WEBVTT - Greatest Athletes on Social Media with Omar Raja 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.680 Welcome to the Greatest, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.320 All right, welcome to another episode of the Greatest. We're 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:17.799 back from our little week break. Thank you for letting 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:19.840 us do that, whether or not we needed a permission 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.960 or not. I'm joined here by my co host, my 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:27.040 wife Still somehow my writer die four months into quarantine, 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:32.239 Megan writer, die writer or die? My day one? My no, 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:34.519 there was. There was a Day one and we weren't 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.640 dating for eight year. My day one. You know some 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:40.920 of my day ones, and they were a mistake. Ny. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.000 How are you doing. I'm good. How are you? I'm 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.200 doing great. It's good to be doing the pot again. 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:47.440 Sports is coming back, so it's not a lot of 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:52.560 like you know, remember when Lebron blocked Now, this podcast 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:57.960 has already been um pigeonholed as as a podcast that 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:02.319 pretends to be all sports but is really basketball. Do 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:07.360 you think you'll be able to be I don't sports agnostic? 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.680 Yeah no, no, no, I'll try. But I mean our 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:14.160 guests for today is no better way to introduce him. 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.520 You know, he used to tell me as I guess 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.760 my boss, but my friend, you know, House of Highlights 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:22.200 is primarily a basketball account. No no other sports really 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.440 work that well. But he's no longer at House of Highlights, 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.360 and we'll get into a little bit nothing controversial, but 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:32.400 he's now a new employee at ESPN. Ladies and gentlemen, 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:37.160 welcome Omar Rajah for having me. C J. When you 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.760 said co host, I thought you were like talking about me. 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:47.560 We were we were the first. You're talking about Megan 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:54.440 the first co host. I'm the first co host, all 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:58.000 three of us right now. This might be podcast history. 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:02.960 We got three Twitter show hosts. Leg you know what, 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.680 It'll never be done again. I promise you what. I 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:11.320 like that Twitter inadvertently did I think Twitter would tell 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.000 my show, you guys are the art most viewed show 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:20.160 on Twitter, and then Twitter would tell you, guys, you 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:23.720 guys are our most viewed show on Twitter. And it's like, now, 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.240 how can that be true of both shows that no 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.000 one is watching. Well, they were both coming on at 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:31.880 the same time, too, so it couldn't have been like 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.560 one of those most active show right now that's the 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.040 most viewed. We were both kind of going around the 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.280 same time. And I actually didn't know that they said 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.280 to you, they you're the most viewed, because now I'm 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:44.880 kind of jealous and hurt because I thought we were 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.560 I thought it was legit. I was like, oh, c J, 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.760 like we've done something here. It's like we did something. 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:54.680 People liked it. People saw a few of the clipouts, 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:56.920 they liked it. I mean, we had a season two, 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.959 but you I mean you guys were not a part 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.440 of season two. Yeah, there was a season two. It 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.760 was also there was technically a season two of my show, 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.800 and I was also not a part of that. Things happened. 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.040 That's the business. We're still working right now, gratefully in 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.880 in the pandemic. But um, for some of our listeners 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:17.440 who don't know you, Omar, I wanted to get a 0:03:17.480 --> 0:03:20.360 little bit into your back story. Um, you did. You 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.000 founded the popular Instagram sports account House of Highlights. How 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.120 many years ago now, two thousand and fourteen, August two, 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:32.320 Obama and so what happened? So you started the account? 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.840 You were at University of Central Florida. Yeah, I mean, 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.480 honestly even starts a little bit before that. Like I 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.120 think the story often tells like Lebron left the heat, 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.800 but what's the media training? What's what's that's the media 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.080 trained story? Now, I can be a little bit more 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.920 honest about how it kind of went about. Um the 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.200 years before that, in two thousand and eight, two thousand nine, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.480 I was trying to make YouTube videos for like NBA 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.240 two K and basically so many video games back then, 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.600 so it's call of duty too, and that was like 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:01.600 the first time where you saw that, like, if you 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.200 grew an Internet audience, you could make money off of it. 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:06.880 I was just too young to like ever really figured 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:08.840 out and have the money to like five equipment like 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:11.720 microphones and cameras, so I kind of gave up on it. 