WEBVTT - KJ Live - The Program NYC 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:10.479 This is kJ Live with Chris Johnson, and Chris is 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:15.760 having conversations with influencers in the sports world and entertainment industry. 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:22.079 Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned in to kJ Live. 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:24.960 Today's guest on the show two guys that have founded 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.440 a initiative based in the New York City area that 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.559 looks to bring back and restore the city as the 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.560 mecca of basketball. Let's bring getting Griffin Taylor and Jared 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.840 Fron of the program New York City. What's good, guys, 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.560 what's going on kJ? Good to be on here, man, 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.520 my pleasure. What's up kJ? Happy to be here, brob man, 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:50.120 everything is good. I'm joining the sum of those far fellas. Uh. 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.159 It's been a great summer. Just loved these finals that 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.760 just took place. Um, a lot of good basketball. I 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.320 don't know if you guys had a dog in the fight, 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:02.920 but it was nice to see the Warriors get back 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.640 to the their sales and uh and not got another championship. 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.839 Which quick thoughts on on the finals from both of you. Jared, 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.560 you go first? Oh man? Um, you know look, I 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.399 was secretly rooting for the Warriors. UM. I don't know 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.280 how secret was, but I was. I was just happy 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.960 to see Clay, Steph and Drake you know, do it 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:26.600 without Katie and remind everyone that they're not going anywhere. 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:28.920 So um, that was. It was fun to watch Steph, 0:01:29.040 --> 0:01:31.800 you know, get his own Finals m v P. And 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:34.560 you know, he's top ten all time. I don't even 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:38.319 really think there's there's any question about it anymore. Okay, okay, 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:42.320 top too. I g what's your thoughts on the situation's 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.520 gonna go. I'm gonna go even more aggressive to try 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:46.160 to get the sound bite, and I'm gonna say he's 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:51.520 top five all time because he changed the game of basketball. 0:01:52.720 --> 0:01:55.400 I don't pretend I got enough best friends for die 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.960 hard Warriors fans, so I don't pretend to be one. 0:01:58.040 --> 0:02:02.040 But um yeah, an echo Jay's point. You know, as 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.200 you get older, uh and I'm certainly getting older, you 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.760 appreciate things more and more. And I think we're still 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.640 in this window of appreciating greatness with Staff and and 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:13.520 Clay and you know, I think it was just great 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.080 to see them add the legacy and Jonathan Cominga's got 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.680 New York ties. Uh, so so that was cool as well. 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.360 Uh And um yeah, no, it just you know, it was. 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:25.760 It was a great finals, and I think the Warriors 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.080 deserved it. No, I think they did. I think they 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.720 went out and they earned it. They definitely did. This team. 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.040 They weathered all those storms that they went through in 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.840 the last couple of seasons. Man. And really, just like Steph, 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.359 I mean, he's incredible to me because I just all 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.640 the guys I've ever seen play, I mean, just his 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:47.680 ability to maneuver thirty forty ft out, just the level 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:49.520 of comfort he has, you know, a half cord and 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:51.400 through the legs behind the back, I mean the handle 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.040 you know when he's off the bounce but forty ft away, 0:02:54.120 --> 0:03:00.200 it's just like dagn It's I mean it's not only that, 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:03.440 like he's running off picks, you can't catch your breath 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:05.799 for one second, the shots going up, Like I mean 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:11.480 you literally what where? What do you want him to do? Pick? Exactly? 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.440 It's it's crazy too. Everyone talks about his shooting and 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.480 he's the greatest shooter of all time. He might have 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.720 the crazy him and Kyrie, he might have the craziest 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:24.639 handle in the NBA. And and like it's crazy that alone, 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.720 and then also right after they want to I can't remember, 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.639 as Mark Jackson or Van Gundy who said it, but 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.360 you know the fact that when Katie came there and 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.240 Steph said, you know, hey, man, you know you can 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:38.560 take the last shot. You know this can be your team. 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.320 You can do whatever to do to get these championships. 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.960 How many guys who are already top ten, top all 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.000 time at that point in their career would be willing 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.520 to do that. And I think this championship kind of 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.360 gives him those roses and people recognize that. So it 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.000 couldn't be happy to do, no doubt. Man, Man, you're 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.200 aw some basketball officiados. I love it. I let us 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.600 see it. Man. Let's fast forward and talk about why 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:03.160 you guys are here today, which is one of the 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:05.480 reasons I wanted to bring you on. Shout out to 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:07.920 Gay Pleasant for hooking this up, but I wanted to 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:13.760 get just to the core, uh, the motivation inspiration behind 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:18.840 the program New York City that you guys uh co founded, Right, 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:21.640 I want to I want you guys. You guys can go, 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.120 you know Jared the Then Griffin just kind of tell 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:29.720 me what the the mission