Gilbert Arenas | Ep 84 | ALL THE SMOKE Full Episode | SHOWTIME Basketball

Tell me one thing you took from that you either catch up or get left. She wasn't gonna be the same, you know what I mean. You wasn't gonna be the It wasn't gonna be the same as you were, you know what I mean. So you either had to catch someone who was in front of your separate yourself were you're just gonna get left? What you do a little

bit of both. Wey caught me way called me. But you know it gave me enough time to think think about the future, to think about the past, and then you know, just trying to you know, build and you know, just be a smarter man than I was before seasons crazy obviously went to the bubble because you have handled the bubble. What what what kind of shenanigans would you have got into in the bubble? That would have went right up my alley though, because you know it's straight

hoop on game day. I'm you know, it's I'm a mute, I'm a hermit. You know what I mean. I didn't talk on the phones. I used as loot as least words I can possibly use on game is you know, just all thinking about the game. Um so that would have been an amazing environment for me personally, but the team we had it would have been a struggle because you know, as you know, as a vet, you still got to think about the rest of the players. Team are you taking in the bubble with your team? Are

you're talking about? Like if I was gonna take a team in the bubble, it would have been like it would have been with Larry Hughes in it, because I know, all right, that's yeah, that's a cool group. Sean Stevenson group. Oh no, Sean, I got I got a young Dravel, I got Andre Blotch. You know you got Nick Young Still, you know, like, no, they wouldn't hand that bubble right, it would have been a whole bunch of loose and they wouldn't have sitting no chicken wings. We can't here

for the ass? What what? What? What teams and players are you following these days? You know, obviously you know you're gonna watch what Brooklyn is doing over there. You're gonna watch the Lakers, um Clippers, you know, Philly, you know it's you know, you know, as I've been down, do you feel like they're missing Jimmy Butler? You know, I thought I thought that who he was as a player and a person, you know, a third option, smart enough to understand that I have go to guys, let

me do. Let me give them the ball, and I'll do what I do if I need carry out carry But then I'm gonna feed off of you guys. But he's a bucket getter at the end. So I thought he would put and beat and check when it counted, and he would. He really looked up to him too. Yeah, And because he's gonna he's gonna challenge and beat, you know, with and be being an alphab by himself. He's still young. There's no one to keep him in check. You know, you have an imbalanced team. Talk to me, but I mean,

I love your basketball annalysis. I don't think you get enough credit for us. So all we got you here, talk to me about Brooklyn. What you see over there, and they're ceiling their ceiling if they have one. They have too much offense, and it's it's scary because with the type of players they have, you can't double, you can't set no type of game plan for and if you have to go against them in seven games, I mean one is going to give you problems too. On fire,

you lost three on fire. It's a nightmare. So unless the Lakers start acquiring more talent to keep up with the scoring, no one's gonna be able to shut them down long enough to win any games. See them winning it all this year if they stay healthy. They won a championship last year, and I gave the coaching staff a C minus at best. I just thought some of

the lineups they had didn't do the team well. You know, you go small ball and you have a D and Lebron during their pick and roll, you got three guys who can't create their corner guys. If they're corner guys, are never gonna drive they're never gonna penetrate. What do I need to guarden for? You know what I mean, I'm just gonna put all my eyes on YouTube. Now, YouTube gotta work harder. They're here for defense, but they're guarding someone who's trying to score thirty. So this guy,

even with great defense, he's gonna score twenty. You're giving me five. That's fifteen points somebody else have to make up. So I just thought the lineups made it harder for the Lakers, you know. I was like, you know, I'm you know, I played two K so I wanted to seeing CU's mad the one, Brian at the two, you know, a D at the three, Javail at the pholt, the hit at the five, and say yo, meet me at the rim. You know what I mean? You know, And

that was my line up. I said, you know, if they were to put that, you know against Miami, series have been over in two. Yeah, they were just quit the other two games, Like now we need to go to show up for these two Clippers. What about them? What do you think about them? I mean, besides them being the coppers Uma work. Yeah, it's hard because you don't you don't really have a real alpha male. You know, you got Kauai's quiet you know, you know he's a

quiet guy. You know where you're gonna get from him. Paul is still I think he's he's fighting for his starting back. You know, injuries. You know, even last year, you know, two shoulder injuries. So mentally he's still challenging himself. With the rest of the team, you need someone who can inkor them all but still be good enough to contribute. And I don't think they had it last year, and I don't think they have it this year. They don't. They just don't have enough to keep them on top.

Rondo doesn't do How do you think Rondo, I mean Rondo, Rondo changes, Rondo changes things. They did need a point guard. But you you lose scoring off the bench with lou So, I mean, if they would have kept loud and you know, I'm like, okay, I like the team a lot better. But the fact that you lose two points coming off the bench, you know, it kind of it kind of hurts the squad. So you lose basically basically both of your six man's from last year, you lose one of

the clippers, you know, and and and lose out. So you, where's where's the points gonna come from when you really need it? Last Team Milwaukee, what do you need to see from Janice? You feel for them to reach their potential? Skill? It's still raw talent. Explained that because some people don't understand because's winning m VP awards, he's putting up crazy numbers. But I know exactly what you're talking about. But explain that for the people who who don't raw talent is

the Westbrooks. You know where you're just God's gift, you know what I mean, your God's give. You're that you're that super athletic guy that you got I with athleticism, being stronger, faster, and when I say skills like the fourth quarters where skill comes into places like being in l a at five o'clock once that freeway hits that.

Butgotti doesn't mean ship, you know what I mean, having Agatti, you better off having a hand at that point, you know what I mean, so you can maneuver through traffic at least so when the game gets the last two minutes, and in the playoffs, when it's a half court game,

he doesn't have skill. He's still trying to play this regular season open court style, and he needs to learn how to back to the basket, understand the concept of a double, understand when to you know, when to give it up and let those guys hit shots so you can take over later. And he still hasn't, you know, gotten that part of his game down yet. Have you ever shot a from free line? I'm gonna al right,

come on, then we don't know, okay. So that's one thing I said you, you'll never be the best player in the league to me if you shoot the ad from the free throw nine. I've never done that in my life, no point, How does that happen? But you know, come on, you've been around a bad free throw shooter, right, And they practice more than anybody else. They practice more than anybody else. Them lights bro lights turn. They get the shaking of them knees, they get the shaking of

them knees. And you know, you already know what they just don't. Just just that's just that's that's what they do. That's like when you're golf and don't hit in the water. Hit in the water where you going in the water. Never, I would never shoot the app out of the free thro line. It's a free shot. There's a free throw, you get to throw it up there for free. I know, but that's but you know, that's that's what those guys that they practice on those all day and when them

lights kick on different element, I don't get it. So, h what do you think about the incredible guard play we see like Kyrie and all the guards it's in the league right now. I'm I'm you know what I mean, I'm a scoring guard, you know what I'm so, I'm loving it. I love the concept of five weapons, you know what I mean. I always said that, you know, if your point guard is a pure point guard and he's making a team better, that means the team is not that good because when you have gold getters, they

don't need you. They don't need the point guard sitting here trying to make blazing. I just give me a damn ball. Let me do my thing, you know. So the fact that you know these guards are just you know, showing all this ability, you know, I get a smile, you know what I mean. You know, because I'm in the area where they were calling somebody like Steph ball yeah,

and he got eight assists. I'm like, if you got the ball, Hall, don't even look this way five I would get your five ths gonna be a good fire. Other than that, I'm looking at that ril. I trained too much. I trained too much of me passing the ball just like here you go. Yeah, you know, I know you took twenty shots, you know in Warren most but I'm going, head man, don't give you the ball? Like no, man, that's selfish, that selfish that you want the ball you don't. You don't practice or your game

that much selfish? Right. The one thing that people don't know about you, and I got to know you obviously better through kind of a family situation, is you're fucking worth. Ethic is is second to none. The way you lock in just the ship. You said about game days, but you didn't want to use words like your preparation and mental preparation. I think Kobe tapped in on that at one point in one and talk to you about that. We'll talk about that later. But where did your work

ethic come from? And tell people some of the routines you used to because they were insane just not being good enough, you know what I mean? Like you know I was good. You know I'm valid kids, So I'm I'm vally good and then you to go to l A and then be like, oh, you ain't l A good it. So now it's like, all right, I need to try to figure out how to be l A good even living in the valley. So playing with adults, you know, playing with adults, playing with the overseas cats

that come back in the summer, going to games. Watching you know, that's that's what I did a lot, watching, Like I watched you you know what I mean. I watched The Oakland, the E B O s and all those things. I watched and sat there. I remember I watched the Sean Stevenson and I walked up to him and said, all you do is dune, I'm better than you, just to see his reaction, like he gave me that look never mind, you know what I mean. And then I go home and you know, just studying, just trying

to study, trying to figure out ways to improve. You know. I lived across the street from my school, so I was there at six in the morning. So my high school routine was I'm at the gym, you know, working out before school. So I met, I'm there at six, go home, take a shower, and then nutrition run to the gym. Shooting my free throws and those little fifteen

minutes passing and at lunch, gold go. We we're gonna either I'm gonna work on three's, work on the move, or play and then I have my basketball, you know, after school. And so that's what I was doing from sophomore to my senior year. So I use those little things, you know, because I'm catching up. You know, when somebody says, hey, yo, you ranked one thousand. You know, you started calculating one thousand. I mean, you know, once that group is gone, that's

what five years senior I get drafted, you know. Man. So I'm kind of doing the calculations like that. So I'm like, well, I need to I need to cover some ground, you know. So from there, I just went in work mode. I ain't I ain't hang out with my friends no more. You know. I'm somebody said that, you know, if you want something great, you gotta you gotta, you gotta let something go. You know, you gotta sacrifice

something that you that's important to you. And at that point it was my friends and it was Hooper Stu. You know what I mean. It's like, well, shoot, I mean, unless you're gonna come to school and train with me. I can't work around today. How many shots? I mean, you put up crazy amount of like how many how many makes would you have to have? Like you were down, like you're someone who wrote your shot, your your your shot attempts down your make stand and like you're a

sicko when it comes to this. And I want to let people know that because I already know what about you. You know, after my it was it was the summer after my rookie season. I remember, I'm I go to the gym, I'm there six o'clock in the morning, going, I'm shooting, get on the machine, shoot until it flipped back to zero, you know, a thousand shots and sit there and wait thirty minutes, an hour, eat come back. And then I remember Mullen was like, you're working too hard,

not smart enough. And I'm like, all right, what does that mean? He was like, you've been working for five hours but didn't go. I said, your work ethic, what you did worked up until now. If you want to get on this next level, you have to change it up.

