August 15, 2024 • 44 mins
Boston Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell joins ‘The Draymond Green Show’ to discuss Hakeem Olajuwon’s greatness with the Houston Rockets, why he’d dominate Nikola Jokic, the history of the “big balls” dance celebration, mentoring a young Rajon Rondo, the goalposts moving on Jayson Tatum, not being able to get a head coaching job while JJ Redick gets hired by the Los Angeles Lakers, and more.
Timeline
00:00 Start
02:45 Hakeem’s greatness
11:00 Big Balls dance history
15:00 Mentoring Rajon Rondo
19:00 Coaching the Celtics
33:00 Head Coach goals
40:00 Coaching John Wall
Produced by: Jackson Safon
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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Speaker 4 (01:46):
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
Our next guest is a guy who got a I
got a serious question acts and we'll get into that later.
But more importantly, three time NBA champion as a player,
NBA champion as a coach said my congratulations.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Uh, Sam, I am the man. Oh gee, Sam can
s thank you. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
Thanks for having me. Man, absolutely man, this is an
honor for me to have you on here. You know
I have the utmost respect for you. I try to
always make sure I show that respect and show that
love when I see you, and that will never change.
And I appreciate you for the love that you've shown
me since the time that I met you.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
That's such your first ssembleague game. Y'all beat me.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Damn monking the hoop. But he can't shoot, I said,
he can hoop. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
As you can hoop.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Absolutely absolutely. But take me to the beginning of the journey.
Obviously you grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, But take me
to the to the beginning of the journey. As an
NBA player, You get drafted to a team with Hakeem Olajuwan.
What was that experience like going on as a by
the way, as a point guard, then going to play
(03:05):
with the dream What was that experience like coming right
out of college and then going and play with the
Houston Rockets.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
It was so no, it was so ironic, man that
you watched them for so many years. Now you his teammate,
and I remember the first day of training camps. I
didn't see Dreaming all summer. You know, back to in
the nineties, you know, guys used training camp to get
in shape. Training camp was a whole month, so you
(03:30):
had a whole time to get in shape.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
So I've never.
Speaker 6 (03:33):
Seen came large around the whole summer. So when training camp,
the first day of training camp, he was out of shape.
He was out of shape. And when preseason came, man,
I was like, wow, like, man, he ain't that good.
You know what I'm saying, like, he ain't that good?
Not knowing that the vettermans juice training camp, get their
(03:53):
body going and get their mind together. So our first
couple of prets in games, we was terrible. Yeah, I
mean he had like five points, like five rebounds, and
I'm like, man, like, this team won fifty four games
last year. You know, I know we ain't this bad.
(04:14):
And I understand it's preseason basketball. But I really don't
understand the preseason basketball because in college we had an
exhibition game.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You go hard, you go hard, you know, go hard.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
The head coach has something for you later on, absolutely so,
and I never understand, Like, man, I asked him.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And they like, what's going on? Man?
Speaker 6 (04:31):
Like after the fourth game we like oh and four
getting blown out by twenty points. Every preseason game blown out?
I was like, what's going on? And it was so simple.
It wasn't even thought process tall me said. He said,
some they don't send these stats. She's to New York.
And I was like, what did you talk about New
(04:52):
York for? Like not knowing the league office is in
New York, you know, not not having a clue like
then understand. So I asked Kenny Samith that that's a gift.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
What are you talking about?
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Man, says sam the popcorn ain't popping yet, that she's
not real yet. So fast forward, Open the night. Now
we owe in eight in preseason. We had eight preseason games.
Back in the day we owe and eight our average
loss was about like sixteen seventeen points. Jesus Chris and man,
(05:26):
when the lights came on Open the night. I could
not believe what I was witness. We played the Golden
State Warriors. I'll never forget this man. This man like
thirty eight fourteen rebound, six blocks, seven assists, three steals.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
He was in every category.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
Man, that he leading every category, block, steals, everything. And
I asked him after the game, I said, dream, where
was that in preseason? And took a small piece? He said,
took a small piece. He said, it doesn't count. Discounts
the popcorn selling right now, it's ready, It's time to go.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And I run only we want eighteen to no.
Speaker 6 (06:05):
Now we went twenty to twenty one and oh start
the season low on eight in pre season. When twenty
one OH start the season, it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
So that right there for you as a rookie, you
see that, that fuck your mind.
Speaker 6 (06:19):
I'm gone. I was like this, the baddest dude in
the game of basketball. Do you understand Michael Jordan has retired.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now he's gone? Yep?
Speaker 6 (06:29):
I said, just the baddest dude in basketball offensively and defensively,
because he was that protector. One day I was I
was guarding someone. I think that Jos Stockton. He beat
me off to dribble and I reached in and found
them and he lost his mind.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Some what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Don't fail him? Look up?
Speaker 6 (06:49):
Looked up there and I look up in the stands
up in the ceiling. It was the all time shot
block leader.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I'll block it. Don't fail him, trust me, I'll be there. Man.
It was.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
It was a pleasure just to be his teenage because
I know that if I got beat off the dribber,
he's coming.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
He may not block it, but a're gonna make you
miss absolute of the time.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Absolutely, So I've been doing, uh, had honor of working
with Jet, Yeah, Chuck shack on amazing guys. And we
had these conversations and Jet in particular, and Jet say,
I'm telling you dramon Nicola Jokic has absolutely nothing on
(07:34):
Haquem Lodge one. And I got a problem with that.
I got a problem with that is I have a
hard time believing that. And I know Dream was great,
I get it and all of that, But to say
Joker not even in the same category with Dream, It's
crazy to me.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I think Joker is see Dream is the beast both ways.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
On the court.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
You know, Dream, like I said, Dream was in the
top ten at every category in the NBA, steals, rebounds, scoring,
So Joko I think he would score on Dream, but
Dream will weigh him down because the constant pressure. You know,
he's not backing Dream down under the basket, you know
(08:18):
what I'm saying. That's not happening. That's not happening. And
on the other end of the court, Joker don't have
a chance, He don't have a he don't have a chance.
You know, he think that Joelen b gave him problems
that I was saying, offensively, he wouldn't have a chance
because Dream, how could you stop him? He had a
Dream had a counter. Everything he did defensively, he had
(08:39):
a counter. And the crazy part about it, he used
to practice these things and sometimes he's bring something out
that the movie he go Baseline and that we never
saw that all year.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
He bringed that out against David Robinson in the Western
Conference Final. We never saw it. He never did that
the whole season. He bringed that.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
Thing out and then Western Conference Finals and David Robson.
We was like, and it blew everybody mind, like what
the fuck was that? And David Robson was the MVP.
It was the MVP.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
That man was forty points and like fourteen b bounds,
like he had like six seven block shots a game.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
He was killing.
Speaker 6 (09:21):
He was killing like like we still had three on
one breaks and then like our numbers and we just
bring it back out and wave them down. Come on,
come on, get them, get him, throw it to the
big fellow. He always said, keep it simple, kiss, keep
it simple, keep this simple, stupid, keep his simple.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Stamp, Sam, keep it simple. Sound come on, And that's
how it was with man Kny. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (09:44):
He was always Dream, was always our outlet in the
game of basketball, and he was very demanding.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
He's very demanding. Now, he wasn't easy to play with,
but he was. He was good. He was real good.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
So when you look at the all time list of centers,
where does he fit on that list?
Speaker 6 (09:59):
You got god that I have seen. Yeah, he's right
after He's right after Kareem. I haven't seen Wilt and
Bill Russell. Yes, well i've seen I've seen, uh, the captain,
Kareemandul Jabal, I've seen the captain play. I think he's
right behind him. I think Shaq was right behind Dream.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
That hurts my feelings.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
A Shock is my all time favorite player in history,
so I can't roll with you on that, but I respect,
I respect.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
He'd be shocked in the final.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Shock was young man shot. You know Shock got more
rings though, Yeah, yeah, you know Shack that.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Don't get check all of it.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Check is everything you expect him to be, like retrapped
Shack and and that young Shack was bad Shack too.
Now you know when Shaq was running that court, get
that thing out the boards and push that thing full court.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
You had to get out of his way. You're not
taking a charge, can shock.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Don't it?
Speaker 6 (11:03):
So you just let them, you know, dun't the ball
and break the back Shack made a purpose of breaking
every backboard back in the day. It was just amazing
to see how big and ad y'all, y'all, y'all remember
Shack when he was like with the Lakers and he
was big and just going to cross the lane. And
you know, I remember Shack when he's running the court,
you know, leading the break, throwing no look past this,
(11:25):
you know, having fun laughing out there. But when Shaq
got serious, he was a he was a beast. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
I have a question for you.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
I've wondered just since I was a child, and I
know your your basketball knowledge, your encyclopedia, if you will
on the NBA game goes further back than.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Mine, and so I have to ask you this question.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
When you did the big balls Dad, for those of
you that don't know, you should go check check check
you too.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Where did you get that? Because I remember when I
watched you do it, I'm like.
