Speaker 1: This is kJ Live with Chris Johnson, and Chris is
Speaker 1: having conversations with influencers in the sports world and entertainment industry.
Speaker 1: Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned in the kJ Live.
Speaker 1: Today's guest is on the show. The eleven year NBA
Speaker 1: veterans won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat. Since
Speaker 1: retiring from the game, he spends his time as a
Speaker 1: analyst for the Gold State Warriors on the NBC Bay
Speaker 1: Area Network and the program director for Kanye West's Dunda Academy,
Speaker 1: a prep school based out here on the West Coast. Uh.
Speaker 1: It was really a great pleasure and honor to interview
Speaker 1: somebody that I've followed his entire career since he was
Speaker 1: a youngster. Uh. Durrell, Right, welcome to the show, my man.
Speaker 1: Let's sorry, appreciate you having I don't no doubt, man,
Speaker 1: it's always great to talk to you. Man. Uh, you've
Speaker 1: always been one of the guys over the years that
Speaker 1: Uh it's one of the guys that represented the city
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles in an excellent kind of man. And
Speaker 1: you and your brother, your entire family, So we had
Speaker 1: to get you on the show. Man. I guess what
Speaker 1: I wanted to know. Man, A lot of people know
Speaker 1: about you, but they don't really know about Durreil. Talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about where you were born, what you know,
Speaker 1: section of the city of Los Angeles that you were
Speaker 1: born and where you grew up. We want to be
Speaker 1: the street term. I grew up in the hundreds south
Speaker 1: central Los Angeles, Imperial on Western. The places that a
Speaker 1: lot of people know is Southwest College. You know, the
Speaker 1: old bowling alley, uh lucy stuff like that. So that's
Speaker 1: where I grew up man and crazy childhood as far
Speaker 1: as just where I grew up at and you know
Speaker 1: where I where it took me, you know the things
Speaker 1: that taught me. So definitely proud of where I'm from.
Speaker 1: Uh definitely wasn't easy growing up in that area, just
Speaker 1: because we've know about the gang cultures in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: And I just told my son, it's like I used
Speaker 1: have to walk to school every day when I went
Speaker 1: to Washington High School, and I'm walking through three to
Speaker 1: four different hoods every single day. So it's a blessing that,
Speaker 1: you know, I made it through all that and I'm
Speaker 1: here because any day could have been my day, you know,
Speaker 1: mistaken identity me being affiliated with certain people I grew
Speaker 1: up with. So I love where I'm from. I rep
Speaker 1: it hard, and I think we had a lot of
Speaker 1: talent come out of that area. Absolutely. Uh, the south
Speaker 1: central section of the city of Los Angeles has some
Speaker 1: of the greatest athletes that we've ever seen across all sports,
Speaker 1: legends of the game. Um, I guess one thing I
Speaker 1: wanted to kind of drill down into man, when you
Speaker 1: when you're you know, youngster, and you're walking through these
Speaker 1: hoods and you have to worry about you know, what
Speaker 1: color you wear, the school that was the era of that,
Speaker 1: How what sort of advice? Who did you lean on
Speaker 1: for direction and advice? Man telling you, hey, man, you
Speaker 1: you know you can't you know, because I'm Michael much
Speaker 1: of this, Babe. Youre walking through different hoods, but if
Speaker 1: you were blue that day, one of them hoods is
Speaker 1: a bloodhood. So it's like, so it's like, how did
Speaker 1: that work? You know who and who taught you how
Speaker 1: to move in those situations? Uh, your peers, you know,
Speaker 1: having awareness and you know my parents, I had both
Speaker 1: parents at home. I was one of the only kids
Speaker 1: not you know, it was very few of us in
Speaker 1: my neighborhood that grew up with both parents. A lot
Speaker 1: of my friends grew up with single mother homes or
Speaker 1: either live with their grandparents. Things that that nature. And
Speaker 1: you know, when you grow up, it's a lot of
Speaker 1: kids that's way more mature than you. They know a
Speaker 1: lot more than you. Their parents are letting them watch
Speaker 1: and learn stuff. Uh at your mom and dad might
Speaker 1: be screening you from and you know, probably just not
Speaker 1: ready to have that conversation about about certain things with you.
Speaker 1: So you learn a lot of stuff from school and elementary.
Speaker 1: I learned stuff because you know, a lot of my
Speaker 1: friends either family are somebody you know, cousin friend, was
Speaker 1: affiliated with something. So that's kind of where you learn
Speaker 1: stuff from. Man. Uh you you kind of believe them
Speaker 1: until you learn the real truth about a lot of stuff.
Speaker 1: But a lot of the stuff that I learned from
Speaker 1: my friends was dead on, like with section, what hood
Speaker 1: is this? What they do over here? So that's kind
Speaker 1: of how I learned at early age elementary about the
Speaker 1: game culture and uh different sections and what they say,
Speaker 1: the lingo, the terminology, the color ways, all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I learned that from my peers. And then you know,
Speaker 1: being on those bikes, being outside, that's where you learn
Speaker 1: how to be street smart and you know how the
Speaker 1: awareness of what to do, not to do, and things
Speaker 1: of that nature. So uh, definitely, my mom and dad
Speaker 1: tried to let me know, you know, when certain people
Speaker 1: are doing certain things, it's okay to be like, yo,
Speaker 1: I'm sitting this one out. It's okay for them to say, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, as an l a term, you're square or
Speaker 1: you've been a weirdo or whatever, because you don't wanna
Speaker 1: interacting certain things. You know that's gonna get you in trouble.
Speaker 1: So I think my mom and dad did an awesome
Speaker 1: job with letting us know, like, hey, it is okay
Speaker 1: if somebody think you a certain way because you don't
Speaker 1: think that's cool. So I was super aware of a
Speaker 1: lot of things. So yes, you know, I have a
Speaker 1: lot of friends that you know, grew up in the game,
Speaker 1: culture and relatives and stuff like that. I just chose
Speaker 1: to stay active in sports. My mom and dad did
Speaker 1: a great job with putting us in baseball, basketball, football
Speaker 1: year around, so we always stay active, we always stay busy.
Speaker 1: So they did an awesome job with that. In baseball,
Speaker 1: i've heard you talk about it with your first love,
Speaker 1: talk about why you love the game of baseball and
Speaker 1: why you got into it. Well, if you know anything
Speaker 1: about that area about Southwest, you got the batting cage
Speaker 1: over there as well. So it's like that was right.
Speaker 1: We lived there on the coulta sack. So I used
Speaker 1: to run up, you know, the side of the freeway.
Speaker 1: We had like a little entrance you could go through
Speaker 1: if you knew, you knew, and that gets you to
Speaker 1: the back and cage in like two seconds. So I
Speaker 1: got the back and cage right there. I grew up
Speaker 1: playing at Holly Park, and you know, your all your
Speaker 1: people in your neighborhood, they played baseball because the park
Speaker 1: was right there. You know, parents always going to keep
Speaker 1: their kids active. So my dad was a big baseball head.
Speaker 1: He played in high school at free My High. So
Speaker 1: he wanted us to be baseball players as well. So
Speaker 1: I was basically groomed to be a baseball player, me
Speaker 1: and my brother. The line, whether that was in the
Speaker 1: backyard hitting off the t soft toss with my dad
Speaker 1: against a big old comforter he hung up on the
Speaker 1: on the garage, or whether that's us playing catch, us
Speaker 1: doing to Holly Park where even my dad are my
Speaker 1: coach Randy Oldam who coached me for years doing pitching
Speaker 1: practice in field batting. So it was kind of something
Speaker 1: that I knew from day one. So you know, I
Speaker 1: just stuck with it, stuck with it, and you know,
Speaker 1: I really have so much fun. That's all My friends
Speaker 1: playing baseball are people in my neighborhood played baseball. So
Speaker 1: that's kind of how it was the number one sport
Speaker 1: in our household because my dad was really influencing us
Speaker 1: to be baseball players. And so you said, your dad
Speaker 1: went to free Mont and played baseball, did he buy
Speaker 1: any chance playing with Eric Davis? Because Eric Davis from
Speaker 1: the Reds played a free Man. I don't know. Your
Speaker 1: dad might have been younger though, Yeah. I think my
Speaker 1: dad might be a little bit younger than Eric Davis.
Speaker 1: So he missed playing with Eric Davis, but I was.
Speaker 1: But he he let me know who Eric Davis was.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously I knew who these dudes was when
Speaker 1: they was in the league, but not knowing that these dudes,
Speaker 1: Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry and all these dudes played
Speaker 1: in my backyard, you know what I mean, So that
Speaker 1: was inspiring. I used to want to be like Darryl Strawberry,
Speaker 1: so it was pretty dope to know that they were
Speaker 1: interesting kids that made it to the league. A quick
Speaker 1: story about those two gentlemen that you mentioned. My dad
Speaker 1: used to take me up to, uh this old summer
Speaker 1: league called Joe Weekly's Run, Dunk and Shoot League and Crinshaw. Okay,
Speaker 1: it was like the Drew before the Drews, like everything
Speaker 1: before the everything, all the pros all and then all
Speaker 1: the top local guys and back then, you know guys,
Speaker 1: it was a lot of casts that could who but
Speaker 1: didn't was Prop forty eight, didn't have the grades, you know,
Speaker 1: went had to go to Juco, but had major respect
Speaker 1: and put it down. So major time, major, big time
Speaker 1: hoof man. I rolled up with my pop. We walk
Speaker 1: in and on the gym entrance. Right, it's like two
Speaker 1: red or one blue and one red of Mercedes being
Speaker 1: five hundred that cl back in the day to the
Speaker 1: big body Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry standard kind of
Speaker 1: let's sitting out on front. Both of them got curls, okay,
Speaker 1: both of them got the big the thick, the thick
Speaker 1: link uh in the rock and full left, full headed
Speaker 1: toe leather suits, bro level leather brother in the middle
Speaker 1: of the summer, bast killer. And this will let you
Speaker 1: know how big time the dudes was. They was posted
Speaker 1: and they was posted. But but anyway, enough about them, guys,
Speaker 1: what possition did you play? By the way, drill Well,
Speaker 1: I grew up being a shortstop. We all know everybody
Speaker 1: want to be a shortstop growing up, either want to
Speaker 1: pitch or play shortstop. So I played shortstop. I was
Speaker 1: really utility. I played a lot of shortstop, a lot
Speaker 1: of bad catcher, and not pitched a lot. But once
Speaker 1: I got older high school, I was a first baseman
Speaker 1: in the right fielder because a scout told me the
Speaker 1: first day of RB I reviving baseball in the inner City.
Speaker 1: I played under the Dodgers organization. One two championships was
Speaker 1: sponsored by Gary Sheffield. The first day I went out
Speaker 1: and at this time I'm like six six and I'm
Speaker 1: at third base, and the scout named Mr Butler. I
Speaker 1: was like, what are you doing? Son from the White
Speaker 1: Sox too. I was like, none, I played third bay.
