Speaker 1: Who's gonna be the face of the NBA in the
Speaker 1: next two years. I'm gonna give you Jaw, Luca Trey Young,
Speaker 1: LaMelo Ball. It'll be between LaMelo Ball and Jaw if
Speaker 1: they're LaMelo Ball can get to Lala Layer because I
Speaker 1: think he's built for that. Yes, like he has that personality,
Speaker 1: that moxie like, he's built for that. I think he
Speaker 1: can be that face all my life, running all my life,
Speaker 1: sac of fice, hustle, beg, pricing, one slice, got the
Speaker 1: dice swad all my life. I've been running all my life,
Speaker 1: all my life, and running all my life, sacrifice, hustle, beg, pricing,
Speaker 1: one slice, got the dice swad all my life. I've
Speaker 1: been running all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition
Speaker 1: of Club Shay. I am your whole Shannon Sharp. I'm
Speaker 1: also the proprietor of Club sha Shay and the guy
Speaker 1: that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today because
Speaker 1: a seven time All Star, a seven time All NBA selection,
Speaker 1: a two time scoring champ, a gold medalist Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: His government name is Tracy McGrady. We all know him
Speaker 1: as T Mac. T Mac. What's up, brother, I'm good brother.
Speaker 1: It's a pleasure to be on your platform. Man, thanks
Speaker 1: for coming on today. How are you doing. I'm doing
Speaker 1: good man. You know, I've been retired for about nine
Speaker 1: ten years now, four kids, married. I'm loving life, bro.
Speaker 1: And what's crazy is I'm more busier now than when
Speaker 1: I was actually playing ball. Yeah, we kids. Of course
Speaker 1: you're gonna be more busy. Listen, I'm being pulled every weekend,
Speaker 1: whether it's volleyball, it's my son's hey you basketball, I'm
Speaker 1: all over the place every weekend. I am gone. So
Speaker 1: what's the ages. So I have a daughter at the
Speaker 1: University of Miami right now, this start freshman year. Okay,
Speaker 1: she's the oldest. My youngest is twelve. So I got nineteen, sixteen, fourteen,
Speaker 1: and thirteen. Two boys, two girls. Oh that's that's great. Congratulations. First,
Speaker 1: let me congratul let your own your business venture. You
Speaker 1: started a league. It's called OBL one Basketball League. First,
Speaker 1: let me ask you what made you decide to start
Speaker 1: your own league and watch this format? Well, I think
Speaker 1: you know when you look at the landscape of sports,
Speaker 1: we have three on three you talk about UFC, whereas
Speaker 1: one on one fighting you talk about tennis, you know,
Speaker 1: two people going at it. But in the sport of basketball,
Speaker 1: we don't have one on one. Right, we have we
Speaker 1: have underground leagues, but we don't have a major platform
Speaker 1: to identify. There's a lot of untapped talent out here.
Speaker 1: Everybody can't make it to the NBA, right, everybody can
Speaker 1: get that call to go and play overseas and make
Speaker 1: one hundred, you know, so a half a million dollars.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to give guys an opportunity here in
Speaker 1: the States, give them that platform. And some of these guys,
Speaker 1: you know, probably had something to it, you know alone
Speaker 1: their journey where they deviated off the course, made the
Speaker 1: left turner, and you know, things happened. They were teenagers
Speaker 1: and they didn't get the opportunity through their dream. I
Speaker 1: want to offer that dream. So I'm looking to create stars,
Speaker 1: tell their stories and take this thing global. Do you
Speaker 1: think one of these guys are because obviously one on
Speaker 1: one and the thing but the NBA is that all
Speaker 1: the really great players are all really exceptional one on
Speaker 1: one players. Do you think your platform will allow some
Speaker 1: of the guys to get a look even if they
Speaker 1: don't have college eligibility. So I'm not. I don't want
Speaker 1: NBA players, Okay, I mean I don't want NBA. Don't
Speaker 1: want retire NBA guys. No't retired NBA guys. No, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no no no no. Say sharp, there's some guys
Speaker 1: on the block right now, right. But if give the
Speaker 1: elite NBA players the business in the game and one
Speaker 1: on what at the freaking lute League? I listen, I've
Speaker 1: seen some of these guys shake and these guys, man,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of under underground leads that are out here.
Speaker 1: They people just don't know about it. I want to
Speaker 1: give them a platform. I'm telling you there are Kyrie's
Speaker 1: out here. There are James Harden's out here, Katie, They're
Speaker 1: out here. I've seen them. Wow. The league, the ages
Speaker 1: are from eighteen and up. The games are gonna start
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, dm V LA, the Bay
Speaker 1: Areas with the finals in Vegas. Now, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: three winners from each city. Correct, Those three guys in
Speaker 1: each city advanced to Vegas. Yes, sir, you win ten
Speaker 1: thousand for each city. The winner of each city will
Speaker 1: win ten thousand. So there's thirty two participants okay, in
Speaker 1: each city that we're invited, so you only take it
Speaker 1: one one for each city. No, no, no, we're taking three, okay,
Speaker 1: but I'm saying the number one winner is gonna win
Speaker 1: the pot, okay for that for that region, Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: and then you go to Vegas. So all three twenty
Speaker 1: one they're going to Vegas, Okay, And that's where we're
Speaker 1: gonna crown the king, the ruler of the court for
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. So the winner gets
Speaker 1: two fifty the other twenty. Bro, y'all had a good run,
Speaker 1: but it's up. Hey, hey man, come back. Try to
Speaker 1: get next year. Bro. But you know, I look at this,
Speaker 1: you know this platform, I kind of you know, want
Speaker 1: to get to where UFC is at right, right, Okay?
Speaker 1: Who was the UFC fighters before they got on that platform? Correct?
Speaker 1: And then they became this character and became you know,
Speaker 1: a big household name. That's what I want to do
Speaker 1: for these guys and for the one on one league,
Speaker 1: That's exactly what I want to do. Team back. I
Speaker 1: don't know what we used to have a game. We
Speaker 1: called it eleven, or we called it twenty one. You
Speaker 1: own no team and you grab the ball and everybody
Speaker 1: had to play defense. You tried to score on everybody,
Speaker 1: and the winner you felt like you're really accopy something
Speaker 1: because sometimes you got a guy that's way taller than you,
Speaker 1: way all older than you guarding you, and the first
Speaker 1: one to eleven or the first one to twenty one, man,
Speaker 1: you felt like you will copy something. Man. Absolutely. So
Speaker 1: here's here's what I don't want to happen though, Shay.
Speaker 1: I want to have a five pen guy going up
Speaker 1: against a sixteen guy, right. You know what I'm saying
Speaker 1: like that that's kind of lopsided because the sixteen guy
Speaker 1: already got to do is just back the guy down
Speaker 1: and then you know, get an easy bucket. So going
Speaker 1: through the first season, you know we're gonna have to
Speaker 1: try to watch out for that. But here's what here's
Speaker 1: what the ideal of one on one and what I
Speaker 1: want to bring to the people. I want to break
Speaker 1: it into a hype class. Yeah, ok, yeah, we gonna
Speaker 1: have weight classes. I want to do hype classes. So
Speaker 1: you got you six three and under right right, you
Speaker 1: got your six four six seventh class right right? So
Speaker 1: I wanted to be even down. I don't want this
Speaker 1: to be a gimmick, right and then if you know,
Speaker 1: in those classes, whether it's a six three guy who's
Speaker 1: the champion and there's a sixteen guy and the fans
Speaker 1: want to see that matchup, hey, maybe maybe you will
Speaker 1: make that happen, but I want it to be evely
Speaker 1: matched right before we you know, create those type of matchups,
Speaker 1: because I don't want it to be a gimmick. It's
Speaker 1: funny that you say that because in the original UFC
Speaker 1: there weren't no weight classes. So you have a hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty pound guy fighting the two fifty or three
Speaker 1: hundred pound guy. Absolutely, and it wasn't a great contest.
Speaker 1: It wasn't It wasn't a great contest. T Mack. When
Speaker 1: did when did T mac happen? I mean, obviously you
Speaker 1: say you got a son that's playing a traveling au ball,
Speaker 1: You played traveling aau ball, you went to the tournament attorneys.
Speaker 1: I don't know if the ABC, the Nike, or whatever
Speaker 1: the case may be. When did T mac become T Mac?
