Draymond Green Show - Demarcus Cousins

Demarcus Cousins joins 'The Draymond Green Show' to discuss growing up in Alabama and playing football, the importance of his mother, what fatherhood has meant to him, why he followed John Calipari to Kentucky, what it was like playing for the Sacramento Kings, his unfair reputation as a player who had an attitude, if he has any regrets from his career, why he decided to join the Golden State Warriors, if he wants to get back in the NBA, his decision to play in Taiwan, and more.

0:00 intro
3:00 growing up in Alabama
8:00 Fatherhood
19:00 Coach Calipari
24:00 Playing for the Kings
30:00 His unfair reputation
48:00 Joining the Warriors
57:00 recovering from the Achilles injury
1:03:00 Playing in Taiwan

Produced by: Jackson Safon

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 5 (02:03):
What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show.
We are live here, well live as we record this
for you here at the Resort World in Las Vegas.
Appreciate them for having us here. I'm honored to have
this next guest of mine. Uh, what's a teammate of mine?

Speaker 3 (02:20):
For a year?

Speaker 5 (02:23):
I used to kick his ass like literally the years
prior to that. But nonetheless, outside of him being my teammate,
it's my brother and I'm honored to have this next guest.
Five fifth overall pick in the twenty ten draft, four
time NBA All Star, two time All NBA Second Team,

(02:44):
and twenty sixteen Olympic gold medalists. None No, the one
and only book, DeMarcus Cousins.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
What dog. I appreciate you coming on, man, what it is? Love?

Speaker 5 (02:57):
This is an honor for me, Bro, Like I've been
one to have this conversation for a while. There's also
one I never really wanted to do over Zoom. I
think for me, the connection is too strong, the brotherhood
is too strong, and I'm happy to do it here
in person.

Speaker 3 (03:12):
So I appreciate you. Appreciate you, Bro, absolutely.

Speaker 5 (03:14):
But let's uh walk me back to the beginning growing
up in Alabama. What was it like growing up and
having to get it out the mud and then making
it out of Alabama?

Speaker 1 (03:30):
It was tough, man, you know, you know, typical story.
You grew up in an environment that that isn't promising.
It's not a lot of opportunity and it's just not
a lot of resources in general. So you know, you
kind of grew up in a situation where you you
become a product of your environment. But you know, as

(03:51):
every young boy, you kind of get to that point
in life, usually about middle school where I'm from, we
call it hopping off the porch. But you know, you
get to that point you got to figure out, you know,
which route you're gonna take left for right, and you
know when you come from that type of place, you
know what that means.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
So you know, it was, you know, that typical.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Type situation, and you know, it was a lot of
growing pains for me, you know, trying to figure out
how to become a young man and figure out my
niche in life, and you know, just what I even
wanted to do. There was a lot of negativity in
front of me that you know, a lot of negative influence,
which is usually what kind of you know, uh, what

(04:35):
are the words? Uh, that's the part that you get
the most of. That's the overload that you get growing
up in those type of environments. So with that being said,
it goes back to you know, what do I want
to do? Who do I want to be? And you know,
with the influence of my mom watching her work, you know, uh,
two jobs at some at sometimes and and and raise
six kids. It's like, you know, she was the perfect

(04:57):
example for me as far as work ethic. So you know,
once I got to that part where hey, at the
end of the day I'm willing to work my tail
off to you know, accomplish whatever I put my mind to,
like I know, I had a chance. So you know,
she helped me discover ball. I grew up playing football originally,
you know, had dreams of being in the NFL. Uh.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Genetics just ain't really work out in my favor.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
So you know, I did take some some things from
that with just the physicality part that killed her mindset,
you know, part of it. And he kind of translated
over the ball. But back to what I was saying,
my mom was the person that kind of introduced me
to it.

Speaker 3 (05:37):
I was, you know, getting in trouble doing a lot
of you know.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Just silly, immature shit, and my mom, you know, she
was like, I need to, you know, put you in
something that's you know, constructive for you, you know, keep
me on the right path.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
Things like that. So she like tried basketball and you.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
Know, quick learner, very fast, very fast learner, and you know,
you know, the kind of the rest is history. You know,
my story played out how I played out. But originally
that's just kind of you know, like I said, typical
you know story of you know how we kind of
kind of come up and grew.

Speaker 5 (06:14):
Up born raised in Mobile, then you moved to Birmingham.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
I was born in Mobile and you know, basically raised
in Birmingham, and then I went back to Mobile my
junior senior year of high school.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
And why go back then?

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Uh, like I said, I was a young I was
I was a younger trying to figure things out. And
you know, like I said, I bumped my head plenty
of times. I've I've had a lot, a lot of
life lessons. You know, early in life, I grew up
faster than a lot of kids. And like I said,
that's just kind of the environment I grew up in. So,

(06:55):
you know, me going back to Mobile was a decision
my mom ended up making when you know, she basically
got to a boiling point of you know, I can't
do this alone. I need a little more help, and
she kind of leaned on her mother in that situation
that you know, help guide me through uh the rest
of my years in high school. But I gotten some
silly ship junior year, which kind of led me back

(07:18):
to going to Mobile. And you know, at that point
in my life, that's that's when I really, you know,
made a decision to commit to you know, being a
basketball player full time. And you know, and I understood
I had a lot of potential on my side. I
had a skill set that wasn't really a normal thing.

(07:38):
So you know, I told myself, let's take advantage of
this opportunity and let's see where it can take you.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
So you keep mentioning your mom for me, My mom, man,
you know, shout out to dudes. Man, shout out the.

Speaker 6 (07:53):
Dude coming out tomorrow on Tuesday.

Speaker 5 (07:59):
Okay, But I know how strong my mom is in
your mom the same way. Brilliant, incredible job that they
did in raising us. But when it's funny because I
had a conversation and the reason I say this, you

(08:20):
keep saying my mom did this, My mom did that.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
I had a conversation with my.

Speaker 5 (08:25):
Mom one day about from eleven years old on my
mom was a single mother, and you know, from twelve
to eighteen them about final years and growing into manhood.
And I lived in a house with my mom and
so In turn, I watched everything that I watched the
way my mom run a house as opposed to the

(08:47):
way my dad or a father or a man would
run a house. In turn, I picked up some of
those tendencies because that's what you see. And I said
to my mom one day, maybe like three or four
years ago, I was like, man, you know an incredible
job raising me. I'm so thankful and appreciative. But something
I need you to understand is I also watched you,
as a woman do all that you can to raise us.

(09:12):
But some of the things that you did I picked.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Up on absolutely.

