November 21, 2025 • 21 mins
On Episode 3 of the Nets Pod, presented by Ticketmaster, Sarah Kustok is joined by YES Network lead play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco and special guest Brian Scalabrine — the Nets’ 2001 second-round pick and current NBA TV analyst. The trio dives into Scal’s early playing days with the Nets, the impact Jason Kidd had on his career, his transition into the broadcasting world, and the origin of his iconic “White Mamba” nickname.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
We welcome you into next pod with Sarah Coustock, presented
by ticket Master and ooh am, I excited for the
guests that we have here today. Let's start with the
birthday boy, Ryan Rucco Hay birthday, thanks go play by
play partner, the voice of the Brooklyn Nets. And also
yeah it does a lot of other things.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You know who he is.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
He's already been on the pod, so we're gonna see
who is a better podcast. And the great Brian Scalabrini,
which scal you are a NBA legend currently now you've transitioned,
which we'll get into the broadcast booths. So you are
the analyst for the Boston Celtics. You do national NBA
analysts work, but more than anything, you're a friend and
(00:42):
you're someone that we just we love having you because
you bring so much light in a room.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I was so happy to get to text and I
move things around to make this happen. Anytime you can,
like double up, come, I'm already here. We're here for
the Celtics next game, and we could do some more stuff.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I'm all about it, right, It's a lot better than
the text that's as like, hey, can you meet me
at eleven am on the Lower East Side at this
studio to go like that, that's that's a tough prints or.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Like go do oh no, no, I meant like Scale,
I need you to run some kids through some drills.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
No, no, no, I met the podcast that takes you someplace.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Other than someplace you already I totally Ageah, those are
tough for this, Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So I'm going to start with because Rooks, I know
you've wanted to be a broadcaster forever and that's why
you're so excellent at your craft. But Scal, I'm curious
for you before we get into your playing career, when
did you know that this this was something you either
wanted to do or would it would be so excellent.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
A two thousand and eight Tommy Hinchen was our obviously
our analysts. He would travel, but he started to not travel, okay,
And I'm thinking at the time, like you know, I'm
you're six seven eight eight, and I'm like, you know,
what what a job to end up? You know, like
covering a team, following the team around, you know. I
(01:58):
like the fact that I get a chance to root
for the team, like I don't if I do National
stuff like I played down the middle, but when it
comes to like calling the game, I enjoyed that side
of it. You know, it's almost so much of life
is timing. If you look at what Tommy was doing
at the time he was getting up there, I think
it's like seventy four. He wasn't traveling as much. And
I looked at my career. If I played three more years,
(02:19):
this would be a great transition. I could be around
my family. It's not like the ups and downs of
the roller coasters of coaching, but it's still a way
of and I've had a great relationship with the city
of Boston at that point. So I started doing like
Man on the Street features and stuff like that with
at the time it was Comcast, and with the idea
that I'd be able to take over that job one day.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
You know what's interesting about Scal is when there are
certain players as they're playing that you kind of know
that they have this in them, right, like and Scal
is one of those guys. So you could see as
the career was going along, like, okay, he could clearly
be somewhere in media. And now you do a little
bit of you know, all of it right, like, Yeah,
(03:03):
you have a radio show hosting national analysts and studio
and then doing games for a team, so you kind
are you've got three different buckets within this NBA world
is And what you said about the home team thing
and that feeling of rooting, I get that because there's
a guy who does national games as well. There's a difference, right,
Like you do a national game, you're right down the
(03:25):
middle no matter what. There's something fun and kind of
freeing when you get that opportunity to within the bounds
of professionalism also have some kind of a rooting interest
like you do with the Celtics or like I do
with the.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Next Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is
you learn right away be versatile in this business. Like
I remember going to my boss and I asked him
if I could do the serious job and he looked
at me sideways like now we kind of own you.
And right then I was like, huh, that's interesting, And
I told him, and this is a bold move for me.
I said, I'm gonna make X amount of money. Either
(03:58):
I can make some from them or I can make
all from you. And I walked out of his office
and while I was driving home. He called me and say, hey, yeah,
we have no problem with you doing the serious gig.
But I knew, right there is like it put a
feeling inside of me be versatile. So and it was great,
Like I always think like local level, I get a
ton of reps, right Yeah. And so I was calling
games when Mike Gorman would be sick or missing game.
(04:20):
So I started doing play by play. I would do
an analyst, I hosted the studio, I was doing stuff
with that. I would go on the street. I was
terrible at interviewing with you did play realized I've done
over a hundred one hundred play by play games?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Did you know that. I didn't even realized that.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
He did that much play by play?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
But I did know that you did some Wow.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
Yeah, some on a on a whim.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
But I've also done a playoff game like Mike wouldn't
travel and they didn't want to bring somebody else in.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
So it was just like the idea it was. It
was like a neon light, be versatile in this business,
and you know those did that. I gotta give him credit.
Richard Jefferson did the same thing. You like watching him
host shows and he's doing all these things and look
where you that right now.
