Speaker 1: M hm m hm. Welcome back all the smoke, Jack
Speaker 1: l A. We got new lighting and ship like. It
Speaker 1: feels like we're elevating right now. Back to back if
Speaker 1: we're back man season four, Sir, I ain't got no
Speaker 1: sweaty hands. You got dry hands. God must be good.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to tell you everyone's been checking out the
Speaker 1: ship we shot in Vegas. I hope you guys have
Speaker 1: been joined our Vegas run legends. Now your shout out
Speaker 1: Legends the Wind Hotel. But now we're back to live guests.
Speaker 1: And this is someone When I thought of this show,
Speaker 1: I was like, I can't wait to get this person
Speaker 1: because I think he's such a misunderstood person. It took
Speaker 1: his four motherfucking season to get him. We've been riding
Speaker 1: for the whole time. You already know buddy's here. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the show. The White Howards good Man. Good to see. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to get right to him. Man, you were
Speaker 1: telling us this crazy ship you were doing in the summer,
Speaker 1: So share with the world and when when when when
Speaker 1: can the rest of us watch it? Oh? Man? So
Speaker 1: this summer I decided to go to Jordan's Way Rum,
Speaker 1: Jordan's Middle East, Middle east hundred and fifteen degrees during
Speaker 1: the day, just board forty during the night. UM, and
Speaker 1: I decided to do this Special Forces show and everybody's like, bro,
Speaker 1: you're crazy, Like you could die, and yeah, I could
Speaker 1: have literally died over there and shoot that I was doing.
Speaker 1: So it wasn't like it was a reality show where
Speaker 1: we go home to our nice hotel and we chill. No, sir,
Speaker 1: we're really and the ship the whole day, every day,
Speaker 1: all day. What kind of stuff are you guys doing?
Speaker 1: The last day I got hitting app uh. While I
Speaker 1: was there for ten days total, um and some people
Speaker 1: was getting put out the first day. Some people getting
Speaker 1: put out the first day, but the last day, knowing
Speaker 1: how strong is you, just you had to let him
Speaker 1: killad guys. They tied us up. So the last day
Speaker 1: it was me and my partner and her name is
Speaker 1: Carly Lloyd. She's a soccer player one two I think
Speaker 1: World Championships. As me and her, we're trekking through the desert.
Speaker 1: We gotta trick three thousand meters through the desert and
Speaker 1: get from one checkpoint to another. And right before we
Speaker 1: went and start doing that, I had just learned how
Speaker 1: to use the map and the company. So what's between
Speaker 1: trick and running and walking like well, trekking, it's like
Speaker 1: you're going up up hills, down hills. We hide it
Speaker 1: under rocks, we hide it under like in valleys because
Speaker 1: these dogs chasing us. Black Hall helicopters looking forward. Its
Speaker 1: people on foot. Yeah, some people like that. THU. So
Speaker 1: you know that was the last day. But I got
Speaker 1: set on fire tear gas. I had to run up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you volunteer for this ship. I did volunteer, and I'm
Speaker 1: telling people I'm abody to go do this. They're like, bro,
Speaker 1: what the hell is wrong with you? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: submerged in the car. Yeah, I wasn't like this. I
Speaker 1: had to hold on to the steering wheel and they
Speaker 1: dropped the truck in the water and I had to
Speaker 1: stand there was sitting there like this until they got
Speaker 1: fully submerged in the water. And I had to wait
Speaker 1: till the staff sergeant came and tap my shoulder and
Speaker 1: then I had to run take my seat but out
Speaker 1: the back and jump up and say number thirteen is okay.
Speaker 1: I wasn't even the name. I was just a number.
Speaker 1: But it was the craziest thing and the best thing
Speaker 1: I ever did, because I really went to go see
Speaker 1: if I could break myself, see where I where I'm
Speaker 1: at mentally and physically and spiritually, and try to go
Speaker 1: beyond that. So doing that really tested every part of me,
Speaker 1: like I can really do anything with my mind, no
Speaker 1: matter what it is. You know. One day we had
Speaker 1: to write death letters and that was probably the hardest
Speaker 1: thing emotion that we had to do. So we started
Speaker 1: out the day getting tear gas. We're going this room,
Speaker 1: take off the mask. Staffs are to asked us questions
Speaker 1: and it's like something to squeeze the life out of us.
Speaker 1: So by the time we leave there, our spirits is done.
Speaker 1: Then we have to go fight. So we get back
Speaker 1: to the hotel. We rest for a little bit without
Speaker 1: the hotel. I'm sorry that's what I called it, but
Speaker 1: to make it seem better. But we had to put
Speaker 1: on these bags and run about two miles up the
Speaker 1: mountain and through this valley. They take the bags off
Speaker 1: and we had to just scrap. And after that we
Speaker 1: had to go right death let us to our to
Speaker 1: our families and then read them out loud. So that
Speaker 1: was like it really broke me down, but it taught
Speaker 1: me a lot about myself and fear, how to really
Speaker 1: overcome it and use fear as a tool. You know,
Speaker 1: people allow fear to overtake them, but we can use
Speaker 1: fear as a ladder, you know what I'm saying. It's
Speaker 1: just like let's say you was fighting somebody that was
Speaker 1: a giant eight foot tall. You might be scared, but
Speaker 1: ship that fear gonna give you no strength to go
Speaker 1: beat his ass, you know what I'm saying. And that's
Speaker 1: something that we learned. And then how to control that,
Speaker 1: control the anger and control the fear, control all our
Speaker 1: emotions into one quick moment and then let it go.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, a lot of times we
Speaker 1: get so caught up in the rage and the anger
Speaker 1: that we hold. Yeah, but we had to learn how
Speaker 1: to be in that moment and then let it go.
Speaker 1: After that, I had PTSD like crazy. Let me know,
Speaker 1: I ain't control the mind when coming out that to
Speaker 1: be out probably by January, I think, Yeah, what make
Speaker 1: sure you guys stay on the lookout for that NBA
Speaker 1: season is upon us. Um you still got it in you?
Speaker 1: Where's your mind at right now? As far as possibly
Speaker 1: talking to team coming back could be done, Like, well,
Speaker 1: I want to play like I enjoyed the game. It'll
Speaker 1: be your nine team, So yeah, I want to play.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, it's like no teams are
Speaker 1: going to really allow me to play. And that's how
Speaker 1: I've been feeling, you know, from the last situation with
Speaker 1: the Lakers. You know, I felt like I did enough
Speaker 1: to help them win the championship, deserve a spot on
Speaker 1: the team and a chance to start and get big minutes,
Speaker 1: and it didn't happen. So, you know, after that, I
Speaker 1: was like, man, I don't want to have to bust
Speaker 1: my ass for another whole summer, train three days, going
Speaker 1: crazy diet, do all this ship and then get back
Speaker 1: to a team and sit on the bench and I
Speaker 1: could really help somebody win and still play like I
Speaker 1: ain't lost the beat. It's just I sit on the
Speaker 1: bench so people don't see that. Teams don't see that,
Speaker 1: you know. And it's been like, damn, do I want
Speaker 1: to just call it quits and do some other stuff
Speaker 1: for you know, go back at it and show people
Speaker 1: I still got it? What you want to do? Man,
Speaker 1: I really just I want to enjoy my life first
Speaker 1: and foremost my kids get older, you know, I really
Speaker 1: want to be there for them, but hell, I want
Speaker 1: to go out on top for real. I still got it.
Speaker 1: I still can't hoop. What has the transition been like
Speaker 1: for you? Because you were arguably one of the biggest
Speaker 1: stars in the league, top two, three four players in
Speaker 1: the league for for a good run and then kind
Speaker 1: of transitioning into a role player with all due respect,
Speaker 1: how was that? I mean, that's not a physical transition,
Speaker 1: it's a mental transition. Transition for you, man, it was tough.
Speaker 1: I remember I really told nobody this story. I remember
Speaker 1: set my close people going back to the Lakers and
Speaker 1: trying to get a job the second time with them
Speaker 1: and meeting with uh the GM spotted by four or
Speaker 1: five players, Rundo, a D a couple more players, and
Speaker 1: Kirk says to me, you're not Dwight Howard no more.
Speaker 1: Kirk Kirk ramas so he says, you're not Dwight Howard
Speaker 1: no more, and don't expect to be Dwight Howard when
Speaker 1: you come to the team, And I'm like, damn, how
Speaker 1: You're not gonna want me to be myself? And it
Speaker 1: really just hit me, like and I just gotta shut
Speaker 1: my mouth and do what I'm asked to do and
Speaker 1: just not allow anything to affect me winning this championship.
Speaker 1: And I was real hard, you know, to say, ship,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna get the ball in the posts. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna get a lot of minutes. It ain't gonna
Speaker 1: be that way from me. So let me go and
Speaker 1: get that out of my mind, you know, put my
Speaker 1: ego away and should just go in and check How long?
Speaker 1: How hard was that thought? Like I said to me,
Speaker 1: You've never really been too much of an ego, But yeah,
Speaker 1: it wasn't It didn't take that long because I really
Speaker 1: wanted to just win and come back and show people
Speaker 1: in that l a like the first time I came.
Speaker 1: I was hurt there unter the whole season toward my
Speaker 1: labor room. I don't think nobody in the world would
Speaker 1: play with a touring labroom, but playing with that the
Speaker 1: whole season, just coming off the worst back surgery you
Speaker 1: could ever have as a player, and I personally, I
Speaker 1: don't even told you. I was like, bro, you're coming
Speaker 1: back to song. I did come back too soon, but
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I want to come back and show
Speaker 1: everybody I could, you know, get back to the court
Speaker 1: and play and uh should it just didn't work out.
Speaker 1: So when I came at this time, I was like, nah,
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna let nothing stop this one. And we
Speaker 1: got it. But why why why people say it's ego
Speaker 1: when really you didn't. You didn't put in the work
Speaker 1: to get that respect, you know what I'm saying, Like,
Speaker 1: that's why I wouldn't call it ego. You put in
Speaker 1: the work. And most players that put in the work
Speaker 1: and done what you've done and should be a shoeing
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer, they shouldn't have to go through that,
Speaker 1: you know what. They shouldn't have to go through that,
Speaker 1: And that's the fun part of the game. But it's like,
Speaker 1: for me, I felt like if I would say something
Speaker 1: or be open about how I felt about the whole
Speaker 1: situation here to make it worse, you know. So any
Speaker 1: situation that has happened with me during my career, for me,
Speaker 1: I'm like, you know what, I know a lot of
Speaker 1: this ship ain't what it really is. People just talking.
Speaker 1: So I'll just keep my mouth shut going about my
Speaker 1: business because it ain't gonna stop me from doing what
Speaker 1: I do to pick and choose them. We're gonna get
Speaker 1: definitely more basketball, But I want to know, I mean,
Speaker 1: do we Is there a chance to see you um
Speaker 1: in the w W E by any chance? I always
Speaker 1: thought you were like an action figure. This is one
Speaker 1: of the strongest. My father was telling someone the story before.
