WEBVTT - Magic Johnson 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:03.880 You regret some things in life. I regret not calling 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.880 Lebron telling him I was stepping down, right, I really 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:11.959 regretted that. Right all my life and running all my life, sacrifice, 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.520 hustle back, pricing right, Want a slice? Got the broll 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:18.200 dice to swadd all my life? I've been grinding all 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:21.279 my life, all my life, then running all my life 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:25.880 and sacrifice, hustle back, prison, Want a slice, Got the 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:28.640 broll dice to swad all my life? I've been running 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:32.000 all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.280 Sha Shay. I am your whole Shannon Sharp. I'm also 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.319 the proproud of Club Sha Shade and the guy that's 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:39.600 stopping buy for conversation on the drink today, ladies and gentlemen. 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.040 He doesn't need any introduction, but I'll give him one anyway. 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:44.680 He's a ten time NBA Champ, five as a player, 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.520 five as an owner executive, A three times Finals MVP, 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.879 A three times NBA MVP, twelve time All Star, two 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.720 time All Star Game MVP, nine time All NBA First Team, 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.720 Olympic gold medalist, two times Basketball All of heym in 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.440 duc D, member of the seventy fifth Anniversary team and 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:04.720 the fiftieth Anniversary Team, nca Champion, NCAA Final four Most 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:08.200 Outstanding Player, mister Basketball in the state of Michigan. He's 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.040 a leader, a father of philanthropist, an entrepreneur, a dreamer, 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.640 a fighter who I run out of words to describe 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.200 who he is. Herban Magic Johsan, but you can call 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.440 him Magic. How you doing, I'm doing great, And then 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.360 thank you for having me on. You know, we've been 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.000 trying to hook this up. So this has been ladies 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:26.480 and gentlemen. This has been in the making for two 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:28.400 years now. The man told me. I think I asked 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.440 him at the end of twenty twenty. We're in the pandemic. 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.479 He said, when we get out this pandemic, I'm gonna 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.000 come see you, okay. I saw twenty twenty one. He said, 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.120 I ain't forgot about you that I just don't forget 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.480 about you. I said, okay, okay, mat So Harry Fans 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.120 twenty twenty two. I saw him in the gym, I said, 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:46.920 he say, talk to my assistant. We're gonna get it done. 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:48.600 I saw her. We were talking. I saw her about 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:50.640 We saw I saw each other about three months ago. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:52.760 I said, Magic said he gonna get me done. He said, well, 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.320 he's gone on a vacation and when he gets back, 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:59.960 I said, he just got back in the like, yeah, yeah, 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.480 you go out again. But thank thank for your time. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.440 How you doing. I'm doing great, man, everything going very well. 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.280 So tell me about this this this this month long 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.440 vacation that you How long has it been, how long 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:14.600 have you been doing it? And what made you decide 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.120 to say, you know what, I need a vacation for 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.200 a month. Most peopould take a week, maybe two. You 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.720 do a month this week this year might have been 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:26.520 too month or Shannon. I worked so hard and I 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.280 said to my wife Cookie, I said, we went on 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:32.160 vacation for two weeks, right, And I said, man, it's 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.880 not enough. So the next year we did three weeks. Okay, 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:41.440 I said, man, it's so, I said four weeks. It said, 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:44.560 oh man, we did that for about five years and 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.720 I said that's not enough. So we started doing now 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.440 five weeks. But the blessing is we've been going to 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:53.520 Europe for thirty one years. Wow, And so that's our 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.840 annual trip. I believe if I get everything that I 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.680 want and I know the place right, why not just 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:02.000 keep going back, because do you go back to the 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.160 same place, say a lot of the same places and 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.760 some new places in Europe, so that's a long time 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:12.960 to go. So you've seen damn everything. What happened you see, 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:17.560 and it's about that, right, But also I love Italian food, right, 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:20.680 go to Italy, get the best, man, get the best. 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.880 You know, it's it's amazing. I gotta stay on my workout. 