Speaker 1: Speaks to the planning.
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Speaker 3: Welcome back to Unplugged. We're in the midst of our
Speaker 3: la all the smoke r Jack. We got a chance
Speaker 3: to sit down with Vernon mad Maxwell at All Start
Speaker 3: and that shit is going crazy right now.
Speaker 1: Man, tell the truth.
Speaker 4: Y'all got a nigga out here for work, and y'all
Speaker 4: just wanted to make me work more while we shit.
Speaker 1: That's what it is. You don't even come in on
Speaker 1: the mad match.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm gonna do that, but I just want to
Speaker 4: say that first I knew I was in here. Let's
Speaker 4: get this nigga on right now to shoot unplugged?
Speaker 1: Why he here? So we ain't got a text him
Speaker 1: thirty times Sunday? Right Bill? Mindela that you do be
Speaker 1: taking my.
Speaker 3: Bad Another stat though, is he broke Kendrick Perkins motherfucker's
Speaker 3: on that episode, which I never thought could happen. Is
Speaker 3: there any truth to her keen slapping the ship out
Speaker 3: of you at halftime one time? There's a lot of
Speaker 3: truth to it.
Speaker 5: A lot of truth, Yes, that motherfucker like Scraper's hands
Speaker 5: on the ground and mother, Oh my goodness, hit me
Speaker 5: so goddamn herd Wisdom Seattle, every damn thing happened shadow goddamn,
Speaker 5: but Wisdom's shadow was.
Speaker 1: I was mine.
Speaker 6: I was having a bad first half. And Ship and
Speaker 6: Gary and them and Sean Kemp and all the motherfuckers.
Speaker 6: They had a squad over that motherfucker. Uh double deuces,
Speaker 6: Ricky Piers they had all they had a squad or whatever,
Speaker 6: Dannum barrows they have a squad. They just had a
Speaker 6: bunch of motherfuckers can bay so Derrick mkiad. Then now
Speaker 6: if I'm having a bad first half, I'm like, damn,
Speaker 6: you know how long that fucking walk is? And see
Speaker 6: how I'm locking. Yeah, this like motherfucker walking fucking this
Speaker 6: ship around the blobber, round this damn building to come
Speaker 6: back in here. I mean they're walking so long.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm mad.
Speaker 6: When I get mad, I should spit. I'm walking, I'm
Speaker 6: spitting and the niggas uh Sam sitting up and Robber
Speaker 6: beside me.
Speaker 5: Man, it's gonna be alright, mask Come on, man, you're
Speaker 5: gonna be okay.
Speaker 1: Man, Fuck this shit.
Speaker 7: Man, these niggas ain't getting me the ball.
Speaker 1: These niggas won't pass the ball.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 1: Fuck this ship.
Speaker 6: So dream behind me and dream like MAXI, what the
Speaker 6: fuckers you doing? That Shit's not professional? Don't do that
Speaker 6: ship stuff that ship.
Speaker 1: I was like, three, man, fuck that ship. I'm tired
Speaker 1: of you too.
Speaker 7: Why would I say that ship?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 6: I shouldn't have said that because he came in put
Speaker 6: this goddamn hands up, big old hands on me in
Speaker 6: the locker room.
Speaker 5: Oh man, he.
Speaker 1: Slapped the ship out of me.
Speaker 5: And I said, coming from the back, man, way from
Speaker 5: the back.
Speaker 6: They slapped ship out of me so hard.
Speaker 5: I mean, I thought, I'm on fucker punched me. He
Speaker 5: slapped out of mens.
Speaker 1: Hand ship man slapped ship out of me. Man, man,
Speaker 1: that killed me.
Speaker 3: But but but but hey, but knowing you, you had
Speaker 3: to do what you do well.
Speaker 1: You tried to get you, try to get yourself together.
Speaker 1: I'm glad, Yes, I'm glad you as well.
Speaker 5: I got you know, I went crazy in that motherfucker.
Speaker 6: Everybody was running and scrambling that.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of mother buther scrambling and.
Speaker 5: That motherfucker when I got there doing, I was doing.
Speaker 1: It's only one thing, nigga like that's left you. I'm
Speaker 1: going to get that too.
Speaker 5: Always on the road. We waved mother fucking way all
Speaker 5: the way across the country.
Speaker 1: We all got there. We way over there, Seattleton. Why
Speaker 1: know what ship next? Is a star?
Speaker 4: Bro He's a star. I knew it was gonna be
Speaker 4: a funny episode. I have watched the episode probably two
Speaker 4: or three times. I haven't watched no other episode we've
Speaker 4: done two or three times. I promise you haven't. I
Speaker 4: probably watched Kobe once twice, but this episode is my
Speaker 4: most watched.
Speaker 3: Newest member to the All the Smoke Family, Max, Welcome
Speaker 3: Burnt Out. Oh my God, have him back soon, Yes, sir,
Speaker 3: Hot Out of Phoenix's Bootenholzer recently had definite Booker come
Speaker 3: to his office and told his book he needs to
Speaker 3: tone it down.
Speaker 1: Booten Holzer, Booty.
Speaker 3: Holder, he wants his voice. He he wants his voice
Speaker 3: to be more prominent. Bootenholzer wants stat which is crazy.
Speaker 3: I've never heard of coach tell a star player that
Speaker 3: he needs to tone it down. And I heard deep
Speaker 3: book talk after that and saying that a lack of
Speaker 3: communication feels like it's one of the reasons why this
Speaker 3: team has struggled, and he's tired of here and let's
Speaker 3: get him next game.
Speaker 1: At some point, you got to.
Speaker 3: Drive motherfucking line and we got to win now.
Speaker 1: Stack.
Speaker 3: You had Buttonholzer in San Antonio, very impressive regular season
Speaker 3: record throughout his career, but hasn't been able to get
Speaker 3: it done in the playoffs. I'm not sure if his
Speaker 3: style translates anymore. But also at the same time, Devin
Speaker 3: Bookers had seven head coaches in his ten years as Phoenix.
Speaker 3: A laundry list is this ownership?
Speaker 1: Is it?
Speaker 3: Butenholzer has the game passed them? What do you see
Speaker 3: out of Phoenix? It's a shit show over there first
Speaker 3: and foremost, I mean you.
Speaker 4: Said it just looked like he hasn't been able to
Speaker 4: build a real relationship with nobody. You know him above,
Speaker 4: don't had a type of relationship. They've had that time
Speaker 4: to have the respect. You know, Tim Duncan and Great
Speaker 4: Populis together for a while. So when pop cut him
Speaker 4: off or you know, made Tim be the reason why
Speaker 4: he can get on other guys, you know, Tim embraced
Speaker 4: it because they had a relationship. You know what I'm
Speaker 4: saying with the respect was mutual, I don't think the
Speaker 4: respect is mutual because they haven't been around.
Speaker 1: It took long enough.
Speaker 4: Then again, bro Bud was an offensive coach when I
Speaker 4: was there. He wasn't the coach for communicating. That was
Speaker 4: Mike Brown. Mike Brown communicate with guys, and he was
Speaker 4: at the bubble was strictly for offense. He didn't come
Speaker 4: in the locker room to talk and get guys ready
Speaker 4: to play. Or he wasn't a guy to come in
Speaker 4: get your shot. You know what I'm saying. He wasn't
Speaker 4: that guy, but he would. He's still a great coach
Speaker 4: because he grew, he came up under Pop and he
Speaker 4: had had some success in the league.
