Marc Gasol | Growing Up With Pau, USA vs European Basketball, to Becoming a Memphis Grizzlies LEGEND

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Whoa, I gave it out the mud nerve put me.
Le's gonna feel me first, see me beg gonna do
you worse? They say, I'm gonna get you hurt. On't
effecting all my verin still might pull up eating night.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
I go up and there he feel like they hurt.
Bet I go out like a thug. Bet I'll put
something in the thirsty durst.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
I came up from the.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Mud, middle down now shirt shirt right there, bell make
on works straight in my hand from out of her hand.
I con front the money. They finally found that diamond
in the dirt ice.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Hey, can I gotta make it? Get this out the
mud man Man.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to after mud Man. Today
we got a special special guest, our brother from another
mother pig Spain.

Speaker 5 (00:54):
You know what it is in the building, Mark the
soul man.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
What's a good champ it?

Speaker 6 (01:00):
Happy to be here, man, so happy to see y'all.

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Real man.

Speaker 7 (01:04):
Not only that explained, you are a part of the
out the mud movement. I just want you to know
your whole upbringing, the way you had to go, get it,
the way you got damn it coming to a building
and then give your effort, energy.

Speaker 3 (01:20):
Your consistency, very repetitive.

Speaker 7 (01:23):
I'm saying everything you do, you want to do it
over and over and over until you reach greatness. That
man set, bro is a true good and grind or
we appreciate you, Bro.

Speaker 6 (01:34):
I think when you get to a point and you're
trying to be successful in anything you do in life,
you gotta do it that way. I don't see any
other way saying anything for you guys all got to
get it that way. So I don't see any thing
specially about my journey and how I did things is
just the way I saw it, you know, to be successful,
I had to do it that way.

Speaker 7 (01:52):
So so give us the upbringing it and coming up
in Spain with my brother.

Speaker 6 (01:57):
Yeah, well, you know, be brother little brother ship like
po always, you know, trying to bring brother five years
older than me and trying to beat me and uh
and be better than me and basketball and teach me.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
I used to hate that.

Speaker 6 (02:07):
That burned, you know that that feeling of losing against
my brother, It just stayed with me my whole life.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
So I hated that.

Speaker 6 (02:13):
I heard, you know, when I couldn't beat him, I
couldn't have a chance of competing against them. So once
I started to get older and and be able to
fuck with him a little bit more and guard them,
then I knew I how a chance of beating them.
So that was kind of my mindset of every everywhere
I go, like I got to find a way. I
gotta find a way to compete. I gotta find a

(02:35):
way to beat the other guy. And uh, you know,
pow was pretty good player too, so uh, you know,
if you're able to compete against him and and fuck
with him a talented guy, uh, you know, you're gonna
have a chance against a lot of guys.

Speaker 7 (02:48):
So you saw that early though, like in your childhood,
Like like I want to say, like maybe when did
you start seeing like damn, my brother nice And I'm
gonna follow.

Speaker 6 (02:56):
This way to me, it was always a game, a
competitive game, but pow Power didn't flourish until later on,
like he probably when he was twenty one. He happened
so fast in Spain, like the first couple of years
he wouldn't play with the with the you know, professional team,
he was just part of like the B team professional team,
but just not really play and all of a sudden,

(03:17):
like remember Ronnie's sacily exectually he's signed in Barcelona and
it just didn't work out, and so he left mid season,
like after three months of the season he left. So
all of a sudden, like they gave Power a chance,
they had a spot. So he has started to get
a lot of playing time and he just took off,
like he started to play.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
Like stay ready.

Speaker 6 (03:36):
All Power was twenty twenty so that when but before that,
he was not a big prospect. Nobody expected, you know,
much out of him, like he would go to a
national team and barely play. But all of a sudden
he had a chance. He obviously he was very talented
right atmosphere, right team, get drafted like he he like

(03:59):
he well, he's naming the draft a year early, thinking
like that. Probably when he has a big buyout in Spain,
he probably wanted to be able to pay the buy
out and go to the NBA. All of a sudden,
he's number three in the draft. That he that caught
him off guard because like normally back then, you know,
European players don't know the high uh so you know,

(04:20):
that allowed him to pay the buy out. Ship he
goes through thinking he's gonna go to Atlanta, but no,
he is straight or Memphis, for I think it was
a dull rain, you know that, right, Yeah?

Speaker 3 (04:34):
And uh and he ended up here.

Speaker 7 (04:36):
And that's crazy because the dynamics in Europe is overseas.
We always get this this notion of saying that that
part of the world is catching up with USA. But
talk about the dynamics on just European players being able
to play the game all throughout. They pretty much younger
years playing professional And how much.

Speaker 6 (04:58):
Of an advantage that is for you got, Well, you
have to like really work on your fundamentals. Like over there,
like from early age, everything is team oriented. Like it's
no like, well, we're gonna all gonna work for a
player or like the guy that scored the most points
is going to be the best player. That's not how
it works. Like you might play sixty to eighteen minutes
and score eight ten points and you know, and be

(05:18):
the best player on the team, like the most talented guy.
Like it's not about one guy scoring thirty five and
the rest just trying to, you know, help him out.
So I think the way you build a team over
there is a bit different and the fundamentals of the game,
but at the end of the game is just basketball,
and that thing is globalizing. So then you see now
how Luca or Joe kids translate to the game here

(05:39):
in the US with.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
So much space he started earlier, like seams playing pro, yeah,
whereas kids over here is playing the high school and
then the bettet half of the team.

Speaker 5 (05:48):
That they play.

Speaker 4 (05:49):
Yeah, but over there you can yeah stout chuck background.

Speaker 6 (05:53):
And you have to like like a professional tool, like
you have to fit in the locker room, a grown
man locker room like Madrid, like Luca that he had
to go in a woman like oh shit, like you know,
I'm not the you know, I'm very talented and very confident,
but you know I got to fit in and there's
a pad that I got to take and steps you
know that that I got to keep growing. And uh
and the older guys teach them that way too, Like hey,

(06:14):
there's a pecking order, and so some structurepe down a
little bit right like here now, like guys get drafted
all of a sudden, they get give they give them
the keys, and like it's a bit different. So I think, uh,
you know, those guys they brought up the right way
and uh, and you can see it. You can see
it translated how they adapt to whatever situation they face.

Speaker 4 (06:32):
So what you coming up like, your introduction was basically
over there. It was was pow when you was playing,
because you started playing at what age?

Speaker 3 (06:40):
I started early?

Speaker 6 (06:41):
Like I you know, basketball to me was always something
that I enjoyed doing, like, uh, like something that I
could be myself. I could uh, you know, express the
way I felt or play the way I felt. So
basketball for me was always allowed it from you know,
I was not a great student. I was not the
ass you know, consistent guy in school. So basketball was

(07:04):
always something that I enjoyed doing. So I started probably
at seven, at seven years old, and uh, and my
parents played a little bit, so we always had a whop,
always played, spend time playing. But then once then I
got signed in Barcelona when I was thirteen, So thirteen, fourteen, fifteen,
I'm in Barcelona and then you know, Power gets drafted.

(07:25):
So we all moved to Memphis. So that was, you know,
kind of a shift. And at that time, obviously there
was no prospect and when I came here, it was
like a different world. I couldn't speak English, I didn't
stand anything. I didn't know the culture. I didn't know anything, and.

Speaker 4 (07:36):
What was that like, like, like, what was that like
coming from a real a real shot, you know, a
real shock, A real shock, a real shock.

Speaker 6 (07:46):
But again, basketball did it for me, like you know,
allowed me to make friends, allowed me to express myself
when I didn't know the language, and you know, allowed
me to feed in and find my way. So you know,
my teenage they were from phrasing like you know. So
they took me around the city and they showed me away. Yeah,

(08:06):
and they showed me away. And to this day they
like close close friend of mine because like they to
care me, you know, when when I didn't hide anybody else.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
So they showed me away.

Speaker 6 (08:15):
They showed me Memphis and uh and the things you
know that I need to do here.

Speaker 4 (08:19):
They got you, cat, you came over here, they bumping
it old three six miles Prussure.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (08:26):
Sure so but when you came you end up going
to Los Yeah, playing for the Lasan.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
What's the what's the lynx link?

Speaker 5 (08:37):
My kids?

Speaker 7 (08:41):
So you you basically had to adapt fast and about
that time you knew, Okay, I gotta get myself in shape.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
I got to be able to compete.

Speaker 7 (08:51):
My brother is also holding the high standard back getting
drafted so high, ye, and it's like I gotta I
gotta follow that.

