Speaker 1: Hey, what up. Welcoman. I'm Doug Gottlie.
Speaker 2: This is All Ball, and in this version of All
Speaker 2: Ball we'll have the conclusion of my talk with Pat Burke.
Speaker 2: Of course, Pat was the star center at Auburn and
Speaker 2: in Spain Real Madrid, and of course Tauas for Remica,
Speaker 2: and of course he played for the Ortlanta Magic. And
Speaker 2: in this part we'll find out about how he became
Speaker 2: a Phoenix Sun and what happened with that talented team
Speaker 2: once they reached the playoffs and why they could never
Speaker 2: get to the NBA finals.
Speaker 1: You remember there was.
Speaker 2: A notable suspension of a Mario Stotramount and Boris dil
Speaker 2: and Pat was actually thrust into the lineup.
Speaker 1: What went wrong for him that game personally you'll find out.
Speaker 1: Also we'll get his thoughts on USA basketball. How do
Speaker 1: you fix USA basketball?
Speaker 2: So that because you know, we operated on this present well,
Speaker 2: you know, if we just have the best players we
Speaker 2: just had Lebron and KD and staff, we're gonna win.
Speaker 2: But the countries we lost to didn't all have their
Speaker 2: best players. So there is something one different about that
Speaker 2: playing style, but also wrong with the way in which
Speaker 2: we're kind of attacking this thing. We'll get pats thoughts
Speaker 2: because he played and starred in Peeba style basketball, and
Speaker 2: we'll figure out how we as Americans or American basketball
Speaker 2: can adjust and be more successful more often, even if
Speaker 2: we don't always have the best players in the world.
Speaker 2: Even when we have the best players in the world,
Speaker 2: it's not like.
Speaker 1: We've the redeem team.
Speaker 2: That was a close game, is a one possession game
Speaker 2: late in the game against the against the Spaniards. So
Speaker 2: here's part three with Pepper. What was it then like
Speaker 2: to go back to Real. Now Real is one of
Speaker 2: the biggest clubs in Europe, right, but you've been playing
Speaker 2: in the NBA, so you're you're back making big money,
Speaker 2: but you're in the ACB.
Speaker 1: You're in EuroLeague, very different. Well, was that experience like
Speaker 1: the transition back?
Speaker 3: Uh? Well, I had one. I had one small jump
Speaker 3: before that. I actually started that year when I left.
Speaker 3: I went to Alana, Grand Canaria, and so I was
Speaker 3: I was in the Spanish League, but I was, you know,
Speaker 3: on an island just outside the coast of Africa, and
Speaker 3: they had a coach there, Pedro Martinez, and he loved
Speaker 3: his militant, robotic offense. Every day, we go through twenty
Speaker 3: five minutes of going to the same place, and it
Speaker 3: just it was just so boring, and so I just
Speaker 3: remember that. It came to one point where I'm sitting
Speaker 3: there in our apartment, my wife and I and with
Speaker 3: our kids, and the cleaning lady says to me, She's like,
Speaker 3: it's very strange. Oh no, no, I sorry. She says
Speaker 3: it to my wife, Paige, it's very strange. You guys
Speaker 3: are cleaning this apartment when you're about to be cut.
Speaker 3: And Peyton's like, hey, Pat, come on into the living
Speaker 3: room and I'm like what. So I go into the
Speaker 3: living room and she's like, can you say that again?
Speaker 3: And she repeats herself and I'm like, holy sh So
Speaker 3: I called my agent and Lawren. The cleaning lady's in
Speaker 3: here telling me that there must be some talk behind
Speaker 3: the scenes because she's best friends with the GM's wife,
Speaker 3: so she must have caught something at dinner. And now
Speaker 3: all this is trickling out, so they didn't even know
Speaker 3: that I I didn't even know that we knew what
Speaker 3: was going on. So anyways, long story short, we're on
Speaker 3: the last leg of the I should say, the end
Speaker 3: of the first grouping of this European tournament. So we're
Speaker 3: in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, after a dinner and we're moving on
Speaker 3: to the next group of our European pool and the coach,
Speaker 3: coach Pedro Martinez, he says, Pat, can I talk to you?
Speaker 3: And so he takes me up to decide, said I
Speaker 3: already know, coach, I'm cut, and he's like looking at me,
Speaker 3: like what do you mean, and he's trying to pretend like, oh,
Speaker 3: it's so innocent. I was like, oh, well, the cleaning
Speaker 3: lady is friends with it, and she told us, and
Speaker 3: he's like, I don't know anything about this, and I said,
Speaker 3: it's okay, we're going to I'm want to work this
Speaker 3: out anyways. And so anyways, my coach, I'm sorry. Warren
Speaker 3: had actually worked out a deal already with Real Madrid,
Speaker 3: so we were playing them in the next pool of
Speaker 3: the European So I'm sitting there a week later from
Speaker 3: being cut. I'm on Real Madrid and I'm warming up
Speaker 3: against the team I was just on. And every time
Speaker 3: my guys, like in Europe, you know, they do a
Speaker 3: jog around the court. Well, you know, the other team
Speaker 3: is on the baseline, stretching and every time. My guys,
Speaker 3: I'm just joking around with it. I know, of course,
Speaker 3: I know my guys on the other team more than
Speaker 3: I know this new team that I'm on, So I'm
Speaker 3: just joking around with them. And then right away the
Speaker 3: coach like calls them all over and he was like,
Speaker 3: don't look at him, don't listen to his jokes, don't
Speaker 3: talk to him. And I'm sitting there like going, hey, guys,
Speaker 3: you guys having a meeting without me, and they're just
Speaker 3: came looking over and then my friend, my friends and
Speaker 3: the team just kept looking over like Pat, please don't
Speaker 3: do this. You're just making it worse on us. And
Speaker 3: I was like, I have no connection to your team anymore.
Speaker 3: I can do whatever I want to do on this
Speaker 3: side of it. So I remember the real Madrid guys
Speaker 3: well looking at me, like this guy be crazy, which
Speaker 3: is a good thing.
Speaker 1: You do have to. They do have to. You want
Speaker 1: guys to think you're a little bit crazy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I'm like this is me, you know, like
Speaker 3: I was just on this team. Now I'm going to
Speaker 3: show them because I'm gonna work even ten times harder
Speaker 3: for Real Madrid now and I'm gonna show them so
Speaker 3: we ended up beating their team. Moving on, anyways, that
Speaker 3: year we go to the finals of that cup and
Speaker 3: just we had a great year. And then of course
Speaker 3: the next year I signed back and we win the
Speaker 3: Spanish Championship and we win it over that first team,
Speaker 3: Vittoria in Spain, which all the fans remember that I
Speaker 3: left them, you know, in the preseason.
Speaker 1: So like they're to go to your brother's wedding.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so their version of booing is whistling. So every
Speaker 3: time they called my name or I score basket, they're
Speaker 3: just whistling the whole time because they hate me.
Speaker 1: Best thing to eat in Spain, h.
Speaker 3: I love the salads over there. They have a salad
Speaker 3: over there with white asparagus. I don't know, it's got
Speaker 3: to be a seasonal thing, but it's it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 3: Of course everyone talks about the tapas, those are good,
Speaker 3: but I love the salad over there. How did it?
Speaker 1: I mean, what is life like with a siesta every day?
Speaker 3: We don't live that life? Oh well, I guess with
Speaker 3: the two days. Yeah, it's very time consuming because you
Speaker 3: build up anxiety if you don't get that nap in
Speaker 3: between the two practices. And I can remember what. My
Speaker 3: wife sometimes be like, hey, let's go to lunch, and
Speaker 3: I'm like, I can't totally.
