🎙️🏀 Corey "Homicide" Williams

Hi Legends, Welcome back to the Mason Cox Show. Now today we've got a special guest. This guy has got plenty of experience behind him. His resume is massive. He's played in the NBA, he's played in the NBL, He's been all over the world playing basketball, and now he's one of the head commentators for the NBL here in Australia. He's a man with a lot of golden nuggets in life. He's a person that you can learn a lot from in This chat is going to be amazing, But as

I must say I will roll through some of it.

Freshman nineteen ninety five ninety six help him value in the NJCAA Men's Division two basketball Championships. JUCO First Team All American is a sophomore player Alabama State Montgomery, Alabama won d League Championship. Criminal Justice Degree NBL Commentatory, you might start to understanding who this guy is on NBL Overtime Creative Director of the Basketball sorry basketball for Footlalck or Pacific.

Hey man.

He even dropped twenty six points on Ronald Test one time. He's won the twenty ten NBL MVP for the Townsville Crocodiles. Yes, that is one of the greatest team names I've ever heard in my life. And to be honest, I've got a whole list of the teams he's played for, but I think it's about three pages long, and it's Jamaican roots. Man, the great man, the myth that is Corey Williams. Thank you, homicide. Good to have you here much love man. How you doing, man,

Hey man.

I I was reading up on you, a was doing all this research. Man, there's it's hustle man. You're a hustleman. I love it.

You make the most of empor every opportunity.

Man.

I'm excited to dive deeper into it. I'm excited to dive deeper into it.

I appreciate it, man, That's why I wanted to come here. I'm obviously a fellow American who we now both you know, call Australia home where we reside. And obviously you in the game. I'm in the game in a different way. But we're here. You know, we're doing it.

We're making a life away from home, no doubt, which is good.

I mean it's not easy. There's not always an.

Easy road, but not always an easy road.

You're going to make the most of the opportunities given to you in life.

And I feel like that we've done pretty well. Brother, we are a lot to come. Man, I'm here now. I want to I know a lot about yourself. I know some of the listeners probably need to get a little bit of background on your right.

Let's talk about it. You grew up, man, you grew up in New York.

Yes, I'm from the Bronx, New York born and raised.

Now we say the Bronx right now, I know what the Bronx says, but you need to tell people what it's like.

It was a daily life in the Bronx.

Like the Bronx is a dangerous place. That ain't a place you would want to grow up if you had a choice. I put it like this. If you are traveling and visiting New York, that is the borough they will tell you do not go to. The only way you go to the Bronx is if you're going to watch the Yankees play. That's the first stop in the Bronx. From Manhattan. You're on the train. The first bridge you cross that you stop in the Bronx first, that's the

Your mom was a nurse.

My mother was a nurse. God blessed dead. My mother died four years ago. My pride enjoyed my buddy cancer. Man can't listen, Man, Kanser is no joke. You know, I'm very proud that you know the things that I was able to do for her. And she's traveled the world. She saw a sunplay multiple countries, and she saw a sun transition to life after the game. So she's rested and having proud of all her children, no doubt, Heather Party, She's been with me with street ball bounds, you know

So what was a lot?

I mean, you got a single mother, yep, growing up, you got two brothers, one brother and sister and sister. Yeah, now what was the luck on day? Like you were allowed to leave the house. I mean we talked about you know, being a very a place you don't want to be out at night. Yeah, you know, like in the day and were you allowed, Like what was the what was what was the what was the life like for you? What was the rules around the house living in that kind of place.

My father died when I was three, so my mother a young mother, raising in schools, still in college, raising her two sons, and it was a very rough environment. I mean, like it could have gone either way.

Man.

Man, you'll do like sometimes, like till this day, I'm so far from where it began. But I sometimes sit back and I just laugh at myself, like, yo, dude, it could have gone either way. Like I'm just chilling on my balcony in Australia, just catching a vibe, you know what I mean, looking in the city, listening to noises and traffic you know, and all of this, you know, just life over here and just sitting back and it's like, yo, man,

I always kind of think like it's almost like it's a real community feel. Yeah, so the streets going to look after certain people, you know, that's a bit like that. And I was like, I was thinking that I wonder if he was one of those that, you know, someone sees you at the wrong time and I said, nah, your mom, we're gonna as.

No doubt, you don't need to be out here. What are you doing? That type of So they protected us in a sense because we represented the hood.

Yeah you know, and you would you would represent getting out of it too, no doubt, and you go back now and you'd be like, Okay, I'll look at you'd probably go back.

You'd look at the people and create me.

If I'm wrong, you probably go back, look at the people and say, look, my journey is insane. I'll go back to the States and I'm like, I'll talk to people and that, man, how soccer going.

I'm like, shit, it's good, but no idea. I'm just thinking.

I'm like, man, man, I've come a long wife from grew up, and that was nowhere comparatively to like what you've had to go through going out.

Yeah.

Man, so that's just my neighborhood. Then you know that's so as bad as you don't know how bad it is if you're in it, you know what I mean. If you're sitting in ship, you don't really know how bad shit is because you've been sitting in the ship from the gym, you know what I mean. So once basketball has it is evolved me with my travels, the ability of the game, what my talent and the scholarship said I've gotten, and these opportunities that I've gotten forget

We're gonna jump too far because I want to kind of step through this because there's a lot a lot to cover here now. I like to talk about moments that change people's lives in whatever way, you know, whether it be good, bad, ugly, whatever it is. Now I think and listening to you and doing a bit of research, there's you going to Catholic school in Harlem, I'm assuming that was a massive change of direction for your your

What you're making and education is huge to us in culture. So if nothing else, you're gonna go to school and you're gonna get a job. You definitely gonna get the degree. You're gonna get a job, You're gonna work, and you're gonna go to school. So I'm in middle school at this point. This is your success is yes, success, I'm like school things. You know, I'm like twelve, eleven twelve, right thirteen. You start high school eleven twelve, So I'm like the class clown because I'm not the flyest dude.

You are now though, yeah, got.

A little you know that.

We moved on up.

So my grades were bad. This is an era where they will grade you on behavior versus if you're close to a C or a D, they'll behave you on your they'll grade you on your effort. That's what if. So if your f it's bad and you in your class clown. We're gonna give you a D. So my report card was all read I was such a bad kid in school, trying to be a class clown. In junior high school, which is middle school. They told me you can't even graduate. We're going to give you your

First thing, I'm thinking, what is this?

What is this? Go in? We see the d Dean looks at my transcript says there's no way we can. We can let him in. Academically, he will fail, he can't keep up. My mother begged the dean, please let my son in. Dean looked at my mother, looked at me and said, here's what I'll do. We'll let him in. We'll put him on academic probation for the first half of the year, and if those grades pan out, we'll keep going. If not, he has to leave done. She found a way, found a way, found my mother found

Yep, she's got work.

Pays her tuition, pays my tuition. Little did I know this was the number one high school in the nation for basketball. Felipe Lopez went to Rice High School, so this school was a basketball factory. I didn't go for basketball. I went for disciplinarian reasons. We need to straighten this little one out to give them a chance. So once I ended up going to the number one high school in the nation, Oh my god, basketball and all I

Be average.

So it wasn't about academically if I was able to handle it, it was about discipline again. Accountability breedze responsibility. You want to hoop, pass these classes and act right done. Structure was what I needed. So again I said it earlier, wake up, go to school. After that, you got study hall. After that, you got practice, back home on the train, shower, eat, sleep, repeat. Midweek and weekends you got games. I have no time for trouble, and I'm laser focused because now I'm seeing

So grind opportunity as as it exposure leads to opportunities, leads to expansion. Expansion, sorry, exposure leads to expansion. I like that, so you get to that's the first intro into basketball, no doubt. Now what made you fall in love? Yeah, you have friends that were doing it too at the same time, and like it kind of just got into it with him. Is that because I feel like that's

From man big big, big, big up, Jemmy cun Pete brothers, no doubt, no doubt. So you know I would to give my mother a rest because I energy wise, I was all over the place. She was this close to putting the lesha like I'm I was disclose, So to

You doing today? Man?

