Latest / The Bootleg Kev Podcast / #417 - Amar'e Stoudemire

Transcript

#417 - Amar'e Stoudemire · The Bootleg Kev Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Bulet Cavs show man. We got a special guest as
0:06
Speaker 1: an Arizona native. It is an honor one of my
0:09
Speaker 1: favorite Phoenix Sons of all time, and his jersey is
0:12
Speaker 1: going into rafters the Ring of Honor. I'm Mari Stoudamyer.
0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome brother, long time coming man.
0:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we hear now, we hear now.
0:20
Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, man, Like, it just feels like
0:22
Speaker 1: ever since Matt Ishbia bought this team, he is done
0:27
Speaker 1: right by US fans and by like the era of
0:32
Speaker 1: Sons basketball that we all love so much.
0:34
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I mean he's great, bro, Like since he came in,
0:37
Speaker 2: he started this new wave of like excellence with the organization.
0:41
Speaker 1: Right, crazy, It's awesome, man, And it's so crazy because,
0:44
Speaker 1: like you know, I feel like I pinched myself every
0:48
Speaker 1: time he does some cool shit, like we get the
0:49
Speaker 1: G League team now.
0:50
Speaker 2: Right, he knows long time right, Yeah for sure.
0:53
Speaker 1: Bro, games are free on TV, right. You know, it's crazy, man,
0:57
Speaker 1: you are such a staple in this community, not just
1:00
Speaker 1: on the court.
1:01
Speaker 2: You know.
1:01
Speaker 1: I think back to like going to Stota Meres and
1:05
Speaker 1: having penny drinks and getting wasted. Stottlem Myers was a
1:08
Speaker 1: stable downtown for so long. I even think to when
1:11
Speaker 1: you had your record label and you had like Judge
1:14
Speaker 1: and Juice and those guys like and you were like
1:17
Speaker 1: doing your part to kind of like help put on
1:19
Speaker 1: like asy hip hop. Like all these years later, Like
1:23
Speaker 1: how connected are you still to Phoenix? Obviously you know
1:26
Speaker 1: you went to New York and had an amazing run there,
1:29
Speaker 1: but like Phoenix is kind of like where it all
1:31
Speaker 1: started for you.
1:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is. It's where it all started, bro. And
1:33
Speaker 2: I think my time in Phoenix was was great because
1:36
Speaker 2: I was able to put on for the city you
1:38
Speaker 2: were you know what I'm saying, Like you were saying
1:41
Speaker 2: the record label who was doing the It was hosting
1:44
Speaker 2: like talent shows and so local artists would get a
1:48
Speaker 2: chance to to you know, broaden a platform from that standpoint,
1:53
Speaker 2: from a fastest standpoint. I had fasties shows out here
1:56
Speaker 2: for All Star Weekend and these things. I mean, it
1:58
Speaker 2: was just its just Phoenix became a home to me,
2:00
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. So I embraced it. I
2:02
Speaker 2: even trained here in the summertimes, and most people will
2:05
Speaker 2: leave and go to laause the summertime is hot. Whatever exactly,
2:08
Speaker 2: I stayed here and train because the facilities are great,
2:10
Speaker 2: and plus I want to be in top shape and
2:12
Speaker 2: I felt comfortable in my own home training with my trainers, right,
2:16
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. It was a good fit
2:18
Speaker 2: for me.
2:19
Speaker 1: It's crazy, man, because I think back to like the
2:22
Speaker 1: Sun's heyday, the seven seconds or less era of Phoenix
2:26
Speaker 1: Suns basketball, and you know, a lot of highs, a
2:29
Speaker 1: lot of heartbreak. Uh Western Conference Semifinals seven. You and
2:34
Speaker 1: Boris jump off the bench to defend Steve nash yep.
2:38
Speaker 1: I was Actually I made it on tn T because
2:40
Speaker 1: at the time they called me bootleg Kre for a
2:42
Speaker 1: reason because back then I used to bootleg everything, mixtapes
2:45
Speaker 1: like Nicky Nice and all the stories around town. But
2:48
Speaker 1: I had fuck Robert Ori T shirts that I made. Yeah,
2:52
Speaker 1: I remember those, and I sold that was me and
2:54
Speaker 1: I sold them on the corner in front of the
2:56
Speaker 1: arena and Craig Sager remember that. I remember that one
2:59
Speaker 1: on TV. That's right, That's right, And so that was
3:02
Speaker 1: like it felt like that year was like our years.
3:05
Speaker 2: Yeah. Man, that was a crazy moment, bro, because no
3:08
Speaker 2: one knew about this rule you can't step in the court, right,
3:10
Speaker 2: No one heard of that the coaching staff didn't know.
