March 16, 2021 • 27 mins
In this second episode of DRAFTED, we find former University of Kentucky star Tyrese Maxey training and preparing for the 2020 NBA Draft. It’s his last two weeks working in Los Angeles and Tyrese is trying hard to improve his shooting, a process that reveals what makes him truly exceptional. We also hear from Tyrese’s parents, uncle, and his college coach, Kentucky's John Calipari, who share what propelled Tyrese from a middle school kid with a dream to a budding first round pick in the NBA. Narrated by Keegan-Michael Key.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutched Sports
Group and I Heart Radio Care Care Say what's up
to the podcastcast? I got a micro girl, Girl? Where
is I Gotta? Where is mic? All day? What a
part of all day? Did you not understand a little leaf?
(00:24):
Welcome back to Drafted. We're two college basketball stars mike
themselves up and take us on their personal journeys to
the NBA. In the first episode, we heard from explosive
University of Georgia guard Anthony Edwards. Yeah, there's Edwards, a
(00:46):
nineteen year old with the talent to go number one
overall and the grit to stay in the league for many,
many years. We was just in a gym like every day,
all all day, all night. In this episode, we'll get
to know another dynamic carresmatic larger than life one and
done guard. Oh well, old Tyrese Maxie from the University
(01:13):
of Kentucky and he's brushing his teeth. Yep. Even athletes
at their peak of training and preparations still struggled to
wake up on a chilly morning and go to work,
just like the rest of us. But unlike most, Tyrese
just woke up at four fifty am inside of Beverly
Hills Hotel. My daily routine is a lot of people
(01:36):
think it's crazy. I think it's normal. That's Tyrese describing
his recurring wake up call. The reason why I do
it is because I feel like I get a psychological
advantage over my over my opponents. Why it's crazy to
see someone do three workouts before some you know, some
of my opponents and some of my periods even are
waking up. He leaves this hotel room and heads to
(02:01):
his car. It's still dark out and there are almost
no other cars on the road, at least bite l
A standards. I want to be someone that doesn't have
(02:33):
any what ifs. I don't want to be at the
end of my career when it's all setting done. The
boss I was bouncing and say, dang, what if I
just worked a little bit harder. What if I did this,
or what if I did that? And you know this
would have happened. I want to be able to say,
you know, I gave it my all. I did everything
I could, and I maximized on my potential. You know
(02:54):
this is gonna be my profession. You know, this is
this is me perfecting my crab this is what I'm
good paid to do. I love to do this my passion,
but you know, at the end of the day, this
is a business. This is gonna be my job. Like
my body is my job. I have to take care
of me and I want to make it the best
that I could possibly be. All three of his workouts
this morning will happen back to back at all before
eleven am, and so every morning he has this thirty
(03:16):
minute commute to a gym and chatsworth often rolling calls
with people in other time zones who also might be
awake this early. Now, I called you to tell you
how my workout went, he is today. No, no, no, no,
It was the Pelicans. This is a friend back in
Texas and tyren is calling about his most recent workout
(03:39):
with the New Orleans Pelicans, who hold pick number thirteen.
Like Anthony, Tyrese is working out for most of the
team's picking early in the first round, a good sign
he could be taken in the top half of the draft,
but when and where is as big a question mark
as with any player this year. Rumors have him as
high as number eight and as low as number twenty eight.
(04:00):
That's spread is a difference of about seven and a
half million dollars over his first three years in the league.
This means each team workout really really matters. Oh was
there slow really good? Yeah? I'm sure? Yeah, I hate
in a row? Yeah yeah, Thix in the right corner corner.
(04:25):
That kind of dead eye shooting is exactly what Anthony
and Justin and his crew were talking about in the
last episode, and this performance is especially noteworthy for Tyrese
when the biggest knock against him is his inconsistent jump shot.
Last season, he only shot from three point range, low
enough to keep numerous NBA executives awake at night wondering
(04:46):
if he's the right guy for their team. Stroke coming along, Yo, Hello, Parlar, Yo,
you gotta say pols bron that was what the stroke
coming along? Yeah? Yeah, yea, but now yeah, have a smooth,
(05:12):
real smood. Tyrese arrives at the Chatsworth Gym a little
before year. He and his uncle Brandon have been living
in southern California since May after the college season was
canceled and without a summer league to play in. He's
built this disciplined routine to capitalize on the downtime. Some
(05:36):
of my warm clock goes off at four fifty every
single morning most of the time. My uncle thus something
to get a little breakfit soundwards and then we're getting
to the gym by five forty five stretch, start working
out at six. I swoon. The workout done at around
seven fifteen, seven twenty answered the way room. Here's his
(05:56):
uncle Brandon. He's been living in l a to help
keep an eye on his a few in the big city.
But Tires's focus has never been a concern, even with
all the turmoil this year. It's just been embracing the
embracing the situation circumstances. I'm just being grinding. It's just
I's honestly kind of worked out because it's helped him
just stay in the gym more um and that's it.
(06:18):
I mean, that's pretty much all he wants to do anyways,
work out. It just seems like it's basketball, basketball, basketball.
It's always been this way. Tyrese has envisioned his basketball
future since grade school. Every year it's cool, like from
fifth or sixth grade, I sit down the day before
school and I write down my life goes right down,
(06:40):
my sports goals for basketball goes and I write down
my academic school goes and I did that every single
first day of school all the way to my last,
well my first and last year of college. By the
time he started middle school in Garland, Texas, he was
writing about becoming the next grade player at the University
of Kentucky. I'm in McDonald's All American. I was gonna
(07:02):
and I go to Kentucky and to the NBA. Now
that vision has almost been fully realized. He's finishing his
third workout of the day in Los Angeles. He signed
with the most powerful agent in the NBA, Rich Paul,
and he's being talked about as a potential lottery pick.
