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Speaker 1: Hey, what a bulcome in. I'm Doug Gotlie. This is

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Speaker 1: All Ball. Got a great All Ball guest for you.

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Speaker 1: We'll actually probably do a couple of pods with Tyris Thomas.

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Speaker 1: Tyris played eight years in the NBA.

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Speaker 2: He was a star at LSU in his hometown of

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Speaker 2: Baton Rouge, and he is my student manager. That's right.

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Speaker 2: We'll get to the story of that upcoming in All Ball.

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Speaker 2: That's right. Tyris Thomas is a student manager at Green

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Speaker 2: Bay and he's fricking awesome. I did want to start

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Speaker 2: with the NBA and the NBA draft, and look, we

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Speaker 2: can talk about Brownie or whatever. There's lots of people

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Speaker 2: who are talking about who don't really know. And I'm

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Speaker 2: not buying in this bullshit about Rich Paul saying there's

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Speaker 2: other teams and you know, even ESPN like they had

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Speaker 2: to tell other teams not to draft from or go

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Speaker 2: to Australia. Get the fuck out of here, you know,

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Speaker 2: just just because an agent textis something, doesn't I mean exactly,

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Speaker 2: regardless of which I think that I'm starting to figure

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Speaker 2: out why foreign players are taking over the NBA, and

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Speaker 2: it's a culmination of things. And look, as a college coach,

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Speaker 2: now I'm as responsible as and if you are, if

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Speaker 2: you're a college coach or a high school coach or

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Speaker 2: an AU coach, but especially with your parent, like we

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Speaker 2: are so screwing up our kids by taking them team

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Speaker 2: to team and team having too many teams to begin with. Yes,

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Speaker 2: Alex Sar came and played OT and those guys improved.

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Speaker 2: And we do have better weights, better strength training, better

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Speaker 2: atility training, probably better skilled workouts you know, one on

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Speaker 2: cone than anybody else. But yet they're still catching us

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Speaker 2: in so many ways, passing us. They're on junior teams

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Speaker 2: all the time, and they get better and better and better,

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Speaker 2: whereas we're just about our most talented kids play on weekends. Yes,

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Speaker 2: they work in their game, but they don't necessarily work

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Speaker 2: with teammates when they're doing their new dual workout. Additionally,

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Speaker 2: you know, again, if we're honest, the best players get

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Speaker 2: coached the least when they're playing AU ball or club

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Speaker 2: ball growing up, you know, because the feeling is if

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Speaker 2: I coached this kid, well, he's going to go leave

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Speaker 2: and go to another team, Whereas there you don't really

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Speaker 2: have an don't really have the ability to just switch teams.

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Speaker 2: You got to kind of go work it out. Same

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Speaker 2: thing with college. So I understand this kind of idea

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Speaker 2: that you should be able to do whatever you want

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Speaker 2: in college and you should be free to switch schools.

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Speaker 2: Not set out. The fact is that we are not

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Speaker 2: creating better basketball players despite the fact we have a

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Speaker 2: greater depth of badlight talent.

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Speaker 3: Period.

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Speaker 4: Stop.

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Speaker 2: Let's get to Tyris Thomas. Welcome in, of course, eight

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Speaker 2: years the NBA and former number four pick in the

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Speaker 2: NBA Draft. This is my conversation with my newest manager.

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Speaker 2: Let's welcome in. He's one man, Tyris Thomas. He joins

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Speaker 2: us here. The day of this recording is the day

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Speaker 2: after the second round of the NBA Draft. What do

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Speaker 2: you remember about when you were drafted?

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Speaker 4: For me, the draft, it was it was a lot.

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Speaker 5: It was you know, I didn't I didn't have the

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Speaker 5: uh what do you call it, the ordinary build up

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Speaker 5: to being a lotterypeat So it was all happening so fast.

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Speaker 4: So it kind of still was surreal.

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Speaker 3: It was a lot to process for me.

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Speaker 4: So like, seriously, like you.

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Speaker 5: Know, anybody my career in January of two thousand and six,

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Speaker 5: I wasn't on the draft board and and projecting a

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Speaker 5: lot of. It was a lot to take in in

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Speaker 5: those few months, and it was a great night. It

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Speaker 5: just was a lot for me to take in the emotions.

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Speaker 2: So okay, so take me through. What do you remember

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Speaker 2: specifically about that day, that night? What what what's it

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Speaker 2: really like to be the fourth pick of the draft?

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Speaker 4: Ship that morning?

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Speaker 5: Uh? Actually started like two days before the draft. I

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Speaker 5: had to beat to New York. We did all of the.

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Speaker 3: NBA media stuff.

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Speaker 4: The day of the draft was the longest they ever.

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Speaker 2: It started like, let's start, let's start with the media. Okay,

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Speaker 2: you only played one year in college, correct, So you're

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Speaker 2: walking in at that time you knew you were going

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Speaker 2: to be a top ten pick.

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Speaker 4: Correct.

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Speaker 2: What do you remember about the media?

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Speaker 5: It was a lot. So for me, Uh, the people

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Speaker 5: that know me. I'm not a I'm not a camera person.

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Speaker 5: I don't like to be in front of the cameras.

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Speaker 5: I never did. So for me, it was just a

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Speaker 5: lot of you know, saying the same stories, talking about myself.

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Speaker 5: Those are things that make me a little uneasy. And

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Speaker 5: it was a lot of that that night, just about

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Speaker 5: every station from ESPN to ABC.

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Speaker 4: So for me, it was a lot.

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Speaker 5: It was good for me because as a kid, I

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Speaker 5: watched these night every year, and so to be there,

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Speaker 5: to be around the other guys that were getting drafted,

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Speaker 5: and to share that moment with my family, and you know,

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Speaker 5: like I said the day of the draft, it was

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Speaker 5: for me, it was a good night.

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Speaker 4: I felt about the favor from God.

