WEBVTT - Sloane Knows - Juan Toscano-Anderson on Steph Curry & LeBron, Warriors' future, guarding KD 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.160 The volume. 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.280 Hi, I'm Sloan and I know basketball. 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.080 Today's guest is an NBA champion and the first player 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.000 of Mexican American descent to ever be in the Dunk Contest. 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.040 His journey from Marquette to overseas to the G League 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:24.479 to being a part of one of the greatest teams 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:26.720 in NBA history is a story you won't want to miss. 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:35.159 Today on Sloan Nos, we have Juan Tiscano Anderson. So 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:37.360 before we start and get into everything, I just want 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.000 to explain something that I was talking to one a 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.040 little bit before. But I'm an NBA fangirl through and through. 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:45.360 People always say to me who's favorite basketball player? Oh, 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:47.800 it must be Steph Curry because you're this big Warrior 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:49.239 sent and I tell him every time, No, it's one 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.160 Scano in since I was since the day you signed 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:54.360 your contract with the Warriors. 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:56.360 This jersey, okay, Like. 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:59.440 I am the biggest JTA fangirl. I bore this jersey 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.440 to school so many times. You understand, I have the receipts, 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:04.560 like I used to lay out your jersey in front 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:05.319 of the game and do this. 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:07.600 Whole like thing. Like my parents can attest this. 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:09.880 But I would literally go to the couch and I'd 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.360 put the jersey here and I'd put like Warriors hats 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:13.600 around it, and I'd lay my. 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:15.039 Dog on the jersey. But like, okay, don't worry. 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.120 There was a few other jerseys, so it wasn't that creepy, 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:19.160 but like still, and then my dog would be in 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.640 his little Warriors jersey too, And I do this like 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:23.680 whole thing, and I feel like that's why you guys 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.160 want the chip actually, But anyway, I wanted to tell 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.200 you before we started, I literally was saying to my parents, 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:29.760 I don't get nervous to interview anyone. 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.880 And I was sitting here shaking, like I love you. 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:35.200 So much and I've just been for so long, so 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.560 this is so cool you can find on Honestly, that 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:38.880 means a lot to me, you know, playing on a 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.000 team like that where you know people have the choice 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:43.759 of picking you know, Steph, yeah, Draymond, you know, all 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.559 these stars, And then when I picked my jersey, I'm like, damn, yeah. 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:47.920 Thank you. Oh of course. 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.440 I actually was making a TikTok the other day where 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:52.240 there's this trend on TikTok where you do like a 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.240 get ready with me while I tell you facts about yourself. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.440 And that's my favorite because it's a mix of makeup 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:59.639 and basketball. So I was sitting here doing my makeup, 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:00.960 like doing the video, and I was like, yeah, my 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:02.840 favorite players wants going to enters and while I was talking. 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:04.640 And then the next day I got the text like 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:06.360 one wants to do the pot and I was like, wow, 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.600 I feel like I manifested you do that in there. 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:11.520 And so anyways, thank you so much for being here. 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:12.200 Thank you for having me. 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.079 So to start off, I'm sixteen years old, and I 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:15.480 want to know a little bit about you When you 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:16.079 were sixteen. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:18.680 Oh wow, when I was sixteen, well, so long ago, 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:22.160 your sophomore in high school. My sophomore that was Actually 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.800 that was a really hard year of my life. I 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.160 was on varsity as a sophomore. Our team was pretty decent, 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:30.560 but I wasn't playing and I was actually going to 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.919 quit basketball. I had a coach at the time who 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.639 you know. That year he told me he was basically, 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.800 you know, alluding to the fact he'd be surprised if 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:41.880 I ever played at the next level. And so I 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:43.799 didn't see much of a future with the game. And 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.280 I was actually gonna quit. I met some friends and 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.240 they kind of like revived the energy for me to uh, 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.040 you know, I want to pursue his dream, and you know, 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:53.520 I want to continue to play basketball. 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:55.359 But I mean, that was a fun time in my life. 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.680 Outside of that, you know, my friends and I we 0:02:57.720 --> 0:02:58.880 have a lot of memories from that time. 0:02:58.960 --> 0:03:01.679 High school was a good time for me. You know. 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:04.639 I always tell people because my friends and I we 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:05.760 talked about high school a lot. 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:07.360 It was one of the better times of our lives. 