He's focused nearly every action and decision since middle school
(07:22):
to get from there to here on the cusp of
being a first round pick in the NBA. And if
you watch closely, he almost always leaves clues showing how
he's been able to defy the odds and make his
dream a reality. We'll be right back. Tyrese arrives at
(07:57):
the Chatsworth Gym with his trainer, Chris Johnson, ready to
start their next workout. When oh here, ready, ready, you
already know, I know, let's get it. Look look, look,
look now what I told you. Look what's he's doing?
(08:19):
Look about that? Oh remember I was telling you about
the brain. Look, okay, nothing. I'm trying to show him
the difference between a motherfucker that's gonna be a multip
millionaire and then god that don't know you. You already anticipation.
Some people can't anticipate, so they have to wait. Yeah,
(08:42):
Tyree started setting up his own shooting drills. So even
a few minutes it would take to put down cones
isn't wasted. He wants every possible rep he can get.
That's how intense his commitment to improving is. If you
really wanted and this is what you said that you
want to do, If you want to make to NBA
or you want to make it or do whatever it is,
all you gotta do is put the work in. You
have to put the excessive amount of work in, and
(09:04):
you gotta sacrifice. You gotta sacrifice. It's not it's not easy,
but it can be done. No matter where he's from,
it it can be done. It's no, it's not easy,
but it definitely can be done. Nice just food person.
So our goals every day for Tires is to make
over two thousand shots. So if you look at two
thousand times six, that's where twelve thousand shots a week
(09:27):
over a five six month period. That's a lot of shots,
and that's made shots. So it wasn't complex, it was
super simple. This is where we have the correct let's
put in the world. They're focusing on improving areas of
his game that still need work, his shooting mechanics and
a more consistent three point shot, and the only way
to do that is with reps. Lots and lots of reps,
(09:52):
right to shoots, best shooting in your drift. I'm telling you,
got it, stay word it. Just how much of a
sacrifice Tyrese is talking about is something most non professional
athletes don't understand. Forcing himself to make over three hundred
(10:16):
thousand shots this summer, it's just the beginning. Here's Tyrese's mom, Denise,
in their house in Garland, Texas, a suburb of Dallas
known for its parks, wildflowers, and safe community and for
being the hometown of p g A champion Lee Trevino
and NBA All Star Mookie Blaylock. Denise paints a picture
of what her son's childhood looked like. On most weekends,
(10:37):
we're in a car together rotting to the game or
to the tournament out of town, you know, a mom.
So we're we're having a happy, go lucky time. But
then dad, the driver is a coach, so he's like,
it's not time to play, it's a time to get
focused in. So we got an eight hour drive to
wherever we're going, and I'm trying to make fun and
(11:00):
the driver and he's pissed because we're laughing and playing.
That was Tyres's dad, Tyrone, Maxie, You've got to lock in.
It's how he was trying to get Tyres to intensely
focus during these car rides. So that wasn't easy. So
now you're in the car with the coach, hit it
to your tournament, but also your dad. Then you gotta
stay in the room with your dad, so you gotta
(11:20):
watch film the whole time, while your teammates may be
playing their games or at the pool or whatever they're doing.
But no, you're in the room watching film and you know,
getting ready for your opponent and breaking down, you know,
whatever defense that person maybe bringing or whatever. And then
you gotta go out and play the tournament with your dad,
(11:40):
who's the coach get yelled at and do whatever else
they do out there on the on the floor. They
come back to them and they come back to the
room and watch my film again. That's Tyres chiming in.
And then you gotta go sleep mad because you ain't
can do anything. You know, you don't have a normal life.
(12:02):
It is absolutely the truth. It was the absolute truth
almost every single weekend of our lives for the last
ten years. Ten for the year that was our weekend.
But you know, and I'll be like tired. Do you
don't think he's been too hard on him? I called
my husband tied, so tire, aren't you? Don't you think
you're being too hard on him? You know he should
be happy? And no, he needs to learn these things now.
(12:24):
A Division one coach is going to demand these things
of him, and he needs to The sooner he learns,
and the more he will be prepared when he hits
stepped forward for a Division one coach. And if he
doesn't learn him now, and then he's not gonna be
able to adjust. The coach is not gonna have time
to teaching these things. So he needs to learn him now.
Not grant. Chances are this is probably he was twelve
thirteen years old, so we were six seventh eighth grade
(12:45):
and he was learning, he was breaking and literally he
started breaking down his own film at eight. So imagine
being eight years old and you're sitting in the room
with your dad breaking that film. Imagine that while your
friends are either outside shoot hoops or to a plan
to PlayStations, and you have very little time to play.
(13:05):
So it was very difficult for for him. And I'm
not just paying the band picture. My husband is an
amazing guy, but it was on. What I want people
to understand is that there was a lot. My husband
put so much work into developing terriss On and off
more skills to where it in some moments, I felt
(13:25):
like he didn't have an opportunity to be just a
normal kid. University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who
recruited and then coached Tyreson college, speaks to the level
of preparation Tyrone gave his son. It started with his father.
Tyrone was a basketball coach. He ran the dribble drive
(13:47):
stuff better than I did, and I'm the one that
brought it into college basketball. His teams were better at
running it, which meant Tyrese learned court spacing, running downhill,
running the whole league is at now the spacing that
you need, the ability to shoot threes. I mean his
dad taught him. His dad was also the guy that
(14:09):
would be in the gym with him if I thirty
in the morning. I mean, that's who he is, so
we knew getting him here what it would look like.
