Club Shay Shay - DeMar DeRozan (Special Free Agency Conversation)

Episode Date: July 26, 2021

On episode 30 of Club Shay Shay, Shannon welcomes in 4-time NBA All-Star, 2-time All-NBA selection, & member of the 2016 Olympics Gold medal winning basketball team: DeMar DeRozan. **This is a SPECIAL EDITION of Club Shay Shay — stay subscribed for more in-person conversations when the podcast returns for Season 2!**Shannon & DeMar touch on what DeMar’s been up to in the NBA offseason, and what he’s looking for in his next move as a free agent after 2 seasons in San Antonio.DeMar’s NBA career has spanned multiple eras, and he has plenty of stories about players like Kobe & McGrady as well as LeBron & KD. He also talks Shannon through his experience finding out he was being traded out of Toronto, and how Drake helped him with the process.  A Compton native who chose USC for his collegiate career, DeMar lists his Mount Rushmore of Southern California basketball and pushes back against Shannon’s claim that New York has produced better players. #DoSomethinB4TwoSomethin & Follow Club Shay Shay:                                                                 https://www.instagram.com/clubshayshayhttps://twitter.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.facebook.com/clubshayshayhttps://www.youtube.com/c/clubshayshay Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Fantasy Footballers have officially entered the Dynasty space. Every week, we bring you the same in-depth analysis and entertainment you've come to expect from the fantasy footballers only now it's from the dynasty perspective join me and the rest of the crew every wednesday for a new episode listen to the fantasy footballers dynasty podcast on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hello club shea fans it's your favorite television uncle shea sharp and i know you've been patiently waiting for season two of Club Shea Shea. And we're currently in production.

But just to get you through, we got a special episode with DeMar DeRozan. All my life, been grinding all my life. Sacrifice, hustle, pay the price. Want a slice, got the roll of dice. That's why all my life, I be grinding all my life. All dice, that's why all my life I be grindin' all my life, yeah All my life, been grindin' all my life, yeah Sacrifice, hustle pay the price, want a slice Got the roll of dice, that's why all my life I be grindin' all my life

Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Shea Shea. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shea Shea. And the guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today is a four-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA selection, a member of the 2014 FIBA gold medal winning team, and a member of the 2016 Rio gold medal winning basketball team, DeMar DeRozan. DeMar, how you doing? I'm great, man. Salute, bro. Thanks for stopping by with me.

Thank you for having me. Okay. The season's over. What is DeMar DeRoz how you doing? Man, I'm great, man. It's a little brother. Thanks for stopping by with me. And thank you for having me. Okay, the season's over. What is DeMar DeRozan doing currently? Back in the gym, honestly. Really didn't take no time off. You know, it was a crazy season, as everybody know. I just wanted to stay after it, you know, take care of my body. And just stay healthy.

You know what I mean? Got back in the gym, spend more time with the family. But for the main part, just refocusing, you know, figuring out. Did you start back up normally, earlier than you normally would? Yeah, yeah, way early. I really didn't take no time off. Why not? The year was already crazy. Right.

And how compact it was. Right. There was a lot of stuff I didn't get to do maintenance-wise on your body. Right. Because you try to just rest as much as you can. Right. Because we was playing so much. So just kind of like re-refining my body.

Right. You know, being more conscious of that. Eating a lot better. Right. Understanding that, you know, this summer was an important summer for me, especially going to a free agency. So I just wanted to keep that passion and drive going into the summer and really not take no time off.

Okay, let's talk about free agency. You are an unrestricted free agent. You spent the last two years in San Antonio. What is DeMar DeRozan looking for if he were to leave Seattle in a new, excuse me, in San Antonio if he leave for? A new home, what are you looking for? Um, I mean, it's all about winning at right point You know me going into my 13th season, right? You seeing all these guys just competing for a chance a lot of guys say that I've heard a lot of guys in baseball and

Basketball and football say it's all about winning but they normally end up going to the team that pays them the most money Is it all about winning or you know, you want to get compensated to while winning? I mean, you try to meet the fine line. You try to balance it. Yeah, you try to balance it as best as you can. At this point, you've got to weigh out the opportunity of winning a championship kind of more, especially with the career I had. I've been fortunate to make a lot of money.

Make good money. You know what I mean? But at this point, you know, your ultimate goal is always to compete for a championship. How hard, you know, you go to San Antonio, and you know what San Antonio represents. They normally win, but they kind of, you know, some injuries, some things happen,

and it didn't go the way we normally expect things to go in San Antonio. How tough was it for you? Because even when you're coming from Toronto, you're used to being in the playoffs, making deep runs. Yeah, I mean, it was tough. It was for my career, especially later in my career. At that point, it was tough. You know, I'm learning a new system, a new environment. Everything was new for me, but it was something that was something that was needed to help me be a better leader. You know, as soon as I got with those guys in San Antonio, it kind of put me in a different frame of mind of how to teach and even learn from younger guys.

Right. Kind of push them and push myself to kind of expand my game a little bit more. So it helped. It was a challenge, but it helped at the same time, you know, just the adversity and everything that came with it. What's it like playing for POP? Because you've had a lot of different coaches over your career, but Pop is one, they talk about Mount Rushmore coaches.

He's probably going to be on that Mount Rushmore. What's it like playing for him? Is he demanding? What type of coach is he? Pop is, he's very unique. You know, what you see on TV, it's a lot more. Okay. In every type of way. He's one of those guys that's going to demand the best out of you, not just as a player, as a human being, first and foremost. And that kind of translates over when you go to work on a court. And the humanity, the humility that he brings to the gym every single day is one of a kind. So he's a hell

of a person. I got the utmost respect for him even before we even get to the basketball court. That makes it that much more entertaining when you step out there and put on a jersey for him. Right. When you look at where basketball is heading, everything's about analytics, but you really haven't succumbed to that because you're still a great mid-range shooter. You don't fall in love. You shoot the three. You're not, you know,

nobody's going to mistake you for Steph or Dane for shooting the three. But you're like, I can be a great player and shoot 10-footers, shoot 18-footers, get to the paint. How are you able to resist?

Because a lot of guys haven't been able to resist that temptation because the analytics says if you're 18 feet, why not take three feet back and shoot the three? Um, I mean, it's kind of like the times we live in, you know, we, it's, it's one, I grew up watching and loving old school basketball. Right. You can never, you can never move me away from that. Right. What gave me my love and passion was watching 70s and 80s basketball.

