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Speaker 1: Welcome back all the Smoke, episode eight. Man, I got

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Speaker 1: a super special guests. Man, I don't get excited for

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Speaker 1: too much ship. Y'all know that the honorable. But this

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Speaker 1: dude right here, man welcome, oh, Man, appreciate, Man, thank you, appreciate.

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Speaker 1: You have to be here for y'all. You know that.

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Speaker 1: I do have a question. Can I start off with

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Speaker 1: an interview? Why I'm on the couch with you but

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Speaker 1: he's sitting in the King's seat like, I mean, well,

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Speaker 1: you know what I'm just wondering. I mean, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: explain to you, and I'm explaining to okay, because you know,

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Speaker 1: both of us are great team players, right We're both

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Speaker 1: playing our role. I play a great role of feeding

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Speaker 1: off him, and that's the better seat as far as

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Speaker 1: the production and all that. So he belongs that belong,

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Speaker 1: I belong, true, calm and mellow, all that stuff is

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Speaker 1: different differently. That's but let's get to it. Man. Tell us,

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Speaker 1: I mean I compare you to an athlete from a standpoint,

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Speaker 1: if you're recognized everywhere you go. We know all the basics,

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Speaker 1: but tell us who Stephen A. Smith is from your

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Speaker 1: upbringing right here in New York Native of Hollance, Queens.

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Speaker 1: Born in the Bronx, raised in Queens. Um I raised

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Speaker 1: by the greatest mom in the world. God rested social

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Speaker 1: passed where a couple of years ago. Back to the

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Speaker 1: long battle with cancer. She's married to my dad for

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Speaker 1: sixty sixty one years. Um, that's her old school, old school,

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Speaker 1: you know he you know, he and I had our

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Speaker 1: differences because you know, he could have treated a better,

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Speaker 1: but he's still my dad and I loved him. Um.

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Speaker 1: But because of that, I was extra tight with her.

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Speaker 1: And I was the youngest of six, had an older brother.

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Speaker 1: He died in a car accident to Waco, Texas in nine.

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Speaker 1: Was like in this van there was a salesman traveling

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Speaker 1: salesman and it was fifth team people in one of

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Speaker 1: those sales man and the driver was messing with the

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Speaker 1: radio and stuff like that, and um, it flipped over

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Speaker 1: numerous times. And he was the only one that died. Right.

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Speaker 1: He was right my years and I was. My brother

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Speaker 1: was twenty five when he died and I was sixteen. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and I know that affected my life. So I'm here

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Speaker 1: you talk about it now, and it was it was

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Speaker 1: crazy altering because first of all, you start questioning a

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Speaker 1: lot of things. It's like you're growing up and this

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Speaker 1: is your big brother who supported you. I got left

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Speaker 1: back in the fourth grade because I got the first

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Speaker 1: grade reading level. I remember cats in the neighborhood laughing

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Speaker 1: at me, laughing like I was a dummy, I was

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Speaker 1: an idiot or whatever. And the reason why I bring

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Speaker 1: that up is because if there's ever anything that inspired

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Speaker 1: me that made me hungry, it was making sure that

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Speaker 1: that laughter would never arrive again. So the reason why

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Speaker 1: it's relatable to this conversation talking to y'all, who I've

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Speaker 1: been interviewing for years as NBA is is that I've

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Speaker 1: always been no nonsense, but I've always been straight. You know,

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Speaker 1: you see me coming. If I got an issue with you,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you know. If I got something I

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Speaker 1: gotta report, you ain't gonna like I'm gonna tell you.

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Speaker 1: You know, all of that other stuff, All of that

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Speaker 1: stuff comes from, believe it or not, that because when

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Speaker 1: people were laughing, they weren't just laughing in front of

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Speaker 1: your face. They were laughing behind your back. They were

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Speaker 1: ridiculing you. They were minimizing you, were diminishing you. And

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Speaker 1: then somehow, some way, they would come in your face

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Speaker 1: and they would smile and didn't act like they were

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Speaker 1: supportive of you, and they weren't. So I was always

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Speaker 1: a kind of person growing up knowing that my mother

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Speaker 1: was straight with me. But sometimes you have relatives that

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Speaker 1: weren't straight for you, friends that weren't straight with you.

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Speaker 1: I always proude of myself and being a person that

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Speaker 1: would be straight, that would be fear. You see me coming.

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Speaker 1: You might not like it, but I will always hit

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Speaker 1: you here, will meet you in the back, and would

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Speaker 1: be it'll be right here. And so that same approach

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Speaker 1: is what I took with me wherever I went. And

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Speaker 1: so I went to school, and I was stupidly telling

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Speaker 1: my mother I didn't want to go to college, so

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Speaker 1: she made me go to a trade school, Thomas Edison

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Speaker 1: Vocation On Technical Height School right here in Queens, where

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Speaker 1: I learned electrical installation. But then they discovered I could

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Speaker 1: play some ball. I wanted as good as y'all, but

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Speaker 1: I could ball, I could shoot, and I had heart,

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Speaker 1: And so I got a scholarship to Winston Salem State.

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Speaker 1: But it was after I did junior college at f

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Speaker 1: I T, which was fashions to the technology laugh at

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Speaker 1: me about it. But I had two things going for us, right, Oh, no,

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Speaker 1: no doubt. I had two advantages. Number one, we were

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Speaker 1: thirty five and fours the junior college ranged fifteenth in

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Speaker 1: the nation. And number two, it was primarily a girls

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Speaker 1: school and the other dudes were homosexuals. That's dead business,

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Speaker 1: don't get me right. But what I'm saying, those who

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Speaker 1: were not left it all to us. So college was

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Speaker 1: beautiful to me. That was before I went down to

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Speaker 1: Winston Salem and playing for big house games. And when

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Speaker 1: I tried out for him and one of the guys

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Speaker 1: that used to play at the University at Winston Salem,

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Speaker 1: his name was Harold Funny Kid, played in the seventies.

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Speaker 1: Brought me down there for a tryout and coach put

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Speaker 1: me on the squad against the starters, and I hit

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Speaker 1: seventeen straight three pointers, sign me the scholarship on the spot,

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Speaker 1: you know. But my first year, they had cracked my

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Speaker 1: knee cap in half. When I cracked my knee cap

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Speaker 1: and half, first of all, I was I was down

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Speaker 1: there at a hundred pounds. I was a little pleased,

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Speaker 1: So that's bad enough then, But then I cracked my

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Speaker 1: knee cap in half. It was a D two school,

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Speaker 1: so they didn't have the facilities like the big schools

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Speaker 1: had to help you rehabilitate, had to come home for

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Speaker 1: rehabbing all of that other stuff. And my mother said, well,

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Speaker 1: what you're gonna do? And sure enough, I could write,

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Speaker 1: I could report, um, I could do all of those

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Speaker 1: different things. And a critical and persuasive writing teachers saw

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Speaker 1: me and said, you're a born sportswriter. Let me take

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Speaker 1: you out to lunch next week and talk about it.

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Speaker 1: And I didn't know, but he took me out to lunch.

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Speaker 1: It was with the sports editor for the Winston Salem Journal.

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Speaker 1: He took me to his office. The man met me,

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Speaker 1: hid me with than five minutes to start off as

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Speaker 1: a clerk and everything. And then I just went from

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Speaker 1: doing that to being a beat writer for Wake for

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Speaker 1: our soccer to ultimately doing internships in Winter Salem, Greensboro,

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Speaker 1: Atlanta before getting my first job at the New York

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Speaker 1: Daily News is a high school sports reporter. Stayed there

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Speaker 1: for fourteen months. Philadelphia Inquiry came calling. I did, went there,

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Speaker 1: got promoted like nine times, covered eight every days of

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Speaker 1: his career, the whole bit. And that's basically, it's basically, well,

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Speaker 1: tell me tell me about in the eighties, growing up

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Speaker 1: with the basketball in the eighties out here in New York.

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Speaker 1: To man, listen, let me tell you something. Well, first

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Speaker 1: of all, see to me, I grew up idolizing Dwayne

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Speaker 1: Pearl Washington. Gress Pearl was something spect to me. He

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Speaker 1: was the greatest college ball player I I've ever seen

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan, and everybody was like they was. Don't get

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Speaker 1: me wrong, they want another level eventually, but on the

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Speaker 1: collegiate level. At that time, when this brother rode in

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Speaker 1: the severe cues, I'm telling you right now, I remember

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Speaker 1: one of the most memorable moments watching Dwayne Pearl Washington

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Speaker 1: was when he lost the Big East title to Mark

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Speaker 1: Jackson and st John Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, Willie Glass,

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Speaker 1: all of those cats at the garden and it was

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Speaker 1: the last play they had. I think it was either

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Speaker 1: Jackson or Willy Glass. I think it was Mark Jackson.

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Speaker 1: You're here the jump shot, and the next thing you know,

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Speaker 1: it's only a few seconds left, and Dwayne Pearl Washington

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Speaker 1: grabbed the ball and pushed it up the court and

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Speaker 1: literally danced through five dudes and then went in for

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Speaker 1: a layup and it missed, like back in the river.

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Speaker 1: You could remember was that this kid's handle was so nasty.

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Speaker 1: I remember Jeane Smith that Georgetown was considered this defensive eight,

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Speaker 1: and Pearl, you know, buckled him to his knees and

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Speaker 1: a whole bit. So I grew up in that eraor

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Speaker 1: watching Dwayne Pearl, Washington, watching Kenny Anderson, Ross Mark Jackson

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Speaker 1: obviously in the whole bit. So that was the error

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Speaker 1: that I grew up in and and playing ball at

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Speaker 1: that time, just traveling in the streets and everything like that.

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Speaker 1: You have to have hard, you have to have hard.

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Speaker 1: And you was going up against cat from all over

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Speaker 1: the country. Well they had hard. To New York thought

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Speaker 1: it was it, but then you what you really got

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Speaker 1: assist a New York City Cats catball one on one,

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Speaker 1: but that actual team concept. All the places managers other

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Speaker 1: places had avengager because in New York it was the hardware.

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Speaker 1: It was Rutgers Park. You could go to Stating. Now

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Speaker 1: you can go to Brooklyn, you can go right here

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Speaker 1: on west Ford Street, Rutgers Hall and one and Lennox.

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Speaker 1: You had all of those places, and you had Katch

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Speaker 1: who could dance and be one on one. But part

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Speaker 1: of our problem as New York basketball players was disciplined,

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Speaker 1: you know, playing within a team structure, not taking over,

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Speaker 1: taking control, believing that you were it. The dudes that

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Speaker 1: got that were the successful ones, the Kenny Anderson's, the

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Speaker 1: Stephen at one point, stuff like that. I always knew

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Speaker 1: Marvin is gonna better than Phelippe Lopez. I wasn't caught

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Speaker 1: up in that he was he was the man. He

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Speaker 1: was the man because he went to Rice and I

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Speaker 1: was a high school It's right for the New York

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Speaker 1: Daily News at the time, and I was the first

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Speaker 1: one that wrote the article, y'all keep talking about this

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Speaker 1: cat Philippe. Is this dude here, step on Marlbury. That's

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Speaker 1: going to be specially because when I looked at Phelipe,

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Speaker 1: I pay attention stuff, nice sleek frame. The friended defendant

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Speaker 1: was fundamentally sound, but did not have a reliable jump

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Speaker 1: shot at all. And I said, that is not Marbury's problem.

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Speaker 1: Marbury could get to the whole at will. He could

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Speaker 1: pull up from ft, he got a handle, he could pass.

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Speaker 1: He was a pure point guard and didn't mind ripping

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Speaker 1: you apart while playing a teen game. So I always

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Speaker 1: knew he was going to be better, but it was

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Speaker 1: cats like Karee Read that played and ultimately went to ice.

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Speaker 1: He's are the guys that I go watch God Sham

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Speaker 1: God wells. It was all world with the handle, but

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Speaker 1: the jump shot was suspect. If God Sham God had

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Speaker 1: a jump shot, I'm telling you right now, would have

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Speaker 1: been and you and they couldn't Gard and even the

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Speaker 1: closest thing to Pearl in terms of his handle, in

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Speaker 1: terms of his hand and what he could do with

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Speaker 1: his boy handles skill, but he couldn't finished from the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: Shad one of my twins, we were in au turnament

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Speaker 1: one time when they were ten years old, and he

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Speaker 1: pulled the Sham God and I blew my mind and

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Speaker 1: it worked and he hid it and passed my other twin.

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Speaker 1: He hit at corner three and I asked, it was like,

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Speaker 1: you know what, when you know what that move is called,

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Speaker 1: who made that move up? I just seen CP three

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Speaker 1: do it, Dad, like they don't understand where it comes from.

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Speaker 1: And that kind of and that kind of takes me

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Speaker 1: back to you seen from the legends in New York

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Speaker 1: to the early eighties of the NBA. The nineties two

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Speaker 1: thousand to what the game is today? Walk us through

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Speaker 1: that transition of style of play and what you think

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Speaker 1: about it from now to then. Well, I think that.

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Speaker 1: Listen in the eighties again, because I was playing, and

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Speaker 1: I was young, and I wasn't a journalist. All you

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Speaker 1: saw is where you were at. So you in New York,

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Speaker 1: you saw New York, but we new York is so

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Speaker 1: we think we know, we think we know, but we

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Speaker 1: don't really know, because unless you're traveling, you really really

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Speaker 1: don't know. And again, that individuality came to it. You

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Speaker 1: saw more of a team concept in the nineties because

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Speaker 1: remember from a from a collective standpoint, team orient at

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Speaker 1: the standpoint where you think basketball in the eighties, you

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Speaker 1: thought joya paranoia, You thought John Thompson, you ain't Michael Graham,

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Speaker 1: Michael you know, Michael Jackson. Point guard Reggie Williams was nasty.

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Speaker 1: He could play all of those cats, right, So you

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Speaker 1: had that, But their signature was defense. They could shut

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Speaker 1: you down and literally rip your heart out of your chest.

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Speaker 1: They're scared to live in hell out of you. That's right.

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Speaker 1: Then you go Villanova with the four corners at Pickney,

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Speaker 1: McClean and those boys that might have disrupted them that

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Speaker 1: one thing. They held the damn ball for the whole

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Speaker 1: damn Final National Championship game. But it was what it was, okay.

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Speaker 1: And then of course you saw Syracuse St. John's, all

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Speaker 1: of those cats coming uh with Kenny Anderson, remember Leaf,

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Speaker 1: the Weapon three Georgia tech n Oliver Dennis got three days,

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Speaker 1: the whole crew. You saw all of that. So that

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Speaker 1: was going into the nineties. Even though you saw individuality,

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Speaker 1: what to me really took it to another level was

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Speaker 1: talk in U N l V. Greg Anthony, Stacy Algman,

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Speaker 1: Larry Johnson and the crew. You saw these guys right,

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Speaker 1: They defended and they played together. And even though I'm

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Speaker 1: not sure people really think about it the way that

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Speaker 1: I do, I give Larry Johnson a whole lot of

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Speaker 1: credit because he was miniature in height, but he was massive, big, strong,

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Speaker 1: and he was a man amongst boys in the low post.

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Speaker 1: But he was the ultimate team player. He didn't care

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Speaker 1: he could score and would give you his twenty on

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Speaker 1: any given night. But other nights where other Cats were

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Speaker 1: doing their thing, he was absolutely fine. Greg Anthony took

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Speaker 1: pride in defending you ninety four feet and putting you

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Speaker 1: on lockdown, Anderson Hunt could shoot from three Stacy Agman

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Speaker 1: would dunk on their face one minute and then block

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Speaker 1: your shot and du up another. So when you had

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Speaker 1: all of this going on, okay, Dan, remember they were

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Speaker 1: the rebels we called George Town, the rebel you know,

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Speaker 1: rebellious rebels. Oh, the running rebels, I'm saying. So you

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Speaker 1: see all of that happening, and you see them go

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Speaker 1: against Duke and annihilate them by thirty for the national championship.

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Speaker 1: The next year comes out, they got Grand Hill less time.

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Speaker 1: They faced you n l v in the semifinal and

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Speaker 1: they take you and l v our very very close game,

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Speaker 1: but they took him out. And that's where Hurly and

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Speaker 1: Christian Layton and those boys ascended. When you saw that,

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Speaker 1: you start, I believe that was the transition to a

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Speaker 1: more team concept. Only from this perspective, you saw a

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Speaker 1: white cats because obviously Larry Bird, let you know, white

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Speaker 1: boys can play, to make no mistake about it. You

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Speaker 1: saw that and you had the respect. But in the

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Speaker 1: same breath that was as an individual. Collectively, you didn't

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Speaker 1: think a collection of them was going to take you out, right,

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Speaker 1: even though we all know who no basketball, you don't

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Speaker 1: win beat that un l VT without Grand Hill. We

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Speaker 1: couldn't take away from the heart that Hurly and late

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Speaker 1: in the show and going up against so you saw cats.

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Speaker 1: And even though again the game was individualized to a

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Speaker 1: strong degree because of the eighties and because of the

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Speaker 1: ascension of Michael Jordan's you know, because you remember you

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Speaker 1: had Magic and burd going at and even though they

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Speaker 1: were the marquee dudes that were being advertised, they played

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Speaker 1: for elite teams, so there was a team concept. It

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Speaker 1: was Jordan at individualized stuff in our eyes, and so

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Speaker 1: we got caught up in the Jordan and Jordan and Jordan's.

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Speaker 1: Then it was a ninety two that we got reminded

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Speaker 1: of Hurly late in a team And so now you

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Speaker 1: started really really thinking about basketball the way it should

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Speaker 1: have been thought about all along. You started looking at

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Speaker 1: individual talent, but how they pissed with the team. And

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Speaker 1: then you get into the finances because you didn't have

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Speaker 1: a rookie salary capitals, the rookie wage scale. You got

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Speaker 1: big dog coming out of Burd due he saw for

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Speaker 1: sixty nine. He wanted he got sixty Yeah, I think,

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Speaker 1: so what what what What happened is it was Big

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Speaker 1: Dog number one. Then you had Grant Hill and Jason

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Speaker 1: Kidd both getting pretty much the same amount of dollars.

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Speaker 1: Right then you had um See Webb coming out. But

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Speaker 1: the same time as Penny Hardaway. All right, that rookie

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Speaker 1: wage scale again wasn't in full effect at that particular

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Speaker 1: moment in time, so you were still able to look

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Speaker 1: at things from a team concept, but in the same

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Speaker 1: breath you started paying attention to the individuals. You couldn't

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Speaker 1: help it because of the money individuals were getting paid.