Speaker 1: Nineteen ninety six, Summer of nineteen ninety six and teen
Speaker 1: of New Jersey. I was playing spring football sharp and
Speaker 1: out of nowhere, this guy that was affiliated with Adidas,
Speaker 1: came down to Polk County and said he had an
Speaker 1: opportunity for me. But within that opportunity, I had to
Speaker 1: stop playing football. So he gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 1: go and play at the Adida's camp. I knew nothing
Speaker 1: about this. This is my first camp ever. You know.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm in small you know, Argandale, Florida, ten thousand people.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's going on outside of central Florida, right.
Speaker 1: I hear about lamar Odom and these these elite guys,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you know, let's go. I want to
Speaker 1: I want to see where I am as a basketball
Speaker 1: player because I felt that I'm one of the best.
Speaker 1: But I don't know. I've never laid against talent outside
Speaker 1: of you know, Florida, Right. So I get to this
Speaker 1: camp sharp and I'm seeing this sixteen point guard man
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, bo, you know sixteen where I'm at,
Speaker 1: They're gonna make you the center because dude is bringing
Speaker 1: the ball up and he looked smooth. I'm like, so
Speaker 1: he was the first guy faced man and you know,
Speaker 1: I had a great game against him. And then throughout
Speaker 1: that whole camp, you know. I was just making a
Speaker 1: name for myself. There's the buzz going around like this
Speaker 1: is cat, this cat Tracey McGrady from Florida, and blow
Speaker 1: here comes up. I made the All Star Game that weekend.
Speaker 1: In the signature to put the icing on the cake
Speaker 1: for that weekend, I was coming down on the left
Speaker 1: side and a guy was running down the middle and
Speaker 1: I didn't really see him. I was gonna wind mill,
Speaker 1: you know that. That was in my mind, So wind
Speaker 1: mid this ball. So I went up wind mill. It's
Speaker 1: just so happy. He jumped into me and I win
Speaker 1: mill doing him and everybody in the stands, people running
Speaker 1: on the court. It was pandemonium in there. Okay, that's
Speaker 1: when I arrived. From that point on, I made a
Speaker 1: name for myself. And that just took place in the summer.
Speaker 1: So you knew from that moment, Okay, there's gonna never
Speaker 1: be any more football. I'm Tracy mcgrade. I've arrived. Okay,
Speaker 1: let me focus on this. My life changed at that
Speaker 1: very moment. When I left that camp, I was being
Speaker 1: considered as the top prospect in our class in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety seven class high school basketball players. When it played out,
Speaker 1: my high school career. My year in Durham North Carolina,
Speaker 1: and I became the number one basketball player in America.
Speaker 1: So you leave Florida to go to Durham North Carolina.
Speaker 1: What kind of transition was that? Because you have said
Speaker 1: you really haven't been out of outside of Central Florida.
Speaker 1: You hadn't seen a whole lot of players outside of
Speaker 1: Central Florida. So now you leave your your base with
Speaker 1: your Central Florida and go to Durham North Carolina. Why
Speaker 1: did you do that? You know what I say, it's
Speaker 1: it's really just taking a leap of faith, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Because I've seen so many guys come
Speaker 1: before me that was extremely talented, but they ended up
Speaker 1: becoming local heroes, local celebrities, if you will, right, So
Speaker 1: this was just an opportunity. I mean, this was all
Speaker 1: God's God's playing for somebody to discover me that I
Speaker 1: had no relationship with and give me the opportunity to
Speaker 1: go to this Adidas camp. That was that that created
Speaker 1: the path for me, and that created confidence that I
Speaker 1: was on that right path. So it was just a
Speaker 1: no brainer for me to leave Florida because of the
Speaker 1: opportunity that you know, prevented itself and I couldn't. I
Speaker 1: could not let that pass by. And it was you know,
Speaker 1: obviously be and a great decision on you know, my
Speaker 1: my part in my family. Your senior year, after you
Speaker 1: finish up your senior year, did you have any ambitions
Speaker 1: of going to play college? Oh, so you were going
Speaker 1: to go to Kentucky? Yes, sir, I knew he was
Speaker 1: going with that, Yes, sir. Listen, I took my visit
Speaker 1: to a couple of colleges, but I went. When I
Speaker 1: went to Kentucky and I saw how those boys was living,
Speaker 1: I said, I'm going. This is where I want to
Speaker 1: go to school. Okay, right, I was already a fan
Speaker 1: before I went there. Right, Well, I took that visit, bro,
Speaker 1: and I seen how they were living up there as
Speaker 1: college students, college athletes. Right, I want to go. I
Speaker 1: want to go to Kentucky. What Adidas? You go to
Speaker 1: the Adida's camp. You make a name for yourself into
Speaker 1: Adida's camp. Adidas come in and say, okay, we got
Speaker 1: something special here. We're about to break him off. What's
Speaker 1: going through your mind now? So I'm sitting in my
Speaker 1: coach's office, okay, and you know he's telling me you
Speaker 1: know giving me this speech. You know, I know you
Speaker 1: love Kentucky and what they have to offer, and I
Speaker 1: know you'll do grades. It's giving me all this, But
Speaker 1: he's like, I have an offer from Adidas. They want
Speaker 1: you really bad. And when he sat it in front
Speaker 1: of me, it's at that time, eighteen years old, it's
Speaker 1: not a hard decision, you know what I mean. It's
Speaker 1: it's not a hard decision when we came from right
Speaker 1: from where we came from. That's it's like, man, forget college, Bro,
Speaker 1: They me twelve million dollars, Like, but I can't turn
Speaker 1: that down, right, So you see this checking night, Tracy McGrady,
Speaker 1: twelve million? What's going through your mind? Mama? We made it. Man. Look,
Speaker 1: hey man, look, I ain't gotta be laying on the
Speaker 1: couch and hearing rat traps can pop. Ain't y'all to
Speaker 1: turn on the stove the warm up the house that night.
Speaker 1: I gotta go get some cakerosene to put on that heat.
Speaker 1: They ain't gotta do none of that stuff. Don't go,
Speaker 1: hey man, this is too much information for you. But Bro,
Speaker 1: I used to sit sit on the toilet and have
Speaker 1: to raise my feet up because we had rats running around. Bro.
Speaker 1: I'm saying like, hey, man, oh the day's low with Bro.
Speaker 1: So you obviously your mom's not there. What's your mom
Speaker 1: with you? Or did you call your mom on the
Speaker 1: phone say mom, get up here. I got some great
Speaker 1: new I want you to see this. Mama. Nah. So
Speaker 1: my my parents were still in Florida and I was
Speaker 1: I was in North Carolina. Still, Yeah, so I called.
Speaker 1: I made the call to them, and you know, obviously
Speaker 1: that was overwhelmed with joy. But man, that's to me,
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about. Man, That that type of
Speaker 1: impact that you have on your family and even going
Speaker 1: through my career, you know, I wasn't fortunate enough to
Speaker 1: win a championship, right, but when I look back on
Speaker 1: what I was able to do for my mother and
Speaker 1: my grandmother, you won the championship in life. Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1: So you get to let me ask you a question.
Speaker 1: Let's just say, for the sake of argament, we're gonna
Speaker 1: fast forward. We come to twenty twenty one, somebody got
Speaker 1: obviously twelve million dollars. Kentucky is still on the table.
Speaker 1: Are you going to Kentucky with twelve million in your pocket?
Speaker 1: Because you know, Kentucky if A, if A, if a
Speaker 1: Nike school, you can't. We're a need at a Nike school.
Speaker 1: What you're gonna do, Team Matt, I'm going to Kentucky. Bro,
Speaker 1: you're gonna take the twelve millions? Still go absolutely absolutely
Speaker 1: listen if I could meet twelve million dollars and enjoy
Speaker 1: the college spirits, right, why not? Why not? I love
Speaker 1: college basketball? I watch it faithfully, right, I watch my
Speaker 1: Kentucky wildcast faithfully. So yes, I would have taken that
Speaker 1: twelve and went to Kentucky for shure. Obviously it was
Speaker 1: a great experience to go to the NBA, But do
Speaker 1: you wish you could have enjoyed their college experience at
Speaker 1: least for just one year? Go to step show, to
Speaker 1: be on the yard. I don't know, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: play it your first year, but just to be just
Speaker 1: to be a college kid. Because when you go to
Speaker 1: the NBA, you at the door. I don't care if
Speaker 1: you're eighteen, You at the door because you gotta get
Speaker 1: You gotta get a play, a place to stay. You
Speaker 1: got to sign the leads, you gotta play. You gotta
Speaker 1: play all the bills, all the bills in your name.