Speaker 1: So when we was in Orlando, we was in Toronto
Speaker 1: and this motherfucker was shooting half court shots from his
Speaker 1: sitting like it was no effort, no nothing. And it
Speaker 1: was me, who was me sweet lou Vincent Jamir all
Speaker 1: trying to tackle you once? Brandon Bass as strong as
Speaker 1: a mother. This dude threw all of us off him
Speaker 1: like we were children, and I just looked. I took us,
Speaker 1: You know me, I'm a ship truck. I took a
Speaker 1: lot because just like I don't remember that ain't right
Speaker 1: brolly to try to duct That's what it was we
Speaker 1: were trying to. I didn't remember. We're just trying to
Speaker 1: duct tape on bro he threw Brandon Bass me, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know. Vince was that may Rochard
Speaker 1: and Jamir's lors. I was like, but that's how we
Speaker 1: did it. Get off me. It was crazy. But back
Speaker 1: to it, is there a chance we could see you
Speaker 1: doing I think, I mean, your personality, you big as
Speaker 1: a You're a big man. I would definitely uh enjoy being,
Speaker 1: uh a real wrestler like that. Like my whole life
Speaker 1: growing up as a kid, you know, me and my
Speaker 1: brother wrestled. I played around and like I was the
Speaker 1: whole you know what I'm saying. And then you know
Speaker 1: my nickname is Randy Savage, so I tell you right
Speaker 1: there in the room, Yeah, Randy Savage. That was my ship,
Speaker 1: so uh, why not? You know, I really enjoy the crowd.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed entertaining people. I enjoyed the fans and stuff
Speaker 1: like that, and the atmosphere is crazy. I went the
Speaker 1: Summer Summer Slam this summer and uh, I got a
Speaker 1: chance to do some promos for Wrestling and Triple Age
Speaker 1: and uh, Stephanie McMahon was there. She had just became
Speaker 1: the new CEO of w w E and I did
Speaker 1: my promo and it was like, man, that was the
Speaker 1: best promo of the whole the whole out, Man, do
Speaker 1: you really want to wrestle? And I was like, I
Speaker 1: think it would be great. You know, I feel like
Speaker 1: there's so many other avenues that I can do. And
Speaker 1: after doing this thing that I did and with the
Speaker 1: military this summers, like my mind is the most valuable
Speaker 1: things and it's the strongest and with that, I could
Speaker 1: do it, do anything. It's the sharpest tool that I
Speaker 1: have in the tip and ship. So if wrestling can happen, man,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go get that better in l A. This
Speaker 1: this next WrestleManias in l A. Yes, that might be it.
Speaker 1: That might be your You're coming your welcome party. Were
Speaker 1: not about it last night, man dealing in July, and
Speaker 1: I was like, it was a lot of stuff that
Speaker 1: Shock did, was a lot of stuff that he couldn't
Speaker 1: do that everything's gonna go down. He's gonna take all
Speaker 1: that them they're gonna throw. We were just talking all
Speaker 1: that stuff that Shot can do because he was too big.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. They got an athletic, more charismatic,
Speaker 1: just just a sillier version of that. They're gonna look
Speaker 1: they let me tell you, it's too kind of silly.
Speaker 1: And I knew it was, like I said, I got
Speaker 1: a chance to only play with him for a year,
Speaker 1: But just seeing him, I'm just like, yeah, when I
Speaker 1: heard he was going to l A, I was like,
Speaker 1: first of all, make sure you're healthy. But he's gonna
Speaker 1: take the world by storm because he is a big
Speaker 1: that like he was made for the big steak, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, his personality all that ship. So
Speaker 1: it was it was it'll be a perfect match. I've
Speaker 1: been living in an Asians two thousand three, your home Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Talk about your upbringing. What was it like, man? Uh? Well,
Speaker 1: I went to the same school my whole life, from
Speaker 1: kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade. Uh. I
Speaker 1: started out in College Park and in the area that
Speaker 1: we lived, it was so bad that, you know, my
Speaker 1: parents wouldn't let us walk down the street to the
Speaker 1: gas station. And so since we couldn't go nowhere, I
Speaker 1: just played basketball all day, you know, I say, at home.
Speaker 1: At first, I didn't have no goals. So I had
Speaker 1: a magic just a the VC Yard VHS tape about training,
Speaker 1: and I just trained all day and that's what I
Speaker 1: really got my skills at I tried to stay out
Speaker 1: of everything that was going on around me, people getting killed, ambulances,
Speaker 1: hearing gunshots and all that stuff. I was like, no,
Speaker 1: I can't, that ain't me. Then the school I went
Speaker 1: to was a small Christian School, but it was in
Speaker 1: a really bad area Ben Hill and Ben Hill in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Uh So my my class happened to be the baddest
Speaker 1: class in the school, and I happened to be the
Speaker 1: silliest person in the school. And I'm the tallest, so
Speaker 1: they took that as me being bad. So they end
Speaker 1: up taking us the right street. Uh and we had
Speaker 1: to do like Scared straight. So I'm going into Scared
Speaker 1: Street and they're like, yeah, this big gig, we're gonna
Speaker 1: get him. I said, I'm playing basketball and I'm not
Speaker 1: doing this. So after that I really holed into the
Speaker 1: basketball man. And my dad, he was a so he
Speaker 1: was always working. My mom she worked at the courthouse.
Speaker 1: So I said I did not want to be in
Speaker 1: them two places. And I stayed in the gym. And
Speaker 1: I told my dad at ten, I wanted to go
Speaker 1: to the NBA. And he said, well, if you really
Speaker 1: want to do it, you gotta sacrifice everything. And I said, man,
Speaker 1: that's easy, because that's how much I wanted. So he said, well,
Speaker 1: make a plan, and I said, all right't bet and
Speaker 1: I wrote down all my goals. Wrote I wrote down
Speaker 1: I wanted to be the number one pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: I went at ten years old, what I wanted to
Speaker 1: be the first pick in the draft of number one
Speaker 1: player in high school. Coming out of high school, I
Speaker 1: wanted to put my school in my city on the map,
Speaker 1: like I wrote all these goals. Now, I put it
Speaker 1: over my bed, and you know, every day when I
Speaker 1: walked into my room, when I woke up, I just
Speaker 1: looked at it, like that's what I'm gonna do. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get there. I'm gonna get there. And that's what
Speaker 1: I worked on every day. If I wasn't working on
Speaker 1: bed the number one pick, and I wasn't, I wasn't
Speaker 1: trying to be you know, Dwight Howard so. And I
Speaker 1: had so many people telling me you wasn't gonna make it.
Speaker 1: I had somebody that one of my teachers at school
Speaker 1: tell me you was just a dumb job. You aren't
Speaker 1: gonna be ship. And I said, I'm gonna make you
Speaker 1: eat your words. I'm gonna show you. And I had
Speaker 1: cops tell me, I had firemen tell me I used
Speaker 1: to play play uh in the streets and you just
Speaker 1: tell me you wasn't gonna make it. So I used
Speaker 1: all that ammunition, you know, from ten on up until
Speaker 1: I got ready to get drafted. Then I got fifteen,
Speaker 1: I broke my leg. It was probably about five eleven
Speaker 1: at the time. Yeah, I broke my leg. Dan and
Speaker 1: I grew to six eleven with my leg broke. What
Speaker 1: they put it was, it was the craziest summer in
Speaker 1: my life. This was really after that, I promised myself
Speaker 1: I would always stay humble, I would never let the
Speaker 1: money whatever happened to me changed me. Um So I
Speaker 1: just started playing with Atlanta Celtics, and this is when
Speaker 1: Josh and Randolph was They was at the time number one,
Speaker 1: number two. I was just coming on the scene and
Speaker 1: lph No Randolph Morris, Yeah, he went to Kentucky end
Speaker 1: up going to China win championship. So, uh, one day
Speaker 1: I'm at Sametown jam and I go up and try
Speaker 1: to dunk. Somebody blocked my dunk, come down, break my leg,
Speaker 1: and everything stopped for me right there, No more, no
Speaker 1: more basketball. The little cheeks I was talking to they
Speaker 1: stopped talking to me because they was like, ain't gonna
Speaker 1: be shipping no more. So I was like, damn, this
Speaker 1: is crazy. I said, you know what, I gotta really
Speaker 1: like it, and I ain't gonna let nothing change me.
Speaker 1: So after that, I got up every morning at four o'clock.
Speaker 1: I was on the track. I was running. I knew
Speaker 1: I had to be as shape because I was like
Speaker 1: these things as big as ship in the league, and
Speaker 1: I was skinny. I ain't had no muscles then, so
Speaker 1: I said I gotta be a then out run all over.
Speaker 1: So I tried to get in the best shape. Then
Speaker 1: after I ran every morning and went to the gym
Speaker 1: and Dion Glovet was my trainer, so we played one
Speaker 1: on one every day. He worked on every skill that
Speaker 1: I needed to get to the league. Then after that
Speaker 1: and went to the weight room and tried to get big,
Speaker 1: and it just won't working. So I couldn't live in
Speaker 1: high school, and then after that it led up to
Speaker 1: being a number one pick. Any other sports growing upside basketball, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I played baseball. I was a picture pitched about ninety
Speaker 1: miles an hour, and I played football. That was my
Speaker 1: ship right there. I was defensive then I used to
Speaker 1: little tackling people. I wanted to hit people and break legs.
Speaker 1: I broke a couple of legs when I was uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was small. Though I wasn't likely, but I just
Speaker 1: want everybody. That was the only way I could let
Speaker 1: out my aggression. So I used to just want to
Speaker 1: hit people, but not in a bad way to hurt them,
Speaker 1: but just hit him. Yeah. Yeah. So my mom just
Speaker 1: she made me stop playing football because I was really
Speaker 1: trying to destroy out there. So that's when I went
Speaker 1: to basketball. And I used to never dunk the ball
Speaker 1: because ya'll imagine it. No, yeah, I swear to god,
Speaker 1: I never dunked the ball. All I did was shooting
Speaker 1: out the glass. US called me win days man because
Speaker 1: I used to get all the rebounds and I should
Speaker 1: do everything out the glass. That's it, that's it, that's it.
Speaker 1: So then, um, somebody said you should start dunking. Then
Speaker 1: once I started dunking, I never stopped. I never stopped
Speaker 1: after that. Who did you look up to any idols?
Speaker 1: My favorite player was Wild Chamberlin. When I was young,
Speaker 1: I only had this robot and it used to always
Speaker 1: talk to me. You. I would say Wood Chamberla and
Speaker 1: a hundred rebounds, and I was like, who is what Chamberlain?
Speaker 1: And then I just I just started watching his tapes
Speaker 1: and I wanted to be like Wood Chamberling. Then when
Speaker 1: I moved to l A. His house was actually right
Speaker 1: next to mine. That was like some inspiration for me.
Speaker 1: I just looked out my window and I could see
Speaker 1: us house, Like, dang, I gotta go in because we'll watching. Uh.
Speaker 1: So you decide not to go to college? Were you
Speaker 1: seriously did you consider college at all? You know, I'm done.
Speaker 1: I never wanted to go to college, not because college
Speaker 1: isn't cool. Are good for some people, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: for me. You just want to get straight to the
Speaker 1: I wanted to go to the NBA. That was my dream.
Speaker 1: That was what I had wrote down from my vision,
Speaker 1: and I felt like college would have just been a
Speaker 1: distraction for me. Um. I did visit a couple of schools,
Speaker 1: but I just didn't like. I thought it was gonna
Speaker 1: be too much because I was with Tailor. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: need to stay so I had to stay focused. When
Speaker 1: I was young. What was that? I mean, what was
Speaker 1: that process? Like You're jumping from a Christian school in
Speaker 1: Atlanta into the league to the number one pick? Like
Speaker 1: what was that transition? Like? What was the process like
Speaker 1: leading up to the draft? It was crazy? Man. Um
Speaker 1: my school I only had sixteen people in my graduating class,
Speaker 1: I ain't know nothing. I was green to the whole
Speaker 1: world because I stayed in the box. I played basketball,
Speaker 1: and I was with my class and my team all
Speaker 1: the time. And so going from that to being in
Speaker 1: Orlando and then the franchise player, it was like I
Speaker 1: was growing up in front of everybody. So all my mistakes,
Speaker 1: everything that I was doing, everybody was seeing eighteen and
Speaker 1: just turned eighteen. So I didn't really have a chance
Speaker 1: to grow up or make mistakes and really learn from them.
