October 19, 2024 • 44 mins
Doug continues his discussion with former Canisius star Billy Baron, including what made his experience playing for his dad at Canisius so special, adapting to the Euro game, if he regrets not playing in the NBA despite having an accomplished international career, and how a rash of injuries ended his pro career.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hey, what if this is all ball, we're dropping this podcast.
It's probably on a I don't know, Friday or Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You're getting ready.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
If you're a basketball guy, you may be rolling to
a workout, rolling.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
To a secret shrimmage.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
If you're an assistant coach, that's where we're going.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We got a secret scrimmage.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
With Northern Illinois. Kind of cool, you know, like new
head coach Green Bay. So a lot of different stuff
going on. Like I try and do things a little different.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So uh, first, and.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Apologies to the staff at South Dakota because we were
supposed to do up until probably a month and a
half ago, a secret scrimmage with South Dakota. What happened
was South Dakota is relatively close to here. We're relatively
close to them, so we scheduled a scrimmage with them
preliminarily in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis is five hours from
Green Bay. Remember, for a secret scrimmage team.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
At our level, we probably aren't going to fly.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It's a five hour drive there, five hour drive back,
two hours to play, hour to eat and shower. Right,
that's a long rickin day. So my boy Antoni Weisch
called me I played with him at Notre Dame. He's
a study. He was an assistant. He recruited CJ. McCollum
to Le High.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And he's at Northern Illinois.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
He's like, hey, you want to play us in Milwaukee?
And I said, uh, well yeah. So I went and
saw my assistant coaches and I said, hey, guys, would
we rather play Milwaukee than the Twin Cities?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And They're like, yeah, yes we would.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So Milwaukee's like hour thirty from here. There's also a
little Wayne concert. If you followed us on social media,
you know, a little Wayne is my guy. Huge Packer fan,
also a huge Green Bay Phoenix fan. Now we worked
together at Fox, who work together a little bit of ESPN.
So we're gonna play the scrimmage, watch some college football,
go a little Tuncie concert.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Come on home.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
It's pretty good, right, not bad for the old coach
taking care of my guys. In the meantime, let's get
back to the podcast. Part one was Billy Baron. He
just got done playing overseas at Olivia Milano and just retire.
In part two, we'll talk a little bit about what
(02:30):
led to ultimately his retirement. As we talked about his
college days. In part one of the pod, what's it
like to play overseas?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
What's it like to not make the NBA? What's it
like to retire at thirty three?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
That's all part of this podcast without further ado.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Here's part two. Billy Baron on all Ball. What's the
best part of playing for your dad?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
The wins man? Right? Winning and I always regret and
not getting my dad NC tournament, Like I'll always always
regret it. You know. It's just like that's our senior
year after everything we went through, win or lost. Me
and my dad for the most part, you sued to
walk to dinner after like a state like you doos
(03:18):
to take me like a nice steakhouse. We go sit
at the bar. I just have a drink like you
drinking here my dad after a game. It was awesome,
Like the best, you know what I mean? Like I
look back on them, like, do.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
You know me? Do you know how many people?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Like by the way, the kids might not get it,
but like dads.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Listen to the podcast. So that's the fucking best. Yeah,
that's the best.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Like again, quick story, So my dad passedway a decade ago,
and when I got done playing in college, that was
back when I remember like EA sports with have touring
teams and play against. My dad actually had like a
touring team. So my dad was a huge woman California.
He became a huge UCDLA guy. Even when he's the
(04:02):
longmeas state. He would go and watch him practice. And
we were close with the Hazards. I was like a
ball boyder in the Hazard era and Rashid was my
teammate forever and we're boys, and then we were season
ticket holders that Herrick, my sisters a cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
My brother went there to.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Walk on and got beat out to make the team.
They offered me a scholarship, but it was like I didn't,
I didn't. I want to get away, so I went
to Notre Dame. So I never played for UTLN. And
then when I came back and tried to transfer, they
took Baron Davis like I would take Baron Davis to
me too. So so we played them in an exhibition
(04:40):
game and we beat them by twenty six points.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
It was at the time the.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Worst loss UCLA had ever suffered in poly Pavilion. And
I hit like four threes. Now, I was a very
good shooter, and I hit like four threes and played
like this perfect flog game four game right, And I
mean that moment and like till the day he.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Died, he said, what's the greatest moment in your life?
He would say, my son and I beat UCLA, right
and right? So but and that was like for fake.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I can't imagine winning a game, you're the you're the
best player in the league with your dad having a
drink and a stake at a bar, right, Like that's
a that's a dream for any dad, any dad, Like
is my kid, Like I just I could just set
my son like a letter and just said, hey, we
(05:30):
want to recruit it. Yeah, really, but I mean right
now he would be he's tracking to be, if ever,
the worst player, right, I want him to be the
best player. But but I can't like that's amazing, that's
like you should that's what you should lead with when
people say, like, what's the greatest moment in your career?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Like a beer or a drink my dad at a
bar after women, Yes, that shit doesn't go away.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Like if you were to talk to me, if we
were at Rhode Island, like I don't know if that
would have happened. It took the firing of my dad,
and then how we relocated both to Buffalo, Like I
could have went to Purdue, and I came here to
be with you, and he took the job. He always says,
I took the job to coach you to finish your career,
like and he did, like he retired one year after
I left, and he took that job for me. So
(06:19):
like we both were like, you know, all right, a
drink after you know, one drink after a game or
a college kid with their coach. Like many people be like, wow,
that's crazy, but it's like he knew how hard I
was working. He also knew the sacrifice that I made
to come be there with him, and he and I
understood what he did. So we were just both like,
have a drink. I mean, like we deserve it. Let's
(06:40):
just have a drink.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That the best road win that you remember in college.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
In college probably like so my junior year when we
got to Canicius, they had won five games a year before.
It's Canesius. It's the bottom of the bottom of the
Division one, and we had all these transfers. Everyone else
will to play and I came in immediately, I became eligible,
and we were like five and one. We went to
Temple and the Temple was like just outside the top
(07:06):
twenty five, and we beat them by like twelve I
think at their place. And Temple crushed my dad his
entire time in the eight ten from Bonnie's in the
nineties to twenty twelve. Temple have my dad's number for
the most part. And it was nice to go there
and beat them. And it was just nice because we
had just left you or I you know what I mean.
(07:27):
Then go doto the Temple and beat them and there
was like no one at the game because it's cancious.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It was just well, nobody goes to Temple games.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Anyway anyway, Right, you're right.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That's like the worst part. That's like one of the
worst parts of Earth where that's located too. There is terrible.
I remember when Dump was there, I was like, dude,
this place what my Philly standards just drop?
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, they built this brand new, beautiful gam and
nobody goes like why go here?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Because are you get done playing?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Mm hmm?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
And now let's get ready for the NBA draft? Yeah yeah, yeah,
what were they telling you?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I had like thirteen fourteen pre draft workouts, so I
was there. I remember my first workout was Chicago. I
had Scalabrini was, you know, with Washerman at the time.
We're doing workouts and he looks at me and he goes, hey, listen,
TIBs is the coach I played for. TIBs. Just shoot
behind the ball screen, all right, all I just shoot
behind the ball screen. We're playing two on two. I
(08:29):
think Scottie Wilkins guard and me goes down to the
ball screen and just shoot everyone under the ball screen. Honestly,
I didn't play that well because you're just like so nervous.
You're like, Wow, here's the time. I gotta do it,
you know what I mean? Like and h I left
the workout and scal was like, yeah, you're in play
at forty seven. Really, I'm play at forty seven. After that,
what I just did there, I was like, Oh, I
(08:49):
got this. So I did all thirteen workouts and was
on the cusp of it and it just didn't work out.
Went to start end up going to Summer League with Chicago.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Did you watch did you watch the draft?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
I watched it. I thought there was a chance because
my best workout was actually with San Antonio, like my
like my roommate at UVA I'm still close with, Joe Harris,
was in the workout with me and I played so well.
He looked at Me's like, dude, they're gonna take you.
Like there's no way they can't take you. And I
was playing against like Rush Smiths and we're playing one
on one, two and two, three and three, and I
(09:24):
like swept him and I'm like, I couldn't miss. It
was just one of those things that I just couldn't miss.
And I was like, man, maybe I just did it
and ended up not working out. So then did the
whole summer league thing Chicago, and when I was there,
I actually had a really good offer from Lithuania and
this is you know, I had a brother who's been
(09:45):
doing it. No the two ritis the other team, Yeah,
they just left the euro League so they were better
than they are now. And I was like, I got
a contract from them. That's really good. Don't be idiot
passed that up? Like so, uh, Cleveland talked to me
about training camp and I was like you know what,
like that's going to lead to the G League, you know,
(10:08):
don't be stupid, like go make some money and start
your career. Over in Europe. So that's what I did.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I would get again.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You tell me you had this we wish Chicago, it's
like every day you're there.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I just remember with.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
The Lakers, it's like every day of the are you
get a little bit more comfortable, Like you first show
up and you're like, what am I doing here?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
You know?
Speaker 4 (10:31):
And I was.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I just remember it with the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And the Lakers thing was so fucking intimidating. Like you
walk in and then like there's Jerry West and there's
a picture of Elgim Baylor and there's Kream Abdul Jabbar
and there's Squill and like and then you go in
the locker room and back.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Then it was like Shaq and Kobe and Garrik Fisher.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And all these guys and we're like, what am I doing?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Right? But then they treated you so they treat you
so good.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yes they do, right, they cause they treat summer league
dudes like they're an NBA All Star like and I'm like,
well you get massaged every They're like yeah, I'm like, okay,
just put me down at eight am over here, right.
I'm like, I mean, I'm you know, I'm sure all
this other they're like Derek Fisher was hanging out with him.
I'm sure he's probably like this is a fucking clown.
I was like, dude, however long i'm here, I'm gonna
(11:13):
pretend like I'm a Laker. But every day I was there, Like,
you start to go like I could totally do this.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Like he's like.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
That year it was me and Mike Pemberthy, Okay, and
and penn Is.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
He's an assistant the NBA.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
He is.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
He was an NIA player that not a lot of
people knew. I knew because he was training in Orange County.
