April 21, 2022 • 49 mins
Miles Gray and Jack O’Brien were joined by journalist, producer and author Justin Tinsley on the latest episode of Mad Boosties! They continue to dive into all of the amazing playoff action, discuss Justin’s NBA origin story and plenty more. Be sure to preorder Justin’s book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Was-All-Dream-Biggie-World/dp/1419750313
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back again. We are talking about, well, what else
are we talking about? The NBA playoff? The n B
A oh sorry, I was supposed to say playoffs, not
the NBA. We'll be talking about obviously, that and very
very fun conversation with our guest. Writer, producer, ESPN personality
Justin Tensley is in the building. I'm Miles Gray, I'm
(00:23):
Jack O'Brien, and this is Miles and Jack got I
love it, I love it, I love it. All right,
we've got to welcome our guests. One of the foremost
and sought after voices. Look, whether it beyond sports, hip
hop or things directly pertaining to the culture, We've got journalist,
(00:47):
producer and ESPN personality Justin Tensley, Justin Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
What's going on, fellas man, It is a true pleasure
to be here. I don't know where this conversation is
gonna lead to, but I'm I'm We're talking to NBA,
we're talking the playoffs. I mean, it's only great time.
I mean it. We'll have to talk about your work too,
obviously you did, uh the fantastic thirty for thirty King
(01:09):
of Cranshaw. I think for most people in Los Angeles
who know you know the importance of Nipsey Hustle. Uh,
sure you don't know. Please please check that out. And
also we'll have to talk about you're writing a little book.
You got a little book coming out called Little Book
Notorious Big, a little something on this largely unknown rapper
named the Notorious b I G. Biggie Smalls. I'm not sure. No,
(01:32):
I've not heard of him. Is that the same as
that young man Christopher Wallace? I've heard about that? Yes,
that is right. Okay, Now I didn't know he was
called that. Who knew? Right? Who knew? I mean, look,
let's let's just get right into it. I mean we'll
(01:53):
we'll get to all that stuff obviously in due time.
But I think the thing that is at the top
of our minds the NBA playoffs are in full swing. Now.
How was everybody feeling after that first weekend? How you feeling?
Oh man, I'm excited speaking of that. A thing that
we've talked about on our other shows that guys just
like randomly came across my desk was how young Big
(02:14):
he was, like just throughout everything he did, he was
like so shockingly young, like It's like, what how he
was twenty one when he released Ready to Die, Like yeah, yeah,
and yeah he was. He was gone by the time
he So that ties into what I think has been
(02:38):
the most exciting thing about the first weekend, which is
the young players, particularly Anthony Edwards. Uh yo. Like we
we've talked about Anthony Edwards here and there, but like
I mean, we devoted the first episode of this show
to Jah and Anthony Edwards came through and his playoff
(02:58):
debut put up put up a cool thirty six third
most ever for a player twenty year under in a
playoff game, third most ever for a player of any
age in a playoff debut. And I don't know, it's
watching this happen like it kind of feels like you're
watching someone's game come together in real time, like in
(03:21):
front of our eyes. Like I don't know if it
just feels like that because I haven't watched every game
this season, but like I remember when he came into
the league, everyone was like, well, he's shooting, Like he's
not a good shooter. Like that's that's the first thing
you have to understand about this man. Let's check back,
Let's check back in like a season and a half
um obviously, you know, like athleticism and strength are are
(03:45):
like unparalleled, and then confidence is just unfakeable and incredible.
And his playing game and his playoff debut. I don't
know this is like an old head thing, but it
reminded me of the Lebron Sston series where he was
all of a sudden unstoppable, like he'd been good, but
all of a sudden, it was like, wait, is the
(04:08):
is somebody like is that a college player playing against
a j V high school team? Like, all of a sudden,
it just looked like he could do whatever he wanted
if he chose to. Every time down the court, He's like,
I will take whatever shot I want to with ease.
It is showed a one point lead two minutes into
(04:29):
the third sending away Towns headwards step back mid range
is money. The confidence just stripping off of Anthony Edwards
with seven. Here here's the thing, and for one, John
Morant is deserving of all the praise and adulation in
the world. Like and I went down to Memphis earlier
(04:51):
this year to kind of really report on not necessarily
the ex exces and ohs of like Jozz dominance, but
like when you look at the history of the Grizzlies
like franchise, they've never had a superstar quality player like
a job Moran. And when I mean superstar quality, I
mean even things like Off the Court. Of course, you
know Zach Randolph will always be the heart and soul
(05:13):
of that franchise for for for a lot and deserving reasons.
But Jaw is different, and you get what I'm saying
when I say he's so, he's well deserving of having
his own episode. Like I love the fact that he
posted like that clip from the Last Dance Jordan with
the baseball bad It's just one game. I love it.
I didn't. I love that, And I think only bring
(05:35):
up the fact that we devoted the first episode to Jah,
not not to be like and then like Anthony's better
more to be like. We we struggle to not make
every episode about Jah. Uh. That is my struggle. He's
so cool and so like the things he does, like
even in Game one, which they dropped, it was awesome.
(05:56):
It was so funny. Lot. Look, I'm to ask him
for too much. I want both to seven matchups this year,
to go seven games like whoever wins, like I mean
it is what it is. I'll be fine, but I
need both of those to go seven. We exactly, we
all win, now, Jack, to what you were saying about
(06:20):
Anthony Edwards, I mean, there's there's no I'll say this
if you find a reason to dislike Anthony Edwards. The
issue with you Anthony, right, that guy, that guy is
everything we want from Like obviously you mentioned the fact
that he came into the league and people were saying, like, oh,
he needs to improve the shooting, and then he suddenly
(06:41):
becomes a terrific three point shooting Like he's he's setting
records for for people, you know, you know players his
age in terms of like making threes and his offensive game,
Like I think it's at some point in his rookie
year he got known for like dunking on people because
he would put you he will put you on the
poster quick, fast and easy. But like his game is
(07:02):
so polished offensively that you know, in a way that
in a way that like Vince Carter, he would dunk
on people all the time, but his offensive game was
extremely well polished. And you know, but the thing about
Anthony Edwards that even sets him apart from Vince Carter
it's like this guy is extreme. You know, he gives
(07:23):
you a lot in terms of like media interactions, so like,
you know, I will say that like he's like a
six seven version of shock in a lot of ways.
Like you know, he's gonna dominate on the court, but
like he's gonna give you a sound bite like he
had to. He had the quote of the weekend, Like
he's like, yeah, it was the kids that talked the
most trash at the Memphis game. And I love it,
(07:45):
you know, like I love this guy's game. I love
everything about it and the fact that, like he's twenty,
we could potentially have thirteen and fifteen more years of
this right, you know, like it's it's ridiculous, man. So
like shout out to Anthony Edwards. I love that guy.
I think he's going to be a star, a superstar
(08:05):
for a long time. And if I had to pick
one player, that that one player, one storyline, or whatever
terminology you want to use. From the first weekend, it's
Anthony Edwards. Man, Like that guy's must see TV. He
specialized early in his uh, like you were talking about
when he became numb for dunking on people. First of all,
he had a dunk where he jumped over somebody's head
(08:28):
and dunked on them, and unfortunately they called an offensive
foul because the defender like reached up and touched his
leg and then like fell back. But he also specialized
on dunkey people with his arm at like a ninety
degree and like just straight out in front of him
because he was that high over the rim and like
that that made me realize, Oh, that's the thing you
have to unlearn when you're like that athletic is like, oh,
(08:51):
that's very dangerous what you're doing right there. You're too
high above the basket. Like you need to just go
as high as you need to dunk, and I need to,
But what about us high as I can? Well, then
you will jump out of the building. Then when you're twenty,
you can still love live on the edge and reckless.
(09:12):
Like I don't even him doing that. When he's I
can't believe him. He'll still be young. He'll be a
ten eleven year vet at that point. But uh no,
that that that guy is phenomenal man, and he is
exactly what that franchise needs. And I look, I don't
know what's gonna happen in this series. But they've proven
(09:33):
and he's proven that, like no stage is like too
big for him. I'm not saying he's gonna come up,
you know, on the right side every time, because that
just never happens to anybody. But like even his coach,
you know, Finish, he's he's even said that, like he's
he's proven, he's he's improved dramatically on the defensive end
from year one to year two. So like, this is
(09:54):
a guy for as as entertaining as he may be
in like a postgame press con for a situation like this,
dude is a dog. He's a dog's after it and
any basketball fan and I know y'all are like you
love dogs. Yeah, Well his mentality is it's so elite,
you know. And that's what's so And like what you're saying, Jack,
(10:14):
I think you're saying you can't fake that confidence, right,
And you can tell in the game that he plays
and the words that he speaks. And I think to
your point to what makes this series so great is
like you have on one side and saying I'm ready
for this, I'm energized by the challenge. In fact, I
this is all I ever really wanted, Like you can
tell that's that's where he's coming from. And then the
(10:35):
other end you have Jaw also saying, yeah, that was
a good game, but I honestly felt that we lost
that for ourselves. And so you're putting up these two
mentalities together and like it's only going to deliver some
of the best competition that you know that we've seen it.
And we're recording this right before Game two tips off,
so you guys know more about what happened in this
(10:56):
series than us. But there's one thing that is not
going to change, and that's how excited I am about
Anthony Edwards. One more thing I do want to say
about Anthony Edwards, and I think you all said it earlier,
just like leading up to like this discussion. He wants
this moment, Like if you if you go back to
the one year he was at Georgia u g A,
(11:18):
they weren't good, so he didn't really get a chance
to play in like big time, prime time games and
his first year in Minnesota, you know, they didn't make
the playoffs. Where some people might be like, all right,
well I'm a little nervous going into this game, and
it's naturally feel nerves. You could tell he's not only
he's not only embracing the moment, he's bear hugging. Yeah,
(11:38):
you know it's it's beautiful to see that, like the
times when they fall behind or gets close, like that's
when you're gonna see some ridiculous highlight from him. And
also like right at tip when everybody's damped up, he's
just the most stamped up. He's just like the one
who's like, all, I don't gonna score the first seven
points here, hold this real quick to be young and
(12:00):
spry again what I do? So we we're going to
get some of his postgame greatness a little later on.
