Speaker 1: The NBA's annual Summer League in Las Vegas is upon us,
Speaker 1: and so on this edition of this League Uncut, we
Speaker 1: have a special guest joining Chris and me. It's Bulls
Speaker 1: rookie Modest Basilis that's next here on this League uncut.
Speaker 2: Welcome to this League uncut.
Speaker 3: In the rule of twenty four hour NBA News.
Speaker 4: This you lo.
Speaker 2: Chris Hanes. It's co tull Work's time.
Speaker 3: It's so nice. This League uncut is underway and on fire.
Speaker 2: This should be a good one.
Speaker 3: Let's bring him in now.
Speaker 1: Bulls rookie Modest bozellis joining us here about to begin
Speaker 1: his NBA career, the Summer League portion of his NBA career,
Speaker 1: as a member of your hometown Chicago Bulls. It has
Speaker 1: to be surreal. I know you've already been practicing, but
Speaker 1: too has it sunk in yet that you are a Bull?
Speaker 2: Yes, it has sunk in.
Speaker 4: It really sunk in, like after the draft, Like as
Speaker 4: soon as the draft happened. You know, I think everybody
Speaker 4: saw it was emotional, but you know, just being at
Speaker 4: the training facilities like surrounded by you know, the championships
Speaker 4: and all that, it's just it really, it really got
Speaker 4: to me.
Speaker 3: Were you a Bulls fan growing up?
Speaker 1: Because I know in your generation it's not automatic that
Speaker 1: you just fall in love with the local team, But.
Speaker 3: Is it safe to say you you grew up a
Speaker 3: Bulls fan.
Speaker 4: I wasn't really a fan of any team, but I
Speaker 4: was like a fan of players. So de Rose was
Speaker 4: like that guy, like he was like the savior of Chicago.
Speaker 2: Everybody thought that.
Speaker 4: So, you know, watching him and that team, you know, joking, Nola,
Speaker 4: Taj Gibson, all those guys, it was.
Speaker 2: That was like the most memorable thing for me.
Speaker 4: But I was never really a fan of any teams.
Speaker 5: That's how I am.
Speaker 6: You know, I'm forty one now, and people that's usually
Speaker 6: my age they grew up fans of teams and me,
Speaker 6: I was one of the lone guys that I like players,
Speaker 6: and I would follow players wherever they wherever they went. Uh,
Speaker 6: this is not this is not particularly on your career
Speaker 6: right now, but this question, but do you find that
Speaker 6: people in your age group, do you find some more
Speaker 6: so that they like players more so than teams.
Speaker 4: Yes, I could safely say that I think it's it's
Speaker 4: more of a like when a when a player gets
Speaker 4: traded or goes to a different team, they think they're
Speaker 4: not they're not really rooting for that team.
Speaker 2: They're rooting for the player to win. They want him
Speaker 2: to win.
Speaker 4: So I think that's the same that's the same case
Speaker 4: with me. I was, you know, rooting for Kevin Durant
Speaker 4: in ok See and then he went to the Warriors.
Speaker 2: I'm rooting for Kevin Durant again. You know. It's it's
Speaker 2: kind of like that now nowadays.
Speaker 6: Okay, So, so Kevin Durant, he took a lot of
Speaker 6: heat when he went to Golden State. So as a fan,
Speaker 6: as a fan of Kevin Durant, how did you process
Speaker 6: him going to go to State? Were you accepted? Did
Speaker 6: you accept that move to go to State? How was
Speaker 6: it for you as a fan?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: You know, players can make whatever the moves they want,
Speaker 4: doesn't It doesn't matter to me. He goes out and
Speaker 4: earns it at the end of the day. You know,
Speaker 4: he's he's working hard every day and that's what you
Speaker 4: have to respect about players.
Speaker 6: And so, Matts, I want to talk about your you know,
Speaker 6: what's about to happen right now.
Speaker 5: We're about to start Las Vegas.
Speaker 6: Summer League, and there's a documentary on Las Vegas Summer
Speaker 6: League and how it started and the careers that were
Speaker 6: catapulted from those summers, like from Lebron James. I mean,
Speaker 6: there's too many stars you can name that who have
Speaker 6: played in the Las Vegas Summer League. Some have some
Speaker 6: good stints, others did it. You know, Summer League is
Speaker 6: not always uh indicator if you're going to have success
Speaker 6: or not. But how are you going into summer league,
Speaker 6: Approaching Vegas Summer League where you know all eyes are
Speaker 6: going to be on the top rookies like yourself.
Speaker 4: I'm approaching it as you know every other game that
Speaker 4: I've played.
Speaker 2: I don't see it differently.
Speaker 4: It's just now I'm at a bigger stage, of course,
Speaker 4: But you know I'm going in there trying to win.