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Speaker 1: But again, even though Big Dog was a scoring machine,

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Speaker 1: these guys were relatively unselfish. Him, especially Grant Hill and

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Speaker 1: Jason Kidd, didn't care if he scored at all. He

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Speaker 1: would be happy giving you fifteen twenty a sinst the

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Speaker 1: night if he could. So when you saw that, it

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Speaker 1: heightened the level of team concept having that mentality, and

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Speaker 1: to me, it really really changed the way things happened,

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Speaker 1: because when you saw these cats getting that money as

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Speaker 1: number one, number two, number three, oh pick. On one hand,

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Speaker 1: you wanted the money as an individual, but the people

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Speaker 1: that were bringing you on board insisting that you fit

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Speaker 1: into a team. What happened is. It's sort of changed

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Speaker 1: your mindset because we you had cats like yourself and others,

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Speaker 1: not literally y'all at the time, but figuratively speaking, guys

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Speaker 1: like y'all looking at the game from a business perspective. Okay,

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Speaker 1: why should I make this sacrifice? What's in it for me?

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Speaker 1: This cat getting paid but the rest of us ain't

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Speaker 1: and sot. At that point, now you start looking at

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Speaker 1: the business and being reminded what made Magic money, what

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Speaker 1: made Bird money, what made Jordan money, ultimately what was

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Speaker 1: going to make you all money, and you start looking

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Speaker 1: at it in their game really really transformed from a

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Speaker 1: business mindset, because I think more business minded players came

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Speaker 1: into the league at that time than ever before around

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Speaker 1: our time, and and we are I do fit in

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Speaker 1: that category because especially after I win the championship and

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Speaker 1: the Spurs, I started looking at teams where I fit

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Speaker 1: into the system, right, can I can have some longevity there?

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Speaker 1: And and and and the game that did transcended that

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Speaker 1: because that was a big part of us, and we

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Speaker 1: were free agents. We had to find out where we fit.

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Speaker 1: We just couldn't go anywhere right now. It's definitely people

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Speaker 1: don't understand how important I mean, if we're getting into

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Speaker 1: this area that being drafted in a certain organization or

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Speaker 1: situation fits, and you had that when someone asked a

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Speaker 1: fan asked the question, if KG was drafted to the

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Speaker 1: Spurs and him Tim Duncan switch spots, who is the

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Speaker 1: greatest power forward of all time? And do they have

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Speaker 1: the same success with KG and Pop? For me, personally,

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Speaker 1: I'm able to look being a student of basketball the

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Speaker 1: way that I am, I'm able to look at things

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Speaker 1: in a different light. Like, for example, KG was special,

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Speaker 1: but his frame and the style of play he preferred,

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Speaker 1: I don't think that would have been more successful in

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Speaker 1: San Antonio that Tim Duncan was. I don't believe that

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Speaker 1: Tim Duncan, to me is is the greatest powerful who

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Speaker 1: ever played basketball. That's how I view it. That's how

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Speaker 1: I view it. Now. Why do I say that? Because

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Speaker 1: for me, from a principal perspective, the word power forward matters.

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Speaker 1: You're a fool, even though you can have an outside

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Speaker 1: game and step away from the basket like KG did,

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Speaker 1: like Chris Bosh ultimately did, like Blake Griffith still tries

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Speaker 1: to do the fact that the matter is is that

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Speaker 1: excuse me? I got news for both of y'all, and

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Speaker 1: I challenge anybody to deny this is true. Take away,

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Speaker 1: Tim Duncan, who's the best powerful that ever lived? You

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Speaker 1: know who? I would say, Kevin Michael Money in the

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Speaker 1: post ten and in Unstoppable and under Unstoppable, it was

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Speaker 1: an automatic two points. What I'm saying to you is

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Speaker 1: that if you are a quote unquote powerful it I'm

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Speaker 1: not talking about the hybrid game that they've asserted into

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Speaker 1: the mix head where they've changed the positions, they've renamed it,

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Speaker 1: and they want to tell you this is what I

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Speaker 1: want to hear. All that when you talk about the

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Speaker 1: position point guard, shoot guard, small forward, powerful, its center,

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Speaker 1: all the forward spot. Tim Duncan hated correct me if

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Speaker 1: I'm wrong, Hate it when you put him at the five,

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Speaker 1: hate it being listed at the wanted no parts of it.

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Speaker 1: He knew what he was and when you gave that

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Speaker 1: brother the ball, it didn't matter what he was facing

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Speaker 1: the basket or whether his back was to the basket.

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Speaker 1: You put that brother seventeen feet and end. It was

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Speaker 1: a nightmare decision. It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare.

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Speaker 1: So for me when I look at KG, when I

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Speaker 1: look at KG, as being an elite talent who happened

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Speaker 1: to play power forward that had perimeter skills, but he

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Speaker 1: wasn't no prototypical, quick, essential power forward the way that

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Speaker 1: Tim Duncan was, even when KG had his back to you,

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Speaker 1: he was still looking for the turnaround jump shot. Tim

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Speaker 1: Duncan might dunket on you, he might they go up,

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Speaker 1: he might cross you, he might hook you, he might

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Speaker 1: shoot it turn around the bank shot. It was an

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Speaker 1: arsenal the likes of which we haven't seen. And that's

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Speaker 1: how I look at Tim Duncan, and that's why I

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Speaker 1: would say he is the greatest power forward that I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen, along with ten rebounds and eight blocks. Like,

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Speaker 1: let's go back to um kind of when you started

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Speaker 1: your professional career, tell us what, tell us what that

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Speaker 1: was like? Because you know, people always, like I said,

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Speaker 1: I kind of compared you to an athlete from a standpoint.

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Speaker 1: They see the finished product, they see you on ESPN

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Speaker 1: and all the success you're having now, but your journey

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Speaker 1: was anything but the journey. Well listen, man, people where

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Speaker 1: they've written these articles about me. I lived off with

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Speaker 1: tune efficient kool aid stop. I'm from New York City.

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Speaker 1: I'm from the streets of Hollis Queens, New York City,

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Speaker 1: and I was working in Archdale, North Carolina for the

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Speaker 1: Greensboro News and Record. I started off as an editorial

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Speaker 1: assistant doing aggon material and school lunch man like in

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Speaker 1: in in a sports department for a newspaper. All of

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Speaker 1: these little things that you see where this shows you

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Speaker 1: a sheet with the scores and everything. The computer from

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Speaker 1: a digital perspective is things that formulate a page and

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Speaker 1: stuff like that. And you gotta type all of that

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Speaker 1: stuff in there just to make sure it's framed correctly

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Speaker 1: and it fits in the paper. If you do it

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Speaker 1: wrong here, wrong there, the copy comes off the paper

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Speaker 1: and then you gotta make sure it fits all of

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Speaker 1: this stuff. So I had to do all of those

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Speaker 1: things right. And that was in my daytime when I

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Speaker 1: was getting paid. And then I would get off at

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Speaker 1: six and drive throughout the Try States, you know, the

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Speaker 1: Piedmont Tried area in North Carolina, covering high school football

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Speaker 1: from seven pm until midnight for free. I didn't get

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Speaker 1: paid for it. I did it just to accumulate clips

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Speaker 1: to build a resume, to show that I was really

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Speaker 1: committed to being a sports writer. That led to internships

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Speaker 1: in Atlanta back at Winston Salem before I got the

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Speaker 1: high school sports rang job at the New York Daily News.

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Speaker 1: So then when you get into the business, Um, Isaiah

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Speaker 1: Thomas and I are tight to this very day. He

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Speaker 1: forgot why. And one day, a few years ago, I

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Speaker 1: told Isaiah, I said, you don't you you forgot who

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Speaker 1: you are? He said, what you're talking about? I said,

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Speaker 1: you gave me my first interview. Isaiah Thomas was approaching

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Speaker 1: his retirement year with the Detroit Pistons. He was a

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Speaker 1: two time champion. I was a high school writer and

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Speaker 1: a guy by the name of Tim Donovan who does

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Speaker 1: media relations pr for the Miami Heat. All of these years,

428
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 1: Tim was working at the pat Riley doing the knicks

429
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 1: at the time. I was a high school sportswriter. You

430
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,080
Speaker 1: ain't supposed to have access to those what I'm saying,

431
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,119
Speaker 1: but Tim, but Tim knew I wanted to be an

432
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:36,880
Speaker 1: NBA writer, and Tim Donovan was like, come on, I'll

433
00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 1: help you out and gave me access to the locker room.

434
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:42,320
Speaker 1: You know, he didn't have to do that, so he

435
00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 1: gave me like, he gave me access to it, and

436
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 1: obviously I knew my place, so I wasn't trying to

437
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 1: get in the way or whatever. I was just watching,

438
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,479
Speaker 1: study and learning, etcetera, etcetera. And one day Isaiah Thomas

439
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,920
Speaker 1: came in as still before he retired with the Pistons,

440
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,639
Speaker 1: and he was doing interview with the media, and I

441
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 1: said to him, I'm an inspiring sports writer. It would

442
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,479
Speaker 1: really help me if I could get an interview with you.

443
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,560
Speaker 1: He said, can you do it now? And sat down

444
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: with me and gave me a twenty five minute and

445
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 1: uh in, Nate tiny Archibald did the same exact thing

446
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,920
Speaker 1: for me once I became a full time high school

447
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,800
Speaker 1: sports writer. So it's like I didn't get here by accident,

448
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:21,720
Speaker 1: but I didn't get here by myself. There was a

449
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,880
Speaker 1: whole lot of people that extended me a help in hand.

450
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:26,879
Speaker 1: When I was at the Winston Seal of Journal, there

451
00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:30,280
Speaker 1: was an all white staff led by Terry Oberley, but

452
00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: I still remember the copy of it this very day.

453
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 1: Dan Loman, Steve Man, Phil rit Shack, and all of

454
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 1: these guys that I haven't seen in years, that I

455
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 1: haven't worked with in nearly thirty years. But they were

456
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 1: the guys that would sit me down and say Okay,

457
00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,520
Speaker 1: this is a piss poor job. You wrote this sentence wrong,

458
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 1: you wrote that graph wrong, you missed this fact, this fact,

459
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,560
Speaker 1: that fact. And they literally taught me journalism. And so

460
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,159
Speaker 1: as a result, when you go through those experiences and

461
00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 1: you see the work was put in in order to

462
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,440
Speaker 1: get people to way they are and how they extended

463
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,479
Speaker 1: to help in hand. Listen, I ain't just a black man.

464
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 1: I'm a brother, you see what I'm saying. So you're

465
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 1: not expecting a bunch of white cast extand their help

466
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,080
Speaker 1: with man. But when they did that, and as like whoa,

467
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:16,880
Speaker 1: you know what, you're looking at the world a little

468
00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,359
Speaker 1: bit differently because you're like, you're reminded that, yeah, we're different,

469
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,679
Speaker 1: but we're the same. And everybody got a heart, and

470
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,880
Speaker 1: everybody's golfing, and everybody's got compassion and stuff like that,

471
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: and they want to extend to help and hand other people.

472
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 1: And that's what they did for me. And all they

473
00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,080
Speaker 1: asked in return is that I didn't make make make

474
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: I made sure not to make their effort being vain.

475
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 1: When you you said you wanted to go for this,

476
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,600
Speaker 1: that's why we helped you go for it. So even

477
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,720
Speaker 1: to this day, nobody's more prouder than me than those guys.

478
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:47,880
Speaker 1: And you'll see a guy like Isaiah Thomas. I get

479
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 1: a text from Isaiah Thomas every month. It's one of

480
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: the biggest reasons why because he remembered after I told him,

481
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: this is what you helped stop me, and you remember

482
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 1: what I said. So it's like being true to what

483
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,919
Speaker 1: you do. And again it dictates the approach to some

484
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,639
Speaker 1: degree because you know the sacrifices that you made. I

485
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 1: remember when a cat came, you know, they came to

486
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,680
Speaker 1: me and they wanted me, uh to have a job

487
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,679
Speaker 1: in Seattle. I was gonna go unless the New York

488
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 1: dality news came. They had a job for me and

489
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,639
Speaker 1: and and Fresnel. I was gonna go unless unless the

490
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: New York dedity news came. It was like, no matter what, whatever,

491
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,879
Speaker 1: the sacrifices that are that need to be made. I

492
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: think to this very day, I've never been married because

493
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 1: of that, because I was always ready to get up

494
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,679
Speaker 1: and go. Because when you're growing up and you pouring

495
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,679
Speaker 1: you living off tune efficient cooler. From the time you're

496
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: in college, you taste government cheese and bread. When you're younger,

497
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 1: you sat up there and watch your mother work two

498
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,000
Speaker 1: jobs seven days a week, sixteen hours a day for

499
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,400
Speaker 1: twenty years with one week's vacation, NonStop. You go through

500
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,240
Speaker 1: all of that. It's not that love don't matter, it's

501
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:54,080
Speaker 1: not that family don't matter. It's nothing that. It's that

502
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,960
Speaker 1: I'm not going back to that become numb to a

503
00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,879
Speaker 1: lot of stuff, and whatever, whatever sacrifices need to be made,

504
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,680
Speaker 1: I'm going to make to get ahead. And that's always

505
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,160
Speaker 1: been my approach. So when I talked to professional athletes,

506
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,479
Speaker 1: particularly those of us that are professional athletes black folks,

507
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there like, I know your story. I've been through,

508
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 1: but there's a flip side to it. The same dude

509
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,840
Speaker 1: that's gonna support you because I get your story is

510
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 1: the same dude that's gonna hold you accountable because I

511
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: know your story. So when you sit up there, you're

512
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,880
Speaker 1: doing stupid ship. You see what I'm saying. That's compromising

513
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,840
Speaker 1: everything you worked for. Few are gonna be harder on

514
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,120
Speaker 1: you than me because I know what you went through

515
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:42,639
Speaker 1: to get there, and you're just gonna blow it for that.

516
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,800
Speaker 1: That's how I'm looking at it, and that's been my

517
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 1: approach throughout my entire professional career. As I reported, these

518
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 1: guns so would have been some of the major obstacles,

519
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: so to speak, within this professional Well, first of all,

520
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: you you you don't want to use the word racist,

521
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:03,159
Speaker 1: because it's not that people are saying you black. So

522
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,160
Speaker 1: I'm gonna hold you down. And it's that simple. It happens.

523
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 1: But it's not just that. Sometimes it's the kind of

524
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 1: person they want you to be. Sometimes it's what they

525
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:18,680
Speaker 1: think they can get out of it. Sometimes it's okay,

526
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,959
Speaker 1: it's not your turn. Like when I thought about, for example,

527
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:24,760
Speaker 1: let me get political with y'all for a second in

528
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 1: this regard. One of the things that I always held

529
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:35,000
Speaker 1: against the Democratic Party, for example, was when Hillary Clinton

530
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:39,639
Speaker 1: ran against Trump this time around, what was my issue?

531
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: Nothing to do with politics to me, And it's not

532
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,680
Speaker 1: hor i'm talking about. I'm talking about in general. The

533
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: mindset was, it's hard turn. You see what I'm saying.

534
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,720
Speaker 1: I'm telling you that's the same thing that exists in

535
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 1: corporate America. There nobody is getting ahead without a help

536
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 1: in hand. There is always someone in a position of

537
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 1: power that you need to be at champion and the

538
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,119
Speaker 1: supporter of yours. You will not ascend on your own volition.

539
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,360
Speaker 1: Give damn how good you all give, damn how talented

540
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,399
Speaker 1: you are. You better know somebody, and it better be

541
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:11,439
Speaker 1: somebody in a position of influence who's interested in helping you.

542
00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,120
Speaker 1: Otherwise it's just not gonna happen. It's just not gonna happen. Right,

543
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,959
Speaker 1: So I say all of that to say somewhere along

544
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:21,119
Speaker 1: the way, not that it's the core decision maker, but

545
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,120
Speaker 1: as somebody that's respected and connected enough where if they

546
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:27,800
Speaker 1: champion you, it's a big boost for you. You gotta

547
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 1: make sure you have that. That's why when I give speeches,

548
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 1: I talk about it ain't just about having a mentor,

549
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,440
Speaker 1: it's about having a cheer lead as well. You need both.

550
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,480
Speaker 1: You you do need somebody that prevents you from falling

551
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:40,960
Speaker 1: into that abysses and staying there. But you also need

552
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 1: somebody that's attached to the industry. You're aspired to it,

553
00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 1: you're inspiring to excel in. They're connected enough to guide

554
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 1: you through the mind fields. You need both. And so

555
00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,560
Speaker 1: for me, that was always my approach. And but again

556
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,960
Speaker 1: to address the obstacles question, the problem that you run

557
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 1: across sometimes, particularly you're younger and talented, they want to

558
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 1: hold you back because there was always somebody else in

559
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,520
Speaker 1: the line whether to get where you are. They might

560
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,880
Speaker 1: have been older, supposedly paid more dues or anything like that.

561
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: And what I'm mindful and cognizant of is what wins.

562
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 1: If they've been there that long and they and they

563
00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 1: haven't gotten it yet, doesn't that tell you? Shouldn't that

564
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:23,280
Speaker 1: tell you that maybe they ain't the chosen one. You

565
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 1: have people in positions of power that resists that thought.

566
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 1: Their mentality is to make you wait because they had

567
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: to wait. And sometimes it's appropriate, but a lot more

568
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:37,760
Speaker 1: often than we realize, it's not. And so having those obstacles,

569
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,600
Speaker 1: there was plenty of people He don't need to be

570
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: a beat writing yet, he don't need to be an

571
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,080
Speaker 1: NBA column that yet, he doesn't need. At the time

572
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,120
Speaker 1: that I became the twenty first African American in the

573
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: history of this country to be a general sports columnist

574
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 1: in March A, two thousand and three, they were like, Na,

575
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:53,920
Speaker 1: he don't need that yet. Well, I said, there's a

576
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,320
Speaker 1: lot of things you're telling me I don't need. But

577
00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,640
Speaker 1: you capitalizing all of what I'm provided, do you want

578
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 1: to win or not? And so you saw first to

579
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:06,880
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Inquirer, then ESPN ultimately and ultimately Fox as well,

580
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 1: and then ESPN again ultimately you saw them capitalizing on it,

581
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 1: and it raised my level of awareness and consciousness because

582
00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: it taught me you must have something to offer somebody.

