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Speaker 1: All right, Well, at this point we are going to

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Speaker 1: pivot to some audience questions. We have microphones that are

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Speaker 1: here at the bottom of the stage, so if you

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Speaker 1: have a question for Chris, please come forward.

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Speaker 2: All right, good afternoon. I'm doctor Elizabeth Joy. I was

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Speaker 2: just thinking and you brought it up. I wanted you

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Speaker 2: to touch a little more on the competitiveness and how

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Speaker 2: everyone wants to start their own thing. I feel like

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Speaker 2: in the black community we still deal with a lot

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Speaker 2: of the remnants of the ongoing experience of racism, which

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Speaker 2: causes us to feel like we need to.

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Speaker 3: Fight for everything.

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Speaker 2: And when you think about NBA allso, I work with

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Speaker 2: the mothers of professional basketball players, and some of the

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Speaker 2: work that I do with them is even as moms

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Speaker 2: of NBA players, where competitiveness comes up with them. And

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Speaker 2: so I'm curious, how do you even maneuver that to

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Speaker 2: especially with you all, because egos are major, major, right,

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Speaker 2: So how do you maneuver to try to find that

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Speaker 2: connective tissue to be able.

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Speaker 4: To part It's really hard. Exactly what you just said

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Speaker 4: is really hard. I'm actually actually also started a company

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Speaker 4: called Players TV, right, and that's with a gang of

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Speaker 4: other players Kyrie Irving and CJ. McCullum and another a

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Speaker 4: number of other athletes. And it's hard because we're conditioned.

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Speaker 4: We're sort of conditioned as people to they got that

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Speaker 4: I wanted to, right, And then you find somebody hating

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Speaker 4: on somebody or they don't like them because it is

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Speaker 4: it gets kind of petty at times. But we have

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Speaker 4: to continue to have these conversations. And it's actually really

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Speaker 4: dope when you see companies come together, right, you come together,

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Speaker 4: and it's really, like I said, sport taught me everything

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Speaker 4: in life. They say, what if you want to run

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Speaker 4: go far? Yeah, exactly, you know. And so also think

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Speaker 4: about like a hand right, like you don't punch anybody

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Speaker 4: like that, you do it like this, you come together.

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Speaker 5: All these things I learned in sports.

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Speaker 4: So I think if we continue to have these conversations

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Speaker 4: and then someone also always has to be the one

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Speaker 4: to I think we look at it as giving in

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Speaker 4: or not instead of having real conversations.

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Speaker 5: People be like, man, I ain't going to talk to them.

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Speaker 5: I'm only partnering with them.

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Speaker 4: They come to me first, right, And the only way

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Speaker 4: you can grow something is that you have to start

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Speaker 4: it right. That was one of the biggest things I learned.

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Speaker 4: A lot of times you run into people who saying, man,

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Speaker 4: I'm gonna start this company, but I gotta do this

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Speaker 4: three years go by, right and instead of starting it

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Speaker 4: and then learning.

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Speaker 5: And seeing how much better you are three years from now.

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Speaker 2: Which, by the way, y'all, mergers and that was posicians

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Speaker 2: is how you grow to be wealthy. That's how the

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Speaker 2: other people do it. It's mergers and acquisitions. You don't

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Speaker 2: start from scratch.

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Speaker 4: Yeah you could own, you could own one hundred percent

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Speaker 4: or something, but if it ain't nothing happening with that

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Speaker 4: one hundred percent of zero zero, nothing, thank you?

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Speaker 6: All right.

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Speaker 7: I was wondering we all have milestone moments in our careers,

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Speaker 7: in our lives. You being such a multi dimensional person,

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Speaker 7: can you share one or two or three milestone moments

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Speaker 7: that have impacted you either on the court or even

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Speaker 7: in your personal life, that have shaped your professional career

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Speaker 7: as a basketball player.

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Speaker 4: Yes, ma'am, that's a good question, because I don't remember

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Speaker 4: in everything, but I'll try.

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Speaker 5: I'll try.

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Speaker 4: Coming into the NBA is such a young age, right,

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Speaker 4: Like I was just like any kid in the backyard,

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Speaker 4: shooting fadeaways, acting like Michael Jordan, right, me and my

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Speaker 4: older brother.

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Speaker 5: It's just us too.

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Speaker 4: So we was in the backyard acting like Michael Jordan

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Speaker 4: Scottie Pit.

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Speaker 5: I was mj. Of course he was Scotty, right.