Speaker 1: But to say this for.
Speaker 4: Devns, I mean for books a point of view, it's
Speaker 4: impossible for him to even sit there or even want
Speaker 4: to grow with this team when you don't have a
Speaker 4: coach that you can build with, because that's where you
Speaker 4: really get your confidence. When I talk about Don Nelson
Speaker 4: all the time, like I bounced around team, played with
Speaker 4: different coaches. But that's why he's my favorite because and
Speaker 4: I got that I was they were spending some time
Speaker 4: with him, and he also gave me that confidence. And
Speaker 4: having a coach like that was just coming in and
Speaker 4: you ain't been building no rapport with him. It's not
Speaker 4: gonna work, you know what I'm saying. And that's and
Speaker 4: you know what, Matt, that's the reason why it's other
Speaker 4: turmoil going on in an organization, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 4: Because it's not good on that bench.
Speaker 1: And I can see I can see all those guys
Speaker 1: trying to get up out of them.
Speaker 3: You know, obviously It'shbia's idea to bring in Bradley Beal
Speaker 3: on a note trade deal. I think that clogged up
Speaker 3: the whole entire trade deadline for this Phoenix team. But
Speaker 3: not that Bradley Beial is a bad player, because I
Speaker 3: definitely know he's not. But it was just from the
Speaker 3: outside looking in, we knew you're bringing in three straight scorers,
Speaker 3: that that wasn't gonna work, and they wanted to move
Speaker 3: him at the debt deadline and possibly get Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 3: That didn't work, and then you throw KT's name in there,
Speaker 3: and now you got kat a little puzzled because he
Speaker 3: never knew. You know, why am I being thrown in
Speaker 3: this shit when I didn't ask or no one talked
Speaker 3: to me about it. Katie's got one year left. I'm
Speaker 3: not sure how much time Booker has left. But do
Speaker 3: you see, they're these guys getting out of Phoenix at
Speaker 3: the end of the year.
Speaker 4: I hope so I would like to see him like
Speaker 4: that because I want to see these guys win. You know,
Speaker 4: book is a great player. Katie's a great player. I
Speaker 4: don't think it's gonna happen there. You know, once that
Speaker 4: start happing with the side, the riffs start happened on
Speaker 4: the sideline with the coach. Then next thing you know,
Speaker 4: it's gonna be players talking about the coach. They next
Speaker 4: you know, the player is gonna be going to the
Speaker 4: office talking about So it's too much friction.
Speaker 1: Everybody got to be on the same page to win,
Speaker 1: and they not know what's lost up.
Speaker 3: I mean, what are we two, three, maybe four years
Speaker 3: move from James Jones making a bunch of great moves
Speaker 3: and getting Phoenix on the map and all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: now one bad move can fuck it all of them
Speaker 3: bucket all up. I mean, it's chemistry matters. Is this
Speaker 3: an issue with new owners coming into the game and
Speaker 3: kind of being fans and not really looking at the
Speaker 3: business of basketball. We see with HBO, we've seen them
Speaker 3: with the new ownership with Dallas. It's interesting because again
Speaker 3: that that at the top is where everything starts. And
Speaker 3: if they're not basketball savvy and understanding the game and
Speaker 3: they're fans of the game, sometimes that ship just doesn't work.
Speaker 3: But if I love to see Booker get out, but
Speaker 3: if Katie he leaves Jack was he thirty six? How
Speaker 3: was Kitty thirty six years old? He'll be up for
Speaker 3: an extension after next season. He's probably going to get
Speaker 3: a lot of money for that extension, maybe a three
Speaker 3: year extension. Where do you do you see any any
Speaker 3: suitable landing spots for Kadi?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 4: I would love to see kat in Dallas with Kyrie
Speaker 4: and Ad they can happen, if they possibly could make
Speaker 4: that happen. I also would like to see book or
Speaker 4: somewhere where's Booker from Bookers from the Midwest? Right Detroit? Hey,
Speaker 4: I would love to see him go back. I would
Speaker 4: love to go back home and ed book. With the
Speaker 4: way they going, they start building, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: I think that'll be a great piece to keep that
Speaker 4: organization going in the right direction.
Speaker 1: Wowow he's home. That'd be I'll be grateful.
Speaker 3: Book That'd be crazy. I didn't think about that. Had
Speaker 3: on to day to d but not out to Detroit.
Speaker 3: We shall see, Yeah, I mean, you know, since we're
Speaker 3: talking about that, did Detroit? That's give the Detroit pissing
Speaker 3: some love. Man thirty one wins in the last two
Speaker 3: seasons prior to this year. I think they're currently sitting
Speaker 3: at with thirty two thirty three wins. If I'm not mistake,
Speaker 3: sixth in the West, eight straight wins. Kate Cuttingham as
Speaker 3: odds in for most improved Player. What have you seen
Speaker 3: from this team?
Speaker 1: Jack?
Speaker 3: I mean top ten in scoring, top five and assists.
Speaker 3: Beasley has been a big addition to this team, averaging
Speaker 3: sixteen points. Youot over forty two percent from the three
Speaker 3: point line. One of the Thompson Twins is they're making
Speaker 3: his presence felt. Thoughts on Detroit and JB. Shout out
Speaker 3: to JB because I thought of unjust firing from Cleveland,
Speaker 3: right he was having to seem solid over in Cleveland,
Speaker 3: gets fired and heads on over to Detroit and completely
Speaker 3: has changed his team around.
Speaker 4: You have a bunch of guys on that team. You
Speaker 4: could tell they all playing for so and that's just
Speaker 4: what it is, you know, And you know contracts where
Speaker 4: the guys are playing for respect. You know where guys
Speaker 4: that don't want to be on the sorry team, don't
Speaker 4: want to go through what they went through last year.
Speaker 4: Like you can tell whatever it is that everybody on
Speaker 4: this team is playing for something. Even the coach he's
Speaker 4: coaching for something. Right, you know what I'm saying for
Speaker 4: where they did him last year. So I think I
Speaker 4: love and I would love to be a part of
Speaker 4: stuff like that. You know what I'm saying, because we
Speaker 4: have a reason. The pride is that a passion is
Speaker 4: there and that's why they have it. Says along with
Speaker 4: k Cunningham showing that he belongs to be talked about
Speaker 4: in the Top player the top players in the league
Speaker 4: also be talking about Detroit.
Speaker 1: I sorry, one of the twins been bothering man.
Speaker 4: He's been playing, I think defensively, him and his brother
Speaker 4: the probably two best defensive players in the league.
Speaker 1: And the effort that they give. What do you think
Speaker 1: about both of them? I love that.
Speaker 3: I mean, those kids are Northern California kids.
Speaker 1: I think they're from Odeo. I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 3: They took the overtime Elite angle and obviously, you know,
Speaker 3: being twins and me having twins on my own, and
Speaker 3: it's just fun to see them do what they're doing.
Speaker 3: Two of the most athletic, explosive guys, dogs play with
Speaker 3: high energy and again big part of the rotation in
Speaker 3: Detroit and obviously another big part of the rotation in Houston.
