And great to have you with us for another episode of Orlando Magic Pod Squad. This time we catch up with Orlando Magic veteran first year in Orlando, tenth year in the NBA, Joe Ingles kind enough to join.
Us, and this is a fun one.
I assure you we cover everything with Joe Ingles here on this edition of Orlando Magic Pod Squad. For in a Department of Transportation reminds you that fans don't let fans drive drug If you've been drinking, don't get behind the wheel. Instead, find a sober driver or catch a ride service. Remember, drive sober or get pulled over, Have a great night and drive safe. Wants to get into with Joe Ingles his basketball journey, what ultimately led him
to the NBA. What is he saying when he's out there on the basketball for Joe is always talking, and he gives some great insight into what that is all about and what is most important in an NBA locker room. What he thinks of this Orlando Magic team, some of the decisions that led him coming to City beautiful, His wife in a a professional netballer in Australia, and how far this Magic team can go and You'll never guess
who his favorite NCAA player is. Right now we cover it all with Joe Ingles on this edition of Magic Pod Squad.
Those fawns long enough, they're Orlando Magic. This is Cole Anthony, this is Jennings Suggs, this is Paulo Man Carroll the Orlando Magic and you're listen into the Pod Squad.
And welcome everyone to another edition of Orlando Magic Pod Squad. Dote Marcadelli, George Galante, Jake Chapman here with us, and we have the pleasure of welcoming in Joe Ingles, his first foray into Magic Pod Squad. And Joe, you'll be happy to know I got all black on. I know you prefer either black or white. And then right look at you.
You know the craziest pop if I legitimately like right before I take to George sy sound good to go. I put this on because every other time I do a clocost A photo or something, I'm in a black T shirt and I've got literally got black sweats on right now, so I thought, let me bring a little something different.
I don't think you own he doesn't own any I don't think you own anything else.
Do you know whatever the magic gave me. I don't know. I haven't opened half the bags yet. But whatever's in.
There, whatever's in there. I remember sitting on the bus guys and I had a nice colorful shirt on, and Joe walks by before the game and he goes, if you feeling confident today, are you?
It's not I'm not a I'm not a color sol guy. I'm not very like I just I you know, I'm just being in the background in my my, my blackout saying.
Yeah, nothing wrong with that.
But he was talking.
But the thing is, though, good Dante, though he is a colorful guy.
Though he is, oh he's colorful guy. No.
I mean, if everybody could see the text messages I get at some time language with the emoji tell me whether he's going to do something or not. Actually, I said, I go, I go listen. If you only send me one of these emojis, I'm gonna take that as a yes. And then I only got one, and I was shocked. I said, I got to chomp on this right now, ing it that.
Was probably the best answer.
We're going to get it the whole probably the best answer. An artificial artificial intelligence probably caught it.
That's probably probably smart. All right, go ahead, Dante, you go, and.
We apologize for technical difficulties. I don't know is your phone still connected to Adelaide? Does it getst six? That's against That's a good signal over here.
You know what the real called is is go a teen night salute children that are probably streaming and uh whatever they're doing snow offering people and cold Judy right now and destroying the uh I don't even know where was stating the rich Carlton's uh wa fo.
That's that's exactly what's happening too.
Joe.
What is it like to be I mean you've said it very very you know, very poigntly. I mean you you were surrounded by guys that are ten eleven, twelve years younger than you are. How is how's that adjustment been for you coming to Orlando?
I'm glad you're only up with the ten to eleven twelve. I think like Jet and maybe what are they nineteen? Just I was being nice, Yeah, I've got some fifteen sixties seventeen year age different.
Well, yeah, he was owned by Gary.
The second oldest. I mean I think you, I mean you kind of dive into it and enjoy it as much as you can, right, Like it's it's the situation. I mean, I chose to some level to be here and be with this group, and I think last year. The funny part is, last year, I think a Milwaukee team was the oldest team in the league, and now I'm on like probably one of the the bottom two three four teams of age show very different conversations in the locker room compared to what we had last year.
