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June 19, 2025 • 78 mins

On this episode of Rory & Mal Don't Know Ball, the guys are joined by future NBA Hall of Famer and all time great, Dwight Howard! Rory and Mal revisit the 2009 NBA Finals, ask Dwight about his altercation with Lance Stephenson last weekend during their BIG 3 matchup, and get a real time reaction to the Buss family selling the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 billion #volume

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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world
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(00:23):
makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive
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com to find your cable channel.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
The volume.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Hi, Rory, we are back for another episode of Don't
Know Ball? Yes you know show that we have now
to talk to some people that know a lot about ball.
And today it's a special day because this is our
first first this is our first.

Speaker 4 (00:59):
Number one overall.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah selection in his draft, that is true. So with
the first pick in the two thousand and four NBA draft,
Rory Orlando Magic selected somebody out of high school who
had a lot of promise, a lot of upside. I
think ended his career being probably one of the most
underrated big men that I've ever seen play the game.

(01:24):
Definitely revolutionized the position one the most athletic, one of
the most athletic big men we've ever seen in the NBA,
and I probably have more respect for him today now
I got a chance to stand next to him.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
He's not as told as I thought he was, So now.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
I got even more respectful him because it's niggas on
the perimeter that's toller than him, and they did they
couldn't do what he did.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
So we are joined today by Dwight. How with Dwight?
How you feeling that? Listen man, so he will.

Speaker 5 (01:52):
When he got off the elevator, he was like, nah,
he's kind of small.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
You know what it is when you no, no, no,
definitely not saying that, but you know what it is, Dwight.
When you and I stand next to, you know, and
hanging out with KD, and I'm stand next to KD,
it's like, damn, I would think that Dwight is much
taller and Kevin.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Durant, Yeah, KDS seven feet.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yeah, But that's what I'm saying a lot of people
don't know that, right, But on the court, because of aesthetically,
you just look like.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Look like I was a set It's crazy.

Speaker 6 (02:24):
When I played for the Lakers and Antoine Jamison was
one of my teammates, and I was standing next to Palgasaw.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
He was like, bro, you really ain't seven feet.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
Yeah, you like six eight for real, That's what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (02:36):
Said what you mean? He said, because pal seven to
one and he killing you right now. I was like, bro,
it's just when I get on the court, I look talk.
I'm always jumping touching the Yeah, but it's crazy, like, yeah,
I was one of the shortest centers to play.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
I mean one of the shortest. Me saying that is crazy.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
But the way you played the position though, Dwight, Now
we know me particularly speaking, I saw you in high school.
I obviously knew the talent was there. Everybody knew you
would be the number one overall pick. But that position,
and I think that time, the center position was kind

(03:17):
of in a different kind of space. Yeah, we didn't
have the you know, the big dominant shacks was on
the way out, you know what I'm saying. That was
kind of the ladder part of the career. So the
big bulky you came in and the way you were running,
a lot of people don't notice, but Shaq kind of
played that way in his rookie years. In his early
years in Orlando, he could run, excuse me, run the

(03:38):
floor a lot better than people thought. But what you
did at the position was like, no, he's like freakishly
athletic at the center position.

Speaker 6 (03:47):
It's crazy because when I got to the team, I
wanted to get out on the perimeter, so I would
always be trying to bring the ball up to the court
in practice and coach would stop me from dribbling the ball.
He would tell Steve Francis or one of the guards, no,
we don't want you dribbling the basketball. And I'm like,
what you want me to do? They just said, Dwight,
we want you to bring down the house. So I'm like,
what does that mean? Yeah, dunk everything. And so I

(04:10):
was playing the four man when I got on the
Magic and back then it wasn't no stretch of fours
or five, so it was always interchangeable.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
They saw how fast.

Speaker 6 (04:20):
I could get up and down the floor and how
high I could jump, so they say, you know what,
Let's put you at the center position. Let's get four shooters,
and then let's keep you in the pick and roll
because you're gonna be faster than all the centers. It
might be taller than you, but you can make up
for that with your arms and jumping and stuff like that.
So now we want you to put pressure on the rim.

(04:41):
So every time, run as hard as you can seal
to the basket. If you don't have it comes to
the pick a roll, we're gonna get you on the lob,
get you on the deep post stuff. So it was
like easy money for me.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
No what you came in and it almost seemed like
right away you adjusted to the NBA game. Was that
due to you think you always just being a fan
of the game, watching the game closely, or did you
come in knowing that I'm going to have to make
some adjustments to my game And how fast did you
pick up that adjustment? Because I don't looking back, I

(05:13):
don't think you really came out the gates like slow.
You had like a it was just this period I did,
but you had success early as well.

Speaker 6 (05:21):
I think it was how I prepared to come into
the NBA. So I woke up every morning at four
o'clock and I went to the track train every day.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
This is in high school.

Speaker 6 (05:31):
Every day I was doing this, waking up at four o'clock,
going to the track then I would go to the
court and lift or try to lift as much waste
as I could, and then go to the court obviously
and workout. I did this religiously. That became my routine.
So I wanted to prepare myself for the traveling, for
the getting up early, having to get on the plane,
ride and wake up and having to lift and do

(05:52):
all that stuff, and also to maintain my body, you know.

Speaker 2 (05:56):
I had to train for that. Yeah, because I knew.

Speaker 6 (05:59):
Once I got to the NBA, it's going to be
tons of things that could distract me. So I said,
I need to work on being disciplined. So my first
year and it was going to be adjustment period. Kevin
Willis was the one who woke me up. I tried
to box him out one day. Chicken Wayne. Yeah, he
pulled my arm down and.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
It was stuck and moved and I was like, yo,
let go. And Kevin Willis was an older guy, yeah,
super duper vet. Twenty year in the league.

Speaker 6 (06:29):
Chicken Wayne my arm and he held it down, and
I said after that, I will not let nobody ever
push it around in this league. I went that summer
in eight weights, but my first year was an adjustment
period because now I'm playing against stronger, older, and wiser men.
AAU was a different type of game that we came from.
High school was different, but now we're playing against all

(06:50):
these savvy vets. It was more vets in the league
back then. So you know, with me coming in number
one pick, you know, everybody got all these high expectations, every.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Big man trying me.

Speaker 6 (07:00):
So now it's like, I gotta come back with a plan,
and a plan was to get bigger, stronger and faster
and it worked out.

Speaker 5 (07:07):
What was the media side like that, because I mean
even you know, high school, when did they cut that off?

Speaker 2 (07:13):
Yeah? Next year?

Speaker 7 (07:14):
The next year, yes, I thought. So it was a
controversial time.

Speaker 5 (07:17):
And outside of being the number one pick, being a
high school player as well, how'd you deal with the
media shit?

Speaker 7 (07:22):
Outside of dealing with grown ass men in the paint?

Speaker 6 (07:25):
Man, I didn't know what I was dealing with. I
didn't know what was going on because it's like all
I knew was basketball and god, you know, I went
to a church school, so every day I'm waking up
do what I'm doing with basketball? Now we're mixing it
with school and church, and this is everything.

Speaker 2 (07:41):
That I knew.

Speaker 6 (07:41):
Now I go from this small school to the big world.
Now in the face of a franchise. Now they're asking
me to make sure to you know, understand money and things.
I didn't know noneing about this. So it was a
big adjustment period for me. And I was very thankful
that now I had to go through so many trials
because it really made me better off the court, made

(08:05):
me better on the court, and the media.

Speaker 2 (08:08):
Man, we didn't know how to deal with it coming in.

Speaker 6 (08:12):
I didn't have to deal with any negativity like that
until that moment, you know, coming into the NBA. So
it's like, how do I deal with you know, everybody
always in my business, you want to know everything about
my life, the negative side that come with being famous
and all these different things. Now it's coming into play,
and it's not as easy to deal with if you
don't have a strong faith or a strong front.

Speaker 7 (08:35):
Who pissed you off the most?

Speaker 5 (08:37):
In the media at that time, I mean, it wasn't
like the First Take era where it's like every show
is opinionated funding shit, but people still you know, yeah,
still opinions going on in sports media.

Speaker 8 (08:46):
Back then.

Speaker 6 (08:46):
It was probably like the Skip baylesss like I would say,
if I'm in a room with Skip, I'm a slap them.
That's how I was thinking back then. Yeah, he always
got something to say because people like that, I believe
back in the day it started what we call with
everybody having an opinion. Yeah, staff, somebody who's never did this, like,

(09:07):
I can understand you.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Respect it more coming from God because I like what
the NBA is doing now, and you've done a great
job with it as well. I think I caught one
of the Magic games and you was court side talking
and I was like, well, Dwight, You've always been well spoken,
but it just seems more natural to have guys that
played the game talk about how they talk about the
game because y'all always see it from an angle. We
obviously will never see it from an understanding differently. But

(09:31):
is that something that you had to learn later on, Like, Okay,
these guys, they're just speaking about it, so I can't
get so emotionally upset and you know, and take it
too seriously because they don't.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
They just doing their job.

Speaker 6 (09:43):
It's hard not to because people on the outside teams
are also hearing this stuff too, so now it could
put them in a position like, is this true?

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Is it not true? Is this person or.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
Player like months, Yeah, that's how we're taking it because
it's like, Yo, I'm really out here grinding every single day,
and now you're telling people I'm gonna castle in the
locker room.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
I'm lazy.