3:13
Speaker 2: If they would have known, they would have held us back,
3:15
Speaker 2: or we would have just not stepped in the court,
3:17
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. So, and I was always
3:20
Speaker 2: pretty upset about that time too, because it's like, what
3:24
Speaker 2: kind of rule is what kind of punishment is that
3:26
Speaker 2: to suspend someone for a playoff game without a warning,
3:29
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. But the following game I
3:34
Speaker 2: came back, Game six. So what I did was that
3:36
Speaker 2: game I spent a stud of Myers downtown, so I
3:39
Speaker 2: had all my.
3:40
Speaker 1: Sit there because you couldn't you couldn't even be in
3:42
Speaker 1: the building.
3:42
Speaker 2: Right right, So I was across the street from the arena,
3:44
Speaker 2: and I went to the restaurant the big screen TV,
3:46
Speaker 2: and we sat in eight Food and watched the game.
3:49
Speaker 2: And then game six, I came back with thirty eight sixteen,
3:52
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. But by that time, they
3:53
Speaker 2: had the momentum.
3:54
Speaker 1: They did, They did, they did.
3:56
Speaker 2: Man.
3:56
Speaker 1: You know, it's crazy. I recently, you know, as a fan,
3:59
Speaker 1: like we carry sports fan hate with us, and when
4:03
Speaker 1: Kobe passed away, I like hit me real hard. I
4:05
Speaker 1: used to hate Kobe when he was alive as a player.
4:07
Speaker 1: You know because I co co was Cole was a
4:10
Speaker 1: Son's dagger exactly right. But you know when he died,
4:12
Speaker 1: like I cried, you know, and I was like, it
4:14
Speaker 1: made me like let go of like, you know, some
4:17
Speaker 1: of the toxicity we have a sports fans. With that
4:19
Speaker 1: being said, I'm not sure how much I've let go
4:22
Speaker 1: of the Spurs hate that.
4:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not. I'm not I mean Spurs. I mean
4:25
Speaker 2: I have less love for the Spurs. Oh my gosh.
4:29
Speaker 1: It's I want to like Wenby but he's got that jersey.
4:32
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure, for sure.
4:33
Speaker 1: I just think all the heartbreak man, like it's crazy, Like, uh,
4:37
Speaker 1: what was it like for you? Because you know when
4:39
Speaker 1: we think of d'An tony like he wasn't high on defense,
4:41
Speaker 1: but like you had to be the guy to like
4:44
Speaker 1: guard Duncan a lot, you know what I'm saying. What
4:47
Speaker 1: was the hardest part about he wasn't he didn't show
4:49
Speaker 1: much emotion. I mean I remember he hit a three against.
4:52
Speaker 2: Us in one of those playoffs and then I was
4:55
Speaker 2: just like, that's the most most of you might have
4:57
Speaker 2: seen his entire career. It's crazy.
5:00
Speaker 1: Nonetheless, I think, like you know, he somehow gets when
5:05
Speaker 1: we talk about the goats. He kind of slips through
5:07
Speaker 1: those conversations when he should be imm he's the greatest
5:08
Speaker 1: power for it of all time, like five rings, going
5:11
Speaker 1: and on. But what was the hardest part about competing
5:14
Speaker 1: against Tim Duncan in those high intensity series and games.
5:17
Speaker 2: Well, I mean the problem was is that the Spurs
5:20
Speaker 2: were always well coached and were organized right, So and
5:24
Speaker 2: with Tim, he was a player who playoff angles, so
5:29
Speaker 2: that wherever he is on the court, he's figured a
5:31
Speaker 2: way to get a basket or a rebound. And it's
5:35
Speaker 2: not like allowed thirty points, right, it's a few free
5:39
Speaker 2: throws here, it's a jump shot here, a couple offs.
5:41
Speaker 1: He's like, it works the angles of the game.
5:43
Speaker 2: You got thirty points and fifteen rebounds. Yeah, Like I'm
5:45
Speaker 2: dunking the ball all night and you don't even know
5:47
Speaker 2: my points are allowed? Right? His are like the end
5:50
Speaker 2: of the game. It's right where you got thirty five
5:52
Speaker 2: and fifteen. Yes, you know, but that's just how he played.
5:55
Speaker 2: He played silently and got his job done.
5:58
Speaker 1: You got to play with Steve. I consider you to
6:02
Speaker 1: be a top three or four son of all time.
6:06
Speaker 1: I put you in that conversation obviously, a shout out
6:09
Speaker 1: to Walter Davis, shout out to Steve Nash. You know,
6:13
Speaker 1: I put Barkley a little lower because he only played
6:14
Speaker 1: a few years for US. But I think Devin Booker
6:17
Speaker 1: has taken the reins as the he might be up.
