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Speaker 1: Welcome to season five of you from the rafters behind the scenes with the Boston Celtics.
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Speaker 2: We're sitting here having these conversations.
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Speaker 3: Which one sticks out to you?
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Speaker 4: What do we craft?
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Speaker 2: Or we just want a championship?
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Speaker 5: That probably happens a lot.
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Speaker 4: We do this every year. Right, leave this This.
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Speaker 6: Is hard, bro.
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Speaker 7: I never thought of it that way.
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Speaker 8: Thank you for that be a part of that winning atmosphere.
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Speaker 1: All right, we're in the Hourbacks studio just downstairs across the hall from where Joe Missula's office is here at the practice facility.
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Speaker 2: Joe first, thank you for coming on.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, of course you could be coaching anywhere. You could be coaching an expansion team, a team that had just started, a team that doesn't have a history.
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Speaker 2: Why is it important for.
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Speaker 5: Twenty three year olds who are in the NBA and haven't necessarily heard Why is an important one they put this uniform on to know about Bill Russell at right, hour Back and the history of the organization.
00:00:49
Speaker 3: I mean, I would say because of the success, but not just on the court. I would say, you know, if you're going to play here, if you're going to work here, every organization is always looking for but to be a part of something bigger than themselves. And the only way to understand that is to understand the history. And you know, because of the way the organization has been run for years and years and years. There's a reason why things are the way they are now, and it's because of you know, the past, whether it's successes, whether it's failures, but mostly it's the people that come across here. And I thought that was also important after we won. I wanted to make sure that all the people that worked here between the spaces of eighteen and twenty four get the same amount of credit that we got because they were planting a ton of seeds that were probably you know, more important at that time that just took a little bit of time to come to fruition, you know. And so when you work for this team, there's a burden, there's an expectation, there's a responsibility, but it's because of you know, how it's been run for such a long time and the success that players and coaches and people around organization I've had on and off the court, and you know, that's what you want to be a part of that.
00:01:55
Speaker 1: And speaking on that not manye, I don't know if this is public, and I'm going to make a public in a private way. But you, in a way, you thanked every single person in the organization after the season ended for all the hard work this But I've never experienced that from a player or a coach who's ever come through these doors in the sixteen years that I've been here.
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Speaker 2: So thank you for that. But what made me boss? You thanked you for anything? Nor will it?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you also shouldn't want to be thanked for anything. You should just do it because you're supposed to do it. Yeah, you know. But I thought it was important because, uh, when you have everybody on the on the in the right seat on the bus heading in the right direction, great things can happen. And I also see it's easy for parts of the organization to feel less than or not as valued as others. And at the end of the day, if everybody's not trying to be the head coach in their role, we can't achieve like, you know, high high level of a successful organization and not counting wins. And so it was just important that everybody knew, uh, you know, everything they do is the most important thing for the team, for the organization. And the second piece of that is there's so many interactions that because of the like these organizations are getting so much bigger. Uh, there's so many interactions that the players have before they even get to the court, you know, and if you don't value those interactions, like I was saying, like the like Nate eccley is the first person he sees everyone come in the door, and so the way he carries himself, Yeah, Like the way he carries himself is super important.
00:03:28
Speaker 9: Uh.
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Speaker 3: The kitchen staff or usually see the guys first because they go right there before, and so the way they cook, how they greet the like, that's going to make an impact on how the guys perform. And then like you know, if you walk through a player's perspective of our building, they usually see Nate first, and then they see the kitchen staff, and then they see they may see like you know, some of the front office sitting in that little pool area, and then they see the uh, the sports science and like we're the last people that they see, and so every interaction that has had is super important to them getting on the floor, you know, ready to feel valued, but also ready to like, you know, we've got to be at our best.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: Well, listen, you just talked about the people that came before you, and I know you've got a connection, like literally you've touched him. Read hourback, Sean has I. I did not have that ability. He passed away before I started here. But take us through that relationship of you meeting him back in the day.
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Speaker 2: You went to a few of his camps. Yeah. Uh, and then you've.
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Speaker 1: Literally tried to pull some of the way he coached and his philosophy's organizationally not only just with the team, but organizationally, and pull them into what you do on a daily basis.
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Speaker 10: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: I mean, I mean at the time, like I probably shook his hand once, like yeah, once summer.
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Speaker 2: That's once more than a lot of people did. But but he would.
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Speaker 3: Always come to the camps and he would I think it was Brandeis University. If you walk in and you go up the steps, there's three courts on the top floor, and he would sit on court one underneath the basket and he would watch all the games in the afternoon. And uh, you know, he spoke to the people from time to time. But if you ever listen to him, you know, it just comes down to how do you manage talent, how do you manage success? How do you build a competitive process oriented mindset towards greatness?
00:05:12
Speaker 1: Right?
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Speaker 3: And I think that's kind of what we're all after, you know, and him and the players, and you know, even in the eighties, like every like I said, every team has embodied Celtic basketball, you know. And that was another huge thing was connecting. I don't want to say reconnecting, because I don't ever think there was a disconnect, but just like doubling down on the identity to the city. I think Drew mentioned that in one of his interviews about like we kind of play like the city and like that's the goal, Like you got to be a can we swear on this we're on YouTube, He's got to be a motherfucker.
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Speaker 2: Like you just got like that's.
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Speaker 3: Just the easiest way.
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Speaker 2: In fact, you swore last year, so you're good.
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Speaker 6: Yeah, all right, good.
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Speaker 3: So like you just got to like we embody what the city represents of togetherness, chip on your shoulder, it's just Celtic basketball. It's just bigger than the sport itself. It's a you know, it's a mindset towards a community.
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Speaker 1: You wanted to do that, Like going into last season, you made it very clear to the staff, to the team why like why was that so important and how did it help?
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Speaker 3: Because I think that's that that's the recipe for success is I kind of learned it. I learned it studying the championship teams here over the years, but I felt it the year my college team went to the Final four, like, we didn't become a great team until we started playing something bigger than ourselves and until we built a connection to the state of West Virginia and kind of took on that personality like when we when we started to embody that we took it to a different level and kind of I kind of saw it on a smaller scale. And here, I just think the fans deserve that. They're they're smart, they've seen high level basketball for a long long time, so they know what good basketball looks like. So you're not going to trick them.
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Speaker 2: And as you said, they'll let you know when they don't.
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Speaker 3: See and they should.
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Speaker 2: I mean that they should.
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Speaker 3: They they they're they're one of the higher IQ audiences you know that I've experienced and so that and you know, being from here, I know how to carry that chip on your shoulder to have that that mentality. And so I thought it was like this is who we have to be, Like we got to embody.
00:07:10
Speaker 1: We're gonna play a quick one here and this is called no context quotes. So I'm gonna read out some of your quotes and you just give us some of the context around them. Funny, We'll start off with the easy one. Nobody cares, no one, right, I.
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Speaker 2: Mean, isn't that perfect for what you want this year to be?
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Speaker 3: And nobody My favorite book in the Bible is Ecclesiastes, right, and it talks a lot about duality, right, Like it talks a lot about like what you do is the most important thing and it doesn't matter at all that to me is what we do, like what we wake up every day. We have to do it because it's the most important thing. But no one really cares like it's.
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Speaker 2: It like there's our context.
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Speaker 3: Like you're ever go to a funeral, people can't stop telling to some people can't stop telling jokes, you know what I mean, Like like you're there, the guy's dead, but like you know, like a week later, like you just can't do anything about.
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Speaker 1: It, say, nobody cares like I'll remember that. That's why I look at that cast.
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Speaker 2: Get all right, short eulogy when one.
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Speaker 1: Day, all right, next one, I'm always up to get knocked out.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's poor.
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Speaker 2: What's the context?
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Speaker 3: I think in order to go after success, you have to understand the other side of failure.
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Speaker 2: All right, love it. I'm a big spike guy.
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Speaker 3: Oh that's a huge weakness of mine. Why I just I don't know. I gotta work on that. That's how I know I'm not humble because.
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Speaker 2: On some might say it's a strength. All right.
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Speaker 1: Could I think you said this one to us on media Day. Actually, I think sometimes not having a message is a message.
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Speaker 6: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: Why, it just shows that you you don't have a predetermined perspective on how you're going to go about a situation.
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Speaker 1: I happen to be around when you said this one as well. This is about running a marathon, I would just go until I die.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's important, just go until you die.
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Speaker 3: It's like it's the idea of like it's easy to put limitations on yourself. I think we spend more time putting limitations on ourselves physiologically, psychologically than the actually.
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Speaker 5: There, particularly when you were the one who crossed the finished line first.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, a couple more. We're all villains in someone's eyes. Where did that one come from?
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Speaker 3: That one is very important because, especially in the social media area, we have a tendency to say someone is good or bad, and we're all really about the same, Like if you I learned this the other I learned this about a month ago. I was driving to school. I was driving to work from taking my kids to school, and there was two crosswalks. I wasn't paying attention driving, so I missed the first crosswalk pretexting. Probably I missed the first crosswalk. The guy on the side of the crosswalk kind of like gave me a dirty look, like you know, what the hell, like you're not going to stop. So I learned my lesson. Two lights later, I stopped at the crosswalk and someone else didn't. And that person deemed me a good person and they were like, oh see, like gave me a look of two minutes yeah, like oh you stopped, and like you're a better person than that guy that didn't stop. And I was sitting there and I was like, two minutes ago, that guy wanted to kill me. I could have like hurt someone physically, and now I'm getting deemed so like we're all really about the same. We just we're all just you know, I think some people.
00:10:03
Speaker 1: This is the difference between Joe Missoula and someone like me, where like you're always learning lessons.
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Speaker 2: I feel like you're gonna leaves better.
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Speaker 1: I don't know how we're gonna make you better, but something tells me you're gonna leave here.
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Speaker 3: But I was a villain in that guy's eyes. Yeah, and I was like the greatest person in the world.
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Speaker 6: Women's no.
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Speaker 5: Acting coaches teach actors about playing quote unquote bad guys in movies.
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Speaker 2: They always remember this, The villain is the hero of his own story.
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Speaker 1: Yes, all right, last one before we let you go. There's no fouls in a war. You either win or you die.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's pretty simple.
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Speaker 2: Where did it come from?
00:10:36
Speaker 11: Though?
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Speaker 2: I have no idea. I was just that was a playoff.
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Speaker 1: So why did you deliver that to your basketball team who was not in a literal war, but in a physical war.
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Speaker 2: I guess you could say it's a good.
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Speaker 4: Thing they want.
00:10:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jalen gave that one.
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Speaker 2: Then, Yeah, the Celtics would be in trouble if they didn't I think.
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Speaker 3: We were at halftime and like we were complaining about a call, and I was just like, I just kind of lost it for a second. I was just like, dude, you can't get followed, Like you just can't get followed right now. We just don't have time to get bombed, just like.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: I just can't do it all right now, We've got some context around.
00:11:05
Speaker 2: No context quotes from Joe Mazzoli.
00:11:07
Speaker 4: All right.
00:11:07
Speaker 1: We do not give financial advice here on View from the Raptors, but we do talk about the Stock Exchange. It is the Stock Exchange episode with Drew Holliday and Derek White and Sean Grand He's over there as well.
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Speaker 2: Fellas.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: The nickname the Stock Exchange just came out at some point last season. What did you think about that when when it rolled in and you heard it. Your dad might have had a little bit to do with that as well.
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Speaker 2: Right, he has a lot to do with everything.
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Speaker 12: I think he came up with it because I was like, did you really come everywhere? Did you see us somewhere? He said no, I thought of himself. So I was impressed by his creativity.
00:11:41
Speaker 1: So Drew, Drew liked it, So there we go. Drew would you think when when Derek told.
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Speaker 11: You no, I thought it was cool again his dad thinking of it. That's yeah, super coot it.
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Speaker 2: That's what he does.
00:11:52
Speaker 1: It's a unique things to put out on social media for anyone who doesn't understand why they're called the stock exchange steels blocks you combine them stocks. These guys had two hundred and seventy five of them last season just between the two of you, you were one of just two backcourts in the NBA to log two hundred and seventy five or more stocks combined, So congrats on that. But you were also one of only four starting backcourts in the last forty years to be selected to the All Defensive team in the same season, so that's a pretty significant accomplishment. Why do you think you guys are so good together defensively?
00:12:32
Speaker 11: I mean, well, Derek's easy to play with. I think how he approaches the game, not just offensively, but defensively. He makes reads that are I mean nobody else can do. You see how he will come over a screen and just block a shot, or chase down and like chase down somebody and block a shot, or coming out and just black a shot. I feel like his instincts on the defensive end make it easy for me to react. So if he's not getting the I guess I'm trying to get a still because I'm not going to beat him in blocks.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, although you weren't that far behind.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I know last year, in fact, you had your highest block total in the last five seasons with fifty three, so it was I mean it.
00:13:11
Speaker 5: Robed off a little bit when it matters when there's ten seconds to go in the playoff game.
00:13:16
Speaker 2: Blocked, it's blocked, for sure.
00:13:18
Speaker 12: But I mean Drew's instincts are crazy too, Like you get beat and then as you know, Drew's there and uh get in deflection, just active hands and uh, I mean he makes it easy for all of us. So it's nice having him on our side. And uh, just kind of creating havoc.
00:13:38
Speaker 5: For young kids watching want to become great defenders. I suppose you cannot stress how important it is to be able to communicate verbally with the guys you're playing with and have that connection.
00:13:49
Speaker 11: For sure. I think we've shown it, even though our offense is probably the best offense in the league last year and for a while in history. By the way, not just lest sorry, sorry, let's so short. Our defense was really good. And I think a lot of it is communication, knowing what we want to do on the court, knowing how we're going to switch or do schemes, knowing what like tendencies just like they have on offense, like we have tendencies on defense. Like there's ways that I like to kind of I'm going to If I know I'm going to bait somebody, I like to go maybe this way compared to that way. But the communication I feel like we have, it's a lot. But sometimes it's like it's not verbal. Sometimes it's the way you move. Sometimes it's me reading Derek and something that he does, and I can react to what he's doing him knowing that if I react that way, he reacts to what I do. I think that that comes with time and being able to play with each other on the court for time. But like I said earlier, or like you said earlier, verbally, having somebody behind you telling you where to go, what to do, this guy's coming. I grew up in an era where you had KG just killing you on the screens. I would love to know that this man is about to come in on my right side and kill me so I can learn how to get around the screen. So I think he's huge.
00:15:09
Speaker 2: Did you get that communication back in the day.
00:15:12
Speaker 11: No, that's I think that's how it became such a good defender, like avoiding screens because yeah, I mean, and you can move you know, KG. They were just letting him do whatever. Oh yeah, yeah he was known instead of moving screen all the time, stick that hip.
