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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook is having one of his worst seasons on

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Speaker 1: the biggest stage. What advice would you give it? So

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Speaker 1: I would just face it, you know, I would just

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Speaker 1: whatever the question, y'all ask me whether I think it's

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Speaker 1: a dumb question or something that is self explanatory or whatever.

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Speaker 1: Just face it and deal with it or whatever. Like

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Speaker 1: his Russell Westbrook's career in legacy is undeniable. Like that's

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Speaker 1: just the bottom line. The player, the career he's had,

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Speaker 1: what he's accomplished, the things that he's done. Nobody else

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Speaker 1: has been able to do it. All my life, running

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Speaker 1: all my life, sacrifice, husting, one slice, dice, swad all

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Speaker 1: my life. I've been grinding all my life, all my life,

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Speaker 1: running all my life, sacrifice, hustle, beg pricing one slice,

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Speaker 1: got the swath all my life. I've been grinding all

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Speaker 1: my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of the the Club

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Speaker 1: Sha Shay. I am your whole Shan and Sharp. I'm

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Speaker 1: also the proprietor of Club Sha Shake. And the guy

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Speaker 1: that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today really

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Speaker 1: needs no introduction. He's a six time NBA All Star,

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Speaker 1: Olympic gold medalist, a member of the seventy fifth Anniversary team.

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Speaker 1: Dame Time Logo Livard one of the best NBA players

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Speaker 1: of all time, and I believe he's the greatest rapper

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Speaker 1: in NBA history. Say hello to Damian Lillard name, how

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Speaker 1: you doing? Brouh good man? How you do? Let's start

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Speaker 1: with this. Of all the accomplishments that I just mentioned,

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Speaker 1: six time NBA All Star, Olympic Gold Medal medalists, I

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Speaker 1: forgot to mention you're an All NBA player seventy fifth

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Speaker 1: Anniversary team. Of those accomplishments right there, which do you

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Speaker 1: think is the most significant one to you? I would

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Speaker 1: have to say the seventy fifth Anniversary team. And when

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Speaker 1: it when I was announced on the team, I didn't

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Speaker 1: even really know it was a real thing. I thought

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Speaker 1: it was just, you know, people throwing the opinion out

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Speaker 1: there who the seventy five best players ever were. And

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Speaker 1: then when it was like announce and I saw people

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Speaker 1: posting it and people, you know it was calling me

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Speaker 1: like you on the team, I thought it was just

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Speaker 1: like everybody was doing. So I was like, I actually

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Speaker 1: wasn't even keeping track of it to see if I

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Speaker 1: was gonna be on the team. Because I didn't know

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Speaker 1: it was a real thing, and after it was announced,

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Speaker 1: you know, it was a It was a great honor

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Speaker 1: for me, man, especially with myself just playing you know,

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Speaker 1: ten years now, and when I got to Cleveland, it

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Speaker 1: really it really sat in like, man, you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: looking around like do I belong in? Everything's dude? It

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Speaker 1: was crazy and that that made me realize how how

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Speaker 1: great of an accomplishment When you're in that room and

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Speaker 1: you look around and you see Dr J M Kem,

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Speaker 1: Elijah Wan and you see Mike can you see Magic

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Speaker 1: and you see all these guys and you're like, man,

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Speaker 1: I'm here. Did you reflect, like man, a kid from Oakland,

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Speaker 1: a guy that they said never was gonna make it,

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Speaker 1: I'm in the room with the legends. No. It was

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Speaker 1: if there was ever any moment in my career like validation,

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Speaker 1: that was it, you know. And like I said, I

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Speaker 1: was in there and I was looking around like, man,

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Speaker 1: do I do I belong in here? Like this is

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Speaker 1: really the best of the best, you know, the video

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Speaker 1: game with these dudes. I've bought these dudes shoes, you know,

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Speaker 1: the whole nine. So, like it was if it was

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Speaker 1: ever a moment of validation. That was it. And then

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Speaker 1: to have so many of them come up to me

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Speaker 1: and tell me like, no, you you deserve to be here.

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Speaker 1: You know you you earned your way here. So just

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Speaker 1: knowing that something like this is not just a you know,

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Speaker 1: a selection or a media selection of people or you know,

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Speaker 1: random people getting a decide with the best start, you know,

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Speaker 1: that's for somebody to come up with a list like this,

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Speaker 1: It was a lot of a lot of homework being done.

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Speaker 1: You will be on this list, And that, to me,

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Speaker 1: that was the best feeling involved. Dang. You know a

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Speaker 1: lot of times we like when people say, well, we

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Speaker 1: don't want validation, but we do because we play. We

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Speaker 1: want the ultimate validation. We want other greats to say, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you're one of us, you will history, you pantheon great also,

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Speaker 1: So to get that ultimate validation from a Magic Johnson

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Speaker 1: or Michael Jordan or whomever the greats were to come

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Speaker 1: up to you and say, Dame bro shake your head,

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Speaker 1: you belong in this room. Hey. I mean, it's a

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Speaker 1: feeling that I can't even describe to you because I

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Speaker 1: was literally looking around the room like that, you know, Kareem.

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Speaker 1: You know, when Jordan walked in I'm looking around like, man,

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Speaker 1: this is crazy. Like I'm not here to just witness this.

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Speaker 1: I'm a part of this group, like I'm right here

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Speaker 1: that we're taken. And I got this blazer that they

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Speaker 1: all wearing. It was it was crazy, and like you said,

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Speaker 1: to hear it from those guys, it does seem surreal.

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Speaker 1: I remember being in the Hall of Fame room Dame

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Speaker 1: and seeing me and Joe Green and the Bucketses and

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Speaker 1: these guys, and I'm like, hold on, wait a minute,

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Speaker 1: how did I end up here? How did a kid

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Speaker 1: from a population a town of thirty five hundred people,

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Speaker 1: with the Savannah state of HBCU another three thousand students,

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Speaker 1: how am I getting this room? And then you see

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Speaker 1: them and they start in your hand, they're patting you

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Speaker 1: on the back. Man, I followed your career. You're an

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Speaker 1: unbelievable player. Welcome to the club, man. So it is

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Speaker 1: a great feeling. Congratulations, you're well deserving of dishonor like

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Speaker 1: you said, only ten years. So guess what. And when

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Speaker 1: they have the hundredth anniversary team and there'll be young

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Speaker 1: players and you get called back for the hundredth anniversary

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Speaker 1: team and then you're gonna be like, man, I'm in

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Speaker 1: a room with Dame Lillard, I'm in a room with

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Speaker 1: Lebron I'm but when you did you ever think you

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Speaker 1: would be in Did you ever think you would be

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Speaker 1: like you said you didn't understand with the seventy fifth

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Speaker 1: anniversary team, Did you ever think you'd be considered an

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Speaker 1: all time great? No, I've never I've never looked that

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Speaker 1: far into it, you know, like I've always been somebody

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Speaker 1: that's in the moment, you know, because that's how my

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Speaker 1: steps have always been in my career, you know, not

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Speaker 1: being heavily recred going to a small school, I've never

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Speaker 1: been afforded the opportunity to just look at certain things.

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Speaker 1: You know, it might be certain kids. That's like, you know,

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Speaker 1: I want to go to a team that fits me

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Speaker 1: instead of thinking about, man, I want to try to

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Speaker 1: get in the tournament. I want to get kids. I

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Speaker 1: want to earn some minutes. You know. I've always had

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Speaker 1: to stay in the moment, and that's how my steps

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Speaker 1: have always been. So I've never looked far enough down

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Speaker 1: the line and say I want to be one of

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Speaker 1: the best. Ever. It was like one thing at a time,

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Speaker 1: So for it to come it's just it's just crazy. Man,

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Speaker 1: Damn you had surgery. I believe on a core muscle.

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Speaker 1: I'm watching you. I followed your career since you got

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Speaker 1: into the NBA in twenty twelve. You're unanimous All Rookie

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Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year selection, and so I've watched you.

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Speaker 1: I'm watching you at the Olympics. That's when I really

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Speaker 1: first noticed it, and I say, man, he's missing shots.

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Speaker 1: He makes it a sleep, He's doing things that's very uncharacteristic.

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Speaker 1: I watch you until the season. Did you think it

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Speaker 1: was like, Man, I'm just having a bad I'm just

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Speaker 1: having a bad shooting. I'm in a slump, but I'm okay.

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Speaker 1: When did you know something was really wrong with Dane? No?

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Speaker 1: I know I was hurt, you know, And I think

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Speaker 1: everybody that I was at the Olympics, would it tell you,

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Speaker 1: like I knew I was hurt. They knew I was hurt.

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Speaker 1: It was just I've never had a situation where I

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Speaker 1: was hurt and I couldn't overcome it, you know. I

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Speaker 1: think that was its hurtle for me, is like I

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Speaker 1: knew I was hurt, and people knew I was hurt,

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Speaker 1: but in my head, I was like, I just gotta

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Speaker 1: I just gotta you know, overcome. I just gotta keep fighting,

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Speaker 1: and I just got you know what I'm saying. And

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Speaker 1: then in my head, I'm like, I'm not an excuse maker,

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Speaker 1: So I don't care how much I'm not looking myself,

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Speaker 1: you know, even if it's through whatever this rough patch is,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna find the way to get there. And then

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Speaker 1: as the season went on, eventually I just got to

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Speaker 1: the point where it was like, you know, my my

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Speaker 1: mind wanted my body to do something that it just

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Speaker 1: wasn't in good enough health to do, you know, And

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Speaker 1: I had to, you know, I had to look myself

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Speaker 1: in the mirror and make that decision. Dame of Athletes,

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Speaker 1: We're wired to have the surgery, have whatever it is,

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Speaker 1: and get back as soon as we possibly can because

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Speaker 1: my brothers are out there fighting and I don't want

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Speaker 1: them to fight alone. So I need to get back

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Speaker 1: as soon as I possibly can so I can be

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Speaker 1: there and fight with him. When did you say, you

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Speaker 1: know what? This is a this is a situation. I

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Speaker 1: can't rush back. I gotta do what's in the best

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Speaker 1: interest of Dame. Although I want to be there fighting

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Speaker 1: with my brothers, I mean when I did my homework

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Speaker 1: on the procedure that I was having, you know, I

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Speaker 1: spoke to athletes that had been through the surgery that

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Speaker 1: I went through. I had a lot of talks with

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Speaker 1: my surgeon before the surgery and after, like to this day,

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Speaker 1: we still talk regularly and as well with the PT Care.

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Speaker 1: You know, she's a somebody that I spoke to, you know,

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Speaker 1: every single day pretty much, and she's the PT that

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Speaker 1: works with my surgeon, and she had the surgery herself. Okay.