But also for me, I think it's actually I mean they say like kind of I don't know what the exact saying is, but like when you're hanging around with that like a younger, but it kind of energized you. And it definitely has Like I've really really enjoyed this year with this guy, with the guys, and there is a lot of times I have no idea what they're talking about with some things, but it's such a I mean, you guys know, it's such a fun group to be around.
And that's not fake. Like that's the best part about it. And it's not fake. It's not made up. It's not like put on for the TV. Okay, Like we have a really good group of guys that get along and have a good time together, like our playing rise bus rides with that is really fun in the locker room. So for me it's like job my kids in school and get to facility and then baby sit at the facility and then go back and people with kids up
from school. So it is. Yeah, it's been obviously up to this point too, a really fun year and obviously with a bit of success too.
Go when you came in you were what twenty five twenty six as a rookie with Utah.
Twenty seven when I first got over, Yeah.
Twenty seven, so even even better. You never had good research. Here's our top, he's our crack research, dare.
Oh gosh, man, I was I waste as I was closed.
You never had an NBA vat.
I mean those were young rosters like you were a rookie veteran right like when you got do you have to go back to euro League to think about the veteran experience and who kind of who kind of you know, drew the prototype for you to be able to be that veteran.
Well, I remember my first year in Australia playing professional. I was seventeen when I saw him then Shane Hill, who had played in the NBA and then played for Australia, was the the veteran I guess on that team, and I remember like a few things happening with like bags. I remember him like demanding me to go geting some like French fries at the airport one time or something like,
just just little things. And at the time I was not too different to how I was now, so you've got a very colorful answer when he told me to go and do that. But yeah, then I I castal Lee. I think when I was first in U guitar, kind
of like Steve Novak, Gordon Hayward and Derek Faler. Those guys were young, but they played a few years in the league and then probably like the first couple of real vets vets I had were obviously Steve definitely, but then Joe Johnson and Boris Dio when we got into Utah. So yeah, it's definitely like I guess I was lucky to a certain extent because the year I signed Dante
Eggs and got drafted, he was nineteen. Rodney Hood, I think, was the other pick who was like twenty twenty one, so I luckily got left out a lot of the rookie stuff. Little did they know. I probably would have told him where to go even if they asked me to do something. Yes, yes, but it is it's different. And I mean, I think coming in at twenty seven and I'd already played nearly ten years professionally by then,
it's just a different understanding. And I mean even the guys that I played with that first year, I'm sure they didn't know that I'd already played ten years. They probably thought I just was really bad for so long and decided to have a crack at the NBA. So it was fun. But yeah, I mean I wouldn't. I definitely wouldn't take back the journey that I'd had to get to that point at twenty seven.
It's interesting, Joe. One thing that Magic fans mention a lot is what is Joe saying? He's always talking. He's talking to and a lot of a lot of guys you've played with, right, You'll see George Niang and I lord only knows what you're telling him, but for for but but guys that you've played with, you're talking to your there's constant chatter there. I see it in the locker room.
It's great.
An NBA locker room is an animal unto itself, and you navigate that, You navigate that perfectly.
Exactly. So what would you what would your.
Answer be to Magic Ban? What do you say? You don't have to get into the specifics, but what is of what you're doing?
Well? I mean, I'm always I've always been a tool, like I could. I think one of the things I've always liked about myself to to somebody's heads, Like I could always hold a conversation with people. And I enjoy like talking to people, getting to know people and them asking questions, and especially as you get older, and like they start asking about your family, your kids, Like it's a me. It's a fun thing to talk about my career.
How I'd got to hear at this point and like I always get like, oh, you're twenty seven, how are you still in my tenth year now in the NBA, Like it's just been a hell of a journey and over those ten years just getting to know people. Obviously playing with a lot of teammates, sure, you just get to know people like the referees and the training stuff about the teams and like you just as you're around more and more, and I've just got to probably on a pretty surface level, I've got to know a lot
of a lot of people. And I have people come up like say, like everyone know they're always joking, Like oz My Dale Osborne, who's my coach to work out with pregame and stuff. Always gets mad at me because every pregame I missed like half my shooting time because I'm talking to the other team or a coach or a And I've just built, like I guess i'd be pretty lucky, but I've built some really good relationships and a lot of it evening game is more fun than serious.
