Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to another edition All the Smoke. My brother Jack
Speaker 1: was a very festive today. What are these? What are
Speaker 1: these called? I don't want them? Thropes? Thropes by King's
Speaker 1: Cloth in Dubai. And then you got the matching you
Speaker 1: hit him. Yeah, J said, you're making it harder for
Speaker 1: your for your other brothers. Out of here. Hey man,
Speaker 1: One thing about it, man, everybody could do it like you.
Speaker 1: You look good, you feel good, you pray good. Okay,
Speaker 1: shout out my moscome's out, Dull. Who's that person with
Speaker 1: the puff? Daddy Ringer? All about the Vegas anyway? Man,
Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. Perfect Isaiah Thomas appreciated. Appreciate for
Speaker 1: a minute, I've been hitting him like I want. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna come on, we come so man, we finally got
Speaker 1: you here. We appreciate that. Seattle boy. You know, two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty obviously was it was tough for a lot
Speaker 1: of us. Uh, you know, lost code, the pandemic, George
Speaker 1: Floyd incident. Um, it seems how tough that was. What
Speaker 1: are you motivated by? Um? You know? As we go,
Speaker 1: you know, almost halfway through, I think I'm motivated by
Speaker 1: just changed, you know. I think the positive out of
Speaker 1: all those things that's happened is everybody you know, trying
Speaker 1: to change for the better, no matter the race, no
Speaker 1: matter the culture. And um, I think we're looking forward to,
Speaker 1: you know, what's what's next and what can everybody change
Speaker 1: to make this world you know, a better place. And
Speaker 1: I think overall, you know, we could kind of see
Speaker 1: the light at the end of the tunnel, you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of things getting back to normal. I think
Speaker 1: we just got to keep, you know, keep our foot
Speaker 1: on the gas to make positive change because you know,
Speaker 1: the world is not in a great place right now,
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, we can make it all better,
Speaker 1: so much more work to do, for sure. For sure,
Speaker 1: where do you feel you are as far as health?
Speaker 1: Obviously we'll talk about the injury a little later what
Speaker 1: exactly happened to you, But where are you right now
Speaker 1: as far as health? You feel health? I'm good now,
Speaker 1: you know. It's been a long little three years since I,
Speaker 1: you know, first got injured, but I'm a healthy now. Um.
Speaker 1: I had a surgery. Not to get too deep into it,
Speaker 1: but I had surgery last May, which you know, fixed
Speaker 1: my ultimate problems. They have to go in and we
Speaker 1: can go and explain this because I had a resurface
Speaker 1: of my hip. So my my hip is metal now,
Speaker 1: so I got it's I'm the first one in professional
Speaker 1: sports or basketball to play with the metal hip, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it's it's my it's my joint. So what my initial
Speaker 1: problem was, my hip was bone on bone, so you know,
Speaker 1: it's bone on guard. I have no range of motion,
Speaker 1: so I was really fighting every day just to you know,
Speaker 1: stay above water until I fixed my hip. So I
Speaker 1: got a resurface of my hip joint. It gives me
Speaker 1: the normal amount of space that everybody got in the
Speaker 1: regular joint. My ship just met him. And you know
Speaker 1: when you go through the airport, you gotta go through
Speaker 1: the little special Yeah yeah, you gotta go through. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, you know that
Speaker 1: it changed my life because I was in paining every day,
Speaker 1: not just trying to hoop, playing with my kids in
Speaker 1: the house life I was. I was in paining. So
Speaker 1: it gave me my range of motion back. So health wise,
Speaker 1: I'm good. Mentally, I'm in a great place. And you know,
Speaker 1: just waiting for an opportunity. I said, how challenging hasn't
Speaker 1: been to remain patient knowing you back to knowing what
Speaker 1: you can do, just like we know what you can do.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. And I've been in that
Speaker 1: situation too, not even being in the NBA, but knowing
Speaker 1: that I still had time, you know, had game left.
Speaker 1: But you're on a different page, you know, you you
Speaker 1: you did some stuff that I wouldn't even think close
Speaker 1: to doing my career, but knowing the player you are, bro,
Speaker 1: how does feel to be patient knowing that you deserve
Speaker 1: to be back out there. I'm human at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, so that should be hurting, you know that,
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna just keep it all the way Hunter.
Speaker 1: It be hurting. But you know, I got kids at home.
Speaker 1: They watched me closely, and there's no quit in me. There,
Speaker 1: there's no quit obviously. I got my days where you know,
Speaker 1: some days are tougher than others. I'm watching guys signed
Speaker 1: that I feel like I'm better then. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's not always about you know the next man.
Speaker 1: I try to worry about, you know, what I can't control,
Speaker 1: And the only thing I control is being prepared, you know,
Speaker 1: when my name called, being able to take advantage of
Speaker 1: the opportunity. And if I just soaked and be out
Speaker 1: the house and be high at the situation when my
Speaker 1: name is called, I won't be ready to take advantage
Speaker 1: of that. So you know, overall, I'm in a good
Speaker 1: place mentally, but yeah, I'm human. That should be hurting.
Speaker 1: That should be hurting. I'll be having my days where
Speaker 1: I'd be like, damn, Like how how I go from
Speaker 1: being top five MVP voting two years later? You know,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to find a team to play. It just
Speaker 1: makes no sense. But you know that's the business of
Speaker 1: the game. You know, that's just is what it is.
Speaker 1: I just know if my name is called again, then
Speaker 1: when it is called, I'll be ready to take it
Speaker 1: to the time. I promise you that I'm healthy now
Speaker 1: and I don't have to fight that battle of you know,
Speaker 1: showing the world I'm healthy. Are you able to still
Speaker 1: watch games and follow games or is it? I mean
Speaker 1: this year has been a little different from me because
Speaker 1: I'm a hoop head, Like I love who I've always
Speaker 1: loved it. I've always watched every most games every night.
Speaker 1: This year has just been a little different, I think
Speaker 1: just because obviously I watched Hoop, but not as much
Speaker 1: as I did. The game is changing, so it's kind
Speaker 1: of it's kind of tough to watch, you know, how
Speaker 1: the game is being played. But you know, that's my
Speaker 1: ultimate goal to get back in the league, obviously, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stay connected at all times. But I don't
Speaker 1: watch actual games as much as I did. I don't
Speaker 1: you gotta prediction on who you think is coming out
Speaker 1: of East or West? Any teams you think are clear cut? Honestly,
Speaker 1: I don't think nobody can beat Brooklyn and you know
Speaker 1: four times, you know on paper that is obviously what
Speaker 1: we haven't really seen them go through any that city altogether,
Speaker 1: so I think that's the the biggest question mark. But
Speaker 1: out of the East, I mean, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: Brooklyn and then I mean you can't really count Lebron
Speaker 1: out into you see down in all the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so you got you gotta go through l A in
Speaker 1: the West, but it will be tougher than boys, it
Speaker 1: will be. How do you feel about the league guard
Speaker 1: play that we continue to witness. It's amazing. I mean,
Speaker 1: in the Guards, what you got Lillard, you got Kyrie,
Speaker 1: James Hardens, Steph Is turned it up the last two months.
Speaker 1: Um west Brooks the cheat code. I mean, you know
Speaker 1: them like them top ten point guards. It's like any
Speaker 1: given night they can you know, they can give you fifty.
Speaker 1: So that's the scary part about it. But it's dope
Speaker 1: to watch that though, because you know the game is
Speaker 1: about that guard position. Obviously the wings and Katie and
Speaker 1: Lebron and the list goes on in that. But you know,
Speaker 1: the guards are carrying the league right now, and I
Speaker 1: think it's got it. It's out of good space right
Speaker 1: now with that, because I mean, I'm a scoring guarding.
Speaker 1: You got you gotta be a scoring guard to be
Speaker 1: effective right in today's games. You're how far removed from
Speaker 1: your Boston year for four years since you were in Boston.
Speaker 1: Kind of crazy to think how much it's changed from
Speaker 1: a standpoint at how many more shots point guards are
Speaker 1: taking now that you take. You take fifteen threes and
Speaker 1: that's cool, yeah, and it's fine, that's fine, that's just
Speaker 1: three points that shot. That So it's crazy. We we
Speaker 1: having talked about that, me and my Jamal Crawford, which
Speaker 1: you guys know shout, we need you on the sime,
Speaker 1: we need you on there. Um. Just how in four
Speaker 1: years the game changed, That's what I'm saying. Since like
Speaker 1: even when I was playing, you know, at my peak
Speaker 1: at that year, the scores were still d Maybe now
Speaker 1: you see regulation it's one, one forty, a lot of shots.
Speaker 1: You know, the numbers are magnified now obviously because with
Speaker 1: the one the game is. But I mean, you still
Speaker 1: gotta go out there and produce, so you know, them
Speaker 1: them them guards is doing that at a high level.
Speaker 1: Are doing an amazing job night and night out. So
Speaker 1: the guys you would just mentioned, you know, some of
Speaker 1: the elite guards, you had good battles against all of them,
Speaker 1: in particular Steph Westbrook and CP three. Tell us about
Speaker 1: some of the battles you have with those three man Steph,
Speaker 1: it started early with Staff just because you know that
Speaker 1: Sack and Golden State little connection my first three years.
Speaker 1: You know, they wasn't you know who they obviously were
Speaker 1: for like six seven straight years. But we had them
Speaker 1: battles and you know, going Againsteff, you gotta be locked in,
Speaker 1: you know, from once he get the ball and bounds
Speaker 1: because he's that special. Westbrook Westbrook is probably always my
Speaker 1: toughest cover because you know, obviously he's way bigger than me,
Speaker 1: but he's on goal from from the tip off to
Speaker 1: to you know, the buzzer sounds, and then CP three
Speaker 1: is just O G. He's he's he's been someone I've
Speaker 1: always looked up to, you know, since I was in
Speaker 1: shoot since he got in the league when I was
Speaker 1: in high school, and even you know a little a
Speaker 1: few years before that. So he's always tough in a
Speaker 1: different way because he obviously he's the best leader out there. Um,
Speaker 1: he'll do whatever it takes to win. He's the one
Speaker 1: where you hate playing against him, but when you when
Speaker 1: you're on his team, you love it because he's that
Speaker 1: competitive and and he'll do whatever it takes. But you know,
Speaker 1: other than them three guards, like obviously I battled with them,
Speaker 1: but like I said, the guard list is is heavy.
Speaker 1: It's every night like you got when I first got
Speaker 1: in the league ten years ago, it was like it
Speaker 1: was probably six seven of them where you really had
Speaker 1: to get your sleep before tonight, you know, before before
Speaker 1: that game. Now it's like almost every night, every night
Speaker 1: where you can't you can't be like, oh, that's gonna
Speaker 1: be an easy one, you know, so it's competitive out
Speaker 1: there for them guards. You just said that he's a
Speaker 1: cheat code. How do you feel your thoughts on Russ
Speaker 1: breaking the Oscar record? It's crazy because if you go
Speaker 1: back on all the interviews with you know, the top
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson, everybody who talked about you know that record
Speaker 1: would never be broken. It's like, right, and that's what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. That's all you gotta you know, that's all
Speaker 1: you gotta explain, Like he really broke a record that
Speaker 1: nobody thought it was like a John Stockton record. Obviously
Speaker 1: that's probably never gonna be broken here, but that triple
Speaker 1: w and it happened within five years really like where
Speaker 1: he really turned up. So you know, Westbrook is a
Speaker 1: different animal. And I think that's why he doesn't always
Speaker 1: get the credit he deserves because you know, he don't
Speaker 1: he shoots it straight at you. You know, everybody don't
Speaker 1: like Everybody don't like that, and but he deserves everything
Speaker 1: and more. He's one of the best point guards that
Speaker 1: ever played a game. You actually have the record for
Speaker 1: the shortest point guard to record a triple double. Right,
Speaker 1: that's what tell us about that night he was going
Speaker 1: to get bulls steal it. That was coming. That was
Speaker 1: just because that's one thing in my whole career, like
Speaker 1: ever so little bro. I'm like, I'm probably never gonna
Speaker 1: get that, like, you know, a triple devil. So I
Speaker 1: remember was playing the Wizards and Sack. It was my
Speaker 1: third year, and hey, I might have had like twelve
Speaker 1: boards that game. I don't know how, but I got it.
