WEBVTT - KJ Live - Dorell Wright 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:10.520 This is kJ Live with Chris Johnson, and Chris is 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:15.120 having conversations with influencers in the sports world and entertainment industry. 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:22.000 Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned in the kJ Live. 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.960 Today's guest is on the show. The eleven year NBA 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:30.520 veterans won an NBA Championship with the Miami Heat. Since 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:35.760 retiring from the game, he spends his time as a 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:39.440 analyst for the Gold State Warriors on the NBC Bay 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:44.840 Area Network and the program director for Kanye West's Dunda Academy, 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:48.519 a prep school based out here on the West Coast. Uh. 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:52.159 It was really a great pleasure and honor to interview 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:54.880 somebody that I've followed his entire career since he was 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.840 a youngster. Uh. Durrell, Right, welcome to the show, my man. 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.080 Let's sorry, appreciate you having I don't no doubt, man, 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:03.880 it's always great to talk to you. Man. Uh, you've 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:05.840 always been one of the guys over the years that 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.240 Uh it's one of the guys that represented the city 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.880 of Los Angeles in an excellent kind of man. And 0:01:10.959 --> 0:01:13.200 you and your brother, your entire family, So we had 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.000 to get you on the show. Man. I guess what 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:17.440 I wanted to know. Man, A lot of people know 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:21.840 about you, but they don't really know about Durreil. Talk 0:01:21.840 --> 0:01:24.520 a little bit about where you were born, what you know, 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.039 section of the city of Los Angeles that you were 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.319 born and where you grew up. We want to be 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.280 the street term. I grew up in the hundreds south 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:37.560 central Los Angeles, Imperial on Western. The places that a 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.039 lot of people know is Southwest College. You know, the 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:44.440 old bowling alley, uh lucy stuff like that. So that's 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.160 where I grew up man and crazy childhood as far 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:50.760 as just where I grew up at and you know 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.320 where I where it took me, you know the things 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.720 that taught me. So definitely proud of where I'm from. 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.480 Uh definitely wasn't easy growing up in that area, just 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.240 because we've know about the gang cultures in Los Angeles. 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.920 And I just told my son, it's like I used 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:07.680 have to walk to school every day when I went 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:10.400 to Washington High School, and I'm walking through three to 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.560 four different hoods every single day. So it's a blessing that, 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:15.560 you know, I made it through all that and I'm 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:18.040 here because any day could have been my day, you know, 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:22.160 mistaken identity me being affiliated with certain people I grew 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.160 up with. So I love where I'm from. I rep 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.280 it hard, and I think we had a lot of 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.919 talent come out of that area. Absolutely. Uh, the south 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.080 central section of the city of Los Angeles has some 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:39.120 of the greatest athletes that we've ever seen across all sports, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:42.600 legends of the game. Um, I guess one thing I 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.079 wanted to kind of drill down into man, when you 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:47.880 when you're you know, youngster, and you're walking through these 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:49.840 hoods and you have to worry about you know, what 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.280 color you wear, the school that was the era of that, 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:55.880 How what sort of advice? Who did you lean on 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:58.720 for direction and advice? Man telling you, hey, man, you 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:00.160 you know you can't you know, because I'm Michael much 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:02.480 of this, Babe. Youre walking through different hoods, but if 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:04.760 you were blue that day, one of them hoods is 0:03:04.800 --> 0:03:07.359 a bloodhood. So it's like, so it's like, how did 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:09.880 that work? You know who and who taught you how 0:03:09.919 --> 0:03:13.160 to move in those situations? Uh, your peers, you know, 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.480 having awareness and you know my parents, I had both 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:18.600 parents at home. I was one of the only kids 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:20.880 not you know, it was very few of us in 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.359 my neighborhood that grew up with both parents. A lot 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:25.800 of my friends grew up with single mother homes or 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.240 either live with their grandparents. Things that that nature. And 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:30.920 you know, when you grow up, it's a lot of 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.640 kids that's way more mature than you. They know a 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:35.960 lot more than you. Their parents are letting them watch 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.920 and learn stuff. Uh at your mom and dad might 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:42.040 be screening you from and you know, probably just not 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.840 ready to have that conversation about about certain things with you. 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:49.840 So you learn a lot of stuff from school and elementary. 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:51.560 I learned stuff because you know, a lot of my 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:56.360 friends either family are somebody you know, cousin friend, was 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:59.080 affiliated with something. So that's kind of where you learn 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.800 stuff from. Man. Uh you you kind of believe them 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:04.400 until you learn the real truth about a lot of stuff. 