I think I've I've got to learn, especially as I'm now thirty six, Like I'm very well aware my days are numbered in the NBA. I'm not twenty one and just starting my career, and I'm lucky to be about a young group of guys that have kind of like re energized me a little bit. I'm gonna have fun, like I'm gonna enjoy it. I'm gonna have fun. I'm gonna talk to these guys, I'm gonna have fun with the referees. I'm gonna have fun with some fans in
the crowd. But I think one of the other parts that I've always known is that I can always still be locked into the game, but I know what most wants us to do. I know what well offense we're running. I'm never gonna take away from the serious side of my job. But I also think I play the best when I am having fun and enjoying you. I think when I get frustrated and overthink it is when it's probably time for most. Is somebody else to night.
W At what point did you start to tinker with your game a little bit just to as you got older and as you got more years in a league, you know where, when do those things start to come into your mind and go, Okay, well I can't do a as good as I used to anymore, but you know what, I'm pretty good still at BC and D.
When does that start to go into your head?
Well, some of the stuff that other guys are naturally born with I never had, so some of them was I never had a B and C. I probably came back a little more athletic after my ac olan then less.
So do you think so?
Well, I just think you and prior to my ac obviously that's probably a little stretch, but like as you get older, you start to learn what you need to do more and the wave room what like, I don't need to be in there like lifting the heaviest way. I just need to maintain what I'm doing and staying like almost like fresh more than kind of trying to
overdo it. So you learn over time, and obviously with the NBA there's so many resources with with coaches and training staff and weight room and you tree all these different things that you can use. So I still remember one of the first conversations I had with Quinn when I got to Utah at twenty seven was like, granted I was older at the time to first make it to the NBA. Look, his whole point was like, why what's stopping you from getting better and better at this age?
Like just because you're twenty seven doesn't mean you can't keep improving like a twenty one year old or a nineteen year old And right, right, So every summer we would play our season, and obviously I spent eight years there, so for eight years old would play the season be and Quinn would sit down and be like, hey, and obviously there's a couple that I remember I never had a floater, so like early on it was like get it floated to finish in lane, and then as we
started making the playoffs, it was like heavy sending me right and I could never really was never a great goal right because I was always able to get back to my left. And now it's a funny thing. I actually prefer shooting off the dribble to my right now because I'd done it so many off seasons to get
better at it. So I think as you as you get older or or your career changes, like one, you've got to be okay with accepting it, like, hey, I'm not going to be a starter now, and now I'm not going to be play twenty five minutes and I'm going to come in for France for ten to twenty minutes depending on the night, And how can I be effective? And I think for me, like my IQ has always been one of the best parts of like I can read the game, I can try and think ahead of
these guys, and that's helped me throughout my career. And then you just adjust as as you see fit. I think one of the biggest things now is like you need to be able to shoot in the NBA, so like guys coming in or to me, one of the good examples was like Vince Carter was not like a spot up shooter, but by the end of his career he was an unreal spot up shooter. And he could have been upset with that or not wanted to do
that role, but he brought into it. And I think the more players can just accept as your career goes, like we all get old, we all gonna like, sure, we all to retire at some point, the more you can accept that and embrace it. And that's really what I've loved it out this year with this team is just inbracing that kind of a new role that I I haven't Chilli had before.
Jo when you were in Utah, you played four hundred and eighteen consecutive games, and that is research.
That is the proper.
Nice job Jille passes and numbers.
Probably that's why it was like if.
You say it with conviction, everybody will believe you, or yeah, that's right, both staring staring a hole through me for ten minutes.
Yeah that's good.
Specific enough, the you've got two young guys right now that the team is focused on and built around in Franz and Pollo, and they seem to have the same mentality. Yes, they're twenty two and twenty one years old, and being available as easier when you're that age. Obviously we all can speak to that. But but what does it mean to a team to know that your to your two focal points are going to be there night in and
night out. I can imagine in this day and age, it's difficult to build when you when you don't necessarily know.