Speaker 6 (08:59):
I had to that because at first, like Lozeanne didn't
have a basketball like program right right, like they were yeah,
like they didn't want good. They weren't good. A bunch
of kids that they weren't good. They only had the
two guys from from Fraser that they brought in with
a scholarship. That made them good because those kids could play.
The rest of the guys were like not there yet.
So you know, at first I was supposed to go

(09:20):
to White Station, but that was out of the area
that Power was looking for a house.

Speaker 3 (09:24):
So so that's why I went to.

Speaker 6 (09:28):
So you know, we started building something over there, like
we we you know, los Ane started winning a lot
of games obviously, you know, but the level of competition
was like to me when I was used in Barcelona
was really low. I was averaging like twenty five thirty
points a.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
Game, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, so that that was
too easy. Uh So I started to gain weight.

Speaker 6 (09:50):
And I took steps backwards probably my player development. But
I learned how to add and and how to you
know make it out, you know, in different ways and uh,
and that helped you too, because it's not only about
you know, left hand, right hand, all those things. It's
about how can you, you know, see a path and
follow it or maybe figuring out what you want to
do with your life. So by my second year in

(10:12):
high school, I had options to go to college pretty
much every college that I wanted to do as a
red shirt. Even Memphis State wanted me to go, and
coach Coli Poarry wanted me to go and play for them.
My parents wanted me to do that, so I stay
home with them, but it wasn't for me. I knew
like at that time, like I got to go back,
I got to start over, and uh, you know, I
got to make my own way. I got to create

(10:33):
my own path because this is like my family path.
That's what power is doing. He is doing that way,
the Memphis and uh and the American way. I got
to go back and start from scratch. So that's why
I went back.

Speaker 4 (10:45):
So you always knew that you wanted to go back,
So it was never thought about college is straight. I'm
gonna go back and yeah, do my own way, do
my own route.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
That's left point.

Speaker 6 (10:55):
That's how I felt you know, and that's how I felt.
And I could leave with the consequences of not working
out if it was my decision and for my reasons,
and uh, that's how I fell at that moment. He
could have won different ways, but it worked out. It
worked out.

Speaker 7 (11:08):
And that's interesting when you say that, because it's like,
damn you if like, if I had a big brother.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Ain't gonna lie.

Speaker 7 (11:14):
I'm going down with my big brother. We ride these whips.
We turned up.

Speaker 3 (11:19):
I got all the chicks into high school.

Speaker 7 (11:21):
Man different mandset right, so far, bro, he like, hell no,
I want my own lange. And so when I say
that after Monica, it's like, bro, you went back, like,
hell no, the hell with colleges.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
I'm going back.

Speaker 4 (11:38):
And talk about going back with those experiences and paying professional.

Speaker 6 (11:43):
Let me wrong, I did take the escalator a couple
of times.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
I can't do it.

Speaker 6 (11:58):
I did take that escalator a couple of times, and uh,
I got a couple of you know, fender benders.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
But it's okay, it's okay. He you know, he forgive
me for that. He understood.

Speaker 6 (12:08):
But yeah, it's just you know, I think you you gotta,
like I said, like, leave with your own uh decisions
right and h And at that time, it felt right
to go back to Spain. Start from scratch, start, like
I was saying, in a in a professional atmosphere. They
gave Barcelona gave me a chance to be part of
the professional team that won the year league the year before,

(12:32):
and and the coach saw me play during the summer,
and and I was completely overweighted, and say like, look,
you know what, I see something in you that I
like and I want to, you know, build you up
and and bring you in and develop you. And I'm like, yeah, sure.
My dad made me like sign a contract the first year,
like okay, you can go pro, but you're not gonna
get paid because he knew the n C double A

(12:55):
didn't allow you to get paid. And then come back.
My dad thought that I was going to fail, said well,
if you fail, you can still can come back and
go to school here in the States. Well that was
his thought, right, But you know, thankfully it worked out.
I stayed there, you know, figure out a way. Like
guys in that locker room, some of them they didn't

(13:15):
really like Pow so they thought, you know how I was,
and they took a person away. But you know it's okay,
Like you know, you figure out a way and uh,
and you compete. And once you start competing with those
guys and you help them and you show them every
day what you're about.

Speaker 3 (13:30):
You get respect.

Speaker 6 (13:31):
That's that's that's all you want. And once you get respect,
you know, it only growth from there.

Speaker 3 (13:36):
Right, you guys end up winning a championship down there
as well.

Speaker 6 (13:40):
Yeah, with the national team two thousand and six. Doesn't
think we won the World Cup. We won the World
Cup in Tokyo. That was a year that power gets
her in the semi final against Argentina, you know, believe
not on all those guys they won the Olympic Games
and he can play in the final, hebro h his
foot and like I wouldn't play my first year in

(14:03):
the national team. I wasn't even supposed to go, but
they gave me a chance just you know, first a
training camp invite.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
All I need is all I needed.

Speaker 6 (14:12):
Give me a chance to practice, and then you know,
I'm gonna compete and I'm I'm gonna show you what
I'm about. Because there's always a perception, right like when
when you hear about somebody's brother, right away you think
about you know, perception, and and you start painting like, well,
this guy can't do this, this guy can't do that.

Speaker 3 (14:29):
But human a.

Speaker 6 (14:31):
Chance always, you know, you gotta give young guys chances
to play and show you and you then you make
up your mind who they are. So they gave me
a chance. Uh, And I got to play in the
final play good play defense uh and made an impact
against a baby shack. I don't know you guys, heaby
he was a big Greek kid, uh strong. He killed

(14:53):
the US the game before and that was my like
my focus washing like, hey, you got to stop them. Okay,
I'm gonna try, I'm gonna do everything like that.

Speaker 5 (15:01):
Yeah, won the game.

Speaker 6 (15:02):
If we won the game and we got a gold
medal right.

Speaker 5 (15:05):
Away, this more who they talk about Mark.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
So then yeah, and from that it just too car here.

Speaker 6 (15:10):
Yeah, but there's always going to be doubt, Like along
the way this every year, there was always doubt, and
because obviously I'm not you know, nobody is perfect, but
there's always doubt. Even when we got to the n
b A remember when they drafted a big fella was
the second pick on the draft when they draft the
big fellaws because they thought that maybe he you know,

(15:31):
I couldn't. I wasn't gonna work out. If he works out,
I'm out of here. So you never know. You never know.
You're always going to be doubted, and you always don't
have challenges and struggles that you need to face and
overcome to be successful. That's what I'm saying. That's that's
why every success story like and to me, being in
the NBA is already a success story. But every success

(15:52):
story like, you gotta come. It's gotta be out of
the bond.

Speaker 3 (15:55):
And you got a lot of you got a lot
of acculades over the A C B A C B team,
you know what I mean, you know, first team first.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
I mean you people gotta notice bro out the mud, bro,
like we need to. We're breaking it down, like okay, okay,
Like after playing five years over there and you know
all and all those ex pretty much dominate down there,
what made you like make the decisions say, okay, now
I'm ready to go back to the United States get
to the NBA.

Speaker 6 (16:28):
Game, simple, bro, Like I was drafted by the Lakers, right,
I get drafted in uh by the Lakers forty eight.
They invite me that summer to go to training camp.
I still got another year of contract. I'm like, you
know what, Like, I'm not gonna leave my my team
for a training camp invite with the Lakers. When they
got big, they got plenty bigs. There's no chance I'm gonna,

(16:50):
you know, be able to have room to grow in
that in that in that team. So I'm like, I'm
gonna stay another year in Girona and see where it
goes from there. So okay, that that time, I think
I'm staying in Europe for the rest of my career,
which I'm cool with.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
But then in February, polgistrated to a Lakers and I
get traded Memphis. He demanded. He demanded, yeah, I gotta go.

Speaker 8 (17:14):
The big said, yeah, I'm not saying you're wrong, but
I'm saying podcastrated to l A and my Rids get
traded of Memphis.

Speaker 6 (17:27):
All of a sudden, I see the path. I'm like, okay, ship,
Memphis is the city that I know that that you
know that I'm comfortable.

Speaker 3 (17:32):
With its coming back for a circle. Yeah, And I'm like,
I I saw the path.

