Speaker 1: Welcome back to Unplugged. We're in the midst of our
Speaker 1: la all the smoke run Jack. We got a chance
Speaker 1: to sit down with Vernon mad Maxwell at all start,
Speaker 1: and that ship is going crazy right now.
Speaker 2: Man, tell the truth, y'all got a nigga out here
Speaker 2: for working. Y'all just wanted to make me work more
Speaker 2: while we're seeing there.
Speaker 1: That's what it is. You don't even come in on
Speaker 1: the mad Match.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm gonna do that, but I just want to
Speaker 2: say that first I knew I was in here. Let's
Speaker 2: get this nigga on right now to shoot Unplugged.
Speaker 1: Why he here?
Speaker 2: So we got a text him thirty times Sunday right Bill,
Speaker 2: Mindelia that you do be taking my.
Speaker 1: Bad Another stat though, is he broke Kendrick Perkins motherfucker's
Speaker 1: on that episode, which I never thought could happen. Is
Speaker 1: there any truth to her keen slapping the shit out
Speaker 1: of you at halftime? One time said there's a lot
Speaker 1: of truth to it, A lot of truth.
Speaker 3: Yes, that motherfucker Likerapers has on the ground, And oh
Speaker 3: my goodness, hit me so goddamn heart wisdom, Seattle, every
Speaker 3: damn things having Seattle, God damn. But wisdom shadow was
Speaker 3: I was mine. I was having a bad first half,
Speaker 3: and ship we was playing Gary in them and Sean
Speaker 3: Kemp and all the motherfuckers. They had a squad over
Speaker 3: that motherfucker. Uh double deuces, Ricky Pierce, they had all
Speaker 3: they had a squad or whatever. Dannum barrows they have
Speaker 3: a squad. They just had a bunch of motherfuckers can
Speaker 3: Bay so Derrick m Kid. Then now I'm having a
Speaker 3: bad first half. I'm like, damn, you know how long
Speaker 3: that fucking walk is Seattle Locking. Yeah, It's like motherfucker
Speaker 3: walking fucking this ship around the blobber, round this damn
Speaker 3: building to come back in here. I mean they're walking
Speaker 3: so long.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So I'm mind.
Speaker 3: When I'm getting mad, I should spend.
Speaker 1: I'm walking.
Speaker 3: I'm spitting in the niggas, Uh Sam sitting up and
Speaker 3: Robbert beside me. Man, it's gonna be alright, MAT's go on,
Speaker 3: Man gonna be okay. Man, Fuck that ship, man, these
Speaker 3: niggas ain't giving me the ball.
Speaker 1: This nigga won't pass the ball. Man, Fuck this ship.
Speaker 3: So dream behind me and dream like Maxie, what the
Speaker 3: fuck is you doing? That Ship's not professional? Don't do
Speaker 3: that ship. Stop that ship.
Speaker 1: I was like, dream man, fuck that ship. I'm tired
Speaker 1: of you too.
Speaker 5: Why would I say that ship?
Speaker 3: Now, I shouldn't have said that, because he came in
Speaker 3: and put this goddamn hands up, bigger hands on me
Speaker 3: in the locker room. Oh man, he.
Speaker 1: Slapped the ship out. Then I saw.
Speaker 3: Coming from the back wall man, way from the back.
Speaker 3: They slapped ship out of me so hard. I mean,
Speaker 3: I thought, I'm motherfucker punched me. He slapped out of
Speaker 3: men hand.
Speaker 1: Ship man, slap ship out of me. Man. Then they
Speaker 1: killed me. But but but but hey, but knowing you,
Speaker 1: you had to do what you do well.
Speaker 5: You try to get you, try to get yourself together.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you're.
Speaker 3: Well. I got you know, I went crazy and that
Speaker 3: motherfucker everybody was running and scrambling that. There's a lot
Speaker 3: of motherfucker scrambling and that motherfucker when I got there
Speaker 3: doing I was doing. I was crazy.
Speaker 5: It's only one thing after nigga, like, that's left you got.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get that too.
Speaker 3: Always on the road, we wave mother fucking way all
Speaker 3: the way across the country. We all got there.
Speaker 1: We way over there in Seattle. Damn Houston. I know
Speaker 1: what ship.
Speaker 2: Next is a Star bro, He's a star. I knew
Speaker 2: it was gonna be a funny episode. I haven't watched
Speaker 2: the episode probably two or three times. I haven't watched
Speaker 2: no other episode we've done two or three times. I
Speaker 2: promise you haven't. I probably watched Kobe once twice, but
Speaker 2: this episode is my most watched.
Speaker 1: Newest member to the All the Smoke Family, Max, Welcome
Speaker 1: burn Out. Oh my god, we have him back soon, Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: Hot Out of Phoenix. Budenholzer recently had Devin Booker come
Speaker 1: to his office and told his book he needs to
Speaker 1: tone it down. Butenholzer, Booty Holzer, he wants his voice.
Speaker 1: He wants his voice to be more prominent. Bootenholzer wants that,
Speaker 1: which is crazy. I've never heard of coach tell a
Speaker 1: star player that he needs to tone it down. And
Speaker 1: I heard the book talk after that and saying that
Speaker 1: a lack of communication feels like it's one of the
Speaker 1: reasons why this team has struggled. And he's tired of
Speaker 1: here and let's get him next game. At some point,
Speaker 1: you got to drive hi motherfucking line and we got
Speaker 1: to win. Now, Stack, you had Butenholzer in San Antonio,
Speaker 1: very impressive regular season record throughout his career, but hasn't
Speaker 1: been able to get it done in the playoffs. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure if his style translates anymore. But also at
Speaker 1: the same time, Devin Bookers had seven head coaches in
Speaker 1: his ten years. That's Phoenix a laundry list? Is this ownership?
Speaker 1: Is it? Butenholzer has the game passed him? What do
Speaker 1: you see out of Phoenix since the ship show over there?
Speaker 1: First and foremost I mean you.
Speaker 2: Said, is it just looked like he hasn't been able
Speaker 2: to build a real relationship with nobody. You know, him
Speaker 2: and Budd don't have a type of relationship They've had
Speaker 2: that time to to have the respect. You know, Tim
Speaker 2: Duncan and Great Poppers was together for a while. So
Speaker 2: when Pop cut him off or you know, made made
Speaker 2: Tim be the reason why he can get on other guys,
Speaker 2: you know, Tim embraced it because they had a relationship.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying with the respect was mutual,
Speaker 2: I don't think the respect is mutual because they haven't
Speaker 2: been around each other long enough. Then again, Bro Bud
Speaker 2: was an offensive coach when I was there. He wasn't
Speaker 2: the coach for communicating. That was Mike Brown. Mike Brown
Speaker 2: communicate with guys, and he was at the bud was
Speaker 2: strictly for offense. He didn't come in the locker room
Speaker 2: to talk and get guys ready to play. Or he
Speaker 2: wasn't the guy to come in get your shot. You
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. He wasn't that guy, but he would.
