บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ Jaylen Nowell | Beating Jamal Crawford as an 8th Grader, Playing with the Wolves, & Anthony Edwards

Funny story about football. I barely played football. It was like I broke my arm the first day of practice. Bro, Bro, Bro the homie still calm me about that ship till this day. Bro. We didn't even have no pads on, bront me. We didn't have no pads on bro. Oh hell no. We lined up coaches like we're about to do some running. No sideline, the sideline, Bro. Some dude like we're running, he cuts me off. I try to stop fall, try to catch myself bow broken, arm broken, damn. And ever since then my mom was like, yeah, you're not playing football. Yeah your arm, Broy. We're gonna cut this ship all the way out. It's around. It's tough, Bro, that's tough. What is. 00:07:04 Speaker 2: Who is a influential Damn? I just dropped them. That's a good word, great word. 00:07:10 Speaker 3: Influential figure for you that you looked up to in Washington, in Washington other than my pop, my postles number one, like wanting to be like him from the wound, like that was my superhero, you know what I'm saying. But other than that, growing up, it was you know, I was Jamal b Roy, you know what I'm saying. I'm watching watching Nate when they came back in the summer and Hoops. I'm at those games and I'm just watching. I'm like, yo, like these dudes are like moving at a higher level and all these other players out here, like how can I do that? 00:07:48 Speaker 2: Yeah? 00:07:49 Speaker 3: And I think you know, for me, just in general, how I start anything, it's always out of curiosity. It's always starts with that question am I able to do that? Watching your mall Hoop Nate Hoop? It literally was just I'm young. I'm like, man, can I get to that level? And so it was always just like man, I don't know, but I'm gonna try try my hardest, and I'm just being locked in the gym all day, every day. Every time I every chance I get, I'm gonna just hoop. And you know, when I when they started coming around, I want to say, when I was like seventh eighth grade was really when I started being around them a lot. They would come back in the summer, and I'll be in the gym with them hooping ones. And I don't know if who ever admit this, but I beat Jamal in one game of one on one. Yeah, we send it to him. Yeah, that's your camera. 00:08:44 Speaker 2: Just tell him. 00:08:44 Speaker 3: Yeah, I beat Jamal one game game. We played four games, three to one, but I beat him. Eighth grade. 00:08:50 Speaker 2: Eighth grader, You lost to a eighth grader, Jamal? 00:08:52 Speaker 3: Come on, he really he really might try to cap too. He really might try to cap. But you got your I got I got mine. 00:09:01 Speaker 2: You got your one. 00:09:02 Speaker 3: I got mine. You didn't. 00:09:03 Speaker 2: That's all you need to remember. You remember the other three? I really don't. I really don't remember the score the one I won. Yeah, it was like five or four. Come on, bro, Yeah that's a ass whooping in my eyes. 00:09:21 Speaker 3: That's a good dub to me. 00:09:25 Speaker 2: Let me ask you this. When was the time that you figured out, oh yeah, I'm nice. Was it when you beat Mall? 00:09:32 Speaker 3: It was before that? 00:09:33 Speaker 2: It was before that? 00:09:34 Speaker 3: Okay, I knew it was nice really early. I'm not gonna lie when I was like kindergarten, bro, I ain't gonna care kindergarten. Bro. You can't even think straight I know you just learned how to color. That's a lot. But let me tell you why though. Let me tell you why. 00:09:48 Speaker 2: You gotta let me tell you that to figure that out. 00:09:52 Speaker 3: Let me tell you why we had so for those y'all don't know, we have a uh you know, AU team car Rodari one of the best you know, AU places out of Seattle, the only a place Seattle, not the only don't do that, the only one that people know nationally, the only one people know nationally. There's other good ones out there. Bro, you got f o h never heard of it. Corey crisperg played so and that's another player from that. 00:10:24 Speaker 2: That's another one. 00:10:25 Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying. Rotary was the squad out. Yes, everybody, everyone new Rotary exactly. So they have the pee wee hoops and I'm hooping in the pebe hoops kindergartener as a kindergartener broartener, first grade, I'm hooping like so much. I'm killing to the point where my dad, he was our coach at the time, he would actually have to tell me to slow down and like give it to my teammates because I was doing way too much. Like I was scoring every I'm like blocking every I'm blocking almost every shot. So my dad was just like, bro, chill, let everyone else. You know what I'm saying, Like you may score every single time, exactly, let your teammates get shot. And honestly, I would say that kind of helped me become there I am today because there's times where I go on with like real scoring runs, but then I'm just all right. I could keep this going, but my teammates need to feel good as well evolving. 00:11:24 Speaker 2: They need to be involved in the game. 00:11:25 Speaker 3: That's just how I like to play the game. Bro. I like everybody feeling good about their game. 00:11:31 Speaker 2: And all them little damn kids in Seattle in kindergarten, Look what the funck y'all done? Because I remember we played y'all in Minnesota. Do when he was a rest with Dallas. I'm sitting there like, man, fuck you got jeling Noel. I'm like this nigga, don't pass. He gonna shoot the ball every damn time he gets He going to get a bucket. 00:11:56 Speaker 3: Everything I gotta be locked in. B I blame the ki the. 00:12:00 Speaker 2: Gardeners, Bro, every kindergarten played against Jay. You did this messed up. It messed up up. What was the time that you so you played? Did you play for Rotary? 00:12:11 Speaker 3: Yeah? You did? Yeah? 00:12:12 Speaker 2: When did you? 00:12:13 Speaker 3: When? 00:12:13 Speaker 2: When did you start? 00:12:15 Speaker 3: I started with the A U Circuit in third grade. That's when that starts. But before that, I was playing the pee wee since since

literally k when you. 00:12:23 Speaker 2: Start traveling around and you saw when who was the first guy? Because everyone has that guy like for me, I would say when I started traveling, probably Jalel Okafer. Yeah, like when I saw him, I was like this ship out here different, like everybody nice? Who was that guy for you? That was like you get out of Seattle, you get out of what the comfort zone is? Who is that guy? 00:12:48 Speaker 3: That was? 00:12:48 Speaker 2: Like damn, I gotta get to that level. 00:12:52 Speaker 3: At the time, Cody Riley, h Cody rileyre you go? He went to U c l A okay, but at the big he was a big. He's never one of the country. Yeah, went to U s LA. I don't know where he's at now. I think he's overseas maybe, but Noah, bro at the time, dude was like six three six four and what fifth grade? Bro? Like I remember, I remember this point, we're watching We're watching this team who somebody shooting a free throw. He's at the other baseline grabbing on the net, just standing grabbing on the net. Sixth grade. I'm like, bro, this is this is insane. I don't make no sense. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, bros, there's no way this dude is eleven twelve years old. We got check birth certificates exactly, we got to check. That was when I realized a lot of people because I was always younger for my my grade, I was always playing up, and so that was when I realized a lot of people play down. I'm just to get always corny exactly why I didn't do it either, But people always told me, like, go back, go to your real grade. But I'm like, nah, how. 00:14:01 Speaker 2: Much do you think that helped you in your game? 00:14:04 Speaker 3: Playing up every the best thing, the best thing you could do. Like as any I would say this to any kid, like I really want to take hoop serious and get to the highest level. Always play up every time. So I was damnar playing two grades up because our AAU team we never really like especially in Seattle, we never played our own grade. We always played up. So I'm playing his guys two years older. I'm not gonna lie like. There was times where I'm getting my ass bus and I get I'm getting locked up by to do. But those moments made me like, all right, I gotta lock in, I gotta get better. I got to figure out how to get my shot off with this and that, which kind of where that mid range, my midrange game came from. Where I'm like, all right, playing against bigger dudes. Can't get all the way to the rim bottom when I'm at the three point line, they're like pressed up, so that in between when I could, when I could get there, and I just stopped, I pull up. I knew that's how I can get shut off. So that's the mid range. 00:15:08 Speaker 2: That's big time because we I talk about that all the time. If anybody who's white, I firmly believe, once you realize it's getting a little bit too easy in your own age group, I low key played three years BRO because. 