Speaker 1: So you no longer a kid, you're grown ass mayhem, right,
Speaker 1: I think that all that stuff that you mentioned, I
Speaker 1: don't care about that, But I think, you know, the
Speaker 1: one thing I do miss out on the whole marsh
Speaker 1: madness state, Like that experience to me is like the
Speaker 1: memory that you would love to create and be able
Speaker 1: to talk about those memories thirty forty years from now.
Speaker 1: So for that, yes, I had I wish I had
Speaker 1: the opportunity to experience that. But you know, going to
Speaker 1: the parties and stuff like that, I mean that that
Speaker 1: really is not my thing. When you when you played
Speaker 1: in the league, how much one on one did you play?
Speaker 1: Because you know, the only time we get a chance
Speaker 1: to do so, only time we get a chance to
Speaker 1: do one on one with dvs. I mean it's a drill.
Speaker 1: We got one on what but we're just not a
Speaker 1: calling somebody out there just for fun. But you get
Speaker 1: a chance, an opportunity to go one on one against
Speaker 1: a teammate. How often did you do that? So, first
Speaker 1: of all, I grew up playing one on my basketball
Speaker 1: right like that that was my That was my thing.
Speaker 1: I loved it, whether it was with my brothers, putting
Speaker 1: making a closed hanger into a basket. Know about that, right,
Speaker 1: So you know about all absolutely, So we did all
Speaker 1: that in right. But when I got to the league,
Speaker 1: obviously I felt like I was, you know, pretty talented offensively.
Speaker 1: And my teammate was Doug Christie, who was a premier
Speaker 1: defender in the NBA. So I took it upon myself
Speaker 1: to play against Doug Christie every single day one on
Speaker 1: one basketball because I know if I can figure him
Speaker 1: out and score on him, then I score anybody in
Speaker 1: the NBA. And with that built my confidence as well,
Speaker 1: and that's why I go on one. To me, is
Speaker 1: so important because you could go and train two hours
Speaker 1: with the personal trainer, but then you go and play
Speaker 1: five or five organized basketball. You have a coach. That
Speaker 1: coach has a different philosophy and role for you that
Speaker 1: you probably see yourself. And I'm not talking about elite players.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the guys that you know are probably
Speaker 1: are really talented, but they're not the guy, right, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. So they they're being put in
Speaker 1: a role. So you train two hours, you go and
Speaker 1: play five and five organized basketball. The role might not
Speaker 1: be conducive to what you're training it, right, Okay, so
Speaker 1: how many opportunities are you really going to get to
Speaker 1: where you feel you're extremely confident as a ball right?
Speaker 1: So one on one to me, if you do that
Speaker 1: same two hour training and you're training or playing one
Speaker 1: on one every single day, your mental toughness is gonna
Speaker 1: get better and your physical and your skills, uh skill
Speaker 1: set is going to improve immensely. Did you did you
Speaker 1: call out any playoffs? Obviously you say you you you
Speaker 1: cut your teeth with Doug Christie because he was a
Speaker 1: premier defender and you felt that if I can beat him,
Speaker 1: I feel I should be able to beat him him him.
Speaker 1: But did you call out some of the they offensive
Speaker 1: got because you know it is I'm better than you
Speaker 1: one on one? Bro, You're not, Bro, You're not better
Speaker 1: than me one on what? Stop saying that. No, I
Speaker 1: didn't call out anybody, you know. Obviously, Tobe was somebody
Speaker 1: that you know, I considered one of the best one
Speaker 1: on one players, like he was the selling as far
Speaker 1: as one on one basketball, right, And I knew because
Speaker 1: he was older than I was, he came into the
Speaker 1: league before me. I knew I had to sharpen my
Speaker 1: skills and my one on one skills if I wanted
Speaker 1: to compete against him, right, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like he was measuring stick. He was the bar, right,
Speaker 1: he was the bar. When I'm a young kid looking
Speaker 1: at Cold, I was like, okay, he's the bar. Who
Speaker 1: He's who I got to come at, you know, and
Speaker 1: make a name for myself competing against him. Tea Back
Speaker 1: when you were growing up? Were you always the first
Speaker 1: one pick? So when they choosing up side in the park,
Speaker 1: were you the Were you the first? Were you the
Speaker 1: number one on a draft pick? Every time? I was
Speaker 1: in all sports? But what's crazy is you know basketball
Speaker 1: is my third sport right? Really? Yeah, basketball is my
Speaker 1: third sport. My first sport is baseball, Okay, and then
Speaker 1: I play football. Were you play As a kid, I
Speaker 1: played more baseball and football than I did basketball? Wow?
Speaker 1: You keep you said that. I read what you said.
Speaker 1: The best part about the NBA is the one on
Speaker 1: one because basically it's a lot of one on one. Okay,
Speaker 1: the man in front of me. I got to beat
Speaker 1: the man in front of me. And you look at
Speaker 1: some of these one on one players like KD and
Speaker 1: Steph and Kyrie right now, as you and I have
Speaker 1: this discussion, who do you believe is the best one
Speaker 1: on one player in the NBA. I have to say
Speaker 1: it'll probably be k D. I don't think anybody can
Speaker 1: mess with Katie and seven foot can shoot, can handle.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's so leathal offensively. But we gotta have feet.
Speaker 1: We gotta have that hike, we gotta have that hight
Speaker 1: because Kyrie I was just about to say that, I
Speaker 1: wasn't about to play that. Wasps play that. But when
Speaker 1: we're talking one on one and not if we're doing
Speaker 1: height wise the class Kyrie Mankrie got a bag man. Oh,
Speaker 1: I'm talking about a very deep bay very Yeah. He
Speaker 1: got a fand a Christmas bag. He got one of those, baby, Yeah,
Speaker 1: he got one of the bag. Hey. He got a
Speaker 1: couple of sacks that he got on his back. Bro
Speaker 1: he's carrying around. When you look at Kyrie, he got
Speaker 1: game from the three point to the mid range. Have
Speaker 1: you ever seen a man his size finish at the
Speaker 1: rim with either hand, kisses, the floaters, the fall aways, like,
Speaker 1: have you seen anybody in your time and even now
Speaker 1: be able to finish White Kay can Yeah? Yeah. Rod Strickland, Wow,
Speaker 1: Rod Strickland was one of the greatest finishers at that
Speaker 1: size that I've ever seen. And he had handles too,
Speaker 1: and then and I think that, you know, it's crazy.
Speaker 1: I think that's Kyrie's godfather. Okay, I think there's a
Speaker 1: relationship right between those two, right, but yes, straight straight,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, he was. He was one of the
Speaker 1: best at finishing around the realm and had the handles.
Speaker 1: You mentioned k D. And when people talk about one
Speaker 1: on one, they said, KD the guy seven foot tall.
Speaker 1: He got three point ray, he got the mid range
Speaker 1: pull up, he got the heads and pull up. He
Speaker 1: doesn't really he doesn't really try. He liked you like
Speaker 1: the mid range. You don't really try to get all
Speaker 1: the way to the rim, although he can. Besides the height,
Speaker 1: obviously seven foot tall makes you very unique. Besides the height,
Speaker 1: what makes Katie's unique. You shot Shannon. You can't leave
Speaker 1: out the hip. You can't leave about the hip because
Speaker 1: that was That's what makes him so unique, is he's
Speaker 1: seven foot and to be able to shoot the ball
Speaker 1: and be fishing that way. Yes, you know, like think
Speaker 1: about it, this man is shooting fifty percent and it's
Speaker 1: mostly jumpers. It is right like that, that is insane
Speaker 1: to me. So I can't leave out the hype on
Speaker 1: Katie because that is that's what makes him so unique
Speaker 1: and dynamic. Is he the most skilled player that we've
Speaker 1: ever seen in the NBA because of the hype. The
Speaker 1: most skilled player I've ever seen is Kobe Okay, more
Speaker 1: than the most skilled NBA, the most skilled basketball player
Speaker 1: I ever see, it's Kobe. Bean Bryan talk about Kobe
Speaker 1: bang listen, man, So, so you got m J right
Speaker 1: and and Kobe took who MJ was, but enhanced the
Speaker 1: skill set, had a better handle, right m J didn
Speaker 1: m J didn' shoot threes like that. So Kobe took
Speaker 1: it upon and and and added the three balls to
Speaker 1: this game because that's where the game evolved too. But
Speaker 1: skill was I mean, the moves, the footwork, he had it.
