Explicit

Kevin Garnett! Chicago All-Star Weekend

Published Feb 15, 2020, 7:04 PM

Kevin Garnett joins Matt and Stephen live from NBA All-Star weekend in Chicago for Episode 15 of All The Smoke. The Big Ticket talks about the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and shares some stories about playing against MJ.

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We needed to get this conversation started. Then I'm messed up.

I don't have a Voice's.

Important people in the city. If it ends, I feel bad for the kids here.

You have a lot to prove, and you always feel like they don't.

Believe in you.

Once you're painted as a bad guy in the NBA, that's what you are.

Sometimes your emotions take control and eventually you kind of turned into an aggression.

Sometimes you gotta go through a storm to find some sunshine.

How do you think piece is accomplished through war? Finish a new fish? Thank good time playing it? Lion looked decimitation, look fast, fucking loved it. I got a mass Damn y'all born of the motherfucker.

I say something shit, say something man, mass sitness motherfucker.

Man say something like the cock up ship, go boring ass show y'all, wake you ass up.

Shit, y'all gotta stop smoking indigo before noon. That's what it is, y'all smoking too much indigo.

Here, I can go outside and find some mother motherfuckers come here and make more noise in that.

Man. How y'all doing show? Shi wall the motherfucker smoke.

Welcome y'all, man all start twenty twenty coming to you, lo. This is our first live show, so we fuck up. Just keep going with it, y'all on our first live show.

We appreciate y'all, man.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we.

Appreciate you guys taking time to come hang out with us today. We're just gonna have fun, talk shit, man, to see you. My brother God were out here. The hands are nice and fry.

You good.

Yeah, shout out Sam. She got nice and dry.

And she just usually wet. Yeah twenty.

So we out here man, Like I said twenty twenty All Stars Chicago, It's an honor to be out here.

You know.

It's coach is motherfucker out here.

Man.

It's stopped my smoking. Take if I got to smoke outside, I'm not smoking.

It will just no. I don't say that.

We just gonna limit the puffs six real quick.

Yeah yeah, get out.

But anyway, man, without further ado, Man, I want to introduce to me one of the greatest power forwards ever to.

Play the game.

Uh.

And it's an honor to have him or he went to high school coming back out here and fuck with us. So man, So everyone welcome Kevin Garnett.

What's going on? Man? Thank you brothers, appreciate it.

Up.

Everybody's close to you.

Get comfortable.

Get comfortable man after the shop.

Man, it's an honor. Man.

We appreciate you taking the time to come fuck with us for a little bit.

Thank y'all for having me on him. Man, I've been watching y'all joint. Man, y'all getting better and better. I told y'all this in the back. Man. This y'all got, y'all one. Man, appreciate it. I'm a huge fan. Man.

But also ship before we go going, man, we want to welcome you to the Showtime family.

Congratulations. Appreciate that. Congratulationship.

Can you explain to the crowd a little bit about what you're doing with show Time now?

Yeah, Showtime and I teaming up partner up during the twenty five year decision on coming out of high school and the effects that has gotten us today in two twenty. Now I'm telling the story on how we got here. You know you watch, well where do I start? You watching how the moves and how these kids are playing. You're watching the styles and how they dressing. You're watching the swag, You're hearing the music. All that came somewhere. So I'm taking everybody and all these young millenniums on the timeline like an educational piece almost.

You know, so who started this gangster shit? You about to show gangs?

But you know, at some point it was a rip in it, you know, like it went a certain way and then all of a sudden it changed, and it changed for a reason, and then we're in that change. We've been in that change you started because I came after you, after you. What I'm saying ninety six was like a whole momentum ship for all of us, and us being in this. You know, I'm telling the story and documented. So you got trendsetters and everything brot.

So, like you said, twenty five years removed from Farragut Academy, What what went into your decision to kylle j for me?

You know what, man, A lot of people don't know, man, I had my I had. I had a lot of responsibility when I was younger. Man fucked up, not even not even that, but just you know, helping moms out. You know, I'm from South Carolina for everybody who don't know, And you know, you started working early down there, you know, twelve thirteen, so you know, I was used to working that in a job early. So you know, I got in trouble in high school and got kicked out of school, and my mom shopping me up here just to change up my whole environment and you know, kind of getting me back on the on the right road a little bit. I had a friend of the coach in a camp at a Nike camp, and uh, she just basically just threw me in here, you know, just keep me to one hundred, you know, got got out of Millway, dropped my bag, told me take care of my little sister. So, you know, when I would go on these these college trips, man, it was all about going to find an assistant coach to open the open the gym. It was all about asking somebody for some permission to do something. I'm thinking to myself, man, I'm living like I'm grown as hell out here like gotta ask somebody go open the gym, like it just wasn't. It just wasn't. It was no synergy there for the love of the game and appreciation and progressing. It was there, But as far as a young man, I was living so fast, I was like nah. And then I had a chance to play Mike. Mike was out that year and had retired and I had I had a play with him in the in uh in a in a gym down here downtown. He let me play with him and some of the guys that he had and uh Isaiah Thomas was in there, and after we played, Isaiah pulled me to the side and gave me probably one of the more convincing conversations about just playing and and and having the opportunity to play and knowing the rules of those opportunities. And that's what really really just this documentary is about education, because if not for what Zeke told me in there, I don't know if I would have known that those options was even there to take advantage of. And that's that's really what this is about. I exposed a rule and the line that was really fine in there, that wasn't nobody contested. I don't think David Stirring, another of the league, thought a kid was gonna be able to uh do some of these things in these lines of opportunities. But it was there and I and I I tried it.

We're gonna visit your career later on. But post retirement, what what what has been w W what are you like?

What are you get to? Joid the most? Being done with this?

Getting rest straight up? You you play so much, you train so much, You trained so hard that your down time and your time that you have to yourself is everything, right, you know, being able to you know, take my kids to school, being able to go to little crazy school, play thing, catch right, man, that's that's huge for me. So being able to do that, it's like everything. So that's probably the best part of retirement.

People don't understand.

I mean, like they said, they see our seasons eight months, some longer for others.

If you go to the finals, go to the playoffs.

But we may maybe take a month off, maybe three weeks. It depends on you. You know, maybe a little bit more needs to individual, but really it's it's it's it's it's eleven months around, you know, it's eleven out of twelve months working.

You don't get like all this workload and what is it? Load? Man? I wish there was no such thing. We still been in the league, right, there's no such thing. We wouldn't allowed it. We didn't. We said we had a different pride, maybe the type of pride in our in our style of basketball. For you to be able to practice for two hours tour and a half. Some coaches practice practice hard. I'm talking about you and you in the next it had going really ham on each other, but you are pushing each other. Then after practice, matter of fact, before practice, you got a thirty forty five minute joint that you did on your own just for you individual. Then you then you actually practiced with everybody and then did everything with that. Then after practice you got another thirty forty five minutes just to sharpen everything. And that's because you know it's gonna come to you. You know, if it come down, you gotta be able to get a couple of buckets. You gotta they're gonna trap you gotta be So you working on six or seven different things every day. But you locked into that mentally, you locked into that that work. That plan is that that also you know that you took a pride in in that preparation and being prepared for those for those battles, and being prepared for those games. And and I never took that light. I never, I never, I never messed around with that. That was something that I took pride in. And then being able to play hurt. Then they played through something. And I'm not talking about just on the court. Mom's going through man, something going through some the girl, this the cause, the house something. The dogs got this, The dogs got out, chased the neighbor down the court. She did you in the gated the alarm went off along over hered went off. You get multiple homes. Alarm in California went off. You gotta yeah, no, I'm in I'm in Denver right now. What's what like? You have no idea what all lives are like. But we create this and we work hard for it and we really ride for it. So just a different brand of basketball right now, really.

And that's that's what kind of we strive to when we have our guesses, is to humanize you guys and humanize us because we go through the same shit everyone else goes. It's just everything is in front of the world, you know what I mean. And for us to be able to mentally focus on a public divorce or me having to whoop somebody's ass during the middle of the season and it's all over TMZ and ESPN, but we still have a job to do, or your mom passing away, you know, or just crazy things and we don't get no excuses. I mean, our job is go out there, you know, and to perform at the highest level. But at the same time, we're humans, so to be able to humanize and let everyone know like there's real ship, we gotta go through too. But we just don't have We don't have the time.

I'll be honest, man. The best thing about I guess disposition is that when you're going through that, a lot of people don't have no outlets for that. You can go out here on this court and act the goddamn fool and people be out here cheering your name, and really you out here screamings, cussing people out, swinging on the rim, just being that animal out here. But you are being able to get this lea able to release days. You know what I'm saying. It's very shimmling to punching and punching bag or something. The lead or the game for me was a way to escape reality and let it all out.

I love that Hollywood debut, man uncut.

