Speaker 1: I just think about how many people wanted to kill
Speaker 1: me when I pushed Lebron.
Speaker 2: I remember that I thought the Fens was gonna with me.
Speaker 1: I was like standing no Hawks, feeling like nah, that's
Speaker 1: the key.
Speaker 2: Oh oh, oh oh.
Speaker 3: America.
Speaker 4: Welcome to a brand new episode of Hawks and Friends.
Speaker 3: Man, you know what this feels like the backyard. It
Speaker 3: feels like my.
Speaker 2: Homeboy came back. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: It feels like the one who went to college that
Speaker 4: came back to the high school just to make sure
Speaker 4: the team is still good. We got an icon in
Speaker 4: the building. We got an ATLS legend in the building. Up,
Speaker 4: NBA Champ, NBA All Star, one of at L's own jail.
Speaker 2: T appreciate you having me on the show.
Speaker 3: Oh man, man, this is only my god. Welcome back
Speaker 3: to the city.
Speaker 2: I'm hype. You know. Every time I come back to Atlanta,
Speaker 2: it's always like home.
Speaker 1: I had these some JR crickets when I first got
Speaker 1: back fast Yeah, probably some American deal.
Speaker 3: We go to the Blue Flame yet Okay, okay, wait,
Speaker 3: you on your way.
Speaker 4: No man, So little man, what was your favorite memory
Speaker 4: of playing with atl Hawks?
Speaker 1: Getting drafted here, I got drafted here twenty years old,
Speaker 1: getting drafted, living out your dream to come to Atlanta,
Speaker 1: one of the greatest cities in the world, and then
Speaker 1: like being able to play with the Hawks and some
Speaker 1: of my favorite players growing up, like a Mike Bibbie,
Speaker 1: Joe Johnson, those guys.
Speaker 2: It was just dope.
Speaker 4: So speaking of that moment, like that draft day when
Speaker 4: the Hawks called your name, like give us, give us
Speaker 4: that that that rundown.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was at home.
Speaker 1: I hadn't I didn't work out for the Hawks, so
Speaker 1: I knew I didn't know anything about Atlanta. I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana,
Speaker 1: and I really didn't travel like that. I went to
Speaker 1: North Carolina, Wake Forest to North Carolina and that's really
Speaker 1: was my furthest I ever been. So then when I
Speaker 1: get called by the Hawks, I knew nothing about Atlanta
Speaker 1: and my brother was like, little John, that's all I
Speaker 1: kept saying, yeah, yeah, little John, you have to be
Speaker 1: a little John.
Speaker 2: And I was like, that's crazy. That's the first person
Speaker 2: he calls. I swear a little John. You better be
Speaker 2: with a little John. Did you see him? I ain't
Speaker 2: never meet job. Oh God, say no.
Speaker 4: Man, you know what you was a part of a
Speaker 4: unique squad. Man that twoenty fourteen fifteen squad, Like, it's
Speaker 4: hard to build momentum, it's hard to actually build a
Speaker 4: team that you can trust.
Speaker 3: Like, tell us about that squad.
Speaker 1: It was an unbelievable group. We played together. We enjoyed
Speaker 1: playing with one another. We just wanted to win, right,
Speaker 1: and we thought we had a team to win a championship.
Speaker 1: I think we had a really good season. I mean,
Speaker 1: we went up against Lebron, y'all did. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: tough to be Lebron. But that group we played good together.
Speaker 1: We enjoyed playing for one another. We wanted to win,
Speaker 1: and we ain't care who got the glory, right. We were
Speaker 1: just like, man, we win, we all gonna win. And
Speaker 1: that's what it was.
Speaker 4: What did you miss most about that twenty fourteen fifteen series?
Speaker 1: What miss I just miss to guys, like seeing him today, right,
Speaker 1: and like being around Kyle and Paul, even though we
Speaker 1: don't talk every day, but when we get around each other, man,
Speaker 1: it's like old times. We were just reminiscing about all
Speaker 1: the good stuff that we did, just riding the bus ride,
Speaker 1: talking crazy on the court. Me and Kyle used to
Speaker 1: do a shooting game every day. Obviously he was a
Speaker 1: way better shooter than me, but I beat him a
Speaker 1: couple of times, and I made sure to let him
Speaker 1: know when I won, And we were just talking about
Speaker 1: some of those moments.
