First, Doug gives his NBA Draft Day takeaways and explains why foreign players continue to surpass domestic prospects in the eyes of NBA GM’s.
Then, he’s joined by Green Bay Student Manger and 8-year NBA vet Tyrus Thomas to discuss his meteoric rise from unknown to 2006 NBA Draft lottery pick in one season, his draft day experience going 4th overall to the Bulls (via trade from Portland),his experience playing in his home town of Baton Rouge, 2006 Final Four memories, rookie year struggles in Chicago, why he didn’t see eye to eye with Bulls HC Vinny Del Negro in Chicag, and why he connected with Larry Brown after being traded to the Charlotte Bobcats.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hey, what a bulcome in. I'm Doug Gotlie. This is
All Ball. Got a great All Ball guest for you.
We'll actually probably do a couple of pods with Tyris Thomas.
Tyris played eight years in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He was a star at LSU in his hometown of
Baton Rouge, and he is my student manager. That's right.
We'll get to the story of that upcoming in All Ball.
That's right. Tyris Thomas is a student manager at Green
Bay and he's fricking awesome. I did want to start
with the NBA and the NBA draft, and look, we
(00:38):
can talk about Brownie or whatever. There's lots of people
who are talking about who don't really know. And I'm
not buying in this bullshit about Rich Paul saying there's
other teams and you know, even ESPN like they had
to tell other teams not to draft from or go
to Australia. Get the fuck out of here, you know,
just just because an agent textis something, doesn't I mean exactly,
(01:01):
regardless of which I think that I'm starting to figure
out why foreign players are taking over the NBA, and
it's a culmination of things. And look, as a college coach,
now I'm as responsible as and if you are, if
you're a college coach or a high school coach or
an AU coach, but especially with your parent, like we
are so screwing up our kids by taking them team
(01:24):
to team and team having too many teams to begin with. Yes,
Alex Sar came and played OT and those guys improved.
And we do have better weights, better strength training, better
atility training, probably better skilled workouts you know, one on
cone than anybody else. But yet they're still catching us
in so many ways, passing us. They're on junior teams
(01:46):
all the time, and they get better and better and better,
whereas we're just about our most talented kids play on weekends. Yes,
they work in their game, but they don't necessarily work
with teammates when they're doing their new dual workout. Additionally,
you know, again, if we're honest, the best players get
(02:06):
coached the least when they're playing AU ball or club
ball growing up, you know, because the feeling is if
I coached this kid, well, he's going to go leave
and go to another team, Whereas there you don't really
have an don't really have the ability to just switch teams.
You got to kind of go work it out. Same
thing with college. So I understand this kind of idea
(02:26):
that you should be able to do whatever you want
in college and you should be free to switch schools.
Not set out. The fact is that we are not
creating better basketball players despite the fact we have a
greater depth of badlight talent.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Period.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Stop.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Let's get to Tyris Thomas. Welcome in, of course, eight
years the NBA and former number four pick in the
NBA Draft. This is my conversation with my newest manager.
Let's welcome in. He's one man, Tyris Thomas. He joins
us here. The day of this recording is the day
(03:02):
after the second round of the NBA Draft. What do
you remember about when you were drafted?
Speaker 4 (03:09):
For me, the draft, it was it was a lot.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It was you know, I didn't I didn't have the
uh what do you call it, the ordinary build up
to being a lotterypeat So it was all happening so fast.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
So it kind of still was surreal.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
It was a lot to process for me.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
So like, seriously, like you.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
Know, anybody my career in January of two thousand and six,
I wasn't on the draft board and and projecting a
lot of. It was a lot to take in in
those few months, and it was a great night. It
just was a lot for me to take in the emotions.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So okay, so take me through. What do you remember
specifically about that day, that night? What what what's it
really like to be the fourth pick of the draft?
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Ship that morning?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Uh? Actually started like two days before the draft. I
had to beat to New York. We did all of the.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
NBA media stuff.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
The day of the draft was the longest they ever.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It started like, let's start, let's start with the media. Okay,
you only played one year in college, correct, So you're
walking in at that time you knew you were going
to be a top ten pick.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
What do you remember about the media?
Speaker 5 (04:27):
It was a lot. So for me, Uh, the people
that know me. I'm not a I'm not a camera person.
I don't like to be in front of the cameras.
I never did. So for me, it was just a
lot of you know, saying the same stories, talking about myself.
Those are things that make me a little uneasy. And
it was a lot of that that night, just about
(04:50):
every station from ESPN to ABC.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So for me, it was a lot.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
It was good for me because as a kid, I
watched these night every year, and so to be there,
to be around the other guys that were getting drafted,
and to share that moment with my family, and you know,
like I said the day of the draft, it was
for me, it was a good night.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I felt about the favor from God.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
I felt all the gratitude that I had insil.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Yeah, it was cool.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I know it's twenty years ago, but that's that's like
part of the beauty of it is the parts you
actually remember are the most interesting parts.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, yeah, that I'm getting deeper conversation with.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
You know, just me and how I how I process
my emotions and I expressed things.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
But it was a great day.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
But it doesn't go down in like my best days
of my life or you know, and it's not taking
anything away from the draft.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
That's just not how I process events and things. You know.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
So I don't again without sounding ungrateful, unappreciative, I don't
have the cool stories of how this felt for me
and it was life changing, like I it just for me.
It was another day. It was a part of my journey,
you know, And so I don't talk about it much
because I never want to seem like I'm unappreciative of it.
(06:22):
It's something that everybody dreams, a lot of people dream of,
and I'm grateful for the experience, but I can't just honestly,
I can't say, oh, this is one of the best
days of my life, and I don't remember a lot
of it.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Like I don't. I don't remember a lot of that day.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Like it was so much and it drained me emotionally
so much to do so many things that I kind
of don't remember all of it. I remember very little
of it actually.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So that the day of the draft, you said it
was a long day. I started six am, Well you
remember at that point.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
I just remember getting up doing doing media stuff, commercials, videos,
and then I had like three different suits, Like I
didn't pick out my student until like literally thirty minutes
before I put it on. I had three different options.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
That day was cool.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
That was I found out me and Rudy Gay had
the same birthday, our parents, our moms met each other
that day, Like, honestly, that's the most thing I like,
that was one of my most memorable experiences, was hanging
out with Rudy Gay. That like, that was the only
person I really connected with through pre draft and all that,
so hanging out with him, my moms met without us
(07:34):
and found out we had the same birthday, So you know,
like that's honestly, that's what I remember the most about
that day.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
What's it like what your name is called?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
So for me, I actually when when Portland drafted LaMarcus Aldridge,
I mean when I mean when Chicago drafted LaMarcus Audrich
at two, My agent got the call, and so I
knew I'd be drafted at four and traded to Chicago.
So it wasn't even the shock of oh my name
was called. So by the time my name was called,
(08:07):
I had been waiting for thirty minutes, for fifteen or
twenty minutes for them to call my name, So it
wasn't a shock for me.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Like I knew I was gonna get called at four.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I knew I was gonna get traded to Chicago for
Victor with Victor Kreopper for LaMarcus Aldridge.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
So it kemet for me.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
It kind of was just like a waiting game at
that point. It was like a twenty minute waiting game.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Did you still have the hat? Did the Portland hat?
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Actually I didn't get So I got the Portland hat
when I walked on stage, and they when I got
behind stage, they took the Portland hat from me, and
we had to wait on everything to clear so I
could take my picture in the Chicago hat. So I never,
I never I took a picture in the Portland had
I think, But I didn't. I didn't even I didn't
(08:56):
get to keep it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Now valuable those hats are that they're like literally only
more than once for like thirty seconds, right right, So
a lot of this comes down to you weren't emotionally
in a place where you're ready for all that attention.
What was it about your childhood that led you to
(09:18):
be that way? Like, you know, I think most people
picture you if number four picking the draft is is
dominant athlete and everything you did growing up in a
high school American, what was your early childhood like.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
It was cool?
