Club Shay Shay - Nightcap - Hour 1: Unc & Bun B talk about Trill Burger, Halliburton calf strain, and LeBron talks retirement!
Episode Date: June 18, 2025Shannon Sharpe & special guest Bun B talk about Bun B restaurant Trill Burger and getting the Key to the City of Port Arthur, Texas, Tyrese Halliburton suffers a calf strain, MRI to determine seve...rity, Lebron pushes back on ring culture and much more!03:13 - Trill Burger17:12 - Bun B got key to city of Port Arthur, TX22:53 - Shams reports Hali calf strain concern32:11 - Bron pushes back on Ring Culture51:38 - Doc Rivers pushing back on Giannis trade rumors58:20 - Univ of SC’s Sellers turns down 8m NIL(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.)#Volume #ClubSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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This is an iHeart Podcast.
I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next.
In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of 2B.
We dive into the competitive world of streaming. Would others dismiss as niche we embrace as core?
There are so many stories out there. And if you can find a way to curate and help the right person
discover the right content, the term
that we always hear from our audience
is that they feel seen.
Listen to Good Company on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Volume
Hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us for another episode of Nightcap.
Y'all know me, I'm your favorite uncle Shannon Sharp and look who's filling in for your Ocho
Seiko.
That's right, the triple OG.
Poured off the native, but HTX is where it call home now, the one and only, Bun B. Bun,
what it do?
Man, I'm good, I'm good.
It's funny because I'm always called Unc.
Everybody calls me Unc and then I'm in here with Unc.
So it's Unc and Unc tonight.
That's what it's called Unc and Unc show tonight.
All right, bud.
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All right.
All right.
Make sure you guys, you know what, Bun?
We're gonna talk about this.
The Trill Burger.
I haven't yet to try the Trill Burger,
but you know, you know,
HTX is one of my favorite cities.
It might be my favorite city, you know,
and I'm an Atlanta native, but you know what?
We're gonna get to that in a minute,
but let's talk about the Trill Burger.
Yes, sir.
How did you come up with this concept?
I'll be honest, Shannon,
I didn't come up with the concept of the burger.
Okay.
I'd made friends with a gentleman named Andy Nguyen,
probably over, probably 11 years now.
He used to be in the clothing industry.
So I met him at the Magic Convention.
The Magic Convention is a huge clothing convention
that happens in Las Vegas twice a year.
I met him there, he had a clothing line called I Am King.
And most of the people that are there,
they're showcasing, the convention is
from people who have clothing brands, shoe brands,
anything in that fashion, and people who have clothing brands, shoe brands, anything in that fashion,
and people who sell.
So it's a conference where people come, they look at your brand, see if they want to put
it in their store and that kind of a thing.
So a lot of what they're showing is just samples of what's to come.
Because if you go there in the summer, let's say if I go this summer at 25, what I'm buying
for them, I won't get until winter, Or maybe spring, you know what I'm saying?
So he had this hat with I Am King on it,
and I knew it was the only one he had.
And so I said, let me get that hat from you.
That way I knew I was rocking something
nobody else would have at the convention.
And so we were very cool.
And then he moved into food in California, he's done extremely well for himself
in the food industry.
He's a licensed and genius, so he has a license for Hello Kitty.
He's got a couple of stores with Hello Kitty.
He's got the license for
this Japanese anime series called One Piece,
which is extremely successful.
He had a Sonic the hedgehog cafe before, um, he had his, he was partners
in the ice cream company called after his ice cream, they opened over 30 plus doors.
So he's been extremely, and this is just a small number of the
things that he's got his hands in.
So he's been very successful.
And he is, he and his partners had developed a burger.
Okay.
And the smash burger trend was starting to take off in California a couple of years ago.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So he was like, well, I can't do it in California because it's too much competition.
Too many things have too many companies got traction.
I need to move a little bit further down in the country because kind of what happens is
these trends will take place and start in one part of the country and then start to move a little bit further down in the country. Because kind of what happens is these trends will take place
and start in one part of the country and then start to move across the country.
So you notice maybe eight years ago, you started seeing poke everywhere you go.
You start seeing poke poke poke.
About four years ago, you start seeing hot chicken everywhere, everywhere you go.
Now you see smash burgers.
Everybody's got a Smash Burger concept.
So he was like, if I don't catch it,
by the time it get to Texas, I'm gonna miss the whole thing.
So we had a mutual friend, a guy named Nick Sturfield.
Nick used to work for the Texans.
I met him when we got whooped terribly by the Patriots.
I'm sure you remember the-
Oh, that Monday night game?
That Varsity jacket fiasco.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, that's why I met Nick. That was a rough pill to swallow iniasco. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
That's why I met Nick.
That was a rough pill to swallow in that city.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They beat the brakes up, y'all.
Yeah.
And we learned that we weren't a big lesson about showing up is about on the field, not
about on the bus.
In the play.
But, you know, we became good friends.
And so he moved into out of working with the Texas and to start a marketing
company and a promotional company. And so he was one of his company was doing marketing
for Andy's company. So he reached out to Andy said, man, I'm really looking to start this
in Texas. He was like, well, I know bun and bun don't want to do something in that space
for a while. Because I started a food blog about 10 years ago called
you got to eat this.
Now, in all of mine, it was me and my partner,
Premi and Pete, in all of mine, we figured
that we started a food blog, at the very least,
we'll be able to get tables at good restaurants.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But if we do it right, we might get invited to try,
you know, host this, to get some new snacks.
Right. You know, I always to give them new snacks or, you know,
I always see that big Taco Bell presentation.
It's almost as big as the Apple,
when Tim Cook and them come out
and do the new Apple presentations every year
when they pop them new snacks out.
I said, man, it'd be cool to get invited to somewhere
for their new stuff and all of that.
But it really became a passion project.
We never made no real money off of it.
It's always been a passion project.
But both of us wanted to move into actually selling food and presenting food. So he started
a spaghetti sauce, which has been doing real well. He used his grandmother's recipe, which
is doing really well. And I was approached by the guys about being a part of this company.
And once I tried this burger, I was like, this burger is a problem. Like this burger
is really, really good.
It was like, hold on, we think we almost did.
You know what I'm saying?
And then when they came back to me about two weeks later,
I said, man, this is some of the best food
I've ever eaten.
Not just a burger, I realized this burger was far beyond
anything anybody had ever done with a hamburger.
But I realized, you know, that this is a this is an opportunity.
It's a real opportunity for me to be a part of a company that I believe could
potentially change everybody that's involved a lot.
Right. I'm saying that. So far, we've got two doors open here in Houston, one on
Shepherd and one on the weather.
And we're about to open two more before the end of the year, which is driving us
crazy. You know what I'm saying?
