Speaker 1: I just started to play with confidence. Once I knocked
Speaker 1: down a couple of you know, I started feeling good,
Speaker 1: and my teammates did a good job of finding me
Speaker 1: and encouraging me and keeping me going. Modesty, of course,
Speaker 1: is always a nice trait. But to start the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers four game road trip, Shake Milton did more
Speaker 1: than just play with confidence and knocked down a couple
Speaker 1: of shots. Sixers Ball Shake does have a season high
Speaker 1: in the game, He's got it again. Three ball up
Speaker 1: and good back to back threes by Milton. Behind the
Speaker 1: best scoring performance of his young career, the twenty eighteen
Speaker 1: second round pick continues to provide the shorthanded Sixers a lift.
Speaker 1: Shake Milton and I talk hoops, fish, tanks, tattoos, and
Speaker 1: more on this episode of the broadcast, What's going on
Speaker 1: out there, seventy six Ers pod people, How are you?
Speaker 1: I know, in terms of results and other things in
Speaker 1: the basketball world. It could be better? Certainly, so much
Speaker 1: emotion since the last time he had an episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast, given the just horrible and totally tragic passing
Speaker 1: of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and the seven other people
Speaker 1: who were on board the helicopter that crashed in southern
Speaker 1: California last Sunday, so that certainly continues to weigh at
Speaker 1: the forefront of at least my mind, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: a bunch of you out there as well. It was
Speaker 1: nice to see the seventy sixers do what they need
Speaker 1: to do on Tuesday to knock off the Golden State
Speaker 1: Warriors in their first game since the accident involving Bryants.
Speaker 1: But a tough loss for the Sixers on Thursday night
Speaker 1: at Atlanta against the Hawks to begin a really important
Speaker 1: four game road trip that also features the likes of Boston, Miami,
Speaker 1: and Milwaukee. All three of those teams right now currently
Speaker 1: said ahead of the seventy Sixers, not by much, but
Speaker 1: still ahead of the seventy sixers in the Eastern Conference standings.
Speaker 1: On the bright side, it is excellent, totally excellent that
Speaker 1: we can say Ben Simmons is an All Star for
Speaker 1: a second straight year. Wished we could have said that
Speaker 1: Matisse Steibel was selected for the Rising Stars Challenged, but he,
Speaker 1: along with a couple other first or second year players
Speaker 1: in the NBA, robbed of a spot during All Star weekend.
Speaker 1: But it is definitely great and promising that there are
Speaker 1: a lot of good things we can say about Shake Milton,
Speaker 1: who went for a career high twenty seven points in
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers game against the Hawks on Thursday.
Speaker 1: We're gonna hear from Milton in a moment, but before
Speaker 1: he and I get started, of course, I wanted to
Speaker 1: remind you that to subscribe to the podcast, you can
Speaker 1: go to any of your favorite podcasting platforms, whether that Spotify,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Google, Stitcher, SoundCloud, tune in Pandora, wherever you go.
Speaker 1: Just type in seventy six Ers Podcast or Sixers Podcast
Speaker 1: Network and that will take you to our feed. So
Speaker 1: it was Wednesday afternoon, a couple hours before the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers were set to get on board their charter
Speaker 1: plane to head south to Atlanta for a Thursday's game
Speaker 1: against the Atlanta Hawks, and I was on a mission
Speaker 1: to track down our guy, Shake Milton. Now, Shakers had
Speaker 1: to overcome a lot, not just in his young basketball
Speaker 1: career in the NBA, but his entire life. A few
Speaker 1: years ago, he lost his father, who was the inspiration
Speaker 1: for his nickname Shake because his dad, when he played,
Speaker 1: was called the Milkman. Shake also then dealed with injury
Speaker 1: in his third and final junior season at SMU before
Speaker 1: turning pro. That probably affected where he ultimately went in
Speaker 1: the twenty eighteen draft with the fifty fourth overall pick.
Speaker 1: You remember he was originally selected by the Dallas Mavericks
Speaker 1: in the seventy six ers swung a trade for him. Then.
