WEBVTT - OTB Sports: JJ Redick 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:01.639 I mean, one of these days, you and I are 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.280 going to have a not a three point shooting contest, 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:07.000 but a free throw shooting contest, all right, because let 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.799 me just say this, I can shoot the rock. I 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:12.240 can shoot I can shoot the rock. In case you're 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:14.960 not aware, I know, I know you're a basketball fan. 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:17.759 I I don't know your level of skill, but you 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.759 are saying you want to challenge the ninth best free 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:22.360 throw shoot of all time. I just want to put 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:24.239 that out there. I just want to know. I want 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:32.120 you to know what you're getting into here. Brian, Hey, 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:36.600 this is JJ Reddick, fifteen year NBA vett, former Duke player, 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:39.800 host of The Old Man in the Three podcast. I 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.599 go on TV sometimes to talk about basketball, and I'm 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:50.280 here to tear the show up. Hello everybody, and welcome 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:54.440 back to Off the Beat, another sports edition today with 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:58.960 me your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today's guest, as you just heard, 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:05.440 is none other than professional baller, sportscaster and podcaster extraordinaire 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:12.760 J J. Reddick. Now. JJ started his unbelievable career at Duke, 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:17.760 where to this day he is the all time leading scorer, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.960 and when he graduated, he went on to play in 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:25.040 the n b A for the Orlando Magic, the l 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:29.080 A Clippers, the seventies Sixers, among others, for an insane 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:34.360 fIF teen seasons. He's a true A C C legend, 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:37.319 and during his career, he even broke the record for 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:42.120 most points in the conference. Now, funny enough, j J 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:46.480 and I have something else in common. I'm not talking 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:51.920 about just our basketball skills. During JJ's playing years in 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.680 the NBA to this day, he has hosted his own 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:59.320 podcast called The Old Man and the Three, all about 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.680 the NBA. He's also an analyst for ESPN, and so today, 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:09.680 well I'm going to help the sports analyst analyze himself. 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.240 Might as well get started. Everybody here. He is the 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:23.800 very funny and always insightful j J. Reddick, Bubble and Squeak. 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:31.359 I love it Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and Squeaker cooking 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:45.120 at every month, left over from the nut before. J J, 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.440 how are you? I'm great. I had a it was 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.840 a rainy day here in sag Harbor, but I had 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:54.800 a great golf lesson this morning and then beat some 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:57.680 balls for about forty five minutes afterwards. So now, but 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.680 I just worked with with one of your people here 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:06.280 on a project in Los Angeles. And I understand you 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.520 were taking up golfing. This has become a new, a new, 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:13.400 fairly new passion for you, right yeah. I mean I 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:16.600 had golfed, I had played, I had played rounds of 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.320 golf prior to last summer. But I got into it 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.320 shortly after my last season ended. I started taking lessons 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:26.480 and I knew that it was going to be the 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:31.160 thing in retirement. Like I I got bit and I'm 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.760 an obsessive person. I like to deep dive on everything. 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:39.280 And I mean, we can talk about golf for an 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.600 hour and a half here if you want. But but 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.840 it is you have to understand I I spent so 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:51.160 much time in gymnasiums and hotel rooms and planes and 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.840 buses for the last twenty years of my life, and 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:56.800 so for me to be able to go walk for 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.920 four and a half hours outside, it's it's a spirit 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.080 chill experience. I I just there's nothing I mean other 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:06.200 than you know, bad shots, But there's nothing I I 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.040 don't enjoy about about the game. It's it's just incredible. Well, 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:12.320 it's interesting to hear you say that. I haven't specifically 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.680 ever heard someone say that in the same way that 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:19.559 I do. I started very similarly. I was doing theater 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:24.520 at the time, right, so in dark rooms with no windows, 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.320 you know, either rehearsing or performing at night. And yeah, 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:31.000 for me, it was a reason, an ability to get 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.720 outside and just smell the grass and be outside and 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.240 walk and and try to compete with myself in a 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.200 new way. And that's how I fell in love with 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.520 it too. So that's interesting. You you don't really think about, 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:47.920 you know, you as a as a college and professional athlete, 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.720 not getting to be outside. But I guess basketball is 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.880 kind of the same play, Yeah it is. And and 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:57.600 even in the off season, I I just was so 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:02.760 regimented and so diligent about my work that most of 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:04.600 my day, you know, I was I was. I was 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.280 a Monday to Friday, Saturday off, Sunday. Back in the gym. 