Speaker 1: The volume. The Draymond Green Show is presented by a
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Speaker 1: fan duel sports book makes it easy. Man. I'm honored
Speaker 1: to welcome this next guest to the show, a guy
Speaker 1: who number one, I've had the chance to win a
Speaker 1: gold medal with, but also someone who I've had the
Speaker 1: opportunity to build a relationship with, to call a little brother,
Speaker 1: to try to share knowledge that I've learned over my
Speaker 1: teen years and and give it back to the younger
Speaker 1: guys that's taking this league by the storm and taking
Speaker 1: over the league. And so I'm honored to welcome this
Speaker 1: next guest, all star, another all star on The Draymond
Speaker 1: Green Show, none other than Jayson Tatum. J T. What's up,
Speaker 1: my brother, My dog. Appreciate you, Adam. Absolutely, I appreciate
Speaker 1: you coming on. Man. I've been you know, we we
Speaker 1: we're trying to keep this thing going man, and having
Speaker 1: all stars on here like you can't. You can't show
Speaker 1: up unless your resume right, man. So you know, I
Speaker 1: appreciate you coming on live with us to keep that
Speaker 1: street going. No, no probb, no problem. Absolutely. But you know,
Speaker 1: first off, I wanna obviously this will be a lot
Speaker 1: about you, about your career, and I want to know,
Speaker 1: uh number one and starting off, man, one of the
Speaker 1: things that I admire most about you, and this is
Speaker 1: even before I really got to know you. It's just
Speaker 1: how how you are as a father. And you know,
Speaker 1: we all see the pictures of you induce Um. You know,
Speaker 1: we see him with you all the time. But as
Speaker 1: you and I both know, in this life, a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of things can be staged, you know,
Speaker 1: but getting an opportunity to know you and seeing how
Speaker 1: handsome you are with him, um, it's one of the
Speaker 1: things that I admire about you. So first off, I
Speaker 1: just want to know, like, how is it for you
Speaker 1: being a father to your son? Man? Uh? I mean,
Speaker 1: as you know, it's it's about far uh the best
Speaker 1: thing in life. Um, you know, bigger than any accomplished,
Speaker 1: any award, any amount of money. Um, that genuine you
Speaker 1: know relationship, especially like I gotta I got a son,
Speaker 1: so as he's gotten older and I've gotten older, just
Speaker 1: our relationship and it's almost like that's my mini meet,
Speaker 1: right so like and I've had the privilege in the
Speaker 1: honor of like, you know, I had him when I
Speaker 1: was nineteen. I didn't I ain't playing it. It was
Speaker 1: an accident, so be it. But us you know, him
Speaker 1: growing up, you know, as as a as a kid
Speaker 1: and and me growing in my career and basically you know,
Speaker 1: we're sharing this journey together. Um, and that was that
Speaker 1: was a big thing for me that you know, first
Speaker 1: year in the league and you know he was born,
Speaker 1: um Decemberien. You know, I wasn't going to sacrifice either.
Speaker 1: I wasn't going to let one take me from the other.
Speaker 1: I was gonna, you know, in a way to take
Speaker 1: on both challenges, Like I'm gonna be the best father
Speaker 1: I can be and I gonna be the best basketball
Speaker 1: player I can be. And we know we're gonna make
Speaker 1: it both work at the same time. And it's not
Speaker 1: really like work. You know, it's it's now has become
Speaker 1: second nature, Like you know, that's just part of my
Speaker 1: my routine as part of my day. It's just like
Speaker 1: what I'm saying me and Duce, you know, we're rocking out.
Speaker 1: That's incredible, man. I think I love it, man, because
Speaker 1: I know for me personally, um, you know, I have
Speaker 1: two daughters as well, and and you know that relationship.
Speaker 1: I look forward to you one day having a daughter
Speaker 1: because that relationship with them girls, it's just a little different.
Speaker 1: Like obviously, but like you said, with your little man,
Speaker 1: it's like you're mini me, you know, And that's that's
Speaker 1: kind of how I you know, that's how I am
Speaker 1: with DJ. It's like, you know, people see him on
Speaker 1: the sideline at the games, but like he had all
Speaker 1: the practice like this dude feel like he's a part
Speaker 1: of the team. Like he'd be saying stuff to me
Speaker 1: like hey, you you went to the gym without me,
Speaker 1: Like everybody wanted to see me and they don't want
Speaker 1: to see you. And you know, but that's it's so
Speaker 1: important to be able to share the journey with them,
Speaker 1: you know, because the reality is our kids are growing
Speaker 1: up totally different than we grew up, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like they're growing up with a silver spoon,
Speaker 1: you know, they're growing up with access to all of
Speaker 1: these different things, to a totally different life than we
Speaker 1: ever grew up with. And and my my everyday thing
Speaker 1: or my everyday thought, it's like, how do I give
Speaker 1: to my kids, and especially my son, how do I
Speaker 1: give to them what Saginaw gave to me that I
Speaker 1: know Saginaw isn't given to them. How can I still
Speaker 1: instill some of that in them? You know? And and
Speaker 1: so I think for me that's the big thing. And
Speaker 1: that's why I love how hands on you are with him,
Speaker 1: how much you have them around, because man, that's like
Speaker 1: you can't you can't pay for that experience. And so
Speaker 1: it's such a beautiful thing, manure and you that's the
Speaker 1: million dollar questions. Like you said, we worked so hard
Speaker 1: to give our kids, you know, a life, a better
Speaker 1: life than than we had growing up. And like that's
Speaker 1: what you're supposed to do as a parent. But you
Speaker 1: spot on, like you know, especially like raising young men,
Speaker 1: you know, how do I instill that that toughness so
Speaker 1: that would work ethic that you know, just living in St.
Speaker 1: Louis every day that you know, it's just a part
Speaker 1: of my everyday life. Whereas you know, Deuce he come
Speaker 1: to NBA games, he's sitting courtside in the locker room.
Speaker 1: He on private jets. We're going to the the islands. Like
Speaker 1: all he knows is paradise and and and and new
Speaker 1: sneakers and all that. So it is like, uh, especially
Speaker 1: as you get older, it's something that I definitely got
Speaker 1: worked on of, like that that balance of right of life,
Speaker 1: you know, enjoying this life but understanding that like you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta at some point you gotta work for life
Speaker 1: of your own. But now that's definitely the million all question.
Speaker 1: I think. You know, you know, one of the interesting
Speaker 1: things that I did when when you when you think
Speaker 1: about um, really setting your kids up for the future,
Speaker 1: which I think is is a very important thing, and
Speaker 1: you start talking about a will and a it's like
Speaker 1: for me, my girls get money at eighteen. My son
Speaker 1: don't get money until one. Because the reality is it's
Speaker 1: like for my girls, I don't want them to ever
Speaker 1: feel like or a guy to ever feel like he
Speaker 1: can control them because of something that he have, or
Speaker 1: for them to feel like man, I need to turn
Speaker 1: to this guy to rely on them. But for my
Speaker 1: son at eighteen, are bro like you? What you're doing like,
Speaker 1: you're going to school, You're going to work? Like, what's up?