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:08.799 And you know, people, I was like, oh, you guys 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:10.440 are always talking about high school, and I was like, oh, 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:10.840 it's okay. 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:11.360 I can do that. 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.600 I got better stuff to talk about too, so when 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:15.519 you want to talk about that little bit there as well. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.560 But man, sixteen years old, I got my license at 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:18.960 that time. 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:20.080 How did that go? 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:21.600 Did you pass the first time. 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:23.200 The first driving test? Yes? 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:25.880 I failed the first permit test, so I had to 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.520 take that twice. Yes, But I did pass the driving test, 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:29.640 which was easy peasy. 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.239 So oh I actually failed how many times? 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:32.520 No? 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.520 Okay, I filled my permit test the first time, and 0:03:36.160 --> 0:03:38.240 I don't know, like I didn't I knew I was 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:39.800 going to fail that I just like didn't go in confident. 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.000 But then my driving test, I was like, okay, like 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.200 this is my time to like prove all these haters wrong. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.040 I'm going to pass. Okay, all my friends because they 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:48.800 were like, you pass your permit test, that's so easy. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:51.160 Anyway, So I drive at the DMV and I'm like 0:03:51.200 --> 0:03:53.200 going perfect, like I'm looking, I keep looking at the 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.120 guy's paper, which is probably one of the reasons why 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.240 I failed, because I shouldn't probably be looking at his paper. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:59.400 And I kept being like, I'm gonna pass. This is perfectly, 0:03:59.480 --> 0:03:59.840 is perfect. 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:01.560 And I go on a left turn and for those 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:03.040 of you who live in like California, you know, there's 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.880 like weird left turn rules. And he told me I 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.760 hesitated my body, not even the car, like when the 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:12.000 light was turning yellow, I like shifted and they automatically 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:13.960 failed me. It was hard, but I did drive here, 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.200 so now I have my license. 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.520 So it's on. Yeah cool, Well let's stay on the road. 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.200 Yes we will be. But your story was easy. You 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:21.119 just passed for a time, very easy. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.760 It was easy. I didn't have no issues. The only 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.560 thing I was nervous about was a parallel parking. But 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:28.839 you know, I think they just asked me like pull 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:30.960 over to the curb and then like back up. It 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.200 wasn't even like an actual parallel parking. So I don't 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:36.000 know who that lady was. Hopefully she still got her. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:36.800 Job, yeah, I hope. 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:38.360 So maybe I don't know if you're like a bad 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:40.080 driver now, No, I'm a great job. 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.440 Okay, I've only got two tickets actually in my entire 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:44.839 driving career. 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:46.400 I've been driving since sixteen. 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.520 I'm thirty one now, fifteen years and I just recently 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.560 got those two tickets like three weeks ago, and I 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:52.800 got them both in one week. 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.200 Wow, that feels like little yeah, just a little. 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:57.840 So I want to go back to something you said 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.520 earlier about how you were about to quit basketball sixteen 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:02.960 and then now you know, think about a little bit 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:05.760 about you now. And for so many sixteen year olds, 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:07.919 I think like high school's a hard time where like 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.960 sometimes your dreams get crushed. And I know, I play 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.040 soccer and I definitely have felt a little bit of 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:14.719 a shift where it's like I used to love it 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.480 so much and slowly you start to like fall out 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:19.320 of love. What do you think your sixteen year old self, 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.760 who had all those feelings would think. Now I became 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:24.640 an NBA champion with my hometown team. 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:26.640 You know what, I just don't think I was mature 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:27.360 enough at the time. 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.520 I mean, you know, we're sixteen years old, and you know, 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:31.680 I'm sure you're pretty mature, but uh, you know, I 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.640 just don't think I was mature enough to understand like 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:37.400 obstacles in life and that life is truly a roller coaster. 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.279 Regardless of what you do, you have to pick your herd, 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.440 you know, like being a parent's hard. You know, going 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:45.800 to school is hard, Being a CEO is hard, Being 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.240 an athlete's hard. Like which hard do you want? Being 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.920 broke is hard? Yeah, which hard do you want? And 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.279 So now that I'm thirty one and I've gone through 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:56.200 so much, I now understand that. But at the time, 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:58.479 I was just like, you know, so self centered. I 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.120 was living in my own bubble. You know, wanted me, me, me, 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.120 me me. I wanted to be the best. I wanted this. 