Speaker 1: Man, welcome back all the Smoke, Episode nine with my brethren,
Speaker 1: my brother, I'm kind of disappointed, man, you figured out
Speaker 1: your sweaty hands situation. You know, it just ain't sweating
Speaker 1: no more. I'm moisterized. I'm using a lot of baby lotions.
Speaker 1: I told you, baby, I told you boys growing in
Speaker 1: front of our eyes and your products, give your products
Speaker 1: and shout out. Shot out here with the poy miss
Speaker 1: pretty boy. Mrs look at it. I can tell it's
Speaker 1: already making your nose a little smaller. Anyway, man, we
Speaker 1: got a great episode. Man NBA retiree, future Hall of
Speaker 1: Famous in eligible flashing of the game, Man, Dwyane Wade, Man,
Speaker 1: thank you for coming in my hand sweaty. I was
Speaker 1: sitting over here thinking. I was like, I'm wiping myself off.
Speaker 1: You know, I let guest slide, though I don't let
Speaker 1: you slide. I think it's this. I think it's just
Speaker 1: solve velvet over here. The man used to trying to
Speaker 1: tell you, Man, tell them what network we are. Show
Speaker 1: Time Baby imm and Ice Box did a collab and
Speaker 1: made out perfect. You know what I'm saying, Ice Boxing image,
Speaker 1: you know something I think? Yeah, anyway, man, tell me
Speaker 1: what tired life is like sixteen years correct, sixteen sixteen
Speaker 1: in the NBA and and you're done. Yeah, what is
Speaker 1: that like? Now? It's actually fun? Was it like? For me?
Speaker 1: It's like I want to show people with a different
Speaker 1: way to retire, you know, I mean everyone got this mind,
Speaker 1: this man setup. When athletes retired, they're gonna be walking funny.
Speaker 1: You know, they're gonna be broke, they're gonna be divorced,
Speaker 1: they're gonna be so far and so on. So for me, man,
Speaker 1: it's always just about inspiring the next generation of Listen,
Speaker 1: this is the way you walk away from the game.
Speaker 1: This is where you retire. So I'm having fun. Man.
Speaker 1: I saw you in the gym a handful of months
Speaker 1: ago and he was working out hard to like, any
Speaker 1: of you have any of that basketball? Do you still
Speaker 1: want to play? Left in you? I love a game.
Speaker 1: I mean you guys know that that goes they love
Speaker 1: goes nowhere. But my passion for started to leave. You
Speaker 1: know what, once it was, once it became more of
Speaker 1: a business than it was about just a natural fund
Speaker 1: and the reason we all started playing, it started to
Speaker 1: take less, more and more away from me. So I'm
Speaker 1: at the point now where I'm really for the first time,
Speaker 1: probably since I was a kid, that I'm enjoying the
Speaker 1: game from a fan perspective, you know. So I'm cool
Speaker 1: man without the ice bags, without it man, without it all. Man,
Speaker 1: I think I'm more athletic now than I was my
Speaker 1: last few years. So what is this some of the
Speaker 1: stuff you're into now? Obviously you got a little one.
Speaker 1: She just turned one, right, Yes, she just turned one, Okay,
Speaker 1: so tell me what it's like. What do you into
Speaker 1: besides daddy duty and what what's your daddy day looked like? Yeah? Man,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I think everyone knows when you know,
Speaker 1: when you played the sport like we play, it takes
Speaker 1: you away from a lot of things, especially at your family,
Speaker 1: you know, being as president as you would like to be.
Speaker 1: But also once you get on this side, you realize
Speaker 1: how hard it is to be as president as you
Speaker 1: want to be, you know. But for me, it's it's
Speaker 1: been cool. Man. I got kids and arrange over eighteen
Speaker 1: and one, so I made it support them in different ways,
Speaker 1: and uh, it's my hardest job, but it's my most
Speaker 1: fulfilling one, and I've done some cool things in this world.
Speaker 1: But being a parent, watching my kids succeed and grow,
Speaker 1: it's my most fulfilling you know. Job. So it's really cool, man,
Speaker 1: I'm chilling you guys, know, Man, Yeah, you have a
Speaker 1: long run, man, hell of a run. Tell me a
Speaker 1: little bit about your Warner slash T and T slash
Speaker 1: Bleach report deal. What do you what should we expect
Speaker 1: from you in that space? Well, listen, I was like
Speaker 1: a lot of people, man. You know, you say, I
Speaker 1: don't want to do that. I ain't gonna do that.
Speaker 1: You know, you got this when you playing, and they'd
Speaker 1: be like, yo, these are the things you can do. Man,
Speaker 1: I'm not doing that. And then you get on this
Speaker 1: side and you realize like, okay, you gotta keep all
Speaker 1: your options open, you know. So for me, man, I
Speaker 1: sat down with the Turner family and they willed me.
Speaker 1: I really went in with the expectations though I don't
Speaker 1: want to be the athlete to talk about other other
Speaker 1: guys right when I'm done playing. I don't want to
Speaker 1: be that guy. But they wired me with just the opportunity,
Speaker 1: you know, with with the whole one of media um
Speaker 1: and everything that they that they have and what they
Speaker 1: can provide, you know, for me, So I'm definitely excited
Speaker 1: to um to announce that we announced that we got
Speaker 1: a show that's coming out every Tuesday start in late January.
Speaker 1: And Candice Parker, myself and big fellow shock Um Adam
Speaker 1: left co he is, uh, he's o Ernie and we're
Speaker 1: coming up with our own vibe, our own show. UM.
Speaker 1: So for me, it's cool. I get an opportunity steal
Speaker 1: stay um you know close enough to the game. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, as as I am now very active on
Speaker 1: Twitter about supporting the next generation and talking about him,
Speaker 1: So I get to do that, you know, and have
Speaker 1: that platform. Um. And then as well, I wanted more
Speaker 1: you know, um you know that, and they see me
Speaker 1: as more than just you know one, They see me
Speaker 1: as you know, multidimensionals. So we worked on Bleach Report.
Speaker 1: You know what I can bring in them? What kind
Speaker 1: of content can I bring? Um? So I'm creative directive
Speaker 1: Bleach Report. Um. And also yeah man and then also um,
Speaker 1: I have a production company that I'm really jumping into
Speaker 1: and you know we have a deal together you know
Speaker 1: there as well. So for me, it was a three
Speaker 1: dimensional kind of deal. I wanted to touch every aspect um.
Speaker 1: Of the brand and I'm able to do that. So
Speaker 1: delationhops man, thank you, congratulations Miami Heat. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: the Heat. Um getting Jimmy Butler. Yeah, man, they're starting
Speaker 1: the ball starting to look good. You know how you
Speaker 1: feel about them right now? Well, first of all, we
Speaker 1: were trying to get Jimmy last year. You know when
Speaker 1: Jimmy was trying to get he was trying to get
Speaker 1: that last year. Man, Jimmy. You know, my one of
Speaker 1: the good things about me leaving Miami going Chicago is
Speaker 1: out for his relationship with this guy. And once I
Speaker 1: got around him, man, you you you two guys, that's
Speaker 1: my boy. My boy. You know what I'm saying. He
Speaker 1: reminds me both of you guys. Um, just an amazing
Speaker 1: He's amazing person, a little misunderstood, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: becomes all come from a good place. Sometime it may
Speaker 1: come out wrong, but it's all coming from a good
Speaker 1: place for him, and it's all come from his upbringing
Speaker 1: to it all comes from that. And once I've seen
Speaker 1: his crazy, I said, okay, get I know you're crazy
Speaker 1: to get live um. So I'm so happy to see him, man,
Speaker 1: And you know, he's happy. You know, Miami and Jimmy
Speaker 1: is the perfect marriage. And you know what he's doing
Speaker 1: for the young guys on the team, what he's doing
Speaker 1: for Bam done here, Yeah, what he's doing for Todler,
Speaker 1: what he's doing for Andre. He's giving them guys so
Speaker 1: much confidence, you know what I mean. Jimmy is comfortable
Speaker 1: being Jimmy. He don't need to score out and show
Speaker 1: you guys like to score thirty or night. He's really
Speaker 1: sharing the ball, He's really sharing the attention with those guys.
Speaker 1: And you can see it, you know, you see that.
Speaker 1: You know that environment that we talked about, that culture
Speaker 1: that these guys have bought into it and they're playing amazing. Man,
Speaker 1: the sky's the limit. They can just continue to keep going.
Speaker 1: You think they're a piece of way. I think they
Speaker 1: can contend in the East. I think right now they
Speaker 1: can contend, uh, you know, to a certain you know extent.
Speaker 1: It depends on how much these young guys grow throughout
Speaker 1: this year, right and they gotta they gotta they gotta
Speaker 1: fall a lot, you know, to get up and then
Speaker 1: be able to walk and run. But it's experiences throughout
Speaker 1: this year is gonna show us in the playoffs. You
Speaker 1: know what kind of level they compete at. They're showing
Speaker 1: everybody right now, we can win, we can win anywhere.
Speaker 1: They went into Milwaukee morning, wanted to run on, but
Speaker 1: they got young guys, and they gotta bring these young
Speaker 1: guys alone fast. But I would never count them out.
Speaker 1: I would never count of mind me he organization hard man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've never counting them out. But I think we all
Speaker 1: look forward to and say when they gonna be at
Speaker 1: that championship level, you definitely want to continue to ask
Speaker 1: certain pieces to help you get there. But when you
Speaker 1: got emergence of a bound, when you got emergens of
Speaker 1: Kendrick and Toddler, these young guys, these are kind of
Speaker 1: guys that you when you talk about we need another piece,
Speaker 1: where you actually got these pieces right now? So you know,
Speaker 1: I believe that anything happened for them. You touched on
Speaker 1: a little bit. But tell me what it's like that organization.
Speaker 1: You know, because you hear the old pat Riley Lakers stories,
Speaker 1: you hear some Miami stories, and you hear a supposter
Speaker 1: as well, like tell me what that ut all right
Speaker 1: stories you heard about? All right? Um? You know it's
Speaker 1: it's I think It's as simple as as this party
Speaker 1: had a vision. He had a vision for you know
Speaker 1: how he felt that players and you know how he
Speaker 1: felt that his organization would be ran. And he's ran
Speaker 1: it exactly the way that he felt. He wanted to
Speaker 1: be professional. He wanted to be the most professional. Uh.
Speaker 1: He believes in you know, hard work. He believes in
Speaker 1: being in shape. He believes in you know, the hours
Speaker 1: that you put into the gym, being real hours or
Speaker 1: not just for Instagram Instagram. You know, he believes in
Speaker 1: you know, he's set a culture and he set responsibilities
Speaker 1: for each individual. And just think about it, man, where
Speaker 1: we come from, Right I get drafted out of from
Speaker 1: Chicago and out of Milwaukee into the NBA, into Miami.