Just from the past couple of years. I do want
to workshop with you guys in just mainlining highlights of him.
Over the course of the past couple of seasons, I
have realized that, um, the I think it's the Minnesota
(12:21):
broadcasting team, but like nobody has quite figured out what
to say after he does something incredible. They have tried
answer deadly, answer deadly, uh, and once even tried ants
bury they're dead, which is like a cool fact. Like
you ever see aunts like going out like Harry and
(12:41):
a fallen soldier, and you know, sometimes there will be
a whole line of them. I don't know, like, can
we workshop something for that? It doesn't need to be
right now, but like you know something right because is
an ant too small too fully encapsulate? Know that your no.
(13:02):
I feel I feel like either because I feel like
ants are just hard, too small to encapsulate, and a
name too insufficient to fully embody all of the colleges
that he contains. Just dunked it. Like that's too wordy.
Ants can lift three hundred times their weight, but like
that's again to word So if it's on the Discovery Channel,
(13:26):
that would be amazing. Um, you know who we need
to consult on this is the Charlotte Hornets broadcasting that
because they go in every time. So I'm trying to like,
what could you what could you do for Anthony? So
this is what I'm not a broadcast something like there
are more than ten thousand known species of van around
the world, but the deadly ist just right here in Minnesota.
(13:49):
Like that's also wordy. I feel like Jack, we always
talk about how you get mixed up with his name
for the actor Anthony Edwards from e Er, So maybe
we my brand will not hold it. I I like
when we were talking about him on Zeke Guys the
other day and I was like like I couldn't. I
couldn't do it because Anthony Edwards. And also I think
(14:11):
there's like something with like John Edwards like that, like
just his name needs to be cooler or something. I
don't know, like we need to brand him so like
somehow Dr Mark Greene sent this person to the e
er tom Dr Mark green the character's name, I don't know.
And maybe that's too washed of a reference to people,
like I get that one. My mother would appreciate that reference,
(14:34):
you know, because she was the biggest R fan. But
Natsy got me thinking about, oh, my goodness, is that
George Clooney on the bench because Anthony Edwards has pulled
up as his co star. You're like the early seasons
of the are not many people know that George Clooney
actually started on her. Like, now we're getting too wordy.
I don't know. Do we have to move on from
(14:55):
aunt Man as the like ant Man is a solid
heist movie, like its deals it and then dunks it
like yeah, especially to ask Anthony Edwards, Yeah, I know
exactly what were you talking about? He just needs he
might even just like top of the Martin to you
because he loves the Irish accent. So maybe that's what
(15:15):
it is. The anttagonist is that that's not good, right,
Antie easy Buggets, task force what we'll come up with something,
We'll come he's deserving. Yeah, um, what any anything else
you guys want to call up from the first weekend
of the playoffs. I mean, obviously Boston Brooklyn was all
(15:36):
time classic. Yeah, I mean from I mean a small moment.
I just you know, I like, I like a good block. Um.
And I would be lying if I said it didn't
to see Rudy Gobert against Josh Green, that that that
didn't warm my heart just a little bit. That would
be a lie, because I just I just love I
(15:58):
love the clip. It's everything about basketball. You have the
confidence of Josh Green being like, okay, watch me spin
off of you. Here we go, and then Rudy Gobert
being like, you don't think I'm work on my footwork
constantly in the gym too for this exact situation exactly.
So let's we'll just we'll play this one quick, because
I think it's a it's it's I don't know I
(16:19):
think it warms everybody. Sorry, it was unfortunately to be
a playmaker always shot makes no shots like oh yeah,
that's everyone. I mean, look, I know Rudy Gobert man
like he he hears it a lot from a posting
fans and sometimes the posting players. Man. But that was
an incredible play right there, Like that was an incredible play,
(16:40):
Like there's no other way around that. That was an
impressive the recovery and then just also like there was
something about Green's confidence where he really felt He's like
I'm out of the wood. Yeah I got And I
think that's what I also love about a great play
like that where you're just like, I will denar this moment.
It reminds me of like those moments when Lebron is
(17:01):
doing a chase down and you know before the person
with the ball knows that they're about to get blocked
because he's like you can see him counting his steps
and like doing the thing that it's like, okay, in
one point five steps, that's mine and Gilbert, and with
Gilbert they're like that's you know, that was a trap.
(17:23):
That was a trap that he said. He was like,
all right, I'm gonna go over here, you won't see
me and then I'm going to uh snatch the Yeah,
it's like that meme where the guys like call an
ambulance and then the person is like trying to rob
them and then they pull out their own life. It's like,
but not for me. That is one of the all
time great Internet right there. It's wild because like what,
(17:48):
there's seven billion people on the plane, yea, what is that?
Like point o two percent of people could ever make
that play because one, you gotta be tall enough until
you gotta be athletical. Now there's only a handful of
people on the planet right now they can make that play.
So it was it was impressive. Man. You know, it
was good to see Crusoe back defending like that his
(18:11):
D on Middleton, even though Milwaukee one game won his
d like that. That's just somebody who loves to defend.
This podcast for casual NBA fans is all about defense.
Part of the game. It is. It is like when
you're truly watching, like Alex Cruso or Matistabel for the
(18:34):
Sixers play defense like that. Those are two people who
I highly recommend when you're watching when they're in the game,
just follow them around on defense. Just watch stay watching
them on defense. They love it and they like it's
kind of ingenious, like the ways they find to disrupt
whatever the opposing teams doing. I tell you something else
(18:56):
that I really enjoyed from uh this first weekend playoffs.
Chris Paul, Willie Green doing a great job down in
New Orleans. And I know he and Chris Paul are
friends that used to be former teammates and they're really close.
And I thought Chris Paul's comments after the game where
they were basically sending people under the screen on Chris Paul,
basically daring him to shoot, you know, and it's just like,
(19:19):
do you really want to dare Chris Paul to shoot? Like?
Chris Paul has been one of the best shooters in
the NBA for pre Obama era, you know, he was
knocking down buckets then. So it's I don't expect that
series to be too long, but I do expect New
Orleans to keep it competitive. But Chris Paul at thirty
six man incredible to watch in the shocking after the
(19:43):
season seventeen games, Now we defends the freeze the hats,
the hats sure three four three, Yeah, he plays with
like the true efficiency of someone who is you know,
like just seeing the matrix. Now he's like I can
just you know, I just love anybody like whether it's
your kisch or other players are just super efficient with
(20:04):
their body movement. Just like, let me orient myself one
way and that's enough to give me some space, thank you.
I don't need to be I'm gonna be gassing myself
out here. Super producer Jabari asked the question that I
was actually had this same conversation very recently, like is
this the best version of CP three? Like is the
best he's ever been, even though you know his athleticism
(20:27):
was supposed to have fallen off like three years ago.
He's on that plant based diet that seems to extend
people's careers by a number of years. But like he's
only getting better at like the thing that he's best at,
which is like knowing exactly how to defeat you, like
with just like where he puts his body and where
he puts the ball. I think it's a fair question,
(20:47):
at man, And you know what I'll say it, I
think so yeah, I think so man, because obviously one
you just mentioned how he takes care of his body
and that he's spoken at length about how that's changed
his career. And I don't I don't think you can
short change that. Like, obviously, taking care of your body
(21:09):
is I mean one even for non athletes, that's huge.
Definitely for athletes it's huge. So uh and then you
couple that with the fact that like he's playing with
the best wing player that he's ever played within his
career and Devin Booker, and uh you I mean, look,
DeAndre Ayton, We've seen how his career in his game
(21:31):
has flourished alongside alongside Chris paul I injuries notwithstanding cause
CP three has for the most part battled that throughout
his career. But I think this is the best version
of him because he's always going to be a psychopath competitor.
We're always going to see that, So I mean, and
(21:51):
and again, his game is not really predicated on being
the most athletic point guard in the league. You know,
my as you mentioned it in terms of like efficiency,
bro like that that dude sees the game. Yeah, unlike
nine point nine of people who have ever played the
(22:12):
game of basketball. And literally the only thing he's missing
from his career is basically being the first to sixteen
wins in the playoff. Right there, it is all right,
let's take a quick break and we'll come back and
talk about the dopest things we've ever seen on a
basketball court. And we're back and so justin this is
(22:39):
the point in the show where we like to ask
our guests a little bit about their relationship to basketball
and specifically, like what is the dopest thing you've ever
seen done on a basketball court, NBA or otherwise that
that's a really good question I can I can kick
us off with just like the thing that is occurring,
(23:00):
So Jordan's pool coming through right now and being like
a third splash triplet, like is it might not be
like any individual play is the dopest thing I've ever seen,
or like one of the dopest things I've ever seen,
But his development and like that franchise is development, like
(23:20):
raises some questions for me that are like really interesting,
like because I I feel like he's just learning like
that they have or you know, they're superstars have figured
out like how to create themselves, create new players in
their mold. Like he looks like he is just like
(23:41):
right on the trajectory of Steph and Clay like that
might be a bit much, but I don't know, man,
It's just it's one of those undefinable like qualities that
doesn't get picked up when people, like a lot of
a lot of the conversation around basketball in the off season,
like that gets a little tiresome to me. Is like
(24:03):
when people act like they know what each player is
worth and like, well, you can't win with that team.
You have to like move this guy over here, you
need like three blue chips, and it's like, well, you
don't know, or like Steph could just like teach Jordan
Pool like every one of his workouts and suddenly Jordan's
Pool is like thirty points a game and the playoffs
and just like it's I don't know, it's just really
(24:25):
cool to see that team developed into the Splash Triplets,
not at the thirty two Rivers speed the South Park.