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.360 But a lot of the stuff that I learned from 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.360 my friends was dead on, like with section, what hood 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.880 is this? What they do over here? So that's kind 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.040 of how I learned at early age elementary about the 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.960 game culture and uh different sections and what they say, 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.799 the lingo, the terminology, the color ways, all that stuff. 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.840 So I learned that from my peers. And then you know, 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.440 being on those bikes, being outside, that's where you learn 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.400 how to be street smart and you know how the 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.360 awareness of what to do, not to do, and things 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.800 of that nature. So uh, definitely, my mom and dad 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.480 tried to let me know, you know, when certain people 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:43.880 are doing certain things, it's okay to be like, yo, 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.720 I'm sitting this one out. It's okay for them to say, oh, 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:50.840 you know, as an l a term, you're square or 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:54.880 you've been a weirdo or whatever, because you don't wanna 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:57.719 interacting certain things. You know that's gonna get you in trouble. 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:59.599 So I think my mom and dad did an awesome 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.640 job with letting us know, like, hey, it is okay 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.000 if somebody think you a certain way because you don't 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.400 think that's cool. So I was super aware of a 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.720 lot of things. So yes, you know, I have a 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:12.760 lot of friends that you know, grew up in the game, 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.480 culture and relatives and stuff like that. I just chose 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:19.160 to stay active in sports. My mom and dad did 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.640 a great job with putting us in baseball, basketball, football 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.960 year around, so we always stay active, we always stay busy. 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.400 So they did an awesome job with that. In baseball, 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.240 i've heard you talk about it with your first love, 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:33.960 talk about why you love the game of baseball and 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:36.680 why you got into it. Well, if you know anything 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:40.120 about that area about Southwest, you got the batting cage 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:42.840 over there as well. So it's like that was right. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:44.760 We lived there on the coulta sack. So I used 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:46.640 to run up, you know, the side of the freeway. 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.839 We had like a little entrance you could go through 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:50.919 if you knew, you knew, and that gets you to 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.159 the back and cage in like two seconds. So I 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.080 got the back and cage right there. I grew up 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:58.520 playing at Holly Park, and you know, your all your 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.080 people in your neighborhood, they played baseball because the park 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:02.960 was right there. You know, parents always going to keep 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:06.560 their kids active. So my dad was a big baseball head. 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:08.680 He played in high school at free My High. So 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.640 he wanted us to be baseball players as well. So 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.480 I was basically groomed to be a baseball player, me 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:17.200 and my brother. The line, whether that was in the 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:21.040 backyard hitting off the t soft toss with my dad 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.680 against a big old comforter he hung up on the 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.160 on the garage, or whether that's us playing catch, us 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.479 doing to Holly Park where even my dad are my 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.880 coach Randy Oldam who coached me for years doing pitching 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:36.000 practice in field batting. So it was kind of something 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.200 that I knew from day one. So you know, I 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.039 just stuck with it, stuck with it, and you know, 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.599 I really have so much fun. That's all My friends 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.960 playing baseball are people in my neighborhood played baseball. So 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:49.960 that's kind of how it was the number one sport 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:53.240 in our household because my dad was really influencing us 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.520 to be baseball players. And so you said, your dad 0:06:55.560 --> 0:06:57.720 went to free Mont and played baseball, did he buy 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.080 any chance playing with Eric Davis? Because Eric Davis from 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:02.479 the Reds played a free Man. I don't know. Your 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.800 dad might have been younger though, Yeah. I think my 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.880 dad might be a little bit younger than Eric Davis. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.920 So he missed playing with Eric Davis, but I was. 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.440 But he he let me know who Eric Davis was. 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:15.360 You know, obviously I knew who these dudes was when 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.040 they was in the league, but not knowing that these dudes, 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.920 Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry and all these dudes played 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:23.640 in my backyard, you know what I mean, So that 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.600 was inspiring. I used to want to be like Darryl Strawberry, 0:07:26.640 --> 0:07:29.440 so it was pretty dope to know that they were 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:31.920 interesting kids that made it to the league. A quick 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:34.640 story about those two gentlemen that you mentioned. My dad 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.680 used to take me up to, uh this old summer 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.600 league called Joe Weekly's Run, Dunk and Shoot League and Crinshaw. Okay, 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:44.720 it was like the Drew before the Drews, like everything 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:47.160 before the everything, all the pros all and then all 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:49.320 the top local guys and back then, you know guys, 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:51.000 it was a lot of casts that could who but 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.760 didn't was Prop forty eight, didn't have the grades, you know, 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.400 