Crime in Sports - #49 - The Killer Of Common Sense - The Disastrousness of Isaiah "JR" Rider

Episode Date: January 3, 2017

This week, we take a peek at a man who started out, only hurting himself, before quickly moving on to the rest of the world. We crawl through the muck of a disastrous life, filled with heartbreak. And arrests. So many arrests. He ran afoul of a litany of laws, including violence, thievery, kidnapping on multiple occaisons, and a whopping helping of drugs. His acts were both dark, and hilarious, as he takes every golden opportunity, and deposits them into the nearest trash can. It's a fun one! Win a slam dunk contest, buy some cocaine to celebrate, and kidnap a female acquaintance with Isaiah "JR" Rider!! Check us out, every Tuesday. We will continue to bring you the biggest idiots in sports history!Hosted by James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman New episodes every Tuesday!!Please subscribe, rate, and review!Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts!Head to shutupandgivememurder.com for all things Crime in Sports!For merchandise: crimeinsports.threadless.comCheck out James and Jimmie's other show: Small Town Murder Follow us on social media!Facebook: facebook.com/crimeinsportsInstagram: instagram.com/smalltownmurderTwitter: twitter.com/MurderSmall Contact the show: [e-mail] on Patreon: patreon.com/crimeinsportsPayPal: paypal.me/crimeinsports See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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A first listen is waiting for you when you start your free trial at audible.ca. Each week on the Mr. Ballin Podcast, now available wherever you get your podcasts, you'll hear strange, dark, and mysterious stories about inexplicable encounters, shocking disappearances, true crime cases, and everything in between. So go listen to Mr. Ballin Podcast, strange, dark, and mysterious stories on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome back to Crime and Sports. Yay! Do you hear that?

Yay. I'm fucking sick. You are sick. My name is James Petrigal. I'm here with my very sick co-host. I'm Jimmy Wissman. Thank you guys so much for joining us. Your yay is well warranted this week, Jimmy, because we have a cornucopia of wildness for you.

I can't wait. Of insanity, a mountain of human tragedy. It's amazing. It's a fun one, though. It's just so much crime, wall to wall. It's human tragedy. It's amazing. It's a fun one, though. It's just so much crime, wall to wall. It's the best. It's a man who takes every chance that he gets, and he gets multiple chances,

and just takes them to the nearest trash bin and stuffs it deep inside, not just right on top, deep inside where a homeless man won't even find it. Like slam dunk champions would do? Like a slam dunk champion. Exactly. He slam dunks his opportunities directly into the trash. Like under the leg and then in?

Oh, like it left. Like that. And we'll get into that, too. So much to get into this week. Before we do that, I just want to thank everyone for their iTunes reviews this week. We got a bunch this week, and it helps us immensely. I can't tell you how much it helps us. It brings us up the rankings.

It helps us get sponsors. It is the way to help the show. So if you want to do that, please, new listeners, old listeners, take the 30 seconds. Give us five stars. Tell us your following directions. Do that. You know, whatever you got to do inside jargon. Let us know you're listening and let us know you love the show and let everyone else know.

So then they'll listen and then they'll help everybody. Threaten me with physical harm in an iTunes review. I love that. Someone said, I want to kick Jimmy in the nuts. I felt influential at that point. Son of a bitch. I felt like an influential person at that point. I read that and I was like.

I'm inciting violence. That's influence. I read it and I was like, he spelled it with a Y though. I think he means you. Yeah, he meant you. He means you, but. But he doesn't know. But he doesn't know.

Right. Hope you guys enjoyed our holiday spectacular last week, our Christmas special. Joe's son, probably the most, pretty much the most repulsive person we've covered. He's in the group. Yeah. Anyway, he's the Mount Rushmore of repulsive. Zero redeemable qualities about the man. Yeah, it's him.

It's Tom Payne. It's Dave Meggett. It's those guys. We have a certain class. You can rob and you can steal. You can even kill. But when you start forcing yourself on people in horrible ways, that's when we're

like, okay, enough of you. And a gun. Using a weapon. The whole thing. It was not very Christmassy. We'll put it that way. The holiday spirit was not in him, I would say. There was no Noel in that movie. No, no. He was the Grinch Who Stole Lives. That was the best title I could come up with, and I think it's apt. So go back and listen to that if you haven't heard it. It's wild. But was the Grinch Who Stole Lives. That was the best title I could come up with and I think it's apt.

So go back and listen to that if you haven't heard it. It's wild. But this week, good God, Jimmy, we have to get into it quickly because it is nuts. There's just so much of it. It's a great long story. It's just, there's so much. He's such a crazy bastard, this guy. It's Isaiah Ryder. Yeah!

Otherwise known as J.R. Ryder. Yeah, because Isaiah Ryder Jr. That's why. Isaiah Ryder. Yeah. Otherwise known as J.R. Ryder. Yeah, because Isaiah Ryder Jr. Junior. That's why. Isaiah Ryder Jr. And he's so proud of the junior that he goes by J.R. to let everyone know his junior status just to spread it throughout the land. If you're a new listener, there is an inordinate amount of our people who are named junior.

It's literally over the 25% mark at this point. I think this is number 14, I want to say, out of 49. That's near fucking... It's over 25%. That's almost 30%. That is nuts. That's ridiculous. It's beyond coincidence at this point.

You name your kid junior, they are definitely more apt to break the law. Absolutely, especially if they're athletic. If your child, and once again, I've said it before, I'll say it again. If your child has even the slightest shred that you believe that he might have in the future, the slightest shred of athletic talent, good God, don't name him after yourself. No doubt. Because you are in trouble. He's going to be in trouble.

Your family name will be doomed. Sullied. It's sullied forever. This particular Isaiah Ryder Jr., this particular Jr. did sully that name. I love it. He started sullying it on March 12, 1971, when he was born in Oakland, California. Oh, shit, in Oaktown, too. He's an Oakland guy.

Yeah, he is. He was doomed from the start, man. Oh, man, I'm telling you. He had not a great upbringing. Parents, very tumultuous relationship. They got divorced when he was 16 in 1987. Just very tumultuous. He had little brother he was 16 in 1987 just very tumultuous he had little brother he has two little brothers and an older sister and they were

all raised he says he's from the projects that's one of his things like somebody asked him later on in an interview what is it that people don't know about you that you'd like them to know he said I'm from the projects straight hood baby that's the one thing he wanted if you don't know and you're overseas Oakland is in the Bay Area.

It's across the bridge from San Francisco, which the nice area is San Francisco. And once you cross that bridge, that is the shitty area of town. It is fucked up. Oakland is, let's call it blue collar. It's a little rugged there. It's like. You can afford one. It's a shithole.

It's where the Hell's Angels started. And it's between that and then the minority part. It's just the whole thing is a mess. It's a shithole. It's where the Hell's Angels started, and it's between that and then the minority parts. It's just the whole thing is a mess. It's white trash, and everything you can imagine swirled into one place. It's just Raider fans as far as the eye can see, like the epitome of Raider fans. Yeah, it's a rough place. I kind of like Oakland, actually. It's got a cool vibe.

I've been there before. I kind of like it. I kind of like a city like that, a little rough and tumble vibe to it. And not one like some Midwestern city like that that's just a rusty, burnt out mess, husk of a city. I like one that's a thriving shithole. Something about that's attractive to me as a place. Somehow it gets by. Yeah.

So, yeah, 1987, his mother, Donna, and she'll keep coming up. There's some funny things that come up with Donna. And then some stuff that's not so funny, but some good funny things with Donna. His mother, Donna, and his father, Isaiah Sr. No doubt named after the Bible. I'm sure. It was biblical. I'm sure it's biblical.

Yeah, I sense biblical naming in this type of thing. He's a great athlete, Isaiah. He's 6'5". He's 215. Was he that big? Yeah, 6'5". He's 215. Was he that big? Yeah, 6'5". He looks smaller in the NBA, and he looks shorter than he was because he's like a kind of a Charles Barkley type, not quite as wide, but he's stocky.

Yeah, and short neck. Short neck, stocky guy. So in the NBA, he didn't look 6'5", because he didn't look tall because he wasn't lanky like a lot of the other guys. I guessed 6 or 6'1". Yeah, no, no. He's 6'5". He's still a shooting guard, right?

He's still a shooting guard. Number two guy. Good three-point shooter. Hell of a slash to the basket and could finish like nobody's business. Nobody's business. Yeah, he was a beast. He was a beast. He goes to Ensenal High School, which is outside of Oakland.

That's a prep school, I guess. He was a big star there. Highly recruited. Didn't graduate, though. Surprise. Are we shocked, guys? No graduation. He got a GED

in lieu of graduating so he could go to community college even though he was highly sought after for his basketball. He went to community college first? Well he had to. He's like a lot of our guys. Remember Tom Payne had to get their grades up. They needed to have a certain level of grades to

pass the entrance exams and to get in and to have a certain level and he didn't have it exams and to get in and to have a certain level. And he didn't have it. And we have an in their own words on why he didn't have it. This is about school. This is an early in their own words. Cracking right into it. In their own words, quote, I liked school, but I was lazy in school.

I procrastinated. When I put my mind to it, I did very well. My sister, my little brother, they were just the opposite. No shit. And we'll find that out later that they are both actually, his siblings have their shit together. And a lot of it's because of him also. Really? Yeah.

We'll see. Was he the oldest? He was, I believe, the second. I believe his sister was older than him. And then he had two little brothers also. Yeah. He's sought after by the Division I schools, but couldn't get it. And I'm thinking none of the grades for any of them.

Not even Cincinnati? Nothing. Not even Cincinnati? They'll take anybody. All you need is a criminal record. Kenyon Martin, all he needs is a criminal record, and you're in in Cincinnati. All the shitbags go to Cincinnati. You're in the tournament that year.

Don't worry about it. Unbelievable. So he plays his freshman year at Allen County Community College in Iola, Kansas. Sounds great. Wow. Iola. I don't even know where the fuck that is. And he's an Oakland guy coming from the Bay Area of California, and he's going to go to Kansas.

He's going to go to Kansas. What is it, A-O-L-A? Iola. I-O-L-A. Kansas. Iola, Kansas. Doesn't sound great. He averages 30 points a game when he's there.

He's playing against community college talent, so that's what... He also runs across some trouble right away. Really? Right away. In college and fucking in community college? He's in community. He's not even in college yet. In 1990, while at, what is this, Allen Community College here in Iola, he's arrested for misdemeanor,

theft, and battery following a fight. Apparently, it was some kind of Allen Iverson type melee and he was arrested in there. For theft? The theft charges are eventually dismissed. He pleads no contest to battery charges and he's given six months probation and a $201 fine.

Wow. Throw that word in there. That's like a fee on top of this, on top of that, and you end up with $201. Very specific. Tax in there or some shit. Yeah, a little tax maybe. on top of this, on top of that, and you end up with $201. Very specific. There's some tax in there or some shit. Yeah, a little tax maybe. You never know. Pay the VIG.

I'm telling you, man. If you look at the guy, though, look at our Instagram. Look at any of our social media. Take a look at him. There's plenty. He looks like a guy that sucks his bottom lip in just on a whim. He can't wait to punch somebody. He's very quick to fly off the handle, as we'll see. He looks

like it. On the court, off the court, and mostly off the court. It's funny because he had a very interesting, colorful career, but we got to buzz through it because there's so much goddamn crime, Jimmy. There's just so much. He transfers out of Allen Community College that year. He couldn't stand Kansas anymore,

apparently. Plays his sophomore year, stepping up to junior college now. Really? Yes, at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California. Son of a bitch. I knew none of this. No, this was to get his grades up. Here he averages 33 points a game. So he's a beast. I mean, there's no doubt about it.

He's going to go to a Division I school now. And he is, actually. He ends up going to UNLV. You betcha. Running Rebels. UNLV at the time he goes. he goes for the 91-92 season. Right. It's his rookie season. It's his junior year, but it's his first year in UNLV. The year before, they had won the national championship.

Oh, is that right? Yes. And after that, they were – I'm sorry, two years before that they won the national championship. Then they lost to Duke, I believe. Oh. Yes, they've lost to Duke. So they were in the tournament pretty deep. Yes, pretty deep, except for the year – his first year.

And they basically – Jerry Tarkanian is the coach. If you don't know him, he's a character of epic proportions, college coach forever, known for violations. He is the silver-haired, middle-aged white man. As it gets. As it gets. His player could be standing on top of a corpse with a bloody knife in his hand, and he'd go, let's hear his side of the story. I think he should play tonight and get him in the game.

He averages 22 per, and then you can talk to him afterwards. That's the type of guy we're talking about here. So I guess there was a deal where they made a deal with the NCAA where they could defend their national championship and lost to Duke that year. And then the next year they would sit out the tournament. That was their deal. So the next year was the year he came in. The next year was the year he came. Gotcha. Exactly.

And so he couldn't. No tournament for them in the first year. And they were dominant, too, the first year. He has another little trouble there that first year, though. Before that season's over, the 91-92 season, he has some trouble. No, he has a little bit of trouble. I mean. Yeah.

This is the thing. We're talking about Las Vegas. UNLV is Las Vegas. The running Rebels. And they were such a good team before that with Larry Johnson and Auburn. Right. They were a squad. That was the team, as I was a kid then, that was the team you wanted to watch.

Yeah. That was like if you were a kid in the mid-84s, you wanted to watch Georgetown and Houston. Absolutely. You know, those guys. This was, you wanted to watch Villain. Ideally, you wanted to watch UNLV and Michigan play. Fuck yeah. That would be perfect.

Chris Webber. Yeah. Geron Howard and all those guys. Yeah. That's dope. That's what you'd want to see right away. He's arrested on January 24th, 1992. He's arrested, spends a night in jail after he abused a worker at a Jack in the Box.

Wow. Abused. I like that. Apparently verbally abused and then threw a milkshake into the drive-thru window. Bitchin'. And then the cop showed up and he did some stupidity and he was arrested for obstructing a police officer. All right. That sounds like he didn't do anything illegal enough to arrest him for.

And they were like, you're a dick and you're being a dick. Guess what you're doing? Obstructing me. You're going to jail. And they cuffed his ass. Or they were like, did you throw a shake? And he's like, no, motherfucker, I didn't throw a shake. And then they like tried to grab me.