Speaker 1: What you're doing like? And the maturity level of guys
Speaker 1: and girls are a little different as well. Guy's matrot slower.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of something that I'm That's something that
Speaker 1: I am doing with my kids. And I thought I
Speaker 1: thought that was the right way to go up. At
Speaker 1: least I think it is. We'll see. I think parenting
Speaker 1: is all trial and error, and that is all it is,
Speaker 1: trial and error. I tell people talk it ain't no
Speaker 1: perfect way to be a parent. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: You gotta figure it out. Did you go? Absolutely? Man?
Speaker 1: But take take me on your journey. Man. You went
Speaker 1: to Shamana prep um home of David Lee, home of
Speaker 1: Brad Bill and then you come through there. Uh at
Speaker 1: you know, a school that's all had already put out
Speaker 1: to all stars and you're coming through that. What was
Speaker 1: it like? Um, just going to Shamana, Like, I know,
Speaker 1: you could have went to a a public school uh
Speaker 1: in St. Louis, but you decided to go to Shamana,
Speaker 1: which seems to be working for the for the guys
Speaker 1: from St. Louis. What what was behind that decision? For you,
Speaker 1: I ain't had no choice. That was my mom from
Speaker 1: the from the middle, from elementary school. My mom was like,
Speaker 1: you're going to a hall boy Catholic school, Like you
Speaker 1: don't need no distractions from eight to five every day,
Speaker 1: Like it's all about books and bagsketball. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: wanted to go to a public school with all you know,
Speaker 1: people in the neighborhood and all my friends from here.
Speaker 1: You but I, like, I just knew that wasn't the thing.
Speaker 1: I knew I was going to one of these. We
Speaker 1: got like like five private schools in St. Louis that
Speaker 1: are all boy. We are in the same conference. But
Speaker 1: it was just perfect time because you know, um, Brad's
Speaker 1: mom was my mom's volleyball coach in high school, and
Speaker 1: Brad grew up. We grew up in the same neighborhood.
Speaker 1: It was like four minutes from my crib. So I
Speaker 1: went to Shamanad in middle school and my my first
Speaker 1: year was his last year. So when I was in
Speaker 1: seventh grade, Brad was in in talk grade. So that
Speaker 1: was really the you know the stamp. Just um, I
Speaker 1: had a perfect role model, a perfect like visualization every
Speaker 1: day of who I wanted, like where I wanted to go,
Speaker 1: where I wanted to be, and like he was he
Speaker 1: was living proof um. You know. So getting to see
Speaker 1: him every day in the classroom, working out after practice,
Speaker 1: him dropping me off from school every day and going
Speaker 1: to the games, and you know, seeing him put on
Speaker 1: the show, it was like it was it was a
Speaker 1: perfect scenario for me because this was like I want
Speaker 1: to get to where he's getting to and I get
Speaker 1: to see you know, his everyday routine, um up close.
Speaker 1: So you know, home forever. Thankful for that, for being
Speaker 1: in that position. That's incredible. And and as you went
Speaker 1: through high school, so well you're going from seven grade
Speaker 1: to eighth grade, Brad goes on the Florida spent one
Speaker 1: year at Florida, then he goes to the league. Once
Speaker 1: he left Shalmana, did y'all relationship continue to grow or
Speaker 1: was there like a gap where y'all kind of fell
Speaker 1: out of contact or has that always been a constant
Speaker 1: to someone that's always been directing you? Oh no, that's
Speaker 1: he like that's like Brad is the big brother. You
Speaker 1: know that I didn't have right, Yeah, even when he
Speaker 1: got to the league. I remember on it was either
Speaker 1: my freshman or sophomore year, Like one of my spring breaks,
Speaker 1: Brad was like he just texted and he's like, yo,
Speaker 1: like ask your man, can you come up here and
Speaker 1: just like come check with me and come to a
Speaker 1: couple of games. I'm like, all right, but I'm out.
Speaker 1: Like like I went up to d C. I spent
Speaker 1: like a week with him, him and his brothers Um
Speaker 1: went to a couple of games. But like even in
Speaker 1: the summertime, Brad would come home and it would be
Speaker 1: times where he would pull up in front of my
Speaker 1: crib nine o'clock in the morning he called me, I'm sleep.
Speaker 1: He called me like, yo, come on brother, outside, I'm
Speaker 1: damn all right. Let me get in the shower. And
Speaker 1: I would just like I would get in a call
Speaker 1: with him, We go get some we go work out,
Speaker 1: and then we go his crib, played the game Chill,
Speaker 1: and then we go work out again and he takes
Speaker 1: me home. Like It's plenty of tim summers where I
Speaker 1: like would spend the whole day with him and like
Speaker 1: just we just be out. But it was always just
Speaker 1: like he always was telling me that, you know, he
Speaker 1: wanted to do for me with you know, nobody did
Speaker 1: for him. And you know, from that point on, I've
Speaker 1: always had, you know, none but love and the most
Speaker 1: respect because you know, he didn't have he didn't have
Speaker 1: to do that, right he from day one, he always
Speaker 1: told me he wanted me to be better than him.
Speaker 1: You know, he wanted me. He wanted to show me,
Speaker 1: you know, the ads and out of the things that
Speaker 1: he wished he knew. Um, and you know, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be here if it wasn't for Brad. So yeah, we
Speaker 1: as as I got older, we got much closer. Um.
Speaker 1: Brad was the first person to take me to the
Speaker 1: club and I was like when I was like sixteen,
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, he took me to the club a
Speaker 1: couple of times. My mama found out, she custom out,
Speaker 1: but it was all of after that, Like that's the
Speaker 1: kind of relationship that that we had. Like my mom
Speaker 1: cuts Brad out in front of my house one day,
Speaker 1: like you got my son at the club. He still
Speaker 1: got stuff to lose, blah blah blah. But it was
Speaker 1: just the principle. She wasn't really mad, but she had
Speaker 1: she couldn't act like she was cool with it. But yeah,
Speaker 1: Brad's first person to take me to the club, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we did it. That's an incredible man to have someone
Speaker 1: like that that you've known from that age to continue
Speaker 1: to show you the way. You make sure you get
Speaker 1: that back to somebody, bro, because that's that's that's that's important.
Speaker 1: That's how we continue to grow our game. That's how
Speaker 1: we continue to to grow as as young men most importantly,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying, as professionals. So you make
Speaker 1: sure you get that game to the next guy, because
Speaker 1: that's that's how this that's how this cycle go, man.
Speaker 1: And I think that's such a beautiful thing. And him
Speaker 1: him saying like I want you to be better than
Speaker 1: me as good as Brad is, You're you're you are
Speaker 1: him at six ten, which which already kind of push
Speaker 1: you in in a different like not not not a
Speaker 1: different category because y'all both all stars, you're both elite,
Speaker 1: like y'all both scored with the best of them, but
Speaker 1: six being six ten and being able to do that,
Speaker 1: that automatically just puts you in a different place because
Speaker 1: there's only Katie Um at six ten who can do
Speaker 1: that maybe Katie and I actually got. I actually got
Speaker 1: and I had a great opportunity to see that this summer,
Speaker 1: and and what I told everybody, Um, and I'm jumping
Speaker 1: all over the place a little bit, but this is
Speaker 1: just still so natural, so will will rewind a little bit.