Speaker 1: If I don't have accountability, if I don't have a
Speaker 1: cultural structure, I wouldn't be sitting here with you guys
Speaker 1: right now. You know what I'm saying. So you've got
Speaker 1: a lot of these young, you know, individuals from in
Speaker 1: the city getting drafted into the NBA had been throwing
Speaker 1: all this money, and you know, to have an organization
Speaker 1: that has, you know, a bible for this organization to
Speaker 1: say these are the rules, this is what you need
Speaker 1: to follow to be successful. A lot of young guys
Speaker 1: need that, you know. You see some guys go to
Speaker 1: organizations that don't have that same structure, and guys are
Speaker 1: super talented are out the league pretty quickly. I don't
Speaker 1: know what it takes. So I must respect to Miami
Speaker 1: for setting that coach. Now, someone who's kind of gone
Speaker 1: against the green a little bit, someone I personally reached
Speaker 1: out to and spoke to Jack Has and then you
Speaker 1: play with him ast you, Dion Waiters. You know, he's
Speaker 1: kind of having trouble kind of finding his footing in
Speaker 1: that situation. Any any of bias or anything you know
Speaker 1: about him that you would kind of help him out
Speaker 1: with trying to find his way there. Man, I'll talk
Speaker 1: to the U. And so my little brother man, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean before he became a Minami, he we stayed
Speaker 1: in contact, um, and it's unfortunate what's going on with him.
Speaker 1: And the kid loves the hoop. He loves the hoop,
Speaker 1: and I think what we're seeing right now is now
Speaker 1: that the game was taken away from him. Um, he
Speaker 1: don't know how to deal with it, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. And he came out and said that last
Speaker 1: year being hurt and trying to come back and and
Speaker 1: live up to whatever these expectations were, and he was
Speaker 1: disappointed in himself by how you know, he played last
Speaker 1: year and and and everything. But when he don't have hoop,
Speaker 1: he don't know how to to live in to navigate
Speaker 1: through this world. And that once again tells you about
Speaker 1: taking kids out of any city and you're throwing them
Speaker 1: in this big world and you expect him to be perfect,
Speaker 1: but you're not, you know what I mean. So it takes, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: it takes a lot of a lot of incidents that
Speaker 1: Diana is going through to get you to understand and
Speaker 1: to learn, and hopefully you know, he can catch it
Speaker 1: before too late, and he's not looking you know, on
Speaker 1: outside of again saying man, I just want to get
Speaker 1: back in and get another opportunity. M So hopefully you know,
Speaker 1: not only him, but hopefully the people around him can
Speaker 1: continue to keep grabbing him and letting him know that, Man,
Speaker 1: don't let this opportunity that you have slide away. You know,
Speaker 1: let's go. He's he's a hooper, man, he's one of
Speaker 1: you know, he's one of the best. When he's healthy
Speaker 1: and he's pot when he's in shape as man's right.
Speaker 1: But once again, you don't stand where you come from.
Speaker 1: It's not that easy just to say, hey, you should
Speaker 1: do X, Y and Z. That's not how he was raised,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So it's it's a it's
Speaker 1: a tough situation. I mean, you got us here, all
Speaker 1: three of us. You know you spoke to all of us. Man,
Speaker 1: you need to lean on us, lean on us because
Speaker 1: we believe you've got a lot of talent. Man, we
Speaker 1: don't want to see you waste that and control your
Speaker 1: own narrative. Don't let nobody else control your story. You
Speaker 1: control it, because they're twisting buck y'all up. Way he
Speaker 1: was away from the heat for a couple of years,
Speaker 1: How was that? Like? I know that it was different
Speaker 1: because he was one of those guys I look at,
Speaker 1: like Tim Duncan. Yeah, it's been your whole career with
Speaker 1: one team. You're gonna have a statue out front, a
Speaker 1: couple of seats on the course side of your your
Speaker 1: your name, all that, like all that. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, That's what I'm That's what I'm thinking. And
Speaker 1: it's still gonna happen. But how was that those years
Speaker 1: away from the heat. You know what Jackson, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm one of those players that should have left, right
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to be one of those players that we
Speaker 1: named the Dirks, the Kobe's, the Duncans, um. But it happened,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. And it's a lot of
Speaker 1: reasons and that it happened. But for me, actually, once
Speaker 1: it did, I made the best of you know of it.
Speaker 1: I went to Chicago, went back home, and I took
Speaker 1: a different approach. I really focused on the community in Chicago. UM.
Speaker 1: That was that was huge for me because I lost
Speaker 1: a family member a couple of days I thought, decided
Speaker 1: to go to Chicago UM and started that process of
Speaker 1: trying to help better better in that community. UM. And
Speaker 1: then from a basketball perspective, you know, I got a
Speaker 1: chance to hear my name being called. You know, I
Speaker 1: listened to I listened to Jordan, I listened to Scotty being.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what my vision and my dream to
Speaker 1: become a basketball player startist that day, that moment when
Speaker 1: I got my name called for the first time in Chicago,
Speaker 1: you know, as a Chicago and that was that was
Speaker 1: emotional for me. It was emotional for my family. So, um,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of things I take from Chicago.
Speaker 1: You know, my agent, you know, rest in peace every
Speaker 1: time has passed away throughout that Um, you know when
Speaker 1: I went to early when I went to Cleveland, but
Speaker 1: I got a chance to spend time with him for
Speaker 1: the last year, and he was a father figure to me.
Speaker 1: You know, it would have it would have hurt me
Speaker 1: been in Miami because he couldn't travel and I wouldn't
Speaker 1: been able to see him. To not be able to
Speaker 1: have that last moment and those membership, you know, it was.
Speaker 1: It's a reason why everything happens. That's what I'm trying
Speaker 1: to say, Like, you know, it is supposed to happen
Speaker 1: that way, but it is supposed to happen that way.
Speaker 1: So a lot of great things came out of my
Speaker 1: time in Chicago. Man, I see my grandma before she
Speaker 1: passed away. I got a chance to be around her.
Speaker 1: She was years old. So I got a chance to
Speaker 1: do a lot of things in my life that at
Speaker 1: this point now I would have felt a certain way about.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, not a Cleveland thing that
Speaker 1: we appreciate. Thank you, Cleveland, Thank you for making sure
Speaker 1: I got back. You know, they did me a solid.
Speaker 1: They made sure I got back where I belong, So
Speaker 1: I appreciate them. That's what's up man? That Oh three
Speaker 1: drafts you bron mellow boss. Everyone played extensive years. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you know Chris had to cut short because you know,
Speaker 1: health yments. But tell me a little bit about that group. Man.
Speaker 1: You guys accomplished a tremendous amount. All had long careers.
Speaker 1: Talk about that. That that group of four people, Man,
Speaker 1: that was fun. I mean, you guys know, when we
Speaker 1: first decided to play the game, was a lot of
Speaker 1: things said about about us joining cheating. Yeah, that they't
Speaker 1: cheat it definitely, it was it was a different It
Speaker 1: was different at that time to make that decision. You know,
Speaker 1: I think now, you know, obviously it's a little bit
Speaker 1: more accepted ten years later, but at that time it
Speaker 1: wasn't a popular choice. But I think when we're in
Speaker 1: the game, right, we played this game where they said
Speaker 1: if you don't win championships, your career is a failure,
Speaker 1: especially when you considered great. So don't don't knock us
Speaker 1: for trying to win championships, right, do what we needed.
Speaker 1: That's the point of the game, right, that's what y'all,
Speaker 1: That's what y'all made the point of the the game is, right.
Speaker 1: So now we can't have a great career if we
Speaker 1: don't win championship, which is stupid, but once you make
Speaker 1: that what it is, then they expect us to go
Speaker 1: out and try to do that. And that's what we
Speaker 1: had to do. Lebron he he wanted to fill that
Speaker 1: championship and he felt that his best opportunity to do
Speaker 1: that was with guys he knew what they was gonna
Speaker 1: bring on a nightly basis, other guys that can take
Speaker 1: a little pressure and stress off for you know him,
Speaker 1: I don't care how great you is. No one does
Speaker 1: about himself, right, So we had an opportunity at the
Speaker 1: same time and to put ourselves in position where we
Speaker 1: change the dynamics of the NBA from a player's um,
Speaker 1: you know, in position. Yeah, we put the power in
Speaker 1: the player's hand and to be you know, three young
Speaker 1: guys to make a decision we may understanding what the
Speaker 1: future would you know, hopefully be and to see it
Speaker 1: that way now, I'm so proud of you know, those
Speaker 1: three young guys at the time that to put the
Speaker 1: egos to the side and decided, Hey, we're gonna do
Speaker 1: something that's not only going to benefit us, it's gonna
Speaker 1: benefit so many others aufter us, change the whole culture. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Compare your first ring and oh six with Shock two
Speaker 1: winning back to back with Broun and Chris oh Man,
Speaker 1: big fella. So, first of all, so thankful for him, man,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think people give him enough credit
Speaker 1: what he did for yeah man, what he did from
Speaker 1: my career, what he did for the Miami organization, and
Speaker 1: what he's obviously what he's done for the game. But
Speaker 1: you know, I wouldn't be sitting here, you know, as
Speaker 1: a three times champion if I didn't play with someone
Speaker 1: that showed me, you know, how to do it daily
Speaker 1: and what a champion looks like. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So big ups the big fella UM come to Miami,
Speaker 1: just changing changing my life and changing the culture you
Speaker 1: know in Miami too. Now we're walking around without chess,
Speaker 1: spoke talks with Championship organization. UM. But that first one, man,
Speaker 1: I was young. I was twenty four years old. I
Speaker 1: was just out there just hoping, not thinking about nothing.
Speaker 1: I had guys like Gary Payton. On my team, I
Speaker 1: had guys like Jason Wall and Lantoine Walker, James Posey,
Speaker 1: like these dudes like big fellas though I mean Hall
Speaker 1: of famers, man, I don't believe with players. But they
Speaker 1: allowed me just to go out there and just play.
Speaker 1: They allowed me to be flashed, be reckless as who
Speaker 1: and they was the leaders of the team and we
Speaker 1: both we all helped each other get what we what
Speaker 1: we wanted. But I was young. I have to winning that.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Here
Speaker 1: comes every year, back next year. And then reality really
Speaker 1: set forth real early in my career. As of that,
Speaker 1: I started going through a lot of injuries. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of trades happen. And by the time I
Speaker 1: got to the Big Three or I appreciated it more understood.
Speaker 1: You know, how quickly can be taken away from you.
Speaker 1: And I always feel that once you want a championship,
Speaker 1: now it becomes harder because if you never want, you
Speaker 1: really don't know exactly what you're missing from that standpoint.
Speaker 1: But once you win, and then you go through losing seasons.
Speaker 1: We went through fifteen games where we want in the
Speaker 1: season and so forth. Now it really makes the rest
Speaker 1: of your career hard because now you know what that
Speaker 1: feeling feels like once you've been to the mountaintop. So, um,
Speaker 1: I got tired of losing. I tried to get knocked
Speaker 1: on the first round. He's going thirty at night and
Speaker 1: doing all that is cool for a while without the
Speaker 1: while He's like, wait, man, this is beating me down,
Speaker 1: and I want to I want to taste that that
Speaker 1: championship again. So for me, man, just how to make
Speaker 1: a decision that I want to be known as a
Speaker 1: great score that I want to be known as a
Speaker 1: great winner. And that decision for me was like, I
Speaker 1: want to be known as a winner, so we do
Speaker 1: whatever takes. So what was it like with that with
Speaker 1: that team? I mean, coming in with so much expectation
Speaker 1: that and uh, you know, and then when you guys
Speaker 1: started the Big Three and your first ring was with them,
Speaker 1: your second ring and then third ring. Tell me what
Speaker 1: it was like winning at the second time around with
Speaker 1: those guys, in particular with bron And because I heard
Speaker 1: Broun learned a lot from you, you know, as far
Speaker 1: as you know how how you just gave shot credit
Speaker 1: as far as we approaching the game, and winning and
Speaker 1: this is not Lebron hadn't had that up to that point.
