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Speaker 1: Sign up. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to The Draymond
Speaker 1: Green Show. As you know, uh, we were off last week.
Speaker 1: Things definitely got a little hectic with read schedule, and
Speaker 1: so I was just trying to figure all of that
Speaker 1: stuff out here. I am We're back. I am excited
Speaker 1: after a week off. I feel rejuvenated. No, I'm just planning.
Speaker 1: This is actually always fun. You know, one thing about
Speaker 1: this podcast space that I've enjoyed this. In my interviews,
Speaker 1: sometimes I can get a get a bit long winded,
Speaker 1: and like on the podcast, you actually have time to
Speaker 1: tell your story and listen to other people's story, and
Speaker 1: I actually loved that, as I can get long wind
Speaker 1: and sometimes as y'all made no, but I am extremely
Speaker 1: excited about today because we, like I said, we missed
Speaker 1: last week, but we're coming back with a big ninth
Speaker 1: episode and we got a great guest, one of the
Speaker 1: greatest scores to ever live, Um, Kevin Durant before Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: uh hall of Famer, none other than the great Tracy McGrady,
Speaker 1: and myself personally growing up being a fan of the
Speaker 1: NBA and watching t Mac get drafted to the Raptors
Speaker 1: and then go on to the Magic in Houston and
Speaker 1: so on and so forth. I am excited, and I
Speaker 1: hope everyone else is excited. And I got some some
Speaker 1: some drag them down, knock it out questions for t Mac.
Speaker 1: You know, no, but uh no, extremely excited just to
Speaker 1: have those conversations. I I have just as much fun
Speaker 1: having these conversations as I hope you do listening, and
Speaker 1: so um, yeah, that's that's gonna be this week. But
Speaker 1: as you know, we like to go around us the
Speaker 1: association a little bit before we get going with the
Speaker 1: interview with the Great T Matt. And of course I
Speaker 1: can't come on this week after missing last week and
Speaker 1: not talk about the injury. Um. I went out last Saturday.
Speaker 1: I played in practice after having missed the New Orleans game.
Speaker 1: Came back to practice and I was humming who I
Speaker 1: was humming and Coach Ker we had two four minute
Speaker 1: scrimmages just to get up and down. I needed to
Speaker 1: get a little run. Steph needs to get a little
Speaker 1: run as he had missed the New Orleans game as well,
Speaker 1: and obviously we know Clay Thompson was coming back, and
Speaker 1: so we practiced that Saturday. Everybody and I'm flying around
Speaker 1: and everybody's flying around. We're excited. I got. I had
Speaker 1: the opportunity because as you you you may have heard,
Speaker 1: all the guys gotta had the opportunity to scrimmage with
Speaker 1: Clay in denver Um for the Nuggets game. I was
Speaker 1: down with COVID when that happened, so I didn't get
Speaker 1: the opportunity. So that was my first chance to scrimmage
Speaker 1: with Clay. And just like old times, hit Clay with
Speaker 1: a couple of past as he knocked him down. Clay
Speaker 1: coming flying off a step a steph corner screen and
Speaker 1: hit Clay, knocked it down and we got a rolling
Speaker 1: and everybody on that um, that white team, I hope
Speaker 1: they hear this. We cracked them boys. And so after
Speaker 1: the first four minute scrimmage, coach Kirk came to me.
Speaker 1: He said, how you feel s I feel incredible? He said,
Speaker 1: you look incredible? You are you? You You're gonna go again.
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I'm cool. He's like, well, let's
Speaker 1: let's get JK in to get j K a little run.
Speaker 1: I was like, no problem, I feel great, I'm cool.
Speaker 1: That evening my calf tightened up. Um. I then went
Speaker 1: back to the facility that evening, sat in the sauna
Speaker 1: and like rolled out my calf with a lacrosse ball
Speaker 1: and with a phone roller just to get the muscle
Speaker 1: to loosen up. And then loosened up a little bit.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, all right, cool, I'll come in tomorrow
Speaker 1: for the game. I'll you know, get some uh some
Speaker 1: treatment on it. They'll get it loosing ready to go.
Speaker 1: I'll be ready to go. We got Clay coming back
Speaker 1: excited as hell, and I went to get you know,
Speaker 1: the calf worked on and it wasn't really letting go
Speaker 1: like I thought it would let go. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is weird. But I went and then my whole
Speaker 1: routine getting my glues activated, everything I activated before I
Speaker 1: got on the court. And when I went out on
Speaker 1: the court, I went to shoot some jump shots and
Speaker 1: I'm like, yep, this definitely doesn't feel right, and shot
Speaker 1: a couple of shots and then I left the court
Speaker 1: and right there they told me you're definitely not playing today. Um,
Speaker 1: there's no chance you're gonna play. And it brought me
Speaker 1: to tears. And the reason it brought me to tears
Speaker 1: is because after two and a half years of not playing, uh,
Speaker 1: having the opportunity to play with Steph and Clay Um
Speaker 1: and Andre guys who you know who we really especially
Speaker 1: Clay and stuff. Those two guys were here when I
Speaker 1: got drafted and they had just won twenty three games
Speaker 1: a year before. So built this thing up from the ground.
Speaker 1: And then Andre came in year two, and so you know,
Speaker 1: we've been with this thing up from the ground, and
Speaker 1: in doing that, you share a love and a compassion
Speaker 1: for one another, uh, and appreciation. And so just as
Speaker 1: I can't say that I was excited for claytownson return
Speaker 1: as as Clay Thompson was, because he went through the treatment,
Speaker 1: he went through the rehab, he went through the mental struggles,
Speaker 1: he went through all of those struggles. I didn't go
Speaker 1: through those struggles. So I can't say I was more
Speaker 1: excited than Clay, but I'm sure I was just about
Speaker 1: as excited or more excited than anyone else in this
Speaker 1: world about Clay's return. And so once I was given
Speaker 1: news that I couldn't play, it brought me to tears
Speaker 1: because I wanted to share that moment with him, and
Speaker 1: I wanted to be out there and you know, like
Speaker 1: old times right like we're you know, teams doing great
Speaker 1: right back at it, and and and to to have
Speaker 1: the opportunity snatched away, not that Rick or anyone from
Speaker 1: our snap stashing away. UH. They protected me, which I
Speaker 1: am very appreciative of, because I would have limped out
Speaker 1: there and played and shouldn't have been out there, and
Speaker 1: the worst things can happen you over compensate and all
Speaker 1: of those things. And so it brought me to tears,
Speaker 1: and I asked them like well, can I at least
Speaker 1: just start the game, like just to be out there
Speaker 1: with him and they and then I said, I said, no,
Speaker 1: I don't want to start the game because then if
Speaker 1: I start the game, and I filed, that takes away
Speaker 1: from clay moment, like and I don't want to take
Speaker 1: away from Clay's moment. And Rick said no, I actually
Speaker 1: think it asked to his moment. And that's all I
Speaker 1: needed to hear it was it asked to his moment.
Speaker 1: And and so you know, we were able to get
Speaker 1: it done to where I could start and then come
Speaker 1: out of the game. And the calf felt weird, so
Speaker 1: like it just didn't feel like something that, oh, I'll
Speaker 1: be back next game, so no big deal, I'll play
Speaker 1: with the next game. And I also didn't want the
Speaker 1: whole thing hanging over, well, well, when would Draymond get
Speaker 1: an opportunity to play a game with him and start?
Speaker 1: And like, yes, I still haven't got an opportunity to
Speaker 1: play with him, But our names were on the start
Speaker 1: in line up together and I played seven seconds and
Speaker 1: it scratched the bitch enough to where I can focus
Speaker 1: on getting healthy. But it's like I said, it just
Speaker 1: didn't feel like I would be back next game, and
Speaker 1: it just didn't feel normal. So I wanted to be
Speaker 1: out there for that. So to the people out there
Speaker 1: that were blowing my page up about me um messing
Speaker 1: their their fan duel points up for their drafting points up,
Speaker 1: or this betting website or that bett and webs whatever, um,
Speaker 1: I apologize, that wasn't my intention, and to be quite honest,
Speaker 1: that never even crossed my mind. Um. The only thing
Speaker 1: crossed my mind was I have an opportunity to share
Speaker 1: this moment with my brother, be on the court with
Speaker 1: him as he's coming back. Although I can't play, I
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to feel that energy with him and
Speaker 1: Steph to start that game. And then I subbed out
Speaker 1: to those that one on the under, Uh, you got
Speaker 1: a little lucky. You know, everybody sent me their numbers
Speaker 1: and I saw the under numbers world. Whatever, Uh you
Speaker 1: got a little lucky, And you're not welcome because I
Speaker 1: wasn't doing it on purpose, So I can't say you're
Speaker 1: welcome because I had Like again, my thought was never
Speaker 1: who's going to win their bad or lose their back.
Speaker 1: My only concern and thoughts were to play or start
Speaker 1: the game, and feel the energy with my brother after
Speaker 1: two and a half years, So that was kind of that.