Speaker 6 (10:05):
Y'all don't want hard, Like you can't do that. That's
not fair because my resume is showing otherwise. But now
you're trying to tarnish that by saying this. So it's
really not cool. So it's great for everyone to have opinions.
I think we need to hear both sides of it
from a player that has played and somebody who's just

(10:27):
observing the game, because maybe they could see something a
little bit different, so I can understand that. But to
have the actual players who played in that era, I
think they should be the ones that are talking. So
like now the guys who played with me are against
me and stuff like that. I feel like they would
be great commentators for games. The older guys they haven't

(10:49):
been out there, they haven't been a part of this
new generation's game, so I feel like maybe their opinions
could be biased based off when they played and.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
How they played.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
So now you have the career that you have obviously
eight times with All Star, NBA Champion, all of these things.
The one thing that I had an issue with was
you being left off the top seventy five. And You've
always had his personality where you're smiling, you know, things

(11:22):
never seem to really upset you. I don't think i've
ever seen you do any or say anything too crazy.
But personally, how did you take that? Like when you
got the news that you didn't make the top set, Like,
we're not talking about cameras and media, I'm talking about
Dwight Howard at home.

Speaker 6 (11:37):
Was pissed off. Yeah, yeah, I was. I was like, man,
there's no way I put in this much work personally
and for the league. Yeah, to be left off and
I know.

Speaker 4 (11:54):
Okay, that's the issue I had with it.

Speaker 3 (11:55):
I'm like some of these guys, I get it you
he was good, but I remember what this kid was
doing in Orlando and it's totally different.

Speaker 6 (12:04):
So I was very pissed off, and I was like, man,
this is not right because it got to be a
bigger play. It gotta be something else, because I know
for a fact some of these guys don't.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
Have my resume and they're on it. That's a fact.

Speaker 6 (12:18):
But as it got closer to when they I think
ESPN was doing a little coverage at the time when
they were saying, it's like ten players left. When it
got down to ten, I said, you know what, they
ain't gonna put me on it. But I could already
sense it. But why because if I wasn't already on
it by the time it got the ten players left,

(12:38):
Come on, Okay, I can't say it's sixty five players
better than me that doesn't play.

Speaker 2 (12:46):
Yeah, it will be off for me to name sixty five.

Speaker 6 (12:48):
So for that to happen, or seventy six sixty players,
sixty five players left, whatever, for that to happen, I'm like, yo,
I'm not gonna make it. So watch it on TV.

Speaker 5 (12:58):
Like you'd obviously know about NBA politics better than most
for the length of a career you had.

Speaker 7 (13:06):
Do you think there's a reason why you were left off?

Speaker 5 (13:08):
Was it politics as usual? Is there a specific person
or entity.

Speaker 6 (13:12):
That Man, that's a tough one. Man, I don't want
to put nobody out there like that.

Speaker 8 (13:17):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
It gotta be, yeah, it gotta be like.

Speaker 6 (13:22):
It's just that the numbers don't add up, and it
doesn't matter, Like it's the thing that people are saying, well,
he did this off the court. He did it has
nothing to do with what happened when I stepped between
them line. Yeah, you can't take that away from nothing
by rumors, stories, whatever people are saying.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
It has nothing talk about the real story.

Speaker 6 (13:44):
Let's put it put in the film and my stats
and accolades to show if I was really taking the
game serious or not. You can't go by skip of
people saying he was just playing the game. He wasn't
playing for real, Like what the numbers and stuff don't
show that.

Speaker 5 (13:59):
Yeah, so I'll ask for this list thing because this
just happens with podcasting. We go through every fucking complex
music list, every rapper list, and we just had the
was it la rappers Accomplix just put out and we
were debating like, all right, yeah, there's legends on this list,
but they're from an era that like you're only on
there because you were in the beginning, Like you start,

(14:20):
You're not better than this other rapper. You just have
a legend status because you were there in the beginning.
Do you think that also lends itself to basketball like yeah, like, yeah,
he wouldn't have in my era, you would have got cooked.
Like you shouldn't even be on this top seventy five.

Speaker 2 (14:36):
It was somebody on there. What was his.

Speaker 5 (14:39):
Name's white and his name was Bob Coosey.

Speaker 2 (14:43):
That's his name.

Speaker 6 (14:45):
I play with him on two K well Live when
I was in high school. Was better than him. No way,
his name Dolph. I'm sorry, and I love young Dolf.
I'm not talking, but his name, bro, there's no way
top eighty yeah, out of here.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
No, I listen, there's more names than that on that
top seventy five where I was just.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Like yeah, I just don't.

Speaker 3 (15:11):
I don't see it, like not because again Orlando Magic,
Dwight Howard, Like I went to games.

Speaker 4 (15:19):
I went to games with the guard. I went to
games and nets games.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
Like when those teams came into the city, there was
like a oh, like how do we stop him?

Speaker 4 (15:29):
It was Jammy you know those other guys.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
But it was like what y'all gonna do about him
and the paint though, So when you have that feeling
in the arena for a part of your career, there's
no way you can say, yo, there's seventy five players that.

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Had that feeling.

Speaker 6 (15:44):
I know it's not I just know it because I man,
and it pissed me off. I remember seeing Sam Mitchell
in the airport in Atlanta and he was like, man,
I just want to tell you, man, that top sety
five shit still got to be.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Mad he's saying it. I was like, man, yeah, Van Gunner,
your coach. He had some things to say about like
a few people spoke. I was like, nah, they got
that one wrong, like not.

Speaker 2 (16:07):
But they who are these people that actually voted?

Speaker 3 (16:11):
And how did they get the right to vote for
the You've never had that conversation with anybody.

Speaker 2 (16:15):
I'm saying, we have talked.

Speaker 6 (16:17):
They showed the list, but it's like, how are these
people the ones who have the criteria to vote for
these seventy five people?

Speaker 2 (16:25):
What makes it? I think one of the people was
a player he's playing now. How could he.

Speaker 6 (16:34):
Have the right to vote for who should be top
seventy five now and he's still playing? It should be
players that I would say maybe wasn't superstars or all
stars in the league, but played in all the who
played in certain eras that can say, okay, now this
guy I played against him, he was cold. Now, you know,

(16:54):
like the ninth eighth man on the bench, who was
all these guys that have played or witnessed the game.
No disrespecting nobody, but like they're the ones that should
be saying, man, that was a cold dude that play
he topped.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 7 (17:08):
They knew how tough it was to go against that person.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
And it's funny Peg and Maul we're having a conversation
off Mike before you came here that I thought it
was very interesting of we're getting to the era of
young kids that did not see Jordan whatsoever. So now
it's going to be the way I view Wilt Chamberlain,
Like I've heard about it, but I don't fucking know.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Yeah, like, and that's my favorite player, so Dann well, yeah, okay.

Speaker 5 (17:32):
But we're just getting that now, how could they vote
on the top seventy five players. Ever, let's say like
they didn't actually watch them, they didn't play against them.

Speaker 7 (17:41):
How do you even vote for that?

Speaker 6 (17:43):
Because the name it's like for this, a lot of
kids never seen Shaq play, but they're going to say
he's the most dominant center.

Speaker 7 (17:53):
Which is true.

Speaker 5 (17:55):
But also that goes with branding and Shaq continuing to
be in the space as well.

Speaker 7 (17:59):
Like his name is continue on.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
But and y'all got YouTube though YouTube Shack, And then
you tell me if I'm lying about what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (18:06):
I really don't want Shack on that side. But I'm
saying it's different too. Like I was young, I caught
the very tail end of Jordan. It doesn't resonate the
same way as Kobe with me. I watched hated Kobe
rest in peace as I just hated him because I
watched him kill every team I loved. Like I know
about it, Jordan. Yeah, I could watch the highlights and
be like, oh my god, that guy's in saying it's

(18:27):
not a feeling of watching Kobe crush I like crushed us.

Speaker 4 (18:31):
I sat down in front of the TV plenty of
Sundays and watched Mike.

Speaker 7 (18:35):
Yeah, but we have a ten year difference.

Speaker 3 (18:36):
You like nothing nothing like it, the a the greatest ever.
I don't Dwight, don't even look at that. Who your
number one?

Speaker 4 (18:42):
Old time?

Speaker 6 (18:43):
Michael Jordans, don't say that the goat gotta be Kareem.

Speaker 4 (18:52):
Okay, but you and I know why you're saying that.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
You're talking about just as far as basketball career, high school,
college over the NBA to go.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
I get, and I'm not strict. I'm not mad at that.
I'm not mad at that.

Speaker 3 (19:06):
But Michael Jordan, what he did, what he came in
his eighty four season to this day, and now y'all
are supposed to be more athletic, y'all supposed to have
more moves, y'all supposed to all these opportunities to score
and do all these things, and nobody can still.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
Get close because it's harder than eighty four.

Speaker 4 (19:25):
You know, it's harder to score now.

Speaker 6 (19:28):
If guys are more athletic, they're stronger, they jump higher,
they're faster on offense. What about the guys on defense,
it's the same thing.

Speaker 4 (19:37):
Yeah, but I don't think that.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
Again, in this why we had to show, I don't
think that NBA players now put as much emphasis on
the defensive end as they did when you were playing.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
That's true because it was so let alone.

Speaker 5 (19:51):
Like Iverson's one example, do you think Iverson would have
an easier time scoring right now or the era he
played in?

Speaker 7 (19:56):
I would say the era he played in.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
No, right now he would have a way more Time's
tom scoring.

Speaker 7 (20:01):
That's what I'm saying. What easier for iverson the score
right now?

Speaker 8 (20:05):
Well?

Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, well that's I said.