Speaker 1: He said no, you don't you say? He said, you're
Speaker 1: a first baseman or right field you need to go
Speaker 1: tell your parents about your first baseman glove. So that's
Speaker 1: kind of high ventured over the first base. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I was six six, So he was like, you're gonna
Speaker 1: make yourself a lot of money if you can be
Speaker 1: a first baseman at that height, or a right field
Speaker 1: because I can already hit, so uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: finished as off as a right fielder in the first basement.
Speaker 1: What was your moment in your baseball career man? Were
Speaker 1: you said? Was there a moment or was there just
Speaker 1: a gradual kind of drifting away where you were like
Speaker 1: I'm putting down the batting ball, and I'm picking up
Speaker 1: this this rock, over this hoop rock, and I'm putting
Speaker 1: on all my basket because because you know, as somebody
Speaker 1: that came out as a high schooler, right, you didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of time to be doing a bunch
Speaker 1: of stuff. So it happened really quick. You were baseball
Speaker 1: for a minute, and then you got good at basketball apparently,
Speaker 1: were you good at both simultaneously? Yeah, I think I
Speaker 1: was getting better. I've always played on the black top outside.
Speaker 1: I always had a court. I think my parents bought
Speaker 1: me in court my seven years old for Christmas so
Speaker 1: I always had a court. I always stayed active, never
Speaker 1: really played on the team, uh like a tribal team.
Speaker 1: But you know it was funny. I'm from you know
Speaker 1: where I tell you I'm from, But I used to
Speaker 1: go play wreck ball at St. Andrew's Park. If you
Speaker 1: know any history, you know those size don't get all
Speaker 1: my dad. That's where my dad grew up, playing in St.
Speaker 1: Andrew bro Yes, St Andrew Park. I'm a St. Andrew's
Speaker 1: Park baby me Hassan Adams, very very red and a
Speaker 1: bunch of others that came through there. But I played
Speaker 1: at St. Andrew's wreck I was always one of the
Speaker 1: top players make the All Star team every year. But
Speaker 1: I was like, you know, I'm just doing this, but
Speaker 1: I want to be a baseball player. So when I
Speaker 1: when it came to that point where I had to
Speaker 1: meet it in the middle and like, yo, what I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do. Was my senior high school, I was still
Speaker 1: playing that losing or one of the top players in
Speaker 1: the area. The year before I was first I was
Speaker 1: second team All Area. My senior year, I was second
Speaker 1: team All Area as well. But a scout came in
Speaker 1: my game and said that same Mr Butler. He said, hey,
Speaker 1: it's time for you to put all your eggs in
Speaker 1: one basket. We've got scouts, we've got different people accent.
Speaker 1: What is the rail right gonna do? It's almost time
Speaker 1: to get drafted. Are you gonna be a baseball player?
Speaker 1: Are you gonna be a basketball player? Right there on
Speaker 1: the spot, I told him, I'm gonna be a basketball player. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm getting all the attention off basketball. I got yu Con,
Speaker 1: I got coach Henry Bibby coming up and see my
Speaker 1: baseball game. It's not bad, he wanted me. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: I got Jim Calhoun on the phone. I got Steve
Speaker 1: Offered on the phone because he was at Iowa. I've
Speaker 1: got I got all these schools recruited me now, and
Speaker 1: I'm loving it. I'm like this is this is it?
Speaker 1: Like my friends are all in the baseball I mean
Speaker 1: on basketball teams now. So at that point, I made
Speaker 1: my decision, and I would never forget telling my mom
Speaker 1: and dad. They were lived. They're like, dude, you don't
Speaker 1: make no decisions around here without uh, you know, consulting
Speaker 1: with us. Like who are you to tell this dude
Speaker 1: that you're not doing this no more? And I was like, Mom, Dad, like,
Speaker 1: I'm I want to be a basketball player, and you know,
Speaker 1: they were upset about it. And then they let me
Speaker 1: kind of be be me and and be that young
Speaker 1: adult that made a real big decision on the spot
Speaker 1: to an MLI be scout, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: That was crazy. So they were definitely mad, and but
Speaker 1: they ended up working out the end of the day.
Speaker 1: What gave you that confidence to tell this Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball scout? Because you know, I've been in front of
Speaker 1: scouts and you know, I mean, we know how that
Speaker 1: feeling is when you're in front of somebody that's in
Speaker 1: the league and you're young too, Like, what gave your
Speaker 1: confidence to tell him? Know the Baseball's I just felt
Speaker 1: like I was trending in the right to direction for
Speaker 1: for basketball, Like I said, I when I when I
Speaker 1: tell you I was talking to these people. They were
Speaker 1: coming to the school. Like I went to Kingwood Classic
Speaker 1: with a Pat Barrier. You know that they had hardwood
Speaker 1: is it Hardwood Calst Classic? And it was in Houston.
Speaker 1: It was a tournament in Houston. So my coach let
Speaker 1: me and my parents were super loyal let me go
Speaker 1: and play with Pat Barry for one tournament and I
Speaker 1: played with Marcus Johnson, Aaron to follow, Taylor King, all
Speaker 1: these great players. You know what I mean. I mean
Speaker 1: I'm still green, Like I played for independent team but
Speaker 1: the last three years. So I'm going to play with
Speaker 1: s C I'm getting all this gear, like I'm living
Speaker 1: this like Lokia rock Star team. You know, everybody know
Speaker 1: the history of s c A. So I'm like this
Speaker 1: is little first day. I kind of put my imprint,
Speaker 1: like yo, I'm one of them. Like I know all
Speaker 1: y'all great players, but I'm gonna be out here playing hard.
Speaker 1: And I was the leading school or the whole tournament.
Speaker 1: All these schools was like yo, like who is this kid?
Speaker 1: So after that tournament, I had day later, I had
Speaker 1: Heary Biby. I had a coach Vaughn from Yukon. They
Speaker 1: coming to the school to see me. I'm in person
Speaker 1: like yeah, they're coming pulling up to the school Like
Speaker 1: I'm like okay, So, like I got a chance at this,
Speaker 1: you know, to go to college. The NBA is nowhere insight.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I can go to college. So that's when
Speaker 1: I knew, like I had that confidence, like yo, I
Speaker 1: got a chance to go play college basketball Yukon USC
Speaker 1: Like I'm with it. So that's kind of where I
Speaker 1: knew and had that confidence where I'm like, I can
Speaker 1: get I could be done with baseball. Yeah, they make
Speaker 1: a lot of money. But in the back of my mind,
Speaker 1: I still being smart because I'm like, you got rookie ball,
Speaker 1: you got hey, you got double A, you got triple A.
Speaker 1: Now you're thirty five years old, you're probably first getting
Speaker 1: your first taste of the league. I'm thinking like that
Speaker 1: at that age, so I'm like, dude, I'd rather play
Speaker 1: who yeah, coming out you comparisons to t Mat. I'm curious, though,
Speaker 1: how much influence did Kobe Bryant have on your game
Speaker 1: at that time, because my theories this real quick, real quick,
Speaker 1: since you weren't on the typical circuit and everybody didn't
Speaker 1: see you, right, so everybody, you know how we know
Speaker 1: each other game. Once you start seeing each other on
Speaker 1: the circuit, you know how it is. We started, we are,
Speaker 1: we do our own scouting for So you went down
Speaker 1: Kingwood and probably just absolutely turned it out because I
Speaker 1: know what you were at six seven, six eight back there, yeah,
Speaker 1: six seven right at that time? Were you booming? Were
Speaker 1: you booming on foods. A lot back there, there wasn't yeah, ok,
Speaker 1: brooming and a lot of a lot of midis. I
Speaker 1: used to have a nice man, right, so I'm making
Speaker 1: and that and that's crazy you say that because a
Speaker 1: lot of my friends just say you play like Kobe.
Speaker 1: I think the athleticism and just being so wrong and
Speaker 1: just jumping in the air and just making decisions like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, where the tea mat came from. But I
Speaker 1: had all a like Kobe stuff in me, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, just from watching the Lakers. I used
Speaker 1: to sit there with my dad. Used to be like,
Speaker 1: how are you a basketball player? You don't watch the basketball?
Speaker 1: And I used to be like, you're right. So I
Speaker 1: used to sit there with my dad and watch Laker games.
Speaker 1: And you know, when you see somebody, you go mimic
Speaker 1: that stuff. So the footwork, get into your spots, all
Speaker 1: that type of stuff. I used to have a little
Speaker 1: bit of Kobe in the as well. Yeah. Absolutely, So
Speaker 1: you had every coach in the country, uh, pretty much
Speaker 1: recruiting you, chewing interest in you. That must have felt great,
Speaker 1: And this is why you're at losinger. Talk a little
Speaker 1: bit so about just the losinginger tradition UM in basketball. Um.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people don't know that. You
Speaker 1: guys have a number of first round draft picks, UM
Speaker 1: and some high quality of professional athletes. Right. But let
Speaker 1: me tell you this quick story before I get to
Speaker 1: that and how that how the tradition even started. So, Uh,
Speaker 1: my ninth and timer grade, I want to Washington High.
Speaker 1: So that wasn't the goal. The goal was for me
Speaker 1: to go to Palisades. My mom my dad wasn't feeling that.
Speaker 1: And when I went to when I was gonna go
Speaker 1: to Palisades, I was gonna play baseball, football, and basketball.
Speaker 1: So I was in line to play all three sports.
Speaker 1: They're like, I'm talking to the coaches everything. It was
Speaker 1: all set end up not going there. So the next
Speaker 1: thing was the goal maybe to like Sarah, go play
Speaker 1: with Pool Jetter and all them didn't play well in
Speaker 1: their tests. So my mom and dad was like, uh,
Speaker 1: so I end up going to end up going to Washington.
Speaker 1: Go to Washington for two years. Uh. Tried to play
Speaker 1: basketball my freshman year, coach Andy Davis told me I
Speaker 1: couldn't play varsity ninth grade. You gotta play j V.
Speaker 1: I said, well, I'm not playing. So that was that.
Speaker 1: I played baseball in my ninth grade year. Temth grade year,
Speaker 1: roll around. Now I'm about to play varsity. I make
Speaker 1: the varsity team. Now he got uh Andre Patterson, Wayne
Speaker 1: Chamberlain and Twine Parker. You know what I mean, like
Speaker 1: some real o g Yeah, like basketball, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Cedric Smith who played. He was the only
Speaker 1: freshman to play that and that kind of was why
Speaker 1: I was like, yo, say playing Varcy nineth grade, Well,
Speaker 1: I can't play varsy so whatever, uh ten grade, come around,
Speaker 1: make the team. I play one tournament at Beverly Hills
Speaker 1: High School. Now I'm ineligible, so I can't play. Uh Now,
Speaker 1: I gotta get my grades right. End up playing the
Speaker 1: last game at Fairfax and the playoff game, but I
Speaker 1: still play baseball. Was one of the best players in baseball.