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Speaker 1: Her kind of being with me every step of the

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Speaker 1: way and knowing the symptoms and the feelings that I'm

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Speaker 1: going through, I'm going through the process herself, and also

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Speaker 1: being a professional to get me back on track has

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Speaker 1: been great. You know. Plus my PT here in Portland,

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Speaker 1: eric Is it's well versed in it as well. So

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Speaker 1: I've done the homework and I know that it's a

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Speaker 1: process that I gotta be careful about and I got

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Speaker 1: to make sure that I'm checking every box and not

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Speaker 1: rushing through that. You know, I don't want to through

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Speaker 1: it to try to be like all right, I'm back

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Speaker 1: and I'm healthy. You know, I want to check every

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Speaker 1: box and I'm not looking at one hundred. I'm looking

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Speaker 1: at one hundred and fifty, like, are we absolutely sure

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Speaker 1: on my right wrong in this area. I'm looking for

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Speaker 1: every vulnerable spot that I can put myself in to,

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Speaker 1: you know, try to find that that place where I

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Speaker 1: might be reaggravating something, just so I know I'm good

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Speaker 1: and I'm not going to rush. I'm not going to

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Speaker 1: rush through that process because when I do come back

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Speaker 1: on the court, you know, I don't plan on having

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Speaker 1: anything in a way, and I want to perform at

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Speaker 1: a level a level that I wasn't even playing that

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Speaker 1: before this. So I mean that's the only way to

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Speaker 1: go is to take my time and make sure I'm

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Speaker 1: doing it right. So how are you feeling? How far

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Speaker 1: along are you in the process? So so when you

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Speaker 1: are you shooting, are you doing anything with the best

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Speaker 1: best basketball related or are you still rehabbing? Well, I

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Speaker 1: mean I have searchery on January thirteenth, and I was

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Speaker 1: clear to kind of move forward with doing stuff on

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Speaker 1: the court. So I've been I've been going pretty aggressive.

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Speaker 1: You know, you can't just say all right, I'm okay.

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Speaker 1: You got to start searching for those areas where it's

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Speaker 1: like I feel good. But like, let's let's go searching

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Speaker 1: for something. Let's go searching for something that could come

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Speaker 1: up if it's just reacting or if I'm at this

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Speaker 1: angle or if I'm in this vulnerable position, and then

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Speaker 1: let's try to be strong in that position. And then

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Speaker 1: you try to find another spot like that, just to

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Speaker 1: make sure that everything is where it needs to be,

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Speaker 1: you know, change in direction, being in you know, lower

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Speaker 1: to the ground and twisting and spinning and doing reaction

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Speaker 1: drills and doing things full speed, coming to a stop,

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Speaker 1: changing direction, things like that where you're literally trying to

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Speaker 1: find something that, oh, this could bother me, that could

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Speaker 1: bother me. And then you know, you do the recovery stuff,

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Speaker 1: the soft tissue work, that stretching out to the cold

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Speaker 1: to and you come back and do it again. That's

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Speaker 1: kind of the stage that I'm in is just getting

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Speaker 1: more and more aggressive, and that's also a process that

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna take my time getting through. Well, since you've

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Speaker 1: been away, a lot of things are transpired. You started

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Speaker 1: losing some games. They trade CJ they trade Norman Powell,

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Speaker 1: they trade Covington. What's going through your mind when you

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Speaker 1: learn of this, Like, Okay, me and CJ. We've been

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Speaker 1: in this thing. We kind of built this thing. What

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Speaker 1: the new trail Blazers the way you see them now?

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Speaker 1: CJ and I have a big hand in this building

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Speaker 1: this thing. What were your reaction to the trade and

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Speaker 1: why weren't you and CJ quite able to get to

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Speaker 1: the to the championship game? Maybe within the chip I

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Speaker 1: mean when the trade it happened, I mean, it hurt me.

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Speaker 1: You know, it hurt me. You know, to this day,

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Speaker 1: I still you know when I tell CJ all the time,

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Speaker 1: even then when we still talk, you know, I'm like, man,

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Speaker 1: I'm watching these games. I can't believe you play for

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Speaker 1: the prelatus. You know, it's crazy. He telling me, like, yeah, man,

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Speaker 1: it's it's been cool, but it's weird, you know, like

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Speaker 1: it's different for me and uh me and c we

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Speaker 1: wasn't just teammates, you know, a back coourt. We like

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Speaker 1: it was really patnup, you know, right. So it's it's

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Speaker 1: tough to deal with. And I think the fact that

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Speaker 1: I haven't had to actually play without him has allowed

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Speaker 1: it to be like more of a smooth transition than

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Speaker 1: it would be if I was actually playing. It'd be

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Speaker 1: real weird. For me, but that one, that one hurt

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Speaker 1: me man to this day and to answer about us

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Speaker 1: not being able to you know, get it. I think

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Speaker 1: you know, we did what we could. You know, me

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Speaker 1: and CJ. Every season at the beginning, every season before camp,

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Speaker 1: we would you know, meet up with each other and

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Speaker 1: it would be the same conversation like, look, it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be times that I'm gonna get on your ass. I

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Speaker 1: need you to accept it. It's gonna be time where

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Speaker 1: you're gonna get on my ass and I'm gonna accept it.

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Speaker 1: We got to hold another to that standard, and no

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Speaker 1: matter what happened, if we if we're struggling, if we're

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Speaker 1: doing well, you know, if if people talking bad about

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Speaker 1: us or whatever, we're gonna fight together. We're gonna fight

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Speaker 1: our way out of it. And that was like we

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Speaker 1: always had and I knew I could count on that

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Speaker 1: and trust that. So you know, once you get to

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Speaker 1: that top level, you know, it's it's not just about

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Speaker 1: me and CJ at that point, you know, And we

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Speaker 1: weren't a healthy team. We didn't have in the Western

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Speaker 1: Conference finals. I feel like that would give us a

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Speaker 1: much better chance. But the deeper that you're getting the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: teams just start to take things away from you. You know,

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Speaker 1: they give you more attention, Like I'm getting double teams

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Speaker 1: and I'm getting trapped, and you know CJ is getting

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Speaker 1: more attention, and it forces you to you know, they're

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Speaker 1: gonna put the ball where they want. Teams are going

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Speaker 1: to force the ball to go where they want the

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Speaker 1: ball to go. Yes, sometimes that's putting guys in a

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Speaker 1: position that they haven't been in a lot, and at

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Speaker 1: the biggest stage, you know, with the most on the line.

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Speaker 1: So you know, that can be tough because even if

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Speaker 1: somebody's going to come through and play well, it's hard

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Speaker 1: to sustain that when that hasn't been what you've had

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Speaker 1: to do right And CJ. Me and CJ didn't play

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Speaker 1: our best in that series, you know, to that point,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I think a lot of things go

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Speaker 1: into that. You know, we hadn't played that far into

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Speaker 1: the postseason. Sometimes you just don't play well and the

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Speaker 1: season being longer, you know, I think teams now guys

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Speaker 1: are able to rest throughout the season. You know, in

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Speaker 1: the eight game season, you know, they might not play

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Speaker 1: back to backs and they at the end of the year,

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Speaker 1: maybe they played in sixty one games. You know, that's

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Speaker 1: twenty one nights off as opposed to you know, the

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Speaker 1: way our team has been set up, We've we've had

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Speaker 1: to fight every night. We play every night, and you

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Speaker 1: know that can be exhausting. And that's something that as

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Speaker 1: I've gotten older, you realize that when you plan on

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Speaker 1: playing further into the postseason, you gotta to play chess.

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Speaker 1: You know, you got to make sure that your body,

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Speaker 1: in your mind is able to be there for the

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Speaker 1: long haul. And I think all of those things played

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Speaker 1: a partner that's not being able to, you know, actually

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Speaker 1: get to where we wanted to get to. You got

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Speaker 1: thirty million dollars under the cap, you have two lot

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Speaker 1: of repeats. Dame is the general manager. What were going

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Speaker 1: what we're looking for? How how do we get how

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Speaker 1: do we get Portland to be what we see the

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Speaker 1: Phoenix sun? We saw them go eight and on in

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Speaker 1: the bubble, continue to build the next year and here

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Speaker 1: they are to have to have the best record in

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Speaker 1: the NBA. How does Dame do that in Portland? He's

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Speaker 1: the general manager. You got thirty million under the cap

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Speaker 1: and you got two lot of repeats. If I'm the

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Speaker 1: general manager, I'm looking at like you just said, I'm

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Speaker 1: looking at what Phoenix did. You know nobody saw Phoenix coming.

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Speaker 1: You know, it was like, man, you know you had

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Speaker 1: people saying Devin Bookers should should leave and Devin Booker

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Speaker 1: should do this, and Phoenix is you know, they want

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Speaker 1: They were considered one of the bad teams. You know,

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Speaker 1: me playing against them four times a year, I always

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Speaker 1: knew that they had to make up. It was just

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Speaker 1: they need a piece here, they need a piece there.

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Speaker 1: So if if i'm JM, I'm looking at how Phoenix

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Speaker 1: did it, because they went from the bottom literally to

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Speaker 1: the top, and that's not easy. But if you look

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Speaker 1: at what they did, they had Devin Booker. You know,

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Speaker 1: they had a really good player a start, and they

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Speaker 1: got a lot of big out the number one overall

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Speaker 1: picked with Devin Booker. DeAndre Ayden was the number one

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Speaker 1: overall picked while they had Devin Booker. But the thing,

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Speaker 1: the piece that they got was a Chris Paul. So

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Speaker 1: how do how do we trade for a piece? This

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Speaker 1: is the thing They got Chris Paul. But they also

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Speaker 1: got Jay Crowder yes, and they also had something with

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Speaker 1: Michael Bridges. Yeah, I mean it's not just and then

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Speaker 1: you look at like Cam Johnson and you know, putting

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Speaker 1: out campaign, you look at the players they putting out

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Speaker 1: there is it just goes together, you know, So like

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Speaker 1: and I think we're in a position to do that.

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Speaker 1: Like I'm here. We already have me, we have a

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Speaker 1: quality center. You know, we already have Aunt Like Aunt

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Speaker 1: is yeah, he coming coming coming. So like now it's like, okay,

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Speaker 1: we're going to end up with two picks most likely

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Speaker 1: to two lottery picks most likely. We got money, we

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Speaker 1: have the full mid level. You know, we got a

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Speaker 1: lot of tools. We got a lot of flexibility. It's

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Speaker 1: just a matter of us using what we have to

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Speaker 1: fill in those pieces in the way that the Sons did.

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Speaker 1: What if they trade those a lot of repeats and

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Speaker 1: go get you a proven All Star, All NBA player.

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Speaker 1: You cool with that definitely, because we I mean, we

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Speaker 1: have a very big trade exception that we get into.

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Speaker 1: So if I'm the GM, all of those things aren't

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Speaker 1: play you know what I'm saying, My son just walking,

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Speaker 1: all of those things are in playoff I'm the GM.

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Speaker 1: But that's why I said, we got a lot of tools.