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Speaker 4: But when you and when you're a kid, and you like,

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Speaker 4: I would have never thought that I would still be

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Speaker 4: playing and have my kids watch me, right. So I

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Speaker 4: think that was a very pivotal point for me when

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Speaker 4: I became a dad, right, because I have all these

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Speaker 4: different stages of my career. I have this stage where

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Speaker 4: it was just me and my brother living together. Right

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Speaker 4: then my girlfriend got pregnant with my son, she moved in.

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Speaker 5: So I remember all these different phases of my career, right, like.

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Speaker 4: Before kids married and then like my grandparents getting to

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Speaker 4: come see me. One of them was All Star Weekend,

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Speaker 4: my very first year in NBA. All Star Weekend. My dad, Right,

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Speaker 4: My dad is a huge basketball fan, just like anybody else.

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Speaker 4: My dad was in two leagues growing up. In one

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Speaker 4: of his leagues, he was number forty four. That was

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Speaker 4: the CJ. Jocks, that was the name of his team,

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Speaker 4: and he had another team called the Chris Crushers, right, yeah,

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Speaker 4: very original, right. But in one league he won number

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Speaker 4: forty four for Iceman George Gervin, and in the.

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Speaker 5: Other league he won number six for who Doctor J.

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Speaker 4: Right man, I made it to the NBA and at

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Speaker 4: All Star Weekend, they had this thing called the Legends Brunch,

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Speaker 4: the Legends Brunch. I took my pops to the Legends

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Speaker 4: Brunch and Iceman and Doctor J came over, and I

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Speaker 4: got to see my dad like a little kid, right.

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Speaker 4: And for my dad now to know George Gervin and

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Speaker 4: they play golf and all this different type stuff. It's

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Speaker 4: the wildest thing ever. And it's the coolest thing for

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Speaker 4: me because I'm not where I'm at without my dad, right,

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Speaker 4: and now being a parent having a sixteen year old

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Speaker 4: son who I can't wait to get home to to

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Speaker 4: probably knock his head off, because I remember going through

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Speaker 4: with my dad like in fifteen sixteen. I felt like

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Speaker 4: he didn't know anything, right. I just felt like he

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Speaker 4: was so hard on me, And I think my son

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Speaker 4: is at that age now and you don't understand that

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Speaker 4: until you get a little older.

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Speaker 5: So that was definitely one of them.

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Speaker 4: And then probably this past season finishing my twentieth year, right,

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Speaker 4: because there's so many people who have played a role

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Speaker 4: in making that happen, and I still probably want to

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Speaker 4: appreciate it till I'm really on the other side of it.

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Speaker 5: But I just have so much gratitude because.

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Speaker 4: I haven't had to live in the real world yet. Honestly,

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Speaker 4: I say it, and I tell all these kids that

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Speaker 4: want to come up and take my job, you ain't

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Speaker 4: gonna take my job because you're not gonna outwork me.

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Speaker 5: You're not.

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Speaker 4: You're just not gonna outwork me. And so I feel

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Speaker 4: like that, and yeah, I'm grateful. After this twentieth season

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Speaker 4: is when it really hit me because, like I said,

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Speaker 4: my kids have only known me in the NBA, so

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Speaker 4: that would be it.

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Speaker 5: That's ma'am.

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Speaker 8: Christ behf Why I asked you a question, Jamil and Hill.

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Speaker 8: I just want to tell you. I want to thank

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Speaker 8: you for being a positively black and telling the truth.

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Speaker 5: At all time, because the truth is uncomfortable.

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Speaker 8: But in order for you to grow, you have to

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Speaker 8: You're gonna be you need to hear the truth, and

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Speaker 8: I thank you for that. I listened to you all

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Speaker 8: the time and I appreciate what you are doing.

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Speaker 3: I received that. Thank you so much.

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Speaker 5: Chris.

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Speaker 8: In twenty twenty, you and Lebron and your other NBA players.

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Speaker 8: You guys stood up with all the things that were

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Speaker 8: going on, right, and I'm wondering with your production company,

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Speaker 8: are you guys going to be doing anything? And what

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Speaker 8: I mean by that, I'm an immigrant. I've been here

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Speaker 8: fifty years since since well this past March, and one

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Speaker 8: of the things that I that I heard was a

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Speaker 8: lot of the foreign players who were here in college

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Speaker 8: were looking at being deported.

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Speaker 5: Are you going to do anything in.

