Gilbert Arenas on D.C. Hibachi Time and Battling LeBron , Plus John Weighs in on Drake vs Kendrick and the Best Playoff Performers

C.J. and John discuss who has had the best performance in the playoffs so far, what he thinks about the Drake vs Kendrick battle, who should win Defensive Player of the Year and what the Lakers should do for their next head coach. Plus Gilbert Arenas joins the show and they talk about playing for the Wizards, connecting with D.C. and what Washington needs to do to get better. Gil and John then get into being the parent of an elite athlete as well as the 2006 playoff series when Gilbert and the Wizards went head to head with LeBron James and the Cavs.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to point game. With John Wallace, you get totally
on and presented by DraftKings. Don't forget DraftKings is your
home for all the action across the NBA and gets
you closer to the game we all love. The crown
is yours. On today's episode, we are joined by three
time NBA All Star three Tame All NBA. Another Wizard legend,
Gilbert Aarnez, is joining us later on in the show.
But first, John, second round of the playoffs is kicking off.

(00:31):
But I wanted to talk because we're so early in
these series. I wanted to start off today's show by
asking you who've been some of the most impressive players
that you've seen in this postseason so far?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
One?

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Two for me? There's no order, but I say order
for sure. There was one Jayleen Brunton, two for me.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, you think that's gonna carry on into this second round?

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Well, I haven't seen Jaylen Brunston Game one yet, but
from Man's Game one, it look like it's gonna get
team to go on. How coming up?

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, Like, how shocked were you to see him him
just you know, picking up where he left off in
that first series and done it against the reigning champs.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Knock shocked because he has the confidence, you know what
I mean, It's like I said before, he has their
old school mentality. Yeah, in the new school era. I
mean he's not backing that for nobody. He competes at
high levee guards. He's probably the best two way, superstar
star whatever you want to call him right now, right
in the league. I mean he's taking on every challenge

(01:30):
he's doing on the other end, just reading the stats
that he would leading the league in fourth quarter points
in the playoffs, I think like ten point four. And
you could tell like they all realized this year and
I think we have their team was last year Cat
was still trying to figure if he was the guy
or it was the guy. Yeah, and then they had
Nas Reed and Jada McDaniels out in the playoffs. Now

(01:53):
you get those two got back healthy, a great Floyd
general and Mike Conley that knows how to orchestrate run
the team. Nasriy win six man year. They coaches did
a hell of a job. And then Kat like you
know what it's in man show, I take the backs.
He'd be the second best player. But then some nights
he still is liked the best player, you know what
I mean, depending on who they're playing against and how

(02:13):
he get it going. And I think that made them
tough because they found the identity and everybody's following it. Man,
and the way he's playing, you gotta follow that lead.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
How do the Nuggets game plan? Do you think it's
gonna change their approach?

Speaker 3 (02:27):
I think for them to really just I watched the game.
They I mean they really just ain't make shots real.
I think outside of even though yogajad the numbers, he
didn't shoot a good field goal percentage. And then I
think Michael Porter I think was the only other one
that really scored well for them in that game. Jamal
Murray got going a little bit late. But their team
that's been there before, and they never get too high,

(02:51):
they never get too low. They know they got to
do to try to win and get wins. And like Minnesota,
I liked their identity because I mean the way they
came into their approaches. We got one, let's get another one.
And they didn't go out celebrating out the one win
and feeling like they accomplished something. Like Kobe said before,
like I think he was up three to zero or
up two. Oh, And they was like, you're not happy.

(03:11):
He's like, what the hell is it? Be happy before
the job's not done? To the first team to four?

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
So we unseen teams be up three to oho lose leads.
We've seen to be up three to one. That happen
one time in the finals. So you know what I mean,
you never the job is never done until they say
four on that board and you move into the next round.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Yeah, let's talk about Jalen. He had mentioned Jalen with
the next Pacer series. Well, what's gonna be the key
for him to continue what he's doing?

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Well, I think just the way the office is just
depends if he's making shots or not. Yeah, he's gonna
find a way to create itself. He's crafty and a
lot of people were surprising, and a lot of people
was also mad, you know me when he sounded like
why he get this contract from the Knicks? He's he
that good? They don't understand the year before that, when
Luca was out against you Tak, he was getting forty
point playoff games. He was winning games, you know what
I mean? Him and Spency. Then when he was winning games,

(03:58):
he was doing the same type of stuff now he
just he has his own team now and then he's
the face of the new or Knicks. He's a franchise player.
So I think they put the right pieces around. I mean,
you had to make a couple adjustments when Julius Randall
got hurt, you know what I mean. But adding og
and Noble is perfect for them. A defensive guy that
make corner threes. Got Josh hard that does the same
thing and make corner threes, defend, but can make plays

(04:19):
off the dribble. Devincenzo's out there knocking down shots. Guarden
and he's playing like he was at Villanova for a
national championship game right when he got Rkistein. That's a
great bier that can pass, he works hard defense, he
can rebound. So I think they have great chemistry and
great commodity now and they know who their leader is
and their fallings lead. But also, man, you could just
tell they all know each other. They've been around each other,

(04:40):
like three of those two of those outside Jenner Rush
and two more guys they played on Villanova together.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Yeah, So him making the passes like that game against
the Sixtions, he didn't have to make that pass. He
could have been the guy that want to take the
big shot, but he trusted his teammates and Josh Hart
knocks down a big three.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
I think one of the storylines that people have been
running with is the Pacers are coached by Rick Carlyle,
and if people don't remember, I've seen that Rick Carlile
was the coach Jalen Brunson that postseason where Jalen was,
you know, getting like ten minutes now. Is that the
media kind of blowing that story line up or do
you really think that Jalen has that on his mind
a little bit as I don't know if revenge is
the word, but you know on his mind of like, hey,

(05:17):
I want to kind of prove some people in my
past wrong.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
I don't think he has to prove anything. I think
coach Rick Carlin, I know how good Jalen Brussell was,
you know, I mean, is he the reason why he
didn't plan? Nobody knows, you know what I mean. But
at the same time, is I know he probably wants
to beat him. I mean, he's a guy that coached him.
Some people might take it as he didn't end well
with their relationship. I don't know. Nobody knows that but
them two if they came out and spoke on it.

(05:42):
But I know he has some in the back of
his mind as motivating me more as like, Okay, I
get to play against my old coach, and I'm also
playing against Tyry Salenburn. That's another good point guard in
this league that's on the USA team. Then if he
feel like he got snubbed, that's a position he feel
like he could have got. So that's always a little motivation.
Fine as a player to try to motivate yourself even
more than what you're already motivated.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
Okay, we'll call that series, Nick Pacers. Who you got?

Speaker 3 (06:12):
I think the Pacers. I think the only thing that
might hurt the Knicks is the Pacers play a lot
of players. They got a lot of depth, and they
play with a lot of speed. I think the Nicks
probably play like seventy eight. So I take Pacers in six.
I might be wrong, but I'm taking Paces in six.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
Interesting. Okay, all right, go moving on back to the West.
Jason Kidd just got announced this morning that they're extending
him in Dallas. So they figured that out. I wanted
to ask I guess lead that up to Lakers new
head coach. I know I asked about the Lakers a lot,
but that is one vacancy, probably the biggest vacancy in
the NBA right now. So who do you think is

(06:46):
going to take over that role for the for the Lakers?
And I can name some names for you too, you.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Can name me the names. I know a couple of them.
But I know, I know they probably won't T Lou
for sure. I mean because Brian, that connects you with
T Lou before I see they have JJ Reddick on
that radar, so uh, they might get that.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well, let me ask you this, because you know the
Reddick stuff is they just went through Darvinham, who they
said was too much of a player coach. I think
you know, one of the narratives that people have about
JJ Redick is you can't bring in a rookie coach.
What do you think about that? Like, we've seen mind
the game, we've seen JJ and what he's done post
playing career. Do you think that's a real gamble to

(07:30):
bring in someone like JJ as a as a coach
for a team as big as the Lakers.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Well, it all depends, you know, I mean, him and
Broun has a podcast together, so you know they probably
spending time with each other talking and picking his brain.
And you know, I mean, bron could have had a
podcast with anybody. I mean respected JJ Reddick's knowledge of
the basketball game and his IQ. So that might be
something that falls affecting today, you know, I mean we
never know. But at the same time, he's the head coaches,

(07:56):
the guy at controls locker room. But you can always
hire a top assistant that the offense, another top assisition
that runs a defense, so you know, I mean, just
JJ reagu be just the voice and the leader of
the whole group. So you never know how that go,
and a lot of coaches be first time. We just
don't know how that pans out. I never seen JJ
Reddy as a coach. I don't know how well he
would do. I wish he'd do well if you ever

(08:17):
get opportunity to be a head coach, But you just
got to wait and see, you I mean, because nobody
never knows.

Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah, yeah, I think people were talking about comparing this
to Pat Riley. If people don't remember, it was like
a Lakers announcer and then became an assistant and then
took over and then obviously we knew what happened with
pat Riley, and then also too with like Steve Kerr.
He was in the front office of the Suns for
a while and then announcer and then you know, took

(08:42):
over that Warriors.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
Team and you look at Yeah, he was a video
guy and then he come down and look what he's
been doing. Is a head of a coach, you know
what I mean. So those guys that's been around the game,
then those the game understands the game has a great IQ,
can relate to their players, can get the best out
of their players. Think that's the key to the head coaching.
I mean, because nowadays it's not more so a coaches league,

(09:04):
is more so a players league, right right, you know
what I mean? So the number one rulers, can the
coach still get his players to relate to him and
go out there and do the game plan he has
planned for him. And I think once you find that,
anybody can be a coach, because that's just the number
one start of everything, right.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
Okay, it'll be interesting. Uh lastly, I wanted to ask
you because you can't go on the internet without not
seeing it. The Drake versus Kendrick beef and feud going
on right now. So I don't know that much about it.
I wanted to ask you, I guess in NBA terms,
can you sort of explain that Jake versus Kendrick beef
going on right now?