583
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: They can say whatever they want, but at the end

584
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: of the day, when you go to these folks, you

585
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 1: have to make sure it ain't just about you. This

586
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,400
Speaker 1: is what I want, this is what I deserve, this

587
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,760
Speaker 1: is what I need. No, there must be something in

588
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:36,960
Speaker 1: it for somebody. You're asking of something from them, because

589
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 1: the likelihood of them giving you what you want while

590
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,400
Speaker 1: getting nothing in return is slim the nun if it's

591
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 1: not beneficial as artificial, did you go exactly? And and

592
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: and that's just that's just as real as it gets.

593
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 1: And so for me when those were the obstacles because

594
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 1: my lack of knowledge at the time, you do tend

595
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,680
Speaker 1: to get caught up. You almost have that athlete's mentality. Meant,

596
00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:59,560
Speaker 1: please put them in front of me. I'm mom dan

597
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, I don't give a damn who it is.

598
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 1: But in reality, what I learned, and this is where

599
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: sports really really helped my life, and covering gods like

600
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 1: yourself help my life immensely. You sit up there and

601
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:16,560
Speaker 1: you look at certain situations, and the athletes themselves teach

602
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:21,000
Speaker 1: you how envious and jealous you can be. Y'all assume,

603
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 1: not literally, y'all, but you know what I'm saying, athletes,

604
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 1: y'all assume it's because of the money. Of course, that

605
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 1: has something to do with it, if you can pay

606
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,680
Speaker 1: your bills and live a lofty lifestyle compared to reporters

607
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 1: that are covering you, of course, but that's not the

608
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,479
Speaker 1: big thing. The big thing is the freedom you appear

609
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 1: to have. Yes, you have to show up to the games,

610
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,040
Speaker 1: and yes you have to show up the practice, but

611
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,640
Speaker 1: there's so many hours in a day that you just

612
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,600
Speaker 1: get to live your life and be you, and you

613
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,960
Speaker 1: get to do other things that transcend the world of sports.

614
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: While so many folks in this world are limited the

615
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 1: pigeonholes and marginalized in a fashion that they can't escape

616
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 1: from because they don't have the juice to do it,

617
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: the fact that y'all have the juice to do it

618
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: is where a real strong level of envy comes from.

619
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: And not envy as in jealousy, envy as inish. I

620
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,960
Speaker 1: wish I could do that. But if I can't do that,

621
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:19,080
Speaker 1: why can't they appreciate the fact that we can't do

622
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,600
Speaker 1: it and they can instead of snubbing their nose at us.

623
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,600
Speaker 1: That's what a lot of times to see. Reporters don't

624
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: get into these conversations with y'all like that because either

625
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,560
Speaker 1: they feel intimidated, they don't feel you hither, they don't

626
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 1: feel you listen. In my opinion, they don't respect y'all enough,

627
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 1: And my attitude is I've always had respect for it.

628
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:41,840
Speaker 1: There's that y'all know me for years. You know, y'all

629
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,640
Speaker 1: could come talk to me about anything. Let's let's let's roll.

630
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 1: Which is why again I could be hardcore because I know, Okay,

631
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,760
Speaker 1: this cat got this going on. I know I didn't

632
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 1: report it. I know the limitations to what I'm gonna say.

633
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,560
Speaker 1: Y'all been around me, y'all know the sh I know,

634
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: and there's plenty of times I'm like that, Yo, I

635
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 1: don't do that. This is the game. I know why

636
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:07,560
Speaker 1: you funked up last night. That's between us. Now. I

637
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,080
Speaker 1: might let you know handle that because you look bad

638
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,760
Speaker 1: and you need I know, but I ain't gonna say what,

639
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna let you know. But I don't want

640
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,320
Speaker 1: I don't want you to say it's coming from the

641
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,040
Speaker 1: right place. You gotta quote that. I'm gonna read that.

642
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: I thought was very interesting. For the jay Z's, lebron

643
00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 1: Shacks and the others, I don't consider them the American dream.

644
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 1: I consider me the American dream. They're the American fantasy.

645
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 1: If you got a one in a billion shot of

646
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 1: being them, but you can you can be Stephen A.

647
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:44,920
Speaker 1: Smith elaborate on that. It's the truth. Jay Z music mogul,

648
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:50,760
Speaker 1: billionaire with Beyonce as his wife. Yeah, think think about

649
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,720
Speaker 1: uh Shaquille O'Neill, one of the greatest players to have

650
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: ever lived, four time champions, seven ft three hundred and

651
00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,120
Speaker 1: fifteen pounds doing what he does. The Kobe is the

652
00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: Lebrons of the world, freaks, ultimate freaks of nature. And

653
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: even if you could be them as a talent, could

654
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,319
Speaker 1: you pull off everything they've put They've pulled off in

655
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 1: terms of transcending their business, their world of sports, the

656
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,879
Speaker 1: world that we live and understand something they can talk about, communism,

657
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: fascism and all of this other stuff. I am of

658
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:24,120
Speaker 1: the belief that everybody's a capitalist in their own way.

659
00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,640
Speaker 1: Everybody's trying to get their shared they're not trying to

660
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,879
Speaker 1: get just their little piece, and everybody gets the same.

661
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:34,280
Speaker 1: There's something inside of you that says, I gotta get

662
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 1: more to validate who I am, and that I'm not typical.

663
00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,799
Speaker 1: I'm not normal. I'm a bit atypical. I'm not ordered eary,

664
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 1: you see what I'm saying. So my point is that

665
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:49,480
Speaker 1: when you look at those guys, understand that that's not

666
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 1: everyday stuff, that's not every year stuff. That's generational stuff

667
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:57,440
Speaker 1: that we're talking about for the select few. Me got

668
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,960
Speaker 1: left back in the fourth grade, first grade a reading level,

669
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 1: struggle with reading and writing, pounded the payment, got my education,

670
00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:10,600
Speaker 1: grew up, broke, starved at times, had a poor family,

671
00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 1: but we stuck together for some reason, by the grace

672
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,320
Speaker 1: of God and the most wonderful mom in the world.

673
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,520
Speaker 1: All those things happen. And what did I do. Yeah,

674
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 1: I'm successful right now. That's fine. I'm fifty two. I've

675
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:27,240
Speaker 1: been in this business since. It took me twenty eight

676
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:31,040
Speaker 1: years to get to the point that I'm at right now.

677
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 1: I'm living large. Now, I'm I'm living large right now,

678
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 1: I'm saying, but it took twenty eight years, and so

679
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:45,359
Speaker 1: for me, it's like, understand, you're not them, but look

680
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: at my path and tell me what is it about

681
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:49,920
Speaker 1: my path that you can't accomplish. I'm not trying to

682
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,919
Speaker 1: say I'm not special that I didn't accomplish something. I'm

683
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:57,839
Speaker 1: saying what I accomplished is achievable for a vast majority

684
00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,120
Speaker 1: of folks in this world. Not necessary really monetarily. I've

685
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,879
Speaker 1: been blessed in that regard as of late. But I'm

686
00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,440
Speaker 1: talking about the path that I took to the success.

687
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 1: Take away the money for a second and just look

688
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 1: at the path. Who can't do what I did if

689
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:15,719
Speaker 1: you really really think about it. I couldn't be Jay

690
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,760
Speaker 1: Z on my worst day, on my best day, lebron

691
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 1: Kobe shocked people like that. No, but reading and writing

692
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,239
Speaker 1: and knowing how to report and busting your tail and

693
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:32,600
Speaker 1: studying and just grinding every day. I got this the

694
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,680
Speaker 1: old fashioned blue collar way, and I think a lot

695
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,879
Speaker 1: of people can achieve that. And I'm glad you asked

696
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:39,839
Speaker 1: me that question cause I understand that more because then

697
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 1: a lot of people might not even start off with

698
00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,080
Speaker 1: the hand that you was dealt the hand, you know,

699
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 1: they might be dealt a better hand. So I'm glad

700
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,399
Speaker 1: you asked because I understand the question, because I didn't

701
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:50,720
Speaker 1: understand it when you first said. I definitely understand what

702
00:36:50,760 --> 00:37:00,719
Speaker 1: I told you that you are to us, you are

703
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 1: the lebron in broadcasting. I would say thank you to y'all.

704
00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:11,520
Speaker 1: That's not just about me. I'm not saying I had

705
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 1: nothing to do with it, but it's like, listen, I

706
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:20,080
Speaker 1: tell Ai this, AI called me and and undercover wise

707
00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:24,920
Speaker 1: AI and emotional do and he called me once a

708
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 1: week and tell me he loved me once a week.

709
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:33,799
Speaker 1: Same here, and we love him back. Man. Man, that's

710
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 1: my that's my little brother. Were very we're very, very close.

711
00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,120
Speaker 1: And that's saying a lot. If you know anything about

712
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:40,560
Speaker 1: our history and some of the things I had to

713
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:42,960
Speaker 1: write and say, you know, they can't. You know, it's

714
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 1: shocking that we are as type of people don't realize

715
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,399
Speaker 1: we've always been tight. And a lot of times when

716
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:49,919
Speaker 1: we didn't talk is because I jumped in this butt

717
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:52,239
Speaker 1: because of what he was doing, and I didn't report it,

718
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:53,759
Speaker 1: but it didnt stopped me from cust of the mouth

719
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,359
Speaker 1: going off because well, you know what, you brought this right.

720
00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:59,920
Speaker 1: But what I'm saying is is that I never failed

721
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 1: to thank him. I don't think anybody is more. And

722
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:06,319
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to sit up there and say he

723
00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:11,400
Speaker 1: don't deserve, you know, the credit or whatever. There is

724
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,600
Speaker 1: no way in my mind I would be in sitting

725
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 1: here today with the success that I've enjoyed if it

726
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,759
Speaker 1: wasn't for Aliniviously. I mean that guy to have to

727
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:24,400
Speaker 1: be the superstar that he that he was and to

728
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,279
Speaker 1: embrace you in a sense way everyone doing. I don't

729
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,120
Speaker 1: give it THEMN what report he talked to, I'll give

730
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,640
Speaker 1: them what interviews he did. I don't give it. His

731
00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,719
Speaker 1: availability is unavailable, inaccessible. I don't give a DMN. With

732
00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: everyone knew stephen A and Ai. Everybody knew that I

733
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 1: wasn't fly on the wall. So I was in the

734
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:47,920
Speaker 1: c web trade in two thousand three from Sacramento to

735
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:49,840
Speaker 1: out here, and that's when I, uh, you know, I

736
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:53,280
Speaker 1: met I met you early on and saw the connection,

737
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:55,680
Speaker 1: and it kind of tripped me out because that's not

738
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,080
Speaker 1: you know, not that you guys are the enemy, but

739
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,000
Speaker 1: you know, most guys don't get that close to the

740
00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,200
Speaker 1: other side, so to speak, you know what I mean.

741
00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 1: So that's early on when I started understanding and kind

742
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,960
Speaker 1: of following your path and understanding, man, you really know

743
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,439
Speaker 1: what it's like to be in our not even knowing

744
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:15,640
Speaker 1: your backstory, but you put the time and to know

745
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:17,600
Speaker 1: what it's like to be in our shoes, you know.

746
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,200
Speaker 1: And I think that's why. You know, a lot of

747
00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 1: athletes don't respect people that haven't done what we do

748
00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:28,080
Speaker 1: because we don't think they have an appreciation and understand

749
00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,720
Speaker 1: how hard it is. But you put the time in work,

750
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,000
Speaker 1: being a former hooper, being right there in the mix

751
00:39:34,080 --> 00:39:36,760
Speaker 1: with us to understand. So when your criticism comes across,

752
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:39,480
Speaker 1: it's from a good place and it's warranted. But even

753
00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:41,799
Speaker 1: what you saying that, I still got to give the

754
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:45,360
Speaker 1: credit to him because he was at the top of

755
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:51,440
Speaker 1: the heat popularity was and this dude had no reason

756
00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:55,919
Speaker 1: to trust anybody, you understand, and certainly not me because

757
00:39:55,960 --> 00:40:00,400
Speaker 1: I grew up. You play like, yeah, do you know

758
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:04,240
Speaker 1: what I'm saying? But but he I knew he fits

759
00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 1: right in my alley because what he respected most was realness,

760
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:11,080
Speaker 1: and he knew I wasn't gonna lie to him, and

761
00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 1: so that went a long way and and you know

762
00:40:14,239 --> 00:40:15,880
Speaker 1: the kind of things. And I never get in it,

763
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 1: and I've never told the story, and I ain't gonna

764
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:21,399
Speaker 1: tell y'all what he said. But he went the hell

765
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,520
Speaker 1: off on Larry Brown so bad one time, told me

766
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:28,720
Speaker 1: to tearing the tape recorder on and went, but Listed

767
00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:30,560
Speaker 1: told me that he didn't say turn it off. He

768
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:34,560
Speaker 1: said turn it on and went but Listed and he

769
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:37,439
Speaker 1: said things about Larry Brown that would have that would

770
00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,240
Speaker 1: have got him traded at the very least, okay, because

771
00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:44,840
Speaker 1: he couldn't stand Larry Brown at first. Right. And he

772
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 1: came back the next day and he says, Stephen, ain't

773
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:53,839
Speaker 1: you write that story. It's gonna kill me. Kill me?

774
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,239
Speaker 1: And right in front of him, I turned the tape

775
00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,719
Speaker 1: record off. He said done. I go back to the

776
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,600
Speaker 1: Philadelphi Inquirer. I said, kill a story. They're like what

777
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 1: I said. I said, kill a story. It's not going

778
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 1: on the paper. I promised him, it's not. It's not.

779
00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,759
Speaker 1: There'll be plenty of stories to write. We right, just

780
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 1: like that. Understand now, I'm telling you it's the kind

781
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,399
Speaker 1: of story that could have made my career. Anybody else

782
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,680
Speaker 1: get this story. It's coming out it could have made

783
00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:25,640
Speaker 1: my career. It never happened because you gotta touch on

784
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,080
Speaker 1: somebody's humanity. And again, I know what kind of man

785
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,239
Speaker 1: I am, which is why I will go hard as

786
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:34,280
Speaker 1: certain cats. I got a problem with a few players

787
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:37,799
Speaker 1: in today's game, Make no mistake about it, because it's

788
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:42,080
Speaker 1: the chirping, it's the whisper. And if y'all don't know,

789
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:44,839
Speaker 1: if as long as y'all have known me, I know

790
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:47,920
Speaker 1: both of y'all will vouch for this. Kobe convous for this,

791
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,800
Speaker 1: d Way avouch to see speak, avouch for this, mellow others.

792
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:52,919
Speaker 1: There's a lot of people that canvous for this. All

793
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 1: you got to do is come talk to me. You.

794
00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:58,200
Speaker 1: I don't have to agree with you. I don't have

795
00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:01,200
Speaker 1: to you. We could cut each other out, you know,

796
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:04,279
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter, but we can talk as men. What

797
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:09,160
Speaker 1: I don't have any respectful is the chirp all that.

798
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,359
Speaker 1: And when we talk about my history my career, you

799
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,160
Speaker 1: know who two or three of the blazers that I

800
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:24,160
Speaker 1: was most tight with throughout my reporting career Derrick Coleman. Oh. Now,

801
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:27,480
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, a lot of kids. But let

802
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:31,680
Speaker 1: you know why, because they never lied to me. You

803
00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:34,480
Speaker 1: two never lied to me. If you couldn't say something,

804
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:36,480
Speaker 1: you didn't say something. Or you say, Stephen, I ain't

805
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:39,360
Speaker 1: touching that you say because you knew I understood. No, Stephen,

806
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:41,479
Speaker 1: I ain't going there. And that's all I'm talking about.

807
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:44,040
Speaker 1: It's like, do you know what what I would have

808
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,200
Speaker 1: to deal with if I wrote something about Oak without

809
00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:51,160
Speaker 1: talking took, you know, or DC or somebody like that. Oh,

810
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:52,960
Speaker 1: hell no, I don't want that problem. I don't want

811
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,000
Speaker 1: that problem. I don't know. Oh I need to talk

812
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,160
Speaker 1: to you where you at. Because what I'm saying, he's

813
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,600
Speaker 1: he's a man, and it's like you're going deal with

814
00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:04,560
Speaker 1: him on the real MJ another cat, real you know,

815
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:08,440
Speaker 1: stuff like that. I don't have any tolerance or any

816
00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 1: patience for the chirp and it's weak man, you know.

817
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:13,919
Speaker 1: And so a lot of times you got these cats.

818
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:16,680
Speaker 1: You got your Twitter account, you got Facebook, you got

819
00:43:16,719 --> 00:43:19,680
Speaker 1: all of this other stuff. Okay, that's fine. Well I

820
00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:23,879
Speaker 1: do have seven million social media Um, I do have

821
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:27,640
Speaker 1: a two hour daily national television show. I do have

822
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:31,320
Speaker 1: a nationally syndicated radio show. Um, I am getting paid

823
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,680
Speaker 1: a little bit. I'm not broke. You're gonna get back

824
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:36,839
Speaker 1: I mean, we really want to go here? We really

825
00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:41,280
Speaker 1: want to go here? Or can we talk like men?

826
00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:44,279
Speaker 1: Just a conversation? And because I think one of the

827
00:43:44,400 --> 00:43:48,160
Speaker 1: things that I've proven in my career, if I'm wrong,

828
00:43:48,200 --> 00:43:50,920
Speaker 1: I'll say I'm wrong. And oh, by the way, if

829
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:54,640
Speaker 1: I say something publicly wrong, I'm not gonna apologize privately.

830
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:58,440
Speaker 1: I'll go right on national television. Yo, he got me.

831
00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:01,279
Speaker 1: I was wrong. You see what I'm saying. You you

832
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,640
Speaker 1: don't have to be the way these cats are. And

833
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 1: I'm not saying all. I'm not saying most, but there's

834
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,160
Speaker 1: a few of them that's just weak when it comes

835
00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:13,879
Speaker 1: to just communicating as men. And I don't respect that.

836
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 1: I don't respect that at all because I'm not that way,

837
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,200
Speaker 1: and I don't expect them to be that one time

838
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:22,640
Speaker 1: because I think that we can intimate because they know

839
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:24,480
Speaker 1: what what it was being said is real. So you

840
00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:27,719
Speaker 1: can be mad about it, probably, but not just that.

