00:00:01
Speaker 1: When you first got to the league and had an opportunity to play who's the first person to bust your ass?
00:00:07
Speaker 2: Big Baby and Leon Poe.
00:00:10
Speaker 3: Really the one where I really felt it was that first Summer League game against Boston. That's when I say Big Baby and Leon Poe. I don't know what happened. Practices was cool. I was dunking all over channing as like it was nothing. Motherfucker. That first game came and I was head was on a spin. Motherfuckers all up under me. I couldn't move. I was strong in the motherfucker. I was like shit, man, I was fighting for four points.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: You sleep on Poe boy. That boy was a month's old, strong as hell. Yo.
00:00:44
Speaker 4: Y'all, y'all, we live on location being the blackest one out here in the Yay area for NBA all start twenty twenty five today. Man, we got an Indianapolis legend, number one overall. Pick mister grig Old in the building. Man, we appreciate you pull them up on this big fellas.
00:01:03
Speaker 2: Sir. Thank you.
00:01:19
Speaker 1: Born in Buffalo, but you moved to Indiana, Sir, Lawrence North High School, Indiana. You and Mike Connley played together, Sir y'all won three state titles. Tell me when did you feel like you was the elite, like one of the best in the country.
00:01:36
Speaker 3: Honestly, I really never looked at it like that, man, because it was just us. We was always playing up. We was younger. We always just bald, you know, so always playing up. We never could really say we was it because, for one, we had Eric gold And on our team who was a year younger than us, and we had Josh McRobert on our team who was a year older than us. Yeah, so it was always it's like, all right, when the game come to the end, freaking eg gonna take the last shot, and you think he the youngest one on the team, and then you got Josh about to go to duke this motherfucker one of the first point forwards, like y'all homeboy low, like he was like that smooth, you know. So it was never like we thought we was like it, or I thought I was it because I was always playing with such good talent, and then we always had Mike that just put everybody together. And then you had Day Crimes, fucking the superstar in high school.
00:02:27
Speaker 1: Know my god, I'm glad you said that because I'll be saying the same thing now when I see kids they supposed to be high ranked and they playing in the same age group. You got the fourteen and fifteen year old kids. They still playing fourteen and fifteen when they suposed to play up like I always played up like Q them was two grades above me, and I played with qting them, or I played right up under Q M, which was another grade above me. You see these kids these days during high school they play against seniors in junior years for real, but then AAU they play against the age group where kids can't really guard them and they kill.
00:03:07
Speaker 3: Well, let's not forget also then they get to their senior year and decide to reclassify against I mean, do y'all come up like when we came up and when I started playing with Speech and d heat my AU team with them, the first thing they asked me to do. You weren't playing the grown man's league. This is in the sixth grade. You know, we was always playing to geinst somebody better. So I guess that was Mike Conley senior, just making sure we was always prepared how to handle that. Like I was playing in the program before I even started playing au Or started playing high schoot ball. I was playing in the program against college and former NBA dudes and so forth on.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: But you see these kids, I feel like it slows the growth.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: Down though I mean it is too, but they're also only doing like individual workouts a lot. You know, that's the difference. They don't play as much as we played. How was your first experience? Did you go to Nike? You Adidas first Nike Jamboree and Saint Louis the younger one, the sophomore.
00:04:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, he came and spoke to that one year.
00:04:11
Speaker 3: But when you do good, the best players getting invited to the Nike camp that was in Indianapolis, and so I think that was freshman year and me, Mike and day Kwan got invited from the jamboree out there, and I think that's when I kind of I don't even remember what I was doing. All I knew I was dunking the fun out that bad. I don't even know what I scored. I just knew every time I touched I dunked the basketball. Winning three state titles.
00:04:36
Speaker 1: Y'all want them in a row, right, So when you start getting success like your peers, and you know, nasty ranked. What was that for you to start getting success all around everywhere where? They started ranking you, and they start saying that even though you played with so much talent, they started picking you out. You know what I'm saying, like, oh, no, you the one you the best?
00:04:58
Speaker 2: I mean, but it was old school me at that time.
00:05:00
Speaker 3: It wasn't like I was rushing home to get on Facebook and see what my rankings were.
00:05:06
Speaker 2: In the paper, the magazines.
00:05:10
Speaker 3: You know, you used to be so happy when you was in the magazine Black and White. So it wasn't like I really heard or really cared about what anybody else the same. Plus I had teammates who they wasn't gonna let me get too big of a head, you know. You know I had actual real friends, you know that we all came up, We all joked around to each other. So I was just big doofy greg to them. You know, everybody else is like how you just walking around Like I'm just I'm just hooping. You know, I'm trying to be a kid. You know, That's just what I was.
00:05:40
Speaker 2: Should you won mister basketball, your junior and your senior.
00:05:44
Speaker 3: No, because Josh McRoberts should have won junior year, so he got robbed. Actually, even though Luke Zeller he did hit a three quarter court shot the.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: Win state championship.
00:05:54
Speaker 3: I will give him that he played at Notre Dame older brother Cody Zeller, but that was Josh mc roberts, like he should have been mister basketball. And then I say this too, my senior year, it should have been me and Mike co mister basketball. Honestly, as time has shown, like if you put is it me or him, it's definitely him, you know, and as you've seen all the years that he's been doing it and putting players in their best position to succeed and be the best, and him never asking for that line like just.
00:06:23
Speaker 2: Being the floor general that is.
00:06:26
Speaker 3: It's always him man, everybody loves and one of the best dudes in the league.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: So always want to give him his flowers.
00:06:33
Speaker 1: Man, playing with him, it made me give a whole another respect for him, like everything that he kind of went through the build up. At one point he was the highest paid player in the NBA all for one day, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, but talking about Mike, Man, tell me how proud of Mike you are to see his growth from y'all, playing as a young kid is to now you know him, married with family and the career that heatn't had, you know, the appreciation that he didn't got, you know what.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: So I know him since the sixth grade.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say this about Mike, just always getting along with everybody he comes in contact with, always being respectful to anybody that he sees to be there through the.
00:07:25
Speaker 2: High school years.
00:07:26
Speaker 3: To see him now with his family, like, look, I'm Mary the same year you met her too, man, we let her in college. So I'm just so proud to see the family that they built in the person that he is. And also I'm very proud to see his adaption to this new game. You know, he's now the vent on a very young team. You know, he went from probably having to carry the video game and go get the beers to now you gotta play video games all night. You know, you gotta that with his teammates now, you know. So it's just I'm just happy to see him stick around and still be able to enjoy the game and play at this high level. Man, I'm very proud of how dope was it for you to get to go? You know, y'all, got to be in the McDonald's game together. That's like a crown jewel you in high school getting to the McDonald's game and then you get to go with your problem. How dope was that experience to get the dope?
00:08:15
Speaker 2: Man? It was awesome. Man.
00:08:16
Speaker 3: I mean also had day kwon with us too. Yeah, So it was like, you know, always getting to play with those guys in every aspect and experience all those special moments at a young age together. For me, it was coming because I always knew I had my brother with me, so you know, I didn't have to worry about anything. And I'm thankful to all the people that be always made sure my roommate was Mike, so them knew how to get along together. You know, y'all know how it is going to all those different camps. You got to know everybody else sometimes, you.
00:08:45
Speaker 1: Know, could it almost been anybody else? They got you outside of Ohio State.
00:08:54
Speaker 3: If Chris Paul was going to stay at wake Forest, I probably would have went with Mike to wake Forth. I would say that, but you Chris Paul left for the league, so it was like Mike wanted to go there to play with Chris Paul.
00:09:06
Speaker 2: So it was Eshton Stone wherever Mike was going.
00:09:10
Speaker 3: It wasn't Stone, but we had a good visit down there in wake Forest like that. Now. I will say this though, when we went to the Texas Ohio State football game and just seeing that atmosphere on that visit and just seeing like what that city was, I think we all was kind of like, all right, this is it, Like this is where we want to be at. But I think wake Forest was definitely a very very close second.
00:09:39
Speaker 1: You missed a lot of time but half of the season at Ohio State, but you played the rest of the season basically with your left hand and still was dominant, just as dominant with your left hand. Y'all went all the way to the finals. Tell us about that, like adjusting to man, I got to play with my left and I gotta still bring a present on the floor.
00:10:02
Speaker 3: That wasn't that hard, man, Look, my game was easy. But I block shots, I run the floor, get rebounds, and dunk the basketball. I mean at that time, like I wasn't thinking about shooting my jump shot. You know, they wanted me to develop that at the time, but shoot, I'm thinking about the shocks of the world, Like I don't need to do nothing else.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: You give me an anger, I'm get on that rim, you know.
00:10:24
Speaker 3: So, and then especially having a broken hand and I had like a little soft cast. I really couldn't, you know, shoot my floater. That's actually when I did start developing my left hand. And I really appreciative of that time, you know, because that was at point where I thought my my hook.
00:10:38
Speaker 2: Shot was it.
00:10:39
Speaker 3: I used to throw that bach and start running down Coret like like stuff.
00:10:43
Speaker 2: You know.
00:10:43
Speaker 3: So you know, I do appreciate that development of that time, but I really didn't need to do a lot. And also, as we say, you have great players on your team, and you got to Mike Conley.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: You know, it makes a lot of things easier.
00:10:54
Speaker 1: Tell us about that season though you hurt, but Mike then was holding it down, you know what I'm saying. They still was a highly ranked team, you know, they didn't really fall deep in the rankings or nothing like that. And when they got you back, y'all made a run in a tournament. So tell us about just that year of them holding it down for you and your first time being in March Madness.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: It's crazy, you know what I'm saying.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: The levels you going up the levels and getting all the ways to the championship.
00:11:22
Speaker 3: So I want to say thank you to coach Dad Mati because technically my first game back would have been one game before, and that game was a North Carolina game at Chapel Hill. But you know, that year it was us and them the number one, number two freshman classes and I didn't know this. He was like, no way, I'm gonna put that pressure on him coming back, you know. So they won every game start the season to that one.
00:11:47
Speaker 2: Thank you, because I ain't want that pressure too. I don't know what I would have did.
00:11:51
Speaker 3: My mind would have went all over the play season, could have went a different ways.
00:11:54
Speaker 2: So that's why I say thank you to him.
00:11:56
Speaker 3: But after that coming back, man, it was just me trying to get my feeding under.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: You know, we had a great team.
00:12:03
Speaker 3: Ron Lewis, Jamar Butler, Ivan Harris, who's actually in that McDonald's All American game with Brown, you know, played at will Call Play It Again? Oh Okill, so he played there as well, so he was our senior on that team. We had Othello Hunter who's literally still playing overseas right now. You know, we just had some really good talent and so adding me to it having a day Kwon come off the bench, having Dave like, who's the all time leader in minutes games played, I mean everything. He's like mister he Man. He's still playing over in France right now as well, so he's just having guys like that. Unfortunately, we came up against Florida, lost to them during the regular season, and then we lost to Wisconsin, who we were like one and two in the Big Ten that year, and it was just always a dogfight. But of course last game of the Sea, last regular game of the season, and we got Mike Connley to hit a game winner for us to become Big Ten champs, and then we dominate the Big Ten tournament.