Speaker 1: He had it all. You Kobe on a one on
Speaker 1: one battle. Do you believe anybody could beat Kobe on
Speaker 1: a one on one battle. Let's just say end up
Speaker 1: prime m J and Kobe one on one? Who you taking?
Speaker 1: I think? And I'm putting myself in there. Oh you okay,
Speaker 1: I would throw you in there. I put myself in there.
Speaker 1: I think if you play pen games it'll be five five,
Speaker 1: maybe to be six four one, but I don't think
Speaker 1: it'll be you know, eight two or seven three or
Speaker 1: anything like that. I'm gonna puss up. Okay, we're gonna play.
Speaker 1: We're gonna play a series of five. You get Kobe
Speaker 1: five times, you get MJ five times, Kobe, MJ. What's
Speaker 1: it gonna be? Is it gonna be three two? If it?
Speaker 1: If it gonna be if? I mean it's gonna be
Speaker 1: three oh, I mean, what what it gonna be? I listen,
Speaker 1: I can sit here and say it'd be three oh
Speaker 1: three three two. I mean that's it's hyper. I don't
Speaker 1: know what that it'll never happened. But all I know
Speaker 1: is it'll be a damn good show. It'll be a
Speaker 1: damn good show that people would definitely wanted too. Then
Speaker 1: too well, people, it was trendy t mac versus Tracy McGrady,
Speaker 1: because you're one of the first big guys lender guys
Speaker 1: six foot seven, could handle the ball, could shoot the three,
Speaker 1: pull up on the mid raid, but you got all
Speaker 1: the way to the rim. You're looking to poster ride people.
Speaker 1: Absolutely that my thing was, And I was telling my
Speaker 1: kids this weekend because we had au tournament in Indiana
Speaker 1: and our first game we played against the tallest teenager
Speaker 1: in the world. He was seven six get out of Canada. Man,
Speaker 1: I was telling my kids because they're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: he's so tall, he's gonna block everything. I say, Man,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna trying to dunk on him if I was
Speaker 1: y'all were you talking about, But it couldn't be me
Speaker 1: because I'll be trying to put him on the ground
Speaker 1: bat right, So like that, their mentality is totally different.
Speaker 1: So yeah, my my thing was, bro, if you in
Speaker 1: a way, I'm gonna try to go through you, over
Speaker 1: top of you. Right. The playoffs started, obviously the Knicks,
Speaker 1: the Knicks, the Nets played KD Kyrie. Are they the
Speaker 1: most skilled of teammates that we've ever seen, without a doubt?
Speaker 1: What out of the shadow of a doubt, I haven't
Speaker 1: seen a pair a duo that's skilled. Mike and Pip.
Speaker 1: But Pip ain't have no offensive game like that. Jordan
Speaker 1: had the offensive game, No, but Pip did though. That's that.
Speaker 1: Pip did have offensive game, but Mike was just so
Speaker 1: Mike was so great. I mean Pip did was twenty points. Now, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know he was the All Star Game MVP. Uh.
Speaker 1: The year Mike left, he finished in the top five
Speaker 1: MVP voting. But when I'm talking about you look at
Speaker 1: what Kyrie, how Kyriek and David Rugget, and you look
Speaker 1: at Katie. You mentioned Katie self foot tall from the
Speaker 1: three points all the way to the rim, can do
Speaker 1: it all. Pimp ain't got that had had it in
Speaker 1: the bag. He doesn't. But I mean that's the only
Speaker 1: thing I can go off of, though I can't. There's
Speaker 1: no other dynamic duo that compares to Katie and Kyrie.
Speaker 1: I mean, even if you look at what Lebron and
Speaker 1: d Wade was skill wise, they're still not touching him too. Boys, right,
Speaker 1: even if even if I would have played with Grant Hill,
Speaker 1: I don't know. If g Hill and myself, I think
Speaker 1: it would have been a challenge. But you got two
Speaker 1: six eight guys that can handle. I can shoot. G
Speaker 1: Hill had a mid range post game, can pass, can
Speaker 1: see the floor. You know what I mean. I'm glad
Speaker 1: you brought up Grant Hill. Do you think about what
Speaker 1: it could have been had he not suffered the ankle
Speaker 1: injury because he played on that bump ankle in Detroit
Speaker 1: and we never and people don't know, we were robbed
Speaker 1: of an opportunity to see grand Hell in his in
Speaker 1: his true glory. We were robbed of seeing greatness. Ge
Speaker 1: Hill was such a great talent, such a cerebral player. Man,
Speaker 1: he had it all, bro And it's just it was
Speaker 1: just unfortunate that we never got the opportunity to play
Speaker 1: with each other consistently because of that ankle. And I know,
Speaker 1: deep down in my heart if he was healthy, I
Speaker 1: would have competed for a championship my years in our land. Up. Wow,
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, how much will he help the nest? Because
Speaker 1: we know Kyrie and Kadi gonna be kd and Kyrie.
Speaker 1: We know what they're gonna But what what does Simmons
Speaker 1: add to the to the recipe? Lemon's add an elements
Speaker 1: to their team that they're missing right now. And that's defensively, right.
Speaker 1: That kid can guard one through five, and with him
Speaker 1: being out so long, he could come in right now
Speaker 1: and have an impact on their team because he can
Speaker 1: play defense. He doesn't have to shoot the ball because
Speaker 1: he has two killers on that that's gonna do all
Speaker 1: the scoring for them, along with some of the other
Speaker 1: guys that they have set courage, the Patty Mills that
Speaker 1: can shoot. But the impact that he can have on
Speaker 1: guarding you know, whoever the other team's best players, whether
Speaker 1: he's a guard, whether he's a powerful it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: Put Ben Simmons on here. He would neutralize that and
Speaker 1: it will make them a much better defensive team. That's
Speaker 1: what they're missing. You do realize I'm bringing help off
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons. Whoever guarding Ben Simmons, Kyrie gives the ball,
Speaker 1: go double. If Katie gives the ball, I won't get
Speaker 1: bother Ben Simmons. But listen what you're saying though, Yes,
Speaker 1: you are going to double off of You're gonna double
Speaker 1: off of Ben Simmons, ye, right, and and help on
Speaker 1: a Kyrie yep, Katie? Yes? So that means so that
Speaker 1: means you're gonna He's Ben Simmons, who is a very
Speaker 1: smart basketball player who could pass the ball, yes, and
Speaker 1: and leave Kadie one in a one on one situation.
Speaker 1: If you're gonna double Kyrie, what is not a smart
Speaker 1: thing to do. But here's the thing that we know.
Speaker 1: We saw what Atlanta did to Ben Simmons, or if
Speaker 1: he if he where he needs to be mentally. I
Speaker 1: know what he can be. But I thought what he
Speaker 1: was last year at the end where he became unplayable
Speaker 1: because of the free throw and in his he being
Speaker 1: afraid to shoot the basketball team mat that's that's that's fair.
Speaker 1: That's fair because we don't know. I mean, the kid
Speaker 1: has been out all season. We don't know where he
Speaker 1: is mentally. I'm hoping with him being out for so long,
Speaker 1: when he does step foot on the court, that he's
Speaker 1: healthy mentally and ready to go because he has a
Speaker 1: lot to proofs, right, he really doesn't and I think
Speaker 1: you know he's going to do that because I actually
Speaker 1: like his game last year. I don't know. We don't
Speaker 1: know what was going on with the kid off the court.
