Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast. I'm your host, Dave Pash, ESPN and Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals play by play announcer. Our guest this week is
Speaker 1: one of the best players in the NBA, Damian Lillard.
Speaker 1: Six time All NBA, six time All Star, Olympic gold medalist,
Speaker 1: NBA seventy fifth Anniversary team member and lifelong Raiders fan.
Speaker 1: We'll talk with Dame about Derek Carr, Davante Adams, his
Speaker 1: thoughts on the Cardinals Raiders game. What does he think
Speaker 1: of Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. You know, his beach, their
Speaker 1: strong arm. Competitive, He's a winning player, so I root
Speaker 1: for him. You know, I want to see him do well.
Speaker 1: I'm a fan. I respect him. Dame had a busy
Speaker 1: summer running his Formula zero camp, being very involved in
Speaker 1: the community. Dame talks about his health and whether he'll
Speaker 1: spend his entire career in Portland as a trailblazer. All
Speaker 1: that plus a gentleman's bet between Dame and me. You'll
Speaker 1: have to listen to find out what's going to happen.
Speaker 1: Believe me, it's far worse for me if the Cardinals lose,
Speaker 1: not even close. Dame got off easy if the Cardinals
Speaker 1: end up beating the Raiders on Sunday. We are presented
Speaker 1: by BETMGM, the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals,
Speaker 1: and by Hila River Resorts and Casinos. Get ready for
Speaker 1: a football season like never before with bet MGM, an
Speaker 1: official partner of the Arizona Cardinals. Sign up today using
Speaker 1: code cards one thousand and get your first bet risk
Speaker 1: free up to one thousand dollars. Visit betmgm dot com
Speaker 1: for terms and conditions twenty one and over Arizona only.
Speaker 1: Please gamble responsibly. Gambling problem called one eight hundred. Next step.
Speaker 1: All right, now, let's here from our guest, Portland Trailblazers
Speaker 1: star Damian Lillard. So first things first, Dame, you've had
Speaker 1: a really busy summer. Tell me about Formula zero, the
Speaker 1: camp that you've got going. You're very involved in the
Speaker 1: commun unity philanthropy, and I know you are very invested
Speaker 1: in youth sports. Yeah, Formula zero is a I camp.
Speaker 1: It started with a camp, at least, you know, I
Speaker 1: got I got bigger plans for it, but it started
Speaker 1: with it camp just to have a situation where I
Speaker 1: wanted to have a bigger impact on h youth sports,
Speaker 1: you know, basketball specifically, and the direction that the game
Speaker 1: is going in. You know, I've I've trained with my trainer,
Speaker 1: Phil Beckner, uh since like two thousand and eight, and
Speaker 1: I've trained with my other trains Chris Farr, you know,
Speaker 1: since you know, two thousand and ten, two thousand and eleven.
Speaker 1: But I've known Chris Far my whole life. I've had
Speaker 1: both of those guys in my life. Man, I've had
Speaker 1: all these different you know, mentors slash other figure type
Speaker 1: people that I've met alone the way who've shaped me
Speaker 1: as a person and as a player, you know. But
Speaker 1: I feel like who they who they helped me become
Speaker 1: as a as a person. That's been a huge part
Speaker 1: of my success and why I've been able to accomplish
Speaker 1: a lot of the things that I've been able to
Speaker 1: accomplish and you know, be able to stay true to
Speaker 1: who I am as a person, you know. So that's
Speaker 1: I realized the power of that now that I'm thirty
Speaker 1: two years old, and you know, just looking at the
Speaker 1: direction that the game is going in, you see like
Speaker 1: the character or some of the younger athletes from the
Speaker 1: age coachers in college. You know, they just expecting to happen.
Speaker 1: You know, the things that I feel like shaped me.
Speaker 1: You know, it doesn't make me perfectly like that, but
Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of the things that shaped
Speaker 1: me and the people that shaped me and motive me
Speaker 1: with some of the lessons I learned that you really
Speaker 1: help a lot of these kids. So formula zero is
Speaker 1: not about, you know, being Damian Lillard. It's all of
Speaker 1: those people that I've met along the way. Those are
Speaker 1: the camp coaches and the people coaching the game and
Speaker 1: also sitting in these classrooms and you know, watching clips
Speaker 1: and kind of stressing that same message and those same
Speaker 1: things that I got to the players. So they all
Speaker 1: came and participated that camp and the people that you know,
Speaker 1: helped shape me. Those people are are what formula zero is.
