Speaker 1: Hi, guys, my name is Sammy Jay and welcome to
Speaker 1: the Let's Be Real Podcast. This week's guest is NBA
Speaker 1: star Aaron Gordon. We talk about his love of basketball,
Speaker 1: his experience in the bubble due to COVID, his love
Speaker 1: of chess and meditation which I was surprised by, and
Speaker 1: his passion for activism and racial equality. Don't forget to subscribe,
Speaker 1: leave a comment, and send this podcast to so many love.
Speaker 1: I hope you guys enjoy it, and as always, I
Speaker 1: look forward to your feedback. First of all, welcome Aaron.
Speaker 1: It's so great to have you on my podcast. It's
Speaker 1: so great to see you, and it's so great to
Speaker 1: meet you. Yeah, it's nice to be seen and let's
Speaker 1: beat you too. The season is back on December twenty two,
Speaker 1: and you guys aren't going to be in the bubble
Speaker 1: this time, but still no fans. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about that? We're all competitors, you know, we love the game,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what makes it so special. It
Speaker 1: makes it such a special league. As you know, regardless
Speaker 1: of the circumstances, you're gonna have some players that show
Speaker 1: up and play ball. This past summer, the NBA finished
Speaker 1: its season in the bubble down in Orlando. What was
Speaker 1: that experience, Like, it must have been so weird not
Speaker 1: being able to see family and friends for months. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a difficult experience being away from family, being
Speaker 1: away from France. But I think the NBA is needed
Speaker 1: a good enough job to make us comfortable. Do you
Speaker 1: have a certain memory of something that you guys did
Speaker 1: off the court because you did have access to some
Speaker 1: cool stuff. Yeah, it was great. We had to have
Speaker 1: some of the golf courses out there and it was
Speaker 1: a good time, you know, going out there. Just seeing
Speaker 1: some of my teammates get better at golf throughout the
Speaker 1: weeks is really nice. I mean, we had fishing out there. Um,
Speaker 1: we had cord Hall. You know, it's a little bit
Speaker 1: of stuff going on. Did you catch any fish? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they stocked the pond, so you know, it's kind
Speaker 1: of pretty. It's a guaranteed catch, but at least that
Speaker 1: like it just boost your ego just a little bit,
Speaker 1: sounds good? Oh yeah, confidence booster for sid for sure. Okay,
Speaker 1: with a bubble, for someone like me, I have a
Speaker 1: lot of anxiety and the thought of just being like
Speaker 1: in a bubble for that long. How do you deal
Speaker 1: with that just mentally not being able to leave or
Speaker 1: have people in Oh yeah, it was you know, figuring
Speaker 1: out what is to just call them yourself, whether it
Speaker 1: be lighting incense or candles, reading, meditating and listening to
Speaker 1: the instrumentals. Um, you know, I find a healthy ways
Speaker 1: to pass it on. I hear you like meditating. I
Speaker 1: can't get into it. I just can't focus for that long.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Why do you have any advice? I
Speaker 1: would just say, be observant of your thoughts. You know,
Speaker 1: see some of the things that are going through your head,
Speaker 1: some of the more recurring themes, recurring thoughts that you have.
Speaker 1: Just kind of watch them and uh, don't really grapple
Speaker 1: any emotion to them, just kind of see them objectively
Speaker 1: as best you can instead of subjectively. And I think
Speaker 1: it will make your thoughts more clear and more concise.
Speaker 1: When you meditate, do you focus on the present, think
Speaker 1: about the past, or like, think about the future. I
Speaker 1: just trying to be still in my body. Um, just
Speaker 1: you have come to the present moment. Uh, you know.