Speaker 5 (05:01):
I think doing multiple jobs.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It refines you for the job that I need to
do right now, which is an analyst for the games.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
There are some things that just you can only acquire
via reps. Right It does not matter your talent if
you don't have the reps. There's just certain things you're
not going to learn until you go through it. You're
just not going to Obviously, there has to be some
level of talent to project what can be, but you
don't get to what can be unless you're doing the reps.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
And Richard's a great example. Obviously he's a good friend
of everyone here.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
And remember Richard was Starr and Sarah he was doing
like he was doing random pac twelve Network basketball games
because he was like, I'm gonna do everything, and that's
going to prepare me for.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
The thing I ultimately want, just like it has for you.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Well, I think that's a separator though, and we saw
that for you as a player, like understanding the nuances
of the little things, knowing how the whole piece of
everything works. I want to go back to you as
a player because it's awesome, Like you have a tremendous career.
You're a fan favor. You mentioned this about broadcasting. I
remember people in Chico when you were playing there, that's
what they said. They're like, Oh, he's gonna be on TV.
(06:04):
He's just so smart. He gets it. He knows how
to explain the game. What was it like in your
trajectory being drafted? You obviously spend time with the nets,
with the Boston Celtics and with the Chicago Bulls. What
was it like though, being drafted and going to the
finals twice? Yeah, so early, like that type of and
we'll get to your two thousand and eight championship with
(06:25):
the Celtics, but like that type of experience at that
point in your career.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So I would say my superpower in life is like
self realization of who you are, right Like, Okay, I
know I'm not this sad and that, and I know
I need to be this and that to play, but
I had I mean, watching Jason Kidd set to tone,
it was amazing, right, like watching how he approached the game,
how he approached practice, and it is I don't know
(06:53):
what it is about me, Maybe because I look like
a redheaded step child or.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
Whatever whatever it is. People could be so on with me.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And I remember Jason Kidd for whatever reason, he didn't
have a ride home from the airport and he needed one,
so of course he asked me. I'm like, I'm not
going to say no. And he from that point on,
he was such a straight shooter. And I made a
mistake one time and he cut me with it. You know,
you guys have seen those eyes before and he cut
me with those eyes. And I was like, all right,
(07:21):
don't make that mistake ever again. And it's like the
ability to learn, and it's a separator for all NBA players.
And if you ever wonder like who makes it and
who doesn't most of the time, like it takes this
guy one day to figure it out, it takes that
guy a month to figure it out. The one day
guy is going to move on to something else. The
one month guy is going to be out of the league. Right,
So you have to know what you are, who you are,
(07:43):
what you do, how you helped the team win, how
you help superstar players. And I just think, like my
career it was I had great leadership and following those
guys and the tones that they said he's not the
only one, like being a backup to Kenya Martin was
was anexperience in and of itself, but you watch how
smart he is and you realize, like, you better not
(08:03):
mess up coverages. I remember messing up at Tracy McGrady
pac Garrity coverage and I heard it from him in
the film room and every every one of the coaches.
But those things right there, if you don't learn from that, like,
I'm out of a job, right So I look at
my careers like the ability to pick things up as
fast as you possibly can is how I stayed in
the league for eleven years.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Can we go back, though, to your big moments the
January the end of January two thousand and four, I
pulled up these stats because you've you know, the career
numbers maybe don't pop pop off the screen at you.
But let's go to the Golden State game that was
your career game, January twenty six. Do you remember this,
Sroux two thousand and four, were.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Still you were still in high school. It's the child.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Birthday boys, and I am twenty nine points, six rebounds, forces,
two steals, ten to sixteen from the field, five to
seven from three. What happened and what did that feel like?
For all the work you put in and then understanding your role.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Well, it was like, it's all about momentum and if
you get a couple of easy baskets early, and with
Jason Kidd is pretty easy to get some easy baskets early.
Like everything is confidence and momentum, right, and there's a
vice versus side of that. I can miss two shots
in a row and lose my confidence, right and go
back to the bench and be like, man, we're not
going to play again, right, So I happened to start.
(09:21):
I had a really good game the night before against Sacramento.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Well that next the next week though, you had the
Detroit game as well.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Well, that was that. I was in the playoffs So
that was in.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
When was that that same year?
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Yeah? Yeah, the playoffs are all around.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So it's uh so you just get momentum and you're
playing basketball all the time.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
I had to work, so I was ready and all that.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
But the two stars and the team were Kid and Carter,
and I still work with bench right now at NBC.
Like those guys are so selfless, like they they want
people around them to do well, and so when you
have like just think about it and I try to
explain this to my daughter, who me like I've been
stamped by like Michael Jordan.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Jason Kidd, Kevin you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And well, like you have to understand what that does
to your psyche when you get stamped by some of
these great players or Jason kids in there, like like
giving you adapt as you go back, Yeah, keep killing.
