WEBVTT - No Excuses 0:00:01.960 --> 0:00:05.640 The Dream Team Tapes Season two. Kobe Lebron and the 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:10.360 Redeem Team is a production of Diversion Podcasts in association 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:26.960 with I Heart Radio Diversion Podcasts. The players selected for 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:29.520 the honor of representing the United States in the two 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:36.560 thousand and eight Beijing Olympic Games are Kobe Bryant. We 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:38.440 look forward to this for a while, you know, to 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.440 be in this position now here we don't represent our 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:47.440 country Venice, especially special Lebron James. We look for an 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:49.360 opportunity of the weekend on a flam and being the 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:51.400 best in the world. I guess the Redeem Team is 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:54.760 because it is right. We're the best team in the world. 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:56.640 We're the best team in the world. Where we put 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.520 basketball America, basketball wheels beat. Which is that time? All, 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.440 Hello and welcome to Kobe Lebron and the Redeemed Team. 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.800 When at last we reached the Chinese capital city of Beijing, 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:28.840 one of the oldest cities in the world, with a 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:31.520 history that dates back at least three thousand years and 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.320 was once known still known in some quarters as pe King. 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.119 But we are not here co host j A Dande 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.160 to speak of a delicious crispy duck entree. We are 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.800 here to speak of the two thousand and eight team 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.600 that entered the Olympic Games as well. I suppose the favorite, 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.680 but not the overwhelming favorite, So how's that possible? And 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:57.000 just give a brief update before we talk about the 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:00.040 Olympics on how things were looking as they headed in 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.560 the world had clearly clawed up to the United States 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:07.600 and there were several US losses that we've chronicled here. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.040 So this was a stronger U S team certainly, but 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.160 some people are calling this the strongest Olympic field that 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.200 we've ever seen, the deepest Olympic field that we've ever seen. 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:23.040 And Spain certainly was deep yed Palkasov Rudy Fernandez. It 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:28.880 was a caldron Argentina led by Manucan Nobli Andres Noconi. 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:35.799 So those are the two main threats. Lithuania still an 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:40.040 old threat from back in the days, Russia still couldn't 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.200 completely be counted out, and China was playing at home. 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:46.840 So even though they didn't have a tremendous amount of 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.280 NBA talent, they had had a couple of players, most 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:52.359 ob Yao Ming play in the NBA in recent years, 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:57.320 and they had a tremendous home court advantage. So those 0:02:57.320 --> 0:03:01.120 are all the obstacles that in the path the team USA. 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:03.920 They were still the wonderful favorite. You would have had 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.680 a bet four hundred dollars to win one hundred dollars, 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:10.720 but it wasn't a dominant and and there was some 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.680 good value beds out there that we're worth a shot. 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.160 I don't think he wanted to bet against the Dream team. 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.800 You had a chance to make some money betting against 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.800 the redeem team. This is the pre Fandel's uh you know, 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:25.560 bet anyone line. It sounds like you know something about 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:30.280 this stuff. Man, I'm not a gambler, but I know 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.680 just enough to know about that. It's funny. Chris Sheridan 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:37.960 was covering international basketball for ESPN and and he had 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:40.880 somewhat of a gambling disposition, we could say. So. So 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.280 when you go back and you read his stuff previewing 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.040 those Olympics, you're gonna see a touch of that, more 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.080 than a touch. I just remember that movie that I 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.240 might have been called The Gambler. James Cohn is in 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.560 his bathtub in the beginning of the movie and he bets. 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.600 I think he bet on the Lakers and they lost 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:59.840 like by a basket at the buzzer. He almost throws 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:02.720 the radio into the bathtub to electric cute himself. You know, 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:05.200 since then I was not going to get it on gambling. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.920 And the thing is, Jack on this team, you had 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:11.720 the guys with the memory of losing, which wasn't something 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.800 that we've seen before if you think about it, Uh, 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.320 you didn't have that predisposition. Maybe had it with with 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.520 David Robinson who was on the Olympic team and then 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:23.919 he was on the Dream Team in the team, but 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:28.200 you had more guys including Lebron and Dwayne Wade and 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.680 Carmelo Anthony who had been on that two thousand four team, 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:34.480 and then you had guys like Chris Bosh who his 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.440 last experience in a team you say uniform was losing 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.760 to Greece in the semifinals in two thousand and six, 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.159 and he didn't play in two thousand seven he was injured. 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.520 So the last time he really played in international competition 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.359 he had that loss and it stuck with him for 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:53.040 two years. And he told us how that that changed 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.080 his mindset heading into these games. And I think when 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.239 you when you're humbled by losing, it kind of helps 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.000 it out a little bit. You know, everybody is much 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.239 more willing I think, Um, you know, I forgot the saying. 0:05:04.279 --> 0:05:08.680 But yeah, once you're successful, it's it's it becomes different. 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:10.719 But at that time, you know, we were in a 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.680 position of of sacrifice. We had to do more sacrifice 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:16.800 than what was done before in order to win because 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.680 we knew the world is better at basketball. We can't 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.080 just put a team together once for ten days and 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.720 just go out and whoop ass. And you know, we've 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.160 got to play some damn defense, you know. So it 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:32.520 was always a spirited effort from everybody to make sure 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.320 um that they were bringing what they needed to bring. Regardless. 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.840 Now tonight's episode eight, we're calling for reasons that will 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.360 become clear. No excuses and j A, So much happens 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:45.960 in this episode. There are no excuses for it not 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.160 being good. We have a memorable tour that the team 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:51.919 took in New York City. Um, we have a first 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:55.360 class Phil Jackson invitation. Unfortunately we won't be able to 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:57.840 see it, but we can hear about it. A party 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.560 in Macau when one of the teams, Superstar Ours gets 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.440 left behind and then they had to decide whether to 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.560 return for him or not if a mass of Chinese 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.960 welcome for Kobe Bryant, a game one of the Olympics 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.799 that drew a billion eyes literally and a memorable opening 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.400 jump shot by uh someone we're gonna talk about, as 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.359 well as an in game nap by a famous American. 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:25.159 But first, j A set up the meeting that sets 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.279 up the title no excuses. Well, we talked a lot 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:32.120 about meetings in this because there's some dramatic moments in meetings, 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.279 and it would be really easy to just say that 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.640 it all happened the first time they ever got together, 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.640 and they made it sound like that at times, like 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.440 there was this one super duper meeting and all these 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:45.520 things got said, and it really set the tone for 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.719 how this redeemed team story was gonna play out. But 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.840 Sean Ford and Craig Miller from USA Basketball were both 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.679 nice enough to break down what happened when and which 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.080 meeting some of these things took place. So in two 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:03.000 thousand and eight, they're opening meeting for what's going to 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.600 be the run through the Olympics. They they had their 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:09.520 usual get together and this time it was Lebron James 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.000 who spoke out and Mike Shazowski told us about that. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:17.400 The last guy was Lebron, and he talked, he was eloquent, 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.320 he said no excuses, and that became our first standard 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.960 and they really kind of embraced that. And it was 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:28.680 our guy, Craig Miller, the longtime PR director for USA Basketball, 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.560 who filled us in really on what Lebron had to say. 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:37.560 And I remember Lebron saying there's no excuses, and and 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:41.200 then he elaborated. He said, you know, in the NBA, 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:43.400 I can kind of write off not winning an NBA 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.200 championship by saying, I wish I had Kobe, I wish 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:47.880 I had Chris Paul is my point guard. I wish 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:50.440 I had Carmelo out there. I wish I had d 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.640 Wade running with me because we're all here, we're all 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:56.800 together because we've got no excuses now, right, there's no 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.280 there's no town excuse. There's no not working hard if 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.280 there's no And to me, that was that was a 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:08.280 really strong openings statement by Lebron to the team. You know, 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:12.000 it's funny, Jay help people everybody we talked to remember 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:16.320 those meetings and when teams are together for a long time, 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.680 like over the season meetings, become a problem. Chuck Daily 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:21.560 used to have this great soliloquy he would go on. 