Speaker 1: I think I understand that my purpose is is bigger
Speaker 1: and whatever it is, whatever is on my heart, whatever
Speaker 1: my experiences are, I'm going to speak out on them.
Speaker 1: To be in a position where you have resources, you know,
Speaker 1: where you have connections, where you have finances, where you
Speaker 1: where you have all these things, and then you can
Speaker 1: get a little bit more into it and not just
Speaker 1: be a voice. Now you can be an actor, participant
Speaker 1: in the change. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose,
Speaker 1: the number one health podcast in the world. Thanks to
Speaker 1: each and every single one of you that come back
Speaker 1: every week to listen, learn and grow. And I am
Speaker 1: so excited to be talking to you today. I can't
Speaker 1: believe it. My new book, Eight Rules of Love is
Speaker 1: out and I cannot wait to share it with you.
Speaker 1: I am so so excited for you to read this book,
Speaker 1: for you to listen to this book. I read the audiobook.
Speaker 1: If you haven't got it all ready, make sure you
Speaker 1: go to eight Rules of Love dot com. It's dedicated
Speaker 1: to anyone who's trying to find, keep, or let go
Speaker 1: of love. So if you've got friends that are dating,
Speaker 1: broken up, or struggling with love, make sure you grab
Speaker 1: this book. And I'd love to invite you to come
Speaker 1: and see me for my global tour Love Rules. Go
Speaker 1: to Jay shettytour dot com to learn more information about tickets,
Speaker 1: VIP experiences, and more. I can't wait to see you
Speaker 1: this year. Now, you know that I'm always seeking out
Speaker 1: new stories ideas people who have an incredible purpose in
Speaker 1: their life, have had immense success, but are sharing their
Speaker 1: story in a really beautiful, powerful way. And today's guest
Speaker 1: is going to blow your mind. I'm speaking about the
Speaker 1: one and only Dwayne Wade, of course, known from being
Speaker 1: an American professional basketball player, one of the best players
Speaker 1: of his era, who won three NBA Championships as a
Speaker 1: member of the Miami Heat. He was a third time
Speaker 1: NBA All Star, an eight time member of the All
Speaker 1: NBA Team, and a three time member of the All
Speaker 1: Defensive Team. And he recently released a photographic memoir with
Speaker 1: more than a hundred photos from his life on and
Speaker 1: off The quote and this book, I was just saying
Speaker 1: to Dwayne Dayne, welcome to the show. Is a work
Speaker 1: of art. Like it's so it's so beautiful. I mean
Speaker 1: the pictures, the choices, the words in between. It is
Speaker 1: a work of art. And I want to congratulate you,
Speaker 1: Dwane on this incredible achievement and welcome Tom purpose Jay.
Speaker 1: Thank you for the introduction. Man, that was listen you
Speaker 1: are you open for the Hall of Fame? Yeah, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three possibly that was that was amazing. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: would be an honor. That would be an honor, my honor.
Speaker 1: So you you just let me know where I need
Speaker 1: to be. I will be there all as good. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, as we talked about, um, you know, this
Speaker 1: is this is my art. This is my photographer about
Speaker 1: Metellus arts. This is just intensely who was a cowright
Speaker 1: on this this is his art as well. And so
Speaker 1: to be able to present a book that looks like art,
Speaker 1: it shows you how much care and how much work
Speaker 1: went into this, this project and this um you know,
Speaker 1: this so something that's so personal for me. So thank
Speaker 1: you for saying that. Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely, and I can't
Speaker 1: wait for everyone who's listening and watching. I highly recommend
Speaker 1: you go and grab a copy. Whether you're a basketball
Speaker 1: fan or not, there is so much on and off
Speaker 1: the court in this book that you're going to benefit
Speaker 1: so much from it. To Dwayne, let's let's dive right in.
Speaker 1: I want to start by asking you, when you're compiling
Speaker 1: a book like this, when you're looking at pictures old
Speaker 1: and new, what is it doing for you emotionally? Like,
Speaker 1: tell me about not the physical journey of compiling, but
Speaker 1: the emotional journey of putting a book together like this
Speaker 1: for me, like going through these photos, there's some very
Speaker 1: person who photos inside this book. You know this, you know,
Speaker 1: this is me trying to show Jay the human side
Speaker 1: of me. You know, as someone who's a public figure,
Speaker 1: sometimes the human side of you get lost. And so
Speaker 1: what I wanted to capture is that that that part
Speaker 1: of me. And so I'm able to go into these
Speaker 1: photos and some of them, you know, it showcased my childhood,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it's showing up the complex that I
Speaker 1: grew up in on fifty nine and Prairie, or whether
Speaker 1: it's showing my kids or whatever it is. I'm able
Speaker 1: to go right back into that moment and I'm able
Speaker 1: to kind of relive some of those things. And you know,
Speaker 1: I love that. I love going back and remembering little
Speaker 1: Duane and the promises that he made and the dreams
Speaker 1: that he had. I love going back and revisiting it.
Speaker 1: When when you were capturing all these memories since the
Speaker 1: beginning of your career, did you ever have any idea
Speaker 1: that it was going to go this well and be
Speaker 1: this great? And like, what was the process when? Because
Speaker 1: I always feel like, you know, now everyone's lives are
Speaker 1: documented because of social media and video and content has
Speaker 1: become so easy and cheap and free. But you know,
Speaker 1: when you started documenting, it's like no one knew where
Speaker 1: this was gonna go. How where did you feel it
Speaker 1: was gonna go? I had no clue. And that's the
Speaker 1: That's the beauty of life as well, is the unknown.
Speaker 1: And so the only thing I knew was be a
Speaker 1: good person, work hard, treat others the way that you
Speaker 1: want to be treated and you want others to treat
Speaker 1: you know, your loved ones. Work hard, work hard. You know.
Speaker 1: I just knew these small, these small things in life
Speaker 1: that I carry with me and I try to put
Speaker 1: that in everything I did. And you know, I think
Speaker 1: Will Smith said it, and I'm gonna mess it up,
Speaker 1: but he said, you work hard every day, and you
Speaker 1: get up every day and you just work hard and
Speaker 1: you mess around and you end up having a good life,
Speaker 1: you know, because just every day you choosing to work hard,
Speaker 1: and so I worked hard every day and I messed
Speaker 1: around and had a good life and a career. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a great A great career, man, a great career. And
Speaker 1: now you you mentioned in the book. I love this,
Speaker 1: and I love even how you've structured the book. So
Speaker 1: for anyone who hasn't got the book yet, the book
Speaker 1: is structured in the same way a game is structured.
