Full Transcript for Ron Artest Untold truth about the palace fight, What Kobe Bryant told him, playing Lebron James @ 16

was a travel. A 41 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:36.099 travel is a travel. 42 00:01:36.299 --> 00:01:36.519 Yeah. 43 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:41.189 Right now, it's not necessarily a travel. So it's hard 44 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:42.969 to say why so much travel. I don't know. I 45 00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:45.189 don't understand it. But the fans can see it. The 46 00:01:45.209 --> 00:01:47.569 fans are like... I think you're going to see... The 47 00:01:48.349 --> 00:01:50.150 game's going to change in a couple of years, I think. 48 00:01:51.109 --> 00:01:52.750 Like in what regards? That sort of stuff? 49 00:01:52.769 --> 00:01:55.010 Fundamentals are going to get better. It's getting better already. 50 00:01:55.230 --> 00:01:55.390 Yeah. 51 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:57.750 Why do you think people are. 52 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:00.959 It seems like the NBA is so much softer now 53 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:01.659 than when you played. 54 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:04.659 It's just the rules. It's not the actual players. It's 55 00:02:04.700 --> 00:02:05.280 more the rules. 56 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:07.500 So it's not the players. That's what the question is. 57 00:02:07.659 --> 00:02:09.000 Is it the actual game or is it the. 58 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:10.550 It's not the players. It's the rules. 59 00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:11.550 Yeah. 60 00:02:11.590 --> 00:02:13.909 If you give the players leeway, if they can do 61 00:02:13.949 --> 00:02:15.550 this and get away with it, then they'll do that 62 00:02:15.610 --> 00:02:16.150 and get away with it. 63 00:02:16.689 --> 00:02:16.889 Yeah. 64 00:02:17.150 --> 00:02:17.430 Right. 65 00:02:18.189 --> 00:02:21.939 Like the flopping shit got crazy where it's like you're constantly... 66 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:22.599 That's the ref thing. 67 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:25.539 That's just seeing it. If I'm reffing a game and 68 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:29.099 I see somebody flop, I'm not gonna call it. You know? 69 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:31.750 Where you might call it, because I think the game 70 00:02:31.849 --> 00:02:35.849 in the American sports is aggressive. Like Americans typically, for 71 00:02:35.870 --> 00:02:39.270 years we've been aggressive. Right, so then when you're trying 72 00:02:39.289 --> 00:02:41.789 to make it a global game, when you're coming into 73 00:02:41.830 --> 00:02:45.060 this dome of America, you gotta bring your A game. 74 00:02:45.259 --> 00:02:47.819 But now you don't have to bring your A physical game. 75 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:50.939 You can just bring your finesse game now in America. 76 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:57.189 Because we made it cool. We playing nice now. Yeah. 77 00:02:57.310 --> 00:02:57.900 I don't like it. 78 00:02:58.310 --> 00:02:58.930 We playing nice. 79 00:02:58.949 --> 00:03:00.889 Like when you played, it was like, it was different. 80 00:03:01.229 --> 00:03:04.030 I just felt like it was, it was way more aggressive. 81 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:07.219 Like overall, like it seems like, it seems like people 82 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.000 overall are players overall. We're just more like about it. 83 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:13.360 Well, at times it was a little too much at times, honestly, 84 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.710 but like the over the top, you know, swinging and 85 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:18.830 punching somebody in the face. That's a little too much, 86 00:03:18.909 --> 00:03:23.849 but you know, the, dislodging somebody or keeping somebody from 87 00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:26.610 cutting or having that physical kind. This is a human body. 88 00:03:26.629 --> 00:03:31.189 The symmetry is incredible. And people want to see how 89 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:35.759 God made you versus how he made someone else, female 90 00:03:35.780 --> 00:03:40.800 or male. So from that perspective, the grace part is great, 91 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:44.120 but then also the physical part is great. Everybody got 92 00:03:44.139 --> 00:03:46.719 different attributes. So if you're Allen Iverson, well, you're going 93 00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:48.900 to use your speed and that's going to look incredible. 94 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.909 If you Shaq, you're going to use your strength and 95 00:03:51.930 --> 00:03:55.150 that's going to just look incredible. But right now, what 96 00:03:55.169 --> 00:03:59.669 they're doing is making it more about the fluid part 97 00:03:59.789 --> 00:04:03.900 of the game and taking away the big muscular 6'10 98 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:05.560 power forward. 99 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.900 Like the technicalities of like the reffing and the sort 100 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:10.300 of like what you can or can't do. 101 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:14.020 Yeah, what you can or can't do is lending itself 102 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:17.209 to not seeing as many standard four, which is 6'10. 103 00:04:18.610 --> 00:04:21.129 6'9 to 6'11 is like a standard four, maybe 6'8 104 00:04:21.149 --> 00:04:24.490 and a half. Then 6'10 and a half to 7', 105 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:27.990 you know, whatever, 7'1 or 7'2, that's your center. And 106 00:04:28.029 --> 00:04:29.589 now you don't see that no more. Now it's like 107 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:31.990 6'7 center. 108 00:04:32.470 --> 00:04:34.129 Yeah. Do you think it'll go back? 109 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:36.670 I think at some point it's going to go back 110 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:41.149 because even people talk about the ratings, it's a better 111 00:04:41.189 --> 00:04:43.540 game now. You know, these are just people coming up 112 00:04:43.579 --> 00:04:46.860 with rules, sitting at a round table with other decision-makers. 113 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:50.699 pretty much kissing butt to stay in the loop. So 114 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:53.319 now you're talking about, oh, let's change the rules to 115 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:56.490 make it more of a global game. Predictive analytics when 116 00:04:56.509 --> 00:04:59.569 there's nothing to predict. You can't predict how a fan 117

00:04:59.610 --> 00:05:03.350 is going to feel. You could try. But now when 118 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:06.069 you look at the ratings, which I'm a big NBA fan, 119 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:07.600 I'm a supporter of the NBA, and I'm always like, 120 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:09.740 I'm a big time supporter of the NBA. But when 121 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:13.500 you look at the ratings now, with this championship game 122 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:17.100 versus the one with Michael Jordan played, the highest ever 123 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:21.759 viewed game. So how does that justify that this game 124 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:23.620 is better than what the fans want to see? 125 00:05:25.189 --> 00:05:27.470 Well, I don't think it does. It just doesn't. 126 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:33.889 I think now the salaries are going up. That's because AI, automation, digital, 127 00:05:33.970 --> 00:05:40.860 more consumer, direct-to-consumer experiences. So just by default, the money 128 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:42.759 is going to go up and the game is going 129 00:05:42.779 --> 00:05:44.459 to grow from a financial perspective. 130 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:44.680 Right. 131 00:05:45.529 --> 00:05:48.189 You know, if you had the same technology when Michael 132 00:05:48.209 --> 00:05:51.230 Jordan was there, direct to consumer experiences. 133 00:05:51.529 --> 00:05:52.910 This is incredible. 134 00:05:52.930 --> 00:05:55.439 Now you're talking about, you know, so he still would 135 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:58.000 have been breaking records back then and he's breaking records now. 136 00:05:58.339 --> 00:06:02.259 So I think sometimes we try to predict or try 137 00:06:02.279 --> 00:06:04.800 to control how a human is going to think versus 138 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:08.019 just let the game flow. You don't have to change much. Yeah, 139 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:10.819 the game is going to grow, but we still are 140 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:12.860 on this planet. We was here in the 90s and 141 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:15.899 we saw what we liked. And then as a fan, 142 00:06:16.970 --> 00:06:22.269 we made our children become fans. The future didn't make 143 00:06:22.370 --> 00:06:24.930 our children become fans. It was us or my parents 144 00:06:24.949 --> 00:06:27.829 that was like, watch this game. You see this game? 145 00:06:28.029 --> 00:06:31.509 And then we became fans of that style. So now 146 00:06:31.550 --> 00:06:33.930 we're just trying to totally change the game. 147 00:06:33.949 --> 00:06:36.709 It doesn't make sense. How would you do it differently? 148 00:06:36.910 --> 00:06:38.970 If you could make the rules different, what would you do? 149 00:06:39.310 --> 00:06:45.370 I think what I would do is definitely... You know, 150 00:06:45.750 --> 00:06:48.550 keep it as it was, maybe a couple of little 151 00:06:48.589 --> 00:06:53.029 tweaks here and there. The All-Star game, I know a 152 00:06:53.069 --> 00:06:55.069 lot of people don't want to play or they're like, why? 153 00:06:55.129 --> 00:06:57.810 But when you look at the All-Star game and the 154 00:06:57.870 --> 00:07:00.379 fans is like, wow, this is not like it was 155 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:02.459 in the 90s or even 2000. 156 00:07:02.459 --> 00:07:02.699 Yeah. 157 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:06.160 Right when Jordan had his last game against Kobe, R.I.P. Kobe. 158 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:09.180 So from that perspective, it's not up to the players 159 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:12.300 to say, you know, why do I have to play? 160 00:07:12.339 --> 00:07:15.860 It's not your choice, right? You got to play. 161 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:18.529 I think that's the excitement of it. 162 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:23.199 It's the excitement, 100%. People locked out. Look at all 163 00:07:23.250 --> 00:07:26.649 the players that locked out in 98 and even in 164 00:07:26.649 --> 00:07:31.250 2011 and whenever the other time was. Now, they're forgetting 165 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:33.730 that some of the players that locked out, you don't 166 00:07:33.769 --> 00:07:38.350 know their names. They actually lost real money. They lost 167 00:07:38.490 --> 00:07:43.930 real money. Delonte West lost real money. Antoine Walker, he 168 00:07:43.949 --> 00:07:48.129 lost real money. They're looking at it like, oh, I'm here, 169 00:07:48.170 --> 00:07:51.449 and we the reason why money's going up. No, it's not. 170 00:07:51.589 --> 00:07:54.709 It's because of the sacrifices that was made, and now 171 00:07:54.769 --> 00:07:57.370 we're fans, and we want to see you play in 172 00:07:57.389 --> 00:08:00.410 the All-Star game. Yeah, when you retire year one, and 173 00:08:00.449 --> 00:08:00.949 they'll see. 174 00:08:01.370 --> 00:08:02.990 And when you talk about playing, you mean like actually 175 00:08:03.029 --> 00:08:04.350 play hard, not just fuck around? 176 00:08:04.430 --> 00:08:07.310 Yeah, play to win. I'm not saying go hack somebody, but... 177 00:08:08.009 --> 00:08:11.870 But good grief, you know, play defense, nobody gets the 178 00:08:11.990 --> 00:08:14.709 open shot, lock him up. If he is not ready 179 00:08:14.750 --> 00:08:17.170 to play in this game, then he's not ready. When 180 00:08:17.209 --> 00:08:19.310 we played, they lucky I wasn't playing in Lawson. Because 181 00:08:19.329 --> 00:08:23.170 when I played, I was going in. And Kobe was 182 00:08:23.209 --> 00:08:26.660 going in. So if Kobe's your so-called favorite player, but 183 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:28.860 then you don't have to play hard, or if you're 184 00:08:28.879 --> 00:08:32.200 being sponsored by Michael Jordan and you respect Michael Jordan 185 00:08:32.220 --> 00:08:37.039 that much, I get it because the money is different. 186 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:42.320 So these are actual chairmen and corporations on the court. 187 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:45.299 This is not like it was when you were a 188 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:47.899 player on the court. These are actual chairmen on the 189 00:08:47.960 -->

00:08:51.049 court now. So I get that piece. You got a 190 00:08:51.110 --> 00:08:53.590 lot to think about. But at some point in time, 191 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:56.490 as a fan, we want to watch the game. I 192 00:08:56.529 --> 00:08:59.190 want to sit there and watch the all-star game, you know, 193 00:08:59.230 --> 00:09:00.860 and be like, man, I should have did that. I 194 00:09:00.889 --> 00:09:03.559 could have did that, but I'm actually enjoying the game. 195 00:09:03.580 --> 00:09:05.539 Now I don't want to be at the point where 196 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:10.620 I leave in the arena early because this is just disgusting. Yeah. 197 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:11.820 You know what I'm saying? Yeah. 198 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:12.259 Yeah. 199 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:12.679 I get it. 200 00:09:13.139 --> 00:09:14.659 Do you, is there anything as far as your career 201 00:09:14.710 --> 00:09:16.429 goes that you wish you would have done? Obviously everyone's 202 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:18.309 going to say win more, but like, you know, like 203 00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:20.669 a lot of people like go towards stats or they, 204 00:09:20.730 --> 00:09:24.740 you know, obviously everyone wants rings of course. Um, But 205 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:27.799 if that's not a viable thing, because of the team 206 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.299 and this whole team jumping thing now and everything that 207 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:32.970 they have going on, I think we say LeBron started that. 208 00:09:33.629 --> 00:09:40.529 No way. A lot of people, LeBron, he's done things 209 00:09:40.769 --> 00:09:44.539 that he's done. Michael Jordan did things that he did. 210 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:44.980 Yeah. 211 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:49.559 Right? Jerry Krause also done things that he did, like 212 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:50.519 break up the team. 213 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:51.039 Yeah. 214 00:09:51.379 --> 00:09:54.700 Everybody has a different journey. I don't think LeBron started it. 215 00:09:54.700 --> 00:09:59.470 I mean, when you saw Charles Barkley go to the Rockets, 216 00:09:59.509 --> 00:10:03.679 LeBron wasn't even in the league. Barkley wanted to win 217 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:06.440 the title. When you saw Gary Payton go to the 218 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:09.679 Lakers that first time, or Mitch Richmond, LeBron wasn't in 219 00:10:09.730 --> 00:10:12.889 the league at that time. So we can't keep blaming 220 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:17.070 LeBron for every single thing. Yeah. People love to blame 221 00:10:17.090 --> 00:10:20.320 that motherfucker, bro. Yeah. And I feel bad because like LeBron, 222 00:10:20.340 --> 00:10:22.940 he's so competitive. When I saw LeBron at 15 years old, 223 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:24.980 when I seen him in the gym, I was like, wow, 224 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:26.379 he should be in the NBA right now. 225 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:27.480 At 15? 226 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:29.480 Yeah, 15. It was the summertime. It was a famous, 227 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:31.549 a lot of conversations go around, interviews. A lot of 228 00:10:31.570 --> 00:10:35.250 people talk about the famous Michael Jordan games in Chicago. 229 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:37.950 And then when he got to the league, My whole 230 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:39.590 thing is being competitive. So if I'm going to be 231 00:10:39.610 --> 00:10:44.730 competitive against Michael Jordan, against Kobe, I view LeBron as 232 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:47.629 on that same level, even though he's five years younger. 233 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:49.980 So at some point you got to be a bigger OG. 234 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:53.299 But LeBron was so talented, you don't really get a 235 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:56.320 chance to be an OG because you just want to compete. 236 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:02.159 Like this guy's a man. So sometimes as an older player, 237 00:11:02.179 --> 00:11:04.029 you got to take your foot off the gas in 238 00:11:04.049 --> 00:11:07.120 terms of, oh, I want to compete. Because it's so 239 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:10.000 many shots being thrown at him. Yeah. You know, people 240 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:13.860 expected this 17-year-old kid to make big shots at 17. 241 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:16.240 He'll miss a big shot. And they say he's not 242 00:11:16.259 --> 00:11:19.039 like whoever, not like MJ, for example. Well, MJ was 243 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.600 21 years old when he first got into the NBA. 244 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:25.659 LeBron was 17. Pressure's insane. Even though I think MJ's career, 245 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:30.200 his stats is a little bit more impressive than LeBron's stats. 246 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:32.370 When you talk about LeBron's, like, number one scorer of 247 00:11:32.450 --> 00:11:36.429 all time. Yeah. The longest career ever. and most dominant 248 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:39.870 throughout the whole time, then when you compare that to 249 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:42.919 MJ's nine scoring titles, or if you compare it to 250 00:11:42.980 --> 00:11:45.940 his six championships, five, you know, so it is some 251 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.860 stats that on a scale might weigh MJ's weight, but 252 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:53.860 at the same time, you know, you can't, you know, people, 253 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:55.559 LeBron started early. 254 00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:58.629 You can't pick out of those, you know, everyone's like Kobe, LeBron, Jordan, 255 00:11:58.669 --> 00:12:01.210 you can't pick who's the greatest because it's different times and. 256 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:04.179 The thing with Kobe and myself, Kobe was in an 257 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:06.009 era where at one point in time, I was like 258 00:12:06.029 --> 00:12:08.710 the best defender in the league. And then I'm like, 259 00:12:09.070 --> 00:12:14.509 and I was an apex defender. Apex, you know, Tyrannosaurus Rex. 260 00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:17.460 So I'm thinking I'm just going to eat up everybody. 261 00:12:17.500 -->

00:12:21.100 But sometimes like a guy like Kobe, although I didn't 262 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:24.059 back down, he was very successful. So it's a different 263 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:25.879 mindset when I was thinking of Kobe, even when I 264 00:12:25.899 --> 00:12:28.840 joined his team. Cause I'm like, man, he's still my 265 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:33.000 competitor at that point or my, uh, the opponent versus 266 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:35.240 a guy like MJ, I'm just looking up to MJ. 267 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:37.960 You see, so for me, I feel emotionally different. And 268 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:39.440 then a guy like LeBron, I'm like, wow, I'm just 269 00:12:39.460 --> 00:12:42.139 like impressed with LeBron. So I don't get a chance 270 00:12:42.179 --> 00:12:45.289 to appreciate like a Kobe or a Tim Duncan. Cause 271 00:12:45.309 --> 00:12:47.309 we was in that same era of, you know, I 272 00:12:47.309 --> 00:12:48.269 don't want to be on your team. I want to 273 00:12:48.289 --> 00:12:51.230 play against you. Yeah. So it's kind of hard to like, 274 00:12:52.250 --> 00:12:55.269 but I think, you know, LeBron's career is super impressive, 275 00:12:55.860 --> 00:12:58.500 but I still think MJ and even Will Chamberlain, a 276 00:12:58.539 --> 00:13:03.549 lot of people, Will Chamberlain is the great, is the GOAT. Okay. Yeah. 277 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:06.960 Will Chamberlain's for sure number one GOAT all time. 278 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:07.960 Fair, fair. 279 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:09.240 So I have a question. 280 00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:11.120 You were telling kind of like, I saw this clip. 281 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:12.919 I don't know if it was a clip or if 282 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.059 I just read this somewhere, but you were talking about 283 00:13:15.100 --> 00:13:17.879 when LeBron, there was like a scrimmage or some game 284 00:13:17.899 --> 00:13:21.730 that you were playing with Jordan and LeBron. And LeBron was, 285 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:23.990 I think, 16. And this is something when he got 286 00:13:24.029 --> 00:13:26.509 the title, like the term of like the one. And 287 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:28.970 I guess he scored over you, and Jordan looked at 288 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:30.149 you and was like, oh, he's the one. 289 00:13:30.590 --> 00:13:32.850 No, it is a lot of different stories. That definitely 290 00:13:32.870 --> 00:13:35.649 wasn't one of the stories. No. But some things that 291 00:13:35.690 --> 00:13:38.029 happened in the gym was LeBron was just playing very well. 292 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:41.940 He was playing against all-stars at that time in that 293 00:13:41.980 --> 00:13:44.279 gym and posting them up. At 16. 294 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:44.500 15, 16. 295 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:46.320 I think I played against him twice in that gym, 296 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:48.120 but it could have been one time. But I do 297 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.059 remember him playing very well. Yeah. And I was 19 298 00:13:51.059