Speaker 3: So he crossed Tatum and made a lot of the
Speaker 3: he turned, he turned Tatum around. Yeah, this is interesting.
Speaker 3: I remember seeing this a while ago that the Thompson's
Speaker 3: twins mom made them commit to this. Uh, you know,
Speaker 3: just kind of accountability as far as push up, sit ups,
Speaker 3: calf raises reading, just being productive young teenagers at the time,
Speaker 3: and they stuck with that. And now we see these
Speaker 3: guys and I think their second year, right, second year,
Speaker 3: really starting to come out of their shell and and
Speaker 3: being major players in this game now. So I'm happy
Speaker 3: for JB. I'm happy for Kid. I'm happy for Detroit.
Speaker 3: Detroit has been struggling for a while, and you know
Speaker 3: the fact that they've done this the right way through
Speaker 3: drafts and and free agency and got a coach that
Speaker 3: they really like and the players have bought into.
Speaker 1: If they can land to Devin Booker, look out, will
Speaker 1: we see history one day?
Speaker 4: Well, the twins of both first team a defense that'll
Speaker 4: be crazy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's I mean, this is interesting again. These guys played,
Speaker 3: you know, Ote and you along I think Rob Dillingham
Speaker 3: and who's the other guy? Saw took the OTV rut
Speaker 3: and we look at college basketball and all these crazy
Speaker 3: stupid ass rules with juco players that could play two
Speaker 3: years and then still coming and be freshmen, and now
Speaker 3: they're giving people five years. And this Alabama team is
Speaker 3: number one of the country, but they have a twenty
Speaker 3: six year old and a twenty five year old. Like
Speaker 3: this shit is crazy. But I say all that to
Speaker 3: say is there's just so many different lanes to the
Speaker 3: NBA now, whether you want to do what you know
Speaker 3: Brandon Jennings did and Mellow did and go over the
Speaker 3: water for your one year and then come back and
Speaker 3: do your thing if you want to actually go to college,
Speaker 3: but you know, the way colleges college is a mess
Speaker 3: right now. And then obviously OTE shout out to Ote
Speaker 3: and what they've been able to create over there and
Speaker 3: the kids they be have oportingtunities too. But it's it's
Speaker 3: really interesting, Jackie, as someone who came straight to the league,
Speaker 3: do you see the league in the next few years
Speaker 3: kind of moving that rule and allowing kids to make
Speaker 3: that jump again?
Speaker 1: I hope.
Speaker 4: So, I mean, you know, college is very, very beneficial
Speaker 4: for a lot of kids now, but you know a
Speaker 4: lot of people still don't want to go to school,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: And That's just what it boils down to.
Speaker 4: If I can make the money and not go to school,
Speaker 4: because then again, you got so many young black menaires
Speaker 4: now that's making money and they didn't get their skills
Speaker 4: all they talent from education. You know, they sitting at home,
Speaker 4: sitting in front of the computers making blogs and stuff
Speaker 4: like that. So definitely you should be able to go
Speaker 4: to you know, my all my thing is if you
Speaker 4: can go to War eighteam, you should be able to
Speaker 4: play basketball in the sport, take care of your family.
Speaker 3: Recently, Lebron James was asked about Anthony Edwards' comments about
Speaker 3: being the face of the league and who is and
Speaker 3: who isn't who would want to be Take a look
Speaker 3: at this clip.
Speaker 1: And see ain't trying to deal with that?
Speaker 8: And uh, I mean Channing Fry said it the other
Speaker 8: day too, Like, I mean, it's unfortunate, but like I
Speaker 8: don't know, when you have why do you want to
Speaker 8: be the face of a league when all the all
Speaker 8: the all the people that you know that cover our
Speaker 8: game and talk about our game or the day to
Speaker 8: day based on everybody had that responsibility. That's it's just weird.
Speaker 8: It's weird. Energy from the people that.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 8: But Channing, he said it, he said it perfectly, couldn't
Speaker 8: set it no better, but and said he don't want it.
Speaker 1: I didn't.
Speaker 8: I mean, obviously I didn't ask for it, but I
Speaker 8: knew there was a responsibility for me not only to
Speaker 8: my family, my friends, my community, and and and whoever
Speaker 8: that was gonna follow my my my journey throughout my career,
Speaker 8: not only in Ohio when I started there, but all
Speaker 8: all over America and all over the world when I
Speaker 8: traveled all over the world. So I've always taken that
Speaker 8: seriously and understand and understood from the beginning what what
Speaker 8: being a professional was all about and being a role
Speaker 8: model was all about. So tried to hold that with
Speaker 8: the utmost uh respect and honor. And but I feel
Speaker 8: and I understand, I completely understand.
Speaker 1: This is weird energy when it comes to that. So
Speaker 1: last question, appreciate it, Jack thoughts.
Speaker 4: I kind of look at that both ways. It's a
Speaker 4: lot of people that are covering basketball, I talk about
Speaker 4: the game that never played, So I agree with them.
Speaker 4: They say some wor a shit. But then again to
Speaker 4: whom much is given, much is required. You know what
Speaker 4: I mean? I know a lot of people that would
Speaker 4: die to be called the face of the NBA and
Speaker 4: be able to deal with the slander, whether it's good
Speaker 4: or bad, and not just let it, you know, dust
Speaker 4: it off their shoulder and keep it going.
Speaker 1: So I look at it both ways.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you got a lot of people talk about a
Speaker 4: lot of stuff that never been in the NBA locker
Speaker 4: room that couldn't make a church league team a church
Speaker 4: league team. I get it, but they and they say
Speaker 4: some crazy things. But at the same time, like I said,
Speaker 4: to whom much is given, much is required. I would
Speaker 4: rather deal with that, you know what I mean, and
Speaker 4: be the face of the league than not have that
Speaker 4: opportunity to be there.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it's just such a huge badge
Speaker 3: of honor to be the face of anything, particularly the
Speaker 3: face of the NBA. And I think we live in
Speaker 3: the day and age now where the negativity is always
Speaker 3: going to be louder than the love. Yep, And I
Speaker 3: think that's the aspect of social media and clickbait media
Speaker 3: come with. It's just a lot of jealousy and a
Speaker 3: lot of hate. You take Jason Tatum, Take Jason Tatum's resume,
Speaker 3: Why is he not the face of so. Colin Cowherd
Speaker 3: just say he's paraphrase, he's just kind of boring. But
Speaker 3: look at his accolades, Look what he does on the court,
Speaker 3: Look what he's accomplished, you know, and not wanting it,
Speaker 3: but you know, you never know if he's serious or
Speaker 3: joking around. But it's just a different it's a different
Speaker 3: time now, it's a different time. I think guys like
Speaker 3: Lebron and KD who came in in a different era
Speaker 3: are kind of hurt from a standpoint of the way
Speaker 3: the game's being talked about. But they also have to
Speaker 3: realize Jack, I'll say this, sometimes when you're in a
Speaker 3: fuck the relationship, you don't know it's fucked.
Speaker 1: Up until you're out of it.
Speaker 3: Right the product of the NBA is just not very
Speaker 3: good right now. Playoffs heats up, but the regular season
Speaker 3: for the last few years hasn't been good. And I'm
Speaker 3: sure it's hard for guys like Lebron, NKD, and Steph.
