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Speaker 1: This is kJ Live with Chris john Sillen and Chris

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Speaker 1: is having conversations with influencers in the sports world and

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Speaker 1: entertainment in the Strait. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now

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Speaker 1: tuned in to K three Live. Today's guests on the

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Speaker 1: show was one of the nation's top sophomore basketball players.

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Speaker 1: He's a six five one and seventy five pounds shooting

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Speaker 1: guard at the legendary Long Beach Polly in Long Beach, California.

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Speaker 1: He is the number fourteenth ranked prospect in the country

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Speaker 1: by ESPN. Let's welcome in, Jovanni. Rough to kJ Live.

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Speaker 1: What's good, Jo, Vanny? What's up? Everything? Man? Everything you

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Speaker 1: on the show. Happy new year, brother, first ball, Yes, sir, Yes,

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Speaker 1: there's a new year man. New beginnings is a chance

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Speaker 1: to start at the top of things. Man. But we're

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the basketball season. Yeah uh, and

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Speaker 1: you guys Long Beach Polly have played a hilicious schedule

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Speaker 1: to start it out. Man, talk about talk to me

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Speaker 1: about how this season has gone so far. Do you

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Speaker 1: feel like there's been a bull's eye sort of a

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Speaker 1: target on you that wasn't there last year as a freshman? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: It definitely is a target because of my rank and

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Speaker 1: who I am right now. But our coaches and our

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Speaker 1: team are trying to keep me level headed. Is now

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Speaker 1: that winning is you know the main goal? Yeah? And

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Speaker 1: when you talk about winning, you you're playing at a program, man,

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Speaker 1: that is notoriously one of the current your current coach

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Speaker 1: as well as Shelton Diggs as well as the coaches

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Speaker 1: from the past. I mean, I know, I went to

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Speaker 1: creat high school. We played Long Beach Polly and it

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Speaker 1: was always, you know, one of the biggest games of

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Speaker 1: the year. Do you feel that pressure or that legacy

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Speaker 1: or is that something that this generation the ballplayer just

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Speaker 1: really isn't tuned into. Nah? Me, personally, I feel the pressure,

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Speaker 1: but I don't think everybody else really realizes that. You know,

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Speaker 1: we go to Polly like everyone's really gonna for us.

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Speaker 1: Me personally, I kind of feel of it, and I

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Speaker 1: feel like our coaches are trying to like let us

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Speaker 1: know that, you know, like you're at Polly like lock in, Yeah, man,

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Speaker 1: you are. And and you guys got um a lot

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Speaker 1: of opportunity to play against some of the top talent

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Speaker 1: not only in southern California but in the country. So

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Speaker 1: far if all the players that you have faced because

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Speaker 1: you faced bad like a murderous row. You're going against

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Speaker 1: guys this year who has been who has it pressed

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Speaker 1: you both so far? Uh? Sat Bernards Definitely, they gave

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Speaker 1: us the hardest, the toughest match up. They were just

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Speaker 1: good all around. I like Tony Bland and how he

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Speaker 1: coached this team. I really like them. Yeah. Bernards is

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Speaker 1: a nice little crew, uh, Tiger reasons and they got

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Speaker 1: some upperclassmen that are very very good basketball players. What

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Speaker 1: is it about this season that feels different than last season?

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Speaker 1: Last year, you guys had senior leadership. This year it's

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Speaker 1: a young team. You're pretty much the senior leader, if

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Speaker 1: you will, quote unquote. It's been the biggest difference between

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Speaker 1: this year's Polly and last year. It's just this year

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Speaker 1: we're young. Last year we were all, like you said,

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Speaker 1: it was senior whatever. We don't have that. This year

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Speaker 1: we have two seniors and one of them plays the

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Speaker 1: other ones kind of you know, just there. But it's

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Speaker 1: definitely that I feel like we're not as maturity were

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Speaker 1: last year, but hopefully we can get on track. How

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Speaker 1: important is that maturity? Giovanni is somebody that's been a

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Speaker 1: part of a team and played a major role. How

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Speaker 1: important is maturity on the high school level for your

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Speaker 1: team's success? Now, it's super important because if you're not

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Speaker 1: mature and you're just in it for yourself or whatever,

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Speaker 1: you're not gonna in nothing. And I feel like we

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Speaker 1: can get like that since we're young sometimes, but we

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Speaker 1: have some games where we're just rolling. Like we lost

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Speaker 1: some good teams, but they were good losses. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: the maturity means a lot. Now you're listed as a