Speaker 5 (09:33):
It was cool, I mean, it was it was my normal.
I was raised by my grandmother, my mom's mom. My
mom's in my life, but she works so much that
you know, I chose to stay with.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
My grandmother because you know, my grandmother was was available more.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
But I just think it's you know, I'm a Southern
boy man, I'm not. I don't get too up or
too down in the sense of, like, you know, I
was raised with a lot of humility, a lot of
option was in adversity.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
That kind of keeps me not one to run to
the spotlight.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
I've been doing a better job of celebrating myself and
celebrating my wins. But I don't think I'll ever be
a person that just likes the spotlight, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
How good were you're in night school?
Speaker 5 (10:16):
I was decent. I wasn't. I wasn't like a four star,
five star or anything like that. I had a gross spurt,
I think, which added to my game. So from four
years old to tenth grade, I was one of the
shorter guys. Always I played guard, and after tenth grade,
(10:37):
so the summer going into eleventh grade was like the
only summer I didn't play basketball.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
I was in a lot of pain. I grew that summer.
I grew six inches.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
So I left high school at six like six one
maybe at the end of tenth grade, and at the
beginning of eleventh grade.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I was six seven.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
And I think that gross spurt, you know, it allowed
me to be able to do more since I was
a guard and I could handle the ball decently. Now
I'm a bigger guy, they can handle the ball decently.
So you know, I think that's my Grosbury really helped
me go from being average to above average.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So you didn't play your freshman year? Was it for development?
Was it for grades?
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Play?
Speaker 5 (11:15):
So I committed to the University of Miami, and uh,
before I did that, and then h had asked me
to walk on and that wasn't something that I wanted
to do because I had other high major offers and
so and it was kind of like they wanted me,
but they didn't have enough scholarships. And so Perry Clark
(11:37):
was the coach at the University of Miami at the time.
Perry Clark recruited my uncle when he was at TWU Lane,
So we kind of had a connection already, like a
family connection, and so you know that was it was
a good recruiting process with them. So when I committed,
coach Clark got fired a couple of days before signing day,
(11:57):
and so when he let me know that, I was
kind of back to the drawing board and I really
wanted to plan the acc at the time.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
So the two schools out of.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
A CC that recruited me were Miami and Virginia Tech,
except Greenberg was at Virginia Tech at the time.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
So I can remember calling coach.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Greenberg and you know, hearing in his voice is like hi,
like he had just gave away his last scholarship. And
so that's when I kind of was really back at
the drawing board.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
All I had left at the time was some low majors.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
And what happened was one of the guys that LSU
recruited he got into some trouble in junior college and
it opened up the scholarship for me, And so Kunda
was just all of that time, and so when I
got there, you know, I really I wasn't. I really
I wasn't one of the guys that they wanted. They
were stacked.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I mean that year we had the conference player of
the Year and Brandon.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Bass, as well as the SEC player of the year,
I mean, the freshman of the year, which was Glenn Davis.
We had a couple other guys who made second team
All SEC Darren I think Antonio Huston. So it was
a stacked team. It wasn't like you know a lot
of kids say that the coach sabotage meent the coach
didn't visit it. I mean, it was a stacked team,
(13:10):
it was. It was a team full of proven guys.
So you know, I had to wait my turn, and
I took it. I was able to take advantage of it.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
What was that like that first year?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Wait your turn?
Speaker 5 (13:21):
It was hard, you know, as just as a competitor,
especially knowing you know, the type of things that I
was doing in practice every day against these guys.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
It was hard to uh not suit up, you know, but.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
It just added I think it added to the chip
that was already on my shoulder. So you know, in hindsight,
it was very good because it added fuel to my
fire and sense in the sense of one of the
guys that was coaching at the time was John tree
Law and he's you know, he was very uh instrumental
and influential into my development.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
That read shir year. You know, he took out that time.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
And he was able to give me those tools and
that guidance that I really I invited it, and you know,
and and doing those things and working after the year
of playing it got me the way it got me.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
What's it like to go to school in your own job.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
A gift and a curse, you know.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Playing it was always good to you know, like the
stands was packed, you know all the time, and it's people,
you know, and there's people supporting you and his hometown people.
But also it kind of overwhelmed me a lot just
because I was from there and it's you know, it's
a little it was a little bit added added pressure
to succeed just because you're from home, you know, whereas
(14:46):
a lot of people who aren't from where they play
college ball, they just got to go and play and
not worry.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
About the whole city quote unquote counting on them.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
And you know, for me as well as our top
six play we all were from like sixty miles within
band Ruge. So for us it was a little it
was a little bit more than some guys just playing
college ball, kind of like we were literally representing the
city and state.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
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Speaker 2 (15:29):
So your city here and then you get ready to play.
I remember when I sat out of here and I transferred.
Like those first couple of games, I had so much
energy because I hadn't played you just waiting to play,
wait to play. What was that like when you first
got in.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Shit, it almost felt like I wasn't in any shape
because I can remember those games vividly, and it's like
I was out of breath in the first two three minutes.
And it's literally like what you was saying, it was
like it was like you shake a bottle up for
a whole year and then you finally pop it open
and it's like shit, just everywhere, And that's literally like emotions.
Was just so excited, you know, I was excited. It
(16:08):
was it was It was good for me. It was
like a kid in a candy store. They just not
planned for a whole year. And then finally being able
to to place somebody outside of my teammates, it was
very fulfilling.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Wich Joan Brady like to play for.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
Uh, he was hard to play for. We laugh and
talk about it all the time now. You know, he's
just one of those coaches who x's and o's was
amazing and just just tough nose. He didn't tolerate a lot,
you know, so as a again, as a As a
I got on campus at seventeen seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year
(16:47):
old kid that's from his hometown.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
You know, just a lot more was required required of
me than I would have liked at that time.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
And then obviously Big Baby has made the name for
himself on off the court. What was that experience like
playing a big Baby?
Speaker 5 (17:07):
So I actually I've been playing with him since I
was eight. You know, we started playing together when we
were eight, me and him, Garrett Temple. Me and Garrett
started together on our first team and we were like
four or five. So you know, again, I was able
to play college ball with guys that I've been playing
with my whole life. So it was like for us
playing it was it wasn't like a bunch of guys
you put together and they trying to figure each other out.
(17:29):
Like you know, we knew from day one what make
each other go emotionally, you know, we know, we knew
how each other liked to play, We knew what our
strengths and weaknesses were. We knew, you know, like for
us at LSU, we didn't have to figure out the
pecking order. It was the same picking order that we
had been asking when we were kids, right, So I
(17:51):
think for the team sake, it was easier for us
to jail and easier for us to mold because guys
have been playing around each other for the last ten years.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Do you remember anything about run the tournament.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Now that I do, It was just it was I
actually was hurt. I wasn't supposed to play. I wasn't
suposed to finish the season.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
I had a high ankle spring against Kentucky. Like the
last the last two SEC games, I didn't play. I
didn't play in the SEC tournament. And I can remember
I can remember what is it when they do the
selection Sunday? Yeah, selection Sunday, and we drew Iona and
(18:38):
like nobody knew who the team was, and you know,
it was one of them that I can remember that
because it was like.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
When we drew our own, it was like, do I
have to play this game?
Speaker 5 (18:52):
Because I was still trying to like just squeeze out
more time to still be able to help the team.
But heal as much as I can, and you know,
we made the decision that we weren't taking any team
for granted. And I got my ankle's tape, I put
on an ankle brace and we rocked out and.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
We won that game.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
The second round, we had Texas A and M and
Darren Mitchell hit a big three at the end to win.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
I still say that that was the biggest shot of
my career.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Even though it wasn't me shooting, But I just honestly
believed that I wouldn't have got drafted as high as
I did, or probably even even drafted that year if
we didn't have that.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Texas and Duke game.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
I think those are the two games that kind of
like solidify my draft position.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
And so with those two games were in Jacksonville.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
I remember that because my mom couldn't afford to come,
but we had family in Atlanta. And then the second,
the third and fourth round was in Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
And that was Texas, No, No, No, No, No Duke.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
First we played Duke to go to the Sweet sixteen,
and then we played Texas to go to the Elite eight.