Most people right now, obviously, what's going on,
everybody's worried about staff.
You know what I'm saying?
Staff and people.
And even before everything that's happening
in this country, man, post-COVID,
people don't really wanna work no more.
Nah, people wanna work from home.
But if you're in the service industry,
it's hard to work from home
when you're in the service industry, bud.
You can't cook them burgers from home
and then send them to somebody's house.
That's not how this company works.
You know, but we're working the kinks out,
you know what I'm saying?
We've had our ups and downs,
but, you know, everything's been a learning experience.
And it's beautiful that I get to connect,
not only with people that have been supporters and fans.
Because obviously the first people
that come through the door, you know,
were Bumi fans.
Correct.
But we've had amazing opportunities
to present this burger to the entire city of Houston
for the past four years with the Houston Livestock Show
and Rodeo.
They get over two million people through the gates every year.
And that's where the city fell in love with the burger.
You know what I'm saying?
So we've had some great opportunities
to present this brand to the city in a big way. They've been receptive. And, you know, obviously the Bumby fans and the UGK fans, they come throughout the gate and show love. But now it's at the point, man, we'll come in and you can tell these people have no idea who I am. They have no idea what Trill means. They just know this is a good burger. And it works for me. You know what I'm saying? That's how it should be.
Yeah, and there's in the day or moment
where you come in this restaurant
and you don't really see what Houston really reflects.
You see white people, you see black people,
you see Latina, Asian, you see couples,
you see single people, old people, young people,
straight people, any gender, any affiliation
with any religion, we've had them all come in, you know what I'm saying?
Because we want to represent a version of Houston
that's as inclusive as possible,
that don't block nobody out.
So you ain't got to know who Bumby is.
You ain't got to know who Trill is,
got that big pimpsy mural on the wall.
They may not even know who that man is
in the white knit coat and everything.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But you know what, Bun?
But they know it's good food. They know knit coke and yeah, but you know what?
No, it's good food. They know it's good food and that's all in my the thing is, you know
Bun B might have got him in the door, but to get him to come back bun B
Can't get him to come back bun might have got him initially man. Hey, man. I heard bun got a new spot down there, man
You know bun always giving back to the community. Let's go support him
One time it's just like you start something. It's like, oh, the new podcast.
This is what I tell people.
I said, look, if you got a podcast, I say you could only get somebody once.
You got to leave an impression to say they want to come back because if you
lose them, they're not coming back.
And there's so many content choices right now.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
And that's the thing.
And that's what I like about you, because y'all are so consistent.
That's the number one thing about podcasting,
not about guests, not about topics,
not about location, backdrop, none of that mess.
It's about consistency.
When you tell them people, meet me here every Tuesday,
you miss a Tuesday, some of the people don't come back.
They ain't coming back, you're right.
Some of the people don't come back, man.
That's what I tell them.
That's what I try to tell people, Bun,
because here's the thing.
People think because, man, all you got
is a microphone and a camera.
I can do that.
Because you know, Bun, the easier it is to make money,
the more resentful people will become of you.
Because see, people don't really, really resent an athlete
because, man, I can't run. I can't jump.
I can't throw a football. I can't tackle.
I can't hit a baseball. But everybody feels they can talk.
So if I got a camera, I got a microphone, I should be able to do it.
And they see what some of these influencers and bloggers or whatever the case may be,
and they see what they're making.
But when I say, bro, you just don't turn the camera on and start talking.
You have to have a staff, You have to have a topic.
You have to have a rundown.
You need to know what you want to talk about.
You need to have somebody to weave you in and out of traffic.
It's not as easy as it looks.
So, but, and people are like, well, man, hey, man, but you know, hey,
I got to have a life.
OK, a life is fine if that's what you want.
Life, if you want life, that's nine to five.
Fine. You can have that.
But Bun, when you know when you become successful
or you want to become uber successful,
there is no off time, there is no nine to five,
there is no balance.
Greatness, there is no balance to greatness.
I don't know why people don't understand that.
No, no, and here's the thing, man.
Like when you decide you want something, right?
When you decide you really, really want something,
then you have to figure out how to restructure your life to benefit that.
Correct. And you know, like I'm a married man, you know,
and there's been many times where I've had to sacrifice family time for business.
Absolutely. You know what I'm saying?
People don't see that.
You know what I'm saying? People see you see that. You know what I'm saying?
People see you on stage or on the TV or all of these things, you know what I'm saying,
and being available and accessible to them.
But every time I give my time to the world, it's time I take away from my family.
So my family has to understand the sacrifice I'm making for us.
You know what I'm saying? For this family. You know what I'm saying? For this family.
You know what I'm saying?
So there's a lot to go into, but here's the first thing.
Do people really wanna even hear what you got to say?
Yes, absolutely.
Like, there's a level of self-awareness
that has to be present in podcasts and for it to work.
Because you jump out there the first week,
you gonna talk, mumble over first week, you're going to
talk mumble over your words, you're going to mix up things, you know, the Wi-Fi ain't
going to hit, things ain't going to work, you know what I'm saying? And that'll discourage
most people.
Yes.
Out the door. Then you try to come back and push through it and push through it and make
it work. You got to decide if we're going to be a guest driven podcast, we got to have
somebody every time we want to do a guest-driven podcast, we gotta have somebody every time we wanna do a show.
That ain't easy.
Everybody ain't always available.
Ocho Cico somewhere with a beret on,
even croissants, you know what I'm saying?
And France somewhere,
all the wee-wee-ing all over the place, you know?
So you got to have potential co-hosts, potential guests.
People don't understand how hard it is
to even book talent, bro. You gotta have a booking service. potential co-hosts, potential guests. People don't understand how hard it is
to even book talent, bro.
You gotta have a booking service.
There's so many different parts to this
that have to be moving succinctly
before you even sit down in the chair.
I was online for about five, six minutes
talking to two different people
before you even pop up on the screen.
But that's the level of commitment that it take
and that's how serious.
It's mandatory.
That's how serious.
Now the problem is, like me with a recording artist,
it's very easy to gather the equipment
and resources needed to record a song
and release the song to the public.
You buy a laptop, you know, Apple laptop,
it's gonna come with garage bands, you know,
the equipment, every year recording equipment and accessories get cheaper and cheaper and cheaper
So it's very easy to actually make the music create the music and put the music out to the public
But that don't mean you feel to blow up
Exactly, you know saying this stuff all take time. It's trial and error. Everything is trial and error
I think it is the first song I made was terrible.
I can tell you the first rhyme I wrote,
when I say bad, my rap name was terrible back then.
My rap name used to be Shadow Storm.
So I just thought I had to have one of these glorious
type of names that, you know, would tell everybody
who I was before I walked in the room.
I was way off.
It had nothing to do with that.