we're at your core for 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:31.680 this program? What is it gonna solve what are you 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.560 gonna how are you gonna help? Yeah, I mean I 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.120 think that's a great question. kJ. Um. You know, look, 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.720 Griffin and I uh grew up playing in in the 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:45.920 rec league, UM New York City leagues when we were 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:51.080 you know, eight all the way to sixteen, um, and uh, 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.640 you know, we would battle against each other, and um, 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:56.920 we love the experience of being able to you know, 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:00.960 play play against other kids. But UM, I think we 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.919 felt even back then, not not that specifically me, I 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:05.800 definitely wasn't good enough Griffin at least want on to 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:09.719 have a D three college career, but um, there didn't 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:14.080 seem to be a place where, um there was kind 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:16.760 of like the central hub of basketball for New York, 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.719 right and in a city that claims to be the 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:22.600 mecca of the sport. Um, I kind of always felt 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.240 that that was crazy, that there was nothing where you 0:05:25.240 --> 0:05:28.279 could just um, you know, be a part of this 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:32.200 great basketball culture, walk into a gym, get great instruction, 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.440 um have have you know, elite amenity is that kind 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.919 of stuff, and um, you know so so really with 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:44.760 the impetus of it was we thought like, hey, why 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:47.120 are all these New York kids who are super talented 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.480 like not staying around. Why are they leaving to go 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.960 to the i mgs of the world, to the Oak Kills, right, Um. 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.480 And the answer was like, there was nobody really doing 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.400 what we're trying to do on a large scale and 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.719 hasn't been um. And so we thought about this, you know, 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:06.640 years ago when we knew very little about the world, 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:10.200 and UM, you know, I got back together, you know, 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.960 coincidentally at a wedding last summer and still had the 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.240 same idea, and I realized that the hole in the 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.159 market was still there. I'm all that all that Griffin, 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.440 um continue to kind of like back that up. But 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.160 that I would say was the real start of of 0:06:24.200 --> 0:06:26.640 where this this all began. Well, let's touch on that 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:30.000 for a second. Let's talk about that, because that's interesting 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.520 because there was a time when New York City was 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:34.960 the mecca and had all the players and you had 0:06:35.080 --> 0:06:37.040 the guy they were there at the forefront of everything, 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.960 the moves, the style, everything was based out of New York. Now, 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.040 what identified a period of time that this that started 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.120 to dissipate or that sort of started to go away 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.840 Because I'm kind of confused. I always felt like, how 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:51.640 did them guys get so good in the first place, 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:53.400 How do you get to the Mardel? How did you 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.480 get like Ron Art? How do you get these guys 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.680 in the first place? You know what I'm saying? How 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.359 was it established? And then what happened? I guess if 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.960 you've got something for me on that, Yeah, yeah, no doubt. 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.760 So it's funny you said Lamar odom because an iconic 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.840 moment was when Lamar came to the Rutger the year 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.520 that jay Z had his team and the Rutger and 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.160 he did the sham God. Everybody knows what a legend 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.800 sham God is. Then did the tenth on the layoup 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.720 with jay Z and attendance with Lebron James standing up. 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.320 That's such a sick moment. That's and and I think 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:26.760 John Ran a couple of months ago did the same move, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:28.840 laid it and then did the same dance as Lamar. 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.200 So you know that should tell you everything about New 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.560 York City basketball culture. Right rewind ten fifteen years from 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.520 that moment, and you got Chris Mullen and Mark Jackson. 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.600 We run fifteen twenty years from that, and you got 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.960 Dr J at the Rutger Um. New York had a 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.560 certain swagger. You turn on the Big East Tournament, more 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.440 than half the kids went to New York City High 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:50.320 School fifteen. So I mean you worked with with with 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:53.560 lab like you know years ago. UM. I think a 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.960 big reason why it was the Mecca was there was 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.520 two teams. There was Riverside and there was gall Shows 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.440 and everyone in the country knows at and you had 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.320 hundreds of kids vying for twenty spots. And if you 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.160 weren't on Riversider gauchos, you weren't. I don't know if 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.280 you can curse or not on podcasts A s H 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:13.120 I t UM. So I think what's happened in the 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.320 last ten twenty years. I think Jared brings up a 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:17.760 good point. One is there's just not that many nice 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.000 gyms in New York right. The ones that are out there, 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.560 they're only reserved for NBA players. UM. And then you 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:25.560 look at these other states that are catching up to 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:29.120 US Jersey, they have huge high school's, huge campuses, huge gym's. 