Speaker 1: But what I told everybody was on our team, it
Speaker 1: was Katie team, like USA team, it was Katie team,
Speaker 1: as it should have been. He was he was one
Speaker 1: of the most experiences Katie. But it felt like to me,
Speaker 1: and I want to I want to hear your thoughts,
Speaker 1: it felt like to me, you were being primed for
Speaker 1: it to be your team. That's next go around and
Speaker 1: maybe Katie come back, Maybe Katie don't. But I felt
Speaker 1: like he was priming you like a j T. Go
Speaker 1: give me a bucket, man, he's your turn, Come on now,
Speaker 1: go give me some buckets. And hearing the conversation, but
Speaker 1: also seeing how everyone else on our team when it
Speaker 1: wasn't Katie, everybody was turning to you, and you had
Speaker 1: games where you took go over. So I like, how
Speaker 1: how are you did you feel that? Are you seeing? That?
Speaker 1: Is that the goal? Like? What is your goals moving
Speaker 1: forward with USA? Yeah? Now, I think I think you
Speaker 1: spot on. I think that played a huge part in
Speaker 1: my decision. I think I remember you calling me in
Speaker 1: a summertime and like telling me, like, Bro, I remember,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget you said, Bro, forget all this stuff
Speaker 1: about rest, like we can rest when we retire, and
Speaker 1: I don't, like, like yeah if I'm only like I
Speaker 1: got the rest of my life after basketball to rest
Speaker 1: and do what if I won't, And like this is
Speaker 1: you know, nothing is promised, like this is a special opportunity.
Speaker 1: So after talking to you, and then the next thing
Speaker 1: was like, well s k K on the team. And
Speaker 1: I think for me, like I remember being fifteen years
Speaker 1: old and going to k Kemp and d C and
Speaker 1: like how excited I was to be there and fast forward,
Speaker 1: you know, play in against some of the playoffs flash
Speaker 1: year and then now being on the same team as him,
Speaker 1: and like getting to see how somebody that like I
Speaker 1: looked up to at one point, like how he'd go
Speaker 1: about his routine and how he worked, how he you know,
Speaker 1: just think and see the game, you know, on a
Speaker 1: personal level, like we're gonna be on the same team.
Speaker 1: That was for me. I was like all right, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm going and I remember being in and out there
Speaker 1: in Vegas, and like, I remember the first day we scrimmaged,
Speaker 1: and I remember we played the Select team and they
Speaker 1: kicked the ask. The first day. We was out of shape.
Speaker 1: We was out of shape. We wasn't used to playing
Speaker 1: with each other. But I remember specifically coming down on
Speaker 1: the wing, somebody kicked me the ball and on the Celtics,
Speaker 1: I would have shot it and it was like a
Speaker 1: halfway like I could have shot it, and I just
Speaker 1: remember k was to the next it was to the
Speaker 1: right of me, and I passed it to him and
Speaker 1: I remember he got mad at me. He was like
Speaker 1: he was like, yo, don't look for me, Like he
Speaker 1: was like, be yourself. I need you to kill And
Speaker 1: I was like damn, Like that was the first time
Speaker 1: I was like like no, like he wants me to
Speaker 1: who too, Like don't look at it, like that's Katie,
Speaker 1: Like no, we're on the same team, Like he needs
Speaker 1: me to do me on this team and not like
Speaker 1: I mean you you you're right? Like is It definitely
Speaker 1: started to feel like that, like obviously we all knew
Speaker 1: his team, but just somebody like that in the middle
Speaker 1: of a game, you know, he comes down the court,
Speaker 1: he telling me to post up to give me the
Speaker 1: ball to go score. I was like all right, like yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm getting I'm I'm I'm I'm working towards getting
Speaker 1: to that level, like I'm earning the respect of somebody
Speaker 1: like that, and ultimately, like that was obviously us winning it,
Speaker 1: but like that was one of my favorite parts of
Speaker 1: you know, being on the team. Um just kind of
Speaker 1: like at that moment, if I you know that makes sense, No, absolutely,
Speaker 1: And I actually remember the exact moment that you're talking
Speaker 1: about when he when when you swang the ball to me, Like,
Speaker 1: hey man, come now, I remember that exact moment. But
Speaker 1: I thought it was great because, like I said, the
Speaker 1: reality is right, you should you you should. It's on
Speaker 1: you to carry USA for the at least the next
Speaker 1: two cycles, you know, like like that's your thing moving forward.
Speaker 1: And like I said, even if Katie come back on
Speaker 1: the next cycle for Paris, that's almost him just like
Speaker 1: coming to past the Patton, Like yeah, I still have
Speaker 1: got it and I'm still cold and I love it.
Speaker 1: Who but I'm really coming to past the Patton. And
Speaker 1: so I think, uh, like that should be your mindset
Speaker 1: and what also should be your mindset is regardless of
Speaker 1: whatever happens this summer, I mean or this season, this playoffs,
Speaker 1: you should be dedicated to having the absolute best summer
Speaker 1: of your life. And you already work, but but there's
Speaker 1: more to be done because your only goal next year,
Speaker 1: going into next year should be like, no, I'm one
Speaker 1: going to be the MVP of the NBA next year.
Speaker 1: You should be the m v P of the NBA
Speaker 1: next year with your skill level with like you've been
Speaker 1: doing this now. Say, a lot of people don't don't
Speaker 1: realize how young you are. I didn't either until we
Speaker 1: got to the Olympics and I'm just sitting there and
Speaker 1: we all kicking it, and then some of the questions
Speaker 1: you was asked, I'm like, man, I oh here baby,
Speaker 1: But you like you've been doing it at this level
Speaker 1: since you came into the league your rookie year, which
Speaker 1: is now with five years, and so people tend to
Speaker 1: think like, oh, no, like you just one of us.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, like, oh yeah, like no,
Speaker 1: he just wanted us because at the because of the
Speaker 1: level you've been doing that. But the reality is you
Speaker 1: still can't place replace that experience. You still can't replace
Speaker 1: those years of gaining wisdom, and so it was super
Speaker 1: refreshing to me when you start asking some of the
Speaker 1: questions you was asking. I'm like, oh, Ship, like this
Speaker 1: is fun for me, like being able to share something.
Speaker 1: Like it's one thing to share a game, get game
Speaker 1: to a young dude, Like, that's all great, it's fun.