Speaker 4: That's that's what I That's what I want to be,
Speaker 4: and a two way player. I want to impact both
Speaker 4: sides of the floor defense, offense.
Speaker 2: I want to be a good teammate.
Speaker 4: When I'm you know, sitting on the bench cheering for
Speaker 4: my teammates, you know, stuff like that. It's it's like
Speaker 4: a normal game to me, but you know the intensity
Speaker 4: is going to be high.
Speaker 2: Everyone's trying to earn a job.
Speaker 1: I know you've done a lot of interviews all d
Speaker 1: even though you've only been in the NBA.
Speaker 3: For a couple of weeks here.
Speaker 1: So I want to ask this differently because I know
Speaker 1: you are probably sick of the questions of how emotional
Speaker 1: you and your family were, So I want to look
Speaker 1: at it from a different light. In a lot of
Speaker 1: pre draft projections, a lot of mock drafts had you
Speaker 1: going as high as number five to Detroit.
Speaker 3: So just walk us through what that was like.
Speaker 1: Detroit ends up picking your G League IGNIT teammate Ron Holland,
Speaker 1: but then at eleven you go to the team in
Speaker 1: your city, this historic franchise.
Speaker 3: The Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 1: Just that whole roller coaster of emotions and how much
Speaker 1: were you paying attention to the mock drafts going into
Speaker 1: the whole process.
Speaker 4: Wasn't really paying attention to the mock drafts? Of course,
Speaker 4: you know, you see them when you scroll down and
Speaker 4: you're looking, you know, through Instagram and all that.
Speaker 2: But I'm a basketball player.
Speaker 4: I don't really look into media and stuff like that.
Speaker 4: I know, like it's a business. As much as I
Speaker 4: hate to say it, but you know, yeah, I saw
Speaker 4: like all the projections going like five, I saw two,
Speaker 4: like four all that. No people thought I was a
Speaker 4: lot top five pick. But now at the end of
Speaker 4: the day, when you're on your team and you're on
Speaker 4: you're on your team and your about to compete against everybody,
Speaker 4: the pick doesn't matter. You know, it's it's zero to
Speaker 4: zero against everybody. You know, nobody has a unfair advantage. Uh,
Speaker 4: it's it's a fair advance. I mean, it's a fair advantage.
Speaker 4: That's what it is for everybody. So it doesn't matter
Speaker 4: if you're one, two, three, five, fifty eight, it's it's
Speaker 4: zero to zero.
Speaker 1: I do wonder, though, now that you are a bull,
Speaker 1: how much have you reflected on your interviews with them,
Speaker 1: conversations working out for them When you look back, are
Speaker 1: there things that tip might have tipped you off to
Speaker 1: how interested they were in you that you can look
Speaker 1: back now and say, oh, yeah, they actually something they
Speaker 1: said in our sit down, let me know that these
Speaker 1: guys really like me.
Speaker 4: Not really, they they they came to watch a workout
Speaker 4: in Vague and not in Vegas, La, and that's really it.
Speaker 4: And then I sat down at Combine with them to
Speaker 4: talk for like twenty minutes. So there wasn't really any
Speaker 4: indication you know that they that they well they said
Speaker 4: to my agent that they liked me, but they didn't
Speaker 4: They honestly didn't think I was gonna go like eleven.
Speaker 2: Not low, I mean it's not low, but you know
Speaker 2: you know what I.
Speaker 3: Mean, right, But they didn't think you'd be there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they didn't think I'd be there, and so as
Speaker 4: soon as they saw that I was still there, they
Speaker 4: decided to pick me.
Speaker 2: But I didn't.
Speaker 4: I really didn't think I was going to go to Chicago,
Speaker 4: you know, sitting there at draft nights. So I mean
Speaker 4: they believed in me the most, and that's what matters now.
Speaker 1: So when when even is about to be picked, were
Speaker 1: you genuinely surprised?
Speaker 2: Like what like?
Speaker 4: For me?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Like I guess just explain to us the emotions when
Speaker 1: Detroit picked at five, did you think they were taking you?
Speaker 1: And then when when you heard your name called it eleven?
Speaker 1: How expected was that or how surprising was it?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: So I mean, walking into I thought I was gonna
Speaker 4: be like top ten, but I mean it got to
Speaker 4: pick eleven and they picked me. And as I said before,
Speaker 4: it doesn't matter what pick you are. Yeah, it matters
Speaker 4: about the situation that you're in. And Chicago picked me
Speaker 4: and they they believe in me, and I'm gonna work.
Speaker 2: As hard as I can. You know, so I was.
Speaker 4: I was a little surprised, but I'm happy. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 4: You're in the NBA now.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 6: Let me let me talk. I want to talk about
Speaker 6: your path to get into the NBA. You took an
Speaker 6: unconventional path, and it's a path that's no longer available anymore.