Speaker 4: You don't play it in a couple a couple of eras. Man,
Speaker 4: you know what I'm saying, Like now to be in
Speaker 4: the game with how.
Speaker 3: Y'all saying like after seven to eight years.
Speaker 4: You are now like a super veteran. Yeah, people don't
Speaker 4: really last that long. So explain how the game changed
Speaker 4: from when you first started out.
Speaker 1: When I first started, h it was like a slow game.
Speaker 1: You threw the ball in the post. And then you
Speaker 1: had Joe Johnson. I was on tune with Joe, so
Speaker 1: he got the chance to play IO a lot. The
Speaker 1: nasty years went on, it was way more three point shots.
Speaker 1: Like you didn't shoot fast break threes when I first
Speaker 1: got in the league.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying all this, Nah, you ain't
Speaker 2: doing that.
Speaker 3: Now you get kicked out of the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but now you gotta shoot him.
Speaker 1: So like watching that, just that whole transition is crazy,
Speaker 1: But it was just how cool to be able to
Speaker 1: be a part of both of those eras, so I
Speaker 1: get to hear the old heads talk crazy about how
Speaker 1: bad the game is. But then I was also part
Speaker 1: of the era where you got to shoot a bunch
Speaker 1: of thirty so it's cool.
Speaker 4: So so give us a teammate who had like the
Speaker 4: biggest impact on your career, because it's a lot of
Speaker 4: ends and out when it comes to the game and
Speaker 4: when it comes to the business, Like who was that
Speaker 4: big bro for you?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 1: It was it was a guy Damian Wilkins, Dominique's nephew.
Speaker 1: He was on the team with this one year and uh,
Speaker 1: that was my second year in the league. He just
Speaker 1: pulled me to the side because I loved Atlanta. And
Speaker 1: when I say I loved Atlanta, I was outside. I
Speaker 1: was outside.
Speaker 2: So he just.
Speaker 1: Pulled me in and like, let me know, you can
Speaker 1: do both, but you got to keep the main thing
Speaker 1: the main thing. And uh, it kind of really saved
Speaker 1: my career because I was on a path of this.
Speaker 1: I was gonna be out of there. Know, you don't
Speaker 1: play long. It's only four years. It's like the average career.
Speaker 1: I was in year two and I wasn't playing that much.
Speaker 1: So he pulled me to the side and he helped
Speaker 1: me out.
Speaker 4: So speaking of not playing that much and knowing your
Speaker 4: potential and knowing like I watched you, I watched you
Speaker 4: grow here, and I watched you become a starter. I
Speaker 4: watched you go and go to the other team you
Speaker 4: played for him and become a champion. I know, I
Speaker 4: know it hurts, but just talk that elevation and the
Speaker 4: transition in the game. When you gotta wait your turn
Speaker 4: and when it's time for you to shine, that's when
Speaker 4: you got to go.
Speaker 2: Out there and give y'all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, at that time, when I came to the league,
Speaker 1: you had to learn, like not too many people just
Speaker 1: started right away.
Speaker 2: You had to be like the.
Speaker 1: Top ten pick, top five pick, and you got your
Speaker 1: chance to start. It's a little different now, but I
Speaker 1: had to wait my turn. We had Mike Dibbi here.
Speaker 1: Mike was a VET, a good player. He was he
Speaker 1: was nice. So I had to wait my turn and
Speaker 1: he got traded. Kurt Kurt Hied came here, he was starting,
Speaker 1: then he got hurt, and it was just my opportunity
Speaker 1: to play. And I just tried to make the most
Speaker 1: the most of it, and I rent off with it
Speaker 1: and I tried not to look back.
Speaker 3: Pop it now.