Of course, it looks different depending on who sneakers. You're
standing in from the outside looking at. If you you
see someone's dad coaching them, you automatically think like they're
(14:30):
gonna have their way. You know, the dad's not gonna
be tough one. Then the dad's gonna let them do
kind of whatever they want to do, which wasn't the
case for me. It was like it was almost the
exact opposite, Like he was the toughest on me. It
was Tom's where in practice it would be like I
know I was doing the right thing, and he was
still like find a way to you know, get on me.
And it was like, which is which is cool? Because
(14:51):
I understood he always he always found the way, even
if I had, like he said, a good game, forceps whatever,
he always found a way to be able to to
umble me and make me stay hungry and made me
want to be great. And that's one thing I really
appreciate it for him. But no, it was not easy.
Tyrone was tough, hyper competitive, and determined to succeed. Tyrese
(15:14):
immediately spotted those qualities in another famous player. I think
my dad really modeled his game at Isaiah Thomas. But
in my opinion, the film that I watched him him
Isaiah Thomas were identical. The toughness that Isaiah brought to
that team and just to his personality. I see there
my dad. He acts the same way he and my
and I don't see my dad. It's not the biggest
(15:36):
Isaiah Faan just because he loves Jordan's. But it's funny
because I was I was telling my mom when you know,
I was one time I was able to talk to
the great Isaiah Thomas and I was like, Mom, they're
the same like, they act the same way. I don't
know why. That's probably why he's so competitive, and you
know it doesn't care for him as much as he
should because they're the same, they're the same way, the
same person. He's a small guy. He's five nine, so
(15:58):
you know, it's not easy for him to be, you know,
Division one basketball player, but he worked extremely hard and
and became talented and what he did and perfected his
craft to where he got scholarship. He wants scholarship to
play at Washingtonate University. Tyrone averaged about five points a
game for Washington State under coach Kelvin Sampson, which was
as far as his size and physical ability could take
(16:20):
him as a player. And after that, he wanted to
become a coach, and he studied the game and and
just became a student of the game and really perfected
his craft and coaching and became one of the best
coaches in the Dallas area. And I think he passed
all that knowledge that he knew down to myself. So
when I told him everything, I know he's gonna be
better than me. I admit that that's Tyrone again, with
(16:43):
Denise and Tyrese still in the room. So it's just funny.
My dad said that, and all my friends t the
same thing. He better you here. Now, I give him
that he got it. Oh wow, I can't believe you
said that. Hey, and fifty years old, fifty you got me?
(17:05):
I mean yeah, but uh, but yeah, for so many years,
yet he will never beat me, admitting he's soon to
be first round NBA pick. Son is better than he is.
Did not come easy because the fiercely ambitious nature he
has doesn't go away, and now it's instilled in his son.
(17:26):
So even at age fifty, there are no easy baskets
in the Maxi household. Ever, Well, first got back and
we worked worked out a little bit, and I was
just messing with him, man, like, I don't know what
I'm saying something to him, and he started talking smack
or whatever. I said, what don't they ever talk to
me like Heather again, don't do that. But he started
talking to Nords. But my, y'all South Dallas just that
(17:49):
other yet that that side data stuff ain't gonna work
this that other. But you know that's all. We both men,
we both have test assom so you know, it never
get to that point. I mean, you know I love him. Uh,
we both with both of a screen and screenly competitive
we are we are we. I mean we go round
(18:11):
around about basketball, different players and who we like to said,
who's you know, who's the goat, who's not the goat?
So yeah, well, I mean that's what that's what we do.
Here's Uncle Brandon under dynamic and that particular on the
court batch up his dad, like his dad was trying
(18:32):
to lock up on him, and and Reese is kind
of like a little boy and him like, you know,
it was funny. They got super intense and I was
just sitting back like, okay, alright, cool, but it was
it was it was hilarious. Man. After we when we
got in the car, we left and joked about it.
They played just the like, I mean, the same thing.
(18:53):
His dad is the same way defense shoot the ball,
uh point guard. They played the exact same way. He's
just holler competitive, same way. He's been like that forever.
He's been coaching his whole life. I think it's only
one time and I think that was his junior year
where his dad didn't coach him. And whether it's been peewee,
(19:13):
little league, direct league, hey, you select ball, whatever you
you name it, he's coached him even I think he
played baseball at one time and his dad was the coach.
Everything is a coaching moment, Like everything is a coaching
propoment in that house. And it's like you know sometimes
and that's why I come in that you know, sometimes uh,
(19:35):
he just wants to just maybe just talk, and they
don't want to always be like, all right, you tell
me this, then I'm gonna I'm gonna talk to you
in a coaching manner. It's like you just sometimes you
just want to talk. You just want to talk. You
don't get me wrong. His dad, you know, it wasn't
always like that, but it was like you could tell us.
Hard for him to turn it on and off. Maybe
(19:56):
Tyrone couldn't turn off the switch because of his personality,
or it's because some of his own dreams are being
manifested through his son. We'll be right back. Tyrese's dad,
(20:17):
Tyrone Maxie. I played the Vision one basketball for coach Sampson,
so I knew the demand of order to so I
coached all my kids that way. I'm gonna demand this
from you because no going to the next level, that's
gonna be the demand. Nobody likes to look at them
and to be corrected, nobody, and so I guess that
(20:37):
was tough for him. I would bring him into the
room when Jordan was playing. I said, look at this man,
look at Jordan's This is how you want to be great.