Speaker 3: We're at the end of incredible runs, three of the
Speaker 3: greatest players will ever see, possibly all three top ten
Speaker 3: guys the game's ever seen, but towards the back end
Speaker 3: of their career. Now towards the end of their career,
Speaker 3: like the product, this newer age is coming in with
Speaker 3: a different vibe and like KG says, a newer lens
Speaker 3: and it's just not the same thing.
Speaker 1: Sometimes. I think if Katie and Lebron were able to
Speaker 1: take a step.
Speaker 3: Out of the situation and take themselves away from the
Speaker 3: current game they're in and they love and kind of
Speaker 3: look at what it is on a day to day basis,
Speaker 3: they would understand what the outside people are looking at.
Speaker 3: I don't ever recall when we were playing that people
Speaker 3: were saying this is a bad product. I don't recall that.
Speaker 3: I mean early to late nineties, early two thousands, the
Speaker 3: game was the game and it was incredible. So again
Speaker 3: I get where he's coming back, you know, And like
Speaker 3: you said, a lot, a lot is given, a lot
Speaker 3: is going to be required, and the hate will always
Speaker 3: be louder than the love. But I just think it's
Speaker 3: such a huge honor to be the face of the league,
Speaker 3: and to me, I think Jason Tatum should be at
Speaker 3: the top of that list. There's a lot of international
Speaker 3: players that are on that list, and obviously Anthony Edwards
Speaker 3: getting his mind right as great as he is you
Speaker 3: see young shit coming out of him every once in
Speaker 3: a while, like when he was disappointed or mad about
Speaker 3: being double team. I mean, that's an honor, bro, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean? Like, how do you get better
Speaker 3: from being double team? So I think is at the
Speaker 3: top of that list for maryor players. I think Job
Speaker 3: would be listed as one of those guys if he
Speaker 3: wasn't in so much off the court dumb shit. We
Speaker 3: have a lot of American talent, but these guys have
Speaker 3: to embrace this because you would never hear someone like
Speaker 3: a Mike or Kobe or whoever was next in line,
Speaker 3: even the Lebron because he wasn't talking about it when
Speaker 3: he was handed you know, the crown of being the
Speaker 3: face of the league. It's just a different energy now,
Speaker 3: and you know, hopefully these young guys start to embracing
Speaker 3: and say fuck everything else because it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: Transitioning into some postseason awards, do some picks want to
Speaker 3: put some push ups on the line. Let's see, Jack,
Speaker 3: let's see what is going on. Let's see and I'll
Speaker 3: give you first pick for everything regular season MVP.
Speaker 1: Who do you got? Come on?
Speaker 3: Man?
Speaker 1: Fly guy?
Speaker 3: SGA is the heavy favorite and minus five hundred, with
Speaker 3: Nikola Jokic next at three point fifty, and then after
Speaker 3: that it's a it's a landslide. So it looks like
Speaker 3: it's going to be a two man race. SGA is incredible,
Speaker 3: nothing you can say. It's got his team at the
Speaker 3: top of the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: By the average thirty fo thirty years straight.
Speaker 3: But then on the flip side with Joki has been
Speaker 3: able to do team a little lord, what is his
Speaker 3: team third or fourth? Third in the Western Conference? But
Speaker 3: his numbers have been better than his previous MVP nods.
Speaker 3: So I think this is is a two man race.
Speaker 3: You're gonna go with SGA cl guy, I'm gonna go
Speaker 3: with SGA two.
Speaker 1: So no loser there.
Speaker 3: Most improved saw the list. Here at the top is
Speaker 3: Kate Cunningham minus two forty. Next up my UCLA brother
Speaker 3: Norman Pale out here with the LA Clippers at plus
Speaker 3: two twenty, and then there's a huge fall off. So
Speaker 3: again this is a two man race. Again, Jack, who
Speaker 3: you got?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't eat what I do like k
Speaker 1: cunning down.
Speaker 3: I like Kate a lot too, and he's probably gonna
Speaker 3: get it. But just to throw in a dark horse
Speaker 3: and we can't agree with everything the same. I'm gonna
Speaker 3: go with Norman pal I'm gonna go with my Brewin brother,
Speaker 3: next up defensive player of the Year, with Wimby being
Speaker 3: knocked out, and move someone else other players up to
Speaker 3: the top. Evan Mobley, who's on Cleveland, who has what
Speaker 3: they have a top five defense, top five, top six defense,
Speaker 3: he's a plus one fifteen, Then Jaron Jackson at one
Speaker 3: forty five, and then there's a steep fall off after that.
Speaker 3: I don't see Rudy Rudy Gobert, Yeah, plus ten thousand,
Speaker 3: probably pass on him this year, jack who you got
Speaker 3: just the.
Speaker 4: Way Cleves has been playing, and you know how solid
Speaker 4: they've been all year.
Speaker 1: You got it.
Speaker 4: Defense wings helps definitely wins games, and you got to
Speaker 4: give it to the guy in the middle over there
Speaker 4: has been holding the down.
Speaker 1: Go with Evan Mobley. I'm not mad at that.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go with the dark Corse here, and I
Speaker 3: feel like a guy that, if I'm not mistaken, has
Speaker 3: never made an All NBA defensive team, but plays on
Speaker 3: the number one team in the Western Conference. Someone who
Speaker 3: can guard one through four.
Speaker 1: A body full of muscle. Lou Dort, Yeah, I coached
Speaker 1: him in the Iverson game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Lou Dort solid. He's really come a long way
Speaker 3: with this game. Is his efficiency shooting, but just his
Speaker 3: lockdown in cinst Nation defense. If he's not Defensive Player
Speaker 3: of the Year, which he probably won't be, I hope
Speaker 3: that he is a first team All NBA Defender six
Speaker 3: Man of the Year, Jack, I'm gonna go first this
Speaker 3: time at minus one sixty. I'm gonna go with my
Speaker 3: little leprechaun homie out there in Boston, Peyton Pritcher as
Speaker 3: the next NBA six man. Yere also other guys Malik
Speaker 3: Beasley's on that, DeAndre Hunter, Nas Reed, and Men Thompson,
Speaker 3: Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 1: Those are the top six betting favorites. Who you going with? Man?
Speaker 4: You know, they've just been trying to give Peyton Pitcher
Speaker 4: something for the last three four years, trying to get
Speaker 4: I'm just saying, you know everything. They champions two shots
Speaker 4: from half court. Now he the half court king, Like
Speaker 4: this is crazy. I'm going with a million Thompson, bro
Speaker 4: I'm just going with him.
Speaker 1: The Twins, You're definitely two shots, but now he to
Speaker 1: have court king. Don't listen to that. Hate over here.
Speaker 3: I can't let's go last, but not least Coach of
Speaker 3: the Year coach Kenny Atkinson. Man shout out to what
Speaker 3: he's been able to do over there in Cleveland after
Speaker 3: leaving the Warriors bench. I think he turned down a
Speaker 3: couple jobs leading up to this because he knew they
Speaker 3: were bullshit as teams and he probably would have been
Speaker 3: fired quickly. Made the right move. But he's the betting
Speaker 3: favorite of minus five hundred JB. Bickerstaff plus four to
Speaker 3: twenty five, and then after that it's a landslide. So
Speaker 3: I think it's a two man race here, Jack, who
Speaker 3: you got?