841
00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:29,799
Speaker 1: Here's where I don't have respect. You could come to

842
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:32,480
Speaker 1: me and it could be real. I never forget when

843
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:34,239
Speaker 1: a I was mad at me and we didn't talk

844
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:37,360
Speaker 1: for almost two years and cats were sitting up there

845
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:39,440
Speaker 1: as Yo, man a, I can't wait to see you. Man,

846
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,279
Speaker 1: he gonna he gonna do something to were talking. We're

847
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 1: talking like that, you can ask this. And and I

848
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:48,480
Speaker 1: rolled down to Atlanta. I made a special trip. I

849
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:51,719
Speaker 1: went down with Atlanta. I had my boys. I rolled

850
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:53,759
Speaker 1: up there. I told you about like, look I gotta

851
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:59,160
Speaker 1: handle this. I need a man thing hand. So I

852
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 1: walked out. I went down there, a I came there.

853
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:06,359
Speaker 1: He met up with me, and he humbled me in

854
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:08,840
Speaker 1: a way that I've never been humbled in my career

855
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:13,239
Speaker 1: because he said, you were right, you were wrong. He said,

856
00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:15,000
Speaker 1: it's just that I saw your name in the head

857
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,759
Speaker 1: he said your name on the body line. And that

858
00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:21,560
Speaker 1: hurt me. And I said, damn, you know, because I'm

859
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:24,000
Speaker 1: sitting there, I'm like, I'm doing my job and I'm

860
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,560
Speaker 1: looking out and this ship. I didn't say. You know,

861
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:28,200
Speaker 1: there's a lot that I couldn't have said, but I

862
00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:30,880
Speaker 1: didn't say it, and I wouldn't say it. But it

863
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:36,200
Speaker 1: still hurt me because it was like, he's right. I mean,

864
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:38,120
Speaker 1: I had to do my job because you know, you're

865
00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 1: missing in action. I got a job to do. But

866
00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 1: what I'm saying is all he was saying. He wasn't

867
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:47,160
Speaker 1: saying that I shouldn't have written it. He was explaining

868
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:49,840
Speaker 1: where his hurt came from. In other words, the same

869
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:53,000
Speaker 1: exact story, word for word verbatim could have been written.

870
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,239
Speaker 1: And if it was somebody else's name with the boy,

871
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:57,879
Speaker 1: he wouldn't have cared. It was that it was me

872
00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:00,759
Speaker 1: and it. And it just reminds to me, Yo, man,

873
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:04,840
Speaker 1: our relationship is not typical. We got a special relationship.

874
00:46:04,840 --> 00:46:06,560
Speaker 1: You mean a lot to us man, whether whether you

875
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:08,200
Speaker 1: know it a lot, you mean a lot to us man,

876
00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: and so and so for me, I just what I

877
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,560
Speaker 1: try to do is that's why I go out of

878
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:15,279
Speaker 1: my way. I'm like, look, i'm gonna look for you,

879
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:17,879
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call you, I'm gonna come talk to you. Yo,

880
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:21,240
Speaker 1: keep doing this and I'm gonna have to do this, stop,

881
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:24,680
Speaker 1: fix this whatever, whatever. Do this. You know, this is

882
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:26,279
Speaker 1: your person stuff. You ain't gotta worry about that. I

883
00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:28,200
Speaker 1: ain't got nothing to say about that. But I'm gonna

884
00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:30,600
Speaker 1: say this about you on the court. I'm gonna say

885
00:46:30,640 --> 00:46:33,359
Speaker 1: this about you know you come into practice later, I'm

886
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:35,640
Speaker 1: gonna do something like that. And so when you have

887
00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:39,280
Speaker 1: that kind of mentality, you just wish that people saw

888
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:41,919
Speaker 1: you as like I'm just looking at that them, like, Yo,

889
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:44,960
Speaker 1: do you have you seen what I've been doing. I

890
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,759
Speaker 1: don't have to talk to you. I get paid to

891
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:51,840
Speaker 1: talk about you, not to you. I go out of

892
00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:54,919
Speaker 1: my way to travel, go to games, and do all

893
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:57,560
Speaker 1: of this stuff to talk to you. I don't have

894
00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:00,759
Speaker 1: to do that. There is nothing in my contract obligating

895
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:04,880
Speaker 1: me to talk to y'all at all. I can simply

896
00:47:04,880 --> 00:47:07,760
Speaker 1: watch the games and give my opinion. But I travel

897
00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:11,520
Speaker 1: across this country talking to you, trying to cultivate a

898
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,200
Speaker 1: relationship with you, Just so you know, Yo, man, you

899
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:17,360
Speaker 1: got something to say about me, I got something to

900
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:19,799
Speaker 1: say in response. I'm sitting here talking to y'all a day.

901
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,399
Speaker 1: There's no excuse on God's green earth while I should

902
00:47:23,440 --> 00:47:25,360
Speaker 1: go on the air and talk about mad Mons and

903
00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:30,160
Speaker 1: Stephen Jackson without calling you. What possible excuse? But possible?

904
00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:33,600
Speaker 1: I mean, if something happened, I need to first y'all.

905
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,920
Speaker 1: I haven't spoken to them. I'm going to speak to them,

906
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:39,319
Speaker 1: just as as much as I can say. Until I

907
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:42,080
Speaker 1: speak to them. And there's certain players in the league

908
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,960
Speaker 1: to this very day that I like that I don't try.

909
00:47:44,960 --> 00:47:46,839
Speaker 1: I try not to say damn worried about them until

910
00:47:46,880 --> 00:47:48,480
Speaker 1: I talk to them, because some of them scared of

911
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:51,239
Speaker 1: living hell, like you're gonna damn, I'm gonna head now

912
00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:55,000
Speaker 1: they're calling me. Now that's right. But but but again

913
00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:57,080
Speaker 1: in the right way from the standpoint, they pick up

914
00:47:57,080 --> 00:47:59,080
Speaker 1: the phone and call y'all. Respect that. You know you

915
00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,040
Speaker 1: got some cast they're hanging wrongs, call you the agents,

916
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:05,359
Speaker 1: call yeah, all that other stuff, like for example, whether

917
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,800
Speaker 1: it was d Way, it was a c P. Especially

918
00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:11,800
Speaker 1: Kobe and somebody, no, man, I see their name. I'm like, damn,

919
00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:15,239
Speaker 1: I don't messed up. What did I going on? Real quick?

920
00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:18,000
Speaker 1: What did I just respecting to there we go and

921
00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:19,759
Speaker 1: I know that, and I know that, and that's what

922
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:23,280
Speaker 1: I respect. It's too many cats that chirp and whisper

923
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:26,719
Speaker 1: and use hanging wrongs to do it. And that's what

924
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:29,200
Speaker 1: pisses me. Or you know them, you know, I know,

925
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:32,000
Speaker 1: I know, you know you and they know we know

926
00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:34,279
Speaker 1: they do and they know we know. Because there's no

927
00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:36,680
Speaker 1: excuse for it. It really really is, it really is.

928
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,680
Speaker 1: We're living in a climate today that's really touchy. Like

929
00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:41,239
Speaker 1: you said, we don't like to bring race into it,

930
00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:43,480
Speaker 1: but race plays a big key and just to today's

931
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:46,919
Speaker 1: society when you when you're hot, takes to your point

932
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:49,600
Speaker 1: of views, go against culture, so to speak. And I've

933
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:51,560
Speaker 1: seen it up later and Jack and I talked about

934
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:53,960
Speaker 1: it off camera. Right, Tell me what it's like when

935
00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:57,759
Speaker 1: they try to question your blackness or or what you

936
00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:03,600
Speaker 1: stand for just because you don't agree with First of all,

937
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:06,319
Speaker 1: that pisses me off. That's one of the that's one

938
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:09,480
Speaker 1: of the few things that pisss me off. I usually

939
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:11,680
Speaker 1: have alligator skin. I know it don't seem that way

940
00:49:11,719 --> 00:49:14,160
Speaker 1: because I'm ranting the raven on the air waves, but

941
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:15,960
Speaker 1: I sleep well at night. You know what I'm saying.

942
00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:18,120
Speaker 1: I'm not worried about most things people say. I don't

943
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:20,680
Speaker 1: give a damn. I'm gonna do what I do. But

944
00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:23,239
Speaker 1: when they question my blackness, first of all, is a

945
00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:27,040
Speaker 1: couple of several layers where you find that offensive. First

946
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:29,120
Speaker 1: of all, do you know who I am? Do you

947
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:31,800
Speaker 1: know what battles that I have fought in corporate America

948
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:37,440
Speaker 1: to facilitate opportunities for black people? Asked ESPN, asked the

949
00:49:37,480 --> 00:49:41,400
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Quira, asked the New York Daily News, ask Fox

950
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:44,920
Speaker 1: ask young brothers and sisters in this industry, the things

951
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:48,320
Speaker 1: that I have done to pave the way and pave

952
00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:50,799
Speaker 1: the road to them. Those folks don't know what they

953
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:54,359
Speaker 1: talk about. That's number one. Number two, Who the hell

954
00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:58,360
Speaker 1: are you to define blackness? What is the definition of blackness?

955
00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:01,200
Speaker 1: Because we gotta be careful with stuff like that, Like,

956
00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:03,880
Speaker 1: you know, you got folks in there. I'm not a Republican,

957
00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:05,239
Speaker 1: but you got folks that sit up there in the

958
00:50:05,280 --> 00:50:07,440
Speaker 1: second they see a black Republican, they say he's a

959
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:12,120
Speaker 1: sellout or was colin power or sellout serving in our military,

960
00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:15,520
Speaker 1: serving serving this country? Was he a sellout? Really? Are

961
00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:17,560
Speaker 1: you sure about that? Did you know that Dr Martin

962
00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:21,000
Speaker 1: Luther King Jr? Had Republican ideals? Did you know that?

963
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:23,879
Speaker 1: Do you listen to folks like Minister Farrakhan and others

964
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:27,240
Speaker 1: preaching about the same things the actual conservatives preach about

965
00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:30,080
Speaker 1: in terms of handling your own business, being an entrepreneur,

966
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,960
Speaker 1: owning your own stuff, not dependent on the government or

967
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:35,200
Speaker 1: anybody else to do things for you that you could

968
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:38,360
Speaker 1: potentially do for yourself. Do you know? And what is

969
00:50:38,400 --> 00:50:41,200
Speaker 1: your definition of blackness? And then the third element to

970
00:50:41,320 --> 00:50:45,040
Speaker 1: it that really really alarms me is what's your incentive

971
00:50:45,080 --> 00:50:48,000
Speaker 1: for doing that. Now, let's sit here. It doesn't We're

972
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:50,799
Speaker 1: sitting here. We talked, let's be really nobody running from it,

973
00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:54,600
Speaker 1: this whole Kaepernick stuff that we're damn So let's analyze

974
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:59,279
Speaker 1: this for a second. Colin Kaepernick takes a knee. It

975
00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:02,640
Speaker 1: was for police brutality. It was for racial discrimination and

976
00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:05,720
Speaker 1: racial inequality. As I said on first take, what black

977
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:08,080
Speaker 1: man will possibly have a problem with that? Of course

978
00:51:08,120 --> 00:51:11,960
Speaker 1: I didn't have a problem with where I took issue

979
00:51:12,000 --> 00:51:16,480
Speaker 1: was your execution after you need you took a knee,

980
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:19,680
Speaker 1: Because now it's about where you're going from here. So

981
00:51:21,440 --> 00:51:25,600
Speaker 1: he Eric read and others, you're going after black folks. First,

982
00:51:25,600 --> 00:51:29,560
Speaker 1: it was Malcolm Jenkins, a brother plays for the Philadelphia Eagles,

983
00:51:29,600 --> 00:51:32,760
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl championship with the New Orleans Saints.

984
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:36,480
Speaker 1: He sits up there, he's talking with you, trying to

985
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:40,240
Speaker 1: include you into the mix because they're negotiating with owners

986
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:43,279
Speaker 1: to address the issues you said you wanted address. You

987
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:46,040
Speaker 1: didn't say anything about you wanting the job. You didn't

988
00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:51,560
Speaker 1: say that. You said police brutality, racial discrimination, okay, racial oppression.

989
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:55,759
Speaker 1: You wanted those issues addressed. What did they do? The

990
00:51:55,880 --> 00:52:01,600
Speaker 1: league itself negotiates an eighty nine million dollar payout to

991
00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:04,799
Speaker 1: the players coalition. You didn't want to be a part

992
00:52:04,800 --> 00:52:06,600
Speaker 1: of that. That's why you weren't a part of it.

993
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:10,279
Speaker 1: Eric Read accused him of co opting the movement. We

994
00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:13,960
Speaker 1: understand that. I don't agree with it, but we understand it.

995
00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:17,440
Speaker 1: What Malcolm Jenkins is saying is you took a knee.

996
00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:20,560
Speaker 1: Now what are you going to do? You said you

997
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,560
Speaker 1: wanted the issues address. We're trying to get the issues address.

998
00:52:23,719 --> 00:52:26,760
Speaker 1: It could be more for billionaires, but they how millions.

999
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:29,719
Speaker 1: They than what I mean. Else, it's better than a zero. Right,

1000
00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:33,080
Speaker 1: you have a problem with it, I get it you,

1001
00:52:33,239 --> 00:52:36,560
Speaker 1: Eric Read. You approached his brother at midfield during the

1002
00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:40,520
Speaker 1: coin tours of a game on a Sunday afternoon. You're

1003
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:42,120
Speaker 1: ready to fight this bro. You get ready on the

1004
00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:44,400
Speaker 1: football field against him, but instead you want to go

1005
00:52:44,480 --> 00:52:47,480
Speaker 1: street on the football field because you don't like what

1006
00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:52,440
Speaker 1: he did. Jay Z music mogul. Everybody loves jay Z

1007
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:56,520
Speaker 1: mad respect from the hood, talks about it, preaches about it,

1008
00:52:56,880 --> 00:53:00,719
Speaker 1: uplifts people highest brothers and sisters. Mantra, you understand saying

1009
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:03,520
Speaker 1: been doing great things throughout his life while building his

1010
00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:08,919
Speaker 1: own empire. He standing he sits before Roger Goodell. They

1011
00:53:08,960 --> 00:53:14,120
Speaker 1: announced this deal. They announced the deal. His words weren't

1012
00:53:14,120 --> 00:53:16,239
Speaker 1: the greatest when he sat up there and said, you

1013
00:53:16,280 --> 00:53:19,880
Speaker 1: know what, we're beyond kneeling. But people forget that. Ten

1014
00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:23,520
Speaker 1: seconds earlier he said, I have no problem with anybody nearly.

1015
00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:25,759
Speaker 1: You can do what you want to do. I'm just saying,

1016
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:29,440
Speaker 1: where do we go from here? Why? Because he's plotting

1017
00:53:30,200 --> 00:53:36,439
Speaker 1: I got thirty one billionaires to deal with, thirty two actually, okay,

1018
00:53:36,480 --> 00:53:39,920
Speaker 1: thirty two billionaires to deal with. I might get an

1019
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:43,600
Speaker 1: ownership steak in this. I might be the first brother

1020
00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:48,000
Speaker 1: to ever owner NFL team, which at that time, I'm

1021
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:51,040
Speaker 1: going to position myself to be for the league to

1022
00:53:51,040 --> 00:53:53,640
Speaker 1: be more inclusion every so all of us could get

1023
00:53:53,640 --> 00:53:55,640
Speaker 1: so a lot of us can get paid. And in

1024
00:53:55,680 --> 00:53:59,240
Speaker 1: the meantime, I'm not gonna hoot and holler, but behind

1025
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:01,960
Speaker 1: the scenes, I'm gonna work to get Colin Kaepernick this

1026
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:08,760
Speaker 1: trial right. Eric Read comes out calls undespicable. Right, Colin

1027
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:14,600
Speaker 1: Kaepernick says nothing right. Ray Lewis Hall of Fame linebacker

1028
00:54:14,840 --> 00:54:18,320
Speaker 1: playing for the Baltimore Ravens. He's behind the scenes on

1029
00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:22,319
Speaker 1: the Steve Bashotti for the Baltimore, Ravens a billionaire. It's

1030
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:25,000
Speaker 1: thinking about break This is before Lamar Jackson, mind you,

1031
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:29,520
Speaker 1: he's thinking about bringing him on board. Right, Just chill,

1032
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:34,760
Speaker 1: just chill. What happens. Colin Kaepernick's lady at the time

1033
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:42,080
Speaker 1: compares Jay ray Lewis and Steve Brashotti to the characters,

1034
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,800
Speaker 1: and Jane Go played by Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo

1035
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:51,680
Speaker 1: DiCaprio squashes that opportunity. Right now, we fast forward to

1036
00:54:51,840 --> 00:54:54,920
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago. Why is stephen A on the

1037
00:54:54,960 --> 00:55:00,040
Speaker 1: air so piste off? Because when I was in the

1038
00:55:00,040 --> 00:55:04,520
Speaker 1: process of generating four million dollars in scholarships for underprivileged

1039
00:55:04,600 --> 00:55:07,879
Speaker 1: kids at historically black colleges and universities where I had

1040
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:10,120
Speaker 1: that event at the University of Delaware State that Magic

1041
00:55:10,160 --> 00:55:12,680
Speaker 1: Johnson and Troy Vincent and them showed up too. Right,

1042
00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:15,719
Speaker 1: We raised four million dollars in scholarships. Four hundred and

1043
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:18,600
Speaker 1: seventy plus kids got scholarships because of that one day event.

1044
00:55:18,880 --> 00:55:23,840
Speaker 1: Right while I'm promoting that, I go to a radio

1045
00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:27,120
Speaker 1: station to do an interview. I've never seen Colin Kaepernick's

1046
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:30,360
Speaker 1: lady in my life. I've never spoken to her anything

1047
00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:33,840
Speaker 1: like that. She has somebody come out there. They're incredibly

1048
00:55:33,840 --> 00:55:37,560
Speaker 1: respectful and classy. They tell me what their dismay is over.

1049
00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:40,040
Speaker 1: They felt like I got a few things wrong. I

1050
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:42,919
Speaker 1: firmly disagree with that, but that's neither here nor there.

1051
00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:45,680
Speaker 1: I sit up there, I look at that in the face,

1052
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:50,640
Speaker 1: and I said, Okay, here's my number. This is my number.

1053
00:55:50,760 --> 00:55:53,359
Speaker 1: I promise you, from this day forward, I will never

1054
00:55:53,440 --> 00:55:56,200
Speaker 1: utter a word about you a Colin Kaepernick. You don't

1055
00:55:56,200 --> 00:55:58,719
Speaker 1: put right there on my phone. I will read from

1056
00:55:58,760 --> 00:56:00,520
Speaker 1: the damn thing if I have to never have to

1057
00:56:00,520 --> 00:56:03,800
Speaker 1: worry about that again. You have my word. We're cool.