00:15:27
Speaker 6: Out all the time.
00:15:28
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, yeah, I'm good.
00:15:32
Speaker 1: Name drop right there. What do you guys think? Just what makes a great perimeter defender?
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Speaker 12: Like you said, just knowing what what the game plan is going in, what we're trying to take away, especially at this level, Like guys are so good, they're going to score, they're gonna get their numbers. But how can we limit them having a crazy night? How can we keep them off the free throw line? So just knowing, like what makes guys come, makes them successful, and just try to limit them as much.
00:16:03
Speaker 2: As you can.
00:16:03
Speaker 12: And I think just on the ball, just understanding that. But then off ball, just be in the right position, just showing a crowd, see your mass doesn't feel like he's on an island out there, and just a munch of little things like that.
00:16:19
Speaker 2: That's big.
00:16:21
Speaker 11: Not feeling like you on the island is a great feeling for sure, especially with guys how they play, like, especially how they play today, going one to one so much.
00:16:28
Speaker 2: Knowing that you have like your boys is with you.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you guys teach the kids when it comes to defense?
00:16:36
Speaker 12: Teach them slide your feet yeah.
00:16:41
Speaker 2: Out of there?
00:16:41
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think it's sliding. I think it's being reactionary. There are times where you know personnel, you know what the guy's tendencies, but there are times where you're gonna have to be able to react to the moves that they make. And you can work on that like doing reactionary drills and trying to do certain drills like that, or even playing one on one all the time and playing against good offensive players. Again, you can, you can work on anything. So being able to do that is is I think. I think that helped me out a lot.
00:17:11
Speaker 1: A lot of it is natural, but kids, you can also develop their skills, So make sure you put in the work, effort and effort. This is hard, bro talking about getting screened and getting blindsided by seven foot bodies.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say that's hard. All right, we are.
00:17:27
Speaker 1: Here with Celtics assistant coach, four time NBA champion and most importantly, in my opinion, one of the best storytellers in the history of the NA Sam Cassel.
00:17:37
Speaker 13: You don't understand the aspect of it, the mental aspect of it. You know, it's cold and it's you know, getting a little warm in June, it's kind.
00:17:45
Speaker 8: Of hot outside.
00:17:47
Speaker 10: Say the parade was pretty warm.
00:17:50
Speaker 4: It was a perfect day, perfect day, perfect data.
00:17:55
Speaker 8: It's been awesome. And our fans in Boston just like that was crazy.
00:18:00
Speaker 13: Win the two championships in Houston, and you know, people, I was you compare the fans. Houston has their own style of the fans, but these fans here are maniacs.
00:18:10
Speaker 8: Championship and trust we appreciated.
00:18:13
Speaker 13: Yeah, you know as a coach and as a player, I have I've done both here. You know what I'm saying. And it gets it gets better. Paul Pearson on the duck boat with me and said, was our championship? This this is good? I'm saying absolutely not. These people all here pain it. I don't remember I said, I do it. But it wasn't like this. This was crazy. People throwing bottles of champagne and beer tours. It was crazy, So I keep it up, fans, It's amazing.
00:18:44
Speaker 10: And I was on the last duck boat and the energy was still on another stock.
00:18:48
Speaker 11: No there was.
00:18:50
Speaker 13: We had the first the trophy, then j T and JB had the other trophy. It was just crazy. It was just crazy, man. That was Boston. Keep it up the.
00:18:59
Speaker 1: Way the way I explained it to people who asked me of like, what did it feel like that day? It literally felt like electricity was being plugged into you for the entire route. That was like what was in an hour and a half, almost two hours that route. But it's it's different than the in game environment because it's it's not nineteen thousand people. It's literally like millions of fans all screaming the entire time and it just never stopped. So that's how I kind of explained it's like electricity being plugged into you for two straight hours.
00:19:31
Speaker 8: I think anybody episode nineteen was drunk.
00:19:34
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. There were beers flying in all different directions and the cops were like laughing at it. I was like, this is how it's supposed to be.
00:19:42
Speaker 13: And one guy had a Magna Baba champagne he was trying to.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: No wasted, don't break it.
00:19:53
Speaker 10: No, we have Wig Grossbeck to thank for that too.
00:19:55
Speaker 9: Though.
00:19:56
Speaker 10: The tequila that was in every single duck boat it was this gold, huge, beautiful bottle and that was That was the moment that I will remember forever. Is Mike Gorman just taking shots straight from the bottle of sincoro.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: Just amazing.
00:20:11
Speaker 13: Just seeing Jeff twist on the double with us and just saying like he'd been through.
00:20:15
Speaker 8: This a few times.
00:20:17
Speaker 2: He's got four now.
00:20:19
Speaker 13: He's been through this, And just seeing him just sit back and just observe everything that's going on, just his.
00:20:26
Speaker 14: Smile and just like that's so cool.
00:20:29
Speaker 13: Wow, this is this is awesome, man, just seeing him, Just seeing a guy like that being able the organization for many many years, seeing him enjoying it.
00:20:38
Speaker 8: It's still enjoying it.
00:20:39
Speaker 2: He got five now, I said four. I think it's five now.
00:20:41
Speaker 8: Actually I thought, yeah, six.
00:20:43
Speaker 2: He's got all the ones in the eighties.
00:20:45
Speaker 15: And then just to see him enjoy the pain and the success we have his organizations haven't and him sitting back to smile and like like I've been through this before, saying like I said, Jeff, I said, twist doesn't get old, never gets old like this, especially in this town.
00:21:03
Speaker 16: Damn.
00:21:03
Speaker 10: From the moment you got here though, you went straight to work with Jason Tatum. Did you ask for that or is that something that Joe wanted you to do?
00:21:10
Speaker 13: Just No, I didn't asked what I wanted it and Joe gave it to me. And the thing that people don't understand about Jason Tatum, he's a very very coachable guy. He you know, like he allowed me to coach him hard and sometimes I had some hard conversations with him, so I knew that he wanted to be a champion.
00:21:30
Speaker 2: Do you share any of those No, not not necessarily.
00:21:33
Speaker 13: Like actually, there's some things we spoke about that some things that I needed him to do better on the basketball court, and he actually tries to do it. You know, some things we work on in practice, he actually try to get it done. And that's the comment to him, because Jason Tatum, that's not good at twisting.
00:21:54
Speaker 8: He's one of the top five players in the world.
00:21:57
Speaker 2: In the world, and we are seeing that this season in the.
00:22:00
Speaker 13: Top five right now three times first team might be three times in a row. So you don't get no better than that for a guy like that, But he allowed me to coach them. I have worked with some great players I worked with. I played with Keem Garnet, I played with the Kima lodger On. I coached Joelen b when he was the MVP. I coached List, So I s I see success. I know how success looks.
00:22:27
Speaker 8: I know.
00:22:28
Speaker 13: And he allowed me to voice my opinion towards him about his game.
00:22:33
Speaker 8: Now.
00:22:34
Speaker 13: He had to because he was the first team All Pro before I got here, you know, and I just told it continue that you have to do a B C and he and big upst them.
00:22:45
Speaker 11: He did it.
00:22:46
Speaker 8: He did it.
00:22:47
Speaker 13: He allowed me to coach him hard. Sometimes I get frustrated with him. And I watched the film. I said, it wasn't that bad.
00:22:57
Speaker 6: So I never.
00:22:57
Speaker 10: Because but you also know what he's capable of, and so you want him to reach that.
00:23:01
Speaker 13: I never go off my emotions right after the game, so I said, let me watch the film. Even though he might have some bad moments in the games. I never was like like god, damn it this and that. I said, let me watch the film. Then I watch it. Then I said, Okay, it wasn't that bad, but let's work on this, A, B and C. And I short to him. He listened to it. He like, let's get the work.
00:23:24
Speaker 2: Did you expect that when you walked in the door.
00:23:26
Speaker 8: Yes, yes, why yes?
00:23:28
Speaker 13: Because I you know, the league is the small lead, it's the big league is a small league.
00:23:32
Speaker 8: And everybody that has worked with Jason told me that, man, you go love working with the kid.
00:23:37
Speaker 2: Interesting.
00:23:37
Speaker 8: He's gonna work hard, he's he's good.
00:23:40
Speaker 13: And if you put your little bit of your your tough mentality, not giving the damn mentality towards him, he'll be fine.
00:23:49
Speaker 1: As they say, what reputation proceeds, that's myself.
00:23:52
Speaker 6: That's right, that's right.
00:23:53
Speaker 10: How much of it with him is mentality? And you want him to have that killer instinct.
00:23:58
Speaker 13: He has it, he has it, he has it, but we have we have a good team that he don't have to do everything.
00:24:04
Speaker 8: And the thing that.
00:24:08
Speaker 13: Hen thirty plus points give me for last, so people don't give him credit to sacrificing he did get getting Drew holiday.
00:24:15
Speaker 8: He gave up seven shots to night. Yeah, seven shots a night.
00:24:21
Speaker 13: In this league a lot of points and a lot of guys don't want to give us seven shots something night.
00:24:25
Speaker 8: So you know, I call to him all the time for that that.
00:24:28
Speaker 13: Okay, if we're playing pick more basketball and they switched a small guy on pazingis he's unselfish enough to gift sings the ball and that goes a lot, says a lot about him as a basketball player. That he's growing and he's still twenty.
00:24:49
Speaker 1: It's crazy, it's crazy crazy years this Yeah, that at least probably all right Baylor Shireman Anton Watson, we are making history right now.
00:25:00
Speaker 2: You know why? You do not know why?
00:25:02
Speaker 1: If you from the rafters has come up to me and this is the first episode that we have recorded up here in five years, so we came to you guys, that's five What have you guys like soaked in and learned so far and being not only like around the organization, but you're around these great players consistently every week, like you were there all training camp seeing how they prepare for a season. What have you guys taken from just like being here and being around those guys?
00:25:24
Speaker 17: You know, I think at least for me, it's just uh, you know a lot of those guys have routines, and I think that's pretty important. I think that you know, regardless of where you're at whether you're in Maine or in Boston. Having a routine and sticking with it, especially with you know, the travel and the play and just especially for your body. I think is probably the biggest thing that I've taken away just from all the guys, just having a routine and kind of just sticking with that and time.
00:25:47
Speaker 11: Yeah, I just say, like the mentality, even coach Joe, just how they approach the game, how they approach practice. You know, he tries to tries to bring you every single day and they're never satisfied. You know, they just want to change ship, but they want to win more, so you know.
00:26:02
Speaker 2: They do a lot more.
00:26:03
Speaker 11: Yeah, they they did a good job of bringing me and Baylor in and giving us that same mentality, and yeah, the standards high here.
00:26:10
Speaker 1: Does it feel like you guys just got drafted like the other day? Like, has have these months flown by?
00:26:15
Speaker 11: Okay?
00:26:16
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'd say low key too.
00:26:17
Speaker 2: It's like four or five months.
00:26:20
Speaker 6: A couple of weeks.
00:26:21
Speaker 17: Yeah, Yeah, there's a lot's happened since those four or five months, you know, training camp, Summer League training camp, Summer League training camp, Tabby Dabby, Yeah, like, yeah, there's been a lot that's gone, so.
00:26:31
Speaker 2: For sure, what was the trip overseas?
00:26:33
Speaker 11: Like? I thought it was. I thought it was pretty fun. That was my first time out the country, so, you know, the first time ever I'm in Bahamas. I've been in Bahamas, but yeah, I've never been out the country, so going to Abi Dhabi is cool. Experience that culture and even just yeah, first playing our first NBA game, like it was pretty dope.
00:26:51
Speaker 2: What was it like for you, Bill.
00:26:52
Speaker 17: Yeah, I'd say the same thing.
00:26:53
Speaker 11: It was.
00:26:53
Speaker 17: It was my first time out of the country as well, other than the Bahamas.
00:26:56
Speaker 1: And were those both for basketball Bahamas? Yeah, yeah, so basketball is taking you outside the US pretty much.
00:27:04
Speaker 17: But yeah, it was great. Like Anton said, it was kind of our first like NBA type minutes in the preseason, and it was just cool to go over there and kind of just you know, be immersed in that culture and kind of learn, you know, new things that you know you don't you don't necessarily know about until you're there.
00:27:21
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:27:21
Speaker 1: What else have you guys taken around, like particularly Jalen and Jason and those guys and the way that they approach the game, what they bring to the tablet like both ends of the court, because there's I mean you could probably count them on two hands of like the superstars in the league who do it at both ends.
00:27:37
Speaker 17: I mean, kind of what I said earlier, Just like the routines they have. You know, they're very anything in particular, I mean just like pre court, but you know before they get on the court, how they're taking care.
00:27:47
Speaker 6: Of their bodies.
00:27:48
Speaker 17: I mean, obviously, like it's a long year, they play a lot of minutes, so I think there's that, and then just like the details, they're focused on the details, like you said, on both ends of the court and just being in the right spot and trying to make the right reads all the time.
00:28:01
Speaker 1: Anten anything in particular you've taken from those guys, Yeah.
00:28:04
Speaker 11: I think the biggest thing I've noticed is like just the way they can be coached. Like, you know, they're two of the highest played players in the league. You know they've been in the league for a while, but you know they listened to the they listened to Joe and the game plan and you know they do they do what they have to do to win, So you know that's that's something you can respect. And yeah, just their coach ability.
00:28:28
Speaker 1: I know they came in early in September and you guys were all getting runs in before training camp. What was that like of like, I don't know if that's the first time you met them in person, but like actually getting on the court and playing against them or with them. I don't know what what the splits were, but what were those runs like of like for the first time being on the court with JT and JB.
00:28:45
Speaker 11: Yeah, it's kind of crazy just because you know, you're like, I'm here, you see you see them on TV all the time, and it's like you really here in the moment and you guarding JT. JB. And yeah, it's it was a cool moment once they first started practicing us.
00:28:59
Speaker 2: What do you remember, Yeah, it's kind of the same thing.
00:29:01
Speaker 17: You know, it was just a cool moment. You know, growing up, you know, watching them for the past six years however long they've been in and then sharing the court with them, it's kind of like that wild factor. But then you know, you start playing and you just realize, you know, just basketball at the end of the day. So but it was definitely a cool moment.
00:29:17
Speaker 2: How'd you guys do in those early scrimmages? Did you did?
00:29:20
Speaker 1: You know.
00:29:23
Speaker 11: We go like.
00:29:24
Speaker 1: Folks experienced the thrill of the open road no matter the conditions, with tires that are never under the weather. Discover the Michelin Cross climate too tire. To learn more, head over to michelinman dot com. All right, Peyton Pritchard having a career year across the board in terms of three pointers made, points per game, three point percenters, like all of it.
