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Speaker 1: fan duel sports book makes it easy. What's up, everybody,
Speaker 1: Welcome back to The Draymond Green Show. This is our episode.
Speaker 1: That's right. We have as many episodes as lebron Jay
Speaker 1: has All Stars, which is incredible, especially speaking of what
Speaker 1: he's been doing as of late, which we'll get into.
Speaker 1: But before we get into that, we have another all
Speaker 1: Star guests, which, like I said, we're kind of making
Speaker 1: a thing of having all Stars and Hall of favers.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's it's pretty great. So I am
Speaker 1: number one um from myself, from my producer Jackson, we
Speaker 1: want to say thank you to all the guests that
Speaker 1: have come on the show. Up until this point, it's
Speaker 1: been incredible. Um, each episode is special in its on right,
Speaker 1: You're getting something different from each episode. At least that's
Speaker 1: what I hope, because I'm getting something different from each episode.
Speaker 1: And like I like, I always say, I enjoyed these
Speaker 1: conversations just as much as I hope our listeners and
Speaker 1: enjoy the conversations I learned from them. I think it's
Speaker 1: for me. It's always good to see in someone else's
Speaker 1: psyche and see what other guys are thinking and how
Speaker 1: they're thinking. So today we will have a pleasure of
Speaker 1: having All Star Bradley bill Um coming on today. He's
Speaker 1: obviously had a stoppage in this season due to injury
Speaker 1: god coming off of risk surgery, but more importantly, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, one of the most underrated guys in the NBA. Like,
Speaker 1: if you look at Bradley Building, what he's done in
Speaker 1: his career, if I'm not mistaken, Um, actually I am
Speaker 1: not mistaken. I am certain he's a three time All Star.
Speaker 1: If you know anything about basketball, Bradley Bills in his
Speaker 1: teen year, you think Bradley Bills has way more All
Speaker 1: Stars appearances than three. And so that's why I said
Speaker 1: he's one of the most underrated players in my opinion.
Speaker 1: If you play against him, you know you're getting a bucket. However,
Speaker 1: he can give it to you however you want it.
Speaker 1: Brad Bill, give you that off the dribble, off the
Speaker 1: catch and shoot off a pin down in the post
Speaker 1: to the cup. He's giving you that. So I'm excited
Speaker 1: to have Brad Bill on obviously. Uh, you know, he
Speaker 1: has a player option coming up this summer, so we'll
Speaker 1: talk a little free agency. We'll talk what he's seeing
Speaker 1: and thinking for his future, as we all know that's important.
Speaker 1: And I mean, do you see the movement that's going
Speaker 1: on in the NFL. If the NFL never has movement
Speaker 1: in their off season ever, like guys getting traded left
Speaker 1: and right, that it never happens. So that has to
Speaker 1: be lining us up for a great NBA off season
Speaker 1: because there was always movement. NBA off season is a thing.
Speaker 1: I think this is great for the NFL, by the way,
Speaker 1: um to have this movement and exciting, like it's the
Speaker 1: first time that the NFL has gone into the off
Speaker 1: season and like gave us something to talk about for real,
Speaker 1: Like you know, you see signs here and there, but
Speaker 1: it's just not as much movement. And so to see
Speaker 1: these guys on the mood like this and all the
Speaker 1: reshuffling going on in that league, I think is incredible.
Speaker 1: And so, uh, you know, as we're seeing that, we'll
Speaker 1: get a chance to hear what Brad Bill is thinking
Speaker 1: for his offseason coming up, and how he's preparing for
Speaker 1: free agency, how he's embracing it. We'll get to hear
Speaker 1: all that good stuff. So but before we get to that,
Speaker 1: as you know, we gotta go around the association, starting
Speaker 1: with the Warriors. Our team, my team three games slump
Speaker 1: number one, until Jackson told me, I didn't even notice
Speaker 1: we're in a three game slump because the reality is
Speaker 1: at this point in the season that I I care
Speaker 1: less about um whether we win or lose a game,
Speaker 1: because ultimately this is about preparing yourself and getting ready
Speaker 1: for the playoffs in the stretch run. So I had
Speaker 1: no idea we actually had lost three in a row.
Speaker 1: And saying that, I think, as you as you may
Speaker 1: have heard in my press conference after the Orlando Magic game,
Speaker 1: I think, you know a large part of that is
Speaker 1: is us getting pumped. And you know I said that,
Speaker 1: I said that to my teammates, I'm not afraid to
Speaker 1: say that. And what I didn't say in the reality
Speaker 1: is is that falls on me. That's my category. That's
Speaker 1: where I say, Oh, that's where I lead. I have
Speaker 1: to be better at that. I can't let that happen,
Speaker 1: So that falls on me. I know someone asked me
Speaker 1: last night, like, well, you know, would would that be
Speaker 1: different as Steph Curry is it was any game And
Speaker 1: the answer is no, it wouldn't be because that's not
Speaker 1: Steph Curry's duty. So if I'm if I felt at
Speaker 1: that currently, no matter who's on the floor, Steph Curry
Speaker 1: is not coming to make us tougher. That's not what
Speaker 1: stuff does. That's what not what I'm ever going to
Speaker 1: allow step to do. That's not steps roll. So that
Speaker 1: falls on me. Regardless of who on the floor. You
Speaker 1: can't be out toughed like you gotta be tough. You
Speaker 1: gotta meet the level of physicality. And like I said,
Speaker 1: the playoffs are coming up, so meeting the level of
Speaker 1: physicality is more important than any more important than anything.
Speaker 1: Being mentally strong is more important than anything. And I
Speaker 1: think that's two areas that our team has been lacking
Speaker 1: in and we need to pick it back up. We've
Speaker 1: shown that we can be UM good in those areas,
Speaker 1: and I think it's it's very important that, you know,
Speaker 1: heading into mid April, that we get that back, and
Speaker 1: like I said, that's on me. I'll make sure we
Speaker 1: get that back. So that's you know, and I think
Speaker 1: that leads to other things, right, Like that leads to
Speaker 1: the turnovers, that leads to the misshots, Like that leads
Speaker 1: to UM going eight minutes and scoring two points or whatever.
Speaker 1: It was like that, all of those things our byproduct
Speaker 1: of just being out tough and another team being more
Speaker 1: physical than you. So I'll take that on the chain.
Speaker 1: That's on me. Um. Everybody talked about all Draymond get back.
Speaker 1: It will change a lot of things that hasn't And
Speaker 1: the reality is, I know it can change things. It
Speaker 1: should change things, so I will change things. So that's
Speaker 1: where I am. As far as our three games something go. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you know yesterday it was released that I was find
Speaker 1: twenty five dollars. At this point, I I really don't
Speaker 1: care about the fine or whatever. Like I got suspended
Speaker 1: from Game five of the NBA Finals, Like that was
Speaker 1: the absolute worst thing you could do to me. The
Speaker 1: last thing I care and I got fined for that.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if I've told you, if I've told
Speaker 1: this story before, but I got fined for that, getting
Speaker 1: suspended from game five of the finals. Not mind you,
Speaker 1: you're not paid for the playoffs. Just so you guys know,
Speaker 1: like say, on the average for a guy who's on
Speaker 1: the max contract on your per game per salary, I
Speaker 1: mean your per games salary or game chet, let's go
Speaker 1: roughly two hundred grand. Okay, it could be a little higher,
Speaker 1: could be a little lower, but just go two hundred
Speaker 1: grand for for an even number to give you some perspective.
Speaker 1: If you win the NBA Finals, I think your bonus
Speaker 1: is like three grands or something like that, which is
Speaker 1: a lot of money, get me wrong, But in comparison
Speaker 1: to playing one game and making two grand, it's not
Speaker 1: a lot of money because that's seven that's at least
Speaker 1: six if you sweep the playoffs, that's sixteen extra games.
Speaker 1: So you do the math, it doesn't add up. I
Speaker 1: was actually find a game check for missing a game
Speaker 1: that I actually don't get paid to play it. So
Speaker 1: I think, if I'm not mistaken, that fine. At the time.