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Speaker 1: You know, we got a lot of things that we

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Speaker 1: can do to put ourselves in a much better position

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Speaker 1: next season. Damn, you've been one of the guys, one

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Speaker 1: of the few guys that's a superstar that says, no,

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Speaker 1: you did it. You're you're staying. You want to stay,

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Speaker 1: you want to build. We saw what happened with Yannis

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Speaker 1: because they was saying the same thing about Yannis. But

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Speaker 1: what helped Yannis is that they went and got a Holiday. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: they like you said, they surrounded Okay, we got Chris Middleton,

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Speaker 1: we got Yannis, and you put another piece. Holiday was

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Speaker 1: the guy that put them over the top. I don't

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Speaker 1: care what Yannis is Yannis, but Holiday could could lock

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Speaker 1: the opposing team's best player down, hold him below his

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Speaker 1: average and go get your twenty. Yeah, I mean that's

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Speaker 1: that's what it is, you know what I mean? Like

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Speaker 1: Yannis was this Yannis before Drew Holiday got there? Yeah, exactly,

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Speaker 1: Like he was the MVP and a defensive Player of

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Speaker 1: the Year for this But they went't got to Drew Holiday,

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Speaker 1: they went't got Bobby Portis. You know what I'm these

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00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,439
Speaker 1: are These are very good players to me because I

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Speaker 1: play against them. I know they're capable of which is

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Speaker 1: why I understand it. But to you know, the average person,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be like, he's not, you know, a star,

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Speaker 1: They not this or that. But I know what they

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Speaker 1: bring to a team. And that's all. That's all Yanni's needed.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not as gifted as yannest. I'm not seven

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Speaker 1: seven feet all that, but I can. But I have

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Speaker 1: things about me that I bring to the table that

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Speaker 1: I know how to dominate a game. And I know that,

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Speaker 1: you know, if we're able to go out and get

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Speaker 1: the tools that can compliment me and and Nert and

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Speaker 1: Nahs and you know, and Josh Hart and Joe Ingles

390
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:49,840
Speaker 1: who I love for us. I love Joe English for

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Speaker 1: us coming off injury. But like when you get when

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Speaker 1: you when you're in a position that we're in, we

393
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:59,760
Speaker 1: can go get some guys that are very good players,

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Speaker 1: like you said, that can also compliment what we have

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Speaker 1: and that can take us to that level. So that's

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Speaker 1: what I'm looking at, you know, going into this offseason.

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Speaker 1: I know Chauncey. I was in Denver when Chaunson was

398
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Speaker 1: in high school. Now he's your head coach. What is

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Speaker 1: he brought to the table. What is it about Chauncey

400
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Speaker 1: that you love so much about his coaching style. I

401
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,720
Speaker 1: think the number one thing is, you know, he's a

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Speaker 1: player's coach, you know, from a from a position of

403
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Speaker 1: you know, he's with us, like it's not like me

404
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,600
Speaker 1: and him have a tight relationship, but you know he

405
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Speaker 1: don't really deal with c j Elleby. You know him,

406
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,480
Speaker 1: and like he's literally cool and has some type of

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00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,439
Speaker 1: connection to everybody, you know, And part of that is

408
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,679
Speaker 1: because he played. You know, it's correct. He has that

409
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:48,960
Speaker 1: player energy about him, like he'd come out there and

410
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Speaker 1: shoot and before Brackett starts to see him out there

411
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Speaker 1: shooting and playing one on one in the post, and

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Speaker 1: you know, he's just not afraid to call it as

413
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Speaker 1: it is. You know, he call it how you see it.

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Speaker 1: You'll all you out in practice, he'd call you out

415
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Speaker 1: in the game. You know, he's won as a player,

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00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:07,400
Speaker 1: he's won in his league, and you know he knows

417
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Speaker 1: what it looks like and what it feels like. And

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Speaker 1: he's he's very demanding of that with our team. And

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Speaker 1: I think because people have to respect it because they

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Speaker 1: know that he's he's done it and he's been around

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Speaker 1: a long time. I think it goes you know, it

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Speaker 1: goes a little bit further that way. And that's my

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Speaker 1: favorite thing about him is he's not in there just

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Speaker 1: trying to be friends with everybody. It's like it's a

425
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,959
Speaker 1: certain command that he has over the room, you know,

426
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 1: when he's walking out of his office on to the court.

427
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:40,880
Speaker 1: And that's probably that's probably my favorite thing. You say

428
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 1: something very interesting because having being an ex professional football player,

429
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,160
Speaker 1: coaches would call even the superstars out. But I notice

430
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,520
Speaker 1: in basketball it's very rarely that if you're a superstar

431
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 1: to the Dame Lillard, the Kevin Durant, the Lebron James,

432
00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: the top tier, the top eight nine players, they normally

433
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:03,760
Speaker 1: call that somebody else when they're really talking to they're

434
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 1: really talking to Day or they're really talking to k

435
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,440
Speaker 1: KD talking to Lebron. You said, I like that about

436
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,560
Speaker 1: Chauncey because if I messed up, I want you to

437
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,400
Speaker 1: tell me that I'm messed up so I can fix it. Yeah,

438
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,199
Speaker 1: I mean, don't nobody want to just offer themselves to

439
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,160
Speaker 1: get killed at? You know what I'm saying, I'll tell

440
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,479
Speaker 1: you that they just lying. I don't like to get

441
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 1: killed at or like to get caught out, But like

442
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,320
Speaker 1: I accept that I'm a perfect player or I don't

443
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: you know, I shouldn't be caught out from my mistakes

444
00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,800
Speaker 1: because I make him all the time. But I think

445
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:39,120
Speaker 1: with Chauncey is a level of respect there to where

446
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:41,480
Speaker 1: you know, and I had the same thing with Terry.

447
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:43,080
Speaker 1: If he was to say something to me, I would

448
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 1: accept it. But as long as it's not mean spirited,

449
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,440
Speaker 1: it's not as long as you're not outbruk hold on that.

450
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,639
Speaker 1: Come on, now, you do realize I'm a man. I

451
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 1: understand that you're the coach, You're in a position of authority,

452
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:59,080
Speaker 1: but let's not be disrespectful without correction. No disrespect me.

453
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 1: But that's why I say a level of respect, like, yeah,

454
00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:03,840
Speaker 1: I say I want to win, and I say that

455
00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,000
Speaker 1: I want these things to happen, like I'm gonna allow

456
00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 1: you to do your job so you can help me

457
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: do mine to the best of my ability. And that's

458
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 1: that's what it is. You know, it comes with are

459
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 1: you one of these guys that when you're not playing basketball?

460
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,200
Speaker 1: I don't watch basketball because what am I watching it for?

461
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,000
Speaker 1: I can't do anything I'm not playing? Or are you watching?

462
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,880
Speaker 1: Are you following what's going on? Now? Now? I'm I mean,

463
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 1: I'm I'm definitely a student of the game. You know,

464
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: I haven't usually like during the season when I'm playing,

465
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,680
Speaker 1: I'm like rushing home for four o'clock to make sure

466
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 1: the first game on the East Coast that come on,

467
00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,119
Speaker 1: you know, Detroit against Indiana. I'm gonna sit there and

468
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 1: watch it, okay, because I'm always looking for actions, you know,

469
00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 1: I'm looking for who's playing, well, what type of things

470
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 1: do they run? And I'm seeing that what they run,

471
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,639
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, that's our version of never whatever, you know,

472
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 1: and that helps me not have to play super hard

473
00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 1: or waste a lot of energy as opposed to just

474
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,960
Speaker 1: thinking through the game and manipulate the situations when I

475
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,679
Speaker 1: come across these teams. So, and I just like to

476
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 1: watch who So, I mean, I do watch a lot

477
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:12,040
Speaker 1: of basketball, but since I haven't been playing a lot

478
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,000
Speaker 1: of the I guess extra a lot of the extra

479
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:20,880
Speaker 1: parts that come with professional sports have jumped out louder

480
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,160
Speaker 1: to me that now that I'm not playing, So it's

481
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,080
Speaker 1: it's less attractive. So, you know, I don't I guess

482
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,920
Speaker 1: I'm not watching as religiously, but I'm watching a lot,

483
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 1: you know, because I love to watch Again, see. That's

484
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 1: where I couldn't. Like if I'm gonna play, and you're

485
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 1: gonna play everybody, so it's a lot harder for you

486
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 1: not to watch someone on television because you can play

487
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,560
Speaker 1: every single team at least twice home and away. But see,

488
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 1: if I'm playing a team day, I couldn't watch because

489
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,000
Speaker 1: I feel it would gonna give me a false sense

490
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,000
Speaker 1: if they played really bad. I'm thinking to myself, man,

491
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,480
Speaker 1: we're about to run through these dudes if they played really,

492
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: really good. Now, all of a sudden, I'm thinking like,

493
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,159
Speaker 1: oh man, we gotta work cut out to night. So

494
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 1: I don't want to watch nybody that I might have

495
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,879
Speaker 1: to play. No, But I mean but for me, like

496
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 1: I said, I'm gonna go home and I'm watching all

497
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:11,440
Speaker 1: these games so I might see who. I might see

498
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 1: Utah played three times over a matter of seven days.

499
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 1: I might see him play three times, and we play

500
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 1: them next week. So you're gonna see them play well

501
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 1: and blow somebody out. Then you might see them play

502
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,400
Speaker 1: a team that's struggling and barely beat them. Then you're

503
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,120
Speaker 1: gonna see them lose to a good team. Then you're

504
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,000
Speaker 1: gonna see them win two in a row. And then

505
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 1: play them in two games. So like, it ain't like

506
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 1: I'm watching them two days before we play them only

507
00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,040
Speaker 1: and then they blow out a good team and I'm like, man,

508
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,680
Speaker 1: like we might get hit too, you know, like I'm

509
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,119
Speaker 1: I'm watching so many games that I'm seeing them have

510
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,040
Speaker 1: their good nights. I'm seeing them struggle. I'm seeing them

511
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:48,000
Speaker 1: get in the close game and get one up at

512
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,920
Speaker 1: the end, and I'm seeing them come back on the team.

513
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: You know, I'm seeing so many different things about these teams,

514
00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:59,160
Speaker 1: But throughout all of that, I'm seeing them execute. I'm

515
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 1: seeing where they struggle, you know, where they struggling. How

516
00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,440
Speaker 1: Step is killing them defensively? Okay, how did Kyrie kill him?

517
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,800
Speaker 1: How did this person kill him? How did this person

518
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,320
Speaker 1: play against and how did they guard this guy? You know, Like,

519
00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 1: so I'm able to have pieced together without put writing

520
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 1: down notes. It's like, Missy, I'm just noticing these things,

521
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 1: and then when I actually watched the clips, I already

522
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 1: know what I'm getting ready to see, you know what

523
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 1: I mean? So, yeah, different, I got two courts I

524
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,719
Speaker 1: got courtside seats, I got two tickets. You and your

525
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 1: wife going to the game. What current NBA players. Who

526
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,200
Speaker 1: are you going to see? You got you got courtside seats.

527
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,159
Speaker 1: Who are you going to see? I got courtside seats.

528
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,639
Speaker 1: I'm going to see Kyrie Irving. I just love the

529
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 1: way Kyrie play. I just love the way his game look.

530
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:53,840
Speaker 1: He ridiculous. He ridiculous day. He ridiculous with him handles, man,

531
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,360
Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. How you do it? And it's his handles.

532
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,359
Speaker 1: But it's just the way he moved and how he

533
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,200
Speaker 1: can play the game like he got the most beautiful

534
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,360
Speaker 1: game ever, Like just the way it looked. I'm going

535
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: to see Kyrie Irvin, and I'm going to see Devin Booker.

536
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,680
Speaker 1: You like books game? Look my favorite player in the NBA.