Speaker 1: I'm going to e mail man. I like what he
Speaker 1: doing in Houston.
Speaker 4: I just I just you know, I'm from Texas board,
Speaker 4: but he may you know, has been through a lot
Speaker 4: and to bounce back to what he's doing with these
Speaker 4: young guys, got these guys playing the whata he's supposed to.
Speaker 1: I like it. I think he's one of the best
Speaker 1: coaches in the NBA. Agreed.
Speaker 3: I think the way he thinks and I think just
Speaker 3: the way he approached the game when he played had
Speaker 3: given him a huge.
Speaker 1: Upper hand on this coaching run.
Speaker 3: And what he's been able to do with a very
Speaker 3: young team in Houston and keep all those guys together.
Speaker 3: I feel like they're a piece away from really being
Speaker 3: a threat in the West.
Speaker 1: But I'm not mad at this. I'm going to go
Speaker 1: with JB.
Speaker 3: Bickerstaff Man being fired for Cleveland for pretty much no
Speaker 3: reason and then be able to go over to Detroit
Speaker 3: and completely we flipped.
Speaker 1: This organization around.
Speaker 3: They won thirty one games prior to this year and
Speaker 3: two years combined, and they're at, you know, thirty two
Speaker 3: thirty three wins this year with twenty five games to go,
Speaker 3: and again, Detroit deserves this, so I'm excited for the
Speaker 3: city of Detroit.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go with JB. Bigger staff I got.
Speaker 3: A chance to sit down with one of the most
Speaker 3: legendary photographers in the game. Has caught your favorite players
Speaker 3: for the last thirty or forty years. Take a look
Speaker 3: at my sit down interview with Andy Bernstein. I like
Speaker 3: to welcome to the show man one of my favorite photographers,
Speaker 3: a guy that's been in the business for forty plus
Speaker 3: years and just retired. I couldn't believe I heard the news. Well,
Speaker 3: welcome to the show legendary Andrew Bernstein. Thank you, Matt.
Speaker 7: Good to see you too.
Speaker 3: You've officially retired after forty three years.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it took a little while. I mean four decades.
Speaker 3: Will we see an MJ returning at an interview? Are
Speaker 3: you done done?
Speaker 7: No?
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 7: I went to see my back specialty specialist and he said,
Speaker 7: you know, I think you got to walk off the
Speaker 7: court while you still can walk off the court.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 7: My back was a mess, and I've been struggling the
Speaker 7: last few years with the traveling and just the schlepping
Speaker 7: around a lot. And you know, I still loved doing it,
Speaker 7: and I left when I felt it was time to go.
Speaker 7: But the NBA was great about sort of weaning me
Speaker 7: off the court less road games. I was doing like
Speaker 7: every third game at home, so that it was a
Speaker 7: good time to.
Speaker 3: Go forty three years and around all sports, not just NBA.
Speaker 3: We were talking before we got on air about you know,
Speaker 3: my team is the Niners, and you're talking about I
Speaker 3: go back with Montana and Rice and Steve Young at
Speaker 3: the old Candlestick Parks. I mean, what got you in
Speaker 3: to photography, but particularly sports photography.
Speaker 7: Well, I was a kid, I was fourteen. My dad
Speaker 7: bought me my first camera, and I wasn't interested at
Speaker 7: all in photography. But we took a trip to the
Speaker 7: Western United States. You know, I grew up in Brooklyn,
Speaker 7: so the furthest West A forgot was New Jersey. So
Speaker 7: what I got to see, you know, the Grand Canyon
Speaker 7: and Yosemite and all the great national parks. And he
Speaker 7: taught me all the basics for a photography but you
Speaker 7: know it his film cameras and all manual stuff and
Speaker 7: all that business, and I had to just learn on
Speaker 7: the fly, and I just took to it. It was
Speaker 7: kind of like maybe the first time you went out
Speaker 7: on the court when you were a kid and you
Speaker 7: just fell in love with the game and bouncing the ball.
Speaker 7: And that's how I felt. And I took it, you know,
Speaker 7: I took it seriously in high school, and I went
Speaker 7: to college for it at UMass in the shadow of
Speaker 7: doctor J I came in after him and then transferred
Speaker 7: out here in my junior year to a place called
Speaker 7: Art Center and became an assistant for Sports Illustrated. And
Speaker 7: that's really where I got my on the job training,
Speaker 7: going NBA games and learning how to light arenas like
Speaker 7: poly Pavilion and near and dear to your heart and
Speaker 7: the Forum and of course the old sports arena for
Speaker 7: hockey and basketball primarily. Now, I was just in the
Speaker 7: right place at the right time. I you know, was
Speaker 7: there at the beginning of showtime and the NBA was
Speaker 7: starting to ramp up their need for photography, and you know,
Speaker 7: Brooklyn guy, I have a little bit of myxy and
Speaker 7: me and was able to kind of push the door
Speaker 7: open a little bit, kind of create some opportunity for myself.
Speaker 3: I mean looking back and again, you'd literally just retired
Speaker 3: in May, But can you give me possibly your top
Speaker 3: three to five moments you feel like you've personally covered. Ooh,
Speaker 3: that's a good one. Well, I mean, NBA wise, I
Speaker 3: could give you a million of them, a little probably
Speaker 3: fifty of them. But you know, I was there for
Speaker 3: Kirk Gibson's home run. I was working for the.
Speaker 7: Dodgers back then, and that was monument eight eighty eight
Speaker 7: game won.
Speaker 3: The World Series.
Speaker 7: It felt like I felt like, literally that the stadium
Speaker 7: was going to crack in half. It was so unbelievable.
Speaker 7: And then Jordan's first championship, which at the time was
Speaker 7: pretty monumental because it took him seven years to get there.
Speaker 7: But none of us knew, of course that he had
Speaker 7: buy more coming. All the time I spent with Showtime
Speaker 7: with you know, Riley and Magic and all those guys,
Speaker 7: it was just amazing. And of course it was with
Speaker 7: Phil Phil Jackson for all eleven of his championships.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 7: So I was the first guy always in the locker room.
Speaker 7: I remember this like it was yesterday. And the first
Speaker 7: year he won with the Bulls, I'm the first guy
Speaker 7: in the locker room, champagne, the whole thing, and then
Speaker 7: he sees me in there. You know, Phil was always
Speaker 7: knew what was going on in his locker room. Second year,
Speaker 7: I ended up. I'm at the locker room, first guy,
Speaker 7: and he's given me the eye third time, and he goes,
Speaker 7: this is going to become a habit. High Andy, I said, well,
Speaker 7: I hope so, coach, because I love the here, So
Speaker 7: you know, that was great. And then of course spending
Speaker 7: twenty years with the Mamba was as an experience was amazing.
Speaker 7: And I can't leave out the Dream Team because the
Speaker 7: Dream Team. If I could have retired after the Dream
Speaker 7: Team experience would have been a good career.
Speaker 3: But it was just at the start. But obviously it's
Speaker 3: not just obviously photography. You're around these guys. Obviously you
Speaker 3: and Kobe were business partners and you were his personal guy.