00:15:25 Speaker 3: It was like. 00:15:27 Speaker 2: I remember to this day, Kyle Anderson gave me the business. 00:15:32 Speaker 3: Was he still bro back then slow word sh bro. 00:15:39 Speaker 2: He was cooking me BRO and there was nothing I could do. And I was like, man, but he's he's perfected it, like he's he knows how to play his game and there's nothing I could do. And there was There's Jarnelle Stokes. There was so many people that I was just like, bro, I gotta get to this level. And even the people I was playing with, I was playing Miller doucepell O, fucking I played with John one time, I played with The list goes on where I'm like, I'm not at this level, but me being around this helps me know, like, this is where you got to get to if you. 00:16:15 Speaker 3: Want to make it to where there's a lot more. It's a lot more you gotta do, you know what I'm saying. And I think. 00:16:21 Speaker 2: The complacency of just being good when the people you're playing with can get in the way of you getting better. You see what I'm saying. So sure, I think that's big time because I know that. I feel like we've had this talk multiple times on the pod. It helps everybody, help everybody that does it. So that's big time from you. What is a time? So you play? Where you go to high school at Garfield? 00:16:44 Speaker 3: Hie? How mean state championships two? When I was there? 00:16:49 Speaker 2: How many? How long were you there? Okay, so you did? I mean when did you win the state? 00:16:55 Speaker 3: My first two years. How the fuck do you lose your junior and senior year? I know? And those are the teams that were like the best, like the most talented teams, like for sure, we just I don't even remember how we lost those, Like I try to, I like wipe them, them ships from my memory. I ain't gonna lie them hurt bad, hurt bad. Junior senior I won exactly. So the first year, first year, it was like. 00:17:25 Speaker 2: You starting as a freshman, no, no. 00:17:28 Speaker 3: No, and okay, yeah, I'm gonna tell you a story about this is this is wild. So I'm going into Garfield that that year, I'm eighth grade. There's a bunch of seniors that were like the leaders of the team they left, So I'm coming in like, well, I about to be that guy, about to be that guy I wanted to be able to lead lead this team as a freshman. As a freshman, Hell, nah, we get five transfers, all seniors, Oh damn all like real good seniors too, not just random. Nah. We got like some guys, some guys bro like the tremain is a bill. We got guy bj Blake, just a bunch of guys that were really really good. So now I'm like the eighth man. Now I'm hot. I'm not gonna lie I'm hot. I'm like, Bro, this is supposed to be my team. And I got breaking up party. And I'm used to being the leader on teams at that point, like on my AAU team, being the leader like just every time. So now I'm like, oh my goodness, I gotta figure this out. So it's to the point where there's sometimes I'm playing JV like just randomly, like just so I can get some reps up type vibe. But we ended up winning that

year, and I was I was in the state championship. I played probably like five minutes in that state championship game. I was pissed that whole year. Bro, I'm just like, bro, no way, And I'm like top top forty in the country at this time, Like, Bro, I should be that guys as is going on. But it made it gave me the resilience of like and it gave me the the awareness of guys that were like that, to where when I came back that next year, now I was the guy. I was a guy on the team. 00:19:29 Speaker 2: Yep. 00:19:30 Speaker 3: So now I felt like, all right, I can lead a lot better because I've been in the positions that some of these other guys are in, and now I commit I can help them mentally, like now I really been here. This is how you can navigate it. Boom boom boom. And they're seeing that from the leader on the team. I'm not just coming in only talking to the starters and this and that. I'm like, no, everybody is as important as made you. 00:19:58 Speaker 2: And this is another reason I like doing these that you don't realize it until you look back. Now, that made you a better person, it did. It made you a better player, better teammate, everything, because you see where they're coming from. Right, You would have never saw that if you were the man to start with, you're not fucking with the guy that's like, bro, just shut up. You get in when you when you want to get. 00:20:24 Speaker 3: Just chill out. 00:20:25 Speaker 2: But now you see where they're coming from, you can help them be a better player and teammate and be like, listen, bro, I was top forty in the country. I'm not supposed to be here. And guess what I did. I want to stay championship. I was pissed about it. So this is how I handle it. I went to go hope with JV. I went to go do these things to make sure my game was still tuned up where I was ready for this moment. That's huge, bro, Yeah, that's big time. What happened? What happened this sophomore year as you took the reins? 00:20:55 Speaker 3: I mean, y'all want to chip MVP? Got Team USA? Yeah, became Yeah, went to went to Argentina, won the gold medal. Who's on that team? Gary Trent, Jared Vanderbilt, Kevin Knox. Who else was on that team? Uh? Marcus Howard? Yeah, we had some dogs. I have some guys, We have some do What was your final ranking? Final ranking out of yeah? 00:21:24 Speaker 2: Uh it was like thirties, thirties Yeah, yeah one happy about. 00:21:30 Speaker 3: It, not at all, not at all. Didn't didn't get McDonald's pissed. Thought I was gonna get it. You cooked that your hermage average that year like twenty twenty three, not enough exactly exactly, And I thought it was that's crazy. It wasn't. It clearly wasn't. There was guys averaging thirty at the school and stuff. 00:21:53 Speaker 2: I'm like, really, yeah, who who's no more player of your class? 00:22:01 Speaker 3: For a while it was it was Michael Porter. Then like Marvin Bagley. Yeah he classified. Okay, I got you twenty seventeen. 00:22:09 Speaker 2: Okay, yes, sir, got you got you, got you, Yes, sir, you got you, got you got you. Now that's all. Make consist now, make consists now, yep, because I had to guard Marvin and the fucking god damn man. Yeah, boy, when you get to that left, his second Johnt was crazy. D That ain't no sense. You already know that man is about to play against his former team and the game is going to be up, and it's always a little bit more fun when you got some money on the line, and you know that's what we're here for. Because y'all know, Draft Kings is the official sponsor of Ryn and Race. Make sure you guys go to DraftKings right now, download the app and use promo code Race and new customers who bet as little as five dollars get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly, and Draft Kings always give you a shot to win more money with same game parlays. But as I tell you, guys, every week, Draft Kings also has Daily Fantasy and you guys don't even have to ask me who I'm going with the night seventy seven about to go crazy. So y'all go to Draft Kings right now. Download the app and use promo code race New customers who betters lose five dollars get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets instantly Draft Kings. 00:23:14 Speaker 3: The crown is yours? Who was it? Who was a guy in your class that you like? People don't talk about enough? That was nice? Talk about enough. That's tough because everybody was getting like recognition. Yeah, because about that time, bro Baller's life everybody had everybody's life tape. Yeah, yeah, type shit. That was when everybody. 00:23:39 Speaker 2: That's the thing, though, Bro, Like you feel bad because like when I was coming up, Bro, and like I said, were only three years apart. When you get a fucking ball as life you were low key. 00:23:52 Speaker 3: Him exactly, Bro, we would we would be sitting. 00:23:55 Speaker 2: Kirk got a ball as Life now. 00:24:01 Speaker 3: S g A y stacked bro classes. I would say s g A because s J was very low and was old. 00:24:12 Speaker 2: He was like thirties, like yeah yeah, because shape Shade went to Kentucky. He wasn't even like the highly top. He was comeing on the bench I think yeah, and then they was like, wait a minute, this motherfucker. 00:24:25 Speaker 3: Is too good. What was a uh? 00:24:29 Speaker 2: I like to give everybody this little insight on like white people choose their colleges completely different. 00:24:34 Speaker 3: Now. Could you imagine if I would have went to the same college though it's crazy, I would have went to the same one. 00:24:44 Speaker 2: Okay, no, cap, I probably wouldn't the same one too had to. I mean, I could have been being there at home. Come on, that's come on, man, come on, you gotta do that. That's crazy, you gotta do that. But I'm I'm happy I wasn't the Oh yeah at that time. Think about my mental ass seventeen years old. Bro uh h, I didn't need that. We're gonna have to talk about that off because the Lord for mercy, it would have been spoky hours. If I