Man, I ain't got nothing going on. What you're doing today? He's like, I got a game. I was like, can I come with you? He's like, yeah, come on. So I went love it first sight. It wasn't it wasn't even love. It was an obsession. Oh my god, I don't know how to play this game. I gotta play it. So that's where it started. This was like at eleven.

This is like you go to a basketball court in the community there, it is the place to be.

Is what connects everything.

Rucker Park back in the day, which is just an infant. If you're in Melbourne, you know, paran summer gen paran basketball court, right, just that that's done one weekend in Melbourne. That's a weekend in the summertime. We do what you see that weekend every day for the whole summer. It's almost like seventy five basketball tournaments in New York City in the summer. It's the mecca of basketball. So that's where you wanted to be. That's we didn't care about.

Yeah, I love it. What's the weirdest thing you've seen?

This is going off track, but what's the weirdest thing you've seen one of those basketball courts? I mean, because they got like the hype man on the mic, you got like everyone running around, someone dunks, everyone just like collapses into the court. Like I think people have kind of seen it, but they don't quite understand how just crazy it is. Like I love that you shout out France Summer Jam.

That was really cool. I went to it last year and unreal. Did the dunk contest to my family?

Man?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely my family. Yeah, I'll judge the dunk contest. Some of the guys are wildness.

Yeah, man, it's actually good competition.

It's dopes. So that's the biggest and best street ball tournament in Australia and they're actually so dope. They just had their tenth anniversary. Jordan is sponsoring it this year. You know, Jordan brand doesn't touch anything if it's not elite. So for from where they started to where it is today and Jordan is sponsoring that, that is huge. That's huge.

So what's what it is.

So, so we go from you finding out through your brother you kind of follow your brother in the footeps Dawson, wha did that growing up into? You know, just you follow the older brother what he does? You answered them because you have an idolization towards the old older brother Thoms. Now you get into how do you get into this whole nj NJCAA men's Division two basketball championship.

So because this is not this is ninety five ninety six, right right?

So I ended up going to Rice High School ninety one, graduated ninety five.

At this point, did you have people looking at you hit?

That's a good question.

Yeah, so at this point I know how it works, like you're going to recruit it from there and then it goes on.

So what happened was because I'm at the number one high school in the nation, I had to work my ass off to attempt to make a team.

Did you play in high school? Yeah? I played ice, So you played.

I played freshman and I played JV junior varsity. I got MVP of Junior varsity, which means I should go to varsity for my junior senior year. We were so stacked with talent in that school. They made a varsity B team. A varsity B team. Who does that? That's how much talent there was at that school. So I ended up my junior year playing varsity. By right, they went city in state. Felipe Lopez, he has the ESPN thirty for thirty, The Dominican Dream. He was Lebron before

The comfeter system basically.

So or if you are a talent that's not fully developed and still needs more developing, you go to a junior college like myself at that point, I needed to go to JUCO. You think I could.

Hell No, get me to hell about that Bronx anyway, bosure leading to expansion.

Okay, So now I go where Kansas City, Missouri? I go to junior college. Yeah, that is city from the Bronx.

Dude, Come on, man, the day you would have rocked up there?

God, Yo, what this is Kansas This is a city exactly, No disrespect to Kansas City.

We love Kansas City, right, but if you're comparing that story. Yeah, you can't.

You compare that to the Bronx. That is literally the opposite end of the spectrum. Yo.

Just just to have that opportunity for school to send me a ticket to go visit that was incredible in itself. I'm like, yo, man, like, I'm really gonna go see a school they want me to. You know, they're interested in signing me to go to the school. My mind was already made up. I don't care what it looks like.

I'm out of here. I'm taking the ticket first there and just.

Needs to start. The process needs to start. So went. I agreed. I signed my letter of intent right there.

You have the train or anything with them.

Yeah, I played, I played and all that.

You know.

A couple of the recruits that came from all over America that went, we all played different positions. I'm like, well, I signed best there. No, I wasn't the best there, but I showed what I can do either way. I signed while I was there. Right there, You ready to go? Done?

Done?

I got a school, because that's a proud moment. That's a huge achievement to get a scholarship. I had a full ride, room and board, you know, so the process begins, went home, told my mother signed she said, I graduated high school and went to the ceremony.

He got an invite.

I got the invite and through the Kapan and the journey began. Yeh off to Kansas City, Missouri. One would have been super proud, super proud, super crowd. Yeah. So year one we win the championship stacked and at Juco. Here's the funny story. See, in junior college there's really no age limit to players. Yo, dude, dude. The guy I was playing behind, I'm eighteen. The dude was twenty seven.

That's yo, twenty seven seven For those out there, twenty three is when you graduate.

Twenty seven is old man's status, Like twenty seven.

Is like you should have a legit job, settled down with a family.

But now what are you doing starting ball a Juco?

Yo, dude.

So I'm like you going in there going, I'm yo fresh meet.

Just like, we end up winning the chip though I literally got no burn, I got little to no playing time, and I couldn't be mad because these guys was getting it done. So all it did was continue to motivate me more. When I left high school. These guys were so good that I played with the high school. I said to them in class when they like we sitting down like this, I said, look, I ain't that good right now, But one day I'm gonna be good. I'm gonna catch up with y'all and I'm gonna bust all

Right. It's a hustle.

So fast forward. I get the juko, we win the championship. First year fresh first year, we win the championship Division two juco. Never forget this moment the coach. We're up literally like but winning the game. The game is one. We might be up like I think maybe twelve points. It might be like, I don't know, ten seconds left in the game. I didn't play all day. He puts me in the game.

Why would you do that time.

Why would you do this?

And you hear it, you got she said, Corey, Corey, Yo, you know how humiliating that is, Like you might as well don't put the kid in.

There's no reason to put the kid in. And I wanted to transfer. I wanted to transfer. After that, I was like, Yo, but where could I go? I had no options right, but in my mind, I'm like, anywhere got to be better than here if he's not playing me. And what happened. He got a head coaching job somewhere else.

Now worried about you.

I've even worried about.

You, you know.

So when I got that opportunity at JUCO a sophomore year. That year, I wrote a list down, because this is what I do. I write down my.

Goals, break it down.

I said, I'm gonna win the championship. I'm gonna be reaching sixteen MVP, I'm gonna be first team All American, I'm gonna lead the nation and scoring top five at least, and I'm gonna be the man on his team. And I achieved all of those things and we lost year two at a buzzer in the championship.

It's a crush.

I hit every target and I had I had several offers, and I went to a HBCU because that's where I want to go to. I went to Alabama State Montgomery, and I graduated. I had my associate's degree in arts and my favorite class was art history one on one and one on two. I loved art, just learning about art. And I failed it the first time and I enjoyed taking retaking it.

It was my favorite class. Loved Juco. This is why you're such a fashionable fellow.

I don't know, man, I think it's just the New York. The New York like really man like. There's a lot of pressure growing up in New York. It's the fashion capital of the world. And you can't leave your house out. You can't leave outside your house without like looking cool, yeah or else. The jokes on you. You know what I mean, And it's an expression, and it's a form of uh extension of your personality. Before you talk, you know what I mean. Your style introduces you before you

Glasses. I'm looking.