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.000 But when college came around, now I was a bit 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.920 more mature, I had some money I could try it out, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:19.040 and Instagram was like kind of the YouTube of the 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.440 time of two thousand and twelve two thousand thirteen, like 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.599 having this rise. So when the Heat won the championship 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.359 with two thousand and thirteen, there was this photo of 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.720 Dwyane Wade popping champagne, and I'm gonna take all of 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:33.719 these cool photos and make my own Instagram page because 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.120 Instagram was really known for his photos at that time too, 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.000 there was no so I put them all together. I 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:42.719 made an account called Sports Posters, and I got like 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.320 two thousand followers like two weeks. I was like I 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.440 made it. I was like, I made it. I was good. 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.560 And then I kept doing it, and I think over 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.440 a year we went from zero to two d and 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.919 thirty five thousand, and then the natural transition was like, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:58.840 all right, let me do this for a video as well. 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.240 Um when lebron On left in July and augustly just 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.120 started it. So then I had with pages, but Sports 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:09.680 Posters was just primarily it was just like curated sports content, 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.000 not just videos. It was like a lot of people 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.440 we work with now like photo shops, yeah, and like 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:19.480 memes and ship. The sports posters still exist. No, so 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.200 I think about to three years ago it was become 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:24.400 House of Highs were getting so big that it's hard 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.039 to manage, like to three different pages. Um that I 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.080 was just like, we hit up Instagram, like can you 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.760 put these two accounts together? A lot of people on 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.120 followed though from sports Posters that were like what is 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:40.720 all these videos? Were like we do not like these 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:46.200 moving pictures. I remember that I was like, I didn't 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:48.200 notice that it was House of Highlights the only one 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.680 doing it until I actually maybe even met you, where 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:52.800 you were like no, we're we're primarily going to go 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.320 video because it's like it's literally it's highlights. And I 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.880 just remember, like, why why wouldn't you do what Bleach 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:01.359 Report is doing, Like why not just like a quote 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:03.440 card and stuff like that that those get numbers, But 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:06.320 like you sort of figure out early on just videos, 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.599 and that's sort of like the model that everyone's doing 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.680 right now is it's the top ten. But yeah, I 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.599 would say the major thing that even Instagram does, probably 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.799 TikTok does a little bit, um, is they push videos 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.760 so hard. Videos are super share able. People are actually 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:23.440 like you can look at a photo in two seconds 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.200 and keep scrolling like a video you might have to 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:29.080 legit stay on the app sixty seconds. So they want 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.560 stuff and they're gonna push stuff on the explore page 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.560 and in the algorithm that are videos. Um. That's why, 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:36.040 like at a certain point I felt like they were 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.520 really pushing I g t V because then they just 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.720 met you spend more time on Instagram. So I just 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:44.320 remember pushing bad content HEV being like, let's just do it. 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.320 No I G t V. E then numbers the number 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.360 they're chiec in the numbers, man, come on, and so 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:57.480 then you guys met in seventeen Wow, Okay, Yeah, I 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.240 would just walk by each other at the office because 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.640 I feel like you're a part of this bleach report 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.440 acquired at So I do I do the journey like 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.280 House of Highlights I started, And because I had all 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.280 the success with sports posters, I knew how to kind 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:14.560 of make it even faster the success I had over 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:18.160 the last year. Um. So, one thing with highlight wrights 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:20.600 is you need to have like you need to be 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.200 a partner with the NBA. So I always knew I 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.280 needed to partner with an ESPN or a bleacher Board 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:30.840 from the beginning. Yeah, because YouTube had like because I've 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.000 I've seen like NFL highlights and like two thousand and 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:36.520 eight get copyrighted by the NFL. So like I was 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.360 aware of like copyright a little bit, especially if you 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.240 get bigger, Like if you were not growing in size, 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:45.280 they probably would have looked the other way. But once 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:49.160 you yeah, once you're monetizing it and huge, they're like, well, 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:52.920 now we want to be a part of that. Yeah, exactly. 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:55.880 So once you hit like five thousand, you're like you're 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.040 just waiting for the day to get shut down. Like, man, 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.680 you got happed, right, Yeah, I got I mean on 0:08:00.720 --> 0:08:04.640 the last. So this is was crazy, is I got 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:06.240 the offer from Bleach Report. I don't think I ever 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:11.600 shared this. I actually wasn't gonna take it. Um yeah, 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.240 I mean I wasn't. It wasn't anything against Bleacher Report, 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.600 And in hindsight, I should have definitely taken the offer. 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:20.600 Um like I should have definitely like, thank god I 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:23.680 did take it. But you know, on on a on 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:28.040 the I got hacked on a Sunday two days before that. Um, 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.800 I decided that I wasn't gonna agree to the br offer. 