February 17, 2022 • 39 mins
Welcome to The Big Niang Theory! On episode four, Georges Niang and Lauren Rosen go in-depth on Georges' background, following Georges' path from a kid in Boston to career-highs Philadelphia. Taped following James Harden's first practice as a 76er, hear Georges' thoughts on the team's growth, and get to know the first-year 76er on a deeper level.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Niang Theory. Let me ask questions
my podcast. Joel is a card shark, Danny gets swindled fashion.
I just like stuff that looks greatness, just breads greatness
and be off fit right in. Welcome everyone to another
episode of The Big Niang Theory with George Niang and
(00:22):
Lauren Rosen. Today's a unique episode. It's more or less
us having some cool dialogue, maybe me giving the listeners
a little background information about myself without any guests distracting us.
So I'm actually pretty excited about today. And I like that,
despite being the guest, you opted into introducing yourself. So
(00:42):
I think because you did, we can just jump right in.
You know what, that was probably a little extra of me,
you know what I mean. But thanks for calling me
out on that. You're You're good for that, you know
what I mean, keeping me humbled. Whatever. Let's set the
scene today, and I'm comfortable to this because I'm going
to turn this podcast around quickly. Today was your first
(01:03):
practice with your new teammates? Yeah, what's it been like?
What was today like? How are we feeling? You know?
It's kind of like a breath of fresh air to
be honest with you to know like who your team
is going to be like moving forward. There's kind of
like life put it put it, a new life put
into the team where you know, we knew the situation
coming into the year, we had to play games. But
(01:24):
now that you know you have such a talented piece
and James Harden and a player like Paul Millsap that
you know can affect the game on both ends of
the floor. I think that brought excitement to the team.
You know, I think we feel very confident going forward.
Obviously we know it isn't going to be easy. We
still have our work cut out for us. But you know,
(01:45):
James brought a light and an energy to practice today
where you know, he's flying around the balls, flying around,
he's making threes, you know, and Paul with his veteran presence,
it was just something that was exciting to see it.
It's almost like you can see the end of the
tunnel and you know what we're building and it's all
coming to light, which is which is really exciting. Because
(02:07):
Collin spadea spade within hours of the trade deadline. You know,
you want to go about your day normally, but I
mean I remember I was laying down on the massage
table thinking like all right, Oh, like, how is this
going to go if we don't do anything? And you know,
when you make a big splash, and you know, we
essentially got a guy who was an all star, you
know at the moment, playing for a guy that was
(02:29):
not playing you know. So I think we're extremely excited,
you know, to get the ball rolling and see what
happens next. So for background, one of the reasons why
we wanted to do this episode was we've had a
lot of really positive feedback of people getting to know
our first few guests on a deeper level, but realizing
that those first few guests have been around longer than
(02:51):
you have been. I'm talking about for Khan, Tyrese, and Matisse.
So people know these people and they don't know you. Yeah.
So a lot of the feedback that I I've gotten
is that they want to hear you answer some of
the same questions. And so I think what we could
do is sort of go chronologically backwards, right, Like, let's
start with today and end up where you came from.
Something that stood out to me when you spoke to
media in your most recent availability was your recollections playing
(03:16):
against James Harden in the playoffs, and I'm sorry to
bring up a sore spot, thank you, But what do
you remember about that and can you take us through?
Like what makes you so excited when you think about
those moments and you can detach yourself a little bit
from the pain. What excites you about having him on
your side now as you head down the stretch. I
(03:36):
think the thing that I remember is just the tough
shots that he makes and putting pressure on defense where
you know you can just never you're never able to
relax as a defense. Like he's always putting pressure on
you know, your defense, whether if it's driving the ball
or fakingly he's going to drive ball, skipping the ball
across the court. And then like I said, I obviously
(03:58):
said today in a media availability, I said, the most
underrated thing about him is that he's so smart, Like
the way and he's like pointing people around and putting
guys in different places. It's like he's ten steps ahead
of the defense and wants to manipulate the defense. And
the first quarter will hurt see how this you know,
this format or this set looks, and then in the
fourth quarter will be like all right, Well, that didn't work,
(04:19):
but this works, and he's like moving guys around. And
when I said he was like a basketball Savan, it's
because he's like someone out there that's just picking you
apart mentally and then has the athletic ability and the
talent to beat you single handedly. And like I said,
when you can add someone like that, you know, halfway
through the year or three quarters through the year, I mean,
(04:40):
that's just special. You know, those blockbuster deal called blockbuster
deals for ever reason. They don't happen every day. So
I'm thrilled to have him as a talent. And that's
what I'm most excited about playing alongside him is you know,
picking his brain. And you know, I like to think
of myself if someone that thinks the game of basketball,
and to have him him alongside to see what he thinks,
(05:01):
to understand what's going on through his mind. I'm just
really excited moving forward, especially you know we have a
chance to compete for a championship. I think that's the
biggest thing. Obviously, you have a history playing against him,
so you knew how smart he was and you knew
the way that he directed his offense when you were
a defender. But were you at all surprised to see
what he was able to do with guys that he's
(05:24):
never played with on day one? Like, was I wasn't there?
So was it apparent that he was? Like was it
interesting to watch him be on your side and be
that savant like on day one with players he's never
played with before. Yeah, So today we did a lot
of like five on oh like offense, and you know,
you get to see he's so game like in his preparation.
(05:47):
Everything he does is you know, constantly doing stuff at
game speed, making reads, trying to make accurate passes, or
pointing out to other people, Hey, if I do this,
then you should do this because this is what's going
to happen in the game. Or if they try to
guard me like this, flip this screen this way so
I can get to my left hand or my right
hand or you know. And it's just the fact that
(06:08):
someone can be so diligent and devour the details in
a five on zero like and that takes a lot
of talent to do that, because a lot of people
look at five on oo is like, you know, this
is time for me to just trot around And those
are things that he's taken so serious, which makes you
appreciate how great he is in games because the work
(06:29):
was already put in. So this is him just free
flowing and and doing what he loves. And I just
think that's so impressive. And twenty nineteen was the last
time you saw him in the playoffs, right it was? Yeah,
so right before the bubble? Okay, yeah, And what do
you remember about that series? You know, I remember being
down three zero, and obviously you know, once you're down
(06:51):
three oh, it's you know, pretty tough to win. I
don't I don't think anybody has. People have come back
from three one. Yeah, that's happened to me also. But know,
just his ability to just get guys shots, get Clint
Compelling's shots, to impact the game. You know, it seemed
like it didn't matter who was out on the floor.
If he was out on the floor, you know, the
other team was in good hands. No NBA team has
(07:13):
ever come back from a three Yeah. So yeah, when
you're down three oh, it's like, all right, let's try
and get one. I remember we won one in Utah
and then had to go to Houston and it didn't
end up working out. I mean, he was carrying that franchise,
and it was very impressive at Nalia. I mean, I
remember I was having a scouting report where we're just like,
(07:35):
we don't want him shooting step backs, like so just
let him drive or make him drive, and it's like
it was it was almost like he drove and then
he was passing and other guys are baking threes and
then he's strowing lobs and it's like you're looking at
the coaching staff like what do you want? Like you know,
you wanted to make him drive, but he's killing that too.
So I'm just really happy to have him on our
(07:57):
side now. It's a relief and I'm excited. And so
before we dive too far back in this reverse timeline
that we're using on this podcast, can we talk a
little bit about Joel and what he's been able to
do since the last time we sat down for a
recording was like a month ago, and in that time
he's become the MVP frontrunner and some would say it's
(08:17):
not that close. What's it been like to be his
teammate in the last few weeks. Joel's done an amazing
job since I've been here of really dialing in on
the little things, and you know, they've changed his game drastically.
You know, whether if it's holding us accountable, holding himself accountable,
doing thing the little things that help his team win
(08:41):
games and help him be the best Joel that he
can be. I mean, he's impacting the game defensively, He's
playing a ton of minutes, and he's doing it at
an elite level. I think that's so impressive that you
have a big man that usually when big men get
double team they tend to struggle, right, it seems like
Joel thrives individually and then helps us thrive as a team.
(09:05):
Like we just played Cleveland and they're guarding him with
Jared Allen and then sending over Evan Mobley and those
are like two seven footers and he's making fadeaway jumpers.
