Iman Shumpert (Part 1)

You're listening to Jojassee One now with me Jojo Seua and iHeartRadio podcast. Welcome back to Jojo Just See One now. Oh my gosh, let me just say, doing this podcast, seeing you all listening, watching it, just it makes me so happy. I'm I'm so grateful. I feel like I've learned a lot about myself doing this podcast. I've learned a lot about my friends on this podcast.

Uh.

Speaking of today, I am going to get to chat with one of my favorite people in the world. We originally met on Dancing with the Stars season thirty just now.

Two years ago, which is absolutely wild.

Everybody, please welcome mister Iman Schumpert to jojaswa now the man, the guy, the only one on Dancing with the Stars who whooped my ass? Mister aman, how are you? I am? I'm so good. I'm so happy here. Thank you for doing my podcast. I appreciate it.

I love you.

Thank you for Can you feel at home? I love you too?

And I feel at home because I told you this is like already looks like my daughter's room, Like how she does a little Jojo the pink stuff. I mean, now, it's not it's less, it's less about that she's older a little bit now, but I've had she's got.

Changes of what's her what's her vibe? Now? What's she until?

Right now?

Junie is reading, so the books are sort of taking her imagination on a little run.

So every day is something new.

She either wants to go fishing or oh then she wants to what does she said? She's been on this Bahamas thing, just I don't know where it is. She wants to go back to the Bahamas and do a boat trip.

I don't know what it.

Is about the Bahamas.

Anytime they start reading, they just their their mind sort of just takes those those nice long rides into the.

Mine.

Has the cutest little girl in the whole world.

I remember getting to meet her on Dancing with the Stars and just little ball of energy, so cute. Knows exactly who she I mean at the time. I haven't seen her really since then, but.

Oh a whole lot more learning is she?

She just so cool, so spunky.

All right, I'm on, I we met on Dancing with the Stars. We did season thirty together. Not salty at all that you beat me? What did you do with your newberal trophy? Is it in your house? You did give it to your mama.

Got it, said, and she got it on the little stand, she got the little goal thing behind it.

She had to love that. Does your mom live here? No?

No, no, in Chicago, still in Chicago.

Got it?

Okay?

That makes me happy. That makes me happy that your mom has it. Anyways, we met on Dancing with the Stars, which was incredible.

I have so.

Many, so many memories about you that I cannot wait to go through, so many funny things that I would overhear in rehearsals. I have this one story of Danny and you in rehearsals. I can't wait to talk about. So many memories of just you and your trailer, hearing you and your trailer that I can't wait to talk about.

Eight years old?

I was really like out the way, if you didn't have a rim and a basketball, I ain't really care to have a conversation, which you would have thought. I was more quiet, like don't I have fun with my friends? I was very serious about getting good enough to be at my name into the NBA.

Like I'm like you always knew that, Like that was I gotta go there?

What was your first Like how old were you when you had your Like I'm gonna I want to be a basketball player, like this is my drake?

What was it was like three or four?

We saw some video of Michael Jordan's pulling up to the arena and he got out of his corvette and I just remember seeing in that boxing that boxy suit. His suit was super boxy and he got out and I remember thinking, why he's so he's too tall to be in that little car, like you know what I'm saying, the car fire like, And my father explained to me, like, nah, it's got more room than it looked, like you know what I'm saying, that's.

The Did you want to play basketbroller? Did you want the car in the box.

It was the whole, It was the whole vib It was the fact that he played basketball so good, like him him wonting that competition of basketball landed him correct financially, you know what I'm saying. So like something I want to do anyway, it is about to make me more money than anybody that does anything they don't want to do thinking they're going to make more money. It's people all the time that don't want to be a lawyer.

So there's there's, there's that.

And I saw Jordan happy to play basketball and making money to where you can help people. And then I saw the big houses on HGTV and my dad was like yeah. I was like if Michael Jordan by that and Dad was like yeah, yeah yeah, but he was looking at like NBA players, that's that house is nothing, So I could understand where it was, like where it was on the statrum, Like I'm like, how much money do they have?