Speaker 4: Now we're gonna We're gonna pivot a little bit because
Speaker 4: I seen the pit. Everybody's seen the pit. You know
Speaker 4: the pick I'm talking about. Come on, pull it up,
Speaker 4: pull it up on the APPI this one.
Speaker 2: Not when I got left by the bus.
Speaker 3: Damn, that was it with you holding the pizza.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they left me, man, and that's why you holding
Speaker 2: the pieza? Bro. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So my sister had came to the game in Detroit
Speaker 1: and she hadn't seen me play before.
Speaker 2: So I was out after the game. You get to
Speaker 2: go talk to your family.
Speaker 1: I was talking to her and we just chopping it up,
Speaker 1: and I started looking around the ring and I'm like,
Speaker 1: ain't nobody else I heard, like, got no act? The
Speaker 1: only one with some family in Detroit. Then I go
Speaker 1: to the back and the dudes on the Detroit the
Speaker 1: ball boys, was like.
Speaker 2: Damn, they left you.
Speaker 1: They left you, bro, But don't do a roll call.
Speaker 1: They forgot I guess I ain't get the call. So
Speaker 1: I start calling all the.
Speaker 2: Phones and I'm like, hey, y'all left me.
Speaker 1: Come back and they like ten minutes out, they come
Speaker 1: back and I get on the bus. You know, if
Speaker 1: y'all don't know me. I talk crazy all time about hey,
Speaker 1: y'all gonna leave me. I'm just I'm playing right.
Speaker 2: And coaches like shit yr and he got me up fatter,
Speaker 2: he was hot.
Speaker 4: Damn how you mad at me and you.
Speaker 2: Left me? But it's all good. It's all good.
Speaker 4: But I know a phone call you you did get
Speaker 4: and that was to tap into this media space. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: like you gotta you got a podcast podcast Club five
Speaker 4: twenty you did, like what made you start getting to
Speaker 4: the media, into the media world.
Speaker 1: Man, my homeboys I do the podcast with they were
Speaker 1: already doing a podcast when I was just like, went
Speaker 1: on that show one day and I had fun and
Speaker 1: I was like, man, I.
Speaker 2: Can do that. I can do that.
Speaker 1: But I was like, I'm really kind of crazy. I'm
Speaker 1: like I'm a little raw, right, Like that's what we like,
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep it real. And once we started doing
Speaker 1: it just started flowing and it was cool. Now.
Speaker 4: Now, speaking of WROW, you you got like the best story,
Speaker 4: like I be tuned th in, you got some of
Speaker 4: the best stories.
Speaker 3: Give us a real like dope.
Speaker 4: Behind the scene NBA story that you ain't exclusive Hawks
Speaker 4: of Friends, exclusive NBA story.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't thinking of right now. I gotta I
Speaker 1: gotta be put in a moment. So that's the thing
Speaker 1: about our podcast. We don't just tell stories, right, it
Speaker 1: be organic, like something that happened, and I'll be like, man.
Speaker 2: I remember since when since when the Hawks? Because like
Speaker 2: you came on the show.
Speaker 3: I remember we were talking and we was talking talking
Speaker 3: about it got real. I was like, day am I
Speaker 3: supposed to say that? Okay? But when the Hawk? What
Speaker 3: happened here that you could think of every time you
Speaker 3: come in you think about.
Speaker 1: It, you like, I just think about how many people
Speaker 1: wanted to kill me when I pushed Lebron.
Speaker 2: Remember that I thought I thought the fans was gonna
Speaker 2: wrong with me. I was like standing there Hawks feeling
Speaker 2: like that's the key.
Speaker 4: So so when you die here in a like, I
Speaker 4: know you bust a couple of old you know what
Speaker 4: I'm saying, corners and some of your old favorite spots
Speaker 4: that used to hit, Like what's what's the JFT favorite
Speaker 4: restaurant when he in at Year.
Speaker 1: Well, I used to eat us Cafe a lot then.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that stuff, but j R Crickets
Speaker 1: was my spot. American Daily obviously it was my spot too.