1058
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:08,200
Speaker 1: She doesn't stop there. What she says is college Kaepernick

1059
00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:12,040
Speaker 1: deserves this. He took made this sacrifice for us. He

1060
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:17,600
Speaker 1: deserves the opportunity, etcetera, etcetera. Will you help us? Fine? So,

1061
00:56:17,640 --> 00:56:20,719
Speaker 1: who's behind the scenes. It wasn't just Jay Z and

1062
00:56:20,800 --> 00:56:23,920
Speaker 1: the host of other people. It was also me and

1063
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:26,759
Speaker 1: a slew of other reporters who will remain nameless, that

1064
00:56:26,840 --> 00:56:30,360
Speaker 1: were behind the scenes trying to get this guy the workout.

1065
00:56:30,960 --> 00:56:34,839
Speaker 1: Because you all were saying, nobody called so we were

1066
00:56:34,880 --> 00:56:38,680
Speaker 1: doing this. So yes, when the NBA proposed it, it

1067
00:56:38,800 --> 00:56:41,320
Speaker 1: was shaking the NFL. I'm sorry, it was kind of shaky.

1068
00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:44,680
Speaker 1: We understand that. You know, they could have done it better.

1069
00:56:44,680 --> 00:56:46,239
Speaker 1: They could have gave you more notice, they could have

1070
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:48,640
Speaker 1: gave you more time to prepare, They could have done

1071
00:56:48,640 --> 00:56:50,719
Speaker 1: a lot of that was That was my major gripe

1072
00:56:50,760 --> 00:56:54,319
Speaker 1: with with the transparency factor into me, the NFL has

1073
00:56:54,360 --> 00:56:57,160
Speaker 1: proven they can't be trusted in a certain in several

1074
00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:03,040
Speaker 1: different Here's why that argument falls on death hears, because

1075
00:57:03,080 --> 00:57:06,320
Speaker 1: you knew that when you wanted the job. Now if

1076
00:57:06,360 --> 00:57:09,520
Speaker 1: we all sitting here talking amongst ourselves and we're cool,

1077
00:57:09,520 --> 00:57:12,399
Speaker 1: were brothers, right, and all of a sudden, I give

1078
00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:15,560
Speaker 1: you a reason to not trust me, that's entirely different.

1079
00:57:17,120 --> 00:57:19,560
Speaker 1: Not only do you not trust them, you suited them.

1080
00:57:19,960 --> 00:57:24,920
Speaker 1: Your father grievance against them, You settled. You're settled. Who settled?

1081
00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:27,600
Speaker 1: Who fathers a grievance against the company settled? And that

1082
00:57:27,760 --> 00:57:30,440
Speaker 1: still says I want a job with you. So of

1083
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:33,480
Speaker 1: course you didn't trust them. We understood this. So my

1084
00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:36,480
Speaker 1: point is that with all of that going on, right,

1085
00:57:37,040 --> 00:57:40,919
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there going like this, Okay, you said no

1086
00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:44,200
Speaker 1: one called you. I happen to know that jay Z

1087
00:57:44,320 --> 00:57:48,080
Speaker 1: and Rock Nation was leading the call behind the scenes

1088
00:57:48,960 --> 00:57:51,720
Speaker 1: working with the NFL, the owners that have the owners

1089
00:57:51,760 --> 00:57:55,200
Speaker 1: didn't want to do it. They literally said, bump down.

1090
00:57:55,960 --> 00:57:59,240
Speaker 1: We made ten million of revenue already. Okay, you know

1091
00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:01,040
Speaker 1: how much money. I'm a couple year o. More than

1092
00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:03,320
Speaker 1: a year ago. We got two six million a piece

1093
00:58:03,600 --> 00:58:06,840
Speaker 1: for our television deal alone. We got the ratings back.

1094
00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:10,800
Speaker 1: Folks are walking through the turnstiles. We're good. And not

1095
00:58:10,960 --> 00:58:15,440
Speaker 1: only that, we got four top league MVP candidates and

1096
00:58:15,600 --> 00:58:19,760
Speaker 1: all other black quarterbacks. We don't need him. We all

1097
00:58:19,840 --> 00:58:22,640
Speaker 1: have to do this. And I was told jay Z

1098
00:58:22,840 --> 00:58:25,200
Speaker 1: was like, oh, hell no, yes you do. No, I

1099
00:58:25,240 --> 00:58:28,000
Speaker 1: can't do this. We ain't going out like that. I

1100
00:58:28,120 --> 00:58:32,720
Speaker 1: need you to make sure you get his brother opportunity.

1101
00:58:32,920 --> 00:58:37,920
Speaker 1: So what do they do? Everybody? If you notice, you

1102
00:58:37,920 --> 00:58:39,320
Speaker 1: go back and look at the tape of first take.

1103
00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:41,720
Speaker 1: Got my social media guy right there, he's got my evidence.

1104
00:58:41,760 --> 00:58:45,240
Speaker 1: You got people there, three four teams gonna show walk.

1105
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:48,040
Speaker 1: I was the one that went on the air minimum

1106
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:52,520
Speaker 1: twenty four showing up. How I get that information? Why

1107
00:58:52,520 --> 00:58:55,280
Speaker 1: would I say that? Think about that? Everybody else said

1108
00:58:55,320 --> 00:58:57,360
Speaker 1: two or three. I went on the air and said,

1109
00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:00,400
Speaker 1: does that not give you an indication? And I'm kind

1110
00:59:00,400 --> 00:59:03,240
Speaker 1: of plugged into this, and so I'm like, look, y'all,

1111
00:59:03,800 --> 00:59:07,480
Speaker 1: it's it's being done. And then not only that, I

1112
00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:11,560
Speaker 1: got a call three days before the workout, after being

1113
00:59:11,600 --> 00:59:14,439
Speaker 1: told by various coaches and what have you. Usually when

1114
00:59:14,440 --> 00:59:16,160
Speaker 1: a free agent has a workout with the team, they

1115
00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:20,360
Speaker 1: don't have more than so y'all talking about five days

1116
00:59:20,400 --> 00:59:23,040
Speaker 1: like it's a small window. We usually only give them

1117
00:59:23,080 --> 00:59:26,160
Speaker 1: one day because if they're ready, they're ready. If they're not,

1118
00:59:26,280 --> 00:59:28,400
Speaker 1: they're not. And everybody was talking about all the next year,

1119
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:30,760
Speaker 1: next year. No, they wanted to workout because they were

1120
00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:33,400
Speaker 1: gonna give him a job. I was literally told, now,

1121
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:35,280
Speaker 1: whether it's true or not, guys will never know. And

1122
00:59:35,320 --> 00:59:37,280
Speaker 1: I don't know you know that, but I'm telling you

1123
00:59:37,320 --> 00:59:41,560
Speaker 1: what I was told, quote Colin Kaepnick will have to

1124
00:59:41,640 --> 00:59:44,080
Speaker 1: throw the football into the stands to not have a

1125
00:59:44,160 --> 00:59:48,560
Speaker 1: job in two weeks. Two weeks I went on the

1126
00:59:48,640 --> 00:59:53,800
Speaker 1: air and said, so, I text his camp and said, so,

1127
00:59:54,680 --> 00:59:59,360
Speaker 1: I was completely ignored, completely ignored. Suddenly, no return text,

1128
00:59:59,800 --> 01:00:02,400
Speaker 1: no white got anything to say. And I'm saying, Yo,

1129
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:05,240
Speaker 1: this is what's going down here about to get a

1130
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:08,880
Speaker 1: job in the National Football League. Teams showing up, So

1131
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:10,800
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you hear this waiver of stuff

1132
01:00:10,800 --> 01:00:13,919
Speaker 1: and or and I'm not decrying anything. I'm not I'm

1133
01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:17,200
Speaker 1: not questioning it. What I'm saying is you can't tell

1134
01:00:17,240 --> 01:00:22,160
Speaker 1: me a condition you faced in that scenario that you're

1135
01:00:22,200 --> 01:00:25,680
Speaker 1: surprised by because if you're already your evident lack of

1136
01:00:25,720 --> 01:00:28,080
Speaker 1: trust for them, but they also have a lack of

1137
01:00:28,080 --> 01:00:31,800
Speaker 1: trust for you, because they're fearful that if a team

1138
01:00:31,880 --> 01:00:35,080
Speaker 1: themselves on their own calls you up but you don't,

1139
01:00:35,200 --> 01:00:38,080
Speaker 1: they don't believe you're good enough to make a team,

1140
01:00:38,160 --> 01:00:40,600
Speaker 1: you're gonna accuse them of something that's gonna have them

1141
01:00:40,640 --> 01:00:43,400
Speaker 1: by themselves in the league, in the mix, in the

1142
01:00:43,440 --> 01:00:45,880
Speaker 1: eye the storm, media wise, so they wanted to use

1143
01:00:45,920 --> 01:00:49,840
Speaker 1: the NFL as cover. Roger Goodell got Roger Grell in

1144
01:00:49,880 --> 01:00:53,080
Speaker 1: the NFL agreed to provide that cover and said they'll

1145
01:00:53,120 --> 01:00:56,160
Speaker 1: call us so the heat wouldn't be on the individual teams.

1146
01:00:56,520 --> 01:00:59,320
Speaker 1: And not only did twenty six different teams show up,

1147
01:00:59,760 --> 01:01:04,400
Speaker 1: Not not only did they show up, but you know

1148
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:09,560
Speaker 1: what else happened. Most of them were black black officials

1149
01:01:09,600 --> 01:01:15,000
Speaker 1: in the pipeline to be pro personnel guys, gms, etcetera. Etcetera.

1150
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:18,600
Speaker 1: Because their whole thing is, like most black folks, we

1151
01:01:18,680 --> 01:01:23,520
Speaker 1: agree with Colin Cap. We appreciate the kneeling and the protesting,

1152
01:01:23,960 --> 01:01:26,560
Speaker 1: and those brothers were set by the owners and owners

1153
01:01:26,560 --> 01:01:29,800
Speaker 1: like you make that call, they were coming to town.

1154
01:01:30,480 --> 01:01:32,480
Speaker 1: So my point is when you heard me on the

1155
01:01:32,560 --> 01:01:36,720
Speaker 1: air going off, that's why I was going off. And

1156
01:01:36,760 --> 01:01:39,720
Speaker 1: I'm explaining all of this, and all anybody sees this,

1157
01:01:40,040 --> 01:01:42,960
Speaker 1: I don't agree with Cap or Eric Reid, and he

1158
01:01:43,040 --> 01:01:45,600
Speaker 1: ain't a real brother. He like you know, Uncle Tom

1159
01:01:45,640 --> 01:01:47,720
Speaker 1: and all of this other stuff. And I'm like, really,

1160
01:01:48,360 --> 01:01:51,200
Speaker 1: this is the same dude that's on national television all

1161
01:01:51,200 --> 01:01:55,280
Speaker 1: the time putting my behind on the line addressing issues

1162
01:01:55,320 --> 01:01:57,640
Speaker 1: that we need address. You really really think it's an

1163
01:01:57,720 --> 01:02:00,880
Speaker 1: accident that whether it was Max Keller, know Skip Bayliss

1164
01:02:00,960 --> 01:02:03,480
Speaker 1: or anybody before him, or anybody that you say you

1165
01:02:03,520 --> 01:02:06,200
Speaker 1: think it's an accident these topics come up on first take.

1166
01:02:06,920 --> 01:02:09,880
Speaker 1: Let me ask you all the question everybody's been reading

1167
01:02:09,880 --> 01:02:13,040
Speaker 1: about my contract, everybody's been reading about I'm being the

1168
01:02:13,080 --> 01:02:17,200
Speaker 1: face of ESPN. Do you think these issues will come

1169
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:19,520
Speaker 1: up or first take as often as they do if

1170
01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:24,360
Speaker 1: I did not say okay, it comes up because I

1171
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:28,160
Speaker 1: allow it to come. If I said no, don't touch it,

1172
01:02:28,160 --> 01:02:33,560
Speaker 1: it ain't coming up works. So I'm sitting there, like,

1173
01:02:33,920 --> 01:02:36,880
Speaker 1: what do you think is going on here? Do you think?

1174
01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:40,240
Speaker 1: You know with Max and his his racially conscious self

1175
01:02:40,280 --> 01:02:42,640
Speaker 1: and being invited to the ball of aecues which I

1176
01:02:42,720 --> 01:02:47,720
Speaker 1: appreciate his here's the deal, here's the deal. You don't

1177
01:02:47,760 --> 01:02:50,160
Speaker 1: think I know he's gonna receive that kind of reception.

1178
01:02:50,800 --> 01:02:54,720
Speaker 1: You think I don't know that, And I know what time.

1179
01:02:55,000 --> 01:02:58,040
Speaker 1: I know he's going to receive that kind of reception.

1180
01:02:58,280 --> 01:03:02,000
Speaker 1: I know that it's best coming from him in certain situations,

1181
01:03:02,120 --> 01:03:05,440
Speaker 1: rather than the angry black dude who's disgusted at the

1182
01:03:05,520 --> 01:03:10,280
Speaker 1: man continuously trying to keep us down. No here from him.

1183
01:03:10,320 --> 01:03:13,840
Speaker 1: So I'm like, but you see people from our community

1184
01:03:13,880 --> 01:03:16,800
Speaker 1: and it's like you don't see this. I mean, when

1185
01:03:16,800 --> 01:03:20,160
Speaker 1: you when you think about you know, you think about Selma,

1186
01:03:20,280 --> 01:03:22,640
Speaker 1: you think about montgomer Where you think about from an

1187
01:03:22,680 --> 01:03:26,760
Speaker 1: historical perspective, the things that black folks went through in

1188
01:03:26,920 --> 01:03:29,920
Speaker 1: order for us to get to this level, the thing

1189
01:03:29,960 --> 01:03:32,280
Speaker 1: that black folks going through in order to get to

1190
01:03:32,360 --> 01:03:35,920
Speaker 1: this level. Tell me when it was a success, when

1191
01:03:35,920 --> 01:03:40,280
Speaker 1: there wasn't a plan it's always a plan because if

1192
01:03:40,320 --> 01:03:42,760
Speaker 1: you just do something happ has it, people are gonna

1193
01:03:42,800 --> 01:03:44,920
Speaker 1: say it's hap hazard and they're not gonna take it seriously.

1194
01:03:45,200 --> 01:03:46,800
Speaker 1: How do you not know that? How do you not

1195
01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:50,960
Speaker 1: get that? So that's where the questioning of my blackness comes,

1196
01:03:51,000 --> 01:03:52,680
Speaker 1: because I got news for you. I don't give a

1197
01:03:52,760 --> 01:03:54,680
Speaker 1: damn how much money they want to report that I'm

1198
01:03:54,680 --> 01:03:56,200
Speaker 1: making in the news. And by the way, they're wrong

1199
01:03:56,240 --> 01:03:58,840
Speaker 1: about it. Let me tell you something right now, I

1200
01:03:59,000 --> 01:04:01,280
Speaker 1: make a whole hell of a lot more money if

1201
01:04:01,320 --> 01:04:04,120
Speaker 1: I was to sell out that some people try to describe.

1202
01:04:05,680 --> 01:04:09,600
Speaker 1: And that is a fact. It's deep and and that's

1203
01:04:09,640 --> 01:04:11,960
Speaker 1: the one thing, Like I said, I referenced us a

1204
01:04:11,960 --> 01:04:15,080
Speaker 1: few times. People know the on air personality of who

1205
01:04:15,160 --> 01:04:17,400
Speaker 1: you are, just like they knew who they thought Jack

1206
01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:19,280
Speaker 1: and I were, and we were able to, you know,

1207
01:04:19,400 --> 01:04:21,320
Speaker 1: utilize our platform and kind of speak on it. That's

1208
01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:22,920
Speaker 1: what I kind of wanted to do today with you,

1209
01:04:23,080 --> 01:04:25,320
Speaker 1: is just to allow people to see the other side,

1210
01:04:25,320 --> 01:04:28,480
Speaker 1: because people to get a you know, a show, you know,

1211
01:04:28,760 --> 01:04:30,520
Speaker 1: a look at the show and think, I know Stephen

1212
01:04:30,560 --> 01:04:32,640
Speaker 1: AA is all about and and that kind of stuff.

1213
01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:34,400
Speaker 1: At first use to bosament, I just had to understand

1214
01:04:34,400 --> 01:04:36,560
Speaker 1: that people don't know that don't know me, it doesn't

1215
01:04:36,560 --> 01:04:38,000
Speaker 1: really matter what they think about it. But at the

1216
01:04:38,040 --> 01:04:40,680
Speaker 1: same time it's tough because the people that do know you,

1217
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:43,160
Speaker 1: understand where you're come from. Women, they always agree with

1218
01:04:43,280 --> 01:04:45,560
Speaker 1: what you're saying. But you know, Jack has a great quote.

1219
01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:47,400
Speaker 1: You know, we can disagree but still have respect for

1220
01:04:47,440 --> 01:04:50,400
Speaker 1: each other. And I think too often today it's all

1221
01:04:50,480 --> 01:04:52,440
Speaker 1: the way or nothing. Well, the thing about it is

1222
01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:55,440
Speaker 1: the operative word there is all like for example, you

1223
01:04:55,520 --> 01:04:58,440
Speaker 1: see me on TV, that's me. That's a part of me.

1224
01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,880
Speaker 1: It's not all of me, you know, And who shows

1225
01:05:01,920 --> 01:05:05,280
Speaker 1: the entire arsenal? We don't have to. You call what

1226
01:05:05,360 --> 01:05:07,960
Speaker 1: the moment calls. You show what the moment calls for.

1227
01:05:08,520 --> 01:05:11,120
Speaker 1: You know, when when look at you sitting here talking,

1228
01:05:11,600 --> 01:05:13,880
Speaker 1: is that the Matt bonds we still on the court

1229
01:05:13,040 --> 01:05:16,480
Speaker 1: when now you no, Now you I'm trying to tell

1230
01:05:16,520 --> 01:05:19,400
Speaker 1: you right now, your far more moll matter now and

1231
01:05:19,760 --> 01:05:22,040
Speaker 1: off the court, always in the locker room than you

1232
01:05:22,080 --> 01:05:24,760
Speaker 1: were on the court. But you see there see people

1233
01:05:24,800 --> 01:05:27,040
Speaker 1: see you, They see your tats, they look at that,

1234
01:05:27,240 --> 01:05:29,200
Speaker 1: they listen to they watch you on the court, and

1235
01:05:29,240 --> 01:05:31,600
Speaker 1: they think that you're ignorant, and then they go into

1236
01:05:31,600 --> 01:05:34,840
Speaker 1: a locker room and they are blown away by your

1237
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:38,040
Speaker 1: level of intellect. This brother, Steve always been really real.