Speaker 3 (09:41):
You can basically look at it as like, imagine two
goats and people might be debating who's the best goat
of the air at the time. Playing in the NBA Finals,
it's we're going ahead, ahead, yeah, and figure out who
can win, who can win the championship. That's how I
look at you know what I mean like or if
you look at like you treated as the All Star Game,

(10:01):
I mean, smite the All Star Game and you got
two of the best players in the lead that swere
to car theyselves the goat and they're competing for it
and trying to see which team can win. That's how
I kind of look at it. I don't see no
other way to look at it, to be honest.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
No, it's real. I mean cause it's like it's funny
because like in that Nuggets Lakers series, they talk about, hey,
the Lakers were leading for seventy percent of it, but
the Nuggets won that series. I feel like we're getting
into nuances like that where people and being like, you know,
Kendrick is winning, but Drake killed him on one track
and that should be you know. So it's been interesting
to see what people how they validate the reason why

(10:36):
they're certain person that they like one.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah. Well, also you got to look it into the
situation the same as when you have this golt debag.
Is it Jordan, is it Kobe? Is it Lebron?

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Or is it this guy? It all depends on who
is that person who they like better. So like somebody
might like Kendrick, somebody might love Drake. It might be
people from the West Coast that's gonna take Kendrick, that's
where he's from. You got people from Toronto or the
East Coast that might take Drake, you know. I mean well,
if you look at the same time, it's all depending
on what type of field you mean. I mean like,

(11:06):
if you go to a landing and go to the hood,
somebody might call future to go. They're gonna take him
over Drake, you know what I'm saying. So it depends
on what type of audience you go into, what type
of field you're trying to relate to h So that's
how I look at like I say, if you look
at Drake, you go to family matters, you want like
seven minutes or something. But a lot of people say
that right there, win's the whole battle. I mean. But

(11:27):
then people come back and say, well, Kenjer redeem itself
after the last track. He just dropped compared to Drake
last chop. So you already got in the based on
what you're based on that. I mean, Like Drake's like
a brother to me. I mean, always been cool with
me since UK and stuff. So you know, I'm always
gonna be honest. Whoever wins the batter is win it better.
But I take Drake in the battle, you know what

(11:48):
I mean. And it's not just because he's my brother.
I just felt like he had the best bars, you
know what I mean. But to each his own. Everybody
gonna have their own opinion who they think.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
One Yeah, lastly on that good good for the game
or not?

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Great? Yes it's great, Like God, it's great. Like why
not have a little battle here and there, a little
beef you're there, little trash talking here and dere spice
it up a little bit, you know, I mean, some
people do it because they got albums, they about to sail,
or they about to go on tour, so they want
to get the buzz and the fans going a little
bit more. But some people really do it just because
they might not like each other. Yeah. I don't know.

(12:20):
I don't know the personal details, but they might not
really like each other.

Speaker 1 (12:24):
All right, Uh yeah, I mean my wife is bringing
it up to me. So that's how I know they're
capturing everybody right now. It's attention. So all right, well
let's go to a break. When we come back, we're
actually gonna have one of your former teammates. Only play
twelve games, but you guys have a history together. Gilbert
Arenas is joining us on Point Game presented by DraftKings.
Moving back, Welcome back to Point Game with John Wall

(12:53):
and CJ. Toldonnell, presented by DraftKings. Now we are joined
by three time NBA All Star, time All NBA Agent
Zero or Hibachi himself. I want to know which one
you prefer, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
Gilbert Arenas, Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me.
It's Agent zero that had the Hibachi.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, how you feeling, man.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. Right now.

Speaker 4 (13:22):
I'm in YouTube jail, so I can't go live myself
for another like two days. I think, what do you
mean YouTube jah copyright strikes? You know, during like the
Laker game, I was playing it in the background and.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
ESPN gave me the strike on it, Like, man, come on,
that's crazy.

Speaker 4 (13:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you gotta be you gotta be careful
with music and like playing sports stuff in the background.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
I know music for sure, Like, yeah, I know music
for sure, especially when you johnned out like a mixtape.
They do not not play.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
I mean, Gilbert, we can even start there, man, Like
you've in the past few years, you've been kind of
killing you know, the podcast game, in the media game.
How has it felt like it feels like you settled in?
Is your approach the same sort of energy that you
were given to the game of basketball for so many years?
Do you feel like you're working full time and even
working overtime with this?

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (14:18):
You know, when I first started with two thousand and eight,
it was just for fun, you know, it was just fun,
just like more like therapy, right, you know, getting your
voice out, and then I had the one hundredth episode
with Dwayne Wade, and he gave me some great advice.
He said, don't go in there as Gilbert Arenas, three

(14:39):
time boss or three time NBA you know all NBA player,
go in there as a newbiet. So that means you
have to study everybody's, study what makes the greats greats,
and put that type of effort in versus thinking your
Gilbert Arenas and everything should be given to you. So
once he said that, I had to sit back, and
then I started studying why Steven A. Smith stayed so long?

(15:02):
Why Skip Bayless? You know, why Shinning Sharper is on fire?
So I had to sit back and watch a lot
of content to understand the algorithm of how they're approaching it.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
And then from there it's been like a job to me.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Wow, that's very interesting here. I liked it. That's a
good idea. I gotta start. Yeah, Uh, my question is
one of my questions. I got to tell me the
story why you selected them a zero when he first
joined with.

Speaker 4 (15:30):
All right, so it's kind of like how you when
you know you wasn't ranked and you went you drove
down to the camp and then left number one.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Right, I wasn't a big recruit. You know here in
the valley. You know, they called us the white boy players, right.

Speaker 4 (15:45):
You know, there wasn't no you know, there was no mixtapes,
there was no real no social media. So everyone thought
I was Mexican because of my name, right, So no
one knew, you.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
Know, I was black.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
Right, So when they was watching you know, all the
scoring third thirty five, they just thought I was a
Mexican kid.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
So nobody really think, yeah, I'm serious.

Speaker 4 (16:06):
So when I when Arizona came through, nobody really thought
I was good enough to play there. So when I
selected to go there, I was in the number twenty five. Uh,
Steve Kurt was twenty five, and they were like retiring
that jersey. So that same summer though, that same year,
the number zero, the number one just came available for college, right,

(16:29):
So that's when like, like I guess, like what Michigan
Jamal Crawford picked one. So one was getting selected and
I was like, no one thinks I'm gonna play any
minutes here, so I'm gonna just select zero and then
use that as fuel.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
And that's how I mean, speaking of the zero, I
don't know if you notice John is rocking that gold jersey,
which I think is like it's a classic in many ways.
I mean, yeah, you're you're very self aware, like people
roast that jersey. I'm a jersey collector. I think it's
one of the like especially with how jerseys have sort
of like come out now they're not that great, but

(17:08):
like that that was some flash. I thought, that's like
a legendary jersey. I wanted to lead that into some
of your time with the Wizards. Now, you and John
only played twelve games together, but talk a little bit
about that time, like what was your first reactions to
John coming in as a rookie and in your time
together on the Wizards.

Speaker 4 (17:27):
So you know with how I exident the year before, right,
the locker room stuff, right, going to a half way house.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
Right, So I decided I'm gonna go to Chicago.

Speaker 4 (17:39):
So I'm going to Chicago, and I'm about to train
like a demon, growing my hair, looking through all college
I'm looking through all college basketball to see who's coming, right,
And they kept hearing John Wall's name, and I'm like,
if the Wizards get the number one pick, I'm out

(17:59):
of there for sure, right, So so so soon as
soon as Wizards with the number one pick, I'm like,
ain't that's something? So I was like, all right, So
from there all I'm thinking, all right, it's time for war.
So I have my war face on. That's what I
grew the beer and I'm like, yeah, I'm not the face.

(18:21):
I'm not the face no more. So I don't need it.
I don't need to appill nobody. It's time for war.
Met him the first day. Sugar Hand is a man.
I'm a big fan of you, the whole uh Leonardo
or Leonidas the three hundred. It came down right everything
I I went into the summer with right, I'm like,

(18:44):
whoever coming in for my spot? I'm about to tear
my pieces and then y'all he man, I'm a big
fan of yours.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
All of it.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
Just just it's just it's just the wall I feel
just went down and I was like, you know what,
this is his team. I need to show him before
I leave. I need to show him the ropes. You know,
this is his team. Let's do it his way and
I just need to fit in and survive. And that

(19:11):
was my approach when he came.

Speaker 3 (19:13):
That's interesting, I didn't even know all that, Like when
I told him, I said I was a big fan.
I was just shocked to be in a moment like
I was still a kid, like, oh shit, I just
got drafted. I'm used to watching Gill play all the
time about you ages or whatever one you want to
call it. He and game winners turning around and then
I'm like, damn, I'm in a Spotlight've been in the
back court with him. So it was funny time we had,
Like he taught me how to be a professional, took
care of me in different ways of just helping out,

(19:36):
learning how to work out, learn how to be a pro,
all those type of things. And he didn't have to
do that, you know, I mean because he was the
face of the team and he could have say you, no, FM,
I'm going to do it my way. So to have
that respect from you and get the love and the
appreciation to help you gave me to guide me early on,
even though I wish you could have been longer, it
was short lived. Even though it came to Orlando, seen
y'all and played. We always went to dinner and did things.