Speaker 2: He's still a great coach because he grew, he came
Speaker 2: up under Pop, and he had had some success in
Speaker 2: the league. But to say this for Devns, I mean
Speaker 2: for books point of it's impossible for him to even
Speaker 2: sit there or even want to grow with this team
Speaker 2: when you don't have a coach that you can build with,
Speaker 2: because that's where you really get your confidence. When I
Speaker 2: talk about Don Nelson all the time, like I bounced
Speaker 2: around too and played with different coaches. But that's why
Speaker 2: he's my favorite, because when I got down was they
Speaker 2: were spending some time with him, and he also gave
Speaker 2: me that confidence. And having a coach like that was
Speaker 2: just coming in and you ain't been building no rapport with.
Speaker 5: Him, It's not gonna work, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: And that's and you know what, Matt, that's the reason
Speaker 2: why it's other turmoil going on in the organization, You
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying, because it's not good on that bench,
Speaker 2: and I can see, I can see all those guys
Speaker 2: trying to get up out of them.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously It'sha's idea to bring in Bradley Beal
Speaker 1: on a note trade deal. I think that clogged up
Speaker 1: the whole entire trade deadline for this Phoenix team. But
Speaker 1: not that Bradley Beil is a bad player, because I
Speaker 1: definitely know he's not. But it was just from the
Speaker 1: outside looking in, we knew you're bringing him three straight scorers,
Speaker 1: that that wasn't gonna work, and they wanted to move
Speaker 1: him at the debt deadline and possibly get Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 1: That didn't work, and then you throw Kd's name in there,
Speaker 1: and now you got KD a little because he never knew.
Speaker 1: You know why am I being thrown in this ship
Speaker 1: when I didn't ask or no one talked to me
Speaker 1: about it. Katie's got one year left. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: how much time Booker has left. But do you see
Speaker 1: they're these guys getting out of Phoenix at the end
Speaker 1: of the year.
Speaker 2: I hope so I would like to see him like
Speaker 2: that because I want to see these guys win. You know,
Speaker 2: Book is a great player, Katie's a great player. I
Speaker 2: don't think it's gonna happen there. You know, once that
Speaker 2: started happing with the side, the riffs start happened on
Speaker 2: the sideline with the coach. Then next thing you know,
Speaker 2: he's gonna be players talking about the coach. The next
Speaker 2: you know, the players gonna be going to the office
Speaker 2: talking about So it's too much friction. Everybody got to
Speaker 2: be on the same page to win, and they not
Speaker 2: know what's loosed up.
Speaker 1: I mean, what are we two, three, maybe four years
Speaker 1: move from James Jones making a bunch of great moves
Speaker 1: and getting Phoenix on the map and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: now one bad move can fuck it all of them
Speaker 1: bucket all up. I mean, chemistry matters. Is this an
Speaker 1: issue with new owners coming into the game and kind
Speaker 1: of being fans and not really looking at the business
Speaker 1: of basketball. We see it with HBO, We've seen him
Speaker 1: with the new ownership with Dallas. It's interesting because again
Speaker 1: that that at the top is where everything starts, and
Speaker 1: if they're not basketball savvy, and understanding the game, and
Speaker 1: they're fans of the game, and sometimes that ship just
Speaker 1: doesn't work. But if if, if, I love to see
Speaker 1: Booker get out. But if KD leaves Jack was he
Speaker 1: thirty six? How was Kitty thirty six years old? He'll
Speaker 1: be up for an extension after next season. He's probably
Speaker 1: going to get a lot of money for that extension,
Speaker 1: maybe a three year extension. Where do you do you
Speaker 1: see any any suitable landing spots for KD? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would love to see KD in Dallas with Kyrie and Ad.
Speaker 1: They can happen, if they possibly could make that happen.
Speaker 1: I also would like to see book or somewhere Where's
Speaker 1: Booker from Bookers from the Midwest? Right Detroit? Hey, I
Speaker 1: would love to see him go back. I would love
Speaker 1: to go back home.
Speaker 5: And with the way they going, they start building, you
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: I think that'll be a great piece to keep that
Speaker 2: organization going in the right direction.
Speaker 5: Wow, he's home. That'd be I'll be grateful.
Speaker 1: Book That'd be crazy. I didn't think about that today.
Speaker 1: A and D book not even shout out to Detroit.
Speaker 1: We shall see, Yeah, I mean, you know, since we're
Speaker 1: talking about that. Did Detroit this give the Detroit pissing
Speaker 1: some love man thirty one wins in the last two
Speaker 1: seasons prior to this year. I think they're currently sitting
Speaker 1: at what thirty two to thirty three wins if I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken, sixth in the West eight straight wins. Kate
Speaker 1: Cuttingham as an odds in for most improved Player. What
Speaker 1: have you seen from this team? Jack? I mean top
Speaker 1: ten in scoring, top five and assists. Beasley has been
Speaker 1: a big addition to this team, averaging sixteen points youot
Speaker 1: over forty two percent from the three point line. One
Speaker 1: of the Thompson twins is they're making his presence felt.
Speaker 1: Thoughts on Detroit and JB. Shout out to JB because
Speaker 1: I thought of unjust firing from Cleveland right he was
Speaker 1: having to see solid over in Cleveland, gets fired and
Speaker 1: heads on over to Detroit and completely has changed his
Speaker 1: team around. You have a bunch of guys on that team.
Speaker 2: You could tell they all playing for so contract and
Speaker 2: that's just what is you know, and you know contracts
Speaker 2: where the guys are playing for respect. You know what,
Speaker 2: Guys that don't want to be on the sorry team,
Speaker 2: don't want to go through what they went through last year,
Speaker 2: Like you could tell whatever it is that everybody on
Speaker 2: this team is playing for something. Even the coach, he's
Speaker 2: coaching for something, you know what I'm saying, for where
Speaker 2: they did him last year. So I think I love
Speaker 2: and I would love to be a part of stuff
Speaker 2: like that, you know what I'm saying, because we have
Speaker 2: a reason. The pride is that a passion is there
Speaker 2: and that's why they having success. Along with k Cunningham
Speaker 2: showing that he belongs to be talked about in the
Speaker 2: top player the top players in the league.
Speaker 5: Also, so we're talking about Detroit A sorry, one of
Speaker 5: the twins been bothering man.
Speaker 1: He's been playing.
Speaker 2: I think defensively, him and his brother are the probably
Speaker 2: 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 the I mean, those
Speaker 1: kids are Northern California kids. I think they're from Odeo.
Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken. They took the overtime Elite angle and obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, being twins and me having twins on my own,
Speaker 1: and it's just fun to see them do what they're doing.
Speaker 1: Two of the most athletic explosive guys, dogs play with
Speaker 1: high energy and again big part of the rotation in
Speaker 1: Detroit and obviously another big part of the rotation in Houston.