Right. But just me just being true to myself. Right. And not falling victim to what everybody say needs to happen. Right. And I feel like if you dominate and you're great at what you do, why should you steer away from that? Right. You know, and in the midst of it, you know, I have moments where I get caught up into it,

but at the same time, if I have a teammate, that's what he do, I'm going to get you the easiest shot as possible so you can do that. So I don't got to settle and just come down and do this. But until somebody stopped me from doing everything else, I never felt the need to just give in to that side of the game yet. One of your biggest inspiration was Kobe. Kobe started shooting the threes a lot later in his career, but early Kobe was strictly mid-range. Playing

the low post, the high post, get to the top of the key. What is it? What was it about Kobe's game that you like? That's what I want to model my game after. I mean, everything. Well, first of all, it started off. That was the only games I could watch on TV growing up in LA. K Cal nine was the only channel we had. So when I was seven years old watching Kobe as a rookie, that was who you know I could consistently watch. Right. So whenever I watch him, I imitate

whatever he did as a kid on an imaginary court in the room, whatever. And it kind of just continued to translate as he grew. And me seeing, you know, the stepping stones that he took playing basketball, I wanted to do the same thing. It just carried over. So just watching him and having an opportunity to watch him, even though he didn't have cable, that's who I gravitated to early on. What's it like to, that's the guy you want to pattern your game after.

That's the guy you want to imitate. That's the guy that you idolize. And finally stepping on the court and like, I'm about to play against Kobe. Yeah. It was surreal. I mean, there's only two people I've ever been around that had that type of aura where you just was like, kind of like golly. It was him and Jordan.

See, everybody keeps saying Jordan. It was them two people. I swear, every time we walked on the court, it was just a different type of, like, you know, I don't know what it was. But I had the opportunity at 15 to work with Kobe. And every summer we used to play open run games at LMU out here in LA. So I was 16, 17, 18 and it was always like, it was, you know, it just didn't feel real.

Right. So by the time I got to the league, I kind of knew what to expect, but it was definitely a different atmosphere. The Drew League, you're a participant in the Drew League. I think it's reported that the Ball Brothers, LaMelo, Lonzo, they're putting a team together. The Drew League is what the rucker is to the East Coast. The Drew League is to the West Coast.

But obviously Rucker is a lot older than 1950. You had Wilt Chamblee, had Julius Irving and Kareem playing in that. But it's a lot of the younger guys. So what is it about playing in this league that says, you know what, is that something just to keep you to give you run? I think Julie always been a community feel right. I remember I first start playing when I was 14 15 years old and every time you went down there,

you was able to play against and see guys for free right at this middle school before it, you know, it got big used to play at this middle school. You have three four rows of benches and you can come in there and watch Baron Davis play. Right. You know what I mean? And you see all these LA greats go in there and play, and the atmosphere was always like, you know, family. The neighborhood would come out and watch,

and to see it grow and turn into- To what it's turned into. It's amazing. Right. The players, Bron came there, played Kobe, Katie, so many players came and you see the whole just community come out. Just really, just the whole hood

come out and watch it for free. You know, and you can't beat that. That's what basketball is based off and to be able to see that and be a part of that

makes it one of a kind. Has L.A. replaced NYC? Yes. Yes. Oh, so L.A. is the mecca now? Yes. So L.A. is the mecca now? Yes. No question.

What? I believe so. Especially after the lockout year. Right. You can't beat it. You know, if you go back and look how many great players that came and just they had to come and be there and lead a mark. And you got to bring your A game.

There's been plenty of ABA players that come through there and get embarrassed by guys from Compton and Watts. And you got to bring your game when you come there. Because it was a shortened season. You talk about condensed. It was condensed on top of condensed. You talk about 10 fewer games in two fewer months. Do you believe some of the injuries were a result of that? Or you just think it was just like, you know, it's just I believe so. It was tough. It was tough. This is

definitely a tough year. I remember during the season. We were trying to compare to the lockout year. How tough it was and this this is by far the season was by far the toughest season, you know, just was crazy. It was it was I think at one point we played 40 some games in 68 days, right? You know, and that takes a toll, especially with traveling and the older you get, you know, you're more prone to injuries. To injuries.

Yeah, for sure. So I believe so. How difficult was it? Because you mentioned that this offseason you're trying to make a conscious effort to eat better. How hard is it when you're playing basically every other day? You know, a lot of times what you did, you play two games in one location. That helps.

But to eat, to make sure you eat correctly and be able to get your training in as you normally would if it was a regular season. Yeah, that's by far, you know, it's one of the most important things, especially the older you get. Yes. You know, you got to take care of yourself, get the proper rest. It was some days where, you know, if we was traveling, getting in late, you hungry. So you just resorting to try to get anything, you know, just for the night and getting up early, got a test consistently, just trying to get something to eat so you can lay back down. Like it was the consistency was just

so far over the place to where you couldn't be on top of your normal routine. You mentioned about this being your 13th season and going back, and I'm looking at the young players now, the Lucas and the Jason Tatums and the Donovan Mitchells and the Trey Youngs and these guys coming out dropping 40 and 50. What is it about the young players now as opposed to like when you came into the league? Man, the game is definitely evolving.

You got to appreciate it. You know what I mean? I do, especially being an older guy. I remember how it was when you came into the league? Man, the game is definitely evolving. You got to appreciate it. You know what I mean? I do, especially being an older guy. I remember how it was when I came into the league. I look at a lot of – I played against Shaq. Right. I played against Tracy McGrady. I played against all the old guys that I grew up watching.

Right. You know, and to see and be a part of the league and see how much it evolved, it's crazy. Right. You know, but at the same time, it's fun to see. I root for all the young guys. I got a lot of great relationships with a lot of young guys, but you just see that next evolution of the lead

taking its step. You got to give credit to those young guys. I was having a conversation. I said, I believe the guys are more skilled now. The weighting. And people are like, no, no, no. It's nothing like 80s basketball. I said, look, just because you're tackling somebody on the basketball court, that don't mean you're skilled.

That means you're physical. There's a difference between being physical and being skilled. The way these guys can handle the ball, the way they can get off their shot from any angle. It's incredible. I go back even to this day and watch a lot of older guys, and the creativity wasn't nowhere to where it is now. You know, from not just the

point guard shooting guard percent position. You got bigs doing there. Wasn't okay. These going around. No, it's crazy. Right when you sit back and that's why it's so easy for me to still be a fan and watch it. But Christ the creativity is just a match man. You mentioned some of the guys that you played against you played against Shaq Colby, Tracy McGrady, and now you're in an era with LeBron and KD and Kawhi.

