Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. This
Speaker 1: week's edition of Tom's Talks features Sixers forward Danny Green.
Speaker 1: Not too many basketball players have a resume with three
Speaker 1: NBA championships with different teams and an NCUBAA title as well.
Speaker 1: Green has been part of a Sixers starting group that
Speaker 1: has been near perfect record wise when they're all together.
Speaker 1: Danny was nice enough to join us from Arizona during
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers Western Conference road trip. Here's Danny Green.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of Tom's Talks, and it is
Speaker 1: a pleasure to talk to Sixers guard forward Danny Green,
Speaker 1: who joins us from Phoenix as the Sixers rough out
Speaker 1: on this Western Conference road trip. And Danny, thank you
Speaker 1: so much. I know it was a long night for
Speaker 1: you getting from Portland to Phoenix. That's life in the
Speaker 1: NBA that a lot of people don't realize. The late
Speaker 1: arrivals and you know some of those things. Everyone thinks
Speaker 1: that so glamorous, And don't get me wrong, you guys
Speaker 1: are created really well. I know this is an unusual year,
Speaker 1: but that right there, the early arrival is something that
Speaker 1: people don't realize, right. Yeah, Unfortunately it's snowed in Portland
Speaker 1: on our way out, so we got to lay it
Speaker 1: a little bit leaving or getting up in the air,
Speaker 1: so we'd end up getting here it's about four am.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's the life of as part of
Speaker 1: the job's life of an NBA and some nights it's
Speaker 1: gonna be like that. Not off the nights, but we
Speaker 1: got in here late. Luckily we had the day off
Speaker 1: to we'll take care of our body's relax and rest
Speaker 1: a little bit. I still got to get tested at
Speaker 1: some point during the day. But yeah, we took a
Speaker 1: tough loss and we have two more games road trips,
Speaker 1: so we're trying to finish it out strong and hopefully
Speaker 1: win the next two before we go back home to
Speaker 1: the Philly. Just to piggyback on that for one second.
Speaker 1: And you've been around long enough to remember the four
Speaker 1: games and five nights, which typically involved West coast travel
Speaker 1: and for the Spurs maybe it was up here in
Speaker 1: the east, but there were nights you'd go to bed
Speaker 1: like three o'clock, four o'clock, then you were off the day,
Speaker 1: and then the next two nights might be the same,
Speaker 1: like the sleep and the deprivation. That's like one of
Speaker 1: the big things. I know there's been a huge push
Speaker 1: on the hydration and recovery, but speak about that. That's
Speaker 1: where you really have to take care of your body correct. Oh,
Speaker 1: for sure, most recovery is done after the game and
Speaker 1: while you're in the air before you because most nights,
Speaker 1: said on road trips and even at home, most guys
Speaker 1: don't go to sleep right after the games, you know,
Speaker 1: watching the game, thinking about it, things they did wrong,
Speaker 1: could have did well, or how well they did do
Speaker 1: So most guys are said, I don't sleep at the
Speaker 1: games right way, it's a little harder to sleep at
Speaker 1: the game. So most guys are going three or four
Speaker 1: in the morning, and depending on if you're flying and
Speaker 1: travel and it's gonna be five six in the morning.
Speaker 1: So hydrating, getting your rest, getting you know, time for
Speaker 1: treatment is very key when it comes to during these times,
Speaker 1: especially said when you're on the road. So yeah, it
Speaker 1: says as part of our we don't really have a
Speaker 1: sleep schedule during the year. You know, it's based off
Speaker 1: of how your games are, so it's kind of depth
Speaker 1: and adjust So when you can't get sleep, when you
Speaker 1: can take naps, and when you can take care of
Speaker 1: your body. So you know, there is no real clock
Speaker 1: for us. We have to just figure out on the fly.
Speaker 1: So big picture with the Sixers so far this year,
Speaker 1: you know, it's such an unusual season and you were
Speaker 1: win the bubble last year and we'll talk about that,
Speaker 1: but you have to feel pretty good for how you
Speaker 1: guys are doing at this stage of the season with
Speaker 1: everything that's going on. Yeah, that's with the fact that
Speaker 1: we've had COVID issues, We've had guys out, we had
Speaker 1: groups out, we had a lot of guys injured. Stick
Speaker 1: but when I'm starting five is played, we've won a
Speaker 1: good amount of games. So yeah, even with that those things,
Speaker 1: those issues coming far, we've been playing pretty obviously want
Speaker 1: to be better, we want to do better, we want
Speaker 1: to never be satisfied. And we're not playing for right now.