1238
01:05:38,560 --> 01:05:42,280
Speaker 1: Is a heart attack? You couldn't. There was no excuse

1239
01:05:42,440 --> 01:05:46,840
Speaker 1: to talk about Stephen Jackson without talking to him, because

1240
01:05:46,840 --> 01:05:49,080
Speaker 1: he was talking. He would give it to you. It's like,

1241
01:05:49,280 --> 01:05:51,640
Speaker 1: what possible. It's like I have nothing to say. I mean,

1242
01:05:51,680 --> 01:05:53,480
Speaker 1: what one mine? Who say to this brother? All I

1243
01:05:53,480 --> 01:05:54,960
Speaker 1: gotta do is go up to them and ask him

1244
01:05:55,320 --> 01:05:56,760
Speaker 1: if I say, you're Steve Man, I'm about to say

1245
01:05:56,760 --> 01:05:58,640
Speaker 1: this on the air. You got something? Hell, you got

1246
01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:01,600
Speaker 1: something to say? And he say, so, guess what? You

1247
01:06:01,760 --> 01:06:06,000
Speaker 1: take the power away from me to just editorialize and

1248
01:06:06,440 --> 01:06:08,760
Speaker 1: just say what I want to say? Nah, not if

1249
01:06:08,760 --> 01:06:13,600
Speaker 1: I'm a decent, respectable professional, Because as a decent, respectable professional,

1250
01:06:14,080 --> 01:06:18,240
Speaker 1: I have an inherent obligation to make sure your voice

1251
01:06:18,360 --> 01:06:22,080
Speaker 1: is just as profound about mine. If not, so when

1252
01:06:22,120 --> 01:06:26,040
Speaker 1: it comes to you, you see, if you speak, then

1253
01:06:26,080 --> 01:06:28,560
Speaker 1: I got nothing to say. And when you see me, listen, man,

1254
01:06:28,600 --> 01:06:31,560
Speaker 1: I told you before I had a situation and and

1255
01:06:31,560 --> 01:06:33,280
Speaker 1: and and John wall is a good guy, and he

1256
01:06:33,400 --> 01:06:36,760
Speaker 1: and I will eventually talk one day or whatever. But

1257
01:06:37,480 --> 01:06:42,480
Speaker 1: last year we had this issue. He was upset because

1258
01:06:42,520 --> 01:06:45,600
Speaker 1: I mentioned a nightclub that he was at right in

1259
01:06:46,040 --> 01:06:50,400
Speaker 1: d C. Fellas, I don't do that, tim Z, didn't.

1260
01:06:51,840 --> 01:06:55,240
Speaker 1: That man right there, that man right there came to

1261
01:06:55,320 --> 01:06:58,640
Speaker 1: me and showed me the video of him at the club,

1262
01:06:59,240 --> 01:07:02,640
Speaker 1: and so I said it. You can't be there thirty

1263
01:07:02,680 --> 01:07:05,960
Speaker 1: six hours before the game, when people already questioned that

1264
01:07:06,000 --> 01:07:08,760
Speaker 1: you in shape. You can't do it. That's all I said.

1265
01:07:08,920 --> 01:07:10,800
Speaker 1: That's all I said. And so all of a sudden,

1266
01:07:10,800 --> 01:07:13,520
Speaker 1: I'm going from city to city and I'm catching cats,

1267
01:07:13,560 --> 01:07:16,640
Speaker 1: and you you know, he like you dimed him out.

1268
01:07:16,680 --> 01:07:19,520
Speaker 1: I didn't know such thing, because if TMZ hadn't reported it,

1269
01:07:19,560 --> 01:07:21,240
Speaker 1: I'd have never mentioned it. I would have just said

1270
01:07:21,280 --> 01:07:23,800
Speaker 1: you better be ready, you better play. I wouldn't have

1271
01:07:23,800 --> 01:07:25,800
Speaker 1: said anything about the club, but sent you on the

1272
01:07:25,840 --> 01:07:29,200
Speaker 1: clubs being seen on video. You know, cats out the back.

1273
01:07:29,760 --> 01:07:31,800
Speaker 1: So what I'm saying is I go to d C

1274
01:07:32,920 --> 01:07:36,520
Speaker 1: to see him. Brother in the training room won't come out.

1275
01:07:37,440 --> 01:07:40,680
Speaker 1: I'm standing at his locker because they said he had

1276
01:07:40,680 --> 01:07:43,600
Speaker 1: a problem with me. I flew to d C from

1277
01:07:43,600 --> 01:07:45,919
Speaker 1: New York in a moment's notice, only forty five minute flight,

1278
01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:48,560
Speaker 1: but damn and I I'm busy. I still did it.

1279
01:07:48,960 --> 01:07:52,280
Speaker 1: I flew to d C, stood in front of the locker.

1280
01:07:53,240 --> 01:07:56,080
Speaker 1: The brother wouldn't come out. And then a week later

1281
01:07:56,120 --> 01:07:58,800
Speaker 1: and said, I just wish somebody would be mad enough

1282
01:07:58,840 --> 01:08:00,680
Speaker 1: to see what they got to see in my face.

1283
01:08:02,000 --> 01:08:05,760
Speaker 1: I got I gotta play ticket that I paid for

1284
01:08:06,160 --> 01:08:08,920
Speaker 1: that shows you know. I did come to say, you

1285
01:08:08,960 --> 01:08:12,160
Speaker 1: know whatever, this face. But what I'm saying is there's

1286
01:08:12,280 --> 01:08:15,800
Speaker 1: numerous cats, including YouTube. I would never have to do

1287
01:08:15,880 --> 01:08:20,519
Speaker 1: that too, not in a million years, if nothing else. Young, Oh,

1288
01:08:20,560 --> 01:08:23,080
Speaker 1: I'm coming out. I'm coming outside, yo, stephen Na, let

1289
01:08:23,080 --> 01:08:26,000
Speaker 1: me do that the media. We're gonna have this conversation

1290
01:08:26,040 --> 01:08:30,519
Speaker 1: where we've done. But you just see all of this stuff.

1291
01:08:30,560 --> 01:08:33,240
Speaker 1: You got cats like they're looking at you like they

1292
01:08:34,240 --> 01:08:36,200
Speaker 1: want to do something to you. I'm a grown man

1293
01:08:36,760 --> 01:08:39,599
Speaker 1: and I'm not about That's right. I'm fifty two years old.

1294
01:08:39,600 --> 01:08:42,719
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to get into no fight or nothing

1295
01:08:42,800 --> 01:08:47,840
Speaker 1: like that. But I am from Holly's Queens. You really

1296
01:08:47,880 --> 01:08:51,280
Speaker 1: really think you just gonna do something to me and

1297
01:08:51,640 --> 01:08:55,040
Speaker 1: nothing's gonna happen to you, like really, so you know,

1298
01:08:55,080 --> 01:08:58,000
Speaker 1: I'm again, I'm not talking. I'm not trying to be violent.

1299
01:08:58,800 --> 01:09:02,439
Speaker 1: That ain't me. I'm not I'm not saying that. It's

1300
01:09:02,479 --> 01:09:05,559
Speaker 1: like exactly respect on both ways. Now we could. You know,

1301
01:09:05,640 --> 01:09:07,880
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do that. But you really really think

1302
01:09:08,040 --> 01:09:10,960
Speaker 1: I have no friends. I just I'm just left out alone.

1303
01:09:11,040 --> 01:09:14,439
Speaker 1: By the way, I made a lot of money for ESPN.

1304
01:09:14,520 --> 01:09:17,040
Speaker 1: You just think they're just gonna let something. I mean,

1305
01:09:17,160 --> 01:09:20,200
Speaker 1: you really really think that when I walked the streets alone,

1306
01:09:20,200 --> 01:09:22,880
Speaker 1: I really alone, you know, just like you just listen

1307
01:09:22,920 --> 01:09:25,320
Speaker 1: to people sometimes like really you really like you're just

1308
01:09:25,360 --> 01:09:27,720
Speaker 1: don't You're just don'ta do something right? And it's like

1309
01:09:27,800 --> 01:09:29,840
Speaker 1: and then you just you're saying all of that to

1310
01:09:29,880 --> 01:09:34,800
Speaker 1: say for what cause? If you have a problem, you

1311
01:09:34,920 --> 01:09:38,479
Speaker 1: come to me. If I'm wrong, I will admit it,

1312
01:09:38,680 --> 01:09:42,479
Speaker 1: I will apologize, and I will correct the record. If

1313
01:09:42,520 --> 01:09:45,160
Speaker 1: I'm right. I'm staying in my ground. But even as

1314
01:09:45,200 --> 01:09:47,320
Speaker 1: I stay in my ground, I still might let it

1315
01:09:47,360 --> 01:09:50,400
Speaker 1: go and just be like, no, this ain't worth it. Exactly.

1316
01:09:50,840 --> 01:09:53,280
Speaker 1: I ran up to um, y'all see me before I

1317
01:09:53,320 --> 01:09:56,880
Speaker 1: had beef with Big Dog Robinson in the year's past. Man.

1318
01:09:56,920 --> 01:09:58,519
Speaker 1: I ran up to a son, his son that go

1319
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:02,120
Speaker 1: to State was playing Houston. I saw a son the

1320
01:10:02,160 --> 01:10:04,200
Speaker 1: first thing I said to his son. I walked up

1321
01:10:04,200 --> 01:10:06,280
Speaker 1: to him and I said, yo, man, you see me

1322
01:10:06,320 --> 01:10:08,679
Speaker 1: beefing with your dad. Whatever. Let me tell you two things.

1323
01:10:09,160 --> 01:10:14,040
Speaker 1: Number One, I was wrong. Number Two, I said, it

1324
01:10:14,040 --> 01:10:18,800
Speaker 1: will never happen again. Now I didn't specify. It wasn't

1325
01:10:18,840 --> 01:10:21,000
Speaker 1: that I was wrong about what I felt at the

1326
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:24,480
Speaker 1: time or anything like that. I was wrong for allowing

1327
01:10:24,520 --> 01:10:26,600
Speaker 1: it to get to the level that it was that

1328
01:10:26,680 --> 01:10:29,760
Speaker 1: it got to because we've both grown men, and you

1329
01:10:29,800 --> 01:10:32,880
Speaker 1: know what, that's your son and he's in the league,

1330
01:10:33,280 --> 01:10:36,320
Speaker 1: and I don't want that young man running around thinking

1331
01:10:36,720 --> 01:10:38,960
Speaker 1: that you know what, me and your father had beef.

1332
01:10:39,040 --> 01:10:42,360
Speaker 1: So guess what you gotta be. No, I'm not that dude,

1333
01:10:42,479 --> 01:10:45,360
Speaker 1: You see what I'm saying. And not only that, I'm

1334
01:10:45,600 --> 01:10:47,920
Speaker 1: I'm a man who's a father, and I'm a proud

1335
01:10:47,960 --> 01:10:49,519
Speaker 1: black man. And I want you not to say that

1336
01:10:49,560 --> 01:10:51,360
Speaker 1: I had any reason to question it, but I want

1337
01:10:51,360 --> 01:10:53,559
Speaker 1: you to continue to love your father and to look

1338
01:10:53,560 --> 01:10:55,200
Speaker 1: at him for the good man that he is. Just

1339
01:10:55,280 --> 01:10:57,640
Speaker 1: because we might have had a beef don't mean that

1340
01:10:57,720 --> 01:10:59,960
Speaker 1: he's a bad guy. And I told him, when I

1341
01:11:00,160 --> 01:11:03,240
Speaker 1: see your father, I'm apologized to him and shake his

1342
01:11:03,280 --> 01:11:06,200
Speaker 1: head because I don't want that kid running around trying

1343
01:11:06,240 --> 01:11:09,360
Speaker 1: to elevate himself in this league and thinking that, you know,

1344
01:11:09,439 --> 01:11:11,680
Speaker 1: you got to worry about somebody like me and what

1345
01:11:11,800 --> 01:11:15,240
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, because of some some nonsensical beef with

1346
01:11:15,320 --> 01:11:18,240
Speaker 1: your dad, there ain't no beef. Ain't no beef. Big

1347
01:11:18,280 --> 01:11:20,400
Speaker 1: Dog and I had a disagreement. But I'm sure he's

1348
01:11:20,439 --> 01:11:21,760
Speaker 1: a good brother. I know a lot of people to

1349
01:11:21,840 --> 01:11:23,840
Speaker 1: say a good brother. And when I see the man,

1350
01:11:23,880 --> 01:11:26,719
Speaker 1: I'm apologized to him because I don't want his son

1351
01:11:26,800 --> 01:11:29,120
Speaker 1: in this league thinking something like that. That's just the

1352
01:11:29,240 --> 01:11:31,640
Speaker 1: human side. Man. You gotta you know, you see a

1353
01:11:31,720 --> 01:11:33,479
Speaker 1: lot of these cats, man, and it is really a

1354
01:11:33,560 --> 01:11:37,639
Speaker 1: damn shame that they've gotten away from manhood and simply

1355
01:11:37,680 --> 01:11:40,800
Speaker 1: having a discussion and squashing stuff. It's really sad that

1356
01:11:40,840 --> 01:11:44,640
Speaker 1: cats different and it's different. And I put you, I

1357
01:11:44,720 --> 01:11:47,640
Speaker 1: put you up there with Stewart Scott, you know, with

1358
01:11:47,680 --> 01:11:49,920
Speaker 1: Michael Wilbon, the guys that have paid the way for

1359
01:11:50,040 --> 01:11:53,280
Speaker 1: us and man Matt talked about the show. We wanted,

1360
01:11:53,360 --> 01:11:54,680
Speaker 1: We really wanted to come on the show. Not that

1361
01:11:54,720 --> 01:11:56,080
Speaker 1: we talk about a lot of stuff. We want to

1362
01:11:56,080 --> 01:11:58,160
Speaker 1: give you your props to getting your flowers too, because

1363
01:11:58,680 --> 01:12:00,280
Speaker 1: you paid the way for us and a lot people

1364
01:12:00,320 --> 01:12:03,160
Speaker 1: see the things you say and automatically disagree, but they

1365
01:12:03,200 --> 01:12:06,679
Speaker 1: don't understand that you're not one. You're doing a job,

1366
01:12:07,400 --> 01:12:10,320
Speaker 1: but this is your real feelings. This is your real feeling,

1367
01:12:10,360 --> 01:12:12,639
Speaker 1: This is how you feel. And when people get outside

1368
01:12:12,640 --> 01:12:14,640
Speaker 1: their feelings and understand that this is coming from a

1369
01:12:14,640 --> 01:12:16,960
Speaker 1: genuine place. You're not just saying stuff for a check,

1370
01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:19,160
Speaker 1: or you're not just saying stuff just to piss somebody off.

1371
01:12:19,360 --> 01:12:21,439
Speaker 1: This is your life, you know what I'm saying. When

1372
01:12:21,439 --> 01:12:23,360
Speaker 1: people understand that, then they can see a different you.

1373
01:12:23,439 --> 01:12:25,519
Speaker 1: And we've been seeing that. But that's one reason why

1374
01:12:25,600 --> 01:12:27,320
Speaker 1: we wanted you on the show to give you a flower,

1375
01:12:27,400 --> 01:12:30,439
Speaker 1: because we understand. I appreciate what I'm saying. We definite understand,

1376
01:12:30,479 --> 01:12:32,360
Speaker 1: but I definitely man, listen, I got love for both

1377
01:12:32,400 --> 01:12:34,280
Speaker 1: of y'all. Man, I've loved y'all for a long time.

1378
01:12:34,360 --> 01:12:37,000
Speaker 1: Y'all good brothers, man, and y'all real it's hell, And

1379
01:12:37,040 --> 01:12:39,519
Speaker 1: that's what I respect the most. Man, is if they

1380
01:12:39,640 --> 01:12:41,640
Speaker 1: did not that we've ever had any issue here. And

1381
01:12:41,680 --> 01:12:45,000
Speaker 1: I had a disagreement about weed on social man, suposed

1382
01:12:45,680 --> 01:12:48,200
Speaker 1: you're saying for some reason. I mean, people are acting

1383
01:12:48,240 --> 01:12:50,360
Speaker 1: like that's gonna be a problem. I was like, what

1384
01:12:50,400 --> 01:12:54,280
Speaker 1: did he say? I'm like, I don't understand what he

1385
01:12:54,360 --> 01:12:58,720
Speaker 1: said that I'm supposed to be offended by that. And

1386
01:12:58,760 --> 01:13:01,080
Speaker 1: that's why immediately when I said, y'all are not getting that,

1387
01:13:01,080 --> 01:13:03,479
Speaker 1: that's my man. We disagree, and damn it, he was right,

1388
01:13:03,479 --> 01:13:05,439
Speaker 1: he said, I said, he said I was ignorant, right,

1389
01:13:05,479 --> 01:13:08,920
Speaker 1: I was like speaking staying off the show. I mean,

1390
01:13:09,000 --> 01:13:11,920
Speaker 1: that's a that's a hot topic right now. I think

1391
01:13:12,080 --> 01:13:14,920
Speaker 1: as someone who's used it since I was fourteen, Jack

1392
01:13:15,000 --> 01:13:17,559
Speaker 1: is you know, just as long it's something that we

1393
01:13:17,600 --> 01:13:21,519
Speaker 1: really feel navigated us through our career, um and really

1394
01:13:21,520 --> 01:13:26,439
Speaker 1: helped us on and off the court, um, knowing what

1395
01:13:26,479 --> 01:13:28,680
Speaker 1: the consequences were at times if we got caught. But

1396
01:13:28,760 --> 01:13:31,920
Speaker 1: it to me it didn't. They still weren't enough for

1397
01:13:31,960 --> 01:13:34,479
Speaker 1: me to not continue to use it. And you're taking

1398
01:13:34,520 --> 01:13:36,839
Speaker 1: a very strong stance, and I understand what your stances.