00:29:47
Speaker 18: The message I always give is just hard work. Now, maybe I should explain what it what hard hard is? Yeah it is because a lot of people don't really understand that. But ultimately, hard work will take you a long ways in this world. And whatever you decide to do, and if you put your mind to it and you grind it every day, then you'll.
00:30:07
Speaker 7: Accomplish your dreams.
00:30:09
Speaker 18: What is hard work to you, It's a setting a goal and waking up and accomplishing that goal every day. So and that's for me, Like as a kid, it was, you know, I used to tell my dad like where I wanted to be, what colleges I wanted to go to, and then you know, then me writing.
00:30:31
Speaker 7: What the plan was, what that looked like?
00:30:33
Speaker 18: So me getting better at ball handling, It was waking up before school at like six thirty six o'clock and dribbling a wait ball the freezing garage for thirty minutes in the morning and then you know, going to school.
00:30:45
Speaker 1: The fact that it was freezing help accel accelerate, maybe.
00:30:49
Speaker 7: Because the ball hurt. And yeah, there's a story.
00:30:54
Speaker 18: There was a story of like my fingers bleeding, and obviously it's it's a little it's been exaggerated a little bit, but you know, the cold weather with the like the weight ball, the way it was, it definitely like cuts some of my fingers, which I had to tape up. But then go to school during lunchtime. A lot of kids, you know, want to go to lunch with their friends, and I did that at times. But then there was a lot of moments that like I would be on the track, I would be be running, and then after school, my dad had a clinic, basketball clinic, and I would drive there right away after school and do another hour workout and then stay, eat, eat again, and then do another one. So I was doing that for at least five days a week. And so by the time in high school, well this is even in middle school in high school, and you know, and at the time I was scrawny, I was little, and like a lot of people did not think I would ever really make it. But I had like a dream for myself and I was never gonna let anybody tell me that I couldn't accomplish it. I was going to al everybody.
00:31:57
Speaker 1: So what actually happened that year, if you can take it since I and like we all know, like what actually happened on the court, Like it was just a loaded team and there were only so many minutes to go around, but you know, behind closed doors, what happened in your season and how you kind of attacked an approach to head conversations with the team. And then obviously, I mean Brad Stevens has made it abundantly clear even then He's like, we want Peyton here long term.
00:32:21
Speaker 18: So I mean, I mean, everybody knows I publicly wanted to be traded at the time. I wanted It wasn't nothing against organization or or the city of Boston.
00:32:34
Speaker 2: I wanted to play.
00:32:35
Speaker 18: I wanted to play something I love to do is play basketball. And to be honest, I was there was moments where I was kind of depressed. I was like very sad at the time, and and it was killing me watching him. But through that totally changed my mentality. And and I looked at it as like, you know, it's like almost like a red shirt year, Like this year is not going to define me. This isn't this isn't last year I'm ever going to play basketball. I'm going to get an opportunity, whether that's here or not or somewhere else. And I got to take advantage of that. So I went to work, I went to got better at my weaknesses and developed my strengths even more. And when I did eventually get the opportunity, I was I was never going to look back, which I feel like a lot of people and I see a lot of young dudes, they don't play and then they stop working.
00:33:24
Speaker 2: They hit that moment and to go in the other direction you want a lot. Yeah, we've seen it here for so Celtics.
00:33:30
Speaker 7: I mean, and I know what. I know why that is though.
00:33:33
Speaker 18: It's like these kids like are so talented. We're all the man in high school, we're the man in college. Everybody caters to you, the ball is in your hands, like everything is for you. So then the first time in their life you're going to be put in a professional level and they're like, you're not the man. You're gonna have to take a back seat tough. They're not catering to you. You know, you're gonna have to just figure it out. And a lot of people don't have to don't know how to mentally handle that. Lucky for me, I got a good support, supporting cast that.
00:34:04
Speaker 7: You know.
00:34:04
Speaker 18: I have two great parents too that played high level collegiate sports. My mom was a very high level gymnast Alklahoma, and my dad played football there and was a high level athlete as well. So now they didn't make it to the professional levels, but they they helped me navigating the emotions of it and like how to you know, how to handle it. And I feel like they always leaned on the work ethics side of it, and they were hard workers. So it's kind of what I dove into.
00:34:31
Speaker 1: We've got a little game we're gonna play right now. It's called half court heaths. Right, We're gonna go back and forth. We've got some questions here, and these are just we don't know if these are going to land with you and you're gonna have a good answer, maybe it's gonna miss all right, So this will be quick quick answers. Okay, I'll start it out. What's the weirdest pregame ritual you've ever seen from a teammate?
00:34:53
Speaker 18: Evan Fournier. He used to do this thing, like he said it because he had COVID is like just touching these two like little wooden.
00:35:03
Speaker 2: Honest, his vision was affected by I remember, Yeah, but.
00:35:06
Speaker 18: JT and them know they've seen it because it was like, I don't even know it's like two like things, and he would touch it. I was just like he would do it for like ten minutes, and what the heck is he doing?
00:35:17
Speaker 6: Yeah?
00:35:18
Speaker 2: All right, good answer.
00:35:20
Speaker 10: What's the hardest shot in the game of basketball?
00:35:25
Speaker 18: Well, that's different for different people. For you, hardest shot in the game of basketball for me, m I could tell you in an area that I think I would like to get better at. It's probably like my floater.
00:35:42
Speaker 10: I would say, going up against them floater, but.
00:35:44
Speaker 18: I usually prefer a little pop pull up shot, which I'm really good at.
00:35:49
Speaker 7: But I'd say my floater can be better.
00:35:51
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, we'll take that. What's the most important lesson you've learned since turning pro.
00:35:59
Speaker 7: Balance in life? Social battery?
00:36:04
Speaker 2: I like it.
00:36:04
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's I feel like you can.
00:36:07
Speaker 2: That's a great term, by the way to take that. Yeah, social bad that will carry you through.
00:36:13
Speaker 10: I feel like the rest of your life.
00:36:14
Speaker 18: Even I feel like I used to a lot of people will be in town and I would, you know, want to entertain, but like social battery is a real thing and can affect you.
00:36:25
Speaker 2: I stole your question.
00:36:26
Speaker 10: Sorry, Uh, what player have you studied the most and modeled your game after?
00:36:33
Speaker 18: I can't pick one, but I could tell you a lot of different people from Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, Fred Van Vliet a little bit. You know, growing up when I was going into my sophomore high school, Steve Blake was still in the league and he lived in my hometown, so we used to play one on one every day. So honestly, I probably took things from him.
00:36:57
Speaker 2: Just that's huge, Steve Blake's game.
00:36:59
Speaker 18: I also never won a game that summer killed me every day, and that's all right, that's for sure. I was fifteen at the time, so I definitely took things from him, all right.
00:37:11
Speaker 1: Phil pressy Man, you have had an interesting career here, particularly with the Boston South. Is there where you started at all right, as an under at the free agent, you're playing for Brad Stevens right when you walk in the door. Now he's running the show upstairs as president of Basketball Operations, where now you are coaching for him and for Joe Missoula Pill.
00:37:31
Speaker 10: What I forgot is your very first season, your first game was Brad Stevens first season and first game as well. What do you remember about those times? And how is it working for him now that he's the president of basketball Operations.
00:37:45
Speaker 19: Oh, I mean he's he has ability to you know, give you confidence. You know, as a player, he gave me confidence and now as a coach, he gives me confidence. And it doesn't matter if you're the you know, the number one on the team or the number now eighteen, number eighteen. He sees that everybody has a part, everybody has a role, and that's something that you know, I take, I don't take for granted. He talks about energy and energy is contagious, and I feel like that's in any team I know amongst your team, you guys have people who bring a lot of energy.
00:38:22
Speaker 2: Gotta have it, you gotta.
00:38:23
Speaker 14: You gotta have it.
00:38:24
Speaker 10: So basically the only thing I bring there.
00:38:26
Speaker 14: You go true. You gotta have you gotta have energy. He talks about attitude. You know, that's something that I try to bring every day. You know, there's gonna be good days, it's going to be bad days, but your attitude is something that you can control.
00:38:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you remember about that first season? Because it was it was a Celtics land. I mean, let's let's recall KG Pierce, Like those guys were just traded, so everyone was in like.
00:38:58
Speaker 6: Fresh.
00:38:59
Speaker 19: But that's how you know, oh, you know the Celtics fan base, that's how you know. You guys who are who are telling the story, That's how you know we have a strong culture. It's because even in the days where you're not winning a championship, can you still bring energy and you still have the you know, the faith in the team. You know, our last game, you know, you hurt the let's go Celtics. Like you don't hear that everywhere even when you're you know, I don't know how many won twenty games or something like that, and you hear the let's go Celtics. So that lets you know that. You know, Celtics fans, you know they're die hard and you know they want the best of the team. Whether you're you know, winning you know, sixty seventy games, or you're only winning twenty. It's all about energy. Are you bringing that positive you know that positive energy? And I think, you know, we did that that year, and that's something that I can build on. You know, in the future, I'm not always going to be coaching on great teams like we have now. There's gonna be times while I'm coaching on teams that only have twenty wins. So it's all about perspective. That's a perspective that I gained in my first year.
00:40:00
Speaker 1: All Right, we said we were going to talk about your dad. We've got to do it because he was an assistant coach for what twenty years in.
00:40:05
Speaker 10: The born in Boston.
00:40:07
Speaker 19: Now I was born in San Antonio, Texas, but I lived in Boston.
00:40:10
Speaker 2: That's crazy. I lived in Boston. As let's touch he was.
00:40:13
Speaker 1: He was an assistant here for four seasons exactly, two to six something around there.
00:40:19
Speaker 2: I remember, correct.
00:40:19
Speaker 1: If I can remember, Yeah, hey, Tom f I know, man, Hey, I remember meeting you and you were a rookie. Now here we are with you as an assistant coach. But yeah, what was the experience like of kind of growing up around the NBA with your dad being an assistant coach, including your time here in Boston.
00:40:34
Speaker 19: Yeah, it's you know, it was you know, I see the kids here now, like our Horford's son, you know, he's he's running around here. You know, you got Dobbin's kids, you got you know, Joe's son, like all these kids.
00:40:45
Speaker 2: Don't forget Deuce, you got Duce.
00:40:47
Speaker 10: Yeah, I like already all.
00:40:50
Speaker 19: These kids who are growing up in this you know, in this culture, they don't see it. It's just normal, right until you're out of it. So now that I'm in the coaching and my son's growing up, I'm like, man, he's he's in He's in a wonderful space right here, and I'm just so grateful for it. You know, being thirteen fourteen living in Boston, I was able to be around Tony Allen, you know, Paul Preyer, Pierce, you know, those guys kind of impacted me to make me believe I can make it to the NBA. So there's gonna be one kid or two kids that are in this in this building every single day. They're probably gonna be in the NBA. And it's gonna be because of you know, Jason Tatum, It's gonna be because of Peyton Pritcher, you know, out those guys, their work ethic is what is going to push those younger kids to be who they are in fifteen years.
00:41:34
Speaker 1: That's crazy perspective to have because like you've literally seen, yeah you've been a part of it and seeing it happen, and now you're like watching it happen to the next generation.
00:41:42
Speaker 19: Is gonna it is, it's gonna happen.
00:41:43
Speaker 10: Should it help you when you got to the league to know just kind of how everything worked and to kind of give you an advantage in that way.
00:41:50
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is.
00:41:51
Speaker 19: You know, it almost puts it like in your subconscious mind. Like if you're like looking at Peyton Princher every single day doing ball handler, if you're looking at Jalen Brown chooting extra threes after practice, you're looking at these star players work hard, it's almost like it's you know, it is what it is, Like You're just like, oh, that's how it's supposed to be, and that's kind of how I grew up, and you know I was able to make it to the highest level, you know, so you know, I just pay it. I just my job is to pay it forward.
00:42:18
Speaker 6: You know.
00:42:19
Speaker 1: It's a next serration, all right, it's storytime growing up around the NBA.
00:42:23
Speaker 2: You just kind of touched on it.
00:42:24
Speaker 1: You're behind the scenes with Paul Pierrece, with Tony Allen, guys like that. This is the Mega Boston Celtics Crossover podcast episode. We've got view from the Rafters represented Ray here, We've got John Corrals with Lockdown Celtics. We've got Chris Forsburg with Celtics Talk. And last and certainly least.
00:42:42
Speaker 2: Is Jay King.
00:42:43
Speaker 1: We're talking about being around the team all the time. One of the most unique parts of that is being around Joe Missoula all the time.
00:42:50
Speaker 2: Things have changed. You know, since the first day that we all found.
00:42:53
Speaker 1: Out that he was going to be the head coach of the Celtics, we all didn't really know what to expect. I would assume from from all you guys as well.
00:42:59
Speaker 20: Certainly didn't know that it was going to be like this, But yeah, I got.
00:43:02
Speaker 1: With a championship within a couple of seasons and some unique answers in the in the media room. What have you all learned about him? Especially you, because you get a lot of one on one time with him. What have you guys learned about him over the last two years since he took over, since that first day when he was named head coach.
00:43:19
Speaker 5: I want to start down there because I'm more interested because my daily life is you guys getting your shot at him for however long that lasts.
00:43:26
Speaker 4: And then there's.
00:43:26
Speaker 16: Sometimes like ninety second, there's a period of time between when we start on the air and the period of time when Joe and I are just talking, and that period of time every night is basically talking about everything that you guys just had last Well.
00:43:39
Speaker 9: You probably have a better view of that than we do, though, But it's crazy because when he took over, he was the assistant coach who strapped a ping pong paddle the Romeo Langage. Yeah, you know, he didn't. We didn't know him much more than that. Obviously, we talked to him from time to time, We had a little bit of time with him, but then all of a sudden.
00:43:58
Speaker 6: He's the face of the Boston Celtics.
00:43:59
Speaker 9: Yeah, and I think for that first year was very challenging for him, just kind of learning everything that came with that. I think he was obviously an insanely talented basketball mind. We've seen that, so obviously not a great perspective. Like everyone jumped on board, even that first year, which was so rocky, nobody jumped off board. But that first year was really hard for a number of reasons.
00:44:24
Speaker 10: Yeah, think for him, but challenging for all of us as well, trying to adjust to that and find ways to get the best out of Joe when he wasn't always that excited to be there.