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.720 But tell us about the lottery that you have that 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:31.280 you that you every year you have different couples go 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.320 along with you. I've seen l and his family go. 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.440 I've seen Samuel Jackson his family go. I think Rodney 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.120 and Holly peat rid along with you class, So how 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:44.520 do you come up with this lottery? That's good? Nobody 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.960 ever said that I'm gonna use that one. Well, it's 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:52.080 it's it's really my wife, right, she says, Okay, baby, 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.520 what we want to do, right, Hey, it's on you. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:58.280 We we we go with couples that you know, we 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.960 have something in common, right, we can have a lot 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:04.840 of fun with that's right. That's right, watch movies with 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:10.680 because on a yacht you're spending a lot of closer walks. 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.760 So we know them, all of them. Rodney and Holly 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:19.000 Sam and Latania Jackson, and like you said, l L 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.560 and his wife Simone, So we know them very well. 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.200 They know us, so it's easy to go on a 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.520 trip with them and spend a lot of quality time 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.160 with them as well. I just saw on Showtimes you 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.800 guys had the anniversal where you guys reunited with the 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.960 Showtime Lakers. How did that come about? Well, Sandon, it 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.800 was funny because I called Coach Rodley and said, listen, man, 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.160 we gotta do the Showtime reunion right. The only thing 0:04:42.200 --> 0:04:45.239 we haven't done is gotten together, right. So he said 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:48.159 Buck that you know, everybody called me Buck, Buck, go 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.680 ahead and put it together. So I got it. Okay, 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.960 I got it. So I called my staff and together 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.760 and said, we're gonna do the Showtime reunion. The Lakers 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.440 always trained in Hawaii, so we're gonna vote to Hawaii 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.479 because that's the bus's favorite place. Okay, called the hotel, 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:07.480 got the four Seasons on board, got American Airlines on board, 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.960 so we got all these different companies on board, and 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:14.680 then called the guys man. They they all went crazy, 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:18.360 and Shannon, it was the best time. It was emotional, 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:22.880 It was gratifying. It was. It was everything all in one. 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.080 And then when we got on the bus one more time, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:28.400 this is crazy, you you know how this is? Everybody 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.560 got their favorite seat right right. Guess what, everybody went 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:35.360 back to the same same seat. That's when I said, oh, 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:39.000 this is awesome. It's been thirty five forty years, that's right. 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.400 And then I had made sure we had the uniform, 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.039 so they had their number, they name on it, and man, 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.720 we went into the gym. Hey, we were missing more 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:50.000 shots than we were making. But you know what, magic, 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.320 As you guys have gone about your your separate ways, 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.080 you don't get an opportunity to reconnect. That's right. I 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.080 mean early on when you retire, you see each other 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.000 all the time. But now as you become fathers, i 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:02.640 mean grandfathers, some great great grandfathers, you've kind of you know, 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:04.640 kind of you know, moved about the different ways some 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.159 people are over here in Georgia aware. But so to 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.039 get back together, there's something there's something about a bond 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.080 in a championship team. You can play together, but that 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:14.800 bond because you know what it took for in order 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:16.720 for you to win that championship. There was a lot 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.080 of sacrifices a lot of guys had to make and 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.279 to come back and relive that moment. Man, you really 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:23.400 looting that bus and we've going to ballstol. You remember 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.600 that bus we going We played in Detroit. That's it 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:30.119 right there. It was a storyteller, right, you know, going 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.400 back thirty years ago and what happened. We were telling 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.800 all the stories. Some have changed because you know, we 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.359 put a little extra on it, lying a little, but 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:40.920 it was so much fun, man. And then we had 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.680 karaoke night every season night. I can't sing, but I 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.680 was up there singing. Buyer Scott can sing, right. But 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:51.360 we had a ball man just a week, just spending 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.760 time