Speaker 1: Um so yeah, congrats if you want um, because I'm
Speaker 1: a nice person, but definitely wasn't my intention to hurt
Speaker 1: or help anyone. I just really wanted to be out
Speaker 1: there with my brother. But moving on to the NFL
Speaker 1: around one of the playoffs, man, it's I love the
Speaker 1: NFL playoffs, and I mean we got Saturday, Sunday, we
Speaker 1: had Monday night. It was incredible and I can't do
Speaker 1: much right now due to the injury, so sitting around
Speaker 1: watching football is a perfect day for me. And boy
Speaker 1: was it a good day. The Niners got to win,
Speaker 1: which you know, I'm not a San Francisco for the
Speaker 1: Niner fan. I am a Pittsburgh Steller fan. My Stellers
Speaker 1: dropped the game. But congrats to Big Bin on a
Speaker 1: on an incredible, incredible career. One two super Bowls, which
Speaker 1: there are some organizations that don't have two super Bowls.
Speaker 1: So uh, you know that was all is a lot
Speaker 1: of talk of like, oh it's time for being to retire.
Speaker 1: Winning Pittsburgh gonna force him out, And I must say
Speaker 1: I have a ton of respect for Pittsburgh's ownership group,
Speaker 1: their front office group, coach Mike Tomlin for allowing to
Speaker 1: Ben to go out on his terms. You know, you
Speaker 1: have the argument people making an argument, Oh, he should
Speaker 1: have been retired three or four years ago. Maybe he
Speaker 1: should have, Maybe he shouldn't have. Who knows? Who cares?
Speaker 1: The thing? I have the utmost respect for he is. Again,
Speaker 1: he won two Super Bowls, for the for the organization,
Speaker 1: the organizations that don't have two Super Bowls like Dallas
Speaker 1: Mavericks did with Dirk and Whiskey, you allow that guy
Speaker 1: to unlike the New York Giants did with Eli Manning.
Speaker 1: You allow that guy to go out on their own terms.
Speaker 1: And so I have a ton of respect you. Maybe
Speaker 1: it costs you a year or two, but what was
Speaker 1: really the likelihood that you were going to win the
Speaker 1: championship in that year two? Probably slim the nun So
Speaker 1: have a ton of respect for the Pittsburgh brass I
Speaker 1: think what they did and allowing being to leave on
Speaker 1: his terms was great, and I'm sure if he wanted
Speaker 1: to come back next year, they have him back next year,
Speaker 1: and they should because bringing two Super Bowls to a franchise,
Speaker 1: it's it's rare you allow that guy to leave on
Speaker 1: his own term. So UM, kudos to Ben as a
Speaker 1: Stiller fan. Thank you for all that you've done. It's incredible, uh,
Speaker 1: to have been a great ride. And now you know,
Speaker 1: if this is official, we look forward to the next chapter.
Speaker 1: Other games. Let's talk about that. That that Raider game.
Speaker 1: You know. I've been in the Bay Area for ten
Speaker 1: years now, and Raider fans Brownie Blends whose brother of mine? Um,
Speaker 1: big time Raider fans. Raider fans are unlike any other fans.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm sure no one listening to this podcast
Speaker 1: unless you're Raider a fan or anything about the Tuck rule.
Speaker 1: I've been out here for ten years. I've heard about
Speaker 1: the Tuck rule a million times. I still can't explain
Speaker 1: to you what the Tuck rule is. But if you
Speaker 1: listen to a Raider fan and let them tell it,
Speaker 1: they will tell you that the Tuck rule is the
Speaker 1: reason time Brady won six championships or whatever it is,
Speaker 1: whatever it was with the Patriots, that they started the
Speaker 1: Patriots dynasty because of the Tuck rule, and that the
Speaker 1: Patriots dynasty never would have happened had it not been
Speaker 1: for the tuck rule. Well, we had a similar instance,
Speaker 1: not quite. But the other day Joe burrows close to
Speaker 1: stepping out of bounds and he drops a dime to
Speaker 1: the back of the end zone. Now, if you're watching
Speaker 1: the game, you definitely heard the whistle, because I oncent
Speaker 1: heard the whistle. But when you when they slowed it down,
Speaker 1: the whistle seemed like it happened when the ball was
Speaker 1: almost crossing the end zone the the goal one and
Speaker 1: then the guy catches it and he's wide open. Did
Speaker 1: the whistle affect to catch it all? Absolutely not. I
Speaker 1: don't think if the whistle didn't blow, he was still
Speaker 1: catching that ball. So I saw one tweet from Brownie. Uh,
Speaker 1: that's y'all think this is gonna start the frenchise for
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals now and they're gonna go on to
Speaker 1: win Super Bowls. I couldn't believe it, but I guess
Speaker 1: that's what's going to be the same now, and saying
Speaker 1: that I thought the NFL was dead wrong and those
Speaker 1: officials were dead wrong for not replaying it down. Did
Speaker 1: it affect the catching. No, the ball still would have
Speaker 1: been caught. But the rule is in Averton whistle you
Speaker 1: have to replay it down, And I thought that was
Speaker 1: filed that they didn't replay it down. I although I
Speaker 1: also thought what was a little more fishy was we
Speaker 1: can't talk about that after the game, So like, what
Speaker 1: do you do? Do you put a call in and say, hey,
Speaker 1: don't discuss that until after the game til we can
Speaker 1: figure out what we're gonna say or what our statement
Speaker 1: is gonna be. I thought that was pathetic. I thought
Speaker 1: it was fishy. I didn't like it. I didn't appreciate it,
Speaker 1: and I know a lot of Raider fans didn't appreciate it.
Speaker 1: So that was a little fishy. And then although we
Speaker 1: stepped outside of a little outside of the association with
Speaker 1: the NFL and coming back to what's going on association,
Speaker 1: let's talk about joving Rent. What he's doing carrying an organization.
Speaker 1: He's carrying a team, obviously, but carrying an organization the
Speaker 1: ball that he's playing. UM. I was talking to someone
Speaker 1: yesterday that said, do you think John You're gonna get
Speaker 1: most improved? Said hell, no, John not getting most improved.
Speaker 1: Miles Bridges should get most improved. And the reason I
Speaker 1: don't think Josh should get most improved, it's because John
Speaker 1: this year didn't just become job like we knew last
Speaker 1: year Job was serious. We knew he going to be
Speaker 1: a force to be reckoned with. Now has he improved. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: Like I can tell he lives in the gym or
Speaker 1: worse on this game, he's on improved. And what I
Speaker 1: love most is those guys on that team follow him.
Speaker 1: They follow his demeanor. You know, he leaded. He leads
Speaker 1: that team in that organization, and that's what I appreciate
Speaker 1: most about John morn. But when I said, hell, know
Speaker 1: about the m I P UM conversation, job, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: job was already passed that. Let's talk about the m
Speaker 1: v P conversation. That's the category that I personally feel
Speaker 1: like John Morant needs to be mentioned more in UM.
Speaker 1: He is playing at an m VP level, all star starter,
Speaker 1: all of those things. He is at that level. I
Speaker 1: saw him say I'm him after one of his and ones,
Speaker 1: and I think it was against us, I'm him. I
Speaker 1: would have had something to a little bit to say
Speaker 1: about that if I was in that game. But nonetheless,
Speaker 1: I do think he's him. Uh. He is an incredible,
Speaker 1: incredible athlete, but even more so than being an incredible athlete.
Speaker 1: He's an incredible basketball player, and he's an extremely smart
Speaker 1: basketball player. You know, I like to think that I
Speaker 1: am one of the smartest guys in the NBA. That's
Speaker 1: what I like to think. And I feel like when
Speaker 1: I'm playing against John Moran a lot like Lebron James,
Speaker 1: a lot like Chris Paul. When you're playing against those guys,
Speaker 1: like every possession is like a chess match, and like
Speaker 1: you're making eye contact with that guy because he's trying
Speaker 1: to see where you are on the floor. He's trying
Speaker 1: to see what it is that you're doing, what you're
Speaker 1: getting your deep inns in two or your offense into.
Speaker 1: And so when you're playing against guys like that, it's
Speaker 1: like a chess match. No, I'm not saying John Moran
Speaker 1: is at the level mentally of Lebron James yet, or
Speaker 1: at the level of Chris Paul yet, as not only
Speaker 1: two of the greatest basketball minds in our game today,
Speaker 1: but two of the greatest basketball minds in our game
Speaker 1: in the history. I don't think he's at that level yet,
Speaker 1: because you know that comes with time and mistakes and
Speaker 1: experiences playoff series, and you know that that just comes
Speaker 1: with time, but he definitely has the potential to be
Speaker 1: at that level. And and he's definitely a very very
Speaker 1: very smart point guard, which I think is the driving
Speaker 1: force and who he's becoming. And so John Morant definitely
Speaker 1: an m VP candidate. Uh, he keeps playing at this level.