So you know, I used to watch him work out and then started adding, then I go to the gym, you know, watch Kobe watch how they work out before games and then just start putting the pack gets together, trying to figure out what makes you know what I mean, because you know, you get put in a situation. I'm gonna go to the state, you know what I mean? We were Damn, They're just like against the Trailblazers team was, you know what I mean. So I'm sitting what without

the talent, that's what without the time. So I'm trying to figure out how do I become a pro? How do I get to that level? So you know, from there, I'm just watching, you know, I'm I'm on the bench, you know, my first forty eight. So I'm sitting here trying to figure out, all right, this is what this type of player does. All right? Ray Allen comes and he takes this many shots from here, you know, and I'm sitting here and that's how I'm putting my package

together watching everybody else. So when did you finally kind of feel like you had your package in? It? Was? That's something that was always evolving through It always evolves because new players are coming in. What I understood was the young moves the needle, not the NBA players. Right, So when you look at you know, look at Lebron. Now, if he's going left and he tries this year old, he's traveling right, He's gonna travel trying to do that

because it was never part of his routine. So once he got to a certain level, he's perfecting his skill, not seeing the new stuff that's coming. Right. So what I'll do is during games, if you hit me with a move, I'm pointing to the looking at the scoreboard, a drop that time down. I want to see what that was, you know what I mean? So I go back and film take that, and then that's like, all right, I got Matt Barnes, and then I'm gonna add all

my little continuings on. I got the Steve Jack move, gonna add all my little you know so, and I had this blue book that this blue book all moves from that year, just being hit with seeing someone do called it on the Weston name. And then that's what I'm working on. And I remember I was in Chicago, and we'll buy him. It's still it and let me see what you know what I mean, because that's how I remember what the move was. I got the Jamal Crawford,

you know. And then you're trying to add all these things because I need to try to, you know, be ahead of the curve. What would you do in today's game? You know, you know for us older guys, you know, we always say we're gonna, we're gonna do So I look at the reality of it, um healthy you people. People don't understand like people think because you talk crazy and do some wild ship that you're just like a jokester, like this motherfucker with one of the coldest players on

the planet at one time before we got hurt. It was so I know, it's not no bullshit, So I want to hear it fat you know, you gotta you're talking about a fast system. It's one on one style, thirty five easy, and then what ends up happening is you don't have a big man down there that's gonna stop me from getting there, you know. Yeah, So you're talking about it's like not as skilled with the dribble as Kyrie, but you gotta remember, the faster you are,

the less moves you need. So it's like you're I'm John wall speed with name Lillard. So once I take off, who's at the rind. I don't got it. I don't gotta get hit by shock with your feet and your knees. This motherfucker boy coming to the basket will hit you with this or with this and still get the foul and like he just kicked me. Hello me, So you think thirty five easy? Huh? You know there's you know, just because of the style. You know, just because of

the because of the style that's playing. There's no there's no big out there no more. Everyone's floated. Everyone's out there. So you know, now I got, you know, a whole bunch of Antoine Jamison's I see you at the room. Then where did your passion for basketball come from? Did you play any of the sports with basketball? Something you fell in love with? It? Ran with now? I was. I was football and track. Played for the East Valley Trojans on football and um position. I was quarterback, running

back and receiver tackle or flag? Oh tackled. I think you should just throw it to yourself. Yeah yeah, yeah, no, no that serious. Um. I was cold. I was cold and until I got a rude awakening and my dad told me, a do not try to quarterback sneak on this team. They got to hit her on there. I don'tbody care about that they gotta catch try one of those moves. Spent back. Woke up a basketball player, the whole rebel, whole fucking running the rebels uniform a. I

woke up a basketball player, woke up. I was at that. I was at the party of knocked me out, helmet was off everything, never again, not me. Man. His name his name was de Sean I remember called a flashback. It was so this is like Tenny Levin, not like nine ten years old, and it was my sophomore year in high school, playing North Hollywood. And then you know, they call your name out right, and they called another team. There's all right that guard fine seven Sean Lee. That's

the nick of the poppy look down there. So you know, you go, hey man, hey, uh did you play football? He's like, yeah, I played football. You played for the Eagles. He's like, yeah, how do you know that? FROs like, oh, that's the man who ended my career. What did you do them on the court? What do you do it him on the court. I was trying. I was trash a game. Yeah he wont he won that. Yeah he won that game. I was still I was I was

still fucked up. He pushed me back a little bit, so I got him the next the next two years, Oh that that game? Ready, then me up a little bit. Who are your basketball influence is going up? It was Penny Hardaway. Um I was. I was naturally, uh a bulls hater because my dad was, you know it, Michael Jordan's everything, you know. So our whole house was black and red, black with a little red pack. It was. I was, you know, one of those uh those households,

you know, Michael Jordan everything. So I didn't become a fan of basketball until I see the keen getting knocked off and it was by Penny Hardaway. And when Penny in one whole room, a whole room, was penning nothing but Penny wanted to be Penny were twenty five in high school because of Penny Hardaway had all the shoes, never touched him, never warm. And then I just fell and I just fell in love with watching it, just watching just watching who he was. And then I think

that's what what what really started it? What was your high school career? Like? What was your high school career? Like? I started posted. I saw you posted highlight against against the number one defense in l A man look, and I was I was a legend, bro I was the legend in high school. What that was a term? I determinator. I was determinating in high school. But the only problem was I was in the valley. So what ended up happening is no one actually ever knew who I was.

You know, back then, you know, there ain't no real internet, there ain't no face, you know, so out to me, I mean to everyone else, I was Mexican. You know, I was just a Mexican kid in the valley. So we'll go to camps. I'll go to camps and I'll make all. I was on the All Star team with you. I was at all. You didn't know who I was. If it was fifteen, I was in the fifteen, it was twenty, I was ten. I was ten. So I was always good enough to make it, but wasn't known,

you know what I mean. Um, so I was getting discredited because of where I played, you know what I mean, where I played. But when I played against competition, I gave them buckets. But because I wasn't on anybody's reay, I wasn't really in a you like that. I was at the park, like I went to UM it was a t P I when the t P, I when the Vegas had fifty at the half, you know, you know what I mean. So I was really putting in network. And let's just just say this. I mean, uh, I

beat Chris Mills. I'm gonna say I beat Chris Mills, all great Chris Mills of l A. I beat him in the Hall of Fame. I went in two thou seventeen. He went in this year. Mhm. I probably cat your ass for that one, but you know what I mean. You know, you gotta remember that was my that was my vet, you know what I mean. He was all l A. So he's considered top three best l A players in high school. And I said, well, that ship don't mean nothing because l A says, I'm a Hall

of Fame guy. Before you fail, who's your top five l A players, whether they made it or not, I don't. I don't know. I don't know the niggas like that, you know, no one like that. I'm that was valley like. I was a valley kid. I remember used to come to you see. It was crazy because I meant, what what do you grad school? I graduate N nine? So I remember used to come up to U C. L A. But they wouldn't let you play. Now, they wouldn't let me. Sometimes you did. He would just be over there shooting.

Sometimes I'd reround for him, like on the off game, and I just and he would just keep working. They would never let him play. It was crazy. I don't because that's what I said. It's like I'm trying to you know, I'm trying to find out where the best run is. So once I heard was like, that's what I said. I was there years before, like my sophomore year, they're just sitting there like, yeah, they're gonna put me. Nope,

all right, junior year Nope, and my senior year. I remember my senior year, I got the it was the re faster and you know, best point guard in the world, remember the Slam magazine. But watching reading all the treaty she did like yeah. And then and then go to U C. L A. And he's there and I get I'm in the game. And then on the fast break did some ship Like my mind said he was gonna throw it off this and do all one of those.

I don't know what he did, but I know I spent about three times and then before I realized what was happening. He was already down the court. I went to my dad, like, yo, he's the best in the world. He's the best in the world. It was, it was, it was true. He did some tricky ship like I started making up my own ship what he did to be that funny, you know. But I used to go there all the time trying to figure out what the you know, what the talent was and looking at players.

I remember it was a Lonnie Gardner, you know, like you know him with that move just that that that that side throw, like when people are like, yeah, it's no, I know that side through come dunk and then um rush boy. He was called he was cold. People don't know how cold. We had a hell of a class. But then that's what I say. You so, when do you feel like you were on the map then? And it was in College of the Arizona when you put yourself on the map. Even even even even when I

went to Arizona, Um, you know I got fault. You know there's you know, I'm on the team with four you know what was your team? We had Jason Gardner, Um I was at the two. We had Richard Jefferson at the three. microL right at the four a m my my, my freshman year, we had little record who came in from Iowa, and then we had Lithuania kid who who holds a record you know for like dunking twelve six or thirteen ft you know. So we had

so much talent. So I was getting read. We had a juco player co runner for the year, Lamon Fraser, you know. So we had some boys coming in. So I was the young buck, you know, like they're gonna red shirt me and cool I can learn and my assholing is n't kicked in. Yeah, my assholes kicked in. So I was like, man, I'm about to go for the position, bro, because coach, you know, coach like all right, so listen the four and the five is set one to three, fight for it. Like, oh my ship, I

started training fun that school ship. That's what you're supposed to go there, right, that's what you was on two right. I wish I could have got the national championship. I end up losing by not getting in. They wanted to tell you fresh, my biggy fresh medal. Ye, that's the championship. I missed it not taking the test, showing up blade hungover. Yeah, so I didn't. I just I just started training, watching

the habits of you know, like Ruben Douglas. And then like people said, like Ruben Douglas, we played against each other in high school. Um, I was faster, he was stronger, bigger, but I was I was more athletic, and he just didn't know my skill. Like I improved since high school. So when coach threw that ball up, I was a whole another demon. So when I stole a position, he was like, I'm transferring ye, And then Louke Record says, I'm transferring, oh Shoul. I don't have no competition. Yeah,

I don't have no competition. Now like I don't have no I don't have to fight with anybody. So now you know, now I I have no worries and I can just play a free game. And then once that free game came in, you know, I'm leading the team scoring now. And I was like, I'm four years fast. And I thought I was gonna be who's recruiting you? Besides that, I was on uh north Ridge, I was low. I was north it was north Ridge. I was being recruited by north Ridge. And a guy from north Ridge

got a job at Kansas State. So Kansas State came in, you know, and they were like, yeah, we're gonna give you a thousand thousand minutes as a freshman. I'm like, ship whatever, I just you know, just let me do what I do. And then um, the Paul Paul came in right before they had still Q and yeah, so I was gonna go be the point guard there, blaming

Fierson too. And then Pat Kennedy, Pat Kennedy the coach and my dad had ties from you know, Florida, so they was you know, working on their little deal on so so I was gonna go there. So right before I was gonna go, uh, Pat Kennedy's mother died, so they had to cancel the trip. And then Ludolson came in and said, I mean he came into the house and said, listen, I've never seen you play until I

got on the plane. You're you have the kind of style I like, Um, if you want to come, you know, it's whoever you know the sides first between you, um, Kevin Gaines and Jimmy Hayward. And I was like, okay, so I'm gonna go take a trip. And they had like some little scrimmage there Michael Dickerson them, and I was bawling. I was like, oh, yeah, my mom coming here, I'm coming here. Didn't you didn't get the pancakes from Miss alsa O? Don't no? She she making? Yeah, come on,

don't don't tell me you experience that. Yeah, be NP and cages. What kind of bond did you build with Luke? What's the funny? Is I hope I'm a coach like him? Um, because you gotta remember, I'm I'm immature like I was. Dinnis commnenced like I'm like, there was no way I should have been. I first of all, I should have been kicked out to school or bench. And he never he never punished me on that basketball court, like he never let some outside what I was doing outside affect

my playing time. You know, only way that you know, like if I was going to get bench is because something I didn't practice, Like if I didn't go to class. He's like, all, yeah, you don't want to go to class. Five miles five miles, six am under thirty minutes. All right, you know what I mean? You know, so you know that's how you know that's but I looked at us like I'm just getting in shape. But he never he never, he never, like he never punished me for what I

was doing. Like it just you know, and I gotta respect that because for the most part, any other coach, yes, I would have been deep sitting on the bench and he was like, you're gonna have to you know, if you don't want to go to class, You're gonna have to deal with that soon. Ain't got nothing to do with me. You got to deal with that soon. You've got an old point to you have to do with this two thousand one. You gotts go to the n C Double A Finals and lose a heartbreak of the duke.