6:20
Speaker 1: He might be the go to the Suns all time
6:22
Speaker 1: for you. I know you, you know you, he had
6:24
Speaker 1: said recently yesterday he actually said that when he was
6:27
Speaker 1: going through a lot of the losing his rookie season,
6:29
Speaker 1: you had kind of reached out to him. But like,
6:31
Speaker 1: what's it like to just see a guy like Book,
6:35
Speaker 1: you know, kind of carry the torch from what you
6:38
Speaker 1: guys built because there was the dark ages and now
6:42
Speaker 1: it's like, all right, we're relevant again. What's your guys'
6:45
Speaker 1: relationship like? And you know, where would you put book
6:48
Speaker 1: in terms of like the all time son's greats?
6:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think Books of a long ways
6:54
Speaker 2: to go, Right, He's really just gonna started man's on
6:55
Speaker 2: his mid twenties, right, you know what I'm saying, And
6:58
Speaker 2: what he accomplished already is incredible. So he's definitely in
7:02
Speaker 2: those top conversations for sure. And so yeah, there was
7:07
Speaker 2: some times where when I played here, we had our
7:09
Speaker 2: run and then there was, like you said, a dark moment,
7:13
Speaker 2: and then they draft the book and then they start
7:14
Speaker 2: to kind of revamp and now they're doing great, right
7:17
Speaker 2: with KD and these guys. But Devin is definitely at
7:20
Speaker 2: the top of the list when it comes to all
7:22
Speaker 2: time suns and the way he plays a game. We
7:25
Speaker 2: was at the game last night. The way he plays
7:27
Speaker 2: the game is like fundamentally sound.
7:30
Speaker 1: He's got that, He's got that killer instig man.
7:32
Speaker 2: Go he goes for it. It goes for it, you know
7:34
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. And that's and that's what you want
7:36
Speaker 2: from a from a coaching standpoint or just suspectator standpoint.
7:39
Speaker 2: You want to see your player go for it. You
7:40
Speaker 2: know what I mean.
7:41
Speaker 1: For sure, for you Man twenty ten, you end up, well,
7:46
Speaker 1: it was what summer of summer of the end of
7:47
Speaker 1: the twenty ten season right going into twenty eleven, there's
7:50
Speaker 1: the giant I guess, the most memorable offseason probably in
7:55
Speaker 1: basketball history. Because you're a free agent. Lebron's a free agent,
7:58
Speaker 1: Chris bosh is a free agent. You end up with
8:01
Speaker 1: the Knicks. You have an MVP caliber season your first
8:03
Speaker 1: year there, before the injuries happened, What was uh, tell me,
8:08
Speaker 1: like what what your mind state was? Because it would
8:10
Speaker 1: have been nice to have kept you, It would have
8:12
Speaker 1: been nice to have kept a few people in the suns.
8:14
Speaker 1: We'll get to that, But what was like your mind
8:17
Speaker 1: state year one in New York? You know, like because
8:21
Speaker 1: you were playing with a chip on your shoulder that
8:23
Speaker 1: first year, it was crazy. I think you had you
8:26
Speaker 1: had a bunch of MVP votes, like I think I
8:28
Speaker 1: think you guys were like a little over five hundred,
8:30
Speaker 1: but you were balling. Like what was that first year
8:32
Speaker 1: with New York?
8:33
Speaker 2: Like, I mean it was incredible, bros? Like New York
8:36
Speaker 2: was a place always wanted to play in, right, everyone
8:39
Speaker 2: wants to play a massive square garden and to be
8:42
Speaker 2: a nick and to play in New York. And for
8:45
Speaker 2: me to be able to just show my entire skill set, right,
8:49
Speaker 2: so I was able to You're.
8:50
Speaker 1: Still with Mike D'Antoni too, that's he was he was
8:52
Speaker 1: coaching that year.
8:53
Speaker 2: So I was with Mike. Mike d'antonia was still coaching then,
8:55
Speaker 2: and so now I'm able to really show my whole
8:57
Speaker 2: package my game, you know what I'm saying. So when
9:00
Speaker 2: I did that, It's like the league wasn't ready for
9:02
Speaker 2: all of what I had in store. So so I
9:04
Speaker 2: took the lead by staring crazy MVP chance. I was
9:07
Speaker 2: leading candid for MVP halfway through the season, and the
9:11
Speaker 2: city was on fire, right, every restaurant I go to,
9:13
Speaker 2: everything's free. I mean everything was like New York was
9:18
Speaker 2: on fire, bro, So it was it was a beautiful
9:21
Speaker 2: time in New York. That.
9:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, can you give me a little window of
9:25
Speaker 1: what it was like to be around for the Insanity season,
9:28
Speaker 1: because because I think you were you hurt when all
9:30
Speaker 1: that was happening.
9:31
Speaker 2: Nah, My brother had passed away, okay, and I had
9:33
Speaker 2: went to Florida for like, I think a week or.