537
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,399
Speaker 1: The thing is for the low. It used to be

538
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,199
Speaker 1: the big, dump the ball down to the big he

539
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 1: turned around. Now it's the three. But you mentioned guys

540
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 1: that got the mid range game. Book is good. I

541
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 1: mean he can shoot the three, but Book is the

542
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 1: mid Book is like fifteen to eighteen. Kyrie got it all.

543
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,520
Speaker 1: Kyrie is. Kyrie is the best finisher in the paint

544
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,200
Speaker 1: for his size as a guard that I've ever seen

545
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,399
Speaker 1: from the three point to the realm, it ain't been

546
00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,120
Speaker 1: very many people that can see Kyrie Irving with his handles.

547
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,920
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's the best player, but when you

548
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 1: you you watch him, like you said, you love watching

549
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,719
Speaker 1: this game. He can shoot the three, he got the

550
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 1: mid range, the English, the art in which you can

551
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,479
Speaker 1: put on the I can finish with either hand at

552
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,680
Speaker 1: the at the rim. It's just crazy. It's because it's

553
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,159
Speaker 1: not athleticism. It's skilled, you know what I mean. Like it. Yes,

554
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,159
Speaker 1: he's not a bum hanging in the hill. Just like

555
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 1: this craftiness and touch and feel it, you know what

556
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,240
Speaker 1: I mean. It's just a knack for doing it. And

557
00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 1: it's it's a gift. You know, you can tell he

558
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: worked on it, but he had the gift to begin with.

559
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 1: So I agree with you. I agree with you, David.

560
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 1: We go all sports go through this. The old guard

561
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:24,080
Speaker 1: seemed to be so unwilling to credit the new guard. Well,

562
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,040
Speaker 1: this guy could. He could have played in my day.

563
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:28,719
Speaker 1: He ain't tough enough. Why do you think it's so

564
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,680
Speaker 1: hard for the older players to give this current generation

565
00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,520
Speaker 1: regardless of sport, basketball, football, baseball, it doesn't matter. Why

566
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 1: is it so hard for them to give credit what

567
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 1: credit is due? I mean I think just so they don't,

568
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 1: so they don't they don't feel forgotten. I think part

569
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 1: of it is like them making sure that they're not forgotten. Like, yeah,

570
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 1: but it was hard. I did it before I get

571
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,920
Speaker 1: some credit I gotta give. I gotta make sure people

572
00:28:55,960 --> 00:29:00,480
Speaker 1: know it was different. You know what I'm saying. Sometimes

573
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 1: that's true, you know what I'm saying, Like, sometimes it's true.

574
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 1: With I think more people recognize it than the people

575
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:12,600
Speaker 1: that make those comments realize, you know, like I know

576
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,400
Speaker 1: that you know, the game might be harder if you know,

577
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,360
Speaker 1: some guys played in the nineties, just like if some

578
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 1: guys from the nineties played in this era, it might

579
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 1: be a little bit too much like this, Yes, and

580
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: the guards that was you know, killing in the nineties

581
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 1: might come to this era. And the coverages now is

582
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: like you ain't we ain't you know, we were gonna

583
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: let him come off and shoot threes, but he's not

584
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,520
Speaker 1: getting in the We're gonna be in the drop, you know,

585
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 1: you it's different coverages. And you know, some people couldn't

586
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 1: handle the ball that great. They might have got trapped

587
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 1: and made them a little more uncomfortable, and the physicality

588
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: might have bothered some people in our era, a little

589
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: bit more of lack of foul calls and the pace

590
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 1: of the game being slow and being in a half

591
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,400
Speaker 1: court more might have limited some guys now that like

592
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 1: to play and transition, right. It's a lot of things.

593
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:04,440
Speaker 1: It's a lot of factors that go into that. But

594
00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's mainly because people don't want

595
00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 1: to be forgotten. You know, it's always like what tim

596
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 1: if you agree with this statement, I'm not saying the

597
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 1: guys are better in today's game, but I'm saying you

598
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,520
Speaker 1: guys are more skilled. There's more guys that can shoot

599
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 1: the ball the equivalent, if not better than Larry Bird.

600
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: Because back then there were only a handful of guys

601
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 1: that can shoot the ball, like you, Steph Clay, Kyrie

602
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 1: k D. Book. There's only there were only there were

603
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 1: not that many guys that can shoot the ball, especially

604
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:41,880
Speaker 1: from distance and even in the mid range like you

605
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 1: guys shoot it. I mean like a lot of I

606
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 1: mean it's tough to think about, you know, who shot

607
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,040
Speaker 1: the ball is that way? You know, like just going back,

608
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: you know, you wouldn't nobody shot the ball because now

609
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,280
Speaker 1: in today's game, there is no bad shot you pull it, bro,

610
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 1: you pull it up from forty that's a great shot.

611
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 1: The only time you shot that shot back then in

612
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:05,800
Speaker 1: the nineties is that it was the end of the

613
00:31:05,840 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: half or it was the end of the quarter. You

614
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 1: didn't shoot that shot with fifteen seconds on the shot clock.

615
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 1: Gotta pull up in transition from thirty now maybe like

616
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,640
Speaker 1: from from from deep as much newer. But if you

617
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,760
Speaker 1: go look at my mood up door, I yeah, like

618
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:25,000
Speaker 1: coming off the stream quick raids. That was his gang.

619
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,040
Speaker 1: Like that's where I That's where I started when I

620
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,760
Speaker 1: was in college and I started to watch like clips

621
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: and stuff and him in high school and him at

622
00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,600
Speaker 1: LSU and all that, Like that's when I started to like,

623
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 1: come on, scream, quick raids, cross cross, quick raids between

624
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,479
Speaker 1: the legs, split, pull up, like I start doing at

625
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:45,880
Speaker 1: off of him, you know what I'm saying. So like,

626
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,959
Speaker 1: but it wasn't a lot of people doing that stuff

627
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,040
Speaker 1: like pulling up and taking tough contested threes and stuff

628
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,160
Speaker 1: like that. It was definitely not definitely they were. They

629
00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 1: weren't taking contested threes like you guys take the waste,

630
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 1: You and Steph and Clay and guys huot the three,

631
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: even with a hand in their face. You better make

632
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:08,600
Speaker 1: that you better make that back. Guy, put that ball

633
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 1: on the floor and move up that three. Because if

634
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,480
Speaker 1: you just run out there talking about that's a that's

635
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 1: a bucket of ye. I mean, that's like you said,

636
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,560
Speaker 1: guys are more stilled. It's the training, you know that

637
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:25,040
Speaker 1: the pace that that guy's training at now, and how

638
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 1: often people train now, yeah, you you're right, that's three

639
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 1: sixty not damn. Ain't no off time. Even if you

640
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: guys do. I don't know how much you play golf.

641
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,760
Speaker 1: You have you obviously you're we're gonna get into that.

642
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 1: But guys trained so much more now. They're always they're

643
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 1: constantly working on that craft. There's no sitting to basketball

644
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 1: down for three months. I ain't touching the basketball for

645
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 1: three months and I'm gonna pick it back up. You

646
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,000
Speaker 1: guys are constantly in the lab trying to create a

647
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 1: better version of yourself. When I came in the league,

648
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 1: and it just shows you, like how fast it changed.

649
00:32:57,920 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 1: I came in the league in twenty twelve and when

650
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 1: I got to my first training camp, it was forty

651
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,960
Speaker 1: year olds. You know, I'm coming in with Jared Jeffries

652
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,800
Speaker 1: and I'm and other people who are coming into camp,

653
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,000
Speaker 1: like in training camps when they got in shape, like

654
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,760
Speaker 1: I ain't touched no ball. This is when I touched

655
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,479
Speaker 1: the ball. You know, they're telling you, like, man, when

656
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 1: a season or if you gotta take a break, I

657
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,560
Speaker 1: wouldn't touch a ball to August, you know, and you're

658
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 1: hearing that, It's like, what Like that just sounds crazy, right.

659
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 1: It shows you now like when the season end, people

660
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:30,640
Speaker 1: take a couple you know, two weeks they might go

661
00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,200
Speaker 1: on vacation, come back and vacation and only catching shoot,

662
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:36,440
Speaker 1: get a little sweat in, some light work, and then

663
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,120
Speaker 1: you build from there. But it used to be like

664
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: you just completely stop until like basketball again. So like

665
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 1: the creativity and the amount of work that you put

666
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,120
Speaker 1: in on that creativity and adding things to your game

667
00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:51,840
Speaker 1: was just on a different level now all the ways.

668
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,000
Speaker 1: Starting from elementary school, you seeing eight year olds out

669
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,800
Speaker 1: here shooting deep threes and playing off the dribble floaters

670
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,960
Speaker 1: both hands and craft with the ball. So it's I

671
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: think players now are definitely more more skilled and they

672
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: work on it a lot more. Damn. You're in the

673
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: era of the player empowerment, whereas before you stayed with

674
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,640
Speaker 1: a team until that team decided to get rid of you.

675
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:21,080
Speaker 1: Now you like, look here, get me some help or

676
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,840
Speaker 1: get me up out of here. Are you okay with that?

677
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:25,879
Speaker 1: Because a lot of like I seem like the Old

678
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 1: Guard are not okay with that. They don't like that

679
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:30,759
Speaker 1: Lebron James was able to do what he did. They

680
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:32,759
Speaker 1: don't like that KD. They don't like that some of

681
00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:35,200
Speaker 1: these other guys, like you know what, bro y'all ain't

682
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,359
Speaker 1: trying to win here. I'm going somewhere else where. They

683
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:39,160
Speaker 1: trying to win, and they're gonna help brain players in

684
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:41,960
Speaker 1: to help me win. It seemed like the old Guard

685
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 1: is that they had to stay in one locale until

686
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,840
Speaker 1: they got old and couldn't really do it anymore, and

687
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,440
Speaker 1: then the team moved off on them. Are you okay

688
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 1: with the player empowerment movement? I mean I think, first

689
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,719
Speaker 1: of all, to each his own, you know, like if

690
00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 1: that's if if that's what feels on to you and

691
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:04,600
Speaker 1: makes you right, then you should do it. I think

692
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,640
Speaker 1: you should do it. You know, like you said, for Brian,

693
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,040
Speaker 1: Brian has won a championship everywhere that he's done it

694
00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:14,520
Speaker 1: at right, you know, he even circled back to Cleveland

695
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:18,200
Speaker 1: and won the championship and so like you know, and

696
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,239
Speaker 1: KD the same. You know, he went to go to state,

697
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:23,480
Speaker 1: he won his two It's to me, it's to eat

698
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:26,280
Speaker 1: your own. But it's it's not gonna work out for everybody.

