The Draymond Green Show - Jalen Rose

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have this next guest. Um, in my opinion, the founding father of the Five five, the leader, UM, the person who really embodied that spirit. Now, as you know, I can't really be too fond of that, being that it's from the other school. However, you know, you grow up in the state of Michigan. Really, you grow up anywhere, and you watch basketball. If you know anything, you knew something about the Five five, and obviously growing up in

the state of Michigan, it's all right there. From Detroit Southwestern High schoolte pick in the NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, Jalen Rose my brother more like more like an uncle of mine. I appreciate you for coming on, Welcome to the show. Appreciate the love you're killing and keep doing your thing. Absolutely, I appreciate you, I mean just getting right into it. Um. I get a lot of credit for being the first active player. UM doing

TV that's actually you, that's actually you. How how did you go about way back I think in two thousand and six you did the playoffs, you were still playing. How did you go about way back then? And um saying I'm gonna start doing media right now as an active player. So the crazy thing is like growing up in the city, being a fan of the game, looking up to the bad boys, looking up to Magic Johnson. But also my favorite athletes had personality. They were flamboyant.

They do only not only dressed loud like Diana Sanders or Clyde Fraser, but they also talked loud like Mohammad Ali, and those voices is something that I always appreciated, following Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Russell and just how they were athletes, but they were more than jocks. And so when I got to college when it was trying to pick a major, I wanted communications to be that. So Radio TV Film became my major and I took those classes at Michigan, went there three years, eventually went back

and got my degree. So while I was playing in the league, and it's crazy how this works. I remember feeling like like you're a good player, but you ain't magic, you know what I'm saying. And that happed me one day, like like, you got a chance to do this for a while, but you need to find something else to do,

you know what I'm saying. And my first couple of years starting and coming off the bench and then getting trade to Indiana with Larry Brown gave me fifteen d m p s. I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna have a thirteen year career. So I started to figure other things that I could do in the game that I love. And once I got traded from the Patients to the Bulls, it was February this time of the year and the team had nine wins and like, I'm like, we ain't going to the playoffs for Shure.

So this was two thousand and two. I reached out to a contact and B team, Matt Sports, because I had just done the show and I just done one O six in part, and I pitched the idea for e T to let me cover the finals for them. At the time, it was New Jersey Nets and the Lakers. I was like, just sending the camera, I'll get the access,

I'll do all of that. So they trusted me they did it, so they sent the cameras, we cut it, we spiced it, we edited, they showed it on TV and then I pitched that same idea to the Best Dance Sports Show the next year, and they already had big Bro John Sally who was doing TV and at the time, Jason Williams from the Nets. I saw him doing some stuff with NBC while he was still playing and the mad Rashot. I saw him kind of more from doing football to doing basketball. So those are guys.

I was like, you know what, I'm about to try to do this while I'm playing. So they hired me. So I was in the league two thousand and three to two thousand and seven playing while I was still working for Best Dance Sports Show, MTV Movie Awards. I was doing halftime with Bill Walton and Snapper. I was doing boxing for Top Rank. I was doing all of that stuff. And so when I retired to two thousand and seven and I was doing sideline for T and T. I worked with T and T for a couple of years.

The famous video Nick Vanax and my brother throwing the towel at me when I was standing on the sideline and I just kept going and so in two thousand and seven when I retired, that's when I started working full time for ESPN. That's I actually didn't even know

about all the BT stuff. So I appreciate that. I think UM did when I started this podcast last year, and you know, maybe a little different because I was doing it after game, but I caught a lot of heat for actively doing a podcast and providing the content that I was providing during the final, during the playoffs, during the finals, I caught a lot of heat for when you first started doing that. Did you catch a

lot of heat? And I know it's different, but it wasn't social media and all of that stuff, But did you catch heat for that when you first started doing it? Absolutely, Because, as you know, in order to be colorful and or good at this job, that means you gotta say something. There's a lot of people that's vanilla and don't say nothing. But you and I are strong will, strong opinion, and we ain't scared to stand on it. And what ends on how ends up happening, is why you still playing.