(19:56):
They had fun. So I would say, like, talk about
your time in d Like what did it mean to
you because like we were so much both of us
is so much big into the community that we adapted
to the community and they adapted to us.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Back.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
Yes, when I when I came, downtown wasn't built. It
wasn't built, but like what you see, they won't like that. No, no, no,
So when I got there, it was in development, but
there wasn't really nothing around like that, the movie theater,
all that that wasn't there, Like Rosie was was a

(20:31):
rose Mexicano that wasn't there. So they were trying to
convince me to stay in d C. But I ended
up going to you know, Virginia. The city embraced me.
It was one of those things where after my first year,
I remember playing at Barry Farms and then that's where

(20:54):
like me coming there every weekend, right Friday, Saturday, Sunday
there playing just out there, just bawling, no security, just
went out there, you know, just trying to hoop, just
trying to find the best hoop in the city, because
I didn't go back home that summer. So just them
seeing me every single week and having fun, laughing, standing

(21:16):
after watching games. You know, the hood. The hood took
a hold of me right, Like it was crazy because
they protected me more than anybody. Like when I went
to the club and let's say something was about to
go down there to a guilt. Not tonight, you got
a game. We don't want nothing to happen to you.
Go ahead and leave.

Speaker 3 (21:37):
In fact, they definitely will give me. They will give
you the green like, listen, it's time to go to here.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
You shouldn't be here this later, never like this, it's
time for us to rob.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
People right now. Go ahead, Andy and John. I got
on jewelry like a buggy.

Speaker 3 (21:53):
It's like, oh man, what we're about to run people?

Speaker 4 (21:55):
So go ahead and leave. And I'm like all right.
So it was, yeah, I was really blessed I was
in there. I came in a time where, just like you,
the city needed a new face. Right, Michael Jordan's just
left a poland was getting killed for not having Jordan
come back. So his thing with me is get me

(22:16):
to the point where no one talks about Michael Jordan
and you're protected forever, right, And so when I did
get hurt and hurt my knee, none of that mattered.
You know, they were telling him he's not worth the
money anymore. Don't sign him, and you know it was true.
But I had already had with three knee surgery or
two knee surgeris at the time, right, so my need

(22:38):
wasn't the same.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
But A was like he did his part. I told
him I was gonna protect them. The max is his.

Speaker 4 (22:44):
So the MAX came from just the loyalty of a
poland had nothing to do with you know, them thinking
I was going to be the same player again.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
Yeah, well I think just like you said, you already
proved it as a player for one and then your loyalty,
like you said, that's the biggest factor. Yeah, it's funny
because like I was, I was talking to Sash and
I was just like, there's always a debated boy, is
it Gil or is it John? That like had DC,
And I'm like it's kind of hard to say because
we both had so much love. But even before I
got there, I hurt, like you would pull up in
the mayback, leave the keys in there. But a lot

(23:17):
of people be scared to go to berry farms, Like
that's not the area to go to by yourself with
no security, So for you to go play that was dope.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
Me.

Speaker 3 (23:24):
I didn't play, but I went and watch games all
day and I'll be there all night just watching and
I played in some of the good mo leagues the
indoor gyms. But just having that embrace for the city
is what you want, man, Like I said, you don't,
you don't. I think a lot of people think we
were just so authentic, like we didn't go in and
try to fake it to be something, just as being ourselves.
So to get that love from the city is always dope.
Because I know you went back, and I know it

(23:44):
was amazing to go back, like for them to see you.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah, no, it was Listen, I ain't gonna lie. I
was scared. I was scared. I was dreading that. Man.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
It was like, I think more because I felt like
I let the people who had me on this pedestal
down right, not necessarily fans, just you know, SACas all
the people inside the organization. It feels like I failed them,
and I was afraid to see they face again, right,
you know.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
So that was more of the fear factor.

Speaker 4 (24:15):
So when I got there and some of those faces
that were still around or smiling walking back and kind
of let that guard off, and I was like, man,
let me just enjoy the moment seeing everybody face again.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
So it was really a blessing for me.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, dope, staying with those early times just as kind
of like a what if, because I've heard John say
on this part in the interviews that it was a
lot of pressure for you, John to be like you
didn't have that veteran early on, like you were the
face of the franchise. You were dealing with a lot
of losing. So just as like the what if, Like
what what would it have been like to have Gilbert

(24:48):
and gil for you too, to be that veteran and
mentor for an extended period of time for John, Is
there a way that you guys could have made it
work that you can turn those you know into some
wins and have a little bit more chemistry over there.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
To be honest, I think it was.

Speaker 4 (25:06):
Just to be honest, my mindset then, right I I
don't think I would have been a great mentor and
a great player for him, right.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
I was still.

Speaker 4 (25:17):
Battling the aftermath of what's happened, right It kind of
it kind of took me a few years to really
fall in love with basketball again.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
Uh So being a player and the mentor wouldn't.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
Have worked for for him, I either I had to
be either one, right, So it would have had to
step away from the basketball part and then just teach
him the roops of you know, uh, you know, team meetings,
getting to the gym early, understanding personalities, right, understanding like
you know when I was there, you know I got
the Shawn Stevenson who clubbed a lot, right, So getting

(25:54):
the coaches to understand this is his thing, this is
his vice. You can't pendle him for the three four
five in the morning coming into the hotel. Let him
do him. He'll be ready for the game. Right, Everyone
is not the same. That's what I would have had
to teach him to understand different personalities. Looking at you know,
watching somebody walk inside that locker room if they're ready

(26:16):
to play today, right, if they're going through something mental. Right,
looking at somebody on the court, or you know, sitting
on the bench, if he's ready to be called in
on Like you know somebody who's who hasn't played for
three weeks, but he got that it's today a coach,
try him out. Let's see if he got some today.
Or someone who who don't have it, say, hey, coach,

(26:37):
it ain't his day. To day, right, go ahead, go ahead,
pull the plug early on him. Right, he ain't he
ain't got to sit out. He got something going on
with him.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
Right.

Speaker 4 (26:45):
Those are the things I had to really understand early
because I had Antoine Koran and Larry Hughes. See, I
had veterans that kind of showed me the roofs even
though I was the wild thing, right, So I wasn't
really a great VET because when I became a real veteran.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
I was hurt.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
So I'm showing the young boys the party side of
the NBA versus the work ethic of the NBA. So
we came. He came at the wrong time of.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
Me, right, that's real.

Speaker 4 (27:20):
Yeah, he would have had to come in like two
thousand and five six right that time, oh.

Speaker 2 (27:29):
Or two thousand and twelve.

Speaker 4 (27:32):
Thirteen when I got to when I knew basketball was
over for me. So when I got the Memphis I
was a better VET to Sapargo and Josh Shelby.

Speaker 1 (27:43):
So you said you fell in love back with a
game because you felt like there was coming to an end.

Speaker 4 (27:49):
No, no, no, I felt actually I fell back into
the game when you guys were in the playoffs, when
y'all was playing when Paul, when Paul Pierce got there,
and y'all.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Year before that, the second year, the first year we
played the Bulls now about the second ye when Paul
came in twenty fifteen playing Toronto. Yeah, twenty fifteen, we
swept them. Yeah, oh oh yeah.

Speaker 4 (28:10):
So that's when I became a fan again, like a
like a real basketball Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
I came.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
I walked him. That's that's that's my fourth year in
the league.

Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, I had much. I had my my Obama chair,
I had Obama chair.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
I'm sitting in my Obama chair and I'm sitting there rooting,
rooting for the guys again.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
I'm like, this was the feeling.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
That's dope, though, Like you broke it down like some
everybody's different, you know what I mean, Like, hey, I
had it his way, you know what I mean, Like
he can go party and go get you forty like
everybody having their way. Some guys like you said, might
come in I can yell at this guy in front
of everybody, then I might have to just sit down
and talk to this guy during the time out with
everybody not hearing it, and just I said, just been
around like guys like you Kurt Heinrich, you know, I
mean out Our Thornton thort out thor and then been

(28:52):
around like Drew Good and Al Harrington, Trevor Resa and
those guys like Paul Pierce, just learning so many different
ways to be in and do it. But like you,
it all depends on what spot you was in, your
in your mindset and your career because like we've both
been through a lot of injuries and had injuries, and
like you'd be frustrated, like damn, I know I can
still I should be in this spot, but at the
same time, it might not be your time. So you
got to be able to take the back seat and

(29:13):
willing to move forward. But uh, I wish it would
have been a time like where Gil could have still
been Gill. That would have been amazing backcourt. But at
the same time, if he was that, I don't think
I get drafted there. I mean, even though I probably
was the best player to be drafted time. If Gil
was still Gill, they go a different route because you
don't need a point guard. You have your franchise gud
that's still there and still healthy playing at a high level.

Speaker 4 (29:34):
Yeah, you know what, I think they would have probably
it depends on it depends, right, if we're healthy, And
it was between you and Evan Turner, right, so he
was more of a shooting guard and a playmaker. Right now,

(29:54):
My I'm pretty sure we would have still went with
you because it's no different than with me and Larry Hughes.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
Right.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
You know, we were both one two's, so most likely
you would have been the one and I would have
just ran into where I get to shoot all shots, right.

Speaker 3 (30:12):
That's what we're basically trying to do for our twelve games. Anyway.
I mean we went to La you had thirty when
you had the do chacka bonet shoes on. This guy's crazy.
He had no shoe strings. He's not about to play
with anklests and no shoes and strappy shoes and went
out there and got thirty. So we had our moments
and it was definitely funny before you left. So my
question is for you, you had a one on one

(30:33):
game between Agent zero and Hibachi. I know you said
what you said earlier, who win it? So you got
to figure out who gonna win between that matchup.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
You're thinking huh, and break down those different those alter egos.

Speaker 2 (30:51):
I'll probably say.