1399
01:13:37,240 --> 01:13:39,760
Speaker 1: I'll let you explain about from my understanding, this don't

1400
01:13:39,800 --> 01:13:42,360
Speaker 1: do if it's gonna suck your money up. So going

1401
01:13:42,479 --> 01:13:45,400
Speaker 1: on going on with you, but but but but I'm

1402
01:13:45,400 --> 01:13:48,559
Speaker 1: glad you said. But it's really that simple it's never

1403
01:13:48,640 --> 01:13:52,479
Speaker 1: been Once again, I have to go back to my

1404
01:13:52,640 --> 01:13:58,799
Speaker 1: roots without telling family, friend business. I'm from Holly's Queen.

1405
01:14:00,200 --> 01:14:03,080
Speaker 1: Really really think that I have an issue with people

1406
01:14:03,080 --> 01:14:06,040
Speaker 1: smoking weed. I mean, I've known that if been surrounded

1407
01:14:06,040 --> 01:14:09,559
Speaker 1: by it all my life. It's not an issue. It's

1408
01:14:09,600 --> 01:14:14,320
Speaker 1: an issue when you let it affect your money. That

1409
01:14:14,520 --> 01:14:17,880
Speaker 1: is my issue. I have never getten o meet personally.

1410
01:14:18,320 --> 01:14:21,080
Speaker 1: I've never wanted to do it. The reason why is

1411
01:14:21,120 --> 01:14:26,320
Speaker 1: this my mentality? Is this anything that inebriates me in

1412
01:14:26,360 --> 01:14:30,240
Speaker 1: any way potentially empower somebody else, Which is why I

1413
01:14:30,320 --> 01:14:33,080
Speaker 1: leaned on your statement when you said about my ignorance

1414
01:14:33,120 --> 01:14:35,280
Speaker 1: about it, because I'm like, I'm glad you said that,

1415
01:14:35,320 --> 01:14:38,639
Speaker 1: because I am. I don't pretend to know. I never

1416
01:14:38,680 --> 01:14:40,519
Speaker 1: pretended to how to? How to? Hell? Do I know

1417
01:14:40,800 --> 01:14:43,200
Speaker 1: what I'm saying? To use this? I have been I

1418
01:14:43,360 --> 01:14:46,960
Speaker 1: have covered an NBA game in the past where a

1419
01:14:47,120 --> 01:14:49,960
Speaker 1: dude was wobbling back and forth and literally couldn't stake

1420
01:14:50,000 --> 01:14:52,840
Speaker 1: instructions from Larry Brown because he was high. And that

1421
01:14:53,000 --> 01:14:55,439
Speaker 1: was not Alan Iverson. Okay, let me be very very

1422
01:14:55,439 --> 01:14:57,760
Speaker 1: clear that happened right in front of my face. But

1423
01:14:57,840 --> 01:15:00,040
Speaker 1: I also saw cats that you know you could. I

1424
01:15:00,160 --> 01:15:01,559
Speaker 1: let you can see it, you know, over the whole bit,

1425
01:15:01,600 --> 01:15:03,760
Speaker 1: and it didn't affect them to have Some of them

1426
01:15:03,760 --> 01:15:06,559
Speaker 1: played better with it, so I got it. My flip

1427
01:15:06,640 --> 01:15:09,080
Speaker 1: side to it is that there's a reason I had

1428
01:15:09,120 --> 01:15:12,519
Speaker 1: to bring Snoop Dog on my show because Snoop Dog

1429
01:15:12,640 --> 01:15:15,439
Speaker 1: had to articulate my like, I think I have a strong,

1430
01:15:16,160 --> 01:15:18,040
Speaker 1: you know, command of the English language. I think I

1431
01:15:18,080 --> 01:15:20,400
Speaker 1: speak fluent English, And I'm like, I don't understand why

1432
01:15:20,439 --> 01:15:22,519
Speaker 1: to help people can't understand what I'm saying. I am

1433
01:15:22,560 --> 01:15:26,040
Speaker 1: not saying you shouldn't do it, because you shouldn't do it.

1434
01:15:26,360 --> 01:15:30,000
Speaker 1: I'm saying, if you work in a league where they're

1435
01:15:30,040 --> 01:15:33,599
Speaker 1: telling you it's going to affect your money, as hard

1436
01:15:33,640 --> 01:15:36,760
Speaker 1: as you work to get that money, why give it

1437
01:15:36,800 --> 01:15:40,400
Speaker 1: away for that now? If you wasn't giving it away

1438
01:15:40,439 --> 01:15:42,640
Speaker 1: from that, I'm good with it. If you sat up

1439
01:15:42,680 --> 01:15:46,120
Speaker 1: there with like this, look, man, I make ten million

1440
01:15:46,920 --> 01:15:48,800
Speaker 1: if I do this in my course, be fire undred

1441
01:15:48,800 --> 01:15:52,040
Speaker 1: thousand steven there, I could afford it. I got nothing

1442
01:15:52,080 --> 01:15:54,920
Speaker 1: to say. I got nothing. It's like, okay, okay, this

1443
01:15:55,040 --> 01:15:59,719
Speaker 1: makes sense. But when you are literally wanting and crying

1444
01:15:59,760 --> 01:16:03,400
Speaker 1: about how the league should change their policy, as some

1445
01:16:03,479 --> 01:16:07,040
Speaker 1: players have done while you in the game, just because

1446
01:16:07,040 --> 01:16:10,080
Speaker 1: you can't get your way up right. I usually equate,

1447
01:16:10,439 --> 01:16:14,040
Speaker 1: and I'll bring children into that equation for for an example,

1448
01:16:14,240 --> 01:16:19,559
Speaker 1: all of us the fathers here, just imagine for a second. Well, Daddy,

1449
01:16:19,600 --> 01:16:21,479
Speaker 1: I need you to change this rule because I don't

1450
01:16:21,560 --> 01:16:25,240
Speaker 1: like it. It doesn't work for me. Excuse me, who

1451
01:16:25,280 --> 01:16:27,600
Speaker 1: do you think you are? You have the right to

1452
01:16:27,600 --> 01:16:30,880
Speaker 1: do what the hell you told? Period. This is not

1453
01:16:30,960 --> 01:16:33,960
Speaker 1: a democracy. I don't give a damn what Oprah tells you.

1454
01:16:34,040 --> 01:16:36,840
Speaker 1: It ain't a democracy, Okay, not in this house. You're

1455
01:16:36,840 --> 01:16:38,559
Speaker 1: gonna do what you're supposed to do because you are

1456
01:16:38,560 --> 01:16:41,320
Speaker 1: the child and I am the adult. Well, essentially, that's

1457
01:16:41,320 --> 01:16:44,080
Speaker 1: what a league is saying to you. In a roundabout way,

1458
01:16:44,200 --> 01:16:47,400
Speaker 1: not to disrespect you, but there's a power structure. You

1459
01:16:47,560 --> 01:16:50,640
Speaker 1: volunteered to play. You wasn't drafted. This is what you

1460
01:16:50,760 --> 01:16:52,679
Speaker 1: told when you know the rules, when you're signed the contract.

1461
01:16:52,760 --> 01:16:55,120
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying, and so if you know the rules,

1462
01:16:55,360 --> 01:16:59,320
Speaker 1: understand you're going to be held accountable for it. I'm

1463
01:16:59,400 --> 01:17:03,000
Speaker 1: just of the mindset, as I said earlier, I'm not

1464
01:17:03,120 --> 01:17:05,200
Speaker 1: just a black man. I'm a brother. I don't have

1465
01:17:05,320 --> 01:17:09,080
Speaker 1: anything against anybody, but I love my brothers man, and

1466
01:17:09,120 --> 01:17:11,920
Speaker 1: my attitude is, if I see you doing anything that

1467
01:17:12,000 --> 01:17:15,240
Speaker 1: I think is detrimental to you, I'm going to let

1468
01:17:15,280 --> 01:17:18,439
Speaker 1: you know. And if I know you personally, then it's

1469
01:17:18,439 --> 01:17:21,639
Speaker 1: gonna be personal and meaning I'm going to approach you personally.

1470
01:17:21,800 --> 01:17:24,800
Speaker 1: If I don't know you, but I have this platform,

1471
01:17:25,120 --> 01:17:27,080
Speaker 1: then I'm gonna use the platform to send that message.

1472
01:17:27,120 --> 01:17:29,360
Speaker 1: If you find yourself in the news, what I will

1473
01:17:29,400 --> 01:17:31,960
Speaker 1: never do is din you out. I'm never telling you

1474
01:17:32,000 --> 01:17:35,200
Speaker 1: and course you your money, but if you allow yourself

1475
01:17:35,200 --> 01:17:37,720
Speaker 1: to get caught in you in the public, now, I'm

1476
01:17:37,720 --> 01:17:40,200
Speaker 1: gonna speak on it. If I saw you, it could

1477
01:17:40,200 --> 01:17:42,639
Speaker 1: be anything. It's weird, it could be anything. If you

1478
01:17:42,640 --> 01:17:45,080
Speaker 1: you've had other issues that you've had to deal with YouTube,

1479
01:17:45,920 --> 01:17:50,320
Speaker 1: then Stephen, they come up to your coming, right, That's

1480
01:17:50,400 --> 01:17:52,760
Speaker 1: right what I said. You see what you do? What

1481
01:17:52,880 --> 01:17:55,040
Speaker 1: you what are you doing? No? No, no, no, no no,

1482
01:17:55,280 --> 01:17:58,000
Speaker 1: say this, do this, do that because we need you

1483
01:17:58,040 --> 01:18:00,479
Speaker 1: back in the league getting your money. Do you gotta

1484
01:18:00,520 --> 01:18:03,400
Speaker 1: do period? And I would want you all to do

1485
01:18:03,520 --> 01:18:07,160
Speaker 1: to say for me, my whole argument in the stance

1486
01:18:07,240 --> 01:18:09,920
Speaker 1: that you know understanding that we really really just feel

1487
01:18:09,960 --> 01:18:11,559
Speaker 1: now being former athletes, that we can kind of be

1488
01:18:11,640 --> 01:18:13,320
Speaker 1: the shield for it. And I'm working with you see

1489
01:18:13,320 --> 01:18:15,360
Speaker 1: a line of cannabis research program. But but but to me,

1490
01:18:15,960 --> 01:18:17,880
Speaker 1: they're pumping is full of opioids to get us back

1491
01:18:17,920 --> 01:18:20,439
Speaker 1: on that field. I mean, we're possessions to them, and

1492
01:18:20,560 --> 01:18:22,920
Speaker 1: we understand it's it's a process and whatever it is.

1493
01:18:22,960 --> 01:18:26,200
Speaker 1: And you know, we're high paid a commodity for them,

1494
01:18:26,240 --> 01:18:29,000
Speaker 1: but they're causing. So they'll pump you full anything, shoot

1495
01:18:29,040 --> 01:18:30,479
Speaker 1: you full towards all I have you on all kinds

1496
01:18:30,520 --> 01:18:33,360
Speaker 1: of procription drugs that are masking one thing, causing a

1497
01:18:33,360 --> 01:18:36,240
Speaker 1: long term effect on the other hand, But then want

1498
01:18:36,240 --> 01:18:39,360
Speaker 1: to penalize you for cannabis. You know, I was in

1499
01:18:39,400 --> 01:18:41,800
Speaker 1: the drug program towards the end of my career and

1500
01:18:41,880 --> 01:18:43,400
Speaker 1: got close with a couple of guys that were running

1501
01:18:43,400 --> 01:18:45,880
Speaker 1: there and they told me, you know, over two hundred

1502
01:18:45,880 --> 01:18:48,120
Speaker 1: guys and you're just for that alone. You know, let

1503
01:18:48,120 --> 01:18:58,160
Speaker 1: me respond to that. That's a very smart, cogent argument,

1504
01:18:58,520 --> 01:19:06,920
Speaker 1: cannot be disputed. Here's your problem. That's their rules, now,

1505
01:19:07,640 --> 01:19:11,840
Speaker 1: their rules that you agreed to bide by. So in

1506
01:19:11,840 --> 01:19:13,800
Speaker 1: other words, if we put if we if we're putting

1507
01:19:13,800 --> 01:19:15,960
Speaker 1: our big boy pants on, and we address the stuff

1508
01:19:15,960 --> 01:19:20,160
Speaker 1: the way that it needs to be addressed. You could

1509
01:19:20,200 --> 01:19:22,439
Speaker 1: make that argument. Hell, take it all the way up

1510
01:19:22,439 --> 01:19:25,080
Speaker 1: to Capitol here for crime out low. There are ways

1511
01:19:25,160 --> 01:19:30,080
Speaker 1: to do it, but it's a slow, grueling process that

1512
01:19:30,160 --> 01:19:36,839
Speaker 1: nobody wants to go through. Totally, totally, totally understand. Here's

1513
01:19:36,880 --> 01:19:41,759
Speaker 1: the problem. It's still their rules and it's their money.

1514
01:19:41,840 --> 01:19:44,720
Speaker 1: You want so at some point in time, while you're

1515
01:19:44,760 --> 01:19:47,920
Speaker 1: making an argument, knowing that they're wrong once again, we

1516
01:19:47,960 --> 01:19:50,280
Speaker 1: could even go and switch the subject and we could

1517
01:19:50,320 --> 01:19:53,240
Speaker 1: go back to capitic or anybody else. Sure they're wrong.

1518
01:19:54,439 --> 01:19:56,960
Speaker 1: What black men, you know, has been in a working

1519
01:19:57,040 --> 01:19:59,760
Speaker 1: environment where we felt the rules were totally fair. Just

1520
01:20:00,040 --> 01:20:02,120
Speaker 1: who that is? Because I never met him. I've never

1521
01:20:02,120 --> 01:20:05,160
Speaker 1: met I have never met guess what, I don't know

1522
01:20:05,200 --> 01:20:08,080
Speaker 1: white people who felt all rules were fair to them.

1523
01:20:08,160 --> 01:20:09,960
Speaker 1: It's the world we live in, and at some point

1524
01:20:10,000 --> 01:20:13,240
Speaker 1: in time, what has measured is your level of discipline

1525
01:20:13,520 --> 01:20:16,720
Speaker 1: in the face of adversity, because that's what separates the

1526
01:20:16,760 --> 01:20:19,160
Speaker 1: men from the boys. For example, y'all are doing this

1527
01:20:19,280 --> 01:20:22,080
Speaker 1: pockets to intelligent brothers that are real You know you're

1528
01:20:22,120 --> 01:20:24,679
Speaker 1: gonna cut through the chase you're gonna get stuff. All

1529
01:20:24,720 --> 01:20:28,600
Speaker 1: of this stuff is true, But you didn't put a

1530
01:20:28,760 --> 01:20:31,840
Speaker 1: camera here and here and here and just sit here.

1531
01:20:32,200 --> 01:20:35,920
Speaker 1: You gotta crew of people around you, right, So why

1532
01:20:35,960 --> 01:20:38,639
Speaker 1: are these people working with you? Because they have faith

1533
01:20:38,680 --> 01:20:41,519
Speaker 1: in you better, not just to make you better, but

1534
01:20:41,560 --> 01:20:44,080
Speaker 1: they have faith in you. They have faith in your

1535
01:20:44,120 --> 01:20:47,320
Speaker 1: ability to perform and that you're going to exercise the

1536
01:20:47,520 --> 01:20:51,320
Speaker 1: discipline that it takes to reach new whites. Look, we

1537
01:20:51,320 --> 01:20:53,320
Speaker 1: can sit up there and talk about first take number

1538
01:20:53,320 --> 01:20:56,439
Speaker 1: one man. They did some rating. They said to me

1539
01:20:56,600 --> 01:21:00,759
Speaker 1: Stephen as the number one talent in sports media. Right, Fine,

1540
01:21:01,680 --> 01:21:06,559
Speaker 1: here's why I'm really getting paid. I'm trustworthy. I'm gonna

1541
01:21:06,560 --> 01:21:09,600
Speaker 1: show up to work and I'm not gonna try to

1542
01:21:09,640 --> 01:21:13,200
Speaker 1: let them down. I'm not gonna be somebody that says,

1543
01:21:13,960 --> 01:21:16,479
Speaker 1: bump y'all. I got my money. I'll do what I want,

1544
01:21:16,479 --> 01:21:19,400
Speaker 1: when I want, how I want, Because remember my dollars

1545
01:21:19,400 --> 01:21:22,120
Speaker 1: a guarantee to you, a wiggle room out of my

1546
01:21:22,120 --> 01:21:24,439
Speaker 1: stuff other than the mortal's clothes, like anybody else as Oh,

1547
01:21:24,479 --> 01:21:27,800
Speaker 1: my mom's a guaranteed. Though that say it if it's true.

1548
01:21:28,000 --> 01:21:31,400
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. My my mother's guaranteed. You

1549
01:21:31,479 --> 01:21:37,519
Speaker 1: don't get that without trust. They said, we trust you

1550
01:21:39,040 --> 01:21:41,960
Speaker 1: to do that. So for me to do anything that

1551
01:21:42,080 --> 01:21:45,760
Speaker 1: deviates from that, it's an indictment against me because now

1552
01:21:45,800 --> 01:21:49,240
Speaker 1: I've shown when I'm not trustworthy, and that word is

1553
01:21:49,280 --> 01:21:52,080
Speaker 1: gonna spread and circulate and then people are gonna be

1554
01:21:52,120 --> 01:21:54,720
Speaker 1: real lovely to do business with me because I'm not trustworthy.

1555
01:21:54,960 --> 01:22:00,200
Speaker 1: It's like, how do you not see that? Particularly as

1556
01:22:00,240 --> 01:22:05,400
Speaker 1: black people knowing what disadvantages were operating under. And that's

1557
01:22:05,439 --> 01:22:08,000
Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. You know, y'all asked me to

1558
01:22:08,080 --> 01:22:10,200
Speaker 1: come here and do an interview with y'all. Y'all were

1559
01:22:10,240 --> 01:22:13,200
Speaker 1: waiting for me. I won't wait for y'all because it's

1560
01:22:13,320 --> 01:22:16,879
Speaker 1: y'all show. So guess who was here waiting. Now, imagine

1561
01:22:16,880 --> 01:22:18,240
Speaker 1: what it would have been like if I got here

1562
01:22:18,280 --> 01:22:21,240
Speaker 1: before you. You see what I'm saying, It's like, just

1563
01:22:21,240 --> 01:22:24,799
Speaker 1: just use your logic and understand. This is the world

1564
01:22:24,840 --> 01:22:27,639
Speaker 1: that we're living in and when you talk business with people,

1565
01:22:27,920 --> 01:22:31,240
Speaker 1: it's not just about your ability. It's about your ability

1566
01:22:31,280 --> 01:22:34,519
Speaker 1: to be trusted, and that's what you have to have.

