Latest / Bring The Thunder Podcast / Anthony Morrow Reflects on His Time in OKC and This Thunder Team’s Rise

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Anthony Morrow Reflects on His Time in OKC and This Thunder Team’s Rise · Bring The Thunder Podcast

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  You're listening to the Bring the Thunder Podcast, a podcast
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  by fans, for fans. Yes, you are everybody.
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  Welcome to the Bring the Thunder Podcast where we have an episode
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  that's unlike anything we've ever done before because here at
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  the OKC Thunder Podcast, we started this a long time ago.
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  We've been having a great time doing this, but we've never
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  gotten an opportunity like this. And that is to have a one-on-one
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  interview here with OKC legend Anthony Morrow.
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  Anthony, go ahead and introduce yourself.
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  Let us know anything you want to mention before we get started.
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  It's Amo here, Charlotte, NC representative, a huge Thunder
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  fan to this day. You know, raising kids, running
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  businesses, man, That's it. Absolutely.
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  We love to hear it. So without further ado, fellas,
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  let's get into this. Let's just start.
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  We're going to pick your brain a bit.
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  We obviously are super excited to hear what you got to say.
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  So let's get into this. We know that you played some
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  time here in OK C, so we're excited to dig into that.
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  So I'm going to go ahead and hit you with the first question here
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  that we got for you during your time at OK C.
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  Everybody talks about the Thunder having this atmosphere
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  that's like a college atmosphere and the AAU vibe, you know, they
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  talk about that's kind of always been present.
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  OK, see, So what was some things that you noticed from a player's
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  perspective that really made the Thunder different from teams
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  that you played for previously? I mean, just within the city
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  itself, you know, it's we the only NBA team in the state.
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  So I mean, we got all the basketball attention, you know,
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  shout out to OU and OSU and everybody.
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  But you know, we were we was, you know, we were the show and
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  and there's no there's no NFL team there.
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  So, you know, we were the show and the city show and still show
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  supreme love to everybody still to this day, former guys, you
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  know, everybody. And that's one thing that stood
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  out to me. And I was something that, you
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  know, that really, you know, kind of kind of chugged at me,
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  went out when they were recruiting me to come there,
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  just being in the city, walking around the facility, which is
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  state-of-the-art. Sam's great.
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  What he does is legendary GM in any sport, you know, Scott,
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  Scott Brooks, Mark, now Billy, when he was there, you know,
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  it's just a great family atmosphere.
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  You know, if there's not much to do.
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  So it's not a lot of trouble to get into.
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  So it was, it was fun, man. We everybody was locked in and
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  focusing on one accord. And the culture that they built
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  over there is like really it's, it's strict and it's discipline,
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  but it's also fun. It's not like it it, it draws
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  you down and you don't feel like you don't want to go to work
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  that day. You don't want to get in the
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  gym. You know, on off days, we have
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  the whole team in the gym, you know, doing something, whether
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  it's training, whether it's shooting, whether it's, you
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  know, working on your body where it's, you know, cold tub,
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  lifting weights, like everybody was in there.
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  So it was a great experience. I never wanted to leave, you
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  know, but the business politics, it is what it is.
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  Absolutely, Saber. You got a question for him next?
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  Yeah, man, I think this one's going to be kind of for the
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  present time right now, the Thunder kind of in a shooting
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  slump. And I wanted to ask, I guess
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  from your perspective, what are some few things that maybe the
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  players can do individually to get their shots back?
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  Because, you know, we need that going off into the play offs.
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  We've been talking about it all year long.
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  If all they can do is just improve their shooting just by
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  maybe like 5 percentage points as a team, you know, we should
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  be blowing out teams by more than 20 plus points, even though
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  we've been doing that for most of the season.
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  But I feel like that would help them a lot.
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  There's no secret sauce to it. They in the slump.
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  That's it. It's 82 games start off the
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  season, 24 and two. I think they six and five or six
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  and six right now. But I said it earlier in the
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  season, I was like, it's going to be some, you know, it's going
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  to be a time where they're going to go through some slumps and
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  it's not defensive. It's still the best defensive
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  team in the league. And I don't see too many teams
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  that can beat them. Only team I really think is a
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  real, real threat is Denver because that walk through the
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  playoffs against Denver is not going to be the same as it was
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  last year because they're going to be healthy.
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  So I think it's some tweaks. But when it's come to shooting
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  slumps, you just got to keep shooting, like keep playing the
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  same way. It naturally comes back.
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  You never know, Cason can get hot and then J Dub can get hot
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  and then everybody gets hot, you know, But the way they play,
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  it's it's constructed for them to shoot threes, wide open
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  threes and all of that. You know, you go through the
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  last 12 games, it just ain't been the same, you know, But I
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  don't think that is going to affect anything moving forward
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  in the playoffs are who could be better than them?
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  You know, I think Houston's probably not ready to beat them
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  in a playoff series. The only team equipped to beat
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  them is Denver. And I think right now, I ain't
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  gonna lie, they got to figure San Antonio out because San
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  Antonio matches up perfectly. Well, OK, see, so I think that
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  those two teams are the only real threats.
