WEBVTT - Greatest NBA Christmas Games with Kenny DeForest 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.680 Welcome to the Greatest a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:16.000 Welcome to another episode of the Greatest Christmas Edition. I'm 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:18.280 one of your hosts, C J. Toldano, and I'm joined 0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:21.280 here by my lovely wife and co host Megan Gaily. 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.160 Hi everybody, there's a lot of energy I feel. I 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:28.720 feel like that's that's five pm coffee. That sounds um 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:33.519 good for the podcast and bad for everything else. Um no, no, 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:35.960 no, no no, all right, well you're gonna get us sued 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:40.320 Um not if I'm just doing my own little voice. Listen. 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:42.760 I know John Williams has people and he listened to 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:48.159 John Williams. People listen to sports podcast making sure. Okay, 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:50.000 isn't there like a fair use one that I can 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:55.560 do jingle that's got to be out in the Library 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:59.680 of Congress. Yeah, Library of Congress. Um, it is Christmas time, 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:02.920 almost the end of the year. We are wrapping up 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:10.280 so many things. But Christmas means sports kind of sports 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.119 kind of I mean, yeah, this is and shouldn't bring 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.160 our guests bad. I was gonna do a nice little 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.639 lead up, and you know, NBA and Christmas go together 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:23.600 hand in hand for us at least, And I feel 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:25.440 like for a lot of our listeners were like, who 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.319 are some real big basketball heads in our friend in 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:32.720 comedian community, And so I thought, do you want to him? 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:35.559 You've got this train going, Okay, well here's the train 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:37.640 is continuing to go. So we thought we'd bring on 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.560 our very very funny friend. You may have seen him 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:43.640 on the Late Show, Late Late Show with James Cordon, 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.000 Late Night with Seth Meyers. Very funny comedian, very good 0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:51.000 basketball player, Ladies and gentlemen, Kenny DeForest, Oh my god, 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:53.200 thank you and thank you for getting my most valued 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:57.480 credit there at the end. Basketball players always, I would 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.120 trade it all. I would trade it all to be 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:00.880 known as a good basketball player. I mean you and 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:05.120 I both know it's like that is definitely networking out here, 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:07.280 as if you're good at basketball and like can can 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.120 hang in these games and you're one of the one 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.959 of the better people. What we were watching like an 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.799 Elf documentary about the movie not Elves, but I am 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:19.040 fascinated and when especially when they sneak in at night. 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.320 I love those guys. And they were saying that like 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:26.160 Elf got made because of a game that was Jimmy 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:33.840 Miller's maybe Mosaic. Yeah, because yeah, they like it was 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.400 pitched at a basketball game and and like went up 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:41.280 the flagpole out a basketball game. They had a whole graphic. 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:43.919 I don't know if elves sneak in at night. I 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.720 think you might be thinking of vampires, but you know, 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:50.320 I'm thinking of they're gonna say freaks. Um. I am 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.600 thinking of that story where like the shoe cobbler couldn't 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.359 get it done in the day, and then there were 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.040 elves that would come in and finish the shoes at night, 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.320 and he was like, who's you thinking of? Are you 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.640 thinking of an ad campaign by the keebler? Else? Cook? 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:06.160 I think this was like a real story that was 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:10.480 actually probably just talking about like marriage, you know, just 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.200 like a man being like how did this get done? Um? 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:18.079 And it's like I want to believe it's his wife. Yeah, exactly, 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.200 magical little man in the Yes, yes, that finished all 0:03:21.240 --> 0:03:26.680 my tasks. Um, But there is some sort of oh gosh, 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:29.800 I'm seeing a very ugly man on my computer. Just 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.480 who's on TV? I just sometimes with the men they 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:35.920 put on TV. It's so hilarious to me. Um, Kenny, 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.480 how are you doing? Happy holidays? Thank you, Happy holidays 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.560 to you guys. I'm doing that. I'm doing okay. Yeah, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.760 like you know, obviously it's a weird year, but it's 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.640 weird for everybody, and I'm healthy and uh, luckily we 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.040 have this technology. Man. It's I just did like a 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:53.200 Zoom holiday show with the butter Boy crew. They're in 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:57.840 New York. Amazing evening. Get to see some friendly faces 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:00.760 and talk hoops, which is my favorite ship. I'm good 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.800 that show has like a green room too. That's whenever 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.560 there's like Zoom shows, I'm like, oh, I was kind 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.280 of here just to like talk ship, and that was 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.600 my main point. It's weird because there's people don't realizing 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.120 is there's the people I missed that because I'm in 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:16.760 touch with my friends, you know what I mean. I'm 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:19.960 talk to you guys. I've seen you guys some. But 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.840 it's the people in comedy that if you called them 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.440 it would be weird, but you're seeing them all the time, 0:04:25.480 --> 0:04:27.640 you know what I mean. And like I felt like 