He's like, get your hands off me. And then there was a big scene. That's probably what happened. Are you obstructing me, sir? I need to investigate. Police say he was abusive to them with language and everything else. Ryder claims he is being harassed by the Las Vegas Police Department. It's ridiculous.

He has had enough. He is not fucking about anymore. He is not fucking about. We will see. This is a big pile of, why are they persecuting me? Is that right? This whole pile of cards that I have in front of me is, it's not me. I was hanging out with that guy, and I didn't know, and that's his whole thing.

My dad named me Junior. Yeah, just a peek here. He has 30 arrests. Unbelievable. None of them are his fault at all. Unbelievable. So it's going to be a good time. Let's strap in here.

Sounds like my son. Yes. Now, for that incident, he gets out of jail the next morning and apparently pays $200 to get out of jail, bail. But he doesn't pay it himself. Someone pays it for him. Who? They don't know.

Is it Tarkanian? No, no, no. They don't find out. So the university, might have been, who knows. The university suspends him. He's suspended until the $200 is repaid to whoever, that you're not allowed to, you're not allowed to have someone. You can get arrested, but you better pay for your own bail, mister.

No bullshit getting any help from anybody. There are no boosters getting you out of jail. Nope, nope, nope. UNLV did this themselves to try to avoid more sanctions because they were in trouble as it is. So they were like, hey, you have to find that out before we can put you in for reinstatement, which made sense. The 91-92 season for UNLV and for Mr. Ryder here. He played in 27 games, averaged

20.7 points per game. Beastly in college, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists. Team goes 26-2. Absolutely, yeah. Absolutely kills it. Not allowed to play in the tournament. That's a shame for a guy coming in.

I mean, he committed the year before. He probably didn't know about these sanctions. And 92-93 season gets interesting, too, here. 28 games he plays. This is when he really lights it up on the court. 29.1 points per game. Fuck. That is ripping it.

8.9 rebounds. Yeah. So he's just dominating. I mean, he's going quick high in the draft here. 2.5 assists. And he can dunk like a motherfucker. Oh, he's got ups. Yeah.

He's got some serious hopping ability. Yeah. The team is 21-8. No, they don't make the tournament. They're not allowed to either. No tour. Oh, no, they are allowed to, but they're not allowed to play on TV like in the regular season. What the fuck?

It's the thing to fuck you in recruiting. Yeah. You're not allowed to be on TV because then the kids don't see you and they don't want to play for you. Right. It's how you can screw people here. He, it doesn't matter because Isaiah is a consensus All-American, Big West Player of the Year, which was the conference at that time, the Big West. Under new coach Raleigh Massimino, who we all remember from the Big East in the 80s. I hate that you say we all remember and then I'm sitting here like a dog that just heard a sharp noise.

He's like, do I? I hate that you say we all remember and then I'm sitting here like a dog that just heard a sharp noise. He's a recycled old coach who was like one of these old-timey basketball guys. And they brought him in and he was a complete tire fire. And it was Raleigh? Raleigh Massimino. And they shit can him the next year. He's gone. Don't fucking go with Raleigh.

Give me any clues what he looks like. I'm picturing that fucking mustache. Yeah, no, he's a little guinea. He's just a little guinea guy. And if you're a new listener, I can say that all I want because my last name is so fucking mustache. Yeah, no, he's a little guinea. He's just a little guinea guy. And if you're a new listener, I can say that all I want because my last name is so fucking long and it ends with so many goddamn vowels that you can't spell it. So eat shit.

They do not make the 1993 NCAA tournament, which is the main tournament that you guys hear with the big bracket. And if you're not a sports fan, a big bracket and you pick. And even, you know, your grandmother fills out a bracket. Everybody does. Well, this is the NIT tournament. This is the other bracket that nobody gives a shit about. All right.

Because the tournament now is the top 66 teams, two teams playing. It's the top 64. This is 64 through 128, basically. This is the next 65 teams or 64 teams. So this isn't the top level of tournament here. It doesn't matter because he's banned from playing in it because he is busted for having somebody write an English paper for him. Oh, shit. By the school.

Oh, my God. Yeah. He's like, I've done my part. I don't care. I'm going to the NBA next year. He had his tutor write most of his paper. They found out. Hey, pretty girl, write this.

Exactly. Why is this written in calligraphy, JR? Wow, this is really flowery language for you. That's interesting. Why are all the I's dotted with hearts, JR? Wow, this is really flowery language for you. That's interesting. Why are all the I's dotted with hearts, JR? It's strange. It's very, very strange. Big fat L's, big loopy fat L's.

This doesn't seem like your handwriting. Really loopy cursive you got here. It's very odd. Looks like a young girl's. It looks like a young lady, but I don't know. Why does it say Mrs. JR Ryder in the corner? What the fuck? What's up with that little hearts around it?

It says Carrie plus JR. did we both fucking pick carrie wow we've been spending way too much time that's hysterical you have just seen the culmination of us spending way too much time together and doing way too many shows together because we just picked we both picked a picture to cute little blonde cheerleader named carrie there's what? Three billion women on the planet? Two billion women's names? We just go, Carrie. Put that out of our ass. Okay.

Wow. That was creepy. That was creepy, man. So June 30th, 1993 is the NBA draft. All right. The 93 NBA draft. This was a big one, too. This was a very interesting draft.

I remember this very clearly as a kid. Was Harold Minor in this one? No, this was not the Harold draft. I remember this very clearly as a kid. Was Harold Miner in this one? No, this was not the Harold Miner. I believe he was 91. Who went number one? This was Chris Webber going number one to Orlando. And then Penny Hardaway getting picked number three by Golden State. And then they swapped.

The Storm and Mormon shot Bradley number two overall. Jamal Mashburn of Dallas, number four. And then J.R. Ryder, number five by the Minnesota Timberwolves. This era is great of basketball. This is a fantastic era. This was an era of basketball. If you're a basketball fan, if you're an

older school basketball fan or more of a new school or if you're not a fan at all, it's easy to explain. This was a time when these guys were tough. Fuck yeah. There were fights guys this was like this was like tough playground you you would be scared to to go you know in the paint against these guys these were guys that were men they were tough yeah it's not like now no like now now the draymond green is considered like the enforcement and he's kicking people in the sack. What a fucking hipster.

He looks like a hipster. That's not a tough guy. That's a fucked up hairline. Charles Oakley would fucking strangle him and toss him into the second row and be like, bring another power forward out. Get out of here. Anthony Mason. Anthony Mason, get out of town. He had a fucking gap and he had that fucking buzz right in the center. He had shit written in the side of his fucking head.

He did. Bald head with shit written in the side of it. He carved the Knicks logo into the side of his fucking head. He did. Bald head with shit written in the side of it. He carved the Knicks logo into the side of his fucking head. Didn't care. No. Diesel knocking people out of the way. That was tough man basketball, man. That's fucking basketball.

It's not like now. And there was athleticism too. It wasn't like they were just banging around. You had Isaiah Ryder who was insanely athletic. Now you got guys fucking drawing up plan plays, dropping half-court three-pointers. That's not a fucking basketball game. That's bullshit. Yeah.

Back in the day, they would have just said, yeah, when that guy goes up for a three-pointer, you knock him on his ass so fucking hard. Throw a forearm shiver into his fucking throat. He's not going to do that again. Send him a message that that's not going to fucking be tolerated. We're not going to allow that shit. Tell him to dish it off to Sean Bradley's lanky ass and try to bring it in the paint. That's basketball.

Now we have Draymond Green looking like he wears a beanie and sips fucking $7 a cup coffee. While he's kicking dudes in the sack. While playing words with friends. What a fucking pussy. That's not a fucking NBA player. For real. Later on in that draft, I always like to do what you could have had here. Later on, you could have had Vin Baker at number eight.

Oh, that guy was great. The Milwaukee Buck. He was really good. Alan Houston, the longtime Nick and everybody else. Clutch three-point shooter. Clutch shooter there at number 11. And then Sam Cassell, who's one of the best clutch players. If you need a championship, you go get Sam Cassell on your team and you get one.

That's a memorable guy because he's ugly as fuck. Oh, God. He looks like a frog exploded. That's what his head looks like, like an exploded frog. Oh, Jesus. Like if someone stuck a firecracker up a frog's ass and you had a super slow-mo film that could slow it down to as it's exploding, but before he's disintegrated, that'd be what his face would look like. It's just about to pop out.

His eyes bugging out of his head. Undrafted, he could have got Bruce Bowen, the defensive wonder for the Spurs there, who's a complete pain in the ass for a long time. At the draft, this is when you start to see some personality come out. There's a lot of it. But at the draft, he's interviewed by Craig Sager, of all people. Rest in peace, Craig Sager, who died a couple weeks ago or last week. Now, first of all, in this interview, he makes a guarantee.

They ask him about the dunk contest. Like, are you going to enter the dunk contest? A rookie won it last year. And he just said, I'll tell you, if I enter the dunk contest, I'm winning the dunk contest. He said, I'm winning the dunk contest. So we'll see how that prediction pans out. He just Babe Ruth called his shot. He did.

Babe Ruth called the dunk. And he said it like, that's not even, like, let's not even discuss that. Like, it was like, no, that's, you know. Craig, how dare you? Yeah, I'm going to win that if I'm in it. Get out of here with that stupid fucking suit, Craig. Depends if I have time for it. We'll see.

Yeah, go change your clothes. See if I stop punching people and throwing milkshakes at the Jag in the Box drive-thru. Yeah, and that's what Craig Sager asks him. And Craig, it's funny, too, because it's a very pointed question. Really? You know, when these guys get drafted, they're like, so, you did this, and how's your mom? And it's very, like, upbeat because it's the NBA. They want these guys to look, you know, like upstanding young men.

Craig Sager's like, so you've had a lot of problems. Oh, Craig. He's like, you've gotten suspended from school, and you weren't allowed to play in games, and you've gotten arrested. Like, what's going on? Like, that's literally what he said. What's the deal, man? That's the reason everybody loved Craig Sager.

Because he was the shit, man. He didn't care. He's just like, look at me in my dopey fucking suit now i'm gonna ask you about that time that you punched that drive-thru guy let's get into that was it a strawberry milk shake i really want to know but he he really the way he pointed it was really you could he would jr rider would look like a complete asshole if he answered it anyway but perfectly straight up because he was just like what's up with with that, man? Like, how come? What's going on?

Oh, God. You a good guy or what? Like, he was just really okay about it. And his answer, Isaiah's answer here, I'm going to keep calling him Isaiah and JR, same fucking guy. Yeah. Writer.

Yeah. Writer's answer here in their own words on this is awesome. In their own words, quote, two things I've learned. I've learned to deal with people's characteristics nastiness i've learned all to also overcome my mistakes personally and putting it together you know i'm becoming a young man and i'm learning as i go i'm 22 and everything is going good i'm nasty on the court other than that i'm a perfect man in society i'm looking forward

to what's in front of me fuck yes wow i'm. I'm a perfect man. I'm a perfect man in society. Let's wait till you see how perfect he is. That's unbelievable. He's already done more to fuck up than I've ever done. And I'm a lot older. In 35 years, I haven't been arrested that much. No, not for that stupidity, too. And so, yeah, he's completely, and I'm becoming a young man.

You're 22 years old and you're in college. You just got done with college. You're a young man, I think. It's safe to say at that point. You should be an adult by now. Yeah, I would say. You can make adult decisions. Rookie year on the court for the Timberwolves.

Yeah, he did great that year. Great year. 16.6 points a game. 79 games played. Four rebounds per game. 2.7 assists. Yeah. Makes the all-rookie team.

Wow. If he wasn't a rookie, he might have made the all-star team that year. Yeah. And even better for him, makes two million that year. Good grief. So things have changed for young Isaiah Ryder. Rookie year making $2 million. Oh, yeah.

That's dope. Things have changed for Isaiah Ryder. Absolutely. You're not in the projects anymore in Oakland. This is different. 1994 Slam Dunk Contest. Yes. The NBA All-Star weekend, they have a three-point shooting contest.

They have a Slam Dunk Contest. They have a rookie game. And then they have the All-Star game, which is regular. Yeah. Slam dunk contest here. And by the way, that slam dunk championship was the most fun thing to watch. Oh, that was the only thing people cared about. It was amazing.

It didn't matter about the All-Star game. You watched the dunk contest. It was so much fun. It was so much. It's not like now where they have. Now it's just, it's not the guy's fault now. There's just been so many dunks done. You have to bring in props and shit now.

Back then you didn't have to bring a car in. Right. You didn't have to jump over the mascot on the fucking Segway. It's so stupid. Yeah, it was ridiculous. But he wins, Isaiah Ryder wins the slam dunk contest in remarkable fashion. With the most outrageous

dunk ever done at that time. At that time, which now it looks pretty pedestrian. When you watch it now, you're like, that's a nice dunk for a guy at 6'5". He comes up from the right side, goes through his legs on the baseline, through his legs and kind of dunks it from the other side of the rim. Hangs in the air. It's a great dunk.

It's ridiculous. Now it wouldn't even get you to the next round. Back then, I remember Charles Barkley at the time said, that might have been the greatest dunk I've ever seen. We'll put it that way. So, I mean, it was a different time. It was ridiculous. In the air, went under his seen. We'll put it that way. So, I mean, it was a different time. It was ridiculous. But it was.

In the air went under his leg. Not like under his leg and then jumped. He jumped in the air, pulled his legs up to his chest. Yeah, it was. The ball underneath reaped under the fucking basket and like thunder. It was with authority. Thunder. The vertical leap on this guy was off the charts.

It really was. It was crazy. It was really impressive. He called that dunk the, quote, East Bay Funk Dunk. Holy shit. You had to give it a stupid nickname in 94. East Bay. Fucking Oakland. East Bay Funk Dunk. Yeah.

And the word funk was omnipresent in the early 90s. Yeah. It was not great. On Shaq's CD there was a song about funk, too. Everybody in the NBA loved the word funk. I'm bringing the funk on a nasty dump or some shit. He loves the word funk, and he loves it in rap music because we're going to get to that by the end of the season right here.

I love it. Oh, it gets silly now. I can't wait. It's going to get insane. March 12, 1994. Yep. Okay. Ryder is supposed to sign autographs for a promotional event.

