Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast Wherever You Get Your Pots. Julius
Speaker 1: Irving is synonymous with the Philadelphia seventy Sixers. He's been
Speaker 1: an amazing player that helped change the way the sport
Speaker 1: is played and an ambassador of sorts for the game
Speaker 1: of basketball worldwide. Doctor j is known for his signature moves,
Speaker 1: an NBA championship with the Sixers in eighty three, a
Speaker 1: two time champ in the ABA, an eleven time All Star,
Speaker 1: and a lot more. It all led him be an
Speaker 1: inductive in the nixt Smith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: in two thousand and six. This week's Tom's Talks podcast
Speaker 1: is with the Doctor. We'll touch on Julius Irving's illustrious career,
Speaker 1: but we begin with a discussion of today's current events,
Speaker 1: specifically the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Floyd died
Speaker 1: shortly after his arrest by a Minneapolis police officer. Irving's
Speaker 1: professional career started in Virginia in the Old ABA. It
Speaker 1: was there on more than one on occasion where Irving
Speaker 1: was pulled over by law enforcements simply on the way
Speaker 1: to basketball practice. So Julius speaks on this topic based
Speaker 1: on personal experience. That was crazy, man, that was that
Speaker 1: was nineteen seventy one, seventy two. I mean it was
Speaker 1: it was that long ago. And you know, just watching
Speaker 1: the video of this guy getting choked out with officer
Speaker 1: who has his knee on his neck and he's saying,
Speaker 1: I mean I just felt like going through the TV
Speaker 1: and pushing him, you know, just get just get off
Speaker 1: the guy's neck. I mean this this was life or death, right,
Speaker 1: and uh and I got stopped in those days in
Speaker 1: the seventies. And you know, not only was it a
Speaker 1: nervous time because you know, you didn't know what the
Speaker 1: outcome was going to be, but the ridiculousness of it.
Speaker 1: And you know, asking me where do I work? You know,
Speaker 1: why do I have s car? Whatever? You know, you're
Speaker 1: got stopping me. That's not that's not a reason to
Speaker 1: stop anybody ask them where they work if they have
Speaker 1: a nice car. And and that was truth to be told.
Speaker 1: And so so this has been a problem in our
Speaker 1: society for a long time. And you know, so the
Speaker 1: the rioting and the looting and all that kind of
Speaker 1: stuff that just goes in hand with people who are
Speaker 1: opportunists trying to take advantage of a situation and and
Speaker 1: and doing doing bad things during that time. But it's
Speaker 1: not anything new. It's not anything new. I mean when
Speaker 1: I was in high school, you know, just had a
Speaker 1: couple of students, fellow students who were teenagers you know,
Speaker 1: either get shot or you know, get hurt unjustly from
Speaker 1: you know, be getting roughed up or whatever. So it's
Speaker 1: it's yeah, it's a it's an epidemic, and it's uh
Speaker 1: and it's in our society and I hate to see
Speaker 1: it be encouraged and fit and unfortunately a lot of
Speaker 1: things that are being fit, but being fit by people
Speaker 1: in high places. I know you went through that and
Speaker 1: reading your book and getting to know you over the years,
Speaker 1: but speaking of that time when you mentioned high school,
Speaker 1: and this is a lot more fun and light, and
Speaker 1: that is you and your friends would get in the
Speaker 1: car and travel around New York City and find games
Speaker 1: in different parts and obviously a Rutger Park. You became
Speaker 1: kind of famous, and that helped launch your career. But
Speaker 1: that joy of going to find the best competition and
Speaker 1: all being together and and I know you talked about
Speaker 1: that and and really think back on that fifty two
Speaker 1: some odd years ago with a with a joy when
Speaker 1: you remember how how that was for your ice. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: as a teenager. You know, the first time I played
Speaker 1: in Rocket Park was after I signed with the Virginia Squires.
Speaker 1: I had never played in that park before. So I
Speaker 1: literally twenty one years old when I played in Rocket Park.