Speaker 1: For me, it was like a hundred and fifty six
Speaker 1: thousand dollars or something like that. Um, And so to
Speaker 1: be find was like the worst thing that you can
Speaker 1: do to me, you've already done. Like, so I really
Speaker 1: don't give a damn, especially when I can go home
Speaker 1: at night and sleep and know that ultimately I got
Speaker 1: a tech for saying come on and walking the other
Speaker 1: ways saying come on, and then I I received a
Speaker 1: second technical for saying come on. All right, you know
Speaker 1: that was terrible. No profanity, no, none of that. But
Speaker 1: then it's put out there, Oh, Draymond had a uh,
Speaker 1: a profanity laced um thing with the official and he's
Speaker 1: fine twenty dollars. But let's talk about the two technical
Speaker 1: files that I use absolutely no profanity, two receive. So
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't understand. I don't really get
Speaker 1: off into it. I really don't appeal technical files anymore,
Speaker 1: UM or none of the fines or anything, because you're
Speaker 1: appealing to the same person that gave you fine like
Speaker 1: you're you're appealing to them. So you're not gonna listen
Speaker 1: to the interview a second time or watch the thing
Speaker 1: a second time and be like, oh, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna change that like that. That don't make sense
Speaker 1: to me. It's it's actually one of the most backwards
Speaker 1: processes that I can even think of. I mean, you think,
Speaker 1: you know, if you go to court and you get
Speaker 1: a judgment from the judge and then you appeal that,
Speaker 1: you don't go back to the same judge and ask
Speaker 1: that judge again. Hey, um, I think you want to
Speaker 1: change your mind on what you already to side it like,
Speaker 1: you just don't do that. So I've never understood that process.
Speaker 1: Because I don't understand the process, I just don't bother
Speaker 1: to waste my time anymore. Um, it is what it is,
Speaker 1: Like it comes with the territory, Like I told them,
Speaker 1: probably not. It's one thousand percent not the first time
Speaker 1: that I've been fine, um as I think at this
Speaker 1: point now, I've probably been fined over north of a
Speaker 1: million dollars in my career, somewhere close. Um, It's definitely
Speaker 1: not the first time I've been fine, and I'm almost
Speaker 1: certain it won't be the last. So it is what
Speaker 1: it is. UM. I me, I'm not changing that for anybody.
Speaker 1: I'm always gonna be me. You take it to leave it.
Speaker 1: It's gotten me this far. It'll get me much further,
Speaker 1: so not tripping on that. And we got to talk
Speaker 1: about one of the goats, my big brother, Lebron James,
Speaker 1: passing Carled Malone on the school Our List for number
Speaker 1: two our time, absolutely insane. You know why it's so
Speaker 1: insane because no one even considers Lebron James the score.
Speaker 1: That's what I think is extremely impressive is this guy
Speaker 1: isn't even considered a score yet He's sitting that number
Speaker 1: two all time, and it's only a matter of time
Speaker 1: before he passed Kareem. Absolutely insane. And then he followed
Speaker 1: that up going back to Cleveland thirty eight, twelve and
Speaker 1: eleven and oh my god, kay Love. By the way,
Speaker 1: we got a high k Love on the show. Um
Speaker 1: one of these days, but oh my god, kay Love.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, I think I think Brian owed you some
Speaker 1: good wine for the album, my brother. As there's no
Speaker 1: way come on out, Brian, There's absolutely no way. Like like, Brian,
Speaker 1: you had enough reaction time to realize like, oh man,
Speaker 1: that's kay uh, Like I'm I'm not about to do that.
Speaker 1: Not put your foot in his stomach and climb him
Speaker 1: and get the extra booths and look at the rim
Speaker 1: and throw it in there. And then what I will
Speaker 1: say is if it was me, kayleb I would have
Speaker 1: turned around and looked at you and like, oh type
Speaker 1: of ship. At least Brian looked at crowd. But like
Speaker 1: I tweeted or I put on Instagram story or something
Speaker 1: like thirty eight, twelve and eleven power Dump, like we knew,
Speaker 1: we knew this was happening. Like, it's no surprise that
Speaker 1: Lebron goes back to Cleveland, puts on that show, the
Speaker 1: Lakers get a win. That was no surprise if you
Speaker 1: if you, if you saw that Lebron was going to
Speaker 1: Cleveland and that surprised you, shame on you because it
Speaker 1: did not surprise me at all. I mean, Cleveland is
Speaker 1: having a good year. Shout out to uh the Draymond
Speaker 1: Green Show alumnus Darius Garland. They are having an incredible year.
Speaker 1: Absolutely love what they're doing. But as Lebron going back
Speaker 1: to Cleveland, like we all know how that goes. So
Speaker 1: I mean that that that really just captain an incredible
Speaker 1: week for Bron, you know, and what and what he's
Speaker 1: been able to accomplish. Man, I mean, I take my
Speaker 1: hat off to that brother, asked as someone who's had
Speaker 1: battles with him, who has played in finals against him,
Speaker 1: and and really understand, Um, you know his process and
Speaker 1: what he does, and how hard it is to beat him,
Speaker 1: and how incredible he is, my brother. I take my
Speaker 1: hat off to you, man. I mean, it's still baffles
Speaker 1: me that as much love as you get, still don't
Speaker 1: get the love that you deserve. And I guess that's
Speaker 1: a part of it, they say, But as a brother,
Speaker 1: but even more importantly than a brother in this situation,
Speaker 1: as a competitor, as um, someone who's going up against
Speaker 1: you now for the last ten years. Hats off to you, Bro,
Speaker 1: and nobody else ain't gonna give your flowers, my man.
Speaker 1: I give you all flowers in the world because you
Speaker 1: deserve them, Bro, from what you've done for the game
Speaker 1: of basketball, for the African American community, for us as
Speaker 1: basketball players, and the freedom that you've taken hits for
Speaker 1: and helping everyone else get to where we are today.
Speaker 1: I take my hat off to you. Bro. The chosen
Speaker 1: one had that tattoo. I don't know since high school
Speaker 1: that I know, like to actually come into the NBA
Speaker 1: with all of that height and like not not only
Speaker 1: like like you didn't live up to the hype, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, Like most people don't live up
Speaker 1: to the height. And to come into the NBA as
Speaker 1: the most hyped basketball player of all time and to
Speaker 1: exceed the hight, to exceed what they thought you were
Speaker 1: gonna do, and they thought you would be one of
Speaker 1: the best to exceed that is absolutely incredible. And the
Speaker 1: way you exceeded as as as incredible as it is
Speaker 1: as a as a basketball player that you are, you've
Speaker 1: exceeded that. In business, you've exceeded that, um and like
Speaker 1: I said, changing the way we operate in this business. Uh,
Speaker 1: you you've achieved that by by your entire team, your
Speaker 1: entire family, y'all, like our entire family all winning at
Speaker 1: the highest level. Like you've achieved so much, bro, And
Speaker 1: like I said, as as a friend, as a brother,
Speaker 1: as a competitor, I take my hat off to you, Bro.
Speaker 1: They ain't never been done like you, and I don't
Speaker 1: know if in my lifetime it will ever be done
Speaker 1: in so to be able to witness that, it's been incredible, bro.
Speaker 1: And saying that still trying to kick your ass, but
Speaker 1: no doubt, man, Congrats to Lebron second all time, probably
Speaker 1: in fifty more games or so, fifty or seventy games
Speaker 1: or so, he will be first all time. And I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see that, and I hope Steve Kerr,
Speaker 1: I'm throwing this out there right now. Lebron James is
Speaker 1: passing all time scoring record, and we have a game.
Speaker 1: I'm going to Lebron's game and witness history. So that's
Speaker 1: what we're doing, Coach Kerr. So if if Lebron or not,
Speaker 1: when Lebron passes Kareem gets the number one all time,
Speaker 1: does that make him to go to what you gotta
Speaker 1: do to be to go? You know, you know every
Speaker 1: everyone talks about when Lebron passes Kareem, does that make
Speaker 1: him to go? I don't think him becoming the number
Speaker 1: one score makes him anymore of the goat than he
Speaker 1: already is. I think what what I don't like to
Speaker 1: get into is like, oh, is Lebron the goat over
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan? No, Lebron is a go and Michael Jordan's
Speaker 1: a go and they're both incredible and they never played
Speaker 1: against each other, So how can we ever settle that?