And he's like, literally the best fucking shooter I'd ever seen.
He had like seventy five in a yearly game. Like,
fucker can shoot like nothing.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
He's a polar.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Opposite of me. Like I can do everything better than him,
except I cannot shoot a basketball anywhere near as good
as him. And it's a triangle, which shooting is actually
of a premium.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
But I'm like convincing myself, like I'm fucking locking him up.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
We do one on one drills, I'm creating shots like
I got all this shit going. I'm like and then
fucking out, you're a third point guard. Like, can you
stand out there and spread and stay out of the way, right,
But like every day I was.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
There, I'm like, dude, I'm gonna make this fucking team.
I'm gonna make this team. And then Mitch walked in.
He's like, hey, can I see you for a second. No,
you know that you have that experience all in Chicago.
You're like, this is we did.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
We did the practices in Deerfield that they're old videos of,
obviously MJ. And I'm walking in here, I'm like, this
is where the guy walked. This is it? And I
see his name hanging up there, I see the championships.
I'm like, what am I doing here? This is unbelievable.
And so that so Tims was the coach and we're
(12:44):
doing double days. It's like five days in a row, right,
and de Rose is coming back from his injury because
he wants to play for Team USA in July. And
I don't think it was the Olympics. I want to
say it was like maybe the World Cup was the
World Cup and De ro is just De Rose twenty
four still can go. Yeah, he's getting ready, he's doing everything.
(13:04):
I'm playing against Derrick Rose for four hours of the
day I'm guarding Derrick.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Rose Zami b the Lake.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Yeah. So I did that for four for four hours
straight for five days, and that was interesting for sure.
That was very interesting, eye opening for sure. It was great.
Like looking back on that.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Like, okay, interesting, you give me, yeah, little, give me
a little more.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I mean it comes down and makes a move like
just goes right by you. I'm like, what do you
want me to do about that? Like I'm supposed to
guard that? Who can guard that?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
He was nobody.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
He was so freaking explosive. It was just like you're like,
you're coming down and your thought it isn't even the
state in front of him, because it's not even a
realistic thought.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It was just like will you please just do the
jump shots that I don't.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Back in the paint. But it was cool.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
It was it was like, Wow, I was when I
was the freshman, I guarded Iverston at Georgetown and we
were in his zone and we had never even practiced.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Now, we were in his zone like three quarters of game.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
But I remember coming out and it was before he
was back when he's Bubba check but he stole the
ball and there's video I'll find altent to and we
had a guy that Matt gotch sept One Friendswood, Texas,
and he like waited on him and then just dunked
on him.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
And I remember like getting the ball and like he
ran by me.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I was like, holy shit, it I can't believe it,
you know, right, like you want to, like you're playing
basketball and you train like to never be in awe
of another human being.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You're like, I've never seen some shit like that.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Like he's smaller than me, he's skinnier than me, and
yet he's stronger than me, and I'm fucking strong and
he just dunked on our step foot, Like what the
fuck am I watching?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yes, Yes, yes, it was. It was very similar to
it was.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That it and those guys are like quick and fat,
like some dudes you guarded are like super quick. Those
dudes are fast, and like those two are guys that
were like quick fast exposed to It's it's it's like
they'll like X men.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Kind of in control at the same time. It's like yes,
how how like how It's like it'd be like if
you took me and then like you sped up the tape.
It's like you put it like times too like that's that.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I like that. Yeah at two x speed. Yeah, I
like that. It's a good one. Okay. So you go
to Lithuania, that's your first gig.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, big, like for people to understand, like that's a
big gig. And Lithuanians are psychos, Yes, fucking psychos. So
I played in Russia out and we had four Lithuanians
on our team. In Lithuanians, I played in perm Russia
is euro great. We won the the Neville. We beat
Latovasritus and Jagers they were in this Neble league anyway.
But we had this assistant coach, Baldies Komi, who's like famous.
(15:45):
He played He played on the on the team that
beat us in Davy eight Olympics, the Russians, okay. And
then the other point guard who's like a famous European
coach now was Thomas Pinches. Yeah yeah, so and like
those guys are fucking psychos. And I mean that in
like a not so loving way, right, yeah, nuts, like
(16:06):
you come.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
In the good l good lee come we go.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
We we just day off, we go, we get shots,
we get shots, and so we'll go in and we'll
be shooting and you know, like again not a great shooter.
Obviously lost my confidence in college. But like those guys
wrap it out and then you're like, you know, it's
like your day off. You got a little lift in,
you got a little sweat in, Like all right, I'm good. Like, hey,
let's play a little bit. Like four hours later, you're like,
(16:31):
oh my god, I'm so tired. And they're like, then
let's go to let's go to the sauna. Let's go
to so And then we go to sauna and they.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Start drinking Russian banya.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Oh my god, and the bony.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Did you do the Russian banya? Did you ever do that?
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah? The leaves?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, we also did this thing where they do that
they put this special honey on you.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Oh dude, I tell people about it here. First time
I did it, I walked out like whoa, I can't
do this. Then my teammates are like, no, you gotta
do it. I did it my first time. They put
the cold ice on you while they're hitting you over that.
And then we were in Saratov in the middle of
nowhere in Russia and you had to get out from
there and jump in a lake.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I jumped in and we had we had a we
had a cold pool when we had to jump in.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I jumped on a lake in January and I was
like what am I doing? But like I slept the
next two days. I was just like sleeping like a baby,
and I was like, that was actually amazing rehabilitation.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
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Speaker 2 (17:42):
What was the the when you like forst You're out?
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I didn't play it, Like my coach didn't speak any
English at all, Like he was from a village and
they had just hired him and he's like known as
like a joke around the country. I didn't know that.
And so they're like, oh, you played for him, ha haha.
I'm like yeah, ha ha ha. Like the guy was
maybe quit basketball, like it was the guy was selling
meat out of the trunk of his car after what
Sally us the meat like it was crazy. He was
(18:06):
actually the same guy that coached the ball kids when
they went to Lithuania. So like, and the guy who
wouldn't play me and he didn't give me like a
reason why he told me, like my first week there,
He's like, I'm not going to play you too much.
I can't I don't speak that. I'm getting translated. And
he goes, I'm not going to play you too much.
I can't really talk to you. I'm like, oh, all right, sick,
all right?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But because how much did you if you know my mask,
how much do you make it for at year one?
T Hey great example? Okay, so here's the question to you,
honest question.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
So a lot of college gets down like right now,
if you average twenty a game at.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
At Canisius, right, one of the big boys would come
in and offer you to fifty three hundred grand. Right.
The problem is when you get done playing for two
hundred and fifty three hundred grand, and then you get
a really good offer like Latvias Red. This is like
a good first like one ten is a good first contract,
Like that's.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
The legal Yeah, it was one of the highest or
if not the highest rookie paid.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, I again, And you can speak like I'm not
leading you into anything. My thing is like, aren't we
kind of fucking kids up? Because they don't really understand
the market. They think the market like and and how
why could you understand, like they think, like, okay, well
I can make two hundregrads in college, so then I
played professionally at the big club, so I'll make two
(19:23):
hundred grand or three hundre grand.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
They could like nothing that works, especially not when you're rookie.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think the whole system is kind
of being I'm curious to see if that that that
probably won't happen, Like if a kid does that, that's
not gonna happen, you know. And and I'm curious to
see how Europe bounces back from it, because I don't
think they will. I think college is changing the whole
game and they know it. They know it as well.
And then you add an extra two way deal. I'm
(19:47):
curious to see if the G League increases the money
at all. But you're right, I mean if I was
making whenever I was making after I actually had another
year of eligibility after my senior year because I play
three years. Yeah, so I was Yeah, I had another year,
So I can't imagine what I could have made this year.
But do you imagine I wouldn't have made It's a
retas twenty.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Four a game, dude, you probably would have gotten minimum
three fifty maybe five five fifty Peah.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, as you know, twenty three, twenty two year old, Like,
come on.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Not Pat wouldn't be.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
So when Retas comes at the one ten, you're like,
I'm off set.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I'm good. I'm good than hanging on college for another year.
You're in Europe, so you get done playing, but now
you don't have much film. Right.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
The whole thing with Europe is like your numbers and
your film whatever, what was your two?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Like your two? So I left there I have not
I don't have much going on. And I went to
Seem in Belgium and euro Cup team actually in Belgium,
and they actually took me and my brother. My brother
called me up and it's like hey, like the coach
wants both of us. And I was like really and
like I hated basketball so much that first year, Like
I it was really really bad, Like I was living
(20:59):
by myself in Lithuania. I didn't play at all. People
are just custing me out every day in languages for
things that aren't my fault. And I had zero confidence.
And so I went to that team with my with
my brother and actually with my college teammate who like
it was great. His name is Jordan Heath. He still
plays in Japan. So we went there together and he
(21:21):
was my boy, and I was like, this is exactly awesome,
Like this is.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
He played and you played in the EuroLeague, euro Cup, EuroCup.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Which cup?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
It's just it was just called eurocups. Like eurally, euro Cup,
that's what it is.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
No, no, no, no, they don't have that. The course we
were in, I believe that's euro Cup. Yes, that's EuroCup.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
So what was it like to play with your brother?
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I mean it was amazing, Like, but my brother was
also like trying to be like the coach, the GM everything.
I'm like, dude, just like just play, just rely, because
like I didn't. He didn't play his best. I know
he could have played better because I think he just
had like a million things on his mind because like
he wanted to work. So I'm like, bros, just like play.
It was a seventh year overseas. It was my second
year and I just wanted to Like I came off
(22:05):
that year and I was like I had to chip
my shoulder, like I'm going to prove people because like honestly,
I'm a realistic If I can't make a certain amount
of money in Europe. I'm going home, like I'm gonna
start my life back home. And I love basketball, but
I'm like, this isn't it. This sacrifice is too much
for a little money. So yeah, it was great, man,
like it was we he lived. He lived on the
(22:27):
third floor. I live on the second floor. My boy
lived on the first floor. It was amazing, It really was.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
What do you guys do?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
A bunch of video games? Like we live in this
like shitty town. Like it was horrible, like horrible.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
There's somebody else that.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
It's like everybody talked about like I'm making money, I'm
a presure.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
What did you do? Like I can play video games
every day.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
I would do every day Like I was like simple life.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You know, I have a bud.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
I have a buddy who named Gave Frank. He's actually
a doctor in Wilmington. Kind of a fake guy though
he does he basically prescribes to a medicine have more
drug addicts.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Anyway, shout out to Gabe, you're listening.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
But he was like he was in like I think
he played little in Israel and then he was like
in the CBA, and then he went to medical school.