Speaker 1: And after the game they gave me the ball and
Speaker 1: they're like, you're the shortest person and hit story it again.
Speaker 1: I was like, well, she at least I got something
Speaker 1: for I can go. I don't think anybody shorter than
Speaker 1: me he's gonna, you know, get a triple devil. It's
Speaker 1: that's why that's why I give all respect to to Westbrook,
Speaker 1: whether he's chasing rebounds or not, like you gotta go,
Speaker 1: he makes it look so easy. That's why I don't
Speaker 1: think people appreciate it. Don't you look up real quick
Speaker 1: and like, damn, he's got nothing in the first quarter
Speaker 1: that they don't. They just don't appreciate it makes it
Speaker 1: look like it's not that that's hard to exactly. Um,
Speaker 1: speaking of short guards, obviously the evolution you were one
Speaker 1: of the smaller players. But you handed yourself, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: Nate Archball, the other Isaiah Thomas, uh, Damon Stodolma, Allen Iverson.
Speaker 1: Who are some of the guys you looked up to
Speaker 1: knowing that you weren't gonna be ye six eight type
Speaker 1: Manag Johnson point guard. Um, obviously my names said. Isaiah
Speaker 1: Thomas was you know, a big one, um you know
Speaker 1: watching his old tapes. But Damon Stoddemyer was somebody I
Speaker 1: modeled my whole game after. Um, he's somebody from the
Speaker 1: Pacific Northwest. Lefty stayed in the pack team like somebody
Speaker 1: that you know, realistically, I felt like I could be
Speaker 1: like obviously Kobe was, you know, my favorite player ever.
Speaker 1: But then you also had Trill Brandon from the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 1: It was big muggy bogs, Nate Robinson, you know, all
Speaker 1: the small guys that paved the way for me. But
Speaker 1: Allen Iverson and Damon Stoddemar were too that you know,
Speaker 1: I felt like, somehow, some way I can somewhat beat them.
Speaker 1: And you know, Damon was a little more realistic. But
Speaker 1: then when I you know, start you know, started to
Speaker 1: cook them boys, I'm like Okay, maybe I can be
Speaker 1: Allen Iverson, you know so, and then when I got
Speaker 1: the stamp from him, it was like, nobody can tell
Speaker 1: me nothing after he you know, after he at me.
Speaker 1: And but those are the small guards that you know,
Speaker 1: I looked up to. Obviously everybody before me. They made
Speaker 1: it and was small. They paved the way from me.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. But those number of guys really helped
Speaker 1: me throughout my whole career, whether it be when I
Speaker 1: was in college, you know, are throughout my NBA career,
Speaker 1: and I can't thank them enough. Tell us about your
Speaker 1: upbringing and when did you find sports, in particular basketball.
Speaker 1: So I'm from Tacoma, Washington, UM, about forty minutes south
Speaker 1: of Seattle. My parents always said I had a ball
Speaker 1: in my hands since I was a little boy. So
Speaker 1: basketball was the first thing I you know, I fell
Speaker 1: in love with. You know, what I knew what love
Speaker 1: was was basketball, like real talking. And I remember third grade,
Speaker 1: third grade, my dad took me to my first signings
Speaker 1: game signings versus Lakers, um actually signings versus Timberwood, Stephan
Speaker 1: Marbury in and KG and I wore a Laker warm
Speaker 1: up because my dad's from Inglewood. So I was brainwashing
Speaker 1: to being a Leak fan. So I wore a Laker,
Speaker 1: the little purple breakaway pants, the yellow TI on a
Speaker 1: Timberwoold science game. It didn't make no sense. But basketball.
Speaker 1: Since that day, since I was able to, you know,
Speaker 1: be in the tunnel slap NBA player's hands like that
Speaker 1: changed my life. I felt like that's what I wanted
Speaker 1: to be since that day. And you know, to fast
Speaker 1: forward to now, you know, when I'm playing NBA games
Speaker 1: and you see that fan with his hand out, I
Speaker 1: make sure slapthoughers because that's like you used to be him.
Speaker 1: I used to be him, and that's what made my dream. Like,
Speaker 1: that's what made my dream in reality, those little things
Speaker 1: and for me to be able to, you know, do
Speaker 1: those things two kids in the next generation, that means everything.
Speaker 1: But ever since I was in third grade, basketball was
Speaker 1: the my ultimate goal to make it to the NBA.
Speaker 1: Your name represents greatness in this game. Tell everyone how
Speaker 1: you actually got your name. It's two sides to it.
Speaker 1: So my dad's a Leaker fan. He made a wager
Speaker 1: with one of his friends. If this is what they're
Speaker 1: telling me, this is what they're telling me on his
Speaker 1: name they made. He made a wager with one of
Speaker 1: his friends that if you know, the Pistons beat the Lakers,
Speaker 1: he would name me Isaiah Thomas. My mom loved the name,
Speaker 1: but she grew up in church. She wanted to spelled
Speaker 1: the biblical way. So it was two sides. Two of
Speaker 1: my dad lost to bed my dad. I mean, my
Speaker 1: mom loved the name, but she's having to get swept
Speaker 1: that year, right. Yeah. Yeah, they gotta beat and that's
Speaker 1: how your name you So that that's the story that
Speaker 1: they got. They they and then I happen to play hoops,
Speaker 1: so we took it and ran with it. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's funny. What was the funniest? At mentioned on social
Speaker 1: media that you remember what it was supposed to be
Speaker 1: directed to Isaiah Thomas g Man when the last dance
Speaker 1: came out, they hated. Oh my that was on me though,
Speaker 1: Like when the dance came out, Oh my goodness, it
Speaker 1: was like for them whatever, six straight weeks, every episode
Speaker 1: it was like, f you fter bad boys. Then you
Speaker 1: got something hitting me like your dad's this and that.
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm just laughing at it because I'm a
Speaker 1: little that, you know, like I have nothing to do
Speaker 1: with the bad Boys the last dance. I got nothing
Speaker 1: to do. That's not my pops. But you know that
Speaker 1: happens every now and then, especially when I was you know,
Speaker 1: when I was a little younger and Isaiah Thomas was
Speaker 1: on the Knicks. You know, they used to do him
Speaker 1: when he was the coach. I used to go to
Speaker 1: them games with Jamal because Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson
Speaker 1: was on them teams. And it even started from near
Speaker 1: social media. They was like it was they'd be on
Speaker 1: his head. I'd be feeling bad because they be on
Speaker 1: my head too sometimes, but a lot be directed at
Speaker 1: him because I'm m J. Stuff Funny. The culture in basketball,
Speaker 1: just to the energy of the Pacific nor West, particularly
Speaker 1: the Seattle area, basketball has been so strong. Um, what
Speaker 1: is it like out there in the summer. I mean,
Speaker 1: you guys probably have the most pros you could think
Speaker 1: of it, But what are those summers like? I know
Speaker 1: Jamal runs a summer league, but what is that interaction like?
Speaker 1: Because you guys have so many people that played in
Speaker 1: the NBA that are going to the NBA, that have
Speaker 1: played in the NBA. Man, this everything and you know
Speaker 1: to to answer the question. First, is Doug Christy started that.
Speaker 1: You know, Doug Chrissy was he was the one that
Speaker 1: started that with Jamal and Jason Terry and those guys,
Speaker 1: and then it just trickled down. And I remember when
Speaker 1: I first met Jamal. I've known Jason since I was
Speaker 1: in third grade. His dad coached me growing up in
Speaker 1: high school. So Jet always been a mentor of mind.
Speaker 1: But when I met Jamal, I was fifteen years old.
Speaker 1: I met Jamal. I remember the things that those guys
Speaker 1: always told me was like the things we do for you,
Speaker 1: we want you to do for the next guys coming up.
Speaker 1: And it's always been like that, and you know, in
Speaker 1: that area, it's been like that. From Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry,
Speaker 1: you go Brandon Roory, Nate Robinson, Aaron Brooks, Spencer Hawes,
Speaker 1: Martell Webster, the first guy out out of Seattle to
Speaker 1: go out of high school, stare of high school to
Speaker 1: the NBA, and the list goes on. I mean, you
Speaker 1: got those older guys, then you got me the Jon
Speaker 1: T Murray, Kevin Porter Jr. Michael Porter Junior play one
Speaker 1: year high school in Seattle. So we're gonna count him in.
Speaker 1: I know I'm missing a lot, but the McDaniels brothers
Speaker 1: that play right now, we gotta we got a young
Speaker 1: group of guys that that are coming up as well,
Speaker 1: so you know that that circle is really tight. And
Speaker 1: like you said, the summertimes be like when dudes get
Speaker 1: back home the next couple of weeks, you know it's
Speaker 1: gonna be It's gonna be like summer scene the runs
Speaker 1: at ul A explained the summer scene because of the
Speaker 1: Summer League, Like you gotta have people from all over
Speaker 1: the NBA but all the world coming out there to
Speaker 1: play Jamal Summer League. And like I said, that started
Speaker 1: with Doug Christie back in the day, and then it
Speaker 1: transferred over to Jamal, which Doug gave it, gave reins
Speaker 1: to Jamal, and Jamal has been I mean, he's at
Speaker 1: you out there, He's at He's had everybody out there.
Speaker 1: And that's the dope thing because during the week we play,
Speaker 1: all the pros play, and then during the weekend is
Speaker 1: when Jamal asked his his pro am. So it's like
Speaker 1: all week we're hoping and we're kicking it with each other. Right,
Speaker 1: It's real. It's a real brotherhood up there. That you know,
Speaker 1: unless you're in it, you can't. It's hard to explain.
Speaker 1: Everybody's super solid and super close because we went out there.
Speaker 1: When we went out there for a Jamal's wedding wedding
Speaker 1: and played at midnight. We had at midnight and it
Speaker 1: was like ship was sold out. But that's when I
Speaker 1: saw the Dejon Murray for the first time. That because
Speaker 1: this high school kid who's nice as fun, I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, you know, I was already blowed. I didn't
Speaker 1: really want to play anyway. It was at midnight. You
Speaker 1: just trying. You want me to stay sober the whole
Speaker 1: entire Anyway, we made it happen. But this young boys,
Speaker 1: he was incredible. Bro Like he's like a young Jamal
Speaker 1: watching he had bounced to this nigga was in I
Speaker 1: think he's only a junior at the time the game,
Speaker 1: but I remember that just like it was midnight and
Speaker 1: the gym was packed. That's how much love they had
Speaker 1: for Jamal. It was crazy. But he did it for
Speaker 1: its wedding though. It was like one of his wedding
Speaker 1: and that was like we all like blade DJ out
Speaker 1: there high school. You spent three years self camp prep
Speaker 1: and then you transferred. What made you go prep school?
Speaker 1: So prep school. I had to get my academics right
Speaker 1: in order for me to accept the scholarship at University
Speaker 1: of Washington. So, um, I did three years of high
Speaker 1: school at back home, UM, I did two years. I
Speaker 1: did an extra year of high school at the prep school.
Speaker 1: So I had to get my grades right in order
Speaker 1: for me to accept the scholarship. And then once I
Speaker 1: was able to do that, which was probably the toughest
Speaker 1: thing I've ever been through in terms of it was
Speaker 1: an all boys school, suit and tie every day. It
Speaker 1: was just different from where I came from. And then
Speaker 1: at sixteen years old, leaving you know, my parents, leaving
Speaker 1: my clothes home, that was tough. That was that was
Speaker 1: a cultural change for me. Like it went from me
Speaker 1: having to wear a suit and tie every day to
Speaker 1: you know, me being the man back home like that.
Speaker 1: That that was tough. But in order for me accomplished
Speaker 1: my goal of making it to college and you know,
Speaker 1: possibly making it to the NBA, I had to go
Speaker 1: do it. And looking back at it now, that was
Speaker 1: probably one of the best decisions in my life because
Speaker 1: it made me grow up faster than I needed to.