Speaker 1: Like it's all subjective? And I hate that in sports, Like, No,
Speaker 1: no one's running around talking about well, Google is a
Speaker 1: better company than Apple, or Apple is a better company
Speaker 1: to Amazon. No, we all just appreciate those companies for
Speaker 1: what they bring to this world. But yet we get
Speaker 1: in sports and we're getting basketball, and they've gotta be
Speaker 1: Lebron James against Michael Jordan. Has to go to who's
Speaker 1: the best. They're both incredible, they're both great, they're both goats.
Speaker 1: So to get into this whole thing of like is
Speaker 1: he above this guy or not? No, they both go
Speaker 1: to their own right and I appreciate and respect those
Speaker 1: guys for that, and I don't really want to get
Speaker 1: off into who's better or who's not. They both are
Speaker 1: incredible in different rors. I think you can appreciate uh
Speaker 1: particular things about both of their journey and they're different
Speaker 1: from each other. You know, you can appreciate how Lebron
Speaker 1: has been able to do this for nine team seasons.
Speaker 1: This man is leading the NBA and scoring in his
Speaker 1: nineteen season. You can appreciate my mj taking off a
Speaker 1: year and a half or two or whatever it was
Speaker 1: and coming back and running off three more championships. That's incredible.
Speaker 1: And so when you when talking about the Golden which
Speaker 1: one is, like, Man, that's bullshit. Like, I respect both
Speaker 1: of those guys. I appreciate both of those guys, and
Speaker 1: at some point I hope this world of basketball catch
Speaker 1: up and appreciate that as well. Man, this is becoming
Speaker 1: a show. You almost you gotta be like doing your
Speaker 1: thing to come on this show. Man. I'm honored to
Speaker 1: welcome this next guest. UH three time All Star Freshman
Speaker 1: of the Year at the University of Florida, All SECS
Speaker 1: first Team, All Freshman First Team, UH National Gatorade Player
Speaker 1: of the Year in two thousand eleven in high school.
Speaker 1: But this guy went on to be the number three
Speaker 1: draft pick in my drive class. Matter of fact, which
Speaker 1: I must tell him. I'm still piste off about everybody
Speaker 1: who got drafted before me. I'm still upset at and
Speaker 1: he is one of them. Nonetheless, he is one of
Speaker 1: the guys that did validate that he was supposed to
Speaker 1: be before me, and I'm cool with that. I can
Speaker 1: live with that. But if some guys on there that
Speaker 1: shouldn't have been before me, this is not one of
Speaker 1: those guys, you know, So I am honored to welcome
Speaker 1: this next guest. Three time All Star Brad Bill, what's up,
Speaker 1: my brother, Dre. It's a pleasure. Is a pleasure, my brother.
Speaker 1: How you feeling. I'm feeling great, man. I appreciate you
Speaker 1: coming on. We you know, we we've been having this
Speaker 1: streak of All Stars and Hall of Famers and you know,
Speaker 1: like real guys. So I'm I think I'm starting to
Speaker 1: get to the point now where like, man, if you
Speaker 1: ain't got no accolades, I don't know if you could
Speaker 1: come on the show. I got Brad Bill on the show,
Speaker 1: were doing it. You know. It's funny you you was
Speaker 1: mentioned in my accolades and all that, but in the
Speaker 1: draft class, and one thing I always admire about you
Speaker 1: is that you keep that chip on your should about
Speaker 1: every it was drafting ahead of you, and it's way
Speaker 1: steeper than everybody else in our draft class. Bro. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to you already know that I appreciate that. Bro. No, honestly, honestly,
Speaker 1: I still I still think back to that draft class
Speaker 1: and like, I'll keep it all the way g with you.
Speaker 1: I go through it all the time, and I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: these guys ain't before me. Like there's a there's a
Speaker 1: few guys in this draft class who I'm like, all like,
Speaker 1: no problem, it's you, it's dame, it's a d But
Speaker 1: then you get much deeper than that, and I ain't
Speaker 1: going much than that, you know, you know, those three
Speaker 1: guys I can respect. I respect the work put in,
Speaker 1: I respect the resumes. You know what I'm saying, guys
Speaker 1: really doing it. And but it was a lot of
Speaker 1: guys in that draft who I didn't think they should
Speaker 1: have been before me that night, and I for damn
Speaker 1: sure don't think they should be before me. Now listen,
Speaker 1: So you're showing it every night, so I ain't listen.
Speaker 1: We already know how they work, you know, absolutely, I
Speaker 1: appreciate it, bro No, But first off, how are you feeling?
Speaker 1: Obviously you had the risk injury. How how is your
Speaker 1: recovery going with that? So it's been good. I had
Speaker 1: risk surgery literally on a deadline day, So February tenth,
Speaker 1: I had risk surgery. Um, it's been four weeks since then.
Speaker 1: I just got my cash changed out. I got another
Speaker 1: six weeks in this cast, so it's gonna be ten
Speaker 1: weeks total. I'll be in the cast, get the screws
Speaker 1: out hopefully around April. Twenty minute April um. And then
Speaker 1: after that I'm good to go on back rehabbing hopefully
Speaker 1: another month after that, just getting the strength back in
Speaker 1: the hand. Um. And then I would say about May June,
Speaker 1: I should be I should be back to to myself.
Speaker 1: So it's been good. There's been no setbacks, no problems,
Speaker 1: you know, it's just getting used to being around, walking
Speaker 1: around doing everything with the cast. Luckily, was my shooting
Speaker 1: hands something good. Absolutely, And and speaking of that, obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, most guys like I've never hit free agency, uh,
Speaker 1: and to be quite honest with you, I've I've never
Speaker 1: on it too, um, you know. But for most guys,
Speaker 1: you know, you get injured during the contract year and
Speaker 1: you don't know what the hell is going to happen. Obviously,
Speaker 1: your situation is different. We all know who Brad Bill is,
Speaker 1: we all know what Brad Bill is bringing to a team,
Speaker 1: and there will be twenty nine other teams knocking at
Speaker 1: your door. If you're one team that if your team
Speaker 1: that your own didn't want you to due to injury,
Speaker 1: that's not quite the case for you. But in saying that,
Speaker 1: I think even for my you know, for myself, I
Speaker 1: can speak from my own, um, from my own personal self.
Speaker 1: When you go through an injury, like you know, anybody,
Speaker 1: I still have doubts to like, man, are they still
Speaker 1: gonna want me? Like did you have any of that
Speaker 1: once going through the injury or or the whole time
Speaker 1: where you're just like, no, I'm all right, Like I
Speaker 1: know what I bring and I'll be fine. No. I
Speaker 1: never had that mindset. You know. We always know that
Speaker 1: you always keep in the back of your mind. And
Speaker 1: it's a business. You know, teams are going to operate
Speaker 1: the way that they fit best. Um. But we always
Speaker 1: had constant communication between in the front office and not
Speaker 1: so like it was never no no bs. It was
Speaker 1: nothing you know under the table, nothing that I didn't
Speaker 1: know about or you know, something that all you know,
Speaker 1: we're not gonna we're not going to hold our extension
Speaker 1: that we have now on the table, you know, because
Speaker 1: you got injured, like the extension still on the table
Speaker 1: right now. And then you know, they never said anything
Speaker 1: about moving me at the deadline either. So the constant
Speaker 1: communication was there. That's what I respected. Um. But like
Speaker 1: you said, not everybody gets to be in that position,
Speaker 1: you know, So I'm definitely you know to put the
Speaker 1: work in and and be fortunate enough to be in
Speaker 1: a position I mean now to kind of have a
Speaker 1: little bit more control in that absolutely, And you know,
Speaker 1: speaking of of the extension and free agency talk, obviously
Speaker 1: you have a player option going into next season, which
Speaker 1: is always the best. I actually got my first player
Speaker 1: option on this deal. I didn't have one on last deal.
Speaker 1: I really didn't even know as a possibility last time.
Speaker 1: But I got a player option on this deal, which
Speaker 1: is always the best. I think, you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's protection for the player. If if you're having a
Speaker 1: ship season, then you opt in. If you're having a
Speaker 1: great season and you gotta market, you opt out. And
Speaker 1: so I think that's a great position to be in.
