Ronnie Fields Reflects On Career-Changing Car Accident, Playing w/ KG, MJ Runs | ALL THE SMOKE

One of the greatest 'what ifs' in basketball history, legendary Chicago high school star Ronnie Fields joins Matt & Stak on the latest episode of ALL THE SMOKE. Fields opens up about the devastating car accident that changed his career, discusses playing with KG at Farragut High School, and talks about secret hoops runs he had with MJ. Plus, he reflects on the epic never-before-seen 1995 Nike High School dunk contest, the state of AAU, and talks current day NBA.

Subscribe to our newsletter for a chance to win the Jordan “Smoke” 4’s: allthesmoke.beehiiv.com

Buy Anillos Mezcal today and use code “FREESHIPPING” at checkout: Drinkanillos.com

Don’t miss out on all the action this week at DraftKings! Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using https://dkng.co/smoke or through my promo code SMOKE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome back all the smoke, Chicago Jack. We've been We've
been waiting on this one for a minute. Man, I'm
gonna give you the honest because this is another part
we might have the biggest the podcast with the most
class of ninety six motherfuckers on it.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Never yeah, man, And this is also one of the
most name dropped individuals on our show. For me, this
is special, man, because it's somebody when I always talk
about Cobd's somebody that I admire, just like I admired
Kobe growing up growing up in Texas. You know, I
wasn't seeing as much as these other guys, but I
knew all the guys in my class who I was
coming up with, and I had a chance to meet

(00:57):
them growing up, and a lot of guys who I
idolized as a youngster I still idolize to this day.
And the guy that's on our show today is somebody
who I consider my brother, somebody who was a big
part of motivating all of us in our class to
be great, somebody who led our class, and somebody who
still deserves its flowers today.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
And that's why I.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Wanted him on the show so we can give him
his Flowers, so we can let the world know and
him know how much we love and respect him and
honor to have him on the show today. Baby Jordans
the original Baby Jordan Ronnie Fields, my brother, my brother real, you.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Know that probably my best introduction.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
That was somebody on the show. So we got we
got to lacrosse. Bobcats on the show.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
Yeah, I've never never heard that before.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
CBA nineteen ninety six.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Bro fresh out of high school, still trying to our
journeys went a little different.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
If we would have ended high school on the right note,
we probably would have went straight out of high school,
but we had to take a little to the CBA,
which was good for us though, you know what I'm saying,
because for me, I didn't know my my career was going.
But that was a humbling experience. What was it for you?
I think the same as well, for you know, especially
looking at all the guys that was in our class

(02:14):
and the opportunity, especially when you're one of those players.
Like for me, it was just like after the accident,
that was one of the biggest things because you don't
know exactly you know physically, how you're gonna respond and
come back, and I think for me, it took a
while for me just to mentally, you know, that that
hurdle and just be aggressive like I was before, because

(02:35):
you know, you're dealing with something. Even at NBA pre draft,
I never forget this. And I was talking to Timmy
that year and when you go, you know how it is,
you go see all those team doctors and that was
fresh right out the like that surgery, like trying to
get right back into it, and they started messing with
the you know, my neck and you trying to like

(02:56):
be as strong as possible, and seemed like six NBA
team doc because it was just like cruelly the way
they was like pulling on and snatching on. And I
was like, yeah, hurt, Yeah it was. It was still bothering.
And then I didn't even go and even work out
after that. I had to be out for maybe like

(03:18):
a week and go back and see the doctor had
after just checking it after that, yeah, yeah, And so
it took me some time to get over because you know,
ideas back then it was physical. You go over, you
get hit one time across here, you know, because I
was close to be in paralyzed. So that's what another
thing was playing on my mind for a while, even

(03:38):
trying to continue your career.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I want to jump I'm gonna jump ahead and we'll
go back to where we're at. But let's let's get
you know February twenty six, nineteen ninety six, two days.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
Before your birthday.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Walk us through what happened and how that changed.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Bro.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
That shit hurt me, Bro, Yeah, I think that was
one of the craziest things that there was one of
the players on the team. We just fin the regular season.
It was a huge game too that night, so we're
getting ready to go into the playoffs and one of
the players was like, all right, I'm gonna stay out
there with you, and I said, okay, you asks your mom.

(04:14):
So by the time we got out there, it's like
about ten to eleven o'clock and now where I'm at
he was way south. So I'm driving back that way
and I'm around about twelve to drop him off. She's like, no,
I'll bring on, So I take him back. So now
I'm on my way back here. One of my friends

(04:36):
like just stay here. I'm like, nah, I should be good.

Speaker 3 (04:38):
I can make it.

Speaker 4 (04:39):
Started raining and I never forget coming down this ramp.
I still ride past it to today, and you couldn't
see a pothole like this bed. It was filled with water,
but like the rain coming down. I never forget it
was the driver aside Tier hit that hole and it
was a bridge about sixty miles an hour of head spent,

(05:03):
boom raging to the wall. The only thing I realized
is that moment I blacked out, I end up in
the back seat.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Just like this.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
So then after that wall off a little bit, now
it's like twelve forty five in the morning, nobody out.
So then I'm like okay, still in shock, not realizing
you know how bad I was cut and bleeding because
the rain, So you're just thinking that's what that is.
And then I go to like see, I see a

(05:36):
Sema truck on the other side of the highway coming,
so I go over to try to like flag down.
He's seen me at the last second and almost hit me,
so I just like move out and then like as
I started walking away from it, Cosmo coming. Then I
remember three guys getting off work in a white van

(05:57):
and then I started walking back to the car and
they was like before they looked up and looked in
my face. They looked around in the car and then like, hey,
you know it was in this accident. I was like me.
Then they looked up and they was like oh wow.
So they took me and just laid me down in
the back of the van. Then the state troopers came
and stuff, and he was able to get one of

(06:20):
those boards he had and put me on there, and
then the avalance came and I got there and I
realized how serious it was, and then it hit the news.
It was about four in the morning, so I'm thinking,
we're getting ready for the playoffs and get ready to
break the record for Illinois. And I'm thinking like, okay,

(06:45):
I'll be okay and realize how bad it was until
like they had to get me down to Northwestern from Elmerst.
And then I go in there and like the good
part about that moment is being young and naive as
a kid. It not knowing this could be in your career.
You can be done. So I'm in there and the

(07:07):
doctor coming there. It so happened to be Kevin first
Kevin first year, and the next day they was coming
to play the Bulls, and then you know when all
it hit the news man it was just one of
those things where I still was in a mindset even
though they're cooking me up to all these things, and

(07:28):
I'm like, I know I'm gonna be able to go
back and play in two days. Doctor Caman that was like, no,
it's gonna be out for a while. It's gonna take
a time for you to heal. You should be okay.
And I think being young at that time going through
those things, I think for me that helped me get

(07:50):
through it because you were like when you're young, you
like kid, you go out and hurt yourself, you know,
and had things that happen. You're like, you'll be all right,
but not to the magnitude of like being a player
you are and what you was able to do or create.
And then when they put me in this thing so
almost like a casket thing with this weight connected, so

(08:10):
I was it makes you know, I guess for the
you know, for my neck to kind of stay stabilized,
they had me this thing. It would look to weird.
So I'm sleeping and I wake up and I see
Kevin Wright like leaning over me, and he broke down,

(08:31):
and at that moment, I'm like, man, this must be
batter than then I you know, I thought, and then
like I said, you have Bob costs a lot of
people calling. I'm thinking, like I'll be able to play
in it, and the dog's like no time soon. So
just see all the people that reached out at that moment.