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Speaker 5: I felt all the gratitude that I had insil.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it was cool.

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Speaker 2: I know it's twenty years ago, but that's that's like

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Speaker 2: part of the beauty of it is the parts you

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Speaker 2: actually remember are the most interesting parts.

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Speaker 4: Well, yeah, that I'm getting deeper conversation with.

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Speaker 5: You know, just me and how I how I process

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Speaker 5: my emotions and I expressed things.

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Speaker 4: But it was a great day.

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Speaker 5: But it doesn't go down in like my best days

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Speaker 5: of my life or you know, and it's not taking

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Speaker 5: anything away from the draft.

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Speaker 4: That's just not how I process events and things. You know.

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Speaker 5: So I don't again without sounding ungrateful, unappreciative, I don't

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Speaker 5: have the cool stories of how this felt for me

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Speaker 5: and it was life changing, like I it just for me.

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Speaker 5: It was another day. It was a part of my journey,

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Speaker 5: you know, And so I don't talk about it much

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Speaker 5: because I never want to seem like I'm unappreciative of it.

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Speaker 5: It's something that everybody dreams, a lot of people dream of,

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Speaker 5: and I'm grateful for the experience, but I can't just honestly,

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Speaker 5: I can't say, oh, this is one of the best

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Speaker 5: days of my life, and I don't remember a lot

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Speaker 5: of it.

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Speaker 4: Like I don't. I don't remember a lot of that day.

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Speaker 5: Like it was so much and it drained me emotionally

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Speaker 5: so much to do so many things that I kind

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Speaker 5: of don't remember all of it. I remember very little

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Speaker 5: of it actually.

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Speaker 2: So that the day of the draft, you said it

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Speaker 2: was a long day. I started six am, Well you

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Speaker 2: remember at that point.

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Speaker 5: I just remember getting up doing doing media stuff, commercials, videos,

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Speaker 5: and then I had like three different suits, Like I

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Speaker 5: didn't pick out my student until like literally thirty minutes

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Speaker 5: before I put it on. I had three different options.

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Speaker 4: That day was cool.

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Speaker 5: That was I found out me and Rudy Gay had

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Speaker 5: the same birthday, our parents, our moms met each other

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Speaker 5: that day, Like, honestly, that's the most thing I like,

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Speaker 5: that was one of my most memorable experiences, was hanging

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Speaker 5: out with Rudy Gay. That like, that was the only

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Speaker 5: person I really connected with through pre draft and all that,

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Speaker 5: so hanging out with him, my moms met without us

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Speaker 5: and found out we had the same birthday, So you know,

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Speaker 5: like that's honestly, that's what I remember the most about

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Speaker 5: that day.

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Speaker 2: What's it like what your name is called?

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Speaker 5: So for me, I actually when when Portland drafted LaMarcus Aldridge,

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Speaker 5: I mean when I mean when Chicago drafted LaMarcus Audrich

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Speaker 5: at two, My agent got the call, and so I

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Speaker 5: knew I'd be drafted at four and traded to Chicago.

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Speaker 5: So it wasn't even the shock of oh my name

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Speaker 5: was called. So by the time my name was called,

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Speaker 5: I had been waiting for thirty minutes, for fifteen or

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Speaker 5: twenty minutes for them to call my name, So it

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Speaker 5: wasn't a shock for me.

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Speaker 4: Like I knew I was gonna get called at four.

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Speaker 5: I knew I was gonna get traded to Chicago for

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Speaker 5: Victor with Victor Kreopper for LaMarcus Aldridge.

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Speaker 4: So it kemet for me.

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Speaker 5: It kind of was just like a waiting game at

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Speaker 5: that point. It was like a twenty minute waiting game.

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Speaker 2: Did you still have the hat? Did the Portland hat?

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Speaker 4: Uh?

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Speaker 5: Actually I didn't get So I got the Portland hat

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Speaker 5: when I walked on stage, and they when I got

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Speaker 5: behind stage, they took the Portland hat from me, and

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Speaker 5: we had to wait on everything to clear so I

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Speaker 5: could take my picture in the Chicago hat. So I never,

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Speaker 5: I never I took a picture in the Portland had

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Speaker 5: I think, But I didn't. I didn't even I didn't

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Speaker 5: get to keep it.

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Speaker 2: Now valuable those hats are that they're like literally only

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Speaker 2: more than once for like thirty seconds, right right, So

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Speaker 2: a lot of this comes down to you weren't emotionally

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Speaker 2: in a place where you're ready for all that attention.

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Speaker 2: What was it about your childhood that led you to

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Speaker 2: be that way? Like, you know, I think most people

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Speaker 2: picture you if number four picking the draft is is

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Speaker 2: dominant athlete and everything you did growing up in a

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Speaker 2: high school American, what was your early childhood like.

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Speaker 4: It was cool?

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Speaker 5: It was cool, I mean, it was it was my normal.

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Speaker 5: I was raised by my grandmother, my mom's mom. My

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Speaker 5: mom's in my life, but she works so much that

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Speaker 5: you know, I chose to stay with.

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Speaker 4: My grandmother because you know, my grandmother was was available more.

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Speaker 5: But I just think it's you know, I'm a Southern

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Speaker 5: boy man, I'm not. I don't get too up or

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Speaker 5: too down in the sense of, like, you know, I

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Speaker 5: was raised with a lot of humility, a lot of

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Speaker 5: option was in adversity.

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Speaker 4: That kind of keeps me not one to run to

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Speaker 4: the spotlight.

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Speaker 5: I've been doing a better job of celebrating myself and

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Speaker 5: celebrating my wins. But I don't think I'll ever be

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Speaker 5: a person that just likes the spotlight, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 2: How good were you're in night school?