The name don't matter.
My rap name ended up being Bun B, which don't mean much to anything in the world of name.
You know what I'm saying?
So a man is not made by his name.
You know what I'm saying?
That had nothing to do with it.
I had to realize that if I want to be good at this, if you want to be good at something,
you got to be prepared to actually be bad at something.
Right.
That's the thing. You have to walk in the you gotta be prepared to actually be bad at something. Right. That's the thing.
You have to walk in the room
and be prepared to tell these people,
like you see on American Idol, you just ain't ready.
But if you watch American Idol,
most people don't watch it consistently,
but if you watch American Idol,
you'll see somebody that, you look familiar.
Yeah, I tried out in season two and it didn't work,
so here I am, season four, trying it again.
And they might, and they come year, year, year,
and then on, and then on year five,
they hit, they picked the right song, right?
Sometimes it's the right song, the right look,
the right feel, something in the moment they pick.
And then those people actually get on American Idol.
So just because you get a no doesn't mean
it's not meant for you.
It might just mean you're not ready.
Right.
Bun, it looks like you were given the keys
to your hometown of Port Arthur, Texas.
I mean, growing up, could you have imagined
that growing up in Port Arthur,
that one day you would come back and have a key to the city?
You know, they gave me a key to the city in my hometown.
It was a crowbar.
But they said, come back anytime. You're like, you know what I'm saying, Bun? I can come back anytime I want to the city. You know, they gave me a key to the city in my hometown. It was a crowbar. But they said, come back any time.
You're like, you know what I'm saying, bud?
I can come back, I can come back any time I want to, bud.
No, but all seriousness.
I mean, think about it, bud.
When you growing up and you didn't,
I mean, HTX is a hop, skip, and a jump from Port Arthur.
But for the city and its residents to show you love
and what you've been able to accomplish once you left
and to be able to come back and they fully embrace you.
What does that mean to you, Bond?
Let me tell you something.
Growing up in Port Arthur,
if you had business on 4th Street,
somebody had to pick you up from jail
or you was at court.
Unless you worked for the city,
you really ain't got no business on that part of 4th Street.
You know what I'm saying?
So being of value as a black man in Port Arthur on 4th Street, you either the mayor or that's
it.
You know what I'm saying?
That's the only people, the mayor and the police chief, those are the only people in
that part of town that got any power.
If you're on that side of town, you did something wrong.
So for me to be there tonight, but doing something right,
I mean, it couldn't have even been something
I predicted would happen, you know what I'm saying?
Because you really wanna try to be built
in a certain way to get out of a small town.
You know what I'm saying?
Like that's a big part of it is like,
man, I gotta get out of this town. You know what I'm saying? But you don't forget the of it is like, man, I got to get out of this town. You know what I'm saying?
But you don't forget the town, right?
You don't turn your back on the town.
You always show up.
That's who made, that's what, that's,
that's city made bun, the guy that we see
and everybody see the refined product,
but it was shaped, it was formed in Port Arthur, Texas.
Absolutely.
That's where I got my determination from
because you have to be determined
to escape certain environments in this country.
You know what I'm saying? You have to have focus because it's a very small and it's a very,
I don't want to say it's a comfortable town, but it's a crap,
a town that allows people to have a level of comfort. If you hungry, you got a cousin, you know, somebody, mom,
you can get a meal. You can get a couple of dollars. You get a beer. You can get, you know what I'm saying?
You get enough to get through, which would make a meal. You can get a couple of dollars. You get a beer. You get, you know what I'm saying?
You get enough to get through, which would make some people
not even want to try to do more.
Yes. Yes. You know what I'm saying?
So, you know, I grew up in a small town, Shannon, you know,
like I know what they have to treat.
Yep. Right.
Like you for years as you was a kid, same people been right there.
Sitting in them folding chairs and a four point table point table, you know what I'm saying,
with their little purple brown bag on the side of them,
playing dominoes, talking shit right there all day long.
And I just knew that's not the life I wanted.
Now it's okay when I pull in town, I pull up certain places.
I sit down, I pull up, go Fifth Avenue,
I pass by Brad House, Brad them in the garage,
I sit down, hang out with them for a minute or whatever.
But neither Brad nor I want that to be our life.
But I do see people, you know,
older people that went to school before me,
people who, you know, were top athletes, you know,
they was homecoming kings and all that type of thing.
They just, for some reason,
the transition didn't work for them.
You know what I'm saying? Going from the king of high school to the king of college is a whole different atmosphere for people, much less being making it to
professional sports and anything like that. So if, and there's not a lot of
motivation. Like most people are like, no, we good right here. And, you know, and
I'm not knocking anybody that lives in Port Arthur.
Is it, you know what I'm saying?
You have to do what you have to do to make it in this world.
But I believe that I had more in me not only to contribute to the world, but to
also help put my city on the map, proverbially, you know what I'm saying?
So me and Pimp, you know, rest his soul, man.
We really put a lot into it.
And we did it knowing that we came from a place where you went out there and
misrepresented it, you couldn't welcome when you come back.
Right.
So you're going to take put off the running world.
You better take it the right way.
I'm Michael Kasson, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company.
The podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next.
In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi, for a conversation
that's anything but ordinary.
We dive into the competitive world of streaming,
how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold,
connecting audiences with stories
that truly make them feel seen.
What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core.
It's this idea that there are so many stories out there
and if you can find a way to curate
and help the right person discover the right content,
the term that we always hear from our audience
is that they feel seen.
Get a front row seat to where media, marketing,
technology, entertainment, and sports collide.
And hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out
space and shaking things up a bit in the most crowded of markets. Listen to Good Company on
the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's get into some topics, uh, uh, uh, but Sean reported a concern that Tyrese Halliburton
has a calf strain, right calf strain.
Despite the industry, Halliburton will continue to push the play in a team's upcoming game
on Thursday per the Atlantic
Should the Pacers shut him down now?
We saw a guy about four or five years ago five six years ago
Excuse me have a calf injury and he pushed to play one Kevin Durant and it didn't end up well for him
We saw a JT Jason Tatum. He went down earlier in the
T. Jason Tatum, he went down earlier in the post season with an Achilles injury and that's a debilitating injury.
It's going to take you out for the entirety of a complete season.
Now watching the game last night, I thought, and I said this last night, Rick Harlow, Tyrese
Halliburton is like, I understand he wants to play and he doesn't want to let his teammate
down but you aren't giving him anything. T.J. McConaughey out playing you and you went back to Tyrese Halliburton in the amount of minutes that
TJ McConnell played he I played Tyrese
I mean if I'm out there not understand guys want to be out there
I was ex a professional athlete and I wanted to be out there
But it's hard if I'm not giving you if just me being out there, that's not enough. Not in that type of situation.