00:13:08
Speaker 2: Now, the tournament was a lot.
00:13:10
Speaker 3: It was a nervousness, but it was fun, you know, just every week, you know, still going to school, just kind of excitement. But I will say I remember the final four weekend. First off, having to go against big Roy Hibbert. You know, that's a big talk. And actually the game before that was even bigger, going against Memphis because when we played AAU, the guys on that team, Willie Kemp and all those guys, they were one of like two or three teams that ever beat us in AAU. So they had a bunch of guys on that team. I want to say Chris Douglas Roberts was on that team. Yeah, so it was like, all right, this is a big one and we beat them in the League eight and that was tough. But I'm not gonna tell that story. But it was a good one though. No, okay, so I gotta teller. So so the center, I think it was Joey Dorsey. He he said this in the paper, and I remember my coach brought it to Alan Majors, the most funniest ship ever.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: He was like, did you see this ship? My fu.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: It's like David Goliath and I'm Goliath. This brother must have missed Sunday school. But he was, you know, he was dominant. So that that was a little funny story about that game Final four, going against Jeff Green, Roy Hebbert, Chris Wallace, Patrick Man, they had it j T Junior coaching, So you know it was that was a tough game, but you know we managed to pull it out. Growing up against Florida. As you all know, they Torrian Green, my guy Corey Brewer humphrees the shooter. Then you got al Joe Kim, Chris Richards coming off the bench, Maurice's states a freshman, you know they had I want to say, so, so who's been playing overseas for a while, Like they were stacked, man, what and you know coming like they're arguably one of the best college basketball teams in history. Actually they have to be top five because it's only like thirty or four of them that actually went back to back. So it's like, you know, if we hit a couple more threes, you know, I would like to say, I hope we had a better chance, but fuck everybody that do the Gator chump. That shit hurts my soul to I'm a growing ass man. When I see the Gator chump, I see a tier coming, I'll be like, you know what, but nah, man. I enjoyed my college experience man, And I will say the week before I went to school like it was nothing.
00:15:49
Speaker 2: That next too.
00:15:50
Speaker 3: So the championship game Monday, going to class on Wednesday, I couldn't make it a block without people getting out their cars asking for autographs, stopping to take pictures. Like literally, I couldn't make it the class. I went back to my dorm call coach like I literally can't make it the class. I'm like overwhelmed. So that's kind of so go back to the question earlier. That's kind of when it was like, all right, it's about to happen. Is that when you knew you was getting up out of there? Actually no, because I wanted to stay. We was that close. Look, you think about all the times we won in high school in AAU just I mean and not even mentioned, like in eighth grade we went undefeated as well. So you think about our high school years like we barely lost with ten games and then probably lost with three in AU if that you know, So it's less than fifteen games from sixth grade or seventh grade up to college. You know. So I wanted to win. But I definitely went and talked to that about coach and he was like, get the fuck out of here. It was like a soft last trouble. No, man, you can't do that, brother, you know, I can't do that to your face. I can't do that to you. When you put in this position, you have to take advantage of that. So I'm thankful for the people around me. And then my life changed after that.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us about the draft and you and your family coming down there. I know you've seen previous drafts, previous number one picks, you know what I'm saying. But the whole process of you and your family, how it was to see your parents like see you and be happy for you, because it's like that moment, Like me and you always say, you know, when you get drafted, it's like a flashback of everything you went through to even get to this point, you know what I'm saying, happiness of all the hard work that's you to put in to, you know, get the opportunity to get drafted. So tell us about your draft. It was a real win.
00:17:45
Speaker 3: I mean, y'all know at the time, all that media training, you know, we had to become professionals from the point where we was just hoopers, you know, coming from where we all came from. So just just trying to learn all that, all the classes, you know, just trying to learn how these professionals, all the interviews that I didn't even know I needed to do getting there along with KD. Honestly, it was like a hirle when, like I really wish I could find the NBA footage because we did so much stuff that I actually forgot about him together. Yeah, like we was on the We went and rang the bell together a yeah, at the stock exchange. And then we had a couple of interviews, a couple of photo shoots. I remember one photo shoot because it was actually a car and my ass forgot my shoes. I'm in this actual trading car and force us. I swear to God, and you can see my undershorts under the regular shorts.
00:18:40
Speaker 2: It was the photo shoot, but I remember that because that was with KD. But it was just a good time.
00:18:45
Speaker 3: And all my family came from Buffalo, and I remember this my uncle who ended up living with me in Portland. My uncle, he had just got out. He went to jail when I was in kindergarten, just got out. First time seeing them, literally draft night, seeing my whole fan, my grandfathers from both sides. My grandmother, who never leave Buffalo, comes out, and my mom's flipping out because she got to handle her whole entire family. You already know how that go. But just trying to enjoy it. And I remember my name was called, and I remember this is old school and this this is one thing, and I apologize to my brother to this day.
00:19:27
Speaker 2: Well, I happened. I'm telling him right now, I apologize.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Remember when you're sitting at the table, Chris So used to come over and like, look, you hug the person to your right, the person to your left, and get your ass up there. Man, what you see these dudes now, I'm so damn man. They be taking time, did you?
00:19:45
Speaker 2: Oh man? You got my hugs?
00:19:47
Speaker 3: Look, I was trying to do exactly what they said. So I feel bad because I didn't go. I ain't hugged my brother.
00:19:53
Speaker 2: You know.
00:19:53
Speaker 3: I hugged my mom, my dad, and my Grandma's right there. I had to give her a kiss. But you know, walking up them stairs first one all nervous, and I honestly didn't know Portland's gonna draft me. It was like Michael got that call like a minute before.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: They gonna get k get you who's gonna be number one?
00:20:15
Speaker 2: So you didn't really know to write up into it.
00:20:18
Speaker 3: I mean, I mean, I knew I was going to Pacific West, and you know I didn't work out for Seattle. I visited, but I didn't work out, so basically putting all the power in Portland's hands. And also I actually had a secret second workout. Yeah, because I couldn't. I don't know what was happening during that training, but I couldn't breathe. Like I ended up getting my tonsils out. During the Summer League. I ended up leaving early for some reason. But my first work I got tired like quick. You know, don't workout was built to wear you the funk out. So they had a secret second workout at Paul Allen's house.
00:20:55
Speaker 2: M M.
00:20:56
Speaker 3: And I actually did good that time was cold. What we had a couple of practices there. You look over at that day and pool. Uh, you see the summer maries, they don't know nothing about was crazy.
00:21:11
Speaker 2: It was. It was amazing. Let me ask you this.
00:21:13
Speaker 1: So you know, like I said, I had a you know, I was hurt, hurt my knees. So I had a lot of time to spend with you, you know, a lot of time in the training room and in the weight room together. But we finally got a little bit healthy. And do you remember when we played one on one that night? You kicked my ass be cause but I dumped on you.
00:21:35
Speaker 2: Do you remember that I have no recollection?
00:21:37
Speaker 3: Oh my god, you ain't gonna admit it.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: You know what.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: First off, I'm gonna met this. Yes, you did dunk on me, and I'm first off, y'all was one of the greatest dunking teams ever.
00:21:53
Speaker 2: So that's a little proud.
00:21:57
Speaker 3: Do you remember my first workout and you was sitting there watching and I remember your ass screaming because I was dunking the ball, and I remember you was on you.
00:22:06
Speaker 2: Was like, oh, ship, where's my phone at he's a shiitter basketball on that I was happy. I was bro I was happy they drafted you.
00:22:24
Speaker 1: And then when I got a chance to know you, know your personality and really seeing you, how.
00:22:28
Speaker 2: Good you was. Like I said, that's why I always rave about you, because.
00:22:32
Speaker 1: You you had an old school style of play, like you just said, like your job was easy. You block shots, you rebound, and you ship that momuck every time.
00:22:43
Speaker 2: You get it. You know what I'm saying.
00:22:45
Speaker 1: So I just thought we were just gonna have a dope team and we could have all just been healthy together with La Marcus wo Be, roy z Bo, everybody, we was all healthy at first.
00:22:56
Speaker 2: You're it'll been it'll been crazy.
00:23:03
Speaker 4: How was it when you like what happened when you first hurt your need to have to get surgery?
00:23:10
Speaker 3: So I grew up with a leg LMP differential, so I used to walk with a limb like in high school. And then that's before I could afford orthotics.
00:23:18
Speaker 2: You know.
00:23:18
Speaker 3: The school, you know, kind of gave me some in high school, and then I got some in college, but it was always never that exact saying. When I got to the league, my orthotics fixed that. So one of the orthodics like this, and AM was like this, So my body was so used to that, Like that was just me, like I had that lean. I swear to God. The first day I got th orthotics, bom all felt weird, went bowling that night, came back the next day literally could not pull my pants like over my knee. My knee just blew up the next day after getting those orthotics. I do remember that, and I mean at that time, you know, I didn't question it. I didn't ask, you know, I couldn't really explain it learn that. I think about that at that end, but like when I look back at it, that was the one thing that actually changed and that really affected my body. And then after that it was kind of just a ripple effect.
00:24:11
Speaker 1: I had a bunch of knee surgeries and I was going through it. Tell us about the mental strain you have to go through every day because we played all our lives, you know, we're so used to playing. The games are easy, you know what I'm saying. But now having to go in that weight room and stack them days.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. You have your surgery and you go at least.
00:24:36
Speaker 1: Two, maybe even three months before you even feel like you your leg is actually getting strong enough to get back to it. But tell us the like mental strain of it, because you see the d roses, you see the guys who go through these knee surgeries, and then the casual fan don't know what you go through mentally to even get back to get the opportunity to try to do it again.
00:24:57
Speaker 3: So for me, I have two stages of it because the first one when I first got in the league, that one was like, I don't know what this surgery is, but I'm out for the whole year. So I guess Portland's trying to take a little bit of pressure of me from rushing back having all those expectations. So but I'm hearing that that whole entire first year, So I really don't know what to think. All I know is just do whatever they say to get back, just to get back. Like my mind that first year was like I'm getting back. I got to prove these motherfuckers wrong. So it was like a I'm in here every day. Tell me what to do, Bobby Bendna, I'm doing it. You know, I don't give a fuck with whatever they tell me to do. I'm doing it, like literally to the tea. And then you was isolated from the team because they going off on road trips. I mean, I want to go hang out with my boy. They end up pushing him away from me. Now he got to come in in the afternoons. I gotta come in the mornings. We can't work out together, work out to want me around. So now we super isolated. And then now I'm in I've never been on the West coast like that before, especially Pacific West Coast. And I'm nineteen years old, so I can't go out and really do nothing. I barely can go out and walk anywhere because I got to have my crutches, you know.