Speaker 1: Something was bothering him because I've never seen him play
Speaker 1: that way. Right, how did you how did you like
Speaker 1: that situation? Because I felt it was unfair. I mean
Speaker 1: with Doc what Doc said, and then Joe ellen Be
Speaker 1: said that, you know, the game turned on, we had
Speaker 1: a date lay up and we end up missing a
Speaker 1: free throw, and I felt there was no coming back
Speaker 1: from that team. Mack once he undered that I remember
Speaker 1: coming on the should the next morning, I said, they're
Speaker 1: not coming back from this. Ben Simmons is gonna ask
Speaker 1: for trade, and sure enough, Yeah, he was thrown under
Speaker 1: the bus. It was just an unfortunate situation that you know,
Speaker 1: they looked at him on that particular play and then
Speaker 1: it really just gave fuel to the media and they
Speaker 1: read that and it, like you said, there was no
Speaker 1: coming back in Philadelphia. You know, Philly wasston Philly fans
Speaker 1: is on you. And when next series was over, I
Speaker 1: said to my friends and family, I said, Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: cannot go back to Philadelphia. Nope, it is not a
Speaker 1: good look. They gotta trade that young man and get
Speaker 1: him out of there, because it's not gonna be a
Speaker 1: good look for him if he was the star that season,
Speaker 1: because they was gonna boo him and it was gonna
Speaker 1: get up and it was really really gonna be mentally
Speaker 1: tough for him to to be engaged and you know,
Speaker 1: competing at a high level for that organization where they
Speaker 1: trade James Harden, he leaves Brooklyn, he goes to Philly.
Speaker 1: Philly trades Ben Simmons. How far do you think James
Speaker 1: Harden and Joel Embiid can go. I actually think that
Speaker 1: was a bad trade. Wow, I think it's a bad trade.
Speaker 1: I think Brooklyn won that trade. I think Joel was
Speaker 1: in such a groove and that team was in such
Speaker 1: a groove. Yet now, James Harden is a dynamic scorer
Speaker 1: and a playmaker, no doubt about that. But it seems
Speaker 1: like to me, he's on, he's slowing down, he can't
Speaker 1: really get by his defender no more. I don't know
Speaker 1: what it is. I don't know if he's hurting, but
Speaker 1: he just he doesn't look the same to me. I
Speaker 1: just thought they had such great chemistry before the trade,
Speaker 1: to where Joel finally got in great shape to where
Speaker 1: he could finish out games and take over games. He's
Speaker 1: surrounded by a guy like Seth Curry who can shoot.
Speaker 1: I think the missing element out of that team is
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris like he has. If you're gonna give him
Speaker 1: a hundred and something million dollars, Bro, you gotta elevate
Speaker 1: your game. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Why we
Speaker 1: gotta trade, Why we gotta go and get a guy
Speaker 1: like James Harden? Where we paying you one hundred million
Speaker 1: dollars a max player? Right? You're a max player like
Speaker 1: Fiel that role for us. But our big man is
Speaker 1: doing his job. We have shooting right. You're the one
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars player, who's your MVP this season? That's
Speaker 1: tough because you got well and bid that did what
Speaker 1: he did led the league of scoring, the first big
Speaker 1: to do that since Shaq in two thousand. You got
Speaker 1: Nicola Jokers. He's the first man in history to get
Speaker 1: two thousand points and fives and rebounds five hundred and six.
Speaker 1: You got Yannis Yannis was Yannis thirty twelve and five.
Speaker 1: You got Devin Booker. He was the best player on
Speaker 1: the best team. Way way, ye MVP. I gotta go
Speaker 1: with Joker. I gotta go with Joker. I gotta go
Speaker 1: with Joker man. That dude, uh, he's something special. He
Speaker 1: did something special. Bro. The man can't jump over a
Speaker 1: dollar bill, but man the pass and the rebounded I
Speaker 1: foot he brings to that team. He doesn't have Michael
Speaker 1: Porter Junior or Jamal Murray correct and those boys still
Speaker 1: winning there in the sixth sixteed, I have to credit him.
Speaker 1: But Joel Embiid where he came out the gates. Can
Speaker 1: it be a Cohen bt? No good? I don't know
Speaker 1: if if I don't think we've had cold Rookies of
Speaker 1: the Year with j V in the Grand Hill, but
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't think they've ever been cod MVPs. Well,
Speaker 1: this year they have to make an exception because it
Speaker 1: needs to be one this year because those two, those
Speaker 1: two boys right there, they did their thing this year, man,
Speaker 1: and I need I wish both of them would get credited,
Speaker 1: you know. And I hate that I got to choose
Speaker 1: one and leave the other. I would go with Joker.
Speaker 1: And you know, somebody getting left off, left off first
Speaker 1: team all the NBA two because they played the same position.
Speaker 1: Somebody getting left out, Yes, sir, yes, sir. You look
Speaker 1: at Lebron. You want two scoring titles? Lebron Jay was
Speaker 1: in position to win a scoring title. Do you fault
Speaker 1: him for not going for it or do you believe
Speaker 1: he should have gone for it? No? No, what No,
Speaker 1: Lebron has so much, so many accomplishments on his resume.
Speaker 1: He doesn't need to chase that. That's benef really, and
Speaker 1: you know his team is missing the playoffs. What am
Speaker 1: I playing? What am I playing for? I don't need
Speaker 1: to play for a scoring title, not at all. Are
Speaker 1: you surprised? The brun doesn't played for that right and
Speaker 1: had he because he says, well, I don't play for staffs,
Speaker 1: I don't chase staffs. I try to play the game
Speaker 1: the right way. Well that would have been the wrong
Speaker 1: way because to try to win the scoring type that
Speaker 1: means you have to take a try to take a
Speaker 1: get a lot of shots and you're probably not gonna pass.
Speaker 1: You can become what you're not, which if he the
Speaker 1: pass first guy that can score and then he's like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm gonna score first, Now I pass later. Yeah,
Speaker 1: now you know what I really this year, I really
Speaker 1: love watching the bron play. Now I'm a fan of
Speaker 1: Bronze and a phenomenal player, but it was just something
Speaker 1: about his game this year to where I look like,
Speaker 1: I said, damn, man, if what I'm seeing how a
Speaker 1: dude and some of the moves that he was making
Speaker 1: this year, if he had developed that earlier in his career, man,
Speaker 1: look at here, look at here, bro he I mean,
Speaker 1: he was already scary with them to add some some
Speaker 1: some more into his bag, because it it's crazy that
Speaker 1: this man is at his bag has gotten deeper in
Speaker 1: year nineteen. But that's that's what's so amazing. I don't
Speaker 1: think people give enough credit. He's in year nineteen with
Speaker 1: all those miles on, all those minutes of mouths, on
Speaker 1: those legs, and he gave you thirty in your nineteen
Speaker 1: at thirty seven, when he gave you thirty at twenty one,
Speaker 1: the youngest and the oldest. How impressive is that? I
Speaker 1: salute dude. We all should be appreciative, appreciative of watching
Speaker 1: dude play. Man. We're all gonna miss him, you know.
Speaker 1: I was. I played against him j but I was
Speaker 1: sad when he left. But man, I'm gonna be sad
Speaker 1: when Broun go because I just love watching dude play.
Speaker 1: He's just he's so fun to watch, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's it's scoring, it's happening, just how he he creates
Speaker 1: an environment around his team that it just looks fun
Speaker 1: to be a part of it, right, right, this year
Speaker 1: it was it wasn't it wasn't like that. Yeah, what
Speaker 1: happened this year? What happened with the lacol? Why didn't
Speaker 1: it work? Because you got old players, bro that you
Speaker 1: went out and got these old guys that if they
Speaker 1: would have made it to the playoffs, I think they
Speaker 1: would have been a problem, right, because that's what they
Speaker 1: were built for. But you can't go and get these
Speaker 1: these older guys and think, you know, they're gonna play
Speaker 1: thirty something minutes for eighty two game seats and and
Speaker 1: and think they're gonna hold up defensively is where they struggled,
Speaker 1: because it's one thing. If you got defensive guys that
Speaker 1: used to play defense, it is hard because Trevor Reason
Speaker 1: didn't fit in the chair anymore. Every brandy can have first,
Speaker 1: but he can't do it. But when you get thirty
Speaker 1: seven year old Carmelo and you get these guys that
Speaker 1: they've never played deep ends and now you're asking asking
Speaker 1: them to do something they've never done and they're older. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're you're you put you put guys in a situation
Speaker 1: that they had to garnish a lot a lot of
Speaker 1: minutes and be consistent at doing something that they really
Speaker 1: wasn't good at. Right right now that the older you
Speaker 1: ask these guys to do, that's that's not gonna work. Right.