That does something to you, right, So I think that's
a combination of being prepared, all the work and all that,
and then also having a guy like Kid look out
for you. And he's going back to Oakland, so of
course he wants to beat the Warriors, right, So, like
(10:27):
he's doing everything he can to win. And I just remembered,
like those two guys were super happy for me, and
that could That's not.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Always the case in the NBA.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, And I was super fortunate to be drafted by
the Nets at the time they had step On Marlberry
and then they traded for Jason Kidd. That changed the
trajectory of my life, you know. And I'm not I'm
not trying to like downplay who I was or what
I am, but like i'd be I'd be an idiot
to think that it was about me and not about
like the people that were around me.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
What it's interesting, like the way you talk about Jason
and I can't even member when the Mavericks won their
championship when Kid was with them.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
And Rick Carlisle.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I remember doing an interview with Rick on my radio
show with Steven A and we used to host this
show together, and we asked him, you know what's the
you know, what's the key to this success? And then
when Kidd was had gone on to the Knicks and
they won fifty plus games the one year they did
with mel first.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Thing he said was Jason Kidd. Yeah, Jason, kids on
their team.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
And this is obviously a later in his career, almost
at the end of his career, Jason Kidd. What was
it about Jay Kidd outside of his basketball abilities that
has everyone always saying, like right away, his impact on
winning was something so profound that you could feel it
(11:46):
from the time he started in the league to the
time he ended, regardless of how his numbers may have changed,
or his physical or abilities or talent might have changed.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
It's ability to identify what winning basketball is like, you know,
I mean later in his career, he knew he had
to get to bald to Carmelo Anthony, who had a
great year back by the way, Yeah, he stopped Lebron
from getting a unanimous MVP.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
He got one vote from Gary Washburn. He was I
mean he was really good.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean Lebron was sick that year,
but we could get it, like he was really good
that year and so so Kid did that with Dirk,
but at the time when he was with us, he
could do that with a fast break. So I just
think like your life becomes super streamlined, you know, like
you know what you have to do, you do your job,
and he will help you. Like if with him that
we some many missed the shot. If I sprint the floor,
(12:31):
even if I don't get it, I could open up
like a trail three for Kerry Kittle's right, everything you
do was purposeful and streamline. And if you start the
DVA and the NBA could get really murky, you know,
like teams could have you could have eight different players
with eight different agendas. Right when your best player is
driving the boat, it's your life and your game and
(12:54):
your energy and your focus is streamlined into like one
or two things. And that's what makes winning basketball being Oh,
what's going to happen, developing, having all these different things happening.
I've been a part of a team like that two
years I was with the Celtics before we got Kevin Garnett.
It was eight different things going on at one time.
Then you get a Garnett who's just like Kid. He
(13:16):
walks in, he's streamlined, he's focused, and it's like it's
ahead of the snake, and then everyone sort of follows
and we know the direction that we're going. I've never
ever was lost on what Kid was thinking or what
he wanted to do. We always were. I felt like
when we were good and distractions happen. People want to
get all stars, people want maximum contracts. All that stuff
(13:36):
does happen. But it felt like we were streamlined and
what we needed to do more than the other teams.
Speaker 6 (13:42):
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knows that better than you Nets fans. It all starts
with buying tickets. A Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of
the Nets in the NBA. Ticketmaster gets you to the
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the next game again. Nets ticket it's a Ticketmaster. Even
if you're headed to the game last minute. Ticketmaster's got
(14:04):
your back when it comes to scoring tickets. And there's
no better brag than saying, is salt live get tickets
at ticketmaster dot com.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Slash nets you know what?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Hearing you say that like and thinking about how the
other pieces fit into Like, that's another part of the projection.
When you're watching a young team development.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You need those stars, right, you need them to be
the right stars. But then also some.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Of those pieces that maybe if they're alone, right, you're like,
I don't know what this guy can be. But if
they get around the right stars, you're like, oh, you
know what, Like that guy, he's a quality NBA starter
if he's with the right people, that.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Guy can be the seventh man on a championship.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Team if he has the right corps as well, if
they keep developing and have the right work ethic and
and yeah, sometimes like even looking at the nets this year, right,
maybe maybe one of the draft picks, maybe two of
the draft picks, maybe none of the draft picks, or
NBA stars maybe three of them are when their careers developed,
or maybe there's two or three guys that if they
(15:03):
get the right guys around them. We look at and say,
you know what, these are the perfect stars for them
to develop.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
There's a lot that goes into team building.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Yeah, it's just as important to nail like the twenty
first pick, get him on a good contract, and I
continue to develop him as maybe a role player star,
like a star role player.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Then it is to find the top dog, you know
what I mean? A lot of times you can might
trade to get the top dog.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
But all those supplementary pieces, which last year's team had
a lot of them, and they've done well when they
finally traded like a Dennis Shrewder and like a lot
of guys like that, they had some of that.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
But it doesn't work unless you have the star.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yeah, you need that core, no defintion of everything. You're
a perfect example. Okay, two more things. Your favorite moment
stands out most? You were beloved, You were beloved everywhere
you played, you went, you are even now as a
net What stands out most as your favorite moment? I mean,
I know I'm.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
Gonna say the basketball stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I'm gonna say the basketball stuff, but I'm telling you
the truth, Like it's really about those parties at kid's
house and the relationships that you build, like chopping it
up in the locker room. Like when I think about
my career, I'll think about those things. I don't think
about the game I played, the Detroit games and double overtime.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