9:37
Speaker 1: So, and then it happened while you, while you were
9:40
Speaker 1: while I was gone.
9:41
Speaker 2: So but I came back and caught it. So, so
9:43
Speaker 2: what happened was a few players were hurt.
9:45
Speaker 1: Mellow was out right, Mellow was hurt, You were gone.
9:48
Speaker 2: I was gone, and there was a few other players
9:50
Speaker 2: that were hurt. So Jamie Land was like the fifteen
9:53
Speaker 2: mail on the roster whatever, twelve mil and the roster right,
9:55
Speaker 2: and so he got a call to say, we need
9:57
Speaker 2: you to play. I need you to start. You gotta
9:58
Speaker 2: you gotta step up for us, and he stepped up
10:00
Speaker 2: and had thirty points game one. All right, you know,
10:02
Speaker 2: thirty points.
10:03
Speaker 1: Anybody get thirty on any given.
10:05
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. It comes back with another thirty.
10:07
Speaker 2: Like well all right, well, and I'm in Florida watching
10:09
Speaker 2: the games. I'm like, dang Germany, Lynn going off and
10:11
Speaker 2: then play the Lakers had thirty in on Kobe. I'm like, wait,
10:14
Speaker 2: hold on that, hold on, something ain't right, what's going on?
10:17
Speaker 2: And then I get back to New York and the
10:19
Speaker 2: city's crazy. It's upside down. I mean, everybody's everywhere cheering channing.
10:23
Speaker 2: The crowd was crazy in the streets, every single restaurant,
10:26
Speaker 2: everywhere was like.
10:28
Speaker 1: It was a movement.
10:29
Speaker 2: It was a movie.
10:30
Speaker 1: It was all that was on TV.
10:32
Speaker 2: It's crazy, bro. And it lasted for a good two weeks.
10:35
Speaker 2: It was fun.
10:35
Speaker 1: It was like two weeks. Yeah. Well then like because
10:37
Speaker 1: like Mellow came back and I feel like, like I
10:39
Speaker 1: think he's talked about it, like but like there was
10:42
Speaker 1: like weird energy there, but like Lynn, Jeremy Lynn. Saturday
10:45
Speaker 1: was a moment.
10:46
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean I was back. I
10:48
Speaker 2: was back Also, we played the game against Toronto and
10:51
Speaker 2: it was down to the last you know, a few
10:52
Speaker 2: seconds and I'm like, all right, it's my time to
10:55
Speaker 2: hit the game winner. Jerman Lynd kind of moves everybody
10:57
Speaker 2: out the way. I'm like, okay, all right, Jerry, I
11:00
Speaker 2: got this. I got this and pulled up for the three.
11:03
Speaker 2: Won the game.
11:04
Speaker 1: Wow.
11:05
Speaker 2: So we were like, I'm gonna let him, I'm gonna
11:07
Speaker 2: let him shine, I'm gonna let him be who he
11:09
Speaker 2: is and have fun. But it all changed Mellow came back.
11:12
Speaker 2: Then it kind of got a little a little shaky
11:14
Speaker 2: because Jermanlyine wasn't playing much and the ball wasn't going
11:17
Speaker 2: to him as much, so it kind of dropped there.
11:19
Speaker 2: But it was a good run for him.
11:21
Speaker 1: You've played with a lot of amazing players, I mean,
11:24
Speaker 1: obviously even throughout the later years of your career. H
11:28
Speaker 1: when you're on certain rosters like back to back MVP,
11:31
Speaker 1: Steve Nash, Mellow. Who's who, in your opinion, would be
11:35
Speaker 1: the best player you played with or just your best
11:36
Speaker 1: teammate you had.
11:38
Speaker 2: Man, I had a lot of cool teammates. Bro I
11:42
Speaker 2: had a lot of fun, right. I was always invite
11:45
Speaker 2: my teammates out to dinner, to gatherings.
11:48
Speaker 1: To Wyant, Yeah you didn't have a nightclub.
11:51
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying. I was, I was viting
11:52
Speaker 2: all my guys out to hang out because I think
11:54
Speaker 2: the best thing about it was is to build team Canaderie.
11:57
Speaker 2: For sure, because I'm on the court, I'm telling I'm
11:59
Speaker 2: the leader that team, and I'm telling my guys, you
12:01
Speaker 2: gotta do this, you gotta do that. It's like, after,
12:04
Speaker 2: you know, demanding so much, they be like, man, I
12:06
Speaker 2: can't you know, I can't take I can't take this.
12:08
Speaker 2: But if we go out, we have a good time.
12:11
Speaker 2: You see. It's all coming from a good place. And
12:13
Speaker 2: now when I demand my teammates to do something, it's
12:15
Speaker 2: not reprimmending.
12:17
Speaker 1: They know you guys are friends my guys. Yeah, you
12:20
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying.