Speaker 2: I was just married when I was in Russia and
Speaker 2: we're doing two backs a day, and like we're in
Speaker 2: the middle of Russia and she's like, let's go shopping.
Speaker 1: Let's I'm like, do you know how fucking tired I am. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no way.
Speaker 3: Well it makes me look back and go, wow. You know,
Speaker 3: you have to be so selfish to be a successful
Speaker 3: athlete because you have to worry completely about yourself, your body,
Speaker 3: your nutrition, your mental health, all of it. And you know,
Speaker 3: God blessed my wife for all those years of just
Speaker 3: sitting there and like, you know, twilling her thumbs at
Speaker 3: the house. Well, I'm taking a nap, but I was like,
Speaker 3: I can't not get this nap in because it's so demanding.
Speaker 3: You know, you're going through you know, strength training and
Speaker 3: shooting and going through plays in the morning, and then
Speaker 3: you know, you sit there and you eat as fast
Speaker 3: as you can, you know, this nutritional meal so you
Speaker 3: can get to bed, you know, in the middle of
Speaker 3: the day to sleep for you know, an hour and
Speaker 3: a half, two hours. Then you're back up doing it
Speaker 3: all over again, and then you come in at night
Speaker 3: and you got ice all over your knees, any injury
Speaker 3: that you have, and you're just like I am so depleted,
Speaker 3: and you know she's just sitting there like going, can
Speaker 3: we do Can we watch a movie? I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 3: if it's on that television.
Speaker 1: You know what was what do you remember about winning
Speaker 1: the Spanish championship?
Speaker 3: First, it was being back in that Jim and that
Speaker 3: coach that tried to shake my hand about leaving. So
Speaker 3: every now and then I'd look over at it, I
Speaker 3: just smile. We want it in a way where we
Speaker 3: had Alberto Herreros was just a legend in the Spanish
Speaker 3: league and I was getting to play with him that year.
Speaker 3: It's just a phenomenal three point shooter. He made the
Speaker 3: he was he already announced it was his last year,
Speaker 3: so he made the game winning three in clutch time,
Speaker 3: and then just collectively everybody just celebrating. I just think that,
Speaker 3: you know, whenever it's all done and you've actually reached
Speaker 3: the goal, that it was just this finality, like even
Speaker 3: if we didn't agree with everybody on the team, like
Speaker 3: it was just a great feel. Like Lewis Bullock was
Speaker 3: on my team. But I remember at first, I was like,
Speaker 3: you know, this guy is an all out green light shooter.
Speaker 3: You could be running fast court down the floor for
Speaker 3: an open dunk and he wouldn't pass the ball and
Speaker 3: I would just start in the locker room like wanting
Speaker 3: to fight him, you know. And I just remember at
Speaker 3: the very end it was like, no matter what, we
Speaker 3: did this together, you know, and you know, good luck,
Speaker 3: God bless you for the rest of your career, you know,
Speaker 3: And that was that was kind of it.
Speaker 1: How'd you make it back to playing in the States
Speaker 1: and playing for the Suns.
Speaker 3: So Warren called me and he said, hey, Actually I
Speaker 3: was playing for the Irish national team started the summer
Speaker 3: and Warren told me, he said, hey, would you be
Speaker 3: interested in coming back to the NBA. And I was like,
Speaker 3: are you being serious? And he's like, yeah, because I
Speaker 3: think I have a two year deal for you from
Speaker 3: the Phoenix Suns. And at that time, you know, like
Speaker 3: the Phoenix Suns are hot. This is you know, the
Speaker 3: first MVP for Steve Nash. Everybody's going nuts about how
Speaker 3: fast they're playing with under d'antoni's style. So when I
Speaker 3: make it back or I'm signing the deal. I remember
Speaker 3: I get off the phone and I'm with my Irish
Speaker 3: National teammates and I was like, I just signed a
Speaker 3: two year deal with Phoenix Sons and they were all like,
Speaker 3: holy shit, that is awesome, you know, like that congratulations
Speaker 3: like how you feel right now? And I'm like, I'm
Speaker 3: a little It's kind of surreal because just going through
Speaker 3: the NBA the first time was an experienced but now
Speaker 3: going back, I'm like going, I'm going to handle this
Speaker 3: differently now. I wanted to handle it differently. Of course
Speaker 3: with family and friends as well, because anytime you're in
Speaker 3: that sport, like any sport, like you're playing professionally, you're
Speaker 3: telling the same stories eight times because people are calling
Speaker 3: you like, you know, hey, what's this, Like what's my day?
Speaker 3: To what's Steve Nash like? And the first thing, I
Speaker 3: was like calling my dad to let him know, and
Speaker 3: I was like, you know, it probably heard him at
Speaker 3: the time, but I was like, Dad just wants you
Speaker 3: to know it this time. I'm just going to request that.
Speaker 3: There's gonna be times where I just don't want to
Speaker 3: talk about it because it's just so much going over
Speaker 3: all this information. I just want to be in the moment,
Speaker 3: sharing the moment and just not having to relive it
Speaker 3: over and over and over. And he was like, no,
Speaker 3: I'm going to ask you, So what's what was it like?
Speaker 3: So getting there, I remember when I went in to sign,
Speaker 3: I'm signing with Brian Grant. Brian's Brian's my closest friend
Speaker 3: from from that team. We talk a lot, but going
Speaker 3: in and signing with him, it was funny because, uh,
Speaker 3: you know when when I was playing with the Magic
Speaker 3: in the preseason, he and I were playing against each other.
Speaker 3: He was on the Heat and I had this move
Speaker 3: in the in the lane where I was sitting there
Speaker 3: and I was getting caught on three seconds and the
Speaker 3: time the shott was going off, and I just shot
Speaker 3: a shot and not even look at the hoop and
Speaker 3: hit the glass backboard and went in. And during his
Speaker 3: press conference, because he was one of the big players
Speaker 3: for the Heat, they were like, uh, you know, what
Speaker 3: do you think about the season, and they were they
Speaker 3: were like, starting the season off, I think out of time,
Speaker 3: like oh and four or some more than five. And
Speaker 3: he's like, you know, when you have a when you
Speaker 3: got a guy named Pat, He's like, no name or
Speaker 3: somebody hitting a no look shot in the lane. You know,
Speaker 3: it's it's bad news. And that was like in the paper.
Speaker 3: And so then when I saw him when I'm signing
Speaker 3: for the Suns and I brought up later, I was like,
Speaker 3: do you remember saying this? And he was like, no,
Speaker 3: we're just laughing about it. But the thing about the
Speaker 3: Phoenix Suns is at that time with Steve Leander, Barbosa Boris,
Speaker 3: it was it was it wasn't like the magic in
Speaker 3: that we all got along so good. We all celebrated
Speaker 3: outside the court, going to people's homes for you know whatever.
Speaker 3: It was a barbecue, one of our kids birthdays, and
Speaker 3: there was a there was a more of a collective,
Speaker 3: you know, Eddie House, everybody, all the guys that were
Speaker 3: on that team. Everybody got along and we all just
Speaker 3: wanted to do our best and it was pretty cool.