Talk to us about that game, because I've heard you and r J go back and forth on this game. Man, he let don't leave. Man kick his ass up and down the court. Man, it's done leave. I believe believe what so funny is don't Leavi like I had a cold. I had a cold. Um a you roommates group, it was me done, Levy and Luke right now, that was my that was my age, Luke that right game, that's what that was my little like like when we when we go to like the Pump campus something, that was

that was my look that was my trio. So um, when you when you grew up with don't leave you your teammate, and then you're playing in the Western name and then you come on r J. It's you know, first of all, he's been playing bad this whole tournament. He shouldn't got happy to see done. On the other side, the athletes, you don't have the man hit five threes in the game night off, you know what I mean? Like, come on, man, So I blame that on him. I mean I was for listening. I was four for seventeen,

But I'm not gonna blame myself. I'm not gonna you know, it's me against Duke at this point because do y'all just y'all just happy to be here. But that's that's how we talked to each other. Yeah, come on, man, the ain't helped me out. It was like, yeah, bro, you're you're four for four for twelve right now, I'm going against five players. It's me against them. Who they having to do? Who's on the dude team? Bunch of sorry players, it's Duke, sorry players, A bunch of Duke.

You know, there's a bunch of they had young young boozer. They had j will Um do Han, Shane Battier, a bunch of proper talking about that, A bunch of squares, how a bunch of proper talking about outside of that game? How well? How good was Jason Williams before he got in that motorcycle accident? To you see, I ask you, I'm biased because our first introduction was you know what I mean? So the finals was so from there it was basically for him, and then it became a double

for him when he's coming into the draft. So you know, I I get the starting spot after during my rookie season, so I'm coming into my sophomore year as the starter. Well, rumor hits that you know, if they get the number two pick in the draft, they're going after Jason Williams. So I'm sitting here like wait, hold on, waiting to say. So, I'm sitting there, you know with what you know with Oldis Smith, who was you know the now he was

the player development coach. So I'm like, wait a minute, if they drave him, he still gotta beat me, right, And it was like he's gonna be the number two pick in the draft. You think they're gonna start a second rounder over the number two pick. I said, yeah, he gonna have to beat it's my position. He's after he has to beat me. He said, he don't have to do nothing. I said, oh, oh, that's how you know, that's how you want to play. So I'm living working on my good line. I can't wait. I can't wait

till I can't weight draft. I hope you'll drafted. Hope we get the number two pick. We end up getting the number three pick. So uh so we end up getting done lady. But when we played the bulls, oh over, nah, give him quick quick double double? He asked the is he mad at me? Yes? Every night? Every night I'm mad.

I don't like you. But he was, you know, it was he wasn't explosive as d Rose was, but it was that type of that type of shiftiness, you know what I mean, quick crossover and when he hit the holy hit the dunk on your this and that was the sneaky part of it because he didn't look like he had a nice jumper time. I really liked him. I was just I was. I was sad that you know, obviously through that accident we didn't get a chance to see him. But that's funny your little person. It was

the person. It was so funny that he had no idea that I that I that I envied him because of that, because they we was fighting for that number two spot. So after oh one or after the championship four for seventeen, you you feel like it's time to take your tale to the league. It was funny. I was the last one to choose to leave, like you know, um, and I remember I was, I came, I came back home, you know, um, you know bragging. You know I got

my E S three hunting. You know, I got the wheels on it, got three, I got E S three hunting, got the TVs TVs on it full twelves in the back, so you know I'm coming thumping um. And then I see the paper and all four the starters into the draft and then had a question mark on mine. So I'm sitting here like so I had I had Olsen. He was like yeah, because he told me before the season, he said, I don't spec you to be here after this year. You know, he said, you know right now,

you're better than Mike Baby. That's like Mike Babe his

freshman year. He said, no, Um, you're better than Mike bb is right now as the NBA player, So I ain't passing then the ball none in what I mean, you know, so you know I was leaning towards going, but I didn't really you know, you know, if if they would have tried to say, all, we're gonna stay and go for it, I would have stayed, you know, but once you know, because at that point I really didn't you know, I wasn't playing to be an NBA player, you know, it was just I would just I was

just trying to you know, one day I'll get there. And then you know, once they had the four, I was like, all right, let me go. I went through the camp. It is what it is, so you slide to the second round. How frustrating was that it was it was Brian who was a Brian? It was Bryant, it was a Brian O'Neil Celtics. Was that you remember Jim O'Brien Jim Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's an asshole. Yeah yeah. So they had I used to call them half ahead.

That I was talking about half ahead. So they have the either they have the tenth and the eleventh or the eleventh and truth pick right, So they're going after two guards I had. I had a two day work out there Boston, Boston had two day workout. Killed in my first one, and then they wanted me to stay for the second day. But I hurt my achilles and like I previously heard it, and then I was like, man, if I if I, if I don't heal it, I'm gonna miss the rest of you know, I tried offer

seventeen teams. Um fun that process, that's that's that, that's just dumb that that that has no meaning for nothing, because it means it means nothing to me. Um. And he put the rumor out that you know, I'm too immature. I don't want to I'm not taking this serious. Um he's not a player. M h. And that was the same going on. Um it once they labeled you with that. Yeah, because I heard my my achilles. What I was supposed to, you know, run through the wall, you know, trying out

for a team. You're half a head ass, and we just telling about your working ethic. You think that because you have a lot of andrews, because you work so on. That was the reason I couldn't get back healthy. See, I got injured from Jared Wallace crash. He crashed because he clipped me and because I wanted to keep my place or improved, you know what I mean. Once you start, you know, I'm you know, every year, I'm checking off this person. All right, Okay, we got uh, we got

Ai and okay Nash. You know you know I'm training, you know, to to to catch these two. So injury, this don't mean this don't mean nothing, you know what I mean. So I'm still doing the same routine, you know, you know, working out, working out, and I never really got it right. I never got it strong enough to do what I was trying to do. So I kept just tearing early second round to Golden State. What was the state of that team like at that time? M

I remember, I remember I was so angry. I was so angry on draft day, oh, because when I came out, I was supposed to be a lottery until you go until you go to Chicago and then everybody is lottery and then you're like, who is where's you going to schoolbody talked to Yeah, you gotta remember I went to national championship. I don't know you, Joe Joe Johnson, I

don't know you. Ronnie White, who are you like? I don't know who none of y'all are, but you all over here talking about lottery right right, like and that was like I didn't understand. I didn't that concept. Like I thought I was big in my world, Like you know, college basketball with championship, there's only one person I can say they're better than me, now you know what I mean. But so when you're hearing these lot of the you've got the high school kids coming in, Like, so I

go to the second round. On my press conference, I said, I don't I don't care about none of this. Man, I'll be starting by the middle of the seat. Yeah, I'll be stirred about the build of the season. Look up all the Buckers, man, So who was like, who you? Who's your team? Team out? So we had so we had Mookie Baylock move uh, Larry Hughes, We have Bobby Sara,

and then we had Antoine Jamison, Uh Damn Pierre. We had Damn Pierre, Donna Foyle, we have Mark Jackson, Big Mark Jackson, Philly and we had uh Danny Fortson, y'all have some mons um Vontigo Cummings and then we had me Jason Richardson and Trey Murphy's what was like like early on because I know you can get just your shot right away. When did you finally start getting your shot? When? Uh, it was like right before the mid season. It was Mookie baylock so we started. So we was it was

one of those teams. Is you as a rookie, you like you thought this was the NBA, right, you know, guns, women, cars, you know, that's that's what I've seen. And that's you know, that's that was a lifestyle, you know what I mean. That's so that's what I think the NBA is. So I remember it was like eleven, like eleven twenty. Mookie Bay like come in country, had his golf clubs like we already probably pryingly started. He always came late, coming in coming to the golf club. Put it talking, hey, hey,

come on out of man. I got that. I gotta give me some more time. Man just came from the golf course right and Dave Cowens was just like, no, no, no, no, Mookie, No, you are a bad You are a dog gass player. Dog gass. I'm a dog gass player. You're a dog ass allowing me to do this going back to the Green packed this ship up and took his shoes off. Left, never seen sucking Mookie Baylock again after I've never seen

Mookie Baylock again, never seen him again. And human for never seeing this motherfucker again after that stealing that back. Nine just just just left, never seen him in traffic nothing, Never knew what happened to Like it was just one of those things just straight disappeared. And then from there like that, So that was one guard gone, um and then from there it was Larry Hughes got hurt. Our six men didn't want to start. He wanted to, you know,

keep his on the role. So they took me off I r and put me in and then never look back, never looked back. How did you improve between your one and two? Anger? You know, anger from you know, like you know J. C. Williams coming then and um Chris Mullen, Chris Chris, Chris Mullen, you know, teaching me how to improve,

how to get better? Um, ship Mark, Mark, Mark, you know, I gotta I gotta really think Mark Jackson, you know, Big Mark, because he helped me through my my my rookie year, because dude, I was I was, I was depressed, and I mean, you know you're sitting there and you're seeing you know, players that you know, one on one, you better than It's like, you know, are you getting this shine y'all? Even give me a fair shot? You

know what I mean? I thought, when we get hits, the best, the best talent, even though I really wasn't ready because when I did get a chance, I got sucked up, you know what I mean. Um, but but practice, No, you couldn't saw me in practice, and that somethingbody that game was kind of sucking me. It was the other opponents. It was a yeah, it was it was the mother opponents that I didn't know where all that was kind

of like a dog give me when I got out there. Um, so you know, and he's like, don't don't worry about this ship, rook, And he always don't worry about it. Listen, I played twenty five games, the last twenty five games million, he said, you know what I mean. He's like, I played the last twenty five games, I got paid twenty five million, don't worry about none of this ship. Just stay focused. When they call you, be ready. So he'll

wake me up. He'll wake me up. Like when I was the president, he'd like, Yo, we're gonna go train, so we'll play full court one on one and half court one on one. And he's just trying to, you know, teach me what to look for, how to look forward, you know, just making me a better one on one player, so you know, even do a team that. And we never really was on the court together because when I started,

he was benched, you know. But he's staying in my ear and I remember, I remember he did scare me when I did get in the game, because you know, Marcus Loud, you know you're coming down the courter, whoa play like? You know, so like it kind of it kind of shook me out. He's like, man, listen, don't worry about that. I just I just want the ball. I mean because I don't worry about the value of it. Just just know I want I'm gonna do something with it.

I'm always I'm always so market play. Definitely shout out marks, so you win most improved player. Uh, coming in to the O two are excuse me? The two O three season? How important was that to you? Knowing what your next situation was gonna be. Um. I remember I did my press conference and said, ship I was good last year. I said I ain't improved, I said, I said, I

include what number is y'all going off to it? Because I said, when I started out of average about seventeen and hey, so shoot, I'm averaging eighteen six and fold, this ain't no improved men, to be honest, But I'm gonna take the award though, you know what I mean, I said, y'all looking at the total number. You gotta remember I played thirty seconds, twenty seconds that that that brings it down to ten. But as a starter, I was, I was legit. So I wanted to I really wanted

to stay in in in in Oakland, you know. But then they had that rule where if you don't have your bird rights, you know what I mean, that's only a certain amount of money they can sign you for. Don't think I a rule after you named after you. It was because it was because of that, because they walk us through that um actually just walked through your experience. So Kicky Vnderway, that was my guy, you know from U C. L A. So he used to train so he knew you know that you know I was coming along.