Speaker 1: You know, I just happened to be the product of
Speaker 1: all of those people, and I just want to I
Speaker 1: want to have that type of impact on the culture
Speaker 1: of the game. And we started with this camp. Well,
Speaker 1: that's one of the things I've always appreciated about you, man.
Speaker 1: You're You're a humble guy. You're very thoughtful of others
Speaker 1: and very involved in because of what you've gone through
Speaker 1: in your life about helping the next generation and paving
Speaker 1: the way for other people. How's your health, man, because
Speaker 1: I know you had the abdominal surgery and it was January,
Speaker 1: but I know that also that was something that was
Speaker 1: bothering you for a while. So how are you feeling
Speaker 1: now with the season starting here in another month or so.
Speaker 1: I feel great, you know, I think it was it
Speaker 1: had been about four and a half years that I've
Speaker 1: been dealing with the abdominal injury. Obviously, towards the end
Speaker 1: it was much worse than when I first started to
Speaker 1: experience it, but it just got it just got worse
Speaker 1: over time, to the point where I just learned how
Speaker 1: to set hope with it, you know, I learned how
Speaker 1: to deal with the pain and you know, still function
Speaker 1: to the best of my ability. And then it got
Speaker 1: to the point where I just kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: I got used to waking up in the morning and
Speaker 1: not really knowing, you know, how my body was gonna
Speaker 1: respond or how I was gonna field that day, and
Speaker 1: then just banking on the fact that, you know, eventually
Speaker 1: adrenaline and competitive nature is gonna kick in, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna fight through it and just get through whatever I
Speaker 1: got to get through. And then it just reached a
Speaker 1: point where it was unbearable. And had I known the
Speaker 1: significance of the injury, you know, two three years ago,
Speaker 1: I would have, you know, done what I had to
Speaker 1: do to handle it then. But I just didn't have
Speaker 1: I just didn't know what was going on, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't know it was a situation where I needed surgery.
Speaker 1: So now that that's out the way, you know, I
Speaker 1: did it in January. It's been about eight months and
Speaker 1: I've just been training and you know, spending time with
Speaker 1: my wife and my kids and spending time with my
Speaker 1: family and traveling and just doing stuff to have peace,
Speaker 1: you know, peace of mind, and just enjoying my life
Speaker 1: and doing the things that I need to be doing
Speaker 1: to be ready to play. And that's you know, it's
Speaker 1: been pretty emple honestly. Well. Along those lines are spending
Speaker 1: time with your family. I saw what you posted about Disneyland.
Speaker 1: It's a great picture with you and your kids and
Speaker 1: your wife. You've got the Mickey Mouse shirt that says daddy.
Speaker 1: Your wife has a shirt that says mommy. Um, but
Speaker 1: no fast pass, Dame are we anti fast pass? Uh? No?
Speaker 1: I actually uh I actually did have a fast pass,
Speaker 1: but it was it was the ultimate fast pass because
Speaker 1: you know, my my former teammate, Robin Lopez is uh
Speaker 1: heavily into you know, comic books and art and all
Speaker 1: those types of things. But he's he's on some type
Speaker 1: of board at Disney, and um, you know, he set
Speaker 1: me up nice. So I had it, you know, but
Speaker 1: we just we didn't move around pretty freely, but we
Speaker 1: definitely had some assistance and it was definitely worth. It
Speaker 1: made the experience that much better. Did you get noticed?
Speaker 1: Did people recognize you even though you had the shirt on?
Speaker 1: I mean you looked like the average Joe at Disney? Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I'm only six too, so it wasn't like
Speaker 1: a six nine dude walking around there, but people didn't notice.
Speaker 1: You know, I felt like I got it was you know,
Speaker 1: somebody noticed me every ten steps. My son was like, man,
Speaker 1: get away from my dad, you know, because he's finally
Speaker 1: at the age now where he's like, why are all
Speaker 1: these people coming up to you? But I try to
Speaker 1: live my life, you know obviously as certain things that
Speaker 1: you know it's not worth. What's gonna come with it,
Speaker 1: you know, to go and do. But you know, I
Speaker 1: wanted my son that had that experience, and I didn't
Speaker 1: want to be like, oh, that's just you know, high
Speaker 1: from the crowd and him not get that full experience.
Speaker 1: So you know, we did it and it was what
Speaker 1: it was. You know, I took my fair share of pictures,
Speaker 1: but it didn't take away from that moment from my son,
Speaker 1: so you know, I was fine with it. Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: it's great, it's great. Have you been working on a
Speaker 1: new rap album? Was I think the last one you
Speaker 1: released was last summer? Right? Yeah, I put I put
Speaker 1: my fourth album out last summer, and just over the
Speaker 1: last nine months, you know, I've had so much downtime.