Speaker 3: But the one thing that did hurt in the preseason
Speaker 3: is when we got there, you know, the idea of
Speaker 3: seven seconds or less. Since I have an offensive set,
Speaker 3: you had to be fast. You had to get down
Speaker 3: the floor as fast as you could. You had to
Speaker 3: make quick decisions. And I remember Mike D'Antoni said Hey, guys,
Speaker 3: there are fourteen guys on this team was fourteen, and
Speaker 3: he said seven of you guys are going to play,
Speaker 3: and you're on the roster, like as far as like
Speaker 3: getting in, and he goes, the other seven you're gonna
Speaker 3: think I'm a motherfucker. And we're all so they're like,
Speaker 3: that's fine. You know, we're all alpha males. We're all like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna be one of those seven. And then slowly, slowly,
Speaker 3: you start to realize.
Speaker 1: The other seven.
Speaker 3: Yeah, all rightkay, I'm in the other seven. So we're
Speaker 3: in the MF group. So then we would sit there
Speaker 3: and we kind of just would console ourselves, like we
Speaker 3: had this play on words. We would sit there. You're
Speaker 3: either players or fans, so we said we're orphans. So
Speaker 3: we would just sit there and we were orphans. So
Speaker 3: every time the game would go on, we've been sitting
Speaker 3: there and we cheer for the guys and all that,
Speaker 3: and a lot of older got Jimmy Jackson was there,
Speaker 3: and a lot of guys that they weren't accustomed to
Speaker 3: playing that role, you know, they didn't like it. So
Speaker 3: then when we go to practice, there was like forty
Speaker 3: five minute practices like I'm coming from Europe. We have
Speaker 3: two practices a day. I'm trying to tell guys about this,
Speaker 3: and they're like, what what world are you in so
Speaker 3: forty five minutes, Because you know, Sean Marion, Amari Stodemeyer,
Speaker 3: Steve all those guys were getting their workouts during the game.
Speaker 3: They're playing the whole game. So the ideal was, let's
Speaker 3: go in here for forty five minutes. We're going to
Speaker 3: walk through. If youve got to take some shots. At
Speaker 3: the end, we're out. And then it became clear again
Speaker 3: that these are grown ass men. I'll never forget. Like
Speaker 3: we're in the We're in the beginning of the season
Speaker 3: and Mike's coming in for like a you know, a
Speaker 3: thirty forty five minute practice, and he goes through all
Speaker 3: the starters through a walkthrough, and Brian Grant. Brian he's
Speaker 3: on like a hundred million dollar deals. I think that
Speaker 3: year he's making twenty five million. It's coming over from
Speaker 3: the Lakers, and uh, Mike has everyone go through a
Speaker 3: certain set you know whoever we were playing that night,
Speaker 3: and then he's like, okay, we're good, come on, and
Speaker 3: went to the middle and Brian wouldn't go to the middle.
Speaker 3: He's on the outside. He's like, I haven't gone through
Speaker 3: the set, coach, and Mike d'antoni's totally ignoring him, and
Speaker 3: Brian's like, hey, I haven't gone through the fuck is
Speaker 3: I don't know what the fuck we're doing tonight, and
Speaker 3: d'antoni's like, here we go. Soun's on three and Steve's
Speaker 3: like looking over at Brian. That's kind of like this
Speaker 3: awkward moment where he's just like, come on, Brian, come
Speaker 3: on here. He's like, no, Steve, I'm not going in there.
Speaker 3: I can't play tonight because I have no idea what
Speaker 3: the set is and we're all since it going. It
Speaker 3: doesn't matter, Brian, we're not getting in, so just get
Speaker 3: your and in this damn circle. And as we're sitting there,
Speaker 3: we do one to three sons. Brian still saying something
Speaker 3: and Mike d'antoni's going up the staircase out of the gym.
Speaker 3: He's like, Coach, I don't know the plays. I'm like,
Speaker 3: this is wild, like but nothing we was said. It
Speaker 3: didn't turn into a Horse Grant situation. It was just
Speaker 3: one of those things where it's like, Okay, you know,
Speaker 3: there are guys here that do have a case that
Speaker 3: you know, the leadership space inside of this team is
Speaker 3: a little off on how it handles everyone who's not playing.
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Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: There are there are some that to this day saying
Speaker 2: Steve Nash didn't deserve either of those MVPs.
Speaker 1: You lived it, you had a front row seat for
Speaker 1: for for what do you think? Think?
Speaker 3: Uh, because I'm biased because I was there watching him
Speaker 3: and you know, seeing what he was doing, you know,
Speaker 3: for preparation, you know, going through every night with the
Speaker 3: wins and all that. You know, I think, uh again,
Speaker 3: as I'm tainted because I was there seeing what he
Speaker 3: was doing. So when he wanted I was like, well deserved.
Speaker 3: But then again, of course who was upward to Kobe
Speaker 3: and the chemo?
Speaker 1: Yeah, ever, says Kobe. I mean.
Speaker 3: We had a great year as well. And uh, you
Speaker 3: know again is whoever whatever they based it all on,
Speaker 3: if the wins or where we went, you know, I
Speaker 3: just think that it must have been a very difficult challenge.
Speaker 3: But either one of the guys would have been of course,
Speaker 3: uh somebody that would My.
Speaker 2: Contention would be My contention would be like Shaw Mary
Speaker 2: was a really good player, but playing with Steve Nash,
Speaker 2: he was a great player, right, Marie Stottenmyer, very good
Speaker 2: player with Steve Nash, great player.
Speaker 1: Kind of you go through and you know, if everyone
Speaker 1: around you is having career hives.
Speaker 2: Part of it is pace of play, but a lot
Speaker 2: of it is who's creating all this stuff? Again, I
Speaker 2: don't know, And you know, people will always pick out
Speaker 2: Steve's defense right small, and I think some of it
Speaker 2: they look through the lens of today or the lack
Speaker 2: of ultimate playoff success, and I just I just went now,
Speaker 2: was that the year with the Spurs deal where you
Speaker 2: guys beat the Spurs and then Amare and Diau got
Speaker 2: suspended because they slammed Stephen the board?
Speaker 1: Was that? Was?
Speaker 2: That?
Speaker 3: Was that your year?
Speaker 1: That first year?
Speaker 3: That's the that's the second year, so that's the year. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that's what the NBA came out with the rule if
Speaker 3: you step over the line during any altercation, it's an
Speaker 3: automatic you know, suspended the next game. So Robert rriy
Speaker 3: Hip checks Steve into the timetable and he goes off
Speaker 3: and then I remember standing up and I just look
Speaker 3: over and I their two feet are over the line,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, holy shit, now the only active center
Speaker 3: that hasn't played a game in about four months is me.
Speaker 3: So I'm sitting there like this is this is insane,
Speaker 3: you know, like most people don't even know this. But
Speaker 3: the beginning of that year, I worked so damn hard
Speaker 3: in preseason, like everybody was coming up to me like great, unbelievable.
Speaker 3: We go to the first game against the Lakers and
Speaker 3: Mike d'antelli, for some reason, I don't even know why
Speaker 3: I did, like we didn't have this type of relationship.
Speaker 3: He brings me over to the side. He said, Pat,
Speaker 3: I talked to you and he said you should be
Speaker 3: starting for this team, right. I mean, this is crazy,
Speaker 3: like no one would even think. I'm like looking at
Speaker 3: him like my brows like what And he looks over
Speaker 3: and he goes, but I can't play yet. He goes,
Speaker 3: there's so much money invested in these guys, you know that.