And yeah, he like, well that ain't nothing.

Like but that's before we had the internet, super running like this where you could just look up an NBA contract like oh yeah, Like I didn't know how to research it back then, Like I wasn't good with it like that. But my father explained to me, like when you get there, if you get good enough, you're able to get a house or car, whatever you want. And that comfort is kind of what drove me though.

So your dad was really supportive of you growing up.

Yeah, he put challenges in front of me. Dude, was like, could.

You have us?

Uh, what's it called? Because in dances called like a stage mom or a stage dad?

What's it called?

The basketball? Like is it like a like.

I mean, we don't really call it anything. It's like you either have a mentor or like you'll have a vet, like you have a veteran when you get to the NBA. Ye, Like Mellow is my veteran, Carl Anthony is my vet, Like he takes you under the wing. Everybody kind of knows. You know, we go to dinner on the road and you're a rookie, like Mellow gonna, he's gonna pay for dinner. He gonna you know what I'm saying, Like that's what we have, but we don't we don't have like a

With a small title.

But okay, wait, so you you realized at three or four, yeah, that you wanted to be a player, a baller.

But when so you're you're growing up.

Obviously at four you can only be so good at something, you know what I mean? At what point for you were you playing basketball at at the local? I mean, I don't I should know more about basketball, but you know, dance world and basketball two very different worlds. But at what age were you on a team and you were like a ship.

I'm better than everyone else? When did that happen? When did you get advanced?

I think.

If you are not listening, smile right now.

Like the its like actually deal with me.

Yeah.

So high school yeah, like five foot eight right, yeah, and I have a gross spurt. So my second year in high school, I'm actually like sloppy, Like, yeah, I wasn't great, like all that dancing with the starship was out the window. Yeah, but I ain't have control of my body though. I was growing so fast. And next thing I know, I look up and I'm six three and I worked that whole time. I work my ass off. You know, my body was hurting. I was just like, I gotta get right, like I gotta be better. I

Yep.

And I've actually never told this part of the story, so I'm gonna tell it on here. We played every man for theirself and which is you play the thirty two by twos. Yeah, there's no free through in between scoring, and anybody could play. So before we start playing, to warm up, it might be thirty people under one rim and whoever has the ball checks up. Thirty people could guard you at once if they wow, you know what I'm saying. When you got game point, everybody, Yeah, everybody's

Yeah, like it's so many people.

But I remember the game getting a little like a little more turned like people at first they're just warming up, but then everybody starts sweating and it's going now.

And yeah, I got to game point.

I did a lot of stuff to get the game point that I was just like, yeah, like I'm definitely getting better, like it's working. And then we got to game point and I remember everybody like up to stop me, and I remember backing up and then attacking everybody and being like they can't, Like y'all are slow, Yeah, y'all are you know what I'm saying? Or I'm like you're why did you go? Like I would do a movie, like why would you go for that?

You know?

You just like kind of realized like.

Everything click for me, and it was going real slow, and it was kind of cool because it was every man for themselves. So I'm like, none of y'all like, for lack of a better way to say it, none of y'all could fuck with me.

None of y'all can.

No y'all, Yeah, like this is it's tough for y'all now, Like, yeah, I'm tall, so the time while I'm driving it.

At the end, I should lay this up, but I went up and I.

Dunked it, and I remember looking at people like, instead of trying to block it, they kind of were looking like, damn, you could dunk like that.

Yeah, they were kind of looking at me weird.

When I landed and I realized that, Like in that moment, I was like, I can't act.

I can't act regular with y'all no more. I have to kill you. Yeah, I have to kill you.

Like it's not even like a laughing matter, Like, yeah, now I'm gonna be pissed off if y'all get close to even a little bit close to beating me, I'm gonna get mad at myself.

Yeah.

And I became more and more and more focused on just like playing higher competition. So after that, it was like my father taking me State the States. All right, well, they the best team over here. You gotta beat them. They're the best team.

So your dad, your dad had you. Your dad is like, all right, we'll get you out. Michael Jordan's Carr challenge.