Speaker 1: But I played in Brooklyn, played in the Bronx, played
Speaker 1: in Queens, and played in Long Island. And me guy
Speaker 1: named Robert Mayrant and named Lenny Carter Odell cured and
Speaker 1: and Leon Saunders, guy who named me the doctor and
Speaker 1: I named him the professor man. We used to get
Speaker 1: in the car and either my car, Robert's car, or
Speaker 1: Leon's car, and we go look for basketball games. We
Speaker 1: used from Long Island. We would go to Queens because
Speaker 1: you know, we kind of exhausted what was happening in
Speaker 1: Nassau County, right where all the good parks were, and
Speaker 1: and we wanted more. And I think when you want more,
Speaker 1: you get more. So ironically one was one story I
Speaker 1: can we uh, you know, we used to go there.
Speaker 1: We had you know, T shirts, so T shirts might
Speaker 1: might say something about where we're from but it just
Speaker 1: might have numbers on them, right, and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we went into we went into Queens and we started
Speaker 1: playing foot called basketball, and at the end of the
Speaker 1: end of the round, you know, the guys said, man,
Speaker 1: you know you guys for y'all go back to Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: You know, let's let's exchange shirts. Let us at Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: We're not from Brooklyn. We're from Long Island. And then
Speaker 1: they were so upset because they were like, guys from
Speaker 1: Long Island beat us. We thought y'all was from Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: So we like, we've changed the shirts. Anyway, then we
Speaker 1: went back to Long Island. So it wasn't about geography,
Speaker 1: but there was a perception that, you know, if you're
Speaker 1: from an urban environment, you played better and that you
Speaker 1: are better. And that was I old enough for us too. See,
Speaker 1: we were getting recognized by somebody who was closer to
Speaker 1: the of the game, you know, New York City right
Speaker 1: that we were, and they thought we were from there.
Speaker 1: One thing I liked. And we're going to get into
Speaker 1: your time with the Sixers and the eighty three championships
Speaker 1: and changing the game a little bit. But again going
Speaker 1: back to a little bit about your early years, in
Speaker 1: basketball was whether it was going to U Mass or
Speaker 1: trying out for the nineteen seventy to Olympic team, where
Speaker 1: just to that point right there where you just said
Speaker 1: where you were finding out where you fit and like,
Speaker 1: oh my, maybe my talents do fit into this level.
Speaker 1: But you had a humble approach where in the end
Speaker 1: you became one of the greatest basketball players our game
Speaker 1: has ever known, but at the beginning you were trying
Speaker 1: to inch your way in there and figure out where
Speaker 1: your talents fit in. Speak to that, Yeah, you know, Tom,
Speaker 1: I hope that I've been humbled through the whole journey because,
Speaker 1: you know, for me, and my mentors told me this
Speaker 1: and encourage this, you know, trying to leave the game
Speaker 1: in better shape than it was before you've got you know. So,
Speaker 1: so I think that was always somewhere in my mindset
Speaker 1: that if I could leave it better, then the next group,
Speaker 1: the next cool group, they will try to make it
Speaker 1: better because if I inspire them, then they're inspired by me.
Speaker 1: They will do things that will inspire others. So so
Speaker 1: for me, the whole moved to college and going to
Speaker 1: U Mass and going to a school different than you know,
Speaker 1: the big time schools, the Michigans and North Carolinas and
Speaker 1: UCLAs in the world or whatever. Because I graduated high school,
Speaker 1: I was pushing six four it's less than one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy pounds, and even though I posted good numbers,
Speaker 1: I was a twenty five point score seventeen rebound to
Speaker 1: night guy in high school. And we finished and we
Speaker 1: were seventeen and two, and then the first game of
Speaker 1: the county playoffs we lost, so we end up seventeen three,
Speaker 1: and you know, that was it for high school. It
Speaker 1: was it for high school competition, so the college competition
Speaker 1: was next. Freshmen weren't allowed to play varsity basketball, and
Speaker 1: I probably was able to compete with the varsity basketball.
Speaker 1: As you know, the TAA realized and started letting freshman play.