Speaker 1: So you've got pregame, first quarter, second quarter, halftime, third
Speaker 1: and fourth and post game, which I love. I love
Speaker 1: that thought of thought process and getting into your mindset
Speaker 1: and your life in that way. One of the most
Speaker 1: beautiful things you mentioned is that in the book that
Speaker 1: every tip off you always close your eyes, bow your
Speaker 1: head and you talk to God. And when I you know,
Speaker 1: when I when I read that, I was thinking, Wow,
Speaker 1: that is so special to be doing that in a
Speaker 1: tip off, which is like, you know, there's stress, there's pressure,
Speaker 1: there's the fans, there's you know, everything's like quite heightened
Speaker 1: at that point, but you're able to close your eyes,
Speaker 1: bow your head and talk to God. I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask you, what do you say? Why has that been
Speaker 1: an important routine for you? Yeah? Jay, it goes back
Speaker 1: to you know my childhood, I'm not I'm I look
Speaker 1: at myself as spiritual. I don't look at myself as
Speaker 1: as Christian or you know, any other terms. I look
Speaker 1: at myself as a spiritual person I felt. I've always
Speaker 1: had a person relationship with the version of who I
Speaker 1: feel my God is um since a very young age,
Speaker 1: and I've always communicated very well with him. And He's
Speaker 1: a hymn to me could be a hurt of someone else,
Speaker 1: and so I've never lost sight of that. And and
Speaker 1: for me growing up as a young kid who who
Speaker 1: got a lot of things put in his path to
Speaker 1: try to stop him from getting to where I am now,
Speaker 1: and knowing throughout throughout that process, my faith was so strong.
Speaker 1: You know, you know my wed number three probably because
Speaker 1: of the Father of the Southern Holy Spirit. And at
Speaker 1: that moment before a game, I've done it since I've
Speaker 1: been since I started playing basketball. Is I always take
Speaker 1: him and just be thankful. I'm thankful for the places
Speaker 1: that I'm allowed to go. I'm thankful for the places
Speaker 1: that my God has taken me. I remember being little
Speaker 1: Dwayne crying, going to bed with no food in my stomach,
Speaker 1: you know, just crying trying, you know, asking God to
Speaker 1: allow me to be the one to help get my
Speaker 1: family out of you know, poverty, and to be in
Speaker 1: that situation, to be on an NBA court, and to
Speaker 1: look around before every game and see twenty thousand fans,
Speaker 1: see a little kid that's somewhere with your jersey, or
Speaker 1: just trying to get a glimpse in a moment like
Speaker 1: to understand that you're one of the best players in
Speaker 1: this game. I'm thankful, and so before every tip off,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to express how thankful I was to
Speaker 1: my God. Yeah, that's beautiful, man. I love that as
Speaker 1: a centering and guiding principle for each and every one
Speaker 1: of us, that even in that moment, you're able to
Speaker 1: have that stillness internally to set that intention and you know,
Speaker 1: whatever it means to you. I appreciate that that it's
Speaker 1: you making sense of what that word, what that feeling
Speaker 1: means to you. It's not about any other external definition,
Speaker 1: but about your own. I wondered, did you ever talk
Speaker 1: to your God after the game or during the game,
Speaker 1: the game, throughout the entire game, all the time, man,
Speaker 1: all the time. Do you ever remember a specific game
Speaker 1: or a specific moment where your conversation with God was
Speaker 1: was interesting, or that we could dive into that that moment.
Speaker 1: I mean, let's let's pick any Let's pick losing Game
Speaker 1: two or the NBA Finals in twenty eleven. Up, I
Speaker 1: think fifteen points, you know what I mean, in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, let's take that. You're like, ah, what's up?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? Like you have conversations all
Speaker 1: the time, but you know, ultimately, um, you know, for me,
Speaker 1: it's just always been about like, look, look, look where
Speaker 1: I am. Like, you know, and I think sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: going through the process, Jay, like you lose yourself a
Speaker 1: little bit, you lose sight of like important you know, principles,
Speaker 1: important things. And I was and I'm one of those
Speaker 1: people who forget, you know, at moments. And then so
Speaker 1: when I would try to always bring myself back to
Speaker 1: the moment, even if we lost some finals, even if
Speaker 1: someone hit a game winner, even if I played terrible,
Speaker 1: you know, you're trying not to question, You're trying not
Speaker 1: to ask why. It's a part of the journey. And
Speaker 1: so I tried as much as possible to stay off God,
Speaker 1: get off his case. I love them. I love that
Speaker 1: One of the things you talk a lot about in
Speaker 1: the book. That comes through with the images and pictures
Speaker 1: is you know the foundation you had through coaching and
Speaker 1: the people you add in your life. And you say
Speaker 1: something beautiful, you say, as a professional athlete, you have
Speaker 1: to trust a lot of people with your body. And
Speaker 1: I thought that this was fascinating because you know, as
Speaker 1: an athlete, of course you have trained your coaches, and
Speaker 1: even in our lots, we trust people with parts of ourselves,
Speaker 1: whether it's our mind, our body, our life friendship. How
Speaker 1: did you know in the beginning or how did you
Speaker 1: develop an approach to finding out who you could trust
Speaker 1: with your body and your career versus those you couldn't trust.
Speaker 1: Was there a way that you sensed or started to
Speaker 1: learn and know how to make those choices and decisions. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's gut. You know, if you don't have
Speaker 1: someone in your life that can help you know, put
Speaker 1: you with certain people people and like a big mentor
Speaker 1: throughout your life, or a big or father figure who
Speaker 1: has certain relationships and all these things, then a lot
Speaker 1: of it is going to be on your your gut feeling.