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Speaker 1: shooting guard. Uh, it's my I'm of the opinion I

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Speaker 1: think that your natural well, you're position will end up

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Speaker 1: being more of a of a of a combo guard,

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Speaker 1: a guy that can handle the ball as well as

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Speaker 1: shoot it. Are you comfortable playing sort of the lead

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Speaker 1: guard maestro point guard position? Yeah? I just started doing

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Speaker 1: that a couple of games ago and practice, our coach,

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Speaker 1: Coach Shell, told me, I don't know, to start running

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Speaker 1: the point more. Last year he wanted me to do it,

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Speaker 1: but I kind of like backed off because I was

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Speaker 1: like nervous, like I was a freshman. I didn't want

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Speaker 1: to mess up my senior season, know whatever. So this

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Speaker 1: year I'm really taking on that combo guard role. Yeah no,

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Speaker 1: And I mean having the basketball in your hands, being

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Speaker 1: able to make decisions, especially at high speeds under durest.

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Speaker 1: I mean that's what gets you ready, and that's what

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Speaker 1: you're I think you're built for. I watched you play

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Speaker 1: in the E y B l U during the summer,

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Speaker 1: and I just noticed that you have a unique ability

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Speaker 1: to I think rise to the occasion. I think that's

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Speaker 1: something that I noticed about you. I think you you

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Speaker 1: rise to the occasion. You're able to step up and

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Speaker 1: turn it on when needed. Now, sometimes when you play

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Speaker 1: against teams that might not you know, bring the best

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Speaker 1: out of you. You may you have, in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: played to that level of competition. Now, how do you

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Speaker 1: become a guy that's just that one guy all the time,

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Speaker 1: no matter who you're playing with, you're going into absolutely dominant.

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Speaker 1: I think it starts in practice for real. Like I

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Speaker 1: feel like even if you are, like you're playing against

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Speaker 1: the second team or whatever, and you know that you're

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Speaker 1: better on the other team, you just got I like

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Speaker 1: still go at them the same way, because it's like,

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Speaker 1: if I don't do it in practice, when I get

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Speaker 1: in the game, we played like a league opponent and

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Speaker 1: we're playing like they have won a game. I'm just

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Speaker 1: started sucking. But yeah, it's really starts in practice. No,

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Speaker 1: it does, and it's it's your practice how you play.

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Speaker 1: And we were taught at U C. L A And

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Speaker 1: Crentshaw High School, both my alma manors, that practice was

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Speaker 1: like our most important part of our basketball experience. So

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Speaker 1: we had to give it all in practice. There was

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Speaker 1: no being late. There was we were always in to

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Speaker 1: everything the coach said, and we're pushing ourselves. I think

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Speaker 1: pushing yourself is is the one of the toughest things

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Speaker 1: you have to do, especially sometimes when you might not

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Speaker 1: necessarily have the level of competition around you that may

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Speaker 1: push you, but you have to take it upon yourself

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Speaker 1: personally to push yourself. Take have some pride each and

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Speaker 1: every day about how you go about your business. Man,

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Speaker 1: talk to me a little bit about your recruiting. Now.

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Speaker 1: I know that they're our team or schools that are involved.

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Speaker 1: How do you when you're looking at schools right nowadays,

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Speaker 1: how do you evaluate a program? It's a style of play,

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Speaker 1: is it the coaching staff? Do you look at the

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Speaker 1: number of guys that got in the league. Talk to

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Speaker 1: me it's really about their style of play and how

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Speaker 1: they coach. I'm not really worried about how many people

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Speaker 1: they put in the league because at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day, that's gonna be on me if I get

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Speaker 1: to the league or not wherever I go. But it's

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Speaker 1: really style of play because I know I play the

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Speaker 1: right way, So I want to go to a program

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Speaker 1: where like it's really all about fundamentals and they coach right.

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Speaker 1: They don't just let people do whatever. They're gonna get

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Speaker 1: on you, but they're still gonna show you love here

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Speaker 1: and there. You know, Yeah, No, I do know. Um

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Speaker 1: U c l A was a place that I love

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Speaker 1: because it fits the mode of that what you were saying.

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Speaker 1: I also took an official visit to Duke University in

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Speaker 1: nine so they had just won a national championship. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm hanging out with Grand Hill and them guys. Coach K,

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Speaker 1: I'm saying, the Coach K's office. I'll tell you what,

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Speaker 1: it was one of the great experiences of my life.