together. And you're right, a lot of guys live 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:56.480 on the East Coast, so I don't get I didn't 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.880 see him for thirty years, twenty five years, right, So 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:00.840 it was just a one of full time. I'm glad 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.240 I did it. I'm glad Coach Riley and I came 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:05.680 together so we could put this together for the showtime Lake, 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.680 talk to me about Coach Riley because I mean every 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.720 everybody that I've talked that heard talk about him. Man, 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:17.320 he tough, he no nonsense. They call it Mafius, the 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.440 bat Riley, what could take? How was it? How was 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:24.040 he as the coach? Magic? He was what you just said. 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:27.320 He was a tough coach, only Hey, I want you 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.120 to come in here and give one hundred fifty percent. 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:33.000 And he was a detail oriented dude. Right. We were 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:37.400 so prepared for our opponent because he went over everything, 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:41.760 whether that was rebounding, defense, offensively, what we're gonna do 0:07:41.880 --> 0:07:46.360 to attack their defense. Also too, Mentally, he believed in 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.080 mental toughness. Right. He didn't want nobody if you weren't 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.080 mentally tough, you couldn't play for pat Riley in the Lakers, right, right, 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.720 And so he believed in that. And then one thing 0:07:55.760 --> 0:08:02.440 he he was great at identifying talent, letting that talent 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:06.320 play right, and not over coaching. Okay, see he let 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:08.520 you go, right, he said, Buck, I don't want you 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.000 to look at me call the place right, he said, 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.320 but I want you running. This was this whole thing, Shannon. 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.560 They may not get tired in the first quarter, right, 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.040 they may not get tired in the second quarter, but 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.800 if we keep running in the third quarter, they're gonna 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:25.800 be hanging on their shorts saying, but you know, magic. 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:27.560 In order for them to be hanging on their shorts. 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.080 That means you had to be in camp and in practice, 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.600 you gotta had to go to that next level in 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:34.960 order to get them tired later in the ball games 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:37.800 so hard. The first hour of practice was all running, 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:42.959 all running, all conditioning, and man, so when we got 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.440 to the game, the game was easy and the game 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.360 was so easy. And I had Michael Cooper guarding me 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.880 every single practice. But when I saw somebody guarding me 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.400 on the other team, I like, man, you're easy. Right. 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.880 So when people talk about like the greatest team, obviously 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.520 your Showtime Lakers come up. They talk about the Bulls 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:04.400 in the nineties. All of a sudden, I the Warriors 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:08.360 twenty eighteen with Kevin Durant, the Celtics, that you're great. 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.679 We're gonna get into those Where would you rank your 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.720 Showtime Lakers? Oh, we're definitely one of the greatest teams 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.080 ever because we had everything. I could do everything. And 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.200 that's when you got a guy like Kareem that dominate 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:24.800 the inside right right, James Worthy, Oh man, what the break? Yes? 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.280 And then you got the shooters and Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:31.520 and we had the defensive mentality as well. We can 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.120 defend you and then get out and run. So we 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.160 could score inside, outside and on the break. That's hard 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.800 to defend. And we had the coach because pat Riley 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.040 is to me the best coach and that's ever lived. 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:49.000 But he could make end game adjustments that were critical, right, 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:53.400 and also he motivated you. So this man could take 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.319 us and play. We could play against anybody and win. 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.280 So how do you But because you guys would run 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.680 and when you think show time Lakers, you don't think physical. 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:04.280 When you think bad boy Pistons, the first thing come 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.080 to your mind, right, But you guys, you had to 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.200 match that mentality the Celtics. We don't think about the self. 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.000 But the Celtics was a physical, a big physical team. 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.760 They've had those three imposed. They had Bird McHale in 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:21.480 Parish seven foot Parish six nine, Michael sixth nine birth, 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.320 That front Laft point line was John normous. But they 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.880 were physical, bunckt with DJ and still the greatest front 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.640 line we've ever probably seen in basketball. Right, they were 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:34.000 physical and also they were smart. The Celtics were not 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.640 going to beat themselves. You had to beat them right, right, 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.920 and then to Isaiah and his bad boy pistons. I 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.800 don't think there's ever been a more physical team than them. 