Speaker 1: Who knows what happens towards the end of the season,
Speaker 1: but he's playing really well. He's gaining respect. I mean,
Speaker 1: there was just someone one of their fans, if I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken, told him a month ago he needs to
Speaker 1: go sit down somewhere. So it's beautiful to see and
Speaker 1: how he responded to adversity, uh, and playing the best
Speaker 1: basketball in his career. You love to see that. Man. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we all grow up UM hoping to reach the holy
Speaker 1: grail of sports of whatever that particular sport is that
Speaker 1: you're playing for me is basketball. For others, it may
Speaker 1: be baseball, It maybe hockey, football, whatever it is. But
Speaker 1: in all of those sports, uh, one thing that they
Speaker 1: offer shut having commedy, is they have a Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: And I am honored today to welcome you the great
Speaker 1: Tracy McGrady, a guy who I grew up UM as
Speaker 1: a young kid watching come into the league, destroy the league, rizzle,
Speaker 1: dazzle the dunks to jump shots. We all know that
Speaker 1: the thirteen points in thirty three seconds, um. And the
Speaker 1: list goes on and on, but none of that stuff
Speaker 1: matters when it comes to the ultimate ultimate title, which
Speaker 1: is Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady T mac Man, thank
Speaker 1: you for coming on the show. I am honored to
Speaker 1: have you, my brother. That It's a pleasure. Bro. When
Speaker 1: I when I got the notification that you know you
Speaker 1: wanted to be on, it's no hesitation, man. I you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a fan, appreciate you know what you brought to
Speaker 1: the game, your passion, your love for it, and uh
Speaker 1: you know, I'm excited to be here. Thank you, right
Speaker 1: a fan of me. Oh yeah, every team needs a
Speaker 1: Draymond Bro. Every team appreciate you. The heartbeat. You there,
Speaker 1: the leader, you know, the voice of that team. And
Speaker 1: as you see, you're missed right now. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Healthy and get back out there because I actually I
Speaker 1: wanted this year and that's to play. We're definitely working
Speaker 1: on and now I appreciate it. As you know, like
Speaker 1: I said, as a young kid growing up and watching
Speaker 1: you play the game. Um, you know. For for me
Speaker 1: growing up, I called you know, I called some of
Speaker 1: some of Michael Jordan's um. You know, I was six
Speaker 1: seven and eight when he won his last three championships,
Speaker 1: so I remember that. But but growing up, like and
Speaker 1: I always wonder why it has to be this way?
Speaker 1: And and so I'm asking you this question as well.
Speaker 1: But growing up, it's like T Mac and Kobe. You know,
Speaker 1: like your T Mac it's Kobe and that's what you got,
Speaker 1: you know, the great shooting guards in our league, and
Speaker 1: you kind of have to pick a side, which I
Speaker 1: don't really like. But I'm asking you, why do you
Speaker 1: feel like it's that way not only in our sports,
Speaker 1: but in sports and in general, as like, oh man,
Speaker 1: I'm a Kobe fan or I'm a T. Mac fan,
Speaker 1: as if you can't love both and they're because they're
Speaker 1: both great players. Yeah, that's that's why. You know, I
Speaker 1: think the older I get, I don't get caught up
Speaker 1: in the goat conversation anymore because I think, you know,
Speaker 1: the guys that are in that conversation are goats of
Speaker 1: their errors, not just one guy. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: If you want to crown a guy, that's fine, but
Speaker 1: I don't like to put guys, you know, up against
Speaker 1: each other because there it's their greatness in their own
Speaker 1: you know, lane of how they became great. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Um, I don't know. We we just
Speaker 1: love competition. We love to put you know, whether it's
Speaker 1: two figures, two teams, or individuals up against each other.
Speaker 1: That's what we do in our in our nation or
Speaker 1: in this world. No, absolutely, and I definitely understand that.
Speaker 1: But you know, taking this back to the beginning, we
Speaker 1: gotta we have a young kid growing up in Armordale, Florida. Um,
Speaker 1: and not many people know yeah who this young kid is.
Speaker 1: But you know, I've I've read the story and watch
Speaker 1: Charlie interviews throughout the way, and you said, at one
Speaker 1: point you went from rink one seventy five to number
Speaker 1: one in the country. Can you tell me about that
Speaker 1: journey and how that happened for you? Yeah? So, Um,
Speaker 1: I grew up in Central Florida. I mean, we just
Speaker 1: go through it. So I grew up in Central Florida,
Speaker 1: and you know, with my mom, my grandmother, and then
Speaker 1: I had an older cousin that really that got me
Speaker 1: involved in sports. So I don't know if you know this.
Speaker 1: And baseball is my first love. Dramon that, like basketball
Speaker 1: is actually my third sport. Yeah, it was a baseball
Speaker 1: started baseball at the age of five, and then I
Speaker 1: started football at the age of eight years old. I
Speaker 1: didn't play basketball, and so I was like nine ten
Speaker 1: years old, right, yeah, so that was my score. Every
Speaker 1: year it's baseball, football and then you know, I go
Speaker 1: out to the park and play my cousins because I
Speaker 1: have a big family and will play basketball. But um,
Speaker 1: that wasn't my thing. So I was just naturally gifted
Speaker 1: bro in in all sports. You know. I think God
Speaker 1: just dropped me off and was like, bro, I'm giving
Speaker 1: you all the talent, which every one you want to play,
Speaker 1: your your choice to pay. Just make sure your exhaust
Speaker 1: you know, the greatness out of that. Um. So, in
Speaker 1: high school in Florida average with twenty five and twelve
Speaker 1: in my area, a lot of people knew who I was.
Speaker 1: But outside of that, no recognition at all. It even
Speaker 1: across the state of Florida, a lot of people didn't
Speaker 1: know who I was. Um, this guy that has some
Speaker 1: some ties with Adidas came down. I was playing screen
Speaker 1: football at the time my junior year and he came
Speaker 1: and got me off the football fields, like, yo, I
Speaker 1: won't you be part of the family, you know, with
Speaker 1: the Didas. But he's like, you gotta stop playing football.
Speaker 1: We can, you know, hook you up with this gear.
Speaker 1: I want you to go to the Adda's camp. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, what you don't say? I'm excited. I get man,
Speaker 1: I stopped playing football, so get ready to go to
Speaker 1: this camp. And I'm hearing about Lamar oder Hell is
Speaker 1: this kid, Lamar Oldham. They're saying six ten, he's a
Speaker 1: point guard. That just blew me away that you know,
Speaker 1: there's a kid here that six ten and a a half
Speaker 1: points of our skills. I'm like, damn, I want to
Speaker 1: see him because I've never seen anything like this. This
Speaker 1: is the first that I'll be able to witness, you know,
Speaker 1: this type of talent. So when he was the first
Speaker 1: guy that I faced, and for me to even get
Speaker 1: in that camp though, it was like pulling streams. Sonny
Speaker 1: for Carroll got me in this camp and they gave
Speaker 1: me the jersey number one seventy five. I was the
Speaker 1: last one to enter this camp and it took a
Speaker 1: lot for me to get in there because nobody knew
Speaker 1: who I was. But yeah, man, I went through that camp.
Speaker 1: You know, Uh, it's just opportunity. Bro, It's like, what
Speaker 1: you're gonna do with it? And uh I ran with
Speaker 1: it and didn't stop. That's that's incredible. I think the
Speaker 1: kids are today they don't know about a b C
Speaker 1: D camp. No, it's crazy because I always wanted to
Speaker 1: get invited to a b C D camp and I
Speaker 1: never received the advice. So I'm still waiting to be
Speaker 1: one seventy five actually bringing it back to really yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's great. That's great, and so you you
Speaker 1: then you go on from there and you consider going
Speaker 1: to Kentucky. Bro. Listen. So I went into a couple
Speaker 1: of business right and I think Kentucky was my last
Speaker 1: one that I took, and Derek Anderson was my host
Speaker 1: that that played in the league. I went up to Kentucky,
Speaker 1: man and saw how them kids, them duals was living.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, the players lounge, they're
Speaker 1: driving fully loaded Eddie boy. You know, it's it's already
Speaker 1: basketball headed in Kentucky. So I'm like, man, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I was. I was initially going to Kentucky intil Adidas
Speaker 1: came to the table with that big that big deal.
Speaker 1: That's incredible. I you know what's funny about that is
Speaker 1: my junior or at high school. My high school coach
Speaker 1: played for Tubby Smith when Tubby was coaching at Tulsa
Speaker 1: back in the day. So my junior or high school
Speaker 1: Tubby was still at Kentucky. We went, we drove down
Speaker 1: for an unofficial visit and we went to the game.