And he like was plunking out of medical school. It's like,
what the fuck, dude. He's like, bro, I've been playing basketball,
which means you go to the gym and then you
come back and you fucking play video games all day,
and then you go back to the gym and then
you get something to eat, and then maybe you play
video games or maybe you go out looking for chicks,
(23:28):
and then you go to sleep, and then you get
up and you do it again. He's like, that's not
really setting me up. Or medical school, Like I got
to remember, like I gotta be up like twenty hours
of the day, like studying like eighteen of them.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I was like, oh, that's a pretty good point, right,
What I do when I.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Do so I don't actually have to work, right, just
like do shit that I get paid for, but I
don't actually have to do real stuff. So okay, So
you play in Belgium.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Yeah, and then what I had a good year there,
end up going to Spain. I went from there to
Spain Mercia, so actually I led the It was like
second in the euro Cup in scoring. So I had
a good year, advanced my game went to Spain kind
of like an up and down year there. Yeah, I
(24:16):
mean Spain was nice and all, but it was just
a decent year. It didn't really move the needle for me.
I had two years. I didn't move the needle for
me my first year, in my third year, my third
year is very flat. Then we went to that team
in Turkey in the middle of like nowhere basically, you know,
and like my agent had, you know, it was like,
do you want to go back to Mercia, which is
like kind of like an Arizona, like I lived on
(24:36):
a golf course. Do you want to go in Arizona?
Or do you want to go to Mercia? Do you
want to go to Strasburg, beautiful French town, they're very
good in the French League. Or do you want to
go to this team in like Turkey. I don't know.
He's like I can't even pronounce her name. I'm like,
what's that team? You know what I mean, like you
know they need your score? Okay, what's the team name?
Like where? I don't care where it is at this point,
(24:56):
like I need to go play and have a good season.
So and this is my second year married and I'm
like Valley. I told my wife, like we're gonna go
to this place over here. I told, I said, listen,
you gotta give me like nine months here. I'm going
to dial it in and then you know, we'll be
fine after that, I promise. So I went to the
small team in Turkey and it really worked out.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Man.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Like I had great teammates. So I had Sean Marshall
who went to Boston College. Sure, Josh Duncan, great format Xavier,
who played at Xavier. Yeah, Jeff he was Pendergraph at
Arizona State. Uh he's name, yeah, Jeff ayra Is Now
it was Jeff E. J Rowland played at Saint Mary's.
(25:42):
So like, I just had like a great group of
like Americans. It was just like a great stepping stone
in my career because from there I went on to
Red Star, which was like a B which was a
big jump.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yes, the Red Star. Yeah, first, when did you get
the Red Star? Like September training all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I guess like second week in August?
Speaker 2 (26:02):
What's his training line? You know?
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I had a favorable coach that year, which a godsend
because I had heard horror stories. But like, I'm whatever,
twenty seven, so I'm like whatever, I'll do whatever I
have to do. But he was great man Like, he
was so calm, he was so like what you wouldn't
think a Serbian would be.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
And don't think he's they like super tall point guards.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
They do. I had first sure at Joe Raglan. My
second year there had Lorenzo Brown. I'm a two. I
changed to it too. Yeah, my second year, after my
second year in Belgium, my team in Spain put me
at the two. We had a point guard named Facu Compazo,
who's very good. I don't know if you know, of course, yeah,
he's really good. So he was So I started playing
the two, and I was like, whoa, this is way
(26:47):
easier because like.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I don't have to run, just go get buckets.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Like I remember I was playing the point guard from
that team in Belgium. I'm like bringing the ball up
every single time. Guys like hounding me, and I'm like,
I'm six and six to two, but I'm not like
the fastest guy. So like, if you get to put
a little point guard on me, like he's gonna turn
me three or four times, that's exhausting over the course
of the game. Or and you got to shoot, you
do all this stuff. So I started playing the two
(27:12):
and I remember my brother used to come off and
I'd be drenched in sweat and I look at my brother.
He's sweating. But I'm like, dude, like I'm working like
three times harder than you because he was playing the two.
So finally when they put me at the two, I'm like, wow,
this is like way easier. So at that time in
Red Star I was playing, I was playing the two.
My first year, I had Joe Raglan, he played at
Wichita State, great player.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
And then my second year is Lorenzo Brown was the
point guard.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
My second year Brown could drop some dimes too.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
What is that We've I've everybody seen that atmosphere on
like Instagram?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
What's that shit like to play? Man?
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Like you you know some days, like you show up
to a game, you're just like don't for some reason,
you just like don't have it. Like he's just like
maybe in a fog, like maybe if you took a
nap before the game, was like I just can't wake up.
You're selling cold water on your face. You just like
I can't wake up. It doesn't matter if you had
a bad nap and you can't wake up when you
walk into that gym, like they're there before you are,
(28:08):
So you're walking into a big game and it's going
to be packed. As you're walking into the gym, you
hear them they're in the gym already, and you're like,
and there's there's ten bodyguards on the side of you
with helmets and guns and invest and you're like, yo,
like let's fucking go, Like there's no way we're losing tonight,
and I'll never forget. Like they playing this gym called
(28:29):
Pioneer and I call it like the Madison Square Guard
of Europe. It's like the best gym. It's the best
gym in the world because it's like it just goes straight.
The sides just go like straight up and everyone's standing,
so it feels like everyone's just on top of you
and they're just like jumping and cheating, lighting off.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Flares, let off flares, like the flair thing is like
what what? What is? What is going on here?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I'm not like I remember we played a game in
the Championship, Game five of the Championship to go to
the euro League my first year, and this place is
absolutely like fact. I mean, they delayed the game for
forty five minutes because there was because when we went
to this team at Montenegro, they were like spitting on us.
They were like pushing us literally in warm ups, like
throwing the ball. Boys took the ball, threw it in
(29:12):
the stands. The fans would take the ball, and we're
in warm ups. It's like, yo, can you give us
our ball back? And they're pegging the ball at you,
and you go, this is crazy. I mean, my assistant coach,
he's at the end of the you know when you
do layup lines, he's at the end giving you high fives.
If you looked at the back of his jacket, there
was lookies just like all over the back of his jacket.
So we lost game four and we're like all right,
like wait until they come to our place. This is
(29:35):
going to be insane. And I remember and shoot around
like guys, like, the game's gonna get delayed tonight by
probably like an hour, so just know that because our
fans are gonna go nuts. So you know, the other
team is like Norris Cole, Earl Clark, who else is
on that team? Trying to think, but some players, some guys.
So we're in warm ups and you know we're going
(29:57):
to its place as nuts and they run out and
the place is booing and blah blah blah. And you
know how I told you about how the ball boys
took the ball and the bro we had like these
like mobsters and they put like specific people there, like
three or four mobsters. They took the ball and they
start walking towards them and they're at mid court going
like in the middle like you know, one, two, three,
(30:17):
go team. They're looking at him, they're walking towards him
like come here, come get the ball, like this, come
get the ball. And this is game five to go
to the Yearly, Like this is you have to win
your title to get promoted to the Yearly. And they're like,
come get the ball. And I'm like yo, I'm looking
down like trying to go through warm ups. I'm like, yo,
this is like a movie. This is crazy. And so
like they didn't give him the ball, and then they're
(30:38):
throwing fireworks someone through like a whole thing of coke
like and everyone kind of looked at that guy like,
you know, don't throw soda in the court. It's gonna
ruin the court. I can't remember that they delayed the game,
but I remember when the game started. I'm like Guarden,
Norse Cole and north fast guy, and but it was
so crazy in there. He gets the ball like and
I'm picking them up like ninety four and I'm like, yo,
(31:00):
I'm right here, and that only that place could make
me do that, like I'm right here and like you're
not going anywhere type yo. And like I remember at
one point we're up like fifty, We're up like seventy
something to twenty something against a team with good players.
It was wild, man, it was it was it was
a movie.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Why'd you quit?
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Because I couldn't My body couldn't do it anymore, like
I had. What happened to me last year was like
it was an awful experience, man, Like my wife just
asked me here like an hour ago, and how do
you feel, you know, how you did it? I'm actually like,
I'm actually relieved because what I was going through, Like
I don't want any athlete.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
To go through that ever ever, which is which is what.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
So I was in Milan these past couple of years
and we won the championship. My first year, I got
surgery on my elbow to clean it up, and I'm like,
all right, four to six week recovery, like scoping the elbow,
cleaning it out, take out a bone spur. Four six
weeks perfect, won't miss any time. Fine, and I had
(32:07):
another year of my deal. Get the surgery done. June
twenty fourth, you know, go home back to the States.
I had it done in Italy and my arm's just
like hurting. I'm like, man, what's going on? What's going on?
And the doctor's like, oh, no, worry, the pain's gonna
go away. The pain didn't go away, and all of
a sudden, my arm locked up. Yeah, what what's going on?
What is that? So then I ended up having to
(32:28):
go back to Italy in late August and they think
my elbow's frozen, right, So they're taking my elbow and
they're just like ranking it back and forth, cranking it
back and forth. Like I'm in like tears, like I'm
like lightheaded and hurts so much. Eventually we go get
an MRI. We go back to see the doctor and
they're like, yeah, like, you have a bunch of stuff
that grew back in your arm. It's called calcification. You
(32:49):
have a bunch of stuff that grew back in your arm.
We got to operate on that again. So I'm like
all right, okay, fine, So they operate on it again
like August nights, and I get I have the Tommy
John scar here. It's like, right, you know, a scar
like this big, same thing on this side. They took
out ten and a half ounces of the stuff that
(33:10):
gri on my arm, which is like a like a
steak like it's it's it took out a lot of stuff.