What are your thoughts on that, Bond?
Well, for one, you know, your coach is supposed to,
the coach is supposed to protect the player.
I get it.
Right, you know what I'm saying?
Now, Tyler, you know, Tyler's postseason
has been built on how the league portrayed him, right?
Yes.
The players got out there and said
he was the most underrated. That'll put a fire under your feet, right? Yes. The players got out there and said he was the most underrated.
That'll put a fire under your feet for sure.
Yes.
Right.
That pushed him all the way up to the finals, to the conference finals.
And then I feel this could just be me, but I feel like, see,
I could get an MVP, put another fire on his feet.
I agree.
So there's so much in his mind that Tyrese really has to prove right now.
And I don't think it's just to himself.
I really think he really wants to show this league that he's the best.
I think he wants to prove it.
The beauty of your team is not necessarily that you're the best is that your team
is deep so that when you are productive, you know what I'm saying?
McCullough can come in, Seahawking can come in, people can come in and pick up
that slack, you know what I'm saying McCullough can come in, C.O.C.K. can come in. People can come in and pick up that slack.
You know what I'm saying?
We had that issue here where we had Chris Paul in the playoffs with the Rockets.
You know what I'm saying?
Chris pushed too hard.
Chris was, you know, Chris at that time was, you know, a little bit dealing with injuries.
You know what I'm saying?
All to this day, you know, as he played and he probably shouldn't have pushed himself that far.
If they had held him back a little bit, we would have won one of those two games.
Had he not gone out, you know what I'm saying?
We might have won the first one, but we would have been competitive in both of those games.
So you really got to think of the long term when these things happen.
But I mean, you know, like I know, Shannon, this is it.
Ain't no basketball after this. No, anyway.
So you play football.
You know what guys were willing to live on the field
during the playoffs.
Yeah, they're going to leave it all out on the field.
I remember with the Astros, you know, I pitch went out and
we had the guy sitting in there, man, he's ready to go in.
He's ready to go in. But he had just pissed a while back and he was sitting in there, man, and he's ready to go in, he's ready to go in,
and he had just pissed a while back,
and he was a little tender, but it's game seven.
Like, I'm ready to go in, put me in, and they like,
no, because I actually want to keep you on the contract
and make sure you're still good,
and the Astros ended up losing the game.
They have you for one game,
and then now we got you on the hook
for $150 million for the next six years
and you can't pitch.
I mean, you know, luckily McCullers was just getting ready
to come back, you know what I'm saying,
from two years of injury.
So I understand it, you know what I'm saying?
It's hard to stop a player, especially,
one is the money, right?
Obviously the money's your driver.
I don't think that's a factor in this.
It's a competitive nature.
It's the want to prove that I am who I've said I am
and I'm not who y'all try to say I am.
You know what I'm saying?
I think they've got a rotation that they can work through.
But again, if they don't put him in, right,
or give him restricted time,
he's gonna blame himself
if they don't pull through against it.
Right, but I think the thing is, look,
he has to understand, he could, I mean,
and I don't think he's overrated,
but he happens to be in an era with Steph Curry,
with Luka Doncic, with Shea Gilder, with James Harden,
if you jive him around, if you look at the guys
he's up against,
there was some good two guards,
but ain't nobody get mentioned with Jordan.
I'm sorry, it's just the way it is.
There's some really, really good quarterbacks
with Tom Brady, I mean, think about it.
There was a really good quarterback.
So you're trying to say that Peyton Manning
and Ben Rozenberger and Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees
weren't good quarterbacks, but when you got that guy,
you just have to get what people
give you. And I think that's the thing with Tyrese Halliburton. He could go out
there and he could average 30. People are not gonna put him in front of Steph.
They're not gonna put him in front of Luca. They're not gonna put him in front
of Shay. They're just not, bud. You don't look. There's, you and the rap game.
Go ahead, go ahead, Shay.
You and the rap game, bud. And you know this. I mean, when Tupac and Biggie, let's just say Tupac, Biggie,
Hoes, KRS-One, Rock Him, Big Daddy Kane,
you got to take the 10 best rappers.
OK, everybody's going to be talking
about the 10 best rappers.
It's going to be one or two, and that's how it's always been.
And it's always going to be.
There have been some great R&B singers,
a bunch of them back in the 80s and 90s, the R&B was king. But only Marvin Gaye, if you weren't Marvin Gaye,
if you weren't Teddy P, uh, bruh, Barry White, oh well, maybe you threw Freddie,
Freddie came along in there and snuck in there. Yeah, he got a little tired. Yeah, he got a little tired.
But it was basically Marvin Gaye and Teddy P.
Look, that doesn't mean you aren't a great player
just because you aren't considered the greatest player.
And that shouldn't affect you mentally.
You know what I'm saying?
My favorite player was always Crawford, Jamal Crawford.
Okay, yep.
Right, I'm talking about one of the best
to ever play the game, right?
But he was, and he was always considered the best sixth man.
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
If somebody go down, I got us from here.
Right.
You know what I'm saying?
And I feel like Ty Reese is a player like,
I feel like the Pacers as a team are built.
Yeah, they ain't got no superstars on their team.
But they got, but their mentality is that everybody's ready to step up.
Yes, you never know.
It's really hard to game plan for them because you never know who's going to get that 25
and then who's going to have the 19 to 18 to 17 to 16.
They don't have that one guy.
And maybe in some situations, they're hurt them because most teams that win championships,
they do have that one guy.
They can give him the ball and he can go get you a bucket.
That's why we didn't get further than we have.
Because right now we have a very young team with a first time coach and we just
don't have anybody that we can say, Hey, I need, I need this too right now.
If you have, every team has to have somebody that can give you that too,
when you need it consistently.
Now, if you have a rotation where, you know where you know, if I get these guys where I want them
in this particular scheme, we can make this work.
But all of that's wishful thinking.
I'm talking about, and he's a two.
He's a two, bro.
That's a tall ladder to climb, bro.
That's a lot of rungs to climb to try to, you know,
to say that you are considered amongst the best.
Bro, the best person that ever played this game
played your position.
The best ever to play the game played your position.
Some of the best, the best shooter ever to shoot
the basketball played in your position.
It's gonna be a wild, you got to have chips.
You got to have a couple of MVP's.
You know what I'm saying? There's a couple of things that are gonna have to have chips. You've got to have a couple of You know I'm saying there's a couple of things that have to cut that are gonna have to come together in order for
Everyone to consider Tyrese to be that player that doesn't mean he won't be that way right now
I don't even think he has to be that play
You know I'm saying I think I don't think he has to be that player
But if it ain't his time bro,, you left 30 plus teams behind, bro
Right take some pride in it and y'all only gonna get better. This team's only gonna get better
But right now yeah, he's got to be very very careful because he could do some real home and good
Yeah
Yeah
You do some real damn and you know
Like I know it goes far beyond the physical side of it in this point in the game when you are not at your top
You know I'm saying health and performance ability this point in the game, when you are not at your top, you know what I'm saying?