Speaker 4 (30:58):
It depends, okay, who gets the ball for because look,
so yeah, who gets the ball first?

Speaker 3 (31:02):
So like any one on one that's the biggest kid
about the ball first, that you're not trying to play
no defense.

Speaker 4 (31:09):
Yes, so okay, Agent zero was like it was a person, right,
it was a it was a it was a person.
It was who I was. Right, So that was like
ninety five percent of the game I was Agent zero.

(31:30):
And then the moments when you can't be stopped, that's
when I was in Hibachi mode.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
Right, the last five minutes.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
You gotta go win the game, the eighteen straight points
in the row, I've been Haibachi time, right.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
But the funny part is Hibachi was the funnier one.
When I was Abachi. I was funnier because I know
you can't stop me this moment. Yeah, that's what I'm doing.
All the trash talking, Yeah that was that. Yeah, that
was that guy where I'm just I'm just aging for
no for no reason, I'm hitting three in a row.
I'm sitting there doing this ship. I can't film a face, right,
I'm sitting there. I'm more in play mode. It's more

(32:07):
like the Joker style for form M.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
That's a great answer.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
Well, but like this, it's ignorant. But it's not because
you can't stop. You get in that mode. It's like, okay,
I know you can't stop. You try everything you want.

Speaker 4 (32:21):
Like like like Anthony Edwards when when when he was
talking to.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
KD that was that was that's about it, that's it's
about you.

Speaker 2 (32:29):
That's about your mode.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
Yeah, because he was calling for ice like I want this,
Like I know you can't stop.

Speaker 2 (32:34):
Hey what what play? What play?

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Did you have either your rookie year or your your
second year where you knew.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
I'm hire? There's always another funny you know.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
The funny party is it's the second game. Remember my
second game we played in Atlanta. Yeah, after you got
whooped in Atlanta, D n T. I go to Alanta.
I go to Atlanta and I'm having a great game
and I was like I belong. But I tell you
my real first game was that first home game when
I dug it.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
Yeah, yeah, that is that the lib too.

Speaker 3 (33:09):
No, No, that was preseason, that's preseason. But it was
that game because I almost had a quadruple double.

Speaker 2 (33:16):
You did.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
I got mad because I think you had non steals
and I had none steals. And I could have got
one more steal and I was tired as hell, and
nobody told me about it. But that's when I knew
I belonged in the n BED, Like I found my
moment because I really wanted to go Edvon Turner because
when he checked in, he was like, y'all, y'all picked
the wrong guy. And I was like, Okay, I'm gonna
show you because I never got to play in college.

(33:37):
He's a great player, but I never got to play
them in college. And when I had that big game
we won, I was like, all right, I blong. I
realized I belonged here because my first game was tough,
you know, because Dwight Howard. I won't get into the room.
He's blocking every young athletic, and I won't shooting the
mill range as well. At the times, I was like, fuck,
I'm a score. I remember my first basket? Are you
a year? A step in transition? Goal tended? I was like,

(34:00):
this is a weak ass versus basket got go to.
But yeah, my first home game is when I felt
like I belonged in the NBA for sure.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (34:07):
That's usually like when you're playing, there's usually like plays right,
you do something just out of body and then you
were like.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Oh I'm him.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Oh yeah, I remember I split I split a pick
and roll split it picking roll and I remember, uh,
daddy jung try to take a charge and I slid
out the way and I got and one. I was like,
all right, fucking I mean, I still can do some
of the ship I can't do, but back then I
was splaining and you can break down this too, like
it's so much. It was so much like you play
in this area. I think you would have a field day.

(34:40):
You can't hand check. It's all space and a lot
of shooting. Don't take nothing on these players. These players
are fucking talent. They're great. Every kid's getting better. Well,
when I came in, it was two bigs, two actual bigs.
You come across the lane, you're getting chucked. Like I
remember earlier in the year we played Indiana and Scott
Jeff Foster hit me. Man. I got up like I
wan't do something like listen, he ain't the one to

(35:01):
do that with I was like fuck, I was like damn.
So it's like the physicality is just so much more
different than what it was when we had to play,
and you really had to be able to knock down
me rang and knock down floaters and learn how to
play the game.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah, you know, I think we lose.

Speaker 4 (35:16):
We lose the tough big but it's more height through throughout, right,
because now you have you might have a seven foot
a seven foot at the small forward now, right, so
everyone's longer and more athletic.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
Right, so the whole is open.

Speaker 4 (35:35):
It closes and it's like it's like back then where
you win, you had to do a lot more dodging.
Here it's a lot more flying, right, so when you're coming,
you're you're looking more up versus body to body. Right,
So it's a different game, but it's still the same game.
If you're talented. You're talented.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, right, nothing changes. The speed isn't gonna kill.

Speaker 4 (36:01):
The more athletic guards now are gonna be more dominant,
easier to get assists.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Right the way that your IQ, your vision, you're you're.

Speaker 4 (36:14):
Averaging fifteen easy because if you look at the James
hard in the Westbrook, right, if they're considered ball hogs
and they're leading the league and assists, what happened to
the guys who attacked like that but passed.

Speaker 3 (36:30):
Right?

Speaker 4 (36:30):
Usually like Lonzo Ball is a passer, right, he's not
a shot creator.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Right, that's very different. You were a shot creator, so
someone who actually.

Speaker 4 (36:40):
Got in the defense collapse, then you made the pass, right,
That's what James Harden does.

Speaker 2 (36:46):
But he does more scoring too. Yeah, so it's like, well, dang,
what if.

Speaker 4 (36:50):
Like John Wall really played now, he would average fifteen assists?

Speaker 3 (36:55):
Because shit, I had what I think in my twenty
minutes one game with the Clippers, I had like fifteen
six fourteen SI's twenty minutes.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (37:02):
Yeah, if it comes, it comes easier because everybody, everybody
has to stop the penetration.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Now, now you've got a lot more three point shooters.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
With you, mm hmm. Just like Luca. Luca, he's creating
for people. He's going and if you help, he's finding guy.
They knock it down shots.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
So yeah, that's what's saying. It makes it look like,
it makes it.

Speaker 4 (37:20):
Look like they're doing a lot more than the past,
but it's not because if Luca had a big man,
if he had Tim Duncan, there's no pick and roll poppits.
Get him on the block, he gonna pass it, get
out of there. He goes forwards twenty five. You get
zero sists for those twenty five.

Speaker 3 (37:37):
And you don't have a lob three. We don't have
a lib three. It's like I'm not throwing libs. So yeah,
you got you have guy that really posts up. Now
he's the most guy posting up on their team. So
it changes the whole dynamic of it.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
I love this topic because one question I've always had
about seeing, you know, the careers of like d Rose
and Westbrook and the hurdles of like the injuries, and
you guys have haven't gone through injuries. Do you think
that is there would there be a different way you
guys would have approached your career knowing speed and like that,
the hard stops and all that. Do you think you
would approach your career differently as the guards you were

(38:12):
to add longevity to your career in today's game.

Speaker 4 (38:18):
What I would do different is I wouldn't try to
prove that I was hurt. That's a thing we do.
We we we're not fully healthy. We want to play
and we want to show everybody. Look, I'm about here
hurt playing for the team, right which, at the end

(38:39):
of the day, if we're not one hundred percent, we're
doing ourselves at this justice because they're they're judging us
on one hundred percent. They don't care, like and beat
on his knee. We don't care if you out there live,
but we don't care if you're eye twitching.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Are you given thirty six and fifteen? That's it. So
for me, I would have actually got one hundred.

Speaker 4 (39:01):
Took my time rehabing, and really attacked the rehab versus
trying to hurry up and get back and say I'm
all far, I need to get back to my place.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
I agree that. That's one thing I always say is
like I played through bone spurs in my heell, bone
spur on my knee. Yeah, I felt like I live
by like Ai Coe, it ain't broke. I can play
through it. That's what I live by. Like you said
you want to play. I mean, like my first year,
I had a list frank je I'm like, damn, I
gotta come back sooner. I come back soon. I don't
score no points in the first half, I'm damn here,
limp in the whole game, and like why I'm out here. Yeah,

(39:33):
it's like you want to play, like you want to
prove like I'm still the person I am. But I
wish I would have did that, took time off, got
one hundred percent. But also I think now like you
got so many guys that have trainers that we didn't
have growing up, Like I didn't have a guy that
can do weightlifting and agility work right now and all
this new technology and stuff they have. I we didn't
have that when I first came in. Like guys come

(39:53):
in rookie, they got their own trainer to go with
them to their team. Like I wasn't thinking about that.

Speaker 4 (39:58):
Look, when you we got there, we was like we
was bought.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
We was bought where you got that, we was born.
We had.

Speaker 4 (40:09):
We we finally got like breakfast and a little bit
of lunch. Right, we had breakfast, had a little bit
of lunch. We had uh, we had drew. But we
also had like at least three people on the medical staff.
Mm hm when I first got that, No, No, we
didn't get We didn't get food until probably probably a

(40:29):
year and a half before you got there. Like the
first person I ever got food from as a road
team was Cleveland Lebron.

Speaker 3 (40:39):
I talked about that, said when I when he was
in Miami. You know, they had the special meal that
you had here when I when he left and I
came back, I said, what did they say that? She
didn't hear no more Bron gone.

Speaker 4 (40:48):
Likes left Lebron didn't spent the road team. When I
was in Cleveland, like we got a spread, I'm like, oh,
thank you, coach. Finally, It's like, nah, that's what Cleveland doing.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Damn. I was getting taken care of the whole time.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
Listen the Clippers when you got there. The Clippers didn't
even have a practice facility. They was pregndiced at the
y m c A. Yes, they were pregnicing. They was
precticing at the y m c A. They didn't have
a practice facility yet, Like they got that like Blake's
third year. That's how, but that's how. That's how far

(41:26):
it came. Like we didn't even have a like who
was the shooting coach with you? When you got there.