Take Shaq aside. Obviously, he's a big, and there's nobody that plays the big position like Shaq because all these guys, now Yoke and Embiid, AD, they shoot the three. What is it about KD and LeBron in this era as opposed to Tracy McGrady and Kobe in your in the previous era? Man, Katie, first of all, he's never seen a body like Katie, especially with coming off the injury. Right. I had an opportunity to play against him a lot before this season started. I was telling like, it don't look like nothing ever happened to him.

KD is one of a kind. I can't even compare KD to nobody. When it comes to Brian, Brian, he's been one of those guys since he came in the league to dictate the game. Right. You know, there's not too many dictators in his league that could be as dominant as he is. You know, a lot of guys back in the day will, you know, I'm going to go out there, I'm going to shoot your face off. I'm going to get up 30, 35 shots.

However the night go, at least you know I let off the whole clip for you. You know, when you're playing against a Brian, you know, he's going to go out there and dictate the whole game. Right. He's going to kind of chess, chess, play chess all night with you. So if he's playing against somebody that wants to get up 30, 35 shots, he's going to slow the pace down. You're not getting that many shots off against us.

Oh, no, no. He's going to dictate the whole game. It's by far, you know, and it's crazy. You're from L.A. You're from Compton. And I tell people this. Like, everybody's experience, you might come from somewhere, but your experience might be unique to you. What was it like for you growing up in Compton? I mean, thinking a lot of the negativity that I was going through was norm,

but having a circle around me to teach me the right way to go about things. It was so easy to get caught up in a lot of negativity that was going on, a lot of temptation to go the wrong way. But I was unique because even in a neighborhood I grew up in, a lot of people always steered me away from a lot of the negative stuff, you know, and they seen something in me that I probably didn't see in myself at the time. But having that helped me and propelled me in the right direction and continue to go after whatever it was I was after. And that was something positive. So for me, that was unique because I look back at it to this day and not know where I'd be if I didn't have that type of circle around me.

Did you know you always wanted to play basketball? You always wanted to be a professional basketball player? Yeah, I always wanted to do anything sports-wise. I tried baseball. You know, my mom... You tried football? No, my mom wouldn't let me try football. And I'm glad. But in the streets, we played football,

and I always had a passion for football. Like, I wanted to play. I wanted to play. If I get an opportunity, I'm gonna play. But I'm glad I didn't because... I'm glad I didn't. But, you know, you always had those dreams and aspirations. But I didn't know, but I knew I wanted to make it out. I didn't know how.

Right. But I knew whatever positive route I needed to take, I was going to do it. You are an unrestricted free agent. You say the Lakers, Kobe was your guy. The Lakers, I'm assuming, was your team. What would it be like for you being a local kid to don the purple and gold? I mean, growing up, you can't ask no kid if they want to play home, they'll say no.

You know what I mean? At some point, you definitely want to have that opportunity. And especially if they want you, why not? Right. Why not? Right. You know, it's a great opportunity. Would you have wanted to start your career in L.A.?

I think now because you're a lot older. No, I don't think I was ready for it at a young age. I'm glad. I always tell that story. I'm glad I went to a whole other country. Okay. And had the, like, mature faster. Right.

I could have got lost in coming home. Right. You know what I mean? But at this point in my career, you know what I mean, understanding how everything works, it's a lot easier, you know. What are your thoughts on super teams? I mean, I always liked it when it was balanced, where every single night you could go into any arena

and you're playing against a great team. Right. You know, their best player and their best role player. Right. Not looking up and seeing, you know, three, four. You know, their best player and their best role player. Right. Not looking up and seeing, you know, three, four, you know what I mean? On one team. Right. Because sometimes it just throws off the balance

because, you know, that was the league. Right. Every single night looking forward to play this team and this team, this team. Well, this team don't got nobody, so I'm going to chill tonight. So. See, my pushback is, DeMar,

is that they've always been super teams. True. The Celtics, the Lakers the Lakers were super team. The only difference is the players didn't team up. You know, they did a great Jerry West did a great job of drafting the Celtics. They did a great job of drafting, but the Celtics and the Lakers were super team. That's why they met all the time in the finals. Right? Right. And but now the players with this this player empowerment, they're like, okay, oh, tomorrow you cool. I'm cool with you brother let's let's let's do this thing and

The old guard don't really like that man. Michael would have never played with Larry Larry would have never played with magic But it's a new era now the AAU a lot of these guys, you know Zion and John Moran played a AU together a lot of these guys played together, so they're familiar with each other. So they're like, bro, let's go ahead and link this thing up. Yeah, yeah. It's definitely a two-way street, you know. It has times where, you know, you want to compete that and knock down the big dogs.

If it's two, three of them on one team, then just like to your point, it's easier. It's definitely a different time. You know, it's easier to get on the phone call, have relationships with guys knowing that I know I can go play with that guy. Right. You know what I mean? So it's a fine line.

But just the competitiveness is always one of being able to compete against the best of the best every single night. But you want to level playing field. Now, if they got two or three super teams and I'm on a team that's not a super team, that ain't. Right. Yeah. That's when it get.

Right. But yeah. How difficult would it be to play? that ain't right. Yeah, that's when it get right, but yeah, but How difficult would it be to play? Let's just say for the sake of argument if you were to go to with the Lakers and you were obviously LeBron and ad Do you feel that it would be difficult for you because a lot of people like well I'm not gonna get the same number of shots that I would normally get had I been in Toronto where it's just me and Kyle or in San Antonio. And it's basically just it's kind of me. Right now

in La Marca's. No, you mean you take Brooklyn as an example. Three of the greatest scores just leaders ever seen. Right. And they balance it out. Well, right. It sucks that they can be healthy through the whole thing because I think they would have been in finals. Right. It sucks that they couldn't be healthy through the whole thing because I think they would have been in the finals. Right. Those three guys, come on. And they figured it out.

They worked it out. And they had the great rhythm when they played together. So, it's definitely possible to work, you know. And it's all about just coming together. You know, we all smart, great basketball players. And if you want to win, you'll find a way to make it work. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.

No question. Where were you when to win, you'll find a way to make it work. Yeah, for sure. No question. Where were you when you found out you had been traded? I was watching Equalizer 2 at the movies. And I had just left and I was going to get something to eat.

And I had made the phone call back. And that's when I got the word. And I remember I was in the car. I just told the dude, pull the car over, and I just got up, walked down the street. I think I sat in front of, like, a Del Taco or a Jack in the Box or something for, like, 40 minutes.

You couldn't believe it? You were surprised? Nah, yeah, I just couldn't believe it because it was just one of those moments, like, because two days prior, we had had a conversation about, you know, running this whole thing back. So that's what made it more surprising. Right. You know, how it came about and everything.