00:44:35
Speaker 20: We just didn't know his personality right, Like, we didn't know how you had to approach it, how you had to have another question ready, because if you don't, you're thatw does He's going to unclip the mic and go and so. But what I love is the only interaction I'd had with him before he took over the head coach. We were in Charlotte Kemba's game, first game back there or something, I think, and he was Kemba's kind of guy, and Kenby told me something like, yeah, I did. He did this drill where he had to make a certain number of shots and a certain amount time. He gave me the number, and I was happening to be in the elevator and I went, you know, Hey, Ken told me he made you know in two minutes and forty seconds, and he just looked at me when he told you that, and then he just walked off the elevator.
00:45:11
Speaker 2: It didn't follow.
00:45:12
Speaker 20: Upthing we used, and I was like, huh, that was abrupt and then I was like, years later, I was like, Okay, now it all makes sense. The other thing I always think takeaway is the only scouting report we had was that when Derek got here in that mid season trade, that he's got sent to Joe and like learned the defense because Joe is going to teach you everything.
00:45:29
Speaker 2: So I always had this.
00:45:30
Speaker 20: Impression that like always a defensive mastermind and this is this is his thing, and all we do is talk about offense and three pointers. So yeah, you know, you always pigeonhole someone, but again, you're just getting to know him was the big thing. And knowing what makes him tick.
00:45:42
Speaker 2: I think.
00:45:42
Speaker 4: I think the thing that stands out to me about Joe is that he is very much his own person. He is not one to play to the convention of like he doesn't play the game right. He's not a politician out here, He's.
00:45:55
Speaker 2: Not He's not really really bad one.
00:45:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, he doesn't humor anybody yet, right, he doesn't. He doesn't take a question like a lot of times you just put a question out there. Sometimes sometimes you ask a question because no one's asked anything yet, and it's it's starting to be like anybody's got a question, and like you just throw you just throw something out there to get the ball rolling. And he does not. He doesn't play along, and it's a challenge.
00:46:21
Speaker 2: I think it's he wants you to come prepared to work. Well, yeah, even though it has nothing to do with.
00:46:26
Speaker 10: It, really wants to demand that you come fro You'll be rewarded.
00:46:29
Speaker 4: If you But it's not even just being prepared, like yeah, everybody should be prepared going, you know, coming to work. It's it's that he has he has his own way of seeing things, and there's he's done really well trying to like meet us not quite in the middle, but get a little bit closer to where we are about, Like, okay, I get what you're trying to do.
00:46:52
Speaker 1: All of us have been around the team for a long time at this point. What's everyone's most interesting or favorite story that they've covered either on the podcast? Are just within you know, your writing responsibilities of covering the team.
00:47:05
Speaker 4: My favorite was back when Marcus Smart was here. I don't know if we want to go that.
00:47:08
Speaker 2: Far back, but go back as far as you want, John.
00:47:11
Speaker 4: So, my absolute favorite story that I did is like the silliest little thing is if we remember, there were like consecutive games where the ball got stuck at the shot clock and Marcus with the Yeah, like Marcus got the around the right, like once he was on the floor and he knocked out, and once he was on the bench and he went over and he knocked off and people were like mocked, like cheering, like MVP, MVP. So I like caught him on the side and I said, you know, how funny was that just just to get like a little fun quote, and it turned into this big like you know, there was a time where they wouldn't have even they would have booed me or something. That was like, now to hear the MVP chance, it shows how much I've come along in this.
00:47:51
Speaker 2: City I came about from taking I was like.
00:47:53
Speaker 4: Oh my god, this is like gold from Marcus. So this the silliest little basketball being stuck on the backboard turned into Marcus kind of like a story about how far he's come in the eyes of fans in the city of Boston. So that was that was like really cool for.
00:48:10
Speaker 1: Me, is that what you guys have all found is like it's those little things that you pull out that people are probably like, wait, that's a story, and then you go a little deeper and something's there.
00:48:18
Speaker 20: I mean, for me, it was it season because I was such an open book, Like we would show up. He broke into a train station to see his Nike ad campaign one day and like he just.
00:48:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, like he was again.
00:48:30
Speaker 20: Remember he had gone from being I mean bench guy six man, but then like all of a sudden, he's in the MVP commerce.
00:48:35
Speaker 2: He was a six man here right the way for it.
00:48:39
Speaker 20: But he never he always still approached it like he was the last gat on the bench, and you know, he was willing to tell you like he was again an open book. And I will romanticize that season forever, not only because of like what happened that year and like how improbable it was, you know, probably second only to last season in the championship, was the most enjoyable season to ever be around, because I just went in with such low expectations and he made it so much fun. And we always say, right, like we we don't cheer for the players. Well maybe maybe.
00:49:03
Speaker 1: To me, come absolutely we cheer for stories, right, see me in the immediate section when we make a picture.
00:49:10
Speaker 8: I am that.
00:49:11
Speaker 20: But we do cheer for storylines. And like, you know, you cheer for good people too, right, and like I achieve among them. And so i'd like, I hate how the way that ended, you know, like it was it wasn't particularly fair to him. I understood it. But that season was awesome and I'll never forget that year.
00:49:27
Speaker 6: That was unbelievable.
00:49:29
Speaker 9: I mean that playoff run that he had with his hip herding with his sister just passed away.
00:49:34
Speaker 6: He had thirty three points.
00:49:36
Speaker 9: I believe it was a day after his sister passed away.
00:49:38
Speaker 6: In the first game of the playoffs.
00:49:40
Speaker 9: Right knock the tooth dot spent like eight hours.
00:49:43
Speaker 2: Didn't he lose a tooth throw?
00:49:44
Speaker 10: No, No, that's too much to what you've already said.
00:49:46
Speaker 9: No, he did and then had fifty something what would have been.
00:49:49
Speaker 2: His sister's birthday in the playoffs.
00:49:51
Speaker 9: It was that was just an incredible run and proof that like you don't need to win a title to leave a legacy.
00:49:57
Speaker 6: That people reminder for a long time.
00:50:00
Speaker 9: My favorite story was about Marcus smart Too. It was about his AAU and his AAU days, and it was just because it reminded me of MYAU.
00:50:09
Speaker 6: His team was crazy.
00:50:10
Speaker 9: They stayed together from the time they were like.
00:50:12
Speaker 6: Ten to seventeen.
00:50:14
Speaker 9: But they had parents cussing the kids out, but like loving it. They had parents getting fights, they had the kids. Obviously Marcus probably a little fiery back then like he is now and just working out. It reminded me of my AAU time. So I love that.
00:50:29
Speaker 20: What about yeah, Niko, well what's been your favorite?
00:50:32
Speaker 1: So my stupidest story that I just really enjoyed telling it actually had to do with Gordon Hayward. So he came into a This was back in the Waltham days. He was at the practice facility and he just randomly was like drinking a bottle of water and someone was like, is that cold and he was like, no, it's not. I don't drink cold water. And I was like why. In my head, I'm like, why does he not drink cold water? And so I came back to our offices and I pitched my boss. I'm like, hey, Gordon just said he doesn't drink cold water. I have no idea why, and I really want to find out and write a story about it. He's like, that seems like something no one would care about, and I'm like, I.
00:51:06
Speaker 2: Think people will like it.
00:51:07
Speaker 1: So we wound up running with a story and I talked to him and basically the moral of the story is that he perceives cold water is when you drink it, your body has to warm it up. Then you waste energy by having to warm up the water.
00:51:20
Speaker 4: So Joe Mischila would make him he would love that.
00:51:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would want to challenge him.
00:51:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think to your point John earlier, just like those little nuggets that come out that you're like, Okay, that's something I want to go a little deeper on, and then you never know what's going to come out of that.
00:51:35
Speaker 4: I noticed that no one has mentioned this current team of players as their favorite stories, because it's the most buttoned up, professional, don't tell you a thing type of team. You have to go back to Marcus and it and well, that's what I was going to say.
00:51:47
Speaker 10: My favorite moment of all time was an Al Horford interview in Cleveland during the playoffs, and it was the first time he'd ever been a Lebron James team. They did it in Cleveland, and it was the only time I've ever we're seeing Al like out.
00:52:02
Speaker 20: Of his Yeah.
00:52:06
Speaker 10: It was he was still on the floor.
00:52:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it was the experience.
00:52:12
Speaker 10: Yes, And it was just that is who Al is on the floor. That's not who we get to see, That's not who we talked to. But he was still in that moment and it is the most un al like moment that I have experienced with him. And it was just so genuine and pure and it was awesome.
00:52:27
Speaker 4: I'll just throw out there that I think that's more Al.
00:52:30
Speaker 2: Than we really think.
00:52:32
Speaker 21: That is l He just has the ability to turn it off to what I'm saying just now, like all of these guys, like when we leave the locker room, I'm sure just incredible personality. Just they have this incredible ability to just like but.
00:52:49
Speaker 1: Even Jason, right like, I don't think any I don't think any of us personally know like the real Jason that he is in his day to day life because he's just doing me.
00:53:00
Speaker 4: And every once in a while we're standing there waiting for a scrum and you hear him talking to a couple of his friends and you're.
00:53:07
Speaker 2: Like, oh, he personality.
00:53:10
Speaker 8: Look at this.
00:53:11
Speaker 4: So he's joking and busting chops and all that stuff. You're like, oh, why can't you do that with us? And he comes up to us and it's like, yeah, you know, just trying to get better. Come on.
00:53:20
Speaker 1: He lets it out in his commercials though at least this is the velvet rope nature and the evolution of the league.
00:53:27
Speaker 5: In Max's days, they were flying commercial you know, you'd be with him in.
00:53:30
Speaker 2: The airports and media would fly with them.
00:53:32
Speaker 5: So obviously, you know, Abby and I we get to see things that people aren't going to see that even general media isn't going to see it in quote unquote real lives.
00:53:40
Speaker 4: But the best stories and the.
00:53:42
Speaker 5: Reason we're not talking about it because that team won the championship and they were meticulous and they weren't touched last year and they walked backwards into it and it's great and it'll be remembered forever like the O eight team will. But it's the little stories like Isaiah's sister, of the thousands of games that I've now done and I've called championships and all of it, I to this day vividly. Remember when you said think of a moment, the one that pops into my head was Leon Poe playing for the Celtics as a rookie, just trying to find his way.
00:54:10
Speaker 4: We get to Oakland where he grew up.
00:54:14
Speaker 5: Outside the Old Oracle Arena, they would have flea markets every weekend.
00:54:19
Speaker 2: He and his mother would go there to make ends meet.
00:54:21
Speaker 5: They would sell things at the flea market outside this arena. And I got to be there to call the moment when he walked onto that floor as an NBA plays us, And that still gives me a little goit like because the championships are great and it's what's going to be remembered forever. But Isaiah coming here and starting his career over again in the most symbiotic relationship I've ever seen in the NBA. The Celtics needed him, he needed the Celtics and it was the perfect match.
00:54:44
Speaker 2: Those are the stories that you tell.
00:54:45
Speaker 5: Those are the goosebump moments, and that's what makes fans and what they remember.
00:54:49
Speaker 4: I'll for one moment out but two of the same night, the championship night, Joe coming out with his wife walking around hand in hand. So I was out in the arena. I love working in the media section in the arena when everything is done and gone, and he's kind of like a big office. It's so great. So Joe was out there walking around with his wife and that was a nice moment. He's like, I asked him about it. He's like, I thought we were alone, like new No, I don't know.
00:55:14
Speaker 2: Two hundred and three hundred people in there.
00:55:15
Speaker 4: And then four in the morning or so, and you know, we're still writing, we're still doing stuff and like just about wrapping up. Confetti's still on the floor and Jalen walks in post party, so he's celebrated a little bit and and he walks in and like like the guards down and he's got his friends with him in the m v P trophy and he just walks out and he's just smiled. He's like, what a beautiful site.
00:55:41
Speaker 2: You guys are playing ball.
00:55:42
Speaker 4: There are a couple of people ship around and and he like got the ball and was like, all right, what are you down, Like, Jalen.
00:55:49
Speaker 2: Please don't tell me.
00:55:53
Speaker 4: I was like, not, don't dunk on me. Please don't try to take a step right now, because there's con over the floor. You've been celebrating a bit. I don't want the story to have that. I have to tell it to be like, why did Jalen Brown get hurt? Why is he in crutches on the duct boat? He did not do that, thankfully, But that moment of Jalen kind of taking it in like the most real, genuine moment. So I have to share that just because it is of the current and it's like Jalen just soaking it in and just what a beautiful sight it was.
00:56:23
Speaker 2: It was a great You said there was another one? Is there another one?
00:56:25
Speaker 8: Was that one in the Joe Joe walking around?
00:56:27
Speaker 6: Yeah?
00:56:27
Speaker 1: That's I mean to your point, like, the genuine moments are the ones that I mean, all of the team gets to see behind closed doors. The guys are completely genuine there, but they just have their guard up a little bit when they're around.
00:56:38
Speaker 2: The media, so we don't always get to see who they really are.
00:56:44
Speaker 8: That's a different story.
00:56:45
Speaker 5: That's a different story. Yeah, he's winking to the fans. Yeah, you know what we have seen, Jason. You do see a moment every night because when he locks eyes with Deuce, or when Dukes runs over to Dukes runs over to him in the middle of a game or whatever it is. That's because that's that's the guy.
00:57:05
Speaker 4: That's his entire adult life.
00:57:07
Speaker 2: He has We've all had adult lives at some level before kids. He hasn't.
00:57:10
Speaker 4: I don't think j has.
00:57:11
Speaker 6: Well.
00:57:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he's a light over there.
00:57:14
Speaker 6: Come on, I'm still a child with a child.
00:57:17
Speaker 4: His nickname is the Kid.
00:57:18
Speaker 2: I'm still a child with a child.
00:57:20
Speaker 6: I love it. Thank you guys for coming on.
00:57:22
Speaker 2: This has been an awesome crossover.
00:57:24
Speaker 1: I think the biggest mega podcast crossover that will ever happen in the South.
00:57:28
Speaker 2: The event of the season is it is all might say, so, thank you all for watching.
00:57:34
Speaker 1: We appreciate you for listening and watching all of our podcast across the board
00:57:37
Speaker 2: And hope you're all having a great start to the new year.
Speaker 1: Welcome to season five of you from the rafters behind the scenes with the Boston Celtics.
00:00:05
Speaker 2: We're sitting here having these conversations.
00:00:07
Speaker 3: Which one sticks out to you?
00:00:08
Speaker 4: What do we craft?
00:00:08
Speaker 2: Or we just want a championship?
00:00:10
Speaker 5: That probably happens a lot.
00:00:11
Speaker 4: We do this every year. Right, leave this This.
00:00:13
Speaker 6: Is hard, bro.
00:00:14
Speaker 7: I never thought of it that way.
00:00:15
Speaker 8: Thank you for that be a part of that winning atmosphere.