Speaker 1: I love to do it. It's a totally different thing
Speaker 1: to get some game to a star, like to a
Speaker 1: young star. That's a totally different thing. And so for me,
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, man, like this is this is gonna
Speaker 1: be fun, Like I I enjoy that. And so I
Speaker 1: think that should be your number one goal going into
Speaker 1: next year. Bro, Like you should be thinking nothing else. No,
Speaker 1: I mean you, You're definitely right. Uh. And I think
Speaker 1: this is gonna be my first kind of full summer,
Speaker 1: uh since I've been in the league. I played on
Speaker 1: the Fever team in twenty nineteen, I got injured, come
Speaker 1: around and Covid hit and that was the shortest offseason
Speaker 1: you know, NBA history, And then last year, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we was in training camp with USA while the season
Speaker 1: was still going on. So it was just it's always
Speaker 1: been something so I'm definitely, you know, after this season,
Speaker 1: you know, handled this season first, but uh, this off
Speaker 1: season coming up is something I'm really really looking forward to, uh,
Speaker 1: because you're right, like, and I think the Olympics had
Speaker 1: a lot to do with that. Um, you know, coming
Speaker 1: off the Olympics and winning a gold medal and being
Speaker 1: with you guys, like the best players in the world,
Speaker 1: like as competitive as the game's where, but just going
Speaker 1: through practice when we're spilling the teams up, scranging each
Speaker 1: other problem five, Like, there's nothing better than that in
Speaker 1: the summertime at that point. So just coming into the NBA,
Speaker 1: like I've been competing against and with the best players
Speaker 1: in the league all summer and then carrying that into
Speaker 1: the into the season is like that Honestly, it's the
Speaker 1: best way to prepare, uh, you know for a season.
Speaker 1: You know. What's crazy is one to one of the
Speaker 1: main reasons I wanted to do Olympics last year was
Speaker 1: so I could stay in great shape leaving out of
Speaker 1: last season to come into this season because in my mind,
Speaker 1: I'm like, yo, I want to get back to an
Speaker 1: all star level, and I know the key to me
Speaker 1: playing at an all Star level is simply being in shape.
Speaker 1: And so I'm like, the Olympics will help me roll
Speaker 1: right into September and shape and I can hit the
Speaker 1: ground running into the season. And so I definitely feel
Speaker 1: where you're coming from. And like, even for me going
Speaker 1: back to the Select team days when I played on
Speaker 1: the Select team, like I'm like, yo, I got better
Speaker 1: this week, Like I'm playing these guys, I got better,
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying. And so I think that's
Speaker 1: a I think that's a really big deal. And speaking
Speaker 1: of of our USA team, you're now head coach um
Speaker 1: email Udoka who he was, he was one of our
Speaker 1: one of our assistant coaches with the USA team. Got
Speaker 1: to spend a lot of time around him, see what
Speaker 1: type of duty is kind of see his coaching style,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was great. And one one observation
Speaker 1: that I've had in watching your game is is Um
Speaker 1: and y'all play but in your game and I feel
Speaker 1: like you've taken the next step in that it's like
Speaker 1: it's less side step three, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: It's less like you're a tough shot taker and a
Speaker 1: tough shot maker, you know. But I think I think
Speaker 1: there's a time and a place to take tough shots.
Speaker 1: Like there's a time when you gotta take tough shots,
Speaker 1: and then there's a time when you're that good that
Speaker 1: you go get the shot that you want. You know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And I feel like you're you You're
Speaker 1: finding that balance. And I was wondering, like if is
Speaker 1: that something that that e May and eight Miles. I
Speaker 1: know you you you talk a lot to eight Miles
Speaker 1: to somebody who helped me a lot over the last
Speaker 1: couple of years just understanding the game. What what impact
Speaker 1: has those guys had in coming in and on on
Speaker 1: your game individually? Yeah, I think I think it's a
Speaker 1: combination a couple of things. Obviously, Uh, you know the
Speaker 1: new staff um and you know he may being a
Speaker 1: new coach and just like a different sort of philosophy, right.
Speaker 1: You know, people always ask me, you know, what's the
Speaker 1: difference between Brad and eMate? I mean, they just different
Speaker 1: front people. Like they both great basketball minds, but you know,
Speaker 1: they just kind of approach things differently, and that doesn't
Speaker 1: make one better than the other. But you know, I
Speaker 1: appreciate them both. I had Brad my first four years,
Speaker 1: and you know, I'm thankful for him a lot. And
Speaker 1: now you know, being with email. UM. And also I
Speaker 1: think I'm just I'm still I'm still young, but I'm
Speaker 1: getting older at the same time. So game, the game
Speaker 1: is sawing down, and I'm learning to like read the
Speaker 1: game a lot differently than I did two years ago. Right,
Speaker 1: it's sawing down for me. UM, knowing when the like
Speaker 1: you know, exert more energy and when to save energy
Speaker 1: and things like that. Thing I just didn't think about,
Speaker 1: you know, my second and third or even my fourth year. Right. Uh.
Speaker 1: So I think having a new staff sometimes just having
Speaker 1: a new voice can be helpful. Um. But you know,
Speaker 1: I love having email. Um. Obviously we start it off,
Speaker 1: it was rocky, you know, up and down. UM. And
Speaker 1: I mean I think that's just part of it. Obviously,
Speaker 1: what expectations. People just want you to adjust like that,
Speaker 1: and the reality is this is you know, if things
Speaker 1: take time, right. Uh. But one thing I've appreciated is
Speaker 1: that he's he's definitely coached me, um, you know, coach
Speaker 1: me hard and held me accountable and and held everyone accountable. UM.
Speaker 1: And I think that's something that that we definitely needed. UM.
Speaker 1: And when we got like an open, open door policy,
Speaker 1: everybody can boys stay opinion. Um, you know, regardless you know,
Speaker 1: the top man or the fifteenth man. You come in
Speaker 1: and work every day. You got something to say, you
Speaker 1: can say it. And I think that's definitely made us better. Um,
Speaker 1: you know his last two and a half months. No,
Speaker 1: it's incredible. I mean to see where your team has
Speaker 1: gone from even like when we played y'all in uh
Speaker 1: in Boston, I think it was in December, and then
Speaker 1: when we just played y'all we can week and a
Speaker 1: half ago, totally different team. And I think it all
Speaker 1: starts on the defensive end, which like you know, you
Speaker 1: know when you when when the coach is good, when
Speaker 1: the coach you can judge a coach of their team defense,
Speaker 1: like if a team can't defend, look no for her
Speaker 1: to the coaching staff, like like coaches chief defense. And
Speaker 1: and it's a sign of accountability and all its just
Speaker 1: everything that is about it, a sign of your team's
Speaker 1: toughness to your mental focus, Like that's a coaching thing.
Speaker 1: And I think where y'all defense is and and but
Speaker 1: but more importantly, not even so much of how good
Speaker 1: it's been, but the philosophy of it, like that took
Speaker 1: some figuring out, like to figure out, we're gonna start
Speaker 1: robbing out next each other. This is how we're gonna guard.
Speaker 1: We're gonna switch one through five or switch one through four.
Speaker 1: Y'all switching one through five most of the time. Um,
Speaker 1: and then we're forcing everything to ride at the rim
Speaker 1: and like guys are over extending, guys are pressing up
Speaker 1: and literally forcing you right into him, and he cleaning
Speaker 1: up all mistakes at the rim. Like to get to
Speaker 1: that philosophy, it takes some some twisting and turning, like
Speaker 1: y'all switched lineups a couple of times, Like you know,
Speaker 1: it takes some stuff to get there. And and I
Speaker 1: think that's like I said, I think that's a big
Speaker 1: coaching thing and a move that they made that has
Speaker 1: changed your season. No, you you're absolutely right, and it did.