Speaker 1: So he crossed them and he turned he turned Tatum around. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is interesting. I remember seeing this a while ago,
Speaker 1: that the Thompson's twins mom made them commit to this. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, just kind of accountability as far as push up,
Speaker 1: sit ups, caf raises, reading, just being productive young teenagers
Speaker 1: at the time, and they stuck with that. And now
Speaker 1: we see these guys and I think their second year,
Speaker 1: right second year, really starting to come out of their
Speaker 1: shell and being major players in this game now. So
Speaker 1: I'm happy for JB. I'm happy for Kid, I'm happy
Speaker 1: for Detroit. Detroit has been struggling for a while, and
Speaker 1: you know the fact that they've done this the right
Speaker 1: way through drafts and and free agency and got a
Speaker 1: coach that they really like and the players have bought into.
Speaker 1: If they can land to Devin Booker, look.
Speaker 2: Out, will we see history one day? Well the twins
Speaker 2: are both first team All Defense. That'll be crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's I mean, this is interesting again, these guys
Speaker 1: played you know, ote and you along I think Rob
Speaker 1: Dilly and who the other guy saw took the OTV rut.
Speaker 1: And we look at college basketball and all these crazy
Speaker 1: stupid ass rules with juco players that could play two
Speaker 1: years and then still coming and be freshmen, and now
Speaker 1: they're giving people five years. And this Alabama team is
Speaker 1: number one in the country but they have a twenty
Speaker 1: six year old and a twenty five year old. Like
Speaker 1: this shit is crazy. But I say all that to
Speaker 1: say is there's just so many different lanes to the
Speaker 1: NBA now, whether you want to do what you know
Speaker 1: Brandon Jennings did and Mellow did and go over the
Speaker 1: water for your one year and then come back and
Speaker 1: do your thing if you want to actually go to college,
Speaker 1: but you know, the way colleges college is a mess
Speaker 1: right now. And then obviously OTE shout out to Ote
Speaker 1: and what they've been able to create over there and
Speaker 1: the kids they be of operating tunities too. But it's
Speaker 1: really interesting, Jackie, as someone who came straight to the league,
Speaker 1: do you see the league in the next few years
Speaker 1: kind of moving that rule and allowing kids to make
Speaker 1: that jump again? I hope.
Speaker 2: So, I mean, you know, college is very beneficial for
Speaker 2: a lot of kids now, but you know of people
Speaker 2: still don't want to go to school, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. And that's just what it boils down to.
Speaker 2: If I can make the money and not go to school.
Speaker 2: Because then again, you got so many young black millionaires
Speaker 2: now that's that's making money. And if they didn't get
Speaker 2: their skills all they talent from education, you know, they
Speaker 2: sitting at home, sitting in front of computers making blogs
Speaker 2: and stuff like that. So definitely you should be able
Speaker 2: to go to you know, my all my thing is
Speaker 2: if you can go to war the A team, you
Speaker 2: should be able to play basketball in the sport to
Speaker 2: take care of your family.
Speaker 1: That Recently, Lebron James was asked about Anthony Edwards' comments
Speaker 1: about being the face of the league and who is
Speaker 1: and who isn't? Who would want to be Take a
Speaker 1: look at this clip and ain't trying to deal with that?
Speaker 6: And uh, I mean Channy Fry said it the other
Speaker 6: day too, Like.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's unfortunate, but like.
Speaker 6: I don't know, when you why do you want to
Speaker 6: be the face of a league when all the all
Speaker 6: the all the people that you know that cover our
Speaker 6: game and talk about our game on the day to
Speaker 6: day basic everybody we had that responsibility. That's it's just weird.
Speaker 6: It's weird energy from the people that.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 6: I don't know, but changing he said it, he said
Speaker 6: it perfectly. Couldn't set it no better. But Ant said
Speaker 6: he don't want it.
Speaker 1: I didn't.
Speaker 6: I mean, obviously I didn't ask for it, but I
Speaker 6: knew there was a responsibility for me not only to
Speaker 6: my family, my friends, my community, and and and whoever
Speaker 6: that was gonna follow my my my journey throughout my career,
Speaker 6: not only in Ohio when I started there, but all
Speaker 6: all over America and all over the world when I
Speaker 6: traveled all over the world. So I've always taken that
Speaker 6: seriously and understand and understood from the beginning what what
Speaker 6: being a professional.
Speaker 1: Was all about and being a role model was all about.
Speaker 6: So tried to hold that with the utmost uh respect
Speaker 6: and honor. And but I feel Ant, I understand, I
Speaker 6: completely understand.
Speaker 1: This is weird and when it comes to that, so
Speaker 1: last question, appreciate it, Jack thoughts.
Speaker 2: I kind of look at that both ways. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of people that are covering basketball. I talk about
Speaker 2: the game that never played. So I agree with him.
Speaker 2: They say some wild shit. But then again, to whom
Speaker 2: much is given, much is required, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I know a lot of people that would die to
Speaker 2: be called the face of the NBA and be able
Speaker 2: to deal with the slander, whether it's good or bad
Speaker 2: and not and then just let it, you know, dust
Speaker 2: it off their shoulder and keep it going.
Speaker 5: So I look at it both ways.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got a lot of people talk about a
Speaker 2: lot of stuff that have never been in the NBA
Speaker 2: locker room, that couldn't make a church league team a
Speaker 2: church league team. I get it, but they and they
Speaker 2: say some crazy things. But at the same time, like
Speaker 2: I said, to whom much is given, much is required.
Speaker 2: I would rather deal with that, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: and be the face of the league than not have
Speaker 2: that opportunity.
Speaker 1: To be there. I mean, I think it's just such
Speaker 1: a huge badge of honor to be the face of anything,
Speaker 1: particularly the face of the NBA. And I think we
Speaker 1: live in the day and age now where the negativity
Speaker 1: is always going to be louder than the love. And
Speaker 1: I think that's the aspect of social media and clickbait
Speaker 1: media come with. It's just a lot of jealousy and
Speaker 1: a lot of hate. You take Jason Tatum, take Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum's resume. Why is he not the face so so?
Speaker 1: Colin Cowherd just say he's paraphrase, he's just kind of boring.
Speaker 1: But look at his accolades, Look what he does on
Speaker 1: the court, Look what he's accomplished, you know, and not
Speaker 1: wanting it. But you know, you never know if he's
Speaker 1: serious or joking around. But it's just a different it's
Speaker 1: a different time now, it's a different time. I think
Speaker 1: guys like Lebron and KD who came in in a
Speaker 1: different era are kind of hurt from a standpoint of
Speaker 1: the way the game's being talked about. But they also
Speaker 1: have to realize, Jack, I'll say this, sometimes when you're
Speaker 1: in a fuck the relationship, you don't know it's fucked
Speaker 1: up until you're out of it. Right, the product of
Speaker 1: the NBA is just not very good right now. Playoffs
Speaker 1: heats up, but the regular season for the last few
Speaker 1: years hasn't been good. And I'm sure it's hard for
Speaker 1: guys like Lebron and KD and stuff who are at
Speaker 1: the end of incredible runs. Three the greatest players will
Speaker 1: ever see, possibly all three Top ten guys the game's
Speaker 1: ever seen, but towards the back end of their career.