was a millionaire in college, no way. But I got to take a drink to that. Let me ask you this, what was it for you? When was your who's your first letter and offer? 00:25:29 Speaker 3: First letter? Man was a minute ago. The first one that like I was excited about was Kansas. 00:25:38 Speaker 2: That's a big one. Yeah, that's a big one. First offer, my. 00:25:41 Speaker 3: First offer I got. Yeah, who's you Do you knew you was going to the whole time? Yeah, pretty much, dream pretty much gotcha? Yeah, okay, especially especially because we didn't have an NBA team there, so I'm like, how far away I'm never going. 00:25:58 Speaker 2: To go farward? You from there? 00:25:59 Speaker 3: From you doubt? How far was I from dub Yeah thirty minutes? Oh yeah that was home? Yeah, that was home. My school, my high school was probably about ten from exactly. Yeah, who is your who's the coach? Then? Uh? Well, when I got recruited, I got recruited by Romar oh yeah, and then he literally won. 00:26:22 Speaker 2: Hell of a recruiter, one hell of a recruiter. 00:26:24 Speaker 3: Amazing dude too. Yeah, great dude, like automatic and he knows how to get guards to the NBA. 00:26:30 Speaker 2: Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things. I didn't get recruited by him, but every person I know that knows him nothing. 00:26:36 Speaker 3: I have nothing bad to say about it, like at all. But then literally I want to say, and you want to you know, what's crazy? The class that we had coming in under Romar me Michael Porter, Johnt Porter. We had Dejon Davis, who was also my teammate at Garfield, and we had h Blake Harris Will. Yeah, it was five five freshmen coming in and then they fired him. How do you do that? I have no idea. I still don't know why they did to this day, Like it made no sense. When I got that call, Bro, I was so surprised them. They're like, damn, what am I going? I was like, what am I gonna do? 00:27:17 Speaker 2: Now? Like you thought about leaving? Where you're gonna go? 00:27:22 Speaker 3: Yeah? It was really like random as hell, But I was gonna go. 00:27:31 Speaker 2: To cal Really that's random as hell. 00:27:34 Speaker 3: Yeah, but you know what my dream, like, my dream dream score really was Carolina. How'd you know that? 00:27:43 Speaker 2: Everybody want to go to Carolina? Bro? 00:27:45 Speaker 3: That's crazy ship. 00:27:46 Speaker 2: Damn. 00:27:48 Speaker 3: So I got a call from like one of the sister code don't even remember the name because I was just like, Bro, there's I'm like, there's no way. Yeah, like to the point where I was thinking about going and I was I was talking to one. 00:27:59 Speaker 2: Of them, have been fucking teammates? 00:28:01 Speaker 3: Broued up? Bro, I came on a visit. I would have been your host. The crazy thing is I didn't go on no visits. I went to I went to you visit. That was it. 00:28:14 Speaker 2: If you came on a visit. I would have been your host. You would have committed, committed for you would have committed on the spot. They put all recruits with your boy he and a crazy part about it. I'm gonna I'll put this out there. I had, Hella, I had hell of recruits. I don't think I only. 00:28:30 Speaker 3: Got like one. Really, I only got want like one recruit. Bro. 00:28:34 Speaker 2: But I tell you one thing. Every motherfucker had a great time. 00:28:37 Speaker 3: I'm already knowing they had a great The red carpet rolled out. Hey listen, No, I laid out the red carpet. 00:28:44 Speaker 2: I'll say, hey, listen, it was a good time. I tell you that right now. Let me ask you this. You're a Carolina fan. You wanted to go to Carolina. They offer you a win? Yeah, likely they got a call. You only got a call. 00:28:59 Speaker 3: That's it. Got a call, And you want to know what, it's crazy. So I went to one of the assistant coaches at U dub at the time, and I told him because I was like, he wasn't just like a coach. Bro. Yeah, I'm like, Bro, I'm not gonna lie. Bro, Carolina's calling, like might be wraps for y'all. Yeah, but he was just like, man, I ain't gonna lie. You can go there and just be a regular guy, or you can come here and be the man. That's how he put it to me. He fucked up because what was it seven? That was seventeen eighteen, Ye, seventeen eighteen. 00:29:36 Speaker 2: Yeah, you would have played, Yeah, you would have played a lot because we we had like a our first five play hell a minutes, bro, yeah, and we needed another. We would have been nice. We needed you. Fuck. 00:29:49 Speaker 3: It is what it is, bro. It worked out for you. It worked out. It worked out for you. 00:29:52 Speaker 2: What was the biggest thing for you and recruitment though, What was the biggest thing that you needed to have and would have made the difference for you to go to you dub Yeah? 00:30:00 Speaker 3: Well the number one thing for me is family. Family is the most important thing. And so at the time, my dad had like just passed away, Yeah, just passed away from cancer. Why wouldn't say just it was two weeks so my sophomore year, this is when he passed. Like the last game he saw me played was that state championship game. Really yeah, damn, bro, that's tough. That's tough. So I wanted to like still be around the family, just to make sure, you know, everybody's good mentally. Like my little brother, he was in high school, had had stuff going on, you know, I wanted to make sure mom was still good at the time. So to be able to be in college and just be thirty minutes away, I can, you know, I could still be around them. And it was a great school. 00:30:54 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:30:55 Speaker 3: And I was the guy too, so it was like it just it just for me. Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. 00:31:02 Speaker 2: Sure you were sick when you get the McDonald's. 00:31:05 Speaker 3: Oh, very sick. I still I still have the screenshot in my my phone. 00:31:10 Speaker 2: Really. 00:31:11 Speaker 3: Yeah. Anytime I like I don't want to go to the gym or something, I was just look at it like,

yeah, I remember those I remember all those things. 00:31:19 Speaker 2: That's big time. You got to have those little motivations. Yeah, to get you over that hump you get to you dub, it's time, college time, sir. Welcome to college moment. 00:31:29 Speaker 3: What was that you said? Number one? 00:31:32 Speaker 2: Welcome to college. 00:31:32 Speaker 3: Welcome to my first my first game. 00:31:36 Speaker 2: What happened? 00:31:36 Speaker 3: Thirty ball? You got a thirty thirty ball? Thirty two? Yeah, first college game ever. 00:31:43 Speaker 2: College was easy. 00:31:44 Speaker 3: I wouldn't say that because there was a bunch of other stuff going on. Yeah, off the court, that was just like I wasn't really prepared for all this. 00:31:54 Speaker 2: You gotta lock in. 00:31:55 Speaker 3: Yeah, I had to lock in a lot more. You know what I'm saying, Like, it's just it was just, you know, being from the hometown, that hometown hero killing, I had everything. I had everything at the pall in my hands, anything I wanted. 00:32:09 Speaker 2: So it was like what I'm saying, if you had money too, oh. 00:32:13 Speaker 3: Lord, That's why I'm like, bro, no way, no way, I would have had a mansion that the on the water. Yeah. Like yeah at seventeen, Bro, I didn't. 00:32:22 Speaker 2: You would have lost your mind. I didn't need that, Bro, you would have lost your mind. Let me ask you before we get back to college, what was something in your high school career that happened or that you can go back to that was like I need to lock in here if I really want to make this next step. 00:32:40 Speaker 3: I would say. Going back to junior year, like I said, we got a bunch of transfers, like a bunch of my homie started transferring. 00:32:48 Speaker 2: In Okay that were also Hoopers. 00:32:51 Speaker 3: Yep. So that was when I started locking out a little, like not really being as locked into the hoop vibe. You're just having a good time. I'm having a good time. And to the point where one of the sistant coaches that you dubbed was big Homie Will Conroy. He would like call me my mom and like my mom would have all the the coaches from you dubbed the Garfield coaches like and my old Ordery coaches like damn, They're like, have an intervention for me, Like, bro, you got to lock in, Like you're you're losing your killer right now. It was like that. It was bad. It was bad, Yeah, just because it was after that that second year getting the MVP, then the USA. It was just a lot of outside influence going on, you know what I'm saying. A lot of people telling me I was the greatest, you know what I'm saying. So as what I'm what fifteen going on sixteen at the time, that's hard to deal with, you. 00:33:52 Speaker 2: Know, going to Argentina, You're in the USA team. I'm doing all these things my ship. Don't think exactly. I'm walking down the street. Everybody knows who I'm getting. 00:34:00 Speaker 3: Free free food, yeah, and all the all the places. Yeah, you know what, I'm saying,