Speaker 1: So to tell me a little bit about that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I knew that, you know, I mean, I knew
Speaker 1: he was a hell of a player. I think we
Speaker 1: all we didn't know how great he was gonna be,
Speaker 1: but we knew what great news was there. And he's
Speaker 1: continued to show as each year what greatness looks like.
Speaker 1: But for me, I took it um upon myself to
Speaker 1: try to give him the knowledge and what I was
Speaker 1: given from the guys I played with you on me
Speaker 1: that I was given from from GP and and and
Speaker 1: Shock and just those those legends. Though, I try to
Speaker 1: get that same game to to Bron, and we became
Speaker 1: insufferable in that sense, you know what I mean, because
Speaker 1: he realized he recognized that in me as well, and
Speaker 1: he respected me enough as a big brother, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, as well as competitor, that he believed that,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm I'm not gonna bullshit him, that I'm
Speaker 1: that I'm giving him real game. So you know what
Speaker 1: I appreciate now too is to watch him give others
Speaker 1: that game. You know what I mean that I know
Speaker 1: that you know, we developed in Miami and that I helped,
Speaker 1: you know, become a part of his you know, his
Speaker 1: his whole career. So um, but I was just, man,
Speaker 1: I was just thankful that he decided to team over
Speaker 1: with us, you know what I mean as well, Like
Speaker 1: he brought so much to us in our careers and um,
Speaker 1: you know we all benefited from from that. So just
Speaker 1: that run like it was, it was surreal. Bro. We
Speaker 1: got every team's best every night, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: We learned a lot about ourselves. I think early on
Speaker 1: we was getting We was not in eight when we
Speaker 1: first got together that first year, and he was coming
Speaker 1: at us, you know what I'm saying. It wasn't like
Speaker 1: even if they was afraid, they didn't show it. That
Speaker 1: afraid turned to some courage and we had to look
Speaker 1: ourselves in the mirror and be like, hold on, like
Speaker 1: are we built for this? You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Not up, they built for it because they're coming at us.
Speaker 1: And we had to show everybody that we were that
Speaker 1: we were built for your best, you know every night.
Speaker 1: So to win two championships in four years together, Um,
Speaker 1: the way we did it, um was you know, a
Speaker 1: storybook you know for us, we would love to win
Speaker 1: for but this game is too it was too good
Speaker 1: for that. Um, and we broke down alone the way
Speaker 1: as well. That last year we was mentally physically we
Speaker 1: was jazz. Yeah, it was mentally man, we was the
Speaker 1: jokes weren't funny no more in the locker room. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. We want as cool as too,
Speaker 1: We want as cool as as people in the public.
Speaker 1: Guy thought we were to each other like it just
Speaker 1: was different. We was around each other for a long time.
Speaker 1: We took a lot of scrutiny as well, and it
Speaker 1: kind of warned us a little bit, but you know,
Speaker 1: we did try to enjoy it along the way as well.
Speaker 1: It's important that the time the time you away, when
Speaker 1: you left the heat, a lot of people thought you
Speaker 1: the relationship with Pat Roddy was fractured. And then you
Speaker 1: end up coming back and doing and doing the farewell tour.
Speaker 1: Wish our relationship like now we got a great relationship.
Speaker 1: I think that that moment, I think both of us,
Speaker 1: neither one of us wish to this data that happened,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, I think we dealt with it
Speaker 1: and we talked, you know, as man and man face
Speaker 1: to face, and Pat know how I feel about it.
Speaker 1: I know I've been very open about how I feel
Speaker 1: about how all that went down. But you know, I
Speaker 1: think it ended the way they needed to. I think
Speaker 1: once I came back, I had to I had more
Speaker 1: of appreciation for the organization, had a more appreciation for
Speaker 1: the city, and I think vice versa, you know as well.
Speaker 1: So like once again that moved, probably everyone said, oh man,
Speaker 1: he should have been the life for it should never happen.
Speaker 1: But it's the best thing for all of us that
Speaker 1: to happen. Yeah, we've seen each other in a different
Speaker 1: like once I wasn't there anymore in both ways. UM,
Speaker 1: so you know everything is kosher, man. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: just I'm so happy that the successes keep. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's still going for the heat. Um. And you know,
Speaker 1: as I get away from the game and do some
Speaker 1: other things I want to do, eventually, I would love
Speaker 1: to migrate back to being a part of the organization. Um,
Speaker 1: as I figure out what my life is really gonna
Speaker 1: be about and continue to get back to that city.
Speaker 1: You know, the way that they gave to me for
Speaker 1: so many years, tell me what it was like playing
Speaker 1: with Chris and then you know him being a good
Speaker 1: guy he was and really to me probably the one
Speaker 1: that sacrificed the most out of the day free and
Speaker 1: then for him to to have his career cut short
Speaker 1: and have to leave you like, yeah, bro, CB is
Speaker 1: so talented. A lot of people understand Man like that
Speaker 1: guy like he he was the piece that made it
Speaker 1: all work and um, you know, and especially when when
Speaker 1: Bron left. Man we've seen like it was pretty much
Speaker 1: his team. He he definitely got. He definitely got the
Speaker 1: check um. But you know, just to see how talented
Speaker 1: he was, he was. You know, he was one of
Speaker 1: those guys that started this wave of big shooting threes,
Speaker 1: you know, playing on the perimeter, not banging down low
Speaker 1: just we had the guarden. We was guarding with golden statement.
Speaker 1: We know, man, the whole package. You couldn't get out
Speaker 1: must on him and play you wasself skilled, bro so skilled, fast, quick, athletic.
Speaker 1: I like his braids, like I don't you know he
Speaker 1: gets you on the ice on that wing and he
Speaker 1: gets and then he he knew how to get files.
Speaker 1: He was. He was so good. I think earlier on
Speaker 1: a lot of people called himself because he didn't play
Speaker 1: inside and he was six eleven. But later on you
Speaker 1: can see how he was a part of the game changing,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like right now, he would
Speaker 1: be killing right now, man, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So like for me, you know, I was able to
Speaker 1: walk away from the game in my whole marriage, but
Speaker 1: the game got taken away from him, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying that. And I was talking to him recently
Speaker 1: about it and he seems to be a calm with
Speaker 1: but I was like, see, you know what you would
Speaker 1: be doing right now though, And I think he's trying
Speaker 1: to move his mind away from that. But he could
Speaker 1: still be bawling right now and still be a huney
Speaker 1: million out here for him, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Because he's that kind of player. He gets the offense moving,
Speaker 1: he could shoot it um and he can ice so
Speaker 1: one on one to take you to the basket. Fin
Speaker 1: there's dunk on you all that. Like, he just had
Speaker 1: the whole package, man. So he was the piece that
Speaker 1: me and Brian relied on to make it all really
Speaker 1: work when it came to you know, the versatility of
Speaker 1: what our team really needed and an identity of like
Speaker 1: how we was going to play. You know, he came
Speaker 1: back and added that three point into his game and
Speaker 1: it changed our whole team. There's no question. What's your
Speaker 1: best member of two thousand and ten? And why the decade? Decades?
Speaker 1: Decade as a whole, Uh for from my career or
Speaker 1: just period just a decade? What you think either one? Uh,
Speaker 1: it's been a hell of a decade. Life has changed
Speaker 1: a lot in ten years. I mean a lot um
Speaker 1: from from your mid twenties to your twenty seven to
Speaker 1: thirty seven. You know, my life has changed dramatically, but
Speaker 1: just the world around us. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: Like crazy, Um how far you know it's coming? Just
Speaker 1: ten years? I'm just king years? No, I mean it
Speaker 1: was just getting popped, you know what I'm saying. Like so,
Speaker 1: Like I remember Eddie Curry was one of the first
Speaker 1: ones to introduce me Stagram and I was like, what
Speaker 1: the hell is this man? You can put pictures on?
Speaker 1: I'm like, why would I want to put pictures out?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Like it was crazy and
Speaker 1: now you know you can't. You can't do nothing without
Speaker 1: social media. Social media has become the two every everyone uses. Um,
Speaker 1: so I think it's it's been cool. I'm thankful that
Speaker 1: I'm I'm thankful that I'm older in this generation. I'm
Speaker 1: thankful that I had the experiences before this last decade, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, to set my foundation is I now try
Speaker 1: to navigate in this world. But it's the change has
Speaker 1: been amazing too. It's tough to navigating now, especially like
Speaker 1: you said, because I kind of feel, and I spoke
Speaker 1: on this before, like there used to be real veteran
Speaker 1: leadership and your o GS you can lean on the
Speaker 1: kind of you know, dodge the pit holes or stuff.
Speaker 1: They messed up. As you know with my career and
Speaker 1: all my way out, I kind of saw that was
Speaker 1: almost a dying situation. Like now the o GS is
Speaker 1: not really letting the young fellows lean them because they're
Speaker 1: fighting for playing time and contracts and all this kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. So I kind of felt like the mentorship
Speaker 1: and really like the o G s of the locker
Speaker 1: room kind of left, you know what I mean. So
Speaker 1: without that, this world with how many pitfalls now it's tough.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a tough situation. Tell me what it was like.
Speaker 1: You were one of the first and I followed you
Speaker 1: a handful of years after. But to win custody of
Speaker 1: your kids, because that normally doesn't happen for for athletes. Never. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was ever you got two people that did it. Man,
Speaker 1: your legend, bro agend, that was. That was a tough
Speaker 1: time for me because you know, when I decided to
Speaker 1: go for custody, I really didn't have a lot of examples.
Speaker 1: I ain't really have too many people I can reach
Speaker 1: out to and say, bro, like, how was the process
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, Or give me confidence that
Speaker 1: I even can you know, send a chance? Um So
Speaker 1: I think for me, man, it was it was. It
Speaker 1: was on charter of warders. But you know, it was
Speaker 1: all about just being in my kids lives. And unfortunately
Speaker 1: that was the way I had to do it, you know,
Speaker 1: because of my how our relationship went. But um, once
Speaker 1: I got that opportunity to be there, you know more,
Speaker 1: I think it was beneficial for both of us. I
Speaker 1: needed them and they needed me, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And and just even now you know I got Zers.
Speaker 1: You know, he's a basketball player and he's trying to
Speaker 1: navigate through this world of you know, of having his
Speaker 1: father's last name. That's it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: If I had his father and looking like me a
Speaker 1: little bit, and people having expectations of how he should be,
Speaker 1: what he should be, you know what I mean, And
Speaker 1: like that's been tough, you know, as a parents and
Speaker 1: trying to have him to navigate, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I think I can give him all the game in
Speaker 1: the world, but Awesomeately, I've never lived that way that
Speaker 1: he's living. I never I didn't grow up as with
Speaker 1: a famous dad and a famous stepmother and and it
Speaker 1: just means and it means to We're talked about this
Speaker 1: at All Star in l A. When I introduced you
Speaker 1: to my son and you introduced you and they both
Speaker 1: was like real, real shot. He was like, bro, they
Speaker 1: didn't come up like we're coming up. We're trying to
Speaker 1: make him tough. But now look at your son and switched.
Speaker 1: Now like he a totally different player than when when
Speaker 1: the All Star Games in l A. He totally different. Now, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's totally different. And I mean the biggest thing is
Speaker 1: we talked about this, and I think you hear brown
Speaker 1: even said that what Browne is you want him to
Speaker 1: have fun game would be a great team for me.
Speaker 1: It's all about I understand what basketball did you know
Speaker 1: from for our family, But you know, we learned so
Speaker 1: much through life through the game of basketball and for me.
