Speaker 1: Drafted is a production of tree Ford Media, Clutch Sports Group,
Speaker 1: and I Heart Radio. No other draft class has been
Speaker 1: through this. No other draft class was a craft shoot
Speaker 1: like this draft class because they didn't get to say them,
Speaker 1: they didn't get to have their normal workouts, they didn't
Speaker 1: see him in the n s A tournament. They didn't
Speaker 1: see guys play their best when it really matters. So
Speaker 1: this was one of those let's take a guess draft.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Drafted. I'm kicking Michael Key and that's
Speaker 1: University of Kentucky head coach John Kella PARTI talking about
Speaker 1: the end of double A season and the thick cloud
Speaker 1: of uncertainty hanging over everything sports and otherwise. When the
Speaker 1: years screeched to an abrupt stop with covid H, when
Speaker 1: this thing ended, some of the guys, I think some
Speaker 1: of them were just stunned, like stunned, like what in
Speaker 1: the world. We had a couple of guys cry. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he was one of them. I do
Speaker 1: know when we arrived back on campus, they played five
Speaker 1: on five, just the last time to be together. That's
Speaker 1: how Tyrese's dream of playing at the University of Kentucky
Speaker 1: ended and In this fourth episode, we'll hear about the
Speaker 1: unprecedented months that followed the stretch that Tyrese and Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards faced between the end of their college seasons and
Speaker 1: the start of their NBA careers. This period presented extremely
Speaker 1: different challenges and many unknowns instead of the physical and
Speaker 1: mental strain they're accustomed to facing on the court. It's
Speaker 1: crazy because people ask us how different it is, but
Speaker 1: this is all we know. This is all I know,
Speaker 1: Like this is the only time being in the draft process,
Speaker 1: so I don't know what it was like if if
Speaker 1: you know, it was in person that we was flying
Speaker 1: around everywhere, so the zoom is all we know. It
Speaker 1: was kind of crazy. We knew the COVID COVID nine
Speaker 1: team was rising, and uh, people started saying that we
Speaker 1: weren't gonna play with fans, and it kind of just stopped,
Speaker 1: like abruptly. It was weird, like, you know, we're expected
Speaker 1: to play. We get to Nashville. Nashville was hosting the
Speaker 1: Southeastern Conference tournament starting on March eleventh, and Tyrese's Kentucky
Speaker 1: team was scheduled to play after a buy Okay, okay,
Speaker 1: we're not allowed to have fans all right, cool. Then
Speaker 1: the NBA cancels that same day. So now we're like waiting, like, okay,
Speaker 1: if they're not gonna if the NBA, the professionals, the
Speaker 1: one the people who get played to play the game, like,
Speaker 1: if they're not gonna play, there's no way that we
Speaker 1: can play. It was sad. I mean it was sad
Speaker 1: to know that you put in all the work, all
Speaker 1: the days in the summer, all the two days of
Speaker 1: all the extra shots you're putting in just like you
Speaker 1: can make a run at the tournament, and now no run.
Speaker 1: On March eleventh, the two first round games in the
Speaker 1: SEC tournament were played without fans. The next day, the
Speaker 1: entire season was canceled, including March Madness. All the recent
Speaker 1: effort feels squandered. Tyrese had the drawing of himself wearing
Speaker 1: a Kentucky jersey hanging on his wall since middle school,
Speaker 1: something he had been working towards for six years, was
Speaker 1: stolen the day it was supposed to begin. This suck
Speaker 1: that I couldn't finish it out and see what we
Speaker 1: could do as a team and as an individual in
Speaker 1: the tournament. You know, there's always special moments in March,
Speaker 1: but I had to understand I had to adapt to
Speaker 1: the situation that was going on. You know, the we
Speaker 1: end up start wearing mask and quarantine it for a
Speaker 1: long time and social distance, and so I think emotionally
Speaker 1: I kind of had to grow and we had to
Speaker 1: move on from it. Terrese's uncle Brandon describes the shock.
Speaker 1: It's very disappointed, man, because I knew they were peeking
Speaker 1: right then. They had just went on the road. I
Speaker 1: think they would just beat Florida, and they were just jelling.
Speaker 1: You know, you just imagine being your your first year
Speaker 1: in college, you're going to your dream school, that the
Speaker 1: tournament is what you play for, your conference tournament, in
Speaker 1: a big tournament, just the chance to compete with your guys.