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.040 I asked him one time why once in a while 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.000 during a time out, Chuck would just sit there with 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.200 his arms folded, and Chuck went, well, there's too many meetings. 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.800 Time out. That's a meeting, half time, that's a meeting. 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:35.240 After the game, that's a meeting. Next day at practice, 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:39.360 that's a meeting. Pregame meeting, meeting, meeting, meeting. That's all 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.760 we did. You get sick of them. But when these 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:45.280 teams are together for a short amount of time and 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.600 they have a great collection of players together. I remember 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:49.720 it was the same thing with the Dream Team, um 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:53.240 that they the meetings do not become just another thing. 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.640 They become sort of a real important part of what happened. Now, 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:02.400 these guys were a really almost perfect mixture of being 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.199 a young and an old team. You had the young 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:08.760 bucks Lebron d Wade, Chris Bosh, Carmelo. Then you had 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:12.400 the grizzled veteran Jay Kidd. I don't know what you 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.480 call Kobe in the apex of his career, maybe or 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:18.400 just yeah, he's he's twenty eight years old and into 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:20.080 that summer. So he's right in the heart of his 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.679 career and he just he's he's coming off the m 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.480 v P, his first and only m v P award. Yeah, 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.280 so you had a really great mixture, guys. But the 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:30.440 important thing is what we're gonna talk about is they 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.240 were young enough and enthusiastic enough that you'd get him 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:36.680 to do things. You know, And I don't think you 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.280 if you would have said to Michael Jordan's before the 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.040 ninety two Dream Team crusade to Barcelona, you know, Mike, 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:46.120 we're gonna take a little goodwill tour of the United States. 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.120 You know, we want you to pack a bunch of 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:51.640 clothes and we're, uh, we're gonna take off and promote 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:53.960 the team. And no, that was not gonna happen. But 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:59.200 I know you remember this sort of pre Olympic tour 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.920 that the the Redeemed Team did and it produced some 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.440 pretty pretty cool moments. Yeah, they went to New York 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:08.000 and the reason it stands out is they packed so 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.280 much into that trip. There. They were going on the 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.120 morning shows like Good Morning America. They were showing up 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.400 at Rucker Park and and doing stuff on the playgrounds 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:21.080 with the kids. They were all over the place. Uh. 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.920 They even took a boat trip out through uh, you know, 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:28.360 Harbor with Statue of Liberty in the background. All this 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:32.000 stuff was going on. And one of the moments that 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.640 that was captured on the mini cameras that were around 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:39.360 to chronicle this whole thing was this this interplay between 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.560 Kobe and Lebron, And to me, it was really indicative 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:46.880 of how Lebron was able to break through the I 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.760 wouldn't even call a facade Jack the fortress, this impenetrable 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:56.080 fortress that Kobe and Kobe. That was Kobe. And so 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:01.680 there's this this interplay and it's joking around and in 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:06.280 it Lebron actually has the audacity to imitate Kobe Bryant 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:10.040 the way he wore his his warmups and and everything 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.920 else and just the way he operated. And Mike Sizevsky 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:14.560 told us about it. It really stuck out in his 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.960 mind and he's got fond memories of that. Both those 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:22.320 guys have great, a great sense of humor, you know, like, uh, 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:27.040 you know, Lebron really likes to joke a lot and 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:31.120 goof around a lot. And I can remember we're doing 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.760 a photo shoot. We did all these iconic things with 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.040 each team so that they would get