12:21
Speaker 2: And so I think for us in Phoenix, the team
12:24
Speaker 2: we had with Nash, Sean Joe.
12:28
Speaker 1: Johnson, We're gonna get to that team.
12:30
Speaker 2: But yeah, you know what I'm saying, those guys will
12:32
Speaker 2: come out and will hang out like Nash will come
12:34
Speaker 2: out of hang out in the clubs with us. Who
12:35
Speaker 2: would have thought, you know what I'm saying, Yeah, yeah,
12:38
Speaker 2: with the guys. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, And
12:41
Speaker 2: so that team camaraderie helped. So I would say Steve
12:45
Speaker 2: Nash is probably my favorite teammate that I played with,
12:48
Speaker 2: not only as an unselfished player and he played with
12:50
Speaker 2: a certain type of passion for the game, but I
12:53
Speaker 2: enjoyed playing with Steve.
12:55
Speaker 1: Your guys is two man game the lob man listen.
12:58
Speaker 1: And I feel like somehow how Nash was like a
13:02
Speaker 1: decade before it's time because I keep I think about
13:05
Speaker 1: like the three point eer of the game, and how
13:07
Speaker 1: good Nash is a shooter, Like how much he might
13:10
Speaker 1: have averaged if the game was you know the way it.
13:12
Speaker 2: Is, he shoot more threes. Now, I mean we left
13:14
Speaker 2: the league in three point shooting I think shooting what
13:17
Speaker 2: twelve three is a game?
13:18
Speaker 1: Yep, and got players that would probably be the last place.
13:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we led the league in three point shooting
13:25
Speaker 2: a percentages during that stretch. So we started this whole
13:28
Speaker 2: wave of now three point shooters, right, we started that
13:30
Speaker 2: whole thing for sure?
13:32
Speaker 1: Is it is there something about the seven seconds or
13:34
Speaker 1: less thing that you feel like gets a bad rep
13:36
Speaker 1: because you know, we always hear D'Antoni wasn't like he
13:40
Speaker 1: didn't coach a lot of defense, right, yeah, Like, and
13:43
Speaker 1: I've talked to other players who've said that, like Baron Davis. Yeah,
13:47
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, but it obviously works to the
13:50
Speaker 1: point where the Suns were the number one seed the
13:53
Speaker 1: number two seed, like very like it. You know, caught
13:56
Speaker 1: a couple of tough breaks in the playoffs, but like,
13:59
Speaker 1: you know, I feel like that brand of basketball somehow,
14:03
Speaker 1: Like when you talk to basketball and nerds, they're like, yeah,
14:05
Speaker 1: but you'll never win a ring with that.
14:07
Speaker 2: But well, I mean the thing is, we could have
14:09
Speaker 2: won a ring for sure, right, we had a couple
14:11
Speaker 2: of couple of breaks. Yeah, we had you had a
14:13
Speaker 2: couple of breaks, a couple of bad releases, right, certain players.
14:18
Speaker 2: We could have signed Joe for like fifty something million,
14:21
Speaker 2: and then he went to go sign for one hundred
14:22
Speaker 2: and something million and become a six time All Star, Like,
14:25
Speaker 2: we could have had him on our squad for a
14:26
Speaker 2: long time. Twenty ten team eight eight or nineteen we
14:31
Speaker 2: lost against the Lakers in the Western Finals.
14:33
Speaker 1: That was twy t Robin Lopez was starting center.
14:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly, and I had him playing well, he's
14:38
Speaker 2: playing along side of me.
14:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then and then Ron Artest decided he wanted
14:41
Speaker 1: to start making threes, right, and then.
14:43
Speaker 2: We go and not and not bring me back to
14:45
Speaker 2: to to for the following year. And we're right there
14:47
Speaker 2: the Western Finals, so we had chances to win with.
14:50
Speaker 1: That style, right, But well, that was that was Gentry though,
14:54
Speaker 1: that was Gentry. That was Alvin Gentry, who had more
14:56
Speaker 1: of a defensive mind. I was going to say, like
14:58
Speaker 1: that season, somehow we forget about it, but that was
15:01
Speaker 1: the closest you guys got to the finals and Marion
15:04
Speaker 1: was not on that team. It was very it was like,
15:07
Speaker 1: and that was like a very underrated Grant Hill season. Yeah, absolutely,
15:11
Speaker 1: Robin Lopez underrated season from the step.
15:14
Speaker 2: Up big for j Rich, stretch four, stretch five, which
15:18
Speaker 2: is now the game.
15:19
Speaker 1: Is now the game and we were so close and
15:22
Speaker 1: the Lakers ripped our hearts out. But like that season,
15:25
Speaker 1: your final season, like it would have been crazy to
15:26
Speaker 1: get a ring man like it was right there.
15:28
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure.