Speaker 1: Milton had a series of injuries in his rookie year,
Speaker 1: and he's had to battle some injuries again this year,
Speaker 1: most specifically the injury he suffered on the heels of
Speaker 1: what was a great training camp. But about a week
Speaker 1: and a half ago, when Josh Richardson went down in
Speaker 1: the first four minutes of the Sixers road game against
Speaker 1: the Toronto Raptors, there was Milton summoned into duty. And
Speaker 1: not surprisingly, Milton, when called upon, he was ready to go.
Speaker 1: He fit in, he was steady, and he did his
Speaker 1: best to help the cause. So even before Milton exploded
Speaker 1: against the Hawks on Thursday, I was on a mission,
Speaker 1: as I said, to track him down and talk. But Milton,
Speaker 1: as I should have presumed, on a getaway day, had
Speaker 1: a very important task to take care of before the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers flew down to Atlanta, and that was the
Speaker 1: guy had to get himself pack for a four game
Speaker 1: road trip. So that is where the conversation between myself
Speaker 1: and Shake Milton began when I got him by phone.
Speaker 1: This is actually before he took the floor against the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Hawks for a career performance on Thursday. All right, Chake, Well,
Speaker 1: when last we spoke, it was after a practice at
Speaker 1: the seventy sixers training complex the day before you guys
Speaker 1: left for Atlanta, and you had some important things to do,
Speaker 1: like getting ready for a long road trip going to
Speaker 1: a bunch of different climates. How does Shake Milton pack
Speaker 1: for a road trip like this when you're in Atlanta
Speaker 1: one day, Boston the next, then back down to Miami,
Speaker 1: come home, and then go to Milwaukee. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess you just got to try to pack a
Speaker 1: little bit of everything, you know. I try to look
Speaker 1: ahead and see what the weather is looking like while
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be in West City. But the most part,
Speaker 1: just get your basic your sweats, maybe a couple pair
Speaker 1: of jeans, and some shorts and T shirts and you'd
Speaker 1: be good to go. So you are the type of
Speaker 1: guy who will tailor his attire that he brings based
Speaker 1: upon the city that you're in and the weather conditions potentially. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll just I'll just make sure I have
Speaker 1: all bases covered so I'm not out, you know, somewhere
Speaker 1: freezing or you know, somewhere over dressed when it's super
Speaker 1: hot out. You know, so just t to make sure
Speaker 1: that I got all my bases covered. A why strategy? Well,
Speaker 1: if you look back over the last week, you were
Speaker 1: kind of thrown into the fray when the seventy sixers
Speaker 1: who were at the Raptors playing Toronto, filling in for
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson who went out about four minutes the game.
Speaker 1: You had nine points that night, you had nine rebounds,
Speaker 1: the next game against the Lakers. Last Saturday in South Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: eleven points against Golden State. What has the past week
Speaker 1: been like for you? I just, you know, I just
Speaker 1: try to do my best to stay ready. I wasn't
Speaker 1: expecting nobody was expecting Jays to get hurt or go down.
Speaker 1: But you know, as a team, we always have a
Speaker 1: next man up mentality, and I just tried to step
Speaker 1: in and be aggressive. Guys were encouraging me to do so,
Speaker 1: and I just tried to go out there and play
Speaker 1: with confidence. I was going to ask you about that mindset,
Speaker 1: because at least for me, when I look back over
Speaker 1: the last two years that you've been with the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers organization, it seems like that whenever an opportunity has
Speaker 1: arisen for you at the NBA level, regardless of the circumstances,
Speaker 1: you've managed to jump in. Seem like you fit be steady.
Speaker 1: So what goes in for you to staying ready? How
Speaker 1: do you go about preparing that way? Um? I think
Speaker 1: it just starts with the work you're putting again every day.