That hundred and I was just having coffee with some of the guys at our travel party this morning and we were literally same this morning. It's funny that, like when I first got in the league, obviously only ten years ago, but I felt like it was almost like necessary and like a challenge to play eighty two games, Like everyone was trying to play eighty two games. It was almost like a like a bit of body if you could know it. And I was lucky to do
it a few times. But and I'm like on the flip side of that, like I get the injuries and I get made And then said like, especially as you get older, I like fully understand I did my my ACL two years ago. Now, like maybe if I hadn't played four hundred games consecutive recovered a bit better. Maybe maybe that makes a different who knows, but I think if you had one of the points that it was, like availability is that one of the biggest parts in
the NBA. I think, especially when or you are not Power of France and you're trying to get an opportunity on the court if you're constantly injured or like not locked into play, Like, once you get that opportunity, you got to take advantage of it if you can be available. And obviously being available, there's a lot more that goes into that with the preparation of like yeah, like nineteen like your nutrition, you sleep, your recovery, you're lifting of
weights and all that side of things. And I mean I was, yeah, I remember, I literally said this morning, like there's probably a few games in that period I probably should have sat out or probably wasn't the smartest idea for me to play, But it wasn't even a thought back back then. It's like you make sure you're ready to play, and you find a way to be able, whether you're at seventy percent or ninety five percent or whatever.
It is like just being out there and I always took pride in like trying to do as much as they could to make sure I could be available for my team whenever I could.
Was in the flasketball always the goal, Joe, I know you you played rugby or Australian rules football. It's different. You play right and you play Yeah, cricket you played.
Was that?
Did you think you were going to go that route or what tell us about that?
I think the sports background, yeah, I think. I think as every kid, you just kind of play whatever, Like if you grow up, you do as much as you can. And on the weekends we would ride our bikes with our friends all with like it was just a do as much as you can fill up as much time as the day. And then obviously as you get older and the level goes up, it's like the training start clashing with each other and the games are at the
same time on a Saturday or whatever. And I definitely don't think I was as good at basketball as I was at the others at that younger age, but my more like friendship group was playing basketball. I did like more of the fact that it was indoors and in like the AFL, and at AFL was kind of in the winter, so you'd play in like eight am on a Saturday morning and it's and you coveted in mud and it was like it was it's kind of miserable.
And then the crickets in the summer, so you're standing out in the sun in forty degrees celsius for two three four hours to like catch the ball three times. It's like, oh yeah. It finally got to the point where I was like I wanted to be with my friends and in the cricket field by myself. I couldn't talk to anyone, so it was kind of boring to standing there, like I entertain myself.
How might be the worst sport on the world for you?
And yeah, I was like I need it to I would have to talk to the parents in the crowd because it was just like a So I, yeah, I ended up kind of big in basketball because I did enjoy it obviously, like I loved playing, but I had a bunch of good friends that I was playing with and I kind of wanted to be indoors. So it just kind of happened that way. And as obviously as you get older, I grew a bit more and you get a bit talented and like things just kind of
of pan out. But I definitely and I hope the kids don't take the same advice, but I definitely had no backup. It was there was no other plan to do anything else. And I I, it's funny now having three kids byron and You're like, yeah, school's in corn and I'm sitting there like I thought, it was the worst time my life going yeah cool, I was, and obviously like being from Australia and however, many Australians have
played like. I was lucky that A panned out the way it did, to be honest, and I'm glad it did. But yeah, I definitely had no backup playing if this didn't work out.
Joe, So, how young are you playing AFL Because as a kid in America we would see that on on USPAN or ESPN too. I was always I mean, as a teenager, I was fascinated with it, and I was fascinated with the guys and the white hats and the white suits. They'd come out and they'd give you one of these, Like I was really into it, and I thought, well, how the hell do these guys start playing this because it's so weird, right, So what age did you start playing or is younger than when you started playing?