Speaker 6 (12:04):
Yo, that's not it's crazy, this is crazy. I watched
the movie Major League, Major League Too, and it was
I forgot the Asian left fielder name.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
He caught a he jumped up.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
Somebody hit the home run and he jumped up on
the fence and caught the ball and he just like
came down with the big I like that. I'm still there.
I'm stealing that. I'm stealing that. It was the old movie,
this movie in the eighties. I'm still that. So I
started making big shots as a young player. I said,
I got something fall my first time I did it.
(12:45):
It was like, man, what is he doing out there?
I mean Bill Walton rested peace. Bill Walker shout out tall.
He was doing play play with the Clippers when I
did it, and he said, I don't know what it is,
but the.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Guy be something awfully big.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
So that was the biggest That's my bad, Billboter investing
piece man.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
And so initially you start doing it and you're not
getting fined by them. At what point did they didn't
start finding you for doing it?
Speaker 6 (13:15):
Well, David starting, you know, called me into his office
and he said, we got to stop that. I said,
she mean, like what you mean? He was like that,
we can't have our kids. You know doing that ship. Sam,
you know if you need David s like I know him.
Back in the day, David was he was a hard guy.
He was a hard guy, was a smart guy. He
(13:37):
was a hard guy. And he was like, we can't
have that. You can't have kids making a big play
doing that ship. You'd be doing it in the games.
But now I know you're doing twenty five thousand. I
was like, what, Well that cut me out because back
in the day, the salaries doing that high like you
guys getting right now til twenty five will hurt you
back in the day.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
So I stopped.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
So when I got big, when I seen Kobe bryand yes,
when I seen when I seen jelly Bean, do I.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Say, Oh, I made it. I made it.
Speaker 6 (14:07):
Now I see Lebron do it? I said, really in
the big time? Now you know what I'm saying. So
it's it's the thing that I I like, Damn, I
created that while created it for the basketball part of it.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
But I got off a movie. Oh I got that
off a movie.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
That's fine, man, When you did that, by the way,
to get that off a movie and planning is one
thing I don't think people realize sometimes though you like
you can hide this planning. You get in these moments
and then you'd like totally forget the plan. I'll never forget.
My first game winner came against the Heat uh Bron
d Wade Bosh. It was my second year in the league. No,
(14:48):
it's my first year. Because Jared Jack was on our team.
Jared Jack dropped it, dun I got the little layup,
and in my mind, I was telling myself like, yo,
I'm I'm about to swag on the right right into
a back and forth with brin that game because he
was calling me too little.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I'm like too little? Are you crazy? Right?
Speaker 5 (15:05):
And so we going back and forth at it. Then
I hit the game winning I'm like, oh, I'm about
to swat man. I started running like.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Like, oh my god, to how to war with doll
to still get to it?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Right? You gotta get to it.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's crazy to me, but I want to go towards
the end of your career.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Two thousand and eight, you get a chance, you play
with the Boston Celtics, get a chance to win your
third championship.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
What was it like being on that team?
Speaker 5 (15:34):
But also, and I want to ask about this guy
in particular because I haven't had the chance to sit
down and talk basketball with him before, but I pray
and I hope too, because I think he's one of
the best basketball minds I've ever witnessed. What was it
like being later in your career and being a vet
to a young guy like Rayjon Rondo and with those
(15:57):
Boston Celtics.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
Oh man, my first practice I came after trade deadline
and my first practice is watching the kid.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
It's the second year. His leadership quality.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
Man, his thought process of the game at basketball was unbelievable, Like,
it's unbelievable. And Kevin, Paul, Ray, PJ. Brown, myself, we
was hard on him. It was very hard on him
because I said, man, and he was like he didn't
want to hear a lot of things. But when I
be personally, I talked Tom, he understood it. I said, listen, man,
(16:37):
you have you got an opportunity that a lot of
players would never have. You playing with three first ballot
Hall of famers, three first ballot Hall of Fames. I say, listen, man,
when they leave, you're gonna see what you miss. So
right now, take the bullshit they're giving you right now,
just take it.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Just take it.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
But when they lead, You're going to realize what you lost.
Fast forward. They gone to Brooklyn. He's there by himself.
He called me old school. He called me old school.
I mean call me over old school. He was fight
old school. God damn, I said, it's different throwing the
(17:18):
ball of Ray Allen three ball, throwing the ball of
Paul three ball, throwing making a pack.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Past the kid. Yet fifteen foot jump shot. That's great.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
Now you got I don't know who you have on
his team, but he he had them kind of guys
on his team. And now his Assistan numbers are going down.
It's still numbers going down, and he's not winning big
as he won. And think about he won fifty five games,
like four straight years back then fifty five, thirty.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Nine to forty.
Speaker 6 (17:47):
You know how to drop ball drop you know you
got seventy You went sixty five, and you're like, damn,
we are forty seven right.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Now, forty seven.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
Guess what one of the years I was there was
out We won fifteen games in twenty twenty.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
And I don't care how many times how much you win.
That's a mental toll right there.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
It's brutal.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
That's driving to the game. You know when you win
it seven y'all want seventy plus games. You're driving to
the game, you know you're gonna win. You know, music blasting.
You know what I'm saying, when you ride to the game,
you might.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Damn this can be hard.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
I ain't know this gonna be hard, but I don't
want to think it.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
But you know, realistically, like.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Man, the night they had a day off, we come
off from back to back, start putting all that, and
we lost the double old time fact. You know what
I'm saying. All that takes a toll on your mind mentally, man.
And but back to Rondo, Man, he was here a
bad boy. I think he should be a Hall of
Fame with me personally agree. Man, that's my god, Oh
(18:51):
my god. Man, Like he was tough. You know that
battles him and dop had Man, it was just doc what.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
You're trying to coach him. He was a thorough brand.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
I was just trying to coach sometimes doctor thorm All
the practice. I'm thirty eight, thirty nine years old at
this time. I know when he got got thrown. All
the practice. Now I got a practice. Now, you know
what I'm saying, I'm trying over green. You're gonna do
you want to show by this bike all night? I
don't want to. You know what I'm saying, Chill out.
You know, one day I want to go get him.
(19:21):
It's come on door, he come back, He come back
one day, Doc Life, don't.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Go get him. Let them go. I'm gonna coach Door.
They going back and forth, but they had a great
relationship because.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
Doe was a young basketball player and he's gonna be good.
I told everybody he's gonna be good. He's gonna be good,
but he can't shoot. That said, it don't matter. It
don't matter if you can't shoot, he gonna get you
twelve points and thirteen UH assists and eight rebouty. He
was just down there a triple double, especially when the
Big Three when they left. Yeah, he was really doing
(19:56):
this thing. Absolutely, two time All Star when they left, yep,
doing his name.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
I want to switch gears a little bit, and you
kind of just went into it a little bit. But
see coaching career and I want to start. I want
to move backwards. I want to start where you are today.
As I said, not on camera, but congratulations uh NBA
(20:23):
champion again. But I want to actually one in particular.
You just want to coach. I mean, you just want
a championship. Joe Missoula to head coach. You've coached with
Doc Rivers Dot much older now, Joe, if I'm not mistaken,
the youngest coaching the NBA. If not, what was it
(20:46):
that you saw that you said, you know what, I
feel like, that's the place for me to go because
you know, you've you would never need a job on
one of, if not the best assisting in the league,
opportunities to go everywhere.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Where with Philly.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Uh have been rolling with Doc and that Doc is
your guy, and then you decide to go over there
ends up from championship really fast. But I think my
question is what were some of the differences that you
had to adjust to and being with Doc for so long,
who's an older coach, establishedment around and then now you
go on to a young Joe Missoula where obviously you
(21:29):
got respect for him as the head coach, but you
also have.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Been around way longer. Your knowledge of the NBA game
goes way deep.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
What was that adjustment like and some of the differences
and similarities in those two It was.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It was easy. Doc is an Alpha Doll.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
You know what I'm saying, Doc want do things the
way he's.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Gonna do them because he has success. But Doc also
take advice.
Speaker 6 (21:52):
You know sometimes when I say, man, that's it, chill out,
and I'm here, chill out.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Just like that. They had an enough you know, you
beat him up too much.
Speaker 6 (22:03):
But guys that I know for the fact that Doc
has helped with their basketball career. Montrez Hrld best best
ship ever, do lou Will absolutely best ship ever with Doc.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
DeAndre Jordan's, Blake Griffin. These guys had their best careers
with Doc. Paul Perce their best career with Doc. You
know what I'm saying. When I got with Joe Miziula,
Joe was so young, Joe didn't really didn't have the
knowledge of how to deal with the NBA ball player,
(22:37):
didn't have the knowledge and the.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Ex and o's how to prepare his team to play.