Speaker 1: But we were seventeen and as our freshman team, I
Speaker 1: remember the guys. We had a couple of guys from
Speaker 1: New Jersey, John Benncourt, Mike pack Here, Bill Kesgin, and
Speaker 1: then we had some Massachusetts guys, and then we had
Speaker 1: a couple of Long Island as Me and Rick Vogli
Speaker 1: with Vogli with for Salonica played against them in high school,
Speaker 1: so we had to be two guys from Long Island,
Speaker 1: and we never lost the game. So may our coach
Speaker 1: had a lot to do with that because he was,
Speaker 1: you know, he was like Vince Lombardi. He was a
Speaker 1: hard driving guy. Peter Broker and uh and Jack Lehman.
Speaker 1: When I became a player for Jack Lehman, I played
Speaker 1: Bostony for the two seasons, and you know, he he
Speaker 1: kind of kept we lit on things because he played
Speaker 1: a very controlled the game. But for whatever reason, I
Speaker 1: played a lot of minutes and I was very productive,
Speaker 1: you know term the points and rebounds. You know, in
Speaker 1: the last year, well both years we got snubbed by
Speaker 1: the NC Double A tournament. We went to the n
Speaker 1: I t in New York, and so that first year
Speaker 1: I remember, but I think we were eighteen and six
Speaker 1: and then we were twenty two and two because played
Speaker 1: twenty four games and the NC Double A didn't didn't
Speaker 1: recognize Yankee Conference as automatic, and so so I never
Speaker 1: got the big head associated with, you know, being a
Speaker 1: national champion. And but I did love the game and
Speaker 1: I always wanted, you know, my own personal philosophy to
Speaker 1: apply if I went somewhere and played, let it be better,
Speaker 1: Let it be better. Because I'm there. So that Olympic
Speaker 1: development experience. Olympic development experience happened in nineteen seventy in
Speaker 1: preparation for the seventy two Games. So I got invited
Speaker 1: to the camp as an alternant, and you know this
Speaker 1: is chronicle in the book. As you know, you know,
Speaker 1: I go there. There are a lot of players there
Speaker 1: who I had heard about and never played against, who
Speaker 1: had much bigger names. And I went as an alternant.
Speaker 1: Next thing, I know, the fitting me for USA jacket
Speaker 1: to go over and represent the USA. And I'm on
Speaker 1: a team you know with Paul West Ball was one
Speaker 1: and job Rights and Baptis, these guys with the big
Speaker 1: schools and he had Crayton, Tom ms Miller went to Maryland. Whatever,
Speaker 1: I'm going on this team and we played thirteen games
Speaker 1: and I'm the leading scorer rebounded on the team and
Speaker 1: we had three seven footers. So it was like go figure.
Speaker 1: And I think coming back and playing my junior year
Speaker 1: in college, somebody out there said I'm going to take
Speaker 1: a shot on, you know, getting this kid and getting
Speaker 1: the leave school early, and that had not been a
Speaker 1: big thing during that time. Only a few people had
Speaker 1: left school early. Spencer Hayward being the first, I believe,
Speaker 1: and then I became a part of a statistic in
Speaker 1: that regard because I left after my junior year, started
Speaker 1: my pro career with the Virginia Squires the championship and
Speaker 1: Julius you changed the game. And you know, obviously as
Speaker 1: a player when you're playing with flair and you can
Speaker 1: sense the crowd is enjoying it. But then as you
Speaker 1: grew into your pro career and you're soaring and flying,
Speaker 1: you know, and the game became above the rim. And
Speaker 1: that's kind of a landmark deal in the history of
Speaker 1: our game in the early part of the seventies, and
Speaker 1: that's and then the game has changed. Basically, not a
Speaker 1: lot of people can lay claim to anything like that
Speaker 1: in any sport. Do you see it that way that
Speaker 1: you helped change the game of basketball? Well, I'm not
Speaker 1: seeing the Royal Chiefs per se, but but but there's
Speaker 1: a there's a there's an undercurrent there in terms of
Speaker 1: people who sports enthusiasts and who acknowledgeable like yourself whatever,
Speaker 1: in terms of moments and things that we're change agents
Speaker 1: in the sport and in every sport. You know, Jim
Speaker 1: Brown changed football and so so I like to hear
Speaker 1: it discussed, and you know, hear my name put in
Speaker 1: the equation with Pete Marraich and and I think when