Speaker 1: Even during the season, I wasn't really traveling. I was
Speaker 1: just focusing on rehab and training and just getting my
Speaker 1: mind in my body right. And I was in the
Speaker 1: studio a lot. So I actually finished my I finished
Speaker 1: my fifth album. I finished my fifth album this year too,
Speaker 1: just you know, just from having so much time on
Speaker 1: my hands. But I'm I'm gonna hold on to it
Speaker 1: and wait till the season is over, but it's definitely done.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us what the name of it is?
Speaker 1: The name of the album is don dollars okay, because
Speaker 1: you're you're like you and Lacree. I don't listen to
Speaker 1: a lot of rap, but like you two are my favorites. Man.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Man. I try to have a solid
Speaker 1: message in my music, and I try to, you know,
Speaker 1: having be a real representation of you know, my life
Speaker 1: and how I think and my my personal experiences. So well,
Speaker 1: let's talk some football. I can touch some people. Yeah no,
Speaker 1: and you definitely do that, man, you you definitely. I
Speaker 1: think you're so relatable. That's another reason why I think
Speaker 1: you're as popular as you are, because people relate to
Speaker 1: you and your story and uh so I really appreciate,
Speaker 1: uh you know how available you just talked about like
Speaker 1: your son telling people to get away from my dad,
Speaker 1: because you're always friendly to everybody. Man, you're just a
Speaker 1: good dude. You're just a good dude. Let's talk some football.
Speaker 1: Give me your thoughts and what the Raider. You know
Speaker 1: what you soften the Raiders week one. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think given the fact that none of our main guys
Speaker 1: played any snaps um in the preseason, you know, you
Speaker 1: gotta expect that it's gonna be some rest. You know,
Speaker 1: at the time, it might be off with something. DeVante
Speaker 1: Adams did the obvious. I mean, he the best receiver
Speaker 1: in the league, so I expected, uh, I expected that
Speaker 1: from him. You know, I knew he was gonna come
Speaker 1: out and be sharp as maybe with the Raiders. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's always done him. Um. But I
Speaker 1: think you know, obviously with dec from three ins, thats
Speaker 1: gonna be It's gonna be a to day. You know,
Speaker 1: he threw his three interceptions, we still had our chance
Speaker 1: to win the game, and we just came up short.
Speaker 1: You know, but it might happen again. But I like
Speaker 1: where our team is. I like, I love our offense,
Speaker 1: and I love the fact that our defense started off slow,
Speaker 1: but we heard him the seven points in the second half.
Speaker 1: You know, they showed some resistance. So um. And I
Speaker 1: felt like Josh McDaniels is like, you know, he ain't
Speaker 1: having it. He he come from winning coacher. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: he didn't want his share as Super Bowls as just
Speaker 1: as the offensive coordinator had his experience with Denver as
Speaker 1: a head coach. Probably didn't go how he won it.
Speaker 1: But I just you know, I got a lot of
Speaker 1: faith in him this time around. So we're gonna be
Speaker 1: all right. Man. It ain't It ain't the ideal start,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna be all right. What was your reaction
Speaker 1: when you found out that you guys were getting Davante
Speaker 1: Adams Man? When I saw it, I was like, man,
Speaker 1: let me make sure this ain't one of those page
Speaker 1: just putting this out here that's you know, tricking everybody
Speaker 1: or trolling everybody or something and the end, you know.
Speaker 1: I obviously went to ESPN and Sports and I was
Speaker 1: checking all the main platforms that that would have it,
Speaker 1: and they was up there and I was like wow,
Speaker 1: And I instantly reached out to him, like yeah, you
Speaker 1: with the nation now. I don't think I've been more
Speaker 1: excited about anything involved in football since we got Randy Moss.
Speaker 1: So were you a Raider fan from birth because of
Speaker 1: growing up in Oakland? Were the Raiders good when you
Speaker 1: were young because they've had stretchers they've been really good
Speaker 1: obviously in stretchers, or they've been bad? And then when
Speaker 1: they announced the move to Vegas? Was there were you
Speaker 1: going one hundred percent no matter what? Or is there
Speaker 1: a part of you that was upset about that? I
Speaker 1: mean I wasn't happy with them moving from Oakland, obviously,
Speaker 1: but I was never one of those people that was like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm not I ain't gonna be a Raider fan no more.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm still I'm still a Raider nation, and
Speaker 1: a lot of my family is, you know, fans of
Speaker 1: different teams now, like my uncle, my uncle Richard is
Speaker 1: all of a sudden a Rams fan. You know, we
Speaker 1: go to the I took him to the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: last year and he and there with a Rams jersey on,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you're not a true Rams fan, like
Speaker 1: you're actually a Raiders fan. But I stayed with the Raiders,
Speaker 1: and I'm you know, I'm a true Raiders fan. So
Speaker 1: and I've been a Raiders fan since I was a kid.