He got that. He's got that.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Man, He's our locker room, our coaches locked rooms.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I know, it's like no other locker room. You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
We we do things a little different in Boston. You know,
we did things a little different. As a coaching staff.
Everyone has their opinion. Our coach sta have as an opinion,
and but it's joe ultimate decision and we roll with it.
We roll with it. If I don't like it, I
just don't like it. But I'm not gonna say I
told you so. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
We wrong with it. On to your next game. People
just don't know Joe, Missoula.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
It just don't know. That's they just don't know. Excellent coaching,
great dude, great person. Man. He allows me to be me.
That allows me to be me, you know what I'm saying.
But Joe is so much younger than me, and I
just like man. My whole thing with him is enjoy
(23:38):
this process.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Enjoy it, man, it's a hell of a ride.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Enjoy We work hard, we do things different, we prepare hard,
and we get the most out of our ball club.
He does a great job getting the most ball club.
He's not a big yeller, He's just the states. Facts,
face facts. Y'all want to win a championship. Let's go
(24:04):
try to win a championship. Just what y'all said, y'all
wanted to dude, Let's go win a championship. All right,
but you can't be bullshitting ten games and fifteen nights.
Let's win out ten. Let's try win out ten. Let's
not use take the coward way up. We talk kind
of tired. You know what I'm saying, Well, come on bench,
(24:25):
y'all want to play. Everybody want to play until it's
time to play. Fat you know what I'm saying. Everybody
want to play. That the left man on the team.
He wanted to play until it's time to play. Okay,
it's your time now. And this year I got stepped up.
I got stepped up. We lost, y'all, and twenty two
you lost, y'all. This season, Oh yes, I came back.
(24:47):
We're in the whole game.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Y'all came back.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
I was kicked out that game. I watched TV.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Okay, y'all came back. Steph made some crazy shots.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
We was up.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Big came back and.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
We can man as staff said, we had to say,
we didn't mother fuck him.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
Next day you go to the Sacramento. We knew that
they was gonna be in trouble, so I guts. We
knew we gave one away. We gave a game away.
We didn't give it away. Y'all took it. As Joe
Banzool liked to put it, No, you don't give games away.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
They took it.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
We ain't letting Sacramento take it from us. Went down there.
J T didn't play and we beat the Brakes. That's
how the game of basketball goes. It's so unpredictable, you
know what I'm saying. But we put forth the effinite energy.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Man. But George been great with me.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
He's been you know, he wants me to get ahead
coach of y'all batter than anyone.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
You know what I'm saying. He thinks I deserve it.
But you know, when the.
Speaker 6 (25:46):
Time comes out, be ready. You know what I'm saying,
I'm not giving up. I still love this. I love
to see guys like shit. I worked with Shade when
he first came to the league and Tys Maxie when
the whole NBA say he can't shoot, and I was like,
what the fuck are they looking at? What are they
looking at? A guy with that great rotation on his
(26:07):
shot and can't shoot. Gotta be crazy, gotta be crazy.
They just need the reps game reps. NBA reps his
rookie ear. We didn't give him game reps because Ben
Simmons was playing All Star, All Pro Basketball. Yes he
was by far, Yes he was by far. So Maxie
had to wait. But while he was waiting, he ain't
(26:29):
a lad with one of the kings. You know what
I'm saying. He's allowed on me every day every day.
If you can ask me, I was on every day.
We're gonna get better every day. So when it's time
to come, you can ask him it's time to come,
you can be ready. I told Maxi after his second year,
I said, you can be a max ball player.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
One day. He thought I was crazy. Do you think so? Ge?
I said, trust me, I see it. I told John
Wall to Brandley Bell.
Speaker 6 (26:55):
I told Shay when I told Shae that's Jay that,
he was like, come on, you call me Pop, Come on, Pop, Seriously,
I say, you can be one of the baddest guys
in the NBA because we haven't seen a guard like that.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Searlo Littsteron was six for seven, but searl Liftson didn't
score like him. That's fine.
Speaker 6 (27:14):
I had Sharlotfinster in his second game MVA with the Clippers,
but Sean was a shay had a shade. Has the
ability to score from three point line. He said, three
level score as I put it, absolutely three points mid range.
You know, I told him one time they said He
told me, Man, they don't want to shoot the mid
range shot in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I was like, if you're lell them people to take
the best thing.
Speaker 6 (27:39):
You do and your game away from you, crazy, it's
the best thing you got right now, you're fifteen foot
pull up jump shot. He's six for seven shooting against
a six foot one guy. All that guy can do
is hope you miss. He ain't gonna affect it. And
he's all pro two years run out for MVP. You
know what I'm saying, his Scott's limits for these for
(28:01):
that guy.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Man, absolutely, And I want to ask you some questions
about you as a head coach. But before I asked
that question, like I said, you just coach lost his
Celsis to a championship. And I got a lot of
love for JT. It's my young dog, it's my little brother.
(28:26):
And I would oftentimes all years speak on JT and how.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
The MVP thresholder and all these things. They kind of
move on him.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
The post move all the time.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
It's crazy.
Speaker 5 (28:41):
All the dame say, oh, you got to be winning,
you gotta be winning, and then it's like, oh, you
won too much, Like so you ain't want championship, but
you've won too much, so you gotta do something else now,
and like the goalpost just continues to move on him.
And I've spoken about that, uh, but this year he
was different. It was almost as if he didn't give
(29:05):
a damn about winning MVP or even if they said
his name in MVP conversation, but he still played with
that same tenacity as if he wanted to wants to
be an MVP. It's that same consistency, but there was
a calmness in his game.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
That when they're double team in him.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
In the NBA Finals, he got eleven assists in the
first home right, you know, making the play like literally
getting to the rim or getting to the paint and
realized the guy and already stepped up. Don't even look
at the rim. I'm making the next play. And it
was so beautiful to watch. Can you talk to me
what that was like? Up close and personal and watching
(29:49):
him this year and kind of how he approached this year,
which ultimately led to him winning his first championship.
Speaker 6 (29:58):
He don't get the credit that I think he's to
get because he sacrificed so much. You have thirty points
last year, Yes, he did thirty points, and gods who
have his thirty points want to come back. That next
year averaged thirty one points. But for us to win
a championship, we added Pazingis Drew Holliday, so we added
(30:22):
better offensive players on our ball club. He sacrificed so much.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
He gave.
Speaker 6 (30:31):
A five points, which is a lot of points. That's
a lot of points. Gave it up, that's eight shots.
Gave it up for the betterment for our ball club.
We didn't need him to score thirty points some knights.
We need him to score forty points. Yeah, some nights,
but how our team is made up, we don't need
(30:52):
no one to score forty points. If that night happens,
you scored forty points, we're gonna ride it. The thing
that people don't unders sing about Jason Tatum, he wants
to win. He's not a raw rob guy. He's not
a guy who shows a lot of emotions. But when
he shows emotions.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
I didn't know him that much got to Boston. I
started working with him. He's been great to me, great
to Joe. He's our leader. He's the guy who Game
two in the finals, he just picked Dallas apart and
Drew Holliday was out leading score You know, Madge might
(31:35):
have beat on that. Say Drew Holliday gonna be leading
scoring games. How the money they made.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
On that, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (31:41):
But he did. He did so much for our ball club,
free balance ball. You got to be bound more, you
have to be more and conscious effort.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
He did it. Yep.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
You gotta stop selling them for three Sometimes you got
so much left in this game. His game. He's so young,
he's tent six. This game is still growing. He's still growing.
He need thirty gad mm hm. And he's so good
with his teammates that he's so good with his teammates.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Man this year, you know. And Pasenkas, like.
Speaker 6 (32:17):
I said today, j J T may be our know
one option, JB may be number two or one A,
one B, whatever you want to put it. But we
got the best third option in the NBA. Pacenkas the
best third option. You know what I'm saying. He gets
you can't play a small guy on him because he's
gonna kill a smart individual. You put a big on
(32:37):
in the drop of COVERG, he's gonna shoot the lights
off the ball. You know what I'm saying, He's gonna
protect the remb So I make up with. Our team
was so good and we played hard. Yeah, that's Joe
Mazula practice with music on loud music. You know what
I'm saying. You know young boys, you know that young
boy in music.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
This year. I told Joe, We're gonna have some O
G music. You know what I'm saying. One day of practice,
one day. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
One day.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
You know what I'm saying. One day.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
It may not happen, but I'm try right.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
But it was a joy.
Speaker 6 (33:13):
But like like you said, they moved a goal post
on this guy so so much.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Man.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
It's but when he say he don't care, he really don't.