Speaker 1: And so for me, I've been one of the luckiest
Speaker 1: human beings in my eyesight for the sense of having
Speaker 1: people put in his life that have really made huge impacts,
Speaker 1: who have really been there for the good and not
Speaker 1: for the bad. And it just really helped me, you know,
Speaker 1: And I'm not that I have not always been the
Speaker 1: most confident man in the world. And to have all
Speaker 1: these individuals who have been there to be able to
Speaker 1: give me the nudge to be able to push me
Speaker 1: back up, for me to have the common sense to
Speaker 1: allow them to do it is the reason that you
Speaker 1: and I right now are on the number one help
Speaker 1: podcast in the world because of it. Right So, I'm
Speaker 1: very appreciative of everybody alone his journey that really nudge
Speaker 1: me and lift me up. Yeah. No, I love that,
Speaker 1: and I think that's so important. I think what I
Speaker 1: love is then the book, you talk so much about
Speaker 1: the coaches, the mentors, the people who nudged you along,
Speaker 1: the players that you work alongside. There's this brilliant picture
Speaker 1: of I believe it's with you and Lebron James, and
Speaker 1: you're just saying that it was from a workout where
Speaker 1: you both just went fall out on each other and
Speaker 1: just encourage each other to just you know, keep pushing
Speaker 1: on and keep going on. Can you walk us through
Speaker 1: the hardest workout or the hardest pregame that you ever did,
Speaker 1: mentally or physically. Could you just walk us through what
Speaker 1: it's really like? Because I always feel as someone like
Speaker 1: I'm not an athlete, I don't really know how hard
Speaker 1: that is physically. Could you walk us through that? I
Speaker 1: guess the easiest way to say it is we all have.
Speaker 1: We all reach a point in whatever we're doing where
Speaker 1: we reach that boiling point where we feel we have
Speaker 1: nothing else to give. And as an athlete, you reach
Speaker 1: that point constantly, And the hardest part is it is
Speaker 1: pushing yourself and allowing others to push you to give
Speaker 1: more than you know that you have to give. And
Speaker 1: it's so easy to quit on yourself. It's so easy
Speaker 1: to say I have nothing left. But when you go
Speaker 1: past that level and you go to it, you tap
Speaker 1: into another place that you didn't think you had. You
Speaker 1: didn't know you had another fifteen reps, You thought you
Speaker 1: was maxed out a team, and you push yourself to there.
Speaker 1: Now you've shown yourself that you have another level, and
Speaker 1: that another level helps you in those moments, right that
Speaker 1: another level helps you in a fourth quarter when everyone's
Speaker 1: tired because you know you've went to another level, and
Speaker 1: so just man the whole training aspect of it. Lebron
Speaker 1: and I being two great players and being two great friends,
Speaker 1: pushed it each other. You know, that photo was right
Speaker 1: before Game one of the twenty thirteen NBA Finals, and
Speaker 1: we knew that it was gonna be on us to
Speaker 1: lead this team, and we knew we were about to
Speaker 1: be in a dog fight because we were playing at
Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs, and he was going to test us
Speaker 1: physically and mentally and emotionally in all the fields, and
Speaker 1: so that was getting ourselves stealed and prepared for what
Speaker 1: the series was about to hand us. Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: I love hearing that because you're so right. We always
Speaker 1: quit on ourselves. I mean, I remember the closest thing
Speaker 1: I can compare is just when I lived as a monk.
Speaker 1: You know, you'd always think that you'd meditated enough for
Speaker 1: you'd pushed yourself, and our teachers would push us a
Speaker 1: little more, a little more, a little more, and then
Speaker 1: you get today where you meditated for like eight hours
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh wow, Like I didn't think I
Speaker 1: could do eight minutes if I was left to do
Speaker 1: it on my own, and you start to realize the
Speaker 1: value of association, the value of those minds around you
Speaker 1: that help you see more than yourself, and that really
Speaker 1: leads to you. Know you said about Tom creen you
Speaker 1: said he believed that I could be something more than
Speaker 1: just a basketball player. And when I hear that, I'm
Speaker 1: like wow, Like when people around us see us becoming
Speaker 1: more than we see for ourselves. What were some of
Speaker 1: the lessons you believe that he taught you off the court.
Speaker 1: What were some of those And why was it so
Speaker 1: important for you to see yourself as more than a
Speaker 1: basketball player. I don't know why it was. I just
Speaker 1: know it just always has been and it always has
Speaker 1: mattered for me. And I don't know the reason, Jay,
Speaker 1: But Tom Crean came to my house, and this is
Speaker 1: something that he probably did. You know, this was his
Speaker 1: first year been a head coach, but this is something
Speaker 1: he probably seen and had done before. But when he
Speaker 1: came to my house and he resented me with a
Speaker 1: cap and gown, at that moment, no one ever talked
Speaker 1: to me as as an inner city kid about graduating college.
Speaker 1: I just started thinking about going to college. It was
Speaker 1: not like no like, it's not a lot of people
Speaker 1: my family who have graduated college. This is not a thing.
Speaker 1: This is not something that you just do. So when
Speaker 1: he presented that to me, at that moment, I started
Speaker 1: looking at him differently. It wasn't just about what I
Speaker 1: can do for him on a basketball floor. He was
Speaker 1: talking about my future. He was talking about me actually
Speaker 1: building something bigger than just a basketball player. And that continued,
Speaker 1: you know, being in college and having a son at
Speaker 1: the age of nineteen years old, you know, he became
Speaker 1: a huge figure in my life as a father, as
Speaker 1: an example, and just a shoulder to cry on and
Speaker 1: lean on, you know, and so roll my those mentors
Speaker 1: obviously filed the figures, and these people are so important.
Speaker 1: Um you know, alone this journey of life for so
Speaker 1: many little kids, and I know so many little kids
Speaker 1: like Dwyane Wade that's growing up in broken homes and
Speaker 1: um you know, inv in poverty, um where not a
Speaker 1: lot of resources, not a lot of opportunities. They need something,
Speaker 1: they need someone, And to be able to have those
Speaker 1: individuals in my life is the only reason once again
Speaker 1: that I'm able to sit up here and even have
Speaker 1: a voice of a microphone to even talk about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: when when you look at that time when and you've
Speaker 1: referenced in this interview and of course in the book,
Speaker 1: but like you know, growing up in poverty, growing up
Speaker 1: with very little opportunities or resources, not having those options,
Speaker 1: What was the first time you felt that there could
Speaker 1: be more, that you could do something with your life.
Speaker 1: What was it? Who was it that right in that
Speaker 1: very moment, in that beginning, when you were in that
Speaker 1: pain and in that struggle, that made that feel possible.
Speaker 1: You know, Jay, I've always felt it, like I did.
Speaker 1: I didn't know what it was, but I've always I
Speaker 1: just never felt like I've I don't want to say
Speaker 1: that I fit in. I just always felt that I
Speaker 1: thought differently, and I looked at things differently. That's it.