And then you had done something that the other great players hadn't done. You stayed in Toronto. BC got up out of there. TMAC got up out of there. CB got up out of there. You're like, I'm going to'm a row I'm a ride to the wheels fall off in Toronto yeah y'all do your boy like this yeah after you told me you go do it like that right all right that that that was the part

you know I mean because obviously anybody know in in Toronto like I was I was willing to lay it all out yeah you know I mean and it's poured to heaven like that it definitely sucked you know because emotionally I was invested not knowing the other side of stuff. Because that's all I knew. Terran was all I knew at that point. So you good with them now? Oh, yeah, yeah. I don't have no problem.

You understand that it's part of the game. Right. You know, it's part of the business. And, you know, nobody exempt from that happening. You know what I mean? So I got past it, you know. It was kind of like Kawhi involved, though. I mean, it would have kind other data so if they'd traded yeah

Just try to dump salary, you know Do that do do that so you know me I mean You it took a while right, but he got to a point to it like you know you you got a respect You made peace with it. Yeah, but it took you a while. No, I took a while It's a pilot probably like about ten months ago really yeah probably after the bubble yeah i i kind of just like you know what damn it but they didn't so so you heard it so you like reading it on your phone or did they call you no i got the call okay before it came out so i knew the night before it came out okay your agent called you yeah no i talked to out so I knew the night before it came out okay I got your agent called you yeah no I talked to the yeah I talked to the main side yeah I talked talked to

him and you know he told me and I just hung up the phone you all about it yeah I'll go what is it he told me he said you should say hello hello you said hello my side now you just we just had a conversation two weeks ago you say two days ago today oh you we just had a conversation two days ago you say your boy good yeah and y'all do this I mean when everybody else didn't deal not think about everybody else that deal yeah I stayed okay I felt like that would have made it worse if I would have so I just I said you know what you want to say something you might you might regret I just say it was done is done. I just hung up and just like, all right.

Do you call back? No. Come on. He got a he's a he could at least call back. I wouldn't answer it either, though. Really? No, no, no. It was it was it was the last thing I expected. Right. I mean, it was the last thing I expected. So when it when, it was like, you know, that lost feeling. It was just like, all right, what now? I don't know what to do.

You got one of the biggest, when you were in Toronto, you had one of the, he was what Spike Lee is to the Knicks, what Jack Nicholson was to the Lakers, what Billy Crystal is to the Clippers. He's that to Toronto. And I'm talking about Drake. What's it like playing when he's going in on everybody?

You know, he's friendly with everybody, but he's giving everybody the business. And you're like, bro, this dude, he dropped 40 on us, man. Sit down. Leave that man alone. No, you gotta let Drake be Drake, man. You gotta let him be him because he's gonna talk mess beforehand.

And a lot of times, a lot of players on the other team, before he talk mess on the court, he going to text you and talk crazy to you. You know what I mean? Like, that's what he doing. And, you know, we feed off it. And, you know, for him to be the biggest star in the world and support and come through like he do, man, that's just him, man. You got to let him be him.

You went to Drake after you were traded. What did you guys talk about? Man, we just really sat there and, you know, besides basketball, everything, just the reassurance of, like, you know, that was my partner. That was a friend. That was a friend of mine that was like, man, get away from everything. I know it's crazy. I couldn't even turn on TV that day. Phone was going crazy. I just went over there and we, we sat for, sat and talked for hours, sat and talked. And I think more than anything, just him being there for me

as a friend, right. First and foremost, you know, and, and no matter what, you know, when it come to him, he'll forever have a friend in me and loyalty out of me because, you know, he cared. Yeah, he was there for you. He was there for me when everything was just going crazy. You know, it kind of just got me settled in a sense of like, you know, you're going to get past it. Don't even worry about it.

He dropped the name in the freestyle, Lemon Pepper Freestyle, with Rick Ross. I need to get some money. I mean, because I gave Lou Will that name. No, you did. You sure did. I gave Lou. He monetized it. He didn't break brand with me, man. No, you're gonna tell him or you want me to tell Lou? I need you to tell Lou Will that. All right, I'll let Lou know.

All right, I'll let him know. So what's it like when a guy, you know, nobody's had their name dropped more than Kobe, than Jordan, than LeBron, than KD. I mean, but it's got to be a huge, because that's forever. That's on wax forever. No, yeah, I mean, it's amazing when that happens. I remember, I think we were sitting talking at one of his concerts one day, like probably like two years ago and i was like uh one of my friends was like man when you gonna put d in the song he was like i gotta figure out the right song i'm gonna get him in there right he said just like you know

like two years ago we were sitting in in his dressing room or whatever and i ain't thinking nothing of it i was like man why you bring that up man i ain't trying to hit it i ain't tripping like this is my man i ain't tripping so when that happened i remember he told me about it um last year about the song and i was like damn you did i was like i can't wait to hear it but when it happened it was crazy you know i mean you got it you like to this day i respect them for that man it was crazy tim duncan is your coach he's on the staff Becky Hammer. Tim, what type of coach was Tim? Tim is Tim. What you see, Tim, that was the coach.

That was his coach. That was Tim. Tim is the best human being in the world. But he was Tim as a coach. You know what I mean? I think it was one game Pop set out, and Tim was our head coach for the game. And I think we went in the halftime. We was down.

Right. And we was playing bad. So I'm thinking Tim going to come in there, going off, cussing us out. He came in there with the most calmest demeanor, just like, come on, guys. Let's just get this win, pull it together, bring it in, one, two, three. We go out there and win. It was like, that's Tim. You know what I mean?

Right. That was just Tim. And he's just easy going. His spirit was always positive. Right. And he was just cool. Yeah. Becky Hammond.

Obviously, she seems a little bit more hands-on, a little bit more fiery. Do you believe that she'll get an opportunity, if not this year, next year, to be a head coach in this league? Yeah, for sure. And what's it going to take? Because it's going to take someone with a really open mind to say a woman can coach men at the highest level. Yeah.

I mean, for me being on the other side, seeing Becky every single day, Becky, from top to bottom, know when it comes to sports, she knows, she's not, she knows the game right inside and out, right. You know, from her scouts to players, player tendencies and the way she, you know, she relate, relate with us. It's like, you know, she, one of us, right. She played, she wanted all the time. Greats in her sport. Yes. You know, so everybody respect her. Everybody look at her in that light. So, for me, I don't think none of it like, oh, we got a woman coach. Right. You know what I mean? Right. So, it's just, you get a group of people who

believe in her. Mm hmm. They'll see and they they they'll get that feeling. Yeah but how do you know how do you how do you you you break that ceiling because this is gonna be unprecedented. I mean, this is this might be the equivalent of the first black, this might be the Jackie Robinson moment because we always knew, but I don't know, when I was growing up, I never thought a woman would coach men. That never even dawned on me, especially at the highest level.