He's passing the guys in the middle, he's kicking to
the other side. I just think the way he's handled
everything in his life and then now everything on the court,
it's just like, how can you not you know, root
(09:28):
for this guy, how can this guy not be like,
hands down the MVP candidate, Like what more do you
want to see? You know, from up standpoint where it's
like the most valuable player. Yes, Joel is our most
valuable player without a doubt, and the fact that you know,
I saw something to day him and wild Chamberlain the
only wants to have like forty triple doubles. Like come on, Like,
(09:50):
are we really just because he's done it, like twenty fives,
had twenty five plus points and however many games it's expected. No,
that's not unique. I've never been Yeah, what the heck,
I've never I've never been around a player or seen
a player that's been able to score at will and
(10:14):
demand that much attention on the offensive end and be
still be dominant. So this podcast is going to come
out before Joel and James ever play a game together.
For context, James is out through the All Star break.
This was released today because he's rehabbing that left hamstring injury.
(10:34):
So you and I are both sort of waiting to
see what they look like on the court together. But
now having explained what makes James special and what makes
Joel special, all the chatter in the media is about, like,
what's it going to look like when the two of
them finally play together. I feel that obviously, not as
a member of the team, do you feel that, What
do you think it's going to look like? What excites
(10:55):
you about it? You have a really unique perspective that
only fifteen people in the world have sort of waiting
for these two to actually go out there together. Right.
You know, I've had to be on the other side of,
you know, scuttering reports for Joel and for James, right,
And we've done scouting reports for James while I've played
with Joel. You have to guard these guys with more
(11:18):
than one person, and if you don't, that leads to
thirty forty like points. And the thing about us is
that when you have a dynamic guy like Joel that
demands a double team. Okay, so that means you're not
going to leave James if you're going to double team Joel, right,
and that means you have three other guys that are
(11:40):
playing at a plus one advantage, right, And Tyrese has
been really good this year. Tobias has been really good
matise for Shake. You know, you go down the list,
we have guys that can score, and they can definitely
score if they're not being guarded too, because you have
to guard those other guys. So it just offers a
dynamic where you have two superstars, two guys that are
(12:03):
the elite of the elite all time in the NBA
at scoring the basketball, and you have them on one court.
I mean, it just makes for something that is going
to be special. And the best part is people don't
ever realize that. You know, James, you had games where
you had like seventeen fifteen fourteen assists in Brooklyn with
(12:25):
two other superstars, so he can pass the ball. This
is not going to be a thing where it's like
there's only one ball. Like, we're playing with guys, two
guys that are eager to win, eager to you know,
get a championship and play at an elite level, and
the way they work is second to none. You went
down the list of guys that are going to benefit
(12:46):
from the two of them each drawing doubles, and you
didn't mention yourself. So I'll give you some credit because
I know you call me out when I don't. Yes, George,
career highs across the board for you this year, playing
the best basketball you've played since coming into the NBA
in twenty sixteen, You're gonna be one of those guys
that's a recipient of what James does best. Yes, how like,
(13:10):
are you excited? How are we feeling? I can't imagine
what that's like to already be having the best season
of your career and then bring in one of the
best distributors to ever distribute. As someone that gets distributed
too in order to literally make a career, I thrive
off of being distributed too. I know, yes, I mean away.
(13:30):
He picks defenses apart, and you know, and I could
be a recipient of getting open threes and open shots,
you know, just by his presence of me in on
the court and his ability to play make I'm thrilled.
It's going to be great. He's going to create so
many open threes for our team guys to get open looks,
open driving lanes because he's just going to draw so
(13:51):
much attention. And like I said, you have two guys
in Joel and James that draw so much attention. The
other three guys are just going to be able to
feast just off those guys, you know, drawing the amount
of attention that they do. I'm looking forward to it, George,
more about you. One of the other questions that I
got most frequently that folks want me to ask you
(14:14):
I'm nervous. What do we what is this? What's the
question that people want to know about me? So you
make a lot of threes, you make most of them
in the corner, and almost always do you turn around
and yell at someone. People want to know what you're saying.
Is this the PG version? Yes, you know. I think
(14:37):
the biggest thing for me is I play with a
lot of emotion, and I sometimes, you know, try to
get myself going and get myself worked up. I feel like,
you know, an angry George, maybe a better George on
the course. I mean, Philly fans they get it, you
know what I mean, Like you kind of got to
have that mean streak and you know, not take crap
(14:58):
from anybody. And obviously, when you're shooting in front of
the other team's bench, there's always someone that has something
to say, whether it's the oh he's with us or
hell no, or he you know what that's going in
And like, you know, a part of you in the
midst where you're shooting is like, oh, I can't wait
for this to go in so I can turn around
and tell him, you know what I mean. And that's
(15:19):
kind of how it happens. And you know, through the
midst of the game, there's people that are chattering while
you're running by the bench, like you know, saying this,
saying that, oh, you're too nervous to shoot dad da da,
and you make one. It's one of those where you
just want to be like hold that, like hold that.
And sometimes I get it's like out about our experience,
Like sometimes I'm just so emotionally invested in the game
(15:41):
that like I just do something with my hands or
point at them or say something. And with the referees,
I can't do that because it's led to some technicals
and we don't need those. But towards the bench, it's
like I want to let you know, like I'm I
fear nobody and a little yip yap and a little
(16:03):
chair or chat. Whether it's to a fan, a heckling fan,
or to the opposing bench, I like to have a
little fun with it. It's funny because you mentioned just
specifically the language that you chose of like there's no
way that's going in as something that people will say
to you. I know for a fact that that's something
you say to others because you told the story of
the first time you played against Tyrese when you were
(16:26):
playing for Utah and he tried for a floater, you
told him there was no chance and then he and
now look at him and he's putting up all starting numbers.
He's been amazing. M. Do you what do you say
if if it's your own bench behind you, Like, do
you turn around and get bummed that you can't say something? No?
I probably just yell something, probably at like Sam Cassell
(16:47):
or something, And I'm like you like that, Sam, You
like that you have more of that Sam? M No.
But I mean we have a fun group of guys,
so admidst like being on the game and being super serious,
there's moments where you can have dialogue with the bench
that's like fun or you know what I mean. Like,
I think the best part about this group is that
(17:08):
we just enjoy each other. Like it's not like we're
waking up and going to work like we're it's like
you're waking up and going to hang with you know,
fifteen sixteen seventeen, your closest friends. We have a close group.
Everybody gets along, and we're excited to welcome James and
Paul along because I think the chemistry that we've built
and synergy that we have is going to be super
(17:30):
easy to have those guys coming and make an impact,
especially you know, on the court, but also off the court.
I think we're all gonna continue to have fun, enjoy
each other. We have quirky things that we do, whether
it's Tobias or there's binocular is before the game, picking
someone to go dunk and layup lines, or the dancing
(17:50):
on the sideline where everyone everyone's each other's biggest cheerleader.
And when you have that, it's special. It's been cool
to see you guys maintain that too, because at the
beginning of the season there was a lot of chatter
about how well you guys were getting along and going
to dinners and playing your games during shoot around and whatever.
And I think, again, as someone who's not on the team,
I can't help but wonder how long that lasts, right,
(18:11):
And you've had some awesome winning streaks, you've had some
tougher times, and it is cool to see that chemistry
like enduring over time. It's been a pleasure to watch. Yeah, no,
I mean credit to you know, the leaders on our
team that do that. You know, Joel Tobias, even Tyrese
Is getting in the mix. I think the biggest thing
that I noticed coming here though, was, you know, with
(18:34):
the whole situation, and credit to Doc Rivers is he
always puts the team number one and there was never
going to be one person that was going to impede
the team's progress going forward, even the situation that had
happened earlier. You know, I remember when we talk about it,
Doc would be like, you know, we are not going
(18:57):
to let one person be more valuable than us as
a group. And when you have a leader that's leading
a group like that, you may have a four game
losing streak, you may have a six game losing streak,
but water always finds its level if you guys can
continue to find ways to stick it together, make it
about each other, not about yourself. You somehow you look
(19:18):
up and next thing you know, you've lost four in
a row. But you come and turn around and you
win seven in a row. Like it. You just find
ways to make things happen. So, you know, credit to
our leaders, and you know, credit to Doc because that
was a big thing that was preached moving forward. You
know that this is about the team, This is about
any about you guys. It's about the team. Let's move
(19:39):
away from the court. What have you made of Philadelphia
so far? Oh? The food? I love it. I love
it so much. I literally try to find new places
to eat all the time. Obviously, you know my favorite
brunch place. I think everybody knows this, Cafe mod Um,
(20:01):
hands down um. But even like the little you know,
hole in the wall places like double knot you know
I'm not a hole in the wall. Well yeah, I
mean you're you drop, you're if you're going by, you
would not see that it's there. Yeah, So so how's
that on a hole in wall? Because I think a
hole in the wall is something that's like not on
the radar but double on the radar, like zeitgeis well yeah,
(20:23):
now because people are putting it on the map, but
you're not walking by and seeing like, oh look it
for the big double bots Um sampan Um elvez um.