some people have been got my USA picture up when I'm walking into these restaurants and stuff, so I'm like, I'm that guy. Yeah, but nah, like Mom always like made sure I was locked in. They I would stay locked in, like no matter who she had to bring to me to talk to big homies anything, like, yeah, she was on it. That's huge. Yeah, that's huge. 00:34:29 Speaker 2: First game and you dub you get thirty two ball, that was your coming out party. You think when was it that you felt comfortable? It was like, okay, I'm here. 00:34:40 Speaker 3: So after that, so that was the starter, I would say, like, but I would say, really, when I started getting it comfortable in it was like middle of the year. I hit a stretch where it was just like ball twenty, ball, five thirty, you know what I'm saying, just cooking, and it was like easy because like the beginning of the year it was like that thirty, that thirty two ball, and the next game it was like I had like ten. Yeah, so it was still very like up and down. But when I hit that consistent stride of okay, I figured it. 00:35:14 Speaker 2: Out, figured it out. 00:35:15 Speaker 3: This is where it's at. This I'm gonna get my shots. I'm gonna get my shots. This is where my playing time is like, because you know, coaches at that time are very rigid with their playing times. All Right, you're gonna be in six minutes here, six minutes there. It was like that, so I knew, all right, this is how much time I got to like get it there? You know. Yeah, who's your coach? When? 00:35:38 Speaker 2: What's the name left? 00:35:38 Speaker 3: Mike Hopkins? 00:35:39 Speaker 2: Okay? 00:35:40 Speaker 3: How was that who was running that two three zone like a motherfucker? God damn that bro was crazy? That actually pucked me up in the draft. Really yeah, because teams were like Eve been running his own the whole time, Like can you really guard Bro? I was sick. I was sick about it. Yeah, you only went to you that one twice years? 00:36:06 Speaker 2: Two years? 00:36:06 Speaker 3: Okay, so freshman year you get Are you starting early? Yeah? I started. You started from the jump. From the jump. They gave you the keys from it. They gave me the keys. How like was it. 00:36:18 Speaker 2: Conference play where you kind of because there's always a wall, you hit a wall. Once you get over that wall, y'all make the tournament first year? 00:36:26 Speaker 3: No? Inn I t No, we didn't make that. Second year we did, but n I T never been real ship. You don't want to go to that you don't want you don't want to be like, you don't want to be like playing in your own stadium. 00:36:44 Speaker 2: Yeah in March, Like for sure, that's sick, Like that's sick that you got your numbers though I did. Second year, you got a little got your feet wet. You know what, what's to be expected? What took y'all over the hump? 00:37:02 Speaker 3: I think I think there was a mixture of a lot of I think everything jailed just at the perfect time. Like obviously my second

year, so I knew what was going on. I knew my teammates, like it was me as a sophomore starting and then four other seniors, so we were just like so they knew what was going on too. I didn't really have to like lead them on though it's what we gotta do. It was just more like, yeah, so I got to just do the job that I needed to do. I get to score me mattist staible cold Yeah, Noah Dickerson, Wait a minute, bro, y'all had a squad. But we were nice, bro and uh David Chris was our point guard. Y'all was cold, bro. We was nice, bro. We played. We lost to North Carolina in the tournament. Yeah yeah, second round, Yeah yeah, that was that was easy for us. Not really, not really, y'all start pulling away last night, last minute, mob, bro. We was nice, bro. How the fun y'all make the tournament? First year? Dog? We just I think it was we had we had the right amount of wins, but somebody had to lose or something to get us, you know what I'm saying. And I think, yeah, because we ended up losing the first round of the PAC twelve tournament. We like just came out stunk that ship up. Yeah yeah, and now that put us like you because. 00:38:35 Speaker 2: Y'all, y'all were the next year, y'all were a steed. Yeah yeah, we played y'all the second we were nice, nice seed. 00:38:44 Speaker 3: Beat who we beat Utah State and then y'all played and then we played y'all geaked. Yeah, I was. I was happy as hell about to cook the ass. I mean, you have to when he enough with the l not enough, Yeah, he was ready for that. Yeah, y'all's doubling the shot of me too. 00:39:09 Speaker 2: I'm like, damn, I had to, Damn shit, Latista, you gotta make some shots. 00:39:14 Speaker 3: Yeah, he's got to make some shots. 00:39:17 Speaker 2: Noah was an issue down there. 00:39:18 Speaker 3: No, it was definitely. It was he started the game cooking, bro, And that's crazy, Like Noah has that old man, big man game. 00:39:27 Speaker 2: If Noah came, if Noah was created. 00:39:32 Speaker 3: Ten years ago, exactly, He's in the league exactly, like, no questions. And it's not even close, no question, because he had everything. Bro. I've seen him cook DeAndre Aiden something crazy. Yeah. Like so I'm like, oh, this is about to be number one pick, Broy you cooking dudes like this defensive player of the year too. Like I'm just like, yeah, bro, this dude is special. It's crazy. 00:39:55 Speaker 2: How to tran to transition from the college to the league just don't match the time as well. 00:40:01 Speaker 3: But as I'm like watching college basketball now, I'm seeing I'm seeing. 00:40:06 Speaker 2: Start understanding at the time, at the time, I didn't. You don't get it because you're just looking at nothing. He's cooking him, Yeah, he's cooking him. He's playing defense, he's doing all other things. But once you get here, you like Brian, you gotta understand they don't need you to score. You gotta go to the right situation. You gotta and we're gonna talk about that. 00:40:26 Speaker 3: Any any situation you're going to like, you gotta play defense from the jump, like you gotta like lock in. 00:40:33 Speaker 2: Point blank period. Yeah, lose to Carolina in the tournament, It's time to go to the league. What was that conversation like with your coach you knew you was out? 00:40:42 Speaker 3: Yeah, they knew I was out. I told him before before that season even started. You told him it was Yeah. I was like, bro, I'm i'mna lock in. I'm do what I gotta do. I gotta get out of here. Yeah, I gotta like that. I gotta be I gotta go be a pro. And it was kind of to that point where you know, I I won back to a Player of the Year all that summer. A right, there's really nothing else. There's nothing here to do. Yeah, there's nothing, went back to back fact. Yeah, so I'm like, yeah, I got to get out of it no matter what. You know, how many workouts you do fifteen, I'm even doubled up with a couple of teams. Oh, I was sick. That was sick. You know what's crazy. My last workout I did was the day before the draft. 00:41:29 Speaker 2: Yeah that we get that a lot day before the draft. That's a tough one. How many What was the best one? 00:41:36 Speaker 3: My best one? A lot of them standing. I would say my best one was Indiana, maybe. 00:41:46 Speaker 2: Worse, worse Boston not a goe. 00:41:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was just I'm not saying the way I performed. I'm just saying what we did. It was just like damn four. 00:42:00 Speaker 2: Minute yea yeah, brom my god, it was rough. 00:42:07 Speaker 3: Hol you that this was kind of tough too. That was my my first one ever was Houston's. 00:42:11 Speaker 2: And we were doing long though. 00:42:13 Speaker 3: Bro. Yeah, it was like three hours, and it's like, bro, like we're doing full court ones, back to back to back, like doing the fucking most. Like there's five guys, there's six guys. You got a guard, dude, Bo, he don't score, run all the way back guard, hit guard the next one. You're doing that, Yeah, you're doing that. I'm like, Bro, this is crazy. 00:42:37 Speaker 2: Minnesota. Good workout. 00:42:39 Speaker 3: I didn't even work out for them. Bro. 00:42:42 Speaker 2: How many times have we heard that ship kurt. 00:42:45 Speaker 3: When I take you? When I tell you? Bro? How many times have we heard that ship hurt? That ship don't make no fucking sense at all. 00:42:53 Speaker 2: Bro. 00:42:56 Speaker 3: I'm hot because I'm like, Bro, I did all these fifteen workouts to. 00:43:00 Speaker 2: I did to get drafted by a team that didn't even fucking. 00:43:02 Speaker 3: Thing at all. Like to the point, like when I got drafted in Minnesota, Bro, I didn't really know where the hell that was. I had no Honestly, I had no idea where that was. Bro, I'm like, all, I just knew it was. It was cold as ship because every time I told people or like people's old Minnesota, Yeah, you're gonna need some some gloves and up, I'm like, damn, it's like that. 00:43:27 Speaker 2: No, it's cold as fuck there, And. 00:43:28 Speaker 3:

They fooled me. Let me tell you. Let me tell you how that. Let me tell you this ship went. You know how you get there in the summer after you drafted. 00:43:35 Speaker 2: Yeah, hold on, let's go to draft day first. Yeah, we'll go to draft store, talk about draft dight and just that expent Bro, Like Seattle, Washington, You've done all this work, thrive, You've seen Jamal Crawford, you've seen all these guys get to the league, and now you're here. What was that feeling like for you and your family? 00:43:56 Speaker 3: Oh? Like for me, it felt like a dream, Bro. Like I would I would literally just get in the car and drive and go nowhere, like absolutely nowhere, just thinking like, bro, I'm really about to be in the NBA. Yeah, like wow, yeah, something I've been wanting for nineteen years at the time, like it's really about to happen. You did it, dog, And it was just like But one thing I always understood was like, this doesn't mean this is definitely not like the finish, Like this is ain't just the start. You feel me Like, I think a lot of people when they think about that, it's all right when you get drafted, like it's happy, happily. Ever after time type vibe like it's some Disney shit. Yeah, no, man, like that's when the ship gets real. 00:44:47 Speaker 2: It gets harder. 00:44:48 Speaker 3: And I always understood that because I was around the NBA players. I'm around the Jamal's, the b roy so they're telling me like how it is, so yeah, I'm very happy. But I had a very realistic view of it, Yeah, because I had I was around so many guys that been through it, you know, but I was I was happy as I was happy as hell get the Minnesota Well, first of all, we can talk about let's talk about draft night. 00:45:17 Speaker 2: Yeah, talk about the crazy, craziest night. So did you think you were going to Minnesota? Absolutely not. Where the fuck did you think you were going? 00:45:28 Speaker 3: Bro? I was told I'm Indiana and what pick they was? Like, Bro, they got the seventeenth. Bro, they're really looking at you for that. So and I killed I killed those workouts? Im all right? Cool? And then ship my lowest was supposed to be the thirtieth because to Milwaukee. Yeah, because they really liked me. So when Jack, so the draft is going on, uh, seventeen pick happens, boom, it's not me. I think it's uh might have been to kill kill Alexandra Walker. Yeah, wasn't because then they traded it to they drafted him and traded it to like New Orleans, New Orleans. 00:46:11 Speaker 2: Yeah, because he was with New Orleans. Yeah, so that happens. I'm okay, No, he went broke broke in draft? 00:46:18 Speaker 3: So who was the who's the pick to the Indiana twenty nineteen draft? He was nineteen, He was the seventeen pick was selected by the nets who. 00:46:31 Speaker 2: Selected who was Indian? 00:46:33 Speaker 3: Who's Indiana? Then they has what pick was Indiana? Was it? Indiana was eighteen? So eighteen? Yeah, eighteen pick? 00:46:46 Speaker 2: Go go oh yeah damn. So yeah that that pick happened, Yeah, big fella. 00:46:53 Speaker 3: Yeah, And I'm just like, damn, okay, that was the highest summer, right, there's so much more room. It's going down. My name ain't being called. I'm like, I'm getting confused now. I'm like, okay, the agent's with you. Yeah, I'm looking at him mad as hell. I ain't gonna lie. I'm looking at him. I'm staring at him like a motherfucker, like yo, yo, gee, you told me, you told me this, You like, what's up? Got the family with me everything. We're in New York too, by the way, you're in New York. We're in New York. We're not in the green room though, We're just you know, kind of like a room like this chilling. I'm okay, we'll figure it out. Thirtieth pick happens, I'm like, all right, it's gotta be gotta be me Kevin Porter my dog. 00:47:40 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:47:41 Speaker 3: So I'm pissed, but I'm happy at the same time. Something man, my dog got it. So I was like, when I realized I wasn't going first round, I was the end of the world for me because I'm like, dangn like this is I always imagined. Yeah, first round like first my first time not in the green room, I imagine that. So I'm like, okay, that's done, but not first either. Oh man, I was pissed. I remember walking out the room and then one of the big homies at the time just like followed me out and just had to like talk me down, like talk me like, just calm me down. I was hot. I didn't want to like go off in front of the front of mom's and and grandma and all that. I didn't want to do all that. Yeah, so I walked back in the room collect myself. The second round happens Minnesota thing. I was thirteenth pick in the second round. That shit happened on a commercial commercial. Didn't even didn't even say the name literally a taco I don't even think it was a taco bell commercial. It was some type of commercial. Bro and just under jaying no whil forty third pick. Did you get a call? Uh? Yeah, I got a call uh like probably like five minutes before that, and. 00:49:01 Speaker 2: You were just waiting to hear it. Yeah, but commercial, it was a commercial. They gotta stop that ship. 00:49:08 Speaker 3: I was like, okay, for sure. That was another thing. 00:49:12 Speaker 2: Remember like that fucking commercial and I would have never ate it that motherfucker again. I would have been mad. I was mad as Taco Bell and I'm good man. I would be like, man, fuck this ship. 00:49:27 Speaker 3: Bro. I'm gonna trying to find a video, bro, because like if you can see me, everybody's like all pumped yeah, and I'm just like I'm just kind of looking I like have that little half smile, but I'm really just like not really fucking with it at all. 00:49:45 Speaker 2: Yeah, bro, Like, y'all just put me, y'all just I just got drafted off. 00:49:49 Speaker 3: Of commercial for commercial. Bro, didn't even hear my name call nothing. I'm like, Okay, this is crazy. So I'm going into that motherfucker with a chip on my shoulder like I'm mad. I'm I was mad. 00:50:01

Speaker 2: Everybody gotta feel me at this point. 00:50:03 Speaker 3: To the point where that we get to the opening press conference, Bro, I'm even more mad because this ship going on at that press conference that I'm really not fucking with either. I'm looking at every little small detail that everything that's going on. Yeah, I was on that. 00:50:20 Speaker 2: I was that you at the press conference. You hot, It's time to go hoop now this you know, Summer League. Right after this ship first of all, you hear about Minnesota. It's cold as fuck there, Bron, how do you First of all, how did you handle that ship? 00:50:35 Speaker 3: So first, all right, so let me tell you how they fooled me. Though I get there, everybody telling me how cold it is. I'm there in August, July, August, it as beautiful as hell. I'm like, Oh, I don't know what the hell they talking about. 00:50:50 Speaker 2: This is a vibe like I. 00:50:52 Speaker 3: Got a nice little apartment. I'm waking up. Son in my eyes, Son coming in. I'm like, yeah, this is this is this is the one. Yeah, Bro, when that October hit, as soon as I walked outside, Bro, my nose in my hands, it felt like needles. Bro. 00:51:10 Speaker 2: Yeah, Bro, that's why they got them, them damn tonnels. 00:51:14 Speaker 3: The facts. 00:51:15 Speaker 2: You gotta use them ships, gotta use. 00:51:17 Speaker 3: My first year, I Bro, I was using them ships every day. 00:51:22 Speaker 2: Yeah, Bro, I remember I got the Minnesota. I went to Minnesota in the fucking uh uh workout, and I was like, what these big ass tubes around the damn city. It's like, you come here in the winter, You're gonna know what them tubes for. There's like a tube that goes through the city like throughout the whole city. Bro, am I I'm not lying. 00:51:43 Speaker 3: No, No, it's through the city and they go and they go through even the arena, so like through the arena, through the football football stadium, everything. 00:51:52 Speaker 2: Goes to everything, and because it's so cold, you just want to everyone just walks in that ship. 00:51:59 Speaker 3: Bro. 00:51:59 Speaker 2: It's it's sick. Yeah, Minnesota sick. 00:52:02 Speaker 3: It's been negative bro, like it's been negative degrees there before, Like I'm going to games this negative ten. I'm like, bro, what negative ten degrees? Do you want to hoop in? That? Cancel the game? Who's going to the game in that? People were showing up though, That's the crazy thing. They it's like they used to it. Nah, bro, negative ten. Yeah, that's negative. Hell no, I'm not going back. 00:52:29 Speaker 2: I'm like, bro, no way, they won't have a student Welcome to the NBA moment. 00:52:33 Speaker 3: Yeah, what was that first ever game? You might have still been there at the time, Brooklyn eight, two thousand nineteen. 00:52:43 Speaker 2: I was going, what was ill with to that nineteen? 00:52:48 Speaker 3: Because you were there for you? Oh ship? 00:52:51 Speaker 2: Wait you he was there. I was Kyrie when he