Speaker 5 (09:17):
And now I have a wife and a woman and
sometimes we bump heads, right, And the reason we bump
heads is probably because I'm doing something that she should
be doing her that she would be doing, because those
are things that I picked up just because I was
raised by my mom. And so I said all of
that to say, you keep mentioning your mom, where does
your father come in in your life? And with that relationship,

(09:42):
then how did it impact your upbringing and who you
became as a man in the life lessons that you
had to learn?

Speaker 1 (09:49):
You know with my pops is I know I know
who he is, but the relationship is non existent at
this point. You know, I've attempted to you know, kind
of create a relationship or you know, a bond and
you know, it just didn't quite work out that way.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
That's just you know, it is what it is.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
But you know it's you know, some things just aren't
meant to be, and you know it's it's okay.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
But I do learn from it.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
I do take you know, things from our relationship, and
I don't take it in a way of trying to
apply to my life that I actually want to do
the opposite. It's actually, you know, being a father's it
means so much to me that it's actually an insecurity
for me. And the reason I say that is because

(10:38):
I don't always feel like I do it the correct
way or sometimes you know, my message that I'm I'm
giving my boys and my daughter is like is it
the correct message or is this just the way I feel?
You know, And you know, you can you know, the
trauma and the toxicity and the negativity that you kind
of grow up with can also become a part of
and sometimes we're making decision it's hard to separate, you know,

(11:02):
your foundation and an emotional decisions so sometimes it kind
of gets in, kind of gets in my mind on
that type of thing, and you know, I beat myself
up about it. I want to be the best example
I can be. I want to make sure, you know,
I'm a resource for them and let them know, like
whatever they're going through, no matter what it is, I'm

(11:22):
pretty sure I've been through it or I have you know,
some pretty sound advice that can help guide you through it,
you know, the cleanest way possible. So you know, it's
a struggle for me because I didn't get it firsthand.
So I'm also you know, no matter you know, no
matter how long I am, my father is still going
to always kind of be brand new for me because

(11:43):
I didn't have an example in front of me. So,
you know, I pride myself on being the best version
of myself every day. You know, I never want you know,
my seeds to go through you know, anything that I
had to experience, And like I said, I want to
make this the cleanest path possible for them. And on
top of all of it, it's more so for me
just breaking you know, generational curses were.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
You know, it's so much bullshit.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
In our culture that you know, we kind of praise
and when an actuality it should be kind of frowned upon,
but it's it's so many years of this cycle of
doing it the same type of way that we think
is okay. So for me, it's just you know, breaking
that cycle. Even when it comes down to you know,
eating the correct way, putting the right things in your body.

(12:29):
You know, there's plenty of you know, black families, ethnic
families out there that deal with diabetes and things of
that nature. My family is one of them. So me
knowing that, hey, no sugar, you know what I mean.
And I know it sucks. I know your peers are.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
Doing it, but this is my way of showing you
that I love you.

Speaker 1 (12:46):
And it may suck now, it may not make sense now,
but you know down the line you'll understand and realize
like he was really doing what was you know, best
for my long term am I right now? So you know,
that's just kind of where I'm at when it comes to,
you know, fatherhood.

Speaker 5 (13:04):
I had an interesting thing happened to me the other day.
Most people don't know the story of what you know,
but most people don't know the story of my fatherhood,
my journey with fatherhood in my life, not me as
a father. But long story short, I was raised by

(13:24):
my daddy until I was twelve. I thought he was
my daddy. When I was thirteen, I found out and
he wasn't my real father.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Man, my real father.

Speaker 5 (13:34):
Went through high school embarrassed to really embrace the relationship
because everybody in my school district knew my daddy. So
now how do I tell people that that's not my daddy?
And so then I dealt with that embarrassment and I
hear from it. Never really allowed the relationship to go
anywhere because I was so embarrassed. By fast forward sophomore

(13:56):
year college, I start to become who I became through
basketball though, and so as you know, like through basketball
we can gain confidence in who we are as men.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (14:04):
We gained an identity through that, and so I became
comfortable enough with who Draymond is that it's like, oh,
this is my story, it is what it is. Let
me embrace this. Uh, embraced it. Things went left with
my daddy, who raised me, got to the NBA. Things
went left with my father. The birth you know that
they give birth to me. But my father tried to

(14:29):
patch things up with my daddy. It was kind of
shaky and never really the same my father. It's sometimes here,
sometimes they are not really his fault either, is kind
and he had some blame in it too, But I
also have some blame in it, and I know that.
But it's just my personal journey. But an interesting thing.

(14:52):
And I said all of that to ask you this question.
An interesting thing happened to me the other day and
it made me really rethink, like this journey with my dad,
my father, and where do I need to take it?
And I don't know, Like I'm literally just having this
conversation with you. I haven't had this conversation with anybody,
because it just happened the other day and it shook

(15:14):
me up. And my son said, Daddy, who was your
daddy when you was my a? And I said, WHOA,
who was your daddy when you was my age? And
the reality is he's actually met both of them, but
not consistently enough in his life to where it's like,

(15:35):
oh yeah, you know. And that shook me because it
was like, WHOA, I need to change something because I
need to figure this out for him, because maybe he's
yearning for a grandfather, you know what I'm saying. Maybe
he want to know a grandfather. And so it brought
me to a place and again, I'm this is therapy

(15:57):
for me, by the way right now, because I'm literally
just talking through this thing.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
It just happened the other day.

Speaker 5 (16:02):
But it's got me thinking and I don't know where
to turn except for try to make that right for him,
so he do know. And I said all of that
to ask you, have you faced something like that with
your boys where they ask you something, they wonder something
about your father, because I feel like they asked me
because or he asked me, and your boys would ask

(16:25):
you because we are good fathers to them. And so
it's like, well, if you're doing this for me, where
was that for you? But I don't know where to
turn with And I just wanted to ask you, have
you faced something like that with your boys?

Speaker 3 (16:35):
I actually have it.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
It's my oldest son, my too young is not no, not,
I'm sure it's on his way, but you know they
don't quite understand that right now, but for sure with
my oldest. And it's more so where a part of
me being a father, I'm super open, like I admit
to my flaws, I admit to my struggles coming up

(17:00):
admitted to my you know, insecurities coming up because I
want my son to be able to relate. And I'm
not saying, you know, everything I went through he's going
to go through. But you know, just me andmitting and
explaining and telling my story, it may be something that
he is going through that you know, touches him and
it makes sense, you know, or it triggers something within him,

(17:20):
or it answers a question that may be you know,
in his mind that he's afraid to, you know, speak on.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
So I'm very open when it comes to that.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
And like I said, I always want to tell my
story so he can understand why I father him the
way I do. You know, sometimes you have to be
hard on and you know, as a kid, because we
were once in that place you feel like man, parents
mean as hell, or you know, whatever the case may be.
And then you know, you get to this big age

(17:49):
and your mind is forever. You know, those messages that
you get as a kid, they don't go anywhere, They
kind of sit.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
There and then you know, out of nowhere, it kind.