Speaker 1: they have at NBA at fifty posted here and I
Speaker 1: are kind of like right next to each other, and
Speaker 1: and I look at it sometimes when I say, you know,
Speaker 1: he definitely changed the game. I changed the game. And
Speaker 1: I think that's why we're together like that. It's just
Speaker 1: kind of like a special little thing that I have
Speaker 1: with Pete because I liked him. I went to camp
Speaker 1: with the Atlanta Hawks when he was there, and just
Speaker 1: like with George Gervin and Virginia's stay after practice and
Speaker 1: we play one on one and we just had a
Speaker 1: good time getting to no One in the sharing our
Speaker 1: basketball styles and the things that we brought to the
Speaker 1: game that were, you know before perceived to be only
Speaker 1: done by the gold Tradas or done for show as
Speaker 1: opposed to effect. And I looked at when loss record
Speaker 1: and I said, love, you know, I might do things
Speaker 1: at a flash year and a showing, but is adding
Speaker 1: up in the wind column and the wind column is
Speaker 1: way created in the lost column. And you know, so
Speaker 1: that's how I view it. We'll have more of my
Speaker 1: conversation with Julius Irving in a moment. In this time
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Speaker 1: doctor j When you talked about trying to leave the
Speaker 1: game in a better place, everybody looked at you and
Speaker 1: still today as this ambassador, this icon of basketball. But
Speaker 1: for like a generation and a half, ten or fifteen years,
Speaker 1: the Michael Jordan's like, and then it went on to
Speaker 1: Michael and we've gone through that with the Last Dance
Speaker 1: and Kobe and Lebron in other words, a whole slice
Speaker 1: of basketball dumb looked up to you. So when Jordan
Speaker 1: or people of that generation came up to you and
Speaker 1: you know, you intersected and you could feel that reverence,
Speaker 1: that must have been special. And then is the way
Speaker 1: you handle it makes it with the grace and the
Speaker 1: class and the charisma, just speak to that whole dynamic
Speaker 1: about being that guy. I think it's great when when
Speaker 1: they look at you being the godfather, so to speak.
Speaker 1: And you know, I go back to my experience at
Speaker 1: U Mass when Bill Russell came and it was his uh,
Speaker 1: he just finished went in the NBA Championship as a
Speaker 1: player coach for Boston. He retired, and he was a speaker.
Speaker 1: He was speaker at UMSS. I'm nineteen or twenty, and
Speaker 1: you know, he heard about me and asked me to
Speaker 1: meet up with him after his after my practice and
Speaker 1: after his speaking engagement because I didn't hear him at
Speaker 1: a speaking engagement. And we met and we went to
Speaker 1: the student union and we went in there. It was
Speaker 1: probably like eight thirty nine o'clock and when we left
Speaker 1: there it was midnight, you know, And my life was
Speaker 1: changed forever. I mean, I sat and I listened to
Speaker 1: this man talk and his wisdom and his sincerity, and
Speaker 1: there was an integrity about him extending the hand of
Speaker 1: friendship at that time that I had never experienced. And
Speaker 1: I wished and hoped that I could do that for
Speaker 1: somebody else, and fortunately I was able to do it
Speaker 1: and still continue to do it with Bill, you know,
Speaker 1: called one the phone and you know, first thing, he says,
Speaker 1: what's up, doctor, and we just take up what we
Speaker 1: left off. So it could be a week before, or
Speaker 1: it could be three months before, whatever. And he's he
Speaker 1: was that type of iconic figure, and I aspired to
Speaker 1: you know, obviously it could win eleven championships thirteen years
Speaker 1: or whatever, but I could extend the hand of friendship.
Speaker 1: And they did that too, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan
Speaker 1: and guys big and small like them, Terry Tyler, Quinn Boner,
Speaker 1: you know, just guys who said, hey, man, you know
Speaker 1: I'm here. If you ever need me, just give me
Speaker 1: a call. Grant Hill, just give me a call, see it,
Speaker 1: just to see what's up. And you know that there's
Speaker 1: a good feeling associated with that in terms of affecting
Speaker 1: a few different generations because now at seventy, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, forty years past my prime on the court,
Speaker 1: maybe forty five years past my prime on the court.