Where else do we have? You know what I haven't
I'm out on the lookout for and I'll take Twitter recommendations.
Is a good Italian place? Oh my god, there's so much.
(20:43):
I don't think I've been to anyone's so I've told
you already. I know I'm the worst but I evangelize
d fourth and Wood. Oh that's right, that's right. So
Furcan told you to go there on the podcast. Sure
you are right months ago, are right? And I feel
like I said I needed a good Italian place to
go do on that podcasts and I haven't followed through
another place that I go do shout out by people
(21:03):
at Harp and Crown, Great Bowling Alley. Oh man. I
think the coolest part about Philly is that, you know,
I don't ever look at myself as something bigger than
anybody else. And I think Philadelphia has people that you know,
are normal people and everyday hard working people, and I
(21:25):
look at myself like that where you know, we can
sit down and enjoy a conversation. There hasn't been a
time in Philly where I'm like, oh I'm getting bombarded
or you know what I mean. It's it's good quality people,
good quality conversation and just genuine people that care. I mean,
I know they're like, oh, they're tough, they're this, they're that,
but they care. And I think you want that as
(21:46):
a player in a city, that you want people that
actually care about the thing that you put, the craft
that you put so much time into It's interesting. You
just talked about the fact that you play emotionally and
Philadelphia is emotionally invested in its teams, and that's why
you are such a good match. You started your career
in Indiana, but you didn't spend the much time there.
You spent the bulk of it in Utah. Just off
(22:08):
the top of your head. How different, Like what did
you love what do you miss about Utah? But what
do you love about Philly? Like They're two of the
most different markets that you could possibly have spent your
career in. So tell me about the contrast. Yeah, So
I've lived in the city whichever you want to call it,
however you want to call it, in Salt Lake City,
in the city of Salt Lake City, and it's totally
(22:28):
different than living in the city of Philadelphia. You know,
I hate to admit this, but my parallel parking skills
are subpar. Subpar. Yeah yeah, but you know, so that
was an adjustment at first. But I think the best
part about it is like the hustle and bustle of
like the city. Like my favorite part is like before games,
(22:52):
you know, driving through, driving through the city and seeing
the mailman or seeing the guy walk home from work
with his Sixers starter jacking on, and you're, you know,
you represent that and just the whole drive in, you know,
down ninety five and then you get to see the
football stadium, a baseball field. You know, it's it's just
(23:16):
a feeling that you know, you don't often get, but
I can appreciate it every time that you know, I
passed through the whole city and before I go to
work every day, and it's just the emotions, the thoughts,
the I don't want to say fantasies, but it's like,
you know, you bring a championship home to Philadelphia, like
(23:37):
you I've said this before, Like you're good forever, Like
you will walk around here and never be for God.
And whether you're a guy one or a guy you
know fifteen sixteen seventeen, Like this place takes care of
their own. And those thoughts go through your head when
you're you know, going to the arena. You know, it's
(23:57):
a special city. It's I've I've had a lot of
good memories here and I'm looking to make more. But
one that definitely like shook me a little bit was
so obviously I live on a pretty busy street I'm
not going to disclose that information, but yeah, I remember
it was like six in the morning, and uh, you know,
(24:17):
in Philadelphia, the streets are a little smaller than they
would be in Utah. There's more space and which I
loved Utah. Utah had great mountains, you know, great people.
It was. I enjoyed my time there. I have no
ill will towards that state or those fans or the team.
But obviously, getting back to the story, streets are smaller
in Philadelphia. And there was a truck that was unloading
(24:41):
at six in the morning and stopped, so obviously, you know,
cars are parallel barked on both sides, and all I
wake up to is like and then like in someone's
like hard Philly act and they're like, hey, buddy, why
don't you get that out of the road, and you
(25:04):
just hear them going back and forth, and like I
was so exhausted, but all I could do is like
just with my eyes closed, just like smile and be like, yep,
this is this is definitely Philadelphia. And you know, I
laugh and think about that, but it's it's part of
what makes Philly Philly. I've never been to ames Iowa,
(25:26):
but I would imagine that it has even less going
on than Salt Lake City, Utah. So going backwards actually
makes a lot of sense because you're going from a
big city, yeah, from a mid sized city, from a town.
What do you miss most about your days there? Because now,
having having done this podcast with you and having gotten
(25:47):
to know George Niang fans a lot better there, a
lot of them are in Iowa, like those people love you.
So what do you miss most about that environment? Um?
You know, college it was pure right, Um. You know,
you go to school every day, you um in class,
um in the dining hall with the people that are
(26:09):
in the same people that are in the stands, you know,
cheering you on, and um, you know I felt like
it was the first time I left New England. Well,
it was the first time I left New England and
was embraced by a whole other community. Um. So that's
like your first love, right, You're always gonna miss um,
your first love, because I mean four years it goes
by so quick. And then I hate to say it,
(26:30):
but it's like I don't want to say you're forgotten,
but people don't like yeah, exactly exactly. So it's like, um,
I was Honestly, I hate to say it like this,
but I was like a number in a system. But like, yeah,
I tried to leave my mark, leave my legacy. But
at the end of the day, like there's a new
George Niang or new guy coming in that is you
know that they want to cheer on that those kids
(26:51):
are going to look up to, Like the kids that
look up to me that were young are like they're
they're the ones that are going to be going to
Iowa State soon. So um, I definitely miss the people,
and I think the people definitely make the place. The
fan support was unreal, but I think, you know, the
camaraderie of of college sports, it's like you guys are
(27:14):
all working towards the same goal. Like not everybody's going
home to a nice, luxurious house. You guys are all
struggling together. You're all getting through six am conditioning, you're
all It's that's the part that you miss because it's
like once you turn professional, like all those things change,
Like yeah, you go home, you beat yourself up, but
you know you're you're well taken care of. You can
(27:37):
go home to a nice house, a good family, you
know what I mean. In college, it was like you
have a loss, You're like hurting, you know what I mean,
because you know the next day you might have a
three hour practice, where in the NBA it's like you
might have a gamer next day and you've got to
be able to just flush what just happened. Where in
college you had to sit that, let that marinate, watch
yourself from your dorm room on ESPN where you know,
(28:01):
I feel like now I can easily turn off the
TV and plug into something else. Before Iowa State was
the Northeast and New England. And this is a part
of your life that I don't think you've talked about
that much because you weren't speaking to media when you
were a kid. Yeah, in Boston. I know you're close
(28:22):
to your mom. Ye can you tell me a little
bit about her, a little bit about what your upbringing
was like and like what that place growing up there?
I think it informed your personality today quite a bit.
So can you walk us through just what it was
like to be a kid in the Boston area? Um,
you know it was. I mean I lived, you know,
such a great childhood and you know, I love, you know,
(28:46):
giving back to to the youth because I know the
opportunities that I was given, you know, aren't given to everybody.
So I want everybody to have those those same opportunities
you know that I was given. But growing up in Massachusetts,
I was you know, lucky enough to have you know,
a mom and a dad involved in my life and
(29:06):
you know, my mom's brothers, my uncles and aunts who
are constantly involved in my upbringing. I remember my mom
always telling me like it takes a village, you know,
to raise a child. And I was lucky. Yeah, oh
thank you. Was that a compliment? Um no? But um so,
I just had so many great people in my life,
(29:27):
whether if it was you know, my uncles, my dad,
my dad's brothers, and uh so I was lucky enough
to be pushed in you know, all the right directions.