00:26:13
Speaker 2: So that was really a struggle.
00:26:15
Speaker 3: So you know, I kind of did some things, but just to make sure I had fun. And at one point with all the injuries stacking up. It became more fun than it became basketball at this point. Like that second go around after my technical third year, when I broke my kneecap and I had to back to back microfractures, that was a whole different mindset. Like that was a struggle because it was just like I wasn't even a basketball player anymore. I don't remember even touching the basketball through that time, just literally rehab and weight room. Like I thought I was a professional bodybuilder at that point, Like literally that's how I lived in that weight room. Jay Jensen always with me, like literally I was a professional rehab person. Like I didn't even think I was part of the team no more so, like when I was released from the Trailblazers. At one point it was just like I'm never with y'all anyways, Like I really didn't feel like I was a part of the team, Like that year I was released. I think that was the year b Roy went for his fifty in the playoffs. I was in Indianapolis, Like I wasn't even on the West Coast. It was like I wasn't part of the team. So that was a different feeling, and that struggle was I'm a rehab because I know I want to prove to somebody that I can get back on this court and that I was the number one draft pick. So I did it. But again, like I wasn't working on my game. I was just working on being strong enough to be able to run up and down the court. For what Miami got me with sixteen minutes four at the end of the first four, at the beginning of the second, four, in the third, fourth, beginning of the fourth, So sixteen minutes, like that's all I fought for. It was a sixth man, and then I was on a minute restriction, so if I played in the game, I couldn't practice. If I practiced, I probably wasn't playing in the game because I what to practices in a row. I'm all fucked up. So it was like you never you never can really jail with your teammates. So you know, even playing with some of the best players in the world, Brown's gonna make it work the way and CBS gonna make it work, you know, the Shane Battier's uds. Everybody's gonna make it work. But for me, it was like I never got the feel to like actually become me because at that point, I couldn't even push myself to be better because I literally was on a minute restriction. Like it was no pushing myself. It was like this is all your body got. And then I had no athleticism anymore, which, as I said, that was my game. You know, I didn't add to it while I was sitting out those three years. I was just worried about getting my knees strong enough to not hurt when I sat down, you know. So that was a big struggle. And then after that it was some dark places, just trying to figure out who I am and what I thought everybody thought I should be, but what I thought people were saying about me.
00:29:13
Speaker 4: Talk about that how much, like, cause it's one thing we all know, a hoopers like you already fighting your own battery, you know what I'm saying, just because you want to hoop fuck anything else.
00:29:21
Speaker 2: But then you got.
00:29:23
Speaker 4: The loudest noise ever because, like you say, you the number one pick, and then JD is doing what JD is doing, which making it no more easier for you.
00:29:33
Speaker 2: So like, talk about how that made it that much tougher for you.
00:29:36
Speaker 3: I mean I literally could not do nothing about it as He's stacking up these points and shout out to KD man, easy money man, sniper brother, you are the man. You put in that work, and like for me, I physically could not, but I'm still hearing that. I'm still watching TV. I turned to inside the NBA, and you know, they just talking about KD and Kenny goes you know, well, you know it should have been drafting number one. You know the little foot jokes, you know, like for me at that time, you know that shit hurt, you know, but you know, what can I do? You know, it's not like I'm gonna go online and have a tantrum about it. And you know all I can do was quietly rehab again, try to get back, try to get back.
00:30:23
Speaker 1: They kicked my ass on it all the time because I always say I was like, nah, Greg supposed to have been number one. They was like, you see KD and how good KD. And it's like I ain't trying to this KD. I respect KD all the way to the fuller, but you don't know how good Greg.
00:30:39
Speaker 2: I was bro like left.
00:30:41
Speaker 1: Hand right hand dunking that bit defense Like man, it's just it's just crazy man that you know as we play because I expected my career to be so.
00:30:50
Speaker 2: Much better than what it was.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: Like if I look back on my career, I played ten years, I was really probably hurt eight of.
00:30:57
Speaker 2: Them ten years I played.
00:30:59
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, where I wouldn't fully all the way healthy to have a healthy season, then fighting trying to get back. They don't know, like you said, for them sixteen minutes, it's like you got two kids on your on your legs because it's a full time job just to get yourself up to play in the game.
00:31:22
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
00:31:22
Speaker 1: They don't know the behind the scenes shit, like you gotta get up in the morning, you gotta go to the training table.
00:31:28
Speaker 2: After you leave the train table, do your all that stuff where it's like nobody wants to do it. Yeah, it's like a four times job and it's hard. You know, you gotta get out there and get your shots up.
00:31:40
Speaker 1: As you get your shots uff, you gotta make you gotta put the heat packs on to make sure you don't don't freeze up, because you know, when you get stiff with these knees, it's like you a statue.
00:31:49
Speaker 2: You can't even move no more. I know, that's how I walk right now.
00:31:54
Speaker 3: See me out there in the skating rinking.
00:31:57
Speaker 2: It's just a straight legs you already know. Hey, wait a minute, you go skating, bro man.
00:32:04
Speaker 3: Well, I took one of my Nike shoes and I sent them to the spot and they put some skates on the bottom of it. I take my daughter and my wife. Oh, I need to get that. I need to get that hook up. You gotta yeah, I got people. I gotta find that because I had these one people.
00:32:18
Speaker 4: Sixteen six nine seven foot is talking about skating.
00:32:22
Speaker 2: That's how I like, I grew up in the skating rink.
00:32:25
Speaker 3: So I grew up in the skate rink too, man, skate Landloo, But I grew up in Buffalo, New York.
00:32:31
Speaker 2: Man, I mean like I used to be. I used to have roller blades. I used to be skating backwards like spinning. That was real life at out here this man, y'all have some jam food. Sixteen was out here on skates out here seven too. But that was crazy. Like I said, we was working out.
00:32:55
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that because this I had to tell you how poor used to do your boy, man, We used to work out in the morning, before practice start and and him. They told me first, they first told me he was going on the road. The first told me, he was like, nah, you can't go on no road trips. I'm like, damn, I can't go on road trip. It's like, yeah, you can't go on no road trip. So me and him working out. Then they told me I can't work out with him no more before practice.
00:33:21
Speaker 2: I gotta work out after practice. How crazy is that? Man? They used to do wrong. They used to be on my ads.
00:33:31
Speaker 3: I'd be like, bro, I get along with everybody. I don't got no problem with nobody literally helped me out, Like everybody talk about that. Like literally me and him used to talk like we working out, but he talking he giving me game.
00:33:44
Speaker 2: I'm like sitting there.
00:33:45
Speaker 1: Like they used to isolate the ship out of me out Like I ain't feel like I was on the team. So I know how he felt when he got to it. Now because he got to the point, like he said, he was by hisself. It's like I'm walking in an empty gym. You ain't seeing no teammates or nothing. The trainer and the weight room guy gotta work over time because they got to stay and work out with you.
00:34:06
Speaker 2: That's called Bobby Todd, Jase Jensen. Shoot.
00:34:09
Speaker 3: Me and Todd basically lived in Vale, Colorado for like three months. I ended up living in LA for summer rehabbing out there. They sent me back to Indianapolis for a year, and you think about it, was only signed with them for five years. That's that's a lot. This is our emerys segment.
00:34:29
Speaker 4: It's all about what a little round basketball can take you.
00:34:33
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
00:34:33
Speaker 4: So that was the craziest place that you've been because of the basketball, Like was your first international trip ever because of.
00:34:41
Speaker 3: Hoops first international year. It was actually the preseason Vancouver game we played. I don't forgot who we played, but you going over to Canada. That was my first time and got to the league. But I played in China, So that was that was that. I'm not I had who else? Wilson Wilson when Wilson Chandler, Wilson was like bro, nah, he was like, cause who else? I think j Yard somebody went to like a cool like more of a city place.
00:35:12
Speaker 4: He was like, bro, they had me out. I ain't know those places like this. He was like, bro. It was it was wild, Like I was your experience over there.
00:35:19
Speaker 2: So it was shining and I probably messed up that name. I like this. I remember that first practice.
00:35:28
Speaker 3: I remember I got off the plane, eighteen hour flight, straight to the gym. They were like, look, you're gonna go through these workouts and then we're gonna play some pickup. I'm straight off the fight, you know, I'm hoping and whatever. I had a couple of jump shots, a couple of hooks, a couple of dumps. I'm like, all right, man. The motherfuckers presented me in my jersey right after. Yeah, like literally, I was like, oh, thank you. They was like, are you sign right now? We got a game in a week. I was like, no, I gotta prepare. But China was an amazing experience. I never seen anything like it because I've never been over there. The one time I was supposed to go when I played in the league, was supposed to go over for y'all's thing or something. Y'all y'all had a summer camp or something I was supposed to go to.
00:36:14
Speaker 2: I didn't make it, but playing over there was eye opener.
00:36:18
Speaker 3: I tell people that by the end of the season, I was smoking a pack of day like for real of cigarettes. This is before the game. Bro, You don't understand. You be in that hotel room and the cigarettes ain't like ours. Though you hit that bitch twice. That shit gone.
00:36:38
Speaker 1: Tell me about, you know, because you didn't get to experience the NBA how you really wanted to experience. But you got the opportunity to play on the Miami Heat team and ride all the way to the finals, even though they lost their finals because they came off of winning it the year before. But to be around them Hall of Fame players, and you know what I'm saying, not only them, but the guys that they had coming off the bench, and you know, just the whole team, the Heat organization, how they run their organization and everything. Just tell us that that experience because I know that was like a just a dope ash spriend.
00:37:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
00:37:17
Speaker 3: You know, the Heat coachure is defined by you Donna's Housen, you know, and we all know that type of person. He is one of the best dudes. Do anything for you, but he gonna fight everybody in this bitch. And you know, having some of the best players on the planet and seeing them commit to that type of culture, waiting body fat ten percent down every Monday, you know, coming in early, me and Beasley up in that bitch at seven getting our workouts in because we the new guys on the team, and Besy like, shit, I've been in this motherfucker before, you know, and me having to prove myself and just being in Miami, and I know where I was coming from in my heretory in Portland.
00:38:01
Speaker 2: I became the party dude.
00:38:02
Speaker 3: I'm in Miami now, I'm like, don't fuck this up, you know, so made sure that I was doing everything I needed. That was the last time my body was tempercent body fat. I say that it's It was good though, because for me, and I say this all the time, I saw super professionalism.
00:38:24
Speaker 2: I love coach post. I love that coach.
00:38:27
Speaker 3: And to see everything that he does, seeing from top to bottom. I remember coming in, you know, I got to come in early to get my work out in, but pat Riley already sitting in the practice gym at seven thirty in the morning and we just had it back to back.