1567
01:22:34,800 --> 01:22:38,280
Speaker 1: And this, to me, whether it's we or anything else,

1568
01:22:38,720 --> 01:22:41,360
Speaker 1: is just the latest increment or the latest example the

1569
01:22:41,439 --> 01:22:45,280
Speaker 1: latest obstacle that's in your path, testing whether or not

1570
01:22:45,400 --> 01:22:48,880
Speaker 1: you can be trusted to handle your business in spite

1571
01:22:48,920 --> 01:22:51,880
Speaker 1: of the circumstances being less than ideal for you know,

1572
01:22:52,120 --> 01:22:55,720
Speaker 1: a lot of players don't understand when they fail drugs this,

1573
01:22:55,840 --> 01:22:58,360
Speaker 1: or where they get caught in the streets, they hurt

1574
01:22:58,360 --> 01:23:00,640
Speaker 1: in the cause. All the work Alps doing one. You know,

1575
01:23:00,800 --> 01:23:02,559
Speaker 1: you said it's a slow grind. It is a slow ground,

1576
01:23:02,600 --> 01:23:04,559
Speaker 1: but we're getting there. He got David Stern and say

1577
01:23:04,640 --> 01:23:07,360
Speaker 1: we should be legal. He got, so it's a slow grind.

1578
01:23:07,360 --> 01:23:10,559
Speaker 1: But when guys failed drug tests or get caught they

1579
01:23:10,640 --> 01:23:12,599
Speaker 1: are they don't stand. They're hurting the cause and it's

1580
01:23:12,600 --> 01:23:15,160
Speaker 1: gonna be longer and longer before is legal. It's all

1581
01:23:15,240 --> 01:23:18,519
Speaker 1: little things. It's all the things like for example, you know,

1582
01:23:18,680 --> 01:23:22,320
Speaker 1: usually I'm suited and you know, y'all can dress like that.

1583
01:23:22,400 --> 01:23:25,960
Speaker 1: Y'all could do that. I can't all the time because

1584
01:23:25,960 --> 01:23:29,160
Speaker 1: of the platform that I have available to me and

1585
01:23:29,240 --> 01:23:32,320
Speaker 1: the people who are watching on the come up, y'all

1586
01:23:32,360 --> 01:23:35,360
Speaker 1: have earned the right to sit here exactly. How y'all

1587
01:23:35,640 --> 01:23:39,080
Speaker 1: you remember this though, the first time, that's right, I

1588
01:23:39,120 --> 01:23:41,200
Speaker 1: saw you that I did one show. In the second time,

1589
01:23:41,240 --> 01:23:42,920
Speaker 1: by saying, you say, put a suit on, put the

1590
01:23:42,920 --> 01:23:44,920
Speaker 1: suit only what I told him, and I put the

1591
01:23:44,920 --> 01:23:48,160
Speaker 1: suit on. I had four year career with ESPAN. Remember that.

1592
01:23:48,280 --> 01:23:50,880
Speaker 1: And by the way, it's not finished. It's not I'm

1593
01:23:50,880 --> 01:23:53,240
Speaker 1: coming for you. That I'm trying to make the point

1594
01:23:53,280 --> 01:23:55,519
Speaker 1: that I'm trying to make is that I didn't tell

1595
01:23:55,640 --> 01:23:57,559
Speaker 1: him to put a suit on because I like a suit.

1596
01:23:58,160 --> 01:24:02,320
Speaker 1: I said, they you you in such a way, they

1597
01:24:02,439 --> 01:24:04,519
Speaker 1: view you in such a way. So when I'm talking

1598
01:24:04,560 --> 01:24:07,120
Speaker 1: to y'all, I'm saying, look, man, I got mine, but

1599
01:24:07,560 --> 01:24:10,960
Speaker 1: it ain't no fun being successful by yourself. You want

1600
01:24:11,000 --> 01:24:13,320
Speaker 1: to preach me. I mean I talked to a whole

1601
01:24:13,400 --> 01:24:15,320
Speaker 1: but of cats, trying to reach back and help the

1602
01:24:15,360 --> 01:24:17,360
Speaker 1: best way I possibly can because I want them to

1603
01:24:17,360 --> 01:24:19,800
Speaker 1: be successful. And I think that. You know, when I'm

1604
01:24:19,800 --> 01:24:22,080
Speaker 1: talking to athletes or whatever and I'm getting on them

1605
01:24:22,080 --> 01:24:24,160
Speaker 1: and you see me going off, if you notice, I'm

1606
01:24:24,160 --> 01:24:27,320
Speaker 1: looking pissed because I want you to succeed. I'm not

1607
01:24:27,439 --> 01:24:30,360
Speaker 1: happy that you struggling. I'm not happy that you feel it.

1608
01:24:30,520 --> 01:24:33,519
Speaker 1: I'm like, wait a minute, do what you're supposed to do.

1609
01:24:34,000 --> 01:24:36,840
Speaker 1: Then venture out. As Denzel once said to me, do

1610
01:24:36,920 --> 01:24:38,840
Speaker 1: what you have to do so you can do what

1611
01:24:38,840 --> 01:24:41,000
Speaker 1: you want to do. That's what it's all about. And

1612
01:24:41,000 --> 01:24:42,680
Speaker 1: that's the and that's the kind of message that I

1613
01:24:42,720 --> 01:24:45,920
Speaker 1: think we all should be preaching collectively before we get

1614
01:24:45,960 --> 01:24:49,080
Speaker 1: out of here. We're growing up in Queens, all the

1615
01:24:49,120 --> 01:24:52,120
Speaker 1: ups and downs Hooper, finding your way, finding your voice,

1616
01:24:52,120 --> 01:24:53,720
Speaker 1: finding who you are. Did you ever think he'd be

1617
01:24:53,720 --> 01:24:57,559
Speaker 1: on the brink of being the highest paid sports personality ever? No,

1618
01:24:58,400 --> 01:25:03,720
Speaker 1: I never thought that. M It's an incredible honor. I

1619
01:25:03,760 --> 01:25:07,160
Speaker 1: don't talk about my money, but I will say I've

1620
01:25:07,200 --> 01:25:10,040
Speaker 1: been taking care of thoroughly. Did you get You got

1621
01:25:10,040 --> 01:25:12,920
Speaker 1: the contract pretty much here. I still got to sign it.

1622
01:25:12,960 --> 01:25:17,000
Speaker 1: But we've agreed. We've agreed, We've reached a verbal agreement. Um,

1623
01:25:17,040 --> 01:25:19,880
Speaker 1: that's why you've seen the news. And I'm incredibly grateful. Um.

1624
01:25:19,920 --> 01:25:21,519
Speaker 1: I know I worked my butt off, I know I've

1625
01:25:21,560 --> 01:25:24,000
Speaker 1: earned it, but they still didn't have to give it,

1626
01:25:24,600 --> 01:25:27,360
Speaker 1: you know. And so you know, for me, You've got

1627
01:25:27,400 --> 01:25:29,800
Speaker 1: a lot of people who get paid and to them

1628
01:25:29,880 --> 01:25:34,400
Speaker 1: they've arrived. My attitude is I've gotten paid. Now let

1629
01:25:34,400 --> 01:25:37,840
Speaker 1: me show you why I get paid what I got paid.

1630
01:25:38,400 --> 01:25:41,600
Speaker 1: But in the meantime, it does elevate some things in

1631
01:25:41,640 --> 01:25:44,040
Speaker 1: your life. And it's not just your quality of life,

1632
01:25:44,960 --> 01:25:47,320
Speaker 1: it's the quality of the impact you're capable of having

1633
01:25:47,360 --> 01:25:50,080
Speaker 1: on people. Because when you read about me and you

1634
01:25:50,200 --> 01:25:54,840
Speaker 1: hear about what I'm doing or what I've achieved, who's

1635
01:25:54,880 --> 01:25:56,560
Speaker 1: not gonna listen to what I have to say. It

1636
01:25:56,600 --> 01:26:02,480
Speaker 1: still motivates. It motivates, eats us, It motivates, it motivates everybody.

1637
01:26:02,479 --> 01:26:04,760
Speaker 1: And so for me, I look at it, I never

1638
01:26:04,800 --> 01:26:09,040
Speaker 1: saw it coming. Not to disdegree, I'm incredibly humbled by it.

1639
01:26:09,880 --> 01:26:12,640
Speaker 1: But in the same breath, I know the journey that

1640
01:26:12,680 --> 01:26:15,120
Speaker 1: I took to get here, and I know that I

1641
01:26:15,200 --> 01:26:18,240
Speaker 1: bust my butt to get here. But it also leaves

1642
01:26:18,280 --> 01:26:21,559
Speaker 1: me humbled because I'm grateful. I'm grate food to you.

1643
01:26:21,560 --> 01:26:23,240
Speaker 1: I'm grate food to you. I'm grate food to Ai,

1644
01:26:23,320 --> 01:26:25,840
Speaker 1: I'm grateful to Kobe, I'm grate food to Shack. I'm

1645
01:26:25,880 --> 01:26:29,759
Speaker 1: great food to a host of professional athletes across the world,

1646
01:26:29,800 --> 01:26:34,479
Speaker 1: across all spectrums of the sports world who always reached

1647
01:26:34,479 --> 01:26:37,920
Speaker 1: back to help me. And so for me, it's like

1648
01:26:38,360 --> 01:26:42,439
Speaker 1: it's it's it's very very special to me because all

1649
01:26:42,520 --> 01:26:46,320
Speaker 1: those people called to say you deserve this, all of them,

1650
01:26:46,400 --> 01:26:49,120
Speaker 1: and so I recognize that, and what it lets me

1651
01:26:49,200 --> 01:26:52,320
Speaker 1: know is don't fade, don't go away from what I

1652
01:26:52,360 --> 01:26:56,120
Speaker 1: did to get myself here. That's right, that's right, the

1653
01:26:56,240 --> 01:27:01,800
Speaker 1: responsibilities having lessons, they've elevator. But it's okay because now,

1654
01:27:02,640 --> 01:27:06,400
Speaker 1: more than ever before, I'm in a position where I'm

1655
01:27:06,439 --> 01:27:08,720
Speaker 1: going to be able to reach back and to give

1656
01:27:08,760 --> 01:27:10,840
Speaker 1: a help in hand because I got more people listening

1657
01:27:10,880 --> 01:27:13,600
Speaker 1: to meeting ever before. And so as a result, it

1658
01:27:13,640 --> 01:27:15,920
Speaker 1: says to me, a right, Steve, you ain't perfect, You

1659
01:27:15,920 --> 01:27:19,080
Speaker 1: make mistakes like everybody else, but the grind that you own.

1660
01:27:19,200 --> 01:27:23,479
Speaker 1: Stay on that grind and always remember how you got here.

1661
01:27:23,960 --> 01:27:27,160
Speaker 1: And more importantly than that, helped those brothers and sisters

1662
01:27:27,160 --> 01:27:29,880
Speaker 1: that want to be helped, you know, and beyond they

1663
01:27:30,000 --> 01:27:32,639
Speaker 1: just black folks, his wife, folks, everybody. But I am

1664
01:27:32,720 --> 01:27:36,679
Speaker 1: partial to my own in regards to the fact that

1665
01:27:37,000 --> 01:27:40,800
Speaker 1: there are a small number of us that have been

1666
01:27:40,840 --> 01:27:44,439
Speaker 1: able to really really do it. So it's not anti anything.

1667
01:27:44,479 --> 01:27:47,559
Speaker 1: It's not anti white, it's not anti Asian, Hispanic, or

1668
01:27:47,600 --> 01:27:50,200
Speaker 1: anything like that. But I'm a black man and so

1669
01:27:50,280 --> 01:27:53,760
Speaker 1: for me, I'm gonna always always want to help my

1670
01:27:53,880 --> 01:27:57,400
Speaker 1: own in the best way that I possibly can, and

1671
01:27:57,439 --> 01:27:59,920
Speaker 1: I think the greatest way to do it is by

1672
01:28:00,000 --> 01:28:03,599
Speaker 1: a really highlighting and identifying the mind fields that can

1673
01:28:03,640 --> 01:28:06,599
Speaker 1: really knock you off whatever pedestal you're aiming to get on.

1674
01:28:07,080 --> 01:28:09,800
Speaker 1: If you don't, the greatest disservice you could do to

1675
01:28:09,840 --> 01:28:12,760
Speaker 1: your own community is to never tell them about the

1676
01:28:12,800 --> 01:28:16,000
Speaker 1: mind fields. Just let them go on and do what

1677
01:28:16,040 --> 01:28:19,680
Speaker 1: they're gonna do. Never say a word. I don't do that.

1678
01:28:20,040 --> 01:28:22,799
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make sure that I let cats know y'all

1679
01:28:23,360 --> 01:28:27,000
Speaker 1: come in, just so you know just what's going on.

1680
01:28:27,600 --> 01:28:30,439
Speaker 1: You need to mind what's going on here. And that's

1681
01:28:30,479 --> 01:28:32,639
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna do to y'all. If I see y'all,

1682
01:28:32,960 --> 01:28:35,120
Speaker 1: y'all doing this podcast and everything, and this ain't the

1683
01:28:35,120 --> 01:28:36,800
Speaker 1: only thing you're gonna be doing because y'all got some

1684
01:28:36,920 --> 01:28:40,160
Speaker 1: special here. Telling you this is special special what y'all

1685
01:28:40,200 --> 01:28:41,680
Speaker 1: got going here, I mean that this is a big

1686
01:28:41,720 --> 01:28:45,639
Speaker 1: time because y'all, y'all work. Y'all really really work together,

1687
01:28:45,880 --> 01:28:49,400
Speaker 1: and it's a beautiful thing to see. But if I

1688
01:28:49,439 --> 01:28:54,040
Speaker 1: see y'all going in the wrong direction, you'll hear from me.

1689
01:28:52,560 --> 01:28:56,960
Speaker 1: I know what you do, like what you're doing, what's up?

1690
01:28:57,640 --> 01:28:59,960
Speaker 1: You gotta talk what's going on? We want to thank

1691
01:29:00,040 --> 01:29:02,640
Speaker 1: you man, uh, like I said Jack mentioned earlier, but

1692
01:29:02,720 --> 01:29:04,519
Speaker 1: we really do appreciate you. Like I said, we don't

1693
01:29:04,520 --> 01:29:06,640
Speaker 1: always agree, but we appreciate the path, the journey. We

1694
01:29:06,720 --> 01:29:09,200
Speaker 1: got to learn a little a lot more today, um,

1695
01:29:09,320 --> 01:29:11,120
Speaker 1: and we look up and inspire to be you now

1696
01:29:11,280 --> 01:29:12,840
Speaker 1: and you here. We worked with someone a couple of

1697
01:29:12,840 --> 01:29:14,559
Speaker 1: weeks ago. They came on setting. It's like I want

1698
01:29:14,560 --> 01:29:16,479
Speaker 1: to be the next stephen A Smith, you know what

1699
01:29:16,560 --> 01:29:18,439
Speaker 1: I mean. So we just just like I said, give

1700
01:29:18,439 --> 01:29:20,559
Speaker 1: your flowers right here. Hats off to you man, keep

1701
01:29:20,600 --> 01:29:22,599
Speaker 1: doing what you're doing and keep on it down. Man,

1702
01:29:22,800 --> 01:29:26,200
Speaker 1: you Boomer assize and and Jo told me to tell

1703
01:29:26,240 --> 01:29:28,160
Speaker 1: you they love your work. Boom a size and he

1704
01:29:28,240 --> 01:29:29,800
Speaker 1: made it a point. World. I don't say as they

1705
01:29:29,840 --> 01:29:31,400
Speaker 1: made the point for me to tell you you do

1706
01:29:31,479 --> 01:29:33,960
Speaker 1: great work. And he appreciate your great guy. He does.

1707
01:29:34,400 --> 01:29:36,120
Speaker 1: He does a great job. He does a lot of

1708
01:29:36,160 --> 01:29:39,799
Speaker 1: philanthropic philanthropic things, and he deserves a lot of credit

1709
01:29:39,880 --> 01:29:42,599
Speaker 1: him and his wonderful family. But I think that that

1710
01:29:42,600 --> 01:29:44,439
Speaker 1: means a lot to me because a couple of times

1711
01:29:44,439 --> 01:29:47,000
Speaker 1: it was like I disagree with Boomer, but I went

1712
01:29:47,000 --> 01:29:49,240
Speaker 1: out of my way to make sure ladies and gentlemen.

1713
01:29:49,280 --> 01:29:52,880
Speaker 1: I disagree with this, Yeah, I got him, you know

1714
01:29:52,880 --> 01:29:54,920
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And I think that there's more of

1715
01:29:55,000 --> 01:29:57,840
Speaker 1: that that people need to learn to grasp. That's what

1716
01:29:57,880 --> 01:30:00,120
Speaker 1: we talked about when you could agree without being disagree.

1717
01:30:00,360 --> 01:30:03,120
Speaker 1: You know, we don't really disagree about the whole week.

1718
01:30:03,680 --> 01:30:05,920
Speaker 1: We really, I mean, I get it. I totally understand

1719
01:30:06,120 --> 01:30:09,880
Speaker 1: particularly you're right. I was ignorant to it. Okay, you know,

1720
01:30:09,920 --> 01:30:12,040
Speaker 1: but I have my beliefs, you have yours. But y'all

1721
01:30:12,200 --> 01:30:14,719
Speaker 1: always be my brother's man and we and we're good.

1722
01:30:14,720 --> 01:30:18,439
Speaker 1: And guess what iron sharpens iron? If we all agreed

1723
01:30:18,600 --> 01:30:21,759
Speaker 1: with everything, how do we ever learn? We don't elevate

1724
01:30:21,760 --> 01:30:24,080
Speaker 1: that way. You don't elevate that way doesn't work. That's

1725
01:30:24,080 --> 01:30:28,080
Speaker 1: a rat Man Episode eight, New York, Steve and a Man.

1726
01:30:28,080 --> 01:30:32,280
Speaker 1: We can't thank you enough man. Check us out, Showtime Basketball,

1727
01:30:32,320 --> 01:30:36,519
Speaker 1: YouTube are all platforms this stream. I love that all

1728
01:30:36,600 --> 01:31:00,360
Speaker 1: love them. Man, appreciate you a little guy, Thank you too,

1729
01:31:00,840 --> 01:31:03,720
Speaker 1: bas