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Speaker 8: Terms of using your company as a vehicle to show

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Speaker 8: the uncertainty and things? I kind of like humanize them

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Speaker 8: because when I came here, I was only nine years

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Speaker 8: old and just trying to live was a challenge. But

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Speaker 8: I couldn't imagine being here. My family is on the

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Speaker 8: other side of the world, and I have all this uncertainty.

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Speaker 8: So are you going to be doing anything like that?

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Speaker 8: In terms of social justice?

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Speaker 5: Would love to, honestly, would love to.

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Speaker 4: Social justice has been a huge initiative of ours, actually,

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Speaker 4: me Carmelo and d Wade started a nonprofit right called

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Speaker 4: Social Change Right, trying to elevate those voices. But everything

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Speaker 4: you said is extremely valid and we love to talk

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Speaker 4: to you about that. But it's interesting that actually became

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Speaker 4: a huge deal of why we went to the bubble right.

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Speaker 4: We could have stayed home, and there's a number of

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Speaker 4: guys who said that we took the light off of

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Speaker 4: what was going on. But we made sure that black

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Speaker 4: and brown communities were being supported. We tried to put

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Speaker 4: different messages on things and whatnot, just tried to make

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Speaker 4: sure that we could be as impactful because we do

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Speaker 4: have a platform. Regardless if you like it or not,

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Speaker 4: we do have a platform. So we love to be

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Speaker 4: able to tell some of those stories.

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Speaker 5: Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I mean, I'm gonna put it a being in

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Speaker 1: for Detroit before we finished this composition me wrong.

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Speaker 5: My name is you fan, you Bell. I'm from Fortan, Oregon. Uh.

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Speaker 9: It was tough losing Dame. But I'm a filmmaker, first time,

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Speaker 9: first year here. We had a film premiere yesterday, you know.

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Speaker 5: So it's.

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Speaker 9: Yeah the Rats, Yes, sir, but I wanted to ask

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Speaker 9: you about you know well, First of all, I appreciate you,

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Speaker 9: like I watched you during the pandemic when you were

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Speaker 9: head of Players Association. Like a lot of black men,

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Speaker 9: a lot of black people saw you advocating, standing up,

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Speaker 9: doing the right thing representing black people, black presenting black men.

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Speaker 5: So like, I just want you to know I appreciate

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Speaker 5: you for doing that. You know, that's that's that means

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Speaker 5: a lot to us. Like I know what you was doing,

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Speaker 5: we saw you.

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Speaker 9: Thank you, But I wanted to talk about like as

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Speaker 9: a producer, you know what I'm saying, Like we have

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Speaker 9: all this ability to create, We have our lives, we're

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Speaker 9: we know people watch us, and we get into this

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Speaker 9: place where we own ourselves, like we have our own platforms.

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Speaker 5: That next step, you.

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Speaker 9: Know, we talk about Disney and how the deal didn't

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Speaker 9: happen and we're sitting on it. What is that next

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Speaker 9: step to the point where it's like we don't need

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Speaker 9: that Disney, but more importantly, like we don't want that Disney.

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Speaker 9: How do we transition from this point where we take

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Speaker 9: that and do the next thing, which is to create.

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Speaker 5: Our own networks?

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Speaker 9: And I know we're starting to do that, but we're

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Speaker 9: still in this place where it's like I want to

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Speaker 9: be on Netflix, I want to be on Disney Plus

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Speaker 9: and all that kind of stuff, which is cool and

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Speaker 9: it's great because the more people that see our stories

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Speaker 9: better and you know, to a certain degree, like that's important.

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Speaker 9: But I think there's like this one more thing that

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Speaker 9: we can do, and you mentioned it because like everybody like,

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Speaker 9: we have all this power and we are much stronger

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Speaker 9: together than we can ever be a part. So I'm

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Speaker 9: just curious what you think about that next spot, which

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Speaker 9: I really think is you know, it's on a tip

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Speaker 9: of everybody's tongue. You know, how do we how do

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Speaker 9: we do that next thing?

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Speaker 5: But that's a great question. I don't know the answer honestly.

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Speaker 4: Like that's that's that's for everybody in here.

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Speaker 5: But I will tell you this.

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Speaker 4: That I'll never forget one of our players Association meetings

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Speaker 4: might have been an All Star one year and a

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Speaker 4: former teammate of mine said these two words, right, said

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Speaker 4: these two words, And it's meeting with all the NBA

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Speaker 4: players and still trying to see it really come into fruition, right.