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.320 I didn't like to take more than a day off 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:12.240 at a time. So even in the off season, so 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.720 much of my day was spent inside. And I would 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:16.760 mix it up in the in the summers, I'd go 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:18.960 find a turf field and do conditioning, or I'd go 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.400 to a high school track. But you know, by and large, 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.920 I'm working inside a gymnasium. I'm working inside a weight room, 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.520 hours and hours and hours of doing that. And so 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.359 when I got done with that, I didn't have I 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.640 didn't have four hours to go play around a golf 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:34.760 I wanted to spend that time with my wife and 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.800 my kids, and it just all of a sudden, this 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.960 new world opened up for me where I had I 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.040 had time to actually and by the way that this 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.520 this summer, I've actually gone to the driving range, which 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.440 is a new thing as well, because last summer getting 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:54.200 into the game, it was more just I want to 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:56.800 play as much as possible, and I got some incredible 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.400 invites that I got to play some great courses, but 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:01.520 it was more about just playing. And now it's like 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.760 it's back to the mentality I had as a player, 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.960 where you're trying to master a craft, and so I 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:11.080 really really enjoyed just days like today where you don't 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.640 play around and you go you take a lesson and 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.719 then you go work on a specific thing for forty 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:18.599 five minutes or an hour. That's interesting. I just like 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.120 to play, I'll be honest with you. I'd just like 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:26.120 to play. I'll figure it out out there. But I, yeah, 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:29.600 I I love it Now? Are you still you're you're 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:31.560 retired now? I mean we're starting at the end. We're 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:33.359 gonna go back in a second. But are you still 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:36.920 working out? Are you still going to the gym? Are 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:43.320 you still shooting shots on Sundays? Are you you're really 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.680 you're relaxing that a little bit. I made it a 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.279 point to give myself a break over the last year, 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:55.240 and it's been liberating to not feel obligated, like I 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.480 have something hanging over my head every day that I've 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.120 got to be in the gym. So I've I've not 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:04.279 gained any weight, but I've lost a lot of muscle tone, 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:06.800 if you know what I mean. I actually my wife, 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.720 my wife, I've I've done pilates. Plot is the one 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:12.440 thing that I've been consistent about because I started doing 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.800 that when I was in college and I maintained that 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:19.000 throughout my career. But I went and did a reformer 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.680 class with my wife, and I generally do classical pilates, 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.520 but this was like a very ab intensive, lunge intensive 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.440 reformer class on Saturday morning with my wife and my 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.200 two sisters. And I'm still very sore from that because 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:36.960 I have not activated those muscles in quite some time. Well, 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.960 good for you. Just you and the ladies working out now. No, 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:42.920 there's no more testosterone. It's just you and the ladies 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:47.120 doing reformer pilates. We should mention. I just want to mention. 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:48.320 I want to get this out of the way at 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:50.760 the top, so that the colleague of mine that you, 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:53.960 uh you mentioned a few minutes ago that that was 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.320 Jason Gallagher, who worked with you on I believe a 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:00.200 commercial you had just shot in Santa Monica. And you know, 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:02.160 we call it we call we call them, we call 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.960 them branded shoots. We don't call them commercials. We call 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:09.840 them branded shoots. It sounds yeah, that's fine, that's fine. 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.800 So my colleague was doing a branded shoot with you 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.840 a couple of weeks ago, Jason Gallagher, who is our 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:20.040 head of production at our at our company, and I 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:22.640 don't know if he conveyed this to you, but he is. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:25.080 I'm sure you get this all the time. He is 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.480 the biggest office fan in the world, and it was 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:30.320 it was such a thrill for him. I was just 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.760 with in Vegas last week. We were shooting some stuff 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:34.520 while I was at Summer League, and it was just 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:36.400 such a thrill for him to work with you, so 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.400 hopefully he did all right, hopefully, Well, thank you know. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.520 He was great. It was I could not have been easier. 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:48.320 In fact, having a branded shoot and an hour early 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:52.760 is something that is very rare and that happened. So yeah, 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:54.920 I was very I was very happy with it. He 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.120 was a great guy, was great, and I think I 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:58.559 think the spot is gonna be great. But I'm not 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:00.199 going to talk about right now what it was war, 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:05.000 all right, j J. Let's go back. You were born 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:12.719 in the great state of Tennessee, moved shortly thereafter to Virginia, 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.760 So you grew up in Virginia. You were a big 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.000 baseball fan, I understand, and a baseball player. In fact, 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:23.200 you baseball was your first love. Is that right? It was? 