Speaker 1: And it was like everybody was on the edge of
Speaker 1: the seat just waiting for him because he knew they
Speaker 1: were gonna make a run in the tournament, and those
Speaker 1: moments he lived for, big stage, bright lights, tournament time,
Speaker 1: It's time to go get it. So we were like
Speaker 1: everybody didn't get to see the magic man. But he
Speaker 1: was just like, oh man, all right, let's get ready
Speaker 1: for this. Let's get ready for it. Was like a
Speaker 1: split second, It's like, hey, I wanted to play, but
Speaker 1: it was like, alright, cool, let's go, let's get ready
Speaker 1: for his draft. Getting ready for the draft under these
Speaker 1: circumstances comes with new issues and unknowns. How do you
Speaker 1: prepare physically when every gym in training facility closes down
Speaker 1: and the country goes into lockdown and quarantine, and without
Speaker 1: a highly publicized tournament, how do you show off your
Speaker 1: improvement from college and your ability to perform on the
Speaker 1: biggest stage. So right after the season, coach Kyle let
Speaker 1: us go home. He wants us to go home and
Speaker 1: be with our family. So I think it was a
Speaker 1: Tuesday maybe when we went up to Nashville, came back
Speaker 1: the next day on a Wednesday, and on Thursday, I
Speaker 1: drove home to Texas with my family. So it was
Speaker 1: it was that type of a quick turnaround. I was
Speaker 1: therefore in Texas until so from March to May. From
Speaker 1: March to May, that's where I quarantined that for the
Speaker 1: most part. And then in May I came out to
Speaker 1: l A. And it's still basically quarantine, but just going
Speaker 1: to the gym working out here. So Tyrese comes to
Speaker 1: l A and starts as aforementioned three day's workout regiment
Speaker 1: preparing for an uncertain draft that ultimately ends up moving
Speaker 1: from June to October to November for almost eight months.
Speaker 1: Tyrese and Anthony can't compete in a real game of
Speaker 1: basketball due to the risk of injury and coronavirus. As
Speaker 1: they aren't sure when the draft will take place, they
Speaker 1: can only train in hopes of hitting a constantly moving target.
Speaker 1: Here's Anthony's trainer, Justin Holland. Once the season was canceled,
Speaker 1: especially as abruptly as it was, I think it was
Speaker 1: just kind of like the rest of the world, what
Speaker 1: is this COVID nineteen that everybody's talking about and Rudy
Speaker 1: Gobert has it, Is Rudy gonna die? Like I think
Speaker 1: it was. I don't even I think initially nobody was
Speaker 1: really thinking about basketball at that point. It was just like,
Speaker 1: what what's happening? And then once you kind of digesting
Speaker 1: you and you understanding more about what's going on, it's like, man,
Speaker 1: I didn't get to finish my my college season. You know,
Speaker 1: we had plans to make a run for an n
Speaker 1: SEC tournament and you know, getting to the n c
Speaker 1: Double A tournament and hopefully had one of those legendary runs,
Speaker 1: and that was that was one of those opportunities that
Speaker 1: was just kind of stolen from him. Justin and Anthony
Speaker 1: regrouped once the season was officially called off and tried
Speaker 1: to make a plan to get Anthony ready for the
Speaker 1: draft well doing the pandemic. What what you find out
Speaker 1: real fast is the plan is there is no plan.
Speaker 1: The plan is what you can do right now because
Speaker 1: you never know what may happen tomorrow. So it was
Speaker 1: kind of like a new landscape for me because you know,
Speaker 1: I kind of have, like I said, my own plan
Speaker 1: in my mind as to what I want to do
Speaker 1: with Anthony. But now instead of the process being three months,
Speaker 1: it's it's been stretched out for eight months. Instead of
Speaker 1: we can't get in the gym seven days anymore, we
Speaker 1: can't get in the gym five days. We have to
Speaker 1: structure everything we're doing to scale it down too. At
Speaker 1: that point, we really didn't know. It's like it might
Speaker 1: be five months. You know, you don't wann't You don't
Speaker 1: want to wear them down by doing too much too early,
Speaker 1: but you don't want to do not enough, and he's
Speaker 1: not ready just in case the draft is next month.