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  But I think San Antonio might be a year away, where as Denver
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  already has like a championship pedigree, as do we, you know.
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  But yeah, those are the only two teams I see as a real throw.
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  I don't know if San Antonio can beat them in A7 game series
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  right now. Yeah, I agree with all those
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  ones. Yeah, I was going to say we've
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  agreed with that as well, that despite the Spurs taking care of
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  business a couple times against us, you get to a playoffs,
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  that's a different atmosphere. You know, especially in OK C,
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  this is a young Spurs team. We don't know if they're going
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  to, you know, have that same level of composure when it gets
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  loud and loud cities. So let's move on to the next
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  question. Jack, What do you got?
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  Yeah, I was just going to ask, what's your favorite memory from
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  your time with the Thunder? It can be off court.
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  I think it was, it was probably the run we went on.
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  You know, it ended kind of sad. We lost to Golden State, but the
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  run we went on to get to that place with the kind of season
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  that we had, you really get to see who people really are in the
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  playoffs, you know, and you learn a lot about your
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  teammates, your coach and staff, really everybody.
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  You know, 'cause you see how focused and locked in people
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  are. And it's no egos, you know?
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  I think we were constructed to win the championship day.
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  Yeah, we just fell a little bit short, but that run was amazing,
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  man. Like they had San Antonio, we
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  had Dallas, San Antonio, and then I think it was.
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  Golden State. Yeah, Golden State after that,
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  Yeah. So that shit was so long ago.
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  My bad. But now what?
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  I mean, it was it was just, you know, it was such a like a
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  fraternity type feeling. And it wasn't just the players,
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  it was the coaches, player development, ball boys, like
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  everybody, you know. And you know, that was probably
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  the closest knit team. That was definitely closest knit
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  team I've been on in the in the NBA, but it did feel like, like
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  you said, like AAU, like a high school feel, you know,
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  everywhere we went and you know, everybody was just locked in on
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  the same page. Man, that was a great.
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  That was probably one of my favorite, my best basketball
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  memories in my life. That's so awesome, Joe.
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  You're next. Yeah, I kind of had a couple
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  here. I was going to start with, you
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  know, I, I didn't want to have to bring it up, but the
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  comparisons between that Warriors team that you guys
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  played in 16 and then now this year's OK C team.
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  Do you think that's fair to the OK C players right now to be,
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  you know, to have that type of expectation on them?
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  No, but it comes with it, you know, like they were comparing
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  the Warriors team to like the 96 Bulls or whatever, you know.
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  So I mean, I don't think the players really take heed to that
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  as much as the media around them does.
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  Like when you compare them, I don't think the players care
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  about that. You know, it's more about the
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  media. Like I probably guarantee you
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  that wasn't a conversation that came up one time in the locker
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  room. And if it was, they was joking
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  about it because they don't care about it.
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  It was so long ago. You know, they on their own
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  path, they're two differently constructed teams, you know,
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  from from that. And the media makes a bigger
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  deal of that to me than anything, for the most part.
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  Yeah, it's like all blown out of proportion.
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  Then secondly, I was just going to ask you, you know, I'm sure
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  there was a few, but you know, your whole career, college, NBA,
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  did you have a favorite teammate that you're still in touch with
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  nowadays? Yeah, it's a few of them, man.
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  My man CJ Watson. I mean, me and Steph grew up, me
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  and Steph Curry, we grew up basically together here in
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  Charlotte, so I don't really count him.
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  He's like a brother Katie Russ, still one of them.
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  It's a couple. Who else played with a lot of
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  dudes, man. Probably Dirk when I was in
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  Dallas for a short Standard Time.
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  And I don't like Josh Smith, but I don't count him.
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  He's like a brother, Jeff T Lou Williams.
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  And like, it was a lot of guys in the 30 years, man 'cause we
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  were so close. Surge, Kendrick Perkins, of
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  course, Nick Collison, a lot of those guys, man Chicago, Jimmy
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  Butler campaign, It's a lot, man.
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  I played for like 7 teams, bro. You know what?
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  I'm saying, well, you just did your best to shout out about
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  everybody. I know, man.
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  It's I can't leave nobody out, man.
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  You know what I was? Anthony.
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  Davis, I keep going, bro. Touching all the bases for sure.
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  I want to focus a bit more of this next question on you.
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  So obviously you've had some games where you've absolutely
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  popped off. You dropped 42 against the
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  Timberwolves and you're playing with the Nets.
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  You've got 32 with OKC. You've had some big games,
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  they'll talk about those games. You just kind of feel it, you
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  know? I want to hear it from your
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  perspective. Was it one of those things where
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  before those games where you're just hitting, you knew it was
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  going to be a game? Or is it kind of you feel it as
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  the game goes on? It's a lot.
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  I mean, you might have a great week in practice, you might just
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  feel like you're in rhythm and you know all those games when
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  you feel like you're in rhythm, you don't.