Speaker 6: So obviously, coming out of high school, you want the
Speaker 6: top players in high school, numerous colleges, you could have
Speaker 6: picked any college you wanted to go to. You chose
Speaker 6: to go to the G League path the G League
Speaker 6: at night. Two part question please. The first part like,
Speaker 6: how was that experience for you? Would you do it
Speaker 6: all over again?
Speaker 2: Definitely do it over again.
Speaker 4: Uh, honestly, it was the best experience ever playing against
Speaker 4: the best players. I had, NBA coaches, NBA trainers, you know,
Speaker 4: just people who worked in the NBA. Also a therapists,
Speaker 4: you know, everybody, strength conditioning coaches. It's just really the
Speaker 4: NBA experience out there. And I couldn't thank them enough.
Speaker 4: They did an amazing job. And people think it was
Speaker 4: because of our record that got shut down, but it's
Speaker 4: not true at all.
Speaker 2: It's it was a great experience. I would do it again.
Speaker 6: Yeah, the record has For people that think that the
Speaker 6: record had nothing to do with it, it's just the
Speaker 6: fact that now the college landscape has changed, where the
Speaker 6: NIL deals, where players can actually get paid.
Speaker 5: Uh, it's not even.
Speaker 2: That, it's not even that.
Speaker 3: Explain it to us from your seat.
Speaker 5: Yeah, explain for us.
Speaker 4: So ours got shut down because of the boosters didn't
Speaker 4: give us any more money like that, And it was
Speaker 4: it was tough. It's tough to drag you know, people
Speaker 4: out of Vegas to go watch teenage kids play, you know,
Speaker 4: outside of Vegas twenty twenty minutes away. So it was
Speaker 4: just tough, you know, getting fans there. And but you know,
Speaker 4: it was it was mainly that. It wasn't because the
Speaker 4: NIL or a record. It was just we we didn't
Speaker 4: you know, it wasn't a positive investment.
Speaker 5: Okay, I understand.
Speaker 6: I'm glad you said the record straight you and know
Speaker 6: more than any of us. I did want to ask
Speaker 6: if you did if the Gen League at Knight wasn't
Speaker 6: if that wasn't a scenario where do you think you
Speaker 6: might have played college ball.
Speaker 4: At probably Florida State or Wake Forest?
Speaker 5: Why those two in particular.
Speaker 4: Florida State because the way you know, the power forwards
Speaker 4: played there. So after watching like Scottie Barnes, you know,
Speaker 4: even Patrick Williams, the way they developed and they played
Speaker 4: the right way, and the Wake Forest it was just, honestly,
Speaker 4: it just felt different than any other college. It was
Speaker 4: a Lithuanian connection with one of the coaches, Coach Forbes too,
Speaker 4: just really cool, really cool dude. And the way they
Speaker 4: said I would play for them, it fit perfectly.
Speaker 1: I don't know, c ch I heard cal State Fullerton
Speaker 1: was in his top three. That was what my sources
Speaker 1: were telling me.
Speaker 5: I don't know if he's even heard of cal State.
Speaker 1: They were in his top they were in they were
Speaker 1: they were in his top three, really top ten. You
Speaker 1: know you mentioned the record though, and I don't just
Speaker 1: want I mean obviously, what was that like to go through?
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys really took a lot of lumps
Speaker 1: this season with the Ignite. What do you think that
Speaker 1: experience is going to do for your career going forward?
Speaker 1: Because you guys, I mean, you were playing against men
Speaker 1: who are These guys are all desperate.
Speaker 3: To get back into the NBA.
Speaker 1: And I mean, I'm sure that was an experience you're
Speaker 1: not gonna forget.
Speaker 4: You know, it's tough losing. Of course, everybody knows. Nobody
Speaker 4: likes to lose, no one wants to be a losing person.
Speaker 4: I mean it really shaped us into the people that
Speaker 4: we are today. Like everybody that came to Ignite is
Speaker 4: from winning programs. So like Ron, I think I saw
Speaker 4: a stat on Ron. Ron, I think lost six games
Speaker 4: totally high school career, something like that. Cherry Baba, all
Speaker 4: them guys they were killing in the bl You know, me,
Speaker 4: I came from Sunrise. I was competing for a national championship,
Speaker 4: high school national championship. So we all came from winning programs.
Speaker 4: But it was just super tough to lose. And we
Speaker 4: had we had so many I didn't I don't want
Speaker 4: to make excuses, but we had veterans that were hurt,
Speaker 4: a lot of veterans that mattered, you know, And it
Speaker 4: really just made us into the people that we are today.
Speaker 4: And people always thought the G League is weak, you know,
Speaker 4: looking at you know, you sometimes see the comments and
Speaker 4: people think the G league is in a good league,
Speaker 4: and those guys are they see we play on NBA
Speaker 4: TV every night at home, so they're coming in. They're
Speaker 4: trying to kill you. They're they're not taking it lightly.