Speaker 1: And we had our ups and downs with you know,
Speaker 1: Napoleon cough Man and Tyrone Wheatley and Charlie Garner. We
Speaker 1: had some stretches, and I remember the last time we
Speaker 1: was really good like I expected to be this year
Speaker 1: was when we had you know, rich Gannon year we
Speaker 1: went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Bucks.
Speaker 1: And then I think even a year before that, we
Speaker 1: was pretty good too. So I'm expecting a really solid
Speaker 1: season this year. So when Derek Carr last year, Dame
Speaker 1: calls out your name, Damian Lillard, Damian Lillard as an
Speaker 1: audible for a deep ball, did you know it was coming?
Speaker 1: Because I know you and Derek are Carr friends. Did
Speaker 1: you know what was coming? YEA. Honestly, when as soon
Speaker 1: as I heard him say it and it came through
Speaker 1: the screen, that was my first thought, is they about
Speaker 1: to throw um? And when they said it, my phone
Speaker 1: just started blowing up, like saying the same thing. But
Speaker 1: obviously by the time the text went through, the play
Speaker 1: had already happened. But it was funny that he that,
Speaker 1: you know, they because anything that I'm a fan of,
Speaker 1: I'm an active fan, like I'm an active boxing fan,
Speaker 1: I'm an active Raiders fan. So you know, I felt
Speaker 1: like that was pretty cool that they, you know, they
Speaker 1: had audible that named after me. And I think it
Speaker 1: in a way it's a it's a dead giveaway too,
Speaker 1: because the whole world knew what was coming. Actually was
Speaker 1: what I thought it would be, because you're taking You're
Speaker 1: taking thirty footers and nailing them like it's nothing. That's
Speaker 1: why you knew it was a deep ball. That's you're getting.
Speaker 1: I knew it. I knew it right away. What's you know?
Speaker 1: I got to know Derek a little bit actually when
Speaker 1: he was at Fresno State, because I've been doing college
Speaker 1: football for ESPAN for twenty years and he's just an
Speaker 1: unbelievable guy. How did you get to know Derek? Great dude? Yeah,
Speaker 1: how did you get to know him? I mean I
Speaker 1: just got to know him through being a fan of
Speaker 1: the Raiders, um, and you know, I think he started
Speaker 1: to see how I was a real fan. You know,
Speaker 1: I watched every game, and you know, I say my
Speaker 1: comments about you know, what's going on or whatever. But
Speaker 1: obviously us both being professional athletes, me being from Oakland,
Speaker 1: we started to communicate and things like that, and that
Speaker 1: was it. You know, it wasn't too much. You know,
Speaker 1: I respect I respect DC. You know, I think he
Speaker 1: doesn't get the respect that he should get. You know,
Speaker 1: you know, he's always stood tall. You know, when things
Speaker 1: didn't go right or you know, he was receiving criticism,
Speaker 1: he's stood tall. You know, he faced the music and
Speaker 1: kind of just kept on pushing. And then last year,
Speaker 1: you know, our I was it two thy seventeen maybe
Speaker 1: or eighteen where we were like twelve and four, and
Speaker 1: then he got hurt and missed the playoffs and then, um,
Speaker 1: you know, that year he could have been, could have
Speaker 1: been MVP. And then I feel like now it's all
Speaker 1: coming around for him now and he's getting the weapons
Speaker 1: that he needs. You know, we got to tighten up
Speaker 1: our old line and you know, get our defense to
Speaker 1: play consistent and get him some protection. And now he
Speaker 1: got the weapons out there where he can you know,
Speaker 1: he can really, he can really put a special season together.
Speaker 1: So hopefully that's what you know, that's what we get.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on Kyler Murray? How much have
Speaker 1: you had a chance to watch Kyler since he got
Speaker 1: into the NFL. I've seen my share, you know, just
Speaker 1: because I'm always clicking through games and I'm always following athletes,
Speaker 1: you know, him specifically because he's a Heisman Trophy winner.