And both of those were good games. I had actually
that amazing game against Texas and it was like twenty
and ten something like that, twenty and nine. And then
Ucla we played Ucla and we just didn't have enough.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
We didn't have enough to get over the hump.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
But though I remember that run and it was just
it was so cool man, to be able to play
in those large arenas, playing in football arenas and seeing.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
All the fans travel for us.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
You know, LSU is We're used to having fans travel
for football, but that year, our fans did a great
job of traveling on the road with us, and it
was amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So you get done. What was it like for you
to decide to go to the NBA after just one
year at college basketball?
Speaker 4 (20:52):
I had it work, man, Honestly, I didn't. I didn't
want to leave at the time.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
I didn't feel like I was ready and I didn't
have as much confidence as I portrayed to have. But
you know, financially and the situation that my family was in,
you know, economically, it was a business decision for me.
It was something that I had to do. I tell
people all the time, especially these last couple of years.
(21:20):
If if NIL was a thing, I definitely would have
stayed at least another year in.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
School, just because that's what I really wanted to do.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
You know, even from the standpoint of building a legacy.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I wanted to be able to leave a legacy at LSU.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
But you know, just the draft position and business made
that difficult for me to stay.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
So then did you know why Chicago?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Did you have a great workout?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Did they talked to you like man?
Speaker 5 (21:51):
So what happened Chicago was my first workout I worked
out in Chicago. Chicago called my agent and they told
me that they didn't want me to work out for
anybody else.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
They were gonna take me too.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
So, I mean, for me, I thought it would have
been a good I thought it was a good situation.
And I was I was, I mean, I was okay
with being told that this team with the second pick
would select me.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
I mean I did.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
I couldn't get any higher except one. So that's literally
how that played out. And I didn't work out for
anybody else.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
So you get drafted by the Bulls. Uh, she gonna
play summer league?
Speaker 4 (22:37):
What?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
What is the what was the process?
Speaker 7 (22:38):
Have to get drafted at brush cot and stuff that
that what you do?
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Yeah, So it was like I think it like June
twenty eighth, I flew to Chicago the next day, on
the twenty ninth. I was at Chicago for like two days,
went to a couple of baseball games throughout some pitches,
did some media runs, and then like I want to say,
like July fifth, maybe we was in mini camp practice.
(23:05):
So I had like probably like four or five days
to just be normal, and then it was right to it.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
What was your first season?
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Like? I struggled.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
It was times where I even I can remember acting
front office to let me go. I wasn't playing as
much as I wanted. Mentally, I was struggling. I was
comparing myself to the other rookies in my draft class
that got drafted higher, and I felt inadequate. Uh, it
just it wasn't It wasn't good. I didn't my first season.
(23:39):
I struggled mentally just because I didn't feel like I
was getting opportunities to grow. And there was a lot
of days that I was like, fuck, I just wish
I would have stayed in school, you know, But it
was you know, over time, I figured out, you know,
what the coaching staff.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Wanted, what my role was, and what I needed to
do to have a little success. You know, I got
to it.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
What was where were you living playing footballs? Where'd you live?
Speaker 5 (24:11):
Initially I was staying in Deerfield, which is the north
north Chicago at the time that was where the practice
facility was, and so I was in the north suburbs
of Chicago.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
My first time ever seeing real snow.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
We were coming back from Detroit, and uh, it was
like a twelve inch so so on.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
I didn't have gloves, I didn't have a scraper. I
didn't know about the ice. I didn't know about any
of that.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
So it was a rough, nice sweeping all of the
snow off my hands, off the car with my hands,
and like for two days I couldn't catch the basketball
because my hands were still froze. But it was it
was cool. It was you know, it was an adjustment
and once I got used to it, I mean, you
don't spend much much time outside anyway, so I mean
(25:01):
it was cool.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
It was cool.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
But I'm gonna be back to it out here in
Green Bay. So I'm getting ready.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
We'll get to that up coming. Who's your cues?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Your first coach Scott Scotts. So my first coach was
Scott's Goys. Uh.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
The next year, I had Jim Boiling in Chicago. After that,
I had Vinnie Dell Negro in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
I went to Charlotte.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
I had Larry Brown, Paul Solace, and Mike Dunlap there. Yes,
so I didn't have I went through six in two
teams seven years. I went through six coaching staffs.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I then you count your college coach, that's.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Uh seven and eight man.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
And if I count high school, and if I count
high school out of those four years, add that eight.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Now we nine coaches in twelve years.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Who is the guy you connected with the most.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
Larry Brown? I actually still talked to Larry Brown. I
need to call him and see what's happening.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
But that was my guy.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
He was the main He was the only reason I
resigned to Charlotte. That didn't last long, but you know
that's still he's still my guy.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
What was about area?
Speaker 4 (26:10):
That special man?
Speaker 5 (26:12):
When I got traded and I walked into the office,
I got to Charlotte, the first name Larry Brown asked
me was how is my grandmother? And so anybody that
can care enough about me to ask about my grandmother,
who you.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Know is my heart?
Speaker 5 (26:25):
That's you know for me, that's a person that cares
and that was a connection piece, and you know that
that was kind of the foundation of our relationship.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
You don't know your certified life coach.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
We'll get to that but when did you first realize
you were struggling got to mentally do a Justice League.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Day one.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
You know, for me, it was a lot like I'm
from Banton Ruge. I grew up in Vandon Ruge. I
went to school in band Ruge. So even moving to
Chicago was the first time I had been out of
the South. And I can remember walking into the training room,
and in the South, acknowledging people when you walk.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
In the room is a big thing. It's a huge thing.
You know.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
We are we we and maybe overbearing, but we pride
ourselves on what we think is respect and what we
think our manners.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
You know, some people call the Southern hospitality.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
So being around people who were who culture was different,
who viewed things different, it was the first time I
had to realize that everybody didn't grow up the same, right,
So just being being around people different cultures and different
morals and principles, you know, it was very hard for
(27:43):
me to adjust.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
To understand that.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
You know, people weren't raised the same, people don't think
the same people don't have the same values. That and
that didn't make them a bad person, you know, it
doesn't make them someone that you should automatically dislike.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
You know.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
So for me just leaving Bad and Rouge, being exposed
to different coaches and people, that was very, very hard.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
So what was what Sky's like?
Speaker 6 (28:10):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Excellent? Always he was a great person.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
We didn't connect well as far as personally, you know,
but as far as a coach, he's an amazing coach.
You know, things, very knowledgeable, he taught the game well,
you know, like I said, we just me and him. Personally,
we didn't connect, but from a basketball standpoint, he's one
(28:35):
of the most brilliant basketball minds I've ever been around.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So when you're top ten, pick the Chicago Bulls and
your rookie, like, who is the old Who's the vet
looked out for you?
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Ben Wilace and PJ. Brown?
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Those were my two vets my rookie year, and you know,
they they really did help me a lot adjusting just mentally.
You know, one PJ is from Louisiana. Ben Wallace is
from Alabama, so you know, the southern stuff. Like they
kind of understood my mindset and they helped me transition
(29:13):
into being a more well rounded person.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
So how would they do that?
Speaker 4 (29:22):
You know? Like, so for example, if PJ. Came to me.
He saw it day one.
Speaker 5 (29:26):
He was like, hey, you can't get upset when people
don't speak back, Like they don't do that out here,
Like they don't do that everywhere, you know. So, just
like I said, a lot of just we call them
x or isms, just a lot of Southern things that
we take for granted or don't really realize we do,
or we value. Just helping me transition, well even just
(29:48):
being in a big city. Things move faster, people move faster.
You know, in the South, we value people's word a lot,
and you know, just having to understand business versus personal,
separating the two. Understanding that I was that that that
(30:11):
that being in the NBA wasn't just playing basketball, it
was an actual job now, so you know.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Just trying to help.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
They helped me a lot in my transitional period, just
understanding life, understanding the business, and understanding of the life better.