Speaker 1: We're playing for you know, June, July and August now
Speaker 1: August or May, June and July because you was a
Speaker 1: May and June, but the season is different now, so
Speaker 1: we're playing for the end of the season and get
Speaker 1: prepared for that. And we know we have a good group.
Speaker 1: Just still learning, learning, and losses. So obviously learning how
Speaker 1: to win, keep that mature atmosphere of be able to
Speaker 1: you know, not play down to our talent level or
Speaker 1: play down to our opponent opposing teams level if they're
Speaker 1: not as talented or if they're have bodies out, because
Speaker 1: we've lost to Portland twice now and when they had
Speaker 1: bodies out. So we got to find ways to win
Speaker 1: down the stretch and find ways to stay focused and
Speaker 1: locked in. We have guys out, and when other teams
Speaker 1: have guys out, we don't play down to as at
Speaker 1: our opposing teams level. You're a solid all around player,
Speaker 1: a very good professional player. You've wanted every single stop
Speaker 1: and again we're going to get into that, but you're
Speaker 1: a star in your a role, especially in today's NBA
Speaker 1: with the three and the D where you know that
Speaker 1: corner jump shot guarding one of the best perimeter players
Speaker 1: I mean opposing team. Like a big chunk of your
Speaker 1: career has married or meshed if you will, with how
Speaker 1: the NBA game changed of all last five or twelve years.
Speaker 1: Isn't that right for sure? And my focus is winning games,
Speaker 1: not necessarily obviously you want to play well, you perform
Speaker 1: it I'll have individual numbers and stats and efficiency, but
Speaker 1: sometimes you have to give that up. You have to
Speaker 1: sacrifice those things to make the team better. And at
Speaker 1: this point in my career, I know iously I would
Speaker 1: love to scope poin so that's not what they need
Speaker 1: me here to do. Any me here to be the
Speaker 1: balance and when it comes to Guy's double and Joe
Speaker 1: out to be a four spacer and play defense, but
Speaker 1: also be the guy that helps to get the ball
Speaker 1: moving and keep the ball moving. So because we'll get
Speaker 1: stagnant and we'll have good offense, I have to get
Speaker 1: guys in position or talking through it or defensively make
Speaker 1: sure that we're communicating and rotating the way we need to.
Speaker 1: Um So that that comes with sacrificing some of the
Speaker 1: things that you know when your younger years you would
Speaker 1: want to achieve and want to do. But yeah, so
Speaker 1: winning is is my main focus. Um And said. As
Speaker 1: you as you grow as a player, you start to
Speaker 1: understand your roles and what you're good at, which your
Speaker 1: strengths are, and you just got to be more self
Speaker 1: aware of who you are and what you become and
Speaker 1: what they bring you in to do. And you gotta
Speaker 1: able to accept that role a lot of kids. I
Speaker 1: was the younger ones. They're like, all right, I understand
Speaker 1: the rolling, but I can know I want to show
Speaker 1: that I can do more. I was in this moment
Speaker 1: to do that. But when you're trying to win, you
Speaker 1: have a team that you're a contender, you should just
Speaker 1: do what you're what you're you know, put in place
Speaker 1: to do and trying to do the best your ability.
Speaker 1: And obviously when you can do a little more, you can,
Speaker 1: but don't try to force the issue you just described
Speaker 1: about playing the right way and doing what's necessary. In
Speaker 1: other words, for the sixers, for Joel to throw it
Speaker 1: out of a trap, to move it to the wing,
Speaker 1: for that guy to throw it to the top, swing
Speaker 1: swing to the corner to you or Seth whomever. Basketball
Speaker 1: is like art, it can be a thing of beauty.