Health and performance, ability and capabilities
in the moments, like right here,
this is the biggest moment.
This is the stage that eight year old and seven year old,
you know, guys, that's who they wanna be.
That's where they wanna go.
And when you're not in optimum prime position
to take advantage of it, man,
that becomes far beyond physical.
That's a mental thing.
That can cripple you mentally or I can supercharge you.
I'm gonna say this when we gonna move on go back and look at Grant Hill. Grant Hill
had an injury an ankle injury and he played in the playoffs and Grant Hill
was never the same he was on his way to being a historically great player he
could do it all go back and look at Grant Hill and once he got
that ankle injury he was never the same player. Guys be careful. LeBron James is
pushing back on the idea that championship rings are the only measure
of greatness in basketball. On his new episode of Mind the Game
podcast with Steve Nash, LeBron said, I don't know why it's discussed so much in
our sport and why it's the end all be all of everything.
It's like you weren't a great player if you never won a championship.
Or if you won one, you can't be the same conversation as this person.
You sit here and tell me Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley, Steve Nash wasn't unbelievable.
Oh, they can't be talked about or discussed with these guys because they won?
It's weird to me.
It's like saying Peyton Manning can't be in the same room with Tom Brady or
Patrick Mahomes because he only has one ring well Peyton has two rings but we I
get I get what LeBron is trying to say but that's what society that's what
social media that's what we've done now we've turned everything into a ring If you don't have a championship, it's almost it and one part of time
It was like that with the Grammys bud, but you ain't got no grant up. You ain't got no grant me
That's what it take to fuel you know
Right if you if you would ask him on that prior to having a chip
He would that's his motivation. It was would have told you that's his motivation.
It was, of course it was.
That's his drive.
That's what I want to be.
I want to be placed on the mantle
next to those other greats.
Well, you have to look at what those other great people
have achieved.
You have to look at what their success is engaged by.
You know what I'm saying?
And who they played against, the level of competition,
all of these things come into that.
So, and you got chips, I'm really don't,
I don't know who he's arguing for.
I think the thing is, bud, if you look at LeBron,
look at the guys that he idolized, what do they have?
Jordan, rings, Magic, rings, Bird, rings.
So that was the three guys that we know he looked up to.
What does all those guys have in common?
Championships.
There's a reason why he left because he wanted a championship.
He felt that the organization didn't have the word with all
or he didn't trust them to get the requisite pieces in Cleveland.
So he went to Miami.
You see, it's a big relief once you have something,
because it's easy for the person that says,
man, I'm gonna take me some time.
Well, yeah, Elon Musk can take a six month vacation.
Jeff Bezos can take a six month vacation,
but ask him when they were building their business,
did they take a six month vacation?
Okay, now LeBron, did you feel this way
before you had championships or after you got them?
And I agree with everything he's saying.
I just believe this, bud, when we're having a conversation
and I gotta put EST on it, you got to have championships.
Now I'm not saying you can't be great
because Charles Barkley, I'm old enough,
you and I are old enough, because we remember
a lot of these cats.
I remember Charles Barkley, I'm old enough, you and I are old enough, because we remember a lot of these cats. I remember Charles Barkley, I remember Carl Malone,
I remember Patrick Ewan,
I remember some of these great players.
But when I need to add EST, I just don't know how I can.
I'm from hockey.
You come from football, so Marino.
That was always the argument about Marino.
On every other level, up against every other standard,
he was always the limousine for the position.
The only thing was, and I'm a Rockets fan,
so we got those asterisks next to us,
we're joined, we're playing baseball.
You know what I'm saying?
But no, I mean, it's a very, very real thing
to have the want to get a championship,
which is what inspires and drives a lot of people.
Yes. But when you're as a grand talent as LeBron, you know, quite frankly,
if you want to be in that conversation, there's a couple of things missing.
We know you have the talent. We know you have the skill.
That's never been a question with LeBron James.
You know what I'm saying?
But if you want to be in that Mount Rushmore,
you still have some work to do.
And that's fine.
There's nothing wrong with that.
He's actually still physically capable enough to do the work.
But I think, one, I don't think this should be something
that should be bothering LeBron James,
because he's going gonna succeed at a level
that very few people in any sport or any business
will be able to succeed.
But then also, I don't know if that's something
that still is potentially could drive him.
Because if that's who he's looking to compete with,
how many more years would it realistically take him
to get those extra
two rings that he's probably looking at right now?
Yeah, no.
Like I said, I look.
So is this at the gate, that argument preemptively?
Is that what we're doing?
I think the thing is what people hold, they say, well, you jump, you went to Miami, you
went to Cleveland, you went to LA.
And so I think, you know, he's like, the rings,
and when we talk about NFL players, they say the greatest player, I mean,
Dan Marino is always on the list, the name that you mentioned, and I know Dan
has worked with him for a decade, knowing very well, we shared the same
agent when we played, is that he was always on the list greatest player to
never win a championship. That was Dan was damn arena because he could throw the ball like no one else that quick release
I mean
5000 passing yards 48 touchdown in an era when everybody ran the football and you could hold you could punish the quarterback you can hit him
Everywhere the top is head even the bottom of his feet when he laid down you can hit him there, too
So but I just think the thing is, is what happened
is that we knew used to never have these arguments
because we didn't have social media.
You see, now, now, bud, everybody's a coach,
everybody's a GM, everybody's a former player.
And no matter how much you say, I don't pay attention to it,
we're trained, we do, we see the negative.
We see the negative.
No matter how much money Elon Musk has,
he's worth $400 billion.
He took a drug test to say, you know what, I ain't on drugs.
You see?
Why would somebody say you're on drugs?
You're worth $400 billion.
What do you care?
And that's what happens when, you know, a good friend of mine, Dizzy Rascal, he's a
recording artist in London.
And on one of his songs, he said,
you don't care about my rich man problems,
I don't care about your bitch ass problem.
You know what I'm saying?
And that's the reality.
It's not that LeBron doesn't necessarily
have a valid argument.
I think there's the validity into his argument.
Of course, you know what I'm saying?
But at the same time, you're LeBron James.
You know what I'm saying?
You have a, to me, these type of arguments
almost belittle what you've done.
It's almost to the point of, well, yeah,
I mean, I want a couple of chips, right?
Which is something to celebrate,
but I didn't win as many chips as someone else,
which other people would look down on.
But that's okay.
And what does that really, just like you said,
like everybody's watching everything.