Speaker 7 (20:08):
This is one example.

Speaker 4 (20:09):
This is that's what we're talking about.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
If you were to drop Michael Jordan and this, like
I always say this, no, but listen, this.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Is this is what I say. I say that.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
If Steph Curry had the ego of Michael Jordan, just
the ego Steph Curry's game with Michael Jordan's ego, they
would they would drug test Steph Curry every game.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
But what which what kind of ego? What do you mean?

Speaker 3 (20:35):
Because I say that because Steph is such a passive guy,
he doesn't care to be His talent brings that to him,
but like he doesn't push that ego on to other players,
Like he doesn't get that other players and dominating the
way that Mike did. Like Mike would create an issue

(20:55):
with a player.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
Just to be like I don't like he looked at me.

Speaker 6 (20:58):
That's the eraror that we played in. I mean, that's
the ara that by Michael Jordan. Like they had to
find an issue. Remember it was no friends back then.
People like they hated each other, but they used to
get mad at us for hanging out with each other, like,
why you angle him, that's the enemy. It's like, no,
we're just hooping against each other. We're supposed to be cool. Yeah,

(21:18):
I think that that was just the era. Because oh
I was looking at some stats. They said that Michael
Jordan's they said he had a forty eight inch vert.
That's ridiculous. You don't believe it, that's hard to believe.

Speaker 4 (21:32):
But why you don't believe that, because.

Speaker 6 (21:34):
I mean, he would be touching the top of the
whole backwards easy forty eight.

Speaker 5 (21:39):
He did the measurements at the dunk contest. We watched
who you Me? Yeah, you know what I'm saying, Michael
Jordan's I know what I'm saying. You know the exact measurements.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
At the top of the back.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, I think that's we know it's exaggerated, a forty
in and we know it's exaggerated. But if you go
back and look at tapes of Michael coming out of
North Carolina, just look physically the way he looked against
everybody else.

Speaker 6 (22:04):
Because everybody else didn't have it, But now everybody else
got all those same things.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
That's why I'm.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Still don't look like that because it don't because back
then it was a whole different game.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Like now I'm trying to learn how.

Speaker 6 (22:15):
To do the moves that the youngest is doing, like
the whole euro steps, all these different moves, like the
going side step and coming back and catching his shooting
and then take another side step.

Speaker 7 (22:25):
The learning how to travel travel.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
Okay, but that's just the new age basketball. It's AI.

Speaker 9 (22:30):
This is AI basketball, That's what I'm saying, y'all gotta get.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
I'm watching Haler burtont step. He picked up his dribble
in the paint. He's at the three, like, and it's
no whinsle.

Speaker 4 (22:45):
I'm like, but.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
That's how it is now, Like everything is. It's an
upgraded system, like the way the players were back then.
If they would have had the same type of train
and the same type of facilities, they would have been
able to do all this stuff that's being done now.
But they was only going off what they had, which
is simpler, which made the game easier. So to us,

(23:08):
why Mike looks so cold because he won two dribbles
into everything? That's what we like, we want. Why you
gotta take all them jewels and do all that right
to it? Yeah, but that's the era that we grew
up in. But now we're looking at the era where
they taking angle Somebody take this angle away because he's
strong enough and he can get you to take that
angle away. Now you gotta find another way to get

(23:29):
to another angle. So it's just it's a different ball game.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
Where's Mike at on your all time list? Because I
gotta be two or three. I just have Fareem at
one because.

Speaker 2 (23:40):
I respect that if you would have had him going
five out of my God, Dwight, we can't, No, you can't.
But Kareem is just like, I'm not mad at that.

Speaker 3 (23:50):
I'm never mad at nobody has Karemabard number one points.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
He got that total thirty nine points, thirty eight shout
some craser all too.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
They're saying how hard that is and only had one shot? Yeah,
I get it.

Speaker 4 (24:06):
So he dominated.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
He he dominated every level of basketball without a doubt.

Speaker 6 (24:10):
I'm never arguing. And he did it with two names. Yeah,
he might be the coldest. There ain't no player colder them.
He did it, as lou Al said that Eddie with
Bruce Lee. Real ass and what's.

Speaker 7 (24:27):
Up thirty eight thousand points?

Speaker 2 (24:30):
Yeah, that's what he was at. It's crazy.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
I mean, do you think with how the league is,
it's better for the league moving forward, like with it
less physicality, people being your AAU style friends, and you
think it's better.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Well, I just think that.

Speaker 6 (24:46):
See, the game is global and they want more scoring,
they want more entertainment. The world we live in, people
get so like distracted fast. They have to do do
things to keep it entertaining, and so I think it's
in a great position.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
The only thing I.

Speaker 6 (25:04):
See is it's oversaturated with talent, and that it's not
enough teams, it's not enough all star spots, it's not stuff,
it's not enough money to go around for all these players,
because they're going to continue to get better. And the
only thing for the players I want them to start
doing more is probably just playing more pickup the younger

(25:26):
players trying to get to the league, because.

Speaker 4 (25:29):
Everybody got one workout, yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:32):
One one way to play basketball.

Speaker 10 (25:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (25:37):
Once you go once and go back to that, then
the game itself is going to regain the love and
the passion that it used to have. Just think about
how back in the day it's just us hooping, like
it just felt so good to get out there and hoop.
You ain't got no money involved. Now the players, now
they got to worry about making sure they when they
call them the parlayd all that. Like people get mad

(25:59):
about if somebody don't get enough rebounds.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
Or score enough points.

Speaker 6 (26:03):
That could put a lot of pressure on these young guys,
you know what I'm saying. So then people wasting their
money doing it. Say people gonna bet do what they do, They're.

Speaker 2 (26:10):
Going to always do that.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
Yeah, But how did you feel about the whole nil,
Like do you feel like that's hurting college basketball?

Speaker 4 (26:20):
Or how do you feel about the transfer portal?

Speaker 3 (26:22):
Like if Dwight Howard in high school had those options
in front of him, how does that look for Dwighton going.

Speaker 6 (26:29):
To the league only because I wasn't going to the
league for money. I wanted to go to the league
just because I wanted to be one of the greatest
to ever play. That was my goal, wasn't. Man, I
gotta get some money so I could live. I always
felt like God was going to provide for me if
I use my gifts properly. So I think the NIL

(26:51):
can be a great thing and also it could be
a bad thing depending on how people use it. You know,
a lot of families would want to use it to
take get them get themselves out of a situation.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
But also at the same time.

Speaker 6 (27:04):
What if you don't know what to do with this
money and this fame, and you're giving up your name,
image and likeness, like and everybody's doing that now, I
don't think that's that part is a great thing for
these young athletes to give up your name, image and likeness.

Speaker 2 (27:21):
That's who you are.

Speaker 6 (27:23):
And if you're doing it at a young age, you
know what I'm saying, it's like you you won't stop.
You have to keep feeding that beast. Oh man, I
gotta come back. My name, image of likeness is on
the line, and that's a lot to give up, you
you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (27:39):
So that's the only part I don't.

Speaker 5 (27:40):
I mean, but if hypothetically, if like you know, KG
and Kobe didn't prove that you could be successful right
out of high school, because I mean, Bron hadn't really
been proven at that point.

Speaker 7 (27:51):
Do you still Bron is what a year?

Speaker 9 (27:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (27:54):
What he right after me, before me.

Speaker 5 (27:59):
Prove I'm talking about at that KG and Kobe, we
knew you'd come out of high school and be a superstar,
bron Rookie the Year.

Speaker 7 (28:05):
Great, but that was one year. Do you think you
still wouldn't have taken that time to develop in college?

Speaker 2 (28:11):
College?

Speaker 7 (28:11):
Maybe one or two years?

Speaker 2 (28:14):
How Like, Okay, this is what I told my mom.

Speaker 6 (28:16):
I said, people go to college to learn how to
make money and whatever it is that they're trying to
make money.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
And this is what the NBA is for me.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
I'm making money in the thing that I want to do,
but I'm not doing it for money. But guess what
if I could play this game every day and get
paid for it, why not do that?

Speaker 2 (28:36):
You know?

Speaker 6 (28:37):
So she said, you're right, son, this is what you
wanted to do, So you go ahead and be the
greatest that you could be.

Speaker 5 (28:45):
What were some of those conversations like with J R.
Smith Sebastian Telfair at the McDonald's.

Speaker 2 (28:52):
Just like they knew what I was gonna do. We
know what you're gonna do before you're going.

Speaker 8 (28:56):
To the league.

Speaker 2 (28:57):
You better, you better go to the league.

Speaker 6 (28:59):
And I'm like, y'all right, Like if I got a
chance to go top if you get a chance to
go top three in the NBA draft, you would be a.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
Food to go to college.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Knew you was going one though, Yes, But I'm just
saying for anybody in general, like if you get a
chance to go top three, if you know you can
go number one, come on now, Yeah, that'd be like
knowing that you got a box behind this door that's
one hundred million dollars and.

Speaker 6 (29:25):
Everybody in the world know it. And you say, you
know what, I'm gonna go to college and go get earn.

Speaker 5 (29:30):
You just earned it just waging with stuff. I mean,
even though I want no beef with Kwame Brown at all,
I don't want to go back and forth on YouTube,
but you know that always be in the back of
my mind too. But what did he do at that point?

Speaker 7 (29:42):
What year was the old one?

Speaker 2 (29:44):
He didn't do anything wrong, Like see, I.

Speaker 7 (29:46):
Agree it's a weird system with wizards.