You know. It was I was watching uh game to uh,
(24:46):
you know, Golden State in Denver and they were kind
of having a similar conversation about this, So I'm glad
that you brought it up, Jack, And it's just like
when people talk about player development in basketball, all too
often it's about what is the coaching staff gonna do
for this player? When in reality, yes, the coaching staff
is important, but like, who are these young players veterans?
(25:07):
Who's teaching them the game? In a sense? And with
Steph and Clay and Draymond, you say whatever you want
to about the Warriors, They've always been open and willing
to be like, Yo, let's let's get this person in
here and lets you know, this is how we do things.
How does that mesh with how you've done things? And
what can we do to bring the best out of
(25:30):
you as a player. I mean, look, Andrew Wiggins just
made the All Star team, you know, and so like
we could say whatever we want to. If you're Jordan Pool,
you gotta think you're in the best possible situation. Like
I'm playing alongside arguably the two best shooters of all
time and a guy who just doesn't mind being a
(25:50):
hound on the defensive side of the ball but can
initiate the offense. And Draymond Green, you know like that
that like you're always going to be open because they
can't double you, because if they double you, then Stephford
Clay is gonna be left wide overright, And we've already know,
you can cancel Christmas when that happens. So I agree
(26:11):
man Jordan's pool. A lot of people either don't know forget.
I believe it since March one. He just led the
NBA in three points, you know, like that, and and
this is a three point heavy league that we're talking about,
We're saying earlier off Mike Jack is like watching game
too even and knowing that what the Warriors scored seventy
(26:31):
points in nineteen minutes and then like and within that
situation is like, oh, here's six Man of the Year
Steph Curry coming off the bench, like to add insult
to injury. And it does feel like I play a
lot of video sports video games for anybody who plays,
like Career Mode, it's like that part in Career Mode
where like the star players have to age out and
they retire, but then you get the region players that
(26:54):
come up that like replaced the retired ones. It's almost
as if they just brought a like a region onto
the Golden State Warriors without any of the the players retiring.
You're like, wait, but that's so this is just gen z.
Steph Curry, now, who who said video games can't be realized? Yeah, exactly.
I mean, I'm like, I'm like that Leonardo DiCaprio, mean
pointing at him, like that's a region from a video game.
(27:16):
But yeah, it's it's it's I think that really is
something to watch, because, yeah, that environment says a lot
about the skills that you learn and the energy that
you're around, especially to to have players of that stature
who are willing to give you the space to say, like,
you know what, like you should you should feel yourself
too and play with the kind of confidence that we do.
And everybody is winning. We don't have to talk about
(27:38):
this year's playoffs. We can go back to Jordan's Shack Penny,
who who are your guys? Man? I mean, I think
you watch basketball in the nineties. You you were automatically
indoctrinated into the school of Jordan's, you know, and like
it'd be impossible too, And I have a ton of
memories about a ton of different players. But you know,
(27:59):
I was actually talking to Jabari about this even before
like you started recording. I guess the most sentimental memory
that I have in terms of basketball is watching Game
six of the finals with my uncle and so my uncle,
just for like full transparency, and I don't mind talking
(28:19):
about this at all, honestly, it's a great memory for me.
But obviously Game six at the ninety eight finals was
what June. And you know, my uncle he passed from
poland cancer in January. That's the last basketball game he
and I ever got to watch together. And he was
the guy that like put me onto like all sports basketball, football, men's, women's,
(28:41):
like it doesn't matter, like if it involved competition. He
just loved to watch it. And like he put me
onto so much game so much. But you know, Jordan
was always like one of our favorite people to watch
because you know, we we were people with a heartbeat
then watching Michael Jordan played basketball, and I think we
both knew it time they're like, all right, well, this
(29:02):
is probably it, you know, like that we weren't saying
the last Dance at that point where we were like,
this is probably it. And you know, my uncle at
that point in time, he was he was sick. He
wasn't obviously as sick as he would become, but for
that moment in time, watching that game, for however long
it was, I think that we both forgot that he
(29:23):
was sick, you know what I mean. And we were.
We were just watching Jordan's and you know, like Jordans
literally carrying that team on his back in Game six
in Utah. So like whenever I see highlights from that game, like,
it doesn't bring back like sad memories, for it brings
back great memory. And you know, to see Michael Jordan,
however old he was at that point, I think he
(29:45):
was like thirty five at that point. You know, go
fifteen and thirty five and drop forty five and like
game six and you're just literally watching the dude like no,
y'all are going across this finish line with me. And
I'll never forget like seeing that look of like just
sheer shot, enjoy and amazement and you know, w tf
(30:05):
is going on? Right? Like how is this guy doing
this again? And I like my uncle was charing, so
if he's cheering, I'm cheering. And it was it was
just a great memory. So like for me, that's probably
the most sentimental memory I have with with the game.
That's I mean, I think speaks to why you know
sport and basketball specifically. It draws you in, right because
(30:30):
that moment that shot um Brian Russell. For me, I
remember when I saw that this was like in this
era where I felt that athletes were superhuman, right when
I'm like, Okay, he has the ball, he scores because
he is a god and that's how this works and
we are immortals. But I can almost have this expectation
as I watched that this like supernatural performance will happen
(30:54):
before my eyes. And it's those games like that that
you know, make good on that promise of like what
the potential is of sport, and you can really say,
you can sit there and say, why's this gonna be
the last shot? It would be poetic if he hits
this and then that's that, and he does and you
just sit with that and you cannot believe it. And
it's like all your own hopes and dreams are put
(31:14):
into that moment because you live vicariously through the athletes
that we can't help that. And yeah, there is that
back quality where like, yeah, for you and your uncle,
everything melts away except just to just to sit and
bear witness to like the the absolute out of body
experience it is to watch these like top tier athletes
just you know, make it look like it's magic all
(31:37):
the time. Dude, I'll never forget sitting in his studio
apartment and Washington, d C. Like right off Constitution that
I never forget he had it. I used to think
the studio apartment was like the top floor of the Ritz,
you know what I mean, Like it was it was
the coolest place in where if he lived there, I
was like, oh, man, this is cool, like and I
thought it was huge. Keep it man, that that apartment
(31:58):
couldn't have been no more than like five square feet.
But I'll never forget that look on his face when
Jordan hit the shot. All he did was just like
smirk and just like you know, laugh like this dude
really did it again, Like he really did that. Yeah.
So it's you know, if I ever meet Michael Jordan's
(32:19):
after I wake up from passing out, um, I'll tell
I'll be sure to tell him that story. There are
two moments where it felt like for a prolonged series,
one player was like, actually, I'm going to take over
as the screenwriter of reality. Um. And it was Jordan's
(32:40):
in that series and Lebron in the Cleveland Championship series
where it was just like this feels like all right there,
like now this story would be too good, Like I'm
taking over and absolutely no one can stop me. I
know Karl Malone thinks he knows what's gonna happen here.
I'm still gonna steal the ball from him and then
come down to hit that shot you mentioned. Obviously Lebron
(33:02):
in that finals. Obviously Game seven is remember because of
the block and the shot, and but like game five was, Yeah,
it was incredible what they both went forty one down
three one on the road. Yeah, like that that seen finals,
It was crazy. But like for Lebron, and I think
(33:23):
one of y'all mentioned it earlier, was Lebron versus the
Pistons and oh seven, Yeah, I call it the first
forty eight. Yeah, I never which is crazy because we're
coming up on the fifteen year anniversary of that game.
Like the fact that that game was fifteen years ago,
and I'll never forget speaking to Dan Yelle Marshall, who
was of course on the Calves at that point, and
(33:45):
that the Shauncey Billips, who obviously was on the Pistons,
and I wanted to talk to them about what was
it like playing in that game? And I also spoke
to a fan who was at the game. Chauncey would
say like, dude, we made it an intention to like
one get the ball out of Lebron's hands, but to
(34:05):
like beat him up, like we wanted him to know,
like there's not gonna be any easy buckets here. It
was like it was something about that game five and
like we did pretty much control the game up until
that point, and Shaun she was like, it's like the
light just came right, but for us, the light went
off and it was just like, yeah, there was nothing
we could do. It was like yo, Sun, she was like,
(34:27):
I got I got Lebron. I got Lebron. Then Rashid
would be like, no, I got Lebron. Then RiPP would
be like, no, I got Lebron. Then take Shawn would
be like, no, I got Lebron. The next thing, you know,
there's got straight and it's like what do we do
against this guy? And Danielle Marshall on the other and
it's saying like just play defense. You just play defense.
Clear everybody else kill her play defense? Man. So like that,
(34:50):
which is I think that's when Lebron really became quote
unquote the king and a lot of people because he
was still a phenom at that point. But so yeah,
that's another great basketball memory of man too. As a
second over time, that's Jays Yes what oh seven? This
(35:13):
is uncle, this is George Nesk forty eight points from
Lebron James forty eight points. We'll say it again, the
last twenty five for the Cavaliers, twenty nine of the
last thirty one of the great performances of all time
in playoff history, offered by Lebron James. I'm also class
(35:34):
of oh three when Lebron left high school, and I
remember at the time always being like, all right, well,
you know, I'm I'm in college, but Lebron, Like there
was this subconscious thing of always comparing myself to Lebron
James because I'm like, well, this person is also graduating
at the same time. Let's see where our lives end up.
And I remember May thirty first, two thousand seven, when
his game is happening. I'm graduating college, and then I'm like, yeah,
(35:57):
all right, I know about history, and then like and
this guy is absolute phenomen and I'm like, okay, and
then I think that it's oddly enough, that was the
beginning of for whatever reason, I began to let go
of this very toxic comparison of like wherever I was
that compared to Lebron. Yeah, but you got a degree
Lebron about that. When I beat you, I'll ask you.