Speaker 1: It's just saying that when you think about the future
Speaker 1: cultivates eagerness, and when you think about the past. It
Speaker 1: brings up depression, so you know you're trying to stay
Speaker 1: in that middle. H know, what, do you read any
Speaker 1: good books? Yeah? So I read Robert Green's Human Laws
Speaker 1: of Nature. Um, and uh, it's pretty good. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just kind of there's a story. You have a
Speaker 1: lot of story figures in the past and kind of
Speaker 1: some things that they done it in what's been reoccurring,
Speaker 1: and just you know, human nature. It's fascinating book, but
Speaker 1: also tread now in this time that we're in more
Speaker 1: than ever. When you're playing, you know, you usually have
Speaker 1: like a whole like you have a whole stadium cheering
Speaker 1: you on. What was that like when no one else
Speaker 1: was there and it was just you guys playing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was eerie. You know, it's almost awkward being at
Speaker 1: the freakro line and not having anybody boo you or
Speaker 1: cheer you on or anything like that. It's I didn't
Speaker 1: like it, But it's easier to focus. I feel like
Speaker 1: it was easier to make shots. The depth perception in
Speaker 1: the gym was much more for shooters because it wasn't
Speaker 1: that like giant space. So, I know, playing basketball with
Speaker 1: no fans sounds weird because of just the silence. Did
Speaker 1: you miss getting booted at all? I mean it's going
Speaker 1: to be the same this season with no fans in
Speaker 1: the arena. Yeah. You know, as much as you liked
Speaker 1: inteer like silence in the booing crowd to you miss
Speaker 1: both both parts of it, something you probably never thought
Speaker 1: you'd say. You know, I'm all for it. You know,
Speaker 1: when you're go on a road game and you know
Speaker 1: the opposing team is just booing and booing and booing,
Speaker 1: you feel like you're coming together as a team, you know,
Speaker 1: So it's something that you miss. Do you get energy when,
Speaker 1: like when if you're getting booed, because I know some
Speaker 1: people discourage them, but some people just hype them up
Speaker 1: even more. Yeah, I'm gonna start player like you start
Speaker 1: going to be able to go off nice nice. So
Speaker 1: I know the NBA players, Uh, they wore a variety
Speaker 1: of different words or phrases on the back of their jerseys. Um,
Speaker 1: and you chose freedom. I'm just wondering, with everything that's
Speaker 1: going on in was there a certain reason, um, why
Speaker 1: you chose to have that word on the back of
Speaker 1: your jersey. Yeah. I feel like people should be free
Speaker 1: to chase their dreams. You know, free to have ambitions
Speaker 1: and free to have aspirations, you know, regardless of your
Speaker 1: skin color, regardless of your socioeconomic background. And um, I
Speaker 1: feel like as black men, we should be uh free
Speaker 1: of the fear that the police instill in our children. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think for so long, like people are. I
Speaker 1: think some people think that this is like a new thing,
Speaker 1: but it's gone on for hundreds of years. It's now
Speaker 1: just being videotaped, and so people actually can't turn the
Speaker 1: blind eye to that. UM, just had to curry. What
Speaker 1: was your second option for your jersey? I actually wanted
Speaker 1: My first option was one Love, you know, the first
Speaker 1: well option was one Love, But they didn't want us
Speaker 1: to pick our own sayings, so I chose freedom. I
Speaker 1: don't know, I like one love, though, you should make
Speaker 1: your own jersey and just right rocket shout out. I
Speaker 1: think what's so great about what the NBA has done.
Speaker 1: It's just it's allowing the conversation that I think has
Speaker 1: been needed to be had. And I think what's going
Speaker 1: on just in the world and all the social injustice.
Speaker 1: It's it's so boggling that we're living through a time
Speaker 1: where there's even a debate about it. Um, what do
Speaker 1: you say to the people who don't even recognize that
Speaker 1: this is an issue at this point? Oh wow, I
Speaker 1: would just say, you know, turning a blind eye is
Speaker 1: just as you're just as well contributing to the social
Speaker 1: prejudices and social injustice that's happened in the world. So
Speaker 1: just be more benevolent to everybody, be more kind to everybody,
Speaker 1: go out of your way to say hello. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I think more than ever kindness it does so much.
Speaker 1: See so simple, but it does so much in the
Speaker 1: craziness that is every year, but specifically this year. I
Speaker 1: think it's one of those things also where it's like
Speaker 1: for people who couldn't protest because they're compromised because of COVID,
Speaker 1: and if they still are and they still want to
Speaker 1: participate and be an active member in society and stand
Speaker 1: up for what's right, do you have any suggestions on
Speaker 1: how they can still make an impact. All the social
Speaker 1: media platforms are huge, you know, that's uh. A big
Speaker 1: part of today's society is the virtual, virtual reality. So
Speaker 1: we'll just get out there or stay inside, I guess,
Speaker 1: and just keep posting on your platforms and then people
Speaker 1: will see I feel like the more we talk about
Speaker 1: it on social media and keep it going. I hope
Speaker 1: that's what makes the real change. You've been very outspoken
Speaker 1: about what it's like to live in the society that
Speaker 1: we're living. Have you experienced any systematic racism that people
Speaker 1: don't even notice on the day today? Oh yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean just walking around the store being followed. That's kind
Speaker 1: of when you're when I was younger, you know, just
Speaker 1: kind of with the assumption that we're steal with Robin.