Yeah, KG is an accident.

That's a big time b o siming, Hey, can we get a napkin too?

And we post to see my boy. I gotta pause water man, hold on, we're falling off.

Man, No, it's all good. I don't want to pull my water. It's so cold. I'd rather be high like that he got. I'm good.

We got plenty of towns now around tower here. But tell me what it was like, you know, making your Hollywood debut and getting a chance to work with.

Me man that bambooze and they told me I was gonna have like a little cameo in and so you think you're just gonna show up, be yourself, play a part, and uh it was that simple. I had the time to be able to do it. And at first I was like, let me let me hear the movie first. So I had to meet the Southeast brothers and we all had to.

Meet big times.

They were super nick fans. I showed up motherfuckers like the next really, all ain't got no room to talk right now, right We kind of did that for the first five to ten minutes. But then they was real dudes. They was real cool. They was embedded in the coach. I had seen a couple of their projects. I had been a fan. Didn't know that that was them. Uh they did the jay Z video that I was a huge fan of. I didn't even know. I just started them like these new intangibles about it, you know, And then they started taking me and walking me through this whole scenario of the movie, and it was just about me being myself. So I just the first thing I thought was like, man, can I mess up like playing yourself? Like just think about that, and I know you fuck that up. And I know being in the jury store Samelion man right, who has like no I can do? You know I can do I can play myself. So that became like, okay, you can do this. And then a little about little they started like piling stuff on like I was in another joint, then I was in another joint. Then I had you know, at first I had this mush to say and then it was like this much to say. Next thing, you know, I got.

A that's a credit to you that saw you was good at it's a credit to you.

He was killing. I got in there. Yeah, I know, I got a little book right here. I gotta go back and forth with Adam. Just got to go like this, I gotta do it. I was like, what the fuck is this man? Dope and ship. They was like, nah, I see how you were saying, and then just go You've been in the Jewey store before, like you know, just be your Yeah. So that's why it was so like natural. It came off natural.

How was it working with Adam? He's one of my favorites Adam?

Listen, man. I got to see Adam in his his in his greatness, his element. A lot of people don't notice. And when you step on the court with Michael Jordan, for all us who's been here and been there, you feel his greatness almost to the point where you like, damn the intimidated when you checking the kicks out start see you looking at him? You looking then you got him? You know why ain't looking at him? But you feel it. That's how I felt. He was so humble, he was so chill, but then again he had a when it was an action boom, oh man, you you just felt it like oh wow, you caught the same mind. You caught him looking and you call it looking like nigga, you got lines in this and I'm like, oh shit, and you get caught up in it. But I was able to experience that, right, and it was it was unbelievable. It was the unbelievable experience watching someone be great and something and play a role and be a totally different person. It's crazy.

So NBA today versus twenty five years ago, if it is anything in the game that you would change today in today's game, what would you change.

I'm gonna be honest, man, I wouldn't change anything because our game was way different. This brand of basketball is for this brand of kids, right, The brand of basketball in which we play was for that brand of individuals that was able to play that. You gotta understand, when you're playing the NBA team, you earn that position, they give you a jersey, they give you a locker, You earn that space, that square that's yours, that's yours. You put your belongings in there, your valuables in there, that's your. You earn that. I don't think it's our place to kind of replace this. This is what it is. This is the brand of basketball that these young kids love to play, and we gotta respect it. We gotta find the greatness and the jews out of all of it, versus comparing it, like you know, I hate when they compare Cod the Mic and Mike the Lebron. These are totally different dynamics and people. If anybody's played with Lebron, James the most unselfish superstar problem in sports, you know what I'm saying, just being able to he was like the shock. Shaq could have been a lot more mean than he was. You know what I'm saying. We thank god Shack was raised right, right, y'all haven't played against the pissed off shock right? Oh shot getting pissed what like? Thank you, thank you Mama and O'Neil, thank you, thank you for that. Seriously. But it's a different brand of basketball. So when I watched it, I'm like, what the what the okay the floater in now that's what they do? Now, okay, let me okay, Well he could have you know, and and I put something on it like that because I had to. I had to train, you know, I had to train kids. I had to be able to. I taught Giannis a couple of times, and and and Thorn and a couple of young guys. So I had to actually adapt and download. That's what everybody was doing and being able to, you know, take the same jewels and how you prepare, how you come in here in your mindset, and put that with this new style. So yeah, you know, as O g's, we're gonna have to make the download even though it ain't our preference and this ain't what we used to.

That's all. So I bring a basketball. Absolutely, we gonna gotta adapt, you know what I mean. Game is at an all time high now. So someone say there's no defensors on this, on that, but the game is at all time high, all time global mark. People are making more money than you can ever. People are getting forty million dollars a year to throw a ball between you.

Know and a hoop.

So to me, older players, it's not this, it's not that. Like you said, we have to adapt. This is what it is for right now. It may stay this way, it may go back, it may not, but we have to adapt to what it is to.

That game is entertainment right now. You want to see as much d as if it's gonna drive the offense, Like I would like to see mag get dead up till he started bothering and throwing that bitch out of bounds and like, all right, that's too much defense. I want to see him, you know what I'm saying, At least what I'm watching James cook. I'm kind of annoying that he cooking, but I want to see what he cook So I'm kind of like ah, but I'm like ah, oh, you know, I get caught into it too, but I have to respect it. This is the brand of basketball, so let me see the best of it.

You know what I'm saying, your early years, who did you pat in your game after? Oh Man coming in the game, coming in the game, Because like you know, a lot of people say it was no KG before KG, So who did you pat in.

Your game after? You gotta know that guys like I seen you.

In Rodney Fields in high school, so I know in my mind it wasn't no KG.

It wasn't no Rodney Fields. But you had guys like Web, you know, like I look at Webb and Big Dog even though we're in the kind of same generation, but those were my older brothers. Were she Joe Smith that like those were my old you know. But when it came to big big brothers, you know, obviously call and and and Charles, they were older. David was as agile as you want to be at the position. But for me, magic was like the potential of what you can be if you had some handles. So then I was thinking, like, man, what if magic came from the hood, you know, like what if like magic had like a BMX kind of attitude with this ship, you know what I'm saying. What I like. One thing I loved about Web. Web used to dunk it on. You ain't no laying it up, and you're gonna put you in a basket. So they all the kicking each other. And you know we from Onyx, We from crack babies, we from we from gang banging, you know right, So when we was playing, that's how that's how Woof used to have us out here like yo swing on the rim, rallying you smell on when smells klowne own that I wanted to be able to be burst from a seven foot perspective and not have any limitations. I didn't want any when I came out here on the court. I wanted to have the advantage, and I wanted you asked the opposal to know I have the advantage, and then I want to watch how you adjusted that. Then I'm starting adjusting to you. Now I'm seeing how eager you are. Now I got you going off pump fakes. Now now I'm just going And I always picked that up early, And as I got into the league, I started getting knowledge from over the players. Kevin McHale started getting taught what I was actually seeing. And then I just took it to another level where creatively, because once you can teach something, that's when you know you have it. You know what I'm saying.

Okay, besides pot pattern in your game? Who did you watch growing up? Like who did you watch? Chris Webber and big Dogs watched?

Yeah, even though she was like still like kind of like right there, I can where it was like the old I wanted to be like where where it was like this big ass like Charles Barkley when he was a chocolate niggle Web your webs dump where one laying nothing up. Web had these huge ass hands and he was dunking on you got a crazy story. And I first got in the league and I played against Webb Yo he caught it, and I look and he shot a jump hook and the look and he shot the jump and I looked at him and Sam Mitchell right after he right after, right after he the jump hook on my had to take it out whatever. He came up and he slapped the ship out me. Lord slapped what the ship? You can't do that out here. You can't be a fan out here. I know you love him. You gotta bust his ass though, And that was the last time that ever happened. Straight up, he slapped the dog ship out of me. In a game, my favorite player shot a jump hook on him and I was in all of it, and and I had lost it. I lost all all the fans. I had to actually put it to this cloud the fan out because I've seen Diesel and did the damn like you seen Shaq first time. That never seen Shaq first time, first time. Man, Shaq came out like God. I kept looking up. Meanwhile, I'm seven foot y'all. I was like god, damn, like this shack was up and he talking real fastness that country Faither'm goodbody? Did you always give you that little quick answer is good good? But Diesels, He's just diesels, good, good people. Man, you know, but yeah, man, where was I wanted to be? Like? Where?

I wanted to be a better version of where? Yeah silent? So me and me and man have the same passion. But I always tell people our passion for the game and what basketball means to me, you cannot teach. You know, I knew what basketball could do for my life, my family's life.

You know what I mean.

Your passion for the game, your emotion for the game. Who do you credit that to?