And again, right after that surgery, we go through the
same type of rehab. I mean like I'm on the
hospital bed and they're moving my arm back and forth
and I'm like bleeding through the bandage. I'm like, oh,
it's this. It's extremely painful. My god, this is what
I'm supposed to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So I
(33:32):
go back and recovering for the next two months. They're
just cranking my arm back and forth. My golass staying hurts.
All of a sudden, arm stops moving again, Like what's
going on? So like, oh, you know, it's okay, it's okay,
it's okay. So come I was supposed to come back
for Christmas. Well we have some injuries going on. So
they're like, well you should play. You know, it's going
to get better, right, that's the mentality. It's going to
(33:52):
get better as you play. Somehow, I'm like, all right,
you know I've never gone through this. I'm like, okay,
so I'll play a game, and man, when I tell
you before the first game I played from June to December,
I think I literally made ten three pointers total. I
could not reach the basket. You could have put a
million dollars at the top of the key, say abillity
make one out of ten. I couldn't. I had nerve damage.
(34:16):
I couldn't literally I couldn't follow through, Like my hand
would go like this, Like I couldn't even shoot, Like
the ball will go two feet in front of me.
So some days I would be like, you know, I
step into it. I could finally get it there. So
there's like play some games. You know we're shorting guys.
You know this party recovery process. So we're playing some games.
(34:36):
I'm playing the point. At this point, I literally have
one arm. I have my left arm. I can't shoot
threes in my right arm. I played three four games
all of a sudden. For the last game, you know,
I just played so bad. I was in so much pain.
They're giving me the strongest pain killer. It's not working.
I start freaking out, you know, on the doctors and everything,
like what are we doing? Like this is this is joke.
(34:57):
So we're like, all right, take January off, you know,
let it heal all this stuff. Okay, take January off.
Nothing's happening. So at this point, like I'm on a
contract yere, time is ticking. Europe is super cutthroat, and
like I'm thirty three and I had all these plans,
like I finished my first year in Milan like really well,
(35:18):
and I was like, I want to be in Milan
for the rest of my career, and I thought I
established myself like I should be here. Everyone thinks I
will be here for the rest of my career. And
it's really good money, by the way. So I uh,
after January goes, it's not getting any better, and I'm
like all right, guys, like I'm gonna go see my
own doctor here like this is not working. I drive
to Munich with my family. I go see the Bayern
(35:40):
Munich doctor who's supposed to be like you know, he's
top he top level. He looks my arm and he's
like that's impossible. How can you play like that's a joke.
We go get an MRI. He tells me, yeah, you
need another surgery. You know, the doctor didn't take out
the piece that's blocking your reflection, is what he said, Mike,
you kidding me. I'm like all right, man, Like it
was like, you know, when my wife asked me how
(36:02):
you know, how are you doing now? I said, I'm
relieved because that moment in Munich when he told me
I needed another surgery right then and there, he basically
said your career is over. Like in my eyes, like
that's what I heard. Like I was crying, man, it
was horrible. Like I'm literally like walking the streets of
Munich after that, like literally cried like this is like
this is a joke, you know, So take my family
(36:23):
back to the States. I'm gonna get the surgery done
in the States. Trying to find good doctors. Finally found the
Yankees doctor and he looks at my arm and he
just goes.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Who is it.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I'll check, Yeah, I'll check David Dave, I don't check.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Yeah, sure, oh, And he.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
Doesn't hold back. He looks at my arm and goes,
what a fucking disaster. He goes, what is that? I'm like, doc, please,
like don't tell me it's that bad. Please. He goes,
what a fucking disaster. He goes, we don't. He goes
to scar you. He goes, we don't do that. We
don't do that at all. And he goes, what have
you been doing? Free habbing? And they've been cranking my arm?
Speaker 4 (36:57):
He goes.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
He puts his hands on his head. He's like, no,
what are you doing? So I'm like all right. Like
he goes, you want to get the surgery. I'm like, yeah,
I'm here. He goes, and I said to him, I go,
can you save my arm? He goes, I'll try. He goes,
it's awful as it is, but I'll try. Like when
I tell you, like my arm was like like this
is almost perfect extension, Like it was here to here.
(37:19):
That's all I had. Was there, That's all I had.
So I go and get the surgery. March nineteenth after like, man,
after like the week, I'm like, all right, we it's
a movement here all right. After two weeks, I started
shooting basketball and I feel like a little kid again. Man.
I'm like, holy, I can get the ball in my
shooting pocket. I couldn't get the ball my shooting pocket
(37:39):
was gone. My arm couldn't bend. It still it doesn't
really bend, but I can get the ball in my
shooting pocket. Once I got the ball in my shooting pocket,
I looked at my wife. I'm like, oh, we can
do this. Oh we can definitely do this. So I
text my coach right away because they ruled me out
for the season, because my physical therapist was like, you
can come back in May, and I'm like, WHOA really May? Yeah.
(38:00):
So I texted my coach and I'm like, hey, coach,
I'm gonna be back for the playoffs, like I'm gonna play.
I told them I'm gonna play in the playoffs. You
can only play six Bogners. We had ten, so I said.
I text my coach. I said with the confidence, crazy conference,
like I'm gonna play. I'm gonna practic, I'm gonna play.
So I worked my butt off in Florida for like
the month of April. I show up there after the
(38:23):
day after the last regular season game. I have four
practices to prove myself. I basically I haven't played all year,
and I was back man like, I was hitting shots
and I was just like, oh, like this is this
is unbelievable, like you know, talking shit all this stuff,
and I felt like I had to miss the beat
he puts me in the rotation. I'm like, wow, man,
I'm like kind of tearing up. I'm like, Dad, I
can't believe we just pulled that off. Bro, I get
(38:46):
I get to the warm ups of the game, so
they didn't announce me, and I was playing until I
literally showed up and I walked out my warm up
and everyone's clapping. I got goose bumps. I go and
I'm doing floaters my my routines, like I just start
with floaters. I go up with a floater.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Bro.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I come down and I just tear my cap and
I felt it go right away. I just I tore
my cap and I knew it right away, Like I
was like wow, like that just like I'm like looking
up with my that really just happened. Really, go back
to my locker room. I'm texted my wife and text
my brother. I'm like, I just tore my calf, like
I know for a fact, it's gone, Like what do
(39:23):
I do? And then we kind of came up with
a solution like you gotta play, like you got to
show Europe that your elbows healthy. So I'm like walking
on like I'm walking on like the edge of my foot,
walking on my heel, playing the game and I hit
my only three and I came out of the game
and I didn't play. I didn't play again because basically
(39:44):
they were rehabbing me to come back for the finals.
I tore it again. It wasn't ready. So that's another story.
But I get back to America. Second day in America,
my agent hits me up and says, yeah, the team
doesn't want your back. They don't want to say a
risk on you. I was like, after all, that, really,
(40:04):
don't you don't even tell me to my faith, you
just you tell me After I left my second day
in America. So that was like between Munich and when
I heard that news, those were extremely tough, like I
could have freaking broke my hand and punched a wall
like it was. That was that frustrated. So I waited around.
(40:27):
I'm sending workouts to teams and I'm and I'm I'm
slinging it. I'm shooting it well, but everyone has question
marks about my status. I didn't have any year league offers,
and I told my agent, like I just I only
went year league, like I'm not playing anything else because
I established myself in the league and I thought I
can play in the league for you know, start, you know,
two three, four more years. So he came with China
(40:52):
like late, I think late in September, which is late,
you know, Europe's already going on. So he came to
me with with China. I said, yeah, I'll do It's
great money, Yeah, let's do it. So we go to Shanghai,
fly my family out to Shanghai. We get there and
I'm practicing with them, and they're doing two a days,
two and a half hour, both taped, you know, and
(41:16):
I take a couple of hits in my elbow and
I'm just like, this isn't this isn't it. Like this
isn't this isn't it. And in China everyone signs month
to month contracts. In the first two months, the last
five months are guaranteed. So I'm like, listen, like, let's
just call it what it is. Like I told myself,
like this isn't going to work, Like I'm not going
to make it. Like I literally woke up at the
middle of the night and you start crying to my
(41:39):
wife and I'm just like listen, like I'm done. I'm done,
Like this is what like this stress level, Like I've
stressed over my dad being fired, over going to different schools,
over living all these countries. This was like completely on
another level what I was battling with. And I was like,
where do Let's just go home and we just went
(41:59):
home and like and that was it. That was it.
So now it's either you know, I've been I've been
talking to my agent. My agent's extremely powerful in Europe.
His name is Mishko or is Nanovich. He represents Jokic
and he's got that the team Mega, I don't know
what their name. This year they usually Mega B Max,
(42:22):
the pink team. So he's got them over there, and
I told, you know, maybe i'll you know, talk to
him about helping him out and sending kids to college
because there's a whole bunch of European talent. It's kind
of it's it's it's the new wave. So we've had
discussions about that and we're we're gonna talk tomorrow about it.
A couple of NBA teams have reached out for different purposes,
whether it's player development, scouting and whatnot. So I'm gonna
(42:44):
go around there for the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
All right, that's it for part one of of our
our pod. I think it's probably gonna be a three
part pod with Billy Barron. Pretty awesome stuff. Reminded of
the Doug Gottlieb broadcast live daily on Fox Sports Trading
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
We go from three.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
To five Eastern twelve to Pacific. You can download that
as a podcast. We even download this podcast, and I
just I have so many thanks for people who they
continue to make this not only this pod possible, but
but this gig is special.
Speaker 2 (43:22):
One.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
I mentioned a lot meats in the in I'll mention
it in the podcast. Scott and Kelly Perry, you guys
have been awesome. We're starting to, you know, work some
some business with the gun, which of course is a
basketball I guess feeding training device if you will. And then,
(43:42):
as many of you have noticed, our good friends at
Liquid Death have hopped on board as well with the
program and with me specifically, and I've been murdering my
thirst ever since. Well listen, we got more all balls
to come. Okay, so make sure you tell it for and.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Download rate download, subscribe and rate, review and uh.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
In a couple of days we'll drop part two, and
a couple of days after that we'll drop part three.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
It gets better and better. Thanks so much for listening.
I'm Doug Godli.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
This is all ball
Hey, what if this is all ball, we're dropping this podcast.