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Speaker 1: They No, Coach K wanted me to walk on. He

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Speaker 1: didn't want me. He wasn't gonna off for me a scholarship.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna give you a preferred walk on. He said, hey,

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Speaker 1: the next season, you know, you can earn a scholarship,

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Speaker 1: because you know scholarships Joe Vannier a year to year.

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Speaker 1: So he was telling me that the next season, I

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Speaker 1: can earn a scholarship. I was just kind of like, coach,

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Speaker 1: you know, you played me to the left up top

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Speaker 1: fifty like I've got roblic Okay, I'm going to u

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Speaker 1: c l A. But that experience and when you when

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Speaker 1: you say programs that are fundamentality sound, those two come up.

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Speaker 1: What programs have reached out to you or have shown

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Speaker 1: some early interests in your high school career. Um, right

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Speaker 1: now at the moment, it's Illinois, U c l A,

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Speaker 1: USC Arizona, Stanford, Arkansas, a little bit of Virginia. Longby

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Speaker 1: State offered. LMU offered. It's just schools like that. It's

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Speaker 1: really West coast right now. Congratulations on the l m

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Speaker 1: U and the Long Beach State offer. I mean, I

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Speaker 1: remember my first offer. I believe it was you CSB,

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Speaker 1: and I felt like a million bucks because it's nothing

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Speaker 1: like knowing that there's a Division one or even a

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Speaker 1: collegiate opportunity ready to take you on. That's a big

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Speaker 1: responsibility on them, and they're they're putting a lot into that.

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Speaker 1: So you know, I'm gonna give you kudos, man for

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Speaker 1: working this hard so far. Trust me, I know more

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Speaker 1: offers are gonna roll in for you. Let's talk about it,

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Speaker 1: no question, man, Let's talk about a couple of those

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Speaker 1: programs that you mentioned. UM. Arkansas is a program that

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Speaker 1: I I love. I've I've we um, I've watched them,

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Speaker 1: followed them for years. UM when coach Musselman got the job,

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Speaker 1: I definitely was paying a lot of attention. I know

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Speaker 1: the last couple years they've got some players. What is

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Speaker 1: it about Arkansas style of play that is attractive to

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Speaker 1: Giovanni Rock? I feel like they let their guards go,

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Speaker 1: Like you see this year Nick Smith, Anthony Black. Athney

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Speaker 1: Black is someone I watched a lot. These are like

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Speaker 1: eight point guard. A lot of him. People told me

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Speaker 1: put me on him. I like how they let him

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Speaker 1: go and like he's not selfish at all, He's just

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Speaker 1: he's mainly a pastor for real. So yeah, I was

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Speaker 1: like to let him go. Yeah, No, that's key man,

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Speaker 1: letting you go, letting you play through mistakes. I think

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Speaker 1: that's one of the big things that Uh, athletes always

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Speaker 1: want out of a coach. Just let me, you know,

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Speaker 1: don't pull me out when I messed up, man, just

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Speaker 1: let me play, let me go, and the freedom to

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Speaker 1: create and do some things. What is it about, say

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Speaker 1: Illinois that picture interests as well as Big Tends on

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Speaker 1: the East Coast, It's a whole different environ I mean,

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Speaker 1: the coaches show love lies, so I like that. I've

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Speaker 1: been watching teams. They're doing pretty good this season. They

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Speaker 1: have a couple of losses, but in general it's like

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Speaker 1: the same let their guards go, but they let them

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Speaker 1: go to a certain extent, like they you don't want

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Speaker 1: to like, you know, what's it going? Just let them

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Speaker 1: mess up and stuff. You know. Well, yeah, this run

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Speaker 1: run rampant. I had a chance to watch Illinois a

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Speaker 1: couple of times this season. They smacked my U c.

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Speaker 1: L A Bruins out in Vegas. Yeah that was a

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Speaker 1: good game. Yeah it was. That was a good game. Man.

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Speaker 1: I like I like that that one of the lefty.

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Speaker 1: They got a lefty that is like nice nice and

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Speaker 1: were shooting it. And I'm familiar with the sky Clark

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Speaker 1: as well. Yeah. I had a question about how you

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Speaker 1: know someone in your class views and local. Being from

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Speaker 1: the city of Long Beach, how do you view the

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Speaker 1: fact that U C, l A and USC are bouncing

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Speaker 1: to the Big Ten Conference? How does that resonate with you? Uh? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean it's not like a big deal to me,

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Speaker 1: But I feel like competition wise, it's a good thing.