Speaker 1: But obviously there's been a lot of talk around you
Speaker 1: and your situation. I actually respect what Washington has done
Speaker 1: and not making you a part of trade talks and
Speaker 1: and and um telling you that they're not shopping you
Speaker 1: at all, because the reality is that's a risk for
Speaker 1: a team to take with you are the player option,
Speaker 1: and you can possibly walk for nothing. Now, we hear
Speaker 1: the rumors all the time we're here. Just yesterday or
Speaker 1: two days ago, we heard that the heat once you're
Speaker 1: really bad. What's been your mindset about going into this
Speaker 1: next free agency? I mean, if if you decide to
Speaker 1: opt out, because you you haven't been in this position
Speaker 1: either exactly. So it's just like you like, I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm kind of embracing everything, right, So, like I'm not
Speaker 1: upset about the rumors. I'm not upset about you know,
Speaker 1: teams warning me like that's that's a good thing. We we
Speaker 1: we put in the work and you know, we're wanted
Speaker 1: by a lot of people, not just where we're at,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, And I think that just
Speaker 1: speaks volumes to the type of players who we are
Speaker 1: and you know what we're able to do onto the floor,
Speaker 1: you know, on and off the floor, and the impact
Speaker 1: we can have. And so for me, I just embrace
Speaker 1: it all. Like I know, it's it's a lot of noise.
Speaker 1: I know it can be distracting at times, but I
Speaker 1: always had a bunch of O G s and a
Speaker 1: lot of people who I've had a lot of teammates.
Speaker 1: This is my tenth year, rev had a lot of
Speaker 1: teammates in and out, you know, so they're telling me,
Speaker 1: you know what it's like at other places, you know,
Speaker 1: compared to where I am, you know, so I kind
Speaker 1: of get that field and I get a little bit
Speaker 1: of their entriest. But you know, just like I know,
Speaker 1: it's nothing better than you know, grinding it out and
Speaker 1: kind of doing it on your own, you know. And
Speaker 1: I also love and respect the fact that Washington, like
Speaker 1: you said, it hasn't been shopping me. They're not saying, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, we're out listening to what teams are like
Speaker 1: as soon as they call their hanging on the phone, right,
Speaker 1: So like I respect that part of you know, um
Speaker 1: And and it's kind of funny, like I've I've never
Speaker 1: been a free agent. It's kind of reminded me of
Speaker 1: college recruiting. Like I hear every single game somebody's recruiting me.
Speaker 1: Somebody's like tagging on me, like whether it's a another player,
Speaker 1: whether it may be a coach or whoever it may be,
Speaker 1: like some you know, somebody's chitchat, be what you want
Speaker 1: to do to something, what you're doing the summer. So
Speaker 1: it's been I embrace it, bro like I don't shot
Speaker 1: from it. Like I love the fact I have constant
Speaker 1: communication from Washington, so I know what's going on. There's
Speaker 1: no there's no gimmicks, right. We know which pathwords going down,
Speaker 1: and we're making the moves to do that. And it's
Speaker 1: a matter of if I'm comfortable, like I've never been
Speaker 1: in a position to where Okay, I hold all the chips,
Speaker 1: I can really make any decision I want m And
Speaker 1: I think that's incredible to you know, to be in
Speaker 1: that position, Like you said that everyone isn't afforded that opportunity.
Speaker 1: Most guys in this league never experienced that feeling, you know,
Speaker 1: and have that opportunity to kind of control their own destiny.
Speaker 1: But I know you've gone on record a million times. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, even when we we've several times, you've always
Speaker 1: spoke about like, yeah, I want to stay in Washington
Speaker 1: is home for me. They drafted me. But my question
Speaker 1: to you is with with Washington, never with Washington? Never, UM,
Speaker 1: really attracting big free agents. You know, we're now in
Speaker 1: the tenth year of our career and and it was
Speaker 1: actually one of the things that I went through with
Speaker 1: our management last year and just constant conversations we were
Speaker 1: having about like hey, you got you have me Stephan
Speaker 1: Clay Um, who's been here, I mean ten years for
Speaker 1: me Levin, for Clay, thirteen for Steff. You have Andre
Speaker 1: who left for a couple of years. You have Looney
Speaker 1: that's really been here, you know, through the through the
Speaker 1: run that we had, what and and then and so
Speaker 1: we're kind of in this position and where like, yo,
Speaker 1: we got we have two first round draft picks, right,
Speaker 1: and so with the two first round draft picks that
Speaker 1: we had, Um, I'm like, what are we doing because
Speaker 1: and and I actually said it publicly earlier this year,
Speaker 1: like the mixture of young guys and old guys or
Speaker 1: I don't think we're old, but you know, experienced guys,
Speaker 1: it's never worked, So so what are we doing? And
Speaker 1: they're like, no, I think we got the right mixing.
Speaker 1: It can work. And I'm like, I don't know if
Speaker 1: this can work. Like we've never seen this work. This
Speaker 1: has always been a disaster. Now you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: been working for us. But how do you view that, Like, Um,
Speaker 1: as far as you're in your tenth year, do you
Speaker 1: see a certain type of guys that whol need to
Speaker 1: bring it around you? Because I mean building through the
Speaker 1: draft like y'all been, y'all been on the fringe of
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and I know you want to compete, and
Speaker 1: so building through the draft it may not necessarily fit
Speaker 1: your timeline. So how are you viewing that? Are you
Speaker 1: looking around like, yo, we need to bring these guys
Speaker 1: in in order to compete, or are you okay with
Speaker 1: that building through the draft process that you all kind
Speaker 1: of been stuck in a little bit, right, And that's
Speaker 1: that's kind of where we've been, right We've always been
Speaker 1: a team that's kind of been right in the middle
Speaker 1: of the pack, right in the limbo, right where either
Speaker 1: a few like either a player away or a few
Speaker 1: possessions away from being a top four seed or you know,
Speaker 1: a bottom eight t you know. So that's kind of
Speaker 1: always been our downfall. And then you look at it
Speaker 1: is like then when you're drafting and that you're drafting
Speaker 1: from you know, mid late lottery, you know, so those
Speaker 1: are guys who are more or less developing versus guys
Speaker 1: that you're expecting to come in and really make a
Speaker 1: drafted impact right away. You know. On top of that,
Speaker 1: another frustrating thing is, like you said, we have never
Speaker 1: probably in the history, being able to attract free agents,
Speaker 1: right you see, is a great market dcs A sport Town,
Speaker 1: DC is an awesome city like d C should be
Speaker 1: desired I think by a lot of teams. But I
Speaker 1: think it's it's us shooting ourselves in the footwell when
Speaker 1: you don't necessarily win, when you don't necessarily always have
Speaker 1: uh positive light coming out of your locker room, because
Speaker 1: we've had history of negativity all that bs coming out
Speaker 1: of the locker room, so that plays a factor. Um
Speaker 1: So it's just when you have all, like all the
Speaker 1: little things that don't add up to being you know,
Speaker 1: an elite team like teams would expect, then you you're
Speaker 1: not necessarily going to get those creators right. So that's
Speaker 1: where we have to explore the trade markets. We've got
Speaker 1: to explore the draft class, and I know a lot
Speaker 1: of our moves have to be may via trade. Like
Speaker 1: we got to explore some of the options that we
Speaker 1: ended up drafting. Guys that we ended up picking up.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we can't give them extensions because we gotta move
Speaker 1: on and try to get something else, you know. So
Speaker 1: that's kind of been our position. Do I love it?
Speaker 1: Not necessarily because you know, you always want some type
Speaker 1: of stability. You want you need to have your core,
Speaker 1: you know, once you have your core established, you can
Speaker 1: find you know, guys that you can plug into your
Speaker 1: system and just take off and run. You know. So
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of both. You know, we're we're
Speaker 1: still finding that core. Um, we have a mix of
Speaker 1: a few vets. Like we just picked up We're think
Speaker 1: it's in the trade. We got rid of some some
Speaker 1: guys and we add a KP and you know, we
Speaker 1: got some we got some size. But now we need
Speaker 1: to like you said, we need to ask some experience.
Speaker 1: We gotta have some some guys who who've been in
Speaker 1: those awards before to propel us. You know, when he's
Speaker 1: play off time, they know what they expect. Absolutely no,
Speaker 1: I think I think that's very important. And that's kind
Speaker 1: of you know, that's kind of the space we've been
Speaker 1: in in the last couple of months where I went out.