(36:19):
You know who Cardinal Risha Leui is as it relates
to Louis for the Sun King. You might know him
as all right, let's take a quick break. We'll be
right back, and we're back. NBA players are very funny,
(36:44):
you know what. One of my favorite things for the
playoffs was Terris Maxie. You know, I'm a Sixers fan,
so I was maybe paying a little ext route tension. Uh,
but he seems to be having so much fun out there.
I feel like he is part of this bumper cry
of point guards who grew up watching Steph and are
just like yo, like he can hit from anywhere now
(37:07):
all of a sudden. And but it's also just like
pure love of the game and pure joy. And there's
like a thing like we don't think of people just
like joking around and having fun when they're trash talking.
But like Fred VanVleet, uh like pushed him and thought
that he flopped and they were talking about it, and
(37:29):
uh here we just have that conversation. It's like right
after the foul was called, Yeah, he felt like maybe
it was maybe he was play acting a bit, so
it pushes him gets the call did you try to
fall down? And I swear to God, I swear to God,
(37:50):
I'm weak. It's like that you gotta go in the
weight room. I'm weak, man, that that dude Yismaxie, Like
it's so fun watching him play, like just for the fact,
like Jack, like you said, like you can tell he
just loves playing basketball. And obviously if you know his story,
it's a wild story. But like it's hard to root
(38:13):
against that guy. Like it, we're talking about Anthony Edwards earlier,
Like he has that same type of quality where it's
like if you dislike him, something is wrong with you
because this dude he plays hard. So like it, Yeah,
I love him too because he's a personality. But he's like, look,
I'm weak. I gotta get songly my second year in
(38:34):
the league. Man, what you want me to do? Um?
And then just because we did spend some time with
Anthony Edwards this game in the beginning of the episode,
he's actually made it into the daily zeitgeist, where you know,
our listeners aren't huge basketball fans, but we had to
talk about uh, when he was being questioned by an
(38:57):
Irish dude. Oh yeah, let's play that one. And I
think again, these are those moments that add to the
loveability or just kind of like wow this there's something
so sincere and genuine about him, just from this very
very simple interaction with the journalist. If you get a
(39:18):
win tonight, that are re confidence going into those next
four games against teams in the similar spots. Besides you
in the table, where are you from, Jim Ireland? I
like your accents, tough. I want to learn how to
talk like that. But actual question again, I was too
much listening to your accent. Yeah, come on, man, like
(39:43):
you can. You can see it in his face to
the second he's speaking, he's like is accessing his brain
being like what am I hearing? Like it's like you
were hearing like a song for the first time. Straight.
He's straight out of Atlanta. You know that that comes
(40:03):
with a certain accident as well. Right, so I venture
to say he hadn't heard too many Irish accents and
growing up in Atlanta, And but you could tell like
he wasn't trying to be a jerky or anything about that,
Like he was just genuinely intrigued. And again, man, it's
just y'all. Y'all said this word a couple of times already,
(40:24):
the likability of that guy, like you just want to root,
like I want to see this guy happy because when
he's happy, he makes me happy, you know so, And
also just the the honesty to be like, all right,
ask your question again, because I was distracted by your
accent is something that I don't And that's the sort
(40:44):
of honesty that only comes from like just point nine
percent likability, where it's like you can just say whatever
you want. People are like, oh, man, I love you,
but also being like I like your accent and I
want to learn to talk like that, like the highest compliment,
but the highest compliment. And I also like treating an
(41:05):
Irish accent like a foreign language, like I'm going to
get the Rosetta stone on that accident and started talking
like that. If he just dropped an Irish accent on
us next season, like that would be incredible. Like he
comes back next season, like what was the off season?
Like he's like, I was just in the gym man
watching Angela's ashes on because I'm trying to get that
(41:27):
Irish section locked in. It would be incredible to see
him and that reporter have a conversation in an Irish action. Yeah.
Just I hope wherever that guy is, Jim, I hope
he comes back and ask him a question. We're gonna
find it follow up. That's my that's my new favorite
buddy cop movie. Yeah right. I love that Interpol has
(41:48):
a new case. They have to team up this Irish
detective with Anthony Edwards. I'm like, let's go. I'm there
opening night. Yeah. Also, Jim's accent is cool, Like not
all Irish accents sound like that. That's like a great
Irish accent, and like that combination of words. He sounded
really cool saying it and just having the you know,
(42:10):
poetic soul to stop and be like, hey, you sound
a really cool thing that. Yeah, those words sound cool
in your voice is wonderful. I'm really into the Irish brogue,
you know, I'm kind of switch up my whole swag.
But also speaking to like his honesty. Right, we were
talking about his postgame comments too, and you can just
tell from the way he speaks he's not trying to
(42:33):
trick himself into believing what he's saying. You can tell
like there's just this sincerity that comes across where you
can say, oh, this person is this confident and truly
believes in himself and also again just giving us another
moment of being confident while also lovable and speaking like
my grandpa. Know, a lot was made about their pace,
(42:54):
their physicality. What do you think you were able to
show here about your style of play and ability to
control the game that we're the ones? Jack? Yeah that's it, Jack,
old school player for real saying Jack, all right, love it?
I mean wow, yeah, they just you can't. I don't
(43:17):
know how you how you get upset about that? You know? Yeah,
that's that's beautiful. The problems with you not him again
that let that be the rule from this right right here.
The problems with you not open your arms and accept
the blessing that is, we are watching somebody where if
this is we're not even close to seeing what the
ceiling is for this person. So if this is the
(43:38):
first floor, like where in the lobby? Yeah yeah, this
is the lobby? Big fact? All right? Justin truly a
pleasure having you on the on the show Man. Where uh,
first of all, where can people find you? And also
(43:59):
like I'm I'm very excited. I am. If I sound distracted,
it's because I'm furiously pre ordering your book. It was
all a dream, Diggie and the world that made him
out made tenth. But yeah, tell us about the book
and tell us where we can find you on social media. Well,
I'll get the social media out the way first. It's
actually really easy. It's my name, Justin tenseley On. I'm
(44:24):
most active on Twitter and Instagram. I'm on Facebook, uh
for the professionals out there, I do have a LinkedIn profile.
I have not yet mastered how to use TikTok. I
gotta I gotta get my little cousin to teach me
how to Just that's what I do. I'm you know,
yeah that that that's all I do. I got the app,
but I don't post any But in terms of the book,
(44:44):
you know, as you said, it comes out May tenth.
Beyond excited for it, man, I'm doing a lot of
traveling uh the next couple of weeks, just in promotion
for it. Uh and just in relation to what we've
been talking about here, which is just all things in NBA. UH.
When you when you pick up the book, when you
read it, you will see that there is like an
NBA influence on the book. I didn't necessarily get a
(45:07):
chance to interview Alan Iverson for this, but he's over
the course of his life in his career, he's spoken
about Biggie Smalls and about their relationship because they were
actually very cool and uh, Biggie. In the book, there's
a scene. I won't give away the entire scene because
obviously I want you to order the book, but there's
a scene where Biggie gets up he goes to a
(45:30):
Clippers sixers game and late February ninety seven, because Biggie
also knew the late Malik Silly who was playing for
the Clippers at that point in time, and he was
obviously close with Ai And there's a really great scene
that I think is painted in that it just shows
like the humanity of who, like Biggie Smalls was, Christopher
Wallace was. And you know, I spoke to Shock, who
(45:51):
was supposed to be at the party at the Peterson
Automotive Museum where you know that was the final moments
of Biggie's life, but actually overslept because he and Shock
were very cool. They recorded the song together and on
Biggie's debut album, Ready to Die. He name drops Shot,
who was I believe maybe in his second year in
(46:12):
the league at that point with the Orlando Magic, so
they had a tight relationship for a while. And Grant Hill,
he's actually in the book because he was he was
he was actually at the party that night at the
Peterson Automotive Museum, so he he saw Biggie for a
couple of moments at that party. So in terms of
NBA connections, uh, those are definitely in there. But I
(46:33):
do hope this book for a lot of people who
may know obviously know who Biggie Smalls is, I do
hope this paints him in a more humanistic light, just
shows that, like his life was more than just you know,
big hit records, beef with Tupac, and then had a
very infamous death. Yes, all of that is part of
(46:56):
the story, but it's not the entire story. It's just
it's honestly, chap was of a very long story of
a guy who it was only twenty four years old
when you passed. I mean, he was, It's unbelievable. So Biggie,
it was all a dream. Uh, it was all a dream.
Bigge in the world that made him out on May tenth.
(47:16):
Please pre order. Pre orders are actually very important for
for for books. Uh so, yeah, I hope you read it.
I hope you enjoy it, and you hit me up
on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. I may see it
on there, I may not, but the definitely Twitter and Instagram.
Let me know what you think. And also too, I'll
use this this shameless plug if you go wherever you
(47:38):
get your podcasts, you can listen to the King of Crenshaw.
That's another project that I did with the Deep NBA
Connection that talks about Nipsey House's brotherhood with uh several
players within the NBA and how that influenced them not
not just on the court, but more so off the court,
and why that friendship will forever remain important to them.
So amazing. And you're working on something with Dwayne Wade too.
(47:59):
Oh yeah, So Dwyane Wade came up with a photographic
memoir It's called Dwayne and I got a chance to
work with him personally on that, which is one of
the great highlights of my career. Um, Dwyane Way, who
just happens to be uh Tyrese Maxie's favorite player, growing
up and you can kind of see in the dis
the intensity of their games. Yes, so I got a
(48:20):
chance to basically work with him and got you know,
tell his life story and that that was that was incredible.