Speaker 1: Now towards the end of their career, like the product,
Speaker 1: this newer age is coming in with a different vibe
Speaker 1: and like KG says, a newer lens and it's just
Speaker 1: not the same thing. But sometimes I think if Katie
Speaker 1: and Lebron were able to take a step out of
Speaker 1: the situation and take themselves away from the current game
Speaker 1: they're in and they love and kind of look at
Speaker 1: what it is on a day to day basis, they
Speaker 1: would understand what the outside people are looking at. I
Speaker 1: don't ever recall when we were playing that people were
Speaker 1: saying this is a bad product. I don't recall that.
Speaker 1: I mean to late nineties, early two thousands, the game
Speaker 1: was the game and it was incredible. So again I
Speaker 1: get where he's coming back, you know, And like you said,
Speaker 1: a lot, a lot is given, a lot is going
Speaker 1: to be required, and the hate will always be louder
Speaker 1: than the love. But I just think it's such a
Speaker 1: huge honor to be the face of the league, and
Speaker 1: to me, I think Jason Tatum should be at the
Speaker 1: top of that list. There's a lot of international players
Speaker 1: that are on that list, and obviously Anthony Edwards getting
Speaker 1: his mind right. As great as he is, you see
Speaker 1: young shit coming out of him every once in a while,
Speaker 1: like when he was disappointed or mad about being double team.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's an honor, bro, you know what I mean? Like,
Speaker 1: how do you get better from being double team? So
Speaker 1: I think is at the top of that list for
Speaker 1: American players. I think Job would be listed as one
Speaker 1: of those guys if he wasn't in so much off
Speaker 1: the court dumb shit. We have a lot of American talent,
Speaker 1: but these guys have to embrace this because you would
Speaker 1: never hear someone like a Mike or Kobe or whoever
Speaker 1: was next in line, even the Lebron because he wasn't
Speaker 1: talking about it when he was handed you the crown
Speaker 1: of being the face of the league. It's just a
Speaker 1: different energy now, and you know, hopefully these young guys
Speaker 1: start to embracing and say fuck everything else because it
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter. Right. Transitioning into some postseason awards, do
Speaker 1: some picks want to put some push ups on the line.
Speaker 1: Let's see, Jack, Let's see what is going on. Let's
Speaker 1: see and I'll give you first pick for everything. Regular
Speaker 1: season MVP. Who do you got, Come on, man, fly guy.
Speaker 1: SGA is the heavy favorite and mind five hundred, with
Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic next at three point fifty, and then after
Speaker 1: that it's a it's a landslide, so it looks like
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a two man race. SGA is incredible,
Speaker 1: nothing you can say. It's got his team at the
Speaker 1: top of the Western Conference by the average thirty for
Speaker 1: thirty years straight. But then on the flip side with
Speaker 1: Jokic has been able to do team a little lord,
Speaker 1: what is his team third or fourth? Third in the
Speaker 1: Western Conference? But his numbers have been better than his
Speaker 1: previous MVP nods, So I think this is is a
Speaker 1: two man race. You're gonna go with SGA. Cl guy,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with SGA two. So no loser there.
Speaker 1: Most improved saw the list Here at the top is
Speaker 1: Kate Cuttingham minus two forty. Next up my UCLA brother
Speaker 1: Norman pal Out here with the LA Clippers at plus
Speaker 1: two twenty, and then there's a huge fall off, so
Speaker 1: again this is a two man race. Again, Jack, who
Speaker 1: you got? You know, I don't eat what I do
Speaker 1: like k cunning down. I like Kate a lot too,
Speaker 1: and he's probably gonna get it. But just to throw
Speaker 1: in a dark horse and we can't agree with everything same,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Norman pal I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: my Brewin brother next up defensive player of the year
Speaker 1: with Wimby being knocked out, and move someone else other
Speaker 1: players up to the top. Evan Mobley, who's on Cleveland,
Speaker 1: who has what they have a top five defense, top five,
Speaker 1: top six defense, he's a plus one fifteen. Then Jaron
Speaker 1: Jackson at one forty five, and then there's a steep
Speaker 1: fall off after that. I don't see Rudy Rudy Gobert, Yeah,
Speaker 1: plus ten thousand, right pass on him this year? Jack
Speaker 1: who you got just the.
Speaker 2: Way Cleves has been playing, and you know, I satid
Speaker 2: they've been all year.
Speaker 1: You got it.
Speaker 2: Defense wings perhaps definitely wins games, and you got to
Speaker 2: give it to the guy in the middle over there
Speaker 2: has been holding the down.
Speaker 1: Gonna go with Evan Mobley. I'm not mad at that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with the dark horse here, and I
Speaker 1: feel like a guy that, if I'm not mistaken, has
Speaker 1: never made an All NBA defensive team but plays on
Speaker 1: the number one team in the Western Conference, someone who
Speaker 1: can guard one through four, a body full of muscle.
Speaker 1: Lou Dort, Yeah, I coached him in the Iverson game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: loud solid. He's really come a long way with this
Speaker 1: game as his efficiency shooting, but just his lockdown in
Speaker 1: cinternation defense. If he's not Defensive Player of the Year,
Speaker 1: which he probably won't be, I hope that he is
Speaker 1: a first team All NBA Defender six Man of the Year, Jack,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go first this time at minus one sixty.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with my little leprechaun homie out there
Speaker 1: in Boston, Peyton Pritcher as the next NBA six Man year.
Speaker 1: Also other guys Malik Beasley's on that, DeAndre Hunter, nas
Speaker 1: Reed a Men, Thompson, Russell Westbrook. Those are the top
Speaker 1: six betting favorites. Who you going with? Man?
Speaker 2: You know they've just been trying to give Peyton Pitcher
Speaker 2: something for the last three four years, trying to get it.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, you know.
Speaker 2: Everything, the champions had two shots from half court. Now
Speaker 2: he the half court king, Like this is crazy. I'm
Speaker 2: going with a million. Timson bro I'm going.
Speaker 1: On the Twins. Yeah, I'm You're definitely, but half court
Speaker 1: Kings don't listen to that hate over here. I can't.
Speaker 1: Let's go where are we last, but not least Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year coach Kenny Atkinson. Man shout out to
Speaker 1: what he's been able to do over there in Cleveland
Speaker 1: after leaving the Warriors bench. I think he turned down
Speaker 1: a couple jobs leading up to this because he knew
Speaker 1: they were bullshit as teams and he probably would have
Speaker 1: been fired quickly. Made the right move. But he's the
Speaker 1: betting favorite of minus five hundred JB. Bickerstaff plus four
Speaker 1: twenty five, and then after that it's a landslide. So
Speaker 1: I think it's a two man race here, Jack, who
Speaker 1: you got? I'm going to email man. I like what
Speaker 1: he's doing in Houston.