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:29.320 a Partner was one of those people in New York 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.440 where I just love her so much, but like if 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:34.919 I called a partner, I should be like, dude, what 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.640 is happening? Um? Yeah, I saw her on a bus 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:41.760 today and was thrilled, Oh wow, it's amazing. She's on 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.520 It's like a Ben and Jerry's Netflix campaign. Her wand 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:50.200 to Psychs and Fortune and I waved to them just 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:53.320 standing waiting in line to get into the bank. What 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:57.200 a sad Wait what you saw them out? No on 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.599 a but no, like they were like on the bus, 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:03.839 you know, like saw herself on the bus. I saw 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:08.080 these women. I like, I thought, like the world has 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.640 gotten so bad, like some of the best comedians we 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:14.640 know have to travel on buses and people the sites 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:20.680 has just taken the God. Okay, that's good news, good 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:24.200 news that they're on busses and in that way. But um, 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.080 but yeah, so Kenny, we and I hope I'm not 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.120 outing you, but we midway through the pandemic where we 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:31.640 thought there was gonna be a little bit of a handle, 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.360 we got tested and then immediately after getting tested, me, 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:38.440 you and another comedian played basketball. I mean twenty one, 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.599 I guess you could call it. Uh and and I 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:44.920 think I've told you it hurt for a week. Oh 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.040 I was so fun, dude, And like I've been playing 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:50.120 a lot before the pandemic hit, like really getting back 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.920 in the groove, and so it's just that classic story 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.960 of like, oh I can still just do what I 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.600 was doing four months ago, five months ago after doing 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.560 nothing but sitting on my seating, okays, and yeah I was. 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.919 I was destroyed. I was sunburned. I was like hydrated 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.160 for three days. I couldn't drink enough water. And then 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.400 like two weeks after that, I drove by that court 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:14.039 and you know, it was one of the few rims 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:15.960 in LA that still had the rim up because the 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.200 city took him down. Um. I drove by like two 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.560 weeks after we did that, and there was like fifteen 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.440 guys standing around playing five on five like stubbing in 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:26.520 and I was like, that's it. And then a week 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:27.960 later I drove by in the rim was down. I 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.080 was like, they it, but that mean that because that 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.800 was like it was a half court, and like you said, 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:36.280 they took down a lot of the rims. And so 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.560 I know there have been like on Twitter and just 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:42.120 like some like feeds I've seen people are like, hey, 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.520 heads up, I saw a rim still on the backboard. 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.919 And then almost seeing like through all the basketball accounts 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:52.200 that we follow, just full five on five like sanctioned 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.159 high school games. I mean, college is still going up, 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.720 but like high school just like who is who is 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.480 like make king sure protocols in place. I know, dude, 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:06.600 my buddy coaches high school and sometimes I like live 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:09.040 stream and watch his games. That's what that's what we're 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.760 quarantine watching high school boys basketball on the internet. And 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:16.040 uh and but yeah, it's like none of the parents 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.440 were in masks. This is like in the Midwest, so 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:23.200 of course it's just like no masks and uh yeah. Man, 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:24.920 It's like I go back and forth on it because 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.880 on the one hand, it is tragic. If you think 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:30.600 about like a high school senior who spent their whole 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.800 life preparing for this season. Really it's like your senior 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:34.800 year is always what you're dreaming of and then to 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.360 have that just completely taken away. I mean, you know 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.200 that's your therapy right there, you know. So the part 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:42.800 of me that's like, yeah, if they can do it safely, 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:44.680 let him have the season. But you're right, it's like 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.280 the n b A had billions of dollars making sure 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.960 those plays, you know, those are like millions, multi hundreds 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.160 millions of dollars investments. Those they're like, yeah, we're not 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:55.400 getting these guys sick. But high school. Yeah, it's just 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.440 like I guess the honor system, which yeah I heard 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:02.040 about a personal or a basketball team was a super 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.760 sprinter um and the boys like knew they had it, 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:07.480 but we're like, we want to play, and so they 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.960 didn't say anything. And then you know, I mean, these 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.760 aren't even high school kids. These are like young kids. 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:17.200 But like, okay, you see these games and the parents 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:21.240 aren't wearing masks. It's like, okay, well that's that's step one. 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.640 That's like that's the easiest thing to do. So if 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.800 they're not even doing that, fucking blow it all up. 