Speaker 6 (29:48):
And not even that like he made it out the
rat race.

Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (29:54):
That's how you can't take it like, man, he didn't
have an awesome career. He did played over ten years
in the NBA. The average career in the NBA is
three to four years, folks. So for somebody to go
past that, now, maybe he didn't meet everyone outside of
himselfs expectations because they had expectations for him, but he

(30:15):
met his He made it to the league. That's probably
what's what his wife was, I gotta make it to
the league. Everybody had their different reasons. Everybody loved ball
for different reasons, you know what I'm saying. So you
know I can't fault him for that. Yeah, And just
think about this. You coming into a league and your
favorite player is on your team and it's Michael Jordan,

(30:36):
and like he's Michael Jordan. You're eighteen, Like that's a
lot on you. And then for this person to be
on you so heavy you're not understanding.

Speaker 4 (30:46):
That's a lot.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
I never really like took a second and thought about
just that, Like you grew up looking at this figure
that is like this is like one and now he's
mad at me because I dropped the pass he just
threw to me.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
And it's like, Nigga, I'm watching the greatest player ever.

Speaker 4 (31:03):
I'm just staring at him, like Michael Jordan just passed me.

Speaker 5 (31:06):
And even I was young, but I remember the media
like this is Jordan hand picked this draft pick. Even
though he's on the team, Jordan is drafting him. They
were doing specially. I feel like he went to Jordan's
like house in North Carolina, like they made.

Speaker 6 (31:20):
That probably were so inspired, and then he probably felt
shitting on right after that because he was like, damn, man,
I fucked up with Michael Jordan. That could probably sting
a lot as a.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
What is that pressure though, Like knowing that you're the
number one pick? Like, what is that for me?

Speaker 3 (31:37):
It's like it's just a different glow you got in
the green room when everybody know you're going number one.

Speaker 6 (31:41):
I was afraid if I was gonna go number one
and number two for a second, and then I remember
one of the guys said, hey, I actually wasn't one
of the players.

Speaker 2 (31:51):
I'm sorry.

Speaker 6 (31:51):
It's my agent, Aaron Goodwhen he said Dwight Sin's they
call your name, you your mama, hugging the kids, taking
pop's hand, you get ready to smile.

Speaker 2 (32:02):
So I said, oh, that mean I'm going number one.

Speaker 6 (32:05):
As soon as he said that could when the green room,
and I think they do the green room a little
different now how it goes, but man, back then it
was a little it was treacherous. It was like we're
in the garden, you know, the fans is everywhere. I
think before they had all of us outside. It was
a great experience, man, But being eighteen looking back on it,
it was a whirlwind. It happened so fast, like one

(32:29):
day I wake up, I'm in this you know, sixteen
student class and my senior class school is super small.
Next day I'm getting drafted into the NBA. All my
dreams come true. Like, man, this is this is sick.

Speaker 3 (32:46):
Yeah, So let's talk about the two thousand and non season.
So the Lando Magic y'all beat Lebron the Calves to
go to the finals.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
What was that?

Speaker 2 (32:57):
You had the close out game again, so you had
a crazy game think.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
Forty one in nineteen, a light double up white through
that out. They said, you know he's and he's still
remember forty one nineteen. That was right there at the office.
Forty and nineteen is absolutely but against that team, against
that player in that moment to go to the finals,

(33:22):
like the what do you as a player take us
in that moment where you feeling in the zone like, oh,
I'm having one of those games. This is one of
those like what is that? How do you control that emotion?

Speaker 2 (33:36):
You can't.

Speaker 6 (33:37):
It's just like one you feel everything that's going on
from the crowd because we're in Orlando, so the crowd
is hyped because this is the furthest we've been in
a long time, and you can feel that the intensity.
Everybody's so hype, and it's like the only thing on
our minds is they've been talking about this Cleveland Laker matchup.

Speaker 2 (33:57):
Yeah, they wanted it bad. They wanted it so bad.

Speaker 6 (34:00):
We seeing all this stuff on TV, the com marshalls,
everybody's just counting us out, and that just brought out
so much anger that it was like, we are finna
destroy Cleveland, whatever it takes. We're gonna send them home
mad that they they from playing us. And that last
game was like a statement like, nah, y'all gonna remember

(34:24):
Orlando Magic. Everybody don't remember we the team that stopped
Lebron and Kobe from going to the.

Speaker 3 (34:29):
Fut That series was still that that time really was
like some of the best baasketball that I think that
we had, the matchups, the individual players, the teams.

Speaker 4 (34:44):
When did it start to click for y'all?

Speaker 3 (34:45):
Though that obviously, you know, you felt like everybody was
counting y'all out and things like that, But when did
it really start to click like, oh shit, we got
a legit shot.

Speaker 6 (34:57):
Well really that how we started out that whole that
whole season when not playoffs. We started out against Philly
and we were we were down. I think we had
to go to game six. We lost the first game.
Fans went crazy owners at home, How y'all make it
this far? Y'all best team and y'all lose the first game?

(35:18):
They going crazy owners. So I guess suspended game six.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
We're already up. We just needed one more game.

Speaker 6 (35:27):
And I'm like, man, we can't go to no game
seven because anything can happen.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
But I'm suspended. I'm tripping. So we end up winning
a game.

Speaker 6 (35:35):
I think we played Boston the next round and then
we play Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
Boston's a battle in itself.

Speaker 6 (35:43):
Yeah, So after beating Philly and Boston, we felt like
we had the upper hand on Cleveland all year and
we knew about why the town of game come. We
had a plan for Lebron, We had a plan for Galskins,
anybody on the court. We had a plan for it
and we wanted to dominate them, and I think we

(36:04):
did that.

Speaker 4 (36:05):
Did you have.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
Any moments in playing the calves where you're looking at
Lebron and what they're doing, Like damn, Like he's really
on a different level as far as just pure athleticism
because I think that series, like Bron didn't show one
of his best playoff series that y'all just beat them,
But like he played at a high level.

Speaker 2 (36:29):
Almost every game. He had a great game.

Speaker 3 (36:31):
Like you never looked across the court and was like,
how the fuck is he still?

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Like we can't stop and we can't.

Speaker 6 (36:38):
N We was in a mold. I didn't see him.
I just saw the trophy. He was in a way.
I was looking at the trophy like, man, he is
in the way. He is a person and this team
is in our way. Like yeah, he got to go.
He got to go.

Speaker 9 (36:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
So the next round, y'all get the organization that's probably
the most prestigious organization and definitely in basketball, maybe in sports.

Speaker 4 (37:04):
But what is that feeling that we got La? We
got the Lakers got told.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
I was like, this is it.

Speaker 6 (37:12):
We're playing against the Lakers in the finals. The magic
Orlando was going. We saw Orlando flags all over Orlando.
The crowd, the fans is going crazy. I'm like this
at number two, you know what I'm saying that it
was At first, everybody was talking about this was Mickey
mouse Town. They wasn't like, they wasn't calling us Orlando magic,

(37:34):
calling us Orlando tragic. So for us to be go
from to go from that to being in the finals, man,
that's feeling in the world. To beat the Calves and
then now playing the Lakers. The games was crazy.

Speaker 7 (37:49):
And let's not act like Boston was a trash.

Speaker 6 (37:51):
Boston wasn't a trash team. So we went through hell
to get to By the time we got to the Lakers,
we had.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
No more Interget.

Speaker 7 (38:01):
Look at all the teams you had to go through
just to get to Kobe.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
Yeah, just to get to the big balls. You ever
played like a video game?

Speaker 9 (38:10):
I got one life left and now you're playing against
he got hold of he got I like, bro, this
is not fair.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
He got three seven footers. Oh my god, Oh my god.

Speaker 3 (38:21):
You had now when you got to the finals, Uh yeah, yeah, yeah,
you're you're running mate.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Jamia was hurt, yes, but skip skip.

Speaker 6 (38:34):
No, no skip and Anthony started the whole playoffs and
it was hurt up until the finals.

Speaker 8 (38:42):
Right.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
I always feel like that was a bad call on
Van Gundy.

Speaker 6 (38:46):
We can't blame Van Gundy and I and I and
I and you know a lot of times we tried
to blame Van Gunny because he was the head coach,
but we all agreed to let to have Jamir play,
to for jami to come back and play because he
wanted them to play. It's not like we didn't, Yeah,
but I think it kind of messed up the chemistry

(39:06):
between Anthony and Skip. Okay, that kind of putting them
in a place like, man, we got y'all here, and
obviously we rock with Jamir, but Man, me and Skipped
did our jobs. So looking back on it, like I
can understand why coach and all of us wanted Jamiir

(39:27):
back because we thinking like at the time, like man,
we finally got him back.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
Now it's it's go time.

Speaker 6 (39:32):
But chemistry and time in is super important. Everything has
to be a line in order to win those championships.
And that was our one time, that was that was
our one shot we got.

Speaker 3 (39:45):
We got somebody that wanted to call in and just
talk to you. I told me was coming in today.

Speaker 10 (39:52):
Oh oh my god, oh my god.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
Yo.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
We were just talking about we were just talking about
the old non finals and uh, Dwight was saying. Dwight
was saying Trev Trav couldn't guard. It was like he
kept calling for a switch switch.

Speaker 6 (40:15):
One thing I will say about Trail is he is
one of the most solid people in the world. Brother,
outside of whatever's going on on the with basketball, he
is one of the most solid and on the court
we've been We've been battling each other since we was
some JITs. Yeah, and it's crazy to see how long

(40:35):
your dreads got mine ain't grown. Send the White Little Moses, bro,
I saw the God Little.