Speaker 1: I always love to see, you know, how to how
Speaker 1: they go from being you know, at the top of
Speaker 1: the college game to how they respond when they get
Speaker 1: to the NFL, especially him, because he's undersized, you know,
Speaker 1: undersized quarterback, but a you know, his speech, their strong arm, competitive,
Speaker 1: you know, and he's like he's a winning player, So
Speaker 1: you know, I followed him, and you know, I saw
Speaker 1: some of the stuff he had going on this offseason.
Speaker 1: So I always route for guys like him, you know,
Speaker 1: that have some success and they kind of undersize everybody
Speaker 1: don't expect the most from him because you know, maybe
Speaker 1: he's not He's not gonna be able to see over
Speaker 1: the line. And is he gonna be able to make
Speaker 1: this throw? Is he gonna be able to make that throw?
Speaker 1: Is he gonna take off and run all the time?
Speaker 1: Like you You hear all these little different criticisms and
Speaker 1: things like that, and I root for him, you know,
Speaker 1: I want to see him do well. They didn't open
Speaker 1: up the season how he would have liked. I'm sure
Speaker 1: that's the Chiefs, but I'm a fan. I respect him.
Speaker 1: So in twenty fifteen, I lost a gentleman's bet with
Speaker 1: Steph Curry. The Cardinals are playing the Panthers in the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship game, and so I was talking with him.
Speaker 1: We had a Warriors game and I said, all right,
Speaker 1: if the Cardinals win, you got to wear Cardinals gear
Speaker 1: into the arena for the next game. And he said, okay,
Speaker 1: And I said, well, what do you want me to do,
Speaker 1: and he said, you got to wear a Panther's NFC
Speaker 1: Championship T shirt into the arena. So Cardinals lost, I
Speaker 1: had to wear it. I still have the Panthers NFC
Speaker 1: Championship T shirt because I can't get rid of it.
Speaker 1: So I'm happy to do another gentleman's bet for this weekend.
Speaker 1: Like you wear Kyler Murray jersey Opening Night into the
Speaker 1: arena and then you tell me whatever you want me
Speaker 1: to do if the Raiders win. I mean, I feel
Speaker 1: pretty confident about that because I feel like we gonna
Speaker 1: win our home opener. So but I just don't know
Speaker 1: if I'm willing to take that bet about opening night.
Speaker 1: Opening Night. I gotta get Opening Night. I gotta get
Speaker 1: something off. I gotta give me a nice fit off
Speaker 1: for Opening Night. But I'll definitely wear it in the tunnel.
Speaker 1: That's fair in the tunnel. At some point, forget Opening Night.
Speaker 1: At some point in the season, were Kyler Murray jersey
Speaker 1: and and what do you want me to do that?
Speaker 1: Because like I can't wear I mean, people aren't really
Speaker 1: watching me, but like is there I mean, I'll wear
Speaker 1: Raider or something. I'll wear a Blaze or something I'll
Speaker 1: donate to one of your foundations. You tell me what
Speaker 1: to do, man, I'll do it. You got to take
Speaker 1: the picture with the Raider Nation face team black Holes style, okay,
Speaker 1: and then what put it out and so so I
Speaker 1: don't have to wear it on camera, right, just and
Speaker 1: you got to put it on social media? Okay, that's fair. Okay,
Speaker 1: it's a bet. That's fair. Black Holes style, the whole
Speaker 1: the whole thing. All right. You're on that confident you
Speaker 1: that confident. No, but it's it's this is me and you.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is Uh, I'm good. I'm willing to
Speaker 1: take a chance. All right. That good? All right? Um.
Speaker 1: You know, speaking of the Cardinals, you remind me a
Speaker 1: lot of Larry Fitzgerald, who is here forever and one
Speaker 1: of the reasons is because of fits, his loyalty to
Speaker 1: the organization. He played his entire career here. Uh, even
Speaker 1: though he hasn't officially retired, he's done. I mean he's
Speaker 1: on ESPN now he's not. He's not coming back. Do
Speaker 1: you still see yourself spending your whole career in Portland?
Speaker 1: I do? I do? You know I've had my ship
Speaker 1: people saying, man, you gotta get out of there. You
Speaker 1: gotta do this, you gotta do that. But I'm I'm
Speaker 1: the type of person that I'm never gonna be marching
Speaker 1: to the beat of nobody else's drum. I'm always do
Speaker 1: you know, what I feel like is in my best
Speaker 1: interests and that I really feel in my heart. And
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people, and I've said this
Speaker 1: on many different occasions. People they call it, you know,
Speaker 1: he's being loyal and loyalty this and loyalty that, And
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'm naturally a loyal person, but I do
Speaker 1: have a level of loyalty to the organization. But dis
Speaker 1: loyalty that they're talking about it is ultimately to who
Speaker 1: I am as a person. I'm being loyal to who
Speaker 1: I am, you know, and not getting beside myself because
Speaker 1: I'm somebody that you know, I believe what I believe.
