Caron Butler | Ep 157 | ALL THE SMOKE Full Episode | SHOWTIME Basketball

that experience been? You know what, it's it's been amazing because I think that you know, coaching is a sell for the sport, and um, obviously it's a selfless act as well. So just being able to pour back into some of these brothers and you know, give them that wealth of insight and information that's needed, you know what I mean, Like in the course of the season, it's

been therapeutic for me. And then also just you know, knowing that they definitely needed in the course of the season to like this amplify whatever talents that they have who they are. So it's been a blessing. I think gods like you are in great positions because some of that Jack Can I always talk about on the show with the lack of vets in the locker room. And you remember when we all came in the league, there was thirty six, thirty seven, thirty ye year old dudes.

It was just there. Whether they played or not, they contributed in major ways. I mean, obviously you guys have a super vetting u D. But how important do you feel like that is. I mean, although you're removed from actually playing, you're still in the locker room back on the coaching side. But how important you feel like that

is that that the NBA is definitely lacking right now. Man, It's it's it's so important, like having someone like you d. I just think like he's the the blueprint for you know, all vets and how the organs they and how systems should be ran from top to bottom. When you talk about having a corner storing of a franchise still there that been through the wars, went through the battles, uh, you know, championship pedigree and still able to relate and connect in the locker room, still can throw him out

their play spot minutes. And then also he's able to you know, this be that voice and that bridge between us and the coaching staff to the locker room. Right. I think more teams and organizations need to, you know, revisit that. I know a lot of teams don't want to give up that roster spot, but it's extremely important. Like the value of Udonis has them in that locker room. Is this you can see it? Yeah, see what you're saying. Past season, mine was number one. You know, y'all be Philly.

You had some ups and dollars didn't get to the championship to get to the goal. Talk about this season and what and what you got out of it. I mean, we we got a lot out of the season, and I'll tell you why, just because obviously we know that we was missing a lot of people. COVID season was prior to that. But this season we had pretty much, if you want to look at it from a real basketball like head position, we had three dead roster spots at times, like guys that really wasn't in the rotation.

We missed Jimmy for a significant amount of games. We missed Bam due the surgery. He was out for like six to seven weeks. And then obviously you d not

being in the rotation, but still being a voice. So we still was able to manufacture the number one seed in the Eastern Conference in the course of being you know, like edited so many players throughout the course of it's mixed max in so many uh different lineups throughout the course of the season, but we found a way just to get quality wins and keep that momentum throughout the whole course of the season, grinding out. Jimmy Butler that shot,

you know who else gonna s which? What was your aspect? I mean, what was you What were you thinking when he took that shot? That ship going in, Yeah, like right off top. I was like, you know, you gotta live and die by you know, your franchise guy. Throughout the course of the season. Um, Jimmy has done some things that people, oh, ship, like why he you that? He's that dude, and you know it's good that come with that, and it's some bad that come with that.

I felt like that was the right shot because I think it was like seventeen sixteen point eight on the clock. They still had a time out, so you know, al hor for this retreating and he's going at him. He probably would have filed him, and I just felt like, you know what, he was like, Ship, I'm going for the game, you know, and all we gotta do is get it killed. On the opposite end, it's an s ob play. They're gonna draw up, so let's go for the win. And if he went if he would have

hit that shot, what then he that dude? And he's still that dude even though it then go in and you be back right back at that ship next year. But he's a different kind of superstar, like almost a blue collar superstar exactly what that? And he embodies Miami Heat basketball. What what makes him different? You've got a chance to play with superstars. You've been a star yourself. What makes Jimmy Butler different? Because I feel like he's

kind of a Swiss army. Now if he could be the leaders scorer, he can get all the assists, he can get stopped on defense, he can rebound, he makes when he plays. What makes him different? Since you've been with him day today, I'm glad you said that because I think you nailed it. A lot of people like myself when I played, I was just like Ship, I gotta get a bucket to have my true impact on the game. I gotta get a bucket. I gotta be a problem. I gotta draw double team ship like that.

Jimmy is just a winner. Like at the end of the day, he don't give a ship if he got seven points. But he's gonna win his matchup and obviously he's going to have his fingerprints on ultimately moving the needle for the quality win. So that's all he cared about. I've played in in locker rooms and on teams with dudes that really cared about that ship the bottom line, like getting their numbers. But he just cared about the duck. I love it. Where do you think you have anything

proved well? Right now? With the loss of PJ. We have Kayla Martin who's gonna try to feel that role, and you know he adds, you know, some more use from athleticism. We'll see what happens. You know. One of the things that was glaring to me was when you look at the Boston Celtic and you know, those those two monsters and Brown and Tatum, they posed a lot of issues and you know, Jimmy was trying to will

it um. He did a remarkable job at you know, going up against the two three best players in every series. But you know, he kind of ran on fumes at the end. You know, he had to score forty plus points for us to you know, even have a chance to get a quality win, and the other guys stepped up major league. But you know, Tyler, he's gonna have to improve physicality of the game. He's gonna have to

get better, and he's working on that. You know, everybody's gonna have to move the needle in the process, uh tremendously this summer, and everybody's out here grinding, like you know, they're probably doing the Nightlife ship, but they also grinding working craft. Talk about spo um Man Matt No, you know,

we both respect the ship out of suppose. He's one of the great one the best coaches to have a coach, and he came up under path Rolly and you know, I think Pop do a great job of bringing this Some Hall of Fame coaches up under them too, and Spoke.