15:29
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean going against Kobe though, that was because you.
15:32
Speaker 2: Know, Kobe wasn't the easy gotta go against Bro. You
15:34
Speaker 2: can't stop Kobe.
15:35
Speaker 1: I think back to the times though, where we bounced
15:38
Speaker 1: them out as they eight seed after Shack left. Right,
15:41
Speaker 1: anytime I get into arguments with Laker fans.
15:44
Speaker 2: We beat we beat the Lakers. We got Kobe out
15:46
Speaker 2: of there in the first round, in the first round,
15:48
Speaker 2: for sure, you know what I'm saying.
15:50
Speaker 1: I always bring that up because always do the Lebron
15:52
Speaker 1: or Jordan verus Kobe because you know, I live in La,
15:54
Speaker 1: so the LA fans they don't want to hear anything.
15:56
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, when Kobe was just Kobe and
15:59
Speaker 1: there was no other guys eight seed and we got
16:03
Speaker 1: them up out of there too, straight straight over the Lakers,
16:08
Speaker 1: talk to me about that seed, So listen the what ifs?
16:11
Speaker 2: Right?
16:12
Speaker 1: You brought up Joe Johnson, which is one of the
16:14
Speaker 1: more heartbreaking UH free agency departures because we think about
16:19
Speaker 1: what could have been right, Like I remember being at
16:23
Speaker 1: those games with Joe. I remember being at that Clippers
16:25
Speaker 1: game where Tim Thomas hit that three in the corner
16:27
Speaker 1: against the Clippers in the playoffs and the Clippers had
16:28
Speaker 1: like samper, what like when as a player, what's the
16:35
Speaker 1: morale like when the Joe Johnson thing happens and you're like,
16:40
Speaker 1: this is this is an easy this this, I mean,
16:42
Speaker 1: it has to kind of mess with you a little
16:44
Speaker 1: bit where you're.
16:44
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, I mean, Joe's my guy, like we both.
16:47
Speaker 1: And it's such an obvious basketball move to make.
16:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you would think. So Joe was there my
16:54
Speaker 2: rookie year, right, so we we was like around the
16:56
Speaker 2: same age, and so we had great, you know, camaraderie
17:00
Speaker 2: as young players. It's going to grow in this league, right,
17:02
Speaker 2: we figured we'll be you know, on the same squad
17:05
Speaker 2: for it for some time and keep growing and keep
17:07
Speaker 2: getting better. And we had a solid playoff run, solid
17:10
Speaker 2: you know, when we had q Rich and those guys.
17:12
Speaker 2: We went to the Western Finals. And so when when
17:17
Speaker 2: Joe leaves, I'm like, all right, well that's just a
17:19
Speaker 2: bad move. He didn't really ask for a lot and
17:21
Speaker 2: he wanted to stay. And as a player, I'm like
17:23
Speaker 2: two years in, I can't really say much and try
17:26
Speaker 2: to demand anything at that moment. You know what I'm saying.
17:28
Speaker 2: I like, I don't know how this whole work, whole
17:30
Speaker 2: thing works. So it was tough when Joe left, but
17:35
Speaker 2: we had to keep pushing, pushing, and I think they knew,
17:38
Speaker 2: like they had Stodamire and they Nash, which is the
17:41
Speaker 2: cornerstone guys and Sean So whatever whatever players you bring
17:44
Speaker 2: around them, it's gonna be successful regardless. So I think
17:48
Speaker 2: that was the mindset. Also with the ownership, I.
17:50
Speaker 1: Was gonna say, was there, Like I feel like back
17:52
Speaker 1: then it wasn't as publicized because we were winning so much.
17:56
Speaker 1: The Sarvor thing, you know. I feel like later on
17:58
Speaker 1: during the dark years I call them, people were like
18:00
Speaker 1: sell the team. Hashtag sell the team. Yeah, did you
18:03
Speaker 1: guys realize, like your the ownership for the Sons at
18:06
Speaker 1: that point in time is a little bit different than
18:07
Speaker 1: some of the more marquee franchises in the league.
18:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was getting crazy, Bro. I mean I came.
18:12
Speaker 2: I came into the Sons when we had Jerry Colangelo,
18:14
Speaker 2: who was an awesome, awesome owner for sure, and then
18:18
Speaker 2: it was a goat bro. And then and then Brian
18:20
Speaker 2: Colangelo was our GM and he would bring players in.
18:22
Speaker 2: It was signed players, and it wasn't it wasn't like
18:25
Speaker 2: a stingy type of organization, like you the best players
18:27
Speaker 2: want to come here, We're going to pay you to
18:29
Speaker 2: come and we're going to play the win. Right. That
18:32
Speaker 2: kind of shifted when Sarva came, it was like more
18:35
Speaker 2: so trying to reconstruct deals. Joe's gone, not resigning statum
18:39
Speaker 2: Like it was a whole thing that took place, which
18:43
Speaker 2: wasn't the same energy as it was with mister Colangelo.