And you know, growing up, my mom was always making sacrifices,
whether it was you know, taking time out of her
day or from work, or doing things that she liked
to drive me to hockey practice, to wrestling practice, basketball practice, aau,
you know, sleepovers with friends, like she was always going
(29:51):
above and beyond tonight. You know, never have ever seen
her turn down something for me for herself, um which
is you know, what moms are for, and that's my rock.
She's amazing. But that being said, you know, I went
to public school for eight years and then my eighth
(30:13):
grade year, I went to a boarding school. And when
I tell people like, yeah, I went to a boarding school,
there seems to be a thought that would lead them
to believe that I was a horrendous kid. Which mom,
if you're listening to this, don't admit that I was
a horrendous kid. I think she might. Um, but no,
(30:34):
they would they would think like, oh, you must have
been getting in trouble all the time, but that wasn't
the case. Um. You know, I had to try really
hard in school, and you know, I'm a talker, and
when there's thirty plus kids in the class and one teacher,
it was easy for me to get distracted from what
was going on in the class and talking with my friends.
(30:57):
So therefore, they decided to send me to a board
school that was like two hundred and fifty kids, the
Tilton School in New Hampshire, and it was a boarding
school and there was like ten kids a class, so
it was one teacher with ten kids. So I was like,
I'm a big person of relationships, so I got to
mingle with the teacher like as if we were peers,
(31:19):
but they were also teaching me and I was building
their trust, and you know, they were teaching me specific
things where you know in a thirty person class where
kids are just like if they read it up on
the board, if you don't get it, you're getting left
behind rather than them pulling me along. So long story short,
it just gave me structure in my life that I needed.
You know, we went to school Monday through Saturday. Half
(31:42):
a day's on Saturday. Yeah. When I tell people that,
I'm like, oh my god, I went to school on Saturday,
Like that's crazy. But it was half a day Wednesday,
half a day Saturday. So we kind of it kind
of like equoed out had something to do with like
I want to say, game sports, because everybody had to
do an activity, so sometimes you'd have to travel two
three hours to go play sport. So Wednesday's or the
(32:04):
days that you played along with Saturdays. But we had
study hall from eight to ten. You had like breakfast
cleaning crew. Like it's almost sounds like it's terrible, but
it was like the best structure that I needed, Like
I had to I remember I had to learn how
to do my own laundry. Like there was one time
my freshman year, I'm sitting in a building and I'm
looking at I'm like, dang, that's that looks like my polo?
(32:27):
Is that like my polo? And you know, my mom
would do my laundry and I was at home. So
I went and did laundry at the school, like in
the laundry room and left it there for two weeks,
and my clothes were everywhere. George, Oh, I know it
was bad, but you gotta look like those are like
the life lessons that you have to learn, like the
hard way, where you're like, all right, like I'm not
gonna be lazy. I'm not gonna wait like an hour
(32:48):
for my laundry. I'm gonna sit down there on one
day and get it all done. Do you still do
your own laundry? Yeah? You could still do it. Yeah,
I if need be, I could get it done. Like
if something needs to be washed, I could get it done.
But so, besides doing your own laundry, when you're not
at practice and you're not playing and you're not traveling
(33:10):
for games, what do you do for fun these days?
Outside of your job. Oh I'm a big Is this
appropriate Netflix in chill like by myself? Yes? Yeah, I
love like catching up on like documentaries, like I'm like
a super nerd for like history, Like I'm almost embarrassed
(33:33):
to say it, because I could sit and watch like
World War one, World War two documentaries are like, Um,
it's not my intention to use the other episodes against you,
but you made fun of me for saying that I
was into British history on the Metis episode. So now
that you're coming out, I know, but this is like, yeah,
(33:53):
we were talking about beds. Yeah, I know what you
were making fun of me for like being into nerdy stuff.
This is exciting for me being vulnerable right now, and
I feel like you're punishing me. Well okay, which I
should never do. So that's good. We have that relationship
where we can go back and forth like that. But um,
that is true. I shouldn't have done that, but I
shouldn't have done this. History we had a moment. History
(34:17):
is actually just like fascinating, Like I'm to think that
like life happened with like no cell phones, no Instagram,
no Twitter, Like I'm mad at myself that I use
the word like so much. But I'm mad at you
too because I try to edit it out sometimes. It's uh,
it's cool. I love history and I besides, you know,
(34:40):
hanging out playing or sitting back and watching Netflix. I'm
a basketball junkie. I love sitting back watching basketball. Um.
I try to spend an hour or two hours of
my day contact and my family. Rather that's talk on
the phone, text, FaceTime, new new thing, this FaceTime thing
(35:01):
we have. Yeah, they didn't have that. Yeah, so it's uh.
I like to take time because you know, this life
is I want to say lonely, but you know you
do miss your family isolated. Yeah, there are moments where
you don't have the time that you want. And you know,
I've been lucky enough to get home for holidays since
we are close, but where you miss out on those moments.
(35:24):
And I think those moments are huge in family development,
whether you know is it's your grandmother or your brother, sister, mom, dad.
I always like to take time on my day to
catch up with them and not miss those moments. It's
crazy how much history is interesting now compared to when
we were in school. I don't know if you share
(35:44):
that experience, but history, what used to be a thing
where I memorize all the facts and I got good
grades on my tests. But I love you're that girl. Huh.
I got very good grade. Storage the people that listen
to this are not going to be surprised that I
got good. Great, but I was like memorizing stuff because
I had to, not because I thought it was interesting.
And it's interesting now as adults that I've had this
(36:07):
conversation with so many people. So much of the stuff
we were learning is actually really cool, but at the
time we didn't appreciate it at all. Your spitfire and
some facts like off just some documentary I'm so interested in.
I mean, like the British royal family at anything royal
family related from like seventeen hundred, I mean way earlier
than that, but anything British aristocracy from like the beginning
(36:29):
to now. I Oh, you love it. I love it.
I eat it up. Well, why can we get you
memorizing like NBA history statistics? I mean, I can do
that too, but that's my profession. So I wanted to
ask you about that. How much NBA do you watch
outside of your own tone League pass all that it's on,
all the TVs, who are you having the most fun
watching this season? Um? You know what, recently, I've actually
(36:53):
enjoyed watching the Trailblazers like a young group. Like obviously,
you know, Amil Loader is a special talent, um, but
you know, those young guys have done a great job
of you know, winning games. Um. I catch myself watching
the Warriors a ton um obviously, you know, being that
(37:17):
I did play on Utah, I like to watch my
boys and hope that they hope that they do well. Um,
but there's not really one team. I mean, obviously you
try to watch the teams like your division, whether it's Brooklyn, Boston.
You you just you get trapped in like you know,
you're looking at your phone, you get an update, it's
(37:37):
like such and such as a close game, and then
you're you're changing into that game. And it just seems
like from seven to like midnight every night is like
I'm almost nervous for All Star Break. It's like what
am I gonna do? Like how come am I going
to occupy those five hours of time? Because you know,
as much as this is a job, it is something
that I really enjoy. I tell it, someone all the time,
(37:59):
someone told me they pay my Bill, So the rest
of my life and all I had to do is
play basketball. I would do it again and again and again.
It's interesting that you said the Trailblazers first, because one
of your close friends is a new Trailblazer. Send him
a little bit of love because obviously he was recently injured,
and I know you've been doing that, and I know
you've talked to him and all that, but he's one
(38:19):
of the all time good guys and a guy that
so many people on your team now in Philadelphia have
affinities for. Yeah, just sending him a little bit. Joe
Angles were sending you good vibes. I wonder if Joe
Ingles listens to the podcast. I don't know your mom,
Joe Ingles my mom. That might be it. Hey is
(38:40):
three fans, George. I feel like I learned more about you.
I really enjoyed this good And if anyone's listening and
wants to hear more, we can always do questions with
George at the beginning or end of any episode. M
There have been a lot of requests for guests. I
don't know if I should name any of them explicitly,
but we have some interest as well. The good guests
(39:01):
are coming down the pike for sure. I think that's
a guarantee. Yes, they are, they are. We uh you know,
with the with the COVID outbreak that we had, we
kind of had to slow up to take a little break. Yeah,
on how much content we were getting because we were
rolling for a little bit um. But now I think
we're back on the horn. The playoffs are coming up,
the podcast is going to be booming. Let's roll, Let's
(39:24):
do it. George Niang, thank you so much for joining
the Big Niang Theory with George Niang. This is my podcast.