Speaker 1: Went oh in two and two years, we didn't win
Speaker 1: one game on the baseball team. Pops like, we're going
Speaker 1: we out, So that's what we try to get back
Speaker 1: in Sarah. That didn't work out. The coach that Sarah said,
Speaker 1: my boy coaches at losing your Joel Romero and he
Speaker 1: can he had take him, and we want to talk
Speaker 1: to Ramero, made it happen. Was like, the only thing is, Ramero,
Speaker 1: you don't have to pick me up every day for school.
Speaker 1: If you want me to come there, no problem. So
Speaker 1: that's how I ended up at losing your coach, Romero,
Speaker 1: Uh sent me, I mean came pick me up every
Speaker 1: day for two years, took me, took me to school,
Speaker 1: pick me up. I know that don't happen no more.
Speaker 1: Uh that's the old school stuff, when your coach come
Speaker 1: pick you up and things like that. So those car
Speaker 1: rides from school amazing, amazing because one of the things
Speaker 1: he did he opened my mind up. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: so West Coast. I really thought I was in the
Speaker 1: Beak with snooping and the dog Pound and you know,
Speaker 1: death Row. I didn't listen to no East Coast music.
Speaker 1: He introduced me to jay Z the Blueprint too. We
Speaker 1: listened to that thing every day for a whole year.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, dang, like I'm tripping on these dudes.
Speaker 1: You know, I really think I'm I'm all the way.
Speaker 1: We don't listen to the East so no, yeah, And
Speaker 1: I want to know if he even know that, Like
Speaker 1: he influenced me to listen to more East Coast music,
Speaker 1: Jay Z and stuff like that. So the car rises
Speaker 1: was great. You know, it was like he felt like
Speaker 1: he was like a big brother to me. If anything
Speaker 1: culturing merrow So get the Loosing your Day one. He
Speaker 1: see the basketball coach. He said, you want me to
Speaker 1: introduce you to the basketball coach. I was like, nah,
Speaker 1: I came here to play baseball at Washington and then
Speaker 1: work out. I'm focusing on baseball. He was like, man,
Speaker 1: let's just meet him. So I'm like, all right, we're
Speaker 1: gonna meet him. So Travis show walked through. I meet
Speaker 1: him and at this time six six He's like, yo,
Speaker 1: you know, we love to have you, you know, come
Speaker 1: to a tryout or you know, open gym. Tuesday. I'm like,
Speaker 1: you know, I came here to play baseball, but I
Speaker 1: come go. So Tuesday roll around. I go to the gym.
Speaker 1: My guy Derek Clark, uh Tweetie, who went to Curntshaw
Speaker 1: High School as well, Uh was there. I go into
Speaker 1: to the open gym. I killed everybody and I was like, hey,
Speaker 1: show Walker, I'm playing. I'm playing. I'm gonna play two.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play basketball as well. So that's kind of
Speaker 1: how that happened. Uh. And then you know our first
Speaker 1: year there of my Elevon grade year, weren't that good
Speaker 1: with eight gay teams. Uh, they let go show walks.
Speaker 1: He found another job. Reggie Morris Jr. Rose in young coach.
Speaker 1: I think at that time Red was only twe two
Speaker 1: years old when he coached. So he kind of came in,
Speaker 1: you know, not I don't want to say Rigan. He
Speaker 1: came in like on something and we're turning this thing around,
Speaker 1: and I hit him with the I'm leaving going to Westchester.
Speaker 1: Trevor Rees, Bobby Brown, Uh, Scott Cutley, Jonathan Smith, then
Speaker 1: my homies. Now so I'm not going to play with
Speaker 1: the homies. I'm not coming back here. So you know,
Speaker 1: they come have a meeting with my mom and dad like, yo,
Speaker 1: we need him here. My mom and dad was like,
Speaker 1: he ain't going to know Westchester. He is there to
Speaker 1: play baseball. First off, he ain't going nowhere. So that
Speaker 1: set that and you know we got got it going.
Speaker 1: Coach Morris came in and basically shipped the cold culture,
Speaker 1: and we were his first group, got all the way
Speaker 1: to the semifinals loss, and then you know that's when
Speaker 1: we blossom. The whole program. He had Russell Westbrook on
Speaker 1: the JV team who was a freshman. Then you have
Speaker 1: my brother Delon Right who was next in line. And
Speaker 1: then the culture a Mere Garrett who played who pitches
Speaker 1: for uh Cincinnati Red. So coach Morris basically grew that
Speaker 1: culture with my group. Uh you know, going to the
Speaker 1: semi finals and you know, making a lot of noise
Speaker 1: in that area, and then the list goes on as
Speaker 1: far as the players are losing your sees. Now, So
Speaker 1: that's kind of a short story how it happened, and
Speaker 1: Reggie Morris was the person to get that whole thing booming.
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports
Speaker 1: Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
Speaker 1: Search f s R to listen live. Now. You so
Speaker 1: you hit your senior year, you still played baseball or
Speaker 1: did you had given it up by that point your
Speaker 1: baseball went through. I was still playing baseball. Hit. I
Speaker 1: had my best year. I hit five foot team. I
Speaker 1: led the team in triples and doubles. I was set
Speaker 1: in the team and home runs. And like I said,
Speaker 1: I had Henry Bibby coming to my baseball games to
Speaker 1: recruit me. So I got the basketball coaches at the
Speaker 1: baseball game, and so what made you decide to attend
Speaker 1: self Kent after losing? So now now I'm going to
Speaker 1: the A U circuit. Now I go to a B
Speaker 1: C D camp, I'm going to five star camp. I'm
Speaker 1: going all these camps. So Eric Harden, who coached me
Speaker 1: with the Paladin, said, hey, d right, if you go
Speaker 1: to prep school, you will be able to go to
Speaker 1: the NBA the following year. Mine, you, I told you,
Speaker 1: I never even thought about the NBA. I'm just excited
Speaker 1: that I might got a chance to go to a
Speaker 1: major D one college. So he liked, you right, I'm
Speaker 1: telling you, you're gonna go to all these camps. They're
Speaker 1: gonna see you. Now, you're gonna see the East coach,
Speaker 1: You're gonna see them. But if you can go and
Speaker 1: do what you just did this year and do that
Speaker 1: on the East Coast, you're going to the league the
Speaker 1: next year. And I remember going home and telling my
Speaker 1: mom and dad. Coach Eric told me if I go
Speaker 1: to prep school, I can go to the NBA. I
Speaker 1: said it very casual like that, and it was like, yo,
Speaker 1: you need to go to coach are he don't know
Speaker 1: what we're talking about, Like, that's some bs, that's bologning
Speaker 1: you going to college and you're not going to the
Speaker 1: NBA maketure. I'm just letting you know that now. So uh,
Speaker 1: I had to find the prep school. My mom and dad,
Speaker 1: we all did our due dealings. Now, Sonny, but Carol
Speaker 1: is in the picture now. Now, Sunny has been a
Speaker 1: huge part of decision making in my house. You know,
Speaker 1: he basically consulting the family and telling them, hey, I
Speaker 1: think this is a good opportunity. I think this and that.
Speaker 1: So I got I, you know, hold so much the
Speaker 1: Sunny and Poum because they played a major part and
Speaker 1: you know, me developing finding the proper prep school and
Speaker 1: then giving my mom and dad that go to the least.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of how South King came along. Raphael
Speaker 1: Chelios did a great job with letting me know how
Speaker 1: they're gonna be able to develop me, how they'll be
Speaker 1: able to get me qualified and and not qualified the
Speaker 1: wrong way, the right way. As far as that you're
Speaker 1: gonna be in class, you're gonna take this. Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: gonna get you right. You're gonna have options after you
Speaker 1: leave here. So that's kind of how that came about.
Speaker 1: And it was one of the best decisions I've made.
Speaker 1: Where did you Rockfield? Chill is who I met when
Speaker 1: he was coaching with Lorenzo Romark the University of Washington
Speaker 1: UM And then where did you meet Sunny? He was
Speaker 1: at abc D. I met Sunday before abc D. Eric
Speaker 1: Hardon kept sending him my highlights tape you gotta get
Speaker 1: this kid in and and you gotta get this kid
Speaker 1: and a B C D camp. He's the most Unstad's
Speaker 1: one of the best unsigned underrated player. He's send Sunny
Speaker 1: and sunny favorite line when he tells people how he
Speaker 1: met me, it's like, yeah, this guy's hey, you coach
Speaker 1: uh for whatever team? He always messes the name up
Speaker 1: uh stead of staying of Paladins, he always say something
Speaker 1: the wrong name. He kept calling me, kept emailing me,
Speaker 1: and kept telling these people get in contact because it's
Speaker 1: some guy named the roll right was the best. I'm like, yeah, whatever, whatever,
Speaker 1: And then I never watched the tape. Somebody kind of
Speaker 1: put the stamp on it. And that's how Sonny invited
Speaker 1: me to the camp. And uh, we know before that
Speaker 1: we met in person, met in person, and um, one
Speaker 1: of the best days ever meeting him because when I
Speaker 1: met Sonny also met t J. Four. He was just
Speaker 1: fresh off of championship. You know, uh, you know, we
Speaker 1: all know Sonny has a lot of great relationships with
Speaker 1: you know, previous players, so kind of told me what
Speaker 1: to look for and what was gonna happen when I
Speaker 1: got the abc D camp and Sonny, you know, we
Speaker 1: build that relationship before abc D Camp and then I
Speaker 1: go there kill it. And he also brought Team Mac
Speaker 1: to one of my games just to see me. I
Speaker 1: saw he brought me over. This is Tracy. You know
Speaker 1: a lot of people are comparing you guys. He's gonna
Speaker 1: watch your game. You better do good. So that was
Speaker 1: pretty It was a series of just kind of it's
Speaker 1: crazy events that you took place for you. Uh, as
Speaker 1: far as your your basketball journey was concerned. You got
Speaker 1: Pat Barry, you got Sonny, and you're just and and
Speaker 1: all and every stop you're turning it out. I mean
Speaker 1: that'sar familiarly what happens. Ultimately you turned it out and
Speaker 1: every stop it didn't that if it was Sunny whoever,
Speaker 1: I the real right is turning it out. So if
Speaker 1: you go back with you now, I guess my question. Now,
Speaker 1: now that Raphael chili Is has given you the blueprint
Speaker 1: for how you know you're gonna develop you and get
Speaker 1: your qualified et center for that year, there had to
Speaker 1: be well, let me ask you this what you had
Speaker 1: Baseball still kind of looming in the back picture. So
Speaker 1: that wasn't a deal where South Kent had a baseball
Speaker 1: team to or how did that work? They did? But
Speaker 1: you know, at this point, I had already burbally committed
Speaker 1: to to the Paul so I kinda I kind of knew.
Speaker 1: And then after the A B D abc D camp,
Speaker 1: a lot of like the word got it got out
Speaker 1: like now he ain't going to college. He he got
Speaker 1: potential to go to the NBA. So buz started at
Speaker 1: abc D. Can't because remember, uh, you got all the
Speaker 1: hundreds of college coaches and then you got the NBA scouts.