Right, right, yeah. I mean, that goes with everything that happens for the first time. Right. You know, it has to happen for us to have this conversation. Right. You know what I mean? It's at that point to where it has to happen for it to be believable. Right.

You look around in sports, not just basketball. You look around football, there's women involved. Right. In some type of way. You have women referees in the NFL. Nobody never thought that. True. But it happened. Yes. You know thought that. True. But it happened.

Yes. You know, now it's normal once it happens. Right. Now it's moving forward. You kind of forget about it. It's a woman ref out there. So it's just that next step if somebody wanted to take that. Let's get back to the mid-range because you book,

and I'm looking at CP3. Yeah, you can shoot threes, but that's really not where you try to make your living at. You try to make your living in the mid-range. Why is that a lost art? Because I think you look around the league and it's great to see when you see guys like Steps coming across court, shooting threes. It's amazing. You know what I mean? Trey Young, all these guys that do incredible things from the three-point line. Damian Litter. It's amazing. But it gets... When it's time to simplify and get a bucket, you got to be able to play in that

mid-range. It's just lost because you look around and everybody doing it. I never would have thought if you would have asked when I was young, you would see bigs doing step back threes. Yeah. Yeah. You never imagined that. You know, I tell a lot of young guys now who,

who don't realize that. I remember you used to have to have a power forward and a center on the court. You have to have a power forward and a center on the court. You know, the only person who used to shoot threes was the specialists who shot threes. You know what I mean?

Look at a lot of games back then. The Dale Curry, those nature. They were specialists. They were specialists who shot shoot threes was the specialists who shot threes. You know what I mean? Look at a lot of games back then. Adele Curry, those nature. They were specialists. They were specialists who shot the threes. Right. You look at games now, like you said, it's like 35 to 43 is getting shot. Yes. Back in the day, it used to be four for 12 for the whole game.

Yes. You know what I mean? That was between two teams. Exactly. So it's just one of those things that you know, it happens so much now. It's easy to forget about everything else with the game because so many people are doing it now at

a high level. What makes Devin Booker special man? When he's tough, he's tough. I always judge every player that I play against by the toughness in a heart book got that toughness in his heart. And his creativity with that ball, his poise, his patience, he's always been big time. And it's just crazy to think this is his first playoff run. And he in the finals.

And that's a credit to what type of player he is. And he bring it every single night. Growing up in L.A., I'm reading that Master P was your AAU coach. Yeah. What type of coach was P? P was, P was... And he was Master P at the time. No, yeah, he was all that.

P was like a father figure for us growing up, honestly. You know, P was, he brought us in and made us feel like one of his kids. Right. You know, in all honesty. You know, and he allowed us to be us. He just related with us on a different level, you know, and it brung the best out of us. And that's why so many kids wanted to play with him back then.

And he did so much for us at that point to where when it was time to step on the court, you know, we was rocking with P every time. Right. What was one of the things that he taught you that helped you become the player, the person, the man that you became? I mean, everything. I mean, being around P so much at a young age. You you see how it was like to deal with fame money. Business he was always a teacher of that that that aspect of it of looking at it like you know we're not going

to play basketball forever. You know he was always preparing you for the after. It was always that even even if we didn't want to hear then it was always said said to us and always brought up to us. Then for us to see a lot of things hands-on with him made it easier. Like he'd be with us one day, then you look on TV and he's taking care of something with a big deal. And it's like, oh damn, he just was with us at practice. Now you see him in his handle a business as a mogul that he is it it put a lot of things in perspective and kind of gave us that motivation of of understanding what it was like wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast nfl daily

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or wherever you get your podcasts. You know what I tell people all the time? I said it was easy for me to succeed because I saw my brother succeed. And I'm like, he in the house where I live. He grew up like I grew up. He ate what I ate. He slept where I slept. Hell, he played in college.

I could play in college. He went to the NFL. I could. You see Master P doing that. You're like, I was just talking to him the other day. He's my coach. Well, he did it. I could do those things. Is that how you thought? tell stories right like stories about everything right and and be amazed by and having normal conversations go eat it take us to six flags wherever it was and it was like you know like that father figure type to where you see him go do a concert and you see all these people who don't know him but you know the the fame you see the fortune you you go to his house and see them see the match and see the different cars you go to Video shoots you seeing all these things and it makes it make it more possible for you to be successful

Right, I mean it made it like somebody you know got that yeah for sure and it also gave me a different type of It made me even more humble By the time I made it to the lead because it was like I had a chance to see what it was like You know right I seen the ups and downs a lot of stuff that he went through and he always used to share that with us. Right with the lookout for who to look out for. So when I was going to the league, you know, I had that that confidence and motivation because I seen it from somebody my whole childhood. He talks about how he wants to coach. He believes he can be the Pelicans coach. Do you think Master P could actually, do you think P could coach in the NBA?

P is one of those renaissance men. He can do anything. Yeah, like whatever you put his mind to, he's going to go out there and try to pick it up. He sells ramen noodles, he sells cereal, he sells alcohol and beer. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. T-shirts. I didn't hear him say he was going to sell air to somebody, so, you know, that's

just P. You played with the sun at USC. How is it, because it's like when you're young and you meet a celebrity, it's like how do you like look at them like, okay, he just coached. And his son is just, that's just my teammate. How do you not look at them and revere who they are? Because I was able to see the work ethic. Okay. You know what I mean?

I remember when Romeo was filming TV shows at the same time and have to be on set 12, 14 hours a day. Right. And still got to do schoolwork. Right. And still find time to go to the gym. Right. And still gotta do school work. Right. And still find time to go to the gym. Right. You know, so when you see the background of things, you you you kinda you kinda look at them like, damn, like, like, nah, I don't want

that. You're doing too much. Right. You know what I mean? So, you you have a different type of respect level for them. You know, initially, before you know anything, it's always, it's always look at it like, ah, they got everything, they this and that. But it's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that we was able to see playing together that they had to go through that wasn't easy. Right. You look at it now that P's son, Hersey, got a $2 million endorsement deal

from a technology company. And we see that colleges now that guys are going to be able to make money off their likeness, going to be able to sell autographs, going to be able to do things where they can benefit. Are you in favor of things? For sure. Yeah, for sure. Like, damn, I need to be coming over right about now.