Speaker 2: Man, I just I just you know, I'm from Texas board,
Speaker 2: but he may you know, has been through a lot
Speaker 2: and to bounce back to what he's doing with these
Speaker 2: young guys, got these guys playing the way he's supposed to.
Speaker 1: I like it. I think he's one of the best
Speaker 1: coaches in the NBA. Agreed. I think the way he
Speaker 1: thinks and I think just the way he approached the
Speaker 1: game when he played had given him a huge upper
Speaker 1: hand on this coaching run. And what he's been able
Speaker 1: to do with a very young team in Houston and
Speaker 1: keep all those guys together. I feel like they're a
Speaker 1: piece away from really being a threat in the West.
Speaker 1: But I'm not mad at this. I'm gonna go with JB.
Speaker 1: Bickerstaff Man being fired for Cleveland for pretty much no
Speaker 1: reason and then be able to go over to Detroit
Speaker 1: and completely flip this organization around. They won thirty one
Speaker 1: games prior to this year and two years combined, and
Speaker 1: they're at, you know, thirty two thirty three wins this
Speaker 1: year with twenty five games to go. And again, Detroit
Speaker 1: deserves this, so I'm excited for the city of Detroit.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna go with JB. Bicker staff I got
Speaker 1: a chance to sit down with one of the most
Speaker 1: legendary photographers in the game. Has caught your favorite players
Speaker 1: for the last thirty or forty years. Take a look
Speaker 1: at my sit down interview with Andy Bernstein. I'd like
Speaker 1: to welcome to the show man one of my favorite photographers,
Speaker 1: a guy that's been in the business for forty plus
Speaker 1: years and just retired. I couldn't believe I heard the news. Well,
Speaker 1: welcome to the show, legendary Andrew Bernstein.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Matt. Appreciate to see men too. You've officially
Speaker 4: retired after three years. Yeah, it took a little while,
Speaker 4: I mean four decades.
Speaker 1: Well we see MJ return it at interview. Are you
Speaker 1: done done? No? No.
Speaker 4: I went to see my back specialty specialist and he said,
Speaker 4: you know, I think you got to walk off the.
Speaker 1: Court while you still can walk off the court. Now.
Speaker 4: My back was a mess, and I've been struggling the
Speaker 4: last few years with the traveling and just the schlepping
Speaker 4: around a lot. And you know, I still love doing it.
Speaker 4: And I left when I felt it was time to go.
Speaker 4: But the NBA was great about sort of weaning me
Speaker 4: off the court less road games. I was doing like
Speaker 4: every third game at home. So it was a good
Speaker 4: time to.
Speaker 1: Go forty three years and around all sports, not just NBA.
Speaker 1: We were talking before we got on air about you know,
Speaker 1: my team is the Niners, and you're talking about I
Speaker 1: go back with Montana and Rice and Steve Young at
Speaker 1: the old Candlestick Parks. I mean, what got you in
Speaker 1: to photography, but particularly sports photography.
Speaker 4: Well, I was a kid I was fourteen, my dad
Speaker 4: bought me my first camera, and I wasn't interested at
Speaker 4: all in photography, but we took a trip to the
Speaker 4: Western United States up in Brooklyn, so the furthest west
Speaker 4: avergot was New Jersey. So what I got to see,
Speaker 4: you know, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite and all the
Speaker 4: great national parks. And he taught me all the basics
Speaker 4: for a photography, but you know, it was film cameras
Speaker 4: and all manual stuff and all that business, and I
Speaker 4: had to just learn on the fly, and I just
Speaker 4: took to it. It was kind of like maybe the
Speaker 4: first time you went out on the court when you
Speaker 4: were a kid and you just fell in love with
Speaker 4: the game and bouncing the ball.
Speaker 1: And that's how I felt.
Speaker 4: And I took it, you know, I took it seriously
Speaker 4: in high school, and I went to college for it
Speaker 4: at UMass in the shadow of doctor J I came
Speaker 4: in after him and then transferred out here in my
Speaker 4: junior year to a place called Arts Center and became
Speaker 4: an assistant for Sports Illustrated. And that's really where I
Speaker 4: got my on the job training, going NBA games and
Speaker 4: learning how to light arenas like poly Pavilion and near
Speaker 4: and dear to your heart, and the Forum and of
Speaker 4: course the old sports arena for how hockey and basketball primarily. Now,
Speaker 4: I was just in the right place at the right time.
Speaker 4: I you know, was there at the beginning of showtime
Speaker 4: and the NBA was starting to ramp up their need
Speaker 4: for photography and uh, you know, Brooklyn guy, I have
Speaker 4: a little bit of moxie in me and was able
Speaker 4: to kind of push the door open a little bit,
Speaker 4: kind of create some opportunity for myself.
Speaker 1: I mean, looking back, and again, you'd literally just retired
Speaker 1: in May, but can you give me possibly your top
Speaker 1: three to five moments you feel like you've personally covered. Ooh,
Speaker 1: that's a good one.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, MBA wise, I could give you a
Speaker 4: million of them, a little probably fifty of them.
Speaker 1: But you know, I was there for Kirk Gibson's home run.
Speaker 4: I was working for the Dodgers back then, and that
Speaker 4: was monument eighty eight game won the World Series. It
Speaker 4: felt like I felt like, literally that the stadium was
Speaker 4: going to crack in half. It was so unbelievable. And
Speaker 4: then you know, Jordan's first championship, which at the time
Speaker 4: was pretty monumental because it took them seven years to
Speaker 4: get there, but none of us knew, of course, that
Speaker 4: he had by more coming. All the time I spent
Speaker 4: with Showtime with you know, Riley and Magic and all
Speaker 4: those guys, it was just amazing. And of course it
Speaker 4: was with Phil Phil Jackson for all eleven of his championships.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 4: So I was the first guy always in the locker room.
Speaker 4: I remember this like it was yesterday. And the first
Speaker 4: year he won with the Bulls, I'm the first guy
Speaker 4: in the locker room, champagne, the whole thing, and then
Speaker 4: he sees me in there. You know, Phil was always
Speaker 4: knew what was going on in his locker room. Second
Speaker 4: year I ended up. I'm in the locker room, first
Speaker 4: guy in. He's given me the eye third time, and
Speaker 4: he goes, this is going to become a habit.
Speaker 1: High Andy.
Speaker 4: I said, well, I hope so, coach, because I loved
Speaker 4: the here, so you know, that was great. And then
Speaker 4: of course spending twenty years with the Mamba was as
Speaker 4: an experience was amazing. And I can't leave out the
Speaker 4: Dream Team because the Dream Team. If I could have
Speaker 4: retired after the Dream Team experience would have been a
Speaker 4: good career.
Speaker 1: But it was just at the start. But obviously it's
Speaker 1: not just obviously photography. You're around these guys. Obviously you
Speaker 1: and Kobe were business partners and you were his personal guy.
Speaker 1: But you were around Michael, and you're around Joe Montana
Speaker 1: and all these guys in Phil and Kobe and Shaq.