Speaker 1: You gotta make sure you know you're going one hundred
Speaker 1: and ten percent and you know, just being consistent with that,
Speaker 1: and then off the court, I mean, and then um,
Speaker 1: you know, just following the game plan. You know, you
Speaker 1: got to be on top of that as well, because
Speaker 1: you never really know, um what moment, When your moment
Speaker 1: is going to come, you just gotta be ready to
Speaker 1: take it. And um, you gotta make sure that you're
Speaker 1: prepared for whatever is throwing your way. Um. So I
Speaker 1: think just staying on top of the work, and then
Speaker 1: stay on top of what the team had going on,
Speaker 1: like offensive schemes and defensive schemes, and you know, just
Speaker 1: making sure I'm standing on top of it. What does
Speaker 1: the work look like for you? Is it coming in early?
Speaker 1: Is it going back to the facility after game to
Speaker 1: get up some more shots. Take me inside your regiment
Speaker 1: and what one D ten percent means to you. I mean,
Speaker 1: we'll definitely going in going in early, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, going to shoot arounds early before the team
Speaker 1: even gets there, or um, definitely coming in late as
Speaker 1: well if you just feeling you get the itch and
Speaker 1: you just want to get up extra work. But I
Speaker 1: think just rep by rep, taking it and making a
Speaker 1: game rep game speed, so that when you're thrown into
Speaker 1: the game, you know it's you've been practicing it looking
Speaker 1: at some of the scenarios surrounding you. At least to me,
Speaker 1: it also is like there's been a persistence about the
Speaker 1: way you've gone about your business. And I don't want
Speaker 1: to dredge up old history that I'm sure you'd like
Speaker 1: to put in the past, But your first summer league
Speaker 1: you had a stress fracture in your back. You broke
Speaker 1: a finger nearly a year ago, this time right after
Speaker 1: you got called up the seventy six ers on a
Speaker 1: West coast trip under two way contract. There's the ankle sprain,
Speaker 1: it's summer like this year, and knee injury after a
Speaker 1: great training camp in the fall. What keeps you going?
Speaker 1: What's the persistence and what's the motivation behind the persistence.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's just the will to want
Speaker 1: to be great and my love for the game. I think, um,
Speaker 1: that keeps me going. That's you know, I want to
Speaker 1: I want to be great. So I mean, you just
Speaker 1: gotta you gotta work with it. You gotta, you know,
Speaker 1: take those ls on the and um, find a way
Speaker 1: to bounce that because at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: that's all you can really do. It's all about making
Speaker 1: you stronger and seeing what's what's society. Would you say
Speaker 1: that you're a tougher player now than you were before
Speaker 1: some of these experiences came up. Uh, definitely. I mean
Speaker 1: I've always been tough, but I feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: each each situation you're thrown into can only making stronger.
Speaker 1: When you look at this year, you've spent the majority
Speaker 1: of your time, aside from a very brief assignment with
Speaker 1: the Delaware Bluecoats, with the seventy sixers. What's that been
Speaker 1: like spending the bulk of the year with the Sixers,
Speaker 1: even if it's regardless of how much you've been playing
Speaker 1: in games, getting to hear your name called in a
Speaker 1: practice at the NBA level and working out with NBA peers,
Speaker 1: I mean it's been good. I think it forces you
Speaker 1: to get better because every day you're going against the
Speaker 1: best competition, guys who who are the best at what
Speaker 1: they do. So it forces your game to raise to
Speaker 1: the next level. And I've been just trying to take
Speaker 1: it one day at a time. And you know, um,
Speaker 1: I always say good days that up. So you know,
Speaker 1: every day you're in the gym working working on your
Speaker 1: craft and working on your game, you know you have
Speaker 1: no choice but to climb and to see your game
Speaker 1: and prove bring us inside the gym a little bit.