I don't think about that.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I think of like when I see the guys like
chopping it up and having conversations and life advice.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
From these unbelievable people.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Right, so I could say the Detroit game, the run
to the finals, I thought we should have like at
least forced game seven to the Spurs and all that stuff,
and all that stuff. I remember all that stuff. But
what I remember the most and what's like most fond
of after all of it, is like the going to
people's houses, being a casual card games with Rod Thorn
(16:45):
as he turned.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
Like that stuff was awesome.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
So I remember the relationships and all the behind the
scenes stuff for the NBA, and I enjoyed every minute
of it. I wasn't a miserable NBA player, whether I
played or I didn't play, like I just enjoyed being
in a pross And I realized, like listen, go back
twelve years, like come on, I was a high school kid,
that got cut from the freshman team. Like for me
to be in the NBA, I already want. I tell
(17:10):
like I tell people all the time like I won
when I got a full Rice scholarship to school.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I won life. At that point, I have one light.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Everything else was gravy on top. And I wasn't ever
going to revert back. I just I didn't have it
in my nature. So those relationships that we built, even
when we had a nice run in college, I remember
like playing cards at the Marriotte on the fifteenth floor
and stuff like that. That's what the NBA and basketball
and the experience of going all over the place, that's
what that has.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Done for me.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Amazing.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
We love it.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Okay, we have one game for you, all right, let's
do it. It's Hot Hot Ticket presented by Ticketmaster. Experience
your Nets Live with Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of
the Brooklyn Nets. We're going to give you some of
the best NBA nicknames of all time, and it's going
to be a game. So as we continue to go,
you need to pick and then we're going to see
which one.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
Was like like like final four someone yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Ok, yes, So this is like competition for each one
visanity versus doctor J, Doctor J. Doctor J versus white chocolate.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
For nicknames only, not the game. Pretty good white chocolate.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yeah, white chocolate versus the answer, The answer, the answer
versus the truth.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
The truth is pretty cold, the truth.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
The truth versus iceman.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
I go with the truth. I love that nickname. By
the way, little bias story here, No, no, I do
love the truth, the truth.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
The truth versus the big fundamental. The Truth, the truth
versus big ticket. The Truth, The truth, the truth versus
the glove.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Oh man, the glove. I grew up in Seattle. The glove.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Okay, the glove versus Diesel the glove, The glove versus
the Admiral. The glove, The glove versus magic. Magic all
the time, great love versus the dream.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
I mean, magic versus the dream.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Oh sorry, magic versus thank.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
You, Yeah you got. That's why I'm the rules coordinator here.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Hard to beat magic, I'm getting magic versus black mamba
magic magic versus white mamba magic.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
His big name is so good that that's actually his name.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
He doesn't have a real No one calls him Irvan.
That's how good that that magic name. Come on, it's
so fitting.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Okay, so magic is the ultimate winner. But where give
us the backstory of White Mamba.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Stacey King, you know, an analyst for the Bulls. He
one day he just you know, he has all kinds
of nicknames. He's crazy and all that stuff. And I
put down some Kobe Bryant's custom made and I said,
these are the White Mama one point. He ran with it.
The next game we blew a team out. I played
in the fourth quarter, I had like six points by
the time I got back to Chicago. The thing was,
(19:56):
it spread like wild.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Did you enjoy it too? Like it did you the chance?
I mean, it was unbelievable when you would come in
a game, fans would want you to get into the game.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So when I was in Boston, I didn't embrace it, right,
I don't know why. Like that, I was like, man,
I didn't do anything. Those guys built to twenty point
lead while you cheer him for me. In Chicago, I
totally embraced it. I'd yell on the bench to Thibodeau, like,
come on, TIBs, twenty thousand people, man, you got to
give them what they want.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
He'd go like that, you know so, But no, I
totally loved the chance.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
At the end, I really embraced, like the last part
of my career and all that stuff and being a
fan favorite. I talk crazy trash to my team, all
that stuff, like, you know, the fans really are here
to see me, not you, Derek like you, stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I had a lot of Funnish you're closer to Lebron than.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
The normal person is to me. People love that line.
But you know what, at forty seven, gap is changing.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
You scallenge again?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Ever, I don't think so. I think i'd lose. I
think I would lose. Like I play against kids all
the time. Now, they are so much better.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Don't let any of these former players tell you they're embellish.
Trip down memory lane.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
These guys are so much better than we ever were.
I don't care if they're saying that they don't know
the league?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Is it true?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
We remember your your your championship parade or whatever speech.
Did you ever tell your kids that you were m VP? No?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
I didn't. I remember two thousand and eight. It was
the start of the iPhone. Google. You know how.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
These kids fact check everything they have chat GBT, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Scale you're awesome. We know you got work to do,
but we love you, we appreciate you, and we'll be
We'll be blocking in for all things, All Things every
time you're on for Brian Scalabrining, Ryan Rocco. I'm Sarahcustack.
This has been the NETS Pod presented by Ticketmaster. Make
sure to check us out on YouTube and That's YouTube channel.
Anywhere you get your podcast, Please subscribe, rate, review, all
(21:53):
the good things and we'll see next time.