Speaker 8 (40:40):
Jesus when you started writing at the same time.

Speaker 6 (40:45):
Yeah, we started at the same time. I learned from you.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
Why yeah, man.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
So we were just talking about the old nine, the
old non finals, trav. Uh. When did y'all feel when
y'all got because obviously Dwight was saying everybody wanted La
Cleveland to see. Obviously Kobe and Braun d dwighten them
sent them packing. When dwighten them sent broad in a packing,
did you feel like, oh, we got this, this is

(41:15):
easy walking through them, or did y'all feel like, damn, man,
we got to go out there and beat this big
shoulder dude?

Speaker 4 (41:20):
And Jamie and Nelson and up.

Speaker 8 (41:23):
Man.

Speaker 10 (41:25):
First off, personally, for me, I wanted to play them
so bad. So I knew, like if they won, like
it would be like the energy of like just the
world and the universe just coming back on the ass
if we played them, Yeah, you know, like they traded me,
Orlando traded me from uh well, I got traded from

(41:47):
there to Lam you know, so I knew their whole
everything that they did. I knew what pissed some of
the players off. I knew what got under Dwight skin.
I knew how to agitate them. So like the things
that I would share about what they did, you know,
I would tell my team.

Speaker 2 (42:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (42:12):
So yeah, I felt like we had the advantage in
a way.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
Well Dwight, Dwight, he said that he didn't because I
kind of blamed. I still I respect what Dwight said.
All of them agreed to have Jammiya come back and play,
But I felt like with Skip and Anthony Johnson was doing,
I think that that kind of messed up the chemistry.
Did y'all game plan for skipping a j and liked

(42:38):
WinCE Jimmy came back, Like what was the switch that
y'all made in the locker room.

Speaker 10 (42:45):
It's crazy because I think Mier was an All Star that.

Speaker 8 (42:49):
Year too, right, was he was Dwight?

Speaker 10 (42:52):
Yeah he was, Mire was an All Star that year
that he fucked his shoulder up. So when they when
Skip got put in the line up, that caught the rhythm,
like a really really good rhythm. But Jamier is the
All Star starter who year after year like his play
has you know, gotten them to where they was at.

(43:13):
But making that switch at that time while you rolling
or while their team was like moving the way it
was moving, it was a tough decision to make for
a coach and a team to try to adjust to
without having like practice and shit like that. So that
was another advantage that I think that uh I was
able to have.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
Now I do.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
I think I do remember one time, I think, trev
you got a poster on Dwight.

Speaker 8 (43:41):
You know you tried it. The White is a fucking
hat man.

Speaker 10 (43:46):
Scher has d White literally slapped it holding my ar.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
I do have this top.

Speaker 10 (43:53):
I'm probably two hundred and seven pounds, the white all
of two sixty.

Speaker 6 (43:57):
Yeah, I don't have my little You have to hack Trevor.
I'm gonna tell you why. Every time Trevor wants to
dunk on you, he does a karate kick to kick you. Yeah,
so I had to make sure he wasn't gonna kick
me and then dunk on me.

Speaker 8 (44:16):
I got here.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
You a hack, Bro, Trevor. I appreciate you calling in bro.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
Saying that if I am a hack, my brother Trevor reason,
I know who's gonna get him freeing up. Yeah, So
Dwight take us to the last game. You lose the
finals in two thousand and nine to to Travan Kobe

(44:46):
and the Lakers.

Speaker 4 (44:47):
What is that emotion in the locker room?

Speaker 2 (44:49):
Man?

Speaker 6 (44:50):
Before we got in the locker room, I set on
the court with Jamir and watched him celebrate. I was
just like, man, man, I just got to sit here. Man,
this shit really it really hurts.

Speaker 9 (45:00):
Man.

Speaker 6 (45:02):
We put in so much time to get here, and
we don't know if we can get back again because
it's hard. But let's remember this feeling. So when we
get back in the gym, Yeah, this is what we're
fighting for. And so that's what that's what we did.
When I got back home and I was so hurt,
I set outside of my house about five five six

(45:24):
hours and I listened to the lose Yourself in the
Moment your own house.

Speaker 2 (45:30):
I was like, man, I just lost one shot, man,
one shot. If I never get back to Kobe, I'm
telling you, I was so sick.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
Man. I just set outside like that was my one shot. Man,
Like this is him, this is Kobe the Lakers. Like,
I'm like, man, that the Magic would have won the championship,
like that would have been everything that we wanted in
on Orlando, And uh.

Speaker 3 (46:03):
Damn, talk to me about the because you were on
the bubble ring, right, the bubble that's when you got.

Speaker 2 (46:08):
Your everybody you called it the bubble ring because it is.

Speaker 4 (46:12):
What you mean.

Speaker 3 (46:13):
But okay, let's have that. Let's have that conversation. You
don't feel like we should call it the bubble ring? Why, Well,
because everything around it. The season will stop, y'all wan
vacation for maybe.

Speaker 2 (46:23):
Three months, so that should make it harder.

Speaker 3 (46:27):
Well, this is why I want to have this conversation.
I'm on the side of I don't. I don't see
how it's harder from the standpoint that we know exactly
how much traveling and having our fans screaming down on
top of the other team affect the game, Dwight, don't
say that, don't don't affect the game.

Speaker 6 (46:50):
Okay, So then why didn't it affect either either way
when we didn't have fans.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
No, No, I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that
it didn't affect either way. I'm just saying I think
at that's a bigger element that is now missing, is
the fact that we don't have to go into La
and beat the Lakers, or we don't have to go
into Orlando and beat the Magic, or we don't have
to go into San Antonio and beat the Spurs.

Speaker 6 (47:13):
But if we're the Lakers, everywhere we go, we're going
to be the home team. It doesn't matter where we
play at. Name one place we're going to go play at.
If we're the Lakers, all championship run Boston.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
You felt like if we were winning the Boston in
one who as the Lakers?

Speaker 2 (47:30):
That team we did it already. The celt doesn't even
go to the finals. We had the best.

Speaker 3 (47:36):
No, no, I'm saying the records as opposed to having
fans and not have it's tougher to go into Boston
and win in that building.

Speaker 5 (47:43):
When you were in Orlando, did you feel like the
Lakers were at home when you guys played in Orlando.

Speaker 7 (47:48):
Yes, oh okay.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
Just like when we played Detroit.

Speaker 4 (47:52):
I could see Orlando being that way.

Speaker 2 (47:54):
Of course, the Lake I'm talking about where it's rivalry shit, like.

Speaker 6 (47:57):
You're not one team that's only Boston everywhere, the Lakers.

Speaker 3 (48:00):
But I'm just saying, if you're the Spurs, it's.

Speaker 6 (48:03):
Hard when the Spurs, we had more Laker fans there.
You're talking about for the playoffs. You're talking about for
the finals. If we're playing the finals team, I mean,
it's an Eastern Conference team.

Speaker 3 (48:13):
Did we want Lakers fans and Spurs games than Spurs
fans in the playoffs?

Speaker 2 (48:17):
Do?

Speaker 3 (48:17):
We didn't play them in the I'm just saying, like
when the Lakers played the Spurs, like when Kobe did
play them, the Spurs not, but.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
Back then it was a lot of Laker fans at
them games.

Speaker 4 (48:26):
I'm sure it is because the Lakers the brand is
just so.

Speaker 6 (48:29):
So that's what I'm saying. We got home court advantage everywhere.
We're not getting affected by that. But how does it what?
I'm all right, so you got the bubble, you.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
Said that we was out for hollow three so three
months of no basketball, no no training, none of that.
But the oldest team to come back and beat everybody
fars square?

Speaker 6 (48:49):
How many times? What was it for? Did we sweep everybody?

Speaker 2 (48:54):
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (48:55):
It was close? Was our one team prety dominant?

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Oh it was four to one everybody?

Speaker 8 (49:00):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (49:00):
Yeah, it was. It was a quick time.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
So that what does that mean? But everybody had the opportunity.

Speaker 7 (49:05):
Well, let me ask you.

Speaker 5 (49:06):
Is there a difference in the energy of when you
went to the finals with the Magic playing the Lakers
than when you were in the bubble in the finals?

Speaker 2 (49:13):
You can't know.

Speaker 5 (49:14):
I'm saying there was no worlds. There was no difference
in the energy of walking onto the court.

Speaker 7 (49:19):
That's what I'm mean. But what is the all right,
So we're asking we don't know.

Speaker 6 (49:23):
Obviously, if it's no fans, there's gonna feel different for
when it's a whole bunch of fans there. But we
was the best team coming going into the pandemic anyway.

Speaker 7 (49:32):
No, I get that part of it.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
But I'm just saying, when you have the stoppage, and
then you obviously have guys being outspoken about not wanting
to go to the bubble, you have guys that's in
the bubble that's not comfortable. They're like, yo, bro, I'm
ready to get out of here. So I'm just thinking, like, guys,
don't really care. This is It kind of came across
like we got the best players in the world, we

(49:54):
put them inside the bubble, and they're basically like, au shit,
they know what's the games are. The teams are showing
up to the gym. But to me, it's not the
same as when I'm watching Orlando and the Lakers in
two thousand and nine.

Speaker 6 (50:09):
But then like it's just the lockout year, the lock
We don't say lockout championship.

Speaker 3 (50:17):
They because but it isn't. But it wasn't. It wasn't
as long as the cold, the bubble.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
It wasn't. Just it should have been the hardest time
for us. That's a harder time. We're in a bubble.