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  You may not play well, shoot well, you may not play as much
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  as you think you're going to play.
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  So it's just about it's kind of being prepared #1 and then like
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  as the game, you figure the Florida game out and then it's
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  like, OK, now I'm in a rhythm. It may be for me.
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  I get to the free throw line twice.
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  So I got 4 points off the RIP. And then you get a layup on the
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  back door cut, you know, And then the game keeps going and
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  you hit two threes back-to-back. And then it's like, all right,
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  I'm about to change the game if they continue to leave me in the
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  game, right. So it's really about like the
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  the the flow of the game, the rotations.
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  And but number one is just being prepared.
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  You can't really, you don't really know until the game start
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  going. Yeah.
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  So I catch the flow of the game. I used to catch the flow of the
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  game and then say, OK, this way I can pick my spots.
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  That's why I can get my shots, you know, run in transition.
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  I know my guys looking for me. So it's just naturally that
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  stuff. You don't think about it.
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  It's just naturally. That's the kind of stuff that
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  that happens when you get in that kind of rhythm.
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  Right. The the 42 point game, the one
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  we were playing with the Nets, you had, you had eight threes.
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  Do you remember that game pretty well?
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  Is that one that stuck with you? Yeah, I remember that.
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  I remember that my man Darren Williams was one of my good
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  friends, was my teammate. He was like the first superstar
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  point guard. You know, I I can't count Steph
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  because he was a rookie at the time and he was really good.
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  But Darren was like a perennial All Star at the time when he
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  came in New Jersey. And you know, when you got a
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  guard like that, that's like, all right, Amos hot.
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  I'm going to just keep feeding them, you know, and that's what
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  that's what that was for real. And you know, I had shout out to
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  Doug over to me. I don't know if y'all know who
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  that is. We played up north.
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  He's older. He was one of he's my player
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  development guy. And he really he really changed
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  some of my workout habits, you know, in a good way.
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  Like it wasn't like I wasn't working hard, but footwork and,
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  you know, staying low and, you know, using my base more on my
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  jump shot because it was different from Golden State to
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  jersey. And you know, it was just one of
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  those things like a lot of stuff to start, a lot of stuff to
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  start clicking at one time. When you when you win those kind
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  of games, you got different teammates, you got different
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  coaches, you got different schemes, you got different
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  plays. So you know all that stuff when
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  you adjust to it and basically buy in, you know, when you in a
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  new organization, it definitely helps when you get a perennial
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  All Stars, your point guard is actually really looking for you.
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  So that was cool. Absolutely.
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  Whoever's got next one, just throw it out.
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  Yeah, I was actually looking at underneath your name, you have
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  the AD sports and entertainment. I wanted to, you know, hear a
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  little bit about that. It sounds like maybe some local
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  Charlotte stuff. I'm actually in the area myself
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  as well. I'm, I probably amazed.
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  So I actually went to Charlotte University.
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  So love to hear what you're doing with that.
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  Oh, that's what's up man. You gotta get lunch one day,
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  bro. I got you.
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  No, that's my man, me and my my partner, Gary Young, who was he
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  was actually a sports. He worked in a sports and
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  entertainment space. He was an agent for about 6-7
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  years from my O 7 and 2013. And he loved who went into
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  business and politics. And you know, we were just
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  talking about, he was talking about he wanted to get back into
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  it. And I have been kind of thinking
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  about it, but I didn't really realize, I didn't know what I
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  wanted to do with it. So it's kind of going to
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  specialize in the NIL space, obviously, which is new now.
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  Management is going to be kind of holistic, like everything
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  around it, you know, media training, you know, money
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  management, like it's going to be everything for the clients,
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  our clients. And we just decided to put
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  something together, man. We just locked it in last week.
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  We LCD it and got our NDA. And then we have a, my lawyer,
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  one of my lawyers, Natasha, she's on my board, my
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  foundation, Anthony Mall Charities, but she's already
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  working in the NRL space. So she just started a company
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  with her husband, I think. So she couldn't really be fully
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  in with us, but in terms of contracts and players and being
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  still a part of what we doing, you know, we contract her out
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  for whatever. So we got like a nice little
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  team of experience from all three of us and we just decided
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  to start, you know, getting that sports entertainment space right
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  now. I'm looking forward to the new
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  venture. That sounds super exciting and
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  it sounds like it could be great for the youth, but also, you
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  know, maybe some more experienced guys that can be
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  brought on the something like that, especially with your
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  background, you know, being undrafted, I feel like you'd be
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  the perfect person to help players out with that type of
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  thing. Yeah, and it's starting with the
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  youth, but also, you know, you know, a lot of guys.
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  I know how a lot of older guys probably already have people
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  they're working with. But you know, when we just get
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  the ball rolling, you know, people start wanting to come to
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  US versus US having to go search for them.
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  You know, it's just going to be kind of like somewhere it's kind
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  of organic that people want to work with everybody that has
• 16:39
  experience versus a lot of these guys just saying they have NIL
• 16:43
  deals with people and not having nothing to offer.