Speaker 1: You know, Like even a game of basketball, how as
Speaker 1: a young kid, how I was able to read the
Speaker 1: game and knew that the ball is either going inside
Speaker 1: or it's going along in perimeter. Okay, that's it. The
Speaker 1: game is easy, like right, like I just I just
Speaker 1: you know, it's just as it's a part of God's
Speaker 1: you know, uh and my parents you know, to getting
Speaker 1: together to be able to create create this right, and
Speaker 1: so I always had that looking around, like this is
Speaker 1: not it, this will not be it for me. Like
Speaker 1: even now I'm I love life and my family and
Speaker 1: everything we're accomplishing, I still look around and I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is for now, this is not it. It's it's more.
Speaker 1: It's more living to do, it's more life. And I
Speaker 1: just didn't know how to get it done. Then I
Speaker 1: just know how to get it done now because I've
Speaker 1: been through it all. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and and and
Speaker 1: again what you just said is it's that perfect balance
Speaker 1: between being present now in what there is, but recognizing
Speaker 1: there's more and being open to that. Right. It's like
Speaker 1: when I hear you speak and when I'm looking at
Speaker 1: your book, there's deep presence, like when you go back
Speaker 1: to these memories in the book, like you're fully absorbed
Speaker 1: and immersed, like we're there with you. You do that beautifully.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, you have this expansive vision
Speaker 1: that there's more. There's more to do, more to achieve,
Speaker 1: more to grow, more to learn. And I feel like
Speaker 1: that balance is really rare. You don't you know, people
Speaker 1: are either in the future or they're in the present,
Speaker 1: but being able to go between the two is a
Speaker 1: really powerful skill and knowing that you know you've been
Speaker 1: able to spot those patterns and see that from the beginning. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what do you think was one of the best decisions
Speaker 1: you ever made in your personal life or professional life
Speaker 1: that made a huge impact or decision in your overall life. Well,
Speaker 1: I think, going back to the last point, in this
Speaker 1: point I wanted to make was the ability to be
Speaker 1: able to appreciate the past, enjoy and really focus in
Speaker 1: living the now and not be satisfied with that, and
Speaker 1: be able to visualize and look towards the future. And
Speaker 1: having all three of those, my mind is always moving
Speaker 1: and I'm going from I'm going back here, and I'm
Speaker 1: coming here and then I'm going there right and to
Speaker 1: be I thank God and I thank everybody for the
Speaker 1: ability to have openness, like to be open. If you're
Speaker 1: open in this world, you will have experiences that you
Speaker 1: never could have imagined. But if you're close minded, you
Speaker 1: know you're going to live in a bout. And I
Speaker 1: just never wanted to live in a box. And so
Speaker 1: my decision was to be open to do to my
Speaker 1: first in issue, reaction is out of fear, and it's
Speaker 1: out of something that I don't I've never experienced before,
Speaker 1: or I may not have a lot of knowledge on
Speaker 1: so I'm immediately going to be fearful and say no,
Speaker 1: I don't want to do it because it's uncomfortable. Who
Speaker 1: wants to look stupid? Who wants to be wrong? But somewhere, somehow,
Speaker 1: alone his journey, someone gave me a smack me on
Speaker 1: the head and said, here, take this openness and go
Speaker 1: off and live life. I love that. I love that man,
Speaker 1: and I hope everyone who's listening and watching right now
Speaker 1: feels that they're getting that openness thrown at them through
Speaker 1: Dwayne as well of like, you know, just just being
Speaker 1: more open to it. And one of the things though
Speaker 1: that another I was, you know what, I love this
Speaker 1: juxtaposition between images and woods like to me, all the
Speaker 1: art in my house as well, it's images and woods
Speaker 1: Like I feel like a lot of people just like
Speaker 1: to look at pictures and images, a lot of people
Speaker 1: obviously fascinated by words and lyrics. To me, when I
Speaker 1: see this book, I love it because it's it's it's
Speaker 1: both together and there's this beautiful statement that you made
Speaker 1: that patience is always the hardest virtue to learn. We
Speaker 1: always hear patience is a virtue. But you go and say,
Speaker 1: patients to is the hardest virtue to learn. And I
Speaker 1: was like, what made you realize that? Like where did you?
Speaker 1: Where was patience hard to learn in your life? In
Speaker 1: every aspect like sitting in traffic, it's hard to have patience,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean, I live in La now, it's
Speaker 1: hard to have patients of traffic, right. Like That's but
Speaker 1: I think we, especially now in twenty twenty one, we
Speaker 1: are we are a world that we want to get there.
Speaker 1: We want to, we want to, we want everything like this,
Speaker 1: when we get in our car, we want to get
Speaker 1: it our destination right away. We don't. We don't enjoy
Speaker 1: the journey. We're not enjoying the journey no more. And
Speaker 1: it's like even like with our phones, you know, we
Speaker 1: could be in a car and it's our driving. Your
Speaker 1: head is down the entire time, and you've missed so
Speaker 1: much about the world, you know what I mean that
Speaker 1: we're just not looking up anymore. And so to me
Speaker 1: having patience and even someone when I get in the car,
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's an hour drive. Cool, let me enjoy
Speaker 1: this hour. Let me get my music right, let me
Speaker 1: get my podcasts right, let me put my top down
Speaker 1: and see the mountains or see the sun or whatever
Speaker 1: it is. Right, we want to get to things right away,
Speaker 1: and we don't want to have patience and let things
Speaker 1: happen the way that they're supposed to happen. What was
Speaker 1: the hardest thing in your life to be patient about,
Speaker 1: like with your achievement in basketball, Like what was the
Speaker 1: thing you were most impatient about? If there was something
Speaker 1: you were really impatient about and that you had to
Speaker 1: realize you had to slow down and work towards. What
Speaker 1: was that achievement in basketball? I wanted it right away,
Speaker 1: Like when I was in school, I wanted to be known.
Speaker 1: I wanted to have scholarship offers. I wanted I want
Speaker 1: to praise through man like I wanted that. I needed it,
Speaker 1: I felt, and that was something that now that it
Speaker 1: didn't happen for me that way, my journey was a
Speaker 1: little slower. And now I look at my journey and
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, that journey built character. And without that journey,
Speaker 1: I don't have this. You know, I'm not able to
Speaker 1: look at it from this perspective, and its perspective makes
Speaker 1: me appreciate, you know, everything and so I have the
Speaker 1: same conversation Jay with my son who's going through his
Speaker 1: own journey and he wants it now. He wants to
Speaker 1: be a superstar now, he wants to you know, he
Speaker 1: wants everybody to like the way he played now. And
Speaker 1: it's like, YO, have patience, appreciate the journey, because this
Speaker 1: is creating a story. You're creating your own legacy, right,
Speaker 1: you have a We're all born with a blank canvas
Speaker 1: and we're able to go out and find the paint
Speaker 1: and we're able to paint our own paint your own story.