It's probably on a I don't know, Friday or Saturday.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You're getting ready.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
If you're a basketball guy, you may be rolling to
a workout, rolling.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
To a secret shrimmage.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
If you're an assistant coach, that's where we're going.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We got a secret scrimmage.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
With Northern Illinois. Kind of cool, you know, like new
head coach Green Bay. So a lot of different stuff
going on. Like I try and do things a little different.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
So uh, first, and.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Apologies to the staff at South Dakota because we were
supposed to do up until probably a month and a
half ago, a secret scrimmage with South Dakota. What happened
was South Dakota is relatively close to here. We're relatively
close to them, so we scheduled a scrimmage with them
preliminarily in the Twin Cities. Minneapolis is five hours from
Green Bay. Remember, for a secret scrimmage team.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
At our level, we probably aren't going to fly.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
It's a five hour drive there, five hour drive back,
two hours to play, hour to eat and shower. Right,
that's a long rickin day. So my boy Antoni Weisch
called me I played with him at Notre Dame. He's
a study. He was an assistant. He recruited CJ. McCollum
to Le High.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And he's at Northern Illinois.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
He's like, hey, you want to play us in Milwaukee?
And I said, uh, well yeah. So I went and
saw my assistant coaches and I said, hey, guys, would
we rather play Milwaukee than the Twin Cities?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
And They're like, yeah, yes we would.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
So Milwaukee's like hour thirty from here. There's also a
little Wayne concert. If you followed us on social media,
you know, a little Wayne is my guy. Huge Packer fan,
also a huge Green Bay Phoenix fan. Now we worked
together at Fox, who work together a little bit of ESPN.
So we're gonna play the scrimmage, watch some college football,
go a little Tuncie concert.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Come on home.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
It's pretty good, right, not bad for the old coach
taking care of my guys. In the meantime, let's get
back to the podcast. Part one was Billy Baron. He
just got done playing overseas at Olivia Milano and just retire.
In part two, we'll talk a little bit about what
(02:30):
led to ultimately his retirement. As we talked about his
college days. In part one of the pod, what's it
like to play overseas?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
What's it like to not make the NBA? What's it
like to retire at thirty three?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
That's all part of this podcast without further ado.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Here's part two. Billy Baron on all Ball. What's the
best part of playing for your dad?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
The wins man? Right? Winning and I always regret and
not getting my dad NC tournament, Like I'll always always
regret it. You know. It's just like that's our senior
year after everything we went through, win or lost. Me
and my dad for the most part, you sued to
walk to dinner after like a state like you doos
(03:18):
to take me like a nice steakhouse. We go sit
at the bar. I just have a drink like you
drinking here my dad after a game. It was awesome,
Like the best, you know what I mean? Like I
look back on them, like, do.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
You know me? Do you know how many people?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Like by the way, the kids might not get it,
but like dads.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Listen to the podcast. So that's the fucking best. Yeah,
that's the best.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Like again, quick story, So my dad passedway a decade ago,
and when I got done playing in college, that was
back when I remember like EA sports with have touring
teams and play against. My dad actually had like a
touring team. So my dad was a huge woman California.
He became a huge UCDLA guy. Even when he's the
(04:02):
longmeas state. He would go and watch him practice. And
we were close with the Hazards. I was like a
ball boyder in the Hazard era and Rashid was my
teammate forever and we're boys, and then we were season
ticket holders that Herrick, my sisters a cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
My brother went there to.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Walk on and got beat out to make the team.
They offered me a scholarship, but it was like I didn't,
I didn't. I want to get away, so I went
to Notre Dame. So I never played for UTLN. And
then when I came back and tried to transfer, they
took Baron Davis like I would take Baron Davis to
me too. So so we played them in an exhibition
(04:40):
game and we beat them by twenty six points.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
It was at the time the.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Worst loss UCLA had ever suffered in poly Pavilion. And
I hit like four threes. Now, I was a very
good shooter, and I hit like four threes and played
like this perfect flog game four game right, And I
mean that moment and like till the day he.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Died, he said, what's the greatest moment in your life?
He would say, my son and I beat UCLA, right
and right? So but and that was like for fake.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I can't imagine winning a game, you're the you're the
best player in the league with your dad having a
drink and a stake at a bar, right, Like that's
a that's a dream for any dad, any dad, Like
is my kid, Like I just I could just set
my son like a letter and just said, hey, we
(05:30):
want to recruit it. Yeah, really, but I mean right
now he would be he's tracking to be, if ever,
the worst player, right, I want him to be the
best player. But but I can't like that's amazing, that's
like you should that's what you should lead with when
people say, like, what's the greatest moment in your career?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Like a beer or a drink my dad at a
bar after women, Yes, that shit doesn't go away.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Like if you were to talk to me, if we
were at Rhode Island, like I don't know if that
would have happened. It took the firing of my dad,
and then how we relocated both to Buffalo, Like I
could have went to Purdue, and I came here to
be with you, and he took the job. He always says,
I took the job to coach you to finish your career,
like and he did, like he retired one year after
I left, and he took that job for me. So
(06:19):
like we both were like, you know, all right, a
drink after you know, one drink after a game or
a college kid with their coach. Like many people be like, wow,
that's crazy, but it's like he knew how hard I
was working. He also knew the sacrifice that I made
to come be there with him, and he and I
understood what he did. So we were just both like,
have a drink. I mean, like we deserve it. Let's
(06:40):
just have a drink.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That the best road win that you remember in college.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
In college probably like so my junior year when we
got to Canicius, they had won five games a year before.
It's Canesius. It's the bottom of the bottom of the
Division one, and we had all these transfers. Everyone else
will to play and I came in immediately, I became eligible,
and we were like five and one. We went to
Temple and the Temple was like just outside the top
(07:06):
twenty five, and we beat them by like twelve I
think at their place. And Temple crushed my dad his
entire time in the eight ten from Bonnie's in the
nineties to twenty twelve. Temple have my dad's number for
the most part. And it was nice to go there
and beat them. And it was just nice because we
had just left you or I you know what I mean.
(07:27):
Then go doto the Temple and beat them and there
was like no one at the game because it's cancious.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
It was just well, nobody goes to Temple games.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Anyway anyway, Right, you're right.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
That's like the worst part. That's like one of the
worst parts of Earth where that's located too. There is terrible.
I remember when Dump was there, I was like, dude,
this place what my Philly standards just drop?
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, they built this brand new, beautiful gam and
nobody goes like why go here?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Because are you get done playing?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Mm hmm?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
And now let's get ready for the NBA draft? Yeah yeah, yeah,
what were they telling you?
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I had like thirteen fourteen pre draft workouts, so I
was there. I remember my first workout was Chicago. I
had Scalabrini was, you know, with Washerman at the time.
We're doing workouts and he looks at me and he goes, hey, listen,
TIBs is the coach I played for. TIBs. Just shoot
behind the ball screen, all right, all I just shoot
behind the ball screen. We're playing two on two. I
(08:29):
think Scottie Wilkins guard and me goes down to the
ball screen and just shoot everyone under the ball screen. Honestly,
I didn't play that well because you're just like so nervous.
You're like, Wow, here's the time. I gotta do it,
you know what I mean? Like and h I left
the workout and scal was like, yeah, you're in play
at forty seven. Really, I'm play at forty seven. After that,
what I just did there, I was like, Oh, I
(08:49):
got this. So I did all thirteen workouts and was
on the cusp of it and it just didn't work out.
Went to start end up going to Summer League with Chicago.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Did you watch did you watch the draft?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
I watched it. I thought there was a chance because
my best workout was actually with San Antonio, like my
like my roommate at UVA I'm still close with, Joe Harris,
was in the workout with me and I played so well.
He looked at Me's like, dude, they're gonna take you.
Like there's no way they can't take you. And I
was playing against like Rush Smiths and we're playing one
on one, two and two, three and three, and I
(09:24):
like swept him and I'm like, I couldn't miss. It
was just one of those things that I just couldn't miss.
And I was like, man, maybe I just did it
and ended up not working out. So then did the
whole summer league thing Chicago, and when I was there,
I actually had a really good offer from Lithuania and
this is you know, I had a brother who's been
(09:45):
doing it. No the two ritis the other team, Yeah,
they just left the euro League so they were better
than they are now. And I was like, I got
a contract from them. That's really good. Don't be idiot
passed that up? Like so, uh, Cleveland talked to me
about training camp and I was like you know what,
like that's going to lead to the G League, you know,
(10:08):
don't be stupid, like go make some money and start
your career. Over in Europe. So that's what I did.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I would get again.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
You tell me you had this we wish Chicago, it's
like every day you're there.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I just remember with.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
The Lakers, it's like every day of the are you
get a little bit more comfortable, Like you first show
up and you're like, what am I doing here?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
You know?
Speaker 4 (10:31):
And I was.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I just remember it with the Lakers.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And the Lakers thing was so fucking intimidating. Like you
walk in and then like there's Jerry West and there's
a picture of Elgim Baylor and there's Kream Abdul Jabbar
and there's Squill and like and then you go in
the locker room and back.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Then it was like Shaq and Kobe and Garrik Fisher.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
And all these guys and we're like, what am I doing?
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Right? But then they treated you so they treat you
so good.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yes they do, right, they cause they treat summer league
dudes like they're an NBA All Star like and I'm like,
well you get massaged every They're like yeah, I'm like, okay,
just put me down at eight am over here, right.
I'm like, I mean, I'm you know, I'm sure all
this other they're like Derek Fisher was hanging out with him.
I'm sure he's probably like this is a fucking clown.
I was like, dude, however long i'm here, I'm gonna
(11:13):
pretend like I'm a Laker. But every day I was there, Like,
you start to go like I could totally do this.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Like he's like.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
That year it was me and Mike Pemberthy, Okay, and
and penn Is.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
He's an assistant the NBA.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
He is.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
He was an NIA player that not a lot of
people knew. I knew because he was training in Orange County.
And he's like, literally the best fucking shooter I'd ever seen.