a field. So 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.880 we're on a boat, a ferry boat in New York, 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.680 going out to the statue a Liberty where we're going 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:48.120 to use that as a backdrop. And there Lebron. We're 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:51.040 in our warm ups. Then they also had suits, and 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:55.760 Lebron put his warm up pants up to his chest 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:00.199 and his pants were high then and he was in 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:06.000 Kobe and then he filled with Kobe's coach and uh, 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.920 say triangle triangle. He put up one finger, Yeah, waiting 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:16.680 a game. You know that. That was Felst triangle. And uh, 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:22.600 Kobe's rolling around on the floor. And so they used 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:28.560 that sense of humor a lot. So Kobe's more serious 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.520 than yet he's he's cracking up at Lebron. Lebron was 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:34.840 definitely the jokester. Some people thought Lebron didn't take things 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.480 quite seriously enough. We've seen obviously he's serious enough to 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.720 be a four time NBA champion. Uh, but at this point, 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:44.480 I think it was something that Kobe needed, Uh, you know, 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:48.320 somebody who he respected enough to allow him to pope 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.200 fund at him and uh, someone who was playful enough 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.839 to bring out that playful side of Kobe. Shack was 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:58.000 a big, playful guy. But Kobe at that time was 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:00.400 trying to establish himself when he first came into League 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.079 and was a little bit resentful of the big brother 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.200 label that had tried to be a fixation act. Kobe 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:08.280 was tired of being the little brother. He grew up 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.640 with two older sisters. He wanted to be his own man. 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:13.920 But now he and Lebron were there somewhat as peers, 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:17.520 and for whatever reason, and I think for that reason, 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:20.960 the relationship worked better. You know, we don't say enough 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:25.439 about this, but you know, Lebron is really good at 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:29.240 that stuff. Like Lebron's an actor. I mean, you you know, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.720 he cast in that like, Okay, he's not playing Hamlet 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.280 next to Amy Schumer, but he's damned good in that movie. 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:39.760 And we always looked at Michael Jordan's as the ultimate, 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.960 you know, crossover guy kind of, but Michael really was 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.120 sort of wooden and I'm probably gonna get in trouble 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:48.960 with that, but you know, he had he had a 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.680 certain range for for to to act interact with Spike 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:57.840 and you know, hayneses underwear. Lebron is like, you know, 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.520 he's an old guy in a barber shop. I mean, 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.640 he he is a true actor and I would have 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:05.320 I wish I could have. I would have paid some 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:08.280 money to watch his uh invitation of Phil Jackson. That 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.600 would have been pretty cool. Well, it was mostly Kobe. 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.079 He did a little bit of Phil calling in the 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.280 plays from the side, but the fact that he was 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:18.480 able to imitate Kobe to Kobe's face is not something 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.960 that many people could have gotten away with. Uh. You know, 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:23.920 that wasn't all they were doing. That. The reason they 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.920 were on the boat in the first place was Jerry 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:33.840 Colangelo wanted to get the shot, a shot with the 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:37.040 members of the Deemed Team in their Team USA outfits 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:41.400 with the Statue of Liberty in the background, And so 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.080 Craig Miller described for as how they pulled that photo off. 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:49.720 We have a really cool iconic photo of the team 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.000 with the Statue of Liberty in the background around the 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:54.560 front of the boat and they turned the boat and um, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.360 it's an amazing photo. Was a beautiful blue day. It 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:01.600 was done before we started training camp. Um, we carved 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.400 out like I think two or three days in New 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.440 York where we did all these things, and uh, I 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.400 think it really just set the tone for the bonding, 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:16.200 the importance of representing your country, and then the committment 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:18.960 that was going to be needed by all the players. Nobody, 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:23.000 nobody skipped the event, nobody lepped out of the media. Um. 