Speaker 1: You have Clay coming back from injury. So he's Clay
Speaker 1: has been out for two and a half years. The
Speaker 1: one thing I tried to stress to him before coming back, like, YO,
Speaker 1: just be aware, like and don't be shocked by once
Speaker 1: you come back, the league is totally different. Like I
Speaker 1: even told him, I said, I know one of the
Speaker 1: things you're going to struggle with is everybody nowadays shoot
Speaker 1: threes and and I know you Clay, like you're gonna
Speaker 1: look at some guys and you're gonna be like, yeah,
Speaker 1: are you serious. And it's in the league now. It's
Speaker 1: not like, you know, some guys just catching the spotting up.
Speaker 1: It's like it's legitimately, like, uh, John Smith will walk
Speaker 1: walk into a three now. And I was trying to
Speaker 1: tell him, like, it's a totally different lead from when
Speaker 1: you left. Make sure that you're aware of that and
Speaker 1: you're ready to adjust. And so I said all of
Speaker 1: that to say, we've kind of been in this space
Speaker 1: now of lacking experience due to the injuries, and so
Speaker 1: you've got guys with experience going out and now there's
Speaker 1: there's the rest of our squad who don't have quite
Speaker 1: as much experience. And so we've been working through that.
Speaker 1: And I love the way guy has been working through it,
Speaker 1: like putting their head down and just trying to figure
Speaker 1: it out. But it's it's a tough thing when you've
Speaker 1: got guys that don't have much experience to lean on.
Speaker 1: It's a tough task and it's a totally different transition
Speaker 1: of the game, Like when we got drafted, we had
Speaker 1: two bigs playing. Remember it was too big two back
Speaker 1: to the backs biggs playing right now you might have
Speaker 1: you better hope you have one legit big on the floor. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: and and to see that transition like I had, I
Speaker 1: had a mecha opra for and then as my big
Speaker 1: right then that transitions to parts in their name, right,
Speaker 1: and so now I have those two bigs dot me
Speaker 1: transition to these stretched forwards and all that. That's when
Speaker 1: the evolution of you came in, and you really you
Speaker 1: change the game in that fashion. You change the game
Speaker 1: in the fashion as a right, you change the game
Speaker 1: stre the floor being able to not clog up the pain,
Speaker 1: create driving lengths for the guards like that. Evolution of
Speaker 1: the game transitions so quickly, and then you know it's
Speaker 1: a copycat lead. Everybody wants to copycat, which y'all did.
Speaker 1: And it's so funny because I know that y'all laugh
Speaker 1: at it and look at like dang, like everybody's trying it.
Speaker 1: But you don't have the person there to do it right.
Speaker 1: You don't. You don't have the person to do it right.
Speaker 1: You ain't get you don't have none of this, And
Speaker 1: it's just to see that transition of how we came
Speaker 1: in to where we are now. And that's just a
Speaker 1: testament to what you said earlier, like the older guys
Speaker 1: that's now being more mature, being older vets like and
Speaker 1: seeing the treastion of younger guys coming into it's just
Speaker 1: a totally different, totally different game and totally different expectations.
Speaker 1: It's crazy, It's insane. I had to have a conversation
Speaker 1: with our team a couple of weeks ago, and I
Speaker 1: was just telling them like I like, don't go like
Speaker 1: making sure guys don't get caught up in and thinking like, yo,
Speaker 1: I'm a vet, you know, like years of service don't
Speaker 1: make you a vet, Like like it's kind of one
Speaker 1: of those things that like when you you know, when
Speaker 1: you know, you know what. I was telling them, like,
Speaker 1: I really, I'm in my tenth year. I really just
Speaker 1: became a fact this year, right, Yeah, like you know
Speaker 1: what I'm And two years ago, I felt like I
Speaker 1: was thrust it into it once everybody Steph was hurt,
Speaker 1: Clay was out, Katie left, Andre was gone, Sean was gone,
Speaker 1: and it went from like I always say, it went
Speaker 1: from the little brother who would sometimes get mad and
Speaker 1: Sean Andrea be like already stopped, that's enough, Like like
Speaker 1: that's enough to like all of a sudden, I'm the
Speaker 1: older guy. That's like I'm supposed to tell somebody that's
Speaker 1: enough now. And I've always led, but leading and being
Speaker 1: a vettest too totally different things. And I struggled with
Speaker 1: it mightily. The game this season we won fifteen games.
Speaker 1: Everybody's out there, everybody's out there out in the world
Speaker 1: talking about all Dramond's playing bad, he's not scoring the basketball. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: I'm going into every game trying to figure out how
Speaker 1: do I leave these young guys right, not even thinking
Speaker 1: about anything else. And so I understood how hard it was,
Speaker 1: and like now this year, I finally feel like I'm
Speaker 1: making a transition and understanding it. But it's a weird
Speaker 1: transition to go from the young guys to know you're
Speaker 1: the elder statesmen showing everybody. This is a great point
Speaker 1: because everybody loves to assume that your best player, of
Speaker 1: the best score is the leader and and the vet
Speaker 1: of the team, and that's not always the case, right,
Speaker 1: And a lot of us we take on that that
Speaker 1: leadership role because we naturally have that leadership, the leadership qualities, right,
Speaker 1: But when it comes to being a vet, like, that's
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff even outside of hoops, right, teaching
Speaker 1: the about the game, teaching them how you know to
Speaker 1: be on time, what to do, teaching them about the
Speaker 1: financial game. Like, it's it's just so much that you
Speaker 1: have to pump into and kind of mentor that you
Speaker 1: become a whole man to your teammates. And the biggest
Speaker 1: thing I never understood is the impact of like the
Speaker 1: little things, right, just going like I'll walk through the
Speaker 1: locker room and if I don't speak to a young guy,
Speaker 1: he may think I'm piste off out like and just
Speaker 1: not understanding the power and that just the that you
Speaker 1: have in speaking to one of your young fellas, right,
Speaker 1: just the power that you have, the impact that that goes,
Speaker 1: and it's just it's just so much bigger than just
Speaker 1: the game. Right. The game is it's easy for us,
Speaker 1: like we can we can do that all day, we
Speaker 1: can lead you all day, tell you what to do
Speaker 1: all day. But everything outside of that and being a
Speaker 1: man within the game, you know, understanding the reason is
Speaker 1: the aspect of it. Understand the coaches playing time, if
Speaker 1: you are you're not, Like, that's a whole whole different
Speaker 1: ball game. I think for us, one of the things
Speaker 1: that we have to understand is the guys who are
Speaker 1: coming in the league now. So we're in your ten,
Speaker 1: so you figure even next year, let's go, next year's
Speaker 1: drift class will be in your eleven. If you think
Speaker 1: the eleven years ago, for a nineteen year old coming
Speaker 1: into the league, they were eight years old. So the
Speaker 1: thing that we have to understand now is like these kids,
Speaker 1: these these young guys literally grew up watching us play.
Speaker 1: And so there's also that shock factor walking in like yo,
Speaker 1: like I'm I'm sitting in the locker room, I am
Speaker 1: sitting next to Brad Bill Man, I watched this dude
Speaker 1: growing up like Steph Curry. Like you come in the
Speaker 1: locker room and you're next to Steph Curry. For some
Speaker 1: of these young guys, it's like, and we don't take
Speaker 1: that into account because you are Brad Bill, because that
Speaker 1: is Steph Curry, and we don't take into account. Like
Speaker 1: when I came into the league, I saw Kobe, I
Speaker 1: would star struck. I saw grand Hill, them two guys
Speaker 1: I was star struck by. I would star struck you're
Speaker 1: now that getting You're you're now that guy. You're now
Speaker 1: Kobe and grand Hill and these young kids are like
Speaker 1: the young Draymond that's sitting there watching Kobe hole whole
Speaker 1: pregame workout light Like that's where we at now, and
Speaker 1: it's a crazy thing to try to wrap your mind around.
Speaker 1: That's a big blessing, bro, because I even just say
Speaker 1: their games now, like I'm out and I'll be sitting
Speaker 1: on the bench and I'll see it killed my jersey
Speaker 1: and it's like I never I never would I never
Speaker 1: would have dreamt like ever, right And just to see
Speaker 1: that like that is so that's amazing right now, that's
Speaker 1: just motivation to just keep going, keep going, keep going.
Speaker 1: But facts, it is nothing like being in the position
Speaker 1: we in like we we are. We have the best
Speaker 1: job in the world. We're not asked to do a
Speaker 1: lot mm hmm, and and we do it at a
Speaker 1: high level. Bro, Like this is is nothing like it.