Speaker 1: They were actually ironically, they were playing Florida. Um and
Speaker 1: this is Joe Kim Noratory and Green Cory Brewer like
Speaker 1: this Florida, Florida. When I tell we we walked into
Speaker 1: the arena and college game they was there. We walked
Speaker 1: into the arena and we're standing next to each other
Speaker 1: and in order to hear each other talk. This is
Speaker 1: just walking into the arena the games. This an hour
Speaker 1: before the game. It's so loud. We're yelling in each
Speaker 1: other ear like, yelling to the top, our loves in
Speaker 1: each other. I couldn't believe it. We watched the game,
Speaker 1: stayed overnight. I got a chance to see the Wildcat
Speaker 1: Lounge and all that stuff. I committed the next day.
Speaker 1: My mom had My mom had no idea I committed. Now,
Speaker 1: I knew absolutely, I knew I was doing something wrong
Speaker 1: because when I got home, you know, I just committed
Speaker 1: to Kentucky like that was a big deal. When I
Speaker 1: got home, I never said a word to my mom,
Speaker 1: like my committed to Kentucky. I didn't say a word.
Speaker 1: My mom is like before Instagram and all this stuff,
Speaker 1: my mom was as the person like on them blogs.
Speaker 1: That's just like subject after subject going crazy. And my
Speaker 1: mom saw on the blog that I had committed them
Speaker 1: to Kentucky. My mom didn't talk to me for a
Speaker 1: week and a half. Finally, after that week and a half,
Speaker 1: she went down to Kentucky herself and and she went
Speaker 1: to visit and she came back. She hadn't spoke to me,
Speaker 1: hadn't said a word to me. I mean, we were
Speaker 1: passing each other like the ships in the night, um
Speaker 1: in the house. And she came back and she said,
Speaker 1: don't ever do anything else like that again. I understand
Speaker 1: why you committed there. I understand. Listen, man, it was
Speaker 1: it was very impressive, you know, being on that campus
Speaker 1: and witnessing that as a seven teen year old kid,
Speaker 1: I was blown away and I was like, I can't
Speaker 1: see anything greater than this, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And I was like, this is where I'm going, This
Speaker 1: is where I'm going, and until this came to the table,
Speaker 1: like that's where I was going is but that's my
Speaker 1: adopted school. You know, I still suck in these days.
Speaker 1: UM watch him. But yeah, man, I missed out on that.
Speaker 1: Do do you have any regrets of not going to
Speaker 1: school as a as opposed to going straight to the league.
Speaker 1: You know, I used to get that question a lot
Speaker 1: when I was playing, Yeah, because all my my teammates
Speaker 1: would be especially during Martial Madness, they representing there there
Speaker 1: I'm a matt and uh. I think that's the really
Speaker 1: the only time that I felt it, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, because I felt left out, Like damn, I
Speaker 1: don't really have no dog in this fight, you know.
Speaker 1: And I just see all the love and the trash
Speaker 1: talking that's going back and forth, especially when you've got
Speaker 1: two guys who saying at mata and they're playing in
Speaker 1: the tournament ship talk. You know what I'm saying that
Speaker 1: I miss out on that because I love that, um,
Speaker 1: but that's really the only time that I felt that
Speaker 1: Other than that, Nah, I mean this. See. You know
Speaker 1: I wasn't a school type dude anyway, sitting in classrooms
Speaker 1: and writing papers. Man, fun that man, you got twelve
Speaker 1: million dollars? Are you gonna sit here in these classrooms
Speaker 1: waking up early in the morning attended clad Nah, let
Speaker 1: me go get these twelve million and compete against the
Speaker 1: greatest in the world. I respect that. I always, um,
Speaker 1: always talk ship to Jermaine Nil Uh, you know absolutely
Speaker 1: who's one of my vets. I played with ja O
Speaker 1: my second year in the league. Took me under this
Speaker 1: wing a lot like Jared Jack my first year. Took
Speaker 1: me under this wing, showed me the way. We still
Speaker 1: tight like this to this day. But I used to
Speaker 1: always talk Junk to Jail around that time, like yeah, Jo,
Speaker 1: the Spartan dogs coming and he like, oh, this is
Speaker 1: Jo Funk that I went to. I went to University Cash.
Speaker 1: I came and got this money. I went to University Cash.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Joe, guess what we're all getting money now?
Speaker 1: And I got the chance to experience college. But speaking
Speaker 1: of speaking of Jail, Um, before we move into your career, Uh,
Speaker 1: y'all have started and an agency, Um, tell us more
Speaker 1: about that, because I think it's an incredible thing. And
Speaker 1: uh to obviously goats that's done their thing in this
Speaker 1: league and now leading away for these this younger talent. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I think you know, Um, when you you beat twenty
Speaker 1: four twenty five years in this game, Um, you learn
Speaker 1: a lot, You see a lot, and uh, you hear
Speaker 1: a lot of what's going on. Both of us have
Speaker 1: you know, a youth programs. So it's it's a lot
Speaker 1: of information that comes out of that. And during the
Speaker 1: pandemic really just gave us an opportunity to do something
Speaker 1: together that's very impactful for the culture. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I was doing ESPN, so I was back and forth
Speaker 1: traveling from Houston to l A to do the jump
Speaker 1: with Rachel, and then when the pandemic hit, it just
Speaker 1: gave me an opportunity to just you know, sit down
Speaker 1: and kind of recalibrate my thinking on trying to venture
Speaker 1: off and do something else. And I was still in
Speaker 1: contact with j O, and it's like, man, we need
Speaker 1: to you know, uh, put together an agency and really
Speaker 1: save a lot of these guys out here of you know,
Speaker 1: the misinformation that they're getting. Um, And that's what we're doing. Man.
Speaker 1: We uh we started it, we're doing well. We got
Speaker 1: some kids on in our l deals that are in college.
Speaker 1: We're talking to some really really elite players, and it's
Speaker 1: it's about just really being you know. We got the
Speaker 1: mentorship between you know, j ol and I who we
Speaker 1: played the game at a high level, understanding business. And
Speaker 1: then we got some guys on our team, uh from
Speaker 1: your errors Silicon Valley, that are part of the ownership
Speaker 1: that you know is is is buysing us and and
Speaker 1: and the kids and the opportunities that can bring. So
Speaker 1: just collaborate together with those guys and and and what
Speaker 1: we're doing then would be very impactive for these kids
Speaker 1: coming out of college and getting their journey started in
Speaker 1: the NBA. That's beautiful. So yeah, I mean going from
Speaker 1: high school, college and none of your NBA career, uh
Speaker 1: nine pit in the nineteen seven draft, and I know
Speaker 1: for me, I got drafted to obviously go to state,
Speaker 1: and I had never left the state of Michigan. I
Speaker 1: spent the first twenty two years. I mean obviously you know,
Speaker 1: ay you and all of that stuff, but I spent
Speaker 1: the first twenty two years of my life in the
Speaker 1: state of Michigan. And when I came out here to California.
Speaker 1: I was homesick as hell. I felt like I was.
Speaker 1: You could have dropped me in Europe all I knew,
Speaker 1: Like I had no idea what was going on out here.
Speaker 1: I was homesick. Everybody I knew was still in Michigan,
Speaker 1: so they three hours ahead. By by eight pm, everybody sleep.
Speaker 1: I got nobody to talk to. So then I'm going
Speaker 1: to sleep at nine pm. My rookie year, and you
Speaker 1: got drafted to the Toronto Raptors, which is a totally
Speaker 1: different country, and basketball then wasn't what it is today
Speaker 1: in Toronto. Tell me about that journey and how was
Speaker 1: that getting drafted to Toronto as as an eighteen year old,
Speaker 1: You're now going to a totally different country to play basketball. Now,
Speaker 1: first of all, you left the cold whether to go
Speaker 1: to some nice weather Michigan there, you know, San Francisco.
Speaker 1: I left Florida to go to Toronto, so you can
Speaker 1: imagine it that Like I wasn't used to that word.
Speaker 1: Driving in the snow, sliding on like the slurt the
Speaker 1: slushy streets like bro I was out of territory. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And you know the legal age
Speaker 1: was nineteen years old. I still wasn't legal. Um it was.
Speaker 1: It was. It was a culture shop, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying from from all angles, like, um, it was
Speaker 1: a hockey town. Didn't really you know, get a lot
Speaker 1: of love basketball fans. Um you could do something spectacular.
Speaker 1: We played in the sky Dome, which was a baseball
Speaker 1: stadium whether Astro's played, so you got you know, forty
Speaker 1: some thousand you know seats in there and it's only
Speaker 1: probably seven thousand people in there, so you can you
Speaker 1: can only imagine, you know, you do something spectacler and
Speaker 1: it's like crickets, you know, like what the hell did
Speaker 1: we just see? We don't know what that is. We
Speaker 1: never see that, but you know, uh, it was. It was.
Speaker 1: It was tough, man. I had. I had an old
Speaker 1: school type mind coaching Darryl Walker, who was very challenging,
Speaker 1: and uh we really didn't really didn't click, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And um, he made it tough for me.