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:33.160 That's one factor. Another factor is, UM, there's more AU 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.080 teams and there are good players in New York. There's 0:08:35.120 --> 0:08:38.079 more coaches saying they're quote unquote AU coaches not to 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:40.560 throw any shade at anyone UM, and you just have 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:42.880 a saturation in the market. Right, it's not the same 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.880 thing that it used to be UM. And then I 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.440 think three to Jared's point, like a lot of kids 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.360 who come up here that are super talented, they're going 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:53.800 to O Kill, They're going to you know, mont Ver, 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:56.079 They're going to i MG at a young age, and 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:58.480 all of a sudden you see them in March Madness 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:00.360 and you're like, damn, is that kid from New York? 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.520 You don't have that same kemba sham got kareem read 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:05.320 story where they come up all the way through. And 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.640 so the project that we're building is sort of designed 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.960 to address all that, starting with the construction the facility, uh, 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:13.840 and then how we're going about the business, which we 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.440 can both talk about a little more. Fox Sports Radio 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.360 has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.760 all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.440 and within the I Heart Radio app search f s 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:29.439 R to listen live. Now, how big is this facility 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:31.199 and what is this like, where is it going to 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:33.920 be located in? What is sort of I guess the 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.200 membership structure because obviously you guys are you're gonna have 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.960 a structure, right, a membership structure. But that or how's 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:44.440 that gonna work? Somebody can explain that, can Yeah. Um, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:49.559 so we are closing in on space. UM, we're we're 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:55.000 looking at somewhere between fourteen and sixteen thousand square feet. UM. 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:59.600 You know, we're we're hoping that uh, this location, UM, 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.960 you know comes through for us. It's in Long Island City. UM. 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:05.760 We're still you know, working out the least negotiations and stuff, 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:11.960 but ideally will do it there. UM and UM, Yeah, 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.560 there's gonna be a membership business, right so um similar 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.720 to like an equinox or um, you know, crawn chenny 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.359 sort of gym. It's basically gonna be a gym membership 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:26.920 around basketball, right. UM will have one on one coaching 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.200 who love leagues, who have camps. Um, we'll have a 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.400 lot of these sort of you know ala carte programming 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.600 if you want to call it that, UM, that families 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:42.040 and their kids can take advantage of by um paying 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.400 either annualized or monthly dues. I think we were still 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.280 figuring out what that's gonna look like. UM, to have 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.520 the opportunity to you know, be able to use the 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.640 gym and call themselves a member UM and then you know, 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:58.400 use our our our facility and and our melodies UM 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:01.559 as much and as often as they want, uh UM. 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:03.680 And so that's kind of gonna be the basis of 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.760 the membership model. But UM, something that Griff and I 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:08.760 are really really proud of is we actually started a 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:13.280 charitable trust UM. And what we're hoping to do is 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:17.600 UM have corporations and individuals donate, and then we're earmarking 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:21.120 actually a certain percentage UM of our memberships for inner 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.360 city kids. So UM, you know, we haven't talked about 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.840 this yet. Carmelo Is is obviously UM a big part 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.400 of what we're doing, and UM we're hoping to work 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.120 with him to figure out, UM, which kids and families 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:38.000 are deserving uh to be in the gym. UM have 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.160 access to facility, might not be able to afford it, 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:43.800 but obviously UM are a talented enough but be our 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.200 our good people and UM have just as much you know, 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:49.800 claim and right to be there as anyone else. And 0:11:49.800 --> 0:11:53.760 and we're hoping to really you know, UM, put put 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.520 everyone together and UH make make this UM you know, 0:11:56.600 --> 0:12:01.000 equal opportunity and and and uh really UM have a 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.720 diverse group of kids in our gym. Let's talk about 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:09.240 your team. You mentioned Carmelo is on it, J J J. 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:14.280 J Reddick, I saw is involved in some capacity book Richardson. Um, 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:16.480 just for minutes to talk about the team and what 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:21.319 everybody's kind of involvement is in the project. Yeah for sure. 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:24.600 So obviously, Um, you know Jared and I are the 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:27.640 co founders. Uh. You know Mellow somebody that was a 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.080 huge gift for us, right, you know he's wanted to 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.600 You see the clips of him working with high school 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.320 kids and how much he puts into it and how 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:37.760 much he cares and yelling at the rafts in the 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.880 Baltimore games with Will Barton next to him. Um, he 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.559 loves this. And um, you know with Kayen being uh 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.000 at Christ the King right here in Queens and you 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.600 know Mellow having wanted to build something great to give 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:52.520 back to the youth not only in Brooklyn but in 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:54.680 all of New York City. Uh, it just made a 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:56.760 lot of sense. Uh. You know, it's a partner with 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:58.880 him on this, and you know, we're lucky enough that 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:00.960 he believes in our vision and he really wants to 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.320 be involved. And uh you know we think he's going 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.520 to be a really integral part of the project moving forward. Um. 