Look at the things he's doing on the court. And
so if anybody was playing Kyle, anybody that moved at
the idea said look at this move, try this or whatever.
And so this being his dad and being a basketball
(20:57):
guy and him being a bad asked by a guy
by basketball guy, it was great, man, it was great.
I mean, I'm assuming now he feels like it was
all benefited him. And that's all I wanted to ever
wanted to do, to be the best dad, best coach,
best asset for him, you know, trying to fulfill his dreams.
(21:18):
That's what everyone in the family does on some level.
In a way Tyrese's success. It's like the family business,
which could be a lot of pressure for someone about
to turn twenty years old, serious expectations from dad and
mom my, Mom. She she is, she is who she is.
I mean, she worked and earned everything and all the
(21:39):
tiles that she has. She didn't finish college and she
worked extremely hard to where she is and she just
worked and build a foundation for our family that she's
not gonna let anybody slack off. She never slacked off,
so why why should she let us? And she doesn't
get the craze that she deserves what she does for
this family, but she doesn't want the crash. She's behind
the scenes and and she's she's rock solid, even one thousand,
(22:03):
four hundred and fifty two miles away. Denise plays a
major role in Tyrese's life. A self proclaimed mama's boy,
he calls her every single day to check in. We're
gonna be home Monday. Perfect? What here? Okay? Tyrese's grandparents
(22:29):
and even his extended family have also all worked in
the family business in the house that I'm in now.
Both my grandmother's, my grandfather who before he passed away,
lived there, my uncle you know, his kids have been there,
have lived there at a time, my sister, both of
my author and my sisters have lived there before. And
my oldest sister has you know, a set of twin daughters,
(22:50):
so my you know, my nieces, twin nieces, they lived
there at the same time. And my both my parents
and myself, so all of us lived in this one house.
Like if you can, it's hard to imagine that my
oldest isn who have to sacrifice so much just because
you know, a you had to travel and do different
things like that, you know. Sadly, I take up so
(23:13):
much time for my parents, just because you know the
schedule that I've had over the years. Here's coach John
Calipari again on his recruiting trip to the Maxi household.
When I went into the home, he made sure everyone
was there, including the grandmother. He wanted his grandmother to
sign off on me. Think about that, Think about the
(23:36):
kind of person this kid is. They walked me up
to his bedroom in ninth grade. He had a picture
he drew of himself in a Kentucky uniform. You don't
want this guy. Absolutely I wanted the guy. And after
a year of coaching Tyres, it was up to coach
Kyl to help him decide whether or not to take
the next step. NBA stands for no boys allowed. If
(24:00):
you're not a man, you don't leave. If you're a
child and how you're immature, you won't last there. They're adults.
They look at you like, what do you fourteen? You
have to be a man. You have to be ready
to bet on yourself. That's what you're doing. You're betting
on you. You know you You tell these kids right now,
(24:24):
there are thirty teams, So let's just say there's four
hundred jobs. Well, there's not four hundred jobs because there's
not four guys leaving the NBA. You know there there's
probably sixty jobs. That's it. Then next year they'll be sixty.
Sometimes there's forty, sometimes they're a hundred. To rest them,
(24:46):
you're in the G league, trying to fight. I'm trying
to make it so you when you go, you need
to be ready now. Tyrese is ready, ready for NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver to announce his name on national television,
Ready to prove to everyone how much he wants it
and maybe more than anyone else in this traft. He
(25:08):
knows what it takes. It doesn't matter where you're from,
it doesn't matter. You know who you play for, None
of that matters. If you if you work extremely hard
and you do, you know, it can be done. It
can be done. It's not it's not easy. It's not easy.
You're gonna have the sacrifice. You're gonna miss birthday parties,
you're gonna miss, You're gonna lose friends, you're gonna you're
(25:29):
not gonna build to, you know, hang out with everybody.
You're gonna have to. You're not gonna be build up,
go to every party or do you know certain different
things or co certain different things that you want to
post on social media. It's sacrifice. Next are drafted. I'm
watching this kid and he's just going through drills, real smooth.
(25:51):
He said. His name is Anthony Edwards. He told me
when he was in the tenth grade, I believe he
could be a Lebron James Typitanic I felt like Georgia
with the best I did for and so I just
felt like that was the right thing to do. My
goal always as a coach is not for somebody to
get drafted. My goal is for them to be ready
to play, because NBA ready is completely different. I want
(26:12):
to be a part of that legacy, and I'm going
to be a part of legacy like that was. I
had my mind made up in the eighth grade. When
this thing ended. Some of the guys who were a
little more outgoing than others, I think some of them
were just stunned, like stunned, like what in the world.
So coach cal turns to me and said, you're not playing.
Here's a matter of fact, he tells. He tells, you
know the other guys on our team that don't get
ready to play? For hy Men because he's he's not
(26:32):
ready to play. I was like devastated. Given COVID things
were going to be different, so we were tinkering with
the idea of pro day. He pushed me so hard
that nothing can phase me. Now. Drafted as a production
of tree Fort Media, Clutch Sports Group, and I Heart Radio.
(26:53):
The executive producers are Kelly Garner, Lisa Ammerman, Eric's A
Lott sewn to Tone l Kie and me Keegan Michael Key.
The series is produced and written by Eric Weiner. Jared
Bram is our coordinating producer. Trey McCain is our associate producer.