Speaker 1: So there's been multiple generations of players who I've met
Speaker 1: in some capacity, and I tried to build Russell and
Speaker 1: due to them with what they did to me, what
Speaker 1: he did to me, that's awesome and you're great at that.
Speaker 1: And during your prime you were an eleven time All
Speaker 1: Star and what I love too is you were five
Speaker 1: time first team All NB And of course you did
Speaker 1: win that championship with the Sixers in nineteen eighty three,
Speaker 1: but it was a long time coming, starting in the
Speaker 1: seventy seven finals when you played Portland and then trying
Speaker 1: to get there, um just to kind of walk us
Speaker 1: through that. I know that's a lot, but to finally
Speaker 1: achieve your goal after getting knocked down with a group
Speaker 1: that was primarily able to stay together, and then adding
Speaker 1: Moses to finally get you over the hump. But that's
Speaker 1: a rare. You don't really find that as much anymore,
Speaker 1: where a team is able to, you know, take the
Speaker 1: steps and finally punched through. But you were at the
Speaker 1: peak of your powers with the MVP and anyone, and
Speaker 1: just like I said, getting into that finals and winning
Speaker 1: an eighty three, well yeah, it's it's interesting because you know,
Speaker 1: there's there's like three parts of my career. So there's
Speaker 1: the first five years, which the ABA years, and there's
Speaker 1: the next eleven years, which is the you know quest
Speaker 1: or not the next seven years the quest for the championship,
Speaker 1: and then is the four years you know afterwards, in
Speaker 1: which we weren't contenders, but you know, we were competitive.
Speaker 1: We were like the spoilers and now and it was
Speaker 1: an interesting time. So um, but the eleven years with Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: so I look at that as the middle and the
Speaker 1: end of my basketball life and the chase in those
Speaker 1: first seven years with going to four finals in seven years,
Speaker 1: like you said, it doesn't always happen. And the team
Speaker 1: that we had, we had the best record in the
Speaker 1: league the first year. We had George McGinnis brother from
Speaker 1: another mother, and Doug Collins, Henry Baby Joe Bryant called
Speaker 1: Kobe's Kobe's dad, Henry Baby Mike Baby's dad, and Harvey
Speaker 1: Catchings to mek A Ketchings dad and so so we
Speaker 1: had we had some good h genealogy on that team,
Speaker 1: and Gene Hue coached and obviously that that initial team
Speaker 1: and we got all the way to the championship, won
Speaker 1: the first two games and then lost the next board games.
Speaker 1: So that just kind of set the table for it
Speaker 1: can get worse or it could get better, and I
Speaker 1: think it got worse before it got better, because we
Speaker 1: had a void before we really got back to the championship.
Speaker 1: And that's when the team began to evolve and the
Speaker 1: team began to change, and you know, instead of Henry
Speaker 1: Baby and Doug Collins, you know, we end up with
Speaker 1: Marie's cheeks and Andrew Tony his backcourt, with Clid Richardson
Speaker 1: and Franklin Edwards as the other two guards leading up
Speaker 1: to the seventy three team, but the eighty three team,
Speaker 1: and uh, so we ended up with a with a
Speaker 1: makeup with Billy Cunningham coming in and Chuck Daily and
Speaker 1: shaping and molding and trimming and cutting and and from
Speaker 1: seventy seven to eighty three year window, eighty we got
Speaker 1: back and uh and Billy was in charge and uh
Speaker 1: and he had the championship experience from the sixty six
Speaker 1: sixty seventeen and you know, had infinite coaching wisdom from
Speaker 1: playing for Dan Smith and the program in North Carolina whatever,
Speaker 1: and so that's what he knew, and Chuck knew and
Speaker 1: Chuck Daily was our excell old guy, and you know,
Speaker 1: he was a champion by all the guards. So so
Speaker 1: we had we had leadership on and off the court.
Speaker 1: You know, I think we had to pedigree to be
Speaker 1: a champion, and we just we just we just needed
Speaker 1: that piece that came in eighty three, which was big
Speaker 1: mall and and more more needed us, more needed us.