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  You know, so we just using our resources right now, got a
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  couple meetings in the next couple days and just, you know,
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  brick by brick, day by day, just meeting these people.
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  And we got a lot of interest in a lot of, I ain't going to say
• 16:59
  no names, but a lot of top people within MBA organizations,
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  former agents, former superstar agents that, you know, they,
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  they really interested in they, they're looking forward to
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  working with us. That's awesome, man.
• 17:17
  Well. I wanted to ask you just your
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  experience with Steven Adams, because I'm from New Zealand and
• 17:22
  always hear about him in the NBA.
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  So yeah, always some funny stories there.
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  Of who? What you say?
• 17:29
  Steven Adams. Oh, Steven.
• 17:31
  Oh, man, Steve, man, that's one of my favorite teammates.
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  Do I, I hate I left him out. I don't really have no funny
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  stuff. It's so much like Steven was
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  great. It's like every day is something
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  he says or does, you know? He's so genuine, man.
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  That's my, I'm like, man, you, you, you, my, you my biggest
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  little brother, you know. But I'll tell you one thing
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  about him, you know, I love when we were in a game together
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  because he was so selfless, man. You know, he got the accident
• 18:06
  Emo. I'm on my side when you come off
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  the screen and I'm like, hell yeah, because I'm going to be
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  open every single time he laying shit out, boom, I'm like, yeah,
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  I don't, ain't nobody around. Like so he was just I mean, and
• 18:22
  then he was just like a big kid, man, You know, he he and to see
• 18:26
  his development and his longevity in the league right
• 18:29
  now, you know, he deserved that man.
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  He worked his butt off to get where he is.
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  But he was definitely one of my favorite guys, man, and it's
• 18:37
  cancer too. And he's didn't set screens like
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  Steven, though. I still.
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  I don't think anybody did, no. That was like hitting a tree or
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  something like that. I'm like, yeah, And you couldn't
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  get around them. So I'm like, I know I'll be open
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  every time. But yeah, that was that was my
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  dude, man. You got another.
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  One. Yeah, you.
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  Got him. Yeah.
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  I guess I'll continue off the Steven Adams.
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  Were you able to see his development not as a player, but
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  who Steven Adams became? He came into the league short
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  hair and all of a sudden he had a beard, tattoos, long hair.
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  Like where did that come about? And did you guys mess with him
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  or anything or were you like, let's not mess with Steve today?
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  No, man, I think you know, he he was when he came out of pit, he
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  was, he came out of Pittsburgh. He was a kid, you know, always
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  telling me they're like big ass car salesman.
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  But but then like, you know, when you get in the lead man,
• 19:36
  you, you kind of, you know, it's not as much structure in terms
• 19:40
  of turning into, you know, kind of growing into who you are,
• 19:44
  like your personality, you know, And we all kind of were like
• 19:48
  that. You know, I got a bunch of
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  tattoos when I got in the league and we grew my hair out.
• 19:53
  Like we all kind of it's a lot of guys that that did that.
• 19:57
  But you kind of can just be a little bit more free with, you
• 20:00
  know, who you are and your personality and you know, what
• 20:03
  you feel like you want to look like and your appearance and
• 20:07
  everything like that. And I thought it was cool when
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  his hair got along like that. Yeah.
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  You know, And then he got, you know, his tattoos was like.
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  It's like his tribe, like his way from, you know, and I asked
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  him about that because I was like, bro, that's a lot of work.
• 20:24
  And he was like, yeah, it's like where we from we get I'm like,
• 20:26
  oh, because I ain't know that. And that's the cool thing too,
• 20:29
  about planning the league like you around so many different
• 20:34
  personalities or different cultures, you know, like me and
• 20:37
  Serge, our lockers was next to each other and then we sat next
• 20:40
  to each other on the plane. So we're on the plane, you know,
• 20:44
  I'm eating African food, you know, you know what I'm saying.
• 20:47
  He giving me stories about where you from.
• 20:49
  Give him stories about where I'm from, how I grew up, how he grew
• 20:52
  up, how he came into the league, how I came into the league.
• 20:55
  So it's it's a lot, you know, it's it's a lot more.
• 20:57
  That's what I miss the most when people ask me what do I miss
• 21:00
  about the about playing. I miss the fraternity, man.
• 21:03
  I miss the brotherhood, you know?
• 21:05
  Yeah, Chartered that Chartered plane rides, traveling, playing
• 21:09
  cards, you know, stuff like that, Going to team dinners,
• 21:15
  going to team events that we didn't feel like going to, but
• 21:19
  we had to make it fun. So then we, you know, so like
• 21:22
  all those, all that kind of stuff, man, that's, that's like,
• 21:25
  it's bigger than just basketball.
• 21:28
  Awesome. And then I'll just follow up
• 21:29
  with one more personal and I'm not sure how much you're like
• 21:31
  allowed to talk about this, but obviously when you signed with
• 21:34
  OKC, there was a few years they were looking for a 2 guard who
• 21:37
  could shoot the ball. They didn't have one.