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.520 And and some of that has to do with the 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:29.040 fact that I have older twin sisters and I basically 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.880 did whatever they did. And so one of them, Katie 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.319 was was with me this past weekend in sag Harbor, 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.760 and we had this long conversation on Thursday night at 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:42.960 dinner about just our childhood in general. And it's so 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.880 funny because so my sisters rode horses, they competed, they 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.640 you know, in equestrian or whatever the sport is called. 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.040 And so I learned how to ride a horse because 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:55.840 they rode horses, and they saved up. They'd work summer jobs. 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.559 They were a little bit of entrepreneurs. They worked summer 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:00.760 jobs from like eight years old, bond so they could 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:03.880 save up and buy a horse. And we bought a horse, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.320 and for all of us, all the kids on one 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.920 of five, we all were faced with a decision around 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.240 the age of twelve or thirteen, where our parents came 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:16.840 to us and they were like, choose something. You can't 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.800 do everything. There's too many kids, so every kid can't 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:23.319 play three sports, so choose something. And I didn't know this, 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.439 but my I knew. My dad came to me when 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:27.560 I was going into seventh grade and said, you gotta 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.960 choose between baseball and basketball. But he said the same 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:32.959 thing to my sisters. You gotta choose. You gotta choose 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.000 between softball, which is why I started playing baseball. You 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:39.400 gotta choose between softball, basketball or horse riding. And they 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:44.640 chose basketball. Had they chose something else, my life path 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.160 may have been very different. I'm going to be completely 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.520 frank with you. I was. I was decent at basketball, 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:53.040 but I very much wanted to play because they played, 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:54.920 and I want to do everything they did, and and 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:57.160 you know, we would go play games of twenty one 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.520 out in the backyard and they would beat the ship 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:01.640 out of me. But I was always like, I gotta 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:03.280 get to the point where I can beat my sisters. 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:05.080 And then, you know, for me, that came at a 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:08.439 pretty early age. But you know, they they were they 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.160 were like my role models. And so some of the 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.560 baseball stuff was just because they started playing softball and 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:17.760 I got into trading cards. That was my very first obsession. 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:19.960 I talked about obsessions a few minutes ago, but that 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.360 was my very first obsession was baseball trading cards, and 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.280 that that's what really got me to the sport, was 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:29.559 them and being able to collect. Right, how much older 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.760 were they than you? I like to joke that they're 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:36.760 five years older, but they they they really are four 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:41.560 and a half years older. If you're being technical technical, Okay, 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.520 well that makes sense. So they're so you're like kind 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.000 of a whole high school behind them, right, so that 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:48.720 you would look up to them and think that they 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:52.719 were cool and that their friends were cool, and that 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:56.200 makes sense. So they chose basketball, and so then you 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.160 chose basketball, and then baseball was everything else was done. 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.120 Dad made you choose. Yeah, I mean, and I did 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.200 think they're cool. Their friends were cool. They came back 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.839 for fall break their freshman year and I was in 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.760 eighth grade, and that was the first time I was 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:13.000 ever served a beer, and and their friends came over 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.160 and we had a few, a few pops, and I was, 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.440 I was, I couldn't believe that I was having a 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.400 beer with you know, Lauren and Robin. I thought they 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:22.480 were the coolest kids in the world. You know, they're friends, 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.040 So I think I just don't the whole sense was, 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.079 you know, I was just like I idolized my sisters 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:29.800 and and I don't know if you know the background, 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:33.959 but I don't have initials that equal JJ. It's Jonathan Clay. 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.080 So they said everything at the same time as kids, 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.679 and so everything came out j J. What's his name? 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.160 J J? Who's your brother? J J? Hey? J J. 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:47.720 And that's really what stuck my summer. Before my seventh grade, 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.960 I was a really good baseball player. I was a pitcher, 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:55.199 and that was the first year my my local AU 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.800 team had qualified for the National AU tournament. So we 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:00.360 flew out to Salt Lake City for two weeks we 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:04.599 competed out there. I flew back on Sunday, and I 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:07.439 don't know, I don't know how knowing me, I don't 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.199 know how I forgot this. But my baseball team, my 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:11.719 literal leagal star team, was in the middle of the 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.080 state tournament. And so I flew back Sunday and my 0:13:14.160 --> 0:13:16.720 Dad's like, your coach's daughter is going to drive you 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:18.599 out across the state four and a half hours to 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:22.520 Portsmith to play. And I was like, okay, whatever. So 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.320 we drove through the night. I get there at three 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.160 am in the morning, and um, luckily we had a 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.600 rain out the next day. I pitched Tuesday morning. I 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.280 had thirteen strikeouts. We went extra innings. I had to 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.280 I had to pitch the extra two extra innings. We 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.840 won the game. And I got back from that tournament 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:41.839 and I was just exhausted, and my dad was gave me. 