We welcome you into next pod with Sarah Coustock, presented
by ticket Master and ooh am, I excited for the
guests that we have here today. Let's start with the
birthday boy, Ryan Rucco Hay birthday, thanks go play by
play partner, the voice of the Brooklyn Nets. And also
yeah it does a lot of other things.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You know who he is.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
He's already been on the pod, so we're gonna see
who is a better podcast. And the great Brian Scalabrini,
which scal you are a NBA legend currently now you've transitioned,
which we'll get into the broadcast booths. So you are
the analyst for the Boston Celtics. You do national NBA
analysts work, but more than anything, you're a friend and
(00:42):
you're someone that we just we love having you because
you bring so much light in a room.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
I was so happy to get to text and I
move things around to make this happen. Anytime you can,
like double up, come, I'm already here. We're here for
the Celtics next game, and we could do some more stuff.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
I'm all about it, right, It's a lot better than
the text that's as like, hey, can you meet me
at eleven am on the Lower East Side at this
studio to go like that, that's that's a tough prints or.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Like go do oh no, no, I meant like Scale,
I need you to run some kids through some drills.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
No, no, no, I met the podcast that takes you someplace.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
Other than someplace you already I totally Ageah, those are
tough for this, Okay.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So I'm going to start with because Rooks, I know
you've wanted to be a broadcaster forever and that's why
you're so excellent at your craft. But Scal, I'm curious
for you before we get into your playing career, when
did you know that this this was something you either
wanted to do or would it would be so excellent.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
A two thousand and eight Tommy Hinchen was our obviously
our analysts. He would travel, but he started to not travel, okay,
And I'm thinking at the time, like you know, I'm
you're six seven eight eight, and I'm like, you know,
what what a job to end up? You know, like
covering a team, following the team around, you know. I
(01:58):
like the fact that I get a chance to root
for the team, like I don't if I do National
stuff like I played down the middle, but when it
comes to like calling the game, I enjoyed that side
of it. You know, it's almost so much of life
is timing. If you look at what Tommy was doing
at the time he was getting up there, I think
it's like seventy four. He wasn't traveling as much. And
I looked at my career. If I played three more years,
(02:19):
this would be a great transition. I could be around
my family. It's not like the ups and downs of
the roller coasters of coaching, but it's still a way
of and I've had a great relationship with the city
of Boston at that point. So I started doing like
Man on the Street features and stuff like that with
at the time it was Comcast, and with the idea
that I'd be able to take over that job one day.
Speaker 4 (02:39):
You know what's interesting about Scal is when there are
certain players as they're playing that you kind of know
that they have this in them, right, like and Scal
is one of those guys. So you could see as
the career was going along, like, okay, he could clearly
be somewhere in media. And now you do a little
bit of you know, all of it right, like, Yeah,
(03:03):
you have a radio show hosting national analysts and studio
and then doing games for a team, so you kind
are you've got three different buckets within this NBA world
is And what you said about the home team thing
and that feeling of rooting, I get that because there's
a guy who does national games as well. There's a difference, right,
Like you do a national game, you're right down the
(03:25):
middle no matter what. There's something fun and kind of
freeing when you get that opportunity to within the bounds
of professionalism also have some kind of a rooting interest
like you do with the Celtics or like I do
with the.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Next Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is
you learn right away be versatile in this business. Like
I remember going to my boss and I asked him
if I could do the serious job and he looked
at me sideways like now we kind of own you.
And right then I was like, huh, that's interesting, And
I told him, and this is a bold move for me.
I said, I'm gonna make X amount of money. Either
(03:58):
I can make some from them or I can make
all from you. And I walked out of his office
and while I was driving home. He called me and say, hey, yeah,
we have no problem with you doing the serious gig.
But I knew, right there is like it put a
feeling inside of me be versatile. So and it was great,
Like I always think like local level, I get a
ton of reps, right Yeah. And so I was calling
games when Mike Gorman would be sick or missing game.
(04:20):
So I started doing play by play. I would do
an analyst, I hosted the studio, I was doing stuff
with that. I would go on the street. I was
terrible at interviewing with you did play realized I've done
over a hundred one hundred play by play games?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Did you know that. I didn't even realized that.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
He did that much play by play?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
But I did know that you did some Wow.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
Yeah, some on a on a whim.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
But I've also done a playoff game like Mike wouldn't
travel and they didn't want to bring somebody else in.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
So it was just like the idea it was. It
was like a neon light, be versatile in this business,
and you know those did that. I gotta give him credit.
Richard Jefferson did the same thing. You like watching him
host shows and he's doing all these things and look
where you that right now.
Speaker 5 (05:01):
I think doing multiple jobs.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It refines you for the job that I need to
do right now, which is an analyst for the games.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
There are some things that just you can only acquire
via reps. Right It does not matter your talent if
you don't have the reps. There's just certain things you're
not going to learn until you go through it. You're
just not going to Obviously, there has to be some
level of talent to project what can be, but you
don't get to what can be unless you're doing the reps.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
And Richard's a great example. Obviously he's a good friend
of everyone here.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
And remember Richard was Starr and Sarah he was doing
like he was doing random pac twelve Network basketball games
because he was like, I'm gonna do everything, and that's
going to prepare me for.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
The thing I ultimately want, just like it has for you.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Well, I think that's a separator though, and we saw
that for you as a player, like understanding the nuances
of the little things, knowing how the whole piece of
everything works. I want to go back to you as
a player because it's awesome, Like you have a tremendous career.
