Speaker 1: Welcome to All the Smoke, a production of The Black
Speaker 1: Effect and our Heart Radio and partnership with Showtime M
Speaker 1: we'll go back to another edition to All the Smoke.
Speaker 1: Nice watch. I appreciate it bro iced for no reason.
Speaker 1: We got a special guest today. MS. Taylor. Yeah, no
Speaker 1: watch though, well, Taylor, thank you for your time. We
Speaker 1: appreciate when you're busy. Tell you a lot going on
Speaker 1: right now with the playoffs, But let's jump right into it.
Speaker 1: Being a Georgia girl, what is it like? Um? Seeing
Speaker 1: this Atlanta Hawks team kind of come into their own
Speaker 1: led by Trey Young. Coach Natick Millon came in during
Speaker 1: the season completely kind of gave this team a new identity.
Speaker 1: How's it been one being someone from here but then
Speaker 1: also someone working in the space to see this Atlanta
Speaker 1: Hawk team do what they're doing. Yeah, I mean, one
Speaker 1: thing about our Southern is we like to talk our ship.
Speaker 1: So it's been really nice for the Hawks to be
Speaker 1: good so we can just throw it in everybody's faces,
Speaker 1: and not just to be good, but to have been
Speaker 1: the underdogs so often and continue to come out on top.
Speaker 1: I mean I live in New York, so Knicks fans
Speaker 1: were all in my ear during that series smacked him
Speaker 1: six is just like, yeah, there's no way. In feeds back,
Speaker 1: we go, yeah, it's gonna we're gonna win. No, no, no no,
Speaker 1: and we came out on top. So it's just been
Speaker 1: really nice to continue to prove people wrong, so many
Speaker 1: young guys continuing to get it done. So it's nice.
Speaker 1: And I was just telling Sack, I just I just
Speaker 1: feel like Trey Young is the exact star for Atlanta,
Speaker 1: like he just fits in the moon. The fans love him.
Speaker 1: So it's really nice that I'm proud to be a
Speaker 1: Hawks fan because we haven't really been in this position
Speaker 1: very often. So it's been nice you speaking to Young,
Speaker 1: how special is he? And how do you see this
Speaker 1: series playing playing out with the books? So you know
Speaker 1: the fan and me is like, we're gonna win. But
Speaker 1: I actually do think we're gonna win. I think we
Speaker 1: might win, and say, but the thing about Trey, So
Speaker 1: I interviewed Trey two seasons ago, and I distinctly remember
Speaker 1: we're sitting there in the Hawks locker room and he
Speaker 1: said it's gone to change, like it won't be like
Speaker 1: this for long. Because the question I asked him is
Speaker 1: like you know, y'all have so much talent on this team,
Speaker 1: but you're young. But how often can being young be
Speaker 1: an excuse for losing? And he's like, not long, He's
Speaker 1: but I promise you it is about to turn around.
Speaker 1: And you're kind of like good Dre, like I hope
Speaker 1: you're right, but you don't know. And he was right.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many factors that play into that.
Speaker 1: I think Nate McMillan is a really big one, but
Speaker 1: Traders has continued to get smarter. And you know, the
Speaker 1: teams that do well, it's when their leader they kind
Speaker 1: of take the identity of that leader. I think the
Speaker 1: Hawks have started to do that. So definitely tell us
Speaker 1: a little bit about your journey as an Atlanta sports
Speaker 1: fan and the ups and downs and obviously where they
Speaker 1: are today. Well, you know, my rule is I don't
Speaker 1: talk about the faccons because they broke my heart Atlanta
Speaker 1: that I mean, I think about that day. It was
Speaker 1: so bad. I mean I had already booked my ticket
Speaker 1: at half time for the Super Bowl parade. I still
Speaker 1: came to Atlanta. Obviously no parade, but as a Hawks fan,
Speaker 1: I just think it's been up and down. We enjoyed
Speaker 1: the Al Horford years. You know that it was a
Speaker 1: good time, but there's been nothing that has felt like this.