He had like seventy five in a yearly game. Like,
fucker can shoot like nothing.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
He's a polar.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Opposite of me. Like I can do everything better than him,
except I cannot shoot a basketball anywhere near as good
as him. And it's a triangle, which shooting is actually
of a premium.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
But I'm like convincing myself, like I'm fucking locking him up.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
We do one on one drills, I'm creating shots like
I got all this shit going. I'm like and then
fucking out, you're a third point guard. Like, can you
stand out there and spread and stay out of the way, right,
But like every day I was.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
There, I'm like, dude, I'm gonna make this fucking team.
I'm gonna make this team. And then Mitch walked in.
He's like, hey, can I see you for a second. No,
you know that you have that experience all in Chicago.
You're like, this is we did.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
We did the practices in Deerfield that they're old videos of,
obviously MJ. And I'm walking in here, I'm like, this
is where the guy walked. This is it? And I
see his name hanging up there, I see the championships.
I'm like, what am I doing here? This is unbelievable.
And so that so Tims was the coach and we're
(12:44):
doing double days. It's like five days in a row, right,
and de Rose is coming back from his injury because
he wants to play for Team USA in July. And
I don't think it was the Olympics. I want to
say it was like maybe the World Cup was the
World Cup and De ro is just De Rose twenty
four still can go. Yeah, he's getting ready, he's doing everything.
(13:04):
I'm playing against Derrick Rose for four hours of the
day I'm guarding Derrick.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Rose Zami b the Lake.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Yeah. So I did that for four for four hours
straight for five days, and that was interesting for sure.
That was very interesting, eye opening for sure. It was great.
Like looking back on that.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Like, okay, interesting, you give me, yeah, little, give me
a little more.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I mean it comes down and makes a move like
just goes right by you. I'm like, what do you
want me to do about that? Like I'm supposed to
guard that? Who can guard that?
Speaker 2 (13:37):
He was nobody.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
He was so freaking explosive. It was just like you're like,
you're coming down and your thought it isn't even the
state in front of him, because it's not even a
realistic thought.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
It was just like will you please just do the
jump shots that I don't.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Back in the paint. But it was cool.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
It was it was like, Wow, I was when I
was the freshman, I guarded Iverston at Georgetown and we
were in his zone and we had never even practiced.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
Now, we were in his zone like three quarters of game.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
But I remember coming out and it was before he
was back when he's Bubba check but he stole the
ball and there's video I'll find altent to and we
had a guy that Matt gotch sept One Friendswood, Texas,
and he like waited on him and then just dunked
on him.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
And I remember like getting the ball and like he
ran by me.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I was like, holy shit, it I can't believe it,
you know, right, like you want to, like you're playing
basketball and you train like to never be in awe
of another human being.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You're like, I've never seen some shit like that.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Like he's smaller than me, he's skinnier than me, and
yet he's stronger than me, and I'm fucking strong and
he just dunked on our step foot, Like what the
fuck am I watching?
Speaker 3 (14:45):
Yes, Yes, yes, it was. It was very similar to
it was.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
That it and those guys are like quick and fat,
like some dudes you guarded are like super quick. Those
dudes are fast, and like those two are guys that
were like quick fast exposed to It's it's it's like
they'll like X men.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
Kind of in control at the same time. It's like yes,
how how like how It's like it'd be like if
you took me and then like you sped up the tape.
It's like you put it like times too like that's that.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
I like that. Yeah at two x speed. Yeah, I
like that. It's a good one. Okay. So you go
to Lithuania, that's your first gig.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Yeah, big, like for people to understand, like that's a
big gig. And Lithuanians are psychos, Yes, fucking psychos. So
I played in Russia out and we had four Lithuanians
on our team. In Lithuanians, I played in perm Russia
is euro great. We won the the Neville. We beat
Latovasritus and Jagers they were in this Neble league anyway.
But we had this assistant coach, Baldies Komi, who's like famous.
(15:45):
He played He played on the on the team that
beat us in Davy eight Olympics, the Russians, okay. And
then the other point guard who's like a famous European
coach now was Thomas Pinches. Yeah yeah, so and like
those guys are fucking psychos. And I mean that in
like a not so loving way, right, yeah, nuts, like
(16:06):
you come.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
In the good l good lee come we go.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
We we just day off, we go, we get shots,
we get shots, and so we'll go in and we'll
be shooting and you know, like again not a great shooter.
Obviously lost my confidence in college. But like those guys
wrap it out and then you're like, you know, it's
like your day off. You got a little lift in,
you got a little sweat in, Like all right, I'm good. Like, hey,
let's play a little bit. Like four hours later, you're like,
(16:31):
oh my god, I'm so tired. And they're like, then
let's go to let's go to the sauna. Let's go
to so And then we go to sauna and they.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
Start drinking Russian banya.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Oh my god, and the bony.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Did you do the Russian banya? Did you ever do that?
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yeah? The leaves?
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Yeah, we also did this thing where they do that
they put this special honey on you.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Oh dude, I tell people about it here. First time
I did it, I walked out like whoa, I can't
do this. Then my teammates are like, no, you gotta
do it. I did it my first time. They put
the cold ice on you while they're hitting you over that.
And then we were in Saratov in the middle of
nowhere in Russia and you had to get out from
there and jump in a lake.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
I jumped in and we had we had a we
had a cold pool when we had to jump in.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
I jumped on a lake in January and I was
like what am I doing? But like I slept the
next two days. I was just like sleeping like a baby,
and I was like, that was actually amazing rehabilitation.
Speaker 4 (17:30):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
What was the the when you like forst You're out?
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I didn't play it, Like my coach didn't speak any
English at all, Like he was from a village and
they had just hired him and he's like known as
like a joke around the country. I didn't know that.
And so they're like, oh, you played for him, ha haha.
I'm like yeah, ha ha ha. Like the guy was
maybe quit basketball, like it was the guy was selling
meat out of the trunk of his car after what
Sally us the meat like it was crazy. He was
(18:06):
actually the same guy that coached the ball kids when
they went to Lithuania. So like, and the guy who
wouldn't play me and he didn't give me like a
reason why he told me, like my first week there,
He's like, I'm not going to play you too much.
I can't I don't speak that. I'm getting translated. And
he goes, I'm not going to play you too much.
I can't really talk to you. I'm like, oh, all right, sick,
all right?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But because how much did you if you know my mask,
how much do you make it for at year one?
T Hey great example? Okay, so here's the question to you,
honest question.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
So a lot of college gets down like right now,
if you average twenty a game at.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
At Canisius, right, one of the big boys would come
in and offer you to fifty three hundred grand. Right.
The problem is when you get done playing for two
hundred and fifty three hundred grand, and then you get
a really good offer like Latvias Red. This is like
a good first like one ten is a good first contract,
Like that's.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
The legal Yeah, it was one of the highest or
if not the highest rookie paid.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah, I again, And you can speak like I'm not
leading you into anything. My thing is like, aren't we
kind of fucking kids up? Because they don't really understand
the market. They think the market like and and how
why could you understand, like they think, like, okay, well
I can make two hundregrads in college, so then I
played professionally at the big club, so I'll make two
(19:23):
hundred grand or three hundre grand.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
They could like nothing that works, especially not when you're rookie.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think the whole system is kind
of being I'm curious to see if that that that
probably won't happen, Like if a kid does that, that's
not gonna happen, you know. And and I'm curious to
see how Europe bounces back from it, because I don't
think they will. I think college is changing the whole
game and they know it. They know it as well.
And then you add an extra two way deal. I'm
(19:47):
curious to see if the G League increases the money
at all. But you're right, I mean if I was
making whenever I was making after I actually had another
year of eligibility after my senior year because I play
three years. Yeah, so I was Yeah, I had another year,
So I can't imagine what I could have made this year.
But do you imagine I wouldn't have made It's a
retas twenty.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Four a game, dude, you probably would have gotten minimum
three fifty maybe five five fifty Peah.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Yeah, as you know, twenty three, twenty two year old, Like,
come on.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Not Pat wouldn't be.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
So when Retas comes at the one ten, you're like,
I'm off set.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
I'm good. I'm good than hanging on college for another year.
You're in Europe, so you get done playing, but now
you don't have much film. Right.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
The whole thing with Europe is like your numbers and
your film whatever, what was your two?
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Like your two? So I left there I have not
I don't have much going on. And I went to
Seem in Belgium and euro Cup team actually in Belgium,
and they actually took me and my brother. My brother
called me up and it's like hey, like the coach
wants both of us. And I was like really and
like I hated basketball so much that first year, Like
I it was really really bad, Like I was living
(20:59):
by myself in Lithuania. I didn't play at all. People
are just custing me out every day in languages for
things that aren't my fault. And I had zero confidence.
And so I went to that team with my with
my brother and actually with my college teammate who like
it was great. His name is Jordan Heath. He still
plays in Japan. So we went there together and he
(21:21):
was my boy, and I was like, this is exactly awesome,
Like this is.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
He played and you played in the EuroLeague, euro Cup, EuroCup.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Which cup?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
It's just it was just called eurocups. Like eurally, euro Cup,
that's what it is.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Anymore.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
No, no, no, no, they don't have that. The course we
were in, I believe that's euro Cup. Yes, that's EuroCup.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
So what was it like to play with your brother?
Speaker 3 (21:45):
I mean it was amazing, Like, but my brother was
also like trying to be like the coach, the GM everything.
I'm like, dude, just like just play, just rely, because
like I didn't. He didn't play his best. I know
he could have played better because I think he just
had like a million things on his mind because like
he wanted to work. So I'm like, bros, just like play.
It was a seventh year overseas. It was my second
year and I just wanted to Like I came off
(22:05):
that year and I was like I had to chip
my shoulder, like I'm going to prove people because like honestly,
I'm a realistic If I can't make a certain amount
of money in Europe. I'm going home, like I'm gonna
start my life back home. And I love basketball, but
I'm like, this isn't it. This sacrifice is too much
for a little money. So yeah, it was great, man,
like it was we he lived. He lived on the
(22:27):
third floor. I live on the second floor. My boy
lived on the first floor. It was amazing, It really was.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
What do you guys do?