Speaker 1: So that was just a really frustrating process. But I
Speaker 1: think for everybody without a clear timetable, training for the
Speaker 1: start of the season becomes nearly impossible. Normally, the league
Speaker 1: hosts a pre draft combine similar to the one held
Speaker 1: by the NFL, where players participate in drills and interviews
Speaker 1: and go through physical exams and other testing. But that
Speaker 1: event also moves and then gets canceled and then turns
Speaker 1: into a virtual event. They no longer have the typical
Speaker 1: outlets to show off all the additional months of training.
Speaker 1: So if you're Tyres Maxie or Anthony Edwards in the year,
Speaker 1: how do you show NBA teams that they should pick you.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. So we had been planning on
Speaker 1: having a pro day. Obviously, given COVID, things are going
Speaker 1: to be different. This is Clutched Sports head of Basketball
Speaker 1: Omar Wilkes describing their plans to host a private workout
Speaker 1: with their clients. For NBA executives. Clutch Sports creates their
Speaker 1: own version of a bat fotball combine. You know, how
Speaker 1: can we get creative there, you know, through this pandemic
Speaker 1: and could we stream it and send it to each
Speaker 1: individual team. But eventually it was Okay that certain team
Speaker 1: personnel could come to Pro Day, but not everyone could come,
Speaker 1: or there's limited numbers, and so we're like, all right,
Speaker 1: after we're toying with the streaming idea, Rich thinking outside
Speaker 1: the box, was like, forget to streaming it. Why don't
Speaker 1: we see if we can get it televised, Like why
Speaker 1: don't we try to put on ESPN. He's talking about
Speaker 1: Rich Paul CEO and founder of Clutch Sports, And if
Speaker 1: I'm being completely honest, I was like, it's a great idea,
Speaker 1: but I don't can we can it be pulled off?
Speaker 1: Especially given the time frame, like we were up against it.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like we had months and months or even
Speaker 1: multiple weeks in advance. But we figured it's a unique
Speaker 1: way to highlight our guys that have missed out on
Speaker 1: such traditional opportunities of playing in March Madness and building
Speaker 1: a fan base going to the Draft combine, And so
Speaker 1: we felt like, how can we separate ourselves and give
Speaker 1: our guys a platform to have like twenty two minutes
Speaker 1: on a nationally broadcasted channel to just kind of introduce
Speaker 1: them to the world. Despite the fact the NBA Combine
Speaker 1: has been televised in the past, Clutch holding their own
Speaker 1: private televised workout for only their clients is a novel move.
Speaker 1: The plan evolves into a broadcast on ESPN two with
Speaker 1: a small in person crowd. They set the date for
Speaker 1: October eight p m. Eastern, otherwise known as Primetime. Here's
Speaker 1: which Paul It was like, Oh, okay, we're gonna put
Speaker 1: this pro day on. Great, It's on ESPN. Okay, cool, perfect, Okay.
Speaker 1: Anthony was in Atlanta. It's simple when I need to
Speaker 1: be there, coming a week early because we're gonna practice
Speaker 1: at the facility a couple of days before, and he
Speaker 1: has some things to get done. Great, And Tyrese was
Speaker 1: the same way, and mom and dad were great. There
Speaker 1: wasn't a ton of questions for concerns. The pro day
Speaker 1: takes place at the Sports Academy in Los Angeles, California.
Speaker 1: Tyrese and Anthony arrived with masks on, and Clutch brings
Speaker 1: in reporters to ask questions. We've seen so many great
Speaker 1: Kentucky guards find success in the NBA, Tyler Hero, Jamal Murray,
Speaker 1: Devin Booker, even bigs like damn out of bio, Why
Speaker 1: are you next? I feel like because I can seconly
Speaker 1: on to play a role. We go to the wing games,
Speaker 1: you go to the sacrifice coach Kanto that wants sacrifice
Speaker 1: player role. And I think I have a lot more
Speaker 1: into my game, and I shoot on to bounce, play
Speaker 1: picking role, score for myself and with all my head
Speaker 1: and play when I'm off the cage, off the ball. Tyres,
Speaker 1: every time we see you playing, you're smiling, You're you're
Speaker 1: feeling to joy. So have fun tonight and in best
Speaker 1: of luck. Coming up next, we're gonna see Tyrese Maxie,
Speaker 1: potential lottery pick, start his pro day working. Lebron James,
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, Trey Young, and other NBA stars
Speaker 1: show up in masks as well socially distancing among team
Speaker 1: executives in the crowd. As the two young prospects take
Speaker 1: the court and warm up, TV announcer j Billis sets
Speaker 1: the stage for what everyone is thinking. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: great just to see amount of basketball court for the
Speaker 1: first time since March. I know they've been working out,
Speaker 1: but they've been working out out a few Tyrese begins
Speaker 1: to show off some dribbling and driving and then shooting. Guys, Yeah, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1: Three nice. The confidence is certainly there. You know you
Speaker 1: mentioned his production against top teams. This is the reporter
Speaker 1: commenting on the elephant in the room, or Jim in
Speaker 1: this case, his shooting. To me, he's always been a
Speaker 1: big time shot maker who's not afraid of the lights.