I want to ask you something about your youth before we get into the basketball side. Things were gonna talk about Rocker and everything else. But now your born name was Carrie.

Carrie. Yep, let me tell you what happened. So my government name is Carrie because it is a lot of Jamaicans. Yeah, my government I'm still going to day. I've never officially changed. I would never officially change it. But what happened was as a Jamaican would say Carrie, Carrie, but in America they would be like Carrie. I'm like yooo. I'm like, yo, my name is Carrie. They like teacher Carrie Williams. I'm like, yo, my name is Carrie. How many times can you correct? Everybody?

You want to come out You've been like, let's say good, let's see it.

So from kindergarten all the way from five years old, all the way to middle school. When's middle school start eleven, eleven and thirteen, right, so five to ten carry carry, carry, carry care. They tease me my ball you carried, carry my bag? You know, kids a mean man, kids a meaning. So so then I get to middle school, grade eleven through thirteen, right, I'm sorry, age eleven to thirteen. Yeah, the first day teachers doing attendance carry Williams. I said,

The day you got there, you were prepped right.

Doing this shit again. We are not. We are stopping the new people in this room that don't know who I was before.

We're gonna fix this shit before it starts now. So from then on, Corey, Corey just and Corey love that. Yeah, the only person that knew.

Let me tell you. You wanna hear funny story?

I hit it.

So let me tell you. Uh So, back when Bogan was playing in the league.

Yeah, so, uh Bogan.

One day we were having because you know, Bog and I used to go back and forth something right.

He likes to be a big controversial.

Both We're gonna tell you what you feel straight and I respect it, you know, as I'm gonna tell you. So, I just feel in the space that I'm in like any other commentator, if you have an opinion and you're going to talk about it, you better be able to take it, so you know, it's all good. So I we're at MBL awards night, so I see him like some big fella. He was like, how you doing Carrie.

Research?

I was like, fuck this, I gotta go on the something on him.

You gotta go do some research on his ass.

Now, I said ship. So when he said it, I kind of planned it, like you know, like have a good night, walked off. I was like, funk, I gotta get on the front foot of this. I can't have Boget say it. So then I think the next day, I uh, I had to do MBO overtime, I think, and next day okay, yeah, So I just pulled it up there.

Well.

I was like, uh, yeah, man, I want to tell you guys something. Man, I'm gonna tell you all the story. And I brought up like an old story about my name.

So at least on the now you now you're back in first fluch. Now you're back in first notice. Oh so he did his hed. I'd be I would be gobsmacked if someone did that. I was just like, oh, Buget Man, Bugets good man, bug is good the best.

He got a podcast happening too.

M m. He's doing a lot, Man doing a lot. Yeah.

Now you so you graduate? So you sorry, We're going to Alabama State. Now yeah, we've kind of a verge a bit. We're going to Alabama State. Now tell me about this.

So we get into is D one Division one. I wanted to go to Historical Black College University HBCU.

Can you tell people a bit like that? Because I don't think people understand kind of the history behind it.

So what an HBCU is is back in the day, a long time ago, when obviously civil rights movement was happening, and there was a lot of segregation in America. Blacks African Americans could not go to schools where it was predominantly white schools. So what we did was make up our own colleges and universities, and it was historically black colleges and universities and real rich and culture and history, and a lot of our grandparents and great grandparents went there.

Now I kind of think about this. A lot of people have seen the movie Great Remember the Titans.

Uh huh? Now, I think once that was Alabama, Obama? Talk about that one, You know that I went to Alabama State. Yeah, it was the same area. There's a lot of history here with the Civil Rocks and anything else.

The Civil Rights movement was in Montgomery, Alabama. But like, why I went to an HBCU is because Bill Cosby had produced a show called The Cosby Show where it portrayed the black American family in a positive way. Because back in those days, there weren't anything on. There wasn't any positive portrayal of the black family on television. All we saw was a show called good Times and they were living in the projects and it was all bad.

Right.

It was a negative depiction of a loving African American family. So what Bill Cosby did was flip it. He was a doctor on the show, his wife was a successful lawyer, and his kids all were incredible young kids. Right then they lived a fruitful life in Brooklyn, living in a very very nice brownstone. So again it made you see a positive black family on television doing incredible things, role models.

HBC Grambling States one of them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a lot of HBCUs. But Howard is like Jordan just sponsored Howard, so that lets you know, yeah legit.

Yeah.

So because of this TV series where they were showing the African American college experience, I was like, wow, all black college, man, this thing it looks beautiful. So I always wanted to go to an HBCU and they did a poll many many years ago why students ended up going to HBCUs, and a lot of them was because of the show bill Cosmic, So it just had a positive, a massive positive influence. So I wanted to go there and play basketball, and I had the opportunity to, so

But these four years of eligibility is how we kind of So you have four years eligibility, first two JUCO and then you get opportunity to go up in the leagues. You go up to a better league and you get into Alabama Stike. Now, this is D one. This is legit Vision one. Legit is where it's at.

This is where it's at.

You've got two years of eligibility, got two years to.

Try to make something happen. My dream is the NBA. My dream is the NBA. So I go in there and I my junior. First of all, I'm major in criminal justice and I specialize in juvenile justice. The reason being is because again I wanted to catch and not always. There's something in my eye I'm very passionate about till this day. I always want to catch. Wanted to catch that high school age thirteen to like eighteen nineteen, both

I wanted to promote education. You want to get that one hundred.

Percent, my mother told me. I said, ma, I want to play pro. She said, look, son, do whatever you want, just make sure you get that degree. I said, done. Smart, So junior yeah, I averaged sixteen. By the way I looked at it was this is not a big university. So for me to really get a shot, I got to average twenty. I got to average twenty. If I

Now.

You know, with them small schools, what we start doing first we start playing against the Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma states of the world. Right, So what y'all do to those small schools.

Y'all beat us about forty and fifty boys like me or playing in those guys.

Yeah, so it's like I can't even make a basket around this guy, you know what I mean. So it's like we getting smacked.

Favorite games.

Alabama of course, just beat up on the little guys. So we lost literally of course we lost all of those games. Those are non conference those are non conference, right, so we lose me obviously, we lose all five of them six seven. Wee gets smacked because.

Like universes like Oklahoa said, would pay you exactly to come be our homegun right, play exactly exactly get the refinancial thing.

So with all of that, the coach says, man, we ain't gonna do shit this year. I might as well get the young guys ready. He pretty much splits time with the freshmen and sophomorees. I go from sixteen a game, I didn't average ten. My senior year is done. That's it. Dream is done.

Where's Jamanda? At this point?

Dream is done? I'm just like man, I gotta I'm still gonna make it. It's just not this way.

It's gonna be harder.

It's gonna be definitely harder. I don't know how I'm gonna make it, but I'm gonna make it. Here's what happens. I'm in the dor on one day, I never forget on the couch, and I'm on the bed reading Slam magazine. Slam is the Bible street ball, Okay, talking about guys getting opportunities from the playground to go to college. What it is you know so much talent guys that NBA players play in these parks. I'm like, well, I gotta go to the NBA. I gotta I gotta go kill

Four thirty something thirty?

How many players on each team? Fifteen fifteen, fifteen times thirty? Four hundred and fifty, four hundred and fifty players active in the NBA. So it's still a little mad old bless. Cut the four fifty and half, that's two twenty five. That's your top eight rotation, your top eight.

Yeah, ridds are in games minutes, top eight, no matter what.

Yep, two twenty five left. Cut that in half's two twelve, one twelve and a half, right, that's the next generation that's going to jump into this two twenty five. So that's like the new the Stars coming next. Because the top eight those are like the stars they set right, But some of those guys are on their way out. So that one twelve and a half is jumping in there. Right out of that one, twelve and a half left.