You're a fan favor. You mentioned this about broadcasting. I
remember people in Chico when you were playing there, that's
what they said. They're like, Oh, he's gonna be on TV.
(06:04):
He's just so smart. He gets it. He knows how
to explain the game. What was it like in your
trajectory being drafted? You obviously spend time with the nets,
with the Boston Celtics and with the Chicago Bulls. What
was it like though, being drafted and going to the
finals twice? Yeah, so early, like that type of and
we'll get to your two thousand and eight championship with
(06:25):
the Celtics, but like that type of experience at that
point in your career.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So I would say my superpower in life is like
self realization of who you are, right Like, Okay, I
know I'm not this sad and that, and I know
I need to be this and that to play, but
I had I mean, watching Jason Kidd set to tone,
it was amazing, right, like watching how he approached the game,
how he approached practice, and it is I don't know
(06:53):
what it is about me, Maybe because I look like
a redheaded step child or.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
Whatever whatever it is. People could be so on with me.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
And I remember Jason Kidd for whatever reason, he didn't
have a ride home from the airport and he needed one,
so of course he asked me. I'm like, I'm not
going to say no. And he from that point on,
he was such a straight shooter. And I made a
mistake one time and he cut me with it. You know,
you guys have seen those eyes before and he cut
me with those eyes. And I was like, all right,
(07:21):
don't make that mistake ever again. And it's like the
ability to learn, and it's a separator for all NBA players.
And if you ever wonder like who makes it and
who doesn't most of the time, like it takes this
guy one day to figure it out, it takes that
guy a month to figure it out. The one day
guy is going to move on to something else. The
one month guy is going to be out of the league. Right,
So you have to know what you are, who you are,
(07:43):
what you do, how you helped the team win, how
you help superstar players. And I just think, like my
career it was I had great leadership and following those
guys and the tones that they said he's not the
only one, like being a backup to Kenya Martin was
was anexperience in and of itself, but you watch how
smart he is and you realize, like, you better not
(08:03):
mess up coverages. I remember messing up at Tracy McGrady
pac Garrity coverage and I heard it from him in
the film room and every every one of the coaches.
But those things right there, if you don't learn from that, like,
I'm out of a job, right So I look at
my careers like the ability to pick things up as
fast as you possibly can is how I stayed in
the league for eleven years.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Can we go back, though, to your big moments the
January the end of January two thousand and four, I
pulled up these stats because you've you know, the career
numbers maybe don't pop pop off the screen at you.
But let's go to the Golden State game that was
your career game, January twenty six. Do you remember this,
Sroux two thousand and four, were.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Still you were still in high school. It's the child.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Birthday boys, and I am twenty nine points, six rebounds, forces,
two steals, ten to sixteen from the field, five to
seven from three. What happened and what did that feel like?
For all the work you put in and then understanding your role.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Well, it was like, it's all about momentum and if
you get a couple of easy baskets early, and with
Jason Kidd is pretty easy to get some easy baskets early.
Like everything is confidence and momentum, right, and there's a
vice versus side of that. I can miss two shots
in a row and lose my confidence, right and go
back to the bench and be like, man, we're not
going to play again, right, So I happened to start.
(09:21):
I had a really good game the night before against Sacramento.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Well that next the next week though, you had the
Detroit game as well.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Well, that was that. I was in the playoffs So
that was in.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
When was that that same year?
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Yeah? Yeah, the playoffs are all around.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So it's uh so you just get momentum and you're
playing basketball all the time.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
I had to work, so I was ready and all that.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
But the two stars and the team were Kid and Carter,
and I still work with bench right now at NBC.
Like those guys are so selfless, like they they want
people around them to do well, and so when you
have like just think about it and I try to
explain this to my daughter, who me like I've been
stamped by like Michael Jordan.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
Jason Kidd, Kevin you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And well, like you have to understand what that does
to your psyche when you get stamped by some of
these great players or Jason kids in there, like like
giving you adapt as you go back, Yeah, keep killing.
That does something to you, right, So I think that's
a combination of being prepared, all the work and all that,
and then also having a guy like Kid look out
for you. And he's going back to Oakland, so of
course he wants to beat the Warriors, right, So, like
(10:27):
he's doing everything he can to win. And I just remembered,
like those two guys were super happy for me, and
that could That's not.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
Always the case in the NBA.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Yeah, And I was super fortunate to be drafted by
the Nets at the time they had step On Marlberry
and then they traded for Jason Kidd. That changed the
trajectory of my life, you know. And I'm not I'm
not trying to like downplay who I was or what
I am, but like i'd be I'd be an idiot
to think that it was about me and not about
like the people that were around me.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
What it's interesting, like the way you talk about Jason
and I can't even member when the Mavericks won their
championship when Kid was with them.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
And Rick Carlisle.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
I remember doing an interview with Rick on my radio
show with Steven A and we used to host this
show together, and we asked him, you know what's the
you know, what's the key to this success? And then
when Kidd was had gone on to the Knicks and
they won fifty plus games the one year they did
with mel first.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Thing he said was Jason Kidd. Yeah, Jason, kids on
their team.