Speaker 1: You know, my mistakes were seen by the whole world
Speaker 1: and everything was judge based off that, you know. So
Speaker 1: for me, it was like, damn, after all this stuff,
Speaker 1: I gotta really really not. I didn't want to do nothing,
Speaker 1: be involved with no people. Just stick to myself because
Speaker 1: it just became a lot thoughts on them possibly lowering
Speaker 1: the entry lad you can go back like it, um,
Speaker 1: But I just think that a lot of those players
Speaker 1: need guidance, um. And I think that it's bad that
Speaker 1: the NBA is not having teams the more vents on
Speaker 1: them because I think that these younger players need guys.
Speaker 1: After we've been saying that the past two years, I
Speaker 1: had some great teammates when I was young, but I
Speaker 1: think they were you they were young as well. It's
Speaker 1: kind of like the generation outside of basketball. You have uh,
Speaker 1: young women raising young kids, so you have young men
Speaker 1: raising younger man. It is like none of us are
Speaker 1: really getting the proper guidance. And you know, I feel
Speaker 1: like this next generation, I need guidance. So these eighteen
Speaker 1: ye rolls that's coming in and stuff like that, they
Speaker 1: had the proper guide. That's the proper teacher. Man, It's
Speaker 1: gonna be great. Um. You get off to a little
Speaker 1: bit of a slow start. First three seasons, missed the playoffs.
Speaker 1: What was that like for you? Someone who was accustomed
Speaker 1: to winning uh Number one picked out the face of
Speaker 1: the franchise and you guys can't get to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: How frustrating was that for you? I just felt like
Speaker 1: it was growing pains. I felt like it was kind
Speaker 1: of like where I went through in high school where
Speaker 1: our team was pretty good but we didn't win the championship.
Speaker 1: So I've always looked at it like next year is
Speaker 1: going to be better. You know, we need to add
Speaker 1: this piece. We need to add this piece we need.
Speaker 1: But they come to you early on and ask you
Speaker 1: that even though you were young, I never got asked
Speaker 1: anything at all, not my no time with the Magic,
Speaker 1: not until I asked to be traded, and then it
Speaker 1: was like, no, I didn't want to ask me questions.
Speaker 1: So then I was like, well, this ain't cool. Y'all
Speaker 1: talked to me in eight years, so how I was
Speaker 1: supposed to? You know, think now you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So I think a lot of people got that whole
Speaker 1: situation Orlando twisting and turned upside down, and after that
Speaker 1: it kind of like, really, I think it messed up
Speaker 1: my image, you know with fans and people like that,
Speaker 1: we'll talk to us, because I mean, there was there
Speaker 1: was some head button with you, and stand Stan was
Speaker 1: a was a character boy. It was great X and
Speaker 1: those guys. But just outside of that, like personality kind
Speaker 1: of managing and dealing with people was a little uh.
Speaker 1: But like I said, that's one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you, because I felt like
Speaker 1: you were such a misunderstood person, like not a bad
Speaker 1: but a bone in your body. And to me, sometimes
Speaker 1: that hurt you because you're such a nice guy, like
Speaker 1: you're not a mean person. And I say, I wish
Speaker 1: the white was an asshole, because it would be couldn't
Speaker 1: you imagine how much uglier it could get if he
Speaker 1: was like if he was mean? But I know you're like,
Speaker 1: you're really like a kind soul, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So talk to us about that experience and how you feel,
Speaker 1: you know, through the way media push it out and
Speaker 1: you know, little snippets that would get here and there,
Speaker 1: they're kind of, you know, kind of painted a bad
Speaker 1: picture who you actually. I really hated it, to be
Speaker 1: honest with you, Um, the whole stand situation. I was
Speaker 1: really upset at how we ended that season when we
Speaker 1: was in the finals. Um, but you know, I knew
Speaker 1: that we just played a team that had more experience,
Speaker 1: so we couldn't blame it on anybody. And after that season, UM,
Speaker 1: the year I wanted to get traded. I just asked quietly,
Speaker 1: two otis I want a new change for my life.
Speaker 1: I've been in Orlando eight years. I just want to
Speaker 1: change the direction. I felt like I had a lot
Speaker 1: of yes people around me at the time and no
Speaker 1: offense to those people now, But I feel like I
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna mature and become a better person. Almost in
Speaker 1: a bubble again. Yeah, So I just felt like I
Speaker 1: needed to to change my way as a move. So
Speaker 1: I guess they took that as me saying Orlando wasn't
Speaker 1: good enough. And I hated my teammates, I hated the
Speaker 1: city and all this stuff, and it became like a
Speaker 1: story and for me, I looking back on it, I
Speaker 1: should have just said, no, this is not what's going on.
Speaker 1: This is what it is. But this is early social
Speaker 1: media though, so it's really whatever they put out there.
Speaker 1: You don't really have a voice yet, really, but I
Speaker 1: just allowed too much to have it. It's just a
Speaker 1: lot of situations in the NBA, well in my NBA
Speaker 1: career that I was allowed to just having and people talking.
Speaker 1: I didn't really say too much on it because I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: why why? But then the people's perception forms their reality,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So I'm over here living
Speaker 1: in my reality like this ship ain't bothering me, ain't
Speaker 1: think about it. But to everyone else like tea, yeah,
Speaker 1: teams are seeing this. All these people are seeing this,
Speaker 1: and they're like and the white like this are he
Speaker 1: doing this? And I'm like this ain't even nowhere near
Speaker 1: how I am. Are close to the truth. So I
Speaker 1: wish I would have said more things, but I'm and
Speaker 1: in my mind, I'm like, na, let me just focus
Speaker 1: on things that matter to me and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: But you know, I hated how that situation or Lando
Speaker 1: was because it really was a great time now and there,
Speaker 1: you we was together down there. I felt like we
Speaker 1: was really the tar came off the Finals with the Lakers.
Speaker 1: So the next year, me, Vince and I think Jason Wayne, yeah,
Speaker 1: and I just felt like we needed more time together
Speaker 1: and we was getting older. We just needed to add,
Speaker 1: you know, just a couple more pieces, but we had
Speaker 1: a core, and I felt like the media and people
Speaker 1: were just trying to put me against the team. And
Speaker 1: I heard my back that year and people on the
Speaker 1: team thinking I'm not really hurt that I'm out partying
Speaker 1: and doing other stuff, and I'm like, I ain't even
Speaker 1: that type of dude to be doing some ship like
Speaker 1: that to my teammates, like that ain't even me. So
Speaker 1: it was just so much going on, and just looking back,
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I really should have just stepped up
Speaker 1: and said something, But I was in my own little
Speaker 1: world thinking about my kids, are you know, basketball or
Speaker 1: just chilling. I wentn't thinking about what people were saying
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. I just tried to keep that
Speaker 1: out of my mind. But hindsight, I should have said
Speaker 1: some things talking about their team and two thousand nine
Speaker 1: talk about their team, the complished champs. Hold on before
Speaker 1: you do that. We could talk about that, but I
Speaker 1: want to make sure we talked about two. Um how
Speaker 1: we switched the game playing going in the Eastern Finals.
Speaker 1: But they talk about that scene the first when we, uh,
Speaker 1: didn't we like remember what the stance or something like,
Speaker 1: you know we're going up? Yeah, but we were playing
Speaker 1: against Boston. Yeah, remember smacked them? Yeah, we beat the ship.
Speaker 1: It was smacking. I don't know him And to other
Speaker 1: his team, they said the same time, they did nasty
Speaker 1: and then we got you was killing, but I swept
Speaker 1: them ship out. Question. Yeah, So we get to Boston
Speaker 1: and I'm like, let's keep doing what we're doing. No,
Speaker 1: We've beating teams by like twenty plus points. Yes, and
Speaker 1: stands like, no, we're gonna switch the whole thing up.
Speaker 1: What y'all stopped playing in side out? I don't know what,
Speaker 1: I don't know. We just stopped points against us? Just
Speaker 1: how y'all swept us, y'all throw it in him. If
Speaker 1: you didn't do if you didn't double the trip, it
Speaker 1: was over. We did thinking roll, but we was doing
Speaker 1: yes in the first quarter, Yes, smoking, and then Stan
Speaker 1: was like no, new everything. It's then we went to
Speaker 1: him and was like yo, bro, like why are you
Speaker 1: doing yeah? And then we then we got down O three?
Speaker 1: Didn't we know it was down too? Then we won
Speaker 1: two in a row. Then they beat us in game six. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's what happened. And I think that was one of
Speaker 1: the games where accidentally elbowed big baby and he uh
Speaker 1: fell out. I ain't mean to do it, but I
Speaker 1: just knocked him out. You had you had to hit
Speaker 1: him hard though. That's a big dude, bro. It was crazy.
Speaker 1: I was like, damn, that's my dog too. He's said
Speaker 1: about it right now. I don't know. I think that's
Speaker 1: probably misconception. Two guys that I played with, you know,
Speaker 1: I played against, like when we're on the court, like
Speaker 1: I'm just crazy. I might elbow you or hit you
Speaker 1: and you're like fuck you. But then off the court,
Speaker 1: it's like you're my dog. But people might take how
Speaker 1: I am on the court, you know, crazy so just
Speaker 1: a lot of that stuff be crazy. So when you ask,
Speaker 1: did they blow the trade request out of proportion? But
Speaker 1: once it kind of starts materializing into something, whether there
Speaker 1: any other teams or where you focused, you wanted to
Speaker 1: go come here to l A. The crazy part about it.
Speaker 1: I never wanted to go to l A. Never, And
Speaker 1: I didn't want to go to l A because I
Speaker 1: felt like people was going to compare me to Shock
Speaker 1: and I was trying to following shacks footsteps, start with
Speaker 1: the magic, go to l A and be in Hollywood,
Speaker 1: and I wanted to go to l A to do
Speaker 1: movies and all that, which is not a bad thing,
Speaker 1: it's not, but I just didn't want people thinking that
Speaker 1: he was. But but then you see that's the that's
Speaker 1: the funked up part. Okay, this is this the part.
Speaker 1: You spend me just to come out and play bastball
Speaker 1: because that's what you want me to do. But basketball
Speaker 1: is going to end, so don't be mad at me
Speaker 1: because I'm doing other ships. So that's that's what But
Speaker 1: that's what happened. Back then. When I was playing, it
Speaker 1: was like I'm focused on trying to do movies and
Speaker 1: all this other stuff. And it's like I'm not focused
Speaker 1: on basketball, and it was unfair because now everybody's like
Speaker 1: they're doing I'm trying to do everything, and I'm saying
Speaker 1: back then, like yo, I can do it all too,
Speaker 1: Like why can't I do movies while I'm in l A.
Speaker 1: And I didn't practice basketball for half the damn day.
Speaker 1: I can't go shoot a movie or do a couple
Speaker 1: of hours of this, you know what I'm saying. So
Speaker 1: it just became so much. So I wanted to go
Speaker 1: to Brooklyn. That's why I wanted to go. Who was
Speaker 1: there at the time, Um, I think it was Darren
Speaker 1: Williams uh broker Off that just got there. I think
Speaker 1: Joe was there and they were I actually saw the
Speaker 1: plans of the new facility, the arena that they was
Speaker 1: building everything. So I was like really about to go
Speaker 1: to Brooklyn. And that's why I asked to get out
Speaker 1: of the uh to go from the Magic because I
Speaker 1: wanted to go to Brooklyn. And I told the Magic
Speaker 1: that I didn't want to go to l A. So
Speaker 1: they sent me to l A. On per was because
Speaker 1: I had to go to Brooklyn, right, But I feel
Speaker 1: like this is where everything changed for you because obviously
Speaker 1: the black the back surgery happens um and it was
Speaker 1: a serious I mean any any back surgery serious, but
Speaker 1: it was a serious back surgery. And I actually remember
Speaker 1: talking you before that season, like, bro, make sure you're ready.