Speaker 4: I mean, what was that experience? Like you were around
Speaker 4: the greatest of the greatest across the board. Well, you know,
Speaker 4: you guys are just guys. You know, you happen to
Speaker 4: play a sport that I love, and you're tremendous athletes,
Speaker 4: all of you guys. But when it comes down to it,
Speaker 4: we all share common stuff. You know, we're all just
Speaker 4: trying to make it in our profession. You know, I
Speaker 4: was glad to be there to help document showtime and
Speaker 4: help document the Shaq and Kobe era and Jordan era,
Speaker 4: and I think there was some appreciation of that. I
Speaker 4: guess that some of my photos tended to sort of
Speaker 4: live on But I just loved the one on one conversation.
Speaker 4: I mean, you and I had I don't know how
Speaker 4: many conversations in locker room and after a game or
Speaker 4: practice or on the bus or whatever, and that's that
Speaker 4: was the most fun just hanging with the guys.
Speaker 1: Really talk to us about when you first met Kobe
Speaker 1: and how the relationship lasted a lifetime.
Speaker 4: Well, he was, he was quite a phenomenon coming out
Speaker 4: of high school. Although honestly, I don't know about you,
Speaker 4: but like being on the West Coast, we didn't hear
Speaker 4: that much about him. I mean, he's a kid out
Speaker 4: of Philadelphi, suburban Philadelphia. The Lakers made this crazy trade
Speaker 4: with beloved Vladi Devots going to Charlotte and then if
Speaker 4: you remember, Vlati like threatened to retire, which would have
Speaker 4: kabash the whole trade. But somehow Jerry West was able
Speaker 4: to make some magic. And you know, hear this kid
Speaker 4: comes out. He just turned eighteen years old, and he's
Speaker 4: in front of me on media day, and you know
Speaker 4: what media days like.
Speaker 1: It's like chaos.
Speaker 4: It's like giant circus sets all over the Laker gym
Speaker 4: and you guys have to go from one set to
Speaker 4: the next, you know, doing an interview, photo shoot and
Speaker 4: marketing thing and whatever. And he came on my set
Speaker 4: and for his first headshot in the Laker uniform, and
Speaker 4: like any new player probably did this with you that
Speaker 4: you know, if I don't know you. I walk in
Speaker 4: and before I take the picture, go and introduce myself.
Speaker 4: You know, it's a respectful thing. I say, hey, Kobe,
Speaker 4: I'm Andy Bernsey. I'm your team photographer. And he literally
Speaker 4: is shaking my hand, looking me in the eye with
Speaker 4: those eyes.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: He goes, well, I know who you are, man, you
Speaker 4: know wow, And yeah, I'm thinking it's kind of a
Speaker 4: smart ass thing to say.
Speaker 1: You think so?
Speaker 4: I mean, who says that to somebody? Because and I
Speaker 4: said to him, I said, I don't know how that's
Speaker 4: possible because we never met. And he goes and he
Speaker 4: literally did in a beat, he said, well, I had
Speaker 4: all your posters in my room growing up, and in
Speaker 4: that instant that it is Likeames, but who reads photo credits.
Speaker 1: On a poster? For God's him? Him? Him?
Speaker 4: And I came to learn over the years, especially when
Speaker 4: we did our book together, that he just didn't want
Speaker 4: a nice poster of MJ or Doctor J or Isaiah
Speaker 4: or Magic, all the guys that he wanted to be like.
Speaker 4: He studied it like, you know, almost like a surgeon
Speaker 4: was dissecting something, and in those beautiful photos, he was
Speaker 4: breaking down everything. Muscle tone, what the guy's looking at
Speaker 4: you know, where his hips are in relation to his hands,
Speaker 4: all that stuff. And I know, from that moment on,
Speaker 4: I just knew there was something about this kid that
Speaker 4: you know, I was twenty years older than him at
Speaker 4: the time.
Speaker 1: He's eighteen, I was thirty eight.
Speaker 4: And then he kind of reminded me a little bit
Speaker 4: of me at eighteen. Yeah, kind of a smart ass
Speaker 4: it but also wanting to prove himself. You know, he
Speaker 4: was literally a boy among men, and he looked like
Speaker 4: he was fourteen. I mean he really did, and you know,
Speaker 4: skinny as anything, and that relationship just just built over time.
Speaker 1: Same question I just asked, four, do you have five
Speaker 1: favorites of Kobe oh Man? Great, you got all of them.
Speaker 1: But well, there was some stuff during USA Basketball. It
Speaker 1: wasn't there when he won the gold either time, but
Speaker 1: just just seeing him around the guys was great. The
Speaker 1: famous kind of moment of Shack carrying him on his
Speaker 1: back in Indiana, I think it was Game two or
Speaker 1: something regarding a couple of game winners I was there
Speaker 1: for twenty ten. Was amazing in the locker room where
Speaker 1: the guys are just showering him with champagne and he's
Speaker 1: got his arms out and some great moments, some great
Speaker 1: moments with his family. You know, we just passed the
Speaker 1: anniversary and I was just looking back on some photos
Speaker 1: of he and Gigi together, and you know, it breaks
Speaker 1: all our heart, but I was just so glad to
Speaker 1: be there to document it. That from Vanessa now.
Speaker 4: So you know, he was just he was He was
Speaker 4: one of a kind.
Speaker 1: Really, the Achilles game versus the Warriors. You were in
Speaker 1: that building was what was the energy like when that happened.
Speaker 4: I had never been in a place that size that
Speaker 4: you could hear a pin drop because everybody knew something happened.
Speaker 4: It was such an innocuous thing. As you remember, he
Speaker 4: made a move and boom went down like a ton
Speaker 4: of bricks. I was on the other end, so I
Speaker 4: actually had a good angle and had him actually towards you, right, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 4: but he was like on the other other side of
Speaker 4: the court. Yeah, And just like the sea parted and
Speaker 4: I was able to get a picture of him going
Speaker 4: right to his Achilles in the moment.
Speaker 1: And then Gary came out.
Speaker 4: As you remember, and and they go they go to
Speaker 4: the bench, and of course, you know legendary mamba fashion.
Speaker 1: He goes down and shoots the free throw.
Speaker 4: But I honestly, Matt, I've never really talked about this,
Speaker 4: but I was so broken up when that happened, because
Speaker 4: here he is in the sixteenth season.
Speaker 1: You know, it's got to be the end.
Speaker 4: I mean, nobody in sixteen season comes back from something
Speaker 4: like that. And he had already accomplished so much already,
Speaker 4: and I didn't have the heart to go in the
Speaker 4: locker room after the game, and you know, he held
Speaker 4: that sort of impromptu press conference where he was tearing up.
Speaker 4: And I don't regret that I wasn't there for that,
Speaker 4: but I was there in the hall when he came
Speaker 4: out with the crutches and the girls were waiting for
Speaker 4: him and Vanessa, and it was a poignant moment. But
Speaker 4: he he came out of that. You know, remember Gary
Speaker 4: Vety had that door side, and he came out with
Speaker 4: a smile on his face because his girls were out there,
Speaker 4: you know, and he was positive. From that moment on,
Speaker 4: he had his moment of of concern and worry, and
Speaker 4: I'm sure he was scared, scared that that was the end.