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Speaker 1: But maybe I wish they could have stayed out here

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Speaker 1: a little longer. But competition wise, I feel like big talents, right,

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Speaker 1: would that be something It's like location or where in

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Speaker 1: who people are playing? Is that something that matters to

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Speaker 1: you a lot? Or are you focused on what is

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Speaker 1: this coach and coaching staff and school are gonna do

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Speaker 1: for me? How can I leverage this situation? I'm not

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Speaker 1: worried about who I play. Yeah, I'm not really worried

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Speaker 1: about who I play. I feel like location doesn't matter

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Speaker 1: because basketball can take you around the world. I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to see everywhere. So it's really the coaching firm. Now,

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Speaker 1: that's a great that's a great way to view it, man,

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Speaker 1: because there's a lot of l A guys that just

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Speaker 1: hate the code. I'll keep it real so they'll turn

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Speaker 1: down opportunities if it's cold and this and that. You know, brothers.

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Speaker 1: K just go put on, you know, a big bubble

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Speaker 1: jacket and get a beatie. You know, it's easy later

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Speaker 1: up with dude, want to be like, No, man, too colde.

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Speaker 1: I'm not messing with that. I'm like, all right, bro,

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Speaker 1: so you're not like that Javan. I like the rain

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Speaker 1: all that? Okay? Cool? Cool, that's uh, that's good to know.

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Speaker 1: Um in the era nowadays of the n I L

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Speaker 1: the name image and likeness, which is something that is

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Speaker 1: so kind of brand new to my generation because it

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Speaker 1: was always illegal to get that off. So you know,

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Speaker 1: it was you know, it was never legal to really

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Speaker 1: get this off. Now it's legal. How does someone at

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Speaker 1: your age look at that? Are you actively like worried

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Speaker 1: about that, or you're worried more about just being the

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Speaker 1: best basketball player you could be and then the n

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Speaker 1: I L will come? Or you like, do you even

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Speaker 1: think about the n I L. No, I don't think

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Speaker 1: about the n I L. I have people hit. My

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Speaker 1: parents are talking about n I L s. It's it's

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Speaker 1: a blessing, of course, But I'm just focused on the

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Speaker 1: basketball park getting better because I know, like one day

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Speaker 1: the money will come, you know, But it's a blessing. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it is. It is a blessing. I think, Um, we

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Speaker 1: live in an era now with social media and you know,

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Speaker 1: you have following ing and there's ability to like make

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Speaker 1: money because you have followers. So a guy that stands

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Speaker 1: out for me is Jared McCain out at Corona Centennial. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, he's got like a million TikTok followers. You

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Speaker 1: know he's going to duke. He's out here doing his

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Speaker 1: thing and he's balling and so so the key is

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Speaker 1: it's always you gotta ball. Also, it's not just n

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Speaker 1: I L talk and getting bags. I need thirty pieces.

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Speaker 1: I need you know, triple doubles. I need a championship.

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Speaker 1: I mean that's to me. I come from that era,

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Speaker 1: like you know, you gotta actually produce. But I love

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Speaker 1: the opportunity that it gives the young athletes today to

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Speaker 1: maximize off their talent. Fox Sports Radio has the best

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Speaker 1: sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our

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Speaker 1: shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the

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Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app search f s R to listen live.

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Speaker 1: When you look at your game, Rovini and you evaluate yourself,

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Speaker 1: what does that process look like? Do you watch filming

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Speaker 1: yourself are you revisiting the game and thinking play by

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Speaker 1: play and what you could have did better? Give me

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Speaker 1: some insight into how you break down your game. I

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Speaker 1: really watched the losses because really this year, all of

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Speaker 1: our losses, I haven't really performed, you know, to them

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Speaker 1: my best. But I look at what I what I

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Speaker 1: could have done, what I did. You always want to

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Speaker 1: look at the good stuff, you know, you want to

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Speaker 1: put yourself down. But I feel like it's just all effort,

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Speaker 1: Like rebounding. He was talking about triple doubles and stuff.

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Speaker 1: I feel I can average triple double if I just

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Speaker 1: put in the effort to go rebound on the offensive boards.

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Speaker 1: You and my teammates involved stuff like that. Yeah, you

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Speaker 1: know those are things that it's It's definitely the first

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Speaker 1: part of it all is just recognizing things you can

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Speaker 1: do better as basketball As basketball players. Sometimes, you know,

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Speaker 1: we don't we get sensitive about ourselves our game. You know,

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Speaker 1: we don't want to watch film because of how we

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Speaker 1: might look. But it's the best move is to be

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Speaker 1: brutally honest with yourself at all times and listen to

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Speaker 1: those people close to you, around you that have known

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Speaker 1: you for a long time and that are telling you

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Speaker 1: things that that you know you you don't want to hear.