18:47
Speaker 2: But long story short, we still had our core guys
18:50
Speaker 2: who still had.
18:51
Speaker 1: Success for sure, did they did? Ishpia and the Sons
18:56
Speaker 1: leave it up to you whether you wanted to retire
18:57
Speaker 1: one or thirty two.
18:59
Speaker 2: Well, I've always put put it out there that I
19:01
Speaker 2: want to retire thirty two, even before.
19:05
Speaker 1: It's came on, because books won. So it's like at
19:07
Speaker 1: that point, it's.
19:08
Speaker 2: Like even before a book came on, the team.
19:10
Speaker 1: Right right, right right, so because thirty two, I feel like,
19:13
Speaker 1: you man, both both sides, both jerseys you had. I mean, yeah,
19:18
Speaker 1: thirty thirty twos were it started. Like when I'm buying
19:20
Speaker 1: a retro, I'm buying the retro thirty two, you know.
19:23
Speaker 2: So where it started. And the thing about the thirty
19:24
Speaker 2: two jersey is, there's only one player that will ever
19:29
Speaker 2: see or know in today's game, in the game of basketball,
19:32
Speaker 2: that have ever been the first to get Rookie of
19:34
Speaker 2: the Year out of high school. You will never see
19:36
Speaker 2: that again, they have never been other first, So that
19:39
Speaker 2: thirty two jersey represents that out of all the high
19:42
Speaker 2: school players that came out into the NBA, the first
19:46
Speaker 2: person to do it was that thirty two jersey in Phoenix.
19:49
Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying, And that's that's a trivia
19:51
Speaker 2: question on board games, like these games you.
19:53
Speaker 1: Play because most people will say Lebron, but it was you, right, Yeah,
19:57
Speaker 1: that's so. It's so crazy, man. I remember when we
20:00
Speaker 1: after you and and and marrying within what was that
20:02
Speaker 1: like a three year winner or whatever it was, It
20:04
Speaker 1: felt like and we got Nash. It just felt like
20:07
Speaker 1: tides were turning and they were turning, man Like. It's
20:10
Speaker 1: crazy too because I feel like you were probably like
20:15
Speaker 1: one of the best in game dunkers of all time.
20:21
Speaker 1: You obviously did the dunk Contest in what one year,
20:23
Speaker 1: I think twice. This last dunk contest was rough.
20:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it wasn't It wasn't worth watching.
20:31
Speaker 1: It was rough. Like do you think they could ever
20:33
Speaker 1: fix the dunk contest?
20:35
Speaker 2: Yeah? You can. You gotta get guys who can dump
20:37
Speaker 2: in the game, like you got you got Zion, you
20:40
Speaker 2: have Jalen Green, you have you know, John Morant. You
20:45
Speaker 2: get these guys in the dunk contest. When I was
20:46
Speaker 2: coming up, we got in the dunk contest. That's the thing, like.
20:49
Speaker 1: Kobe did the dunk content.
20:50
Speaker 2: You want to be great, you you want to be great,
20:52
Speaker 2: you go in the dunk Contest.
20:53
Speaker 1: I also think there's something to say about the judges
20:55
Speaker 1: changing every year because some of these judges that they're like, hey,
20:58
Speaker 1: this guy played for the Pace in nineteen eighty four,
21:02
Speaker 1: and you know I was watching, like, I just don't
21:05
Speaker 1: know how Jalen Brown made it to the finals. God
21:07
Speaker 1: bless Jaylen Brown. He's an amazing guy.
21:08
Speaker 2: And I don't understand that d Brown the Deep Brown.
21:11
Speaker 1: He hit it at the end on the floor, You're.
21:13
Speaker 2: On the ground and then you go, is that a
21:14
Speaker 2: dad was at the Deep Brown? Which one is it was?
21:18
Speaker 1: It was crazy, man, it was crazy, just for me.
21:21
Speaker 1: For me, man, I just want to say, like, you're
21:24
Speaker 1: you were part of the best memories of a son
21:27
Speaker 1: as a Suns fan until recently. We did go to
21:29
Speaker 1: the finals recently, but like my childhood, Yeah, it's stat
21:32
Speaker 1: It's it's Marion, It's it's it's Steve Nash. That Steve Nash.
21:36
Speaker 1: Those back to back MVPs, Right, yep. A lot of
21:40
Speaker 1: guys like to look back at those, specifically Shack for
21:43
Speaker 1: the second one. Do you feel like Nash deserved that
21:46
Speaker 1: second MVP over Shaquille and you, I.
21:48
Speaker 2: Think what happened was because that second year I was
21:51
Speaker 2: injured and Nash still was able to propel the team
21:56
Speaker 2: to a sixty win season or fifties eight.