Speaker 4 (11:26):
And this is obviously a later in his career, almost
at the end of his career, Jason Kidd. What was
it about Jay Kidd outside of his basketball abilities that
has everyone always saying, like right away, his impact on
winning was something so profound that you could feel it
(11:46):
from the time he started in the league to the
time he ended, regardless of how his numbers may have changed,
or his physical or abilities or talent might have changed.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
It's ability to identify what winning basketball is like, you know,
I mean later in his career, he knew he had
to get to bald to Carmelo Anthony, who had a
great year back by the way, Yeah, he stopped Lebron
from getting a unanimous MVP.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
He got one vote from Gary Washburn. He was I
mean he was really good.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean Lebron was sick that year,
but we could get it, like he was really good
that year and so so Kid did that with Dirk,
but at the time when he was with us, he
could do that with a fast break. So I just
think like your life becomes super streamlined, you know, like
you know what you have to do, you do your job,
and he will help you. Like if with him that
we some many missed the shot. If I sprint the floor,
(12:31):
even if I don't get it, I could open up
like a trail three for Kerry Kittle's right, everything you
do was purposeful and streamline. And if you start the
DVA and the NBA could get really murky, you know,
like teams could have you could have eight different players
with eight different agendas. Right when your best player is
driving the boat, it's your life and your game and
(12:54):
your energy and your focus is streamlined into like one
or two things. And that's what makes winning basketball being Oh,
what's going to happen, developing, having all these different things happening.
I've been a part of a team like that two
years I was with the Celtics before we got Kevin Garnett.
It was eight different things going on at one time.
Then you get a Garnett who's just like Kid. He
(13:16):
walks in, he's streamlined, he's focused, and it's like it's
ahead of the snake, and then everyone sort of follows
and we know the direction that we're going. I've never
ever was lost on what Kid was thinking or what
he wanted to do. We always were. I felt like
when we were good and distractions happen. People want to
get all stars, people want maximum contracts. All that stuff
(13:36):
does happen. But it felt like we were streamlined and
what we needed to do more than the other teams.
Speaker 6 (13:42):
Nothing compares to catching your Brooklyn Nets live, and nobody
knows that better than you Nets fans. It all starts
with buying tickets. A Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of
the Nets in the NBA. Ticketmaster gets you to the
game so you could experience all the site, sounds and
styles in person. Put that jersey collection to use for
the next game again. Nets ticket it's a Ticketmaster. Even
if you're headed to the game last minute. Ticketmaster's got
(14:04):
your back when it comes to scoring tickets. And there's
no better brag than saying, is salt live get tickets
at ticketmaster dot com.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Slash nets you know what?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
Hearing you say that like and thinking about how the
other pieces fit into Like, that's another part of the projection.
When you're watching a young team development.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
You need those stars, right, you need them to be
the right stars. But then also some.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Of those pieces that maybe if they're alone, right, you're like,
I don't know what this guy can be. But if
they get around the right stars, you're like, oh, you
know what, Like that guy, he's a quality NBA starter
if he's with the right people, that.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Guy can be the seventh man on a championship.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Team if he has the right corps as well, if
they keep developing and have the right work ethic and
and yeah, sometimes like even looking at the nets this year, right,
maybe maybe one of the draft picks, maybe two of
the draft picks, maybe none of the draft picks, or
NBA stars maybe three of them are when their careers developed,
or maybe there's two or three guys that if they
(15:03):
get the right guys around them. We look at and say,
you know what, these are the perfect stars for them
to develop.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
There's a lot that goes into team building.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Yeah, it's just as important to nail like the twenty
first pick, get him on a good contract, and I
continue to develop him as maybe a role player star,
like a star role player.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
Then it is to find the top dog, you know
what I mean? A lot of times you can might
trade to get the top dog.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
But all those supplementary pieces, which last year's team had
a lot of them, and they've done well when they
finally traded like a Dennis Shrewder and like a lot
of guys like that, they had some of that.
Speaker 5 (15:35):
But it doesn't work unless you have the star.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Yeah, you need that core, no defintion of everything. You're
a perfect example. Okay, two more things. Your favorite moment
stands out most? You were beloved, You were beloved everywhere
you played, you went, you are even now as a
net What stands out most as your favorite moment? I mean,
I know I'm.
Speaker 5 (15:55):
Gonna say the basketball stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I'm gonna say the basketball stuff, but I'm telling you
the truth, Like it's really about those parties at kid's
house and the relationships that you build, like chopping it
up in the locker room. Like when I think about
my career, I'll think about those things. I don't think
about the game I played, the Detroit games and double overtime.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
I don't think about that.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
I think of like when I see the guys like
chopping it up and having conversations and life advice.