So you know he's the generamaner for Denver. So that was a rumor all year, Denver, Denver, Denver, Denver. That's where I'm going. So all he has to do is just beat them, you know. So the most taken all for me at that time was was it forty It was at forty nine. It was the it was the mid level, it was forty nine. So you know, negotiations already started. Kiki come out of one, right, So we're asking for the max. What's the max for your max? Was seven seventy nine? It was it was seven years

seventy nine. Um, what was the funny that was? You know that that was that Kobe man was so funny. It wasn't Kobe's. It was Kobe's max. But the it went up a little bit. So that was like just a regular max for me, you know, seventy nine million, seven years. So we're going to free agency. It's lamar Odom then me. Um, so I'm waiting for lamar Oldham so I can see what he's he's waiting for me because he knows whatever he gets, I'm at least ten million dollars, you know, higher, you know what I mean?

You know, you know, So what ends up happening is Denver tries to bluff and they signed um Miller Andre Miller. I said, well, all right, we don't need Gilbert Will what's sign Andre? And gave Andre fifty one and I was like, well, you know, if you still want to come and give you fifty two. So we're like, I mean, you're paying Andre for what he did two years ago, not for what he did this year. And you know,

it's two different engines, is a pure point. I'm a hybrid, Like you know what I mean, you know what you're gonna get from him? My ceiling, we don't know what's what's going on over here and there. So then and then um U talk came in and I just I didn't even want to listen to that number. It was in the seventies though, but you know they just lost John Stockton and those two games we played, I bopped him. But as John Stockton, you know, I don't want to

follow John Stockton, especially the type guard I am. That's a disaster, that's that's career ending. UM. I got the Clippers Washington in Miami, left, UM I go to Washington and um A Poland owner was like, UM, you know, rest in peace. It was like, UM, whatever we have, we're giving it to you. He said, you come here, you will be the franchise of this city. We have no face, right, they said, you know we have you know, a couple of football players, you know, but you know

we don't have a face of this city. You know, Jordan was the face. He's gone. If you can help me out of this Jordan crisis, I would be indebted to you. So as all right, he said, Um, Brian Russell is gonna opt out of his deal to go chase that championship with the Lakers. So if that, if he outside of that deal, and then the salary cap comes up, we'll have more money because at that time they have Clippers are from We're still asking for the max and see if we can get a little bit more.

And then with the Clippers, you know, I wanted to be home, but I didn't want to be home. You know. It's like I want to be home, but I don't you know, I don't want that pressure of friends and all that stuff. Um. And then Miami was like, um, Miami was like, we're drafting. We're drafted Dwayne Wade. We want to put him at the one, you know, so we don't we don't want to pay a young guy we don't really know of him. We already just we we just have you know, we we just happened one.

So they were like, we're not gonna We're not gonna pay that type of money. So I go back to I go to Golden State was my last stop. I wanted to go last. Um. I remember, I got the warning first they're gonna make it about the team and your friendship. And you know, I all that right, just keep keep keep focused on what's important, all right. Cool. So taking a jet from here to Oakland, like a TiO was on the plane, I'm like, you know, I'm looking at my dad like, yo, that's Tea, that's Trull.

I was like, what is he doing here? And it's yeah, and I'm like that's Teal number one, bro right. And then my dad he's you know, telling about you know, the city and this and this and how it's a good family or you know. I'm feel like all right, man too and he was like, man, I hope to see you soon. I was, are you will right? You know, you will pull up to the hotel. It was like a viper Ferrari lambers, like full beautiful cars out there. I'm like, damn, there's some ballers is here bro at

the Oak area, the President, this was somewhere else. This was like San Jose was like I said, Jose somewhere and like like they parked out there, just like yo, they got some point people been down here, right, So we go up. We started talking and it was like you know, you know, we go through all of and then they were like, uh, all right. You know, with the way the rules are, we can't beat none of

the offers you have. You know, we're capped off. But what we can do is we can sell into a one year deal, you know, four point nine, and then you know, and then we can have under the table deal, which would have been seven it was seven years seventy nine. And those four cars down on stairs. Mm hmm. So they're still talking. I don't get what they talked about.

All I'm thinking, that's like your Monday that way. I know my ex gonna hate because I'm pull up on pull up on all her niggas that she was like yeah about, yeah, she gonna hate me. Now. Yeah, they go they go little this call and be on sunset on Friday. This is gonna be my Friday cars Saturday. Like I already got the cars playing now, and they're talking and then all I see is them get up, and I'm like, yo, where y'all Where y'all going right? And and then agents like, yeah, we're gonna you know,

Dan fagging restip piece. He was like, we're gonna talk about the offers. And then uh I was like yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, uh so those four cars of mine right, and then it's like, I told you wasn't listening as soon as you heard them four cars is here? If I just check the funk out? And I was like, I was like, I was like, no, no, no no, I want to I want to stay, Like why would I seven nine million, nine years? Why when I stay? He was like wait, hold hold on. And then they said

let me lay it out for you. I was all right, laid out that. That was going nice. So they're just writing down their numbers. I'm all, I'm thinking about the cards, right, you gonna live? I was. I was a straight kid, but like for whips and it was like, all right, so look you have Washington just moved up to sixty five for six years. That's all right, that's what's happening. You ain't got no cars in there. Though, and then so they do the math and he said, all right,

now look at it. I'm looking. I'm looking. He said, look without the cars. I said, I'm looking without the cars. One year PHO nine eight nine. Yeah. And then so by time the money even matched up, I would have been out of the Washington deal, hopefully signing the match. So, you know, the first year on the Washington making four million extra. So I'm sitting here like, give up calls. It's like, yo, with four extra million, you can buy

your own cars. He said, don't be in there. So I was all right, man, And then you know the vibe, I didn't even feel the vibe though. It was one of those you got the owner in there, right, It was more of a vibe for me. You got the owner in there, and we'ver here talking about the on the table deal, like you really and he he pretending, he yeah, on the table good money. But it's on the table to anybody here where you can you can look me to make sure this ship going. So I

was gonna sign it, was gonna have it. You know, I was gonna keep a copy. He was gonna keep a copy, right, But he can't even look me in my line, and I'm like, yeah, y'all got y'all go screw somebody. I'm good. So I bounced. What was it like, helping turn of into a playoff team? It was you know what I mean, it was amazing. Um it was you know, you're you're, you're you're going out of the Jordan era. You're coming in. Well, it was one of those things where I'm not coming I'm coming into you.

Remember Kwami Brown's there, So he's the franchise. Yeah, he's He's a franchise. You know, Matt Mami just talking to the previous show we just had, how good a Quama was? Y'all killed him? Man Maverick Like that was one of the top number one picks around right, I'm just saying what Mac Matt said. This maid was one of the one of the number best number one picks of all time. He could have been, He could have he could have been.

And this is why. Imagine being an eighteen year old kid getting drafted number one by your your idol, and your idol is Michael Jordan's. We know Michael Jordan's, we know Michael Jordan's personality. Imagine that personality slapped him in the face going towards an eight year old kid, you know, just you know, just bullying on him, you know. And you gotta remember he's around his peers. You're not his peer, you know what I mean, You're not his peers. These

are his peers. So when you're making him look a little to his peers, he loses his confidence. So when I get there, he doesn't have confidence, you know what I mean. So it's trying to build this this man child up. What I mean, man child, you're talking about it just a big country human, you know what I mean. So physically he has he's called him the show pony, and it loses the show horse. I mean, probably couldn't race. Looks look good, look good, you know what I mean.

So in games, use like you was see like flashes like he's gone, but then you have a flash of trauma. Have a flash, you have a flash of trauma. You're like, and I who he could have been? He could have been more like an Anthony David style. You're talking about a seven foot guy who was probably the second fastest on our team, like just straight hunted. Oh he was gone, small hands, so he was more guard like you know what I mean. So when he decided to take off.

You know, he's gone, ball still there, you know what I mean. But I just I just think it was like what I'm saying, but like the ball was still there, but it was more it was more the trauma than anything. And it was more like even though Jordan left, he still needed a flash guard because once I got there, I don't got time to be working with you. You know what I mean, I ain't got times. Just either you don't tea with my team. We're both in the same draft, you know what I mean, We're both in

the same drafting. Right now, I make more money and he so technically it's my team, and you know, I just you know, and and then right now it's like between me and Stackhouse, I got I got big sack with me too, so it's like, you know, you know, it's stack scene, you know what I mean, it's stacks seam but on the future, you know, and stacks like nah. And then he like laid the rule down. He said,

I mean, we have a team meeting. He was like, looking, if your ass average five last year, emotion, your ass going to average this year is eight, you ain't gonna be going from five to twenty. Get that ship out your brain on this team. I'm sitting here like that stops all that ship. That stops all that ship right there.

Ain't really got to compete no more. And then it was it was one of these It was one of those things where from there now we're just trying once we established who's who, from there's just building, you know what I mean. And you know Larry Hughes, you know, because that was my biggest thing going there was Larry use you know, I took his position in Washington, I mean, in Oakland. I didn't want to bump heads and in in d C. And he was like, nah, I'm gonna

play the two. Come on through, man, you can be the one too. So from there is just trying to figure out each other's game. And then this new offense we bumped. We just we bumped against the offense the first year, and then once we understood what it was that second year, it was nice took off. So you you're oh, four oh five years, twenty five point five, oh five oh six, about twenty nine and a half oh six or seven, twenty eight and a half, do you feel like that was when you were really no

one can sunk with you. Yeah, definitely. I mean I remember, you know, Larry was all first team defense, So I get to go against all first team defense every day in practice. So there's only one more guard that's gonna be matched up in that category. So if get to go against him every single day and perfect my skill around this, I don't feel a threat out there, you know what I mean. There's only one more you know, a person that's gonna be on this level. Other than that,

it's gonna be two fowards in the center. You know. That's how I look at it. Second team and third team, y'all got a chance, you know what I mean. So I'm sitting here again. I I egg him on all all day and pregnant. You know, he's quiet. You know I'm egging him, aid coach, they coach. Bro can't guard me, Bro,

you know what I mean? You know, because I need to really get him going so I can, you know, see all the little tricks he's gonna cause I remember, he's guarding the Kobe, he's guarding, he's guarding everybody, So I need to see what he's gonna do so I know how to adjust, you know, and then you know, once I figured out what I can do against him. I was like, there's there's nobody who's gonna be able to stop. And I mean, if he can't sign me, no, I remember we went to the playoff against him. Oh

you're done. You're done, bro, I talk, you're done, You're done. What I had then when you was here, I got some new ship with me, you know, And that's how we went to the playoff series because I knew he was gonna have to go. I got some new ship with me. You're about you're about to find out. I mean, I have thirty or four ft this series. So oh four oh five, O five, you made the playoffs, beat the Bulls in six, running the shock and d way

tell me about talking about that Miami team. We really thought we could compete, we know, we really thought we could compete against the boys. Man, they smacked the ship out of us. Man. We was like some little We was like some little ass kids compared to them. I mean, I mean, you're talking about eatime now, Brendon, Brendon in EA time, and then you got Zoe coming off the bench, and then you know what I mean, so you got