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:32.240 Not that it was bad. I just wanted to see 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:33.839 what would happen if I could just stick it out 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:38.160 for another year. Yeah, I mean I was. I was 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.320 figuring out different ways to do it, and I also 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.280 I was curious what it was gonna be like to 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.400 have a manager. And also I think when you watch 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.959 TV shows or movies, the idea that like, oh, they're 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:50.960 just gonna buy it and then ruin it always in 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:53.360 the back of your head. So I think that that 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.520 one primarily was in the back of my head, like yeah, 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:56.959 they're just gonna buy it and then kicked me to 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:59.720 the curb and I'm gonna regret all of this, so 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.840 thanks for that didn't happen. But I made the decision 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.720 on a Friday night to sell it. Two days later, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:07.720 I got hacked, and maybe it was not from God 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.120 to be like, no, you idiots, you better sell this thing. 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.520 You're maybe maybe it was bleacher Report. They're like if 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.959 we said that. Half the people I tell the story 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.920 to they're convinced that Bleacher Report hacked it. But I 0:09:21.960 --> 0:09:25.480 eventually figured out who did it. It was just like hacker. 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:28.319 If if anyone's interested, you can look up something called 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:30.679 sim swapping and it's kind of the way to hack 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.439 a bunch of accounts, like the guy impersonated me contact 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.160 and like a T and T into day a T 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.760 and T Like, hey, I'm omar like me, that's a 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:45.440 lot to do. I got hacked, but it was fishing, 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:49.400 and I think fishing is just like, oh, if we 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:54.040 can get one stupid person to click on something, And 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.360 I said, boy, oh boy, here I am. I am 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.520 your stupid person, and I will click on it. Because yeah, 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:03.920 they were like, you have copyright infringement. I'm like a 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.720 good my ass like I own it. But I clicked 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.920 things and then a man in in Turkey had it well, 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:13.320 people say, how do you know it was a man? 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:15.320 I don't think a woman in Turkey would do that 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:16.920 to me. I think it was a man of journey, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:22.520 I assume. But yeah, I did not have any offers 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.920 to accept to get me out of it. Just a 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:28.880 stranger on Twitter helped me. So no, but you gotta 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:30.680 think about it. For me, I'm still in college and 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.880 I have this big offer and now I think I 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.040 lost it all. I was like, I'm done, and I 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.679 think it was I got hacked on October eighteen and 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.680 it wasn't like October twentieth. I got it back because 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.040 I think, Megan, you got it back pretty quick. I 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:48.920 didn't get the account back to Halloween, and at that 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:50.760 point I actually given up. I was like, there's just 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:54.400 no where God. So are you still talking the Bleacher 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.440 Report during that time? Yeah? I mean they're the ones 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:01.080 that helped out. They kept putting the connecting Facebook. Facebook 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.959 at first was kind of being hesitant on helping, or 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:06.559 they just weren't really responding, or they didn't seem really care. 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:11.320 Facebook not being not being good people. Wow, we gotta 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:16.600 call Mark. But eventually eventually they did, to their credit 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:18.680 and they looked into it and they were like, you 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:20.560 know what he got happened, So they got me the 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:24.200 account and then honestly from the jump, I'd never regretted 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.200 it after that because like, I got to do all 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:28.720 of the things I dreamed of as a kid, and 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:35.680 then I met c J. And and now now you 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:38.679 keep running. You want to say something nice about c J, 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.920 so I'll let you. I did. So one of the 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.480 first memories I actually have of CJ because he he 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.240 wasn't working on the Social Department at the time, so 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.280 he would come down because he wanted to work with 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:51.520 Social for Bleacher reports. Yeah, I was getting I was 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:53.720 on social at first and then I got pulled onto 0:11:55.480 --> 0:12:00.920 and then remember that, so he would he would like 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.600 when he would disappear, he would oftentimes go to like 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.280 your shows. I remember one time it was like what 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.920 West Palm Beach or so it was something Implora. Remember 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:13.520 c J came down talked about your show in Florida 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.880 like killed at YadA YadA, And then I was like, wait, 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.959 like who is she? And I got the entire room 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.000 to stop what they're doing and watch you stand up 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:25.679 that you don't cone in and we all laugh I'll 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:28.800 never forget PJ, who was working with us, laughed, who 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:33.080 wouldn't stop laughing. Yeah, and I'm not so scary. That 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.880 is like the situation you've just described as every comedian's 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:41.199 like greatest fear, because now I'm hearing the positive. Oh 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.480 yeah it was your boyfriend and now we're all friends. 