00:38:41
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, this is pat Riley practice.
00:38:43
Speaker 3: And before I ever knew what that was, you already know, like Spodium want to call this practice.
00:38:48
Speaker 2: It was.
00:38:48
Speaker 3: It was a pat riley practice, but seeing like that level of this is our expectations, and this is how we're going to do it, and this how we're going to get there. And honestly, like our books from the playoffs, I keep to this day. When I was coaching the Butler, I literally brought those to the gym and put them in my office desk and would look over them to help me with how the Miami Heat looked at things and how we did it back then to help those guys now. And I'm really appreciative of that experience. And also being able to meet bird Man and Shane Battier and to see their relationship is probably one of the funniest things and one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life. Those two, I'll be like, y'all really do hang out with like they are like, but they are so cool together. It was like, you know, getting to know Shaddy, like being at Beasley's house every day, me and this motherfucker talking about something. All Right, we don't go out to the club, but we're gonna finish about Hennessy between us and then we're gonna go to sleep.
00:39:52
Speaker 2: That was our way of not getting in trouble, being out the streets. You know, no, sir, everything Rio.
00:40:01
Speaker 3: You know, Rio, my guy just handling everything, just taking it but making sure. You know, he's a two time champion three count college. You know, he nobody looked at him as that guy, but he was a starting point guard on for the hetos Man Norris Cole, Roger Mason, you know, and then the Big Three. You know, it was I opened to play with all those type of guys and even the guys that were brought in or mid season or even Joel Anthony on that team.
00:40:33
Speaker 2: Man, it was like I was.
00:40:35
Speaker 3: Really appreciative of that experience even though they did get me though. So when I was signing, this is how they used Miami. So Mark Cuban told me, signed two year deal, second year player option. I want you to rehab the first year, get back to used to being on the team.
00:40:58
Speaker 2: Miami.
00:40:59
Speaker 3: We can do the same thing. They just won two championships, They've been the finals three years in a row. Ship, I love that. If you can do that same thing, Ship, you got me. I'm already in Miami. Ship, I'm in the hotel the mind, so you know, it's nice I'm going to spot. I'm going to the spot every day. Damn shup. I've been in Miami for about a week where that contract at uh, you know, it's some hiccups. Ship give me the guarantee. You I'm already here, Like that's how they got me. If I would have thought better two years guaranteed, I get the rehab and second year player option, I probably could have took my body changed. And you know everything they're doing Dallas to help me with the body, I probably you know, I'm just I'm just for a sighting.
00:41:48
Speaker 2: But the game is like the.
00:41:52
Speaker 4: Right because like you said, we all from humble beginners and things like that. I won't know what what Greg Olden young, Greg Golden bed when you at that bag and I ain't talking about obviously you know you took care of mom pops.
00:42:04
Speaker 2: Don't talking about something that you did.
00:42:05
Speaker 4: You look back for yourself like that was probably crazy, but like this shit was fun.
00:42:10
Speaker 3: So my first charger, you know, I had it like jail broken. Like when I would put CDs in that bitch, it would copy the CDs. So I had the whole memory of that bitch, Like everything said in the car in the car and my charger.
00:42:25
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you hold on.
00:42:27
Speaker 3: Literally when I put CDs in it, it would record the CDs and so like literally had roller dex of CDs in my car like that.
00:42:34
Speaker 2: I never had to put back in there. Again, that's crazy. I ain't never heard of. I never heard it. I ain't never heard that one. That's great.
00:42:42
Speaker 3: The big one was my van, my Chevy Express refrigerator on two, three, four, five six TVs bed in the back, stroke lights on the top, swivel seats in the middle.
00:42:57
Speaker 2: I used to drive to the games. I ain't had no driver back there in my.
00:43:00
Speaker 3: Ass, rolling up, coming out with bringing everybody to the game was just sending that motherfucker over There was in that bitch too.
00:43:13
Speaker 2: What made you decide to go back and get your degree.
00:43:17
Speaker 3: First time was because I did promise my mom. But then at that point my daughter was born and there was no way I can tell my daughter to get an education if I didn't have one, and to go back and get my master's. Honestly, I was trying to get into coaching, so I was taking classes and then when I was at Butler that was technically my externship, and so I didn't take my final classes, and then just happened this past summer. I was like, I wonder how many credits I got? You got three classes. I'm knocking bitches out.
00:43:53
Speaker 2: I got my.
00:43:54
Speaker 3: Masters, shoot, and honestly, it's for the things that I really want to do. I wanted to go back and have some credibility. You know, I'm trying to get in the space where you know, I can go out to teams. You know, I struggled with talking to the team therapists because I just kind of didn't feel like I trusted them that much because I felt like it was a direct line to the team and how we were treated in that organization at that time.
00:44:22
Speaker 2: It felt weird.
00:44:24
Speaker 3: So right now, I know things are differently, but I know sometimes some of these players don't want to talk to professional Like I've been through everything you could possibly think of. You know, I'm not going to say I'm a professional therapist, but I am damn near life coach, and I got the experience to show you. So where I am trying to move right now is kind of work with individual athletes and teams in that space. So getting my degrees was something that was going to help me kind of alidify that what made you get into coaching being around basketball? You know, when I tried to step away when I was going through my dark time, that's the most I watched basketball.
00:45:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like when I.
00:45:04
Speaker 1: Was in my dark times, I couldn't. I didn't even look at basketball no more.
00:45:08
Speaker 3: What NBA TV was on all day and night esp And that's literally if I'm not watching Food Network, it's ESPN or it's NBA TV, Like that's it. Like I just when we was at the party last night and Kenny Smith came up, I was like, and Ernie.
00:45:25
Speaker 2: I was like, Ernie, I'm not gonna lie and my.
00:45:27
Speaker 3: Wife she fall asleep to you every Thursday, because it's like, that's what I watched. And it started really when I got my dark place when I was released by Portland, because it was like, while I was playing, I didn't want to hear it, and then when I was not playing, I still had that. That's that's all I cared about. That, that's all I knew. And so I think that's kind of what made me fall into coaching as well. That's that's just that's you know, I've been doing it since I was in fourth grade.
00:45:58
Speaker 4: How was it for you when you got to go back to Portland recently and taking a game and you got to received well from the crowd and things like that.
00:46:07
Speaker 2: How was that experience for you?
00:46:08
Speaker 3: It was amazing, honestly, you know, through a lot of stuff we talked about, I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't know that Beth Hancock was there and she was always somebody that took care and loved all of us. And I knew that going back there and having a chance to take my wife and daughter, it would be special just to show, you know where where daddy, you know, just finally got his little bit of notoriety at and we had a good time.
00:46:37
Speaker 2: Man.
00:46:37
Speaker 3: You know, I honestly I appreciated the Trailblazer organization for just the hospitality Joe cronin the coaching staff. It's just kind of bringing me in and I guess not making it weird, right, And I really hope more things like that can happen for the Trailblazers because I think there is a group the span of Skis that are still here. As you know, the guys that were coming around when we were there. You're a lot older now, but they're they're still around just because you know you want to bring me. I think a lot of these organizations do do that, and I want to see that happen in Portland.
00:47:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, that definitely would be dope. But I don't think I'd be on that list. So start bench trade your storing. So Patrick Ewing lines O morning, the kenve Matombo. Who do you start? Who do you bench? Gotta start? Patrick? You bench lines? That's you bench a lines on you trade to Kembay. I hate to say it. And you know what's a terrible fact.
00:47:50
Speaker 3: The Kimbay's last game he got injured against uh against me, and he didn't play no more after that. It was a play he was going up for a red. I remember he hurt his knee and he didn't play no more. And I I always thought about that. It wasn't nothing like, it doesn't mean nothing. But to me, I'm like, damn, that's a great I's the Ken base man.
00:48:17
Speaker 1: That was our guy, you know, one the real one of our best interviews on here man.
00:48:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's going man. You played with a lot of teammates.
00:48:26
Speaker 1: You know, you had a lot of teammates a few years that you play everybody.
00:48:30
Speaker 2: In their prime.
00:48:32
Speaker 1: If you had to make an ultimate five which you included, who is the four other guys you would make that ultimate five for more years? It don't matter, all of them in their prime. Like every teammate you had from Portland to Miami. If you had to put an ultimate five together, you the five. Who was the other four guys? Point guard?
00:48:56
Speaker 2: So okay we in position with basketball. Now I know who else with you? Well?
00:49:05
Speaker 3: First off was b Roy, Bron mm hmmm, d Wade, and I'm gonna say Andre Miller. Man.
00:49:14
Speaker 2: I love Miller.
00:49:18
Speaker 3: Because he is dreda type to look at all the motherfuckers like, nah, I'm gonna get my big fella to eat first and then the ball bro. So I always respected I respected him, able to talk to Nate like that I was. I respected him, able to just control the team like that. So I guess that would be my d Miller.
00:49:39
Speaker 1: Guy who you got, I would say you Bosh, Brian, b Roy and d Wade. I mean that's that's that's the one. But I tried to go into like a position you can play of the two.
00:50:00
Speaker 3: B Roy can play the three, Brown can play the four, you know, and Dre one. I guess I'm old school in that sense. But of course it's Chris bo Hey, that motherfucker. We went back to Portland. I ain't gonna lie that said, Hey, give me the motherfucking ball. Yes, because you know him in l A, you know, from Texas. Mother get that ship. You know how happy I was. I was talking like mother. Yeah, appreciate se be honestly, man, he is. He was one of the coolest superstars, like on that team that I saw. He was just exactly and he never complained about it, or at least you never saw him bringing that up in anything. And I really did appreciate and and motherfucking won.
00:50:50
Speaker 2: A lot of games. What man, man bro. We appreciate you pulling up on.
00:50:56
Speaker 4: Thank you my brother real one Greg Golden in the building, ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate it.
00:51:01
Speaker 3: Sir.
00:51:01
Speaker 2: Thank y'all for having all right.
00:51:07
Speaker 4: Want to thank y'all for you're continued supporter of the Knuckleheads podcast.
00:51:10
Speaker 2: Be sure to give us two.
00:51:11
Speaker 4: Taps by writing a review and rating five stars wherever you get your podcasts, and make sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss an episode. You can also watch all the episodes on the Players Tribute on YouTube page. Follow us on social media at Knuckleheads Podcast, enjoin our Knucklehead Facebook group for exclusive content. Thanks again and all of our guests and fans. This wouldn't be possible without y'all.
00:51:47
Speaker 2: The players Tribute dot com
Speaker 1: When you first got to the league and had an opportunity to play who's the first person to bust your ass?
00:00:07
Speaker 2: Big Baby and Leon Poe.