Speaker 1: I might get killed for saying this, but I think
Speaker 1: Trey Young will go down it's like the greatest Hawk
Speaker 1: of all time. So it's really nice to be living
Speaker 1: in this moment where I think the culture of basketball
Speaker 1: in Atlanta is changing. But really I think basketball just
Speaker 1: in the NBA is changing. This is kind of like
Speaker 1: a watershed moment. The fact that there's so many new contenders,
Speaker 1: new stars were guaranteed to see a star get a
Speaker 1: ring that has never gotten a ring before. So it's
Speaker 1: just it's a nice moment and I'm glad that Atlanta
Speaker 1: is in. That conversation is absolutely what made you become
Speaker 1: a sports journalist. So yeah, no, I love people, uh
Speaker 1: and I love sports. I have a sports family. My
Speaker 1: dad played football, My uncle was a Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: and for the Cardinals. So it's just I grew up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: don't don't just run over that name. He was the greatest.
Speaker 1: So I miss him every single day. He just taught
Speaker 1: me so much. But I just grew up around it
Speaker 1: and it has been such a big part of me.
Speaker 1: But one thing about me. I only like to do
Speaker 1: things I'm good at. And I knew I wasn't going
Speaker 1: to be some great like bastub player a tennis layer,
Speaker 1: but I knew I could talk. So just growing up,
Speaker 1: that's what I was doing. I would like set up
Speaker 1: our family's camcorder in my room and do like fake newscasts.
Speaker 1: I'll show you all the videos and it's funny. I
Speaker 1: was awful, but so then I just started, you know,
Speaker 1: trying to get better. I went to college, majored in it,
Speaker 1: and yeah, now I'm doing this. But my joy, my
Speaker 1: favorite thing is just sitting down and interviewing more than
Speaker 1: like reporting or hosting in the studio. I like to
Speaker 1: really have conversations like what we did when we were
Speaker 1: talking about you know, when you realized you were black,
Speaker 1: Like that type of stuff is really important. I think
Speaker 1: we have to have more in depth conversations and humanize
Speaker 1: people and show that they're Literally is no difference between
Speaker 1: this person you're watching on TV dunk in the basketball
Speaker 1: and you're sitting on the couch. The only difference is
Speaker 1: that they're good at the sport, like we all are, sad, mad, happy, frustrated,
Speaker 1: like we all Yeah, we all literally live the exact
Speaker 1: same life, we just do different things. And I think
Speaker 1: that the more media that's out there that shows that,
Speaker 1: the better I think the world will be in the
Speaker 1: sport space will be. And what has your been Your
Speaker 1: evolution and journey in this particular journalism space been like, yeah, good,
Speaker 1: definitely ups and downs. Yeah, that's definitely anything. I think
Speaker 1: sometimes with this it is a bit of an uphill battle,
Speaker 1: not just being a woman, but being a black woman,
Speaker 1: always constantly feeling like you have to prove yourself a
Speaker 1: bit more so that you're more than just you know
Speaker 1: this girl. Everybody wants to comment about how they look
Speaker 1: or how they dress or whatever. Like there's so much
Speaker 1: substance that goes into being a journalist, and y'all know,
Speaker 1: like you cannot fake this, right, you're either good at
Speaker 1: this and you wouldn't be in the space. But everybody
Speaker 1: always wants to try to think of some reason why
Speaker 1: you're there, why you're doing it, which is really a
Speaker 1: reflection of why they're not doing it, and you know
Speaker 1: they're just projecting that and I will I will say
Speaker 1: that forever. So that's probably you know, the biggest thing
Speaker 1: is just always having to to prove, to prove yourself.
Speaker 1: And this isn't even just for women and black women,
Speaker 1: this is for black people in general. I always say like,
Speaker 1: if there's a black person in a certain position, I
Speaker 1: know they're good at the job because you don't have
Speaker 1: any other choice but to be right, Like, we don't
Speaker 1: have the luxury of mediocrity. So whenever I see, you know,
Speaker 1: a black host, like a black woman doing anything, I'm like,
Speaker 1: I know you're good, and I know what you had
Speaker 1: to go through to be in this position and thriving it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, there's ups and downs, but there's ups and
Speaker 1: downs but with everything, and you know you're built for
Speaker 1: the fire. So it is what it is. How did
Speaker 1: you manimate? Report? So I had a podcast when I
Speaker 1: was working at station in New York and it just
Speaker 1: like started to do really well. And Bleacher saw and it
Speaker 1: it was like, we think that you can sustain like
Speaker 1: a show doing this, So went to Bleacher and then
Speaker 1: started doing it. So I will say this because I
Speaker 1: think it's important any person who talks about their journey.