699
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,360
Speaker 1: You know, you have some people do it and it

700
00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,680
Speaker 1: won't work out, and you just gotta be prepared to

701
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:33,560
Speaker 1: deal with the down side of that, you know what

702
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 1: I mean, Like if you don't if you do decide

703
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:39,520
Speaker 1: to do it and you don't win, and now they're like,

704
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:41,520
Speaker 1: it's not working and this team you're going up. Now

705
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,200
Speaker 1: you want another team, and you know, you end up

706
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 1: on three teams you know or whatever in a in

707
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,760
Speaker 1: a short period of time. And now you use that power,

708
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,520
Speaker 1: and now you know people that you used that power against,

709
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,440
Speaker 1: it's gonna be looking at you like, nah, when you

710
00:35:57,520 --> 00:35:59,880
Speaker 1: was demand and you was making all these demands and

711
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,760
Speaker 1: you have the power. Now I got the power, you know, right,

712
00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: and and they're gonna do you wrong because they feel violated,

713
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,560
Speaker 1: you know, But I don't. I don't think it's always

714
00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:13,480
Speaker 1: that type of vibe when people say, look, I want

715
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,000
Speaker 1: to go somewhere else and win. I don't think it's

716
00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: always that, but more times than not, when guys are

717
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,320
Speaker 1: handling in a way of like I got the power,

718
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,839
Speaker 1: you know, then you just you're just making people. Are

719
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 1: you putting people in a position where they're gonna wait

720
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:29,200
Speaker 1: to that opportunity where your power is gone and they

721
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: got the power back, and you know they're gonna try

722
00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 1: to do you wrong, and you just gotta be willing

723
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 1: to deal with those consequences if that happens. Damn, you

724
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 1: got to deal with the consequences either way, because if

725
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:41,719
Speaker 1: you don't win, they're gonna say you didn't win. And

726
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 1: then if you go join another team, they's like, well

727
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,680
Speaker 1: he gin jumped on the bad wagon. They criticize KD

728
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,640
Speaker 1: for going to Golden State, they criticize Lebron, And if

729
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:51,359
Speaker 1: you stay, they're gonna say, well, Dame Little, it's one

730
00:36:51,360 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: of the best players to never win a championship. So

731
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,359
Speaker 1: you're gonna get the criticism. So you might as well

732
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,799
Speaker 1: be happy with whatever you do it because you're gonna

733
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 1: get criticized either way. To me, and that exactly, and

734
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:04,680
Speaker 1: to me, it ain't even about the criticism. Like and

735
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 1: that's why I say to each his own because that's

736
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:08,960
Speaker 1: how I feel. And to me, it's not about the criticism.

737
00:37:09,040 --> 00:37:12,759
Speaker 1: You're gonna get criticized at some point regardless. That's what

738
00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 1: comes with our job. That's why, that's why we make

739
00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 1: the money that we make, and that's why we play

740
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 1: at the level that we play at, because like we're

741
00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:24,359
Speaker 1: the best of the best. Why aren't playing well? Why

742
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 1: didn't you step up in this big moment? Like that's

743
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,440
Speaker 1: that's all a part of the game, and you're gonna

744
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,880
Speaker 1: get criticized, And I accept that, but that's why I

745
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,439
Speaker 1: take the stance that I take because there's nowhere around

746
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:37,200
Speaker 1: the criticism or so even if I do win a

747
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,440
Speaker 1: championship the following season after that, if we don't win it,

748
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:45,080
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get criticized after after taking it out, so

749
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 1: like it's going to happen. So for me, it's like

750
00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:52,319
Speaker 1: if I know that, I'm just gonna I'm gonna stick

751
00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:54,600
Speaker 1: to my guns and do what I know fulfills me

752
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,080
Speaker 1: and what makes me happy and what I want to

753
00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:59,440
Speaker 1: see happen, because I'm gonna deal with that regardless. And

754
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 1: then when I'm done playing, you know, they're gonna talk

755
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,440
Speaker 1: about me every six months when they're talking about some

756
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,040
Speaker 1: old story with everybody. A lot of y'a are not

757
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,800
Speaker 1: gonna be thinking about us like that. Y'all gonna be

758
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,800
Speaker 1: thinking about Bron and KD and don't Know and Jannis.

759
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:17,440
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Like they ain't gonna come

760
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:20,279
Speaker 1: across it because of you know, they multi MVPs and

761
00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,000
Speaker 1: did all this stuff. But I mean, y'are not gonna

762
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,239
Speaker 1: be talking about us like that, So I don't, you know,

763
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:27,520
Speaker 1: I just I know that it comes with it. I

764
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,920
Speaker 1: want to win a championship. I want to win an MVP.

765
00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 1: That's what would make me happy. You know what I'm saying.

766
00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,040
Speaker 1: That would make you happy, but it would make you

767
00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:38,840
Speaker 1: more happy if you were able to accomplish that in Portland.

768
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:42,359
Speaker 1: Winning a championship, winning an MVP in Portland would make

769
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,840
Speaker 1: you more happy than winning it, winning those two accolades

770
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:49,000
Speaker 1: somewhere else? Am I hearing you correctly? Yeah? I mean it.

771
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,920
Speaker 1: I would be extremely happy regardless, you know. And I

772
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,000
Speaker 1: think one thing that people misunderstand when I say it

773
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,960
Speaker 1: is like they think, like, man, you're gonna be happy regardless,

774
00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:03,360
Speaker 1: and I'm like, I know I would be extremely But

775
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,320
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like nobody know me, like I know

776
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,480
Speaker 1: me go home at night and when I turned that

777
00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:13,320
Speaker 1: light off and I laid my head down, nobody with

778
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,120
Speaker 1: those feelings and what's in my head, Like I do

779
00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,279
Speaker 1: you know you know that too, right, Like I want

780
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,160
Speaker 1: to do that and be happy with my and be

781
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 1: happy with myself. To wait that. I want to be

782
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:24,960
Speaker 1: happy with myself. You know what I mean? And I

783
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:26,840
Speaker 1: know what that looks like. And that's the way that

784
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 1: I'm trying to get it done. Russell Westbrook is having

785
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,719
Speaker 1: one of his worst seasons on the biggest stage. You know,

786
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:35,120
Speaker 1: when you play with a team like the Lakers with

787
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:38,919
Speaker 1: what's expected of this team, championship or nothing. You play

788
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,160
Speaker 1: with Kevin Durant, or you play with the Boston Celtics,

789
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:45,200
Speaker 1: if you could give him some advice, if you were

790
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:47,920
Speaker 1: to call you, says Dame bro Bro. You see you

791
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,400
Speaker 1: know they own me, you hear they owe me? How

792
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,319
Speaker 1: do you think I should do? What? What? What? How

793
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:55,320
Speaker 1: should how? What should I say? What should I do?

794
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,320
Speaker 1: What's going on? Bro? What? What do you see? What

795
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:05,680
Speaker 1: woul would you give it? I mean if I had

796
00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:07,719
Speaker 1: to tell him anything, I would just telling him just

797
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:11,880
Speaker 1: you know, meet face the music with it, you know,

798
00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:16,320
Speaker 1: Like I just said, the criticism, like, it's gonna happen,

799
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 1: and you're playing in one of the biggest markets. So

800
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:19,840
Speaker 1: I would just face it, you know, I would just

801
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:22,399
Speaker 1: whatever the question, y'all ask me whether I think it's

802
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,560
Speaker 1: a dumb question or something that is self explanatory or whatever,

803
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 1: just face it and deal with it or whatever. Like his,

804
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:35,160
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook's career and legacy is undeniable. Like that's just

805
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,719
Speaker 1: the bottom line. The player, the career he's had, what

806
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,880
Speaker 1: he's accomplished, the things that he's done. Nobody else has

807
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 1: been able to do it. Like with all these triple doubles,

808
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,120
Speaker 1: I don't care if you stat chasing or whatever people

809
00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:48,359
Speaker 1: want to say. If I try to go every game

810
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,200
Speaker 1: and get a triple double for a whole season, I

811
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,279
Speaker 1: can't do it. And it's a lot of other people

812
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:57,040
Speaker 1: that can't do it either. That's hard in itself to

813
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 1: actually do it, whether you're trying to do it or not. Right,

814
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,279
Speaker 1: I mean, he's done what he's done. You cannot. It's undeniable.

815
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,880
Speaker 1: So you know, like I was just saying, we're going

816
00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,160
Speaker 1: to get criticized regardless. You know, here's maybe a little

817
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:15,680
Speaker 1: more harsh because he's Russell Westbrook, he's playing for the Lakers,

818
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,520
Speaker 1: he's playing with Lebron, Like, you know, it's gonna be

819
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,480
Speaker 1: more harsh, But you know, I would just face it

820
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:24,920
Speaker 1: and be like, look, you know, I'm I'm struggling. I'm

821
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:26,440
Speaker 1: still working at it. I'm trying to get through it.

822
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 1: It might not be what y'all want to hear, but

823
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,880
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm trying. What you would acknowledge it you

824
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 1: you would acknowledge that I am struggling, that I'm not

825
00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 1: playing up the park, and you would not be dismissive

826
00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 1: of a question that they asked because I think sometimes

827
00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 1: he become confrontational. Bro. We see, you can't say you're

828
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,719
Speaker 1: not struggling when you go to a seventeen or you

829
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 1: go for twenty one. You can't say you're not struggling

830
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:53,000
Speaker 1: because am I supposed to believe my eyes or you

831
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:57,279
Speaker 1: what you're telling me. I mean, sometimes you struggle, but

832
00:41:57,520 --> 00:41:59,880
Speaker 1: because of the situation you're in the market, you're playing,

833
00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:02,359
Speaker 1: and amount of attention you put on everything as makes

834
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:05,080
Speaker 1: everything so much worse. Like if you actually look at

835
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:09,080
Speaker 1: his numbers, you know there's people shooting a worse percentage

836
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:14,279
Speaker 1: and there averaging worst number. Like his numbers are not

837
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:18,279
Speaker 1: bad numbers, it's just the actual Like the way the

838
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:20,440
Speaker 1: game is being played may not be what people want

839
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:23,400
Speaker 1: to see or was expected because the ball ain't in

840
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:25,680
Speaker 1: his hand and all the time, he's not as much

841
00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:28,160
Speaker 1: in control of the game as people are accustomed to seeing.

842
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:32,160
Speaker 1: And that's a major adjustment. Nobody's ever been in that

843
00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:35,120
Speaker 1: position to go from I've been Russell Westbrook my whole career,

844
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,040
Speaker 1: and now I'm off the ball way more, you know

845
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:38,880
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. It's just so much more of a

846
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:41,360
Speaker 1: different situation for him. But nobody gotta live that. So

847
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:44,239
Speaker 1: it's easy to kick somebody when they down and all that.

848
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:46,640
Speaker 1: But if I had to tell him something, I would

849
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:48,600
Speaker 1: just face it and just you know, and just deal

850
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:52,160
Speaker 1: with it. But I do think like it didn't go

851
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:55,080
Speaker 1: into the extreme, you know, as far as it's almost

852
00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:57,360
Speaker 1: like people just see something that they think everybody's going

853
00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,920
Speaker 1: to agree with if they just talk shit about Russell Westbrook,

854
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:03,080
Speaker 1: So everybody's just throwing their stuff at him and saying,

855
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:05,600
Speaker 1: you know, it's going overboard at this point in my opinion,

856
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 1: like it's just crazy to me. Oakland you grew up

857
00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:14,960
Speaker 1: in Oakland when Dane was seven, eight, nine, ten years old?

858
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,040
Speaker 1: What the day? What the dame want to be? The day?

859
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,800
Speaker 1: Want to be? Obviously basketball, you had to play basketball.

860
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,839
Speaker 1: But did did rap come into them? Did Rap come

861
00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:25,560
Speaker 1: into the mix? Because there's a lot of going on.

