Speaker 1: Hey everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Dave
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast. I'm your host ESPN and Arizona Cardinals play
Speaker 1: by play announcer Dave Pash. My guest this week is
Speaker 1: longtime NBA player and current NBA broadcaster Richard Jefferson. With
Speaker 1: the NBA season starting this week, thought it was a
Speaker 1: great chance to catch up with Richard, talk about the season,
Speaker 1: talk about his former teammate Lebron James going into year
Speaker 1: twenty one in the NBA. We'll get Richard's thoughts on
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns, on the Milwaukee Bucks after the Damian
Speaker 1: Lillard trade. We'll talk broadcasting, and we'll also talk about
Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals and get Richard's advice to a team
Speaker 1: like the Cardinals in a season of transition with a
Speaker 1: new GM, new coach, a lot of new players trying
Speaker 1: to stay positive in order to take that next step
Speaker 1: to become a Super Bowl contender.
Speaker 2: It has to start with you individually and saying it's
Speaker 2: like it doesn't matter, I need to train like we're
Speaker 2: twelve and zero. I need to train like we're zero
Speaker 2: and twelve. The shit be no different. And that's the
Speaker 2: trick as a professional athlete, train like you're getting ready
Speaker 2: for the Super Bowl every single week.
Speaker 1: We'll also share some Bill Walton stories, Richard's best friend
Speaker 1: is Bill's son Luke, and talk about whether Richard considers
Speaker 1: himself a Phoenix guy he grew up here, went to
Speaker 1: Moon Valley High School, or an LA guy where he
Speaker 1: was born and currently resides. We are presented by BETMGM,
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Speaker 1: next step. All right, now our conversation with one of
Speaker 1: the best dudes in broadcasting. You're just a great guy,
Speaker 1: fun guy to be around, great personality and obviously was
Speaker 1: a terrific player seventeen years in the NBA and now
Speaker 1: a broadcaster. With ESPN Richard Jefferson. So, Richard, I know
Speaker 1: you don't like to be called r J. Richard. First
Speaker 1: things first, I feel like we are far enough along
Speaker 1: in our professional and personal relationship that I have an
Speaker 1: idea when you're being sarcastic and when you're not being sarcastic,
Speaker 1: how long does it normally take people to kind of
Speaker 1: figure you out.
Speaker 2: Honestly who It varies because it's just I live on
Speaker 2: that line, similar to our friend JJ Reddick. I live.
Speaker 2: I live on that line. And then even when I'm
Speaker 2: I'm being sarcastic, I'm kind of like, ah, no, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. Or sometimes when I'm I'm serious, people
Speaker 2: have a little bit they wait to see being serious.
Speaker 2: But no, it varies. It varies on the subject. Sometimes
Speaker 2: you know when people think, oh, no, no, he's just kidding.
Speaker 2: You know, I like the pile and I was like,
Speaker 2: what do you mean kidding? I I'm being very serious,
Speaker 2: and then everyone gets confused. So that's what the realm
Speaker 2: might like to live in, with a lot of uncertainty
Speaker 2: in any conversation that I'm involved in.
Speaker 1: How beneficial do you think that was to the many
Speaker 1: NBA teams that you played on having somebody on a
Speaker 1: team that if you needed to lighten the mood you could.
Speaker 1: But obviously you're a good enough player where if you
Speaker 1: had to be serious and go out and ball, you
Speaker 1: would do that too well.
Speaker 2: To be honest, Like, it's weird when I'm between those lines,
Speaker 2: like I don't talk trash the other players. I would
Speaker 2: only talk trash to my teammates. So it's one of
Speaker 2: those things that I'm a competitor first and a sarcastic
Speaker 2: person second. Sometimes those lines can blur a little bit.
Speaker 2: But when it's time to win, time to compete, Like,
Speaker 2: that's my fig The only thing I loved more than
Speaker 2: being sarcastic is competing. So there wasn't that much. When
Speaker 2: there was the right time when the coaches would leave,
Speaker 2: that's when the starcasm would come. But you don't want
Speaker 2: to undercut a coach with your level of sarcasm, even
Speaker 2: if it is funny.
Speaker 1: And I want to get to winning the championship in
Speaker 1: sixteen and talking about the NBA season because obviously it
Speaker 1: starts this week. But you're born in LA. You lived
Speaker 1: in Phoenix, you went to Moon Valley High School, You
Speaker 1: live in LA now, Are you an LA guy or
Speaker 1: a Phoenix guy.
Speaker 2: Well, see, that's where I think only true West Coasters understand.
Speaker 2: You can when they say you're from the West Coast,
Speaker 2: that means you bounced around the West Coast. And yes,
Speaker 2: Arizona's not on the coast, but we all know that
Speaker 2: Arizona is a suburb of California. So no, it's tough,
Speaker 2: Like I don't I probably claim more Arizona at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, went to University of Arizona, grew
Speaker 2: up there, learned how to play basketball there. But I
Speaker 2: was born in La. My family is all from my mom,
Speaker 2: my dad, my grandmother, all of my cousins live in LA.
Speaker 2: So it's it's tough. I claim I claim Arizona, but
Speaker 2: I don't deny my La reaths.
Speaker 1: So you're a Rams fan though, correct?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, now understand the timing of this as a
Speaker 2: person that I know studies history. When I showed up
Speaker 2: in in Arizona in nineteen eighty eight eighty nine, the
Speaker 2: Cardinals had a streak of about twelve years where they
Speaker 2: were the worst football team in the world, And I
Speaker 2: mean including college and so I you know I grew
Speaker 2: up watching you know, I like John Elway. He was
Speaker 2: my favorite player. Then you had my dad from Philly,
Speaker 2: so I grew up with the Keith Byers, Randall Cunningham,
Speaker 2: Reggie White, Ricky wa like that crew of Philly. That
Speaker 2: that was my dad watching every single Sunday. So I
Speaker 2: like the Eagles. But the minute they got a team
Speaker 2: to LA. I have two little boys now, one named Phoenix,
Speaker 2: one named rich. My whole thing was like, the minute
Speaker 2: we get a team to LA. Now that I'm living here,
Speaker 2: that's our team. Rams were first jumped full bandwagon in
Speaker 2: glad that they're back, and you know, now we're Ram supporters,
Speaker 2: went to the Super Bowl, all that stuff. So I'm
Speaker 2: really indoctrinating my kids in Ram culture, if you will.
Speaker 1: So what does it take to convert you? Do we
Speaker 1: have to you know, beat the Rams? Do we have
Speaker 1: to sweep the Rams? Do we have to make the playoff?
Speaker 1: Because the Cardinals have made the playoffs, They've been in
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, They've done all the things the Rams
Speaker 1: did except win the championship, which the Rams did a
Speaker 1: couple years ago.
Speaker 2: Well, this is the thing. I don't hate the Cardinals.
Speaker 2: I'm just not a fan of the Cardinals. All my
Speaker 2: friends that I grew up with that are Arizona guys.