Playing seven to eight?

Right? The world is big? The game now is now what not domestic? No more? Right, it's international, which means again, people everywhere want to get into that fifty six. College kids don't even know those numbers. You don't even know what you're fucking up against. Let alone a guy thinking he's gonna just be in the dome talking about getting in from street ball. No, one's never done. That's not even dude, you can't it's not you can't even fathom that.

Yeah, dominate that to even be looked at.

You're not even gonna get a look because it never happens. Yeah, I gotta figure this shit out. From the Park Graduate College back to New York. That's where it begins. It starts where Rocker Playground. So here's what I have to do again.

So you're you're your back of my mom.

Now I'm back home, back home, off first summer home, and you go, shit.

I don't need to sort this out.

Because I'm not coming back in this house.

Were you one of those people was like, I'm never I'm gonna sort some shit out. I'm not going to live here for the rest. I'm not going to want to find a way no matter what I don't see.

I don't see more. I saw more, went to college.

You know what I mean. I started from the bronx. You don't want to take it up. You want to take a step back.

I'm not going back to the hood. I went back to Kansas. I went to Kansas City. Then I went to Alabama. Right so, I'm got New York East Coast. Then I went to the midwest Kansas City, Missouri. Then I went down south to Alabama. Right now I'm back up top to New York. Okay, summer time. I'm way more developed than I was when I left high.

School for four years in the gym, proper training, proper guys.

Focus discipline in the weight room with a death wish list. If your name is on that list, I have to kill you. I have no choice. I have no choice. I got no choice. This is it. This is it. You ever play against somebody that got no choice? Move the fuck out their way, Move out their way. So I was on that kind of mission right get to the park. I got a list of names. They don't

Talk about a couple people's head off since.

My second game. First game, I had forty something. Nobody knew me, and the guys that knew me, they're like, that's Corey from Rice, which means what I wasn't good back then, and what I told him in class, I'm gonna get good and I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna bust your ass. They laughed, never forgot till this day out of Let's see me see, let's see what's up now, because now it's even You know, why ain't no coach sweating you giving you all the minutes and

You're the first ever street ball against sneaker deal.

Sneaker deals, And let me tell you the sneaker deal, because there's many of them that had them before me, because there's the whole signature. I had a signature sneaker deal with K one next in Germany when my sneakers sold in foot Locker Global.

Ye.

All right, So when you see Lebron's Jordan's mellows, the one A SEVENS was there, which is the police cod for homicide. That's the name of my sneaker loyalties on it and all that even give you even more. I was balling in the NBL and got MVP of the league, balling in my own shoe. Come on, bro, come on man, I'm gonna say that again. I'm gonna say that again. I was in the NBL that got MVP of the league, balling in my own shoe, solding foot locker in Australian footlocker,

Man.

You know what I'm saying. I'm very grateful for where this journey began. But I know the kind of work that this shit takes. You know what I mean. I don't play with my work. I don't play of my life. I know what it's take, what it takes to get to where I gotta get to. A lot of this ship was done no fucking help.

None on the scenes know have real works done.

So I have no problem doing what I need to do. I know how to do it. Sometimes it might take longer, but I'd rather go longer without help than with help. And in this bullshit help and it's people acting like, yeah, if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be here and all that nonsense. So you know, I just I just do the work, you know what I'm saying. The results come how they come, But I do to I've been putting in work for a long time, you know what

That's a story.

We'll get to the store now. It's not in is more to the professional side things. We're still in the street Ball state.

Street Ballman on the super Ball it was it was really like some serious battles.

The only I said home, saw the name and was this who gave it to you? Do you remember the actual person? So the MC and he just randomly said one day again.

What happened was this, they gave me a name based on my style of play. It didn't start with that. In the first quarter, it was nothing. It was just a couple of buckets. Then it was like, wait a minute, like this dude is killed. He's a hard worker. We call him the hard Worker. Then the buckets just kept getting harder and harder. I was just buckets after buckets, three dunk mid range to the rack, layup left hand right. It was the names just get kept getting They like, yo,

There's any others that floated around for it.

It was like it was like the killer because he's killing them because we give like in New York, we give a name based on your style of play. Right, So the harder I kept going. The heart of the name kept going. So they kept like, as as I'm playing playing in this game, they're thinking of names to give me. As the buckets continue to keep piling on and on, so They're like, Yo, what should we call them? So there's people in the crowd screaming out names. So

You brought up, you said Rutger. Now, I've always wanted to play Rutger, always wanted.

That's the Madison Square guard in the street ball call.

I get absolutely fucking embarrassed, But one of these days will be the tallest white guy out there, right, Yeah, My brothers played there. My brother played one day. He all he brought was a Subway card. There was no no credit cards, no cast.

No nothing.

It can happened the Metro card in a pair of basketball shoes.

They were out there for a day and played and balled out and they called him white Chocolate or something like that.

Was just throwing all oops to him. Though white Dude dunk like that.

I haven't been there yet, but it's all my It's on my bucket list, on my bucket list. Can you explain to people because Rutger has changed, Like, Rutgers become a lot bigger than what it was back in the day. Now it is internationally known. It is a place that NBA players go.

It is nice.

Is it's a lot nice than it probably was back in the day. They've got proper courts there and proper tournaments in the Drew League and everything else we're gonna get into. I want to talk about Rocker. Can you give me an explanation of what Rucker Park is?

So Rutger Park is basically the most famous street ball court in the world. It's in Harlem. It's been epic from back in the day. See the history stems from Doctor j was out there playing, Wilt Chamberlain was out there, Tiny Archiball, two time MVP in the NBA. So these are legends from New York or from Philly that would come up to play because they knew like he's like, man, he's some bad We hear them. There's a park in New York where there's some bad dudes getting down. So

Right.

So, now a guy might think you rock up these guys. Ain't that good? You know this whole shit. Yeah, I'm in the NBA, I got a shitload of money, I'm better than you guys, and blah blah blah. Come up there and get your ass busted. You come out there and get your ass come out one like, don't come out there if you really ain't that because again we was talking about it earlier. If you take the top seven players off of an NBA team, a lot of everybody else, a lot of those players are specialty players.

Probably not?

That shit ain't for everybody, you know what I mean? So the playground basketball, it's art, That's what it is. It's poetry in motion. Is that's where you really express yourself with God got handles behind the backspin of a guy who's super athletic, you know what I mean. It's more free flowing, it's a little organized, it's a little structure. It is more free flowing and it's freestyle play. So that's why what makes it beautiful.

You're not running, Yeah, run running. Horns come on.

And the crowd will lets you know, like, yo, we ain't come to see that ship the fuck out of here, they'll tell you. So then you have the crowd atmosphere that brings it to a whole other level. And they're right on top of the So you're gonna get an NBA feel, not in an NBA arena. That's the best feel you're gonna get in the summertime. That's why the competitive guards and forwards and players love to play in that.

Now you you play the street balls, we'll go back. So now you've given us an idea of Rucker. Now what kind of people are coming to Rutger? Yo, So tell me some stories here because I want I've heard stories. I want to hear them from you because you've actually lived and breathed this. Yeah, what are some stories of

It can get.

That's exactly what I'm gonna do. And I'm gonna start with the good. So on a good day, depending on who's playing. You know, back in those days, record labels used to own teams. So what they would do is, you know, with music with hip hop, the streets gotta love you, so you need the grassroots. You need the the urban communities and grassroots to fuck with you. They gotta fuck with your music. They really got to like

Right.

