WEBVTT - KJ Live - Dan Dickau 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:10.360 This is kJ Live with Chris john Sails and Chris 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.680 is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:21.200 entertainment industry. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned into 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.919 kJ Live. Today's guest in the show is formed with 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.880 a Zaga All American and NBA veteran Dan dick out. Dan. 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.800 How you doing, my man? I'm doing well. It's college 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.800 basketball season, you know, I was doing really well after 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.519 my Zag's. I gotta get there early because I know 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:40.400 you're gonna get there at some point. I want to 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:44.800 be the first. The Zag's got your bruins again once more. Um, 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:46.840 But you know what, I'm sure you're gonna bring up Duke. 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.600 I'm sure you're gonna bring up Alabama recently. The biggest thing, though, 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:52.720 is college basketball is here and it's off to a 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.800 great start, right, Yes, it is. It's an exciting season. 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:58.280 I love to see the fans back into the building, 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:00.640 the return of the home court, Advan it just back. 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.600 College basketball definitely is back down. I wanted to talk 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:07.600 though about your Zags. We're gonna just start off with them. 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:12.399 What makes this version of Gonzaga the one that's gonna 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:17.399 hang a national championship banner. Well, they've got a crazy 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.800 amount of depth. Like last year's team had depth, um, 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.720 but they had experience where literally you just had to 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:27.160 plug in Jalen Sugs and get him kind of up 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:30.640 to speed with kiss Burg to YAYI Timmy a season ago. 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:33.920 This year's team, you got Timmy obviously he's a he's 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:36.760 a monster down low. Uh, and then them Mart's done 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:40.000 a great job as a point guard. Watson has been there. Um, 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:42.360 but you've got other guys that are either freshman or 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.680 now sophomores with not experience coming into this year and 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.440 they just have to find their way, find their roles. Um. 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.040 You know, chat home Grins, it's either him or ban 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.920 Chero gonna be the number one pick. There's a lot 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.840 of expectations placed on him. He's still finding his way 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.240 in college basketball. But it's crazy to think he's averaging 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.920 like teen points a game and he shooting seventy from 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:07.200 the field and he's finding his way. That's unheard of. Um. 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:09.000 So I think this year's team has a lot more 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:12.400 growth than any Gonzagger team that I can remember in 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:17.000 recent memory. Because coach Few doesn't usually like he likes 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:19.760 experience on his teams, and we've never had to deal 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:23.720 with a lot of early entries or we've I think 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.040 we've only had one one and done. UM, so guys 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.040 have kind of gotten to know the program. The holpings 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.400 are done where this year you have to learn on 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.040 the fly and if you don't, sorry, you're not gonna 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.960 play as much as you would like. Yeah, staying with 0:02:38.240 --> 0:02:43.440 good Zaga, Man, I've always been fascinated by just how 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.359 good that program has been over the course of the 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.360 last twenty something years. For as long as I can remember. 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.000 What were some of the ingredients to the recipe of 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.920 success for Mark feu Well, I think coach fe has 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:01.000 got an unbelievable eye for talent um and it had 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.239 to start that way in Spokane because Gonzaga wasn't a 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.080 household name, so he had to find guys when he 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:10.440 was an assistant coach under both Dan Fitzgerald and Dan 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:14.640 Monson that um he felt maybe we're under the radar 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:19.959 of Pac twelve schools with backpack ten back then, um, 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.720 or if they were maybe good enough to play at 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:26.600 that league, that he felt that why not recruit these guys, 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:28.520 Let's go after him and those would have been guys 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:33.080 like Matt Santangelo. Uh, probably a guy like Casey Calvary who, honestly, 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.240 a lot of guys schools missed on Ritchie from they 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.080 missed on because he went and played in the NBA 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:40.480 for four years or so. UM. So he's had an 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.320 unbelievable eye for talent and then he's done a really 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:46.520 good job of developing that talent once they get on campus. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.320 But there's certain non negotiables that coach Few always has 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:54.680 with his players in regards to the position that they play, 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.400 but also what role they're gonna play on their teams. 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.400 Like for for example, a non negotiable for a point 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:06.960 guard for him is care about winning. And some guys 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.000 and get the job done in winning. Some guys do 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:12.080 it through scoring like I did it through scoring more 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.760 than other guys do it through facilitating or or being 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.960 a defensive you know, lockdown guy that wasn't me. He 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.800 would help kind of carve out your niche and your 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:26.080 role and then hold you to that standard. Um. And 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.920 if you earned his trust, your leash is as long 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.520 as they get. But you have to earn that trust, 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.040 and it's hard to earn that trust. There's been a 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.600 number of guys that have myself, Adam Morrison, you know, 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.719 some Sabonus, a number of other guys have UM. But 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.279 there are certain non negotiables at each position that have 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.839 to be met, and once you do that, the sky's 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.520 the limit for the growth in your game as well 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.400 as the impact that you can have on the team. 