Speaker 1: As you're playing this game, you know, if you have
Speaker 1: to work at this, if you have you know, you know,
Speaker 1: if you have the foresight to understand what sacrifice looks
Speaker 1: like and all these different things, You're gonna be better
Speaker 1: in life for it. These are life lessons at the
Speaker 1: game of basketball is teaching you. And I put them
Speaker 1: in a tough situation this year where I brought him
Speaker 1: out here to l A to play a Sierra Canon.
Speaker 1: You know, he comes from Miami where he's on the
Speaker 1: team where he can score right right, he's on the
Speaker 1: team now where he may touch the ball officially five
Speaker 1: six times to score, you know. And you're in the
Speaker 1: era now where with socially, every kid got all the highlights,
Speaker 1: all the moves, and everyone has the ball in the hand.
Speaker 1: And I'm trying to tell him, if you want to
Speaker 1: be good in this game, you gotta learn how to
Speaker 1: play without the ball in your hand. You gotta learn
Speaker 1: how to sacrifice. You gotta learn how. And it's tough,
Speaker 1: and it senior season. But what I'm trying to do mentally,
Speaker 1: is build something to him, um as a basketball player,
Speaker 1: but also in life. There's understanding what life is about.
Speaker 1: It's not just you know about I got it, I
Speaker 1: got it is me, me, me, so many other components
Speaker 1: to making life successful. And so I'm just trying to
Speaker 1: teach him as many lessons I can before he goes
Speaker 1: off next year and go to college. And it ain't
Speaker 1: on me, you know. So yeah, man, I want to
Speaker 1: backtrack a little bit. What was it like to go
Speaker 1: from I don't know how much you got to see
Speaker 1: your kids before you got CUSSID to just having them
Speaker 1: all the time, Because I went through it, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean while I went through where I was, you know,
Speaker 1: seeing them on weekends or every other Wednesday there with
Speaker 1: me seven days a week. That's a huge transition transition
Speaker 1: and then trying to be playing an NBA right talk
Speaker 1: about that. Yeah, it was, it was. It was definitely
Speaker 1: a tough transition for you know, it's tough in the
Speaker 1: weekend paring. First. First of all, when you get your
Speaker 1: kids on the weekend, they want to have fun. You
Speaker 1: gotta be the fun parent, but you're also trying to
Speaker 1: parent them. You know what I'm saying, that's one of
Speaker 1: the toughest things to do. So but is it easy
Speaker 1: or job when it comes to the responsibilities when you
Speaker 1: get them for a time? Is this everything started? I
Speaker 1: started thinking about all the responsibilities that I now had,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying for them, And it was
Speaker 1: a simple stuff like, you know, they weren't here for
Speaker 1: the weekend and now they stand. So now I'm like, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: what kind of bears they need? What what kind of
Speaker 1: cheese they need? What kind of thing? Like, I gotta
Speaker 1: everything closed it is. They had all the stuff I
Speaker 1: need to teach them now, and so it was at
Speaker 1: first it was like, you know, I want custom and
Speaker 1: I was just you know, I had an emotional moment,
Speaker 1: and then it snapped back into me that I had
Speaker 1: so much to teach them, and I had so much
Speaker 1: responsibility coming my way, and I had to put so
Speaker 1: many people around them. You know that I need to
Speaker 1: find people to trust to put around my kids because
Speaker 1: of my job and my career takes me away from
Speaker 1: being around So man, it's definitely tough. It's not easy
Speaker 1: at all being a single parent, and neither way it's
Speaker 1: not an easy thing. But ultimately, you know you're gonna
Speaker 1: do what's best for for your kids. And I got
Speaker 1: told my boys. We learned on the fly, we learned together.
Speaker 1: I've learned how to parent you guys by how you
Speaker 1: guys are. I'm not gonna parent you the same. You
Speaker 1: know you're not the same, right, Um. They don't expect that.
Speaker 1: And I try to parent each of my kids differently. UM.
Speaker 1: I support them differently. Um. And so far as working,
Speaker 1: I don't think it stays the same as the love.
Speaker 1: The love is there, That's what I'm saying that, and
Speaker 1: that's what it's most important. Man. I your love. You know,
Speaker 1: we we we've seen and recently the social media stuff
Speaker 1: and you know how supportive you are with your youngest
Speaker 1: son and and him feeling comfortable enough to come out,
Speaker 1: and you guys being so loving and supporting. And it
Speaker 1: gives me chills right now even talking about it, because
Speaker 1: the negative backlast you guys like really bothered me. Like
Speaker 1: I'm on social media argument people like, man, what the
Speaker 1: funk are you talking about? Right now? You know what
Speaker 1: I mean? Like that unconditional love, but but touch on
Speaker 1: what that is like being a professional Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: player playing in a masculine sport, and then your son
Speaker 1: being a homosexual, and and then being comfortable enough to
Speaker 1: have that kind of communication with at such a young age,
Speaker 1: which I think it's important. Yeah, it's first of all,
Speaker 1: I you're don't talk about strength and courage. You have
Speaker 1: way more than I have, you know, I mean you
Speaker 1: can learn something from your kids, right, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: but in our household, man, that's all we talk about.
Speaker 1: We talk about making sure our kids be seen by
Speaker 1: each of us. Um, me and my wife. You know,
Speaker 1: we talked about making sure our kids, you know, understand
Speaker 1: that they're you know, the power in their voice, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, we want them to to be whoever they
Speaker 1: feel that they can be in this world. Like that's
Speaker 1: how I go. You know, understand you can be whoever,
Speaker 1: you can be whatever. Now, there's some things that's gonna
Speaker 1: you know, why are you trying to go down that process?
Speaker 1: This is what's gonna come at. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of negative, it's gonna be a lot of hate,
Speaker 1: and it's not even just from my son's sexuality. It's
Speaker 1: just about being a young black man or first foremost right,
Speaker 1: So everything that comes with that So for us, man,
Speaker 1: I don't when I respond to things socially, I'm not
Speaker 1: responding because you hurt my feelings. I'm not responding because
Speaker 1: that I even care enough of what you're saying, because it's,
Speaker 1: as we say in the hood, is ignorant. While responding
Speaker 1: is because I understand my platform. I understand that I'm
Speaker 1: speaking for a lot of people that don't have the
Speaker 1: same voice that I had right as a father, um
Speaker 1: or you know, I'm even speaking for my twolve year
Speaker 1: old right now because I haven't allowed him to sit
Speaker 1: in front of a microphone yet. But I'm speaking for,
Speaker 1: you know, for so many others you know, you know
Speaker 1: in the l g B, t Q plus can unity.
Speaker 1: So for me, man, like I said, it's just it's
Speaker 1: just my my my version of supporting. Like you know,
Speaker 1: I had to look at myself in the mirror when
Speaker 1: my when when my son at the time was three
Speaker 1: years old and me and my wife's are having conversations
Speaker 1: about you know, us noticing that you know, he wasn't
Speaker 1: on the boy vibe as I er was on, and
Speaker 1: I had to look at myself and her and say, whatever,
Speaker 1: your son come home and tell you he's gay. What
Speaker 1: what are you gonna do, How are you going to be?
Speaker 1: How are you going to act? It ain't about him,
Speaker 1: he knows who he is. It's about you. Who are you?
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. So all these people that's
Speaker 1: out there saying those things, look at yourself. Understand that
Speaker 1: you're the one that got the issues. You do one
Speaker 1: got the problem. It's not the kids. It's not the
Speaker 1: ones who decide that. You decide that, Yeah, they're born
Speaker 1: a certain way, and you say they got to be
Speaker 1: that way. It's not. That's not That's not life. Man.
Speaker 1: I watched my son from day one becoming to who
Speaker 1: she now eventually is coming to you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And for me, it's all about nothing changes with my love,
Speaker 1: nothing changed with my responsibilities, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So one day I gotta do now is get smarter
Speaker 1: and educate myself more. And that's my job. And I
Speaker 1: went through it, you know, growing up. My oldest brother's homosexual.
Speaker 1: And but I think me being around him and understanding different,
Speaker 1: being different is the reason why I'm so loved by everybody.
Speaker 1: It's the reason why I'm able to sit and have
Speaker 1: a conversation with everybody from anywhere, any race, and and
Speaker 1: be anywhere, because I've seen somebody being different, and I
Speaker 1: loved him just as much as I love myself, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. So so I understand that. And
Speaker 1: and like my brother, he dealt with a growing up.
Speaker 1: We grew up in the hood, so he dealt with
Speaker 1: a growing up. But my brother's six square, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, he loved a square. He square. But but
Speaker 1: I love my brother to death. And by him being
Speaker 1: different and being around him as a young kid, it
Speaker 1: helped me be able to open up to everybody and
Speaker 1: to love everybody like I do. So it was beneficial
Speaker 1: to me, not even just more as just wills to him.
Speaker 1: People this is They're normal. They're not even different, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. That's new normal. Everybody get used
Speaker 1: to Everybody get used to it. Man, this is the
Speaker 1: new normal. So if anybody different, we we looked at
Speaker 1: as different, you know what I'm saying. The ones that
Speaker 1: don't understand it, the ones that don't get it, the
Speaker 1: ones that you know, have stuck in a box. You're different.
Speaker 1: Not the people out here living their lives, man, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. Like, ultimately, you want your kids
Speaker 1: to be free and living their lives and I don't care.
Speaker 1: You know what you you know what you want to
Speaker 1: do from a standpoint. If you want to play a sport,
Speaker 1: then player sport. I don't. You don't have to be
Speaker 1: like me players sport and be yourself. You know, whatever
Speaker 1: you want to do, it's my job to support you
Speaker 1: doing and make sure that you that you have all
Speaker 1: the twos you need to be. You know, it's happy
Speaker 1: as you can't be in this worldwide where you're doing it.
Speaker 1: Why you you know, um, you know why you're going
Speaker 1: into the person that you are that you're going to
Speaker 1: grow into. UM. So they're not different than normal, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. The ones that don't understand it
Speaker 1: are the ones that everybody definitely look at them. And
Speaker 1: we just wanted to commend you on on just taking
Speaker 1: that head on. And like you said, it's more about
Speaker 1: your platform and being able to educate you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, because obviously you touched on early on is
Speaker 1: it's a tough pill to swallow, but the love and
Speaker 1: support you showed is tremendous. First of all, foremost, like
Speaker 1: you said, being a black child, man or woman in
Speaker 1: this country is hard enough, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: and then adding that component to him. But I think
Speaker 1: that the effort you guys showed as a family and
Speaker 1: the unity and the love and the family was huge, man,
Speaker 1: was huge and needed it because, like you said, there's
Speaker 1: plenty of other people going through it having to pretend
Speaker 1: who being someone they're not or scared to speak out
Speaker 1: or can't speak out. And when people like you went
Speaker 1: with your platform and your wife's platform are able to
Speaker 1: show unity, I think that goes a long way. Man. Really,
Speaker 1: my wife has been amazing by the way. You know,
Speaker 1: I mean I could say that I'm I am the
Speaker 1: man I am from that standpoint because being around someone
Speaker 1: who's been so cultured, you know what I mean that
Speaker 1: that when she came in, she let me, she gave
Speaker 1: me some different leads is to look through of life
Speaker 1: and change my whole perspective, you know, I mean, I
Speaker 1: grew up with the same perspective. Is a lot of
Speaker 1: these people out here that's a lot ignorant, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, I grew up with all the perspective right,
Speaker 1: and you meet people on the way to help you
Speaker 1: take those glass is often put on some different ones,
Speaker 1: you know, what I mean, look through life through a
Speaker 1: different lens. And that's what my wife has been able
Speaker 1: to do. So it's been cool. Man, she makes you better.