Speaker 1 (17:58):
Of clicks for you, like that's what you know what
I mean absolutely, So you know that's what I want
to happen for mine and hopefully sooner than later.

Speaker 3 (18:06):
So like I said, they don't have to go through
the same struggles.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
So I have been through that similar type situation, and
you know, it's very sensitive for me because it's a
lot of questions I have that still are unanswered and
they may remain that way. That's just kind of how
this thing works. So it goes back to me. Like
I said, I just want to be the best version
of myself. And you know, I feel like with that

(18:32):
with me just believing in that part. It to carry
over the fatherhood and carry over to being a husband
in so many other places, and hopefully I can be
the you know, the example that they.

Speaker 5 (18:43):
Need, absolutely and I think you've done a great job
of that. I've seen you.

Speaker 3 (18:48):
In your you know.

Speaker 5 (18:50):
And daddy moves fathering your kids. The struggles that we
go through as fathers, especially times when you have a
child that's not with my wife, those struggles. People don't
understand that some days you're going to practice coming off
a legal call before got legal calls all day the

(19:15):
next day, and people don't understand that struggle. And I've
seen you in that mode and how you hold it together.
No matter what the situation is at that time, because
when you have that situation it gets sticky sometimes, you know.
And nonetheless, I still got to show up for them,
show up for him.

Speaker 3 (19:32):
And be the same daddy.

Speaker 5 (19:35):
He knows when everything is going great for me, and
I've seen you in those situations.

Speaker 3 (19:42):
Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (19:45):
But then moving forward, uh, high.

Speaker 5 (19:49):
School, then we get to college, you're all American, You're
all the things.

Speaker 3 (19:53):
Commit to U A B. D.

Speaker 5 (19:54):
Commit, commits to Memphis with coach calv Coach calv Lee's.

Speaker 3 (19:58):
Memphis, and you go with him to Kentucky.

Speaker 5 (20:01):
Just talk to me about what was it in Cal
that you saw where you're like, oh, I'm going to Memphis,
which is in the same conference as Actually this this
the school that I grew up in the city.

Speaker 3 (20:13):
U A b.

Speaker 5 (20:14):
Birmingham was in the Conference USA. And then you go
with cal like, now I'm going with him. What was
it in Cal that you saw that you were like,
I'm going with him no matter where he goes.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Well, it's crazy, like you said, Memphis and U. A. B.
R in the same conference. What was at some point
so when I was starting his basketball journey, I ended up,
you know, have an opportunity to go to a U
A B game, So happened to be playing Memphis. Cale
was there and he had a player by the name

(20:49):
of Sean Williams. So you know, the way Sean Williams
played the game, I'm just like, bro, that's how I
want to play like, you know, just being able to
play all over the floor or score from all over
the floor, be a playmaker or a ball handler, all
of those things. And you know, we kind of came
up in the era where you were more your talents
were a little more minimized. You know, they put you

(21:11):
more in a box if you were six or five
and above you going to the post box, you know
what I mean. So we grew up in that air.
So you know, it was weird to see a guy
in my size, you know, handling the ball, shooting and
things of that nature. So that intrigued me about Kyle
that he enabled that in his players. So that was

(21:34):
really the first thing. And then you know, I watched
how he handled the careers of you know, Tyreek Evans
and Derrick Rose and Rodney Carty and all these guys
that kind of came up under him, and you know,
I loved everything about it. I loved the relationship he
had with his guys even after you know, he left it,

(21:55):
they left the program, So you know, all of those
things kind of intriguing me, you know, towards one to
play for Caliperio. And then at the end of the day,
he's real about you know, this situation. Yeah, it's a sport,
but you know, this is a situation where you can
find long long term success, you can find long term wealth,

(22:17):
all of these things.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
And he understands that. He understands both sides of it.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Obviously, he wants to, you know, bring in the best
talent that's going to help, you know, continue to propel
his his program, and it kind of goes hand in
hand and he's he's mastered.

Speaker 3 (22:32):
He's mastered. How to you know, push that.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Relationship in the most positive way where both sides benefit
from it. And that's what I love the most about Kyle.
And when they came to me leaving college, I've been
on record saying this before, it was just it was
the most simple and real conversation ever. It's you know,
you'll stay if you want to take care of my family,

(22:57):
and you'll leave if you want to take care of
your family, and you wanted to stay right, Oh, I
was planning on stands. I mean, I was so emotionally
attached that that, you bro, you know how college bro,
like your heart really be in it. I mean, and
once you get, once you get a little taste of
success and you get close to that finished line of
winning the championship, you kind of start craving it. So
it's like, man, I gotta come back and get that,

(23:19):
you know what I mean. And just the energy of
the tournament, the energy of your university behind you, the
way they support you and lift you up like you
want to win for them, you know what I mean.
So that's just kind of where I was after we
lost in the Elite eight.

Speaker 3 (23:33):
So obviously my mind was like come back. And I
had a.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
Very brief conversation with John. I'm thinking were on the
same page, like, you know, a five, Like, let's run.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
It back, John, Like, hell out of here.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
It makes sense, like the number one pick, why the
hell would he come back?

Speaker 3 (23:51):
Absolutely?

Speaker 1 (23:54):
You know, like I said, after having that conversation with Kyle,
it was it was an easy decision from that point
moving forward this like I got gonna take care of my.

Speaker 5 (24:01):
Family absolutely, and you get drafted to an organization at
the time that it was a lot like the organization
I got drafted at the time. It was a laughing
stock of the NBA was through coaches every two years
on year. Bro, it's crazy, like the turnover in the organization,

(24:22):
no stability. Teams walking to your gym, it's a night
off for them because relax, no, that's that was the
Warriors too. What I'm saying is like these organizations now,
no no, no, no, no no, I'm talking about the organization.
You get drafted to the organization, and the way teams

(24:43):
looked at these organizations, it's like, oh, we got a
night off when we walked through you know what I'm saying,
Like that was the Warriors, that was the Kings, it's
the Pistons. Now, that's how the organization was looked at.
You get drafted into that organization and in spite of
all of that, spite of the coaching changes, the instability,

(25:03):
because no one I always talk about, no one ever
says yo, it's the organization, right, It's always the player.
Fat By the way, nineteen years old, it can't really
be my fault. Like nineteen you're supposed to be helping
me out, But it don't really happen that way.

Speaker 3 (25:18):
They blame the player. And in spite all of that,
you go.

Speaker 5 (25:23):
There and you from the time you get there, all
rookie teams, all NBAS, all stars didn't want to give
you your duet first, but they had to.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
You forced them to.