I'm still running into these players, into these coaches, into the managers, into the agents and the fans also, and so guys used to sometimes take it personal. Oh man, how are you gonna call me out like that? Or whatever? I'm like, dog, you had six points and eight turnovers,

like what you expect me to say? You know what I'm saying, like And what ends up happening is people start to earn your You start to earn the respect of the players and of the coaches and of everybody when they know when you speak, not only are you knowledgeable, but it ain't personal, Like I ain't got nothing personal against you. I'm just saying what I see, giving my opinion. When you do poor, I'm gonna say it. When you do great, I'm gonna big you up. And I know

you noticed this quick. You can big up people all day and they never shout you. They never say thank you, they never give love. But soon as you criticize them or call him out for some bs that they did, then they want to add you. Then they want to get but hurt. And so that's when I learned at that time, I'm gonna just stay authentic, be authentic to myself. And when I started to do that, I started to see me get results. You know. One of the one of the things that I wanted to do, especially that

I'm actively playing is. I felt like I needed to find a balance of like um authenticity and telling the truth UM and being very critical, but doing it in a way where like, I still got to play these guys. I still have to play possibly with some of these guys. And I felt like that was one of the biggest things that I adjustments that I had to make and go on in the TV right now. And I spoke about this before one one instant that made me really happy because it was actually my first time doing T

and T UM. I was doing the segment or and we were doing the Denver Nuggets game they were in the playoffs, was during the bubble and Joker and I pointed out his defense that he's the low man, he's the back, he's the center. He has to be everybody's eyes, he has to be the communication. He has to cover up everybody mistakes if somebody breaks down the defense, and he was missing his rotations, and so I pointed it out on TV, and I tried to do it in a way of like not bashing him, but letting the

world know, like this is an issue. And when I saw him the following year, he said to me said, Hey, I talked, I saw your comments about my defense. I've gotten better and I appreciate it. It gave me so much confidence in TV like and doing TV like, Oh so I could, I can't do it. It gave me so much confidence. That was a very huge moment for me. That is that is huge. But here's what you also know,

and you know this balance. Anytime you see a player doing this job, we're only really saying like what we really know facts, you know, like we know everything. So it's like if I'm on TV and I'm talking about somebody had a bad game, I know where it was at last night. I know who they was with. I know what time they got out. As a matter of fact, I probably was with him. You see what I'm saying.

So now when I'm on TV, if I'm speaking on what happened in the game, they know it ain't personal, but they know I ain't saying everything that I could say. And that's what the Joker felt about you. He saw you breaking it down and giving knowledge, but it wasn't like you was trying to clown him or disrespect him. And so that to me is when I started to draw the line because I don't like media members that name call. And so I remember when I was making my bones and I was doing first take and I

was doing the show with Kid Bayless. I used to sit back and take notes and it's a debate show. So I'm like, wait a minute, he calling Chris bosh Spice like like like like this is really happening like that. That bugged me out, you know what I'm saying. And so I'm like, all right, I'm gonna have to have some material ready for this dude, because if he come at me like that, I got the jab, I got the head shot, I got the body blow, I got whatever he gonna need. Because I don't like the name calling.

I think that went too far. Like I've seen him do this recently with Dak Prescott when he had just lost a family member, I believe, and he was dealing with some issues, and Homie was like basically saying, I don't care about this mental wellness. And so those are the examples for me that give us a different level of credibility that can never be matched because we could be authentic and say a portion of what we know without saying too much, but yet know what not to

say to make it personal. And speaking of that, I always I always talk about this turn new media and old media, and quite frankly, people has always assumed that when I say new media, I'm talking about basketball players, current players or like, like it's this actual thing of new media. And reality is when I speak of new media, I'd be speaking of a way of going about the job, because I think the way people used to go about the job, in the way people go about it today,

it's totally different. And and so I speak of new media, and I always say, like, it's truth telling, it's being upfront and honest, you know, it's it's it's actually analyzing the game and not just going with this statue and saying, oh man, this guy played bad because he missed shots. Like no, he could have played an incredible game and missed those shots, you know. And so when I speak about new media, but there's also this new way of

doing things. And then there are the skip bayliss Is of the world that are old media, like it's tired, it's all in it, Uh, what do you make of new medias? And and and also but player driven media as opposed to the old fashioned way of media and kind of how we're seeing the change of the guard. Not in a sense because there's still a space for that, but there's a space for both. What do you make

of that whole thing? The thing I make of it, first off is I love the term and it reminded me like, this is my twentieth year cover in the finals, right, And so what ends up happening is when you come onto the scene and you say the term new media. It reminded me of like an old school rapper for example, or somebody that's been out for a while, and then somebody else coming to the game and people try to

put us against each other. I saw that happen when Lebron started his school and if I'll be on TV and I'm like, yo, Lebron did this, they lost the game or whatever whatever, people like, oh, he just jealous because Lebron started to school. I'm like like, like, I want all people to to to give back to their community and started school. I'm not quote unquote jealous because his school got more hyped, like he's one of the