Speaker 1: Hard work is a major major part of it that
Speaker 1: any person who has done anything, luck plays a role
Speaker 1: in and I, yeah, I don't think it's fair to
Speaker 1: attribute everything that has happened in your life to the
Speaker 1: fact that you worked hard and you just got done right.
Speaker 1: Everyone works hard and everyone is talented, but things have
Speaker 1: to go your way, and situations have to be placed
Speaker 1: in front of you, and you have to just be
Speaker 1: ready for those situations and those opportunities, and that's where
Speaker 1: the hard work and the skill comes in. So I
Speaker 1: think everyone who has ever done anything has to talk
Speaker 1: about the luck that also came and play. So I've
Speaker 1: worked hard, but I've also been really fortunate to be
Speaker 1: lucky and have advocates and people that were on my side,
Speaker 1: and so I'm really thankful. That's what we say. I mean,
Speaker 1: to win a championship obviously good coach, good team, but
Speaker 1: so much luck. And we could see in these particular
Speaker 1: playoffs how stars have been kind of dropping like flies,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's like again, it takes
Speaker 1: so much luck to get there and stay healthy through
Speaker 1: the duration to actually give yourself a chance to win.
Speaker 1: And I think that's no different in life. Like you said,
Speaker 1: you can put it all the preparation, but just not
Speaker 1: catch a break. Yeah, absolutely, And like that's still you know,
Speaker 1: that doesn't detract from your skill right because it's like,
Speaker 1: were you ready when that moment called for you to
Speaker 1: be ready? A lot of people don't know how to
Speaker 1: be ready when they have to be. So I think
Speaker 1: it's it's just important to know what you're good at.
Speaker 1: I think more importantly is knowing what you're bad at.
Speaker 1: A lot of people don't know what they're back or
Speaker 1: don't want to admit it exactly. So I think being
Speaker 1: self aware is a bit of a lost art. And
Speaker 1: more importantly, a lot of people don't just know themselves.
Speaker 1: So I just kind of encourage everyone to really sit
Speaker 1: back and get to know you, not what everyone says
Speaker 1: you are now you think you can be who are
Speaker 1: you right now? On the steps you have to take
Speaker 1: to be that person that you know in your head
Speaker 1: you know you're meant to be. So all of that
Speaker 1: plays a role. In all of that's really important. Share
Speaker 1: your thoughts on the power of social media and sports
Speaker 1: and in particular NBA Twitter. That's a whole little universe
Speaker 1: out of my man Josiah Johnson, U C l A.
Speaker 1: Bruin running the space. But how powerful is social media
Speaker 1: to today's common athlete? Yeah, it's important. I mean in
Speaker 1: so many ways. First off, I can't watch a basketball
Speaker 1: game without checking Josiah's Twitter, like I need to see
Speaker 1: the gifts, I need to see the memes. I know
Speaker 1: who catching the jokes today. It's what are gonna come
Speaker 1: for everybody? Okay, it does not disagriminate, which is a
Speaker 1: great part about it. But no, it's nice because when
Speaker 1: you're watching the games, you feel like you're watching with
Speaker 1: a family. You know, it's everyone's watching the same thing.
Speaker 1: Adding in their comments also such a great you know,
Speaker 1: dispersal information. I really realized that when I was in
Speaker 1: the NBA bubble, there was so few of us there
Speaker 1: that social media is really the only way that fans
Speaker 1: could see what was happening and could really feel what
Speaker 1: it was like in that Orlando bubble. So it's important.
Speaker 1: There's so many prominent personalities that are different. You know,
Speaker 1: you have your analytics guys and girls, you have more
Speaker 1: like the commentary of people, more personalities, more people that
Speaker 1: are just for the jokes, and it adds to the experience.
Speaker 1: And I think we all know what makes us feel
Speaker 1: like we know our favorite athletes more as well. Because
Speaker 1: they're posting, they're tweeting, we see what they like and
Speaker 1: what they don't like. So Twitter, I think is really important.