They would also have a budget, get really good players and stack their team. So Rockefeller had a team, jay Z, bad Boy had a team Puff right, Terror Squad had a team one of three years in a row. Fat Joe. All right, so they also they're rock they're superstars, right, they're millionaires. These are culture leaders and innovators right of

So Clinton was there one I played the.

Game when Bill Clinton was there. He was sitting next to Steph Marlberry and uh David Stern god by the day.

Yeah, yeah, every post in the commission watching it, and the a TV sponsored Roker.

Oh we'll get to that. Yeah, we'll get something.

Okay, okay, sorry, So we got gosh the good story. I mean, the Poters showed up. I ain't got to say nothing else. Okay, let's go to the other Potus wasn't here for this day? Was security. I just yeah, take the day off. He said, we're gonna go back to the White House. Now, you guys do what you do on the daily.

Okay.

So it was one game I played and uh, at the time I was dating female. I had to sit in court side and we were playing. I played for the home team, which was the Polo Grounds, the big Project tall building. So it's you have no problems with our team. You don DIVA magazine, one of the biggest shout out magazine. That's that's like the street Bible, you know, So you don't want no problems with that team. We the home team, and the commission Houses is right there.

Right.

Cool. So now when the crowd, you got guys drinking, you know, guys might be smoking, and marijuana is legal in America, so you know they smoking or whatever, and it's a different type of environment. Right, trash talking ensues. This game is a good game. So there's some serious trash talking going on between the home team's crowd fans and they're fans. Yeah, something happens. I'm just subbing out of the game playing. I'm on the court. I'm on the court. I tell the woman I was with, I

A rutger.

Yeah, one exit was closed off anyway, so it's mainly two exits. Now I grab her, we start running that way. The whole crowd start going that way. I'm like, gotta get her out of here. We start going back that way, the whole crowd start going that way. We start going this way again. Everybody's going this way because the fight is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And by the time they went that way, we shook. We went this way. As soon as we got out those gates, you just

How often do you think that happens?

Not a lot, Not a lot now because now with these parks, there's too much money on the line, so they beef up security heavy. So after that had to happen. Nate Robinson was there. Yeah, okay, he was there after that incident. Nothing like that has ever happened again.

Now you talk about a bit of money on the line. Now, I had a little assistant coach. I won't say names here. He loved the place a little bet.

I've got a feeling we'll talk about his name after, but I feel like he might have been in one of these games. He locked to throw down a bit, he locked to put money on the line. Was there a lot of that going on?

There was definitely a lot of those side bets, side bets. There's a lot of live side bets, like cash on the like. Look, man, these environments aren't aren't easy environe. Again, it's no different than like where I grew up. It's just it wasn't specifically these tournaments were in my hood. They were in different hoods. And his hood's way worse than my hood. And you know guys that you know threatedon you and be like listen here bee, it's fifty

That's good.

Yeah, it's like the thirty for thirty one about the referee and taking bribes and everything else and best. Yeah, that guy is kind of crazy. Oh my goodness, that was wild. Well I ask you this so we'll keep going the street books. I want to ask you in one tour. I know you've got a bit of animosity towards the end ones I do. I've seen a few videos of you.

I do.

I'm big on it.

I'm not big on it at all, and I'll tell you why, go ahead. Yet, I didn't want to take the street ball route to attempt to jump start a career that didn't even exist. That was the only choice that I had. And unless you are really and truly from that type of culture, you'll you get how you want to understand that there's really talent. There's talent there, right if you're not from that. What anyone did was market themselves as the best street ball players in the world.

Because they all were done. You talk about like Professor Hot Sauce. They're because of the nickname, but legally a lot of stuff they were doing they didn't care.

They just wanted to entertain that. They wanted to entertain the crowd.

That's what they were there for what they were and I love them all, trust me, I love them all, but they were glow trotters. They're like street ball hall and glow trust versus a real hoopa. Some of them could hoop. But that role they were playing, that's globe trotters. So you were known for being a globe trotter. Right, It's like WWE and a real wrestler. It's like, dude, I'm like, I'm a real wrestler, but you're putting me with WWE like that. I just hated it. So we

He said?

Homicide bus got silent. He's like, yeah, that's what I thought. Puts the bat signal out. Hit me up. I said, yo. He said, listen. I was just going to mini camp to go to Boston a couple of days before that and the Celtics, and I said, look, I don't know if I'm even gonna be there when y'all there. I said, I'm gonna tell y'all something. Y'all be picking them bums in the crowd, and that's why they be beating these teams.

This is a part of it.

So then you're doing the street ball, right, So anyone's there, it's like, that's that's not really basketball, that's just entertainment. Holland someone had nothing to do with what I was doing, And you're over here with your own shoe lines and boys you know, check it out. I want to ask this actually before we go dream shoe, what do.

You got my dream shoe?

Because I know you are fashion out. We're gonna get into fashion for.

Basketball, for lifestyle, lifestyle right now now the d Or Jordan's the d or Air Jordan ones. I got my pair, I got.

My alright, so you're going to your street ball right at this point you're playing now, I want to ask you about this circumstance that now has probably led you to getting the opportunities NBA level. Right, so street ball, everything's gonna happen. It's kind of crazy, and you say, you know a bit of sliding doors moment, you know what was it again?

Experience leads to exposure. Exposure leads to expansion.

So exposure leads to expansion. I remember that one.

But you get this opportunity to play against some bad dudes about our tests of the world. Now, tell me about this experience.

Everybody gets an opportunity, whether they can identify it or not as on them, but you get an opportunity to elevate yourself one step closer to whatever right I am killing on this street ball circuit. For a couple of summers. It didn't all happen in one summer, right, So I'm killing I go to a playoff game at Rutger, this team I played against regular season. We lost to them, but I had about thirty seven. They had nobody for me.

Right?

That's it.

That's the confidence man, I'll give you.

Are the moment here it is chump ball and get the possession on the wing, go to the rack. Little body, body contact, I put it up, blocks that ship. Get that ship out of here. Fuck out here with that bullshit, I said, motherfuck, I'm coming right back. Get the ball again, sweet through one dribbled floor to bucket. I needed that basket bad because again I'm six three. Ron test a six to eight, crazy wingspan, super strong, and comes from that. He comes from that that street shit. So I'm he's

He's the best.

He's the best. And the next and then I went overseas then I came back and that next summer they were still talking about all these regular other bullshit guys. I said, you know what, I'm gonna show these motherfuckers. I averaged forty that whole next summer and it was called the Summer Homicide. And after that rugg A Park game, they gave me MVP of the league. I got that, gave me MVP. That was the game changed the moment in my mind for me. But the game the game

Yeah.

Four position was a guy named Ali Mo. He played within one New York streetball legend God Bless the Dead and the five Man. He got cut by the next couple of years before that big Strick legend. That's their starting five, forty five. I gave him forty five. That was on NBA TV. That game got me a shot to the NBA Scout assistant coach from the Raptors heard about that, and what was the difference between him anybody else. He coached at a college in New York City. Hmm,

I was like.

Yeah. He's like, you're playing that Rutger Like nah, he said you're at Pro City. I mean, I said where you at? I said, I'm at Dykeman today. He said what time? Says seven? He's like, all right, I beat it. I see you later. I said, all right, coach, hung the phone up. NBA Scott NBA assistant coach. Yeah, now here you go, fork in the road. I don't give a fuck about the run on test. Shit that's in the past that led me to be confident to play against Jaye Smith and Dante Jones and them, right, get

That's now.

I'm here. Here's your moment. Guys like me don't get multiple chances. So these opportunities, you gotta do what exceed my own expectations because this shit don't happen again. Remember the dorm conversation, Remember the conversation and the dorm that I had with myself. Well, this gotta happen. I'm gonna make it to the NBA. This never happens. No one's

I'm like, by god, who the hell what is he doing in there?