He just want to win. You see what y'all did.
He wants that feeling. It wants to be three times
four time NBA champion. And I think we have the
team that we stay healthless everything. We both know that
we got opportunity to do that. We only talk about
(33:38):
the repeat. We just want to enjoy the process. It's
the process.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
You know what I'm saying. Y'all wanted seventy two games up? Man?
Now what now what? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
We just want to enjoy the process of this whole
situation and him being who is man like in Olympics
right now. Ah, they're gonna win. Hopefully they win. Go
they better win.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Go Ship. You know, like you said, he had a
great year.
Speaker 6 (34:06):
Han't a great yet, man, and that whole team deserves
It's not It's not all about Jason Table. He'll tell
you this is a team. We are a team, a
good basketball team.
Speaker 5 (34:17):
I want to talk more about before we get out
of here, not only your journey through coaching, but your
journey through what has been multiple times to me as
it seems your name coming up in these head coach searchers,
because like I said, I don't think you can get
an argument out of anybody, if many people, if anybody,
(34:40):
of where you stand as assistant coaches in the NBA,
who you are, who you are as a player. Your
resume speaks for itself. And yet to me these are
my words, not yours, But to me, I think it's
bullshit that.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
Your name just just keep coming up because.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
These guys don't be as proven as you as players
or coaches, not as respected, but for some reason, still
not a head coach. What's it been like on these journeys,
on in these interviews, meeting with these owners, meeting with
these general managers, and then ultimately falling short every time
(35:31):
it comes.
Speaker 6 (35:31):
Run it's crazy, man like, Hmmm, it's been Uh, it's
a hard question to answer. You know what I'm saying.
I have the experience, Uh, I know what buttons to
push get the best out of players?
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Can I be hard on plus?
Speaker 6 (35:54):
Absolutely ask the guys that I have coached, cannot be
hard on them. But being hard on them don't mean
you get the best production out of don't mean you
get the best production out of You got to know
someone off the court to really understand them. I mean,
I was watching the Last Dance and I've seen Phil
(36:16):
Jackson and Dennis Robin. They just bobbing, and Dennis say,
he took the time to know who I am off
this court. He took the time to find out who
I am off the court. I heard Michael Jordan say
about Phil took the time to find out who I
am off this court.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
It's on the court.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
I'm gonna be who I am to find out who
I am.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
So Phil knew the right buttons to push with.
Speaker 6 (36:42):
Dennis Robin, who was back then, was was a wild boy,
you know what I'm saying. But when he came to work,
he came to work, you know what I'm saying. And
for ast me not getting a head coaching job, I'm
not giving up.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
I'm not.
Speaker 6 (36:57):
I loved I loved it. Shit, I love the game
of basketball. You can ask anybody in Boston. When I
come to work, I never have a bad day, even
though I might have a bad moment before come into
the office.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
No, we all have families, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (37:15):
I might have a bad moment, but I don't bring
my bad moments to that basketball court my players because
I know my plans might have a bad day.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
So if I'm miserable, not miserable.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
If I'm not in a right state of mind, and
they're not the right state of mind, were not getting
nothing to accomplished. So I always have a great attitude
around the facility. I go around every day. I speak
to everybody. With our traveling party, the trainers, the equipment manager.
I speak to everybody. You know what's up, y'all. You
(37:47):
got anybody that staff, because I understand that means something.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
Because I'm coming to a new staff and they don't
they believe it, didn't know, they don't know who I am.
You know they heard and all say, oh, man, that's
Sam's a great dude. I know it's the game of basketball.
I know how to push and get the best out
of players.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (38:10):
I'm just not I'm not a yes me man, and
that may that may hurt me.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (38:17):
I'm not a guy who I'm want to put this.
I'm a company man. But I'm gonna do things the
way I think it should be done.
Speaker 4 (38:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
You know, I'm not gonna you earn playing time. You
don't just get playing time. I think not somebody that's
afraid of that aspect of me. You know what I'm saying,
I'm just.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Not giving up coaching this dad. I love it too much.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (38:45):
I got the respect of the players, and I know
how to get the best out of players.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Before we go.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
When when when you look at your journey, I truly
in my heart believe that you will be a head coach, Yes, Lee,
But when you look at your journey, and as you know,
the drastic difference is where teams can lie. A team
can be super young with no experience all Detroit Pistons,
(39:17):
and you could have a team that's getting older with
a ton of experience all Los Angeles Lakers go toen
State Warriors. When you look at your journey, all that
you've gone through, if you could pick, and you said,
I'd rather start with one of these teams that don't
(39:38):
know much and help those guys get to the top.
Or I'd rather take one of these teams that could
be right on the cusps.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
On either side of the hill. Because yeah, in.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
Twenty twenty two, they said we were on a cusp,
they said we were on the wrong side of the hill.
We won a championship right so on the customers on
the cush Or would you prefer a team like that.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
To where you can help push them to that championship
right away?
Speaker 1 (40:13):
They don't matter, they don't matter.
Speaker 6 (40:15):
I've been I coached the Washington Wizards my first my
first five years in coaching.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
We won my first year I think.
Speaker 6 (40:23):
Eighteen games, next year twenty games, third year twenty four games,
and my fifth year that we won forty seven games
and made it to playoff, one of the first founds.
So I've been through every aspect of coaching. I've seen
the good. I've seen the bad. I seen the real bad.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (40:42):
And as a coach it humbled me. I just screw
as an individual I seen. I'll tell your story. John
Wall his rookie year, he lost eight games from high
school to college two years. You came up fer one day.
I enough, we was in Cleveland. We five like twenty
five bad. Yeah, he knocked on my door, said it's
(41:07):
going up. John Wall in tears, in tears, trying. He
lost twenty five games. It ain't desembled yet. He knows
twenty five games. It ain't dissembled yet. He asked me, say, O,
g is it gonna get any better? And you, as
(41:29):
any guys I ever coach, I'm not gonna lie to you.
I ain't gonna lie to you. I ain't a lied
to you, I said, looked him in the face. I
come on, I'm gonna say no, I guess what, Jada,
I throw my towel, went back, throw with your face.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Man.
Speaker 6 (41:46):
I say, it's gonna be bad next year too. But
we gotta grow. You gotta keep working. You gotta keep working.
If you don't, if you stop working with this, it's
gonna get real, real bad. You don't want to pick
in the draft now, you never want pick in the draft.
And the city of DC thinks that you're going to
(42:07):
bring a talent to this city, but the owners did.
I didn't think that. I didn't think that. I knew
that he needed more pieces. And I'm telling you the
one that got away from us this Clay Thompson. I
wanted them to draft play Thomps. I wanted the Wizards
(42:28):
draft Play Thomps. They had the trouble, you know, his
background with that with theuied shit in college.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
And smoked a joint. Man, give it a break.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
But John needed a guy who's a flat out shooter. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (42:42):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (42:42):
When I seen Clay Thompson shoot the basketball, I'm in
my the lake Wade Flip, I said.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Flip, that's the guy.
Speaker 6 (42:49):
That's what we need him right there, that's what John
Wall needs.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
We drafted y'all. Vestley. M hmm, you know you know that.
Speaker 6 (43:00):
But Neil, I think Bestly was a decent, bolved player.
He snow Klay Thompson, John Walney is shooting, so I
saw that's the best thing about I know what a
team needs. I've been abound thirty two years. Four champion
I want four championships, been but six conference seven conference finals.
(43:20):
So I know what winning looks like.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
But I also know what losing look like. Absolutely, I
know what loser looked like.
Speaker 6 (43:27):
I'm gonna get the person that a team personnelity who
This ain't gonna be good. This is not gonna be good.
But I'm not gonna stop teaching. It's all about teaching
any player. I would work with this man. Oh, you
know what the hell he's talking about. All I'm looking
for is a chance to show the world that I
(43:48):
can coach you in ball club. That's all I respect, simple,
I respect the man. I appreciate you, Maks.
Speaker 5 (43:56):
Looking forward to this, chopping it up with you. You
always kind, I said, you always kept it real with me.
I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Thanks for that jersey jersey, Yes.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
Sir, I forgot as soon as we got I gotta
get it to him, I gotta get it, got it,
I got it, sir, and I appreciate you. And by
the way, good luck and for for whatever it's worth,
you're fucking head coach in my book.
Speaker 4 (44:18):
I know it's gonna happen for you.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Keep going, they can't.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Why stop now?
Speaker 1 (44:24):
It's too much fun. You guys do your thing. It's
too much fun.
Speaker 5 (44:27):
Absolutely. That's a rite from resort world here in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Peace.
Speaker 6 (44:43):
The volume
The volume.
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Speaker 4 (01:46):
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
Our next guest is a guy who got a I
got a serious question acts and we'll get into that later.