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.960 They're not doing anything. You know, like you there has 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.360 to be and like the Notre Dame football coaches like 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:35.920 a parents can't come. He was like threatening to pull out. 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.360 So like, especially in high school, I understand that parents 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.560 want to be there, but it's like these are the rules, 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.240 and if you can't do this one rule, then you 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.480 fucked it up for your kid. I'm fortunately, when they 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.840 go to therapy talking about their basketball season, they should 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.360 talk about what a selfish bitch their parents are. Oh yeah, 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:56.000 I mean that is like one of my big when 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.599 I see adults that can't seem to understand that it 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.480 should be about the kids. It like sends me into 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:06.720 a spiral, honestly, And yeah, that's one of them. It's like, dude, 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.640 you can live stream the game, you could have the court, 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:12.160 you could drop your kid off at the game, wear 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.439 a mask the whole time, and then go home and 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:19.840 do what I'm doing, and like YouTube live. It's like, yeah, 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:24.360 it's infuriating. It's infuriating. Yeah, man, it's really And I 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:26.880 think about like the college kids that lost March Madness, 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:28.599 you know, like the guys that aren't good enough to 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.719 play pro, but again spent their whole life. You know, 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.559 the guy that's like the tenth man for Duke, you 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:36.640 know that, Like I get to go to Duke and 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.079 March Madness and then it's just gone last year, you 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.800 know what I mean. And we have on record superstars 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.200 who made their name in March Madness and like bump 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.079 their stock up. Steph Curry is one of them, Like 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:52.120 Steph Curry became a name during March Madness, and you know, 0:09:52.240 --> 0:09:55.960 and so like who knows and hopefully fate and all 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.720 in like there's programs and stuff after or even during 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.600 this in bubble or something, but like it was, it's 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:04.959 handling correctly by and it's because of a lot of 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:09.600 egos of not the players h And that's like unfortunate. Dude, 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:11.880 did you see that interview Like the Alabama head coach. 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:13.760 It was like recently he was like, I don't know 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:15.480 if we should keep going. And then they interviewed, they 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:18.959 asked Alabama coach. It was such an ego dick answer 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:21.360 where he's like, you really say that if they hadn't 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:25.079 just lost yea, which we don't know your name, we 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.960 don't know who you are. And coach K has seventy 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:34.280 five courts named after him, so like him, Um people, 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.559 I don't know if you guys um knew this. But 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:41.160 as of I think last week, the Supreme Court has 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:46.800 decided to hear a case brought by collegiate player representatives 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.520 against the n C double A for for pay and 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.839 for all of these it's not gonna unfortunately, I don't 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:54.559 think it's gonna result in like pay, but it may 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:59.319 result in like computers and then getting money for grad 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:03.320 school and like a different like share in in revenue 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.160 at least, And so I think that marks the first 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:09.440 time that the Supreme Court will be hearing a case 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:11.960 on something like this, and I know all three of us. 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:14.040 I think that they should all be paid. So it 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.840 definitely does feel like a step in the right direction. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.599 The reason it went to the Supreme Court all the 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.960 lower courts rule that's n C double a sucks um 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.040 and so they just now the Supreme Court just needs 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.199 to uphold the lower courts rulings. That's amazing. You know 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.160 a lot of times it's not the first court case 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:32.800 that does it right, just it's kind of like it 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:34.960 loosen to the jar and then the next case gets 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.959 an open type deal. And my thing is, it's like, dude, 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.520 there's people that work on campus. They have campus jobs, 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.320 Like you don't have to pay these guys like life 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:47.040 altering money, but they are employees of the school essentially. 0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.280 You know, it's no different than working at the bookstore. 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:53.599 I perform for paying audience, Like even if it's just 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.520 a cut of ticket sales, you know, that's like your 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.400 jersey or you know, like, I don't even think they 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.320 need to pay everybody. Some of these people are rich. 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.200 And you know, I know someone who went to college 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.600 on a sailing scholarship. You know, obviously she's fine, Okay, 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:11.320 she doesn't need the money, but some of these other 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.320 people you know, Like, that's such a Megan Gaily sentence. 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.000 I knew someone. He went to my brother and I 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:19.480 thought they were going to get married at when she 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:23.319 almost was in my family. Lovely girl. Um, but I 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.000 did not need a scholarship. You know, you have to 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.440 be to learn how to sail in Indiana. This was St. Louis. 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:31.199 Do you know how to be to learn how to 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:37.319 sail in St. Louis? That's almost even rich people from St. Louis. 