most famous people that ever walked to earth. Like I'm happy that he did it, because now it's how it's almost like this Michael Jackson wasn't the first person to do the moonwalk. He popularized it. And that's what Lebron now can do for people like me when he starts to school. It's the same thing when you say new media. People's coming to me like, what trade mind talking about? You were doing that twenty years ago. I'm like, First off,

that's family, we ain't even doing that. Second off, he's right, And what you're talking about is the ability aid to articulate the game and be unapologetic. See, at first, when we got into this gig kind of had to walk on eggshells. There was there was times where family. I stopped wearing ear rings because they was frowned upon. I always wore long sleeves because tattoos wasn't necessarily welcome. I wore my hair a certain way. I always wore tying

the blazer because the game was different then. Now, for me, new media is saying what you feel, dressing how you feel, driving how you want to whip, and then having a way to articulate your self that you're speaking the language other people that you play with. See when you see me, I'm I'm rocking with y'all, rocking listening to the music that y'all listening to. And so for me is it's up to the guys that's been doing it a long

time to stay current, not the other way around. And so when I saw c J get eliminated with Portland and he was covering y'all, I pulled a nephew to the side. We got numbers, we exchange. I remember when he got drafted. I said that he was gonna be

that same with j J Reddick saying whatever. And so the more of us they get into it, and the more we support one another, that now changes the entire narrative where we're all pulling together and we're all saying it absolutely I agree on Um, you just spoke about school. I got a couple of questions about school number one. Um, the Jalen Rose Charter Academy. Um, how did you get

into starting that? And what do you need to continue to make that the success has been but also continue to take it to new heights because you continue to get it better and better and make it better and improving it. But what do you need to continue to take that the new heis to get these kids the

opportunities that you've been affording to them. So you and I from the hood hood, and like, when you be out there balling, there's a reason why I be singing sacking all pride since the day you got drafted, because I remember you in high school and in college, and I know where you're from and when you come from where we come from. You know, the difference is money. The quality of your education. Unfortunately in the United States

is defined by your zip code. And it ain't just education, it's the protection from the police if you make a nine one one call. Is fire, is deserts where you can't get a quality supermarket when you're in the hood. Is fast food, funeral homes, flower shops, gas station's, party stores. That's what we see. We see depression, you see poverty. And so I was like, how can I give back to my community? And I'm gonna be frank with you

in a way. We're mass media, and people who don't look like me can't block me, even if they don't want me to do what I'm doing when I say I'm doing it for the sake of education, even if they're not gonna give me a dime, and even if they don't want to see me educating the kids that I'm educating. They can't say it out loud. It's almost like when white people listen to rap music. At some point when you're saying the lyrics, you're gonna say all of the lyrics. That's a fact. You're gonna say all

of the lyrics. You just gotta watch where you're saying them, right. And so I realized that inner city students in Detroit we're getting like eight thousand dollars a year, while the suburban counterparts were getting doubled at and then the families who are fortunate enough to put their kids in private school that costs like forty dollars a year, and you can start doing that K through two or three years,

K through one or two. So now that's like a five hundred thousand dollar investment in that student, or the suburban students like a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars investment, where the students from my community were only getting like nineties six thousand dollars. So how do I put them in position to compete for the same jobs, for the same careers, for the same opportunities, and put themselves in position to be successful. I'm gonna start a school open enrollment,

tuition free, public charter. I'm not a part of a network. I don't test students in before ninth grade. I don't test students in after ninth grade. And here's the kicker. United States don't look at us like we're cute and cuddly when we're in high school anymore. A lot of times when people want to influence us, they want to do it when we're small, because you still got parental involvement. If you acting out in class, I could call your parents.

But when you get in ninth grade, these young people have been exposed to life, sex, drugs, violence, gangs, poverty, and so these relationships are a lot different. When they're on social media. Now they know what www is and they can go anywhere in the world. So we influence that four hundred high school students, and I'm influencing another

six hundred and what we call secondary education. So I'm influencing them in a model called nine through sixteen because after twelfth grade, just think about it, what does your high school do for you? Nothing? Nothing, but the job ain't done. If I just came from poverty and I just graduated from high school, I'm throwing my hat in the air, but I can't put my resume nowhere and

get it gig. So now I'm helping those students in community college, trade school, military, four year college, and now we're helping them be in position to be successful in life. So the thing that we need is money and awareness, and I'm continuing to try to do that, and I'm really proud of what we've accomplished over twelve years. We're