Speaker 1: It's a good thing to have somebody around everything. Man
Speaker 1: is a great woman, there's no question about that. We're
Speaker 1: speaking on your wife. Tell us what it's like having
Speaker 1: such a public relationship. You know, obviously we want to
Speaker 1: keep as much stuff private, but when you have a
Speaker 1: superstar movie wife and a superstar NBA player, the good,
Speaker 1: bad and in between, it's going to be publicized. Tell
Speaker 1: me how you guys navigate through that and and hold
Speaker 1: a common you know strength. It's been tough at times.
Speaker 1: You can lie to you. She ain't been easy, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. I think ultimately for us, you know,
Speaker 1: we both love each other. We both are committed to
Speaker 1: supporting each other. So we figured out. But it's definitely
Speaker 1: times where um, you know we have to you know,
Speaker 1: we have to go through the ship together. Um. But
Speaker 1: you guys, see, man, my wife is very outspoken. She's
Speaker 1: a real one. She's not ain't not none of that
Speaker 1: is for show. That's who she is. Everybody knows it.
Speaker 1: You know, one thing you know about guys, she is
Speaker 1: who she is. Um, so she's helped me grow up,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying in a lot of errors.
Speaker 1: But you know, I support her, you know, and I
Speaker 1: think for me early on to just something simple as
Speaker 1: I had to be okay with supporting her as an
Speaker 1: actress first because like I got with as an actress.
Speaker 1: But then it gets real when you start seeing those
Speaker 1: sexual scenes, You're like, hold on, hold on. Before ghost
Speaker 1: was got being Mary Jane wife, now I was like,
Speaker 1: oh player, but then he became ghosts. I don't mess
Speaker 1: with him. Uh but yeah, man, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So I think I've grown so much just about being
Speaker 1: in a relationship with this woman. Man. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: she's somebody who I feel like, you know, you can
Speaker 1: help the world change, you know, I mean, she can
Speaker 1: definitely change the world. She has it in her. So
Speaker 1: it's been cool watching her grow into you know, who
Speaker 1: she's become as well, and and understanding alone the way
Speaker 1: like even though you know we have a public relationship,
Speaker 1: you know, we definitely try to keep on individual brands,
Speaker 1: you know, going and and then we understand the right
Speaker 1: time to bring it together, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Like just like the getor ready to added we had
Speaker 1: and we got another coming out soon. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: And we bring it together the right way, but we
Speaker 1: also keep it separate, you know in a sense as well,
Speaker 1: because you know, Mama got to pay half on a
Speaker 1: lot of things. You were half and half over on
Speaker 1: the side. And remember that agreement we talked. Tell me
Speaker 1: what it's like to because it's almost like a roll
Speaker 1: reverse on off. Can We spoke about how as soon
Speaker 1: as you were retired, it's time to move to l
Speaker 1: A and that's probably because you need to support her
Speaker 1: and her movement. Now, tell me what that adjustment was,
Speaker 1: liking what that situation was. Well, you know what, it
Speaker 1: wasn't as easy as I probably have made it look um,
Speaker 1: But you know, I think about this. You know, for
Speaker 1: the last let's eight to ten years, my wife has
Speaker 1: been flying to Miami every weekend. She works five days
Speaker 1: a week. She fled to Miami every weekend and make
Speaker 1: sure the family is you know, make sure we're good.
Speaker 1: You know, she's been doing that a week out the
Speaker 1: week out the week for years. So when it was
Speaker 1: time for me to to to now it's time for
Speaker 1: you to support you know, it was like, hey, leave
Speaker 1: what you leave your comfort zone and you know, bring
Speaker 1: your ass to l A. But know, my wife's career
Speaker 1: is here, my daughter's here, you know. Um And for me,
Speaker 1: it was just like sitting down thinking about each of
Speaker 1: my kids and I'm like, all right, how can each
Speaker 1: one of them benefit? Um here, I have a six
Speaker 1: year old son who lives here. How can he benefit
Speaker 1: for me being here? And then how can my career
Speaker 1: benefit for me being here? And you know it all
Speaker 1: signs pointed up, so it was it actually became an
Speaker 1: easy decision from the standpoint of the next phase of
Speaker 1: my life. Um, you know, to to make that move.
Speaker 1: But everyone saying, how can you leave Wade County? How
Speaker 1: can you That's that's always gonna be there, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. But you know, my home is what
Speaker 1: my family is. My family is here, so you know,
Speaker 1: right now, you know we're forging forward. You know what
Speaker 1: this side gonna look like. And anytime I'm ready to
Speaker 1: go back to Miami to get that way kind of love,
Speaker 1: I get on the plane, hop back and go do
Speaker 1: what I need to do. I mean it could be worse.
Speaker 1: I mean, l A, I mean it could be a
Speaker 1: lot worse. She's telling you that you got to go
Speaker 1: move to Milwaukee to Memphis. You gotta move to Hollywood
Speaker 1: with me, baby. So I think that's cool. Let's go
Speaker 1: back to desire. Um, I know it's kind of hard.
Speaker 1: I have two sons too, like we talked about, and
Speaker 1: it's hard to put high expectations or your son at
Speaker 1: this act because, like I said, you want them to
Speaker 1: have fun. You want them to grow up and be
Speaker 1: their own man. Um, do you have any expectation to
Speaker 1: them and playing with Brownnie? You know, I know you
Speaker 1: love that you're being able to sit the courtside with
Speaker 1: Lebron and cheer on your boys talk. Let's talk about that. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: First of all, that's the fun part of him. Man,
Speaker 1: his parents make a decision like hey, you know, when
Speaker 1: I knew I was moving out to l A and
Speaker 1: brown on the phone just talked about, you know, both
Speaker 1: of our kids and where they was at. I think
Speaker 1: Brownie was at Cross Worlds at the time. We both
Speaker 1: talked about it. And to be able to make a
Speaker 1: decision that, you know, let's it's a basketball decision for
Speaker 1: us as a family is a senior um to put
Speaker 1: them together, you know, to do something special. Other players
Speaker 1: joining that's very talented was Zarya Williams and um, you
Speaker 1: know Brandon Boston over there, I mean as well and
Speaker 1: other kids. It was like, yo, this is a great
Speaker 1: this is a great time to be a dad's right,
Speaker 1: right for both of us. And you know, as you
Speaker 1: see him on the sideline, you see me on the sideline.
Speaker 1: We get into it, and then we get into it
Speaker 1: from a fan perspective, man, and just support the parents
Speaker 1: perspective as well. We crazy his head on that sideline
Speaker 1: just like the rest of the parents in the world.
Speaker 1: Just because we played the sport. I don't mean we
Speaker 1: you know, we're not just like everyone else. So that's
Speaker 1: been cool, you know, from that from the respect to
Speaker 1: be able to to to to create a memory for
Speaker 1: those guys, this is the moment that's happening for them.
Speaker 1: They on ESPN and all this cool right right, more
Speaker 1: than NBA teams, they're getting exposure daily. Um, and it's
Speaker 1: tough because they got to navigate it. But you know,
Speaker 1: we're trying to prepare them for the for the for
Speaker 1: the next level um of college and once they reached
Speaker 1: this real world. So um, it's been cool as well. Man,
Speaker 1: kind of advice, your gift to him, I think from
Speaker 1: a basketball perspective, you know, as I talked about, it's
Speaker 1: very something to my dad. You know, I want you
Speaker 1: to be You have to make sure you put yourself
Speaker 1: in a position where a coach always feel like you
Speaker 1: deserve to be on the floor. I'm not. Don't never
Speaker 1: be one dimensional, you know what I mean. Have multifacets
Speaker 1: to your game. Um, And I think that's one thing
Speaker 1: he's developed right now. Like what I love about what
Speaker 1: my son is doing is defensively, he's turned into a
Speaker 1: good defender, you know. I mean he's changing the game
Speaker 1: to inastially when he gets in. Uh. That's the stuff
Speaker 1: I care about more so than the dunks in the highlights.
Speaker 1: So and my advice to him, man, it's you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like you're finding like who you are?
Speaker 1: Find you know what I'm saying, and find like your
Speaker 1: purpose and playing this game? Why are you playing? That's
Speaker 1: why I act like I said, why are you playing
Speaker 1: this game? Because I don't want you to play because
Speaker 1: your dad plays, because the world spect you to what's
Speaker 1: your reasons? So find your wife, find your purpose of
Speaker 1: why you play this game? And you know If it's
Speaker 1: for the right reasons, then keep going. If it's for
Speaker 1: the wrong reasons, then let's sit on and let's talk
Speaker 1: about it. Because you only play this game, you know,
Speaker 1: for for you know, for you. You're not playing this
Speaker 1: game for me. You playing this game for that year.
Speaker 1: So I just love that he's enjoying it, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And wherever it takes him, um, it's
Speaker 1: going to take him to his right path, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. What's up now? What the power and
Speaker 1: influence that social media have and you being who you are,
Speaker 1: your wife being who she is, does that concern you
Speaker 1: about your kids? You know, like you said, your youngerselves
Speaker 1: not known in yet, but but but being a part
Speaker 1: of it because it can be such a nasty area
Speaker 1: and some kids really get lost in it. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: definitely concerns you. You try to keep them off social
Speaker 1: media as long as possible, but that's that this the world, right,
Speaker 1: So I think we try to help them navigate how
Speaker 1: the world's going to be. Like, you know, it's only
Speaker 1: so long you can keep it from to keep the
Speaker 1: real world from because it's coming, and you know, and
Speaker 1: I think our job is to help them navigate through it.
Speaker 1: You know, when it comes to comments, you can't have
Speaker 1: comments from kids. They're gonna read them, or they their
Speaker 1: friends gonna tell them more. Someone's gonna make sure they know.
Speaker 1: So for us, it's about every time they go through
Speaker 1: you know, something that's been sad, is something they can't
Speaker 1: do with is our job as parents to parent them
Speaker 1: and help them through it and not hide them from
Speaker 1: what the world is. You know what I mean, the
Speaker 1: worst thing to do is to call them, call them,
Speaker 1: call them, and then now you gotta let them out
Speaker 1: to the world, and they don't know how to navigate. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we grew up talking about we have street smarts,
Speaker 1: but there's gonna be a little different. They got to
Speaker 1: be street smarts, but life smarts. So we're trying to
Speaker 1: teach them how to navigate through life. Now. It almost
Speaker 1: like you kind of the Thanksgiving social media post you
Speaker 1: guys made, it's kind of what's kind of like the
Speaker 1: welcoming and more of it made a splash. Although you
Speaker 1: guys did the Pride parade in Miami, the social media
Speaker 1: post on Thanksgiving, it's kind of what splashed the world.
Speaker 1: So with the positive and the negative feedback was there
Speaker 1: a conversation amongst the family because everyone kind of came out.
Speaker 1: I saw Zayr made a post, you obviously spoke on
Speaker 1: and gave me spoke on. It was there like a
Speaker 1: family coming together with that before you guys kind of
Speaker 1: spoke your piece. When I've seen that. When I seen
Speaker 1: Zaire's post, I loved it, you know, saying as a
Speaker 1: big brother, Oh he dropped sixteen, let me get my sixteen.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. I loved it. And you
Speaker 1: know that I found it about supporting each other's right.
