#352 - Grayson "The Professor" Boucher

What's up this this Grayson Bouche better knows the professor. Check me out on the Bootleg kV podcast Let's go boutleg kV Podcasts.

Special guests here, Street Hoop, Legend, TikTok Legend Now, YouTube Legend now Cofresser. Hey, let's go. Man. Glad to be here to see man. Yeah, it's crazy because I remember watching you back in the day, man, like, uh, you know when I was a kid, I loved and One's mixtapes. I remember, uh, you know, obviously rest in peace to escalade, uh big bro, skip to my lou who ended up in the league, Raypah, Austin Hot Sauce. Yeah, there was

The baggy shorts. Yeah, the baggy shorts. Just like there was just so much that, like.

You know, I feel like, uh, and then an One ended up in Walmart, you know what I'm saying, which kind of made it uncool. But yeah one, yeah, you know, new ownership.

I think it changed hands five times or something since I was there. Yeah, so it's in the hands of ownership now that you know. Has it been Walmart? I guess they probably they're winning a lot of fun, They're making a.

Ton of money.

You're seeing what Shaq did, right, So I think it's Shack and and One is like the two head sports brands of Walmart. So I'm sure they kill it from a financial standpoint.

I was gonna say, you were eighteen when you started doing A day and one stuff, right, Yeah, in O three oh three. So how did you initially because obviously you're very good at basketball, So at what point in time did you say, well, I don't know if I can make it to the league, but this is something, This is like an ulterior or not an ulterior, but alternative route I can go to be a professional hooper.

Uh So, So initially when I came out there, I was really like a fan. It just kind of happened on accent, but always trying to make the NBA, right, But I was actually a benchwarmer at a community college, so it wasn't it wasn't gonna happen. It wasn't looking great for me at that moment. But after my freshman year year in college, I improved by like three hundred percent, Like it's crazy. I finally hit the weights. I'm playing every day with guys who were going D two and

They had it already poppular.

Yeah, they had Season one on ESPN already. I'm a fan. I'm actually wearing and one head to toe before him even on there, like culturing it.

Trying the moves everywhere I go.

So I go up there as a fan just to watch but I knew they had to open run because I had played the year before and I got to play one game against the players. I think I was going against like sick witted at the time, headache and those guys were up there. So hopped in the open run, got some moves off, some people were going crazy, got voted in to play against Team and one. And mind you,

Right, you know what I'm saying, Like you're just like scrining little white eighteen year old kid. Yeah.

I was just talking to half Man, Half Man, Half Amazing the other day and he was telling me, you know, we were talking about the street Ball versus the NBA debate, but remember he was in the limo. He's like, Yo, we need to see that commercial member the Hood All Stars versus the NBA All Stars.

I had a pair of those Vince Carters. I think they were called the half Man Half Amazing. The Vince Carters were like the and ones that were like one one half color, one way and the Taichi.

Yeah, those they gave they gave Vince Carter that name from him, though from I didn't other word half man half amazing. Yeah, I think Kenny Smith took bit. He knew half Man made the street baller.

But gave it to Wow.

Yeah, I remember he was a little upset about that. But anyway, we were talking about that the debate. But you know, I didn't think I was a Hood all I didn't think I could be in the mix with the Hood All Stars. So like I'm doing it from a fan standpoint. You know, I played next thing. I know, I'm going back and forth with Hot Sauce in the main and one game, and then they asked me to go on tour. So mine kind of happening on accident. But I did try to pursue the NBA up until

That's how high I got.

But then, like man, the politics of the game though, I lost some good when I.

Got in the game when they I think they got to me there for ticket sales. Yeah, because you were a name bro like you ended up kind of being like the like kind of the face and won for a minute, you know.

Yeah, so I got there. I think it was like a ticket sale thing. But then like I got a little time, especially when the starting point guard it was actually step On Marbury's brother, he got injured for like three games. So started for three games. One of them I had over twenty points, like seven assists.

Ye.

The other two I had like fifteen and five or something like that. We lost one in one two. But when that dude got healthy, man, they put it right back in the lineup, even though we weren't winning a game before that. So it was like the politics of the game, you know, people looked at street ball actually in that time, it was like it actually wasn't real basketball, so it didn't fit.

Do you think it like worked against you because people perceived you as a street baller and not an actual like you know, professional Yeah.

Yeah, when it came to the conventional game, it was a bad thing. Skipped to my lou even you know, who played in the NBA for over ten years.

It took him a while to get in though.

Well he had to let go of his street ball reputation. I remember my year getting on the tour two thousand and three was the last time he even played any games.

He just stopped playing on the tour. And he had a solid career too, and he had some good years with Orlando and Houston. Like, yeah, he was good.