Speaker 1: Who are some of the players that you're learning the
Speaker 1: most from and who's pushing you? Um shoot everybody, um
Speaker 1: the you know, the bets like Tobias Um I'll um
Speaker 1: you know. And then also like you know, I talked
Speaker 1: to Jay Rich a lot just about different things that
Speaker 1: he sees because you know, he's he hasn't been playing,
Speaker 1: so he's been able to have a little bit of
Speaker 1: a different perspective. Um. I mean you can learn from everybody, um,
Speaker 1: from from you know, Ben and Joel to to Firkin
Speaker 1: and Matisse, um because we're all kind of like in
Speaker 1: the same little position. And James and it's the way
Speaker 1: he offens the rebounds and the way he guards. So
Speaker 1: you know, you just try to take different pieces of
Speaker 1: of everybody's game and can learn from it. Good stuff
Speaker 1: from shake Milton more with him on the way. But
Speaker 1: I want to take this moment to remind you that
Speaker 1: if you've not yet marked your calendars for Monday, March
Speaker 1: the ninth, twenty twenty, do it. It is the date
Speaker 1: of the fifth Annual Sixers Youth Foundation Evening on the
Speaker 1: Court Galla presented by Vip Wireless, and this year it
Speaker 1: is going to be held at the twenty three hundred
Speaker 1: Arena in South Philadelphia for an awesome night of fun
Speaker 1: as everyone in the seventy Sixers organization, from players to coaches, alumni, fun,
Speaker 1: office staff ownership, work together to create a brighter future
Speaker 1: for the leaders of tomorrow. Visit Sixers Youth Foundation dot
Speaker 1: org slash Gala to support today and find out more
Speaker 1: about how you can be a part of the fifth
Speaker 1: Annual Sixers Youth Foundation Evening on the Court Gala March ninth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty at the twenty three hundred Arena in South Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: And I would totally be remiss if I did not
Speaker 1: mentioned that a part of the annual auction in support
Speaker 1: of the Sixers Youth Foundation Evening on the Court Gala
Speaker 1: includes a spot to be a guest co host for
Speaker 1: an episode here on the broadcast. How could you not
Speaker 1: be all about that again? The website Sixers Youth Foundation
Speaker 1: dot org slash gala as we now pick it back
Speaker 1: up with shake Milton, you know, shake you to me
Speaker 1: seem to have a really mellow, relaxed, easy going vibe
Speaker 1: about you off the floor. I've also heard, however, that
Speaker 1: you are into the fishes. Do you have a new
Speaker 1: fish tank? Oh yeah, I got. I got my little,
Speaker 1: my little saltwater aquarium at the crib. It's it's nice,
Speaker 1: it's I mean, it's the sound of it is soothing
Speaker 1: at nighttime too. But I mean it's nice to come
Speaker 1: home too. And they get excited to when I'm around
Speaker 1: because they know they're about to eat eat so um.
Speaker 1: I don't know's it's a fun experience. I got all
Speaker 1: kinds of fishes man, So there's a real relationship there.
Speaker 1: What type of fishes do you have? Um? I got
Speaker 1: some yellow tangs, I have uh some of the uh
Speaker 1: the fish from finding Nemo. I got the dory fish,
Speaker 1: Nemo fish. I got, um some type of little salamander
Speaker 1: looking thing. I got some snells. I got a shrimp
Speaker 1: in their coral. It's just a it's a whole, it's
Speaker 1: a whole little, uh little ecosystem going down down there. Dude,
Speaker 1: that sounds like a legit set up? How big are
Speaker 1: we talking? I think to take is ninety gallons? Oh
Speaker 1: that is awesome. The other thing I wanted to uh
Speaker 1: to ask you about is the kiss tattoo on your
Speaker 1: inner bicep. What's the significance of that? Um? So well, UM,
Speaker 1: my dad, whenever I was younger, he was my coach,
Speaker 1: and UM, we always had a we had a play
Speaker 1: called kiss and it always stood for keep it simple,
Speaker 1: stupid and um that that um that just left left
Speaker 1: mindset is kind of always just stuck with me and
Speaker 1: kind of applied it to things other than basketball, just
Speaker 1: just life, life outside of basketball and just just keeping
Speaker 1: things simple and um being being unique to so what
Speaker 1: you got going on. You can get caught up folks
Speaker 1: and on everybody else's journey, and um, it can kind