Speaker 6 (17:36):
So once I was done in the A c B,
I'm like, okay, now I'm I don't have to pay
about out to anybody, which is you know, unique in Europe,
like you always have to pay somebody else, you always type.
So I'm like, you know what, fuck it, I'm I'm
gonna take a chance. Chris Wallace came over and uh yeah,

(17:59):
I see spending week with me there trying to recruit me.
You know, we went back and forth with you know
what what it was supposed to be, and then mister
Hailey said give the green light and I'm on board.
So you know, it was it was simple at that point.
Once once it was Memphis, I know it was right.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
So you came back when you found that out, it
was more easier transitioning for you to come back to
the m exactly because I.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
Know you got homies already around here exactly.

Speaker 5 (18:25):
School yep, I just came back, like came back full circle, like.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
Said exactly at that time, Like it was it was
simple because all the on tritanny of of the city
and the and the life outside of basketball, I already
knew what it was in Memphis, like, and I was,
you know, more than comfortable in it. So I'm like, okay,
I only got to worry about basketball the rest.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
I already know.

Speaker 7 (18:45):
So your rookie year man you obviously which made second team,
right maybe second thing already shot fifty.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
Three percent from the field that year. I was let's
just say you had a great, great look.

Speaker 7 (18:59):
Yeah right, What was the moment where you felt like, damn,
the league is the league? I gotta I gotta be
on my ship? Is did anybody bust your ass? So
we want to know it was too much? There was
two guys that was like that made it tough for
me always. One was this guy right here because like
my bone on the right block.

Speaker 6 (19:22):
Yeah, he always made a tough he like it's a
different game, like you know, like different spaces and uh,
and they know how to play and then they use
their body so well as and then was Al Jefferson.
To those were the two guys and it was always
so hard to guard just because their skill set and
how they use their body and your strength against you
and uh and to me, those z bo and and

(19:44):
Al were the two toughest guys for me to guard
just because they had the face that game and then
all of a sudden, like you can un lose your
you can use your strength against them, and then they
know how to play the angles and it's not about
you know, jump or anything like that, is just about
technique and quick hands, and they had you know, to me,
they were the two toughest matchups hopefully. I played with

(20:05):
one for you know.

Speaker 3 (20:07):
For a nine years, so I was good and so
so yeah, I remember against all In Uh, it was
he found all of us out. We got man, did
he gets you?

Speaker 5 (20:20):
All of us weren't doing the thing.

Speaker 3 (20:22):
He was doing everything.

Speaker 6 (20:23):
We couldn't touch it. He was playing Minnesota, we couldn't.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
We looked at the.

Speaker 6 (20:27):
So we got no center select.

Speaker 3 (20:29):
Yeah, how many fullers you got? Got five?

Speaker 6 (20:32):
I got six.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
Yeah, we all were out. But yeah, there was the
two toughest match ups for sure.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
I want to ask you about the game, you know,
I know you played, you know, both games. What do
you feel the game overseas game in American game? Like,
how do you feel about that? I mean, you know,
you got some people that says, you know, the foreign
players got more skills than American players and their games
they didn't caught up with the American players.

Speaker 5 (20:58):
So it was a bunch of theories out there.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
How you feel, bro, I think I think somewhere in
the middle, right, basketballly just basketball is just playing to
the strength of your players. Like obviously here players are
you know, extremely talented basketball wise and athletic, so physically
they're very talented as well.

Speaker 6 (21:15):
So the rules of the game allow them to showcase that.
In Europe, like it's different. You can't. You can have
a player seat on the pain the whole the whole game.
You can you have three second violations, you can have
a guy there. So other athleticism, you know, it's harder
to showcase. So you have to figure out ways to
maximize the talent of your players with the passing, the

(21:37):
cutting and the screen and the executing X you in
the game. So I think it's somewhere in the middle,
Like it's to me, it's not one way or the other.
Like it's like, okay, what do I need now? And
and who you know, who we are as a team,
and what do I need?

Speaker 3 (21:52):
Right?

Speaker 6 (21:52):
Like, if if you have a guy like Steph Curry,
you're going to maximize his talent, right or a guy
like Lebron or Janni Is, you're going to maximize their talent.
So you're gonna diet and create uh the whole system
around you know, Uh about what they do best. So
I don't think there's one way to play. The right
way to the basketball is just obviously having the standards

(22:13):
of how are you supposed to play, having rules in
plays for the guys to follow, especially when things don't
go right. But at the end of the day, it's
just just hoop hoop.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Today's game the way it's played, it's an up and
down pacer.

Speaker 7 (22:25):
I'm thinking this they trying to emulate what's going on
in Europe because they want they want this fast paced.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Shoot three, shoot three, shoot three.

Speaker 7 (22:33):
But a lot of these teams bro don't got the
personnail and so when you don't got the personnel for that,
I just want to know. Like I'm not, I'm not
caught up too high analytics neither. But do you like
the game with all these threes being shot with knowing
you a post player?

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah? I like heart.

Speaker 6 (22:52):
I mean, if you got the right person out for it, yes,
I don't mind it. I want to get the best
shot every time. If it's a mid range, it's a
mid range. If it's a post up, it's gonna be
a post up. I like the mix because at the
end of the day, like the regular season is you
play a certain type of basketball and you can get
away with a lot of you know, ways of playing,
but in the playoffs, you don't get away with that

(23:14):
ship like you want the bad shot every time, because
if you don't do that, you guys just out of there.
So I like to play the same way that I'm
going to play in the playoffs during the regular season.
And you guys know that. But I'm saying so them
a them. I call quality shots. But you see a
lot of ill advance shots and a lot of people don't know.
In the European game, it's like, okay, you see us
shooting these three, but we just said so many backscreens.

(23:37):
It's back cuts, upscreen flails.

Speaker 3 (23:40):
To get them open shots.

Speaker 7 (23:42):
Now the way we're doing it now in the league,
it's like we're just taking shots to where it's like, damn,
I wish I could have played in the league like
that today.

Speaker 6 (23:51):
More of reactive basketball, I believe, like like the way,
well shit, I'm open, I'm gonna shoot it, Well, well
you open, like you know, there's gonna.

Speaker 3 (23:59):
Be a real why you're open too.

Speaker 6 (24:01):
But I think think twice about it in Europe, Like,
first of all, you play forty minutes, not forty eight,
so you don't have as many possessions to waste.

Speaker 3 (24:08):
So every every shot, every shot values more.

Speaker 6 (24:12):
The thing is like, you want to take the shot
that you want in Europe, so everything is executed to
get that shot. Once you're taking that shot, everybody else
walking around it, so the guy is crushing from that angle.
You know that guy is going back on defense. Right
now here it's more free froming and everybody you know,
any tank can shoot it or can drive it, so
it's really and react a lot more. So it's to

(24:35):
me the different style. But when you get to the
playoffs here, I think it gets a lot closer and
executing and possessions mean a lot more defense. You know,
you see taking a step forward, you see the communication
rotation also shortens a lot. They don't play no, no,
fifteen guys, they play eight eight, nine guys. What a
nine guys? They're going to play the ones that do

(24:55):
the right thing right there and the ones that are not
going to take wid wild shots and the ones going
to execute offensive defense. So at the end of the days,
like I said at the beginning, right, it's just basketball.
What kind of basketball player?

Speaker 7 (25:08):
Basketball meanwhile, we're gonna jump back into the Memphis. Now,
tell me about when you you've been out did all
the time in uh Spain, you know, come back to
the league. You know you put it in. You obviously
got accolades early. Tell me what it meant for the
Grizzy to invest in you and you know saying your

(25:28):
first lucrative deal for the fifty eight men.

Speaker 3 (25:31):
That was the lockout year too. That was a year,
so it was that was a year. That was a year.
So yeah, I'm a loyal guy. So what's working here?

Speaker 6 (25:42):
I'm not going anywhere. I told train that, I told
everybody that I'm not going to have a meeting with anybody.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (25:47):
If I can't have a meeting with him, I don't care.
It don't matter to me. I'm happy here. I like
what we're doing. I believe in my guys. I'm moving
on and so to me, it was never about the money,
like never been like. It was more like, if I
do everything right, everything is going to be taken care of.
I'm not a religious guy, but I believe in basketball
gods and if you do everything the right way, if

(26:11):
you do anything the right way, you have a very
good chance of everything working out, and you're being set.

Speaker 7 (26:16):
And by that time, by that time, you and training
here probably established a solid relationship at that point. How
was it like playing on the train?

Speaker 3 (26:22):
I love train?

Speaker 6 (26:23):
He was like at the beginning, the first coach that
we had here, Mike. Yeah, he was trying to do
things more modern. Probably probably would have worked out now
with the teams that we have now, the way they play,

(26:44):
because he came out.

Speaker 3 (26:50):
But yeah, but the.