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.400 It sounds like you're describing like buy in, like you 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:57.760 know what what he's trying to get from each and 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.719 every guy on that roster him to buy into his role, 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:05.480 embrace his role, and flourish his role correct. I was 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:09.640 at a practice earlier this year UM, before games even started, 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:12.000 and you know that's the time of the year where 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.640 guys are trying to prove themselves in practice to earn 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:20.280 a possible starting role or earn rotational minutes, and Julian 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:24.800 Strawther was doing things that weren't part of his correct 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.320 skill set to impact the game. He was coming out, 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.159 he passed up a corner three, came off a pick 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.960 and roll, tried to a pocket pass, and he stopped practice. 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:36.320 He was like, hold on a second, we have guys 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:39.080 that can come off pick and rolls and make that pass. 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:43.840 You need run the floor, get easy buckets, space the floor. 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.680 If you like it, shoot it. That's what we need 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.960 from you. I don't think i've seen Julian Strawther try 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:54.680 to throw a pinpoint pocket pass in traffic since since 0:05:54.720 --> 0:05:57.880 that stoppage in practice that I happen to see that day. 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:01.720 That's amazing because a lot of time a coach won't 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.479 stop practice and we'll kind of like let those type 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.200 of plays build up, and sometimes you develop bad habits, 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:09.400 but the good ones, you know, they nipped that in 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:13.120 the butt. Uh. You started off at the University of 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.200 Washington and then ended up transferring to Gonzaga. Tell me 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:18.880 a little bit about that decision. At the time, it 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:22.680 was a little bit controversial transferring from you dub to 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:26.200 the Zags. What what went into that decision? Well, I 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.880 mean you would know better than I would because you 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:31.680 grew up in in the heart of l A with 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:33.360 with your dad and then the guys that you grew 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.200 up playing a U high school with. You knew the 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.680 Pac ten was the league, and you knew of U 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.760 c l A As being them Arizona and it was 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.720 probably Stanford at the time, the top three in the 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.520 in the in the conference, which me growing up on 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:52.880 the West Coast, I wanted to challenge in myself and 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.919 play against the best players in college basketball, and on 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.960 the West Coast that was the Pac ten. And if 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:00.599 you wanted to have a chance to in the NBA, 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.159 which I had big aspirations, I felt I had to 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:06.800 go to a Pac ten school. So I was recruited 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.000 by a number of Pac tens. I was recruited by 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.840 a lot of w c c's, including uh one of 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:13.800 one of the guys that was an assistant coach I 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:15.640 think for you or he was at u c l 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:18.600 A right before you got there, Lorenzo Romar, and he 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.120 was so I looked at pepper Downe. I looked at 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.200 Portland because it was home. I had no interest in 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.800 Gonzaga because you know, this is the crazy thing when 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.120 you're sixteen, seventeen years old. Sometimes you make a decision, 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:30.440 I don't want to go to that school because it 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:36.360 snows lo and behold, you're in the gym half the day, 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.080 you're in class part of the other day. It's like 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:41.640 a new weather attends at ten minute walk in the 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:43.240 snow to get to the gym or back to your 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.680 apartment whatever, you know, and so I felt like I 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.200 had to go to a Pac ten school in Washington, 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.120 being a hometown school, they seemed to be on the rise. 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:54.440 It felt like a good spot for me. And it was, 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.160 I mean my freshman year. Um, we made it the 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:01.640 Sweet sixteen. We actually your team came to Seattle and 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.000 it was I think second last week of the regular season. 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:08.120 If I'm not mistaken, you guys were locked. You guys 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:12.200 were already in and we had to beat U c 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:14.960 l A to go from off the bubble too into 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.320 the bubble. We did, and then we get into the 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.320 n c A Tournament make the Week six team. But again, 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:22.360 I mean the big part is like I wanted to 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.640 play the highest level college basketball at the time that 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:29.200 was Pac ten. Absolutely, what did you How do you 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:33.640 think Gonzaga prepared you to play in the NBA, not 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:34.960 only to play in the NBA, but to be a 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.240 first round draft pick. Yeah, I think a couple of things. 