Speaker 1: But you were.
Speaker 3: Around Michael, and you're around Joe Montana and all these
Speaker 3: guys in Phil and Kobe and Shaq. I mean, what
Speaker 3: was that experience. It's like you were around the greatest
Speaker 3: of the greatest across the board. Well, you know, you
Speaker 3: guys are just guys. You know, you happen to play
Speaker 3: a sport that I love, and you're tremendous athletes, all
Speaker 3: of you guys. But when it comes down to it,
Speaker 3: we all share common stuff. You know, we're all just
Speaker 3: trying to make it in our profession. You know, I
Speaker 3: was glad to be there to help document showtime and
Speaker 3: help document the Shaq and Kobe era and Jordan era,
Speaker 3: and I think there was some appreciation of that. I
Speaker 3: guess that that some of my photos tended to sort
Speaker 3: of live on.
Speaker 7: But I just loved the one on one conversation. I mean,
Speaker 7: you and I had I don't know how many conversations
Speaker 7: in locker room and after a game or practice or
Speaker 7: on the bus or whatever, and that's was that was
Speaker 7: the most fun, just just hanging with the guys really.
Speaker 3: Talk to us about when you first met Kobe and
Speaker 3: how the relationship lasted a lifetime.
Speaker 7: Well, well, he was. He was quite a phenomenon coming
Speaker 7: out of high school. Although honestly, I don't know about you,
Speaker 7: but like being on the West Coast, we didn't hear
Speaker 7: that much about him. I mean, he's a kid out
Speaker 7: of Philadelphi, suburban Philadelphia. The Lakers made this crazy trade
Speaker 7: with beloved Vladi Devots going to Charlotte and then if
Speaker 7: you remember, Vladi like threatened to retire, which would have
Speaker 7: kabashed the whole trade. But somehow Jerry West was able
Speaker 7: to make some magic. And you know, here this kid
Speaker 7: comes out, he just turned eighteen years old, and he's
Speaker 7: in front of me on media day, and you know
Speaker 7: what media days like. It's like chaos. It's like giant
Speaker 7: circus sets all over the Laker gym, and you guys
Speaker 7: have to go from one set to the next, you know,
Speaker 7: doing an interview, in a photo shoot and a marketing
Speaker 7: thing and whatever. And he came on my set and
Speaker 7: for his first headshot in the Laker uniform, and like
Speaker 7: any new player probably did this with you that. You know,
Speaker 7: if I don't know you. I walk in and before
Speaker 7: take the picture, go and introduce myself. You know, it's
Speaker 7: a respectful thing. I say, Hey, Kobe, I'm Andy Bersey.
Speaker 7: I'm your team photographer. And he literally is shaking my hand,
Speaker 7: looking me in the eye with those eyes.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 7: He goes, well, I know who you are, man, you
Speaker 7: know wow? And yeah, I'm thinking it's kind of a
Speaker 7: smart ass thing to say.
Speaker 3: You think so?
Speaker 7: I mean, who says that to somebody? Because and I
Speaker 7: said to him, I said, I don't know how that's
Speaker 7: possible because we never met. And he goes and he
Speaker 7: literally did in a beat, he said, well, I had
Speaker 7: all your posters in my room growing up, and in
Speaker 7: that instant that it is like, but who reads photo credits.
Speaker 3: On a poster? For God's him?
Speaker 7: Him? Him, And I came to learn over the years,
Speaker 7: especially when we did our book together, that he just
Speaker 7: didn't want a nice poster of MJ or Doctor J
Speaker 7: or Isaiah or Magic all the guys that he wanted
Speaker 7: to be like. He studied it like, you know, almost
Speaker 7: like a surgeon was dissecting something and in those beautiful
Speaker 7: photos he was breaking down everything. Muscle tone, Wo, what
Speaker 7: the guy's looking at you know, where his hips are
Speaker 7: in relation to his hands, all that stuff, And I know,
Speaker 7: from that moment on, I just knew there was something
Speaker 7: about this kid that you know, I was twenty years
Speaker 7: older than him at the time.
Speaker 3: He's eighteen, I was.
Speaker 7: Thirty eight, and they kind of reminded me a little
Speaker 7: bit of me at eighteen. Yeah, kind of a smart ass,
Speaker 7: but also wanting to prove himself. You know, he was
Speaker 7: literally a boy among men, and he looked like he
Speaker 7: was fourteen. I mean, he really did, and you know,
Speaker 7: skinny as anything, and that relationship just just built over time.
Speaker 3: Same question I just asked before, do you have five
Speaker 3: favorites of Kobe oh Man?
Speaker 7: Great, you got all of them. But well, there was
Speaker 7: some stuff during USA Basketball. It wasn't there when he
Speaker 7: won the gold either time, but just just seeing him
Speaker 7: around the guys was great. The famous kind of moment
Speaker 7: of Shack carrying him on his back in Indiana, I
Speaker 7: think it was Game two or something, A couple of
Speaker 7: game winners I was there for twenty ten. Was amazing.
Speaker 7: In the locker room where the guys are just showering
Speaker 7: him with champagne and he's got his arms out and
Speaker 7: some great moments, some great moments with his family. You know,
Speaker 7: we just passed the anniversary and I was just looking
Speaker 7: back on some photos of he and Gigi together, and
Speaker 7: you know, it breaks all our heart, but I was
Speaker 7: just so glad to be there to document ad from
Speaker 7: Vanessa now, so you know, he was just he was
Speaker 7: He was one of a kind.
Speaker 3: Really, the Achilles game versus the Warriors. You were in
Speaker 3: that building, what was the energy like when that happened.
Speaker 7: I had never been in a place that size that
Speaker 7: you could hear a pin drop because everybody knew something happened.
Speaker 7: It was such an innocuous thing. As you remember, you
Speaker 7: made a move and boom went down like a ton
Speaker 7: of bricks. I was on the other end, so I
Speaker 7: actually had a good angle and had him actually towards you, right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 7: but he was like on the other other side of yeah,
Speaker 7: And just like the sea parted and I was able
Speaker 7: to get a picture of him going right to his
Speaker 7: Achilles in the moment. And then Gary came out, as
Speaker 7: you remember, and and they go they go to the
Speaker 7: bench and of course, you know legendary mamba fashion, he
Speaker 7: goes out and shoots the free throw. But I honestly, Matt,
Speaker 7: I've never really talked about this, but I was so
Speaker 7: broken up when that happened, because here he is in
Speaker 7: the sixteenth season. You know, it's got to be the end.
Speaker 7: I mean, nobody in sixteenth season comes back from something
Speaker 7: like that. And he had already accomplished so much already,
Speaker 7: and I didn't have the heart to go in the
Speaker 7: locker room after the game, and you know, he held
Speaker 7: that sort of impromptu press conference where he was tearing up.
Speaker 7: And I don't regret that I wasn't there for that,
Speaker 7: but I was there in the hall when he came
Speaker 7: out with the crutches and the girls were waiting for
Speaker 7: him and Vanessa, and it was a poignant moment. But
Speaker 7: he he came out of that you remember Gary Vety
Speaker 7: had that door side side, and he came out with
Speaker 7: a smile on his face because his girls were out there,
Speaker 7: you know, and he was positive. From that moment on,
Speaker 7: he had his moment of of concern and worry, and
Speaker 7: I'm sure he was scared, scared that that was the end.