Tom Monaghan is our senior audio engineer. Mixed and edited
by Steven Johnson and Jasper Leek, additional production help from
(27:15):
Tim Shower, June Rosen, and Hailey Mandelberg. For transcripts of
the show and more information on Drafted, go to tree
Fort dot fm. For more podcasts. For my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutched Sports
Group and I Heart Radio Care Care Say what's up
to the podcastcast? I got a micro girl, Girl? Where
is I Gotta? Where is mic? All day? What a
part of all day? Did you not understand a little leaf?
(00:24):
Welcome back to Drafted. We're two college basketball stars mike
themselves up and take us on their personal journeys to
the NBA. In the first episode, we heard from explosive
University of Georgia guard Anthony Edwards. Yeah, there's Edwards, a
(00:46):
nineteen year old with the talent to go number one
overall and the grit to stay in the league for many,
many years. We was just in a gym like every day,
all all day, all night. In this episode, we'll get
to know another dynamic carresmatic larger than life one and
done guard. Oh well, old Tyrese Maxie from the University
(01:13):
of Kentucky and he's brushing his teeth. Yep. Even athletes
at their peak of training and preparations still struggled to
wake up on a chilly morning and go to work,
just like the rest of us. But unlike most, Tyrese
just woke up at four fifty am inside of Beverly
Hills Hotel. My daily routine is a lot of people
(01:36):
think it's crazy. I think it's normal. That's Tyrese describing
his recurring wake up call. The reason why I do
it is because I feel like I get a psychological
advantage over my over my opponents. Why it's crazy to
see someone do three workouts before some you know, some
of my opponents and some of my periods even are
waking up. He leaves this hotel room and heads to
(02:01):
his car. It's still dark out and there are almost
no other cars on the road, at least bite l
A standards. I want to be someone that doesn't have
(02:33):
any what ifs. I don't want to be at the
end of my career when it's all setting done. The
boss I was bouncing and say, dang, what if I
just worked a little bit harder. What if I did this,
or what if I did that? And you know this
would have happened. I want to be able to say,
you know, I gave it my all. I did everything
I could, and I maximized on my potential. You know
(02:54):
this is gonna be my profession. You know, this is
this is me perfecting my crab this is what I'm
good paid to do. I love to do this my passion,
but you know, at the end of the day, this
is a business. This is gonna be my job. Like
my body is my job. I have to take care
of me and I want to make it the best
that I could possibly be. All three of his workouts
this morning will happen back to back at all before
eleven am, and so every morning he has this thirty
(03:16):
minute commute to a gym and chatsworth often rolling calls
with people in other time zones who also might be
awake this early. Now, I called you to tell you
how my workout went, he is today. No, no, no, no,
It was the Pelicans. This is a friend back in
Texas and tyren is calling about his most recent workout
(03:39):
with the New Orleans Pelicans, who hold pick number thirteen.
Like Anthony, Tyrese is working out for most of the
team's picking early in the first round, a good sign
he could be taken in the top half of the draft,
but when and where is as big a question mark
as with any player this year. Rumors have him as
high as number eight and as low as number twenty eight.
(04:00):
That's spread is a difference of about seven and a
half million dollars over his first three years in the league.
This means each team workout really really matters. Oh was
there slow really good? Yeah? I'm sure? Yeah, I hate
in a row? Yeah yeah, Thix in the right corner corner.
(04:25):
That kind of dead eye shooting is exactly what Anthony
and Justin and his crew were talking about in the
last episode, and this performance is especially noteworthy for Tyrese
when the biggest knock against him is his inconsistent jump shot.
Last season, he only shot from three point range, low
enough to keep numerous NBA executives awake at night wondering
(04:46):
if he's the right guy for their team. Stroke coming along, Yo, Hello, Parlar, Yo,
you gotta say pols bron that was what the stroke
coming along? Yeah? Yeah, yea, but now yeah, have a smooth,
(05:12):
real smood. Tyrese arrives at the Chatsworth Gym a little
before year. He and his uncle Brandon have been living
in southern California since May after the college season was
canceled and without a summer league to play in. He's
built this disciplined routine to capitalize on the downtime. Some
(05:36):
of my warm clock goes off at four fifty every
single morning most of the time. My uncle thus something
to get a little breakfit soundwards and then we're getting
to the gym by five forty five stretch, start working
out at six. I swoon. The workout done at around
seven fifteen, seven twenty answered the way room. Here's his
(05:56):
uncle Brandon. He's been living in l a to help
keep an eye on his a few in the big city.
But Tires's focus has never been a concern, even with
all the turmoil this year. It's just been embracing the
embracing the situation circumstances. I'm just being grinding. It's just
I's honestly kind of worked out because it's helped him
just stay in the gym more um and that's it.
(06:18):
I mean, that's pretty much all he wants to do anyways,
work out. It just seems like it's basketball, basketball, basketball.
It's always been this way. Tyrese has envisioned his basketball
future since grade school. Every year it's cool, like from
fifth or sixth grade, I sit down the day before
school and I write down my life goes right down,
(06:40):
my sports goals for basketball goes and I write down
my academic school goes and I did that every single
first day of school all the way to my last,
well my first and last year of college. By the
time he started middle school in Garland, Texas, he was
writing about becoming the next grade player at the University
of Kentucky. I'm in McDonald's All American. I was gonna
(07:02):
and I go to Kentucky and to the NBA. Now
that vision has almost been fully realized. He's finishing his
third workout of the day in Los Angeles. He signed
with the most powerful agent in the NBA, Rich Paul,
and he's being talked about as a potential lottery pick.