Speaker 1: So um, I get the South can they like baseball?
Speaker 1: That's house and I'll be like cool with me already
Speaker 1: that I'm like, I don't want to play. So when
Speaker 1: I got the South camp, the word was already out,
Speaker 1: like Yo, this dude going to the lead after the
Speaker 1: after this year. So now what Eric Hardon told me
Speaker 1: months ago, right after the losing your season and like
Speaker 1: kind of the middle of au circuit, the word was out.
Speaker 1: So when I got there, it was like, yo, you
Speaker 1: I heard you might be going to lead after this,
Speaker 1: and I kind of was like, yeah, I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna happen. I don't know, I think
Speaker 1: that's gonna happen. So that's kind of how all that happened.
Speaker 1: Like I was, my mind shifted. I was no longer
Speaker 1: thinking I was going to cause my whole mindset shifted
Speaker 1: to I'm going to lead now. So when I got
Speaker 1: there and chills, you know whatever, he kind of knew
Speaker 1: to like, yo, we're getting you prepared for the next
Speaker 1: next level. How old were you at this time when
Speaker 1: you're going from eighteen because I to seven team so
Speaker 1: that put me in my right grade when I did
Speaker 1: my post ride year. Okay, And so you go through
Speaker 1: the season to South Kent now presumably believe the NBA
Speaker 1: pre draft process is next, right, How talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about that process for you and if you have
Speaker 1: any crazy kind of stories from a crazy workout or
Speaker 1: anything like that. Yeah, So during the season, though I
Speaker 1: had like you know, the NBA scouts there, so we're
Speaker 1: going all these big events. You know, Danny Yangs from
Speaker 1: the Celtics. A lot of the heat people followed me.
Speaker 1: Uh so I'm getting these different scouts at the game.
Speaker 1: So so Danny is in the building. Yeah, they they're pulling,
Speaker 1: They're pulling up. So that's how real is getting you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, They're pulling up a lot of
Speaker 1: times I didn't know what's going on to chills, Like
Speaker 1: you know, scalt from six was here, scout from here
Speaker 1: was here. I was like, really, he's telling me this
Speaker 1: is after the game. Sare well, they know they I
Speaker 1: just had thirty so they know. And so but once
Speaker 1: you get to the pre draft workout is a funny story.
Speaker 1: I tell her the had master of school, j R. Smith,
Speaker 1: Josh Smith to bashing. He's all my homies because I
Speaker 1: went to a D C D camp. I went to
Speaker 1: the USA, so we I didn't. I'm in the group.
Speaker 1: I'm in the click now like they I'm wanting them. Now.
Speaker 1: I'm hearing they leaving school early to start getting ready
Speaker 1: for pre draft camp. I'll go tell the head man,
Speaker 1: I said, hey, all the high school kids, that's coming out.
Speaker 1: They're going to pre draft camp. He like, that's cool.
Speaker 1: You ain't gonna nowhere. You're gonna do it here because
Speaker 1: you gotta finish school. Remember we set a goal. We
Speaker 1: told your parents are gonna be qualified for college. So
Speaker 1: if that don't have, you're gonna be qualified. I'm like, okay.
Speaker 1: So the pre draft camp and uh, you know, all
Speaker 1: the workouts were cool. The craziest stuff was just when
Speaker 1: I did the two workouts in Boston, just all the
Speaker 1: running and things of that nature. It was pretty simple
Speaker 1: because a lot of stuff that we did their chills
Speaker 1: was preparing this for a lot of stuff. We questions
Speaker 1: that questions that teenager like why are we doing this?
Speaker 1: It's crazy. Once I got to those pre draft camps,
Speaker 1: our workouts we were doing that, so nothing really crazy.
Speaker 1: I did too. I did two workouts for Boston and
Speaker 1: I did three from Miami. I did too in Miami,
Speaker 1: and then they came to South Kemp to watch me
Speaker 1: work out too, So that was pretty crazy for them
Speaker 1: to come all over the South camp. Pat Riley, No,
Speaker 1: it was what is uh cam? Oh, check camera, check camera,
Speaker 1: there you go. The O G came and see me,
Speaker 1: So that's who it was so that that that was
Speaker 1: pretty crazy for them to come there. Yeah, that's crazy, man,
Speaker 1: that you you got a crazy story. Man. That is
Speaker 1: really because because you you from South Central, but you
Speaker 1: went to South Kit You got all these league dudes
Speaker 1: coming to see you. Man, you play, you didn't play
Speaker 1: on the traditional route. You hit a couple of spots,
Speaker 1: turned it out. You have a really, really teresting story.
Speaker 1: But let's keep going, man, Let's keep going. Because I'm
Speaker 1: fascinated with the heat and the heat culture, right, so
Speaker 1: if I followed that organization for a while. I actually
Speaker 1: met with Spokes back in two thousand and twelve at
Speaker 1: the Heat offices. I was trying to sell them from software.
Speaker 1: That's another story, but I was down there, down there
Speaker 1: the Heat officers. Man, I was chilling with sposing them.
Speaker 1: It was crazy, but I just kind of was curious, man,
Speaker 1: because we hear a lot about the heating culture and
Speaker 1: how they you know, they stressed conditioning and physical toughness.
Speaker 1: When you we're going through the pre draft process with
Speaker 1: the heat, did you was the what could you get
Speaker 1: a sense that it was a little bit different the
Speaker 1: way they did things down there, or wasn't following in
Speaker 1: line with pretty much what everybody else was doing, because
Speaker 1: now you know people talk. I did twenties six workouts.
Speaker 1: Remember I didn't have no agent, so I kept that open.
Speaker 1: So I had some random person scheduling these workouts. And
Speaker 1: Sonny was his He was like, who was doing this?
Speaker 1: They got you going to Boston. Didn't you come to
Speaker 1: l A? Then you're going to Chicago, You're going back
Speaker 1: to I was doing that, like I come back to
Speaker 1: l A. Then I go all the way to Atlanta,
Speaker 1: then I go to Seattle. Like it was no real structure.
Speaker 1: What my but you know, I'm eighteen, I'm green, I
Speaker 1: don't you know. So those conversations start, like, yo, who
Speaker 1: you worked out for so far? Uh? You tell them
Speaker 1: I went to Miami and went to Boston. Everybody was
Speaker 1: like that Miami one right. I was like Miami Boston
Speaker 1: because of that running at the end in New Orleans
Speaker 1: were the toughest ones. And then you think about it,
Speaker 1: the running is just at the end, it's gonna see
Speaker 1: what type of shape you in Miami, New Orleans. The
Speaker 1: common denominic you got pat Riley, you got Byron Scott.
Speaker 1: So we all know Byron Scott took a lot of
Speaker 1: that blueprint from what pat Riley did. So those are
Speaker 1: the two toughest ones. But my cardio and where I was,
Speaker 1: you know, as far as in shape, it was easy
Speaker 1: to me. I'm eighteen, I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1: You couldn't. It was nothing I was complaining about because
Speaker 1: I was so happy to be there, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. They saw like everything we did, I was
Speaker 1: okay with it, like you know, I did it at
Speaker 1: full speed. I didn't show no weakness to all the
Speaker 1: cardio stuff. So I kind of think that's what really
Speaker 1: made me do three workouts and then I didn't think
Speaker 1: of it to the end, like damn, I did do
Speaker 1: three workouts with them. That me that might mean why
Speaker 1: they drafted me, right, they took They took you with
Speaker 1: the with the nineteenth pick, the two downs, and in
Speaker 1: four draft you were officially a first round To talk
Speaker 1: about when you heard your name called or did you
Speaker 1: know already? Did they did they call you already and
Speaker 1: tell you? Yeah? So Calvin Andrews at the time was
Speaker 1: my agent. You know, I signed with B d A
Speaker 1: and Bill Duffie and Calvin Andrews and before they called me, um,
Speaker 1: he called me into my kitchen. He was like, come
Speaker 1: here right fast, d right. He was like, Miami just called.
Speaker 1: They want to know you can handle South Beach. Mind
Speaker 1: you've never been in Miami. Like that. I went there
Speaker 1: and do my workout and I left. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm like, YEA can handle the Miami. So that that
Speaker 1: was that. Then a few picks later they end up
Speaker 1: calling my name. I kind of got, you know, I
Speaker 1: kind of set up a little bit like damn he
Speaker 1: did is asking about Miami. Let me see, I did
Speaker 1: do three workouts and then when they called my name
Speaker 1: is a best feeling in the world. Man. Uh definitely
Speaker 1: changed my life. I know a lot of people in
Speaker 1: Miami were upset because they took me before Jamir Nelson
Speaker 1: with that nineteen pick. And I know a lot of
Speaker 1: people thought they needed a point guard for the Wade,
Speaker 1: the kind of like match up in that back court.
Speaker 1: And one of the first questions that asked me was like,
Speaker 1: what how did you feel about the booze this and that.
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I was in the house with
Speaker 1: full full of people that loved me. I didn't hear
Speaker 1: no booze. It was all cheers. So uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't take that personal and I didn't care like
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have control over draft me. But
Speaker 1: that was definitely a big, big highlight of my career
Speaker 1: and and like young life as well. You still remember
Speaker 1: your your rookie that first rookie training camp and when
Speaker 1: you had to go at you know, d Wade and
Speaker 1: also of these guys who was it Eddie Jones And
Speaker 1: I mean you had you had about eight six or
Speaker 1: seven small forwards, so practice for you, That's what I
Speaker 1: noticed kind of looking back on it, and I was like, man,
Speaker 1: this dude had to go up and get some dog
Speaker 1: in practice. Every single day was a challenge. My main
Speaker 1: matchup was Rosco but arrest in Peace and Eddie Jones.
Speaker 1: Uh and they they really got me to where, you know,
Speaker 1: my career was, you know, competing at the high level.
Speaker 1: One thing about me, you didn't have to tell me
Speaker 1: to go hard, so like they used to have to
Speaker 1: be like, yo, bro, you need to chill out. It's
Speaker 1: a walkthrough. I'm busting Eddie Jones lip. He looking at
Speaker 1: me like, bro, what's up with you? Man? You need
Speaker 1: to chill out a little bit. I'm like what I do?
Speaker 1: He's like, Man, my lift is bleeding because you're you're
Speaker 1: going too hard. So I was one of those dudes
Speaker 1: they used to have to be like, yo, slow down
Speaker 1: a little bit, young feller. But you know, I really
Speaker 1: really had the opportunity to compete at a high level
Speaker 1: against some of the greats, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: d Wade, Eddie Jones, Shannon Anderson, Derek Anderson, uh, in
Speaker 1: my first few years. So they just kind of taught
Speaker 1: me to rope to how to work and how to
Speaker 1: bring it every single day. So that's something I really
Speaker 1: appreciate with those guys. And uh, you know some stuff
Speaker 1: I try to install in the kids I coached. Now
Speaker 1: it's a rookie you peel O'Neil, Christian later and Alonzo
Speaker 1: Morning we're on that heat team and that's that's that's
Speaker 1: an amazing trio for a lot of reasons. Three and
Speaker 1: the greatest college stars that the game has ever seen,
Speaker 1: and just American basketball folklore. I mean, yeah, Latner Zo,
Speaker 1: I mean, those are some of the biggest legends. What
Speaker 1: was it like being around them and what kind of
Speaker 1: dude today? You've got any stories from them? Brothers? Man?