fundraising right now to expand our facility. I took over a middle school, converted it into a high school, and Sally, our basketball team is never played the home game because I took over an elementary school. And when you look at our budget, I'm the founder, I'm the president of the board, I'm the chief fundraiser. And shout to my co founder, Michael Carter, Shout to all of my board members, the founding team, our students are, staff is amazing, our

our school leader, Principal Lowis, our parents. They all believe in my vision. And so now for me, it's to expand the facility so I can get three more classrooms. I want to create a health and wellness space for mental health. I want to create a space for yoga where young people can be stretching and getting exposed to

things while they're in the building. And I want to have a gym so that now when people come play college games or high school tournaments or proteins or whatever, we have the kind of facility that they can come and enjoy. So you took over in the elementary school. There's been um thirties high schools in Detroit clothes correct, are you not able to get access to those buildings that they've closed down. I'm about to give you some

game that people don't know about education. First off, I remember trying to open the school, and this was a political cycle that people were going back and forth about public school, charter school, magnet school. I'm like, first off, I don't care what kind of school they go to. You can home school them. I'm just trying to put them in position to have a quality school to go to. And then there were people like, well, charter schools are still a students from the public schools. News flash, a

charter school is a public school. That's just cap And why do people say that Because one of the largest donors of the Democratic Party is the teachers union, and so why is that so important to both of those things because if you're part of the union, you get something called tenure as a teacher. That means you could go to school for two or three years and basically never get fired, and that has nothing to do with your results. But when you go to a charter school,

you give up your tenure opportunity. And so that's what they're fighting against. And then they're also fighting against the numbers of students that are in a public school building that you're talking about. You ready for this, because a public school building is gifted a charter school building, we get zero state funding for the facility. Zero, not for improvements, not for expansion, nothing. If something happens with the boiler at the school right now, if something happens with a

lightbulb at the school right now, my phone ringing. Wow, you see what I'm saying. And so that's one of the dirty secrets about education, is that we get zero state funding for our facility. And so therefore that's why writing and raising and me creating awareness for the school is so very important. That's incredible. I'm gonna I'm gonna sell checkers the next couple of weeks. I'll give my

financial team and get that out absolutely amazing. Um, like the amount of like me knowing you personal amount of time that you give to that. Like I've seen you at times where your and you hustling like yo, I need to go raise his money for these kids, Like you really hustling going to do that. I got so much respect for you. Appreciate that because I think that's absolutely amazing. But continuing on along the lines of school, you said you ended up going back to finish your degree.

Why was this so important for you to go back? You Jalen Rose, You're going in the TV like why was this so important for you to go back and finish your degree? Because school was actually always important to me. I never wanted to be considered a dumb jock. I hated that term. I used to see people get called that, and I was like, I'm gonna make sure nobody ever

called me that. And then you know, the whole stigma like, oh, you play athlete, you're an athlete, you talented, so now people hooking you up with your grades or people doing your work for you and that type of stuff. So then I was like, you know, I started to take pride.

And one of the funny things that happened in high school is I got a chance to take some accelerated classes because I was an honor roll student, and I heard that if you got a certain g p A and your attendance was this, that you got a chance to meet a special guest that was gonna come to the school at the end of the year for a seminar. And then I found out that guest was Irvan Magic Johnson. So I couldn't be on the basketball team all Americans and Magic come to the school and I can't go

to the gym and see him. You know what I'm saying. That would not have been a good look. So I really started to buckle down on my academics. Same when I was in Michigan. It was a was a Dean's List student at Michigan, and so at that point, I don't went to school for three years in the middle of winter, you know, it's cold outside. I might as well finished, you know what I'm saying, I might as well finish. At that point, I'm in the league taking

correspondence courses. I'm like, I'm gonna finish in Michigan at the time, and this showing my age wasn't even offering the classes I needed for to allow me to graduate unless I went on campus. I'm like, I can't, I can't go on campus. So I eventually took my courses online at the University of Maryland University College, and that's actually where I got my degree from. Wait, so your degree today, it's not from the University of Michigan. Correct.

They didn't even offer the classes that I needed. And I love Michigan and I hope somebody here this they should be getting at me to give me some sort of honorary degree and putting the banners back up, like I go to games now, I go. All right, I didn't. They didn't offer the classes that I needed. Just so you know, just so you know, just so we're clear, mistake you made in life that would have never happened that Michigan State. I'm just saying, I never happened that state.