--> 00:13:51.159 or 20. 299 00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:51.240 Yeah. 300 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:56.759 He's five years younger, so. I remember going up against 301 00:13:56.820 --> 00:13:59.779 him and on a fast break, he was coming full speed. 302 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:03.120 And I was like, wow, this body looks different coming 303 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.169 at me than the NBA player's body. So even when 304 00:14:06.210 --> 00:14:09.350 I got in front of him and checked him, and 305 00:14:09.450 --> 00:14:10.450 you know, I kind of, he was young, so I 306 00:14:10.490 --> 00:14:13.429 checked him up. I put him on the floor, but 307 00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:16.029 he might not have even fell on the floor. Honestly, 308 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:18.370 I can't quite remember. But I remember him being able 309 00:14:18.389 --> 00:14:20.330 to absorb it, getting up and playing the game at 310 00:14:20.330 --> 00:14:22.009 15 years old. It was pretty impressive. 311 00:14:22.250 --> 00:14:22.370 Yeah. 312 00:14:22.389 --> 00:14:22.470 Yeah. 313 00:14:23.190 --> 00:14:24.110 Damn. 314 00:14:24.970 --> 00:14:27.750 You played in such a golden era of fucking basketball. 315 00:14:27.990 --> 00:14:28.230 Yeah. 316 00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:29.870 Played with a lot of fucking legends, man. 317 00:14:29.950 --> 00:14:31.070 A lot of legends. 318 00:14:32.509 --> 00:14:34.350 Who do you think you had the most fun playing with? 319 00:14:34.429 --> 00:14:35.750 Or who stands out the most? 320 00:14:36.549 --> 00:14:38.080 Playing with or against? With. 321 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:38.720 On your team. 322 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:43.159 I mean, Kobe stands out, obviously, because watching Kobe is 323 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:48.679 really almost magical. You know he's only human. There's no 324 00:14:48.779 --> 00:14:49.559 aliens on the team. 325 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:50.159 Yeah. 326 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:53.620 They do say he's alien in disguise. Yeah, like- They 327 00:14:53.649 --> 00:14:56.059 do say aliens in disguise. Who knows, man? That's a 328 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:58.919 whole other conspiracy. That's a whole other conspiracy. Who's the 329 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:04.980 actual NBA alien, right? But watching Kobe, it was magical. 330 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:05.539 Yeah. 331 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:09.379 Because it's certain things that you, like me as a player, 332 00:15:09.419 --> 00:15:12.450 for example, 27-0 in high school in New York City. 333 00:15:13.009 --> 00:15:15.919 Three championships after Rucka. or whatever you want to call it, 334 00:15:16.350 --> 00:15:19.110 all this cool stuff, then you're playing against another level 335 00:15:19.129 --> 00:15:21.210 and you want to be like that. You want to 336 00:15:21.289 --> 00:15:24.070 be like Mike. That's a real commercial. That really hit 337 00:15:24.110 --> 00:15:26.389 us home. We want to be like Mike. But when 338 00:15:26.409 --> 00:15:28.730 you watching a guy like Kobe, like, wow, this is

different. 339 00:15:29.169 --> 00:15:30.289 So you mean to tell me if I work on 340 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:32.519 my game like this, I can play like Kobe? Okay, 341 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:36.159 let me try that. Oh, it's not quite working. You know, 342 00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:38.980 it's not quite panning out. You know, I think Kobe 343 00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:42.200 was great. Yao Ming was incredible. Yao Ming, to me, 344 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:45.139 was the most dominant player ever. that I've played with. 345 00:15:45.490 --> 00:15:46.289 Yeah. Yeah. 346 00:15:46.309 --> 00:15:47.370 He couldn't on the rockets. 347 00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:48.909 Yeah. He couldn't really stop him. 348 00:15:49.669 --> 00:15:51.590 Just, just, just cause of the sheer size or he 349 00:15:51.629 --> 00:15:52.070 just knew. 350 00:15:51.970 --> 00:15:54.769 How to also, yeah. Size and skill. 351 00:15:55.950 --> 00:15:56.110 Yeah. 352 00:15:56.129 --> 00:15:56.870 You couldn't stop him. 353 00:15:57.070 --> 00:15:58.909 Is there anyone now that you'd, you would, if you 354 00:15:58.929 --> 00:16:01.450 watch the game now you can like make similarities to, 355 00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:03.100 or does everyone just so unique? 356 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.740 No. Well, I always tell people, um, because of my, 357 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:14.059 because my career was, my awards wasn't, um, maximize or 358 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:15.720 optimize because I should have had more. 359 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:16.340 Yeah. 360 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:19.299 So it's hard for me to say, why didn't you 361 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:21.600 get more? Well, just as dispensions. 362 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:22.080 Yeah. 363 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:23.320 I still got a lot. 364 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:23.919 Yeah. 365 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:26.299 I still got a lot, you know, it's pretty cool. 366 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:29.929 I got some ones that's, I can make an argument 367 00:16:29.970 --> 00:16:31.549 for being in the Hall of Fame when you talk 368 00:16:31.570 --> 00:16:32.190 about the defensive player. 369 00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:33.850 Yeah, why didn't they fucking snub you? I don't get it. 370 00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:35.409 I'm not snubbed yet because you still got time. 371 00:16:35.590 --> 00:16:35.730 Okay. 372 00:16:35.769 --> 00:16:36.649 I'm not a first ballot. 373 00:16:36.990 --> 00:16:37.330 Okay. 374 00:16:37.370 --> 00:16:38.889 I would have been a first ballot if I would 375 00:16:38.909 --> 00:16:41.860 have had my head on straight. Yeah. 376 00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:44.120 Why do you think you were so fucking just wild? 377 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:46.580 I think like the game, I just love the game 378 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:49.460 so much. And I'm used to playing in New York 379 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:52.500 City like Gun Hill Road or Gershwin Park. Everybody play 380 00:16:52.539 --> 00:16:54.960 on Gershwin Park now in Brooklyn. I played in the 381 00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:00.590 real Gershwin when there was no where there was no security. 382 00:17:01.090 --> 00:17:03.350 That's the real Gershwin. I played in the real Gun 383 00:17:03.370 --> 00:17:05.930 Hill in the Bronx. You know, from that perspective, the 384 00:17:05.950 --> 00:17:09.970 way I play on a street, on a concrete, I 385 00:17:09.990 --> 00:17:12.349 brought that type of style to the league, and it 386 00:17:12.390 --> 00:17:13.970 just doesn't mix all the time. 387 00:17:14.049 --> 00:17:14.269 Yeah. 388 00:17:14.569 --> 00:17:17.009 You see what I'm saying? So, you know, I think 389 00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:21.369 there's players that I admire, like, when I see the 390 00:17:21.390 --> 00:17:23.670 game and I kind of visualize, like, a Kawhi Leonard, 391 00:17:24.329 --> 00:17:29.460 like a Maxie, you know, Like, who else am I? 392 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.079 There's a couple of players. I like Jeremy Grant. I 393 00:17:32.099 --> 00:17:36.019 wouldn't compare. I like his game. I like Grant's game, 394 00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:39.450 but it's a little bit not the same. But he's 395 00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:43.309 really talented, plays defense, plays offense. Might have even been 396 00:17:43.329 --> 00:17:44.450 an all-star, if I'm not mistaken. 397 00:17:44.710 --> 00:17:44.910 Yeah. 398 00:17:45.210 --> 00:17:46.630 Yeah, there's a couple of guys I like. 399 00:17:46.690 --> 00:17:49.319 So, obviously, I think one of your most viral moments, 400 00:17:49.339 --> 00:17:51.740 and I think, honestly, one of the most viral moments in, like, 401 00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:56.180 sports history is the fight. at the palace what like 402 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.660 explain that because obviously you were i you see the 403 00:17:58.700 --> 00:18:01.180 clip you're laying down someone just tosses something at you 404 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:03.099 right why why did you why do you think you 405 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:04.859 snap why do you think you said fuck it i 406 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:06.720 mean you can answer that you just yeah you do 407 00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:09.319 something at you well just you answer it first and 408 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:11.839 then i'll answer well yeah i mean it's disrespectful as 409 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:15.400 fuck obviously you're playing the game obviously for these people 410 00:18:15.579 --> 00:18:18.480 right um i'm just wondering why like then you were 411 00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:20.099 like I mean, you. 412 00:18:20.019 --> 00:18:20.509 Just answered it. 413 00:18:20.539 --> 00:18:21.019 Yeah, okay. 414 00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:23.079 You just said it was disrespectful. It is, it is. 415 00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:24.529 All right, so you just answered it. 416 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:25.500 Fair, fair. 417 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:28.509 But I can talk about the moment, but it's very 418 00:18:28.569 --> 00:18:32.890 important that people answer that. It's like your teacher gives 419 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:36.910 you a

problem. Okay, here's the problem that I want 420 00:18:36.930 --> 00:18:40.210 you to solve. Well, I can't solve it. You might 421 00:18:40.230 --> 00:18:43.420 have to solve it. It's that type of thing. It's 422 00:18:43.500 --> 00:18:48.019 a thing where media does have influence over how we think. Yeah, 423 00:18:48.099 --> 00:18:50.640 that's right. And then I think is a thing where 424 00:18:52.329 --> 00:18:54.930 when you look at the first comments from the commentary, 425 00:18:56.230 --> 00:18:59.130 they were saying this is really a disgrace on how 426 00:18:59.150 --> 00:19:01.809 a fan could throw something at a player. But when 427 00:19:01.849 --> 00:19:05.789 you look at that next day, the commentary changed. And 428 00:19:05.829 --> 00:19:09.289 the one gentleman who mentioned that got fired off the network. 429 00:19:09.730 --> 00:19:14.069 So then now your kind of comment is one that you, 430 00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:16.880 because you're seeing it on YouTube. You probably wasn't there. No, yeah, no. 431 00:19:16.890 --> 00:19:17.690 You probably saw it on YouTube. 432 00:19:17.990 --> 00:19:18.119 Yeah. 433 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:19.970 Or maybe you saw it live. So from that perspective, 434 00:19:19.990 --> 00:19:23.099 you're taking in that information. But just from that perspective, 435 00:19:24.180 --> 00:19:24.759 what happened? 436 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.579 The media tried to frame it like it was just 437 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:28.920 bad for the players to do that. 438 00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:32.819 Well, the way they framed it was, well, in terms 439 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:37.200 of editing, the editors probably got their marching orders from 440 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.990 their executives. So how- how they edited it, the clips, 441 00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:47.049 was from table to stands. But you couldn't quite take 442 00:19:47.109 --> 00:19:50.740 out the cup edit, because the cup, if you would've 443 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.500 took out that edit of the cup splashing, then you 444 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:57.740 would've saw my back to the camera running into the stands. 445 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:00.220 So that kind of saved me a little bit in 446 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:03.930 the grace of the people. But then when the documentary 447 00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:07.230 came out, then they showed the whole clip. It showed 448 00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:12.250 the toss. Of the hand. But that next day, they 449 00:20:12.289 --> 00:20:17.670 didn't show that full clip. And then the media, the 450 00:20:17.690 --> 00:20:20.789 marching orders was, this is the story. And then the 451 00:20:20.849 --> 00:20:27.480 story was, players cannot fight fans even if a fan 452 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:28.059 wants to hit a player. 453 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:30.960 But it's like, why the fuck are you throwing something 454 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:32.400 at someone that's just like, come on. 455 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:34.240 It was a $ 50 bet. So I know the guy, John. 456 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:37.029 We're friends. The guy who actually threw the cup. That's 457 00:20:37.049 --> 00:20:37.630 like a frame. 458 00:20:37.650 --> 00:20:38.890 Someone said, I bet you won't do that. 459 00:20:39.250 --> 00:20:42.789 Well, what happened was the two gentlemen in that frame, 460 00:20:42.950 --> 00:20:46.130 in that frame, right? So what happened was the one 461 00:20:46.170 --> 00:20:50.579 gentleman who raised his arm up, you'll see that he 462 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:52.640 bet John Green $ 50 that he could have hit me 463 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:54.440 with a cup of beer as I was laying on 464 00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:57.299 the stands. And I found this out because as I 465 00:20:57.339 --> 00:20:59.880 was depressed for years and I missed my defensive player 466 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.279 of the year award, I missed the all-star game, I 467 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:04.779 missed another all-team, I just made 13 more NBA average 468 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:07.430 at 18 points. and the best defender. That year I 469 00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:11.240 was averaging 25. So now, that year I was averaging 470 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:14.039 25 and the prior year averaging 18, I finished number 471 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.819 six in MVP. So here we are, the best team 472 00:21:16.859 --> 00:21:18.819 in the league. So now I'm like moving up to 473 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.569 number three of two for MVP. You only get a 474 00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:24.309 small window opportunity for MVP. It's not a big window 475 00:21:24.329 --> 00:21:27.569 unless you're LeBron or Kobe. Right, so from that perspective, 476 00:21:28.410 --> 00:21:31.009 I was a little bit frustrated and depressed. Like, damn, 477 00:21:31.589 --> 00:21:34.220 I missed out on my award, my all-star. So anyway, 478 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:35.920 I reached out to him years later. We became friends. 479 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:37.240 He said, hey, man, I got something to tell you. 480 00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:40.140 I was wrong at the time. He said, I'm really 481 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:43.579 sorry about what happened. He apologized to me. And the 482 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:46.759 media still have yet to apologize for the way they 483 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:52.119 edited it, the edits, the clips, and then also the titles, 484 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:56.369 the subtitles. But he said, sorry. He said it was 485 00:21:56.390 --> 00:21:59.650 a $ 50 bet. I think the gentleman's name was Ryan. 486 00:21:59.990 --> 00:22:03.769 So when John threw the cup, Ryan went like this, 487 00:22:04.029 --> 00:22:05.730 so as I'm laying on the scorer's table and I'm 488 00:22:05.769 --> 00:22:08.410 looking up, I see this guy like this, so I'm like, 489 00:22:08.490 --> 00:22:10.769 that's the direction I got hit, and he must have 490 00:22:10.789 --> 00:22:12.829 hit me, and everybody said I hit the wrong person, 491 00:22:13.630 --> 00:22:16.109 but I think

it was about hundreds of millions of 492 00:22:16.130 --> 00:22:18.990 people that was commenting, they were all wrong, because he 493 00:22:19.009 --> 00:22:21.210 was the one, hundreds of millions of people was wrong, 494 00:22:21.630 --> 00:22:25.029 because he made the bet. I actually hit the right person. 495 00:22:25.170 --> 00:22:26.759 Yeah, the guy who said to do it. 496 00:22:26.789 --> 00:22:28.210 The guy who threw the cup would have never threw 497 00:22:28.230 --> 00:22:30.430 the cup if the guy didn't make the bet. So 498 00:22:30.450 --> 00:22:35.089 a $ 50 bet costs... Six million that year. It costs 499 00:22:35.490 --> 00:22:38.140 more contracts in the future. So that's like now you're 500 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.759 talking about 50 to 60 million. You're talking about. 501 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:42.259 That's fucking insane. 502 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.720 I lost every endorsement deal. I lost my signature shoe 503 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.359 that day. I lost my Carl's Jr. 's commercial that 504 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:50.900 was about to be signatured up that day. I lost 505 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:54.349 all three of my ESPN and TNT commercials pulled off 506 00:22:54.390 --> 00:22:58.730 the air. You never even seen those commercials. Fuck. Right? 507 00:22:58.750 --> 00:23:00.009 So anyway, from that perspective. 508 00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:03.349 Hold on, what was that like? Did that fuck you 509 00:23:03.410 --> 00:23:05.329 up when you went to go play more? Did you 510 00:23:05.349 --> 00:23:06.670 feel like, kind of, fuck this? 511 00:23:06.789 --> 00:23:09.069 I mean, in the beginning I was, but I'm from 512 00:23:09.109 --> 00:23:13.490 Queens' projects, honestly. We were super proud. We were from Maldive, Nas, 513 00:23:13.690 --> 00:23:18.029 MC Shan, Roxanne, Shante, other things has happened, Vern Fleming. 514 00:23:18.450 --> 00:23:21.450 I'm from the biggest federal housing project in America. That's tough. 515 00:23:21.970 --> 00:23:24.289 You know what I mean? But when you're talking about 516 00:23:24.329 --> 00:23:27.890 someone taking something from you that you don't own anyway, 517 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:31.750 because somebody else hit you, You just, you know, that's 518 00:23:31.789 --> 00:23:33.250 just life and you know what you, now you know 519 00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:36.029 who you in the rooms with. Yeah. 520 00:23:36.109 --> 00:23:38.289 Would you have done it differently? If you look, if 521 00:23:38.309 --> 00:23:39.450 you knew everything you knew now? 522 00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:41.079 If I knew everything I know now, I would have 523 00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:47.759 done it differently. But I would also, before that moment 524 00:23:47.940 --> 00:23:50.319 comes up, knowing everything I know now, would I have 525 00:23:50.339 --> 00:23:53.569 done it differently? Yes. But you also got to identify 526 00:23:53.630 --> 00:23:57.890 the people who made it cool for a fan to 527 00:23:57.930 -->

00:24:00.839 hit someone and that's okay. That's bullshit. So you also 528 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.259 got to try to identify the names, who was involved 529 00:24:04.299 --> 00:24:06.869 in the rooms behind the scenes. Who said that was 530 00:24:06.940 --> 00:24:10.950 okay for a fan to hit a player? Right? Because 531 00:24:11.410 --> 00:24:14.390 neither was okay. I think it was more of the 532 00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:17.309 fan's fault. Yeah. Who I became friends with. 533 00:24:17.529 --> 00:24:17.730 Yeah. 534 00:24:18.150 --> 00:24:19.980 Because people tried to also make it a race fault. 535 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:23.900 When I seen... At that time? Yeah, you'll see different clips. Oh, 536 00:24:23.940 --> 00:24:27.660 it's this, that. So when I seen that, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. 537 00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.710 This is between two men. It's had nothing to do 538 00:24:31.269 --> 00:24:34.450 with black and white. So me and John became friends. 539 00:24:34.490 --> 00:24:36.740 Everybody else out there making a big deal out of 540 00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:39.440 it and trying to, whether you're on this side or 541 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:43.000 that side, this is a thing between two men. Since 542 00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:46.500 when did people get in between two men that got 543 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:46.980 an issue? 544 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:47.519 Yeah. 545 00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:50.980 Well, that's, I mean, dude, even now, like now even 546 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:53.720 more so than ever, like it's almost as if like 547 00:24:53.829 --> 00:24:56.730 people want people to be in a feud, like because 548 00:24:56.769 --> 00:25:00.920 of race, because of anything. It's like more now than ever, 549 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:04.400 it's just like, let's make people hate each other. It 550 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:06.160 seems that that's what's happening on the internet. I don't 551 00:25:06.180 --> 00:25:07.660 know how much time you spend on it or if 552 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:08.859 you're on Twitter or whatever. 553 00:25:08.900 --> 00:25:12.890 No, it's very true. I mean, I knew that in 2004, 554 00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:15.430 which is why when people see me and John Green cool, 555 00:25:15.890 --> 00:25:18.150 they're like, man, that wasn't the narrative I was trying 556 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:21.329 to paint. I was trying to cause up a stir. 557 00:25:22.309 --> 00:25:26.470 And for me, I'm always like, nah. Because as much 558 00:25:26.509 --> 00:25:30.619 as people say we're divided... I don't see it every day. 559 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:33.440 I'm also not in different parts of America, but I 560 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:36.380 don't see that every day. Yeah, it's not perfect. That's true. 561 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:38.980 And we got issues and we got to solve. That's true, 562 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:42.640 but I don't think it's as unbalanced as what's being 563 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:43.809 portrayed in the media. 564 00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:45.180 Why do you think they do it that? Why do 565 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:47.190 you think they want everyone to fucking hate each other? 566 00:25:47.650 --> 00:25:49.490 I mean, who knows? I don't want everybody to hate 567 00:25:49.509 --> 00:25:51.529 each other, so I don't know why others... I mean, 568 00:25:51.589 --> 00:25:54.910 do people want people to hate each other? Do people 569 00:25:54.970 --> 00:25:57.170 hate each other? I don't think so. I mean, I 570 00:25:57.190 --> 00:26:00.200 don't think Naturally, people hate each other. But yeah, sometimes 571 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:02.990 you want your own space. Sometimes you want to be... 572 00:26:03.210 --> 00:26:05.230 Maybe a black guy want to be around his black 573 00:26:05.289 --> 00:26:08.279 friends one day. Yeah, for sure. Maybe Asian girls want 574 00:26:08.299 --> 00:26:11.000 to be around their Asian girlfriends one day. Why not? 575 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.150 Maybe white guys want to be around white guys one day. 576 00:26:14.890 --> 00:26:19.230 why not? Yeah. Like, why not? Like, when did that 577 00:26:19.390 --> 00:26:20.430 not become okay? 578 00:26:20.890 --> 00:26:21.150 Yeah. 579 00:26:21.190 --> 00:26:23.710 To be able to be around like-minded people or people 580 00:26:23.750 --> 00:26:25.009 that just look like you. 581 00:26:25.349 --> 00:26:25.589 Yeah. 582 00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:28.400 Or that doesn't make you racist or doesn't make you, 583 00:26:28.849 --> 00:26:30.589 you know what I'm saying? And it's okay if you 584 00:26:30.630 --> 00:26:34.150 want to be with your white friends or your Indian friends. Like, 585 00:26:34.789 --> 00:26:36.470 when did all of this not become okay? 586 00:26:36.990 --> 00:26:40.190 It's fucking weird, dude. It's weird now. It's just fucking, 587 00:26:40.569 --> 00:26:43.410 it seems as if like, it's like the conspiracy theory 588 00:26:43.450 --> 00:26:46.190 coming out, but it seems as if like, It's on purpose. 589 00:26:47.170 --> 00:26:48.890 Like they want people to be sort of divided. 590 00:26:48.990 --> 00:26:53.839 I mean, I think there are individuals in plural that 591 00:26:53.910 --> 00:26:57.880 probably feed off this and who knows why. But you 592 00:26:57.900 --> 00:27:01.299 got people like myself, yourself, other people that you look 593 00:27:01.339 --> 00:27:03.799 at Los Angeles. There are a lot of people that 594 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:04.339 work together. 595 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:04.799 Yeah. 596 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:09.759 I know black execs that are hiring white. Interns, I 597 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:14.500 know white execs that's hiring black interns and vice versa. 598 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:18.900 We can get it to percentages of which ethnicity is 599 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:23.630 hiring the most. Of course, there's not going to be equal. 600 00:27:24.690 --> 00:27:26.710 But I think when you're looking out on the media, 601 00:27:26.730 --> 00:27:29.670 if you