Speaker 1: I got stories to days. But well, well you know
Speaker 1: with Shock, it was a little bit different. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a Laker faner on up. I just
Speaker 1: watched him win back to back to back championships. Then
Speaker 1: I go get drafted by Miami and we go trade
Speaker 1: for him to three weeks after I'm drafted, so I'm like, wait,
Speaker 1: what am I gonna be on a team with Shaq? Surreal?
Speaker 1: You know, he's one of those dudes as bigger than life,
Speaker 1: a big jokester. So once I was able to team
Speaker 1: up with him, you know, he kind of knew what
Speaker 1: I was because we got mutual friends. My mom best friend.
Speaker 1: My mom used to work for l AP So one
Speaker 1: of my mom's close friends was a detective for l
Speaker 1: A p D. And they kind of took Chack under
Speaker 1: his wing, you know, when he wanted to be a
Speaker 1: police officer, learned about the uh the four, so they
Speaker 1: kind of connected us. So she told Shaq, this is
Speaker 1: my best friend son, so make sure you look out
Speaker 1: for him. So he kind of came there already you
Speaker 1: know who I was because of her Marcella's so uh
Speaker 1: it was cool because he took me on his wing.
Speaker 1: He treated me well always, you know, random like clown
Speaker 1: stuff all the time. But the stories, you know, go
Speaker 1: for days just being a big prankster, uh and just
Speaker 1: being just a big brother man. But the funny thing
Speaker 1: is with with him and Zoe, He's always get on
Speaker 1: He's a Zoe I'm five minutes better than you. You
Speaker 1: just remember I was in the league five minutes before you,
Speaker 1: because obviously he was the first pick and you know
Speaker 1: Zoe being a second pick. He's always joked on him
Speaker 1: about that. But it was always cool. Zoe was more
Speaker 1: of that uh father figure. He didn't treat me like
Speaker 1: a little homie. He used to treat me like he
Speaker 1: was my dad. Like I used to say crazy stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm eighteen nineteen joking, always doing wild stuff, and he's
Speaker 1: always been looking at me like what would make you
Speaker 1: say something like that? You know, I'm like just goofy man,
Speaker 1: just saying anything, but everybody else laughing and Zoe serious
Speaker 1: because I don't know what. So that was that was
Speaker 1: cool was because it was different, you know, a shock
Speaker 1: I go over there, joke was tell me some real
Speaker 1: stuff like you need to do this and that I'm
Speaker 1: all right man. And then later he was just laid back.
Speaker 1: He was just you know, uh, one of those dudes
Speaker 1: that you know, he just wasn't that he wasn't It
Speaker 1: wasn't nothing too crazy for him. He did pass me
Speaker 1: the ball on my first bucket and made sure he
Speaker 1: told me, hey, Brook, don't ever forget whoever who gave
Speaker 1: you your first assists. So I'd never forget that moment.
Speaker 1: But three cool dudes. Uh took a lot of a
Speaker 1: lot of advice from them, soaked it up like a sponge.
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk line up
Speaker 1: in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app.
Speaker 1: Search f s R to listen live. How your relationship
Speaker 1: with the sv T Stan van Gundy it was, it
Speaker 1: was whatever, you know, I was still a young fellow.
Speaker 1: I think Stan really wanted Jamir Nelson as well. I
Speaker 1: think he, uh, you know, thought that that was the
Speaker 1: right fit for them. So I don't want to say
Speaker 1: that he treated me a different way because that didn't happen,
Speaker 1: because I think, you know, after you look back at it,
Speaker 1: standards just like that with everybody. You know, He's just
Speaker 1: about his craft and that's about winning, developing. So uh,
Speaker 1: he definitely stayed on me. He used to hate when
Speaker 1: I went left all the time. If you go left
Speaker 1: one more time, I'm gonna find you. So that was
Speaker 1: the one thing he's gonna say, if you go left
Speaker 1: one more time, you getting fine? Why was he keeping
Speaker 1: on the list? I used to break every play. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm thinking. I'm coming from being a man.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. You know, you gotta run a
Speaker 1: play every single time. I used to think, Hey, it's
Speaker 1: my moment right now, I don't play. I gotta show
Speaker 1: you I'm trying to play. So he used to just
Speaker 1: stay on me, you know, And I felt like the
Speaker 1: older I got, and when he was away, like when
Speaker 1: he went to another team, I think we were even
Speaker 1: more cooler. You know how there's some people are okay,
Speaker 1: but you see how much they benefit you and how
Speaker 1: much they helped you once they are gone, If that
Speaker 1: makes sense like that, that's kind of how it was
Speaker 1: our relationship with stand But we were always cool. Uh,
Speaker 1: no hard feelings for him. He was just on me
Speaker 1: all the time. And you know, as a young player,
Speaker 1: you want you need people like that when you're a
Speaker 1: vantage from your vantage point. What was the I guess
Speaker 1: you know, the single most important factor behind you guys
Speaker 1: winning the championship in two thousands and six. The biggest
Speaker 1: thing was the leadership of Pat Roley, you know, staying
Speaker 1: you know, he stepped down. Pat came in and took over.
Speaker 1: But it was a leadership. It was him holding everybody accountable.
Speaker 1: We had the same fifteen strong and we really meant that,
Speaker 1: like we all on a rope together, like if our
Speaker 1: brother do it, we all go go down doing it.
Speaker 1: So just him bringing us together, him motivating us, him
Speaker 1: making us understand why those Showtime team were champions and
Speaker 1: crowned at the end of the season. And he showed
Speaker 1: us the blueprint and everybody followed that blueprint. Everybody believed
Speaker 1: and you know, he played a major part in that.
Speaker 1: The way played a major part of that, just because
Speaker 1: Shock told him, this is your team and we're gonna
Speaker 1: follow you. And I think with those two leaders and
Speaker 1: then you add a Shock and Gary Payton, uh, it's
Speaker 1: no way you can lose because everybody is on that
Speaker 1: same rope. I think that was the biggest thing, just
Speaker 1: the leadership and the togetherness we have. Yeah, that team
Speaker 1: was tight and it was a you guys played as
Speaker 1: a unit. But man, you guys, the way he kind
Speaker 1: of took it to a new of the level at times.
Speaker 1: And you played against the greatest, some of the greatest
Speaker 1: of all time, right, where do you think, Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I'm not getting saying give me a number or anything
Speaker 1: like that. Where do you think, though, just d Wade,
Speaker 1: where does his place of his all time greats of
Speaker 1: a basketball the shooting guard position. I think he's the
Speaker 1: top five shooting guard of all time just because of
Speaker 1: the credentials and before the lebron and for the Chris Boss,
Speaker 1: he actually put a team on his back and went
Speaker 1: and told everybody I ain't going out, like yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So that's what puts him
Speaker 1: in that top five of all time. And I've never
Speaker 1: heard nobody argue that, like that's a fact. The way
Speaker 1: he did it, uh, you know, on the both ends
Speaker 1: of the floor. He was a bad boy. So I
Speaker 1: would definitely put the way top five. Hey, yeah, that
Speaker 1: was that's fair. That's fair. Let me actually this one
Speaker 1: more thing on Miami. Now, what was what was spo
Speaker 1: at this time? He was assistant Yeah, he was assistant
Speaker 1: coach and he was more one on one with the
Speaker 1: way he did a lot of stuff with the way. Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: and you played and you played with I mean you
Speaker 1: played for his assistants during your career. A number of
Speaker 1: guys that have made it as head coaches in the NBA,
Speaker 1: Stephen Silis, Lloyd Pierce Western Jr. Michael Malone. Is there
Speaker 1: was there anything? And it's just a random question, but
Speaker 1: could you tell certain guys are built for this job
Speaker 1: more than the others head coaches? You just see the
Speaker 1: passion and all those people you just named that I
Speaker 1: played for all of those guys or they were assistant coach,
Speaker 1: but the passion, uh, you know, the i Q and
Speaker 1: just being there early, leaving late, always locked in on
Speaker 1: the film. Um always spoke up, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Some assistants don't really speak up, but the dudes were
Speaker 1: speaking up. He used to dude that Pool you to
Speaker 1: the side, like Hey, we need to do this and this, X,
Speaker 1: Y and Z. And out of all those guys, I
Speaker 1: think the next one on the list is dander David
Speaker 1: Vanderpool Penderpool. Yo. You know what I mean saying, same
Speaker 1: guy that going that same category with these dudes. You
Speaker 1: just but the thing was supposed just his passion and
Speaker 1: I he uh the attention to detail and holding people accountable,
Speaker 1: things of that nature. Where you see him as a
Speaker 1: head coach, you like, I ain't surprised, Like people are
Speaker 1: you surprised. I'm not surprised at all because I saw
Speaker 1: it do I saw him do it every single day.
Speaker 1: What you and from what I gather you what you
Speaker 1: see is the work is what ultimately all of them
Speaker 1: guys kind of have in common. Locked into the field
Speaker 1: on the court and then asking questions and not afraid
Speaker 1: to talk that those are two huge things. I think
Speaker 1: that a lot of times you get intimidated a little bit,
Speaker 1: don't want to say nothing, but man, you raise your
Speaker 1: hand and say something. Man, you got to man, because
Speaker 1: a lot of coaches think their opinion doesn't matter because
Speaker 1: the head coach is locked in his whatever scheme the system.
Speaker 1: You gotta say something, especially when you the assistant coaches
Speaker 1: have better relationships with the head coaches because how it goes,
Speaker 1: they expend more time with us. So you gotta speak
Speaker 1: up sometime. And that's when you get the trust from
Speaker 1: your players that come to you openly and tell you
Speaker 1: stuff so they could go I could make this short.
Speaker 1: The team is doing better, so I think those are
Speaker 1: the guys that that wasn't afraid that you know, uh,
Speaker 1: what's therapeen? Absolutely, and then after Miami he signed with
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors, where in two thousand eleven under
Speaker 1: head coach Keith Smart, you had a career high and
Speaker 1: pretty much every statistical category jump made a big time
Speaker 1: jump sixteen and a half points a game, which was
Speaker 1: I believe Steph's second season in the league, So it
Speaker 1: was early on um at this at this point in
Speaker 1: your career playing with Steph Curry, what was your opinion
Speaker 1: of him? Sort of if you could take yourself back
Speaker 1: to Darrell in two thousand eleven, what was your opinion
Speaker 1: of him at that time? Worked? That boy just gonna work.
Speaker 1: He's gonna work, and you used to have to tell
Speaker 1: him that. You know, me and Monte led the league
Speaker 1: that year. We know we're top five in the league.
Speaker 1: It was him or Lull dang in him and then me.