(08:55):
If that would have happened to me, probably when I
was maybe twenty seven, I don't think I would have
been able to be strong enough to get through it.
To get through that.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
So what did doctor actually say? What happened? And as
you mentioned earlier, were close to being paralyzed.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Yeah, he just was like, look, I refused these three
bones in the back of your neck, and you should
be a good and put a plate. So what they
had to do is at the time to get that
bone they had to basically cut off some of my
hip to fuse my neck. And from that point it

(09:31):
was more like how in the world I, you know,
come back from this? Only thing went through my head
even laying in the bed. I think that was the
first time I think I crabbed when I seen them
put the team getting ready in the playoffs, so they've
got the TV in the room and watching them, and

(09:54):
then seeing the pavilion was sold out, with all these
fans and people importing in my little brother at the
time and my jersey at the end the bench, and
this one of the most emotional times I think that
ever happened in my life. And then like when I
was able to get out of the hospital and I
ain't made appearance in a while, but I had that

(10:16):
hatlo mm hmm. I go up to the school with
the hate lo and he was like, all right, this
dude moved.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
How far removed from the accident?

Speaker 4 (10:27):
Were you bad? Probably about like three weeks ship.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
So I want to back up real quick though, in
the midst of the accident and getting out of the car,
were you just kind of still in shock and you're
able Did you feel the pain yet? And you're just
gonna move around? Didn't know what?

Speaker 4 (10:41):
Didn't know what was? That was the only thing that
probably liked because he was like, this is the thing
that probably scared me after the doctor told me. He's like,
you could have moved the wrong way and you've been
paralyzed life. So I think the thing for me when
I look back at that, and I always say today
when I speak the young kids, and I understand the

(11:02):
situation like life after basketball when I was talking to
you guys about the opportunities, was like, when I look
back at that accident and I say, everybody's journeys could
be different. I said, I had three choices that could
have came out of there and looked really bad. I said,
It's only one was good. The other two was awful.
I could either died in that or be paralyzed or

(11:24):
still been able to come back and play basketball. So
out of the three, I ended up getting the best one.
The other two was was that close as well.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
I'm I'm I'm super emotional, broke because you know our relationship. Yeah,
and this is my first time actually hearing the story
from you. You know what I'm saying, And like nobody
deserved to be drafted and to be in the league
more than you and our class.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
You know what I'm saying. And like that's why I
mean motion, because I know how much it meant to you.
I know how much you deserved it, and like this
is like my first time hearing you tell this story.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Like we talked, you know what I'm saying, but like
as close as we were growing up in the same class,
Like it's just touching to me to hear you talk
about it because I know you deserve you know what
I'm saying everything more.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
About you know, and watching like you know, even like
all the guys in that class at the time, and
you know, and I'm watching that even with Bib and
Tim and Shane Kobe ripped. I mean, the list goes
on and over, so many guys. And then you know,
you still watch the game because I always trying to

(12:30):
teach these young guys, you know, watching how you know
for us how hard it was back then.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
It was.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
It was not easy to play at the level the
way the game was, the physicality you have to deal with,
you know, just all the work and you have to
actually practice back then. So you know, to see all
the guys that was able to do well, you know
that in our class, and you know that gave me

(12:59):
great joy to be a part part of that as well.
You're telling the guys when I break down who had
a better class, and always break down all the guys,
and then they realized all the guys in now I say, yeah,
all those guys was in our class and he was.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
The best player. You know, he was the best player
in our class.

Speaker 4 (13:19):
That was the crazy thing about like even like with Cole,
because Cole came in like later, and because like we
didn't really hear about cob as much. You know, you know,
I heard about Jack and Bbbie and Tim and Shahem
and Team Jermaine team. It was like crazy. You look
back and like, dang all those guyss and then Cole

(13:40):
came out of nowhere with with Avengeance. He just shot
up the chart. But yeah, that's one. That's another prile
moment in life, just seeing all those guys that was
able to still continue not only just play, but what
you guys doing with bringing so much to to to

(14:01):
a lot of different stories and stuff like that for
guys that haven't played or didn't play and people tell
their story. That's I really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
The two brothers, I means, as happy as you were
for everybody else and to see what kind of historic
class you ended up having. What was that mental toll
on you personally? Well, you know how I look at
things like that.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
Even with.

Speaker 4 (14:27):
Playing, it's like it's easy for it's easy to be
down and give up in life and situations where it's
like it didn't go how most people thought it your
goal because you don't know that we don't know. It's
just something that goal we reach for. We have mistakes
and things happen along the way. It's how you bounce

(14:48):
back from. So I think doing those moments like stealing
over the plate and the number one thing I think
that get you do those things is when your peers
respect you. You see what I'm saying. That's another level.
Like when you guys speak about me and the things
that I was able to do and accomplish, that gives
you more relief knowing that you belong in that year.

(15:12):
So it's not it's not as as bad to you know,
like like be worried and be down. Yeah, you can
hear your peers respect you to.

Speaker 2 (15:23):
The highest, Yes, and that's why I was Everybody can't
say that. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, a lot
of a lot of guys can play, but they don't
have their respect, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (15:31):
That was the difference for me.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
Let's talk about your relationship with KG Farragut Academy. Everybody
knows about Faragut Academy. I don't think they know how
dangerous it was to have you and KG on the
same team. But talk about when you first met him
and your pressures of him. Why is he always on
one hundred. But let me tell you the craziest thing.

Speaker 4 (15:52):
So Nike used to have all these different times when
they bring some of the better players around. I'll never
get this five forty shootout because I know at Nike camp,
my coach from high school actually coached him and Toby Bailey,
all them was on the same team Antoine James. Like
they were stacked. I think they was only where they

(16:12):
lost one game in that camp. And you know my
guard mate Ai Yeah Wei White Michael so bad to
Heidi and Mikey. They couldn't stand us a I want
pass it with Yeah, we want to pass it. And

(16:36):
look over I said, look, we take it to make
get big get big boy with the ball man. Yeah, like, man,
you gotta get these two guys off the same team.
And we look over there, man KG Nomore. They just
running people out the gym, destroying my coach. I don't
know what system we gave them, but they were just
destroying people at camp. So then the next I think

(17:01):
maybe four months later, had the the five forty. So
we go down to Poland to the Poland organ to
their base and you know, you get there, they don't
really tear you. Your roommate is yeah, So I didn't
even know that, you know, Kevin, my coach was still
like talking a little bit here there. So I get
in there in the room and KG laying to bed

(17:25):
and they would just start talking about you know, Chicago
and then about South Carolina and like I'm tired, I'm sleepy.
He's still talking like he is still going, yeah, man,
I think you know, I might want to come up
there and play. So you know how the is you
first meet guys like that, You're like, yeah, okay, I
kid you not the summer roll around, We out not

(17:49):
too far from here doing a a rap video for
one of the guys and we was be Randy, Pete
Myers and me doing dunks and my coach, my coach
pull up and he get out of the car ticket
and I'm like what you do with He's like, oh,
I'm here to stay, Like, oh, we'll get in the

(18:09):
video there. You know that if you find that video
what was it called, We're gonna find that ship Booty
Bounce Wiggy Wow, wiggy wow. Yeah that he got out.