Speaker 1: It's nothing like it. No, for sure, I gotta ask
Speaker 1: you this question. Um. More so for the fans that
Speaker 1: don't quite understand, um, when guys stay with because you're
Speaker 1: starting to get to the point now where media is
Speaker 1: such a big thing where you're starting to get to
Speaker 1: the point now where some guys are now criticizing Heights
Speaker 1: for actually staying with their team. See, you had this
Speaker 1: kind of shift of like guys leader team in the
Speaker 1: media dragged them through the mud. You actually just face
Speaker 1: some of it this past year where you stay with
Speaker 1: the team now and and and people are criticizing you
Speaker 1: before the fort the Irish fan that doesn't know like
Speaker 1: for and for Brad Bill to stay with the Washington Wizards,
Speaker 1: he can sign a five year And I'm only saying this.
Speaker 1: I don't call nobody pockets, but I'm only saying this
Speaker 1: because it's public information. But for Brad Bill to stay
Speaker 1: with the Washington Wizards, he can sign a five year,
Speaker 1: two hundred and forty two million dollar deal this summer.
Speaker 1: For if Brad Bill was to leave and go to
Speaker 1: another team, he can sign a four year, one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy nine million dollar deal. Well, why is that?
Speaker 1: Because you have bird rights and the team that you've
Speaker 1: been with for two or three years, two years, I
Speaker 1: think you can EARLYI ber two or three years. They're
Speaker 1: on your bird rights and they can pay you more.
Speaker 1: They can give you that extra year on a deal,
Speaker 1: the percentage increase on your last year salary goes up,
Speaker 1: and so that that seventy nine through one, that's sixty
Speaker 1: three million dollar difference. That has to matter. Where does
Speaker 1: that matter for you in your process? Like, I know
Speaker 1: you've made a bunch of money, You're gonna make a
Speaker 1: bunch more money. What are you eight? Yes, sir, So
Speaker 1: even if you sign a five, you're your thirty three.
Speaker 1: You got another four your deal. Like, so the money
Speaker 1: people say, the money isn't it thing? But sixty three
Speaker 1: million dollars and sixty three million dollars, I don't care
Speaker 1: how much money you to make. You know, it's it's
Speaker 1: It's really tough because, like you said, you do get
Speaker 1: criticized for for what for what you do right, for
Speaker 1: standing in your situation and and doing what you feel
Speaker 1: its best. Right. And if you took a survey, right,
Speaker 1: and you ask any anybody random personal street if they
Speaker 1: were signing this deal, everybody in their mama is gonna say, yes,
Speaker 1: I'm signing They're signing the deal. Right. But like around
Speaker 1: me too, Like I'm also not in the same position
Speaker 1: as those people. I have money, right, I've made a
Speaker 1: lot of money in my career. Um, and I'm blessed
Speaker 1: and fortunate to make even more right and so, but
Speaker 1: I have for the first time, like you said, if
Speaker 1: I have the opportunity to be in control of what
Speaker 1: I would like to do. And it's like you said,
Speaker 1: it's a business end of today. I have to have
Speaker 1: their understanding with Washington that we are in the pursuits
Speaker 1: of winning, right, that is, that is my destination and goal.
Speaker 1: The money is awesome, yes, Granted, when we grew up
Speaker 1: playing Dred, we played the game to make a lot
Speaker 1: of money. We played the game to take care of
Speaker 1: our family like that. Getn't twisted like we all that
Speaker 1: is still in the back of our it we that
Speaker 1: is priority number one, taking care of yourself. Mak you
Speaker 1: sould as you get every dollar as you possibly can
Speaker 1: make and that you feel comfortable with doing. But there
Speaker 1: also comes with when you make that money. Do you
Speaker 1: want to win ball games? Do you want to be
Speaker 1: able to play for sex? Right? I want to play
Speaker 1: meaningful games, right. I want to be playing in late June.
Speaker 1: That's what I want, m Right. And I think people
Speaker 1: don't understand that, yeah, And it's and I think people
Speaker 1: don't understand that I want to do that here, Like
Speaker 1: like what And in my mind set, it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: why can't I do it here? There's a lot of
Speaker 1: other teams that are out here doing all right, Milwaukee,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't have said that about them six years ago,
Speaker 1: five years ago, three years ago. Right even Memphis. Now
Speaker 1: Memphis is making noise, Phoenix, same thing. Like, teams are
Speaker 1: doing it. Teams are doing it, teams that were we're
Speaker 1: talking first round picks, I mean number one picks. Like
Speaker 1: it's it's possible for teams to do it. It's possible
Speaker 1: to go on those runs. And not all those teams
Speaker 1: have two, three, four all stars. That's a fact. They
Speaker 1: developed their guys, right they they're putting in, they're putting in,
Speaker 1: they're putting the pieces together. Like so it's a possibility,
Speaker 1: and it's I mean, shoot me if you want. But
Speaker 1: that's my mindset, Like I have that mindset. I want
Speaker 1: to do it here. But for sure, there also comes
Speaker 1: a point, Dre that you also know that it becomes
Speaker 1: a business, and if you feel like the stars aren't
Speaker 1: aligned with that, then everybody's gonna do it's best for them,
Speaker 1: regardless of what the money is. And You've earned that
Speaker 1: right to do it there or do it else where
Speaker 1: if that's what you decide. And I think you know,
Speaker 1: and speaking of you know, like you said the survey,
Speaker 1: and everybody will take that money. The thing people don't
Speaker 1: understand this when you're getting your ass kicked every day,
Speaker 1: and like you don't get me wrong, making the money
Speaker 1: is great, But when you get your ass kicked every
Speaker 1: day and you're making that money, you don't feel good
Speaker 1: about yourself. Like no one, no one leaves the game
Speaker 1: unless you found a complete loser, because there are losers
Speaker 1: that get paid in this League's another problem because if
Speaker 1: you need the game laughing, then you don't give a
Speaker 1: damn about the game. Oh you don't give just collected checking,
Speaker 1: You just collect his chicken, just moves about his day.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. So you and a loser, you're in a
Speaker 1: lose lose situation. Like two thousand and twenty was one
Speaker 1: of the worst years. I mean two thousand nineteen, two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty seasons. I was miserable, like at that point
Speaker 1: in time up until like now it's more. But at
Speaker 1: that point in time, I was making the most money
Speaker 1: I had ever made in my life, and I was
Speaker 1: as miserable as I had ever been, getting our ass
Speaker 1: kicked every day, like walking into the gym, like we're
Speaker 1: losing today. Oh man, you're going you walk in the
Speaker 1: gym and like you're playing like a trash team, and like,
Speaker 1: oh we we can win this one today. But you
Speaker 1: get that feeling maybe three games out of the year.
Speaker 1: But I don't think people, I don't think people really
Speaker 1: understand how the effect that losing has on you. Like
Speaker 1: it's not just about the money, yeah has it has
Speaker 1: a drastic effect on you, bro. And maybe it's my
Speaker 1: competitive spirit you want to change that? And maybe I
Speaker 1: need to follow my head to maybe wake up when
Speaker 1: I don't know, but for sure we definitely have like
Speaker 1: that's just a competitive spirit to just want to pursue that,
Speaker 1: like everybody wants to win. That's the goal. That is
Speaker 1: the goal, and only one team get to do it.
Speaker 1: And that's where I think my confusion sometimes in my
Speaker 1: own head gets called into why I don't just jump
Speaker 1: the gun right? Everybody goes through that though. For sure,
Speaker 1: for sure it is I love being in a position,
Speaker 1: I mean because I have the advice for my peers
Speaker 1: and then I have the competitive spirit of me as well,
Speaker 1: just like wanting to compete against all y'all right, I
Speaker 1: have desires to He'll play with everybody for sure, you
Speaker 1: know that, like it is, that would be remarkable. Like
Speaker 1: the USA team that was one of the most fun
Speaker 1: experiences ever just being around so many elague guys sacrificing too.