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Speaker 5: I was decent. I wasn't. I wasn't like a four star,

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Speaker 5: five star or anything like that. I had a gross spurt,

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Speaker 5: I think, which added to my game. So from four

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Speaker 5: years old to tenth grade, I was one of the

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Speaker 5: shorter guys. Always I played guard, and after tenth grade,

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Speaker 5: so the summer going into eleventh grade was like the

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Speaker 5: only summer I didn't play basketball.

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Speaker 4: I was in a lot of pain. I grew that summer.

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Speaker 4: I grew six inches.

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Speaker 5: So I left high school at six like six one

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Speaker 5: maybe at the end of tenth grade, and at the

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Speaker 5: beginning of eleventh grade.

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Speaker 4: I was six seven.

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Speaker 5: And I think that gross spurt, you know, it allowed

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Speaker 5: me to be able to do more since I was

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Speaker 5: a guard and I could handle the ball decently. Now

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Speaker 5: I'm a bigger guy, they can handle the ball decently.

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Speaker 5: So you know, I think that's my Grosbury really helped

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Speaker 5: me go from being average to above average.

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Speaker 2: So you didn't play your freshman year? Was it for development?

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Speaker 2: Was it for grades?

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Speaker 4: Play?

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Speaker 5: So I committed to the University of Miami, and uh,

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Speaker 5: before I did that, and then h had asked me

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Speaker 5: to walk on and that wasn't something that I wanted

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Speaker 5: to do because I had other high major offers and

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Speaker 5: so and it was kind of like they wanted me,

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Speaker 5: but they didn't have enough scholarships. And so Perry Clark

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Speaker 5: was the coach at the University of Miami at the time.

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Speaker 5: Perry Clark recruited my uncle when he was at TWU Lane,

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Speaker 5: So we kind of had a connection already, like a

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Speaker 5: family connection, and so you know that was it was

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Speaker 5: a good recruiting process with them. So when I committed,

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Speaker 5: coach Clark got fired a couple of days before signing day,

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Speaker 5: and so when he let me know that, I was

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Speaker 5: kind of back to the drawing board and I really

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Speaker 5: wanted to plan the acc at the time.

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Speaker 4: So the two schools out of.

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Speaker 5: A CC that recruited me were Miami and Virginia Tech,

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Speaker 5: except Greenberg was at Virginia Tech at the time.

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Speaker 4: So I can remember calling coach.

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Speaker 5: Greenberg and you know, hearing in his voice is like hi,

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Speaker 5: like he had just gave away his last scholarship. And

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Speaker 5: so that's when I kind of was really back at

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Speaker 5: the drawing board.

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Speaker 4: All I had left at the time was some low majors.

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Speaker 5: And what happened was one of the guys that LSU

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Speaker 5: recruited he got into some trouble in junior college and

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Speaker 5: it opened up the scholarship for me, And so Kunda

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Speaker 5: was just all of that time, and so when I

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Speaker 5: got there, you know, I really I wasn't. I really

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Speaker 5: I wasn't one of the guys that they wanted. They

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Speaker 5: were stacked.

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Speaker 4: I mean that year we had the conference player of

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Speaker 4: the Year and Brandon.

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Speaker 5: Bass, as well as the SEC player of the year,

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Speaker 5: I mean, the freshman of the year, which was Glenn Davis.

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Speaker 5: We had a couple other guys who made second team

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Speaker 5: All SEC Darren I think Antonio Huston. So it was

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Speaker 5: a stacked team. It wasn't like you know a lot

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Speaker 5: of kids say that the coach sabotage meent the coach

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Speaker 5: didn't visit it. I mean, it was a stacked team,

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Speaker 5: it was. It was a team full of proven guys.

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Speaker 5: So you know, I had to wait my turn, and

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Speaker 5: I took it. I was able to take advantage of it.

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Speaker 2: What was that like that first year?

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Speaker 3: Wait your turn?

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Speaker 5: It was hard, you know, as just as a competitor,

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Speaker 5: especially knowing you know, the type of things that I

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Speaker 5: was doing in practice every day against these guys.

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Speaker 4: It was hard to uh not suit up, you know, but.

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Speaker 5: It just added I think it added to the chip

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Speaker 5: that was already on my shoulder. So you know, in hindsight,

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Speaker 5: it was very good because it added fuel to my

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Speaker 5: fire and sense in the sense of one of the

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Speaker 5: guys that was coaching at the time was John tree

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Speaker 5: Law and he's you know, he was very uh instrumental

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Speaker 5: and influential into my development.

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Speaker 4: That read shir year. You know, he took out that time.

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Speaker 5: And he was able to give me those tools and

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Speaker 5: that guidance that I really I invited it, and you know,

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Speaker 5: and and doing those things and working after the year

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Speaker 5: of playing it got me the way it got me.

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Speaker 2: What's it like to go to school in your own job.

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Speaker 4: A gift and a curse, you know.

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Speaker 5: Playing it was always good to you know, like the

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Speaker 5: stands was packed, you know all the time, and it's people,

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Speaker 5: you know, and there's people supporting you and his hometown people.

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Speaker 5: But also it kind of overwhelmed me a lot just

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Speaker 5: because I was from there and it's you know, it's

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Speaker 5: a little it was a little bit added added pressure

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Speaker 5: to succeed just because you're from home, you know, whereas

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Speaker 5: a lot of people who aren't from where they play

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Speaker 5: college ball, they just got to go and play and

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Speaker 5: not worry.

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Speaker 4: About the whole city quote unquote counting on them.

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Speaker 5: And you know, for me as well as our top

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Speaker 5: six play we all were from like sixty miles within

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Speaker 5: band Ruge. So for us it was a little it

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Speaker 5: was a little bit more than some guys just playing

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Speaker 5: college ball, kind of like we were literally representing the

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Speaker 5: city and state.

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Speaker 6: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

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Speaker 6: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio

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Speaker 6: dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to

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Speaker 6: listen live.

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Speaker 2: So your city here and then you get ready to play.

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Speaker 2: I remember when I sat out of here and I transferred.