Speaker 1: Don't let no one else paint on your canvas. It's
Speaker 1: it's yours. It's blank painted the way that you see fit.
Speaker 1: And so you know, that's just that's just how I
Speaker 1: approach it. I don't know if that makes sense. It
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense. I mean, I was about
Speaker 1: to say that is such beautiful advice for a young man.
Speaker 1: Congratulations to him, by the way on the recent news.
Speaker 1: But like, for you know, to hear that from your father,
Speaker 1: I think is so powerful. And I'm sure that if
Speaker 1: there's any mothers or fathers listening right now, or anyone
Speaker 1: listening right now, hearing that from you is massively empowering
Speaker 1: right because I feel you're spot on. We're living in
Speaker 1: that culture driving social media technology n f T S.
Speaker 1: I mean anything, everyone just wants it now, crypto like
Speaker 1: whatever it is, the six pack, abs, the incredible body,
Speaker 1: whatever that means, Like, you know, we all want it
Speaker 1: right now. How is your relationship Dwayne? Do you think
Speaker 1: how did your relationship with praise and fame and validation
Speaker 1: change over time? I'm always intrigued as to, you know,
Speaker 1: how did your relationship evolve with fans, with criticism, with
Speaker 1: good games, bad games? Like? How is your relationship with
Speaker 1: praise and validation evolved or changed over time? I feel
Speaker 1: that the more of my life has gotten to a
Speaker 1: place where it feels more complete in a sense that
Speaker 1: my mom's in my life, she's healthy, we have a
Speaker 1: great relationship. My dad's in my life, he's you know,
Speaker 1: he's healthy. We have a great relationship. I have a
Speaker 1: great relationship with my wife. I'm I have great relationships
Speaker 1: with my kids, and I'm building better relationship with my
Speaker 1: with my kids as well. And so the closest, the
Speaker 1: closer I've got to the things that I've always wanted
Speaker 1: and needed, you know, I've gotten better about what people
Speaker 1: say about me or the perception of who I supposed
Speaker 1: to be or But when I was younger, I needed that,
Speaker 1: Like I like I said, I wanted praise through man,
Speaker 1: like I needed attention. I wanted to be famous. I
Speaker 1: wanted to have my jersey's been a number one selling jersey.
Speaker 1: Like the insecure little boy in me needed that from others,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And then I got to
Speaker 1: the point as things started becoming better in love and
Speaker 1: family and the friends, and I started feeling more whole,
Speaker 1: I stopped needing that, I stopped caring about it. And
Speaker 1: so I understand the journey of a young kid of
Speaker 1: like my son who's nineteen, who can read thirty three
Speaker 1: comments under his photo and feels like the world is
Speaker 1: coming down on him. I understand it. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, I'm thirty nine, and I'm able to look
Speaker 1: back and say, that's not going to matter, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. What matters is you. What matters is
Speaker 1: what is what you put into what it is that's
Speaker 1: your dreams is and what you want to do. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: said man, really really beautifully sad. You know, I often
Speaker 1: feel the same way that when you know that the people,
Speaker 1: And it's what we started with when I was sharing
Speaker 1: with you the intention at the beginning. It's that you
Speaker 1: realize that ultimately, the only opinions that matter are the
Speaker 1: people that deeply know you, Like most people don't know
Speaker 1: you deeply, and now you're giving us an opportunity to
Speaker 1: get to know you deeply through your through this beautiful
Speaker 1: book a memoir. But it's the people that know you
Speaker 1: truly and deeply at the heart. They're the ones that matter.
Speaker 1: And you can't take someone who's uh, you know, behind
Speaker 1: the keyboard seriously because you don't really know who they
Speaker 1: are and they don't know who you are. But we
Speaker 1: do outsource our validation and our self assurance and our
Speaker 1: self esteem to everyone else. And I love hearing that.
Speaker 1: You know, I wonder how does your son react? But
Speaker 1: be honestly, how does he react to that? Does he go,
Speaker 1: how does he hear that? Does he go, oh Dad,
Speaker 1: it's all right for you because you're so successful, or
Speaker 1: how does he respond to that? I'm intrigued. You know,
Speaker 1: he receives it. You know, the one thing I love
Speaker 1: about Zaire is he receives things and he decides how
Speaker 1: you know, he wants to um pursue, pursue things from
Speaker 1: from there. But he receives the things I say. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, he also understands that, you know what, Dad,
Speaker 1: You've never been zaire Away. You know what I mean,
Speaker 1: You've never really lived this lifestyle as I've lived. No
Speaker 1: one is really that we know in our family, no
Speaker 1: one has lived a zire Away life. You know. I come,
Speaker 1: I know what it's like to be come from nothing
Speaker 1: with no expectations, but I don't know what it's like
Speaker 1: to come from something with expectations. Yeah, and so I
Speaker 1: get it, and so I don't I don't say these
Speaker 1: things to my son. I'm like, Hey, this is this
Speaker 1: is how it's supposed to be, and this is how
Speaker 1: it's gonna This is just me communicating with him and
Speaker 1: past trying to pass down to knowledge that I know.
Speaker 1: But I also understand his journey and I'm able to
Speaker 1: you know, I'm able to listen, I'm able to be,
Speaker 1: you know, have empathy towards what he what he goes through.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I know that ultimately that's
Speaker 1: not ultimately going to matter in a sense of you know,
Speaker 1: where you trying to get in your future, you know.
Speaker 1: And so I just don't want him to ever use
Speaker 1: things as excuses. And that's me and that's what I've
Speaker 1: always fought. Again, So I could have used my mom
Speaker 1: as an excuse a hug going to prison, and when
Speaker 1: I was nine years old, I could have used not
Speaker 1: getting an act score to go to college as an excuse.
Speaker 1: But if I if I allow those things to be excuses,
Speaker 1: then I'm I'm I'm allowed myself to be defeated. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, and and and and it's like we already
Speaker 1: are behind the eight ball. Life is already hard enough.
Speaker 1: I cannot allow those things to happen if I want
Speaker 1: to be successful. And so I'm just trying to show
Speaker 1: him that and understand it. It's going to take him
Speaker 1: in his own time to really understand it in that way.