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:48.079 And but for every one of those, there's been ten 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:51.920 where like someone I went to elementary school with was like, here, 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.520 we'll put it on and their whole family reunion just 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:57.640 clowned my ass afterwards, hated it. No, but they were 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.160 into it, and that's so I was like, Okay, this 0:12:59.200 --> 0:13:02.120 is for real, not oh then you liked me once 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.000 your friends laughed at my late nights and Omar, we've 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:09.040 we've discussed this, like getting on TV is like people 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.480 can do that, you know, but like you can bomb 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.600 or you could be obviously not funny some of these 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.880 TV spots. So it was like so scary. So you 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.640 actually yeah, you came through, thanks Henny, Okay, Omar, Now 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:26.440 you you run the sports Center Instagram account ESPN. That 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.640 is crazy to even say. How like when we when 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:33.480 someone a layman is looking at Instagram, looking at Sports Center, 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:38.400 they are in your mind. Yes, um, I mean the 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.280 when they offered it, I was kind of like taking 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.000 it back. I thought it would be like, you know, 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:46.040 work on something on the side and do some other stuff, 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.880 maybe do another Twitter show. I wasn't expecting them, like 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.320 the Sports Center brand, like when you sit down and 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.520 go there, like it's a very very recognizable brand. It's 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.439 probably you could argue, I don't know for sure, but 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.040 it's definitely a top maybe one in for ESPN, maybe 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:11.280 autely center. Right. So when when I first like I 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.200 couldn't believe because like all your childhood memories are also 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.080 linked with Sports Center, so it's only this big moment 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:20.200 of like, oh wow, like I'm reliving. Like if I 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:22.240 talked to ten year old Omar and I was like, 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:23.960 this is what your journey is going to be, could 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.040 be losing his mind. And I think the coolest part 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.760 was probably in March when uh Lebron was having an 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:32.440 I G Live and I kind of came into the 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.800 Sports Center account and Lebron said, oh, like yo, you 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.000 guys have been on point like sports running your social media, 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:41.520 And I think that was a good point of like 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.880 kind of put a stamp on you of like, oh, 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.040 like what I've been doing over the last three months 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.800 has been unique and different and stuck out. And when 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.160 Lebron says, you know who's running the Sports Center account, 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:53.480 like you're killing it. That that one melt meant a 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.080 lot and you you have a few that was I mean, 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.040 even back when you started House of Highlights, it was 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:01.040 like Snoop Dogg followed right re post and you were 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.160 kind of like it was that an indicator like, oh, 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.400 this could be a for real thing. Yeah, I think 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.200 when the celebrities that you like, I remember calling my 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.280 dad and asking him if he knew who Snoop dog 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.800 was once when I was like, yeah, I do. I 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.080 was like, okay, like this is like a big moment. 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.560 And then do I remember, like I remember like Dwayne 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.360 Wade in two thousands sixteen followed Lebron and two thousands 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.960 sixteen followed out s Highlights um, and then like when 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.560 they started commenting and liking regularly, you're like, oh, man, 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.280 I made it um. And then obviously with with Wade, 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.600 like I grew up in Miami, so he always meant 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:34.440 a lot to me, so to do that Jersey swap 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.320 um at the end of two thousands. At the end 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.680 of his career, he decided to do in Jersey swall 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:42.400 with Me of all people now, and that meant a lot, 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.880 especially because he was the first ever profile picture for House. 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.560 Credit to c J Man Me and c J. I'm 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:53.880 always gonna miss those memories because like we're two people 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:56.640 that should never have NBA credentials or be your credentials 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:02.080 is no, but we'll say it it yeah, And like 0:16:02.360 --> 0:16:05.200 all Star Break, we're like mad because you have to 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.680 wake up at like seven am because we've been drinking 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.360 pepsi of all things, still two am the night before, 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.160 we can not even hungover. You're just like, no, it's 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:18.440 not even that we're drinking pepsi watching movies ttootoo. This 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:22.320 is also on my birthday, so he's not with his spouse, 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.360 whose birthday it is always but that and this is 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.800 an illegal because this is a meat like we get 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.320 meal stipends and we use a corporate car. We're like, 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:32.720 we're gonna get I know, it's not a leak. I know, 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.600 but that doesn't make it ever be held accountable for 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.000 anything I said podcast. So you are forever a child 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:43.360 whose parents have gone on vacation and you've been given to. 