Speaker 3 (50:28):
You play, I'm asking you if you feel like it's
tougher than I'm taking It was actually played in two
thousand and nine and you played in the Bubble Championship.

Speaker 6 (50:36):
So what I'm saying is tough. Is the circumstances that
we're all up under. I would love to travel during
the Finals and be with my family and.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
Go to LA and chill.

Speaker 6 (50:46):
That's that's probably harder to play now because now I
gotta worry about everybody coming to the games. I gotta
worry about making sure the tickets is right, the flights
is right.

Speaker 3 (50:57):
So what I'm saying it's harder, it's tougher, But it
has nothing to do with basketball.

Speaker 8 (51:01):
This is.

Speaker 2 (51:04):
Playing in the in the bubble.

Speaker 6 (51:06):
It's pure basketball, So it should make it harder to
play against another team because it's no other searching stance
besides basketball. So now everybody's playing, they they best. Jamal Murray,
he's getting fifty piece pieces in the bubble.

Speaker 2 (51:23):
He had nothing to worry about.

Speaker 6 (51:24):
He had no other outside stress when it comes to
game day. Now, the stress that we had is dealing
with the whole world. Bend at Stop. Were getting COVID
tests three times a day when we can't even catch
a cold in there. Why are we getting COVID test
so much? It's no reason for that. It's nobody there
but us. Imagine waking up every day, getting the real

(51:45):
COVID test three times a day just to play a game.
So yeah, it's people could put an asher, but they
wasn't there. So I guess they're gonna say, well, that
was easy. It's Lebron, that was his team. Yeah, but
come on, man, if the next with the one y'all,
I bet you would have said it was an astro.

Speaker 3 (52:06):
I would that would be a nasty championship, would I
would say it was the greatest championship of all time.

Speaker 4 (52:11):
Champions But I would say that's nat I.

Speaker 6 (52:13):
Would say it would be nasty because it's no parade
and no other stuff that got with it. That's the
nasty part. I want a parade. I won't at least
we didin't get a chance to do nothing. Man, only
parade I got was on my two K man I won.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
So see I did.

Speaker 3 (52:28):
This is damn So you didn't win an O nine,
but you wanted you won in twenty twenty. Right, tough
question because I think I know your answer. Would you
rather have won in O nine than twenty twenty?

Speaker 8 (52:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (52:42):
Orlando, Why it's Orlando? Okay, first championship, Yeah.

Speaker 7 (52:48):
That's a staple like that.

Speaker 6 (52:49):
That's like the first one that changes everything. So of
course in Orlando, and then the crowd is there just
before the new arenas finished. Oh my god, going into
the New Arena with Arene.

Speaker 7 (53:00):
Yeah, all right, quick question at disney World?

Speaker 2 (53:03):
What rank and to end up at Disney World? Oh
my god?

Speaker 7 (53:07):
Yeah, you literally say it that D like you just
want to be a championship.

Speaker 2 (53:10):
What you're gonna do?

Speaker 3 (53:11):
Likes going across the street.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
Back to my room. I got some sod. I'm going
to my room. All right, Prime Shack or prom Dwight.

Speaker 6 (53:27):
I gotta go with myself. But Prime Shack is a
big old beast. But I'm not backing down.

Speaker 4 (53:32):
No, I know you ain't backing down.

Speaker 6 (53:33):
But seven to two, seven two, three twenty and I'm
pushing six eleven with shoes on to sixty five. It's cool.
I'm a battle my ass off. I'm strong as ship.
So hey, I'm going with Prime Dwhight.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
Okay, I'm mad. I'm not mad at that.

Speaker 6 (53:54):
I'm five ship out of them too. But you know,
in our career, if you've ever seen it, we both have.
I think we average like five files every game against Yeah.

Speaker 4 (54:03):
Absolutely, it's a lot of that going on.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Hell yeah, what does the.

Speaker 5 (54:07):
NBA need to do with All Star weekend in general?
Not just the All Star Game but three point contests? D?

Speaker 4 (54:13):
Why you gotta come back into the dunk contest.

Speaker 6 (54:15):
What I mean, what you want people to do. I'm
telling y'all it's oversaturated. Like think about it. Yeah, we
have seen all the dunks in the world. What else
can somebody do?

Speaker 5 (54:24):
Do you think they need to add in some of
the I mean they try to do it, but the
YouTube dunkers and bringing people up from G League just
for that weekend, Like.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
You can do that stuff too.

Speaker 6 (54:36):
But again, now everybody wants to be compensated for what
they're doing there in ils.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
I mean, they make enough money doing it. I don't
make enough money. No, no, no, no the YouTuber I
understand that.

Speaker 6 (54:49):
But the YouTuber is saying, hey, you if you want
my name, image and likeness and you want me to
get out there and dunk, I want to get paid.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
I want to I want to do all this stuff.

Speaker 6 (54:59):
So now I think looking at all that, you know
the biggest thing is to attract this new market.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
So if I was them, they got all them chaps
GTP servers.

Speaker 6 (55:08):
Just ask all the ais and AI is gonna tell
them how to make All Star better.

Speaker 3 (55:14):
They're trying something with It's the world versus the NBA, right,
They already do that though, But that's that's what the
younger guys when.

Speaker 2 (55:21):
They're gonna play that the World versus Us in the
in the States.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
Yeah, let fall Star weekend, But is that that's cool
to add on to the All Star Weekend. I'm gonna
watch it, but that's not a game changer.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
It's not going to be a game. It's just going
to be normal. Can you know who's you know, it's
not going to ever be the same. We don't.

Speaker 6 (55:45):
We don't seem so much good talent. We done seeing
the best of the best of the best of the world.
So now we're expecting the All Star Game to be
something crazy when it just ain't. The times we lived
in we probably gotta let that go because it was.
It's nostalgic for us to be like, damn, I remember
when it was in the All Star Game. Everybody had

(56:05):
their home jersey on all that stuff. Yeah, it's cool,
but now we didn't. The Times is saying for some different.

Speaker 3 (56:13):
I mean, I like the idea of having the World
versus USA and in the All Star Weekend, only because
I don't know if the USA wins. Oh right now,
right now, that's what your game. But who's gonna play
the last three?

Speaker 2 (56:32):
How they are people gonna really play?

Speaker 4 (56:34):
What's the I think if it's I think if it's
that structure, that format.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
But what's the center behind it? Sho do you pick?
How do you vote?

Speaker 9 (56:42):
Now?

Speaker 5 (56:44):
I think if they did it with the actual All Stars,
it would give more incentive because I think America would
have something to prove because I think.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
The Olympics.

Speaker 4 (56:53):
Then, so why do y'all know what difference?

Speaker 5 (56:55):
Because it's every single If it's the world, everyone, that's
just not citizen.

Speaker 3 (56:59):
Each team the world versus the US the best player, Yeah,
the US. That could be tough because now you got
Luca on the same team.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
Time, you ain't got enough time for you need more
than the All Star Game. You see what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (57:17):
Time and you're like, man, hold on, who we gonna get?
We got we got to make sure we picked the
right guys. And then it take away from it going
back to the All Star voting. Remember these guys is
also trying to make sure for longevity they get on
the All Star team so they can get another year
in they contract all different things. So now that the
money is so much, it's so much stuff involved to

(57:38):
just make it difficult. The one thing I would like
to see is not with the All Star Game, but Olympics.
Instead of having the Olympics in another city or another
country every year, I think that they should go back
to Greece where it started at, fix it up to
where it looked like the old school kind of style,
but make it new school. But just keep it there

(57:59):
every year so we can bring the value back into it.
Because when you have it in every every place around
the world, they they putting all their money up for
one year or for a couple of years just to
build this place up. And then now when the Olympics
is over it you got all these nice venues, but
nothing to do with it.

Speaker 2 (58:18):
I do want better.

Speaker 5 (58:19):
They'll build all that shit just to bid. They might
not even get the Olympics.

Speaker 6 (58:23):
Yeah, that's the bid for it. So just like they're
having in it. Are they still having it in California?

Speaker 7 (58:28):
It's in LA. Yeah, the next one in LA.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
So they're having in LA. They have to bid for
for a couple of years.

Speaker 7 (58:35):
The Olympics.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
What about all the people that live there that have
to travel and work. We're not going to go to
the Olympics. So I have to just live.

Speaker 6 (58:41):
I be going to do all that stuff. So now
let's put it back to where it started. Let's bring
the value back into it. Let's kind of get the
real gold medals, the real silver medals. Make it mean
something again. Like every country when they go playing Olympics,
it really means it. Don't seem like it's like for
us in America. So I think that'll get back to

(59:02):
everything else. Like, hold up, now, if we want to
be the most dominant, let's do it in the Olympics,
let's be the most dominant in NBA baseball, whatever it
may be.

Speaker 3 (59:11):
Now, this news just broke. The Bus family is entering
an agreement to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles
Lakers to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified
holding company t WG Global.

Speaker 2 (59:24):
This just happened.

Speaker 8 (59:25):
Just happened.

Speaker 4 (59:25):
News just broke.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
The Bus family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
How much money.

Speaker 8 (59:39):
Is there?

Speaker 7 (59:39):
A number?

Speaker 2 (59:43):
Yeah, we talked.

Speaker 6 (59:44):
He talking about billions, because I know, mister, I know
the one that who who have transitioned a couple of
years ago.

Speaker 2 (59:51):
You don't woke up by that great.