Speaker 3 (22:34):
A bunch of video games? Like we live in this
like shitty town. Like it was horrible, like horrible.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
There's somebody else that.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
It's like everybody talked about like I'm making money, I'm
a presure.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
What did you do? Like I can play video games
every day.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
I would do every day Like I was like simple life.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You know, I have a bud.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
I have a buddy who named Gave Frank. He's actually
a doctor in Wilmington. Kind of a fake guy though
he does he basically prescribes to a medicine have more
drug addicts.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
Anyway, shout out to Gabe, you're listening.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
But he was like he was in like I think
he played little in Israel and then he was like
in the CBA, and then he went to medical school.
And he like was plunking out of medical school. It's like,
what the fuck, dude. He's like, bro, I've been playing basketball,
which means you go to the gym and then you
come back and you fucking play video games all day,
and then you go back to the gym and then
you get something to eat, and then maybe you play
video games or maybe you go out looking for chicks,
(23:28):
and then you go to sleep, and then you get
up and you do it again. He's like, that's not
really setting me up. Or medical school, Like I got
to remember, like I gotta be up like twenty hours
of the day, like studying like eighteen of them.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
I was like, oh, that's a pretty good point, right,
What I do when I.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
Do so I don't actually have to work, right, just
like do shit that I get paid for, but I
don't actually have to do real stuff. So okay, So
you play in Belgium.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Yeah, and then what I had a good year there,
end up going to Spain. I went from there to
Spain Mercia, so actually I led the It was like
second in the euro Cup in scoring. So I had
a good year, advanced my game went to Spain kind
of like an up and down year there. Yeah, I
(24:16):
mean Spain was nice and all, but it was just
a decent year. It didn't really move the needle for me.
I had two years. I didn't move the needle for
me my first year, in my third year, my third
year is very flat. Then we went to that team
in Turkey in the middle of like nowhere basically, you know,
and like my agent had, you know, it was like,
do you want to go back to Mercia, which is
like kind of like an Arizona, like I lived on
(24:36):
a golf course. Do you want to go in Arizona?
Or do you want to go to Mercia? Do you
want to go to Strasburg, beautiful French town, they're very
good in the French League. Or do you want to
go to this team in like Turkey. I don't know.
He's like I can't even pronounce her name. I'm like,
what's that team? You know what I mean, like you
know they need your score? Okay, what's the team name?
Like where? I don't care where it is at this point,
(24:56):
like I need to go play and have a good season.
So and this is my second year married and I'm
like Valley. I told my wife, like we're gonna go
to this place over here. I told, I said, listen,
you gotta give me like nine months here. I'm going
to dial it in and then you know, we'll be
fine after that, I promise. So I went to the
small team in Turkey and it really worked out.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Man.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Like I had great teammates. So I had Sean Marshall
who went to Boston College. Sure, Josh Duncan, great format Xavier,
who played at Xavier. Yeah, Jeff he was Pendergraph at
Arizona State. Uh he's name, yeah, Jeff ayra Is Now
it was Jeff E. J Rowland played at Saint Mary's.
(25:42):
So like, I just had like a great group of
like Americans. It was just like a great stepping stone
in my career because from there I went on to
Red Star, which was like a B which was a
big jump.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Yes, the Red Star. Yeah, first, when did you get
the Red Star? Like September training all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I guess like second week in August?
Speaker 2 (26:02):
What's his training line? You know?
Speaker 3 (26:04):
I had a favorable coach that year, which a godsend
because I had heard horror stories. But like, I'm whatever,
twenty seven, so I'm like whatever, I'll do whatever I
have to do. But he was great man Like, he
was so calm, he was so like what you wouldn't
think a Serbian would be.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
And don't think he's they like super tall point guards.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
They do. I had first sure at Joe Raglan. My
second year there had Lorenzo Brown. I'm a two. I
changed to it too. Yeah, my second year, after my
second year in Belgium, my team in Spain put me
at the two. We had a point guard named Facu Compazo,
who's very good. I don't know if you know, of course, yeah,
he's really good. So he was So I started playing
the two, and I was like, whoa, this is way
(26:47):
easier because like.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
I don't have to run, just go get buckets.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
Like I remember I was playing the point guard from
that team in Belgium. I'm like bringing the ball up
every single time. Guys like hounding me, and I'm like,
I'm six and six to two, but I'm not like
the fastest guy. So like, if you get to put
a little point guard on me, like he's gonna turn
me three or four times, that's exhausting over the course
of the game. Or and you got to shoot, you
do all this stuff. So I started playing the two
(27:12):
and I remember my brother used to come off and
I'd be drenched in sweat and I look at my brother.
He's sweating. But I'm like, dude, like I'm working like
three times harder than you because he was playing the two.
So finally when they put me at the two, I'm like, wow,
this is like way easier. So at that time in
Red Star I was playing, I was playing the two.
My first year, I had Joe Raglan, he played at
Wichita State, great player.
Speaker 4 (27:32):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
And then my second year is Lorenzo Brown was the
point guard.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
My second year Brown could drop some dimes too.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
What is that We've I've everybody seen that atmosphere on
like Instagram?
Speaker 2 (27:43):
What's that shit like to play? Man?
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Like you you know some days, like you show up
to a game, you're just like don't for some reason,
you just like don't have it. Like he's just like
maybe in a fog, like maybe if you took a
nap before the game, was like I just can't wake up.
You're selling cold water on your face. You just like
I can't wake up. It doesn't matter if you had
a bad nap and you can't wake up when you
walk into that gym, like they're there before you are,
(28:08):
So you're walking into a big game and it's going
to be packed. As you're walking into the gym, you
hear them they're in the gym already, and you're like,
and there's there's ten bodyguards on the side of you
with helmets and guns and invest and you're like, yo,
like let's fucking go, Like there's no way we're losing tonight,
and I'll never forget. Like they playing this gym called
(28:29):
Pioneer and I call it like the Madison Square Guard
of Europe. It's like the best gym. It's the best
gym in the world because it's like it just goes straight.
The sides just go like straight up and everyone's standing,
so it feels like everyone's just on top of you
and they're just like jumping and cheating, lighting off.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Flares, let off flares, like the flair thing is like
what what? What is? What is going on here?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
I'm not like I remember we played a game in
the Championship, Game five of the Championship to go to
the euro League my first year, and this place is
absolutely like fact. I mean, they delayed the game for
forty five minutes because there was because when we went
to this team at Montenegro, they were like spitting on us.
They were like pushing us literally in warm ups, like
throwing the ball. Boys took the ball, threw it in
(29:12):
the stands. The fans would take the ball, and we're
in warm ups. It's like, yo, can you give us
our ball back? And they're pegging the ball at you,
and you go, this is crazy. I mean, my assistant coach,
he's at the end of the you know when you
do layup lines, he's at the end giving you high fives.
If you looked at the back of his jacket, there
was lookies just like all over the back of his jacket.
So we lost game four and we're like all right,
like wait until they come to our place. This is
(29:35):
going to be insane. And I remember and shoot around
like guys, like, the game's gonna get delayed tonight by
probably like an hour, so just know that because our
fans are gonna go nuts. So you know, the other
team is like Norris Cole, Earl Clark, who else is
on that team? Trying to think, but some players, some guys.
So we're in warm ups and you know we're going
(29:57):
to its place as nuts and they run out and
the place is booing and blah blah blah. And you
know how I told you about how the ball boys
took the ball and the bro we had like these
like mobsters and they put like specific people there, like
three or four mobsters. They took the ball and they
start walking towards them and they're at mid court going
like in the middle like you know, one, two, three,
(30:17):
go team. They're looking at him, they're walking towards him
like come here, come get the ball, like this, come
get the ball. And this is game five to go
to the Yearly, Like this is you have to win
your title to get promoted to the Yearly. And they're like,
come get the ball. And I'm like yo, I'm looking
down like trying to go through warm ups. I'm like, yo,
this is like a movie. This is crazy. And so
like they didn't give him the ball, and then they're
(30:38):
throwing fireworks someone through like a whole thing of coke
like and everyone kind of looked at that guy like,
you know, don't throw soda in the court. It's gonna
ruin the court. I can't remember that they delayed the game,
but I remember when the game started. I'm like Guarden,
Norse Cole and north fast guy, and but it was
so crazy in there. He gets the ball like and
I'm picking them up like ninety four and I'm like, yo,
(31:00):
I'm right here, and that only that place could make
me do that, like I'm right here and like you're
not going anywhere type yo. And like I remember at
one point we're up like fifty, We're up like seventy
something to twenty something against a team with good players.
It was wild, man, it was it was it was
a movie.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Why'd you quit?
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Because I couldn't My body couldn't do it anymore, like
I had. What happened to me last year was like
it was an awful experience, man, Like my wife just
asked me here like an hour ago, and how do
you feel, you know, how you did it? I'm actually like,
I'm actually relieved because what I was going through, Like
I don't want any athlete.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
To go through that ever ever, which is which is what.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
So I was in Milan these past couple of years
and we won the championship. My first year, I got
surgery on my elbow to clean it up, and I'm like,
all right, four to six week recovery, like scoping the elbow,
cleaning it out, take out a bone spur. Four six
weeks perfect, won't miss any time. Fine, and I had
(32:07):
another year of my deal. Get the surgery done. June
twenty fourth, you know, go home back to the States.
I had it done in Italy and my arm's just
like hurting. I'm like, man, what's going on? What's going on?
And the doctor's like, oh, no, worry, the pain's gonna
go away. The pain didn't go away, and all of
a sudden, my arm locked up. Yeah, what what's going on?
What is that? So then I ended up having to
(32:28):
go back to Italy in late August and they think
my elbow's frozen, right, So they're taking my elbow and
they're just like ranking it back and forth, cranking it
back and forth. Like I'm in like tears, like I'm
like lightheaded and hurts so much. Eventually we go get
an MRI. We go back to see the doctor and
they're like, yeah, like, you have a bunch of stuff
that grew back in your arm. It's called calcification. You
(32:49):
have a bunch of stuff that grew back in your arm.
We got to operate on that again. So I'm like
all right, okay, fine, So they operate on it again
like August nights, and I get I have the Tommy
John scar here. It's like, right, you know, a scar
like this big, same thing on this side. They took
out ten and a half ounces of the stuff that
(33:10):
gri on my arm, which is like a like a
steak like it's it's it took out a lot of stuff.