Speaker 1: Like we was not We wasn't used to that at first,
Speaker 1: Like you know, i'd be the first one to say
Speaker 1: I was a little hesitant because I had only known
Speaker 1: one way for four years and uh, I would you know,
Speaker 1: not my not last year, but my first three years.
Speaker 1: You know, we was always a top five defense. We
Speaker 1: wasn't this good, but I just was so accustomed to
Speaker 1: doing things a certain way, and I think part of
Speaker 1: growing is being open to change and that's something I've
Speaker 1: definitely learned this season. Um and you know it was
Speaker 1: not perfect first, but I think once we really bought
Speaker 1: in and once we got healthy and obviously has been working.
Speaker 1: And I think a part of it is, like it
Speaker 1: definitely is coaching. But I think you know, when you
Speaker 1: look at the teams that got the best defenses, like
Speaker 1: they got guys in their team that like they give
Speaker 1: them were customer absolutely, like like guys that like give
Speaker 1: a fuck on defense, and like now you know, and
Speaker 1: like the teams that got the best even like that's
Speaker 1: something that we you know, hold everybody accountable from the
Speaker 1: first man to the last man. Was like, all right,
Speaker 1: we might not be like the best offensive team, but
Speaker 1: like we're gonna hang out head on this defensive band.
Speaker 1: And everybody got pulled their weight. And because if al
Speaker 1: in your fifteen is gonna be switching on the guards
Speaker 1: and pressuring and things like that, and there's no excuse
Speaker 1: for you know, somebody they second the third year, and
Speaker 1: you know that's something that we just relate everybody. It's
Speaker 1: it's incredible and I think, uh, including me, I think
Speaker 1: when when y'all brought out back, everybody's like, what the
Speaker 1: hell right, but like that it made no sense. And
Speaker 1: and then until you realize like j T still super young,
Speaker 1: j B still super young, Marcus Smart he got a
Speaker 1: little a little more experience, but he's still young. Rob's
Speaker 1: still young. And when you put it in those terms,
Speaker 1: especially for me who's now in a year ten and understand,
Speaker 1: like Smart right now is in a position I was
Speaker 1: in a like a couple of years ago where we sucked,
Speaker 1: but he's kind of right in that space, so like
Speaker 1: not quite like that VET, but almost there, you know.
Speaker 1: And and so bringing out back right now, when I
Speaker 1: think about it, I'm like, yeah, it makes total sense
Speaker 1: because y'all need did that VET to look to, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, And so I see that now.
Speaker 1: But and then also the fact that he's he and
Speaker 1: things that he teached Robert Williams as well, and so
Speaker 1: I think that's huge. But in speaking to Robert Williams,
Speaker 1: um having an incredible year, having a defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year caliber type of season. Um no one talks
Speaker 1: about his offense. He's one of the best passing big
Speaker 1: man in the League right now. And I take that
Speaker 1: with a grain of salt, because jokers passed better than
Speaker 1: all the point guards. So we're not putting nobody in
Speaker 1: Joker category here a little different than everybody, but so
Speaker 1: we're gonna just count Joker as a point guard. We're
Speaker 1: not talking about Joker. But just like big man, big
Speaker 1: men who are like legit big man don't have the
Speaker 1: ball all the time, Robert Williams is one of the
Speaker 1: best passing big man that I've seen, and no one
Speaker 1: talks about it, and I think, I think that's a
Speaker 1: huge loss for y'all. Um, what what like what can
Speaker 1: y'all do to feel that role because there's not one
Speaker 1: guy that can do what he does to bring to
Speaker 1: that team. Man man, Listen, First of all, feel terrible
Speaker 1: for Ra just seeing him the first day. He came
Speaker 1: in and out hard. He's worked in the strategy, he's
Speaker 1: made to be where he's at, and it's like he's
Speaker 1: just barely like scratching the surface of like where he
Speaker 1: can get to, Like this is like his first full
Speaker 1: year like playing starting like being a core part of
Speaker 1: our team, and he's seeing where he's taking us. So
Speaker 1: I feel terrible for him. Because I just know that
Speaker 1: his confidence was at an all time high. He was
Speaker 1: like really feeling good about himself. And I mean guys
Speaker 1: like him, it's not like you said, it's not many
Speaker 1: guys like him that passed as well as you do. Uh,
Speaker 1: extreme live threat on offense, don't need don't like he
Speaker 1: don't need the ball, and you know, the best defender
Speaker 1: on our team, so like you don't you can't replace
Speaker 1: the guy like that when you know, when you go
Speaker 1: down with injury. Um, but I think you know it's
Speaker 1: it's cliche that sound. It's just like next man up
Speaker 1: and time we gotta figure it out. Five games left,
Speaker 1: we're going into the playoffs, you know, Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: speedy recovery for him. You know, I told him to
Speaker 1: take his time, don't you know when you feel a
Speaker 1: d percent you know didn't come back, but you know,
Speaker 1: we just gotta try to hold it down until he does,
Speaker 1: because you know, it's not we don't have a guy
Speaker 1: on our team like so everybody else's gotta gotta do
Speaker 1: more and step up. But you know, he was having
Speaker 1: an unbelievable season. Absolutely speaking to him as a live
Speaker 1: So check this out. When we played you'all in Boston.
Speaker 1: We played you in Boston. We're going to shoot around.
Speaker 1: I have been watching a couple of y'all games before,
Speaker 1: and I see this dude catch some crazy ass lives.
Speaker 1: Speaking of which this dre won Green show. Bro, you
Speaker 1: say whatever the hell you want to say on here,
Speaker 1: that's how we al. But I see this dude catching
Speaker 1: these crazy ass lives, I'm like, Yo, this is wow.
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm like rewinding back through it, like trying
Speaker 1: to figure out, like where did where was the coverage
Speaker 1: messed up at? And for for those that don't understand,
Speaker 1: if if Robert Williams is in the drop or I
Speaker 1: mean if a big is in the drop on the
Speaker 1: pick and roll and Robert Williams is rolling, that big
Speaker 1: is taught. So the big when I said a drop,
Speaker 1: that mean he's his guy is setting the screen and
Speaker 1: he's a little beneath him, so the guard can't turn
Speaker 1: the corner. That's a drop. And the most big five
Speaker 1: men playing the drop on on in the pick and roll,
Speaker 1: and you're taught as the big man to never let
Speaker 1: the roller, which would be Robert Williams get behind you.
Speaker 1: Once you let the roller get behind you, your dead.
Speaker 1: So I. So we're in shoot around earlier before the game.
Speaker 1: Earlier that day. It was an eight o'clock game in Boston,
Speaker 1: so we had to shoot around and I stopped to
Speaker 1: walk through, and I'm like, fellas, listen, y'all have to understand,
Speaker 1: if you are even with Robert Williams, he's going to
Speaker 1: dunk on you. He will catch the lib on your head.