• 21:39
  And even after you left for a little, they didn't have one.
• 21:41
  That was kind of the the hole that was missing with that OKC
• 21:44
  team. What were the conversations like
• 21:46
  with their recruit pitch towards you?
• 21:50
  I'll never forget they I was in Charlotte and they caught my
• 21:55
  agent called me and said Oklahoma City want to meet with
• 21:57
  you in Atlanta. And they were like, we'll fly
• 22:00
  you. I was like, no, I'll just drive
• 22:02
  because being in Charlotte, 3 hours away, but Annie got to do
• 22:05
  all that. So we meet at The Four Seasons
• 22:08
  in the conference room. It was day.
• 22:11
  It was Michael Winger, Troy Weaver and and Sam Presti.
• 22:17
  And you know, they were saying the same thing you said.
• 22:20
  I look, we need we need a shooter.
• 22:22
  You know, you going to mark you one of the best out there right
• 22:25
  now. And I thought they was going to
• 22:29
  go out to Ray Allen, but I didn't know where Ray Allen was
• 22:32
  going to actually go there. So, you know, it's a waiting
• 22:34
  game. And then for HC, it's like, it's
• 22:37
  like a, it's like the most exciting anxiety feeling of your
• 22:42
  life, you know what I'm saying? Yeah.
• 22:45
  And you know, basically it's, you know, they were like, you
• 22:48
  know, we're very interested in you.
• 22:50
  We probably about 20-30 minute conversation.
• 22:53
  And in my mind, I'm like, oh shit, we're going to be on TV.
• 22:58
  I'm going to play with Kev and Russ and be open all the time,
• 23:02
  you know? So the next day I went to the
• 23:09
  Pro Am in Atlanta and my agent was coaching the Pro Am game and
• 23:15
  he was like, you can't play, 'cause we gotta wait, 'cause
• 23:18
  they might call or somebody might call.
• 23:21
  You don't want to get hurt. So I'm just on the bench
• 23:24
  watching the game and I just remember him holding his phone
• 23:27
  up and he was still coaching. He he held the phone back for me
• 23:31
  to look at and it was like 3 year deal OKC and I was like
• 23:36
  thank you Jesus. I didn't know it was going to
• 23:39
  happen. We said the same thing, man.
• 23:42
  Yeah, I was like, man, I was like, man, I because at that
• 23:46
  time I didn't know if it was going to be.
• 23:51
  I think the Knicks wins did I think the Heat had mentioned
• 23:58
  something. But then they got right, you
• 24:00
  know. Alright, that makes sense.
• 24:04
  And it was like a couple other things I can't really remember.
• 24:06
  But yeah, that was that was the one right there when OK C came
• 24:10
  through. Awesome.
• 24:13
  Absolutely. I want to dig in a little more
• 24:15
  about that concept of, you know, we talked earlier, you're doing
• 24:18
  this NIL stuff and whatnot and talking about helping out the
• 24:20
  youth. What is some of that advice you
• 24:22
  would give in terms of like, we know you were undrafted and
• 24:24
  whatnot? Like how do you keep that
• 24:26
  motivation and keep that, that drive to just make sure that
• 24:29
  'cause I mean, you made a great career for yourself.
• 24:30
  It's very impressive knowing that that's where it came from.
• 24:33
  So what are some of the things you would say to these younger
• 24:35
  players who might not have the the giant media pages on them
• 24:39
  because they're not, you know, playing at schools like Duke or
• 24:42
  or someone huge? I mean, I think now they have an
• 24:45
  advantage even at smaller schools just because of the the
• 24:51
  variety of of social media. But I would say for me honestly,
• 24:58
  is you got to fall in love with the passion of getting better
• 25:02
  every day. That's number one.
• 25:04
  I know that's kind of like a cliche, like Kobe shit, rest in
• 25:07
  piece of the big homie. But it's true.
• 25:10
  You got to fall in love with that shit like you, you, you
• 25:13
  can't feel like you have a minute to take off, you know,
• 25:18
  because it's so much of the talent, you know, now even more
• 25:21
  so, you got overseas talent more than ever right now.
• 25:26
  So it's so many, it's so many more options and so many more
• 25:29
  opportunities for so many more people.
• 25:32
  And I would just say once you find that focus or find that
• 25:37
  balance, you got to stick with that.
• 25:40
  Absolutely. You know, I'll take the next one
• 25:43
  here. This is back to the current
• 25:45
  squad. I guess when you're looking at
• 25:47
  this Thunder team right now, the record we talked about the
• 25:50
  defense, Shay playing at that MVP level.
• 25:53
  I guess what do you think that most people still misunderstand
• 25:57
  about OKC? As a team.
• 26:00
  Yeah. The chemistry, I don't think
• 26:04
  people understand how coach some guys are.