Speaker 1: Me to to be eighteen years old and get criticized
Speaker 1: from your head coach that you'll be out of the
Speaker 1: league in three years. You can only imagine, you know,
Speaker 1: how damaging that could be for a kid enter in
Speaker 1: this league, and you know, back then it was some
Speaker 1: grown men still in this league, right, you know, but
Speaker 1: you know I had some great vegan players that you know,
Speaker 1: really kept me level headed and and really helped me
Speaker 1: through that process. First year, I can said it was challenging,
Speaker 1: and I think Isaiah tom Us, you know, who was
Speaker 1: the president at that time, really saw how you know, damaged.
Speaker 1: I think I was the first half of the season,
Speaker 1: and he had to make a change. So we got
Speaker 1: rid of that coach and our assistant coach with Butch
Speaker 1: Carter took over, who gave me structure, right there was
Speaker 1: there was some structure that, kid, you gotta do this,
Speaker 1: you gotta do that if you want to get you know,
Speaker 1: playing time. And I understood that and that's what I
Speaker 1: worked towards. Before I didn't have any structure, it was like, okay, well,
Speaker 1: it's like, what what am I supposed to do? I
Speaker 1: don't know what to do, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It was left for me to figure out. But when
Speaker 1: I got structured and knew what my assignment was, then
Speaker 1: that's when you know that the turn happened. My second year,
Speaker 1: we drafted Vince Carter, which my cousin, and that helped
Speaker 1: with the transition. You know, him coming in right away
Speaker 1: had a phenomenal rookie year. So I was in that shadow, like,
Speaker 1: thank God, take a little bit of this pressure off me,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying coming out of high school.
Speaker 1: Take some of the pressure off me. So he had
Speaker 1: a phenomenal rookie season, was the rookie of the year
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. The ship that he was doing was
Speaker 1: just incredible. So it was it was there to sweet.
Speaker 1: I mean, I was taking a back seat to my cousins,
Speaker 1: but also I was learning along that process somebody that
Speaker 1: was you know, really going and started you know, I'm
Speaker 1: sending it and his first few years of the game.
Speaker 1: So when my opportunity came to be in that role,
Speaker 1: I knew how to handle it. But yeah, it's just
Speaker 1: it's good. It's always good to have real O g
Speaker 1: s around you. Dell Curry, you know, absolutely, and Tony O'Davis,
Speaker 1: Kevin Willis, Charles Oakley, Dee Brown, Muggsy Bowls, like we
Speaker 1: had effects that kept I ass in mine and showed
Speaker 1: us the wait, you know what I mean, And that
Speaker 1: was so impactful, uh for my career moving forward, and
Speaker 1: I can't leave this out. My boy Doug Christie and
Speaker 1: I used to play Doug Christie bro every day, one
Speaker 1: on one, every single day after practice, Bro, Let's get
Speaker 1: it one on one, one on one interest. Yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: And that's how you know, I really gain confidence and
Speaker 1: really perfected my one on one game and my skill set.
Speaker 1: That's interesting because for a lot of these kids around, uh,
Speaker 1: they don't know Doug Christie was a hell of a defender.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, So y'all brought Vincent by the way, I know,
Speaker 1: I know those after practices you evinced who was more
Speaker 1: athletic man? You were in fishing at that time. I'm
Speaker 1: not working with dam he was. He was incredible, you know,
Speaker 1: before we realized we were cousins. I played on the
Speaker 1: junior team Florida and he was on the big boys
Speaker 1: team Florida. So I used to play before him and
Speaker 1: I used to ship that. I used to see him
Speaker 1: doing high school like damn, he had touching the top
Speaker 1: of the backboard, looking down and dropping the ball in
Speaker 1: basket like it was incredible, incredible. A lot of people
Speaker 1: like Vincent high school. Bro. I think he broke his
Speaker 1: right his wrists in the state finals, he broke his
Speaker 1: wrists and dropped thirty five with the left hand. What yeah, man,
Speaker 1: this is basketball, bro. He's one of the most talented
Speaker 1: dudes ever. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I've always
Speaker 1: told people like and from just from what I can
Speaker 1: see from a fire like your Vince Carter has to
Speaker 1: be one of the most talented players that ever stepped
Speaker 1: footing in. Yeah, it's incredible. But um so, now you
Speaker 1: look at today's NBA, right, you're coming out six eight?
Speaker 1: Uh do you think today's NBA you you would have
Speaker 1: thrived even more? Because I think so. I think because
Speaker 1: you just look at the game right, like the way
Speaker 1: you played, all the hand checking, y'all have to see
Speaker 1: a lot of guys get mad. When when when when
Speaker 1: when when the guys from before us say, oh man,
Speaker 1: the least soft today or they could The reality is
Speaker 1: the league is off today. It is. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: called the spade of spade it is. It's the rules
Speaker 1: are a lot different, you know what I'm saying. And
Speaker 1: come on, man, you guys shooting three pointers or shooting
Speaker 1: shots now and you're laying on somebody for it's a
Speaker 1: flagrant file Like how you're handing you contest shots without
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying like that, the rules make
Speaker 1: the game soft, not the players. It's the rules that's
Speaker 1: what we're I think people miss uh informed that you
Speaker 1: know we're talking we say the league is soft. We're
Speaker 1: talking about the players. It's the rule changes that we're
Speaker 1: talking about. Um. So, yes, without thrive, absolutely absolutely. I
Speaker 1: mean you gotta think in our error, brother, some of
Speaker 1: the scores of seventy five seventy six finals in the sixties, right,
Speaker 1: and I have thirty points. I have thirty five point
Speaker 1: of that. So man, I mean there's no question, bro,
Speaker 1: you can't impede my progress. And it's not like I
Speaker 1: was just a guy that you know, scored with the
Speaker 1: ball in my hands. I was catching, shooting, well, I
Speaker 1: did everything, you know what I mean? Yes, I will
Speaker 1: definitely thrive in today's game at a high level. I agree. One.
Speaker 1: Is there a player in today's game, uh that you
Speaker 1: see that remind yourself of you? I mean you got
Speaker 1: PG um Katie. Uh, those those two I can think of.
Speaker 1: Um that really reminds me of myself. Um Katie is
Speaker 1: just a different breed though. The way he shooting the
Speaker 1: freaking ball, man he's just he's it's just unbelievable talent.
Speaker 1: But but p G as well, you know those guys
Speaker 1: being able to score at multiple levels. Yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: I like PG game a lot now. I like that comparison.
Speaker 1: Just the way y'all both handled the ball, shoot the ball,
Speaker 1: get to the cup, athletic w put you in the
Speaker 1: room however you wanted. You're getting that. I definitely respect that.
Speaker 1: But just just going back, uh something, and you're playing career.
Speaker 1: So you had those years with the Raptors and then
Speaker 1: you move on to Orlando, and I love to hear
Speaker 1: your perspective, but from my perspective as a young kid
Speaker 1: watching I felt like, like you said, you went to
Speaker 1: the Raptors and then Vince came and you and you
Speaker 1: were in the shadow, and all of a sudden, to me,
Speaker 1: like it really took me to like really brush up
Speaker 1: on my history and like go back and actually to
Speaker 1: realize that, hey, T Mac is actually older, well not older,
Speaker 1: but you were older than Vince as far as but
Speaker 1: when Vince came in, it was like you was you
Speaker 1: was in the background and playing the shadow in Toronto.
Speaker 1: Because for me watching all of those years, I felt
Speaker 1: like your career really took off when you went to Orlando.
Speaker 1: Like that's when Tracy McGrady became Team Matt when you
Speaker 1: went to to Orlando. Can you walk me through that? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So it you know, it had nothing to really do
Speaker 1: with Vicks. You know, me being in Vintive shadow my
Speaker 1: third year and Toronto is really when I turned the
Speaker 1: corner and really showed that you know, all right, this
Speaker 1: kid is really really talented. Because I averaged like fifteen
Speaker 1: points for that season, was I was like the third
Speaker 1: or four options for that team. And then my first
Speaker 1: playoff game against the Knicks, I had like twenty six points,
Speaker 1: Like I bawled out. Um. Had a really good series
Speaker 1: against a tough New York Knicks team. But it was
Speaker 1: so much internal, you know, problems that was going on
Speaker 1: that people didn't know about. And then also, I mean
Speaker 1: Toronto was competing against Orlando, which you know I'm from
Speaker 1: that area, So it had nothing to do with Vince.
Speaker 1: This is just I want to go back home because
Speaker 1: I remember when I was a kid, I used to
Speaker 1: drive by the arena and I used to tell my mom,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be playing there one day, right, So this
Speaker 1: is the opportunity had presented itself and g Hill was
Speaker 1: there in Orlando. I thought we was gonna get Tim Duncan.
Speaker 1: But even just myself and g Hill, you know, it's like, damn,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be all right. I got this this perfect move, um.