00:00:20
Speaker 1: All right, we're in the Hourbacks studio just downstairs across the hall from where Joe Missula's office is here at the practice facility.
00:00:27
Speaker 2: Joe first, thank you for coming on.
00:00:29
Speaker 5: Yeah, of course you could be coaching anywhere. You could be coaching an expansion team, a team that had just started, a team that doesn't have a history.
00:00:35
Speaker 2: Why is it important for.
00:00:36
Speaker 5: Twenty three year olds who are in the NBA and haven't necessarily heard Why is an important one they put this uniform on to know about Bill Russell at right, hour Back and the history of the organization.
00:00:49
Speaker 3: I mean, I would say because of the success, but not just on the court. I would say, you know, if you're going to play here, if you're going to work here, every organization is always looking for but to be a part of something bigger than themselves. And the only way to understand that is to understand the history. And you know, because of the way the organization has been run for years and years and years. There's a reason why things are the way they are now, and it's because of you know, the past, whether it's successes, whether it's failures, but mostly it's the people that come across here. And I thought that was also important after we won. I wanted to make sure that all the people that worked here between the spaces of eighteen and twenty four get the same amount of credit that we got because they were planting a ton of seeds that were probably you know, more important at that time that just took a little bit of time to come to fruition, you know. And so when you work for this team, there's a burden, there's an expectation, there's a responsibility, but it's because of you know, how it's been run for such a long time and the success that players and coaches and people around organization I've had on and off the court, and you know, that's what you want to be a part of that.
00:01:55
Speaker 1: And speaking on that not manye, I don't know if this is public, and I'm going to make a public in a private way. But you, in a way, you thanked every single person in the organization after the season ended for all the hard work this But I've never experienced that from a player or a coach who's ever come through these doors in the sixteen years that I've been here.
00:02:13
Speaker 2: So thank you for that. But what made me boss? You thanked you for anything? Nor will it?
00:02:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly.
00:02:20
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you also shouldn't want to be thanked for anything. You should just do it because you're supposed to do it. Yeah, you know. But I thought it was important because, uh, when you have everybody on the on the in the right seat on the bus heading in the right direction, great things can happen. And I also see it's easy for parts of the organization to feel less than or not as valued as others. And at the end of the day, if everybody's not trying to be the head coach in their role, we can't achieve like, you know, high high level of a successful organization and not counting wins. And so it was just important that everybody knew, uh, you know, everything they do is the most important thing for the team, for the organization. And the second piece of that is there's so many interactions that because of the like these organizations are getting so much bigger. Uh, there's so many interactions that the players have before they even get to the court, you know, and if you don't value those interactions, like I was saying, like the like Nate eccley is the first person he sees everyone come in the door, and so the way he carries himself, Yeah, Like the way he carries himself is super important.
00:03:28
Speaker 9: Uh.
00:03:29
Speaker 3: The kitchen staff or usually see the guys first because they go right there before, and so the way they cook, how they greet the like, that's going to make an impact on how the guys perform. And then like you know, if you walk through a player's perspective of our building, they usually see Nate first, and then they see the kitchen staff, and then they see they may see like you know, some of the front office sitting in that little pool area, and then they see the uh, the sports science and like we're the last people that they see, and so every interaction that has had is super important to them getting on the floor, you know, ready to feel valued, but also ready to like, you know, we've got to be at our best.
00:04:09
Speaker 1: Well, listen, you just talked about the people that came before you, and I know you've got a connection, like literally you've touched him. Read hourback, Sean has I. I did not have that ability. He passed away before I started here. But take us through that relationship of you meeting him back in the day.
00:04:24
Speaker 2: You went to a few of his camps. Yeah. Uh, and then you've.
00:04:27
Speaker 1: Literally tried to pull some of the way he coached and his philosophy's organizationally not only just with the team, but organizationally, and pull them into what you do on a daily basis.
00:04:37
Speaker 10: Yeah.
00:04:37
Speaker 3: I mean, I mean at the time, like I probably shook his hand once, like yeah, once summer.
00:04:42
Speaker 2: That's once more than a lot of people did. But but he would.
00:04:44
Speaker 3: Always come to the camps and he would I think it was Brandeis University. If you walk in and you go up the steps, there's three courts on the top floor, and he would sit on court one underneath the basket and he would watch all the games in the afternoon. And uh, you know, he spoke to the people from time to time. But if you ever listen to him, you know, it just comes down to how do you manage talent, how do you manage success? How do you build a competitive process oriented mindset towards greatness?
00:05:12
Speaker 1: Right?
00:05:12
Speaker 3: And I think that's kind of what we're all after, you know, and him and the players, and you know, even in the eighties, like every like I said, every team has embodied Celtic basketball, you know. And that was another huge thing was connecting. I don't want to say reconnecting, because I don't ever think there was a disconnect, but just like doubling down on the identity to the city. I think Drew mentioned that in one of his interviews about like we kind of play like the city and like that's the goal, Like you got to be a can we swear on this we're on YouTube, He's got to be a motherfucker.
00:05:46
Speaker 2: Like you just got like that's.
00:05:47
Speaker 3: Just the easiest way.
00:05:48
Speaker 2: In fact, you swore last year, so you're good.
00:05:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, all right, good.
00:05:50
Speaker 3: So like you just got to like we embody what the city represents of togetherness, chip on your shoulder, it's just Celtic basketball. It's just bigger than the sport itself. It's a you know, it's a mindset towards a community.
00:06:03
Speaker 1: You wanted to do that, Like going into last season, you made it very clear to the staff, to the team why like why was that so important and how did it help?
00:06:11
Speaker 3: Because I think that's that that's the recipe for success is I kind of learned it. I learned it studying the championship teams here over the years, but I felt it the year my college team went to the Final four, like, we didn't become a great team until we started playing something bigger than ourselves and until we built a connection to the state of West Virginia and kind of took on that personality like when we when we started to embody that we took it to a different level and kind of I kind of saw it on a smaller scale. And here, I just think the fans deserve that. They're they're smart, they've seen high level basketball for a long long time, so they know what good basketball looks like. So you're not going to trick them.
00:06:49
Speaker 2: And as you said, they'll let you know when they don't.
00:06:51
Speaker 3: See and they should.
00:06:52
Speaker 2: I mean that they should.
00:06:53
Speaker 3: They they they're they're one of the higher IQ audiences you know that I've experienced and so that and you know, being from here, I know how to carry that chip on your shoulder to have that that mentality. And so I thought it was like this is who we have to be, Like we got to embody.
00:07:10
Speaker 1: We're gonna play a quick one here and this is called no context quotes. So I'm gonna read out some of your quotes and you just give us some of the context around them. Funny, We'll start off with the easy one. Nobody cares, no one, right, I.
00:07:23
Speaker 2: Mean, isn't that perfect for what you want this year to be?
00:07:26
Speaker 3: And nobody My favorite book in the Bible is Ecclesiastes, right, and it talks a lot about duality, right, Like it talks a lot about like what you do is the most important thing and it doesn't matter at all that to me is what we do, like what we wake up every day. We have to do it because it's the most important thing. But no one really cares like it's.
00:07:45
Speaker 2: It like there's our context.
00:07:47
Speaker 3: Like you're ever go to a funeral, people can't stop telling to some people can't stop telling jokes, you know what I mean, Like like you're there, the guy's dead, but like you know, like a week later, like you just can't do anything about.
00:07:58
Speaker 1: It, say, nobody cares like I'll remember that. That's why I look at that cast.
00:08:03
Speaker 2: Get all right, short eulogy when one.
00:08:06
Speaker 1: Day, all right, next one, I'm always up to get knocked out.
00:08:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's poor.
00:08:13
Speaker 2: What's the context?
00:08:13
Speaker 3: I think in order to go after success, you have to understand the other side of failure.
00:08:17
Speaker 2: All right, love it. I'm a big spike guy.
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Oh that's a huge weakness of mine. Why I just I don't know. I gotta work on that. That's how I know I'm not humble because.
00:08:25
Speaker 2: On some might say it's a strength. All right.
00:08:27
Speaker 1: Could I think you said this one to us on media Day. Actually, I think sometimes not having a message is a message.
00:08:33
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:08:35
Speaker 3: Why, it just shows that you you don't have a predetermined perspective on how you're going to go about a situation.
00:08:41
Speaker 1: I happen to be around when you said this one as well. This is about running a marathon, I would just go until I die.
00:08:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's important, just go until you die.
00:08:50
Speaker 3: It's like it's the idea of like it's easy to put limitations on yourself. I think we spend more time putting limitations on ourselves physiologically, psychologically than the actually.
00:09:00
Speaker 5: There, particularly when you were the one who crossed the finished line first.
00:09:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, a couple more. We're all villains in someone's eyes. Where did that one come from?
00:09:09
Speaker 3: That one is very important because, especially in the social media area, we have a tendency to say someone is good or bad, and we're all really about the same, Like if you I learned this the other I learned this about a month ago. I was driving to school. I was driving to work from taking my kids to school, and there was two crosswalks. I wasn't paying attention driving, so I missed the first crosswalk pretexting. Probably I missed the first crosswalk. The guy on the side of the crosswalk kind of like gave me a dirty look, like you know, what the hell, like you're not going to stop. So I learned my lesson. Two lights later, I stopped at the crosswalk and someone else didn't. And that person deemed me a good person and they were like, oh see, like gave me a look of two minutes yeah, like oh you stopped, and like you're a better person than that guy that didn't stop. And I was sitting there and I was like, two minutes ago, that guy wanted to kill me. I could have like hurt someone physically, and now I'm getting deemed so like we're all really about the same. We just we're all just you know, I think some people.
00:10:03
Speaker 1: This is the difference between Joe Missoula and someone like me, where like you're always learning lessons.
00:10:07
Speaker 2: I feel like you're gonna leaves better.
00:10:10
Speaker 1: I don't know how we're gonna make you better, but something tells me you're gonna leave here.
00:10:13
Speaker 3: But I was a villain in that guy's eyes. Yeah, and I was like the greatest person in the world.
00:10:17
Speaker 6: Women's no.
00:10:17
Speaker 5: Acting coaches teach actors about playing quote unquote bad guys in movies.
00:10:23
Speaker 2: They always remember this, The villain is the hero of his own story.
00:10:27
Speaker 1: Yes, all right, last one before we let you go. There's no fouls in a war. You either win or you die.
00:10:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's pretty simple.
00:10:36
Speaker 2: Where did it come from?
00:10:36
Speaker 11: Though?
00:10:37
Speaker 2: I have no idea. I was just that was a playoff.
00:10:39
Speaker 1: So why did you deliver that to your basketball team who was not in a literal war, but in a physical war.
00:10:45
Speaker 2: I guess you could say it's a good.
00:10:47
Speaker 4: Thing they want.
00:10:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jalen gave that one.
00:10:49
Speaker 2: Then, Yeah, the Celtics would be in trouble if they didn't I think.
00:10:51
Speaker 3: We were at halftime and like we were complaining about a call, and I was just like, I just kind of lost it for a second. I was just like, dude, you can't get followed, Like you just can't get followed right now. We just don't have time to get bombed, just like.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: I just can't do it all right now, We've got some context around.
00:11:05
Speaker 2: No context quotes from Joe Mazzoli.
00:11:07
Speaker 4: All right.
00:11:07
Speaker 1: We do not give financial advice here on View from the Raptors, but we do talk about the Stock Exchange. It is the Stock Exchange episode with Drew Holliday and Derek White and Sean Grand He's over there as well.
00:11:18
Speaker 2: Fellas.
00:11:19
Speaker 1: The nickname the Stock Exchange just came out at some point last season. What did you think about that when when it rolled in and you heard it. Your dad might have had a little bit to do with that as well.
00:11:28
Speaker 2: Right, he has a lot to do with everything.
00:11:31
Speaker 12: I think he came up with it because I was like, did you really come everywhere? Did you see us somewhere? He said no, I thought of himself. So I was impressed by his creativity.
00:11:41
Speaker 1: So Drew, Drew liked it, So there we go. Drew would you think when when Derek told.
00:11:46
Speaker 11: You no, I thought it was cool again his dad thinking of it. That's yeah, super coot it.
00:11:51
Speaker 2: That's what he does.
00:11:52
Speaker 1: It's a unique things to put out on social media for anyone who doesn't understand why they're called the stock exchange steels blocks you combine them stocks. These guys had two hundred and seventy five of them last season just between the two of you, you were one of just two backcourts in the NBA to log two hundred and seventy five or more stocks combined, So congrats on that. But you were also one of only four starting backcourts in the last forty years to be selected to the All Defensive team in the same season, so that's a pretty significant accomplishment. Why do you think you guys are so good together defensively?
00:12:32
Speaker 11: I mean, well, Derek's easy to play with. I think how he approaches the game, not just offensively, but defensively. He makes reads that are I mean nobody else can do. You see how he will come over a screen and just block a shot, or chase down and like chase down somebody and block a shot, or coming out and just black a shot. I feel like his instincts on the defensive end make it easy for me to react. So if he's not getting the I guess I'm trying to get a still because I'm not going to beat him in blocks.
00:13:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, although you weren't that far behind.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I know last year, in fact, you had your highest block total in the last five seasons with fifty three, so it was I mean it.
00:13:11
Speaker 5: Robed off a little bit when it matters when there's ten seconds to go in the playoff game.
00:13:16
Speaker 2: Blocked, it's blocked, for sure.
00:13:18
Speaker 12: But I mean Drew's instincts are crazy too, Like you get beat and then as you know, Drew's there and uh get in deflection, just active hands and uh, I mean he makes it easy for all of us. So it's nice having him on our side. And uh, just kind of creating havoc.
00:13:38
Speaker 5: For young kids watching want to become great defenders. I suppose you cannot stress how important it is to be able to communicate verbally with the guys you're playing with and have that connection.
00:13:49
Speaker 11: For sure. I think we've shown it, even though our offense is probably the best offense in the league last year and for a while in history. By the way, not just lest sorry, sorry, let's so short. Our defense was really good. And I think a lot of it is communication, knowing what we want to do on the court, knowing how we're going to switch or do schemes, knowing what like tendencies just like they have on offense, like we have tendencies on defense. Like there's ways that I like to kind of I'm going to If I know I'm going to bait somebody, I like to go maybe this way compared to that way. But the communication I feel like we have, it's a lot. But sometimes it's like it's not verbal. Sometimes it's the way you move. Sometimes it's me reading Derek and something that he does, and I can react to what he's doing him knowing that if I react that way, he reacts to what I do. I think that that comes with time and being able to play with each other on the court for time. But like I said earlier, or like you said earlier, verbally, having somebody behind you telling you where to go, what to do, this guy's coming. I grew up in an era where you had KG just killing you on the screens. I would love to know that this man is about to come in on my right side and kill me so I can learn how to get around the screen. So I think he's huge.