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.039 I wanted to, you know, have all these accolades and 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:10.080 other things. You know, my best friend, he was actually 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.360 on varsity two and he was the star and we 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:14.240 were both sophomores. 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:15.839 We had seniors on the team. But he was a star, 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:17.120 and so I. 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:20.840 Maybe at the time I was comparing like my you know, 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.920 life with his, and I wanted that. And I wasn't 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.359 mature enough to just keep my eyes on my own plate. 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:30.840 But I would just tell myself to keep going, you know, 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:32.359 like I said, life is hard, and I know that 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:37.039 sounds so cliche, and you know, Corney to say, it's 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.880 the truth. You know, like everything in life is hard, 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.080 regardless of what you do. So just understanding that, now, 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.400 that's what I try to tell you know, younger people 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.640 who are pursuing things like, it's not easy. Nothing in 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:49.799 life worth having is easy. 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:51.720 So uh yeah, I love that. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:53.920 So growing up in the Bay as well, did you 0:06:53.920 --> 0:06:54.880 go to Warriors games a lot? 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:55.320 Of course? 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.760 Okay? And who is your favorite player? Like what was 0:06:57.760 --> 0:06:58.360 the vibe there? 0:06:58.960 --> 0:06:59.159 Man? 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.360 My favorite player up was Larry Hughes. Uh not many 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.000 people know who he is. I mean, Speed Claxton was 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.080 a guy in mine. I really liked him. I mean 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.960 there were so many players that you know, the Warriors 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.040 weren't really good at all at all prior to Steph Curry, 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:16.040 and so we just had a lot of dark days 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:18.480 with guys who would just come for a year two years. 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.600 There was never really any like true core to the 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:24.480 team because guys were just scrumming and being traded. 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.000 The arena like not even sold out. 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.200 Not like it now Steph got there. I mean it 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:32.080 was a Oracle when you grew up. Yeah, Oracle has 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.720 always been a special place. But obviously when Steph and 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.320 you know, Draymond and Clay turned that team, turned that 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:40.400 ship around, it fans started filling it up and tickets 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.200 got too expensive and stuff. But I've always been a 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:42.680 Warriors fan. 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.600 Hey, this is a crazy question for Warriors fans, But Oracle. 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.120 Or Chase, I've never I've never gotten a chance to 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:51.760 play at Oracle. Yeah, just more as a fan. Let's 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:54.160 just take it that way. Like the stadium itself, you know, 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.520 the stadium itself, Chase is nicer, it's a vibe. I 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:01.560 like the build Oracle. I like how it feels so 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:02.400 homey and small. 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.720 That's what people say and everybody, you know, since I've 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:07.480 been playing in the league for five years, you know, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:08.640 everybody says that. 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:11.360 Oracle was like the craziest place, their favorite place to play. 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.440 So I'm kind of sad that I never got the 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:15.280 opportunity to do that, but you know, just being there 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.080 as a fan was very special. So I'm gonna have 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:20.280 to go with Chase because I have better memories there, 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.440 you know, winning games, there being a champion there at 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:23.760 the time. 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:24.800 So I'm gonna go with Chase. 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.560 So in your teenage years, did you ever play against 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.720 any other future NBA players in AU in high school? 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.640 Yeah, a bunch, to be honest. Wow, where do I start? 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.160 I mean, the NBA is hard because there are guys that, like, 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.760 I came out of high school in twenty eleven, so 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.720 there are guys who played in the NBA in twenty twelve, 0:08:42.880 --> 0:08:44.960 you know, maybe played one year or two years, three years, 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:46.440 what is it twenty twenty four now. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:47.160 Yeah, I'm gonna go. 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:52.720 So played against guys like Michael kick Gil, Chris Nick Johnson, 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:54.439 I think he was in the league for a little bit. 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:56.960 Wow. 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.280 Who else? I don't even know. That was a long 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.240 time ago playing it. But I played against a lot 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:03.760 of top guys in AAU. I'm sorry, I'm pulling the blank. 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.319 I can't really at the moment, I'm trying to think 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.480 of who else was in my class. Michael Benajet, he 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:13.120 played in the league a little bit Uh Jabari Brown, 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.240 who's really a good, good friend of mine. 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.920 He played with the Lakers for two years. I believe. 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.200 We played against each other in high school three times, 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:22.240 but we were friends also. 