Speaker 1: It brings out the best and the worst of people.
Speaker 1: But it's a it's an important place for sure. What's
Speaker 1: the wildest thing that's ever been said to you or
Speaker 1: or you've seen on social media? Oh my gosh, so many,
Speaker 1: so many. I mean, in general, I'm next to any guy,
Speaker 1: that's just the guy I'm with. I mean, that's why
Speaker 1: any I'm like day, I'm busy, right, But so that's
Speaker 1: always wild. It's like people just don't know how to
Speaker 1: see a guy and a girl next to each other
Speaker 1: because people aren't very mature. So that that's wild. I
Speaker 1: got some some wild things in the bubble, absolutely, but
Speaker 1: that's really it. Like I don't really get people being
Speaker 1: mean as much as I just get people being disrespectful, right,
Speaker 1: And I think there's a bit of a difference to
Speaker 1: those two things. But that's that's what I think. But
Speaker 1: I always say, like, I think everything in life is
Speaker 1: about volume and how much volume you give something right,
Speaker 1: how loud or how quiet you want it to be.
Speaker 1: And humans will have a billion really nice comments about us,
Speaker 1: but we'll see one that's mean, and for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: we turn up the mean one louder than we turn
Speaker 1: up the nice ones. So just trying to program myself
Speaker 1: to say, like, it's the nice one that you need
Speaker 1: to give the most volume too, and that that has
Speaker 1: certainly helped me as well, because why does this one matter?
Speaker 1: In this ocean of goodness? Right? Sounds good? It's hard
Speaker 1: to do, though, very hard to be very hard. You
Speaker 1: can comments to find the two negative ones and be like,
Speaker 1: why what what they even? Yeah? And from the truth? Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they're probably following you too, which is the crazy
Speaker 1: point why you follow? Like it's if you're not trying
Speaker 1: to see on this, you can leave. You know, how
Speaker 1: important is it to highlight females in the sports across
Speaker 1: the board, whether we're playing, coaching, broadcasting, front office. Obviously
Speaker 1: the anniversary the w n b A shout out those
Speaker 1: those amazing women. But how important for someone like you
Speaker 1: and who women trying to follow in young girl trying
Speaker 1: to fall on your footsteps. It's the representation. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: really important, you know, really just giving you know, as
Speaker 1: much attention as one as you give to the other.
Speaker 1: And that's something I know everyone is really trying to
Speaker 1: get better at, including myself. Like I bought these. You
Speaker 1: can see it's like a NBA next list, But I
Speaker 1: was like, I need to give the w n B
Speaker 1: A and you know you have to. You have to
Speaker 1: really try and support both if what you're preaching is
Speaker 1: women's empowerment and supporting women across the board. I'm a
Speaker 1: season ticket holder for the Liberty. I don't really get
Speaker 1: to go to games, but it's important to give them
Speaker 1: your money, um, and you know, give them your time
Speaker 1: as well when you can. But women, I think it's
Speaker 1: not just that, you know, we add things to the space.
Speaker 1: It's I think we're a very necessary part of sports.
Speaker 1: You know, our ideas, the athletes, how great they are.
Speaker 1: It has to be talked about, you know, as included in,
Speaker 1: as opposed to in addition to and I think sometimes
Speaker 1: all of us we talk about it like it's a
Speaker 1: very nice addition. And the way that I think we
Speaker 1: talk about female athletes definitely, the way we talk about
Speaker 1: women's basketball just has to change so that we're putting
Speaker 1: it on the same playing field as means and so
Speaker 1: I encourage everyone to do that. And then female journalists
Speaker 1: we definitely need in the space more. I love how
Speaker 1: many black women are in the space now. Growing up,
Speaker 1: there was like one growing by at Pam Oliver and
Speaker 1: then eventually I had my dear friend carry you have, Jamal.