Speaker 1: I was on my own at six team, so you know,
Speaker 1: from sixteen on, I haven't been back home, you know,
Speaker 1: like we're living under my parents, and I think that's
Speaker 1: helped me become you know, the young man, the man
Speaker 1: I am today and you know, ultimately the father I
Speaker 1: am as well. So you know, it was it was
Speaker 1: a good side too. Yeah, at the time that that
Speaker 1: ship was, it made me think, Yeah, I was in Connecticut,
Speaker 1: the middle of nowhere. But luckily the good thing about
Speaker 1: that Jamal and Nate played for the Knicks. So I
Speaker 1: would take the train up. Yeah, I would take a
Speaker 1: little train over the White Plains for the weekend and
Speaker 1: I was able to kick it with them. So who
Speaker 1: else was recruiting you besides Washington? So ultimately, um, before
Speaker 1: I committed to Washington, I was going to commit to Indiana.
Speaker 1: I wanted to Guysa Thomas. I wanted to following that,
Speaker 1: they had a coach and Mike Davis, which was African
Speaker 1: African America and coach. It was. It was really good
Speaker 1: and gave me one of my first offers. He ended
Speaker 1: up getting fired and I had to go in a
Speaker 1: different direction. And then I if I wasn't gonna go
Speaker 1: to Indiana. I wanted to stay home. And then but
Speaker 1: when I went to prep school, that's when like Yukon
Speaker 1: came on me all the East coast, and I was
Speaker 1: thinking about opening my recruitment back up because you know,
Speaker 1: I was never recruited by them schools. But then, you know,
Speaker 1: I wanted to go back to the crib. At the
Speaker 1: end of the day, I wanted to be home. I
Speaker 1: took two years. I was two years away from home already.
Speaker 1: I was ready to get back home and you know,
Speaker 1: try to put on for for my town. And I
Speaker 1: was able to do that in a in a cool,
Speaker 1: solid way a lot of accolades packed ten freshmen the
Speaker 1: Year Tournament m v P. What was your college experience
Speaker 1: like that you were back at home and you were
Speaker 1: killing man, it was everything because you know, before before
Speaker 1: I went there, should we had Nate Robinson, there Will Conroy,
Speaker 1: Trey Simmons, m Brandon Roy obviously the best, you know,
Speaker 1: guy to come out of University Washington. But you know,
Speaker 1: when I was headed back home, I was hyped because
Speaker 1: I was away for two years, so I was hyped
Speaker 1: to be able to you know, put on for the
Speaker 1: state of Washington, to be able to you know, go
Speaker 1: to a big time college and just who and be
Speaker 1: home at doing it. So it was it was probably
Speaker 1: the best experience of my lifetime. Like college was so dope,
Speaker 1: just you know, lifelong friends that we still got group
Speaker 1: text with with all my teammates and everything with being
Speaker 1: back home and going to college was everything I dreamed of,
Speaker 1: and we happened to be pretty good. Like we went
Speaker 1: to Sweet sixteen one year, we went to n c
Speaker 1: A tournament three years in a row, so it was
Speaker 1: it was some success back home. And then you know,
Speaker 1: ultimately I was able to get my jersey retired back
Speaker 1: in college, so it was ship that you know, it
Speaker 1: was happening then I didn't even dream of when I
Speaker 1: was a kid. Talked to us about your legendary shot
Speaker 1: you made in the pack team tournament. So the shot,
Speaker 1: um that was that was everything because obviously it was
Speaker 1: a National TV championship games as Johnson in Staples Center.
Speaker 1: You know, Coby's my favorite player, so it was like
Speaker 1: that whole last possession, I was like, man, this is
Speaker 1: what Kobe did, this is what and my coach for
Speaker 1: the first time in my little college career, when I
Speaker 1: told him it's good, I got it. He was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: go to work, and I was able to, you know,
Speaker 1: isolation play at the top of the key. I think
Speaker 1: yet the day before kimber Walker hit hit step Back,
Speaker 1: so it was already in my mind like, okay, I
Speaker 1: might have to go to the step back, this is
Speaker 1: my chance, and you know I did. I did a
Speaker 1: little crossover. He sat on the crossover step back at me,
Speaker 1: my separation, and once I shot it, you know, I
Speaker 1: knew what was going in and and it was just
Speaker 1: like you know, everything you dreamed of being in outside
Speaker 1: at the park when you're a little counting down from
Speaker 1: ten and you know, thinking you're Michael Jordan's than you're
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's Kobe. So that was that was like a
Speaker 1: moment that you know, I'm an cherish forever for sure.
Speaker 1: Who as did you? Busting CAUs was mimmorable man. College was.
Speaker 1: College was tough. You know, I didn't really cook nobody
Speaker 1: like I was doing in the NBA in college. You know,
Speaker 1: I didn't. I didn't. You know, college is a little
Speaker 1: well you didn't go to college. So college was, you know,
Speaker 1: it was It's harder to score in college. I feel
Speaker 1: like because it's just there's no space, no space, no
Speaker 1: defensive three seconds in the key. So obviously I was
Speaker 1: doing well, but I didn't really cook nobody that that
Speaker 1: I can remember. Obviously, the the game winning shot was
Speaker 1: probably my biggest moment. And I had a pretty good
Speaker 1: game that game too, but it wasn't no game where
Speaker 1: it stood out where I was frying the next guard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not, I'm not even I could have just but
Speaker 1: you saved that for the biggest stage. Yeah. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: that the game winner was I could say that was.
Speaker 1: That was probably the one of my best games. So
Speaker 1: with all the accolades you acquired in college and you
Speaker 1: end up being the last pick of the draft that
Speaker 1: after after you're done, what was that? Like? That was
Speaker 1: the longest day of my life. That was? That was
Speaker 1: a tough day, just because I probably obviously going into
Speaker 1: the draft I knew I wasn't gonna be like I was.
Speaker 1: I was projected to be early second round, like that
Speaker 1: was the highest I was like, okay, I'm solid with that.
Speaker 1: If I'm just giving a realistic chance, I'm taking them
Speaker 1: run with it. I probably had like twenty workouts, you know,
Speaker 1: that pre draft, so I was chasing everybody like I was.
Speaker 1: I was just trying to just show everybody that I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm better than the next week some of the
Speaker 1: guys you were working on the draft. Who was in
Speaker 1: that draft with you? Man, So Kyrie Averon was number one,
Speaker 1: obviously he wasn't he wasn't about to go against nobody
Speaker 1: but Brandon Knight. I went against him. I went against
Speaker 1: a few second round guys they got picked ahead of me.
Speaker 1: Um not that you know, I don't want to put
Speaker 1: no names out there. We ain't on that. But I
Speaker 1: destroyed dudes. I destroyed them. I destroyed I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not even like, I'm not even gotta sugarcoated. I destroyed them.
Speaker 1: And that's why it was frustrating on draft night because
Speaker 1: I'm like, I think, what else do they want? Like
Speaker 1: we went head to head, guys is getting drafted before me.
Speaker 1: I've better college careers than them, And it was just tough.
Speaker 1: But you know, at the end of the day, I
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, if I'm drafted, that's all I ever
Speaker 1: asked for. It was a chance Sacramento, which was my
Speaker 1: first workout in two thousand eleven. I forgot all about
Speaker 1: them after the Lakers. They have four second round picks,
Speaker 1: and I thought at least one of those picks was
Speaker 1: gonna be me. And once they picked two guards where
Speaker 1: I think, like the fifty second pick, fifty fourth pick,
Speaker 1: my mind started the race like, dang, I probably not
Speaker 1: gonna get drafted because I forgot about Sack. And then
Speaker 1: my agent called me, like the fifty eight pick. They
Speaker 1: he like, Sacks gonna drafted with the last pick, and
Speaker 1: that's when I was like, cool, I'm not even tripping
Speaker 1: if they give me a chance. I'm prepared. I know what,
Speaker 1: I know what to do with it. And then you know,
Speaker 1: my back was against the wall because that year was
Speaker 1: the lockout year. We didn't have no summer league, so
Speaker 1: you know summer leagues where I could have got busy,
Speaker 1: and you know, I got a guarantee deal. So I
Speaker 1: went all the way into Shi the lock I was over,
Speaker 1: like I think the day before Christmas, Chas got invited
Speaker 1: to training camp and then it was all she wrote
Speaker 1: after that, like I was able to get a solid
Speaker 1: opportunity to show, you know, I can play at this level,
Speaker 1: and you know, every step of the way, that's all
Speaker 1: I did. I just prepared myself and then when my
Speaker 1: name was called, I tak advantage. What was your welcome
Speaker 1: to the NBA moment? My welcome to the NBA moment
Speaker 1: was So the first game of the season, we played
Speaker 1: the Lakers um Kobe Bryant, obviously my favorite player ever,
Speaker 1: there was a ruling training camp, Paul Westfall rest in peace.
Speaker 1: Guys would try to back me down, and they would
Speaker 1: just always turn the ball over for whatever reason. Like
Speaker 1: I'm not saying I'm super defender, it's just they would
Speaker 1: They would try to exploit, you know, the mismatch, but
Speaker 1: always seemed to turn the ball over and take a
Speaker 1: bad shot. So in training camp, Paul west Falls like
Speaker 1: nobody's backing down. I t like, don't do it, or
Speaker 1: you're you know, you're getting subbed out. So when Paul
Speaker 1: west Fall put me in the game, I remember the
Speaker 1: second quarter he's naming who everybody got, and then I'm like, coach,
Speaker 1: who do I got? He's like, you got Kobe, and
Speaker 1: remember nobody can back you down. I'm like like it
Speaker 1: was funny because I was like, I appreciate you putting
Speaker 1: me in, but bro Kobe's back and everybody down, Like
Speaker 1: it didn't it didn't matter. So the first three possessions,
Speaker 1: they do a little ice. So I'm over behind Kobe
Speaker 1: just smiling like I'm like, I'm smiling, trying to guarden,
Speaker 1: knowing he's about to fade away. He hits two out
Speaker 1: of three shots. The first shot he hit, I'm spreading
Speaker 1: down court just laughing, like, damn, I'm here, like the
Speaker 1: first time in my life where somebody scored on me.
Speaker 1: I was like I was. I was smiling and happy
Speaker 1: about it because you know, that was my favorite player.
Speaker 1: So it was like even touching his jersey, I was like, damn,
Speaker 1: I made it. Just faded away on me all game solid,
Speaker 1: And that was my welcome to the NBA moment. West
Speaker 1: Hall throwing me in there and being like nobody could
Speaker 1: back you down, and me having to guard Kobe the
Speaker 1: first three possessions of my NBA career. So that was
Speaker 1: Remember how many he had that game. I don't remember
Speaker 1: how many he had, but he had four on me,
Speaker 1: he had two. He was two for three. He was
Speaker 1: two for three on me. So that was that was
Speaker 1: my little welcome to the NBA moment. For sure. What
Speaker 1: was the state of the Kings at that time? You
Speaker 1: got that a lot of young talent. Yeah, we was,
Speaker 1: and we had de Marcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, we had
Speaker 1: we had a talented team. Like but like you said,
Speaker 1: we were young. We was young. I think it was
Speaker 1: three or four coaches in my three years there, so
Speaker 1: there was no like stability there and it was just tough.
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys know, being on the young team,
Speaker 1: having having different coaches, there's no structure. So that was
Speaker 1: that was probably the toughest part. Because we had the talent,
Speaker 1: we just couldn't put it together. We just couldn't put
Speaker 1: it together. But my experience has Sacked. They gave me
Speaker 1: my first chance. Then fans and Sack are amazing the
Speaker 1: community and sacked like I fell in love with Sacramento
Speaker 1: like that will always be you know, a special place
Speaker 1: in my heart for sure because they gave me my
Speaker 1: first Yeah, yeah, shout out to your on town. They
Speaker 1: gave me my first They gave me my first opportunity,
Speaker 1: and you know, I tried to take it around with it.
Speaker 1: Talk to us about how good book he was. Man,
Speaker 1: he was every big before before what they're doing now
Speaker 1: and be joker, Yeah he was with all due respect,
Speaker 1: but he was you know what they are now like
Speaker 1: he was the point sending in yea doing it all.