Speaker 2: They love the Cardinals. When the Cardinals went to the
Speaker 2: Super Bowl, Channing Fry big Cardinals fan. So when they
Speaker 2: went to the Super Bowl, like I was rooting for
Speaker 2: the Cardinals. I don't dislike the Cardinals. But I also
Speaker 2: as a loyal person myself, I can't not like a
Speaker 2: team for ten years and then all of a sudden
Speaker 2: like okay, they're okay, I'm a fan now. That's not
Speaker 2: how fandom works. And so since I never supported them
Speaker 2: when I showed up in Arizona, I just I don't
Speaker 2: want to jump on the bandwagon. So I was like, hey,
Speaker 2: LA will be my team.
Speaker 1: I know the Channing Fry played for the Suns, I
Speaker 1: didn't know he was a Cardinal fan. I mean, I
Speaker 1: know he lived in Phoenix before that, but I didn't
Speaker 1: know he was a Cardinal fan. We may have to
Speaker 1: get him on the pod now, cause do you guys
Speaker 1: still have your pod together? And how often do you
Speaker 1: guys do it?
Speaker 2: We do it once a week, We do it pretty consistently.
Speaker 2: We are actually really excited. There's some things that are
Speaker 2: that are cooking up for this upcoming season that I
Speaker 2: think podcast fans are going to be excited about. There's
Speaker 2: some partnerships that we're working on. It will probably be
Speaker 2: announced here in the next week or two. But ultimately,
Speaker 2: I don't think that Channing is going to have anything
Speaker 2: to say about the Cardinals. He is. He's an era
Speaker 2: true Arizona Cardinal fan, So that means like, when they're good,
Speaker 2: he's super super into it. When they are the normal
Speaker 2: Arizona Cardinals, he's just so. So he's not living a lot,
Speaker 2: he's not a.
Speaker 1: Rider dot And it's road tripping podcast, right, yes.
Speaker 2: Sorry, road Tripping podcast, the original athlete podcast.
Speaker 1: I was going to say, so, no professional athlete, including
Speaker 1: JJ Reddick, had a podcast before Richard Jefferson and Channing
Speaker 1: Fry right, while you guys are currently playing.
Speaker 2: Well, well, we were the first ones to do it
Speaker 2: in season. We were the first ones to do it
Speaker 2: like on a team, like JJ had a podcast. Other
Speaker 2: athletes had podcasts, a lot of them were interview based,
Speaker 2: but we were the first ones that decided like, maybe
Speaker 2: we should do this in season. So when you see Draymond,
Speaker 2: when you see Pat Bev, when you see Paul George,
Speaker 2: when you see all of these athletes that are now
Speaker 2: doing it in season and discussing what's going on. We
Speaker 2: were the first one. We recorded on a plane. In between,
Speaker 2: I think we had a game and we had a
Speaker 2: game in Boston and then maybe I don't remember Dallas
Speaker 2: or something, and we lost the nationally televise game in Boston,
Speaker 2: and we're like, hey, let's record a game, let's record
Speaker 2: a podcast on the plane. So we're recording a podcast
Speaker 2: on a plane flying from from one city to the
Speaker 2: next and drop it the next the next morning. And
Speaker 2: to me, I truly believe the excitement that came from
Speaker 2: road tripping, and I think the positivity allowed for athletes
Speaker 2: to feel more comfortable telling their stories.
Speaker 1: And what year was this the first year you guys
Speaker 1: did this?
Speaker 2: Well, we did it after we won the championship, and
Speaker 2: then we did it, and we did it. I think
Speaker 2: our first one was into January February of the following season.
Speaker 2: We ended up losing in the finals to We end
Speaker 2: up losing in the finals for the Golden Save Warriors
Speaker 2: that year. But yeah, we did it through the whole
Speaker 2: We stopped. We stopped during the finals. We did it
Speaker 2: a little bit during the postseason. We stopped during the finals,
Speaker 2: as to not have any any conversation about distraction.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so twenty sixteen, you win the championship. You're part
Speaker 1: of a great team, the greatest team in probably Cleveland
Speaker 1: sports history. The Cardinals played the Browns next week, and
Speaker 1: given what the Warriors had accomplished that year, the greatest
Speaker 1: regular season team maybe ever, right, at least based on record.
Speaker 1: How gratifying was that for you? Given also, Richard, I mean,
Speaker 1: you played seventeen years, You had already been in the
Speaker 1: league for almost fifteen when you guys won it in
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. To be part of that team with great
Speaker 1: players like Lebron James, and obviously you had Kevin Love
Speaker 1: and Kyrie Irving and yourself and a lot of good
Speaker 1: role players, how gratifying was that title for you?
Speaker 2: Well, look, I think both of us are sports historians,
Speaker 2: and you know, I don't like to make it claim.
Speaker 2: I just lated to say that I believe that that
Speaker 2: was I think if you were appointed to two championships,
Speaker 2: I think you would look at the seventy two win
Speaker 2: Bulls because they had a perfect season, they broke the record,
Speaker 2: and then they won a championship. I think for us,
Speaker 2: I think they had the most perfect season of all time.
Speaker 2: But I think for us, I think it was the
Speaker 2: best championship ever won. You know, we don't have to
Speaker 2: go all miracle, you know, on ice, we don't have
Speaker 2: to go do that, but the fact that we were
Speaker 2: playing against the two time defending champion, or the two
Speaker 2: time defending MVP, the first unanimous MVP, the regular season champ,
Speaker 2: I think going through that and then to do it
Speaker 2: in the manner in which we did, being down three
Speaker 2: one and being the first team to ever do it,
Speaker 2: I think when you when you tally all of the
Speaker 2: things that that came about from that series, I beg
Speaker 2: someone to give me a better NBA Finals championship.
Speaker 1: And the fact that, you know, the Draymond Green kick,
Speaker 1: he was suspended for a game, But I don't think
Speaker 1: that takes away at all from what you guys did.
Speaker 1: I know there's some people that feel that it does,
Speaker 1: but you guys won that championship No.
Speaker 2: One hundred and make no mistake, like Kevin Love didn't
Speaker 2: get to play in two of those games, right like
Speaker 2: we make it seem like. And again I know Kevin Love,
Speaker 2: that might not have been the best series like matchup
Speaker 2: wise for him, but the fact that that he missed actually,
Speaker 2: excuse me, he missed game three. Uh, he missed Game
Speaker 2: three and then came off the bench in game four.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we had a potential future Hall of Famer,
Speaker 2: a starter who you know, he was an All Star
Speaker 2: that year. So we had an all star miss a
Speaker 2: game because of the concussion protocol. So, and this is
Speaker 2: the thing, you know, you as a football guy, anytime
Speaker 2: a kicker misses a kick, you go it doesn't come
Speaker 2: down to that one play. It doesn't come down to
Speaker 2: that one play. They were turnovers, there was this, Yes,
Speaker 2: we would have liked to have that, and so I
Speaker 2: stand by that that doesn't come like the whole championship
Speaker 2: doesn't come doesn't come down to Draymond missing one game. Right.