Speaker 1: It's just about not shooting a flatball and being more consistent.
Speaker 1: Come on, come on, Tyrese's shots fall one after another.
Speaker 1: Base working on some three pointers, running baseline to baseline.
Speaker 1: You can see he is making these shots, and he's
Speaker 1: really worked on his shooting mechanics, and I think they're
Speaker 1: going to get even better. This clear improvement is a
Speaker 1: great sign for tyres and all the teams that are
Speaker 1: interested in drafting him. But the truth is playing one
Speaker 1: on zero can only tell scouts a limited amount about
Speaker 1: how someone will perform in games. There's an infamous NBA
Speaker 1: story about a two thousand and seven Milwaukee Bucks prospect
Speaker 1: putting on a commanding performance against a folding chair. The
Speaker 1: player ended up being pitched six overall, but had a
Speaker 1: disappointing career. The dominating offensive performance against the chair didn't
Speaker 1: quite translate to scoring against the likes of Kevin Garnett
Speaker 1: and Dwight Howard. So in many ways, the performance shows
Speaker 1: more about Tyrese's work, ethic and commitment to improve than
Speaker 1: anything else. Back in, Eddie Edwards antires Maxie pro Day,
Speaker 1: getting ready to watch Edwards go. Now Matica is finished up,
Speaker 1: Anthony takes the court and begins his workout. Knock down,
Speaker 1: knock down, what come? Anthony misses a shot, and then another,
Speaker 1: and then the next four jump shots in a row
Speaker 1: that don't fall. You know. Anthony finishes his workout with
Speaker 1: a couple of monstrous dunks. Then he answers a few
Speaker 1: quick questions. Do you feel like you showed that you
Speaker 1: should be the number one prospect in this class? I
Speaker 1: feel like if you had anybody else out here, they
Speaker 1: would have been you know how to prayer for the
Speaker 1: whole time, starstruck with all these guys on the sideline,
Speaker 1: and I feel like I'm just ready just because I've
Speaker 1: been grinding eight months. I hadn't claimed about to draft me.
Speaker 1: It puts back I just like it with better way.
Speaker 1: You weren't phased. You had like I started Lebron out
Speaker 1: of the seat one of the days of all time.
Speaker 1: So trust of workout appreciate your time and thank you
Speaker 1: so much for answering. The day seems like a success
Speaker 1: to the Clutch Sports team, but the response from other agents,
Speaker 1: the media, and the internet trends in the opposite direction.
Speaker 1: Anthony's form as shots in a row become a huge
Speaker 1: talking point. Some claim he's not even in shape anymore.
Speaker 1: Anonymous agents denounced the televised pro day on social media
Speaker 1: and in stories by The New York Post, The Athletic
Speaker 1: Bleacher Report and elsewhere, calling it unfair for Clutches clients,
Speaker 1: insulting Rich Paul, and demanding the NBA stopped the practice.
Speaker 1: Their agent, Omar Wilkes shares his thoughts on the situation.
Speaker 1: I'm told our competitors didn't love it, but that means
Speaker 1: you kind of doing something right, you know, if we're
Speaker 1: being honest, and I'm trying not to be super sensitive,
Speaker 1: a lot of people are like, oh, you know, Anthony
Speaker 1: might have heard his draft stock. You know, people people
Speaker 1: like to do that because it's you take shots at us.