Speaker 1: No matter don't matter together this so we're all about
Speaker 1: supporting each other. So when I've seen that, as as
Speaker 1: as big brother, I loved it. Man, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Um, you know, I just keep you know,
Speaker 1: I keep telling my kids. You know they're going to
Speaker 1: make mistakes in life, but I keep telling how proud
Speaker 1: I am of them because you know, they're growing, you know,
Speaker 1: into who they want to be. And it's hard in
Speaker 1: this world to navigate and be who you are because
Speaker 1: so many people is putting off this energy of who
Speaker 1: they think you're supposed to be. And you know, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to keep that away from them. And and show
Speaker 1: each one of them to be you and make everybody
Speaker 1: else figure it out around you and on your side
Speaker 1: supposed to you look me a lot of your peers
Speaker 1: on the propping them up. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: a lot of you. I'm down with you Brown that
Speaker 1: I look man, And the love and support from you know,
Speaker 1: send this NBA community. First of all, you know your
Speaker 1: brother's it's been incredible. It's been dope. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. Um, you know, so I appreciate it. And
Speaker 1: we went to smoke too, so you know if you
Speaker 1: need it already know already listening, pulling up to go
Speaker 1: back to what you said. I mean, you know, man,
Speaker 1: it's like me and my wife is we have such
Speaker 1: a public life, but then we have moments where you know,
Speaker 1: we saw each other the movies, right, you know, we
Speaker 1: walk up as y'all you and your ladies, me and
Speaker 1: my lady, and we just try to be normal people,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. And you know that's the
Speaker 1: that's the one thing I like about l A to us,
Speaker 1: you run into it more, yeah, you see it more.
Speaker 1: So I've been able to try to enjoy a normal life,
Speaker 1: you know, in this Hollywood. It's crazy, but we try
Speaker 1: to have those moments. What we're just doing regular ship.
Speaker 1: People looking at it like, what is that them? Standing
Speaker 1: on previous shows? People think because you know, we were
Speaker 1: highly paid athletes and that that we're not human, We
Speaker 1: don't have feelings, you don't have emotions, were not regular.
Speaker 1: We're regular as people, regular people regularly. We was at
Speaker 1: the movies one time and him and Gabby came in
Speaker 1: and Gabby yelled my name across the whole movie. Nice,
Speaker 1: what's up? But it's just you know, it's like he said,
Speaker 1: it's just regularness that that that people don't think we have.
Speaker 1: But we definitely do. Sure, definitely do. Let's talk a
Speaker 1: little bit of NBA. What do you think of the game,
Speaker 1: because it's so much different now from when you came
Speaker 1: in the game where this it was you know, they
Speaker 1: were allowed to play some defense and it was more
Speaker 1: transition and this isn't that you can hopste up Yeah,
Speaker 1: used to used to kill. I think his his biggest
Speaker 1: thing to me was rejecting the pick. And we knew
Speaker 1: in the scattering port he's going to reject the pick.
Speaker 1: Stay like that is still because if he goes over.
Speaker 1: He's going down here regards. But if you jump too high,
Speaker 1: he's gonna cross over and go based on it, dunk
Speaker 1: that bit and force them to the pick. And you
Speaker 1: can never force them to the pit. But anyway, just
Speaker 1: the future that the game and how it's changed from
Speaker 1: the time you were making, you know, doing what you
Speaker 1: do to what it is now. Well you got those
Speaker 1: way different, way different, right, I mean it changed multiple
Speaker 1: times in my career. Um, So I'm not one of
Speaker 1: those guys, even though it's still I'm still fresh and
Speaker 1: just left the game, But I'm not one of those
Speaker 1: guys that feel like, oh, they need to play the
Speaker 1: way we played. It needs to you know, the world
Speaker 1: changes and you have to evolve with it, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. So the game is evolved. You know
Speaker 1: the rules have changed, um, and you know it's allowed
Speaker 1: guys to have more freedom to be more creative. Um.
Speaker 1: You know. I mean you see a guy like James,
Speaker 1: the numbers he putting up, and it's not that they're
Speaker 1: doing something that guys haven't done. I mean, I was Cobe,
Speaker 1: Kobe put up a string like that, MJ put up
Speaker 1: a stream. It doesn't matter, you know, I'm saying the
Speaker 1: way the style was, and I just feel like allowed
Speaker 1: them to be them, allowed them to make to create
Speaker 1: their own you know, uh portrait, you know, and they
Speaker 1: got a blank canvas. Let them trig with their stories,
Speaker 1: going to be in their generation. Um So, I love it.
Speaker 1: I support it. Um you know, I feel like we
Speaker 1: all set you know bars, you know, records are set
Speaker 1: as a bar, and that bar set for the next
Speaker 1: person to come and jump over it. You know, it's
Speaker 1: the only way that you know, in our community, we're
Speaker 1: going to succeed if we set bars allowed and and
Speaker 1: and have the next generation keep jumping over. So you know,
Speaker 1: these guys are trying to jump over the bars that
Speaker 1: was set by the guys before them. They're just doing
Speaker 1: it in a different way, and there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 1: Who were some of the younger players you enjoy watching
Speaker 1: these days? Um So, obviously one of my favorites is
Speaker 1: DeAngelo Way, Way, shout out there, Way, the first athletes
Speaker 1: that touch on that. Well, I love a kid, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like he's I love him one too.
Speaker 1: He's not perfect. Boom, Let's get that out the way now,
Speaker 1: we know that made mistakes. Cool. I like him I
Speaker 1: want nobody that's perfect right back from him, right. He's
Speaker 1: the hell of a basketball player, the fashionable kid. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, it really got his mind in the right
Speaker 1: place when it comes to what you want to build.
Speaker 1: He has a vision for himself. So you know, when
Speaker 1: I sat down with him, I was like, this is
Speaker 1: a person I wanted to leave my brand. Um and
Speaker 1: I had the honor to be able to do that.
Speaker 1: So it's cool for me. Man. You know, obviously he's
Speaker 1: one of my my favorite players. But you know, I
Speaker 1: love a lot of the young guys. I mean, Devin
Speaker 1: Booker is one of my favorite. Love Devin, um um.
Speaker 1: I love the new guys like m John Morant, Monster
Speaker 1: Boy can go um um, Luca, I love Luca look,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's something. Just the numbers that Lucas
Speaker 1: is putting up at the unbelievable. It's crazy. But Jaren
Speaker 1: Jackson is one of my favorite I love that. I
Speaker 1: love just seeing his growth so far. Another night, the
Speaker 1: kid hit nine threes, big man coming in shooting a
Speaker 1: couple here. Now you hit nine threes. Uh, Well, So
Speaker 1: there's so many young you other young guys like dearon
Speaker 1: Fox and I really really like, I love the potential
Speaker 1: of dear and you know, I'm me like, if he
Speaker 1: reaches his potential, the sky's the limits of Donovan Mitchell.
Speaker 1: You know that's my young What I love about Donovan
Speaker 1: Donovan that he have Donovan to texts me two in
Speaker 1: the morning, ask me anything and he's like, hey, d
Speaker 1: I need you. Can you watch this film? Can you
Speaker 1: send me some notes? Like he do anything? And I
Speaker 1: love that he reaches out and use their resource. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. See someone that's someone that reminds
Speaker 1: me of you very someone that I mean, do you
Speaker 1: agree with that is or anything else in the league?
Speaker 1: Do you think because to me when I saw him
Speaker 1: players like damn, this is another d way. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree with you got when I look at him and
Speaker 1: see certain things, it's like it's like that means saying
Speaker 1: myself right and you tell oh, ship, Yeah, definitely, I
Speaker 1: love that kid, you know what I'm saying that. But
Speaker 1: what what I love most abut him and he's not
Speaker 1: shying to reach out naxt. Now you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: You you're getting this place sometimes when you feel like
Speaker 1: I got all answers or you know, I don't want
Speaker 1: to feel like I need anybody Like the kid. He
Speaker 1: reaches out and he asks all kind of questions you
Speaker 1: no matter what time I let him know, like you know,
Speaker 1: my line is open anytime I can help you navigate
Speaker 1: through this um So, you know, he's definitely one of
Speaker 1: my favorite people. Also, it's one of my favorite players.
Speaker 1: So it's a it's a longless I love the talent
Speaker 1: of these young guys. Now they have to reach that,
Speaker 1: you know, the what the pressure that we that we
Speaker 1: put on them or who's going to be the next star?
Speaker 1: I mean, but I love it Like zach Lavine. I
Speaker 1: love zach Lavinia, you know what I mean. He got game.
Speaker 1: These kids got they can. I don't mean to call
Speaker 1: your kids they men. Yeah, but like these young men
Speaker 1: they can, they can go. It's just about, you know,
Speaker 1: saying somebody around them that can help them all reach
Speaker 1: their potential to see who's going to be the next grade.
Speaker 1: You touched on Donovan Mitchell reaching out to any other
Speaker 1: players leaning on you because I know Kobe has an
Speaker 1: open window and open door policy with that, have more
Speaker 1: players reached out to you as well well? A lot
Speaker 1: of guys that you know, I host a camp in
Speaker 1: the summers, you know for guys um where it's called
Speaker 1: the invite and I invite UM. You know, multiple guys
Speaker 1: that come to my camp and we kind of have
Speaker 1: that moment where we sit and talk about business. Um.
Speaker 1: I like to talk about my pitfalls and you know,
Speaker 1: my successes. Um, we talk about the game. You know.
Speaker 1: So you know I had a lot of the young guys.
Speaker 1: You know, Cody White was there, Colin Sacks was there. Uh,
Speaker 1: some of the young guys like Devin and some of
Speaker 1: these guys, younger guys was there. Like it's just cool
Speaker 1: to be able to pass down, you know, the information
Speaker 1: knowledge that you learned throughout this game. So I've been
Speaker 1: doing it for two years and I'm excited to keep
Speaker 1: it going. So definitely, guys reach out all the time.
Speaker 1: They're not as shy as like I probably were when
Speaker 1: I came in. It was just a different it was
Speaker 1: a different Yeah, I want to ask nobody nothing because
Speaker 1: the vets they want to trying to message you like that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it's just it's a different day, man. So it's
Speaker 1: cool to be a part of being like one of
Speaker 1: the vets that they feel they can reach out to.
Speaker 1: It's the question I wanted to ask you give me
Speaker 1: five of your most underrated players you played against that
Speaker 1: I played again? Underrated. We know all the good players
Speaker 1: you played again, that's a damn five. Uh that was underrated,
Speaker 1: joo one of I mean, it's a Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: to me. But Chauncey Billups, big shot, very underrated bro So,
Speaker 1: the rated, perfect piece for that team. Hated guarding him.
Speaker 1: Um he just he just had a knack for those
Speaker 1: always under control, always under controled. I love you, but
Speaker 1: I hated Chauncey bro as a competitor. Um So. He
Speaker 1: definitely was one of my top five underrated players I
Speaker 1: played against. Um so many many players. I'm going back
Speaker 1: to the beginning of my career too. I'm just trying
Speaker 1: to go back. I need some names. I got Baron Davis. Oh, well,
Speaker 1: everybody know my bads. Beat helped me become the player
Speaker 1: that I became. Early, very early, gave me everything I wanted.
Speaker 1: But I grew up. I had to grow a fast.
Speaker 1: You grew up past I had to. I had to
Speaker 1: take them diapers off early. Yeah. Yeah, b D definitely
Speaker 1: loved b D. I mean, he's one of those players
Speaker 1: that unfortunately had to deal with injuries kind of like me.