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Speaker 2: Like those first couple of games, I had so much

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Speaker 2: energy because I hadn't played you just waiting to play,

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Speaker 2: wait to play. What was that like when you first

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Speaker 2: got in.

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Speaker 5: Shit, it almost felt like I wasn't in any shape

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Speaker 5: because I can remember those games vividly, and it's like

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Speaker 5: I was out of breath in the first two three minutes.

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Speaker 5: And it's literally like what you was saying, it was

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Speaker 5: like it was like you shake a bottle up for

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Speaker 5: a whole year and then you finally pop it open

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Speaker 5: and it's like shit, just everywhere, And that's literally like emotions.

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Speaker 5: Was just so excited, you know, I was excited. It

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Speaker 5: was it was It was good for me. It was

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Speaker 5: like a kid in a candy store. They just not

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Speaker 5: planned for a whole year. And then finally being able

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Speaker 5: to to place somebody outside of my teammates, it was

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Speaker 5: very fulfilling.

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Speaker 3: Wich Joan Brady like to play for.

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Speaker 5: Uh, he was hard to play for. We laugh and

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Speaker 5: talk about it all the time now. You know, he's

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Speaker 5: just one of those coaches who x's and o's was

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Speaker 5: amazing and just just tough nose. He didn't tolerate a lot,

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Speaker 5: you know, so as a again, as a As a

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Speaker 5: I got on campus at seventeen seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year

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Speaker 5: old kid that's from his hometown.

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Speaker 4: You know, just a lot more was required required of

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Speaker 4: me than I would have liked at that time.

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Speaker 2: And then obviously Big Baby has made the name for

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Speaker 2: himself on off the court. What was that experience like

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Speaker 2: playing a big Baby?

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Speaker 5: So I actually I've been playing with him since I

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Speaker 5: was eight. You know, we started playing together when we

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Speaker 5: were eight, me and him, Garrett Temple. Me and Garrett

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Speaker 5: started together on our first team and we were like

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Speaker 5: four or five. So you know, again, I was able

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Speaker 5: to play college ball with guys that I've been playing

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Speaker 5: with my whole life. So it was like for us

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Speaker 5: playing it was it wasn't like a bunch of guys

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Speaker 5: you put together and they trying to figure each other out.

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Speaker 5: Like you know, we knew from day one what make

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Speaker 5: each other go emotionally, you know, we know, we knew

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Speaker 5: how each other liked to play, We knew what our

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Speaker 5: strengths and weaknesses were. We knew, you know, like for

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Speaker 5: us at LSU, we didn't have to figure out the

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Speaker 5: pecking order. It was the same picking order that we

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Speaker 5: had been asking when we were kids, right, So I

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Speaker 5: think for the team sake, it was easier for us

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Speaker 5: to jail and easier for us to mold because guys

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Speaker 5: have been playing around each other for the last ten years.

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Speaker 2: Do you remember anything about run the tournament.

356
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Speaker 4: Now that I do, It was just it was I

357
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Speaker 4: actually was hurt. I wasn't supposed to play. I wasn't

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Speaker 4: suposed to finish the season.

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Speaker 5: I had a high ankle spring against Kentucky. Like the

360
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Speaker 5: last the last two SEC games, I didn't play. I

361
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Speaker 5: didn't play in the SEC tournament. And I can remember

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Speaker 5: I can remember what is it when they do the

363
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Speaker 5: selection Sunday? Yeah, selection Sunday, and we drew Iona and

364
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Speaker 5: like nobody knew who the team was, and you know,

365
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Speaker 5: it was one of them that I can remember that

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Speaker 5: because it was like.

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Speaker 4: When we drew our own, it was like, do I

368
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Speaker 4: have to play this game?

369
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Speaker 5: Because I was still trying to like just squeeze out

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Speaker 5: more time to still be able to help the team.

371
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Speaker 5: But heal as much as I can, and you know,

372
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Speaker 5: we made the decision that we weren't taking any team

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Speaker 5: for granted. And I got my ankle's tape, I put

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Speaker 5: on an ankle brace and we rocked out and.

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Speaker 4: We won that game.

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Speaker 5: The second round, we had Texas A and M and

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Speaker 5: Darren Mitchell hit a big three at the end to win.

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Speaker 4: I still say that that was the biggest shot of

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Speaker 4: my career.

380
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Speaker 5: Even though it wasn't me shooting, But I just honestly

381
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Speaker 5: believed that I wouldn't have got drafted as high as

382
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Speaker 5: I did, or probably even even drafted that year if

383
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Speaker 5: we didn't have that.

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Speaker 4: Texas and Duke game.

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Speaker 5: I think those are the two games that kind of

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Speaker 5: like solidify my draft position.

387
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Speaker 4: And so with those two games were in Jacksonville.

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Speaker 5: I remember that because my mom couldn't afford to come,

389
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Speaker 5: but we had family in Atlanta. And then the second,

390
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Speaker 5: the third and fourth round was in Atlanta.

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Speaker 4: And that was Texas, No, No, No, No, No Duke.

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Speaker 5: First we played Duke to go to the Sweet sixteen,

393
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Speaker 5: and then we played Texas to go to the Elite eight.

394
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,520
Speaker 5: And both of those were good games. I had actually

395
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Speaker 5: that amazing game against Texas and it was like twenty

396
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Speaker 5: and ten something like that, twenty and nine. And then

397
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Speaker 5: Ucla we played Ucla and we just didn't have enough.

398
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Speaker 4: We didn't have enough to get over the hump.

399
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Speaker 5: But though I remember that run and it was just

400
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:29,560
Speaker 5: it was so cool man, to be able to play

401
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:33,720
Speaker 5: in those large arenas, playing in football arenas and seeing.

402
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:34,840
Speaker 4: All the fans travel for us.

403
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,040
Speaker 5: You know, LSU is We're used to having fans travel

404
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,840
Speaker 5: for football, but that year, our fans did a great

405
00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,199
Speaker 5: job of traveling on the road with us, and it

406
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:43,920
Speaker 5: was amazing.