Speaker 1: So you're solving a puzzle and then executing and making
Speaker 1: that ball swinging around and swishing a three. That's the
Speaker 1: beauty of the sport, right there? Isn't it? In part
Speaker 1: or Doc has a turn for it. I want to
Speaker 1: reveal it. But you know, as coaches, you know his
Speaker 1: their coaches fantasy type of thing. So um, when you
Speaker 1: see the ball movement the way it does, and guys
Speaker 1: making shots and sharing and playing with each other and
Speaker 1: making the right cuts and making the right passes, making
Speaker 1: the right play. Giving up a good shot for a
Speaker 1: great shot as a coach's dream, so you know he
Speaker 1: enjoys it. We enjoy I enjoy at this point in
Speaker 1: my carem in this level because I don't care about
Speaker 1: so as long as we get the best shot for
Speaker 1: us a lot of times, none times to tend you're
Speaker 1: gonna make shop, you give up a good shot for
Speaker 1: a greer shot. One of the things that's made the
Speaker 1: Sixers successful so far this year is success down the
Speaker 1: stretch as somebody who's been in the winner circle when
Speaker 1: it's all over so many times in your career in
Speaker 1: college in Europe and three times as a pro, when
Speaker 1: you guys do it in the fourth quarter and execute
Speaker 1: and take a play to the second and the third
Speaker 1: option and see the results and then come away victorious
Speaker 1: knowing that you've done it. Does that work like muscle
Speaker 1: memory where it kind of clicks in and as athletes,
Speaker 1: you know, man, we've been down this road before. We're
Speaker 1: going to do this collectively, we're gonna make it happen.
Speaker 1: Does it pay off like that? Does it work like that?
Speaker 1: For sure? If you build those habits, and that's what
Speaker 1: we're trying to do. We're trying to build those habits
Speaker 1: here in this organization, in this atmosphere. Obviously we're still
Speaker 1: learning it. We've executed, we've done it, but we want
Speaker 1: to do it time and time again and have it
Speaker 1: to where we're used to be in those situations where
Speaker 1: there's no second guessing, there's no thinking, where we're just
Speaker 1: you know, playing the way we're supposed to play and
Speaker 1: you know, executing. So yeah, down the stretch, of course,
Speaker 1: we want to continue to play at a high level.
Speaker 1: We want to win games and execute. And right now
Speaker 1: said obviously with Portland, there's gonna be some games, we're
Speaker 1: gonna have some take some hits or some losses, but
Speaker 1: the biggest thing is just making the winning place. And
Speaker 1: that happens not just in the fourth quarter of the place.
Speaker 1: The quarter is previous, but definitely the fourth quarter. You
Speaker 1: gotta get on those balls. You gotta get the fifty fifties,
Speaker 1: you gotta get the rebounds, you gotta get the steals,
Speaker 1: you gotta get the stops, and that's what it comes
Speaker 1: down to in the fourth quarter, down the stretch. One
Speaker 1: of the reasons the Sixers brought you to this ball
Speaker 1: club is what you bring to the table. We just
Speaker 1: talked about that ability to score and guard, but leadership,
Speaker 1: and with that leadership, it's not just coming out of
Speaker 1: a time out. It might be on a bus, it
Speaker 1: might be in the locker room, it might be on
Speaker 1: a plane, it might be at a walkthrough, it might
Speaker 1: be in the hotel after a talk talk or whatever.
Speaker 1: And it means so much more from a player like
Speaker 1: yourself that's still contributing at a high level. Like certain
Speaker 1: guys are a kind of hanging around in the NBA
Speaker 1: and you're like, yeah, if you're the fifteenth guy, can't
Speaker 1: you know so talk about that as somebody who's right
Speaker 1: next to these guys in the foxhole with them and
Speaker 1: able to share your expertise in your leadership experience. For sure.
Speaker 1: I think it goes to for all you know, guys
Speaker 1: has been this league, even if you're a fifteen guys,
Speaker 1: have you've been in this league long enough for ten
Speaker 1: to fifteen years. Because there's guy's like a Jared Dudley
Speaker 1: whose voice really matters it all depends on your locker
Speaker 1: room and the guys that respect you. So you got
Speaker 1: to earn their respect, and a lot of these guys,
Speaker 1: thankfully in this locker room and even throughout the league,
Speaker 1: still respect me as a not just a person that
Speaker 1: understands the game, but it was a player that can
Speaker 1: contribute on the floor. So if you have that type
Speaker 1: respect from those guys, they'll listen, and you just hope
Speaker 1: that they'll they'll learn from you and hope that they'll
Speaker 1: grow in by the end of the year, they'll take
Speaker 1: everything they learn and that make themselves and our team better.