Speaker 1: He hadn't won any championships in equaly the ABA or
Speaker 1: the NBA, and he was a great, all time great
Speaker 1: and destined to be an all time great with a
Speaker 1: twenty two year career or whatever. But I think he
Speaker 1: needed us as more as much as we needed him,
Speaker 1: and we really needed him, and and during that time,
Speaker 1: i'd like to think about, you know, going three times
Speaker 1: in six years and becoming a runner up. There's your
Speaker 1: window close, you know, it's it's that it and that
Speaker 1: as good as it gets. Well, we've got a couple
Speaker 1: of ABA championships, NBA, a VP, ABA, multiple vps and
Speaker 1: so and so as that is that is that my
Speaker 1: whole story, because it would be a big board if
Speaker 1: NBA champion wasn't listed with on that resume, and for
Speaker 1: some places it doesn't get listed on the resume, so
Speaker 1: it's nothing, nothing that guarantees it. So I was very
Speaker 1: very fortunate to get it in eighty three because there
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna be another shot at getting it unless we
Speaker 1: stayed in tack. And we didn't stay in tack because
Speaker 1: you traded Moses. The next year Washington for Jeff Brulin
Speaker 1: Andrew went down, and you know, the next three years
Speaker 1: it was just kind of like riding up the stream,
Speaker 1: you know, being a spoiler, being good enough to be
Speaker 1: a playoff team every year, but not really being good
Speaker 1: enough to be a user when you guys went win
Speaker 1: the championship. But I know the and you've lost some
Speaker 1: of your brothers from from those years, um, Moses, and
Speaker 1: but when you fly back from Los Angeles and you
Speaker 1: land in Philadelphia, and just the memories of the parade,
Speaker 1: of being at Bentery Stadium, of going down to Road Street,
Speaker 1: the joy that you delivered after promising to a city
Speaker 1: that you know, we owe you won and finally being
Speaker 1: the champion, I would imagine that was like a magic carpet, right.
Speaker 1: It was a magic carpet, right, Tom, It was. It
Speaker 1: was so special, friends and family in tow uh, you know,
Speaker 1: riding down the streets of Philadelphia to the stadium just
Speaker 1: to just to just to enjoy the moment and celebrate
Speaker 1: that moment you know, there was a lot of social
Speaker 1: unrest going on in Philadelphia during that time, you know,
Speaker 1: with the move group and the elections you know, being
Speaker 1: rigged and so much going on. So I think that
Speaker 1: the championship brought the city together and averted something very
Speaker 1: very bad, very bad thing that could have happened because
Speaker 1: Philadelphia was ready to explode during that tament. I think
Speaker 1: the team, uh definitely brought people together and created a
Speaker 1: oneness of mind and spirit and created a movement going
Speaker 1: forward that that helped get over that hump. You are
Speaker 1: a hugger and at this time we're you know, elbow
Speaker 1: tappers like and you're you know, like I said, you've
Speaker 1: been in a basket or for basketball for the six
Speaker 1: or yeah, back here to Philadelphia. This is going to
Speaker 1: change things a little bit. You're not going to be
Speaker 1: able to, at least for now anyway dole out autographs
Speaker 1: or or a lot of people the way you go.
Speaker 1: It's a nice break. It's a nice break because sometimes
Speaker 1: I feel like Anna signed my life away in a
Speaker 1: year go to these shows and you know, you signed
Speaker 1: like two three four thousand autographs, and uh, I've always
Speaker 1: been good about it. Obviously, it's a business piece to
Speaker 1: it now with right, you know, fanatics and the different
Speaker 1: companies that are that are in it to win it.