Speaker 1: I just watched him catch three of them on a
Speaker 1: D in one game. If you're even with and that's
Speaker 1: a D. If you're even even with him, he's going
Speaker 1: to catch it on your head, So you gotta stay below.
Speaker 1: And I'm like animated. I'm telling them and everybody like,
Speaker 1: all right, I got it, and I get in to
Speaker 1: pick a roll and now I'm dropped and I thought
Speaker 1: I was beneath him, and he still caught the lib
Speaker 1: on my head. I'm like to have that threat where
Speaker 1: you literally just put it up anywhere and he gonna
Speaker 1: get it through it. People don't understand, And I love
Speaker 1: to hear your thoughts on it to me, having a
Speaker 1: live threat Robert Williams. Javel McGee for what they do
Speaker 1: for DeAndre Aiden's a good one as well. What they
Speaker 1: do for your for your floor space, and it's equal
Speaker 1: to what a shooter does for your floor space because
Speaker 1: you can't leave the body. What are your thoughts on
Speaker 1: and you get you you had the opportunity to play
Speaker 1: like play with someone like that on the daily. I've
Speaker 1: had that before in the past. What are your thoughts
Speaker 1: on having that live throughout the dunker, Because I think
Speaker 1: it's just as important as having a shooter, the space,
Speaker 1: the floor. It just it makes it your offense so
Speaker 1: much more dynamic. Right, you got somebody like me coming
Speaker 1: off the pick and roll. Nobody ever is going under, right.
Speaker 1: I wish I would, I wouldn't mind it, But they're
Speaker 1: not going under. So you gotta chase me over the top.
Speaker 1: Because if you go under, the stopped behind them shooting
Speaker 1: a three. So if you got somebody chasing me over
Speaker 1: the top. And like you said, most traditional bigs are
Speaker 1: in drop, you know a lot more recently they corralling
Speaker 1: or up to touch. I gotta get out of my hands.
Speaker 1: But you got somebody chasing me over the top. So
Speaker 1: now I got the defender in jail. He behind me,
Speaker 1: So now you gotta make a decisions. And you know,
Speaker 1: somebody's athletic is robbed. Even when I get in trouble
Speaker 1: and I don't got nobody, you just throw it in
Speaker 1: the area. So now you you're wondering if you want
Speaker 1: you want to try to stop me from scoring or
Speaker 1: you won't. You don't want to get because most big
Speaker 1: don't want to get up a live. They hate going
Speaker 1: in the film and giving up a lot. No big
Speaker 1: once stay man to score. That is uh, that is
Speaker 1: a fact, and we all knew it absolutely so it
Speaker 1: just like you said, just like having to shoot, it
Speaker 1: just makes it so much more dynamic, especially as athletic
Speaker 1: as a rob or like Jabelle may get somebody that long. Uh,
Speaker 1: you just stow it up and they go get it.
Speaker 1: Absolutely man, I think I think it's incredible. I wish
Speaker 1: him was speedy recovery as well, so I you know,
Speaker 1: have an appreciation for the growth of y'all. A's a
Speaker 1: team and you know we've been dealing with a lot
Speaker 1: of injuries. You hate to see teams loose anything because
Speaker 1: of injury. So definitely wishing the speedy recovery. But and
Speaker 1: still speaking of your team, for years, there's been this
Speaker 1: whole notion of you and jay Len Brown can't play together. Again,
Speaker 1: y'all are so young in your career. The fact that
Speaker 1: people want to write it off already is kind of tough.
Speaker 1: But in the same token, um it is. In the
Speaker 1: same token, it's also respect to y'all and what y'all
Speaker 1: have done, because, like I said, since y'all came into it,
Speaker 1: y'all been doing it at this level. And so for
Speaker 1: for everybody in their mind, it's been more than four years,
Speaker 1: you know, because your rookie year, y'all went to the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference Finals. You're dunk on Lebron James. You know,
Speaker 1: like this this is your rookie year. So for everybody,
Speaker 1: they've now been seeing it for so long in their
Speaker 1: mind it's like that can't work. They need to move on.
Speaker 1: The reality is that hasn't had any time, any time
Speaker 1: to manifest itself into what it could possibly be. I am.
Speaker 1: I am extremely happy to see it working because I
Speaker 1: have a huge amount of respect for Jaylen Brown the
Speaker 1: player he is. I mean, the way he handled and
Speaker 1: shoot the ball now, like he worked on his game
Speaker 1: like there's no other way to slice it. That he
Speaker 1: that guy who he was five years ago at Cal
Speaker 1: He that gout work on his game like there's no
Speaker 1: other way to slice, and so I'm happy to see
Speaker 1: it working. But what what was the key for you
Speaker 1: and and and him blocking out all the noise and
Speaker 1: and understanding that ultimately, bro, we got each other and
Speaker 1: people are gonna talk and they're saying this, but at
Speaker 1: such a young age y'all having to go through that
Speaker 1: and work you'all way through that. What was the key
Speaker 1: for y'all to stick together and say, like, we're gonna
Speaker 1: figure it out together. Yeah. I think it's a lot
Speaker 1: to digest there, I think. Uh So my first year
Speaker 1: was his second year, JB went. JB been in the
Speaker 1: conference finals three times. He went the year before when
Speaker 1: I got there, and then the bubble year and I've
Speaker 1: been twice. Um, so we've had way more success then
Speaker 1: we haven't. You know. Last year, you know, it was
Speaker 1: the weirdest season in NBA history with protocols, no fans,
Speaker 1: Guy's dealing with COVID, no vaccine, like, it was the
Speaker 1: weirdest season. He get hurt. We was a seventh seed,
Speaker 1: we made the playoffs. You know, it wasn't great. Started
Speaker 1: off rocky this year, so it was like it was
Speaker 1: like a rough year and a half and you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't play great that time, but it is what
Speaker 1: it is. But we've had way more success together then
Speaker 1: we haven't. We you know, we've made the playoffs every year.
Speaker 1: And I think in this league what I've realized this
Speaker 1: everybody you can't Everybody would say you can't win until
Speaker 1: you do. Nobody can win the championship. Nobody could be
Speaker 1: the best pay on the championship team until they do it,
Speaker 1: until until you do it, like and and the narrative
Speaker 1: just like that's just what it is, like book like,
Speaker 1: he wasn't a winner until his you know, he had
Speaker 1: some pieces around him and he went to the championship.
Speaker 1: Now he is like, no, we all knew how good
Speaker 1: he was and what he could do. He just no, no,
Speaker 1: not to the guys on this team. They just weren't
Speaker 1: that good. So like, I think, we can't figure it
Speaker 1: out until we win the championship and then it's like,
Speaker 1: all right, they can win. And I think that's just
Speaker 1: like the world that we live in. And once you understand,
Speaker 1: like that's just the business of what we do. And
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, it seems like we've been together forever.