Um One thing I like about Spoke he didn't really go too far away from what Pap Roddie taught him, you know what I'm saying, And just give talk to us about Spoke because a lot of people don't talk about him much, and he don't talk much, and you don't give a ship like if you're not talking about him.

He just care about results, the same as Jimmy, and I think that that's why the marriage between our organizations, SPO being at the helm of it and Jimmy with our franchise players just like so perfect because they don't need all the accolades, they don't need a symbolic recognition. They just care about the end, the result, getting wins, putting banners up, and um, we're trying to, you know, get one together with Jimmy as our head. But you know,

SPO tell you a quick story about him. During the course of the pandemic, I was just doing like a lot of CNN ship uh sending over this edits on NBA TV about the game of basketball in the film room, chopping up the game. I guess SPO had probably caught some of the stuff and he was like, man, you need to seriously consider coming on the sideline and being a coach. I wrestled with the thought of it for about a week and he hit me back and he was like, I gotta see for you, like come over here.

You know, joined the culture and rested it again for a day and I thought about what organization that get it right every time? San Antonio Miami Heat, and it's probably another one out there, but definitely the Miami Heat. And it's been a great experience. I've learned so much about preparation, about the schemes, and just you know, really coaching every player because we're all different in a unique way, and just really tapping in and moving the needle with

every guy. There was a moment that went viral heading into the playoffs. I remember was all on the ESPN when it all was going down, Um when Jimmy got into it with Spo and then you u D kind of stepped in and all the outside people looking in, Oh, this is a problem. This is gonna be an issue for this team. I looked at on the flip side, like this ship happens all the time, and to me, I think you guys are gonna get closer, And I said, I don't think. I think you guys are gonna grow

closer from it. Talk to us about that kind stuff that people don't if you don't really know the game, you don't understand. But that kind of ship sometimes needed, and that's the kind of thing sometimes to bring you guys close and you guys want on a great run.

It happened. All that should happen, and you know what, shout out to you for speaking on that because I remember, you know, I I watched because I've been in the media space before and I was watching, like, Okay, what the fund is the narrative going to be about us? Because we know about us, but nobody else know about us, and everybody else just assuming. And I remember Keenly that you know, you said exactly what you just said, like

they're gonna be connected. Uh, they're gonna rally around this moment, and you know it's you know, some real ship need to be said. It was uncomfortable on the fly, you know, you d you know, stepped up and you know we ship, we had it, went went to dinner after that. You know, it was chill. It was just like one of those moments like no love loss and nothing but love game.

From that experience, there has to be a certain level of respect though, and understanding like that, and and the culture like that, because like I said, that ship happens all the time. It's just not caught on camera a lot of times with teams though, When those moments don't happen, that's when the ship get yeah, you know, fragile, and that's when it's get fractured and stuff. That's the best moments that we learned from him. Um switching gears your childhood,

born and raised Recine, Wisconsin. Talk to us about your upbringing and your struggle and just your perseverance to be able to even though it's a bunch of crazy ship going on and some ship happening to you, you never to make your way through it, you know what. I was just intrigued by, like like a lot of young people, like disintrigued by all the wrong ship that was going on out there, and I felt like I had to, you know, be involved in pretty much everything, like from

you know, hustling and carrying pistols too. You know, there's being a trying to mimic the men in my family or who I thought was my mentors, everybody ahead of me. And then you know, from those experiences like being incarcerated, I think it's like this really humbled me, slowed me down. Obviously it saved my life, but it slowed me down like a motherfucker because I had to really just look at life slower, like I was becoming a failure to the people that sacrificed the most for me, my mother

and my grandmother. I already had a kid at the age of thirteen, so you know, I was like, damn, like her father a felon already, and it's like, how do you process that ship? So you had your first met you up, you had your first child at thirteen? Yeah, my first child at thirteen, and you know, I just you know, I grew without a father. So I didn't want my habits to continue down our path. So I had to like really make a judgment decision where I already knew what the outcome of the path that I

was leading was going to lead to. I was going to continue to get incarcerated, somebody was gonna blow my ship back, or I was gonna have to do something to somebody. So fast forward, I just said, you know, I'm gonna just try to square straight and narrowship, Like I'm just gonna try this lifestyle and see where it leads. At what age did you start making that decision? About fifteen and a half fifteen sixteen, Um, it was right after I got sentenced to two years in corrections. I did.