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:47.640 They imposed their will on you, right, right. They beat 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.600 you up man, right, and if you flinched, it was 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.040 over for you. Right. So in eighty eight when we 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.640 played them, it was a physical matchup seven game series. 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.920 We won in game seven. But the next year in 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:02.720 the eighty nine, they came back and beat us, right, 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.480 and they could do things very few teams could do. 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:09.400 They could be physical, and then they had that three 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:13.000 headed monster Isaiah, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson, Right, you 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:17.679 couldn't do. And I'm not even talking about john sally. 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:24.280 And when they when they when they brought that that 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:28.000 specific style football to the basketball court, did you think 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:35.120 that was basketball? Yes, only because Isaiah and Joe still 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:38.840 had finesse and still it was it tough to play 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.360 against it, of course, But you know, give them credit. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.880 They won back to back championships, correct. I never take 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.920 anything away from a champion, right, And so they proved 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:53.160 that style could win, right, and they won with it, 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.600 and so give them credit and and to me one 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.680 of the greatest teams as well, because defensively, I don't 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.160 know if we seen a better team than the Presidents. Right, 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:04.920 you went to twelve You went to nine finals in 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.760 twelve years. And we've seen teams that when they start 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.000 going to finals. We see when the Warriors they went 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.520 to those finals, the guys started the injuries, you know, 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:15.840 Clay hurt got hurt, Katie got hurt. When you go 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:17.720 to night, did you feel that took some of the 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.040 some of your years off your career going to so 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:23.080 many finals, because it was tough every single year and 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:24.800 a lot of times you were going seven games, You're 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.679 going deep, that's right. No, Nope, it had to. We're 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:32.000 playing more games than any other team, right, and so 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.000 when you add the regular season and then you add 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.280 up the playoff games as well every year. And then 0:12:39.000 --> 0:12:42.480 we were also professional, so we only took probably two 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:44.600 or three weeks off and then we were right back 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:48.360 at it training. So we when I played, I trained 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:51.480 all the time. Right. My coach Pat Rowley had to 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:54.640 call him and said, stop training, you're gonna burn yourself out. 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:57.200 But I didn't know nothing else, right, right, that's I 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.839 always wanted to come in camp in shape, and star 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.079 they're using camp to get in shape. But let me 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.320 ask your question when you say training, obviously you see 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.160 these guys now they're doing a lot of these drills, 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.600 but a lot of your training was open run, exactually 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.360 playing the game of basketball. It wasn't so much drills. No, 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:13.840 like these guys are doing not no, no. And I 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:18.320 think for me, I'm so happy I played five on five. Okay, 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.520 So that's what Isaiah would call. Man, we're playing in 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.120 the summer league in Chicago. We're gonna run for two weeks. 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.000 I'm there, okay. So I went to Chicago, played in 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:29.680 the summer league for two weeks. Right, then Dominique would 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:33.360 call and say, hey, we're playing in Atlanta, come on 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:35.640 to the summer league there. So we spent two weeks 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.360 with Dominique playing in Atlanta Summer League. And then that 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:43.160 was before the NBA had a summer league, them league, right, 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.920 that's why the gyms were packed back all those guys 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.840 in there, professionals playing in the summer league. And then 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.640 we would come to Detroit and Lansing where I'm from, right, 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:55.679 and we were playing the summer So we played all 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.160 the time, and we even barnstorm sometime as well. Went 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.640 to a lot of cities that wasn't on, didn't have 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.520 an NBA team, Man fitz Birmingham, and we would just 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.439 play five on five and people would come out and 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.520 see his play. I wanna go to something forward. We're 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:12.160 gonna go back, but I'm gonna go to something forward. 