Speaker 3: And I just said to them, well, if anybody gets injured,
Speaker 3: I'll be ready, and he's like okay. You know, it
Speaker 3: was kind of like we settled in, like let's get
Speaker 3: rid of the is Like, look, I'm good with that,
Speaker 3: Like I'll be ready. So I'm I'm just every after
Speaker 3: every practice, I'm running sprints. I'm never getting in, just
Speaker 3: running sprints. I'm on the treadmill. I'm just doing everything
Speaker 3: that I can. I'm in the weight room early, I'm
Speaker 3: doing all my shots, taking practice very seriously. Got to
Speaker 3: the point months and months and months and Steve Nash
Speaker 3: is coming down the staircase and he's seeing me doing sprints.
Speaker 3: He's like, I can't even look at you, you know,
Speaker 3: like you're never getting in, but you're never giving up.
Speaker 3: I'm like, I'm going to get on that floor.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: Like four months into it, I was like I'm done.
Speaker 3: I can't this is there's no way. So I stopped.
Speaker 3: I stopped putting any extra cardio in. And then this happens,
Speaker 3: and then the media comes up to me. After we
Speaker 3: fly out of San Antonio, we're back at Phoenix and
Speaker 3: the media comes up to me and there like hey,
Speaker 3: you know, like they never talked to me, so like hey,
Speaker 3: we're just wondering, you know, with with the ruling with
Speaker 3: the two guys, you know, being taken out. You're the
Speaker 3: only active center. You know, what have they said to you?
Speaker 3: And I go full go everything. I said, they haven't.
Speaker 3: They haven't talked to me in months. I don't even
Speaker 3: say they don't even say hello to me in the
Speaker 3: locker room. And they're like what and I'm like yeah,
Speaker 3: They're like, uh, you want us to print this? I
Speaker 3: was like, my NBA career is probably over anyways. I
Speaker 3: said that's fine. So they're like, okay, So like, what
Speaker 3: do you like? Who do you think is a better coach?
Speaker 3: And I said, how many championships is Papa bit chef?
Speaker 3: How many? How much rotation does Papavich put in with
Speaker 3: less injury under ten or eleven guys rotation than Mike
Speaker 3: D'Antoni every year, seven man rotation and all our guys
Speaker 3: sitting there with back injuries, and like, you want us
Speaker 3: to print this? And I was like, I'm fine with it.
Speaker 3: So I start telling them all of this and they
Speaker 3: print it. And the next day Warren calls me. He's like,
Speaker 3: are you trying to get kicked out of the league?
Speaker 3: And I was like, what does it matter? Yeah, because
Speaker 3: he's just sitting there. He's like, why would you say this,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, it's the truth, and it's it's the
Speaker 3: truth of what's going on. And so then I remember,
Speaker 3: like people were like give it a little hate, like
Speaker 3: who is this guy? This guy doesn't even play. I'm like,
Speaker 3: i's tell even about playing. The question was about coaching
Speaker 3: and an understanding of like are you communicating as a leader.
Speaker 3: And I know that d'antoni's a different coach now, it's
Speaker 3: just in that moment in six oh seven. You know,
Speaker 3: I don't think that he had those experiences of feedback
Speaker 3: because most people don't want to talk about it. But
Speaker 3: I'm like, you know, it's bullshit. You know, your seven
Speaker 3: man rotation in seven second offense is only getting you
Speaker 3: so far and you have to start thinking differently to
Speaker 3: actually get to the next level.
Speaker 1: So what's it like now to look back on game six?
Speaker 3: Uh, that's not the is that see the last one
Speaker 3: that we played? So I get in for about I
Speaker 3: don't know, maybe a minute.
Speaker 2: Because I remember it was you guys took the lead
Speaker 2: three games to two. Yeah, and then they got suspended
Speaker 2: and then so you played a ton in game six,
Speaker 2: and then I think as lost in game seven. You
Speaker 2: lost six and seven I think.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Kurt, So Kurt Thomas started playing more of that
Speaker 3: center role getting beefed up minutes. But I had a
Speaker 3: lingering arm injury that I couldn't even raise my arm,
Speaker 3: like over my head, and so I went it for
Speaker 3: a little other's like this photo. It perfectly captivates. There's
Speaker 3: like a rebound. I'm sitting there and I couldn't even
Speaker 3: pick my arm up. The balls on the ground and
Speaker 3: Tony Parker myself were like in a scrum trying to
Speaker 3: get to it, and like that was it. It was
Speaker 3: like the horn goes off and I get subbed out
Speaker 3: and I was like, I can't even help the team.
Speaker 3: So yeah, so I just looking back, you know, we
Speaker 3: were so close. But then you also look at what's
Speaker 3: his name that the referee that was placing wages on Yeah,
Speaker 3: so he was That was one of the games because
Speaker 3: I remember our coaching staff was just going nuts at
Speaker 3: all the calls that he was calling, you know, like
Speaker 3: in the first half, like it was just like there's
Speaker 3: something going on.
Speaker 1: That's insane. Yeah, season's over then what.
Speaker 3: So then I come back. My wife and I were
Speaker 3: expecting our third child, and uh, I get a call
Speaker 3: from Golden State Warriors and they were like, hey, we'd
Speaker 3: like for you to come out and try out for
Speaker 3: the team. I'm like great. So I go out and
Speaker 3: uh I'm good. Do their preseason in Hawaii and something
Speaker 3: just doesn't feel right my body. I'm like, I know,
Speaker 3: I know when I feel good and I don't and
Speaker 3: there was something going on and uh so then don
Speaker 3: Nelson calls me, like the last day before I've cut.
Speaker 3: He brings me outside with a big cigar and the
Speaker 3: practice facility. We're back in Golden State now and he's like, Burke,
Speaker 3: I like you. He goes, but how do you think?
Speaker 3: How do you think it's going? And I was like, well,
Speaker 3: I haven't done shit. I look like shit and I
Speaker 3: feel like shit. And he's like, yeah, that's about the
Speaker 3: way I see it. Oh, and he goes, uh so,
Speaker 3: what do you want to do? Do you want to
Speaker 3: stay with us for the preseason or do you want
Speaker 3: to And I said, you know, I think I want
Speaker 3: to go see my doctors in uh in Phoenix and
Speaker 3: he's like, okay, we'll have that done. He goes, hey,
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed you being I said, coach, thank you
Speaker 3: so much for the opportunity and just something was like
Speaker 3: there was this heaviness in my gut. And so anyways,
Speaker 3: I go in there and I have an appendectomy done
Speaker 3: and then also have my gallbladder removed within a month,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, man, my systems are just failing right now.
Speaker 3: So then I call Warren. I said, hey, I'm going
Speaker 3: to take some time off. You know, our baby's gonna
Speaker 3: is due in early October. So I wait. And then
Speaker 3: after our daughter, Harper is born, I call them up
Speaker 3: and I said, okay, you know, put my name out there.
Speaker 3: And then on Thanksgiving Day, I'm on a plane flying
Speaker 3: to Russia to go play for a Kimky.
Speaker 1: What was your experience like landing in Russia?
Speaker 3: Oh my god, this I'm telling you it is the
Speaker 3: wildest thing. So I fly over and make I make
Speaker 3: the the worst decision of wearing jeans and like dress shoes.
Speaker 3: I get there and they're like, okay, we got to
Speaker 3: go through your medical tests. And I'm like, can I
Speaker 3: go by the hotel and change. They're like, no, you're fine.