look at that for your information, then you're 602 00:27:29.690 --> 00:27:32.730 going to be like, wow, we're divided. Anything when it 603 00:27:32.769 --> 00:27:36.329 comes to race, I don't pay attention to what I 604 00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:37.650 see on TV. Yeah. 605 00:27:38.170 --> 00:27:40.809 It's sad, it's sad how that's a reality though. Because 606 00:27:40.869 --> 00:27:43.859 it's like, that's a lot of people, most people see 607 00:27:43.890 --> 00:27:47.940 shit on, I mean, nowadays, this generation, everything is like internet, 608 00:27:48.339 --> 00:27:50.119 but there's still a whole group of people, I don't 609 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:52.980 know what age bracket, I feel like it's like maybe 610 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:55.500 50 plus, like only watches TV because they're just not 611 00:27:55.559 --> 00:27:56.839 as in tune with the internet shit. 612 00:27:57.079 --> 00:27:59.700 Yeah, and TV, I mean, if you only watch the TV, 613 00:28:00.380 --> 00:28:03.299 that's old school. You really don't have any information. 614 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:06.220 Yeah, or you only have what they want you to 615 00:28:06.279 --> 00:28:06.779 see and not. 616 00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:11.569 What's really real. That's 100%. Yeah, but I do believe 617 00:28:11.630 --> 00:28:16.250 there are people that's not paying attention as much. I 618 00:28:16.269 --> 00:28:17.990 feel like we're in a good spot now. It's not 619 00:28:18.029 --> 00:28:20.210 always portrayed, but I feel like now we are in 620 00:28:20.230 --> 00:28:21.569 a good spot. You see a lot of people getting 621 00:28:21.589 --> 00:28:24.730 into social impact. You see the youth really, they have 622 00:28:24.829 --> 00:28:27.650 substance and intention with what they buy and who they 623 00:28:27.690 --> 00:28:30.750 hang around. That's the future, and that's what we need 624 00:28:30.769 --> 00:28:33.259 to continue to encourage. Yeah. 625 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:35.859 What was your childhood like? You said, obviously, you grew 626 00:28:35.890 --> 00:28:37.019 up on the East Coast. 627 00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:37.940 Was it like. 628 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:42.849 Both parents there, was it fucked up, was it good? 629 00:28:43.529 --> 00:28:45.789 My parents were married for a point in time, got 630 00:28:45.809 --> 00:28:50.089 divorced at 13. But I grew up in a household, 631 00:28:50.109 --> 00:28:54.369 and then I also experienced the divorce part. It was 632 00:28:54.430 --> 00:28:58.190 a little bit of both. My community was huge. And 633 00:28:58.269 --> 00:29:01.289 other parents was like your parents back then. Your other 634 00:29:01.329 --> 00:29:04.740 fathers was like, you do something bad. I done got 635 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:07.940 spanked by other parents before. It was like that type 636 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:09.380 of community. Yeah. 637 00:29:10.339 --> 00:29:12.920 Damn, it's different now. I guess it depends where you 638 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:18.440 come from. Do you see, I don't know, I guess 639 00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:21.930 on the internet, how much on the internet are you? 640 00:29:22.029 --> 00:29:24.490 Like Twitter and social media shit? 641 00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:28.420 I'm on the internet for other reasons, honestly. I love boxing, 642 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:32.349 so I'm always paying attention to what's happening in boxing 643 00:29:32.450 --> 00:29:38.970 on the internet. Sometimes I'll dibble and dabble and you'll 644 00:29:38.990 --> 00:29:42.240 see a headline. and you can't really avoid the gossip, 645 00:29:42.339 --> 00:29:45.619 but I'm not really big on that. But I'm more 646 00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:48.279 into the boxing. Now I'm watching golf, a lot of 647 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:52.849 golf online. And then other things in technology, but I'm 648 00:29:52.869 --> 00:29:56.829 not necessarily into anything else. Maybe something in nature. I 649 00:29:57.390 --> 00:30:01.289 really love nature and different things like that. Um, but 650 00:30:01.309 --> 00:30:04.670 other than that, um, not really into. 651 00:30:04.710 --> 00:30:06.819 This might sound funny. Cause it's like most times I 652 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:09.720 ask this question, it's, it's a little bit, I'm not, 653 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:12.420 not necessarily like harder to answer, easier to answer, but 654 00:30:12.940 --> 00:30:15.920 how'd you find basketball? Obviously you're tall, right? But that's 655 00:30:16.119 --> 00:30:19.369 not all great basketball players are tall. Um, but how 656 00:30:19.390 --> 00:30:21.789 did you find basketball? How did you decide it was 657 00:30:21.829 --> 00:30:24.210 for you besides the hype? You know? 658 00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:27.710 Yeah. I mean, I started playing at eight. My dad 659 00:30:27.730 --> 00:30:29.890 needed me to, get rid of some of this energy 660 00:30:29.950 --> 00:30:32.880 I had. I got so much energy. For many different reasons, 661 00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:35.539 how I grew up, things that was happening. You know, 662 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:37.809 when you're a kid, you start to get molded. So 663 00:30:37.829 --> 00:30:40.210 my dad thought, bring me on the court. And that's 664 00:30:40.230 --> 00:30:43.730 when everybody was outside. Back in the days, kids was outside. 665 00:30:43.869 --> 00:30:44.119 Man. 666 00:30:44.609 --> 00:30:46.730 I think I was the last generation. I'm 35, just 667 00:30:46.750 --> 00:30:48.769 turned 35. I feel like I'm the last generation of 668 00:30:48.809 --> 00:30:50.730 kids that were like outside when they were kids. 669 00:30:50.809 --> 00:30:51.690 Packed outside. 670 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:51.970 Yeah. 671 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:52.990 Riding bikes, fucking around. 672 00:30:53.019 --> 00:30:55.279 I go to Queensbridge now some days in the summer 673 00:30:55.660 --> 00:30:57.619 doing prime hour. My folks are just like this. When 674 00:30:57.640 --> 00:31:00.660 we was outside, I don't even see nobody

sometimes. Yeah. 675 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:04.279 I'm just like, wow. You know? Yeah. But my dad 676 00:31:04.299 --> 00:31:06.599 had me on the court. Then at 10 years old, 677 00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:08.799 I was okay. Wasn't that good. Lost some three on 678 00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:13.849 three tournaments. I just kept fighting, getting better, getting better, hustling, hustling, 679 00:31:13.869 --> 00:31:16.049 trying to win. At 12 years old, I started playing 680 00:31:16.069 --> 00:31:19.710 with the men outside, you know, and then... When. 681 00:31:21.150 --> 00:31:22.210 Did you realize you were good? 682 00:31:23.170 --> 00:31:25.609 I think I... I knew I was always tough. I 683 00:31:25.609 --> 00:31:27.750 had a lot of energy. But in terms of being, like, 684 00:31:27.809 --> 00:31:30.829 talent good and started hitting my jumper, I would say 685 00:31:30.829 --> 00:31:33.769 16 years old in high school, I was like, ooh, 686 00:31:34.390 --> 00:31:37.650 I'm kind of getting nice right now. Yeah. 687 00:31:38.190 --> 00:31:40.339 And then from there, like, how did it go? Like, 688 00:31:40.380 --> 00:31:42.640 when do you think, okay, I'm going to try to 689 00:31:43.319 --> 00:31:43.880 go to the league? 690 00:31:44.750 --> 00:31:46.730 Well, I actually knew I could go to the league 691 00:31:46.750 --> 00:31:48.750 at about 16 because I was playing against some pros. 692 00:31:49.230 --> 00:31:51.069 I was fairly strong, so when I started to play 693 00:31:51.109 --> 00:31:53.529 against the men, and I was like, wow, at 16, 694 00:31:53.529 --> 00:31:57.789 I'm starting on all the men leagues and winning. So 695 00:31:57.829 --> 00:31:59.109 at that point, I said, all right, cool, I can 696 00:31:59.130 --> 00:32:01.609 go to the league. Then I tried to go out 697 00:32:01.650 --> 00:32:03.670 of high school, but then they said I was going 698 00:32:03.690 --> 00:32:05.450 to be a second-round pick. So then I went to 699 00:32:05.490 --> 00:32:09.390 college two years. Then I was a first-round pick after college. 700 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:10.279 Yeah. 701 00:32:10.420 --> 00:32:11.440 After my sophomore year. 702 00:32:11.720 --> 00:32:13.519 Did they change rules in the NBA with that whole 703 00:32:13.619 --> 00:32:15.940 after LeBron thing? Like the whole at a certain age? 704 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:18.779 Yeah, they changed it. I think it was not even 705 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:21.019 just right after LeBron. It was a couple other members 706 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:25.589 shortly after LeBron. But now you got to be... Yeah, 707 00:32:25.670 --> 00:32:26.690 I don't even think you can come out of high 708 00:32:26.710 --> 00:32:28.450 school right now. No, yeah. Yeah, I think you got 709 00:32:28.470 --> 00:32:31.130 to be a first one year in college. Yeah. You know, 710 00:32:31.190 --> 00:32:33.049 I think there were... I think it don't matter when 711 00:32:33.069 --> 00:32:34.809 you come out because like a Kevin Garnett, he

was ready. 712 00:32:35.109 --> 00:32:38.700 He had a 21-year career. Sean Kent, LeBron James. I 713 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:44.369 think where... is getting kind of clogged up or confused 714 00:32:44.670 --> 00:32:50.220 is the fundamentals, the entitlement that we are just putting 715 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:54.180 on these players. We need to stop entitling these players. 716 00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:56.779 They need to, you know, they're going to be fine. 717 00:32:56.819 --> 00:33:00.349 We were fine. You know, and I think that's where, 718 00:33:00.869 --> 00:33:03.549 you know, you have to say, okay, no more high 719 00:33:03.569 --> 00:33:06.589 school players because you got to point the finger at something. 720 00:33:07.309 --> 00:33:09.210 As far as what you mean entitlement, like they, like, 721 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:12.779 Like they just deserve something that they shouldn't get into 722 00:33:12.859 --> 00:33:14.539 the league like as soon as possible or? 723 00:33:14.559 --> 00:33:17.119 I'm not saying they, I'm just saying earn everything. 724 00:33:17.940 --> 00:33:18.119 Okay. 725 00:33:18.140 --> 00:33:20.480 You know, just earn, just earn everything. You know, obviously 726 00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:23.099 the scale is different, but just earn everything. Like you're 727 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:25.440 going to get it. It's coming to you, but still 728 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:28.980 like earn it. Not just like, oh, don't, don't make 729 00:33:29.029 --> 00:33:32.440 this player upset because he's going to get mad. 730 00:33:33.009 --> 00:33:33.750 Who cares? 731 00:33:33.769 --> 00:33:33.849 Yeah. 732 00:33:34.410 --> 00:33:36.250 You know, I don't care. I don't care how much 733 00:33:36.329 --> 00:33:40.130 money you make. You did this wrong. Calling you out, 734 00:33:40.990 --> 00:33:44.390 go take your Bentley, go home and be mad. See 735 00:33:44.430 --> 00:33:47.259 you tomorrow in practice. You know what I'm saying? Like 736 00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:50.619 that type of thing. I think because sometimes I think 737 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:54.539 that part is what's missing. And that's not, these days 738 00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.950 players don't want that. Players want the, I don't want 739 00:33:57.970 --> 00:34:02.750 to practice today. Not everyone. But you see a lot 740 00:34:02.789 --> 00:34:06.829 of players just not, you know, I remember wanting to go, 741 00:34:07.210 --> 00:34:09.050 I couldn't wait to get back to practice. And I'm 742 00:34:09.070 --> 00:34:11.989 not the only one. Michael Jordan was like that. If 743 00:34:12.010 --> 00:34:14.260 you look at my Indiana pace of practices with Jermaine 744 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:17.980 O'Neal and Steven Jackson and Reggie Miller, who's a Hall 745 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:20.780 of Famer, he was in practice every day. Couldn't wait 746 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:23.360 to get to practice. He didn't miss practice. 747 00:34:24.260 --> 00:34:26.420 What do you think it is? It's just fucking, I'm just, 748 00:34:26.699 --> 00:34:27.760 I'm that good, they think? 749 00:34:27.780 --> 00:34:27.960 Yeah. 750 00:34:28.730 --> 00:34:30.510 I mean, obviously these people are fucking superstars. 751 00:34:30.590 --> 00:34:32.980 A lot of people are not that good. I mean, 752 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:34.679 if you're in the NBA, you're good. So you can't 753 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:36.659 say like an NBA player sucks. They used to say 754 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:38.760 that back in the days also. They would say, man, 755 00:34:38.780 --> 00:34:42.480 how this player, like a Brian Cardinal. All right, you 756 00:34:42.500 --> 00:34:44.480 go play against Brian Cardin in 101. 757 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:47.420 It's always funny, the outside, like the commentators or the fans. 758 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:47.780 Yeah. 759 00:34:47.900 --> 00:34:50.579 It's like an NBA player, he's fucking good. 760 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:52.920 Yeah, you go play against Brian Cardin in 101, you're 761 00:34:52.940 --> 00:34:57.360 not winning. You're not winning. And it's the same thing now. 762 00:34:57.400 --> 00:34:59.760 You got players that are good, they've earned it. But 763 00:35:01.579 --> 00:35:05.920 we get confused that a player, just because they're getting 10, 764 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:08.250 20 million, it doesn't mean they're as good as a 765 00:35:08.269 --> 00:35:10.989 player that was getting 5 million back in the days. 766 00:35:11.710 --> 00:35:13.429 I see. You see what I'm saying? It's a huge difference. 767 00:35:13.690 --> 00:35:16.469 The money's different, but the game is not the same. 768 00:35:16.489 --> 00:35:20.449 You're not that good as that player. You just got 769 00:35:20.489 --> 00:35:22.530 way more money than that player. 770 00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:25.110 Yeah, because like we talked about earlier about the AI, 771 00:35:25.150 --> 00:35:27.469 more opportunities, more memorabilia, more sales ability. 772 00:35:27.489 --> 00:35:29.449 Yeah, there's more sales. Everything's going up, and you deserve 773 00:35:29.489 --> 00:35:30.530 it because that's what we fought for. 774 00:35:30.929 --> 00:35:33.219 What do you think about that in regards to the 775 00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:36.460 whole conversation between the WNBA and the NBA and how 776 00:35:36.500 --> 00:35:39.039 it's like women want the more money, but there's not 777 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:41.159 necessarily that many more people watching it? 778 00:35:42.230 --> 00:35:46.250 I love WNBA. Well, I like college women's basketball. I 779 00:35:46.250 --> 00:35:48.829 coached Division II women's basketball at Cal State LA. So 780 00:35:48.849 --> 00:35:50.989 I've been coaching there for five years, and I've been 781 00:35:51.010 --> 00:35:54.469 coaching Palisades Girls High School. So I love the women's game. 782 00:35:56.469 --> 00:35:59.760 I just feel like sometimes, well, now they're doing it now, 783 00:35:59.820 --> 00:36:02.659 but before it was not a