Yeah, for sure. And the crazy thing, I always say this, I stayed home and played because I was scared to leave if something happened or if I needed $200 or anything. I didn't have it. I played home to where if something happened or if I needed $200 or anything. I didn't have it. I played home to where if I needed some bread, all right,

I can go home 15 minutes away from here and get some money, $20 for my parents. I can't take nothing or do nothing else to help me out. You know what I mean? Or I'm going to get in trouble. Or I'll get in trouble, get the school in trouble, yes. Yeah, but you walk around your campus and you see your jersey hanging around, you see all this. So I'm all to get in trouble. I'll get in trouble, get the school in trouble, yes. Yeah, but you walk around your campus and you see your jersey hanging around, you see all this. So I'm all for it.

I'm glad that it definitely changed and these kids should benefit off themselves. So do you think the big schools will get even bigger because they can offer even more? So now let's just say for basketball, the North Carolinas, the Dukes, the Kentuckys, the Kansases, are they going to have an unfair advantage? I mean, that's the next step. I think so, too. That was the first thing that I thought about as well, you know,

because the big schools can sit up here and say we can offer you more. But y'all got some big donors, too. Y'all got them Hollywood. Y'all got the big, big bucks. Yeah, that's that. Yeah. You like movies, right? Yeah. So it's definitely going to be one of those things that it's going to be something else that they're going to need to figure out because, you know, them big schools are going to try to take advantage.

Why did you choose USC over Carolina? I mean, the blue, I mean, I'm a Tar Heel fan. I must admit, I'm a Tar Heel fan. I mean, I remember I Tar Heel fan. I must admit, I'm a Tar Heel fan. I mean, I remember I took an unofficial visit, and I mean, I was amazed about everything with North Carolina. But leaving North Carolina after visiting, I looked at it like, you know, all these great players came through here. You know, say I make it through here, I'll just be another great player. I kind of wanted to go somewhere else and kind of leave a mark.

Right. Kind of start a new trend. Right. I'm from L.A. Not too many people from L.A. of wanted to go somewhere else and kind of leave a mark, kind of start a new trend. Right. I'm from LA. Not too many people from LA even go to USC. They normally pick the other school. Right. You know, so I wanted to be that guy to be like, all right, let me go here and make a change. Kind of, I always kind of wanted to take different routes and kind of the tougher route. So that's kind of why I stay home too. You said SoCal basketball has passed New York at the Mecca basketball. So, okay, we got Kawhi Harden, Westbrook, Clay, Paul Pierce, Paul George, you, Holiday. I mean, who's on your Mount Rushmore?

I want to know Reggie Miller, Bill Walton, who's on the Mount Rushmore Southern Cal basketball player? Of all time, that's hard because you kind of got to go generation and generation with us. You can't even just pick one because we got so many so many players. But for me, I I'm putting who I learned so much from and what I got a lot of my motivation from is I got to go with a lot of older guys like Baron Davis. Okay, ready Reggie. Okay. Um them two, them two for sure gave me a different like passion of growing up watching,

watching the game of basketball. Mm hmm. That's a good one. I I don't wanna pick nobody from from my generation yet. I'm trying to stick with you. You gonna live by Bill Walton? Bill Walton. He definitely gotta be up there. You definitely only about Bill Walton Bill Walton. He definitely got to be up there. You definitely got to put the water in there, but we got so many is so many. That's why who else? I feel like I'm missing somebody.

You played against Paul. You played against everybody Harden Kawhi Westbrook clay Paul Pierce PG. It's so hard, man. It's hard because I want to pick something from our generation, the generation before, the older generation. It's so hard. I don't know if I knew you or if I got y'all. No, no, no.

New York, I got y'all. Give me five. Kareem, Dr. J. Nah, he's from Philly. I'm going to go... Kenny Anderson. Stephon Mulberry. But this is with Kareem.

Kareem take a full space, all four heads by himself. Give me somebody from the last 20 years. Oh, last 20 years, New York. I'm trying to think, last 20 years. You can't even just. Chris Mullen. Nah, come on now. Middle World Peace. I love metal, but come on.

Steph, what about Marbury? Come on, I love, I love Steph, I love meta. Steph, what about Mulberry? Come on. I love Steph. I love him, too. You put him on the spot. Let me try. New York, New York. Last 20 years, you could name from L.A.

Yeah, y'all got new guys. But, you know, people moved from New York and came out here. I mean, they moved from New York and came and said, like, they got tired of the cold weather. So that's what that is. So, really, they got roots back in New York and came and said, like, they got tired of the cold weather. So that's what that is. So really, they got roots back in New York. How much pressure is it on American basketball when you go play international? Because you're supposed to have the supreme players.

You got the best. Out of the top ten players in the NBA, you're probably going to have anywhere between eight, nine, seven and 10, something of that nature. So you go to FIBA to 2014, you play in the Olympics. How much pressure do you feel the pressure? Do you know what's expected of you? Um, for sure. Because it's always hostile territory, right? You know, every single country everybody want to be the Americans, everybody. That's the big, that's the big deal, you know, and you feel it when you play against a lot of these countries. You look up. There's been times we play certain countries.

You look up in a crowd, and it's like, we outnumbered. Yeah. You know what I mean? There's three American flags in it all. Yeah, like, we completely outnumbered in the culture of a lot of these countries. You've got to do nothing but respect them because they come with that passion, that love, and that joy, and that hunger to want to beat the American team. So we're going to get their best effort every single night.

So you got to bring it because you don't want to be on that team that went down or lost to somebody. You follow sports. You're a big sports buff. The Sha'Carri Richardson story. She tests positive for marijuana. She's the fastest woman currently in America. And she's not able to go to the Tokyo Olympics because she flunked a test.

She said she was dealing with depression. Her biological mom had passed, and she needed something to ease her mind. Your father passed recently and you were one of the first to put a face on mental health what are your thoughts on her and then talk about your own dealing with your mental it the mental health issues none but love support for her you know I could imagine how that feels losing somebody then you, you know, going out there doing what you love to do that kind of suppress the pain that you go through.

Put yourself in a position to be able to make the Olympics and get that taken away from you from something that's legalized. Right. And basically almost across the America, you know, see, I see I see both sides of the equation. And what I what I've learned, I'm a little I'm a lot older. I'm a little older. I'm a lot older than you. What I started to see is that people want to preserve something. Right. But they don't want to practice it. See, it's easy for us to sit back and say, well, it's only weed. But what if you're the woman that finished fourth? Right. Right. Would you still feel that same way I saw me we I finished for so I'm good let her go would you feel that same way we see that what's going on with diversity everybody's for diversity as long as I'm not impacted by

it see everybody's everybody's for something as long as they're not getting something taken from them and so that's what I see the side of it. I think it would be unfair that if 25 people did something right, the one person that did something wrong, and it's only one, you say, okay, we're going to just forgive it. But what about the other people that lost opportunities in the past? Now I got a problem with the rule. I agree with you. Marijuana is not no performance enhancer because I know a problem with the rule I agree with you marijuana is not

no performance enhancer because I know a lot of people and they enhance nothing but the ability to flunk out of school that's what they're doing but I get it but I do feel bad for because like you know you gave you and Kevin love put face yeah to this issue and how we handle everybody doesn't handle things the same way true so when did you realize that man i just don't feel like tomorrow i'm just not myself but i can't i don't really know what it is right um i mean i deal with that a lot especially throughout my career um especially last few years it's kind of been like the toughest of my career, but I always try to find things that motivate me to help me push me through. Right.