Energy? My mom? My mom? My mom is a straight up ge straight up yeah. And she used to work graveyard if y'all know what graveyard is, graveyard six six to six you in the morning, right, She did that for a number of years. And then watching that, watching how she would come home and still have energy to get us ready for school, get us to school, and then we had to actually go to school, be something. So you know, we was under that. So whenever I came out, I understood responsibility very early. So when I would when I would prepare for something or you know, whether it was a school project or whatever, I would put everything into it. So when it came to practicing basketball, I used to get my ass busted. I used to I was in a rougher neighborhood. Then I moved to a nicer neighborhood, and then this nice neighborhood. They didn't play football, they didn't street fight, they didn't slap Boston. You know. They was more polished, polished individuals. You know, they wore college shirts and polos. And it was my first time actually like what they helped us, seeing like black excellence. It was like a better neighborhood, but it was where parents were doing better. Moving from the hood, that's when that whole transition started. Where you had the backyard. In front yard, you couldn't tell you shit after that, right, coming from the project, right, and you just thought you made it. But down here it was playing basketball. So to be better, I just I used to work on my ship. I used to watch Derek Coleman. I used to watch Kenny Anderson. I used to I used to have fans of people that I wanted to be like, and I worked on that shit. But then working and all this, I used to always put like my version of that into like how I would do it because I won't I didn't have big shoulders. I wann't this big, you know, mass of a person, so I just had to I used to always creatively make it work for me. But my mom was the first part of me learning what hard work and pushing through and being mentally strong. She was my first and probably my only decent example in which I obviously took from players and stuff, but when it came I never got the CMJ practice or prepare, but I prepared with laser focus and uh little laser concentration, so that when I got on the court, I knew exactly how it was gonna be and I was following that vision. And uh to touch on that, like it's it.

It's crazy because before I even met you, seeing you play basketball, I knew that we would relating. And now you talk about the graveyard shipt not like we we basically the same person, because like I can, I can see how your mama made you strong, because y'all ya got y'all gotta i'm i'm'a, i'm'a reiterate that on that. Growing up, you come home from school four five, your mom at work right six in the morning, getting ready to school, she coming home.

So you don't even see your mama some days.

You know what I'm saying on top of that, and then now you're relying on your grandmother somebody else to be that parent dog so that that shit can take a toll on you absolute bit as a kid. Now you're trying to figure out how you gonna get the wisdom and stuff to make it because your mom it works, You're not getting.

It from us.

So so just seeing seeing your passion, Like before I met you, I knew that I was gonna relate to you and and even now have the utmost respect for you. But I knew he was gonna relate, and I knew kind of our same upbringing was gonna bring us.

To the same place.

It's energy too, I mean, I think obviously you know what your energy is. What I was always drawn to when you were one of the players that I was just like, man, I wish I could just play with this dude, you.

Know what I mean?

Because when I talked to like, right, we'll get to that too, talking about Big Baby Davis and Nate Robinson and Perk there, like.

Damn, you and KG would have got along like this, y'all.

Motherfuckers just both out there going crazy, you know what I mean.

So I just loved your energy.

You're starting in the pregame where your motherfucking running and breathing hard and slapping the back of the back sweat trying to I'm.

Just like watching one of the great We gotta watch.

Watch and we're watching greatness.

We respect speaking on it.

Speaking of that, let's talk about the Western Conference in the nineties early two thousands. I mean that all over Tim Duncan, Rashee Wallace, Carl Along Barkley, Dirt, Barkley, Dirk. See Web, I can keep going down to make dice every night.

You had to be ready, you know, as crazy is the West? Was the West the wild every day? Listen. I know the guard played right now in sports is kind of like you know, the golf playing the right. But the pot four back then was like every night it was. It wasn't it really wasn't a night off. You know, you would have guys who I would even throw Danny Manny in this man like the little guys that you wouldn't necessarily Derrick McKee from UH from Indiana. Uh. Nobody really talks about big Dog, you know, Web, She dice. Dirk was young, but then he came into himself. Joe Smith nobody talks about Joe Smith like man it was, it was. It was Charles Barkley came alone, like it was. And then David Robinson would float because Dennis Robins played five, so he would float sometime to four and he had all agility to face you hit you with a you know. So every night it was, it was, it was just it was just a challenge at the position. But at the same time, while you're sitting up here, you know, appreciating everybody else's style, you really having to light on your own and actually come with like I told y'all, still sharp and still. And I used to always be prepared for whatever and whoever, and I didn't want to ever be the one that didn't have the energy or or didn't have to know how Like everybody that that that's ever played with me will tell you two things. I'm prepared to play and it's whatever, Like I'm one of them. That's one of them. I'm one of them teammates that's gonna ride even if you're wrong, I'm ring, which we'll talk about how wrong you are later, but right now I'm in it, going throw it, throw it like we out here, and you know, my mentality has always been like that. So that's why when you know, I when i'm when I befriend somebody or we become teammates and be really feeling like we family, because that's how we hold it's where it goes. Yeah, yeah, all that, Yeah, two thirty two thousands. Who's the toughest match every think? Yeah? Them, you bust everybody ass. You know, I want to know who got you? Who got you? Listen my first my first, God damn was big dog Man on the you know, I'm thinking of Milwaukee, Big Dog Like. It's just like, you know, my rookie year. I'm coming in here. And plus I'm used to in high school playing bigs. I wasn't used to playing threes and chasing football guards off guards and didn't have a crazy handle. And I played a couple of guards, but not not like this, not like this big dog. Not like this big dog is a whole another level. And I was like, holy snap, yeah, like thirty eight in the in the in the preseason game. You know, pre seasons supposed to be taking it light. You're going through the motions, YadA YadA, big dog guy here, dripping he out here, making noise and growling and talking ship and I ain't gonna front. I was like, it was, it was, it was a lot. It was over my head. And I watched the film. And then I watched the film. I took took a nap and woke up really early. I washed it again, and the time I watched it, I got pissed more pissed, And then coaches were telling me how he was breaking me down. And then I started figuring it out. Okay, he coming off picts like this, look he took the angle. He crossed me up right here. My hand ain't even So I started picking up the intangibles. You don't even know that in the game yard that the small stuff the hand contests to swipe at the ball, you know, just the little slap at the knee, All that means something in basketball. If you don't do that and he goes up and makes a clear shot that he can make that you put your hand up. It changed the whole dynamic of that. So when I figured that out, I started like, okay, And I'm good at mathematics too, So I was always angles. When I would attack somebody, I wouldttack somebody's shoulder to shoulder because I knew they had the movie. Then I would spin back for a left or a comeback. And then when I was spinning back, I got that way of me telled I'm gonna dunk the small fucking So I was on that like man like. And then as I started getting better, I started seeing like the competition falling off, and that liked. I started eating it alive. I started getting off on that like I was. I would face guys and look and then look him in the face, like look at me. And I would have guys like you know, Tonio and Troyn Jamison. I used to love it. Him and Chris Bosh would never looked at me on the face, So look at me, look look at me on the face, knowing I got the whole clock in my head and I was swinging, and I always knew I had that, so I used to always play to that. But you know, this game is about being dominating, and if you're not the one stepping on somebody, then you're the one being stepped on. And I hate to put it like that, but that's that's what it was. And if you didn't come with your best, then you got embarrassed straight like that. I gotta I can't forget Antoine Walker. He and that Cybertwine was a motherfucker. Yeah, he was a moss. He was. He was the first that had the candy with the big fellow who had all the handles and the all trickiness and the floaters and the three ball and the knock knees. Cyber Twine was a motherfucker's headache. Yeah, straight up. Then Zach Randolph and all these other little guys start coming min into the game to start making it all just just pushing you, pushing. He was dope, man. I enjoyed my time in the league. I can't speak for everybody else, but my ship was magical, y'all. Dope moment.

I remember a friend of mine, Yeah, I definitely give it up. A friend of mine and former UCL Jelani McCoy said he played against.

You somewhere in high school.

And he said, you.

Got all the yelling and dunking and yelling and blocking and yelling from you.