Eighteen months I got out, I was on papers. Uh, clicked up with this traveling team, George brad Community Center. They were sponsored by Nike. It just got taking me around the world and just competing against some of the baddest dudes out there at the time. Quentin Richardson Corey mcgetty talk about a lot of this in the book. Yeah, you know, and just getting at it, you know what I mean. Like my first tournament where I really got recognized was the Peace Jail. I wasn't even supposed to

be there. We're going to Junior Peace Jamil. See what I'm saying, Like it's still going because there's a major tournament. But I wasn't even supposed to be there because when I was on probation too, I had a bracelet, so like I had to he was the first one to play with the angle. Tell you I was not supposed to be there, So I took the bracelet off and I left the bracelet the nows so they thought I still was, you know, in the region, and I went to a tournament, played in it and I got on.

So the headlines in the paper was like, you know, this kid has arrived and my po was like you wasn't Eve supposed to be out of the state, So that was an issue. Uh did seven days for that and then like my basketball story took off from that moment though that's crazy. Was at that point you fully you don't never fully but left the streets alone. Okay, this is my this is what I'm gonna do. It

was at that point right there. I was always like straddling defence, still like be honest, like we're keeping a buck. Like I was still you know, dipping and dabbing, but still like leaning more towards depositive ship and you know me and in the streets. But all my homies were still in the street. You know, all my homies were g d s. You know, we we're hung together. We were still in the same neighborhoods. We still was flagging. It was what it was. But they saw something that

they saw me that they didn't see an themselves. They saw that I found my niche, I had an opportunity. So it was the first time that I've seen something like this, like in my community because you know, we just got that crab in the barrel mentality. But they rallied around my gift. They was like, you know, we're gonna support you, king like you're about to you made it, Yeah, beautiful, talk about your experience of uk and Jim kown I

was shocked that I actually went there. Um my Muslim mentor by the brother by the name of Jamale Laguari. I wanted to go to St. John's and he was like, Yukon is the best spot for you because they produced the most god the wings at your position, and they know how to get you there, you know what I mean. So if you go through this system, uh, you're gonna be better for it. And I didn't have that evaluation. I wasn't looking at it like that. I was just like,

I'm going to New York. Like I get a chance to get out of Wisconsin. You know, it's a lot of land, a lot of cows, a lot of cow tipping, a lot of you know, built dairy products. I want to go to the big city if I could, if I could do it from the gift and my talents of playing the game of basketball. But it was best decision I've ever made because Calhoun really impoured into me. And when he came into my household sat down my

mother and my grandmother. You know, if anybody can be bought, you could be sold when you talk about finances, when people come trying to buy you and sell you on universities. He didn't come with a bag. He came with just some information that was true. He said, if you commit to this university, you're gonna be family forever. And he meant that That's what sold me on the whole process, instead of somebody come into your living room saying that we got fifty thousand or a hundred thousand for you,

which is dope because we needed it. We was broke. But he talked to me about this importance of like what he was going to pour into me. And I wasn'ta be a man, a better man from that experience that you can what was it like having all the success of you can no Like you got a lot of players that come up out of the big Eat player of the year, lead the team and scoring lead eight. It was dope because they made it easy for me like that. The system was already in place. You know.

It's it's kind of like the zag and I ain't promoting Zagga. But they never rebuild, They just reload. They find guys that like fit a certain prototype of what they're trying to do and they just like plug and play. Yeah, and that's the same thing with Yukon. It was like the perfect fit for me. It's like, dude, like, oh you like coming off screens. Here you go, you like the will action, Here you go, you like is and there you go, like and it enhanced me so much.

It also this helped me be a better person as far as like walking around the campus, like going against the highs and lows and uh being in the middle of nowhere, Uh, you know, away from your family, but being a part of such a diverse community. You know, like I've never seen you know, white and black people like and like such a small like space like interacting and clicking. Like the south side of race scene was

just you know, predominantly black and brown folks. The north side was you know, the upper echelone of white folks. So it was just like to see that type of integration, uh on the college campus. It was. It was pretty dope. So you stayed for two years. Uh you decided to make a jump. Was that an easy decision? It was the time you knew it was time to go to coach. Tell you it's time to go. Did that work out? The correct answer to say, yes, I knew it was.