407
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:49,399
Speaker 2: So you get done. What was it like for you

408
00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,320
Speaker 2: to decide to go to the NBA after just one

409
00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:52,520
Speaker 2: year at college basketball?

410
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:57,240
Speaker 4: I had it work, man, Honestly, I didn't. I didn't

411
00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:58,520
Speaker 4: want to leave at the time.

412
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Speaker 5: I didn't feel like I was ready and I didn't

413
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:06,600
Speaker 5: have as much confidence as I portrayed to have. But

414
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Speaker 5: you know, financially and the situation that my family was in,

415
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 5: you know, economically, it was a business decision for me.

416
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,480
Speaker 5: It was something that I had to do. I tell

417
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Speaker 5: people all the time, especially these last couple of years.

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00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,679
Speaker 5: If if NIL was a thing, I definitely would have

419
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Speaker 5: stayed at least another year in.

420
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Speaker 4: School, just because that's what I really wanted to do.

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Speaker 5: You know, even from the standpoint of building a legacy.

422
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Speaker 4: I wanted to be able to leave a legacy at LSU.

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Speaker 5: But you know, just the draft position and business made

424
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Speaker 5: that difficult for me to stay.

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Speaker 3: So then did you know why Chicago?

426
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Speaker 2: Did you have a great workout?

427
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 3: Did they talked to you like man?

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Speaker 5: So what happened Chicago was my first workout I worked

429
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Speaker 5: out in Chicago. Chicago called my agent and they told

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Speaker 5: me that they didn't want me to work out for

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Speaker 5: anybody else.

432
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Speaker 4: They were gonna take me too.

433
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Speaker 5: So, I mean, for me, I thought it would have

434
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Speaker 5: been a good I thought it was a good situation.

435
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 5: And I was I was, I mean, I was okay

436
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,880
Speaker 5: with being told that this team with the second pick

437
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Speaker 5: would select me.

438
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Speaker 4: I mean I did.

439
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:28,159
Speaker 5: I couldn't get any higher except one. So that's literally

440
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 5: how that played out. And I didn't work out for

441
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Speaker 5: anybody else.

442
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,560
Speaker 7: So you get drafted by the Bulls. Uh, she gonna

443
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 7: play summer league?

444
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:37,399
Speaker 4: What?

445
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 3: What is the what was the process?

446
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,200
Speaker 7: Have to get drafted at brush cot and stuff that

447
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 7: that what you do?

448
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,320
Speaker 5: Yeah, So it was like I think it like June

449
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 5: twenty eighth, I flew to Chicago the next day, on

450
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 5: the twenty ninth. I was at Chicago for like two days,

451
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,440
Speaker 5: went to a couple of baseball games throughout some pitches,

452
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 5: did some media runs, and then like I want to say,

453
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 5: like July fifth, maybe we was in mini camp practice.

454
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,919
Speaker 5: So I had like probably like four or five days

455
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,439
Speaker 5: to just be normal, and then it was right to it.

456
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:12,919
Speaker 2: What was your first season?

457
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,719
Speaker 4: Like? I struggled.

458
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 5: It was times where I even I can remember acting

459
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 5: front office to let me go. I wasn't playing as

460
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 5: much as I wanted. Mentally, I was struggling. I was

461
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 5: comparing myself to the other rookies in my draft class

462
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:34,960
Speaker 5: that got drafted higher, and I felt inadequate. Uh, it

463
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 5: just it wasn't It wasn't good. I didn't my first season.

464
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,919
Speaker 5: I struggled mentally just because I didn't feel like I

465
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,880
Speaker 5: was getting opportunities to grow. And there was a lot

466
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:47,680
Speaker 5: of days that I was like, fuck, I just wish

467
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 5: I would have stayed in school, you know, But it

468
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 5: was you know, over time, I figured out, you know,

469
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:56,920
Speaker 5: what the coaching staff.

470
00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:58,760
Speaker 4: Wanted, what my role was, and what I needed to

471
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,400
Speaker 4: do to have a little success. You know, I got

472
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,879
Speaker 4: to it.

473
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 2: What was where were you living playing footballs? Where'd you live?

474
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 5: Initially I was staying in Deerfield, which is the north

475
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,679
Speaker 5: north Chicago at the time that was where the practice

476
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,360
Speaker 5: facility was, and so I was in the north suburbs

477
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,040
Speaker 5: of Chicago.

478
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,720
Speaker 4: My first time ever seeing real snow.

479
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,159
Speaker 5: We were coming back from Detroit, and uh, it was

480
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:34,640
Speaker 5: like a twelve inch so so on.

481
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,720
Speaker 4: I didn't have gloves, I didn't have a scraper. I

482
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:39,920
Speaker 4: didn't know about the ice. I didn't know about any

483
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:40,159
Speaker 4: of that.

484
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,119
Speaker 5: So it was a rough, nice sweeping all of the

485
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,399
Speaker 5: snow off my hands, off the car with my hands,

486
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 5: and like for two days I couldn't catch the basketball

487
00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 5: because my hands were still froze. But it was it

488
00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 5: was cool. It was you know, it was an adjustment

489
00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:57,000
Speaker 5: and once I got used to it, I mean, you

490
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,560
Speaker 5: don't spend much much time outside anyway, so I mean

491
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 5: it was cool.

492
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 4: It was cool.

493
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,679
Speaker 5: But I'm gonna be back to it out here in

494
00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 5: Green Bay. So I'm getting ready.

495
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 2: We'll get to that up coming. Who's your cues?

496
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,159
Speaker 4: Your first coach Scott Scotts. So my first coach was

497
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:16,879
Speaker 4: Scott's Goys. Uh.

498
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 5: The next year, I had Jim Boiling in Chicago. After that,

499
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:22,760
Speaker 5: I had Vinnie Dell Negro in Chicago.