I hope you enjoyed your stay. Thanks, thank you. Yeah,
I know
Welcome to the Big Niang Theory. Let me ask questions
my podcast. Joel is a card shark, Danny gets swindled fashion.
I just like stuff that looks greatness, just breads greatness
and be off fit right in. Welcome everyone to another
episode of The Big Niang Theory with George Niang and
(00:22):
Lauren Rosen. Today's a unique episode. It's more or less
us having some cool dialogue, maybe me giving the listeners
a little background information about myself without any guests distracting us.
So I'm actually pretty excited about today. And I like that,
despite being the guest, you opted into introducing yourself. So
(00:42):
I think because you did, we can just jump right in.
You know what, that was probably a little extra of me,
you know what I mean. But thanks for calling me
out on that. You're You're good for that, you know
what I mean, keeping me humbled. Whatever. Let's set the
scene today, and I'm comfortable to this because I'm going
to turn this podcast around quickly. Today was your first
(01:03):
practice with your new teammates? Yeah, what's it been like?
What was today like? How are we feeling? You know?
It's kind of like a breath of fresh air to
be honest with you to know like who your team
is going to be like moving forward. There's kind of
like life put it put it, a new life put
into the team where you know, we knew the situation
coming into the year, we had to play games. But
(01:24):
now that you know you have such a talented piece
and James Harden and a player like Paul Millsap that
you know can affect the game on both ends of
the floor. I think that brought excitement to the team.
You know, I think we feel very confident going forward.
Obviously we know it isn't going to be easy. We
still have our work cut out for us. But you know,
(01:45):
James brought a light and an energy to practice today
where you know, he's flying around the balls, flying around,
he's making threes, you know, and Paul with his veteran presence,
it was just something that was exciting to see it.
It's almost like you can see the end of the
tunnel and you know what we're building and it's all
coming to light, which is which is really exciting. Because
(02:07):
Collin spadea spade within hours of the trade deadline. You know,
you want to go about your day normally, but I
mean I remember I was laying down on the massage
table thinking like all right, Oh, like, how is this
going to go if we don't do anything? And you know,
when you make a big splash, and you know, we
essentially got a guy who was an all star, you
know at the moment, playing for a guy that was
(02:29):
not playing you know. So I think we're extremely excited,
you know, to get the ball rolling and see what
happens next. So for background, one of the reasons why
we wanted to do this episode was we've had a
lot of really positive feedback of people getting to know
our first few guests on a deeper level, but realizing
that those first few guests have been around longer than
(02:51):
you have been. I'm talking about for Khan, Tyrese, and Matisse.
So people know these people and they don't know you. Yeah.
So a lot of the feedback that I I've gotten
is that they want to hear you answer some of
the same questions. And so I think what we could
do is sort of go chronologically backwards, right, Like, let's
start with today and end up where you came from.
Something that stood out to me when you spoke to
media in your most recent availability was your recollections playing
(03:16):
against James Harden in the playoffs, and I'm sorry to
bring up a sore spot, thank you, But what do
you remember about that and can you take us through?
Like what makes you so excited when you think about
those moments and you can detach yourself a little bit
from the pain. What excites you about having him on
your side now as you head down the stretch. I
(03:36):
think the thing that I remember is just the tough
shots that he makes and putting pressure on defense where
you know you can just never you're never able to
relax as a defense. Like he's always putting pressure on
you know, your defense, whether if it's driving the ball
or fakingly he's going to drive ball, skipping the ball
across the court. And then like I said, I obviously
(03:58):
said today in a media availability, I said, the most
underrated thing about him is that he's so smart, Like
the way and he's like pointing people around and putting
guys in different places. It's like he's ten steps ahead
of the defense and wants to manipulate the defense. And
the first quarter will hurt see how this you know,
this format or this set looks, and then in the
fourth quarter will be like all right, Well, that didn't work,
(04:19):
but this works, and he's like moving guys around. And
when I said he was like a basketball Savan, it's
because he's like someone out there that's just picking you
apart mentally and then has the athletic ability and the
talent to beat you single handedly. And like I said,
when you can add someone like that, you know, halfway
through the year or three quarters through the year, I mean,
(04:40):
that's just special. You know, those blockbuster deal called blockbuster
deals for ever reason. They don't happen every day. So
I'm thrilled to have him as a talent. And that's
what I'm most excited about playing alongside him is you know,
picking his brain. And you know, I like to think
of myself if someone that thinks the game of basketball,
and to have him him alongside to see what he thinks,
(05:01):
to understand what's going on through his mind. I'm just
really excited moving forward, especially you know we have a
chance to compete for a championship. I think that's the
biggest thing. Obviously, you have a history playing against him,
so you knew how smart he was and you knew
the way that he directed his offense when you were
a defender. But were you at all surprised to see
what he was able to do with guys that he's
(05:24):
never played with on day one? Like, was I wasn't there?
So was it apparent that he was? Like was it
interesting to watch him be on your side and be
that savant like on day one with players he's never
played with before. Yeah, So today we did a lot
of like five on oh like offense, and you know,
you get to see he's so game like in his preparation.
(05:47):
Everything he does is you know, constantly doing stuff at
game speed, making reads, trying to make accurate passes, or
pointing out to other people, Hey, if I do this,
then you should do this because this is what's going
to happen in the game. Or if they try to
guard me like this, flip this screen this way so
I can get to my left hand or my right
hand or you know. And it's just the fact that
(06:08):
someone can be so diligent and devour the details in
a five on zero like and that takes a lot
of talent to do that, because a lot of people
look at five on oo is like, you know, this
is time for me to just trot around And those
are things that he's taken so serious, which makes you
appreciate how great he is in games because the work
(06:29):
was already put in. So this is him just free
flowing and and doing what he loves. And I just
think that's so impressive. And twenty nineteen was the last
time you saw him in the playoffs, right it was? Yeah,
so right before the bubble? Okay, yeah, And what do
you remember about that series? You know, I remember being
down three zero, and obviously you know, once you're down
(06:51):
three oh, it's you know, pretty tough to win. I
don't I don't think anybody has. People have come back
from three one. Yeah, that's happened to me also. But know,
just his ability to just get guys shots, get Clint
Compelling's shots, to impact the game. You know, it seemed
like it didn't matter who was out on the floor.
If he was out on the floor, you know, the
other team was in good hands. No NBA team has
(07:13):
ever come back from a three Yeah. So yeah, when
you're down three oh, it's like, all right, let's try
and get one. I remember we won one in Utah
and then had to go to Houston and it didn't
end up working out. I mean, he was carrying that franchise,
and it was very impressive at Nalia. I mean, I
remember I was having a scouting report where we're just like,
(07:35):
we don't want him shooting step backs, like so just
let him drive or make him drive, and it's like
it was it was almost like he drove and then
he was passing and other guys are baking threes and
then he's strowing lobs and it's like you're looking at
the coaching staff like what do you want? Like you know,
you wanted to make him drive, but he's killing that too.
So I'm just really happy to have him on our
(07:57):
side now. It's a relief and I'm excited. And so
before we dive too far back in this reverse timeline
that we're using on this podcast, can we talk a
little bit about Joel and what he's been able to
do since the last time we sat down for a
recording was like a month ago, and in that time
he's become the MVP frontrunner and some would say it's
(08:17):
not that close. What's it been like to be his
teammate in the last few weeks. Joel's done an amazing
job since I've been here of really dialing in on
the little things, and you know, they've changed his game drastically.
You know, whether if it's holding us accountable, holding himself accountable,
doing thing the little things that help his team win
(08:41):
games and help him be the best Joel that he
can be. I mean, he's impacting the game defensively, He's
playing a ton of minutes, and he's doing it at
an elite level. I think that's so impressive that you
have a big man that usually when big men get
double team they tend to struggle, right, it seems like
Joel thrives individually and then helps us thrive as a team.
(09:05):
Like we just played Cleveland and they're guarding him with
Jared Allen and then sending over Evan Mobley and those
are like two seven footers and he's making fadeaway jumpers.
