
Speaker 3: like he was really trying to find out, you know,
Speaker 3: if I was in it.
Speaker 4: For the lifestyle or if I was a hooper.
Speaker 3: You know, And I think, uh, I think he felt
Speaker 3: that I was, you know, a real hooper. You know,
Speaker 3: I kept you know, I was quiet. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 3: love it, but it's my rookie year, so uh but
Speaker 3: I just remember guarding them at the time. That's when
Speaker 3: I was able to get on the court and make
Speaker 3: my name on the defensive end. And uh man, just
Speaker 3: the just the counters that he had that man like
Speaker 3: this dude, man, he shot a fade away with the
Speaker 3: left on me. Like how disreselectful is that? You know,
Speaker 3: like just just that he tried it, you know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying. But in a game and game just at
Speaker 3: the court, like you just you're gonna try this front
Speaker 3: all these people getting my dad out here, like, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, he he was. He it was the mentality
Speaker 3: of the mindset. And of course people talk that mama mentality,
Speaker 3: but like unless you really play with him and know,
Speaker 3: like you know, how he really was, you know, like
Speaker 3: it's best to really lead that in the past. What
Speaker 3: I'm saying, like, that's just my personal opinion, you know
Speaker 3: what Bob said. Bob said, some people shouldn't even speak
Speaker 3: on that's just my personal opinion. Man, Like just being
Speaker 3: in LA and hearing the stories and like I didn't
Speaker 3: ever play with him, and I didn't know him, weren't friends,
Speaker 3: you know, but it's just like, man, you know, like
Speaker 3: the amount of work that he put in to the game,
Speaker 3: to his craft was maniacal, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: It was like maniacal, Like you got to make a
Speaker 3: decision like what you what's really important to you, you know,
Speaker 3: like some guys, you know, family, lifestyle, whatever the case,
Speaker 3: you know, whatever, money, financial, Like it really was hoop
Speaker 3: for him and everything else came, you know, so like
Speaker 3: he was he was really living that life. And I
Speaker 3: had to question myself, like do I really love the game?
Speaker 3: Like I should be working out like like that you
Speaker 3: know anc maniacal. It was maniacal. What does that mean?
Speaker 4: It was like it was a maniac. It was a
Speaker 4: maniac you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: Like you know, I asked, no doubt I'm a moniacal. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 5: I'm diabolical, diabolical.
Speaker 4: But cold man. He was.
Speaker 3: Like he was again, he was regret Like I said,
Speaker 3: he was the best player I guarded, just because.
Speaker 4: Of the countermoves that he had.
Speaker 3: Uh you know, you take one thing away, he has
Speaker 3: something else and he would will his team, you know,
Speaker 3: like you The moment was never too big and he
Speaker 3: was just a killer.
Speaker 5: One album on repeat that you listen to Blueprint, that's
Speaker 5: that for real.
Speaker 2: Five dinner guess better live, five dinner guests, uh dead
Speaker 2: or live?
Speaker 4: Yeah, pop Tupot.
Speaker 3: H Obama met him, but just to sit and have
Speaker 3: dinner with him.
Speaker 4: Jay Z Martin Malcolm, I can't go wrong.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be nice.
Speaker 5: Top five five mid rain shooters ever, don't be bad
Speaker 5: for neither.
Speaker 1: There you go. You know I know that.
Speaker 4: I know it's gonna be in the many uh top five?
Speaker 4: All right?
Speaker 3: Sam Cassell, mm hmm, you gotta put MJ in there
Speaker 3: because you know m j cole Thress three, I'm putting
Speaker 3: Katie in there for show, and uh man, let me
Speaker 3: let me think about somebody from mid range mid range
Speaker 3: mid range, mid range, mid range, I mean from this era.
Speaker 3: I think you you know, you say Tomorrow tomar Derosen.
Speaker 3: If I'm going kind of the older era, a player
Speaker 3: that I watch, what's my guy from Detroit? Yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 3: rip rip ripton around.
Speaker 4: That was kind of like how.
Speaker 1: The fingernails.
Speaker 4: I ain't guard him as much as you did, so yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, best player in the world right now, best.
Speaker 4: Player in the world right now.
Speaker 3: Oh man, I'm biased, you know, so I always I
Speaker 3: always always say Steph. But if i'm you know, best
Speaker 3: player in the world.