Speaker 7 (30:27):
So Scott gets fired now Jim Boiling.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
What was he like?
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Uh, well, you know, so this is not the head coach,
Jim Boiling. This was the assistant jimbo You know, it
was two in the NBA, So this was Boiling L
A N and not L E. N.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
But it was week man.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
Now that was a crazy process because I can remember
we came to practice.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
It was Christmas Eve.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I'll never forget. We got the practice and they were like,
uh an, nobody was there. Nobody was on the floor,
none of the coaches were on the floor. And then
Tony Rakeeda. Tony Rakeeda was the director of community relations
at the time.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
I never forget.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
They sent Tony in and he was like, yeah, I'm
here to oversee practice and I was like, what you
overseeing practice for? And that's when the vets kind of
told all the rookies and the younger guys like, yeah,
they must be firing them. And so I know, they
fired him on Christmas, Christmas Eve, and then Jim Boylan
took over, and it was just strange because he was
(31:35):
the associate head for a year and a half while
I was there and then get fired and then now
we change everything, the offense, the defense, and so that
was like, Okay, now I gotta get adjusted to something new.
Now I gotta do something different, you know. So that
was a weird little period for me. Yeah, it was weird.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
It was.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
It was a weird transition, but that was my life.
Welcome to Bath faketball moment because it was only weird
for me and other younger guys like Tybo, Joe Kim,
Aaron Gray. But like the Vets, they just took it
in stride. They weren't phased by it at all. We
were like, damn, they just fired him. They're like, yep,
welcome to the league. So you know, it was so
(32:18):
over the years when it happened every year after that,
I was fine with it.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
It didn't bother me at all.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And then then they hired Vinny so Down another coach.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
What was any like, Let's just say Veny made a
lot of promises that he didn't keep and I just
leave it at that.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Me give me one, uh, just simple, just simple stuff
Like I was supposed to be able to wear a headband.
He told me I could wear a headband when he
got there. Then, like you know, on the phone all
summer it was God's guys had a no headband rule.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
So that was being young.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
One of the first things I asked him when he
called me during the summer was.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Can I wear a headband? Like shit chat, you could
wear a headband, I don't care about.
Speaker 5 (33:08):
Then he get there and I couldn't wear my headband,
so you know, like just I mean, it's a lot
of other things that I don't want to go into,
but just keep it simple and surface level as something
as simple as a headband.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
You know, some of the simple as a band.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
But you don't fall through as much as now as
adults you're like, man, what On the other hand, you
realize that, like players are smart.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
Yeah, So like yeah, like yeah, me and Vinnie, you know,
I mean, we're here now, so we're talking about it now,
like because I got a lot of bad rap when
you know, me and Vinnie had a few altercations, but
it was even time where I felt like he was
trying to threaten me in a sense of telling me
about his ethnicity and how they handle problems, you know, and.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
So it just was a lot, you know, for.
Speaker 5 (33:59):
Me, Me and Vinnie had a couple I watched Vinnie
Delle Negro growing up. You know, people that don't know
he was he was, he was very he was a
good player, you know, but I've never been a person
that was good with ravado people or people that try
to enforce their power.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
And then you know, and so for me, I was young,
and so I.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
Didn't really know how to handle my emotions when I
felt challenged outside of basketball. You know, challenging me on
the court was one thing, but I wasn't ever want
to back down from a challenge, regardless of what type
of authority people had in my life, which wasn't all.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
It didn't always work for me, but.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
At the time that I didn't back down, and you know,
so for me, I felt like unjustly I was putting
situations where I was reprimanded simply because I didn't back down.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
You know. So it's it's it's just it is what
it is. Lessons learned.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
But it did teach me how to plan for Vinie,
taught me how to deal with.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Superiors that I really not in favor of.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
So, you know, I think it was a lot of
lessons learned and a lot of growth that happened throughout
their process.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
How did trade go down with Charlotte Man?
Speaker 4 (35:22):
It was a Tuesday. I never forget it was a tuesday. Uh.
It was a tuesday in Minnesota. We were on the road,
we came back from shooting Brown and uh and we
had a game that day and Pete Mies came to Man.
I never forget. Pete was like Pete was a joke
(35:44):
to and so Pete was like, man, t T we
didne traded you? And so I'm like I'm laughing.
Speaker 5 (35:50):
Like man, whatever, go ahead, I'm go take a nap.
And I get a phone call from my agent and ship.
They was like, man, you gotta get on the plane.
So that day I was in Minnesota thinking I was
gonna play a game that day for the Bulls. I
flew to Charlotte and played that night for the Bobcats.
Got on the plane and flew from Charlotte to Minnesota
(36:12):
to play I mean to Milwaukee to play a back
to back. But we got to Milwaukee, Larry Brown had
a car picked me up so he could drive me
back to Chicago to get some stuff because I only
had what I took for a one game road trip.
So I was in Charlotte. Luckily, we flew to Milwaukee
(36:33):
that night and I was able to drive back to
Chicago and like just grab some stuff and I was.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
A Bobcat after that. It was a wild forty eight hours.
I know that.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
What was that like emotional Like in the moment, it
was a little bit of an exhale because three weeks prior,
me and Vinnie was just at it every day, almost
every day for like three weeks. So at the moment
the trade was cool. It was just like a little release.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
But I'm being honest transparently, I kind of wish I
could have changed some things or done some things differently
that would have kept me in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
But at the moment, it was just a breather. It
was a good breather. I needed it.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
What was Charlotte like a team?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Like, how competitive were you? You get traded?
Speaker 4 (37:24):
What happens?
Speaker 5 (37:26):
I think they might have been in like twelve or
thirteen seed. They had just started like a winning streak.
They had just traded for Stephen Jackson at like a
couple months prior. So when I got there, theo Ratlift came,
Larry Hughes came. We played in Chicago together, and we
made a playoff run. It was the first time in
(37:46):
Bobcast history they made the playoffs. We got swept by
the Magic who went to the finals that year. And yeah,
I resigned thinking that I was gonna come back and
be the sixth man on a team that had just
got to together and made a playoff run. At the time,
Tyson Chandler was our starting five. Boris d I was
at the four, Jered Wallace at the three, Steve Jack
(38:08):
at the two, Raymond Felton at the one. Uh DJ
Augustine was coming off the bench, Larry Hughes, myself and
THEO Rat left and so you know, I resigned that
deal thinking that I was gonna have some more time
with them guys by December. By December that year, of
(38:29):
everybody I just named, it was just me, Steve Jack,
Jerald Wallace, I mean yeah, Jared Wallace, DJ Augustine, and
Larry Brown. By the end of that season, it was
me and Stephen Jackson, and they blew the team up
(38:51):
so fast and go from that to the next two years,
we're the worst team in the league statistically. Three and
a half years, three different coaching staffs, you know. So
it just for me, it was just a lot of
adjusting back to back to back to back. Man, I'm
gonna creature a habit and I need consistency, and at
(39:13):
the time that was it was just hard for me.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
That's it for All Ball. That's part one with Tyrus Thomas.
Wait to hear Part two.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
You're gonna love it.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Remunder of The Doug Gollip Show radio show is every
day three to five Eastern Time. We also have an
hour podcast you can download as well. I'm Doug Gotlie.
This is all well
Hey, what a bulcome in. I'm Doug Gotlie. This is
All Ball. Got a great All Ball guest for you.
We'll actually probably do a couple of pods with Tyris Thomas.
Tyris played eight years in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
He was a star at LSU in his hometown of
Baton Rouge, and he is my student manager. That's right.
We'll get to the story of that upcoming in All Ball.