Speaker 1: So let's go back through your championship pedigree, and the
Speaker 1: most recent was last summer in August of twenty twenty
Speaker 1: in Orlando with the Los Angeles Lakers. They win their
Speaker 1: seventeenth championship. You beat Miami in six games, to watch
Speaker 1: Lebron and Anthony David and for your team in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles to come together, climb them out in the most
Speaker 1: unusual of circumstances in the history of the NBA and
Speaker 1: win that title. What was it like? It was tough,
Speaker 1: and I'm not gonna lie, but it was all worth it.
Speaker 1: When it was all said and done, all the pain,
Speaker 1: all the struggle emotional, mental and physical that we went through.
Speaker 1: When you're able to raise that Layar Bryan Trophy makes
Speaker 1: it all worth it. You get home and you know
Speaker 1: your body's aching and sore. But it was a rough
Speaker 1: roller coaster, and that's from league shutting down, restarting multiple times,
Speaker 1: people that are close to us, passing away that we've
Speaker 1: lost due to COVID and other you know things, the
Speaker 1: China incident where you know we went there. There's so
Speaker 1: much going on through that that whole season, the whole year,
Speaker 1: and then the bubble, which was mentally emotionally draining more
Speaker 1: than anything and physically playing out of the day. It
Speaker 1: was not easy, so but being able to come out
Speaker 1: on top made it all worth it. But that year
Speaker 1: was one of the most unbelievably tough mentally, emotionally physical
Speaker 1: years that we all remember because it was the toughest
Speaker 1: one and I think for us so we won't forget it,
Speaker 1: but we'll always remember it as one of our toughest,
Speaker 1: hardest years and the biggest achievements. It's funny because before
Speaker 1: the bubble, as we waited for play to resume, people
Speaker 1: like whatever sportscasters pontificators were saying, well, this season will
Speaker 1: have an asterix. Well, yeah, it had an asterisk because
Speaker 1: what you just described it was more more difficult really
Speaker 1: than any other. So in the year before you're with
Speaker 1: the Raptors and you're with Kawhi and Pascal Siakam and
Speaker 1: Kyle and Marcassol, and before beating both Milwaukee and the Warriors,
Speaker 1: you had the game with the Sixers. Game seven walks
Speaker 1: through that It's it's Sunday in Toronto. It's both teams
Speaker 1: are tied at three, and Kawhi hits a corner jumper
Speaker 1: over Joel right by your bench, bounces four times and
Speaker 1: goes in. It was like a dagger to the Sixers,
Speaker 1: and for you guys, it helped to propel the Raptors
Speaker 1: to the eventual NBA Championship. That serious the most. It
Speaker 1: was probably the toughest series that we had. I mean
Speaker 1: not saying other teams weren't good, but going seven games
Speaker 1: and almost going into overtimes. We went into overtime. You
Speaker 1: guys had the whole momentum um. You guys had Jimmy
Speaker 1: JJ obviously Toby's Joe I was rolling. Then I had
Speaker 1: a deep team and they were playing very well. We
Speaker 1: were up and then next you know, you guys started
Speaker 1: making a run coming back. Jimmy started, you know, doing
Speaker 1: what he does and then defensively said making some plays.
Speaker 1: But luckily, he said, Kawhi came out knocked down a
Speaker 1: big shot and it kind of gave us new life
Speaker 1: because that whole series we struggled with fine rotations, finding
Speaker 1: guys that could play against the big guards you guys had,
Speaker 1: finding out how we want to attack them. So it
Speaker 1: was a chess game, and I think Brett Brown credited him.
Speaker 1: He did a great job of figuring out how he
Speaker 1: wanted to play or guard us or also attack us.