But it's cool because it's actually funny how it works because back then it was a bad thing to the NBA high ups. Now the All Star the Hall of famers of today grew up. Why want so Like when I meet you know, like Paul George or Kyrie, they're like, oh, yeah, you're to watch you back inspired by you, But yeah, I love it. It's incredible, grew up off you.

That shit's so crazy. It's it's wild too because like think about like NBA Street, they took so many of your guys's moves and put them into that game. Did they ever like tap in with y'all like or like, because they really took y'all's moves and like literally it was just, I mean, a legendary video game. But I can only imagine. It's almost like with the Fortnite dances.

Uh, people would mix it up, you know, like they'd ask us, they think it's our game. So we had two games too, so.

We remember Street Hoops. They weren't great.

Yeah, I think what happened was I remember the games.

Yeah.

I think with Street Hoops they probably saw that and we're like, oh, we could do this better. Put the NBA stamp on its probably goal. But then we came we didn't add one Street Ball. I actually thought that was decent. With Activision, that was.

A more I don't know if I played that one.

Yeah, so that one was a souped up version, but it was right around the buy out from Anywise, I don't think got the marketing boost, and I don't they were going to do a part two, but it got bought out. Yeah, So I think honestly, they just saw the wave of it and the NBA smart for them to capitalize on the street side of things.

Yeah, it's crazy because the tour was like I got to go to one of the tour stops and it was in an arena. It was packed the fuck out. You guys had like it was it was like what was like touring because it's almost like being on the road, right, like if you're in the league. But it's a little different because you guys are kind of like the new h Harlem Globehouders in a sense, you know what I mean, Like it's an entertainment. There's basketball, but there's also like

No, it was always a real thing, and it was always like real defense being played playing strangers, so we didn't know them.

Yeah, because it was tea man one versus whoever was.

Best of that city in the city, right, yeah, yeah, so they'd be but it was it was actually like a very high level competition game. You know, there's a lot of like myths of what level the N one players were, but like it's a pro level. You know, this is above college. This is like a pro thing.

It's crazy, man, for you, you've had such a great like resurgence because I feel like, you know, I was just an NBA con and my sons. I took my kids there and they're both they both played basketball and they're both like wrapped up. And I didn't know there was like this YouTube world of basketball like YouTubers.

Yeah, I was the first YouTube hooper on.

Accident, yeah, said, I didn't know. And we met some other community.

What's this white kid named jess just t Jazz t Jazz Tristan Jacks.

That guy, like my kids freaked out because he's walking by, and I just I don't know who the fuck this guy is, right, So I'm just like, hey, buddy, apparently my kids know who you are. You might if they get a pick. He's like sure, sweet kid, Yes, I didn't realize this dude's lit like yeah lit yeah, yeah, Like I had no idea because I'm on YouTube. I

On a little bit of both, you know, like and one ended in Uh oh wait, well you got to think I'm only twenty four or twenty five years old, So like I feel, like I said, playing career right. But I found out YouTube when it came out like four you know, like we would even go overseas and people would approach me and be like, you know, show love or whatever.

Now out of habit.

I'd say, hey, thanks for checking out the show me our ESPN show, and they'd be like, oh no, I saw your stuff on YouTube. So I started looking into it about four.

H five because your clips are up there.

Yeah, So they would rip our clips from the show channels make a compilation millions every single one had millions of views. So I got a homie who was an editor who's from like, you know, my home city, and I paid them a little bit st from I'm from Kaiser, Organs, very small.

Town organ man yeah.

But anyway, well I live here twenty years but from Oregon originally. But anyway, I tried to flood YouTube to get bookings. You know, you used to be able to get a DM on YouTube, So I started trying to flood it like that. But then when and when ended in eight started my own channel because YouTube adsence just came out, I think eight or nine. So I started

Wow.

But then twenty thirteen I went viral and I got a million subs in like one day.

What the fuck? What video was it?

It was a Spider Man basketball I dressed up as Spider Man suit and I played people one on one at the park, and I think and it did it for like twenty minutes.

But I made every shot.

Every trick worked, So it just was perfect edited that joints us a three minute video. But you know, back then it was so it was a six million a week, but back then that was like fifty million a week, you know.

No, no, no, it was a lot harder. And then the views counted for like a lot more and the ad sense was much better back then. Yeah, yeah, it was way different.

So yeah, so just for for that six million a week, I could hit it by every mediality that you know, CNN, NBC, MTV, ESPN, you know, so.

For you like like that was kind of did you realize at that point in time that there was the real money was being a content creator?

It started to be clear, It started to be clear. Yeah, you know, I was just thinking such like a hooper though, you know, like back in the and one day when it ended and all that, I was just thinking, like, you know, am I still pursuing the NBA? Where am I going to hoop?