Speaker 7: But and then just I was there for his rehab.
Speaker 7: I was actually there when he got the when doctor
Speaker 7: Latrosh took the took the stitches out, and I was
Speaker 7: telling him, look, you got to take it easy, you know,
Speaker 7: you grab this boot.
Speaker 3: Definitely gotta tell him that. Some say that night kind
Speaker 3: of gave birth to the Mamba mentality. I mean it
Speaker 3: was always the Mama, but like you said, to think,
Speaker 3: you know, you're thinking it was to be over. I
Speaker 3: think a lot of people probably had similar sentiments to you, like,
Speaker 3: this guy's accomplished everything, He's won all these championships.
Speaker 1: There's no way he's coming back.
Speaker 3: And I think he's the one person we both know
Speaker 3: that once he turns this on to something like there's
Speaker 3: just get out of the way.
Speaker 7: Yeah, exactly, Yeah, I think mom in the mentality was
Speaker 7: definitely there before that. But for him to come back
Speaker 7: and be really stronger than he was when he went down,
Speaker 7: I won't say he was as strong as he was,
Speaker 7: you know, at the height of his career, but for
Speaker 7: him to not let an injury define when he was
Speaker 7: going to leave the game and to come back as
Speaker 7: strong as he did, you know, drop sixty in his
Speaker 7: last game out, I mean crazy, who could write that.
Speaker 7: You know, we're in Hollywood, nobody could.
Speaker 3: Have written that. It's amazing outside of sports. Some of
Speaker 3: your favorite excuse me, outside of basketball, some of your
Speaker 3: favorite sporting moments you've been able to kind of be
Speaker 3: a part of.
Speaker 7: Oh, yeah, I've been. I mean, as I mentioned the
Speaker 7: Kirk Gibson game. Worked for the Dodgers during that World Series.
Speaker 7: I think I shot three or four Super Bowls. That
Speaker 7: was super fun. It was around some really good college basketball.
Speaker 7: I used to cover the USC women's team when Cheryl
Speaker 7: Million and when Lisa Leslie was there. Love covering that.
Speaker 7: And back in the early days of my career, I
Speaker 7: covered really anything that everything I can get a credential for.
Speaker 7: You know, if it was women's field hockey or water polo,
Speaker 7: I didn't care because I needed to be building my portfolio.
Speaker 7: You know, many of the international events that the NBA
Speaker 7: has done. It was at the first McDonald's Championship. Being
Speaker 7: in the NBA bubble was quite the experience.
Speaker 3: The whole time.
Speaker 7: I was there fifty three days. Yeah, fifty three days.
Speaker 7: I was there for the end. So when the very
Speaker 7: end of the regular season playoffs and then into the finals.
Speaker 3: Interesting time. Yeah, let's let's go through some of the
Speaker 3: photos you've taken that we kind of pulled to the
Speaker 3: These are early ones of me. Oh, those Clipper teams,
Speaker 3: now we're talking. You were around those Clipper teams a lot.
Speaker 3: I was. Those Lob City teams were very talented. We
Speaker 3: just couldn't get over I mean, I think we couldn't
Speaker 3: get out of our own way.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 3: That was a fun team and a fun time in LA.
Speaker 3: It was kind of a time where code was down
Speaker 3: a little bit, yep, and those Lob City teams were exciting.
Speaker 3: This is I think the last time we played against
Speaker 3: each other. Yeah, I was Memphis.
Speaker 1: He was there.
Speaker 3: He had just gave the twins a Jerseys. I don't
Speaker 3: know if you're in there for that.
Speaker 7: Yeah, got a picture twins my picture?
Speaker 3: Yeah that is your picture. Yeah, but I'm saying I'm
Speaker 3: not sure if you got the picture with him twins
Speaker 3: because he gave them and they were only like seven
Speaker 3: eight years old.
Speaker 1: Maybe.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was that. We saw you everywhere. Yeah, No,
Speaker 3: you just weren't at our games. I mean, how often
Speaker 3: how many days a week would you be at Staples
Speaker 3: on a good week.
Speaker 7: Well, I became the director of photography for AEG which
Speaker 7: at that time was just Staples Center when when it opened,
Speaker 7: actually before it opened in nineteen ninety eight, but ninety
Speaker 7: nine when the building opened then of course got the theater.
Speaker 7: So my company still to this day in the twenty
Speaker 7: fifth year of being on the house photographers for the complex.
Speaker 7: So I was there a lot. My office was in
Speaker 7: the building. I mean, if you know where the Laker
Speaker 7: banners are in the upper concourses, a bunch of offices
Speaker 7: back there.
Speaker 1: I was.
Speaker 3: That's where my office was.
Speaker 7: And uh so I was there for every every Laker
Speaker 7: home game, every Clipper home game. And I've been the
Speaker 7: LA Kings team photographer for four decades.
Speaker 3: You saw the great one.
Speaker 7: Yeah, so I was living there, which wasn't great, not
Speaker 7: conducive to family life with you kids growing up at
Speaker 7: you and then when I'm not there, I was on
Speaker 7: the road.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's.
Speaker 3: A tough life. I mean you mentioned at the end
Speaker 3: that that that grind is what kind of pushed me
Speaker 3: away from the game. I felt like I was missing
Speaker 3: so much time, and I mean your schedule was more
Speaker 3: hectic than mine because I just had to go online.
Speaker 3: You have to go crubb the entire you know, realm
Speaker 3: of the league. So yeah, now the NBA was great,
Speaker 3: but they they push it. They work, they work it.
Speaker 7: And you know for the Grammy trip for example, when
Speaker 7: the building shuts down. I mean I'd be on the road,
Speaker 7: you know, two weeks in a road doing nine ten games,
Speaker 7: and then they'd be like, oh, well you have a
Speaker 7: day in between, go to s cars. Don't do that game.
Speaker 3: Did not take a breather. I did enjoy your day off. Yeah. Man,
Speaker 3: that's my rookie year.
Speaker 1: That's man.
Speaker 3: That two thousand and two or three. Wow. Old school
Speaker 3: Clippers And that is definitely old school because me and
Speaker 3: Baron Baron just got here this that's what we believe.
Speaker 1: Run right there.
Speaker 7: That was that was you know, I left that out
Speaker 7: because and they should remember that was one of the
Speaker 7: greatest runs that I really ever part of. Really Oh
Speaker 7: to see you guys like kick Dallas's aid home on
Speaker 7: that I was there for that game. Baron had that
Speaker 7: dunk over Carolinko. Yeah, that's my picture. And the excitement
Speaker 7: in that building in Oracle. I mean, they talked about
Speaker 7: the Warriors, you know, the Steph Curry Warriors, which we
Speaker 7: got to take our hat off to.
Speaker 3: But what you guys, it was different.
Speaker 7: Man, little engine that could be different.
Speaker 3: Energy, some more iconic photos.