Speaker 1: I love that you and you and your wife obviously
Speaker 1: are trying to have such healthy relationships with your kids.
Speaker 1: As you just said there when you know, when you
Speaker 1: go through this experience with your parents, but now you
Speaker 1: have good relationships with them, how did you reconstruct those
Speaker 1: relationships as time has gone on? You said, one of
Speaker 1: the happiest things is you have a good relationship with
Speaker 1: your mom, she's healthy, father healthy. What was it that
Speaker 1: helped you rebuild those relationships in healthy ways based on
Speaker 1: the difficult childhood you'd had, well growth having kids, realizing
Speaker 1: your parents are not that crazy. Um, but outside of that,
Speaker 1: getting to know them. I really you don't when you're
Speaker 1: a kid, really don't know your parents. You know these
Speaker 1: rule setters, you know, you know people who take care
Speaker 1: of you and say no or yes, you know whatever,
Speaker 1: you don't know your parents. And so what I've been
Speaker 1: trying to do and what I'm what I just got
Speaker 1: done doing, Yester this weekend we just came from Utah,
Speaker 1: is I'm getting to know my parents and I'm getting
Speaker 1: to know each one individually, and I'm also getting to
Speaker 1: know them around each other. And they've been knowing each
Speaker 1: other since my dad was like fifteen, sixteen years old,
Speaker 1: and so they know so much about each other. So
Speaker 1: what I'm doing is I'm learning them. And as I
Speaker 1: learned them, I have a better appreciation of Jolinda and
Speaker 1: Duane and not just mom and dad. I think that's
Speaker 1: such beautiful advice for everyone. I think, as you just said,
Speaker 1: there's a there's a famous quote. I can't remember who
Speaker 1: it's fun. But it's a beautiful statement that says, Uh,
Speaker 1: the day you realize your parents were right, your kids
Speaker 1: are telling you that you're wrong, you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: that kind of feeling like and what you just said, like,
Speaker 1: that's exactly it. Like, And I'm not the father yet,
Speaker 1: but I often think about that, and you're so right.
Speaker 1: That we never get to know our parents. That's such
Speaker 1: a deep and powerful statement because we expect that their
Speaker 1: job is to get to know us, and their job
Speaker 1: is to help us, and their job is to make
Speaker 1: our lives good. But most our parents have never been asked,
Speaker 1: how are you? How are you doing? Like, what do
Speaker 1: you care about? What's you know, what's been happening in
Speaker 1: your life? So I really, I really appreciate that. I
Speaker 1: hope that after this podcast a lot of people go
Speaker 1: off and make those calls, ask those questions. The holidays
Speaker 1: are coming up, like you know, this is a great
Speaker 1: time to start reconstructing a lot of those you know,
Speaker 1: wounded relationships or painful places. You know you mentioned in
Speaker 1: the book, Dwayne, you said, I try to tell everyone
Speaker 1: how much they mean to me while they're still here,
Speaker 1: because I know one day they won't be And that
Speaker 1: is such a brilliant way to live. Was there someone
Speaker 1: that you recently did that weird or texted or called? Well,
Speaker 1: had that moment with that? You really were trying to
Speaker 1: embody that I do it all the time. Day. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I just got off my book tour and
Speaker 1: you know, my chief of staff someon capers, she's twenty
Speaker 1: seven years old, and she's she she did she she
Speaker 1: handled the book to us so gracefully. You know, this
Speaker 1: was her first time handle this and she just handled it.
Speaker 1: She handled it so gracefully, and I had to acknowledge it.
Speaker 1: I had to let her know. Um, And you know,
Speaker 1: I really I really try to embody that. My wife
Speaker 1: and I really try to embody that. I think if
Speaker 1: you if you ask anyone that's in our inner circle,
Speaker 1: that's in our friend and family group, they would tell
Speaker 1: you we are we don't like to eat alan, we
Speaker 1: don't like to celebrate alan. M you know, we want
Speaker 1: to make sure that we all are experiencing life, because
Speaker 1: it's we're all experiencing something. Me and my wife are.
Speaker 1: We're experiencing something that you know, most of our family
Speaker 1: and friends haven't, and we're going places that most people haven't,
Speaker 1: and it's on us to make sure we show them.
Speaker 1: It's on us to make sure we move the curtains
Speaker 1: and move the buildings and move the trees out the way,
Speaker 1: to make sure that our friends and family who have
Speaker 1: not been to places that we're being that they get
Speaker 1: a chance to see it, you know. And so I'm
Speaker 1: all about creating moments, creating memories because at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, when it's all said and done, when
Speaker 1: someone that you lose that's so close to you, when
Speaker 1: they're gone, all you have is those memories that they
Speaker 1: left you, and those are the stories that you're going
Speaker 1: to tell. And so we all are about creating memories together,
Speaker 1: and that's that's how we roll. Did you did you
Speaker 1: ever not live that way and regret that? Was there
Speaker 1: anyone that you wish you got to deal with that way?
Speaker 1: Or do you feel like you've been like that the
Speaker 1: whole time? Have you always just felt that you've tried
Speaker 1: to live that way? Or was that someone that kind
Speaker 1: of like snucked through the cracks. Yeah? I wasn't always
Speaker 1: open minded, you know. I didn't have a great relationship
Speaker 1: with my mom, my dad's mom, or my dad's father,
Speaker 1: and it didn't. I didn't really affect me when I
Speaker 1: was younger because it was just it was what it was,
Speaker 1: and I really didn't care to have it. And then
Speaker 1: they both passed away within you know, I think a
Speaker 1: year and a half of each other, and I remember crying.