Speaker 1: I think we're the top three and minutes Uh played
Speaker 1: that year, so you know, we were we were serious
Speaker 1: about our rest. Yeah, we worked on our craft, but
Speaker 1: we had the rest. Uhould be like Steph, like you
Speaker 1: little relaxed young feller. We got a game tonight in
Speaker 1: there in the full sweat getting to it. So I think, uh,
Speaker 1: just seeing the work he put in, that was the
Speaker 1: one thing that used to always be in the background,
Speaker 1: and this young feller be in the gym. Uh So
Speaker 1: I think now seeing him, it's not a it's not
Speaker 1: like oh wow, like he's this big time player. You know.
Speaker 1: I remember he worked, he worked on his craft. He
Speaker 1: wanted to be better. So, uh, that was my my
Speaker 1: main thing, Like, this kid has a lot of potential.
Speaker 1: If he can stay healthy and keep working like he does,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be one of the best players in this league.
Speaker 1: So you can see it then, because what physical tools like,
Speaker 1: what nuances to steps game, like the things that Hooper's
Speaker 1: kind of recognized. What were some things that you kind
Speaker 1: of saw, you know, I don't know if maybe the
Speaker 1: way you know he's able to pull hesitated, I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a technical thing. But did you see like
Speaker 1: little nuances to his game that you said, yeah, that different,
Speaker 1: super crappy around the basket, he defended in different ways.
Speaker 1: He had the handle, he had the i Q, he
Speaker 1: could play, he could play make very underrated playmaker, and
Speaker 1: then he can shoot, you know, what I mean, did
Speaker 1: we know that the game was changing that what with
Speaker 1: shooting being the number one option? Now, we didn't know that.
Speaker 1: But he had all those tools and those attributes. He
Speaker 1: just had to put it together. Yeah, and that no,
Speaker 1: So you guys thirty six and forty six that season,
Speaker 1: I think you guys said they decided to make a
Speaker 1: change and the head coach bringing Mark Jackson the draft, uh,
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson amongst others. Um, you averaged with nine ten
Speaker 1: points a game that year. Now at the time I'm
Speaker 1: looking at the articles, they say he took a step
Speaker 1: back as far as your game. They used the word regrets.
Speaker 1: What did Clay's arrival have anything to do with you?
Speaker 1: Sacrifice and sort of what you were doing out there?
Speaker 1: Or was this something that you know, you just you
Speaker 1: can't really explain why or was it not in the play?
Speaker 1: It's key play why The biggest thing is to change,
Speaker 1: you know, having Keep Smart who let me go, and
Speaker 1: then having Mark Jackson who let me go. But you
Speaker 1: know it wasn't the same style of play. You know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't as free. You know, Keith Smart was under
Speaker 1: then Don Nelson. So that means we gotta get up
Speaker 1: a bunch of threes. We gotta running gun, so I
Speaker 1: had way more attempts and way more opportunities to average
Speaker 1: sixteen points. You know, I'm playing forty minutes a game,
Speaker 1: shooting the ball almost seventeen times a game, shooting eight
Speaker 1: threes a game that you know, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: opportunities there. So but Mark, you know, he kind of
Speaker 1: wanted me to still be myself. I got off to
Speaker 1: a slow start, so I was kind of behind the
Speaker 1: needle on everything. Then you know, I caught rhythm at
Speaker 1: things of that nature, but it was just different. You know,
Speaker 1: my minutes got cut a little bit. We also have
Speaker 1: Brandon Rush. Brandon Rush is playing behind me. He was
Speaker 1: playing good, so sometimes he had finished the game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: as a starter, you want to finish the game. But
Speaker 1: you know, as a as a teammate, a team player
Speaker 1: like I am, you understand, Hey, he playing better than me.
Speaker 1: Y'all playing me right now and that, And that's just
Speaker 1: how it happened. So I wouldn't definitely say I definitely
Speaker 1: wouldn't say because Mark Jackson came or Klay Thompson. No,
Speaker 1: I just didn't, uh, you know, meet those expectations that
Speaker 1: I said in the beginning the season, which happened, so
Speaker 1: definitely I wish I did better. Still, you know, was
Speaker 1: one of the top guys in the league with threes
Speaker 1: made a year before. I led the lead in threes
Speaker 1: made the following year. I still think I made a
Speaker 1: hundred some of threes. I wasn't as satisfied as I
Speaker 1: was a year before, because obviously you want to do
Speaker 1: the same thing. But I felt like, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: I grew the situation. So I was definitely happy I
Speaker 1: got a fresh start and was able to you know,
Speaker 1: move on from you know, to go to State Era
Speaker 1: and go to Philly. Yeah. Absolutely, One last thing, did
Speaker 1: you ever think that these two Stephan Clay would be
Speaker 1: regarded as the greatest shooting that court and NBA history?
Speaker 1: Was there anything? Was there ever a moment in your
Speaker 1: practice of you ooping against you know, how you can
Speaker 1: hoop against somebody, you might sell do hit fourteen threes
Speaker 1: on it, you know, so you'd be like walking away.
Speaker 1: Nobody else saw it. But you know, was there ever
Speaker 1: a moment like that? It was never a moment, But
Speaker 1: I know Clay used to kick me and be rushed.
Speaker 1: But at the three point practice, we do these drills.
Speaker 1: You gotta shoot for a minute each spot, Like you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm getting out hitting seventeen or eighteen, be
Speaker 1: rushing in seventeen or eighteen. Then Clay come and hit
Speaker 1: twenty four in a minute. He's like, dang, like, and
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, bro, I'm not We're not even missing
Speaker 1: like that, We're hardly missing. So I just tell you
Speaker 1: how high the clip he will shooting. He wasn't missing
Speaker 1: at all. So he's like, damn, Like this young dude
Speaker 1: is a rookie. He's shooting the ball like that. So
Speaker 1: he showed signs he's so flashes to being a good player,
Speaker 1: but not a great player, you know, because it's still
Speaker 1: super laid back. Clay used to get there to fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes before practice starts, still got stuff all in this
Speaker 1: I don't speak to nobody. So you're like, yo, you know,
Speaker 1: if he can get here a little bit early. But
Speaker 1: he one thing I can't say. He had stayed behind,
Speaker 1: you know, after you know, when you're vet, you're gonna
Speaker 1: get it in before practice, after practice. You know, we're
Speaker 1: trying and tell him, like, yo, bro, you need to
Speaker 1: start getting here a little bit earlier. And Clay was
Speaker 1: okay and never did it. He'd get his work after,
Speaker 1: but teach his own like it's a new lead. Now
Speaker 1: guys got what they prefer. When we came in the league,
Speaker 1: I was in the league with older players. Me and
Speaker 1: the Montes came out of high school, so we was
Speaker 1: with a whole different era. He coming in with a
Speaker 1: new era. I think this is my like seventh year
Speaker 1: in the league. He like, when you get here, when
Speaker 1: I get here, I get to work in when I
Speaker 1: when I get it in. So it worked out. So
Speaker 1: I was our biggest thing, like if he could start
Speaker 1: getting here a little bit earlier and taking this crap
Speaker 1: a little bit serious, he could be a good player.
Speaker 1: So he you know what I mean. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of how we we saw Clay. And then once I
Speaker 1: left and he got more of a role, you can
Speaker 1: see like, Okay, he could be really really good. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: and he definitely. They both blossomed into the Splash Brothers
Speaker 1: and then so and then you you dipped from Golden
Speaker 1: State and then went to Philly with Doug Collins. You
Speaker 1: have there four l a dudes on that roster, Nick Young,
Speaker 1: Justin and Drew Holiday. How was that and then you
Speaker 1: had Kwammy Brown. How was that experience in Philadelphia? Man,
Speaker 1: that was a roller coaster, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: just the Philly man being in Philly. Uh, that team
Speaker 1: they kind of built it around Andrew buying them, so
Speaker 1: that's why they want to go get me. Jason Richardson,
Speaker 1: Nick Young, they needed ass shooting around his big fella
Speaker 1: who was gonna cause double teams and you don't have
Speaker 1: to kick it out for somebody. So that was the
Speaker 1: whole thing. So now we're teaming up with Evan Turner,
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday that he is, Young, Spencer Hall, they were
Speaker 1: already there. So myself, Clay, I mean myself Nick uh
Speaker 1: kuam a, we're gonna be coming off the bench. Ja
Speaker 1: Richard b starter. But Andrew Wiggins was hurt. I mean,
Speaker 1: Andrew Biinen was hurt that whole year. So it did
Speaker 1: we didn't meet expected expectations. So we heard a lot
Speaker 1: of those blue birds early, you know how feeling Yeah,
Speaker 1: So man, it was tough sometimes because you be in
Speaker 1: the first quarter down seven or eight, ay boom, you
Speaker 1: and Doug Colline like y'all hear that, Like that's that's
Speaker 1: for us because we're not you know, doing what we're
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing. So it was it was a
Speaker 1: roller coaster, to be honest with you. I enjoyed my
Speaker 1: time there, but you know that one year was more
Speaker 1: than enough for me. Yeah, and then you finished your
Speaker 1: career importantly with the trail Blazers before retiring. I guess
Speaker 1: one of the thing I'm curious about is what was
Speaker 1: the When was the moment you knew that it was
Speaker 1: time to shut it down? Well, when I went to Europe.
Speaker 1: You know, I got those four years in Europe. So
Speaker 1: I did China, I did Germany, I did Russia, and
Speaker 1: then I did like a quick stint in Bosnia. Um,
Speaker 1: but I just knew, like, this is not what I
Speaker 1: want to do. No more Like I gave the game everything.
Speaker 1: My body wasn't responding the way I would want it
Speaker 1: to respond. My my kid was getting ready to be
Speaker 1: an eighth grader, and I'm an eighth grader and a
Speaker 1: seventh grader. I'm like, this is the time when you know,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about when my my childhood. Which way you go?
Speaker 1: You either do the streets or you do the sports. Obviously,
Speaker 1: my kid don't grow up, didn't grow up how I
Speaker 1: grew up, so let's make that loud and clear. Uh So,
Speaker 1: I'm like, this is the time where you either gonna
Speaker 1: veer off and do something or you're gonna pick the
Speaker 1: sports now. So I'm like, it's so important for me
Speaker 1: to be a father because when I went and play
Speaker 1: those four years in Europe, my family was living in
Speaker 1: the States. So I'm like, I gotta be there from
Speaker 1: my kid, you know, I gotta be that father figure. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm doing a great job. I'm providing. I'm I'm telling
Speaker 1: what he needs to do through FaceTime, but I need
Speaker 1: to actually be there and make sure he's doing the
Speaker 1: right thing and be that, you know, that that figure
Speaker 1: for him. So that's when I kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, it's over. I told my wife.
Speaker 1: My wife was like what. Everybody was like, wait, what?