He's passing the guys in the middle, he's kicking to
the other side. I just think the way he's handled
everything in his life and then now everything on the court,
it's just like, how can you not you know, root
(09:28):
for this guy, how can this guy not be like,
hands down the MVP candidate, Like what more do you
want to see? You know, from up standpoint where it's
like the most valuable player. Yes, Joel is our most
valuable player without a doubt, and the fact that you know,
I saw something to day him and wild Chamberlain the
only wants to have like forty triple doubles. Like come on, Like,
(09:50):
are we really just because he's done it, like twenty fives,
had twenty five plus points and however many games it's expected. No,
that's not unique. I've never been Yeah, what the heck,
I've never I've never been around a player or seen
a player that's been able to score at will and
(10:14):
demand that much attention on the offensive end and be
still be dominant. So this podcast is going to come
out before Joel and James ever play a game together.
For context, James is out through the All Star break.
This was released today because he's rehabbing that left hamstring injury.
(10:34):
So you and I are both sort of waiting to
see what they look like on the court together. But
now having explained what makes James special and what makes
Joel special, all the chatter in the media is about, like,
what's it going to look like when the two of
them finally play together. I feel that obviously, not as
a member of the team, do you feel that, What
do you think it's going to look like? What excites
(10:55):
you about it? You have a really unique perspective that
only fifteen people in the world have sort of waiting
for these two to actually go out there together. Right.
You know, I've had to be on the other side of,
you know, scuttering reports for Joel and for James, right,
And we've done scouting reports for James while I've played
with Joel. You have to guard these guys with more
(11:18):
than one person, and if you don't, that leads to
thirty forty like points. And the thing about us is
that when you have a dynamic guy like Joel that
demands a double team. Okay, so that means you're not
going to leave James if you're going to double team Joel, right,
and that means you have three other guys that are
(11:40):
playing at a plus one advantage, right, And Tyrese has
been really good this year. Tobias has been really good
matise for Shake. You know, you go down the list,
we have guys that can score, and they can definitely
score if they're not being guarded too, because you have
to guard those other guys. So it just offers a
dynamic where you have two superstars, two guys that are
(12:03):
the elite of the elite all time in the NBA
at scoring the basketball, and you have them on one court.
I mean, it just makes for something that is going
to be special. And the best part is people don't
ever realize that. You know, James, you had games where
you had like seventeen fifteen fourteen assists in Brooklyn with
(12:25):
two other superstars, so he can pass the ball. This
is not going to be a thing where it's like
there's only one ball. Like, we're playing with guys, two
guys that are eager to win, eager to you know,
get a championship and play at an elite level, and
the way they work is second to none. You went
down the list of guys that are going to benefit
(12:46):
from the two of them each drawing doubles, and you
didn't mention yourself. So I'll give you some credit because
I know you call me out when I don't. Yes, George,
career highs across the board for you this year, playing
the best basketball you've played since coming into the NBA
in twenty sixteen, You're gonna be one of those guys
that's a recipient of what James does best. Yes, how like,
(13:10):
are you excited? How are we feeling? I can't imagine
what that's like to already be having the best season
of your career and then bring in one of the
best distributors to ever distribute. As someone that gets distributed
too in order to literally make a career, I thrive
off of being distributed too. I know, yes, I mean away.
(13:30):
He picks defenses apart, and you know, and I could
be a recipient of getting open threes and open shots,
you know, just by his presence of me in on
the court and his ability to play make I'm thrilled.
It's going to be great. He's going to create so
many open threes for our team guys to get open looks,
open driving lanes because he's just going to draw so
(13:51):
much attention. And like I said, you have two guys
in Joel and James that draw so much attention. The
other three guys are just going to be able to
feast just off those guys, you know, drawing the amount
of attention that they do. I'm looking forward to it, George,
more about you. One of the other questions that I
got most frequently that folks want me to ask you
(14:14):
I'm nervous. What do we what is this? What's the
question that people want to know about me? So you
make a lot of threes, you make most of them
in the corner, and almost always do you turn around
and yell at someone. People want to know what you're saying.
Is this the PG version? Yes, you know. I think
(14:37):
the biggest thing for me is I play with a
lot of emotion, and I sometimes, you know, try to
get myself going and get myself worked up. I feel like,
you know, an angry George, maybe a better George on
the course. I mean, Philly fans they get it, you
know what I mean, Like you kind of got to
have that mean streak and you know, not take crap
(14:58):
from anybody. And obviously, when you're shooting in front of
the other team's bench, there's always someone that has something
to say, whether it's the oh he's with us or
hell no, or he you know what that's going in
And like, you know, a part of you in the
midst where you're shooting is like, oh, I can't wait
for this to go in so I can turn around
and tell him, you know what I mean. And that's
(15:19):
kind of how it happens. And you know, through the
midst of the game, there's people that are chattering while
you're running by the bench, like you know, saying this,
saying that, oh, you're too nervous to shoot dad da da,
and you make one. It's one of those where you
just want to be like hold that, like hold that.
And sometimes I get it's like out about our experience,
Like sometimes I'm just so emotionally invested in the game
(15:41):
that like I just do something with my hands or
point at them or say something. And with the referees,
I can't do that because it's led to some technicals
and we don't need those. But towards the bench, it's
like I want to let you know, like I'm I
fear nobody and a little yip yap and a little
(16:03):
chair or chat. Whether it's to a fan, a heckling fan,
or to the opposing bench, I like to have a
little fun with it. It's funny because you mentioned just
specifically the language that you chose of like there's no
way that's going in as something that people will say
to you. I know for a fact that that's something
you say to others because you told the story of
the first time you played against Tyrese when you were
(16:26):
playing for Utah and he tried for a floater, you
told him there was no chance and then he and
now look at him and he's putting up all starting numbers.
He's been amazing. M. Do you what do you say
if if it's your own bench behind you, Like, do
you turn around and get bummed that you can't say something? No?
I probably just yell something, probably at like Sam Cassell
(16:47):
or something, And I'm like you like that, Sam, You
like that you have more of that Sam? M No.
But I mean we have a fun group of guys,
so admidst like being on the game and being super serious,
there's moments where you can have dialogue with the bench
that's like fun or you know what I mean. Like,
I think the best part about this group is that
(17:08):
we just enjoy each other. Like it's not like we're
waking up and going to work like we're it's like
you're waking up and going to hang with you know,
fifteen sixteen seventeen, your closest friends. We have a close group.
Everybody gets along, and we're excited to welcome James and
Paul along because I think the chemistry that we've built
and synergy that we have is going to be super
(17:30):
easy to have those guys coming and make an impact,
especially you know, on the court, but also off the court.
I think we're all gonna continue to have fun, enjoy
each other. We have quirky things that we do, whether
it's Tobias or there's binocular is before the game, picking
someone to go dunk and layup lines, or the dancing
(17:50):
on the sideline where everyone everyone's each other's biggest cheerleader.
And when you have that, it's special. It's been cool
to see you guys maintain that too, because at the
beginning of the season there was a lot of chatter
about how well you guys were getting along and going
to dinners and playing your games during shoot around and whatever.
And I think, again, as someone who's not on the team,
I can't help but wonder how long that lasts, right,
(18:11):
And you've had some awesome winning streaks, you've had some
tougher times, and it is cool to see that chemistry
like enduring over time. It's been a pleasure to watch. Yeah, no,
I mean credit to you know, the leaders on our
team that do that. You know, Joel Tobias, even Tyrese
Is getting in the mix. I think the biggest thing
that I noticed coming here though, was, you know, with
(18:34):
the whole situation, and credit to Doc Rivers is he
always puts the team number one and there was never
going to be one person that was going to impede
the team's progress going forward, even the situation that had
happened earlier. You know, I remember when we talk about it,
Doc would be like, you know, we are not going
(18:57):
to let one person be more valuable than us as
a group. And when you have a leader that's leading
a group like that, you may have a four game
losing streak, you may have a six game losing streak,
but water always finds its level if you guys can
continue to find ways to stick it together, make it
about each other, not about yourself. You somehow you look
(19:18):
up and next thing you know, you've lost four in
a row. But you come and turn around and you
win seven in a row. Like it. You just find
ways to make things happen. So, you know, credit to
our leaders, and you know, credit to Doc because that
was a big thing that was preached moving forward. You
know that this is about the team, This is about
any about you guys. It's about the team. Let's move
(19:39):
away from the court. What have you made of Philadelphia
so far? Oh? The food? I love it. I love
it so much. I literally try to find new places
to eat all the time. Obviously, you know my favorite
brunch place. I think everybody knows this, Cafe mod Um,
(20:01):
hands down um. But even like the little you know,
hole in the wall places like double knot you know
I'm not a hole in the wall. Well yeah, I
mean you're you drop, you're if you're going by, you
would not see that it's there. Yeah, So so how's
that on a hole in wall? Because I think a
hole in the wall is something that's like not on
the radar but double on the radar, like zeitgeis well yeah,
(20:23):
now because people are putting it on the map, but
you're not walking by and seeing like, oh look it
for the big double bots Um sampan Um elvez um.