(18:31):
It just was like the same way on ten and
like he's like, all right, y'all started dunk. He's like,
matter of fact, y'all just stop playing in the background
while the girls dancing, he stopped playing like it was
a real game, dude, just do some dunks.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
You know.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
He started not now guys like really playing a real
game in a video. In the video Dame Strong and
I'm like, they were like, oh man. And then we
end up going to play our first game together and
that was down and ran two and like being on

(19:12):
the court that game, I think we can bine for
maybe about nineteen dunks. And we played against an all
star team out of Chicago and destroyed them. But this
is one thing that Kevin was doing at the time
with people to realize, Ken, when we get to the
basket and get over you finger roll the ball. He

(19:32):
would never he would never dunk it. My guy made recipes.
D Woods told him, look, man, I mean we took
him to Marshie Center and I said, look, you don't
hear you can't call no foules and that Kevin went
up for a layup. Man, they didn't cloth lining him
on the stage and I was like, they don't call
no foul, just play.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
After that, I kid, you not.

Speaker 4 (19:55):
The first game in the conference against marshall Man, he
went off, I mean Duncan throwing people. I was like,
god Lee, that was one of like, that was one
of the I ain't gonna say the best game, but
that was when like the combination of both of us
was like, hey, you go ahead the kick.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
I lead.

Speaker 4 (20:16):
And that's what made the combination so easy for us
to dominate because I I'm like, I got another player
with me. It ain't about me. So like when I
was able to do that and he knew, like this
is your squad, was comfortable. He was good. And then
the game when I knew like he going to league,
I filed, I got a foul trouble by fouled. That
was West Hounds and I ain't never seen a stat

(20:38):
like this in my life. That game, he took over
the whole game. I think he had like forty fifteen
fifteen and he left. That game was unreal. I said, yeah,
he stayed.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Leaving you thought about leaving to with him?

Speaker 4 (20:56):
Yeah. I was gonna come out right after I said that,
ahead of right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was gonna come.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
Out right after I said that.

Speaker 4 (21:04):
The high school record for scoring because going into the playoffs.
Soon as we hit I was averaging forty to a game.
A game, I was averaging forty two going right into
that the playoffs. On my last game when I jumped
over this guy wheel.

Speaker 3 (21:26):
I think nine that game casually jumped over.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
Yeah. And then two days later is when I had my.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Actually yeah, two days later, Yeah, signed the letter go
to the Paul, but rue academically ineligible.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
I was.

Speaker 4 (21:41):
I got involved in that too. Just couldn't pass that test. Now, yeah, yeah,
you know what I'm saying that that that held a lot.
Now they don't have to deal with that now, you
know that, right, I know, it's totally different now. I think,
like and the thing with the the Paul thing is,
you know, one of my other favorite coaching we was getting, like,
you know, call from life the schools, but I like

(22:02):
this behem as well. But then I also wanted to
be lawyer and stay home with Aldo.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
I'm glad you said that this has never been said.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
We they had on their draft board on their class
me you went for walten went and we all, they
was gonna say we all would have went to Syracuse,
were gonna have a number of coon class ended up
signing with Arizona.

Speaker 3 (22:27):
Yeah, the number of with coon class.

Speaker 4 (22:29):
But me and you and Syracuse gotta been crazy because
we just go around a lot. He was like one
of the coaches just like I don't know, you just
around them, just him and loot O. So I seen
we seen him everywhere. Yeah, they was everywhere and they
was out. You know then what he just made you
like called being around in this present. So that was
it was like the Paul or there no other, no

(22:52):
other school.

Speaker 3 (22:52):
Then Bahama, Solid City top, they'll be me and him
at the top.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
Wentfle Walton was one of the best scorers in our
class at me and him had the most points in
the McDonald's game Rest in Peace.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
Yeah, yeah, he was, but he was the truth. I
think it was six eight post game the Old Man
Game too.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
And then we were like we both we played defense
guards and we love to defend. I think that's another thing, like, man,
you're defenders, where like he don't understand that, like that's
a wheel. You gotta wanna do it, sir.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
You can't be taught that.

Speaker 4 (23:23):
Yeah, that that's what people don't understand.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
You know.

Speaker 4 (23:26):
Even back then, growing up, it was like you had
to defend now you get embarrassed, especially where the league
was when you couldn't zone up and you just had
to be on the island.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
Yeah, like, man.

Speaker 4 (23:38):
Like they a't gonna get no help. And I think
like playing basketball like that, you know, was pretty much
helped us, you know, and helped me exactly because you
see Jack and man y'all like three four inches tall
of me. So I was doing a lot of this
at just six three.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Yeah, flying, When.

Speaker 1 (23:56):
Did you notice when did you start really jumping around
with another young age come all of a sudden.

Speaker 4 (24:02):
I think like going into my seventh grade year, like
in a gym class, so you know, all the kids
playing around and I'm still trying to like dunk this ball,
so class over, everybody leaving. Un finally dunked it, so
you know, how there you dunk it. It's over now class.
You like, hey, I did it, So they're like, no,
you didn't. So season get ready to start. When we

(24:24):
was at BBR, I get on the fast break. I
dunked the ball in seventh grade and seventh grade and
they called a technical foul. I didn't even know what
the tech was about, and they like, you can't dunk
the ball. So my coach, like, what you mean, I
think it kind of called them off guard. Wasn't nobody
else dunk It wasn't nobody else dunking at the time.
And when I really knew this one, I really knew
I could jump my eighth grade year in the championship game,

(24:48):
on a fast break, I took off what a toe
in front of the free throw line and dunk and
want to do so you look thinking about eighth grade
as I'm in there, Yeah, the guy come behind me,
I'm still flying. The dude that took my shoe off
in the air. The place was going crazy. I dunted

(25:08):
it and one came down and do that my shoe
in his hand. I mean, look, you know, I've been like,
like miss Williams, I'm like looking for that tape because
I'm like just thinking about like that moment and from there,
you know, because people are like, okay, you dunk off
stride a lot. I was like, that's how I learned.

(25:31):
But then as I started playing more, playing out there
with like a lot of pros, and they'll give me
like a man in a game. Then they're blocking my shot.
And the first time one of the guys blocked my
shot and I started laughing, and he looked at me
and saying, what you laugh I say, because y'all let
me play with y'all like I'm a kid. So they

(25:55):
started giving me like two more mens here.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
And there, and this summerly, this summer time.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
Yeah, I was at like maybe like twelve, thirteen years old. Yeah,
so they was giving me a couple of minutes here
in there. And then I didn't look at it as like, yeah,
they busting my left, knocking me down. I was just
happy to be out there playing. So you know, when
I stopped playing against kids, I was just destroying them.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
You know.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
It was just like the mentality because they won. Its aggressive.
So like my ninth grade year, I'm like, ooh, I'm
gonna play the sophomore and my coach was like what
was like, no, I'm gonna start your box.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
You're like what?

Speaker 4 (26:36):
And he started me a varsity I think that first
year I was like sixteen the game, and then every
year going up, it went up.

Speaker 3 (26:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
So were you ever measured with your vert I mean,
is it urban legend that it's fifty or was it fifty?

Speaker 3 (26:49):
It was a fifty fifty.

Speaker 4 (26:52):
Ain't no question about that they was shocked people. I
think this one they looked at it. I think this
one may be on tape. Leonard Miles about six five,
we was playing down in Danvillellinois. He got on the
break and he had one of the hardest one leg
it jumps like broad and get up. So this time
I'm like doing the chase down.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
And he laid it up.

Speaker 4 (27:19):
I said, dude, you do that again, I'm gonna get down.
His whole wrist over the square like this.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
How I was.