Speaker 3 (41:32):
You didn't have no sam Yeah it was remember because
remember it was like it was like we would be
working out and then they'd be like, all right, coaches
got film. I'm like, damn, whos gonna rebound. It's like
so now it's like you got to get another young
guy to try to rebound. You rebound for yourself. That's
that's so old you. I think I didn't get player
development toil probably my third or fourth year, Like I

(41:53):
think we had hired David Atkins. David Atkins because they
was trying to get Kevin Durant and he had coach
in Maryland. So David Atkins had came and be one
out and played development guys. And then we had Joe Conley, okay,
came from Baltimore. He came like that was the first
development guys we had probably my thirty fourth year. So
that now you see how far the game has changed.

(42:14):
Because for sure, but I'll be like this, people like
y'all ain't getting better. I'm like, well, who the hell
were getting better with? Were working ourselves out? Like unless
we find him flying our trainer in, like who is
working us out right now?

Speaker 4 (42:25):
And back then they didn't allow that, right because because
like Eric and all of them, they it was a
clash on outside guys coming inside, right, So there was
this big war of development like NBA. The team wanted
so much control, like yo, I'm getting better with this dude,
bring him bring him in, pay him, he can train us,

(42:47):
which didn't happen back then, so I didn't really understand
how to work out until like I was. I was
fortunate after my rookie year, Chris Mullen used to be
in the gym working out, so he taught me how
to train as a professional.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
But for the most part, there was no There was
no coaches. We rebounded ourselves. We got to do. I
was paying a high school kid.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
I was paying a high school kid to come work
out with me, rebound for me. And he ended up Yeah,
he ended up going to Villanova and I had to
call a Villanova coach. Can he be a ball boy?
This is what he did for me? And he ended
up being a ball boy for Lowry and who was
about to go Randy before Alan Ra Yes.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
Yes, so he was their rebounding he was the rebounding kid.

Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yes. They were so strict. Even in the summer time
when I went to LA to work out, because that's
when my agent lived, Dan Fagan, they were telling me
I couldn't work out with certain guys. I'm like, what,
how y'all gonna get Joe? They hell I can work
out with I'm like, they don't like this guy. They
don't like that guy because I was lifting with gun
and Peterson at the time, and they're like, no, we
don't want you to work on him. It ain't working.
Who y'all gonna hire me to work for nobody? It's

(44:02):
this summertime. So it was interesting.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
I was just I just I'm curs. We got both
of you guys here, and I think we can have
an honest conversation. I'd love to hear how you guys
would fix the current Wizards.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
WHOA, yeah, you know what?

Speaker 4 (44:17):
So funny? I went back John. When was the last
time he was there?

Speaker 3 (44:24):
I went back last year when I played with the
Clippers when I had my homecoming.

Speaker 4 (44:28):
Did you see the practice facility?

Speaker 3 (44:30):
I was there. I remember I was there when they
built it.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
I was there.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Oh okay, yes, I was there. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (44:35):
So I went to the practice so they had you know.

Speaker 4 (44:38):
Where it's it, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, but I went
to the practice court mm hmm, and it was it's
like a type it's like a vip section and that,
just like that irritated me as an athlete. And the
reason is this the practice facility is the practice facility, right, Okay?

(45:01):
When you come to the arena and this is where
we play the game at where is the court where
we get the warm up? It can't be the main
court because everybody's out there, So how do I actually
get my three hundred four hundred reps up before the game?
And so I'm sitting in here just like how dare they?

(45:24):
Like I'm offended? Like out there they how do you
get better before the game? Or you had a bad
game and you want to sit in the gym and
get the shots up and go to the small gym
and get your one hundred and two hundred? Why do
I gotta go all the way to the practice facility.
So there was like these little things that it's just like.

Speaker 3 (45:43):
I will fit not that, And like you gotta get
there in the game at seven. They want you to
get there two or three to get your three hundred
fo hundred shots up. That's the only time you're gonna
be able to get him up. Facts you gotta get
there really early because I was like sometimes out before
I went on the main court because you know, he's
always somebody else shooting the same time you shoot, So
I'm like, damn, he fucking up my rhythm. I'm shooting
the ball, hitting the ball. So I would go down
there and work out sometimes like get reps up. But

(46:03):
like once they start changing, I'm like, up, that's over.

Speaker 2 (46:06):
Yeah, that would have happen.

Speaker 4 (46:07):
That would have happened when I was over there, Like yeah,
y'all got to put them somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
Y'all got to put them somewhere else. You know.

Speaker 3 (46:12):
The problem. The crazy part was they did that during
the summertime, so when we came into season, when we
started going to preseason game going over there, it was
already done. Like you open the door and go down
the steat like, oh ship, never mind, oh wow. It's
like everybody was down there, like but uh. They got
a new front office though, so like for them, really,
I think they got to figure out who's going to
be their franchise guy, you know what I mean. Like

(46:33):
when you get a new front office, they got to
make the changes of what they want to do with
coaches and all that, But they got to find out
the franchise gut and find the foundation and how to
build around him. That's the key for them.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
Yeah, and right now they don't they don't have one.

Speaker 4 (46:44):
I mean, Kusma's their their best the best player right now,
but on a really good team that was off third
fourth option, you know, as of right now. So right
now it's it's one of those things is they have
to be careful because he is the lead dog, and
at some point when his contract's up, he's gonna be

(47:05):
looking for big money and you're not gonna be able
to pay him if you're looking for your franchise and
his batman because right now he's not he's not he's
not robbing. He can be robbing until you find a
real Robin He's really you're that third guy that you're like,

(47:25):
he's not the he's a better Tobias Harris, you know
what I mean. But you do need a Maxie and
a and a Embeed, you know, to get over there
to really build your team with.

Speaker 3 (47:34):
So will be a great six man for them if
they end up keeping him. I think he'd be a
great six man for them. Yeah, But like he's paid
so much, he's like, I want to be the guy,
and I think he realized. I think he realized early on,
like it's a lot different when you don't have Stephan
Klay and those guys over there, and you are the
main priority that everybody's locking in on.

Speaker 4 (47:53):
Yeah, and his game, his game, his game at number
on one option, his game main number two options. You know,
he has such a flashy style of I need to
be a highlight every time I play when number one
and number two options. Majority of these points is simple basketball.

(48:15):
The flash is like open court flash, right, or just
an instinct move. But for the most part, I'm just
trying to get to the spot. Get this bucket, get
the two. You score twenty all those ten buckets can't
be sports center type of right, that's where.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
When you come for sure, we're not at Rocking Park
right now, Every dribble like god, and that's what you're
tying yourself out by time you make the four baskets, got.

Speaker 1 (48:42):
No three spins under, So.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
Yeah, you got you got two dynamic young balls. Your daughter,
I mean she just had her singing night and she
committed Louisville and then you have your son has shown that.
So how do you keep them well grounded and motivate
them to want to get to the work after they
have that you have and to be special at this sport.
Knowing they live have your last name, they got a
lot to live up to. I know that can be pressure,

(49:09):
and how do you handle it all? That one time.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
Yeah, you know, I do a lot of like sending
them other people.

Speaker 4 (49:16):
Right, there's only so much I can say right before,
like I watched other kids that are paying it. You
get tuned out, right, So I'll show them a lot
of people's clips and them working out and how they're
working out. Right, And then it's like, you don't want
to be this type of person. Right, they're looking back saying, dann,
I wish I would have did some more, right, You

(49:37):
don't want to be a trainer when you're done. Meaning
he learned to be great once he realized he couldn't
be a basketball player.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
Anymore once he didn't take So your trainer is a guy.

Speaker 4 (49:50):
These moves you have or he's teaching you, he never
actually used them because he learned them once he was done,
and like, damn, I missed it. So let me train
the next generation. You don't want to be that dude.
You want to really say, all right, this is what
I want. I had to tell my kids the other day.
I said, listen, give me five things you want to do,

(50:16):
write the NBA whatever. After you write them down, give
me five sacrifices you are willing to give me to
get there. They still haven't figured out the sacrifices yet.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
And I was about to ask me they probably still
trying to figure that part.

Speaker 4 (50:29):
Out because I told them you can't. You were not
get to this if you are not sacrificing for this.
I said, right now, you guys sit, y'all can still
watch TV for eight hours, call it, be on your
phone with your girlfriend and nah, that don't exist, I
said you. I said, right now, I'm forty two. You
can't out shoot me. Every morning, I said, I wake

(50:52):
up five thirty before I take y'all the school. Before
I wake you up, I've already got my shots up.
If me, I said, if me and you were trying
to make it to the NBA, don you cannot get
past me. I said, when you fall in love with it,
you will understand me. Right now, right now, you're just gifted,
and you have me as a trainer. I said, that's

(51:15):
your benefit. You have me as your trainer right to
wake you up and do this. But I shouldn't wake you.
You should be waking me up. When you start waking
me up, I know you love it right now. You
just like the sport. Right so my daughter works out more.
My son works out harder. Right when he do lock in,
he's locked in, right, So I don't have to, like

(51:36):
like with my girl, with my daughter, I have to
micromanage the workout, like come on, dog, come on man,
we're gonna be here. There ain't how many water breaks
we need. He's trying to be a professional water drinker.
The only time you drink waters when you're on a bench.
So I mean you perfected that for sure, being on
the bench. You know how to drink some water. Right,

(51:57):
my son, I can give him a program. He gonna
look at the program and he gonna work it.

Speaker 3 (52:03):
So he's de know. I've seen, yeah what he had
like fifty three or fifty two to get to the
state championship game, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
I'll be watching. I was like when I started seeing
him windmill, I'm like, what the hell?