Uh-oh. It's at the America Live Sports Bar at the Mall of America in Minneapolis. Uh-oh. Oh, boy. If you're not from here, it's like the hugest mall in America. Yeah. It's enormous.

I think it's the biggest one in the world. It might be. It's ridiculous. It's a definite, like just a shining beacon of American gluttony and ridiculousness. It's capitalism, like fucking with a gold sheen on it.

It's capitalism not wearing a condom. Right. Raw dog right in that ass. That's what it is. Sorry, I don't have one. I'm sticking to it anyway. That's the kind of capitalism. There's a fucking like 4,000 square foot hot topic there.

It's ridiculous. He's supposed to sign autographs. It's a big promotional event. And, you know, he's the hot shit rookie just won the dunk contest. You know, people want to see him. Fuck yeah. He tells the promoter that it's his birthday and he doesn't show up. So that's a problem.

That's an issue. He shows up later in the night, though, and he speaks with the general manager, a woman named Kimberly Rakos. And she told him that there's children have been there lined up waiting for him all night to sign autographs. Yeah. And things got a little lippy. And she might overplayed her hand a little bit.

She's a general fucking manager of a sports bar in the mall of america she should have played her hand i mean she probably could have been a little more polite i'm sure she was a bit like because she was she even said she was like scolding his skull just yeah you listen she was bluffing him here and you weren't here trying to like guilt him i don't know what it is but i maybe too because he's like 22 and she was like 35 at the time maybe she's trying to young man't know what it is, but maybe two because he's like 22 and she was like 35 at the time. Maybe she's trying to young man. You know what I mean? Listen, young man. One of those type deals, which is fair also.

No, a guy normally would just be like, I know. I'm sorry. Let's get the kids. I'll sign the autograph. Not J.R. Ryder. Not J.R. Ryder. And this woman also, she just came back to work off maternity leave also. Oh, God.

She's a new mom. She's so pissy. Well, not only that. No, she doesn't fucking want to be there. Her boobs are fucking engorged. She's physically frail also. You know, physically been through a lot also, and we'll get into why that's relevant here. Her boobs are engorged, her tits hurt,

and she's staring at a man that's three days late. She's furious. She's not a happy camper. He's making two million dollars. He doesn't give a shit. Because she was the one who had to field the people like, I brought my goddamn kid down here. What is he coming. Right.

When is he. I bought a ticket. I brought my kid here. This is bullshit. How many more cheese sticks can I buy in your dumpy goddamn restaurant. I can't eat any more hot dog on a stick. I'm tired. Apparently he swore at her and got belligerent.

I wonder what he said. So they went into the office area the bar office and before things went back and forth in Rakos, the woman ends up putting her hand on his elbow and said, quote, I want you to go. We're not getting anywhere with this. Wow. Which, you know, that's whatever. What do you think his response is going to be? You know, fuck you, bitch.

Fuck you, I'm leaving. Whatever. Something like that, right? He kicked her. What? That was his response to it. His response is to kick a woman. Is to kick the woman manager of a sports bar that he's supposed to sign up.

He's in the wrong. Right. Regardless of how shitty she was. Oh, so far now. He's in the wrong. Yeah. He's even more in the wrong. The operations manager, it's sad that I know these people's exact jobs.

Operations manager of this sports bar, Pat Daly, said he saw her, quote, flying across the hallway into a wall. Oh, he gave her the boot then. He gave her a boot. He gave her a healthy one. Ryder says that Rakos grabbed him and threatened to call security, which still is within her rights as a fucking bar manager. I'm sure we'll get to kick somebody.

No reason to kick her, I don't think. He said he, quote, pushed her with his foot to release himself from her grip. Okay. Or kicking, as it's known on Earth. When you push someone with your foot. That's called kicking. Yes. Last time I checked.

It's even worse when it's a woman who just had a child. Right. That just makes it worse. She's probably 5'8", and you're 6'5". 6'5", stocky. In the prime of your athletic prowess. And just throwing down between the leg dunks at will. Just like, ah.

Those legs are what lift you above the goddamn rim she's got sore boobs and a new kid like she's been she probably slept an hour and a half last night she's just got staples in her stomach jesus this is a mess i gotta deal with this asshole now now summer 1994 this is right after that federal authorities come to jr come to isaiah with with information that they heard a credible threat against his life on a wired tap of a suspected drug dealing crew. What the fuck? Like, why does he know a drug dealing crew?

He shouldn't be involved with these people, especially to the level where they want to kill him. Is there another JR writer? No, no, no. It's him because they're talking about the basketball guy, whatever. So I don't know. The motherfucker that plays for the Wolves. You know him.

Yeah, that Duncan motherfucker. Between his legs, my ass. I'm going to put his fucking head between my legs and see how he likes that shit. So September 1994, for the Mall of America incident, he is convicted of fifth degree assault, which fifth degree, I didn't know there was that many degrees, but I don't know. How low does it go for the sports bar manager deal? He receives two years probation, 35 hours of community service. He's ordered to complete anger management training program and 30 days in jail plus an $850 fine.

Oh, that's steep as fuck. That's a lot. In the end, I think he ends up doing like a few days in jail out of the 30 and the rest is whatever. He's got a friend at a car wash that signs off that he did some fucking community service. Exactly, but the probation's a big deal. Yeah. This is, he's perpetually on probation and breaking probation. Wow.

That's the thing. So every time he gets arrested, it's always double whatever he did because there's also probation. There's always warrants out for his arrest for not doing what he's supposed to do. It's nuts, man. And it all starts with a kick. All starts with a kick, baby. So that's September. November it all starts with a kick. All starts with a kick, baby. Unbelievable.

So that's September. November, he does not let that... He kicked off his fucking criminal career. He does, but in November, you son of a bitch, I'm going to kick you in the ball sack, you bastard. I love it. He kickstarted. He kickstarted. Well, he's going to kickstart something else. He's going to try to kickstart his rap career. Awesome. His music career.

Because on November 15th, 1994, epic. At that point, too, there'd been so many rappers, right? If you're famous, you got a rap album back then. It got worse. Shaq did it with Foosh Nickens, and then he just tried to do it himself. I believe this is where it started with Shaq also, as we'll see here. It's Epic Records

releases the album B-Ball's Best Kept Secret. It's produced by Warren G., who is a famous, as we all know, I think it's Dr. Dre's brother, as a matter of fact. His cousin, I think. Whatever. He's related to Dr. Dre, and he's famous, regulate, and all that shit. We know who Warren G. is.

Nate Dogg and Warren G. It includes on the album are the players Dana Barrows, Malik Sealy, Shaq, Brian Shaw, Chris Mills, Jason Kidd. Brian Shaw? Brian Shaw. That is the least street cred motherfucker I've ever seen. Dennis Scott. Oh, God.

One less. One up you there for Orlando. And Gary Payton. Oh, boy. That one. He's tough. I'd watch out for Gary Payton. And also, there's also a duet here because most of them have their own songs.

A couple of them have a duet. I don't know what the fuck else to call it. A team up. There's a song called Flow On that has Cedric Sabalas, the old scoring machine. I love Ced Sabalas, too. He could score his ass off. But he needs to stop it. Oh, he was great.

And Warren G together. What? Yeah, he's got Warren G in a song. They did a collabo together. That's sick. Another song at the end of the last song on the album, just to really send it home, is You Don't Stop. And that has Dana Barrows, who's another guy I don't think of as a rapper,

Sed Sabalos, and then Gran Puba is in it, the rapper. What? I used to love Gran Puba when I was a teenager. Gran Puba, Sadat X, who was another guy, East Coast guy. I think he was in with that. And Diamond D, who's another East Coast producer and rapper. That's wild. Yeah, it's wild.

They got legit people on it. They did. No, because it was the NBA. It was really going hard. And it's Epic Records. It was put out by a real record company. Track 11, though, is by our guy, Isaiah Ryder. What's it called?

It is called Funk in the Trunk. You can't get away from the funk. I found it on the internet. I found it online. How bad is it? It the Trunk. You can't get away from the funk. I found it on the internet. I found it online. We will put it. It's fucking terrible. Awesome. The music sounds like typical mid-90s West Coast rap.

All right. It's produced well. Like a whistle. Yeah, it's not that. It's the next level where it's a little harder, where they're trying to sort of match East Coast energy. But it's terrible. I mean, he's a terrible rapper.

He sounds, in the first five words you're like this guy's not a rapper like a layman could just be like that who's this guy right where'd they just karaoke what's going on here dunking bro exactly so he gets back on the court for 94 95 still with the timberwolves 94 95 plays in 75 games has 20.4 points per game 3.3 rebounds 3.33 assists. Solid-ass season. It's what you want out of this guy. He's only out for seven games. That's it. That's dope.

Not bad. 2.5 million per year that year. Makes 2.5 million, so can't go wrong there. Killing it. January of 95, though, Kimberly Rakos, the bar manager, the kicked mother there, files a suit against Ryder saying she faces disabling injuries, limited future earnings, and humiliation. Oh, shit.

So she's trying to get paid here. Yeah. And she's going to, as we'll see. Of course. Now, at this point, too, he has no problem paying. This is one thing about Ryder I will say about him. He's extremely generous. Really?

Excessively generous. Really? If he wasn't such a fucking disaster, he'd be a great guy. If he didn't do everything else on earth, possibly, that he could possibly do wrong, he'd be terrific as a guy.

Very generous. He pays for his sister to go to Northwestern, which is a very good and very expensive school. Oh my God. And graduate with a master's degree. Wow. So he paid for a shitload of school. That's expensive. Does he know that money runs out? I think he does, but at this point, he was a master's degree. Wow. So he paid for a shitload of school. That's expensive.

Does he know that money runs out? I think he does. But at this point, he was a rookie, man. He's like, yeah, I got $2 million. And to him, he said, like, when he came up, he's like, man, I came up poor. $2 million will last me forever. No, it won't. No, it won't, as we'll see later.

But yeah, so his sister, you know, takes care of her. She graduates. So she's really smart. Of course. Obviously, you can't graduate from Northwestern unless you're pretty bright. Also financially supported his two little brothers at this time. My God, he's a sweetheart. He's a sweetheart when he's not being a fucking idiot.

I can't believe I just called a guy that kicked a lady that just had a baby. Called him a sweetheart. Here's another sweetheart thing that he does here. In 1995, a reporter asks him about missing a team flight because he he's always here's one thing i i didn't even we don't have time to get into all the lates and suspended for three games and late to a meeting and you know didn't go to practice we don't that's weak that could be the whole episode that's how much fuckery during his career so just i'm gonna hit the major ones here why don't they talk about

this it's in the papers i didn't know any of this. We weren't paying attention. I was such a fan. I loved him. I didn't even think about it. I'd be like, hey, he mispracticed. So what? He can dunk like that. That's what I would have thought at 16. I wouldn't have cared. Who gives a shit? Yeah, who cares? You see him dunk? Go right through the legs. Do that under the legs in a fucking game. Give me the funk dunk.

So, 95, a reporter asks him about missing a team flight and he, without any hesitation, looks at this reporter and says, 95, a reporter asks him about missing a team flight, and he, without any hesitation, looks at this reporter and says, quote, I know people who can take you out. Hilarious. That's his response. Wow. So he goes from, I'm going to pay for all this, to I'm going to kill a reporter.

I'm going to threaten your life on camera. This is not the only person in basketball whose life he threatens. He threatens another guy. He has something in common with Jason Williams as far as threats go, which is pretty funny. We'll get into that, Jason Williams, episode four. Yes. So August 30th, 1995, Ryder begins a four-day jail sentence for a probation violation. Remember those anger management classes he was sentenced to take for kicking the bar manager?

Fuck those. He doesn't take those. He never does anything, to this day, never does anything the court tells him to do, ever. He makes you feel like when the judge tells him what to do, he just looks at him and goes, nope. Nope. That's what he does. Okay, fine. He's not going to do it.

He's just not. He's not going to do that. He's not real dependable. Yeah. Kevin McHale, the GM of the Timberwolves, says later, he describes him as, he's like a friend that you like a lot, but he's supposed to give you a ride every day and he always shows up late. So after a while, you still want him to be your friend, but you're not going to ask him for a ride anymore.

That's the way he looks at him. And that makes perfect sense. It really does. March 11th, 1996. This is where Donna, his mother, comes in. March 11th, 1996. Isaiah is ejected from a game against Utah. Okay?

Really? He goes buck wild on the court, will not leave the court. Literally, his teammates are trying to push him off the court and take him. I don't remember this at all. Doug West is trying to pull him to the locker room going, dude, come on. He will not budge. Holy shit. He is freaking out, yelling curse and doing his shit.

And then his mother, who is sitting courtside across the court, gets up and begins walking toward him from across the court. And he stopped his yelling, turned around and walked in the locker room. That's the fucking best story I've ever heard. Because he didn't want to be embarrassed on television. Oh, he's already embarrassed. But if his mother came out and went up to him and started yelling at him, he's like, come on, mom. That shit, that's going to look terrible. She pulls his pants down and spanks him at half court.

Second, he saw her come and he just stopped and made her run for it. He's like, fuck that. Which I think is hilarious. So Donna had some power. Donna had a little power. That's so great. April 27th, 1996, the lawsuit for Kimberly Rakos is settled. It's called, quote, well into the six figures.

Wow. So he paid her a good chunk of money uh rakos attorney said keith johnson said he was very happy with the settlement she was very happy with the settlement riders lawyer a very silver-haired middle-aged white man named chris muddell said quote it's settled and he's pleased to move on with his life he's a gentleman i never found jr rider to be anything but a total gentleman. What the fuck? Except when he's kicking women who are trying to do their fucking jobs. Especially, too, think about it. This lady's like

it's like 10.30 at night and she's managing a sports bar. She's exhausted and she knows she's got to go home and tend to a newborn and all this shit and she's got this guy breaking her balls. She's like, you know what? Fuck you, dude. I don't want to listen to your shit anymore. My newborn is less fucking stressful than you are. Get out of here, you spoiled shit. You know, she's probably got money problems.

She's probably making $28,000 a year doing this. She's probably got money problems. She's like, this asshole's making $2 million a year. He can't show up to sign autographs. Fuck this guy. He's going to fucking kick me. He's going to mouth off to me and kick me against a wall. On the court, he's fine.