Speaker 4 (27:26):
I said, you do that again, I'm gonna get it
six plays five plays later, he didn't think the dunke
it man went up there. Now, if you watched it
when they was rewinding it, the ball over the block
the square. That's why I went up there and grabbed
it but two hands and just snatched it down. I
think the game wasn't even over and everybody ran on

(27:48):
the court. It was still like the third quarter. And
that's when that's when they was like, Okay, don't nobody
And because I sit back and watch that block and
I said, man, why I told you the dunk it.
He's like, man, I ain't expect nobody else didn't grab
no ball like that. That was another memory experience. I'll

(28:09):
tell you I got Leonard.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
I talked about this all the time.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Since we're talking about you Duncan and jumping at fifty
Nike Snap Dunk contest, You shake, Cad, shakee Hadden, Mateen Cleves, Corey, Benjamin.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Yes, Davis in that team, Baron Davis as well.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
Bro. My team used to have hops like that. What
my team was like, Matt team was like you.

Speaker 4 (28:32):
He was top five quarterback in the country and the
top five point guard.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
In the country.

Speaker 1 (28:39):
Stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (28:40):
No, he could fly up crazy, could fly it up.
But you remember that dunk contest.

Speaker 4 (28:44):
I never forget that dunk contest because let me tell
you something like Shaye was Dominique Wilkins. Listen, man, look,
they was calling him man the man first of all,
built like that in ninth grade, ninth ground.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Like dude, come on man, what you two thirty six?
This wasn't this wasn't. This wasn't a day of holdbacks
and double hose back.

Speaker 3 (29:07):
He was really that big and that a yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Man.

Speaker 4 (29:10):
He was like when he looked when he was attacking
the rim and dunk and the ball, man, it was
just like I'm like dude, why you man, like the
whole everything, just like so he was the one I
was worry about in the dunk contest. Corey Bich was
more like Clyde glide through there. So Shay did a

(29:35):
windmill from the side and I was like, I ain't sure,
most like it was just.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
The one he threw in the air, and yeah, anyone
ever seen it?

Speaker 4 (29:44):
We got, we got. I think you have felt the
shit that that that dunk contest. That's because somebody sent me.
It was like somebody sent me the dunk that won
it for me. So he did that dunk, and then
Corey's brother came up to me. It was like, look, yeah,

(30:04):
Cory winning this, and I never get one of the
guys from Chicago sitting by me, Larry alloy Way and
Bibbie was there. All of a sudden he backed I'm like,
I know this boyfriends trying to jump from the free
throw line. Corey did it. So now the place he's
rubbed again. So now it's what year y'all at this

(30:27):
point was And then they both looked at me like
what you're gonna do? I ain't say anything, So like
now all these guys doing is run and start everything,
they throw me the ball. Matter of fact, Ray Allen

(30:47):
was at the camp too, Yeah, he was one of the.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
So I got it.

Speaker 4 (30:54):
I walked to the free throw line and I was
just like, iin't done a windmill. I've done two of those,
but I'm finna do something. I think they see And
I didn't even run. I said, look, I did a
wind meal three sixty. When I done it, this is
when I know that was how high it was. Well,

(31:15):
you see Vince Carter do that. I was to a
point where I was so high when I turned, I
was like like my neck and all this like looking
down in the reim that hard. And then they even
let me get to my second third dunk. They just
called it, oh jail crazy. Yeah, it was real nonsense.

(31:37):
Walk thinkure out what he was gonna do. Yeah, bro,
he did three six then Bert, yeah, just one one triple.
That's when I said it was just like it was everybody.
It was like, I ain't do no running, start or anything.
And I think that's what called him off guard, because
they like, Okay, what are you finna do? Is just
like free throw line? One dribble, boom bone end. This

(32:00):
was like when I turned around and there at that
moment and I realized, well, my chance in my head
was so hard after that, and that was yeah, it was.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
Nothing else needed to be seen. Everybody was like the
whole Jill.

Speaker 4 (32:15):
Yet it was.

Speaker 1 (32:19):
Virable before Vira before.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
We gotta find a tape of that dunk. Bro, we
gotta find a tape of that dunk. And that's probably
the first time it's been done, is probably on VHS VE.
We gotta find that ship. We're gonna find it. Uh.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
I mean the growth of Chicago basketball over the years.
I mean, obviously a lot of pros. You hear, you know,
legend about the summer League runs, and obviously when you're
coming through and kind of yourself, this is the same
time Jordan and the Bulls are doing their thing. So
what was that energy like in the city, understanding who
you were or they were, and just just the basketball
energy in the city.

Speaker 4 (32:53):
So what happened was like people would this was the
craziest thing. So people get the times of both games.
This is people drafting my Wood Indiana. It's like, okay,
so the boys they go start at seven I think
Fields and Guard the Doom started I think at four.
So this is how they was doing it. Dude playing
running out of barbershops, fighting in the chairs. He was

(33:15):
laying outside, like, man, look this is what they'll do.
They'll go watch us. Then they go right and watch
Mike and them. So that's how it was. They was
like find out where we was at, and then they
was matching their time with time the bulls start and
then you see soon as though, they go right and
watch Mike.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Any and remember interactions with Mike or playing with him.

Speaker 4 (33:35):
Oh yeah, when he made his second comeback. This was
the craziest thing in the second comeback. So David Boo
who's now working in the league office, and uh, he
was there here. He was playing him with the ABA
team and he's like, all right, called Joey's like, hey,
how the guys come down the hoops, shut the gym down,

(33:57):
we're gonna play. And he just wanted to get some
some some games in and it's like I'm thinking Dave
Bouf and the Gold and like, yeah, you go grab Mike.
I'm you know, grab bj you know what He's like, No,
young fella, you come guard me. So like now this
is the date when they walk alike.

Speaker 3 (34:17):
They all at this time, they he's a splitting image
where he walked behind.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
At this point, I think, like I said, that was
I was like maybe like twenty So this is what
this post post yeah accident, yeah.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
Post accident, And this is the thing I like, he said,
I watched the mirror everything he did. So the moment
in that, now everybody in the gym started like watching
this matchup like my first thing, and this is just
understanding like his moves. I said, Okay, he can't shoot
old me with a fade away, so that's the first

(34:52):
thing I'm biting on right, realizing he still had a
live dribble, so.

Speaker 3 (34:58):
He gets you right on that elbow.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
So the first thing was this, and then he turned right,
haven't bounced the ball, So I'm like, yeah, he going
right to that fade away. So I go to reach it,
come off my feety step through one dribble dump. So
now you w there like it's a real game. So
I got to run back down like you know, all right,

(35:23):
damn face, play come down later.

Speaker 3 (35:25):
Shit.

Speaker 4 (35:25):
He told me a lot back door on him. And
then the next cause you know, you always in his
pickup games, he had Shelley Clark, who said the hardest
screens like Oakley. Mike always had him with him. I
was like, look, man, Shelley, Hey, dude, this pickup.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Yeah that this pick up man?

Speaker 4 (35:42):
You got here, this low key dude shoulders. Look that's
all he did, set screens and rebound, get the ball
back to Mike. I end up catching the lob on
the backside. So now he's like, okay, come back down.
He catched the ball and this day he didn't pass
for the first like ten plays. So now you can't

(36:07):
get caught in all. You just gotta play. So George's like, hey,
the fan, go over the stuff, you know, and I
try to get a switch off of David, like, dude,
you like six five and a half. He kept on
talking about switched back like so, I'm like, look, I'm
just going like that dude. Yeah, I'm like so. I
mean that was one of the times, like you even

(36:27):
heard when the AI said like the aura being around
you know, MJ. You had to be in that moment.
It was just like play you know, you hear you know,
for him it was getting runs. For us, it was
like practicing, but he saw a lot of you and him. Yeah,
that was the biggest thing when I was when you
like compare guys to a guy that great, Like with

(36:51):
Cob and nine, it was for Cold, the full work,
the fade away to hight, the size, the athleticism, the moves,
the great eric and changing and being able to do
certain things that part I had of Mike. Cob had
all the other stuff for Mike. So it's like you
put my vertical in Kobe. You basically got that that

(37:12):
man Jordan, and that's what we both drawn from from him,
and and you see it. He's like when people like
and you all talk about it probably a lot. It's
like when you comparing a you know, a basketball player
to a guy like that, it's more than just comparing

(37:32):
to just the moves. It's the mentality be great every
night and to be able to dominate. And and guys
like even I say, it was like the game when
you guard Kobe or Jack when you gone guys, see you,
guys don't back down from the moment of guarding a
great player. You see what I'm saying. A lot of
guys already defeated before they even guarded the guy, and

(37:53):
they knew that, they knew that. Yeah, it's like, oh yeah,
you you you done.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
So post accident, How long did it take you one
to feel like yourself again? That did you ever regain
all your belts?