That's ridiculous, you know what I know. And let me just be real with you. You know, I love is absolutely and I took a visit to Michigan State. I looked up to magic, I looked up to Steve Smith's six eight big guards. No doubt I analized them. But I couldn't turn down the chance to be the fifth member of the Fat five. That's why I changed my number. I didn't wear five in high school. I wore forty two. I changed my number because I was the fifth member of the fat file to sign. That's why I changed

my number. That's interesting things. Like I said, I, it's almost like you took it over though, like like the five five it became year thing. But it would make sense because you essentially made at the five five. But that's why I find that very interesting. So a lot of laws have changed in the United States of America. Drug laws have changed. We've seen people that you and I know that who had life in prison get out because laws changed and they're no longer subject to that time.

The things that y'all got in trouble for, kids can now do no problem. They can make money off their likeness. They they got endorsement deals. There's kids in college making a million dollars a year, which I'm happy about, Like, get your money, it's great. I want to talk to you about the n I L too. But now that making money is legal in college, why hasn't those batters gone back up? If you're being punished, as I was thinking, about this about you guys five. I was thinking about

this about Reggie Bush, like these are y'all. Y'all worked to become the five five and accomplished with y'all to accomplished Reggie Bush work, and it got snatched away because some poor kids needed some money. Now that those laws have changed, why having all of those banners going back up so and by the way, that's a Michigan thing at that point, not an n c A thing, because they can do it right now, just like you Mass did it for coach cal Um and Memphis did, just

like Maurice Clarette at Ohio State. They could do it right now. For whatever reason, it just hasn't happened. And now that Jawan's leading the program, I have faith that it will happen. But to be honest, I probably shouldn't say this, but it's true. Since we didn't win it, I don't really care about those banners. I feel like it should be one banner with all of our numbers on it, or like retire our numbers, or like give us a statue of something like truly immortalize what we've done.

And when you talk about what we got disciplined for, let me tell you what's crazy. It was a thing that's happened in sports because it's a remnant of slavery. And I know soon as I say this, people that don't look like us sometimes shoulder shrug and like, oh, here we go. But here's what happens the black sports,

predominantly football and basketball. You're put in a position as an athlete where they could profit off of you longer and you get paid less, if you notice, in tennis and golf, in NASCAR, in hockey and all gymnastics, whatever, golf, whatever other sports, it ain't no restrictions after high school. M hmm, ain't no restrictions. They can have sponsors, they can go play, they could do what they love, and

they can earn money. And by the way, you've been on the college campus, just because you wasn't getting paid, guess what the people from the student council was. They was getting paid. Other students could have jobs. So the remnants of those sports make it to where they could profit off of us as long as possible while paying us the least. And so when you have a high profile team like you and l V or John Thompson's teams at Georgetown, that all of a sudden play with

an attitude. Oh man, we gotta muzzle them, We gotta, we gotta allowed them to perform. But we all want our kids dressing and looking like them. Like I remember being one of the most hated athletes. Now Jalen is a common name, like literally, and so what happens is it's one thing for Ray. It's one thing for Jalen, Chris and Jawan to go on and play long careers in the NBA and make the kind of coins that

we did. It brings my heart when I look at you and l V and Anderson Hunt, the Final four m VP didn't profit off of his likeness or Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, members of the Fab five. For rachis were a shoe that we popularized. We popularized black socks. They didn't even sell black socks at the mall. Imagine if we had the trademark for long shorts. Imagine if we had the trademark for Fab five. Then you see

what I'm saying. And so with all of that taking place, it just hurts me that those gentlemen ain't able to profit off of what blood, sweat and tears that they've been able to do. But I know, and it makes me smile that the young people now can because I remember being a champion for that for like thirty years and people looking at me like, oh, you should just be happy you got a scholarship. If I had a scholarship, I would know. But you ain't talented and making the

school money, and therefore they're profiting off of you. Was selling your jersey and selling tickets and doing all of that and making money off the shoe company. You noticed you signed a letter of intent. You might as well sign a shoe deal. You can't go to Michigan State and whatever, wear whatever shoe you want. You gotta wear whatever you can't. And here's the here's a dirty secret about the n I l it ain't true market value. Here's why none of your sponsors could compete with the

ones that the school already have. And they got the best ones, correct, correct, So they already getting top dollar from radio, from TV, from the advertisement from the shoe company. And so now you can get like, all right, you know, we'll get you something at the local gym. You know what I'm saying. We'll get you We're gonna get you a membership for the next twelve months that type of stuff.