Speaker 6 (26:51):
Personnel didn't match right, and uh, and we were a
young team. We didn't have no core values. We didn't
you know, help each other. We were just wild and
everybody was kind of making it on their own. And
so that wasn't working out, and I was frustrated, Like
the first three four months, I'm like this, this might
not be for me.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
I can't. I'm not used to losing like this. I don't.

Speaker 6 (27:13):
I'm not used to like people not caring about winning
or losing, so, you know what, I'm not sure.

Speaker 3 (27:19):
But then in.

Speaker 6 (27:20):
December they made the the change and train came and
that was I was finally he was speaking the language
that I understood, Like, Okay, now everybody's accountable, young guys,
Rudy and oja, Hey, y'all can score twenty, but if
y'll play that kind of defense, we're not gonna win.
So you know, y'all got to give the effort in
defensive end. And yeah, everything changed, Everything started to make

(27:43):
more reason and to me and uh and and I
loved it from day one. So once he you know,
remember when when he left the way, I am that
that that you know, that mess messed me up a
little bit because like, man, I could not get him
to stay and I could not make it, you know,
uh continue what he built and uh and I thought,

(28:04):
you know at that time that he should have stayed.
He should have stayed because she was doing great. And
and I thought everybody was doing really good. I mean
ship we were conference finals.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah we did we yes, yes, yes, real great.

Speaker 7 (28:19):
Yeah you you eventually eventually became All star contract.

Speaker 3 (28:27):
Everywhere. Was it like becoming first All star?

Speaker 6 (28:31):
You know what I remember with the guys, you know, first,
like you don't feel like you belong the first time,
You're like, what the hell am I doing here? Anybody's
talking and everybody know each other, and you just you know,
like like a rookie again all over again. And uh.
And one of the guys, I think it was Chris
Paul say, are you nervous? I'm like no, I mean basketball,

(28:53):
You're going to be nervous. Nervous, okay man. When I
got on the game, when it came and fell, what
the the ball am I doing? Uh? You know once
did you see the first one going yeah, relax.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
I was nervously.

Speaker 6 (29:17):
Crazy though, like crazy because it's something that you watch for.

Speaker 3 (29:20):
So Bro, you.

Speaker 7 (29:21):
Around the greatest players in the world. Bro, you was nervous. Bro,
I feel you like the ball?

Speaker 6 (29:29):
Did you feel right? I don't know if it's the
warm up, like you don't have your own routine, like
you know, you're standing up for like three hours, but
like you don't feel right.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
Like competitors about the field? Was it competitive?

Speaker 7 (29:40):
It was competitive, because you know that that's the big
thing now that the All Star Game is not competitive now, Like,
like how do you view that?

Speaker 6 (29:47):
Like being was on our team, Kobe was on our team,
So it is competitive. Certain, it is competitive, and you
know how I am, so I'm I'm gonna try to
be competitive. So every game I play, I played in
two or three of them. So every game I played
in the All Star I'm gonna make competitive even one
with my brother. He's trying to he haha.

Speaker 5 (30:06):
Man, I'm going at you.

Speaker 6 (30:11):
Yeah, I'm playing different. I six foules.

Speaker 7 (30:15):
So what you what you think that because a lot
of players saying like, all right, we do a lot
of things for the NBA during that game. Back time
we get to the game, we pretty much had what
you think helped the game get back to being competitive.

Speaker 6 (30:28):
It's got to come from within, like the competitive nature,
Like if you bring it, like, eventually the games could
be competitive. Now if you're gonna just lollygag, you know,
it's kind of like the cool kids, like nobody wants
to look bad. I'm silly for trying. So I think
it's got to come from within. Like the fact that
you're gonna pay more is not going to change anything.
Those guys make so much money, does better, they are

(30:48):
All Stars. It's the fact that if you say, like,
well the winner gets uh you know, homecore advantage, that's
five months or four months you know down the road,
they don't care about that. So it's gonna come from within. Obviously,
you know you're also a weekend. You're gonna have your
fun you have friends, you know you're gonna go out.
But Saturday night, you know, you go to bed and

(31:09):
you get ready for a game, and you try to
like the morning off Sunday have a free schedule so
you can rest a little bit and get your ship together.
So you go to play and and try to win.
And I think that that's that's it, right, Like that's
how you're get into respect. If I play my full leftfork,
and I'm giving you respect because I'm giving you the
best version of myself. If I'm not taking you serious,

(31:31):
anything that's respectful.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
Talk about talk about Myphis man and you know, uh,
talk about how you felt leaving Myphs because you did
so much in the community, I know, you know, uh
with with with Saint Jude, you know, having to just
talk about just how hard was it having to leave
a place that you thought.

Speaker 6 (31:53):
I fought for it. I was fighting back. I was
fighting back. I know, I know it was on one.
Once you two guys were gone and I was next.
I was done, Like I had no meaning here, Like
I had to move on from this place to allow
the next generation to.

Speaker 3 (32:09):
Move up and improve. Right.

Speaker 6 (32:11):
But that's a hard thing to accept. Like we build
this like I want to leave my house that built.
I still want to I still can help you, but
sometimes you do your worst enemy, like because you fight
against yourself a lot of times, and uh and and
and your desire to do certain things. It's gonna, you know,
kind of be kind of productive with the younger guys

(32:32):
because they don't understand there's a gap between their development
and where you at in life. So the create is
great for me. Like they say, okay, like we're gonna
try to find you a contender. They find a good one,
really go one in Toronto, you know, really good team
that they just needed the extra piece that was going
to put them over the top. And and uh and

(32:55):
they sent me there, and they sent me there. It
broke my heart a little bit, to be honest, Like
it was up to me, I would have stayed in
Memphis my whole career. And even though it probably would
have made that I would never get a championship, but
I would have stayed in Memphis for sure.

Speaker 4 (33:08):
I want to ask you, bro about you know, our
playoff year runs. We had what what what team you
think was the best team that could have made it
the farthest.

Speaker 6 (33:17):
See I always see a gap between the best team,
the most talented team and the best team, like the
greedy is the one that's more together, because you know,
I think we had talented teams or more talented teams,
but you know, the it wasn't always like everybody like
we always like everything we had we put it in
the same table and and we went to the playoffs.

(33:39):
But I felt, you know, that year against I think
when you get you heard your hamstring, that was the year.
I think that that year because I saw them, I
saw doubt. It's before they were them to like who
they became to.

Speaker 3 (33:56):
One going up and in a series and U yeah,
uh structure.

Speaker 6 (34:03):
I think that year, I think that that was a
year that that we had a better chance of of
of getting there. Obviously the year that we made it
to conference finals, yes, but we got there and San
Antonio we had no shott heard me too, Like we
gave it the best show, but we didn't have it,

(34:24):
like we couldn't beat them, like they were a step ahead,
they were.

Speaker 3 (34:27):
Deep to lose.

Speaker 4 (34:30):
Man, he came to the promise, man, man, man, you
know it's it's but that year, I feel like everybody.

Speaker 6 (34:39):
Like at the age and and and everything we had
and the group that we had with I mean we
had till right that year. I think we had a
good group of guys that understood the way we needed
to play and uh, and everybody played their part, and
everybody was starting the role, and uh, we just couldn't
get over the hump. And and you saw the team
that the one, you know, two, three, four championships after that, sous.

Speaker 4 (35:04):
To them talk about those matches with Tim duncan bro
that you bring that up, like because he was he
was a monster.

Speaker 6 (35:12):
He was he was tough, and he was tough because
it's not much you can do sometimes but trying to
bother him. But he's so disciplined and impatient and and
their offense. Once something's working, they're gonna find the same
thing in different ways and different counters that you don't
even see. And it was beautiful to watch and be

(35:33):
part of it, Like it's San Antonio was a franchise
that you know that I admired, you know, from Afar
like a ship. These guys do everything the right way.
They played the right way, they all fall in line,
they all execute, they passed the ball extra pass, so
they have no problem with that. So it's some team
that admires, so to play against them and uh, you know,

(35:56):
upset them one year and and then go back in
battles in the playoffs or be in the same division
and play them four times. I think that's those challenges.
It's you know, made us what we were too. It
made us better because they're gonna they're gonna expose your
flaw and if you're not disciplined, they're gonna burn your ass.
If you cheat, they're gonna burn your ass. So you

(36:18):
have to play the best, make no mistakes. They don't
jump them pump fakes, they don't use their hands, they
don't put you in the foul line.

Speaker 3 (36:23):
They did everything the right way. So I cherished those
moments against the best.