Speaker 1: So it was tough to figure out. But you know,
Speaker 1: Kawhie hitting that shot gave us new life for obviously
Speaker 1: extending our season, but to kind of be refreshing and
Speaker 1: start over new series with guys having a different attitude
Speaker 1: and picking up their games like a Fred van Fleet
Speaker 1: who in his Phillyate series didn't really have much of
Speaker 1: a chance to impact it. But the next serieson against
Speaker 1: Milwaukee came alive and damn never you got some final
Speaker 1: MVP votes because of how well he started playing after
Speaker 1: having his son so you know that that shot was
Speaker 1: a historic, legendary and it gave us new life, and
Speaker 1: it allowed us to actually get a chance to win
Speaker 1: a title. Gave us chance to win a title. Because
Speaker 1: that didn't happened, we might not been the last team standard.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna delve off a little bit here because you
Speaker 1: mentioned Freddie van Fleet becoming a dad and just the
Speaker 1: whole exhilaration that comes with that, and then he was
Speaker 1: close to Rockford in that Milwaukee Series. And I go
Speaker 1: back a little bit too. I believe it was my
Speaker 1: first year in the NBA and Hakimlajuan, who's Muslim, was
Speaker 1: going through the fastone and all the things that come
Speaker 1: with Ramadan. So it was February that particular year, and
Speaker 1: you know how they passed the whole day until sunset.
Speaker 1: You're thinking, man, this guy's got to be on full
Speaker 1: How could he? Well, he won Player of the Month,
Speaker 1: look it up. So I think it would have been
Speaker 1: like ninety six. And so John Lucas was our coach
Speaker 1: at the time, and I'm sure you know it, Luke,
Speaker 1: and we had this debate and it was I'm like,
Speaker 1: I know, but he was spiritually lifted, so that that
Speaker 1: incident that focused that singular focus that comes from his
Speaker 1: personal life and his religious pla. To me, it helped
Speaker 1: catapult him. And I'm speaking for ah team. But and
Speaker 1: it sort of in a different way. Did the same thing?
Speaker 1: Can something like that off the court, because sometimes if
Speaker 1: you're not right off the court, it can go off
Speaker 1: the rails. Talk about that a little bit definitely. Man,
Speaker 1: think you see these these these great games come from
Speaker 1: these guys when they have these type of life experiences
Speaker 1: because it gives them their energy and extra boost and
Speaker 1: also it gives them a care free attitude where they
Speaker 1: just go out and play and have fun. You know
Speaker 1: when people have children or God forbid, somebody passes as
Speaker 1: a tragic and they go out and play with more
Speaker 1: emotions and play with more you know, passion for the
Speaker 1: game when great things happen, and even when bad things happen,
Speaker 1: even though it sucks. Uh. But and they're playing for
Speaker 1: something or for someone, um for that night. Um, that's
Speaker 1: when their whole they leave everything out on the floor.
Speaker 1: But a lot of those things can propel their energy
Speaker 1: in a good way, some in a bad way, or
Speaker 1: some more just a motivated angry way. UM to where
Speaker 1: they have an unbelievable night. But um, you know, for
Speaker 1: Freddie to have a kid and some other people have babies,
Speaker 1: like in a great way, it helps them to propel
Speaker 1: themselves and their energy even though they're up all night.
Speaker 1: But to have that you know, care free, you know,
Speaker 1: have fun, bring basketball back to a passionate when they
Speaker 1: were youth, youthful days and not worrying about anything else.
Speaker 1: Um allows them to just you know, play their game
Speaker 1: and also play at a high level with a lot
Speaker 1: of confidence. So let's talk about San Antonio and winning
Speaker 1: the championship with the Spurs and at that time they
Speaker 1: were the gold standard in the NBA for a big
Speaker 1: chunk of that year from twenty ten until now. And
Speaker 1: for you, you know, you had to spend time and
Speaker 1: at the time the NBA G League or the Development League,
Speaker 1: you went overseas as I mentioned in Slovenia. So to
Speaker 1: get into the finals and be a champion after having
Speaker 1: gone through some struggle to get to that level, what
Speaker 1: was that? That must have been a very rich experience
Speaker 1: for you with san Antonio. Oh definitely, man, it's my
Speaker 1: first one. You know, you dream of that stage as
Speaker 1: a kid. You never think you'd be an NBA another
Speaker 1: one playing an NBA finals stage and win a championship.
Speaker 1: So going through all that and then we went to
Speaker 1: the finals previous that year and lost until will play
Speaker 1: and also being a starting, starting team, and then come
Speaker 1: back and playing the finals the second year and actually win.
Speaker 1: It was a very surreal moment, man. So the roller
Speaker 1: coaster ride, and I try not to think about it
Speaker 1: reflect too much. Each each year. I try to do
Speaker 1: in the summertime because I don't want to be too satisfied.