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:17.320 Russell Westbrook from LA starting to okay, see goes to Houston, 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:21.400 goes to Washington. His dream after seeing Covid Shaq hold 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.040 up the trophies. He's been a lifelong Laker fan. He 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.360 comes here and it's not going to according to plan. 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:28.840 And I think there's no greater person to speak to 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:33.080 this than to you. You've gotten booed twice in LA. Right, 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:35.680 you win the championship and all of a sudden, you 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:37.760 and the coach for the rever reason, you guys can't 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:40.440 get along. And then the second time happened in nineteen 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.640 eighty four. They gave you a nickname, right, Tragic Magic, 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.680 even after two finals, MVP, even after going to all 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.840 those finals. This is what they bestowed upon you. If 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.240 you can, if you, if Russell Westbrook was sitting down 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.960 right here, what advice would you give him? First? Take accountability? 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.120 Okay number one? Okay, If I don't play well, say 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.600 I don't play well. You know when I didn't perform 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.360 well in eighty four against the Celtics, Right, I admitted 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:11.520 that I took accountability and said, hey, I didn't perform well. 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.040 I was the reason why the Lakers lost the series, 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.040 and I had to say to myself, I gotta get better. 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:19.400 So what did I do. I went out and that 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:23.640 whole summer I trained hard and got better. And then 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.720 we played him again in eighty five. Next season, man, 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:31.200 I was on fire. We won. No, you didn't hear that? 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.880 No more right? The same thing with coach west Head 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.200 went after he got fired. They booed me for about 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.520 a month. So because that was the first time Magic, 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.560 because Magic said, you know, a, I can't play with it. 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:47.480 Got magic? Your boy need to got here. Becaudn't Coach 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.720 Man just just he slowed us down. We were running team, 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.800 but he wanted to slow the pace down. And we're 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.840 not a dominant You're not walking the ball up four team, 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.280 that's right, half court team. We're running and gunning team. 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.640 So I got boozed. So I told coach Role. I said, 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.080 oh I'm about to turn it up. I must have 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:10.160 went for about ten triple doubles, right, and all of 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.680 a sudden you stop stop hearing them boos, right, turn 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:15.920 into cheers, okay, and then we end up winning the 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:19.480 championship that same year, right, see. And so that's what 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:23.200 Russell got to do. Quit trying to fight the media, 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:25.920 quit trying to fight the fans, and just say, you 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.000 know what, I didn't play well, but I'm gonna play better, right, 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.520 and go out there on the court and perform. Right. 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.360 That's how you stop all the things that's going on. 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.600 But you can't do it by trying to come back 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.720 them right and trying to be mad at the fans 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.600 or at the media, because the media got a job 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.400 correcting their job. If you're not playing well, say it, right. 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:49.400 And I didn't mind them taking shots at me in 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.440 eighty four, right, I didn't play well. And the thing 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.920 is with the Lakers magic, And you know this is 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.040 that the fans no good basketball, no question, it ain't 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:58.720 about and the fans. This is what if I say 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.920 about the fans of the Lakers from being out here 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.600 for six years, it doesn't matter what you did somewhere else. No, 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:05.240 you need to do that for us. That's right for 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:07.440 us to cheer you and to love you. Do that, dude, 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.560 get one hundred tripled over for us, that's right, like 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:13.200 you did those other teams. Lebron had to find that out. Yes, yes, 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.440 And remember when he first came everybody was still talking 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:18.879 about Kobe. Oh wait man, and they wouldn't let you 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.119 put no murals up. That's right, remember that. So what 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.040 did the Lebron do? Let me come in here and 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.800 turn it out, turn it out, let me win the championship. 