Where did you he played with? Listen played one game shout five. We Yeah, don't ask me no question about the story. A y'all just listen to the goddamn store. So when I'm I'm South Carolina's not a lot of tournaments and not a lot of national exposure, so I would go I got it. I got invited to Nike, which was in Indianapolis, where I met Ai. I met a lot of my future friends there in that camp, Runnie Fields, everybody that was there in that camp. So in that you got like you're not supposed to at that time, but you got like little Hay, you know, niggas hanging out and mother fucks over here, Hey on k Swiss, hell Mandida's over here. We were in New Jersey, so it was a bunch of that going on. Yeah, So I be friend of the cat that was from uh La and he was with uh K Swiss. I don't know if y'all sneakerheads. I'm a huge sneakerhead, but case one of my favorite right with actually like the KSE Swish and the Navy boot slope, right you already know, right, So he was like, yo, hey, I can't really give you all the shit Nike gain, but I can fly you out whatever you ever heard of, Paul Pierce, like Paul Pierce, Like, nah, I don't want that, Like nah Catt on the West Coast making line and there you ever heard of tell y'all Henderson, Like, man, you ever heard a Ricky start naming all these West Coast cats? Ricky Price and these are all hitters, y'all all everybody, I'm naming to somebody Toby Bailey like all these cats. Right. So I'm like, Miam, really, you know, I'm over here. So he was like, but come on here and see what we're talking about. I thought he was full of shit. And I see, I know, I get this joint. I get my first time I've been on the plane to me and my mom, we get you know, I take 'em. I'm fifteen, fourteen, fifteen, man, my mom go to Vegas on this little whatever, no bread, no nothing, this shit. So all take care. But it's a U. So I meet Paul Pierce before we go to Vegas. We gotta go to LA. We go to Inglewood. So first you know, I'm in Inglewood, Like, what is no Inglewood High? I met Demani in their shout to DEMONI term five whole little you know, the whole West, the whole joint, the whole La right now right so p here, I see a little fat kid like a little kurroo. You got the man Barnes is you know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying. I'm like, who is this little fast? So I'm watching them play ones? But then p went up and crossed it then dunk that mom. I'm like, damn the fat motherfucking jump. So we get to mess around, we get to plan, we run over. We were like a little practice and it all clicked. We all joking, talking share y'all, y'all. We go to Vegas and the first thing he say to me is, look all these l a niggas gonna be on one team. This nigga shake Hotton before Lebron, he was. He was the Ronnie Fields of the West Coast, like this ninth eighth grade of West Super All Sports Illustrated cover. He was. He was. He was before his time, so Shae Ki. And he was left handed, and he was nasty, unbelievable, and he was a nigga, y'all. He wanted to dunking him talking ship. He was witch smoked, he was with whatever, like seriously like he was probably a little meaning than Lebron. He was respected though, like at an early age, so I was I didn't even know none of this. So I'm like, he don't whatever, I don't you know, I don't care. Let's hope. So he heep pouring everybody out look that Jay Hens, Jamal McCourty bright here just this wikie price for just to me. So I'm sitting up there like, Okay, we're really looking like Lennox and d MX and the jointing bell she was looking at. Yeah, I see him with the feathers in his head. Yeah, I see him food. Yeah, he don't look that big. So I'm we over there like that. Yeah. So I'm over here getting like a check of everybody. So I'm watched Jilani outlet everybody ship cour Yard was one of the best high school shop blockers I've ever seen, no question. I'm just like just how he anticipated and how he and he talking shit, no, he throwing it and I'm looking. I'm looking. I'm like, okay, that's what he am. Yeah we are so we all get to where we go in the championship game, I'm already knowing I gotta deal. I gotta turn it all the way up. So I'm all the way turning. I'm on a thousand So when I'm throwing niggas shot him, no peace mine, no blocking your ship, putting it in the rim, taking it out, hitting the hitting the backboard twice, you know, all the little shit. So I'm no mine, no, So I'm doing I'm just go tanning. I'm doing it. Just you know, we beat them niggas, Pete bone Shade. They go back, you know, but we beat them. We wining whatever. I go back to South Carolina. I don't even know, but Pete Stock go to the roof, you know what I'm saying. So next thing I know, I see pe he damn there thirty pounds, slim ship doing all type of other ship. Oh yeah, you know, like we're growing out of our little bodies. Yea. And yeah, that's my first kind of read interaction with Jolanni. We were we were all see like see as I'm seeing him saying this. So many guys get caught like in the wave of just because Jolannie McCoy was a real one, Like you know, you had to have you had to move him, You had to have a whole package of moves for guys like that. Should have had a long career, should have had ten fifteen year career. Listen easy him and Rodney Fields dog. It was the two biggest uh listen, Shae Cott and Ronney Fields and Lenny Cook. The league missed out on all three of those, yess and being basketball legends in their own right, shout real short class, real ship.

So you caught MJ's last three peat ninety six, ninety seven, ninety.

Eight, I did? We all did? Y'all caught all caught it?

Tell me what that was like.

Mike was heat man. You see how like in the back of Matt was sitting in front of me and I went like this to him. I said, did you feel that? I said, yeah, I said, That's how Mike was, y'all, Like an he just when he was on the core, he was just he was gonna have to look at it, listen. And he was a dog. You understand by thing. Mike used big words and charisma and the smile, and it's a whole nother side to that, y'all. Who I mean you know, yeah, man, And any and anything that would either shake or rattle or wasn't or came off as disrespectful, he reacted to it. And there was motivation. And I actually took a little piece of that out from when you play, because when you play, Doll. Y'all don't understand that you got to be in a certain Me and Jack could be best friends. I can be cool with Matt, but out here I gotta put Matt on his ass for this layup. If not, when I get back to the locker room and the door shut, it might turn into something else from men.

Let me tell you, the way he greeted us walking up here is a totally different way he get.

Us for a game. Man, Dad, He don't. He don't give us that much love for a game. It's a real shady ash for the game. I'm drawing the line in the sand, and you know where I'm at. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, Like, what's up? It ain't the same as when what's up? Doll? I got to kill you out here? It's war time. Ain't not personal but killer kidding. Yeah, And it was harder with friends like Chauncey t Lou. I'm glad all my friends were guards. You know, I ain't have to guard. You know what I'm saying. But when I befriended she, it was hard playing she sometimes g Trent was one of my good friends. It was hard playing those guys. But I know they are here trying to they are my throat, so you know it was you know, it was easy to hear what target? Absolutely, what's your best MJ story? Oh man, my best MJ. Well, one of my MJ stories was what my favorite one? My favorite MJ story is. Since this is out there were in Chicago. You know it's my rookie year, second half of the year. You know how you you know how, you're not caught on now right now? You got your little one two moves, you getting them off right now? You got some confidence, right So I'm in that. So I'm in the wave. I'm playing decent, I'm starting whatever however we get Chicago. Ronnie was just in the bad crash. I haven't had no sleep, so I'm on the I'm on the getting back to the go. I got about seventy people at the game. The hood in here. We all live here, right, so I'm just on one. But i haven't had no sleep. I'm just doing like a you know, I come in here, man, And it was hard seeing my partner in the bed like that. You had a big ass halo around his neck, but he was such in good spirits. Man feels shot to Ronnie feels to listen, bro, he was dunking and my other doing the same thus with the halo on his head, which is crazy. Anyway, I'm playing right, but Jr Is having a good game, you know, Jyard might j right shot to jay R. So I'm like, so as we come at the time out just just I'm on y'all, y'all. I can't even explain it. I was just like, yo, keep keep killing that nigga, y'all killing that boning them? Yo, straight up, you have a good game, Joe, keep going. But it was on some light, just fly bylight. He was like, yeah, you too. So as I'm walking off nigga right here, Uh Mike can hear me, but I ain't really I don't really give a fuck. So I'm like, so I double ballot, Yeah, man, keep killing that nigga, Yo, keep killing them on fuck. So as I say that, I feel it, hands on hips last lock. Then look the nigga stab me for about fifteen seconds. You feel let so I start to feel It's two ways you can go in this. I can walk this off out like I don't even feel it, and play it off and and dumb me out. FU fuck that ma, I'm in here, I got singing in him, cloning him on, hung on the arm, moan, I'm moan, keep killing this nigga. Okay, keep it up. So I hear jay, y'all go y'a, alright, y'all, fella keep going here, you too. So he trying to get me off a note. I don't even you know, now that I recall it. He was trying to kind of just get off. So we go, so I double back, go and get ready to say something. So he goes, hey, look, Mike, he don't really know how we I see him. It might having a conversation. So he's like, he don't really know, he excited whatever. So now MJ on the back leg joint, you know that right, Okay? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Huh. I can't even even really describe the next like sixty seven minutes to play, y'all, and this next sixty seven minutes to play, y'all, we get two, not one, two ten second calls. You know, you bring the ball up. Ten second costs were down twenty five. Now it was just that two. Mike had eighteen year like forty now, ja y'all myself, we ain't scored in like about four minutes, and I subbed like three of the starters, like it's just finally flip it got bad win, y'all. I come to the joint and then they know this when you come and you've been on the run, you not got back on the floor, got back how to be back? And you feel like you on defense all the time. You come to the bitch like this. So I was like, Jay, remember my ba my bad. I'm sorry, man, I'm sorry. Like it's cool, man, I told you shut your eyes shut man here, so you got in between her gager. Ain't theren where you like? Damn? And that'st thing. You know. We are there like this, Mike came down. Okay, y'all, fella, okay, okay, damn y'all, fella, damn, damn y'all, y'all, Dad, damn y'all. I never talked ship to Mike ever given life seen him at all. Start apologizing, man, you know I never did it. Nobody else but I had that little respect man.