Speaker 4 (52:12):
Yeah, he about six seven, so he's six seven long,
Like like he hurt his foot, right, he got a
just a regular ass ankle, spring ankle.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
Swoll too much.

Speaker 4 (52:23):
And I told him, I said, hey, you better take
care of this. If you don't take care of it,
you're gonna miss the USA, right, and you're gonna miss
you the rest of your summer, right or with your
uh your traveling team. He thought, I was playing. It's
been about a month now. His mother put him in
a boot now, I mean not put him in.

Speaker 2 (52:45):
The boot, put him in a cast.

Speaker 4 (52:47):
And I said, hey, you wear a cash You're gonna
lose your caf must on all this for two weeks.
The man cut it off. He got so paranoid. Cut
the cut the boot off, I mean, cut the what's
the names and put the boot on. Now he locked
in to get that's swelling out, and I said, yeah, man,
I said, yo, when I tell you something, just understand
I'm gonna tell you it, and then you're gonna have
to learn for yourself.

Speaker 3 (53:08):
Mm hm.

Speaker 2 (53:09):
You're gonna have to learn for yourself because at the
end of the.

Speaker 3 (53:11):
Day, I did it.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
I can't protect you from it.

Speaker 4 (53:15):
I'm trying to give you the straighten their like, these
are the things, these are the pitfalls. But some of
them holes you got to fall in and understand what
I'm talking about.

Speaker 2 (53:25):
Yeah, you ain't. You ain't there yet. You're right now.
They got the little hooping they're playing.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
It's it's I'm as five and through that. He oh,
his love sockey. He got his last sock game tomorrow,
so oh that's that's perfect ya. But I'm just like
for me, like you said, like, I'm not forcing him
to do anything, you know what I mean, Like, whatever
you tell me you want to do, figure out you
want to play all these sports. I'm signing you up
for him. Let you fall in love with what you
fall in love with. But every day he like, man
with the training, he's not coming today, will take me

(53:53):
outside of thirty minutes. I'm like, okay, keep the same
ship up. Yeah, cause I come here and just chill
and watch me some shows.

Speaker 4 (54:01):
But when you start, when you start training him, and
you really start like diving in, understand you can't be
a You can't be the coach and the parent. Yeah
don't don't don't be both at the same time. Right,
You have to really understand that is going to be
the biggest thing for you. Understanding the trainer is when

(54:22):
he's not playing, you're training him, right, That means you
get to do all of yelling.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
When the training's over, the father kicks.

Speaker 4 (54:29):
In, Yep, he ain't no more trainer. Finally, what you
want to eat, what you want to do when you
watching the game, you watching it as the parent. Enjoy
the moment.

Speaker 3 (54:39):
That's how it be a gonna lie. I got so
many videos. I'm running down the sideline. Yeah yeah, yeah,
my son is playing the air Sposure kids. The other
week he was like, which one your kid? He's all
that money. He's the fastest one. I I can tell,
like right now he just kicked the ball. He take
off fast. Everybody.

Speaker 2 (54:53):
Yeah, I'll do no yelling. I'll do no yelling out.

Speaker 3 (54:55):
At the game.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
I'm just real.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
I just tell them, have fun, have fun. You ain't
score every every week, but have fun.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
You know.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
Right now he's scoring two three goals a week. I'm like, ship,
Oh do you get this? Ship? Don't work like this
is sock basketball. You can score a lot sockey might
not score in the game. So I'm gonna take him
to MESSI game tomorrow so he'll be excited for his
first game.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Yeah that Gil.

Speaker 1 (55:15):
Are you playing ones? Are you playing ones against Elijah?

Speaker 4 (55:18):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (55:18):
Yes, yeah, and you're are you still winning them?

Speaker 4 (55:22):
Or because it's one dribble, one drible two dribble. He
got me one drible one dribble. I can not just
pump fake do all this, do all that. Then if
I miss it foul, you know I'm cheating.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
Still he we had this debate my homeboys, like three dribbles,
you know what I mean, people want to play one
on one. I'm not playing ten three dribbles, Max Man
like three dribbles. Nobody about to be running around chasing you.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
Dribbles, two dribbles, one drill. That's what I do.

Speaker 4 (55:52):
Like three dribbles, two dribbles, one dribble, and then we
play no dribbles where you have to be creative.

Speaker 2 (55:58):
You have to get creative with it.

Speaker 4 (55:59):
He's so creative that I have to like make him
play simple basketball, like he like he'd be Jordan Poole
if you let him. Like he wanna, he wanna, he
want the triple team, like he want to play through
triple teams and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
And I'm like and I and I'd be telling him, like,
do not get bored scoring baskets.

Speaker 4 (56:24):
Hm Like, so I'll be like when we do when
we do drills, it's a hundred mates and I count.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
I count.

Speaker 4 (56:31):
I'm like, all right, one to pull up, right, just
one to pull up, and I'm just counting to see
how many reps before his brain decides he want to add.

Speaker 2 (56:40):
A little bit of his own little flavor to it.

Speaker 4 (56:42):
Side step and I'm like, yo, simple stop. I don't
care how bored you are. You should never be bored
with scoring a bucket.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
Like you don't.

Speaker 3 (56:54):
That's why they always say you should never get tired
to make it. You ain't tie you making shots.

Speaker 4 (56:57):
I'm not tired of making a lay Look if you
can't stop to get into the basket, I'm not stopping
myself by doing a double step back.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
I'm gonna keep getting it. Lay up, lay up, shoot it,
shoot it, lay up, lay up.

Speaker 3 (57:12):
I was in high schol I said, are you shooting ship?
You can't stop me getting too the real well, waste
my time for like no.

Speaker 4 (57:17):
Right, I'll let you know what. I'm tired of scoring
that that that lay up when you're sitting under the
basket trying to block me.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
All right, and I do a floater. But I'm not
gonna just settle because you want me to. Yeah, nah,
that's not how we do this.

Speaker 3 (57:31):
So off top of that last night game, six is
paces Bucks and sixers Nicks. Have you think the playoffs
have been going on? This first round?

Speaker 4 (57:40):
First round? There's no real, real true upset. But there's
there's no real upset the Orlando cams that can go
that could have win it either way.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Yeah, either way, Miami.

Speaker 4 (57:57):
I didn't think they were gonna be get beat by
twenty every game. I didn't know that. Like I was like, oh,
I thought you was gonna have a little bit more
fight in you. I'm not surprised by the Knicks because
mb was hurt. I didn't think I really didn't think
he was gonna I didn't really think he was gonna
last all the games. And that was one thing. I

(58:18):
didn't think he was gonna last of all the game.
So that isn't surprising Pacers Bucks. When Giannis went down.

Speaker 2 (58:29):
There was really no chance. I'm not even gonna lie
to you, I didn't really.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
What's the like that type of player that can change
the whole series and would be the best player in
that series, changes the whole dynamic of it.

Speaker 4 (58:41):
Yeah, especially since like Doc didn't like really put in
his his flavor into the offense. I didn't see them
getting out of that. And then like even with even
with whoever one between the Knicks and Philly, that's they're
going to the Eastern Conference.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
Finals interesting. You don't get Pacers a chance against against
New York.

Speaker 3 (59:06):
Yeah, because only way they have a change has to
play out his mind.

Speaker 4 (59:11):
And the sad part is and Bleed and Beat and
Maxie played out of their minds. Two stars played out
of their minds and they didn't win that series. So
a gonna have a sixty. You had two dudes averaging fifty.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
Yeah, they had two dudes averaging fifty and lost that series.

Speaker 4 (59:29):
So if they're gonna try to out outspeed, they're gonna
try to outspeed New York.

Speaker 2 (59:35):
New York want to play that. They can play that style.

Speaker 4 (59:38):
You know, they like teams like half court basketball because
that benefits Brunton, but they can go up and down
with you.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
Right.

Speaker 4 (59:45):
The only thing that benefits Pacers is Tims play only
seven and those two off the bitch only played about
ten to fifteen minutes. So he's he's gonna play two
people at he's forty forty five plus.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
If you can get them, if you can get.

Speaker 4 (01:00:06):
New York playing seven games like that, you can probably
sneak that series from them.

Speaker 3 (01:00:11):
Yeah, because they're gonna get tired of They're gonna get
tired at some point because the pace is going about
ten deep eleven games.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
Yeah, yeah, Gil staying on playoffs. But going back to
your career O six playoff series against Lebron, can you
talk about what it was like playing against Lebron early
Lebron three years in Lebron in the playoffs.

Speaker 4 (01:00:31):
Okay, so we was more talented them, hands down, hands
down the.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
We was the better team.

Speaker 4 (01:00:41):
What we didn't realize until after the series how smart
he was as a player, right, understanding what people are
finding out now, like he remembers everything right. Didn't know
he had that motor mentally then, right, So watching like
little signals like I'm watching again, like how do we

(01:01:02):
losing them? Like and I'm watching like little signals and
biting his nails, like giving little signals to the coach
like take this player out, right, take your galsks out,
and then we take a gals cas out, Like, well,
what do we need him for? Like a gals is out.
We take Brendan. Now we went small. He drove the

(01:01:22):
basketball him and Larry attacked, attacked, attacked, and he was
playing decoy at the beginning of the game and then
turned into mister James and and that's what ended up happening.

Speaker 2 (01:01:36):
He was just out smartened us and we didn't pick
up on it. But him.

Speaker 4 (01:01:41):
We tried everything. I'm not even gonna lie. All right,
We're just gonna make him a passer. Right, he passed
and scored. Still right, all right, we're gonna we just
gonna let him score and we're not gonna help.