We answer to the experts, then we answer to the amateurs,
and then we answer to the observers.
You know what I'm saying?
It's one thing to not watch ESPN, right?
But it's another, and it's another thing
to put the phone down, but even the people around you
will see what's being said.
You're gonna get that information back.
You know what I'm saying?
You just gotta, you just gotta be able to eat.
I feel like at this point,
you just gotta eat all of that stuff.
You know what I'm saying?
But is this, is he, is he saying that I don't need that
to be considered great?
So is he saying I'm one of the greats?
And that's my thing is he trying to say,
am I one of the greats and that my lack of chips don't matter?
Because to the people coming up behind you,
like you look like you holding a hot hand right now.
And you know, in the scope of things, right?
In the full scope of everything.
I think the thing is, Bun, is that, bro,
you got more regular season points, more playoff points.
You're the only guy, I mean, you're the only guy
that's topping in points, rebounds, and assists.
I mean, no guy that has as many assists or points
as you got is even in the top 10.
You're in the top five in assists.
I mean, you got 40, 11, and 11.
40,000 points, 11,000 rebounds, 11,000 assists.
I think the only guy that maybe even can approach that
is Luca, and I don't think Luca's body's
gonna allow him to play that long.
I just think the thing, and this is what he said,
LeBron compared the way greatness is measured
in other sports, noting athletes like Dan Marino,
Barry Barnes are still celebrated,
regardless of their championship total.
Yes, we still celebrate Barry.
And some people might, and even though some people
might say Barry is the greatest running back they ever saw,
but it's hard when you got Tim Duncan with all these rings,
if he got these MVPs, he got finals MVPs,
and to put somebody that doesn't have any in front of him.
This is true.
And he's right, he's added that a championship
with a team accomplishment,
it shouldn't overshadow personal impact or skill
while asking for people to appreciate
what these athletes have done.
But like trying to nitpick an individual
because he was not able to win a team game
or a team match or whatever the case may be,
I don't know where it started.
It's just, as long as it's a conversation,
especially when it comes like, you know,
me individually, it's just weird.
You just gotta be careful when you're somebody
like LeBron or you make statements like that,
you know what I'm saying?
People can construe that,
like it's almost like you're talking to yourself.
Right.
That's how some people could take that statement.
Like, you talking to yourself.
Like, look, man, I don't have to be considered.
You don't have to have what everybody else had
to be considered one of the greats,
because I would imagine what he's alluding to is the fact
that I don't have what they all have,
and I'm considered one of the greats.
I'm always in the goat conversation.
Yes.
That's a fair point. He got the single most finals of MVPs.
He's been more first team, all NBA selections.
He's gotten more NBA, all NBA selections.
He's been to more all-star games.
He's won MVP behind Kobe for the most MVP all-star games.
When you look at his total body of work,
there are very, very few people.
Now, when he talks about Barry Bonds,
Barry Bonds got the most home runs,
he's got the most walks, he's got the most intentional walks,
he's got 500 home runs. Nobody's even close.
I mean, if you take away Barry Bonds
when he went to San Francisco, he's still a Hall of Famer.
Because he had three MVPs and he had almost 500 home runs
before he even stepped foot
in San Francisco.
Before he even got and put on that uniform he was already in.
He fell for slugs, golden gloves, because he was legit a 5-2 player.
He could hit for average, he could hit for power, he could run the base pads.
He was a tremendous defensive player.
And his eye, because what people don't realize unless you're old enough to remember, Barry
came up as a leadoff hitter.
So you know the type of eyes that you got
because the most important thing for a leadoff hitter
is to get his ass on base.
Get on base. It doesn't matter.
He can hit for single, he can hit for double,
hit it over the fence, but I need you on base
because now I got my guys to push you
to the other second hitter.
He gets you the second, you steal third.
Now my guy get a sack fly or get a ribby,
drive you in, whatever the case may be.
So Barry always had that eye.
Now he can hit for true power.
I get what he's saying.
I get what he's saying like Barry Bonds, but those guys like he's looking at
Barkley, Barkley didn't have the most points.
Moreno, when Moreno retired, Moreno had the most touchdowns, he had the most yardage.
So it was easy for you to make that comparison.
Now, I don't think we would talk about Kareem because big men don't get credit anyway.
Because Kareem got six MVPs and people forget that Kareem got six.
He got more than anybody.
He was the all-time leading scorer and people, I remember in 1984, Thomas and Matt, because
— Bun, I don't know if people used to,
they used to because nobody really
will follow the NBA like that.
They would go different places.
Like Boston would play in Hartford,
trying to get fan support.
The Hawks would play in New Orleans,
trying to drum up fan support.
The Lakers traveled to Las Vegas to get fan support.
That's where he broke it at in 1984, Thomas and Matt.
I'm Michael Kassin, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures
and your guide on Good Company, the podcast where I sit down
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In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of Tubi
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We dive into the competitive world of streaming,
how she's turning so-called niche into mainstream gold,
connecting audiences with stories
that truly make them feel seen.
What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core.
It's this idea that there are so many stories out there,
and if you can find a way to curate
and help the right person discover the right
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Get a front row seat to where media, marketing, technology, entertainment, and sports collide
and hear how leaders like Anjali are carving out space and shaking things up a bit in the
most crowded of markets.
Listen to Good Company on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your
podcasts. My thing is, when, like, who's validation is that, like, that's not a general statement
to me.
When someone like LeBron James, who is probably one of the most covered athletes on the planet,
right, has dealt with more people in the media space than anyone else possibly in sports.
From his teen years all the way up to now.
Just his children are older than he was.
Some of his children are older than he was when he entered this media world. Right?
Yes.
Whose validation does that statement harken to?
I wonder. When you say some would say, some would say,
I feel like, you know, it's almost like there's someone
who keeps invalidating his contributions
that he's trying to prove wrong.
And that's why I say, I don't know if he's talking
to them or himself.
You know, is that something that,
that he keeps in his mind, right? To remind himself, you're great.
You know, it's almost like stuff motivational speaking
type of thing, you know what I'm saying?
Because I don't want it to look like
he's trying to downplay people's opinions of what he does.
Those, I don't even, I swear to-
You're not gonna please everybody though, Bun?
But you know, but that's always been the thing about LeBron.
Like, he really wants to be seen in a certain way by people.
He like to be like, with Kobe and Mike,
with like, kiss my butt.
LeBron, I think LeBron is, Bun, me,
and the little bit that I've been around him,
he's genuinely a nice guy.
He really wants to be like, he's, I mean, like I said, I've been around him, he's genuinely a nice guy.
He really wants to be liked.
He's, I mean, like I said, I don't know him.
I mean, you know, some people might say whatever, whatever,
but I just know in the little bit that I've been around him,
he's a likable guy.