500
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 4: I went to Charlotte.

501
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 5: I had Larry Brown, Paul Solace, and Mike Dunlap there. Yes,

502
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 5: so I didn't have I went through six in two

503
00:25:31,920 --> 00:25:34,480
Speaker 5: teams seven years. I went through six coaching staffs.

504
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 2: I then you count your college coach, that's.

505
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,680
Speaker 4: Uh seven and eight man.

506
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 5: And if I count high school, and if I count

507
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 5: high school out of those four years, add that eight.

508
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 4: Now we nine coaches in twelve years.

509
00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:52,200
Speaker 3: Who is the guy you connected with the most.

510
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,919
Speaker 5: Larry Brown? I actually still talked to Larry Brown. I

511
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 5: need to call him and see what's happening.

512
00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,040
Speaker 4: But that was my guy.

513
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:01,679
Speaker 5: He was the main He was the only reason I

514
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 5: resigned to Charlotte. That didn't last long, but you know

515
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 5: that's still he's still my guy.

516
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:10,120
Speaker 2: What was about area?

517
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 4: That special man?

518
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,960
Speaker 5: When I got traded and I walked into the office,

519
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,400
Speaker 5: I got to Charlotte, the first name Larry Brown asked

520
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,840
Speaker 5: me was how is my grandmother? And so anybody that

521
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 5: can care enough about me to ask about my grandmother,

522
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 5: who you.

523
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 4: Know is my heart?

524
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 5: That's you know for me, that's a person that cares

525
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,119
Speaker 5: and that was a connection piece, and you know that

526
00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:34,880
Speaker 5: that was kind of the foundation of our relationship.

527
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 3: You don't know your certified life coach.

528
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 2: We'll get to that but when did you first realize

529
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,080
Speaker 2: you were struggling got to mentally do a Justice League.

530
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:44,920
Speaker 4: Day one.

531
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 5: You know, for me, it was a lot like I'm

532
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 5: from Banton Ruge. I grew up in Vandon Ruge. I

533
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 5: went to school in band Ruge. So even moving to

534
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 5: Chicago was the first time I had been out of

535
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 5: the South. And I can remember walking into the training room,

536
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,440
Speaker 5: and in the South, acknowledging people when you walk.

537
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 4: In the room is a big thing. It's a huge thing.

538
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 4: You know.

539
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:12,639
Speaker 5: We are we we and maybe overbearing, but we pride

540
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:14,800
Speaker 5: ourselves on what we think is respect and what we

541
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 5: think our manners.

542
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:18,800
Speaker 4: You know, some people call the Southern hospitality.

543
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 5: So being around people who were who culture was different,

544
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 5: who viewed things different, it was the first time I

545
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 5: had to realize that everybody didn't grow up the same, right,

546
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,320
Speaker 5: So just being being around people different cultures and different

547
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 5: morals and principles, you know, it was very hard for

548
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 5: me to adjust.

549
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:46,080
Speaker 4: To understand that.

550
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 5: You know, people weren't raised the same, people don't think

551
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 5: the same people don't have the same values. That and

552
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,439
Speaker 5: that didn't make them a bad person, you know, it

553
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 5: doesn't make them someone that you should automatically dislike.

554
00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:57,320
Speaker 4: You know.

555
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 5: So for me just leaving Bad and Rouge, being exposed

556
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 5: to different coaches and people, that was very, very hard.

557
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 3: So what was what Sky's like?

558
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:10,280
Speaker 6: Uh?

559
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 4: Excellent? Always he was a great person.

560
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:19,800
Speaker 5: We didn't connect well as far as personally, you know,

561
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:22,439
Speaker 5: but as far as a coach, he's an amazing coach.

562
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,159
Speaker 5: You know, things, very knowledgeable, he taught the game well,

563
00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 5: you know, like I said, we just me and him. Personally,

564
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 5: we didn't connect, but from a basketball standpoint, he's one

565
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 5: of the most brilliant basketball minds I've ever been around.

566
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:45,120
Speaker 2: So when you're top ten, pick the Chicago Bulls and

567
00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 2: your rookie, like, who is the old Who's the vet

568
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 2: looked out for you?

569
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:51,800
Speaker 4: Ben Wilace and PJ. Brown?

570
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,720
Speaker 5: Those were my two vets my rookie year, and you know,

571
00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 5: they they really did help me a lot adjusting just mentally.

572
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:06,200
Speaker 5: You know, one PJ is from Louisiana. Ben Wallace is

573
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,360
Speaker 5: from Alabama, so you know, the southern stuff. Like they

574
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,719
Speaker 5: kind of understood my mindset and they helped me transition

575
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 5: into being a more well rounded person.

576
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 3: So how would they do that?

577
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 4: You know? Like, so for example, if PJ. Came to me.

578
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 4: He saw it day one.

579
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,400
Speaker 5: He was like, hey, you can't get upset when people

580
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 5: don't speak back, Like they don't do that out here,

581
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 5: Like they don't do that everywhere, you know. So, just

582
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,840
Speaker 5: like I said, a lot of just we call them

583
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 5: x or isms, just a lot of Southern things that

584
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 5: we take for granted or don't really realize we do,

585
00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,080
Speaker 5: or we value. Just helping me transition, well even just

586
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 5: being in a big city. Things move faster, people move faster.

587
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 5: You know, in the South, we value people's word a lot,

588
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 5: and you know, just having to understand business versus personal,

589
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,160
Speaker 5: separating the two. Understanding that I was that that that

590
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,240
Speaker 5: that being in the NBA wasn't just playing basketball, it

591
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,800
Speaker 5: was an actual job now, so you know.

592
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 4: Just trying to help.

593
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 5: They helped me a lot in my transitional period, just

594
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 5: understanding life, understanding the business, and understanding of the life better.

595
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 7: So Scott gets fired now Jim Boiling.

596
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:33,520
Speaker 3: What was he like?