Speaker 4 (38:09):
I probably like never felt like myself again. You know,
I was still able to play and do some things,
but I never felt like I probably like still was
that maybe like a forty a thirty eight forty is vertical,
still able to do certain things. But I knew the difference.
And then Jack, like you knew that you could tell

(38:31):
the difference of that to just getting back to just
attacking guys?

Speaker 1 (38:36):
Was that mentally tough to do? Or understanding like where
you were now and there's probably still hopes of getting there,
But was that mentally tough understanding that it's not.

Speaker 4 (38:44):
Mayor no more it because it's like when you you
dominate and you got to like physically, you know, something happened,
and like certain things like that mayheel you still, Like
I would tell you right when at All Star we
had like a high school All Star game a little
bit after that, and I never get me and Paul

(39:07):
and Fierce is in this All Star game played out
in Indiana. We get them a break and one of
the guards stored off the backboard and we both went
up and got it. When I came down, the only
thing I felt.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Was like.

Speaker 4 (39:23):
A tear and like my whole leg with the ball
was taken out for my neck like if it was bleeding.
It was just like so like hot, like really hot,
staying down my leg and I was just like, oh
my goodness. And again going back to the doctor. I
had to go to matter of fact, twice even for

(39:44):
with the halo, because at one time I woke up
and I look on the pillow and the whole pillar
is blood everywhere from those screws, because you know, they's
like the actually screws and a screwdriver.

Speaker 3 (39:59):
They screwing.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
It's these these screws to your skull. So that ended
up getting both of them, ended up getting loose that night.
That's what that came from. And you know, then it
was just like okay, I'm still dealing with that. And
then he had to go in there and dud pull
out they funny and I dude, pull out a two
box you like, so he isn't there like, and you
hear it and you feel it and the tight and

(40:22):
when they took that off, I'll never forget. I think
when Grant Hill was in the League, and they was
honoring me that game when the Bulls was playing the Pistons,
and it was one of another emotional night to see
all those people at that game and they called me

(40:42):
out last and at the time I was upgrade to
just my neck braces, you know, your neck brace, and
when they called me out and just signs and the people,
I think that emotional part of it was unreal, Like
I didn't even almost is like falling my knees on
the court just to see, you know, the Piston players,

(41:05):
the Bulls, the crowd too because they haven't seen me
since that accident. Nobody did. And then that's when they
was able to see me like.

Speaker 2 (41:15):
The first time. The first time you after it happened,
like everybody was devastated. Then you just popped up on Instagram,
I mean popped up somewhere dunking with the halo on.

Speaker 3 (41:25):
Yeah, that's hold up. We're sitting there worring about problem
a one out of insury over the dunkle with he
gonna be all right, He's gonna be alright.

Speaker 4 (41:34):
But you know the thing like and I kept like
little things and you start feeling like stiffness. It was
a lot of little stuff that like, oh, stop making
you feel older than what you really was with those
like those injuries. Back then, like you know, sports medisine
was was good, but not to the point of the
stuff that they able to do now. You know, maybe

(41:54):
we had this stuff like they have now. Yeah, I
probably would have came back probably like a hundred.

Speaker 2 (41:59):
But and for you since you hear we had it
was like I said, it was Mee, Kobe, rib Hammerton,
jaman on there, all of us at the McDonald's game.
We had a moment at the McDonald's game for him, bro,
because like everybody felt fucked up that he wasn't there,
Like he carried our class all the way during high school, bro,
and the fact that he couldn't be even though we

(42:20):
had fun at the game, it just wasn't right, bro,
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (42:23):
And everybody they should be like my McDonald's uniform of
guy everything. I'm watching these guys on there. It was like, man,
look all the guys out there playing that was they
would Jack should have got everything he was. Look, I
don't know how you having that many turnover. That's all
I said.

Speaker 3 (42:42):
A love to the shot.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
At all start, but the.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
Stuff he was hitting Mic with stuff he might be with.
It was just unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (42:51):
He was hitting Mic with every move you.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Can hit a playground.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Mike got Smith's shoes on. Though Mike got smith shoes.

Speaker 4 (43:00):
Was killing Mike was like you got to like watching him.
He was like the quintessential point guard from like, know
his spots, know what he's great at averaging well, he
was averaging forty two. And I tell a lot of
people look at so many gods that look. Guys would
get how grat he was in the league. Michael a

(43:22):
killer and no, well talk about to get how great baby.

Speaker 1 (43:26):
Was Jack with you knowing him and the greatness and
what you played against the scene, barring in the accident unfortunate,
where do you think his career could have went?

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Well, I think we'll be talking about him.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
I have to put him in the same category with
Kobe because I've seen them as teenagers and and and
in our class.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
He was the best player in our class. You know
what I'm saying. He was the most athletic he was.

Speaker 4 (43:54):
Actually his game was actually way more season and grown
than all our games growing up, you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (44:00):
So if I had this barn injury, nothing happened. He
won the best players that played the game.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
And you said, I mean that that to me, You say,
that's what you take is the respect from your your peers.

Speaker 4 (44:12):
That's why I like, you know, watching a lot of
the game and even you know, back then and now,
it's just like we understood growing up. It's like that
the mental in the physical side of it to be
a the player. It wasn't just the athletic gifts, because
it was like guys was aggressive and it was a mentality, right,

(44:33):
you know, guys, you know you have to you had
to play that way. You know, you have seen a
lot of great guys get being compared to a lot
of great players, but then they got to that level,
they're like, what happened that guy? Some guys mentally, you know,
I can't handle that, you know. And I think for
us back then, we love to play and we knew

(44:54):
what it was, you know. So that's what would help me,
And I'm sure it helped you guys in terms of
like with your careers as well, just like you said,
just being mentally tough and can play ball. But also hey,
if you want this mode, like you all can give
it to them as well, well, a lot of guys
don't think like that.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
I always say to running it's different between showing up
to the game with that attitude and getting that attitude
once the jump balls from the start of That's it's
a difference.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (45:23):
We on the way to the game with that attitude.
But I'm going to kill this mother. But you know
what I'm saying, some people wait to the bardy rager. Okay,
let's go.

Speaker 3 (45:29):
Let's go.

Speaker 4 (45:29):
Time.

Speaker 3 (45:30):
Now we come into the game like that.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
If I looked, I'll ask you all to do this?
What guys in the league now? Were mand you and
you two? Is it any No?

Speaker 3 (45:41):
I think that? Ah yeah bro Nah.

Speaker 2 (45:46):
See the thing is, see the only reason I was
I would say Draymond because he did it and he's
winning doing it.

Speaker 3 (45:52):
Yeah. You know what I'm saying, we won doing it.
You know what I'm saying, I don't.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
I don't really give too much private guys who just
being a problem on the court and they're not winning.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
Yeah, that's that's covering up for.

Speaker 4 (46:03):
The lack of play.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
You know what I'm saying. The lack of stuff you're
able to do.