Speaker 1: But you know certain players you like man and they
Speaker 1: didn't have to deal with it. If what if you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, we got a chance. We saw
Speaker 1: primetime b D you know, early on, but with that
Speaker 1: we believe Bearing was unbelievable. He was the best player,
Speaker 1: hands down, and I'm just like guy and he was
Speaker 1: still dragging one leg and back back and so if
Speaker 1: he was, if it was that goes stay b D.
Speaker 1: When you get oh man, that was that was one
Speaker 1: of my That was one of the most exciting teams
Speaker 1: to watch. Bro never know what to expect out of y'all,
Speaker 1: but we got a dot coming listened, sign me up
Speaker 1: right away, im there. I mean that that was amazing
Speaker 1: with b D at that time to like you said,
Speaker 1: dragging one leg at times just some monster dog and
Speaker 1: to this day and he could still get buckets one
Speaker 1: mad still get buckets on your slow motion, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. So he's definitely one of them for
Speaker 1: me as well. Paper teammates my favorite teammates for different reasons. Um,
Speaker 1: obviously everyone knows you. D is my favorite teammate of
Speaker 1: course Mr Miami, Mr three oh five, The real three
Speaker 1: oh five. You save me a lot of money on fines. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're riding here, riding. He don't check them outledge, he
Speaker 1: just ride. He wouldn't even let me pay for him neither.
Speaker 1: Uh do. Um. One of my favorite teammates was Channing
Speaker 1: Friday when I went to Cleveland. Actually, he's funny, funny,
Speaker 1: one of my favorite teammates, one of my favorite people. Um,
Speaker 1: it's funny. A lot of your favorite teammates, not the
Speaker 1: guys of everyone think think about it. Um, James Jones
Speaker 1: one of my favorite teammates. Good dude, now gm Ethoenix. Um,
Speaker 1: one of my favorite teammates. Man. Um, Eddie House, Oh,
Speaker 1: I love Eddie House everybody. Oh, he's the character about
Speaker 1: his mother. Shout out House, shut out to Eddie Household
Speaker 1: fast talking. He's funny, probably talking what he gonna talk
Speaker 1: about me? Whoever you're around, you gonna be talking about
Speaker 1: one of my definitely one of my favorite. So it's
Speaker 1: all the guys, man, that you know, once you go through,
Speaker 1: especially you're going through this league as a star, these
Speaker 1: the guys that you lean on. These the guys that
Speaker 1: brings some human to you. These are guys that you
Speaker 1: can talk about about anything, and they you know, saying
Speaker 1: they always there that that that showed in that ear,
Speaker 1: you know, tend to listen to your your wine and
Speaker 1: complain about being the star in the league. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, You complaining, you know, but like these
Speaker 1: guys that they mean a lot to you. So before
Speaker 1: we transition out real quick into the next and final topic,
Speaker 1: real quick, toughest player for you to guard and the
Speaker 1: person you hated that guarded you the most. Um, toughest
Speaker 1: players for me to guard always go with guys like
Speaker 1: Rayal and Rip Hamilton. Then move they move. I hated that.
Speaker 1: I'm a shot blocker too, so I like weak side.
Speaker 1: I like, you know, knowing watching the ball stills gone.
Speaker 1: I hated guarding those dudes, especially Rip because you had
Speaker 1: them nails too. He was dirty as yes a lot
Speaker 1: of times put them nails and you just start the
Speaker 1: game like rip this the tip the ball, just tip.
Speaker 1: I hated Guarden, hated Guarden, Raid, Just guys like that,
Speaker 1: you know saying that move that constantly. Um, And you
Speaker 1: said the guy hated guarding me, Yeah, Um, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. It was some guys who I felt
Speaker 1: like guarding me good, But I never feel like I
Speaker 1: hated no one guarding me. Always for me, it was
Speaker 1: always a different challenge. So it was. And now I'm saying,
Speaker 1: some guys played me very well. I mean, guy like
Speaker 1: Kirk Hinrichs played me very well, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And people like Kirk Hinrich he frustrated the hell out
Speaker 1: of me too. For some reads position defender you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, didn't go smart, didn't go for shot,
Speaker 1: and he was tough and love defense. And when I
Speaker 1: when I got him, when I had a game where
Speaker 1: I scored forty while I walked away with my chest pokee,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, because it was so many
Speaker 1: NICs where I had to work hard to get those points.
Speaker 1: You know, shout out to Kirk hiras Man just underrated defender. Um.
Speaker 1: But I didn't never hate a guy to fend like Kobe.
Speaker 1: He guarded me once, he respected me. He guarded me
Speaker 1: very tough. But I loved it, you know because like
Speaker 1: even if you know he turned me, turned me, turned me,
Speaker 1: I get a second count or I lose it or
Speaker 1: something like. So now it's just it's the next challenge
Speaker 1: for me. And throughout the game, you need to find
Speaker 1: different challenges. So the best defenders of the round test.
Speaker 1: Once I once I got to the point where I
Speaker 1: felt like Ron, I'm here. Like once I once I
Speaker 1: saw the respect from Ron, I was like, oh, I'm
Speaker 1: here now when I'm early in my career. So these
Speaker 1: great defenders, they let you know where you at. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And so for me, like I
Speaker 1: appreciate all of them, I didn't need one of them.
Speaker 1: That's what's up. I gave my all buckets to you, didn't.
Speaker 1: I know you're big into you know, even while you play,
Speaker 1: but now definitely you know culture, just being on the scene.
Speaker 1: You recently went to Diddie fifty a birthday party. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: claim Black Now it was dope, bro. You know I've
Speaker 1: been on his l A side, you know, getting invited
Speaker 1: to things that you've seen other people going through for
Speaker 1: many years. It was cool. Um So actually my wife,
Speaker 1: my wife wasn't there because she had some business in
Speaker 1: New York. So I wasn't going to go. My wife
Speaker 1: was like, fool, Yeah, you have a good time. You retired.
Speaker 1: She was like you better go right. But you know
Speaker 1: what was cool about it? First of all, I mean
Speaker 1: Diddy brow and unbelievable. You know, amount of people together
Speaker 1: from every different walks of life. You've seen how much
Speaker 1: love that was there for brother love you know, so
Speaker 1: you see what he means to so many different generations
Speaker 1: and it's a beautiful thing to see. Um. But you know,
Speaker 1: for me, what was so cool about it? And it's
Speaker 1: a picture that I posted. We see me and did he?
Speaker 1: You know, we we're toasting the champagne glass and at
Speaker 1: that moment what we were talking about was uh, like
Speaker 1: sixteen years ago. Um, and I was I was a
Speaker 1: young kid, my second yar in the league. I was
Speaker 1: in Purvey, you know in Miami it was opium and
Speaker 1: didn't Prevey y'all know about it. H I'm sitting there,
Speaker 1: I'm in I'm in the club and I'm starting to
Speaker 1: feel myself a little bit. I'm getting my name going.
Speaker 1: Uh and did he walks up to me? And I'm
Speaker 1: sitting there like, oh ship did did he? And he
Speaker 1: walked up to me and he said, Yo, I'm about
Speaker 1: to make you the first supermodel superstar and like you know,
Speaker 1: he was like, listen, I want you to um, I
Speaker 1: want you to model for Sean John blah blah blah,
Speaker 1: he had this whole plan from me, and I remember
Speaker 1: just sitting there like okay, okay, okay, like you know
Speaker 1: this is then, and so we were just talking about
Speaker 1: this four circle moments, you know, and life, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. Like he was one of the first
Speaker 1: ones to see who I could become in this world business,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, the business side, and really
Speaker 1: put me on from that standpoint, and you know, just
Speaker 1: to be there in that moment. We were just toasting
Speaker 1: to just success, you know, black excellence and success you
Speaker 1: know in life. Man. So it's cool man. Shout out,
Speaker 1: happy fifty birthday, man, and shout out did he that birthday? Brother?
Speaker 1: Now pull up owners and come drop off some rocks.
Speaker 1: It's rocking all other stuff you got going on. Didn't
Speaker 1: happy birthday? But you know nine times start acting for ship,
Speaker 1: oh speaking for the biggest segment. Uh, the way you
Speaker 1: will big with the stand socks. I see you'd be
Speaker 1: rocking them all the time. I need a ship with
Speaker 1: my boy. Don't send the plug. And from I know
Speaker 1: you got a lot of you know, I ain't we
Speaker 1: max for no way, no ways, the way ways, because
Speaker 1: I see I see you just coming out with a
Speaker 1: brand new pad to day. I ain't we speak on them,
Speaker 1: but can I get some socks? List packs? My brothers,
Speaker 1: let's get boxes. Well, goddamn it, let me get a
Speaker 1: boxing boxing stand. Listen. So I just started a new
Speaker 1: side company with stands. It's called Parkway Parkway, and we
Speaker 1: just in the targets. So I'm in all targets around
Speaker 1: the world. Shout out the Parkway, um, you know, So
Speaker 1: for me, I'm gonna make sure that y'all guy boxes
Speaker 1: and neighbors, all my people parkway side shout out the
Speaker 1: park Shout the target too. So I'll make sure my
Speaker 1: guys you know, sitting here, you know, with this fresh
Speaker 1: shoes that they be wearing. I don't want to say
Speaker 1: the brand name. You know, Yeah, Contracts were the fresh
Speaker 1: fresh sneakers that they be wearing. I want to make
Speaker 1: sure they got the right soide, I need that target
Speaker 1: plug too. I'm in targets. I'm not in the ones
Speaker 1: all around the world, so I need your target plugs,
Speaker 1: like huge, shout the target target giveaway. This weekend, do
Speaker 1: we do a give Christmas giveaway to the single mother's
Speaker 1: toothbrushes and tooth figs? No, no, no, toys, clothes, whatever
Speaker 1: the women need for this single Mother's not what I need.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying. I keep my tooth picks
Speaker 1: on me. Got to let's transition in the real quick.
Speaker 1: We're gonna start doing some quick hitters. But music, what
Speaker 1: do you listen to? Who's your top five? This? We
Speaker 1: got something behind you on the wall. Unfortunately, I know
Speaker 1: you heard it her way. Huh the big fella, you
Speaker 1: know I got so for me, man, It's funny because
Speaker 1: you know, we had these questions all the time. So
Speaker 1: for me, I think jay Z is number one. When
Speaker 1: I was young, it was Tupac, but you know, we
Speaker 1: didn't get a chance to continue to keep growing together.
Speaker 1: So I've grown up with jay Z. Man, he's number
Speaker 1: one on my list. And from now I'm not saying
Speaker 1: arrested in the order, but Drake is in my top five,
Speaker 1: Little Wings in my top five. Thank you, um obviously,
Speaker 1: thank you in my top five. Um and um ross
Speaker 1: huh uh. You know this is what I lost, So underrated,
Speaker 1: so many amazing there's so many amazing to pick from, bro,
Speaker 1: But it's all about how you vibe. You know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. They tell that you know, saying, how you
Speaker 1: relate to so those five, I'll relate to them on
Speaker 1: a you know, on a different level. But nowadays, man
Speaker 1: like I try to stay up in in the culture.
Speaker 1: It's just hard for me. It's too many little it's
Speaker 1: too hard little this little, this little that little bits
Speaker 1: like everybody. Yeah, it's grown. We had a little wayane
Speaker 1: a little bout what we had the little. Now it's babies,
Speaker 1: baby baby step babies, yeah, legitimate baby like you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't want this. They wave like babies. So you know,
Speaker 1: my kids like kids, listen to everything. When I'm around him,
Speaker 1: I try to try to be that cool hit dad.