We've seen some quarterbacks you know, get paid and the young lady um page page buckets from Connecticut get paid. It's been some individuals, but for the most part, if you notice in totality, it ain't become the mushroom effect for players getting paid to then want to go play in college like the headline is, because you're really getting the secondary market for the sponsors. Turn every Thursday into

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think is a huge thing that will probably have learned long term effects that guys don't realize or not even gods, just students in general, guys, girls, And that is this if and which they are. You're not allowed to partner with premium brands essentially because they're gonna be in East Lansting. The top brands are going to be a sponsor of Michigan State. That's just other school before and after you.

Absolutely so. And most of these college towns, I mean most of the where most of these colleges are college towns. So it's in East Lasting, it's in ann Arbor, it's some blah blah blah blah. You endorse these second tier, third tier brands for a year or two, three or four years, your name becomes synonymous with that brand. Say you then going to the NFL, You're going to the NBA. Your name is synonymous with second tier brands. If I'm merced these bands, I'm not coming to give you a deal.

You don't have a premium brand, so why would I come give you? Why would I come give you a deal? And you you you haven't been aligned with premium brands. And I think that's something that that's one of the effects of of the n I L that we've yet to really see because it's so fresh. But I'm interested in seeing if people will find if that will happen. And that's a great point, and that's why I like

imagine the revenue streams that the coaches get. They get money from TV, from radio, from the school, from the shoe company, endorsements and appearances. Just give us that absolutely right. Imagine if these schools had a shoe brand that was sponsoring them. It's X amount of football players on the team, say a hundred this X amount of players on the basketball team, say fifteen. If the school getting a hundred and fifty million, two hundred million, why each player can't

get a million? Mm hmm hm. I agree that the school can do that, they're choosing not to. They're not sharing their revenue stream from their premium endorser with their student athletes. And also they can't say it out loud, but they're still coaches that don't even want the players to get that. M hmm. It's still coaches in college football, basketball, all of these sports that still don't want the players to profit off of their name, image and likeness. And

that's crazy. I think. I think it's absolutely ridiculous. And like you talk to those coaches, you know, they'll they'll they'll speak on the challenges that it presents. But a challenge that's presented if if you don't have that is how are these kids eat? How are these kids families? And all of those things? So I think, you know, no, no matter what, you can look at it from both sides. But in speaking of you know, these schools or the n c A in general, I think it's time that

we get rid of this amateurism work. There's no longer amateurism. These guys are now they're making money off their name, image and likeness, which is great. Like you're you're you're getting some money. So and for for majority of these kids, and like you just talked about Anderson Hunt, like you just talked about Ray and Jim, for majority of these kids, they won't be in a position that will be in that will be the most money they will ever make

from basketball. And now whether you go on and do something you know, down the road, that's a totally different thing. But from basketball, that will be the most money that they'll ever make. And for these schools and the n c A, not like I felt like the n I L for the n c A was just a cop out for everybody to shut up and say just for

everyone to stop saying, let's pay these athletes. And guess what, I am guilty of this too, because I was very outspoken about athletes getting paid, and sure enough they did n I M And I shut up too. M. I shut up too. I remember being on TV the data ruling got paid and I literally stood on the table like I Am not about to bust my arm patting myself on the back for being a champion of the n I L happening because of my voice, because all that is a band aid. Yeah, all that's all that is.

The true money is if I can make money off my name, image and likeness, or I can make money with the school that's the school got the money. You know what I'm saying. You you you I can't. I can't use their logo at all at all, but the logo. But but the block m is very synonymous with Jaylen Rose five correct, no question is synonymous. Yeah you if you took the block right now, it's so five five years, it's sell out like that, Yes, absolutely, or they'll sue

me so fast I wouldn't get a chance to do it. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what the athletes are kind of realizing, which is why people aren't lining up to necessarily go playing college no more. They're going to the G League, They're going overseas. It's players just like I'd rather just work out for a year into the draft versus going to college and being part of that system. That's that's what this has become. Absolutely, Yeah, I know you gotta get

out of here. We haven't spoke NBA at all. Um, just a couple of NBA questions, Um, number one, who is your m v P this year? Who will walk with the m v P? And number two, who do you think the finals come down to when it's all set and done this year? So a couple of things. And I'm really fortunate to be an actual voter and I vote for all of the NBA awards. I just recently did an All Star ballot and as somebody who's

biological father played in the league. And you know, being from Michigan, we played whatever sport it is that season, we played football, baseball, basketball, ran across country, whatever. Like I take it serious, like I'm literally trying to make sure that I'm a student of the game and I'm