Speaker 1: So um so right now, it's been a break. And
Speaker 1: ironically I tripped on some steps with flip flops on
Speaker 1: it and I hit my elbow, so I versus sack
Speaker 1: versus is swollen. It was like a knot at the
Speaker 1: end of my elbow. So I'm not even getting people
Speaker 1: elbows right now, not with this one, right, But but yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a different time and the meeting of your question
Speaker 1: is really about the contact with people, the physical contact
Speaker 1: with people that're getting in your face to one on
Speaker 1: one conversations. And now here's how we're doing it. We're
Speaker 1: doing it virtually right, you know, we zooming. Other other
Speaker 1: apparatusis space time. And the older people have to get
Speaker 1: used to using the technology and embracing the technology because
Speaker 1: there's a new normal coming and and it might it
Speaker 1: might be like this forever in terms of certain types
Speaker 1: of communication. I mean, you know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: go anywhere near a hospital or emergency room whatever, but
Speaker 1: you still might need some medical attention and whatever. They
Speaker 1: have to do it do it like this, and it's
Speaker 1: it's amazing. And one of the other things we're doing is,
Speaker 1: you know, watching a lot of TV, watching a lot
Speaker 1: of channels that I've never watched before. I'm seeing all
Speaker 1: these documentaries or pandemics and all these fictional movies about
Speaker 1: what could happen, and this is really happening. So yeah, right, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: they there. There's a bunch of movies on. There's a
Speaker 1: whole category and I just missed them over the years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: who now now and I'm seeing them now and it's
Speaker 1: their eye opening. We'll close with this provided basketball does return.
Speaker 1: In the forum, that's being reported the Sixers are healthy.
Speaker 1: Everyone says they're built for the playoffs. We close with
Speaker 1: you talking basketball about the Philadelphia seventy sixers. What do
Speaker 1: you think the chances are for this current group provided
Speaker 1: the NBA resumes play Well, I mean, I like what
Speaker 1: we have. I think that you know, we got the
Speaker 1: positions covered and got depth and uh and so now
Speaker 1: it's you know, to the aggressive goes to spoils. You know,
Speaker 1: we have to initiate, instigate and and really go after it,
Speaker 1: like you know, can't wait for I don't know, wait
Speaker 1: for teams to make mistakes. You have to force teams
Speaker 1: into making mistakes and and you know it's it's it's
Speaker 1: kind of like a coom to gral one for all
Speaker 1: an awful one or whatever. You know, stop fooling around
Speaker 1: with this thing. It's not something that's going to be
Speaker 1: given to you. You know, other teams want it as much.
Speaker 1: And if there's any team out there that wants it more,
Speaker 1: then you have to adjust and want it more than
Speaker 1: they do. So I think you know know who your
Speaker 1: know who your enemy is, know who your opponents are,
Speaker 1: and and be the aggressive you know, I think aggressiveness
Speaker 1: will pay dividends for our team. And I think that
Speaker 1: you know, but you've got a center in foul trouble.
Speaker 1: You know, Joe gets in foul trouble. We got back up,
Speaker 1: He got back up, He got backup, guys, he got backup.
Speaker 1: Aays in every position. You know, al you know, I
Speaker 1: could be the starting center. They can, they can flip
Speaker 1: flop roles. You know, as much grief as Ala given
Speaker 1: us when he was in Boston. We want that Aura
Speaker 1: show up, not just he usually shows up a playoff
Speaker 1: time or whatever. So you know, Tobias is great and
Speaker 1: keep things level in terms of team and distribution and
Speaker 1: whatever and Ben and Ben's a phenomenal He's you know,
Speaker 1: he's a prodigy. Um. You know, I think he's non
Speaker 1: winning all of his life and uh and he's you know,
Speaker 1: he's come the most direct route to to pro basketball
Speaker 1: then un in anybody from the time he started playing
Speaker 1: and so of the documentaries, documentary you know, the team
Speaker 1: he started playing basketball. He's come directly to this stage
Speaker 1: and this platform and whatever. Soode. So I think he's
Speaker 1: ready for it. And you know, I like our chances, well,
Speaker 1: I so much. I appreciate your time. I can't wait
Speaker 1: till we're able to get back and being a more
Speaker 1: normal situation. If you will take care of yourself. Thank you,
Speaker 1: doctor Jakes. All Right, you take care. Thanks Tommy, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to Tom's talks with me Tom McGinnis on
Speaker 1: the seventy six Ers podcast network. Check for new episodes
Speaker 1: every weekend.