Speaker 1: Who right, everybody's good, every is really good. I want
Speaker 1: to be I'm speaking of the trust and believe I
Speaker 1: would love to be in around environment, around Katie dray
Speaker 1: Steph and going hard winning games that what who wouldn't Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: who wouldn't. But it's also just as fun to compete
Speaker 1: against that team as well. When it's so many elite
Speaker 1: guys you competed like that's what that brings the best
Speaker 1: out of you. That's that's true. That's true. Question, And
Speaker 1: you've you've played with both of these guys and switching
Speaker 1: gears just a little bit. Um. I think in my opinion,
Speaker 1: there's not somebody challenging that. But in my opinion, you
Speaker 1: play with two of arguably the most athletic point guards
Speaker 1: that ever come through the NBA. Like I said, there's
Speaker 1: somebody in Memphis challenging that now, and no disrespect to
Speaker 1: d Roles as well. We all know d Roles was
Speaker 1: also in that category as well. But we we got
Speaker 1: this young dude in Memphis challenging all of that right now.
Speaker 1: And he won't all that smoke. He ain't ducking no wreck.
Speaker 1: He carrying this guys. I got a lot of respect
Speaker 1: for for for joh but and playing with those and
Speaker 1: playing with those two guys. And there's two separate questions. Um.
Speaker 1: One is a lot of people try to make it
Speaker 1: out to be you and John hated each other, which
Speaker 1: I didn't, which I didn't really appreciate because we are men,
Speaker 1: and if somebody hate each other, there's no need for
Speaker 1: me to hide it from y'all. I ain't got nothing
Speaker 1: to do with y'all. So I didn't like that people
Speaker 1: try to create that narrative. But where where where did
Speaker 1: you stand as far as like the team moving on
Speaker 1: from John? Because like y'all were arguably the best backcourt
Speaker 1: in the league for years. I mean y'all to Stephen Clay,
Speaker 1: Um James and CP. Like you know, it's it's been
Speaker 1: some backcourts in this league, and I thought y'all too
Speaker 1: arguably one of the best. Um, how did that affect you,
Speaker 1: like I was the biggest trade. I mean that you've
Speaker 1: gone through in your career as far as someone around
Speaker 1: you being traded. How did that affect you? It was tough, bro,
Speaker 1: because John is a brother, Like still to this day,
Speaker 1: like I picked up the phone called John if I
Speaker 1: need him here here right, and it's it's the same
Speaker 1: vice versa. And like you said, we both hated that
Speaker 1: there was a picture painted that we didn't like each
Speaker 1: other and we didn't like playing with each other, and
Speaker 1: us being young guys at the time, like we didn't
Speaker 1: that we weren't mature enough to just have a conversation.
Speaker 1: We were kind of readingto it, right, and so it's
Speaker 1: just kind of like a silent like damn, you feel
Speaker 1: like that now? He can't like that. Until eventually was
Speaker 1: like all right now, boom yo, bro, how are you feeling?
Speaker 1: Just how you feel now? This is how you're feeling.
Speaker 1: So once we had that conversation, it was just okay,
Speaker 1: that's dead, right, it's just noise to kind of get
Speaker 1: us rad or to get us off our track, right.
Speaker 1: I loved playing with John. Like John, I say to
Speaker 1: this day is the best pass where I played with
Speaker 1: He's probably the fastest guy I've played with with the ball,
Speaker 1: and his ability, his athleticism, his ability to be able
Speaker 1: to pass while I'm running so fast, to the corner
Speaker 1: of being able to find guys like Night and Day right,
Speaker 1: And the toughest part when we moved on from him
Speaker 1: was he was injured. Right. The toughest part was there
Speaker 1: was some stuff that went on in the summer that
Speaker 1: front office didn't necessarily a bye bye, and they just
Speaker 1: they were like, Okay, we got it, We're done, right,
Speaker 1: We're done. And so it kind of it was out
Speaker 1: of my hands because I was coming to camp thinking,
Speaker 1: you know, John is ready to go right boom, next
Speaker 1: day he's gone, And so that was very tough and
Speaker 1: emotional because he never came back from the injury and
Speaker 1: we never got a chance for us to play. When
Speaker 1: John first one down, that was the first chance for
Speaker 1: me to really blossom into like who I feel like
Speaker 1: I've grown into today, right in the modern game, right,
Speaker 1: I've become more of a ball handler, putting the ball
Speaker 1: on the floor, shooting off the dribble, more of something
Speaker 1: coming off pin downs, catch and shoot like I did
Speaker 1: my first five years. Solutely granted, it's Unfortunately John went down,
Speaker 1: but it gave me a chance to play point, to
Speaker 1: run more balls, screams, high picking rolls, to be able
Speaker 1: to facilitate the understand how defense is guard and how
Speaker 1: to manipulate him how to score easier. And he ended
Speaker 1: up missing. I think he got hurt like December and
Speaker 1: missed the rest of that year, then missed the whole
Speaker 1: year the next year, and I had I literally had
Speaker 1: a year to myself to operate and and just kind
Speaker 1: of learned, right, And I went through double teams. When
Speaker 1: John first went down, I got double team. I didn't
Speaker 1: know what to do. I didn't know how to handle it.
Speaker 1: And so literally the next year I had a whole
Speaker 1: year to adjustin Boom score thirty a game, right, and
Speaker 1: it was just like Okay, I get it, like I
Speaker 1: understand it, Like I mean now I'm evolved, right, And
Speaker 1: so that summer I'm like, Boom, I've changed, Like I'm
Speaker 1: way better than what I was when we were younger,
Speaker 1: playing Boston in sixteen seventeen and lost in the second round.
Speaker 1: Way better player than that, right, And I knew John
Speaker 1: was was pretty much climbing into his problem right around
Speaker 1: this time. So I'm well, I'm like, well, I'm a new,
Speaker 1: newly tuned up player waiting on this athletic, freaking nature
Speaker 1: to come back, like, let's give it one more shot,
Speaker 1: Let's give one shot. But we never I would say
Speaker 1: that was one thing that if I can go back,
Speaker 1: I wish we could have had. But we moved on
Speaker 1: and we moved into Russ right. So it was a
Speaker 1: situation to where, yes, I was frustrated, you know, my
Speaker 1: brother's gone, but I understood who we were gaining right.
Speaker 1: I understood who Russ was, and this is an m
Speaker 1: v P. We're getting right, and there's no disrespect to John.
Speaker 1: Russ has won m VP. Russ is. Do you know
Speaker 1: how rust played Russ is? He is boss to the
Speaker 1: wall every single night. He is going hard every single night.
Speaker 1: And for me, I've learned a lot from that because
Speaker 1: every single night, we don't always want to bring it,
Speaker 1: we don't always right. We retired some nights, we banged
Speaker 1: up a lot of nights. We you know, whatever the
Speaker 1: case may be, we're dealing with something, you know, mentally, family,
Speaker 1: whatever the case may be. I've literally seen this dude
Speaker 1: lace him up and play as hard as he possibly
Speaker 1: could every single night, bro, and he pushed me, come
Speaker 1: on all I kept hearing all years, come on, be
Speaker 1: keep going, be keep going, be keep going. And I
Speaker 1: never understood that drive. I'm like, how does he do this?
Speaker 1: How does he do this? But being in the fire,
Speaker 1: with him, being around him on the day to day,
Speaker 1: seeing how he prepared. He up at six in the morning,
Speaker 1: work done on his body, going in late doing the
Speaker 1: same thing, like, I'm like, okay, that's why, m so
Speaker 1: for sure. I also want to ask a follow up
Speaker 1: question on Russ, like you said, the way he played hard,
Speaker 1: the way he gets ready on a nightly basis for
Speaker 1: all of these years. I have the most respect for um.
Speaker 1: That motor that he has as a skill, and I
Speaker 1: don't think people give that skill enough credit. But having
Speaker 1: a motor as a skill. Two things. Number one is
Speaker 1: there's this notion of the way Russ plays to the
Speaker 1: outside world that Russ is a bad teammate. What I've
Speaker 1: heard is from everybody who's playing with him is he's
Speaker 1: one of the best teammates they've ever had. Can you
Speaker 1: talk about Russ as a teammate? And then how do
Speaker 1: you feel about all the slander that he's getting this year?
Speaker 1: As if he not fucking Russell Westbrook that ship picked
Speaker 1: me off. I gonna lie bro it really, it really
Speaker 1: frustrates me because especially being a guy that played with
Speaker 1: him now like the disrespect guy that she gotta stop, Bro,
Speaker 1: got to stop, because we acting like this man is
Speaker 1: not a Hall of Fame first battot, first battle. First
Speaker 1: of all, let's let's like the way he plays may
Speaker 1: not be your cup of tea. Facts, it may not
Speaker 1: be facts. And that's okay. Russ ain't gonna shoot a
Speaker 1: million three's he's not, nor should he, nor should he.