And one thing has always been my daughters. You know, you look at them, they care less about the more the athlete. Right. I mean, they look at you more so as their superhero. Right. So you're invincible. Yeah. So in my mind, I always put in.

I can't let them down. Right. I know I don't feel them down right i know i don't feel like myself i know i'm having a bad day i may i may want to give up i may want to just say man f all this right you know they look at you in a different light right you know and that that for me if i didn't have them i don't know where i'd be right i mean that's that's that's my that's my suppression right you know i mean like you said, everybody's different. And I always tell people you got to find something that you can lean on,

that loves you unconditionally, and use that as your motivation to get through. Because we all going to go through something at some point. Obviously. Yeah, absolutely. You know what I mean? And we got to have that extra push that we can lean on when times get hard. So that's something I always give.

Like you said, everybody got to find different avenues to go. But you got to find the best thing, the most best and positive thing for you to keep you going. So you wouldn't salt professional help? Nah, I think I always used, I think for me it was always, I never talked. I never talked about, you know, something went wrong, went bad and everything. You know, we all got people who care for us. Right. Always say, man, if you need me, I'm here for you.

But do they really mean it or did you say it? Nah, some people mean it. Yeah, yeah. But we don't really use it. Right. You know what I mean? You be like, all right, cool. Because, you know, for the longest, it's really hard, Damar, to be vulnerable

and then admit that I'm vulnerable. Because what happens is that sometimes when you say you're vulnerable, people take advantage of it. Because if you're on the court, and if I know you've got a weakness, what I'm going to do, I'm going to prey on that weakness. That's what it is. So if I tell you that, man, you know, we make light.

We used to make light because we didn't have a great understanding of mental health. So if someone tell, they feeling depressed, you're weak. That's what you're feeling. You're weak. You need to man up. Yeah. And so for athletes, because athletes are human, for the longest time, like you said, how your daughters look at you is superhuman.

Most people look at athletes as superhuman. Like, no, bro, they have issues. They go to things, you know, they have, you know, husband, wife, or, you know, wife, husband have issues, and they have issues with kids, and they have issues with parents or friends. So don't think because someone can shoot a shot or catch a pass, they don't have issues. And for you and Kevin Love and others to openly and honestly talk about it,

that's a really positive thing. And I don't think you thought about that at the time. I didn't. But now, it's like, man, man, DeRogatio Rhodes, man, he in the league. He makes this. And he dealing with this. And I think it makes it okay for young kids to say, you know what? I got things going on.

I need to talk. I need to just open up and be vulnerable. Yeah. It's the most important thing now. And like you said, I didn't, even when I came out and did it, I did it, you know, for my own selfish reasons, not knowing that, you know, it'll help and motivate and inspire, you know, the conversation or, or, or, or make people willing to be more vulnerable and talk about it. You know, but once I seen that happen, I kind of got upset with myself. Like, damn, why I wait so long? Why I didn't do something like this sooner to help somebody? You know, because that's what it's about.

Growing up, my dad was one of those old school man, man, that was like, you better not cry. You better not do this. Exactly, yeah. It was always like. We didn't show love. We didn't do no hugging. We didn't do a whole lot of that thing. You better not do that. Right, exactly, yeah. It was always like, you know. We didn't show love. We didn't do no hugging. We didn't do a whole lot of that thing.

You were supposed to be emotionalist. Yeah. As a man, you're supposed to be tough. Yeah. You don't fear anything. You don't show emotions because showing emotion is a sign of weakness. And we are never supposed to be weak. Now, that's how, you know, that's how my grandfather raised, you know.

See, I'm raising men. Yeah. And men don't show weakness. Men don't cry. And men don't show, you know so I'm raising me in me and don't show weakness man don't cry and man don't show up you know I don't I can't remember if I ever heard my grandfather tell my grandmother he loved right he didn't tell us he loved it either you got a roof over your head right you got food on the table hell I love you did you eat right and so that was the approach and then you kind of passed that down the line yeah and then you realize I hold on nah I don't

really think Papa I don't really think, Papa, I don't really think, you know, you did some good things, but I think I probably should tell my kids I love them. Yeah. And, you know, and kind of stop this, that you're not a man if you show emotion or, you know, you become vulnerable. Yeah, yeah. And the crazy thing, you say that, it's like even something like this

will help me. It's like I always tell people through real conversations, this is a therapeutic conversation where you can walk away from it and feel like, damn, I got something off my shoulder today and not even know it. You know what I mean? And it's like that was a conversation I always try to get people to have. It's like talk about it.

You know what I mean? Because once you talk about it with somebody that you care about, you kind of have that dialogue. You can sit there and talk for an hour, two hours, three hours, not knowing you done got so much off your chest that you never talked about. You know what I mean? And that's kind of where it starts,

to give that confidence and that comfort to be able to have these type of conversations because hearing your experience, be like, damn, I'm not the only one. You know what I mean? I heard the same thing from Sharp, man. Damn, now I can carry this over to the next person. Right, you know, kind of keep it rolling. So that's that's that was kind

of like my my mental my mindset after I opened up about it and you know, you same same type of conversation. I would Kevin love. We spent some time together just having different conversation. It was like damn like I wouldn't do that vice versa, but it it educate us to be able to help the next person even more, so. This social justice, there's a lot going on. We've seen over the last, man,

over the last four or five years, it's been crazy. And you're from here with really the first incident that was videotaped, the Rodney King. You're probably four or five years of age then, so I don't know how much of that you remember. But like I said, I'm a lot older than you, but I remember it seemed like all the issues basically just took place in like California or New York or Chicago, but now we're seeing it spread out.

What are your thoughts on how you guys banded together in the bubble and like you know what basketball is important this is what we do but this is not who we are yeah because the the qd community that's being impacted they look like us right yeah and it's it's crazy because i had the opportunity to be on a lot of phone calls a lot lot of meetings with all the guys in the lead. And you see how passionate and what that side of reality meant to everybody in different cities. You know, it wasn't just for us as a lead. It was like, yo, I'm from here and this is going on. This is affecting where I'm from.