Speaker 1: He was doing everything, and it was that's the frustrating
Speaker 1: part because he was doing so much, but there was
Speaker 1: no way we was we just wasn't built to win.
Speaker 1: And it was just a waste of years for him
Speaker 1: because as you guys know, the first few years, like
Speaker 1: obviously everybody's trying to get paid. But that was like
Speaker 1: a generational talent, you know, before he got hurt, he
Speaker 1: was I mean, he was what MB's doing. He could
Speaker 1: bang with you, he could take you to the wingah
Speaker 1: wait wait, wait more fluid and you know, bookies, that's
Speaker 1: that's my dog. And he did it, you know, his way,
Speaker 1: like like it wasn't gonna be no other way. But
Speaker 1: he you know, you the only thing you can do
Speaker 1: is respect that he didn't change for nobody, and you know,
Speaker 1: that's that's my dog. And I'm happy to see him,
Speaker 1: you know, in a winning situation where he could you know,
Speaker 1: possibly want to check. I think he got some good
Speaker 1: games and now he got some situation right now where
Speaker 1: they rocked with him too. So it's important, you know,
Speaker 1: that's all it's about. Mike Malone. What kind of coaches,
Speaker 1: he what was your connection, Like Mike was a players coach,
Speaker 1: he was he was for the culture for sure, and
Speaker 1: I think that was the first coach did the markets,
Speaker 1: you know, somewhat respected, you know, from day one, and
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, you see what he's doing
Speaker 1: in Denver right now, it's like it's obvious because he's
Speaker 1: a player's coach. He relates to the players, and he's
Speaker 1: been like that ever since. You know, he's been an
Speaker 1: assistant in the league. His dad was a coach with
Speaker 1: the with the Bad Boys. Um, so it's it's installed
Speaker 1: in them to be that. And he's a hell of
Speaker 1: a coach man. He let me rock out. My third
Speaker 1: year was kind of like my breakout year. You know,
Speaker 1: I averaged twenty points six assists, and I had a
Speaker 1: lot to do with him. I remember one conversation he
Speaker 1: had with me at one point in my third year
Speaker 1: because everybody was in my ear about, you know, trying
Speaker 1: to be a pass first point guard. That's just never
Speaker 1: been who I am. I'm a scoring guard that makes plays.
Speaker 1: And I mean one time he brought me inside. He's like, Bro,
Speaker 1: you can't be John Stockton. There's no way you're not
Speaker 1: gonna be him, be you, and be who Isaiah Thomas is.
Speaker 1: And you know, ever since that day, I kind of
Speaker 1: took that, you know, that confidence that he instilled in
Speaker 1: me and ran with it because you know, all all
Speaker 1: the NBA is about his opportunity and situation. Everybody got
Speaker 1: who game if you if you're putting the right situation
Speaker 1: where there's confidence poured into you nine times to attend sure,
Speaker 1: that's what people don't understand. THO was that kid? A
Speaker 1: situation like that in Golden State that the team Jack
Speaker 1: and I played on with Nellly was like the first coach,
Speaker 1: I just go out there, but I don't care if
Speaker 1: you make a mistakes, just play hard. And when you
Speaker 1: hear a coach tell you, like, really, what I'm in
Speaker 1: the coach? You know, all due respect to every coach
Speaker 1: out there, but you know that could be the best
Speaker 1: defender for most players, right, you know, he could be
Speaker 1: first team All defense for real bull you know, and
Speaker 1: you gotta, you know, somehow figure out ways to to
Speaker 1: get past those. But you know, sometimes that should be tough.
Speaker 1: You break out with the career or your third year
Speaker 1: twenty point six or sist you're part of a signing
Speaker 1: trade to Phoenix and talk to us about that with
Speaker 1: that blindside, Are you expecting that? No, it was because
Speaker 1: I signed with Phoenix UM in the free agent and
Speaker 1: then they had to work to signing trade. So I
Speaker 1: knew that was gonna happen. I was surprised that I
Speaker 1: didn't go back to Sack. That was probably the biggest
Speaker 1: surprise because I felt like with them bringing guards in
Speaker 1: every year and then me sending them out, I feel
Speaker 1: like that was enough for two or straight years. But
Speaker 1: you know, obviously, change your heart whatever the situation. Maybe
Speaker 1: I go to Phoenix. We end up having three guards,
Speaker 1: Blessed Old Tragic. Tragic just come third team All NBA.
Speaker 1: He had a hell of a year. They almost make
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I'm playing well that year. Obviously we're playing well.
Speaker 1: I think we're seventh in the in the West before
Speaker 1: the trade deadline happened in the trade, but it was
Speaker 1: just it was before you know now where three or
Speaker 1: four guards can play with each other at the same time.
Speaker 1: It was just tough, like because every night somebody was upset.
Speaker 1: Obviously because we had Tragic bled so me. We also
Speaker 1: had Gerald Green too, so like me and Gerald was
Speaker 1: coming off the bench, and there'll be some nights where
Speaker 1: we are in the game and obviously they just played bled.
Speaker 1: They're trying to pay Tragic, so they're gonna be hot,
Speaker 1: you know, if they don't end the game. So it
Speaker 1: was heated at times, not between us though, not between
Speaker 1: the players. Obviously we had we was we were solid.
Speaker 1: That was one of my, you know, my best teams
Speaker 1: I've been on in terms of the guys on the team,
Speaker 1: the camaraderie we had everybody. Everybody messed with each other,
Speaker 1: and Phoenix, you know, is all of it. So then
Speaker 1: you know, and then I get traded in the or
Speaker 1: a year to where it was a blessing of guys.
Speaker 1: Obviously I get traded the Boston It was all she
Speaker 1: wrote after that. I mean, obviously you're you can continue
Speaker 1: to improve and everything kind of comes together in Boston, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, with the historical franchise talked to us about
Speaker 1: obviously being there and then how things just kind of
Speaker 1: continue to transpire for you. So for me going to Boston, UM,
Speaker 1: I was caught. I was caught off guard with that
Speaker 1: trade mid season because we was in the playoff race.
Speaker 1: We knew Tragic demanded the trade, so we were waiting
Speaker 1: on that, and then when that happened, like five minutes later,
Speaker 1: agent calls, he's like, you're about to get traded to Boston.
Speaker 1: I'm like, damn, I'm already thinking they just traded Rondo,
Speaker 1: so they rebuilding, Like this would be my first time
Speaker 1: even possibly making the playoffs if I stayed with Phoenix.
Speaker 1: So I was hot at the situation because I knew
Speaker 1: they were in rebuild mode and I'm like, man, I
Speaker 1: don't want to be on a bad team again. But
Speaker 1: I remember the first person calling me after the trade.
Speaker 1: Oh Guysaiah Thomas. He's like, you might not think it now,
Speaker 1: but this is gonna be the best. This is the best,
Speaker 1: you know, situation for your career. And at that time,
Speaker 1: I'm like, and bro, I'm in Phoenix is high. I
Speaker 1: don't even got a coat. Boston is rebuilding. This coat
Speaker 1: is hell out there. I'm like, man, I don't want
Speaker 1: to go. This is before I talked to Danny, talked
Speaker 1: to Brad, all them. So then I get traded there,
Speaker 1: and then I just you know, genuinely, it worked out
Speaker 1: like they needed somebody like me. I needed somebody like
Speaker 1: them that was gonna give me a chance. To go
Speaker 1: rock out and then I was able to do that.
Speaker 1: Brad put the ball in my hands, and you know
Speaker 1: it was for three years. It was it was everything
Speaker 1: I dreamed of, you know, being the man obviously from
Speaker 1: the jump. It wasn't like that. I was the six
Speaker 1: man the first year and the second year. So who
Speaker 1: was on the team when you first got there? Are
Speaker 1: the starters, So it was Marcus Smart, every Bradley and
Speaker 1: that was Smarts rookie year, every Bradley, and then I
Speaker 1: forgot who else after Evan Turner was there and those
Speaker 1: were the guards. So my first year I was thinking
Speaker 1: when I got traded, I'm like, okay, I'm coming in
Speaker 1: and starting cool. They said I was coming off the bench.
Speaker 1: I was fine with that. I end up playing really
Speaker 1: well the end of the year. We end up going
Speaker 1: to the playoffs against swept by Cleveland. Fast forward the
Speaker 1: second year, which was my first All Star year. I
Speaker 1: remember Brad Stevens coming to me in pre CD. He's like, man,
Speaker 1: you're you're obviously our best player, but for this team
Speaker 1: will be best you to come off the bench. And
Speaker 1: I was like, like that hurt me because I worked
Speaker 1: hello hard that summer. I'm like, this is a good opportunity.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be starting it hurt, but I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: I get it. It's all good. Two games into the season,
Speaker 1: Smart end up getting hurt one game. I don't know
Speaker 1: how he messed up his tall shoot around. He like,
Speaker 1: I'm not playing. Brad's like, you're gonna start tonight. But
Speaker 1: this ain't permanent because they knew when when when they
Speaker 1: when they said I was starting. I'm like, okay, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take it the inn with. It's not permanent. Smart
Speaker 1: come back. You're gonna go back to im, Like okay,
Speaker 1: Smart comes back in two games. But those two games
Speaker 1: I had thirty one and nine. Every end up getting hurt.
Speaker 1: So I stayed in the star in line and then
Speaker 1: it was over after that, Like little little do people
Speaker 1: know that the start that year, I was supposed to
Speaker 1: come out the bench my first All Star year, and
Speaker 1: then those two lower injuries average thirty and then it
Speaker 1: was over. And then you know, I took that opportunity
Speaker 1: and ran with it. I ended up, you know, making
Speaker 1: my first All Star game, which was crazy because it
Speaker 1: was Kobe's last All Star game in Toronto, so it
Speaker 1: was just you know, I always dreamed of that happening. No,
Speaker 1: I don't. I didn't know if it was gonna happen.
Speaker 1: I didn't know if that opportunity was ever gonna come.
Speaker 1: But I knew one thing, I was gonna be prepared
Speaker 1: for it if it did. And then my third year,
Speaker 1: which was my second All Star year, the game just
Speaker 1: got The game just slowed down for me, like it
Speaker 1: was just so easy after that, No disrespect to nobody,
Speaker 1: it was just I knew every night I was gonna
Speaker 1: get thirty, just because I had the opport union I
Speaker 1: prepared for like I knew where my shots was coming from.
Speaker 1: I knew, I knew all of that, and I prepared,
Speaker 1: Like I said, I prepared for those moments. I always
Speaker 1: dreamed about being the man, being on one of the
Speaker 1: best teams in the NBA and having that opportunity, and
Speaker 1: then when it came. One thing that I do regret.
Speaker 1: Those opportunities I never like, I never, I guess I appreciate,
Speaker 1: not appreciated them. I was so locked in the moment
Speaker 1: that I was like, man, not like the fun I
Speaker 1: should ad sixty Like I never enjoyed those moments because
Speaker 1: I was just so locked into what's next. And I
Speaker 1: always say, like, I think I was just so paranoid
Speaker 1: because you know, nothing was ever given to me. So
Speaker 1: I was always just like I might go back to
Speaker 1: bench tomorrow, you know, like that was my mindset. So
Speaker 1: those three years in Boston were everything to me. They
Speaker 1: were they they they allowed me to reach heights that
Speaker 1: I only dreamed of, and they allowed me to reach,
Speaker 1: you know, be able to inspire so many kids that
Speaker 1: looked like me, that's my height, that did never get
Speaker 1: a real chance. So you know, that's what that was for.
Speaker 1: When I was able to hit the top like that,
Speaker 1: it was like it was for the next little dude
Speaker 1: that has that has a problem getting his foot in
Speaker 1: the league. You know, showing that a little dude can
Speaker 1: have the number one record in the NBA, to be
Speaker 1: the number one seed, to take a team to the
Speaker 1: conference finals, like that can happen, you know, when it's
Speaker 1: not normal. They don't like that. So that's that that's
Speaker 1: the hardest part. So you know, that was my motivation
Speaker 1: to make it easier for the you know, the guys
Speaker 1: coming behind me. So fast forward into the playoffs, the
Speaker 1: seventeen you tragically lose your sister. Um, talk to us
Speaker 1: about that moment, that experience. I lost my mom at
Speaker 1: the beginning after the We Believe season, like diagnosed with
Speaker 1: cancer number one, only seven, and I was out of it.