• 26:06
  You know, you can see it when you can see it when they play,
• 26:09
  but also you can see it when little stuff Shay gets player of
• 26:15
  the game, the whole team behind them, but then J dub get player
• 26:19
  of the game, the whole team behind them.
• 26:20
  You know, it could be anybody. So the camaraderie is unmatched.
• 26:25
  I feel like, and I'm not saying that like other teams don't have
• 26:30
  that, but you know, I'm those guys.
• 26:33
  It's it's a well constructed team and well constructed, like
• 26:38
  community work, like everything, every aspect.
• 26:43
  But like I said, I see San Antonio is looking like that
• 26:47
  right now. Denver has that, you know, so
• 26:52
  like the best teams have that, man, no matter what's going on,
• 26:56
  Like I still think, OK, see, I mean, to they're the best team
• 27:01
  in the league to this day. You know, they may not be
• 27:05
  playing well right now or at the same level they were playing at.
• 27:08
  They're still the best team in the league.
• 27:09
  You know, I mean, they're the Champs.
• 27:12
  We'll see. For sure.
• 27:15
  I want to ask you about your college days.
• 27:16
  I mean, I know obviously you had from the four years at Georgia
• 27:19
  Tech. What were some things that you
• 27:20
  feel like you learned during your time there that really
• 27:22
  helped you succeed in the NBA? Play for coach Paul Hewitt,
• 27:28
  Coach Charlton Young, you know, all the cultures were great.
• 27:32
  You know, during college, really just discipline.
• 27:37
  And you know, I learned like the structure, the basic structure
• 27:41
  of working hard, like on my game, working hard, like taking
• 27:45
  it to the next level, not just practicing individuals and, and
• 27:49
  stuff like that. And the games, you know, taking
• 27:52
  it to another level in terms of going back to the gym 2-3 times
• 27:56
  after, you know, midnight, you know, going back to the gym and
• 28:01
  just protecting my my craft. But you know, all our coaches
• 28:06
  was very disciplinary and type guys structured, strict.
• 28:12
  And it gave me a sense of a sense of discipline that you
• 28:19
  don't have a choice but to embrace.
• 28:22
  But it also instills a discipline in yourself, you
• 28:26
  know, if you buy in. So I think a lot of the guys
• 28:30
  that I play with will agree to that.
• 28:34
  But yeah, that's, that's mainly what I got from it.
• 28:36
  I mean, I had a great, you know, just college experience.
• 28:40
  I'm in Atlanta at 17 years old. You know, so we had fun, but
• 28:45
  also, you know, focusing in on really understanding that, you
• 28:49
  know, you're playing in the ACC at a time where everybody has
• 28:53
  good guards and, you know, it's like you got to be locked in.
• 28:56
  You got to work harder than everybody 'cause you want to be
• 28:59
  prepared. But yeah, probably that, you
• 29:03
  know, just just being disciplined and structured, but
• 29:07
  also being in that team setting where you can work with other
• 29:12
  guys that hell, everybody else was probably, I was North
• 29:18
  Carolina player of the year, Gatorade, Everybody else is too
• 29:21
  in that states, you know. So those experiences was were
• 29:26
  very important, man. Like college can show you a lot,
• 29:30
  you know, college basketball in college sports in general.
• 29:33
  But for me, like college basketball, it shows you a lot
• 29:36
  of a lot of who somebody really is.
• 29:40
  And that's what I got from my college experience.
• 29:43
  Great teammates, still close with a lot of those guys.
• 29:47
  Oh yeah. Awesome.
• 29:49
  Thank you. Wanted to ask what was your
• 29:52
  reaction to OKC winning the chip and how's your late relationship
• 29:55
  and connection to the team today still after?
• 29:59
  Oh man, I was acting like a maniac when they won.
• 30:01
  Bro, I'm tomorrow out the window screaming OKC like I was going
• 30:05
  crazy. But you know, it was tough, you
• 30:09
  know. But like I said, that walk this
• 30:11
  year is not going to be the same like people in the I mean,
• 30:16
  Denver, like I said, you know, Houston kind of on the way.
• 30:21
  I don't know if how good they're going to be post season, but if
• 30:26
  they get out the West, they got a good chance of winning the
• 30:30
  chip for sure. Because it's I mean, next year
• 30:34
  going to be even tougher because everybody back healthy in the
• 30:37
  East and in the West, you know. But yeah, it was a great
• 30:42
  experience, man, to see that, see those guys.
• 30:45
  I wanted to go to the, I couldn't make it to the to the
• 30:47
  parade, but I watched it. Yeah, Yeah.
• 30:51
  Good time. Absolutely.
• 30:53
  I think we got one more here. You're 4, but this this one's a
• 30:56
  this one's A2 parter. So I'm going to start off by
• 30:58
  asking you just throughout history, just from you paying
• 31:01
  attention to the league and, and watching ball growing up and
• 31:04
  even nowadays, who are some of those guys that you just think
• 31:07
  are incredible players but don't get talked about enough?