That's right. Tyris Thomas is a student manager at Green
Bay and he's fricking awesome. I did want to start
with the NBA and the NBA draft, and look, we
(00:38):
can talk about Brownie or whatever. There's lots of people
who are talking about who don't really know. And I'm
not buying in this bullshit about Rich Paul saying there's
other teams and you know, even ESPN like they had
to tell other teams not to draft from or go
to Australia. Get the fuck out of here, you know,
just just because an agent textis something, doesn't I mean exactly,
(01:01):
regardless of which I think that I'm starting to figure
out why foreign players are taking over the NBA, and
it's a culmination of things. And look, as a college coach,
now I'm as responsible as and if you are, if
you're a college coach or a high school coach or
an AU coach, but especially with your parent, like we
are so screwing up our kids by taking them team
(01:24):
to team and team having too many teams to begin with. Yes,
Alex Sar came and played OT and those guys improved.
And we do have better weights, better strength training, better
atility training, probably better skilled workouts you know, one on
cone than anybody else. But yet they're still catching us
in so many ways, passing us. They're on junior teams
(01:46):
all the time, and they get better and better and better,
whereas we're just about our most talented kids play on weekends. Yes,
they work in their game, but they don't necessarily work
with teammates when they're doing their new dual workout. Additionally,
you know, again, if we're honest, the best players get
(02:06):
coached the least when they're playing AU ball or club
ball growing up, you know, because the feeling is if
I coached this kid, well, he's going to go leave
and go to another team, Whereas there you don't really
have an don't really have the ability to just switch teams.
You got to kind of go work it out. Same
thing with college. So I understand this kind of idea
(02:26):
that you should be able to do whatever you want
in college and you should be free to switch schools.
Not set out. The fact is that we are not
creating better basketball players despite the fact we have a
greater depth of badlight talent.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Period.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Stop.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Let's get to Tyris Thomas. Welcome in, of course, eight
years the NBA and former number four pick in the
NBA Draft. This is my conversation with my newest manager.
Let's welcome in. He's one man, Tyris Thomas. He joins
us here. The day of this recording is the day
(03:02):
after the second round of the NBA Draft. What do
you remember about when you were drafted?
Speaker 4 (03:09):
For me, the draft, it was it was a lot.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
It was you know, I didn't I didn't have the
uh what do you call it, the ordinary build up
to being a lotterypeat So it was all happening so fast.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
So it kind of still was surreal.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
It was a lot to process for me.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
So like, seriously, like you.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
Know, anybody my career in January of two thousand and six,
I wasn't on the draft board and and projecting a
lot of. It was a lot to take in in
those few months, and it was a great night. It
just was a lot for me to take in the emotions.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So okay, so take me through. What do you remember
specifically about that day, that night? What what what's it
really like to be the fourth pick of the draft?
Speaker 4 (03:57):
Ship that morning?
Speaker 5 (03:58):
Uh? Actually started like two days before the draft. I
had to beat to New York. We did all of the.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
NBA media stuff.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
The day of the draft was the longest they ever.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It started like, let's start, let's start with the media. Okay,
you only played one year in college, correct, So you're
walking in at that time you knew you were going
to be a top ten pick.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Correct.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
What do you remember about the media?
Speaker 5 (04:27):
It was a lot. So for me, Uh, the people
that know me. I'm not a I'm not a camera person.
I don't like to be in front of the cameras.
I never did. So for me, it was just a
lot of you know, saying the same stories, talking about myself.
Those are things that make me a little uneasy. And
it was a lot of that that night, just about
(04:50):
every station from ESPN to ABC.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
So for me, it was a lot.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
It was good for me because as a kid, I
watched these night every year, and so to be there,
to be around the other guys that were getting drafted,
and to share that moment with my family, and you know,
like I said the day of the draft, it was
for me, it was a good night.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I felt about the favor from God.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
I felt all the gratitude that I had insil.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
Yeah, it was cool.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I know it's twenty years ago, but that's that's like
part of the beauty of it is the parts you
actually remember are the most interesting parts.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, yeah, that I'm getting deeper conversation with.
Speaker 5 (05:39):
You know, just me and how I how I process
my emotions and I expressed things.
Speaker 4 (05:45):
But it was a great day.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
But it doesn't go down in like my best days
of my life or you know, and it's not taking
anything away from the draft.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
That's just not how I process events and things. You know.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
So I don't again without sounding ungrateful, unappreciative, I don't
have the cool stories of how this felt for me
and it was life changing, like I it just for me.
It was another day. It was a part of my journey,
you know, And so I don't talk about it much
because I never want to seem like I'm unappreciative of it.
(06:22):
It's something that everybody dreams, a lot of people dream of,
and I'm grateful for the experience, but I can't just honestly,
I can't say, oh, this is one of the best
days of my life, and I don't remember a lot
of it.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Like I don't. I don't remember a lot of that day.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
Like it was so much and it drained me emotionally
so much to do so many things that I kind
of don't remember all of it. I remember very little
of it actually.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So that the day of the draft, you said it
was a long day. I started six am, Well you
remember at that point.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
I just remember getting up doing doing media stuff, commercials, videos,
and then I had like three different suits, Like I
didn't pick out my student until like literally thirty minutes
before I put it on. I had three different options.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
That day was cool.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
That was I found out me and Rudy Gay had
the same birthday, our parents, our moms met each other
that day, Like, honestly, that's the most thing I like,
that was one of my most memorable experiences, was hanging
out with Rudy Gay. That like, that was the only
person I really connected with through pre draft and all that,
so hanging out with him, my moms met without us
(07:34):
and found out we had the same birthday, So you know,
like that's honestly, that's what I remember the most about
that day.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
What's it like what your name is called?
Speaker 5 (07:45):
So for me, I actually when when Portland drafted LaMarcus Aldridge,
I mean when I mean when Chicago drafted LaMarcus Audrich
at two, My agent got the call, and so I
knew I'd be drafted at four and traded to Chicago.
So it wasn't even the shock of oh my name
was called. So by the time my name was called,
(08:07):
I had been waiting for thirty minutes, for fifteen or
twenty minutes for them to call my name, So it
wasn't a shock for me.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Like I knew I was gonna get called at four.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I knew I was gonna get traded to Chicago for
Victor with Victor Kreopper for LaMarcus Aldridge.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
So it kemet for me.
Speaker 5 (08:25):
It kind of was just like a waiting game at
that point. It was like a twenty minute waiting game.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Did you still have the hat? Did the Portland hat?
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Actually I didn't get So I got the Portland hat
when I walked on stage, and they when I got
behind stage, they took the Portland hat from me, and
we had to wait on everything to clear so I
could take my picture in the Chicago hat. So I never,
I never I took a picture in the Portland had
I think, But I didn't. I didn't even I didn't
(08:56):
get to keep it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Now valuable those hats are that they're like literally only
more than once for like thirty seconds, right right, So
a lot of this comes down to you weren't emotionally
in a place where you're ready for all that attention.
What was it about your childhood that led you to
(09:18):
be that way? Like, you know, I think most people
picture you if number four picking the draft is is
dominant athlete and everything you did growing up in a
high school American, what was your early childhood like.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
It was cool?
Speaker 5 (09:33):
It was cool, I mean, it was it was my normal.
I was raised by my grandmother, my mom's mom. My
mom's in my life, but she works so much that
you know, I chose to stay with.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
My grandmother because you know, my grandmother was was available more.
Speaker 5 (09:48):
But I just think it's you know, I'm a Southern
boy man, I'm not. I don't get too up or
too down in the sense of, like, you know, I
was raised with a lot of humility, a lot of
option was in adversity.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
That kind of keeps me not one to run to
the spotlight.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
I've been doing a better job of celebrating myself and
celebrating my wins. But I don't think I'll ever be
a person that just likes the spotlight, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
How good were you're in night school?
Speaker 5 (10:16):
I was decent. I wasn't. I wasn't like a four star,
five star or anything like that. I had a gross spurt,
I think, which added to my game. So from four
years old to tenth grade, I was one of the
shorter guys. Always I played guard, and after tenth grade,
(10:37):
so the summer going into eleventh grade was like the
only summer I didn't play basketball.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
I was in a lot of pain. I grew that summer.