Speaker 2 (01:01:55):
He scored and still passed.

Speaker 3 (01:01:57):
Right.

Speaker 4 (01:01:58):
But it was that he was like the first group
of teams the realized he was.

Speaker 2 (01:02:06):
He was really unselfish.

Speaker 4 (01:02:09):
No matter if you left this guy open, he was
going to pass it to that guy, right, he will.
He will, like we're loading up for the Kobe Bryant mentality, Like,
all right, he pass it to him. He passed it like, oh,
we didn't really think you were going to pass it there.
And he made the He made the right players right,

(01:02:31):
And a lot of people back then, if you was
a superstar, you made the play for you.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
You didn't.

Speaker 4 (01:02:39):
You didn't make the magic Johnson play. You didn't make
the this is the right play. He was making the
right play in that series.

Speaker 1 (01:02:48):
Okay, how about you? How about you in game six
you hit that that DP three. What was going through
your mind when you took that shot. Oh.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
I was already I was already talking trash. Oh now
how about you?

Speaker 4 (01:02:59):
Was all yeah, but she was all like, I'm telling yo, hey,
I'm hitting this three. So I don't whoever's on me
is on sports Center right, whoever's on I'm talking to Larry.
Whoever's on me is a sports center today, right, And
you know I'm both talking trash. And then I set
the pick and it got messed up on the on
the switch and then it was a flip murray that

(01:03:21):
that popped out. But I was already in motion right
to hit. It went to overtime, and then overtime I
gassed out, gassed out, went to that free throw, went
to that free throw line. To be honest, when I
watched the free throws back, I don't know what happened.

(01:03:42):
I didn't even I heard what he said, but I didn't.
None of it matter. We're up one game over, and
my mind just went blanked. Like even when you look
at the mix the missus, you're like, whoa, Like are.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
You fixing the game?

Speaker 4 (01:04:02):
I like, going up, it was like did the rim
just move? Like it was one of those where after
I missed it, we lost the only thing that popped
in my head. Was Nick Anderson in the in the
Orlando series missing the free throws, and I said, I
cannot beat him. My career cannot be these free throws.

(01:04:27):
And I think about this every time. So I heard
Kobe was dealing with a dude that was black ops
for his mental right, keeping him mentally strong. Called the
dude went down to San Francisco and was training with him. Yeah,
for some free throws. I had to go.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
They mentally locked it, and they mentally locked in. Yeah
what Yeah, for sure, it is for sure. It is
what you're thinking about the growth of the that the
w BNBA right now, like the way it's going.

Speaker 4 (01:05:03):
I think it's I think it's I think it's great,
uh for the game. You know, they could have had
this growth ten years ago, right, they could have had
it with Cannas Parker. They could have had it with
Tarassie when she first came in, you know. So, uh,
they could have had it with the Sabrina. With all that,

(01:05:24):
I think they they're they're missing the moments right when
those moments and those players come in, you have to
strike right right now, they have a moment, right, they
have three of the five, so that that that twenty
twenty class or four the twenty twenty class, there's one

(01:05:47):
that's still playing. Four came into the draft. Yeah, page
Backer stayed back. This is when they should do a
one and done rule. Now do it now? Why Juju's there?

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
Why bet?

Speaker 4 (01:06:00):
Why you still have some momentum right now? You have
the Olympics coming up. I heard they had a statement.
The statement said, you know, we're gonna use her training
camp as her tryout. You know, it's not fair to
some of the girls as fair, fair goes out of

(01:06:23):
the window. This is about survival. This is about your future.
This is about the w NBA brand. If she's not
on that team, no one's watching you one. It's a
big time different. No one watches anyway. If she's there,
all of college basketball, all of her fans are watching them,

(01:06:47):
the USA games because of her. Those jerseys that's gonna
be sold. She is gonna compete. Her jersey is gonna
compete with some of the men. If she's not on there.
The only jersey is not going to be being sold
is Fever. So it's up to you, guys, the Olympics.

(01:07:08):
If you have her, that boosts you guys up if
you don't fever. So if you missed this moment, it
only it only hurts you. You need to milk this
like NBA milk Michael Jordan, like they made Magic and
when when it When Magic and Bird came on, they

(01:07:29):
played to it Magic and Bird the first two television
the first TV games, Boston Lakers, Boston Lakers. They took
that college rivalry and milked it in the NBA, intil
Jordan came, Damn, you have to Yeah, you know you
have to. That's what you have to do. Marquee matchups

(01:07:51):
is her versus. It'd be Sky because Reese is over there.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
So you use that. You use that matchup.

Speaker 4 (01:08:00):
And then Tarassie said something, you use that matchup And
these these are how you build.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
You have to build rivalries. The w NBA don't have
them yet.

Speaker 4 (01:08:11):
Hervis Sabrina, I don't give I don't hey make fake
pages and have them talk.

Speaker 3 (01:08:16):
Trash at each other. Do something right, make it, make.

Speaker 4 (01:08:19):
It the rivalry. So we want male fans need rivals.
We need a bad guy and we need a good guy.
We need someone to root for. And that's what the
sport don't have. They they're thinking like family friendly rival
where that Lebron versus Curry wear that.

Speaker 3 (01:08:41):
That's why people couldn't wait till to where LSU played
the Ayowa last year after they lost in that championship.
They couldn't wait for that game again. Facts, they should
have made won in the regular season. I mean, like
you said, you just said, like having those type of
rivals you got, you should have made one in a
regular season. It would have made everybody tune in.

Speaker 4 (01:08:56):
I would have made I would have put it in.
I would have put it in Iowa. I would put
it in Ayowa at the biggest arena we can get.

Speaker 3 (01:09:03):
They should have played. They should have played at the
Football feel like they did at one of their game.
They they sold out the football arena. They should have
put the LSU game there. I would have put it
back to back, That's what I's saying. But that's I
would have put it back to back. I would have
had there and then at LSU. Yeah, now you may
saything right with that's what we want to see though,
that's like it's like a you you talk chash okay,

(01:09:23):
you're trying to duck this tournament, all right?

Speaker 2 (01:09:25):
We mean here, yeah, but I don't know who's the
marketing behind them.

Speaker 4 (01:09:29):
But just just watch watch rap, watch reality TV and
take these storylines, take the storylines and implement them into
your league to make it exciting. That's the viewership for
you know reality TV is it take those storylines and

(01:09:52):
put them in You know what reality did?

Speaker 2 (01:09:55):
They used to take the storylines from shows back in
the eighties. Nope, they knew that.

Speaker 4 (01:10:01):
Like I love Lucy episodes and stuff like that. They
were taking those episodes and making them put him, put
him in reality TV.

Speaker 3 (01:10:09):
That's that's interesting, all right. Like you said, you gotta
have stories. Though, you gotta have stories YouTube.

Speaker 1 (01:10:15):
You gotta unbanned Gil here, this is crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Yeah I got I got like two more days.

Speaker 3 (01:10:22):
You had like a week? Yeah, like a week.

Speaker 2 (01:10:23):
Band, Yeah, I've been banned for a week.

Speaker 4 (01:10:25):
But but because it's ESPN, all I do is just
uh foul as a copyright uh counter Like, I don't
think this is part of the copyright, and copyright is
for court.

Speaker 2 (01:10:36):
ESPN ain't taking nobody to court. So in ten days
the strike comes off.

Speaker 1 (01:10:40):
So yeah, yeah, well, deb appreciate you, Gil. Check out
Gil's arena, and then all of your channel's going right now,
we'll be back on Point Game with Me and John,
presented by DraftKings.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
All right, thank you, appreciate it you for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:11:00):
Welcome back to Point Game with John walla CJ Total
Downer presented by DraftKings. It's time for Bucket Brick. As
a reminder, Bucket of Brick is brought to you by
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NBA experience even sweeter. The crown is yours, John. You
know how to play Bucket of Bricks, So we're gonna

(01:11:20):
get right into it, all right. This first one thunder
Mass series. So the Thunder are only slightly favorites over
the Maps in the series at minus one fifteen. So
if you bet one fifteen you'd win one hundred bucks.
So Bucket to Brick, the Thunder are gonna beat the
MAVs in this series.

Speaker 3 (01:11:37):
I got the maps in the series, Okay. I love
the thunderd I love the way they coaches being coaching
those young guys. I love the way Shay has been
a great leader for those guys. And you just get
those guys to play the Levy party and think they're
a super young team if you connected as they are
and play the way they are their special group. I
just think it's not their time yet. I could be wrong.

(01:12:00):
I take the maps in this series just because high
dominant Luca and Kaye is you know what I mean,
Like Kyle the other day two points a half, go
get twenty eight in the second half of any moment.
And I just like the role pieces they added to
their team, you know, I mean, giving them a lob
threat when you got Luca that's being able to get
into the pain and cod. So I take the maps

(01:12:21):
in this one.

Speaker 1 (01:12:22):
Who would you say is so it's a break, But
who would you say is the best player in this
series between all those guys that you just mentioned.

Speaker 3 (01:12:30):
The best player?

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
Yeah you got Kyle Luka.

Speaker 3 (01:12:36):
Yeah it's tough. Yeah, you got two guys that should
be top five in the league right now if I'm
not mistaken, between Luca and Shape for sure. And I
just feel like Kyle is the most skilled basketball player.
Yeah you know what I mean, to be the size,
he had, the score at will, every shot, floaters, post up,
mid range, threes off the dribble layup package. It's a

(01:13:02):
tough one. I would say Shave. I would say Shae
is probably the best player, But I think the MAVs
have two players that could be top five or top
ten league at any point. And I think that just
gets some over the hump because the young guy Jaalen
Wiams is coming into his own, very talented, coming into
his own check, very talented, coming to his own. I

(01:13:23):
just think those two guys and then Kyle having experience,
has been there before, like being to the championship before,
I know what it takes to win it. And I
think that gets some over the hump.