Speaker 7 (59:54):
Yeah, ten billion billion alleged.

Speaker 2 (59:58):
Now alleged to billion. Is that enough? That is enough,
that's enough to get it done, get it done. You
never don't see her again. It's funny because like doing
that's what Phil jacksonsone right now, Oh, ten billion is

(01:00:33):
crazy for.

Speaker 6 (01:00:35):
Majority order ship majority one. Man, Just give me a
well since we didn't, since we didn't have our parade.

Speaker 7 (01:00:44):
We can do the five year anniversary. Man, give me something.

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
Yeah, that's a that's a crazy you know, hair and
numbers like that is like, you know, you never think
that you would.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
I don't think we've ever seen anything like that.

Speaker 9 (01:01:00):
No, I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:01:02):
I've never seen it.

Speaker 4 (01:01:03):
But what does that mean for the Lakers?

Speaker 8 (01:01:04):
Though?

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
Like, what do you think that means for.

Speaker 3 (01:01:07):
You know, the Los Angeles Lakers because now they still
they're so majority ownership.

Speaker 7 (01:01:12):
Like a sports organization.

Speaker 2 (01:01:14):
It's like, it's sorry that all right, it's our whole lives.
We've known the Lakers to be from where Los Angeles, no, no, no, no,
from whom there you go the bus fan every we
know bus bus they own it and then it ain't
the bus is no more. It's just like the world
is changing, bro.

Speaker 3 (01:01:34):
Yeah, that's that's that's exactly what that that's that's a
that's like Stanbrenner not having or the star Broners.

Speaker 2 (01:01:41):
Anything to do with the Yankees.

Speaker 7 (01:01:42):
That's that's the only family I could compare that to
those organizations.

Speaker 4 (01:01:47):
Ten billion dollars. This this changes, you.

Speaker 3 (01:01:50):
Know, they're not they're there's shifts at this shifts a
lot of ten billion dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
What are they about to do to the Lakers? I
want in listen, I would be whatever y'all need me
to be on team.

Speaker 5 (01:02:09):
Hey, now I totally understand why it's not the Staples
Center anymore because who shopped at Staples?

Speaker 7 (01:02:15):
You know you can't afford that.

Speaker 8 (01:02:17):
No see?

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
And then a smart cryptocurrency now it's blowing up.

Speaker 7 (01:02:22):
Who can we google? Who bought it?

Speaker 4 (01:02:25):
A multinational conglomerate holding company founded by Mark Walter with
interest in financial services, insurance, AI technology, sports, media, entertainment,
and energy.

Speaker 5 (01:02:34):
So it's one of those companies where you know absolutely
nothing of what they do and it's just a bunch
of words.

Speaker 7 (01:02:38):
And they're billionaires.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
Okay them, you do everything? Oh my god.

Speaker 5 (01:02:44):
Anytime you see private investment services with an enterprise value
exceeding forty billion dollars and.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
They just they gave the Lakers ten billion, just a
ten piece, don't worry about it.

Speaker 6 (01:02:56):
Hey, here's ten billion. We're going to take this company
that you had for aready how long the Lakers?

Speaker 2 (01:03:02):
Probably fifty years? Yeah, what can you do with the
Lakers now? Seventies? I believe Do you think that was
a great move? Well, money talks got to get it
done in this world. AI.

Speaker 5 (01:03:16):
Who knows where AI and sports are going? And how
you own everything that happened with the Lakers.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
Where's it going? It ain't gonna be no more players,
It's gonna be all AI. So while you're doing it, that's.

Speaker 5 (01:03:29):
Now they're telling the Lakers for AI and all the
likeness of every player that was ever on the Lakers's.

Speaker 7 (01:03:37):
He was folding that deal.

Speaker 2 (01:03:38):
Ain't nothing. What's gonna be playing.

Speaker 6 (01:03:40):
Everybody's gonna be at hole looking at it VR sets
of fake Lebron.

Speaker 3 (01:03:45):
Now I do I do believe the way we'll we'll
view basketball games is gonna change.

Speaker 2 (01:03:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:03:51):
I can see them doing something where each player has
a point of view camera on them and you can
kind of.

Speaker 4 (01:03:57):
Figure out who to follow the whole game.

Speaker 6 (01:03:59):
Things like damn much. See they taken away from the
integrity of the sport. But at the same time, it's
AI and this is what people want. They always trying
to stay a step ahead of the game.

Speaker 4 (01:04:10):
So this is a major move when you see numbers
like that.

Speaker 3 (01:04:13):
Though Dwight as a player, a young Dwight Howard, let's
say he's drafted by the Lakers, amazing first three years.
It's time for you to get your extension, your negotiation.
Now you negotiate with the Lakers. This deal happened for
ten billion dollars. What does dwighteness agent sit down to

(01:04:33):
talk about.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
I'm gonna say, agent, I love you.

Speaker 7 (01:04:40):
And refer to him as a you know, a.

Speaker 2 (01:04:46):
Yeah agent love Yeah. Yeah, yeah, but this next deal, I.

Speaker 8 (01:04:50):
Think I have to do it on my own.

Speaker 7 (01:04:53):
You're not taking ten percent?

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
Ten billion is up.

Speaker 5 (01:05:00):
Yeah, But I mean, does that change any of the
market value for Lakers players just because that deal happened.

Speaker 7 (01:05:07):
Yeah, I mean it's going to be.

Speaker 6 (01:05:09):
The cap, the caps. Yeah, well, the cap is always
the captain this league. That everything is cap everything.

Speaker 3 (01:05:16):
I mean, yeah, yeah, Yo, the Big Three. We can't
let you go without talking about this.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Now. They hit the chat the other night they said
we had Dwight coming in on Wednesday.

Speaker 4 (01:05:27):
I'm like, yo, yeah, Dwight Man.

Speaker 3 (01:05:28):
I hung up with Dwight and travel a couple of
nights and they was here in New York. Uh, I said, Dwight.

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
Cool man.

Speaker 3 (01:05:35):
Then they send because we're supposed to have Lance here
earlier today, but he missed his flight. So they was like, yo,
any overlap, Like I said.

Speaker 7 (01:05:45):
What happened.

Speaker 4 (01:05:45):
So he's seen the clip. I'm like, that's just basketball man. Yeah, yeah,
like it ain't nothing.

Speaker 6 (01:05:52):
See, I think before that they had allowed so much
stuff to happen before the game, and I think it had.
I was just out of my element, okay, And I
was pissed off more so at myself after that for allowing,
you know, allowing that whole game to even get to
that point.

Speaker 4 (01:06:12):
Okay, you feel like you played a part in it
getting to that point.

Speaker 6 (01:06:17):
Yeah, because I mean, one, I didn't know how the
game goes into Big three, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:06:23):
So you know, I'm before the game, everybody's like, yeah,
this is a trash talking lead.

Speaker 6 (01:06:28):
We want you guys to talk trash, and all the time,
I'm like, okay, then I can talk trash and what
else yeah, I want you all to you know, get
get it. It's way physical. I'm like, okay, all right,
So we're playing like certain things was happening. It was
a play where Lance had kind of got scored on
and then he shoved the ball in Jordan Crawford's chest

(01:06:51):
and so that kind of got Jordan heated. The next
play you see Jordan taking his finger, going all up
in his nose and searching for buggers and shit.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
So that happened.

Speaker 6 (01:07:02):
Then more in a game, they yelling in our faces.
Before the game, they doing the same thing. So I'm like, man,
it's a little bit too much man. And so the
play with Man, Lance kind of get into a scuffle
kind of like pick up his fist out like he's
gonna throw a punch, So.

Speaker 2 (01:07:18):
Like put my hand up, like hold up, what the
fun going on again? So I'm like yo. And then
at that point I'm like I kind of blapped that
for a second.

Speaker 8 (01:07:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
Then when I grabbed him and started to pick him up,
I'm like, oh shit, I'm fucking tripping. But that's how
I started, I thought. But in the moment, I'm in
the moment, so I'm like, oh shit, yeah, yeah, And
I'm also thinking too, like by the time they see
us really starting to go, I'm thinking everybody because I'm like, oh, Ship,

(01:07:50):
this is too much.

Speaker 8 (01:07:50):
Yeah, bring it up. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:07:52):
Then it just I start tripping over Ship in the
floor and the people on the boy the basket, and
then I'm looking at babies and Ship.

Speaker 11 (01:08:02):
I'm like, man, a baby, Like man, there's a lot
so I mean, it's not but that's just basketball.

Speaker 2 (01:08:14):
I think. I think you know Chat, I said, Man,
that's just bad. They didn't throw no punch.

Speaker 6 (01:08:18):
Yeah, I'm like, man, first of all, throwing the punch
with that's so disrespectful and basketball all all these kids
and families that's there like that, that's when it becomes
a brawl when you have some kind of situation like
that happened, and so I'm glad it didn't escalate to that,
but I'm glad it did happen to you kind of

(01:08:41):
got all that energy got the way down. Now for
the rest of the season, everybody can just hoop.

Speaker 3 (01:08:48):
Now we saw Mike, Michael Beasley and Alance just played
one on one last week.

Speaker 4 (01:08:53):
How good is Michael Beasley to me personally? I feel
like he probably has.

Speaker 2 (01:09:01):
The same.

Speaker 4 (01:09:04):
Skill set is a Carmelo Anthony. I don't think he
had to.

Speaker 3 (01:09:07):
Obviously, the professionalism and maybe some other things kind of
you know, hindered his potential in the career in the
NBA and what he could have accomplished, But just from
a skill set, to me, Michael Beasley is one of
the most gifted basketball players I've ever seen.