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.680 JJ is amazing. He's a great friend of Jared's. He's 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.160 got two young boys, right who are just getting into 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:14.120 that age where they want to get really good at basketball, 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.280 just like their dad was. And you know, he sees 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.719 a void in the market, right there's no real centralized 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:20.760 youth league in New York City. There's no hub where 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.520 he can go get them better every day. Um. Kenny 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:27.160 and kJ Smith obviously Kenny from left rack legend in 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:30.959 New York City. Um. kJ his son who played for 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.160 Damon at Pacific, then went and played at U n C. 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.040 Has just been such an integral part of the business, 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.760 connecting us with folks like Cole, Anthony uh and a 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.600 lot of other great people to get involved, uh, you know, 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:43.960 and then on the grassroots level, right, you know, just 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.360 working with guys like Book. You know, Book has coached 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:50.760 twenty plus McDonald's all Americans. When he speaks, kids listen, right, um, 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.520 because he has the track record to prove it. Chad Babble, right, 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:57.320 who runs Made Hoops, that's Nike's you know, six to 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.480 eighth grade youth division. And Dad puts on the biggest 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.920 events in the country for the best kids. Darren Duncan, 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.640 who runs the Battle where Brownie Jr. Just played a 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.040 few weeks ago and Queens against all the best Try 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.880 State kids. Uh. But we're really building not only a 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.200 great team on the NBA side, And you know, I 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.360 think a big reason that New York has missed the 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.600 last twenty years is there haven't been that many role models, right, 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:23.000 you know, Sebastian Telfair, Lenny Cook, some of the guys 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:25.040 who maybe we're supposed to get to the NBA at 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:27.560 that level didn't. And so I think what we're trying 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.320 to do is bring in the NBA guys who have 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.800 ties to New York and show these kids you can 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:35.240 touch and feel what it's like to succeed at that level. UM. 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:38.400 And then on the grassroots side, getting the best guys 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:41.200 and and and and girls into the facility who have 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:44.240 coached the most successful kids in New York. I just 0:14:44.280 --> 0:14:46.880 feel like we're building a powerhouse team, which is what 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.960 it's going to take to accomplish this project. Absolutely. I mean, 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.880 you guys have got some key pieces, some key figures, 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:58.840 some influencers UM that have respect in that basketball community. 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.600 Book richardter Is some ide that have tremendous amount of 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.320 respect for you know, spoke with him on my show. Um, 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:06.560 I had an interview with him on my show as well. 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.360 Um uh, let me ask you guys this now, when 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:14.640 this facility get built, are there gonna be weekends where 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.040 you work with like book and some or Chad and 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.280 bring in made hoops for a weekend, or you guys 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:22.760 have some a U stuff you're gonna do. Or is 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:26.240 it going to strictly be uh with with your current 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.560 your members and focus on that, or will there be 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:32.000 like larger camps and clinics that you guys might host 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:34.680 or you know, block off some courts? How many courts 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.320 first of all? And then and if you guys can 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:41.960 just touch on that for me, yeah, for sure. You 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:43.640 want me to take it ja or you got you 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:47.760 gotta cool. So in terms of the facility we're building 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:51.640 right um, we're gonna have one gorgeous regulation court and 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.280 it's gonna host big games. If you're on that court, 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:58.120 you're somebody. Um. The stadium seating map that we have 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:00.520 right now, we're gonna have about a thousand plus seats 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:02.400 in the bleachers and then we're gonna have court side 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:04.760 seats running up and down both sides of the facility 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.640 underneath one set of bleachers. We're going to have an 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.880 additional court. It might be a half court, it might 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:12.200 be a mini full court to service younger kids. We're 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:16.080 not sure yet, but basically a shoot around area as well. Uh. 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:17.960 In terms of how in terms of how we're going 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:20.440 to structure the business, in terms of how we're gonna 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.760 structure the court time, it's really split in three right. 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:26.880 Jared laid out our membership model really nicely. There are 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.640 hundreds of families who are willing to pay for instruction 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:32.120 that just haven't been able to get guys like Book 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.800 to work with or teach their kids or j j uh. 