Speaker 3: H got cracking man when.
Speaker 1: I was when I was younger, when I first got here,
Speaker 1: I used to like Mary Max. I don't know what
Speaker 1: it's hitting on now. It's downtown, it's.
Speaker 3: Here from the west side, lady named miss married.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that was really it. Obviously, you know, lou
Speaker 2: Lou know what a good chicken.
Speaker 3: You already what you brought, Louis I already all I
Speaker 3: saw was.
Speaker 2: You know what?
Speaker 4: Okay, Okay, that's crazy because I need this card right here.
Speaker 4: Look at the dollar fell him a lap. So look
Speaker 4: this is speed round right here. Gay, we got to
Speaker 4: go back out here and see these Hawks, you know
Speaker 4: before we getting the speed round? Because you talk, I can't.
Speaker 4: I let you get out of here. Did you hit
Speaker 4: my mind like a light board like thing?
Speaker 3: Could you wrong? I want you to tell the truth.
Speaker 3: How do you feel about our Hawks right now?
Speaker 1: I'm a fan of the team. I know we went
Speaker 1: through some tough injuries. Jaylen Johnson, I think he's an
Speaker 1: all star.
Speaker 3: He's a super beast.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he called obviously Trey is who he
Speaker 1: is all star cold. I think when you got those
Speaker 1: two as your foundation going forward, they in good hands.
Speaker 3: Did you do you like our trades? Do you do
Speaker 3: you think we won?
Speaker 1: George, that's my he was my rookie. When I got
Speaker 1: traded from here to the Indiana, George was on the
Speaker 1: team with me. He was my rookie. So that's my guy. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's my dog. I'm hype here because I know what
Speaker 1: Atlanta is like. I know he loved to say. We
Speaker 1: already talked about it. He loved here already. So good
Speaker 1: to see him here playing with coach Q. Already with Quinn.
Speaker 2: They played in Utah to get he coached him in Utah,
Speaker 2: So I.
Speaker 1: Know that's gonna be a good blend. I like karrisel Vert,
Speaker 1: he can hold, and I like Gross Yeah, te Man,
Speaker 1: good too, everybody. We got the traders though, Okay, uh,
Speaker 1: D Hunt was my guy. So when I got traded
Speaker 1: back here, when D Hunt so seeing D Hunt leave
Speaker 1: and he was having a heck of it.
Speaker 2: He was having I had, so, I mean, they gotta
Speaker 2: do what they gotta do. I know, man, it's business,
Speaker 2: but you know.
Speaker 1: I understand the business side. So the Hunt was having
Speaker 1: a heck of a year. But shout out to him.
Speaker 1: I love I like the guys.
Speaker 2: We got them.
Speaker 3: I do too, all right, Okay, here we go. We
Speaker 3: got the speed round.
Speaker 4: Can we gotta go see the guys play because you
Speaker 4: know they're former lane trying to build energy and we
Speaker 4: gotta make sure we see play by play. Okay, favorite
Speaker 4: Hawks jersey, the pac Man okay, okay, Toughest defender you ever.
Speaker 3: Had to go up against.
Speaker 2: Toughest defender, uh tabo?
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, best trash talker you ever played with against?
Speaker 2: Kevin Garnett. Yeah, he talking, he heavy.
Speaker 3: First NBA jersey you ever own?
Speaker 2: Penny Hardaway, Penny Hardaway.
Speaker 3: Okay, hey man, there you have an ATL listen.
Speaker 4: Man, y'all y'all really called this exclusive like they really
Speaker 4: was calling in sending an emails like you gotta get
Speaker 4: Jeft as soon as we had Joe on here. I
Speaker 4: don't know how many more NBA players were gonna have,
Speaker 4: but y'all are more than welcome.
Speaker 2: Broun.
Speaker 3: We appreciate yourss.
Speaker 4: Areppreciate doing your thing definitely, and make sure y'all stay
Speaker 4: tuned America and make sure you watch Jeff t Podcast
Speaker 4: Club five twenty as well.
Speaker 3: You did Hawks and Friends out