I'm just picturing that whole event happening. His excuse kills me. She touched his elbow, so he said, I used my foot to – why wouldn't you just take her hand off with your other hand or yank your elbow away? Or a plethora of any other thing you could do but kick her in the back. That's like a 19-year-old server, though. Do you ever respect that woman's authority ever again? Maybe. Maybe you're like, damn, she's willing to fight Isaiah Ryder.

She's just badass. She'll take me down. Maybe she just you're like, damn, she's willing to fight Isaiah Ryder. She's just badass. She'll take me down. Maybe she just earns your respect forever. Maybe. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just like, maybe I just kick her next time she tells me my fucking drawer is short. Then again, you'll have to pay well into the six figures if you do. She doesn't take any shit.

That's a good point. So in 1995-96 season, he plays in 75 games, 19.6 points a game, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists. Still killing it. Keeping it together on the court. Not bad at all. And off the court, making $3 million. Off the court?

Well, no, on the court. Oh, OK. I got you. Paycheck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what I mean. His mortgage is paid. His mortgage is paid at this point.

Well, it won't be for long. Let's see here. Foreshadowing. Taylor Swift is soaring high. Her every move captured in the news cycle and devoured by her devoted fans. She's broken billboard records and made Grammys history, not to mention becoming a billionaire in the process. But along the way, Taylor has had to wage war, first by taking on a very powerful, very famous manager, Scooter Braun, and then by going up against the biggest live events company, Ticketmaster.

Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wondery's show, Business Wars. We go deep into some of the biggest corporate rivalries of all time, and in our latest season, Taylor Swift will shake up not only the music business, but Hollywood and the NFL. Follow Business Wars wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. The wait is over. So far, you're not losing. The only thing you're losing is my patience.

Quickly, I see that. Bing! The queen of the courtroom is back. I didn't do anything. You wouldn't know the truth if it came up and slapped you in the face. I see he's not intimidated by anything. I can fix that. New cases.

She wanted to fight me. Leave her alone. Okay, so, um... This is not a so. This is a period. Classic Judy. Did you sleep with her? Yes, Your Honor. You is a period. Classic Judy. Did you sleep with her? Yes, Your Honor. You married his cousin.

His brother. That's not him. Yes, ma'am. I would make a beeline for the door. The Emmy Award winning series returns. How did I know that? I have a crystal ball in my head. It's an all new season.

It's streaming. You can say anything. Judy Justice. Only on Freebie. Early June 1996, Ryder is detained and questioned and held for a couple days about a rape charge. What? This isn't great. It turns out in the end, there's not a lot of details on this because he's not charged

with any crime in the end. Okay. But he's held and questioned and not let go for a couple of days on a rape charge. Which I've never had happen to me. No. So I'm assuming he did something wrong. I'm not sure. Especially from his history.

He was nearby. Yeah. He was in the area. Something went down there. So late June 96. If it was a Google map and there was a rape happening, it would say J.R. Ryder is nearby. He's nearby. Yeah, you could find him.

His little guy is right there. So late June 96, a trade is being worked out to send Ryder from Minnesota to Portland, to the Trailblazers. Okay. So this is in the works. They're trying to figure out exactly what they're going to do. It's basically trying to work out the details of this trade. Now, what year was this, 96?

This is 1996, late June of 96. Trying to think of who was there because Duckworth was long gone. That was Sabonis, and Stoudemire was about to come in, Rasheed Wallace. There you go. This was a team they called the Jailblazers. That's right. That's instead of the Trailblazers. They were gangsters as shit.

They were all getting arrested constantly, mainly for weed and other things, but a lot of weed. Cliff Robinson was there? Yes, he was, another weed guy, famously. Yeah. And other things. A lot of weed. Cliff Robinson was there. Yes, he was. Another weed guy. Yeah. Famously. Yeah, no doubt. On June 28th, 1996, Ryder is arrested for possession of marijuana.

Yep. This was the incident where he was arrested for smoking it out of a soda can. Hilarious. Which, as every 16-year-old kid said, they're like, what the? Yeah. He makes three million million a year. He doesn't have a goddamn pipe. That's one step above an apple.

Get some papers. That's worse than an apple. That is way worse than an apple. You might be right. Fuck yeah. If you had an apple, you'd throw the can away. You'd be like, let's just core out this apple and do this because this can is shitty. Yeah, and I can taste the aluminum every hit I take.

I can taste the aluminum and the remnants of fucking Welch's grape soda in there. I don't want this shit. It's terrible, man. So he's also arrested for possessing a cell phone, which is illegally altered not only to make free calls, but it actually charges the calls to someone else's bill. Oh, shit. That's how shitty this is. That's like some fucking mobster stuff. He makes $3 million a year, yet he has a cell phone that is charged to someone else's goal.

He's charged to some banker in Minnesota. Who knows who the hell he's charging. That's crazy. He also has four stolen cell phones with him worth a total of $400, which is funny because now they'd be worth, it's like $3,000 worth of cell phones. But then $400 because they're a shitty plastic. No keys or some shit. They had no technology in them, basically.

They had the same technologies in a Sega Genesis cartridge. They were terrible. Nothing. So, yeah, he's arrested for that. I remember this being a famous thing back in the day because of the soda can. Right. And everyone was like, soda can? What the fuck?

Get a blunt. What's wrong with you? No doubt. So, July 19th, 1996. Gets interesting again. Ryder is arrested in a, quote, high narcotics area of Oakland, California. He's home for the summer like a fucking idiot. Yeah. High narcotics area.

He's in Oakland. You'd be better off to say which of the areas aren't high narcotics area in Oakland. That's a non-narcotics area. Right. He is charged with misdemeanor gambling in public. Misdemeanor? What is that? Gambling in public. Playing dominoes in an alley or something? Sort of, yeah.

Police receive complaints about a group of people gambling on a street corner. Why are you on a street corner gambling? What are you doing? You hear I say a writer. God damn it. You play in the NBA. Invite these fucking idiots up to a nice hotel room and do it there. You couldn't be more conspicuous. That's what I mean.

You're 6'5 and famous, you jackass. With tree trunk legs. You're the dunk champion, you idiot. You're wearing your own jersey right now. It's fucking... Yeah. So they... God.

You're wearing fucking Timberwolves, Portland Trailblazers, whatever team you're on. You're wearing their warm-ups. Still the Timberwolves at this point for now. You're wearing their warm-ups. Put the Timberwolves at this point for now. You're wearing their warm-ups. Put the fucking dice down. Yeah, he's famous. And he's 6'5". He's big.

And stocky. He's a big guy. There's no mistaking him. No, there's not. And no one ever does. He has a very particular look about him. They always identify him. Of course.

Always. Always. So they find Isaiah and about 10 other people, two of which ended up having several bags of marijuana on them. Oh, Jesus. And they were clearly selling because one of them also had $6,380 in cash on him. Wow. Ryder had $43 in cash on him, by the way, in case you're curious. I feel like that guy won all Isaiah's money.

Yeah. And they were shooting dice on the corner. Literally, that's what he was doing. They were playing traps. Like a fucking moron. What an asshole. Yeah, he's an idiot. Timberwolves general manager and old ex-Celtics great Kevin McHale said, quote, I think that's

just another situation where JR was involved with people he shouldn't have been associated with. Good call. I don't think anyone hasn't been in on a card game or thrown some dice, but that's just a bad reflection on him and a bad reflection on us as a franchise. No shit. Yeah. Do it.

Like I said, get a nice room at the Four Seasons. Invite everyone over. Make it ghetto as you want. Get down in the corner. You don't have to use the furniture. Throw the shit against the wet bar. Who cares? It's a nice place.

Chicks with big asses, ass clapping in the corner. We don't care. Just keep it off the fucking street. No shit. Kevin McHale fucking hit that one like a fucking hook shot. That was perfect. That was exactly right. And then also, too, they asked McHale if this would mess mess up the impending trade because he's trying to trade this guy.

He's like, stop doing this. I'm trying to package you. You're making yourself fucking worth nothing to me. You're making it worth less. He said, quote, it's not a done deal until it's a done deal. So he's like, I don't fucking know. Leave me alone. Now I have to deal with this shit.

Ryder is released at 6 a.m., which is about four hours later. And he's scheduled for court on August the 19th, 1996. So that was July 19th. Now, July 23rd, 96, he's traded by Minnesota to Portland. They have to have him. They have to. I need this guy on my team. We've only got four guys that have been to jail. We need five. We need five. Let's get it on.

They trade him for Bill Curley, who's a career 2.7 point per game guy. I was just going to say I've never heard of him. No, but he bounced around. Little Europe. Bench guy. James Robinson, who's a career 2.7 point per game guy. I was just going to say I've never heard of him. Nobody. Bounced around. Yeah. Little Europe. Bench guy.

James Robinson, who had an eight-year career, but he averaged 7.6 points a game. Bench guy. Nobody. And a 1997 first-round pick. All right. That's what he's worth. Two nobodies and a pick. That's terrible.

It might have been worth more before that. Who knows? 96-97 for Portland. Has a good year. 16.1 points a game. Plays in 76 games. Four rebounds. 2.6 assists.

Yep. Makes 3.6 million, too. Wow. So a good year personally, too. He almost doubled his salary. October 30th, 1990. And in Portland, that shit goes a long way. Back then, yeah. It wasn't expensive back then.

It was a wet forest. Yeah. That's all it was. Middle of the 90s. A damp forest. So October 30th, 1996, he's arrested again for possession of marijuana. Fuck, man. Obviously.

That's, you know, new member of the team. What do you do? You got to get arrested. Yeah. Establish your personality on the team. It's kind of like in a boy band. Right. You're going to be the bad one.

You're going to be the shy one. You're going to be the... He said, I need to be the most arrested. Right. I got competition on this team. I really need to step my game up. March 9, 1997, police announced that Ryder is under investigation for an incident at the Air Charter Company that serves the Trailblazers. Oh, my God.

He's making a fool of himself where his team flies the plane. Like, what are you doing? What the fuck? He missed a 10.30 p.m. flight to Phoenix, which how do you miss a 1030 p.m. flight? Can't blame traffic for that one. No, no, no. And begins to get abusive with the Flightcraft employees. Flightcraft is the company.

You missed the flight and you're abusive with them. So then he asked for another flight and they told him to go fuck himself. I don't blame him. They said they refuse. So he swore and spit at an employee and broke his cell phone. Broke the man's cell phone. What's with him and fucking cell phones? He took his phone and broke it.

Yeah, I can't get a flight. Take that, you nobody. What a jerk. A flight's like a movie. You don't fucking show up 10 minutes late and be like, are we going now? No, it's fucking started. It's scheduled. It's already gone.

All the other people were there, obviously. The shit's in the air, man. Everybody else was there. Figure it out. It didn't say J.R. Ryder and another teammate did this. He's the only one that was late. Everyone else got there. So, 97-98 season.

Plays in 74 games. Has a better year than the year before. Really? 19.7 points a game. 4.7 rebounds. 3.1 assists. Great year. That's a monster.

Explosive. He was so good. 4.2 million off the court. Making more and more money. Making bank. Oh, his contract keeps going up. That's how they work. That's how they. 4.2 million off the court. Making more and more money. His contract keeps going up. That's how they work. That's how they're structured. 98-99, he gets hurt a little bit. Only plays in 47 games. 13.9 points a game.

4.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists. Not too shabby. Portland is good that year, though. They go all the way to the Western Conference Finals and lose to San Antonio, who ends up beating the Knicks in the finals. He, they won the championship. He makes $4.8 million that year. That ass. Oh, and he got bonuses, too, going through the playoffs like that.

I'm sure. Now, August 2nd, 1999, he is traded by Portland. They've had enough of this shit. What year is this? For this guy, 99, August 2nd. He's traded with Jim Jackson. Oh. Jim Jackson played for 12 teams.

Yeah. 12. That's fucking crazy. He played for more than a third of the teams in the league. His jersey room in his house, he needs a bigger room. He's like, the walls aren't big enough for all my framed stupid jerseys. 12. He's traded with Jim Jackson to Atlanta for Ed Gray and Steve Smith.

Steve Smith, also a great player. He was on one of the Olympic teams. He had a huge contract, and they wanted to get rid of the contract in Atlanta. Smith ended up playing with Atlanta. And Portland. And Portland, yeah, yeah. But Jim Jackson, apparently, and Ryder were both going to be free agents at the end of the next year, and so they wanted them so they could get rid of their contract, basically.

So that was the deal. So they had to give up a good player in Steve Smith to do that. Gotcha. Now, they ask him at one point here, is Isaiah Ryder a thug? They ask him that in their own words on that. They asked Isaiah Ryder, is Isaiah Ryder a thug? Is Isaiah Ryder a thug? And his answer to this is wonderful.

This I can't wait for. Quote, never been a thug, never been arrested before college. After college, I got into a little run-in in the NBA. I will not be a disruptive force. You're already a disruptive force. You're full of shit. That is so full of shit, the whole thing. Oh my god. They should have just asked Kevin McHale. He will throw a hookshot comment up

there. Yes. He most definitely is. This is when shit goes sideways for real. From now on, this is when it's just train wreck city from top to bottom right now here. And Atlanta plays in 60 games in 99-2000. I didn't realize he played for Atlanta. Exactly.

That's why 99-2000 plays in 60 games. Gives one of the best in their own words ever in a minute here. 19.3 points a game. 4.3 rebounds. 3.7 assists. So he's consistent. He's just having a great time. 5.4 million he's making.

So he's killing it there. The team is not having a good year, though. They are shit on the court as a team. He is... There's this interview with him, and it's a video on YouTube. I think it's called J.R. Ryder Ain't Having It or something like that. And he is in the locker room

in his locker, and at first you just see him like they have him from the chest up, and they're interviewing him, and then halfway through the interview, he gets up, and he is butt-ass naked. And he turns around and puts his pants on. And it's just a shot of his ass for like five seconds. It's the weirdest thing ever. He doesn't acknowledge that at all.

Instead, he just goes on a tirade about the team and their poor performance. Amazing. They ask him about it because he, at the time, was like sixth in the league in scoring. So they ask him about that. Hey, you're doing well. You're scoring a lot. How do you feel about that? He says, quote, in their own words, quote, I'd rather win, man.