Speaker 1: of be discouraging or can it can lead you off
Speaker 1: your path. But if you know, you just stick to
Speaker 1: your script, stick to what you got going on your path,
Speaker 1: your journey, then you know it could uh end up
Speaker 1: you know, being okay. And it really doesn't have anything
Speaker 1: to do with the band, but shout out the kiss,
Speaker 1: shout out to him. I mean that kind of ties
Speaker 1: back into what it sounds like your approach has been
Speaker 1: since turning pro with the seventy six ers and some
Speaker 1: of the hurdles that you've had to overcome. Right, Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: most definitely. I mean it definitely is applicable to that,
Speaker 1: and I think it's you know, applicable to just my
Speaker 1: life in general, because um, you know, there's always going
Speaker 1: to be adversity or things you go through, but um,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're able to just hone in and
Speaker 1: stick to what you know, stick to your journe ernie, UM,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be all right. I gotta think it's nice
Speaker 1: to have dad close by as well with that tattoo,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, just having his memory. Um, just you know,
Speaker 1: being able to look down there and and you know
Speaker 1: hear his voice as you know, as you will, Um,
Speaker 1: is a pretty big time for me. You've talked in
Speaker 1: the past about how that's where your nickname came from.
Speaker 1: You've got a brother who plays basketball, a sister who
Speaker 1: plays basketball as well. Was that mandatory? Did you have
Speaker 1: to play basketball in the Milton family? No? No, you
Speaker 1: definitely didn't have to. But we were just around the game,
Speaker 1: so I must be kind of just fell in love
Speaker 1: with it, um, And you know, I think it just
Speaker 1: took off from there. But I mean one thing with
Speaker 1: my dad was you know, you know, you don't have
Speaker 1: to play basketball, but you're gonna do something, and you're
Speaker 1: gonna give it your all, um, And I guess we
Speaker 1: just kind of fell in love with basketball and and
Speaker 1: took off from there. This is probably gonna sound strange,
Speaker 1: but I tend to do some strange things. If someone
Speaker 1: is from a place, or if I heard of a
Speaker 1: place anywhere in the world that I just have no
Speaker 1: frame of reference for, I'll go on Google Maps and
Speaker 1: search it typing in and then try and drop the
Speaker 1: little dude down on Google Maps and see what it's
Speaker 1: all about. So I did that for Awasa, Oklahoma, just
Speaker 1: to try and get a sense of what the town
Speaker 1: is like. How would you describe Owa? So I know
Speaker 1: it's near Tulsa, but what type of place was it?
Speaker 1: M I think it's a town that's definitely growing, growing
Speaker 1: in size, and they're always adding new stuff every time
Speaker 1: I go home. It's like something else that's popping up.
Speaker 1: But it's definitely a close knit community. Um. I feel
Speaker 1: like everybody kind of has an like kind of knows everybody. So, um,
Speaker 1: I think it was good for me because I was
Speaker 1: able to build a lot of relationships and a lot
Speaker 1: of close friendships, friendships that I'll have the rest of
Speaker 1: my life. But it was you know, it's a great
Speaker 1: place to grow up. Man. It was a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: and you know, the community was was really strong, so
Speaker 1: that was always good. It's crazy because I see the
Speaker 1: population is somewhere just under forty thousand people, and it's like,
Speaker 1: if you fill up Lincoln Financial Field, which is across
Speaker 1: from the Center, you've got about seventy thousand people in that.
Speaker 1: So that's twice the size of the hometown that you
Speaker 1: grew up in. And here you are an NBA player Now,
Speaker 1: what's it like going back. I mean, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: love because it's not too often I really get to
Speaker 1: go back home, so whenever I do, you know, I
Speaker 1: just try to go eat it all my favorite favorite
Speaker 1: little spots and hang out with friends, see people I
Speaker 1: haven't seen in a while, and you know, just spend
Speaker 1: time with family. That's the main thing. So it's always
Speaker 1: fun to go back. I miss it already. I know.