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:36.400 And that's gonna be a big part of what we're 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.240 going to be doing day to day during the week 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.720 is having that group instruction in those camps and those 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.760 clinics on the weekend. There's no real centralized youth basketball 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.280 league in New York City, right, which is crazy, So 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.400 we want to be the spot to have the dopes 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.400 youth league in New York. I think we haven't brought 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:55.880 up yet and we can nowur later. Uh. The Academy. Right, 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.320 we're literally building a prep school right here in New 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:00.960 York City so that kids that or team fourteen years 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:02.840 old don't have to go to Okale, don't have to 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.440 go to Montvert. They can have this facility, they can 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:08.000 have book they can have a top education right to 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.560 get ready to go to the n c A A UM. 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:12.359 And so the Academy team is going to be a 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.680 big part of the facility right when they practice, when 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:16.760 they have home games, UM. And then I think we 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.600 should host big events, right, maybe not an entire e 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:23.359 y b L circuit, but the championship of y b L, 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.439 or the championship of the Battle of even the championship 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.640 of the Catholic School League, right, which still holds weight 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:31.120 in New York. Because we're gonna have the facility, because 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.320 we're gonna have the seating, I think we're absolutely gonna 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.439 be able to do all that in that space and 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:37.560 kind of be the hub for all of it. Wow. 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:41.359 So it's until the vision would be to host like 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:47.040 high profile games, grassroots or or stuff like that at 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.800 your spot in Long Island City. How far is Long 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.840 Island City from like Brooklyn or where you guys grew 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:58.040 up in Queens area. I love that you think we 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:01.199 grew up in Queens or Bronx were No, did I 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.879 bea Bronx or we're Manattan boys. Baby, That's horrible, that's horrible. 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:11.200 That's horrible. But I'm ashamed. I'm I went to we 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.120 went to school in the Bronx. I mean, we'll take 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:15.560 that that. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed. I'm sure 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.359 I shouldn't know better. I was. Actually when I was 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.920 living out there, I was staying in Soho, so I 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:23.240 was with great laugh, like near the world, but we're 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:26.399 the site of the old world tracing. But so I 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.400 kind of I would take this. I would take the subway. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:31.600 Then I would take a bus to get to St. 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:33.640 John's every day. So it was like a forty five 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.240 minute to an hour ride just to go. So I'm 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.080 a little turned around. What time I fell asleep and 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:41.240 I ended up in far Rockaway, I don't know. I 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:42.639 don't know if you guys know where that is, but 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.199 I woke up and it was like, we know, we 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:49.240 know where that is. It was sketchy, got definitely a 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:51.679 little off the beating bath. But Long Island City, how 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:57.600 far is that from like Manhattan, So it's about a 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.879 fifteen minute drive actually over the Queensboro Bridge, which the 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.520 way for families in Manhattan. Um, the families in downtown 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:07.760 Brooklyn can shoot right up the b que. It's also 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.680 about fifteen twenty minutes. Now you're asking how far? How far? 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.119 With traffic? Those are two questions in New York and 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:17.000 l A. Um. But but you always, we always understand 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:19.479 I talk about stuff. It's always a factor in traffic, 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:21.520 you know, I'm giving it about thirty forty five minutes 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.120 of just whatever. And I always get myself an hour 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:26.080 before I go or an hour or two, just depending 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.400 on how far I gotta go. Yeah. Plus, I mean look, 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:29.720 I mean I don't know if you can see the 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.320 logo on Griffin sweatshirt, but our logo is inspired by 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:37.600 the subway lines, right, So we um there there's a 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:40.560 lot of public transportation from all different borrows that run 0:19:40.680 --> 0:19:43.399 right into where hopefully this location is going to be. 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.879 So we feel like it's pretty central and easy to 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:48.440 get to. And it's a great point because like, how 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.680 far we really go to do something like this? Right? 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:52.840 I think that's that's something we really asked ourselves and 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.280 thought about a lot. I'd love to hear more about 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.760 the academy that you guys are building, just the foundation 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.479 of that that you haven't obviously there's an educational component involved. 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:04.520 Would like to hear about that as well. And you 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.000 do you plan on like joining New York City leagues 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:10.000 or you're gonna do like a total prep school league 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:14.840 as far as competitively speaking, Yeah, great questions. I'm gonna 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:17.760 let gee, this is like his his bread and butter, 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:20.880 so I'll let him watch poetic Let's get I'll China later. 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:26.880 I'm flattered. Uh. Also, it's also the trickiest and most 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.320