Latest / Bleacher Report / Novak Djokovic Talks Roland-Garros, Fellow Serbian Nikola Jokić & Friendship With Kobe Bryant

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Novak Djokovic Talks Roland-Garros, Fellow Serbian Nikola Jokić & Friendship With Kobe Bryant · Bleacher Report

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  Speaker 1: Here. King Novak has a arrived. It is an honor
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  Speaker 1: to have you here.
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  Speaker 2: Here with you.
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  Speaker 1: Do you mind if I do the first question? Fan
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: girl Away.
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  Speaker 3: Big stages don't just reveal talent, it reveals truth. That
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  Speaker 3: stage there Shatrier. Over the years you've had great matches.
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  Speaker 3: What truth has it revealed for you in your wonderful career.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, that's a deep question.
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  Speaker 4: I don't know how to answer that, but you know,
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  Speaker 4: I'm still, I guess, very honored to be to be
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  Speaker 4: playing on this highest level, still be a you know,
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  Speaker 4: able to perform the best tennis in this This stage
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  Speaker 4: is one of the biggest stadiums in sport.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, Roland Garris has.
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  Speaker 4: Been uh has been always a dream tournament, you know,
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  Speaker 4: for for all of us Europeans growing up. You know,
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  Speaker 4: I I grew up wanting to win Wimbledon, but I
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  Speaker 4: played mostly on Clayton, so you know, I kind of
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  Speaker 4: liked my chances better when I was going up on
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  Speaker 4: clay and obviously looked up to all the legends they
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  Speaker 4: were winning this tournament. So it's an incredible journey, you know,
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  Speaker 4: the last twenty plus years. I remember back in two
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  Speaker 4: thousand and five was the first time I played in
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  Speaker 4: the Rolling Garris Men's Rolling Garris, I played Robbie Geeneppri
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  Speaker 4: and he didn't.
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  Speaker 1: Have such a great time.
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  Speaker 4: It was at court sixteen or something and we were
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  Speaker 4: kind of reflecting on it a few years ago.
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  Speaker 1: I was six h.
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  Speaker 4: Six oh two oh oh or three to oh yeah,
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  Speaker 4: it was six oh six oh three to Ozho and
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  Speaker 4: then he got a few games and then after I lost.
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  Speaker 4: But you know, that was an incredible start of the
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  Speaker 4: journey for me. It was also the first I think
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  Speaker 4: Junior Grandsend that.
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  Speaker 1: I ever played.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow.
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  Speaker 4: So you know, it's quite a quite a past year,
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  Speaker 4: quite a history, and I love playing here.
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  Speaker 2: So your mentality is so strong, and it's I think
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  Speaker 2: personally the strongest part of your game. How do you
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  Speaker 2: use that mentality to kind of dismantle your opponents? And
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  Speaker 2: because I think you beat most of your opponents mentally
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  Speaker 2: first before anything else.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I like to believe that, you know, and I'm
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  Speaker 4: glad that people talk about it, but it's not always
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  Speaker 4: the case.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously.
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  Speaker 4: I think it's a kind of a two edged sword
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  Speaker 4: because you know, everybody wants to get a sculp, everybody.
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  Speaker 1: Wants to beat you.
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  Speaker 4: So they can also get overwhelmed by the occasion and
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  Speaker 4: really kind of step onto the court and don't really
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  Speaker 4: believe that they can get that scalp, or it can
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  Speaker 4: go onto the other extreme where they're you know, super
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  Speaker 4: pumped and confident and they play.
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  Speaker 1: Their best tennis.
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  Speaker 4: So I've experienced both kind of you know, I guess
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  Speaker 4: mentalities from my opponents.
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  Speaker 1: But it's true that.
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  Speaker 4: You know, experience playing on the biggest stage and when
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  Speaker 4: you face someone like for example, last night, I played
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  Speaker 4: a player that never played on the center court of
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  Speaker 4: a Grand Slam. So he played well, he played very well,
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  Speaker 4: but I felt at the beginning, particularly maybe the first
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  Speaker 4: six to seven games, I could sense.
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  Speaker 1: That he was it was tight. You know, he was
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  Speaker 1: not really playing.
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  Speaker 4: You know, he just started maybe in the second set,
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  Speaker 4: going into his game. So that's where I try to
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  Speaker 4: kind of step it up and use that experience and
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  Speaker 4: maybe this little advantage that I have over the other
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  Speaker 4: guys mentally in the beginning, that's where I kind of try.