Speaker 1: But I mean, I know obviously, you know, we know
Speaker 1: some of some of the guys you just can't deny.
Speaker 1: Somebody don't break through and you can't deny you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, shout out the baby and me goes.
Speaker 1: You know, it's certain people you can they will not
Speaker 1: be denied. That greatness is there. But when I get
Speaker 1: in my car, man, I just I gotta go to
Speaker 1: mold school playlist, you know, I gotta go to the music.
Speaker 1: I know sound to your life. You know, we just
Speaker 1: listening to it when you came in. Yeah I need that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I need that. So, you know, but shout out to
Speaker 1: everyone who's doing their thing and create their own wave
Speaker 1: and culture. Um, but you know, I'm old school Maya drummers.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. If we're not out of supporting each other,
Speaker 1: what the funk we doing? Get out of the way.
Speaker 1: I mean you was at our party four, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like, yeah, I spoke. I didn't really
Speaker 1: want to name drop on the show, but with Gabby's
Speaker 1: birthday party was turned was so it was a CALLI
Speaker 1: vo that was. That was the name of it. Caliboa right,
Speaker 1: it was a calibody for real. You got your Your
Speaker 1: name has been dropped in a lot of songs, jay Z,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of guys meet meal When I
Speaker 1: was young, I was like, what's your favorite hoping jay
Speaker 1: Z actually did a video the other day, Um, Jesus
Speaker 1: playing Lebron I'm paying Dan Wight. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know where I remember I was that when I
Speaker 1: heard I was in the Strip club back in the day,
Speaker 1: shot alone a long time ago, and they played it
Speaker 1: like cashly and I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait wait,
Speaker 1: what was the first time you heard it first time
Speaker 1: I heard it and I was like, I went up
Speaker 1: to the teach. I was like, Yo, wait but that
Speaker 1: play that again played on put it all night. I
Speaker 1: was like, my mom made it. But I remember talking
Speaker 1: to Jay about it. Man. I remember acting Jay like, YO,
Speaker 1: like to me, it's crazy that you're creating, you know,
Speaker 1: saying something that's magical for you and you think of me, right, Like,
Speaker 1: it's still crazy to right And so I'm like, Yo,
Speaker 1: like what made you say this? What made you say
Speaker 1: my name? And this? Because he said it more than once,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. So it was just cool
Speaker 1: to hear, you know, his perspective from a from a
Speaker 1: standpoint of you know, what keeps artists relevant as well?
Speaker 1: You know, I mean what keeps you relevant? What's going on?
Speaker 1: You know? I get it. You are, you know, such
Speaker 1: a sud So it was cool just had that conversation
Speaker 1: with like, what what made you put my name in
Speaker 1: in this song? Because it's you know and probably State
Speaker 1: of Mine is legend, big song. It means a lot
Speaker 1: to appreciate. We said old some money too. Layne told
Speaker 1: me got a song coming out I'm called bottom like
Speaker 1: stack Jack and I ain't know all stuff, but that
Speaker 1: means a lot because I listen to Wayne you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, so that that means a lot to us.
Speaker 1: It might not, it might not mean not to some people,
Speaker 1: but to us basketball players and listen to say music
Speaker 1: and growing up, that should mean a lot. So I
Speaker 1: don't think that we too cool to whatever we like.
Speaker 1: Just like anybody else out there. You hear your know,
Speaker 1: your name in the song, it could be your homies
Speaker 1: from the hood stuff is in there. You're you're geeking
Speaker 1: out every time my name is in a song, And
Speaker 1: to me is always like, yo, I'm playing it. Let
Speaker 1: me hear that, Let me hear that. So shout out
Speaker 1: to anybody who decided to put this, because when I
Speaker 1: was young, I don't think my name was cool enough
Speaker 1: to go like I was like, I ain't wait, who
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's that's a name. Who gonna say? Ain't so
Speaker 1: when they when they put your name and stuff, man,
Speaker 1: it's just it's a unbelievable bad honor man. Respect dope.
Speaker 1: Well you brought us a gift, man wine, you appreciate
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. I mean we I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: living or dead? Uh, five person wine session. Who would
Speaker 1: you invite to that party? And straight up that's a dope,
Speaker 1: dope as that's a question. So my first person I
Speaker 1: think about is Mark Luther King, always number one person
Speaker 1: I said, let me do security. I want I want
Speaker 1: to bring my little the King right because it's a lot.
Speaker 1: I gotta action the King King. Um, I'm definitely gonna
Speaker 1: have Barack. I want to buy it with Brock, specially
Speaker 1: drinking wine. I want to smoke a drink with me too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to buy Okay, you say smoking to join
Speaker 1: and drinking wine. Both, we can do it. You know,
Speaker 1: I want to buy it. Welcome to the side. He's
Speaker 1: snuck it, he stuck. I'll live in I'll live in
Speaker 1: county now right right, So let me see those two
Speaker 1: for sure. Um, I think Oprah gonna be on my
Speaker 1: list too. I think I want to sit on a rabbit.
Speaker 1: Oh you know what I'm saying. Chicago got roots open,
Speaker 1: is on the open in my room. Yeah, I gotta
Speaker 1: be Um who else? Like, I need two more people
Speaker 1: that's gonna be in there. Um, you got more Luther King,
Speaker 1: you got Barack, got Oprah? I got jay Z in
Speaker 1: my room to jay Z Jay Z wanted the coolest brothers.
Speaker 1: A lot um but so much game. So I got
Speaker 1: jay Z in my room too, after us you to
Speaker 1: get him on our show. And last I think I
Speaker 1: had Eddie Murphy. Oh you got you gotta have ye classic.
Speaker 1: That's a classic setting, right, I mean you know what too?
Speaker 1: And I forgot somebody. But it's hard. I wouldn't want
Speaker 1: Denzel in there too, So you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: If I could put another chair and make room, I'll
Speaker 1: bring this. Matter of fact, I'll leave the room. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I stand up in the corner. You got to be
Speaker 1: my room right there? Yeah, A nice five. What would
Speaker 1: a wine vibe be like with pat Riley? What of like?
Speaker 1: What pat Riley would what you mean like? What would
Speaker 1: that be like? Would it be a sit down? Have
Speaker 1: you have you got sat down and had a glass
Speaker 1: of wine? Why? Why do Why do I think he
Speaker 1: carre himself like he on Good Fellows? Let me say
Speaker 1: if to me? Yes, So I put our videos this
Speaker 1: summer when I went ridife, he went on yacht old school,
Speaker 1: he got rid of them. Man, let me tell you,
Speaker 1: for the first time I met I met a different
Speaker 1: pat Rally, But the first time last time ye had
Speaker 1: the lading outfits. Yeah, I'm at a different and yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think I walked away from that, like I'll
Speaker 1: have so much respect and love from But I walked
Speaker 1: away from that, and I said, Oh, I like this, dude,
Speaker 1: because this is the path that the world will never get.
Speaker 1: The chantas you know what I'm saying, Like when he
Speaker 1: let his hair down literally and he had no jel
Speaker 1: in that ship, no jel, just vacation, vacation and is
Speaker 1: a vibe. He's a mood. I shout out the path
Speaker 1: to post that video. First of all, you had to
Speaker 1: ask him. I had to get proven. Now, okay, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, trying to teach you what he
Speaker 1: was teaching. It was so definitely for sure. Last question, Um,
Speaker 1: you know people can argue who's NBA is right now,
Speaker 1: bron Katie when he's healthy, honest, once Broun has done,
Speaker 1: who are the top three players you think will carry
Speaker 1: the league into the next generation so to speak? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean definitely Katie right obviously when he's healthy. Snipe
Speaker 1: arguably just leave it at that. It's arguably it's crazy
Speaker 1: people that it's crazy that people that have I guess
Speaker 1: we just live in culture. They just love to talk ship.
Speaker 1: But people that didn't deny his natural talent and the
Speaker 1: fact that they have no basketball, you can't do it.
Speaker 1: You can't do can't nobody on the plan to do
Speaker 1: anything with Katie, you can't do okay, Right, So it's
Speaker 1: just certain guys that just you can't do not with him,
Speaker 1: and you know on this one, and Katie is another um.
Speaker 1: So when I think about the next generation, for me,
Speaker 1: I think about Katie being, you know, kind of the
Speaker 1: leader in that in that field. You think about what
Speaker 1: James hardness become Beard. I mean, it's undeniable. It's undeniable
Speaker 1: that he's one of the greatest ever touched the basketball.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying from a scoring standpoint, make
Speaker 1: it look easy. I mean when he's done just the
Speaker 1: way he's able to scored his basketball in the ways,
Speaker 1: we've just never seen it like this before, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. That's why he getting hate because we've
Speaker 1: never seen it like before. So he got to take
Speaker 1: that out of iverson hate because he's the one of
Speaker 1: the first ones to do it the way he's doing it.
Speaker 1: But keep going, bro do it your way. So those
Speaker 1: two for sure, and it's crazy they played together and yeah,
Speaker 1: I got and for me, I love stuff, man, I
Speaker 1: love Stuff. One of the greatest human beings that you
Speaker 1: ever meet. But he definitely helped changed this wave and
Speaker 1: his culture of this game. And you know, it don't
Speaker 1: stop for him. Like if he was playing right now,
Speaker 1: even though they wouldn't be as good, it would have
Speaker 1: been a show this year. It would have been a show.
Speaker 1: What people don't understand. This is a bad thing for
Speaker 1: the NBA. They're resting because he gets some rest out
Speaker 1: of Yeah, I don't know. And then I mean, it's
Speaker 1: a cold game that people don't realize. I went went.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a Warrior and Laker fan at hard
Speaker 1: post career, but Clay and stuff get to rest. Draymond
Speaker 1: is playing twenty minutes a game. If they end up
Speaker 1: being a bottom feeder, they're going to get a lottery pick.
Speaker 1: Dello still doing this thing. Unfortunately, he might be a
Speaker 1: you know, a casualty of war. But then you put
Speaker 1: package that and get a superstar and they're right back
Speaker 1: in the mix. People don't understand you. You got to
Speaker 1: think that. You gotta think the game. You see it.
Speaker 1: If you know the game. Well, man, we appreciate you
Speaker 1: coming up here. Thank you for your time. Brother, But
Speaker 1: I want to congratulate both of you man, both of
Speaker 1: you guys man on this. What I'm saying, y'all are
Speaker 1: a referenced for so many people you know out here
Speaker 1: do y'all got so many fans out here, man, people
Speaker 1: really respect and love were both of y'all stand for.
Speaker 1: So you know, when y'all got the show, I reached
Speaker 1: out to you right away. Congratulations and I'm glad that
Speaker 1: I was able to come on here, man, means a
Speaker 1: lot and grace. This velvet couch, man, we appreciate it,
Speaker 1: and listen to me, It's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 1: great people sitting here. So I'm glad I was able
Speaker 1: to against the wall and your purple with the velvet.
Speaker 1: You feel me anyway, man, that's a rap. Episode nine
Speaker 1: the Wayne. We appreciate your time, man, Jack. We did
Speaker 1: it again. All the smoke and make sure you find
Speaker 1: the Showtime Basketball YouTube and all the platforms and stream podcasts,
Speaker 1: all of them to see y'all next time. A loco
Speaker 1: Babo h