That's that's Mike.

And then I apologize to Jay. Y'all, Man, how did me to get your man? What said? What was Gerard responding? Man? I told you chill out man, all right, But ja, y'all was like a cool big brother. Shout to him. Man Him and Sam Mitchell they were. They were great vests for me. Man Him and Terry Porter they were. They was real vests. These were real gee's that they had messed up. So when I came in, they was really cracking the whip on me on just walking the fine line. That's important, and they didn't really understand that ship. I won't gonna mess this up for nobody. Don't need y'all to be on me like this, But yeah, I ain't fro the fuck thisself for me what y'all talking about? So yeah, I was locked in from day one with them.

God, that's what's up.

Trash talking is an art, I think probably to me, I may have missed some guys, but you and GP were the best at it.

Where'd that come from?

I'm in the top ten, I'm gonna be top five. I always say that the trash talking, you gotta be able to back it up, right. So the first thing about trash talking is, uh, I would I would actually consider who was talking to trash and then if they had the ability to back it up to whether I was gonna actually engaged with somebody. But then you got there, and y'all know this. You got the trash bag nigga out here talking up nig then the way you shut niggas up and you just ask something, I'm just going. It seemed like if the trash talking get to a point where I got you not talking no more, that's the worst thing you can ever do. And trash talking you have to continue. Told you waste to go in trash talk matter what. And if you decide to continue to trash talk and keep going, you gotta keep it up. So the minute I not add you out and now now you not no, you exhausted, You ain't got no more. Man, get this self. This niggas's right, it's over. I gotta step on you. And that's how it usually was. But once I start seeing the trash talk affect people, it was it was different for me from how I used it.

Was there someone that you loved, you knew that motherfucker back it up talking to.

You, believe it or not, y'all. Tim Duncan, Tim Duncan, shot to Timmy Tim Duncan. People would not see him verbally seeing stuff because he wouldn't talk consentences, freeze tim Timmy will hit you in phrases, got you groomed almost just the worst right here, nice try like subtle shit, no gage to ship, no real hard course shit, just to subtlely to just back your ass up and put you back in like this over here, like you know. And then what really, what really, what really really really pissed me off was when the trash tark wasn't affecting him. So now you spending all this energy trying to rid us up. You know, I forgot about your own game. You forgot about they coming to you that you're supposed to do. And then that's when I actually went quit talking trash to timm because he wouldn't respond or he wasn't giving me the reaction. That was, I can't get really get hype off this thing ain't even giving me, not even looking now, you know, starting you know, doing a little you know, the shoulder ship, and he won't react to that. And see, you know, Timmy got twenty twenty fifteen like up here, So then I started changing that, you know what I'm so then it was now sometimes you just you went to it. You know, two dogs meet in the middle of and to be what it is. So you know, I didn't understand that.

Sometimes with Tim, he used to come out of the game me Pop just screaming and him cursing him out.

I'm sitting down there and you letting this motherfucker talk to you like this, You Tim Duncan, and he's saying nothing.

So when Pop come to me, I gotta be like, what the fucking I say, Tim Duncan taking it? I gotta take you gotta take it. But it made me a better player, It made me coachable, you know what I'm saying. But at first soon as Pop point, man, you better get the fuck out of my face, you know what I'm saying.

But I see you going off on Tim, I gotta be able to take it. I watched Gary Payton control Karen Payden and Charge Barclay was two of the arguably best trash talkers I ever experienced. I saw Gary Payton control the referees, his coach, my coach, the crowd, the lady in the front, the guy who was on the side of the Minnesota games hitting the bucket. He was controlling the whole game.

That's magical.

I watched GP back down the guard from baseline, the baseline, talking the whole time.

Shut your ass up, bow up, twist hey, get his ass he here, Hey, come up.

Hey. You see the hand on the hill calling if you see he just like finally him. I'm like managing all this. He talking to me, he calling the play, He throwing the boat like yo, and still scoring the balls, stealing the ball, affected in the in the huddle. He in the huddle, he got the thing, he drawing it up. I'm like, yo. GP to me was like masterful. Charles Barkley was another level of trash talking because he would end up fighting you for trying to fight you. But he instilled fearing everybody on the court. Gary Payton actually used it to get fouls, to get his teammates files, to uh, get guys in and out like he was just he was just a control free you know. And if you went to a part of Gary, he was doing the same thing.

What a drink set, y'all ain't drinking shots over the hill? Get them out of feet, man with them.

This is GP. This is just GP. Year. Yeah I saw it, you know, so I guess that would kind of be my example of if the yeah GP was kind of my example of what I wanted to but I give Gary shout the GP map. We was in everybody's talking about the twenty anniversary events, winning the Dunk Contest in Oakland, right, But y'all don't know is that Kobe Bryant rest in peace to my dog. He took another level of being a defensive standpoint because Gary Payton, after practice after practice, all star practice, poured us to the side because Cold dashed him something. They pulled both of us to the side and said, let me tell y'all something. Look when you're playing defense, and then he went through a thirty minute joint with both of us on defense and keeping us between the leg and reaching and how to reach and when you reach up and just low tricks of the trade. That next time I saw Cold after the break he was using. It became first team that year. First time I seen him say he used that shit GPH, I thought that shit, but I knew that only the three of us was part of that, So I was like you saw, I thought it was gonna CALLI fight and caught as shit. Wow, Because GP taught us when you rip somebody to go through that chest us as usually your hand you see this right. He told us to take a step and come through your chest and come and then round out. There's no way you can protect the ball. You can't cross it back once you get in there, once I'm in your cab, you can't cross it up. You would even have to turn your back. Oh, man, I saw Coke take that first night after the break. I saw it. You know, we want no text or none of that back then. But when I first saw my shot there, it stayed it right here. When I saw him, he knew exactly what I was talking about. Student the GP for that you no doubt.

So you experienced I mean, obviously Minnesota it was your first landing spot, and you experienced a lot of after you got going, a lot of personal success. But as a team, you guys weren't so as competitivis or as much as you wanted to win.

How did that affect you?

Because you're doing well, you're making all star teams, eventually winning the MVP, but your team is.

Not moving the way you wanted to move.

You know what, man, I I was? I was? I was. I was drowning in my own success, if you will, like once I started seeing like the owner that wasn't on the same pages as growing and making the team better like other teams. And then I got friends that were on other teams, and you know, teams were getting better and they going out trying to make doing all this, and I would always feel like I was in the same spot as last and that was frustrating. And then too, I wasn't the most outspoken. I wasn't gonna I didn't see where coming out here talking about the owner of the team was going to actually give me some like it didn't work like that, And at the end of the day, you have to carry that out. When you do shit like that, and stuff like that in this league comes back on you because the owners talk and there's a buddy buddy system. And if you didn't, you know, watch Catherin's whole situation. That'll tell you that it's a it's a it's a good boys club, you know what I'm saying. So it's definitely a billionaire's boys club. So I understood that right off. So I want to affect what I could do, and I would just focus on things that I can control, and when I had a chance to change that, I did. But you know, it was very frustrating putting everything into something and knowing that you need the other half to be able to complete these certain steps. So when I had a first off, you go into the playoffs, then you get put out the playoffs eight straight times, it's like like here we go again, and it's almost like thinking like, okay, that next time. It's that next time. Then I actually get there, we get past it, we get there, and then now I'm thinking like, Okay, got tasted, and now now I know what it takes. But you need these parts. And if throw nobody equip you to have these these parts, man, man, you can only control. So the Boston thing for me was it wasn't about anything else. I wanted to win in Minnesota and I want to be the first to I want to be the first to bring a championship to the city, but I need the other parts to it. And if Glenn wasn't gonna step up and do those things, then I have to actually make a career move. And I should have left a little earlier than I did, just because body wise and what I wanted to bring to it. Cause when you play at a certain level, your body is the one that takes the beating on it, and when I got the Boston all, I I felt like I was a uh well prepared, uh professional athlete that can articulate itself to the owner on what I expect out of this. So w me and we had girl spect got on the same lines for where me and Glenn Taylor disconnected. I got on the same page with him very early, and it wasn't cool, and there was some smoke involved, and we figured it out. But I wanted him to understand what I was as a man, and I ain't none of these peons that you used to in here. You gonna talk to me with some fucking respect, And I'm a man first, homie, and I stood on that. Give a fuck. I make bread too, I got a plane too. I do that too. So what you saying, right, they coming from the name on the back, not the name on the f not the name on the front. And that's how I shot at me. You know, we we got an understanding because of I guess his relations with Antwine and and Paul and him being comfortable. I didn't wanna make him comfortable. I ain't want him comfort with me, because when you're comfortable, you say anything. When you drunk or you feeling good. Nah, I want you to always be on be on line with me always, Hey, what's up? How you doing? Keep it moving. So when I came in, I came in that demeanor and it made the relationship a lot better because it was all about respect versus the intangibles and all the bullshit that comes sometimes getting in betweens that make things rough.