Alonzo Morning coming up. That's a starter, you know before Shot got there, So you got another starter coming off the bench, and we have a backup in a third. We know our our Besides, once Brittain went out, you know everybody else is under side now compared to them too. And I mean so you know when you when you got them young de Way, I mean m hm, trouble and Shot could even play two games. M hmm. It was still a smacking us least. It was one of those things where it wasn't even I mean, it wasn't

even a contest. What did you learn though, because you, I mean you make it. You take a lesson from everything we learned. We wasn't in the league. First of all, we learned we was not on the same playing field as that team. I remember I was remember read a sign and after we played the Bulls, we want the heat. Yeah we do. Game. It was we down old three and we down like fifteen in the four, in in in the uh in the fourth there's a sign you

wanted the heat. Now y'all got burned. And I'm sitting there laughing like this is embarrassed it bro, we got swept in a second round. What was it like winning and competing in the playoffs for the first time, you know what I mean. It was. It was crazy. I remember I had to I had to say something in the paper about the experience we had in Chicago. And you know, you gotta remember we have Palmie, you know, so writing you know, he's getting booed at home every

time he mass soon as he missed a layup. They're doing the man, Yeah, they're doing him. You know what I mean. It was like one of them like, damn, bro well, I ain't passing about them. And he'd come he'd be like, hey, listen, hey, And this is where I knew. I was like, man, he just needs to get a new he needs to leave. Yeah, because he was like, you know, he'd come to me. It's like, yo, hey, you know, I know they said five down, you know when I get in, but let me let me get

like a tip tipp in first. Don't come directly to me. That's how shaking he was. You know what I mean. You can boot at your own home. I mean, you don't even want to be home. You want to be on the road. You be home no more. You know what I mean. You don't want to play the home game because you're getting booed the road, booing you cousin, you killed them your home booon because it hate you, you know what I mean. So you know he really has some some some personal stuff, you know, at home game.

So we're going in to Chicago and like you know, you you're watching on TV, like crowds and stuff, and you can feel you can feel it in your chest, the cheers and the like. You can you can feel like god, God, damn, the like this is. This is a crowd like like I never experienced nothing, you know, you know, d C. There's a home base, but it's it's it's a transit city, what I mean, it's it's

it's transit, you know, so everyone's not from there. Um. So I you know, after those straight two losses, I said, hey, listen, we need all y'all to boot it. We we got the ghost boot out of us. You know that we need y'all to to to cheer, cheer. We need y'all, We need y'all support here because what we just witnessed that was unity over there, and I mean they stepped up the hell out of the mother four straight. I'm gonna go on record here, Scott Skiles, uh he sucked

off that because he benched. He benched a player that we really didn't have an answer for, Eddie Curry too big. You remember they have Eddie Curry and Tyson at the four, five animals. We got Antoine at the four. So the fact that we don't have to guard you know, Eddie Curry. We're good, We're good. So the only reason we escaped out of there because Scott Scott's benched him and didn't and didn't want to play him because we we couldn't.

We we didn't have no answer for both before the job Scotty, because you remember they still got Noon, they still had Dang, they still and then you got the guard play of Ben Gordon Man was a killer killed us and Pargo killed us too. Yeah. A team, yeah they had. They had a tough team that you know, like we was up. We was up twenty with four minutes leapting. Fucking Pargo comes in and get fire fire you tie the game up, and that the shot I hit Pargo bring them back. The crowd left. It was

in the parking lot of ship. They thought it was over. Pargo three three three boom tie game to Agent zero nickname. Where did that come from that was on MySpace. I wonder, can I find my MySpace code my myspaces to be had my space situation and go to state where the chick didn't look like she did in the picture. So she came to the door and I just never answered. And that was that was bage you got. I was backpage. My whole girl hadn't set it up and everything, and

this bitch for the school, this chick was bad. I thought she was bad. So she came to the door and I looked through the peak, cold, rubbed the peak a little bit and just went back and sat and smoked from the couch, not for like five minutes, called my phone and everything just it wasn't for me. I had my back. I was calling myself the black President.

I was I was called the Black President. And then I had all the girls and I had like top eight, and then it had had I put secret service, secret service. I'm black President. Is my secret service. And then while I was in Washington after like my first year, somebody was like, man agent zero, you just like seek serves you. And I was like like that, you know, stuck with me having your own Adidas shoe. How exciding was that?

You know? That's always that's always wild, especially yeah, you know, especially growing up and you know you're you're sneaker head and you're buying you know, every sneaker that comes out, you know, if your favorite players. So the fact that you know, Didas gave me a line and said it's your signature shoes, you know, that was like you know that that was like I made it. And I mean, you know the kids back home at you know, at my high school, theyre gonna be wearing shoes. Who was

the Adida's team at that time? Because I used to take pictures of you guys. You gotta goes you Tea, Mack Dimmi, sim Jonkin, Yeah, who else? KG and White. I was a time I just wasn't what you guys. I was on the third level. She was on the level on the F and and and and team Mac wasn't hold other love man incredible. He don't get enough

love like Bro Bro okay, KG big big big. There was no T Mac big like I Like I remember we were in photo shoots, right, and I mean you're talking about KG Bro, Tim Duncan Matt coming in like, hey, what we're doing today? What's what's the call? Time. That's all. We're gonna be here six hours. Oh hell no, we not. Y'all got five flicks, five five, you got five pictures. I'm gonna hear five clicks and we're out of here, now,

you know. I mean, I'm I'm looking like okay, like like like five like and he looking around and it was like and I'm looking at him. He's hey, whatever, Max say, goes Bro, Okay, let's just see how one, two, five walk out? That was it? And I'm like, for us, that ain't it. That's it? Back to the jet. Him is like, if Max says it, it's it. We're done. Damn. I was like, he gotta like yeah, every I was like, man, I'm only I'm only doing stuff with Mac. I'm only

doing stuff with Mac Bro. I'm not I'm not nobody else Mac. All day he shut ship down. I've never I've never seen I've never seen anything like it. Man, Like you said, well for who was there too? That's tough. Like I went. I went to China with him, insane. I feel like a girlfriend for like a girlfriend. When he walked through the mall right, like to worry, they'll they don't pay attention to you. There's a star. You

just sit back, hold your purse. That's we got off that plane into that that airport, and all you heard was Mac Mac and I've I've had my agent zero tours there, so I'm big. I'm I'm big doing something over there. Like I'm sitting here like no, they they know, they don't see they know me, like I get cheers, like I get ship, like y'all, y'all don't be here. I did all my tours here, shut shut down. Mac is in front. I'm sitting there like bro, like get

into that. You know what's a bullshit When he get in. He got in the rolls Roys boom boom boom convoy and I'm sitting here in a tax cat and we came here together up like man, that's superstar. He got he had a jet for a while, fresh off ada's money. We had nothing to do with NBA money. That was all the DA's money. And take us through your free agency in Washington when you were going to leave you to the story you were telling us over there. Um so I you know, I I'm off two knee surgeries, right,

so I get hurt. Oh seven didn't get to finish at the oh seven year came back, played eight games and then went down again right same same knee, and then playoffs start, and I was like, shoot, all I need is about two games, one good quarter and I'm hitting that market. Right play against Cleveland, game had twenty four at the half. I'll gold, I'm I'm free agent now, and I mean showed them I'm back. I'm back a

little bit, you know, I still got it. And then you know, I was like, if I don't do it, so you know, I'm sitting here with the real dilemma, like if I don't come back and I stay in my contract, this is this is it. I gotta opt out right now, so you know, because they gotta pay me and they gotta pay me something. Um. So that was that was my decision, you know, going into free agency. So my book I set my you know, was the

July one free agency. So I set my agent zero tour starting you know, leaving July one, So July one to eleven, so I'm doing an all Asian you know, all Asian tour um. So you know, midnight, you know, midnight comes, you know, you know, some teams called a little bit early, you know. So I got I got win um b D was leaving the Clippers. So BED was, you know, leaving Golden State going to the Clippers. So I get the call, uh that they're gonna offer me

to Max. Golden State is Golden State's gonna offer me to Max? So the max at that time for me leaving was five year, one on one. Um, was it funny? This is a third party calling? This wasn't this. You probably knew who called ballhead, so this, you know, this wasn't official. There was an official so and I was like, man, well man, I just bought a house here. Man all that.

It was like, oh no, we're gonna we're gonna they get your five million dollar house and uh, you know, helicopter, and I mean they hit me with that young ship again. And I was in you know what I mean? But I was like, all right, let me go on, you know, five year one on one, you know, helicopter, helicopter house back in the bay. Go there, I go there, you know,

chess all out confident. I remember I'm still new to need certainly, so I know it's gonna be some tugger warrior um and I have to give it to Ernie. Ernie Ernie. He did what he was supposed to do, low ball and then build from there. Um see, I wasn't like Larry's. They tried that with Larry, and I said, they couldn't do that with Larry. You know, Larry ain't going for that bullshit with that little ball ship. You either offer them what he won't or he's gonna leave.

And that's you know, that's why Larry left. So you know, he pushed that paper over, you know, slid it over to Yeah, you know, this is what we think you worth. You did great. You are a guy you know, many years to come, you know, yeah, you know, so I get it. You don't look at it, you know, you go we go straight for the number for all this wording. Oh you know, so I mean you know you know look yeah, yeah, you look up like eight eighties. I can't even say that, right, eighty six. If he's not

eighty nine, it should be a one somewhere around. He's supposed to be like three of these digits. You know, it's like it gotta be three digits because when I did my calculations, it was, you know, three. They're supposed to been like one, seventeen, one, twenty it was three digits, you know, and I'm you know, eighty six. You know that's my mother's twenty more millionare when I was already getting So I'm sitting here like, yeah, um go to State offered me the max. So he looked at me.

I was like, yeah, it was five year, one on one baron David just opted out, so you know, he sent this assistant out, you know, to go you know, facts check came back and gave him a little head nod that I hit him with the Cohen All right, but look, I'm out of here, you know what I mean. I gotta trip in the morning, so I got to get some sleep. You know, we'll we'll, we'll talk about this I get back, you know, like when you're coming back at eleven. I mean, no team on it, you know,

like negotiate. You gotta wait till the eat eleven till I get back before you can do anything. So hold of all the money that holder, Antoine, gotta everybody gotta wait. Right, So I'm I'm at the airport, right, I'm at the airport, and um owner called me a poland it was like, uh yeah, so don't worry about them. You know, I can fire them if you won't. Uh, it's it's max. Whatever your max is, that's what the money is. And I don't I don't care what it is. You're my guy.

You did everything you said you were gonna do. You got me out of Jordan era. No one talks about Jordan's, you know, no one's you know, you've done everything you said you were gonna do. They said, you know, your knees doesn't look. I don't care about none of that. You're gonna be the last guy I signed. I probably won't be here long enough to see contract through. So the money ain't got the money ain't gonna follow me. Whatever you want is yours. You do it how you see,

so what you get. So my max was one seven, so I turned. I gave back sixteen million UM because I liked, you know, penny hearted one one one. I just like one one one, you know what I mean. So that was, you know, penny, penny penny. That's how I did my number one one one UM. And I gave you know, because Antoine was also a free agent in Philadelphia, offered him big money too, which they end

up giving the Elton brand. I think it's like eighties six millions something at that five year eighties six, you know. So and so I was like, oh, I gotta save some big money for Antoine so they can sign him back. You know. So I left sixteen million dollars on the table to give the organization with a room. Jack, What you how much you leaving on the table? Jack? Absolutely nothing? Not to got that. Someone asked me now as the player, like yo, I want to I'll tell him no, no, no, no, no.