Speaker 1 (46:06):
On the court different because you're more of an offensive
a threat than I was. But I think kind of
like the three and D slashing force knipes are gone.

Speaker 4 (46:14):
Yeah, like that kind of game. Yeah, how you know
he really about that though?

Speaker 3 (46:19):
Yeah? You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (46:20):
Yeah, it's just look like.

Speaker 3 (46:24):
I can make it look like at a different time.

Speaker 1 (46:26):
It's just a different time the game is not played
or pushed that way. How long I mean, obviously your
spirits are high, and you've been through so much and
you have great energy, but how long personally did it
take for you to be okay with seeing these guys
although there's no jealousy, but just living out their dreams
and knowing that God damn, like I was supposed to
be there, I shouldn't be there.

Speaker 4 (46:47):
I think for me, like I said, for me, it
was just like the respect like it because like one
thing is like you can see in your your own
mind of what you should have. The thing is when
you have you guys and all the other great players
speak about you, it's like it ain't just in your

(47:08):
own man, you thought you should have been there. You
see what I'm saying. That's now you sound crazy, but
when you you know, for me, it was a lot
easier to like focus and continue, you know, for whatever
path was drawn out for me to still be a
part of something I love to do, and then just
get back and teach these young guys. That's the biggest
thing I took from it because I think even with

(47:30):
my story in life, it's like it's so many different
avenues that you can use this game and your your
ups and downs to help others and show us like, Okay, guys,
you might have a dream to play at this level,
all right, but what if how do you handle it?
Because if you go in with that's their only mindset,

(47:50):
they're won't have what's gonna happen. You're gonna struggle to
find some other niche to be successful in life. And
that's what happened more now and even with some of
the guys you like you said, don't played and the
ball stopped bouncing, they don't know how to handle it.
They don't know how to handle it. What's next?

Speaker 2 (48:06):
Yeah, So speaking of basketball, you started running fields league
talk about that. I mean, I'm coaching is something that
we all want to get into, all want to get
too much to play basketball, but everybody can't do it.
You know what I mean talk about you and your
program here in Chicago.

Speaker 4 (48:23):
Soon I started, as soon as I retired from playing,
I started like.

Speaker 3 (48:27):
Watching it versus watching What year did you officially retire?

Speaker 4 (48:30):
Probably I was at like thirty four, thirty four, Yeah,
So soon as like I retired, I started, like first
I watched the difference, because that's when you start seeing like, Okay.
I remember going to watching games and i set up
there with my head like this, and I'm like luck
in the coach trying to coach hard, and I'm watching
that game. I seemed like players to take their uniform

(48:52):
walk out soon as they got coach hard. So for me,
it was like, okay, what message you use to get
through to these kids now? So for me, I had
to like when I first started doing it, it's just
when you' coaching a kid, letting them know you care
about the first that's the first thing, because you know,
even listening to you, if you think you're just gonna

(49:12):
be on them all the time and like, you know,
like what I do, Especially if you come from a
background where you got parents that you know out in
the city that like always yell always, well, you know
they're gonna think, okay, this is what's happening again. So
it's like for me realizing the approach of like getting
them to know I care about them, trust me, and
then they know when I get on them, I get

(49:34):
them hard. I still care about them and I want
the best for them. And that method helped with a
lot of kids I coach. So when I started doing it,
like for like, you know, since then last year, it's
a friends of mine asked me to coach actually in
high school. So for me, the challenge was this but

(49:55):
aau ball and you know how it is. You can
I have some of the best players on the team,
but some of those kids in their schools don't play
as much. You know, in high school, you might like
four or five good players. The rest might be football, baseball, whatever.
So a lot of kids and parents are like, well

(50:15):
I see them, they play for me, I'm like, this
kid can play, it can help your team whatever. In
high school, I don't know why they don't play. So
I was getting that a lot. So I said, look,
I want to see the challenge. I'm gonna go to
coach high school. So this year I coached high school.
This is your first year, first year, my first year,
I went and coach that hope that's attack right now,

(50:36):
that Tim grovery Stone. So the school bought all of
that and I brought my mentality with the balance but
acting guys to give me all defensively, be aggressive, play together,
trust one another. My first year doing I took the
team downstate to the final four the first season. And

(51:00):
the thing is for a lot of the kids that
don't get a chance to play, an opportunity go play.
I'm not look, I'm not gonna pull you out for
mistakes you make. I'm gonna pull you out if you're
not gonna be playing defense and getting out there on
the other end though you're gonna miss shots, you know.
So that mentality end up helping a lot of young

(51:21):
kids and not going into this will be my second
season coach of high school. It's pretty much trying to
get a lot of Chicago kids back to like teaching
that mentality, like you're not gonna all be scores at
the next level. Patrick Belly, even though when he was
in the high school he scored a lot of points,
but he found his niche and what he can be

(51:43):
great at at the next Liot right, you know a
lot of these kids like guys, and you guys ain't
six five six, six sixty seven, especially here in Chicago,
the more like it was before, and a lot of
them just to get them to be mentally stroggling to
let him know, like look a little bit adversity at
times and like cant help you, you know so.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
Exactly, Hey, you landscape right now, what's your take on it?

Speaker 4 (52:08):
You remember Cobe spoke about this a long time ago,
and now you're seeing more people talk about it. Too
much basketball, too much basketball, it was talking with them about.
But then even get a chance to play overseason, people
like talk about jo Kic and Luca and Luca, but
people don't realize they never changed their style to play

(52:30):
for seventy years of what they do and how they
do it. Practice twice a day every day, played one
game a week, right, so they get a chance to
work on a lot of things that fundamentally sound. We
are out in like contact, they still loud contact. So
you all even know, like watching what people say, well,
why the dream team beat those players are bad back

(52:52):
then because back in our ever guys getting beat up,
so it didn't matter like Jordan's those guys go over there.

Speaker 3 (52:58):
They used to that.

Speaker 4 (52:59):
So you see as it starts changing where you see
guys a todjust to their style, right, we had changed
our style here absolutely to their game, to their game. Yeah,
So I said, that's why you see the difference. For me,
I think with AAU, a lot of these kids that
got to understand like the work ethic, the focus and

(53:21):
and and even it's for a couple of hours. I
think that's what it is. Getting these kids to want
to work and trust the process because a lot of
them more instant results. A lot of its start with parents.
That's the biggest thing.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
With being in AAU and trying to develop kids. Obviously,
you know in Chicago's gang violence, a lot of killing
and stuff like that. You being from Chicago, you've seen
it firsthand. How tough is it for you to actually
be still here in Chicago trying to help these kids
but still see so much of the nonsense going every

(53:56):
day in your neighborhoods and all around Chicago. Because even
though some of these kids might not be in it,
they still affected by it because they still have to
worry about where they go, how they dictate their lives.
You know what I'm saying, be home at a certain
place you don't know you could trust, and life shouldn't
be that way, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (54:12):
So I know it's kind of hard for you.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
We're trying to teach these guys, but they still got
to go out and deal with real life. That's one
of the biggest things I said, was like when guys
that come in and they may do a camp or
a game basketball game where guys come in, I say,
and that one thing that people got understand. Even though
when you do something for that moment in time, once

(54:37):
that's over, those kids got to go back to the
same environment they already in, sir. So it's like it's
like practice. You't even get better if you continue to
keep doing something. If kids only see good influencers one
time every year, they're not going to get better.

Speaker 3 (54:55):
They won't get overwhelmed by the bull.