Speaker 2: You can say momentum, you can say this, but that
Speaker 2: was a seventy three win team that all the things
Speaker 2: that those guys had accomplished and defending champions. So to
Speaker 2: be up three to one, lose Draymond for a game,
Speaker 2: now you're up three to two. So now you got
Speaker 2: two more chances to win one. And they hadn't lost
Speaker 2: three games in a row maybe and I think it
Speaker 2: was close to two years. So for me, it's like, yes,
Speaker 2: was that a part of the storyline. Yes, but don't
Speaker 2: forget if you go back Draymond, you know, having the
Speaker 2: incidents that he had in round one, having the incidents
Speaker 2: that he had in the conference finals. When you get
Speaker 2: suspended for those things, one, typically there's a conversation with
Speaker 2: the commissioner before you get to that spot, which there
Speaker 2: was after the Steven Adams situation. There was a conversation,
Speaker 2: and then when it happens again at that point in time,
Speaker 2: it's a cumulative thing. So you making that mistake, then
Speaker 2: it really goes back to first round, second round, third round,
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden, you're in a spot
Speaker 2: and for a team that was the defending champion. If
Speaker 2: you don't have that in your brain. I got to
Speaker 2: watch my flavorance, I got to watch my technicals because
Speaker 2: it's April seventeen and I'm trying to play till June twentieth.
Speaker 2: So those are the things that I think, you know,
Speaker 2: people want to discuss Raymond, and I will not sit
Speaker 2: up here and say Draymond missing that one game didn't
Speaker 2: give us a little bit of a boost, but to
Speaker 2: say that that was a deciding factor when he played
Speaker 2: two more games after that and was probably well, he
Speaker 2: was the best player probably on the floor if you
Speaker 2: go look at that game seven. So like when you
Speaker 2: look at game seven and Draymond has that first half
Speaker 2: and knocking down three, there's a high probability he would
Speaker 2: have been Finals MVP if it wasn't for if they
Speaker 2: would have won the So I think some people get
Speaker 2: lost in the off. They focus on that and make
Speaker 2: it seem like Draymond never recovered or their team never recovered,
Speaker 2: and that was a deciding factor.
Speaker 1: So, your former teammate and close friend, Lebron James is
Speaker 1: in year twenty one. What he's doing is amazing. There's
Speaker 1: only a handful of guys that have made it this far,
Speaker 1: and no one has ever played at his age, with
Speaker 1: his mileage, all the games, all the playoff games, the
Speaker 1: Team USA games, no one has played at the level
Speaker 1: he's playing in the history of basketball at this age.
Speaker 1: First of all, is there something about Lebron James that
Speaker 1: the public doesn't know? He is pretty, he's out there
Speaker 1: and he's doing a lot of different things. He's very
Speaker 1: vocal on social media, does a lot of commercials, does movies.
Speaker 1: But is there something about his personality or just him
Speaker 1: as a teammate that people should know that they don't
Speaker 1: know about him.
Speaker 2: I think, okay, so I think that there are things
Speaker 2: that people know. I'll give you my perception of things
Speaker 2: I think with him. I think he's a lot more
Speaker 2: vulnerable with his teammates than people probably understand. He's a
Speaker 2: very emotional person. We've seen that with his reactions on
Speaker 2: the court. I'm a very expressive person, and so Lebron,
Speaker 2: you know, just like a lot of teammates, he could
Speaker 2: have like I'll never forget he you know, we had
Speaker 2: a game and maybe we lost, and we were all
Speaker 2: kind of arguing, and then you know, we all go
Speaker 2: meet up at dinner that night and he comes, you, guys,
Speaker 2: my bad. I'm sorry, man, I know I've got frustrated.
Speaker 2: I apologize, and it's like the best player in the world,
Speaker 2: maybe the best player ever, is sitting here apologizing the
Speaker 2: channing and I because he got a little frustrated, and
Speaker 2: we're like, bro, we get it. Everything's going to be
Speaker 2: your fault. Everything is either you like the positive view
Speaker 2: negative view. So I understand why that is an extreme
Speaker 2: amount of pressure. So for you to get frustrated one day,
Speaker 2: don't ever apologize as long as it's within the place,
Speaker 2: as long as it's within the framework of like competitiveness,
Speaker 2: which he never does. He never leaves the respectful competitive side.
Speaker 2: That is something that we have never seen from Lebron
Speaker 2: from high school to college. Yeah, he's a competitor, but
Speaker 2: you never see it, see it leave the respectful side,
Speaker 2: in my opinion, And that doesn't mean things don't happen,
Speaker 2: doesn't mean trash doesn't talk. But I think I don't
Speaker 2: think people understand how much he truly cares about his teammates.
Speaker 2: I don't think he truly people understand how much he's
Speaker 2: invested in them on the court, off the court. Like
Speaker 2: when me and Channing launched the podcast, he had been
Speaker 2: he came on it four or five times now without
Speaker 2: him coming on. He knows his value, he knows what
Speaker 2: he does. And so those are the things that you're like, hey,
Speaker 2: I appreciate you doing this because you don't have to,
Speaker 2: because a lot of guys in those positions are often
Speaker 2: just tried to people try and get things from them,
Speaker 2: Like when was the last time he saw Michael Jordan
Speaker 2: sit on a podcast? Like these guys typically shy away
Speaker 2: from some of the requests that come to them, But ultimately,
Speaker 2: I think he cares about people. He cares about his family,
Speaker 2: and he cares about his teammates on a level that
Speaker 2: I don't think people fully understand. You want to be
Speaker 2: critical of Michael Jordan versus versus lebron you want to
Speaker 2: do all of that stuff, fine, at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, you know, you ask anybody that really deals
Speaker 2: with him at their core, and you're like, this man
Speaker 2: just cares the game, the respect, the family, the teammates like,
Speaker 2: he does care about those things at a level that
Speaker 2: I don't think people understand.
Speaker 1: So rich what should we honestly expect from him in
Speaker 1: the year twenty one, He's had injuries that he's played through.
Speaker 1: I think the injury that he had last year, a
Speaker 1: lot of guys are sitting out and not playing. He
Speaker 1: played through it. He's already got Kareem's record, He's the
Speaker 1: all time leading scorer. I know he wants to play
Speaker 1: in the league when Bronni's in the league. Bronni's at
Speaker 1: USC We don't know yet whether Bronni's going to play
Speaker 1: after the unfortunate, scary incident that happened a couple months ago.
Speaker 1: It sounds like Bronni's okay, you would know more about
Speaker 1: that than me. But and I'm gonna have a lot
Speaker 1: of USC games, and I certainly hope that he's playing
Speaker 1: because that means that he's healthy and doing well. What
Speaker 1: should we realistically expect from Lebron and the Lakers here
Speaker 1: in your twenty one for James.
Speaker 2: Well like what we should expect and what I hope happens.