He's focused nearly every action and decision since middle school
(07:22):
to get from there to here on the cusp of
being a first round pick in the NBA. And if
you watch closely, he almost always leaves clues showing how
he's been able to defy the odds and make his
dream a reality. We'll be right back. Tyrese arrives at
(07:57):
the Chatsworth Gym with his trainer, Chris Johnson, ready to
start their next workout. When oh here, ready, ready, you
already know, I know, let's get it. Look look, look,
look now what I told you. Look what's he's doing?
(08:19):
Look about that? Oh remember I was telling you about
the brain. Look, okay, nothing. I'm trying to show him
the difference between a motherfucker that's gonna be a multip
millionaire and then god that don't know you. You already anticipation.
Some people can't anticipate, so they have to wait. Yeah,
(08:42):
Tyree started setting up his own shooting drills. So even
a few minutes it would take to put down cones
isn't wasted. He wants every possible rep he can get.
That's how intense his commitment to improving is. If you
really wanted and this is what you said that you
want to do, If you want to make to NBA
or you want to make it or do whatever it is,
all you gotta do is put the work in. You
have to put the excessive amount of work in, and
(09:04):
you gotta sacrifice. You gotta sacrifice. It's not it's not easy,
but it can be done. No matter where he's from,
it it can be done. It's no, it's not easy,
but it definitely can be done. Nice just food person.
So our goals every day for Tires is to make
over two thousand shots. So if you look at two
thousand times six, that's where twelve thousand shots a week
(09:27):
over a five six month period. That's a lot of shots,
and that's made shots. So it wasn't complex, it was
super simple. This is where we have the correct let's
put in the world. They're focusing on improving areas of
his game that still need work, his shooting mechanics and
a more consistent three point shot, and the only way
to do that is with reps. Lots and lots of reps,
(09:52):
right to shoots, best shooting in your drift. I'm telling you,
got it, stay word it. Just how much of a
sacrifice Tyrese is talking about is something most non professional
athletes don't understand. Forcing himself to make over three hundred
(10:16):
thousand shots this summer, it's just the beginning. Here's Tyrese's mom, Denise,
in their house in Garland, Texas, a suburb of Dallas
known for its parks, wildflowers, and safe community and for
being the hometown of p g A champion Lee Trevino
and NBA All Star Mookie Blaylock. Denise paints a picture
of what her son's childhood looked like. On most weekends,
(10:37):
we're in a car together rotting to the game or
to the tournament out of town, you know, a mom.
So we're we're having a happy, go lucky time. But
then dad, the driver is a coach, so he's like,
it's not time to play, it's a time to get
focused in. So we got an eight hour drive to
wherever we're going, and I'm trying to make fun and
(11:00):
the driver and he's pissed because we're laughing and playing.
That was Tyres's dad, Tyrone, Maxie, You've got to lock in.
It's how he was trying to get Tyres to intensely
focus during these car rides. So that wasn't easy. So
now you're in the car with the coach, hit it
to your tournament, but also your dad. Then you gotta
stay in the room with your dad, so you gotta
(11:20):
watch film the whole time, while your teammates may be
playing their games or at the pool or whatever they're doing.
But no, you're in the room watching film and you know,
getting ready for your opponent and breaking down, you know,
whatever defense that person maybe bringing or whatever. And then
you gotta go out and play the tournament with your dad,
(11:40):
who's the coach get yelled at and do whatever else
they do out there on the on the floor. They
come back to them and they come back to the
room and watch my film again. That's Tyres chiming in.
And then you gotta go sleep mad because you ain't
can do anything. You know, you don't have a normal life.
(12:02):
It is absolutely the truth. It was the absolute truth
almost every single weekend of our lives for the last
ten years. Ten for the year that was our weekend.
But you know, and I'll be like tired. Do you
don't think he's been too hard on him? I called
my husband tied, so tire, aren't you? Don't you think
you're being too hard on him? You know he should
be happy? And no, he needs to learn these things now.
(12:24):
A Division one coach is going to demand these things
of him, and he needs to The sooner he learns,
and the more he will be prepared when he hits
stepped forward for a Division one coach. And if he
doesn't learn him now, and then he's not gonna be
able to adjust. The coach is not gonna have time
to teaching these things. So he needs to learn him now.
Not grant. Chances are this is probably he was twelve
thirteen years old, so we were six seventh eighth grade
(12:45):
and he was learning, he was breaking and literally he
started breaking down his own film at eight. So imagine
being eight years old and you're sitting in the room
with your dad breaking that film. Imagine that while your
friends are either outside shoot hoops or to a plan
to PlayStations, and you have very little time to play.
(13:05):
So it was very difficult for for him. And I'm
not just paying the band picture. My husband is an
amazing guy, but it was on. What I want people
to understand is that there was a lot. My husband
put so much work into developing terriss On and off
more skills to where it in some moments, I felt
(13:25):
like he didn't have an opportunity to be just a
normal kid. University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who
recruited and then coached Tyreson college, speaks to the level
of preparation Tyrone gave his son. It started with his father.
Tyrone was a basketball coach. He ran the dribble drive
(13:47):
stuff better than I did, and I'm the one that
brought it into college basketball. His teams were better at
running it, which meant Tyrese learned court spacing, running downhill,
running the whole league is at now the spacing that
you need, the ability to shoot threes. I mean his
dad taught him. His dad was also the guy that
(14:09):
would be in the gym with him if I thirty
in the morning. I mean, that's who he is, so
we knew getting him here what it would look like.