Now? Going overseas on kids going to Gili?

Yeah, not knowing as I'm uploading, I'm doing my job. We're good, you know, but it took a viral spike to turn it into a business like real fast.

You know what I'm saying. You're like, oh, this is this is it? This is it. Yeah.

And I thought about it even back in the day when I first heard about YouTube, because I knew it was in a few other countries because internationally they'd recognize us from it. And I remember saying to myself, I'm like, oh, this is like TV. This is like I said, free distribution. But then when it came to fruition as a business, I'm like, oh, literally, it's TV, like like way higher than you know, we never thought it.

Would be like today, right, it's like the go to. But what about TikTok? When did TikTok really take off for you? Because you got a shit ton of followers.

Were trying to go crazy on TikTok. Yeah, it's great. Could you can you make money on TikTok? I know that, like you can. You can get it like when it's monetized. I've had people tell me once you monetize your TikTok, they start fucking with your algorithm. No, okay, here's the truth. You don't really make. It's like YouTube shorts, you don't really.

You don't make much because the YouTube shorts you'll be like I got I got an interview clip that has like three million views and I think I made twenty nine dollars.

Yeah something like that. Yeah, I've done thirty million. It made like not a couple.

Of like yeah, right, it's like what do we do it? Yeah?

Yeah, No, my TikTok I got three and a half billion views and I made eight thousand dollars. So it pays a little more on YouTube shorts.

But yeah, but it's a commercial for your YouTube channel kind of right, yeah, and my thing commercial for your brand. Yeah.

And when when I started take off on YouTube and pressing to social media, I started realizing the value like early, you should be on every platform everything.

Anything that drops. I signed up for the Dame like just in case, you know.

Yeah, and when it's new, pressing and go hard because you know they're pushing everything. Like so with YouTube, I would think I was actually a year late to you to TikTok. Yeah, to be honest, but once I got on my first video, I didn't put no effort in. It got like five and a half million views. It was on Halloween. I was dressed as a Joker. My cousin was Batman. So the Joker movie song was trending.

Yeah, so we just did I did a little dribble as the Joker, like nothing, not.

Even anything crazy. Yeah, but it just went crazy. But like five and a half million views. I was like, oh, there might be something here. Yes, I should use it.

You know, it's crazy because you watch like I just watched The White Men Can't Jump video, a movie with Jack Harlow, which was actually a lot better than I thought it was gonna be. Do you ever have you ever had a point in time where you were hustling people at the park?

Oh, I live White Man Can't Jump today?

Like still, I know you do it on this on like TikTok. Will you like show up like dressed as like a McDonald's employee or something. But I mean, like when the cameras aren't rolling, like maybe you're in a different city or you're like you know what, Oh, I see what you're saying. Now, have you ever like pulled up to the park and been like I'm gonna just it's almost like being.

A pool shark, right, Well, somebody there is gonna know me now now they will. Yeah, but you've never done that in like ever old just period, just hustled somebody out of somebody at the park because they just assume you're like the geeky white dude, And well I grew up doing it. I mean I feel like I grew up doing that literally and then up until I don't know, I think as of like twenty fifteen.

Though you're too famous.

Yeah, I only play if we're rolling for you the vlog, if we're rolling for social media, Like I won't even do open runs or nothing only because of injury risk though you know thirty nine right now hurt, Yeah, yeah, you get hurt, then you can't do your grind. It

For eighty two games.

It's a lot different, right, People have a lot of spin past the normal like hooping age, which you're right that eighty two games brutal, Like I just saw Jay Rich get up at Big Three and like almost hit his head on the fucking rim again.

Yes, but can he sustain being healthy for a whole season? You know it's hard.

But like, for like, it's hard for me to stay healthy doing YouTube.

Yeah it's crazy, you know what I mean?

But it's been good and honestly, like that's the cool parts. My lane is kind of unexplored because once you're about thirty five playing in the league, right, it's too many miles for your body. It's gonna be hard for you to sustain unless you're like a Vince Carter or Lebron, you know, world class athlete. But for me, like I'm you Donis Haslim who you know, it's kind of like, oh he kept going, he's kind of like a coach. Yeah no, but I mean, heyde was insane athlete, right.

Sane athlete? Yes, and one of the guys you did not want to throw hands within the league.

Oh yeah, true, sorry.

Like him and Zebo growing up, Like, I don't know if you would ever want to fight either one of those guys.

Yeah yeah, But you know, for me, I feel like I'm just as quick as I wasn't oh five, Like.

It's crazy because you could have went like you probably could have win a few different directions, right, you might have could have went the Chris Brickley direction and like trained guys, and he's done a good job of like doing content and also like obviously training players. But kill it. I think like the YouTube wave is I mean, it's it's it's it man.