I grew six inches.
Speaker 5 (10:44):
So I left high school at six like six one
maybe at the end of tenth grade, and at the
beginning of eleventh grade.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I was six seven.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
And I think that gross spurt, you know, it allowed
me to be able to do more since I was
a guard and I could handle the ball decently. Now
I'm a bigger guy, they can handle the ball decently.
So you know, I think that's my Grosbury really helped
me go from being average to above average.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
So you didn't play your freshman year? Was it for development?
Was it for grades?
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Play?
Speaker 5 (11:15):
So I committed to the University of Miami, and uh,
before I did that, and then h had asked me
to walk on and that wasn't something that I wanted
to do because I had other high major offers and
so and it was kind of like they wanted me,
but they didn't have enough scholarships. And so Perry Clark
(11:37):
was the coach at the University of Miami at the time.
Perry Clark recruited my uncle when he was at TWU Lane,
So we kind of had a connection already, like a
family connection, and so you know that was it was
a good recruiting process with them. So when I committed,
coach Clark got fired a couple of days before signing day,
(11:57):
and so when he let me know that, I was
kind of back to the drawing board and I really
wanted to plan the acc at the time.
Speaker 4 (12:06):
So the two schools out of.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
A CC that recruited me were Miami and Virginia Tech,
except Greenberg was at Virginia Tech at the time.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
So I can remember calling coach.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
Greenberg and you know, hearing in his voice is like hi,
like he had just gave away his last scholarship. And
so that's when I kind of was really back at
the drawing board.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
All I had left at the time was some low majors.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
And what happened was one of the guys that LSU
recruited he got into some trouble in junior college and
it opened up the scholarship for me, And so Kunda
was just all of that time, and so when I
got there, you know, I really I wasn't. I really
I wasn't one of the guys that they wanted. They
were stacked.
Speaker 4 (12:46):
I mean that year we had the conference player of
the Year and Brandon.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Bass, as well as the SEC player of the year,
I mean, the freshman of the year, which was Glenn Davis.
We had a couple other guys who made second team
All SEC Darren I think Antonio Huston. So it was
a stacked team. It wasn't like you know a lot
of kids say that the coach sabotage meent the coach
didn't visit it. I mean, it was a stacked team,
(13:10):
it was. It was a team full of proven guys.
So you know, I had to wait my turn, and
I took it. I was able to take advantage of it.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
What was that like that first year?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Wait your turn?
Speaker 5 (13:21):
It was hard, you know, as just as a competitor,
especially knowing you know, the type of things that I
was doing in practice every day against these guys.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
It was hard to uh not suit up, you know, but.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
It just added I think it added to the chip
that was already on my shoulder. So you know, in hindsight,
it was very good because it added fuel to my
fire and sense in the sense of one of the
guys that was coaching at the time was John tree
Law and he's you know, he was very uh instrumental
and influential into my development.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
That read shir year. You know, he took out that time.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
And he was able to give me those tools and
that guidance that I really I invited it, and you know,
and and doing those things and working after the year
of playing it got me the way it got me.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
What's it like to go to school in your own job.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
A gift and a curse, you know.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Playing it was always good to you know, like the
stands was packed, you know all the time, and it's people,
you know, and there's people supporting you and his hometown people.
But also it kind of overwhelmed me a lot just
because I was from there and it's you know, it's
a little it was a little bit added added pressure
to succeed just because you're from home, you know, whereas
(14:46):
a lot of people who aren't from where they play
college ball, they just got to go and play and
not worry.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
About the whole city quote unquote counting on them.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
And you know, for me as well as our top
six play we all were from like sixty miles within
band Ruge. So for us it was a little it
was a little bit more than some guys just playing
college ball, kind of like we were literally representing the
city and state.
Speaker 6 (15:13):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
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Speaker 2 (15:29):
So your city here and then you get ready to play.
I remember when I sat out of here and I transferred.
Like those first couple of games, I had so much
energy because I hadn't played you just waiting to play,
wait to play. What was that like when you first
got in.
Speaker 5 (15:44):
Shit, it almost felt like I wasn't in any shape
because I can remember those games vividly, and it's like
I was out of breath in the first two three minutes.
And it's literally like what you was saying, it was
like it was like you shake a bottle up for
a whole year and then you finally pop it open
and it's like shit, just everywhere, And that's literally like emotions.
Was just so excited, you know, I was excited. It
(16:08):
was it was It was good for me. It was
like a kid in a candy store. They just not
planned for a whole year. And then finally being able
to to place somebody outside of my teammates, it was
very fulfilling.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Wich Joan Brady like to play for.
Speaker 5 (16:25):
Uh, he was hard to play for. We laugh and
talk about it all the time now. You know, he's
just one of those coaches who x's and o's was
amazing and just just tough nose. He didn't tolerate a lot,
you know, so as a again, as a As a
I got on campus at seventeen seventeen, eighteen, nineteen year
(16:47):
old kid that's from his hometown.
Speaker 4 (16:49):
You know, just a lot more was required required of
me than I would have liked at that time.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
And then obviously Big Baby has made the name for
himself on off the court. What was that experience like
playing a big Baby?
Speaker 5 (17:07):
So I actually I've been playing with him since I
was eight. You know, we started playing together when we
were eight, me and him, Garrett Temple. Me and Garrett
started together on our first team and we were like
four or five. So you know, again, I was able
to play college ball with guys that I've been playing
with my whole life. So it was like for us
playing it was it wasn't like a bunch of guys
you put together and they trying to figure each other out.
(17:29):
Like you know, we knew from day one what make
each other go emotionally, you know, we know, we knew
how each other liked to play, We knew what our
strengths and weaknesses were. We knew, you know, like for
us at LSU, we didn't have to figure out the
pecking order. It was the same picking order that we
had been asking when we were kids, right, So I
(17:51):
think for the team sake, it was easier for us
to jail and easier for us to mold because guys
have been playing around each other for the last ten years.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Do you remember anything about run the tournament.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Now that I do, It was just it was I
actually was hurt. I wasn't supposed to play. I wasn't
suposed to finish the season.
Speaker 5 (18:17):
I had a high ankle spring against Kentucky. Like the
last the last two SEC games, I didn't play. I
didn't play in the SEC tournament. And I can remember
I can remember what is it when they do the
selection Sunday? Yeah, selection Sunday, and we drew Iona and
(18:38):
like nobody knew who the team was, and you know,
it was one of them that I can remember that
because it was like.
Speaker 4 (18:49):
When we drew our own, it was like, do I
have to play this game?
Speaker 5 (18:52):
Because I was still trying to like just squeeze out
more time to still be able to help the team.
But heal as much as I can, and you know,
we made the decision that we weren't taking any team
for granted. And I got my ankle's tape, I put
on an ankle brace and we rocked out and.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
We won that game.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
The second round, we had Texas A and M and
Darren Mitchell hit a big three at the end to win.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
I still say that that was the biggest shot of
my career.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Even though it wasn't me shooting, But I just honestly
believed that I wouldn't have got drafted as high as
I did, or probably even even drafted that year if
we didn't have that.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
Texas and Duke game.
Speaker 5 (19:37):
I think those are the two games that kind of
like solidify my draft position.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
And so with those two games were in Jacksonville.
Speaker 5 (19:46):
I remember that because my mom couldn't afford to come,
but we had family in Atlanta. And then the second,
the third and fourth round was in Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
And that was Texas, No, No, No, No, No Duke.
Speaker 5 (19:58):
First we played Duke to go to the Sweet sixteen,
and then we played Texas to go to the Elite eight.
And both of those were good games. I had actually
that amazing game against Texas and it was like twenty
and ten something like that, twenty and nine. And then
Ucla we played Ucla and we just didn't have enough.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
We didn't have enough to get over the hump.