Speaker 3: So I'm like all right. And it was like some
Speaker 3: crazy like eighteen hour travel, you know, like two or
Speaker 3: three flights. So when I get in there. There's like
Speaker 3: this triangular box thing and this there's this big jury,
Speaker 3: this big Russian woman, and she's she's trying to get
Speaker 3: me to do some sort of lung capacity test and
Speaker 3: she's just like barking Russian at me, like I'm like
Speaker 3: breathing inside this big box. So then they put me
Speaker 3: over and they hooked me up with the heart monitors,
Speaker 3: get me on a treadmill, and I'm running in like
Speaker 3: penny loafers and jeans with no shirt on. And then
Speaker 3: finally when I'm done with that, I'm like, all right,
Speaker 3: can I go to the hotel? Look like yeah, we're
Speaker 3: gonna drop off your bags. We've got an away game
Speaker 3: we're going to, and I'm like okay. So I get
Speaker 3: to the away game and one of my teammates, Antonia Fotes,
Speaker 3: is from Greece. He's on the team as well. So
Speaker 3: I get over there. Oh, sorry, he's playing on the
Speaker 3: other team. So I say hello to him and this
Speaker 3: and the other, and then they give me my uniform
Speaker 3: and they're like we're gonna be sued up tonight, and
Speaker 3: I'm like, I'm going on no sleep, no food. I
Speaker 3: just was on a treadmill. So Anyways, I go out
Speaker 3: there and I'm warming up with the guys and I
Speaker 3: don't play. But every time they call it time out,
Speaker 3: I'm just sitting there. I can't keep my eyes open,
Speaker 3: and I can see like all the other Russian guys
Speaker 3: like looking over and laughing. They're like, this guy is
Speaker 3: like so tired. So anyways, we ended up, but whatever
Speaker 3: the conclusion of the game was. At the very end,
Speaker 3: they're like, we're gonna bring you back to their hotel.
Speaker 3: I think I slept like a day and a half
Speaker 3: and then I wake up, and then of course I
Speaker 3: go through all the introduction to the Russian League.
Speaker 2: I'll give you mine. So this was two thousand and one,
Speaker 2: in January two thousand and one. So I was playing
Speaker 2: like in the IBA in Solana, Kansas, and I got
Speaker 2: to go home to Oklahoma to get my stuff. I
Speaker 2: go to New York to get a a visa. So like,
Speaker 2: I land in New York and I have to go
Speaker 2: to the Russian Consulate get my visa. Then I fly
Speaker 2: out from New York. I remember, this is like I
Speaker 2: don't think I had a cell phone at the time.
Speaker 2: This is like two thousand and one, right, I don't
Speaker 2: think I had one, so.
Speaker 1: All I knew was that like we will, they'll like
Speaker 1: my email from.
Speaker 2: My agent was like, they'll get you at the airport
Speaker 2: in Moscow and take you to the other airport where
Speaker 2: you fly to perm Russia. All right, So I land
Speaker 2: in Moscow and you know again like you fly thirteen
Speaker 2: hours and you just I don't know where I am.
Speaker 2: And I remember having this gigantic basketball, like two big
Speaker 2: Nike bags and stuff, and I don't know.
Speaker 1: What I'm looking for.
Speaker 2: And I saw a Russian writing and a basketball and
Speaker 2: I was like, I hope that's my guy, you know,
Speaker 2: and the feeling of of being so tired. So I
Speaker 2: think sharon Meteva is the big airport. So you landed
Speaker 2: shar Meteva and then you kind of go through Moscow
Speaker 2: and then you go to one of the satellite airports
Speaker 2: to fly and I remember like in and out of consciousness,
Speaker 2: he takes me like he's like, you want to eat?
Speaker 2: So I was like yeah, So we go into some
Speaker 2: it's like smoke filled. They're drinking tea and he just
Speaker 2: orders something as terrible. But the in and out of
Speaker 2: I felt like I was like a drugged American spy
Speaker 2: because I remember like bits and pieces of driving by
Speaker 2: red Square, and I just felt like if he took
Speaker 2: me into the middle of nowhere, killed me, took my shoes,
Speaker 2: nobody's gonna know. Right then he takes me to another
Speaker 2: airport and he gives me a ticket and all I
Speaker 2: knew was that it had a number on it, and
Speaker 2: I thought that was the gate, and so I'm just
Speaker 2: like holding up to feel they pointed to me right
Speaker 2: like no direction. And then I landed in perm and
Speaker 2: now it's like five thirty in the morning, and there's
Speaker 2: like ice knee high, you know, when we get off
Speaker 2: the plane, and I was like, oh my god, and
Speaker 2: just like you a.
Speaker 1: Land at five thirty.
Speaker 2: There was an interpreter and she's like, they would pick
Speaker 2: you up at nine for practice.
Speaker 1: I was like, are you fucking kidding me?
Speaker 4: What?
Speaker 1: And then the team was on the road.
Speaker 2: So when I got there, I had two days by myself,
Speaker 2: an assistant coach in a gym, and like, I remember,
Speaker 2: I never forget this, and I do this dru with
Speaker 2: kids today where they're like, he was like, you must
Speaker 2: have made he was Lithuanian, and then you know they're
Speaker 2: fucking crazy, right, So he's like, you must have made
Speaker 2: twenty five threes, so I'm standing out by a three
Speaker 2: point line.
Speaker 1: I shoot three, make it. I was like, I was like, yo, man,
Speaker 1: you gotta throw it back.
Speaker 2: No, this is is conditioning, Like you had to make
Speaker 2: it three run back and then he's like timing you
Speaker 2: to see how long it takes.
Speaker 1: Then you do a full court. I was like, this
Speaker 1: is a different world, a different world. What was Was
Speaker 1: there anything you liked about food in Russia? Anything you
Speaker 1: took away that? No? No? No?
Speaker 2: Uh?
Speaker 1: Did you have a driver? Did you drive your own car?
Speaker 3: They gave me a driver, Sasha, I had a driver.
Speaker 1: I love the driver thing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's great. There was a they didn't want any
Speaker 3: of us getting into any type of.
Speaker 2: Accident because what they would do is they know you're
Speaker 2: an American, so they would crash into your car and
Speaker 2: shake you down for money.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know the story.
Speaker 2: Rusty LaRue was in Moscow when I was there. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And in Moscow they have that middle line, middle lane,
Speaker 2: and you have like a blue light.
Speaker 1: You can get in your car and.
Speaker 2: Drive down that middle lane and it's like government officials
Speaker 2: and mafia guys whatever. And he kept getting pulled over,
Speaker 2: and so he's like he was. He kept he said
Speaker 2: it to the guys like on the team. He's like, yo, man, like,
Speaker 2: how do I not get pulled over? They're like bisball hat?
Speaker 2: Like what They're like, you know, don't wear a baseball hat.
Speaker 2: He's like why, Like because they know you're not Russian. No,
Speaker 2: we don't wear base Do you ever see a baseball head?
Speaker 1: Like, oh, they just pulled a guy over again his
Speaker 1: baseball hat. But yeah, my driver was our driver was
Speaker 1: like our best friend, O Legg was our was our driver. Yeah.
Speaker 3: They just didn't want us to get into trouble with
Speaker 3: the police. And we had a number of like you know,
Speaker 3: we get stopped heading to practice and then Sasha would
Speaker 3: get in. After talking to him, he's like uh and
Speaker 3: he's doing this and I'm like what and he's like
Speaker 3: fifty fifty whatever Ruble or hero whatever, like fifty bucks
Speaker 3: and I'm like for what and he's like so I
Speaker 3: hand it to him. And that must have happened a
Speaker 3: dozen times.