Speaker 1: I don't want to get back to the grind and
Speaker 1: stay hungry. But every time I think about it, where
Speaker 1: I've come from to now and at that point said
Speaker 1: growing up as a kid, just imagining be on final
Speaker 1: station and win an NBA championship. That will do that
Speaker 1: and bring the trophy back home to my family, my hometown.
Speaker 1: I was unbelievable, man. And it was like, it's a
Speaker 1: dream come true that I've always dreamed since I was,
Speaker 1: you know, five six year old kids. So that was
Speaker 1: when you say you went to the finals. The year
Speaker 1: before that was the year that Ray Allen. It looked
Speaker 1: like the Spurs were seconds away from winning the title,
Speaker 1: and yet Miami it's a huge shot from Ray Allen.
Speaker 1: And then Miami wins the championship. Right lost twenty fourteen,
Speaker 1: We came back to win right for that team, And
Speaker 1: I always referenced this, you know, like you weren't going
Speaker 1: to get validation like the next month. It took eleven
Speaker 1: months later for that Spurs team to get in position,
Speaker 1: and they had that whole thing about pound the Rock.
Speaker 1: I mean as an athlete, that is to me one
Speaker 1: of the greatest examples of sticking with it, putting in
Speaker 1: the time at good days, at up and put yourself
Speaker 1: in a position to change the course of what had
Speaker 1: happened the year before. That had to be a tremendous
Speaker 1: learning experience, oh for sure, man. And like I said,
Speaker 1: even now, preparing for that time time, so that whole
Speaker 1: year was rough for us. We played a chip on
Speaker 1: our shoulder in every game that we played, every team
Speaker 1: that we played, every possession, we prepared as if we
Speaker 1: were playing in an NBA Finals against Miami Heat, because
Speaker 1: we knew if we got an opportunity to get back,
Speaker 1: there were probably gonna be that team to play, because
Speaker 1: they were the best team in the league in time.
Speaker 1: They were obviously defending champions So we played every game
Speaker 1: and it was a rough years. Even with the coach
Speaker 1: staff of the team, the players, they were on us
Speaker 1: and we made sure that if we ever got the
Speaker 1: opportunity again, we would take full advantage of it. But
Speaker 1: when it finally was done, we're able to do so.
Speaker 1: It says nothing sweeter man. So as I ventured a
Speaker 1: couple of times in twenty eleven, you were in Europe,
Speaker 1: you were in Slovenia, walk us through that experience for sure.
Speaker 1: I mean I was only there during the lockout for
Speaker 1: about four months, so I don't know if they want
Speaker 1: a championship, they might want a championship later on our team,
Speaker 1: I was there for half that season. We struggled early on.
Speaker 1: We started playing well later, but we had Dabby's birth
Speaker 1: times and that team Dion Thompson, another Carolina guy. You know,
Speaker 1: we had a couple other Americans with us side my guy,
Speaker 1: what side b Woody. We had a couple of guys
Speaker 1: that could hoop on that team. But so we had
Speaker 1: some struggles up and down, as you know, the European life.
Speaker 1: But I was only there for about four months during
Speaker 1: lock I had to come back and make the team.
Speaker 1: But to see them, you know, progress and do well
Speaker 1: later on. Showed a lot of character from those guys
Speaker 1: and that organization. Obviously, Sylvania was a different time for me.
Speaker 1: I would love to go back and visit somethino. We
Speaker 1: have the legends from there, obviously Luca, but Gouran and
Speaker 1: his brothers, Zoran and a couple other guys, the Sylvanian legends.
Speaker 1: But it was a great city. They treat me a
Speaker 1: lot of love and respect, and I would definitely always
Speaker 1: treat it as a place that you know, that helped
Speaker 1: raise me as a professional and a player. Speaking of
Speaker 1: raising in basketball, Carolina Basketball, you spend four years in
Speaker 1: Chapel Hill. It ends with a championship. We all got
Speaker 1: a kick up, kick out of the promos the other
Speaker 1: day where you showed the young Danny Green with the
Speaker 1: hops in this brow down. Everybody was talking about that
Speaker 1: just a few days ago. Was that like playing for
Speaker 1: North Carolina? It was amazing, man said, That's where I
Speaker 1: became a man. So I grew up. I learned a
Speaker 1: lot about not just the game, out about life. Coach
Speaker 1: Williams taught us to do things the right way on
Speaker 1: and off the court. Was It's where a teenager young teenage,
Speaker 1: Danny became a grown man. Learned how to pay bills, dues,
Speaker 1: on laundry, go to class, take care of his business
Speaker 1: beyond time, and do the little things. I learn how
Speaker 1: to save money financially, do you know things the right way? Uh?