Speaker 1: But what was it the competitor and you They just
Speaker 1: wanted to get out there and show the world what
Speaker 1: you have because, like to me, that's where everything changed.
Speaker 1: You were the most or if not one of the
Speaker 1: most dominant players that the game has ever seen in
Speaker 1: your heyday run in Orlando, and then you came to
Speaker 1: the Lakers and I could tell the media was like,
Speaker 1: he can't even really jump, like Dwight is someone that's
Speaker 1: at the top of the backboard catching ship, Like you
Speaker 1: weren't really moving Like That's why as a as a
Speaker 1: friend and an a fan, I'm like, damn, he's not healthy.
Speaker 1: Why is he doing this? And then I didn't know
Speaker 1: you tore your labor, but you went through a lot,
Speaker 1: but specifically coming back fast from that back surgery. What
Speaker 1: was your thinking behind that? I was I just wanted
Speaker 1: to first I feel like how I departed Orlando, how
Speaker 1: they made the situation happened. It really just put a
Speaker 1: fire in me to train. It was supposed to be
Speaker 1: a year of training, but I came back in four months,
Speaker 1: so I was like, no, I'm gonna get back to it.
Speaker 1: So I'm double time. I'm training three times a day, um,
Speaker 1: all types of crazy diets. My body fat was down
Speaker 1: to like three so it's like I'm doing everything perfect,
Speaker 1: but I still wasn't ready to play. And then I
Speaker 1: ended up tearing my lab room, which was super bad,
Speaker 1: but just a back for people to understand, like they
Speaker 1: took that much out of my disk in my back,
Speaker 1: the largest hernation that the doctor has ever seen. And
Speaker 1: he's one of the best doctors in n l A.
Speaker 1: And everybody who's playing basketball who's had back surgeries or
Speaker 1: anything dealing with their back, they have seen him and
Speaker 1: his doctor Watkins, he ain't seen nothing like it. And
Speaker 1: before I was about to have surgery, the doctor doctor
Speaker 1: in Orlando actually told me I was never gonna play
Speaker 1: again if you had the surgery. No, if I didn't
Speaker 1: have the surgery, he had already said, See, people don't
Speaker 1: know all this happening Orlando. This is why I'm like,
Speaker 1: I gotta go. I hurt my back and stand is
Speaker 1: asking me to practice more and my back is fucked up.
Speaker 1: Why would I stay in a place where a team
Speaker 1: is don't give two ships about me? Like, my back
Speaker 1: is messed up. I'm telling this man, yo, staying, I
Speaker 1: can't even walk. Can you do one more play? Can
Speaker 1: you run this stand? This ship is fucked up. Come on, Dwight,
Speaker 1: just get out. Yeah, something like, come on, man, this
Speaker 1: ain't cool. But my back was really, really really messed up,
Speaker 1: to the point where I couldn't do a calf raise,
Speaker 1: I couldn't lift my foot up. I had no more
Speaker 1: nothing in my left leg, and literally the doctor said
Speaker 1: to me, to White, your career is done. So for
Speaker 1: me to come back in four months, just show you
Speaker 1: how hard I had to work just to get my
Speaker 1: cab to get the nerve back fired. It took a
Speaker 1: month and a half to do that by itself. So
Speaker 1: after I had the surgery, I had a I'm walking
Speaker 1: with a walker around the host the hospital. The first
Speaker 1: couple actually the first couple of weeks, I couldn't walk,
Speaker 1: but from probably this wall to that wall right there,
Speaker 1: that's how far I could walk from here to there
Speaker 1: and back. The first time I went to gym, I
Speaker 1: could only go and shoot ten shots, and I couldn't
Speaker 1: even jump, So I could only stand and do like
Speaker 1: this ten times and then ship any little muscle. I
Speaker 1: couldn't even I couldn't even fart. If I farted, that
Speaker 1: ship could come out and sunk my whole back up again.
Speaker 1: So the ship was some real ass ship. People don't
Speaker 1: understand how serious that surgery was that I had, and
Speaker 1: what was already going on in my back. If he
Speaker 1: would have moved whatever you tensily he was using um
Speaker 1: sending me over to the left, I to the right,
Speaker 1: I could have went paralyzed. So all that ship was
Speaker 1: dead serious. So for me to come back like that,
Speaker 1: so it's supposed to be a year recovery. You came back,
Speaker 1: and I came back in four months and I played
Speaker 1: and I averaged twenty two and damn second half of
Speaker 1: the season, and I was an All Star and I
Speaker 1: was led the league and rebounds and I was second
Speaker 1: in blocks, and people in l A were saying I
Speaker 1: had a bad season. I was a reason why l
Speaker 1: A lost. How how make it make sense? And twent
Speaker 1: of a thirteen and two blocks, It don't make sense.
Speaker 1: It's just the media and people saying this is what happened.
Speaker 1: This is the white did this. Him and Kobe got
Speaker 1: in shoes. Me and Kobe had issues because hell, he
Speaker 1: older than me. I'm young's you got to alpha males.
Speaker 1: I'm a young when here old when he won his way,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure I'm happy go lucky and I won't
Speaker 1: my way, but in a happy way. I'm having fun,
Speaker 1: Like shouldn't give me the ball, I'm gonna go dunck
Speaker 1: on this nick. But we just to have a chance
Speaker 1: to really build it, build it like we wanted to,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. And it wasn't meant to happen,
Speaker 1: you know, looking back on and I wish it happened.
Speaker 1: But to the relationship with him, you know, I got
Speaker 1: a chance to play with him and know his mindset
Speaker 1: and know how he moves. But then got a chance
Speaker 1: to play with you and know how you're serious but
Speaker 1: you could smile and laugh and he's not like that
Speaker 1: at all. Talk to us about that and and and
Speaker 1: was there ever an understanding or what was it like
Speaker 1: working with him because he only got a year with it.
Speaker 1: I don't think it was the understanding that we could
Speaker 1: have that we could yeah with time, because there was
Speaker 1: so many expectations, and I'm going through my own ship
Speaker 1: with trying to recover from this back surgery and then
Speaker 1: tearing my lay room, and it's like, man, how do
Speaker 1: I deal with somebody that I grew up watching as
Speaker 1: a child. But now we're teammates. We just played each
Speaker 1: other in the finals literally, so like we got this rivalry,
Speaker 1: like I want to beat his ass, but now we're teammates.
Speaker 1: So it's like, Ship, I can't do that no more. Uh,
Speaker 1: but it's Kobe Bryant. You know what I'm saying. He
Speaker 1: don't know. I want to get his ass back. He
Speaker 1: dunked you, tough, bro, Ship, I forgot about that. You
Speaker 1: really had to do all that, yeah, because that was
Speaker 1: that was that was. That was one of the one.
Speaker 1: But you didn't got other people. But for real, that
Speaker 1: was the like the whole time he was over here,
Speaker 1: laid back. Yeah, you know, and oh he talked Ship.
Speaker 1: That was that was one of the one. And you
Speaker 1: didn't pay people back on hunting times worse, but that
Speaker 1: was one of the ones. He did. I see it now,
Speaker 1: dumped the ship out of my ass. But I was
Speaker 1: you that really I was what happened was I didn't
Speaker 1: think he was gonna dunk because I didn't know he was.
Speaker 1: I ain't know. It was my rookie years, so I
Speaker 1: thought he was gonna come over and do like a
Speaker 1: pull up on the lass that was eight Kobe. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so he was dunking everything. I didn't know until dunking
Speaker 1: everything he split. It was Pat Garretty and de Sean Stevens.
Speaker 1: He split the pick a row and I jumped over
Speaker 1: and come through like that like I was gonna. I
Speaker 1: don't know what the funk I was sinking, and so
Speaker 1: then I closed my eyes too, and all I heard
Speaker 1: was booming. Oh. I said, oh, let's take so then uh,
Speaker 1: Brian Grant Uh, he said, welcome to the league Feller,
Speaker 1: I said, ship Kobe got me and then right after
Speaker 1: that my whole boy, it was my birthday. So he
Speaker 1: made a cake with Kobe dunking on me. Everywhere I
Speaker 1: was at I could see in the picture of Kobe
Speaker 1: duncan on me, and it was like me and Kobe
Speaker 1: always just some bullshit. We always been connected. Every picture
Speaker 1: out of scene, I'm in the background, like, fuck you code,
Speaker 1: You're dunking of my ass. Now I'm all your pictures
Speaker 1: in the back, like, but yeah, man, rest of piece. Man,
Speaker 1: we had some great times. Man. Even his teammates talke
Speaker 1: us about some of the cool times because it wasn't
Speaker 1: always He's not like that, and you know it was
Speaker 1: definitely know that I wasn't there, but I know, you
Speaker 1: guys have some good times. I just always mess with
Speaker 1: him how before the game when they introduced him, how
Speaker 1: he would try to chew gum but it was no
Speaker 1: gum in his mouth, but he was acting like he
Speaker 1: had gun, Like how Michael Jordan would come out something like, Yo,
Speaker 1: are you trying to act like Jordan? Question? No dumb
Speaker 1: in his mouth and he's just sitting on the bed.
Speaker 1: Dohight you ready to play? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: like this thing Kvie is crazy. But there off the court,
Speaker 1: we had some times together in Vegas where you know,
Speaker 1: we had some parties and we're just chilling and it's
Speaker 1: just you see Kobe at a different light, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying that we're just talking and kicking the ship,
Speaker 1: you know. And I remember going to his house one time. Man,
Speaker 1: he liked, uh all that movie Pitch Perfect, and so
Speaker 1: I'm like he's like, yo, you you see that movie
Speaker 1: pitch Perfect, and I'm like, yeah, I like that movie.
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, I like it too. I'm like, get
Speaker 1: the funk out of you. Like no, pitch Perfect. I'm like,
Speaker 1: ain't no way. I'm thinking you watch all crazy ass
Speaker 1: type movies killing people, but you like pitch Perfect. Y'all
Speaker 1: just watching that ship last night. Bro, It's one of
Speaker 1: my favorite movies. Just become best friends? Did we just
Speaker 1: become best friends? It was crazy, Like you know, just
Speaker 1: as a kid watching Kobe play, and then coming out
Speaker 1: of high school, Kobe duncan on you, then you on
Speaker 1: Olympics with Kobe, and then you on Kobe's team, and
Speaker 1: then y'all arguing with each other. All that is still
Speaker 1: even a dream. Just like I don't care what people say, Like, man,
Speaker 1: Kobe connected, I got hello. I looked back at all
Speaker 1: the pictures I got to him and just me and
Speaker 1: him together, just talking to all the ship that doesn't
Speaker 1: happen between me and him, like the personal stories that
Speaker 1: I ain't gonna say on camera, Like all all that
Speaker 1: is like I can see that. So when people saying
Speaker 1: Kobe ain't funk with you or this happened, I just laughed,
Speaker 1: Like you know, people don't really know. And then we
Speaker 1: played together. We didn't work out, um, but that happens.