Sometimes Summer of seven you end up going to Boston. But that was our we believe here.

That's when we put a bunch of misfits together and did some crazy shit. The last half of the season made NBA history, beat the first first eight CV the number one. See Dirk was MVP that year. We busted the whole team's ass, beat him down to.

The white meat. How did Dirk win MVP that year? You know, you know, like y'all don't notice, but the MVP up until Dirk, you had to get out of the first round to be able to be considered the MVP, or they would go ahead and give it to somebody else. This is when the Mark Cuban effect comes into play, right when your owner goes to your back about it and goes for your back and actually does his campaign on his behalf to his board of partners, and that had to go into play at some point because when you when y'all did that, that totally ripped the hole in the whole plan of whatever it was supposed to be. That was not supposed to happen. So now you got the whole thing on the backs of these misfits who coming in here doing something that they weren't supposed to what whoa, whoa what y'all not fuck the matrix up? Man? What are y'all doing? And then look who wonder what hot what? And messed it up? Y'all wasn't supposed to do that. And now the same the first thing I said, this man, how is this man winning the MVP? I'm gonna be quiet. When he was, he was washing him, bro I watched it. I was head on swivel when I was, And before you know it, you had the whole NBA just riding with y'all. So that that shit was gorgeo.

Because Nelly helped build that team, and Nelly was the first one to put me and Jack on dirt, so we put smaller, stronger people in there.

Every time he turned, he was.

On his ass. He knew it and just bullied the early Dirk did not want to know he was. He was very fragile. He listen. I say two things about Dirk pargasol and y'all mean, they adjusted so fast. I saw Jan Browley punk y'all mean in preseason, and I don't know what Steve Francis said that, y'all mean. But the next night I saw him. You know what I mean, He was dunking them one boy and dropped stepping in And that was the y'all mean I had known to. Dirk did the same thing. First time I played Dirk. I got a sense of fear from him. So I played it that I was dunking out raw And you know, Dallas got these mics in the rioms. So when you sound like you going in there, oh man, great atmosphere to player, right, that's great atmosphere. Shot the Mark Cuban too, man, because he changed a lot of coach in the NBA, y'all. A lot of people don't know, man. He started feeding players way before any of this. He started feeding both sides of like competition and his own players. Like when you after the after the game, yard, do you know I had to either have the ball boys run across the street and grab some taco bell or some fucking McDonald's or something upstairs in the concord to be able to have food. Or then I'm eighteen nineteen. I can't get in no strip clar I can't get in nothing after the Oh no, young fella, you can't come in here. And uh we ain't in serving dreams too, Yeah you gotta. It was always like I had to go through the back door some dog like being young in the league or no. It was a whole nother. But Mark Cuban started providing real meals. I'm talking about like barbecue, like cramwall like you got god damn greens College's two different menues, chicken fry this day, fight.

That mother barba.

You know what I did, dog, I used to make my food and walk all the way around and thank him because just to shit out there, I say, mister Mark Cuban, thank you for the food.

Man.

I appreciate it. Now the food is like a customary thing. Now you gotta have it in the league. But he started that.

Mark Cuban started all that. You were also one of the leaders too. If you look at his organization, the people be hired. He got a lot of players that played for him working for him.

Now, right, and that Mark Cuban.

Yeah, all these teams, a lot of teams that got ex players that want jobs, that want to work with the teams they played for. Look at Mark Cuban co from coaching rotters to work it to Mike Finler working in the office.

But it's a lot of his players. You got to get them credit for that. Listen, man, I'm banking that at some point Dirk's gonna buy into the team and he's going to probably well, no question, I mean, it's only right. I was rested piece of my dog. I was waiting on cold to do the same thing. Though, real talk, you know, I tell p all the time you was with Boston, you should be able to have the ability. I think that if you put enough blud sweating TIS and these older organizations, you should have at least the option to be able to buy into or be able to have a piece of the hell you have building. And then that's not given. You earned that earned that. I got the Minnesota man. That ship was like worth eighty nine million a summer. He paid a couple of joints. Man, we got in ten years in that that ship was almost at a billion.

Man.

You know, like you don't get none of that. You know, you don't get none of that, that appreciation for that, but you know that culture and then what people know and why they're coming to the games. You built all that and sweat blood and equity, and you don't get a choice of being that. That has to change at some point. I love it.

So, like I said, we did that, and we did that No. Seven and then we heard rumors. I don't know if if you even even heard the ship, but we it was word that we were going after you for a whole package and you were supposed to come complete us as our centerpiece to our crazy Yeah.

I heard about y'all. Man, this so we've been We've been talking about this for years.

We spoke on this all the time.

Heard it like when we heard on the team.

Was Chipping sending anybody then KG sitting the whole team to coach anybody we need KG.

Listen, I never know you knew about it. I looked at it like this. I was like, man, I got one chance at this, right I had I had Uh, I had Oakland, I had Phoenix, I had the Lakers and I had the Celtics, and uh, I'm just being honest with everybody. I wanted to link with Cold because Covid and I had like a listen to me, Covid and I had like a different, a different connect. Like when Covid Shaq went went went on their little thing, A lot of people went with Shack. A lot of people didn't even fuck with Cold, you know, Cold whatever. I wanted to want the very few that just stayed with him, and just see I was a neutral guy anyway. I show everybody love you Cold love dog, but Cold respect dogs like like like real like real cat start. If you ever noticed, he never really got into it with somebody that he really respected, you know what I'm saying. Like I watched when you and him went out and you threw the ball, he flinched. It was a form of respect there that he was. They was talking. Nobody noticed, but they was talking Simon thaneous like Nike, I wish you would hit me with this ball. You got more respect than me than that. So him and Matt was I already knew that. But players know this, and then you already know who I'm if we get into it and we get to tech, it's verbal and we bumping. We bumping. I'm already knowing what he's saying to me without even talking. So that's how we used to ship real shit, like not even thinking. That's how players actually was talking to dealing with each other. So whenever I would watch him get into it with somebody and he actually would get into it, it was either because he didn't respect them and it went like that, or he respect him and then went a whole other way.

Yeah, people don't know. That's how. Like when we got into it in twenty ten, the.

Ball faked shit like he was the first person to call me free agency, like, Yo, you want to come be your laker?

Anyone crazy enough to fuck with me?

It's crazy?

And he went and got Ron the year before when Ron was in Houston.

He's like, I'm tired of wrestling with you crazy motherfuckers, come fuck with me.

Well, I tried to link with him and I couldn't get him on the line, and people was like, yo, man, shit, manlet's donna do shit. You know a picture? Oh yeah, you know what I'm saying. And Chauncey and Tlou we used to all work out together in LA, and we was all together in Minnesota. When they say that you can go talk to people, that's when they're done with you. You permission to go talk to other teams. And when they give you permission to entertain mother other options, they over you. They moved on. So y'all don't know, yo, I get up at like four thirty. You know why I get up at four thirty Cause I live in LA. And it's a cat in New York getting up at seven. He up already working already. Actually, if he got up at six, I'm an hour and thirty behind this cat. So I used to think, like this ami in New York, it's some cats on the East Coast, they already working in Atlanta. Damn, I'm late. So I used to hit the beast like four thirty. And then I used to you know, I used to go through all of us with the workout and then the gym, and then I'm done by like twelve, right, And then I used to think, like, damn, y'all, they don't even respect that nigga get up and through this every day like this, then they gonna let me do. So I started losing appreciation for them appreciating me. I was like, you know what, somewhere somebody else gonna show you some love, you know, or show you hope. So and then I sat with Chancey them cause they used to meet me in the workout in the middle of the workout when we went to the gym, and they was like Chances like, Dad, you gotta get off that shit. Him and t Lou was just sawing me like, yo, you gotta this your chance to go get with somebody, and you can give me somebody real you can man that same shit you doing. And Soda boy, you gonna put there with somebody else. Boy, you you know what I'm saying. So I was like, shou, I shot at kod He even really picked the line up, you know what I'm saying, So tlew and cold close. So he was like shoot at him again, see what he owns. So I shot it. He ain't hit back. So I had to make a decision coming down. And then you know, I'm making decisions by my selfish shit. So this is the first time I got to I'm talking to my my wife at the time, and I'm like asking her like and She's like, go with your gut. So I was like, shit, Danny Ainge's flew in and he just got right to it and showed the vision and the vision he was saying, you better have somebody talk to you. And as they talk to you, you can see what they're saying so much that you're not even looking at them no more. But you see, that's how he was painting, and he was ra Picasso. And this is Danny Inge's greatness in him being able to lure you in his charming ass. You know what I'm saying. I didn't even know he was finessing me and were do you know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying, sauted like a mother for the right. But then what I did know I had watched him a couple of times and when I first off film of Rondo in Massive Square Guard, he got the crazy clip of he scored the ball. I think he stole it and didn't get an N one and something. So I saw that, but I thought his name, my a d d Ass thought he was African and some ship. So I was like, yeah, what's up with the little African guards? I'm talking about Sebastian. Nah, I know Sebastian. I'm talking about the little the the little African niggas, So you like African. I was like yeah, uh you know June or something. He was like like, you're talking about race John, You're talking about Rondo. Like yeah, Rono, you gotta keep you gotta keep the African kid. Yo. If I come to the Boston, you gotta keep the African kid because he was in the package. I was like, it's like, uh uh, I think he's gonna no, we can't do it then. And then I actually called Steve Nash just to the courtesy and the the the U I guess the car. He hit me back, was like, yo, if you come down here, we need you to take a major pay cut.