He just he just always yeah, Like you know, everybody's got parents that they say stuff to you, and you think in that moment. They're trying to correct my behavior, They're trying to control me, They trying to do this, and it's like nobody ever sits back and just be like he just challenged me to do something right that simply.

All he did.

Yeah, and then it worked.

Somebody will say that and it'll be like people, I don't want to do that with my life. It'd be like, bro, you don't have to do that with your life. Yeah, what's wrong with being qualified in ten areas? Right? No?

Absolute?

What's wrong with that?

Like I'm not left handed, but I've worked on so much stuff so that my left hand works.

What if I ever break my right hand? Ye? You know, use it.

You know. We do these things where you try and sharp especially with your children. You try and put everything into them to try and sharpen all these things. And I feel like that was my biggest advantage was I clicked for me early watching my older brothers get into it with my father. I was just like, bro, all he said was get good grades, and good grades is like I got straight a's. I'm like, bro, all I gotta do is it? Like I was damn near doing

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

That's very or smart as you made it so that way you could go home and then focus on what you really loved.

That was my one rule.

They say, if your homework done, you go outside. Really, if your homework is done, if your grades is good, you can go outside.

And you just got to be back before.

It's docz theres like back before the street lights are on.

Yeah.

Yeah, I was. I'm the very end of that.

Very end of that generation because it stopped for me when I was like, God, I I sound psychotic when I say this, but I got my first phone when I was like seven or five or seven, and so like when I was it would have been seven, because like when I was five and six, that's I've still lived by, like come home in the street lights are on. But then once I was seven, eight nine, I had a phone, and so it was like I'll text you and to come check.

The time when it come home. Like it just changed. That's a weird life.

It's a different lifestyle type of kid right here. Man, I'm just letting y'all know. She just said that, like that was so regular. Nobody else turned seven and eight and text their mom and dad when they're coming home. I tell my daughter, still she has a phone, she said, This lady here is living a different lifestyle.

Was there a moment when you were a kid.

I have two questions for you, going off of what we just talked about. Was there a moment for you when you were like fuck this, I don't want to do it anymore?

With basketball? Yeah, yeah, you have the moments you usually come you win. Yeah, you just you win. There's a there's very much. There's so many moments I can remember in my career where I'm like, bro, I'm doing this and that the individual success that I need isn't happening for me.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying.

Where else like it's frustrating yea where it'd be like I gotta wait my turn again, like y'all said, wait, I did, Nah, I gotta wait again?

Yeah, did you have a backup? Like what was your like? Not doing this anymore? Don't want to be a baller anymore? Not in basketball? I want to Oh.

No, no, I don't.

I didn't really ever have that where it was like I'm gonna take a different career path. I never had that, But I'm very much so I'm very comfortable and knowing I've sharpened other areas to where if I attack anything, if I go full throttle at it, Yeah, like you're.

Gonna have to you commit, you met, Yeah, I'm like, if.

I commit to something and I'm gonna go wholeheartedly into it, I'm like, it's gonna be successful and I hang my hat on that. Just like saying if you put the hours in and the energy in, it's just gonna work.

Like I know how it works.

Like that, guys, but but it just does. I promise you it does hard work.

Eventually, Eventually, pays off.

Some things take longer than I But straight up, is there anyone that you grew up playing with, grew up learning with that made it as big as you did?

Are you the only.

Evan Turner played middle school ball with me? Ten year career in the league, maybe twelve years?

Damn?

Yeah?

Yeah, still doing well, does podcasts, now coaching. Yeah, but we're still still close, still check in with each other. He's still bothering me about shit that happened on the shot, Like I.

Was watching the shot, Bro, what are you doing? How you miss how you miss him?

It's just all all all of all of the childhood memories and stuff that we're able to talk about and then reflect on NBA memories. It's just really cool to have somebody around that's, you know, been through what you've been through, seeing what you've seen, and now like me and him, especially like we feel like, especially when we go back home, it's like, y'all don't have any ecuse no more.

We had an excuse.