lot of women input 784 00:36:03.460 --> 00:36:06.139 on the women's game. And then it wasn't a lot 785 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:09.239 of women supporting women's basketball. That's the main thing. That 786 00:36:09.260 --> 00:36:11.619 was the main issue. You know, so now you got 787 00:36:11.639 --> 00:36:15.280 a lot of men supporting. You know, the women's game 788 00:36:15.340 --> 00:36:19.980 is growing. And honestly, besides the gentlemen from NC State 789 00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:23.659 this year, I just couldn't tell you a lot of 790 00:36:23.699 --> 00:36:28.099 people's name in college. Men's. I could tell you, I 791 00:36:28.579 --> 00:36:32.699 watched the WNBA draft. You know, I'm actually trying to 792 00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:34.889 get a couple of their jerseys right now to wear. 793 00:36:35.250 --> 00:36:38.369 Not because I don't like men's basketball, but this year, 794 00:36:39.150 --> 00:36:41.070 you know, the women are on fire. Yeah. 795 00:36:41.230 --> 00:36:44.469 The Caitlin Clark came out crazy. But there's a lot 796 00:36:44.489 --> 00:36:46.510 of like, there's, it seems to be a lot of 797 00:36:46.550 --> 00:36:48.599 like hate against her. 798 00:36:49.880 --> 00:36:52.440 I don't think so. I think, I think what's happening 799 00:36:52.579 --> 00:36:57.539 is the WNBA women, they great. And they going to 800 00:36:57.599 --> 00:37:01.159 show Caitlin that you going to have to work for this. 801 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:03.820 So I think the media is creating a lot of 802 00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:06.960 it because if I was like a player that's playing 803 00:37:06.980 --> 00:37:11.159 against Caitlin, I'm coming into the game. You know, I'm 804 00:37:11.219 --> 00:37:14.320 ready to go. I'm not about to be worried about 805 00:37:14.599 --> 00:37:17.860 how good you are and then what contracts you got. 806 00:37:18.469 --> 00:37:21.829 So now it's going to get magnified that I'm looking like. 807 00:37:21.869 --> 00:37:22.630 I see what you're saying. 808 00:37:22.690 --> 00:37:24.309 I'm doing the same thing against the next player the 809 00:37:24.349 --> 00:37:27.769 next night. So I think, like, once again, people are 810 00:37:27.809 --> 00:37:32.429 trying to baby Caitlyn. Yeah. Right? And they're trying to 811 00:37:32.550 --> 00:37:35.920 force entitlement. Right? And now they're making it seem like 812 00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:39.139 it's some war when right now... This is the time 813 00:37:39.199 --> 00:37:42.199 to celebrate the WNBA. It's not the time to only 814 00:37:42.260 --> 00:37:44.900 be reporting on that. Because Caitlyn's going to earn it. 815 00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:48.179 She will earn it. She's that type of player. You 816 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:49.380 know what I mean? She's a special player. 817 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:51.440 So you think it's just the competitiveness where it's like 818 00:37:51.699 --> 00:37:55.409 they're like, maybe it's the competitiveness that's happening is being 819 00:37:55.449 --> 00:37:57.690 portrayed differently than what's actually happening. 820 00:37:57.829 --> 00:38:01.550 Women's basketball is competitive. That's why I love coaching women's basketball. 821 00:38:02.369 --> 00:38:05.969 Way before, now it's hot. Everybody's like, women's basketball. We've 822 00:38:05.989 --> 00:38:08.449 been coaching women's basketball for the last nine years. Women's 823 00:38:08.489 --> 00:38:13.519 basketball is competitive. And it's fundamentally sound. It's exciting. So 824 00:38:13.559 --> 00:38:16.309 from that perspective, let Caitlyn earn it. She will earn it. 825 00:38:16.739 --> 00:38:19.780 Don't worry about that. She's had 30 the other night. 826 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:21.139 You seem to be ahead of your time. You're ahead 827 00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:22.920 of your time on the podcasting stuff. You're ahead of 828 00:38:22.940 --> 00:38:25.079 your time on it. You're that guy. Head of the 829 00:38:25.099 --> 00:38:27.360 time with the name change you saw. You saw all 830 00:38:27.380 --> 00:38:29.579 the players put different names in the back of the jerseys. 831 00:38:29.969 --> 00:38:30.590 That's one. 832 00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:31.699 Podcast. 833 00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:35.659 Give this man his flowers. Let's go. Podcasting way ahead. Yeah. 834 00:38:35.820 --> 00:38:40.130 That's crazy when you did it. Women's basketball way ahead. Yeah. 835 00:38:41.190 --> 00:38:43.710 And many other things. I'm just saying like, well, I 836 00:38:43.730 --> 00:38:46.469 think the reason I was ahead because I'm super curious. 837 00:38:47.130 --> 00:38:50.349 So when you're talking about podcasting, you know, in 2014, 838 00:38:50.349 --> 00:38:53.869 it's lining it up like this with the microphones. It's 839 00:38:53.929 --> 00:38:56.570 on YouTube. It was like, because you see the vision. 840 00:38:56.949 --> 00:38:59.210 I went back to school for digital marketing. Oh, really? 841 00:38:59.389 --> 00:38:59.550 Oh, shit. 842 00:38:59.570 --> 00:39:02.070 Yeah, when I retired. I was always doing technology, even 843 00:39:02.309 --> 00:39:05.429 when I retired. So now you're paying attention to predictive 844 00:39:05.510 --> 00:39:08.300 analytics and what's happening in technology and how it's going 845 00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:09.070 to shape the world. 846 00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:09.570 Yeah. 847 00:39:09.949 --> 00:39:11.420 You see what I'm saying? Even when you look at 848 00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:14.559 the NFTs, when you look at all the athletes that 849 00:39:14.619 --> 00:39:17.780 had these, it wasn't their fault that things were being 850 00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:21.360 rug pulled. But the problem was you don't really understand 851 00:39:21.739 --> 00:39:24.179 the ins and outs of the NFT world and how 852 00:39:24.219 --> 00:39:25.710 long you got to be in the game. You can't 853 00:39:25.750 --> 00:39:26.530 just get in and out. 854 00:39:26.929 --> 00:39:27.130 Yeah. 855 00:39:27.309 --> 00:39:29.909

And if you don't understand the compliance attached behind it. 856 00:39:30.170 --> 00:39:31.949 So this is like things that I've been doing for 857 00:39:31.969 --> 00:39:35.380 a long time. So from that perspective, I'm just curious 858 00:39:35.909 --> 00:39:37.199 about certain areas. 859 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:37.719 Yeah. 860 00:39:38.199 --> 00:39:40.679 You know, which would probably be someone that works at 861 00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:44.980 ESPN in the back office in marketing and technology. That's 862 00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:47.099 the type of curiosity I have. So then you'll see 863 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:52.010 things happening, you know, before, maybe before time. Yeah, I see. 864 00:39:52.449 --> 00:39:55.469 But just because you're first doesn't mean you finish first. Yeah, yeah, 865 00:39:55.550 --> 00:39:58.110 for sure. You can be first and too early. 866 00:39:58.389 --> 00:40:00.500 Yeah, you still got to put that work and the 867 00:40:00.539 --> 00:40:03.940 time in. I'm curious about your curiosity just in other things, 868 00:40:03.960 --> 00:40:05.179 obviously just about your life, but. 869 00:40:05.550 --> 00:40:07.969 All right, boys, quick introduction for the podcast. Check this out, VersaGrips. 870 00:40:08.010 --> 00:40:10.190 If you guys have not tried these yet, these are 871 00:40:10.230 --> 00:40:12.269 hands down the best grips in the game, I promise you. 872 00:40:12.289 --> 00:40:13.130 These are the extreme ones. 873 00:40:13.170 --> 00:40:15.699 Basically, so when you're doing back, the most important thing 874 00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:19.000 is not grabbing so tight because the more you grab tight, 875 00:40:19.019 --> 00:40:23.599 the more you engage your traps, your shoulders, your bicep. 876 00:40:24.360 --> 00:40:26.449 This allows you to basically wrap the bar in a 877 00:40:26.489 --> 00:40:30.070 way that it almost just feels like like your arms 878 00:40:30.110 --> 00:40:32.650 are ropes, like they should feel when you're lifting back, right? 879 00:40:32.670 --> 00:40:34.650 So you can get optimal engagement. Wrap this around the 880 00:40:34.670 --> 00:40:36.690 bar and then you just put pressure, just like that. 881 00:40:37.230 --> 00:40:38.760 So you don't have to grab tight, you don't have 882 00:40:38.780 --> 00:40:40.420 to grip really hard, you can focus on your back, 883 00:40:40.440 --> 00:40:42.500 get the most out of your back development, especially if 884 00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:43.840 you're like trying to really improve your back. 885 00:40:44.239 --> 00:40:46.260 For me, it was actually one of the hardest things 886 00:40:46.280 --> 00:40:47.440 to improve for the longest time. 887 00:40:47.460 --> 00:40:48.840 A lot of people say it's because you can't see 888 00:40:48.900 --> 00:40:50.429 it versus like, you know, you see the biceps in 889 00:40:50.449 --> 00:40:52.389 the mirror, you see yourself in the mirror, you never 890 00:40:52.429 --> 00:40:52.889 see your back. 891 00:40:53.650 --> 00:40:56.210 For me, it was proper engagement, right? 892 00:40:57.019 --> 00:40:59.199 I was so bicep dominant, I would grab dumbbells and 893 00:40:59.219 --> 00:41:02.079 my biceps would work, my traps would work, but my 894 00:41:02.139 --> 00:41:04.780 back really wasn't getting the development. These are hands down 895 00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:05.889 some of the best grips in the game. 896 00:41:05.929 --> 00:41:06.429 Give it a shot. 897 00:41:06.469 --> 00:41:09.070 Go to Versagrips.com right now. Check them out. 898 00:41:09.130 --> 00:41:09.510 Buy them. 899 00:41:09.690 --> 00:41:11.250 These are the extreme ones. They're a little bit more 900 00:41:11.269 --> 00:41:14.510 heavy duty. They have a bunch of different versions and sizes, colors, 901 00:41:14.550 --> 00:41:15.849 all kinds of stuff. So go there right now. 902 00:41:16.349 --> 00:41:17.289 Versagrips.com. 903 00:41:18.210 --> 00:41:18.550 The best. 904 00:41:18.670 --> 00:41:19.070 I promise. 905 00:41:19.090 --> 00:41:21.969 You guys will love them. You changed your name. Why 906 00:41:21.989 --> 00:41:22.769 did you change your name? 907 00:41:23.639 --> 00:41:27.119 I changed my name because when you look at you know, society, 908 00:41:27.139 --> 00:41:30.800 when you look at where we at, it's hard to 909 00:41:30.900 --> 00:41:35.690 market positivity on a consistent basis. You know, it's hard 910 00:41:35.730 --> 00:41:40.210 to push out positive content. You know, for example, people 911 00:41:40.269 --> 00:41:44.409 rather me do a reality show, a ratchet one. Hey, 912 00:41:44.449 --> 00:41:45.829 we getting drunk tonight, yeah. 913 00:41:46.250 --> 00:41:46.909 Yeah, oh yeah. 914 00:41:47.130 --> 00:41:49.710 Than do a positive one like, hey, you're going to 915 00:41:49.750 --> 00:41:52.050 be really great one day. You know, you're going to 916 00:41:52.110 --> 00:41:55.030 raise a good family one day. So sometimes you'll get 917 00:41:55.070 --> 00:41:58.869 people having to submit, because the opportunity's there that comes 918 00:41:58.889 --> 00:42:03.730 with capital. Whereas me, I'm not ready to get involved, 919 00:42:03.889 --> 00:42:07.690 I wanna do only social impact stuff. Even though, you know, 920 00:42:07.710 --> 00:42:09.730 I'm from the streets of Queens, I'm from where not, 921 00:42:10.090 --> 00:42:12.269 I can throw that swag, I can change my lingo up. 922 00:42:12.590 --> 00:42:16.670 When I go back home, ain't nobody in that hood, 923 00:42:17.710 --> 00:42:21.760 you know, that can relate more than metal or a piece. 924 00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:25.579 But at the same time, it's like, at what point 925 00:42:25.639 --> 00:42:30.679 can positive content be consistent? So when you change your 926 00:42:30.699 --> 00:42:31.969 name to Metta World Peace, it's like you don't have 927 00:42:32.010 --> 00:42:35.110 no other options because you don't really get these opportunities. 928 00:42:35.150 --> 00:42:38.429 So it's like, hey, we

have an issue in this world. 929 00:42:38.469 --> 00:42:40.010 We have an issue in this world. I don't know 930 00:42:40.030 --> 00:42:44.190 if you see it, but it's becoming real chaotic. So 931 00:42:44.250 --> 00:42:47.010 ahead of the game there, even look at now, even 932 00:42:47.030 --> 00:42:53.550 look at 2024, 2023, even in the Middle East. We 933 00:42:53.590 --> 00:42:57.179 got to bring stability to that region. It's super important 934 00:42:57.820 --> 00:42:59.960 on both sides. You know what I mean? So it's 935 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:02.739 not like picking a side, picking that side. No, we 936 00:43:02.780 --> 00:43:06.719 need to bring stability there and then also around the world. 937 00:43:07.800 --> 00:43:10.679 And we can't forget about, oh, just because maybe you're 938 00:43:10.739 --> 00:43:14.250 more affluent or more elite than someone else, but we 939 00:43:14.329 --> 00:43:17.590 all are on this planet together. So at some point, 940 00:43:18.110 --> 00:43:20.469 we got to respect that. Yeah. 941 00:43:20.570 --> 00:43:22.369 Is it true that you had, because I was reading 942 00:43:22.469 --> 00:43:24.710 something about you got into Buddhism or something like that? 943 00:43:25.170 --> 00:43:27.570 Are you Buddhist or do you identify with any sort 944 00:43:27.590 --> 00:43:27.989 of religion? 945 00:43:28.530 --> 00:43:32.909 I love all religions. I like Buddhism personally. Yeah. Because 946 00:43:32.989 --> 00:43:38.590 it's something where you could tap into, breathe, relax, meditate. 947 00:43:38.789 --> 00:43:41.250 But I also love Catholics. I grew up in a 948 00:43:41.269 --> 00:43:46.170 Catholic system. Me too. I was born a Baptist, so 949 00:43:46.210 --> 00:43:47.090 that's Christianity. 950 00:43:47.349 --> 00:43:48.280 Yeah. 951 00:43:48.570 --> 00:43:52.179 My brother's Muslim. My favorite person in the whole wide 952 00:43:52.219 --> 00:43:56.179 world is Jehovah Witness, my grandma. I have Jewish friends. 953 00:43:56.219 --> 00:43:58.719 I've been to Shabbat. And some of my best friends 954 00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:03.940 is Muslim. So from that perspective, I still identify more 955 00:44:04.780 --> 00:44:08.320 probably with Baptists, being a Baptist, just because that's how 956 00:44:08.340 --> 00:44:11.889 I grew up in the Baptist church. But I definitely 957 00:44:12.639 --> 00:44:16.429 lean towards Buddhism as something that can keep me centered 958 00:44:16.869 --> 00:44:21.869 and then also just be understanding of everyone's religion. Because 959 00:44:21.889 --> 00:44:23.710 so many times at an early age you learn, oh, 960 00:44:23.730 --> 00:44:25.510 this religion is not good. This religion is not good. 961 00:44:25.530 --> 00:44:27.309 Then you start thinking about a person that you met 962 00:44:27.889 --> 00:44:29.630 and you start putting their religion in front of their face. 963 00:44:30.469 --> 00:44:32.530 Yeah, in front of who they really are. 964 00:44:32.570 --> 00:44:36.059 Yeah, like who are you? I wasn't here thousands of 965 00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:38.679 years ago, so I don't care what religion you are. 966 00:44:39.139 --> 00:44:41.300 You know, and that causes so much tension sometimes. We 967 00:44:41.320 --> 00:44:43.639 can't let religion cause tension. It should cause, it should 968 00:44:43.659 --> 00:44:46.940 bring people together. It shouldn't be, it shouldn't separate people. Yeah. 969 00:44:47.019 --> 00:44:47.860 You know? It is. 970 00:44:48.300 --> 00:44:50.730 Nowadays, it just seems to be like a conflict with 971 00:44:50.789 --> 00:44:51.590 fucking everything. 972 00:44:51.789 --> 00:44:52.090 Yeah. 973 00:44:53.170 --> 00:44:54.730 It's like, if you don't believe what I believe or 974 00:44:54.750 --> 00:44:56.969 feel what I feel, then you're like, you're wrong. And 975 00:44:57.030 --> 00:44:59.030 it's like, when did that become like, that's not the 976 00:44:59.070 --> 00:45:01.440 human experience because everyone is so unique from where they've 977 00:45:01.460 --> 00:45:01.880 come from. 978 00:45:02.139 --> 00:45:02.639 Exactly. 979 00:45:02.719 --> 00:45:04.860 That how do we say that like, you believe this 980 00:45:04.889 --> 00:45:06.800 and I believe that, you're wrong because I believe this. 981 00:45:07.159 --> 00:45:12.500 Exactly. Exactly. I mean, you hit it. You pinpoint accuracy, 982 00:45:12.860 --> 00:45:15.179 hit it on the nose. Like, we're all so unique. 983 00:45:15.420 --> 00:45:16.500 We're all so special. 984 00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:17.039 Yeah. 985 00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:20.300 Right? So why do I have to agree with you? 986 00:45:21.139 --> 00:45:22.760 You know? Or why do I have to be like you? 987 00:45:23.320 --> 00:45:24.460 If I want to be like you, then I'm going 988 00:45:24.480 --> 00:45:26.239 to say, hey, I want to be like you. But 989 00:45:26.260 --> 00:45:27.179 if I don't want to be like you, I don't 990 00:45:27.199 --> 00:45:29.199 want to be like you. Yeah. You know, we're all 991 00:45:29.239 --> 00:45:30.800 so special and I think we got to get back 992 00:45:30.860 --> 00:45:31.159 to that. 993 00:45:31.619 --> 00:45:31.820 Yeah. 994 00:45:31.860 --> 00:45:32.929 How do you think we get back to that? 995 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:36.099 You know, I think just with the future, how it's 996 00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:38.880 going now, I feel like everybody's more open to learning 997 00:45:38.940 --> 00:45:43.280 about others. I think the technology is great, even though 998 00:45:43.679 --> 00:45:45.929 it is being streamlined, you know, currently as we speak, 999 00:45:45.969 --> 00:45:48.150 but I feel like the platform is, it makes it 1000 00:45:48.170 --> 00:45:50.090 available for you to do a podcast. You don't have 1001 00:45:50.110 --> 00:45:52.110 to go to a network. You can get your personality out. 1002 00:45:52.530 --> 00:45:55.489 Others can get their personalities out with their brands and 1003 00:45:55.510 --> 00:45:57.070 just who you, and

we get a chance to get 1004 00:45:57.090 --> 00:45:58.860 a chance. We're getting a chance to know each other 1005 00:45:58.880 --> 00:46:00.219 more now, I think. Yeah. 1006 00:46:00.340 --> 00:46:00.639 You know? 1007 00:46:01.159 --> 00:46:02.659 But then I think like what you said earlier, it 1008 00:46:02.699 --> 00:46:05.489 gets crazy because, when you said it earlier, which is 1009 00:46:05.489 --> 00:46:08.579 100% true, I've been in the space internet shit since 1010 00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:13.159 I think you fucking won the finals, fucking 14 years. 1011 00:46:13.599 --> 00:46:17.880 I've noticed that, like you said, and I've fully experienced this, 1012 00:46:17.940 --> 00:46:20.969 is like, if you're not doing the crazy sort of 1013 00:46:22.650 --> 00:46:25.449 attack or the violence or the fight or the thing, 1014 00:46:25.489 --> 00:46:27.880 it doesn't get, like when we talk about this, it's 1015 00:46:27.900 --> 00:46:29.980 not gonna be the clip that goes viral. You know, 1016 00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:31.239 it's gonna be a clip that goes viral where you 1017 00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:34.599 talk about the fight. And it's kinda like a fucked 1018 00:46:34.679 --> 00:46:36.059 up ecosystem that we're in now. 1019 00:46:36.320 --> 00:46:39.599 No, it's true, man, it's true. And from my perspective, 1020 00:46:39.780 --> 00:46:44.219 I have a, like, I can easily say, podcast launching, 1021 00:46:45.780 --> 00:46:49.550 his game is weak. Yeah, you just straight take it. 1022 00:46:49.639 --> 00:46:52.530 And go viral and get it going, but that's not 1023 00:46:52.550 --> 00:46:54.909 what I wanna do. So the way I'm going about 1024 00:46:54.969 --> 00:46:58.780 it is not necessarily catching on to different things. That's 1025 00:46:58.820 --> 00:47:00.809 why I had to go back to school for digital marketing. 1026 00:47:01.150 --> 00:47:01.309 Yeah. 1027 00:47:01.329 --> 00:47:03.269 That's why I had to go back to school for 1028 00:47:03.329 --> 00:47:07.349 coding because if I'm going to another platform, yeah, they're 1029 00:47:07.369 --> 00:47:09.690 going to do all the work, but that doesn't happen 1030 00:47:09.730 --> 00:47:12.010 in my case. I got to do the work. I 1031 00:47:12.050 --> 00:47:15.260 got to plug in the API from Lipson straight to Spotify. 1032 00:47:15.320 --> 00:47:17.639 So are you making a, are you making a platform 1033 00:47:17.659 --> 00:47:20.539 or is that what you're saying? For, for, for hosting 1034 00:47:20.579 --> 00:47:21.460 of what kind of content? 1035 00:47:21.539 --> 00:47:24.019 Just multiple podcasts. Um, and a lot of things, digital 1036 00:47:24.059 --> 00:47:25.960 marketing agency, just tech. Now I got a dev shop. 1037 00:47:26.420 --> 00:47:26.559 Okay. 1038 00:47:26.780 --> 00:47:29.260 Yes, I have developers, a lot of developers and CTOs 1039 00:47:29.320 --> 00:47:31.860 and stuff. But the only way I can get my 1040 00:47:31.909 --> 00:47:34.309 content out, if I want to do something