Speaker 5 (16:23):
From these unbelievable people.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Right, so I could say the Detroit game, the run
to the finals, I thought we should have like at
least forced game seven to the Spurs and all that stuff,
and all that stuff. I remember all that stuff. But
what I remember the most and what's like most fond
of after all of it, is like the going to
people's houses, being a casual card games with Rod Thorn
(16:45):
as he turned.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
Like that stuff was awesome.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
So I remember the relationships and all the behind the
scenes stuff for the NBA, and I enjoyed every minute
of it. I wasn't a miserable NBA player, whether I
played or I didn't play, like I just enjoyed being
in a pross And I realized, like listen, go back
twelve years, like come on, I was a high school kid,
that got cut from the freshman team. Like for me
to be in the NBA, I already want. I tell
(17:10):
like I tell people all the time like I won
when I got a full Rice scholarship to school.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I won life. At that point, I have one light.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Everything else was gravy on top. And I wasn't ever
going to revert back. I just I didn't have it
in my nature. So those relationships that we built, even
when we had a nice run in college, I remember
like playing cards at the Marriotte on the fifteenth floor
and stuff like that. That's what the NBA and basketball
and the experience of going all over the place, that's
what that has.
Speaker 5 (17:34):
Done for me.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Amazing.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
We love it.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Okay, we have one game for you, all right, let's
do it. It's Hot Hot Ticket presented by Ticketmaster. Experience
your Nets Live with Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of
the Brooklyn Nets. We're going to give you some of
the best NBA nicknames of all time, and it's going
to be a game. So as we continue to go,
you need to pick and then we're going to see
which one.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
Was like like like final four someone yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Ok, yes, So this is like competition for each one
visanity versus doctor J, Doctor J. Doctor J versus white chocolate.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
For nicknames only, not the game. Pretty good white chocolate.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Yeah, white chocolate versus the answer, The answer, the answer
versus the truth.
Speaker 5 (18:21):
The truth is pretty cold, the truth.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
The truth versus iceman.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
I go with the truth. I love that nickname. By
the way, little bias story here, No, no, I do
love the truth, the truth.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
The truth versus the big fundamental. The Truth, the truth
versus big ticket. The Truth, The truth, the truth versus
the glove.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
Oh man, the glove. I grew up in Seattle. The glove.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Okay, the glove versus Diesel the glove, The glove versus
the Admiral. The glove, The glove versus magic. Magic all
the time, great love versus the dream.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
I mean, magic versus the dream.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Oh sorry, magic versus thank.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
You, Yeah you got. That's why I'm the rules coordinator here.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Hard to beat magic, I'm getting magic versus black mamba
magic magic versus white mamba magic.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
His big name is so good that that's actually his name.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
He doesn't have a real No one calls him Irvan.
That's how good that that magic name. Come on, it's
so fitting.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Okay, so magic is the ultimate winner. But where give
us the backstory of White Mamba.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Stacey King, you know, an analyst for the Bulls. He
one day he just you know, he has all kinds
of nicknames. He's crazy and all that stuff. And I
put down some Kobe Bryant's custom made and I said,
these are the White Mama one point. He ran with it.
The next game we blew a team out. I played
in the fourth quarter, I had like six points by
the time I got back to Chicago. The thing was,
(19:56):
it spread like wild.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Did you enjoy it too? Like it did you the chance?
I mean, it was unbelievable when you would come in
a game, fans would want you to get into the game.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So when I was in Boston, I didn't embrace it, right,
I don't know why. Like that, I was like, man,
I didn't do anything. Those guys built to twenty point
lead while you cheer him for me. In Chicago, I
totally embraced it. I'd yell on the bench to Thibodeau, like,
come on, TIBs, twenty thousand people, man, you got to
give them what they want.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
He'd go like that, you know so, But no, I
totally loved the chance.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
At the end, I really embraced, like the last part
of my career and all that stuff and being a
fan favorite. I talk crazy trash to my team, all
that stuff, like, you know, the fans really are here
to see me, not you, Derek like you, stuff like that.
Speaker 5 (20:41):
I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (20:42):
I had a lot of Funnish you're closer to Lebron than.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
The normal person is to me. People love that line.
But you know what, at forty seven, gap is changing.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
You scallenge again?
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Ever, I don't think so. I think i'd lose. I
think I would lose. Like I play against kids all
the time. Now, they are so much better.
Speaker 5 (21:01):
Don't let any of these former players tell you they're embellish.
Trip down memory lane.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
These guys are so much better than we ever were.
I don't care if they're saying that they don't know
the league?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Is it true?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
We remember your your your championship parade or whatever speech.
Did you ever tell your kids that you were m VP? No?
Speaker 5 (21:20):
I didn't. I remember two thousand and eight. It was
the start of the iPhone. Google. You know how.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
These kids fact check everything they have chat GBT, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Scale you're awesome. We know you got work to do,
but we love you, we appreciate you, and we'll be
We'll be blocking in for all things, All Things every
time you're on for Brian Scalabrining, Ryan Rocco. I'm Sarahcustack.
This has been the NETS Pod presented by Ticketmaster. Make
sure to check us out on YouTube and That's YouTube channel.
Anywhere you get your podcast, Please subscribe, rate, review, all
(21:53):
the good things and we'll see next time.
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