Speaker 1: You know? And sat on the court, learn how to
Speaker 1: play the game, understand to study the game and become
Speaker 1: somewhat a decent player. So and work hard. But being
Speaker 1: in that that Chapel Hill bubble areas, it's college town,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of love, nothing but but sports and
Speaker 1: basketball and Carolina sports. So and obviously the rivalries between
Speaker 1: Dude which is up the road and Durham and in
Speaker 1: Raleigh and See State some of these schools that we
Speaker 1: played against. But yeah, being in that Chapel Hill bubble
Speaker 1: there's nothing like him is amazing experience. And I wan't
Speaker 1: change it for the world. And I love going back
Speaker 1: whenever I get a chance to and try to show
Speaker 1: as much love as I can and return the favor
Speaker 1: as much as much as I can what they've done
Speaker 1: for me. One of my time there, we spent a
Speaker 1: lot of time there when Larry Brown was our coach.
Speaker 1: We had training camp there so many times in the
Speaker 1: team done. I made sure to go over to Carmichael,
Speaker 1: as you say, just a special place and talk about
Speaker 1: the college experience, because you did delve into that a
Speaker 1: little bit. But there's so many young players in the
Speaker 1: NBA that they spent one year in college, which is
Speaker 1: not really a wholly rounded obviously college experience, but to
Speaker 1: be a student athlete and be amongst your peers, and
Speaker 1: as you say, you gained so much from that that
Speaker 1: you probably wouldn't have if you would have punched your
Speaker 1: ticket right into the NBA. Yeah. I mean, I couldn't
Speaker 1: imagine if I went to the NBA at nineteen twenty
Speaker 1: years old, I have no idea what I would make.
Speaker 1: So many mistakes media wise, financially, on off the court,
Speaker 1: even on the court, I want to know much of
Speaker 1: the game. I'd be so raw. But the fact I
Speaker 1: was able to grow up and become an adult and
Speaker 1: learn those things throughout college it gave me an advantage.
Speaker 1: It made me more of a polished player, but also
Speaker 1: a polished persons about handle myself when I got NBA
Speaker 1: money or when I came into NBA, and how to
Speaker 1: be a professional. So yeah, man, I took my hat
Speaker 1: off to those guys that went straight from high school
Speaker 1: and those guys only did one or two years and
Speaker 1: be able to adapt an adjust to it so quickly.
Speaker 1: And obviously younger kids now way ahead of the game
Speaker 1: now being political figures, not just sports figures. They have
Speaker 1: to be political fears, understand and learn about the communities,
Speaker 1: everything else and get back. I couldn't do that at
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty. A lot of these guys are doing it
Speaker 1: between nineteen and twenty three years old, which said I
Speaker 1: didn't learn a lot of this, so I got, you know,
Speaker 1: past twenty six, twenty seven, and then way ahead of
Speaker 1: the game now. But I was fortunate enough to have,
Speaker 1: you know, a good foundation of my family and friends
Speaker 1: in my college peers, and to go to school for
Speaker 1: four years to learn so much and to be ahead
Speaker 1: of the game. So we delve into your media savvyness,
Speaker 1: if that's a phrase, and inside the green room with
Speaker 1: your friend Harrison Stanford and you guys have a podcast
Speaker 1: and it's starting to get legs and take off. So
Speaker 1: let's reverse roles a little bit, like what's it like
Speaker 1: hosting a podcast and taking that taking that angle, if
Speaker 1: you will, it's fun man more fun than I expected
Speaker 1: to be, and it actually blew up more than I
Speaker 1: expected to be when Harrison pitched him Harrison's idea, UM,
Speaker 1: I wasn't so enthused about it or so confident about
Speaker 1: especially being in San Antonio. They didn't really care to
Speaker 1: do media or you know, care for guys to do
Speaker 1: off court branding stuff for themselves or talk to the media,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't a big thing for us, even though
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't want it to be immedia thing.