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.000 This this person aside, she was lovely. Other rich people 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.800 from St. Louis fucking suck. Okay, to shift this back 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.160 to more fun in the love of the game, Kenny, 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.839 I do for our listeners because they're your comedian. You 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:52.920 can look up all your stuff online. But also I 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:54.600 wanted to know a little bit more about your back. 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:56.079 I feel like I know a little bit about the 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:59.920 real athlete. Yeah, walk us through sort of your early 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.719 experiences as a basketball playing kid or other sports. When 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.679 where did you start? Um, well, my dad, My dad 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:09.760 was a hooper, Like he still plays. My dad is 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:14.439 seventy two and he is literally trying to keep himself 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.480 in shape so we can keep playing mentally when things 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.800 come back. You know, he played at JUCO and he 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:21.880 pounced around, played in a couple of smaller schools and 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.199 landed at JUCO and then got really involved in like 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:28.000 the hippie scene and sort of just phased out of basketball. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.040 But I was just kind of like, you know, it's 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:32.640 like kind of the cliche born with a ball in 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:34.640 my hand, But my earliest memories are I had like 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.040 a little Fisher Price poop in the basement, and I'm 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:38.880 an only child, so my dad would like rebound and 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:43.719 feed me the ball. So yeah, exactly, and so I 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.719 loved it. And even like when my mom told my 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.240 dad she was pregnant, she was like, do you want 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:51.760 to boy or a girl? And like his answer was, 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.400 I just want a little round baller, like from from 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:57.640 the from the jump, That's what I was into. And 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:00.360 so you know, I started off playing like why league. 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:03.640 I played soccer too when I was young, like every 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:05.880 other kid in America before we all decided that for 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.200 some reason, we ate soccer and that's why our national 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:10.839 team is so bad. But we all play as kids. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.959 I don't understand play. My brother Ryan played and he 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.920 was so bad that my mom didn't even have Michael 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.680 or me play. She just was like, we're just a 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.000 tennis family. I think that's so funny. You suck so 0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:27.520 bad so they can't because I can't watch this anymore. 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:32.560 I'm done. Yeah. And then in fourth grade is when 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:34.360 I got a little more serious. There was, in fact 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.600 interesting who this is. I guess I can name draft 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.720 here a little bit. Lucas Harrold. He pitched in the 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.080 major leagues for several years. In fact, one year, so 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:45.080 he grew up. I grew up like four blocks from him. 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.320 And one year I turned on the ESPN and Tony 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:50.960 Kornheiser was giving an impassioned speech about how Lucas Harold 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:52.560 is there used to be in the young discussion was 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.360 like it was when he was went the Astros and 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.240 they were awful, but he still had like a sub 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.160 four e r A and he was like, anyone who's 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.400 only given up three runs on his team deserves to 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:04.480 be a discussion. So anyway, he was obviously a very 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.880 serious athlete. And so his dad called my dad's fourth 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:11.000 grade and there was an AU program starting and they 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:12.960 were looking for players, and so he was like can 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:15.520 I recommend you? And my dad and I talked, He's like, 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:16.960 do you want to do this? It's like yeah, I 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.000 mean I'm in fourth grade, so as much as I 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.320 can think I want something, yeah, let's do it. And 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:24.400 I tried out and made you know, made the team 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:28.560 and uh so that played you from fourth grade through 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.480 my senior high school, same team, Springfield Rockets, and uh 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.680 I just loved it. Man, I just like fell fully 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:37.080 and load like I was. You know, it was that 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.080 deal where every Christmas, every gift was basketball, Every Birthday, 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:43.400 every gift was basketball. My room was just basketball, basketball, basketball. 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.560 It's all I cared about. You know. My A well 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:54.320 messenger screen name was like Rockert. What was my number? 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.600 I was young Jerry West Baby and so yeah, dude, 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.600 I was just really really it's all I cared about. 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.080 And then you know, I played football in middle school 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:04.960 and freshman year high school, and then the star basketball 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:07.000 player at my high school actually tours a c O 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.200 playing football, and then the basketball coach is kind of like, 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.720 y'all need to not do that, and uh so I 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.760 quit and just focus fully on basketball. So sophomore years 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:19.440 through senior jeff basketball and then yeah, I played soccer 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.760 through middle school but quit at some point because ay, 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:23.360 you just took all my time. So yeah, that was it. 