862
00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:27,600
Speaker 1: You got too Short, You got Marshawn Lynch, you got

863
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 1: Garrett Payton, so it's rich soil for a lot of

864
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:35,920
Speaker 1: different things. Got football, got a football player, Marshawn, You

865
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:38,839
Speaker 1: got too Short. Who's a rapper? You got GP who's

866
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:42,479
Speaker 1: on the seventy fifth anniversary team like yourself. So what's

867
00:43:42,520 --> 00:43:45,759
Speaker 1: going on in young Dane Lillard's mind? I mean when

868
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,600
Speaker 1: I was younger, man, I was you know, I grew

869
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,800
Speaker 1: up in the neighborhood, so I was around everything. You

870
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:56,279
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. I had people was outside, you know,

871
00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,880
Speaker 1: I just put it like that, and things were going

872
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 1: going on, and I was around him, and it was

873
00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:05,320
Speaker 1: I had a decision to make every day. You know,

874
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,279
Speaker 1: am I gonna choose right or wrong? You know, whether

875
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:10,120
Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna get caught or not. Am I

876
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,880
Speaker 1: gonna choose right or wrong? And I think when you

877
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,000
Speaker 1: face with that type of pressure and those type of

878
00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 1: decisions every day. You know, it shapes you in a

879
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:20,560
Speaker 1: certain way, you know, especially you when you're around these things.

880
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:24,960
Speaker 1: You know. But like you said, we knew who Marshawn was,

881
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,000
Speaker 1: you know, like my brother was cool with Marshawn. My

882
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:31,279
Speaker 1: brother the same age as Marshawn. My dad, you know,

883
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,320
Speaker 1: went to high school with Raphael Sad and new GP

884
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:36,920
Speaker 1: and b Shaw and all these dudes. You know, so

885
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:40,320
Speaker 1: they and you probably don't even notice when you was

886
00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:42,520
Speaker 1: on the broncos y'all want a Super Bowl. My cousin,

887
00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:48,960
Speaker 1: my dad's cousin is Darien Gordon. Yeah, yeah, as my cousin.

888
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:53,520
Speaker 1: So like when you when you were around all this stuff,

889
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 1: it's just that little bit of positive that you need,

890
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:57,560
Speaker 1: you know, you just you just need that little bit

891
00:44:57,560 --> 00:44:59,960
Speaker 1: of inspiration. And I always, you know, at school, every

892
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:03,080
Speaker 1: like Garry paid my cousin and this person is my cousin,

893
00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:05,360
Speaker 1: and I know this person. You know. It was always

894
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:08,439
Speaker 1: that type of energy, and I think I held onto

895
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,279
Speaker 1: those types of things a little bit different, you know,

896
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:12,360
Speaker 1: give that little bit of positive you like, hold on

897
00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: you little GP. They got out well from here, I

898
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:21,040
Speaker 1: can get out too. Short Marshawn. They from this area,

899
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:25,640
Speaker 1: they got out, Why can't I? No. I always That's

900
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,200
Speaker 1: one thing I'll say is I always held onto those

901
00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 1: things like a little tighter than I think a lot

902
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:35,040
Speaker 1: of the other kids. Was like like I'll never forget,

903
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,680
Speaker 1: you know, on the freeway, on the five eighty freeway

904
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,040
Speaker 1: in Oakland, like you come in. You know, it goes

905
00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:45,040
Speaker 1: from in Reville all the way to Hayward, you know,

906
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:47,080
Speaker 1: all the way through. And when you won that freeway,

907
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:50,520
Speaker 1: it's like all of the you know, the the town

908
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,600
Speaker 1: homes up against against the hill, but then at the

909
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:55,760
Speaker 1: top you got the Oakland Hills and you can always

910
00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:58,560
Speaker 1: see b Shaw. You can always see b Shaw house,

911
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,440
Speaker 1: the pillars on his house all the way from the freeway.

912
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:05,520
Speaker 1: I used to always look up there like I'm gonna,

913
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:09,600
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give me a house and give me about

914
00:46:09,840 --> 00:46:12,440
Speaker 1: Shark Crib, like when I go to the league. And

915
00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:16,440
Speaker 1: that's like I always held on to that because it

916
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:18,920
Speaker 1: was like I can literally see his house from the freeway,

917
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:20,680
Speaker 1: and like I didn't know how to get there, but

918
00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:23,280
Speaker 1: I knew like you could see it from the freeway.

919
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:25,360
Speaker 1: So just all of those things are always held on

920
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:27,760
Speaker 1: to a real tight, you know, like, man, it's possible.

921
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:30,720
Speaker 1: Did you play Did you play any of the sports

922
00:46:31,200 --> 00:46:34,200
Speaker 1: growing up? Did you play football? You play baseball or

923
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:38,359
Speaker 1: you're strictly basketball, play baseball? I played football, I ran

924
00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:41,840
Speaker 1: a track. How what was it you played football? I

925
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:46,000
Speaker 1: played receiver, I played back. I did everything. I was

926
00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:52,759
Speaker 1: nice in football. So this is the thing. My my

927
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,439
Speaker 1: my mom's only brother has always been a football coach.

928
00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:59,680
Speaker 1: He was my coach. All my cousins, like, I'm the

929
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,680
Speaker 1: only league my cousin is. That's on our team for

930
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:05,839
Speaker 1: the Blazers, Cal Jim Blevins. That's my cousin. Me and him,

931
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 1: the only two basketball players in our family. Everybody else

932
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:15,840
Speaker 1: played football. So you guys want that was nice? So

933
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:18,080
Speaker 1: what how old were you when you decided to say,

934
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:21,040
Speaker 1: you know what, basketball is the way I'm gonna get

935
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,279
Speaker 1: that house up there by b s y'all? How old

936
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:24,799
Speaker 1: were you when you made that to say? You said,

937
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:27,239
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm gonna say, baseball side, I'm gonna

938
00:47:27,239 --> 00:47:31,080
Speaker 1: sit football aside, and I'm gonna focus streetly on basketball. Well,

939
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:34,320
Speaker 1: I stopped playing baseball early, like right about right about

940
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:37,320
Speaker 1: middle school. I got I got hit right here, and

941
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:42,200
Speaker 1: I was done football. I stopped once I got the

942
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:44,880
Speaker 1: high school. Once I got the high school and I

943
00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:48,359
Speaker 1: had like I said, and it was like I saw

944
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:51,080
Speaker 1: how big dudes was and people was getting hurt and

945
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:56,080
Speaker 1: all that. Like it was like major injuries too. I'm

946
00:47:56,160 --> 00:48:00,800
Speaker 1: like acl and breaking it legs. This kid like I

947
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:02,719
Speaker 1: was just all that time, I was like, I'm cool.

948
00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:05,360
Speaker 1: And then at the same time, I was also just

949
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,080
Speaker 1: getting I was getting back so much better and who

950
00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:11,800
Speaker 1: naturally before I started to seriously train like that, I

951
00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:14,480
Speaker 1: was just the more I was playing, I was getting

952
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 1: more athletic. I was able to shoot and you know,

953
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:20,040
Speaker 1: my field for the game, just making the right plays

954
00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:22,880
Speaker 1: and stuff like that was getting so much better. And

955
00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:25,040
Speaker 1: then I played varsity as a freshman and that was

956
00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:28,200
Speaker 1: that was it. So who who the Dame? What players

957
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,880
Speaker 1: the dame? Like when you were growing up? What basketball player?

958
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:33,520
Speaker 1: He's like, man, hit the game nice? I like that.

959
00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:35,960
Speaker 1: Who who did you? Who did you follow closely when

960
00:48:35,960 --> 00:48:38,719
Speaker 1: you were growing up? When I was a kid, I

961
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:42,800
Speaker 1: was a big, I fanky like a I was. And

962
00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:46,960
Speaker 1: it's crazy because it wasn't the details of his actual

963
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:51,040
Speaker 1: game as much as it was his swag and like

964
00:48:51,239 --> 00:48:54,760
Speaker 1: him being like one of the smaller players, and he's

965
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:58,480
Speaker 1: AI was the one of the few players that gave

966
00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:00,759
Speaker 1: me the energy of people that I was around, like

967
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:04,239
Speaker 1: he gave like Alan Everson felt like he could have

968
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:10,000
Speaker 1: been from our neighborhood. Yeah, tattoos, the braids, he wore,

969
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 1: tall tis, he was sagging, the way he spoke, it

970
00:49:13,719 --> 00:49:17,479
Speaker 1: was like it was like I knew that I knew

971
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,000
Speaker 1: his type, you know what I mean, I knew his

972
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,040
Speaker 1: type of person. And it reminded me of a dude

973
00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:26,040
Speaker 1: that was from what I was from, right, And you

974
00:49:26,120 --> 00:49:28,520
Speaker 1: know how hard he played, you know, and it was

975
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:31,720
Speaker 1: almost like he was he was with whatever, against whoever,

976
00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:34,200
Speaker 1: and he was never surrounded by all the bests, you

977
00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:35,960
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And that's ton of I'm like,

978
00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:40,799
Speaker 1: that's kind of like what I'm that's your mentality. Yeah,

979
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:43,120
Speaker 1: you're not the biggest. You don't have You're not you

980
00:49:43,200 --> 00:49:47,440
Speaker 1: don't have top ten players all time around you to

981
00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:50,879
Speaker 1: play with. But you say, you know what, I'm six

982
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:53,040
Speaker 1: foot tall, six one. I can get it done. I

983
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:54,799
Speaker 1: saw ay I do it. Hey, I led a team

984
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:58,080
Speaker 1: to the NBA Finals. He wanted the MVP. Hey, I

985
00:49:58,200 --> 00:50:01,840
Speaker 1: think I think I'm nice like that too exactly. But

986
00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:05,360
Speaker 1: he I always liked Ai like he he had the

987
00:50:05,480 --> 00:50:08,120
Speaker 1: style that like that appealed to a kid like me,

988
00:50:08,360 --> 00:50:12,759
Speaker 1: Like everybody everybody in my neighborhood love Ai. Like it

989
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:15,239
Speaker 1: was like and then how much this is how much

990
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:19,560
Speaker 1: everybody in my in my neighborhood love Ai. We got

991
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:23,640
Speaker 1: a dude. We had a dude named Paul mcrickney and

992
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:26,520
Speaker 1: my that was from Oakland. He ended up going to

993
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:29,160
Speaker 1: Saint Mary's College and he was like the person from

994
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:32,200
Speaker 1: Oakland and was supposed to like go to the league.

995
00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:34,520
Speaker 1: He was, but he ended up messing up his knee.

996
00:50:34,520 --> 00:50:36,759
Speaker 1: He still was good, played overseas for a long time.

997
00:50:37,719 --> 00:50:39,960
Speaker 1: But I remember him playing against a dude from my

998
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:43,960
Speaker 1: neighborhood for a hundred dollars and a pair of iris.