Speaker 5 (25:35):
What was it like getting going to an organization like
that and then having to navigate all of those things
with the coaching changes, the front office, then there was
an ownership change while you was there, all of those
things happened, And what was it like for you having
to navigate that as a young nineteen year old.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
It was tough and it was confusing, and you know
it was it was even you know, worse for me
because I was coming from a situation at Kentucky where
you know, Cayle treated us like pros, you know what
I mean. He was preparing us for that next level.
So I remember, I never forget this, but shout out

(26:15):
to my vet, you know, San Francis, Francisco Garcia. I'm sorry,
Cisco was you know my vet. He might have at
the time, my rookie, he might have been five six
years in So that just kind of showed like that's
not a real vent, not a time that was my vet.
But I remember in my rookie season, you know, it
was something simple. I don't even remember what the task was,

(26:39):
but I kind of like at Kentucky it was like
I never did anything like that. Then I came to
the Kings, It's like this is this is a step yes, higher,
even more, you know what I mean. So this is
the elite level of basketball. So my expectations were, you know,
just they were off, you know, to say the least.

(27:00):
It was a simple task, and I remember Cisco saying
something like, uh, like, yo, you really would spoiled at
Kentucky like and in my head, I'm like, damn, maybe
I was like but at the same time, I'm like
this is an even more elite level, So why is
it being you know, looked at as me being spoiled.

(27:22):
So long story short, Cisco ended up eventually getting traded
to the Houston Rockets. Yeah, and I remember when he
went there. He ended up tapping in with me like
a little later, and he was like, man, I remember
that day, I'll called you spoiled Like he was like
I was wrong, Like we were in a shithole, like

(27:43):
and I'm like, I knew I wasn't driven, bro, and
it was and not to I'm not you know, I'm
not here to like shit on the kings or anything
like that. That's just you know, in sports, you have
up and down years. You know, I just so happened
to come in at a point where it was down here.
The workings was figuring itself out. You know, it was
in this transition period. The owners that drafted me, you know,

(28:05):
they were ready to move on and sell the team.
So it's a lot of things I got caught up
in that was just out of my control. But you know,
the average you know, fan or whatever don't quite understand
that part of the business or or or or the game.
So you know, it's easy to to look at my
situation and you know just kind of point the finger.
And to be honest, a lot of it was my fault.

(28:27):
Like I did do a lot of bone here shit,
stupid shit, But you know that's part of growing up
and becoming the man. Bump your head a few times.
But you know it was hard. It was hard figuring
it out. You know, a new system every single year,
like that's tough to do. Each coach has a different system.
Each coach thinks differently, like so, you know, just trying

(28:50):
to find success with a new system every single year,
that's that's that's really hard to do. And then on
top of it, you know, people think players create a vibe,
wish they do, but organization being good starts at the
top every single that's with any that's with any type
of organization, it starts at the top.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
So for sure, it just wasn't right.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
It wasn't things weren't aligned correctly, and it wasn't The
Kings weren't ready to flourish yet. And you know, like
I said, I ended up going through a couple ownership
with two ownership groups. I had three gms and I
was there six and a half year's had six coaches. So,

(29:37):
like I said, it was tough to navigate. But you know,
at the end of the day, when it came to competing,
that was my foundation. I had my own personal goals,
which was to try to be the best you know
player I could be, regardless of my situation, you know,
find a way to shine. And you know that was
just kind of my mindset with you know, maneuvering through that.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Nah.

Speaker 5 (30:01):
I mean, like I said, I think, you know, even
when I look back on it, dope to see because
and now being in the NBA and understanding a what
it means to be a bad organization, right, there's way
more bad organizations than there are good organizations. And with

(30:25):
that being said, and like I said, it goes back
to my original point, which is, ay, we've never once
in a million years.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
Saw a list.

Speaker 5 (30:38):
Come out on bleacher Report, on the Athletic on ESPN
talking about these are the top five or bottom five
worse organizations in the league. These are the bottom ten
worse organizations in the league. And Harri's why these organizations
are bad. You can go down the list. I've never

(31:02):
seen an article that way. But the moment the Marcus
Cousins get ejected from a game or get a technical
file or him and teammate have words, because that does
happen amongst teammates, then that's like this big issue, you know,
and it's like, oh, that's then that's who you become.
And I myself has experienced some of that, which then

(31:29):
leads me to my next question for you, which is
there's passion and there's attitude. They are actually they live
in the same house. Yes, they sleep in the bedroom

(31:50):
together pretty much the same thing, but the difference in
it is how they're characterize and categorize. I remember you
said something to me in twenty eighteen, maybe even before that,
probably was before we were even teammates, but I know

(32:11):
for certain you said it to me at some point
when we were teammates. I'm actually certain you said it
multiple times, which is man were the same, We're the same.
And they say you got passion, and they say I'm
crazy and got an attitude. And I was like, I

(32:32):
can appreciate your passion, and I've always told you that, like, no,
I know your passion.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
I appreciate us. So it matters, like, don't really put
me with.

Speaker 5 (32:42):
Somebody that it don't matter to because I don't want
to be around somebody that it don't matter.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
But also when you said that, I was like, cause
you fucking crazy. We ain't the same.

Speaker 5 (33:00):
And you said something to me that day and I
was like, I didn't necessarily go back at you, but
it was a thought provoking thing and I just kept
it with me. And what you said was nah. But
y'all been winning, so they say yours is passion. I
haven't won much, so they say mine is an attitude

(33:22):
and I can't be coach, and I'm crazy and this
and that, and I said all of that to say,
I'm sorry because you was right because all of a
sudden we win it. And now I'm crazy.

Speaker 7 (33:38):
Right now, I ain't got this sense m now man,
you America's and I'm just like, oh, this is fucking nuts.

Speaker 5 (33:48):
And when I was going through all of that stuff
this year, the first person I thought about was actually you,
because it took me back to that moment when you
said that, and I said all of that to say
to you, and coming through this league and being labeled.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
As a head case, as a coach cancer, that's this thing.

Speaker 5 (34:12):
That's that thing ultimately knowing like, no, bro, I care, right,
how did you ultimately come to terms with that of like, no,
I care? And I do have passion and all these things.
But then y'all are trying to use it against me,
make me out to be something I am not. But

(34:36):
at the same time, this is how I play, this
is how I'm great, this is these are the things
that make me great. But then I gotta trying to
find this balance because y'all trying to label me and
say I'm a problem. How did you ultimately come to
terms with that, grow through that or do you think
you ever got through it.

Speaker 3 (34:55):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
I never really have come to terms with it to
go because you know, you get to a point where
you just learn to control that you can control. And
at the end of the day, in this lifetime, it's
gonna be motherfuckers that hate you, it's gonna be motherfuckers
that love you.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
That's just how this goes.