Speaker 1: The whole year was kind of a wash. You were
Speaker 1: able to, through the grace of God, continue on it
Speaker 1: and actually played great. But talk to us just about
Speaker 1: that experience and how important she was to you. Man,
Speaker 1: that was I always tell people that was the best
Speaker 1: year of my career, but the worst year of my life,
Speaker 1: you know, like that was that was real life ship
Speaker 1: that I went through, and that that I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: it's still it still hurts me to this day. But
Speaker 1: I think the thing that kept me going was like
Speaker 1: basketball has been the only thing that ever keep me
Speaker 1: going when I'm going through some real ship. So like
Speaker 1: people always asked me, how did you play? It was
Speaker 1: like that was the only option, that the only thing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wasn't about to be at the house and just
Speaker 1: crying the whole time. Like that was my to three
Speaker 1: hours where you know, I can get that off my mind.
Speaker 1: But then obviously at the end of the game, real
Speaker 1: life hit, Like when I'm going back home, it is
Speaker 1: just it's back to She's not here. So obviously my teammates,
Speaker 1: the organization, my family, you know, everybody in my im
Speaker 1: media circle helped me throughout that. Throughout that time, that
Speaker 1: was the that was the toughest time in my life.
Speaker 1: But to answer your question, basketball was the only thing
Speaker 1: that I could possibly do too to be solid for
Speaker 1: the most part, and that was all herd. That was
Speaker 1: all guy like, you know, I was, My hip was
Speaker 1: sucked up. I was battling and I wasn't just battling
Speaker 1: on the court. I was bottling in real life. And
Speaker 1: that that was that was the hardest part. And you know,
Speaker 1: knowing the season I had and how many people I
Speaker 1: was reaching to inspire, that's why I kept going. I'm like, bro,
Speaker 1: this can change somebody's life. You know that that's going
Speaker 1: through some real ship to give them the courage to
Speaker 1: keep going. And you know, that's all I did. Obviously
Speaker 1: I hurt myself even more. I sucked up my money,
Speaker 1: but in that moment, there was no other way, Like
Speaker 1: if I if I had to do it again, I
Speaker 1: would probably do it again because that was the only
Speaker 1: thing that they helped me through that, you know, the
Speaker 1: toughest time in my life. And you know, you take
Speaker 1: the good with the bad when it comes to stuff
Speaker 1: like that. Right, you dropped thirty three hours after hearing
Speaker 1: this news, rally your team back from an O two
Speaker 1: devasit to beat the Bulls, win the second round, going
Speaker 1: to the conference finals against Cleveland, and like you said,
Speaker 1: fux your hip up, but kept press because sometimes we're
Speaker 1: our our own worst enemies. And you know you're on
Speaker 1: the brink of consistent All star MVP conversation. That big
Speaker 1: paycheck is right around the corner, That hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: million is right around the corner, that competitor, and you
Speaker 1: wouldn't let you stop talk to us about just getting
Speaker 1: to that conference finals and then being heard and then
Speaker 1: kind of the trickle down effect after that. So I
Speaker 1: heard myself back in March, carynthon Towns that fell on
Speaker 1: me mhm um, tweeting my hip a little bit. But
Speaker 1: at that point in time, I only mess our knee up,
Speaker 1: like I sprained my knee. My hip was like I
Speaker 1: didn't feel nothing to a couple of weeks later where
Speaker 1: I just I felt some discomfort in my hip. It
Speaker 1: wasn't nothing crazy. We took in my eyes, everything was
Speaker 1: solid boom. Once we had the playoffs, the tragic news happened,
Speaker 1: my hip was slowly getting a little worse. The only
Speaker 1: thing that I would that I would have against Boston.
Speaker 1: You know, everybody hated Boston for what they did to me.
Speaker 1: It's a business. I understand it. I'm not tripping on it.
Speaker 1: The only thing that I I think they handled wrong
Speaker 1: was not explaining to me what the extent of my
Speaker 1: injury could be if I do play. So that that
Speaker 1: that was That was the biggest thing for me. Did
Speaker 1: I did? Did I disliked because nobody gave me no insight. Okay,
Speaker 1: if you do play, this can happen. We have to
Speaker 1: hear that because everything it's at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it was a bomb bruise, Like that's what they said,
Speaker 1: you know. So if you're gonna tell me it's a
Speaker 1: bone bruise, I'm playing ten times as here, like I'm
Speaker 1: gonna figure it out. I'm gonna get through that. So
Speaker 1: that was probably the only thing that I wish they
Speaker 1: would have done different, and I would have really sat
Speaker 1: down and really asked those questions like what worst case
Speaker 1: scenario or what happened? Obviously that didn't happen. Fast forward,
Speaker 1: I keep playing to Game two of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Speaker 1: I remember, no disrespect to Darren Williams, but he was
Speaker 1: on his way out like he was getting a little slower.
Speaker 1: I do a move and he just he just stand
Speaker 1: in front. I'm like, damn. I'm kind of fast and quick.
Speaker 1: I'm like, damn, Like what happened? And I just felt
Speaker 1: like a shot in my like in in my in
Speaker 1: my side, and I'm like, I tell the side. I'm
Speaker 1: like it might be over because I couldn't push off
Speaker 1: no more. And then you know, halftime comes and that's
Speaker 1: when they shut it down. They're like, you're done, and
Speaker 1: I'm like I couldn't. I couldn't move fast forward. I'm
Speaker 1: done for the season. We go take a look at
Speaker 1: um some some surgeons to see if I needed surgery.
Speaker 1: The best option was to wait it out, to let
Speaker 1: you know, the swelling go down, see see let the
Speaker 1: summer go by, and then see what I have. Then
Speaker 1: I get traded to Cleveland. So that that's what hurt
Speaker 1: me the most because they know all the ship she
Speaker 1: went through. I went through like I played with my
Speaker 1: sister and that was my decision. So that's not on them.
Speaker 1: The only thing that I would put on them is
Speaker 1: they didn't give me the extent of my injury. That's
Speaker 1: the only thing. But I decided to play, so I'll
Speaker 1: take that hit you said the payday. Obviously, that's in
Speaker 1: the back of my head. I'm thinking about, like I
Speaker 1: was gonna be a Max player, so to keep it real,
Speaker 1: I'm like, should I gotta play? Like you know, I'm
Speaker 1: five nine. If I don't play, they're gonna forget about me.
Speaker 1: That's how I always felt, just being the smaller guards.
Speaker 1: So I played through it hurt myself even more. Fast
Speaker 1: forward to August, out of nowhere, Danny calls me like,
Speaker 1: asked me how my day was this and that I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: everything solid. He's like, I t I just traded you.
Speaker 1: I'm like to where he's like Cleveland for Kyrie and
Speaker 1: then you know, obviously, I mean, it just don't seem
Speaker 1: real that at that point in time, I get off
Speaker 1: the phone with him, I tell my wife, tell my family,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, the only thing that that made me
Speaker 1: hot about it. I think if if I wasn't injured
Speaker 1: and I got traded, I was like, oh, I'm not tripping,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play with Brian we got a chance to
Speaker 1: win the championship. The fact that I was injured hurt me,
Speaker 1: Like you hurt me. I'm a human at the end
Speaker 1: of the day. And the fact that they knew how
Speaker 1: bad my hip was and to trade me on that
Speaker 1: that hurt. So, you know, there was a lot of
Speaker 1: people did you know. I was like, man, he should
Speaker 1: stop crying. He It was like, first of all, I
Speaker 1: wasn't the one bringing it up. The media was. I
Speaker 1: just answered the questions. And the second off, it was
Speaker 1: just like at the end of the day, like don't forget,
Speaker 1: like I got real feelings, Like I'm human and at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I'm not just a basketball player.
Speaker 1: So for them to trade me when I did get
Speaker 1: hurt on their watch, that was hurtful. But then after that,
Speaker 1: you know, I moved on, like I was able to
Speaker 1: rehab for like six months play in January. I think
Speaker 1: I played twelve thirteen games. It wasn't playing like they
Speaker 1: thought it was. They traded me to Lakers, and then
Speaker 1: you know, you go from being an all start in
Speaker 1: m VP too, you know, being on a rebuilding like
Speaker 1: your team there's not trying to make the playoffs in
Speaker 1: less than a year that that was. That was a
Speaker 1: lot for me. And then, like I told you guys earlier,
Speaker 1: dealing with pain every day like, but I was going
Speaker 1: through it like and at the end of day, my
Speaker 1: sister still ain't around, like, so I'm still trying to
Speaker 1: figure that out. So for like two three years straight, man,
Speaker 1: every day was a battle for me, like, you know,
Speaker 1: not just hoop wise, the health wise and that, Like
Speaker 1: I don't think people necessarily always understand, Like it wasn't
Speaker 1: about who at that point. It was about you know,
Speaker 1: every day trying to be in a good mood and
Speaker 1: have no pain. So you decided obviously just to let
Speaker 1: to wait it out then the first time around. So
Speaker 1: the first time, I decided to wait out because I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: the first option was to wait it out, see what
Speaker 1: it's gonna be like when the when the swelling goes,
Speaker 1: I mean to cut you off. When did you find
Speaker 1: out how serious it was when you heard it the
Speaker 1: second time? Or do you still didn't know how serious?
Speaker 1: So when I heard it the second time, when I
Speaker 1: was done with the season, we went to the best
Speaker 1: hip specialist and that's when it was like they've never
Speaker 1: seen cartilage go away that quick. So we went from
Speaker 1: in March she was a normal hip to bone on
Speaker 1: bone in June. Like that's three months. So in June
Speaker 1: when I went, when we went to go, you know,
Speaker 1: to the top hip specially hip specialists in New York,
Speaker 1: that's when I knew. I'm like, you feel me, My
Speaker 1: hip is messed up. So I gotta figure out what's
Speaker 1: the best what's the best option for me going forward?
Speaker 1: The number one option was the surgery I just got
Speaker 1: last year, but nobody got it. So I'm like, I'm
Speaker 1: not about to be the excess. Yeah, I'm not about to,
Speaker 1: especially when my careers on the line, Like I'm trying
Speaker 1: to get paid next year. At the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it was like, bro, I gotta be available to get
Speaker 1: paid next year, no matter what it is, whether it's max,
Speaker 1: whether it's a one year contrade, regardless whatever it is.
Speaker 1: So I was like, I can't have an option of
Speaker 1: surgery because I'm gonna have to sit out the whole year.
Speaker 1: It's a whole So how long is it? Was? The
Speaker 1: prose really eight to ten months, you know, So that
Speaker 1: was the I would have basically sat the whole year
Speaker 1: and win in the free agency not playing off of
Speaker 1: surgery that they haven't really seen nobody come off of.
Speaker 1: So then I rehab that year, played for the Cars,
Speaker 1: four teen games, get traded, play a few games for Lakers.
Speaker 1: I'm playing a little better for the Lakers. But then
Speaker 1: like my hip just still messed up. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: I talked it over with my close circle of people.
Speaker 1: I decided to just do at the scopic surgery, try
Speaker 1: to clean it out and see if that would help
Speaker 1: that shi. It made it worse. That should made it worse.
Speaker 1: I rehab for like ten months, and that's supposed to
Speaker 1: be like a four month rehab. It made it worse.
Speaker 1: I signed with Denver that year, the one year, the
Speaker 1: one year that minimum I don't play into February that year.
Speaker 1: They allowed me to take my whole time. So I
Speaker 1: appreciate the Denver Nuggets so much because they didn't pressure
Speaker 1: me into playing at all. They allowed me to take
Speaker 1: my time. Then you know, I'm feeling cool, but I'm
Speaker 1: just not myself and it's obvious, like I'm I'm a
Speaker 1: shell on myself and I'm I'm having to tell people
Speaker 1: I'm cool to get by obviously, I'm five nine on
Speaker 1: a injured hip. Like, you know, I'm not really even
Speaker 1: supposed to be an NB at this point because I
Speaker 1: can't be myself. I'm not quick, I'm not fast, I'm
Speaker 1: not who you know was able to be All stars.