999
00:50:45,520 --> 00:50:48,160
Speaker 1: They played one on one for that. You know what

1000
00:50:48,239 --> 00:50:52,279
Speaker 1: I'm saying. It just showed you like he was a

1001
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:55,319
Speaker 1: I was everything. I don't know if they're gonna let

1002
00:50:55,320 --> 00:50:57,000
Speaker 1: you show up to the game how Ai used to

1003
00:50:57,040 --> 00:50:59,279
Speaker 1: come to the game because Commissioner starting he changed that

1004
00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:02,439
Speaker 1: dress cold. You can't cover with four eggs te when

1005
00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:05,440
Speaker 1: you when you a medium or large, and you definitely

1006
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:11,120
Speaker 1: can't cover with the food boos. That's acceptable in that

1007
00:51:11,239 --> 00:51:13,560
Speaker 1: tunnel today. I bet you I could get away with

1008
00:51:13,719 --> 00:51:17,239
Speaker 1: dressing Howeverson dress because you think what did you not

1009
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:23,040
Speaker 1: be saying what I do? I think somebody do. I

1010
00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:24,920
Speaker 1: don't know where to come. I bet I saw cous

1011
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:28,400
Speaker 1: had had a sweater that was a fifty eight for large.

1012
00:51:28,760 --> 00:51:31,040
Speaker 1: I don't know whay he get that sweater from wear

1013
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:36,080
Speaker 1: that I can wear a tall tea. Somebody like, come on, man,

1014
00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:39,480
Speaker 1: I read where you gave it him passionate speed. You're

1015
00:51:39,640 --> 00:51:42,120
Speaker 1: very young. I want you to tell me how old

1016
00:51:42,160 --> 00:51:44,440
Speaker 1: you were when you told your mom says mom, I'm

1017
00:51:44,480 --> 00:51:46,799
Speaker 1: gonna go to the NBA. I don't know if your

1018
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:49,000
Speaker 1: mom believed you at the time. I don't know if

1019
00:51:49,040 --> 00:51:52,080
Speaker 1: the people that around that heard the conversation believe. Like,

1020
00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:57,359
Speaker 1: we don't know nobody in the NBA. We get regular jobs.

1021
00:51:57,440 --> 00:51:59,399
Speaker 1: We you know, we weren't nine to five. We don't

1022
00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:03,200
Speaker 1: go with professional athletes. When you were telling your mom this,

1023
00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:06,239
Speaker 1: do you believe that she believed you? Did you believe

1024
00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:08,320
Speaker 1: the other people that heard you tell her this? Do

1025
00:52:08,440 --> 00:52:12,160
Speaker 1: you believe they believed you? I mean, I don't think

1026
00:52:12,239 --> 00:52:16,000
Speaker 1: nobody out there believe me. Keeping the hunting, and I

1027
00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:18,279
Speaker 1: don't think nobody believed it. But I remember the day.

1028
00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:21,200
Speaker 1: I remember the day like it was it was yesterday,

1029
00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:25,040
Speaker 1: because you know my mom, the job that my mom worked,

1030
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:28,560
Speaker 1: She my mom went to work every morning at four am.

1031
00:52:28,800 --> 00:52:31,200
Speaker 1: My whole life until I got the NBA. She went

1032
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:33,680
Speaker 1: to work four am, got off at three and you

1033
00:52:33,760 --> 00:52:35,759
Speaker 1: know the job. They would always give her a hard time,

1034
00:52:35,960 --> 00:52:38,239
Speaker 1: you know, like my mom lived a hard life, and

1035
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:41,200
Speaker 1: they were a hard time about her production and this

1036
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:45,759
Speaker 1: and that. It was always something and she was just

1037
00:52:45,840 --> 00:52:48,759
Speaker 1: having a real tough day that day and every day

1038
00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:51,719
Speaker 1: for me growing up, like when I when I got

1039
00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:53,440
Speaker 1: out of school, like we caught the bus, you know

1040
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:56,160
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. Like from age we called the bus.

1041
00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:59,000
Speaker 1: Like me and my brother, all my cousins, we caught

1042
00:52:59,040 --> 00:53:00,960
Speaker 1: the bus and we never at home. All of us

1043
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:03,680
Speaker 1: caught the bus back to the neighborhood to my grandparents' house,

1044
00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:06,799
Speaker 1: and when our parents got off of work, they would

1045
00:53:06,800 --> 00:53:09,719
Speaker 1: all come pick us up from there. So it would be,

1046
00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:14,000
Speaker 1: you know, five o'clock every day on school days whatever,

1047
00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:17,200
Speaker 1: around five o'clock, you know, my mom would be pulling

1048
00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:19,600
Speaker 1: up from San Ramon and then my Auntie Van would

1049
00:53:19,600 --> 00:53:22,040
Speaker 1: be pulling up, and then my Auntie Levada to be

1050
00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:25,280
Speaker 1: pulling up, and it'll be about six six cars outside

1051
00:53:25,360 --> 00:53:28,399
Speaker 1: just parked in front of the house, and we would

1052
00:53:28,400 --> 00:53:30,000
Speaker 1: all just be outside. You know. It was like a

1053
00:53:30,080 --> 00:53:32,560
Speaker 1: summer day, but it was like like a school day,

1054
00:53:32,600 --> 00:53:34,239
Speaker 1: and we would all just be you know, our parents

1055
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:35,880
Speaker 1: pulling up from work to pick us up, and my

1056
00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:39,279
Speaker 1: grandmother's finished finishing up cooking. We all about to eat,

1057
00:53:39,680 --> 00:53:41,400
Speaker 1: and then that was when we went home. That was

1058
00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:44,720
Speaker 1: like an everyday thing. So I saw all my cousins

1059
00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:47,480
Speaker 1: and all my aunts and everybody every day because we

1060
00:53:47,560 --> 00:53:50,160
Speaker 1: all would get picked up and they would sit outside

1061
00:53:50,239 --> 00:53:52,200
Speaker 1: in the car, you know, chopping it up or whatever,

1062
00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:55,600
Speaker 1: and we would all be outside playing. So you know,

1063
00:53:55,719 --> 00:53:57,720
Speaker 1: this day, my mom was sitting in the car by ourself,

1064
00:53:57,760 --> 00:53:59,840
Speaker 1: and my Auntie Van got in the car with her.

1065
00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:02,560
Speaker 1: And I could tell because my Aunty Van is her

1066
00:54:02,600 --> 00:54:06,000
Speaker 1: oldest sister, her second oldest sister, but her oldest sister

1067
00:54:06,160 --> 00:54:11,680
Speaker 1: lived in in South Carolina. Okay, So I see my

1068
00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:14,359
Speaker 1: Auntie Van kind of like you know, talking my mom

1069
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:17,000
Speaker 1: down and kind of like being a big sister to her,

1070
00:54:17,040 --> 00:54:18,680
Speaker 1: and I could see, I know where my mom is

1071
00:54:19,160 --> 00:54:20,719
Speaker 1: going through it. So I looked at it, you know,

1072
00:54:21,960 --> 00:54:23,680
Speaker 1: and I see my mom kind of going through it.

1073
00:54:23,719 --> 00:54:25,960
Speaker 1: And that's when I when Beyond the Glory. Remember the

1074
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:29,960
Speaker 1: show Beyond the Glory was like a big thing, and

1075
00:54:30,080 --> 00:54:32,560
Speaker 1: I'm like, I just kind of went into it like, look,

1076
00:54:32,600 --> 00:54:34,880
Speaker 1: we know this ain't gonna last long. Like I'm gonna

1077
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:37,279
Speaker 1: do this, and I'm gonna do that and this. You know,

1078
00:54:37,400 --> 00:54:40,239
Speaker 1: this is pretty much how it's gonna go. And you know,

1079
00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:42,440
Speaker 1: from that point on, they was like this show Beyond

1080
00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:45,160
Speaker 1: the Glory story, you know that's just kept saying everybody

1081
00:54:45,160 --> 00:54:47,359
Speaker 1: that I was out there, But it was almost a joke,

1082
00:54:47,560 --> 00:54:50,200
Speaker 1: you know, because I was like announcing it to everybody, right,

1083
00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:54,200
Speaker 1: and I honestly don't think nobody out there really believed that,

1084
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:56,080
Speaker 1: you know. They like they liked the fact that I

1085
00:54:56,160 --> 00:54:58,080
Speaker 1: was saying it, but I don't think they really thought, Like,

1086
00:54:58,680 --> 00:55:01,160
Speaker 1: I don't know if I really league for real, like

1087
00:55:01,400 --> 00:55:03,239
Speaker 1: you just trying to make mom feel better, you try

1088
00:55:03,280 --> 00:55:05,360
Speaker 1: to live mom spirits. I would like to do this,

1089
00:55:05,480 --> 00:55:07,719
Speaker 1: but I don't know if this is actually gonna happen. Right.

1090
00:55:09,080 --> 00:55:10,719
Speaker 1: You go to you go to weep, you go to

1091
00:55:10,760 --> 00:55:15,239
Speaker 1: Weaver State, what's going on, You're like, hold on, did

1092
00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:18,160
Speaker 1: anybody ever go to the NBA from Weaver State? So

1093
00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:21,400
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be the first. I'm gonna make history. I'm

1094
00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:26,520
Speaker 1: gonna be the guy that changed the curse, the poverty

1095
00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:29,880
Speaker 1: curse that striping my family, that got us living here

1096
00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:32,279
Speaker 1: because I know I want better for my mom, I

1097
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,160
Speaker 1: want better for my kids. I'm going to be the

1098
00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:37,800
Speaker 1: one that break this curse. But I'm gonna have to

1099
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:39,600
Speaker 1: do it from Weaver State. I'm not going to do

1100
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:43,440
Speaker 1: North Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky, YadA, YadA, YadA. I would do

1101
00:55:43,480 --> 00:55:45,960
Speaker 1: it from right here. At that point, I was delusion.

1102
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:51,760
Speaker 1: That was probably my biggest That was probably my biggest strength,

1103
00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:56,400
Speaker 1: is how delusion I was at that point, right because

1104
00:55:57,360 --> 00:55:59,719
Speaker 1: when I showed up on campus, I literally was like,

1105
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:01,920
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go to the league. I never thought like

1106
00:56:02,200 --> 00:56:05,320
Speaker 1: how many people made it from Weaver State or you

1107
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:08,000
Speaker 1: know it's scout our scouts don't come watch for none

1108
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:10,600
Speaker 1: of that. Like I showed that time day, at that time,

1109
00:56:10,640 --> 00:56:12,920
Speaker 1: at that time, Dame, how tall are you? How much

1110
00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:15,320
Speaker 1: do you weigh? When I got to Weaver I was

1111
00:56:15,360 --> 00:56:19,640
Speaker 1: about five eleven, maybe one sixty five, Okay, and then

1112
00:56:19,719 --> 00:56:24,279
Speaker 1: I got there, and you know, I realized that you know,

1113
00:56:24,360 --> 00:56:27,000
Speaker 1: I didn't I didn't work hard enough, and you know

1114
00:56:27,080 --> 00:56:29,960
Speaker 1: I didn't play hard enough. I didn't play fast enough.