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.320 Was you know, when I transferred from Washington, and you 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.520 kind of touched on it in the previous question, it 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.320 was a little controversial in the regards that when you 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.240 transferred at that time in college basketball, it wasn't like 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:54.720 nowur it's an immediate way where you go play, you 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:56.240 have to sit out of here, So it has to 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.120 be well thought out, Like am I willing to sit 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.920 out a year? And many times if you did transfer, 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:03.960 like there was a check mark on your name, like 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:08.120 he's a terrible teammate, he's injury prone, he's not as 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:11.560 good as people thought, he's a bust, whatever it might be. 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.480 So I kind of took that as fuel my red 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:16.800 shirt ear to not take a day off and just improve, 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.679 improve and work and get myself ready. Um but again 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.480 kind of back going back to coach fuse non negotiables, 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:27.000 my red shirt ear. One of the biggest things that 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:31.960 he kept saying to me is, look, you gotta get tougher. 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.400 And he wasn't saying it in the in the in 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:39.440 the terms that, um, I wasn't physically willing to, you know, 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.240 set a screen or I wasn't willing to do different things. 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:47.920 But toughness going from worrying about yourself maybe, which a 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:49.680 lot of times you see at the Pac ten level 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:52.200 because guys sometimes might think they're on the cusp of 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:54.840 making the NBA they're selfish, But it was a toughness 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.320 level as far as do the right things for us 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.600 to be good, and in turn, you're already doing the 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.400 things that gonna help you be good individually. You blend 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.200 those two together, you're gonna be pretty damn good. We're 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.079 gonna be pretty damn good. But he was always on 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.240 me and I reach your ear about learning to compete, compete, compete, 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.320 get better prepared for next year. And you're a first 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.440 team All American as a senior. Was there a game 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:22.160 or a moment during that season where you said yourself, man, 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.440 I can you know I can I can go first 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:26.560 round or you know I can play in the league 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.880 or did you have that confidence well before then? Well, 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:33.680 I think I think a lot of that started in 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:35.800 high school. To be honest with you, Um, you know, 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:37.800 I mentioned Baron Davis in your group of U c 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:42.080 l A the Nike All American Camp before my senior year. 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:48.200 Um uh it was I had played regional AU tournaments 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:49.840 up till then, but I got a chance to go 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:51.640 to that All American camp but play against the best 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.680 players in the country. Um and and Barren to me 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:56.960 was by far the best point guard. But then you 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.880 start looking around and you start like, okay, I'm I'm 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.960 is good or better than this player at this I 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.640 fit in differently at this program than this guy would. 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:09.000 He's being recruited by that guy that school. Okay, so 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:11.920 I I'm comparable. So you take some of those lessons, 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:14.280 you learn them, and you start setting those goals and 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.440 knowing that things are realistic if you keep working at him. 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:20.320 And so that was a big piece of it, and 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.760 another reason I went to you Dubbed because pros came 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:24.679 out of the pack tent now the pact quet. That's 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:26.760 the way you looked at it back then. Um, but 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.960 when I got to Gonzaga, I still had these goals 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.560 and dreams and aspirations, but you also knew there's check marks. 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:37.360 I'm hurt. I was at Dubbed for two years. Um, 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:39.040 A lot of people might have thought I lost my 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:43.640 starting job. That really wasn't the case because I had injuries. Um, 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.200 you know, is he gonna be good enough to keep 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:48.959 Gonzaga at the level of it is? And coach Fuse, 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.160 you know he had those non negotiables, but he also 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:53.720 I don't care what you do as a point guard, 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:57.000 score it not score. My job is for you to 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.160 figure out how to get us to win. Games, and 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.040 so that was my whole focus. And I knew. I 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:04.600 knew he was gonna give me the freedom to score 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:06.280 it the way that I thought I was capable of 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.560 that I didn't have it at you, dubbed. But I 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:12.480 also knew the most important thing was to win, and 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:16.040 so I had to figure out and balance scoring facilitating 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.280 for other guys with the victory being the end goal 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.160 at the end of the day. At the end of 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:25.560 my junior year, I did have a couple NBA agents 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.040 or or evaluators want me to go into the draft, 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:30.880 and I really haven't shared that with a lot of 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.920 people because it took me about two minutes to say, no, 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:37.480 I'm not doing that because we got smacked by Michigan 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.080 State in the sweet sixth team my junior year. But 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:41.960 did you at least think about it? Did you at 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:43.760 least think about it? Dan, Did you at least look 0:12:43.800 --> 0:12:45.920 at yourself and say, hey, man, maybe I'm ready. Did 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.160 you least evaluate it or give it a give it? 