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Speaker 1: I know, I never used to want to hear nothing.

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Speaker 1: My my dad had to say, I never wanted to

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Speaker 1: hear nothing, my mom, I don't want to hear nothing, like,

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Speaker 1: don't tell me nothing. And my dad played in the league. Bro,

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Speaker 1: if my dad was in the league and all types

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Speaker 1: of stuff, and I did my dad like that, like, no,

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Speaker 1: you don't know what you're talking about. Man. You played

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Speaker 1: ten years ago, twenty years ago. Man, So but the

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Speaker 1: reality is he did, and the reality is I should

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Speaker 1: have lifted. But back to you, um, the E y

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Speaker 1: b L. I wanted to talk about that because I

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Speaker 1: coached on the E y b L in sixteens several

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Speaker 1: years ago. With the truth, did you feel like, did

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Speaker 1: the E y b L experience for you didn't give

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Speaker 1: you uh confidence going into this season or was confidence

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Speaker 1: already there from the freshman year? No. Confidence was definitely

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Speaker 1: there from the freshman year. But when I came back

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Speaker 1: from the y b L, I nobody in this area

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Speaker 1: really was playing y b L. So I was like,

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Speaker 1: if I can hang over there, when I come back there,

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Speaker 1: I should be dominating. So it boosting me up. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Are you looking forward as far as um we talked

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Speaker 1: about college. Are you looking forward to like locking in

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Speaker 1: a major? Um? Do you have like interests outside of

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Speaker 1: basketball as far as you know what you're gonna do?

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Speaker 1: Is it business? Is it you know? Law? Maybe history?

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Talk to me about your interests outside

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Speaker 1: What is your long term kind of thought process on

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Speaker 1: what you want to be after the ball stops bouncing,

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Speaker 1: after the ball saws bouncing. I feel like I want

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Speaker 1: to stay in the basketball room, even if it's like

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Speaker 1: a now scene, you know, doing what you you interview

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Speaker 1: people like this is cool? Yeah, I like stuff's history

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Speaker 1: is cool too. I don't know if I can see

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Speaker 1: myself as a historian. I want to basketball circle. Yeah. Sorry,

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Speaker 1: what's your favorite subject in school? Oh? It's history? You're

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Speaker 1: like his what what I wanted? Saw? I was a

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Speaker 1: history major U. C. L A. And I'm fascinated with history.

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Speaker 1: What is it about history that you like so much? Like?

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Speaker 1: Why history? It's you're learning about at the path us

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Speaker 1: to why certain things and today's day happens. But it's

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Speaker 1: really my teacher, Like it's all about the teacher. The teachers,

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Speaker 1: cold cold everybody, and he teaches. Well, you're gonna like

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Speaker 1: to subject. I don't good teachers this year. Shout out, shout,

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Speaker 1: what's your teacher history teachers name? Give him shout out.

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Speaker 1: He might be listening, Mr Scott, what's something? Mr Scott? Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know he'll be listening. Um. When when you look

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Speaker 1: at the NBA, when I was coming up, when I

343
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Speaker 1: was your age, I did not think about the NBA.

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Speaker 1: The NBA was not something that I'm just like, look

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Speaker 1: so far away from me. It's a lot closer to

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Speaker 1: guys nowadays. It's a lot more reachable and attainable, in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, When you look at the n B A,

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Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on it? How do you view it?

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Speaker 1: Is it something I know it's obviously the place you

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Speaker 1: want to play, but is it Is it one of

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Speaker 1: those things where it looks like something that is almost

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Speaker 1: an impossible dream? Or do you feel like you have

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Speaker 1: the confidence that if you work hard enough, you can

354
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Speaker 1: attain it. No, feel like the NBA for me is

355
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Speaker 1: very possible, but I'm very far right now. But if

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Speaker 1: I keep working hard, I feel like one day I

357
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:12,680
Speaker 1: was seeing myself. Who's your favorite player and team right now?

358
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:18,040
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics. This is you ain't there from you from

359
00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,719
Speaker 1: Long Beach. Hold on, you talk about Jason Tatum Tatum?

360
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,320
Speaker 1: What about j J. Tatum's game is so nice right now?