1115
00:56:29,960 --> 00:56:31,880
Speaker 1: You know. I started to just realize, like, man, this

1116
00:56:32,320 --> 00:56:34,319
Speaker 1: is a little harder than our I thought. We had

1117
00:56:34,360 --> 00:56:37,399
Speaker 1: our first conditioning tests and like I was damn there die,

1118
00:56:37,600 --> 00:56:40,880
Speaker 1: you know, like and I was just like, man, like

1119
00:56:41,040 --> 00:56:43,160
Speaker 1: if this is how hard it is at Weaver State,

1120
00:56:43,320 --> 00:56:45,880
Speaker 1: Like can this really was meant for me? You know

1121
00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:48,040
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, Like I really questioned that after the

1122
00:56:48,120 --> 00:56:52,879
Speaker 1: first day of myself this is hard and the most

1123
00:56:52,960 --> 00:56:56,360
Speaker 1: important thing and that experience was I met Phil Beckner,

1124
00:56:56,840 --> 00:57:00,920
Speaker 1: who's my trainer right now, and you know, he was

1125
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:04,480
Speaker 1: the person and obviously I had, you know, my AU coach,

1126
00:57:04,680 --> 00:57:08,960
Speaker 1: another father figure to me, Raymond Young, Phil Taylor, Dame Jones,

1127
00:57:09,080 --> 00:57:11,040
Speaker 1: you know, like all of those dudes kind of grabbed

1128
00:57:11,040 --> 00:57:12,879
Speaker 1: me in high school and they the ones that helped

1129
00:57:12,880 --> 00:57:15,000
Speaker 1: me get to that the point where I was getting

1130
00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:17,200
Speaker 1: recruited because I wasn't getting routed for a long time.

1131
00:57:17,320 --> 00:57:20,560
Speaker 1: But when I got to Weaver, I met Phil Beckner,

1132
00:57:20,600 --> 00:57:25,640
Speaker 1: who's my trainer now, and he he was on my

1133
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:29,200
Speaker 1: ass like you're not good enough. You don't play hard enough,

1134
00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:32,160
Speaker 1: you don't shoot good enough, you're handling tight enough, you

1135
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:34,760
Speaker 1: don't get enough rets. You rather be you know, hanging out.

1136
00:57:34,880 --> 00:57:36,720
Speaker 1: You don't get in the code to how many shots

1137
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:39,040
Speaker 1: did you make? Get to Like he used to be

1138
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:41,880
Speaker 1: waiting outside of all my classes that started at nine

1139
00:57:41,920 --> 00:57:44,760
Speaker 1: o'clock at eight fifty, like you need to be here.

1140
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:48,160
Speaker 1: Like he taught me what it meant to work hard.

1141
00:57:48,280 --> 00:57:50,600
Speaker 1: And you know, everybody on campus thought me and Phil

1142
00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:52,920
Speaker 1: was crazy because it was like we was working out

1143
00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:56,240
Speaker 1: on campus in the arena at a local rec center.

1144
00:57:56,320 --> 00:57:58,680
Speaker 1: We was just all over the place, just working work

1145
00:57:58,760 --> 00:58:01,680
Speaker 1: and working, working, And you know, I just made a

1146
00:58:01,800 --> 00:58:05,520
Speaker 1: jump from my first year to the end of From

1147
00:58:05,560 --> 00:58:06,840
Speaker 1: the start of my first year to the end of

1148
00:58:06,840 --> 00:58:09,120
Speaker 1: my first year, I was first team All Conference as

1149
00:58:09,160 --> 00:58:12,440
Speaker 1: a freshman. In my second year, I stayed so between

1150
00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:14,960
Speaker 1: that first and second year, I stayed at school, would

1151
00:58:14,960 --> 00:58:18,560
Speaker 1: field the whole summer, and we just worked out, worked out,

1152
00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:21,760
Speaker 1: worked out. The next year, I was MVP, and then

1153
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:24,240
Speaker 1: I got on the draft boards after that, Like I

1154
00:58:24,360 --> 00:58:28,000
Speaker 1: was on the draft board after my sophomore year, and

1155
00:58:28,200 --> 00:58:30,680
Speaker 1: he just kept pushing me. It was like nothing, nothing

1156
00:58:30,760 --> 00:58:33,520
Speaker 1: was good enough. So like once I got that little

1157
00:58:33,520 --> 00:58:35,600
Speaker 1: bit of taste, I saw my name on that my draft,

1158
00:58:36,480 --> 00:58:39,920
Speaker 1: and then Phil was like blowing up Adidas, you know,

1159
00:58:40,120 --> 00:58:42,840
Speaker 1: like he was sending like he he still probably got

1160
00:58:42,880 --> 00:58:45,600
Speaker 1: into this day a hundred emails just send him begging

1161
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:48,640
Speaker 1: him to let me come to Adida's nations where you know,

1162
00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:51,840
Speaker 1: scouts will be there, NBA players who played, the top

1163
00:58:51,880 --> 00:58:55,520
Speaker 1: college players who play. And I never forget on my birthday.

1164
00:58:55,640 --> 00:58:57,600
Speaker 1: It was my birthday. I was in Utah during the

1165
00:58:57,640 --> 00:59:03,080
Speaker 1: summer July fifteen, and they sent the email, came back

1166
00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:05,240
Speaker 1: and I got in like two dudes like it was

1167
00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:08,640
Speaker 1: somebody from Baylor and somebody from Kansas pulled out and

1168
00:59:08,760 --> 00:59:11,880
Speaker 1: I got in and I went to Chicago and that

1169
00:59:12,040 --> 00:59:13,920
Speaker 1: was the first time where like I played in front

1170
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:16,880
Speaker 1: of scouts and all that stuff. And then that was

1171
00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:20,200
Speaker 1: pretty much it. Dame, we're gonna I'm gonna get you

1172
00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:22,720
Speaker 1: out here on this one. When it's all sitting done.

1173
00:59:23,560 --> 00:59:27,160
Speaker 1: What's Dame lillard story? How does Dame want his story written?

1174
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:31,200
Speaker 1: How does Dame Lillard write his story? I mean, I'm

1175
00:59:31,240 --> 00:59:33,280
Speaker 1: writing it as our goal, you know, but I think

1176
00:59:33,480 --> 00:59:35,600
Speaker 1: when I'm done planning I want people to look back

1177
00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:38,720
Speaker 1: and be like, you know, and not only did Dame

1178
00:59:38,840 --> 00:59:40,800
Speaker 1: have a great career on the floor, you know, he

1179
00:59:41,240 --> 00:59:44,560
Speaker 1: accomplished a lot on the floor, but I want people

1180
00:59:44,600 --> 00:59:48,920
Speaker 1: to look back and understand how much BS goes on,

1181
00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:51,840
Speaker 1: you know, in this industry and what happens behind the

1182
00:59:51,920 --> 00:59:56,280
Speaker 1: scenes versus what people get told publicly and the narratives

1183
00:59:56,320 --> 00:59:59,280
Speaker 1: and all these different things. You know. I want people

1184
00:59:59,360 --> 01:00:01,400
Speaker 1: to remember me like he got it done on the

1185
01:00:01,480 --> 01:00:05,920
Speaker 1: court and everything that people said about him, and everything

1186
01:00:06,040 --> 01:00:08,600
Speaker 1: that he said about himself and everything that he said

1187
01:00:08,600 --> 01:00:12,480
Speaker 1: he stood for everybody we've ever talked to check it

1188
01:00:12,560 --> 01:00:14,880
Speaker 1: off and said it was it was the realist of

1189
01:00:14,960 --> 01:00:18,000
Speaker 1: the real and there was no do this behind closed

1190
01:00:18,040 --> 01:00:20,480
Speaker 1: doors and do something different publicly. Like That's what I

1191
01:00:20,560 --> 01:00:22,480
Speaker 1: want people to re memory for the quality of it.

1192
01:00:23,280 --> 01:00:26,280
Speaker 1: The quality of the person that I've been able to be,

1193
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:29,480
Speaker 1: along with the quality of you know, player that I've

1194
01:00:29,680 --> 01:00:31,720
Speaker 1: I've become, you know, in the status and all the

1195
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:36,120
Speaker 1: things that I've accomplished in my career. I'm gonna get

1196
01:00:36,120 --> 01:00:37,920
Speaker 1: you out of here on this one. I need your

1197
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:42,360
Speaker 1: Mott Rushmore rappers, four guys, Mott Rushmore, and I need

1198
01:00:42,440 --> 01:00:46,760
Speaker 1: your Mit Rushmore, NBA players, not Rushmore rappers. I'm gonna

1199
01:00:46,800 --> 01:00:55,360
Speaker 1: go with Tupac. I'm gonna go with jay Z. I'm

1200
01:00:55,360 --> 01:01:05,600
Speaker 1: gonna go Tupac, jay Z, h Little Wayne, and I'm

1201
01:01:05,600 --> 01:01:12,520
Speaker 1: gonna go Biggy Bigger. That's a hell of a list, okay,

1202
01:01:12,760 --> 01:01:22,760
Speaker 1: NBA players, NBA players, let go m J Bryan Trobe

1203
01:01:25,480 --> 01:01:36,640
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna say magic a nice list. Nice list,

1204
01:01:37,480 --> 01:01:39,800
Speaker 1: like I really like the I really I really like

1205
01:01:39,960 --> 01:01:44,920
Speaker 1: the the rap because I don't know how you have

1206
01:01:45,720 --> 01:01:48,880
Speaker 1: my Rushmore If Tupac ain't on it, I don't care

1207
01:01:48,960 --> 01:01:51,040
Speaker 1: that I say. I know there's some great young rappers.

1208
01:01:51,120 --> 01:01:53,760
Speaker 1: And if you if you got to my Rushmore and

1209
01:01:53,880 --> 01:01:56,360
Speaker 1: Tupac ain't on it, I'm throwing your listen to trash.

1210
01:01:57,480 --> 01:02:01,240
Speaker 1: I gotta be on dagn. I really appreciate you giving

1211
01:02:01,240 --> 01:02:02,520
Speaker 1: me a little bit of your time today. I know

1212
01:02:02,640 --> 01:02:05,440
Speaker 1: you're busy. Heal up. I need you to come back

1213
01:02:05,480 --> 01:02:07,240
Speaker 1: as Damn Dollar because I need you to letting him

1214
01:02:07,240 --> 01:02:10,280
Speaker 1: go from the logo like you did before this injury.

1215
01:02:10,520 --> 01:02:13,240
Speaker 1: I know you will. Best of luck again. Thanks my man,

1216
01:02:13,840 --> 01:02:18,680
Speaker 1: Hey man, don't hurry. Trust you know I got you,

1217
01:02:18,760 --> 01:02:20,640
Speaker 1: know I got you on my hand. You hold up

1218
01:02:20,680 --> 01:02:23,800
Speaker 1: your head. I got you on my hand yep, sure

1219
01:02:24,200 --> 01:02:27,520
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Brother, all my life and running all my life.

1220
01:02:28,200 --> 01:02:32,400
Speaker 1: Psycrifice hustle backy pricing. Want a slice, Got the brother

1221
01:02:32,480 --> 01:02:34,880
Speaker 1: the dice to swap all my life. I've been grinding

1222
01:02:34,920 --> 01:02:37,840
Speaker 1: all my life, all my life and running all my

1223
01:02:37,960 --> 01:02:42,800
Speaker 1: life sacrifice hustle backy pricing, Want a slice, Got the

1224
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:45,520
Speaker 1: brother dice to swap all my life. I've been grinding

1225
01:02:45,600 --> 01:02:46,200
Speaker 1: all my life.