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:52.240 I didn't. I didn't. I excuse me all. I literally 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.160 gave it about two minutes finished, a phone call, hung up, 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.319 and my focus was on the next season. But we 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:02.560 got smacked by Michigan State, Zach and Off, Jason Richardson, 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.680 aloish Is and a gang, just a team of dudes 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:07.680 that just beat the heck out of us. And so 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:09.880 I had such a bad taste in my mouth from 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:14.079 losing that game that I was like, I just wanted 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:18.000 to focus on the next season, and so focused workouts. 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.720 I was able to represent USA basketball in the World 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.520 university games. And at that point, you know, the tryouts 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:27.040 and a lot of the practices are in front of 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:29.800 n v A, NBA front offices, and you start, you know, 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:32.680 playing really well, and you start thinking, okay, some of 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:37.959 these goals and dreams they're within reach. Um. You get 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.720 back to campus after that summer and the season starts 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.000 off unbelievably well, and all of a sudden, my parents 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.240 are getting phone calls from from agents across the country 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.280 and coach Fuse, you know, saying hey this agents talking 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:52.840 to me or whatever. And my whole thing was just 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.320 get me through the season. I figured at that point 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.599 I was gonna have a chance. But I thought I 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:01.160 did a really good that senior year of just putting 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.760 everything that wasn't pressing at that moment in time, out 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.640 of out of in front of me, and that's unfortunately 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:11.280 this day and age for college kids, that's impossible social 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:15.520 media because of the new n I L deals. Man, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:19.160 I can't imagine going through what these kids are doing now. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.840 And they carry a bigger load than we did. They 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.400 gotta They have a lot more, in my opinion, pressure 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.560 because of these n I L deals and social media, 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:30.400 and now you've got all the eyeballs on you and 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:32.320 at any moment you can go viral in the whole 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.080 country could be talking about you. So there's a lot 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.440 of pressure associated with being a college athlete today. What 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.360 do you think, since we're quickly talking about the n 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:40.800 I L what are your thoughts on the n I 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:44.480 L s and that whole situation. I like it. I 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:48.360 think it's long overdue. Um. I think there's been plenty 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:52.400 of schools that have skirted the guidelines and the rules 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:56.800 for long enough, um, and they've gotten creative or creative 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.760 enough to not get caught. Um. You know, but I 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:04.240 think this is long overdue. I think it's gonna take 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:06.520 a couple of years to sort itself out and really 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.400 how best it's gonna work. Um. You know. Unfortunately, too 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.160 many guys think, hey, these an ill ideals opened up. 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.760 I'm gonna make Hunter grand this year. Well that's not 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:17.880 the case. I mean, I don't think. I don't I 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:21.280 think I don't think you could go along or along 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:24.320 the rosters of college basketball and find more than a 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.320 handful of guys that are gonna make six figures. Um, 0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:30.880 you know, it isn't just open the floodgates for everybody. 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.840 You still have to produce, which I think is going 0:15:33.920 --> 0:15:36.440 to kind of play itself out over these next couple 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.240 of years where the people in the businesses that want 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:42.840 to support with an endorsement deal and the players are 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:45.400 gonna they're gonna finally start figuring out is like, oh, 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:47.520 it's not as good a deal if the kid doesn't 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:51.000 play as well as as they should, just like it 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.280 is in pros and if you don't play well, your 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:56.000 marketing deals dry up. You know, within that first year 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.120 as approach just what is what it is? But I think, 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.680 you know, I think what it has done is it's 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:05.880 allowed college student athletes to get a little piece of 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.520 what they deserve. But I think it's also opened up 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:12.440 their eyes to think outside the boxing bigger than just 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.360 what is my next game? Now that's good for some 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.720 and it's bad for some, and it's to be determined 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.360 for some. You know, for me, when I was in college, 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.520 I'm sure I would have had a couple opportunities, but 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:28.240 they would have been tiny ones. Um. But I don't 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:30.680 know if I wouldn't necessarily taken advantage of them because 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.440 I was so focused in on playing um Because at 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:35.480 the end of the day, these athletes, what they have 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.040 to understand is if you don't perform and if your 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:42.280 team doesn't win, those things are gone in a heartbeat. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:44.840 it is performance space. Do you think you that the 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:49.200 media we'll start to cover college athletes differently now that 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:53.240 they're getting paid. If you will, I think it's gonna 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:54.960 happen a little bit. I think it has to happen, 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.640 to be honest with you, because once you get paid, 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:03.320 you're honestly taking an amateur status off um your resume. UM. 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.719 I know you've done some college basketball broadcasting, That's what 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.640 I do a lot of. I've also did a few 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:13.440 studio shows for NBA games of different things. And I've 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.679 always looked at it is when you're in the pros, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.000 you're getting paid, and you're getting paid usually a very 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:22.080 large sum of money. You criticize them all you want, 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:26.439 because that's their profession. At the college game, I try 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.760 not to criticize as much as opposed to point out 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.159 some things that maybe they could work on, So I 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:36.320 do it objectively. Um, but I think if you start 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.800 seeing more players make a bunch of money, I think 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:41.760 you start blurring those lines. And I think you have 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:44.840 every right to start criticizing them. I don't know if 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:48.600 I haven't figured out which path I'll take or direction. Um, 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.280 but I think you're really starting to blur those lines. 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:55.320 Is how you report or how you comment on those players? Yeah, 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:57.680 it's it's a you know, this whole thing is an infancy, 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:00.119 so you know it's got to definitely play itself and 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:04.480 work some of the kinks out of the situation. First 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.080 round draft pick by the Hawks in two thousand and two, 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:12.840 that's around the time m J was back with the Wizards. Right, Oh, yeah, 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:14.879 do you have did you now? Did you go up 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.120 against m J and it What was the league like 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:22.400 during that era of basketball? Yeah? I know my rookieyear 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:26.760 was MJ's last year, and uh, you know, it's the 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.240 only time I've ever stepped on a basketball floor and 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:33.320 literally done like a triple take, Like that's Michael Jordan's. 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.800 Like I grew up, come fly with me, all the posters, 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:40.080 the shirts, begging for the shoes. When finally I was 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.119 done growing in my feet, I wasn't getting shoes as often, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.240 you know, the cards all that. Um, So I remember 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:48.840 clearly the first time I checked into the game. You know, 0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.320 I've always respected opponents, but I've never been in awe. 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:55.560 Well that was different with Michael Jordan's. I mean, uh, 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.159 that was pretty cool. But you know, I think the 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.960 biggest thing with that is once the game flow and 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:06.320 the action started happening, that as a player, as a 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:08.239 competitor just kind of goes out the window. You're like, 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:09.880 am I in health side? If I am, I gotta 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:13.800 rotate transition, I gotta stop him. Um, you know those 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:15.639 are fun memories for sure. Yeah, you don't want to 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:19.320 get embarrassed out there. I know that's like definitely it 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:25.800 helps side position. Um, you played and I forgot what year, 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:29.280 two thousand five, but you average thirteen game in thirty 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:34.240 one minutes. I'm curious to know about what the situation was. 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.560 How did you get that opportunity out there? And How 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.480 did it feel to flourish in the NBA. Yeah, you know, 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.400 I I battled some injuries and then some not being 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:47.560 in the right spots the first part of my career. Um, 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:49.880 whether it was Atlanta, whether it was being traded back 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:53.359 to my hotel and Town Blazers, um or then quickly 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:55.960 getting traded to Golden State, Golden State on the Dallas 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:59.800 and you know Dallas, I had to essentially earn my 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:01.800 under the roster because I was the odd man out 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:04.959 going into camp with the amount of roster uh spots 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:07.680 and contracts there were. So I was there and then 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:10.119 they traded me to to New Orleans, which is what 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:14.919 you're talking about my opportunity. And I knew that in 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:17.320 all these other areas where I wasn't maybe having the 0:20:17.320 --> 0:20:19.800 opportunity that I wanted, or when the opportunity came, I 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:22.560 wasn't making the most of it. Um that the next 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:24.679 time a big chance came, I was gonna be ready. 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:27.520 And so I always prided myself on work ethics staying ready. 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.680 I get traded to New Orleans. Uh, your guy Baron 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:33.280 Davis is hurt with his back injury. He's gonna be 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:35.600 out a little bit of time I get there, the 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.760 general manager said, hey, we're our rosters and flux. We 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.120 don't know what we're gonna do. You might be here 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.080 for three or four games. You might be waived tomorrow. 0:20:44.119 --> 0:20:46.280 We don't know. So I'm like, I show up. What 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:51.320 the heck? I just want a chance. So literally, first 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.040 game I get to New Orleans, I get a chance 0:20:54.040 --> 0:20:56.280 to play. I think I played four minutes, had four points, 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:59.919