Speaker 4: They don't want to know teenage teenage kids to beat them,
Speaker 4: so they're really going one hundred percent effort when they play, and.
Speaker 2: Man, makes us better.
Speaker 3: So that's what I was gonna say.
Speaker 1: On the flip side, it has to make you more
Speaker 1: NBA ready, right than had you played even at a
Speaker 1: top college. I mean, you have played a level closer
Speaker 1: to NBA than most other rookies at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean, with all due respect them, some guys are
Speaker 4: not even gonna touch the G League that played in
Speaker 4: college who they're competing against.
Speaker 2: No, that's just real.
Speaker 4: And those guys that we play in the G League,
Speaker 4: like Lance Stevenson, Kenneth forar Reid, they're like they're trying
Speaker 4: to get back into the NBA, you know, and they
Speaker 4: won't they won't lose the chance, uh and the opportunity
Speaker 4: to try to get back in.
Speaker 6: And that's why I said, like just when I was
Speaker 6: talking about the record, not mattering, like you guys are
Speaker 6: young kids. You're seventeen eighteen, nineteen years old. And one
Speaker 6: thing about you guys is that you come into the
Speaker 6: G League at night as a target. You guys are
Speaker 6: a target because everybody is looking at you guys.
Speaker 5: Oh, you guys are the future.
Speaker 6: You guys are the anointed ones. Okay, you guys are
Speaker 6: going to have a as you mentioned NBA TV, you
Speaker 6: guys want to have a platform, right, so when we
Speaker 6: play you guys, that is our time to show and
Speaker 6: showcase what we And so that's a level of let
Speaker 6: me see, that's a level of being targeted that you
Speaker 6: wouldn't face in college. Because you're going into college, you're
Speaker 6: going to be the guy, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: People still know you're the guy. Even though you're a
Speaker 6: freshman coming in. People still know, Okay, this guy is
Speaker 6: a one and done talent.
Speaker 5: He's the one that you know.
Speaker 6: And so I think that's going to help you when
Speaker 6: you're when you are playing your rookie season for the
Speaker 6: Chicago Bulls. And that's what I wanted to ask, Like
Speaker 6: I wanted to ask because you know, a lot of
Speaker 6: the money that's being paid to college A players now
Speaker 6: and people may say, well, if you can, if you
Speaker 6: could do it over again, maybe you would go to
Speaker 6: college and experience that. Did you feel any type of
Speaker 6: way about just just the college experience nothing else. Did
Speaker 6: you feel any any type of way about not having
Speaker 6: that experience?
Speaker 2: Nah? I didn't.
Speaker 4: I mean, of course, you know, I'm watching March Madness,
Speaker 4: all the fans going crazy, But I mean I'm playing
Speaker 4: NBA rules and using an NBA ball, playing against NBA players,
Speaker 4: and that's what you want to be at the end
Speaker 4: of the day, you know, And that's what I picked. Also,
Speaker 4: getting back to the you know, the target thing. Like everybody,
Speaker 4: once I made my decision, everyone's like, modest, You're gonna
Speaker 4: have an X on your back. They're going you know,
Speaker 4: they're they're going to try to kill you. And you know,
Speaker 4: I said, I'm like, how am I going to get better?
Speaker 4: They don't if I don't got a target a lot back.
Speaker 5: You know, I expect that.
Speaker 4: So how if I don't have an X on my back,
Speaker 4: I'm They're not going at me and I'm not. I'm not,
Speaker 4: you know, getting better as a player. So that's that's
Speaker 4: what I want to. I want to I want to
Speaker 4: compete and play against the best always.
Speaker 5: But I always ask incoming rookies this question.
Speaker 6: And for the regular fan, they may not know the
Speaker 6: difference or understand that there is a difference. Minus, tell
Speaker 6: me the difference between the balls that are used high
Speaker 6: school and college and then the balls that are used
Speaker 6: for the NBA. And tell me how much of an
Speaker 6: adjustment period is that to use those balls.
Speaker 4: Man, big adjustment. I mean there's like there's way more
Speaker 4: grip on a college ball.
Speaker 5: Yes, you can.
Speaker 2: It's easy to palm. You can control the ball, like.
Speaker 4: And then the the NBA ball is like rough, the
Speaker 4: new one, especially as soon as you get it like
Speaker 4: out the package and you don't you don't have it
Speaker 4: broken in. It will a little slip out your hand
Speaker 4: even when like and like look at like look at
Speaker 4: my finger right now. This is from shooting NBA balls.
Speaker 2: Like that's how rough. That's how rough it is.
Speaker 3: He's holding up a blister, America.
Speaker 2: That's what it is.
Speaker 6: No, And I tell people that all the time, Like,
Speaker 6: you know, I play you know, I played college basketball.