So like it's it's a it's a great, great coffee
table material, U d wad shout out to d Waight,
an incredible guy. Love working with him, and uh, I
consider a friend now. It's amazing. All right, got some
(48:41):
good friends, man, trying to Yeah, miles, where can people
find you? Oh find me at Miles of Gray, wherever
there's at Symbols, You'll find me there. You can find
me on Twitter at Jack underscorel Brian, you can find
us on the dailies like guys y finding this some
(49:02):
other way and yeah, that's gonna do it. Um, that's
been another episode of the
Welcome back again. We are talking about, well, what else
are we talking about? The NBA playoff? The n B
A oh sorry, I was supposed to say playoffs, not
the NBA. We'll be talking about obviously, that and very
very fun conversation with our guest. Writer, producer, ESPN personality
Justin Tensley is in the building. I'm Miles Gray, I'm
(00:23):
Jack O'Brien, and this is Miles and Jack got I
love it, I love it, I love it. All right,
we've got to welcome our guests. One of the foremost
and sought after voices. Look, whether it beyond sports, hip
hop or things directly pertaining to the culture, We've got journalist,
(00:47):
producer and ESPN personality Justin Tensley, Justin Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
What's going on, fellas man, It is a true pleasure
to be here. I don't know where this conversation is
gonna lead to, but I'm I'm We're talking to NBA,
we're talking the playoffs. I mean, it's only great time.
I mean it. We'll have to talk about your work too,
obviously you did, uh the fantastic thirty for thirty King
(01:09):
of Cranshaw. I think for most people in Los Angeles
who know you know the importance of Nipsey Hustle. Uh,
sure you don't know. Please please check that out. And
also we'll have to talk about you're writing a little book.
You got a little book coming out called Little Book
Notorious Big, a little something on this largely unknown rapper
named the Notorious b I G. Biggie Smalls. I'm not sure. No,
(01:32):
I've not heard of him. Is that the same as
that young man Christopher Wallace? I've heard about that? Yes,
that is right. Okay, Now I didn't know he was
called that. Who knew? Right? Who knew? I mean, look,
let's let's just get right into it. I mean we'll
(01:53):
we'll get to all that stuff obviously in due time.
But I think the thing that is at the top
of our minds the NBA playoffs are in full swing. Now.
How was everybody feeling after that first weekend? How you feeling?
Oh man, I'm excited speaking of that. A thing that
we've talked about on our other shows that guys just
like randomly came across my desk was how young Big
(02:14):
he was, like just throughout everything he did, he was
like so shockingly young, like It's like, what how he
was twenty one when he released Ready to Die, Like yeah, yeah,
and yeah he was. He was gone by the time
he So that ties into what I think has been
(02:38):
the most exciting thing about the first weekend, which is
the young players, particularly Anthony Edwards. Uh yo. Like we
we've talked about Anthony Edwards here and there, but like
I mean, we devoted the first episode of this show
to Jah and Anthony Edwards came through and his playoff
(02:58):
debut put up put up a cool thirty six third
most ever for a player twenty year under in a
playoff game, third most ever for a player of any
age in a playoff debut. And I don't know, it's
watching this happen like it kind of feels like you're
watching someone's game come together in real time, like in
(03:21):
front of our eyes. Like I don't know if it
just feels like that because I haven't watched every game
this season, but like I remember when he came into
the league, everyone was like, well, he's shooting, Like he's
not a good shooter. Like that's that's the first thing
you have to understand about this man. Let's check back,
Let's check back in like a season and a half
um obviously, you know, like athleticism and strength are are
(03:45):
like unparalleled, and then confidence is just unfakeable and incredible.
And his playing game and his playoff debut. I don't
know this is like an old head thing, but it
reminded me of the Lebron Sston series where he was
all of a sudden unstoppable, like he'd been good, but
all of a sudden, it was like, wait, is the
(04:08):
is somebody like is that a college player playing against
a j V high school team? Like, all of a sudden,
it just looked like he could do whatever he wanted
if he chose to. Every time down the court, He's like,
I will take whatever shot I want to with ease.
It is showed a one point lead two minutes into
(04:29):
the third sending away Towns headwards step back mid range
is money. The confidence just stripping off of Anthony Edwards
with seven. Here here's the thing, and for one, John
Morant is deserving of all the praise and adulation in
the world. Like and I went down to Memphis earlier
(04:51):
this year to kind of really report on not necessarily
the ex exces and ohs of like Jozz dominance, but
like when you look at the history of the Grizzlies
like franchise, they've never had a superstar quality player like
a job Moran. And when I mean superstar quality, I
mean even things like Off the Court. Of course, you
know Zach Randolph will always be the heart and soul
(05:13):
of that franchise for for for a lot and deserving reasons.
But Jaw is different, and you get what I'm saying
when I say he's so, he's well deserving of having
his own episode. Like I love the fact that he
posted like that clip from the Last Dance Jordan with
the baseball bad It's just one game. I love it.
I didn't. I love that, And I think only bring
(05:35):
up the fact that we devoted the first episode to Jah,
not not to be like and then like Anthony's better
more to be like. We we struggle to not make
every episode about Jah. Uh. That is my struggle. He's
so cool and so like the things he does, like
even in Game one, which they dropped, it was awesome.
(05:56):
It was so funny. Lot. Look, I'm to ask him
for too much. I want both to seven matchups this year,
to go seven games like whoever wins, like I mean
it is what it is. I'll be fine, but I
need both of those to go seven. We exactly, we
all win, now, Jack, to what you were saying about
(06:20):
Anthony Edwards, I mean, there's there's no I'll say this
if you find a reason to dislike Anthony Edwards. The
issue with you Anthony, right, that guy, that guy is
everything we want from Like obviously you mentioned the fact
that he came into the league and people were saying, like, oh,
he needs to improve the shooting, and then he suddenly
(06:41):
becomes a terrific three point shooting Like he's he's setting
records for for people, you know, you know players his
age in terms of like making threes and his offensive game,
Like I think it's at some point in his rookie
year he got known for like dunking on people because
he would put you he will put you on the
poster quick, fast and easy. But like his game is
(07:02):
so polished offensively that you know, in a way that
in a way that like Vince Carter, he would dunk
on people all the time, but his offensive game was
extremely well polished. And you know, but the thing about
Anthony Edwards that even sets him apart from Vince Carter
it's like this guy is extreme. You know, he gives
(07:23):
you a lot in terms of like media interactions, so like,
you know, I will say that like he's like a
six seven version of shock in a lot of ways.
Like you know, he's gonna dominate on the court, but
like he's gonna give you a sound bite like he
had to. He had the quote of the weekend, Like
he's like, yeah, it was the kids that talked the
most trash at the Memphis game. And I love it,
(07:45):
you know, like I love this guy's game. I love
everything about it and the fact that, like he's twenty,
we could potentially have thirteen and fifteen more years of
this right, you know, like it's it's ridiculous, man. So
like shout out to Anthony Edwards. I love that guy.
I think he's going to be a star, a superstar
(08:05):
for a long time. And if I had to pick
one player, that that one player, one storyline, or whatever
terminology you want to use. From the first weekend, it's
Anthony Edwards. Man, Like that guy's must see TV. He
specialized early in his uh, like you were talking about
when he became numb for dunking on people. First of all,
he had a dunk where he jumped over somebody's head
(08:28):
and dunked on them, and unfortunately they called an offensive
foul because the defender like reached up and touched his
leg and then like fell back. But he also specialized
on dunkey people with his arm at like a ninety
degree and like just straight out in front of him
because he was that high over the rim and like
that that made me realize, Oh, that's the thing you
have to unlearn when you're like that athletic is like, oh,
(08:51):
that's very dangerous what you're doing right there. You're too
high above the basket. Like you need to just go
as high as you need to dunk, and I need to,
But what about us high as I can? Well, then
you will jump out of the building. Then when you're twenty,
you can still love live on the edge and reckless.
(09:12):
Like I don't even him doing that. When he's I
can't believe him. He'll still be young. He'll be a
ten eleven year vet at that point. But uh no,
that that that guy is phenomenal man, and he is
exactly what that franchise needs. And I look, I don't
know what's gonna happen in this series. But they've proven
(09:33):
and he's proven that, like no stage is like too
big for him. I'm not saying he's gonna come up,
you know, on the right side every time, because that
just never happens to anybody. But like even his coach,
you know, Finish, he's he's even said that, like he's
he's proven, he's he's improved dramatically on the defensive end
from year one to year two. So like, this is
(09:54):
a guy for as as entertaining as he may be
in like a postgame press con for a situation like this,
dude is a dog. He's a dog's after it and
any basketball fan and I know y'all are like you
love dogs. Yeah, Well his mentality is it's so elite,
you know. And that's what's so And like what you're saying, Jack,
(10:14):
I think you're saying you can't fake that confidence, right,
And you can tell in the game that he plays
and the words that he speaks. And I think to
your point to what makes this series so great is
like you have on one side and saying I'm ready
for this, I'm energized by the challenge. In fact, I
this is all I ever really wanted, Like you can
tell that's that's where he's coming from. And then the
(10:35):
other end you have Jaw also saying, yeah, that was
a good game, but I honestly felt that we lost
that for ourselves. And so you're putting up these two
mentalities together and like it's only going to deliver some
of the best competition that you know that we've seen it.
And we're recording this right before Game two tips off,
so you guys know more about what happened in this
(10:56):
series than us. But there's one thing that is not
going to change, and that's how excited I am about
Anthony Edwards. One more thing I do want to say
about Anthony Edwards, and I think you all said it earlier,
just like leading up to like this discussion. He wants
this moment, Like if you if you go back to
the one year he was at Georgia u g A,
(11:18):
they weren't good, so he didn't really get a chance
to play in like big time, prime time games and
his first year in Minnesota, you know, they didn't make
the playoffs. Where some people might be like, all right,
well I'm a little nervous going into this game, and
it's naturally feel nerves. You could tell he's not only
he's not only embracing the moment, he's bear hugging. Yeah,
(11:38):
you know it's it's beautiful to see that, like the
times when they fall behind or gets close, like that's
when you're gonna see some ridiculous highlight from him. And
also like right at tip when everybody's damped up, he's
just the most stamped up. He's just like the one
who's like, all, I don't gonna score the first seven
points here, hold this real quick to be young and
(12:00):
spry again what I do? So we we're going to
get some of his postgame greatness a little later on.