• 31:09
  So, you know, not the Lebrons, not the MJS, but the guys who
• 31:12
  you were talking earlier about, Deron Williams, like guys who
• 31:14
  just didn't quite get the respect that you thought they
• 31:16
  they deserved. Ask a question.
• 31:20
  Kind of put you on the spot there.
• 31:21
  No, that's all right. Like got like all time or like
• 31:25
  just in my like time plan? Either either one, if there's
• 31:28
  just all time that you're thinking of, you can you can
• 31:30
  mention them, but just players that you think deserve credit.
• 31:34
  That's enough. Yeah.
• 31:35
  Let me see Monte Ellis? Sure.
• 31:40
  Rajon Rondo? Steven Jackson?
• 31:51
  Al Harrington. Trying to thank some other guy
• 31:58
  like any might get. Zach Randolph.
• 32:11
  Is there anyone that you feel like that's underrated on the
• 32:13
  current team that you want to shout out?
• 32:16
  On a current team now. No, on our current team on that.
• 32:23
  KII It's tough man, 'cause I I'm had to go with Cason Wallace.
• 32:31
  I like Cason a lot. Steady.
• 32:32
  He's like one of those guys that I could see playing like 14
• 32:36
  years in the league because he he's one of those steady guys,
• 32:40
  can make shots, can run a team, knows how to, you know, make
• 32:45
  plays. I always thought he was good.
• 32:48
  I like Casey. Yeah, and he's also one of my
• 32:52
  guys for DPOY this year. I've been pushing that because
• 32:54
  he's the best guard defender currently in the in in the NBA.
• 32:59
  Yeah, he wanted to. He's like a low key two way guy
• 33:02
  that can make shots like you couldn't play forever.
• 33:04
  Yeah, absolutely. And then the second part of
• 33:08
  this, this is the question that I feel like everybody's got to
• 33:10
  answer at some point. Hit us with your top five of all
• 33:13
  time. I I just want to hear it, but
• 33:17
  you on the spot for real. It's all good.
• 33:21
  Oh man. I got to all right.
• 33:24
  Let me get my mind right, Mike. It's not like an orc, Mike.
• 33:31
  Kobe. Braun.
• 33:40
  Tim Duncan, Tim Duncan and Shaq because and I did that four spot
• 33:47
  that that four position. It messed me up because I'm such
• 33:51
  a Kevin Garnett fan bro. Like he was my favorite player.
• 33:54
  Him and Mike when it before Kobe got in the lead.
• 33:58
  And it's tough, though, because Timmy was five rings.
• 34:03
  Like then I got to get, I got to play against him for real, for
• 34:07
  like he was a little out of his way.
• 34:10
  I would came linking. Oh, wait, yeah, he still had
• 34:12
  that shit with him. Yeah.
• 34:13
  But by the time I got there, by the time I got to Oklahoma City,
• 34:16
  he was kind of on the back end of his prime.
• 34:19
  But he was still tough. And he was.
• 34:22
  People don't realize how strong he was, how skilled he was,
• 34:26
  moves around the basket defensively.
• 34:29
  He was everything, man. So I got to go.
• 34:31
  That's my 5 right there. All right.
• 34:34
  Well then I got Allen Iverson coming off the bench, you know,
• 34:38
  so. Gabe, if you're asking that,
• 34:41
  we'll ask one more before we finish up here now because we're
• 34:44
  just putting. Everybody on the front here.
• 34:46
  Good, good. Well, now we got you with the
• 34:52
  Who's the best player in the NBA currently?
• 34:59
  Jokic. I think, I think it's fair to
• 35:04
  say, it's fair to say. Man, we could talk about it all
• 35:08
  day bro. But listen that man now.
• 35:14
  Fair enough, you know. He got drafted 41st and they
• 35:19
  announced his name during a Taco Bell commercial.
• 35:24
  They sure did. Then they asked.
• 35:26
  Somebody said they didn't believe in the fat boy.
• 35:28
  That's what I love about him, you know what I'm saying?
• 35:31
  He's like the most downer of MVP, greatest.
• 35:34
  Like he's a Hall of Famer, of course.
• 35:37
  But yeah, I got to go with him right now, man.
• 35:39
  And he's durable. We don't really get hurt, you
• 35:41
  know what I'm saying? Like he dependable and he get
• 35:43
  you any look. You need me to make threes, I'm
• 35:45
  making threes today. You need me to get 15 assists, I
• 35:48
  get 15 assists. You need 22 rebounds, 22 real
• 35:51
  like he do everything. Yeah.
• 35:53
  Right. Super fair.
• 35:55
  You mentioned Kobe a lot talking about, I mean, obviously
• 35:58
  everyone who has ever watched a second of basketball gives their
• 36:01
  respect to Kobe Bryant. What was it like playing at the
• 36:04
  same time as him as well? That's that's kind of one of
• 36:06
  those iconic ones. A little Kobe, man.
• 36:09
  Kobe didn't say a word to me until like my fourth year in the
• 36:12
  league because it was like a thing like where he was like, I
• 36:15
  don't talk to you if I don't respect you, you know?