Speaker 6: Never no, no pro, didn't sniff pro. But uh, you
Speaker 6: know that's and I still play rec league. But I
Speaker 6: know when I go to an NBA practice and sometimes
Speaker 6: the NBA team will let us shoot around before players.
Speaker 6: Are you ready to come in and speak to us?
Speaker 6: And I hate the feel of that ball. It feels
Speaker 6: like an outside ball. It feels like a ball that
Speaker 6: should be used outside. And but for me, the struggle
Speaker 6: with that. I know it's an adjustment period because rookies
Speaker 6: always talk about it like how long did it take you?
Speaker 5: Do you feel comfortable with it right now? Are you comfortable?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I've been comfortable with it.
Speaker 4: And really the pens when you get it like right
Speaker 4: out the box and it's not broken into, it's very
Speaker 4: it's very tough to play with, like, but when it's
Speaker 4: broken into, it's not bad. Your hands get used to
Speaker 4: it probably, And I mean if you're working out three
Speaker 4: four days to really to really adjust to the ball, But.
Speaker 2: When it's right out the packaging, it's nasty.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And you can't go back even like when you
Speaker 6: go back to college, like say you go play, say
Speaker 6: you want to play a pickup or something like that,
Speaker 6: it's like you don't want to go back to another ball.
Speaker 2: Because then you gotta adjust again. And that's exactly that's
Speaker 2: why I'm I'm like very superstitious like with basketball.
Speaker 4: So when i I'm never using another ball like ever,
Speaker 4: Like if.
Speaker 2: My homie Saint comes to the gym, I need to
Speaker 2: bring I need a break. I'm not going because I'm
Speaker 2: not using a different ball. It'll mess you up really fast.
Speaker 1: By the way, just to clarify, the media is really
Speaker 1: not support to shoot even if the court is open,
Speaker 1: but Chris loves to just rip the ball off the
Speaker 1: rack and get a few shots to whether he's allowed
Speaker 1: to or not. If I read right, I hope I
Speaker 1: did because this this will be a question no other
Speaker 1: reporter will ever ask you. But I believe you chose
Speaker 1: number fourteen to wear this season, and I would love
Speaker 1: to hear your reasons why, and then I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: and then I'm gonna tell you a story about the
Speaker 1: most famous Bulls number fourteen, even though it was not
Speaker 1: a real player. And even Chris Haynes, even he's too
Speaker 1: young to understand this, but please tell us, please enlighten
Speaker 1: us on why you chose fourteen.
Speaker 4: So my so my numbers really thirteen, Like that's that's
Speaker 4: really my number. I was born October thirteen, two thousand
Speaker 4: and four, so like that, that's why I picked that.
Speaker 4: And they didn't have thirteen Tory Craig is actually the
Speaker 4: took that one. And my dad's birthday is the fourteenth,
Speaker 4: right after mine, and it was also close as the thirteen.
Speaker 2: So that's that's why I picked it.
Speaker 1: And I guess maybe when you play for Lithuania you
Speaker 1: could also wear fourteen, so your national team number could
Speaker 1: be same as your NBA number.
Speaker 4: That's gonna it's probably gonna transition between thirteen and fourteen,
Speaker 4: I feel whatever.
Speaker 1: The So this is a lecture that Chris has been
Speaker 1: subject to before. So when I was when I was
Speaker 1: a youngster in the seventies, there was an amazing TV
Speaker 1: show called The White Shadow and it starred a former
Speaker 1: NBA player named Kenny Reeves fictional, but he played for
Speaker 1: the Bulls and he wore number fourteen, and in the
Speaker 1: intro song of the show they show him running up
Speaker 1: and down the floor for the Bulls in number fourteen.
Speaker 1: So when I saw a picture of you wearing fourteen,
Speaker 1: instantly I flashed back to this, this show from the
Speaker 1: seventies that Chris Haynes even.
Speaker 3: Has not watched yet.
Speaker 1: But so number fourteen, that is a magic Kenny. You know,
Speaker 1: most people would say Michael Jordan, but Kenny Reeves is
Speaker 1: my favorite bull of all time. So I love that
Speaker 1: you have brought number fourteen back.
Speaker 5: A faith player is your favorite.
Speaker 1: Bullway, if you watch this show in the seventies, you
Speaker 1: would understand this. This was a time you gotta understand.
Speaker 1: In the seventies, NBA was not on TV. You had
Speaker 1: a better chance of seeing basketball watching this show than
Speaker 1: you could see the game. So trust me, anyone my
Speaker 1: age holds Kenny Reeves in the highest esteem. So number
Speaker 1: fourteen has some magic.
Speaker 2: I'm check it out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you have to check it out.
Speaker 1: You have to watch some clips of this show on
Speaker 1: their are clips on YouTube. This show is legendary and
Speaker 1: number fourteen for the Bulls is magical.