Yeah, I love I love entertaining, like entertainment production, even acting. I've acted for twenty years. I never had like heavy prominent role.

What the movies have you been?

Was re saying that hustle, you know, Adam Sandler's had like cameo.

What's what's the guy's name? Fucking the dude that looks like you? Kind of Oh, you're talking about the lead? Herr go what's his name? Something? Go be her Gomez. Yeah, some shot. It's no, it's not even that I'm blinking. I'm blinking.

You know.

It's goss. It's something gomes. It starts with an H.

I don't know, mess goo google it held up, it's it's I know he has honcho' it's honcho or wan Sho is his name?

Hearing a Gomez? Yeah, I know his last name. I don't know his first name.

There is Wan Sho, Wan Show or Han Sho. You know, he's a cool cat man. I feel like he's my bro.

I should know. Any Edwards is a great actor too.

But they both did their Yeah, they super did their thing, and that that was really dope. Other other films I've been in, like like a When I say acting, you're doing like fifty to one hundred commercials for any brand, every bring.

You can think of.

But then also, uh, I first moved to la O six. I actually had a lead role in the movie. It's called Bald Don't Lie And it never got released.

Damn. That's gotta be tough. Did you get paid for it?

I got paid for it, yeah, but not much. You know indie film, right, But you're like, damn, I just want it for me.

Can I get it on it? Do you have it on DVD or something? Yeah?

I do have it, but we're trying to release it today. We're trying to get it released now. I met up with those producers for the first time in like fifteen years.

Yeah, why not put it on two B or something?

That was our thought for the resume.

Yeah, Like, dude, that we made the movie, like yeah, like it's gonna lose it, like unless it's like horrible and you're gonna get canceled because you shot at a No.

Six and you know no, I mean, we're not gonna win no Awards. But it's not horrible. That good basketball, Yeah yeah, but they're making some good basketball movies recently. Yeah, a lot more too, because you used to only get a basket when we were every few years.

I just watched this one on Disney Plus when my kids about an Asian dude trying to dunk. It's called Chang Chain Can't dunk.

Or God it was actually not I didn't even hear about this on Disney Plus.

It's about this Asian kid who goes viral on YouTube trying to uh document the process of him trying to dunk because he has a bet with another kid at his high school that he can dunk, huh. And then he ends up faking him dunking for the YouTube vie. But then he gets all out for and to apologize. It's actually really good. It's a Disney original. Check it out. Oh it's Disney Wow. I'm telling you, you guys, you

Bro, trying to man, trying to go for it. I'm actually trying to hoop till twenty thirty four. Fifty years old, dad.

That I mean you probably go till sixty because they guess what that yes, what that means? Well, that's that's a YouTube title, sixty year old break some guys ankle at the park.

It's like the real Uncle Drew.

Oh for real guys. Hopp, The interviewer said about our good folks at odd Socks. Baby, yeah, shout out to odd Socks. Now, this is what I love about odd Socks. One, they're family, we love them. But also they have the most comfortable socks in the fucking world. All right, now, look they got the craziest licenses. You see the Jolly Rancher. These are actually flies fuck some dourdo socks. They got the WWE license, which is just my absolute favorite. And

Yeah, I try super active, So train twice a week with like functional movement training, a lot of core stuff. It's like the same kind of training.

That you still look like you're fucking eighteen. By the way, humble man, they say black that hey, they say black. Don't crack, gingers, don't crack.

My goodness, We're trying, man, trying, Thank you, bro. But no, Yeah, functional movement training. I live in marine. I run the water like three times a week, and then I hoop on top of that. So if we're going hooping, the functional movement training plus running, it's very active on a weekly basis. So even if don't hoop that much, still gotta stay moving, you gotta. That's one key to longevity. Is just like even if you run and you don't get a good cardio sweating, at least you moved movement.

Yeah for sure. Yeah. I was gonna say, back in the day Peak in one, was there ever any sort of like because you guys were super hot man and I always wondered how like guys in the actual league felt about Yeah, was ever any like obviously, yeah, I'm sure there was like love, but was there any like haters in the NBA that just like like, was ere any like fucking and one NBA beefs going on that? Yeah?

I think yeah, there was a little bit. You know, it's funny. I'm shooting a video tomorrow talking about this exact subject right here, Like no, Lie, I was on kg's podcast a couple of weeks ago, yep, and we had a little snippet came out on Instagram about it, and it like I didn't Yeah, it went crazy.

What was Kg's hand?

He was basically saying, some of my teammates they were eating dinner somewhere at the restaurant New York, and the topic came up of them, you know, getting at the NBA players and KG he was like, man, he's like I was about that. I wanted to see what's good, you know what I mean. Obviously they're in the league at that time.