consistently positive, 1041 00:47:34.329 --> 00:47:36.710 I got to build it. Because I'm not going to get, 1042 00:47:37.110 --> 00:47:39.469 you know, it's not a lot of clickbait. I don't 1043 00:47:39.489 --> 00:47:42.250 got sound bites. I don't really have a lot of 1044 00:47:42.289 --> 00:47:44.530 that stuff, but I still think I have something interesting. 1045 00:47:45.250 --> 00:47:46.590 I mean, you thought I was interesting enough to come 1046 00:47:46.630 --> 00:47:48.789 on your show. No, you are. Maybe it's not millions 1047 00:47:48.809 --> 00:47:50.650 and millions of views, but maybe I'm interesting enough to 1048 00:47:50.690 --> 00:47:52.510 come on your show. Yeah, of course. 1049 00:47:52.530 --> 00:47:53.579 I mean, at the end of the day, I don't 1050 00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:55.059 give a fuck if it's not millions. I just like 1051 00:47:55.099 --> 00:47:55.880 interesting people, man. 1052 00:47:56.679 --> 00:47:59.630 Because I had one guy tell me, wanted me to 1053 00:47:59.650 --> 00:48:00.409 do a podcast. 1054 00:48:00.949 --> 00:48:01.170 Yeah. 1055 00:48:01.469 --> 00:48:04.030 And they said, the reason they didn't pick me up 1056 00:48:05.070 --> 00:48:07.210 is because I have my act together. 1057 00:48:09.389 --> 00:48:09.610 What? 1058 00:48:09.750 --> 00:48:10.750 I couldn't believe it. 1059 00:48:11.369 --> 00:48:14.159 Wait, someone like literally told you that? 1060 00:48:14.610 --> 00:48:18.820 Literally told me that, man, so you got your act together. 1061 00:48:21.400 --> 00:48:25.019 Come call me later. So, you know, because I'm like, 1062 00:48:25.039 --> 00:48:27.500 because I went back to school. You know, because I'm 1063 00:48:27.539 --> 00:48:29.960 trying to do something else positive and do my philanthropy. 1064 00:48:30.300 --> 00:48:31.599 And because I got my act together. 1065 00:48:31.659 --> 00:48:33.159 Once you come in a pocket, start fighting people. 1066 00:48:33.199 --> 00:48:36.320 Like, I don't get it. You know, I could. And 1067 00:48:36.360 --> 00:48:37.929 I thought about it and I laughed and I said, 1068 00:48:37.949 --> 00:48:40.070 you know what? I'm just going to continue to do 1069 00:48:40.110 --> 00:48:43.190 what I do. And I'm not moving from the iron line. 1070 00:48:43.969 --> 00:48:45.489 You know, I'm going to continue doing what I do. 1071 00:48:46.170 --> 00:48:48.090 But that was it was just so interesting to hear that. 1072 00:48:48.150 --> 00:48:50.369 I couldn't believe I couldn't believe it. Yeah. 1073 00:48:51.030 --> 00:48:53.289 I mean, I think I think I think full circle, though, 1074 00:48:53.309 --> 00:48:55.909 I think in time to. I mean, look at sort 1075 00:48:55.929 --> 00:48:58.980 of the most successful podcasters, right? Like Joe Rogan, for example. 1076 00:48:59.059 --> 00:48:59.280 Right. 1077 00:48:59.599 --> 00:49:01.260 Go. I really like his podcast. 1078 00:49:01.599 --> 00:49:03.880 He's the kind of person that like he's, yeah, there's 1079 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:06.679 moments that are super viral with like super famous people, 1080 00:49:06.719 --> 00:49:09.820 but he overall is just interviewing people that he's genuinely 1081 00:49:09.840 --> 00:49:11.760 interested in. And he's not trying to, it's not trying 1082 00:49:11.780 --> 00:49:14.010 to like make it something that it's not to just 1083 00:49:14.050 --> 00:49:16.250 get attention. I mean, he's done it for so many years. 1084 00:49:16.590 --> 00:49:18.460 I think over the next five to ten years there 1085 00:49:18.480 --> 00:49:20.679 will be people who that's they're still their focus it's 1086 00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:23.239 just like genuine good conversation and trying to learn and 1087 00:49:23.260 --> 00:49:25.920 understand that's always going to continue to rise because I 1088 00:49:25.940 --> 00:49:29.320 think the clickbait culture of like oh you know if 1089 00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:32.349 I'm able to be like I fought fucking you know 1090 00:49:32.389 --> 00:49:34.369 meta world peace it's like that's obviously going to get 1091 00:49:34.409 --> 00:49:34.969 more views. 1092 00:49:34.869 --> 00:49:38.909 Yeah yeah obviously I'm getting more views right understandable it's 1093 00:49:38.929 --> 00:49:40.090 entertainment But. 1094 00:49:40.289 --> 00:49:41.429 I think at the end of the day, I think 1095 00:49:41.750 --> 00:49:45.110 in time, the good always kind of just continues to rise, 1096 00:49:45.150 --> 00:49:46.130 maybe just a little slower. 1097 00:49:46.530 --> 00:49:50.889 I think also some people can get a perception out 1098 00:49:50.929 --> 00:49:54.409 of their head of someone that's evolving, right? So they expect, like, 1099 00:49:54.429 --> 00:49:56.449 for example, me, yeah, I used to be, you know, 1100 00:49:56.650 --> 00:49:59.800 super vital on the court. I had this personality where 1101 00:49:59.820 --> 00:50:02.500 if I came out with a podcast and just looked 1102 00:50:02.519 --> 00:50:04.840 for clickbait, it would probably go viral. 1103 00:50:04.880 --> 00:50:05.480 Yeah, for sure. 1104 00:50:05.579 --> 00:50:08.300 Because of whatever things I've done in the past. But 1105 00:50:08.340 --> 00:50:11.619 in terms of evolution... Sometimes people are not ready for evolution. 1106 00:50:11.659 --> 00:50:14.260 They don't see you in that light. And it's like, okay, 1107 00:50:14.719 --> 00:50:17.469 do I go back for clickbait and maybe get a 1108 00:50:18.210 --> 00:50:20.869 contract or a sponsorship? Or do I stick to what 1109 00:50:20.909 --> 00:50:23.730 I'm doing and staying on the iron line? And that's 1110 00:50:23.750 --> 00:50:25.969 how I feel about it. Sometimes people are not really 1111 00:50:26.409 --> 00:50:27.110 ready for evolution. 1112 00:50:27.630 --> 00:50:30.309 Yeah. Well, people want you to be what they think 1113 00:50:30.369 --> 00:50:32.489 of you or what they think is like maybe... In 1114 00:50:32.510 --> 00:50:34.230 that sense, like what's going to be best

for them 1115 00:50:34.269 --> 00:50:35.070 and their platform. 1116 00:50:35.150 --> 00:50:35.869 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 1117 00:50:35.889 --> 00:50:37.230 Which is just kind of, it's fucking lame. 1118 00:50:37.269 --> 00:50:38.909 Which is understandable. I mean, I understand. 1119 00:50:38.929 --> 00:50:39.309 I don't know. 1120 00:50:39.329 --> 00:50:40.780 I don't know if I understand. It's fucking lame. 1121 00:50:40.900 --> 00:50:42.440 It is kind of lame. But I understand if you 1122 00:50:42.460 --> 00:50:44.880 have a bottom line and you're running, say you're running 1123 00:50:44.920 --> 00:50:48.099 a platform for someone else, right? That's just the chair. 1124 00:50:48.949 --> 00:50:51.289 And they're going on their vacations and you got to 1125 00:50:51.369 --> 00:50:53.809 operate daily. And you're still making the decisions on who's 1126 00:50:53.829 --> 00:50:56.489 getting paid and who's not. You know, I guess at 1127 00:50:56.530 --> 00:50:59.510 some point, if you don't know how to take advantage 1128 00:50:59.570 --> 00:51:02.510 or monetize this type of content. 1129 00:51:02.710 --> 00:51:02.949 Yeah. 1130 00:51:03.389 --> 00:51:03.630 Right? 1131 00:51:04.010 --> 00:51:05.730 You don't understand how to, you know, what type of 1132 00:51:05.769 --> 00:51:08.150 paid ads should you do on this type of content? 1133 00:51:08.429 --> 00:51:09.170 Yeah, I see what you're saying. Right. 1134 00:51:09.190 --> 00:51:12.210 What type of sponsorship should you go after with this 1135 00:51:12.250 --> 00:51:12.929 type of content? 1136 00:51:13.210 --> 00:51:13.409 Yeah. 1137 00:51:13.670 --> 00:51:15.829 Right? So if you don't understand that world, then I 1138 00:51:15.869 --> 00:51:17.469 understand why you wouldn't, you know. 1139 00:51:17.869 --> 00:51:18.769 Yeah. 1140 00:51:18.929 --> 00:51:22.110 Sign a guy like this to a podcast. Yeah, that's fair. 1141 00:51:22.139 --> 00:51:23.639 So are you going to have your own podcast then? 1142 00:51:23.800 --> 00:51:25.420 Yeah, I already started working on it. It's called Test 1143 00:51:25.460 --> 00:51:25.960 Your Greatness. 1144 00:51:26.360 --> 00:51:26.940 Test Your Greatness. 1145 00:51:26.980 --> 00:51:29.559 Yeah, it's called Test Your Greatness, where we just want 1146 00:51:29.579 --> 00:51:31.480 to encourage people to just test their greatness and never 1147 00:51:31.500 --> 00:51:35.550 give up. It's not out yet. We're in beta right now. 1148 00:51:36.730 --> 00:51:38.469 We've got a couple of events coming up. I'm excited 1149 00:51:38.510 --> 00:51:40.590 about it. And we're also going to have the other 1150 00:51:40.610 --> 00:51:43.769 podcast for other athletes that want to just get into 1151 00:51:43.789 --> 00:51:47.679 their bag. Right, on our platform. That's fine, but I 1152 00:51:47.699 --> 00:51:51.380 won't be engaged in those type of podcasts. What did 1153 00:51:51.400 --> 00:51:51.719 you do? 1154 00:51:51.920 --> 00:51:53.860 So after you retired, what did you do to continue 1155 00:51:53.880 --> 00:51:56.139 to make money? Because you always hear these stories about, like, 1156 00:51:56.179 --> 00:51:59.050 retired either football or NBA players that just basically go 1157 00:51:59.070 --> 00:52:03.090 fucking broke. What did you do to maintain your livelihood? 1158 00:52:03.329 --> 00:52:06.349 Well, you know, it's really tough because you go through 1159 00:52:06.409 --> 00:52:08.429 ups and downs. But one of the things that I 1160 00:52:08.449 --> 00:52:10.210 decided to do when I retired was go back to school. 1161 00:52:10.969 --> 00:52:13.659 Because you got to think about it. Inflation... Not everybody 1162 00:52:13.719 --> 00:52:17.860 is ready for inflation, right? So if you're already playing 1163 00:52:17.900 --> 00:52:21.300 pro sports, no matter what the sport is, even entertainment, 1164 00:52:21.760 --> 00:52:25.699 even entertainment or even entrepreneurship, right? If you're focused in 1165 00:52:25.719 --> 00:52:28.280 your area and now you run into this cash and 1166 00:52:28.300 --> 00:52:30.909 things are going well, whatever happening, if you're not focused 1167 00:52:30.989 --> 00:52:35.889 on tax strategies, if you're not paying attention to inflation, right? 1168 00:52:36.150 --> 00:52:38.250 It's just things like that. It's not your fault. You 1169 00:52:38.269 --> 00:52:42.010 just got caught up in the whirlwind. Right? So now 1170 00:52:42.030 --> 00:52:45.989 your lifestyle is one, but inflation is going in another direction. 1171 00:52:46.369 --> 00:52:48.690 So by default, it's going to balance out. 1172 00:52:49.329 --> 00:52:49.530 Yeah. 1173 00:52:50.010 --> 00:52:52.869 Right? So at some point, you got to hit the brakes. Right? 1174 00:52:52.929 --> 00:52:56.789 And then you got the emotional perspective. Do you feel 1175 00:52:56.829 --> 00:52:58.210 comfortable not wearing jewelry? 1176 00:52:58.409 --> 00:52:59.110 Yeah, letting it go. 1177 00:52:59.550 --> 00:52:59.769 Right? 1178 00:52:59.789 --> 00:53:03.840 Do you feel comfortable just having your home, right, and 1179 00:53:03.860 --> 00:53:07.079 then building for the future versus showing what you got? 1180 00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:08.889 Yeah. Right? 1181 00:53:08.989 --> 00:53:11.829 Because that's, you know, inflation, that's going to affect inflation, too, 1182 00:53:11.869 --> 00:53:14.699 depending on how much money you have in your account. Because, 1183 00:53:14.719 --> 00:53:16.920 you know, that chain is not, you know, maybe the 1184 00:53:16.960 --> 00:53:19.760 Rolex is appreciating. Yeah, but a dollar is not appreciating. 1185 00:53:19.880 --> 00:53:20.030 No way. 1186 00:53:20.039 --> 00:53:22.099 Well, a lot of it's not appreciating. The gas is 1187 00:53:22.139 --> 00:53:25.489 not appreciating. You know, what's your tax strategy? How are 1188 00:53:25.510 --> 00:53:27.909 you thinking about it? And if you're paying an account 1189 00:53:27.969 --> 00:53:32.309 manager or accountant or

CPA firm, well, with inflation, if 1190 00:53:32.329 --> 00:53:34.250 you're paying these big prices you was paying when you 1191 00:53:34.289 --> 00:53:37.409 was getting the bag, You can't sustain that. So what 1192 00:53:37.469 --> 00:53:40.929 do you actually know? Where you could do this at 1193 00:53:40.969 --> 00:53:43.809 home and just scale it from your own home family office. 1194 00:53:44.590 --> 00:53:47.150 And scale it up. And I think it's not the 1195 00:53:47.369 --> 00:53:51.260 athlete's fault. It's just the lack of education. So we're 1196 00:53:51.300 --> 00:53:56.500 here to pick the athletes up. Don't be discouraged. Entrepreneurs, athletes, celebrities. 1197 00:53:57.340 --> 00:54:00.780 It's why I launched my firm. It's why I, from scratch, 1198 00:54:01.380 --> 00:54:06.570 launched my firm really to be supportive So. 1199 00:54:06.489 --> 00:54:07.750 This is something you actively do? 1200 00:54:07.989 --> 00:54:10.699 Yeah, yeah. I have a CPA accounting firm, have fiduciaries, 1201 00:54:11.179 --> 00:54:12.539 all in-house. Fucking. 1202 00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:14.500 So that was obviously after you retired. 1203 00:54:14.639 --> 00:54:17.719 Yeah, after I retired. Actually, a little bit during, but 1204 00:54:17.760 --> 00:54:21.119 during I was still into basketball, honestly. But then when 1205 00:54:21.139 --> 00:54:23.210 I retired, I went back to school and built up 1206 00:54:23.929 --> 00:54:26.250 my private equity operations firm. 1207 00:54:26.730 --> 00:54:26.989 Nice. 1208 00:54:27.230 --> 00:54:27.909 Yeah. 1209 00:54:27.949 --> 00:54:29.469 So is that one of the, do you have other 1210 00:54:29.510 --> 00:54:30.389 businesses besides that? 1211 00:54:30.659 --> 00:54:33.800 Yeah, we have a lot of businesses inside. We have easycarelink.com, 1212 00:54:33.820 --> 00:54:37.119 which is a nursing SaaS platform that provides nurses to facilities. 1213 00:54:37.820 --> 00:54:40.269 I'm on the board of that company. We have buttercloth.com, 1214 00:54:41.150 --> 00:54:44.210 which is Easy Care Link. We took from six figures 1215 00:54:44.250 --> 00:54:49.179 of revenue to seven figures, high seven figures, then Buttercloth 1216 00:54:49.199 --> 00:54:51.719 from zero revenue to high eight figures right now. 1217 00:54:51.860 --> 00:54:55.400 Are these companies that you're actively like, Are you like 1218 00:54:55.440 --> 00:54:58.480 a minority partner or are you like a owner, like 1219 00:54:58.519 --> 00:54:59.239 a financer? It varies. 1220 00:54:59.519 --> 00:55:03.590 It varies. I have services. I don't finance. I do 1221 00:55:03.630 --> 00:55:07.510 have private equity vehicles. People could invest, but I can't solicit. 1222 00:55:07.530 --> 00:55:10.570 But I do have private equity vehicles. But as of 1223 00:55:10.610 --> 00:55:13.230 right now, some I'm on the board and have maybe 1224 00:55:13.349 --> 00:55:15.539 more equity. And then some I have a little bit 1225 00:55:15.559 --> 00:55:18.199 of

equity. It just varies. We have about 30 companies 1226 00:55:18.239 --> 00:55:21.079 in the portfolio and we got to actively work with them. 1227 00:55:21.300 --> 00:55:23.199 Some of them don't do well. You know, some of 1228 00:55:23.219 --> 00:55:25.139 them don't last and some of the companies last. 1229 00:55:25.260 --> 00:55:25.460 Yeah. 1230 00:55:25.780 --> 00:55:28.260 You know, and now it's all about just continuing to 1231 00:55:28.360 --> 00:55:32.329 add value to the companies and continuing to pick good founders. 1232 00:55:32.829 --> 00:55:33.050 Yeah. 1233 00:55:33.070 --> 00:55:34.849 You know, and just, you know, so this is kind of, 1234 00:55:35.329 --> 00:55:36.269 you know, the world that I like. 1235 00:55:36.570 --> 00:55:38.230 Yeah. What are you most, what are you, what are 1236 00:55:38.250 --> 00:55:40.769 you most invested in or most passionate about now, like 1237 00:55:40.829 --> 00:55:41.550 right now, today? 1238 00:55:41.869 --> 00:55:44.269 You know, right now I'm most passionate about my team. 1239 00:55:44.829 --> 00:55:46.880 You know, I'm most passionate about, You know, we just 1240 00:55:46.920 --> 00:55:49.599 built out a sales vertical. So super excited that it's 1241 00:55:49.619 --> 00:55:54.119 going to work across different genres. And right now, at 1242 00:55:54.159 --> 00:55:56.699 this point, you're talking about eight years of doing this. 1243 00:55:56.800 --> 00:56:00.360 It's eight years of hard work. So from that perspective, 1244 00:56:00.380 --> 00:56:05.929 it's no longer me bootstrapping. It's more about me, you know, 1245 00:56:05.969 --> 00:56:09.250 really being supportive to my team members. So I'm really 1246 00:56:09.349 --> 00:56:12.909 most passionate about how can I help one of my 1247 00:56:12.949 --> 00:56:16.969 members today? Because that's the only thing At this point, 1248 00:56:17.989 --> 00:56:19.349 at a certain point when you run a company, it 1249 00:56:19.369 --> 00:56:22.550 depends where you're at, but it's almost out of your control. 1250 00:56:22.570 --> 00:56:25.119 At some point in time, it's out of your control, 1251 00:56:25.139 --> 00:56:27.300 so all you have is your word. You can only 1252 00:56:27.360 --> 00:56:31.900 motivate that day because after that Zoom call, they're going 1253 00:56:31.920 --> 00:56:34.300 to go out and do whatever they feel is best. 1254 00:56:34.739 --> 00:56:36.579 You know what I'm saying? So I'm most passionate about 1255 00:56:36.619 --> 00:56:37.559 being supportive for my team. 1256 00:56:37.820 --> 00:56:38.000 Yeah. 1257 00:56:38.579 --> 00:56:40.539 It's tough, man, running businesses is tough. I think a 1258 00:56:40.579 --> 00:56:44.760 lot tougher than people think. And the hardest thing I 1259 00:56:44.780 --> 00:56:47.519 think is finding people and how to keep people motivated. 1260 00:56:48.619 --> 00:56:50.820 So how do you keep people motivated? 1261 00:56:51.219 --> 00:56:55.769 You know, I try to empower, I try