But more importantly, three time NBA champion as a player,
NBA champion as a coach said my congratulations.
Speaker 4 (02:04):
Uh, Sam, I am the man. Oh gee, Sam can
s thank you. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
Thanks for having me. Man, absolutely man, this is an
honor for me to have you on here. You know
I have the utmost respect for you. I try to
always make sure I show that respect and show that
love when I see you, and that will never change.
And I appreciate you for the love that you've shown
me since the time that I met you.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
That's such your first ssembleague game. Y'all beat me.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
Damn monking the hoop. But he can't shoot, I said,
he can hoop. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
As you can hoop.
Speaker 5 (02:43):
Absolutely absolutely. But take me to the beginning of the journey.
Obviously you grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, But take me
to the to the beginning of the journey. As an
NBA player, You get drafted to a team with Hakeem Olajuwan.
What was that experience like going on as a by
the way, as a point guard, then going to play
(03:05):
with the dream What was that experience like coming right
out of college and then going and play with the
Houston Rockets.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
It was so no, it was so ironic, man that
you watched them for so many years. Now you his teammate,
and I remember the first day of training camps. I
didn't see Dreaming all summer. You know, back to in
the nineties, you know, guys used training camp to get
in shape. Training camp was a whole month, so you
(03:30):
had a whole time to get in shape.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
So I've never.
Speaker 6 (03:33):
Seen came large around the whole summer. So when training camp,
the first day of training camp, he was out of shape.
He was out of shape. And when preseason came, man,
I was like, wow, like, man, he ain't that good.
You know what I'm saying, like, he ain't that good?
Not knowing that the vettermans juice training camp, get their
(03:53):
body going and get their mind together. So our first
couple of prets in games, we was terrible. Yeah, I
mean he had like five points, like five rebounds, and
I'm like, man, like, this team won fifty four games
last year. You know, I know we ain't this bad.
(04:14):
And I understand it's preseason basketball. But I really don't
understand the preseason basketball because in college we had an
exhibition game.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
You go hard, you go hard, you know, go hard.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
The head coach has something for you later on, absolutely so,
and I never understand, Like, man, I asked him.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And they like, what's going on? Man?
Speaker 6 (04:31):
Like after the fourth game we like oh and four
getting blown out by twenty points. Every preseason game blown out?
I was like, what's going on? And it was so simple.
It wasn't even thought process tall me said. He said,
some they don't send these stats. She's to New York.
And I was like, what did you talk about New
(04:52):
York for? Like not knowing the league office is in
New York, you know, not not having a clue like
then understand. So I asked Kenny Samith that that's a gift.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
What are you talking about?
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Man, says sam the popcorn ain't popping yet, that she's
not real yet. So fast forward, Open the night. Now
we owe in eight in preseason. We had eight preseason games.
Back in the day we owe and eight our average
loss was about like sixteen seventeen points. Jesus Chris and man,
(05:26):
when the lights came on Open the night. I could
not believe what I was witness. We played the Golden
State Warriors. I'll never forget this man. This man like
thirty eight fourteen rebound, six blocks, seven assists, three steals.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
He was in every category.
Speaker 6 (05:43):
Man, that he leading every category, block, steals, everything. And
I asked him after the game, I said, dream, where
was that in preseason? And took a small piece? He said,
took a small piece. He said, it doesn't count. Discounts
the popcorn selling right now, it's ready, It's time to go.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And I run only we want eighteen to no.
Speaker 6 (06:05):
Now we went twenty to twenty one and oh start
the season low on eight in pre season. When twenty
one OH start the season, it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
So that right there for you as a rookie, you
see that, that fuck your mind.
Speaker 6 (06:19):
I'm gone. I was like this, the baddest dude in
the game of basketball. Do you understand Michael Jordan has retired.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now he's gone? Yep?
Speaker 6 (06:29):
I said, just the baddest dude in basketball offensively and defensively,
because he was that protector. One day I was I
was guarding someone. I think that Jos Stockton. He beat
me off to dribble and I reached in and found
them and he lost his mind.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
Some what are you doing?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Don't fail him? Look up?
Speaker 6 (06:49):
Looked up there and I look up in the stands
up in the ceiling. It was the all time shot
block leader.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I'll block it. Don't fail him, trust me, I'll be there. Man.
It was.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
It was a pleasure just to be his teenage because
I know that if I got beat off the dribber,
he's coming.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
He may not block it, but a're gonna make you
miss absolute of the time.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Absolutely, So I've been doing, uh, had honor of working
with Jet, Yeah, Chuck shack on amazing guys. And we
had these conversations and Jet in particular, and Jet say,
I'm telling you dramon Nicola Jokic has absolutely nothing on
(07:34):
Haquem Lodge one. And I got a problem with that.
I got a problem with that is I have a
hard time believing that. And I know Dream was great,
I get it and all of that, But to say
Joker not even in the same category with Dream, It's
crazy to me.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I think Joker is see Dream is the beast both ways.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
On the court.
Speaker 6 (07:58):
You know, Dream, like I said, Dream was in the
top ten at every category in the NBA, steals, rebounds, scoring,
So Joko I think he would score on Dream, but
Dream will weigh him down because the constant pressure. You know,
he's not backing Dream down under the basket, you know
(08:18):
what I'm saying. That's not happening. That's not happening. And
on the other end of the court, Joker don't have
a chance, He don't have a he don't have a chance.
You know, he think that Joelen b gave him problems
that I was saying, offensively, he wouldn't have a chance
because Dream, how could you stop him? He had a
Dream had a counter. Everything he did defensively, he had
(08:39):
a counter. And the crazy part about it, he used
to practice these things and sometimes he's bring something out
that the movie he go Baseline and that we never
saw that all year.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
He bringed that out against David Robinson in the Western
Conference Final. We never saw it. He never did that
the whole season. He bringed that.
Speaker 6 (09:00):
Thing out and then Western Conference Finals and David Robson.
We was like, and it blew everybody mind, like what
the fuck was that? And David Robson was the MVP.
It was the MVP.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
That man was forty points and like fourteen b bounds,
like he had like six seven block shots a game.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
He was killing.
Speaker 6 (09:21):
He was killing like like we still had three on
one breaks and then like our numbers and we just
bring it back out and wave them down. Come on,
come on, get them, get him, throw it to the
big fellow. He always said, keep it simple, kiss, keep
it simple, keep this simple, stupid, keep his simple.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Stamp, Sam, keep it simple. Sound come on, And that's
how it was with man Kny. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (09:44):
He was always Dream, was always our outlet in the
game of basketball, and he was very demanding.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
He's very demanding. Now, he wasn't easy to play with,
but he was. He was good. He was real good.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
So when you look at the all time list of centers,
where does he fit on that list?
Speaker 6 (09:59):
You got god that I have seen. Yeah, he's right
after He's right after Kareem. I haven't seen Wilt and
Bill Russell. Yes, well i've seen I've seen, uh, the captain,
Kareemandul Jabal, I've seen the captain play. I think he's
right behind him. I think Shaq was right behind Dream.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
That hurts my feelings.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
A Shock is my all time favorite player in history,
so I can't roll with you on that, but I respect,
I respect.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
He'd be shocked in the final.
Speaker 5 (10:30):
Shock was young man shot. You know Shock got more
rings though, Yeah, yeah, you know Shack that.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Don't get check all of it.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
Check is everything you expect him to be, like retrapped
Shack and and that young Shack was bad Shack too.
Now you know when Shaq was running that court, get
that thing out the boards and push that thing full court.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
You had to get out of his way. You're not
taking a charge, can shock.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Don't it?
Speaker 6 (11:03):
So you just let them, you know, dun't the ball
and break the back Shack made a purpose of breaking
every backboard back in the day. It was just amazing
to see how big and ad y'all, y'all, y'all remember
Shack when he was like with the Lakers and he
was big and just going to cross the lane. And
you know, I remember Shack when he's running the court,
you know, leading the break, throwing no look past this,
(11:25):
you know, having fun laughing out there. But when Shaq
got serious, he was a he was a beast. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
I have a question for you.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
I've wondered just since I was a child, and I
know your your basketball knowledge, your encyclopedia, if you will
on the NBA game goes further back than.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
Mine, and so I have to ask you this question.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
When you did the big balls Dad, for those of
you that don't know, you should go check check check
you too.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
Where did you get that? Because I remember when I
watched you do it, I'm like.
Speaker 6 (12:04):
Yo, that's not it's crazy, this is crazy. I watched
the movie Major League, Major League Too, and it was
I forgot the Asian left fielder name.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
He caught a he jumped up.
Speaker 6 (12:24):
Somebody hit the home run and he jumped up on
the fence and caught the ball and he just like
came down with the big I like that. I'm still there.
