One-on-One with Paul Reed and Shake Milton

ahead of the postseason. But Lauren, we've got a handful of this year's team that sat down with us recently and I think shed some light on who these guys are, learned a little more about some returners, some new players to the team, and just kind of give you that extra motivation to route them on for what should be

a fun NBA playoffs. It was our utmost desire to sort of help you guys, our core group of Sixers fans, just to know some of your favorite players better or maybe make some of the players you're aware of into your favorites. And it was really fun to sit down talk some off court life things, some on court life things, and just get to know these guys a little better. So at today, I know you talked to Shake and Paul. We're going to hear from them. What do people need

to know before they listen to this one? Well, they were not interviewed together. It was two separate one on ones, and they're both unique in their own way of the interviews. And we do have another set of or another podcast episode that will be multiple players, but those two were interviewed together with you, so we won't say who that

is yet, but these were separate interviews. And obviously Paul Reid is it's always interesting to hear from and Shake I think is more thoughtful than people realize, and he's been around longer than people realize, one of the longest tenured Sixers, and both of these guys are very introspective, so I think there's it kind of makes sense that they're together. Let's do it. Paul read first, and then Shake. Milton six nine friend to Paul, University the Mud to

sew you. Paul read from Orlando, Florida. When you retire, which we know is not imminent, what do you want people to say about you? I want people to say that he is one of the best players to ever play the game. I want people to say that he's great human being, you know, off the court as well as on the court. I want to do is that just gives back to his community and really, you know, changes people lives. What are some things you're good at off the court? You want me to be honest? Sure,

I feel like I'm good at everything. What was your childhood like? Uh? Childhood was cool. You know. I grew up. I got all sisters, so I used to spend a lot of time with my cousins. You know, my boy cousins used to hang out all the time, wrestle. You used to play football, play basketball, and then I used to I was outside kids. How used to say, outside, you know, playing all day long. Do you have a

memorable fork in the road in your life? A decision you had to make where the outcome could be different. What would have happened if you had gone the other way? Does anything come to mind? Whether it was Yeah, I feel like if I took all my college visits instead of just choosing three, I think you know, that would have man in teresting. What do you think would have happened? We'll just had more options, you know, and then I would have got to see, like what I what else

I was capable of. What is the best advice you've ever received? The best advice I ever received was the best. Don't rest, the best, don't rest? I like it. Yeah. What's your favorite gift that you've gotten for someone else? My favorite gift that I got for somebody else. I got my mom a house. I think that's that's my greatest gift so far. What's the favorite thing you've bought for yourself? My angie, what's the most regular thing about you, the most normal thing that you do, or the most

normal thing about your life. I watched I watched TV. I like your watch a light and filic shows Hulu all that. We talk about how there's three types of days in the NBA, a game day, a travel day, and an off day. So what's something that you look forward to first on a game day? But I look forward to here on a game day, it's the game, you know, have a geet up about that. What do

you look forward to on travel days? On travel days, are we looking forward to just making it to the hotel room and kind of just sitting down and relaxing, you know, once I make it, even though we don't always get to do that. What do you look forward to on off days. On our days, I look forward to getting in the gym. How players know kind of what's being said about them. What do you think is

something that the public has correct about you? What are they write about Probably like our player has got like a lot of free time. We'll be having free time for so so you individually, what do you think is something that maybe is misunderstood about you by the public. I don't really know what the public think about me, So it's like I don't know how to answer that question fairly. What's your favorite or most memorable sporting event that you've been to as a fan? Um? I went

to WWE match recently. You know, it's kind of lit. I think that's most numberable memorable so far. What's the most important relationship you have in your life? My relationship with God for sure. How do you nurture that relationship? Oh, I just make sure that you know I thank God every day. Yeah, I try to make them proud every day. You can share a meal with anyone in the world. Who is it with and what are you having to eat? I might have to choose Michael Jordan, Are you're gonna

we definitely eating State awesome. Do you have any questions for me? Uh? What made you start doing a podcast? So in college I just started doing something actually about hockey. I knew I wanted to work in sports, but I wasn't sure if it would be on the business side. And then I started doing broadcasting and really loved it. So okay, stuck with it from freshman's sophomore year of college. That was up. It was up. Uh. We got another question for you. If you could change one thing about

your podcast, who would it be. We would love to hear from you guys more often. Lauren and I do a lot of episodes together. Um, but I think the fans really enjoy hearing you guys. Okay, okay, probably what I would say. Starting a guard six six two twenty from the great state of Oklahoma. Shake the girl goes crazy. All right, we know you're a great basketball player. What else are you great at? Um? I think I'm just great at just living life, man, You know what I mean?