Speaker 2: Outside of your former team, yeah, outside of your teammate.
Speaker 4: Right right right?
Speaker 3: Oh man, total package, total package. I mean, it's it's
Speaker 3: got to be. It's hard not to say bron you know,
Speaker 3: he's he's older now, so I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say, yok,
Speaker 3: you go, I'm gonna says you got to And it's
Speaker 3: always for me. It's about like I want to give
Speaker 3: it to the you know, the ball handlers, the guards,
Speaker 3: you know, the forwards, the ones who's kind of doing that.
Speaker 4: But I mean he's.
Speaker 3: Doing all all of like he's he is, you know,
Speaker 3: the son that makes everything else, you know, he you know,
Speaker 3: makes everything else work. And uh uh that dude man,
Speaker 3: he you know, he just carve you up. Like that's
Speaker 3: why everybody, that's why they play the way they do
Speaker 3: because of him and his personality. Like we relate with that,
Speaker 3: you know, with stuff being kind of the second way,
Speaker 3: like you know that that humble personality.
Speaker 4: To where he he he boosts.
Speaker 3: You up, he empower you and uh you know you
Speaker 3: you cut, he gonna throw you the rock.
Speaker 5: Who would you like to see on all the smoke?
Speaker 5: But I was waiting, getting ready to answer, but you
Speaker 5: have to help us get your answer on the show.
Speaker 5: I'm just too cold with this question. I used to
Speaker 5: fumble with this question like a mom brother too.
Speaker 2: I ain't never seen Mucker compliment itself so much.
Speaker 1: That's hard. That's hard. Break you and pat yourself on
Speaker 1: the back.
Speaker 2: Let me let me let me give you thanks.
Speaker 3: Bro.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. I'm cool.
Speaker 5: I'm cool with the checks you mean getting miss You
Speaker 5: ain't got to pat me on the back.
Speaker 3: Y'all haven't had a lot of people on the show though, man,
Speaker 3: like y'all got a lot of.
Speaker 4: The verse too. Is the verse, you know?
Speaker 3: So I don't know y'all, y'all reaches, it's it's it's
Speaker 3: getting up there. Who hasn't been on that? Maybe? Yeah,
Speaker 3: the owners on any owners of the teams. I think
Speaker 3: it would be good to have one of the owners
Speaker 3: on one.
Speaker 1: You know, what kind of did we have a former
Speaker 1: Mike Ruby.
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, yeah he was dope though. Yeah he different, yeah, different.
Speaker 1: He wanted us right now, he wanted to right.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think one of the owners just to give people
Speaker 3: some perspective, like, you know, like behind the scenes, you know,
Speaker 3: like tell us really know what's what's going on, you know.
Speaker 5: You know I had to pick somebody from, I would
Speaker 5: say Donnie Walsh. That would be somebody, you know what
Speaker 5: I'm saying, Cause he got some stories. He's been around
Speaker 5: a long time. He worked with the Right the Pacers, yep, yeah,
Speaker 5: he was around a broad time, so he I think
Speaker 5: Donna Wahs would be good for us too.
Speaker 2: But Sean, man, we appreciate you. Your journey has been incredible,
Speaker 2: real quick. Yeah, something you can throw on around, something
Speaker 2: you can throw on around, there.
Speaker 1: Yeah you guys, Yeah, I know that. I appreciate you
Speaker 1: that story. You can get it, you can be fly,
Speaker 1: just like showing as that you know.
Speaker 2: Your journey, your perseverance, and then again getting a chance
Speaker 2: to know you obviously as a person that's been great.
Speaker 2: Like again, you know, a great player, but a better
Speaker 2: person than that's saying a lot. So man, we appreciate you,
Speaker 2: your grind, your drive and you know now you're in
Speaker 2: the front office, man, so we expect nothing but greatness.
Speaker 2: So best of lock Brof.
Speaker 1: You ever want to know how cold I will just
Speaker 1: go ask him, yes sir, or just ask him because
Speaker 1: he gonna.
Speaker 5: Talk.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, man, But that's the wrap.
Speaker 2: Sean Livingston, show Time Basketball YouTube and the iHeart Platform
Speaker 2: Black Effects.
Speaker 1: We'll see y'all next week.