Speaker 1: One time you went back was this past summer when
Speaker 1: you held your first camp in the area. How cool
Speaker 1: was that for you? Did you enjoy it? Oh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was That was a great experience. That's something that
Speaker 1: I want to continue to do in the future as well,
Speaker 1: just because it just felt good to give back. It
Speaker 1: felt good to see kids out there having fun, kind
Speaker 1: of doing the same things that I was doing when
Speaker 1: I was at that age. So I'm going to camps
Speaker 1: like that. So it was really good to see and
Speaker 1: it was I wanted to. I wanted I wanted those
Speaker 1: kids to see me, just to be like, just so
Speaker 1: I could let them know that, um, it's possible. Um
Speaker 1: if you just if you want to do it and
Speaker 1: you fall in love with it and you want to
Speaker 1: put the work in then, um, it's definitely possible. Just
Speaker 1: looking at some of the stuff that you posted on
Speaker 1: social it really seemed like you were truly hands on
Speaker 1: and engaged in the camp. I mean, I know some
Speaker 1: players aren't always as active in doing some of the drills,
Speaker 1: but it seemed like this was very much the Shake
Speaker 1: Milton camp and that you were kind of front and
Speaker 1: center and orchestrating and running the whole thing. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean I had a lot of help. My older sister
Speaker 1: helped me out tremendously with that. Uh. I had a
Speaker 1: lot of family come down and then they gave a
Speaker 1: helping hand as well. But um, yeah, it was important
Speaker 1: for me to be active, active with it because, like
Speaker 1: you said, you know, some guys aren't very active with it,
Speaker 1: and they kind of just show up if they had
Speaker 1: to take pictures and everything like that. But I figured
Speaker 1: if the kids just saw me, like, they just wanted
Speaker 1: to see me and they just wanted to have fun.
Speaker 1: So I figured if in order for me to make
Speaker 1: sure everybody had a good time, it was important for
Speaker 1: me to be active in it and you know kind
Speaker 1: of you know, run it. So it was it was
Speaker 1: a lot of fun though. All right, well, you've had
Speaker 1: a nice stretch over the last week for the seventy sixers.
Speaker 1: You're continuing to fill in as Josh Richardson is on
Speaker 1: the end. What's your outlook for yourself is we approach
Speaker 1: the All Star Game break and look down the stretch
Speaker 1: of the rest of the regular season. For me, it's
Speaker 1: definitely just about stay and locked in. I want to
Speaker 1: finish this little stretch that we have. I was strong
Speaker 1: and stay locked into whatever the team needs. M continue
Speaker 1: to grow on the things that I've been doing and
Speaker 1: continuing to improve, and you know, putting together wins um.
Speaker 1: You know, this is a nice little stretch for us.
Speaker 1: We need to we need to finish strong and put
Speaker 1: together some one. So that's that's where my focus is.
Speaker 1: The great news is that for Shake Milton this year,
Speaker 1: giving your contract, you'll be available for as long as
Speaker 1: the seventy sixers need you. Once the under flips and
Speaker 1: we hit the playoffs. Oh yeah, for sure. I'm excited
Speaker 1: about that too as well, So I'm ready. Great stuff,
Speaker 1: Shake Milton, thanks so much. Enjoy the rest of the
Speaker 1: road trip. Appreciate it. Oh yeah, thank you, man, I have
Speaker 1: have a go. Great stories shared by Shake Milton. Really
Speaker 1: happy for him. As we discussed, there are plenty of
Speaker 1: hurdles that Shaike has had to overcome, both on the
Speaker 1: court and off it, and it's really nice to see
Speaker 1: him right now fitting in with the seventy six ers
Speaker 1: and providing a meaningful role for the team as it
Speaker 1: heads towards the All Star Break. I want to thanks
Speaker 1: Shake Milton for taking the time to call in from
Speaker 1: the road. Thank you, as always for listening. We'll do
Speaker 1: it again around this time next week right here on
Speaker 1: the broadcast. See it