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00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:28,920
Speaker 1: The way he gets to his spots and I feel

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Speaker 1: like he's a little inconsistent here and there. But when

363
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,760
Speaker 1: he's on, he's like unstoppable. It feels like but Luca,

364
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:39,480
Speaker 1: Luca might might have got him. Yeah, that's interesting. But

365
00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:41,840
Speaker 1: Da Donovan Mitchell has seventy one the other night. It's

366
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Speaker 1: it's been some crazy stuff going on. Do you think that?

367
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Speaker 1: And he obviously you you weren't. You weren't born when

368
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Speaker 1: the league was more of a physical league and there

369
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Speaker 1: was more of an emphasis on physicality and big men

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Speaker 1: that were true big men and stuff like that. Do

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Speaker 1: you feel like the nb A right now do you

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Speaker 1: feel like if you could have, if you could look

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Speaker 1: back on the eighties and nineties and on YouTube, do

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Speaker 1: you feel like the NBA right now is less physical

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Speaker 1: then it was back then. In your research and the

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Speaker 1: things that you have watched and seen, talk to me.

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Speaker 1: I need to hear your perspective, man. I feel I

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Speaker 1: feel like it's still physical to a certain extent, but

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Speaker 1: I feel like back then it was physical and like,

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Speaker 1: I don't know how to explain it, the players wanted

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Speaker 1: everyone to see how physical it is. I feel like

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Speaker 1: it's these days, like it's still physical, but it's like,

383
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Speaker 1: you know, don't do that type stuff now. That's a

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Speaker 1: great point when you say when you said the players

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Speaker 1: they wanted to know everybody, Hey I'm physical, Hey man,

386
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Speaker 1: I'm out here the boy. Yeah, because it was it

387
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,320
Speaker 1: was it was all about intimidation and nowadays it may

388
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,840
Speaker 1: be just as physical. But I think the intimidation, bullying,

389
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 1: trying to punk dudes aspect has been kind of taken

390
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Speaker 1: out of the game. Now. Dudes are actually folk ist

391
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Speaker 1: on basketball like it should have been. Yeah, when you

392
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Speaker 1: watch them old days and you look at guys in

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Speaker 1: our era, I mean in the current era, do you

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Speaker 1: ever do the comparison thing? Man, when you look at

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Speaker 1: like Michael Jordan's or Kobe and like he says, you know,

396
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,400
Speaker 1: Lebron now or anybody like that, do you ever compare

397
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,639
Speaker 1: players from different eras? Do you ever think about that stuff?

398
00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:25,919
Speaker 1: I think when I'm talking to my friends, you know,

399
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,720
Speaker 1: it's always you know, who's better Michael or Jordan's or

400
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,919
Speaker 1: not Michael Michael Lebron, but me personally, I never compared

401
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 1: because I was I wasn't alive to see it live.

402
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,760
Speaker 1: I didn't see none of that, So I just stay

403
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Speaker 1: in the present time. So that's key man. And you've

404
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:43,920
Speaker 1: seen a lot of basketball. You've been to a lot

405
00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,159
Speaker 1: of a few programs, and you you know you'd be

406
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,240
Speaker 1: in the You be in the mix since you've been young,

407
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,400
Speaker 1: which is great. It's a great experience to be able

408
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,399
Speaker 1: to see that stuff up close. Uh impersonal. So you

409
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,919
Speaker 1: so when you but you don't have a goat, you

410
00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,040
Speaker 1: don't have the greatest all time that you just say, hey,

411
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Speaker 1: he's the greatest for me, it's Lebron right now. Yeah,

412
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Speaker 1: And why I haven't seen enough Jordan to say it's

413
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,000
Speaker 1: Jordan's so, but why is it Lebron? Just just breakdown?

414
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Speaker 1: While Lebron is the greatest of all the time. I

415
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Speaker 1: feel like he's a winner. People want to bring up

416
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Speaker 1: his finals record or whatever, but I feel like he's

417
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,800
Speaker 1: a winner that can get his teammates better. Yeah, I mean,

418
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Speaker 1: I think the fact that he's six eight, two sixty

419
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Speaker 1: and you know play, Yeah, it's it's pretty crazy. I

420
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Speaker 1: was around for Michael Jordan's I. Uh, you know, I

421
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:36,439
Speaker 1: came up, you know, loving Mike. I met Mike first

422
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Speaker 1: time probably I was ten, ten years old at All

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Speaker 1: Star Game. Uh. And then I had like a lifetime

424
00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:47,200
Speaker 1: of between the ages of life, fourteen and twenties five

425
00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 1: where you know, I'm bawling against him at the Space

426
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,200
Speaker 1: Jam Jordan's dome, or I go up to his camp

427
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,800
Speaker 1: and uh, we're you know, we're hooping against each other.