Just from the past couple of years. I do want
to workshop with you guys in just mainlining highlights of him.
Over the course of the past couple of seasons, I
have realized that, um, the I think it's the Minnesota
(12:21):
broadcasting team, but like nobody has quite figured out what
to say after he does something incredible. They have tried
answer deadly, answer deadly, uh, and once even tried ants
bury they're dead, which is like a cool fact. Like
you ever see aunts like going out like Harry and
(12:41):
a fallen soldier, and you know, sometimes there will be
a whole line of them. I don't know, like, can
we workshop something for that? It doesn't need to be
right now, but like you know something right because is
an ant too small too fully encapsulate? Know that your no.
(13:02):
I feel I feel like either because I feel like
ants are just hard, too small to encapsulate, and a
name too insufficient to fully embody all of the colleges
that he contains. Just dunked it. Like that's too wordy.
Ants can lift three hundred times their weight, but like
that's again to word So if it's on the Discovery Channel,
(13:26):
that would be amazing. Um, you know who we need
to consult on this is the Charlotte Hornets broadcasting that
because they go in every time. So I'm trying to like,
what could you what could you do for Anthony? So
this is what I'm not a broadcast something like there
are more than ten thousand known species of van around
the world, but the deadly ist just right here in Minnesota.
(13:49):
Like that's also wordy. I feel like Jack, we always
talk about how you get mixed up with his name
for the actor Anthony Edwards from e Er, So maybe
we my brand will not hold it. I I like
when we were talking about him on Zeke Guys the
other day and I was like like I couldn't. I
couldn't do it because Anthony Edwards. And also I think
(14:11):
there's like something with like John Edwards like that, like
just his name needs to be cooler or something. I
don't know, like we need to brand him so like
somehow Dr Mark Greene sent this person to the e
er tom Dr Mark green the character's name, I don't know.
And maybe that's too washed of a reference to people,
like I get that one. My mother would appreciate that reference,
(14:34):
you know, because she was the biggest R fan. But
Natsy got me thinking about, oh, my goodness, is that
George Clooney on the bench because Anthony Edwards has pulled
up as his co star. You're like the early seasons
of the are not many people know that George Clooney
actually started on her. Like, now we're getting too wordy.
I don't know. Do we have to move on from
(14:55):
aunt Man as the like ant Man is a solid
heist movie, like its deals it and then dunks it
like yeah, especially to ask Anthony Edwards, Yeah, I know
exactly what were you talking about? He just needs he
might even just like top of the Martin to you
because he loves the Irish accent. So maybe that's what
(15:15):
it is. The anttagonist is that that's not good, right,
Antie easy Buggets, task force what we'll come up with something,
We'll come he's deserving. Yeah, um, what any anything else
you guys want to call up from the first weekend
of the playoffs. I mean, obviously Boston Brooklyn was all
(15:36):
time classic. Yeah, I mean from I mean a small moment.
I just you know, I like, I like a good block. Um.
And I would be lying if I said it didn't
to see Rudy Gobert against Josh Green, that that that
didn't warm my heart just a little bit. That would
be a lie, because I just I just love I
(15:58):
love the clip. It's everything about basketball. You have the
confidence of Josh Green being like, okay, watch me spin
off of you. Here we go, and then Rudy Gobert
being like, you don't think I'm work on my footwork
constantly in the gym too for this exact situation exactly.
So let's we'll just we'll play this one quick, because
I think it's a it's it's I don't know I
(16:19):
think it warms everybody. Sorry, it was unfortunately to be
a playmaker always shot makes no shots like oh yeah,
that's everyone. I mean, look, I know Rudy Gobert man
like he he hears it a lot from a posting
fans and sometimes the posting players. Man. But that was
an incredible play right there, Like that was an incredible play,
(16:40):
Like there's no other way around that. That was an
impressive the recovery and then just also like there was
something about Green's confidence where he really felt He's like
I'm out of the wood. Yeah I got And I
think that's what I also love about a great play
like that where you're just like, I will denar this moment.
It reminds me of like those moments when Lebron is
(17:01):
doing a chase down and you know before the person
with the ball knows that they're about to get blocked
because he's like you can see him counting his steps
and like doing the thing that it's like, okay, in
one point five steps, that's mine and Gilbert, and with
Gilbert they're like that's you know, that was a trap.
(17:23):
That was a trap that he said. He was like,
all right, I'm gonna go over here, you won't see
me and then I'm going to uh snatch the Yeah,
it's like that meme where the guys like call an
ambulance and then the person is like trying to rob
them and then they pull out their own life. It's like,
but not for me. That is one of the all
time great Internet right there. It's wild because like what,
(17:48):
there's seven billion people on the plane, yea, what is that?
Like point o two percent of people could ever make
that play because one, you gotta be tall enough until
you gotta be athletical. Now there's only a handful of
people on the planet right now they can make that play.
So it was it was impressive. Man. You know, it
was good to see Crusoe back defending like that his
(18:11):
D on Middleton, even though Milwaukee one game won his
d like that. That's just somebody who loves to defend.
This podcast for casual NBA fans is all about defense.
Part of the game. It is. It is like when
you're truly watching, like Alex Cruso or Matistabel for the
(18:34):
Sixers play defense like that. Those are two people who
I highly recommend when you're watching when they're in the game,
just follow them around on defense. Just watch stay watching
them on defense. They love it and they like it's
kind of ingenious, like the ways they find to disrupt
whatever the opposing teams doing. I tell you something else
(18:56):
that I really enjoyed from uh this first weekend playoffs.
Chris Paul, Willie Green doing a great job down in
New Orleans. And I know he and Chris Paul are
friends that used to be former teammates and they're really close.
And I thought Chris Paul's comments after the game where
they were basically sending people under the screen on Chris Paul,
basically daring him to shoot, you know, and it's just like,
(19:19):
do you really want to dare Chris Paul to shoot? Like?
Chris Paul has been one of the best shooters in
the NBA for pre Obama era, you know, he was
knocking down buckets then. So it's I don't expect that
series to be too long, but I do expect New
Orleans to keep it competitive. But Chris Paul at thirty
six man incredible to watch in the shocking after the
(19:43):
season seventeen games, Now we defends the freeze the hats,
the hats sure three four three, Yeah, he plays with
like the true efficiency of someone who is you know,
like just seeing the matrix. Now he's like I can
just you know, I just love anybody like whether it's
your kisch or other players are just super efficient with
(20:04):
their body movement. Just like, let me orient myself one
way and that's enough to give me some space, thank you.
I don't need to be I'm gonna be gassing myself
out here. Super producer Jabari asked the question that I
was actually had this same conversation very recently, like is
this the best version of CP three? Like is the
best he's ever been, even though you know his athleticism
(20:27):
was supposed to have fallen off like three years ago.
He's on that plant based diet that seems to extend
people's careers by a number of years. But like he's
only getting better at like the thing that he's best at,
which is like knowing exactly how to defeat you, like
with just like where he puts his body and where
he puts the ball. I think it's a fair question,
(20:47):
at man, And you know what I'll say it, I
think so yeah, I think so man, because obviously one
you just mentioned how he takes care of his body
and that he's spoken at length about how that's changed
his career. And I don't I don't think you can
short change that. Like, obviously, taking care of your body
(21:09):
is I mean one even for non athletes, that's huge.
Definitely for athletes it's huge. So uh and then you
couple that with the fact that like he's playing with
the best wing player that he's ever played within his
career and Devin Booker, and uh you I mean, look,
DeAndre Ayton, We've seen how his career in his game
(21:31):
has flourished alongside alongside Chris paul I injuries notwithstanding cause
CP three has for the most part battled that throughout
his career. But I think this is the best version
of him because he's always going to be a psychopath competitor.
We're always going to see that, So I mean, and
(21:51):
and again, his game is not really predicated on being
the most athletic point guard in the league. You know,
my as you mentioned it in terms of like efficiency,
bro like that that dude sees the game. Yeah, unlike
nine point nine of people who have ever played the
(22:12):
game of basketball. And literally the only thing he's missing
from his career is basically being the first to sixteen
wins in the playoff. Right there, it is all right,
let's take a quick break and we'll come back and
talk about the dopest things we've ever seen on a
basketball court. And we're back and so justin this is
(22:39):
the point in the show where we like to ask
our guests a little bit about their relationship to basketball
and specifically, like what is the dopest thing you've ever
seen done on a basketball court, NBA or otherwise that
that's a really good question I can I can kick
us off with just like the thing that is occurring,
(23:00):
So Jordan's pool coming through right now and being like
a third splash triplet, like is it might not be
like any individual play is the dopest thing I've ever seen,
or like one of the dopest things I've ever seen,
But his development and like that franchise is development, like
(23:20):
raises some questions for me that are like really interesting,
like because I I feel like he's just learning like
that they have or you know, they're superstars have figured
out like how to create themselves, create new players in
their mold. Like he looks like he is just like
(23:41):
right on the trajectory of Steph and Clay like that
might be a bit much, but I don't know, man,
It's just it's one of those undefinable like qualities that
doesn't get picked up when people, like a lot of
a lot of the conversation around basketball in the off season,
like that gets a little tiresome to me. Is like
(24:03):
when people act like they know what each player is
worth and like, well, you can't win with that team.
You have to like move this guy over here, you
need like three blue chips, and it's like, well, you
don't know, or like Steph could just like teach Jordan
Pool like every one of his workouts and suddenly Jordan's
Pool is like thirty points a game and the playoffs
and just like it's I don't know, it's just really
(24:25):
cool to see that team developed into the Splash Triplets,
not at the thirty two Rivers speed the South Park.