Speaker 1: I wanted guys to be able to, um, I guess,
Speaker 1: come on the show and be themselves and be care
Speaker 1: free and if we want to cut edit something that
Speaker 1: they don't like, and we'll cut and edit out. But
Speaker 1: it's really just I was to be able to catch up,
Speaker 1: learn about a lot of my teammates, a lot of
Speaker 1: people around me in the cities that I played in
Speaker 1: the community. Also to bring light to certain businesses, certain sponsors, um,
Speaker 1: you know, certain people, and said, have a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: to be free with it and talk sports and talk
Speaker 1: what's going on in the world. And it's been a
Speaker 1: lot of fun so far. I've had still going and
Speaker 1: a lot of fun as well. Obviously still have to
Speaker 1: be professional because I'm still in a certain lane. I
Speaker 1: can't be doing the same stuff that other guys, retired
Speaker 1: guys are doing and having fun with it. But I
Speaker 1: have a great time kicking and catch up with guys
Speaker 1: I'm obviously there's still some guests I would love to
Speaker 1: have on the show an interview. I'm sure there's some
Speaker 1: guests that people want to hear from. But I have
Speaker 1: an amazing time learning about my teammates, um wherever I'm
Speaker 1: at one from LA to Philly now to in to Toronto.
Speaker 1: U learn so much about them on my podcasts. And
Speaker 1: I would you know ever think of you know, just
Speaker 1: talking because you don't ask a certain questions when you're
Speaker 1: you know, just in a locker room all the time. Exactly.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty good plug right there. But how do
Speaker 1: people get the podcast? Is it Spotify? Or where you
Speaker 1: get your podcasts? How would you everywhere? You know where?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we're Greenham inside on Twitter, inside
Speaker 1: green room on Instagram, Um, it's on you know anything
Speaker 1: anywhere you go Spotify, I think, uh iTunes, you can
Speaker 1: you can pre much searching anywhere inside the green Room,
Speaker 1: uh with my co host Harrison, Sanford, myself, Danny Green,
Speaker 1: so you can find it anywhere. I'm gonna close with
Speaker 1: this because I thought that was a really good point
Speaker 1: that you just made. There are situations like as teammates
Speaker 1: or even as as media members, and I so appreciate
Speaker 1: your candidness to do this with us and the interview.
Speaker 1: But like you say, you know, a lot of these
Speaker 1: interviews are jazz boyle, that was a tough fourth quarter
Speaker 1: and how you're gonna be Phoenix and whatnot. To be
Speaker 1: able to sit down and have a conversation, it's rare anymore,
Speaker 1: and to be able to do that, and even like
Speaker 1: you say, with teammates, you learn a little bit about
Speaker 1: maybe how somebody grew up or what helped shape them.
Speaker 1: It's a great way to know people more than just
Speaker 1: as athletes or just in a given game situation or
Speaker 1: pregame chat. Wouldn't you agree? I definitely agree, man. That's
Speaker 1: how I learned more most about my teammates in their backgrounds,
Speaker 1: their families, where they grew up, in their children, their passions.
Speaker 1: A lot of guys what they're thinking about doing after
Speaker 1: they're done playing or while they're doing playing with businesses,
Speaker 1: they're invested in. You know so many things, man, and
Speaker 1: a lot of those things you don't get into detail,
Speaker 1: get into that depth of conversation when you're on a
Speaker 1: plane playing cards or on a bench. You know. Most
Speaker 1: of the stuff you talk about during as basketball you
Speaker 1: to guard about how this guy is doing this in sports.
Speaker 1: So to dive into their family life on a podcast
Speaker 1: is amazing and interesting and I learned a lot someone.
Speaker 1: It makes me also closer and bond with them better
Speaker 1: as brothers. Well, Danny, as I said, I can't thank
Speaker 1: you enough. We'll do it again sometime and when we're back,
Speaker 1: if you will. And I'm in the red zone or
Speaker 1: ever we want to say that, and I'm in the
Speaker 1: yellow zone at the arena. But thank you so much,
Speaker 1: best of luck, and we'll talk to you down the road.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. All right, thank you, Danny. If
Speaker 1: you like what you're hearing, consider subscribing to the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers podcast network feed or giving us a follow
Speaker 1: wherever you get your pods, and if that happens to
Speaker 1: be on Apple Podcast, we'd love for you to give
Speaker 1: us a rating. I'm Tom mcguinnis. Talk to you down
Speaker 1: the road.