It just great at waking up, getting some sun, simple things, reading, observing, um, being present. Let's see it. The favorite gift that you've gotten for someone else gone for someone else, maybe like just like a little piece of art that kind of is like an inside joke or something like that. I feel like I would say that, Yeah, what's your favorite gift that you've gotten for yourself that I've gotten for myself.

I got a really cool fish tank that I bought for myself, So that was probably like the most expensive thing I've spent NBA money on. I love it. What's the most regular thing about shake Milton? Oh, I don't know. I feel like everything. I'm a real regular guy, chilled, netflix, like to sing in the shower, that type of stuff. We talk about the three types of days in the NBA, A game day, a travel day, and off day. Yeah, what's something that you look forward to on each? Starting

with a game day. On a game day, I look forward to competing in front of the amazing fans. What do you look forward to on a travel day? Travel day? I would say spending time with the guys on the plane. Off day, off day, not seeing anybody, and staying in bed all day. What's something about life on the road during some of these longer trips that would surprise people.

I would say just the amount of times you're getting into a city at like three to four am and you're not even really sure what city or in At some points when it comes to like the public's perception of you as a player or as a person, even, what do you think something that they have correct about you?

That I have good music taste? What's something that you think is misunderstood about you that everybody thinks I'm just so quiet, Like, yeah, I'm I'm laid back and calm, but I feel like everybody in my circle will be telling me to shut up, you know, more than anything else. What's the most memorable sporting event that you've been to as a fan? As a fan? Ooh dang, that's a good question. I remember when I was little, my pops

used to take us to the Texas Longhorn game. So we went to one in Oklahoma State with like the second half in Sean came out and ran like eighty yards for a touchdown, So that was really cool. Who's the most important relationship that you have in your life and how do you nurture it? I would say my mom. She's amazing. She makes it really easy. I don't really have to nurture it, just call her and say, hey, talk about whatever. For sure. When you retire, what do

you want people to say about you. I want to people to say that he was a great player. He was very passionate about the craft and everything that came with it, and above all else, he was just a real one, A solid dude. Do you have a memorable fork in the road in your life and like, what would have happened if you had made one decision versus the other? Ah Man, I feel like that's just been my life. I could just there's plenty of them, but uh not specifically. You can share a meal with anyone

in the world. Who's at your table and what are you eating? I can share a meal with anyone in the world. I would share a meal. I don't know. Dang, that's a good question. Like they have to be alive right now, doesn't have to be anybody, Dang, you know what. Never mind, I would just share a meal with Muhammad Ali probably, and what would we be eating. I think he has a strict diet. Probably some some some seafood. Welcome back, everybody that was Paul Reid and Shake Milton.

I'm Lauren Rosen with Matt Murphy. Really cool to sort of reflect on Shake Milton's development. You mentioned one of the longest ten yared sixers. Shake talked a lot about shameless plug on The Big Niang Theory, which is our other podcast within the seventy six ers podcast network. Check that out because that episode came out this week as well.

But Shake talked about the growth journey that he's had, going from someone who was emotionally a little bit manipulated by the moment and by how things were going for him on the court early in his career and has arrived in a place where he can be really comfortable with whatever comes and be in a position where if Tyrese Maxie, James Harden, and Joel Embiad are all out, he can rise to the occasion as he did this year in Orlando over Thanksgiving and be the team's leading scorer.