Speaker 1: I mean, well, you know people shop lived in that
Speaker 1: on us, you know, So it's just it happens being
Speaker 1: pulled over for no reason than just being black. Uh,
Speaker 1: It's just like having hair goes on and on, just
Speaker 1: being targeted. I can't imagine how frustrating that is. I'd
Speaker 1: love to talk to you about education, something I know
Speaker 1: you're passionate about. Oh, for sure, I'm playing to college
Speaker 1: right now. When I just wrote my essay, essay question
Speaker 1: was this is really interesting if there's a topic in
Speaker 1: the news that's not covered enough, it would it be?
Speaker 1: And I wrote about education system. And it's the more
Speaker 1: you think about it. For those who are listening, there
Speaker 1: are so many different types of learners but yet, especially
Speaker 1: in underfunded schools, they're taught to learn a certain way
Speaker 1: and aren't giving the tools to develop. And I think
Speaker 1: it's really cool what you've been doing with Code Orlando UM,
Speaker 1: which is a coding camp that you created, which I'm
Speaker 1: actually taking computer sciences here. It's hard, Yeah, it's really hard.
Speaker 1: What made you want to start this program? I think,
Speaker 1: especially now, being able to work remotely and digitally is
Speaker 1: more important than ever. Uh, And I see that it's
Speaker 1: going to continue that trend, you know, being able to
Speaker 1: create opportunities virtually, whether it be for a different app
Speaker 1: or mostly mostly just an app, but you know, just
Speaker 1: the technology. Just have these these kids understand that they
Speaker 1: don't have to be a ballplayer rapper to make millions
Speaker 1: of dollars, you know, you can't be a computer scientist
Speaker 1: to you know, go by Lamborghini or whatever. You know,
Speaker 1: there's other ways to ball out. And so just that
Speaker 1: opening of consciousness, I feel like it does a lot
Speaker 1: for uh, some of self conscious self conf It is.
Speaker 1: What's the coolest project that you've seen that they created? Oh?
Speaker 1: So they had a concept where some of the kids
Speaker 1: that are in children's hospitals who are bedbound Um, I
Speaker 1: can put on virtual goggles and have kind of a
Speaker 1: like a safe space and a meet up space, and
Speaker 1: that's a really cool concept. Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, just
Speaker 1: really passionate, innovative. It's just great grasp of human interaction.
Speaker 1: Do you know how to code? No? Not very well.
Speaker 1: It's so fascinating to me. Just it's so important now
Speaker 1: more than ever, like coding, because like our lives are
Speaker 1: literally online. We a lot of us school is still
Speaker 1: online and jobs. So I think the more computer scientists
Speaker 1: that that would be incredible. Yeah. If definitely just the
Speaker 1: coded community. The majority of the computer scientists are um,
Speaker 1: white men, you know, Silicon Valley. It's just would be
Speaker 1: nice to see, uh, kind of a diverse group of quotas.
Speaker 1: You've talked a lot about the education reform, and like
Speaker 1: I said, I'm really fascinated by this issue because I
Speaker 1: feel like it's this it's so present in everything and
Speaker 1: it affects the future. But it's not being funded enough
Speaker 1: and people aren't giving them enough resources. Um. So my
Speaker 1: question is, if you could create a school, what would
Speaker 1: your ideal school be for every kid in America? So
Speaker 1: I'm looking to put one together in Orlando right now
Speaker 1: looking at ability the Armory. It's in the Creative Village
Speaker 1: in downtown Orlando, and uh, you know, it would just
Speaker 1: be a lot of expressive self awareness classes, whether it
Speaker 1: be breathing and meditation hopefully, uh, like a dance class
Speaker 1: and art class, a gym class, of music class uh.
Speaker 1: And then ways to protect your solf in America as
Speaker 1: a you, whether it be home economics, teaching yourself how
Speaker 1: to cook, law, finance science. So it would be a
Speaker 1: very practical things and then also very self actualizing. Can
Speaker 1: I attend the school? I know, I like I'm about
Speaker 1: to graduate, but like high school, but I would attend
Speaker 1: the school. Oh yeah, you'd be a lot less stressful
Speaker 1: than some of the school school where you have to go.