Speaker 1: But if I had never seen someone like Pam, I
Speaker 1: don't think I would have thought I could have done
Speaker 1: what I wanted to do. So it's just important to
Speaker 1: always have that that vision there um and mentorship. I
Speaker 1: believe in each one teach one. I try to talk
Speaker 1: to anyoneman who wants to get into the space, because
Speaker 1: you need to know there's people in your corner and
Speaker 1: people that have been there before. So women like y'all
Speaker 1: can do and I know it gets hard, but it
Speaker 1: can definitely happen. And it's on the men too, right
Speaker 1: to try and change this kind of climate and culture. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like it's important. It's a it's an effort for every
Speaker 1: single person. But I do believe there's been so many
Speaker 1: changes um in the right direction. So that makes me
Speaker 1: feel really good. What is it like becoming a role
Speaker 1: model for the next generation that they want to break
Speaker 1: into the industry, Yeah, it's nice. I went to North
Speaker 1: Carolina and t with Chris Paul. We were doing some
Speaker 1: stulf with HBCUs and bringing like a Harvard professor. They
Speaker 1: had to teach them to class and at the end,
Speaker 1: you know, everyone's going up to Chris wants to take
Speaker 1: a picture at Chris. But then there was like a
Speaker 1: line for me and this this there was really nice.
Speaker 1: I was like, this is so sweet. There was a
Speaker 1: really really sweet girl, her name is Jade, and she
Speaker 1: had at a shirt that said like Rooks Champion, Golden
Speaker 1: Boudet Taylor, like all the black female journalists on a shirt,
Speaker 1: and she was like, I'm selling me. Is that people
Speaker 1: are buying them. I would have never thought that the
Speaker 1: impact would be like that. The black women see it
Speaker 1: and they're like, I can be this because she did this.
Speaker 1: And I always say one thing I really like is
Speaker 1: I think I'm a black woman that looks black right,
Speaker 1: Like I got my hair, I got a big nose,
Speaker 1: I got high cheek, phones on brown skin. Like I
Speaker 1: think people look at me and they see themselves, you know,
Speaker 1: more than they might feel like there's this like an
Speaker 1: unattainable look, something they think they might not ever be.
Speaker 1: That's really really important to me. I never want to
Speaker 1: feel unattainable to my own people. And that comes not
Speaker 1: just in the way I look, but I think the
Speaker 1: way I talk, and the fact that I want to
Speaker 1: be friends with anyone who wants to be here, and
Speaker 1: you know, I want to carry myself with grace and
Speaker 1: elegance and class and intelligence because I don't want women
Speaker 1: to feel like they have to throw one of those
Speaker 1: things away to do what they want to do. And
Speaker 1: I understand and why you see things where you feel
Speaker 1: like you might have to do that, and that's a
Speaker 1: whole another conversation. But just because it feels like the
Speaker 1: popular thing might not be the right thing for you,
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean you've got to decide to do the
Speaker 1: wrong thing. So that's really what I want. I want
Speaker 1: women to know, especially Black women, because they're always going
Speaker 1: to try to look for something to say you did this,
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be here. It's important to be smart and
Speaker 1: know that, like your power is in you and you're
Speaker 1: not going to get that from anywhere else or by
Speaker 1: trying to be something else. It's really nice. I enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Piggyback and off of that, what is the message you
Speaker 1: try to drive home to the youth that are trying
Speaker 1: to come up in this space? Mm hmmm. A couple
Speaker 1: of things I'd say and It sounds cliche, but you
Speaker 1: have to just be who you are. I think that
Speaker 1: when you're starting, you think that you have to play
Speaker 1: the role of a journalist, and when you're doing that,
Speaker 1: you're not really unlocking your true power and the thing
Speaker 1: that makes you differ front, which is what you're going
Speaker 1: to bring to sports media. You know, like, don't act
Speaker 1: like what you think you should act like. Just act
Speaker 1: like you, so be you is number one. Don't limit yourself.
Speaker 1: I think it's number two. When I first started, I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I can just be in the studio and talk about
Speaker 1: the news of the day. That was what I thought.
Speaker 1: But the more I did this, and like I can
Speaker 1: do a bunch of things and I don't just have
Speaker 1: to talk about football. I can talk about basketball. I
Speaker 1: can also go and hose the celebrity basketball game. Like
Speaker 1: I can go into all these different spaces and still thrive.
Speaker 1: But you create the box and you stay in the box.