It was an easy decision for me to get out of there because I felt like I was better than everybody else, not just on my team, but I felt country just across the board, you know. I mean, I didn't know it was a motherfu out there by the name of y'all. Mean that was seven ft five or whatever, that was just looming that was gonna be the number one pick. But I just felt like looking at the layer of the land watching ESPN, like I was like, Oh, he's the top five pick. I'm better than him. He

number six, I'm better than him. So I was just like, it's my time to go. And it was an easy decision for me to, like financially, because if I'm gonna be a lottery pick, I could provide from my family, I can create first generation riches and eventually turned into wealth. So it was a easy decision. So I remember you were so you go number ten, but that you were emotional, like you really felt like you should have went higher. And I think that that the emotion of just everything

kind of poured out at once. Talked to us about when you actually were drafted. Yeah, So I was promised by three teams that I was going to go before the seventh pick, before seven. Before seven obviously was a lie. So I'm sitting there at the table and I'm like, damn, another one. And then the last promise, I was like, damn again, another one. So then I was thinking, like,

maybe it's the background check stuff. And you know, people can't get jobs because they got felonies, so like when they do the background check with NBA stuff, who you hang with, what's this where you come from? All that stuff. I'm like, maybe that is my Achilles Hill on this whole process, and that's the reason why I'm not getting drafted. And they brought me here to be an example for that. And that's the way I'm thinking. My wavelength calm thinking

at the table. So um, I'll never forget Raymond Brothers, my agent. We go into the bathroom in the back and we started talking. Spike Lee walked through and you see his praying and he like even like joined the prayer for a minute, and I was just like, I can't remember the words of what he said, but he just told me that you know, it's all gonna plan out,

it's all gonna work. At the end, a man went back out set at the table and my name was called, and I had an outpour of emotion because the sacrifices that went into getting to that point and then having the dream sitting at that table and then thinking it wasn't gonna happen, and then all of a sudden hearing your name like reality, and going up there and shaking the commissioner hand that she was like it was real. Yeah. The first year, Tough wins first Team All Rookie can

out the gates with fifteen and five. The next year you draft d Wade and trade for lamar Odom. So you see he guys are trying to build something. What is your first impression on both of them? I always loved Wade because we played in the circuit together a couple of a tournaments that I did go to that he was always at with the Illinois Warriors, and he always had like a big gass brace on his leg. You know, he was always battling d and injuries and things like that, but he just had a uh unique

like hustle to him. He used to strap up defensively. He just had an edge as far as like Lamar. I mean, he was always a household name for all of us. You know, Lucky Lefty. He was coming down like most versatile big out there. The goods, yeah, the goods. So like when he came to Miami and we was able to manufacture a deal and get him. When the Clippers dropped the ball, we was like the young core and I was like, damn, We're gonna be dope for like ever, for years to come, and I'll never forget.

Like with d Wade, he didn't have a jump shot then, but Stam Van Gundy just said, you know what, I'm gonna put him in a pick and roll and see what that look like. And obviously that's when he became flash and the rest is you know, top three two guards. Ever, what was that experience like that? Because I mean ship Miami on top of that is a dope city. You

guys got a nice young core. What is the vibe in the energy around the uh, the the city, but the organization like, yeah, I'm gonna tell you it was. It was not a basketball city, is not a basketball state. Still isn't, but it's getting there. It's all about football. Always been about football. Um, but I think the foundation, uh, the cornerstone of the organization. Uh, lines of Morning started it.

He started the momentum, you know, us going out there as youngster's going to play in Zoe Summer Groove and stuff like that. It just kind of took a life of his own. But when you have someone like d Wade, you know, one of the top players ever to play the game of basketball in the mix of you know, his prime, I just think that, you know, basketball has took new life. And then now fast forward to you know, two thousand ten and everything that happened with you know,

lebron Chris Bosh and all those guys on it. It has become like this an environment for basketball like Miami is you know just crazy right now that they loved the game of basketball, got a nice polt in the city. It's growing. You know, if you're trying to be an entrepreneur, it's just about to be right now. Um, you know, talking about bitcoin, cryptocurrency everything. It's like all the major conventions are held there, so it's it's a dope spot

to be. Two thousand and four, he was in a shack trade talk about being being able to link up with being Yeah, our brother, like, uh, I'll never forget. Like coming back from Antigua, I was doing a Basketball without Borders camp or clinic for the Miami Heat and the stroller was going across. This is like when everybody used to watch ESPN around the clock type ship and I'm walking through the airport and they like Shaquille O'Neill coming to the Miami Heat. I was like, damn, we're

about to be like dope. Even the Miami Heat and my name they had Labar Dave. I was like, oh, ship, Like that's how this worked. Like I thought I was here forever. I just bought a crib like I can't silver crib. I just bought it like it was It was just like all that emotional attachment. But um, that was just that was just a crazy experience one just to be a part of that whole process. And then going to Los Angeles and I'll never forget Kobe signed

a deal for a d thirty plus million dollars. I'm at the press conference and it's actually a double press conference because they introducing myself, Brian Grant lamar Odom to the city of Los Angeles. And then Kobe signed in this deal and I'll never forget like looking at that money. And then the first thing he turned to the right said to me was get ready to blackout, Like get ready to work out, Like let's take that ship to

another level. And I'm talking about the blackout sessions. Was crazy. Uh. The reason why an All Star player, the reason why I'm in the coaching space is because my time that I spent with what was he like off the court? Basketball genius? All he talked about was that the game. Uh. I started watching film with him on every plane trip, just analyzing like the rotations, the schemes, the double teams,