Right. This way, the police, this, this, this. And you kind of put everything in perspective to where it's like, yo, this just don't happen in L.A. Right. This happened in the small cities and in St. Louis. Right. And, you know, just all over this country that we kind of just sweep under the rug when it happens.

Right. You know, so for the here, everybody's passion for it and how we banded together to kind of just push everything forward. It was incredible and and i'm honored to even be a part of it because like you said i remember growing up when after rodney king happened i always i was always confused and asking my mom and dad like yo why did police do this right is this normal right why why you know you kind of just always have these questions and growing up in compton going through so much and seeing how the police treat you and the things that go on, you, you kind of normalize it until you get to that age of knowing, figuring out like, yo,

this is not right. Right. You know, so for the world that happened, like it happened last year with the pandemic and, you know, everything turned into what it turned in and us coming together as, as, as, as a whole, as a lead to come together to try to make change and see what we did. It was amazing, you know what I mean? And that's where it starts. I think this is a new era because it took, you know, in the 60s, and obviously with Jim Brown and Mr. Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he was only a teenager.

He was at UCLA in the Summit, and I think it was 1967, 66, 67, they had the Black Summit in Cleveland. And then you had a period where the athletes were like, they were afraid to speak out, or they chose not to speak out on certain issues because you know, I don't really want to mess up my money. But you guys,

not only are you guys socially conscious, you're morally conscious. You feel you have a moral obligation because people that look like me, that come from neighborhoods are you guys socially conscious, you're morally conscious. You feel you have a moral obligation because people that look like me, that come from neighborhoods like I came from, are hurting. And for me, I can no longer in good conscience sit here and say it's because I live in my ivory tower.

Like, this is not affecting me, but it is actually. Oh, yeah, more than a lot of people think. People think because we have money, we just fine, we okay with what's going on. It's a lot of guys, even think because we have money we just we just fine we okay with what's going on it's a lot of it's a lot of guys even myself you you pick up your phone you see a lot of stuff that go go on yes like you feel disgusted by it yes you know what i mean yes you kind of you kind of find envious in yourself at times right i'm in this i remember when when everything first happened in l.a during the pandemic and I'm sitting in the house, I got up and I went down to L.A. where everything was going on because I didn't feel comfortable sitting in the house. Right.

I had to be out there and see what was going on because how you feel, I feel the same way. Right. You know, and it's not about the money. It's about what's right. Right. And a lot of these guys, just because we in the league, I still got a lot of friends and family that still live in these communities. Right. That I got to hear that I go visit and I see it in them. I see how scared they are to go to the store. You know what I mean? My little cousin go to the store if he's going to make it back because of the police. So much stuff to where it's my obligation to be able to talk about it and try to make change.

That's the thing about what you see is because empathy, it forces you to lose your ego because it puts you in another man's shoes. For one second, you have to see yourself as another man, not as you. Because if you only look at yourself as you, you're straight. I make this. I live here. So maybe there's, you know, slight chance that I may never. But if you have empathy and you put yourself in a man's shoes that doesn't play a professional sport, that's not, you know, and then you're like, well, hold on.

That really could happen to me. Somebody, you know, I really could leave and not come home. I mean, I can assure you, nobody in George Floyd's family thought that he was not going to return home that day. Philando Castile and Eric Garner and the Walter Scott and the Sandra Blands and all

those, the Terrence Crutchers, Alton Sterling, nobody thought that. You know what? Man, we're going to them see them tomorrow and tomorrow never came so when you start looking at it from through that lens you're like man it's effed up yeah yeah by far it's it's it's crazy because I sit up here and it's you look at it from yourself then you look at it when you have kids. Yes. You know what I mean? Yes. It's like you kind of double down on that feeling even more. Right. And it's just one of those feelings that just because people are successful,

like, we feel it. We feel it more than anything. You know what I mean? And we showed it when we came together, especially in the bubble, man. And I respect all my brothers in the league that took that stance and was willing to, you know, lose it all for what's right. Right. You're a big music guy, obviously.

You and Drake are very good friends. This Versus, who would you like to see in a Versus battle? Ooh, that's a good one. I'm going to keep it West Coast because, you know, we really haven't seen too much West Coast. I'd love to see Ice Cube. Ice Cube versus really anybody. Because Snoop Snoop went up against DMX, rest his soul.

E-40 and Too Short did their thing. You're right. We have a, I mean, Kendrick Lamar. Look, first of all, Dr. Dre, Dr. Dre is in a, you know,

if you do a producer, if you do his stuff, Dr. Dre got to go against Quincy Jones. Yeah, for sure. That's the only matchup that's going to ever, that's going to ever work. Nobody else can go against Quincy Jones.

Yeah. Dr. Dre against, unless it's Quincy Jones. Yeah, that's it. That's it. As far as like rappers, I would love to see Q.

Who are you going to put Q up against in the West Coast? I don't know. I just would love, like, Q. One, Q don't get to just do as he should. No, he doesn't. And I wish he did. Like, Q is one of my favorite. He one of my all-time favorites. So I'd love to see Q.

I don't. That's on them to figure out. Yeah, because I heard him talking the other day and they were talking about, well, what about going against LL? Because LL don't get the credit he deserves. LL was... No, he was the man too. That'd be a hell of a win. I would love to see that. Yeah.

I'm trying to think. Who could Cube go against? I've been trying to figure that out too. Before Snoop did his, I would say like, right, Cube and Snoop probably. Right. But I don't know. I don't know who could compete with Cube right now.

Who's your Mount Rushmore rappers of West Coast? West Coast? Yeah. Ice Cube. Kendrick. Gain. Ice Cube, Kendrick, Gain,

and I'm putting Nipsey Hussle. You're putting Nipsey over Snoop? I'm putting... Like, put half face Nip, half face Snoop. You gotta give me half Snoop, half Nip, man. Okay. But you're right. I shouldn't have half Snoop, half Nip, man. Okay.

Then my worth more. But you right, I shouldn't have left Snoop. I shouldn't have left Snoop. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, huh? But I'm Nip, Snoop, toss up. Because, man, the thing was about Cube is that Cube, Cube with NWA, that Cube, and then when he went solo, he was solo he was he was hell everybody everybody he was he Q Q Q was one of a kind man bra I really

appreciate you I know you busy getting ready we get back into the season and you know got free agency on the road on the way or down the stretch but I appreciate appreciate you thank you but I appreciate you. Appreciate you, man. Thank you, man. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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