00:00:10
Speaker 3: Really the one where I really felt it was that first Summer League game against Boston. That's when I say Big Baby and Leon Poe. I don't know what happened. Practices was cool. I was dunking all over channing as like it was nothing. Motherfucker. That first game came and I was head was on a spin. Motherfuckers all up under me. I couldn't move. I was strong in the motherfucker. I was like shit, man, I was fighting for four points.
00:00:37
Speaker 2: You sleep on Poe boy. That boy was a month's old, strong as hell. Yo.
00:00:44
Speaker 4: Y'all, y'all, we live on location being the blackest one out here in the Yay area for NBA all start twenty twenty five today. Man, we got an Indianapolis legend, number one overall. Pick mister grig Old in the building. Man, we appreciate you pull them up on this big fellas.
00:01:03
Speaker 2: Sir. Thank you.
00:01:19
Speaker 1: Born in Buffalo, but you moved to Indiana, Sir, Lawrence North High School, Indiana. You and Mike Connley played together, Sir y'all won three state titles. Tell me when did you feel like you was the elite, like one of the best in the country.
00:01:36
Speaker 3: Honestly, I really never looked at it like that, man, because it was just us. We was always playing up. We was younger. We always just bald, you know, so always playing up. We never could really say we was it because, for one, we had Eric gold And on our team who was a year younger than us, and we had Josh McRobert on our team who was a year older than us. Yeah, so it was always it's like, all right, when the game come to the end, freaking eg gonna take the last shot, and you think he the youngest one on the team, and then you got Josh about to go to duke this motherfucker one of the first point forwards, like y'all homeboy low, like he was like that smooth, you know. So it was never like we thought we was like it, or I thought I was it because I was always playing with such good talent, and then we always had Mike that just put everybody together. And then you had Day Crimes, fucking the superstar in high school.
00:02:27
Speaker 1: Know my god, I'm glad you said that because I'll be saying the same thing now when I see kids they supposed to be high ranked and they playing in the same age group. You got the fourteen and fifteen year old kids. They still playing fourteen and fifteen when they suposed to play up like I always played up like Q them was two grades above me, and I played with qting them, or I played right up under Q M, which was another grade above me. You see these kids these days during high school they play against seniors in junior years for real, but then AAU they play against the age group where kids can't really guard them and they kill.
00:03:07
Speaker 3: Well, let's not forget also then they get to their senior year and decide to reclassify against I mean, do y'all come up like when we came up and when I started playing with Speech and d heat my AU team with them, the first thing they asked me to do. You weren't playing the grown man's league. This is in the sixth grade. You know, we was always playing to geinst somebody better. So I guess that was Mike Conley senior, just making sure we was always prepared how to handle that. Like I was playing in the program before I even started playing au Or started playing high schoot ball. I was playing in the program against college and former NBA dudes and so forth on.
00:03:45
Speaker 2: But you see these kids, I feel like it slows the growth.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: Down though I mean it is too, but they're also only doing like individual workouts a lot. You know, that's the difference. They don't play as much as we played. How was your first experience? Did you go to Nike? You Adidas first Nike Jamboree and Saint Louis the younger one, the sophomore.
00:04:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, he came and spoke to that one year.
00:04:11
Speaker 3: But when you do good, the best players getting invited to the Nike camp that was in Indianapolis, and so I think that was freshman year and me, Mike and day Kwan got invited from the jamboree out there, and I think that's when I kind of I don't even remember what I was doing. All I knew I was dunking the fun out that bad. I don't even know what I scored. I just knew every time I touched I dunked the basketball. Winning three state titles.
00:04:36
Speaker 1: Y'all want them in a row, right, So when you start getting success like your peers, and you know, nasty ranked. What was that for you to start getting success all around everywhere where? They started ranking you, and they start saying that even though you played with so much talent, they started picking you out. You know what I'm saying, like, oh, no, you the one you the best?
00:04:58
Speaker 2: I mean, but it was old school me at that time.
00:05:00
Speaker 3: It wasn't like I was rushing home to get on Facebook and see what my rankings were.
00:05:06
Speaker 2: In the paper, the magazines.
00:05:10
Speaker 3: You know, you used to be so happy when you was in the magazine Black and White. So it wasn't like I really heard or really cared about what anybody else the same. Plus I had teammates who they wasn't gonna let me get too big of a head, you know. You know I had actual real friends, you know that we all came up, We all joked around to each other. So I was just big doofy greg to them. You know, everybody else is like how you just walking around Like I'm just I'm just hooping. You know, I'm trying to be a kid. You know, That's just what I was.
00:05:40
Speaker 2: Should you won mister basketball, your junior and your senior.
00:05:44
Speaker 3: No, because Josh McRoberts should have won junior year, so he got robbed. Actually, even though Luke Zeller he did hit a three quarter court shot the.
00:05:53
Speaker 2: Win state championship.
00:05:54
Speaker 3: I will give him that he played at Notre Dame older brother Cody Zeller, but that was Josh mc roberts, like he should have been mister basketball. And then I say this too, my senior year, it should have been me and Mike co mister basketball. Honestly, as time has shown, like if you put is it me or him, it's definitely him, you know, and as you've seen all the years that he's been doing it and putting players in their best position to succeed and be the best, and him never asking for that line like just.
00:06:23
Speaker 2: Being the floor general that is.
00:06:26
Speaker 3: It's always him man, everybody loves and one of the best dudes in the league.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: So always want to give him his flowers.
00:06:33
Speaker 1: Man, playing with him, it made me give a whole another respect for him, like everything that he kind of went through the build up. At one point he was the highest paid player in the NBA all for one day, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, but talking about Mike, Man, tell me how proud of Mike you are to see his growth from y'all, playing as a young kid is to now you know him, married with family and the career that heatn't had, you know, the appreciation that he didn't got, you know what.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: So I know him since the sixth grade.
00:07:14
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say this about Mike, just always getting along with everybody he comes in contact with, always being respectful to anybody that he sees to be there through the.
00:07:25
Speaker 2: High school years.
00:07:26
Speaker 3: To see him now with his family, like, look, I'm Mary the same year you met her too, man, we let her in college. So I'm just so proud to see the family that they built in the person that he is. And also I'm very proud to see his adaption to this new game. You know, he's now the vent on a very young team. You know, he went from probably having to carry the video game and go get the beers to now you gotta play video games all night. You know, you gotta that with his teammates now, you know. So it's just I'm just happy to see him stick around and still be able to enjoy the game and play at this high level. Man, I'm very proud of how dope was it for you to get to go? You know, y'all, got to be in the McDonald's game together. That's like a crown jewel you in high school getting to the McDonald's game and then you get to go with your problem. How dope was that experience to get the dope?
00:08:15
Speaker 2: Man? It was awesome. Man.
00:08:16
Speaker 3: I mean also had day kwon with us too. Yeah, So it was like, you know, always getting to play with those guys in every aspect and experience all those special moments at a young age together. For me, it was coming because I always knew I had my brother with me, so you know, I didn't have to worry about anything. And I'm thankful to all the people that be always made sure my roommate was Mike, so them knew how to get along together. You know, y'all know how it is going to all those different camps. You got to know everybody else sometimes, you.
00:08:45
Speaker 1: Know, could it almost been anybody else? They got you outside of Ohio State.
00:08:54
Speaker 3: If Chris Paul was going to stay at wake Forest, I probably would have went with Mike to wake Forth. I would say that, but you Chris Paul left for the league, so it was like Mike wanted to go there to play with Chris Paul.
00:09:06
Speaker 2: So it was Eshton Stone wherever Mike was going.
00:09:10
Speaker 3: It wasn't Stone, but we had a good visit down there in wake Forest like that. Now. I will say this though, when we went to the Texas Ohio State football game and just seeing that atmosphere on that visit and just seeing like what that city was, I think we all was kind of like, all right, this is it, Like this is where we want to be at. But I think wake Forest was definitely a very very close second.
00:09:39
Speaker 1: You missed a lot of time but half of the season at Ohio State, but you played the rest of the season basically with your left hand and still was dominant, just as dominant with your left hand. Y'all went all the way to the finals. Tell us about that, like adjusting to man, I got to play with my left and I gotta still bring a present on the floor.
00:10:02
Speaker 3: That wasn't that hard, man, Look, my game was easy. But I block shots, I run the floor, get rebounds, and dunk the basketball. I mean at that time, like I wasn't thinking about shooting my jump shot. You know, they wanted me to develop that at the time, but shoot, I'm thinking about the shocks of the world, Like I don't need to do nothing else.
00:10:22
Speaker 2: You give me an anger, I'm get on that rim, you know.
00:10:24
Speaker 3: So, and then especially having a broken hand and I had like a little soft cast. I really couldn't, you know, shoot my floater. That's actually when I did start developing my left hand. And I really appreciative of that time, you know, because that was at point where I thought my my hook.
00:10:38
Speaker 2: Shot was it.
00:10:39
Speaker 3: I used to throw that bach and start running down Coret like like stuff.
00:10:43
Speaker 2: You know.
00:10:43
Speaker 3: So you know, I do appreciate that development of that time, but I really didn't need to do a lot. And also, as we say, you have great players on your team, and you got to Mike Conley.
00:10:52
Speaker 2: You know, it makes a lot of things easier.
00:10:54
Speaker 1: Tell us about that season though you hurt, but Mike then was holding it down, you know what I'm saying. They still was a highly ranked team, you know, they didn't really fall deep in the rankings or nothing like that. And when they got you back, y'all made a run in a tournament. So tell us about just that year of them holding it down for you and your first time being in March Madness.
00:11:17
Speaker 2: It's crazy, you know what I'm saying.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: The levels you going up the levels and getting all the ways to the championship.
00:11:22
Speaker 3: So I want to say thank you to coach Dad Mati because technically my first game back would have been one game before, and that game was a North Carolina game at Chapel Hill. But you know, that year it was us and them the number one, number two freshman classes and I didn't know this. He was like, no way, I'm gonna put that pressure on him coming back, you know. So they won every game start the season to that one.
00:11:47
Speaker 2: Thank you, because I ain't want that pressure too. I don't know what I would have did.
00:11:51
Speaker 3: My mind would have went all over the play season, could have went a different ways.
00:11:54
Speaker 2: So that's why I say thank you to him.
00:11:56
Speaker 3: But after that coming back, man, it was just me trying to get my feeding under.
00:12:01
Speaker 2: You know, we had a great team.
00:12:03
Speaker 3: Ron Lewis, Jamar Butler, Ivan Harris, who's actually in that McDonald's All American game with Brown, you know, played at will Call Play It Again? Oh Okill, so he played there as well, so he was our senior on that team. We had Othello Hunter who's literally still playing overseas right now. You know, we just had some really good talent and so adding me to it having a day Kwon come off the bench, having Dave like, who's the all time leader in minutes games played, I mean everything. He's like mister he Man. He's still playing over in France right now as well, so he's just having guys like that. Unfortunately, we came up against Florida, lost to them during the regular season, and then we lost to Wisconsin, who we were like one and two in the Big Ten that year, and it was just always a dogfight. But of course last game of the Sea, last regular game of the season, and we got Mike Connley to hit a game winner for us to become Big Ten champs, and then we dominate the Big Ten tournament.