Speaker 1: Thing now, I love that idea. And something that I
Speaker 1: was thinking about is we're expected to kind of like
Speaker 1: go into life without knowing, Like we know how to
Speaker 1: do like algebra, but we may not know how to
Speaker 1: do taxes or how to create a bank account or
Speaker 1: create a checking account. And like these are the basics
Speaker 1: that I feel like should be covered. Also, yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: So what is it like balancing you know, all of
Speaker 1: this wanting like creating a school, having a coding camp,
Speaker 1: but also being a full time basketball player. Oh, you
Speaker 1: gotta just find your time to meditate, You find your
Speaker 1: time to las, find a vacation time. Other than that
Speaker 1: is pretty much grind. But it's fun. I love it,
Speaker 1: you know, So it's it's easy for me because I
Speaker 1: love it. We have to take a quick break, but
Speaker 1: when we come back, I want to talk to you
Speaker 1: about what you love most about basketball, your perspective of
Speaker 1: mental health and sports, and why you've never won a
Speaker 1: slam dunk contest because it doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back and we're back. What's your favorite
Speaker 1: thing about basketball? I like the swag. I like the
Speaker 1: originality to it. You know, you might see something new
Speaker 1: every once every game. Do you have a specific game
Speaker 1: that has just like stuck out in your mind that
Speaker 1: you'll just never forget. Oh man, you gotta be that
Speaker 1: game in Toronto and DJ hit that hit, that game winner,
Speaker 1: the three point of the game. One those memories I
Speaker 1: can't even imagine. Okay, let's switch gears and talk about
Speaker 1: the mental part of the game. We actually had Kevin
Speaker 1: Love on this podcast for the season one finale. We
Speaker 1: talked about how is an athlete, You're supposed to work
Speaker 1: out your body, but therapy is just working out your mind.
Speaker 1: So what do you do to keep your mental health
Speaker 1: in check? Mostly be about taking things into perspective, also
Speaker 1: meditating UM and praying UM, and just kind of clear
Speaker 1: in your mind. You know, there's so many things that
Speaker 1: can wind us up and make a stick. Um. So
Speaker 1: just by meditating and kind of watching my thoughts and
Speaker 1: breathing and taking a couple of minutes to myself throughout
Speaker 1: the day, like five to ten minutes throw on my day,
Speaker 1: I can continue to progress and continue to grow in
Speaker 1: an upward spiral. Upward spiral. I was thinking about this
Speaker 1: because my uh, my brother and d are a basketball junkie.
Speaker 1: So I've been my mom and I have been recruited
Speaker 1: in this for quite some time in the game. UM,
Speaker 1: and I feel like mental health hasn't been talked about.
Speaker 1: It's been talked about in the more recent years. But
Speaker 1: why do you think there is such a stigma with it?
Speaker 1: Just because a while ago in America, if you were
Speaker 1: seen as needing mental help, it seemed like you were
Speaker 1: mentally weak. Needed a therapist meant that you were crazy
Speaker 1: or psychotic and it's just not the case. You know,
Speaker 1: people need time to themselves, people need a voice of
Speaker 1: reason and perspective. And you know, as a man and
Speaker 1: as men, you're not supposed to show emotions. Really, I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to really show feelings. And that's kind of the
Speaker 1: culture that we were growing up with raised within America.
Speaker 1: The culture shifting. There a lot of show emotions. UM,
Speaker 1: talk about feelings, and it's not seen as weak. It's
Speaker 1: actually seen as strong. You know, one of my best
Speaker 1: friends is victory goes to the vulnerable, So the more
Speaker 1: vulnerable you can make yourself more victorious to be. I
Speaker 1: like that victory goes to the vulnerable. I think that's
Speaker 1: I haven't heard that before. Um, we all know basketballs
Speaker 1: and business players are getting treated all the time. This
Speaker 1: offseason was no a friend. In between games, you guys
Speaker 1: have all sorts of obligations. After every game, you have
Speaker 1: reporters asking you a ton of questions, and it's pretty
Speaker 1: much never ending. How do you stay centered through all
Speaker 1: of that. You're just trying to stay as even as possible.