Yeah? No, So I started at basket when I was about five, and then I think the like the AFO and the cricket was a bit later than that bit.
But similar to the NBA, like the draft of the AFL, they get drafted most of like seventeen eighteen, that kind of same age, So they finished high school and these guys would get drafted, and so I was probably that same, like twelve thirteen, but it is it's like, I mean looking back now and it's actually kind of scary with like the concussion stuff they're starting to come out and all right, the NFL, I guess to a certain extent, but it's like that same thing of like do all
my kids doing that? And like it's it's a scary. It's a scary thing. But obviously as a kid at twelve, you don't think about that. You just want to have fun with your friends and you're playing sport and you're outside. But it is a similar route, like you start young that the draft is like seventeen eighteen, and I've been like like I've had a few really good friends. One of my best friends played fifteen years in the AFL, won four championships and now he's working in it, so
there is some like two really cool stories. But yeah, just wasn't for me.
I just can't get over the fact that you gave up cricket because there was nobody to talk to.
Though that tracks that you think about like.
Not just the fielding side where you're standing in like a huge area by yourself, but also the batting it's like two people out there and no one's talking, so you can't like talk to the bowler who's bowling at you, Like I don't know. It was just it was long days too, like it was in the sun and it wasn't It just wasn't for me.
Right wins along those same wayes tell me your favorite thing about playing with Moll Wagner.
So I used to hate and I'm still probably like fifty shifty whether I like him some days, and obviously being in Milwaukee last year with him and Yartist is a little bit of history too, like, yeah, they were big fans of him, so I automatically had to hate him a bit more last year. The flip side of that is like you get to know someone, which is funny because like at a spot I kind of said to me a bunch of times too, like you play against me and no one really likes me, and then
being teammates is completely different. And Mos, I don't know. He's just like an out there top of two. Like he he has his emotions on his on his sleeve, like he plays, he plays the right way, he plays hard, he works his yes off like it's some of the things that you just don't see when you play them
once a year or twice a year. And for me, one of my things I try to pride myself on what every time I've been on is that good connection with the big I think for me it obviously helps me a lot because I'm good at that in that bigger role, but also not for me, like back in Rudy's it was like, how can I help Rudy? How can I held direct favors? How can I help even though they're established like Giannis and Brook Lopez and these
bigger roles. And now with Mo who has kind of been not in now the league, but few different teams that aarved around, it's kind of had a bit of a hope here, like how can I help him establish himself in the NBA, and he's a great screen and he's a great role he's got great hands. So for me, it's like I'm very comfortable with where I am at in my career. I don't need the numbers. I don't
need to shoot ten shots a game. I'm out there to help this team, especially in this group, and it's what I committed to when I spoke to Mos, was like helping this group grow and helping these players grow. And some days it's frustrating, Like some days I want to do more, I want to play more. There's no like this. I'm still I'm still competitive, but obviously with the connection, especially with our second you like how can I help Mo? How can I help J How can
I get cold going? How can me and Markel like initiate in the offense when Gary was in there, Like how can I get Gary shots? And that's just how I thought of this whole year, And like, like I said, it's obviously a connection with Mo that we probably played the most bigger roles. But I definitely go out there with the mindset of like definitely not thinking about me, but like how I can help my teammates and obviously overriding that is like, how could we win the game?
How guys get longevity, that's how they play for a long time. Joe, when you're going into and the decision is being made to come to Orlando and you're looking at the roster. Obviously got the rookie of the year and Fried, I don't know what all the factors, right, I know you like the city as well and all of that, but what did you think the potential at the time of this taping your two games out a second, it's unbelievable what you've accomplished this year with still six
games to go. And I know you take it one game at a time and everything, but what did you think this team could realistically accomplish this year?