Speaker 1: I'm not that no more. So. Then fast forward, I
Speaker 1: signed with the Wizards. I start. I played forty two games,
Speaker 1: I start forty of them. I'm playing solid, but still
Speaker 1: not great. Like when you're a little you gotta be exceptional,
Speaker 1: you gotta every night, gotta be special. And that wasn't me.
Speaker 1: They traded me the Clippers. I get waived. Fast forward,
Speaker 1: the pandemic happened. Everything shuts down, and that's when I
Speaker 1: had a heart to heart with myself, like okay, we're
Speaker 1: gonna ride this out and try to just force it
Speaker 1: and see if we can get on the team. Or
Speaker 1: I'm gonna fix my ultimate problem. And then you know,
Speaker 1: I sat down with the surgeon and that was the
Speaker 1: best ecusion of my life. It changed my whole life.
Speaker 1: You know, whether I'm on the NBA team or not.
Speaker 1: My daily life, I have no pain no more. I
Speaker 1: got range emotion. My surgical hip is better than my
Speaker 1: my you know, my my normal hip. It changed my
Speaker 1: whole life. It got my mental illness space where nobody
Speaker 1: can ever take that from me again. And when you
Speaker 1: get that shot, you're capable of taking care of it completely.
Speaker 1: Now you know what I mean. And that's why that's
Speaker 1: why I'm really not tripping on anything, because I'm like,
Speaker 1: I know, when it does come like a real legit chance,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be I'm gonna be prepared to take advantage
Speaker 1: of it. Before it was like the cards had to
Speaker 1: be perfect, but I had to be walking into some
Speaker 1: I didn't. I was. I was basically telling them I
Speaker 1: was good and knowing I wasn't, so everything had to
Speaker 1: be perfect. It had to be Okay, I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna be a starter. I'm gonna be a six man.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna play twenty five minutes. Now I know what
Speaker 1: I can work with. Now, it's like, you put me
Speaker 1: in any situation, if you really give me a chance,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna show you because I'm healthy and I'm only
Speaker 1: thirty two years old, Like I really haven't played in
Speaker 1: three years, so it's not like I was. I was
Speaker 1: banging my body in and playing the last eighty two
Speaker 1: games every year, like I really haven't hoop hoops. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in two two and a half years, you know, so
Speaker 1: I'm ready to go. There's something all of us. Man.
Speaker 1: When we played hurt, we on the outside in the shelf,
Speaker 1: we physically like, yeah, man, we can do it, but
Speaker 1: in the back of our mind were like, man, why
Speaker 1: am I out here hurting? And that's what it was.
Speaker 1: In the game. I'm like, I gotta fake it, but
Speaker 1: I know deep down like I'm I just don't got it.
Speaker 1: I was. I was relying on the jump shot at
Speaker 1: five nine. It's like my strength is going into in
Speaker 1: the in the paint and making it happen. I couldn't
Speaker 1: do what I've always done. So that was the most
Speaker 1: frustrating part. And then, you know, like I said, once
Speaker 1: the pandemic hit, I had to be real with myself.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, we're gonna either get the surgery or
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to thug it out and live with
Speaker 1: the consequences. And the surgery was like, Okay, it's gonna
Speaker 1: scare some people, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be healthy, and all I need is one, one,
Speaker 1: one person to give me a chance. And it took
Speaker 1: me six months to get back. So you know, I
Speaker 1: told you eight to ten months. It was six days
Speaker 1: a week for seven straight months in rehab because I
Speaker 1: knew it was at stake. It's like, this is my
Speaker 1: career on the line, and I love this ship, so
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do whatever it texted you don't get it back,
Speaker 1: and I'm here today. You know, I obviously, I obviously
Speaker 1: want to be on a team, but I know when
Speaker 1: my name is called, it's go times for real. You've
Speaker 1: gone into great detail about the physical pain and and
Speaker 1: day to day and even playing, But talk to us
Speaker 1: about that mental because you said your mentor is right
Speaker 1: and and and where you are mentally, because I'm sure
Speaker 1: the mental was more fun up than you actual pain was.
Speaker 1: The pain was obviously there, but the mentor was like
Speaker 1: I couldn't hide that. I couldn't take that, Like you couldn't.
Speaker 1: You gotta get through that somehow. And you know, with
Speaker 1: everything happening back to back, my sister me getting hurt,
Speaker 1: getting traded three or four times in that small span
Speaker 1: of time, like yeah, for the first time in my life. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm like, damn, like is it over or is this
Speaker 1: do I just gotta do something else? And it was
Speaker 1: a lot for me. The mental part cut to me.
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, I always was like,
Speaker 1: hoop is what I love. So if until I can't
Speaker 1: do it no more, I'm gonna try. And I always
Speaker 1: told people, I'm like, the easy thing to do at
Speaker 1: the end of the day is to quit. Anybody can
Speaker 1: walk in and quit and be like, I'm gonna throw
Speaker 1: the towel in, I'm tapping out. The hard thing to
Speaker 1: do is when some some real adversity hits you too,
Speaker 1: to be okay, how do I get through that wall?
Speaker 1: How do I get through that adversity? And I just
Speaker 1: stayed down, I stayed solid. I had the right people
Speaker 1: around me. Um. I remember d Rose telling me when
Speaker 1: we was the ro Is one of my close homies,
Speaker 1: and he told me when he was going through his ship,
Speaker 1: he was like, I was trying to fight against everybody.
Speaker 1: And once I let that fight, my mental just eased
Speaker 1: up and I was able to get through it all.
Speaker 1: And once you know, during that time with Cleveland and
Speaker 1: jumping the teams and chasing that that Max, once I
Speaker 1: was done with that, like and I had no more
Speaker 1: fight to to prove the people. I was like my
Speaker 1: mental just slowed all the way down and then Ship
Speaker 1: I did the surgery. I had no pain, no more.
Speaker 1: I'm like, my money is good, I'm I'm I'm straight,
Speaker 1: my kids is healthy. But one thing that kept me
Speaker 1: going was my little boys was watching me every day.
Speaker 1: Even though they would they would make jokes about how
Speaker 1: you know in the league, no more of you that
Speaker 1: you used to be. You miss everything now you used
Speaker 1: to make everything in Boston like those That's what kept
Speaker 1: me going because I knew if I did lay down
Speaker 1: and tap out at some point in their life, they're
Speaker 1: gonna tap out with some ship. That's That's that's why
Speaker 1: we comme in you, Bro. That's another reason why we
Speaker 1: want to want to have you on the show, because
Speaker 1: we're like giving giving our brothers that they flowers. I
Speaker 1: know a lot of times, Bro, I could be ing
Speaker 1: with my girl and I go to the game and
Speaker 1: I'm I'm not there. You know what I'm saying, just
Speaker 1: from an argument at home. I can't go out and perform.
Speaker 1: So our comm in you because to for everything you've
Speaker 1: been through it and to be able to perform and
Speaker 1: to still walk around with your chin up knowing how
Speaker 1: how even though we know it's not fat, but to
Speaker 1: still be strong. It takes a lot. But a lot
Speaker 1: of people that's on the outside looking in would never
Speaker 1: understand how hard that is, not at all, and and
Speaker 1: like and that's the mental side of it, Like we
Speaker 1: ain't even talking about the physical, like what you gotta
Speaker 1: fight and work out every day and grind and and
Speaker 1: then you're playing against the best players in the world.
Speaker 1: Like my physical wasn't there and my mental was checking out,
Speaker 1: so like I was, I was going through it. But
Speaker 1: you know, they like they say that it can't stom forever.
Speaker 1: You know, at some point that something got to come out.
Speaker 1: And I really felt that. And then having mentors like
Speaker 1: r I, P. Kobe Alright, P. Nipsey Hustle and really
Speaker 1: taking that marathon lifestyle and knowing, Okay, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: bumping the road, there's gonna be tough times that you're
Speaker 1: gonna hear that versity. But at the end of it,
Speaker 1: when you fight through that and you run through that wall,
Speaker 1: the only thing you can do is having your chin up.
Speaker 1: And nobody can tell me not no more. Like I've
Speaker 1: been through it and I came out of it. You
Speaker 1: feel me with my mental right then do no no
Speaker 1: goofy ship. Then do no lane, not nothing Lane. I
Speaker 1: just stayed true to myself and I stayed solid, and
Speaker 1: I just kept working. And you know, I know at
Speaker 1: some point that opportunity is gonna come because I never
Speaker 1: cheated the game, not one time, and I know it's
Speaker 1: gonna come. And when it does, I'm gonna take it
Speaker 1: wrong with it and I'm just smile. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: be like I told you so, I'm not gonna shoot
Speaker 1: on nobody. I'm gonna just smiling, be appreciative, and be like,
Speaker 1: you know, for the people that's looking, that's behind me,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be like, this is for you guys, because
Speaker 1: when you hit adversary, the best thing to do is
Speaker 1: just run through it. Find a way, ain't no choice.
Speaker 1: You get a chance to play for the US basketball team.
Speaker 1: How good was it to get out there and play
Speaker 1: with Joe? But just get out there and really play again?
Speaker 1: Pain free? Man? It was everything because you know a
Speaker 1: lot of people be like, why are you gonna play?
Speaker 1: You say you was this and that's like, I got
Speaker 1: no pride for this game. This game blessed me with
Speaker 1: you know, to have some money, to have to take
Speaker 1: care of my family, Like I got no pride when
Speaker 1: it comes to whop I go? How is that bad? Though? Yeah?
Speaker 1: How is that bad? So many people are So I'm
Speaker 1: going to Puerto Rico to play for the USA team.
Speaker 1: It didn't matter me. And Joe was laughing about that,
Speaker 1: like when they hit him for it, He's like, hell yeah,
Speaker 1: like to to who for free? I mean to who
Speaker 1: and go to Puerto Rico, travel the world like only
Speaker 1: real hoopers know that. Like I ain't got no pride,
Speaker 1: Like when I'm really done, I'm gonna be hooping in
Speaker 1: the Big Three. Teel me like it's pride about that.
Speaker 1: That's hoops, real hoopers. So when I when I got
Speaker 1: the chance to to you just got excited to go ahead.
Speaker 1: When when when I got the chance to play for
Speaker 1: Team USA in Puerto Rico, it was a no brainer.
Speaker 1: When they asked, I'm like, bro, give me an opportunity
Speaker 1: to show that I'm healthy, To give me an opportunity
Speaker 1: to play basketball on the team. And I just took
Speaker 1: it around with it. I took took it for what
Speaker 1: it was, and it was to go out there and
Speaker 1: play basketball. And that's what I did. And I was
Speaker 1: happy about that, and it ship had got me an
Speaker 1: opportunity with the Pelicans, you know. A month later, it
Speaker 1: got me a little cool tended with the Pelicans, and
Speaker 1: you know, that's just what I gotta do to get
Speaker 1: back in and I'm cool with it, So I love it.
Speaker 1: You mentioned our brother Rest in Peace and Nipsey Hustle.
Speaker 1: You guys that are particularly close, uh relationship talked to
Speaker 1: us about the relationship and what it was like. Man,
Speaker 1: I met Nipsey back in two thousand nine when I
Speaker 1: was in college. He used to dude shows up in
Speaker 1: Seattle and I had a teammate that was from the
Speaker 1: Crenshaw district that put me on Nipsey, which is his
Speaker 1: name is Darnielle ghent Um. He went to Crenshaw High
Speaker 1: School and everything. He's the first one to put me
Speaker 1: on Nipsey's music back in the oh eight oh nine.
Speaker 1: You know, we we communicated on Twitter somehow, we exchanged information.
Speaker 1: He came to Seattle, gave me some tickets. I got
Speaker 1: to chop it up with him, and then ever since
Speaker 1: then we was you know, we been close and he's
Speaker 1: just somebody that you know, it's easy to relate to,
Speaker 1: no matter you know what walk of life you are,
Speaker 1: what he stood for you can relate to if you're
Speaker 1: on an everyday grind, you know, And I spoke about
Speaker 1: you know what he called the marathon. You know, it's
Speaker 1: a lifestyle. And he's somebody that, you know, one of
Speaker 1: my mentors. Somebody did you know if I needed game
Speaker 1: on anything, you know, life about you know, the mental
Speaker 1: part of things, about keep going and running your race.