Fuck this seventh in the league, sixth in the league shit in scoring. I'd rather win, man. This is bullshit. People don't care, man. I'm tired of all this laughing and giggling and shit when we're losing and shit. People don't care, man. I care. I care.

Just like I said when I first came to this motherfucker, I want to win, man. This is bullshit. I want to win. So that's why I was reluctant to come to this bitch. Hilarious. Boom. And he called the city a bitch. That is fantastic. That's why I was reluctant to come to this bitch. That's hilarious. Holy shit. I'm tired of people laughing and giggling and shit when we're

losing. I love that quote. That's amazing. How did the fucking reporters not die laughing? His ass is out and he's saying, that's why I didn't want to come to this bitch. And they're just like, what do you mean? They're literally going, well, what do you mean? Is it too young, the team, or too old? And that's when he's like, man, none of this fucking shit matters.

At one point he says, I heard what I heard either you get it or you don't get it. I don't fucking know, man. He's just so mad and dropping F-bombs. Never looks up, too. The whole time he's just looking down. He's just looking at his dick, screaming at his dick. And it makes it funnier when he gets up and you're like, he's had his dick out the whole time. He's just looking down, looking at his screaming at his dick. It makes it funnier when he gets up and you're like, he's had his dick out the whole time. I did that because I've never given a really impassioned, you know, fuck the world speech

with my dick out. Right. Like I've never you've heard me rant against Skip Bayless. My dick is firmly in my pants and I'm definitely put away. It would make me uncomfortable. Honestly, I don't know if I would have the self-assurance to really lay into something or lay into a city, team, a situation. All of my other teammates were surrounding me while my cock was out with cameras on me. And he's screaming, I'm tired of all the giggling and shit while we're losing.

He's saying that to the team that's in the locker room. They're right there. I love that so much. I said that when I first came to this motherfucker. He got so mad. That's why I was reluctant to come to this bitch. Oh, Jesus. Now, during this season, good Lord, so much fuckery.

He is found, over the course of the season, he's found to be smoking weed in an Orlando hotel room when they were playing the Magic. What? He blamed teammates Dikembe Mutombo, Lafonso Ellis, and GM Pete Babcock for calling the league to tell the league on him about it. The GM Babcock insists it was all him. It wasn't the players. He does not fucking believe that at all. He hates Dikembe Mutombo, much like Jason Williams threatened Dikembe Mutombo and tried to start a fight with him. During All-Star break, he said to Mutombo that he was – or he said to people on the team that he was going to, quote,

to have his boys take Matumbo out. Holy shit. That's what he said. So he's threatening the lives of All-Star centers at this point. The biggest man on the team. And he's enormous. He barely speaks English, and the only English he speaks are insults. Yes. That's it. I'm going to threaten this man's

life. I'm going to threaten that man. A 7'2 guy with a flat top. That guy's dangerous. He'm going to threaten this man's life. I'm going to threaten that man. A 7'2 guy with a flat top. That guy's dangerous. He's pissed off because this ends up costing him about $200,000 in the long run. That's why he's so angry. Because based on this and him being reported to the league, the league tells him to attend drug counseling, which he says no. Of course.

I'm not going to fucking do it. You think the court can't make me do anger management. I'll go to jail for that shit. You think you're going to make me? You don't have a police arm, do you? You can't put me in a pokey. There's no contempt of court. There's no contempt of basketball court around here.

What they can do, though, is fine him $200,000, which is what they do for that. Is that the steepest fine? Is it going to be a history at that point? I don't think so. Maybe. That's a pretty steep fine. But you didn't hear about that. Do you remember hearing about that?

I knew nothing. I've heard all about Ray Lewis and his $250,000 fine and Bill Belichick's $250,000 fine in the NFL. I heard nothing about that $200,000 fine because he didn't want to go to drug counseling for smoking weed. That's hilarious. It's insane. So 1999, he is suspended. Same season with the Hawks. He's suspended for going into the stands in a game against Golden State and spitting

on a fan. What? Can't do that. When did that happen? 1999. I remember Vernon Maxwell running up in the stands and punching a fan. That must have overshadowed him spitting on a fan. Wow.

I don't think he ran like 14 rows up like Maxwell. Maxwell was up in like section G. Yeah. He fucking ran. He took off and sprinted up the steps. He was taking them two at a time. He's going up where the t-shirt cannon can't reach. Yeah.

He's back there. You don't think you're going to be assaulted by a player that far from the court. This, I don't think he went that far in, but he did spit on a fan, which is frowned upon. Wow. March 2000, he shows up late to a game. Of course. And is suspended by the team for three games for this. He demands his release from the team.

What? How dare you be upset with me for showing up late? Right. I am here when I'm here. Right. I didn't abuse an airline employee. I didn't break anyone's cell phone. JR will be here when JR is here.

I haven't been arrested today. Be happy. I'm fucking here now. Did I spit on anybody today? Come on. Give me a break here. So March 20th, this is a couple days later, he is released by the Atlanta Hawks. They're like, fine, asshole.

This is before the end of the season even. Yeah. They're like, we can't even wait. GM Babcock said the whole situation is when they signed Ryder, it was a risk. It's a calculated risk with this guy. He said it, quote, it worked out, quote, worse than I ever imagined. No shit. Ryder says that he was a scapegoat the whole time

and that Babcock and Mutombo and Ellis and all these people were trying to blame him for the team not being good. They're trying to say it was his fault. He was the only goddamn guy out there that had any effort. That was why he was reluctant to come to this bitch. He said it when he first came to this motherfucker. Do you understand that shit?

So they don't get it at all. They're doing this. Who knows what's going on there. Oh, it's so good. Yeah, it's ridiculous. So you would think at this point, who's fucking signing him now after this mess? I know who. You know who?

August 25, 2000, he's signed by the Los Angeles Lakers. The world champion at the time, Los Angeles. We have a certain chemistry going, but this is a nice balance to it. Let's fucking rock the boat. Let's get the pH level down a little bit. We'll really balance this bad boy out. What do you say? He shows up two days late to training camp.

What? Never on time for shit. Ever. Two days late for training camp. Two days late for training camp. What? Never on time for shit. Ever. Two days late for training camp. Two days late for training camp with a new team that's the world champions, and Phil Jackson's your coach, who notoriously doesn't take much shit from people. Not good. Not great.

He has a decent season. He doesn't play a whole lot. He plays in 67 games. Okay. He only starts like seven games, averages 18 minutes a game. He's a bench player. When somebody's injured, right. But he's their top-scoring bench player.

No shit. 7.6 points a game, 2.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists. Not bad. He's a bench player. When somebody's injured. Right. But he's their top scoring bench player. No shit. 7.6 points a game. 2.3 rebounds. 1.7 assists. Not bad. He's their sixth man. The Lakers win the title that year. That's right.

They win the championship. He's got himself a fucking ring. He did not play one minute in the whole playoff. They sat him down and deactivated him for Devin George. That's who they activated. Because they didn't trust him. They didn't trust him to show up on time. They just said, you know what? We're not going to reward you for whatever. We're going to put Devin George. That's who they activated. Because they didn't trust him. They didn't trust him to show up on time. They just said, you know what?

We're not going to reward you for whatever. We're going to put Devin George in. You're still going to get some jewelry. Look, we have Shaq and Kobe. It doesn't matter the other three steps we put out on the fucking court. Honestly, we don't care. Was Fisher on that team? I think Derek Fisher did.

We're fine. That's it. We don't need you. We got three guys that are very capable of winning a championship. Just the three of them. Ryder only made $736,000 that year. Oh, God. Took it down a notch that year.

Yeah, that was league minimum for veterans. That's what happens when you walk away from your team. Exactly. Veteran minimum right there. During the Lakers, while he was on the Lakers, they were in San Antonio for a game with the Spurs. He missed a team bus to the Alamo Dome at one point. Missed the team bus. He arrives late with a note in his hand.

Hands a note to Phil Jackson like it's a note from his mom or the teacher. Like a doctor's note? From the hotel manager saying that their operator did not provide the wake-up call for Isaiah Ryder that he had requested. Literally, he said, you've got to write a note to my coach because he's not going to believe it. Set a fucking alarm. Bring an alarm with you. You have to be there by 7 o'clock for Christ's sake. It's 2001.

You've got a cell phone with an alarm on it. Bring a goddamn travel clock with you if you have to. Hire a hooker. I don't give a fuck. Get there, goddammit. So imagine Phil Jackson. Imagine Phil Jackson who had Michael Jordan for all those years. He was the most, the work ethic is unparalleled.

And this guy's like, here's a note from the hotel manager saying that they didn't give me a wake-up call. Jordan never would have pulled this shit. No. Jordan played through the fucking flu, and he was on time. That's what I'm saying. You better be here, goddammit. That's what I'm saying. Now, March 8th, 2001, Jesus Christ, Lamar Odom of the Clippers at the time and of Kardashian and drug overdose and meltdown and famous fuck-up fame. Fuck-up Hall of Fame, honestly.

He's a Hall of Fame fuck-up. A meltdown in a fucking brothel. Yeah, they are each suspended, him and Isaiah Ryder. They're not together, but they're both suspended on the same day. Five games each for violating the league drug policy. Now, remember that he violated the league drug policy. Just remember that for a second. The NBA cannot, based on the union contract, cannot disclose details of testing or treatment on the players, at least not at that point.

But he's league drug program violated. Okay. That's going to come up in a minute. So October 1st, 2001, he's got to be done now, right? He can't even. You would think so. You're on the world championship team with the Phil Jackson. You can't even pull it together.

Right. No one's going to sign him, right? It's over. Denver Nuggets. Let's sign him up. Get the fuck out of here. Sign him up. Denver Nuggets, October 1st, 2001.

We need this guy. We need him. He made $ out of here. Sign him up. Denver Nuggets, October 1st, 2001. We need this guy. We need him. He made $112,797 that year. At that point, who did the Nuggets have in 2001? Jesus Christ, 2001. I don't even know. That's past the Mutombo years because he was on Atlanta by then. Was it Lockmood?

Abdullah Ouf, maybe. Jesus, I'd have to look that up, honestly, the 2000 Nuggets because the Nuggets went into obscurity. Was Jackson on that team? Maybe. Jesus, he was on 12 different teams he was on there at some point so many so uh he that was on October 1st on November 20th 2001 he is waived by Denver awesome he plays in 10 games hilarious they do not want his bullshit basically he's just and they said on the court he was fine he averaged 9.3 points a game in the limited time but they were just like it's just

he's a mess yeah he was show I think he showed up late a couple of times. He said, no, thank you. All right. Now, 2002. Yeah. That's it. He's done there. It's November of 2001.

Done basketball. They wave him. It's over. No, in 2002, his first son is born. His first one. His first one. He figured out how to get through basketball with no children. He's got a girlfriend named Vanessa.

Okay. This is his first son. It is Isaiah Ryder fucking Jr. You've got to be shitting me. Isaiah Ryder III. He's just perpetuating it. And God damn it, I have an even bigger surprise later that would make you're literally, whatever you're doing at the time, I'm going to have to tell you, put it down because you're going

to drop it later when I tell you what goes on. But yeah, he has his first son. Screws that up in the naming process. This is during the 2004 All-Star game. He has an interview with John Thompson, who is the ex-Georgetown coach and a very imposing man and a very straightforward man. And he basically grills Isaiah Ryder for 10 minutes about why you're such a fuck-up, why you fucked up.

Isaiah wants to make a comeback in the league at this point. He's talking about basketball. It's going to be the most uncomfortable conversation he's ever had. It is. And he answers most of the questions poorly and badly. And John Thompson says at one point, I don't believe you. He goes, I don't believe you. Because he keeps asking him, well, you're saying everything that was a problem in the league for you was professionalism, being late.

Why would I think that now you'd be professional? He's like, well, I've learned a lot. And he's like, I don't believe you. And he's like, I just need that chance, man. Blah, blah, blah. And he says all this humble shit. And here is on why he's not in the estimate. Why aren't you in the NBA right now? Why do you think you're not in the NBA? Here's

his answer in their own words. Quote, I don't think I should not be in the NBA right now. I think I should be playing. I've made mistakes. Most of the things I've done have hurt myself. So when I so I want to get back out there, get another chance again. So I think why I'm not playing, people just have question marks maybe. I've never failed a drug test.

I'll test every week if you want me to. And then he goes on to repeat just over and over again how he has never failed a drug test in the league. Then why the fuck were you suspended for goddamn drug policy three years earlier, you asshole? That drove me nuts. He keeps lying later on. I think people just have question marks. Like if we go out to get a strawberry shake, are they going to wear it? Are they going to wear it?

Like, you know, can I be trusted from the hotel to the goddamn arena without getting arrested or abusing a team official or a travel person? Am I going to kick a lady that just had a baby? Can you trust me around women in sports bars? There's lots of things. Do I have a pipe to smoke my weed out of? Do my cell phones, my cell phone calls charge to me personally? Do they charge to strangers?

There's a lot of question marks. They have a few questions. So, Jesus. February 14th, 2014, Valentine's Day, or 2004, I mean, Valentine's Day, he announces that he would like to make a comeback in the NBA, officially. Guys, right now, crime and sports movement, everybody, Jimmy, everyone standing before me, I'd like to announce that I would like to play in the NBA.

Me too. I would love to go play in the NBA. If you want to throw a couple million bucks at me, I can do it. I can dribble a little bit. Decent outside jumper. I can throw the ball around. Just saying. I'm not going to throw it down, but I have as much chance of getting back in the NBA at this point as this fucking idiot does.

So they ask him, this is another in their own words from this interview. John Thompson asks him, you know, what have you been up to? What have you been doing with yourself? And this is what this asshole has been wasting his money on. This is the typical stupid shit you would hear 15, 10, 15 years ago that an athlete is going broke doing. Okay. Quote, in their own words, quote, I work out, I shoot, I stay ready.

I don't know if I'm going to get a call or not, but I stay ready. I'm an investor in a movie. I put a million dollars into a movie. Oh, my God. Movie is called Black August. My recording studio I built in my house. Oh, no. I've got two dollars into a movie. Oh, my God. The movie is called Black August. My recording studio I built in my house. Oh, no. I've got two of the local producers.