Speaker 1: What advice if you could have given Russ some advice,
Speaker 1: what advice would you have given him how to have
Speaker 1: because you know it seemed like he was very confrontational
Speaker 1: with the media. They asked him a question and he's like, well,
Speaker 1: what did you see? Will tell me what I should
Speaker 1: have done? You know what I'm saying. It seemed like
Speaker 1: I just felt that he didn't accept responsible accountability for
Speaker 1: some of the things that were going on. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying he's the soul blame of why the Lakers underperformed,
Speaker 1: but he didn't. Look maybe he did. Maybe that's Russ.
Speaker 1: Maybe we have a magnifying glass on him because he's
Speaker 1: playing with the Lakers. Maybe because there's more expectations where
Speaker 1: there's no expectations in no case Houston and Washington. Well,
Speaker 1: I think with Russ, I think a lot of what
Speaker 1: happens to him this year, in terms of like the
Speaker 1: negative clublicity and the negative right ups about him, I
Speaker 1: think he contributed to that. Yes, And I think when
Speaker 1: he was going through his bad, bad spells of of plan,
Speaker 1: I think he should have just kept his head down
Speaker 1: and you know, just really just said the right thing,
Speaker 1: just really talk about, you know, put on it on itself.
Speaker 1: I'm not playing well right now. I'm in the gym working,
Speaker 1: you know, working on my shot. I'm talking to Lebron
Speaker 1: trying to figure this thing out. I'm working hard every
Speaker 1: day to try to get out of this. You know,
Speaker 1: I want to come up out of this. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're playing for the Lakers, yes you were. You're on
Speaker 1: the biggest platform every single night, and you're playing with
Speaker 1: Lebron on top of that, so everything is magnified. But
Speaker 1: I think when you're on the defensive side and then
Speaker 1: you're trying to then you say that you don't have
Speaker 1: any expectations when you're playing for the Lakers. Now, now
Speaker 1: you've opened up a whole can of something that you
Speaker 1: don't want. And I think he just should have been,
Speaker 1: you know, saying that he was working on his game
Speaker 1: to get better, to come out of the phone, talking
Speaker 1: to Lebron, and doing whatever he could to get back
Speaker 1: on track. If he was to take that role, I think,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of that negative press would have
Speaker 1: been suppressed. Yeah, you can't say you don't have expectations
Speaker 1: when you play with When you look at the lineage
Speaker 1: that they got from Mike and to Will, to Kareem,
Speaker 1: to Magic Worthy, shot Kobe at Baylor. Ruh, they got
Speaker 1: seventeen titles. That's all Lakers. You know, if the expectations
Speaker 1: if titles. Yeah, but I know, listen, man, I think
Speaker 1: a lot of that stuff on Russ was unfair as well.
Speaker 1: You know, we're talking about a dude that average a
Speaker 1: triple double for three straight years, Like this dude is
Speaker 1: a future Hall of Famer, Like he didn't have a
Speaker 1: good year, but he's been in the league, what sports
Speaker 1: fifteen years or something like that, Like, come on, Matt,
Speaker 1: we can't we can't do him like that team mat
Speaker 1: you played. You know, you got update your refume. That's
Speaker 1: what you got to do with sports. Now, now what
Speaker 1: you did two years ago? And what how did they help?
Speaker 1: How did that triple double helping the Lakers? Right now
Speaker 1: I'm listening, I get that. I didn't think it was
Speaker 1: a match for that team anyway. No, when they made
Speaker 1: me great, I didn't think it was a good match, right.
Speaker 1: I don't know what they were thinking. I just felt
Speaker 1: like Russ has to have his own team. He has
Speaker 1: to have and thank you, but it needs you. Watch.
Speaker 1: He could go to a team like Orlando where they
Speaker 1: have no expectations and the eyes are not gonna be
Speaker 1: on him on a nightly basis, and he'll average a
Speaker 1: triple double. Your average triple double and he'll take that
Speaker 1: team to the playoffs. Yes, yes, absolutely, But when you
Speaker 1: because when you look like hold on ye Man, Russ
Speaker 1: had ten or sis Man he had nine turnovers? Us Russ,
Speaker 1: you inefficient, Bro, you're shooting thirty. You gotta stop shooting three. Russ,
Speaker 1: you're shooting twenty eight percent. But you gotta understand who
Speaker 1: Russ is. A A strong will, strong minded like dude
Speaker 1: that he wants to prove. Like when when people are
Speaker 1: saying stuff about him, I sense that he's a guy
Speaker 1: that wants to show up and improve. Everybody wrong right,
Speaker 1: and he just kept forcing the issue right and it
Speaker 1: never really turned for him. Lebron's said the current players
Speaker 1: he would like to play with most, it's Steph Curry
Speaker 1: t Mac When he was playing who would be the
Speaker 1: one player you would want to play with? This trick question?
Speaker 1: That really shot? I mean who else? Well, you're right,
Speaker 1: I thought you know what I thought you might say. Man,
Speaker 1: you know what, it had been nice to play with
Speaker 1: cold Man shot, Bro, that is the number one choice. Always, Yes,
Speaker 1: it would have been nice to play with cold Bush.
Speaker 1: Come on, man, the shot was so dominant, Bro, So yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what, I never got a chance to see
Speaker 1: Shot play in person. Explain to our viewers and listeners
Speaker 1: at home, when Shot got the ball on the block,
Speaker 1: what would be like? It ain't good luck, y'all, I
Speaker 1: hold your grown man look Shot. And I forgot who
Speaker 1: said that. Somebody said, I think kg Ship said that
Speaker 1: Shot was raised right because Shot could have punished and
Speaker 1: he did punish people. But I'm talking about even on
Speaker 1: a on a whole nother level to where I think
Speaker 1: Shot could have averaged thirty five and forty points a game.
Speaker 1: Like That's how dumbinant I think Shot could have been.
Speaker 1: If he was like really nasty and you know, just
Speaker 1: wanted to do that. I don't he didn't have to
Speaker 1: because of you know what he has surrounded him. But
Speaker 1: he was. I this dude was strong. He had big hands,
Speaker 1: strong hands. I remember I learned my lesson playing against
Speaker 1: Shot because when we when we played against it, obviously
Speaker 1: we had to double team. So I was one of
Speaker 1: the guys that will go down and try to double
Speaker 1: team when he has the ball and we'll go on
Speaker 1: double team on the pounce, right. So I went one
Speaker 1: time and tried to double team Shock, but he was
Speaker 1: in a shooting motion coming up and I tried to
Speaker 1: knock down the ball out of his hand and bro
Speaker 1: I about broke my wrist. I still never again will
Speaker 1: I ever try to do that. You know, I got
Speaker 1: when they had a ball like at their wayside and
Speaker 1: you try to knock it down. I tried that man
Speaker 1: about broke my wrists trying to do that. That dude
Speaker 1: about took me up out of here. And he's still scored.
Speaker 1: And one people really people don't realize how big and
Speaker 1: how at y'all people are all like, man, look at
Speaker 1: Joel and b look at But you got to realize
Speaker 1: Shock was probably twenty pounds have it than Joel, and
Speaker 1: I believe he was more athletic. Shot could literally like
Speaker 1: run like really really fast. Shot could really really run,
Speaker 1: not just like back for a basketball player, football a
Speaker 1: football player. Shot size seven one three thirty three thirty
Speaker 1: five and can move like he could Shannon, and he
Speaker 1: could do a back flip back in his day. Come on, man,
Speaker 1: seven one, three thirty and can do a backflip bad.
Speaker 1: You know, eventually you mentioned it. Lebron's gonna be gone,
Speaker 1: Katie's gonna leave, Steph gonna move away. Who's gonna be
Speaker 1: the of who's gonna be the face of the NBA
Speaker 1: in the next two years. I'm gonna give you Jah, Luca, Trey, Young,
Speaker 1: LaMelo Ball. I think it'll be Betwing, LaMelo Ball, and
Speaker 1: Jaw If they're LaMelo Ball can get to Lala Layer
Speaker 1: because I think he's built for that. Yes, like he
Speaker 1: has that personality, that moxie like, he's built for that.
Speaker 1: I think he can be that face. But John Moran,
Speaker 1: if he continues to do what he's doing right now
Speaker 1: in Memphis, he also can can can be that face. Man.