Speaker 1: You've got to really be the space that you take
Speaker 1: up as opposed to just being in this in this
Speaker 1: you know, this tiny space for yourself. So those are
Speaker 1: those are the two things I would say. And also listen, um,
Speaker 1: so many people will send me like their resume reels
Speaker 1: with types of interviews that they did, and you go
Speaker 1: into that interview and you're not listening to the person
Speaker 1: because you're so focused on just like asking whatever is next,
Speaker 1: And so you missed a good follow up, You missed
Speaker 1: the real conver station because you're like, Okay, I just
Speaker 1: gotta get my ship off, you know. So listening to
Speaker 1: people you know with the with the intent to understand
Speaker 1: and not just to reply, I think as a lost
Speaker 1: kind of art um and interviewing and journalism. So those
Speaker 1: are probably the three. There's so many more, but I
Speaker 1: think that's what's most important. You touched on this earlier.
Speaker 1: How important is that sisterhood for you women in that space?
Speaker 1: Halve Carry has been on the program, Jamal has been
Speaker 1: on the program to people who are doing really well.
Speaker 1: You mentioned Pam all over before. But how important is
Speaker 1: that to being able to have some big sisters to
Speaker 1: lean on and teach you to rope, similar to have
Speaker 1: an e vet in the league, Like when we first
Speaker 1: came in the league. I was just gonna say that
Speaker 1: it's the exact same as having a vet. You need
Speaker 1: somebody to tell you do this. But girl stopped doing this,
Speaker 1: you know. And that's one thing I love so much
Speaker 1: about Carrie is I mean I've had carry comedy and
Speaker 1: be like we gotta stop, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like and we will have these real conversations about what's
Speaker 1: going on, and you know, what is the right thing
Speaker 1: and the wrong thing. Like I love Carrie for I
Speaker 1: know I can always call her and ask her advice,
Speaker 1: and it goes beyond just work, Like we talk about life. Right.
Speaker 1: She has gotten me through breakups, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Like she is just she's great and the only people
Speaker 1: that will really understand what it is like to be
Speaker 1: a black woman to media or other black women in media.
Speaker 1: So you need that relatability and that true sisterhood somebody
Speaker 1: that they can really guide you. So, you know, shout
Speaker 1: out to Carrie and Maria and Roz and Jamal and
Speaker 1: I mean even people like Bamani Jones. Like it's important
Speaker 1: to have those that understand that you can just bounce
Speaker 1: ideas off of and and just keep you right. That's
Speaker 1: what the Vets do. They keep you right. Quick hitters.
Speaker 1: First thing that comes to mind, I ask you these
Speaker 1: top five Atlanta athletes of all time? Oh okay, Michael Vick.
Speaker 1: That's my number one. Easy. I'm gonna say Julio even
Speaker 1: though he broke my heart and left. I know, I
Speaker 1: gotta say Trey Young. The got to say Dominique Wilkins.
Speaker 1: You bet not missed this last one. I'm missing a
Speaker 1: big one, right, yes you are. Let me think the
Speaker 1: Falcons to the Hawks? What sport? Two sports? But these
Speaker 1: are just my favorites right at the best. Okay, she
Speaker 1: might be a little too young to to really catch
Speaker 1: what he was one. I know you're talking about I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think. Yeah. I mean, I'm thinking about the
Speaker 1: people that I have an emotional tie so that I
Speaker 1: grew up watching Thick m I don't know where you
Speaker 1: gotta say Roddy White. Oh my god, Dean Sanders is
Speaker 1: my phone background, and I know Dean gonna see this.
Speaker 1: I love Diane. I wasn't thinking about it, Okay by
Speaker 1: time I got you know, I love Yeah, I love
Speaker 1: Dion and he knows it too. I mean I talked
Speaker 1: about Diane all the time, every every time there's NFL draft.
Speaker 1: I posted NFL Draft it was like the most iconic
Speaker 1: with the curl and everything. Thank you for saying that,
Speaker 1: because he would be like dang, No, yeah, you gotta
Speaker 1: put Dan in there. I was trying to more. I
Speaker 1: was thinking, is they're like a U G A guy
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting about. But I'll go with those sound track
Speaker 1: to Your Life give me three songs in rotation. Oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, that is such a tough one. Who This
Speaker 1: is gonna sound weird, but I heard it so much
Speaker 1: in high school. Nuck if you buck? That was like
Speaker 1: that was it? Someone where you're from? Without saying where
Speaker 1: you When I think of high school, I think of
Speaker 1: that song, right, So I say, nugg if you buck.