00:13:08
Speaker 2: Now, the tournament was a lot.
00:13:10
Speaker 3: It was a nervousness, but it was fun, you know, just every week, you know, still going to school, just kind of excitement. But I will say I remember the final four weekend. First off, having to go against big Roy Hibbert. You know, that's a big talk. And actually the game before that was even bigger, going against Memphis because when we played AAU, the guys on that team, Willie Kemp and all those guys, they were one of like two or three teams that ever beat us in AAU. So they had a bunch of guys on that team. I want to say Chris Douglas Roberts was on that team. Yeah, so it was like, all right, this is a big one and we beat them in the League eight and that was tough. But I'm not gonna tell that story. But it was a good one though. No, okay, so I gotta teller. So so the center, I think it was Joey Dorsey. He he said this in the paper, and I remember my coach brought it to Alan Majors, the most funniest ship ever.
00:14:12
Speaker 2: He was like, did you see this ship? My fu.
00:14:15
Speaker 3: It's like David Goliath and I'm Goliath. This brother must have missed Sunday school. But he was, you know, he was dominant. So that that was a little funny story about that game Final four, going against Jeff Green, Roy Hebbert, Chris Wallace, Patrick Man, they had it j T Junior coaching, So you know it was that was a tough game, but you know we managed to pull it out. Growing up against Florida. As you all know, they Torrian Green, my guy Corey Brewer humphrees the shooter. Then you got al Joe Kim, Chris Richards coming off the bench, Maurice's states a freshman, you know they had I want to say, so, so who's been playing overseas for a while, Like they were stacked, man, what and you know coming like they're arguably one of the best college basketball teams in history. Actually they have to be top five because it's only like thirty or four of them that actually went back to back. So it's like, you know, if we hit a couple more threes, you know, I would like to say, I hope we had a better chance, but fuck everybody that do the Gator chump. That shit hurts my soul to I'm a growing ass man. When I see the Gator chump, I see a tier coming, I'll be like, you know what, but nah, man. I enjoyed my college experience man, And I will say the week before I went to school like it was nothing.
00:15:49
Speaker 2: That next too.
00:15:50
Speaker 3: So the championship game Monday, going to class on Wednesday, I couldn't make it a block without people getting out their cars asking for autographs, stopping to take pictures. Like literally, I couldn't make it the class. I went back to my dorm call coach like I literally can't make it the class. I'm like overwhelmed. So that's kind of so go back to the question earlier. That's kind of when it was like, all right, it's about to happen. Is that when you knew you was getting up out of there? Actually no, because I wanted to stay. We was that close. Look, you think about all the times we won in high school in AAU just I mean and not even mentioned, like in eighth grade we went undefeated as well. So you think about our high school years like we barely lost with ten games and then probably lost with three in AU if that you know, So it's less than fifteen games from sixth grade or seventh grade up to college. You know. So I wanted to win. But I definitely went and talked to that about coach and he was like, get the fuck out of here. It was like a soft last trouble. No, man, you can't do that, brother, you know, I can't do that to your face. I can't do that to you. When you put in this position, you have to take advantage of that. So I'm thankful for the people around me. And then my life changed after that.
00:17:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, tell us about the draft and you and your family coming down there. I know you've seen previous drafts, previous number one picks, you know what I'm saying. But the whole process of you and your family, how it was to see your parents like see you and be happy for you, because it's like that moment, Like me and you always say, you know, when you get drafted, it's like a flashback of everything you went through to even get to this point, you know what I'm saying, happiness of all the hard work that's you to put in to, you know, get the opportunity to get drafted. So tell us about your draft. It was a real win.
00:17:45
Speaker 3: I mean, y'all know at the time, all that media training, you know, we had to become professionals from the point where we was just hoopers, you know, coming from where we all came from. So just just trying to learn all that, all the classes, you know, just trying to learn how these professionals, all the interviews that I didn't even know I needed to do getting there along with KD. Honestly, it was like a hirle when, like I really wish I could find the NBA footage because we did so much stuff that I actually forgot about him together. Yeah, like we was on the We went and rang the bell together a yeah, at the stock exchange. And then we had a couple of interviews, a couple of photo shoots. I remember one photo shoot because it was actually a car and my ass forgot my shoes. I'm in this actual trading car and force us. I swear to God, and you can see my undershorts under the regular shorts.
00:18:40
Speaker 2: It was the photo shoot, but I remember that because that was with KD. But it was just a good time.
00:18:45
Speaker 3: And all my family came from Buffalo, and I remember this my uncle who ended up living with me in Portland. My uncle, he had just got out. He went to jail when I was in kindergarten, just got out. First time seeing them, literally draft night, seeing my whole fan, my grandfathers from both sides. My grandmother, who never leave Buffalo, comes out, and my mom's flipping out because she got to handle her whole entire family. You already know how that go. But just trying to enjoy it. And I remember my name was called, and I remember this is old school and this this is one thing, and I apologize to my brother to this day.
00:19:27
Speaker 2: Well, I happened. I'm telling him right now, I apologize.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Remember when you're sitting at the table, Chris So used to come over and like, look, you hug the person to your right, the person to your left, and get your ass up there. Man, what you see these dudes now, I'm so damn man. They be taking time, did you?
00:19:45
Speaker 2: Oh man? You got my hugs?
00:19:47
Speaker 3: Look, I was trying to do exactly what they said. So I feel bad because I didn't go. I ain't hugged my brother.
00:19:53
Speaker 2: You know.
00:19:53
Speaker 3: I hugged my mom, my dad, and my Grandma's right there. I had to give her a kiss. But you know, walking up them stairs first one all nervous, and I honestly didn't know Portland's gonna draft me. It was like Michael got that call like a minute before.
00:20:10
Speaker 1: They gonna get k get you who's gonna be number one?
00:20:15
Speaker 2: So you didn't really know to write up into it.
00:20:18
Speaker 3: I mean, I mean, I knew I was going to Pacific West, and you know I didn't work out for Seattle. I visited, but I didn't work out, so basically putting all the power in Portland's hands. And also I actually had a secret second workout. Yeah, because I couldn't. I don't know what was happening during that training, but I couldn't breathe. Like I ended up getting my tonsils out. During the Summer League. I ended up leaving early for some reason. But my first work I got tired like quick. You know, don't workout was built to wear you the funk out. So they had a secret second workout at Paul Allen's house.
00:20:55
Speaker 2: M M.
00:20:56
Speaker 3: And I actually did good that time was cold. What we had a couple of practices there. You look over at that day and pool. Uh, you see the summer maries, they don't know nothing about was crazy.
00:21:11
Speaker 2: It was. It was amazing. Let me ask you this.
00:21:13
Speaker 1: So you know, like I said, I had a you know, I was hurt, hurt my knees. So I had a lot of time to spend with you, you know, a lot of time in the training room and in the weight room together. But we finally got a little bit healthy. And do you remember when we played one on one that night? You kicked my ass be cause but I dumped on you.
00:21:35
Speaker 2: Do you remember that I have no recollection?
00:21:37
Speaker 3: Oh my god, you ain't gonna admit it.
00:21:45
Speaker 2: You know what.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: First off, I'm gonna met this. Yes, you did dunk on me, and I'm first off, y'all was one of the greatest dunking teams ever.
00:21:53
Speaker 2: So that's a little proud.
00:21:57
Speaker 3: Do you remember my first workout and you was sitting there watching and I remember your ass screaming because I was dunking the ball, and I remember you was on you.
00:22:06
Speaker 2: Was like, oh, ship, where's my phone at he's a shiitter basketball on that I was happy. I was bro I was happy they drafted you.
00:22:24
Speaker 1: And then when I got a chance to know you, know your personality and really seeing you, how.
00:22:28
Speaker 2: Good you was. Like I said, that's why I always rave about you, because.
00:22:32
Speaker 1: You you had an old school style of play, like you just said, like your job was easy. You block shots, you rebound, and you ship that momuck every time.
00:22:43
Speaker 2: You get it. You know what I'm saying.
00:22:45
Speaker 1: So I just thought we were just gonna have a dope team and we could have all just been healthy together with La Marcus wo Be, roy z Bo, everybody, we was all healthy at first.
00:22:56
Speaker 2: You're it'll been it'll been crazy.
00:23:03
Speaker 4: How was it when you like what happened when you first hurt your need to have to get surgery?
00:23:10
Speaker 3: So I grew up with a leg LMP differential, so I used to walk with a limb like in high school. And then that's before I could afford orthotics.
00:23:18
Speaker 2: You know.
00:23:18
Speaker 3: The school, you know, kind of gave me some in high school, and then I got some in college, but it was always never that exact saying. When I got to the league, my orthotics fixed that. So one of the orthodics like this, and AM was like this, So my body was so used to that, Like that was just me, like I had that lean. I swear to God. The first day I got th orthotics, bom all felt weird, went bowling that night, came back the next day literally could not pull my pants like over my knee. My knee just blew up the next day after getting those orthotics. I do remember that, and I mean at that time, you know, I didn't question it. I didn't ask, you know, I couldn't really explain it learn that. I think about that at that end, but like when I look back at it, that was the one thing that actually changed and that really affected my body. And then after that it was kind of just a ripple effect.
00:24:11
Speaker 1: I had a bunch of knee surgeries and I was going through it. Tell us about the mental strain you have to go through every day because we played all our lives, you know, we're so used to playing. The games are easy, you know what I'm saying. But now having to go in that weight room and stack them days.
00:24:33
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. You have your surgery and you go at least.
00:24:36
Speaker 1: Two, maybe even three months before you even feel like you your leg is actually getting strong enough to get back to it. But tell us the like mental strain of it, because you see the d roses, you see the guys who go through these knee surgeries, and then the casual fan don't know what you go through mentally to even get back to get the opportunity to try to do it again.
00:24:57
Speaker 3: So for me, I have two stages of it because the first one when I first got in the league, that one was like, I don't know what this surgery is, but I'm out for the whole year. So I guess Portland's trying to take a little bit of pressure of me from rushing back having all those expectations. So but I'm hearing that that whole entire first year, So I really don't know what to think. All I know is just do whatever they say to get back, just to get back. Like my mind that first year was like I'm getting back. I got to prove these motherfuckers wrong. So it was like a I'm in here every day. Tell me what to do, Bobby Bendna, I'm doing it. You know, I don't give a fuck with whatever they tell me to do. I'm doing it, like literally to the tea. And then you was isolated from the team because they going off on road trips. I mean, I want to go hang out with my boy. They end up pushing him away from me. Now he got to come in in the afternoons. I gotta come in the mornings. We can't work out together, work out to want me around. So now we super isolated. And then now I'm in I've never been on the West coast like that before, especially Pacific West Coast. And I'm nineteen years old, so I can't go out and really do nothing. I barely can go out and walk anywhere because I got to have my crutches, you know.