You know. It was I was watching uh game to uh,
(24:46):
you know, Golden State in Denver and they were kind
of having a similar conversation about this, So I'm glad
that you brought it up, Jack, And it's just like
when people talk about player development in basketball, all too
often it's about what is the coaching staff gonna do
for this player? When in reality, yes, the coaching staff
is important, but like, who are these young players veterans?
(25:07):
Who's teaching them the game? In a sense? And with
Steph and Clay and Draymond, you say whatever you want
to about the Warriors, They've always been open and willing
to be like, Yo, let's let's get this person in
here and lets you know, this is how we do things.
How does that mesh with how you've done things? And
what can we do to bring the best out of
(25:30):
you as a player. I mean, look, Andrew Wiggins just
made the All Star team, you know, and so like
we could say whatever we want to. If you're Jordan Pool,
you gotta think you're in the best possible situation. Like
I'm playing alongside arguably the two best shooters of all
time and a guy who just doesn't mind being a
(25:50):
hound on the defensive side of the ball but can
initiate the offense. And Draymond Green, you know like that
that like you're always going to be open because they
can't double you, because if they double you, then Stephford
Clay is gonna be left wide overright, And we've already know,
you can cancel Christmas when that happens. So I agree
(26:11):
man Jordan's pool. A lot of people either don't know forget.
I believe it since March one. He just led the
NBA in three points, you know, like that, and and
this is a three point heavy league that we're talking about,
We're saying earlier off Mike Jack is like watching game
too even and knowing that what the Warriors scored seventy
(26:31):
points in nineteen minutes and then like and within that
situation is like, oh, here's six Man of the Year
Steph Curry coming off the bench, like to add insult
to injury. And it does feel like I play a
lot of video sports video games for anybody who plays,
like Career Mode, it's like that part in Career Mode
where like the star players have to age out and
they retire, but then you get the region players that
(26:54):
come up that like replaced the retired ones. It's almost
as if they just brought a like a region onto
the Golden State Warriors without any of the the players retiring.
You're like, wait, but that's so this is just gen z.
Steph Curry, now, who who said video games can't be realized? Yeah, exactly.
I mean, I'm like, I'm like that Leonardo DiCaprio, mean
pointing at him, like that's a region from a video game.
(27:16):
But yeah, it's it's it's I think that really is
something to watch, because, yeah, that environment says a lot
about the skills that you learn and the energy that
you're around, especially to to have players of that stature
who are willing to give you the space to say, like,
you know what, like you should you should feel yourself
too and play with the kind of confidence that we do.
And everybody is winning. We don't have to talk about
(27:38):
this year's playoffs. We can go back to Jordan's Shack Penny,
who who are your guys? Man? I mean, I think
you watch basketball in the nineties. You you were automatically
indoctrinated into the school of Jordan's, you know, and like
it'd be impossible too, And I have a ton of
memories about a ton of different players. But you know,
(27:59):
I was actually talking to Jabari about this even before
like you started recording. I guess the most sentimental memory
that I have in terms of basketball is watching Game
six of the finals with my uncle and so my uncle,
just for like full transparency, and I don't mind talking
(28:19):
about this at all, honestly, it's a great memory for me.
But obviously Game six at the ninety eight finals was
what June. And you know, my uncle he passed from
poland cancer in January. That's the last basketball game he
and I ever got to watch together. And he was
the guy that like put me onto like all sports basketball, football, men's, women's,
(28:41):
like it doesn't matter, like if it involved competition. He
just loved to watch it. And like he put me
onto so much game so much. But you know, Jordan
was always like one of our favorite people to watch
because you know, we we were people with a heartbeat
then watching Michael Jordan played basketball, and I think we
both knew it time they're like, all right, well, this
(29:02):
is probably it, you know, like that we weren't saying
the last Dance at that point where we were like,
this is probably it. And you know, my uncle at
that point in time, he was he was sick. He
wasn't obviously as sick as he would become, but for
that moment in time, watching that game, for however long
it was, I think that we both forgot that he
(29:23):
was sick, you know what I mean. And we were.
We were just watching Jordan's and you know, like Jordans
literally carrying that team on his back in Game six
in Utah. So like whenever I see highlights from that game, like,
it doesn't bring back like sad memories, for it brings
back great memory. And you know, to see Michael Jordan,
however old he was at that point, I think he
(29:45):
was like thirty five at that point. You know, go
fifteen and thirty five and drop forty five and like
game six and you're just literally watching the dude like no,
y'all are going across this finish line with me. And
I'll never forget like seeing that look of like just
sheer shot, enjoy and amazement and you know, w tf
(30:05):
is going on? Right? Like how is this guy doing
this again? And I like my uncle was charing, so
if he's cheering, I'm cheering. And it was it was
just a great memory. So like for me, that's probably
the most sentimental memory I have with with the game.
That's I mean, I think speaks to why you know
sport and basketball specifically. It draws you in, right because
(30:30):
that moment that shot um Brian Russell. For me, I
remember when I saw that this was like in this
era where I felt that athletes were superhuman, right when
I'm like, Okay, he has the ball, he scores because
he is a god and that's how this works and
we are immortals. But I can almost have this expectation
as I watched that this like supernatural performance will happen
(30:54):
before my eyes. And it's those games like that that
you know, make good on that promise of like what
the potential is of sport, and you can really say,
you can sit there and say, why's this gonna be
the last shot? It would be poetic if he hits
this and then that's that, and he does and you
just sit with that and you cannot believe it. And
it's like all your own hopes and dreams are put
(31:14):
into that moment because you live vicariously through the athletes
that we can't help that. And yeah, there is that
back quality where like, yeah, for you and your uncle,
everything melts away except just to just to sit and
bear witness to like the the absolute out of body
experience it is to watch these like top tier athletes
just you know, make it look like it's magic all
(31:37):
the time. Dude, I'll never forget sitting in his studio
apartment and Washington, d C. Like right off Constitution that
I never forget he had it. I used to think
the studio apartment was like the top floor of the Ritz,
you know what I mean, Like it was it was
the coolest place in where if he lived there, I
was like, oh, man, this is cool, like and I
thought it was huge. Keep it man, that that apartment
(31:58):
couldn't have been no more than like five square feet.
But I'll never forget that look on his face when
Jordan hit the shot. All he did was just like
smirk and just like you know, laugh like this dude
really did it again, Like he really did that. Yeah.
So it's you know, if I ever meet Michael Jordan's
(32:19):
after I wake up from passing out, um, I'll tell
I'll be sure to tell him that story. There are
two moments where it felt like for a prolonged series,
one player was like, actually, I'm going to take over
as the screenwriter of reality. Um. And it was Jordan's
(32:40):
in that series and Lebron in the Cleveland Championship series
where it was just like this feels like all right there,
like now this story would be too good, Like I'm
taking over and absolutely no one can stop me. I
know Karl Malone thinks he knows what's gonna happen here.
I'm still gonna steal the ball from him and then
come down to hit that shot you mentioned. Obviously Lebron
(33:02):
in that finals. Obviously Game seven is remember because of
the block and the shot, and but like game five was, Yeah,
it was incredible what they both went forty one down
three one on the road. Yeah, like that that seen finals,
It was crazy. But like for Lebron, and I think
(33:23):
one of y'all mentioned it earlier, was Lebron versus the
Pistons and oh seven, Yeah, I call it the first
forty eight. Yeah, I never which is crazy because we're
coming up on the fifteen year anniversary of that game.
Like the fact that that game was fifteen years ago,
and I'll never forget speaking to Dan Yelle Marshall, who
was of course on the Calves at that point, and
(33:45):
that the Shauncey Billips, who obviously was on the Pistons,
and I wanted to talk to them about what was
it like playing in that game? And I also spoke
to a fan who was at the game. Chauncey would
say like, dude, we made it an intention to like
one get the ball out of Lebron's hands, but to
(34:05):
like beat him up, like we wanted him to know,
like there's not gonna be any easy buckets here. It
was like it was something about that game five and
like we did pretty much control the game up until
that point, and Shaun she was like, it's like the
light just came right, but for us, the light went
off and it was just like, yeah, there was nothing
we could do. It was like yo, Sun, she was like,
(34:27):
I got I got Lebron. I got Lebron. Then Rashid
would be like, no, I got Lebron. Then RiPP would
be like, no, I got Lebron. Then take Shawn would
be like, no, I got Lebron. The next thing, you know,
there's got straight and it's like what do we do
against this guy? And Danielle Marshall on the other and
it's saying like just play defense. You just play defense.
Clear everybody else kill her play defense? Man. So like that,
(34:50):
which is I think that's when Lebron really became quote
unquote the king and a lot of people because he
was still a phenom at that point. But so yeah,
that's another great basketball memory of man too. As a
second over time, that's Jays Yes what oh seven? This
(35:13):
is uncle, this is George Nesk forty eight points from
Lebron James forty eight points. We'll say it again, the
last twenty five for the Cavaliers, twenty nine of the
last thirty one of the great performances of all time
in playoff history, offered by Lebron James. I'm also class
(35:34):
of oh three when Lebron left high school, and I
remember at the time always being like, all right, well,
you know, I'm I'm in college, but Lebron, Like there
was this subconscious thing of always comparing myself to Lebron
James because I'm like, well, this person is also graduating
at the same time. Let's see where our lives end up.
And I remember May thirty first, two thousand seven, when
his game is happening. I'm graduating college, and then I'm like, yeah,
(35:57):
all right, I know about history, and then like and
this guy is absolute phenomen and I'm like, okay, and
then I think that it's oddly enough, that was the
beginning of for whatever reason, I began to let go
of this very toxic comparison of like wherever I was
that compared to Lebron. Yeah, but you got a degree
Lebron about that. When I beat you, I'll ask you.
(36:19):
You know who Cardinal Risha Leui is as it relates
to Louis for the Sun King. You might know him
as all right, let's take a quick break. We'll be
right back, and we're back. NBA players are very funny,
(36:44):
you know what. One of my favorite things for the
playoffs was Terris Maxie. You know, I'm a Sixers fan,
so I was maybe paying a little ext route tension. Uh,
but he seems to be having so much fun out there.