Like some like unfilmed Super Game where like Kevin Kevin Garnett and like fucking Stephan Mowberry show up to like a park in Haarleam at three am and Battle.

At Howard though.

No, you know what's crazy though, when when have Amazing was gassing that up? Though back in the day, Like, think about it, we were on TV more than the NBA, right.

The ESPN.

Sure think if they actually did, if that game actually was for real, like that would have like we might have had to have a foot think about we sold out the garden just an and one game, right, so what would have and one versus NBA All Star game? Crazy and just a theory game, especially in like three or four. Oh my, we might need a football stadium me and have Man, we're just talking about that.

Yeah, it's crazy to think, Like, you know, I'm just glad to see because you know, when I was a kid, man, basketball was so and it's big now. But it's just dope to see like today's generation have whatever version of like and One was to me to them, you know what I'm saying.

That's what I'll try to keep it going because you probably.

I have such a wide range of fans. Oh super because you have like guys that are like me who is old and watch you as as when I was a kid, and then you got like my fucking nine year old knows exactly who you are. I showed him. He said, oh, you're gonna interview him. He's at basketball camp right now. Otherwise he'd probably be here. But oh, you know, it's crazy you have like such a like it's probably hard for you to go too many places without getting stopped. Yeah, oh no, Yeah, for sure.

It's a blessing though, Like if I look at my analytics, it's like twenty percent eighteen and under, twenty percent eighteen to thirty five, twenty percent, thirty.

Five and up.

I even got people fifty five and up. There's a ten percent you know. So yeah, it's a blessing to have a wide demographic of doing it just for a long time for you.

Uh, obviously, see you want to ball to your fifty But what are other things you're trying to like do to kind of just expand like the empire. Yeah, obviously you got merch, you got stuff you're selling, but like give me kind of the breakdown on Noble Hooper dot com, Global Hooper dot com.

Yeah, so, uh, when you talk about expansion, I'm actually trying to produce a movie of my life story or I play myself. So I've been working on that.

For a couple of years.

Get that film soon, because you're the strike don't help, you know what I'm saying. Strikes fucking everything that's not helping. But except for TV, yeah maybe I think you can still.

Get a TV movie off and the tag won't be mad. I'm inside. Yeah, I don't know. So if you're in SAG, you should not. You're on strike. You are on strike. I heard there like it's like gang shit, like you cannot cross the strike.

It's real, it's real, it's real. So so now we respecting all that, but you know, trying to put more of a foot into the acting world. I don't think i'd ever stop my YouTube channel just because, like you've seen even a list stars a influencers also, and I've seen even like big YouTubers go mainstream or do something mainstream and then have to come back to YouTube and.

It happens actually a lot.

Then the Alborim's all messed up. It's not like it was before. So I don't I don't ever want to let um off the gas. Personally, I just think controlling your own narrative is a beautiful thing. You're your own boss over there. If people don't want to give you work elsewhere, you still.

Got that, and it's it is TV. Like the number one used that on my TV is YouTube. Yeah, I mean it's number one streaming app in the world. Like I'm I don't care about Like, I don't watch Netflix most unless like some show drops, like I just watched Quarterbacks, okay, but I'm always on YouTube. My kids are on YouTube.

Yeah, me too, me too. If I'm not if I'm not watching Netflix, it's YouTube.

So yeah, so you're essentially you're like you want to just kind of dip your toe into like producing like original content or being a part of like movies on a bigger scale. Yeah, as well as still keeping your foot on.

The mainly acting a little bit of producing. Yeah, for sure. But also for me, it's funny as long as I've gone, you know, start my YouTube channel.

Oh nine.

The weakness of my brand has actually always been infrastructure. I didn't upload enough, and now as we get further into it, people upload way way more.

Essentially, how often are you are you dropping content?

Now we're gonna go four to six times a month. But I've always I've always been like kind of like mister beasts where you take a lot of time for video treated like a TV show where everything's perfect, good, sound, amazing, consopt and you're aiming to break the Internet. But we sometimes I want to get one or two of a month, right. And while that, while that was good, don't get me wrong, is good, Like I think there's a more, a better

But what what what were you doing? Oh?

I went to Laguna Beach and I played a trash talker. It was actually the first, my first trash talker video I came up with that that turn in the trash talk.

The dude was just talking crazy. I was.

I had been up there for like three hours of playing at the Laguna Courts, you know, the Laguna Beach, and this dude came up and he was just he's trying to discredit everything I did.

And then he was trying to do exactly who you were.

I don't think he did. So he didn't know I don't think so. Maybe maybe, but I don't think so. So then he was like giving the dude a hard time to guard me. Maybe he knew them, but he kept he kept saying after every bucket, I would get like, man, you gotta do this, doude this, and he's like, all you got to do is watch his hips, and so he's like, man, I got next, and I was like, I said something like, well, maybe we should get a ones in.