Speaker 1: And then we know what happened with g Hill. You know,
Speaker 1: he had to the ankle problems. That year before he
Speaker 1: joined you know, Orlando, in Detroit, he broke his ankle.
Speaker 1: So it was like, you're the keys, young felling. Let's
Speaker 1: see what you got private. We don't know, we don't
Speaker 1: know where we're going, but you got the keys. Are
Speaker 1: you about to drivers? Let's see what you got um?
Speaker 1: You know. And I put a lot of work in
Speaker 1: that that first year I was with Orlando offseason, like
Speaker 1: to to really uh push my push myself to exhaustion too,
Speaker 1: you know, and improve on every aspect of my game.
Speaker 1: And I surprised myself. Right, I'm not even gonna lie.
Speaker 1: I think I average probably twenty six that year. Like
Speaker 1: it was the biggest uh point differential from you know,
Speaker 1: one year to the next. And it was just incredible
Speaker 1: what I was able to do. And that was just
Speaker 1: a manifestation of the work that I put in that
Speaker 1: off season and then you know, the maturity and the
Speaker 1: confidence group to another level to where I just felt,
Speaker 1: you know, extra comfortable out on the basketball court. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And you want most most improved that year? Right? I
Speaker 1: most improved that year? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, Yeah. There was
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff thrown at me that year and
Speaker 1: I was And that's when you know, it's I don't
Speaker 1: know if there was a game or what it was
Speaker 1: that really had me like, Okay, I belonged, I belonged here,
Speaker 1: and this is what it's gonna be. But you know,
Speaker 1: I think competing against Kobe, you know, around that time
Speaker 1: and holding my own because Kobe is you know, and
Speaker 1: it's if it was my fourth year, he's in his
Speaker 1: fifth year and he's he's that dude. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, that's that's the number eight with the throat
Speaker 1: he he was that he was that dude. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: damn fucking he's the bar. So if I'm competing against
Speaker 1: him every night, Okay, I belong here. This is what
Speaker 1: it is. Right. So it's just staying focused, sacrificing and
Speaker 1: and really understanding, um, you know that these these folks
Speaker 1: are really counting them in to back up, I think
Speaker 1: I'm the first guy to be a non starter to
Speaker 1: sign a max deal like I just started. I just yeah,
Speaker 1: I didn't even start when I was in Toronto, and
Speaker 1: then I went to signed a Max country, which is insane.
Speaker 1: Who who was the gym that gave you that deal
Speaker 1: for Arlay Dog? That was? Uh? That was gosh? Who
Speaker 1: was it was that gay? Yeah? Man, I don't mean
Speaker 1: to take you back like that, but he deserved a
Speaker 1: lot of credit, a lot a lot like um, I think,
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaken, it was Darryl Murray that brought
Speaker 1: James Hard Houston. Well, yeah, Daryl bring me to Houston. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: brought James Harden into Houston. Remember James was coming off
Speaker 1: like for I'm just comparing those two signings where you
Speaker 1: got two guys that are like those dudes in the
Speaker 1: league coming off the bench on their team before, and
Speaker 1: you get those guys the deal that you got, and
Speaker 1: then fast forward to James getting that deal, like you
Speaker 1: you gotta get those gyms a lot of credit to
Speaker 1: see that because it's not like oh, we get this
Speaker 1: guy this dealing and and like it was pretty good,
Speaker 1: Like nah, you got this guy deal and they are
Speaker 1: franchise players. Well, the difference is and with James, you
Speaker 1: saw it with James, I'm saying you you saw it
Speaker 1: on display with James for years, and with me, you
Speaker 1: only saw it one year. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: It was like only one year because my first two
Speaker 1: years I really wasn't playing that much. But that third year,
Speaker 1: that's when I started, you know, uh, playing a little
Speaker 1: bit more, but I still was coming off the bank.
Speaker 1: So you saw the potential with James. You absolututely knew
Speaker 1: that he had games. Yeah you knew for sure, Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: So then you you you you go on to Houston,
Speaker 1: You get traded to Houston, and your team up with y'all.
Speaker 1: And now at that point, it's like a lot of
Speaker 1: people don't realize back then you you had to have
Speaker 1: a good a good guard, a Greek guard and a
Speaker 1: big man and that was that's where you started building
Speaker 1: your championship team was with a guard and a big
Speaker 1: man and your team up and you team you go
Speaker 1: team up with y'all, young y'all, how was that experiencing?
Speaker 1: And you go in there with with with y'all and
Speaker 1: and going to Houston, So the first the first season
Speaker 1: was pretty challenging, right because you gotta think I'm coming
Speaker 1: off two scoring championships, right, Um, no big man at all, um,
Speaker 1: or at least we didn't play through a big man.
Speaker 1: So I get to Houston and the first thing, Jeff
Speaker 1: ben Gunn, he tells me, like, you know, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna leave the league in scoring, Like thanks for damage
Speaker 1: ship for Jeff, Like with damn, bro, like you know,
Speaker 1: we we gotta get the big fella involved. I'm cool
Speaker 1: with that. But it was it was an adjustment because
Speaker 1: the tempo was a little bit slower, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. We got a seven five guy that we
Speaker 1: gotta play through get him involved, and it was just
Speaker 1: a different style of offense. Now that the paint is
Speaker 1: really uh, you know, clogged up, um, so I gotta find,
Speaker 1: you know, new ways of really getting my game off
Speaker 1: um and those opportunities. So it was the foundation was built,
Speaker 1: but we didn't have the pieces around us. So we
Speaker 1: got off to our slow start. Bro. We we wasn't
Speaker 1: good at all. I'm talking about like we was a
Speaker 1: below five team. Then we started adding this some pieces,
Speaker 1: you know, some shooting, John Barry and the David Wesley's
Speaker 1: guys that can you know, take the pressure off of
Speaker 1: myself and yeah, kind of open it up a little
Speaker 1: bit and then we started to get on the role
Speaker 1: and and look like a real team. Um, but it
Speaker 1: was and Jeff, Jeff and Dundee had to to really
Speaker 1: open up his his offense and and and expand his
Speaker 1: mind a little bit too on the offense man, Like
Speaker 1: he's a defensive minded guy. Like when you're talking about preparation,
Speaker 1: like it's nobody better, Like he is phenomenal in that area,
Speaker 1: having you prepared for games, playoff games, like for a season,
Speaker 1: he's phenomenal. And that very very precise and practice. Um,
Speaker 1: he's one of those guys that you have come in
Speaker 1: one day and don't touch the ball, lying you gass
Speaker 1: up on the wall. Here go from one to fifteen
Speaker 1: to tell you what your role is on the team.
Speaker 1: Like he was that type of dude. You can't get
Speaker 1: on the court unless you, um, you know, I have
Speaker 1: the right amount of body fat. Like that's that's what
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, that's what he was on. Yeah wow yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: your body fat had to be at a certain level
Speaker 1: for you to even get on the court. I think
Speaker 1: I think it's one team like that now, maybe my
Speaker 1: mini Minu. But that's that's all the pedigree though, pat Riley, Jeff,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. That's that's but that's what
Speaker 1: he was on man um. So it was I think
Speaker 1: once we put it together, it was fun playing with y'all.
Speaker 1: Just to see a guy at that size so skilled
Speaker 1: Raymond left hand, right hand, jump up, shoot left right shoulder,
Speaker 1: shooting eighty five from the freethroom line can hit the
Speaker 1: six teams haven't seen footer can pass. I was like ship.
Speaker 1: But what what really heard us though, is when that
Speaker 1: transition started happening with small ball Phoenix and you know,
Speaker 1: uh sat Um, you know, Steve Nash, Mary and Quinn
Speaker 1: Richards in them guys, and then Dallas started doing it
Speaker 1: and Utah started doing it. It was tough. It was tough.
Speaker 1: The league started getting ridden, especially West. It was really challenging.
Speaker 1: We went on game win Street, bro Wow, we went
Speaker 1: on a two game win street. I think y'all got
Speaker 1: hurt in like game number twelve and we ran off,
Speaker 1: you know, straight, but that put us maybe one or
Speaker 1: two games in first place. That's how challenging the Western
Speaker 1: Conference was Wow. Did you hear what I said? Bro?
Speaker 1: We won twenty two straight and it only put us
Speaker 1: up one are two games in first place? You're gonna
Speaker 1: lose at some point. I guess it was crazy, man,
Speaker 1: It was crazy. Well that's so deep. Bro was in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. He had the boys running, running, you know,
Speaker 1: crazy him and Tyson Chandler put the track shoes. That's insane, man.
Speaker 1: To think that that's where the lead, that's kind of
Speaker 1: where that change started to happen. Tell me this, tell
Speaker 1: me that do you your your business as you have
Speaker 1: the hat on and it looks like uh and Adidas? Yeah,
Speaker 1: your business? Do you think there was a huge benefit
Speaker 1: for your business, your Tracy McGrady apparel business and just
Speaker 1: your brand as a whole and playing with y'all and
Speaker 1: the influence that the Chinese have on the sneaker business,
Speaker 1: the NBA business, but just your brand as a whole.