Speaker 1 (35:14):
Like no matter what you do, no matter how many
things you do right, they gonna find something to hate
about you doing you're doing it the right way. So
that's just you know, the nature of life. But it
was hard because the same you know, the same emotions,
the same passion, the same you know that that wiel,

(35:35):
the wind, that that that fire inside of it, the
same thing that got you to this point and helped
you be this world class athlete. It's like frowned upon
and at the end of the day, like I think
it's it's even deeper than that, Like everybody's not gonna
like everybody. But at the end of the day, if
you can come to understand the person, it's easy to accept.

(35:58):
It's easier to accept and you know, I've thought about it.
I brainstormed off. You know, I'm like, what is it like?
And it just comes down to we don't relate, Like
when you think about these front offices, you think about
these people that run these organizations and even coaches, we

(36:19):
don't relate. And the biggest thing we don't relate on
is you don't know how to be a world class athlete.
That part, you don't know what it takes. You don't
know the hunger, you don't know, the drive, you don't
know to fight, the sacrifice, like, the toughness, the mental toughness,
the physical toughness.

Speaker 3 (36:40):
You don't know what it takes to be a professional athlete.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
But you have the power to critique and judge, which
is mind blowing. And it even goes a little further
than that outside of being a world class athlete. You know,
you get these guys from all over the world from
different backgrounds, different you know, environments, places, and you appreciate

(37:06):
them for the athleticism and you don't really understand their
process or what they go through to get to that
point to become the athlete, and you know, the different
things they went through life to get them to that point.

Speaker 3 (37:22):
You don't understand it, You don't even you probably don't
even know.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
And I think that just falls back on you know,
it's strictly about being an athlete, but it's so much
more deeper to understanding these athletes and these different people
that get overlooked.

Speaker 3 (37:39):
And honestly just kind of swept under the rug.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
And I think that's why it's gonna always be that
that rough patch of where it's never going to really
match up or be understanding. So have I have I
gotten to the point, you know, where I've accepted it
or no, but I've definitely let go speaking.

Speaker 3 (38:03):
Of accepting it. Uh, you just spoke about John number
one pick mm hm.

Speaker 5 (38:13):
Three Washington Wizards of all times.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
If you want to argue with me about it, I'm
not going to sit here and arguing five top five
right right right tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (38:30):
He recently, he recently said, uh, like he just wants
to help an NBA team, Like, I know, I still
got something left to give to the game, and I
just want to help an NBA team be back in
the NBA and help him in any way that I can.
If that's just mentoring the guy because of what I've
been through. Whatever, he wants that you've said the opposite

(38:56):
as of recent maybe like six seven months ago, if
that long go, you said, I know my time in
the NBA is done.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
I'm over chasing the dream. I'm moving on. What was
the process like for you to get there?

Speaker 5 (39:13):
And is that you've continued to play some some basketball
in places? Is that the still same sentiment that you
share or that you share today about the game about
the NBA as you did six seven months ago.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
I've actually gotten to the place where, you know, I
found that joy again in playing ball, and you know,
I feel like people can relate it. It's no different
than you know, you're working your regular job, and initially
you know you're working your way to getting that job.
You loved it, you know, you were all about it.
You were you know, I can't wait to work this job.

(39:50):
You actually probably enjoyed going to it every day. And
then you know, you get to a point where you
know the job is overwhelming. It's kind of affecting your
personal life's affecting life.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
At home, and you know, that's kind of what.

Speaker 1 (40:06):
The NBA became for me, and not necessarily that it
was doing anything.

Speaker 3 (40:13):
Detrimental tours me.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
It was just more so the mental space I was
in with you know, one accepting it to trying to
understand like why am I at this place and why
why I'm still trying to prove a point that I
felt like I've you know, proven plenty of times. So

(40:35):
for me, it was always about finding that joy again
because I love the game of basketball, like I'm gonna
play ball if I'm on the team or not, Like
I'm gonna go to.

Speaker 3 (40:45):
The local gym and play I love who I really
love the whop.

Speaker 1 (40:50):
So for me, it was finding that joy, you know,
being a part of that team, chemistry, team camaraderie and
just you know being at the end of the day,
were artists like and when you're creating your art and
you in that space where you can just you know, free.

Speaker 3 (41:06):
Flow and be yourself, be the best.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Version of yourself, it's a great feeling, what I mean.
And I've finally gotten back to that space and I'm
just enjoying my art. You know, I'm in a place
where and for me with moving forward when it comes
to business, it's gonna always be a place where you know,
I'm appreciating and not tolerated, and I don't want that

(41:28):
feeling of being tolerated. So you know, that's kind of
where I'm at with it. And for the most part,
like I say, I'm not chasing that dream. And that's
as far as me reaching out, like hey.

Speaker 3 (41:40):
Man, let me give me a chance. I'm not doing that.

Speaker 1 (41:43):
Like now, if you guys find interest and it makes
sense on both sides, then you know, that's something I'll consider.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
But as far as me reach out and just hearing
the and that's the other thing.

Speaker 1 (41:54):
Like I'm the type of person like I ask questions
or when I fuck up, I want to I want
to know the truth because at the end of the day,
I'm the person that I don't have a problem looking
in the mirror or you know, saying I was wrong
or you know, self reflect Like I self reflect a lot,

(42:15):
like what can I do better? But I feel like
the only way you kind of know that is when
they are honest with you, are honest with you, and
it's like, you know, what was it that bothers you?

Speaker 3 (42:24):
What can I do to you know to change that?

Speaker 1 (42:27):
And you don't really quite get those type of answers
in the NBA, you know, they throw a lot of
sugar on shit in the NBA.

Speaker 3 (42:33):
Like that's just how it kind of goes.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
So you know, I can't really get a real answer,
you know, And you know, at the end of the day,
I want to play ball, I want to ride off
in the sunset, and you know, I'm a dude. What
makes me happy at the end of the day. So
that's just kind of where I'm at. I think that's

(42:59):
beautiful to find and love.