Speaker 1: I remember driving in my car when I got the news,
Speaker 1: and I remember just crying. And I never felt any
Speaker 1: emotions towards my grandparents because I didn't grow up with
Speaker 1: a relationship with them. And at that moment, I felt
Speaker 1: I felt bad because I felt like, you know what,
Speaker 1: you could have been the bigger person you could have
Speaker 1: You never took time to understand, to sit down with
Speaker 1: them and ask questions and understand why the relationship was
Speaker 1: the way it was anyway you know better. And so
Speaker 1: I think after that I kind of woke up a
Speaker 1: little bit and I kind of I started trying to
Speaker 1: put beef in certain things to the side. I view
Speaker 1: someone in my life that's gonna affect my emotions, on
Speaker 1: my mood, You're gonna make me cry, And so it
Speaker 1: became important to me around around the time. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: that's that's really special. Thank you for opening up and
Speaker 1: sharing that too, because I think off and you know,
Speaker 1: we always hear the side of like, yeah, remember people,
Speaker 1: but we always forget that there are people in our
Speaker 1: life that we didn't think like that then, we didn't
Speaker 1: have that mindset then, and you know, we missed out
Speaker 1: on that. So that's always a beautiful thing to hear
Speaker 1: one of the one of the things that you've done
Speaker 1: a lot day, which is really admirable. I do believe
Speaker 1: it is because it shows a sense of risk, a
Speaker 1: sense of confidence, a sense of integrity. You know, we're
Speaker 1: all aware of the police brutality that's been happening in
Speaker 1: you know, black communities for for far too long, and
Speaker 1: for you speaking up about this topic, supporting conversations around it,
Speaker 1: trying to make change, using your platform for that purpose
Speaker 1: has been an important part of your work. And you
Speaker 1: say that, you know, what's the point of having a
Speaker 1: platform if we're not using it for this. Can you
Speaker 1: walk me through what that experience has been like from
Speaker 1: going from a young black man growing up in an
Speaker 1: inner city like having that pain and pressure yourself to
Speaker 1: now being obviously a powerful, influential individual. You tell me
Speaker 1: about how it feels different and what's changed, if anything.
Speaker 1: You know, what I was just talking about this the
Speaker 1: other day, and I hope this analogy makes sense to
Speaker 1: all your listeners. Sometimes and I'll talk to my son
Speaker 1: about this thing called impostor syndrome. Right, Sometimes I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm like I'm an imposter, Like I feel like
Speaker 1: I'm I feel like I'm that kid that snuck behind
Speaker 1: the tall kid you know too, and no one has
Speaker 1: called me and like i'm and it's like no one
Speaker 1: has seen, like no one is like saying, hey, kid,
Speaker 1: get back here, you're going too far. And I feel
Speaker 1: like people are just still letting me go, right, And
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's a reason that these opportunities that I've been,
Speaker 1: that I've that I have, it's a reason for him.
Speaker 1: It's not just because I'm talented as a basketball player.
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of talented basketball players not have
Speaker 1: the the microphone that even people will even listen. It
Speaker 1: doesn't matter about that. So I think I understand that
Speaker 1: my purpose is just bigger and whatever it is, whatever
Speaker 1: is on my heart, whatever my experiences are, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: speak out on them. That's the world we live in.
Speaker 1: It's called freedom of speech. Where I'm going to speak
Speaker 1: out on them. And then at the same time to
Speaker 1: be in a position where you have resources, you know,
Speaker 1: where you have connections, where you have finances, where you
Speaker 1: have when you have all these things, and then you
Speaker 1: can get a little bit more into it and not
Speaker 1: just be a voice. Now you can be an active
Speaker 1: participant and the change. And so that's what I've tried
Speaker 1: to do in my Waste Family Foundation Waste Royal Foundation
Speaker 1: before that, That's what Carmelo, Anthony, Chris Paul and I
Speaker 1: are trying to do in our social change funds. We're
Speaker 1: trying to make sure that you know, we be active
Speaker 1: in the change that's that's happening in our communities. What
Speaker 1: have been some of the changes? Drink, Can you walk
Speaker 1: us through that? And I know you're a very humble individuals,
Speaker 1: so you're not gonna go off and took about all
Speaker 1: the massive change you've made and you know, but I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear about some of the work that you're
Speaker 1: doing that you feel is really having an impact in
Speaker 1: the communities, in the lives of young young people in
Speaker 1: those communities, because I think it's so fascinating people to realize,
Speaker 1: like you said, it's not just about a voice, it's
Speaker 1: not just about social media it's about actual change in
Speaker 1: these uh in these cities. Could you could you walk
Speaker 1: us through some of that stuff, yeah, you know, without
Speaker 1: going into oh wait, well we've done this and we've
Speaker 1: done this. I think the best, the best thing that
Speaker 1: I know that I can do. And Mellow and CP
Speaker 1: has the same mindset is I have about nine jobs,
Speaker 1: j and I'm a father of a lot of kids,
Speaker 1: and I'm a husband and all these things. I understand
Speaker 1: where my strengths are and my weaknesses. So I understand
Speaker 1: where my limitations are. But I also understand that I
Speaker 1: have a passion and we have a passion for our community.
Speaker 1: And so it's people that's out there on the ground
Speaker 1: that's actually doing the real work. And what I've tried
Speaker 1: to do, what I've tried to do throughout my entire
Speaker 1: charitable efforts is support the people who are doing the work,
Speaker 1: the programs that are doing the work, the individuals that
Speaker 1: are on the ground going to jail for this, boots
Speaker 1: on the ground in the community. Those are the people
Speaker 1: we want to support. Those are the people. That's why
Speaker 1: the Social Change That's one of the reasons the Social
Speaker 1: Change Fund was formed. That's one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: the ways where a foundation was formed. It wasn't for
Speaker 1: me to get any acknowledgement. It was for us to
Speaker 1: be able to raise enough money to be able to
Speaker 1: pull our resources together to get back to the people
Speaker 1: in the community that's doing the actual work. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: And I knew that. I just wanted to hear more
Speaker 1: because I genuinely just I genuinely admired that work so
Speaker 1: much and hearing you speak about it, you know, is
Speaker 1: really impactful for a lot of individuals because I think
Speaker 1: sometimes you know, it's like what you're saying, but being
Speaker 1: more than a basketball player, Like and today I'm not
Speaker 1: focusing on the basketball because I think I love seeing
Speaker 1: everything else that you've done by building this incredible empire
Speaker 1: and this incredible impact and the heart that you do
Speaker 1: it with. And I want to understand how your experience
Speaker 1: has been so far being a business person and having
Speaker 1: ownership of the Utah Jazz as well, Like that's a
Speaker 1: whole other part of you as well. What's the biggest
Speaker 1: thing you've learned so far from that shift? Are there
Speaker 1: are there certain things that you're using from the sport
Speaker 1: in the business or are you learning completely new skills?
Speaker 1: They say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And
Speaker 1: so you know, and I talk about this in my
Speaker 1: book a lot too, right, I feel that, you know,
Speaker 1: the sport that I played, basketball is so many lessons
Speaker 1: in there that are metaphors for life, that are life experiences.