Speaker 1: Did that grow a lot from playing with y'all and
Speaker 1: his influence in China? Yeah? It enhanced it. I would say,
Speaker 1: back back when I was in Orlando, I had the
Speaker 1: number one selling jersey in China. Yeah. This this is
Speaker 1: when I was in Orlando before I be teamed up
Speaker 1: with y'all, I had a number one selling jersey in
Speaker 1: China because I used to go over there every year
Speaker 1: since I think my first trip to China was like
Speaker 1: and from that point, I just kept going every year.
Speaker 1: So I saw the transformation even in in China, how
Speaker 1: to how how they related to the basketball fans, right,
Speaker 1: I just I saw the whole transformation. Um so, But
Speaker 1: when I got to y'all, of course, you know, being
Speaker 1: his teammate, being a part of the first China Games
Speaker 1: in two thousands, four of us to go over there
Speaker 1: with y'all, saw how he was just guy. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: my brand for sure. That's a that's insane. It's interesting
Speaker 1: because you know a lot of people didn't understand the
Speaker 1: impact that China has on the NBA, or whether it's
Speaker 1: a personal guys brand or whether it's an NBA hole.
Speaker 1: And obviously we saw the effect of that with the
Speaker 1: Darryl Morey tweet. I think what was it two years
Speaker 1: ago now, if I'm not mistaken, And now that was
Speaker 1: kind of the first that people I was the first
Speaker 1: time that the people outside of the NBA realize how
Speaker 1: important China is to our game. Yeah. Yeah, now they're
Speaker 1: they're they're really important. I mean you're talking about the
Speaker 1: TV TV money that they give to the n b A,
Speaker 1: you know, for streaming, and uh, just that relationship has
Speaker 1: has grown so much man over the years, and you
Speaker 1: know they're they're well well aware of you know, what's
Speaker 1: happening here in the States, and you just gotta be
Speaker 1: calling us of some of the comments that you made
Speaker 1: because it can be damaged to our our brand, everybody
Speaker 1: brand really, you know what I mean, some of those
Speaker 1: comments that we make or you know the Chinese people. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and and ultimately, you don't want to disrespect anyone. And
Speaker 1: as as someone who is very outspoken, like I'll speak
Speaker 1: on anything that means something to me and that I
Speaker 1: have an understanding of you when you when you start
Speaker 1: dealing with world politics and world issues, you really have
Speaker 1: to understand everything that's going on because and the backstory,
Speaker 1: you know, the history, because if you don't, you could
Speaker 1: just be speaking on one instant, you know, one one
Speaker 1: thing that's going on and you don't quite know the
Speaker 1: whole story, and then it gets all screwed up and
Speaker 1: you and it makes you look foolish, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. You gotta do your research and get you know,
Speaker 1: everything from both sides to really be able to speak
Speaker 1: on it and articulate yourself in those matter. And that's
Speaker 1: why I just leave it alone because it I don't
Speaker 1: want to. I don't want to say something that's gonna
Speaker 1: be damaged, damaged into my brand if I don't have,
Speaker 1: you know, the full story, spull backstory to it. Absolutely no,
Speaker 1: I definitely understand that. UM. A couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: A few weeks ago, I spoke about Chris Paul and
Speaker 1: and I said something about Chris Paul because you always
Speaker 1: hear people say, man, that guy didn't win a championship,
Speaker 1: as if that if as if that invalidates greatness. Love.
Speaker 1: I'm glad we're about have had this conversation, you know.
Speaker 1: And I said something about Chris Paul a few weeks ago,
Speaker 1: which was Chris Paul is a winner. I don't care
Speaker 1: how you slice it, I don't care what you say.
Speaker 1: And the first thing that people will say is Chris
Speaker 1: Paul is in the winner. He hasn't won a championship
Speaker 1: as someone who has. I understand number one, all of
Speaker 1: the things that has to go right in order. You're
Speaker 1: talking health you're talking every like clicking on like and
Speaker 1: it's not just like players clicking, it's the front office,
Speaker 1: with the coaching staff, everybody, right. And I was saying, like,
Speaker 1: Chris Paul is a winner, and people try to take
Speaker 1: that away because he hasn't won a championship a lot
Speaker 1: like yourself. And I was watching the podcast yesterday UM
Speaker 1: Carry Champion um Jalen Rowels went on Carry champions Show
Speaker 1: podcast Naked and she asked him a question along the
Speaker 1: lines of winning the championship and do he wish he
Speaker 1: had of it? Would that have validate him or something?
Speaker 1: And he had a great answer. But I want to
Speaker 1: hear your take on it, because you want your whole career,
Speaker 1: you won them everywhere you played, but you didn't win
Speaker 1: a championship, and people tried to lessen who you are
Speaker 1: as a basketball player, and I wanted to hear it
Speaker 1: from you. Dramond I could go and I could go
Speaker 1: to any country in the world, bro, and I'm recognized anywhere.
Speaker 1: I'm well respected in the street, in the corporate, corporate,
Speaker 1: a well respected bro. Um. But here's what I say
Speaker 1: about that, Like, like we were talking about, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of moving parts that has to come into play
Speaker 1: to win it, to win in championships. Absolutely, what what
Speaker 1: in my game and how I played? You don't think
Speaker 1: if I had the right pieces around me, I couldn't
Speaker 1: win a championship. You know, I'm trying like I wasn't.
Speaker 1: I wasn't sorry, And I was one bro. I was
Speaker 1: one of the top players in the league. I just
Speaker 1: didn't have the pieces around me. If you and and
Speaker 1: and it's it's crazy because people really forget, um, you know,
Speaker 1: in the certain areas and and and certain guys careers.
Speaker 1: If you look at how great KG was the first
Speaker 1: twelve seasons or his career, right what he had to do.
Speaker 1: He went to joint called Pears and ray to that championship,
Speaker 1: But before that he was phenomenal, phenomenal, right, you know,
Speaker 1: he didn't win no trip until he teamed up with
Speaker 1: those guys. What happened when when Shaq left and Kobe
Speaker 1: was was there for two years, they didn't make the
Speaker 1: playoffs of I'm not mistakable, right, So people people forget
Speaker 1: about that. Broad you need the pieces around you to win.
Speaker 1: I understand it, right right, so so now, but but
Speaker 1: you're a key part to that. But here's what I
Speaker 1: say to those people, I was all NBA. I led
Speaker 1: the league in scoring. You know, um at that time,
Speaker 1: I was considered one of the best players in the league.
Speaker 1: Right I had. I was Adida's top selling guy. I
Speaker 1: was one of the number one selling guys in China.
Speaker 1: Right I had multiple endorsement deals. If I had won
Speaker 1: a championship in my prime, dreamond the impact that that
Speaker 1: would have had on me. My life want to change,
Speaker 1: bro m my life want to change? You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Because I had I was everything but that.
Speaker 1: But you look back when I got drafted, the impact
Speaker 1: that that had on me. Retiring my mom at thirty five,
Speaker 1: thirty six years old, retired my grandmother from being a
Speaker 1: constolian for thirty something years, retired my dad. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, like changing the complexion of my family,
Speaker 1: that type of impact that that impacted me. I know
Speaker 1: it's it's a difference, But I'm just saying that I
Speaker 1: had won a championship, my life really wouldn't have changed.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't have changed, you know what I'm saying. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe I would have made the top seventy five. Thought
Speaker 1: that ship. Man, I'm a home I'm a famer, So like,
Speaker 1: let's let's let's let's have a room. I'm like, let's
Speaker 1: have a real conversation. People say, y'all looking at that championships,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of great people ain't win those champiships.
Speaker 1: You don't think Yols, Barkley or Patrick, you don't have
Speaker 1: the talent win the championship. That car alone ain't win
Speaker 1: the championship. What are y'all talking about? Man? Y'all, y're
Speaker 1: all so caught up and fucking I tried to win one.
Speaker 1: I worked my ass off and try to win a championship.
Speaker 1: It didn't happen for me, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: But us talk about impact impact that personally wouldn't have.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't have impact me as much as me getting
Speaker 1: drafted and what that impact was for my career, if
Speaker 1: that makes sense. And and to your point, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of great players that haven't won, and there's a
Speaker 1: lot of bums that has ended up on a championship team.
Speaker 1: So it's not it's not I was the A was.