Speaker 1: No question. You you played one more year after that, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're playing in a Poland a Seko pro com.
Speaker 3: That's when you know it's like you're just going down
Speaker 3: and so at that point that was it was like
Speaker 3: a paradigm shift. I always felt like I was like
Speaker 3: the youngest guy. I always felt like I was at
Speaker 3: that victoria moment, like you know, you're twenty one, you're
Speaker 3: the youngest guy in the room, or one of the youngest.
Speaker 3: At that point. Man, we had so many a Mayoramericans
Speaker 3: on our team, and it was just a different generation.
Speaker 3: These guys were coming in, They're talking about what they
Speaker 3: wanted in life, and you know, if I, if I
Speaker 3: had a conversation with them, sometimes I just felt like,
Speaker 3: you know, whatever I was speaking about the world was misunderstood.
Speaker 3: So I just knew, like, yeah, I'm getting to that
Speaker 3: point where you know, I'm not jumping the same I
Speaker 3: don't even have butterflies playing like before games anymore. So
Speaker 3: I'm like, let me just get my ten rebounds, let
Speaker 3: me get ten points. And just a great relationship with
Speaker 3: my coach. He was a Lithuanian guy, was phenomenal. He'd say, uh,
Speaker 3: pasecis so he played for the Lithuanian team. I played
Speaker 3: against him earlier in my career and he talked to
Speaker 3: my agent like he liked the way I played. So
Speaker 3: I came in and he would just he'd sit there
Speaker 3: that he tried to challenge me all the time in
Speaker 3: front of the guys I was. I wasn't used to that,
Speaker 3: but I always played back to him. So he'd be like, bet,
Speaker 3: this is boughit. You know, I know everybody in town.
Speaker 3: He's like, I know you didn't leave this club last
Speaker 3: night till one am, and all the young guys will
Speaker 3: be looking in the huddle like, oh my gosh, you
Speaker 3: just got caught. I'd be like, coach, that's bullshit. I
Speaker 3: didn't leave that club till three and give me the
Speaker 3: eyes right, and he'd be like, you know, he's like,
Speaker 3: we're gonna talk. I said, okay, And then like when
Speaker 3: we go to places and you know, you're warming up,
Speaker 3: you're doing high knees, you know, full court, and I'd
Speaker 3: be going by him at half court and he'd be like, bet,
Speaker 3: do you think you're crazier than me? And I go,
Speaker 3: I don't know, and I got I go down the
Speaker 3: other end and I come back.
Speaker 2: To him like, God, well you played for Thomasis Yeah, dude,
Speaker 2: he was the other point guard when I was in Russia.
Speaker 1: Oh really, he's fucking nuts.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, he is.
Speaker 1: I loved him, great dude, but fucking nuts.
Speaker 3: Yeah. So he would but he would say to be like,
Speaker 3: you know, do you think you're crazier? And then I
Speaker 3: go back the other side of the court, come back,
Speaker 3: and I go, I don't know how crazy I am.
Speaker 3: So he would just sit there and he would be
Speaker 3: nodding all the time, and then like, I remember, my
Speaker 3: family would come up over. It came over once for
Speaker 3: Christmas and my stats started to drop, and he's like,
Speaker 3: what's going on? And I said, I don't know. He's like,
Speaker 3: I think your family needs to leave. Okay, but uh yeah,
Speaker 3: he's uh he's out. I think he's out of coaching now.
Speaker 3: But he was a lot of fun at the At
Speaker 3: the end of the year, he wanted me to come back,
Speaker 3: and I was like, twelve years, I think I'm done.
Speaker 3: I said, I just don't know if I could do
Speaker 3: this again.
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny, he.
Speaker 4: He uh.
Speaker 2: We used to have Sundays We're supposed to be off, right,
Speaker 2: Sundays were our off day, and everybody would go down
Speaker 2: to the gym and like hey, come come good leave,
Speaker 2: come come come, shoot, come shoot, we get shots, we go,
Speaker 2: we levet, we go to Sona Sona right, and like
Speaker 2: everything these dudes did was at a level way above
Speaker 2: what was called for. Right, and now I was splitting
Speaker 2: time even as an American in Russia and with him,
Speaker 2: and he was a good fucking player, we were stacked.
Speaker 2: We run won the Russian league, won the won the
Speaker 2: championship in the tournament as well, won our European We won.
Speaker 2: We won all but one game and the only reason
Speaker 2: we didn't win that one game was because none of
Speaker 2: the other Vets played and I played with the young
Speaker 2: guys against Sesca Like it was crazy anyway, But we
Speaker 2: used to go and one of the assistants was like
Speaker 2: a famous Baldis Komichas he had played on the ninety
Speaker 2: two Russian team. But he's a Lithuanian. Obviously he's a fan.
Speaker 2: So he was an assistant, and we had three other Lithuanians,
Speaker 2: but check Thiss was one of them on the team,
Speaker 2: and so you had the four Lithuanians.
Speaker 1: They were fucking nuts.
Speaker 2: See you go in on like a Sunday, You're like,
Speaker 2: all right, I'm gonna get a quick lift, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: get some shots up, I'm gonna get to the sauna.
Speaker 1: Let men get the fuck out of here, all right,
Speaker 1: see go in like he'd like lift, like good, leave,
Speaker 1: come come, we shoot.
Speaker 2: So the shooting would be like a competition, which is
Speaker 2: cool because you get them up in a hurry or whatever.
Speaker 2: Within the competition, we'd be like, let's play one on one,
Speaker 2: let's play to it, let's five on five.
Speaker 1: Let's just a couple of games. Like we're playing for
Speaker 1: like four hours.
Speaker 2: And I love playing, but like and I love playing basketball,
Speaker 2: and I was frustrated shit at like like how we
Speaker 2: did in Russia was we had like a third point
Speaker 2: guard and we get up twenty points and like this
Speaker 2: dude is playing. We're like what the fuck. But it's
Speaker 2: because they wanted to play the Russians, right, And I'm
Speaker 2: trying to put up stats, and.
Speaker 1: So you get done and you're like, fuck, I just
Speaker 1: this was my day off.
Speaker 2: I just played four hours of basketball. All right, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna go downstairs. I'm gonna get sauna.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 2: I was like I didn't want to do something like no, no,
Speaker 2: come come, we all do together, team bunding, we go
Speaker 2: do it. We go like okay, So I go in
Speaker 2: there and and I don't know if you did this
Speaker 2: in Poland or in Russia. Sauna right, then you jump
Speaker 2: in the cold bunch. Yeah, then you go sauna and
Speaker 2: then you jump the cold punch and it feels good.
Speaker 2: Then they start they put honey on themselves, like just
Speaker 2: some kind of honey, and you're like, all right, whatever
Speaker 2: and uh and then like you get out of the
Speaker 2: scene like the third time, and now like the vodka
Speaker 2: starts and you're like, wait, what the fuck? And then
Speaker 2: so you have a govaka and then the and then
Speaker 2: I was just married and then like oh, then the
Speaker 2: hookers come in at the end.
Speaker 1: They're like, yo, I'm out, I'm out. I'm good.
Speaker 2: I'm good because because my because my wife went a
Speaker 2: time we were just married and she would like come
Speaker 2: sometimes and come work out at the gym.
Speaker 1: When I was like, no, no, no, I get to
Speaker 1: get the fuck out of here. This is gonna get
Speaker 1: really bad. And hurry.
Speaker 2: Those guys everything they did they did extra like I
Speaker 2: can't I don't know where that that well spring of
Speaker 2: energy comes from.