Speaker 1: And so if if I can be successful in a
Speaker 1: sport that is very hard to be to crack, if
Speaker 1: I could be one of the one of the players
Speaker 1: to get drafted out of four hundred and fifty, why
Speaker 1: I could be one of the greatest players of all time,
Speaker 1: then I know what it takes to be successful. I've
Speaker 1: already cracked that code. And so don't reinvent it. Just
Speaker 1: take the lessons that you've learned alone this journey and
Speaker 1: apply to them to you to this life. And That's
Speaker 1: what I'll try to do. And so for me, Jay,
Speaker 1: if my jumper was off, if I didn't know how
Speaker 1: to dribble, if I wanted to learn a move, I
Speaker 1: would go out. Or I want to get stronger, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go out and hire a trainer. I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: out and hire somebody to help me right, fix that
Speaker 1: or work on this. So I'm gonna do the same
Speaker 1: thing in this life. I'm gonna come out here and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna think, Okay, what is my trainer, therapist, trainer,
Speaker 1: vocal coach, trainer. All these different people are trainers to
Speaker 1: help me become the best version of me, same way
Speaker 1: I would have done on the basketball For now, That's
Speaker 1: how I've decided to approach Yeah, the pregame of business
Speaker 1: and you know, being doing Yeah, No, I love that.
Speaker 1: What a great mindset. And I love the analogy with
Speaker 1: the trainer. That's such a such a brilliant way of
Speaker 1: thinking about it. I have to ask you this because
Speaker 1: you know you have a whole section here that in
Speaker 1: the book that's dedicated to Kobe Bryant. We will I
Speaker 1: was fortunate enough to interview him on the podcast. You
Speaker 1: always said how much of a find you were, how
Speaker 1: much you admired him, you had at a beautiful brotherhood
Speaker 1: with him. Was what was the biggest thing that you
Speaker 1: feel you took away a len from Kobe consciously or
Speaker 1: unconsciously that you felt impacted you deeply till this day.
Speaker 1: You know what, I think the basketball side of it
Speaker 1: is watching someone who was has a God gifted ability,
Speaker 1: like God blessed Kobe Bryants with so much ability, but
Speaker 1: to be able to watch him work that ability, Yes,
Speaker 1: like that right there. I've seen a lot of people
Speaker 1: who has been gifted with just talent and they don't
Speaker 1: do anything with it from the standpoint of working their talents.
Speaker 1: And so to watch him as an athlete really get
Speaker 1: the best out of all his God given ability, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's inspiring. But for me, watching Kobe Bryant retire was
Speaker 1: probably the most impactful part of the whole journey. That's
Speaker 1: for me. It hurt as having he was a leader,
Speaker 1: Like I retired after him and I'm like, okay, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna follow Kobe, like I'm gonna see what he doing it.
Speaker 1: And we all like to have those people to chase,
Speaker 1: and so he was that person that we can look
Speaker 1: at and say, you can you can retire differently, you
Speaker 1: can do this differently. You want to ask her? Well,
Speaker 1: I think one or two years after retirement, like the
Speaker 1: things that he was a part of, the books that
Speaker 1: he was writing, the universe he was taking us in,
Speaker 1: I mean, the body armor of it all, it was amazing.
Speaker 1: And so what I learned from him is that it
Speaker 1: is another way to do it. It is greatness at
Speaker 1: their basketball and you do not have to wait on it. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I think you know and I see that. You know,
Speaker 1: I remember when when I when I interviewed him, I
Speaker 1: remember he was so satisfied and peaceful and blessed in
Speaker 1: your words, in retirement, there wasn't you know, there wasn't
Speaker 1: this feeling. And I feel similar to talking to you today,
Speaker 1: like you're joyful in retirement, you're excited, you're passionate, Like
Speaker 1: you know, there's there's not a loss of that from
Speaker 1: the loss of a part of your biggest ident entity
Speaker 1: that you've played in your life. Where has that come
Speaker 1: from for you? Where is that starting from for you?
Speaker 1: I see you today, like you know, we're laughing. There's passion,
Speaker 1: there's drive, there's ambition, there's great parenting. There's all these
Speaker 1: things that you're inspired by and growing for. And that
Speaker 1: shows me that even though you've let go of the
Speaker 1: longest part of your career identity, there's an identity beyond
Speaker 1: that man that was Thank you for that. I you
Speaker 1: know what, My wife makes fun of me all the time.
Speaker 1: She says that I every morning I flee out of bed.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about covers, back go and and my wife
Speaker 1: was like, I don't want to stand it. Why are
Speaker 1: you so happy in the morning? And I'm like, because
Speaker 1: every every day I wake up, I get to create something,
Speaker 1: I get to imagine something, I get to inspire someone
Speaker 1: Like I'm I'm I'm a little black kid from inny
Speaker 1: city of Chicago. And that just got me. I just
Speaker 1: got a little motion like like I'm a I'm a
Speaker 1: black kid from any city of Chicago that no one's seen,
Speaker 1: no one gave a chance to and to be able
Speaker 1: to have the opportunity every day when I wake up,
Speaker 1: and it's it's it's everything, Jesus Christ, that's right there.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, you know, it's it's important. It's beautiful that
Speaker 1: it comes through in the book. It comes through even
Speaker 1: more when I'm speaking to you today. I've been watching
Speaker 1: all your other interviews and I love seeing someone who
Speaker 1: just is, you know, sharing that blessing with so much
Speaker 1: grace and so it's really powerful and it's someone getting
Speaker 1: a tissue on that side. I would give you one
Speaker 1: if we were in passing. Man. That hit me. I
Speaker 1: don't even know. I don't even I don't think I've
Speaker 1: ever teared up besides one of the championship or TV
Speaker 1: or you know, on any platform like this, like it was,
Speaker 1: that's real. You know, I don't, I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: know how. You know, people don't get a chance to
Speaker 1: talk to a lot of little black kids in a
Speaker 1: city of Chicago. They don't get a voice. You don't
Speaker 1: get to hear their stories. You know, you get to
Speaker 1: hear a little bit of oh it's gain infested, drug infested,
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. You don't get to really
Speaker 1: hear their stories. Man. And it's not lost on me
Speaker 1: that I was that kid. I can clearly remember little Duyne.
Speaker 1: I can clearly remember. And so man, I'm just thankful. Bro.
Speaker 1: I'm just really thankful for all the blessings, but most
Speaker 1: importantly just to people I get to share it all with.
Speaker 1: To me, that's everything