Speaker 1: I don't want to to delve into that, but I'm
Speaker 1: really proud of what we're able to do in the
Speaker 1: innovative way. We're able to make something work in a
Speaker 1: pandemic and highlight our guys. So I'm happy with how
Speaker 1: everything turned out. Anthony has interviewed about the fallout on
Speaker 1: the ESPN is the Jump and here's Tyrese watching his
Speaker 1: friend during the interview New and Tires Max. They took
Speaker 1: part in that made for TV Pro Day And just
Speaker 1: like always, everyone has an opinion, right and there are
Speaker 1: some criticism. What do you have to say to the
Speaker 1: people who did not like what y'all did? I really
Speaker 1: have nothing to say to him. I just hope they
Speaker 1: stay blessed and you know, find a way to get
Speaker 1: better every day like I do. I don't really care
Speaker 1: about the critics of the pro Day, having experience like
Speaker 1: for you exclude Tyrese can laugh it off because his
Speaker 1: pro Day was viewed positively for the most part. Some
Speaker 1: sources even indicate his improved shooting could move him into
Speaker 1: the top ten picks. Enrich Paul shares his client sentiments
Speaker 1: as far as like the criticism from a pro Day
Speaker 1: perspective just a bunch of wining to me, I really
Speaker 1: didn't pay attention to that. Again, that was just an
Speaker 1: idea that came from me just trying to think of
Speaker 1: better way to position these guys as they're going to
Speaker 1: the draft, and had nothing to do with me trying
Speaker 1: to show how smart I am or clutch trying to
Speaker 1: show how smart we were. We were literally just trying
Speaker 1: to do what we felt was best for clients and
Speaker 1: it worked because content was low. ESPN thought it was
Speaker 1: a good idea. We had the talking points, we had
Speaker 1: the storylines. Ah, and we're gonna do it again. How
Speaker 1: could you criticize as was there to criticize. You're taking
Speaker 1: two kids who didn't finish your college season, who don't
Speaker 1: have the ability to go to an NBA combine as
Speaker 1: it normally is. Position, Putting these guys on ESPN for
Speaker 1: an hour showcasing something that they may have and doing
Speaker 1: for the last five or six months and technically all
Speaker 1: of their basketball lives. There's no negative to that. Now.
Speaker 1: Could you say there's a negative risk of injury? Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you can you can have injury just playing pick
Speaker 1: up or just working out or just getting out the
Speaker 1: shower if you want to be that technical. Could you say, well,
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards is the number one pick projected, and why
Speaker 1: put them on TV and he missed four shots in
Speaker 1: the row. Well, he has to play on TV in
Speaker 1: his profession or do you think they play the games
Speaker 1: at Yeah, so he's gonna miss a lot. So you
Speaker 1: might as well start preparing yourself. Now. You know what,
Speaker 1: if people want to find something to criticize, they'll find it.
Speaker 1: Whether you choose to pay attention to it or not
Speaker 1: up to the individual. I just so happened to be
Speaker 1: one of those individuals that really don't give a ship.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. The media reaction and fallout isn't
Speaker 1: a once in a career isolated event. Rich Paul has
Speaker 1: been involved in other high profile controversies in the past,
Speaker 1: and in the n C double A implemented a list
Speaker 1: of qualifications that sports agents were required to have to
Speaker 1: sign players, including a bachelor's degree, something immediately deemed the
Speaker 1: Rich Paul rule since many of the requirements appeared to
Speaker 1: be aimed directly at him. Let's go at all. Rich
Speaker 1: gets on the phone with Calvin Andrews, a C and
Speaker 1: your agent at Clutch to discuss the difficulties of their business.
Speaker 1: I just think that the more the more these kids
Speaker 1: are educated and their families are educated. I just think
Speaker 1: the better the better the business is because either way
Speaker 1: we're dealing with a situation where, you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of times you see things going to the media. You
Speaker 1: don't know what to believe. This perception in the media,
Speaker 1: like what happened after the pro day versus the realities
Speaker 1: of the NBA, is a recurring issue they face as agents.
Speaker 1: We've been in situations where somebody call you and say, well,
Speaker 1: what do you think about this? What? That's not an offer,
Speaker 1: you know, and so that goes to the media, and
Speaker 1: then these young men and people around, Oh, we got offered.
Speaker 1: No you didn't, that's not an offer. The money's dried up.