I'm stealing that. I'm stealing that. It was the old movie,
this movie in the eighties. I'm still that. So I
started making big shots as a young player. I said,
I got something fall my first time I did it.
(12:45):
It was like, man, what is he doing out there?
I mean Bill Walton rested peace. Bill Walker shout out tall.
He was doing play play with the Clippers when I
did it, and he said, I don't know what it is,
but the.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Guy be something awfully big.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
So that was the biggest That's my bad, Billboter investing
piece man.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
And so initially you start doing it and you're not
getting fined by them. At what point did they didn't
start finding you for doing it?
Speaker 6 (13:15):
Well, David starting, you know, called me into his office
and he said, we got to stop that. I said,
she mean, like what you mean? He was like that,
we can't have our kids. You know doing that ship. Sam,
you know if you need David s like I know him.
Back in the day, David was he was a hard guy.
He was a hard guy, was a smart guy. He
(13:37):
was a hard guy. And he was like, we can't
have that. You can't have kids making a big play
doing that ship. You'd be doing it in the games.
But now I know you're doing twenty five thousand. I
was like, what, Well that cut me out because back
in the day, the salaries doing that high like you
guys getting right now til twenty five will hurt you
back in the day.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
So I stopped.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
So when I got big, when I seen Kobe bryand yes,
when I seen when I seen jelly Bean, do I.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Say, Oh, I made it. I made it.
Speaker 6 (14:07):
Now I see Lebron do it? I said, really in
the big time? Now you know what I'm saying. So
it's it's the thing that I I like, Damn, I
created that while created it for the basketball part of it.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
But I got off a movie. Oh I got that
off a movie.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
That's fine, man, When you did that, by the way,
to get that off a movie and planning is one
thing I don't think people realize sometimes though you like
you can hide this planning. You get in these moments
and then you'd like totally forget the plan. I'll never forget.
My first game winner came against the Heat uh Bron
d Wade Bosh. It was my second year in the league. No,
(14:48):
it's my first year. Because Jared Jack was on our team.
Jared Jack dropped it, dun I got the little layup,
and in my mind, I was telling myself like, yo,
I'm I'm about to swag on the right right into
a back and forth with brin that game because he
was calling me too little.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I'm like too little? Are you crazy? Right?
Speaker 5 (15:05):
And so we going back and forth at it. Then
I hit the game winning I'm like, oh, I'm about
to swat man. I started running like.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Like, oh my god, to how to war with doll
to still get to it?
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Right? You gotta get to it.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
It's crazy to me, but I want to go towards
the end of your career.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Two thousand and eight, you get a chance, you play
with the Boston Celtics, get a chance to win your
third championship.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
What was it like being on that team?
Speaker 5 (15:34):
But also, and I want to ask about this guy
in particular because I haven't had the chance to sit
down and talk basketball with him before, but I pray
and I hope too, because I think he's one of
the best basketball minds I've ever witnessed. What was it
like being later in your career and being a vet
to a young guy like Rayjon Rondo and with those
(15:57):
Boston Celtics.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
Oh man, my first practice I came after trade deadline
and my first practice is watching the kid.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
It's the second year. His leadership quality.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
Man, his thought process of the game at basketball was unbelievable, Like,
it's unbelievable. And Kevin, Paul, Ray, PJ. Brown, myself, we
was hard on him. It was very hard on him
because I said, man, and he was like he didn't
want to hear a lot of things. But when I
be personally, I talked Tom, he understood it. I said, listen, man,
(16:37):
you have you got an opportunity that a lot of
players would never have. You playing with three first ballot
Hall of famers, three first ballot Hall of Fames. I say, listen, man,
when they leave, you're gonna see what you miss. So
right now, take the bullshit they're giving you right now,
just take it.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Just take it.
Speaker 6 (16:58):
But when they lead, You're going to realize what you lost.
Fast forward. They gone to Brooklyn. He's there by himself.
He called me old school. He called me old school.
I mean call me over old school. He was fight
old school. God damn, I said, it's different throwing the
(17:18):
ball of Ray Allen three ball, throwing the ball of
Paul three ball, throwing making a pack.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Past the kid. Yet fifteen foot jump shot. That's great.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
Now you got I don't know who you have on
his team, but he he had them kind of guys
on his team. And now his Assistan numbers are going down.
It's still numbers going down, and he's not winning big
as he won. And think about he won fifty five games,
like four straight years back then fifty five, thirty.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Nine to forty.
Speaker 6 (17:47):
You know how to drop ball drop you know you
got seventy You went sixty five, and you're like, damn,
we are forty seven right.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Now, forty seven.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
Guess what one of the years I was there was
out We won fifteen games in twenty twenty.
Speaker 6 (18:03):
And I don't care how many times how much you win.
That's a mental toll right there.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
It's brutal.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
That's driving to the game. You know when you win
it seven y'all want seventy plus games. You're driving to
the game, you know you're gonna win. You know, music blasting.
You know what I'm saying, when you ride to the game,
you might.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Damn this can be hard.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
I ain't know this gonna be hard, but I don't
want to think it.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
But you know, realistically, like.
Speaker 6 (18:28):
Man, the night they had a day off, we come
off from back to back, start putting all that, and
we lost the double old time fact. You know what
I'm saying. All that takes a toll on your mind mentally, man.
And but back to Rondo, Man, he was here a
bad boy. I think he should be a Hall of
Fame with me personally agree. Man, that's my god, Oh
(18:51):
my god. Man, Like he was tough. You know that
battles him and dop had Man, it was just doc what.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
You're trying to coach him. He was a thorough brand.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
I was just trying to coach sometimes doctor thorm All
the practice. I'm thirty eight, thirty nine years old at
this time. I know when he got got thrown. All
the practice. Now I got a practice. Now, you know
what I'm saying, I'm trying over green. You're gonna do
you want to show by this bike all night? I
don't want to. You know what I'm saying, Chill out.
You know, one day I want to go get him.
(19:21):
It's come on door, he come back, He come back
one day, Doc Life, don't.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Go get him. Let them go. I'm gonna coach Door.
They going back and forth, but they had a great
relationship because.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
Doe was a young basketball player and he's gonna be good.
I told everybody he's gonna be good. He's gonna be good,
but he can't shoot. That said, it don't matter. It
don't matter if you can't shoot, he gonna get you
twelve points and thirteen UH assists and eight rebouty. He
was just down there a triple double, especially when the
Big Three when they left. Yeah, he was really doing
(19:56):
this thing. Absolutely, two time All Star when they left, yep,
doing his name.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
I want to switch gears a little bit, and you
kind of just went into it a little bit. But
see coaching career and I want to start. I want
to move backwards. I want to start where you are today.
As I said, not on camera, but congratulations uh NBA
(20:23):
champion again. But I want to actually one in particular.
You just want to coach. I mean, you just want
a championship. Joe Missoula to head coach. You've coached with
Doc Rivers Dot much older now, Joe, if I'm not mistaken,
the youngest coaching the NBA. If not, what was it
(20:46):
that you saw that you said, you know what, I
feel like, that's the place for me to go because
you know, you've you would never need a job on
one of, if not the best assisting in the league,
opportunities to go everywhere.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Where with Philly.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Uh have been rolling with Doc and that Doc is
your guy, and then you decide to go over there
ends up from championship really fast. But I think my
question is what were some of the differences that you
had to adjust to and being with Doc for so long,
who's an older coach, establishedment around and then now you
go on to a young Joe Missoula where obviously you
(21:29):
got respect for him as the head coach, but you
also have.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Been around way longer. Your knowledge of the NBA game
goes way deep.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
What was that adjustment like and some of the differences
and similarities in those two It was.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
It was easy. Doc is an Alpha Doll.
Speaker 6 (21:42):
You know what I'm saying, Doc want do things the
way he's.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Gonna do them because he has success. But Doc also
take advice.
Speaker 6 (21:52):
You know sometimes when I say, man, that's it, chill out,
and I'm here, chill out.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Just like that. They had an enough you know, you
beat him up too much.
Speaker 6 (22:03):
But guys that I know for the fact that Doc
has helped with their basketball career. Montrez Hrld best best
ship ever, do lou Will absolutely best ship ever with Doc.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
DeAndre Jordan's, Blake Griffin. These guys had their best careers
with Doc. Paul Perce their best career with Doc. You
know what I'm saying. When I got with Joe Miziula,
Joe was so young, Joe didn't really didn't have the
knowledge of how to deal with the NBA ball player,
(22:37):
didn't have the knowledge and the.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
Ex and o's how to prepare his team to play.
He got that. He's got that.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Man, He's our locker room, our coaches locked rooms.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
I know, it's like no other locker room. You know
what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (22:51):
We we do things a little different in Boston. You know,
we did things a little different. As a coaching staff.
Everyone has their opinion. Our coach sta have as an opinion,
and but it's joe ultimate decision and we roll with it.