We really didn't see anybody make it out like we didn't see it. Like nobody from where we was from was like, yeah, I went to the NBA and this is what's going on and you could work on this move and work on that move. We had nobody liked that, but it's like now your body back in opak is like y'all really don't have no excuse, Like y'all gotta rock with you, gotta work hard and get there, and now we've shown you this is the road. Yeah, you can get out. You can't hit us with the excuse

The show that I'm on right now is Special Forces. I heard something.

We didn't hear it while we were out selection, but we heard it as it was airing on the show. They said, winners will always find a way to keep going and quitters will always find an excuse to stop.

And like, that's that is. I mean, it's such a true thing.

Like if you if you really do want something, you're going to figure it out, you know what I mean. And I'm sure there was days where you had to make a makeshift rim somewhere and a makeshift ball somewhere, and you fucking did.

That's what That's what's gonna happen. It's like a like an artist. Artist you see that you throw them in a room, you give them I don't know anything like you. It work seriously, like they'll take a cigarette and use the ashes and draw some and use it for shading.

Your ability to make something work out of nothing is it's so important to success.

It's amazing how often people because it's that becomes a simplified version. If you were if I put you in a cell and all I gave you was a little ring, some tape and some paper over there, It's like, yeah, I'm taking the ring, I'm putting it over there now, rim and you're.

Gonna make a ball with paper and tape, and you're gonna.

That's what I'm gonna do for the whole day.

All I can do is simplifies the man putting yourself in the idea behind Yo, I'm gonna.

Hone in on this.

This is gonna be all I'm doing is podcasting, And for the large majority of the day, I'm gonna listen to my voice on here so I know where to stay. Where do I sit? Okay, this is the best sound for me. What do I do the excited voice? Or do I want to give the cams.

I like to call mom voice not deep.

In fluctuating me though, like sometimes I get a little too excited. But as far as like becoming a professional in any lane, it just becomes and putting the hours in and understanding what to do when it goes wrong. Like it's incredible what you can see out of people once they just lock in and they say, I don't care if I fall on my face.

I'm going full full you know what.

I'm saying, Like, and also you are going to fall on your face, it's just however you're going to get up.

There some people that get up and smile and exactly and then we keep going. Or there's some people that trip and be like, but they did you see there was a rock?

We didn't see. All we saw was you fall.

And I always care about is you get back up?

Are you okay? Cool?

But keep pushing.

Telling us it's a rock there? Thanks.

Yeah, that's what people do that where it's like instead of naming that problem or naming the thing that's wrong, it's like we all can see what's wrong. It's the solution. What do you keep doing? What are you pushing? What are you what are you trying to accomplish and nobody's nobody should laugh at that.

I don't.

I don't think anybody in the world should sit in the audience and laugh at somebody trying to accomplish something. That is literally one of the best things to watch. That's the entertainment people. People say, what is the entertainment industry is people watching people go do what they They still hesitant, not even scared, just like I'm gonna wait until I get enough money so that I can You know what I'm saying.

It's like, that's like a two three year and then you just want to.

Talk either positively or negatively on somebody that has done it. But at least you have a DNA to say these are pros, these are cons because I have an example now. So that's what's the entertainment business. And it's why you gotta chill, like, let you gotta let let comments live. People are literally just telling you if they like the content or not. People will be like, man, I don't like how you saund when you rap. It's like, man, you may not like it. Now in a year now

You have to start somewhere with everything you do. You have to start at square one. And I always I have.

This like, well, you started at square one, likes soon as you popped out Jojo Entertainer.

As soon as I popped out, family was like, all right here.

We dancing color in her face. It's I told you that my.

Favorite thing was seeing you on tour and seeing y'all have fun on the videos because we saw you on tour. And then my daughter just takes the rabbit hole with the YouTube.

Yeah, and then.

I'm like, bro, they're playing hide and seek.

Every venue we played Monopoly in every single venue. We played hide and Seek all the time. On stage, even during the concert, we used to play tag. And there's a fun game we play.

Yeah, on stage.