And some guys like to be liked.
Some guys don't care if you like,
Mike does not care if you like them.
Or I shouldn't say E-D, like, L-I-K-E or L-I-K-E-D,
like or liked, Kobe, rest his soul, was the exact same way.
So-
I think LeBron, and I think what you're speaking to
is the fact that LeBron, because of all this media training
that he's had all of these years,
LeBron feels like he's always done the right thing,
said the right thing, played the right way.
So I don't understand why everybody is not on the same accord
when it comes to what I've done.
You know what I'm saying?
But it's because we've had people who have had,
you know, LeBron James was born to play basketball.
Yes.
You know what I'm saying?
Like physically, like he was born to play the game.
Everybody wasn't like that.
Mike had to work to get there.
Kobe had to work to get there.
They weren't inherently born with these physical traits that LeBron was given.
That body, that height, that speed, that size.
And the thing you, you know what?
Sometimes familiarity breeds resentment.
Because LeBron is cool-cooled everybody else,
they feel like they can take shots at him.
And they know he's not gonna shoot back in that way.
You know what I'm saying?
That's the thing. Absolutely.
I've been the nice guy, right?
I've been the guy, you know,
because my brother was a little rough,
so I had to try to come in and smooth everything out
But every situation is sooner or later it can't get smoothed out
Yeah
So we you know all that trying to keep everybody cool and calm at some point
You can be all of that and now and still get punched in the mouth exactly because you know
You know the Bible touch the Bible teaches and metaphorically like a turn to other cheek
But you get you people sometimes you got to you get tired of people just you know Bible teaches metaphorically, like, hey, turn the other cheek.
But sometimes you get tired of people just, you know,
keep saying and doing and doing and doing and saying and saying,
hey, I ain't gonna turn the other cheek,
I'm gonna put something on you.
Well, people will play with you because they know
you will turn the other cheek.
Yes.
So they anticipate you really not wanting to go there.
Right.
Every now and then you gotta pull to the side
and be like, hey man, I would dog walk you, bro.
Like, I would dog walk.
Don't play with me like that.
Just cause I don't, don't mean I won't.
That's always been my motto.
Just cause I don't, don't mean I won't.
Especially, you're in someone like in your position
or my position, because the more public you are,
the less likely you're going to retaliate
and they take kindness for weakness.
Oh, he's on television, oh, X, Y, and Z. He's in the, he got a business, he's this and that.
So why would you, why would you even try to get me out of character?
First of all, you know that.
So why not just, just keep it moving?
I understand.
I'm not everybody's cup of tea.
Everybody, as a matter of fact, I don't really care for tea.
So I understand everybody's not gonna care
for Shadow Shark.
Everybody gonna care for Bun or whomever the case may be.
But I just think sometimes that's a losing battle.
And sometimes you just gotta say,
you know what it is, what it is.
You don't like me,
but I know there's enough people out there that do.
There's a term that's used now for people
that I don't wanna run across and that's crash out.
I don't wanna be in a position to to deal with nobody ain't got nothing to
lose I got too much to lose. I can't play with people like that I got to just go
on about my business. Right. So and I'm look I keep looking at my dough because
I'm waiting for somebody to knock on it with a chez bala 48 package. Okay. Because
you done had a burger and I ain't had no liquor. I'm supposed to be sipping on something right now.
You supposed to be sipping on something right now, bud.
But you know what? We're gonna get your address. I'm gonna get you taken care of. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.
That'd be a nice little way to make the evening go by right now.
Dog River is pushing back against the trade speculation involving Yonis. It's so ridiculous.
And I've heard all these reports.
You hear all this stuff, but you don't like when you hear it.
You're like, you know, it's not true,
but still your players hear it and everybody else hears it.
I don't know how many times Yannis has said,
he wants to be a buck and he wants to win a title
with the buck.
And it's so cool to me because it's not the way,
it's not the way it's done anymore.
But with certain guys, I don't think Steph Curry would ever leave Golden State ever.
I'm always hoping, obviously, y'all just feel the same way.
That's the way it's been so far, and it's been great.
It's been awesome.
Yeah, but the one thing that Steph knew
is that he knew Bob Myers and now Mike Dunleavy,
and the ownership of the Warriors would do everything
humanly possible, even if it means being in the luxury tax and even being in that separate
apron, second apron, year after year after year.
Does Yonis feel that same way, that the Bucks can put a team around him, given the assets, the limited assets that they have,
that can put them in contention to win or to compete year after year, Bun. There's a totally
different situation because every organization isn't like the Warriors, and Doc knows that.
I think the reason we're still in limbo with this whole thing is because John is not the one to show that. You know what I'm saying? His nature is not to buck the system.
You can see that he really wants this to work. I believe,
I believe he wants to win on that team in that city.
I believe that he doesn't look like the kind of person that's like, Oh, well,
let's go to LA or let's go here. He doesn't.
I feel like that's the perfect city
for a person like him and his nature.
You know what I'm saying?
That being said, something's gotta give.
I don't believe this organization will leave him behind.
I believe they'll give him,
if there was somebody who said we need this guy,
they'd give him that guy, if humanly possible.
I don't see him wanting to leave that city and that team.
But, and I don't think he feels like he's in a position
where he has to right now.
I do believe there's gonna be some pieces
that are gonna be available in this off season,
that if they could go and get one or two pieces
that make him a little more comfortable.
I don't think he wants to leave. I don't think he wants to leave.
I don't think he wants to start over in a new city
with a new team, with new ownership.
That doesn't seem like John is just ready to,
I just want to go where I can win.
He doesn't have that.
You see that in other players.
They're willing to go and leave a team,
or leave an organization.
I just want to go where I feel I can win.
That's primarily the reason why most guys say they want to leave
Is he the money or the competitive nature of the organization? You don't understand. I don't think he really wants to leave
I'm a Rockets fan. So I'm all for it because I don't doubt it
You know, I would love for them to leave because I know it's a Dito
Well, there goes the two different types of players
for two different reasons.
KD's a win now.
Like if you bring KD into your organization,
you take you one piece away.
Yeah, hell, you bring Yannis in,
you think you one piece away.
Yeah, but if you bring Yannis in,
you one piece away that could work for you
for another five, potentially seven.
For sure, for sure.
You know what I'm saying?
You've got it.
I want to say Kevin DeRent is, if we bring him in,
we got a two year window.
You think, do you think that's it?
No, I think that's what teams think.
Okay, okay.
That's my thing.
I think the age and the salary is gonna put people
in a position where we just can't do it.
But you see where he's looking,
he's looking for teams with tax breaks.
Yep.