He's hitting out the cage, out of the out the court, he's on the fence. They had just they just drafted Charlie Villa Nueva in the draft, right, so Charlie's next to them. They're just sitting there, just sitting watching like rag. Everybody just regular, like nobody did just walk down the streets just chilling. I didn't tell nobody he was gonna be there. Why. I didn't want nobody thinking they get any bright ideas, thinking this their chance. Fucking this opportunity. Yup.

So we're in bed now, but I want to go back, so I want to talk about your confidence you had. I'm gonna play this audio clip because this audio clip, this thing is peak confidence.

I feel like, I mean hit it.

Corey Williams aka Homie MVP of last year, Corey, what do you gotta say about this year?

Man?

I got to say that I'm gonna finish Alley more at the end of this game, I should have thirty if he stays in this right here. Don't mistake if any boat caught me NBA TV. But just know that this is hard work out here. I had to score twenty six points on runod test to get it. You might not believe it. The tape ain't on the NBA TV to show it. What I'm telling you, That's how I got MVP ash It's not a game out here, trust me. I work hard. Ain't not being in the NBA.

Like, that's all Tom called.

Man.

You can hear the voice though.

It's like, Man, put anyone in front of me, I'm gonna kill him.

Listen, when your back is against the wall, your.

Truest self shows.

When your back is against the wall, your truest self shows. It reveals whether you know it or not. So you know I worked hard, man, and you know I had. You got to back yourself. Ain't nobody backing you. You got to back yourself, man. Supreme confidence is something that I've always had. And I haven't won every battle, you know, but that's how I've learned. And but I've never lost my confidence, you know what I'm saying. And again, as I said, in my life, every time I had a

Up, at this point, you're shorting after the NBA.

I'm shorting after the NBA in Toronto, Toronto. I'll have the experience. Here's how the ship went, and.

Then you would be hyped right now, Man, I've done it.

You talk about.

Finally coming.

I was training on some rocky ship. I was on the beach running. I'm talking about like like this is it? Yeah, you know, I mean, this is it. I signed the deal and I get up there. I signed the deal to go to training camp, and I go to camp, and now here's how the opportunity came even about. Yeah, okay, there was three point guards. They had Jose calderone they just signed from Spain. They had Mike James, and they had a point guard who's been like a from Philly

So he's coming in half injured.

He's coming in already, yeah, more than half injured. Let's say, so you have a leg up on him, but just caught that. So they bring in three point guards just in case doctors say he can't play. Yeah, one of these three, Phil Spot myself. I'll go last. They bringing Tier Brown, who played with the Lakers the year before. They're bringing Robert Pack. Old school Robert Pack. He used to play with the with Sean Kemp and GP with Seattle Minnesota. Trusty Vet, a young young gun in Tier Brown.

You know what the coach is looking for.

I know it. So I'm like, let me just pick up full court. When I get the ball, run the offense and swing it. Go to the other corner. If it swings back, then I make a play. Look to create. That's how you do it. Shot clock going down, Look to create, that's how you do it. I stuck to this. Now, mind you, preseason starts. First game, I might have played outn't know, maybe five minutes ain't much you can do with this time. You can't try to go score forty

It's a little just like security. Okay, we're on where it alight. I got another shot.

I got another shot coming.

We play.

The final moment, fourth one fourth, Yet we play New Jersey nets. This is the year Vince Cardi gets traded to New Jersey. Yeah, in that off season is when I got the opportunity. This the year he goes to New Jersey, comes back plays Toronto, New Jersey versus Toronto in Toronto. In that offseason when he gets traded, there's a guy named Lamar. Murray says to the media, if this organization is dumb enough to trade their franchise player, trade me too. Yeah, they trade him to New Jersey.

See ya right, going to New Jersey.

Right, he's out of there. We're down ten points. Vince works us easy twenty five minutes and like twenty twenty five points in like twenty minutes, balls out. We down ten points five minutes left. Back of them days, game is over. Back in those days, like you just you just lay down. It's done. It's pretty's over. Let me just roll. The guys that don't get no playing time out, they call, they say time out. They sub me Robert pack Tear Brown in three point guards yea together together.

This is it. It's the opportunity.

One shot and they didn't make no cuts yet. It's like three games left. You gotta start making cuts. So I'm like, this is it, man, time out, Take everything off, go in the game. Take the ball out.

We all three of us can't run to the ball as point guards, right, So I'm like, man, let me just run the left wing, bring it up half court.

Coach goes time out. I'm like, yo, you just caught time out. Yo. We sit down. It was a twenty second He said, whoever Lamar Murray's garden, give him the fucking ball and run run display what I forgot the play name? Who Lamar Murray was Guarden?

You I want to payback. Looking straight at years, I.

Said, oh shit, I'm about to get the ball. Oh what's on? Ran to play, got the ball, went went to the rack right because he's like six seven six eight again waste lower than Ron Ron's height. So I'm out here. I'm on the key and I ripped first, went to the basket, kick it to the corner. Charlie three down seven, bucket, went back the other way, steal, go back this way, foul, go to free throw line, split them down six. They come back, score time out.

I said, on shit, we're going to start shoes that.

There. I'm like, what the fuck? I said, let me look at what? You know? You pull up this little thing.

Let me see if they shoes in it?

Gone? I said, oh shit, you know what. Calm down, put your shit on, go upstairs, get on the shooting machine, start working. What happens Robert Pack? Now Robert Pack. Alvin Williams trying to play, couldn't even barely move. But back in those days, he probably had like twenty five million left on his deal. He's trying to play. Doctor said he could play. That's how I get waived.

There wasn't There wasn't a lot of training trading back and forth as much as there is now.

It wasn't no, you know what, we'll just wave the contract. You get paid to sit down. That's how I didn't make the team. I left there so happy, you know why, better for the experience. I beat out the competition that I was in. Robert pact Brown was my comp I have no NBA experience and I didn't get waved that that New Jersey Net game saved me. But my point is it wasn't because I wasn't good enough. It just wasn't the right It wasn't no spot available or Rose

People look at a different waymen, no doubt. Say, you know, I'm pretty proud of where I come from.

Well, I've been able to do.

No doubt from the BX all day. I weigh at like a badge of honor. I've been all over the world. I lived all over the world. You know, I'm very grateful that I have an opportunity now to help build help a brand, build themselves out of the rubble. You know what I'm saying. That's the NBO was dead. He was dead, Larry Kesselman. Grateful for his vision because without his vision, I wouldn't be here. You know what I'm saying, Offer me the opportunity. I was like, Yo, just blow the ship up.

I want to.

I want to look at this because I've actually written down some of these teams still. Now I'm gonna I'm gonna you talk about resume rot We're gonna go through these teams. Dakota Wizard, he's manging off, Dakota Hey, Harlem Globe Trotters.

No, no, no, no, let's get this.

Now, we're gonna go back. We're gonna go back to, go back to. You're part of the tour. You're on the bus.

I was on the circuits.

Yeah, Club San Carlos, Brooklyn Kings, South Korea prorem Pro team tryout, and then you go to Brazil do minyas Uh, Sweden eight Stockholm, and then you go Denver Nuggets rookie for agent Cam.

You got Chinese Basketball Association. I might pronounce this wrong, Union Hung Hung Hey.

New Jersey Flyers, west Chester Wildfire, Toronto Raptors, Austin, Toro's shout out to Austin, Texas, sell Betold Baskets.

Numburg, Noomburg and Germany.

Yep, Yeah, Sioux Falls, sky Forest, South Dakota sou Falls, Venezuela for fock. Can you name this one? Something to Mageria, I.