went had to go to Juco, but had major respect 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.480 and put it down. So major time, major, big time 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.280 hoof man. I rolled up with my pop. We walk 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.600 in and on the gym entrance. Right, it's like two 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.560 red or one blue and one red of Mercedes being 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.320 five hundred that cl back in the day to the 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:16.680 big body Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry standard kind of 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.400 let's sitting out on front. Both of them got curls, okay, 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.720 both of them got the big the thick, the thick 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.200 link uh in the rock and full left, full headed 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:30.480 toe leather suits, bro level leather brother in the middle 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.680 of the summer, bast killer. And this will let you 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.360 know how big time the dudes was. They was posted 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:39.880 and they was posted. But but anyway, enough about them, guys, 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:42.240 what possition did you play? By the way, drill Well, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:44.959 I grew up being a shortstop. We all know everybody 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:46.880 want to be a shortstop growing up, either want to 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:50.160 pitch or play shortstop. So I played shortstop. I was 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.320 really utility. I played a lot of shortstop, a lot 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.520 of bad catcher, and not pitched a lot. But once 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.960 I got older high school, I was a first baseman 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.920 in the right fielder because a scout told me the 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:04.960 first day of RB I reviving baseball in the inner City. 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:09.240 I played under the Dodgers organization. One two championships was 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:13.000 sponsored by Gary Sheffield. The first day I went out 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.240 and at this time I'm like six six and I'm 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:20.679 at third base, and the scout named Mr Butler. I 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:22.320 was like, what are you doing? Son from the White 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.160 Sox too. I was like, none, I played third bay. 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:25.720 He said no, you don't you say? He said, you're 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:27.440 a first baseman or right field you need to go 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:30.120 tell your parents about your first baseman glove. So that's 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.480 kind of high ventured over the first base. Like I said, 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.520 I was six six, So he was like, you're gonna 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.800 make yourself a lot of money if you can be 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:40.040 a first baseman at that height, or a right field 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:42.680 because I can already hit, so uh, you know, I 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:45.400 finished as off as a right fielder in the first basement. 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:50.600 What was your moment in your baseball career man? Were 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.240 you said? Was there a moment or was there just 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.760 a gradual kind of drifting away where you were like 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.880 I'm putting down the batting ball, and I'm picking up 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.640 this this rock, over this hoop rock, and I'm putting 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.040 on all my basket because because you know, as somebody 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:08.680 that came out as a high schooler, right, you didn't 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.360 have a lot of time to be doing a bunch 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.800 of stuff. So it happened really quick. You were baseball 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.440 for a minute, and then you got good at basketball apparently, 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:19.240 were you good at both simultaneously? Yeah, I think I 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:22.720 was getting better. I've always played on the black top outside. 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.800 I always had a court. I think my parents bought 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:27.360 me in court my seven years old for Christmas so 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.440 I always had a court. I always stayed active, never 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.800 really played on the team, uh like a tribal team. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.080 But you know it was funny. I'm from you know 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:37.719 where I tell you I'm from, But I used to 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.960 go play wreck ball at St. Andrew's Park. If you 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.520 know any history, you know those size don't get all 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.080 my dad. That's where my dad grew up, playing in St. 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.560 Andrew bro Yes, St Andrew Park. I'm a St. Andrew's 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.960 Park baby me Hassan Adams, very very red and a 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.200 bunch of others that came through there. But I played 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.559 at St. Andrew's wreck I was always one of the 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.400 top players make the All Star team every year. But 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:02.400 I was like, you know, I'm just doing this, but 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.120 I want to be a baseball player. So when I 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.120 when it came to that point where I had to 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.120 meet it in the middle and like, yo, what I'm 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.440 gonna do. Was my senior high school, I was still 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:14.840 playing that losing or one of the top players in 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.160 the area. The year before I was first I was 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:20.920 second team All Area. My senior year, I was second 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.679 team All Area as well. But a scout came in 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.160 my game and said that same Mr Butler. He said, hey, 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:27.840 it's time for you to put all your eggs in 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.760 one basket. We've got scouts, we've got different people accent. 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:32.959 What is the rail right gonna do? It's almost time 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:34.920 to get drafted. Are you gonna be a baseball player? 