Speaker 1: Lauren Hale is my absolutely favorite singer. So I go
Speaker 1: X factor a song. Yeah, I go X Factor by
Speaker 1: Lauren Hill, and I'm gonna go no wait, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get rid of X Faction. I'm gonna do prototype Outcast
Speaker 1: what about Cast? Love that song? And I don't know,
Speaker 1: I feel like my generation like you have to feel
Speaker 1: like a Drake song in there. Mm hmmm. I think
Speaker 1: I will go. I'll do a new one. I'll do
Speaker 1: laugh now car later. Yeah, sorry too. I probably should
Speaker 1: have put Amigo a dream interview male and female female
Speaker 1: Serena Williams. Male was Barack Obama, but I got that
Speaker 1: um male. I will say this is a weird answer,
Speaker 1: but I want to interview this person because no one
Speaker 1: has interviewed him Kauai. One it's really sat down with Kauai,
Speaker 1: and I just feel like that's missing. Like one day
Speaker 1: he has to do a real in depth, like hour
Speaker 1: long talk. So I would love to to really talk
Speaker 1: to her. I played with him, we had some some
Speaker 1: nights in my carib some talk, so I know, I
Speaker 1: know when it does happen, it's gonna be that one
Speaker 1: because I've been talking to his cousin for like two years.
Speaker 1: But like, I don't be tun in like I just
Speaker 1: more so I'm so interested in him as a human
Speaker 1: period right Like and now it's like anytime he does anything,
Speaker 1: we just think it's the best thing ever. He laughed.
Speaker 1: We're like, oh my god, that's quiet, like and he
Speaker 1: says something. I want to hear him really really say something.
Speaker 1: I kept on thinking in the bubble i'd have like
Speaker 1: a moment to talk to him, but he really is
Speaker 1: just like reserved. He would he'd go eat and go
Speaker 1: back and then talk to nobody. So one day I'd
Speaker 1: like to interview Kauai for he did reach out with
Speaker 1: some all the smoke gifts, so I signed it to himself.
Speaker 1: Five best games You've ever been to? Oh, that's a
Speaker 1: good one. I've been in some good games. A lot
Speaker 1: of the ones. I think about our college though Big
Speaker 1: Ten championship when Ohio SA b Wisconsin and then they
Speaker 1: went on to win the college football playoffs first year.
Speaker 1: That's like my number one game. When Illinois b Indiana
Speaker 1: when Indiana was number one. It was like Victor Ladipo's
Speaker 1: team loved Brandon Paul. They did that old Phoenix Sun
Speaker 1: play before Phoenix Suns did. Honestly, like all the games
Speaker 1: in the bubble, that game Jazz Nuggets. Yeah, but I
Speaker 1: mean that last one Mitchell was on the floor. I
Speaker 1: mean that game was so good when I think Luca
Speaker 1: was playing the Clippers and that dagger. Yep, that was
Speaker 1: a great game. And so we were doing the Twitter show,
Speaker 1: so I was in the building, but not at the
Speaker 1: actual games. I could here. But when the Rafters beat
Speaker 1: the Celtics on that O Gana nob shot, that was
Speaker 1: a crazy game. I ran over there to see the end.
Speaker 1: So those are those the five I'd say, like bubble
Speaker 1: basketball was some of the most exciting basketball for me
Speaker 1: and just really my favorite journalistic thing I've ever done.