Speaker 1: I think I can get it done. Now, everybody else
Speaker 1: might say there's no way the Blazers will ever win,
Speaker 1: you know, they need to do this, they need to
Speaker 1: do that. But that's just that's just not how I
Speaker 1: feel about the situation. You know, Um, I feel like
Speaker 1: we'll have a chance to win, you know, I feel
Speaker 1: like that moment is gonna come. You know, I feel
Speaker 1: like that opportunity is gonna come, and uh, you know
Speaker 1: that's that. As long as I feel that our our
Speaker 1: organization is putting their best foot forward and we're on
Speaker 1: the same page about doing everything that we can do
Speaker 1: to win, then I'm willing to go out you know,
Speaker 1: I'm willing to go out swinging. But you know, it's
Speaker 1: a lot of guys that have, you know, received that
Speaker 1: same criticism and that same you should do this, you
Speaker 1: should do that. And there's been many that have done it,
Speaker 1: and sometimes they didn't win at all, and sometimes they
Speaker 1: the guys that did win, you know, it didn't change anything.
Speaker 1: So you know, I want to win. I want to
Speaker 1: win in Portland. You know, it means something to me
Speaker 1: to do it here. Uh there's a some significance to
Speaker 1: that for me, you know. And I don't say that
Speaker 1: with the x tation that you know, they couldn't ever
Speaker 1: decide one day that all right, we want to move on.
Speaker 1: You know, what do you want to do? This is
Speaker 1: me being loyal to who I am, you know, and
Speaker 1: how I feel and what I want to see happen.
Speaker 1: So I would love to finish my career here. That's
Speaker 1: my plan, and that's that, you know, I think, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody's gonna always have their opinions and what they think
Speaker 1: I should do or you know, he don't he don't
Speaker 1: want to win, He don't this, he don't that. But
Speaker 1: nobody's gonna have to walk in my shoes but me.
Speaker 1: Nobody's gonna have to deal with any consequences or anything
Speaker 1: but me. So I'm gonna always go off of you know,
Speaker 1: what I what I truly feel, what I truly think,
Speaker 1: and what I'm willing to stand on. And this is
Speaker 1: this is what I'm willing to stand on a couple
Speaker 1: more and we'll get you out of your dame. You
Speaker 1: guys made the conference finals a couple of years ago.
Speaker 1: A lot of the faces and names have changed, obviously,
Speaker 1: see Jay McCullum, who was your teammate for so long.
Speaker 1: Now in New Orleans, it is your two for Chauncey Billups,
Speaker 1: one of my former broadcast partners at ESPN, as the
Speaker 1: head coach. And you know, you guys again, have you know,
Speaker 1: reshaped the roster? How do you feel, given your health
Speaker 1: and where you are and what you were saying earlier,
Speaker 1: how do you feel about the team this upcoming season. Um,
Speaker 1: just being back. You know, we had a lot of
Speaker 1: guys back early, so we've we've spent a decent amount
Speaker 1: of time together and I've gotten to you know, not
Speaker 1: just see growth from a lot of our guys. I've
Speaker 1: gotten to get to know guys a lot better to
Speaker 1: to I guess, just gauge you know what I felt
Speaker 1: like we can get out of them, you know what
Speaker 1: guys can actually bring. I feel like when you when
Speaker 1: you learn about who people are, you you learned a
Speaker 1: lot of things that you really need to know. You know,
Speaker 1: if you want to be a successful team. You know
Speaker 1: the personalities and who people are on the inside counts.
Speaker 1: You know. So Um, since I've been able to see that,
Speaker 1: you know how hard guys work just to get to
Speaker 1: know who you know, who they are as people. And
Speaker 1: then we get some of our newer guys in. We
Speaker 1: got Gary Payton and we got Jeremy Grant and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Aunt it's looking you know, ready to explode.
Speaker 1: I'm feeling healthy. We got Josh hartback, we got you know,
Speaker 1: our seventh picket of draft shading sharp who's all world talent?