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.480 Are you gonna be a basketball player? Right there on 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:40.080 the spot, I told him, I'm gonna be a basketball player. Now, 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.920 I'm getting all the attention off basketball. I got yu Con, 0:11:43.040 --> 0:11:46.000 I got coach Henry Bibby coming up and see my 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.080 baseball game. It's not bad, he wanted me. Uh you know, 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.440 I got Jim Calhoun on the phone. I got Steve 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:54.679 Offered on the phone because he was at Iowa. I've 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.880 got I got all these schools recruited me now, and 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.040 I'm loving it. I'm like this is this is it? 0:12:00.120 --> 0:12:02.439 Like my friends are all in the baseball I mean 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:06.319 on basketball teams now. So at that point, I made 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.440 my decision, and I would never forget telling my mom 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.040 and dad. They were lived. They're like, dude, you don't 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:15.760 make no decisions around here without uh, you know, consulting 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.520 with us. Like who are you to tell this dude 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.040 that you're not doing this no more? And I was like, Mom, Dad, like, 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.400 I'm I want to be a basketball player, and you know, 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.920 they were upset about it. And then they let me 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:30.720 kind of be be me and and be that young 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:34.240 adult that made a real big decision on the spot 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.079 to an MLI be scout, you know what I mean? 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.840 That was crazy. So they were definitely mad, and but 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.360 they ended up working out the end of the day. 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:46.760 What gave you that confidence to tell this Major League 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:48.520 Baseball scout? Because you know, I've been in front of 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:50.360 scouts and you know, I mean, we know how that 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:52.200 feeling is when you're in front of somebody that's in 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.240 the league and you're young too, Like, what gave your 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.439 confidence to tell him? Know the Baseball's I just felt 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.439 like I was trending in the right to direction for 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:04.560 for basketball, Like I said, I when I when I 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:06.280 tell you I was talking to these people. They were 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.840 coming to the school. Like I went to Kingwood Classic 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:14.720 with a Pat Barrier. You know that they had hardwood 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:18.040 is it Hardwood Calst Classic? And it was in Houston. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.880 It was a tournament in Houston. So my coach let 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.040 me and my parents were super loyal let me go 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.840 and play with Pat Barry for one tournament and I 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.960 played with Marcus Johnson, Aaron to follow, Taylor King, all 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.600 these great players. You know what I mean. I mean 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.640 I'm still green, Like I played for independent team but 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:39.560 the last three years. So I'm going to play with 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.839 s C I'm getting all this gear, like I'm living 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.760 this like Lokia rock Star team. You know, everybody know 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.079 the history of s c A. So I'm like this 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.640 is little first day. I kind of put my imprint, 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.600 like yo, I'm one of them. Like I know all 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.960 y'all great players, but I'm gonna be out here playing hard. 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:00.959 And I was the leading school or the whole tournament. 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.960 All these schools was like yo, like who is this kid? 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:09.040 So after that tournament, I had day later, I had 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.760 Heary Biby. I had a coach Vaughn from Yukon. They 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:16.559 coming to the school to see me. I'm in person 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.240 like yeah, they're coming pulling up to the school Like 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.440 I'm like okay, So, like I got a chance at this, 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.720 you know, to go to college. The NBA is nowhere insight. 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.560 I'm like, I can go to college. So that's when 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:30.760 I knew, like I had that confidence, like yo, I 0:14:30.840 --> 0:14:34.720 got a chance to go play college basketball Yukon USC 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:37.840 Like I'm with it. So that's kind of where I 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:40.480 knew and had that confidence where I'm like, I can 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:42.800 get I could be done with baseball. Yeah, they make 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:44.760 a lot of money. But in the back of my mind, 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.480 I still being smart because I'm like, you got rookie ball, 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.040 you got hey, you got double A, you got triple A. 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.080 Now you're thirty five years old, you're probably first getting 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.160 your first taste of the league. I'm thinking like that 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:57.960 at that age, so I'm like, dude, I'd rather play 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:03.720 who yeah, coming out you comparisons to t Mat. I'm curious, though, 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.840 how much influence did Kobe Bryant have on your game 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.840 at that time, because my theories this real quick, real quick, 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:16.400 since you weren't on the typical circuit and everybody didn't 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.720 see you, right, so everybody, you know how we know 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:20.600 each other game. Once you start seeing each other on 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:22.680 the circuit, you know how it is. We started, we are, 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:24.840 we do our own scouting for So you went down 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.080 Kingwood and probably just absolutely turned it out because I 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:31.400 know what you were at six seven, six eight back there, yeah, 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.320 six seven right at that time? Were you booming? Were 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.480 you booming on foods. A lot back there, there wasn't yeah, ok, 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.320 brooming and a lot of a lot of midis. I 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:45.480 used to have a nice man, right, so I'm making 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.040 and that and that's crazy you say that because a 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.000 lot of my friends just say you play like Kobe. 