Of course, it looks different depending on who sneakers. You're
standing in from the outside looking at. If you you
see someone's dad coaching them, you automatically think like they're
(14:30):
gonna have their way. You know, the dad's not gonna
be tough one. Then the dad's gonna let them do
kind of whatever they want to do, which wasn't the
case for me. It was like it was almost the
exact opposite, Like he was the toughest on me. It
was Tom's where in practice it would be like I
know I was doing the right thing, and he was
still like find a way to you know, get on me.
And it was like, which is which is cool? Because
(14:51):
I understood he always he always found the way, even
if I had, like he said, a good game, forceps whatever,
he always found a way to be able to to
umble me and make me stay hungry and made me
want to be great. And that's one thing I really
appreciate it for him. But no, it was not easy.
Tyrone was tough, hyper competitive, and determined to succeed. Tyrese
(15:14):
immediately spotted those qualities in another famous player. I think
my dad really modeled his game at Isaiah Thomas. But
in my opinion, the film that I watched him him
Isaiah Thomas were identical. The toughness that Isaiah brought to
that team and just to his personality. I see there
my dad. He acts the same way he and my
and I don't see my dad. It's not the biggest
(15:36):
Isaiah Faan just because he loves Jordan's. But it's funny
because I was I was telling my mom when you know,
I was one time I was able to talk to
the great Isaiah Thomas and I was like, Mom, they're
the same like, they act the same way. I don't
know why. That's probably why he's so competitive, and you
know it doesn't care for him as much as he
should because they're the same, they're the same way, the
same person. He's a small guy. He's five nine, so
(15:58):
you know, it's not easy for him to be, you know,
Division one basketball player, but he worked extremely hard and
and became talented and what he did and perfected his
craft to where he got scholarship. He wants scholarship to
play at Washingtonate University. Tyrone averaged about five points a
game for Washington State under coach Kelvin Sampson, which was
as far as his size and physical ability could take
(16:20):
him as a player. And after that, he wanted to
become a coach, and he studied the game and and
just became a student of the game and really perfected
his craft and coaching and became one of the best
coaches in the Dallas area. And I think he passed
all that knowledge that he knew down to myself. So
when I told him everything, I know he's gonna be
better than me. I admit that that's Tyrone again, with
(16:43):
Denise and Tyrese still in the room. So it's just funny.
My dad said that, and all my friends t the
same thing. He better you here. Now, I give him
that he got it. Oh wow, I can't believe you
said that. Hey, and fifty years old, fifty you got me?
(17:05):
I mean yeah, but uh, but yeah, for so many years,
yet he will never beat me, admitting he's soon to
be first round NBA pick. Son is better than he is.
Did not come easy because the fiercely ambitious nature he
has doesn't go away, and now it's instilled in his son.
(17:26):
So even at age fifty, there are no easy baskets
in the Maxi household. Ever, Well, first got back and
we worked worked out a little bit, and I was
just messing with him, man, like, I don't know what
I'm saying something to him, and he started talking smack
or whatever. I said, what don't they ever talk to
me like Heather again, don't do that. But he started
talking to Nords. But my, y'all South Dallas just that
(17:49):
other yet that that side data stuff ain't gonna work
this that other. But you know that's all. We both men,
we both have test assom so you know, it never
get to that point. I mean, you know I love him. Uh,
we both with both of a screen and screenly competitive
we are we are we. I mean we go round
(18:11):
around about basketball, different players and who we like to said,
who's you know, who's the goat, who's not the goat?
So yeah, well, I mean that's what that's what we do.
Here's Uncle Brandon under dynamic and that particular on the
court batch up his dad, like his dad was trying
(18:32):
to lock up on him, and and Reese is kind
of like a little boy and him like, you know,
it was funny. They got super intense and I was
just sitting back like, okay, alright, cool, but it was
it was it was hilarious. Man. After we when we
got in the car, we left and joked about it.
They played just the like, I mean, the same thing.
(18:53):
His dad is the same way defense shoot the ball,
uh point guard. They played the exact same way. He's
just holler competitive, same way. He's been like that forever.
He's been coaching his whole life. I think it's only
one time and I think that was his junior year
where his dad didn't coach him. And whether it's been peewee,
(19:13):
little league, direct league, hey, you select ball, whatever you
you name it, he's coached him even I think he
played baseball at one time and his dad was the coach.
Everything is a coaching moment, Like everything is a coaching
propoment in that house. And it's like you know sometimes
and that's why I come in that you know, sometimes uh,
(19:35):
he just wants to just maybe just talk, and they
don't want to always be like, all right, you tell
me this, then I'm gonna I'm gonna talk to you
in a coaching manner. It's like you just sometimes you
just want to talk. You just want to talk. You
don't get me wrong. His dad, you know, it wasn't
always like that, but it was like you could tell us.
Hard for him to turn it on and off. Maybe
(19:56):
Tyrone couldn't turn off the switch because of his personality,
or it's because some of his own dreams are being
manifested through his son. We'll be right back. Tyrese's dad,
(20:17):
Tyrone Maxie. I played the Vision one basketball for coach Sampson,
so I knew the demand of order to so I
coached all my kids that way. I'm gonna demand this
from you because no going to the next level, that's
gonna be the demand. Nobody likes to look at them
and to be corrected, nobody, and so I guess that
(20:37):
was tough for him. I would bring him into the
room when Jordan was playing. I said, look at this man,
look at Jordan's This is how you want to be great.
Look at the things he's doing on the court. And
so if anybody was playing Kyle, anybody that moved at
the idea said look at this move, try this or whatever.