• 36:18
  So like you got to show me overtime, you know?
• 36:21
  So I don't know if y'all remember like I think it was a
• 36:24
  preseason game and he was handling stuff like 94 feet.
• 36:27
  Step up them off and hit the three.
• 36:30
  DI never got. To the last, yeah.
• 36:32
  And start smack laughing. That was that moment for him.
• 36:35
  So for me, we were in, Lai was playing for Jersey and I was
• 36:40
  kind of on a heater like last few games before that.
• 36:42
  And I was feeling good. And I love playing the Staples
• 36:44
  Center. And I caught one and he closed
• 36:49
  out and I hit one on three in the corner and he was like, you
• 36:54
  sharpshooting motherfucker, laugh, pat me on the back of
• 36:58
  some shoes like you sharpshoot, motherfucker.
• 37:01
  And I was like, alright, cool. I got, I got it.
• 37:04
  I got it now. Yeah.
• 37:06
  Well, yeah, but I mean, Cole was one of those guys, man.
• 37:09
  I it was like when he walked like before the game, he's
• 37:18
  always the last one to walk on the court before tip off.
• 37:22
  And like when he walk on the court, it feel different just
• 37:26
  when he walk on the court, you know, and you know he had that
• 37:30
  aura and that, you know, that confidence like, but then he
• 37:36
  also backed it up with his will, with his heart and with, you
• 37:39
  know, how hard he played and just skill like just playing.
• 37:44
  So he had, he was like at that time, prior to, he was the most
• 37:49
  complete player in the league to me.
• 37:51
  Then Brian wasn't all the way there yet.
• 37:55
  You know, Brian became that, obviously.
• 37:56
  But yeah, he had all that, man. He had everything, everything
• 38:01
  that you would want in a superstar mogul, whatever you
• 38:04
  want to call it, it was that. Absolutely.
• 38:08
  I think that's definitely a good place to kind of wrap it up.
• 38:12
  No one else has. Wait, no, no, no, it's not good
• 38:14
  because there is one. Look, we did ask him about good
• 38:17
  teams in the league right now, but we need one team from each
• 38:19
  conference who's going to be in the finals at the end of the
• 38:21
  year, not 3, just one from each conference.
• 38:25
  There you go. There you go.
• 38:28
  Damn, bro, I want my guys to get right, but right now I would
• 38:41
  have to say Denver out the West, fam, right now.
• 38:44
  Right now. And man, we ain't watching a lot
• 38:51
  of East Coast basketball. East is tough, E is tough this
• 38:55
  year for sure. Yeah, 'cause everybody hurt who
• 39:04
  over there. Detroit and New York, really
• 39:07
  that's. Yeah.
• 39:09
  Well, the Celtics could get, I think Well, so they're playing.
• 39:13
  Better, yeah, but I don't know if they're going to have that
• 39:15
  when it comes time. Playoff postseason.
• 39:20
  I would say New York. I don't know if Detroit ready
• 39:23
  for that all the way yet, but Detroit like a year away though.
• 39:28
  Yeah. And I still think Orlando is
• 39:33
  like maybe a draft or maybe a free agent acquisition away.
• 39:38
  Not right now, but I mean, I got New Yorkers battle tested, was
• 39:45
  impressed with how they play it on Christmas.
• 39:48
  And I mean, they play a tough brand of basketball.
• 39:50
  I don't really like watching them play, but they win a lot,
• 39:54
  right? So.
• 39:55
  And I love Jalen Brunson and those guys.
• 39:59
  But yeah, I would have to go right now.
• 40:00
  Denver, NY. We'll see my guys pick it up
• 40:05
  again. I got OK C coming out the West
• 40:08
  because they had a chance. Absolutely.
• 40:11
  Absolutely, We'll go ahead and end it on that note.
• 40:15
  So obviously this was a big thing.
• 40:17
  Thank you so much, Anthony for taking the time to speak with
• 40:19
  us. We're so excited to be able to
• 40:21
  share this with everybody who's following.
• 40:23
  This is a really big deal for us.
• 40:24
  We talked about how, you know, we've, we've, we've had a good
• 40:27
  run here. We've been making some good
• 40:28
  content, but this is big. This is not what we thought we'd
• 40:31
  end up getting. So Anthony, thank you so much.
• 40:33
  If there's any last thing you want to say before we wrap this
• 40:36
  up, take the stage. Nah man, I appreciate you guys.
• 40:40
  Y'all got a great setup. I appreciate the the the setup
• 40:43
  in the back man with my wild celebrations and stuff.
• 40:47
  So yeah, man, thank you guys, man, I'll come on anytime.
• 40:50
  Let me know. Absolutely.
• 40:53
  Well, thank you so much. And with that, we'll wrap it up.
• 40:56
  Joe, send us home. Yeah, Anthony, I don't want to
• 40:59
  scare you off, but at the end of every episode, I just like to
• 41:03
  say thank you to everybody who tuned in and Thunder up, baby,
• 41:05
  let's go.