Your job isn't to create caproo. That's their fucking job. This is their business. You get every dollar your work. You're trying to be in their situation. We're not taught that, you know what I mean. We're taught. You know, we're sacrificing for championships and this and this, and we're we're we're sacrificing for billionaires. Right, so a billionaires like man, I can't I supposed to get fifty million this year in profit? You want to sign? You want Jack to sign?

You know that he's gonna take me down ten million profit? Nah, y'all figure that ship out so they may you negotiate your own you know, your own wealth so they can keep their profit margin. Like no, that's not my job. Like, no, I'm Max. He's Max. Figure that ship out. That ain't got to figure it out. I'm trying to be I'm trying to be a big in there too. You know what I mean. You want the championship to pay for it?

You know what I mean? So you know you've got players out here, you know, like you know, taking paid cuts for millionaires, taking pay cut for billionaires. So like when I tell me like I did it, I did it because I was Lord Antoine. You know what I mean. I was Lord Antoine. If it was somebody else, I don't know. And I mean I was like, well I need I need big fella because my my career thrives on his shooting ability. You can't double me if he's on the court. So but the sacrifice, you know that

for a championship. No, let let them figure that out. They ain't got nothing do with you say, I wouldn't give a bit of bad but I wouldn't give a bit of bilter back to drag a bown. I'm keeping all that. You keep it off. Please you how good Karan Butler was as a teammate. I love juice, I love I need to get know Karan was one of those personalities where you have to when he walks in, you gotta feel his mood out. I mean you gotta,

you gotta really feel his mood out. Let's see what vibes on, you know, because you know, sometimes you come in real serious and he about no games. Sometimes you come in goofy. You know, Um, I didn't see anyone them. What you say, mood? Yeah? What's like? Yeah? You know he played always played hard, you know what I mean, always always trying to get better, always trying to improve. Um, you know, we didn't have we didn't have a we didn't have a clash, but we had that looking at

each other because you know that's good. Though he's coming in. See, he wasn't coming from my spot, you know, because he knew he had outworked me and I was gonna sitting that Jim all day. His thing was he knows a man, I'm I'm I'm I'm number two. I'm not don't I don't need you to pass me the ball. I could do that ship myself. Your number two needs you to give him the ball, right, So he was like, hey,

go ahead and slide that. Go ahead and slide that number two tag on me and he could be the number three option and that was you know, that was the battle. And you know me, you know at that time, my assist came from Antoine, didn't come from Karan, And I mean Karen was you know, uh, he was a rhythm player. So you give him. He had a fucking wide open shot. Pump fake you jump, he jumped right after you jump, hit the shot. Any even the still

get the three he stopped, He's still getting three. I gets to know assists, so you know, I you know, I needed Antoine from my assis. Other than that ship had been thirty points zero assists, you know what I mean, if it wasn't for Antoine. So you know my passes, you know, went to Antoine on selfishness just to get some assists. So he's gonna always have that little one point over over over over Karan, And that's kind of screwed us from being in the same category with you

with it because he averaged nineteen point one. You Beati and Monte the only three trio to average twenty. Yeah, and because of my selfishness of you know, icing them sometimes, he didn't get that crazy. He didn't get to have that twenty that that was my bad on that was got twenty plus points, scored a lot of bucket weird. It was weird, but he us it was one of those, you know, it was one of those those type of games that he didn't work out for it, like how

did you? What do you do for this? Always in the right place for one of them, Venice beach Hooper should be like, damn that kind of nice. It's only kind of nice. And that was his game. You know. It's like every time I've seen Antoine workout just just shooting threes. Never worked on this. It was just natural. It was just it's just a natural touch floater, awkward off the wrong foot. So in your prime in in d C, you've got a lot of memorable matchups Young

Lebron Ai co j Kid to name a few. Talked to us what one of of those that stand out to the most or individually? My hardest, My hardest matchup was Jay kidd Um because you gotta remember he's six four all of two twenty, you know what I mean. So I couldn't I couldn't bully through him, and I my speed, he neutralized it because he was just as fast, but he was quick so when I got to take off, he can get to that spot before I I gained. So when I played against Jay Kid, it had to

I had to really actually think, Um, I can't. I mean I I scored thirty. But it was one of those ten for twenty one type games. It was never I never just dominated, you know, m J Kid, um it was. It was he gave me a run from my money all time, um Ai lucky me. I never actually had to really guard him like that because he was he was sitting at the two. So for those years it was either uh Larry who was guarding him, or uh the sean I'm on his highlight tape. Us yep,

I mean I was on the highlight tape. But I was the dude that like threw my hand in there, like I was fake helping and like drop drop, you know what I mean. It was. It was one of It was one of those. It was one of those because for some reason, if you had on that number three, um, like I was in games where I'm guarding him and he just and chill mode, what's up? And he looked

at threes on that jersey. He took fence, He took heat forty forty and and that that that thirty seconds if he could, you know, but that was one of the hardest work hardest playing you know, players that I went against. Steve Nash was hard too, because he did a hunting picking rolls and he's coming on speed. Um, Tony Parker, um, just because you know that system that

that that system was, you know it was. It was one of those like I gotta go to sleep earlier tonight because it's you're thinking, you know, defensively, they all wait, they don't make mistakes. Offensively, they're gonna they're gonna get the best shots. So you know, you're going against San Antonio, You're like, you're playing a perfect game. And what I mean,

it's it's it's it's it's it's a perfect game. You don't got room for, you know, failure against them, because they're gonna, they're gonna, they're gonna they don't cut your legs off every time you do something. December, oh six, Staples Center, you against Code, you dropped sixteen the overtime game. Talk to us about that. Oh that was that? You know, that was a build up. Um Before that game, I was averaging like thirty three against the Lakers. Mm hm.

You know you grew up watching them that you know that, you know, like that's just that's your tung. What do they do? That team you own? And mentally like even my rookie year I played them, I had fourteen and five minutes. It was just one of those teams that I just got up for. It's just you know, um, you know watching, you know watching, you know Kobe's training, you know, um four games how he trained, um him

watching me there every single time we played them. Three o'clock, I'm near, you know, waiting for you to finish, and you know I'm going, Um, so we already had our shooting. I remember, I remember sitting there and like, man that I'm I'm I'm giving him all the kudos. It was funny before the game, we're sitting there. He's going because it's the second time working out before the game, so he already worked out once. This is a second time

working out, and I was like, man, that man just unstoppable. Man, Like I'm seeing his coaching hacking on him. He's still putting them shots up. And then you know he said it. He said it, so this jump ball started. Hey, I'm gonna shut down Gil, I'm shut down, Gil, Smush you go. There them two plays. I don't remember anyway, Um that we were supposed to call the first two players of the game is probably for one of the bigs. We're gonna go one for Flat. If he guards me, I'm

going one for Flat. That's how we go through this and go one for Flat. We go, We're just gonna shut this ship down right now. So that was already the mode of the game, you know what I mean. So I'm already so I'm in attack mode. So I'm in attack mode. I'm like, we get it. Smush comes. I'm just going like, just okay. So when Kobe tried to get me, I'm already on fire. And that's you know, That's how it it was. It was just that's tough.

Once you got gone, it was over. Once I got gone, it was it was really nothing he was gonna do, man, you know, because I mean, you know, studying a defensive player, I knew I couldn't do the same thing twice against him, you know. So if I hit him with a crossover, I knew I couldn't him with the same crossover. Come bright, now, So I always had to be you know, quick pull up.

You know, I'm not to play around with you. You know you're a great defensive I'm not playing around with you like I'm just gonna just get to the ams. I'm just go just straight line, straight line, shoot it up. I don't you know, I'm not gonna sit there and beat because that that just FeAs you know, a good defensive guy is gonna play to your rhythm. He's gonna he's gonna pick that ship up. And I'm sitting here like I'm just gonna go quick shot three, let's go.

That's you know, and that's that's one of them nice and one of them NICs. So you get injured, Uh, you miss games due to injury. Um, in the midst of that, the gun situation happens. Uh walk us through that because that was just crazy. You come back and then you kind of make fun of the situation with the intro and he gets messy. Talk to us about the whole situation. You guys understand it better because you've you've played your teammates, you've you know, y'all, y'all have

had them them them heated discussions. Right, So I'll rewind you know, this is one of my rookies, so on the on on on road trips. You know, I'll tell them, hey, listen, if y'all need food, you know, you got a little girl over y'all trying to impress. Just order the room service on my on mine, I give it because I didn't. I wasn't on the roomless. So you know, he'd call me like, yo, a room you in. He'd come up, we'll eat, you know before he goes out or whatever.

Or he had just asked me the room so he could order his room you know, room service whatever, and then charge it to my room. So you know, so that was my guy. You know, we used to gamble, do it all this, so it didn't have nothing to do with us. You know, you got the checks and balances of a team, you know what I mean. So it was like, Yo, don't talk to your teammate like that, you know what I mean? That was mine, you know.

But he's frustrated losing money, you know, frustrating. He's gonna you know, he's gonna say whatever you're gonna say, you know. So my thing was, yo, just you know, it's don't talk to your team like this. You know what, man, if all that he's coming at me, you know what I mean. So now you come to me, I'm gonna poke. Yeah, yeah, you know, And that's that's all I kept doing, just poking, poking, poking, and just I ain't mean you know, you know you said you're gonna do something. I want to see you

do it, you know. I mean, so no different than you know what me and young me and Nick young Do you know if NICKI younger says, you know, I'm gonna shot the shoot at you, you know, because I'm working with his kid, you know what I mean, I'm like, let me see it, U Brena good. I want to see you do it, you know. And that's all it was. It wasn't like we was really beefing. I just you know, I'm pulling. I'm calling this bluff to you. CA call

your bluff, you know what I mean. But when someone's when when the outside, here's guns in the locker room, Oh my god, it no, it wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't actually like that. It was it was like that, but it wasn't like that. It was like that, but it wasn't. It wasn't like how it sees. It was more he called my bluff. I wanted to see if the motherucker's gonna do huh. So what happened? This is the funny part. I put the ship on the chairs and said, oh, pick one. You know what I mean.

It was foe. It was some utiful. It was golden. I mean, come on, gold the Smith and Western five. He couldn't shoot them ships run Smith and weston five five Huntred, you know the big you know what I mean, I might pick one because if I'm giving you this, imagine what I got at the crib. If this is what I'm giving you, imagine what I got at the crib. And then and then from there it was like it was like, man, I don't even I don't. I don't need none of this and threw it. But it was

it was there was no bullets in it. He threw it. And that's what scared everybody because he threw a gun flying across the table. You know, um trainers, oh my god, they got guns on locker room. And then and then from there we went straight to the JACUZI was like, man, right we were, that's what. Straight to the jacuzi and um, you know, getting warm before the game, I mean before practice and he was like, man, you played too much.

I was like, no, bro, you got an anger management problem. Bro, I said, you oregon over eleven hundred dollars to see you eleven hundred dollars you over here yelling at you. I said, you just you have anger management problem. Just let that ship go, because like, no, man, they justn't gonn be beating out of my money like that. I see, that's your problem. That's your problem. And we're sitting there done.