Speaker 1: Russ is. Russ is going to play winning basketball. Russ
Speaker 1: is going to go get rebounds. Russ is gonna make assist,
Speaker 1: Russ is going to take advantage of matchups he feels
Speaker 1: like he can't. That's Russ mm hmm. And he's gonna
Speaker 1: play a hunter moles power. He's gonna play hard. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: If that's not your cup of tea, don't watch him.
Speaker 1: He's been working his whole career. You're gonna change him
Speaker 1: in a year fourteen exactly, exactly A fan of it
Speaker 1: six years ago, eight years ago. Acts he played the
Speaker 1: same brand of basketball. He plays the same way with
Speaker 1: every every situation he's been in, he's played the same way.
Speaker 1: When Houston went to the Conference finals, he played the
Speaker 1: same way. Was there's no difference, that is, how are
Speaker 1: you going to change him? That's who he is? Absolutely
Speaker 1: I agree. I haven't, like, I haven't gotten with the slander.
Speaker 1: I don't. I can't understand it for the life of me.
Speaker 1: And it's people saying it that like, you have no
Speaker 1: business slandering Russell Westbrook. Come on, man, like you got
Speaker 1: former players that weren't that good Slander and west west
Speaker 1: Brook And I just don't understand it. But you know,
Speaker 1: I could talk about this all all day. I could
Speaker 1: talk to you all day, but I got one last
Speaker 1: question for you, and that is and he's having such
Speaker 1: an amazing year, especially as the last couple of months.
Speaker 1: But I think it's well documented and well known your
Speaker 1: relationship with JT. Jayson Tatum for those of y'all that
Speaker 1: don't know who j T is. Um, I've had the
Speaker 1: opportunity over the course of the summer and over course
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, but really over this summer
Speaker 1: to really get to know him. And it was big
Speaker 1: for me because you you see this guy who is
Speaker 1: like young and and yeah, he's now been doing it
Speaker 1: at this level since for five years now, since he
Speaker 1: came in four or five years since he came into
Speaker 1: the league. And you can get it twisted and like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's one of us, you know what I'm saying. And
Speaker 1: We're at the Olympics and I'm just sitting there talking
Speaker 1: to him, and then some of the questions he would
Speaker 1: ask him, like, Yo, this dude is a baby. Man
Speaker 1: Like he like, this dude is a baby. But you
Speaker 1: think you don't think that because he's so good and
Speaker 1: he's on the level that we are on All Stars
Speaker 1: produced and like, and you're just like or ship in
Speaker 1: some cases ahead of the level you know, like and
Speaker 1: you're just like, man, you tend to think like, no,
Speaker 1: he just wanted us. But the realities, he's a baby
Speaker 1: and I've got an opportunity to know him. I've got
Speaker 1: an opportunity to build a relationship with him, and it's
Speaker 1: one that I cherished. I cherished relationships. But and I'm
Speaker 1: so excited the way he's playing because him and jay
Speaker 1: Len Brown went through a lot of especially this last
Speaker 1: year and a half, a lot of stuff like you
Speaker 1: and John went through it like, Oh, they can't work together.
Speaker 1: It's that you got these people trying to create termoil
Speaker 1: against him and they figuring it out and it makes
Speaker 1: me happy. But I just want to really get your
Speaker 1: thoughts on on on JT the season he's having, and
Speaker 1: where do you see him going um in his career,
Speaker 1: Like what's that next step for him to take? Man,
Speaker 1: it's created a lot of people don't know what people
Speaker 1: do know. We grew up together, so we're both from St. Louis,
Speaker 1: We're both in the same high school. Moms know each
Speaker 1: other like whole nine. And I would always tell Jason
Speaker 1: when he was younger, You're gonna be a million times
Speaker 1: better than me, a million like and to see it
Speaker 1: happening as fast as it is, it's really crazy, Like
Speaker 1: it's it's very crazy, right. And to see the success
Speaker 1: he has, like you said, like I forget that he's
Speaker 1: as young as he is, absolutely crazy. He's been around
Speaker 1: me forever, right, I've I've known jasonce he was in diapers,
Speaker 1: I've known him forever. And to see him now he
Speaker 1: got he got more. I'm barely growing my beard, right,
Speaker 1: you don't even connect. You got a full beer, like
Speaker 1: and to see him, to see him, to see him
Speaker 1: growing to this, this young man. Bro, he's the next
Speaker 1: face of the league. And I told him that that
Speaker 1: is your goal. Mm hmm. Like he has a he
Speaker 1: has a great support system. We've got a lot of
Speaker 1: people that push him around him and then uplift him
Speaker 1: mom being number one. But I always tell him that
Speaker 1: you are the face of his lead. Bro, you have
Speaker 1: that opportunity to be the face of this lead, Like,
Speaker 1: don't shy away from no endorsement, don't shy away from
Speaker 1: no no, no money throwing your way whatever the league
Speaker 1: want to say, they do do mm hmm. This is
Speaker 1: your lead, bro, Like you already planned at this elite level.
Speaker 1: You need to be getting your name into these MVP
Speaker 1: talks every year, like because you have that ability, Like
Speaker 1: that's that's his projection, that is his projection, Like that's
Speaker 1: his projection. I agree, I agree. It's funny, which I
Speaker 1: wish you could have gone with us and you know,
Speaker 1: and we'll get out of here. But even on the team,
Speaker 1: like obviously you know on our team with the USA team,
Speaker 1: Katie was the guy, like but you can see like
Speaker 1: next up, it's him, And there were games where ka
Speaker 1: lived to him like, hey, man, come on now like
Speaker 1: you you gotta take it now, and clockwork boom boom boom.
Speaker 1: I'm just like, Yo, this dude got it man. But
Speaker 1: it's it's so great to see Bro. I gotta run
Speaker 1: of this game. I appreciate you coming on the show Man.
Speaker 1: It means a lot. Michael Lavine asked me all the day, like,
Speaker 1: how are you getting guys on the show Man? Yeah,
Speaker 1: my brother. I appreciate you. Brother. Get healthy, Bro, and
Speaker 1: I hope to see you soon. My dog actually will
Speaker 1: be there in a couple of days, so no doubt. Alright,
Speaker 1: love Bro, bro Man. Thank you to Brad. Appreciate Brad
Speaker 1: coming on the show, um sharing his outlook on his injury,
Speaker 1: his views on free agency, his thoughts on John Wall
Speaker 1: on Russell Westbrook. There's not many guys that can say
Speaker 1: they played with those two point guards, caliber point guards,
Speaker 1: all star level, m VP level, extremely athletic point guards
Speaker 1: and talk about the differences in between them. I thought
Speaker 1: that was super dope. I appreciated that. One of my
Speaker 1: hopes from that interview is that everyone took away what
Speaker 1: they needed to take away about Russell Westbrook and how
Speaker 1: the work that he puts in and what he gives
Speaker 1: to this game and the slander coming from like the
Speaker 1: reality is if Russell Westbrook is not the player that
Speaker 1: he once was but he was up until year fourteen,
Speaker 1: I think that is fucking amazing. Man. And we get
Speaker 1: into all this TV stuff and and like destroying this man.
Speaker 1: You got fans coming to the game calling that man Westbrook.
Speaker 1: Like if you and Russell Westbrook had a shooting competition,
Speaker 1: he takes your life savings. But you come to the
Speaker 1: game because you see something at such a high level
Speaker 1: and you come to the game and call this man Westbro.
Speaker 1: He he'd literally take your life savings if you got
Speaker 1: into a shooting contest for him. So I really appreciated
Speaker 1: that that part of the interview. I hope everyone else
Speaker 1: did as well. Um, until next week. It's been real.
Speaker 1: Make sure you guys like review and subscribe to the podcast,
Speaker 1: and also subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel so you
Speaker 1: can catch all the content. Make share with your friends.
Speaker 1: We want to keep bringing y'all good vibes, good news,
Speaker 1: good conversation. That's what we're all about here. So until
Speaker 1: next week. I love piece of hair grease. I'm out,
Speaker 1: very pleasant, pleasant,