Forgot the name of.

Goutais. I don't even know.

Guaya Caries or something.

Yeah, Indiana Pacers, France for call it basketball Schule, I mispronouncing everything, Golden State Warriors, Townsville, Crocodile's kk Uha, Russia until Night, Trotemundo's Day, Carabobo and.

Venezuela, Melbourne Tigers, Lebanon.

You played for Biblos Club, bejec Broops Club.

Oh, you're just gonna just got have to roll with this one, al.

Dad Tree, Tripoli and tadm On com On zook Zo and then Puerto Rican team called the Parts Day. Did you think you would played for those kind of You went all over, man, you traveled the world. Now this is me, So I'm gonna bring this back to my situation. Whenever I first came to IFL, I had no idea what the hell this thing was. Man, I thought it was these. I thought it was one of these where I've never heard of it. I don't know what it is.

You know, it's crazy.

Besides the home glop trotter.

Yeah, yo, the New York National was being shout out to them. That's how it started. I wasn't home, baby, I'll never forget where it started. All of these experiences that I've I've had, I've taken one thing at least from them all, and it's all shaped me. Like Iraq wasn't on there. I was in Iraq, play right, and the coolest thing about something like that. But the coolest thing about Iraq was that's where like I started watching Game of Thrones, you know what I mean, Like that's

Then you talk about the first Australia everything, and you come over here and you play for the Townsville Crocs. At that time, you were rocking a hell of a haircut. Yeah you have.

You had the the Spottle we like I had one eight seven in my head. Next, like I was really you know, I was really on my rock star ship. Man, you were really enjoying it? Like were you enjoying there? Like, I'm in a beautiful place in Australia. I guess this amazing after my place? I found my place? What made you fall in love with the Plus it was a style of play first of all, Like again, you know,

Right.

If you ain't adding value or producing, you're getting the fuck up out of there. They don't care if you love how beautiful a places you helping me win? Are you adding value to what the fuck I got going on? If you adding value, where you can stay the minute you don't a you can go. So I never lose sight of that, right. The best thing that happened was my agent knew with my style of play, what country

Right.

So my old thing was again, that's basically sleeping on this team, not respecting the players or the organization and think it's a walk in the park where under dogs. That fits perfect with who with me at the time, right, So okay, okay, listen, here's what we're building. Let's prove them wrong. So it worked out well. I was there for three seasons. I signed my first deal with them, and then after five games they wanted me to sign a two year deal.

Wow. Four games, Yeah, that's a big deal. Big deal.

So was there any team you specifically hated a bit more than others, Like, let's say, hypothetically, maybe Perth.

Listen, Okay, so it was a love hate relationship. You know, it's kind of like, uh, Perth or stuff. They were really physical. I respected them, but like I was just like, yo, kay, none of y'all really guard me, you know what I mean? Like, it's not I'm not worrying about the guy on me that's guarded me. I'm worrying about the other two guys that's helping. I'm gonna blow past you. But how can I get to the bus get with these two other guys they're waiting. So it was a good team and

It's in Perth.

In Perth, so we lost by forty in Perth. Crowd gave it to me. Coaches like you stink. Sit down, crowd giving it to me, right, And I'm like, never forget this moment because you deserve it. You didn't show up. You didn't show up, You stink, you didn't show up. You'll be back in like five days. Refocus we go again. Came back. Obviously, if you just beat a team by forty, you think this is an easy win. John really ten to three points made broke history in finals history, the

Right? We win?

I get it, We get a deflection, we get a steal. At the end, they throw it to me. I go down the court, dunk it, run around the arena, took my shirt off, run around the arena, got to the got to the camera.

Now hold up talking off the flight right.

Where with the jail man? Good night?

For why how the sun Raims get It's what we have heard town.

We knock off the Perth Cast Challenge stadium.

That is exactly how we said, Hi, this is what we're about. This is what we fuck it about.

Crock Nation was born right there, and they threw everything they could at me. They threw everything in that arena they could at me. Almost insinuated a riot. But you know it was just a great way to say the Perth man like, fuck you.

Yeah, I love it. Yeah, absolutely, just giving it to people. Absolutely, man, there's nothing better in life.

Never be a hostile territory, beating him in the hostile territory and then give it to him after to let him know that, just toppened.

Yeah, like they were in disbelief. Is shocked. I don't think nothing like that has ever happened before in the sport.

Yeah, I was like on my Westbrook shit, you know what I mean.

Like I was on my Westbrook shit. And you know it it worked well. You know, we lost game three to go to the Grand finals. So and the next year we lost game three to go to the Grand Finals and we were on the road. Obviously, you know how it is man home court advantages, it's a big deal. And we overachieved with the team that we had, so it still was like a win, you know what I mean. I didn't win a championship with them, but I still won the point, you know what I mean. Point. Yeah,

Since I've been here in the last eight years, I've seen a huge, huge difference. You talked about whenever LaMelo came over and started playing, how big that was on the international stage. Arjett Barrett, all these kind of people have come over. How much have you seen from your own personal perspective, how big of a change it's been in the NBL in the last twenty years.

Like the biggest change in the NBL is Larry Kesselman visionary. I'm obviously a very successful businessman and went into his pockets getting invested. You know, you know how it is, man, Like a lot of people talk it, man, A lot of people don't back it up and walk it. You know, it's so many people, Ah, you should do this, you should do that, put your money up. He did. You know what I mean, There's so many people with opinions,

So the conversations and credit headlines and anything else that comes with it.

And on top of it, I'm believing what I'm saying though, But the thing is in Australian sport culture, they'll cut you down. I need to cut each other down if you start talking too much. So the best thing is I ain't Azzi outside who played in this league that's valid and certified, so they can't be like, yo, who the hell is this big mouth America? Where's he from? That's homicide. He was the MVP of the league. Validation

Being in the industry, you know, you know the back.

End of the I know, I know it. So I'm just uh glad to be a part of the journey and seeing it come to fruition. You know, I really am. It's beautiful and what happened today is you know, a part of it, you know, I mean, it's it's it's incredible.

What's the biggest opportunity for growth for the NBL.

Exposure leads to expense. You know what I think needs to happen. It's time hit Asia Pacific, go get a team and in the Philippines, the n.

Here we go. I went there once.

They thought I was like just dirt to whisky, rolling duncan front of the whole town came out.

It was wild.

Exposure leads to expansion. I think this should be like an Apac league like you have euro League. Let's do a pac League. Let's get a team and Indonesia. Right, Let's get a team in the Philippines. Let's get a team in Korea. Let's get a team in Japan. But mind you you can get imports. Look this is what your league does. Like that's just me off the off the top of my head. Yeah, it's big, that's that's

Yeah, I like it. I think it's possible.

All right, Larry Kesselman put the out there to take it. We'll see what happens on our sets. Now, people from America. Ron, So you have Big God's graduating high school coming over, Lebron's kid.

Bronnie, any chance there's a chance, Bill, there's a chance.

You reguly might come to them NBL.

Look Brownnie, here's what I believe. Obviously, our honest opinion, as always, the face of the NBA is Lebron Pops right. It would be a business decision for the NBA to not allow that to happen. So do I think it's gonna happen. No, But there's a chance because if the face of the league, first of all, a couple years ago, Adam Silva said, they've done a fantastic job there. If I had a kid, I'd send my kid there. So you got the president saying that, how ain't gonna tell me?

Yeah, so you think, okay, we'll go back to this. Now Tasmania. We love Tasmania. We love it, love Touzy, love it, big fantusty. Now last year, well we could probably say b breakout team of the year. I think everyone be agreeing on that. Easy, easy Ron. What's your you have? You been a supporter of them from day one day when I was I told him he's gonna win fourteen games. They would everybody like, look when I say these things.