Speaker 3: So I'm really glad you brought it back.
Speaker 5: Were you hoping that Modest actually knew about that?
Speaker 3: No, no, come on, I'm not gonna expect I'm not
Speaker 3: gonna expect.
Speaker 1: I expect you to know you're You're not nineteen, you're
Speaker 1: forty two.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 6: I wasn't bored in this. I was born in the eighties.
Speaker 6: I wasn't bored in seventies, so I wouldn't know that.
Speaker 6: But Modest, that would be something. Hey, you should do this.
Speaker 6: You don't have to give us no credit, but we
Speaker 6: know where it comes from. When when you when you're
Speaker 6: doing your press conference, when training camp starts, you know,
Speaker 6: media they're going to be asking you all type of
Speaker 6: course because they're trying to get to know you. You should
Speaker 6: throw that they say, hey, you know I got number
Speaker 6: fourteen because this the nineteen seventies TV show of.
Speaker 3: You Beloved.
Speaker 1: I bet when you watch some clips, if you check
Speaker 1: out some clips, you're gonna go this.
Speaker 3: This show is something else. That show was ahead of
Speaker 3: its time. All right, I've I've done my old man
Speaker 3: rambling enough. Let's get back. Let's get back to serious stuff.
Speaker 1: I know that Yonis Valanciunas is a mentor of yours,
Speaker 1: and just tell us what's that like, because you know,
Speaker 1: just looking at him on TV, he he casts such
Speaker 1: an imposing presence, like what is it like to be
Speaker 1: mentor by mister Valentiunis?
Speaker 2: It's good, it's good. Of course.
Speaker 4: My dad's a physical therapist for him. He travels around
Speaker 4: wherever he goes. He also works with the national team.
Speaker 4: But I mean getting to talk to him is good
Speaker 4: because you know, he's in the NBA, he's been in
Speaker 4: the NBA for a long time.
Speaker 2: He like never misses games.
Speaker 4: Ever, he works extremely hard and you know, again to
Speaker 4: get to learn even.
Speaker 2: If we don't play the same position. You know, I
Speaker 2: get to learn post moves from him. I haven't talked
Speaker 2: to him about that. I need to pick his brain.
Speaker 4: But you know, just having somebody in the NBA that's
Speaker 4: close is always an advantage.
Speaker 5: Miss.
Speaker 6: I want to ask you about you know, you're a
Speaker 6: guy plays the wing, play outside, shoot, you can kind
Speaker 6: of do whatever inside out. I know Kevin Durant was
Speaker 6: your favorite player growing up. Is there a player's game
Speaker 6: established NBA players game that you probably your game probably resembles.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I really wouldn't even say Kevin Durant is my
Speaker 4: favorite player. I've never really had a favorite player either.
Speaker 4: It was I'm just a basketball head, so I watch
Speaker 4: a lot of guys. And one thing my coach always
Speaker 4: told me is you see some nice you steal that.
Speaker 4: You steal it, you know, and that's how that's how
Speaker 4: the NBA is. If you see somebody they gotta move
Speaker 4: or something defensively, you go and steal it. That's how
Speaker 4: that's how players level up. But a player style, i'd
Speaker 4: probably say Paul George, Andre Carolinko, Franz Wagner. It's like
Speaker 4: a mix, a mix of those. Honestly, not bad, not
Speaker 4: bad at all.
Speaker 6: Is there a NBA vet or that is a Bulls
Speaker 6: player that has reached out to you since you've been drafted?
Speaker 5: Any teammate.
Speaker 4: I think the first one was Kobe White. Probably Daleen
Speaker 4: Terry was up there too. I think he reached out
Speaker 4: pretty close to when Kobe did. But I really everybody
Speaker 4: really reached out. Damar Zach I texted those guys, Lonzo.
Speaker 5: So what did what did Damar tell you?
Speaker 6: Without getting into me, what did Damorrow tell because obviously
Speaker 6: he signed with the Sacramento Kings this summer, but what
Speaker 6: what was a conversation like with him, somebody who pretty
Speaker 6: much people knew was probably on his way out.
Speaker 4: I just I just texted him like, hey, uh, you know,
Speaker 4: just got drafted by the Bulls.
Speaker 2: Excited to play with you? And you know I didn't.
Speaker 4: Of course I knew like trades were happening and stuff,
Speaker 4: but I still reach out. As I said before, I'm
Speaker 4: a basketball ahead, So me again, to pick any player's brain,
Speaker 4: I think is a great, you know, great.
Speaker 2: Thing to do.
Speaker 4: But I texted him that, and he's just He's just like, yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm here for you whatever you need. And I texted him,
Speaker 4: I ask a lot of questions. I hope you don't
Speaker 4: think I'm annoying. So but you know, I texted every
Speaker 4: player you know, mess Josh Giddy also. But yeah, as
Speaker 4: I said before, I'm just I love basketball and I
Speaker 4: feel like I could steal a lot of things from
Speaker 4: a lot of players and learn a lot of new things.