Speaker 1: Wow MJ and his dad Kobe, And.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, there was some moments when you kind of
Speaker 3: look back. I mean like for me, this would be
Speaker 3: like looking back at like old game footage or something
Speaker 3: like how do you I mean, obviously it's fresh, but like,
Speaker 3: what are you going to miss about? I mean, you
Speaker 3: had one of the greatest jobs anyone can ever ask
Speaker 3: for who was a sports fan. What are you going
Speaker 3: to miss the most?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 7: I really miss being around the guys. I missed the
Speaker 7: routine of getting there, getting the arena at a certain time.
Speaker 7: I had a very strict routine. Great crew that I
Speaker 7: worked with, you know, would set up everything for me,
Speaker 7: you know, seeing all the fellas come in and Kibbittsen
Speaker 7: in the in the training room with Gary Venie and
Speaker 7: then Gary, all all the fans that I knew, both
Speaker 7: teams courtside and of course the referees and all that stuff,
Speaker 7: and then you know, getting to game time and then
Speaker 7: locking in and being there to record truly the greatest
Speaker 7: athletes on the face of the earth. I mean, I
Speaker 7: know that's a cliche and David Stern loved talking about that,
Speaker 7: but it's it's really true. I mean, as a photographer.
Speaker 7: Professional basketball athletes are our.
Speaker 3: Gift, absolutely, and we were thankful to have someone like
Speaker 3: you capturing those moments. Before you get out of here,
Speaker 3: tell us a little bit about your podcast, Leedens of Sports.
Speaker 7: Thank you. Well, listen, man, I'm just trying to grow
Speaker 7: up to be like you. Well, you know my partners.
Speaker 7: I have two really close friends who were partners, both
Speaker 7: in the sports business in different areas. And you know,
Speaker 7: we were seeing about ten years ago or so that
Speaker 7: a lot of guys were struggling post retirement, and the
Speaker 7: spotlight had moved off of those guys and not only
Speaker 7: did they might not make the big money back and
Speaker 7: we're talking like, you know, eighties and early nineties, but
Speaker 7: they were struggling and they were forgotten about, and we
Speaker 7: wanted to kind of shine the light back on, not
Speaker 7: just to the stars, but the guys who might have
Speaker 7: been part of you know, if you think about the
Speaker 7: showtime Lakers, seven eight guys come to mind, but they
Speaker 7: were like forty guys who won rings in the eighties
Speaker 7: that people might not remember. So we saw sort of
Speaker 7: a little bit of a void in the sports content landscape.
Speaker 7: And I didn't realize that I really loved doing what
Speaker 7: you do. Was sitting there talking about stuff, I mean,
Speaker 7: learning about people where they started. I actually started a
Speaker 7: show on Time Warner, which was you know, previous the
Speaker 7: spectrum on a Laker channel called Through the Lens, where
Speaker 7: I would just sit and talk to a Laker personality
Speaker 7: Genie Buzz, Gary Ved, James Worthy, whoever about their career
Speaker 7: through my photos. And I never thought I could be
Speaker 7: on the other side of the camp. I never I
Speaker 7: never envisioned it, but I took to it.
Speaker 3: I loved it.
Speaker 7: And Norm Pattis, the great late Norm Pattis who owned
Speaker 7: podcasts one who you remember, sat courtside right in the middle.
Speaker 7: This guy always had the program A crazy Laker fan.
Speaker 7: Became a great friend, and he became a mentor, and
Speaker 7: he was helping me sort of call this idea of
Speaker 7: Legends of Sport. And he calls me over before he
Speaker 7: gave He goes, Andy, I saw the show you did
Speaker 7: on the Laker Network and I love it. It's great,
Speaker 7: it's great you're talking to people. And I said, thank you, Norman.
Speaker 7: He goes, I got to get that on my podcast network.
Speaker 7: And this is like ten years ago, and you know,
Speaker 7: I'm still working this photograph, and I said I looked,
Speaker 7: literally looked at him. I said, Norm, thank you for that,
Speaker 7: But I don't know what a podcast is, you know,
Speaker 7: i'd heard the term. He goes, It's like radio, but
Speaker 7: just longer interviews. And I said, well, Norm, with all
Speaker 7: due respect, you know, I appreciate you wanting me to,
Speaker 7: you know, take this to your podcast network. But it's
Speaker 7: a visual show, like we're showing pictures. Can you curse
Speaker 7: on the show? You can, right, so he says. So
Speaker 7: he says to me, he says, Andy, nobody gives a
Speaker 7: shit about the pictures. They want to hear the stories,
Speaker 7: he says. They want to see the pictures. They go
Speaker 7: to your website, they go to your instagram. I said, Norm,
Speaker 7: let's do it. And the next day literally went down
Speaker 7: to his office in Beverly Hills. We hammered out something
Speaker 7: and here I am doing a podcast and we're in.
Speaker 7: We're in, you know, deep into season seven regulations. I
Speaker 7: do know, two hundred and sixty or so interviews, and
Speaker 7: I love it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love it too. I love it, yeah, I
Speaker 3: love it.
Speaker 1: For you.
Speaker 3: Before we get you out of you, I'm gonna put
Speaker 3: you on the spot one last time, your favorite event
Speaker 3: that you've covered, favorite event, Only pick one across all
Speaker 3: the sports, all the greatness she saw, I'm gonna put
Speaker 3: you on the spots. Oh, that is a tough one.
Speaker 1: Actually give me two.
Speaker 7: Well, I really I'd have to say when the Dream
Speaker 7: Team won the gold medal in Barcelona ninety two, that
Speaker 7: was really amazing because I had been with them all
Speaker 7: seven weeks, documenting every step of the way, lived with
Speaker 7: those guys, and we all knew they were going to win,
Speaker 7: but the moment was, you know, when the flag goes
Speaker 7: up and they got the medals on them, they're like insane.
Speaker 7: So that was so great to capture that. And then
Speaker 7: you know, MJ's first championship was unbelievable, but I got
Speaker 7: it really pointed twenty ten for Kobe's fifth ring, which
Speaker 7: he was the Beams.
Speaker 3: Because they lost to Boston the year Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and he you know, and it was devastating when
Speaker 7: they lost in two thousand and eight, and he said
Speaker 7: at the time, he said, I'm not retiring until I
Speaker 7: beat the Celtics.
Speaker 1: In the finals.
Speaker 7: And so they got there and that was such a
Speaker 7: monumental series. The Game seven at home, he didn't have
Speaker 7: a great game.
Speaker 3: As you had that shot, right, yeah, but.
Speaker 7: In his greatness he was able to defer and you know,
Speaker 7: Meta hits that shot of out of nowhere. So it
Speaker 7: was such a great moment to be there and my
Speaker 7: wife is there, my late mother in law was there,
Speaker 7: and you know, have family there and be part of
Speaker 7: that was really amazing.
Speaker 3: Well, Andy Man, it's always been a pleasure working with you,
Speaker 3: speaking with You've always just been one of the one
Speaker 3: of the real good guys around the game. Man, And
Speaker 3: we appreciate your forty three years of greatness. Thank you man,
Speaker 3: great joy, enjoyed retirement life, Thank you new for you,
Speaker 3: and thank you for all the moments that you gave
Speaker 3: me on that.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Yeah right. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Unplugged.
Speaker 3: You could catch this on all the Smoke Productions YouTube
Speaker 3: and the Draft Kings Network.
Speaker 1: See y'all next. Weak Grace