Speaker 1: You know, you don't try and get too high on
Speaker 1: trying too low. UM, just stay consistent, say solid, kind
Speaker 1: of stay um, understanding that growth isn't linear. You know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of like a kind of jagged upward and
Speaker 1: you know there's there's steps. You know, it's not just
Speaker 1: a straight line up. UM. So whether you winning or losing,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of keep that same poise to
Speaker 1: yourself and understand that, um, there's more games to be playing,
Speaker 1: there's more work to be done. Instead ever challenging to
Speaker 1: do that and try to remind yourself of that when
Speaker 1: you're you know, in the heat of it at all.
Speaker 1: Of course, of course, you know that's um, like all
Speaker 1: the preparation we do for our bodies, we got to
Speaker 1: do for our minds as well. So when it comes
Speaker 1: to the game time, we just let it take over
Speaker 1: what is naturally supposed to happen. So something that I'm
Speaker 1: so happy about is you're you're a musician. Now tell
Speaker 1: me how this happened. It's just been um a way
Speaker 1: to express myself, very fun, getting to know new people
Speaker 1: and socialize with UM and a whole different community of
Speaker 1: people outside of the basketball realm that a is just
Speaker 1: really dope and very creative and expressive. So it's been
Speaker 1: just not nice to just be able to focus on
Speaker 1: something other than both. For sometimes, especially when my body
Speaker 1: is hurt and they're aching or something like that. Let's
Speaker 1: say we were, like we're traveling on the plane or
Speaker 1: on the bus and I can just kind of like
Speaker 1: listen to my music and kind of write lyrics to
Speaker 1: So it's just something that keeps me calm. That must
Speaker 1: be like an entirely separate outlet. Do you notice any
Speaker 1: similarities between writing and music and basketball or do you
Speaker 1: think they're completely separate. They're definitely connected in the swag
Speaker 1: to it. You know, the swagger is there to the rhythm.
Speaker 1: You've got to have the rhythm in the game and
Speaker 1: the flow. So how did you get started? I've always
Speaker 1: had an affinity for words in the English language, um So,
Speaker 1: I thought English sounds really nice and when you put
Speaker 1: words words together and flow and something that is meaningful
Speaker 1: and powerful and it just sounds nice on the ears.
Speaker 1: It's just always been something I love to do. Do
Speaker 1: you like poetry, Yeah, so that's pretty much where I started. Uh,
Speaker 1: just kind of writing simple poems and then just putting
Speaker 1: a beat to behind them. I feel like I feel
Speaker 1: like I've realized in the past few years how powerful
Speaker 1: music is. Um and just like what kind of message
Speaker 1: you can get across. Is there a certain message you're
Speaker 1: trying to translate through your music that you haven't been
Speaker 1: able to while playing basketball? Of course, you know you
Speaker 1: want to have a fan base. I think music is
Speaker 1: meant to be free and bring people together. So that's
Speaker 1: all I'm trying to do. So one thing that I
Speaker 1: found out about you, but I was fascinated by is chess. Okay,
Speaker 1: I have never played chess. Why do you love it
Speaker 1: so much? It was really competitive, but not in the
Speaker 1: way that basketball is competitive. It's really cerebral. Basketball is
Speaker 1: really cerebral as well, but that's what's really physical um
Speaker 1: and chess is and it's at all So it's kind
Speaker 1: of the same way to get um like my competitive
Speaker 1: juices flowing. But I don't have to use my body
Speaker 1: as much. I can just use my mind. So I'm
Speaker 1: a gamer, so I love it. Is that how you
Speaker 1: get hyped before a game you play match chess? Is
Speaker 1: that the right terminology? Matchup chess least? Okay? Yes, so
Speaker 1: I'll just play on the court, wait until I my
Speaker 1: shooting time to my one off time I played chess. Okay.
Speaker 1: I have a few questions about chess. Have you played
Speaker 1: any of your teammates. Yeah, I played a couple of them.
Speaker 1: Did you win? Yeah? Got him. I've always been fascinated
Speaker 1: by just like the art of it, because like I
Speaker 1: feel like it's this like it's really working your mind
Speaker 1: in a different way. Have you noticed that if you
Speaker 1: play chess before a game it improves your game on
Speaker 1: the court. Oh? Yeah, because it's just like separate. It
Speaker 1: makes you think there's concepts, like a thousand concepts behind chats,
Speaker 1: and it's just something that relaxed with me. Uh and yeah,
Speaker 1: it gets my mind going. Wow. Okay, we have to
Speaker 1: take one more quick break, but when we come back,
Speaker 1: we can be talking about your experiences in the slam
Speaker 1: Dunk contest and if you could do one more crazy dunk,
Speaker 1: what would it be. We'll be right back and we're back, Okay.