Speaker 1: You know, it wasn't meant for us to win together
Speaker 1: like that, But I get I got a chance to
Speaker 1: see him in so many It's like different eras of Kobe,
Speaker 1: like my high school era playing against seeing him play,
Speaker 1: watching him in the Olympics together, playing against him on
Speaker 1: the same team, and then watching him be a dad
Speaker 1: and training all the different women, Candice Park and all that. So,
Speaker 1: you know, just seeing all that and then when he
Speaker 1: passed man, it really it really broke me down, Like,
Speaker 1: you know, I never forget how it all happened. We
Speaker 1: just played in Philly the night before, Braun had broke
Speaker 1: his record, uh something, scoring record or whatever. So I
Speaker 1: remember just sitting down thinking about, you know, Kobe scoring
Speaker 1: all the points and then then Lebron coming up and
Speaker 1: scoring all these points, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 1: it's always good to tell people why they're alive, you know,
Speaker 1: how you appreciate them and stuff like that. So I
Speaker 1: sat up there on the bench and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm gonna tell Lebron like that's a
Speaker 1: great accomplishment. So I'm prior to you. I've been playing
Speaker 1: issues since we was fifteen. So I went over there
Speaker 1: and told him that, went back to the room and
Speaker 1: we started talking about Kobe and how many points he
Speaker 1: scored and how he dunked on me and all this stuff.
Speaker 1: And then we get on the plane and we're flying
Speaker 1: back and my phone is blowing up and everybody sleep.
Speaker 1: So I wake up and I looked and he said
Speaker 1: Kobe died. I'm like, get the funk out of here
Speaker 1: and something. Looking around everybody knocked out. I'm like, this
Speaker 1: can't be real. So I go on Instagram and I
Speaker 1: just see a whole bunch of messages Kobe died. And
Speaker 1: then I go wake up Boogie and I'm like, yo,
Speaker 1: look at this. He's like, Yo, what the fuck? So
Speaker 1: I wake up a d and Lebron I started waking
Speaker 1: U like, yo, bro, Kobe died. And so I'm like, Yo,
Speaker 1: this can't be for real. Go to the back. Everybody
Speaker 1: else starts waking him up, just start crying. I go
Speaker 1: to the bathroom and I just started crying for like
Speaker 1: twenty minutes in the bathroom. I can't believe it. And
Speaker 1: I started thinking about his daughters, like damn, ain't gonna
Speaker 1: have no father. Then one of his daughters died. I
Speaker 1: just kept thinking about that, and then we got off
Speaker 1: the plane and she was just so hard after that
Speaker 1: even just fathom the whole situation. Then this man was
Speaker 1: my teammate, you know what I'm saying. So it's different
Speaker 1: for a lot of people, Like man, we grew up
Speaker 1: watching this person. But I hadn't actually been on the
Speaker 1: plane with this man. You know what I'm saying. We
Speaker 1: don't practice together. We kick the ship with each other.
Speaker 1: Then they're about to go blows with each other, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. So now it's like you found
Speaker 1: out this person ain't there no more. So yeah, it was.
Speaker 1: It was really it really kind of piggybacking off that
Speaker 1: you were one of the rare people that got a
Speaker 1: chance to play with Kobe, play get some of the finals,
Speaker 1: play with him, play with Lebron, win with Lebron. Not
Speaker 1: to compare them too, but they are there any But
Speaker 1: what are some of the similarities or contract Like, I
Speaker 1: just think they're two different. They're two it's two different,
Speaker 1: They're two different people, you know what I'm saying. Kobe's
Speaker 1: I always felt like Kobe was like Batman. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like he just this, he by himself,
Speaker 1: dark night. But yeah, that's Kobe. And then you know
Speaker 1: Lebron is like Captain America. That's like, that's like, that's
Speaker 1: like Lebron. So Lebron is always he wants everybody to
Speaker 1: be around, you know what I'm saying. He want to
Speaker 1: have fun. He want to dance before the games and
Speaker 1: put on his music. And Kobe is just locked there.
Speaker 1: He don't say nothing. You know, he got the basketball
Speaker 1: and he dribbled in the heavy ball before the whold
Speaker 1: the game. So uh, As far as skills, I think
Speaker 1: I think Kobe like is the most skilled out of
Speaker 1: all the players as far as pure skill shooting being
Speaker 1: able to you, it's not even close to me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just thinking about everything, just thinking about it, like
Speaker 1: he could do all that, like everything Jordan did. I
Speaker 1: felt like he just multiplied. And yeah, like people mad
Speaker 1: at him for doing it, Like, man, why, like you
Speaker 1: don't never try to break the wheel. You you see
Speaker 1: what works and then you use that and make it
Speaker 1: work for you. So that's what Kobe did, and he
Speaker 1: did it with the best player ever, Like he didn't
Speaker 1: everything he did and made it better. And you know,
Speaker 1: even watching him practice, like some things that he was doing,
Speaker 1: I was like, why is he doing it? Like one
Speaker 1: day I saw him getting his fingers stretched. I'm like,
Speaker 1: why is he getting his finger stretched? I just saw
Speaker 1: the lady doing this for a whole like our I
Speaker 1: guess it was when he shot his jump shot, so
Speaker 1: to be smooth every time when he so it's just
Speaker 1: like little things like that, like where did he learn
Speaker 1: that from? It was just crazy to see. But then Lebron,
Speaker 1: he just got the whole package. He can pass and
Speaker 1: you can post up. He's big, He's like Magic Johnson
Speaker 1: on steroids. He should be the logo Lebron. Oh all around.
Speaker 1: I don't think we've seen anybody better all around, said
Speaker 1: Lebron should be the logo. Wow, I'm not mad at
Speaker 1: that at all. If you're talking about basketball, people tell
Speaker 1: kids today, yeah, Michael john is the best. But if
Speaker 1: I had to tell you to look at one player,
Speaker 1: go look at Lebron James. Everybody's telling their kids that
Speaker 1: because he does everything right on and off the court.
Speaker 1: He can't miss with Lebron. So what about Steph? He's
Speaker 1: not six eight to sixty that can do it all.
Speaker 1: That's broke all the records. He's not. Yeah, they both
Speaker 1: get the beat. Stepping to get that beat too. But
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's just that man stuff. Like, but
Speaker 1: a lot of kids he step changed the game, no question,
Speaker 1: generation questions, step the game. Very few people did that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so like shop, we're gonna have Lebron stuff on that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm just you know, I'm just like, for what what
Speaker 1: step is unbelievable, but the total aspect of a basketball
Speaker 1: player and what she's supposed to do as a basketball
Speaker 1: player at how your super career is supposed to look
Speaker 1: when you finish, it's Lebron, Jay's bro that's that there.
Speaker 1: That's that there, that man that came. I ain't mad
Speaker 1: at that. You mentioned earlier, uh, not wanting to go
Speaker 1: to the Lakers because of the shot comparison and you
Speaker 1: already started in Orlando and he jumped the Lakers and
Speaker 1: you weren't trying to do that and ends up happening.
Speaker 1: Um hm. You and him kind of had a friendly then.
Speaker 1: I felt like he kind of did some personal and
Speaker 1: kind of took it a little bit more serious and
Speaker 1: again knowing you fun energetic, kind of person. Where is
Speaker 1: that at? What did you think when you first started
Speaker 1: hearing like damn the shock not like me or like what?
Speaker 1: It was crazy? And I was thinking you want to
Speaker 1: fight or something like because every time it was like
Speaker 1: something on TV and somebody to say something, No, I
Speaker 1: don't think though. No, the Lakers got five all of him? No, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: only four, there's nothing one. Don't put him in there. No,
Speaker 1: don't do that something like damn, like every time he
Speaker 1: said something about Dwhite. And for me, like you know,
Speaker 1: I like to do voices so everybody points in their
Speaker 1: mom it don't matter who it is. It ain't me
Speaker 1: doing it because I'm I dislike you. It's just me
Speaker 1: trying to make everybody laughs. So if he took it
Speaker 1: that way, like he tripped, but like, I don't know
Speaker 1: why he it's like that. I never had no issues
Speaker 1: with Shock. I never wanted to be like Shack. But
Speaker 1: I enjoyed watching Shack do what he do. I think
Speaker 1: he's the most dominant player to ever played. Like there's
Speaker 1: no player's dominated his shock. You know what I'm saying, Like,
Speaker 1: I just think it was going crazy. I remember in
Speaker 1: the eleventh grade watching him play against the kim Ba
Speaker 1: Utama on the finals, like catching every time, ailable to
Speaker 1: the chest, turnaround, dunk on every time. I'm like, yo,
Speaker 1: this is crazy. So I'm like, why is he hating
Speaker 1: on me? Like, if anything, he should be happy that
Speaker 1: somebody is trying to follow in their footsteps. You know,
Speaker 1: I remember this summer as a young kid who said
Speaker 1: they wanted to be just like me, and I took
Speaker 1: that as saying like, damn, thank you man. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you for one to be like me, but I want
Speaker 1: you to be greater, so you know what, I'll train you.
Speaker 1: So I started training this kid this song, and every
Speaker 1: day I'm just reminded him, I remember what you said,
Speaker 1: you want to be like Dwight Howard with ship. I
Speaker 1: did more than this, but this is what it This
Speaker 1: is what it takes. So like, I don't know why
Speaker 1: he had that against me. I reached out to trying
Speaker 1: to work out with him, do business, whatever it may be,
Speaker 1: because I ain't got no bad blood with shot, but
Speaker 1: it just seemed like it's always something between me and him.
Speaker 1: He's always even now the stuff I was just saying
Speaker 1: about the all the Fame ship that happened this season,
Speaker 1: I can't watch the Lakers. I bade he watched Lakers
Speaker 1: game this year because I ain't on the team. But
Speaker 1: you know what, I can't. Nobody can't, Nobody shock and
Speaker 1: nobody else, and they ripe mine. If you know anything
Speaker 1: about basketball, it's not even a question if you I agree,
Speaker 1: But come on, like, why would it out of all
Speaker 1: people him like one? He is center? And like, really,
Speaker 1: ain't that too minute where they talk about all of
Speaker 1: us anyway? So why put one of them down? You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like, my my life ain't gonna
Speaker 1: dim your life. You should kill O'Neil Like I got
Speaker 1: my own ling. You know what I'm saying, I ain't
Speaker 1: worrying about what you're doing in that aspect. And then
Speaker 1: now I felt like, because I'm not a person that
Speaker 1: get on TV and talk bad about other people, I
Speaker 1: felt like looking at him doing it, is like he's
Speaker 1: not understanding. People got family, and they got friends, and
Speaker 1: they got people that's watching, Yetta watch what you say
Speaker 1: about certain certain people of certain things on TV or whatever,
Speaker 1: because they got people watching. He got kids watching. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, I got my kids watching. They
Speaker 1: don't need to have no issues with each other because
Speaker 1: their dads might seem like they hate each other, like
Speaker 1: for what, Like it's too much going on around the
Speaker 1: world for us to be hating about who the best
Speaker 1: basketball big man ever? Like, m it's just stupid to me.
Speaker 1: You can have Barbershope Barbecue talk about it. Barbie Barbershop talked.
Speaker 1: But I guess we got to get into the USC
Speaker 1: thing and fight it out. I don't want to see that.
Speaker 1: I just saying I ain't gonna do that. We look like,
Speaker 1: what's the two fighters from back in the day they
Speaker 1: got dot out three thousand and uh slice and they
Speaker 1: got in their fault. They looked like two big seals
Speaker 1: in their fight. They could eat. They were so tired.