where they was coming from, how to manipulate the defense. Um. I learned that I learned the whole bunch from a being. And also too, you know, when you talk about life after basketball, he gave me like a jewel that stuck with me. Um. The roar of the crowd is not for you as for what you can do, and as soon as you can't do it, they'll be cheering for someone else. So like, work on your second act while you're in the midst of your first. I mean he

did other stuff. Obviously, he touched you know, Jack and I and and uh, you know he a really meaningful way, but mean, he wrote the foreword for your book. Um, you know, came to your hometown, ain't broke right with your family, And not a lot of people get to see that side of cope. You saw it. I was fortunate enough to see it. But tell us what that side of him is like when it's not the basketball talk subside for thirty forty five minutes an hour, what's

that side of the cope. Yeah, it's it's it's unique because like I saw him like literally put his guard now like where it was like I heard all this these things about him before I got there, like don't funk with him. He's staying up, he's selfish, he's this, he's that. And once I got there, he was the first thing I saw he was just standing on business. So I was just like, like I funk with that, Like all he doing is he's standing on this business. And then um, I start like asking them stuff and

he like, man right here, like let's talk. Like he just became like so welcome. I'll never forget. We got to Milwaukee, and you know, my family usually throw down when I come in town, like big box, locked party, barbecue, everything, So I told Lamar, like you want to come down and pull up? He's like, all right, cool, He's like, ask cold. Everybody's laughing like him coming like cold, you want to come up and eat some ribs and ship

and this. He's like, yeah, what time. I was like laughing at the dudes, like see what I'm said, Like he came, Yeah, he came, He sat down, He kicked it with everybody. Um, one of the most memorable moments of you know, my life, because the whole hood came out, the whole community and he sat down, he ate with everybody, just chopped it up, poured into him, gave him all life. That's just who he was, you know, Like that's the

side of Kobe. A lot of people didn't get a chance to experience and see because he was always standing on business. But I think more of the stories came out, you know, after you know, he lost his life and everybody starts speaking on it a little bit more. Um. Two thousand five traded to the Wizards. You joined forces with the one and only Agents year old and Antoine Jamison. What was your first impression of that situation. Uh, you're obviously at the top of your game at that time. Uh,

with two other high power players. What was that situation?

Like I watched it before you guys, man, I was excited to go there because one I watched that playoff series, I was in Chicago and I went to the game Chicago playing the Wizards a year before Larry Hughes, and you know, they had injuries, but hell of battle, Gilbert hit the he was game winning to get him out that that round in that series, and I was just like, like that, I want to be on that squad with Larry Hughes though, you know what I'm saying, Like, I was just like, I can be on that and he

was always talking about like small ball and ship like that, even in that era. And Larry Hughes left and I was in negotiations with the Lakers and they put out a number out there. I wasn't comfortable with signing, and I was just trying to orchestrate the trade and get out of there, you know. And Washington was the landing spot for me um and I wanted to be there

because I just knew that, you know. Obviously, Gilbert was a bucket and you know, he was a superstar, and Antoine was, you know, a spacer and the star in his own right, and I was just like, I could really compliment those dudes. Just be my ship, just do my thing. First of all, how talented was Gilbert and what kind of work ethic did he have? He was one of the hardest workers. And I played with obviously, we talked about Kobe Um, I played with, Kadi, played

Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul obviously we shared that experience. Uh honest, list of all the superstars out there, Uh, Gilbert's probably number two on that list, Derek obviously, but yeah, he top three, top three hardest worker dudes, like, you know, a little quirky, but he had some ship to him. But he was a he was a dog when it came to that that work. And like he had like a four year stretch maybe five where nobody in the league wanted to see him coming. I meant to see.

So now countered that what kind of character was he? Uh, super playful, super playful. Um had a lot of he didn't take anything serious. Get the opposite. Yeah, you know when they have fun, but you're serious, you're about like you're about the business always. Yeah. And and then Antoine was like a the mediator, like he was in the middle, and then Gilbert was like, like I said, he was

just a jokester all the time. Yeah, still lives. You guys run into Lebron the first round, three years in a row, guarding him at that time, what was your strategy guarding this is a young Brown really kind of coming to his own. This is when I knew Lebron was special. Um, this this all happened in one place. We played him three years in a row in the playoff series. But this is when I knew your special. We try to go under on pick and rolls. That

didn't work. We try to go over, try to bully over, We try to shoot the gaps, We try to stay connected, We try to meet him in transition everything. We try to weak him. Um, just strong though we we blessed him. Uh. We try to read send the double team late Blacks. We showed him literally every coverage in the playoff series and he dissected it and I was just like, he different. That's when I knew. I was like, as long as he stayed you know, available and durable, like he's gonna

probably shatter just about every record. And our main thing was just even when we went to Dallas, even when we went to other teams, it was just like, let's try to win before he figured it out, because he's too he's just a basketball mind. He's brilliant, So let's try to win as many as we can, or however way we can manufacture to win one before he figured it out. So you saw obviously the world saw the