597
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,080
Speaker 5: Uh, well, you know, so this is not the head coach,

598
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 5: Jim Boiling. This was the assistant jimbo You know, it

599
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,800
Speaker 5: was two in the NBA, So this was Boiling L

600
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 5: A N and not L E. N.

601
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 4: But it was week man.

602
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 5: Now that was a crazy process because I can remember

603
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 5: we came to practice.

604
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 4: It was Christmas Eve.

605
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 5: I'll never forget. We got the practice and they were like,

606
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 5: uh an, nobody was there. Nobody was on the floor,

607
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:05,320
Speaker 5: none of the coaches were on the floor. And then

608
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 5: Tony Rakeeda. Tony Rakeeda was the director of community relations

609
00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 5: at the time.

610
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 4: I never forget.

611
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 5: They sent Tony in and he was like, yeah, I'm

612
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,560
Speaker 5: here to oversee practice and I was like, what you

613
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 5: overseeing practice for? And that's when the vets kind of

614
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 5: told all the rookies and the younger guys like, yeah,

615
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:26,280
Speaker 5: they must be firing them. And so I know, they

616
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,160
Speaker 5: fired him on Christmas, Christmas Eve, and then Jim Boylan

617
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:35,520
Speaker 5: took over, and it was just strange because he was

618
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 5: the associate head for a year and a half while

619
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 5: I was there and then get fired and then now

620
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 5: we change everything, the offense, the defense, and so that

621
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,600
Speaker 5: was like, Okay, now I gotta get adjusted to something new.

622
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,200
Speaker 5: Now I gotta do something different, you know. So that

623
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 5: was a weird little period for me. Yeah, it was weird.

624
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:55,560
Speaker 4: It was.

625
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,040
Speaker 5: It was a weird transition, but that was my life.

626
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 5: Welcome to Bath faketball moment because it was only weird

627
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:06,320
Speaker 5: for me and other younger guys like Tybo, Joe Kim,

628
00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 5: Aaron Gray. But like the Vets, they just took it

629
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 5: in stride. They weren't phased by it at all. We

630
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 5: were like, damn, they just fired him. They're like, yep,

631
00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 5: welcome to the league. So you know, it was so

632
00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 5: over the years when it happened every year after that,

633
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 5: I was fine with it.

634
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 4: It didn't bother me at all.

635
00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 3: And then then they hired Vinny so Down another coach.

636
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 4: What was any like, Let's just say Veny made a

637
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 4: lot of promises that he didn't keep and I just

638
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:41,320
Speaker 4: leave it at that.

639
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 5: Me give me one, uh, just simple, just simple stuff

640
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 5: Like I was supposed to be able to wear a headband.

641
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 5: He told me I could wear a headband when he

642
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 5: got there. Then, like you know, on the phone all

643
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 5: summer it was God's guys had a no headband rule.

644
00:32:58,080 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 4: So that was being young.

645
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:01,600
Speaker 5: One of the first things I asked him when he

646
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:02,880
Speaker 5: called me during the summer was.

647
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,120
Speaker 4: Can I wear a headband? Like shit chat, you could

648
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 4: wear a headband, I don't care about.

649
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,840
Speaker 5: Then he get there and I couldn't wear my headband,

650
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,959
Speaker 5: so you know, like just I mean, it's a lot

651
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:15,720
Speaker 5: of other things that I don't want to go into,

652
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,680
Speaker 5: but just keep it simple and surface level as something

653
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 5: as simple as a headband.

654
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 3: You know, some of the simple as a band.

655
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,560
Speaker 2: But you don't fall through as much as now as

656
00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 2: adults you're like, man, what On the other hand, you

657
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 2: realize that, like players are smart.

658
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 5: Yeah, So like yeah, like yeah, me and Vinnie, you know,

659
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,600
Speaker 5: I mean, we're here now, so we're talking about it now,

660
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 5: like because I got a lot of bad rap when

661
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,600
Speaker 5: you know, me and Vinnie had a few altercations, but

662
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:47,720
Speaker 5: it was even time where I felt like he was

663
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:51,880
Speaker 5: trying to threaten me in a sense of telling me

664
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 5: about his ethnicity and how they handle problems, you know, and.

665
00:33:57,880 --> 00:33:59,520
Speaker 4: So it just was a lot, you know, for.

666
00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:04,160
Speaker 5: Me, Me and Vinnie had a couple I watched Vinnie

667
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 5: Delle Negro growing up. You know, people that don't know

668
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:09,440
Speaker 5: he was he was, he was very he was a

669
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 5: good player, you know, but I've never been a person

670
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:17,959
Speaker 5: that was good with ravado people or people that try

671
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:19,280
Speaker 5: to enforce their power.

672
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:25,000
Speaker 4: And then you know, and so for me, I was young,

673
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:25,400
Speaker 4: and so I.

674
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,400
Speaker 5: Didn't really know how to handle my emotions when I

675
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,920
Speaker 5: felt challenged outside of basketball. You know, challenging me on

676
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 5: the court was one thing, but I wasn't ever want

677
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:38,399
Speaker 5: to back down from a challenge, regardless of what type

678
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,480
Speaker 5: of authority people had in my life, which wasn't all.

679
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:43,480
Speaker 4: It didn't always work for me, but.

680
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,799
Speaker 5: At the time that I didn't back down, and you know,

681
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:51,680
Speaker 5: so for me, I felt like unjustly I was putting

682
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:57,840
Speaker 5: situations where I was reprimanded simply because I didn't back down.

683
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,840
Speaker 4: You know. So it's it's it's just it is what

684
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:05,080
Speaker 4: it is. Lessons learned.

685
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,800
Speaker 5: But it did teach me how to plan for Vinie,

686
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:09,240
Speaker 5: taught me how to deal with.

687
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,600
Speaker 4: Superiors that I really not in favor of.