hit the ship, he went crazy. Nigga had fifty. 00:52:58 Speaker 3: That was my first all damn NBA game. And let me tell you, I didn't even play, Bro, but that was I'm in there. I'm in there with that big ass jacket, you know, you know, you know how the dookies. Yeah, we had to wear the sports coaster ship. Yeah, and that was But that was my first NBA experience, like as a professional. And I saw Kyrie do that, Bro, and it gave me that. It gave me that same feeling of like, all right, Bro, there's way more I gotta do to like be at this level. 00:53:34 Speaker 2: That was my first time seeing him play as a teammate. I know how you feel about he almost game y'all doing a fucking curly play the clip did a curly nil falling on the ground. Josha Cogie's over them like this damn the foul guilt foutom got up and shot it barely missed. I said, this man is fucking different. 00:54:00 Speaker 3: You want on some wild like right after that? You could go through all my rookie games. All I wan was Kyrie. Kyrie's After that, all I wor as the hell ours. Yeah, that aspired the hell out of be Bro. 00:54:16 Speaker 2: Bro Special Special Bro. That The fact that was your first game is insane just seeing that, seeing that put a. 00:54:25 Speaker 3: Fifty fifty bow and it was like so easy. It was easy the way it loves so easy. It was easy. You know, He's like, he don't really talk shit like that, so he was just doing it, making it looks running back and not saying nothing. 00:54:39 Speaker 2: That's the worst. Yeah, that'd be the worst right there, because you're gonna say, ship, I'll be like, bro, it shouldn't be this easy for me. 00:54:46 Speaker 3: What up? 00:54:46 Speaker 2: Everybody, y'all know what time it is that it's time for thills picks, and y'all know what to do. Y'all go to DraftKings, download the app and use promo code race. 00:54:54 Speaker 3: Now let's get to the picks. 00:54:56 Speaker 2: First February twenty seventh, first game, go to State Verse Orlando in Orlando, go to States rolling. Now they're gonna take Golden State, no one. They got they got it. They got some pieces over there that is playing well. 00:55:09 Speaker 3: Now. 00:55:09 Speaker 2: Then we got Denver versus Milwaukee in Milwaukee, nasty, nasty weather, but we're gonna I'm gonna go Denver. I'm gonna go Denver. I think they got the MVP over there, so they're doing big things. Minnesota versus La in La. It's gonna be a good bump. That's gonna be really good bump. I'm gonna go Minnesota. I'm gonna go upset. I think Minnesota will come out of win that game. Friday, February twenty eighth, ok C versus Atlanta in Atlanta, Oka CE five million. Cleveland versus Boston and Boston elite bump, elite bump. I'm gonna go Boston. I think Boston about to turn this shit up, so I think that'll be a good one. We got Indie versus Miami in Miami. Miami can have the advantage because they're playing in Miami, so you're playing, you're playing the streets, and that's another story. So I'm gonna take Indy on that one, even though I don't think Miami's that good this year. I think they're gonna fall off. New York versus Memphis in Memphis. I got Memphis. New York is tripping right now. So that is what it is. That's the rap for THEOS picks. Y'all go to Draft Kings right now and make sure y'all use promo code race. Now let's get back to the episode. So what what was the breakout game for you in your rookie year. 00:56:25 Speaker 3: My breaker game was in Milwaukee. Okay. I shot the ball terrible in the league that year. I was shooting it like at a fort the g but when I was like up with the team, but I just just looking in my head and ship all the whole whole rook Yeah, beginning. So I was shooting ball terrible to that point. 00:56:48 Speaker 2: Yeah, if it's the coach at this point. 00:56:51 Speaker 3: No, Ryan Saunders, you remember he got that like quick. It was like a year and a half after Yeah. 00:57:00 Speaker 2: Wait a fucking manute, what are we talking about? 00:57:02 Speaker 3: What happened? But you don't remember that, Like the Temples have hired Ryan Saunders and everyone was like, they were like, what the fuck is going on? But I was so he was. Yeah, it was the year before I got there. They hired him, so like in the middle of that year with Jimmy, the middle year with Jimmy and uh D Rose and them. Yeah, he got hired and so I came in under him. 00:57:25 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:57:26 Speaker 3: Yeah, so it was it was crazy. That's a crazy story about But at the time, bro, it was that's all I knew. That's all you knew. 00:57:35 Speaker 2: That's all I knew it was like this NBA, like this is what it is, Bro, and everybody else in the locker room like two two. 00:57:40 Speaker 3: Three hour practices. Yeah, like I'm this is this is how it is. It's just like. 00:57:46 Speaker 2: College, okay, and calling them like it was an interesting Carls pissed, you know Carl he he was he's not gonna say it. 00:57:56 Speaker 3: Yeah, he's not gonna say it. Really, who was saying it was Jeff j t I had jet Bro. He want I had Jeff Tig my rookie year, and he's he loved talking to me, Bro because I'm I'll be listening. So he's telling me all this all the ship y'all here, and now he's telling me this. I got all these stories before y'all did. Like he's telling me everything. Bro. I'm sitting on the bus, Bro, and he's just we just chopping it up all the time. Bro. Hilarious, Broude. I had some really lit vets, Bro. That's one thing I'll say. 00:58:36 Speaker 2: You had Jef. 00:58:37 Speaker 3: Else had Jeff Tige, Rob Coff like Rob Cove would he would because he lived we live in the same apartment buildings, so he would he would take me home and we just chop it up. And then after that they got traded James Johnson's that was my dog. He came in. I had him, you know what I'm saying, and like that honestly having him. He could quote me on this, Bro. He's the reason why I had those like good years, you know what I'm saying. Like he turned the he actually helped me

turn that that corner. Yeah, like for real, because honestly, bro, like my confidence was like really shot for a minute, like in the league, Like get like when I first came in, I'm trying to figure out my way and stuff. 00:59:23 Speaker 2: You're just trying to do the right thing. 00:59:24 Speaker 3: All I'm trying to do everything right, bro, just like it's just a lot. Bro, that's a lot to try to do that. Bro, Just I feel, yeah, You've got a lot going on. So when he came in, bro, he just had this Like we played once. I remember we played once and then he just told me like, bro, you got it, bro, like don't even don't even trip, like like you you nice. And so just constantly hearing that, and then when I would play games, I was like if I'm like struggling a little bit or something, He's just like Bro, remember you nice, Bro, And so just hearing that consistently. Eventually, Bro, when I got my shot, it was up, it was up, it was up. 01:00:09 Speaker 2: And that's the thing though, Like the thing about the league, bro, is the confidence that the confidence is the biggest thing that separates the greats, these all stars from everybody else because they don't have no route. The room for error is different. Exactly when a god like you got like me when we go like you gotta damn near play perfect. 01:00:28 Speaker 3: Or one little thing you do is you might come out and. 01:00:31 Speaker 2: Sit down, brother, Yeah, like we can't afford you having you in the game right now. 01:00:35 Speaker 3: I'm like, god, damn. 01:00:37 Speaker 2: Bro, you just walking on eggshells. So I know what you're talking about with that. You said, Milwaukee, how mean you have? 01:00:44 Speaker 3: But it was like you just played well, played well thirteen Okay, but that's a good night exactly exactly good night. And that was came in just it's really going crazy, bro, And they and they were like big buckets, like to the like within the game, they were just like it was it was a real close game and I would just hit the buck to get us up something like that. So that was when I realized all right, I could play against like one of the best teams in the league at the time. You know, it's Jannis and all them guys. So I'm like, all right, this this team is a real high level NBA team, And I succeeded. And then after that, Bro, I was just it was just kind of up from there. 01:01:27 Speaker 2: For sure. What was a moment and that you battled with your rookie year that you overcome and she was proud of yourself that you overcame, and and it could be just a confidence thing because this everyone hits that wall. Everyone hits that point. And like I said, that's that's a great point for you to say you lost it. You lost You've been a score of your whole life. And when just like you and the g and you cook and you're like, man, why the fuck can I do this? Like how did you get over that? 01:02:01 Speaker 3: Man? Like I said, having having good vets really Like I was always into psychology, bro, So I'm always like seeing the team psychologists and just like talking talking the ship out. And so I was like, Bro, I got to just figure out what the issue is, cause honestly, I knew it wasn't physical. I just knew it wasn't physical. I'm like, Bro, I'm cooking in the G I'm I'm doing all that. So obviously there's a difference between my mindset from the G to the league, like the scoring difference, the shooting difference. It shouldn't be like that that that different. So really, Bro, I just I was like, Bro, whatever this is. 01:02:47 Speaker 2: I got to. 01:02:47 Speaker 3: Figure it out. And but once I did, it was literally like this I had to understand and view it as the NBA is the G League. I had to view it like that in my mind. I'm like, this is the G League too, bro. And so once I did that, it took the the pedestal that I had of it off and just made it right. But it's just still hoop at the end of the day, especially like my first year being on the court with Steph's the Lebrons guys, I'm really like I've been watching forever. Yeah, it's just like damn, like you, I got that feeling of like, damn, do I belong on the court with these dudes. And then so once I got off that, yes I do belong. Once I got over that and I was like belong, it was all right. It was currents. 