And so this being his dad and being a basketball
(20:57):
guy and him being a bad asked by a guy
by basketball guy, it was great, man, it was great.
I mean, I'm assuming now he feels like it was
all benefited him. And that's all I wanted to ever
wanted to do, to be the best dad, best coach,
best asset for him, you know, trying to fulfill his dreams.
(21:18):
That's what everyone in the family does on some level.
In a way Tyrese's success. It's like the family business,
which could be a lot of pressure for someone about
to turn twenty years old, serious expectations from dad and
mom my, Mom. She she is, she is who she is.
I mean, she worked and earned everything and all the
(21:39):
tiles that she has. She didn't finish college and she
worked extremely hard to where she is and she just
worked and build a foundation for our family that she's
not gonna let anybody slack off. She never slacked off,
so why why should she let us? And she doesn't
get the craze that she deserves what she does for
this family, but she doesn't want the crash. She's behind
the scenes and and she's she's rock solid, even one thousand,
(22:03):
four hundred and fifty two miles away. Denise plays a
major role in Tyrese's life. A self proclaimed mama's boy,
he calls her every single day to check in. We're
gonna be home Monday. Perfect? What here? Okay? Tyrese's grandparents
(22:29):
and even his extended family have also all worked in
the family business in the house that I'm in now.
Both my grandmother's, my grandfather who before he passed away,
lived there, my uncle you know, his kids have been there,
have lived there at a time, my sister, both of
my author and my sisters have lived there before. And
my oldest sister has you know, a set of twin daughters,
(22:50):
so my you know, my nieces, twin nieces, they lived
there at the same time. And my both my parents
and myself, so all of us lived in this one house.
Like if you can, it's hard to imagine that my
oldest isn who have to sacrifice so much just because
you know, a you had to travel and do different
things like that, you know. Sadly, I take up so
(23:13):
much time for my parents, just because you know the
schedule that I've had over the years. Here's coach John
Calipari again on his recruiting trip to the Maxi household.
When I went into the home, he made sure everyone
was there, including the grandmother. He wanted his grandmother to
sign off on me. Think about that, Think about the
(23:36):
kind of person this kid is. They walked me up
to his bedroom in ninth grade. He had a picture
he drew of himself in a Kentucky uniform. You don't
want this guy. Absolutely I wanted the guy. And after
a year of coaching Tyres, it was up to coach
Kyl to help him decide whether or not to take
the next step. NBA stands for no boys allowed. If
(24:00):
you're not a man, you don't leave. If you're a
child and how you're immature, you won't last there. They're adults.
They look at you like, what do you fourteen? You
have to be a man. You have to be ready
to bet on yourself. That's what you're doing. You're betting
on you. You know you You tell these kids right now,
(24:24):
there are thirty teams, So let's just say there's four
hundred jobs. Well, there's not four hundred jobs because there's
not four guys leaving the NBA. You know there there's
probably sixty jobs. That's it. Then next year they'll be sixty.
Sometimes there's forty, sometimes they're a hundred. To rest them,
(24:46):
you're in the G league, trying to fight. I'm trying
to make it so you when you go, you need
to be ready now. Tyrese is ready, ready for NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver to announce his name on national television,
Ready to prove to everyone how much he wants it
and maybe more than anyone else in this traft. He
(25:08):
knows what it takes. It doesn't matter where you're from,
it doesn't matter. You know who you play for, None
of that matters. If you if you work extremely hard
and you do, you know, it can be done. It
can be done. It's not it's not easy. It's not easy.
You're gonna have the sacrifice. You're gonna miss birthday parties,
you're gonna miss, You're gonna lose friends, you're gonna you're
(25:29):
not gonna build to, you know, hang out with everybody.
You're gonna have to. You're not gonna be build up,
go to every party or do you know certain different
things or co certain different things that you want to
post on social media. It's sacrifice. Next are drafted. I'm
watching this kid and he's just going through drills, real smooth.
(25:51):
He said. His name is Anthony Edwards. He told me
when he was in the tenth grade, I believe he
could be a Lebron James Typitanic I felt like Georgia
with the best I did for and so I just
felt like that was the right thing to do. My
goal always as a coach is not for somebody to
get drafted. My goal is for them to be ready
to play, because NBA ready is completely different. I want
(26:12):
to be a part of that legacy, and I'm going
to be a part of legacy like that was. I
had my mind made up in the eighth grade. When
this thing ended. Some of the guys who were a
little more outgoing than others, I think some of them
were just stunned, like stunned, like what in the world.
So coach cal turns to me and said, you're not playing.
Here's a matter of fact, he tells. He tells, you
know the other guys on our team that don't get
ready to play? For hy Men because he's he's not
(26:32):
ready to play. I was like devastated. Given COVID things
were going to be different, so we were tinkering with
the idea of pro day. He pushed me so hard
that nothing can phase me. Now. Drafted as a production
of tree Fort Media, Clutch Sports Group, and I Heart Radio.
(26:53):
The executive producers are Kelly Garner, Lisa Ammerman, Eric's A
Lott sewn to Tone l Kie and me Keegan Michael Key.
The series is produced and written by Eric Weiner. Jared
Bram is our coordinating producer. Trey McCain is our associate producer.
Tom Monaghan is our senior audio engineer. Mixed and edited
by Steven Johnson and Jasper Leek, additional production help from
(27:15):
Tim Shower, June Rosen, and Hailey Mandelberg. For transcripts of
the show and more information on Drafted, go to tree
Fort dot fm. For more podcasts. For my Heart Radio,
visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.
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