Speaker 1: And I was pretty energetic, dude.
Speaker 3: They had the end of the Russian season, they got
Speaker 3: us all together for some someplace in the mountains. There
Speaker 3: was a cabin and they're like, you're really gonna like
Speaker 3: this this hot, tough place. So I go into the
Speaker 3: world's hottest room. There's fourteen of us in there, and
Speaker 3: there's one old guy in there. He practically lives there.
Speaker 3: I'm like, you can only stand there for like three minutes,
Speaker 3: and you got to come out and get a breath
Speaker 3: because it's like, I've never been in a room that's
Speaker 3: hot in my life. This old guy's got a woolf
Speaker 3: hat on, yes, and then he's he's got some sort
Speaker 3: of like olive branch or something.
Speaker 1: So then they beat the ship up and they beat you,
Speaker 1: they eat the crap, they.
Speaker 3: Open up your pores, and I'm sitting there watching this.
Speaker 3: I'm like, this is incredible. And then when you go
Speaker 3: outside next out to the snowy mountain, like beautiful landscape,
Speaker 3: there's this huge barrel with the rope, you pull it
Speaker 3: down and ice cold water hits you. But uh, it
Speaker 3: was a great experience. But the same thing. Right at
Speaker 3: the end, they're all like, hey, we gotta get vodka,
Speaker 3: and I'm like, no, I'm not getting vodka, Like what
Speaker 3: are you talking about.
Speaker 1: I'm out. I'm actually trying to feel better. Tomorrow. I
Speaker 1: did not feel worse last thing.
Speaker 2: Okay, So USA basketball, as you point out early two thousands,
Speaker 2: we've been through this before, right where they were kind
Speaker 2: of a mess bust the World Championships in Indy, right,
Speaker 2: kind of in a similar situation.
Speaker 1: And the answer this time is, well, Lebron's just gonna
Speaker 1: get all the guys back.
Speaker 2: And that it may work, but it might not, right
Speaker 2: because it's just such a different style of the sport.
Speaker 2: The officiating is different, the I mean the officiating, the style,
Speaker 2: the rules, it's all different. So if I put Pat Burke,
Speaker 2: who is a great player in Phoeba style basketball, in
Speaker 2: charge of comprising a roster American born players, how would
Speaker 2: you build it?
Speaker 3: I think a lot of times in businesses you look
Speaker 3: for a copy and paste. You're saying what's working. Like,
Speaker 3: you know, we talked about the Yugoslavian coaching style was
Speaker 3: very hot in two thousand. One of the biggest things,
Speaker 3: and again is this is not to get too far
Speaker 3: and too deep into this. I just got back from
Speaker 3: Ireland and one of the things I recognized when I
Speaker 3: was watching Irish athletes playing basketball is there's no you
Speaker 3: don't have to coach them on energy. You don't have
Speaker 3: to coach them on sportsmanship. They're they're listening to everything,
Speaker 3: they're not yelling back at refs. And I started to think, like,
Speaker 3: what the hell is creating? What's the very because I
Speaker 3: you know, I just came out of an AAU tournament
Speaker 3: in the States and there's parents yelling at kids, they're
Speaker 3: yelling at the refs. The coach is like completely absent
Speaker 3: to the idea that it's their platform that's creating any
Speaker 3: type of transformation. Here's my kids in the beginning season,
Speaker 3: and here's the end. It's not the kids to actually say,
Speaker 3: it's they're not listening. It's your space to bring them over.
Speaker 3: Like if you look at a nonprofit organization, they have
Speaker 3: to go through metrics to get any type of grant
Speaker 3: to say, how is your program creating transformation? And has
Speaker 3: nothing to do with the kids. It's always the actual
Speaker 3: content of anything that you're doing to bring them through.
Speaker 3: That so long winded on that The first thing I'm
Speaker 3: doing is I want to research what what is it
Speaker 3: inside of every one of these teams, the Lithuanian team
Speaker 3: or any of the teams that have had success here
Speaker 3: in this last World Basketball tournament and to say what
Speaker 3: what are those variables? Because what we're looking at is
Speaker 3: the United States is a factory and it creates. And
Speaker 3: one of the litmus tests is looking at our youth
Speaker 3: and what they're going through and saying, this is what
Speaker 3: we're producing. You know, a number of years ago a
Speaker 3: large number of European kids were being drafted in the
Speaker 3: first round and we're sitting there like going, oh, that
Speaker 3: can't be. And I'm going we're not producing the same
Speaker 3: people because we're not the same people today that we
Speaker 3: were twenty years ago or thirty years ago. So if
Speaker 3: I was to go in and start building a team,
Speaker 3: I think there's more psychology that needs to be put
Speaker 3: into this idea and understanding that it's the people that
Speaker 3: have come from nothing. It's the people that have a
Speaker 3: work mentality that's not questioned or unwavering that you start
Speaker 3: to building with. Because I think when Sherzevsky and Colangelo
Speaker 3: got together and they started to build the team, I
Speaker 3: think the first person they build it from was was
Speaker 3: somebody that wasn't a superstar. It was like, who can
Speaker 3: we build around this person? I can't remember who that was.
Speaker 3: It's like Shane Battier or something.
Speaker 1: It was like that.
Speaker 3: It was like that type of person. And I think
Speaker 3: that just saying Lebron or someone you put. You put
Speaker 3: fifteen alpha males into a room, There's there's someone there
Speaker 3: that's gotta do the dirty work. There's someone there that's
Speaker 3: got to And sometimes I think there's just too much ego,
Speaker 3: and I think there's a lot of it.
Speaker 1: I think that Cotolia is and I think it's interesting
Speaker 1: to bring up business. Right, this is the hey, we
Speaker 1: we we did we you know Ford and the what
Speaker 1: was it called the assembly line?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: Like we invented all of that technology. Right? And then
Speaker 1: who makes better cars? Right?
Speaker 2: Japan and Germany and maybe even South Korea now make
Speaker 2: better cars because there's more attention to detail. I like
Speaker 2: to I have a friend who's a who's a car dealer,
Speaker 2: and he said, and I used to buy actors all
Speaker 2: the time. And he was like, only by an actor
Speaker 2: that's made in Japan. And I said why, He's said,
Speaker 2: you know, do you go to a car dealership, you
Speaker 2: go to an auto factory in Japan?
Speaker 1: Did you know they have no custodial service.
Speaker 2: I was like really, He's like no, you clean up
Speaker 2: your own space, so you go to the exact same company,
Speaker 2: an act your dealership in I think South Carolina.
Speaker 1: They have custodial service. And here's the difference.
Speaker 2: Everybody's station in Japan spotless. Everybody's station in South Carolina
Speaker 2: fucking mess. Right, work really dependent upon the guy and
Speaker 2: sores a. There's a care for the company, for the
Speaker 2: culture of respect for your work. And I think in
Speaker 2: all honesty, like, look, we teach basketball the wrong way.
Speaker 2: You know, if you watch any of these workout videos,
Speaker 2: all off the dribble, one on cone right, and they
Speaker 2: have figured out, really through a lot of our coaches
Speaker 2: coming over there, that that's not actually the most effective
Speaker 2: way and they're at an athletic disadvantage, but they found
Speaker 2: a way to create an advantage with skill, shooting, passing, toughness,
Speaker 2: tactics right attacking the weaknesses. And I think it's going
Speaker 2: to be fascinating to see, Like it ain't crazy to
Speaker 2: think we can send Lebron and Kevin Durant and Steph
Speaker 2: Curry over there and they still get beat.