growth coming. But you get a chance because you know when the the season is great, but when the lights come out of the playoffs, it's a little bit different. You saw that three years in a row. How much from the first time he played him, and I'm sure he was great then to the last time you played him in the playoffs, and that three years span had he improved. You know what, His jump shot got better, his reads got quicker. Um, he was like he was very intentional and exactly what he wanted to do on

the basketball court, whereas before he was just playing. He was just like the steamrolling over people. But at the at the end, it was just like he was just playing the game. He knew exactly how he was gonna beat you. The first quarter, I'm gonna play with you like this second quarter, I'm gonna score a little bit

now y'all gonna have a different coverage. Now I'm gonna get you know to j R. Smith, I'm I'm gonna set the whole stage and then at the end, I'll just use my star power to get to the line, get you all in the bonus quick and win the game. So like he had a strategy just like going. He was just checking all the boxes every game. All right, this so I'm gonna beat you all this game. And

it was just like damn, Like, dude is just different. Yeah, brain speed, right, I mean obviously he was great, but he was in your bag in two thousand, seven, thousand and eight, you were an All Star. What was that experiencing that run for you? Like personally, yeah, it was it was dope because I think as as players, uh, obviously, we we have a check box of our own, like when we come into the league one you know, whether

people like it or not. You want to be a household name, you want to be respected by your peers. You want to get the bag, you want to be All Star, you want to get a chip, and you want to get the like get the hell out. That's like, that's the checklist that you know, all of us half um as players, as competitive players, and you know I was able to check one of those things, you know, check one of those boxes by making an All Star team. And you know my best year was you know, pretty

pretty much. Even though I was an isolation player, it came from being with great teammates like Gilbert made sure I was successful, Antoine made sure I was successful. I played in the Princeton office. You know, getting a game that season that's not easy, Like the ball finds energy and it found me, you know what I mean. So it was it was like a dope experience. Good running uh in in d C. You hit Dallas for a year. What was it like playing with Dirt one of the

best shooting bigs ever, if not the best. Yeah, And I think people don't give him enough credit, just like when you talk about international players, immediately you talk about a La Jouan m VPS all that stuff. But you know, Dirk wasn't no joke. I mean, I think the one blemish, but it was because y'all were so great with the we believe team. Like people always go back to, like, well,

you know, he didn't show up. That was an m v P season, it was, but y'all was nice, nice at hell and y'all this you had a team full of dogs. But his legacy is pretty much second and nothing like being with one organization, you know, going through the eyes in the lows and you know, eventually winning the championship in two thousand eleven. Glad I was part of being part of that team, like it was just a whole special experience. I mean, obviously, I mean, you

took one championship. Some people may talk about that. But the run you guys made to get that side them you beat us, we were coming off back to back swept us, beat the Brakes off us San Antonio and okay see and then the Big Three in Miami, Big Three in Miami. That's the hell of a run that That run was crazy because we had the best record in the league and I was a third leading scorer on that ball club ruptro Ma Patella. Uh. January one in Milwaukee and we had a change over four players.

Pages Toyakovich signed on um Corey Brewer. Uh. I think we brought Brian Cardinal and then another guy as well, uh, filling and filling the roster. But you know, we had three guys to replace the need of you know, sixteen seventeen points a night in that system, and that was

a lot of change over. And it took us like twenty three four games to really like develop a new style in a way to play and basically around Dirk like his excellence, his leadership, Jay Kidd like point guard like out there this, you know, manufacturing points and keeping guys motivated and not letting the steam drop off. He was able to win that championship. Crazy with you on the sideline too. That's crazy to think about it. Um, you make a pit stop in l A for two years.

Historically bad franchise, but we made a nice little run. I mean, ain't no secret. Uh Live City. What was your experience like with Live City? It was dope, it was. It was fun because I think having young guys and I really signed to that organization. Obviously I was thinking life at the basketball when I signed there. I was a free agent. I didn't know Lives City was gonna into that. Yeah, I knew Chris Paul was going to

the Lakers. That's what we was hearing. We have every Yeah you know, I was like, all right, Chris Paul going to the Lakers. We had the same assistant, Uh, miss Wilson at the time. So I was like, Okay, that's what's happening on that end, and the Clippers was just trying to like have some veteran leadership around some of the young guys. Was right, Blake, No, it wasn't bet Eric Bledsoe, yeah, young blad Eric God, yeah, Ryan