He's like, yeah, let's get the ones in.

So I was like all right, cool. So he finished that game and I was like all right, man, trying to do it, and then we matched up one on one. He was a little bit heavy set though, so midway through the game, a little winded, I did a move, went between his legs, snash it. I didn't even touch him.

He's smack. He like smack hit the pavement.

Right then, like two plays later, I did somewhere up faked between my legs between his legs, snatch it. He broke his shoulder. He like he like reached, he threw his shoulder out of the socket. So the game didn't That's why I got eight three mil views. The game didn't even end.

We couldn't have.

Wrote a better script.

Holy shit. Yeah.

So so when we edit it, we go to the edit, we told the story of how the game happened, because that was one of my critiques. We don't play good enough competition, right, It's like I play anybody in the Street Street Bowl. So we told the story of why that game went down. But then we realized, oh, like, you gotta do this every video, we gotta tell us. The story to the thumb was a zoom into the ankle breaker. So it kind of that laid the it that paved the way for how I need to do videos.

Wow.

Yeah, eighty three million. Yeah, I think that was twenty sixteen, and that's fully monetized. Oh for sure, twenty sixteen.

That's sure, Yeah, that's yeah, a lifetime analytics on there. Nice. Is it safe to say you've surpassed her and one pay as a YouTuber by like ten or thirty times by now?

Yeah?

Yeah, I was gonna say somewhere around twenty ten.

I mean, not to get in your pockets, but back in the day, like what was what was the pay decent? Like like, if you guys are hitting the road, it was decent.

Yeah, I don't mind. I think my first contract ever with an one eighteen years old, was like seventy K. Sixty seventy k not bad for an eighteen year old kid professionally playing hoops back then before inflation hit the fucking not bad.

Yeah, I wasn't bad. But then as we win, it went big.

So we did, you know, multi multi year six figure deals, Like by the time I left, I think I signed a two fifty k a year. Yeah, two fifty k or something my last year. But then we would make money outside of an one two, so.

You could go do that. Then you can go do oh, I'm gonna do an appearance. I'm gonna go playing a game in China or Africa.

Yeah, so I think my last year, I think one of the years made eight hundred K or something like that, and so that was cool.

But just hooping, just hooping.

I think maybe millions of dollars the whole run, the whole run, of course. But after saying like for a single year, for a single year, I was like, Also, I thought I was rich. I thought my money would never run out.

Was everyone's pay scales different? Do you know? Or like? Because obviously there's bigger names, smaller names, like because I think when I think, when I think of you, I think a hot sauce, I think, I think escalade, I think of half and half amazing. I think of who else.

And you're probably different. You watched it, you know the casuals they say, like me, hot sauce, and then it's either like Skip or escalating.

Yeah maybe Ao, Yeah, Ao was dope. Yeah yeah, damn that's crazy, Yeah damn Yeah.

But no, it's based on marketability and skill. So like what you bring to the table on the court played a role, but then obviously your marketability. So I'm sure like hot Sauls had the biggest deal allside. Skip was already in the NBA, but like you know, I'm sure hot Sauce had the biggest hot sauce.

Ao. Main When you saw raph Austin naked to the league, are you like it ain't over for me? He still made it. Hey, let's stop the interview real quick to tell you about our good folks at King Palm. That's right, man, shout out to King Pom. We're talking about them. But that organic, all right, that natural them leafs, all right, there's no tobacco involved, and they're so smooth when you smoke in them. I love King pomps. The only thing

So his was different though, so he actually played all he went the regular ride, just played street balls in the summer, so we're like full time street ball, Like I let go of school for it.

So his thing was he was still going to school, he was still doing everything. Summertime.

It was he played community college Fresno State, got drafted Little D League, then came back up, then signed a big deal, a few big deals. But yeah, uh for the other guys, I mean, anything's possible, but I think a lot of guys just didn't get that opportunity or like there may be was some shortcoming, whether it was on the corridor off course, everybody's story is a little bit different, but dudes were good enough to be that's the myth man. They did that documentary. They did a

Why do the documentary if you're gonna bash this.

I didn't get it. I didn't understand it. I don't know, but luckily most people saw the Netflix.

Yeah it's crazy too because I think like back then, like there had to have been like for you guys like to hit it, Like what was was y'all did y'all have like and one groupies was there like chicks? Like who was like fucking because you know what? Yeah, that was the thing. It was hip hop. It was a rock star hip hop basketball tour. Yes, what you guys had rappers on tour too? Right? Or was it different city?

Everybody did the halftimes like like, okay, remember we're just saying Cassidy was up here. He was going but it was like dipset the locks.