Speaker 4 (01:13:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:13:33):
I mean, we've seen so many of these series and
games come down to that last two minutes, and who
have we seen hit game winners. I mean, Kyle probably
hit one of the craziest, most important shots of the
last ten years. So yeah, I like it.

Speaker 3 (01:13:48):
Sure that shot in the twenty sixteen finals is probably
the biggest shot in finals probably, Yeah, you know what
I mean. But all through those guys got a lot
of game winners. I mean, Shae got a lot, Luca
has some, you know, Kai has he, So I think
it should be a fine series, a great battle. Yeah,
oh she just got to wait and see.

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
Okay, all right, next one, here's a guy that actually
I forgot about. I don't know how, but Donovan Mitchell.
You know, they closed out had an incredible game in
Game seven last night against the Magic. So Bucker to Brick,
Donovan Mitchell will be on the Calves next season.

Speaker 3 (01:14:20):
I say, Brick, I think the only way he'd be
on the Calve if they go win the championship or
make it to the finals. Yeah, I mean, I think
next year is gonna be tough, if even tougher. I
thought it was gonna be. It could have been a
good series with Jared Allen being there. But if he
can't play early on, I think he could be tough
for one.

Speaker 1 (01:14:39):
I mean yeah, Well, because he had that quote, I
think it was it came out that he wouldn't return
to the Caves unless they made the finals. But say
they make the conference finals, you know, with the Calves,
and I don't know, I can't really think of another
destination that would be a better situation for him. So
we put yourself in issues. Why would you want to
go to another team even if you didn't make it

(01:15:01):
to the finals.

Speaker 3 (01:15:03):
One maybe because which I don't know. I'm just speaking
from my mindset a point of view of it. One
maybe that getting traded to the Cast probably wasn't his
number one destination. Yeah, but you're in the contract, you
show up and be a pro, you do your work.
I think that's one. Two do they feel like you
have enough pieces to go win win it all? Or

(01:15:24):
do we have enough access to or trade values or
anything or picks to go get somebody to make our
team deeper better? That three? Do you want to be
anywhere else? And there is the other teams on your
radar that you want to be and play yet, So
that's how it all comes down to a trick effect,
you know. I mean, I got a couple of teams
in my mind know that probably would be good for them,

(01:15:44):
But hey, it's not my decision. It's not my job
to figure out where he wants to go. Is whatever
he think his best him, whatever make him happy. But
in the day, you got to respect the way he's
going out there and competing. Yeah, and still represent the
city of Cleveland, the team playing for and respecting his
teammates and coaching staff.

Speaker 2 (01:16:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:16:03):
Great comeback last night I think it was the biggest.
They were down eighteen and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Yeah, they was down now, they was down seventeen early
on in the game. They cut it to ten and
a half. Oh, cut it to ten and a half.
And then they scored thirty three and the Magic only
had fifteen in the third quarter, so they took over
the advantage dere and didn't how to close it out
down the stretch. But give a big shout out to
the landa Magic. They had a hell of a series,
and shout out to Apollo being care for sure, like

(01:16:27):
to be young, to be in that moment, to want
to take those big shots. That young of an age,
second year in the league as very special and he
has a very bright future.

Speaker 1 (01:16:37):
Hit him, Okay, next one. So there are talks of
NBA leaving TNT, leaving Turner and going to NBC, so
that people are now talking about the fate of Inside
the NBA. So as a basketball fan, I know you
watched nightly games, would you say Inside the NBA is
the greatest sports show in history?

Speaker 3 (01:16:57):
Yeah? Man, growing up you always wanted to see that,
you know what I mean, spectacle it was lit, but ah,
it's top Brokens with those four guys that'll be on
tm T bro are hilarious. Yeah, they are funny. So
you know, I would love to see those guys stay
together and not break it up because he got Shock
and Charles. They being best friends and always arguing. You
got Kennedy, Kenny, you know what I mean, he got Arnie.

(01:17:18):
Those guys do a hell of a job, man. They
make even if you don't like basketball, you will turn
on that after the game is over a halftime just
to see them do comedy. Yeah, I mean running to
the board to make racist Gary indeed Chuck doing that,
you know what I mean. It'd be super exciting. It'd
be fun. So we never see but like either one.
I think they'll be fine with either one. But hopefully

(01:17:39):
those guys can stay together.

Speaker 1 (01:17:40):
Yeah major bucket. All right, next one, So tomorrow or today,
the defensive Player of the Year is going to be announced.
So I wanted to ask you, Bucket or break go Bear.
Rudy Gobert will be this season's defensive player of the Year.

Speaker 3 (01:17:55):
I say, Bucket. I think they will give it to
him just because of us, his his history, and them
having a number one defense in the league. Yeah, I
think he will get it.

Speaker 1 (01:18:05):
Do you think he deserves it or do you think
that's the right that's the right person to begin at this.

Speaker 3 (01:18:11):
In my opinion, to me, Bam be just because he
can guard so many positions and I don't think he
gets a lot of credit. You gotta look at it, bro,
even though they still lost a series. I think Game two,
Day one, the second half, he guarded Jason Tatum, like
not switching on Jason Tatum. He's guarding Jason Tatum, running

(01:18:32):
off pinned downs, getting through screens, like being able to
be that versus the man to guard guard centers got
to be special. I mean, I think women probably would
have won it if he was not his rookie year
because the numbers was insane. Yeah, but uh I think
I in me my opinion, I would have given it
a Bam man. I think it's just tough because Ad
does the same thing, you know what I mean, he
can guard multiposition. I think he never gets his credit.

(01:18:54):
So a shout out of Ad. I think he should
have been one of the finalists. But for me, my
choice for Divins by the Year, I would have took
Bam about you for sure?

Speaker 1 (01:19:01):
Nice Okay, shout out Kentucky. Right there. Okay, finally bucket
or brick. Paul George will be on the Clippers next season,
got a player option.

Speaker 3 (01:19:11):
But I know we want to see this is a
spicy bucket of brick today. I love it to me,
I say bricks. Why I say brick? I know Paul
loves La, loves La, want to be in La. I
know they want to run it back for sure, you
know what I mean. Then you got to bring all

(01:19:32):
those guys, all those La guys, James Russ, pg Kawhi.
I think you have to bring all those to the
new arena they have, you know what I mean. But
I feel like at the same time is and I
know Pete don't play the game for the money. Let
me play the game because he loved it. He could
piece at high level, put the work in. I've seen
it front Frank Center. But you also want their security.

(01:19:53):
I mean, you want that blanket to feel like right,
because you know, we never know. Injuries can't happen any
moment some then medical wise, health wise can happen. You
can't play no more. You just want that security, that blanket.
I think he might opt in, but the way he
played this year played a lot of games, played a
hell of a year. All Star, probably be All NBA.

(01:20:15):
He's up for extension and maxistension. I think he probably
wants to, you know. I mean, Kawhi got it, which
was deserving. So played the most games he played in
a couple of years, and we've seen what he can
do when he's healthy. It just sucks he had to
deal with injuries again going to the playoffs. So that's
my choice. I don't I don't see Pete being back there,
but I know he would love to be back there
and stay in LA.

Speaker 1 (01:20:34):
Can you sum up the Clippers situation right now? Where
you know they got these four future Hall of famers there.
You know, this might just be a big thing for
me because I live in LA. You've lived in LA
and they got that new arena.

Speaker 2 (01:20:45):
How how hard of.

Speaker 1 (01:20:47):
A different, difficult situation are they in to make sure
that team is right going into a new arena and
maybe not being able to find as good of like
a four you know, super team I guess put together.

Speaker 3 (01:21:00):
On to compete. Like I said, all those guys been
from the West Coast. Being out there in LA. I
feel like that's one of the reasons Bamber made the move,
you know, I mean to get those guys there, and
then Russ had a hell of a little last year
for them when KAWHD and PG didn't play in the playoffs.
He was playing like the old Rust when he was
back in Okay. So he just putting up big numbers
giving him a chance to fight every night. So you

(01:21:23):
me him. And that's one thing I'll give a shout
out to Russe and give him credit for, because the
biggest thing we deal with his players that's been superstars
or being stars in this league or have built the
name for ourselves, is they feel like we can't accept
the road. I mean, and look at him. He's probably
on a couple of teams in this league he'ld be
starting or at least playing thirty thirty five minutes, but

(01:21:44):
some games it doesn't work out for him that way.
And he's been a true professional about it, a great
role player, excepting any role. He wants for the team
to win. And I've seen him put it on the
IG story like everybody's saying the narrative bodyment about this,
and like you said, I just want to compete. I
just want to win out there and play r and
try to win. So I think you have to bring
those four guys into that new arena. I mean that

(01:22:05):
brains of fan base. You have four future First Battle
Hall of Famers coming into a new arena. It helps
the ticket sales go up. Bama's a smart man, he
knows what to do. So I think they're trying to
figure their way out. But any day, it all depends
up to p if you want this stenching or he's
willing to wait one more year to get this stinching.

Speaker 1 (01:22:22):
That's right. Yeah, another interesting thing to look out for
this offseason. All right, John, there's been another episode of
Point Game. Anything you want to leave with the fans?

Speaker 3 (01:22:31):
Showtime, man, keep watching the playoffs. We're gonna give you
out more stories, more episodes, and yep, it's been fun
communuating talking to y'all.

Speaker 1 (01:22:38):
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Speaker 3 (01:22:49):
We want to ask questions, Please ask the questions. They
can entertained to ask him questions.

Speaker 1 (01:22:54):
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(01:23:15):
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(01:23:40):
Odds in line subject to change