Speaker 1: Like you got so much more left? Like I was like,
Speaker 1: but I don't want to play basketball anymore. And I
Speaker 1: think a lot of that has to do with not
Speaker 1: only just being a father and being around for my kids,
Speaker 1: A lot of that has to do with me being
Speaker 1: a baseball player of my whole life. So I love basketball,
Speaker 1: but I didn't love basketball like you know, some of
Speaker 1: my peers like a Bobby Brown a pool jetter. They're
Speaker 1: still hooping the thirty eight thirty seven still want to
Speaker 1: hoop me. I'm like, I'm cool, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I got everything out of it. I'm good. So that's
Speaker 1: that's kind of how I felt to like, y'all love basketball,
Speaker 1: but I didn't love it like that. So I felt
Speaker 1: like I was okay with walking away. Yeah. Wow, I
Speaker 1: mean that's a heck of a decision because when especially
Speaker 1: when you still got some left in the tank but
Speaker 1: you don't love it like that, and then the odyssey
Speaker 1: of of traveling and playing over can definitely leave a
Speaker 1: bad taste in some people's mouths. I've played in Russia, Turkey, France,
Speaker 1: and then uh I hit a groove in Qatar, which
Speaker 1: is right in the Middle East, right next to Dubai,
Speaker 1: and uh I spent four years out there and that
Speaker 1: was probably my favorite experience. But you miss out on
Speaker 1: so much at home, and I can't you cannot overstate
Speaker 1: the importance of a father being home in those four
Speaker 1: performidable years seventh grade or adolescents and kind of that
Speaker 1: thirteen fourteen, you know, everybody be real bad. You know,
Speaker 1: that's where you be real bad right, So that I
Speaker 1: was like, we need a dude around here. I didn't
Speaker 1: do that trip, but now I totally get it, man,
Speaker 1: And and that's that's a that's a great decision. Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app search f
Speaker 1: s R to listen live. What made you decide to
Speaker 1: start your own AU program? So with with that, that's
Speaker 1: a great question. I just know, man, I just know
Speaker 1: what goes on with AU basketball. I feel like, um,
Speaker 1: the state of AU basketball is in a bad state.
Speaker 1: The reputation for AU basketball isn't isn't good. The representatives
Speaker 1: for AU basketball aren't there, and I felt like we
Speaker 1: needed more people like me to be in there. So
Speaker 1: now you see the Russells, and you see the E.
Speaker 1: Y d. L. You see the John Walls, the Bradley Bill,
Speaker 1: you see these guys as in basketball create their own
Speaker 1: teams because it's important to see the guys you want
Speaker 1: to be like, either being a program director, even being
Speaker 1: the sponsor, or being me the coach. So I felt
Speaker 1: like it was needed. I felt like, you basketball sometimes
Speaker 1: can be a joke because a lot of people are
Speaker 1: just rolling the basketballs out. So I felt like, Uh,
Speaker 1: these kids need to learn how to play the basketball
Speaker 1: the right way. I can't help everybody, but the small
Speaker 1: group of kids that's in my program, I feel like,
Speaker 1: I could you help them succeed the dreams that they
Speaker 1: want to pursue and the things that I reach. So
Speaker 1: I was like, what's what's better than me being a
Speaker 1: director of coach and coaching my son and some of
Speaker 1: the top talent in this area. So that's kind of
Speaker 1: what led me to do it after seeing my son
Speaker 1: playing for different teams, and you know, I really wasn't tripping.
Speaker 1: I want my kid to be good later. I don't
Speaker 1: want my son to be good right now. I wanted
Speaker 1: to be solid. I wanted to be out. I got
Speaker 1: a deer looking at me through the window, which is funny,
Speaker 1: where do you live? Where you live, I'm in the
Speaker 1: I'm in the boonies and the all in the interview
Speaker 1: looking at I just don't want to run through my window.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, what you're looking at? Right? So yeah, so, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a long term goal for my my kid.
Speaker 1: I wanted him to be like me in the line.
Speaker 1: I want him to be that late bloomer or hit
Speaker 1: that surfers when he's supposed to. Now he finally hitting
Speaker 1: the stride of being a good player. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: how can't we make a make an impact in the
Speaker 1: in the community and help these young fellers get to
Speaker 1: where they need to be. And I was like, man,
Speaker 1: we gotta start our own program and I gotta be
Speaker 1: a part of it. I gotta be there every single day.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of what made me want to be
Speaker 1: a program director and also a coach. Awesome man, And
Speaker 1: how did the Donda the Donda Academy opportunity to get about? Oh? Man,
Speaker 1: my guy, just little boy. I don't know if people
Speaker 1: are familiar with him. He runs one of the biggest
Speaker 1: meme pages for our culture. And I say culture because
Speaker 1: there's a lot of stuff that we go through an
Speaker 1: African and African American community and other communities. But it's
Speaker 1: a lot of relationships stuff, you know, things like that.
Speaker 1: And he and I became cool years, probably about a
Speaker 1: year and a half ago when he probably had maybe
Speaker 1: two thousand followers, and I watched them grow as this platform.
Speaker 1: So now he has like five or six million followers
Speaker 1: within a year. So we became cool because we're always
Speaker 1: laughing at you know, the stuff I posed. He posed
Speaker 1: and uh, seeing he had this platform and he needed
Speaker 1: to do more than just be a mean guy. Right.
Speaker 1: So myself and my wife are kind of like connectors
Speaker 1: and we've had businesses. We know so many people. So
Speaker 1: I reached out to justin like, yo, bro let me
Speaker 1: and my wife, um let me and my wife manage
Speaker 1: you you do a podcast? He was all in. He
Speaker 1: was like, man, I got all these big companies reaching
Speaker 1: out to me, but they don't want to give me ownership.
Speaker 1: And you know, now, like as the community, like we
Speaker 1: we gotta be a little bit smarter about the things
Speaker 1: we do and the things we signed. So the number
Speaker 1: one thing should be ownership, especially if you deserve that
Speaker 1: you're putting that work in, You deserve deserve ownership, and
Speaker 1: it's important for our people to know that, Like, YO,
Speaker 1: get ownership, own your stuff. Don't lest somebody just hang
Speaker 1: something over your head and say I got this opportunity
Speaker 1: but not looking out for you. Because you bring value
Speaker 1: just like they bring value. So make sure you're being
Speaker 1: uh taking care of as well. So that was kind
Speaker 1: of the plan didn't fall through, I mean didn't follow
Speaker 1: through or it fell through, end up doing his own thing. Whatever,
Speaker 1: all good. We remain friends. So Kanye West hires him
Speaker 1: to be his main marketing strategy guy because he understands culture,
Speaker 1: he understands our community. So Kanye hired him to be
Speaker 1: his marketing guy. Kanye came up with a bright idea
Speaker 1: to start a a I mean a basketball program now
Speaker 1: to AU program, but the school that can compete with
Speaker 1: the other high schools around the area. So he was like,
Speaker 1: reach out to some people. They was reaching out to
Speaker 1: all these coaches and Justin was like, I know the
Speaker 1: perfect person, the real right. He said, he just had
Speaker 1: an AIRU team for him. In two years. They had numbered.
Speaker 1: We were numbered like a team team in the country.
Speaker 1: We feel is just the year off the number two
Speaker 1: team in the country. He's like, I've been watching him
Speaker 1: grow as AU program and they're like one of the
Speaker 1: best teams in the country. Let's hire him. So I'm
Speaker 1: on a two day I'm on a twelve day vacation
Speaker 1: in south of France. They called me day two like,
Speaker 1: we need you to to get to l A. I want
Speaker 1: you to meet Kanye you want to do with school.
Speaker 1: I'm like, bro, I'm in the south of France of
Speaker 1: d Way Gabriel Union, my wife having a grand old time.
Speaker 1: I ain't coming back in before another ten days, so
Speaker 1: that's don't have to wait. So he calling me every day. Man,
Speaker 1: you gotta get back, you gotta get back. So the
Speaker 1: day I get back, Justin calls me like, I gotta
Speaker 1: zoom set up tomorrow. We need you ya get on
Speaker 1: a zoom with you. Ye like where I want to
Speaker 1: create my school. I want to create U basketball team.
Speaker 1: I want to compete with all the schools. Can you
Speaker 1: help it? Can you make it? Can you make this happen?
Speaker 1: I said, oh yeah, I said next year we're gonna
Speaker 1: have the best team. I'm put all the resources, coach
Speaker 1: and everything. They was like, na, we want to start today.
Speaker 1: I'm like what, I'm like, people are in school already,
Speaker 1: people are on their team. It's not gonna happen. It
Speaker 1: was like, no, it can't happen, So find a way.
Speaker 1: And I was like, let's do it. So that's kind
Speaker 1: of how I came became the program director. Uh, Donda,
Speaker 1: and it's been crazy and you and you, so this
Speaker 1: program Donda now you guys have we at five six sevens,
Speaker 1: five stars or you guys got a heck of a roster.
Speaker 1: I know, I've seen the names, and I've seen the highlights.
Speaker 1: I was watching it. I was watching the game the
Speaker 1: other day. Uh missed the lamp at the buzzerd but
Speaker 1: didn't get it. But but hey, he should he should
Speaker 1: have talked. He should have? Should you should? I mean
Speaker 1: you're telling you talked to him? Yeah, you gotta boom that.
Speaker 1: But it's an exciting situation. You guys played uh Veritas
Speaker 1: Prep earlier this year. I'm familiar with their program, so
Speaker 1: I got to see some highlights. I'm curious, how does
Speaker 1: you know you're sitting behind the eight ball taking that
Speaker 1: job man, and trying to build a program like today
Speaker 1: with it, you know, within a matter of months. I mean,
Speaker 1: is it a testament to the team you built, the
Speaker 1: resources you have around the country? How did how did
Speaker 1: you get it to this point so quick? Uh? As
Speaker 1: the resources when you're dealing with somebody like a Kanye West, Um,
Speaker 1: a lot of people and it's a lot of people
Speaker 1: think like the budget is unlimited, like you just we're
Speaker 1: just about to run it up. No, you know, we
Speaker 1: had a budget to get things done, and we had
Speaker 1: to go do the research. I had to put my
Speaker 1: head down and do the research when it came to school,
Speaker 1: you know, going after different schools like k twelve who
Speaker 1: we use and we been, uh potentially became partners. So
Speaker 1: we're partners with Kate twelve. Uh. Where they live at,
Speaker 1: where they're gonna work out at, who's going to be
Speaker 1: the nutrition is all these things. I had to use
Speaker 1: my resources. So me being that connector me being you know,
Speaker 1: one of the guys from l A that's as well
Speaker 1: known as known for doing all these crazy things and
Speaker 1: things of that nature. I just reached out to people
Speaker 1: that I knew that had these things that can host us,
Speaker 1: like a Frink Robinson who became the coach. He has
Speaker 1: the district And see me by I mean chat's work
Speaker 1: was the coach. I was trying to figure out coach.
Speaker 1: So it's Frankie Frank Robinson. Anybody know Frankie has been
Speaker 1: having a gym called the District. That's where they go exactly.