I think when I saw it, it was, uh, David Banner and Roscoe. David Banner killed it.

Bro Oh my god, Jacks in Mississippi is home.

It was wild. Listen. I always say this because I've I've always watched guys do halftime shows and they'd be like, it's a little different. People are getting up to go to like get their drinks from like listen, oh, this is lit. I saw David Banner do a halftime show and he was alone standing in the middle of the court and he.

Shut that shit the fuck shut it down. I ain't got up on the rim once. He's like, shat on the rim. It was crazy, but uh no, those halftimes went off. E forty actually killed her. Like when we did the Bay with the Bay Area, I'd play Oakland. I remember E forty came on there and they and uh oh what was it? There was these other dudes though, some local group.

It was like them.

Yeah, they hit the court and everybody run the court and they had to stop it because it got It was like fire Hypierra Man, Yeah, exactly, a Hyph Fierer. That was crazy. But every halftime for a one was like super Turnto.

What about. What do you think about Big Three?

Oh? I think it's dope.

I love it. I love it.

I mean I don't think like some people might call that like street I don't really view it as like street ball necessarily, but I think that, like, you guys have more spin after the league. You know what I'm saying, You might be good in a half court till you're fifty, like you're saying so. So I think it's another it's another outlet to check out. I feel like it was funny. Ice Cube was saying he felt like the gatekeepers are kind of like stopping it from and I feel like

That's what I think I was gonna say.

Like when Iverson and Jay Will and the end of the year for year one, yeah, that was ready to go berserk.

Yeah, and then yeah, because that made me want to watch, I was like, wait, white chocolate and Ai, which is tough. Yeah, me too.

But the hard thing was like, so Jay Will, he was ready played, we got injured, right, So because he never came back after that, did he ever play at all? Maybe a game or two he blew out his knee, and then I knew a you know, I played Iverson's as game he ever played, like I played with him in China. It was a three game tours on my YouTube channel. Really yeah, it was fire, but because that was my guy. Was that twenty twelve?

Wow? So his kind of fair relator in China? You were you were there?

Yeah, twenty twelve and well the last time he actually took to the court and played a full game. But so I knew, but he barely wanted to do that, and then after that he never played again. So I knew in the Big Three somebody he's hooping. I was like, are you sure would like to play like that? Because at the end of the day, like you play on Iverson's level, or like those nbals are even like me talking to KG, right, they ain't trying to The stakes

Now. It's crazy. Have you ever hooped or messed around with uh, with Jason Williams at all? With Jay Will because he's obviously kind of like the you know when you were a kid watching him and Vince and it was like that era, like a street ball in the leap.

Oh my god, yeah, crazy Iverson jay Will, Like you said, Vince, that was crazy. Yeah, we're trying to make it happen. We're actually trying to make it happen. So I did a collab video with him and came to our studio downtown. I have like a half court with the LED setup. We just talked hoops. He showed me his elbow pass. I show an elbow pass.

Yeah, yeah, I showed him a move I do, just got his thoughts on it. And then.

We've been trying to re so I got I actually had a little injury, but we've been trying to revisit doing a hoop video and he said he was down. So like, if you guys went to the park or something, totally will break the internet.

Just go break the internet real quick. Yes, it'd be crazy. Yeah, so we trying. We're trying. Did they ever approach you to try to play in like the Big Three? Maybe by the way, they'd be smart too.

They asked me to enter the draft, but I noticed that Skip was in the draft. He didn't get picked, So like I was gonna introd, well he didn't get picked. Skip was in the draft and didn't.

Yeah, some of the guys who got I mean, listen, no disrespect to a lot of those guys. But I remember, just I'm talking, we're talking about selling tickets, putting seats and asses here.

Yeah, and maybe Skip it want to play.

I didn't know the details, right, but I just like I remember seeing some of the guys and I'm just like, yeah, I mean Rashan McCants was like a fringe, like make it on a roster kind of guy. And I know he's like one of the main Big three guys, but it's like, I don't know what's coming out to sever you know Amari for a little bit. You know, they tough. You need to highlight guys. You need somebody to Yeah, you need the TikTok guys. Hey, what's the real It's gonna go crazy to promote the Big Three.

Yeah, but they're not good enough. You know, I'm saying, you gotta play at that higher level.

I don't keep it.

He's trying to keep it big boy, you know, just below the NBA competition level. I didn't want to do it because, like my thing was, like they're giving other dudes deals.

What do you mean to enter the draft?

That's just from marketing so you can I'm in it.

Yeah, Like I'm the most popular guy following wise.

Here literally outside of Jawill and Iverson.

That would have been one hundred percent.