You know, we're done. We go to practice and then from there, you know, team find out, you know, and we I thought the ship was over. I thought she was over. I mean they asked me like you had guns in locker room like this. This you gotta remember our locker room. We're in the locker room sometimes more than we are at home. That's this ain't no, This ain't no. Uh, this ain't no regular job. I gotta fucking coming this motherfucker anytime I want, Like I'm in

here more than the security guards. Right like yo, I right now you got you can. You're gonna find Jewey and them. You're gonna find money and the money back full of money in them lockers. Because that that's that's basically safer than our house because when we go on the road ship we hit that, they can't they can't bring it to the gym. We got two the far so that's like our home. So what I leave there any job of find me for because you know, this

is this is safe. This is a safe having this guns, locker of rings, like you got every extra phone, ship, you know, cons, you know whatever, you know, all in the locker room. So um So when it was like, yeah, you you have guns, I was like, yeah, I didn't want them. I said, I just had, you know, another child. So I'm trying to get rid of the ship. So it was like, you know, you can't bring you know, guns into the locker room since when you know, I mean that was a lot of people people, that's Peter.

I mean guns have been in the locker room. That's one thing. I'm like, uh, since when we hadn't had paintball shoot outs to his mother be guns shoot outs to this. I had to negotiate, like I remember, you know, like like a player, like a player. We we got one of them team meetings and nigger one with my ass, I got the heat on me just a game. I got to back up, back up, back up. You ain't just gonna be man handling to me and this motherfucker to day, you know what I mean? Back up there

with you, you just gonna be beat up. I gotta we gotta get the bar bro, you know what I mean. So you know, like to me, like since when all right? That will? They're gone whatever? You know, So it's over, you know what I mean, It's over. But but they run that course and it's it's it's good we're browing the guns. Um called them, and that that was the story that went out. I didn't care at first, because I don't care what the media say. What are you gonna do? I didn't. I didn't. I didn't when I

didn't touch no gun. I wasn't near no gun. The only thing I said was, Yo, those are my guns. And I put them there, and no one's seen me put them there. I mean, sure, I'm the first person he hit six in the morning. Nobody see me do nothing, you know. But what happened was it was getting so big. I was like, and they're gonna they're gonna attack young boy. So that's when I was like, yo, I'll just take the blame for a fucking I'll take the blame for it,

you know what I mean, I'll take the hit. You know. You you save yourself, you know, and that's that's that's how we did it, you know. So that's when he was like you, I'm scared for my life. You know. They do what you gotta do, you know what I mean. I'm not gonna hold a grudge because one I shouldn't have put you in that situation anyway, you know what I mean, because at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, we are still teammates and brothers. This is you know what I mean. It just got

out of hand, and you know that was your rookie. Yeah, it just got out of hand, you know, and you can't we can't really do nothing, you know about it once somebody else you know, you know checks in on it, you know, but we know what it is. So you know, I'll take the blame and whatever that comes with mhm. And then I remember the one thing that did you get in trouble with you you got suspend it from that.

You got suspend it from I don't suspend it, but that was the thing they couldn't suspend me for I done did all the research. I don't did all the research, so you couldn't suspend me. Like the most was you got seven games, right, seven? Y yep, yep, you got seven. So I was like uh. And then Telefare got three um and he got he was caught twice and I actually shot mine and got yeah, And I was like, well, I said the most y'all can give me for unloaded in the locker room. No one's seen that one game.

I said, that's all I'm excepted. One game. That's all I'm excepted is one game. If not, I don't know nothing about no guns. I don't know who bring him guns there. Y'all got some tape, y'all got some some fingerprints. I don't know who broke him. One game. I give you one game. That was my one game. So they decided after I did that, I shouldn't have did it, though, because you know, I basically gave him my defense. And then it was like, all right, detriment with the team.

You're not mentally stable. After I did this, it's like, you're not mentally stable to be on the court. Detriment of the team. Boy, they got that detriment for the games and and this is damn This was the part that really liked because I'm like, I'm not I'm not taking the fifty craziest, I'm not taking fifty games. I'm not taking fifty games. I said, I'm not taking fifty games.

He was like, well, well I'm gonna taking I'm gonna go after the rest of your contract if you I just lost my Adidas deal for you know, taking a felony case fifty games, and you're gonna go after that. I'm good fifty that's right, man, I'm gonna take this fifty. Then this ship that I at that point, I'm not gonna you know, this is the same guy who put me in the All Star Game. You know, I'm not gonna go against the guy who can who can actually make that ship happen for real. And I mean, so

I took that fifty. Shut the funk up. He said, all right, man, I see all next year then, you know, you know, and that's that's why I didn't get suspended for the guns. You know, I took that fifty on detriment to the team. You know, let my name get out of the paper, let it die down, because I wasn't gonna let it die down because you're gonna come at me. I'm gonna keep coming the other hood. I

see you around and say your uncle guild to my kids. Obviously, people don't know we have sisters that are related, you know, related that we have kids for. But how important are the kids? I see all your kids with you all the time now into sports. Talked about fatherhood, you know, it's it's it's different because the fatherhood that we we are while we're playing, it's a lot different. It's a

lot different than when we're done. You know, because when we're playing, we can go we can go weeks without actually having contact with the kids like that because we're traveling. Because we're traveling, you know, our sleep pattern versus their school. You know. So we we at the gym and you see us kissing the baby and doing it. That's the That's the first time I've seen that little motherfucker. I thought he was selling diapers, to be honest, that was

was walking, you know what I mean. But that's how it is. It. Yeah, we lived together, but you know, because of the schedules were just you know, I'm I'm I'm sitting here focus getting you know, I'm still prepared. So once it was done, once I was planning, you you know you're watching You're watching you what I mean, You're watching you, your personality and all of it. And I remember I was like, man, you know, this is what I want to do. I just want to. I want to. I want to. I want to be a father.

What I mean. Like I was a basketball player, I wasn't a father, and I was a donor at that point. They lived with me, but I can say I wasn't really Yeah, I didn't know birthdays and ship like that. Who birthday? Which which which one? Oh? You your three? Good jaw roll big three? Bro? That was That was when I was done. It was like, you know, I'm

locking in, you know. And then when when the breakup happens, like, no, you're not gonna push me back as an athlete, nob, I'm gonna fight to be a father now, you know what I mean. My dad I was raised by my dad, so that's all I know. You know, he raised me and I'm ye what I mean, And if we have to go to blows for it, that's what we're gonna do. But you know, when it's all, when it's all said and done, they know I'm fault to be in their life.

I hear your court record is pretty impressive. The number, whether you know what, whether that ship you know what I mean, go ahead, slicing dies. I don't get if if it's if I here you go and say, Yanna, can I go to the bathroom? They deny you. I'm asking, yeah, Yanna, you know you know I'm having a problem right here, can I go to bathroom? And she said yes. I want to give him you all win for anything. I don't care, just to show you I got this ship

on locked. But it seems like everything is, you know, at peace with the kids, and I think that's what's the most important. Um, I mean, how enjoyable is it that, like you said, we're moving so much while we play and now you sit back and your kids are good at it too, So how how how how important is that to see them exceeding in something you exceeded in and just kind of being there for the moment. You know,

it's it's just it's just it's just it's different. It's um, because of the breakup and how it went, I had to take a different approach. Um. You know, it was one of those is I need the kids to see my personality, you know what I mean. I want them to judge me for you know what they see. You know, so you know, I mean, I'm a big kid, you know what I mean. Me and my son, Me and my son argued like we teammates. We don't like you know.

And and some remembers a parent was watching us play and watching us go at it, and I was like, yo, you let him talk to you like that. I was like, that's I said. I can't use parent trump card. That's how you lose your child, you know. You like, at this moment, we're two athletes, one older. You know, we're battling, you know whatever. Whatever he got to say, whatever, that's what we're doing. I'm gonna use my parent trump card

and say, Yo, yo, you can. I said, No, that's how you That's how you stopped growth, That's how you stopped communication, you know what I mean. So I had to take a you know, a different approach on you know how I gotta you know, get there and parent and watch them grow, you know, to get their respect. You know, you gotta get the respect you gotta you gotta always keep that that that line of communication open, you know, you know you can't. You know, you can't

sit there and say I'm the parent. You're gonna listen to me. Now. It don't work like it. Don't work like it. Don't work like that, even though that's how we was raised, were reraised. Don't don't lee, just don't talk back, don't talk back, don't challenge. You know, it's like, no, hold on the meat with what you got to say? You don't like my cooking? Why because the ship just sucks? Got you gonna eat this? Like? Like, what's so funny is my dad would have never I go like four

different restaurant for dinner. Oh, you let them kick what they want because they are you the whole time. Yeah, it's I go and do what I say. No, No, you're gonna have to eat. Gotta attitude like you know, I ain't got time because your mama thinks she won. No you want you want this? Let go, I'm going all folding you. Goddamn it. I'm gonna have one up on something. God, Timmi. There was a story circulating with what the conversation you had about Kobe and kind of

about you giving back in the basketball share that with us. Yeah, it was it was. It was. It was crazy because um we we you were in the same tournaments, you know what, what with your with your group. Because I remember I was coming in. It was like, oh, Matt Barns over there too, and then I was like, that's like, yeah,

Kobe's uh, Kobe's over there. For what what I means, like for what you know, that's how he coaches girl, coaches daughter really all right, go over there and he's sitting on the bench coaching like he's really really really

taking serious. After six days a week, they were in the Try and Go and I'm like, I'm watching you watching and see like you know, if you're just sitting there because you don't want to sit in the crowd making this up talking to the girl like like oh shout, he's really coaching, right, And then you know, catch him again at the Mamba and he's like, Yo, we played

against your daughter. You know, uh, you know, I want to you know, try out all right, we're practice that Orange County, Yeah, like six days and I gotta get it from here there six days a week and if she doesn't practice, she had to come off the bench to that team. I said, Now I gotta deal with this this, this attitude the whole ride there and back because she ain't starting. Uh well, we'll talk about it. Then he was like, man, he should you should be

in here coaching, Like what are you doing? I was like, man, I'm just being a parent, you know, trying to figure this out, you know what I mean. It's like, coach, don't let your brain go the wat I mean, you know, just you know, give back. Nah. These parents, they everybody think they child is good. He said, it looks like I listened to them parents. And I was like, damn, tune. I think about it right a year ago, but you know,

it goes by and he mentions it. M again, Yo, you're gonna coach, you know, I'm I'm gonna said, I'm thinking about it. The kids are in Oakland right, it's the Oakland Tournament, and knee has killed the knee. My knee is killing me. I'm like I'm tossing, just tossing and turning toom doom doom. And I was like, it's like six o'clock, so I'm trying to wait, like all right, six o'clock seven, easy up. Yeah. So I called a coach. I said, you know what, man, I think I'm I'm

gonna do it. I'm a junior coach of staff, you know, I want to coach. It's like, oh man, so we we're going we're going through um, we're going through the roster, like what what what? What players I want on the team where you know he you know, it's at that time, it was it was the it was twelve of you, but I was trying to put them in fourteen you right, And I'm sitting here like trying to all right, I'll

take that player, that player, that player. Um. And then I was like, all right, hit me up and I said, yo, let me know how they you know, finished the game. So I'm going to couch. Got a text and it was like, uh, you know Kobe Kobe dot M all right. And then I was like thirty, like tim is a Kobe who as Kobe Bryant the funk out. I said, you don't play with don't play with stuff like that funk out of him, bro. And then you know, and then I'm like, why would he just say something like that?