Speaker 6 (36:29):
That's the reason you come to the NBA to measure
yourself against the best, and Timmy was for sure one.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
Of the one of the ones.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
It's a lot of great years, man, just for me,
just to give you your flowers too, bro like coming
in playing with you, having a chest to play with you,
and man, it was probably some best times in my career.
And you know, your i Q for the game as
a big man, as like you're like a guard you
know what I mean, the way you play, you know
you're you're not selfish. You passed the ball. You got

(36:59):
me cracking. You know what I mean. You got Tony cracking.
She got the whole nucleas cracking. But I just wanted
to give you a flowers. Say, bro, it's the light
being in the battle and the trenches with you and
you want the best ever do it?

Speaker 3 (37:10):
Man? Sure?

Speaker 6 (37:12):
The same way for me, Bro, the same way for me. Like, uh,
you know, I think from the first time that we
stepped into training, caming I think was Bourbonham. Uh you know,
I'm like, ships, it's gonna be nice. It's gonna be
nice because the way he plays, where he wants the ball,
the way I see it, the way I play, it's
just it's just a perfect match. So train told me like, hey,

(37:33):
you need to work on this and this for it
to be you know, uh successful And okay, you know
what I used to love y'alls used to do which one?

Speaker 4 (37:42):
Hello, I'm wide open in the corner. Zo got two
motherfuckers on the Mama.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Still get that boy? Get me?

Speaker 4 (37:56):
I knew I don't get it. I don't know how
y'all got that cumistry. Bro, But that used to kill opponents.
Like I'm talking about, it's like nothing they can do.
It's like as soon as y'all get three on one side,
it's like all the other guy gonna come pop at
the free throw line. I got the shot, mark, you
had the shot seventy percent of the time, but you

(38:17):
would throw it over the top, throw it in.

Speaker 3 (38:19):
Wait. How y'all developed that chemistry? Bro?

Speaker 6 (38:22):
Like I said, from training camp, from practice, Yeah, that's
the thing. Like, you know, we were able to practice
a lot before back then the least uh and uh
and going through those uh practices and and and and
figure out ways to be effective and and and be
competitive against the blue team and killing them.

Speaker 3 (38:39):
That that was okay. That gave us confidence, like.

Speaker 6 (38:41):
She okay, we get these going, and then I have
to develop, you know a little more shot because at
first I wasn't shooting the elbow. Yeah at first, like yeah,
to pass, but you know they're gonna sag, like I
need to develop. So I kept working all year on that,
on that elbow shot. Elbow shot, elbow shot and keeping
it high because like from here I could pass, I
could you know, puss fake and shoot it. So I

(39:03):
worked and try to develop, uh, you know, counters to
the way that we're playing us. So I try to
be a step ahead. So I always had a tool,
you know, to attack the team or how they were.

Speaker 7 (39:14):
I see that you you gave it to am three times.
Now this swing through upstairs, get back.

Speaker 9 (39:26):
We all had a roll kill, you know, we all
we all were saying about the jump side though.

Speaker 7 (39:33):
I think once you left Memphis you went to Toronto,
and I think that was like the start of like
the bigs being the trail big and they can shoot
three Now it's like we wanted, we wanted you to
do that in Memphis, and you was like, yo, what
the hell. I'm like, just like you didn't really want
to do it, but they happened to do it.

Speaker 6 (39:52):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the five out and with me up
top and they start pinning down. It's like a lot
of motion that that way, you know, I can pass
and first you take the big out of the pain
if you can, if you have a you know, the
three point shot, like you take the other big out
of the pain. So there's a lot of space behind everybody,
and everybody's used to guarding things certain way and have
the protection of the big. Well, why don't you bring

(40:13):
the big the big out of the pain. Well, you
know the communication changes, right, well, defensibly change. So I
just never liked, like do it to do it, like
do it because the game calls for it, not just
be training and shoot the three just because the numbers
say it. That that to me, like I always needed
a basketball reason like uh and and and I want

(40:34):
to take the shot that I want to take. I
don't want to take a shot just because they sack off, like,
don't worry, I'm gonna take I know I have it.
Let me get everybody going, and then I'm gonna take
the shot whenever I feel like I need to take
the shot. But I always understood also the you know,
the coaches side, because at that point, like analytics work,
you know, being like thrown at you a lot more
than than we started playing. And they were like, well, Mark,

(40:55):
but if you shoot it ten times, well you know
for them at least going to go in and I.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
You know, yeah, we don't know that.

Speaker 6 (41:03):
You know, you don't know that back, Yeah, you can
go over ten and your eye your game out of
the game, like let me let me get to the post,
let me get a little bit a different feeling that way,
you know, you keep the different guess in it too, right,
They don't know what to comment you with. They don't
know what you're gonna do. If everything is numbers based
and we don't leave anything, you know, to the creativity

(41:24):
of the player, everything is predictable, right, So I like
to I like to to mix it up and uh,
and then take the shots that when I wanted to
take them.

Speaker 3 (41:33):
Get back over there, Yeah, get back with your boy, Cal.

Speaker 6 (41:35):
Larry Tailor Man, big player, big time, big time player.

Speaker 3 (41:43):
Boy.

Speaker 5 (41:43):
You got to run O twenty nineteen.

Speaker 4 (41:47):
The Marv's there being there trying to you know, hit
a ring and you get there and they tray him.

Speaker 5 (41:53):
Bring Kawhii in everything?

Speaker 3 (41:55):
Cal, What that was like?

Speaker 6 (41:57):
I mean, I think once they trade for Kawhi, Right,
you saw a team that they were the win now
mode and and uh they had the uh Jonahs, Valentiunas
and Annie Baka as centers, and they were trying to
find a different type of player that fit in, you
know with what they're trying to do, right, because they

(42:18):
felt like Jonahs and and Seurge were similar players. So
you know the option of me going up there became
available obviously because you know, the Grill has made it
known that they were looking to trade me and Mike.
So once I get up there and I look at
the roster, I'm like, there's nothing to be said. There's

(42:38):
nothing to be said. You have you have a superstar,
you have lead role players, you have a great bench
with young guys that are hungry, you have a great
coaching staff.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
There's nothing.

Speaker 6 (42:50):
Nobody needed to tell me what I was doing there.
We all knew, we all we all acted like it
every day, every game. Everything was trying to build you
know that that trust and confidence, and that's that's how
we you know, that's how it went. And when it
was pretty simple and and and when you start fresh,

(43:11):
you know, situation from Memphis that you or not you
have a you know a lot of emotions and a
lot of uh invested uh in in the franchise like
the Grizzlies. Once you go to a different place, which
was obviously new to me because I was I was
in Memphis for eleven years. Having a fresh start was
also you know different and uh and you have no

(43:31):
no feelings attached to anybody. You know, you can be honest,
you can be you know whoever you know you need
to say to a teammate, you can say because they
know there's nothing to it, like there's no things from
the past. It's just straight honesty, and and that was
that was I liked it. It was funny and obviously
you know, trying to win it all that.

Speaker 5 (43:52):
Was right and you're champion.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
When you got your champion and you got your ring,
I felt like I wanted which you.

Speaker 6 (44:00):
All were there at times I told you guys this
last year. At times like through the whole playoffs my
first two series, I had to be the defensive stopper.
I was playing against Nick Buscevic was the leading scorer
for for Orlando. Then I played against Joel Mbi, who
was the leading obviously like one of the main guys

(44:21):
in the league at that time. So I had a
big pa role on that right and the moment they
would say, hey, Mark, you need to be more aggressive.
So I'm like, ship, what would Zebra think about this?
How would Seebra attack it? Like I would try to
get my Zebra made a little bit right. So in
a way, y'all were there with me because like who
I am as a player is it's probably all too

(44:41):
because that's how you know, that's how we build it.
So like I said, you know, for me, like winning
the ring, that's why I engraved inside g n.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
G crab when I saw that. But it's true. Though,
it's true. It's true. Damn it's true.

Speaker 7 (45:02):
Thinking about us, bro because you because you all know
that that was our goal to try to bring in
fucker here and so for you to do that, man,
and go out there.

Speaker 3 (45:12):
Play a role though, Roll and all of that.

Speaker 7 (45:15):
You got a chance to play with Kawhi Leonard, who
was arguably at the town one of the best players
in the league. Mon Chas winning ship with your boy
Kyle Loarry, who he he really wanted to be in Memphis.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
Probably won't say it, but you know he but that's
says y'all.

Speaker 7 (45:30):
Rolled, and he came back for a circle, man, And
you put that gm G in there.