Speaker 4 (54:57):
Yeah. So as I think the problem here has a
lot to do with like adults and and and family.
It's like a trigger down effect of your dad game bang,
his dad game bang. So it's and then the moms
get called up in this situation. So now you having

(55:17):
these kids and these guys not around two help guide them,
and and and then they start forming. It's like this,
if you're not getting to love and support at home,
how kids see it at a young age. My boys
on the street giving me love, so they willing to
run and do whatever they're doing because he said, oh,

(55:37):
that's my dog, not realizing they got you here and
right for the cemetery blood. And that's what's happened the most,
is like what we're getting to real love at oh
Man social media? Yeah, that's that's one of the biggest
fact and and it really starts with like parents. And

(55:58):
that's one of the things that they are going to
conference call for today for Chicago Sports to probably try
to put a program together for a lot of kids
because this is what happens, you know it. It is
certain kids that may want to go another way, but
there around those guys, they're afraid to go because how
they're going to view them.

Speaker 3 (56:19):
Right, you have more of that.

Speaker 4 (56:21):
So what they do, oh mom at home, mom working,
Dad ain't around, so mom knowing, okay, I gotta work,
I got to do all these things. So they hanging
out with their friends when their friends come over. Right,
So now you start having all that and then in Chicago,
especially a lot of project areas that you know, like
where Good Times was filmed, and all the lot of

(56:43):
those places closed down. So what you start doing is oppositions.
You start pushing them all to the same area. And
that was another problem, you know, And I think you
know a lot of the heads like I know somewhere
you know, KG can tell y'all as well. A lot

(57:04):
of those guys even though they deal what they did,
but they kept order and don't disrespect for older people
and doing the stuff they're doing. But it got worse
when they took a lot of those guys away. And
that's why you see kids twelve twelve years old trying

(57:25):
to steal cars, car jacket thirteen and for here, it's
going to take a lot of people to be consistently
with a lot of these kids. Even though my little
brother right now he does a lot of that around
the country where he go, and all these kids living
with their grandma, all these he put groups together to

(57:46):
help them, and he fled over to do it for
this big non for profit program. So that's fine.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
Where are you with the game of life personally right now?

Speaker 4 (57:58):
I mean in a good space because I can tell
I know you, I can tell in a good space
because of what I get to do with these young guys,
and and and and take off the experience, like I say,
from learning growing up from a lot of the great
players that I got a chance, you know, that mentored

(58:18):
me to give back to these young guys. And then
when you watch it and you teach it, and the
player aspect like comes out of you, like he'll tell
you and I get on him all the time is
and I'm gonna let these two guys tell you when
we're done. It's getting him to be ready from the
start of the game. You know, when he gets going,

(58:38):
when I say, oh, this is what you want to
do today, you want to come out of start like this,
get your but going. Danny stopped playing.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
I tell our kids, can I coach I've coached my
twins and say, we're eight. But the game starts when
in the layup lies. It starts while you're stretching watching
the game before. But as soon as you step on
the court for layups, the game starts.

Speaker 3 (58:55):
Yes, that's the biggest thing.

Speaker 4 (58:57):
If you come from of these games, he's walk like
they started at like seven. They don't walk in at
six fifty two. You got you gotta get two hours.
We gotta be paying two hours. Can't turn it on.
The best players can't turn it on.

Speaker 3 (59:09):
But kids don't play this thing.

Speaker 4 (59:11):
They not playing to basketball nowadays, to play at the
college level, the next level.

Speaker 3 (59:16):
They think they are.

Speaker 4 (59:18):
They playing like it was just like recess and they're
going to play pickup ball. They walk in. Then it's
not like, Okay, how do I get here to be
prepared and be ready.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
Get something out of it, or just thinking I know
my parents ain't got no money to send me to college,
so this is the way to get there.

Speaker 4 (59:34):
That's so that's different.

Speaker 2 (59:36):
We give flowers to a lot of people on our show,
like Shay Cotton and all that, and on this platform,
especially guys like y'all who who deserved and still you know,
we give your flowers now today, but you know, deserve
to be at the top and deserve your flowers. On
the basketball side, it's a lot of people that go

(59:57):
through different things, you know what I'm saying, and may
have the same experience as you, you know what I mean,
and that may not ever get their flowers.

Speaker 3 (01:00:05):
What words would words of advice would you give them?

Speaker 4 (01:00:07):
I tell people every day, you know you you, you
wake up, you look at your purpose and it comes
in different ways. But the number one thing, like do
adversity in life for people is when you hit it,
it's now which direction you want to go with it?
As you're going to take it in a positive way
to learn to get better, and then the doors will
open once you understand what it took place or you

(01:00:29):
look at it is okay, well I get over of it,
but still start doing the same thing you did before,
and then you're like, all right, why things ain't getting
better turned around? Because when you got the opportunity to
be able to make a change and the difference moving forward,
you chose not to have your mind moved that way,
Like it's easy for your mind to go the other

(01:00:51):
way with all the stuff that's going on, which that's easy.
That's the easiest thing. I tell people. The easy thing
is just quick and give up. I don't take no effort.
You see what I'm saying. And if you're around a
lot of people that don't think like that, and to
push you and say look, focus and understand you have
a purpose, You're go understand that place and then you

(01:01:13):
go wonder where it's like, okay, what's going on.

Speaker 3 (01:01:15):
Be thankful for.

Speaker 4 (01:01:17):
The opportunity and that you get each and every day,
move forward life and embrace it all right, because positive
mind caring about others in life, it shows who you are,
you know. The thing about like this, you can like

(01:01:38):
want to be in another situation, but that situation might
not be for you, you know. So for me, I
always tell people like, be thankful each and every day
for the people that comes around your life that want
to help, encourage, sponsor because like that just give you

(01:02:00):
that you attracting good people, right. You know, everyone had
the moments of where you know, you have some letdowns, right,
but you can't let that dictate you where It's like
always when I speak a lot to the kids, I
try to relate life to the game of like you know,

(01:02:21):
ideas first quarter, first half, you ain't going right, You're
going to have time, you make it justice mentally come out.
You see how things change. It's the same day in life.
You might have a bad day, a bad week. We
call it in basketball, we call it slumps, right, and
you got to shoot your way out of it, all right.
And I think it's the same thing with basketball and life.

(01:02:46):
You have to be one of those people be like, man,
it's been a rough week. Now, do I just think
the rest of my life gonna go that way? Or
I just think it's a slump that I just got
to get out of it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Yeah, current NBA any players out there remind you of yourself, you.

Speaker 3 (01:03:04):
Know, like the mentality.

Speaker 4 (01:03:07):
You know, one of my favorite players is Westbrook. You know,
Donovan Mitchell a little bit, you know, like watching him,
you know, for me, not so much just the athletic
ability is more so the mentality, you know. And I

(01:03:28):
think even at times, like you know, with Russ with
the Lakers, I just didn't like how they did him
because like now, you watch Russ on the court, and
I watched him in his last playoff layups and drives,
he don't ever miss. He didn't look like himself. He
done all the rat things take a back seat on

(01:03:49):
to win and do. It's like you watch him mature
throughout being a guy that averagriper, that was leading team
doing these things to still being able to play. But
people point out more of what he can't do instead
of more the things that he can't do and you

(01:04:10):
have done and you even watching now with the roll
on the Clippers. It's kind of like bothers me a
little bit because of how they treat him, like he's
not been one of those guys. Yeah, so you know,
watching him always, you know, I want his success to
continue and and still be able to hopefully maybe just

(01:04:34):
get a chance to get to the finals.

Speaker 3 (01:04:36):
Deserve it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Just your answer. You don't have to explain nothing. Best
player in the world right now.

Speaker 4 (01:04:43):
Man, I'm gonna.