Speaker 5 (43:00):
I think, you know, that's something that we all go
through no matter regardless of what the position is that
you're in. By the way, if you're in it, at
some point or another, you kind of lose that love
and that lust for the game and then it's just
like fuck, right, like I gotta go through this right,
Like everything is like pulling teeth, you know what I'm saying.
So just to hear that you have that love again,

(43:22):
I think I think personally that's amazing. So in speaking
on just the love for finding all again when you
look back on it through the whole process, whether it's
the Kings, wanting to leave the Kings then not wanting

(43:43):
to leave the Kings, or well, the one thing that
I do know is that the entire time you always
said like no, I love it here. I want to
be here like a drafted here. I want to be here. Ultimately,
you got traded, uh, which I can imagine it's tough
for anyone. I've never had to deal with it, but

(44:06):
I struggle with change as it is. So to get
traded in the middle of a season, to me is
terrifying but nonetheless needless to say. Whether it's King to
the Pelicans, Pelicans going great, tear your achilles, then you
ultimately signed to Warriors. When you look back through the journey,

(44:31):
are there any regrets that you have about your career,
about the way that it went, the way that it ended,
Although it's not completely over yet, but do you look
back on it and say, man, like I regret this,
or I have any type of regrets about something, the
way you handled something, just going through the journey.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
Bro, I'm not a person that lives with many regrets,
but man, it's one thing I know for sure, I
wish I would have did differently in my career. And
it might not even it might not even be an
answer you really are expected from me, But Bro, I was.
It was a year in Sacramento and I was dealing

(45:16):
with some family things back home.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
And you know, my.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
My brother, you know, kind of had a situation of
his own, and it was this fucking reporter bro named
Mandy Frillo, and this guy just he made a mission
to make sure he gave me hit piece after hit
piece where it was, you know, just kind of it
was the campaign that kind of pushed me out of Sacramento.
They had a little campaign on which was fine, but
you know I would see the articles and you know,

(45:45):
you know how we deal with me. It's like, I
know what your angle lives with me, so I'm gonna
deal with you according absolutely, So he finally made a
piece and he started to slander my and he was
it was to the point where he was kind of
running out of a tea to say about me.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
So then he just kind of switched lands and now he.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
Was speaking on a family member. And you know, I'm
super sensitive about my family. It's not a lot of
things that bothered me more than when you bother my family.
And for me, you know, with me doing my job
and me being in this profession, you know, talk your ship,
say whatever you got to say about me, but don't
bother my family, you know what I mean. So he

(46:28):
mentioned my brother and it was something and I didn't
appreciate it. So at the end of the day, you know,
I kind of pressed the line, like, you know, keep
my fucking family out of your mouth. And it was never
to the point where I wanted to take it further
than it needed to, but I definitely wanted to get
my point across. And at the end of the day,

(46:48):
looking back on it, when I was raised better too,
you know, I was raised to respect my elders like,
so I definitely pressed that. Oh man, a little too hard. Bro,
So for me, Bro, that was probably done. I'm just like, man,
come on, and I'm not a guy that like I

(47:10):
hate bullies, like you know, I experienced it growing up,
Like that's part of the reason I you know, that
the demeanor came about because I grew up in the
environment like you're gonna need to eat to be eating,
you know what I mean. So that's kind of where
the demeanor comes from. But I never believed in buget bullies.
So you know, I look back on that moment and
I'm like, Bro, you were wrong for that, like you

(47:33):
know what I mean. But outside of that, nah, like
coming from where I'm from, like knowing what I've been through.
I never in a million years as a young and
thought my life would play out the way it did.
I've lived an unbelievable life, and I say that going
through the good and the bad. Like you know, I
look at some of my peers and look at you know,

(47:56):
people I grew up with in my environment, and you
know it's people that never even believe their neighborhood, you
know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
I've been all over the world.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
I've experienced different cultures, I've seen different things. I've met
you know, plenty of you know, amazing people. So I
could never sit here and say, you know, I lived
with regret.

Speaker 3 (48:15):
But you know, like I.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Said earlier, I definitely self reflect and I have no
problem admitting, you know, when I'm wrong.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
You came to the Warriors on in one year.

Speaker 5 (48:24):
I think at the time maybe it was like five
point eight million dollar deal. H The news on the
street was that you turned down two for forty from
New Orleans.

Speaker 3 (48:33):
A is the two for forty true.

Speaker 5 (48:35):
When you look back on the decision also to come
to the Warriors, uh, as a sains today, how do
you feel about that decision as well?

Speaker 3 (48:44):
So? One, no, that's not true. Uh, Dale Demp's kick rocks.

Speaker 1 (48:53):
But so when I when I blew my achilles, it
was a little bit right before All Start Breaking that
year I was voted All Start Started. That was my
first time like a lot of things going my way.
So I was going pace to getting a max contract,
like full max contract, and I think it might have

(49:14):
been like one seventy five at the time, something like that.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
So you know that was that was understood. Yeah, any
right there.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
So when the Achilles injury happened, you know, I went
out to LA, had the surgery, and then at that
point I just kind of separated from the team. And
you know, having an injury of that magnitude and can
Loki kind of be a distraction even be around me
being a vital part of that team, like you know,
it was.

Speaker 3 (49:42):
It was a blow to the team.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
So my my thing was, you know, let me kind
of remove so those guys to stay locked in for
the rest of the season.

Speaker 3 (49:49):
So I went out to LA, you know, went through
my process of healing.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Then maybe a week into after my surgery, you know,
Dale Dems reached out and the Pelicans actually were coming
out that way. They had a road trip between LA
the to La team Okay, okay.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
Road trip.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
So anyway, you know, he came through, he came to
visit me, and initially with the visit, you know, it
was to come check on me, like I said. This
was a week later, so I'm just thinking, you know,
he coming to check on me, holler or whatever.

Speaker 3 (50:25):
Whatever.

Speaker 1 (50:25):
So he's probably there maybe ten minutes. In the midst
of that, you know, he starts talking contracts. I don't
have an agent around anything like that. It's just me,
you know, my day to day manager. I had a
couple of doctors with me, you know, going through my process.
So he's talking to me, starts mentioning the contract and

(50:46):
you know how this goes, we don't We don't negotiate.
That's what our agents are for. That's not my job.
So once he started, you know, kind of talking about it,
and he never mentioned numbers or anything. He he just
kind of started the conversation of you know, so, uh,
you know your value has dropped.

Speaker 3 (51:02):
Since the injury or whatever.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
So I kind of look at him and I'm kind
of like in shock, like you even really having this
conversation while I'm sitting here like this, Like so I
kind of got a little frustrated, and I'm like, you
know what, like I don't I'm not really in the
space like to do this.

Speaker 3 (51:20):
So you know, we finished the evening, we go our
separate ways.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
So before he left, you you know, I was like,
I'd rather not I'd rather not speak again until you know,
to start a free agency, like because I wasn't appreciative
of that moment, and I let it be known to
my agent as well, and I was like, if it's
anything that really needs to be saying, you just you
know how my agent Like, so I didn't hear from

(51:45):
dal Demp's until the start off free agency, and.

Speaker 3 (51:51):
You know, we kind of had our com I talked to.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
A few teams you know, that day, and you know
which don't really they don't matter now. But with Dale Demps,
you know, he took offense to me not wanting to speak.
So then it was, you know, the conversation was we
don't want you back. You were difficult to deal with.