Where else do we have? You know what I haven't
I'm out on the lookout for and I'll take Twitter recommendations.
Is a good Italian place? Oh my god, there's so much.
(20:43):
I don't think I've been to anyone's so I've told
you already. I know I'm the worst but I evangelize
d fourth and Wood. Oh that's right, that's right. So
Furcan told you to go there on the podcast. Sure
you are right months ago, are right? And I feel
like I said I needed a good Italian place to
go do on that podcasts and I haven't followed through
another place that I go do shout out by people
(21:03):
at Harp and Crown, Great Bowling Alley. Oh man. I
think the coolest part about Philly is that, you know,
I don't ever look at myself as something bigger than
anybody else. And I think Philadelphia has people that you know,
are normal people and everyday hard working people, and I
(21:25):
look at myself like that where you know, we can
sit down and enjoy a conversation. There hasn't been a
time in Philly where I'm like, oh I'm getting bombarded
or you know what I mean. It's it's good quality people,
good quality conversation and just genuine people that care. I mean,
I know they're like, oh, they're tough, they're this, they're that,
but they care. And I think you want that as
(21:46):
a player in a city, that you want people that
actually care about the thing that you put, the craft
that you put so much time into It's interesting. You
just talked about the fact that you play emotionally and
Philadelphia is emotionally invested in its teams, and that's why
you are such a good match. You started your career
in Indiana, but you didn't spend the much time there.
You spent the bulk of it in Utah. Just off
(22:08):
the top of your head. How different, Like what did
you love what do you miss about Utah? But what
do you love about Philly? Like They're two of the
most different markets that you could possibly have spent your
career in. So tell me about the contrast. Yeah, So
I've lived in the city whichever you want to call it,
however you want to call it, in Salt Lake City,
in the city of Salt Lake City, and it's totally
(22:28):
different than living in the city of Philadelphia. You know,
I hate to admit this, but my parallel parking skills
are subpar. Subpar. Yeah yeah, but you know, so that
was an adjustment at first. But I think the best
part about it is like the hustle and bustle of
like the city. Like my favorite part is like before games,
(22:52):
you know, driving through, driving through the city and seeing
the mailman or seeing the guy walk home from work
with his Sixers starter jacking on, and you're, you know,
you represent that and just the whole drive in, you know,
down ninety five and then you get to see the
football stadium, a baseball field. You know, it's it's just
(23:16):
a feeling that you know, you don't often get, but
I can appreciate it every time that you know, I
passed through the whole city and before I go to
work every day, and it's just the emotions, the thoughts,
the I don't want to say fantasies, but it's like,
you know, you bring a championship home to Philadelphia, like
(23:37):
you I've said this before, Like you're good forever, Like
you will walk around here and never be for God.
And whether you're a guy one or a guy you
know fifteen sixteen seventeen, Like this place takes care of
their own. And those thoughts go through your head when
you're you know, going to the arena. You know, it's
(23:57):
a special city. It's I've I've had a lot of
good memories here and I'm looking to make more. But
one that definitely like shook me a little bit was
so obviously I live on a pretty busy street I'm
not going to disclose that information, but yeah, I remember
it was like six in the morning, and uh, you know,
(24:17):
in Philadelphia, the streets are a little smaller than they
would be in Utah. There's more space and which I
loved Utah. Utah had great mountains, you know, great people.
It was. I enjoyed my time there. I have no
ill will towards that state or those fans or the team.
But obviously, getting back to the story, streets are smaller
in Philadelphia. And there was a truck that was unloading
(24:41):
at six in the morning and stopped, so obviously, you know,
cars are parallel barked on both sides, and all I
wake up to is like and then like in someone's
like hard Philly act and they're like, hey, buddy, why
don't you get that out of the road, and you
(25:04):
just hear them going back and forth, and like I
was so exhausted, but all I could do is like
just with my eyes closed, just like smile and be like, yep,
this is this is definitely Philadelphia. And you know, I
laugh and think about that, but it's it's part of
what makes Philly Philly. I've never been to ames Iowa,
(25:26):
but I would imagine that it has even less going
on than Salt Lake City, Utah. So going backwards actually
makes a lot of sense because you're going from a
big city, yeah, from a mid sized city, from a town.
What do you miss most about your days there? Because now,
having having done this podcast with you and having gotten
(25:47):
to know George Niang fans a lot better there, a
lot of them are in Iowa, like those people love you.
So what do you miss most about that environment? Um?
You know, college it was pure right, Um. You know,
you go to school every day, you um in class,
um in the dining hall with the people that are
(26:09):
in the same people that are in the stands, you know,
cheering you on, and um, you know I felt like
it was the first time I left New England. Well,
it was the first time I left New England and
was embraced by a whole other community. Um. So that's
like your first love, right, You're always gonna miss um,
your first love, because I mean four years it goes
by so quick. And then I hate to say it,
(26:30):
but it's like I don't want to say you're forgotten,
but people don't like yeah, exactly exactly. So it's like, um,
I was Honestly, I hate to say it like this,
but I was like a number in a system. But like, yeah,
I tried to leave my mark, leave my legacy. But
at the end of the day, like there's a new
George Niang or new guy coming in that is you
know that they want to cheer on that those kids
(26:51):
are going to look up to, Like the kids that
look up to me that were young are like they're
they're the ones that are going to be going to
Iowa State soon. So um, I definitely miss the people,
and I think the people definitely make the place. The
fan support was unreal, but I think, you know, the
camaraderie of of college sports, it's like you guys are
(27:14):
all working towards the same goal. Like not everybody's going
home to a nice, luxurious house. You guys are all
struggling together. You're all getting through six am conditioning, you're
all It's that's the part that you miss because it's
like once you turn professional, like all those things change,
Like yeah, you go home, you beat yourself up, but
you know you're you're well taken care of. You can
(27:37):
go home to a nice house, a good family, you
know what I mean. In college, it was like you
have a loss, You're like hurting, you know what I mean,
because you know the next day you might have a
three hour practice, where in the NBA it's like you
might have a gamer next day and you've got to
be able to just flush what just happened. Where in
college you had to sit that, let that marinate, watch
yourself from your dorm room on ESPN where you know,
(28:01):
I feel like now I can easily turn off the
TV and plug into something else. Before Iowa State was
the Northeast and New England. And this is a part
of your life that I don't think you've talked about
that much because you weren't speaking to media when you
were a kid. Yeah, in Boston. I know you're close
(28:22):
to your mom. Ye can you tell me a little
bit about her, a little bit about what your upbringing
was like and like what that place growing up there?
I think it informed your personality today quite a bit.
So can you walk us through just what it was
like to be a kid in the Boston area? Um,
you know it was. I mean I lived, you know,
such a great childhood and you know, I love, you know,
(28:46):
giving back to to the youth because I know the
opportunities that I was given, you know, aren't given to everybody.
So I want everybody to have those those same opportunities
you know that I was given. But growing up in Massachusetts,
I was you know, lucky enough to have you know,
a mom and a dad involved in my life and
(29:06):
you know, my mom's brothers, my uncles and aunts who
are constantly involved in my upbringing. I remember my mom
always telling me like it takes a village, you know,
to raise a child. And I was lucky. Yeah, oh
thank you. Was that a compliment? Um no? But um so,
I just had so many great people in my life,
(29:27):
whether if it was you know, my uncles, my dad,
my dad's brothers, and uh so I was lucky enough
to be pushed in you know, all the right directions.
And you know, growing up, my mom was always making sacrifices,
whether it was you know, taking time out of her
day or from work, or doing things that she liked
to drive me to hockey practice, to wrestling practice, basketball practice, aau,
you know, sleepovers with friends, like she was always going
(29:51):
above and beyond tonight. You know, never have ever seen
her turn down something for me for herself, um which
is you know, what moms are for, and that's my rock.