Speaker 1: Can we talk about the slam dunk contest? First of all,
Speaker 1: how old were you when you first dumped? I think
Speaker 1: it was about eleven or twelve years old on my
Speaker 1: first start. How taller were you when you were eleven
Speaker 1: or twelve? Oh? That was probably h five nine, so
Speaker 1: pretty big? What okay? I am five to on a
Speaker 1: good day. Five threes my dream? How older you when
Speaker 1: you're six ft? Oh no, it was probably about twelve.
Speaker 1: Tell you that's crazy. I've been big. I wish I
Speaker 1: could be that tall. I just wish I could see
Speaker 1: the world from like that view. I'd have to look
Speaker 1: up over everyone. You can see things coming from a
Speaker 1: lot farther. It must be great to go to concerts too.
Speaker 1: You can just see the stage you the best, best
Speaker 1: scene to have. Anyways, back to dunking, what is your
Speaker 1: favorite dunk of all time that you've seen? Wow, a
Speaker 1: lot of the dunks. I guess it would be Vince
Speaker 1: Carter jumping over the seven footer in the Olympic Games. Yes,
Speaker 1: you know when you got a YouTube that when Vince
Speaker 1: Carter jumps over seven footer, it's crazy. I'm going to
Speaker 1: write after this, is there a certain one in the
Speaker 1: slam dunk contest that they'll just stick with you? Oh? Man? Um,
Speaker 1: just the whole contest, you know, in total, there's just
Speaker 1: a lot of funs. So something that I don't get
Speaker 1: is that you had more of fifty points scores than
Speaker 1: anyone in history and that you didn't win. Why. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure. It's just kind of how it shut, guys,
Speaker 1: I check out. Okay, So I think I'm on the
Speaker 1: side that you should have won because yours was a
Speaker 1: lot more creative. If you could do any dunk, what
Speaker 1: would it be? I guess it would be, um, like
Speaker 1: three sixty under both legs and like, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's probably reverse through sixty under both legs. I think
Speaker 1: I saw Jim I do it. It's great? Or is
Speaker 1: there every there professional dunk there? So it's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: Going back to just talking about you starting to school
Speaker 1: and all that. What do you wish you knew at
Speaker 1: my age, which is now eighteen, I would say, uh,
Speaker 1: to pay attention to the details in the moment, Joey,
Speaker 1: what you do and have a great time doing it. See,
Speaker 1: I try to do that. It's so hard to stay
Speaker 1: in the moment though, with I think this year, especially
Speaker 1: for sure, um, with everything that's happened in the craziness
Speaker 1: that is. What do you what do you think that
Speaker 1: we can do as a society to change it for
Speaker 1: the better? Well, um, I think people could just release
Speaker 1: some of the prejudices, you know, stop judging books by
Speaker 1: the color, and I think we will be better off
Speaker 1: for it. I hope that we can do that as
Speaker 1: a society, as a country because it's it's now more
Speaker 1: important than ever before with everything that's at stake. So
Speaker 1: what I've been trying to do for season two is
Speaker 1: I've been trying to highlight a charity, uh and an
Speaker 1: awareness to it because I feel like that it's it
Speaker 1: should be happening and just bringing awareness to something people
Speaker 1: that are doing good. So is there a charity that
Speaker 1: you want to talk about? Oh? Yeah, sure, Oh charity
Speaker 1: that I'm involved with is my new Red Shoes out
Speaker 1: of the Bay Area. Uh. It basically collects money and
Speaker 1: collects shoes to give the kids that wouldn't be able
Speaker 1: to buy on for themselves. So shout out to Money
Speaker 1: Red Shoes. All right, I'm gonna link them in my bio.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for taking the time. I know
Speaker 1: you're very busy with everything so it really needs a
Speaker 1: lot all right, Thanks for having me on. Thank you
Speaker 1: guys again for listening to this week's episode. I hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed it. Don't forget to follow Aaron Gordon on
Speaker 1: social media and if you haven't already, followed me on Instagram,
Speaker 1: added Samy J. That's I T S S A. M
Speaker 1: M y j A y e and happy holidays. I
Speaker 1: know this season, this time of year can be really
Speaker 1: hard for a lot of people, so if you're struggling,
Speaker 1: you can always DM me. My dms are open to
Speaker 1: everybody and I will see you guys soon. Bye guys, M.