01:03:39 Speaker 2: When did you feel like you got the the what would you call it, the not the keys, but like go be you. 01:03:51 Speaker 3: There was a specific game my second year, because my first year was it was it was still like you know, that was the over year, so it ended early early, I would say my second year, Bro, it was we played Golden State. We were in Golden State at the time. I wasn't really playing much before that. Some guys went like, we're I would COVID some injuries, so they was like, you won't play a lot today. Okay. They still fucked me though. I didn't get into the until the end of the third quarter. What exactly played the rest of the game, but I didn't get into the end of the third quarter. Bro, they told me I was gonna play a lot, a lot. I'm like, Bro, that's and that's why a lot of ship people understand either it's like you'll get told certain ship and it just won't really be the case and that's crazy. That's what you gotta be ready. So I get in play like twelve minutes, had fifteen. I was okay, and then and like at that time, Golden State was like toughest team for me to play because it was Steph, it was Clay, it was Draymond. Like, these dudes won three, like three championships, so I'm always overthinking playing against them. 01:05:20 Speaker 2: Yeah. 01:05:20 Speaker 3: So once I did that, it was, oh, this is the hardest team for me. 01:05:24 Speaker 2: Yeah. 01:05:25 Speaker 3: Bro. After that, I went on like twenty thirty game streak of double digits off the scoring, double digits off the bench. Yeah, And that was when I was like, Okay. 01:05:35 Speaker 2: I'm here. 01:05:35 Speaker 3: Now, I'm here. I'm here. 01:05:37 Speaker 2: That's tough.

Yeah, that's tough. I feel like we played y'all in that stretch you did. We got the dub. Yeah, we definitely got the double one that one. I played pretty well that game. I think I had a quick. 01:05:48 Speaker 3: Elevel quick too. 01:05:51 Speaker 2: It was it was eleven or nine something like you got your buckets though, Yeah you cooked. 01:05:55 Speaker 3: It's crazy because I remember you. You the shoes you were wearing for some reason eleven Yeah, cool grade, joy listen cooking in the cool grades, heavy ass shoes. I was always I was hating on that motherfuckers cooking JS like that. I'll be sick because I could never really hoop in j's like that, really never. I mean I had I hooped in fours in high school. Like my sophomore year but other than that, but I could never hoop in J's after that, really, so ILL always be like, fuck, like how can this motherfucker hoop? And J's like this that was getting to it in those Broid. 01:06:31 Speaker 2: But you had a good second year. You're building off of that. You're playing with Anthony Edwards though, Yeah, I mean how many years you do with three? Three? 01:06:41 Speaker 3: Yeah, he can't. That second year was when his. 01:06:43 Speaker 2: Second year is when he got there. You knew he was gonna be this special. 01:06:48 Speaker 3: Not this I ain't gonna cap not this, know like I know he was gonna be good because you I think at the time when he first came Bro, he even said he struggled a little bit. Yea, he was coming off the bench, so that obviously that fucks with your mind. And even then he was like taking the exact same shots. They just weren't like going in at the race they were now. So I was like, yeah, this dude is gonna be nice. He's gonna be dunking the ship out of people all this. But I remember it was like play that year, had a good, good, good rookie year. Then he came back that that second year, Bro, and I remember we played in the summer, like you know that summer ship where everybody comes back and kind of just plays a little bit. Motherfucker was hitting every step back, dunking the ship out. That motherfucker. I'm like, oh way, I'm. 01:07:42 Speaker 2: Like he had against Toronto us that for that. 01:07:45 Speaker 3: Yes, he put that ship on. Boy had some o. 01:07:50 Speaker 2: That ship was racist as fuck. I don't care that ship was racing hell bro, Bro, I'm like, Bro, come on, Bro, how are you gonna do my man from Japan like that? 01:08:03 Speaker 3: Bro? Crazy? That's probably why he's not in the league anymore. You can't like, you can't un see that can't come back from that, Bro. 01:08:12 Speaker 2: So that's why you gotta That's why everybody said, you gotta make business decisions, bro. 01:08:17 Speaker 3: And with Bro, you that's you have to make business sisions with him. Bro, you gotta get out the way that she made no sense. Bro. And one thing, I got a credit. I gotta credit the ref because he stepped out of bounds. You gotta let that. You gotta let that play. So happy that ref

let that slide, bro, Bro so happy insane work because he let that go. And that was one of the greatest dunks in NBA history, Bro, I can't even lie career high thirty. Really you got a thirty ball? Yeah against Utah. This was literally right, this was this was my last year in Minnesota. Yeah, this was right when d Loo got traded and all that, that trade between him Conley and all that happened. So that was when it was like and it happened that night. Literally as we're in the facility dealers in the facility with us on my phone, that ship pops up. Damn, Bro, you're out. Yeah, I'm out of here. Bro, I'm gonna see you all lay like ship is bro? That trading, Bro, that is sick. Even my first year in the league, Bro, they traded eight dudes, like the day before the trade deadline, traded eight dudes everybody, everybody, seven guys on the team. Yeah, seven guys playing that night. 01:09:44 Speaker 2: Yeah. 01:09:44 Speaker 3: Ship sick work, boyn that ship sick sick work. Bro. 01:09:48 Speaker 2: You was a part of the team where y'all y'all wanted to playing game. Yeah you like y'all want a championship. He played the clip. Their niggas out there jumping on scores tables and all tysons stuff. My dam McKinley, right, he chasing Pat Bell all over the damn place. 01:10:04 Speaker 3: It's hilarious. It was lit. It was lit. I ain't gonna lie. I was thinking, just like all the fans brom like, my nigga, this is a playing bro. I'm like, come on, my guy, like like, I'm like, I respect it. 01:10:20 Speaker 2: I respect it because for something else though exactly, he was saying, like, y'all fuck with me. Look, I just ducked y'all niggas. 01:10:27 Speaker 3: And that's why. That's why I was like, I love I respect that. And he also was like, man, dudes, haven't made the playoffs in a long time or whatever, like, and I was like, cool, bro, that's cool. That's your vibe. I'm happy happy that, Like you can get emotional for stuff like this and it's cool bro. Like, but now we got to lock back in. 01:10:54 Speaker 2: Y'all smoked this ship out of that serious Memphis. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, bro, like smoked it. Y'all were y y'all were a better team. Y'all were beating him every game exactly. That was just show the immaturity though. That was so questrated. Yeah, that was so frustrating. That was just the immaturity of the team. How pat bed was huge for y'all. 01:11:16 Speaker 3: Though, Yeah, we needed that. Y'all needed him, We needed him like he didn't just shift like certain players, but he shipped the whole culture. Like and that's one thing. Like I said, I have great vets. He was the last one I had like in Minnesota like that. And I'm just like, Bro, this is somebody who can affect the game and affect the team without being like the best scorer or like. And I'm like, Bro, I gotta respect that. Yeah, I got a battery packing cat and a back that was turned them up. 01:11:49 Speaker 2: It turned them up, Bro, It made them a whole different animal than it was. And that's what y'all needed. We need you go to sack after that, right, what you just signed traded it was? 01:12:01 Speaker 3: It was so I signed there. Uh, we can talk about the free agency that happened. 