Speaker 3 (45:34):
Man, it was big.

Speaker 7 (45:35):
But talk to us about like the comparison like and
winning championships overseas and winning won in the league. Do
you compare to you put one over the other world?

Speaker 6 (45:45):
How you look at that, Well, think about my championships
in Spain with the national team, like those cats and
we play every summer together, like there's no changing, there's
no things of that nature, right Like, it's not a franchise,
it's the national team and you you brought up together
for so many years. I stayed the national team two
thousand and six. My last game was twenty twenty one.

(46:06):
For fifteen years, pretty much played for the most part
with the same group of guys, one of them being
my brother Power played. You know, he retired to in
Tokyo in twenty or twenty one. So it's it's a
different type of thing, but it's it's very short, Like
you only played together for six weeks, so it's hard
to not get along either, right Like, because it's only

(46:27):
six weeks, you know, we all together. You play for
like three or four weeks and that's about it. Where
the NBA, it's a grind, it's a long season. A
lot of she can happen, you know, where things go
the wrong way and you lose your chance of winning.
Because in the NBA, you have a lot of excuses
that you can make if you want to, Like, you know,

(46:49):
my body hurts, my coaches don't play me, something happens
at home that you know get you off of your focus.
So a lot of she can happen where you know,
it's very table the NBA life. So I cherished every
year that we played because we stuck together no matter what.
Like at all times we could have made excuses just

(47:10):
to quit. Never did that. Never, never, No want.

Speaker 4 (47:14):
But you know, i't want to ask you, though, man,
what it was like to play against your brother in
the league. Like I know from our experience, when you
played against him, you got it.

Speaker 5 (47:23):
You you always was ready. But when you played against Paw,
you was super amp. Knew don't come play. They had
to be ready because he.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
To me that day.

Speaker 6 (47:34):
I wouldn't even tell the rams at the media before
the game, I said, you all better stay out of it.

Speaker 3 (47:37):
Yeah, don't gotta stay out of this young nothing you
think that? Oh real?

Speaker 6 (47:43):
Like I'm bullshit. I would say every game, stay out
of this. There's nothing to do with y'all.

Speaker 3 (47:47):
Let us hoop. They thought I was playing though I
was not playing. Uh you know it's a private like obviously,
like you look back and you're like, ship play with
my older brother in the NBA. You know, we all
did the I'm ball in the Astar game. You know, Well, York,
that's tough. That's that's the movie ship.

Speaker 5 (48:05):
You don't see that.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
Yeah, yeah, that's what I was saying.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
It's hard man, shout out the path, the famous shot.

Speaker 3 (48:10):
The good dude, what's the record? Have you got the
last lad? It's close, but close, but a little. The wins.

Speaker 7 (48:29):
Because I can just imagine, knowing how competitive here, I
wanted to poll ever come in, sit at the family
table and put the rings on them.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Can't you have me the crap baks. You don't want
to put on the you don't want.

Speaker 6 (48:46):
To Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's real thing.

Speaker 3 (48:53):
It was, Yes, it was. It was a great, beautiful,
great times. Yeah, it was great times.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
Now only see that y'all. Y'all, y'all was very tight.
But I got on the court, man, y'all act like
y'all don't know each other. But yeah, off the court,
y'all like that.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
You know it's big bro.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
So that's always love man.

Speaker 3 (49:11):
Man.

Speaker 4 (49:11):
As you get to play against Ryan, rest of peace,
you get to play against my brother Rod.

Speaker 6 (49:16):
Especially as I got I got to cherishes more though
when I got older, I got to enjoy it more
on I just want to I just wanted to fight
him because one of the first game I played in
l A. He did a speed move to the base
and dunked on me, like he's straight that long ass.
Just yeah, I didn't like that.

Speaker 3 (49:35):
I didn't like that one.

Speaker 6 (49:36):
So I'm like after that, it was on every time
we played and I said, you're not doing that again.

Speaker 3 (49:41):
He didn't do it again.

Speaker 6 (49:43):
He didn't do it again, like he's gonna if I
got to yah ou hit that motherfucker.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
I remember that.

Speaker 7 (49:49):
Oh yeah, that was even just looking at the steel
picture of that, you know, and talk to us about
just that specifically that game, you know.

Speaker 6 (49:57):
So that the whole Series'm gonna talk to you about
the game, but that series, like obviously like once once
you get locked in with a guy and uh and ineffective,
like coach is gonna always manage a minute, right, like hey,
I want you to regard him at every possession every
game blah blah. So I think game three, I get
in a little foul trouble early on. I'm not gonna

(50:18):
say the name of the ref that, but you know
they want me to get off his body a little
bit and and give him some air, and got called
two quick fouls and then then you you know you're
behind the eight ball because you can be as aggressive
no more.

Speaker 3 (50:32):
And and game gets a little bit of control, like
he gets.

Speaker 6 (50:34):
Going, and and and I think he celebrated and as
he should, like he felt the moment to relieve that
should I'm free. Now, I'm making shots, I'm driving through
the lane. I'm free, and I'm donkey and so he was.
He was excited, but it was it was a grind
every game and on the road to win in the playoffs,
it takes it takes some you know, mental strength to
say the least, and and Whui you know, carry that

(50:58):
team on the road amazingly. Everybody played their role. Pascal
si act, fred van Fleet. You know you saw against
Philly they were so big. They had Jimmy Butler too.
They got to buy a Siris. They are big, big teams.
So some of the smaller guards, like you know, like
Freddy and Norm, they had a tough time playing against them.

(51:18):
So once we passed them and and yeah, on the
game seven, when kwhi you know, made that shot, I'm
the one taking the ball out of bounds.

Speaker 3 (51:26):
As soon as he got it. He he's plenty.

Speaker 6 (51:29):
First I think he was he wanted to first take
the elbow shot, but I think he saw the help
like Joel and me just chased it. I think Joel
was guarding either Pascal or or maybe Surge or myself.
So Joel just takes off and it starts chasing them.
So that think that's what he takes. The actual dribble
goes all the way to the baseline and takes that
shot that bounds.

Speaker 3 (51:49):
I never seen it.

Speaker 6 (51:50):
I've seen a lot of shots in my life. I
never seen a bounds bound that way. And I think,
you know, it was crazy. I think the assage just
I think was just shaking. It was a good feeling.

Speaker 7 (52:00):
Man, great moment, A great moment. Yeah, he definitely he
definitely one of those guys. But they called him the claw.
He got them big ass hands and shut locking your
ass up.

Speaker 3 (52:10):
Man.

Speaker 7 (52:10):
I'm talking about getting to his mid range too, and
it was like he was, y'all, guy at you, and
I mean, forever leave the spurs and come over there
and do what he did.

Speaker 3 (52:20):
You leave in Memphis, both of you guys being de
p o wise.

Speaker 6 (52:23):
Yeah, yeah, it's all about the right things too, Like
his position defensively, besides you know the tools that he
had right his position was always flawless, like he never
fucked up a spot where he needed to be defensively,
and you don't want him close to the ball because
you can't play around with with the basketball around him,

(52:45):
You're always play around because he's gonna take the sheep
from your hand. So when he's on the back, even
if you're from the strong side, like like, he reminds
me of you a lot of things, Like he could
reach and he had so much strength in that arm
that he would ring through anybody. And I saw that
against Milwaukee, you know when they put him on on
Yannis and Jannis, you know.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
We try to do that. You don't need no wall
with Kui. Wasn't the you need to build the wall.
Why just there by himself? Like what up man? Tough?

Speaker 6 (53:19):
Tough he's like, but he yea to his credit, like
he probably knew he was leaving. He gave it his all,
like he put his you know, his knee was hurting
quite a bit. He played through it brush to the
you know, promised land and and and got us a championship.
And that that that to me, that's ultimate respect. Even
though you know that you might leave or your heart

(53:41):
tells you that I'm moving on right now today, I'm
gonna give you everything I got and to me, that's
how I got ultimate respect, ultimate respect.

Speaker 3 (53:54):
And then I guess leaving Toronto go back to Land.

Speaker 6 (54:00):
Well that was a COVID year, you know, when we
went in the bubble and uh, and I think the
year after they were moving to Tampa because Canada was
closed and they couldn't go coming and out. Then I said,
we're gonna play in Tampa. I'm not I don't know
about that because like the team, like they didn't sign,
they did, they did not resign church.

Speaker 3 (54:22):
With me.