Speaker 2 (01:09:24):
I think he is too. I think, man, it's just timing.

Speaker 6 (01:09:30):
He was a team and a situation at a time
where it wasn't accepting I guess with how they felt
his behavior was Miami whatever. And you know, once you
get kind of a bad rep in the league and
it's really hard to come.

Speaker 2 (01:09:45):
Back from it. And I think he's awesome. I remember meeting,
you know, Mike in high school, him in.

Speaker 6 (01:09:52):
KD at the Top one hundred camp, and they had
asked me to talk to both of them, and I
saw both of them. I'm like, man, both of these
guys has got a chance to really be special. I
told KD. Then I said, man, you can be one
of the best scores in the NBA.

Speaker 8 (01:10:06):
Ever.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
He is absolutely Bees is just one of the coldest
basketball players.

Speaker 6 (01:10:14):
It's just all about time and the opportunity I think Miami,
he was on a team where it was who was
on that team?

Speaker 2 (01:10:20):
Man? Was it d way the way? Yep?

Speaker 6 (01:10:24):
It's if you don't have that, if you don't have
a team when you come into the league, like Mike deserve.

Speaker 2 (01:10:30):
To have his own team.

Speaker 6 (01:10:33):
So his talent is that thin, you know, that's how good,
that's how talented he is. I just feel like maybe
he didn't have.

Speaker 2 (01:10:42):
I don't know. I don't know why they did him
like that. Man, yeah, he I don't know why. I
think that. It can't make you depressed.

Speaker 6 (01:10:50):
Oh yes, I've had those days, in those moments and
those times of depression.

Speaker 2 (01:10:55):
Why does team do that?

Speaker 6 (01:10:56):
And it's like you can't expect me not to make
a mistake or feel in certain situations like you know, one,
I'm human, I'm young as hell. You're giving me all
this at twenty three, twenty four?

Speaker 2 (01:11:12):
What do you expect? You know what I'm saying, Like
we didn't grow up.

Speaker 6 (01:11:18):
I may have you know both my parents, but my
parents know about millions of dollars. You understand the lifestyle
that come with this, And I'm the one that's living it.
Mike's the one that's living in all these other players,
we're we're living this this lifestyle. So it's like if
you're not in it, if you haven't been a part

(01:11:38):
of it's like, how can you understand it? And you know,
for Mike Man and a lot of guys who'll be
depressed and stuff like that, it could be difficult.

Speaker 3 (01:11:45):
How do you deal with those moments of having the
success that you have and you know, achieving things that
not many people will ever achieve and reaching these heights,
but then also feeling those moments of not being fulfilled,
not being motivated. How does Dwight Howard how did you

(01:12:07):
navigate those moments in your career?

Speaker 6 (01:12:11):
Ooh, man, Sometimes I just have to travel, get away
from the States, get away from you know, my normal routine,
and just you know, see the world different, you know,
sometimes traveling you see how people live and you know
other places and it's like, man, you know, everybody's out

(01:12:33):
here and there's one mission for everybody in the whole world.

Speaker 2 (01:12:36):
Was just trying to survive until the next day. Everybody,
no matter where you are, everybody's.

Speaker 6 (01:12:42):
Just trying to survive. And you see that and I'm like, man,
I done did so much in my younger days that
you know I can rest easy knowing that the hard
work is a lot of my hard work behind me.
I done work so hard to build up this life
that I have. Now I should just be thankful, you know.
So when I have those moments, I'm like, Man, God,

(01:13:03):
I'm just so thankful for you. I could have been dead,
I could have been out in the streets, I could
have been doing anything else. But you allowed me to
play this one sport for all these years. And it's
because of my dedication, my discipline to the sport, to you,
and to my faith that I have these things.

Speaker 2 (01:13:21):
So, Man, thank you. Going overseas is probably one. They're
really just getting a loan? Man, Was that?

Speaker 3 (01:13:28):
Was that one of the things that played the fact
in your decision to go to Taiwan was just wanting
to get out of your norm and find motivation again.

Speaker 6 (01:13:36):
Yeah, Man, Taiwan's amazing. I remember getting ready to go
to Taiwan.

Speaker 2 (01:13:40):
People like why would you go over there?

Speaker 8 (01:13:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (01:13:42):
Taiwan's A third one comes from like how would you
know what Taiwan is? You ain't never right right, Like,
you don't know what I'm gonna get from.

Speaker 8 (01:13:49):
Going out over there.

Speaker 2 (01:13:50):
But if God is telling me to go to Taiwan
and he's opening doors. I'm gonna go.

Speaker 6 (01:13:55):
I go to Taiwan, stay there for eight months, end
up getting my own Basketball All League, getting a gold card,
which means I can do business all over Taiwan and
my whole family. So it's like I done set myself
up for the future by going by listening to God
and taking a step of a leap of faith, you
know what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (01:14:15):
So Taiwan really gave me wings.

Speaker 6 (01:14:18):
You know, going overseas, you know, playing basketball again just
the obviously the NBA and the Taiwanese League is different. Yeah,
you know, I would say, like the fans really inspired
me while I was there and motivated me to just
remember why I played, you know what drove me back

(01:14:40):
in the day. And I'm like, man, this is awesome.
Seeing ninety year olds come to the games. I'm like, yo,
this is awesome, man, just to witness this. Man, there's
people coming from different parts of the world. They know
who I am, Like, I'm from college part of Georgia. Yeah,

(01:15:03):
there's somebody.

Speaker 8 (01:15:04):
All the way in.

Speaker 2 (01:15:07):
Whatever part of Taiwan this is. Don't got no TV.

Speaker 6 (01:15:10):
Screen, and they know my name, my family, name. They
gonna give me anything they can to.

Speaker 2 (01:15:16):
Show me they love me. Yeah, that's an awesome feeling.
I was happy. I was happy to see you, you know,
just being yourself and having fun.

Speaker 3 (01:15:21):
But I'm gonna be honest. When I saw them stats,
I said, Dwight gotta cut this ship out.

Speaker 2 (01:15:26):
Man.

Speaker 3 (01:15:26):
He over there, I said, why Dwight's premeditated murder?

Speaker 7 (01:15:31):
I'm like, what it was for funzies.

Speaker 4 (01:15:35):
Man, like sixty and thirty. I was like, come on, man,
get your ass back over there?

Speaker 2 (01:15:39):
Man, what's playing over there like that? You can't You
was over there putting up. It's just like, yo, come on, man,
stop playing with those people. Man, lead them people alone.
Had so much fun.

Speaker 3 (01:15:52):
I'm just even like dunking on my knees too. Man, Listen,
they could be told to you, but they ain't. Never
see nothing like Dwight out in Taiwan. You're right exactly
what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (01:16:06):
But I had so much fun just being able to
be outside of like it was like, I know you
probably heard people say it before, like they have a
person and they have another personality, Like so DH twelve,
that's the basketball player that's now.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
I got a chance to be Dwight Howard over there,
get out, just walk Okay, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 6 (01:16:33):
Just go to the park and just sit. Yeah, you
know what I'm saying. Like little stuff like that experience
the greatest him. Though these are experiences like in America.
Sometimes it's be hard because it's an expectation. I go out, Hey,
come here, let me take a picture. Yeah, you will
talk to my cousin.

Speaker 9 (01:16:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:16:50):
You know, when I'm over there, they just who dum,
I love you. Yeah, and then they just let me,
you know, go about my day. Now.

Speaker 6 (01:16:58):
Obviously they want pure and stuff, but sometimes they seemed
like oh he just yeah, they go dwhite.

Speaker 2 (01:17:04):
That felt really good. Yeah, that's dope. I mean I
think you need those moments.

Speaker 7 (01:17:08):
Even Steph talked about his experience in China that was similar.

Speaker 8 (01:17:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:17:12):
Well so yeah, I think that's great. That's where Steph was.

Speaker 2 (01:17:15):
Right, Yeah, stepping all over.

Speaker 8 (01:17:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:17:17):
But now we really appreciate you, man.

Speaker 8 (01:17:19):
This was great.

Speaker 7 (01:17:20):
Thank you for coming through.

Speaker 3 (01:17:21):
Yeah, Dwight, it was a it was I mean, we again,
you know, I've had I was around you and Trap
some nights when I was here.

Speaker 4 (01:17:29):
We hit the club a little bit. But I was
telling the guys all.

Speaker 3 (01:17:32):
One thing about Dwight what you see on TV when
he's speaking, he's the same person like on and off
the floor, Like he just has this energy and spirit
about him. That's just very welcoming, very you know, no ego,
and you have all right to have an ego. You
larger than life figure, done some great things in the NBA,
but always always, even from.

Speaker 2 (01:17:54):
When you came in, had the same spirit in it.
You're very humble.

Speaker 3 (01:17:57):
The way you carried yourself very professional. I think that
and that played a lot in the success that you
had in the NBA as well. So thank you for
coming through, Dwight. We appreciate you. Thanks and get men
called Jeanie man, get some of that ten Bill man.

Speaker 2 (01:18:11):
Don't come on. We ain't getting no listen.

Speaker 4 (01:18:14):
He ain't getting no parade.

Speaker 2 (01:18:15):
You no parade. They calling it a bubble.

Speaker 6 (01:18:17):
Ring a couple hundred thousand, a couple hundred million, and
let everybody know that the bubbles is real.

Speaker 2 (01:18:25):
What's up, j come on, Jennie stopped playing
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