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:26.560 But he played in the NBA. Yeah, Dame Lillard. 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.240 That's a good poll. I knew, I knew something was 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:29.640 like cookie. 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:32.880 Yeah, yeah, Dame Lillard. So yeah, I mean, I'm sure 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.520 I can name more, but right now, that's what. 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.320 And did you have any relationships with players currently in 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:38.920 the league when you were a teenager that like were 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.200 maybe helped give you advice or like grow as a player. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.440 So Drell right, he's not in the league anymore. 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:47.360 Oh, and Delonne right. So I was really close with 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:51.480 Derrell when he was with the Warriors. He actually came 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.800 to a basketball game of my he and Steph Curry. 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.280 And I only know this story because my best friend, 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.200 his mom is the principal, or was the principal at 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:03.200 the time, and so we would sell out our games 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:05.600 and they just pulled up and they thought they were 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.640 going to get in. Obviously she didn't know who they were, 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.360 and she denied them at the door. So he hit 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.040 me up on Twitter, and then I just made sure 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.040 that the staff and everybody knew who they were. And 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:18.080 thereafter he would come to my games and support me, 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.480 and he always gave me advice. He's like a big 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:22.520 brother to me. I don't really throw the big bro 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:26.000 turn around too much. Draymond Green's a big bro. Those 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.760 two guys really have helped me throughout my career. Obviously 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:31.960 Draymond when I met him in the NBA, but like 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.640 you know we were speaking of in high school, Drell 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:36.800 right just laced me with a lot of games, took 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.480 me under his wing. And then thereafter I met Delan 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.120 through Darrell and we became really close as well. 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:42.600 Love it. 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.199 So moving on from high school, you went to Marquette. 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.240 Can you take me through the process of what it 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:49.280 was like choosing Marquette over your other eye? 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.360 You want the long version of this, Let's just go long? 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:51.840 Why not? 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:52.840 Right? Yeah? 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:57.840 I mean every athlete knows, like being recruited in college is. 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:02.640 It's hard because this is a life decision. 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:08.079 And you have so many options, and then sometimes some 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.280 options it just starts to become a little redundant and 0:11:12.120 --> 0:11:15.120 you kind of become tone deaf to different things. It's 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.400 kind of like picking shoes, right, Like when you go 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:18.920 in your closet, you got too many options. 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:20.360 It's just like, damn, I'm just worth these. 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.760 And that's that's kind of how it became towards the end, 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.480 and that's why I think I committed so early. But 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:32.200 I don't regret my commitment at all. I went on 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.079 a visit, A couple visits didn't work out, blah blah. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.160 Took a visit to Marquette with my parents, and that 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:40.320 was the only visit. My mom actually came on and 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.120 I knew as soon as I got I'll never forget 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.400 this feeling of September twenty fifth and I got off 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:45.920 the plane and it was cold. 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:46.959 Was it your junior year? 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:48.960 Yes? 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:51.960 And it was cold. And we're from California, right. We 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:54.920 get late summers all the way into October and I'm like, whoa, 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:57.920 and it was gloomy and all that. I'm like, I 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:00.280 don't want to be here. Obviously I had. I've never 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.200 really been anywhere. I've been to Hawaii before and then 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.200 Mexico once when I was a kid, but I didn't 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.120 travel a lot when I was young, so I didn't know. 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:09.480 You know, different places. I'm like, this isn't for me. 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:12.640 My mom built a really good relationship with Buzz Williams, 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:15.440 who was the coach at the time, and I mean 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.079 they hit it off. And so then I went to 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.040 my I went on a visit to Arizona State the 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.040 following week, and I'm like, my mom didn't come me. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.400 I'm like, I'm committing here. I called my before I 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:25.839 even got on the plane. I called my mentor. I'm like, 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:27.440 I'm going to commit right now. He says, just wait, 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.600 get on the plane, come to the gym when you 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:32.439 get here, we'll talk about it. Because we worked out 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.920 every Sunday for like four hours whatever. I didn't even 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:36.679 get a chance to work out because he and I 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.720 were in the back, just like arguing about this decision. 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:41.480 And me and my mom were on the phone arguing 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:43.800 about it, and they didn't want me to go to school. 