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Speaker 4: And it was group group economics, right. And I've heard

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Speaker 4: that I don't know how many times, and you get

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Speaker 4: in rooms and you talk about it, but who can

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Speaker 4: really pull together the execution Because I know exactly what

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Speaker 4: you mean by saying, we just want to do our stuff.

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Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, you know, things

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Speaker 4: do costs. Things do costs, and I don't care who

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Speaker 4: you are. For the most part, people want as many

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Speaker 4: eyeballs on what they're doing.

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Speaker 5: So I think you're exactly right.

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Speaker 4: I don't know the answer to that, but the more

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Speaker 4: that people see people collaborate, hopefully that'll just be a

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Speaker 4: thing that starts to happen, right, And it's got to

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Speaker 4: be someone who starts it. And it may be big companies, right,

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Speaker 4: that's African American led when they come together, and now

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Speaker 4: other people might start to do it. I don't know

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Speaker 4: the answer, but I would love to be a part

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Speaker 4: of the conversation.

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Speaker 9: Also, I just finished the first draft of my next feature.

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Speaker 9: It's gonna be shooting in October. It's about a young

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Speaker 9: basketball phenom. It goes on a journey to find the fathers,

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Speaker 9: based on a true story.

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Speaker 5: Let's talk. Let's talk, all right.

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Speaker 1: I think this will probably have to be our final question.

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Speaker 1: Oh okay, we have two are you? And then we

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Speaker 1: have one over here? So I'm gonna start with you, sir.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry. Oh see, you're about to get me cutted

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Speaker 1: out up here.

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Speaker 5: Yeah I can do it.

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Speaker 3: Okay, that's fine, Yeah, go ahead.

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Speaker 5: My name is Edward Gillis. I'm also a filmmaker.

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Speaker 10: It's a pretty similar question to the previous one, but

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Speaker 10: it's for both of y'all. You know, talking with Bob

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Speaker 10: Iger and all these corporations Disney, Netflix and stuff like that,

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Speaker 10: where do you think like black TV and black film

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Speaker 10: is going and what do you think like these corporations

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Speaker 10: are feeling about our art and our our culture. You know,

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Speaker 10: you hear a lot of stuff about you know, de

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Speaker 10: I and stuff like that. Then getting rid of de

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Speaker 10: I and our story is not really being a priority.

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Speaker 10: Where do you think some of the art and the

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Speaker 10: business of art is going moving forward?

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Speaker 1: You know, Chris, I'll slightly reframe it, but I think

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Speaker 1: this is where you're going. What has been your experience

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Speaker 1: in the marketplace as a seller in terms of how

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Speaker 1: you feel like companies are receiving you know, you as

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Speaker 1: a black production company, I mean, you're you know, many

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Speaker 1: of your projects are about black people, brown people, black athletes.

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Speaker 1: Like what's been sort of the response in the marketplace

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Speaker 1: that you've seen?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it varies, it varies, And what's always interesting is

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Speaker 4: I feel like sometimes companies they want the culture but

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Speaker 4: don't want the culture, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 5: They want everything that comes.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, they want everything that comes along with it, because

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Speaker 4: that's how it's relevant. Right, that's the music, right, I

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Speaker 4: don't care what you watch, the music is going to

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Speaker 4: be for the most part, you know, hip hop or

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Speaker 4: something like that. You know, So I think, I mean,

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Speaker 4: we're all still trying to break down barriers, right trying

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Speaker 4: to make sure that these story because also some of

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Speaker 4: these large corporations they have quotas, they got things that

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Speaker 4: they got to meet, or they got bosses or all

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Speaker 4: these different types of things. So to figure that out too.

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Speaker 1: I've my experience right now is that it is a

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Speaker 1: very tricky place right now for black content. Is that

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Speaker 1: they see that consumers Black people over consume, right, so

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Speaker 1: we know the marketplace is there, but yet we're constantly

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Speaker 1: put in this position where every success is treated like

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Speaker 1: it happened just the first time. You know, Ryan Coogler

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Speaker 1: talks a lot about this, no matter, Ryan Cooler is

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Speaker 1: a billion dollar director, but he still has to prove

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Speaker 1: oh I can do it again, right, And unfortunately, like

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Speaker 1: a project like Forever that despite the success of that,

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Speaker 1: you know, we have you know, the dynamics of family

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Speaker 1: of teenage love of all these relatable things. She got

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Speaker 1: to go back out there and prove she can do

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Speaker 1: it again, like it's not going to be automatic.