Speaker 1: That's being shack a little like in there, come here
Speaker 1: the way gonna get you. You know what, I would
Speaker 1: rather see the fight. I would rather see y'all do
Speaker 1: a comedy battle. Yeah, yeah, that would be funny, roast
Speaker 1: each other. Yeah, I got some jokes for his big
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Oh go ahead. I've been waiting for
Speaker 1: some ship like that right now. Hey, hey, check me
Speaker 1: and you because roll see each other brother, Oh ship,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, you know he gonna love it. Don't
Speaker 1: really want to fight. I know we did. I know
Speaker 1: he gonna love it. Ship Um fast forwarding your ring season.
Speaker 1: The world is seems like it's falling apart. They stick
Speaker 1: you guys in the bubble. Um Kobe passes in that January.
Speaker 1: Um talked to us just about all that. I mean,
Speaker 1: it seemed like it had to happen because of Kobe's passing.
Speaker 1: What was the mental strain that season? Obviously you lost him,
Speaker 1: season is suspended for a little bit. Then they put
Speaker 1: you guys in the bubble, isolated from the rest of
Speaker 1: the world. What was that experience? Like? Oh man, that
Speaker 1: that was really hard for me because my my son's
Speaker 1: mom died that summer, so thank you, she died right
Speaker 1: before the bubble happened. So it was just a hard
Speaker 1: situation to deal with because my son was six at
Speaker 1: the time, and it's like everything was hitting Kobe had
Speaker 1: passed away, the season was going pretty good, and then
Speaker 1: we had this pandemic that the whole world had. You know,
Speaker 1: it was just crazy how it all happened. We're sitting
Speaker 1: at home, you know, I'm talking to my kids. Mom's
Speaker 1: about everyone coming down for the pandemic. So we could
Speaker 1: see our kids and just be together during that time.
Speaker 1: And as I was getting ready to contact her about
Speaker 1: coming down, her mom calls me and tell me that
Speaker 1: she dies, something like, damn, this is crazy. Then I
Speaker 1: had to go down to the bubble and leave my
Speaker 1: son for three months, um and he didn't have nobody else.
Speaker 1: So in my mind this was it was just I
Speaker 1: had to find a way to keep it from going
Speaker 1: crazy without seeing him. So it just made me want
Speaker 1: to work out harder. I got in the gym when
Speaker 1: I was there more and I didn't want to do
Speaker 1: nothing but win that championship to him. I wanted him
Speaker 1: to just see that. I felt like that was gonna
Speaker 1: give him enough inspiration to kind of not I was
Speaker 1: put that moment, not put it away, but kind of
Speaker 1: at least make him feel good because that whole yeah,
Speaker 1: because that whole summer he was just asking me like
Speaker 1: why do people die, Like you know, why does my
Speaker 1: mom have to leave me? And all these questions he
Speaker 1: asked me. I'm like, man, I really care. I don't know.
Speaker 1: And then like for me, that was the first time
Speaker 1: I actually had a child in my house full time
Speaker 1: because the rest of my kids it with their moms.
Speaker 1: So it was just all these new things happening. Daddy
Speaker 1: on the fly. Yeah, it was just crazy. But I'm
Speaker 1: glad that Um, he's in a much better space now mentally,
Speaker 1: um and I am too because of that. It's made
Speaker 1: both of us strong. But obviously you endured more than most,
Speaker 1: but still have to play in the bubble, like what
Speaker 1: was it? What was the bubble light? Was it cool?
Speaker 1: Get tired of seeing motherfucker's every day? Like, what was
Speaker 1: the bubble light? At first, we was getting the worst
Speaker 1: food in our lives, like they was feeding us like
Speaker 1: the frozen kids cuisine meals like type meals. They just
Speaker 1: put it under the heater. So I was like, man,
Speaker 1: they gotta do better with the food. We couldn't get
Speaker 1: really no room service, so we were stuck with this
Speaker 1: for like a couple of weeks. We couldn't leave the hotel.
Speaker 1: We couldn't explore nothing at Disney World, so we just
Speaker 1: stuck there at this hotel. Everybody catching the same fish
Speaker 1: in the lake because it was it's a little lake,
Speaker 1: and they're like, everybody got a fish in the one lake.
Speaker 1: So you see people catching fishing throwing it back. But
Speaker 1: realized one by the time, we don't left the whole bubble.
Speaker 1: That fish was fat in the mug, you know, everybody
Speaker 1: bit so um. Just being in there, in that confined spot.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just crazy. But in all actuality, ninety
Speaker 1: days in the bubble really helped change and shape my
Speaker 1: life because I got a chance to get away from
Speaker 1: everything and see who was right for me, who wasn't right,
Speaker 1: the people that I needed to have in my corner,
Speaker 1: to people that no longer needed to go on this
Speaker 1: journey with me. All those things happened because I was
Speaker 1: able to get away and see clearly. You know a
Speaker 1: lot of times as players, we are in city, the
Speaker 1: city of the city while this is happening. Somebody's at
Speaker 1: home doing things and we can't really see it. So
Speaker 1: a lot of times we get distracted. But you're in
Speaker 1: the bubble. Everything's happening right there, So now I can
Speaker 1: see what's going on. Now those same people that say
Speaker 1: they love me and they want this, then the third
Speaker 1: they're not calling, they're not doing this, then so I know, okay,
Speaker 1: they need to go. So I really just learned more
Speaker 1: about myself and about the people around my teammates, and
Speaker 1: that whole atmosphere was pretty cool. And then the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That's when I turned up in the bubble, like we
Speaker 1: was playing Denver and he was playing your ass off.
Speaker 1: There was any to me how they don't come up,
Speaker 1: but go ahead, man, Yeah. So we played at Denver
Speaker 1: and Denver's mile room is across some mars in the hotel,
Speaker 1: so I'm using this as a mental like way to
Speaker 1: mess with jokers the whole time. I'm going in there
Speaker 1: dinner room talking to him, just daft from up and
Speaker 1: we just played him or something, so i know he's
Speaker 1: mad I'm going in there, but it's just like all
Speaker 1: of my game and I'm like, man, this it was
Speaker 1: really fun being able to see all of us together
Speaker 1: like that. But it was it was It was good
Speaker 1: for me. I'm glad that I end up doing being
Speaker 1: a part of it. The Redeemed Team documentary about to
Speaker 1: come out and talk about that in Any Memories, Any
Speaker 1: Good Stories, the story that everybody's been talking about Kobe
Speaker 1: running through pal I don't know if y'all heard about that.
Speaker 1: I just remember how crazy that was and the whole
Speaker 1: experience of playing an olympus with all these guys. Kobe
Speaker 1: Bryant Mellow, d Wade, Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Darren Williams,
Speaker 1: Chris Bosh, Michael read all these greats. Man. Then we're
Speaker 1: playing in Beijing and here's Kobe come before the game, like, yo,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look show teammate, watch watch this. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: run through his ass. So he said the white move
Speaker 1: out the way, first player the game. You see it
Speaker 1: on film. Pal tried to set the screen. I just
Speaker 1: moved out of the way. Kobe running over and just
Speaker 1: look over and walk away. Man, he ran him smooth over.
Speaker 1: Didn't care if he got thrown out the game or not.
Speaker 1: But he set the tone after that. And you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, It was just crazy being in the
Speaker 1: Olympics and then watching that whole that that movie, just
Speaker 1: going back and have you seen it. I just seen
Speaker 1: it for the first time the other day, and I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: people are gonna really enjoy the stories about you know, Kobe, Lebron,
Speaker 1: d Wade, Um, just the atmosphere of being in China,
Speaker 1: Like you guys will get a chance to see how
Speaker 1: it was for us trying to even go down the
Speaker 1: street with Kobe. You know how crazy it was, and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. So it's gonna be really good that
Speaker 1: team versus the Dream Team. You know, I gotta say
Speaker 1: we're gonna win. But you know they got some great
Speaker 1: players too. I think it would be a great matchup
Speaker 1: Kobe versus m j um. But then you got Lebron.
Speaker 1: Who's gonna play? Who gonna check Lebron? Scotty gonna check Lebron.
Speaker 1: Back then when we was oh my god, that's what
Speaker 1: I was touching the top of the backboard, were blocking everything.
Speaker 1: Ain't nobody coming to me. I got a chance to
Speaker 1: play with a lot of great players. I tell you, Bro,
Speaker 1: just to just hats off to you. Like I never
Speaker 1: felt more comfortable, like getting all the way in somebody's chest,
Speaker 1: you know, when he was behind me, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like the white was someone's gonna block the
Speaker 1: shop or he'll faither ship at you one I was
Speaker 1: gonna fileu you too. So it's just like, Okay, we
Speaker 1: definitely have a little mental thing here, but it was.
Speaker 1: That's what kind of bothers me though, is because you've
Speaker 1: taken so much to me. You were on pace to
Speaker 1: be one of the greatest. You explained what happened with
Speaker 1: the back and everything. Obviously that derailed you from kind
Speaker 1: of continuing to climb, but you still no about first
Speaker 1: beut Hall of Famer. But to me, you were someone
Speaker 1: who was so great. But then I think how fast
Speaker 1: people forget Obviously we live in a moment of what
Speaker 1: have you done for me lately? But how fucking great
Speaker 1: you were in that run? Man, three time Defensive Player
Speaker 1: of the Year back to back like that, I should
Speaker 1: have had four And the only reason they didn't give
Speaker 1: it to is because I asked for a trade. How
Speaker 1: crazy is that? I was first Team All Defense that year?
Speaker 1: The person who won who won the third Team All Defense?
Speaker 1: Make it makes sense? Who wanted that year? Tyson Chandler.
Speaker 1: I led the team. I led the league in defensive
Speaker 1: rebounds and total rebounds and blocks, and he got the
Speaker 1: award and they only gave it to him because I
Speaker 1: asked for a trade. At all the media, who's going
Speaker 1: around it was the year I asked for the trade.
Speaker 1: So it was eleven and twelve, right, Yeah, well, well
Speaker 1: he was in Dallas, he was in New York, New
Speaker 1: York Knicks. Yeah yeah, New York, and he was third
Speaker 1: team All Defense and nobody on that team you ever
Speaker 1: won award. It's no way you'd be third team All
Speaker 1: Defense and when the Defensive Player of the Year a ward,
Speaker 1: it don't make sense. That's why it was like, they
Speaker 1: gotta go back and look at the tape, go back
Speaker 1: and look at the tape. That crazy. I just I
Speaker 1: just saw the team picture um for the Knicks with
Speaker 1: the new seat this Barrett Brunson and uh round and
Speaker 1: uh und round. And as much as I love bad man,
Speaker 1: you should have seen that picture. You just that ship
Speaker 1: just looked like they can the lose. You don't even
Speaker 1: like the picture, don't And I just so happen to
Speaker 1: see them like that photoshop saying all comments and complains
Speaker 1: to this. Now, No, I'm not y'all know ya don't
Speaker 1: win the ship. NBA champ, eight time All Star, eight
Speaker 1: time All NBA, three time Defensive Player of the Year
Speaker 1: should have been for the list goes on. You were
Speaker 1: somehow left on the top off the top lists. We
Speaker 1: went crazy too. How much did that bother you? Man?
Speaker 1: It bothered me so much. I was like, man, I
Speaker 1: don't even want to play basketball, and I really like
Speaker 1: just I really was just like understandable, but I was like, man,
Speaker 1: fuck it. I don't even really want to play because
Speaker 1: it's like, at the all this workout and putting in, indeed,
Speaker 1: the disrespect is already too much. Like the one thing
Speaker 1: that I'm thinking about is I helped win a help
Speaker 1: a team win a championship. Like and I'm and I'm
Speaker 1: not cocky at all, but I know if I didn't
Speaker 1: play against Denver and I wasn't on that team in
Speaker 1: the bubble, we would not have won the championship. And
Speaker 1: I'm not being cocky. I'm not that type of person
Speaker 1: at all. So I know that my presence was felt
Speaker 1: in that series. But to not get a contract after that,
Speaker 1: then you go to another team and get another minimum contract,
Speaker 1: and then the team that you won the championship with,
Speaker 1: I don't want to sign you to a multiple I'm like, man,
Speaker 1: this is disrespectful. And then look on TV and not
Speaker 1: on the top SETI five when I knew. I knew
Speaker 1: I wasn't gonna be on it when the list got
Speaker 1: down to ten people, and I was like, yeah, when
Speaker 1: I saw the people that wasn't on it, I said,
Speaker 1: you know what they finded they find to do me dirty.