00:26:13
Speaker 2: So that was really a struggle.
00:26:15
Speaker 3: So you know, I kind of did some things, but just to make sure I had fun. And at one point with all the injuries stacking up. It became more fun than it became basketball at this point. Like that second go around after my technical third year, when I broke my kneecap and I had to back to back microfractures, that was a whole different mindset. Like that was a struggle because it was just like I wasn't even a basketball player anymore. I don't remember even touching the basketball through that time, just literally rehab and weight room. Like I thought I was a professional bodybuilder at that point, Like literally that's how I lived in that weight room. Jay Jensen always with me, like literally I was a professional rehab person. Like I didn't even think I was part of the team no more so, like when I was released from the Trailblazers. At one point it was just like I'm never with y'all anyways, Like I really didn't feel like I was a part of the team, Like that year I was released. I think that was the year b Roy went for his fifty in the playoffs. I was in Indianapolis, Like I wasn't even on the West Coast. It was like I wasn't part of the team. So that was a different feeling, and that struggle was I'm a rehab because I know I want to prove to somebody that I can get back on this court and that I was the number one draft pick. So I did it. But again, like I wasn't working on my game. I was just working on being strong enough to be able to run up and down the court. For what Miami got me with sixteen minutes four at the end of the first four, at the beginning of the second, four, in the third, fourth, beginning of the fourth, So sixteen minutes, like that's all I fought for. It was a sixth man, and then I was on a minute restriction, so if I played in the game, I couldn't practice. If I practiced, I probably wasn't playing in the game because I what to practices in a row. I'm all fucked up. So it was like you never you never can really jail with your teammates. So you know, even playing with some of the best players in the world, Brown's gonna make it work the way and CBS gonna make it work, you know, the Shane Battier's uds. Everybody's gonna make it work. But for me, it was like I never got the feel to like actually become me because at that point, I couldn't even push myself to be better because I literally was on a minute restriction. Like it was no pushing myself. It was like this is all your body got. And then I had no athleticism anymore, which, as I said, that was my game. You know, I didn't add to it while I was sitting out those three years. I was just worried about getting my knees strong enough to not hurt when I sat down, you know. So that was a big struggle. And then after that it was some dark places, just trying to figure out who I am and what I thought everybody thought I should be, but what I thought people were saying about me.
00:29:13
Speaker 4: Talk about that how much, like, cause it's one thing we all know, a hoopers like you already fighting your own battery, you know what I'm saying, just because you want to hoop fuck anything else.
00:29:21
Speaker 2: But then you got.
00:29:23
Speaker 4: The loudest noise ever because, like you say, you the number one pick, and then JD is doing what JD is doing, which making it no more easier for you.
00:29:33
Speaker 2: So like, talk about how that made it that much tougher for you.
00:29:36
Speaker 3: I mean I literally could not do nothing about it as He's stacking up these points and shout out to KD man, easy money man, sniper brother, you are the man. You put in that work, and like for me, I physically could not, but I'm still hearing that. I'm still watching TV. I turned to inside the NBA, and you know, they just talking about KD and Kenny goes you know, well, you know it should have been drafting number one. You know the little foot jokes, you know, like for me at that time, you know that shit hurt, you know, but you know, what can I do? You know, it's not like I'm gonna go online and have a tantrum about it. And you know all I can do was quietly rehab again, try to get back, try to get back.
00:30:23
Speaker 1: They kicked my ass on it all the time because I always say I was like, nah, Greg supposed to have been number one. They was like, you see KD and how good KD. And it's like I ain't trying to this KD. I respect KD all the way to the fuller, but you don't know how good Greg.
00:30:39
Speaker 2: I was bro like left.
00:30:41
Speaker 1: Hand right hand dunking that bit defense Like man, it's just it's just crazy man that you know as we play because I expected my career to be so.
00:30:50
Speaker 2: Much better than what it was.
00:30:52
Speaker 1: Like if I look back on my career, I played ten years, I was really probably hurt eight of.
00:30:57
Speaker 2: Them ten years I played.
00:30:59
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, where I wouldn't fully all the way healthy to have a healthy season, then fighting trying to get back. They don't know, like you said, for them sixteen minutes, it's like you got two kids on your on your legs because it's a full time job just to get yourself up to play in the game.
00:31:22
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
00:31:22
Speaker 1: They don't know the behind the scenes shit, like you gotta get up in the morning, you gotta go to the training table.
00:31:28
Speaker 2: After you leave the train table, do your all that stuff where it's like nobody wants to do it. Yeah, it's like a four times job and it's hard. You know, you gotta get out there and get your shots up.
00:31:40
Speaker 1: As you get your shots uff, you gotta make you gotta put the heat packs on to make sure you don't don't freeze up, because you know, when you get stiff with these knees, it's like you a statue.
00:31:49
Speaker 2: You can't even move no more. I know, that's how I walk right now.
00:31:54
Speaker 3: See me out there in the skating rinking.
00:31:57
Speaker 2: It's just a straight legs you already know. Hey, wait a minute, you go skating, bro man.
00:32:04
Speaker 3: Well, I took one of my Nike shoes and I sent them to the spot and they put some skates on the bottom of it. I take my daughter and my wife. Oh, I need to get that. I need to get that hook up. You gotta yeah, I got people. I gotta find that because I had these one people.
00:32:18
Speaker 4: Sixteen six nine seven foot is talking about skating.
00:32:22
Speaker 2: That's how I like, I grew up in the skating rink.
00:32:25
Speaker 3: So I grew up in the skate rink too, man, skate Landloo, But I grew up in Buffalo, New York.
00:32:31
Speaker 2: Man, I mean like I used to be. I used to have roller blades. I used to be skating backwards like spinning. That was real life at out here this man, y'all have some jam food. Sixteen was out here on skates out here seven too. But that was crazy. Like I said, we was working out.
00:32:55
Speaker 1: I'm glad you said that because this I had to tell you how poor used to do your boy, man, We used to work out in the morning, before practice start and and him. They told me first, they first told me he was going on the road. The first told me, he was like, nah, you can't go on no road trips. I'm like, damn, I can't go on road trip. It's like, yeah, you can't go on no road trip. So me and him working out. Then they told me I can't work out with him no more before practice.
00:33:21
Speaker 2: I gotta work out after practice. How crazy is that? Man? They used to do wrong. They used to be on my ads.
00:33:31
Speaker 3: I'd be like, bro, I get along with everybody. I don't got no problem with nobody literally helped me out, Like everybody talk about that. Like literally me and him used to talk like we working out, but he talking he giving me game.
00:33:44
Speaker 2: I'm like sitting there.
00:33:45
Speaker 1: Like they used to isolate the ship out of me out Like I ain't feel like I was on the team. So I know how he felt when he got to it. Now because he got to the point, like he said, he was by hisself. It's like I'm walking in an empty gym. You ain't seeing no teammates or nothing. The trainer and the weight room guy gotta work over time because they got to stay and work out with you.
00:34:06
Speaker 2: That's called Bobby Todd, Jase Jensen. Shoot.
00:34:09
Speaker 3: Me and Todd basically lived in Vale, Colorado for like three months. I ended up living in LA for summer rehabbing out there. They sent me back to Indianapolis for a year, and you think about it, was only signed with them for five years. That's that's a lot. This is our emerys segment.
00:34:29
Speaker 4: It's all about what a little round basketball can take you.
00:34:33
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying.
00:34:33
Speaker 4: So that was the craziest place that you've been because of the basketball, Like was your first international trip ever because of.
00:34:41
Speaker 3: Hoops first international year. It was actually the preseason Vancouver game we played. I don't forgot who we played, but you going over to Canada. That was my first time and got to the league. But I played in China, So that was that was that. I'm not I had who else? Wilson Wilson when Wilson Chandler, Wilson was like bro, nah, he was like, cause who else? I think j Yard somebody went to like a cool like more of a city place.
00:35:12
Speaker 4: He was like, bro, they had me out. I ain't know those places like this. He was like, bro. It was it was wild, Like I was your experience over there.
00:35:19
Speaker 2: So it was shining and I probably messed up that name. I like this. I remember that first practice.
00:35:28
Speaker 3: I remember I got off the plane, eighteen hour flight, straight to the gym. They were like, look, you're gonna go through these workouts and then we're gonna play some pickup. I'm straight off the fight, you know, I'm hoping and whatever. I had a couple of jump shots, a couple of hooks, a couple of dumps. I'm like, all right, man. The motherfuckers presented me in my jersey right after. Yeah, like literally, I was like, oh, thank you. They was like, are you sign right now? We got a game in a week. I was like, no, I gotta prepare. But China was an amazing experience. I never seen anything like it because I've never been over there. The one time I was supposed to go when I played in the league, was supposed to go over for y'all's thing or something. Y'all y'all had a summer camp or something I was supposed to go to.
00:36:14
Speaker 2: I didn't make it, but playing over there was eye opener.
00:36:18
Speaker 3: I tell people that by the end of the season, I was smoking a pack of day like for real of cigarettes. This is before the game. Bro, You don't understand. You be in that hotel room and the cigarettes ain't like ours. Though you hit that bitch twice. That shit gone.
00:36:38
Speaker 1: Tell me about, you know, because you didn't get to experience the NBA how you really wanted to experience. But you got the opportunity to play on the Miami Heat team and ride all the way to the finals, even though they lost their finals because they came off of winning it the year before. But to be around them Hall of Fame players, and you know what I'm saying, not only them, but the guys that they had coming off the bench, and you know, just the whole team, the Heat organization, how they run their organization and everything. Just tell us that that experience because I know that was like a just a dope ash spriend.
00:37:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
00:37:17
Speaker 3: You know, the Heat coachure is defined by you Donna's Housen, you know, and we all know that type of person. He is one of the best dudes. Do anything for you, but he gonna fight everybody in this bitch. And you know, having some of the best players on the planet and seeing them commit to that type of culture, waiting body fat ten percent down every Monday, you know, coming in early, me and Beasley up in that bitch at seven getting our workouts in because we the new guys on the team, and Besy like, shit, I've been in this motherfucker before, you know, and me having to prove myself and just being in Miami, and I know where I was coming from in my heretory in Portland.
00:38:01
Speaker 2: I became the party dude.
00:38:02
Speaker 3: I'm in Miami now, I'm like, don't fuck this up, you know, so made sure that I was doing everything I needed. That was the last time my body was tempercent body fat. I say that it's It was good though, because for me, and I say this all the time, I saw super professionalism.