I have several artists. Oh, shit. We have a few albums on each artist, and we're going to go take them to L.A. and try to get a deal or maybe do the independent thing. Does he think he's Master P? What the fuck? Fucking idiot. How many fucking people have done that and messed that up? What have I been doing?

I've got this money pit where I just throw hundreds into it and it's all on fire. That's what I've been doing. The whole interview is how he's changed. This is his life now. He had a son. He's doing fine. So later on in the year, he is charged. I have a baby and I've been changing his diaper and wiping his ass with $100 bills and throwing them straight into the fucking trash.

That is still a much better fucking investment than a fucking music studio. And a terrible independent movie that we'll get into. I'm fucking furious right now. What a dick. It gets stupider, believe me. I threw a million dollars into a fucking movie that you've never heard of. Unreal, man.

So, James, this is, I'm so furious right now. I have so many bills every month, and this fucking guy is throwing – He said it casually was the problem. He has no job. His problem was the casual nature of it. He goes, I have to invest a million dollars.

Like, I dropped a million in this movie. It's called Black August. You've got no job, motherfucker. No, no, no. There's no – this is the delusion that these guys have. They had this delusion of, well, I had a lot of money, so if I just keep living like I do, then I'll always have a lot of money. I don't know where the logic comes in there. Oh, my God. But you see this repeatedly.

Yeah. They're like, well – and they try to make a big score. There's a documentary, a 30 for 30 documentary ESPN. It's on Netflix called Broke. Yeah. And it's a documentary about broke athletes. It's got all these athletes telling you how they pissed all their money away. And it's basically the J.R. Ryder fucking story.

That's all it is. A recording studio, Andre Rison would say, anybody could play music. I'd buy them a studio. I'd do this. I'd do that. These guys, that's what they did. They pissed their money away. I'm unemployed, so I may as well spend a fuckload of money.

He thinks he's getting back in the NBA, though. That's the thing. He doesn't think he's unemployed. What a dipshit. In his mind, he's having a little break. There's a little hiatus. You know, he hasn't made his case yet. But he's going to get in there.

That's what I mean. In his mind, everything's fine. Got to train up. He's really got to. You know, you figure at this point, he's talked to John Thompson. He's on national television with the thing. You figure with the All-Star game, you figure he is really going to concentrate on getting his shit together at this point. Right? Yeah right yeah later on in the year he's charged with

misdemeanor battery oh that one killed me for domestic violence against his girlfriend vanessa hilarious now he's now he likes women he'll fight a woman oh absolutely he's an asshole like that i bet that the the recipient of the strawberry shake was a woman. Yeah. Oh, I'm sure. It had to be. You know it is. Dick.

Now, November of 2005, he's arrested next year for an outstanding warrant for Marin County stemming from the battery charge because he didn't do anything about it like he was supposed to. It's unreal, man. It's unreal, man. media. Discover the craziest rabbit holes on Wikipedia with me and my funny friends as we bring the cyber frontier directly to your tympanic membrane. And if you listen to my podcast, you'd learn that that's the sciency term for eardrum. We embark on a hyperlink roller coaster as we start out on a Wikipedia page and go from link to link to link to link, careening through trivia, oddities, and unexpected connections until we collectively shout, how the hell did we get here?

Follow WikiHole on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to WikiHole ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. And now at the same time, here's one thing that I find kind of funny. You know, the whole UNLV thing. Yeah. You know, he also took a lot of shit for the college stuff, for being in an ineligible and all that kind of thing and being able to play anyway. He took a lot of shit for that. But and Tarkanian got run out of town and all that.

But as time goes by, November 26, 2005, the team names the court at the thomas and mac center jerry tarkanian court oh that's right i remember that stay silver haired people because eventually stay silver my friends because history will love you and tell everyone else to go fuck themselves even though you did everything you could for your own personal game no doubt it had nothing to do with kids or anything else, any other bullshit that you want to That's the equivalent of fucking, ugh, UConn putting up the fucking statue of the, or Penn State. Yeah, Penn State putting up a Paterno statue.

Might as well, yeah. Why did I say UConn? Jesus. I don't know. Different. I know. They're both blue. I know where the molesting happened.

They have blue on their uniforms. Let's just say that. On their east coast. But that's the equivalent. That is. That was November of 2005. Now January 26th of 2006, he is arrested in Marin County, California for

kidnapping and battery. Holy shit. Not great. That's a tough charge. Also arrested for an outstanding resisting arrest warrant from Alameda County. He's always got an outstanding warrant. Watch out for that. That's a recurring theme here. Jesus. Sergeant Bruce Baker of the Marin County Sheriff Department said that Ryder had an argument with a female friend when he drove her against his will away in his Mercedes and was holding her down as she was trying to scream and open the window and get help from someone.

She got the attention of police while screaming and making a scene. He's being held in the Marin County Jail on $2 million bail. Whoa. Not fucking around now. His attorney has withdrawn from the case, saying that Ryder isn't cooperating and won't pay him. No shit. So fuck off.

He's out of the whole thing. I don't want to deal with this idiot anymore. Unbelievable. I mean, Jesus Christ, dude. Let's go through. Let's just back it up for one second. It's so much. Let's just back it up for one second. Unbelievable. I mean, Jesus Christ, dude. Let's go through. Let's just back it up for one second. Let's just back it up for one second. From the fast food to whatever the

fight was in college, to the poor fast food lady, milkshake-wearing woman, to the goddamn woman just coming off maternity leave getting kicked in the back for trying to get kids' autographs. Holy shit, these poor coaches that have had to deal with them. All the fans.

Dice games on the corner. Little kids who are wearing his jersey that want an autograph. They can't get it. Dice games, girlfriends, coaches, everybody. Airplane attendants. Dikembe Mutombo. Yeah. I feel bad.

Get the fuck out of here. For all these people, Jimmy. I really do. No way. But not nearly, nearly as bad as I feel for Isaiah Ryder, who the one I really feel bad for is a, he was a kid in Missouri. Uh-huh. He was a sick teenager in Missouri who was taken somewhere and basically held in Illinois medically. They called it medical kidnapping and the court would not give him back to his parents.

What? Because he had some illness that they were not letting him get treatment for. Oh, I feel so bad for him. I feel so bad for this kid. And he's got to have that shitty label. And they had all this horrible court battles and all this shit, and I pulled up three different articles thinking it was this Isaiah Ryder, and it's not. Not nearly as bad as I feel for Isaiah Ryder, who is a Canadian murder suspect at this point. He's a young man who killed a woman in Canada.

And if you search Isaiah Ryder crime or Isaiah Ryder arrest or anything, you're getting this guy, which is worse because for him, think about that. What if potential jurors just, or anybody, Googles him and they're like, oh God, he did all this too? He must've killed that girl. He smoked weed out of a Coke can. Jesus Christ, he's done so much. He's kidnapping?

Of course he killed that girl. He's got a championship ring. They're skewing his whole case. This poor guy's in court like, my name isn't really Isaiah. Right. Yeah, change it. Now, February 4, 2006, about a week later, he pleads not guilty to kidnapping. Doesn't want to do that.

Of course. Of course. Now, around this time, he's asked about drugs in the NBA and the fact that he says he never failed a drug test. And he says in their own words, quote, I think it was my first year in Atlanta they put in drug testing for players. I passed.

The next year I played for the Lakers. Passed. And it's just been a lot of misconceptions about me and drug use and marijuana and the whole program. I've never, ever failed a drug test in the NBA. I challenge anyone on that. Unbelievable. So he is vocal with his bullshit, man.

I like it when people are assured of their bullshit. They're positive in their shit. He believes all his bullshit. He believes every word of it, or at least he wants you to believe that he believes every word of it. But he can't believe other fucking word of it. He can't. He knows exactly what he did. He's a dipshit.

No one's that stupid. Now, mid-2006. Meanwhile, real quickly, at this point, I had heard that he was a major pothead, and he fucking just can't stop. He's smoking out of Coke cans. Now, at this point, too, it is said later on that this is when he starts lacing his shit with cocaine also. Oh, Jesus. It's not enough of a kick. He needs a little more something.

Cocaine. I can't do enough when I'm stoned. Fucking put some coke in this. So there's a little bit of financial difficulties here. Oh, surprise, surprise. Now, in 2004, during a John Thompson interview, too, he asked him about money. Are you trying to come back for money? He goes, nah, man, money, I got plenty of money. He's like, I don't need,

he's like, I'm fine for the rest of my life. You're unemployed and you drive a Mercedes. You're fucked already. He's thinking he's fine. Mid- rest of my life. I'm not concerned. And you drive a Mercedes. You're fucked already. He's thinking he's fine. Mid-2006, the bank forecloses on a home. It's sad because it's a home he bought for his mother. It's his mother's waterfront Alameda home. And it's foreclosed on because he's a fucking idiot.

I can't stop laughing. It's still funny. It's unreal, man. July 9th, 2006, Ryder is arrested for felony cocaine possession. Now it's still funny it's unreal man july 9th 2006 rider is arrested for felony cocaine possession now let's get it cocaine was found in his home after police were called to residence for some kind of disturbance who knows jesus might have been kicking the pizza delivery guy down the front steps for all this is getting crazy now it's it's fucking nuts uh he's also awaiting the kidnapping trial at this point and uh also, this is the one where he tried to flee a domestic disturbance.

The police were there. He tried to flee around them and crashed into a car. Okay. The police were pissed about that, as you might imagine. They were a little upset. They don't really like that kind of thing. You put a ding in my bumper, you dick. Well, not into their car, but he was like-

Oh, into a parked car? Yeah, they had to jump out of the way. What the fuck? And he ended up trying to squeeze through a place to my bumper, you dick. Well, not into their car, but he was like. Oh, into a parked car? Yeah, they had to like jump out of the way. What the fuck? And he ended up, you know, trying to squeeze through a place to get away from the cops. What are you running for? Again, this is going to come up again. This is when he starts his I'll just run for it thing. And he's not even committed to that.

No. As we'll get into. February 2007, his mom slips into a coma. His mom has an illness and slips into a coma unexpectedly. You've already lost her house and now you're fucking going to lose your mom. This is not great. We'll get to a quote later where he blames all

his previous problems on this. He's like, well, once that happened, it was like, you had 25 arrests before that. Don't blame it on that. If I'm his mom, though, I'm going to fake a coma and just lay the fuck down and be just unresponsive. Don't tell Isaiah I'm awake. Don't tell him I'm awake, please. I need a break.

I need a break, man. I just need a break. It's like the fucking water boy. It's been 30 years of this shit, man. It's enough. Man, exhausting. I'm tired. So February 8th, 2007, Ryder pleads guilty to several charges, including felony cocaine

possession, battery, evading a police officer. He is sentenced to seven months in jail. Oh, boy. Which you, sir, may sort of fuck off, I guess. At least for now. At least for now. 120 hours of community service and a drug program. Oh, shit.

Think he'll complete those, Jimmy? Fuck no. Let's see here. No. Also three years probation because we got to double him up for that. Oh, boy. The victim in the case, the woman who he assaulted in the car and kidnapped, said, quote, I care about J.R. a great deal. I'm not

afraid of him. I would like to see him back to the person he was. I'm afraid of him. I'm afraid of him. Yeah, you... And I wasn't even kidnapped and stuffed in a car. He's reckless as fuck. So the sentencing comes around here after that, and Prosecutor Thomas Brown, during the sentencing, said, quote, he's been a danger to people,

to law enforcement, and he needed to be sentenced appropriately. And fast food workers. Yes. And fucking sports bar employees and airline employees. And anyone he can get his hands on. Fucking anywhere that's in his person. Anyone that he feels that he is above in the social stratus, he's just going to abuse. That's what it is.

He's a fucking menace to him. He is. And even if they're equals. Christ, he threatened to Kemi Mutombo's life. That guy's an all-star for Christ's sake. Even if they're above him, he doesn't even show up for fucking what? Phil Jackson can't get him to show up for shit.

I have rings. You want a ring? We just won last year. On every finger. Doesn't care. But he wants to win, man. Remember? Thought he wants to win. Now, right after this, Donna dies. His mom dies also. Not great. That's bad. Yeah, he doesn't get to. She dies while he's in jail.

Knowing her son's a fucking idiot. While in jail, too. She was in a coma for a while and was brain dead, and eventually they pulled the plug. May 2007, he's released from jail after about three and a half months. Yeah. Serves about half of his sentence, which is fine. It's what you expect. On the seven-month sentence and in the whole jail experience, we have an in their own words here.

He won't shut the. No, he will not. In their own words, quote, it was the ultimate low point of my life. There were no visitors. No one down for me. No letters. I had fake friends. They left me for dead.

I've been there for so many people. I co-signed to pay for homes. I paid for weddings. But when I was struggling, no one was there for me. No one was down for me. No one was down for me. No one was down for me. But I'm not a thug. No.

That's some shit thugs say. Well, yeah. I probably said that when I was a teenager, too. That's some shit idiots say. He's an idiot. But when you were trying to be a thug. Maybe. I don't know what the fuck.

I was just a jerk off in general. Now, August 2007, the movie Black August comes out. His big investment. Yeah. It's a pile of shit. I haven't seen the movie, but I watched the trailer. It's fucking terrible. It is shot terribly. Well, I'll tell you what it's about.

The IMDb description, an inmate activist, George Lester Jackson's short life becomes a flashpoint for revolution, igniting the bloodiest riot in San Quentin's history. It's a true story. I'll give a million for it.

It's a true story. Million. And it looks like that's all they had, and they didn't spend it wisely. They got all his money and ran. It stars nobody. Yeah. Stars, you know, maybe the lady who worked at the sports bars. I don't know.

She got a bit part. That's part of her settlement. bar is in it. I don't know. That's part of her settlement. It has 6.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb. But it's only 254 reviews, which is nothing on IMDb. Blood Fist had more.

Dolph Lundgren. Dolph Lundgren and Blood Fist had more reviews. Between our American reviews and our UK reviews for our podcast, we have more than that. This fucking movie's been out for over 10 years. Jesus Christ. That's probably all the people that have seen that movie. No shit.