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Speaker 3: And so that's the struggle in the fight.

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Speaker 1: And much like the last gentleman came up there and said, like,

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Speaker 1: what's the next step? I know me personally as a creator,

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Speaker 1: I'm tired of being at their mercy.

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Speaker 3: I'm so tired of this. It's very exhausting.

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Speaker 1: And I have purposely tried to be very intentional with

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Speaker 1: how our partner who are partner with because I'm tired

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Speaker 1: of explaining black people to white people.

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Speaker 3: I'm tired of doing this, and so.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm not having those conversations anymore personally. And

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Speaker 1: so what I would say is the economic reality is

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Speaker 1: that we have to get these bigger corporations to buy in.

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Speaker 1: But I do very much when I have these conversations

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Speaker 1: with people in a similar position filmmakers like yourself, is

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Speaker 1: that there is our exhaustion level is high. Our fight

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Speaker 1: is still strong, but the exhaustion is real. So I

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Speaker 1: think the next step is, Yes, somebody with a lot

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Speaker 1: of money that looked like us has got to come

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Speaker 1: up with something because we we we're tired of haveing

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Speaker 1: to pitch, not like I mean, we get it. You

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Speaker 1: get to pitch our ideas as part of it. But

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Speaker 1: we're not just pitching ideas. It's like we're pitching worth.

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Speaker 1: I ain't pitching worth no more.

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Speaker 3: So please somebody with deep.

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Speaker 1: Pockets, partner with somebody like Chris Paul put it all

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Speaker 1: together so.

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Speaker 3: That we can have some group of.

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Speaker 1: Economics, because that's really that's the only way that we're

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Speaker 1: going to survive long term. It's the only way it's

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Speaker 1: going to happen. So I appreciate your question, and young lady,

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Speaker 1: I will get to you. I know you have a

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Speaker 1: question top.

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Speaker 11: As an ex athlete myself, I wanted to know because

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Speaker 11: one of the hardest transitions is trying to figure your

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Speaker 11: way coming out of athletics and going.

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Speaker 5: Into the next field. I'm pretty sure you as.

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Speaker 11: Ex teammates you had conversations with and then all other

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Speaker 11: people you know who were ex athletes who didn't make

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Speaker 11: the NBA, who played overseas, things like that.

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Speaker 5: When was the click for you?

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Speaker 11: When it started for you to start making the next

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Speaker 11: steps towards your career. And then the second part of

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Speaker 11: that is how influential was Kobe to help you because

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Speaker 11: he was not exactly in film, but he was also

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Speaker 11: involved in doing content.

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Speaker 5: Well, I answer the second part. First, Cole Cob was

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Speaker 5: a real one.

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Speaker 4: But Cob didn't have a lot of friends in the league,

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Speaker 4: you know what I mean, like seriously, like he had

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Speaker 4: his teammates.

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Speaker 5: Me and Cob had a relationship.

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Speaker 4: I know, Cob and Mellow had a relationship past that

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Speaker 4: other than like palle Gasol and some guys like me

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Speaker 4: and Cob never really talked about film. But when he

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Speaker 4: got done, I remember seeing what he was starting to do, right,

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Speaker 4: But me and Cole got along, I think because of

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Speaker 4: our competitiveness, right, We always just competed so hard against

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Speaker 4: each other.

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Speaker 5: So that was that as far as Cole.

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Speaker 4: But when it goes to when it clicked, I'm gonna

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Speaker 4: tell you right now, I worry about myself when I

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Speaker 4: get done playing basketball. And I mean that because for

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Speaker 4: a lot of reasons. First of all, I love it.

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Speaker 4: I've done it since I was five years old. I

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Speaker 4: just turned forty in May, right, so like it's been

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Speaker 4: a part of my life for so long, and it's

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Speaker 4: actually how I expressed myself, like there's a joy that

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Speaker 4: I play with. But my third year in the NBA

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Speaker 4: is a guy named Billy Hunter who was over the

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Speaker 4: Players Association. Billy came to me and was like, Chris,

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Speaker 4: I need you on the executive committee.

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Speaker 5: I was like, for what, right?