Or he can find his spots as a scorer off the bench, as a sharer off the bench, and do so with a mindset that remains consistent. And I've been so impressed with Shake's growth development the person he's become. It sounds cheesy, but it's been to delight for me to watch Shake's growth and Shake's journey and then to hear him talk about it too. So always a pleasure

to learn more about Shake. Shake wanted everyone to know that he's not as quiet as he seems or as he maybe gives off, which I think we've we've learned to be true, and we've also learned that he can

be a bucket at times when he needs to. And he started his career in a similar way that Paul Reid did with the two way contract, and Paul's was I think shorter lived maybe the two way, But in either case, the start of your NBA career a lot of pressure on you when you get a chance, are you able to showcase what you can do at the

NBA level in limited minutes. These guys kind of went through similar paths, and I think for Shake to have kind of come through to the other side and for Paul to have stepped up to the plate and kind of answered the bell at every turn, like go to the g League, win MVP, shoot the ball really well there, come to the NBA. Backup Joel Embid at times and do well in a lot of those games that you have have some of your best NBA games if you're

Paul Read against guys like Nicola Yokich. Sometimes if you look at certain instances, but two guys that had similar starts to their careers, and I think that two fan favorites in a lot of ways, so and having good, good seasons and both in the minutes they get really take advantage of it. So it was great to hear from both of these guys heading into the playoffs and learn more about them because we don't always get a

chance to hear about some off court topics. So when it's their time to shine, now you know a little bit more about their personalities. Paul is sort of bursting with personality and has become a fan favorite because of his personality and what he does show. And then we've talked about it with Shake. He knows that he's a little bit more reserved, a little bit more demure. But when you do hear from him, when you do learn about him, when he will show you a little bit

more of who he is. He's one of the most interesting, thoughtful, funny guys that I've sort of had the pleasure to work with. So you mentioned the parallels between them. Neither of them has been given a single minute in this league in the course of their careers, but they've earned many minutes now and it's cool and got to be cool to continue looking back on where they started. So before we got into this conversation, I didn't really compare them to each other as much as we're doing right now.

It just so happened that their interviews are paired together. But maybe there was more reason behind that subconsciously, because they're both multi year players in college at schools that weren't top end of their conferences, Guys that developed into pro prospects as their college careers moved along, developed into MBA rotation players as their young NBA careers have moved along. So I really like talking more about those similarities that

they bring. And in the just to close the loop on the G League reference I made about Paul, I still hold a grudge that Shake didn't win any G League awards his first year, which also happened to be my first year in A nineteen, because he averaged like twenty four points a game as a rookie in the G League and he didn't get anything for it, whereas justice for shape. So I'm gonna keep pointing that out. Maybe I think he met all the game played minimums and all that, but I could be wrong on that.

I think he was just snubbed. I choose to believe that he was snubbed, and I choose to bring it up multiple times, and Paul did earn the MVP hardware. I'm glad you're still carrying a torch for shake Shake being robbed of G League, the remarkable all rookie teams. No, no no, he didn't make any of them. You should die on that hill. It's a good one. I'll die

there with you. We talk about it a lot, but young players, when they come into good teams, it's so much harder to carve out a niche for yourself and shake again. Like we've said, one of the longest tenured sixers at this point, but has only been with the team while they've been good. So fighting and clawing for

your minutes in high stakes scenarios. Both of them have had to show up in the playoffs before, which hopefully can prove well as we talk about the regular season winding down and the two of them very much jockeying for playoff positioning and minutes in those situations. But it won't be the first big moment in the playoffs for either of them when that moment comes, So looking forward to seeing how they perform this postseason and beyond. Pat Murphy,

thanks us all, yeah, thank you. I hope people enjoyed it, and a similar line of questioning for the other sixers coming up. So hopefully you learn a thing or two about the players as people because they and they have dogs as pets. They had they you know, they're tired sometimes after road trips, and it was good to just shed a little bit more light on that. So thank you all. They're humans and they're awesome. Just like all of you listeners to give us your feedback, We're always

open to it. At Matt Underscore, Mr bo four, at Lauren m Rosen. Our dms are always open. Let us know what questions you want us to ask in these types of sit down, say in the future, and we can't wait to share the rest of the series with you guys. See you next time.