Speaker 1: It's definitely not the Yeah, man, listen, bro it's as
Speaker 1: hard as hell to in the championship, manly as hard
Speaker 1: as when one, you know, but absolutely, yeah, do I wish,
Speaker 1: I want want absolutely, But it's you know, I don't
Speaker 1: lose no sleep over that and feel like that's my
Speaker 1: validation when I have the great, late, the late great
Speaker 1: Kobe Bryant saying you know what he says about me,
Speaker 1: and when I have the impact that I have on
Speaker 1: some of these guys that are in the league. He's
Speaker 1: the younger generation. And I listened to these guys and
Speaker 1: they say who their favorite player was or impact that
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown's you know, the Seth Curies when they say
Speaker 1: that they I'm their favorite players, Like that's the ship
Speaker 1: that matters to me. That any hacked on on the
Speaker 1: next generation, that's most impactful to me. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: sure I always tell people along those same lines as
Speaker 1: for you as the next generation, but it's like, for
Speaker 1: for me personally, nothing gets me going more than the
Speaker 1: acceptance and approval of your peer because ultimately, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we all got tough skin, and you know we all
Speaker 1: can have the fucking mentality right like, oh well then,
Speaker 1: but when you have the approval and acceptance of your peers,
Speaker 1: that goes way further than anything. I'll beyond of what
Speaker 1: you know, somebody outside of our game has you know
Speaker 1: what their opinion means that that doesn't carry any weight.
Speaker 1: But when you're here's you know, validate you so all
Speaker 1: you need use that dude. Man, he was tough as ship.
Speaker 1: He was the toughest guy. Like, come on, man, like
Speaker 1: that's not playing. I know I was safe, Bro, I
Speaker 1: was sucking vice. Like you ain't about to ship here
Speaker 1: and tell me because I ain't win no championship that
Speaker 1: I ain't validated. Man, funk out of here, bro, I
Speaker 1: don't hear that ship. Absolutely no reality is this there's
Speaker 1: only a select few of the guy right, Like you're
Speaker 1: the guy, like I've won the championships. I won three championships.
Speaker 1: I'm not the guy like Steph Curry's the guy, Clay
Speaker 1: Thompson is the guy. Kevin durrested guy. I do my part.
Speaker 1: I am very important to what we do. But those
Speaker 1: guys out the guy, they have to carry the scoring load.
Speaker 1: They have to do it. Like And the reality is,
Speaker 1: if you look at the NBA and you really understand
Speaker 1: the NBA, every decade, there's really one, two, maybe three
Speaker 1: guys that actually win championships. Two thousands is the Spurs
Speaker 1: and the Lakers two thousand tens is us and Lebron
Speaker 1: And then you're like, you know, Dirk got a championship,
Speaker 1: Why I got a championship? But most fars every decade
Speaker 1: the nineties is uh, you got a Kingdom, got a couple,
Speaker 1: but the bulls dominate. Like every decade, there's two maybe
Speaker 1: three of the I that actually wins championships. And there's
Speaker 1: and and there's thirty teams. Let's be let's be let's
Speaker 1: be real, there's stirty teams. All thirty teams ain't trying
Speaker 1: to win a championship. No, And I was trying to champship.
Speaker 1: As long as their their their bottom line is good,
Speaker 1: I get the championship. And that, you know is some
Speaker 1: of the star guys is the brunt of that you
Speaker 1: know that that plays for those type of franchises. They
Speaker 1: just don't care. Let's let's keep it above absolutely no.
Speaker 1: You know Joe Dumars, who's like a father figure to me.
Speaker 1: I always tell people, man, if if if I didn't
Speaker 1: meet Joe d uh through Jordan I was in high school,
Speaker 1: I'm not try to be while I was. I am
Speaker 1: today because they showed me that it was a life
Speaker 1: outside of saging on Michigan that was actually attainable and
Speaker 1: that actually existed, that I had no idea was attainable,
Speaker 1: and that I could be that and still having a
Speaker 1: close relationship with Joe d One thing he's told me
Speaker 1: along the way, he said, Draymond, always remember this. Every
Speaker 1: year in the NBA, there's three, maybe four teams if
Speaker 1: you're lucky, that's truly trying to win the championship. Three
Speaker 1: or four teams per year that are actually trying to
Speaker 1: win a championship. And spot on, Yeah, that's the spot
Speaker 1: on that talk. You got game early. I didn't catch
Speaker 1: it towards the end. Absolutely, he's stressing yourself out, like man. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: everybody upstairs they they're not having that same stretch you having.
Speaker 1: They want to have a good team to keep going.
Speaker 1: And then you look at you, you're looking across that
Speaker 1: some of your boys, Like, damn, man, they're rolling over there. Bro,
Speaker 1: they got a well oiled machine over that motherfuler. Man.
Speaker 1: They landing. They're going deep in the playoffs. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: struggling trying to get into damn playoff. Now. I definitely understand, man,
Speaker 1: I definitely understand what team Matt, I appreciate you coming on,
Speaker 1: Um and having this conversation with me. Um. Obviously for
Speaker 1: coming onto the show is great, but just for me
Speaker 1: as a fan of yours, as someone who's come into
Speaker 1: this league behind everything that you did to carry this
Speaker 1: lead to where it is and the impact you know,
Speaker 1: I don't take for granted everything that you got yourself
Speaker 1: and guys who came before me did for this league
Speaker 1: because I I know, like, yeah, I've done my my
Speaker 1: my partner, like my career, but I know the money
Speaker 1: wouldn't be where it is today, the eyeballs wouldn't be
Speaker 1: there where they are today. My family doesn't live the
Speaker 1: life they live if it's not for guys like yourself, Um,
Speaker 1: who who really pushed this lead forward. So one thing
Speaker 1: I want to put in the air before before we
Speaker 1: get out of here is you know, I know, Um,
Speaker 1: you end up living living a dream of yours when
Speaker 1: when you play with Sugarland, Um Skeeters. If I'm not
Speaker 1: taking Sugarland Skeeters, yes, So one thing I'm putting out
Speaker 1: in the world. We got d Way and basketball ownership
Speaker 1: who and now soccer I think as well. D Way
Speaker 1: is doing a great job I'm looking forward to seeing
Speaker 1: you owning that baseball team. Man. I know we've been
Speaker 1: talking about everybody owning basketball teams and hearing that your
Speaker 1: first love is baseball, you know. And I know you've
Speaker 1: done well with your money and you continue to maintain
Speaker 1: the reputation that you had in the brand that you had.
Speaker 1: So I'm looking forward to you owning a baseball team,
Speaker 1: my brother. So I'm working my way up. I own
Speaker 1: a minor league team, so I'm working Hey now, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: and I have no doubt that you get there. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I know I appreciate you, Bro. Keep doing your thing.
Speaker 1: A lot of love on this side come from me. Bro,
Speaker 1: get healthy. I want to see you back on that
Speaker 1: basketball court man and keeping packing and inspiring to youth. Bro. Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: thank you. I appreciate your team, Matt for sure. I
Speaker 1: love Doug. Wow. Was that an incredible interview. I enjoyed
Speaker 1: every minute of it, as I as I said earlier,
Speaker 1: Uh not not every day do you get it? Get
Speaker 1: the opportunity to talk to Hall of famers and to
Speaker 1: hear their stories and hear their take on things. And
Speaker 1: here te Mac talk about championships. I mean that that
Speaker 1: was beautiful. I I felt the passions pewing out of
Speaker 1: him when I asked the question, and I hope y'all
Speaker 1: did too. UM. I mean, that was incredible, incredible just
Speaker 1: to hear that, because you know, like as you heard
Speaker 1: in weeks prior, winning the championship is not the only
Speaker 1: thing that makes you a winner. Uh. It's so hard
Speaker 1: to win a championship. So that's definitely not the only
Speaker 1: thing that makes you a winner. But as you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people, they tend to save you didn't
Speaker 1: win a championship, and and they correlate that with not
Speaker 1: being a winner as someone who won three champion who's
Speaker 1: won three championships, I disagree. I know how hard it
Speaker 1: is to winning championship. It is extremely hard to do.
Speaker 1: Everything has to be going. I mean, let's just take
Speaker 1: two nineteen for example. You couldn't have told me, told
Speaker 1: me we weren't gonna win a championship. Everything that could
Speaker 1: have possibly went wrong went wrong. In the matter of
Speaker 1: forty eight hours, we lost Kevin Durant to what has
Speaker 1: been a career ending injury for people, uh through over
Speaker 1: the years, and then forty eight hours later we lost
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson to what had been a career in the
Speaker 1: injury for people throughout the years, and just like that,
Speaker 1: it's gone. So it's so hard to win a championship.
Speaker 1: That's definitely not the only thing that makes you a winner.
Speaker 1: And that was beautiful UM listening to T making him
Speaker 1: hearing him say that. But that's a rap on this
Speaker 1: week or the Draymond Green Show. I thank you all
Speaker 1: for listening to the ninth episode. We will be back
Speaker 1: with another great guest next week. I think that it'll
Speaker 1: it'll be a lot of fun and it may be
Speaker 1: something that we haven't done before, so we'll see. But
Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts um and also go follow the Volumes YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: Uh you you could get an opportunity to see this
Speaker 1: beautiful face if you do. Draymond Green Show, ninth episode.
Speaker 1: It's been real until next week. Much love,