So man, how to do You did great? I'm not gonna lie to you.
All due respect, I've seen the shot we did, I think all Star weekend, but I've never trained you.
You got my respect, man, I'm gonna come back. I'm gonna come back. I'm old. I pulled a little something right here, you know, but I slipped on the quarter a little before. But I got to give you credit where credit is due.
All my years of playing basketball on basketball, I've never had somebody talk to me about my footwork, how I went up, how I come down, how balanced I need to be. They always said to me, don't lead right or fall left or fall right. But I really appreciate it, man, and I can.
Say it like I said, I'm not doing this because of the camera for fifty seven.
No, No, I'm being seriously now. You look great.
And the one thing I love about you, especially training you, You're really understanding. And that's why I love to train certain people that know I can't do everything perfect. When I was telling you something, you was looking at me right in my eyes. You was ready to learn, and that's why your shot got better.
So I mean, two.
Three more sessions, I think we might be ready for anybody want to step up.
But why is it that in a world where you got cats, this is their living and the more successful you can be, the more money you can make. But they're not doing these kind of things on a regular religious basis. Why do you think that is?
Well, I think some people get comfortable, you know, and that's why me and you love the greats. The greats never got comfortable with it. Like you're one of those guys. You're never comfortable with.
What you do.
But I feel like in today's basketball, respectfully saying this, it's a lot of the people that are playing in some of the professional sports, once they get a taste of a little bit success, they forget what got them there. And I feel like, if you want to be the best, you can never be feeling like you've arrived. You've always got to look back when you used to eat blooney
sandwiches and some of their stature. So I feel like a lot of guys now they'll go away from making five hundred shots today they might just go to shoot around. You heard what Lebron said yesterday, say you go to game five hours early, and this dude forty years old, But imagine if every professional was that way, but they're not right now. But I feel like it's just showing in today's basketball. The people who can't shoot respectfully, you're
not putting it in the work. And the people who are shooting, well, they're putting it.
I look for the competitive fervor and one of the things that you know, you got so many people that are so sensitive to the criticism.
To the critiques, et cetera.
Here's how I look at it, and I want to say this in front of you in the camera. There's four hundred and fifty players in the league. For every one cat that got a spot, there's fifty who can't get in. So if you're not doing a job as a player, if you're not doing a job as a scout, if you're not doing a job as a coach or a GM, there's thirty thirty coaches in the NBA, obviously, thirty presidents of basketball operations, thirty gms, et cetera, et cetera.
For every one person that doesn't do it, but you still got your job you deprived of fifty others are doing it. So it's not me looking at somebody and critiquing them just to be critiquing them. It's saying, wait a minute, if you in this position, in this role, this is your job description, and if you can't do it, it's supposed to be somebody else that's there. Is there anything wrong with that?
I mean, I agree with it. That's how life works, you know what I'm saying.
If you're not putting out a certain type of product respectfully, you shouldn't be in that position. I feel like like I feel the same way you feel. I feel like a lot of people are getting comfortable. And if you, like I said before, if you want to be the best, you could never get comfortable. I don't care if you had forty points yesterday, you got to go to bed, wake up in the morning, work out again, try to do it again. So with a lot of guys now to me as a trainer, I'm talking as a trainer.
You know, being around you know, being around this field, some people get comfortable, and those are the people that I don't train. I like to train people who are hungry. You so you turn down people respectfully. I do turn out because.
Like I said, those professional athletes you have said, no, I'm gonna do my thing.
You do your thing well. If you're not committed to working out every single day.
If you're not committed to possibly if I see your shot and I say I need two a day's if you're not committed to understanding, you might need to make a thousand shots today.
I don't want nothing to do with you.
I need a person that if I say, a Steven, I need you to shoot five hundred, I want you to say I want to shoot seven hundred.
My man, let's go. Those are the type of guys I like to work with. How do you.
Feel about the state of the NBA game today?
I feel like it's great, and I think I spoke to you about that earlier. I love the way how hard everybody's playing right now, especially the Calves, the Sacramento Call everybody. These guys are playing hungry. You get what I'm saying. And I felt like like you were saying some of the players before they were getting so comfortable, you know, coming out there. I'm not trying to say you can't have friends for everybody out there laughing and
playing around folk. No, we need you guys and kill mode, because, like you're saying, it's a thousand million other people.
That can play.
Can they play an NBA No, but understand that you are a special being. Understand that you are d Krim de la Krim, and take this serious every single day. But I feel like the NBA right now, to me, in the last few years, this is the best I've ever seen.
What about college basketball, I love it, really, I love it. Literally.
The only thing I don't love, Like I said so, because you saw what happened with Tony Bennett, you know.
My ex coach, he just he just stepped down as well.
I don't love that kids are just going to the highest bidder, right, and I think that's taking the love away from the kids in college basketball.
But I think playing hard is great.
But the only thing I don't love is some of the kids now are just getting so infatuated with money so fast.
What I love about the superstars, whether it was Jordan to Kobe to Lebron Steph Curry. To me, the true element of greatness from superstars is those who put in the work, and you see they put in the work. You could tell they put in the work all.
The time, and they compel you.
To love the game because you see the love they have for the game while they're performing in the game.
That's a really good example. So yesterday when I was watching Lebron, I saw I said this.
Dude forty and got a triple double, his third straight triple double at the time, or this tapment and look after the game, they asks them, you know how you feel yourself?
I feel great because I'm putting in the work.
And the one thing you're saying is what the guys that you name me and you can watch them and feel like.
We could run through the wall.
And we need everybody to step it up in that way. Just like you when I'm watching you on TV. You study your notes, you study the stats, you study the names, and that's what a lot of people don't understand. That's what greatness takes. And if the NBA wants to stay in the state that is in for right now, we need guys that are gonna go hard. We don't want to know.
And remember, I'm me and you not talking like the NBA player. I don't know they talking like they know. I'm just talking like we know the game. I know the game. We need guys that are gonna run the wall and play hard.
Yes, yeah, yeah, I got to talk to you about that, mister Natesmith.
Basketball Hall of Fame and talk about that for sing so God is good.
I'm actually not in the Hall of Fame, but they do have an exhibit for me in the Natesmith Basketball Hall of Fame. And for the NBA to I can't even talk about right now because it gets me emotional. But for them to say they want my rims and my shoes and my shorts to be in the Natesmith Basketball Hall of Fame, and that same night I got to meet Michael Jordan, right, you know what I mean?
And I can't explain. Bro, It's priceless. Man. I never played in the NBA and to have that type of moment was insane.
Let me help your conscience when it comes to being a Hall of Famer. An owner once said this to me. He said, yeah, you see them guys playing on the
basketball court. I said yeah. He said, if there wasn't a basketball court to play on, if there wasn't lights that was turned on, if there wasn't twenty thousand seats in an arena, if the engineer didn't make sure everything was working right, if the producers and the editors didn't make sure everything was working right, if the construction workers and the architects didn't put this stuff together to make the make sure or this stuff was right in place,
what would they be, right, he said, So, anybody that contributes to the game of basketball in any way should be appreciated. Iratulations, Thank you so much. But I got something that I wanted to say. I wanted to wait until you train me and showed me a little bit of stuff, you know, and I got more to learn.
I'm coming back. I'm coming back to work out with you more.
Yes, as I'm rolling up on sixty and all of that stuff, I want to roll up on sixty looking like I'm in my thirties or forties.
That's what I want to do. That's what I'm out of it.
But I just wanted to say to see you to everybody out there, I understand now, I understand it.
Now.
Did I get that right back?
Absolutely? I get that right absolutely, Yes, I understanding that. Ah, stay locked in, guys, locked in.