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:48.040 Their long story short, too much partying, probably, Yeah, And 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.079 you know, now that I'm thirty one, I understand now. 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:52.960 I didn't understand that at the age of seventeen. I mean, 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.640 you can literally, you know, lose yourself or become who 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:58.880 you're going to be in college. College is a very 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:04.160 volatile time for anybody, but especially a young man who's 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:08.080 going to play basketball, you know, etcetera, etcetera. It could 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.000 have been I could be living a totally different life 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.840 than I am now, and so I ended up committing 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.960 to Marquette. I was actually I committed October sixth I 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.240 want to say, on October tenth, I was going to decommit, 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:22.200 but then it just became like a huge fight with 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.080 my mom and I ended up going to school there. 0:13:25.600 --> 0:13:27.520 It was really tough for me there at the time. 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:29.680 But like I said, I don't regret it. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.160 Everything, every decision that I made up until this point 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:33.520 has made you know, my story. 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:33.680 What it is. 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:35.480 Yeah, okay, I love that all. And now I want 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:36.920 to move a little bit into you now. So we 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:38.880 figured out when you were sixteen. I like, if I 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:40.920 fix sixteen year old, you would be cool. But because 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.600 I'm such a JTA superfan now when you talk about now, 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.320 so to start off, you were the first player of 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:48.920 Mexican American descent in the dunk contest? Can you take 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:51.160 me through what goes into picking a dunk? Because I 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:56.080 feel like there's so much hate, especially nowadays, around people's dunks. 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:59.040 But I don't think people understand how much work and 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:00.920 dedication goes in to doing that. 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:05.040 Well, it's really hard because there's maybe four or five 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.960 dunks out there that nobody has ever done. Like we're 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:11.000 all humans, nobody's jumping in the air for three seconds 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:12.400 and able to do all these tricks. 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.400 Right. I always troll be Top. 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.160 And we're good friends now from the dunk Conference, and 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.160 every time he post a dunk, I always d m 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.640 a boot or texting boom, like do a backflip and 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:24.800 seven twenty and like just some crazy stuff. But I 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.720 just trow him because there's really literally much you can do, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.600 so it is actually hard. And then you know, you 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.640 get you know, six to eight to ten dunks ready 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.920 for the dunk contest, and then you know, four guys, 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:38.600 three guys go out there and do a dunk that 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.800 you were gonna do, and then it's like, oh, snap. 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:42.160 I do now? 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:43.920 What do I do now? And that happened to me 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:46.080 actually in the first round. 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.000 Two of the guys did two of my dunks in 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.800 the first round, and I was just like damn, like 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.920 I got I got two more dunks that I know 0:14:55.040 --> 0:15:00.640 that I can do, but they're hard to do. And 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.920 that's the risky part because those two dunks were dunks 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:05.200 that I've done. 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.960 But I wasn't doing consistently. And that's the difference. 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.200 It's like, can you do this dunk consistently or can 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:12.240 you do it like every so often? And those were 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.160 two dunks that I could only do every so often, 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:16.400 and you know, I got to the point where one 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.160 of them I caught a flat tire, like I tried 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.120 to women on a honey dip, but I was tired 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:21.960 and I caught a flat tire. 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.440 And then the very last one was the Jason. 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.920 Richardson tribute where you know, throws it up in East 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.040 based reverse East Bear or whatever, and I was I 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:32.040 just couldn't get it done. 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:36.120 And so you know, and you're also out there alone. 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.040 It's like being on a pitch amount yeah, you know, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:41.920 like it's the whole crowd watching you, not the nine 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.200 guys on the floor or not ten guys on the floor, 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:44.720 it's just you. 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:49.200 So it's kind of nerve racking. And you know, like 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:50.080 I said, it's just. 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:51.840 Like you're trying to figure out where do I go 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:53.920 with this, right because you don't know who's going to 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:55.040 get out there and do anything. 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:58.000 So it's it's much more difficult than people make it seems. 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.520 Yeah, not that I'm ever going to be in the 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.280 dunk content, but just in case I ever was. I 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:02.400 feel like now, I like I. 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:02.640 Know what I was. 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:06.320