Gomes all those guys. So, like, I signed on intending on just being a good vet and the basketball and just get business popping in l A. And then you know, um, oh ship, Chris Paul coming, you know what I mean, Jamal Crawford coming, Like then you know the possibility of all these other free agents wanted to play with, you know, this team is coming. So it's like, oh, like now we become a title team, you know, like overnight. So you go, they're thinking, just you know, compete at a

high level, teach them how to win two. Now you guys are title contention, your top three, top four teams in the league. And then following that that next year, now you come and we had Jamal Crawford, Reggie the Jokers, Lamar Oldham, Grant Hill, like Chaulcy Billups. It's like, oh, ship, we owned something like what do you think held us up though, because I feel like that second year, your second year, uh, my first year, Jama's first year, Lamar's first year was like what was what do you think

held our team? But I've talked the leadership. Yeah, not not from us the locker room. I think even even above, Like I think from a coaching standpoint, now that I'm in this seat and I'm coaching, and you know, you're talking about everyone wise and you know, being you know,

leaders of men, you gotta make sure that everyone's connected. Now, Chris did all the leadership things as far as from a teammate standpoint, like having dinners where we you know, bond and connect with one another, but you know, the X and o's and the mission and saying what it was gonna be and something that we all can rally around. That wasn't there, Like people weren't saying, hey, we're trying to win the championship. This is what it is, like, this is the role you gotta play for us to

you know, get this accomplished. This is the role you gotta buy into for us to get this ship accomplished. That wasn't never discussed. We we felt it. We try to play the right way, like you was tag team in our minutes. But it wasn't like this is what the funk you gotta do for us to get this? And that was a drop off. I like him, Man, fourteen seasons. You sad to hang it up. You just knew it. It It was time. Man, I'm gonna tell you. I checked in and Sacramento, and in my head, I

thought I took off, but I didn't take off. It was I was going up for a dump, but I went for a cold as lay up. I never left the ground like I intended to leave the ground. And I was just like damn. In my head, I that was like kind of up there, so you know, the ship kind of kind of spent in there and went in and I ran the other way, and I was like ship. And I watched the film that night. I was like that, No, I can't be out there like

that like that, ain't it. So I was just like, man, you know what, you know, I got my bread, I got some I got a lot of ship going on. Off the court. It's trying to pivot and just like do some other stuff. Think back to when you was fifteen, you know what I mean to when he was locked up to you is going through all the bullshit. I didn't know the direction he was going to now to write this moment to where you had now bro, all

the stuff you didn't accomplished, everything you've been through. How you feel, Man, I'm beyond blessed and I'm I'm I'm grateful and I'm humble for like everything that I experienced, Like even when I was walking up here, like real ship, Um, I got I got my six button suit on, I'm coming up here and I'm chilling with I'm chilling with my dogs, like and I you know, I applaud you all for all the ship that you're doing and just speaking truth to our on every aspect from sports to

politics to the real ship that's happening out here in

these streets. But I'm just like, damn, Like we have a platform and you know, we're able to dislike speak freely on you know, everything, But it's all because like the sacrifices that we made, and this is like like this is the dream for me, Like this is the vision that you know, I just I love to see and I think like it's gonna be so impactful, like twenty years from now, twenty years from now just imagine like what our young king's gonna be doing, our young

Queen's gonna be doing, what their platforms because of what y'all doing, what they've seen, what we went through, and what how he's able to overcome adversity and all that. Like the future is scary in a good way. Definitely. Um, you're real good friends with Mark Wahlberg. Um, I don't know if it was room or true. Are are you guys working on a project to kind of tell your story? Talk to us about that working on the shout out to Mark Warward. He let me use his RV out

of blue. I made a post on Instagram like a month ago, I'm taking my family on a vacation and we need to RV. Then when gotta plug on rentals, motherfucker Deemsill Like, Yo, you can take one the one I used on set. I'm like, I know him, but I don't really know him like that. He's like that, Yeah, appreciate you, Mark, He's a hundred like that. And um, you know, I had I end up doing tough to use my journey from the streets and the NBA, and I came to him and for the option to you know,

do a biopick. I saw no one with him and his company, and you know, we were going to shoot two years ago. I felt like the script wasn't right. And when we go back to like having the power or having you know, have enough equity in the game where you know, I've done enough for my life where I don't have to go for a quick bag or something like that, it was like, I want the story

to be told right. And I'll tell you why, Like when you think about the sacrifices that my mother made, my grandmother made, and you know, because of the theatrics of you know, Hollywood it, you know, their characters wasn't going to be depicted the right way, you know from

the script. You know, usually you have like the highs, the lows, and then you have like the White Knight that comes and saved the day in Hollywood and these stories and you got seventy five minutes to tell it or eighty minutes roughly, And I just wanted to make sure that the script was right. Uh. Me and Jordan Fostman working on the script. We got a script that we love, that we fell in love with, that my my mother loved, my grandmother liked, and now it's like,

all right, let's move to Needle. Let's get this ship done. So we got progress. We got and not a lot of people don't know too, because you're stick to the business head down. You're a beast in the entrepreneurial space. Do you mind share any of the things you're into because I know you're all over the place with it. Yeah. So we got, you know, six graduated hotels. I was just speaking of one of the partners on set about the one that we we bought the old Nathan Hill