to be 1262 00:56:55.849 --> 00:56:58.710 on the same level, not be like I'm higher than 1263 00:56:58.750 --> 00:57:01.690 you or I know more than you. I'm actually learning 1264 00:57:01.730 --> 00:57:05.150 from you and I'm hopefully empowering you and hopefully this 1265 00:57:05.210 --> 00:57:08.110 journey and experience It's something you would have never gotten 1266 00:57:08.210 --> 00:57:10.860 anywhere else. And it's something that you could take and 1267 00:57:10.889 --> 00:57:14.219 grow with and build your own career. Yeah, we would 1268 00:57:14.239 --> 00:57:15.980 love for you to stay with us, but this is 1269 00:57:16.019 --> 00:57:17.639 really for you. So it was like, you know, trying 1270 00:57:17.659 --> 00:57:20.019 to do different things like that to keep people motivated, 1271 00:57:20.039 --> 00:57:22.880 you know, to continue to collaborate with us. 1272 00:57:23.159 --> 00:57:25.500 You think the sports background and being in sports and 1273 00:57:25.659 --> 00:57:28.670 basketball for so long, like, has added to your ability 1274 00:57:28.710 --> 00:57:30.909 to be a part of, I guess, a team in 1275 00:57:30.949 --> 00:57:31.250 a sense? 1276 00:57:31.610 --> 00:57:34.289 Yeah, 100%. You got to think about it. When I 1277 00:57:34.309 --> 00:57:37.300 first got into business... I had no background. 1278 00:57:37.719 --> 00:57:37.940 Yeah. 1279 00:57:38.579 --> 00:57:40.579 So when I retired, the first day when I retired, 1280 00:57:40.599 --> 00:57:43.300 I remember I was in bed. I was laying down. 1281 00:57:44.239 --> 00:57:47.199 I woke up the next morning, super depressed, couldn't get 1282 00:57:47.239 --> 00:57:49.150 out of bed. I'm like, man, what am I going 1283 00:57:49.170 --> 00:57:50.769 to do? Because I knew I wanted to be a 1284 00:57:50.789 --> 00:57:52.769 head coach, but I knew that was going to be 1285 00:57:52.829 --> 00:57:57.610 difficult right after retirement because of my career. Yeah. Even 1286 00:57:57.650 --> 00:58:00.750 though I'm super, I have a high basketball IQ. So 1287 00:58:00.769 --> 00:58:03.210 as I'm thinking about what I'm going to do, I'm like, man, 1288 00:58:03.289 --> 00:58:09.400 I ain't good at anything. so I'm in bed about 1289 00:58:09.460 --> 00:58:11.760 two three four hours I'm just like in this deep 1290 00:58:12.019 --> 00:58:16.179 deep stare I literally replayed every moment of my career 1291 00:58:16.199 --> 00:58:18.869 in my head the good times the bad times so 1292 00:58:18.889 --> 00:58:21.869 then as I thought about it something hit me said 1293 00:58:21.929 --> 00:58:24.250 oh wow I was an architect major in college that 1294 00:58:24.269 --> 00:58:26.210 was my first major I was going to be a 1295 00:58:26.250 --> 00:58:29.469 math teacher my second major was art but when I 1296 00:58:29.510 --> 00:58:31.369 was going to the MBA I dropped all my classes 1297 00:58:31.429 --> 00:58:33.360 I took a communications class and I just knew I 1298 00:58:33.380 -->

00:58:37.639 was going pro So that stopped at 19, right? At 37, 1299 00:58:37.639 --> 00:58:40.639 I retired. So I said, man, if I was going 1300 00:58:40.659 --> 00:58:42.219 to do that back then, I said, if I tap 1301 00:58:42.260 --> 00:58:44.260 into that, I think I'm going to be all right. 1302 00:58:45.260 --> 00:58:48.840 So then I called UCLA and I applied for extension courses. 1303 00:58:49.099 --> 00:58:52.090 I actually studied for my Series 7, but I didn't 1304 00:58:52.110 --> 00:58:54.469 want to sit behind a desk. I knew I wanted 1305 00:58:54.489 --> 00:58:57.369 to do something in athletes, entrepreneurship, but I definitely didn't 1306 00:58:57.389 --> 00:58:58.309 want to be behind a desk. 1307 00:58:58.550 --> 00:58:59.309 Yeah, I don't blame you. 1308 00:58:59.369 --> 00:59:01.510 You know what I mean? So I said, although it 1309 00:59:01.730 --> 00:59:04.670 was also hard, so that was one thing. But then 1310 00:59:04.690 --> 00:59:09.150 I went back to school for digital analytics, coding, business analytics, 1311 00:59:09.670 --> 00:59:12.380 Google analytics. I learned how to work all the platforms 1312 00:59:12.400 --> 00:59:15.199 from GitHub to AWS. And I was learning the stuff 1313 00:59:15.260 --> 00:59:17.719 on my own, even how to read PPMs and how 1314 00:59:17.760 --> 00:59:21.719 to read contracts, understand learning the languages of hair tools, whereas, 1315 00:59:21.780 --> 00:59:24.590 and all this stuff, because it's expensive. If I'm trying 1316 00:59:24.610 --> 00:59:26.010 to get a deal done, if I got a call 1317 00:59:26.050 --> 00:59:29.429 an attorney, Some attorneys charge $ 1, 200 an hour. Yeah, it's insane. 1318 00:59:30.090 --> 00:59:30.880 You can't sustain that. 1319 00:59:30.929 --> 00:59:33.300 Do you think it was easier going back to school after? 1320 00:59:33.320 --> 00:59:35.340 Because I remember being in school when I was younger, 1321 00:59:35.519 --> 00:59:38.079 and I eventually dropped out because I couldn't keep paying 1322 00:59:38.099 --> 00:59:38.900 for tuition. 1323 00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:39.179 Yeah. 1324 00:59:39.440 --> 00:59:43.019 But I also found myself younger being like, damn, I 1325 00:59:43.039 --> 00:59:47.239 don't really like this. This is not for me. And obviously, 1326 00:59:47.340 --> 00:59:49.130 I went on my own way, and I was able 1327 00:59:49.150 --> 00:59:51.329 to be successful. So glory to God for that. But 1328 00:59:52.349 --> 00:59:55.710 after that... And for you, obviously, after you put that 1329 00:59:55.750 --> 00:59:57.889 stuff to the side, you came back. Do you think 1330 00:59:57.909 --> 01:00:01.530 it was easier for you to learn? Was that process 1331 01:00:01.630 --> 01:00:03.110 easier then than you think it would have been when 1332 01:00:03.139 --> 01:00:03.639 you were younger? 1333 01:00:03.659 --> 01:00:06.219 Yeah, it was so hard, yo. I had so many 1334 01:00:06.260 --> 01:00:10.139 stressful days. It's insane. Because even when I

first started, 1335 01:00:10.159 --> 01:00:12.800 I said, okay, I'm going to do an online class. 1336 01:00:13.380 --> 01:00:15.760 So I start my UCLA extension course. I go online. 1337 01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:18.699 I'm super stressed. I can't learn, right? 1338 01:00:18.719 --> 01:00:18.960 Yeah. 1339 01:00:19.349 --> 01:00:20.809 I call them back and I say, listen, I need 1340 01:00:20.829 --> 01:00:22.380 to go into the class. I said, can I please 1341 01:00:22.389 --> 01:00:24.260 start this over? Do I have to pay again? They 1342 01:00:24.280 --> 01:00:26.800 was like, nah, don't worry about it. So I had 1343 01:00:26.820 --> 01:00:29.460 to go into the class and just talk to people 1344 01:00:29.500 --> 01:00:31.719 and talk to the professors. You learned better that way. 1345 01:00:31.820 --> 01:00:36.000 I learned better by seeing and also in person. 1346 01:00:36.300 --> 01:00:36.460 Yeah. 1347 01:00:37.139 --> 01:00:40.949 Um, but yeah, I learned, but I communicate better with 1348 01:00:40.969 --> 01:00:44.989 boring documents. So I like diagrams, but I communicate better 1349 01:00:45.369 --> 01:00:47.510 when I see like a boring document. 1350 01:00:48.409 --> 01:00:51.090 And you mean boring, like just like something extensive that 1351 01:00:51.110 --> 01:00:52.380 is just like Google docs. 1352 01:00:52.880 --> 01:00:56.559 Okay. You know, I can see what's happening. You know, 1353 01:00:56.579 --> 01:00:58.639 I can map it out better line by line, by line, 1354 01:00:58.659 --> 01:01:00.940 by line. And then the diagrams is good too. Like 1355 01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:02.460 it can give you a vision of the future, but I, 1356 01:01:02.980 --> 01:01:06.489 I can see better just by boring words. If that 1357 01:01:06.510 --> 01:01:08.650 makes sense. 1358 01:01:08.869 --> 01:01:10.699 I remember school, I was just not good at it. 1359 01:01:11.409 --> 01:01:12.170 I wasn't good at it. 1360 01:01:12.239 --> 01:01:13.989 I don't know why. I wasn't good at reading. I 1361 01:01:14.260 --> 01:01:17.900 wasn't good at comprehension. I mean, I could read, but 1362 01:01:17.940 --> 01:01:21.820 I couldn't comprehend. I couldn't read a book and then 1363 01:01:21.840 --> 01:01:24.920 tell you, hey, so what happened in paragraph two? And 1364 01:01:24.960 --> 01:01:27.380 I'll say, this happened in paragraph two. It'd be a 1365 01:01:27.380 --> 01:01:28.340 red mark coming back. 1366 01:01:28.519 --> 01:01:28.860 Yeah. 1367 01:01:29.300 --> 01:01:33.059 So you weren't at the sort of regurgitating what it was. 1368 01:01:33.530 --> 01:01:37.360 No, I couldn't. I couldn't just comprehend. I passed SATs 1369 01:01:37.380 --> 01:01:40.400 based off math. Math I was good. Math I was 1370 01:01:40.420 --> 01:01:43.860 pretty solid, but the comprehension part was where I always 1371 01:01:43.900 --> 01:01:44.519 ran into trouble. 1372 01:01:45.059 --> 01:01:47.460 What about, and then this is back to basketball, but 1373 01:01:47.500 --> 01:01:50.639 what was the hardest thing for you in basketball? What 1374 01:01:50.760 --> 01:01:51.519 were you not good at? 1375 01:01:51.539 --> 01:01:54.280 The hardest thing for me in basketball was going up 1376 01:01:54.300 --> 01:01:58.340 against me. That was the hardest thing because my passion 1377 01:01:58.380 --> 01:02:02.269 and emotion was just unstable, it was a fire that 1378 01:02:02.289 --> 01:02:04.610 was really hard to, you probably, people saw me play, 1379 01:02:05.130 --> 01:02:07.929 you know, but that thing was really burning inside. 1380 01:02:07.949 --> 01:02:10.170 Just because you just, it wasn't good enough? You wanted 1381 01:02:10.190 --> 01:02:10.769 it to be better? 1382 01:02:10.789 --> 01:02:13.739 I just love, I don't know, I think it's just 1383 01:02:13.800 --> 01:02:15.739 weird because I love to hustle, I love to play, 1384 01:02:16.039 --> 01:02:18.940 I'm never satisfied. I hate losing, but I only won 1385 01:02:19.019 --> 01:02:23.539 one championship. First year in NBA, we won 13 games, 1386 01:02:23.940 --> 01:02:28.139 or 15 games. I couldn't deal with it emotionally and mentally. 1387 01:02:28.369 --> 01:02:31.469 Because I typically don't lose. I typically went everywhere I 1388 01:02:31.489 --> 01:02:37.550 was at. So from that perspective, me was the biggest hurdle. 1389 01:02:38.110 --> 01:02:41.030 Did you ever have conversations with other players about that? 1390 01:02:41.110 --> 01:02:43.550 I'm always so curious because obviously you guys are all 1391 01:02:43.590 --> 01:02:45.110 at the top of your game when you're playing. You're 1392 01:02:45.130 --> 01:02:47.429 on that team. Was there anyone who stood out who 1393 01:02:47.690 --> 01:02:50.360 you ever had a conversation with that pushed you or 1394 01:02:50.389 --> 01:02:52.610 helped you or made you feel like, I don't know, 1395 01:02:54.099 --> 01:02:56.239 not the same as them because obviously you're a different person, 1396 01:02:56.260 --> 01:02:59.010 but was able to help you kind of overcome that? 1397 01:02:59.610 --> 01:03:02.530 It was a few plays, man. I had an interesting 1398 01:03:02.730 --> 01:03:06.500 conversation with Derrick Fisher during the playoffs, because him and 1399 01:03:06.539 --> 01:03:10.639 Kobe are just incredible, as we know. Derrick Fisher hit 1400 01:03:10.880 --> 01:03:13.400 just as many big shots as Kobe Bryant. If you 1401 01:03:13.440 --> 01:03:16.159 really look at it, Derrick Fisher hit just as many 1402 01:03:16.179 --> 01:03:18.369 big shots as Kobe Bryant. So one day I'm in 1403 01:03:18.389 --> 01:03:21.150 the back, And I'm not afraid to take big shots, 1404 01:03:21.190 --> 01:03:23.989 but they're not just going in all the time. But 1405 01:03:24.030 --> 01:03:26.340 I'm never passing it up, if that makes sense. 1406 01:03:26.559 --> 01:03:27.119 I see what you're saying. 1407 01:03:27.239 --> 01:03:27.420 Right? 1408 01:03:27.460 --> 01:03:29.340 I don't mind having a bad shooting

percentage, and fans 1409 01:03:29.380 --> 01:03:31.239 are like, you should not shoot. I'll shoot it again. 1410 01:03:32.219 --> 01:03:34.159 But I wanted to actually go in, so I said, Derek, 1411 01:03:34.179 --> 01:03:36.139 how do you make big shots? I'm in the back 1412 01:03:36.179 --> 01:03:38.059 of the... I asked Kobe first, and I asked him 1413 01:03:38.079 --> 01:03:39.659 at the same time. I said, I got to ask 1414 01:03:39.679 --> 01:03:42.579 you something. So Kobe gave me this quick answer, and 1415 01:03:42.599 --> 01:03:44.380 then I let Kobe get back to being busy, and 1416 01:03:44.400 --> 01:03:46.219 then I went to Derek. Derek sit right behind Kobe. 1417 01:03:46.539 --> 01:03:47.679 What did Kobe say, though? 1418 01:03:48.230 --> 01:03:49.969 He might have said something like, just take the shot. 1419 01:03:49.989 --> 01:03:54.630 So classic, bro. He might have said something like... Just 1420 01:03:54.650 --> 01:03:56.829 do it. He might have said something like that. But 1421 01:03:56.849 --> 01:03:59.010 I had a longer conversation with Derek. Yeah, go ahead. 1422 01:03:59.570 --> 01:04:01.730 And when Derek was breaking it down, you know, he 1423 01:04:01.769 --> 01:04:04.849 was like... I can't remember exactly. It was 2010, but 1424 01:04:04.869 --> 01:04:08.349 he said, you know, just the same rhythm, same motion, 1425 01:04:08.789 --> 01:04:12.030 same things you do in practice. You know, try to 1426 01:04:12.050 --> 01:04:14.030 block things out. But he gave like a... Maybe it 1427 01:04:14.050 --> 01:04:18.099 was a 20-minute conversation or 15-minute. Something like that. which 1428 01:04:18.139 --> 01:04:21.340 helped me in the playoffs. So that was like an 1429 01:04:21.380 --> 01:04:28.670 emotional kind of, I felt stable emotionally with that conversation 1430 01:04:28.730 --> 01:04:32.050 I had with Derrick. A really interesting conversation. 1431 01:04:32.070 --> 01:04:34.070 Rob Markman Because it made you feel like you could 1432 01:04:34.110 --> 01:04:36.230 do it based on what you've already done and what 1433 01:04:36.269 --> 01:04:36.449 you do. 1434 01:04:36.469 --> 01:04:38.489 Rob Markman It's like saying, how do you read or 1435 01:04:38.530 --> 01:04:41.630 how do you answer this problem? To ask him, how 1436 01:04:41.650 --> 01:04:45.300 do you make big shots? it's nothing tangible that you 1437 01:04:45.340 --> 01:04:48.030 can touch. You just got to like feel it. 1438 01:04:48.460 --> 01:04:48.639 Yeah. 1439 01:04:49.380 --> 01:04:50.139 And believe in it. 1440 01:04:50.880 --> 01:04:53.079 It's such a crazy concept. Cause I, you always, I 1441 01:04:53.099 --> 01:04:55.920 always wonder that it's like, obviously everyone top of their game. 1442 01:04:56.440 --> 01:04:59.539 What's like really the, like what's really separating the greatest 1443 01:04:59.579 --> 01:05:02.659 players from like just making the shots. Yeah. Cause you know, 1444 01:05:02.679 --> 01:05:04.360 when you see like the free throws or whatever, obviously 1445 01:05:04.380 --> 01:05:07.420 some players was better free throws or, you know, court shots, 1446 01:05:07.440 --> 01:05:10.780 but it's like, what's really stopping that from happening? Obviously defense. 1447 01:05:10.820 --> 01:05:13.239 That's one thing, but, Like, it seems a lot of 1448 01:05:13.260 --> 01:05:15.239 times it's just like a mental... It is. 1449 01:05:16.579 --> 01:05:19.110 It's a... You know, sometimes we don't... People really don't 1450 01:05:19.139 --> 01:05:21.769 understand where they carry tension. So, you know, sometimes you 1451 01:05:21.789 --> 01:05:23.210 have your forehead like this. Some people walk with their 1452 01:05:23.230 --> 01:05:25.030 forehead scrunched all day. They don't even know it's scrunched. 1453 01:05:25.909 --> 01:05:27.690 It's like, just like that. You're holding tension. 1454 01:05:28.030 --> 01:05:28.630 Yeah. Right? 1455 01:05:28.670 --> 01:05:30.469 Or you might have your shoulders up or your hips 1456 01:05:30.849 --> 01:05:32.550 or your jaw. And you don't even know why my 1457 01:05:32.590 --> 01:05:35.510 jaw is clenched. If you just relax, like, oh, wow, 1458 01:05:35.909 --> 01:05:38.409 they was tight all day. Yeah. You know, so sometimes 1459 01:05:38.630 --> 01:05:41.969 we hold that tension. It's physical, but it's also... a 1460 01:05:41.989 --> 01:05:46.369 little bit spiritual, there's a little bit of mental and emotional, 1461 01:05:46.389 --> 01:05:50.670 so sometimes you gotta understand your body. I think everything 1462 01:05:50.710 --> 01:05:52.389 speaks for a reason, your body speaks for a reason, 1463 01:05:52.409 --> 01:05:56.190 so just understanding things like that could help a performance, 1464 01:05:56.349 --> 01:05:59.469 anybody's performance, even at the workplace. Because if you're reading 1465 01:05:59.510 --> 01:06:03.309 a document, tense, like what are you thinking about the 1466 01:06:03.329 --> 01:06:05.909 second paragraph? Did you miss the second line? 1467 01:06:06.170 --> 01:06:08.840 Yeah, are you even getting all that information properly? Because 1468 01:06:08.880 --> 01:06:09.679 you're tight. 1469 01:06:09.860 --> 01:06:10.739 Yeah, because you're tight, yeah. 1470 01:06:14.340 --> 01:06:17.320 Did you ever have any sort of conversations with Kobe 1471 01:06:17.340 --> 01:06:20.239 that were very powerful? He's just like business. 1472 01:06:20.699 --> 01:06:27.389 Kobe's incredible. Never had any real powerful conversations. I think 1473 01:06:27.409 --> 01:06:29.289 me and Kobe are very similar from the point of 1474 01:06:30.190 --> 01:06:35.239 being introverted. Yeah. I think, obviously, I was a Laker 1475 01:06:35.280 --> 01:06:37.760 and he had something to do with that. I think 1476 01:06:37.780 --> 01:06:40.760 he respected how hard I worked, but I think our 1477 01:06:40.800 --> 01:06:45.860 conversations came from just playing together. And obviously, it's his team, 1478 01:06:45.920 -->