She's amazing. But that being said, you know, I went
to public school for eight years and then my eighth
(30:13):
grade year, I went to a boarding school. And when
I tell people like, yeah, I went to a boarding school,
there seems to be a thought that would lead them
to believe that I was a horrendous kid. Which mom,
if you're listening to this, don't admit that I was
a horrendous kid. I think she might. Um, but no,
(30:34):
they would they would think like, oh, you must have
been getting in trouble all the time, but that wasn't
the case. Um. You know, I had to try really
hard in school, and you know, I'm a talker, and
when there's thirty plus kids in the class and one teacher,
it was easy for me to get distracted from what
was going on in the class and talking with my friends.
(30:57):
So therefore, they decided to send me to a board
school that was like two hundred and fifty kids, the
Tilton School in New Hampshire, and it was a boarding
school and there was like ten kids a class, so
it was one teacher with ten kids. So I was like,
I'm a big person of relationships, so I got to
mingle with the teacher like as if we were peers,
(31:19):
but they were also teaching me and I was building
their trust, and you know, they were teaching me specific
things where you know in a thirty person class where
kids are just like if they read it up on
the board, if you don't get it, you're getting left
behind rather than them pulling me along. So long story short,
it just gave me structure in my life that I needed.
You know, we went to school Monday through Saturday. Half
(31:42):
a day's on Saturday. Yeah. When I tell people that,
I'm like, oh my god, I went to school on Saturday,
Like that's crazy. But it was half a day Wednesday,
half a day Saturday. So we kind of it kind
of like equoed out had something to do with like
I want to say, game sports, because everybody had to
do an activity, so sometimes you'd have to travel two
three hours to go play sport. So Wednesday's or the
(32:04):
days that you played along with Saturdays. But we had
study hall from eight to ten. You had like breakfast
cleaning crew. Like it's almost sounds like it's terrible, but
it was like the best structure that I needed, Like
I had to I remember I had to learn how
to do my own laundry. Like there was one time
my freshman year, I'm sitting in a building and I'm
looking at I'm like, dang, that's that looks like my polo?
(32:27):
Is that like my polo? And you know, my mom
would do my laundry and I was at home. So
I went and did laundry at the school, like in
the laundry room and left it there for two weeks,
and my clothes were everywhere. George, Oh, I know it
was bad, but you gotta look like those are like
the life lessons that you have to learn, like the
hard way, where you're like, all right, like I'm not
gonna be lazy. I'm not gonna wait like an hour
(32:48):
for my laundry. I'm gonna sit down there on one
day and get it all done. Do you still do
your own laundry? Yeah? You could still do it. Yeah,
I if need be, I could get it done. Like
if something needs to be washed, I could get it done.
But so, besides doing your own laundry, when you're not
at practice and you're not playing and you're not traveling
(33:10):
for games, what do you do for fun these days?
Outside of your job. Oh I'm a big Is this
appropriate Netflix in chill like by myself? Yes? Yeah, I
love like catching up on like documentaries, like I'm like
a super nerd for like history, Like I'm almost embarrassed
(33:33):
to say it, because I could sit and watch like
World War one, World War two documentaries are like, Um,
it's not my intention to use the other episodes against you,
but you made fun of me for saying that I
was into British history on the Metis episode. So now
that you're coming out, I know, but this is like, yeah,
(33:53):
we were talking about beds. Yeah, I know what you
were making fun of me for like being into nerdy stuff.
This is exciting for me being vulnerable right now, and
I feel like you're punishing me. Well okay, which I
should never do. So that's good. We have that relationship
where we can go back and forth like that. But um,
that is true. I shouldn't have done that, but I
shouldn't have done this. History we had a moment. History
(34:17):
is actually just like fascinating, Like I'm to think that
like life happened with like no cell phones, no Instagram,
no Twitter, Like I'm mad at myself that I use
the word like so much. But I'm mad at you
too because I try to edit it out sometimes. It's uh,
it's cool. I love history and I besides, you know,
(34:40):
hanging out playing or sitting back and watching Netflix. I'm
a basketball junkie. I love sitting back watching basketball. Um.
I try to spend an hour or two hours of
my day contact and my family. Rather that's talk on
the phone, text, FaceTime, new new thing, this FaceTime thing
(35:01):
we have. Yeah, they didn't have that. Yeah, so it's uh.
I like to take time because you know, this life
is I want to say lonely, but you know you
do miss your family isolated. Yeah, there are moments where
you don't have the time that you want. And you know,
I've been lucky enough to get home for holidays since
we are close, but where you miss out on those moments.
(35:24):
And I think those moments are huge in family development,
whether you know is it's your grandmother or your brother, sister, mom, dad.
I always like to take time on my day to
catch up with them and not miss those moments. It's
crazy how much history is interesting now compared to when
we were in school. I don't know if you share
(35:44):
that experience, but history, what used to be a thing
where I memorize all the facts and I got good
grades on my tests. But I love you're that girl. Huh.
I got very good grade. Storage the people that listen
to this are not going to be surprised that I
got good. Great, but I was like memorizing stuff because
I had to, not because I thought it was interesting.
And it's interesting now as adults that I've had this
(36:07):
conversation with so many people. So much of the stuff
we were learning is actually really cool, but at the
time we didn't appreciate it at all. Your spitfire and
some facts like off just some documentary I'm so interested in.
I mean, like the British royal family at anything royal
family related from like seventeen hundred, I mean way earlier
than that, but anything British aristocracy from like the beginning
(36:29):
to now. I Oh, you love it. I love it.
I eat it up. Well, why can we get you
memorizing like NBA history statistics? I mean, I can do
that too, but that's my profession. So I wanted to
ask you about that. How much NBA do you watch
outside of your own tone League pass all that it's on,
all the TVs, who are you having the most fun
watching this season? Um? You know what, recently, I've actually
(36:53):
enjoyed watching the Trailblazers like a young group. Like obviously,
you know, Amil Loader is a special talent, um, but
you know, those young guys have done a great job
of you know, winning games. Um. I catch myself watching
the Warriors a ton um obviously, you know, being that
(37:17):
I did play on Utah, I like to watch my
boys and hope that they hope that they do well. Um,
but there's not really one team. I mean, obviously you
try to watch the teams like your division, whether it's Brooklyn, Boston.
You you just you get trapped in like you know,
you're looking at your phone, you get an update, it's
(37:37):
like such and such as a close game, and then
you're you're changing into that game. And it just seems
like from seven to like midnight every night is like
I'm almost nervous for All Star Break. It's like what
am I gonna do? Like how come am I going
to occupy those five hours of time? Because you know,
as much as this is a job, it is something
that I really enjoy. I tell it, someone all the time,
(37:59):
someone told me they pay my Bill, So the rest
of my life and all I had to do is
play basketball. I would do it again and again and again.
It's interesting that you said the Trailblazers first, because one
of your close friends is a new Trailblazer. Send him
a little bit of love because obviously he was recently injured,
and I know you've been doing that, and I know
you've talked to him and all that, but he's one
(38:19):
of the all time good guys and a guy that
so many people on your team now in Philadelphia have
affinities for. Yeah, just sending him a little bit. Joe
Angles were sending you good vibes. I wonder if Joe
Ingles listens to the podcast. I don't know your mom,
Joe Ingles my mom. That might be it. Hey is
(38:40):
three fans, George. I feel like I learned more about you.
I really enjoyed this good And if anyone's listening and
wants to hear more, we can always do questions with
George at the beginning or end of any episode. M
There have been a lot of requests for guests. I
don't know if I should name any of them explicitly,
but we have some interest as well. The good guests
(39:01):
are coming down the pike for sure. I think that's
a guarantee. Yes, they are, they are. We uh you know,
with the with the COVID outbreak that we had, we
kind of had to slow up to take a little break. Yeah,
on how much content we were getting because we were
rolling for a little bit um. But now I think
we're back on the horn. The playoffs are coming up,
the podcast is going to be booming. Let's roll, Let's
(39:24):
do it. George Niang, thank you so much for joining
the Big Niang Theory with George Niang. This is my podcast.
I hope you enjoyed your stay. Thanks, thank you. Yeah,
I know
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