We roll with it. If I don't like it, I
just don't like it. But I'm not gonna say I
told you so. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
We wrong with it. On to your next game. People
just don't know Joe, Missoula.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
It just don't know. That's they just don't know. Excellent coaching,
great dude, great person. Man. He allows me to be me.
That allows me to be me, you know what I'm saying.
But Joe is so much younger than me, and I
just like man. My whole thing with him is enjoy
(23:38):
this process.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Enjoy it, man, it's a hell of a ride.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Enjoy We work hard, we do things different, we prepare hard,
and we get the most out of our ball club.
He does a great job getting the most ball club.
He's not a big yeller, He's just the states. Facts,
face facts. Y'all want to win a championship. Let's go
(24:04):
try to win a championship. Just what y'all said, y'all
wanted to dude, Let's go win a championship. All right,
but you can't be bullshitting ten games and fifteen nights.
Let's win out ten. Let's try win out ten. Let's
not use take the coward way up. We talk kind
of tired. You know what I'm saying, Well, come on bench,
(24:25):
y'all want to play. Everybody want to play until it's
time to play. Fat you know what I'm saying. Everybody
want to play. That the left man on the team.
He wanted to play until it's time to play. Okay,
it's your time now. And this year I got stepped up.
I got stepped up. We lost, y'all, and twenty two
you lost, y'all. This season, Oh yes, I came back.
(24:47):
We're in the whole game.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Y'all came back.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
I was kicked out that game. I watched TV.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Okay, y'all came back. Steph made some crazy shots.
Speaker 6 (24:55):
You know.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
We was up.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Big came back and.
Speaker 6 (24:59):
We can man as staff said, we had to say,
we didn't mother fuck him.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
Next day you go to the Sacramento. We knew that
they was gonna be in trouble, so I guts. We
knew we gave one away. We gave a game away.
We didn't give it away. Y'all took it. As Joe
Banzool liked to put it, No, you don't give games away.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
They took it.
Speaker 6 (25:19):
We ain't letting Sacramento take it from us. Went down there.
J T didn't play and we beat the Brakes. That's
how the game of basketball goes. It's so unpredictable, you
know what I'm saying. But we put forth the effinite energy.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
Man. But George been great with me.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
He's been you know, he wants me to get ahead
coach of y'all batter than anyone.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
You know what I'm saying. He thinks I deserve it.
But you know, when the.
Speaker 6 (25:46):
Time comes out, be ready. You know what I'm saying,
I'm not giving up. I still love this. I love
to see guys like shit. I worked with Shade when
he first came to the league and Tys Maxie when
the whole NBA say he can't shoot, and I was like,
what the fuck are they looking at? What are they
looking at? A guy with that great rotation on his
(26:07):
shot and can't shoot. Gotta be crazy, gotta be crazy.
They just need the reps game reps. NBA reps his
rookie ear. We didn't give him game reps because Ben
Simmons was playing All Star, All Pro Basketball. Yes he
was by far, Yes he was by far. So Maxie
had to wait. But while he was waiting, he ain't
(26:29):
a lad with one of the kings. You know what
I'm saying. He's allowed on me every day every day.
If you can ask me, I was on every day.
We're gonna get better every day. So when it's time
to come, you can ask him it's time to come,
you can be ready. I told Maxi after his second year,
I said, you can be a max ball player.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
One day. He thought I was crazy. Do you think so? Ge?
I said, trust me, I see it. I told John
Wall to Brandley Bell.
Speaker 6 (26:55):
I told Shay when I told Shae that's Jay that,
he was like, come on, you call me Pop, Come on, Pop, Seriously,
I say, you can be one of the baddest guys
in the NBA because we haven't seen a guard like that.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Searlo Littsteron was six for seven, but searl Liftson didn't
score like him. That's fine.
Speaker 6 (27:14):
I had Sharlotfinster in his second game MVA with the Clippers,
but Sean was a shay had a shade. Has the
ability to score from three point line. He said, three
level score as I put it, absolutely three points mid range.
You know, I told him one time they said He
told me, Man, they don't want to shoot the mid
range shot in Oklahoma.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
I was like, if you're lell them people to take
the best thing.
Speaker 6 (27:39):
You do and your game away from you, crazy, it's
the best thing you got right now, you're fifteen foot
pull up jump shot. He's six for seven shooting against
a six foot one guy. All that guy can do
is hope you miss. He ain't gonna affect it. And
he's all pro two years run out for MVP. You
know what I'm saying, his Scott's limits for these for
(28:01):
that guy.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
Man, absolutely, And I want to ask you some questions
about you as a head coach. But before I asked
that question, like I said, you just coach lost his
Celsis to a championship. And I got a lot of
love for JT. It's my young dog, it's my little brother.
(28:26):
And I would oftentimes all years speak on JT and how.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
The MVP thresholder and all these things. They kind of
move on him.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
The post move all the time.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
It's crazy.
Speaker 5 (28:41):
All the dame say, oh, you got to be winning,
you gotta be winning, and then it's like, oh, you
won too much, Like so you ain't want championship, but
you've won too much, so you gotta do something else now,
and like the goalpost just continues to move on him.
And I've spoken about that, uh, but this year he
was different. It was almost as if he didn't give
(29:05):
a damn about winning MVP or even if they said
his name in MVP conversation, but he still played with
that same tenacity as if he wanted to wants to
be an MVP. It's that same consistency, but there was
a calmness in his game.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
That when they're double team in him.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
In the NBA Finals, he got eleven assists in the
first home right, you know, making the play like literally
getting to the rim or getting to the paint and
realized the guy and already stepped up. Don't even look
at the rim. I'm making the next play. And it
was so beautiful to watch. Can you talk to me
what that was like? Up close and personal and watching
(29:49):
him this year and kind of how he approached this year,
which ultimately led to him winning his first championship.
Speaker 6 (29:58):
He don't get the credit that I think he's to
get because he sacrificed so much. You have thirty points
last year, Yes, he did thirty points, and gods who
have his thirty points want to come back. That next
year averaged thirty one points. But for us to win
a championship, we added Pazingis Drew Holliday, so we added
(30:22):
better offensive players on our ball club. He sacrificed so much.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
He gave.
Speaker 6 (30:31):
A five points, which is a lot of points. That's
a lot of points. Gave it up, that's eight shots.
Gave it up for the betterment for our ball club.
We didn't need him to score thirty points some knights.
We need him to score forty points. Yeah, some nights,
but how our team is made up, we don't need
(30:52):
no one to score forty points. If that night happens,
you scored forty points, we're gonna ride it. The thing
that people don't unders sing about Jason Tatum, he wants
to win. He's not a raw rob guy. He's not
a guy who shows a lot of emotions. But when
he shows emotions.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
I love it, I love it, I love it.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
I didn't know him that much got to Boston. I
started working with him. He's been great to me, great
to Joe. He's our leader. He's the guy who Game
two in the finals, he just picked Dallas apart and
Drew Holliday was out leading score You know, Madge might
(31:35):
have beat on that. Say Drew Holliday gonna be leading
scoring games. How the money they made.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
On that, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (31:41):
But he did. He did so much for our ball club,
free balance ball. You got to be bound more, you
have to be more and conscious effort.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
He did it. Yep.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
You gotta stop selling them for three Sometimes you got
so much left in this game. His game. He's so young,
he's tent six. This game is still growing. He's still growing.
He need thirty gad mm hm. And he's so good
with his teammates that he's so good with his teammates.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Man this year, you know. And Pasenkas, like.
Speaker 6 (32:17):
I said today, j J T may be our know
one option, JB may be number two or one A,
one B, whatever you want to put it. But we
got the best third option in the NBA. Pacenkas the
best third option. You know what I'm saying. He gets
you can't play a small guy on him because he's
gonna kill a smart individual. You put a big on
(32:37):
in the drop of COVERG, he's gonna shoot the lights
off the ball. You know what I'm saying, He's gonna
protect the remb So I make up with. Our team
was so good and we played hard. Yeah, that's Joe
Mazula practice with music on loud music. You know what
I'm saying. You know young boys, you know that young
boy in music.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
This year. I told Joe, We're gonna have some O
G music. You know what I'm saying. One day of practice,
one day. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (33:03):
One day.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
You know what I'm saying. One day.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
It may not happen, but I'm try right.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
But it was a joy.
Speaker 6 (33:13):
But like like you said, they moved a goal post
on this guy so so much.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Man.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
It's but when he say he don't care, he really don't.
He just want to win. You see what y'all did.
He wants that feeling. It wants to be three times
four time NBA champion. And I think we have the
team that we stay healthless everything. We both know that
we got opportunity to do that. We only talk about
(33:38):
the repeat. We just want to enjoy the process. It's
the process.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
You know what I'm saying. Y'all wanted seventy two games up? Man?