on the at the University of Connecticut. We got a Starbucks, we got a lot of real estate out of Wisconsin, just brought up the whole block renamed the Carime Butler Drive, got community centers, UH, got programming like we're in a lot of different spaces like this. Pay no, I mean, I love We sat down a few times and you were telling me, I'm just like that, oh that too, Oh that this dude is a beat. So appreciate to shut you out on that for sure. Father and five

what does that mean to you? Man? Everything? Because you know, growing up without a father, obviously that was it left for a huge stain on a lot of things. But it also taught me about having that boy and what I wanted to be if I became a father. So it means everything. My four little girls. My son who's at the University Irvine is going to a senior years playing basketball. My daughter about to go to University of Howard. Uh, I got an eleven year older question and fucking ride

horses sensive sport. It's very specials Yeah, it's very dangerous. She fell off a few times. Hot right back up. And my youngest child, Jiah, she's a part of the diabetic community j d RF, so she's an ambassador. She does amazing work. She speaks probably about her condition. Actually running the house. Yeah, she runs the house. She got a ton of personality. So it's just it's dope to be a father and you know, still be able to, you know, do something that I love, you know, uh,

that I'm passionate about. And coach talk about the book sho oh man. So Shot Clock we had we had to experience a while back, real close to the time where the George Floyd's situation happened. And I watch you march, I watch all of us march and rally around at

that cost. But shot clock came the thought and the idea came from We went to march to the Capitol Building uh in Racing, Wisconsin, the City Court Circuit building, and they gave people like time on the clock the um really talk about their discomforts and display it was in the community and I was just like, damn, Like, you're looking at how much time you can really talk about all the ship that's wrong in the world. Yeah, and enough. And I was just like, man, that's something

that we're all up against time. So I took these kids stories that I coached, that I've seen in the neighborhood, that I was able to mentor that I was able to, you know, try to help something that fail by the wayside, something that died. And we came up with the title shot clock because we're all up against time. You know, we're just telling these stories, these real stories, and hope that they come part of the core curriculum of you know,

school today. You know, it got picked up by scholastic Sports, so it's gonna be everywhere. That's extremely important. But some of the old stories that you read now from Outsiders, to Kill a Mockingbird, things like that great Gas to be Dope, stories, amazing books, but I think they're dated, you know, yeah, they're way outdated, and they don't really talk and speak to us. So I wanted to make content.

And that's something that me and Kobe had in common where we used to talk about like ideas and just you know, make making content that can really impact young people. So that's why shot Clock is a reality. It comes out, you know, nine six two, and look forward to sharing those stories with the world. Beautiful quick here of us, you plus four going to the black Top. Wire You bringing Ship, not to the gym, to the black Top. Matt, all right, so I can tell you, uh, you know,

arrest my soul, my brother Kobe Bryant. I'll take him to any black Top, purple Top, any time he gets busy, anywhere, take m J. I'm gonna need some enforces, so I'm gonna bring both of y'all and Ship. I'm gonna gonna get busy with it. I'm gonna coach the team since I'm in that seat now, and I'm I'm gonna have j have Jay cross over, get busy out there. It's gonna be fun. You can listen to with no skips. Miseducational Lauren Hill. The one and only tapping, Always tap

all the way. First thing you're doing the morning, last thing you do when you go to sleep. First thing I got to do in the morning is you know, I always look at my capital fund. I look at my statements, look at what's going in, what's going out. The last thing I do before I go to sleep. I pray every night, no matter where I'm at, What's what state? I pray FaceTime one of my kids talk to him like, that's that's my joy. Like, I go to sleep happy. That's important. I dream good than the

funniest thing that's happened to you recently. So I've been slimming down a little bit and I try to go in in the gym and dump by myself. And it didn't go like I wanted it to go. So like that lamp secrament, Yeah, it was worse. It was worse. I lost the rim and just put it like that. I landed awkwardly and I just I just got back realigned. So I'm trying to move really gingerly right now. If you can see one guest on all the smoke, who would it be? But you have to help us get

your ass on the show. You know a lot of people. You know what I would love. Like you mentioned Mark Walber, I would love to see Mark Warburg on the show. I would also love to see uh, you know, Jay z on on y'all show, just speaking truth to power. Just that would be a dope. Like I love the Snoop Dog episode that you guys had and ship to Damn Dash like everything. Yeah, so have hold on here, that would be powerful. Yeah you heard, you heard the end of that question. All right, Yeah, I can help

out with yeah. Okay, yeah, okay, okay, we're good, Rock, We're good. We're good. Well, karn Man, we appreciate you. Uh, your journey has been you know, admired. You know the grind, the perseverance you had to make it through it, and like you said, the way you're sitting here right now and just continuing to pass it forward to others. Man, we definitely appreciate that. So I wanted to give you your flowers and also give you this all the smoke time and legends. Dog. I like that, you know, I

have it in all time. Appreciate man, I appreciate you. Man. That's a rap with Crown Butler. All the smoke You can catch us on Showtime Basketball YouTube and the I heart platform Black Effects. We'll see you all next week.