They're his friends. Isaiah's like, guys, seriously, fucking buy this movie. I spent a million dollars on this shit. Everybody that he bought houses for reviewed it. He gets out of jail and gets to go watch that. He's like, great. I spent a million dollars. Imagine that, too, because at this point he's pretty broke. And now he's got to go watch

his million dollars wasted on the screen. Watch it swirl the fucking drain. He's got to sit there going, if I wasn't here right now I wouldn't have gave that million, I wouldn't be here and I'd have an extra million dollars and I would have pissed away on cocaine, but still. Fucking street dice game.

Oh my god. At least there'd be more excitement. No shit. January 5th, 2008, police are called when Ryder has a confrontation with a taxi driver. What the fuck, man? This is not the first confrontation he'll have with a taxi. It's the first, not the last confrontation he'll have with a taxi driver. It's found that he has outstanding warrants for both illegal possession of a firearm and grand theft.

Of course. Obviously. He always has warrants. Yeah. Always. That's a rule for him. Always has warrants for both illegal possession of a firearm and grand theft. Of course. Obviously. He always has warrants. Yeah. Always. That's a rule for him. Always has warrants. Early March 2008, this was January 2008.

Early March 2008, he's arrested for possession of a controlled substance and driving on a suspended license in San Rafael, California. It's weed. It's controlled substance in California in 2008? Yeah. That's drugs. That's probably pills. I was saying weed, but pills.

Coke. That's actually he got. I think they'll charge you with cocaine possession. Controlled substance is probably pills. I would probably. So he's got some pills that he didn't probably have a subscription, a prescription for. There he is. No license.

Obviously, why would you have a driver's license? Get behind the wheel. What the fuck, man? Now, he's still driving a couple of weeks later. Now, he has no driver's license? Get behind the wheel. What the fuck, man? Now, he's still driving a couple weeks later. Now, he has no driver's license. Still driving. March 30th, 2008. He is pulled over for failing to stop at a four-way intersection stop in the Skid Row

district of Los Angeles. When you don't have a license, you obey every fucking traffic law. Not him. He's in Skid Row, which is a section of Los Angeles, if anybody's ever seen the footage, where it's just like tents and shanty towns of homeless people. It's where you go to buy crack, I would imagine. You'd find it pretty easily. He is in there.

It's 2 o'clock in the morning, and he's in Skid Row here. Officers run his plates when they pull him over for this and find out that the car he's driving, a 2001 Monte Carlo, is stolen. Oh, Jesus. He's driving a stolen car. With no license. Ryder insists it's his cousin's. It's stolen. Oh, Jesus. He's driving a stolen car. With no license. Ryder insists it's his cousin's. It's my cousin's car. What are you talking about?

It's my cousin's. Why is it reported stolen? Why do you report it's stolen from South Los Angeles then, you dumb fuck? And why are you here? He said, yeah, sure. Go take my car to crack fucking den and go buy some shit and get busted in it. Thank you. He's being held on $25,000 bail on grand theft auto.

Yep. Obviously. Idi you. He's being held on $25,000 bail on grand theft auto. Yep. Obviously. Idiot. Wow. So April 2000, because think about this time he's been retired. He's been living home. He moved home. Yeah.

He has broken every rule. That's where you go. Plus I know at this point he's going to church. So he's found religion. Yep. He's moved home. Yep. He's named his kid a junior.

Right. And he's stopped talking to all the silver-haired middle-aged white men. He didn't pay his lawyer. He doesn't have a silver-haired man. He has broken every goddamn room we have. And he's named junior. And he's a junior. He's literally playing with fire.

Yeah. He's just rubbing right up against it. If he can call us, I just don't do anything. Stop. Don't do anything. Make no more phone calls. No. None.

Go to a halfway house in fucking Sacramento and get the fuck out of Oakland. Well, he's going to get out of Oakland. He's a prototype for our fuckery, though. Don't do this. But he moves to another place. There's two places where you don't move also. If you're a retired athlete that you don't want to get in trouble, you don't go to your hometown,

you don't move to Florida, and you don't move to fucking Arizona. Two places you don't move. What has he done don't move to fucking Arizona. Oh, God. Two places you don't move. What has he done? April 2009, his fiancée Vanessa, now their fiancée, even though he's beaten her continuously and had another girlfriend and everything else, fiancée convinces him to move with her from Oakland to Phoenix. Oh, Jesus. So now he's in Phoenix.

Terrible place to live. Not great. No. Especially, there's a lot of fuckery for a retired athlete to get into here. Now, September, oh my goodness, September 10th, 2009, Ryder announces that he's attempting a comeback in the NBA. Oh, God. He's 38 years old.

You are not in your prime, sir. No. His agent, Joe Lee, he's got an agent. His agent said he tested him to see if he would do it. He kept him for two weeks. He would give him times to call him and see if he would call on time. Right. And he did.

So he was like, I decided I'd work with him. And that's the fucking test to see if he could be in the NBA? I knew he had basketball to see if he would call on time. Right. And he did. So he was like, I decided I'd work with him. And that's the fucking test to see if he could be in the NBA? I knew he had basketball. I was willing to see if he would represent him. I knew he had basketball talent, but if he wasn't willing to show up on time and be professional, I wasn't going to do anything. He can't make a phone call. He can't play in the NBA.

Exactly. So, yeah, he says that the New Jersey Nets are considering him bringing him to training camp, even though they don't expect him to make the roster. They'd like to take a look at him. Why does he still have a fucking agent? He doesn't have a lawyer, but he has an agent. That's crazy. He's arrested every other day.

He's 38 years old. He's not going to play in the league, but he has an NBA agent, but not a lawyer. Fucking moron. That's so crazy. It's the one thing he should have as a lawyer, never mind anybody else. Fuck your agent. Lee says that he's been working out hard and playing with local college players in the Phoenix area. Local college in the Phoenix area.

Local college in the Phoenix area? What, ASU? Who knows? Fucking Grand Canyon University? Pretty much. Yeah, they're just whoever. Whoever he can get to go. He's playing with Dan Marley.

Shit. He'd be lucky to play with Dan Marley. He wishes. He's probably playing with Eddie House. Yeah, no doubt. His sock's pulled up. When asked about... Said Zabalos. Said Zabalos.

Said Zabalos. He's around. When asked about if he'd be interested in playing for the Timberwolves again, Lee said that, quote, he'd go in a heartbeat. He's humbled now. He's matured. Of course he'd go in a fucking heartbeat. They're an NBA team.

Of course he's humbled. He's broke. I'm good now. Yeah. Understand? That's what his agent said. Look, he's good now. You can't make your mortgage payment your

mom's house is foreclosed excuse me you're humbled assembled media do you see the color of my hair he's good now okay fine so at least he's following that bit of direction he's got somebody on his side jesus christ man unbelievable now he's talking about playing ball and he said about back in the day and about currently because it to because in 2009 and 94 are two different eras completely to play in those. They asked him, like, what are the differences in the game and all that? He said, in their own words, quote, playing with our style when we were young, we wanted to be like the guys on TV. We wanted to run, jump, shoot.

We wanted to be in your face and talk a little. It's fun to see guys coming up afterwards playing that way. They're not playing that way. They're not doing that. They're playing like pussies. They're not running, gunning. No. Draymond Green is the tough guy.

Enough said. I'd take Ryder over Draymond Green any day of the fucking week. All day. I'll take Ryder when he's got a coke habit over fucking Draymond Green. Oh, especially then. Christ, he's worked up. He's going to steal a couple cell phones out of his pockets. He's going to work them over.

He's dripping with sweat. Woo-wee. He's going to work them over. He's ready to go. So Ryder is considering right now signing with the North Texas Fresh of the American Basketball Association. The owner of this team is a guy named Jay Bowdy who is 26 years old and owning a minor league basketball team. It's a, quote, semi-pro team. He says, quote, we're in the process of getting it done, about getting Ryder.

He says, quote, we're in the process of getting it done, getting Ryder. Ryder says that he has, you know, oversees teams or interests. Is it a Greek team, a team in Dubai that's interested in him? But they're just waiting for him to decide. And he needs film. That's he needs to be. They don't know. They haven't seen him play.

So they need to see him under the leg dunk again. Exactly. So he's trying to gather some film, basically, at this point. Now, 2009, a little later, a couple of weeks later, he signs with the north texas fresh they got him they got him by the way the north texas fresh still exists really this day they still play there's nothing in north texas that is fresh no no this is like the fort worth area apparently uh the the owner there of the fresh jay boudy said quote i understand he's made mistakes he he's had his chance and he and he flunked on it for whatever reason. But the reason why I took him in is because unless you mess up with me and I see it, that I'm not going to not accept you because of what you did 10 years ago.

That's a long time and there's so much you can learn from experience from that. It wasn't 10 years ago. He's been getting arrested every fucking two months. For the past 10 years. Constantly. He was arrested how long ago? Let's see here. He's still on probation, Valdi. How long ago was he arrested?

March 30th. A year and a half ago he's arrested. That's not enough for you? Jesus. And probably before that because you can't find all 30 arrested. North Texas Fresh Chance. That's what they're called. That's the name.

And he said they play like they were talking about how they take the bus and they stay in like shitty motels and all this kind of thing. Ryder will be the second one. It will be one of the two highest paid players on the team, which means nothing. These practices, they practice and play in Crowley Middle School, the Crowley Middle School gym, and everything is scheduled at night because the players all have day jobs. Wow. That's unreal, right?

He's sitting in a fucking – in a Best Western in like rural Texas like waiting to play a game in a middle school fucking gym when he was rich and he had everything and he was a goddamn world champion hugging Shaq holding up a trophy, hugging goddamn Kobe, holding up a trophy, hugging goddamn Kobe Bryant, holding up a trophy. Now he's sitting in a fucking room, just sitting there, dejected. Who knows? Maybe a hooker just robbed him and left. And there's a knock at the door. And it's the Mexican pimp. And he says.

How is it you've come to arrive here? Why are you here? Why do you come? Why do you come? Let me pour you a drink. Why are you here? You play with Shaquille O'Neal, the Kazam. You play with him.

That's no good. That's not good enough. Why? Holy shit. Why do you come here? So Antonio Banderas. How is it you've come to arrive here? And then poof, he's gone in a puff of smoke.

And then the police come in and arrest J.R. Ryder for something that he did a year ago. For something else. Unreal. He's on probation. Jesus. So they asked him in this interview about being on the North Texas Fresh. They asked him about his finances at this point. Hey, how you doing with the money?

And he says, quote, in their own words, quote, that's not public. That's no one's business whether I drive my Bentley to practice or ride with the coaches. I'm able to eat, able to feed myself and feed my family. And borrow 2001 Monte Carlos from non-existing cousins. You can drive my Bentley because you didn't drive it and we know it. Sir, you don't have a driver's license. Right. Never mind. Never mind.

Never mind a car to drive. You would be arrested if you drove that car. So March 2010, another son is born for Isaiah. Oh, my God. Guess what? He fucking names him. No fucking way. Isaiah IV.

The fourth. What? Two juniors. One's not enough for this goddamn guy. You don't get to do that. One's not enough for this goddamn guy. You don't get to do that. One is not enough for this fucking guy. He said, I need to make two people that have no chance of success or survival in this world. What the fuck are you doing?

And by the way, Isaiah, the fourth is your third son. Yes. You don't get to name your other son the fourth. He did. You asshole. Isaiah Wright's another one. He's the fourth one now. Fuck it.

Who cares? He should have been Isaiah Wright or Junior B or something. I don't know. The third. Just name him a Roman numeral. Yeah, dash B under. What the fuck? What are you doing?

Isaiah Wright or squared. You fucking jerk. The fourth. What are you doing, jackass? I hate him. You have to hate him. And think about that. That's like everything we've said.

Everything that we say, the rules, he not only breaks them, he doubles them up. Yeah, he doubles down. He doubles down. He's like, I'll have two kids. Name them both, Junior. I'll give them shit. I'm splitting aces. Let's go.

Name them both on myself. What the fuck? At this point, too, he's talking about trying to get into charity. I used to like him before we started this podcast. I'm telling you. I was such a fan. Not anymore. I fucking hate him. He's trying to get into charity at I used to like him before we started this podcast. I was such a fan. Not anymore. I fucking hate him.

He's trying to get into charity at this point. He needs charity. You're arrested every other goddamn day. Who are you charity? You need to go fund me, sir. He says on charity, in their own words, quote, I still try to do things wherever I can. I give scholarships to kids in the city, to hospitals,

and kids overseas in Trinidad and Africa. Charity work is very important in my life. Who's giving you scholarships to give away to anybody? I wouldn't give this guy a fucking car wash coupon to give to somebody, never mind a scholarship. Who's he going to give it to? He's going to trade it for crack. What the hell is wrong with this jackass? Now, April 4th, 2010.

This is in Phoenix, by the way, in Mesa, Arizona. Ryder and his fiancee, Vanessa, get into what he describes as a, quote, tussle. I remember this. A tussle in Mesa. It's out on the front lawn of their house. Yep. Neighbors call police after seeing them have the altercation. Ryder's version is that he wanted, they say that Ryder wanted money from the fiancee and

that they argued and she tried to walk away. She got in her vehicle and the witnesses said Ryder saw her get in the vehicle, opened their door, yanked her out and ripped her purse away from her. And they wrestled over her purse for a moment and then she fell down and Ryder takes the purse and runs away up the street. Just runs away. I'm going to run. I'm going to go.

I don't care. Runs away. His fiance chases after him. Of course going to run. I'm going to go. I don't care. Runs away. His fiance chases after him. Of course she does. Yelling for help and for him to stop. He eventually stops, gives her the purse back, and then turns around and keeps running, which is the weirdest fucking thing ever. Fiance said that he was high on marijuana and, quote, wasn't thinking clearly.

No. Obviously not thinking clearly. Clearly. He was like, this goes great with my shoes. Never mind. It's yours. Jesus. No. Obviously not thinking clearly. He was like, this goes great with my shoes. Never mind. It's yours. Jesus. So Ryder told the police that they had, quote, a tug of war over the purse when she refused

to give him his ID and his money out of the purse. She said they had a, quote, a tug of war, which, quote, she lost. Yeah. That's what he said. Yeah. It was a tussle. He ran away at this point, out of the way from the house and got a cab. Okay.