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:44.559 It wasn't an ultimatum. It was just like, Hey, here's 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:48.640 the situation with our family, and I don't think it's 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:52.320 fair to your teammates in basketball or your teammates in baseball. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.199 You're good at both, but I don't think it's fair 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:57.360 for you to just basically be distracted and not be 0:13:57.440 --> 0:13:59.520 all in on one or the other. So please choose. 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.240 And to be honest, it was a fairly easy decision, 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:04.880 and I did yet to hit my growth spurt. I 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.880 was about five six at the time, But I often think, 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.839 you know me now at thirty eight years old, what 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.920 it would have looked had looked like had I stuck 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.760 with baseball. Would I have crapped out in single A 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.720 but I've made the big leagues? Would I be working 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.120 on my third Tommy John surgery. I don't know. I 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.520 don't know your life path. Your life's path could go 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:27.720 in so many different directions based on one decision that 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.720 you make as a as a twelve or thirteen year old. Yeah, 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:34.480 that is so fascinating. It's like that movie. I've talked 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.400 about it a couple of times, and I think I 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.200 need to go back and watch this movie because I 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.000 keep referring to it. You ever see the movie Sliding Doors. 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:45.240 I mean I've seen it, it's been a long time, 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:49.760 but that that the idea of it refers to my 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:52.560 recollection is is like the sliding doors of a subway, 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:55.240 and what might happen to your life if you if 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.520 you made it through before the doors closed, or if 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.520 you're still stuck right there, and that those little decisions 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:05.400 how they impact you. Now, I think for most people 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.240 those decisions in terms of their life and career might 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:13.160 not be quite as catastrophic. So you go all in 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.480 in basketball. Now, I'm gonna tell you a story I was, um. 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.120 I mean, one of these days you and I are 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.800 going to have a not a three point shooting contest, 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:23.480 but a free throw shooting contest, all right, because let 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:26.320 me just say this, I can shoot the rock. I 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.760 can shoot I can shoot the rock. In case you're 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.480 not aware, I know, I know you're a basketball fan. 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:34.280 I I don't know your level of skill, but you 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.280 are saying you want to challenge the ninth best free 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:38.880 throw shoot of all time. I just want to put 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:40.760 that out there. I just want to know. I want 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.200 you to know what you're getting into here. Brian one 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:48.800 one take thirteen in a row free throw line extended 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:55.280 wearing work shoes and a sport coat on national television. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.680 That's even more impressive. Now, let me just say I 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.120 I don't think you can do it. I don't think 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.840 you could do it one take thirteen in a row. 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:05.880 We're gonna try. One of these days. We're gonna try. 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.360 That's my challenge to you. So back in in my 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:11.640 younger days, when I was focused on basketball, and I 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.760 read a story about the hoop that you had in 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.520 your yard and it's not the grounds, not always even, 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:21.600 and there's trees in the way. And I remember for 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:27.680 myself one summer between years of playing basketball, I dedicated 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.880 myself to it. And I remember those nights being out 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:37.680 getting called in for dinner and it's basically dark outside, 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:41.840 and I'm still trying to hit shots. I'm still trying 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.360 to work on stuff. I can only imagine for you 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.080 the time and effort in dedication it put in. Was 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.520 that fairly instantaneous once you make the choice that it's basketball, 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:58.120 that you give yourself fully to basketball. It was, but 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:03.280 it also had more to do with love. It wasn't 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:07.280 just about something I was good at. And I I 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:10.719 think we all have talents, and some talents we don't nurture, 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.000 and maybe some of the reason we don't nurture them 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:18.040 is because we don't love it as much. And basketball 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:20.720 and baseball even because We had a little shed in 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:23.719 the backyard, and I painted a square at the bottom 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:25.840 of the shed where the concrete was, and the hill 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.240 adjacent to the shed naturally rose like a mound. So 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.240 I could go out there by myself and try to 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.760 throw strikes. I can go out and shoot a basketball 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.600 by myself. I I I've always enjoyed autonomy. I've always 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:41.080 been self motivated to do things. And so basketball in 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:45.320 the backyard was very much like a singular personal pursuit. 