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  Speaker 1: To set the tone. But as I said, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't always work.
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  Speaker 4: You know, you still have to do your job and
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  Speaker 4: and and get get yourself in a most optimal level
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  Speaker 4: possible to perform.
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  Speaker 5: Speaking in last night's match, we were actually down with
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  Speaker 5: the photographers and the wave was going on. We did
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  Speaker 5: the wave with the crowd. We got in trouble with
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  Speaker 5: the lady behind us, like you guys can't do that,
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  Speaker 5: you're photographers. Your coach starting last week, dou soon vemic
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  Speaker 5: good coach, good friend. At this point in your career,
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  Speaker 5: how important is it to have a coach with you
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  Speaker 5: who you're familiar with. You know you're not starting a
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  Speaker 5: new relationship with someone at this point. Is that a
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  Speaker 5: big difference for you?
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  Speaker 4: It is, And I'm not really currently actively looking for
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  Speaker 4: someone new.
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  Speaker 1: I enjoyed my.
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  Speaker 4: Player coach relationship with Andy Murray for the duration of
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  Speaker 4: what was it, five months, and I just I just,
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  Speaker 4: you know, kind of go with the flow at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: I'll see what I.
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  Speaker 4: Need, if I need anyone. I Dushan and I are
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  Speaker 4: long time friends. He's been my coach for years. Back
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  Speaker 4: in two thoy nine, ten eleven, twelve thirteen, he was
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  Speaker 4: coaching me next to Maria and Vada. So he knows
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  Speaker 4: my game well and most of all, what is important
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  Speaker 4: for me now, he knows me as a person, what
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  Speaker 4: I need to kind of feel emotionally at peace, at ease,
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  Speaker 4: you know, balanced, so that I'm able to enjoy my
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  Speaker 4: time on and off the court.
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  Speaker 1: So it's been working well.
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  Speaker 4: You know, we want Geneva the week before French and
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  Speaker 4: I've been playing well here. I feel I feel as
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  Speaker 4: close to my best tennis really, uh, you know, playing
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  Speaker 4: so far in this tournament.
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  Speaker 3: One of the great joys of being able to cover
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  Speaker 3: the NBA the last few years is covering another Serbian
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  Speaker 3: in Nicolajok. But pretty pretty awesome that two Serbians dominating
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  Speaker 3: their sports.
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  Speaker 1: A great artist as.
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  Speaker 3: A thief, has there been anything of the way he
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  Speaker 3: plays that sport that you've been able to use for
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  Speaker 3: the way that you play your sport?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 4: Man, uh, Nicolea, I love I love that guy. You know,
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  Speaker 4: he's he's a hero in our country. Obviously, what he
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  Speaker 4: has been doing in the last five years in NBA has.
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  Speaker 1: Been historic, you know, to say the least.
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  Speaker 4: I've been a great basketball fan for my entire life.
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  Speaker 1: Basketball is the biggest sport we.
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  Speaker 4: Have in our country historically, and we've had plenty of success.
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  Speaker 4: And you know, we played the USA, we almost beat
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  Speaker 4: you guys, man, you know that.
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  Speaker 3: But but you did it.
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  Speaker 4: That's okay, that's okay, hard hard one for us, But
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  Speaker 4: Steph Curry he destroyed us with those threes. But anyway,
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  Speaker 4: your Kisches is phenomenon.
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  Speaker 1: You know, honestly, what he does, how he does it.
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  Speaker 4: And and and also the way he goes about his
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  Speaker 4: private life. It's so like people people thought at the
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  Speaker 4: beginning that.
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  Speaker 1: He was fake. You know that he's like not interested
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  Speaker 1: in anything.
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  Speaker 4: Except his family and horses, but but that's really everything
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  Speaker 4: he's interested in it, like truthfully, like honestly. So so yeah,
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  Speaker 4: I mean I really respect that. You know, he's such
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  Speaker 4: a talent, but he also works hard, and he has
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  Speaker 4: got a huge basketball iq. Uh and just to see
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  Speaker 4: him dominate with with incredible athletes in in a in
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  Speaker 4: a in American basketball is just something that we're all
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  Speaker 4: very proud of. So we we all support him, cheer
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  Speaker 4: on him, and you know, obviously.