Speaker 1: That's somebody always chopped it up with and somebody that
Speaker 1: always gave me real, genuine game, no matter what the
Speaker 1: circumstances was. And you know, it's rest in peace to
Speaker 1: him forever. And somebody that you know, left a huge
Speaker 1: mark on society, on the culture of you know where
Speaker 1: you know guys like like us come from. And you
Speaker 1: know he lived he lived life the right way. And
Speaker 1: I think that's why so many people can't relate to,
Speaker 1: you know, what he's stood for. What's the best piece
Speaker 1: of advice he can ever gave? I think just to
Speaker 1: never give up. You know, your race is your race.
Speaker 1: I remember one time you're telling me your race is
Speaker 1: your race, don't ever compared to nobody else's. And I
Speaker 1: think throughout my whole career always took that and ran
Speaker 1: with it, because you know, it's especially in our profession,
Speaker 1: it's hard to not compare yourself to the next dude
Speaker 1: special when dudes is getting paid and you play the
Speaker 1: same position and you produced in the same But once
Speaker 1: he told me that back in like before I got
Speaker 1: to the league, I took that and ran with it.
Speaker 1: And I was never worried about what the next name
Speaker 1: was doing. I was always worried about and focus on,
Speaker 1: you know, my marathon and my race, because my ship
Speaker 1: is going to be different than anybody else's, and so
Speaker 1: how can I compare mind to somebody else when we're
Speaker 1: running two different marathons, two different races. And I think
Speaker 1: that's probably the best advice he gave me. And I,
Speaker 1: you know, I take it into this day pace of
Speaker 1: the Homi from one father and legend to another code.
Speaker 1: You wore his number when you had your brief ten
Speaker 1: day with the Pelicans. Talk to us about what he
Speaker 1: meant to you and some experience. You have a code man.
Speaker 1: Kobe man everything to me. And Kobe was, yeah, Kobe
Speaker 1: was my Michael Jordan's. You know, Kobe was, like I said,
Speaker 1: my my family is from Inglewood, so I was Brainwashington
Speaker 1: to being a Laker fan. So in ninety six, I
Speaker 1: was seven years old and knowing who Kobe was getting drafted.
Speaker 1: Shock just came over like that was my childhood, you know,
Speaker 1: being able to when we graduating. Yeah, ninety seven, I
Speaker 1: mean ninety six, I was seven years old. That's how
Speaker 1: when I got my ten day, I'm only thirty two now.
Speaker 1: When I got my tenday, a young dude called me,
Speaker 1: o g I'm like, Brod, don't do that. Don't do
Speaker 1: that one. Yeah, you were gonna wait a few years
Speaker 1: he was. He like, I'm twenty on, Like then I
Speaker 1: feel but I'm not. Yeah he was. I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm not that yet. But Kobe, you know, he was
Speaker 1: everything to my life, not just who. You know, I
Speaker 1: wanted to be him. I knew I wasn't just because
Speaker 1: I was. I wasn't gonna be six six, I wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna be as big as him, but you know, he
Speaker 1: inspired me in so many different ways. And then when
Speaker 1: I was able to, you know, reach that level of
Speaker 1: you know, one of the top guys in the NBA,
Speaker 1: I was able to build a relationship with Kobe. And
Speaker 1: it wasn't just no whot relationship. It was an every day,
Speaker 1: you know, lifestyle relationship in terms of if I was
Speaker 1: going through something, I can hit him and he was
Speaker 1: hitting me right back. Um, and you know, he meant
Speaker 1: everything to me. When when I was able to build
Speaker 1: that friendship with him, it was crazy checking my phone
Speaker 1: and seeing the text from Kobe, Like it didn't make
Speaker 1: no sense because you know, I looked up to him
Speaker 1: for so long. So you know, when I got signed
Speaker 1: with the Pelicans and they were giving me jersey options
Speaker 1: and twenty four was there, it was no brainer, Like
Speaker 1: I wanted to do my part into paying some type
Speaker 1: of homage to my favorite player to ever play the game.
Speaker 1: And you know I was able to, you know, pay
Speaker 1: a little bit of homage to them a little two
Speaker 1: weeks I was there and playing in the NBA, and
Speaker 1: you know, that's the least I can do. And you know,
Speaker 1: I've been wearing Kobe since two thousand and fifteen to
Speaker 1: where you know, I get my little customized Kobe's and
Speaker 1: you know, even that it's like, you know, unreal, it's
Speaker 1: unreal looking at even that's unreal to be able to
Speaker 1: you know. And then when I was with Cleveland, I
Speaker 1: had my own player edition codes where they came out
Speaker 1: and they had a little he had a little chip
Speaker 1: on the tongue to where you know, when my tooth
Speaker 1: came out in the playoffs. So like and Kobe did that,
Speaker 1: you feel me? And then Kobe to do the little
Speaker 1: he did like a deer basketball on me. And it
Speaker 1: was like those things that Kobe did, Like, I'm a
Speaker 1: Chaerish for the rest of my life because as you know,
Speaker 1: that's a walking legend. And you know, I can't thank
Speaker 1: him enough for not just changing my basketball career, but
Speaker 1: changing my way of life. And you know, to be
Speaker 1: able to call those two guys rest in peace, mentors
Speaker 1: and somebody that I could you know when they were
Speaker 1: here reach out at any time and they hit me
Speaker 1: right back like you can't, actually you can't. Actually you
Speaker 1: know two people better than that. Talk to us about
Speaker 1: the Book of Isaiah, your documentary on your journey through
Speaker 1: this tough process. So the Book of Isaiah we started
Speaker 1: in two thousand fifteen. But overall, once my career is over,
Speaker 1: I want to do a movie because I got a
Speaker 1: production company called Slow Ground Media. We're slowly doing documentaries,
Speaker 1: sports documentaries, real life you know things not just sports,
Speaker 1: but every walk of life. We're trying to tap into
Speaker 1: those lanes. So at the end of my career, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do a movie on my my whole career, from
Speaker 1: my last year of college to my last year in
Speaker 1: the NBA. And it's going to be called the Book
Speaker 1: of Isaiah. And you know, we've done a couple of documentaries,
Speaker 1: which one one one a Webby, which is Book of
Speaker 1: Isaiah to one of Webby that year that I was
Speaker 1: in Cleveland and got traded to the two the Lakers,
Speaker 1: that one of Webby, And I think, you know, I
Speaker 1: just want to tell my story because it relates to
Speaker 1: to so many people in the world. You know, me
Speaker 1: being you know five nine, me being counted out, me
Speaker 1: being not given no, no real chance to to really
Speaker 1: succeed like everybody else be given. Um. I think that
Speaker 1: relates to the average you know, the average person out there.
Speaker 1: And to just show them that, you know, I go
Speaker 1: through real ship that everybody goes through, and to show
Speaker 1: them the ups and downs of a real career, I
Speaker 1: think it will only be beneficial to you know, the
Speaker 1: next generation of guys trying to make it, not just
Speaker 1: in basketball, but you know, in life, because you know,
Speaker 1: the things that I've been through have been you know,
Speaker 1: it just haven't been sugarcoated. And it's also been documented.
Speaker 1: Like my ship, I've seen the bottom and I've seen
Speaker 1: the top and then seeing the bottom again. A lot
Speaker 1: of people's careers don't don't get to see both, and
Speaker 1: you I wanna. Obviously I've been documented since two thousand teen,
Speaker 1: but I want people to really see it a day
Speaker 1: in the day out of what guys like you know
Speaker 1: ourselves go through. I think you said something interesting. You
Speaker 1: You started at load the sixtiest pick, not sure if
Speaker 1: you're gonna be drafted to an All Star averaging nearly
Speaker 1: thirty points a game, playing an All Star game with
Speaker 1: Kobe back down to the injury. You didn't know how
Speaker 1: bad it was to happen to have that surgery, How
Speaker 1: did how much did that? Just where are you as
Speaker 1: a person? It wore me a lot. You know that
Speaker 1: goes back to them three years where my mentor was
Speaker 1: just I was trying to find it, you know, the
Speaker 1: up and down in the inconsistency of you know, not
Speaker 1: knowing what's next, going from the sixtieth pick, not knowing
Speaker 1: if i'mnna make the team to proving it, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm an NBA player, to get trade to Boston and
Speaker 1: you know, being a sixth man at first to taking
Speaker 1: it to I was fourth and MVP voting second team
Speaker 1: on NBA. Then a year later or that year getting traded,
Speaker 1: to hitting rock bottom, getting injured, to signing one year deals,
Speaker 1: to going from supposed to sign a max deal to
Speaker 1: signing one year bat minimum deals like that. Ship hurt
Speaker 1: that ship, I killed my spirit. But what helped me
Speaker 1: throughout those times is I had little the little boys
Speaker 1: at home. Bro. I couldn't be sad in front of them.
Speaker 1: I couldn't have a bad day in front of them.
Speaker 1: You know, like they feel that they see that. So
Speaker 1: that was my motivation to get it back and to
Speaker 1: hopefully get a chance to show that, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm who are always been, and I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: that and let me go out on my own. That's
Speaker 1: what I'm fighting for now. I'm just fighting for a
Speaker 1: legit chance to show that I'm I'm myself and that
Speaker 1: I have plenty of years to show I can still
Speaker 1: play at a high level. But to answer your question, mentally, man,
Speaker 1: I was cooked. I was cooked for a little bit.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think my small circle of friends,
Speaker 1: my small circle of family, and you know, my mentors.
Speaker 1: I thank them for just sticking with me. I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, Damon Soltenmarer texts me like what don't break
Speaker 1: a nigga with Megan nigga, you know? And I take
Speaker 1: that to heart every day. You know that I won't
Speaker 1: allow this ship to break me ever. And you know
Speaker 1: if it went, if it did, it wouldn't. It won't.
Speaker 1: You can't, it can't and I'm not gonna allow it.
Speaker 1: And like I said, I'm in a great space mentally,
Speaker 1: I'm in a great space. Then you know that's not
Speaker 1: gonna it. Don't rock. You know you don't like a
Speaker 1: boat no more. I'm even killed, don't know. Don't get
Speaker 1: too high, you don't get too low. I want to
Speaker 1: still you make it back just so you can talk
Speaker 1: it back to your kids. The point where I could
Speaker 1: my kids be talking big ship and I can't. I'm
Speaker 1: done playing. I can't talk. You know what I mean?
Speaker 1: It just but out there right head like you you
Speaker 1: hate what you used to One of my son said
Speaker 1: something to me that I would have thought someone else
Speaker 1: was saying to me like, and you know it's it's
Speaker 1: there was no sugar cool daggers. They're hitting you right here,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'm just smiling off, like that's funny.
Speaker 1: Going through everything you've been through, the ups down to
Speaker 1: roller coasters. What advice would you give a younger player?
Speaker 1: The advice I would give a younger player, I think
Speaker 1: the same advice d Rose game. You don't fight it,
Speaker 1: just take the punches, keep grinding, and you know they
Speaker 1: can't store forever. And you know, I think the biggest
Speaker 1: thing that I tried to tell those young guys coming in,
Speaker 1: it's like, enjoy the moment, bro. That's one thing I
Speaker 1: wasn't able to enjoy when I was at the top
Speaker 1: top because it was just what's next. I gotta do better.
Speaker 1: I was so pair annoying. Enjoy those moments, bro, because
Speaker 1: they're gonna pass and you go back and be like damn.
Speaker 1: And that's what you know. When I was injured, I
Speaker 1: was dealing with like Dann. I was doing some crazy ship.
Speaker 1: I was breaking Larry Bird's records. I was breaking you know,
Speaker 1: the greats records, and I was so locked into those
Speaker 1: moments on some Kobe ship. I was so some mama
Speaker 1: mentality like it's just not good enough. I gotta keep
Speaker 1: going to where. I think that's the best advice I
Speaker 1: can give those young dudes is staying those moments, bro,
Speaker 1: whether they're good or bad, enjoy those Enjoy those moments
Speaker 1: and keep grinding and don't get satisfied because once you
Speaker 1: get comfortable out there, you know they got another nineteen
Speaker 1: year old that's coming in trying to eat and you can't.