Speaker 1: I need you to explain to me how Luca does
Speaker 1: what he does. You talk about Joker can't jump over
Speaker 1: Dollar Bill, Luther can't joke over Dad. But I'm gonna
Speaker 1: tell you it's it's all skilled, bro. That's what a
Speaker 1: lot of guys lack. See, these kids nowadays rely on athleticis.
Speaker 1: They could run fast, they could jump hot, right, they
Speaker 1: could blow by somebody and just explode over. But if
Speaker 1: you blow out your knee and you're not as quick,
Speaker 1: you're not as fast, you're not explosive. What are you
Speaker 1: falling back on Luca. Luca is not going to have
Speaker 1: that problem. He's so skilled, he's a big body. He
Speaker 1: know how to use his body. He got the ball
Speaker 1: on the string. He's a smart bass ball player. He's
Speaker 1: a great facilitator, and he can shoot like you. You
Speaker 1: you can't speed somebody up that plays at their own
Speaker 1: face right right, And that's why he's so great. He
Speaker 1: plays at his own pace. He's gonna get to his
Speaker 1: spots and do what he wants to do. Who you
Speaker 1: like in the NBA Finals? Who you like the teams
Speaker 1: West Western Conference, Eastern Conference, and who you got with it.
Speaker 1: So the beginning of the season, I had Golden State
Speaker 1: winning it all, but I don't know about Steth It's
Speaker 1: in its injury. So my decision has shifted. I'm going
Speaker 1: with a rematch of last year's NBA Finals, and I
Speaker 1: think the Milwaukee Bucks are going to win it again.
Speaker 1: Talk about why is it that Yannis You don't feel
Speaker 1: Yannis gets the credit that he deserves. Because when I
Speaker 1: tell I said, when when Shot was being as dominant
Speaker 1: as he was, nobody said Shot can't shoot the three,
Speaker 1: Shot can't shoot the mid range. They said, Shack is dominant,
Speaker 1: jannest is as dominant. But they're like, oh man, he can't, man,
Speaker 1: he ain't no MB he ain't no KD. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: you gotta understand Shock, these guys like because and I
Speaker 1: don't know if you talked about this on your show,
Speaker 1: like somebody asked me. I think I was on Shock's
Speaker 1: podcast and they was talking about yannest play into back
Speaker 1: in you know our era where the defense was was
Speaker 1: really tight and you know the paint was was closed up.
Speaker 1: And I said he was struggle because if you look
Speaker 1: at when he had some of those playoffs series against
Speaker 1: Toronto where Cloud on him and he couldn't get downhill
Speaker 1: on the scene. That's what I was referring to. I'm
Speaker 1: not talking about honest now can't play in any era
Speaker 1: because he's developed his shot. He's confident now, yes, right,
Speaker 1: so he's not. It was like a shock because I
Speaker 1: was like, he can't. He can't. Really, he's not a
Speaker 1: consistent shooter. And I was like, you go back in
Speaker 1: out there guys that were stars and superstars were consistent
Speaker 1: shooters the KG and they was like well shot and
Speaker 1: tim darkers like, but those guys played with their back
Speaker 1: to the basket. That's not Jannis's game. Clannis comes down hill, correct,
Speaker 1: So if they're paint if back then if you don't,
Speaker 1: you're not surrounded by all those shooters and it's upon
Speaker 1: you to score the ball who you pass it to.
Speaker 1: Because we didn't, we didn't have that type of spread
Speaker 1: off yet they have. Yeah, you didn't have Stephand Clay
Speaker 1: on the same team that could space. So he would
Speaker 1: have struggled, right, But in today's games, Taylor made for
Speaker 1: him because he's surrounded by shooters all on the court,
Speaker 1: so the paint is open for him to come downhill.
Speaker 1: Now he's developed back to the back basket. I see
Speaker 1: him do the turnaround now right now he's shooting the
Speaker 1: three ball a little bit more, so he's Uh. I
Speaker 1: don't know if why he's not getting that attention. Maybe
Speaker 1: because he's been at the small market like Milwaukee. But
Speaker 1: he's a force. He's a force with how many points
Speaker 1: with t mac average in today's game with the floor
Speaker 1: space like it is right now? Well, I have thirty
Speaker 1: two and you know sub defensive pair of so I'm
Speaker 1: go ahead and probably put bout eight more points on there.
Speaker 1: You believe you get forty at night? Being look, I
Speaker 1: think one year I probably could have averaged forty in
Speaker 1: today's game because I only shot six threes a game. Say, right,
Speaker 1: I only shot five or six threes a game, that
Speaker 1: number probably would have doubled. Oh yeah, you've been a
Speaker 1: team and I was. I wasn't gonna settle just threes.
Speaker 1: I was a guy that got to the free throw
Speaker 1: line as well. Right, so I probably put another, you know,
Speaker 1: six to eight points on there. And the thing is
Speaker 1: different about today's game. They let a guy get hot
Speaker 1: and they won't even get the ball out of hand.
Speaker 1: They'll just let him keep cooking. Man. Back in the day,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna get keep cooking me. They're gonna get
Speaker 1: that ball at your hand. Yeah, but you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: when a guy's hot, man, it ain't nothing you can do.
Speaker 1: I'm shooting over double seems like, come on, well you
Speaker 1: see what you remember. I think it was Memphis. Might
Speaker 1: have been Memphis. Okay. See when Book had backed the
Speaker 1: back he had two fifty point games, he had forty eight.
Speaker 1: They started doubling him in the back court. They like,
Speaker 1: now you're gonna give it up. We're not gonna let
Speaker 1: you get three. That's the way to do it. If
Speaker 1: you're gonna double somebody that's hot, yeah, you better double
Speaker 1: thim in the back court because you do it in
Speaker 1: the front court me in my shootings, right, you're too late.
Speaker 1: How good would the magic would have been had you
Speaker 1: stayed with the White? Could you have challenged for a title?
Speaker 1: Could you have possibly won a title? You and the White? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I mean the White played for a title. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so absolutely. I don't think people realize how good or
Speaker 1: landing the White was. No white power was a force
Speaker 1: to reckon with as athleticism off the charts. I mean
Speaker 1: you're talking about having an impact on the game as
Speaker 1: a guy somebody that averaged thirty points. He has that
Speaker 1: type of impact on the defensive it, right, Like that's
Speaker 1: what he was, controlling the offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, blocking shots,
Speaker 1: running like a gazelle. I mean he was phenomenal man
Speaker 1: for those eight years in Orlando. Do you feel you
Speaker 1: snubbed on the top seventy five? I do, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: But I mean I didn't go in my closet and
Speaker 1: cry and wanted to, you know, call out the FEP.
Speaker 1: Now it's I'm a Hall of Famous, right, you can't
Speaker 1: getting it. I mean, hey, that's a very select company, Yes,
Speaker 1: very select. You were san Antonio, your last I think
Speaker 1: that was your last year. You were so close to
Speaker 1: that title. He met you, you had it, you were
Speaker 1: twenty seconds away. As you're sitting on the bitch, you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we got this, we got this one. Just make a
Speaker 1: couple of three pros. They gotta file us. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be good. As you're sitting on the bitch, what's going
Speaker 1: through your mind? Say, let me ask you a question. Yes,
Speaker 1: you play your career in Denver. Ye, and you retire
Speaker 1: from Denver. Yeah, you enjoying life offseason? Somebody calls you up,
Speaker 1: Hey man, we got we got a tight end. He's hurt,
Speaker 1: and you come in and and give us abody. Sure,
Speaker 1: why not? Right now? It might be a coach that
Speaker 1: you have the utmost respectful right right, but when you
Speaker 1: come back, that tight end is healthy. You ain't really
Speaker 1: getting no burning from super Bowl? Right? You don't really
Speaker 1: play like that. Y'all win a super Bowl? Do you
Speaker 1: feel like he was a part of that? Now we competitive?
Speaker 1: Come on, you're right, that's what Matt Barnes said. Matt
Speaker 1: Barnes said he felt like that when he went the Warriors, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we wouldn't to ring, but I ain't do nothing if
Speaker 1: you can't contribute to the battles, right, I don't feel
Speaker 1: a part of that. It was a great experience because
Speaker 1: I've never been that deep in the playoffs and to
Speaker 1: go through you know, that run with them, oh man,
Speaker 1: it was. It was amazing. I love every bit of it.