01:06:48.699 and it took me a while to confide to that. 1479 01:06:49.599 --> 01:06:52.489 Yeah, I saw a clip where you're used to doing more. 1480 01:06:52.510 --> 01:06:53.250 Yeah. 1481 01:06:53.530 --> 01:06:55.530 And you kind of have to let it go a 1482 01:06:55.550 --> 01:06:55.929 little bit. 1483 01:06:56.409 --> 01:06:58.590 He was big on it. I mean, obviously, I'm not 1484 01:06:58.630 --> 01:07:00.710 as good as Kobe, but I got my own journey. 1485 01:07:00.710 --> 01:07:01.730 100%, yeah. 1486 01:07:01.929 --> 01:07:05.489 Right? But he was really supportive, and he understood me. 1487 01:07:05.530 --> 01:07:06.909 I think he got a clip where I read a 1488 01:07:06.949 --> 01:07:09.300 clip where he talked about he had to understand the 1489 01:07:09.340 --> 01:07:13.159 player better And it wasn't that he was saying, oh, yeah, Metta, 1490 01:07:13.739 --> 01:07:16.130 I'm going to give you more shots. It was a 1491 01:07:16.159 --> 01:07:19.269 thing like he understood how I was feeling. 1492 01:07:20.150 --> 01:07:20.429 Yeah. 1493 01:07:20.630 --> 01:07:24.250 You know? And I caught on to that, that he 1494 01:07:24.269 --> 01:07:26.250 really understood how I was feeling. But he got a 1495 01:07:26.309 --> 01:07:28.889 job to do because this is his team. He got 1496 01:07:28.929 --> 01:07:31.590 a big job to do. Yeah. And he didn't let 1497 01:07:31.670 --> 01:07:34.610 me get in the way, but he also would give 1498 01:07:34.650 --> 01:07:37.420 me these little hints of, you know, you're going to 1499 01:07:37.440 --> 01:07:40.389 be all right. I understand how you're feeling. but it 1500 01:07:40.429 --> 01:07:43.989 wasn't an emotional kind of conversation. You know, he was 1501 01:07:44.030 --> 01:07:46.349 never like, he's not gonna cry. Kobe's not gonna be like, man, 1502 01:07:46.369 --> 01:07:50.670 I feel your pain. He's never gonna do that. 1503 01:07:51.409 --> 01:07:51.590 Yeah. 1504 01:07:52.730 --> 01:07:55.590 That's cool, man. I mean, shit, you fucking, you played, 1505 01:07:55.730 --> 01:07:57.570 like I said earlier, you played such a golden era. 1506 01:07:57.750 --> 01:08:00.489 Yeah, for sure, 100%. I, damn. 1507 01:08:01.519 --> 01:08:02.880 I hope it's, I just want it to be like 1508 01:08:02.900 --> 01:08:03.320 that again. 1509 01:08:03.340 --> 01:08:05.940 I think we're getting back. 1510 01:08:06.460 --> 01:08:06.659 Yeah. 1511 01:08:06.920 --> 01:08:11.489 I think people are gonna be surprised. at where the 1512 01:08:11.530 --> 01:08:12.329 league is going to go? 1513 01:08:13.170 --> 01:08:15.789 Cause I always thought like, you know, when you take players, like, uh, 1514 01:08:16.390 --> 01:08:18.939 I mean, obviously there's so many great players, but LeBron 1515 01:08:18.989 --> 01:08:22.680 obviously doesn't have much more time. And I was always curious, like, 1516 01:08:22.699 --> 01:08:24.560 I mean, he's even said it, like, he doesn't know 1517 01:08:24.579 --> 01:08:26.500 how much more time

he has in the league, but 1518 01:08:26.520 --> 01:08:28.720 I was always curious. Like, do you, do you think it, 1519 01:08:29.319 --> 01:08:33.380 when players like that leave, do they need new players? Like, 1520 01:08:33.739 --> 01:08:35.420 obviously there's never going to be someone like, you know, 1521 01:08:35.479 --> 01:08:37.199 LeBron is never going to be someone like these people again. 1522 01:08:37.720 --> 01:08:39.159 But do you think you need new players that create 1523 01:08:39.180 --> 01:08:41.260 that sort of hype, or there's enough players already that 1524 01:08:41.300 --> 01:08:42.079 can create that? 1525 01:08:42.279 --> 01:08:45.500 The players, one of the issues we have, we try 1526 01:08:45.539 --> 01:08:49.640 to ride out these stars, right? Like, okay, Stephen Curry, 1527 01:08:49.659 --> 01:08:52.010 for example, that Warrior team where Mark Jackson helped put 1528 01:08:52.050 --> 01:08:54.210 together that team with RIP Jerry West. 1529 01:08:54.470 --> 01:08:54.689 Yeah. 1530 01:08:55.050 --> 01:08:58.189 So they put together this team. Although Stephen Curry was 1531 01:08:58.210 --> 01:09:01.970 a huge star, but that team became successful. Stephen Curry, 1532 01:09:02.010 --> 01:09:04.939 his winning made him a star. Yeah, he came and 1533 01:09:04.949 --> 01:09:07.239 he was like whatever, 10th pick or whatever he was. 1534 01:09:07.680 --> 01:09:09.539 Klay Thompson, Draymond, I think they was all high picks. 1535 01:09:10.140 --> 01:09:13.180 But they became stars. And now they are stars and 1536 01:09:13.220 --> 01:09:16.680 they are embedded in history versus just giving it to somebody. 1537 01:09:17.529 --> 01:09:21.409 If somebody, like for example, SGA this year, probably should 1538 01:09:21.430 --> 01:09:25.489 have gotten the MVP. You could have went Tatum if 1539 01:09:25.529 --> 01:09:28.829 you wanted to. But they had three stars on that team. 1540 01:09:29.130 --> 01:09:30.590 They were just a really good team. Okay, you give 1541 01:09:30.609 --> 01:09:34.420 it to Joker. Understandable. But it's not understandable with SGA. 1542 01:09:34.819 --> 01:09:37.560 He deserved to be a star. The best team in 1543 01:09:37.579 --> 01:09:41.260 the league. Right from that perspective. So I think if 1544 01:09:41.300 --> 01:09:44.199 somebody earns it, let them be the star. The Knicks, 1545 01:09:44.239 --> 01:09:48.470 for example. Look at Brunson. He's is becoming a star. 1546 01:09:48.710 --> 01:09:50.289 Now he is a winner, we know that. He won 1547 01:09:50.329 --> 01:09:53.300 in high school and college, but his name wasn't as 1548 01:09:53.359 --> 01:09:56.739 recognized when he first got into the NBA. Now he's 1549 01:09:56.779 --> 01:09:59.880 with the Knicks playing well. He's a star. He earned it. 1550 01:09:59.920 --> 01:10:01.359 So you think they hype people up too much? Because 1551 01:10:01.399 --> 01:10:04.359 the Zion Williamson thing, I'm not saying he's not a 1552 01:10:04.380 --> 01:10:06.380 great player, but that was an example of when he 1553 01:10:06.420 --> 01:10:08.020 was coming in, they were like, this guy is going 1554 01:10:08.039 --> 01:10:10.340 to be this. And they were really pushing that. 1555 01:10:10.640 --> 01:10:11.699 Well, he's really incredible. 1556 01:10:11.960 --> 01:10:15.500 Yeah, he's amazing. But he didn't do what everyone, what 1557 01:10:15.539 --> 01:10:17.239 they made him out to be, what he was going 1558 01:10:17.270 --> 01:10:18.750 to do. Maybe he's still going to do it. Maybe 1559 01:10:18.770 --> 01:10:19.369 it's still time. 1560 01:10:19.470 --> 01:10:23.630 I think Zion's issue was getting hurt. So that kinda, 1561 01:10:24.210 --> 01:10:28.270 imagine you're marketing someone, then they hurt. You're gonna have 1562 01:10:28.289 --> 01:10:30.829 to market someone else. So I think his issue was different, 1563 01:10:30.850 --> 01:10:34.590 but there are other people that are just being superstar. 1564 01:10:34.909 --> 01:10:39.989 A star, are you kidding me? Media, do you understand 1565 01:10:40.029 --> 01:10:43.130 what a star is? Do you understand what a superstar is? 1566 01:10:43.159 --> 01:10:46.220 Not everyone's a star. Some people are just really good players. 1567 01:10:46.619 --> 01:10:47.579 You know what I mean? 1568 01:10:47.600 --> 01:10:49.060 What do you think separates the superstars? 1569 01:10:50.109 --> 01:10:52.250 Just how you play the game, like your output in 1570 01:10:53.029 --> 01:10:53.949 the game. 1571 01:10:54.170 --> 01:10:56.310 And also, doesn't it take more time to be like, 1572 01:10:56.369 --> 01:10:57.329 that's a superstar? 1573 01:10:57.829 --> 01:10:59.550 No, when Mignone is a superstar. 1574 01:11:00.229 --> 01:11:00.430 Yeah. 1575 01:11:00.649 --> 01:11:03.359 He's a star because not a lot of people can 1576 01:11:03.399 --> 01:11:06.039 guard him, right? But yeah, and then sometimes it might 1577 01:11:06.079 --> 01:11:08.239 take somebody, like Michael Jordan, he got into the league, 1578 01:11:08.260 --> 01:11:10.359 he was 21 as a rookie at some point in time, 1579 01:11:10.399 --> 01:11:14.319 he turned 21, versus LeBron was a star at 17. 1580 01:11:14.319 --> 01:11:16.449 LeBron was a star way before Michael, even though Michael 1581 01:11:16.470 --> 01:11:20.109 was a McDonald's All-American, had a, you know, played very 1582 01:11:20.149 --> 01:11:22.989 well in college, but LeBron was a star earlier in 1583 01:11:23.010 --> 01:11:26.409 the NBA in terms of age. Sometimes it takes people 1584 01:11:26.430 --> 01:11:29.600 longer to become a star. I think your work and 1585 01:11:29.619 --> 01:11:32.340 your output and how you affect the game, are you 1586 01:11:32.380 --> 01:11:35.699 a role player? Are you the go-to guy? Did you 1587 01:11:35.739 --> 01:11:38.479 just become the go-to guy? Ben Wallace, he's a star. 1588 01:11:39.100 --> 01:11:41.369 He wasn't a star in the beginning, but he became 1589 01:11:41.409 -->

01:11:44.090 a star without offense. I think Just got to let 1590 01:11:44.170 --> 01:11:47.189 it happen naturally. Some guys was a star two years ago, 1591 01:11:47.770 --> 01:11:51.430 and they're not a star today. Star, star, superstar, and 1592 01:11:51.449 --> 01:11:52.430 they are not a star today. 1593 01:11:53.010 --> 01:11:55.479 So then would that make them not, quote, unquote, a 1594 01:11:55.479 --> 01:11:57.600 superstar if they're not one today? Because I feel like 1595 01:11:57.659 --> 01:11:58.859 wouldn't a superstar sustain? 1596 01:11:59.560 --> 01:12:02.699 A superstar will sustain, absolutely, 100%. I'm not saying a 1597 01:12:02.859 --> 01:12:04.720 superstar is any better than any other individual. 1598 01:12:04.880 --> 01:12:06.729 But in terms of the game, yeah. 1599 01:12:06.739 --> 01:12:09.529 A superstar is a superstar because they was a star 1600 01:12:09.550 --> 01:12:12.369 over time for a long period of time. Not just 1601 01:12:12.489 --> 01:12:14.149 one year because you know you're on the team. 1602 01:12:14.470 --> 01:12:16.810 Yeah, yeah. It's like a super power team. So who 1603 01:12:16.850 --> 01:12:18.350 do you think are the superstars today? 1604 01:12:19.500 --> 01:12:22.439 I think SGA is a, well, it depends on media 1605 01:12:22.579 --> 01:12:27.279 and your game. Sometimes, like Tim Duncan, superstar, but he's 1606 01:12:27.319 --> 01:12:30.100 a superstar ball player, didn't necessarily care about media. 1607 01:12:30.380 --> 01:12:31.340 Yeah, he didn't give a fuck. 1608 01:12:31.359 --> 01:12:32.149 Right, he didn't even care. 1609 01:12:32.279 --> 01:12:32.479 At all. 1610 01:12:32.819 --> 01:12:35.229 So sometimes people to this day might think Tim Duncan's 1611 01:12:35.710 --> 01:12:38.550 one of the worst players in history because you just 1612 01:12:38.569 --> 01:12:41.050 see his personality until you gotta watch his game and 1613 01:12:41.069 --> 01:12:43.060 look at his stats. And you'd be like, hold on. 1614 01:12:44.140 --> 01:12:47.159 He's a superstar. Yeah, you're right. He's pretty incredible. 1615 01:12:47.199 --> 01:12:48.630 Do you think there's a little bit of like you 1616 01:12:48.670 --> 01:12:50.010 have to kind of play it up for. 1617 01:12:49.909 --> 01:12:51.510 The media a bit? No, I don't think you got 1618 01:12:51.550 --> 01:12:53.069 to play it up. I think you could be a 1619 01:12:53.090 --> 01:12:55.229 superstar and have that kind of personality of a Tim 1620 01:12:55.250 --> 01:12:59.619 Duncan or whatever. But we got to recognize that more. Yeah. 1621 01:12:59.699 --> 01:13:01.359 Maybe you don't get the big Nike deal, but you're 1622 01:13:01.399 --> 01:13:04.319 still a superstar. Like SGA to me is a superstar. 1623 01:13:04.800 --> 01:13:10.250 There are some other people that's becoming Brunson's. He's a star. 1624 01:13:10.329 --> 01:13:13.039 I don't know. He's almost a superstar. In New York, 1625 01:13:13.060 --> 01:13:14.600 he's a superstar. But I

think he's got to have 1626 01:13:14.619 --> 01:13:17.260 a couple more good years. Yeah. And he'll be a superstar. 1627 01:13:17.279 --> 01:13:20.800 His jersey potentially could be retired in the Garden. 1628 01:13:21.380 --> 01:13:21.619 Yeah. 1629 01:13:22.100 --> 01:13:22.319 Massive. 1630 01:13:22.340 --> 01:13:23.140 What do you think about Luka? 1631 01:13:24.710 --> 01:13:26.670 Luka's a superstar. I think he's got to play more defense, 1632 01:13:26.729 --> 01:13:28.189 but he does other things well. 1633 01:13:28.590 --> 01:13:28.810 Yeah. 1634 01:13:29.029 --> 01:13:31.710 Yeah, he does other things well. His defense is actually 1635 01:13:31.729 --> 01:13:34.590 getting better. He got an offensive foul in the finals. 1636 01:13:35.399 --> 01:13:37.300 You see him hustling a little bit. But there's a 1637 01:13:37.340 --> 01:13:41.750 couple things he can do. You know, to kind of 1638 01:13:41.770 --> 01:13:43.010 be that complete player, I think. 1639 01:13:43.270 --> 01:13:43.470 Yeah. 1640 01:13:43.869 --> 01:13:45.810 But, you know, his game is, his offensive game is 1641 01:13:45.829 --> 01:13:46.310 pretty solid. 1642 01:13:46.350 --> 01:13:49.050 You still, you obviously still are so involved in basketball. 1643 01:13:49.170 --> 01:13:50.939 Do you think you would ever get a position like 1644 01:13:51.319 --> 01:13:51.760 a head coach? 1645 01:13:52.000 --> 01:13:55.020 Oh, well, I want it. I'm going to tell you that. 1646 01:13:55.140 --> 01:13:58.340 I want it. But getting it, you know, you're not 1647 01:13:58.399 --> 01:13:59.840 the one. I can't sign myself. 1648 01:13:59.899 --> 01:14:00.840 Of course not. Of course not. 1649 01:14:00.859 --> 01:14:01.920 But I definitely won it 100%. 1650 01:14:01.920 --> 01:14:04.100 How does that process go? Do you just have to, like, 1651 01:14:04.680 --> 01:14:05.539 try to petition to do it? 1652 01:14:05.550 --> 01:14:08.060 You just got to ask and hope to get a yes. Yo, 1653 01:14:08.119 --> 01:14:10.010 someone get him a fucking job, bro. You just got 1654 01:14:10.020 --> 01:14:11.649 to ask and hope to get a yes, man. But 1655 01:14:11.670 --> 01:14:14.350 wouldn't that fuck up your other businesses? No, because I 1656 01:14:14.430 --> 01:14:18.189 have a board. Okay. And executives. So it's just a signature. 1657 01:14:18.729 --> 01:14:21.050 Is there anything else, like, involved in the NBA that 1658 01:14:21.069 --> 01:14:21.960 you'd want to be a part of? 1659 01:14:22.989 --> 01:14:26.390 Coaching is top of mind. I really love coaching. I 1660 01:14:26.909 --> 01:14:28.869 set my company up so if I ever had to coach, 1661 01:14:29.229 --> 01:14:34.239 it's just a signature. And all compliance is met. 1662 01:14:34.899 --> 01:14:39.880 What about Shaq's really fucking good at this commentary stuff? 1663 01:14:39.899 --> 01:14:41.000 Would you ever do that if they ever. 1664 01:14:41.520 --> 01:14:46.680 I'm not really into the commentary. I like Spectrum, Lakers TV. 1665 01:14:47.180 --> 01:14:51.939 I'm more into local... It pays way less. But I'm 1666 01:14:51.979 --> 01:14:56.329 more into local... Take TV, then national TV. 1667 01:14:56.590 --> 01:14:56.810 Yeah. 1668 01:14:57.329 --> 01:14:59.989 Yeah, I'm not really into national, so it doesn't really 1669 01:15:00.289 --> 01:15:00.930 appeal to me. 1670 01:15:01.449 --> 01:15:06.000 I see what you're saying, yeah. Damn, man. You fucking, God. 1671 01:15:06.899 --> 01:15:09.640 I just, you're interesting as fuck to me. 1672 01:15:09.920 --> 01:15:10.939 Thanks, man. I appreciate it. 1673 01:15:11.000 --> 01:15:13.039 Yeah, I like how you were, you said you had 1674 01:15:13.079 --> 01:15:13.659 an art major? 1675 01:15:13.680 --> 01:15:15.960 That was my second major. 1676 01:15:15.979 --> 01:15:18.079 That definitely makes sense after talking to you. 1677 01:15:18.100 --> 01:15:19.680 Yeah, my second major. You're just a more creative dude. 1678 01:15:20.800 --> 01:15:23.220 You ever do anything else that's not, that no one 1679 01:15:23.260 --> 01:15:25.300 would know about, that's super left field of what they 1680 01:15:25.319 --> 01:15:25.960 would think of you? 1681 01:15:26.739 --> 01:15:29.119 I mean, I think now Cat's coming out the bag 1682 01:15:29.159 --> 01:15:32.229 in terms of product managing, developers managing. 1683 01:15:32.409 --> 01:15:33.170 I didn't expect this. 1684 01:15:33.250 --> 01:15:36.149 Technologists. A lot of people don't know. I've got about 1685 01:15:36.149 --> 01:15:40.609 32 devs that I manage with my CTOs. I think 1686 01:15:40.649 --> 01:15:49.590 that was unexpected, and building a firm that's based around 1687 01:15:49.630 --> 01:15:51.770 fiduciaries and stuff like that. I think that type of 1688 01:15:51.789 --> 01:15:55.529 stuff is unexpected. But that's been my main focus over 1689 01:15:55.550 --> 01:15:59.800 the last couple years, honestly, just doing that. I'm going 1690 01:15:59.810 --> 01:16:02.779 to launch this firm and having clients and now building 1691 01:16:02.899 --> 01:16:07.819 out the offering, you know, different things like that. You know, 1692 01:16:07.880 --> 01:16:09.939 and being not me personally. I can't do everything but 1693 01:16:09.960 --> 01:16:14.260 from attack strategies to diversifying your portfolio to helping not 1694 01:16:14.340 --> 01:16:16.960 only athletes but people create generational wealth planning because things 1695 01:16:16.979 --> 01:16:19.140 they're not thinking about But it's mostly coming from the 1696 01:16:19.180 --> 01:16:22.140 passion because it's coming from, as an athlete, making mistakes myself. 1697 01:16:22.399 --> 01:16:22.619 Yeah. 1698 01:16:22.920 --> 01:16:26.590 And also my other colleagues that's going through things. It's like, man, 1699 01:16:26.630 --> 01:16:29.869 how can we make a difference? How can you architect 1700 01:16:30.810 --> 01:16:34.170 a strategy where you can really help? Being an architect major, right? 1701