Like you know, I'm playing the video of why would he say that? That was go on the internet. And then I'm just sitting here like Calabasas, and like, I'm looking at Calabasas. Non in Calabasas. You don't even live in Calabasas. Why it be in Calabasas. Oh tournament they play at nine, they play at nine o'clock. So I'm you know, I'm sitting here like, oh, ship, we hold on and I'm not. I I posted, and I eraced

and I posted. I said like, I think his daughter is on that plane because they have a game at nine o'clock, so she would be with him. And then everybody's don't put that negativity all like that, and then I was like, oh, shoot, you're right, and then he raised it and I took that ship off, and I'm sitting there and thinking like but wait, hold on ye and I had to call like yo, they have a game at nine, So I'm like, oh, ship, one of the girls or all of the gross is that was

on the plane was you know, the kids. And then like thirty minutes later it came out and I'm like, what the what the funk just happened? Like what like what happened? Because the day I say I'm gonna do this coaching thing that he talked to you into for us two years and it was that and that was the thing that was eating me up, like how why how why? And it even got deeper than that. So this is like three weeks is past and I'm we just had to play date Alanni so Alani as a

play date. Um, so I picked picked the boy up and driving him and he was like, hey, um you know that's that's you know, this is where you know, we're going back to the work Kobe, you know, Kobe plane crash. I was like, for really, it was like right here. He's like, no, it's not it's not over here. It's across the other freeway. He's like, I have it peemed mm hm. So I said what I thought it was right here. He's like, no, it's it's over there.

He's it's like, it's in front of the school. Find out that the mountain you remember the house on the hill, the moor way at the top, that was the right in front of that behind it that technically, yes, from front, that was the mountain that he was hitting to climb over.

H And I'm sitting here like like so that hurt, Like wait a minute, hold on the mountain that I used to used to have this house up on the hill, bro that you could see fucking Texas there, but when it got foggy, I couldn't see on the front door, you know. So the fact that he was trying to climb that there was no way. So basically hits the He's climbing this mountain and fall into the lady who owns the other half of the mountain, and I'm sitting here like, yo, how why you know? It was too

much connection. It was like, yo, I really gotta you know, focus and do this because there's there's something here. I don't know what it is, but something's telling me to do it in honor of them. That's spoken man. That's uh, your podcast, No chill, Gil, you kind of found your lane. What got you into that accident? I ain't gonna lie. It was like it was when somebody was, you know, telling me, you know, the podcast, and you probably on

your first one. You probably like, man, I don't know if that win as well as I I think, you know, like, you know, so I had the first two. I was like I just scratched that. You know, they posted them anyway, you know, but it was just to do something, you know, And then once people started, you know, like like, yo, we like what you're saying. You know, I started taking it,

you know, more seriously. But it was one of those things where I was just doing it just for ships and giggles, you know, just to see what it was about. Didn't Yeah, it didn't really you know, take it serious. Didn't even think I was in the podcast. It was just like, all right, let me see what it is. All right, all right, that's cool, and that's one of

the better ones out. Yeah, I think, you know, just being ex hoopers there there's no such things as a bad one, you know what I mean, because we're giving you real life experiences. You know, we're not some stat chasing you know, movecles were just gonna say something just to get your attention. You know, we're gonna give you stories. We're gonna give you life lessons. I remember, we made it. We're gonna have you know, no matter how big or shorter career was, we have one to tell you know

what I mean. So I'm giving you. I'm giving you a voice that you didn't hear when I was playing. I mean, when I'm when we're playing, I'm I'm memorizing when I'm gonna get both teams lay hard. Yeah, you know, if I had a bad game but we won a great team win. You know, it's it's we're not we're not letting you. We're not letting you in because we don't know your angle. I don't know your angle. You're trying to Yeah, you're trying to push your wedge through us.

Like I heard you say, didn't pass so they got there. I heard it, you know what I mean. And you were right. I'm not passing on the ball, but I heard it, you know what I mean. But it was if that's why I like, you can interview somebody and like, yo, I never heard that story before. You was never gonna get it. Your reporter, your reporter, god, your you're trying to find some angle. Like we're athletes. We're having conversations.

We're not in it for the wrong reason. And and that's and that's you know, that's where you know what we're doing becomes like you know what I mean? Like for you guys, I can tell you right now, I argue with my team every day. I said, you see what they posted five times today? They got a team over there. You see how you see the pictures that say you see they steal shots that steal shots look better than our videos. What are we doing? I said, you know what, if you don't get this ship together,

I'm done. Oh I do that ship twice a week. Bro, You're the reason I went to kids. Then I said to mother fuckers, they got a list. Everybody everybody a list, bro, We got seas indeeds, Bro, nobody want to hit this ship from these players like they got they got cold, they got all a's. Man. I was like, man, look if you can't get a list, I'm gonna talk to the kids. Bro, we can go to kid route and that's good. I ain't gotta They can keep that. They can keep, they keep the bros got them, can't. We

can't compete with them, mockers just behind. That's why I went to the kids. I could compete. That's the hell of the lane though, because they got Kobe, they got who the funk got Kobe A? They're doing all that, No, brother, I got Chris Duhan coming ready. That was a hell of a thing to t happen for them, for them high school kids, because that's giving them another lane, Like they don't get a chance to say, especially with somebody like you. But they don't get a chance to talk

about like stuff that they want to get off. They chant this early. Yeah, normally you gotta wait to you in college or you know what I'm saying, you're in the college. We are your approb But now they getting interviewers and be able to tell they like their stories early. Imagine imagine being a boxer, right and Mayweather? Is that the standard? He actually giving you the information to get there. That's if you don't make it on you. But that's that was the problem until we got into this game

of podcasting. There was no information. We had to figure it out like we have figured out like everyone else. No one came back and said no, no, no, you can't do that. Do it this way, do it that way. Because somebody was like, Yo, why would a team want you on the team and you're bringing guns to the locker room. Because I know not to do it. I've experienced it, I've seen the outcome of it. I fell into the hole, got out of the hole. I know

how to stop the next person doing it. You want someone who's been there, done that to teach the next person. I like, how am I gonna learn to be a score from a defensive player? Impossible. How how do I supposed to like learn how to be a professional star or do this? And everybody around me has never been there before, like how to like you can? I'm capped off and I and I said, that's why some of your organizations never go forward, because you guys think you're small,

harder than what you really are. You're not that fucking smart. You want to pretend it's smart. But I'm not like like Kawhi Leonard Kaui. But never if I'm if I'm owning and I'm the general manager of Toronto, he ain't leaving. I can offer him something that no one's even thinking about. You got friends, hunt, They probably can't get here, you know where you live. They probably gotta child support issues. You know, they probably can't get passport. I'll do that.

The fund is that ten thousand dollars, you know what I mean. It's not like it's gonna be millions and friends, you know ten. Let me gonna head clean that up for you. Hey, I can give y'all jet jet jet flights. Y'all can come over here, fly your mama can fly out here to get him in to put him in the penhouse. You know what, I mean, get them passports and pennies on the dollars to someone you're gonna pay

millions to that keeps him in Toronto. But even like now, we don't we don't need to do all that because you're thinking two hundred millions gonna save nah once once the person get a bag. They ain't really thinking about that, you know what I mean. So it's like little things that you guys are so out of touch with. You guys don't and because you don't have anybody in touch to to to keep you here, because think about it,

we've been players most of the time. When we're upset, it ain't over nothing big, be some little dumption, there's some little ship you know, you've done tapped into our ego. We were gonna flex on YouTube and and and I think that's the missing link, is like you don't have players coming back helping helping build like allow it. It's not really that's not all your players who along to They just don't get the opportunity that. And that's cool.

You think Google don't do searches for the best text, Yeah, they do. Like if y'all can, if y'all can uh one million dollars hack my server. I gotta remember you good as an act. If you can hack my server, I gotta job for you. That that's the that's the audition. That's that's that that that's what he's looking for. You put a million dollars out there, the best hackers are going to come through, come on on the team. So you keep you keep building, and that's what they be.

They don't. They don't build. Scottie Pippen best deficit. Why is he not on the team? Gary? Why these guys are not on teams? Like, like, I don't think Wall Street is gonna help you get a championship because I can tell you some of these trades y'all make not gonna happen. That ain't going Those two players clashed. Those both need to elbow. This is like you got Shock and Patrick you in. Yeah, that ship looks great on paper,

but they both want that block. Whoever gets their second motherfucker, he just out of the loop because he can't play on the other side. But it looked great, It looked great. It looked great on paper, you know, but they don't. They don't know that. They're just looking at some ships say oh yeah, we need to shoot thirty thirty threes, thirty thirty threes, you know, you know more than anybody thirty three. Who I mean, there's only two monthfuers don't

here that can shoot three. Who's gonna take the other eighteen of them ships? You know what I mean? But but that's someone who's just yeah, they're just looking at stat sheets, looking at stat sheets, looking at the algorithm, you know, and that and and they say this is the way the game needs to be. It's like, you know that that team needs to be that. You need to drive. You you need to drive and get to the bucket, get some free throws, get a little mid range.

That's where you capitalize. You you take ten three. You got some of these guys who are shooting as many shots as fucking realen, No, they can't shoot no, none, none, you know, But that's the way the game's going. Quick hitters coming down the stretch of favorite teammate, probably Larry Hughes Jamison, you know you plus four going to the black Top and play who are you bringing you? Plus four?

I'm gonna bring going to black Top black Top? Yeah, okay, so I'm gonna go to Sean Stephenson, Antoine Jamison, Um, Karen got you and and Brendon, Oh yeah, because I aint gotta pass the ball? Should I haven't Twitter nine the get rid of them. I know what I'm gonna I know what I'm gonna do. I get this ship, that ship, get all the glass. Big fella. Top three people you love to see that. You knew it was

gonna guard you. I knew it's gonna guard me. Uh, Kobe usually don't switched off and put some big somebody bigger. So you know, like Bruce Bowing. I love you know when Bruce born, because he was gonna bring the best outre He hacks, he hacks. He was good. He was good, garden two threes, not good coming up pick rolls and going down here. He wasn't good at it. It wasn't that wasn't his sting um and probably Larry Hughes Top five scores of all time pier scores yours the top

five scores all time. Um, I gotta be biased because I can only go as far as um when I watched the game, you know, So mine's gonna be from the window. You know, I can't go backwards. I can't go to the mold motherfucker's that. There was seven teams and there's plenty of Yeah, I don't I don't even want to schedule du two black people. Holy, I'll say Jordan Kobe, just pure scourse, Jordan Kobe, Kevin Durant A. Yes, of course, I can't sleep on Mellow. Yeah, it's it's hard.

It's it's hard. It's hard to sleep on Mellow. You know. Joe Johnson has to me. But I you know, like he was a score. But you know, I gotta go. I gotta go with Mellow. Find a question, who do you want to see on All the Smoke and whoever? Whatever you answer is, you gotta help us, get us and get them on the show. Who you want to see on the show. You don't have everybody talking at your ace. We don't had your ace, Kyrie Swaggy pea, Yeah,

y'all can have swagg back. Come on man, y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all. A plus. I look at that because d minus with me. Brother, that's that's that's my guess. That's that's my man. Did this rotman? Oh the worm and that'll be dope, that'll be dope that I like that. Oh, gil Man, we appreciate your tongue. Thank you very much. That's a rap with our guest, Gilbert Arenas. You can cast on our Showtime Basketball YouTube and the heart platform Black Effects. We'll see you all next week.