During the choreo, you would have to tag like and I would play, the crew would play, the dancers were playing.

Was a massive game.

We also would play this game on so much fun we played. This game is even worse. There's two other games we would play. The one is an animal game and I my dancers played it all the time. I couldn't play the animal game because you have to make verbal noises. So like everybody there's one dragon, all right, and then everybody else is an animal in pairs, so like me and you would be pigs, right, she and her would be wolves.

And then you would have to find your matching You have to have your your, your, your your.

You have to find your matching animal before the dragon rars at you.

So like, we don't know, so you draw out of a hat. Someone's the dragon.

So the dragon goes roaring at people, and then you have to be like dead if the dragon roars at you. But you have to go up to people and you have to make your animal noise to see if they're an animal.

And so I would go up there.

And be like now and you'd be like and like you'd like snore at me. If you were the pig, then I'd be like, shit, gotta go find the animal.

You know what?

That one sucked?

What anybody playing?

I like that game would be successful in the NBA because.

Y'all way were making this what no giddy?

The other game y'all could never play in the NBA. Your hands the.

Tag during something serious.

I love so oh, this one's worse.

I would love to play tag game. If I could remember to play Tag in the ABA, gay, I totally would have been would.

Yes, I mean pass it on to the next gen.

Yeah, honestly, no, don't. If if that happens in the game, that is JoJo's, there's gonna be just clean. That is her fault. That's not my fault. I just said if I was in the league deal, I would do it. I'm not advising y'all to do it, though, don't do that.

I would do it, full said. There's another one called pasta.

We take a small enough object to be able to hold it in your hand and you just have to pass it to people throughout like the performance, and whoever or ends with it loses.

But if somebody like passes it to you.

Have to take it and you don't know who has it.

No, you never know who has it, and then you just keep going.

Y'all keep the fastball the whole time.

Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, all the time. There's like this funny picture of me with this. We used to play with this little tiny baby and I got past it.

I turned by a photographer and I just was holding up this little tiny baby in my hands.

I would I would have played past the past.

Yeah, that was fun. Past the Yeah, and then you can pass.

I mean some people pass pennies, but like say a song, like a song, average song two three minutes, it probably gets passed around ten times per song.

Like you just keep passing it.

It is so fun. Yeah, we're a master. You gotta keep it in just and on the way to end of these games. He's just dying laughing right now. Past the it's creating.

All right, all right, we traveled into a little bit talking about NBA. But what give me your beginning? How old were you when you got drafted?

Oh?

Where were you? What? What was what was your mom and dad's Reactually I was twenty one, you were twenty one.

There's a video actually on YouTube of me getting drafted. I was supposed to go to the draft. I ended up getting a late invite because originally I was projected to go like second round, and then I went through all the draft workouts and they was like, oh, I think he should be a little higher type of vibe. And when I knew that I was gonna get taken either thirteen through seventeen, I guess.

They was like he should come to be there in New York, and.

I turned it down because I was like I felt like I afterthought, I was like, yeah, I.

Didn't want to do it no more. And my father had them.

Shut down this this Mexican restaurant favorite food tacos, and uh yeah, I was twenty one back in Chicago waiting waiting for my name to get called.

He calls my name.

Everybody like all my family, like my friends, everybody was there. They said my name. The moment he said e mon like he ain't even finished. He was like I couldn't hear shit. Wake up in the morning. They was like damn the Knicks boojo. Everybody in New York was like boom, like who is that? Like what are they doing? Because I played in the A SEC they was like focused on the Big East, but it was it was all love and shit.

I wasn't dripping after while.

I was just it was just crazy to have so much genuine love around me that I didn't even notice that y'all boomed me Like I didn't know that nobody was happy in New.

York, Like I got people around.

Yeah, I got drafted to the next but I still felt like Chicago made it.

Like yeah, that's something that's really interesting about I think all all worlds of the entertainment industry is people could love you, people could brew you, people can hate you, but your bubble that is around you personally matters so much. And like that's a that moment's a true testament of that. You know, like sure whatever the people, the people were bringing you, but your people knew that, like this is your fucking moment and they were there to celebrate you.