Speaker 1: There's definitely not seventy million dollars out there for you,
Speaker 1: and I'm not sure if that was even real or not.
Speaker 1: You know, somebody can say what you think about a
Speaker 1: hundred million dollars and only ten million of it is guaranteed,
Speaker 1: So what are you talking about? You have to look
Speaker 1: at the value of everything, your contract and my brand equity,
Speaker 1: how I'm perceived. There's a value in perception. You know.
Speaker 1: We went through the same thing with k C. P.
Speaker 1: That's shooting guard Cantabious Caldwell Pope, another former University of
Speaker 1: Georgia Starr who resigned with the Lakers this offseason for
Speaker 1: forty million dollars. Oh well, we already got offered eight
Speaker 1: where's the offer? I never received that. I never received that.
Speaker 1: But you know, you got these agents, they put stuff
Speaker 1: out whatever. I don't really care. But if you look
Speaker 1: at what he did, he stayed in, told did what
Speaker 1: he had to do. Now he's exceeded that and he's
Speaker 1: a champion. But you got to grind it out and
Speaker 1: you do the work. He'd done the work k C
Speaker 1: P did the work. Cap had been playing on one
Speaker 1: two year deals since his rookie contract. This three year,
Speaker 1: forty billion dollars signing was his first longer term, higher
Speaker 1: paying contract. You bring up a good plane, and that's
Speaker 1: what I you know, I see it, and you see it.
Speaker 1: The kids said, don't shortcuts, right. They don't want to grind,
Speaker 1: you know, they don't want to work. They want what
Speaker 1: they think should happen right now. And it's only a
Speaker 1: few guys that that that's in that sort of situations, right,
Speaker 1: You've got to grind it out, follow the plan, and
Speaker 1: be patient, yes, said every level, at every level, every level.
Speaker 1: And that's that's what gets frustrating. For what you and
Speaker 1: I do day day when they don't play attention, they
Speaker 1: don't follow the plan. They think they got to answer,
Speaker 1: so they brother got to answer. They don't for got
Speaker 1: to answer, and they want to they want it now.
Speaker 1: They don't work out. But here's the thing. Through my experience,
Speaker 1: we work with all families. When when everyone is on
Speaker 1: the same page and and everyone is willing to be educated,
Speaker 1: it works like a marriage. It's fantastic. I've experienced it
Speaker 1: time and time and time again with brothers, with mothers,
Speaker 1: with fathers. I've experienced it. But I can honestly say
Speaker 1: it works better when it starts from day one, not
Speaker 1: day one thousand, you know. Because yeah, because because we
Speaker 1: also have the perception that we can turn water into wine.
Speaker 1: We put a program together where you buy in, you
Speaker 1: get paid, you buy in, you benefit. That's the business
Speaker 1: we're in. We're in the buy in benefit business. Because
Speaker 1: again Tyrese Max is a prime example. He's gonna be
Speaker 1: a good pro for a long time because you don't
Speaker 1: have to tell him anything, tell him in time. He's
Speaker 1: doing it. Kid was here for five months, worked out
Speaker 1: twice a day, six in the morning, never late, never missed.
Speaker 1: That's that's that's almost impossible. Seriously, he bought in and
Speaker 1: I told every team that we told teams about Tannon
Speaker 1: Horton Tucker last year. GM called me and said, you
Speaker 1: know what, rich He said, the one thing we're noticing
Speaker 1: around the league with your guys, they get better and
Speaker 1: we see it. And I thought that was a huge,
Speaker 1: huge compliment in the program because you cannot be afraid
Speaker 1: to advise these guys problems. You just can't. There is
Speaker 1: no playbook for shepherding your clients through a pandemic on
Speaker 1: their way to the NBA. So despite the criticism, rich
Speaker 1: Omar and the Clutch team are confident their pro day
Speaker 1: was the right move for Anthony and Tyrese. So others
Speaker 1: aren't quite as certain. I think you're damned if you do,
Speaker 1: you damned if you don't. Personally, being an ant case,
Speaker 1: this is another member of Anthony's inner circle, coach Rob Allen.
Speaker 1: He could go out there and hit all his shots,
Speaker 1: then somebody might say, hey, maybe he was just on
Speaker 1: the day, you know, or he could go miss all.