Speaker 1: I already know it. They're gonna do me dirty. So
Speaker 1: when it happened, I was like, man, I don't even
Speaker 1: want to play this ship. That's being cool and I'm like,
Speaker 1: for real, like, and I just started naming players that
Speaker 1: was on there and there's no disrespect to them in
Speaker 1: their careers and I hate that I did. Anybody else
Speaker 1: can do it, but I just kept I was thinking
Speaker 1: in my head like there's no way that this person
Speaker 1: could even stand on the court with me like this.
Speaker 1: She just blew my mind. But then I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what I know Ian did in my career.
Speaker 1: I know who I am, and fuck it, I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna let that ship stop. You know, the motherfucker's vote
Speaker 1: for that ship, shack, that's why the less But he said, no,
Speaker 1: I'm looking them. You know that thejard of the motherfucker
Speaker 1: is that both for that ship though that never played basketball. Man,
Speaker 1: I don't even know how to put in the basketball right.
Speaker 1: You're right, you know what I'm saying. That ship does
Speaker 1: not matter. But then again, you Kyrie Vince, like that's
Speaker 1: how you know that ship that don't even make sense back? Like,
Speaker 1: come on, like it was it was some people that
Speaker 1: you've never seen in your life and never even known
Speaker 1: they played basketball and then this all right, So I
Speaker 1: just got a name, one person name Danny Shades, dol Shame.
Speaker 1: It's no way he was, No way he was. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: no way, this ship go ahead and stay. I would
Speaker 1: have bust his ass for real, sucking dol Shades. Are
Speaker 1: you kidding? One dog we like and that's young dog?
Speaker 1: Who is dog? Who is he? What does he look like? What?
Speaker 1: Don't even know? It's his number? Anybody know? Right? Thank you?
Speaker 1: We know he was top? No he wasn't. They just
Speaker 1: put his ass in there. He would have got cooked,
Speaker 1: like like Adrian Browner. He would have got cooked. Go
Speaker 1: back to the Houston things. It's the whole. It's some
Speaker 1: mother motherfucker's on there too. I just can't think right now.
Speaker 1: But that was one that was one name. Mother motherfucker's. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's how much you sorry, motherfucker that don't belong with
Speaker 1: that mother sati fires. I'm gonna keep it, funkers. I'm
Speaker 1: a bast I played the game, and I love the game.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of y'all that's on that that should
Speaker 1: not be on that, bro, especially before this man Vince
Speaker 1: Carter and Kyrie Irvin. I'm sorry and Clay and Clay,
Speaker 1: But I'm glad Clay did what he did. I'm glad
Speaker 1: that he was afforded the opportunity to go show people
Speaker 1: why he deserved it be on the top SETI five.
Speaker 1: So that was good about his situation is that he
Speaker 1: got a chance. Even if they did to put him
Speaker 1: on there. He had the knee surgery that stopped him.
Speaker 1: He was able to get back and then he killed
Speaker 1: it in the he killed it in the playoffs. Man,
Speaker 1: three years in Houston, you get a chance to play
Speaker 1: with James Harden, Who's who, Who's ascending to another level
Speaker 1: at that time? What was that experience like? You got
Speaker 1: a chance to play with Code, you played with Brown,
Speaker 1: But thinking back playing with James in that moment, he
Speaker 1: was I mean, they had to change the rules for
Speaker 1: this motherfucker. What was it like playing with James in Houston?
Speaker 1: We used to call James Fred Flints though he used
Speaker 1: to do down the little step backs and the little
Speaker 1: tippy toes, So he used to call him Fred Flintstowe.
Speaker 1: And I just remember watching him developed that step back
Speaker 1: and the side step and all the moves every day
Speaker 1: or practice to where now he's perfected it, and Uh,
Speaker 1: he was the reason why I decided to go to Houston.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Um, playing with Kobe. Uh,
Speaker 1: I feel like he didn't work out like I wanted,
Speaker 1: but I felt like it was a great situation in Houston,
Speaker 1: like yourself. Then getting to Houston I wanted. When I
Speaker 1: got to Houston, I felt like I had got my
Speaker 1: strength back. I felt like I was a lot better
Speaker 1: mentally and physically. And then I'm looking at a young
Speaker 1: James Harder, who I'm saying, Man, this man got a
Speaker 1: chance to be one of the best shooting guards. He
Speaker 1: just need a He need like a a running made.
Speaker 1: He needs somebody to play off of him. So I'm
Speaker 1: thinking that that's what me and was gonna be. Um.
Speaker 1: The first year it was okay. Then we got to
Speaker 1: the to the finals, the Western Conference finals one year,
Speaker 1: and just playing with him, it was just crazy just
Speaker 1: watching his development. Um, Like I said, the step backs,
Speaker 1: the threes, the the euro steps, all that stuff. Just
Speaker 1: watching him just take that. Man, he worked on that
Speaker 1: every day, especially at three ball. That's why he shoots
Speaker 1: so good. Man. It was just it's just effortless for him. Um.
Speaker 1: He believe he lost a hundred pounds a cap. I
Speaker 1: think it was. I don't think he lost a huntress.
Speaker 1: There's no way he could have lost a hundred pounds
Speaker 1: because there's no way he was three hundred pounds. It
Speaker 1: wasn't that big one. And I think he probably did
Speaker 1: lose some weight. Uh, but I think the weight was
Speaker 1: kind of good for him and how he played um
Speaker 1: getting to the basket, being able to post up. Always
Speaker 1: thought that's some of the things that Kobe was doing
Speaker 1: he could have used in his game. So going there,
Speaker 1: I wanted to kind of help him with that, Like uh,
Speaker 1: Kobe's uh post post work. I felt like if he
Speaker 1: had really developed that, if he can do that and
Speaker 1: he get into the game that I think just getting
Speaker 1: in that post, because that's what Jordan did. He slowed
Speaker 1: it down and started going to the post. He didn't
Speaker 1: just he didn't shoot a lot of threes. But then
Speaker 1: Kobe started doing that too. Or you know, you played
Speaker 1: against coach both of y'all. He got to his spot
Speaker 1: and just shot over him. And I'm like James, with
Speaker 1: the guards he will be playing against, He's strong enough
Speaker 1: to where he can get to his spot. And then
Speaker 1: they got indeed, so what you're gonna do. You gotta
Speaker 1: pick your poison. So I think hopefully now he really
Speaker 1: put it all together and they have a good run,
Speaker 1: stated Big Bent. Right now, it's it's it for a second,
Speaker 1: look like it might have almost faded out of the
Speaker 1: NBA um the emergence of Joker, then bed Um of late.
Speaker 1: I think it's different. I think when I came into
Speaker 1: the league, they wouldn't allowing big men to do what
Speaker 1: they're doing now. Greek Freak force them. No, it's after him.
Speaker 1: Greek Freak is different from he told about the state
Speaker 1: today though. You know you're talking about like center center
Speaker 1: big Yeah, he's different. Like so he's not consenters not
Speaker 1: because he never played the center. He always played like
Speaker 1: what you mean, Like, but I'm saying like they did
Speaker 1: to have to beat in the post all the time,
Speaker 1: all the time. I never had a chance to stand
Speaker 1: out on a perimeter. That's it. But my job like
Speaker 1: stand never wanted me to shoot a jump shode. Even
Speaker 1: if I shot a jump shide, he would go tell
Speaker 1: a pat tell the white did not work on jump shots?
Speaker 1: Why just hook shots? Don't can get out of here?
Speaker 1: Fuck ship. And so like I'm working on jump shots,
Speaker 1: but stands like, no funk that hook shots, ducks get
Speaker 1: in the posts. We're gonna turn five your ass deep
Speaker 1: duck ins and go right over the top. But now
Speaker 1: it's not like that. They want space, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. So even with how big supposed to play now,
Speaker 1: we used to. We used to be looking for bodies
Speaker 1: to go fine back in the day, like if I'm
Speaker 1: running down the court, I'm looking to hit you if
Speaker 1: I'm running to see But now it's like, no, no space,
Speaker 1: get wide trail to play, catch it and get into
Speaker 1: an action and do something different, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So they've got in your bag a little more in
Speaker 1: this era. What's crazy about it? I was in a
Speaker 1: bag before I got to the league, and when I
Speaker 1: got to the league, it was like no more, no
Speaker 1: more of this. We don't want you to dribble, we
Speaker 1: don't want you to shoot, we don't want you to
Speaker 1: do nothing but dunk the ball. It worked out good.
Speaker 1: I got the most in the history of basketball. Postle
Speaker 1: Park was getting it off the rim, and he was
Speaker 1: all that was perk Well. I remember playing against perk
Speaker 1: Um because Lebron came down to Houston the Soldiers and
Speaker 1: Park was on their team. It was Lebron perk Um,
Speaker 1: what's the guy played in Boston from Oakland? Uh no, Um,
Speaker 1: he heard himself. He was on the team. I saw
Speaker 1: all that was on the team. This was when he
Speaker 1: was fifteen, was playing against the brun and they was sixteen.
Speaker 1: Its first time I heard Lebron and it was Kender Perkins.
Speaker 1: That was the one that stood out. Wh who stood
Speaker 1: out the most to you on the other team that game?
Speaker 1: Besides the It was a brother. I didn't know who
Speaker 1: he was because, like I mean, I stayed in a
Speaker 1: bubble for real, Like I was really bubble boy. So
Speaker 1: when I started playing a you remember my home was
Speaker 1: saying y'all need to go play against Lebron. I was like,
Speaker 1: who then is the Broun? He was like, you don't
Speaker 1: know Lebron. I was like, bro, who is Lebron? Dog?
Speaker 1: I don't know nobody, he said, Bro. The think it
Speaker 1: was supposed to be the coldest ever. Bro already hedn't
Speaker 1: even went to the league. And I'm like you line,
Speaker 1: So we're getting down to Houston, walmup's come, I'm looking
Speaker 1: to see who Lebron was first warmup line. Don't he
Speaker 1: do his little signature? Dude, the whole crowd go crazy.
Speaker 1: My whole team looking down there. Damn you see that.
Speaker 1: I said, that's le Bron James, Okay, and after that
Speaker 1: I knew who Lebrons ain't was. That's crazy. H Bernie
Speaker 1: Man talked to us about Oh my god, how do
Speaker 1: you hear about that? I mean, I hear about ship.
Speaker 1: That's the best experience in the way I think everybody.
Speaker 1: I was there for six days. I think everybody in
Speaker 1: the world needs to experience it, only just to see
Speaker 1: that we could all come together in peace and live
Speaker 1: in the same environment. In the desert. There's ninety thousand people.
Speaker 1: You just like, I'll like the depth. He just talk.
Speaker 1: Now he's back in the desert. Start doing it, my boy, man, No,
Speaker 1: no lie though, for real. Burning Man was amazed and
Speaker 1: dog just to see all these people come together and
Speaker 1: celebrate life. No arguing, no fighting, great music, all good vibes. Man.
Speaker 1: It was just the best time I had. There's no
Speaker 1: money in there, so you don't pay nothing with cash.