Speaker 6: That's the start. I wonder how that text really went started.
Speaker 6: That's pretty cool, man, Like you're texting one of your
Speaker 6: teammates as if like they don't know who you are. Hey,
Speaker 6: you know, I'm here, I'm my test I just got drafted.
Speaker 6: I'm your new I'm your new teammate.
Speaker 5: Here's my number.
Speaker 6: Said, that's pretty cool man for you to reach out
Speaker 6: man and do it like that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, some some guys, some guys you know,
Speaker 4: might not know who you are. So yeah, I always
Speaker 4: even if people, even if people think they know me,
Speaker 4: I still I'm still gonna say how I'm madis Bezel's
Speaker 4: you know, it doesn't it doesn't matter to me. I'm
Speaker 4: always gonna introduce myself.
Speaker 1: I think some players really want to play at home,
Speaker 1: and then some players don't want to play in their hometown.
Speaker 3: How do you think it will.
Speaker 1: Be for you to play in Chicago, where you already
Speaker 1: have such a deep association.
Speaker 4: I think it's I think it's going to be amazing.
Speaker 4: The fans are amazing there. I mean, me, me, even
Speaker 4: walking around just I'm getting noticed everywhere. It's it's honestly
Speaker 4: surreal for me.
Speaker 3: But and three weeks ago it wasn't like that.
Speaker 4: I mean, it was like that, but it's just a
Speaker 4: it's really another level. It was always like that because
Speaker 4: I'm from Chicago. But I mean it's I feel like
Speaker 4: it's gonna be amazing, and I want to play at home.
Speaker 6: Ticket request, all that type of stuff. Have you ready
Speaker 6: for all that?
Speaker 2: When you're in the NBA, you got to learn to say.
Speaker 5: No, that's real, that's real. I still have a problem
Speaker 5: with that today.
Speaker 2: But yeah, me too, me too.
Speaker 1: I guess though, if you're six ' ten walking around,
Speaker 1: even before you were officially a bull, I guess that
Speaker 1: makes you stand out a little bit if you're just
Speaker 1: walking down the street. So a bit you said, I
Speaker 1: think you've said that you internationally, you do want to
Speaker 1: play for Lithuania.
Speaker 3: So walk us through what that means to you.
Speaker 1: I know both of your parents played played basketball in
Speaker 1: Lithuanian and you know, I've I've been really lucky in
Speaker 1: my career to be able to cover the Lithuanian national
Speaker 1: team so many time times. No team historically has given
Speaker 1: in the United States more problems. I still will never
Speaker 1: forget being at the Sydney Olympics in two thousand, early
Speaker 1: in the tournament and Lithuania nearly beat the United States
Speaker 1: and just all the journalists who blew that game off
Speaker 1: thinking us no chance, you know, no worries. When word
Speaker 1: got around that Lithuania had the lead and had a
Speaker 1: real chance to win, dozens of writers had to run
Speaker 1: over to the basketball arena to make sure we got
Speaker 1: there in time. And it was a narrow escape in
Speaker 1: those days. And that was obviously a long time ago,
Speaker 1: twenty four years ago. You know, the United States loses
Speaker 1: all the time. Now, just walk us through for you internationally,
Speaker 1: what it would mean to pull on the Lithuanian jersey.
Speaker 2: I'd mean a lot.
Speaker 4: My parents are from there, so I think representing where
Speaker 4: they came from, it's gonna mean a lot.
Speaker 2: To me. I also just as I not I didn't
Speaker 2: say this before, but I just.
Speaker 4: I want to represent where my parents came from. But
Speaker 4: I think I'm always going to play for Lithuania. Some
Speaker 4: players switch. I just I want to be in the
Speaker 4: Lithuanian culture and represent that, and you know, they always
Speaker 4: put up a fight, so I feel like.
Speaker 3: Their fans our next level.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously just losing in the Olympic qualifiers in
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico, but getting from Lithuania to Puerto Rico is
Speaker 1: not a It surely could not have been an easy journey.
Speaker 3: And I was obviously not there.
Speaker 1: But I've actually talked to some people who were in
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico for that qualifying section and they said the
Speaker 1: Lithuanian fans traveled in huge numbers and were absolutely insane
Speaker 1: with the noise. And Puerto Rico managed to get that
Speaker 1: Olympic qualifying players too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so miss and Bozellis.
Speaker 4: And me Valenteer and this wasn't there, so it was no.
Speaker 4: I honestly feel like we can win it for all,
Speaker 4: for all.
Speaker 5: In it.
Speaker 6: You know, Miss, we got a few more than we're
Speaker 6: gonna get you out of here, and you know you
Speaker 6: got a busy day ahead, busy week coming up.