01:12:09 Speaker 2: Let's talk about it. 01:12:09 Speaker 3: This is gonna be a motherfucker break it down to us. Dog. So I had such a rough time in Minnesota that it was like I just just ups and downs, ups and downs and left on a sour note, like the end of the year on a sour note. Honestly, Bro, me and we just want I just wasn't seeing it out of eye. I'm not gonna say too much, but certain people, I just wasn't seeing how the eye with So I'm like, bro, there's no way, like I'm coming back. They even offered. I said, no, I just can't. I don't see myself being like my best self here and that's something I gotta honor over the money. So we're going in to that free agency. I'm being told certain numbers. I'm still averaging double digits at the time on a playoff team, play good in the playoffs when I got when I got my minutes, So I'm like, okay, should be something. Yeah, the what was that, Like the CBA or like some something happened to where it was like the teams were now scared to spend money. 01:13:33 Speaker 2: They stopped spending because of the new CBA. The JT's and all those guys get so much money, and then there's a middle criteria that kind of got wiped out. 01:13:44 Speaker 3: Yeah, so that middle was not there, not there no more, and everybody else has to just make minimum exactly. So I'm getting offered a bunch of minimums and at the time, you know, I'm just like, man, I don't I don't like just I don't understand that. So you know who I was with, I was being advised, you know, just don't take those like just something. Something's gonna happen. Fast forward, go through that whole summer. Everything's turned down by that time. Coming back and like talking to those teams, they already went and signed other guys because they're like, you know, you turn this down, you gotta figure everything else out. So uh, sat called literally what a week before the season started. Yeah, with the exhibits he and that was the best I had. That was like the best thing I could get. So I'm all right, got to do this. I go through that training camp, kept me till the very last day, and then they were just like, yeah, you out of there, but yeah you're coming back. Huh. You end up playing with them though, No, you didn't play with Sack at all. I don't play with them at all at all. I was with I was with the Stockton the whole time. And then I got called up. I just got I got like four ten days. Yeah you got bro. 01:15:20 Speaker 2: I'm like, all I remember you was being in the league because you got Eloten. 01:15:24 Speaker 3: Days, Heloton days, and it was cooking in those ten days. Yes we played, Yeah, we played MAVs during that ten day. Like, so, look, it's wild because a lot of a lot of my situations recently have been like get called up, cook some reason can't

keep you though we want to keep you, but we can't ye for whatever reason, like the money or the type of situation. The one with Memphis. They signed me to the first ten day. I'm I'm playing well hooping, I'm hooping like hoop and hooping. They need you right now. We talked about that baby baby. Yeah, I don't know, so I'm hooping. They signed me to the second day. Okay, cool, And at this point, you know, my age is talking to me. It's like, bro, after this second ten day, they're either going to sign you or like they gotta get rid of you. There's like, no, you can't get another one. Yeah, you can't get another today. So I'm like cool. Then we play in Dallas and I come out and go crazy. I had like dumb that game and we once we won that joint. Once we won that, yeah, I think, so I don't I don't necessarily remember I remember. I just remember cooking. And I'm like Okay, bro, like this got it like this. I'm like, as a day bro getting dubbed like I've done it. Come on, bro, like this gotta be the one. Yeah. So that happens. They start me that next game. I'm on attend day and I'm starting It's Phoenix, do well that game? Yep. I'm like, bro, here it is, You've done your work. I did all I could do. Day nineteen comes. They're trying to figure out. They're trying to you know what I'm saying. They got to get rid of people. Da da da doesn't happen, waved, waved, gotta go right back to stop them. Back to the g Right after that, after I just cooked in the league, I'm like, yo. 01:17:42 Speaker 2: You're just trying to figure it out? What like, what more? What more do I have to do more? The real thing that I think everyone needs to really understand. This has been an unbelievable pod. How do you handle those situations? You're you're you're constantly a guide that people want on their team because they're getting you ten days. How do you handle these situations now after you've been through all that. I know it's tough, Yeah, I know it. I know it is I'm. 01:18:14 Speaker 3: Just getting off one right now. Yeah. Yeah, it's like one, just being thankful for like having like getting those ten days, because it could be a situation where I'm not getting where it's just like all right, you're done, you know what I'm saying. So just being thankful for those. You get good money with it, so I'm okay, you know the blessing that it's not given. So I got to take it like that. And every every time, you know, I had those situations where it was like like that, I just had to look at as a positive, like, well, at least I got the show what I can do still like it was an opportunity and uh, somebody's there's gonna be a situation where eventually it works out, Like just got it. You gotta just stay positive, bro, Like it's tough, but gotta stay positive and things like that. 01:19:15 Speaker 2: If you don't, you would just go crazy. You go crazy, nah, for sure. And I think that's the big that's the biggest thing about it. Keep the confidence, keep the belief that you know you belong in this league. You definitely do sing it. Preciate your talent before we get out of here, though, give me your five from Marshington, I give you my five from North Carolina, and we're gonna match him up. Okay, take two minutes. I gotta think butt and we both and we're both in the five. 01:19:46 Speaker 3: I was gonna I'm tell you I won't. 01:19:49 Speaker 2: Even put myself. We're gonna put all that. Okay, this this, this is my ship. We in it. Say that, and we're gonna put and we're gonna on one of the posts we do. We're gonna do a poll. 01:20:00 Speaker 3: Yeah all right, bet I got my fire, you got your file. 01:20:03 Speaker 2: Give me a second, all right, yep, do it. All right, We're gonna go position by position, starting point guard. I'm gonna just put me at the point. Okay, you cooked John Wall. 01:20:22 Speaker 3: Damn, Okay, I'm not. I'm not cooking. I'm not cooking. He's gonna have to guard me to No, for sure, that's a that's yeah. Hey, I'm with it out there. You're a bucket though my two. Yeah, jamal easy. How can you say I got THEO at my two? Love that I got at my great matchup? That's a great match up. I gotta say, you gotta guard me to maw Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're gonna listen for sure. I'm gonna have to get I gotta get my rest that day. But that's a good match up John me. So here's what I'm gonna do. This is so tough. I'm gonna putt I got like that. You know, I know you're about to say something wild another month. I got so many damn names, but I could do ten. You gotta pick one. But for this one, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Zach Zach Levine. 01:21:34 Speaker 2: Okay, Michael, I love that. Hey, Hey, Michael Jordan's I don't even know he's from. 01:21:47 Speaker 3: That's wold. Carry on, tough. We're doing this on every part. Powerful, powerful, you gotta go, you gotta go. He already know it. Gotta go be Roy. He put b Roy the powerful. You gotta go be right, the power for it. I would put him at the feet, but Zach Zach is not a powerful. It gotta go be Roy. 01:22:12 Speaker 2: James Worthy, I love that cooked barbecue chicken. It is fucking you're talking about. Are these dudes from North Carolina? Are you talking about North Carolina? Went to went to college? No, no, no, we're not talking James Worthy. It's from Uh. I feel like he's from Charlotte. 01:22:28 Speaker 3: Maybe Nah, google that, bro, Yeah, google that. 01:22:31 Speaker 2: Make sure make sure in fact checking that. 01:22:32 Speaker 3: I ain't know James Worthy was from Carolina. We've confirmed this alright, man. And then from my five. 01:22:45 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's fucked. You're going to put Polo at the five and that's curted. 01:22:49 Speaker 3: Yeah, Paulo, Yeah that's easy. Yeah, Paulo at the five for sure. Bam, that's a good matchup though it's not. Yeah, time in THEO. Hey, that's another episode of Run Race. What jailing? 01:23:06 Speaker 2: No, weel, Bro, appreciate you, brother, for sure. We're gonna stay in contact for show. 01:23:11 Speaker 3: I'm telling you, Hey, people don't I'm telling you, Bro, I've been watching this podcast for a long time. 01:23:15 Speaker 2: I appreciate you. 01:23:16 Speaker 3: It feel like a manifest of this, bro, because I've really been like, Bro, if I could get on that motherfucker, it's gonna be lit for the show. 01:23:22 Speaker 2: Bropp it's been dope for show and you already know Draft Kings. We appreciate you, y'all, stay tuned in. I told you were getting bigger and better. We got a bucket on them by today. We got a bit Washington on. That's another episode we out Pa