688
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,040
Speaker 5: So, you know, I think it was a lot of

689
00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,280
Speaker 5: lessons learned and a lot of growth that happened throughout

690
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:19,160
Speaker 5: their process.

691
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,719
Speaker 3: How did trade go down with Charlotte Man?

692
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:27,200
Speaker 4: It was a Tuesday. I never forget it was a tuesday. Uh.

693
00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,000
Speaker 4: It was a tuesday in Minnesota. We were on the road,

694
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:38,319
Speaker 4: we came back from shooting Brown and uh and we

695
00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:41,440
Speaker 4: had a game that day and Pete Mies came to Man.

696
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,919
Speaker 4: I never forget. Pete was like Pete was a joke

697
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,040
Speaker 4: to and so Pete was like, man, t T we

698
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 4: didne traded you? And so I'm like I'm laughing.

699
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:52,640
Speaker 5: Like man, whatever, go ahead, I'm go take a nap.

700
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,800
Speaker 5: And I get a phone call from my agent and ship.

701
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:58,440
Speaker 5: They was like, man, you gotta get on the plane.

702
00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,360
Speaker 5: So that day I was in Minnesota thinking I was

703
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:04,680
Speaker 5: gonna play a game that day for the Bulls. I

704
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,640
Speaker 5: flew to Charlotte and played that night for the Bobcats.

705
00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:12,399
Speaker 5: Got on the plane and flew from Charlotte to Minnesota

706
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,919
Speaker 5: to play I mean to Milwaukee to play a back

707
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 5: to back. But we got to Milwaukee, Larry Brown had

708
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,120
Speaker 5: a car picked me up so he could drive me

709
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,360
Speaker 5: back to Chicago to get some stuff because I only

710
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:29,720
Speaker 5: had what I took for a one game road trip.

711
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,240
Speaker 5: So I was in Charlotte. Luckily, we flew to Milwaukee

712
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:35,239
Speaker 5: that night and I was able to drive back to

713
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 5: Chicago and like just grab some stuff and I was.

714
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:43,320
Speaker 4: A Bobcat after that. It was a wild forty eight hours.

715
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 4: I know that.

716
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,200
Speaker 5: What was that like emotional Like in the moment, it

717
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 5: was a little bit of an exhale because three weeks prior,

718
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,800
Speaker 5: me and Vinnie was just at it every day, almost

719
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,080
Speaker 5: every day for like three weeks. So at the moment

720
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:02,239
Speaker 5: the trade was cool. It was just like a little release.

721
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:02,840
Speaker 4: You know.

722
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:08,040
Speaker 5: But I'm being honest transparently, I kind of wish I

723
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,720
Speaker 5: could have changed some things or done some things differently

724
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,440
Speaker 5: that would have kept me in Chicago.

725
00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 4: But at the moment, it was just a breather. It

726
00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 4: was a good breather. I needed it.

727
00:37:19,320 --> 00:37:20,680
Speaker 3: What was Charlotte like a team?

728
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,360
Speaker 2: Like, how competitive were you? You get traded?

729
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:25,920
Speaker 4: What happens?

730
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:28,440
Speaker 5: I think they might have been in like twelve or

731
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,840
Speaker 5: thirteen seed. They had just started like a winning streak.

732
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:32,880
Speaker 5: They had just traded for Stephen Jackson at like a

733
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:38,919
Speaker 5: couple months prior. So when I got there, theo Ratlift came,

734
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:44,440
Speaker 5: Larry Hughes came. We played in Chicago together, and we

735
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,480
Speaker 5: made a playoff run. It was the first time in

736
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,400
Speaker 5: Bobcast history they made the playoffs. We got swept by

737
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,959
Speaker 5: the Magic who went to the finals that year. And yeah,

738
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 5: I resigned thinking that I was gonna come back and

739
00:37:57,400 --> 00:37:59,560
Speaker 5: be the sixth man on a team that had just

740
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 5: got to together and made a playoff run. At the time,

741
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,239
Speaker 5: Tyson Chandler was our starting five. Boris d I was

742
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,919
Speaker 5: at the four, Jered Wallace at the three, Steve Jack

743
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,640
Speaker 5: at the two, Raymond Felton at the one. Uh DJ

744
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:15,840
Speaker 5: Augustine was coming off the bench, Larry Hughes, myself and

745
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:20,160
Speaker 5: THEO Rat left and so you know, I resigned that

746
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,239
Speaker 5: deal thinking that I was gonna have some more time

747
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:28,880
Speaker 5: with them guys by December. By December that year, of

748
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:33,360
Speaker 5: everybody I just named, it was just me, Steve Jack,

749
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:41,000
Speaker 5: Jerald Wallace, I mean yeah, Jared Wallace, DJ Augustine, and

750
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:45,840
Speaker 5: Larry Brown. By the end of that season, it was

751
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:51,200
Speaker 5: me and Stephen Jackson, and they blew the team up

752
00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:55,400
Speaker 5: so fast and go from that to the next two years,

753
00:38:55,400 --> 00:39:00,480
Speaker 5: we're the worst team in the league statistically. Three and

754
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 5: a half years, three different coaching staffs, you know. So

755
00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:07,000
Speaker 5: it just for me, it was just a lot of

756
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 5: adjusting back to back to back to back. Man, I'm

757
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:13,719
Speaker 5: gonna creature a habit and I need consistency, and at

758
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 5: the time that was it was just hard for me.

759
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:23,360
Speaker 2: That's it for All Ball. That's part one with Tyrus Thomas.

760
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:24,200
Speaker 2: Wait to hear Part two.

761
00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:24,880
Speaker 3: You're gonna love it.

762
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,359
Speaker 2: Remunder of The Doug Gollip Show radio show is every

763
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:29,600
Speaker 2: day three to five Eastern Time. We also have an

764
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,240
Speaker 2: hour podcast you can download as well. I'm Doug Gotlie.

765
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:32,879
Speaker 2: This is all well