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.800 And then my senior year had a good season. I 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:28.120 was kind of a late bloomer. I was young for 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:29.880 my class, and so I thought I wasn't gonna be 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:32.760 able to play college. And then I kind of like 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:34.800 filled out towards the end of my senior year and 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.200 I did one last It's like almost like what I'm 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:39.400 sure some of the guys are doing to try to 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:41.400 get NBA that missed out in March Madness. It was 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:45.400 like a post graduation recruitment camp. It was like all 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.640 the guys that maybe should play in college that didn't 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.560 get scholarships, one last look, and uh, I had a 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.800 really good showing there, and I got recruited to play 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:58.400 at this D two school in my hometown. My high 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:00.560 school rival teams coach took over as the head coach 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:03.280 that year, so he already liked me, and so I 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:05.760 walked on. But you know, it was kind of like 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:07.920 your recruited walk on. He even told me, he called me, 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:09.600 He's like, I have a plan for you. You're not 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:14.120 just a practice squad player or whatever, And uh, yeah, 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.360 but I don't know. Mentally, I had started a bunch 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:18.560 of ship happened to me at the end of my 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.359 senior year that, um, we don't need to get to 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.040 a bunch of difficult ship happened in my life, and 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.080 I think mentally I started to crack a little bit, 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:30.320 and uh, I started boozing, which I've never done before, 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:32.400 and started partying a little too hard. And I think 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:34.520 also I thought I wasn't gonna play, so I started 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:36.520 drinking like I was done, and then all of a 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.640 sudden I could play. But it's kind of too late, 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:43.360 already already uncorked the bottle. No, we're in the comedian 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:48.440 origin story. Yes, yes, Now this is where it's really 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:52.920 worry well. It's also it's not that different from hearing 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:55.520 you talk about it from your dad's career, Like so 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.639 was he like, oh, Kenny, not that path or like 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.080 also like I don't can I not, I wasn't gonna 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:02.560 be in the NBA. You're not gonna be in the NBA. 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:04.720 Live it up, dog. Yeah, it was kind of that, 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.720 Like my dad was kind of uh, he was always 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.280 just so chill, Like my dad never was like, let's 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:12.200 go do drills. You know what I mean, Like I 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.160 didn't have that dad. I think he always my parents 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.000 wanted me to be well rounded, and I think they 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.439 knew the deal, like this is going to end at 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.360 some point, you need to have other skills. But yeah, 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:24.520 I think, you know, my dad even told me early, 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.520 like be careful party and you know, I've seen how 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.120 you drink. And I was like, yeah, whatever, whatever, old 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:35.000 man um, but yeah, and then you know, so I 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:37.119 think it was kind of like he he would love 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:39.480 to see me play four years. But ultimately I don't 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:41.760 even know how much it mattered because my need. By 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:44.480 the time practice started my freshman year, my knees started 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.040 to act up and I got an X rade and 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.160 I had like fifty tears and both my poteler attendants 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.080 just from like wear and tear. Like it wasn't one 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:55.680 thing I did. It was just all the years of 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.400 mileage and the way I'm built. You know, one legs 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:00.199 longer than the other and I'm bow legged, and these 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:02.760 different things just put so much press on my knees 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:04.840 and so I kind of lost this step I didn't 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.280 have to lose, and so I was just a practice 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.360 squad player. I lost my confidence and then got surgery. 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.280 Between freshman and sophomore years. I'm coming back, you know. 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.920 I like I stopped partying and I really focused and 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:19.680 got back in shape and I was like, this is it, 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.720 this is my last and then I got surgery. I 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:24.880 got the same surgery the Hindes Ward got right before 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.680 the Super Bowl. It was like you get the plasma 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.160 injected right in your tendons. Actually was like the first 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:32.080 person in the Midwest to get that surgery because my 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:36.080 friends dad was like one of the leads orthopedic surgeons 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.200 in the Midwest. He's like my friend's dad and he's like, 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:39.880 I'll do it for free if you'll be the guinea pig. 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:44.040 And I was like, okay, so I did so. Yeah, 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:45.959 I needed to say I'll take the vaccine. I don't care, 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:49.760 and uh so my knees felt better and I came 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:52.560 in and shape and then like as soon as I 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.159 got cold, my knees just locked up again and it 0:19:55.280 --> 0:20:00.240 was exactly so I got an X rating in the 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.320 same situation, and I was like, dude, I'm done. I 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.400 finished the season because I tried to quit like two 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.159 months into my sophomore year, and my coach is like 0:20:07.200 --> 0:20:09.240