Yeah? I mean it's always a tough decision because you're going to the summer and you have teams like pitch to you and they like you. Obviously have some small thoughts on where you want to go and what you want to do, and like I've said nervous times, like my family's kind of number one and that's me anyway, that's always going to be the first decision, and everything else kind of revolves around that. Once we thought Orlando was a good city for that in terms of like Jake,
the kids and Renee. Yeah, you're just kind of like, I mean, it is a gamble. It's always a gamble. Like you go to Milwaukee, I didn't know what we were going to how good we were go we end up finishing first, we lose in the first round. Like you just don't. You can't predict a lot of it. But after speaking to Morow's especially like just his like the passion and the I guess his like so sid of like what he saw and what the group could do.
And obviously I'd seen him far away from like whatever sixteen wins to twenty or whatever to thirty four like that you could see the process of what they were trying to do. And when you get down to it was like, well, yeah, like obviously they've got it basically the same team with me and a couple of draft picks, and they proved, especially over the second half of last year, how good they could be when they were playing the style of basketball they wanted to play, and they were
healthy and all those things. And then obviously from my it's like, well, how can I how can I come in and make an impact and help because That's where I'm at in my career. Like I want to obviously want to win, to be a part of a winning group, but I still want to make an impact some way. And again, like like I said speaking to Moros, speaking of my agent, you just look at all the options, and like I said, it's always it's always a risk, it's always a gamble. But I was very confident in
the family side of it and the lifestyle. I was very confident after speaking to Moros and like what he his kind of vision was. And then you go out there and you just you kind of go like eggs all in the basket and just see how far we can push it. And I mean, we've been lucky to
be pretty healthy this year. We've we've had guys step up, Like we've got such a deep team that when someone is out, we've been able to just kind of like next man out mentality, And like you said before, I having your two best players or whatever be pretty much healthy throughout the year, like is a is a huge
part of it too. And then they want to be out there, they want to get better, they want to win, Like the strike as they've taken defensively, the strides they've taken offensively, Like it's it's all the things you hear in the off season when they're trying to pitch you like, Orlando is the best city and we've got best culture and we've got the best facility, and you're like, hey, like see when well we put it all together, And I've got to say, like a lot of majority of
us been true, and the culture and the guys and mows and the people around the organization and all that, Like, yeah, we've really enjoyed it. As a family, My kids are extremely happy. Rede always tells a silly story that we've been in America nine and a big years or whatever, and then we moved to Orlando and after about a month of living there, we applied for our green cards. So things worked out to some levels. So yeah, we've
really enjoyed it. And I, like I said, the big part of me is Jacob and the schooling and my kids. And Jacob's still unreal and my daughter loves her school, and my youngest one absolutely loves his little school as well. Sorry, that part, to me makes the basketball even even more satisfying because I get to go home to a happy family.
It sounds like you're staying Joe forever. What it sounds like to me?
I am yeah, perfect, told him even if doesn't want to be anymore, I'm gonna go play for stick.
Perfect.
You're still gonna be a part of this thing.
I love the you into Lackland Golf Club and I'll play for all Steel already harm games though, and uh of know what it means. We've really enjoyed it.
Renee is a pretty accomplished athlete as well, professional netballer Joe's wife. That's that's pretty impressive.
What's netball, Dante? What's netball?
Well, it's that basket that doesn't have the backboard on it, and I don't you can't dribble, it's just passing and shooting. But she was an accomplished netballer, if I'm not mistaken.
Yeah, she so, she played seventeen eighty years professionally. She played for Australia one way, more gold medals than I have. She's Player of the Year a few years she was. Yeah, she's in that sense of what she'd done in career wise, sporting crew. She she kind of did it all. She was. She was pretty big time. So I'm glad she gave me a little bit of time back in the day. Yeah, I was not on track to go make a lot of money playing basketball in the NBA, So I'm glad
she thought I was all right, and they're not. And then obviously we had the kids. We had the twins first, and Sheshley ends up getting pregnant having the twins, and then went and played to get after eight months since having the birth of the twins, which is is pretty miraculous, not that I've had kids before and I'm not ever gonna that's incredilefully what that takes. But eight months seems
pretty crazy to me. And and now that I guess the fun part now for our family is which was a part of getting the green cards, was like Renee being out. She's got so much education that she's done over over the part of kind of being a mother and playing professionally of now getting her into some work. She really wants to to get back out there and getting that that kind of sporting world front office, which
is what her education is. And now that our kids are at age where they're at school and I'm obviously at the other end of my career, we can she's really getting into that so all and has been awesome for that too, and some people that have opened some doors for her to get in and just have some conversations. So yeah, obviously proud of her career, but probably more proud of the mother and what she allows me to do.