Right, but I think with Jonas,
I think Jonas is a very
wholesome, very family kind of guy. I haven't heard anything about them being
wild or whatever because if he wanted a lifestyle he wouldn't stay where he's
at. I think that's that city, that community is just enough for him. Right.
Yep. If he leaves it to go to LA or a major, major market,
they're going to demand a lot more of him.
You know, I feel like John is could go to the bakery.
Jazz could go to the dry cleaners and that lends itself to his lifestyle.
You know what I'm saying?
But certain other cities would demand more out of him
because they're a lot more media driven.
They're a lot more sponsored driven.
You know what I'm saying?
And I think that would I think that's a reason that keeps him with the Bucks.
Because he's the biggest fish in that pond by far.
Yeah, but.
And I mean, not only team, even in the city, you know what I'm saying?
And he's one of the biggest deals there.
Let me ask you this.
I think that's a comfortable place to be if they can give him those pieces.
Let me ask you this.
And he's a guy that'll, not to cut you off,
he's a guy that'll let some bread go to.
Yeah, I believe that.
But let me ask you this,
Yannis has had success, he's won a championship.
Once you start having success, you crave it.
It's like, success is a drug.
I don't care what anybody tells you,
you know this bud, I know this success is a drug. And you crave it. And tells you. You know this, bud, I know this. Success is a drug.
And you crave it.
And the more you have it, the more you want it.
And the last thing that you want
is that you have a taste of it.
And it's almost like they let you sample it.
You sample, you like, you buy.
Okay, he sampled that success.
A championship.
Now, that's all that matters.
He's got MVP's, he's got defensive player of the years.
The only thing that matters to Giannis now, how many more will he stack?
I don't think Giannis leaves for the, in his next season.
I don't think he leaves that quickly.
You know, okay.
And you know, but I do think this may be the last shot.
I believe he's trying to be as patient as possible, but like you said, he's
tasted it and I think he's, he's got enough.
He's got enough basketball wisdom and IQ to see if I was here, this would be over.
If I played for this team, this wouldn't have even been a question because this
guy plays that position much better than my guy, This guy coaches these situations better than my guy.
You know what I'm saying?
But Giannis is not a, he's not a rock the boat kind of guy.
It just don't seem like that to me.
I feel like that's the kind of dude you got to really mess over him or for him
to really feel unappreciated.
And I don't think he hit that wall yet in Milwaukee, But I do think they got, they might have one more season.
They on the clock though.
Yeah, absolutely.
They got one more season.
We're gonna see what you do in the off season.
We're gonna see what you do in all star break.
And if this tide ain't shifted, something's gotta get.
Something's gotta get.
South Carolina quarterback, Lenore Sellers
turned down an $8 million NIL to transfer
to a different school.
Lenore's father told his son, you're 19.
You don't need $8 million.
You're in a great spot.
Let me ask you this, Bun.
Do you think NIL is ruining college players because some are prioritizing the bag over
a great situation.
I think it's a blessing and a curse, right?
You know, like I know a lot of these young players,
predominantly from communities of color,
this has always been a pathway to success,
to change the scope of how your family dynamic exists,
to change things from check to check to generational wealth.
And the draw to go and play in the NFL
was what drove people for the most part
through high school, through college
to try to get to that big payoff.
Well, with NIL being inserted now,
it's a blessing because kids don't have to wait that long.
And you know, like I know that's a very, it's a very small number that gets into the NFL
and even smaller, they get that big deal out the door and gets that money.
Um, and so the opportunity to take care of your family and to set those things
straight earlier is obviously a great thing for people to have, but you know,
like I know when some people get their check,
they stop giving a damn.
It really can stop the drive for people
because it'd be like, oh man,
I just signed this big check five years
and you know, $180 million and all that.
Yeah, but now you're the face of the organization.
Now you're the biggest cultural export
from the city that you play for.
The whole, the dynamic for all this shit starts changing when that money comes.
You know what I'm saying?
If a college players that potentially might not make it into the NFL,
and there's a substantial number of those people, even if they get NIL, Shannon,
we know it's only going to be four or five people that get real money.
Exactly.
There's only, and I think that's something that we don't talk about enough
when it comes to NIL college athlete gameplay.
Is that, yeah, there's a lot of money
that gets inflicted into these universities
and there's a lot of money that's available,
but that's gonna go to skill players.
Right.
You know, that's gonna go to skill players.
Quarterback, running back, wire receiver.
Absolutely, people that put numbers on the board.
That's who, or the sack master, right?
Something like that, you know, pass rusher, guy like that.
So, if you can get that money, that's fine.
Everybody gets money doesn't stop being driven.
But if money's the deciding factor, determining factor,
then yeah, that could be something that would stop somebody
from wanting to go further.
And yeah, if you can get the money and you don't have to go into NFL and risk your body
and risk that pain and you got a plan to do something with that money, I think it can
work for you.
I think it works to your benefit.
But if you think hopping through the portal from school to school is going to increase your value,
you got another thing coming.
That's not going to work for everybody.
Like if you got a situation where you know there's money waiting for you, that's fine.
But, and if you think you're taking that money now and it doesn't help you, that's the other side.
Let me be clear about that.
If you think an organization, a university wants to pay you to come and play
for that school, but you don't think they're contenders
and you don't think it's going to look good on you,
on your record to play for a school
that doesn't really have a good chance at winning anything,
then I don't see how you get to the next check
if that's all you worried about is that check.
Right.
You know, so it's a lot for families to navigate.
I've seen players whose parents are, you know,
they right now, like their high school parents,
are like, no, my boy's finna go to this college.
It don't matter what college you go to,
they gonna cut him a check.
Yeah.
They're like, parents are actually saying that.
They are.
They are saying that right now.
So, you know, I wish the brother the best,
but I don't, I wish the brother the best, but I think the portal works for probably 10% of the people.
A handful of people.
I think 10% of people, the portal actually puts you,
and it's like, you have a skillset
that can work almost anywhere,
but this school will nurture your talent.
They will put the right type of talent next to you,
and you will learn and play and look like you want to
to go to that next level.
But I just think that's a very small group of people.
And I think a lot of people are being told
that there's a lot of money.
And let's be real, a lot of universities
can't even pay you what they're saying they're gonna pay.
Exactly.
We're not even talking about that.
How many college students are sitting on campus
with no money?
Because the coach would open and told you, your mom and your grandmother, then what they
was going to give you.
And then you get there and boost this with somebody else.
Like, no, that money's allocated for the board.
We got coming from over here.
The Volume.
I'm Michael Kasson, founder and CEO of 3C Ventures and your guide on Good Company, the
podcast where I sit down with the boldest innovators shaping what's next.
In this episode, I'm joined by Anjali Sood, CEO of 2B.
We dive into the competitive world of streaming.
What others dismiss as niche, we embrace as core.
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