21:58
Speaker 1: Win season without his nonumber one guy.
22:00
Speaker 2: Without his man, without the leading scorer, leading.
22:02
Speaker 1: Rebound leader, everything. Yeah, you were our guy. You were like,
22:05
Speaker 1: you know what I'm saying.
22:06
Speaker 2: And so for him to still manage that and still
22:08
Speaker 2: have you know, I think it was the best record
22:10
Speaker 2: in the NBA at the time. That is a lot
22:13
Speaker 2: to be said. And so I think that's why he
22:15
Speaker 2: was able to win that m v P the second one,
22:18
Speaker 2: because he was able to like withstand his number one
22:20
Speaker 2: guy out and still being the top team in the league.
22:24
Speaker 1: Who was the most annoying player to play against? That
22:28
Speaker 1: You have to either guard who guarded you most annoying player? Yeah,
22:31
Speaker 1: just somebody who just like, God, damn it, this guy's
22:33
Speaker 1: gonna guard me all day.
22:34
Speaker 2: Like I mean, I didn't like guarding Elton Brand Elton Brand.
22:39
Speaker 1: He very slept on dude.
22:41
Speaker 2: People forget it about old Brand.
22:43
Speaker 1: Hey, what he was with with Philly and eb What
22:45
Speaker 1: he does.
22:45
Speaker 2: What he does is when you go when the rebound,
22:47
Speaker 2: you go for the rebound he gets, he goes out
22:49
Speaker 2: of bounds.
22:50
Speaker 1: What you're not supposed to do, right.
22:52
Speaker 2: And then your ball goes up. But he comes back
22:53
Speaker 2: and just dug you in. Like that's just so aggravating
22:56
Speaker 2: to me, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, but you
22:58
Speaker 2: always get the inside position and get the off. It's
23:00
Speaker 2: a rebound a score. I'm like, hold on, man, I
23:02
Speaker 2: can't watch him out of bounds and watch the ball.
23:05
Speaker 2: So I was tough. And also Kevin Garnett, he was
23:08
Speaker 2: always like he couldn't he couldn't stop me. But it
23:11
Speaker 2: was but he like to grab and hold and it's
23:13
Speaker 2: like he's a defensive prouesst one of the things. So
23:17
Speaker 2: it's like you got to bring your a game. But
23:19
Speaker 2: yet he gets away with a few holes and grass
23:21
Speaker 2: because his mentality, you know what I'm saying, So which
23:24
Speaker 2: is which was? Which is always good to play against?
23:26
Speaker 1: Last thing wanted to ask, man, just like tell me,
23:28
Speaker 1: like you know, for the people of Arizona, for the
23:30
Speaker 1: people of Phoenix who are watching this. Obviously all the
23:32
Speaker 1: basketball fans are watching this just like you know, this
23:34
Speaker 1: is a big deal being a part of the Ring
23:37
Speaker 1: of Honor. Some of the names that are up there
23:38
Speaker 1: with you way overdue. Uh. You know, what is your
23:42
Speaker 1: message to the Suns fans?
23:44
Speaker 2: Well, I think my messages is more so is you know,
23:48
Speaker 2: the appreciation that the fans have for me, and they
23:52
Speaker 2: watched me grow from a teenager all the way through
23:56
Speaker 2: my twenties, right, and and to be and to be
24:00
Speaker 2: able to now, you know, be inducted into the Ring
24:03
Speaker 2: of Honor with a jersey retirement. They've they've been with
24:07
Speaker 2: me from the start, you know. And so seeing the growth,
24:11
Speaker 2: seeing the the determination, the will to persevere through injury,
24:18
Speaker 2: to be in top shape, to try to contend for
24:21
Speaker 2: a championship, the heart that I put in the basketball court,
24:24
Speaker 2: the way I played in the passion I played with.
24:27
Speaker 2: The fans appreciate that, you know, and I want to
24:29
Speaker 2: let them know I appreciate them for their appreciation. You
24:32
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. Would you have a coach I
24:35
Speaker 2: coached two years for player development with.
24:37
Speaker 1: The Nets remember that, Yep, when Nash was there.
24:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's something that could happen, but
24:45
Speaker 2: right now, I'm not looking forward.
24:46
Speaker 1: You think got a rough deal over there in Brooklyn, It.
24:49
Speaker 2: Was a rough deal. He did the best he could,
24:51
Speaker 2: which I thought he did a pretty good job, but
24:53
Speaker 2: it was a rough stretch.
24:55
Speaker 1: Well, listen, man, I appreciate you, appreciate your time, and
24:58
Speaker 1: thank you for the memories. Man, yes, sir, out of
25:00
Speaker 1: my ladies and gentlemen, let's go thirty two boom.