Speaker 1: Uh nads little coming back off injury like feeling healthy,
Speaker 1: trend and Watford who was undrafted that um, you know,
Speaker 1: end up getting a guaranteed contract and now you know
Speaker 1: he's he's one of those do it all type of
Speaker 1: players with great feel and a good teammate. He can shoot,
Speaker 1: he can pass, Uh, understands what's going on, Nerk. You
Speaker 1: know we got we got a lot of guys that, Um,
Speaker 1: I feel like we have the makings of being a
Speaker 1: good team. You know, whether whether or not we're gonna
Speaker 1: be a great team, things have to go well. You
Speaker 1: need some favor um, you know, you need a little
Speaker 1: bit of luck, and you just gotta be a team
Speaker 1: that's not fun to play against. You know, we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to grind it out and go go take stuff.
Speaker 1: But I love where I love where we are right now.
Speaker 1: You know, in this moment, I love where we are.
Speaker 1: I realized this is probably an unfair question and this
Speaker 1: could be taken by people listening to this podcast the
Speaker 1: wrong way. And I'm not trying to trap you with
Speaker 1: this question. But you know there is there a player
Speaker 1: like do you absolutely think, like, man, that's a dude
Speaker 1: that I would love to play with. Not saying that
Speaker 1: there's going to be a trade or anything like that.
Speaker 1: But is there like a player like that you haven't
Speaker 1: had a chance to play with, you like, I love
Speaker 1: his game, whether it's a young guy or an older guy,
Speaker 1: love his game and would love the opportunity to play
Speaker 1: with him. Because you've played with so many star players
Speaker 1: in the Olympics, and obviously you've had some great teammates
Speaker 1: there in Portland. Well, one of those players was Jeremy
Speaker 1: grant Um. I played with him in the Olympics, and
Speaker 1: you know I wanted him on my team went from
Speaker 1: way back then and we got him. But if I
Speaker 1: had to say one player at this moment without saying
Speaker 1: star players names, because obviously you know it's a bunch
Speaker 1: of stars, I would love to play with Janis and
Speaker 1: you know kd and those typ A guy Jason Tatum.
Speaker 1: I love to play with those dudes, Kawhi, Leonard, Paul George.
Speaker 1: You would love to be on the team with them
Speaker 1: just because they you know, they're that great of players.
Speaker 1: But if I had to say a player right now
Speaker 1: that I would want to add to our team, I
Speaker 1: would say somebody like mcale Bridges or og Na Nobi
Speaker 1: or Jared Vanderbilt. Somebody like that one of those three.
Speaker 1: I love those three guys. Is that because you've got
Speaker 1: a guy that's an elite defender who could also hit
Speaker 1: the three, who's available, who plays every night, who plays hard?
Speaker 1: Is that kind of am I reading you right? What
Speaker 1: you're saying. They defend, they defend, They all have really
Speaker 1: good size, they can make shots. You know, Jared Vanderbilt
Speaker 1: does everything. He guards every position, he rebounds, he's a playmaker,
Speaker 1: he's tough, competitive, you know, he's uh, you know, good
Speaker 1: feel for what's going on out there. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the other two are similar. You know, they
Speaker 1: defend really well, they make shots, They play on winning teams.
Speaker 1: You know, they're tough, they competitive, all of those things.
Speaker 1: And I feel like that's that's the that's what the
Speaker 1: winning teams are built like now. So you know, if
Speaker 1: we could have one of those type of players on
Speaker 1: top of what we have now, I think that's just
Speaker 1: for me personally, what I you know what I like?
Speaker 1: Last one? Uh, you talked earlier briefly about your love
Speaker 1: for boxing, and you know, I'm sure everybody's seen the
Speaker 1: commercial with you boxing. How long have you been boxing?
Speaker 1: Could you do, Like, if you had to do it
Speaker 1: professionally for a career, could you do it? I boxed
Speaker 1: a little bit as a kid, and then you know,
Speaker 1: for the last seven years, I've done it consistently. Uh Like,
Speaker 1: I've been in the ring heavily. And my trainer always
Speaker 1: tells me, like, You're not You're not a basketball player.
Speaker 1: You're You're not a He always tells me, I'm a
Speaker 1: fighter that plays basketball. And I think, you know, I
Speaker 1: think when he says that, he just talks about my mentality.
Speaker 1: You know, like I come to work, I'm consistent. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't back down. I don't I don't waiver. And
Speaker 1: I think the characteristics that I bring to the table
Speaker 1: and who he seen me to be every day, you know,
Speaker 1: since I've known him, you know, for the last eight years,
Speaker 1: you know, in him working with David Benavidez and Ryo
Speaker 1: Valenzuela and Jose Benavidez Junior and senior. You know, he's
Speaker 1: been in that camp. And for him to be around
Speaker 1: boxing the way he has and him be around me,
Speaker 1: I think he just sees that. You know, the successful fighters,
Speaker 1: you know, they operate and think and have a certain
Speaker 1: type of confidence and sturdiness about him, and I think
Speaker 1: he sees that in me, you know, so on top
Speaker 1: of what he seemed me capable of doing in the ring.