Speaker 2: I hope this is the year where he becomes the
Speaker 2: second best player on the team. He'll still always be
Speaker 2: the most important player in my opinion, and he left
Speaker 2: the ratings say that, as you know, we work in
Speaker 2: this in this industry, the ratings say he is the
Speaker 2: most important player in the NBA. That's what just the
Speaker 2: ratings say. I still believe he's the most important. But
Speaker 2: I think for him to win in that championship, Anthony
Speaker 2: Davis has to ascend to really what Anthony Davis was
Speaker 2: looking like over the postseason. Anthony Davis. If he extends
Speaker 2: to being the best player on the team and Lebron's
Speaker 2: just the most important, I think that takes pressure off him.
Speaker 2: He needs to find and I know this might sound crazy.
Speaker 2: He needs to find his Magic Johnson and allow him
Speaker 2: to be Kareem, if that makes sense. Kareem at the
Speaker 2: end of his career was able to prolong his career
Speaker 2: because he had a little bit of the pressure taking
Speaker 2: off in him and Magic wanted that pressure. Magic owned
Speaker 2: that pressure and said, I got this. Do I know
Speaker 2: if Anthony Davis is that guy? I hope. I think
Speaker 2: he has the talent and the ability. But I think
Speaker 2: in year twenty, I think you could compare it. I
Speaker 2: think I'm not sure. I think Kareem won a championship
Speaker 2: in eighteen nineteen was our eighteen nineteen was his last
Speaker 2: year winning a championship. I think, to me, that's kind
Speaker 2: of the formula. If you look at it. Kareem was
Speaker 2: still great, But to say we need you to be
Speaker 2: dominant for eighty two and through a postseason run, that's
Speaker 2: not realistic. Same with Tim Duncan winning championships later in
Speaker 2: his career. Say what you won. He wasn't the best
Speaker 2: player on his team, but he was by far the
Speaker 2: most important player on that San Antonio team. But he
Speaker 2: had other guys around him that were raising their levels. Kawhi,
Speaker 2: Danny Green, Tony Manu. All of those guys were a
Speaker 2: little bit older, but Kawhi raised his level and took
Speaker 2: so much pressure off him and allowed him just to
Speaker 2: be that important cog.
Speaker 1: I did Game six of the Phoenix Denvers series last year,
Speaker 1: that just disastrous loss at home for the Suns in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and I had a former coach tell me
Speaker 1: that there they were a little concerned watching Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: that you know, maybe he had lost a step because
Speaker 1: of all the injuries that they're starting to catch up
Speaker 1: to him. And you know, he's been in the league
Speaker 1: since he was eighteen nineteen years old. Obviously, this is
Speaker 1: a big year with Beale coming over, they make the
Speaker 1: eight and trade, they bring in their Kich. Do you
Speaker 1: see the Suns as a team to beat, the team
Speaker 1: to beat or are you concerned at all with either
Speaker 1: the makeup of the team or all the damage that
Speaker 1: Durant has had to endure physically over the years.
Speaker 2: I look, I think I think Durant has shown us like, yeah,
Speaker 2: guys are going to sprain their ankles. Guys you know,
Speaker 2: obviously had the Achilles injury, and then the following year
Speaker 2: or so he was primarily healthy. Now he's had some injuries,
Speaker 2: and when players like that get old, Instead of hey,
Speaker 2: you can come back in seven games, We're probably going
Speaker 2: to keep you out for ten because we want you
Speaker 2: to be fully healthy. But I think I think Kevin
Speaker 2: Durantz is entering into that space of his career where, yes,
Speaker 2: he can be the best player for eighty two games,
Speaker 2: which you really want him to be, is the best
Speaker 2: player for about sixty five sixty games, and then allow
Speaker 2: him to play that high level basketball going into the postseason.
Speaker 2: Once you get about thirty four thirty five, you better
Speaker 2: have some help. And that's including Jordan, right, that's including Jordan.
Speaker 2: Even if you look at Larry Byrd and some of
Speaker 2: the things that he was accomplished the roster that he
Speaker 2: had around him, but Michael Jordan had, you know, without
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan, those like the Bulls still went to the
Speaker 2: conference finals without Michael Jordan that year that he was gone.
Speaker 2: So it's like when Jordan comes back and he's the
Speaker 2: best player in the world, one of it, you know,
Speaker 2: if not the greatest player of all time. When he
Speaker 2: enters it's like he's got Scotty Pippen, He's got Tony Kukoach,
Speaker 2: he's got Dennis, Robin and stee Like he's got a
Speaker 2: loaded roster that he steps in and leads them to
Speaker 2: another level. And I think that you have to have
Speaker 2: a roster around you. And I think Phoenix has done
Speaker 2: a good job. Devin Booker's young, he should be eating
Speaker 2: up a ton of minutes and usage rate. I think
Speaker 2: Bradley Beal is still in the middle middle of his
Speaker 2: prime in my opinion, even though he's in his thirties.
Speaker 2: I think those guys need to do the majority of
Speaker 2: the weight and then let Kevin Durant pick his spots.
Speaker 2: If you want to go win a championship, you know
Speaker 2: that to me. And the last thing I'll say about this,
Speaker 2: we talked about it on NBA to Day. A lot
Speaker 2: of these teams win their championship in their second year together.
Speaker 2: The Lakers won their championship with Kyle Gassol in their
Speaker 2: second year together, lost in the finals after the Trade
Speaker 2: won it. The Miami Heat lost in the conference finals
Speaker 2: when they got shocked. The next year they won the championship. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Lebron has won three championships in his new When he
Speaker 2: arrived in places, he won championship in the second year
Speaker 2: in Miami Championship, the second year in Cleveland Championship, the
Speaker 2: second year in Lakers. A lot of times when you
Speaker 2: enter into these things, it can take a year. Maybe
Speaker 2: you got to go get one or two minimum contracts
Speaker 2: our vets that say hey, I want to go there.
Speaker 2: So I think the Suns can win it this year.
Speaker 2: I think they will be very good this year. But
Speaker 2: if you ask me which version of the sun being
Speaker 2: one hundred percent healthy will be better this year's team
Speaker 2: or next year's team. When they've had Frank Bogo for
Speaker 2: a full year, they're not teaching systems to those guys.
Speaker 2: When when Bradley Beal and Devin Booker are now been
Speaker 2: on a team for a full year and Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2: So to me, we all look at it, Oh, it's
Speaker 2: win or you know winner is the bus that we
Speaker 2: know that that's BS. So when I look at these teams,
Speaker 2: I look at it from a space of oh, this year,
Speaker 2: they'll be very good. Next year if healthy have a
Speaker 2: chance to be great, that's the timetable because history has
Speaker 2: shown us that.
Speaker 1: Good use of BS. I mean, if this was JJ's pod,
Speaker 1: you guys would be drinking champagne and dropping f bomb.
Speaker 1: So at least you know that you're on a clean
Speaker 1: NFL sponsored podcast here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and JJ was supposed to edit that stuff out. Man,
Speaker 2: I think he's you know, I think he's setting me up.