428
00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,680
Speaker 1: You know. So I've guarded Mike, I've played against Mike. Um.

429
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,560
Speaker 1: I definitely think Mike is you know that guy. I

430
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,120
Speaker 1: think he transcended basketball. I think it was much more

431
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:07,639
Speaker 1: than just stuff on the floor with Mike. It was

432
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,720
Speaker 1: his swag, it was his flair. It was the first

433
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,520
Speaker 1: time our generation had ever seen anything like that. Uh.

434
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,080
Speaker 1: And so that's what kind of made it Mike. But

435
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: also I think a guy that doesn't get a lot

436
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:22,040
Speaker 1: of well he does in certain factions, Kobe Bryant. I

437
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,680
Speaker 1: think Kobe for me, it's it's pretty crazy how unstoppable

438
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,359
Speaker 1: Kobe was at his peak. Um. And how if you

439
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,760
Speaker 1: watch Kobe, you should watch a ton of Kobe because

440
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,080
Speaker 1: the way he's he's able to he was able to

441
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:38,840
Speaker 1: adjust his body in the air and the shots I think,

442
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,920
Speaker 1: I don't. I never see anybody hit more difficult shots

443
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,040
Speaker 1: on a consistent level in Kobe, you know them threes

444
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,200
Speaker 1: with like four or five hands up. I mean, dude

445
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: would be doing crazy stuff. So for me, and then

446
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,879
Speaker 1: to go through what he went through, and and at

447
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,640
Speaker 1: the peak of his career, and to be faced with

448
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,679
Speaker 1: the pressure of of personal and private type things in

449
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: a public way and still to be able to perform

450
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:07,480
Speaker 1: and to steal average thirty something throughout all of that.

451
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,920
Speaker 1: That just spoke to his level of mental fortitude. Man,

452
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,560
Speaker 1: And I think that his name definitely is somebody that

453
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:18,639
Speaker 1: needs to be, you know, talked about. Um Man, I

454
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 1: want to talk about something that ain't got to do

455
00:23:20,320 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 1: with basketball, Man, I want to talk about what's your

456
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: favorite shoes to rock off the court? Man? Were you

457
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 1: chilling at the house? Bro? Because look I just look,

458
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,679
Speaker 1: because look when I was coming up, man, we had

459
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,240
Speaker 1: flip flops. That was our leisure attire. Right nowadays, though

460
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,440
Speaker 1: I see the ugs, I see like all kind of

461
00:23:38,520 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 1: with the fur in them. I see these little crazy

462
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 1: furry shoes. Talk to me about the shoe retired man

463
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 1: off the court man. What's your what's your favorite shoes

464
00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,440
Speaker 1: to chilling Bro? Now, it's definitely the ugs. Like you said,

465
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 1: I didn't actually what our inside. Yeah, I'm not a

466
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: big you like Jordan's stuff. I'm not big on that.

467
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,760
Speaker 1: I never asked for that. Everyone knows me knows I'm

468
00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,399
Speaker 1: not a big shoe guy. But I like, I'm like

469
00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,280
Speaker 1: flip flops stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's

470
00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,120
Speaker 1: always good to take care of the puppies. Man. If

471
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 1: your feet got to be comfortable because we all need

472
00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:13,919
Speaker 1: feet all the time and they hurt, I saw, I

473
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,240
Speaker 1: totally get it. Music. Music is a big part of

474
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 1: what we do. Now. What type of music do you

475
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,919
Speaker 1: listen to? And who are some of them? If I

476
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 1: found you in the locker room at Long Beach, probably

477
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,159
Speaker 1: being pre game listening to music, what is playing in

478
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,920
Speaker 1: your AirPods? Bro? And rap? All straight? If I wrap

479
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 1: but old school old school rap, m w A like

480
00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 1: gotta rap, new new age baby face Rade King von

481
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 1: a little baby king Vid Okay, so what kwando Rondo? Okay? Sorry, sorry,

482
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,800
Speaker 1: bad joke, bad joke. I just read up about it. Yes,

483
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:52,960
Speaker 1: he straight faced me. I know, a bad joke. No,

484
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,120
Speaker 1: but King Von my son put me on King Von

485
00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,280
Speaker 1: years ago. He was all on King Vaughan and just

486
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,960
Speaker 1: Von this and vines that. As I finally listened to

487
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,360
Speaker 1: Von Vond was that dude, Man, I gotta keep it real.

488
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 1: He had that er, he got that energy about it

489
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,199
Speaker 1: that it gets you just you just get turned up.