rewarding people that deserve it. And as I look at this year, there's some amazing candidates, but you can't ignore what the jokers doing, Like like, and I know Bill Russell and Larry Bird are the only people to win the m v P three times in a row. And so what ends up happening is it becomes an award about storyline. It becomes an award about perception of doing the most with the least and or having a historic

year to go with your numbers. And so after he's won it twice, it's like, all right, we should be trying to give it to somebody else. In theory, that's what the the the lazy prevailing thinking becomes. And so I love what lucas doing. He putting up historic numbers, flirting with leading the league and scoring giving supersize triple doubles, um, But I just don't know if his team's record is gonna be, you know, top four in the West. I love with Jahs doing. He's spectacular. You know how explosive

he is, and he'll eventually win it one day. Um, you gotta always talk about Steph in the conversation. I know he's dealt with some injuries and y'all didn't get off to the start that you wanted to get off too,

But he's still out here, Flames. Lebron is out here killing this year, like like Lebron is the first time I've ever watched Lebron be down by twenty and he mesmerized was the other night against the Clippers, Like I was watching that game, like, yo, he is really killing threes off the catch off the trible Duncan spinning like he gotta be in the conversation, and then Jayson Tatum how he's elevated and the Celtics are a number one seed.

Janice is gonna make sure that the Bucks are flirting with a top tier seed in the East and then then be eat also, So like there's all of these great candidates, So now what's gonna separate them? Team record? Right now, Denver's number one in the West historic stats, This dude about the average a triple double, not just ma bloin. And so right now, if I had to select a betting choice, it has to be the joker.

He getting twenty five, twelve and ten assists on the nightly basis, shooting six and like thirties some from three like, and they got the number one seed. It's a lot of ball to be played. But right now we'll have to say him as it relates to the finals, I still feel like, y'all gotta run in, y'all. You know, I just saw coming to float to the left the other night, like Honnie Hawkins. You know what I'm saying. I'm like, all right, young fella, that's what I'm talking about.

That's what they need. Um. And the beautiful thing about the West races in the East, I feel like Boston. Let me just say that Boston is the best team in the East. There, the deepest team in the East. They got two wing scores that could get you twenty five or thirty. They got great guard, played multiple guards with White and brogg Den and Marcus Smart like, they got multiple bigs, and Robert Williams and Horford like they just they just loaded. So I'll say Boston if healthy

should win. Here's why the West is intriguing. The people that's been there and done that. Our lower in the standings today as we speak, the Warriors, as you know, Lebron, the Clippers, the Sons like these are all people that have done it recently. So now it's new Jack's at the top. Denver, Memphis, Sacramento. In the West, Sacramento, shout Brown, no doubt he ball and he got him, he got the ball and doing this thing. So but here's the thing.

When the Kings play against one of the teams I just mentioned in the first round, like the Warriors or the Lakers, they ain't gonna be favorite. Yeah they're not. Yeah, they ain't gonna be favorite. And so that's gonna catapult you veteran latent team teams into position to do it. So I'm just excited about the West. I'm excited about um covering the West because we have the West this year, and I ain't ruling out being in the Golden State

for at least the conference finals. That part. I respect that. Actually, this is the last question we're gonna get out. Here's a very personal question. Um, Jimmy Walker, mm hmm. Number one pick. Yea, your biological father. You never met him, the number one pick in nineteen sixty seven. What impact did that have on you growing up as a kid, growing up as a kid that played basketball to know my father. It's the number one pick, but I never

had the chance to know him. Yet I'm essentially walking in these footsteps like it's just in me, Like what impact? Because that's like having doad issues is one thing. Not meeting your father this is a totally different thing. We know the traumas that come with that. But to actually walk in that light and say, no, I'm a basketball player, I'm from Detroit. Basketball is a big thing. I'm chasing the stream. Or by the way, my father was a number one pick and I don't even have a chance

to talk to him, meet him. What impacted to have him? A lot of pain, a lot of hurt, a lot of anger, a lot of disappointment because a lot of times you start to think he don't want to meet me. You see what I'm saying. And then it's when I'm at St. Cecilia and people are referencing him and showing him love. But I'm standing next to my mother who just brought me there and we're poor and they're talking about him. I resented that, you see what I'm saying.