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Speaker 4: So, just so y'all know, back then, guys who used

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Speaker 4: to be on the executive committee, they looked at it

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Speaker 4: as like, hey, nah, I ain't doing that. I ain't

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Speaker 4: doing that. I ain't got time for it. And so

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Speaker 4: at that point, I was my third year in NBA,

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Speaker 4: it was me, Moe Evans, Roger Mason, Eton, Thomas, Derek

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Speaker 4: Fisher was the president, THEO Ratliff. No offense to those

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Speaker 4: guys or whatnot, but not big guy name, big name guys.

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Speaker 4: I was this young kid sitting in the CBA negotiations.

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Speaker 4: I've always been curious, right, And so I'm in the

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Speaker 4: CBA negotiation and I'm looking across the table at Jim Dolan,

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Speaker 4: right that owns the Knicks. I'm looking at all these

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Speaker 4: different owners and I'm a young kid at the time,

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Speaker 4: and I'm hearing all the conversations and whatnot, and like, wow,

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Speaker 4: this is crazy.

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Speaker 5: So I've been curious all that time.

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Speaker 4: Then I used to always hear one day, that ball

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Speaker 4: is gonna stop bouncing.

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Speaker 5: Right. I went to Wake Forest University.

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Speaker 4: Graduated from Win Salem State, but two years I went

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Speaker 4: to Wake Forest University. I went there because it was

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Speaker 4: a good academic school. I didn't know I was going

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Speaker 4: to the NBA. So I've always paid attention to my

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Speaker 4: homies that have retired and when I was the president

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Speaker 4: of the union.

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Speaker 5: And I'll tell you this right now, and it is

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Speaker 5: this high of a number.

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Speaker 4: It's probably eighty to eighty five percent of players that

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Speaker 4: are not doing well. Yeah, that high, that high because

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Speaker 4: you have been out of the home for so long.

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Speaker 4: You have been elevated here for so long. You've been

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Speaker 4: playing and focused on basketball while other people have been

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Speaker 4: managing your money or whatnot. Right, So I I have

410
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Speaker 4: a snack company, right, it's called good Eating.

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Speaker 5: I started business. We have our production company.

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Speaker 4: I have a lot of different things going on or

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Speaker 4: whatnot to hopefully prepare me for when I get done playing.

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Speaker 4: But that excitement of all those people out there screaming

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Speaker 4: in that arena for you, and I'm so grateful that

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Speaker 4: I have a support system, because everybody doesn't have it.

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Speaker 4: But a lot of times people see you smiling and

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Speaker 4: doing all this stuff, but you're really suffering on the inside.

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Speaker 4: So I think for me, I've always just been conscious

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Speaker 4: of that and always trying to learn and make sure

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Speaker 4: that that basketball is not all because I tell the

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Speaker 4: guys now that come into the league, like I'm forty,

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Speaker 4: I hope I got another fifty to sixty left, you know.

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Speaker 4: So this was just you know, the first first chapter,

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Speaker 4: first chapter of life, and so you got to be

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Speaker 4: ready for what's next.

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Speaker 1: One of it is funny. Is one of the last

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Speaker 1: conversations I had with Kobe. It was we were doing

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Speaker 1: a talk for BT Awards weekend and this is before

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Speaker 1: we took the stage, and I was messing with him.

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Speaker 1: I was like, man, you're probably gonna be unhappy as

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Speaker 1: hell when you retire, because like knowing the competitor that

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Speaker 1: he was.

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Speaker 3: He was like, I promise you, I'm not gonna miss

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Speaker 3: it like people think.

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Speaker 1: And he was telling me then about how he wanted

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Speaker 1: to get into animation. I was like, you want to

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Speaker 1: get into animation? I thought it was crazy. And then

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Speaker 1: he want to ask her, like, do.

440
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:21,960
Speaker 5: You use that exactly? Exactly?

441
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,159
Speaker 4: And Kobe was the true meaning of how you do

442
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,080
Speaker 4: anything is how you do everything right. So all the

443
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 4: effort and time and stuff that you put into the game,

444
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:33,800
Speaker 4: that's what I will do with our production company, with

445
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 4: my snack company. And even I say, this is funny,

446
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:39,840
Speaker 4: Like all these years I go from these teams and

447
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,240
Speaker 4: everybody always says, man, look what Chris does for this guy,

448
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 4: Look what he does for that guy.

449
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 5: I ain't been able to do that for my kids.

450
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,719
Speaker 4: So I'm more excited to be able to go and

451
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 4: be they coach, not coach their team, coaching at home.

452
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,600
Speaker 5: I ain't coaching the team all.