Speaker 6 (54:22):
They started like ask like you know, not politic, but
like playing the game a little bit, like yes, no,
we're not sure. I'm like, you know what, I don't
worry about it, like I'm moving on and uh and uh,
Planka gave me a call like he would you play here?
Like yeah, yeah, I don't have much long left, but
I'm on the last one and uh. But it was fun. Yeah,

(54:50):
you know, I enjoy playing with Braun, being around out
those guys. And unfortunately, you know, you get to the playoffs.
You know it's a team. You're not healthy. I cut
COVID pretty bad during the year and I kind of
like lost my spot in the rotation. That starts messing
with your mind, like, well, maybe this is not for
me anymore. Like when you can a five for your turf,

(55:10):
when you you know, as a as a man, you
can fight for you know what, what you can bring
to the table, that's when you start asking yourself, well,
you know, maybe it's time for me to move on
and into something else. But yeah, I tried them at all.
It was it was not good enough.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
It was not good enough. So yo, the USA Spain game, Yeah,
so yeah, I get.

Speaker 6 (55:33):
Him found throughout that game, and I told the coach
let me in, let me in, like, allow me to
stay in the game. And I got another foul.

Speaker 3 (55:41):
So I got four fouls second quarter of it was
second quarter or third quarter. But then I couldn't play.
I couldn't play until the other game.

Speaker 5 (55:50):
So that was tough. That was tough.

Speaker 3 (55:52):
Both games against the US the eight and the twelve.
You know, we're close games.

Speaker 6 (55:58):
I think, O eight, we're closer that when Kobe hit
that shot and gave the silence moment to the crowd.
But but twenty twelve, you know, we were close to
We're just not as close that was not such a
game a two possession game or a possession game. It
was more like three or four possessions coming down to
the end. We made it closer, but never to the

(56:19):
point that middle nervous like like oh.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
Wait, oh wait.

Speaker 6 (56:22):
You could tell like there was a little more, you know,
anxiety in that in that group.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
Which game did Kobe run right through Power? Oh wait?
Oh wait? Oh wait?

Speaker 6 (56:32):
That was oh wait, Olympics. That's when, uh yeah, when.

Speaker 4 (56:34):
We came up when Kobe, you know what I'm saying.
So when Kobe came a cross and hit your brother,
what was going through your man?

Speaker 6 (56:42):
Get up, big fellas, get up on the side, Get up,
get up, get up, good up. There's nothing wrong with you, man,
nothing wrong with you. Just basketball, man.

Speaker 4 (56:57):
I know Power and Kobe talked about that a lot
during the sea I'm sure they came to the hard
ass elbow b Yeah. How you say that was some
bullshit in Spanish? No, he.

Speaker 3 (57:18):
I know what it was, what it was.

Speaker 6 (57:20):
He came visited them. I think that morning too. He
can visit them.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
What up man, he he ha ha man.

Speaker 6 (57:29):
First play the game, follow it up. But yeah, yeah,
that's that's a competition, man. That's that's all matters. And
obviously they had to play their best to beat us,
and I think that's that's what's fun about it, right,
Like those the superstars of the n b A, they

(57:49):
had to bring their air game and they got down
to that one shot.

Speaker 7 (57:53):
No, they had real respect for y'all I'm talking about.
For them to have to be on that type of time,
it could tell that y'all was forced to be wrecking
with over there.

Speaker 6 (58:02):
They were not playing around. They were not like throwing
out like you could see like the way you watch
the game, you see the way they were passing it
like you know they were want to take a bad
shot at no time. And uh and to me, you
lose that way, you can live with it. You shake
their hand and you move on. Even though I wish
we were one, but so.

Speaker 7 (58:23):
Big Spain man, I always I always say when I
see Yokis now he obviously three times MVP, he nice.
I'm a gives cool man, But I can't say I
see a lot of similarities in you showing us that
early on in Memphis coming into the league.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
Explain to us how much are you do you and matter?

Speaker 6 (58:43):
So so let me tell you a story about nicolea
I first met his brothers. So I'm in a in
a wedding in Serbia and I'm a'm a doctor wedding
and I see these two guys like obviously, you know,
we celebrated, so we're all happy and we all you know,

(59:06):
into it and uh.

Speaker 3 (59:09):
And they said, hey, man, you know I got a
brother the place like you. Okay, So yeah, he's very good,
he's very talented, so nice ship like.

Speaker 6 (59:19):
Hopefully he does great and and and uh, you know,
cheers and you know, jabili and and took some rakia
and uh and and and kept on going. So I
think like two or three years later, we're playing them.
I'm warming up and I see and I see two
guys coming down the stairs and they just screamed Mark, Mark,
I look up, Ship, what what are they doing here?

(59:40):
And I say, that's my brother attorney. It was Nicolo Jok.
I'm like, oh, that's what you were talking about an hour.
You know, he's nice for real because at that time,
remember I don't know if you remember, like him and
use of nurkids. They were playing for minutes, right, and
and they didn't know who the way and Nicolas like
you know, what lady used to play.

Speaker 3 (59:56):
I don't care, like, bring me off.

Speaker 6 (59:58):
The bench, play Norkic as a starter, but eventually obviously
they did the right thing and play Nicola and uh,
Nicole flourished and became I think one of the all
time grades in that position. So I love watching him play.
I see uh some of the resemblance of the things
that he does, especially just reads. I just love the usage,

(01:00:20):
the usages, like there's no play that he don't toy
to ball like everything he's everything trigger and he has
all the counters like, hey, we don't know what to do.
They throw about to him and everything just starts happening.
So for me to see a franchise be successful and
trust the guy like Nicola for that long and and

(01:00:41):
and be you know productive, I love it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:43):
I love it.

Speaker 5 (01:00:44):
And now it's okay, he can put you on that
block and give you you know what I mean, Hey,
you can't he.

Speaker 6 (01:00:53):
Can't play one on that. You can't play one on one.
Guys now are not that big to play one on
one anyways. So he's gonna get you down in the
basket and start using his body and yes.

Speaker 5 (01:01:04):
Being a great idea.

Speaker 6 (01:01:05):
I never seen he talks like that around the basket,
like so effective in different angles, like you know he
has hands like z Bo but with the right hand
right Like what how the fuck he made that? And
then you can't double him because he's gonna find the
open guy.

Speaker 7 (01:01:18):
Every time that's been that's been a form of a
lot of people have just been saying, we're gonna gonna
stick on one on.

Speaker 3 (01:01:22):
One, stop off all this, try to box.

Speaker 6 (01:01:26):
Out unless you got unless you got a good defender
on him, and a very good defender on him is
not I don't think it's gonna work, but it's you know,
it's fun to watch for sure, So.

Speaker 7 (01:01:36):
That rapid five question really gonna be. Yeah, we had
Jaron Jackson up here. I know he was your rookie
at one point. Yeah, so we had him up here
and we was talking about which era our era in
They era like twenty I think they twenty twenty season
and our twenty twelve seeds.

Speaker 3 (01:01:54):
Bro. He got up fold one will win one guy,
That's what he said. How many games? How many?

Speaker 6 (01:02:04):
How many games they're gonna sit out? I don't think
they play, can't play. They don't play more than three
games in a row.

Speaker 3 (01:02:11):
Yeah, no, but they talented.

Speaker 6 (01:02:15):
I don't know if they want it as bad as
we wanted it, but then those are talented.

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
Man.

Speaker 6 (01:02:21):
They do everything like you see Jerry, he brings the
ball up, bossing over, euro stepping swing, the three step back.

Speaker 3 (01:02:29):
You to do that? Yeah, you know what job dance like.

Speaker 6 (01:02:33):
They fun to watch. It's fun to watch them, and
and and the young guys. It's fun to watch them.
But tell you what, they're gonna have to beat us.
You're gonna have to beat us, and that ain't easy.
We played against Hollywood before, and and and and that
didn't go so well for so they will have to
play hard and they will have to play different that

(01:02:54):
they play right now.

Speaker 3 (01:02:55):
So who your favorite player to watch man today's game
besides Mike Colley, don't watching it. I'm not watching my.

Speaker 10 (01:03:03):
Man.

Speaker 6 (01:03:03):
I love watching you man. My favorite player to watch
Nicola Nicola. It's like just because you know, he reminds
me of the way I see the game, the way I.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
Played a little bit.

Speaker 6 (01:03:17):
Luca obviously two, even though we don't play the same position.
But I like to watch big guys or guys of
that nature. So I think Nicola, if I had to
pick one.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
Tell them how you got the name Big Spain. You
did it?

Speaker 7 (01:03:35):
We let me explain, explain, let us I was just
looking at it. I think it was a game where
you know, you had like a solid week. I'm talking
about it was one game.