And again, right after that surgery, we go through the
same type of rehab. I mean like I'm on the
hospital bed and they're moving my arm back and forth
and I'm like bleeding through the bandage. I'm like, oh,
it's this. It's extremely painful. My god, this is what
I'm supposed to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So I
(33:32):
go back and recovering for the next two months. They're
just cranking my arm back and forth. My golass staying hurts.
All of a sudden, arm stops moving again, Like what's
going on? So like, oh, you know, it's okay, it's okay,
it's okay. So come I was supposed to come back
for Christmas. Well we have some injuries going on. So
they're like, well you should play. You know, it's going
to get better, right, that's the mentality. It's going to
(33:52):
get better as you play. Somehow, I'm like, all right,
you know I've never gone through this. I'm like, okay,
so I'll play a game, and man, when I tell
you before the first game I played from June to December,
I think I literally made ten three pointers total. I
could not reach the basket. You could have put a
million dollars at the top of the key, say abillity
make one out of ten. I couldn't. I had nerve damage.
(34:16):
I couldn't literally I couldn't follow through, Like my hand
would go like this, Like I couldn't even shoot, Like
the ball will go two feet in front of me.
So some days I would be like, you know, I
step into it. I could finally get it there. So
there's like play some games. You know we're shorting guys.
You know this party recovery process. So we're playing some games.
(34:36):
I'm playing the point. At this point, I literally have
one arm. I have my left arm. I can't shoot
threes in my right arm. I played three four games
all of a sudden. For the last game, you know,
I just played so bad. I was in so much pain.
They're giving me the strongest pain killer. It's not working.
I start freaking out, you know, on the doctors and everything,
like what are we doing? Like this is this is joke.
(34:57):
So we're like, all right, take January off, you know,
let it heal all this stuff. Okay, take January off.
Nothing's happening. So at this point, like I'm on a
contract yere, time is ticking. Europe is super cutthroat, and
like I'm thirty three and I had all these plans,
like I finished my first year in Milan like really well,
(35:18):
and I was like, I want to be in Milan
for the rest of my career, and I thought I
established myself like I should be here. Everyone thinks I
will be here for the rest of my career. And
it's really good money, by the way. So I uh,
after January goes, it's not getting any better, and I'm
like all right, guys, like I'm gonna go see my
own doctor here like this is not working. I drive
to Munich with my family. I go see the Bayern
(35:40):
Munich doctor who's supposed to be like you know, he's
top he top level. He looks my arm and he's
like that's impossible. How can you play like that's a joke.
We go get an MRI. He tells me, yeah, you
need another surgery. You know, the doctor didn't take out
the piece that's blocking your reflection, is what he said, Mike,
you kidding me. I'm like all right, man, Like it
was like, you know, when my wife asked me how
(36:02):
you know, how are you doing now? I said, I'm
relieved because that moment in Munich when he told me
I needed another surgery right then and there, he basically
said your career is over. Like in my eyes, like
that's what I heard. Like I was crying, man, it
was horrible. Like I'm literally like walking the streets of
Munich after that, like literally cried like this is like
this is a joke, you know, So take my family
(36:23):
back to the States. I'm gonna get the surgery done
in the States. Trying to find good doctors. Finally found the
Yankees doctor and he looks at my arm and he
just goes.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Who is it.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
I'll check, Yeah, I'll check David Dave, I don't check.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
Yeah, sure, oh, And he.
Speaker 3 (36:40):
Doesn't hold back. He looks at my arm and goes,
what a fucking disaster. He goes, what is that? I'm like, doc, please,
like don't tell me it's that bad. Please. He goes,
what a fucking disaster. He goes, we don't. He goes
to scar you. He goes, we don't do that. We
don't do that at all. And he goes, what have
you been doing? Free habbing? And they've been cranking my arm?
Speaker 4 (36:57):
He goes.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
He puts his hands on his head. He's like, no,
what are you doing? So I'm like all right. Like
he goes, you want to get the surgery. I'm like, yeah,
I'm here. He goes, and I said to him, I go,
can you save my arm? He goes, I'll try. He goes,
it's awful as it is, but I'll try. Like when
I tell you, like my arm was like like this
is almost perfect extension, Like it was here to here.
(37:19):
That's all I had. Was there, That's all I had.
So I go and get the surgery. March nineteenth after like, man,
after like the week, I'm like, all right, we it's
a movement here all right. After two weeks, I started
shooting basketball and I feel like a little kid again. Man.
I'm like, holy, I can get the ball in my
shooting pocket. I couldn't get the ball my shooting pocket
(37:39):
was gone. My arm couldn't bend. It still it doesn't
really bend, but I can get the ball in my
shooting pocket. Once I got the ball in my shooting pocket,
I looked at my wife. I'm like, oh, we can
do this. Oh we can definitely do this. So I
text my coach right away because they ruled me out
for the season, because my physical therapist was like, you
can come back in May, and I'm like, WHOA really May? Yeah.
(38:00):
So I texted my coach and I'm like, hey, coach,
I'm gonna be back for the playoffs, like I'm gonna play.
I told them I'm gonna play in the playoffs. You
can only play six Bogners. We had ten, so I said.
I text my coach. I said with the confidence, crazy conference,
like I'm gonna play. I'm gonna practic, I'm gonna play.
So I worked my butt off in Florida for like
the month of April. I show up there after the
(38:23):
day after the last regular season game. I have four
practices to prove myself. I basically I haven't played all year,
and I was back man like, I was hitting shots
and I was just like, oh, like this is this
is unbelievable, like you know, talking shit all this stuff,
and I felt like I had to miss the beat
he puts me in the rotation. I'm like, wow, man,
I'm like kind of tearing up. I'm like, Dad, I
can't believe we just pulled that off. Bro, I get
(38:46):
I get to the warm ups of the game, so
they didn't announce me, and I was playing until I
literally showed up and I walked out my warm up
and everyone's clapping. I got goose bumps. I go and
I'm doing floaters my my routines, like I just start
with floaters. I go up with a floater.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Bro.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I come down and I just tear my cap and
I felt it go right away. I just I tore
my cap and I knew it right away, Like I
was like wow, like that just like I'm like looking
up with my that really just happened. Really, go back
to my locker room. I'm texted my wife and text
my brother. I'm like, I just tore my calf, like
I know for a fact, it's gone, Like what do
(39:23):
I do? And then we kind of came up with
a solution like you gotta play, like you got to
show Europe that your elbows healthy. So I'm like walking
on like I'm walking on like the edge of my foot,
walking on my heel, playing the game and I hit
my only three and I came out of the game
and I didn't play. I didn't play again because basically
(39:44):
they were rehabbing me to come back for the finals.
I tore it again. It wasn't ready. So that's another story.
But I get back to America. Second day in America,
my agent hits me up and says, yeah, the team
doesn't want your back. They don't want to say a
risk on you. I was like, after all, that, really,
(40:04):
don't you don't even tell me to my faith, you
just you tell me After I left my second day
in America. So that was like between Munich and when
I heard that news, those were extremely tough, like I
could have freaking broke my hand and punched a wall
like it was. That was that frustrated. So I waited around.
(40:27):
I'm sending workouts to teams and I'm and I'm I'm
slinging it. I'm shooting it well, but everyone has question
marks about my status. I didn't have any year league offers,
and I told my agent, like I just I only
went year league, like I'm not playing anything else because
I established myself in the league and I thought I
can play in the league for you know, start, you know,
two three, four more years. So he came with China
(40:52):
like late, I think late in September, which is late,
you know, Europe's already going on. So he came to
me with with China. I said, yeah, I'll do It's
great money, Yeah, let's do it. So we go to Shanghai,
fly my family out to Shanghai. We get there and
I'm practicing with them, and they're doing two a days,
two and a half hour, both taped, you know, and
(41:16):
I take a couple of hits in my elbow and
I'm just like, this isn't this isn't it. Like this
isn't this isn't it. And in China everyone signs month
to month contracts. In the first two months, the last
five months are guaranteed. So I'm like, listen, like, let's
just call it what it is. Like I told myself,
like this isn't going to work, Like I'm not going
to make it. Like I literally woke up at the
middle of the night and you start crying to my
(41:39):
wife and I'm just like listen, like I'm done. I'm done,
Like this is what like this stress level, Like I've
stressed over my dad being fired, over going to different schools,
over living all these countries. This was like completely on
another level what I was battling with. And I was like,
where do Let's just go home and we just went
(41:59):
home and like and that was it. That was it.
So now it's either you know, I've been I've been
talking to my agent. My agent's extremely powerful in Europe.
His name is Mishko or is Nanovich. He represents Jokic
and he's got that the team Mega, I don't know
what their name. This year they usually Mega B Max,
(42:22):
the pink team. So he's got them over there, and
I told, you know, maybe i'll you know, talk to
him about helping him out and sending kids to college
because there's a whole bunch of European talent. It's kind
of it's it's it's the new wave. So we've had
discussions about that and we're we're gonna talk tomorrow about it.
A couple of NBA teams have reached out for different purposes,
whether it's player development, scouting and whatnot. So I'm gonna
(42:44):
go around there for the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
All right, that's it for part one of of our
our pod. I think it's probably gonna be a three
part pod with Billy Barron. Pretty awesome stuff. Reminded of
the Doug Gottlieb broadcast live daily on Fox Sports Trading
on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (43:04):
We go from three.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
To five Eastern twelve to Pacific. You can download that
as a podcast. We even download this podcast, and I
just I have so many thanks for people who they
continue to make this not only this pod possible, but
but this gig is special.
Speaker 2 (43:22):
One.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
I mentioned a lot meats in the in I'll mention
it in the podcast. Scott and Kelly Perry, you guys
have been awesome. We're starting to, you know, work some
some business with the gun, which of course is a
basketball I guess feeding training device if you will. And then,
(43:42):
as many of you have noticed, our good friends at
Liquid Death have hopped on board as well with the
program and with me specifically, and I've been murdering my
thirst ever since. Well listen, we got more all balls
to come. Okay, so make sure you tell it for and.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Download rate download, subscribe and rate, review and uh.
Speaker 1 (44:04):
In a couple of days we'll drop part two, and
a couple of days after that we'll drop part three.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
It gets better and better. Thanks so much for listening.
I'm Doug Godli.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
This is all ball
Host
Doug Gottlieb
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