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:31.160 Oh that's gone right, right, he's beloved now. But Russell, 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:39.639 we know championship basketball year, we know winning basketball. So listen, 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.560 just come in, do your job, and if you don't 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.280 play well, accept that. Let's say it, right, and then 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.479 come back and hopefully play better the next time, and 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.439 then the fans will will respect you for that. Right. 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.120 They respected me when I said I didn't play well, right, right, 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.800 but I'll be back. They wanted to hear you say that. 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:01.480 They didn't want to hear you say, well, this team 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:03.639 they played so much better. You're like, no, the balls 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:06.320 in my hands. I got to play better. I'm the quarterback. 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.800 That's right. You're the point guard. The ball is in 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:12.200 your hand. You're the floor general, you gotta make better decisions. 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.679 You gotta make them layups. You know, you gotta hit 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.680 your shot right, and then you gotta play hard. See 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:23.080 where Laker fans get mad. Last season we were down 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.560 there arguing with the referees and they were down there 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.320 dunking on it. Right. We can't we can't take that. 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:32.119 We can't stand that, right, No, bust your butt to 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:36.120 get back. Try to stop them when it's a time out. Now, 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:39.400 you talk to the reference right, right. I never did that, 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.880 not one time. I always even if a bad call, 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.199 I'm running back right because I gotta help my teammates. Correct. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:47.760 You know, we're trying to win. And then when the 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:49.840 whistle blow knocks, Hey, now I'm gonna need that call, 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:52.119 said gay that called them down there on that hear Now, 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.439 I'm gonna need that same call. And that's all you 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.400 gotta do. See, it's another thing. You can't show them 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.800 up like this, Yes, and hold your hands up like 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:02.640 a wave. Mom. That's right, that's right. You gotta get 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:04.920 over there. And man, you missed that one. You missed 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:09.720 that one, right, You owe me one, right, everybody. The 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:16.760 greatest individual rivalry in basketball, You and Larry Pride prior 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:20.359 to that NCAA tournament, still with the most watched NCAA 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:24.239 Finals game in in NCAA history. How much did you 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.760 know about Larry Bird prior to that game? Well, Shannon, 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:34.320 the summer before, they had the w i T Tournament, Okay, 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:37.480 and they brought all the best college players together, okay 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.960 to play against the world. Okay, and man, let's see 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:48.080 this guy, you know, blonde. Let me see if he 0:19:48.160 --> 0:19:51.960 could play. Okay, Man, I'm sitting there watching him. Shoo, Shannon. 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.520 He must have made thirty in a row or net. 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:58.280 So he was Steph Curb before. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:03.719 I'm sitting up tre this dude can play. Okay. You know, brothers, 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.960 we always say, okay, Kenning the way dude really play, right, 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:10.120 So then I said, oh man, you're a bad boy. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.560 Right then we got in the game. Jack Gibbons was 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:16.400 player of the Year that year, right, he tore him up, 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:23.280 man from Jacket from Kentucky, Kentucky that same time. Yeah, yeah, okay, man, 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:27.040 Larry Bird was taking it to him. I said, oh man, 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:30.159 I'm calling back home saying, oh he for real, he 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.320 for real, this new Larry Bird, right, Oh he got it. Play. 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:37.280 He's dominating Jack Givings, And they said, no way. I said, oh, yeah, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:42.200 he's dominant. So here we go six seven months later, right, 0:20:42.560 --> 0:20:45.320 we're playing in the NCAA championship game. He's player of 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:49.119 the year. Sports Illustrated, all the magazines got he on 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:51.879 the cover, right, and I said, wow, And they're thirty 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:55.080 three and thirty three old man. I said, oh, and 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.160 it hadn't been ranked since, that's right, And it wasn't 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:02.200 right before. And we put two guys on him. We 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:04.639 double teamed, and we knew we could beat him because 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:09.160 Greg Kelser, he was a superstar in college. Yeah, Meg 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.399 was dominant. That was the first, really, the first time 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:13.640 I started seeing the value. Yeah, cause you got you got, 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:15.560