Speaker 1: But in terms of if we would have won the ring,
Speaker 1: it wouldn't have felt the same. I wouldn't have felt
Speaker 1: validated as the champion. Right. Obviously, you leave Toronto, you
Speaker 1: get a Max deal as a sixth man. I don't
Speaker 1: know how many how many how many Max players you
Speaker 1: got a Max deal? Have fa how to hell? You put?
Speaker 1: How to he you pull that off? Hey, let's just
Speaker 1: say that's a good representation. So obviously you're gonna do.
Speaker 1: You're making the rounds. What are some of the players,
Speaker 1: some of the big name players. Obviously you go, you
Speaker 1: go to Orlando and then you end up in Houston.
Speaker 1: So what are some of the pitches that they tell you, Okay,
Speaker 1: team mat you come here. But this is what's gonna happen?
Speaker 1: Is I was gonna be so pat Riley sends the
Speaker 1: private plane for me in Orlando, flies meets Miami, I
Speaker 1: meet up with Zoe and Doot take me out back.
Speaker 1: We hop on some jet skis. I'm like, bro, where
Speaker 1: are we going? We did on jet skis and and
Speaker 1: rod the jet skis to pat Riley's house. I'm at
Speaker 1: pat riley House chilling. You know, he does his old things,
Speaker 1: set the rings out and all that. Hello pitch right
Speaker 1: and you know. So I went on that visit and
Speaker 1: enjoy every bit of that. Go to Chicago. I stepped
Speaker 1: foot off the plane, walked through the terminal. When I
Speaker 1: first stepped through the terminal, I see Benny the Bull,
Speaker 1: and I see the cheerleaders. It's like they got a
Speaker 1: whole parade for me in the airport. I'm like, oh lord.
Speaker 1: Get to the hotel. Sitting in my room. They pop
Speaker 1: in at take hope for send me a personal message.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh boy, hop stopping to me. I go
Speaker 1: to the freaking Cuffs game, thinking take me out to
Speaker 1: the ball game. I'm in the dugout with Ernie Banks.
Speaker 1: I threw out the first pitch. Sitting in the stands.
Speaker 1: They got airplane flying over with advertising talking about me.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my lord, like they rolled out the
Speaker 1: red carpet for me. But with all that they were
Speaker 1: competing against Orlando, which is home and from a kid,
Speaker 1: that was my dream. So put on that magic uniform. Right,
Speaker 1: That's that's the reason why I left Toronto. That's where
Speaker 1: I didn't done with the Bulls. That's why I didn't
Speaker 1: done with Mimi. Yeah you, I mean you enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: You enjoyed the sale pitches, but you just like man,
Speaker 1: I do the private Yeah, I do the yest games,
Speaker 1: but I ain't what I ain't coming help going to land.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I appreciate them. I'm gonna soak it up.
Speaker 1: I remember all this from creative memories. But going on
Speaker 1: our Lando, who was your Turfest guard? And who do
Speaker 1: you felt guarded you the best? Of course it's Kobe.
Speaker 1: I mean I think he was one of the toughest guys,
Speaker 1: but that's obvious. I'll give you some of the guys
Speaker 1: that you probably wouldn't think of. There's two guys that
Speaker 1: was tough to guard offensively. That was Katino Mobile and
Speaker 1: that was Jamal Mashburn. Like them, two dudes was a
Speaker 1: problem to guard. Well. Number one Coatino because he was
Speaker 1: they called him cat for a reason, right, right, They
Speaker 1: called him cat for a reason, and he could shoot
Speaker 1: the ball, just tough, wiry, strong left handed type player
Speaker 1: mash Burns six eight and nought to use his body,
Speaker 1: don't have the athleticism, but can shoot. Couldn't really block
Speaker 1: a shot like that, and just know how to use
Speaker 1: his body. Man and he had a bad so he
Speaker 1: was one of the toughest and somebody to guard me.
Speaker 1: Our test was pretty tough. I love the challenge with
Speaker 1: him and and I can't get nobody else that credit.
Speaker 1: You got the record, you scoring thirteen points in thirty
Speaker 1: three seconds. What's going through your mind? Okay, the first
Speaker 1: shot goes in, the first two points go in. Do
Speaker 1: you think you know what? We got a chance? No
Speaker 1: matter if I could just get because it's never been
Speaker 1: done before. So did you think that you guys realistically
Speaker 1: had a chance to win this game. I thought we
Speaker 1: had a chance to win the game based off of
Speaker 1: what I've done before of coming close to doing something
Speaker 1: like that. Yes, I felt like we had a chance.
Speaker 1: Thirteen points in thirty three seconds. I felt like we
Speaker 1: had a chance. I'm gonna get you out of here
Speaker 1: on this one. The two thousand Super Team, the two thousands,
Speaker 1: you got Allen iverson Kobe McGrady Duncan Shot versus Steph Kyrie,
Speaker 1: lebron k D and Jannis who went in that they're
Speaker 1: too small, too small, small man, Tim Ducket and Shot
Speaker 1: have a fields day. Who guard? I want to know
Speaker 1: who guard? I guess we could put. We could put Yannis,
Speaker 1: old Shot, k D, you got, you got TV, you
Speaker 1: got Tim Duckett. Yeah, I don't know who's gonna guard
Speaker 1: Kyrie with you and Kobe. Hey, I ain't nobody guard
Speaker 1: Nobody's small's too small. Looking back in your career, if
Speaker 1: there anything you could you wish you could have done differently,
Speaker 1: or your career would have played out differently? What the
Speaker 1: one thing or two things you would change if you could? Nothing?
Speaker 1: Nothing had happened to where it's supposed to happen, Right,
Speaker 1: I went. I did everything that I possibly can do
Speaker 1: every time I suited up, and the results is what
Speaker 1: they were. So I it is what it is to me.
Speaker 1: I had an unbelievable career, right and my post my
Speaker 1: post career is gonna be even better. So I wouldn't
Speaker 1: change anything. Are you upset that you didn't win a championship?
Speaker 1: Do you believe the perception of traitthy mcgraded would change.
Speaker 1: Had you won a championship, not not the one in
Speaker 1: San Antonio, if you had been a contributing factor like
Speaker 1: in Orlando or like in Houston. Do you believe the
Speaker 1: perception of traitthan mcgraded the player would have changed. I
Speaker 1: think people's I don't know. I think people would call
Speaker 1: me a him, right, I think that would be embedded
Speaker 1: in people's mind. But Shay, I get a lot of
Speaker 1: love out here. Bro, You do respect it wherever I go.
Speaker 1: All right, So the guys, the guys in the league,
Speaker 1: no players, no players, and they you know they I
Speaker 1: already know they give you the love because you don't
Speaker 1: get to thirty two by being a slout right right now.
Speaker 1: You don't. And what's crazy is when you hear, uh,
Speaker 1: he didn't have a work ethic, Like, so you meant
Speaker 1: to tell me somebody that doesn't work can accomplish all
Speaker 1: the things that I accomplished in my career. All right?
Speaker 1: That's where you see in this league? Is that easy
Speaker 1: that I don't have to work that hard to accomplished that? Nah,
Speaker 1: you can get away with something like that in high school.
Speaker 1: But because you're probably the most talented player on the court.
Speaker 1: But when you get to the NFL, or you get
Speaker 1: to the MLB, or you get to the NBA where
Speaker 1: everybody is equally as talented. Nah, there's gotta be something
Speaker 1: to set you apart, and you gotta set yourself apart
Speaker 1: by how your mental and you're physical, and how you
Speaker 1: prepare yourself every night. It's hard to score thirty two
Speaker 1: points every night for your eighty two games. Are you
Speaker 1: kidding me? Well? I would congratulate you, congratulate you on
Speaker 1: the obil best of lup with that in its inaugural season.
Speaker 1: And Bro, I appreciate you. Give me a little bit
Speaker 1: of your time today. Hey, thank you, Shaye, appreciate your brother.
Speaker 1: Best of up Man. All my life, running all my life, sacrifice,
Speaker 1: hustle Bay pricing, one a slice, got the dice, swath
Speaker 1: all my life. I've been grinding all my life, all
Speaker 1: my life, running all my life, sacrifice, hustle Baggy pricing,
Speaker 1: one slice, got the dice, swath all my life. I've
Speaker 1: been running all my life