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.680 Everybody did what was asked a woman and it was 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:29.920 a huge, huge success, Jack. That doesn't mean that everyone 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:35.200 was all gung ho about this and USA ra RA, 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:40.520 And if you think about it, Ski and Jerry Colangelo 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:43.800 were very big on Statue Liberty and the entry point 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.920 in Ellis Island and all time because that's probably the 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.920 way that their answers came to the country. If you 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:53.880 think about the makeup of the players on the team, 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:58.360 I'm guessing their origin story in their arrival in the 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.960 United States isn't quite the old Las Island saga, if 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:04.880 you if you know what I mean, Jack, So not 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:09.400 at all. They didn't They didn't necessarily have the same 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.280 sentiment and and the motions that had seen the statue 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:15.360 and this eagerness to have their picture taken in front 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.400 of the Statue of Liberty, and but they went along 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:20.920 with it, and I think they got what was going on, 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.440 and I think they understood that this was part of 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.680 what being on this team meant, and Jason Kidd described 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.000 to us his memories of that day on the boat 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:33.160 and the stature of Liberty. Yes, Um, when you look 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:38.600 at the photo on the boat, um statue of Liberty, right, Like, 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:40.920 I don't think there was a lot of people excited 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.240 about going on the boat and try and take a 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.160 picture and have to you know, be perfect and everybody 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.920 be still. But again I think you just nailed it. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.280 Like they were young enough like, hey, guys, let's just 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.680 get on our place. So as sooner we do this 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.080 as soon as the boat can head in, right, and 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.360 they get it and so but they were like, why 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.080 are we you know, taking up a picture on the boat, 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:08.119 you know, like like so you know, there was probably 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.280 a look, you know, complaining. But at the end of 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:12.639 the day, as long as you told them we can 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.639 get to the finish line, as sooner you do it, 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:19.360 the sooner we're going back in. So um that's how 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:21.680 that worked. And I remember being on that boat because 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.600 they weren't very happy about the boat picture, but it 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.240 all worked out. Yeah. I kind of came more from 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.879 because of age and the color of my skin, I 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:35.040 can and came more from the Colangelo Mike Shaski. Uh, 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.640 my my wife's grandmother landed at Ellis Island. Her plaque 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.080 from Italy, you know, is up there, and it meant 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.960 something to me. And I took that music cruise one time. 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:47.280 I remember my wife and I walking through, uh, towards 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:53.840 the harbor boat with a cooler and people shouting tourists, tourists, 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.160 you know. But we got on the boat and got 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.960 that shot of the Statue of Liberty behind us, and 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.800 we both went, you know, all right, it was embarrassing 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.440 walking up there, but uh, but this is pretty cool. 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.520 You're listening to Kobe Lebron and the redeem Team. Jay 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:21.720 and I will be back in a minute, you know, 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.080 before we go any further, Jay, these these things. He's 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:29.280 even going out to dinner with a team, a famous team. 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:33.320 When you have Kobe Lebron, you know, it's not a 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.480 simple thing. And one guy, before we go any further, 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:38.280 I think we should mention and he's kind of been 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.199 with us on this tour all the way through. And 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:45.639 that's Sean Ford, now called the director of Basketball Operations, 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:49.840 and uh, every I think just about every person mentioned 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:53.480 Sean Ford, through whom most of the arrangements were made 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:57.399 and uh, here's Mike Saski talking about Sean Ford, the 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:01.439 guy who never get the at A for being like 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.040 m v P of Shawn Ford. Shaun Ford and I 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:09.639 lived with each other, so to speak. He would know everything. 