Speaker 1: It's been five years, but I just turned twenty four
Speaker 1: and and and JB is only twenty five. Well they
Speaker 1: say you don't reach your prompt till nine, So now
Speaker 1: it's yeah, thirty, so we can just say thirty. So
Speaker 1: if you look at that point, like DN, we still
Speaker 1: like not as good as we gonna beat. And for us,
Speaker 1: we are two of like the most competitive guys. I
Speaker 1: think the best one of the best things for my
Speaker 1: career and his is that we've been on the same
Speaker 1: team and that we worked with each other, worked out
Speaker 1: play one on one a million times, Like I push
Speaker 1: him and he pushes me, and it's been and it's
Speaker 1: a healthy competitiveness and environment between us. And like you said,
Speaker 1: the strikes that he's made from this first year and
Speaker 1: and to who he is now, he's he's made the
Speaker 1: All Star Game last year. I was extremely happy for him,
Speaker 1: just knowing how far he's come and like who the
Speaker 1: player is now, Like like you said, saying what he
Speaker 1: does now, that only means that he worked on his game,
Speaker 1: Like that's all that that means. So and I know
Speaker 1: that about at him, and I know like how bad
Speaker 1: JB wants to win aside from everything else, and like
Speaker 1: we trust each other enough and like I've been in
Speaker 1: enough close games, I've been in enough playoff series where
Speaker 1: I know, like if I have I got number seven
Speaker 1: on my team, I know, I like I believe he
Speaker 1: gonna do whatever it takes for us to help to
Speaker 1: win this game. Like we didn't want enough close games together,
Speaker 1: enough playoffs series, We're like, I know, push come to shove.
Speaker 1: He got my back and I got his. And as
Speaker 1: fine if the whole world doesn't see that or know that,
Speaker 1: or like we're not posting on Instagram with each other
Speaker 1: hanging out every day or this and that, and like
Speaker 1: that's fine, but we like as long as we know
Speaker 1: and the people in that locker room know that, like,
Speaker 1: you know, we and this together, and I think it
Speaker 1: just makes for it's gonna make for a better story,
Speaker 1: you know, whenever we do hang that banners like no,
Speaker 1: we can you know, we can't do this together. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I think for a while, I always hoped that y'all
Speaker 1: can figure out who's the one and who's the two.
Speaker 1: And in my mind, no disrespect to JB, he's in
Speaker 1: incredible talent, a great player. I think you're you are
Speaker 1: a generational talent. And so when you have a generational
Speaker 1: talent that automatically makes you the number one. The Wayne way,
Speaker 1: it was a number two in Miami when Lebron went
Speaker 1: there and told Lebron gonna be number two, you go
Speaker 1: be number one. Probably one of the greatest twos Kobe
Speaker 1: was a number two. Is shot right being the number two.
Speaker 1: It's not a bad thing. You know, we we live
Speaker 1: in this world. They try to make it like it's
Speaker 1: a bad thing. Being number two is not a bad thing.
Speaker 1: And one thing you should understand as a number one,
Speaker 1: don't take your number two for granted, because there's not
Speaker 1: There's not many twols that can go for forty and
Speaker 1: just go get you forty in a night like Ain't
Speaker 1: many twols that do that. Only the great teams got that.
Speaker 1: And so I think it's very important for you to
Speaker 1: understand show him his love, give him his flowers, give
Speaker 1: that appreciation so he know he got that from you.
Speaker 1: Because when you feel that, my fuckers will go to
Speaker 1: war for you, you know what I'm saying, that's ultimately
Speaker 1: when he know you will go to war for him,
Speaker 1: he'll go to war for you. And that's ultimately how
Speaker 1: you win championships. Like you know, Marcus Smarter, go to
Speaker 1: war for you. That's how you win championships. And I
Speaker 1: think it's very important for you as the number one
Speaker 1: to to get them guys love and support, even though
Speaker 1: they're older than you and you're younger. You just get
Speaker 1: you just kind of get thrust it into that, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And I think that's important for
Speaker 1: you to fill out as your climb. I think I'm
Speaker 1: probably more excited about your clown to this m v
Speaker 1: P than you are. But that ship give me chills, man.
Speaker 1: I get excited about it just to see young guys
Speaker 1: doing well. Man, especially like I said, young guys that
Speaker 1: I have a relationship. But but I don't want to
Speaker 1: I don't want to hold you too long. But I
Speaker 1: got a couple more questions and as you know, I
Speaker 1: could sit here and talk to you all day, but
Speaker 1: you know we've been speaking about your career and I'd
Speaker 1: be remissed. Also, a guy who I had an opportunity
Speaker 1: to play with us well, I want to go medal
Speaker 1: with legendary coach K who you had the opportunity to
Speaker 1: play with. For a dude, obviously we know this is
Speaker 1: his last year. Um, what what was it that Coach K?
Speaker 1: Gave you. I think I saw something where he called
Speaker 1: you a punk as St. Louis kid or something like that.
Speaker 1: Like what what was it that Coach K gave to
Speaker 1: you and your year there and beyond? Because I know,
Speaker 1: the relationship don't just stop once you leave that campus. Man,
Speaker 1: that's that is my guy. Um And like you said,
Speaker 1: I've still talk to coach at least once, if not
Speaker 1: twice a month ever since I left school. Uh So
Speaker 1: that's something I really you know, I'm proud about my
Speaker 1: decision of going to Duke that like that's something that
Speaker 1: I cherish his relationship and that like that it didn't
Speaker 1: just stop once I walked out that door and left. Um,
Speaker 1: you know Durham. But man, now he was coaches that
Speaker 1: was he was great for me because I think initially
Speaker 1: when I first got to do you know, I knew
Speaker 1: I was only going for one year, right, but we
Speaker 1: had we had like a mix of like the six
Speaker 1: income and freshmen. We had some older guys on our team.
Speaker 1: And part of me was like people people tell me
Speaker 1: all the time. They were like, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you know how good you are? Like people tell me
Speaker 1: that all the time. So my mentality walking in, was like, man,
Speaker 1: I'm happy to be here, Like I'm from St. Louis.
Speaker 1: I never I never thought I would go to do
Speaker 1: the university like that. It never crossed my mind like
Speaker 1: that Coach k was gonna come St. Louis and sit
Speaker 1: in my even wrong and like we want you to come.
Speaker 1: So I was. I was so happy to be there,
Speaker 1: and initially, like there were times where I was just
Speaker 1: trying to like I was just trying to be a
Speaker 1: part of the team. I was just trying to fit in.
Speaker 1: And there were a handful of times and that was
Speaker 1: the last time. Um, we was playing a Virginia and
Speaker 1: uh a c C game. You know, the Virginia is
Speaker 1: always probably one of the better defensive teams in the country.
Speaker 1: But um, I think I think I'm making the right play,
Speaker 1: like I'm catching it, I'm making an extra pass. I'm
Speaker 1: not really being aggressive. I've made have had like four points,
Speaker 1: but I was like two for three. I wasn't really shooting.
Speaker 1: I think we might have been up to ur it's
Speaker 1: tired of half time. I come in and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling good about it. And I remember coach Ka
Speaker 1: came in. He took out of told his story mentime,
Speaker 1: he took his jacket off and he threw that. He
Speaker 1: threw it right at me, like it hit like hit
Speaker 1: my leg, at my feet, and he was like he
Speaker 1: just started snapping, like you saft fast. St Louis kid.