Yeah, So like I wasn't gonna do it unless someoney would sign me. But then also let me play how I play travel Chip in the the three, I feel like they could benefit a lout from some entertainment I know, even like Bone Collector and White Chocolate went and went through the combine, didn't get picked up. So they're keeping it tight. They're keeping it like real.

Yeah, I get what he's trying to do. He's trying to essentially set up a situation where you can extend your career. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

He's trying to say, this's a Big Boy League, you know, top level competition. Still it's just like just below the NBA. When you're done, you go here.

Yeah yeah, which I.

Respect, but yeah, I didn't want to do it. Just to me, it didn't feel right, like I'm not gonna, you know, go to a team and be on the bench the whole game or like because you know, when you get into those like the personas are like how the coach and the big three would look at it and how serious them dudes wanted championship.

If I try to go Victorial legs and kick that out, they're gonna be mad, you know what I mean. It's like we got to take him out.

Yeah, grit too, But I get some moves, I'll be trying to do moves.

I'd be trying to turn it out. I mean, but they're trying to get the crowd.

What team would would be cool with that?

For sure? Maybe it's maybe, but as ice Cube cool? Who knows? I saw you did a video with Paul George, Like, how are your relationships with some of the guys in the NBA nowadays? Like obviously you're a celebrity, celebrity, like you know, outside of just being the OG and one guy. You know what I'm saying, We're cool.

I mean a lot of guys are busy, right, so, like I don't necessarily hang with NBA players, but I feel like I've met almost everybody you know, and every.

It's just shows a lot of love.

I show a lot of respect to those guys for doing at the highest level. But Paul George is awesome.

Man.

I never met him before that day we shot that video.

That shit's crazy. So did you did you did you end up going to did you go to NBA con at all? I was out there for Summer League.

I didn't go to NBA can I should have.

Summer League's fucking fire. Had a great time. I love it, had a good time. I went to I went to like Summer League. One of the one of the days. It was the day after women Yanna had his his Uh, it was like a slower day because my sons were playing okay, and I just didn't do We were there all day and like, man, everybody's just walking around, like everybody. Yeah, the players will get done playing and then walk around the arena like.

I know you, I notice that, Like we left the arena and then like dudes, who just played that game right next to us?

And We're like, what the It's crazy. They didn't have a VIP tunnel over here. Nah. And then they have the two games going on like simultaneously because they kind of have the two connected arenas. It's it's mine. I told my my boy. I was like, next year, we're gonna do like a week of this ship.

That's what we did. I did about four days.

We're gonna go out there. It's gonna be like our All Star weekend. Because I'm a funk with All Star week It's too much drama, you know what I'm saying. I'm good, let me go to fucking it's crazy. Summer League. It's crazy. We go hang out, be a basketball geek.

It's turning into the summertime.

NBA though, it is.

It's like a way for the NBA and everybody around the NBA to exist. Yeah, for summer for a little bit.

For two weeks. It's crazy, it is. It is two weeks. But it's really about that first like week.

Yeah, we missed the wave, like my home here, he was here, he was there, like when Winby was playing crazy. We came three days after and caught like the last weekend. And don't get me wrong, it was still lit, but it wasn't. It wasn't like the first weekend.

It's crazy because because a lot of those main draft picks, you know, they play a game or two and then they get sat. You know, it's like and then they got guys like what's what's the guy's named? Jabari Smith on the Rockets was hooping?

Okay, okay, oh huh.

Shout out to my sons. Yeah.

Yeah, it's still good basketball regardless.

When you go short. Well, look, man, obviously you got a lot a lot going on. People can go follow you on TikTok and go on the YouTube channel, yes, sir, Instagram, what's what's the handle? Everywhere? Is it? Just? Yeah?

Professor live YouTube and Facebook, the Professor on everything else. Check it out global Hooper dot com. You got a Snapchat show yet, yes, check it out, Professor live Snapchat Snapchat money is good, It is good. Nobody nobody's complaining.

List. We just launched a Snapchat show like two months ago and like first.

Month boom it going off Snapchat to be confusing though. There's like the shows and there's the story, no idea, Yeah, because I don't somebody running for you, right, yes, some dude in London Mark, you're smart, my guy Dean in London the handles all of it, and he's like, here's the analytics, this is how much we're on pace to make. And I'm like, oh, actually all sources that I don't even have the Apple on my phone.

Yeah, I don't have I don't have keep, I don't have Snapchat on my phone. Okay, yeah, I haven't had it on my phone for I don't even know how long they're gonna chop this up and then you know, yeah, yeah, let's go there it is man, the Professor. I appreciate you, buddy, Hey, my honored thanks for having me on. I appreciate you. Boom yeah, fire. Hey. This interview is brought to you by our good folks at Hard Dean, all right, shout out to the hard Dean family in Las Vegas. Makes