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.960 I think the athleticism and just being so wrong and 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.160 just jumping in the air and just making decisions like that. 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.400 Yeah yeah, where the tea mat came from. But I 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.240 had all a like Kobe stuff in me, you know 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.080 what I mean, just from watching the Lakers. I used 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:05.440 to sit there with my dad. Used to be like, 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.840 how are you a basketball player? You don't watch the basketball? 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:09.640 And I used to be like, you're right. So I 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.800 used to sit there with my dad and watch Laker games. 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.240 And you know, when you see somebody, you go mimic 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.360 that stuff. So the footwork, get into your spots, all 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.680 that type of stuff. I used to have a little 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:22.280 bit of Kobe in the as well. Yeah. Absolutely, So 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:25.200 you had every coach in the country, uh, pretty much 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.600 recruiting you, chewing interest in you. That must have felt great, 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.600 And this is why you're at losinger. Talk a little 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:37.040 bit so about just the losinginger tradition UM in basketball. Um. 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.120 You know a lot of people don't know that. You 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:42.080 guys have a number of first round draft picks, UM 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.400 and some high quality of professional athletes. Right. But let 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:47.440 me tell you this quick story before I get to 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:52.160 that and how that how the tradition even started. So, Uh, 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.920 my ninth and timer grade, I want to Washington High. 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.440 So that wasn't the goal. The goal was for me 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:01.160 to go to Palisades. My mom my dad wasn't feeling that. 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:03.320 And when I went to when I was gonna go 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.800 to Palisades, I was gonna play baseball, football, and basketball. 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.200 So I was in line to play all three sports. 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.040 They're like, I'm talking to the coaches everything. It was 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.920 all set end up not going there. So the next 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:20.240 thing was the goal maybe to like Sarah, go play 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.680 with Pool Jetter and all them didn't play well in 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.000 their tests. So my mom and dad was like, uh, 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:29.760 so I end up going to end up going to Washington. 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:34.400 Go to Washington for two years. Uh. Tried to play 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:38.960 basketball my freshman year, coach Andy Davis told me I 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.760 couldn't play varsity ninth grade. You gotta play j V. 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.200 I said, well, I'm not playing. So that was that. 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.200 I played baseball in my ninth grade year. Temth grade year, 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.440 roll around. Now I'm about to play varsity. I make 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:54.919 the varsity team. Now he got uh Andre Patterson, Wayne 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:58.399 Chamberlain and Twine Parker. You know what I mean, like 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:01.879 some real o g Yeah, like basketball, you know what 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.120 I mean? Cedric Smith who played. He was the only 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.520 freshman to play that and that kind of was why 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:10.000 I was like, yo, say playing Varcy nineth grade, Well, 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:14.400 I can't play varsy so whatever, uh ten grade, come around, 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.000 make the team. I play one tournament at Beverly Hills 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:21.320 High School. Now I'm ineligible, so I can't play. Uh Now, 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.879 I gotta get my grades right. End up playing the 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.800 last game at Fairfax and the playoff game, but I 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:30.520 still play baseball. Was one of the best players in baseball. 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:35.119 Went oh in two and two years, we didn't win 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.640 one game on the baseball team. Pops like, we're going 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.040 we out, So that's what we try to get back 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.080 in Sarah. That didn't work out. The coach that Sarah said, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:47.720 my boy coaches at losing your Joel Romero and he 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:50.239 can he had take him, and we want to talk 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.119 to Ramero, made it happen. Was like, the only thing is, Ramero, 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.399 you don't have to pick me up every day for school. 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.040 If you want me to come there, no problem. So 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.600 that's how I ended up at losing your coach, Romero, 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:03.800 Uh sent me, I mean came pick me up every 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:06.560 day for two years, took me, took me to school, 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:08.360 pick me up. I know that don't happen no more. 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.679 Uh that's the old school stuff, when your coach come 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.280 pick you up and things like that. So those car 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:19.119 rides from school amazing, amazing because one of the things 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.120 he did he opened my mind up. You know, I'm 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:24.800 so West Coast. I really thought I was in the 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:28.159 Beak with snooping and the dog Pound and you know, 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.399 death Row. I didn't listen to no East Coast music. 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.520 He introduced me to jay Z the Blueprint too. We 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:37.880 listened to that thing every day for a whole year. 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.600 So I'm like, dang, like I'm tripping on these dudes. 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:43.560 You know, I really think I'm I'm all the way. 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:47.560 We don't listen to the East so no, yeah, And 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:49.600 I want to know if he even know that, Like 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:52.119 he influenced me to listen to more East Coast music, 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:54.159