I feel like he is part of this bumper cry
of point guards who grew up watching Steph and are
just like yo, like he can hit from anywhere now
(37:07):
all of a sudden. And but it's also just like
pure love of the game and pure joy. And there's
like a thing like we don't think of people just
like joking around and having fun when they're trash talking.
But like Fred VanVleet, uh like pushed him and thought
that he flopped and they were talking about it, and
(37:29):
uh here we just have that conversation. It's like right
after the foul was called, Yeah, he felt like maybe
it was maybe he was play acting a bit, so
it pushes him gets the call did you try to
fall down? And I swear to God, I swear to God,
(37:50):
I'm weak. It's like that you gotta go in the
weight room. I'm weak, man, that that dude Yismaxie, Like
it's so fun watching him play, like just for the fact,
like Jack, like you said, like you can tell he
just loves playing basketball. And obviously if you know his story,
it's a wild story. But like it's hard to root
(38:13):
against that guy. Like it, we're talking about Anthony Edwards earlier,
Like he has that same type of quality where it's
like if you dislike him, something is wrong with you
because this dude he plays hard. So like it, Yeah,
I love him too because he's a personality. But he's like, look,
I'm weak. I gotta get songly my second year in
(38:34):
the league. Man, what you want me to do? Um?
And then just because we did spend some time with
Anthony Edwards this game in the beginning of the episode,
he's actually made it into the daily zeitgeist, where you know,
our listeners aren't huge basketball fans, but we had to
talk about uh, when he was being questioned by an
(38:57):
Irish dude. Oh yeah, let's play that one. And I
think again, these are those moments that add to the
loveability or just kind of like wow this there's something
so sincere and genuine about him, just from this very
very simple interaction with the journalist. If you get a
(39:18):
win tonight, that are re confidence going into those next
four games against teams in the similar spots. Besides you
in the table, where are you from, Jim Ireland? I
like your accents, tough. I want to learn how to
talk like that. But actual question again, I was too
much listening to your accent. Yeah, come on, man, like
(39:43):
you can. You can see it in his face to
the second he's speaking, he's like is accessing his brain
being like what am I hearing? Like it's like you
were hearing like a song for the first time. Straight.
He's straight out of Atlanta. You know that that comes
(40:03):
with a certain accident as well. Right, so I venture
to say he hadn't heard too many Irish accents and
growing up in Atlanta, And but you could tell like
he wasn't trying to be a jerky or anything about that,
Like he was just genuinely intrigued. And again, man, it's
just y'all. Y'all said this word a couple of times already,
(40:24):
the likability of that guy, like you just want to root,
like I want to see this guy happy because when
he's happy, he makes me happy, you know so, And
also just the the honesty to be like, all right,
ask your question again, because I was distracted by your
accent is something that I don't And that's the sort
(40:44):
of honesty that only comes from like just point nine
percent likability, where it's like you can just say whatever
you want. People are like, oh, man, I love you,
but also being like I like your accent and I
want to learn to talk like that, like the highest compliment,
but the highest compliment. And I also like treating an
(41:05):
Irish accent like a foreign language, like I'm going to
get the Rosetta stone on that accident and started talking
like that. If he just dropped an Irish accent on
us next season, like that would be incredible. Like he
comes back next season, like what was the off season?
Like he's like, I was just in the gym man
watching Angela's ashes on because I'm trying to get that
(41:27):
Irish section locked in. It would be incredible to see
him and that reporter have a conversation in an Irish action. Yeah.
Just I hope wherever that guy is, Jim, I hope
he comes back and ask him a question. We're gonna
find it follow up. That's my that's my new favorite
buddy cop movie. Yeah right. I love that Interpol has
(41:48):
a new case. They have to team up this Irish
detective with Anthony Edwards. I'm like, let's go. I'm there
opening night. Yeah. Also, Jim's accent is cool, Like not
all Irish accents sound like that. That's like a great
Irish accent, and like that combination of words. He sounded
really cool saying it and just having the you know,
(42:10):
poetic soul to stop and be like, hey, you sound
a really cool thing that. Yeah, those words sound cool
in your voice is wonderful. I'm really into the Irish brogue,
you know, I'm kind of switch up my whole swag.
But also speaking to like his honesty. Right, we were
talking about his postgame comments too, and you can just
tell from the way he speaks he's not trying to
(42:33):
trick himself into believing what he's saying. You can tell
like there's just this sincerity that comes across where you
can say, oh, this person is this confident and truly
believes in himself and also again just giving us another
moment of being confident while also lovable and speaking like
my grandpa. Know, a lot was made about their pace,
(42:54):
their physicality. What do you think you were able to
show here about your style of play and ability to
control the game that we're the ones? Jack? Yeah that's it, Jack,
old school player for real saying Jack, all right, love it?
I mean wow, yeah, they just you can't. I don't
(43:17):
know how you how you get upset about that? You know? Yeah,
that's that's beautiful. The problems with you not him again
that let that be the rule from this right right here.
The problems with you not open your arms and accept
the blessing that is, we are watching somebody where if
this is we're not even close to seeing what the
ceiling is for this person. So if this is the
(43:38):
first floor, like where in the lobby? Yeah yeah, this
is the lobby? Big fact? All right? Justin truly a
pleasure having you on the on the show Man. Where uh,
first of all, where can people find you? And also
(43:59):
like I'm I'm very excited. I am. If I sound distracted,
it's because I'm furiously pre ordering your book. It was
all a dream, Diggie and the world that made him
out made tenth. But yeah, tell us about the book
and tell us where we can find you on social media. Well,
I'll get the social media out the way first. It's
actually really easy. It's my name, Justin tenseley On. I'm
(44:24):
most active on Twitter and Instagram. I'm on Facebook, uh
for the professionals out there, I do have a LinkedIn profile.
I have not yet mastered how to use TikTok. I
gotta I gotta get my little cousin to teach me
how to Just that's what I do. I'm you know,
yeah that that that's all I do. I got the app,
but I don't post any But in terms of the book,
(44:44):
you know, as you said, it comes out May tenth.
Beyond excited for it, man, I'm doing a lot of
traveling uh the next couple of weeks, just in promotion
for it. Uh and just in relation to what we've
been talking about here, which is just all things in NBA. UH.
When you when you pick up the book, when you
read it, you will see that there is like an
NBA influence on the book. I didn't necessarily get a
(45:07):
chance to interview Alan Iverson for this, but he's over
the course of his life in his career, he's spoken
about Biggie Smalls and about their relationship because they were
actually very cool and uh, Biggie. In the book, there's
a scene. I won't give away the entire scene because
obviously I want you to order the book, but there's
a scene where Biggie gets up he goes to a
(45:30):
Clippers sixers game and late February ninety seven, because Biggie
also knew the late Malik Silly who was playing for
the Clippers at that point in time, and he was
obviously close with Ai And there's a really great scene
that I think is painted in that it just shows
like the humanity of who, like Biggie Smalls was, Christopher
Wallace was. And you know, I spoke to Shock, who
(45:51):
was supposed to be at the party at the Peterson
Automotive Museum where you know that was the final moments
of Biggie's life, but actually overslept because he and Shock
were very cool. They recorded the song together and on
Biggie's debut album, Ready to Die. He name drops Shot,
who was I believe maybe in his second year in
(46:12):
the league at that point with the Orlando Magic, so
they had a tight relationship for a while. And Grant Hill,
he's actually in the book because he was he was
he was actually at the party that night at the
Peterson Automotive Museum, so he he saw Biggie for a
couple of moments at that party. So in terms of
NBA connections, uh, those are definitely in there. But I
(46:33):
do hope this book for a lot of people who
may know obviously know who Biggie Smalls is, I do
hope this paints him in a more humanistic light, just
shows that, like his life was more than just you know,
big hit records, beef with Tupac, and then had a
very infamous death. Yes, all of that is part of
(46:56):
the story, but it's not the entire story. It's just
it's honestly, chap was of a very long story of
a guy who it was only twenty four years old
when you passed. I mean, he was, It's unbelievable. So Biggie,
it was all a dream. Uh, it was all a dream.
Bigge in the world that made him out on May tenth.
(47:16):
Please pre order. Pre orders are actually very important for
for for books. Uh so, yeah, I hope you read it.
I hope you enjoy it, and you hit me up
on Twitter or Instagram or TikTok. I may see it
on there, I may not, but the definitely Twitter and Instagram.
Let me know what you think. And also too, I'll
use this this shameless plug if you go wherever you
(47:38):
get your podcasts, you can listen to the King of Crenshaw.
That's another project that I did with the Deep NBA
Connection that talks about Nipsey House's brotherhood with uh several
players within the NBA and how that influenced them not
not just on the court, but more so off the court,
and why that friendship will forever remain important to them.
So amazing. And you're working on something with Dwayne Wade too.
(47:59):
Oh yeah, So Dwyane Wade came up with a photographic
memoir It's called Dwayne and I got a chance to
work with him personally on that, which is one of
the great highlights of my career. Um, Dwyane Way, who
just happens to be uh Tyrese Maxie's favorite player, growing
up and you can kind of see in the dis
the intensity of their games. Yes, so I got a
(48:20):
chance to basically work with him and got you know,
tell his life story and that that was that was incredible.
So like it's it's a it's a great, great coffee
table material, U d wad shout out to d Waight,
an incredible guy. Love working with him, and uh, I
consider a friend now. It's amazing. All right, got some
(48:41):
good friends, man, trying to Yeah, miles, where can people
find you? Oh find me at Miles of Gray, wherever
there's at Symbols, You'll find me there. You can find
me on Twitter at Jack underscorel Brian, you can find
us on the dailies like guys y finding this some
(49:02):
other way and yeah, that's gonna do it. Um, that's
been another episode of the
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