Like I'm I'm sitting in Charlotte right now. She's got a sick three year old at home, she's trying to get on calls, she's trying to do some work, and she's at school pickup right now. Like that's the other side of it, which which I think a lot of people forget about that. We we all, we all at different levels, are very lucky to have the systems we have.
Yeah, I've gotten a call at three am, George that the small factor won't start, the battery is dying in the smoke detector right right at that one.
Oh, I get them all.
Yeah, I did all of them exactly. Your daughter, your daughter won't put on shorts today.
Okay, well I'm.
Sure it's your doctor at that point, Joe, you mentioned Jacob and we had the Culture City training as a as a magic staff, and obviously the work you guys do is it is incredible autism awareness it's it's optimism Autism Awareness Month, and and the NBA has really embraced that cause what does it mean to you to see how awareness has grown over the past couple of years and within the league and kind of the direction that it's moving.
Yeah, I mean, obviously it's unreal that I think the NBA does a great job and even the teams individually do a great job of trying to support obviously like a lot of issues that are going on, all certain things, but also what you like individual players. Obviously, players of their own events have things that they at a closed door. It's passionate to them. And I mean I remember playing in the Autism Games in Utah before we even knew about Jacob, and you kind of playing it but like
I knew what was going on, but you hadn't. I didn't like dive too deeply into it. But then to have I think one of the like and that's why Utah will always be pretty special to me, was when Jacob did get diagnosed and like early on, only Quinn and Dennis Linday, who was president at the time, knew what was going on because I was missing things here and there. Well I'm not missing it, but like especially my mind was missing a lot of things and definitely
wasn't playing well, and just to have that supportive. It's like billion dollar organization that realistically, like the end of the day, we can say all these things, but everyone wants to win, Like that's the end of that's the end goal. That's why they're putting money into it, that's
why they do what they're doing. For them to like almost like take a step back from that and be like, hey, Joe has to deal with this and I'm and I'm going to deal with it, like that's the other part of it, Like it you got to do it, and
I'm going to be there for my family. So them diving into it, and then what we were able to do in Utah with the games and probably them even more to to a higher level, and then doing it with Milwaukee last year, and then obviously having it the Culture City training with with you guys and the staff, and we actually got to bring Jacob up to the whole staff meeting, which was awesome just to just to give a bit of an insight I think for ours and what we've tried to do with that, the platforms
we've we've been given is just show that like we like normal people too, we have the same daily struggles or weekly sorry, like I get financially and different things that we can. We can tick a lot of boxes and that helps a lot with Jacob. I'm not I'm not denying that it's not something I'm a skip over.
But we still have the say, like Jake, if Jacob wants to have a meltdown and lose his mind and doesn't want to go somewhere like being an NBA player, doesn't stop like it's still a I remember we had my my wife had Jacobin in Australia one time a couple of years ago and trying to get passport photos for our greenpar for our visas, and he's like laying on the floor, kicking, screaming, punching, doesn't want to do anything. And a man walks past my wife who's got three
kids and trying to deal with take them. You need to control your child in here or or something along those sands like there they're the moments for ours as a family, that this is why we do what we do. Like the kid in the supermarket, or the kid at Disney, or the kid at the Magic Game, like you just don't know what's going on with with with families, adults or or the kids. So we've tried to put that awareness out of there as much as we can. It's why we do what we do. We don't need the
paddle on the back, we don't need the fundraising. We're very lucky in certain senses, but we know we can help and impact other people that artists like he as us, so well, we try to do as much as we can. It's obviously hard with three kids that are soon to be working, wife and my schedule and trying to go home and summers and me playing with the National tante as a lot that we try to juggle. But the other side of it is every time I've been on
it's been unbelievable. It's supporting the things that we've tried to push. Shot very thankful for all the teams I've been a part of and the people that make it important instead of kind of pushing it to the side.