Speaker 1: So that's where they practice, that, that's where they do
Speaker 1: weight lifting, that that's where they do a bunch of
Speaker 1: things that so, uh, that's kind of how I built
Speaker 1: this thing with my resources and also Kanye's resources, his
Speaker 1: name and the budget that we were able to to
Speaker 1: use to make this come to what it is today.
Speaker 1: And then you know, my god, Samir at Slam reaches
Speaker 1: out like, yeah, we want to do uh, we want
Speaker 1: to do uh Donda, we want to feature them. I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: we can do it. What y'all want to do. We
Speaker 1: want to put them on the cover. We want the
Speaker 1: best two players and Kanye on the cover. It was like, no,
Speaker 1: we want the whole team on the cover because we
Speaker 1: don't want it to be an individual It's not the NBA.
Speaker 1: If it's the NBA is different. But these are high
Speaker 1: school kids, like showcase all of them and Slam was
Speaker 1: like no problem. And it was like in Kanye's gonna
Speaker 1: be on there with them, He's gonna pose with him.
Speaker 1: So uh, the Slam just dropped yesterday. Uh. I know
Speaker 1: that the kids are super excited about that. It's like,
Speaker 1: come on, I was. I was in the back and
Speaker 1: in the punks section of the Slam magazine when I
Speaker 1: was in high school and super excited. These kids are
Speaker 1: on the cover of the Slam magazine with Kanye West,
Speaker 1: really but that just showed you the value that these
Speaker 1: kids bring and and with this program is bringing to
Speaker 1: them as well. So it's definitely a great partnership. And
Speaker 1: the best part is that, you know, Kanye Inged, they
Speaker 1: hired excellent basketball people. Let them do the basketball part
Speaker 1: of everything exactly. And I think that has a big
Speaker 1: reason why you got so competitive so quick, because there's
Speaker 1: no way you guys should be the competitive that quickly.
Speaker 1: Let me come on, I mean it just came out
Speaker 1: and came out the gates. Just we're gonna get hey
Speaker 1: and so give you all some time, man. So that's awesome, man.
Speaker 1: And then, um, so talk about this one more question. Man.
Speaker 1: I'm a at you go, because we've been on this
Speaker 1: thing for a while and this kind of flow, bro.
Speaker 1: But I got one more thing, and I just kind
Speaker 1: of want to know about as far as this year's Warriors, now,
Speaker 1: Draymond Clays back, Draymond has been hurt. There's no light
Speaker 1: at the end of the tunnel was the quote that
Speaker 1: they had to day. As far as his return um
Speaker 1: surprise team, do you think that this team, well, do
Speaker 1: you think that the second first of all two parts,
Speaker 1: do you think that the second unit, the bench mob
Speaker 1: as as I've heard you as you called him, are
Speaker 1: experience enough to carry this this team to a deep
Speaker 1: playoff run. And do you think that Clay Thompson is
Speaker 1: going to round into form and become a shadow of
Speaker 1: his former self. Yeah, I think Clay Thompson me back
Speaker 1: to itself. I think it's all about him getting his
Speaker 1: legs back under him, getting back into the routine. It's
Speaker 1: hard when you missed two and a half years of
Speaker 1: basketball and you just want somebody to beat them. Like
Speaker 1: I've meant through surgeries, it wasn't two years is a
Speaker 1: couple of months. It took me a minute to get
Speaker 1: back to myself. So to see where Clay Iimepson is
Speaker 1: right now averaging fourteen fifteen points at the missing all
Speaker 1: that time, it's still impressive. Yeah, you know, he's probably
Speaker 1: not the same player he was right now when he left,
Speaker 1: But I think eventually more reps he gets, the more
Speaker 1: time he is on the court, the more they expanded,
Speaker 1: expand his minutes hed get back to that. So definitely
Speaker 1: think Clay Thompson's gonna be back to the old Clay Thompson.
Speaker 1: And with this bench, I think it's the perfect fit.
Speaker 1: I think Otto Porter Jr. Gary Payton, the second Jordan's Pool,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga, These are the right pie Andre Goodal, he
Speaker 1: can't forget about him. These are the right pieces for
Speaker 1: this team because I think the previous years they didn't
Speaker 1: have the right fits like they did when they were
Speaker 1: winning those championships and when they were a dynasty. So
Speaker 1: now I think with the with that bench, and then
Speaker 1: you add a Andrew Wiggins, you add a Caban Looney,
Speaker 1: everybody fits perfect. Now you got your big three there.
Speaker 1: And then you add a guy like Andrew Wiggins who
Speaker 1: was a former number one pick. Somebody gets you fit
Speaker 1: in the twenty every night. Then you go get a
Speaker 1: number the former number three pick who's made and had
Speaker 1: a contract over a hundred million dollars in out of Porter,
Speaker 1: who I think are the two biggest X factors on
Speaker 1: this team. So I think they could go deep and
Speaker 1: in his in his playoff running and potentially won the
Speaker 1: championship because they are the number one defensive team in
Speaker 1: the NBA and too, they're gonna put it on the
Speaker 1: line every night. Yeah, it's curious how the Warriors that
Speaker 1: will continue to perform moving forward. If Draymond has a
Speaker 1: Lympic absence. I feel like that Clay some of his
Speaker 1: slow starts attributed to Draymond not being there because you know,
Speaker 1: you know as well as anyone that Draymond on offense
Speaker 1: is is like one of the just I mean, back
Speaker 1: in the day the bulls, the Rodman would swing the ball.
Speaker 1: I don't remember the triangle, but they always probably he
Speaker 1: moved that thing like a hot potato so fast it
Speaker 1: would just he would help the continuity the offense. Draymond
Speaker 1: is like Roman times ten because of the back of
Speaker 1: the back door threats on the diamond. Then the nuance
Speaker 1: of knowing these two shooters, like the back of his
Speaker 1: hands and how they want to curl, then when they're
Speaker 1: getting their feet set, you know, to do that quick
Speaker 1: one to like and then make sure the pass is there.
Speaker 1: I think that, to me has been one of the
Speaker 1: biggest factors in Clay's slow start. I remember saying, and
Speaker 1: also what what stuff struggling a little bit? You know,
Speaker 1: he's been uh, you know, for for me or for
Speaker 1: anybody else. He hasn't been shooting a well, he's still
Speaker 1: shooting thirty seven cent from three point line, which is
Speaker 1: still pretty amazing. But we all used to for d
Speaker 1: for two for three, and I think just how he
Speaker 1: sets sets his guys up, like you mentioned, and also
Speaker 1: the the offense that they run. That offense is uh
Speaker 1: around more of a Draymond for him to be a facilitator,
Speaker 1: and it's more of that old school basketball where you pass,
Speaker 1: you move, uh, you come together, split actions and you
Speaker 1: go different ways. It's all about reads. So when you
Speaker 1: got somebody that's not used to play that position playing
Speaker 1: that position, it's hard to get those guys. Uh, there're
Speaker 1: shots where they like it. So I think once Draymond
Speaker 1: is back, a lot of those things that they're struggling
Speaker 1: with right now and it is a little funk, will
Speaker 1: definitely be a lot better. Yeah, I think a lot
Speaker 1: of these guys to the experience that they're getting GP
Speaker 1: two Jordan's Yes, I've got them waiting. I've been waiting
Speaker 1: for Wiseman just for I've been waiting from Wiseman forever,
Speaker 1: just to kind of see, you know what with him
Speaker 1: and cominga with the Lungdon those young legs, how they
Speaker 1: could potentially help you know, well, they are going to
Speaker 1: help roster in a rotation, you know what. I mean,
Speaker 1: when you got to too young uns in that next
Speaker 1: to ye man, it make all the differences that they
Speaker 1: close out. It never recovers that, you know, And I
Speaker 1: think that's something that Warrior has been lacking the last
Speaker 1: few year is just the athleticism. You know, you got
Speaker 1: Draymond Clay and Steph they ain't the most athletic guys.
Speaker 1: But then you ask somebody like a Jordan Pool Wiggins,
Speaker 1: uh cominga Wiseman. Those are athletes, GP two. Those are athletes.
Speaker 1: So you need at you know, when it's time to
Speaker 1: rebound the fan Like you said, multiple uh possessions and positions.
Speaker 1: So I think that's what's gonna separate them absolutely. The
Speaker 1: last thing, man, and before we sho shoot off the interview,
Speaker 1: I read your letter to your younger brother telling them,
Speaker 1: you know, to walk away from the card table and
Speaker 1: chill out of viavy. Yeah. I was curious as I
Speaker 1: was reading that thing, man. That was a beautiful letter.
Speaker 1: By the way, I was curious when I was reading
Speaker 1: that thing, Man, if you could pin a letter to
Speaker 1: your younger self right when you were six, what would
Speaker 1: you tell your younger self or would you tell yourself
Speaker 1: any differently? Yeah, it's it's some things that I did
Speaker 1: that to be honest with you, I don't have many
Speaker 1: things that I can say I regret because that obviously
Speaker 1: everything is a learning lesson, and a lot of my
Speaker 1: lessons were very minimum, so that that's another great thing.
Speaker 1: But that that just shows you the foundation in the
Speaker 1: circle around me that helped me accountable, not only myself
Speaker 1: but the people around me, hoping me accountable and not
Speaker 1: having too many people around me just saying yes to everything,
Speaker 1: Like I got real people in my corner that's gonna
Speaker 1: tell me your d right, you tripping? So uh. That's
Speaker 1: that's something I think I installed in my life early on,
Speaker 1: and and one of those people was my wife. So uh.
Speaker 1: But if I if I had to say something, I
Speaker 1: would just be like, Yo, it's a long race, a marathon. Um,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a lot of ups and downs. Um.
Speaker 1: I think the people that successful the people that can
Speaker 1: go through those ups and downs, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: and take a few bumps, yeah, and know that it's
Speaker 1: all good. Like you got another day to seize the
Speaker 1: moment the carpet d M sees the moment and just
Speaker 1: don't dwell in the past like you gotta move on.
Speaker 1: Every day is a new challenge. So I think that
Speaker 1: are some of the things because sometimes, you know, I
Speaker 1: used to be in a phone. I kind of premeditate,
Speaker 1: not premeditate, but pre determined what's gonna happen. I put
Speaker 1: bad things in you to birds my mindset. What was off.
Speaker 1: I'll be like, yo, x Y Z is gonna happen.
Speaker 1: And when I get there, x Y and Z happened.
Speaker 1: Like why am I surprised at that happened? I said
Speaker 1: it was gonna happen instead of being like, no, we're
Speaker 1: gonna do it like this, this and that and you know,
Speaker 1: more positive vibes. So I think that right there limitates
Speaker 1: a lot of bad days that I have because my
Speaker 1: mindset is different. So I would definitely say mindset is
Speaker 1: one of them. Have a positive mindset, Uh, be coachable,
Speaker 1: Always be coachable and just live man, have fun and
Speaker 1: build those relationships as they go along. Way. Why is words,
Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. Durrell right, thank you so much, my
Speaker 1: brother for Jordan's show. That's certain. Thanks for having me