Speaker 1: Barter and you barter some bartering systems, so no matter
Speaker 1: what your title is, like your old tights from Orlando
Speaker 1: and ship like, no, man, get out of here. Who
Speaker 1: I gave somebody a crystal? But really, since it was
Speaker 1: my first time, people are just giving me gifts a
Speaker 1: really okay, and a lot of people are just coming
Speaker 1: at me talking to me like some people didn't even
Speaker 1: know who I was. From Adam. I remember one day
Speaker 1: I was in this this tent getting some fruit and vegetables,
Speaker 1: eating and just vibing out to some music and this
Speaker 1: guy came and he was like, dude, you're a big
Speaker 1: bag motherfucker. Man. I don't know who you are, but
Speaker 1: funk man, I feel your energy. Oh my god. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, you're straight. He're like, yeah, man, it's just dude. Man.
Speaker 1: I don't know you man, but I love you. Dude. Man,
Speaker 1: I just want to tell you that, man. And you're
Speaker 1: a big bad motherfucker dude. Fuck yeah, no clue who
Speaker 1: I was. I like, is just everybody coming together, no
Speaker 1: matter who you are, no matter what you like, just
Speaker 1: be yourself and these people that are just accept you.
Speaker 1: It is like a whole week and a half of
Speaker 1: just celebrating life in this big old desert. You get
Speaker 1: to dress how you want to dress, if you don't
Speaker 1: want to wear clothes. You ain't got to wear clothes.
Speaker 1: If you do want to wear clothes, it's kind of
Speaker 1: like mad Max vibes. Y'all ain't Mad Max something like that,
Speaker 1: and just listen to a whole bunch of good music.
Speaker 1: Eat good. They have like meditation sessions. Um. They have
Speaker 1: this big burning man in the middle that they burned
Speaker 1: on a second to last day. And they have this
Speaker 1: temple where everybody coming they meditate in they write and
Speaker 1: write notes to pass loved ones and stuff like that. Um,
Speaker 1: they do ceremonies in there. They do art all around.
Speaker 1: They have these big art trolleys with lights and stuff.
Speaker 1: It's people. They are all ages. The oldest person that
Speaker 1: we saw there was ninety eight. The youngest person was
Speaker 1: probably what about five six months, so as kids there too.
Speaker 1: It's not just adults. When people have here about it
Speaker 1: in the past, they think it's just some type of
Speaker 1: big sex party, and that's what people are telling me.
Speaker 1: But when I went, I was like, man, there's so
Speaker 1: much more. And you can see how we could actually
Speaker 1: come together without fighting with art, without arguing that people
Speaker 1: can drink and have a good time and and and
Speaker 1: it don't be nothing crazy, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: And just to experience that. It was the best place
Speaker 1: that I've been, you know. So this summer was wild, man.
Speaker 1: I started out in India. I went to some really
Speaker 1: cool places out there in India, went to go see
Speaker 1: the taj Mahal. I went to this place called our Nasi.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys heard of that, but
Speaker 1: it's this place where, uh, they have this fire that's
Speaker 1: been burning for over three hundred years and that's what
Speaker 1: they burned everyone's body in his fire when they died,
Speaker 1: and then they put it in this magic river. And
Speaker 1: every night everybody in this city come to this one
Speaker 1: spot and they pray for the whole world. They pray
Speaker 1: for peace for the whole world. It was just crazy
Speaker 1: to see that. And what to Egypt saw the pyramids?
Speaker 1: So how massive these y'all seen the pyramids? Not lying,
Speaker 1: I think people need to travel, like that's one thing.
Speaker 1: I'm just seeing the world. Just these pyramids is so
Speaker 1: crazy to see in person. I guess I love the
Speaker 1: desert my dehydrated all right, man, coming down to the end,
Speaker 1: quick hitters. First thing to come to your mind an
Speaker 1: all time starting five including yourself with guys. You played
Speaker 1: with guys, don't even get your hopes up. Go ahead, bro, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just look like you want to say Nope, not
Speaker 1: that about to say anybody you played with? Oh my god,
Speaker 1: So okay, I got Kobe Bros. Kobe Bro and me.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm. Day Now you got to get somebody else
Speaker 1: to make it fair. You've got to do that. That's
Speaker 1: a lot like there. He played for James. Yes, I
Speaker 1: gotta have vents. Oh BC, I gotta have vents, and
Speaker 1: oh we we need a four man. And I was
Speaker 1: thinking about sweet little I was gonna say Tony but TV,
Speaker 1: but that's just sweet little man. But it's I had
Speaker 1: so many great teammates man, Like that's one thing about
Speaker 1: the league man, playing with so many guys. Like my
Speaker 1: teammates stayed with like family to me. You know, you
Speaker 1: played on my team. He was always together, always at
Speaker 1: each other house, the house on every team though. He
Speaker 1: brought every team together like that. Yeah, we were together.
Speaker 1: That's all we did. He was always together. I had
Speaker 1: big ass shoes too. I was wearing them ship all
Speaker 1: the time. You cannot separate all of us like that
Speaker 1: was just you know how he was my little homie.
Speaker 1: I'll be trying to tell people about stories about Jason Williams.
Speaker 1: Bubbs white white chocolate. Oh man, I'm the one when
Speaker 1: he threw behind the back pass and hit Standing in
Speaker 1: the stomach when he was talking about standing. What do
Speaker 1: you remember that day? And Staying got mad, keep them out,
Speaker 1: kicked them out of them out of practice, and Jason
Speaker 1: Williams stories that one right there when Standing, Yeah, he
Speaker 1: was kind of stand stand win playing. So he said,
Speaker 1: I don't gonna go play at the y. He was
Speaker 1: going to play at the y, and so Stan was
Speaker 1: telling him, like, yo, stop doing that. He was already
Speaker 1: got my rings, Bubbs, go get yours, and I'm out.
Speaker 1: He said, my ships underneath my sink and bro he
Speaker 1: threw a cross court, not a full court, cross court,
Speaker 1: behind the back pass and hit Staying right in the stomach.
Speaker 1: And you know, Staying got a big gass billy. So
Speaker 1: that ship I had had a target on it, like
Speaker 1: it was crazy. I was like, yo, and Stam was
Speaker 1: crazy too, But I love Staying. He would do crazy
Speaker 1: stuff like called me in the office and talked to
Speaker 1: me with his shoes off and his little feet. You
Speaker 1: weren't like a side seven like little baby ass feeding
Speaker 1: it between with his little toes. Well, you know, Dwight,
Speaker 1: I need you to rebound more. I'm like coach, I
Speaker 1: got what but sucking staying? Yeah that it was crazy?
Speaker 1: Go ahead. Underrated city our country you've been to, the
Speaker 1: greatest city our country. Underrated city A country you've been to.
Speaker 1: Oh wait, that's tough. Um, Charlotte, I think it's underrated.
Speaker 1: I like Charlotte from playing there. Um, it's really underrated.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of things you could get into and
Speaker 1: Charlotte and you get all four seasons. The greatest city,
Speaker 1: the greatest city. Oh, I gotta go with Atlanta. I'm
Speaker 1: from Atlanta. Um. But every city that you know, I
Speaker 1: like to travel. So every city that we played in
Speaker 1: I really like I go out and try to find
Speaker 1: some cool things about it during the off season. Uh,
Speaker 1: Australia is one of my favorite places. Uh, India, obviously, Africa,
Speaker 1: Egypt after going this summer, Like I said, just that's
Speaker 1: one place like Egypt is crazy. Like the vibe, everybody's
Speaker 1: out having a great time to music. Ryan and Campbell's
Speaker 1: sitting the pyrad Is. It's unbelievable. Dream Music Festival who
Speaker 1: would open that and who would close it for you?
Speaker 1: We who would open my dream music festival? Oh we
Speaker 1: that's tough. Uh okay, I gotta have. I gotta have
Speaker 1: Little Wayne and Drake opened it. Little Wayne and Drake
Speaker 1: a birthday. He came and coach your game one time? Right?
Speaker 1: Or was he just that was the game we had
Speaker 1: in um him and Floyd came and come. But okay,
Speaker 1: we got Drake and we got Little Wayne started. Then
Speaker 1: we're gonna have Gonna and Thud. They're gonna come and
Speaker 1: do their thing in the middle. In the middle, they
Speaker 1: don't come in real quick, real quick, come in, do
Speaker 1: that little show all while I say, all the men
Speaker 1: won't come out. And then we gotta have y'all nuty
Speaker 1: a town guy all Atlanta gotta wrap and we gotta
Speaker 1: close it with the Wizard Man Future Pluto. Gotta close
Speaker 1: it the future. That's my twin right now, y'all do
Speaker 1: look like no, you just means they have a lot
Speaker 1: of babies. Man, I have to stop. I got seven.
Speaker 1: I cain't talked. You got seven? Yes, my eight baby
Speaker 1: moms and the bonus daughter. You got eight baby mamas? No, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: Top five centers of all time, all time stage average eighteen. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's solid. We had what nineteen nineteen k for real
Speaker 1: for the career? Solid he put up an and what
Speaker 1: what year he played. I'm bettering domn than everybody that
Speaker 1: played back then. Put your money on it. I've put
Speaker 1: money on that today. I was cooking too now. Top five.
Speaker 1: I've seen your highlights the other day. You post that
Speaker 1: I'm gonna kee getting one right now, and then because
Speaker 1: you have that h P muster that we're right there
Speaker 1: California Highway Patrol mustache and had no other facial hips.
Speaker 1: Let me see. Yeah, gotta start shoot with Chamberlin, Shack
Speaker 1: Kareem the Dream and me. I'm putting myself to your mother,
Speaker 1: I'm in the top five. Nobody got the same in
Speaker 1: the top five. You can say I'm not taught Sandy five,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna put myself. They can't say that. If
Speaker 1: you can see one guest on all the smoke, who
Speaker 1: would it be? One guest on all the smoke? Whould
Speaker 1: I want to see on here? Oh? Shoot shatman over here.
Speaker 1: You'll know I'm wrong Burgundy, So y'all don't put that
Speaker 1: shaman and I stopped right there. Who who? Who? Who? Who?
Speaker 1: Cheat me out of my question? Um put the whole
Speaker 1: thing still, lady, she just did a movie. Sports don't matter.
Speaker 1: We versatile now yeah, man, that's tough future. Thank you
Speaker 1: the Wizard. Yeah, they said they was actually working on them.
Speaker 1: This trip end up getting them the White Man. We
Speaker 1: wanted to thank you. We're big on give him flowers
Speaker 1: on this show. We you know, I mean, I've always
Speaker 1: been a brother of yours, but really more just a fan.
Speaker 1: And let you know, man, how great your career has been.
Speaker 1: No matter what fucking list you're on and not, you're
Speaker 1: one of the greatest to ever do it, man, and
Speaker 1: we really appreciate you. Appreciate that, man, Thank you. Man
Speaker 1: he got We got a little a box for you. Bro.
Speaker 1: Showtime March. Where can they getting you? Remember it's been
Speaker 1: a minute. Uh No, I don't Showtime dot store. Yeah
Speaker 1: that's it. That's where you get it from. But bro,
Speaker 1: we now we appreciate you coming. We've got some guilt
Speaker 1: from for you. I know you're gonna like it. I
Speaker 1: don't know what collection this is, because we have a
Speaker 1: couple of collections, you know what I'm saying, But thank
Speaker 1: you appreciate you. Can catch us on Showtime Basketball, YouTube
Speaker 1: and the I Heart platform. Black effects Man, we appreciate you.
Speaker 1: And that's a rap. Briget your show, I appreciate you.