00:15:09
Speaker 2: Did you get that communication back in the day.
00:15:12
Speaker 11: No, that's I think that's how it became such a good defender, like avoiding screens because yeah, I mean, and you can move you know, KG. They were just letting him do whatever. Oh yeah, yeah he was known instead of moving screen all the time, stick that hip.
00:15:27
Speaker 6: Out all the time.
00:15:28
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, yeah, I'm good.
00:15:32
Speaker 1: Name drop right there. What do you guys think? Just what makes a great perimeter defender?
00:15:40
Speaker 12: Like you said, just knowing what what the game plan is going in, what we're trying to take away, especially at this level, Like guys are so good, they're going to score, they're gonna get their numbers. But how can we limit them having a crazy night? How can we keep them off the free throw line? So just knowing, like what makes guys come, makes them successful, and just try to limit them as much.
00:16:03
Speaker 2: As you can.
00:16:03
Speaker 12: And I think just on the ball, just understanding that. But then off ball, just be in the right position, just showing a crowd, see your mass doesn't feel like he's on an island out there, and just a munch of little things like that.
00:16:19
Speaker 2: That's big.
00:16:21
Speaker 11: Not feeling like you on the island is a great feeling for sure, especially with guys how they play, like, especially how they play today, going one to one so much.
00:16:28
Speaker 2: Knowing that you have like your boys is with you.
00:16:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you guys teach the kids when it comes to defense?
00:16:36
Speaker 12: Teach them slide your feet yeah.
00:16:41
Speaker 2: Out of there?
00:16:41
Speaker 11: Yeah, I think it's sliding. I think it's being reactionary. There are times where you know personnel, you know what the guy's tendencies, but there are times where you're gonna have to be able to react to the moves that they make. And you can work on that like doing reactionary drills and trying to do certain drills like that, or even playing one on one all the time and playing against good offensive players. Again, you can, you can work on anything. So being able to do that is is I think. I think that helped me out a lot.
00:17:11
Speaker 1: A lot of it is natural, but kids, you can also develop their skills, So make sure you put in the work, effort and effort. This is hard, bro talking about getting screened and getting blindsided by seven foot bodies.
00:17:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say that's hard. All right, we are.
00:17:27
Speaker 1: Here with Celtics assistant coach, four time NBA champion and most importantly, in my opinion, one of the best storytellers in the history of the NA Sam Cassel.
00:17:37
Speaker 13: You don't understand the aspect of it, the mental aspect of it. You know, it's cold and it's you know, getting a little warm in June, it's kind.
00:17:45
Speaker 8: Of hot outside.
00:17:47
Speaker 10: Say the parade was pretty warm.
00:17:50
Speaker 4: It was a perfect day, perfect day, perfect data.
00:17:55
Speaker 8: It's been awesome. And our fans in Boston just like that was crazy.
00:18:00
Speaker 13: Win the two championships in Houston, and you know, people, I was you compare the fans. Houston has their own style of the fans, but these fans here are maniacs.
00:18:10
Speaker 8: Championship and trust we appreciated.
00:18:13
Speaker 13: Yeah, you know as a coach and as a player, I have I've done both here. You know what I'm saying. And it gets it gets better. Paul Pearson on the duck boat with me and said, was our championship? This this is good? I'm saying absolutely not. These people all here pain it. I don't remember I said, I do it. But it wasn't like this. This was crazy. People throwing bottles of champagne and beer tours. It was crazy, So I keep it up, fans, It's amazing.
00:18:44
Speaker 10: And I was on the last duck boat and the energy was still on another stock.
00:18:48
Speaker 11: No there was.
00:18:50
Speaker 13: We had the first the trophy, then j T and JB had the other trophy. It was just crazy. It was just crazy, man. That was Boston. Keep it up the.
00:18:59
Speaker 1: Way the way I explained it to people who asked me of like, what did it feel like that day? It literally felt like electricity was being plugged into you for the entire route. That was like what was in an hour and a half, almost two hours that route. But it's it's different than the in game environment because it's it's not nineteen thousand people. It's literally like millions of fans all screaming the entire time and it just never stopped. So that's how I kind of explained it's like electricity being plugged into you for two straight hours.
00:19:31
Speaker 8: I think anybody episode nineteen was drunk.
00:19:34
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. There were beers flying in all different directions and the cops were like laughing at it. I was like, this is how it's supposed to be.
00:19:42
Speaker 13: And one guy had a Magna Baba champagne he was trying to.
00:19:51
Speaker 2: No wasted, don't break it.
00:19:53
Speaker 10: No, we have Wig Grossbeck to thank for that too.
00:19:55
Speaker 9: Though.
00:19:56
Speaker 10: The tequila that was in every single duck boat it was this gold, huge, beautiful bottle and that was That was the moment that I will remember forever. Is Mike Gorman just taking shots straight from the bottle of sincoro.
00:20:11
Speaker 2: Just amazing.
00:20:11
Speaker 13: Just seeing Jeff twist on the double with us and just saying like he'd been through.
00:20:15
Speaker 8: This a few times.
00:20:17
Speaker 2: He's got four now.
00:20:19
Speaker 13: He's been through this, And just seeing him just sit back and just observe everything that's going on, just his.
00:20:26
Speaker 14: Smile and just like that's so cool.
00:20:29
Speaker 13: Wow, this is this is awesome, man, just seeing him, Just seeing a guy like that being able the organization for many many years, seeing him enjoying it.
00:20:38
Speaker 8: It's still enjoying it.
00:20:39
Speaker 2: He got five now, I said four. I think it's five now.
00:20:41
Speaker 8: Actually I thought, yeah, six.
00:20:43
Speaker 2: He's got all the ones in the eighties.
00:20:45
Speaker 15: And then just to see him enjoy the pain and the success we have his organizations haven't and him sitting back to smile and like like I've been through this before, saying like I said, Jeff, I said, twist doesn't get old, never gets old like this, especially in this town.
00:21:03
Speaker 16: Damn.
00:21:03
Speaker 10: From the moment you got here though, you went straight to work with Jason Tatum. Did you ask for that or is that something that Joe wanted you to do?
00:21:10
Speaker 13: Just No, I didn't asked what I wanted it and Joe gave it to me. And the thing that people don't understand about Jason Tatum, he's a very very coachable guy. He you know, like he allowed me to coach him hard and sometimes I had some hard conversations with him, so I knew that he wanted to be a champion.
00:21:30
Speaker 2: Do you share any of those No, not not necessarily.
00:21:33
Speaker 13: Like actually, there's some things we spoke about that some things that I needed him to do better on the basketball court, and he actually tries to do it. You know, some things we work on in practice, he actually try to get it done. And that's the comment to him, because Jason Tatum, that's not good at twisting.
00:21:54
Speaker 8: He's one of the top five players in the world.
00:21:57
Speaker 2: In the world, and we are seeing that this season in the.
00:22:00
Speaker 13: Top five right now three times first team might be three times in a row. So you don't get no better than that for a guy like that, But he allowed me to coach them. I have worked with some great players I worked with. I played with Keem Garnet, I played with the Kima lodger On. I coached Joelen b when he was the MVP. I coached List, So I s I see success. I know how success looks.
00:22:27
Speaker 8: I know.
00:22:28
Speaker 13: And he allowed me to voice my opinion towards him about his game.
00:22:33
Speaker 8: Now.
00:22:34
Speaker 13: He had to because he was the first team All Pro before I got here, you know, and I just told it continue that you have to do a B C and he and big upst them.
00:22:45
Speaker 11: He did it.
00:22:46
Speaker 8: He did it.
00:22:47
Speaker 13: He allowed me to coach him hard. Sometimes I get frustrated with him. And I watched the film. I said, it wasn't that bad.
00:22:57
Speaker 6: So I never.
00:22:57
Speaker 10: Because but you also know what he's capable of, and so you want him to reach that.
00:23:01
Speaker 13: I never go off my emotions right after the game, so I said, let me watch the film. Even though he might have some bad moments in the games. I never was like like god, damn it this and that. I said, let me watch the film. Then I watch it. Then I said, Okay, it wasn't that bad, but let's work on this, A, B and C. And I short to him. He listened to it. He like, let's get the work.
00:23:24
Speaker 2: Did you expect that when you walked in the door.
00:23:26
Speaker 8: Yes, yes, why yes?
00:23:28
Speaker 13: Because I you know, the league is the small lead, it's the big league is a small league.
00:23:32
Speaker 8: And everybody that has worked with Jason told me that, man, you go love working with the kid.
00:23:37
Speaker 2: Interesting.
00:23:37
Speaker 8: He's gonna work hard, he's he's good.
00:23:40
Speaker 13: And if you put your little bit of your your tough mentality, not giving the damn mentality towards him, he'll be fine.
00:23:49
Speaker 1: As they say, what reputation proceeds, that's myself.
00:23:52
Speaker 6: That's right, that's right.
00:23:53
Speaker 10: How much of it with him is mentality? And you want him to have that killer instinct.
00:23:58
Speaker 13: He has it, he has it, he has it, but we have we have a good team that he don't have to do everything.
00:24:04
Speaker 8: And the thing that.
00:24:08
Speaker 13: Hen thirty plus points give me for last, so people don't give him credit to sacrificing he did get getting Drew holiday.
00:24:15
Speaker 8: He gave up seven shots to night. Yeah, seven shots a night.
00:24:21
Speaker 13: In this league a lot of points and a lot of guys don't want to give us seven shots something night.
00:24:25
Speaker 8: So you know, I call to him all the time for that that.
00:24:28
Speaker 13: Okay, if we're playing pick more basketball and they switched a small guy on pazingis he's unselfish enough to gift sings the ball and that goes a lot, says a lot about him as a basketball player. That he's growing and he's still twenty.
00:24:49
Speaker 1: It's crazy, it's crazy crazy years this Yeah, that at least probably all right Baylor Shireman Anton Watson, we are making history right now.
00:25:00
Speaker 2: You know why? You do not know why?
00:25:02
Speaker 1: If you from the rafters has come up to me and this is the first episode that we have recorded up here in five years, so we came to you guys, that's five What have you guys like soaked in and learned so far and being not only like around the organization, but you're around these great players consistently every week, like you were there all training camp seeing how they prepare for a season. What have you guys taken from just like being here and being around those guys?
00:25:24
Speaker 17: You know, I think at least for me, it's just uh, you know a lot of those guys have routines, and I think that's pretty important. I think that you know, regardless of where you're at whether you're in Maine or in Boston. Having a routine and sticking with it, especially with you know, the travel and the play and just especially for your body. I think is probably the biggest thing that I've taken away just from all the guys, just having a routine and kind of just sticking with that and time.
00:25:47
Speaker 11: Yeah, I just say, like the mentality, even coach Joe, just how they approach the game, how they approach practice. You know, he tries to tries to bring you every single day and they're never satisfied. You know, they just want to change ship, but they want to win more, so you know.
00:26:02
Speaker 2: They do a lot more.
00:26:03
Speaker 11: Yeah, they they did a good job of bringing me and Baylor in and giving us that same mentality, and yeah, the standards high here.
00:26:10
Speaker 1: Does it feel like you guys just got drafted like the other day? Like, has have these months flown by?
00:26:15
Speaker 11: Okay?
00:26:16
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'd say low key too.
00:26:17
Speaker 2: It's like four or five months.
00:26:20
Speaker 6: A couple of weeks.
00:26:21
Speaker 17: Yeah, Yeah, there's a lot's happened since those four or five months, you know, training camp, Summer League training camp, Summer League training camp, Tabby Dabby, Yeah, like, yeah, there's been a lot that's gone, so.
00:26:31
Speaker 2: For sure, what was the trip overseas?
00:26:33
Speaker 11: Like? I thought it was. I thought it was pretty fun. That was my first time out the country, so, you know, the first time ever I'm in Bahamas. I've been in Bahamas, but yeah, I've never been out the country, so going to Abi Dhabi is cool. Experience that culture and even just yeah, first playing our first NBA game, like it was pretty dope.
00:26:51
Speaker 2: What was it like for you, Bill.
00:26:52
Speaker 17: Yeah, I'd say the same thing.
00:26:53
Speaker 11: It was.
00:26:53
Speaker 17: It was my first time out of the country as well, other than the Bahamas.
00:26:56
Speaker 1: And were those both for basketball Bahamas? Yeah, yeah, so basketball is taking you outside the US pretty much.
00:27:04
Speaker 17: But yeah, it was great. Like Anton said, it was kind of our first like NBA type minutes in the preseason, and it was just cool to go over there and kind of just you know, be immersed in that culture and kind of learn, you know, new things that you know you don't you don't necessarily know about until you're there.
00:27:21
Speaker 6: Yeah.
00:27:21
Speaker 1: What else have you guys taken around, like particularly Jalen and Jason and those guys and the way that they approach the game, what they bring to the tablet like both ends of the court, because there's I mean you could probably count them on two hands of like the superstars in the league who do it at both ends.
00:27:37
Speaker 17: I mean, kind of what I said earlier, Just like the routines they have. You know, they're very anything in particular, I mean just like pre court, but you know before they get on the court, how they're taking care.
00:27:47
Speaker 6: Of their bodies.
00:27:48
Speaker 17: I mean, obviously, like it's a long year, they play a lot of minutes, so I think there's that, and then just like the details, they're focused on the details, like you said, on both ends of the court and just being in the right spot and trying to make the right reads all the time.
00:28:01
Speaker 1: Anten anything in particular you've taken from those guys, Yeah.
00:28:04
Speaker 11: I think the biggest thing I've noticed is like just the way they can be coached. Like, you know, they're two of the highest played players in the league. You know they've been in the league for a while, but you know they listened to the they listened to Joe and the game plan and you know they do they do what they have to do to win, So you know that's that's something you can respect. And yeah, just their coach ability.
00:28:28
Speaker 1: I know they came in early in September and you guys were all getting runs in before training camp. What was that like of like, I don't know if that's the first time you met them in person, but like actually getting on the court and playing against them or with them. I don't know what what the splits were, but what were those runs like of like for the first time being on the court with JT and JB.
00:28:45
Speaker 11: Yeah, it's kind of crazy just because you know, you're like, I'm here, you see you see them on TV all the time, and it's like you really here in the moment and you guarding JT. JB. And yeah, it's it was a cool moment once they first started practicing us.
00:28:59
Speaker 2: What do you remember, Yeah, it's kind of the same thing.