Speaker 1: He must have still been drinking the champagne during the
Speaker 1: editing process, most likely. I know you've talked about this
Speaker 1: ad nauseum, and I want to get into your career
Speaker 1: because I'm just it's been so much fun to watch
Speaker 1: and and you know, call games with you and just
Speaker 1: kind of see your growth and maturation to becoming I
Speaker 1: think you know, one of the best analysts in basketball
Speaker 1: and I can't wait to see what's next for you.
Speaker 1: But I want to you know, Damian Lillard, I'm sure
Speaker 1: you guys again on NBA today have talked about this
Speaker 1: over and over and over again. You're probably talking tired
Speaker 1: of talking about it. But Damian Lillard, who by the way,
Speaker 1: still has to a fess up on a bet that
Speaker 1: he had on this podcast. He has not Warren the
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray Jersey that the Cardinals sent him into into
Speaker 1: the building. Yet he needs to do that for the
Speaker 1: bet that he lost against the Cardinals. When the Cardinals
Speaker 1: beat the Raiders, last year. But that's besides the point.
Speaker 1: I'm not holding a grudge or anything, but the trade
Speaker 1: to Milwaukee, does that put the Bucks as the team
Speaker 1: to beat in the East or is it Boston with
Speaker 1: Porzingis and Drew Holliday being added to that mix.
Speaker 2: Now, I would say that's one of the caveats that
Speaker 2: you see with these kind of championship teams brought together.
Speaker 2: It's like, you remember the Boston Celtics when they all
Speaker 2: got together that first year they won the championship. But
Speaker 2: I think one of the unexpected things that year was
Speaker 2: the emergence of Rondo, who is this caught guard. There's
Speaker 2: ultimately going to be one of the best guards in
Speaker 2: the league for a decade. So when you talk about
Speaker 2: bringing it all together, when I look at the Milwaukee Bucks,
Speaker 2: they got a brand new coach and Griff who agent Griffin,
Speaker 2: who I know very well. I think he's going to
Speaker 2: do a good job. I think the Terry Stotts situation,
Speaker 2: to me, that doesn't help because a lot of times
Speaker 2: when you get first year head coaches, you bring in
Speaker 2: a former head coach to kind of like just like, hey,
Speaker 2: this is the best way. Here's some advice, like this
Speaker 2: is your team. But I'm just here as like an
Speaker 2: elderly guidance individual, and so you know that to me
Speaker 2: is a little curious about how that's going to work out.
Speaker 2: But I stand by, Can the Bucks win the championship
Speaker 2: this year? Yes? If they stay healthy and all the things,
Speaker 2: I think next year they will be the best vers
Speaker 2: another shell. Now instead of thinking, hey, because you see
Speaker 2: this a lot of times going oh hey, I was
Speaker 2: gonna cut back door. Okay, hey, well look this is
Speaker 2: what those conversations now start to be more intuitive, where
Speaker 2: you know what your team is thinking. We'll keep doing
Speaker 2: football references like when you see Patrick Mahomes and Kelsey,
Speaker 2: these things are not all drawn up plays. When he
Speaker 2: go gets all these receptions and he does it, it's
Speaker 2: not drawn up. These guys have just been in the
Speaker 2: league together. They understand when his teammate is though he's
Speaker 2: looking for one guy. And that's where I think that
Speaker 2: intuitiveness and you start to know what your teammate is thinking.
Speaker 2: That doesn't come in six months, that doesn't come in
Speaker 2: a year, that comes over a long period of time.
Speaker 2: So can the Bucks win it? Yes, there should be
Speaker 2: one of those five teams. But when you have all
Speaker 2: of this roster change, especially on top teams. I'll include
Speaker 2: the Lakers in that. I think Denver is pretty much silid.
Speaker 2: That's why they're my early pick to repeat if Denver.
Speaker 2: You look at the changes in Boston, No Marcus Smart,
Speaker 2: but you added Drew and now you've got Brazingis has
Speaker 2: never made a playoff run. Brazingis has to go all
Speaker 2: eighty two and then go another twenty to get to
Speaker 2: the championship. So when I look at this, there's a
Speaker 2: handful of teams that have a ton of new changeovers
Speaker 2: and it's just a matter of like who can clean
Speaker 2: this up and get to their continuity factors.
Speaker 1: I teased a moment ago your rapid rise and ascension
Speaker 1: in this business, and it's been great to watch, whether
Speaker 1: it's hosting the podcast, hosting NBA Today, which you've done
Speaker 1: and then also obviously being a regular panelist as a
Speaker 1: basketball expert on that show, or Get Up or first
Speaker 1: Take calling games for either ESPN or the Nets. What
Speaker 1: do you enjoy most?
Speaker 2: Oh, that's tough, man. I think one. Let me give
Speaker 2: a shout out to you, Dave. You have look if
Speaker 2: you can sit down with Bill Walton as much as
Speaker 2: you have. You can sit down with any analyst. But
Speaker 2: I've learned so much from you and for people listening
Speaker 2: to this, like a lot of analysts don't get their
Speaker 2: flowers or their play by play don't get their flowers.
Speaker 2: But all the players that retire and get into this industry,
Speaker 2: you know this. There's not a lot of teaching that
Speaker 2: goes on at let's say the networks. It's a little
Speaker 2: bit of a sink or swim. It's a little bit
Speaker 2: of a how hard are you going to work? But
Speaker 2: as an analyst, we depend on guys like you and
Speaker 2: you're like, hey, that was a good job, or hey,
Speaker 2: do more of that. So I've learned so much from
Speaker 2: sitting next to you. So I am a product of
Speaker 2: sitting next to guys like you and Iron Eagle, Ryan
Speaker 2: Ruco Breen. I'm a product of that because when you
Speaker 2: guys see my passion and my love for the game,
Speaker 2: and you guys bring me under your wing and you're like, hey,
Speaker 2: this is good, Hey when you do this, this is
Speaker 2: the best way. Hey, good job going to break and
Speaker 2: reading the all of those things. I think it really
Speaker 2: takes a community to get guys in this space and
Speaker 2: We've seen it. We saw Jason Witten try and leave
Speaker 2: football and go right back to the BO. Not everybody
Speaker 2: has that move transition. So to have an individual like
Speaker 2: you that I can call a friend, an individual like
Speaker 2: you that you know we'll sit and you're like, hey,
Speaker 2: I'm about to do my picks, and I'm like, hey,
Speaker 2: let's sit and talk. Let's sit and talk through your
Speaker 2: picks for MVP and this like I'd love to. So
Speaker 2: I just owe so much to you and a lot
Speaker 2: of your a lot of your colleague for helping guys
Speaker 2: like me get to where I am.
Speaker 1: Well, you're very kind. I appreciate that, but you're a
Speaker 1: willing participant. I mean a lot of guys just think,
Speaker 1: you know, they don't take it seriously. I've seen it
Speaker 1: where guys just jump in. They are doing it because
Speaker 1: they want to stay in the game, but they don't
Speaker 1: really care. You care, and you know, JJ is the
Speaker 1: same way. I just worked with Bob Myers last week,
Speaker 1: former GM of the Warriors, first time doing a game,
Speaker 1: although he did some color for UCLA twenty years ago
Speaker 1: on radio. But like Bob is asking all these questions
Speaker 1: about kind of the mechanics and everything and it's it's great.