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:15.320 These guys we're planning to do and we gotta gotta 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:17.960 take care of this this and there are a lot 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:21.560 of moving parts. Once they're off the court, So the 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.560 tour is over, they come back to Las Vegas. They 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:30.080 demolished Canada in one exhibition game, and then they packed 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:33.239 their bags for two games in Macau, two games in 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:36.920 Shanghai before reaching the Olympics. Well, one of the things 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:40.000 that struck me ja was these just weren't any teams 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:42.120 they were playing. I was a little surprised. I don't 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:46.600 remember these games, to be honest, But they played Turkey, Lithuania, Russia, 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:49.720 and Australia. They won all of the games. First of all, 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:53.119 you're surprised they played that kind of exhibition schedule or 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:54.520 is that sort of what you do? I mean, a 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:58.439 dream team didn't play any exhibitions, you know, they just 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:00.919 went to the Olympics. Yeah, they just they did the 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.560 Turn of the America's and they won those handily. I 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:05.520 mean I think they were prep Remember they played that 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:09.560 college Select team. They had guys like Penny Hardaway, grand Hill, 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:13.160 and Chris Webber. And remember that was the only team 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:16.080 that beat the Dream Team in the scrimmage in right, 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:18.600 that was like the second or third day of practice, 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.600 just kind of get it ready. But you know, the 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:24.320 idea playing these good A teams, I don't know. It 0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:27.800 just surprised me a little bit. But anyway, not everything 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:32.720 went uh smoothly, including on the social front. Yeah, so 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.000 they're still bonding, still hanging out. And one of the 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.320 reasons I think they went to matt Macau is that 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:41.520 it's the Las Vegas of China, basically, right, A lot 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:44.040 of the same hotel properties that you see in Vegas 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:46.920 are there in Macau, and so it was a good 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:49.720 socializing opportunity for some of the guys in this group 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.360 is coming together and believe it or not, there even 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:55.840 inviting Kobe Bryant. Now, Jack, I was trying to think 0:20:56.800 --> 0:21:00.400 in Kobe's Laker years, I do on'tly remember him going 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.760 out and seeing him out at a post championship party 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.520 and that two thousand, two thousand to three run Shack 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:09.919 had a party one year and and Kobe showed up 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:12.920 at that, but noticeably, Kobe was back in the VIP 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.679 area and Shack was out in the main area. And 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.480 I'm not even sure how much they interacted throughout the night. 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.080 I was going back and forth, but Kobe stayed back 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:22.920 in there and Shack stayed out in the main area. 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.040 But guys like Rick Fox and Derek Fisher would have 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:29.200 parties and you wouldn't see Kobe at those. I don't 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:31.560 recall seeing him at some of the hotel parties on 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:35.639 the road when they were they won the championship in Philly, 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:39.520 or they won the championship in New Jersey, and their 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.920 partying back at the hotels, you wouldn't see Kobe there. Uh. 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:44.679 I didn't see Kobe at the party the Lakers had 0:21:44.720 --> 0:21:46.520 had at the Playboy Mansion when they won in two 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:50.159 thousand and So he's not someone you see out and 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:53.119 about partying at that stage in his career. One thing 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:54.639 we're learning here, by the way, is you went to 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:56.400 a hell of a lot more parties than I did. 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.240 By the way, that was life come from the Lakers, Jack. 0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:01.479 I mean, I see that's the problem. That's the one 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:05.080 drawback sports illustrated. Right that the series ends, the finals 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:06.480 are over, and you gotta be up in your room 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:09.240 all night writing man. I had a ten thirty Pacific 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:11.639 time deadline, and once that thing was in, it was 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:15.800 time to go hang out. But by this time, this age, 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.200 and with this group most significantly, I think Kobe is 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:23.160 becoming somewhat of a socialite, and that leads to this 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:25.639 little misadventure that they have when they're going out for 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:27.560 a night on the town of Maccau. You know, we 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:31.760 were going, um, leaving the hotel to go to a party, 0:22:32.000 --> 0:22:36.720 and uh we were waiting, and unfortunately he wasn't on time, 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:41.359 so we left and and Lebron was like, hey, you said, 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.000 you know, we be on time. If you're not all 0:22:44.040 --> 0:22:47.920 the time, we leave. So we we left, and uh 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:50.399 we got a call that we had to turn around 0:22:50.400 --> 0:22:53.800 and go kick him up. Um. Lebron wasn't too happy 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:56.720 about that. Where was it that, Uh, this was in 0:22:56.840 --> 0:23:01.320