Now what now what? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
We just want to enjoy the process of this whole
situation and him being who is man like in Olympics
right now. Ah, they're gonna win. Hopefully they win. Go
they better win.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
Go Ship. You know, like you said, he had a
great year.
Speaker 6 (34:06):
Han't a great yet, man, and that whole team deserves
It's not It's not all about Jason Table. He'll tell
you this is a team. We are a team, a
good basketball team.
Speaker 5 (34:17):
I want to talk more about before we get out
of here, not only your journey through coaching, but your
journey through what has been multiple times to me as
it seems your name coming up in these head coach searchers,
because like I said, I don't think you can get
an argument out of anybody, if many people, if anybody,
(34:40):
of where you stand as assistant coaches in the NBA,
who you are, who you are as a player. Your
resume speaks for itself. And yet to me these are
my words, not yours, But to me, I think it's
bullshit that.
Speaker 4 (34:59):
Your name just just keep coming up because.
Speaker 5 (35:06):
These guys don't be as proven as you as players
or coaches, not as respected, but for some reason, still
not a head coach. What's it been like on these journeys,
on in these interviews, meeting with these owners, meeting with
these general managers, and then ultimately falling short every time
(35:31):
it comes.
Speaker 6 (35:31):
Run it's crazy, man like, Hmmm, it's been Uh, it's
a hard question to answer. You know what I'm saying.
I have the experience, Uh, I know what buttons to
push get the best out of players?
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Can I be hard on plus?
Speaker 6 (35:54):
Absolutely ask the guys that I have coached, cannot be
hard on them. But being hard on them don't mean
you get the best production out of don't mean you
get the best production out of You got to know
someone off the court to really understand them. I mean,
I was watching the Last Dance and I've seen Phil
(36:16):
Jackson and Dennis Robin. They just bobbing, and Dennis say,
he took the time to know who I am off
this court. He took the time to find out who
I am off the court. I heard Michael Jordan say
about Phil took the time to find out who I
am off this court.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
It's on the court.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
I'm gonna be who I am to find out who
I am.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
So Phil knew the right buttons to push with.
Speaker 6 (36:42):
Dennis Robin, who was back then, was was a wild boy,
you know what I'm saying. But when he came to work,
he came to work, you know what I'm saying. And
for ast me not getting a head coaching job, I'm
not giving up.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
I'm not.
Speaker 6 (36:57):
I loved I loved it. Shit, I love the game
of basketball. You can ask anybody in Boston. When I
come to work, I never have a bad day, even
though I might have a bad moment before come into
the office.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
No, we all have families, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (37:15):
I might have a bad moment, but I don't bring
my bad moments to that basketball court my players because
I know my plans might have a bad day.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
So if I'm miserable, not miserable.
Speaker 6 (37:27):
If I'm not in a right state of mind, and
they're not the right state of mind, were not getting
nothing to accomplished. So I always have a great attitude
around the facility. I go around every day. I speak
to everybody. With our traveling party, the trainers, the equipment manager.
I speak to everybody. You know what's up, y'all. You
(37:47):
got anybody that staff, because I understand that means something.
Speaker 1 (37:51):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (37:52):
Because I'm coming to a new staff and they don't
they believe it, didn't know, they don't know who I am.
You know they heard and all say, oh, man, that's
Sam's a great dude. I know it's the game of basketball.
I know how to push and get the best out
of players.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (38:10):
I'm just not I'm not a yes me man, and
that may that may hurt me.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (38:17):
I'm not a guy who I'm want to put this.
I'm a company man. But I'm gonna do things the
way I think it should be done.
Speaker 4 (38:29):
Absolutely.
Speaker 6 (38:30):
You know, I'm not gonna you earn playing time. You
don't just get playing time. I think not somebody that's
afraid of that aspect of me. You know what I'm saying,
I'm just.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Not giving up coaching this dad. I love it too much.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (38:45):
I got the respect of the players, and I know
how to get the best out of players.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
Before we go.
Speaker 5 (38:54):
When when when you look at your journey, I truly
in my heart believe that you will be a head coach, Yes, Lee,
But when you look at your journey, and as you know,
the drastic difference is where teams can lie. A team
can be super young with no experience all Detroit Pistons,
(39:17):
and you could have a team that's getting older with
a ton of experience all Los Angeles Lakers go toen
State Warriors. When you look at your journey, all that
you've gone through, if you could pick, and you said,
I'd rather start with one of these teams that don't
(39:38):
know much and help those guys get to the top.
Or I'd rather take one of these teams that could
be right on the cusps.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
On either side of the hill. Because yeah, in.
Speaker 5 (39:54):
Twenty twenty two, they said we were on a cusp,
they said we were on the wrong side of the hill.
We won a championship right so on the customers on
the cush Or would you prefer a team like that.
Speaker 4 (40:09):
To where you can help push them to that championship
right away?
Speaker 1 (40:13):
They don't matter, they don't matter.
Speaker 6 (40:15):
I've been I coached the Washington Wizards my first my
first five years in coaching.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
We won my first year I think.
Speaker 6 (40:23):
Eighteen games, next year twenty games, third year twenty four games,
and my fifth year that we won forty seven games
and made it to playoff, one of the first founds.
So I've been through every aspect of coaching. I've seen
the good. I've seen the bad. I seen the real bad.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6 (40:42):
And as a coach it humbled me. I just screw
as an individual I seen. I'll tell your story. John
Wall his rookie year, he lost eight games from high
school to college two years. You came up fer one day.
I enough, we was in Cleveland. We five like twenty
five bad. Yeah, he knocked on my door, said it's
(41:07):
going up. John Wall in tears, in tears, trying. He
lost twenty five games. It ain't desembled yet. He knows
twenty five games. It ain't dissembled yet. He asked me, say, O,
g is it gonna get any better? And you, as
(41:29):
any guys I ever coach, I'm not gonna lie to you.
I ain't gonna lie to you. I ain't a lied
to you, I said, looked him in the face. I
come on, I'm gonna say no, I guess what, Jada,
I throw my towel, went back, throw with your face.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
Man.
Speaker 6 (41:46):
I say, it's gonna be bad next year too. But
we gotta grow. You gotta keep working. You gotta keep working.
If you don't, if you stop working with this, it's
gonna get real, real bad. You don't want to pick
in the draft now, you never want pick in the draft.
And the city of DC thinks that you're going to
(42:07):
bring a talent to this city, but the owners did.
I didn't think that. I didn't think that. I knew
that he needed more pieces. And I'm telling you the
one that got away from us this Clay Thompson. I
wanted them to draft play Thomps. I wanted the Wizards
(42:28):
draft Play Thomps. They had the trouble, you know, his
background with that with theuied shit in college.
Speaker 4 (42:34):
And smoked a joint. Man, give it a break.
Speaker 1 (42:37):
But John needed a guy who's a flat out shooter. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (42:42):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (42:42):
When I seen Clay Thompson shoot the basketball, I'm in
my the lake Wade Flip, I said.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
Flip, that's the guy.
Speaker 6 (42:49):
That's what we need him right there, that's what John
Wall needs.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
We drafted y'all. Vestley. M hmm, you know you know that.
Speaker 6 (43:00):
But Neil, I think Bestly was a decent, bolved player.
He snow Klay Thompson, John Walney is shooting, so I
saw that's the best thing about I know what a
team needs. I've been abound thirty two years. Four champion
I want four championships, been but six conference seven conference finals.
(43:20):
So I know what winning looks like.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
But I also know what losing look like. Absolutely, I
know what loser looked like.
Speaker 6 (43:27):
I'm gonna get the person that a team personnelity who
This ain't gonna be good. This is not gonna be good.
But I'm not gonna stop teaching. It's all about teaching
any player. I would work with this man. Oh, you
know what the hell he's talking about. All I'm looking
for is a chance to show the world that I
(43:48):
can coach you in ball club. That's all I respect, simple,
I respect the man. I appreciate you, Maks.
Speaker 5 (43:56):
Looking forward to this, chopping it up with you. You
always kind, I said, you always kept it real with me.
I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
Thanks for that jersey jersey, Yes.
Speaker 5 (44:05):
Sir, I forgot as soon as we got I gotta
get it to him, I gotta get it, got it,
I got it, sir, and I appreciate you. And by
the way, good luck and for for whatever it's worth,
you're fucking head coach in my book.
Speaker 4 (44:18):
I know it's gonna happen for you.
Speaker 1 (44:20):
Keep going, they can't.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Why stop now?
Speaker 1 (44:24):
It's too much fun. You guys do your thing. It's
too much fun.
Speaker 5 (44:27):
Absolutely. That's a rite from resort world here in Vegas.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Peace.
Speaker 6 (44:43):
The volume
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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