Speaker 1: I mean, ESPN's did a good job by Denny to
Speaker 1: find guys like yourself that that want to be good
Speaker 1: and care and want to improve and want to be coached.
Speaker 1: But you've been. You've been coached coached your whole life.
Speaker 1: And look, you and I have done a lot of
Speaker 1: NBA games today together, but I think my favorite game
Speaker 1: I've done with you was the game that you Bill
Speaker 1: Walton and I did maybe five years ago, UCLA Arizona.
Speaker 1: Obviously you played at Arizona, Luke. Walton's one of your
Speaker 1: best friends. You play and Bill played at UCLA, and
Speaker 1: you brought up Bill, So let's let's go there. First
Speaker 1: time you met Bill? What do you recall?
Speaker 2: Okay, I'll give you two so again, like, I'm a
Speaker 2: basketball nerd, so I'm with Bill Walton's son. That's that's
Speaker 2: what his nickname was. They were like Bill Walton Son Luke.
Speaker 2: Every article, like our our senior year in high school
Speaker 2: and moving, you know, probably probably our freshman sophomore year
Speaker 2: in college. It was Bill Walton Son Luke. That's all
Speaker 2: how he was always introduced, and so you know, I
Speaker 2: know who he is, and I'm just like, dude, like
Speaker 2: Bill Walton his dad. So the very first time where
Speaker 2: we have the answering machines back in our dorm, back
Speaker 2: in ninety eight. Yes, I'm dating myself and I get
Speaker 2: a phone call. Are there's a message and he pushed
Speaker 2: the button and it's and it's Bill Walton. So I'm
Speaker 2: like freaking out. Luke's unpacking doesn't give a damn. And
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh my god, Bill Walton is on my
Speaker 2: phone and he's like, Luke, this is Bill Walton calling
Speaker 2: lude Olsen called me and said that there were some
Speaker 2: forms that needed to be sent to our house. Can
Speaker 2: you send them to blank blank blank you know the address?
Speaker 2: You know blank blank blank blank blank blank And he
Speaker 2: says that he goes, I repeat, the address is blank
Speaker 2: blank blank blank blank blank, and I go and I'm
Speaker 2: a little kepus. Now I'm like, Luke, like did your
Speaker 2: family just move or something like does your dad leave
Speaker 2: the address that like an office? And he's like he
Speaker 2: looked at me and put his head down and he goes, Richard,
Speaker 2: my parents are hippies. I was born in that downstairs
Speaker 2: bedroom at that house. And anytime he calls, he will
Speaker 2: leave the address twice and I'm like, Okay, that's weird.
Speaker 2: So this was my first introduction. Now as forward about
Speaker 2: three months, right, we're sitting on the We're on a plane.
Speaker 2: I think we're leaving La to go back to Tucson,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, the stewardess walks up. Stewart
Speaker 2: walks up, and they're like, hey, your father is outside
Speaker 2: to Luke, and like the whole team is on the plane,
Speaker 2: like and with this one, we didn't fly commercial. We
Speaker 2: would are we flew We didn't fly privately, flew commercial.
Speaker 2: So Luke looks at me. He's like, hey, you want
Speaker 2: to meet Bill? And I'm like, damn right, I do.
Speaker 2: So me and him both get off the plane. So
Speaker 2: we're off the plane and we're talking to Bill. I
Speaker 2: get to meet Bill and got to meet Laurie. Laurie's amazing.
Speaker 2: So I'm talking to Bill and I keep looking at
Speaker 2: the gate. I keep looking at the gate like should
Speaker 2: we go? But the plane was about to take off,
Speaker 2: and Bill was like, Richard, calm down, do you see
Speaker 2: those two individuals? The plane is not leaving until we're done.
Speaker 2: And I'm sitting here like mind blown. As an eighteen
Speaker 2: year old kid, I'm like, wait, this dude can hold
Speaker 2: up a damn plane. For I was so confused and
Speaker 2: like for you know that Bill lives and lives in
Speaker 2: a realm and in a reality that is unlike anything
Speaker 2: that you can even really express the people, and so
Speaker 2: from that point on it was just you know, it's
Speaker 2: Bill's world and we're all just living in it, as
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: And he got you guys in trouble with the nc DOUBLEA.
Speaker 2: Yes, he got me suspended because Bill being like he is,
Speaker 2: Bill's one of my mentors. He's such a good person,
Speaker 2: and I was living in Arizona. He's got three other
Speaker 2: sons outside of Luke, all within the same range and
Speaker 2: all played college basketball. So you know, he reached out.
Speaker 2: Was like, hey, Luke calls me. He's like, Bill wants
Speaker 2: you to come out and hang out. So I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'll leave my Glendale, Arizona hot box that I'm living
Speaker 2: in and I'll fly out to San Diego and hang
Speaker 2: out with you guys, and I'll tell you that first trip,
Speaker 2: just spending time, and he got us a ticket to
Speaker 2: the to the NBA Finals because he was doing the game.
Speaker 2: That was my second NBA game i'd ever been to NCBA,
Speaker 2: finds out about it, and I get suspended, which is
Speaker 2: a little weird. I didn't understand how that works. But
Speaker 2: I'll say this. Bill took me to the airport on
Speaker 2: that and he gave me this advice. And I remember
Speaker 2: when all of the boys were like, hey, Bill's taking
Speaker 2: to the airport. I'm like, what does that mean. I'm
Speaker 2: still nervous of this dude. So he takes me by Richard,
Speaker 2: you know, I've been watching you, and I feel like
Speaker 2: you have a great opportunity to really change you in
Speaker 2: your family's life. But I want you to remember this.
Speaker 2: The worst thing that you can do for people that
Speaker 2: you love are things that they could and should do
Speaker 2: for themselves. Now repeat it back to me at eighteen
Speaker 2: years old, and like, look fast forward. I go into
Speaker 2: the NBA, and I do all this stuff, and I'm
Speaker 2: helping my family. I'm doing all this stuff, and then
Speaker 2: at about thirty when you know, there were some mistakes
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden you realize it's like, wait
Speaker 2: a second, now I understand what that man was trying
Speaker 2: to tell me. And it was because he had been
Speaker 2: through everything that I had already been through. So the
Speaker 2: fact that he would just give this wisdom some sometimes,
Speaker 2: you know, unannounced and unasked. It meant a lot to me,
Speaker 2: you know, And I think I I've grown closer to
Speaker 2: him as I've understood more of his mentality in the
Speaker 2: space that he was coming from, really just trying to
Speaker 2: help young kids navigate what was coming. And I didn't
Speaker 2: realize it at the time, but I still stand by
Speaker 2: that that that's a message now I give to people constantly,
Speaker 2: and it's because I heard it from him. At eighteen,
Speaker 2: I didn't understand it, but at thirty, I damned sure
Speaker 2: understood it. So I just try and embark that same
Speaker 2: message to young players when I talked to him.