Speaker 1: You can't be complacent in this and you know, in
Speaker 1: this life, in this world, because you know it's it's
Speaker 1: whatever you've done for me lately. Thoughts on Mayweather, Paul,
Speaker 1: will you be in attendance? We will be. How I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna be in attendance, but it's gonna be. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be entertaining. I know, I know the setup with this.
Speaker 1: He talked to him, that's your boy. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: haven't spoke to him since this, But what what's the
Speaker 1: what's the secret? He's just gonna entertain. He's an entertainer, right,
Speaker 1: so so he's not gonna try to punish and fall
Speaker 1: him the answers he didn't know. He's gonna try to
Speaker 1: punish him. No, doubt. I know for it and when
Speaker 1: you know, when money talks. But it's gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be entertainment and then he's gonna make his case.
Speaker 1: Have you talked him since he snapped his half? No,
Speaker 1: I haven't. He was so I know. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: He's got he's gonna make it to win before didn't.
Speaker 1: He didn't lay it down before. That's why he was Really,
Speaker 1: that's what I'm saying now. You know the champ coming
Speaker 1: always clean, clean everything. Was the first time we've seen
Speaker 1: him risky. The one day they caught him slipping. That
Speaker 1: was the first we've seen him slipping. That was the
Speaker 1: first time we've seen he whatever he wasn't he wasn't
Speaker 1: to pay for that. That's on the back of his head.
Speaker 1: He know he gotta entertained the people who's watching. But
Speaker 1: he's gonna make it like you know, why I do this.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun. What about since we talked about?
Speaker 1: What about what you think he's gonna do? Come on, man,
Speaker 1: he's an entertainer too. He's done. He's a he's an athlete.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, he's gonna be locked in.
Speaker 1: You know, I hope he's locked in. I hope he
Speaker 1: locked in too. Since we're talking about Boxton, obviously the
Speaker 1: homies a homie to what were your thoughts when when
Speaker 1: Nate fought Jake and then the outcome, the outcome was
Speaker 1: laugh with it? Can you can you laugh with him
Speaker 1: about it yet? Yeah? I think it's to a point
Speaker 1: you can laugh with him now. Yeah, Like we've had
Speaker 1: our talks about it and he's laughed it off. So
Speaker 1: obviously he got a million guys happened. You're not a
Speaker 1: boxing man, so like, at the end of the day, obviously,
Speaker 1: the internet is undefeated. You're gonna get you a little.
Speaker 1: You know, everybody make jokes about it. It was on
Speaker 1: national TV. But that's my dude. Yeah, yeah, and he
Speaker 1: was in a fraternity that you know, that's our guy.
Speaker 1: So obviously he got knocked. But you know, onto the
Speaker 1: next exactly at the end of the day, most don't
Speaker 1: have the balls to go do that, and you know,
Speaker 1: he did it. He got knocked. We move on, you know,
Speaker 1: at the end of that, we we men, And I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna be at his house cracking jokes about it.
Speaker 1: You know, if somebody cracking joke, if you want to
Speaker 1: crack one, We're gonna crack him. But if not, you know,
Speaker 1: we just gotta keep it moving. It happened, and you
Speaker 1: know he still make the grade. And I remember after
Speaker 1: the yeah, after after I after that happened, I text him.
Speaker 1: I remember, I'm like, you know, because you know, everybody
Speaker 1: been in situations where they've been embarrassing. I was like, Bro,
Speaker 1: you're still a superhero where we come from. Don't forget that.
Speaker 1: Feel me sorry. I tried to say my two cents
Speaker 1: and just remind him, like, you're still the greatest where
Speaker 1: we go from. Hey, we're talking nath one of the
Speaker 1: great best athletes evere we ever seen. So you know
Speaker 1: that don't define you. But I mean it was. That's
Speaker 1: my dude, Alright, quick hitters. First thing to cume of mind.
Speaker 1: Shoot it at us. Top five point guards of all time,
Speaker 1: and that's to right off yah, off the cuff, right
Speaker 1: off the red. I'm gonna go with my name sake,
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas. Um, you gotta pay homage the magic Johnson
Speaker 1: first big point guard. UM, and then I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: just my errand I'm gonna go um, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 1: Chris Poem and no disrespect. This is just the top. Yeah,
Speaker 1: slid rapid fire, you plus four going to the black Top?
Speaker 1: What are you taking with you? Black Top? That's different?
Speaker 1: So yeah, shot, Yeah, you got to be built to
Speaker 1: be out there. For the love of it. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: take Jamal Crawford as I'm ready for that. Me just me,
Speaker 1: Jamal Crawford on some real shot. I'm gonna take y'all too,
Speaker 1: because I need I need some goons, you know, case
Speaker 1: some ship go down. We need some dudes's gonna handle
Speaker 1: some stuff. That's four right there, black Top and now
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take hire. Yeah, because he's he's gonna put
Speaker 1: on the show. We don't have to do nothing, not security.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, you're gonna be embarrassing to dude, should
Speaker 1: get our hand. Yeah, Like I said, some screens, we're
Speaker 1: gonna be better. We're gonna be making all the side
Speaker 1: mama when during time I would be smoking, YEA, working harder.
Speaker 1: We're working smarter. I got I got my protection. Nice.
Speaker 1: Top five artists in your opinion. Top five artists, Um
Speaker 1: jay Z, Drake, Tupac, Biggie and Nipsey. That's my list.
Speaker 1: Let me ask your question. Yeah, that is your list.
Speaker 1: Who was the most um famous rapper from Seattle? Baby
Speaker 1: got back? However, you when that was he was a baby. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was a baby when he was rolling around into Ferrari,
Speaker 1: the Red Ferrari. He has some things out there too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. The best five players ever from Seattle Washington area.
Speaker 1: Best five you go with? Who that's tough? Nate Robinson,
Speaker 1: Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, Brandon Roy. Damn that was tough. Um.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Martell Webster because he was the
Speaker 1: first to go out of high school and I always
Speaker 1: got paid comments to him. He's the first to go
Speaker 1: in to high school from our states. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with him. I'm gonna be the six man. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tear off this question quick. We'll get back
Speaker 1: to it. Tell people how good Brandon Roy was a man,
Speaker 1: and I remember I remember a lot of interviews back
Speaker 1: back then. You will always say he's one of the
Speaker 1: toughest to guard. Kobe said he had no weaknesses. Um,
Speaker 1: Brandon Roy on one knee because he only had one
Speaker 1: even from the college. One of the most special dudes.
Speaker 1: I always said, I mean he would have been Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame if he would, he would have went down
Speaker 1: as one of the best shooting guards to play. And
Speaker 1: for somebody like Kobe to say he had no weaknesses
Speaker 1: run our tests, I think said he was the hardest
Speaker 1: guy he he might have had the guard Brandon Roy
Speaker 1: was the real deal. He was. He was tough for
Speaker 1: all of us because the size he was. He was
Speaker 1: too shifty, too shifty, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 1: he loved to go left strong hand was right, so
Speaker 1: like which way do you force? Yeah? And it's and
Speaker 1: his step back was before time, before a time when
Speaker 1: he had a weird way of with his size being
Speaker 1: able to back anybody down. It was weird, like he
Speaker 1: could back. He would back you down like Kobe could
Speaker 1: back you down. No matter how big and strong you are,
Speaker 1: he still back you. He's still getting I'm like what
Speaker 1: Roy was special? And like you said, I mean from
Speaker 1: the jump it's been on one knee. Most don't know that.
Speaker 1: And then his other name you start messing up. But
Speaker 1: the Roy special legend. Uh. Five dinner guests that are alive,
Speaker 1: five dinner guess So guys that I wanted to be
Speaker 1: with me at the dinner table you plus five better
Speaker 1: alive And I want Tupac because I just wanted I
Speaker 1: want to hear all the stories. I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: my guys, Nipsey, him and cod Um. I want Snoop there,
Speaker 1: so she called Snoop Tupac Um. I always wanted to
Speaker 1: beat Will Smith. I never got to beat beat Will
Speaker 1: Smith him. There's a loaded question right here, because you
Speaker 1: got a lot of motherfuckers that you know that we want.
Speaker 1: So if you can have your choice to pick the
Speaker 1: guests that you want to see on all the smoke,
Speaker 1: who would it be? Who would it be? Um? And
Speaker 1: if you know you need to help us? Yeah, because
Speaker 1: I got a list already. Yeah, I got one of
Speaker 1: the real Jamal hasn't been all right, No, thank you.
Speaker 1: We need to get you. I'm gonna get Jamal. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call him right there, Crawford, because he he
Speaker 1: has all the stories in the world. He has stories
Speaker 1: about us, no no doubt, his memories insane, his memories unbelievable.
Speaker 1: He tickling us after every after every court. Jamal said,
Speaker 1: that's that's big, bro. Jamal gotta come out here because
Speaker 1: he had stories from where do you come in? He
Speaker 1: got Jordan's stories, got he got a lot, so I
Speaker 1: would love for him to end. It's and it's authentic
Speaker 1: on here. So he gotta breaking down and not sugarcoat,
Speaker 1: not Jamal Crawford. Gotta be on here because people don't know.
Speaker 1: Jay kars is one of the best basketball minds you
Speaker 1: could be around. He kind of like you though, like
Speaker 1: he can student at the game. He can tell you stats,
Speaker 1: you can tell Oh my god, Bro, put him on
Speaker 1: the spot real quick. You got your phone on you FaceTime?
Speaker 1: Let me call show time. You know he ain't got FaceTime,
Speaker 1: You got got the green phone. The only person I
Speaker 1: know with the blackberries him and it probably still Flip Rose,
Speaker 1: but they got to deal with blackberries something. I'm about
Speaker 1: to call him right now and see if he has
Speaker 1: you know answer, Oh damn, you know that? My god, Jay,
Speaker 1: this he needs to tell me for every game. Want
Speaker 1: leup line? Why smell it? What was that the popcorn popping? Smell?
Speaker 1: Smell it's popping? Its Jamal, it's show time. Look you
Speaker 1: want to speaker phone, I got I got stacking Matt
Speaker 1: here we are we on live live the show. You
Speaker 1: gotta come on. We need you, Bro. I gotta come
Speaker 1: on your first show time. What's up Showtime? That's they
Speaker 1: wanted me to call you because we gotta get They
Speaker 1: need you on the they need you to get on there.
Speaker 1: For two years. I know they got a master play.
Speaker 1: They just waiting to bring me on you. They just
Speaker 1: we're saying, you got all the stories in the world.
Speaker 1: That's why you gotta come on s time. Fail. See
Speaker 1: he got it off the top of his head too.
Speaker 1: That's funny. Now, I was just calling you fail. Okay,
Speaker 1: we all have a good time. I'm coaching. The kids
Speaker 1: love it. Yeah, it's dope, right, I told you many
Speaker 1: and your little man's a killer too. Come on, mans,
Speaker 1: your sun what you spect all right? Alright? Alright boy
Speaker 1: jamal Yeah. Man, We appreciate your time. Man. Man, we
Speaker 1: love you your journey. Appreciate you, man, We appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Man has been asking so yeah, like Jack said, and
Speaker 1: you've been through a hell of a journey. At the
Speaker 1: end of the day, like you have this together and
Speaker 1: I love that you said that. That's why extensively asked
Speaker 1: you because you didn't see the best and you've just
Speaker 1: seen the worst. Thing. You're still here, man, and we
Speaker 1: with you. So man, we love you, we appreciate you.
Speaker 1: It's all always. That's a wrap, all the Smoke special
Speaker 1: guest Isaiah Thomas. You can cast us on Showtime Basketball
Speaker 1: YouTube with the I Heart platform Black Effects. See you
Speaker 1: all next week. All of it. This is all a smoke,
Speaker 1: A production of the Lack Effect and Our Heart Radio
Speaker 1: in partnership with Showtime