Mm.

And I was like, okay, uh if I come down there, I'm playing with you. I'm playing with you and us uh Mari right said yeah, I think they gonna give a Mari up for you and sh and and and Sean. And I said, so hold on me.

This me and you.

It's like yeah. I was like, so I gotta pake a pay cut and then I gotta get back in this position. And we in the west two y'ard so this ain't you know. I'm sitting here like man, so little yeah, alright, let me do wanna man, let me think about all this shit like sh sh, you know what I'm saying. So I just sat on it. It's like now I'm I'm going to Beantown. Plus it's the East Coast. I ain't never playing the East Coast. So he ain't give us a thumb. I when I looked at all my options, we was at the Boospec respectful, you know what I'm saying, because I was seeing how y'all was. But I needed I needed a superstar in that whole mix. Always you always like some bandits, You always like they always like the little the little rats on City of God running around stealing shot. You know what I'm saying. You have to respect them little niggas. You know what I'm saying, the rats, y'all, y'all know City of God rat the little niggas, and that they are. Man, they was little hood looms. They ran the street. That's how y'all was. Joe's like, oh man, they switch everything. They got this on orthodox. You're thinking, Steven here balowitchis stopping hitting the three, now get up. He ain't dunking that like it was just so unorthodox. At the time that y'all had had the whole league like off the square like and then it's like they look like they just having fun. I can't come over there with my serious as everything. You know what I'm I'm just looking at it like I want to play against me, you know what.

I'm on the inside were looking at it like, boy, we imagine KG with pace beaches with KG. It's a difference, wow, with all us on the outside actually having somebody thought it because you know, Al.

Had to go out, y'all mean s and then y'all don't know, man I was, But when y'all mean turn it's really nothing nobody can do. Y'all like like y'all's jump shots like all the way up here, like you like on the turnaround, You're like, man, do what I'm doing.

You have two days off after we played, y'all get it. And you know what Al used to actually keep him out the paint.

If you do if you do your work early, and that's the that's the kind of the lingo and where you don't let him come down and sit on the blocks. Y'all mean, can damn it be at the three point line and do the same turnaround and hit it like it was nothing. Y'all's touch a man A shot that y'all mean man, that would be another y'all mean like that man he was. He was specially straight up. But I ended up doing the Boston thing. And then on Draft night they got Ray and uh it made the whole deal a lot sweeter, and we was we was going after that bro. I knew we was going to no bullshit. I knew he was gonna win that ship. The first time I we stepped into like the first like you know how like September coming you all work out together, and I saw how the how that ship was. I had never been in like our first workout with guys I had never played with and it was just it was just, it was just it was just. And then the guys we was playing against the change posey fucking like we were just playing a bunch of the next Eddie House, a bunch of just Tony Allen Man go get us, big Perk, Leon Poe by in here. Nate won there yet next year, just the first year we was all together, and it.

Was just.

I heard Folk come in. I heard Folk tell the story about when we first played you know what, I'm saying like it was. But the synergy was that day one. I knew, I knew we had a chance to get somewhere that we was not normal from when I doing this. This wasn't normal. This was above average right here. This is what I was looking for.

So you guys kind of started, I mean through a different process. But the big three, you mean, Y, Paul, yourself, you get Ray, Draft Knight, mm and the synergies instant.

So yeah, yeah, the synergy's instant. You know, the synergy is yeah.

I guess where you put it like that? Yeah, it in advertently and it virt We wasn't like mapping it out like that. I think Ray was trying to come back east too, uh because of his uh you know, he had foundings in Connecticut and uh family that was you know in that area or whatever. So he was just trying to come back and trans transition and kind of let that be like the tell end and be on their side. So I think it was all just synergy with him and then it just all came together. It helped that Paul and I was friends. I knew Ray, uh and and I we were friends, uh, but we didn't know none of the younger guys. Ta was a younger version of Chicago. When I was in Chicago, Leon Poe, they was all younger versions. Big Baby he was all younger versions. I had new Perk Hat plays against Perk Perk and I used to play like we used to bang. I mean, like really have issues with each other, to where I had to ask people like, Yo, you know we're coming over there, Perk gonna be okay, because man, you don't know, like when we go at it, we really about to fight. He'd be like, you know how like if one person like going years over bail, you know one gonna wait, you know that's come down like that. And I was like, Yo, why this little hogh haired nigga like gobba jass nigga coming out here like coolig you trash nig I'm not gonna interact with you nigga, Like who is this? Not knowing that he's coming out of high school, he's looking up to me, he trying to he's trying to you know, we're trying to trying to raise this ship. I raised him. But I'm like that you don't who is nigga?

Who?

Kendrick who? Nobody? Nigga? Nobody I gave him twelve, like real quick, I better get this nobody off me out here. Who you think I ain't no nobody you.

Want?

Man? Yeah? Yeah, yeah, saying nigga, what you're saying, Speak up, nigga, bet my head, buddy, speak up, nigga. You ain't talking loud enough, nigga. We both got texts, you know what I'm saying. But I'm but I'm going t t on that team. They bunch of young cats, our jeffinit So I'm in here, golden and they ship throwing it. Please know that ship out of here. Mind. You know what I'm saying. It's messing with him saying what you know what they you know he was so they you know, as we say, see if he gonna scratch. Yeah, they scratched it. Okay. Yeah, I like these young cats. I knew what I had with that, you know what I'm saying, because there was a whole bunch of young guys coming up in the league that we was needing to have some young guys that kind of you know, met that too, so it was good.

Tell me what it was like getting a chance to play with Paul Pierce because to me, he's one of the most underrated most stores, clutch motherfuckers in the history the gas footwork all time.

Listen man, Me and P played together very young in life. And uh, if anybody know PEP is very similar to like a stepf or like an AI. When I interact with like A, I would say a bigger ego than mine. Uh, I played a second And if anybody know me, know that I'm a very confident person, very sure person, and I can play the side. I'm never gonna play the front. If it's a side door, I'm off to the side. I'm more of a shadow person. My nigga Pee is totally opposite of Now you want to come through the front door, won't there? Ignoring him trove he gonna you know, he's swagged. Yeah, So with that, he was always able to back that up from when we was talking trash and when we got into whatever. It wasn't something that he couldn't get himself out of. But that's how he operated. He needed that that extra whatever that owned for that or that swag to get him to perpetuate. And uh, I saw him in some of the most critical moments be very calm and very even played and even killed to where he was so sure of himself to where he took big shots and he hit him. My favor my favorite p joint is him and Al Harrington. People don't know that these two are really good friends, and we're all really good friends, and these are two monsters. If anybody know, al Ay backing down from nothing. You know what I'm saying, Like, al Ain't going nowhere, y'all think Jack, like imagine Jack, Well, no, I can't say that were another two hundred pounds, but Alis just right there, Jack like the meadoworld, p Jack, you getting the same, You better come with a hard hat. And when he was talking to that shit, I'm gonna hit you in the here, right here, I'm letting you know, let you know right now, well let me see it then let me see Okay, you want to see it? And I was like, oh and when p hits like straight, that's one of my favorite basketball moments just because both of those guys are my friends. But I was able to take something from Paul that some of that even killed, some of that calmness, some of that that laser like you know, you think you're focused until you see somebody else, do there or go through there? Whatevers. And I was able to, you know, take some of that commonness and incorporate it into some of my own games to where I thought it made me a better player. But T is probably one of the most underrated players of all times that we that we have in our history that don't get enough slack for, don't get enough of recognition.

In my tape, you were able to help bring back the Celtics Laker rivalry. You guys met in the finals. You guys got one, they got one. Tell me what it was like going against Shaq and Kobe with your squad.