Speaker 4 (01:03:46):
It was like twenty five and ten and you had
like like a thirty point game. Come back like nineteen
and fifteen, and we win in these games. And I
remember just one game you cooking. We kept going back
to turn Fat, Turn Fat, Turned Fat, and I just
remember you bagging down bag now with quick jump. Look,
I'm like big Spine. I don't know what came.

Speaker 9 (01:04:11):
I don't know what I said it. And then it
was like should I started calling you and it was like,
all right, that's a crazy far man. Ever listen to
your ass here. That's the crazy part about it. The
Memphige said, it goes the cool.

Speaker 7 (01:04:30):
Championship. And you're one of the greatest teammates man, I'm
talking about man. Your work at this kn't be match man.
I love playing with you.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
I do.

Speaker 7 (01:04:40):
When I was in that pig of roll, Man, if
you beat me, you got to go downstairs and see
Big Spain period. And I came in front bro while
we got the platform after the mud because I know
you promised me this when you got your ring.

Speaker 3 (01:04:56):
You said, she's gonna give me the dp O trophy.

Speaker 6 (01:04:58):
I'm just scratching the name off. You know what, you
should tell the story about the story about that day
when when when you found out before anybody talking, I'm like,
what's he won't talk to me? We get in the budget.
He's party, he said, what they give it you, they

(01:05:21):
give it to you. I'm like, what are you doing?

Speaker 3 (01:05:22):
Like time out? Bro?

Speaker 7 (01:05:24):
He I've been politicing to get this over all year. Bro,
I'm talking about I'm even keeping the tune the analytic people.
I'm like, oh, they saying I can get it. They
saying I can get it. And then Train come in
the locker room and was like, t A, come here
for a second, grabbed me by my arm. I just
know he's about to tell me something exciting. He was like,

(01:05:47):
well we got some good news. That's some bad news,
he said, what you want?

Speaker 3 (01:05:50):
You want first?

Speaker 4 (01:05:51):
I said, with the good news? He said, well, you
did make first team All Defense. I said yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:05:56):
I'm like okay, he said, but you didn't win dp
O wise. It blew me. I'm like, who won, he
said Mark.

Speaker 4 (01:06:02):
I said, oh hell no, I said, okay, man, Mark
got bat THEO mute actionly, he got some what up,
a whole lot of what up?

Speaker 6 (01:06:13):
What I do?

Speaker 3 (01:06:16):
I'm like, I'm just but but I knew for a
fact we were the best defensive team.

Speaker 7 (01:06:21):
Now, you could not get down on us with nothing
far as trickery plays out of time out plays. It
wasn't no ice over plays. You couldn't do nothing with
me and dude in that pick and roll. And I'm
talking about the way we had it. It'd be times
I'm talking you talking about al Joson we have match up.
We're like, come on, I need to ask here that
they did. I'm telling him we got someone of prolific score.

Speaker 3 (01:06:43):
KD.

Speaker 7 (01:06:44):
Hey, come on now, I need to stay a little
longer that we're gonna We're gonna we're gonna rely on
the health side.

Speaker 3 (01:06:49):
It's like that.

Speaker 6 (01:06:51):
It's like the connection that I have with Zebra on offense,
that we knew how to you know each other going
to react, and then how we move, how our body
you know, sort of move move and and and their
catins the same ship with you defensively, right.

Speaker 3 (01:07:03):
Like I just knew what th A.

Speaker 6 (01:07:05):
What you know every movement of t A's body was
gonna do, how far he was gonna get and what
he needed if in case he missed it, like what
I needed to be so that you know that connection
was real like that it was, it was real and
felt it felt like trust, Like I can trust these
guys at all times because he's gonna do I know
he's gonna do this, so I got to be here

(01:07:26):
and he knows I'm gonna be here.

Speaker 7 (01:07:28):
The fact that then you look at today's league, it's
like it's an automatic drop.

Speaker 3 (01:07:34):
They don't even do show drop drop.

Speaker 5 (01:07:38):
Or but.

Speaker 6 (01:07:44):
I've be mad too. If I'm giving up pull ups
and I'm giving up open threes like that, I can't
do that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:52):
I'm not getting me up.

Speaker 7 (01:07:53):
Ship man, Man, another quick question, Man, talk to us
about being the owner of a team.

Speaker 6 (01:07:58):
Bro, that's your nique brother, that's unique. That's unique. Like
so yeah, we we you know, we build this team
twenty fourteen. We started to you know, from the youth
academy up right and fast forward. I don't want to
tell you the whole story is kind of long. Like
when I left the Lakers, I went back and played
for my own team in Spain. It was the second

(01:08:19):
division at the time, right, So I'm like, it's a
good chance, you know, I want to retire this way,
that's I'm gonna play in my own team, play one year,
maybe maybe two, and that's it. So I went back,
played on my team, brought him from second division to
first division. That was dope, you know, a headache because
as an owner and a player, there's a lot of
people in between that don't really understand the dynamics, right

(01:08:41):
like you a player and an owner at the same time.
It takes a lot of effort from everybody. But you know,
were able to bring it to a CB league, which
is the probably the best home league outside the NBA
in the world as far as talent goes. And yeah,
he's just learning, learning, and you know, it's learning how
to keep my dec with the team as far as
you know exits and nose go. But at the same time,

(01:09:03):
given confidence and like give them a guidance on the
things that they need to do to be successful in
the game, creating teams on the on the executive side
to create revenue and and with the business of basketball
and sports, I supposed to be like so those things
things that motivate me. Now, you know, nothing like the
game that we played, you know, with that really motivated

(01:09:24):
me because I knew that we were great at it
and I had a great team.

Speaker 3 (01:09:27):
But that's what you know, drives me today.

Speaker 6 (01:09:30):
And I'm learning a lot and dealing with the city
hall and you know, trying to get the least for
the arena and rebuilding the arena and all those things
that goes around the business of basketball.

Speaker 3 (01:09:39):
So yes, that's that's what been up to. And my
main focus always my kids.

Speaker 6 (01:09:44):
The reality of it is like I'm you know, I
take my kids to school and uh and pick them
up and go to like eight year old parties and
so yeah, that's that's that's my main thing. But two
three times a week, come in Gerona trying to you know,
set the whole thing up, and uh, you know, I
mean it's been it's been cool.

Speaker 3 (01:10:01):
It's been good.

Speaker 5 (01:10:02):
We're definitely gonna catch a game. I've been telling you
I get down there, man, it's.

Speaker 3 (01:10:06):
Gonna be fun. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:10:08):
You got your past for killing yeah, pasty man. I
was trying to get a trip out there. I want
to bring my son when you get older, man, I
want to know out there, man, you might have to
sign him out of high school. We might come out
of there development gonna enjoy it.

Speaker 6 (01:10:26):
He will learn for sure. Don't learn when you get
uncomfortable in the place, Like you know, you have to
figure out a way. So you know, that's that's a
good thing. Like put him in an uncomfortable situation sometimes
in the control environment, and I think needs to good
for kids for the development.

Speaker 5 (01:10:40):
I want to know what's your favorite moment of being
in Memphis, Gris and the funniest.

Speaker 3 (01:10:47):
It's probably.

Speaker 5 (01:10:50):
The Grizzly Bear the back of head.

Speaker 3 (01:10:53):
You know what it was? You remember that, You remember.

Speaker 6 (01:11:00):
You remember tas birthday at Ruth Chris when everybody came out,
like it was like thirty or forty of us. And
then I see Ta started counting people like.

Speaker 3 (01:11:14):
I said, andretchie people like she won't bring it up,
you know about oh yeah you counting like he's like.

Speaker 10 (01:11:37):
I got he started sweating that to be that the
best time as a Grizzly player, we're probably outside the court,
like even though we had great success and it was
fun and it was great, Like most of my best
memory is probably you know, off the court, and like
with our families and playing with our kids and and
things of that nature.

Speaker 6 (01:11:56):
Having zebra in my wedding and going crazy and range.
Wont tell you everybody bumping the freshman.

Speaker 3 (01:12:02):
Tell you my grandma jumping like that. That's Those are
the memories that you know, I cherish forever and uh
and I'll carry them.

Speaker 4 (01:12:10):
Man, we here today need t a We just finished
a delight man with our boy man Big Spain Marcosol,
one of the best ever.

Speaker 5 (01:12:18):
Do it on the best teammates. Thank you, brother, My pleasure,
My pleasure.

Speaker 3 (01:12:32):
H