Speaker 3: In twenty four Yeah, I totally agree. I think that
Speaker 3: whenever we started, you know, if you look at you
Speaker 3: know we're going over this idea of leadership and communication.
Speaker 3: When we go to a playground, is it easier to
Speaker 3: meet everybody on your team and ask them what their
Speaker 3: strengths are and weaknesses and then start playing, or is
Speaker 3: it easier to get the ball and go one on five,
Speaker 3: which what we do, because nobody ever actually goes into
Speaker 3: like what are more effective ways to actually build something
Speaker 3: to where we can all collectively come together. And that's
Speaker 3: where I think that we're missing somebody there. There's a
Speaker 3: convenience in just picking something randomly and saying, oh, this
Speaker 3: is the best and we can do this. It's not
Speaker 3: going to work. Like there how many conversations had to
Speaker 3: occur and how much family culture in the community must
Speaker 3: have had those those There's people in Japan that they
Speaker 3: are cleaning their area like they're not They're not sitting
Speaker 3: there being told what to do and being like you
Speaker 3: better do this. It's like there's a pride there and
Speaker 3: I don't know what the difference is, but we're not
Speaker 3: the same inside of our our cultures and our community.
Speaker 3: Moore like, I did a lot of nonprofit work in
Speaker 3: my town and it was eye opening. It was eye
Speaker 3: opening to see how many people are looking to and
Speaker 3: there's nothing wrong with this, Like I think that you
Speaker 3: have to be able to sustain yourself before you can
Speaker 3: actually help others. But how many people have no understanding
Speaker 3: that they're financially okay, Like there are people that are
Speaker 3: doing so bad. You're not in a bad what you
Speaker 3: really really to recognize if you go to a third
Speaker 3: world country, you see how bad others have it. But
Speaker 3: if we go back to again at the copy and
Speaker 3: paste model, I'm going to Lithuania and I'm going to
Speaker 3: all these other countries and I'm sitting there and I'm going,
Speaker 3: let's let's get a couple of them, because you know,
Speaker 3: years ago, I think in Ireland when they were looking
Speaker 3: to break through in boxing at that time, I think
Speaker 3: it was Cuba or some other country had this great
Speaker 3: methodology for training and Ireland knew that. Again is how
Speaker 3: do we think of a caller we've never thought of before?
Speaker 3: It's impossible, So they go and they got someone else.
Speaker 3: And it's just an open minded approach. And I think
Speaker 3: that America has become so close minded that we're like going, no,
Speaker 3: I can't do this. I mean, look at even I
Speaker 3: know I'm jumping around, but even when you look back
Speaker 3: to when those I think it's like twenty four twenty fourth,
Speaker 3: twenty four draft picks in the first round were international players.
Speaker 3: The forums and all the places on social media started
Speaker 3: complaining about, well, this is America, we should be taking
Speaker 3: care of our guys, Like this is bullshit. It's like,
Speaker 3: what are you talking about. We don't own nobody owns
Speaker 3: the sport of basketball. And if someone's doing it at
Speaker 3: a level that's so good, are you so closed minded?
Speaker 3: Like it's do you think that the America is the
Speaker 3: best because they're showing us now that there's so much
Speaker 3: other things that you can develop that we're only focusing.
Speaker 3: Like you said, we go to a cone, we're doing
Speaker 3: ball handling stuff, and we think that we're we're getting ahead.
Speaker 3: I mean, my whole thing is when I started at sixteen,
Speaker 3: I knew that I was not going to actually become
Speaker 3: a huge scorer. I was like, there are other positions
Speaker 3: to do and other roles to take on, and if
Speaker 3: I can do them, well there's a job for me.
Speaker 2: And that's you made a great a great life for yourself.
Speaker 2: The most important goal you want to accomplish in the
Speaker 2: next ten years, I.
Speaker 3: Say, continuing on Isaiah Thomas's quote is if people only
Speaker 3: know me for basketball, then I've failed at life.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 3: As I move forward into other things, like I want
Speaker 3: people to know that, you know, it's like I move
Speaker 3: with my spirit first of like wanting to help people,
Speaker 3: wanting to help you, continuing to do that so that
Speaker 3: I'm modeling that for my kids to see and my wife.
Speaker 3: You know, I just I really with the sport of basketball.
Speaker 3: But I think that you know, some people will say, oh,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm all about basketball. Our life is more important.
Speaker 3: But I think that there is a way of acting
Speaker 3: that out and I'd look to do that as much
Speaker 3: as I can.
Speaker 1: All the time.
Speaker 2: Pat Man, You've been amazing with your time and the
Speaker 2: stories are incredible, and I want to have, like, let's
Speaker 2: have another conversation here in a couple months in basketball
Speaker 2: seating kicks off because your perspective is so unique because
Speaker 2: you've lived it, you've experienced it, you understand it on
Speaker 2: a level that so few can, and the ones that
Speaker 2: have experienced it not all can articulate it in the
Speaker 2: way that you can.
Speaker 1: So I really really appreciate your time. This has been awesome.
Speaker 3: I appreciate as well I've been a fan from Afar
Speaker 3: and I remember when I was in college and we're
Speaker 3: hearing your name and I remember watching you. So it's
Speaker 3: just really cool to finally meet you and have this conversation.
Speaker 3: I look forward to the next one.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was in Israel and I was watching you play
Speaker 2: in Greece and we watch we watch euro League. We
Speaker 2: were in the Coreatch Cup and we watch your league
Speaker 2: and we watch you play, and I was like, dude,
Speaker 2: that's Pat Burke, Like he's these and like the guys
Speaker 2: in Israel are like, oh, he best, best sender.
Speaker 1: We need to get him for Mccabi Tel Aviv. He's
Speaker 1: the best, He's the best. That's how they talk, you know,
Speaker 1: they talk. He does, he does, he does the good stuff,
Speaker 1: the good stuff.
Speaker 3: Anyway, Well, it's fun, I'll tell you. And that's the
Speaker 3: last point too. I won't get too long, but it's
Speaker 3: funny when Europeans recognize when people are doing stuff off
Speaker 3: the ball, because everybody can do something on the ball,
Speaker 3: but they're just like, hey, this guy puts in the
Speaker 3: work on other areas and that's what we need.
Speaker 1: I was amazing.
Speaker 2: If you if you missed any part one, part two
Speaker 2: of course you can go look in All Ball and
Speaker 2: amazing storytelling a guy who's just so well rounded. And
Speaker 2: I thought you got an honest perspective of the things
Speaker 2: he did right, the things he did wrong, the people
Speaker 2: he thought wronged him, and the people who he now is.
Speaker 1: Like, you know what, I was probably wrong in that one.
Speaker 2: I love of self reflection and just an interesting and
Speaker 2: very successful man who has his own.
Speaker 1: Opinions on so many different topics.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for listening and ryding. The Doug Gotlig
Speaker 2: Show is daily three to five Eastern Time. There's the
Speaker 2: in the Bonus podcast which follows it that's on the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app at Fox Sports Radio, foxports Trade dot Com. Reminder,
Speaker 2: don't forget to review this thing, don't forget to subscribe
Speaker 2: right and if you want to send it to a
Speaker 2: friend or tweet it out because you love some of
Speaker 2: this content, feel free to do so. We will never
Speaker 2: dissuade you from telling a friend about All Ball. Thanks
Speaker 2: to Pat Burke, I'm Doug Gotlie.
Speaker 1: This is All Ball