Speaker 5: I gotta ask you this.
Speaker 6: So the NBA schedule is going to come out, you
Speaker 6: don't know who you're going to see first or whatnot.
Speaker 6: Two questions. Number one, what is the player you're looking
Speaker 6: forward to finally meeting or playing against? And number two?
Speaker 6: Who if you? I don't know if you're gonna engage
Speaker 6: in this, but if you do do a jersey swap,
Speaker 6: who is the first person you would want to do
Speaker 6: a jersey swap with?
Speaker 4: First player I'd like to meet is probably KD or
Speaker 4: Paul George jersey swap ron.
Speaker 5: Okay, you gotta do that.
Speaker 1: Well, actually, I'm glad you mentioned him because I was
Speaker 1: gonna say I looked at the Bowl schedule. Of the
Speaker 1: four guaranteed games you have in summer League, I was
Speaker 1: hoping the Lakers were on there so we could ask
Speaker 1: you a Bronnie James question. But the Lakers are not
Speaker 1: currently on your schedule. But you guys are playing Detroit.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna play ron here in summer league. What
Speaker 1: do you think that'll be?
Speaker 2: Like? We're we're gonna go at it. I already know
Speaker 2: what it's gonna be like.
Speaker 4: We actually talked yesterday about I mean, honestly, the media
Speaker 4: is gonna think that we hate each other, and when
Speaker 4: we play like that's what's I feel like it might
Speaker 4: be one of them summer League games that it's gonna
Speaker 4: be like memorable because me and Ron are hyper, hyper
Speaker 4: competitive people, so I think everybody, well, the media might
Speaker 4: portray that we hate each other, but it's just us
Speaker 4: be so competitive.
Speaker 2: So it's we're gonna go at it. That's what I'll
Speaker 2: tell you.
Speaker 5: As it pertains to your rookie season. I know winning.
Speaker 6: I've listened to a lot of your interviews already. Winning
Speaker 6: is a number one priority for you.
Speaker 5: Number one.
Speaker 6: When your rookie season is said and done, what do
Speaker 6: you want us? How do you how do you want
Speaker 6: the story to be told about your rookie season when
Speaker 6: it's all said and done.
Speaker 4: I just want to portray to people how hard I
Speaker 4: work and how serious I take this game, and that
Speaker 4: I'll never stop learning on and off the court, and
Speaker 4: I'm a positive person.
Speaker 2: But I want to I just want to show growth,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 4: The people, and in many different ways, defense, offense, shooting
Speaker 4: the ball, getting steals on defense, stuff like that. I want.
Speaker 4: I want to show that I could do everything, and
Speaker 4: I'm a person that's not going to stay in the
Speaker 4: same spot.
Speaker 2: For a long time. I'm gonna get better every day.
Speaker 4: That's one thing about me that I feel like I
Speaker 4: could separate myself from a lot of people.
Speaker 6: You're an ambassador for a sports tech company called Better Guards.
Speaker 5: How has their product helped you in your journey this far?
Speaker 4: It helped me a lot, so I was never I
Speaker 4: was never really dealing with injuries until this past season,
Speaker 4: and it was extremely tough on me. But I think
Speaker 4: it made me better as a person and better guards really,
Speaker 4: I think my dad was the first one to show me,
Speaker 4: you know, how how the better guards work and the
Speaker 4: technology and how comfortable the guards are for your ankles,
Speaker 4: but also just the mobility of my ankle. It feels
Speaker 4: like a sock and it protects you in a lot
Speaker 4: of ways. But I think the main thing is the
Speaker 4: comfortability of you know, the ankle braces. But it it's
Speaker 4: really helped me this past season and they're the best.
Speaker 1: Honestly, Madus bosellis Bulls rookie, It's been a pleasure to
Speaker 1: be here with you. We've kept you way too long,
Speaker 1: but we really appreciate it. Wishing you great luck here
Speaker 1: in Vegas in your first summer league, great luck in
Speaker 1: your debut season with the Chicago Bulls. And just since
Speaker 1: you said you have said it many times you are
Speaker 1: a hoophead. I know you're probably thinking, who is this
Speaker 1: crazy old guy asking me on all these questions.
Speaker 3: But just do me a favor.
Speaker 1: Some night you can't sleep, check out those clips on
Speaker 1: YouTube with a white shadow. Look up, Kenny Reeves. I
Speaker 1: think you will be surprised and you will find it.
Speaker 1: You will, you will, you will feel even better about
Speaker 1: your decision to wear number four. It is a magical
Speaker 1: number in Bull's history.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you, guys, and that'll do it for us. See
Speaker 2: you next time. This league.
Speaker 3: Uncutter is an iHeartRadio production.
Speaker 2: Suck a Lockup
Speaker 3: Chris Haines and Mark Stein