Speaker 1: So he says that to me. But I just at
Speaker 1: the same time, I just got too much respect for
Speaker 1: the sport. You know, they say you don't play boxing.
Speaker 1: I don't want to mess around with my brain and
Speaker 1: you know, taking punches in none of that. No more
Speaker 1: than I have to, you know, not even to prove anything.
Speaker 1: You know, as long as I know that I could
Speaker 1: properly defend myself and I can protect my family, you know,
Speaker 1: if something was to ever happen, you know, that's enough
Speaker 1: for me. You know. Other than that, I'm gonna leave
Speaker 1: it to the Devin Haynes and Shaker Stevenson's and h
Speaker 1: Canello and all those all those cats. Man, they got aerospence.
Speaker 1: But Crawford boots and this do I need to keep going?
Speaker 1: I got you no, just I'm impressed, man, I'm impressed
Speaker 1: your knowledge, you know a little bit about everything. I mean,
Speaker 1: the football stuff was really good, man, you can break
Speaker 1: it down. Yeah, I mean, I play attention. You know, I'm,
Speaker 1: like I said, I'm a real Raiders fan. I'm a
Speaker 1: real blocking fan. So well, listen, I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 1: I've always said, Dame, you know, of all the i'm
Speaker 1: the NBA circuit, you're one of my favorites because you're
Speaker 1: such a great leader and teammate and an example for
Speaker 1: a lot of young people, along with being a Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame player on the NBA seventy fifth anniversary team.
Speaker 1: And if the Cardinals lose, I will tag you. My wife,
Speaker 1: who loves makeup, will be making will be painting my
Speaker 1: face with I'll look like I'm in the black hole,
Speaker 1: and I will be tagging you on a tweet next week. Okay.
Speaker 1: So so I look forward to him, and if not,
Speaker 1: if the Cardinals win, you got to hit me up
Speaker 1: on when the Kyler jersey's coming out. But I appreciate
Speaker 1: the time, Dame. Glad you're healthy, have a great season,
Speaker 1: and we'll see at some point during the year. Thanks,
Speaker 1: thank you, appreciate you man. I'll see you soon, okay, bro,
Speaker 1: Thanks man. We covered a lot of ground there with Dame.
Speaker 1: Thought it was interesting. He said, based on his personality
Speaker 1: who he is, being a loyal person, his plan is
Speaker 1: to play his entire career with the Trailblazers. He talked
Speaker 1: about the type of players that he would love to
Speaker 1: play with for the next several years. He's only thirty
Speaker 1: two years old, still has a long way to go.
Speaker 1: Had some great thoughts on the Raiders. He said he's
Speaker 1: a diehard Raiders fan. You can hear it in his voice.
Speaker 1: He knows a lot about the team. He watches a
Speaker 1: lot of football, and I thought it was cool too
Speaker 1: that he's watching the game when Derek Carr audibles by
Speaker 1: calling out his name, that Dame could read his lips
Speaker 1: on TV and then knew exactly what play Derek Carr
Speaker 1: was checking into that it was a bomb in tribute
Speaker 1: to Damian Lillard being one of the best deep shooters
Speaker 1: in the NBA. And folks, I'm really hoping the Cardinals win.
Speaker 1: I always want the Cardinals win, maybe more so than ever.
Speaker 1: It's one thing to have to wear a Carolina Panthers
Speaker 1: NFC championship T shirt to interview Steph Curry in twenty fifteen.
Speaker 1: It's another to have to look like a member of
Speaker 1: the Black Hole and paint your face silver and black.
Speaker 1: So if the Cardinals lose, unfortunately, I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: do that and put it out on social media next week,
Speaker 1: So Go Cardinals on Sunday. We are presented by Ben MGM,
Speaker 1: the official sports betting partner of the Arizona Cardinals, and
Speaker 1: by Ela River Resorts and Casinos. You can follow us
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Pash pod, and you can also go
Speaker 1: to your podcast platform and rate us, review us, tell
Speaker 1: us what you think, tell us if there's anything we
Speaker 1: can work on. Also, if you have some guests you'd
Speaker 1: like to hear from at some point in the future,
Speaker 1: let us know that as well. Our thanks to future
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer and one of the best players in
Speaker 1: the NBA, Damian Lillard, and also thanks to you for
Speaker 1: listening to another edition of the Dave Pash Podcast.