Speaker 1: But I think a lot of people took to the
Speaker 1: criticism because it was Clutch, or people were jealous of
Speaker 1: what Klutch was doing to kind of backlash on the guys,
Speaker 1: especially Aunt. You know him missing Shyes, they're saying he's
Speaker 1: not in shade. It was funny to me, baffling at
Speaker 1: the same time because I know how much work that
Speaker 1: he was working out. Like literally, we all were in
Speaker 1: the same gym since since COVID started, in the pandemic started,
Speaker 1: We've been in the gym since March. So for people
Speaker 1: to say he wasn't in shaving things, I know that
Speaker 1: not to be true, trust me. Um. So it was
Speaker 1: just a lot of criticism, but technically I think it
Speaker 1: was a good thing. Um, if we all saw the
Speaker 1: Last Dance, like I know he did. Uh, just just
Speaker 1: listening to m j say, hey, you know making up
Speaker 1: stuff in his head that you know people even if
Speaker 1: they didn't saying he just making things up in his
Speaker 1: own head. In the docs series The Last Dance, Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan reveals that he repeatedly makes up slights and insults
Speaker 1: to motivate himself and gain an edge I practiced many
Speaker 1: other players have since adopted over the years. Of course,
Speaker 1: the criticism about Anthony and his pro day shooting performance
Speaker 1: is very real, and Anthony can't help but hear it.
Speaker 1: Even for Aunt just listen to people say, oh, he's no.
Speaker 1: One pig, he's the best player. And then as you
Speaker 1: get closer and closer and closer you do the Pro day.
Speaker 1: Oh he didn't look good. He looks out of shape
Speaker 1: in his workouts. When I'm near to watching workout or
Speaker 1: when he's talking to me, he's always got a chip
Speaker 1: on his shoulders, you know, being in the gym or
Speaker 1: running up and down the court shooting saying, hey, they say,
Speaker 1: ain't in shape. All right, I'm sure. Just just taking
Speaker 1: that little bit, putting it in your head and and
Speaker 1: just ramming it through. Just having some motivation. Like we
Speaker 1: said that the grades have to have. I think you
Speaker 1: need those things to be a great player. I just
Speaker 1: really do. After This edge doesn't come from insults or
Speaker 1: imaginary slights. And although events like the Pro Day might
Speaker 1: add to the chip on his shoulder, that need to
Speaker 1: prove himself and to take out his anger and pain
Speaker 1: on the court comes from a very specific place. He
Speaker 1: hasn't had the easiest run of luck with you know,
Speaker 1: family members passing at an early age and in quick succession,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure he has really tough moments, but he's
Speaker 1: always kind of used it as a positive and like
Speaker 1: a reminder that like nothing is promised, and like he's
Speaker 1: only used it as fuel to become more laser than
Speaker 1: on as he says, making them proud and you know,
Speaker 1: achieving his dreams because that was his promise to them,
Speaker 1: that promise, those dreams and how they turned Anthony Edwards
Speaker 1: into the potential number one pick in the NBA all
Speaker 1: coming up next undrafted. Basically him and my mom was
Speaker 1: like best friend. We are best friends with my mom
Speaker 1: even da were sitting in the church and I was
Speaker 1: sitting in my scene. Came walking in with the siblings.
Speaker 1: He helped gel. He didn't, he didn't, you know, he
Speaker 1: didn't break down. What do you think I'll give this superstar?
Speaker 1: You can tell, Bro, you're looking on top of the here,
Speaker 1: why not? Your mom can't say? And you know ce Coleman,
Speaker 1: you know Steven ray Hail Drafted as a production of
Speaker 1: tree Fort Media, Clutch Sports Group, and I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: The executive producers are Kelly Garner, Lisa Ammerman, Eric Slott,
Speaker 1: Sean to Tone l Kie and me Keegan Michael Key.
Speaker 1: The series is produced and written by Eric Winer. Jared
Speaker 1: Brom is our coordinating producer. Trey McCain is our associate
Speaker 1: for user. Tom Monahan is our senior audio engineer. Mixed
Speaker 1: and edited by Steven Johnson, additional production help from Tim Shower,
Speaker 1: June Rosen, and Hailey Mandelberg. For transcripts of the show
Speaker 1: and more information on Drafted, go to tree Fort dot fm.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit the I
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.