Speaker 4: But and then just I was there for his rehab.
Speaker 4: I was actually there when he got the when doctor
Speaker 4: Latrosh took the took the stitches out and was telling him, look,
Speaker 4: you got to take it easy, you know, you grab
Speaker 4: this boot right.
Speaker 1: Definitely, definitely gotta tell him that. Some say that night
Speaker 1: kind of gave birth to the Mamba mentality. I mean
Speaker 1: it was always the Mamba, but like you said, to think,
Speaker 1: you know, you're thinking it would be over. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of people probably had similar sentiments to you, like,
Speaker 1: this guy's accomplished everything, He's won all these championships. There's
Speaker 1: no way he's coming back. And I think he's the
Speaker 1: one person we both know that once he turns this
Speaker 1: on to something like there's just get out of the way. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think Mama mentality was definitely there before that.
Speaker 4: But for him to come back and be really stronger
Speaker 4: than he was when he went down, I wouldn't say
Speaker 4: he was as strong as he was, you know, at
Speaker 4: the height of his career, but for him to not
Speaker 4: let an injury define when he was going to leave
Speaker 4: the game, and to come back as strong as he did,
Speaker 4: you know, drop sixty in his last game, Mamba out,
Speaker 4: I mean crazy, who could write that him? Yeah, we're
Speaker 4: in Hollywood, nobody could have written that.
Speaker 1: It's amazing outside of sports some of your favorite I
Speaker 1: mean outside of basketball, some of your favorite sporting moments
Speaker 1: you've been able to kind of be a part of.
Speaker 4: Oh, yeah, I've been. I mean I mentioned the Kirk
Speaker 4: Gibson game. Worked for the Dodgers during that World Series.
Speaker 4: I think I shot three or four Super Bowls. That
Speaker 4: was super fun. It was around some really good college basketball.
Speaker 4: I used to cover the USC women's team when Cheryl
Speaker 4: Million and when Lisa Leslie was there.
Speaker 1: Love covering that.
Speaker 4: And back in the early days of my career, I
Speaker 4: covered really anything that everything I get a credential for.
Speaker 4: You know, if it was women's field hockey or water polo,
Speaker 4: I didn't care because I needed to be building my portfolio.
Speaker 4: You know, many of the international events that the NBA
Speaker 4: has done. I was at the first McDonald's Championship.
Speaker 1: Being in the NBA.
Speaker 4: Bubble was quite the experience.
Speaker 1: The whole time.
Speaker 4: I was there fifty three days, Yeah, fifty three days.
Speaker 4: I was there for the end. So when the very
Speaker 4: end of the regular season, playoffs and then into the
Speaker 4: interesting time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's let's go through some of the photos you've
Speaker 1: taken that. We kind of pulled to the These are
Speaker 1: early ones of me. Ooh, those Clipper teams, now we're talking.
Speaker 1: You were around those Clipper teams a lot. I was.
Speaker 1: Those Lob City teams were very talented. We just couldn't
Speaker 1: get over I mean, I think we couldn't get out
Speaker 1: of our own way. Yeah. That was a fun team
Speaker 1: and a fun time in La. It was kind of
Speaker 1: a time where code was down a little bit, yep,
Speaker 1: and those Lob City teams were exciting. This is I
Speaker 1: think the last time we played against each other. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was Memphis. He was there. He had just gave
Speaker 1: the twins a Jerseys. I don't know if you're in
Speaker 1: there for that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, got a picture twins, my picture, Yeah that is
Speaker 4: your picture.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm saying I'm not sure if you got
Speaker 1: the picture with him twins he gave them and they
Speaker 1: were only like seven, eight years old. Maybe. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: was that. We saw you everywhere. Yeah, know, you just
Speaker 1: weren't at our games. I mean how often how many
Speaker 1: days a week would you be at Staples on a
Speaker 1: good week.
Speaker 4: Well, I became the director of photography for AG, which
Speaker 4: at that time was just Staples Center when when it opened,
Speaker 4: actually before it opened in nineteen ninety eight, but ninety
Speaker 4: nine when the building opened, then of course got the theater.
Speaker 4: So my company still to this day in the twenty
Speaker 4: fifth year of being the house photographers for the complex.
Speaker 1: So I was there a lot.
Speaker 4: My office was in the building. I mean, if you
Speaker 4: know where the Laker banners are in the upper concourses,
Speaker 4: a bunch of offices back there.
Speaker 1: I was. That's where my office was.
Speaker 4: And so I was there for every every Laker home game,
Speaker 4: every Clipper home game. And I've been to the LA Kings
Speaker 4: team photographer for four decades.
Speaker 1: You saw the great one.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so I was living there, which wasn't great, not
Speaker 4: conducive to family life with you kids growing up at you.
Speaker 4: And then when I'm not there, I was on the road.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's a tough life. I mean you mentioned
Speaker 1: at the end that that grind is what kind of
Speaker 1: pushed me away from the game. I felt like I
Speaker 1: was missing so much time, and I mean your schedule
Speaker 1: was more hectic than mine because I just had to
Speaker 1: go on mine. You have to go crubb the entire
Speaker 1: you know, realm of the league. So yeah, now the
Speaker 1: NBA was great. But they they push it, they work,
Speaker 1: they work it, and you know for the Grammy trip
Speaker 1: for example, when the building shuts down. I mean I'd
Speaker 1: be on.
Speaker 4: The road, you know, two weeks in a road doing
Speaker 4: nine ten games, and then they'd be like, oh, well
Speaker 4: you have a day in between, go to Chicago and
Speaker 4: do that game.
Speaker 1: Did not take a breather, right your day off? Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: that's my rookie year. That's that two thousand and two
Speaker 1: or three. Wow. Old school Clippers, And that is definitely
Speaker 1: old school because me and Baron, Baron just got here.
Speaker 1: That's what we believe. Run right there.
Speaker 4: That was that was you know, I left that out
Speaker 4: because and I should remember that was one of the
Speaker 4: greatest runs that I really ever part of. Really Oh
Speaker 4: to see you guys like kick Dallas's as at home
Speaker 4: and that I was there for that game. Baron had
Speaker 4: that dunk over Carolinko. Yeah, that's my picture, and uh,
Speaker 4: the excitement in that building in Oracle. I mean they
Speaker 4: talked about the Warriors, you know, the Steph Curry Warriors.
Speaker 1: Which we got to take our hat off to.
Speaker 4: But what you guys did was different, man, little engine that.
Speaker 1: Could different energy, some more iconic photos. Wow, Mjan and
Speaker 1: his dad Kobe.
Speaker 4: And yeah, yeah, there was some moments.
Speaker 1: When you kind of look back. I mean like for me,
Speaker 1: this would be like looking back at like old game
Speaker 1: footage or something like how do you I mean, obviously
Speaker 1: it's fresh, but like, what are you going to miss about?