453
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,680
Speaker 3: Right, well before you go, coach Kate Cunningham.

454
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:02,360
Speaker 1: But anyway, so this is this is the.

455
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,679
Speaker 6: Perfect segue because I'm gonna make it personal. I'm the

456
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,960
Speaker 6: mother of a D two college athlete who's in the

457
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 6: building today, aj Headley, and he.

458
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:11,200
Speaker 3: Goes to Davis and Alkins.

459
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,240
Speaker 6: He was a little shy to come up here, but

460
00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:15,600
Speaker 6: I'm gonna put him on the spot because he's nineteen

461
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,200
Speaker 6: and he's in this mind he needs guidance on how

462
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 6: to be in a better mind state when it comes

463
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 6: to being an introvert, dedicating his time and discipline to

464
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 6: the game. Right.

465
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:29,840
Speaker 3: He's he's I.

466
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,679
Speaker 6: Don't have any friends and he feels a little stuck.

467
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 6: But can you tap back into when you were nineteen

468
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 6: and the guidance that it took in the discipline that

469
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,120
Speaker 6: you had to have in order for you to get

470
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 6: to where you are today.

471
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:43,400
Speaker 3: First of all, you a good mom.

472
00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,879
Speaker 4: Yeah, show that's me and him all right?

473
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:49,760
Speaker 9: Where you.

474
00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 5: Come up, come down down?

475
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 3: Yes, that's right.

476
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 5: He's so shy, man.

477
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,520
Speaker 4: I tell you this, And this is as real as

478
00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:04,840
Speaker 4: it comes, because, like I said, my son is sixteen, right,

479
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 4: and all of these kids have a false realization of what.

480
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,400
Speaker 5: They think it is and what it looks like. Right.

481
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,680
Speaker 5: They all think they go on D one. They all

482
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 5: think they going to the league. Right.

483
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 4: But I get the friends and all this stuff, Like

484
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,159
Speaker 4: I got homies and all that. But at the same time,

485
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 4: anybody who was ever great in anything sacrifice.

486
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,919
Speaker 5: You got to sacrifice, right. I've sacrificed so much time

487
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:33,680
Speaker 5: right to be great. Right.

488
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,480
Speaker 4: And I tell you my parents. My dad was really

489
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,879
Speaker 4: hard on me and my brother. Like when you're in it,

490
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 4: you can't see that. You can't see that vision that

491
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 4: they have for you men. Growing up, me and my

492
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,640
Speaker 4: brother had a curfew. I thought my homies that didn't

493
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:47,960
Speaker 4: have a curfew was the coolest.

494
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:48,920
Speaker 5: Right.

495
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:51,320
Speaker 4: We be at a party or whatever, checking in the clout,

496
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 4: be like, man, we got to get home, and they're like, oh.

497
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 5: You are pump, you know what I'm saying.

498
00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:57,800
Speaker 4: And then I look at the flip side of it,

499
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,680
Speaker 4: and look at what I've been able to do right

500
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,639
Speaker 4: for my parents, you know, the trips that I've been

501
00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 4: able to take them on, the things that I've been

502
00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 4: able to do, and what I've learned.

503
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 5: And I say this all the time.

504
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,159
Speaker 4: I played in the NBA long enough, long enough to

505
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,560
Speaker 4: know what I don't need. I'm won't get a twisted

506
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,120
Speaker 4: When I got in the league, I had to escalate

507
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:17,120
Speaker 4: with spinning rims.

508
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,240
Speaker 5: You know what I'm saying. I did. I had free whales.

509
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:20,639
Speaker 5: You should have.

510
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 4: Seen my mama driving that right I had to tend with.

511
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,640
Speaker 4: But as I got older, what I realized is that

512
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 4: life is all about experiences. It's experiences and the sacrifices

513
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,880
Speaker 4: that I made at seventeen or eighteen nineteen, all these

514
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,679
Speaker 4: different ages. Man, you get a chance to enjoy it

515
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 4: on the back end. You get a chance to travel

516
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 4: and see the world.

517
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 5: And I'm not here without them sacrifices.

518
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,240
Speaker 4: Seriously, I'm not here getting a chance to actually have

519
00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 4: a platform and a voice, right, And I still have

520
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,400
Speaker 4: to do that day in and day out. And it's

521
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,960
Speaker 4: not just like a lot of times people want to

522
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 4: wake up and train for a couple months.

523
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,080
Speaker 5: Right, Guys get to the NBA.