Speaker 5 (20:24):
But though I remember that run and it was just
it was so cool man, to be able to play
in those large arenas, playing in football arenas and seeing.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
All the fans travel for us.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
You know, LSU is We're used to having fans travel
for football, but that year, our fans did a great
job of traveling on the road with us, and it
was amazing.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So you get done. What was it like for you
to decide to go to the NBA after just one
year at college basketball?
Speaker 4 (20:52):
I had it work, man, Honestly, I didn't. I didn't
want to leave at the time.
Speaker 5 (20:58):
I didn't feel like I was ready and I didn't
have as much confidence as I portrayed to have. But
you know, financially and the situation that my family was in,
you know, economically, it was a business decision for me.
It was something that I had to do. I tell
people all the time, especially these last couple of years.
(21:20):
If if NIL was a thing, I definitely would have
stayed at least another year in.
Speaker 4 (21:26):
School, just because that's what I really wanted to do.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
You know, even from the standpoint of building a legacy.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
I wanted to be able to leave a legacy at LSU.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
But you know, just the draft position and business made
that difficult for me to stay.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
So then did you know why Chicago?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Did you have a great workout?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Did they talked to you like man?
Speaker 5 (21:51):
So what happened Chicago was my first workout I worked
out in Chicago. Chicago called my agent and they told
me that they didn't want me to work out for
anybody else.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
They were gonna take me too.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
So, I mean, for me, I thought it would have
been a good I thought it was a good situation.
And I was I was, I mean, I was okay
with being told that this team with the second pick
would select me.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
I mean I did.
Speaker 5 (22:20):
I couldn't get any higher except one. So that's literally
how that played out. And I didn't work out for
anybody else.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
So you get drafted by the Bulls. Uh, she gonna
play summer league?
Speaker 4 (22:37):
What?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
What is the what was the process?
Speaker 7 (22:38):
Have to get drafted at brush cot and stuff that
that what you do?
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Yeah, So it was like I think it like June
twenty eighth, I flew to Chicago the next day, on
the twenty ninth. I was at Chicago for like two days,
went to a couple of baseball games throughout some pitches,
did some media runs, and then like I want to say,
like July fifth, maybe we was in mini camp practice.
(23:05):
So I had like probably like four or five days
to just be normal, and then it was right to it.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
What was your first season?
Speaker 4 (23:12):
Like? I struggled.
Speaker 5 (23:16):
It was times where I even I can remember acting
front office to let me go. I wasn't playing as
much as I wanted. Mentally, I was struggling. I was
comparing myself to the other rookies in my draft class
that got drafted higher, and I felt inadequate. Uh, it
just it wasn't It wasn't good. I didn't my first season.
(23:39):
I struggled mentally just because I didn't feel like I
was getting opportunities to grow. And there was a lot
of days that I was like, fuck, I just wish
I would have stayed in school, you know, But it
was you know, over time, I figured out, you know,
what the coaching staff.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Wanted, what my role was, and what I needed to
do to have a little success. You know, I got
to it.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
What was where were you living playing footballs? Where'd you live?
Speaker 5 (24:11):
Initially I was staying in Deerfield, which is the north
north Chicago at the time that was where the practice
facility was, and so I was in the north suburbs
of Chicago.
Speaker 4 (24:28):
My first time ever seeing real snow.
Speaker 5 (24:30):
We were coming back from Detroit, and uh, it was
like a twelve inch so so on.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
I didn't have gloves, I didn't have a scraper. I
didn't know about the ice. I didn't know about any
of that.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
So it was a rough, nice sweeping all of the
snow off my hands, off the car with my hands,
and like for two days I couldn't catch the basketball
because my hands were still froze. But it was it
was cool. It was you know, it was an adjustment
and once I got used to it, I mean, you
don't spend much much time outside anyway, so I mean
(25:01):
it was cool.
Speaker 4 (25:02):
It was cool.
Speaker 5 (25:02):
But I'm gonna be back to it out here in
Green Bay. So I'm getting ready.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
We'll get to that up coming. Who's your cues?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Your first coach Scott Scotts. So my first coach was
Scott's Goys. Uh.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
The next year, I had Jim Boiling in Chicago. After that,
I had Vinnie Dell Negro in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
I went to Charlotte.
Speaker 5 (25:25):
I had Larry Brown, Paul Solace, and Mike Dunlap there. Yes,
so I didn't have I went through six in two
teams seven years. I went through six coaching staffs.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I then you count your college coach, that's.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Uh seven and eight man.
Speaker 5 (25:41):
And if I count high school, and if I count
high school out of those four years, add that eight.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
Now we nine coaches in twelve years.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Who is the guy you connected with the most.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
Larry Brown? I actually still talked to Larry Brown. I
need to call him and see what's happening.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
But that was my guy.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
He was the main He was the only reason I
resigned to Charlotte. That didn't last long, but you know
that's still he's still my guy.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
What was about area?
Speaker 4 (26:10):
That special man?
Speaker 5 (26:12):
When I got traded and I walked into the office,
I got to Charlotte, the first name Larry Brown asked
me was how is my grandmother? And so anybody that
can care enough about me to ask about my grandmother,
who you.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Know is my heart?
Speaker 5 (26:25):
That's you know for me, that's a person that cares
and that was a connection piece, and you know that
that was kind of the foundation of our relationship.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
You don't know your certified life coach.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
We'll get to that but when did you first realize
you were struggling got to mentally do a Justice League.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Day one.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
You know, for me, it was a lot like I'm
from Banton Ruge. I grew up in Vandon Ruge. I
went to school in band Ruge. So even moving to
Chicago was the first time I had been out of
the South. And I can remember walking into the training room,
and in the South, acknowledging people when you walk.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
In the room is a big thing. It's a huge thing.
You know.
Speaker 5 (27:07):
We are we we and maybe overbearing, but we pride
ourselves on what we think is respect and what we
think our manners.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
You know, some people call the Southern hospitality.
Speaker 5 (27:23):
So being around people who were who culture was different,
who viewed things different, it was the first time I
had to realize that everybody didn't grow up the same, right,
So just being being around people different cultures and different
morals and principles, you know, it was very hard for
(27:43):
me to adjust.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
To understand that.
Speaker 5 (27:46):
You know, people weren't raised the same, people don't think
the same people don't have the same values. That and
that didn't make them a bad person, you know, it
doesn't make them someone that you should automatically dislike.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
You know.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
So for me just leaving Bad and Rouge, being exposed
to different coaches and people, that was very, very hard.
Speaker 3 (28:06):
So what was what Sky's like?
Speaker 6 (28:10):
Uh?
Speaker 4 (28:10):
Excellent? Always he was a great person.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
We didn't connect well as far as personally, you know,
but as far as a coach, he's an amazing coach.
You know, things, very knowledgeable, he taught the game well,
you know, like I said, we just me and him. Personally,
we didn't connect, but from a basketball standpoint, he's one
(28:35):
of the most brilliant basketball minds I've ever been around.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So when you're top ten, pick the Chicago Bulls and
your rookie, like, who is the old Who's the vet
looked out for you?
Speaker 4 (28:50):
Ben Wilace and PJ. Brown?
Speaker 5 (28:51):
Those were my two vets my rookie year, and you know,
they they really did help me a lot adjusting just mentally.
You know, one PJ is from Louisiana. Ben Wallace is
from Alabama, so you know, the southern stuff. Like they
kind of understood my mindset and they helped me transition
(29:13):
into being a more well rounded person.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
So how would they do that?
Speaker 4 (29:22):
You know? Like, so for example, if PJ. Came to me.
He saw it day one.
Speaker 5 (29:26):
He was like, hey, you can't get upset when people
don't speak back, Like they don't do that out here,
Like they don't do that everywhere, you know. So, just
like I said, a lot of just we call them
x or isms, just a lot of Southern things that
we take for granted or don't really realize we do,
or we value. Just helping me transition, well even just
(29:48):
being in a big city. Things move faster, people move faster.
You know, in the South, we value people's word a lot,
and you know, just having to understand business versus personal,
separating the two. Understanding that I was that that that
(30:11):
that being in the NBA wasn't just playing basketball, it
was an actual job now, so you know.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Just trying to help.