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  Speaker 1: The NBA season takes a lot out.
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  Speaker 4: Of him, and and and every year we have either
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  Speaker 4: it's a European Championship or World Championship or Olympic Games,
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  Speaker 4: and then and it is always a question mark will
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  Speaker 4: he play He's going to play for these national teams
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  Speaker 4: so there's always a debate, and people are very passionate about,
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  Speaker 4: you know, the best players playing for our national team.
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  Speaker 4: It's a lot of responsibility on him. I get him,
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  Speaker 4: I understand that, but you know, he has done so
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  Speaker 4: much for our country and for the basketball as a whole.
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  Speaker 1: It's amazing. We've got time for one more.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't think we can not talk about basketball
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  Speaker 2: without mentioning the late great Kobe Bryant.
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  Speaker 1: You guys had such a close relationship.
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  Speaker 2: What drew you guys together to be able to build
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  Speaker 2: that foundation?
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  Speaker 4: I think it's passion for the sport, passion for winning,
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  Speaker 4: the competitiveness.
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  Speaker 1: But most of all, what I what I liked about
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  Speaker 1: Kobe is that.
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  Speaker 4: He always try to He always try to bring this
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  Speaker 4: level of energy and.
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  Speaker 1: Friendship to his relationships.
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  Speaker 4: And it's not just with me, but I was, you know,
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  Speaker 4: obviously observing his relationship with it the other pier, whether
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  Speaker 4: his peers from his sport or you know, he was
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  Speaker 4: a big fan of football or soccer as you call it,
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  Speaker 4: and you know, he grew up in Italy and just
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  Speaker 4: the way he carried that charisma and his character was
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  Speaker 4: just very unique. And that's why people worldwide loved him
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  Speaker 4: and still love him. And when it comes to our relationship,
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  Speaker 4: back in two thousand and eighteen, when I had the
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  Speaker 4: major surgery of my elbow and then I was absent
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  Speaker 4: from the tour for six months, I dropped the rankings
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  Speaker 4: and I was trying to.
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  Speaker 1: Build rankings back I wasn't you know.
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  Speaker 4: I completely changed the kind of movement for my serve
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  Speaker 4: and I was kind of I was kind of lost,
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  Speaker 4: to be honest mentally as well. And then we had
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  Speaker 4: we had four or five different phone calls and we
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  Speaker 4: saw each other.
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  Speaker 1: I was in States, and he was really trying to be.
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  Speaker 4: There for me, and and I relied a lot on
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  Speaker 4: his counsel and his advices.
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  Speaker 1: And and he gave me guidance.
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  Speaker 4: That I needed, you know, and he really helped simplify
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: things for me. So he was it was a big
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: shock to to receive the news. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: But his legacy will live forever, no no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 4: Mamba mentality is he is still very present with everyone.
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  Speaker 3: Before I have you throw some balls, because we have
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  Speaker 3: had crowds we.
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  Speaker 2: Have not had.
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  Speaker 1: I didn't even say anything, would you like the first smith?
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  Speaker 5: Sure?
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  Speaker 1: Oh?
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  Speaker 5: I love that?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, do you want to do it. I don't
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: want to No, no, I can do it.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, okay, what oh.
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  Speaker 1: Man, what is that? What is that smelling from you?
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  Speaker 5: You feed?
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  Speaker 2: What?
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  Speaker 1: An absolute feed?
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Come?
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  Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, that much I want.
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  Speaker 1: To throw This is the best.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: Way.
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  Speaker 4: Embarrassed a different.
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  Speaker 1: I'll sign to you.
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: Sign.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: Can I have one? Oh my gosh, star power on
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: the T n T set? I forget one. A yeah, yeah,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: yeah yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Didn't go over while I'm listening. Signed these as well.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, wow, these are gonna be some special tennis balls.
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  Speaker 5: And each of you signed.
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  Speaker 1: This is a big deal right here. She loves listening
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  Speaker 1: to me talk.
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  Speaker 2: I could not hear anything, though, but at least as
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  Speaker 2: he has at least made your god daughter smile yet.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, this is the wildest crowd I've seen.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: I think I think you have a better guess right now?
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  Speaker 1: No mac choking?
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  Speaker 4: What a joy. Welcome you
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  Speaker 5: Guys,