00:29:01
Speaker 17: You know, it was just a cool moment. You know, growing up, you know, watching them for the past six years however long they've been in and then sharing the court with them, it's kind of like that wild factor. But then you know, you start playing and you just realize, you know, just basketball at the end of the day. So but it was definitely a cool moment.
00:29:17
Speaker 2: How'd you guys do in those early scrimmages? Did you did?
00:29:20
Speaker 1: You know.
00:29:23
Speaker 11: We go like.
00:29:24
Speaker 1: Folks experienced the thrill of the open road no matter the conditions, with tires that are never under the weather. Discover the Michelin Cross climate too tire. To learn more, head over to michelinman dot com. All right, Peyton Pritchard having a career year across the board in terms of three pointers made, points per game, three point percenters, like all of it.
00:29:47
Speaker 18: The message I always give is just hard work. Now, maybe I should explain what it what hard hard is? Yeah it is because a lot of people don't really understand that. But ultimately, hard work will take you a long ways in this world. And whatever you decide to do, and if you put your mind to it and you grind it every day, then you'll.
00:30:07
Speaker 7: Accomplish your dreams.
00:30:09
Speaker 18: What is hard work to you, It's a setting a goal and waking up and accomplishing that goal every day. So and that's for me, Like as a kid, it was, you know, I used to tell my dad like where I wanted to be, what colleges I wanted to go to, and then you know, then me writing.
00:30:31
Speaker 7: What the plan was, what that looked like?
00:30:33
Speaker 18: So me getting better at ball handling, It was waking up before school at like six thirty six o'clock and dribbling a wait ball the freezing garage for thirty minutes in the morning and then you know, going to school.
00:30:45
Speaker 1: The fact that it was freezing help accel accelerate, maybe.
00:30:49
Speaker 7: Because the ball hurt. And yeah, there's a story.
00:30:54
Speaker 18: There was a story of like my fingers bleeding, and obviously it's it's a little it's been exaggerated a little bit, but you know, the cold weather with the like the weight ball, the way it was, it definitely like cuts some of my fingers, which I had to tape up. But then go to school during lunchtime. A lot of kids, you know, want to go to lunch with their friends, and I did that at times. But then there was a lot of moments that like I would be on the track, I would be be running, and then after school, my dad had a clinic, basketball clinic, and I would drive there right away after school and do another hour workout and then stay, eat, eat again, and then do another one. So I was doing that for at least five days a week. And so by the time in high school, well this is even in middle school in high school, and you know, and at the time I was scrawny, I was little, and like a lot of people did not think I would ever really make it. But I had like a dream for myself and I was never gonna let anybody tell me that I couldn't accomplish it. I was going to al everybody.
00:31:57
Speaker 1: So what actually happened that year, if you can take it since I and like we all know, like what actually happened on the court, Like it was just a loaded team and there were only so many minutes to go around, but you know, behind closed doors, what happened in your season and how you kind of attacked an approach to head conversations with the team. And then obviously, I mean Brad Stevens has made it abundantly clear even then He's like, we want Peyton here long term.
00:32:21
Speaker 18: So I mean, I mean, everybody knows I publicly wanted to be traded at the time. I wanted It wasn't nothing against organization or or the city of Boston.
00:32:34
Speaker 2: I wanted to play.
00:32:35
Speaker 18: I wanted to play something I love to do is play basketball. And to be honest, I was there was moments where I was kind of depressed. I was like very sad at the time, and and it was killing me watching him. But through that totally changed my mentality. And and I looked at it as like, you know, it's like almost like a red shirt year, Like this year is not going to define me. This isn't this isn't last year I'm ever going to play basketball. I'm going to get an opportunity, whether that's here or not or somewhere else. And I got to take advantage of that. So I went to work, I went to got better at my weaknesses and developed my strengths even more. And when I did eventually get the opportunity, I was I was never going to look back, which I feel like a lot of people and I see a lot of young dudes, they don't play and then they stop working.
00:33:24
Speaker 2: They hit that moment and to go in the other direction you want a lot. Yeah, we've seen it here for so Celtics.
00:33:30
Speaker 7: I mean, and I know what. I know why that is though.
00:33:33
Speaker 18: It's like these kids like are so talented. We're all the man in high school, we're the man in college. Everybody caters to you, the ball is in your hands, like everything is for you. So then the first time in their life you're going to be put in a professional level and they're like, you're not the man. You're gonna have to take a back seat tough. They're not catering to you. You know, you're gonna have to just figure it out. And a lot of people don't have to don't know how to mentally handle that. Lucky for me, I got a good support, supporting cast that.
00:34:04
Speaker 7: You know.
00:34:04
Speaker 18: I have two great parents too that played high level collegiate sports. My mom was a very high level gymnast Alklahoma, and my dad played football there and was a high level athlete as well. So now they didn't make it to the professional levels, but they they helped me navigating the emotions of it and like how to you know, how to handle it. And I feel like they always leaned on the work ethics side of it, and they were hard workers. So it's kind of what I dove into.
00:34:31
Speaker 1: We've got a little game we're gonna play right now. It's called half court heaths. Right, We're gonna go back and forth. We've got some questions here, and these are just we don't know if these are going to land with you and you're gonna have a good answer, maybe it's gonna miss all right, So this will be quick quick answers. Okay, I'll start it out. What's the weirdest pregame ritual you've ever seen from a teammate?
00:34:53
Speaker 18: Evan Fournier. He used to do this thing, like he said it because he had COVID is like just touching these two like little wooden.
00:35:03
Speaker 2: Honest, his vision was affected by I remember, Yeah, but.
00:35:06
Speaker 18: JT and them know they've seen it because it was like, I don't even know it's like two like things, and he would touch it. I was just like he would do it for like ten minutes, and what the heck is he doing?
00:35:17
Speaker 6: Yeah?
00:35:18
Speaker 2: All right, good answer.
00:35:20
Speaker 10: What's the hardest shot in the game of basketball?
00:35:25
Speaker 18: Well, that's different for different people. For you, hardest shot in the game of basketball for me, m I could tell you in an area that I think I would like to get better at. It's probably like my floater.
00:35:42
Speaker 10: I would say, going up against them floater, but.
00:35:44
Speaker 18: I usually prefer a little pop pull up shot, which I'm really good at.
00:35:49
Speaker 7: But I'd say my floater can be better.
00:35:51
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, we'll take that. What's the most important lesson you've learned since turning pro.
00:35:59
Speaker 7: Balance in life? Social battery?
00:36:04
Speaker 2: I like it.
00:36:04
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's I feel like you can.
00:36:07
Speaker 2: That's a great term, by the way to take that. Yeah, social bad that will carry you through.
00:36:13
Speaker 10: I feel like the rest of your life.
00:36:14
Speaker 18: Even I feel like I used to a lot of people will be in town and I would, you know, want to entertain, but like social battery is a real thing and can affect you.
00:36:25
Speaker 2: I stole your question.
00:36:26
Speaker 10: Sorry, Uh, what player have you studied the most and modeled your game after?
00:36:33
Speaker 18: I can't pick one, but I could tell you a lot of different people from Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, Fred Van Vliet a little bit. You know, growing up when I was going into my sophomore high school, Steve Blake was still in the league and he lived in my hometown, so we used to play one on one every day. So honestly, I probably took things from him.
00:36:57
Speaker 2: Just that's huge, Steve Blake's game.
00:36:59
Speaker 18: I also never won a game that summer killed me every day, and that's all right, that's for sure. I was fifteen at the time, so I definitely took things from him, all right.
00:37:11
Speaker 1: Phil pressy Man, you have had an interesting career here, particularly with the Boston South. Is there where you started at all right, as an under at the free agent, you're playing for Brad Stevens right when you walk in the door. Now he's running the show upstairs as president of Basketball Operations, where now you are coaching for him and for Joe Missoula Pill.
00:37:31
Speaker 10: What I forgot is your very first season, your first game was Brad Stevens first season and first game as well. What do you remember about those times? And how is it working for him now that he's the president of basketball Operations.
00:37:45
Speaker 19: Oh, I mean he's he has ability to you know, give you confidence. You know, as a player, he gave me confidence and now as a coach, he gives me confidence. And it doesn't matter if you're the you know, the number one on the team or the number now eighteen, number eighteen. He sees that everybody has a part, everybody has a role, and that's something that you know, I take, I don't take for granted. He talks about energy and energy is contagious, and I feel like that's in any team I know amongst your team, you guys have people who bring a lot of energy.
00:38:22
Speaker 2: Gotta have it, you gotta.
00:38:23
Speaker 14: You gotta have it.
00:38:24
Speaker 10: So basically the only thing I bring there.
00:38:26
Speaker 14: You go true. You gotta have you gotta have energy. He talks about attitude. You know, that's something that I try to bring every day. You know, there's gonna be good days, it's going to be bad days, but your attitude is something that you can control.
00:38:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do you remember about that first season? Because it was it was a Celtics land. I mean, let's let's recall KG Pierce, Like those guys were just traded, so everyone was in like.
00:38:58
Speaker 6: Fresh.
00:38:59
Speaker 19: But that's how you know, oh, you know the Celtics fan base, that's how you know. You guys who are who are telling the story, That's how you know we have a strong culture. It's because even in the days where you're not winning a championship, can you still bring energy and you still have the you know, the faith in the team. You know, our last game, you know, you hurt the let's go Celtics. Like you don't hear that everywhere even when you're you know, I don't know how many won twenty games or something like that, and you hear the let's go Celtics. So that lets you know that. You know, Celtics fans, you know they're die hard and you know they want the best of the team. Whether you're you know, winning you know, sixty seventy games, or you're only winning twenty. It's all about energy. Are you bringing that positive you know that positive energy? And I think, you know, we did that that year, and that's something that I can build on. You know, in the future, I'm not always going to be coaching on great teams like we have now. There's gonna be times while I'm coaching on teams that only have twenty wins. So it's all about perspective. That's a perspective that I gained in my first year.
00:40:00
Speaker 1: All Right, we said we were going to talk about your dad. We've got to do it because he was an assistant coach for what twenty years in.
00:40:05
Speaker 10: The born in Boston.
00:40:07
Speaker 19: Now I was born in San Antonio, Texas, but I lived in Boston.
00:40:10
Speaker 2: That's crazy. I lived in Boston. As let's touch he was.
00:40:13
Speaker 1: He was an assistant here for four seasons exactly, two to six something around there.
00:40:19
Speaker 2: I remember, correct.
00:40:19
Speaker 1: If I can remember, Yeah, hey, Tom f I know, man, Hey, I remember meeting you and you were a rookie. Now here we are with you as an assistant coach. But yeah, what was the experience like of kind of growing up around the NBA with your dad being an assistant coach, including your time here in Boston.
00:40:34
Speaker 19: Yeah, it's you know, it was you know, I see the kids here now, like our Horford's son, you know, he's he's running around here. You know, you got Dobbin's kids, you got you know, Joe's son, like all these kids.
00:40:45
Speaker 2: Don't forget Deuce, you got Duce.
00:40:47
Speaker 10: Yeah, I like already all.
00:40:50
Speaker 19: These kids who are growing up in this you know, in this culture, they don't see it. It's just normal, right until you're out of it. So now that I'm in the coaching and my son's growing up, I'm like, man, he's he's in He's in a wonderful space right here, and I'm just so grateful for it. You know, being thirteen fourteen living in Boston, I was able to be around Tony Allen, you know, Paul Preyer, Pierce, you know, those guys kind of impacted me to make me believe I can make it to the NBA. So there's gonna be one kid or two kids that are in this in this building every single day. They're probably gonna be in the NBA. And it's gonna be because of you know, Jason Tatum, It's gonna be because of Peyton Pritcher, you know, out those guys, their work ethic is what is going to push those younger kids to be who they are in fifteen years.
00:41:34
Speaker 1: That's crazy perspective to have because like you've literally seen, yeah you've been a part of it and seeing it happen, and now you're like watching it happen to the next generation.
00:41:42
Speaker 19: Is gonna it is, it's gonna happen.
00:41:43
Speaker 10: Should it help you when you got to the league to know just kind of how everything worked and to kind of give you an advantage in that way.
00:41:50
Speaker 6: Yeah, it is.
00:41:51
Speaker 19: You know, it almost puts it like in your subconscious mind. Like if you're like looking at Peyton Princher every single day doing ball handler, if you're looking at Jalen Brown chooting extra threes after practice, you're looking at these star players work hard, it's almost like it's you know, it is what it is, Like You're just like, oh, that's how it's supposed to be, and that's kind of how I grew up, and you know I was able to make it to the highest level, you know, so you know, I just pay it. I just my job is to pay it forward.
00:42:18
Speaker 6: You know.
00:42:19
Speaker 1: It's a next serration, all right, it's storytime growing up around the NBA.
00:42:23
Speaker 2: You just kind of touched on it.
00:42:24
Speaker 1: You're behind the scenes with Paul Pierrece, with Tony Allen, guys like that. This is the Mega Boston Celtics Crossover podcast episode. We've got view from the Rafters represented Ray here, We've got John Corrals with Lockdown Celtics. We've got Chris Forsburg with Celtics Talk. And last and certainly least.
00:42:42
Speaker 2: Is Jay King.
00:42:43
Speaker 1: We're talking about being around the team all the time. One of the most unique parts of that is being around Joe Missoula all the time.
00:42:50
Speaker 2: Things have changed. You know, since the first day that we all found.
00:42:53
Speaker 1: Out that he was going to be the head coach of the Celtics, we all didn't really know what to expect. I would assume from from all you guys as well.
00:42:59
Speaker 20: Certainly didn't know that it was going to be like this, But yeah, I got.
00:43:02
Speaker 1: With a championship within a couple of seasons and some unique answers in the in the media room. What have you all learned about him? Especially you, because you get a lot of one on one time with him. What have you guys learned about him over the last two years since he took over, since that first day when he was named head coach.
00:43:19
Speaker 5: I want to start down there because I'm more interested because my daily life is you guys getting your shot at him for however long that lasts.
00:43:26
Speaker 4: And then there's.
00:43:26
Speaker 16: Sometimes like ninety second, there's a period of time between when we start on the air and the period of time when Joe and I are just talking, and that period of time every night is basically talking about everything that you guys just had last Well.
00:43:39
Speaker 9: You probably have a better view of that than we do, though, But it's crazy because when he took over, he was the assistant coach who strapped a ping pong paddle the Romeo Langage. Yeah, you know, he didn't. We didn't know him much more than that. Obviously, we talked to him from time to time, We had a little bit of time with him, but then all of a sudden.
00:43:58
Speaker 6: He's the face of the Boston Celtics.