Speaker 5 (30:17):
They helped me a lot in my transitional period, just
understanding life, understanding the business, and understanding of the life better.
Speaker 7 (30:27):
So Scott gets fired now Jim Boiling.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
What was he like?
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Uh, well, you know, so this is not the head coach,
Jim Boiling. This was the assistant jimbo You know, it
was two in the NBA, So this was Boiling L
A N and not L E. N.
Speaker 4 (30:50):
But it was week man.
Speaker 5 (30:51):
Now that was a crazy process because I can remember
we came to practice.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
It was Christmas Eve.
Speaker 5 (30:57):
I'll never forget. We got the practice and they were like,
uh an, nobody was there. Nobody was on the floor,
none of the coaches were on the floor. And then
Tony Rakeeda. Tony Rakeeda was the director of community relations
at the time.
Speaker 4 (31:10):
I never forget.
Speaker 5 (31:12):
They sent Tony in and he was like, yeah, I'm
here to oversee practice and I was like, what you
overseeing practice for? And that's when the vets kind of
told all the rookies and the younger guys like, yeah,
they must be firing them. And so I know, they
fired him on Christmas, Christmas Eve, and then Jim Boylan
took over, and it was just strange because he was
(31:35):
the associate head for a year and a half while
I was there and then get fired and then now
we change everything, the offense, the defense, and so that
was like, Okay, now I gotta get adjusted to something new.
Now I gotta do something different, you know. So that
was a weird little period for me. Yeah, it was weird.
Speaker 4 (31:55):
It was.
Speaker 5 (31:55):
It was a weird transition, but that was my life.
Welcome to Bath faketball moment because it was only weird
for me and other younger guys like Tybo, Joe Kim,
Aaron Gray. But like the Vets, they just took it
in stride. They weren't phased by it at all. We
were like, damn, they just fired him. They're like, yep,
welcome to the league. So you know, it was so
(32:18):
over the years when it happened every year after that,
I was fine with it.
Speaker 4 (32:21):
It didn't bother me at all.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
And then then they hired Vinny so Down another coach.
Speaker 4 (32:29):
What was any like, Let's just say Veny made a
lot of promises that he didn't keep and I just
leave it at that.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
Me give me one, uh, just simple, just simple stuff
Like I was supposed to be able to wear a headband.
He told me I could wear a headband when he
got there. Then, like you know, on the phone all
summer it was God's guys had a no headband rule.
Speaker 4 (32:58):
So that was being young.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
One of the first things I asked him when he
called me during the summer was.
Speaker 4 (33:02):
Can I wear a headband? Like shit chat, you could
wear a headband, I don't care about.
Speaker 5 (33:08):
Then he get there and I couldn't wear my headband,
so you know, like just I mean, it's a lot
of other things that I don't want to go into,
but just keep it simple and surface level as something
as simple as a headband.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
You know, some of the simple as a band.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
But you don't fall through as much as now as
adults you're like, man, what On the other hand, you
realize that, like players are smart.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
Yeah, So like yeah, like yeah, me and Vinnie, you know,
I mean, we're here now, so we're talking about it now,
like because I got a lot of bad rap when
you know, me and Vinnie had a few altercations, but
it was even time where I felt like he was
trying to threaten me in a sense of telling me
about his ethnicity and how they handle problems, you know, and.
Speaker 4 (33:57):
So it just was a lot, you know, for.
Speaker 5 (33:59):
Me, Me and Vinnie had a couple I watched Vinnie
Delle Negro growing up. You know, people that don't know
he was he was, he was very he was a
good player, you know, but I've never been a person
that was good with ravado people or people that try
to enforce their power.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
And then you know, and so for me, I was young,
and so I.
Speaker 5 (34:25):
Didn't really know how to handle my emotions when I
felt challenged outside of basketball. You know, challenging me on
the court was one thing, but I wasn't ever want
to back down from a challenge, regardless of what type
of authority people had in my life, which wasn't all.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
It didn't always work for me, but.
Speaker 5 (34:43):
At the time that I didn't back down, and you know,
so for me, I felt like unjustly I was putting
situations where I was reprimanded simply because I didn't back down.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
You know. So it's it's it's just it is what
it is. Lessons learned.
Speaker 5 (35:05):
But it did teach me how to plan for Vinie,
taught me how to deal with.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
Superiors that I really not in favor of.
Speaker 5 (35:13):
So, you know, I think it was a lot of
lessons learned and a lot of growth that happened throughout
their process.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
How did trade go down with Charlotte Man?
Speaker 4 (35:22):
It was a Tuesday. I never forget it was a tuesday. Uh.
It was a tuesday in Minnesota. We were on the road,
we came back from shooting Brown and uh and we
had a game that day and Pete Mies came to Man.
I never forget. Pete was like Pete was a joke
(35:44):
to and so Pete was like, man, t T we
didne traded you? And so I'm like I'm laughing.
Speaker 5 (35:50):
Like man, whatever, go ahead, I'm go take a nap.
And I get a phone call from my agent and ship.
They was like, man, you gotta get on the plane.
So that day I was in Minnesota thinking I was
gonna play a game that day for the Bulls. I
flew to Charlotte and played that night for the Bobcats.
Got on the plane and flew from Charlotte to Minnesota
(36:12):
to play I mean to Milwaukee to play a back
to back. But we got to Milwaukee, Larry Brown had
a car picked me up so he could drive me
back to Chicago to get some stuff because I only
had what I took for a one game road trip.
So I was in Charlotte. Luckily, we flew to Milwaukee
(36:33):
that night and I was able to drive back to
Chicago and like just grab some stuff and I was.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
A Bobcat after that. It was a wild forty eight hours.
I know that.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
What was that like emotional Like in the moment, it
was a little bit of an exhale because three weeks prior,
me and Vinnie was just at it every day, almost
every day for like three weeks. So at the moment
the trade was cool. It was just like a little release.
Speaker 4 (37:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
But I'm being honest transparently, I kind of wish I
could have changed some things or done some things differently
that would have kept me in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (37:14):
But at the moment, it was just a breather. It
was a good breather. I needed it.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
What was Charlotte like a team?
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Like, how competitive were you? You get traded?
Speaker 4 (37:24):
What happens?
Speaker 5 (37:26):
I think they might have been in like twelve or
thirteen seed. They had just started like a winning streak.
They had just traded for Stephen Jackson at like a
couple months prior. So when I got there, theo Ratlift came,
Larry Hughes came. We played in Chicago together, and we
made a playoff run. It was the first time in
(37:46):
Bobcast history they made the playoffs. We got swept by
the Magic who went to the finals that year. And yeah,
I resigned thinking that I was gonna come back and
be the sixth man on a team that had just
got to together and made a playoff run. At the time,
Tyson Chandler was our starting five. Boris d I was
at the four, Jered Wallace at the three, Steve Jack
(38:08):
at the two, Raymond Felton at the one. Uh DJ
Augustine was coming off the bench, Larry Hughes, myself and
THEO Rat left and so you know, I resigned that
deal thinking that I was gonna have some more time
with them guys by December. By December that year, of
(38:29):
everybody I just named, it was just me, Steve Jack,
Jerald Wallace, I mean yeah, Jared Wallace, DJ Augustine, and
Larry Brown. By the end of that season, it was
me and Stephen Jackson, and they blew the team up
(38:51):
so fast and go from that to the next two years,
we're the worst team in the league statistically. Three and
a half years, three different coaching staffs, you know. So
it just for me, it was just a lot of
adjusting back to back to back to back. Man, I'm
gonna creature a habit and I need consistency, and at
(39:13):
the time that was it was just hard for me.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
That's it for All Ball. That's part one with Tyrus Thomas.
Wait to hear Part two.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
You're gonna love it.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Remunder of The Doug Gollip Show radio show is every
day three to five Eastern Time. We also have an
hour podcast you can download as well. I'm Doug Gotlie.
This is all well
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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