01:16:34.189 --> 01:16:36.899 Maybe I'm not majoring in architecture, but I can architect 1702 01:16:36.939 --> 01:16:39.619 something different. You know, being an architect, that's going to 1703 01:16:39.640 --> 01:16:42.079 take me five years. I can put in that time, 1704 01:16:42.119 --> 01:16:45.539 but is my time better spent building something else. 1705 01:16:45.659 --> 01:16:48.140 I see what you're saying you know i'm curious um 1706 01:16:48.600 --> 01:16:50.260 could we could you can you jump on real quick 1707 01:16:50.760 --> 01:16:53.100 is that okay could you do that yeah yeah yeah 1708 01:16:53.119 --> 01:16:54.619 just jump over here that's that's live. 1709 01:16:56.520 --> 01:16:59.739 Ron i test the third the third i'm junior let's 1710 01:16:59.779 --> 01:17:01.239 go even though i changed my name to metal world 1711 01:17:01.260 --> 01:17:03.140 peace my dad is senior. 1712 01:17:04.119 --> 01:17:06.819 So i guess i'm just kind of curious like you're 1713 01:17:06.840 --> 01:17:10.020 you're obviously you're playing basketball yeah has he has he 1714 01:17:10.060 --> 01:17:12.619 like how much has he added to your game. 1715 01:17:13.409 --> 01:17:16.140 Uh, it's a lot of mental stuff we do when we, like, practice. 1716 01:17:16.199 --> 01:17:17.039 Pull that a little closer. 1717 01:17:17.340 --> 01:17:22.760 Yeah, yeah. Is it better? Yeah, it's better, yeah. No, 1718 01:17:22.779 --> 01:17:23.079 you're great. 1719 01:17:23.100 --> 01:17:24.119 Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. 1720 01:17:24.810 --> 01:17:25.989 Can you ask me one more time? 1721 01:17:26.329 --> 01:17:29.329 Yeah, for sure. So, I'm curious, obviously, your father, how 1722 01:17:29.369 --> 01:17:30.970 much has he added to your game in basketball? 1723 01:17:31.670 --> 01:17:32.489 Um, a lot. 1724 01:17:32.770 --> 01:17:38.199 I feel like I'm a great defender. Um, I feel 1725 01:17:38.220 --> 01:17:40.779 like I'm a strong player. I'm coming into my body now, 1726 01:17:41.579 --> 01:17:46.149 so I feel like I just felt like I watched 1727 01:17:46.189 --> 01:17:48.310 him growing up, so I kind of just picked up stuff. 1728 01:17:48.329 --> 01:17:49.729 He didn't have to really teach it. I just kind 1729 01:17:49.770 --> 01:17:50.100 of got it. 1730 01:17:50.350 --> 01:17:52.779 Yeah. What about just as a father, not in regards 1731 01:17:52.800 --> 01:17:53.399 to basketball? 1732 01:17:54.640 --> 01:17:58.819 Just for me, just like staying humble. 1733 01:17:59.380 --> 01:18:02.199 Yeah. Not better than anybody, anything can happen to anybody. 1734 01:18:02.319 --> 01:18:06.619 So you just kind of just roll with the punches, 1735 01:18:06.640 --> 01:18:08.380 whatever's going on, just make it the best. 1736 01:18:08.960 --> 01:18:14.300 Yeah. I love seeing the shit be passed down in 1737 01:18:14.319 --> 01:18:15.819 a positive way, you know? 1738 01:18:16.619 --> 01:18:19.300 Yeah, man. Good friend. Got a lot of great friends. 1739 01:18:20.420 --> 01:18:24.859 That's the one thing about Ron III is that his 1740 01:18:24.939 --> 01:18:28.500 friends attest to that, which is like the most important piece. 1741 01:18:29.560 --> 01:18:30.600 What type of human are you? 1742 01:18:30.939 --> 01:18:31.760 And who you spend your time with. 1743 01:18:31.779 --> 01:18:36.399 And he checks all those boxes. And he's pursuing, approaching, 1744 01:18:36.840 --> 01:18:37.859 getting into the NBA. 1745 01:18:38.039 --> 01:18:38.199 Yeah. 1746 01:18:38.800 --> 01:18:43.409 Which I love that focus. That's super exciting. And everybody 1747 01:18:43.430 --> 01:18:46.189 has a different time when they get in. I really 1748 01:18:46.210 --> 01:18:50.029 love that. He's also super creative from producing music from 1749 01:18:50.069 --> 01:18:53.989 a young age. He's got a lot of great creativity side, 1750 01:18:54.010 --> 01:18:59.449 the great human side, and obviously the athletic side. It's 1751 01:18:59.489 --> 01:19:01.020 really exciting to see what he's going to do in 1752 01:19:01.029 --> 01:19:02.819 the future. 1753 01:19:02.840 --> 01:19:05.220 Do you ever feel pressure that you had to play basketball? 1754 01:19:07.060 --> 01:19:12.060 Not really. Growing up, I wasn't like, obviously I'm around basketball, 1755 01:19:12.100 --> 01:19:14.699 but I wasn't always playing. 1756 01:19:14.979 --> 01:19:15.220 Yeah. 1757 01:19:15.319 --> 01:19:18.359 So I remember like living, I was living here in 1758 01:19:18.380 --> 01:19:22.060 like eighth grade and I had got in trouble. So 1759 01:19:22.100 --> 01:19:25.750 my punishment was kind of to go back to Indiana to, uh, 1760 01:19:25.810 --> 01:19:27.369 stay at my mom and just like leave LA. 1761 01:19:27.630 --> 01:19:27.829 Yeah. 1762 01:19:28.149 --> 01:19:29.390 So I told him I was going to play on 1763 01:19:29.409 --> 01:19:32.050 the basketball team out there. So I tried out for 1764 01:19:32.069 --> 01:19:35.390 the team and made it and then never went back, 1765 01:19:35.449 --> 01:19:37.970 but I was playing like the local school intramurals. 1766 01:19:38.029 --> 01:19:39.329 So just like playing with the kids. 1767 01:19:39.579 --> 01:19:39.920 Did you? 1768 01:19:40.220 --> 01:19:42.340 I told him I was on the team. He ended 1769 01:19:42.380 --> 01:19:44.159 up calling the coach. 1770 01:19:44.380 --> 01:19:46.600 I remember that. 1771 01:19:46.649 --> 01:19:47.930 Did you want him to play basketball? 1772 01:19:48.090 --> 01:19:51.770 Well, yeah. Yeah, of course. Of course. Not forcing. I 1773 01:19:51.789 --> 01:19:53.970 never forced him. Yeah. I never wanted to put that 1774 01:19:53.989 --> 01:19:55.550 type of pressure. I'm like, you know, if they want 1775 01:19:55.590 --> 01:19:58.289 to play, they can play. But I remember calling his coach. 1776 01:19:59.029 --> 01:20:00.649 And it was after the season, so I called his coach, 1777 01:20:00.670 --> 01:20:03.149 and I'm like, so how did the round play? Can 1778 01:20:03.170 -->

01:20:05.050 you tell me what you saw? He's like, what you mean? 1779 01:20:05.409 --> 01:20:06.909 I said, yeah, how did he play on the team? 1780 01:20:07.630 --> 01:20:09.810 He's like, he didn't play on the team. So then 1781 01:20:09.890 --> 01:20:12.569 I called Ron. I was like, yo, I thought you 1782 01:20:12.600 --> 01:20:15.319 was on the team. He said, I was playing intramurals. Intramurals. 1783 01:20:15.979 --> 01:20:16.979 So I was like. 1784 01:20:17.159 --> 01:20:18.760 It wasn't really like a passion. 1785 01:20:19.600 --> 01:20:19.899 Yeah. 1786 01:20:20.079 --> 01:20:22.659 And then right after that, I moved right back here 1787 01:20:23.279 --> 01:20:24.840 and started playing at Palisades. 1788 01:20:25.000 --> 01:20:25.220 Yeah. 1789 01:20:25.359 --> 01:20:28.659 High school. And then finished at Beverly. But I really 1790 01:20:28.680 --> 01:20:31.739 started playing like sophomore year of high school. So it's 1791 01:20:31.779 --> 01:20:35.010 like kind of late. Yeah. But I like it now. 1792 01:20:35.170 --> 01:20:36.470 I feel way better about it. 1793 01:20:36.930 --> 01:20:38.449 Yeah, he's definitely got better. 1794 01:20:38.829 --> 01:20:40.909 Just been working on my body, too. Lifting a lot 1795 01:20:40.949 --> 01:20:42.510 more and just feel good. 1796 01:20:43.310 --> 01:20:44.010 It's exciting. 1797 01:20:44.350 --> 01:20:46.840 How much does the lifting, you think, affect being good 1798 01:20:46.880 --> 01:20:50.359 at basketball? Because, like, obviously, it's such a skill-based thing. Obviously, 1799 01:20:50.380 --> 01:20:51.920 being in shape makes sense, but, like. 1800 01:20:52.199 --> 01:20:57.079 I mean, if you're not the most skilled on the court, like, offensively, 1801 01:20:58.840 --> 01:21:00.600 if you're strong enough, you could, you know, you might 1802 01:21:00.619 --> 01:21:02.729 got to guard some bigger guys or, you know, just 1803 01:21:02.739 --> 01:21:04.109 be a better defender or. 1804 01:21:04.069 --> 01:21:06.949 Just, like, Did you train a lot? Like, were you 1805 01:21:06.989 --> 01:21:07.760 known for lifting? 1806 01:21:08.189 --> 01:21:11.100 Yeah, our era was different because, well, my dad got 1807 01:21:11.140 --> 01:21:13.859 me working out early. So when I was eight, you know, 1808 01:21:14.140 --> 01:21:20.859 my dad had me doing a duck walk, bunny hops, push-ups, sit-ups. Yeah. 1809 01:21:20.979 --> 01:21:22.810 So I was doing that. At eight. At eight and 1810 01:21:22.819 --> 01:21:24.489 then ten. So my dad had me. I didn't realize 1811 01:21:24.510 --> 01:21:25.909 what that was doing to me. So my dad was 1812 01:21:25.930 --> 01:21:27.630 working me out since I was young. So then when 1813 01:21:27.670 --> 01:21:30.590 I got older, when it was time to train and 1814 01:21:30.609 --> 01:21:32.270 lift weights, well, I was like, okay, this is exciting. 1815 01:21:32.289 --> 01:21:33.670 I've been doing this since I was eight years old. 1816 01:21:33.770 --> 01:21:33.930

Yeah. 1817 01:21:34.220 --> 01:21:35.479 My body would not, I don't think I would have 1818 01:21:35.510 --> 01:21:38.010 been ready for what I was doing in college if 1819 01:21:38.050 --> 01:21:40.590 it wasn't for my dad. Like just doing it. And 1820 01:21:40.609 --> 01:21:43.029 he would trick me. He would do these little tricks 1821 01:21:43.750 --> 01:21:47.659 to make us work out. Like what? Maybe for a 1822 01:21:47.659 --> 01:21:50.319 peanut butter and jelly sandwich or something. You know what 1823 01:21:50.359 --> 01:21:53.119 I mean? Like things like that. Just like trick you. Oh, 1824 01:21:53.140 --> 01:21:55.340 you can't do it. Oh, you can't beat me. And 1825 01:21:55.359 --> 01:21:57.819 then he like slows down and then you beat him. 1826 01:21:58.550 --> 01:22:00.489 Oh shit. And then the next thing you're like, I 1827 01:22:00.510 --> 01:22:01.789 can beat, I just beat my dad. 1828 01:22:02.420 --> 01:22:02.720 Damn. 1829 01:22:02.859 --> 01:22:04.300 You know, things like that. He was like playing all 1830 01:22:04.319 --> 01:22:04.960 these little games. 1831 01:22:05.680 --> 01:22:05.979 Damn. 1832 01:22:06.239 --> 01:22:08.239 Did you, did you, did you grow, like, spend a 1833 01:22:08.270 --> 01:22:09.699 lot of time growing up? Like, was it like that 1834 01:22:09.739 --> 01:22:10.020 with him? 1835 01:22:10.199 --> 01:22:12.390 Yeah. What, what do you mean? 1836 01:22:12.430 --> 01:22:15.649 Like, like, did, did, did, if what he just said, right? 1837 01:22:15.710 --> 01:22:17.010 Did you have moments like that? 1838 01:22:17.050 --> 01:22:17.300 Was it? 1839 01:22:18.670 --> 01:22:19.729 Yeah, like a little bit. 1840 01:22:19.750 --> 01:22:22.729 Like, we'll be like shooting around and stuff and we'll just, like, 1841 01:22:22.750 --> 01:22:25.989 just practice random moves. But like, we'll skip the fundamentals, 1842 01:22:26.149 --> 01:22:28.350 you know? We'll just start like shooting fadeaways. 1843 01:22:28.449 --> 01:22:31.090 Yeah. Like all the fun stuff. Yeah. So skipping all 1844 01:22:31.109 --> 01:22:34.800 the basics and just Just all Kobe fades. 1845 01:22:35.260 --> 01:22:38.319 Yeah, I know. We was younger. When we first started 1846 01:22:38.340 --> 01:22:41.340 really getting into it, as I was thinking about, you know, 1847 01:22:41.500 --> 01:22:44.180 where should we start? You know, so I said, okay, 1848 01:22:44.220 --> 01:22:47.420 at least have the mechanics. But then I did skip 1849 01:22:47.439 --> 01:22:49.100 the fundamentals, so now we're bringing a lot of things 1850 01:22:49.140 --> 01:22:52.050 back together. His game is actually becoming way more complete. 1851 01:22:52.869 --> 01:22:55.310 I think you'll see a really good player in the future, 1852 01:22:55.329 --> 01:22:55.789 for sure. 1853 01:22:55.989 --> 01:22:58.069 Is it a possibility for you to go to the league? 1854 01:22:58.630 --> 01:22:59.949 I think so, as long as I don't get hurt. 1855 01:23:00.270 --> 01:23:00.510 Yeah. 1856 01:23:00.810 --> 01:23:03.149 Yeah, I got hurt three years in a row. Yeah. 1857 01:23:03.619 --> 01:23:04.779 Three surgeries back to back. 1858 01:23:05.060 --> 01:23:05.840 Like knee stuff? 1859 01:23:06.279 --> 01:23:07.420 Shoulder, both ankles. 1860 01:23:08.079 --> 01:23:08.479 Okay. 1861 01:23:08.520 --> 01:23:09.560 Not knees. Not knees. 1862 01:23:09.960 --> 01:23:13.140 It's enough to miss the tryout. Yeah. 1863 01:23:13.619 --> 01:23:15.260 Yeah. At least not the fucking knees, man. 1864 01:23:15.340 --> 01:23:21.409 Shoulders, whatever. Ankles. Yeah. Just enough to like keep you out. 1865 01:23:21.989 --> 01:23:24.689 Keep you out. But I love his resilience. And I 1866 01:23:24.710 --> 01:23:26.729 remember he was getting hurt and I felt bad. I'm like, man, 1867 01:23:26.770 --> 01:23:29.350 he's getting hurt. And he said he's not stopping. I 1868 01:23:29.369 --> 01:23:31.369 was like, that's what this is about. 1869 01:23:31.689 --> 01:23:31.890 Yeah. 1870 01:23:31.930 --> 01:23:34.439 There's so many players that got to the league at 1871 01:23:34.460 --> 01:23:37.159 some point in time and had great careers. And I 1872 01:23:37.180 --> 01:23:39.060 think that's what is about the persistence, the hard work. 1873 01:23:39.229 --> 01:23:41.010 Because then it builds character. Then at some point in time, 1874 01:23:41.029 --> 01:23:43.489 you're going to be in the game and everything you 1875 01:23:43.510 --> 01:23:46.989 work for is going to show at that point in time. 1876 01:23:47.010 --> 01:23:48.529 So it's super exciting. 1877 01:23:48.649 --> 01:23:50.109 Do you think there's like an age where it's like 1878 01:23:50.130 --> 01:23:51.130 you're too old to get in? 1879 01:23:51.149 --> 01:23:53.649 That's a good question. 1880 01:23:53.850 --> 01:23:54.760 Yeah, I think maybe 38, 35, 34. 1881 01:23:54.729 --> 01:23:55.399 Yeah. 1882 01:23:55.539 --> 01:23:55.779 Yeah. 1883 01:23:59.380 --> 01:24:02.119 But you see a lot of scenarios where guys got 1884 01:24:02.159 --> 01:24:05.909 in at 27, 28, 26, 25. Yeah. 1885 01:24:08.229 --> 01:24:12.170 There's definitely like at some point maybe. Yeah. But I 1886 01:24:12.210 --> 01:24:14.229 think I don't feel old. 1887 01:24:14.609 --> 01:24:15.460 Yeah, of course not. 1888 01:24:15.479 --> 01:24:17.060 You're fucking 25. You're definitely not old. 1889 01:24:17.399 --> 01:24:19.619 I'm not hearing it from anybody. I'm still just here 1890 01:24:19.640 --> 01:24:20.189 to go for it. 1891 01:24:20.380 --> 01:24:22.479 Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we're excited, man. 1892 01:24:22.939 --> 01:24:24.479 Thanks for having me, man. I appreciate you coming on. 1893 01:24:24.539 --> 01:24:24.859 For real. 1894 01:24:24.899 --> 01:24:27.149 Thank you, guys. That was awesome, man. I really appreciate 1895 01:24:27.159 --> 01:24:29.729 your time. I really appreciate the conversation and I thought 1896 01:24:29.810 --> 01:24:31.109 it was a great show, man. Thanks for having me. 1897 01:24:31.130 --> 01:24:32.670 Yeah, thank you. And anything you want to let the 1898 01:24:32.729 --> 01:24:34.869 audience know about, like you have coming up or you're 1899 01:24:34.890 --> 01:24:37.050 excited about or your podcast or whatever, let them know. 1900 01:24:37.390 --> 01:24:39.109 Yeah, man. Well, thanks for having me on your show 1901 01:24:39.220 --> 01:24:44.479 once again. Metta World Peace. If you don't know me, ThePandasFriend.com. 1902 01:24:45.119 --> 01:24:48.430 which is our e-commerce brand. It supports our podcast. And 1903 01:24:48.449 --> 01:24:51.130 then we also have the Test Your Greatness podcast coming out. 1904 01:24:52.329 --> 01:24:55.550 Look out for Ron Artest III's basketball career and all 1905 01:24:55.569 --> 01:24:59.529 the creative stuff that he's doing. Also the Artest family. 1906 01:24:59.890 --> 01:25:03.670 We're doing a lot of great stuff in art. So 1907 01:25:03.710 --> 01:25:05.710 just look out for us in general as a whole 1908 01:25:05.789 --> 01:25:09.279 and as a collective. And stay tuned. Appreciate you, man. 1909 01:25:09.319 --> 01:25:10.100 Thanks for coming for us. 1910 01:25:10.119 --> 01:25:12.000 Appreciate it. Thanks a lot, man.