Speaker 1: A couple more and we'll let you go, Richard, true
Speaker 1: or false? At Luke's wedding where I think you were
Speaker 1: the best man, Bill not only didn't wear a tux,
Speaker 1: but he wore a golf shirt with the NBA logo,
Speaker 1: very similar to what Rob Low. You know, there's the
Speaker 1: Rob Low meme with him wearing the NFL hat with
Speaker 1: the NFL logo. Is that true that Bill wore just
Speaker 1: a golf shirt with the NBA logo on it to
Speaker 1: the wedding?
Speaker 2: Oh? Okay, So let me really quickly break it down
Speaker 2: to your listeners. Dave is such a master as you know,
Speaker 2: it's such a massive brought caster or interviewer. He can
Speaker 2: do it all.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Damn well, that's true, Dave.
Speaker 1: You know, I know I've seen the picture. I've seen
Speaker 1: the picture.
Speaker 2: You've seen the picture. But you're asking me if that's true,
Speaker 2: as if I couldn't interview you about ten stories with Bill? Right,
Speaker 2: it's like Bill ran a hippie commune in San Diego.
Speaker 2: Fast forward, you know, we're doing that game for people
Speaker 2: that don't know I'm doing the game. Bill is there
Speaker 2: and Dave is in between us, and Bill is talking
Speaker 2: about how Richard used to sleep on my couch. Then
Speaker 2: fast forward in that game, Sean Miller, Sean Miller, form
Speaker 2: Arizona coach, gets kicked out of the UCLA Arizona game.
Speaker 2: So taking over for Sean Miller after he gets run
Speaker 2: is Jack Murphy. So Jack Murphy was a manager when
Speaker 2: me and Luke and Iggy and all of us were
Speaker 2: at Arizona. So now he's you know, he's the top
Speaker 2: assistant coach at Arizona under Sean. So in the middle
Speaker 2: of the game, Seawn gets thrown out, and then Jack
Speaker 2: Murphy takes over and Bill goes Jack Murphy. I loved him,
Speaker 2: but he used to sleep on my couch also, And
Speaker 2: you're like, how many people used to sleep on this
Speaker 2: man's couch? I can list a lot. JB. Bickerstaffs, you know,
Speaker 2: the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. I met JB.
Speaker 2: When we were twenty one years old, and so we
Speaker 2: would all hang out together. So it was just he
Speaker 2: he was such a unique individual. So the fact that
Speaker 2: you have worked with that man for years and you're
Speaker 2: asking me questions about how unique he is, I think
Speaker 2: you need to tell some more stories.
Speaker 1: I know, but this is a podcast where we interview
Speaker 1: superstar celebrities like yourself, and so yes, I could sit
Speaker 1: here for hours and tell Bill stories. But I actually
Speaker 1: don't think you told this to me. I know the story,
Speaker 1: our fans probably listeners don't know the story at all.
Speaker 1: But okay, So you're in the NBA, you're making ten
Speaker 1: plus million a year, you're living at Bill's house, sleeping,
Speaker 1: You're living at Bill Walton's house, and how did you
Speaker 1: and you got kicked out? Who kicked you out? And why?
Speaker 2: Okay? So okay, yes, I was making a good amount
Speaker 2: of money. I was very, very fortunate. But this is
Speaker 2: what it was. At seventeen years old. We would like
Speaker 2: we would go out and stay at Bill's house. Bill
Speaker 2: has a huge house. You've been there. There's the boy
Speaker 2: side and there's Bill side. Well, the boy side has
Speaker 2: the pool, the hot tub, so we could have all
Speaker 2: the fun that we wanted and Bill would never see
Speaker 2: it as long as we were up and out of
Speaker 2: there by five am, six am when he would take
Speaker 2: his morning naked hot tub.
Speaker 1: Wait, hold on, hold on, And that is first of all,
Speaker 1: the side of the house that has like multiple huts
Speaker 1: and outdoor showers in the pool where Bill would take
Speaker 1: the naked bath in the morning. Right, that's the boy's side.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, that's the boy side over there. So our
Speaker 2: goal was to be out of the party zone by
Speaker 2: four or five in the morning. Again, we don't need
Speaker 2: to get into details of that, but I will say
Speaker 2: this it was that. So after I got drafted, it
Speaker 2: was still Luke was still in college, so it was like, hey,
Speaker 2: we go stay at Bill. There's beds all there, beds
Speaker 2: in the living room, there's beds in the garden, there's
Speaker 2: beds spread out. There's the TP life sized TPE with
Speaker 2: a bed. So it was just like, dude, what am
Speaker 2: I going to pay for? I'm just going to sleep
Speaker 2: here on the bed and we hang out, we work out,
Speaker 2: we you know, kick it. So for it was like
Speaker 2: the then we got older and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: we weren't eighteen and nineteen year old kids. Now we're
Speaker 2: twenty three year old kids. And Luke is in the
Speaker 2: NBA and I'm in the NBA. But now we have
Speaker 2: more disposable money. But look, so we're just doing we're
Speaker 2: doing too much, if you will, and basically using his
Speaker 2: house as like our fun party pad during the summer.
Speaker 2: So Bill, Bill brings me and rich are, me and
Speaker 2: Luke into his office and are like, Richard, you guys
Speaker 2: are strewing my home. What is going on? Richard? Why
Speaker 2: don't you go to your parents' house and ruin it?
Speaker 2: And like me and Luke like he literally chastises me
Speaker 2: like I'm his son and I and I respect him
Speaker 2: and love him for it. So we got kicked out
Speaker 2: of his house. And after we got kicked out of
Speaker 2: his house enough times, because there wasn't one time one time,
Speaker 2: Bill saw us at like six in the morning about
Speaker 2: to go to bed, and me and Luke just got
Speaker 2: in his car and just drove straight to la where like,
Speaker 2: we don't want to see Bill at noon and him
Speaker 2: harassing us, yelling at us. So it was more of
Speaker 2: After we did that, Luke and I bought a home
Speaker 2: in Rancho Santa Fe, and then that's where we started
Speaker 2: hanging out with our friends and we would train with
Speaker 2: different guys that would come down. But yes, I've been
Speaker 2: kicked out of that home multiple times.
Speaker 1: He blamed it on Laurie, his wife, Bill did. He says,
Speaker 1: it's Laurie's It was Laurie's call.
Speaker 2: See, Laurie is entitled to all of that, and Laurie
Speaker 2: with one hundred percent right to take it out of
Speaker 2: our hundred I'm surprised that we lasted as long as
Speaker 2: we did. That shows you how graceful and loving they both.
Speaker 1: Laurie's amazing. Bill always says she's still here, you know,
Speaker 1: as if like she's going to leave, But what would
Speaker 1: he do without her? All right, last one and somewhat serious.