(52:14):
So I'm like, all right, you know, I'm like damn,
Like in my head, I'm like damn, Like you don't
even want me back, like, you know, so get on
the phone my age and I'm like this motherfucker just
told me didn't want me back.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
So now I'm kind of like lost.

Speaker 1 (52:31):
Because going into this whole thing, I'm like, I know
absolutely just we weren't a playoff team the year before.

Speaker 3 (52:39):
We're now a playoff team. We had a lot of
success in a short time, so I'm.

Speaker 1 (52:43):
Like, I know they're gonna try to keep this team
yet brough Rondo in, we had Drew Holliday, so we
had a night.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
We had a really good.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
Court and so my whole mindset was like, I know
how to get figured out whatever it is. So you know,
once I heard the words, you know, we don't want
you back at all, you know, my mind kind of
shift and it's just like damn, like.

Speaker 3 (53:06):
You know what am I doing now? So now I
know like.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
I'm not I know, I'm not getting a max because
the team that can pay it to me doesn't even
want me. And I think for the most part throughout
the league it was kind of figured that I would
be back with New Orleans m hm. So you know,
we kind of had that conversation and then I'm not

(53:29):
really sure at the timeline, but they ended up signing
Julius Random. So for me, I'm like well, you know,
there's my money, like, you know what I mean. So
they obviously they really moved on. So you know, at
this point, I'm like, damn this, you know, this is
a fucking up situation. But you know, I know the
reality of my situation, which is I have a bone achilles.

(53:51):
I probably won't be back next year. It's just a
difficult time. So you know, I get on the phone
with my agent and we kind of figure out a
game plan that's to you know, how can I maneuver
through this and still find a way to be successful.

Speaker 3 (54:05):
Man.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
You know, he kind of mentioned the Warriors, and I'm like,
that would make sense. You know, I can rehab, you know,
I can come in you know, want I'm healthy and
you know, just kind of help the team move forward
and I can still remain with some type of value,
you know what I mean, and then I could go
on and you know, continue my career. So that was
kind of the game plan, and that's how it was

(54:27):
introduced to me, and you know that's more so how
it played out. But to answer that question, you know,
I took a lot of scrutiny for you know, that
so called deal that was offered to me. But like
I said, we never had a conversation about a deal
in general, like no numbers, no years, anything was offered.

(54:47):
So I don't to this day know where that you
know rumor came from.

Speaker 3 (54:53):
Man, I think I still remember getting that call.

Speaker 5 (54:58):
I was sitting in sancturated degrees on vacation at dinner
with my wife is having dinner on the cliff looking over.

Speaker 3 (55:04):
The water and Bob and Bob called me.

Speaker 5 (55:10):
And Bob was like, yo, He's like in a panic,
almost like hyper vented, like yo, yo, Like it's crazy,
what's going on back here? I know you on vacation, right,
but I think we can get to Marcus Cousin.

Speaker 3 (55:24):
What you think?

Speaker 5 (55:26):
And I'm like, Bob, what like talking about He's like,
I think we can get to Marcus Cousin.

Speaker 3 (55:34):
All right, He's like, what do you think? How you
feel about that?

Speaker 5 (55:40):
Like when I talked to him, he seems like he
is but he needed to talk to you and Steph
and he really needs to talk to you because I
guess y'all got into it or something.

Speaker 3 (55:50):
And I said, number one, Bob, that's no issue, no
issue a.

Speaker 5 (55:57):
Number two, Bob, if you can get to Marcus Cousins
you fucking get the Marcus Cousins. I don't care who
may feel a warring. You get DeMarcus Cousins. You get
the Marcus Cousins. And I remember that whole thing playing out,
and you ended up on the team. Do your rehab.
You came back first game back, dunk on Kyle Kuzma

(56:21):
when when so, now you're rehabbing from an achilles injury,
I'd imagine not really feeling like yourself when you come back.

Speaker 3 (56:30):
Then you dunk on cous right away.

Speaker 5 (56:32):
You had that play, which is like, oh, that's that's like,
that's prom de Marcus in the moment when that play happens,
and you like like at that moment, do you feel like, oh,
I'm back, I'm good Or was that just one hurdle
that you had to jump over coming back from me?

Speaker 1 (56:52):
I would say it was a hurdle I had to
jump over, and you know it was it was a
lot for me, even you know, coming back in the system.
You know, and it's like in that offense, like it's
people think it's just so free flowing, but it takes
a lot of IQ to play that, and in your

(57:14):
IQ never turns off. It's not just an athletic type system.
It's a lot of thinking in between, so learning that
on the fly, learning how to play off you know,
the tendencies and stuff.

Speaker 3 (57:25):
The tendencies are clay. And then ultimately you know.

Speaker 1 (57:28):
K at the time and then even you because we
did a lot of similar things.

Speaker 3 (57:32):
But you know, it was it was me trying to
find my way into a well ORed machine but also
continue to let it run, you know, properly.

Speaker 1 (57:42):
So it was a lot of difficult you know times
where I you know, sometimes I felt out of place,
you know, the rhythm was off, you know, trying to
figure out my own personal game within the offense. So
it was it was a lot of things against me.
And then on top of that, you know, just having
confidence in my movements, like you know, doing things that
I was used to doing. But you know, my mind,

(58:03):
my mind is telling me like, yeah, you can still
do it, but my body not on the same thing.
So it was very difficult. But I had a you know,
credit to you guys, and I had a really good
group around me. You guys you know, really embraced me.
You guys worked with me. You allowed me to you know,
you know, find my way within it and you know,

(58:24):
eventually we had we had it was rolling like bro.
So you know, we kind of finally found our rhythm.
You know, everybody you know, figured out their their place
within the team and you know, and everybody was finding
success at the same time. And you know, obviously we
ran into another injury. So but like I said, credit

(58:48):
to you guys, because y'all really made that you know,
that situation.

Speaker 3 (58:50):
Work for no doubt, no doubt it was and it
was amazing.

Speaker 5 (58:54):
Uh, switching gears before I let you go, You've been
very right a lot more of all in the media space.
I think you're do an incredible job. Obviously, we all
know you're never gonna mens your words. You are going
to say exactly what you think and feel. It's going

(59:15):
to be authentic, it's going to be real. And that
I can appreciate because that's how I try to go
about the business. But then getting into the media space, Uh,
and you just spoke, you just said something that's very interesting.
You said, you know how we deal with the media
like and now to be on that side in a sense,

(59:41):
it's ultimately like media is something that you want to
do post career. It's kind of something you're doing right now?
Where do you see that thing moving for you?