00:43:59
Speaker 9: Yeah, and I think for that first year was very challenging for him, just kind of learning everything that came with that. I think he was obviously an insanely talented basketball mind. We've seen that, so obviously not a great perspective. Like everyone jumped on board, even that first year, which was so rocky, nobody jumped off board. But that first year was really hard for a number of reasons.
00:44:24
Speaker 10: Yeah, think for him, but challenging for all of us as well, trying to adjust to that and find ways to get the best out of Joe when he wasn't always that excited to be there.
00:44:35
Speaker 20: We just didn't know his personality right, Like, we didn't know how you had to approach it, how you had to have another question ready, because if you don't, you're thatw does He's going to unclip the mic and go and so. But what I love is the only interaction I'd had with him before he took over the head coach. We were in Charlotte Kemba's game, first game back there or something, I think, and he was Kemba's kind of guy, and Kenby told me something like, yeah, I did. He did this drill where he had to make a certain number of shots and a certain amount time. He gave me the number, and I was happening to be in the elevator and I went, you know, Hey, Ken told me he made you know in two minutes and forty seconds, and he just looked at me when he told you that, and then he just walked off the elevator.
00:45:11
Speaker 2: It didn't follow.
00:45:12
Speaker 20: Upthing we used, and I was like, huh, that was abrupt and then I was like, years later, I was like, Okay, now it all makes sense. The other thing I always think takeaway is the only scouting report we had was that when Derek got here in that mid season trade, that he's got sent to Joe and like learned the defense because Joe is going to teach you everything.
00:45:29
Speaker 2: So I always had this.
00:45:30
Speaker 20: Impression that like always a defensive mastermind and this is this is his thing, and all we do is talk about offense and three pointers. So yeah, you know, you always pigeonhole someone, but again, you're just getting to know him was the big thing. And knowing what makes him tick.
00:45:42
Speaker 2: I think.
00:45:42
Speaker 4: I think the thing that stands out to me about Joe is that he is very much his own person. He is not one to play to the convention of like he doesn't play the game right. He's not a politician out here, He's.
00:45:55
Speaker 2: Not He's not really really bad one.
00:45:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, he doesn't humor anybody yet, right, he doesn't. He doesn't take a question like a lot of times you just put a question out there. Sometimes sometimes you ask a question because no one's asked anything yet, and it's it's starting to be like anybody's got a question, and like you just throw you just throw something out there to get the ball rolling. And he does not. He doesn't play along, and it's a challenge.
00:46:21
Speaker 2: I think it's he wants you to come prepared to work. Well, yeah, even though it has nothing to do with.
00:46:26
Speaker 10: It, really wants to demand that you come fro You'll be rewarded.
00:46:29
Speaker 4: If you But it's not even just being prepared, like yeah, everybody should be prepared going, you know, coming to work. It's it's that he has he has his own way of seeing things, and there's he's done really well trying to like meet us not quite in the middle, but get a little bit closer to where we are about, Like, okay, I get what you're trying to do.
00:46:52
Speaker 1: All of us have been around the team for a long time at this point. What's everyone's most interesting or favorite story that they've covered either on the podcast? Are just within you know, your writing responsibilities of covering the team.
00:47:05
Speaker 4: My favorite was back when Marcus Smart was here. I don't know if we want to go that.
00:47:08
Speaker 2: Far back, but go back as far as you want, John.
00:47:11
Speaker 4: So, my absolute favorite story that I did is like the silliest little thing is if we remember, there were like consecutive games where the ball got stuck at the shot clock and Marcus with the Yeah, like Marcus got the around the right, like once he was on the floor and he knocked out, and once he was on the bench and he went over and he knocked off and people were like mocked, like cheering, like MVP, MVP. So I like caught him on the side and I said, you know, how funny was that just just to get like a little fun quote, and it turned into this big like you know, there was a time where they wouldn't have even they would have booed me or something. That was like, now to hear the MVP chance, it shows how much I've come along in this.
00:47:51
Speaker 2: City I came about from taking I was like.
00:47:53
Speaker 4: Oh my god, this is like gold from Marcus. So this the silliest little basketball being stuck on the backboard turned into Marcus kind of like a story about how far he's come in the eyes of fans in the city of Boston. So that was that was like really cool for.
00:48:10
Speaker 1: Me, is that what you guys have all found is like it's those little things that you pull out that people are probably like, wait, that's a story, and then you go a little deeper and something's there.
00:48:18
Speaker 20: I mean, for me, it was it season because I was such an open book, Like we would show up. He broke into a train station to see his Nike ad campaign one day and like he just.
00:48:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, like he was again.
00:48:30
Speaker 20: Remember he had gone from being I mean bench guy six man, but then like all of a sudden, he's in the MVP commerce.
00:48:35
Speaker 2: He was a six man here right the way for it.
00:48:39
Speaker 20: But he never he always still approached it like he was the last gat on the bench, and you know, he was willing to tell you like he was again an open book. And I will romanticize that season forever, not only because of like what happened that year and like how improbable it was, you know, probably second only to last season in the championship, was the most enjoyable season to ever be around, because I just went in with such low expectations and he made it so much fun. And we always say, right, like we we don't cheer for the players. Well maybe maybe.
00:49:03
Speaker 1: To me, come absolutely we cheer for stories, right, see me in the immediate section when we make a picture.
00:49:10
Speaker 8: I am that.
00:49:11
Speaker 20: But we do cheer for storylines. And like, you know, you cheer for good people too, right, and like I achieve among them. And so i'd like, I hate how the way that ended, you know, like it was it wasn't particularly fair to him. I understood it. But that season was awesome and I'll never forget that year.
00:49:27
Speaker 6: That was unbelievable.
00:49:29
Speaker 9: I mean that playoff run that he had with his hip herding with his sister just passed away.
00:49:34
Speaker 6: He had thirty three points.
00:49:36
Speaker 9: I believe it was a day after his sister passed away.
00:49:38
Speaker 6: In the first game of the playoffs.
00:49:40
Speaker 9: Right knock the tooth dot spent like eight hours.
00:49:43
Speaker 2: Didn't he lose a tooth throw?
00:49:44
Speaker 10: No, No, that's too much to what you've already said.
00:49:46
Speaker 9: No, he did and then had fifty something what would have been.
00:49:49
Speaker 2: His sister's birthday in the playoffs.
00:49:51
Speaker 9: It was that was just an incredible run and proof that like you don't need to win a title to leave a legacy.
00:49:57
Speaker 6: That people reminder for a long time.
00:50:00
Speaker 9: My favorite story was about Marcus smart Too. It was about his AAU and his AAU days, and it was just because it reminded me of MYAU.
00:50:09
Speaker 6: His team was crazy.
00:50:10
Speaker 9: They stayed together from the time they were like.
00:50:12
Speaker 6: Ten to seventeen.
00:50:14
Speaker 9: But they had parents cussing the kids out, but like loving it. They had parents getting fights, they had the kids. Obviously Marcus probably a little fiery back then like he is now and just working out. It reminded me of my AAU time. So I love that.
00:50:29
Speaker 20: What about yeah, Niko, well what's been your favorite?
00:50:32
Speaker 1: So my stupidest story that I just really enjoyed telling it actually had to do with Gordon Hayward. So he came into a This was back in the Waltham days. He was at the practice facility and he just randomly was like drinking a bottle of water and someone was like, is that cold and he was like, no, it's not. I don't drink cold water. And I was like why. In my head, I'm like, why does he not drink cold water? And so I came back to our offices and I pitched my boss. I'm like, hey, Gordon just said he doesn't drink cold water. I have no idea why, and I really want to find out and write a story about it. He's like, that seems like something no one would care about, and I'm like, I.
00:51:06
Speaker 2: Think people will like it.
00:51:07
Speaker 1: So we wound up running with a story and I talked to him and basically the moral of the story is that he perceives cold water is when you drink it, your body has to warm it up. Then you waste energy by having to warm up the water.
00:51:20
Speaker 4: So Joe Mischila would make him he would love that.
00:51:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would want to challenge him.
00:51:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think to your point John earlier, just like those little nuggets that come out that you're like, Okay, that's something I want to go a little deeper on, and then you never know what's going to come out of that.
00:51:35
Speaker 4: I noticed that no one has mentioned this current team of players as their favorite stories, because it's the most buttoned up, professional, don't tell you a thing type of team. You have to go back to Marcus and it and well, that's what I was going to say.
00:51:47
Speaker 10: My favorite moment of all time was an Al Horford interview in Cleveland during the playoffs, and it was the first time he'd ever been a Lebron James team. They did it in Cleveland, and it was the only time I've ever we're seeing Al like out.
00:52:02
Speaker 20: Of his Yeah.
00:52:06
Speaker 10: It was he was still on the floor.
00:52:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, and it was the experience.
00:52:12
Speaker 10: Yes, And it was just that is who Al is on the floor. That's not who we get to see, That's not who we talked to. But he was still in that moment and it is the most un al like moment that I have experienced with him. And it was just so genuine and pure and it was awesome.
00:52:27
Speaker 4: I'll just throw out there that I think that's more Al.
00:52:30
Speaker 2: Than we really think.
00:52:32
Speaker 21: That is l He just has the ability to turn it off to what I'm saying just now, like all of these guys, like when we leave the locker room, I'm sure just incredible personality. Just they have this incredible ability to just like but.
00:52:49
Speaker 1: Even Jason, right like, I don't think any I don't think any of us personally know like the real Jason that he is in his day to day life because he's just doing me.
00:53:00
Speaker 4: And every once in a while we're standing there waiting for a scrum and you hear him talking to a couple of his friends and you're.
00:53:07
Speaker 2: Like, oh, he personality.
00:53:10
Speaker 8: Look at this.
00:53:11
Speaker 4: So he's joking and busting chops and all that stuff. You're like, oh, why can't you do that with us? And he comes up to us and it's like, yeah, you know, just trying to get better. Come on.
00:53:20
Speaker 1: He lets it out in his commercials though at least this is the velvet rope nature and the evolution of the league.
00:53:27
Speaker 5: In Max's days, they were flying commercial you know, you'd be with him in.
00:53:30
Speaker 2: The airports and media would fly with them.
00:53:32
Speaker 5: So obviously, you know, Abby and I we get to see things that people aren't going to see that even general media isn't going to see it in quote unquote real lives.
00:53:40
Speaker 4: But the best stories and the.
00:53:42
Speaker 5: Reason we're not talking about it because that team won the championship and they were meticulous and they weren't touched last year and they walked backwards into it and it's great and it'll be remembered forever like the O eight team will. But it's the little stories like Isaiah's sister, of the thousands of games that I've now done and I've called championships and all of it, I to this day vividly. Remember when you said think of a moment, the one that pops into my head was Leon Poe playing for the Celtics as a rookie, just trying to find his way.
00:54:10
Speaker 4: We get to Oakland where he grew up.
00:54:14
Speaker 5: Outside the Old Oracle Arena, they would have flea markets every weekend.
00:54:19
Speaker 2: He and his mother would go there to make ends meet.
00:54:21
Speaker 5: They would sell things at the flea market outside this arena. And I got to be there to call the moment when he walked onto that floor as an NBA plays us, And that still gives me a little goit like because the championships are great and it's what's going to be remembered forever. But Isaiah coming here and starting his career over again in the most symbiotic relationship I've ever seen in the NBA. The Celtics needed him, he needed the Celtics and it was the perfect match.
00:54:44
Speaker 2: Those are the stories that you tell.
00:54:45
Speaker 5: Those are the goosebump moments, and that's what makes fans and what they remember.
00:54:49
Speaker 4: I'll for one moment out but two of the same night, the championship night, Joe coming out with his wife walking around hand in hand. So I was out in the arena. I love working in the media section in the arena when everything is done and gone, and he's kind of like a big office. It's so great. So Joe was out there walking around with his wife and that was a nice moment. He's like, I asked him about it. He's like, I thought we were alone, like new No, I don't know.
00:55:14
Speaker 2: Two hundred and three hundred people in there.
00:55:15
Speaker 4: And then four in the morning or so, and you know, we're still writing, we're still doing stuff and like just about wrapping up. Confetti's still on the floor and Jalen walks in post party, so he's celebrated a little bit and and he walks in and like like the guards down and he's got his friends with him in the m v P trophy and he just walks out and he's just smiled. He's like, what a beautiful site.
00:55:41
Speaker 2: You guys are playing ball.
00:55:42
Speaker 4: There are a couple of people ship around and and he like got the ball and was like, all right, what are you down, Like, Jalen.
00:55:49
Speaker 2: Please don't tell me.
00:55:53
Speaker 4: I was like, not, don't dunk on me. Please don't try to take a step right now, because there's con over the floor. You've been celebrating a bit. I don't want the story to have that. I have to tell it to be like, why did Jalen Brown get hurt? Why is he in crutches on the duct boat? He did not do that, thankfully, But that moment of Jalen kind of taking it in like the most real, genuine moment. So I have to share that just because it is of the current and it's like Jalen just soaking it in and just what a beautiful sight it was.
00:56:23
Speaker 2: It was a great You said there was another one? Is there another one?
00:56:25
Speaker 8: Was that one in the Joe Joe walking around?
00:56:27
Speaker 6: Yeah?
00:56:27
Speaker 1: That's I mean to your point, like, the genuine moments are the ones that I mean, all of the team gets to see behind closed doors. The guys are completely genuine there, but they just have their guard up a little bit when they're around.
00:56:38
Speaker 2: The media, so we don't always get to see who they really are.
00:56:44
Speaker 8: That's a different story.
00:56:45
Speaker 5: That's a different story. Yeah, he's winking to the fans. Yeah, you know what we have seen, Jason. You do see a moment every night because when he locks eyes with Deuce, or when Dukes runs over to Dukes runs over to him in the middle of a game or whatever it is. That's because that's that's the guy.
00:57:05
Speaker 4: That's his entire adult life.
00:57:07
Speaker 2: He has We've all had adult lives at some level before kids. He hasn't.
00:57:10
Speaker 4: I don't think j has.
00:57:11
Speaker 6: Well.
00:57:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean he's a light over there.
00:57:14
Speaker 6: Come on, I'm still a child with a child.
00:57:17
Speaker 4: His nickname is the Kid.
00:57:18
Speaker 2: I'm still a child with a child.
00:57:20
Speaker 6: I love it. Thank you guys for coming on.
00:57:22
Speaker 2: This has been an awesome crossover.
00:57:24
Speaker 1: I think the biggest mega podcast crossover that will ever happen in the South.
00:57:28
Speaker 2: The event of the season is it is all might say, so, thank you all for watching.
00:57:34
Speaker 1: We appreciate you for listening and watching all of our podcast across the board
00:57:37
Speaker 2: And hope you're all having a great start to the new year.