Speaker 1: I mean, you had one of the greatest jobs anyone
Speaker 1: can ever ask for who was a sports fan. What
Speaker 1: are you going to miss the most? Yeah?
Speaker 4: I really missed being around the guys. I missed the
Speaker 4: routine of getting there, getting arena at a certain time.
Speaker 4: I had a very strict routine. Great crew that I
Speaker 4: worked with, you know, would set up everything for me,
Speaker 4: you know, seeing all the fellas come in and Kibbittsen
Speaker 4: in the in the training room with Gary Veanie and
Speaker 4: then Gary all this, all the fans that I knew,
Speaker 4: both teams courtside and of course the referees and all
Speaker 4: this stuff, and then you know, getting to game time
Speaker 4: and then locking in and being there to record truly
Speaker 4: the greatest athletes on the face of the earth. I mean,
Speaker 4: I know that Cliche and David Stern loved talking about that,
Speaker 4: but it's really true. I mean, as a photographer, professional
Speaker 4: basketball athletes are our gift.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and we were thankful to have someone like you
Speaker 1: capturing those moments. Before you get out of here, tell
Speaker 1: us a little bit about your podcast, Leedens of Sports.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Well, listen, man, I'm just trying to grow
Speaker 4: up to be like you. Well, you know my partners.
Speaker 4: I have two really close friends who are partners, both
Speaker 4: in the sports business in different areas. And you know,
Speaker 4: we were seeing about ten years ago or so that
Speaker 4: a lot of guys were struggling post retirement, and the
Speaker 4: spotlight had moved off of those guys, and not only
Speaker 4: did they not make the big money back and we're
Speaker 4: talking like, you know, eighties and early nineties, but they
Speaker 4: were struggling and they were forgotten about, and we wanted
Speaker 4: to kind of shine the light back on, not just
Speaker 4: to the stars, but the guys who might have been
Speaker 4: part of you know, if you think about the showtime Lakers,
Speaker 4: seven eight guys come to mind, but there were like
Speaker 4: forty guys who won rings in the eighties that people
Speaker 4: might not remember. So we saw sort of a little
Speaker 4: bit of a void in the sports content landscape. And
Speaker 4: I didn't realize that I really loved doing what you do,
Speaker 4: was sitting there talking about stuff, I mean, learning about
Speaker 4: people where they started. I actually started a show on
Speaker 4: Time Warner, which was you know, previous the Spectrum on
Speaker 4: a Laker channel called Through the Lens, where I would
Speaker 4: just sit and talk to a Laker personality Genie Buzz,
Speaker 4: Gary Ved, James Worthy, whoever about their career through my photos.
Speaker 4: And I never thought I could be on the other
Speaker 4: side of the camera. I I never envisioned it, but
Speaker 4: I took to it.
Speaker 1: I loved it.
Speaker 4: And Norm Pattis, the great late Norm Pattis who owned
Speaker 4: podcasts one who you remember sat courtside.
Speaker 1: Right in the middle.
Speaker 4: The guy always had their program. A crazy Laker fan
Speaker 4: became a great friend and he became a mentor, and
Speaker 4: he was helping me sort of call this idea of
Speaker 4: legends of sport. And he calls me over before he
Speaker 4: gave He goes, Andy, and I saw the show you
Speaker 4: did on the Laker Network and I love it. It's great.
Speaker 4: It's great you're talking to people. And I said, thank you,
Speaker 4: Norman Goes. I got to get that on my podcast network.
Speaker 4: And this is like ten years ago, and you know,
Speaker 4: I'm still working this photograph and I said. I looked,
Speaker 4: literally looked at him. I said, Norm, thank you for that,
Speaker 4: But I don't know what a podcast is, you know, i'd.
Speaker 1: Heard the term.
Speaker 4: He goes, It's like radio, but just longer interviews. And
Speaker 4: I said, well, Norm, with all due respect, you know,
Speaker 4: I appreciate you wanting me to, you know, take this
Speaker 4: to your podcast network. But it's a visual show, like
Speaker 4: we're showing pictures. Can you curse on the show?
Speaker 1: You can? Right, so, he says.
Speaker 4: So he says to me, he says, Andy, nobody gives
Speaker 4: a shit about the pictures. They want to hear the story.
Speaker 1: He says.
Speaker 7: They want to see the pictures. That go to your website,
Speaker 7: they go to your instagram. I said, Norm, let's do it.
Speaker 7: And the next day literally went down to his office
Speaker 7: in Beverly Hills. We hammered out something and here I
Speaker 7: am doing a podcast and we're in. We're in, you know,
Speaker 7: deep into season seven, two hundred and sixty or so interviews,
Speaker 7: and I love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love it too. I love it, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: love it. For you. Before we get you out of you,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put you on the spot one last time.
Speaker 1: Your favorite event that you've covered, favorite event only pick
Speaker 1: one across all the sports, all the greatness you saw,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna put you on the spots. Oh, that is
Speaker 1: a tough one. Actually, give me two.
Speaker 4: Well, I really I'd have to say when the Dream
Speaker 4: Team won the gold medal in Barcelona ninety two, that
Speaker 4: was really amazing because I had been with them all
Speaker 4: seven weeks, documenting every step of the way, lived with
Speaker 4: those guys, and we all knew they were going to win,
Speaker 4: but the moment was, you know, when the flag goes
Speaker 4: up and they got the medals on it.
Speaker 1: So that was so.
Speaker 4: Great to capture that. And then you know, MJ's first
Speaker 4: championship was unbelievable, but I got it. Really pointed twenty
Speaker 4: ten for Kobe's fifth ring, which he was.
Speaker 1: The deam season because they lost to Boston the year Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: And he you know, and it was devastating when they
Speaker 4: lost in two thousand and eight, and he said at
Speaker 4: the time, he said, I'm not retiring until I beat
Speaker 4: the Celtics in the finals. And so they got there
Speaker 4: and that was such a monumental series.
Speaker 1: The game seven at home, he didn't have a great game,
Speaker 1: as you had that shot, right, Yeah, but.
Speaker 4: In his greatness, he was able to defer and you know,
Speaker 4: meta hits that shot of out of nowhere. So it
Speaker 4: was such a great moment to be there and my
Speaker 4: wife was there, my late mother in law was there,
Speaker 4: and you know, have family there and be part of
Speaker 4: that was really amazing.
Speaker 1: Well, Andy Man, it's always been a pleasure working with you,
Speaker 1: speaking with You've always just been one of the one
Speaker 1: of the real good guys around the game man, And
Speaker 1: we appreciate your forty three years of greatness, joy enjoyed
Speaker 1: retirement life.
Speaker 4: Thank you, new for you, and thank you for all
Speaker 4: the moments.
Speaker 1: That you gave me on that. I appreciate that. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed this episode of Unplugged. You can catch
Speaker 1: this on all the Smoke Productions YouTube and the Draft
Speaker 1: Kings Network. See y'all next week. G