Well that's great, and you guys have done incredible work and continue to do incredible work. For Magic fans that come to Kia Center, there's a century room, uh, so you can go to that. I know that's huge, one of the few arenas that has that. I know that makes a difference as well. And Joe, We're gonna be mindful of your time here. We're gonna let you go, but I can't let you get out of here without asking you because I think it's the same as me
and Jake. Your favorite college basketball player right now, there's four teams right hands down?
Who is it? Have you heard the stories? Yeah?
No, tell me, tell me keep going.
I am the there's no doubt on the biggest DJ Burns during your fan Ineverrea, How great is that? So I'm not a I'm not a huge college but I remember like in Utah we draft kids that I'd be like, where did they get drafts like it? It's never been a huge thing that I've followed. Obviously, being in America,
you see more. It's just a round more. But I was at home the other day during that game and I just was flicking through the TV and I saw it and as I turned it off, which might have just been a really good coincidence, he like caught it in the block and went to work, and I was like, that's pretty cool. Like he's a big dude, he's six ten or whatever he is. He's like he's he's a big dude. I was like, there's no way this is like what this is kind of how they're playing and
no disrespect to him at all. I just hadn't I'd never seen, but yeah, I heard of ends he stayed before, to be honest, And next play down they went and did the same thing and it was like throw it in the post and the other four on the other side of the floor. He got another bucket and then I'm like this, like this too is legit. And then the best part about it, which obviously like my personality, it was like he was like dancing. It's a close game and he's dance and he's laughed and pointing it.
It looked like he was like pointing at the dude bench at times, like he was there's a part of that that I love, Like, yeah, he takes it serious. He obviously loves what he does, but like he's enjoying it, like he's what are they eleven, twelfth ranked or something like they were not supposed to be there and they're still there. And I actually asked Ernest Eugene, who's our head athletic trainer, if he knew the athletic trainer n C stayed to get me a jersey, so where I need.
I love it.
Yeah, I d J Burns Junior well like game one. Yeah, since then, I'm always I think he's I think he's awesome. I and not just the bar like I love like he was smiling out there, he's having fast he was, and that to me is like the best part of what we do. Like we obviously have a job to do and we take it serious. And that call is too like coaches are like if they lose, the coach
is getting fired, they can transfer. There's all these great but to see how much fun he was having and I can I'm telling you now, I'm I don't know care what. I don't know when they play next or what day is. I will be.
Watching Saturday and you're off. They play on Saturday and.
You're all there we go, so I'll be my whole family will be watching DJ Burns and hopefully they make the fighters they made. I don't know if I'm playing the next I need to go to the game. If they make fine, maybe I'll go to the game on Saturday. Maybe I should fly in and wre did that have be something Phoenix.
You'd have to get to Phoenix.
It's all the way. Is that where it is?
But you could do that, Yeah, and then back to Orlando for Sunday. That's going to be bad one, but.
Yeah, ifs like that, But I love that, like just the energy and yeah, I hope that the world and the bubble, Like that's that's what you want. Like that's I said to a few guys like wouldn't you love that in your locker room?
Like that's absolute hostality and the vibe of what he would bring in whether he played or didn't play, or he's he's a young guy working, like have that every day, Like that's what a thirty six year old needs.
So that I am old. DJ Street, I love it.
We'll watch.
We hope he goes to the championship game on Monday, but you never know what the future hold. We're just glad to hear that you're going to be in Orlando another ten years playing.
For the Magic.
So that's exciting, Joe.
That's right.
The two after that, the Solar Bears, you're not going anywhere. We're going to keep your eye for a while. Jo, This was great. We really appreciate the time. I know it's busy. You got a game tomorrow. Good luck the rest of the lady. This has been a blast and let's keep this thing going.
Appreciate it. Thanks guys, all right, thanks so much.
That'll do it for this edition of Magic Pod Squad