524
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,919
Speaker 4: They let draft day be the highlight of their career

525
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 4: because when you get drafted, now you got access, right.

526
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 5: And this is the type of storytelling that I love

527
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 5: because I lived it my whole life.

528
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,720
Speaker 4: When you get drafted, you get access, right. So you

529
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,399
Speaker 4: got Instagram, right. I'm sure you got some joints or

530
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 4: whatever that you follow on Instagram, all that stuff.

531
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,240
Speaker 5: Now it's real life.

532
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,760
Speaker 4: But this is what happens, right, you follow them, you

533
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,000
Speaker 4: see him on Instagram, you make it to the NBA.

534
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:26,920
Speaker 4: Now they're sitting right there at the club, right next

535
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 4: to you. Life changes like that, you know what I mean.

536
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 4: And so you still got to be able to make

537
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,760
Speaker 4: those decisions, the right decisions. You still got to stay

538
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,240
Speaker 4: committed to your craft. I talked to my son on

539
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,120
Speaker 4: my way in here. I was on FaceTime with him

540
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,159
Speaker 4: and he was headed to practice. They had practice at

541
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 4: seven am this morning, and I'm looking at his face

542
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 4: and he looked like he's still half sleep and I said,

543
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 4: I said.

544
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 5: You're tired.

545
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,680
Speaker 4: He was like, yeah, a little bit right. And this

546
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,640
Speaker 4: is what's crazy. I said, he was probably up last

547
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,400
Speaker 4: night late last night, school out, he's playing a video game.

548
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 4: And I didn't trip on that because I know, like

549
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,119
Speaker 4: I know life. I don't go to bed nine thirty

550
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 4: every night. But you got to find out who you are.

551
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 4: You gotta find out who you are. And that's what

552
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,080
Speaker 4: I challenge my son with. If you're gonna stay up late,

553
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,159
Speaker 4: you gotta be able to bounce back the next morning.

554
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,720
Speaker 4: I'm gonna tell you right now. Growing up in the league, man,

555
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,200
Speaker 4: I can go to the club till three, I'm still

556
00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 4: gonna be at the gym at seven thirty eight o'clock.

557
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:19,600
Speaker 5: But that's me. Everybody ain't built like that.

558
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 4: I done had some teammates that can fly to Vegas

559
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 4: and do this, and a young dude to try to

560
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 4: roll with them, try to do it all right now,

561
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 4: all right now, that man.

562
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 5: Right there, different, be different. So you at the end

563
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,120
Speaker 5: of the day, you got to find out who you are.

564
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 2: Man.

565
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,440
Speaker 5: And a lot of times guys be like, man, I

566
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:39,879
Speaker 5: ain't got no coach. I ain't got no trainer.

567
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 4: You got to find a way to be self motivated,

568
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 4: self motivated. And if you can find that, man, the

569
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 4: sky's the limits. So I wish you nothing but luck. Man,

570
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 4: that's the lucky.

571
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: Remember this conversation, young man, Remember this conversation.

572
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,600
Speaker 3: All right, we went way over our time.

573
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,439
Speaker 1: So I thank you for being patient and for just

574
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:05,879
Speaker 1: filling this room with great energy, support, love.

575
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,359
Speaker 3: Please give it up for Chris Paul for being so

576
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:12,160
Speaker 3: honest and candid with us.

577
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,720
Speaker 1: Chris, I wish you so much luck on your journey

578
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: as a filmmaker in this next phase of your your career.

579
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,880
Speaker 1: People forget that when athletes retire, you guys are still young.

580
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,280
Speaker 1: You're still a baby. Okay, got shoes older than you.

581
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:33,120
Speaker 1: You got to be kidding me, but.

582
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,919
Speaker 3: But no, really, I wish you all the success.

583
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 1: I hope you get to tell every story that you're

584
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,800
Speaker 1: passionate about, and I just wish.

585
00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 3: You just all the luck in the world.

586
00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 5: So thank you, thank you for saying thank you, thank

587
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 5: you so much, Thank y'all so much for having me.

588
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,320
Speaker 1: Don't forget to follow and subscribe to politics on iHeart

589
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: and follows politics by and on Instagram and TikTok.

590
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 3: Politics is spelled s p O l I t i

591
00:28:57,920 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 3: c S.

592
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 1: A new episode is Politics drops every Thursday on iHeart

593
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is politics,

594
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 1: where sports and politics don't just mix, They matter