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:45.680 Whatever the amount of money is, it's too much for 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.840 you to be trusted with, even fifteen it's too much 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:51.720 for you. Fifteen dollars is too much for you to 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:55.000 be trusted with. Well, it's accurate. And then we were 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.600 we get these media credentials. We realize that we can 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:02.240 ask any NBA player we question we ever want. And 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:05.119 I think C Jay enjoyed it the most. He was 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.560 asking people if like you, was asking Blake Griffin, like, 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.320 do you think people should really be impressed by like 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:14.920 you jumping over a keya because the controversial thing and um, 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.200 then he asked Wayne, wait if remember when he was 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:21.840 the House of Highlights profile picks? So well, I just 0:17:21.880 --> 0:17:24.879 remember because like it's again, this is so crazy. What 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.760 our jobs and lives have been since working this business 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:30.800 is that because like at a TV network like ESPN, 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.000 you make something or you pitch something and has to 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.160 go through like eighteen different channels above you to make 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:39.320 to get meaning to be in that room. You're probably 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:44.080 a professional person, you know, you're probably a normal omar. 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:46.320 And I don't want to I don't want to boast 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.919 you up here because you've been boasted up enough or boosted, 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.119 but you have the key. You have the keys to 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.560 one of the biggest accounts at both places or at 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.080 two places now. But that's how it's like, oh, omar, 0:17:57.520 --> 0:17:59.199 how am I going to get on the account? What 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.800 do I gotta do? It's that became the game. Whenever 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:03.879 we went to go like make stuff ourselves, it was 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:08.080 he was like, asked Dwyane Wade how he felt. So 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:09.600 I was like, oh, yeah, we could just go up 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:12.520 and ask these people. Well, and I think for you, 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:18.280 it's like stand up. We become so desensitized to saying 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.119 crazy things two people, you know, like I have said 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:25.359 to countless people, I will fucking kill you into a microphone. 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:27.520 And I'm not going to kill that, absolutely not. But 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.960 we just and that's not that's not even like a 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.400 joke of mine. But there have been instances where that's 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.360 so like our our normalcy of what is allowed and 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.560 not allowed and what is like socially acceptable to say 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.919 to people. Our gauge is fully broken. It's like when 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.800 the radiators like, like, we have no idea, so you're 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.800 willing to just ask people crazy things, whereas like a 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:54.679 sports writer would be like, so you know, they're not 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.920 going to be able to bosses who have like hired 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:00.879 us and me like, oh, we're gonna get different stuff 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:04.040 out of these guys as opposed to like the sound 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:08.320 bite like you know we're doing different things shout out. 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.200 It's not like it's not like it didn't work right, Like, no, 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:13.720 we were jo like CJ had a bunch of clipouts 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:18.600 from All Star Break, we did our Twitter show. Um, 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:20.359 we had a bunch of clipouts because we did like 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.400 the most like you got a haircut in the middle 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:28.119 of your bizarre is it like like sports, Andy Milanakas. No, 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:30.959 Like the thing is we spent so much time on 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:34.399 this account that we know what's clippable, Like why we 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.560 because a lot of these shows are a lot of filler. 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.399 Everyone's reporting as is he hurt or is he not? 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.119 Is he good to go? We're like, did you what 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:47.560 I think television in general is so much filler like 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.080 even and maybe that's a reality show thing too, so 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:53.119 like sports and reality kind of, but it's like, just 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:55.440 tell us what we long. Well, we had an hour 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.480 and ten minutes shows, right, and we were like, if 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:06.720 we think are going five minutes with the illusionist? Yeah, 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.560 all we did was bringing animals. So like post we 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:12.879 had this video where a toad was put on my 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.760 lap while I was blindfolded, and it was a big hit. 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:19.160 Literally I posted on TikTok. I was just like messing around. 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.360 I was like, we're in quarantine. Let me make a TikTok. 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:23.800 This is two days ago. That video now is a 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.960 million views on TikTok two days um of a toad 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.000 being put on my own without athlete, Like we didn't 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:33.520 need a Nate Robinson or like a Nick Young in it. 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:37.320 Like people knew your personality and was like, yeah, we 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:44.680 want to see animals put on his head to see animals. 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:48.320 At what moment did you go or I guess when 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.200 you were younger and you were making these YouTube videos, 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:52.679 did you ever think that the goal or what it 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:55.040 ended up happening to you would be on camera stuff. 0:20:55.960 --> 0:20:58.159 I had to really get pushed to do on camera stuff. 0:20:58.200 --> 0:20:59.560 I know it was a little hard in the beginning. 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.800 But any thoughts when you were younger, when when two 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:04.320