Speaker 1: So those are those the five. I mean, we didn't
Speaker 1: really touch on that, but we'll take a break from
Speaker 1: our quicker talk on that. That bubble experience. How was
Speaker 1: that for you as a journalist. How was it for
Speaker 1: you being isolated, why the world was going crazy, and
Speaker 1: how was it being able to see, like you said,
Speaker 1: some of the best basketball you've ever seen. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it was definitely like a mix of emotions at
Speaker 1: different times. You know, you get there for seven days,
Speaker 1: you can't leave the room, so you're lonely, you're side,
Speaker 1: you're like, dang, like I want to like go out
Speaker 1: and you know, be out and about people that have
Speaker 1: already finished their quarantine. Then you know, we're also in
Speaker 1: there when Jacob Blake happens. That's why I thought it
Speaker 1: was really important that there were so many black media
Speaker 1: members there because the players really wanted to discuss us
Speaker 1: it and they wanted to feel comfortable discussing it. You know,
Speaker 1: we were there when they were all in that big
Speaker 1: ballroom having to talk about whether they were going to
Speaker 1: leave the bubble or not, and it was important there
Speaker 1: are people there that understood and knew that. The question
Speaker 1: shouldn't all have been like are you all going to play?
Speaker 1: The question should be like are you okay? Right? Like
Speaker 1: what is it like for you seeing this? How are
Speaker 1: you doing? Mentally? Was really really important. But I think
Speaker 1: I will not ever do anything I liked more than
Speaker 1: that experience. If tomorrow they were like, go to the bubble,
Speaker 1: would you have to be there? I was there for
Speaker 1: two months. I would have been there a little longer,
Speaker 1: but I left early for my uncle Lew's funeral. Yes, absolutely,
Speaker 1: rest in peace. So it was. It was great. It
Speaker 1: was like summer camp. And one thing I don't think
Speaker 1: it's talked about enough about the bubble. I know there
Speaker 1: were guys there that loved it so much because you
Speaker 1: almost had no responsibility, Like you got to escape from
Speaker 1: whatever your life was outside, just just for a bit.
Speaker 1: And I think people eatd that that refresher. All you
Speaker 1: had to do was worried about basketball. I think the
Speaker 1: cool thing was to say how much you didn't like
Speaker 1: the bubble. But they liked that bubble. If anyone, I
Speaker 1: always say it, but they they enjoy being that bubble.
Speaker 1: You could play a game, you got to go drink
Speaker 1: at the ball, you go to the pool. It was
Speaker 1: a really nice time and I think I did some
Speaker 1: of my most important work when I was top three
Speaker 1: celebrity basketball players. Okay, this is easy Cevo, Chris Brown,
Speaker 1: little Dirk Like they're actually good, right, I mean, you
Speaker 1: know it's good for someone that's not a Yeah. Last question,
Speaker 1: who do you want to see on All the Smoke?
Speaker 1: And before you answer us, you have to help us
Speaker 1: get your answer on the show. Mmm, who would I
Speaker 1: like to see on Hon the Smoke? Not Ka because
Speaker 1: I want no J Cole. I'd love to see J
Speaker 1: Cole and All the Smoke because that would be really nice.
Speaker 1: And I feel like y'all can get J Cole. Yeah,
Speaker 1: keep me talking and he wants to talk hoops. I
Speaker 1: love to get on here. Well, Taylor Rooks, thank you
Speaker 1: very much. Thank you for having me giving us some
Speaker 1: of your time. I am an avid All of Smoke watcher,
Speaker 1: so when I was asked to come on, I said,
Speaker 1: tell me when, tell me where, let me get cute.
Speaker 1: I'm there. You did that, Thank you, thank you. And
Speaker 1: before we end, I do want to say shout out
Speaker 1: to you guys, because you guys have done something that
Speaker 1: is really hard to do in media, which is create
Speaker 1: an environment like people come on here. They know they
Speaker 1: can be themselves, they can talk freely there with their peers.
Speaker 1: If they have anything they want to get off their
Speaker 1: chest in a way that will work, they come here.
Speaker 1: So just shout out to y'all from making a transition
Speaker 1: that people underestimate how difficult it is to make. So
Speaker 1: I I love this show. I love what you guys
Speaker 1: meant sports and a culture. So thank you for having
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Well, that's a wrap, Taylor Rooks. You can
Speaker 1: catch us on Showtime Basketball, YouTube and the I Heart
Speaker 1: platform Black Effects. We'll see you all next week. A
Speaker 1: piece of eight down Bound. This is all a smoke,
Speaker 1: a production of The Black Effect and Our Heart Radio
Speaker 1: in partnership with Showtime