490
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:09,959
Speaker 1: And I'm an old man, so I told you can

491
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,560
Speaker 1: understand what you're going through about it as well. Man Um,

492
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,159
Speaker 1: we talk a little bit about just your dad or

493
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 1: your dad played he was city playered the year he

494
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,080
Speaker 1: played college and bro I had the same thing with

495
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: my pop, my pop hoop and I went to the

496
00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,120
Speaker 1: same high school as him. Is there any pressure as

497
00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: far as from a legacy standpoint? Do you ever feel like, man,

498
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:35,840
Speaker 1: I gotta you know when you wake up, man, I

499
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:37,159
Speaker 1: got a ball, I got a hoop. But does that

500
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: stuff kind of just not even registered to you. No,

501
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 1: I don't feel no pressure. I feel like my my

502
00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:44,919
Speaker 1: pops he lets me know like there's no pressures. You know,

503
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 1: whatever you want to do in life. But I still

504
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 1: just want to be into the ones for real. That's

505
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,679
Speaker 1: all I think about. Now, when's it lot? Have you played? So?

506
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,720
Speaker 1: Have you played him? And once recently and not recent, okay,

507
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 1: because you know your dad could go. I don't know

508
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,400
Speaker 1: if you know, but your dad, you know, he used

509
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 1: to raise y'all both raised up on y'all jumper the

510
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 1: same kind of way, like get all like this high

511
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:09,639
Speaker 1: off the ground. No, seriously, I see, I'll see a

512
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,480
Speaker 1: lot of similarities. I didn't beat my dad in one

513
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,520
Speaker 1: on one till I was nineteen years old and I

514
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,159
Speaker 1: was a freshman at U c l A. And I

515
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,240
Speaker 1: have been playing him since I was twelve, and so

516
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:21,640
Speaker 1: he uh, he didn't let me win. Man for like

517
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 1: seven years. Bro, he was like a thousand and two

518
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 1: hundred and old against me, and then I finally beat him. Man,

519
00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 1: trust me when I tell you it definitely made me

520
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,919
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, I was doing something when you

521
00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 1: finally beat him. Man, Um, what about your mom? Man?

522
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 1: How about how much is your mom meant to everything

523
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 1: that you've been doing? Man? As far as just from

524
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,360
Speaker 1: from everything, how how much does she mean in your

525
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,879
Speaker 1: life now? My mom meets the world to me. You know,

526
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 1: she's in that basketball world too. Sometimes she'd be trying

527
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:50,879
Speaker 1: to tell me, like stuff I need to work on.

528
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 1: I kind of just I gotta go back to my

529
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: room and remember like she's actually like in the world too.

530
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,520
Speaker 1: So yeah, she does everything for me and my little brother.

531
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,560
Speaker 1: That's great, man, that's great. Always you know, respect moms man,

532
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,440
Speaker 1: because that was the sacrifice and the and the love

533
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,640
Speaker 1: that they do. Man, It's it kind of goes unseen

534
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,439
Speaker 1: and unheard, but it's that stables every single day. You know,

535
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,119
Speaker 1: we were putting up, running our hard hat, grabbing our

536
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 1: lunch pail, and we're checking in and checking out. So man,

537
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,360
Speaker 1: that's that's really dope. Man. It reminds me of when

538
00:27:20,359 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: I think about k D. I don't know if you've

539
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,679
Speaker 1: ever seen Kevin Durant at the m v P acceptance

540
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,840
Speaker 1: speech when he kind of lost it. But it just

541
00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:29,920
Speaker 1: that's what it's all about, man, That's that that moment

542
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,240
Speaker 1: in life is really what it's all about. What Jovanni,

543
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,879
Speaker 1: I had you on man for a while. Man, I

544
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: appreciate you stopping you bro. Now are you about to

545
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:43,159
Speaker 1: go work on your game right now? It's raining outside

546
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 1: right now. I was gonna go out like it's Josha,

547
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:46,400
Speaker 1: but I I just gotta go to the gym later,

548
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,440
Speaker 1: probably like eight o'clock. I'm waiting for I live back

549
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: to school. Okay, okay, yeah, Man, keep that up. Man,

550
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,439
Speaker 1: stay locked into the gym work. Bro, keep getting it

551
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 1: in and keep doing what you've been doing. Man's it

552
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 1: was really exciting to have you on the day and

553
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,879
Speaker 1: chop it up with you. Bro. I appreciate it. Ladies

554
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, Giovanni Rough