Speaker 3 (01:04:50):
Killing me. Man, I think I gotta go with like.

Speaker 4 (01:05:05):
Luca I was, Yeah, you got to, man, because like
even though yok is just done with a guy like
Jamal Murray, people don't understand Luca Numbles was like that.
I was at the first time they played against the
Clippers in the playoff, how he just destroyed them with

(01:05:28):
two of them. See, this is all I want to say,
because like I like DG and I like Kawhi, but
I know damn where YouTube wouldn't have never let that happen. Yeah,
come on, man, Like you can't be elite defenders and
the guy that's not as fast athletic and still putting

(01:05:49):
up forties and thirty threes and triple devils.

Speaker 3 (01:05:55):
That's the difference of it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:56):
Every night, Top three players you think will be the
face of the league in the next five to ten years.

Speaker 3 (01:06:02):
Three guys.

Speaker 1 (01:06:05):
I think you mentioned one Luca.

Speaker 4 (01:06:06):
Luca definitely a man. Get back in the lab a
little bit, you know, work on his mid range moves,
it's foot work a little bit more. I think he
can be amazing. And I like I like, I like
Tatum as well. But right now you're gonna go with

(01:06:28):
those two guys. Could be at a Luca Jokicic. You
gonna go put him in there because what.

Speaker 3 (01:06:36):
He was able to do.

Speaker 4 (01:06:37):
And now this is the look I love Shay gibbss. Listen, man,
that Shae is is a bucket, man, Listen, He's a
bucket on that young team to do what he was
able to do. Had a number one scene and then
you got j'all coming back. Man, you got so many players,

(01:06:58):
and that's why I say the league is in a
good space with a lot of talent. I just think
they maybe put a little bit more defense back into
the game, hopefully hopefully to help.

Speaker 1 (01:07:12):
Yeah, quick hitters first team to come to mind. Let
us know, rank them, m J.

Speaker 3 (01:07:18):
Kobe Brown, m J Kobe Bron That's how we do.

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
Never changed, uh, where we had okay, top three high
school teams ever, who it's a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:07:35):
Man, Listen, that's hard. You got like I think it
was she The team was good, Simon Grats, Simon Grats.

Speaker 3 (01:07:47):
We was all right.

Speaker 4 (01:07:50):
Who else? Who else was dominant? The church overside church?

Speaker 3 (01:07:55):
Yeah? Something?

Speaker 4 (01:08:00):
Yeah, but they all they all playing together like yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:08:04):
You're right, that's you.

Speaker 4 (01:08:05):
That's underrated food spot to day. Oh yeah today was
they was good? Yeah, Michaels, Yeah it was good. Yeah,
it's been look we big going.

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
Yeah. It was a lot of.

Speaker 1 (01:08:18):
Killing men't say nothing nothing.

Speaker 4 (01:08:21):
The schools you are, the prep school you went to. Okay,
we go there, man, this common all. You don't kill
itever just like NBA school.

Speaker 1 (01:08:35):
Yea for real underrated food spot in Chicago.

Speaker 4 (01:08:40):
Oh man, you know he liked he too. Yeah you
got like, let me see you got. We got so
many new spots, man, But how many pieces about y'all?

Speaker 3 (01:08:53):
Try here? Y'all try to I don't know that one
go piece of where we get it from?

Speaker 4 (01:09:01):
A deep dish.

Speaker 3 (01:09:04):
That's wet to remember that next time we come.

Speaker 2 (01:09:07):
Man, Yes, a deep dish for y'all, Okay, yeah, yeah,
one song to play over your highlights.

Speaker 3 (01:09:17):
Get a highlight tape, somebody to give your highlight tape.
This is your highlight tape. But I need I need
a song for it.

Speaker 4 (01:09:22):
Man, look for a game.

Speaker 3 (01:09:23):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:09:24):
I used to listen to a lot of Whitney Houston Man. Yeah,
still do, Yeah, still doing, Anita Bacon, those two are
people up. Yeah, crush.

Speaker 3 (01:09:46):
Oh Man.

Speaker 4 (01:09:47):
He was bigger than life in high school, so he
probably had him in.

Speaker 2 (01:09:50):
Really h go wrong. There one album you can listen
to repeat, no gipts.

Speaker 4 (01:10:02):
Oh Man, Probably Whitney, the one she did Like the Bodyguard, Yeah,
the soundtrack, Yeah, that one.

Speaker 3 (01:10:17):
And.

Speaker 4 (01:10:18):
The one We Are the Children in Our Future. Yeah. Yeah,
they made me see that in grammar school. Yeah, everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:10:28):
That's put you on the spot again. Top five hoopers
from Chicago from That's.

Speaker 4 (01:10:35):
Hard I mean, you got Zeke, you got Derek, you
got one of the best players. Probably people didn't never
get a chance. He made recipe Ben Wilsons.

Speaker 3 (01:10:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:10:46):
So he was a little bit, maybe a couple of
years older than you.

Speaker 4 (01:10:48):
Yeah yeah, yeah him. You know Juwan, you had you myself,
Jim Hardaway named the Rose, Yeah, Kendle yeah, Nick, And
I mean, so many guys man, you know you want
to leave out it to me like probably the best

(01:11:11):
one to me. You gotta be like z yeah, yeah,
you know.

Speaker 3 (01:11:19):
Chicago who.

Speaker 4 (01:11:21):
Yeah, those two guys actually good. They were solid players.

Speaker 3 (01:11:24):
They were solid player. Yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:11:26):
They went to Marshall High School. Yeah yeah, yeah. One
went to Saint Joe's other one. Matter of fact, the
one of the kids played for people where Isaiah went.

Speaker 3 (01:11:35):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah remember this. I remember that.
I remember that. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:11:40):
With that first thing you do in the morning, last
thing for the sleep.

Speaker 4 (01:11:44):
Oh man, the first thing I get money, just like
more training and then preparing what I got to do
as a as a coach for that day, and then
when I go to bed is to probably just sit
there and watch like a move movie and think about
what what's the plans for the next day.

Speaker 3 (01:12:05):
If you could see one guest on all on our show,
who would it be? But but you have to help
us get your answer on the show who.

Speaker 4 (01:12:18):
On everybody?

Speaker 3 (01:12:20):
Man, a lot of people Chicago, we ain't had who.

Speaker 4 (01:12:23):
Yeah, you said some names, y'all had Zeke going, had
Zeke Twe had one d Rose.

Speaker 3 (01:12:32):
No, yeah, we ain't had the kid. We haven't had
the kids. We haven't had the kid. I know, you
got to connect to his brother and somebody.

Speaker 4 (01:12:42):
They've probably seen that the deep deal. Probably he'll come on.

Speaker 2 (01:12:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, hear him every time I see him
and the brother. They super solid. So we can't wait
to get him on running.

Speaker 3 (01:12:50):
Man. We appreciate you. I've been waiting.

Speaker 4 (01:12:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:12:54):
Like I said, you're probably the most mentioned you and
the whole boy term.

Speaker 3 (01:12:58):
Too, most mentioned Pep on.

Speaker 1 (01:13:00):
This show, man, So it was an honor to finally
sit down and say with you. But just feeling your
energy and your spirit, considering all you went through and
the way you pour back into this next generation. Man,
we really want to commend you for that. Man, So
God bless and keep up the good work.

Speaker 3 (01:13:13):
Bro. We appreciate you. Man. Yeah that's a skid.

Speaker 1 (01:13:20):
We finally got you, mass Ave wrap Man, the one
and only Ronnie Fields. You can cast this on all
the Smoke Productions YouTube and the DraftKings Network. See y'all
next week,