You know what I mean.

Oh yeah, that's that that moment.

And then like you said, going through the league and you know, ups downs all that to eventually to eventually win a championship.

Yeah, that bubble.

That you say, yep, like that matters.

Man.

It was the whole time, Like, yeah, bubble, I lived in that bubble. I keep those people around me, Like I still I still get my hair braided by Keys every time I've had hair, because I cut my hair off all the time. But every time that I have hair is like Keys, where are you at?

Where you're at?

Real talk?

Because it's just like having that comfort and having that just feeling like a foundation is under you, like a solid foundation and people that will look at you when you get off track and say, hey, I don't know this version of you. I don't know this ship. Like stop you doing. I don't care what you got going. I don't care how much money you make. Brother, don't do that no more. I'm not walking with you.

Yeah, like you get off off the bus, like you.

Know what I'm saying. Like my friends from college still around me.

They saw them when we was out here doing what your call but uh Alan and Taco like the.

Man, accountable man.

They be like, dog, I'm not standing next to you doing that. Like I'm not doing that with you, bro, Like we didn't know. I'm not doing that. Like I don't know what that is. I don't know who you learned that from. But we're not doing that with you.

All right, all right, sense or sense we're talking about this.

You are.

Pick picture peak peak moment in your career, right, you are on top of your fucking game. You're still on top, right, but like I'm talking, like the moment where you're where you're young, you're fresh drafted, you're the new ship, right, you're on the team. What is one thing that you look back at a one moment or stilly memory and I'm gonna do the flip side of this in a in a second.

But one thing that.

You did or or that you look back and you're like, am on, you fucking idiot, Like, what is one thing that, like young young adult a moan that you're just like, bro, skip that face.

Skip that, skip that night, skip that party, skip that. What is one thing there's there's something circling in his brain right now?

Yeah, I'll try to think because when I was younger, especially when I first got in.

The league, a lot of that was a blur.

The uh we were playing three games in four days, sometimes four games five nights. We played I think back to back to backs. I always love playing in the United Center. When I hear that, yeah, it make it give me chills. Like it's like when you play that, I could cry like it's some it's some ship that's attached to that sound. That is like it's a whole different emotion for me is different. It's like when you play that, it's just like it's complete control of me

Okay, I'll give you one. This was uh, this is one of.

My favorite parts of the podcast. It's getting me stories.

There was a.

Time I was basically I basically it was you know how you have these invincible moments.

There was this was my emon is invincible, and.

Then you got real hard. I'm guessing.

I ended up. You know, had a had a night, had me a night. You know what I'm saying. I had a night. Should have went home, didn't you know what I'm saying, got practiced, looked at the clock and knew I was gonna be late, still tried to make it, stepped on the gas, did it. I ended up getting a ticket, but I ended up getting held for longer, Like it seemed like I was trying to duck and

It was like, Okay, the cop did stop me.

Yes I was out super late. Yes I should have gone home.

Yes I fucked up, But I was going in like trying to prove and I had this moment all at once when Mellow uh, I think mellow and Amari was like, like, bro, you a grown man. You was late, that's it. Pay your fine, come to practice like you sitting here explaining it. And it's like they was laughing.

No one cares anymore.

We don't care, brother, we don't care. You can't pay for your time you was.

You was late.

Every minute after that is pay your fee and get out here and work off because we need to.

We got a game tomorrow. Like I just felt like a little kid.

That's why I felt dumb, Like you feel like a little kid explaining yourself.

Mister Ahmon, you know you mean the freaking world to me, and I'm so grateful that you are here for Joges who now, But I gotta cut.

Us off, but only for a second. Everybody.

We're gonna do a part two. We're gonna keep asking him on the burning questions. We're gonna keep talking about stars, his family, his life, all the things. An you stay right here with me, Everybody.

Go check out Part two. Thank you so much for listening. Everybody.

Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Jojesua Now podcast. Be sure to write us a review and maybe if you're feeling to leave us five stars.

I'll see you next week.