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.560 And and because of the love the dopamine hit you 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.119 get from watching you know this, watching you watch the 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:54.440 ball switched through the net, and you get a little 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.480 dopamine hit. Now you do that five times in a row, 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:58.719 ten times in row, fifteen times in a row, all 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.560 of a sudden you just you love it. And and 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:04.440 so for me, it was about the love. And it's 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:08.159 funny you bring up shooting in the dark, and I 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.520 would go. I would shoot all day in the backyard. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.440 And I was homeschooled, so a lot of times I 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.200 would get done with my work at eleven or eleven 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.080 thirty in the morning and I'd just go outside for 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:21.960 hours and shoot. But it didn't matter if there was 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:26.080 a snow storm and ice storm. The the literally the 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.960 net could literally be frozen where I'd have to knock 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:31.040 the ball out after every make, and I would go 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:33.840 put on mits and the mits that I could still 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:36.720 feel the ball, and I'd go shoot, and i'd go 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.760 out after dinner. We didn't have like floodlights on the court, 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:41.480 so I would go after dinner. I would take my 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:44.159 dad's lawnmower and i'd put it at the top of 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:46.800 the key. And then he had this lamp with a 0:18:46.960 --> 0:18:49.480 with a clamp on it, and I clamped the lamp 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.960 to the top of the lawnmower and i'd shine it 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.400 on the court. And we had an English Springer spaniel, Maggie, 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.080 and she would sit out there with me till ten 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.080 thirty eleven o'clock at night. And if my ball went 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:03.680 in the trees after a maker miss, you know, she'd 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:05.800 helped me go find it. So yeah, it was it 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.240 was more about the love. It wasn't like I knew 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:10.000 right away I was going to be great. It was 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.040 just I I loved playing and the other part part 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.440 of that I loved about it. And I'm curious about 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:19.200 your own experience as an actor and working on set 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.639 and working with different casts. What I loved about it 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:27.760 was a camaraderie. It wasn't so I got the autonomy 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:32.400 of work by myself, but when it came time to performance, 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.720 it was very much a collaborative effort. And the joy 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.320 that I got even as a ten year old, and 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:41.480 I certainly got that a lot as a thirty six 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:45.600 year old when I retired. That that experience of going 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.560 through something with friends and people that have the same 0:19:49.640 --> 0:19:54.600 goal as you, that's what I really and really really 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.040 came to love about it, And honestly, it's what I 0:19:57.160 --> 0:20:02.680 missed the most about it. Yeah, no, I very that's 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:05.639 very similar to me and my experience. I mean, I 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:08.240 think what what you may not know about me was 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.520 I had decided early on, just like you, I was 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:14.960 gonna be a professional baseball player. That was that was 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.919 my and very specifically, I was going to be the 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:21.440 first baseman for the Atlanta Braves. Um that was my 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:25.880 was my my singular goal. And it's so funny you're 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.560 talking about painting the the strike zone. I wasn't really 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.480 a picture, but I would I would pitch occasionally, and 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.879 I did the same thing as you marked it off 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:38.680 did the thing again, but mine was against the garage 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:41.520 and I don't know how old it was, but apparently, 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.560 you know, you get stronger as you get older. And 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:50.080 one one pitch that went into dented like put a 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:52.639 hole in the garage. That that was done for me, 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:54.600 I did. I never was able to do that again. 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:58.480 I couldn't find another spot. But yeah, that that team. 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.879 I mean, that's why I think teams boards specifically is 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:05.000 so important as a kid to have that experience, that 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:09.800 collective experience about working together to try to achieve some goal. 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:12.960 And I think that you know that for sure. As 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:17.199 I began doing theater, was a part of it. Loved 0:21:17.480 --> 0:21:21.000 the ensemble nature of it, that collective experience, the idea 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:24.000 of going out and performing in front of other people, 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:26.760 but but really having each other's back. And I think, 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:30.000 you know, I've said many times for me, the reason 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:35.560 that The Office became so successful was the nature of 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:38.679 how the show was shot, which is very similar to 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:41.280 what you're talking about about being on the basketball court. 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.600 I mean, it was all of us in one room 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:48.080 by and large for hours and hours and hours together 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.080 and learning quite frankly, just like you know, you know 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.760