00:38:24
Speaker 2: I love coach post. I love that coach.
00:38:27
Speaker 3: And to see everything that he does, seeing from top to bottom. I remember coming in, you know, I got to come in early to get my work out in, but pat Riley already sitting in the practice gym at seven thirty in the morning and we just had it back to back.
00:38:41
Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, this is pat Riley practice.
00:38:43
Speaker 3: And before I ever knew what that was, you already know, like Spodium want to call this practice.
00:38:48
Speaker 2: It was.
00:38:48
Speaker 3: It was a pat riley practice, but seeing like that level of this is our expectations, and this is how we're going to do it, and this how we're going to get there. And honestly, like our books from the playoffs, I keep to this day. When I was coaching the Butler, I literally brought those to the gym and put them in my office desk and would look over them to help me with how the Miami Heat looked at things and how we did it back then to help those guys now. And I'm really appreciative of that experience. And also being able to meet bird Man and Shane Battier and to see their relationship is probably one of the funniest things and one of the greatest things I've ever seen in my life. Those two, I'll be like, y'all really do hang out with like they are like, but they are so cool together. It was like, you know, getting to know Shaddy, like being at Beasley's house every day, me and this motherfucker talking about something. All Right, we don't go out to the club, but we're gonna finish about Hennessy between us and then we're gonna go to sleep.
00:39:52
Speaker 2: That was our way of not getting in trouble, being out the streets. You know, no, sir, everything Rio.
00:40:01
Speaker 3: You know, Rio, my guy just handling everything, just taking it but making sure. You know, he's a two time champion three count college. You know, he nobody looked at him as that guy, but he was a starting point guard on for the hetos Man Norris Cole, Roger Mason, you know, and then the Big Three. You know, it was I opened to play with all those type of guys and even the guys that were brought in or mid season or even Joel Anthony on that team.
00:40:33
Speaker 2: Man, it was like I was.
00:40:35
Speaker 3: Really appreciative of that experience even though they did get me though. So when I was signing, this is how they used Miami. So Mark Cuban told me, signed two year deal, second year player option. I want you to rehab the first year, get back to used to being on the team.
00:40:58
Speaker 2: Miami.
00:40:59
Speaker 3: We can do the same thing. They just won two championships, They've been the finals three years in a row. Ship, I love that. If you can do that same thing, Ship, you got me. I'm already in Miami. Ship, I'm in the hotel the mind, so you know, it's nice I'm going to spot. I'm going to the spot every day. Damn shup. I've been in Miami for about a week where that contract at uh, you know, it's some hiccups. Ship give me the guarantee. You I'm already here, Like that's how they got me. If I would have thought better two years guaranteed, I get the rehab and second year player option, I probably could have took my body changed. And you know everything they're doing Dallas to help me with the body, I probably you know, I'm just I'm just for a sighting.
00:41:48
Speaker 2: But the game is like the.
00:41:52
Speaker 4: Right because like you said, we all from humble beginners and things like that. I won't know what what Greg Olden young, Greg Golden bed when you at that bag and I ain't talking about obviously you know you took care of mom pops.
00:42:04
Speaker 2: Don't talking about something that you did.
00:42:05
Speaker 4: You look back for yourself like that was probably crazy, but like this shit was fun.
00:42:10
Speaker 3: So my first charger, you know, I had it like jail broken. Like when I would put CDs in that bitch, it would copy the CDs. So I had the whole memory of that bitch, Like everything said in the car in the car and my charger.
00:42:25
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you hold on.
00:42:27
Speaker 3: Literally when I put CDs in it, it would record the CDs and so like literally had roller dex of CDs in my car like that.
00:42:34
Speaker 2: I never had to put back in there. Again, that's crazy. I ain't never heard of. I never heard it. I ain't never heard that one. That's great.
00:42:42
Speaker 3: The big one was my van, my Chevy Express refrigerator on two, three, four, five six TVs bed in the back, stroke lights on the top, swivel seats in the middle.
00:42:57
Speaker 2: I used to drive to the games. I ain't had no driver back there in my.
00:43:00
Speaker 3: Ass, rolling up, coming out with bringing everybody to the game was just sending that motherfucker over There was in that bitch too.
00:43:13
Speaker 2: What made you decide to go back and get your degree.
00:43:17
Speaker 3: First time was because I did promise my mom. But then at that point my daughter was born and there was no way I can tell my daughter to get an education if I didn't have one, and to go back and get my master's. Honestly, I was trying to get into coaching, so I was taking classes and then when I was at Butler that was technically my externship, and so I didn't take my final classes, and then just happened this past summer. I was like, I wonder how many credits I got? You got three classes. I'm knocking bitches out.
00:43:53
Speaker 2: I got my.
00:43:54
Speaker 3: Masters, shoot, and honestly, it's for the things that I really want to do. I wanted to go back and have some credibility. You know, I'm trying to get in the space where you know, I can go out to teams. You know, I struggled with talking to the team therapists because I just kind of didn't feel like I trusted them that much because I felt like it was a direct line to the team and how we were treated in that organization at that time.
00:44:22
Speaker 2: It felt weird.
00:44:24
Speaker 3: So right now, I know things are differently, but I know sometimes some of these players don't want to talk to professional Like I've been through everything you could possibly think of. You know, I'm not going to say I'm a professional therapist, but I am damn near life coach, and I got the experience to show you. So where I am trying to move right now is kind of work with individual athletes and teams in that space. So getting my degrees was something that was going to help me kind of alidify that what made you get into coaching being around basketball? You know, when I tried to step away when I was going through my dark time, that's the most I watched basketball.
00:45:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like when I.
00:45:04
Speaker 1: Was in my dark times, I couldn't. I didn't even look at basketball no more.
00:45:08
Speaker 3: What NBA TV was on all day and night esp And that's literally if I'm not watching Food Network, it's ESPN or it's NBA TV, Like that's it. Like I just when we was at the party last night and Kenny Smith came up, I was like, and Ernie.
00:45:25
Speaker 2: I was like, Ernie, I'm not gonna lie and my.
00:45:27
Speaker 3: Wife she fall asleep to you every Thursday, because it's like, that's what I watched. And it started really when I got my dark place when I was released by Portland, because it was like, while I was playing, I didn't want to hear it, and then when I was not playing, I still had that. That's that's all I cared about. That, that's all I knew. And so I think that's kind of what made me fall into coaching as well. That's that's just that's you know, I've been doing it since I was in fourth grade.
00:45:58
Speaker 4: How was it for you when you got to go back to Portland recently and taking a game and you got to received well from the crowd and things like that.
00:46:07
Speaker 2: How was that experience for you?
00:46:08
Speaker 3: It was amazing, honestly, you know, through a lot of stuff we talked about, I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't know that Beth Hancock was there and she was always somebody that took care and loved all of us. And I knew that going back there and having a chance to take my wife and daughter, it would be special just to show, you know where where daddy, you know, just finally got his little bit of notoriety at and we had a good time.
00:46:37
Speaker 2: Man.
00:46:37
Speaker 3: You know, I honestly I appreciated the Trailblazer organization for just the hospitality Joe cronin the coaching staff. It's just kind of bringing me in and I guess not making it weird, right, And I really hope more things like that can happen for the Trailblazers because I think there is a group the span of Skis that are still here. As you know, the guys that were coming around when we were there. You're a lot older now, but they're they're still around just because you know you want to bring me. I think a lot of these organizations do do that, and I want to see that happen in Portland.
00:47:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, that definitely would be dope. But I don't think I'd be on that list. So start bench trade your storing. So Patrick Ewing lines O morning, the kenve Matombo. Who do you start? Who do you bench? Gotta start? Patrick? You bench lines? That's you bench a lines on you trade to Kembay. I hate to say it. And you know what's a terrible fact.
00:47:50
Speaker 3: The Kimbay's last game he got injured against uh against me, and he didn't play no more after that. It was a play he was going up for a red. I remember he hurt his knee and he didn't play no more. And I I always thought about that. It wasn't nothing like, it doesn't mean nothing. But to me, I'm like, damn, that's a great I's the Ken base man.
00:48:17
Speaker 1: That was our guy, you know, one the real one of our best interviews on here man.
00:48:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's going man. You played with a lot of teammates.
00:48:26
Speaker 1: You know, you had a lot of teammates a few years that you play everybody.
00:48:30
Speaker 2: In their prime.
00:48:32
Speaker 1: If you had to make an ultimate five which you included, who is the four other guys you would make that ultimate five for more years? It don't matter, all of them in their prime. Like every teammate you had from Portland to Miami. If you had to put an ultimate five together, you the five. Who was the other four guys? Point guard?
00:48:56
Speaker 2: So okay we in position with basketball. Now I know who else with you? Well?
00:49:05
Speaker 3: First off was b Roy, Bron mm hmmm, d Wade, and I'm gonna say Andre Miller. Man.
00:49:14
Speaker 2: I love Miller.
00:49:18
Speaker 3: Because he is dreda type to look at all the motherfuckers like, nah, I'm gonna get my big fella to eat first and then the ball bro. So I always respected I respected him, able to talk to Nate like that I was. I respected him, able to just control the team like that. So I guess that would be my d Miller.
00:49:39
Speaker 1: Guy who you got, I would say you Bosh, Brian, b Roy and d Wade. I mean that's that's that's the one. But I tried to go into like a position you can play of the two.
00:50:00
Speaker 3: B Roy can play the three, Brown can play the four, you know, and Dre one. I guess I'm old school in that sense. But of course it's Chris bo Hey, that motherfucker. We went back to Portland. I ain't gonna lie that said, Hey, give me the motherfucking ball. Yes, because you know him in l A, you know, from Texas. Mother get that ship. You know how happy I was. I was talking like mother. Yeah, appreciate se be honestly, man, he is. He was one of the coolest superstars, like on that team that I saw. He was just exactly and he never complained about it, or at least you never saw him bringing that up in anything. And I really did appreciate and and motherfucking won.
00:50:50
Speaker 2: A lot of games. What man, man bro. We appreciate you pulling up on.
00:50:56
Speaker 4: Thank you my brother real one Greg Golden in the building, ladies and gentlemen, we appreciate it.
00:51:01
Speaker 3: Sir.
00:51:01
Speaker 2: Thank y'all for having all right.
00:51:07
Speaker 4: Want to thank y'all for you're continued supporter of the Knuckleheads podcast.
00:51:10
Speaker 2: Be sure to give us two.
00:51:11
Speaker 4: Taps by writing a review and rating five stars wherever you get your podcasts, and make sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss an episode. You can also watch all the episodes on the Players Tribute on YouTube page. Follow us on social media at Knuckleheads Podcast, enjoin our Knucklehead Facebook group for exclusive content. Thanks again and all of our guests and fans. This wouldn't be possible without y'all.
00:51:47
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