Are they? They must watch team this year? Now?

I must must watch team this.

Year because I love brus CON's my boy.

It's King Cotton, King Cotton, That's what I thought, real King Cotton.

Alright, you and your prom would you lock his eyes down, he'd be he'd be a guy that he's too little and he's a mosquito.

I wouldn't even want to guard him till the fourth court. I would have to save some energy to guard him because he's gonna run all It's like Garden Steph Curry, like these guys just and I gotta go get mine over there. I'm gonna lock you up. I'm gonna go lock up with you the last five minutes, you know what I mean. So that's when I would Okay, it's time to it's how the shit gonna go. I couldn't guard him for forty minutes and then still get it's too tired. I'll be too tired. I would look that's

Wow, no one else in the lake, no one else, just Bross, just Bryce. You sleep over him, I'll.

Be like no one else. I gotta god this guy. Mom fuck, I got it. You know what I would do all week? I get rest. I'm not going to dinners. Ain't no going out. You know. There's certain matchups that that you know, it's like this, ain't no walk in the park. I gotta get ready for this because the way I'm coming, he coming. But the other thing, the thing is he don't have to guard me. I gotta guard him exactly.

Now.

I want to ask you this. This is another thing I'm really interested in I found. I'll do it research. I found an amazing story. Aaron Baines.

Do you know him.

I don't know Aaron Baines, but.

His story and what he's gone through phenomenal and what he's doing now coming back. I'll wish him all the best because I love those just like no one gives me a chance and like life's on the line kind of thing and I'm gonna fought my way through to make it work.

Yeah. Man, First of all, it's just glad to see him in the league, but glad to see him back playing basketball, you know what I mean. Obviously we love what we do. I saw him in preseason and he was smiling and he was so happy. You know, obviously after coming back from the things he's come back from, you'd be happy too to be playing the game again

So good to see him back there, no doubt the Big Show. The boys in the Big Show, we got giddy and Mills with his fellows, which one would you want to have the.

Most successful season this season? Only big Patty Mills. Guy. All love him.

He's like from a his moral standards and everything like he does everything person like that. That man has represented his country better than any other person I've probably met.

Yo, dude like me, Patty Mills is there needs to be a statue of him already, like it should have been built already. But it definitely have to get in the bronze. But what he stands for is like he's he's he's on some Martin Luther King type shit for this country, you know what I mean? Like I look at him like like that, like he's an incredible human. I would love to see him win another championship with Brooklyn because I rock with Brooklyn anyway. Getty young man,

You think the Olympic team will ever beat America's Olympic team.

No, we were ain't supreme. I don't even I don't even play the game.

Everyone always asked me that he's not gonna like go for Australia, and I was like, yeah, he's doing that.

I'm not stupid, all right, because I know the Women's World Cup was just here. Yeah, and you got Australia one third. Yeah, Jackson played the last game. Oh my god, drops a thirty p.

Just literally just throw him to the post.

I'll take care of the rest thirty piece.

You watched the whole thing. Go.

Actually I didn't watch that game. I was doing I was on foot locker. Dude, you're watching the US side win the championship after you know you as Yeah, we handed what we handle, you know, you know it is what it is.

Oh man, you bet Brendan Stewart person like to be honest.

Stewart, she's she's dope from New York, from Syracuse. Obviously went to Yukon. She's the best female player in the game right now, super humble, super cool. It was fun to work with her that Sunday at foot Locker. I mean, in the last ten years, there haven't been a signature sneaker out for a woman. She has that now and shout out to her man like women's we need to do a better job of backing women and everything. Really to be honest with you, but definitely in sports.

Word yeah, foot locker stuff only get a little shutucks. I know, I know you've running the joint for foot locker. No no, no, I saw you in Sydney and you were just hi. You just you just kicked back this man so good in lots good, lots good. Tell me what's doing that.

We're working hard, man, you working hard, You working hard. He's just storytelling. All we want to do is just push sneak of culture basketball culture forward and lifestyle forward using you know, the platforms that we have we are. Storytelling is big with a lot of the things that we do, and we just we just tell a story about products. You know, we do rollouts and products. We're more important. We're doing a lot of giving backs. We're doing collaborations where we partner with n b.

L and NBA stars coming through too.

Yeah, we have NBA stars. Dame Lillard came through. We got hip hop stars coming through. Working on something big right now. Actually with a New York artist might be coming through soon. So footlock of Fridays where we do install activations where we air drop and giveaway gift vouchers to you know, the patrons in the Star Just turn your air drop on, we play some music, we hire

Yeah, what's next for you? What's next? Brother?

It's time for some ownership be ownership, Yeah, be trying to own some own some stuff. B I don't think does not.

Think about that.

I think, uh, it's just just ye different time to get a company is and ownership be like that's the next level, you know. I think in evolving as a human, first you gotta find your passion right, recognize your passion right. Become a pro add it right, become a rock star in that profession. You send the elevator down, You help others, you know what I mean, and where you can, like

Would you call the team?

I wouldn't want a team to own MS.

You're talking about this business?

I like you, man, you go from the top.

That s it.

That's it, you know, Like as he say, I ain't here to fuck spider.

Yes, that's my favorite.

Say what the fuck of it?

The first time I heard it?

Use it all the top, you know, So it's just a matter of just again. Man, what I've learned is you have to identify your strengths, find spaces where you add value, and where you add value like amplify your value. Other people will begin seeing the value that you add and inquire about your services. Then it's on you to figure out what that package you look like for you to work with them or not, you know what I mean.

It's all that stuff. Yet you know what I mean.

So you know again man, Like what I've learned is again, Look, you're not gonna be in that seat forever, now that my. This light ain't gonna be on you forever, now that my. So when when that seat is gone and the light is off, the fuck you got to show for yourself. You got a lot, man, that's the ship I'm on.

You know you have more to go to Tho Sons of Scratch Baby were rolling bro unreal man. Well, I want to say this because I've mardy for a long time. Man, You've worked your ass off and like doing research on you talking to you here, Man, You're one of those people in life that just makes shit happen. And there's people that sit there and watch people do it, and

I feel like you're doing that to the max.

Man.

I have so much respect for those type of people in life.

You bring others with you, your mentality, your positivity, everything else. Man, It uplifts everyone else too. You're saddest man. And I just want to say a massive thank you, bro, from myself to you. Apprecieople like you in this world man, that make us all better. So I appreciate it.

Bro.

I want to say a massive thanks man, and I appreciate you coming on the podton some some crazy stories and wacky stuff from traveling the world to the NBA in the street ball of New York. Now, I just want to say massive thank You've come a long way. You should be really proud of everything you've done. Man, thank you, But that sounds of it. Man.

I'm even more excited for the future.

Man.

I'm excited, man, you know, I just look, you help others when you can. This is what I want to leave y'all with. Help others when you can, especially when it costs you nothing. You know, I'm able to be healthy, happy in this world. My daughter's in college playing volleyball, healthy now and happy because when I can help others, I do it. The universe does not fuck around the universe,

Word, your mom, be real, fucking bro.

Man, that's my lady. Be I talked all the time you here right now.

Oh, I appreciate that.

Th much, love my bro much love, Thanks so.

Much everyone for listening. Obviously amazing chat. Check it out seven platforms, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Subscribe, like comments, share with everyone. This is an awesome, awesome, epic chat, so if you can share it, there's some absolutely golden nuggets out of this thing. I think you'll get in life and be able to use it in the future. So thanks again for listening everyone, and keep listening in for the rest of the episode.

See I have a great day.