Speaker 3 (59:51):
It's definitely a lane I want to be in.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
You know, I feel I'm a person with a lot
of knowledge with this game, a lot of experiences. I'm
a person that, you know, relied on thinking the game,
so I kind of view the game in a different
way than you know guys that more so rely on athleticism.
So I just and then on top of it, I

(01:00:16):
feel like I'm a guy that can kind of help
people relate with understanding both sides, you know what I mean.
And on top of that, for me, it was when
we came into the league. You know, I came in
twenty ten, and it was kind of a league where
you know, you had to just shut up and play
like regardless of what was said, if it's true or not.

(01:00:37):
You know, part of being professional back then was, you know,
just kind of taking it on the chin. And you
know a lot of information to be spread about you
or rumor be said about you, and it could have
simply been because you didn't take that one on one
with a medium member. They take it personal, they have
a bias towards you, or they feel like you're an
asshole and then not a narrative begin is to shift,

(01:01:00):
you know what I mean. So for me, that's part
of the reason I kind of got into this lane.

Speaker 3 (01:01:04):
One.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
I can tell my own story. I can tell you
exactly who I am, you can hear directly from the
horse's mouth. And on top of that, you know, I
want to speak on this game from you know, my perspective,
my point of view, and I also want to be
able to critique it in a way.

Speaker 3 (01:01:22):
Where I'm honest, I'm real in my answers.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
But you know, when it comes to these athletes hearing
you know my response, it'll never be where I want
them to feel like.

Speaker 3 (01:01:32):
I don't think the markets likes me. No, I'm gonna
just speak my truth.

Speaker 1 (01:01:37):
Ay, bro, you play like ship or whatever the case
may be, and I see you in person and this
you know, I got a lot of respect for you,
and you know I wish you the best. So that's
more so how I kind of want to go about
it when it when it comes to you know, just
you know, explaining this game and giving the people what
they want as far as the insight of the game
on both sides.

Speaker 3 (01:01:57):
So you know, that's just kind of where I'm at
with it.

Speaker 5 (01:02:00):
No, I think, like I said, I enjoy watching you.
I think you've done an incredible job. And like Ship,
I keep telling people, there's room for everybody in the
space because one thing is about it, like what's your niche?

Speaker 3 (01:02:17):
You know what I'm saying, Like my niche ain't going
to be your niche not going to be my niche.

Speaker 5 (01:02:22):
Because of that, then there's space for both of us
because I can stay in my lane, you can stand
in yours. And so I really enjoy you doing that.
You ultimately decided to go over overseason play. You've been
trying to You've been in Taiwan. Uh what what did

(01:02:42):
it take you to reach there? To ultimately get to
that decision? I know you know a lot of us
struggle with that. You know a lot of us like
fight it. Some guys never do it. Leave a ton
of money on the table doing it. What ultimately, what
wasn't for you that gave you that final push?

Speaker 3 (01:03:03):
Like fuck it, I'm going to do it, like and
that's just what it is. It's pretty simple. I had
that itch. I'm like, bro, I want to hoot, like
you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
You know, you get so stuck on trying to you know,
get back to the league or whatever the case may be.
I come to find out I'm in the gym seven
days a week, trying to play five and five basketball,
and I'm telling myself, like, dude, just go play basketball.
Like figure out a situation that's you know, convenient for you.
And it wasn't as simple as you know, I just

(01:03:35):
want to go play basketball so I can just up
and lead because obviously I have a family, you know,
I have my at home situation, so it's not as easy.
So I definitely had to find convenience in that factor.
But you know, ultimately we figured it out, and you know,
I was able to go, you know, scratch that itch. So,
like I said, I very much still love the game.
I'm very much still committed to it. I trained weekly,

(01:03:58):
like I trained like I'm still in the NBA, you
know what I mean. So that's how committed I am
to this game. And you know, until that you know
that it is going on, I'm gonna continue to play
this game.

Speaker 5 (01:04:10):
God, I can appreciate it because I've always I mean
I think now I could because I've just traveled so
much and I have a different appreciation for Europe and
age and all these different things. But it takes so
much to a swallow your pride, b.

Speaker 3 (01:04:30):
Like make that sacrifice, like going all the way over there.

Speaker 5 (01:04:32):
You can't really talk to people back at home because
of the time difference. When you do, they're going to
better you going to bed, and the list goes on
and on and on and so for me, I have
the utmost respect for guys that can go overseas and
play and actually do that, and even more respect for
the guys who experience the NBA, especially at a high

(01:04:56):
level like you have the highest level and just can't
quite you know, like I just can't quite get it.
And so I can appreciate that, appreciate you, bro. So man,
I've appreciated this conversation, as you know, the love that

(01:05:17):
I have for you absolutely here. Will we see you
try to make another run at the NBA or are
you just going to continue to scratch ther ish to
you done and say you know what, I'm done with that.

Speaker 3 (01:05:31):
I've done that. I don't want to quite chase that
no more. And the reason I asked that is this.

Speaker 5 (01:05:37):
I actually think I was so happy when you said, like,
you know, I'm done chasing that, And the reason I
was happy is because.

Speaker 3 (01:05:46):
You great man, like I had to guard you like great.

Speaker 5 (01:05:53):
I still never forget to play where I was talking
shit to you, you put your chess and your shoulder into
my chest. I went into the stand and he was
about to dunk on me and bo get blocked the shot.
I was so happy. It was no coming back from
that play for me. I was so happy.

Speaker 3 (01:06:10):
Oh my god, there was no coming back. I was
so happy.

Speaker 5 (01:06:16):
But one thing I think happens, it's like people then
try to lessen what you've done and they do it
to you. I watched them do it to Mellow when
Mellow was like nah, like I still want to play,
and like trying to get back in the league, and
then he even ended up.

Speaker 3 (01:06:35):
Getting back in the league.

Speaker 5 (01:06:36):
But it's like, oh, it's almost like people feel like, oh,
here's my chance to treat you how I want to
treat you. You know what I'm saying is that it's
that door still shut for you where you're like, nah,
I'm good on the NBA. Like if I want to
play basketball, I'll still play basketball.

Speaker 3 (01:06:51):
But that thing for me is done.

Speaker 1 (01:06:54):
Like I said, I'm I'm definitely at the place where
you know, I'm I'm gonna scratch my age. But as
far as chasing it, I'm done chasing. If it's a
situation that's you know, that makes sense, it's it's some
insurance behind any things of our nature, and absolutely I
would consider. But like I said, as far as chasing

(01:07:16):
or begging and kissing ass, that's not happening.

Speaker 3 (01:07:21):
It's not happen my dog. I appreciate it.

Speaker 5 (01:07:23):
Bro, that's a rock. This episode of the show, we
thank you, brother Bertie. Absolutely, Resort World. We appreciate you.
It's a rock.

Speaker 3 (01:07:32):
Peace