Speaker 1: I should have left me where I found you, he said,
Speaker 1: I didn't. He used to tell me all the time.
Speaker 1: I didn't bring you here to be good, he said,
Speaker 1: I need you to be special. And like any time
Speaker 1: in the game, like the next day in film, if
Speaker 1: there was a shot, why I could have shot it.
Speaker 1: He would always pause in the film being soft, Wow,
Speaker 1: you're being soft. We don't need you to be soft.
Speaker 1: We need you to be you. And somebody that I
Speaker 1: respected so much and that had accomplished so much thought
Speaker 1: this highly of me, and like never gave me the
Speaker 1: day off, never like let like took it easy on me.
Speaker 1: Every single moment where I wasn't being aggressive, while I
Speaker 1: wasn't doing what was best for the team, it would
Speaker 1: let me know, and I really, like, I really appreciated that,
Speaker 1: and I carried that with me. Um, you know, coming
Speaker 1: into the league, I said, but did you did you
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to make it back for that last game. No,
Speaker 1: I did not. I did not. I wish I did.
Speaker 1: But I remember I remember watching that. I watched at
Speaker 1: the house, and part of me felt like like I've
Speaker 1: seen every like you know, Grant Hill and Christian later
Speaker 1: JJ red J Williams. Uh, you know all these guys
Speaker 1: that like I went there for four or five years,
Speaker 1: call those boozing, and I'm watching it. I'm like, alright,
Speaker 1: like I went to Duke, but they like really they
Speaker 1: like really went to do like they spent four or
Speaker 1: five years that I spent one. So like I don't
Speaker 1: like that that might have been more for them, Like
Speaker 1: I might have felt a little bit out of the place.
Speaker 1: I like, and I'm thinking that, like I might have
Speaker 1: felt a little out of place, like damn, like they
Speaker 1: really like they had four or five years and I
Speaker 1: only had one. But it was it was special seeing
Speaker 1: all those guys come for his last game. Obviously, you
Speaker 1: know we lost, but we're gonna redeem ourselves. You know
Speaker 1: this Saturday Final four. If you ain't you got time,
Speaker 1: you should watch it. Uh, you know we're gonna be
Speaker 1: on TV. Yeah, I'm gonna watching. Man send me your
Speaker 1: cash if too, Man, I owe you some terrible that
Speaker 1: terrible guys beating my spartans man. But I'm still pissed
Speaker 1: about that because we should have won that game. Still
Speaker 1: pissed about that. But uh number one, as a four
Speaker 1: year guy, me being there four years and Miles being
Speaker 1: there too, or Gary Harris being there too, that don't
Speaker 1: make me more of a Spartan than them. Like I'm
Speaker 1: a Spartan there, Spartan. We all went through the grind.
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, you step that you
Speaker 1: had to go through there to get to where you
Speaker 1: was going. Whether they took you one year or whether
Speaker 1: it took you four, it don't matter. That's a part
Speaker 1: of your ground. That's a part of your journey. You
Speaker 1: are just as entitled to that. That's them now. I
Speaker 1: what I will tell you is for me personally, Guys
Speaker 1: that want a national championship, even if it's not my
Speaker 1: team Kleaves, you know what I'm saying. If it's not
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson, guys who won a national championship I, regardless
Speaker 1: of my jersey retired, regardless of any of that, you
Speaker 1: want a national championship. I didn't. You're ahead of me, bro,
Speaker 1: Like that's just what it is. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: and so I can't understand, like the guys that want
Speaker 1: a national championship, but that don't just mean because they
Speaker 1: were there for four years. Now, that's bullshit. You learned
Speaker 1: to keep just like they earned their key. So understand that, man. Hey,
Speaker 1: But before we get out of here, man and wrapping up,
Speaker 1: like what's what what? What's what's next? What what's it
Speaker 1: for the Celtics where you see y'all going this year?
Speaker 1: What's like? What is it success this year for the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics. Oh? Man, I think I've seen it on
Speaker 1: Twitter yesterday. We we both lost last night, right, And
Speaker 1: I think I remember they may have asked some of
Speaker 1: the similar questions, but I remember it. You know, they're
Speaker 1: saying like what can you take, like how do you feel?
Speaker 1: What can you gain from this loss? And I remember
Speaker 1: I said, I was like, ain't no moral victories, like
Speaker 1: you either win or you lose. And I've seen something
Speaker 1: you said like the same thing last night. So obviously
Speaker 1: you've been to the mountain top of a couple of times,
Speaker 1: like you like you know what it takes to get there,
Speaker 1: and me playing for the Celtics, I ain't If you
Speaker 1: you win a championship or you don't. That's like, that's
Speaker 1: that's it, that's that's that's it for us. You know, hopefully,
Speaker 1: uh you know, we get ribbed back, you know, when
Speaker 1: we can and stay healthy. Um, you know, I'm excited, man,
Speaker 1: it is It's that time of the year. The playoffs
Speaker 1: is like, you know, there's nothing like the playoffs and
Speaker 1: now it's you know, everything back normal game. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: so I'm looking forward to it. Obviously these last it's
Speaker 1: last week and I had these next you know, five games,
Speaker 1: just trying to figure out, you know, who we're gonna play. Uh.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you know, we've been playing as well as anybody,
Speaker 1: and you know, um, you know, we love our chances
Speaker 1: and as as well as you know everybody probably, so
Speaker 1: you know, I goes just the same as y'all go.
Speaker 1: I don't think everybody in the playoffs love their chances.
Speaker 1: Shot most people, say most people, somebody. Some of these
Speaker 1: dudes just happy to get to the playoffs, don't get
Speaker 1: it twisted. I'm so happy not to be in that
Speaker 1: the playing game. That's what I'm grateful for. Hey, it's
Speaker 1: been two years since I played in the playoffs. Man,
Speaker 1: we played in the playing the game last year was fun,
Speaker 1: it was cool, but I need it, Like that's when
Speaker 1: I played my best basketball, So I need that. Bro.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you coming on, Man. It's been an honor
Speaker 1: and a pleasure just coming on the show of your journey.
Speaker 1: I enjoy these conversations and just listening and getting to
Speaker 1: you know, here others journeys and you know, how it
Speaker 1: may be similar to mine, how it may be different,
Speaker 1: you know, and everybody's journey. Everybody got their own story,
Speaker 1: you know. So I appreciate you coming on and sharing
Speaker 1: sharing yours with us. Year five, already on your way
Speaker 1: to a Hall of Fame career. And I remember I
Speaker 1: said that to you this summer when we were talking
Speaker 1: about USA, Like, Bro, this is all about trying to
Speaker 1: build Hall of Fame resumes, Bro, and you're doing that. Man,
Speaker 1: stay locked in, Bro, you should. If you don't get
Speaker 1: m VP next year, you're weak. Is fucked. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you coming on the Draymond Greeny Show. Got dog My
Speaker 1: Man appreciates you, Yeah, sir,