And it became where I never talked about him. What I was very young, I used to carry his basketball card and I should take it to the park and be like, ooh, this is my dad or whatever. And then as I started to get like in middle school, and you know, kids say mean things, and so having his name, the first thing a kid to do when they try to joke on me was act like JJ from Good Times was my father. Wow, you know what I'm saying. To try to disrespect me, you see what

I'm saying, like you don't know your father? That the he Jimmy Barker, No, No, JJ from good So that used to that used to be fist fight right off what I'm saying. And as I started to get older, I was like he was my inspiration to following his footsteps, but he was also my motivation and he was gonna

learn my name one day. And when I got to high school and he wore twenty four when he played with the Pistons, I purposely picked number four the too, because I'm like, I'm gonna be the opposite of how he was with me. Wow, And so that was my number in high school out of spite, literally, and so once I got to college, and I'm not mad at Mitch album now, but as I look back at it,

I'm disappointed. And he literally gave me a letter as he was writing a five five book the night before we played the national championship game, and I had never met my father. He gave me this letter because he had just talked to him for his book, and so I remember just sitting there staring at this letter. Ain't no excuse by the way we got waxed, and you know, I ain't got no problems talking about bad games or whatever.

But I just remember like thinking about this years later and understanding that this has such a profound impact on me. I kept that letter for like seven years with me and never even opened it, like Linus in the Blanket on Charlie Brown, Like, I just kept it with me, just always in my bag, always with me, always with me. And after we made the finals, when I was in the league and after I got paid and I was almost improved, I was like, now I'm ready, And I

remember being at Dale David's crib. They was in the front playing poker, and I went in the back in his bathroom and I opened the letter and I read it and it was a number on there, and I called him. I'm like, I'm about to call him right now. And the first number he wasn't there. They gave me a second number. Second number wasn't there. I ended up talking to like his sister, and she was giving me some game about him, some good games, some bad game, good game. He's a great man. He would love to

meet you. It's all, you know, he whatever. Then there was some dubious things like he had thirteen kids by Levin women and died out of that. So it's all types of like just and so I finally got him on the phone first day. I told him, as I loved him, I thank them for the jenes, I thank them for the inspiration. And I told him I ain't got no hard feelings. I made it and however the journey took us, this is how God meant it to be. And so I want to meet you. I want to

celebrate you. I want us to be able to start a relationship. And the crazy thing about this day they a couple of years go by, I'm playing in the league I'm working in the media. I'm talking to him on the phone and like twenties to two thousand and seven, and I'm like, I'm coming to see you this summer. He died before the playoffs ended and I got a

chance to see him. I believe he died like I was working on the finals, as you know, and I was gonna go see him like in July, and I believe he died before I got a chance to actually go see him. But I did go to his funeral with Dave being And for all you youngsters out there is having a lot of babies and choosing not to be in their lives, let me tell you something. His funeral was the coldest thing you ever want to see.

It was like, I'm not making this up. It was like in a cafeteria and it was like thirty people there. It was so chilling. I was like, yo, WHOA. I was like, I'm just dropped to my knees and and just like ask for forgiveness to any of my sinness, because whatever this is, I don't want this, you know what I'm saying, Like you can have an infant have a funeral and it could be hundreds of people there. You see what I'm saying. And so that experience did

teach me a lot. But being a part of the NBA family and Kareem map do a Jabar coming up to me talking to me about, Hey, I went to your grandmother's house. She cooked real good, like to hang out with your dad or whatever. And Clyde Fraser telling me stories and Jerry West telling me stories and stuff like that. I appreciated how they still treated me those O g s like I was in the family then, even though I wasn't mm hmm because I was. That's deep, man,

That's that's deep. Wow. You know I have I've had my little fair share of issues. And when you're going through it, no nobody talks anymore. And so until you start talking to someone, you realize, yo, it's so many more people going through the same thing. But when you're going through it by yourself and feel like you're the

only person got that issue correct. And I applaud you for you for your approach to have to be mad enough to call him and say, man, I am mad at you, I love you like and I appreciate you. That's so powerful. What I will say that of people out there is if you're having those issues, talk to somebody. You'd be very shocked on the guy that you talked to next year got the same issues. But also, here's the other thing I want to say. You don't realize how much anxiety and pain and hurt that you have

from that. So if you can fix it, do it. That's the other thing. Like there's certain relationships that for whatever reason that just you can't repair. But if you can fix it, do it. Mm hmm. J Rose, I appreciate you, my brother. Thank you for coming on the show always. I love you, my brother, Wanta call away. I see you in the playoffs. Yes, sir, I love you too, Bro. Thank you, Yes, sir,