Speaker 1: So I'm just curious that there are some Cardinal players
Speaker 1: who do actually listen to this podcast. Buddha Baker listens
Speaker 1: to the pod and multiple Pro Bowls. So you've got
Speaker 1: some Cardinal players and you know, members of the organization
Speaker 1: that listen to this podcast. So I'm curious as somebody
Speaker 1: who has accomplished a lot in life, who has won
Speaker 1: an NBA championship, who has been with the Spurs, who
Speaker 1: were and still are one of the great organizations in
Speaker 1: pro sports. You've been to the finals with the Nets,
Speaker 1: You've seen organizations that are run really really well. You
Speaker 1: play for Loudolson in Arizona, won a lot of games.
Speaker 1: What would be your advice as the Cardinals are resetting
Speaker 1: first year general manager Manti ausen Fort, first year head
Speaker 1: coach Jonathan Gannon, trying to lay a foundation, build a
Speaker 1: culture to take the next step to winning a championship,
Speaker 1: because in the NFL, it's not like the NBA. In
Speaker 1: the NFL, in a year you can turn it around
Speaker 1: and be a Super Bowl contender. We've seen it many times.
Speaker 1: What would be your advice to the Cardinals organization, to
Speaker 1: Cardinal players as we're kind of sitting here struggling through
Speaker 1: year one of this transition one in six, to stay
Speaker 1: positive and focus on the big picture.
Speaker 2: Well I can't speak, like necessarily from an organizational standpoint,
Speaker 2: because I think that takes a lot of infrastructure and
Speaker 2: it takes a lot of time and thought. But I
Speaker 2: can talk about it from a player's standpoint. And this
Speaker 2: is my message to the players. I think the greatest
Speaker 2: mistakes that I ever made in my career were allowing
Speaker 2: my situation to dictate my mentality. And once I heard this,
Speaker 2: and it always sticks by me again, one of these
Speaker 2: things that just sticks in my head is not your
Speaker 2: situation that dictates your success. It's how you handle your
Speaker 2: situation that will dictate your success. And so it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: you know, when I first got drafted, I was in
Speaker 2: New Jersey and they had never won anything, they had
Speaker 2: never accomplished anything. So we all show up there and Jason,
Speaker 2: led by Jason Kidd and Keny Martin and Cary Kittles,
Speaker 2: we turn it around and it was just like Jason
Speaker 2: Kidd had a mentality that like, hey, oh no, this
Speaker 2: scene can be good. We can be good. So I
Speaker 2: think some of it has to do with your mentality.
Speaker 2: And I would tell every player when I made mistakes
Speaker 2: in my career is because the team was bad or
Speaker 2: I wasn't playing well, and then I got sad and depressed,
Speaker 2: and I put too much value in me as an
Speaker 2: individual athlete, and I put so much self worth in that,
Speaker 2: and then I you know, whether you're not working out
Speaker 2: as much as you're supposed to because you're on a
Speaker 2: bad team, and then all of a sudden you have
Speaker 2: an injury and you're not rehabbing. It just becomes this
Speaker 2: snowball effect. The sooner you can become impervious to the
Speaker 2: things around you and all you're doing is focusing on
Speaker 2: success brick by brick. Now you add two people doing that,
Speaker 2: you add ten people doing that, you add twenty people
Speaker 2: doing it. Now those bricks start to build and start
Speaker 2: to add up versus you know, but it has to
Speaker 2: start with you individually and saying it's like it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: I need to train like it's like we're twelve and zero.
Speaker 2: I need to train like we're zero and twelve. There
Speaker 2: should be no difference. And that's the trick as a
Speaker 2: professional athlete, train like you're getting ready for the super
Speaker 2: Bowl every single week. Because one thing that they say
Speaker 2: in San Antonio, and I'll leave you with this, is
Speaker 2: that they don't raise their level in the postseason, they
Speaker 2: don't raise their level. I would imagine Belichick is probably
Speaker 2: his level doesn't become more intense in the postseason. Their
Speaker 2: level is that intense in the preseason, in the regular season,
Speaker 2: in the first round they're in. Their level of intensity
Speaker 2: is like that all the time. It's the people that
Speaker 2: want to raise and then okay, this is fine, and
Speaker 2: then raise. That's why Pop always calls those thirty second
Speaker 2: timeouts into a game because he wants to fire up
Speaker 2: his guys and get them more intense. It's like, I
Speaker 2: don't care who we're playing, you missed that rotation it's
Speaker 2: the first play of the game, or you guys gonna
Speaker 2: wake up. And it was just so when you get
Speaker 2: to the postseason, Pop is talking to you the same
Speaker 2: way in the postseason in game seven as he's talking
Speaker 2: to you in in game three of the preseason. He's
Speaker 2: talking the exact same way and expects that exact same standard.
Speaker 2: So once the standard is the standard and there's no
Speaker 2: negotiating with that, then it becomes the player and how
Speaker 2: do I handle that? So I'm big on focusing in
Speaker 2: on how do I handle my situation versus allowing my
Speaker 2: situation to dictate my success.
Speaker 1: No, that's great stuff, man, And for a lot of
Speaker 1: young players, that's the kind of thing they need to
Speaker 1: hear from somebody like yourself that played almost two decades,
Speaker 1: won a championship, accomplished a ton, and are accomplishing a
Speaker 1: ton in a different walk of life. You're a star
Speaker 1: in this business, buddy, and I love you and I
Speaker 1: appreciate you, man. I look forward to seeing I know
Speaker 1: we have a game together Warrior Sons in Phoenix here
Speaker 1: in a few weeks, So look forward to seeing the impel.
Speaker 2: All right, can't wait, man. I appreciate you day, all.
Speaker 1: Right, Richard, Thanks, Buddy. Love what Richard had to say
Speaker 1: in terms of his advice for the Cardinals, because the
Speaker 1: way Richard approached things as an NBA player, whether it
Speaker 1: was with the Nets, with the Spurs, and certainly with
Speaker 1: Cleveland and Lebron James, because that's the way Lebron James
Speaker 1: approaches everything, meaning every practice, every rep, every game is
Speaker 1: a big deal to be taken seriously and an opportunity
Speaker 1: to improve, regardless of the record, regardless of the circumstances
Speaker 1: surrounding the individual. I think it's terrific advice. That is
Speaker 1: something I know Manti asin Fort and Jonathan Gannon are
Speaker 1: trying to instill in this team as well. We are
Speaker 1: presented by BETTMGM, the official sports betting partner of the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals, and by Heila River Resorts and Casinos. You
Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter at Pash Pod, and we'd
Speaker 1: also love to hear from you. You can rate us,
Speaker 1: review us, tell us what you think. If you have
Speaker 1: any guests in mind you'd like to hear from, you
Speaker 1: can tell us that as well by going to your
Speaker 1: favorite podcast platform. Our thanks to ESPN's Richard Jefferson. Thanks
Speaker 1: to you for listening to another edition of the Day
Speaker 1: Pash Podcast