Before I got to Boston. Now would battle the Lakers. It was always the premier game. It was nothing less. Playing Shack was always entertaining, It was always hierarchy was always it was always the pinnacle. Cope and I knew each other. Shaq and I would befriend each other and become friends later, but the match ups was always higher and there was always electric I was always felt like I was under man so when I had perk, who would who battle? Who would battle anybody? And don't care about anything? Right, Shaq was in Cleveland as we was making our runs and stuff, so I felt like this is a great time to have redemption on that whole COVID shack thing in the West. I felt like this was redemption and now you know, they was kind of separated, so that when I when I actually went up against both of those guys, it felt like a payback for me. But that ship won less than one, less than magical, like epic, like not a lot of shit talking out here, but it's a lot of buckets. It's a lot of a lot of tapping, it's a lot of you know, it's a lot you better get over here, like you know what I'm saying, and and there's a bunch of it. Nah, I ain't no switching. And it was win both ways. Even though the big fellow was big and he knew he was a house I told him. He came out to Cleveland and then doctors like, yo, I need you to guard Shock. For like two minutes. I was like, holy shit, guarden shack is like holding up the side of a house shaw. I was trying to see a wall in here, see a fist of wall. I can't even describe it. But I played Shock for two minutes and couldn't give nobody no high five. I was just like the arms was so tired, y'all. I couldn't. I couldn't Like if you slapped me, I would have to be like you know what I'm saying. I couldn't even go. I couldn't even protect myself. But playing those two brought the best out of you every time you played them. Every time you played COVID was nothing shy or nothing, nothing less than the electric and it was all about uh winds. It was all about wins and rings. And when I got the Boston it was just it was just just different times. But I've always enjoyed playing against those guys. There was always a challenge to play those guys, and it was always hard to get a win on them. You know what I'm saying straight up?

So a Hall of Fame career, I mean, you'll go inducted at twenty twenty. I mean, tell me what that kid from South Carolina that came up the way you came up Mom's working graveyard, You having to do what you have to do to everythink that twenty five years later you could be abducting to the Hall of Fame.

Tell me what that feels like.

I never thought that. I never really I never really cite my I really never put that on the goal, never put that on the paper. It was all about busting these guys asked right here and crossing their name out. It was always about being the best in this right here and putting your name at the top and that and that, and that was it. I never really imagine taking this and being global. I never had a vision of that. I just wanted to be able to have a list of motherfuckers that you thought was better than me, and I wanted to bust all they ass And that was it.

Cob had a kill list too. We talked, we got kill You need a little kill list. What you're doing, You ain't got no vision who you chasing, who you being? Who the king in the mountain?

Like, right, that's what That's what competition is, Joe. It's about who's on king in the mountain, who's on top, and how and how you can take him off that or her, you know what I'm saying, like straight up. And then that's polishing your tools and at the same time pushing it. You know, you gotta push this line of creativity, gotta push the lines of competition, gotta push this line of originality. You know, like for me that that's everything.

Jack and I are someone who we've talked about this with other guests, you know, guys that used cannabis throughout our career because we felt like it helped us sleep, pain folks, whatever.

Whatever.

What do you think, how with the narrative finally shifting about cannabis, what about you your thoughts about cannabis and sports?

I think education, man, I think when it comes to cannabis, people have to understand that uh. I think they see cannabis in their recreational use, and educational has to come out about the about the uh, the healing parts of them, the benefits of it. I think I think as a so society meaning that it's some more older or more older society thinking of the ways of recreations to more millennials and younger kids, is really exposing and giving this education to the benefits. And I think our society is changing, and I think everybody's starting to see the more and poorly the benefits. I think the sooners they get CBDs into sports, I think we'll start to see a bigger change. You know, you guys don't know that we probably take about sixty seven pills a night before we play no clue. And that's just to be able to step on the court. You got innocent, you got vijaks, you got too taller and oil, you got two avias. The kidney is over supposed to be able to process for so much. If we're not hydrating and bringing liquids and fluids and draining that your liver is catching all that, your kidneys are catching all that, man, Believe it or not, it makes a difference. It makes a difference in joint pain to be able to sit a pill, just how we sit. If your shit is hurting, hey, motherfuck out them and listen and shit is popping, and shit is moving, and get out. This seat is an issue. And you never think about that ship as you're putting it in and as you're going you just think about, you know, short term solutions. Cannapis has brought some of those solutions to to date to where they're more beneficial for the organs and for your every day believe it or not, you know, I always say to who's his own, use his own, Just be respectful and responsible with it.

Home stretch right here, your top five team without yourself, who's your top who's your starting five minus yourself.

I'm gonna go magic Cole Jordan's Wilton shot, going really big, really firm. I want to be to switch. I want to be to switch one through three, Funnel everything to the middle, big fella. Lay everybody out on my bench. I got, yeah, I got, I got, I know, I got Russell, and I got Russell on my bench because he gonna come in and bring a whole nother pain. I got Aljah on at my four. I gotta put Jamal Mashburn because he's one of my favorite players. Three and yeah, I'm gonna put Steph in the yard my one and two just because I love you. Man A probably an other superstar who doesn't really get a lot of recognition off of I was a goddamn beyond a superstar. He was a he was a culturally superstar. He was he wasn't afraid of anything. Anything he was he was. He was really the example of small ball and really taking it to another level. Hey, y'all, dude, I called him a easy because he make everything look easy and shout the AI man and everything he did.

You know what I'm saying, real ship, Seeing that we're here at all Star, what is what is your favorite All Star moment?

Favorite All Star moment events sitting on the floor, believe it or not, I got that footage to y'all know, yeah, no, no it come see me, motherfuckers think y'all getting this ship for free. Y'all kissed my eyes right, going that ink hollow right, But I got that. That was probably one of my favorite because all my friends was probably two couple of rolls and we got to see that, and it was the first time the world got to really see Vince like we knew Vin's in high school, grew up with Da Da YadA, and for him to like put that on display like that and just give us an unbelievable A lot of people don't know Tracy and Steve too. Stacy and Stevens on that too, you know what I'm saying. That was one of the better before Zach and Gordon. Uh, that was probably my favorite. That was probably my favorite. Uh dounk I tell some time. But out of all the stuff men I've I've always been able to pull some out of each All Star Game, one of my favorites was coming out. I was getting ready to I was leaving the All Star Game and I had a bag of stuff and I was coming out and Craig Sager needed an interview for his clothes out and I didn't want to do it, and I was trying to, you know, we didn't hit back. Look like you know, like you know how you play shadow, You're trying to get by somebody. I'm like, trade what you're doing. I gotta catch my plane, get the fuck out of here, YadA, YadA. So my assistant shout the bill. I call him shitty. I threw shitty the bag and said, yo, shitt he takes this to the planet and trying to get out, and he said, yo, just give me two seconds. I need an hour. I said, get the funk out of my way. And I kind of pushed him, you know, I kind of gave him some whatever. And he was like, man, I saw how he look. I said, come on, man, fuck it, come on, and he and and I was, I'm just gonna say whatever I want to say. Okay, just give me this. I just need thirty seconds to get out of here. Okay, okay, okay, and go. And then I saw what he had on. I looked and I said, hold on, hold on. So look, you know, I never try to go at you right, like what the fuck? Like really, what the fuck is this dog? Like really you came to the game like this dog and he was trying to get an interview. I was like, Noah, funck all that lo no burn all this ship, everything the green throw to all this and all of it, yo, and kind of gave him a little sound aboute and see it what up and then got out of there and I turned around and I was like, gave shot your thanks, but yeah, like this, shout the crag ya and.

We know, I know we normally end the show y'all with a with a begging segment, but before I do my begging segment, I want to.

We have some stuff for you. We have some all the smoke giar for you. Okay, you know what I'm saying. So some of them that bongs pre rolls in that moll. Don't cut me short now right, shout to the goat as we're giving you your all the smoke gears past my brother you the first one. But this is what we do need though. This is this is Jersey. You need house.

I don't care what team it is. You gotta pick a team. I don't I don't care what team it is. Okay, you were great your whole career to be all right, I got you. That's all I need.

Man, that's a rap.

Man. We just really than your Chicago first live show, real ship. It was live, but c K two y'all.

I think obviously in the tragedy of cold rest in peace. We want to give you your flowers while you're here. Man, We appreciate everything you did for the game, your greatness, the way you've passed it to this next generation, and just fucking be you.

Man.

We respect the ship. Have you for that, man, Thank you, thank you, no doubt y'all. Man, goodloveciate you back for you having y'all seen.

Man. Yeah, thanks ship, said Kate Gisel.

That's a rap with smoking in the back. Come sucking with us.

N I gotta light, I gotta fe mm hmm mm hmm.

Mmm mm hmmm.

Mm hmmm

Mm hmm

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All The Smoke

ALL THE SMOKE pairs two of the most outspoken and controversial players of their time. Known as fier 
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