Takes a round trip from Mesa to Phoenix, back to Mesa. Does a round trip. And if you Mesa to Phoenix, it's like a good 20, 25 miles. It's a suburb, but it's mileage wise, it's a very spread out city. So that's an expensive cab ride. We're about to drive the same freeway back home as he drove. Yeah. It's an expensive cab ride, this cab ride.

Right. So they arrive at his apartment complex back. Ryder says to the cab driver he needs to go inside and get his wallet to pay the $150 fare. Oh, boy. I got to go run in my apartment. I can't do this. Sure you do. So he just ran away through the apartment complex, never came back.

The driver picks Isaiah out of a lineup. Of course. Ryder had given the driver his cell number and agreed to meet up with him to pay him later and then never showed up. Perfect. The set up of time. He won't show up for Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant and Shaq. He's not showing up for Gab Brown. He's going to show up for a guy with a Middle Eastern name.

No. Right. So police place him under what they call surveillance at this point. They're just like, let's just watch this asshole and see what he does. Guess what? He fucks this point. They're just like, let's just watch this asshole and see what he does. Guess what? He fucks up more. Shocker. April 8th, 2010, Ryder is arrested after being spotted driving erratically in an SUV.

The black SUV. They go to pull him over. He pulls into a neighborhood, stops the car, gets out, and runs away. Gets out, makes a run for it. He's got a lot of stamina. Not really, because he runs a little while, stops, turns around, changes mind. He literally made a run for it, then goes, what the fuck am I doing? Turned around and ran back.

I don't know if he got tired. He hasn't been in the league in a while. His cardio might not be great. Police have been keeping an eye on him. When they get to the car, they realize there's three small children in the car. He's been driving erratically with his three small children in the car. Oh, with all the Isaiahs. All the Isaiahs and a couple other.

The Isaiah posse there. Who the fuck? And if it's not his kids, who the fuck is giving their kids to Isaiah Ryder to take around? He doesn't have a driver's license and he's always going for cocaine. What are you giving your kids? I wouldn't let that guy watch my kids. And his kids are named Isaiah Ryder.

Yeah. Don't give him yours. Don't give him your kids. So April 13th. Now, that was April 8th. Now, this is in a small stretch. April 4th was the incident with his wife and the cab. Right.

April 8th is the erratic driving, running away with the kids in the car. Now, April 13th, Mesa police launch a manhunt for Isaiah. Oh, shit. After he did not return his one-month-old son, Isaiah IV, when he was supposed to. Another kidnapping. Took him at 2.30 in the afternoon. Never brought him back.

They are found at 1 o'clock in the morning in a taxi cab in Mesa. Oh, Jesus. What's with him and the fucking cabs? I don't know. He's taking cabs everywhere.

No wonder why he's fucking broke. Every time he calls a cab, he should be like, this is going to end bad. You know what? He has no driver's license, so at least he's not driving around. That's a good point. So, yeah, 1 o'clock in the license, so at least he's not driving around. That's a good point.

So, yeah, 1 o'clock in the morning, he's got his one-month-old son in a taxi cab. What are you doing? So they arrest him, and they held him on kidnapping charges, obviously, because he's fucking kidnapping. That's what happens. Now, that's 2010. So, you know, he's not having a good time. So what do you do now? You establish a charity for kids.

Why? What the fuck? Not you. Leave that to establish a charity for kids. Why? What the fuck? Not you. Leave that to other people. No kidding. He establishes the Sky Rider Foundation. Rider, like his last name. It is skyriderbasketball.com.

It's still off the website. And it says on it, it's a big picture of him with the sky behind him, like about to dunk in a Timberwolves jersey. And it says, quote, sky is the limit. Oh, God. No, it's not., sky is the limit. Oh, God. No, it's not. No. The bottom is the floor is the bottom, mister.

It's fucking. Floor is the ceiling. Wow. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. October 6, 2011, Ryder is arrested in Mesa, Arizona for a slew of probation violations. Get the fuck out of here. He had been ordered to start domestic violence treatment, but failed to show up for three consecutive classes.

He only completed 10 of 100 hours of community service he was supposed to do and failed to provide a urine sample on September 19th. Well, because it was dirty. No shit. Yeah. He's been running around in cabs in the middle of the night. Hearing is set for October 11th. He is held on a, quote, no bail hold. Oh.

Just holding him there. Brutal. Now, October 7th, his wife, Vanessa, they've been married at this point because you're fucking up. What do you do? You get married. You get married. Yeah.

Again, every single goddamn rule. That's women thinking they can fix a guy. And that's him thinking, I got my life together. I'll get married. Now, now it's time. I've had two kids, both named after me. This broad's putting up with it. Let's do it.

Ryder's wife, Vanessa, talks about his probation violation. Rather than blaming it on him and saying he's trying to get it together, he instead says that Ryder's probation officer is, quote, abusing her power. She says that she is, quote, a she-devil man-hater who is out to get him because of his fame. Holy shit. Vanessa claims Isaiah got permission from the court to explore job opportunities at coaching basketball in L.A., but the probation officer refused to sign off on it. Vanessa said the probation officer had told him that he had to work at McDonald's

or a similar local establishment during his probation. She says, Vanessa says, quote, he's not going to work at McDonald's. He's a retired athlete, which, I mean, yes, it's not. We could go through a list of all the people who've had shitty jobs. Dave Meggett worked at a gas station. Brian Spencer was a mover. Fucking Daryl Alums worked at like a small electronics shop making 18 grand a year. It happens.

You know what? Tough shit. You're on probation, asshole. She says that he didn't complete the community service because he wanted to volunteer at his church, but the probation officer would only let him pick up trash by the side of the road. No probation officer has ever said that. No, you can only do that. Right. Which I wouldn't let him do it at his church, but the probation officer would only let him pick up trash by the side of the road. No probation officer has ever said that. No, you can only do that. Right.

Which I wouldn't let him do it at his church either. That's not fucking community service. They're just going to fucking write it off. Say how great at basketball he was. We're all going to do all that shit. They're going to hear a few stories about Dikembe and fucking write. He'd get 100 hours. Now, we have an in their own words here on his mother's death, which is sad until he

starts blaming everything that's happened in his life on it which is ridiculous quote in their own words quote she was 46 and meant everything to me it's been a minute since i've talked about her she was my world it took me a long time to get over that i made bad decisions bad financial decisions bad personal decisions i was in a funk basketball but didn't mean much too much to me anymore it didn't matter if it did you were retired for five goddamn years at that point, and you'd already made all those bad decisions. And you were fucking up constantly. Well before she was dead.

You probably killed her. She died of embarrassment. Jesus, I wouldn't doubt it, man. Now, February of 2012, Ryder announces that he's planning to release a documentary on his life. No need. We got it. Yeah, we got it right here.

Called My Testimony, Raw and Uncut. There is a trailer for this. This was in 2012. There's a trailer. Movie never came out. No need. We got it. Yeah, we got it right here. Called My Testimony, Raw and Uncut. Yeah. There is a trailer for this. This was in 2012. There's a trailer. Movie never came out. Maybe you should have sank your million dollars into that. No shit.

Save it. Because that would have been interesting. Yeah. That would have been this. I'll watch that. Yes. That would have been this. I'm in.

You know what? You don't need to because you got us. Fuck off, Isaiah. Fuck off. We got you. You, sir, may fuck off. Now, he does a nice thing here. He does a – in 2012, Ryder and his wife set up a fund for a 19-year-old named Jarrell Brooks who saved a woman and two young children during the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting.

Oh, that's nice. The Batman, the kid with the orange hair that shot up a Batman movie. They've raised $3,465 of their $10,000 goal. Ryder is an incessant tweeter, by the way. Really? If you're on Twitter, Ryder will fucking tell you. Yeah, you can tell him about this. He's going to hear this.

Tweet at him, and he's probably going to kill us both, so we'll see. I don't know. This fucking idiot's going to hear this. Yeah, definitely. probably going to kill us both. So we'll see. I don't know. Fucking idiots going to hear this. Yeah, definitely.

He tweeted about this situation and talked about Jamie Roars, who was the boyfriend of the woman who was saved, calling him a coward, saying apparently he threw the baby down and ran out. And what a coward. And how can anybody do that shit? And he's like talking mad shit about this guy. Unbelievable. Survivor of a massacre on his social media.

I've been to that theater, by the way. It's creepy. It is so creepy. I went back to Denver last year, and I went to Aurora. I went to Columbine, and then I went to the fucking Jumpin' A. Ramsey house. The full tour. I took my kids on a murder tour of Denver. Nice.

That theater is still open, and in theater, I think it's nine. You can still see a fucking movie today. Wow. Where a hundred and something people were shot. Fucking commerce moves on. Yeah. Jesus. You can go watch the new fucking, I don't know what's out right now. Who the hell not Jesus. You can go watch the new fucking,

I don't know what's out right now. Who the hell not now? You can go watch whatever you want in that theater. You can go, just tell you what, go into the theater and put your headphones in and listen to this. There you go. Do that. That's what you want to do.

Just block it all out. January 2013, he starts working with a PR guy. I don't know why. Why are you hiring PR people? Have defense lawyers. Never mind PR. Never mind agents. Never mind any of this shit. You don't need need pr you need to fucking stop being an idiot uh dominic natty

is his name of quote natty celebrity services is his business he works with a bunch of other jerk offs he works with a bunch of troubled idiots basically that's his he he specializes in morons who've had trouble i found a court document from March 18th, 2003. It's from Maricopa County, and that's where Phoenix is. Notice of hearing on dependency petition, and it's against Vanessa and Isaiah, and it has to do with the three kids. Are the state trying to take them from them? I can't tell if they're trying to take them from them, or I can't tell what- Trying to see if they're fit parents or some shit?

It's not the original document. It's not the original case filing, so it doesn't have all the details. It's like a piece of the case, so it just has the headings. Just lets you know some shit went down in 2003. Some shit went down in court with their kids in 2003. I'm not sure what. May 24, 2015, he does his first Southern California autograph signing in 15 years. He signs at the – this is sad, too, because you just know how this worked out.

Yeah. He signs at the optometry practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu. Guarantee you he needed some LASIK, and he was like, we can work it out, because he couldn't afford it probably. LASIK? Fuck no. They gave him contact. Yeah.

Well, maybe. Apparently a lot of people showed up for this. Come sign all these autographs. I'll give you $120 pair of fucking contacts. Absolutely. And then the next month, June 12th, 2015, there's an article, a big fluff piece on him. There's a fucking fluff piece, Jimmy. They're fluffing this guy up.

A fucking what? This is 2015. He has 30 arrests under his belt. He's done everything under the sun. And they want to talk about how great of a guy he is? Quote, former NBA star Ryder highlights local camp. And it's all about his great basketball camp, the Isaiah Ryder Basketball Skills Camp in the House of Hoops in Washington. I was such a fan.

Fuck you, man. It's just him. The whole article is him just quote after quote about I just care about the kids and that's all I care about. Not one mention of his troubles. They call him an quote after quote about I just care about the kids and that's all I care about. Not one mention of his troubles. They call him an NBA legend in this article. What? One of the best ever in the NBA. They just say this amazing, great NBA player is doing this wonderful thing for the kids.

Jesus. No mention of anything else that he's got 18 court cases outstanding and he's kidnapping people and fucking. How about you care so much about kids? Take care of your own, you fuck. That would help. That's a thing. Wouldn't that be great? We can do that.

That would be nice. So that's it. Right now he's out there. He's trying to get his shit together, I guess. He's out there tweeting. Guess what? Yeah, he's tweeting, definitely. Guess what?

There will be updates, I'm sure. I can't wait. Do you think he's going to stop getting arrested now based on his life pattern? I don't think so. James, he cares about the kids. He cares about the kids, goddammit. He cares. He cares about all the kids except for all those Isaiahs.

He cares about all the kids, man. That's what it is. That's what he said when he first came to this motherfucker. Don't you know that shit? That's why he came. That's why he was reluctant to come to this bitch. Yeah, he's like, I don't want to go to. That's why I was reluctant to come to this bitch. She didn't want to get arrested all the fucking time.

God damn it. I got kids. I got kids. Oh, that's my favorite line ever in this whole thing. Oh, Jesus. That's Isaiah Ryder, guys. I mean, wow. He's out there to revile.

That was a fun one because that's just a whole lot of disaster and fun. It bums me out because I loved him so much. I really liked that guy. He was so much fun. And I wish we had more time to discuss the mid-'90s basketball scene because we could have, honestly, me and you could have riffed on that for a whole episode. That was my favorite time. Hardaway and Mullins. Yeah, if we talked about that, we would have literally had no time for 30 arrests.

We wouldn't be here right now. Good Lord, man. So that's that. We do want to, a couple things before we go. We're going to do some shout outs in a minute here. Just want to tell you guys, please, please, once again, get on iTunes. Give us that review. It helps us out so much. If you liked the episode,

if you enjoyed it. Except for J.R. Ryder. I know you got an iTunes account. Stay off my fucking... Yeah, he's going to give us one star. But anybody else, please, give us five stars. One star. These two don't know shit. I don't know shit. Fuck these motherfuckers. Fuck these motherfuckers. I'm tired of motherfuckers giggling and laughing and shit while I'm fucking losing and shit. God damn it.

I was reluctant to listen to this motherfucker. Oh, my God. So do that. Give us five stars. Tell us you're listening. Tell us, you know, inside jargon, you're following directions, all that sort of thing. One more thing with Isaiah Ryder here. If you want an autograph, you can send your items to 6045 West Chandler Boulevard, Suite 13-110, Chandler, Arizona, 85226.

Mark Busby, enjoy getting something autographed because I know you're going to fucking send him something. Send Busby. Send a fucking mold to your balls. That's what I want him to sign. So, oh my goodness. Anyway, also, too, if you want to help us out, besides the iTunes reviews, the best way you can do that and the way that really helps us out a lot, too, is we have a Patreon,

patreon.com slash crimeandsports. Please, if you want to give us a few bucks on there, there's some interesting, cool rewards and it helps us out tremendously. It allows us to do better research and to do better things. Buy some tissues so that my fucking nose doesn't run all over this microphone. And honestly, too, hopefully it'll help us start making some money

off of this and we'd be doing very, very well. We love doing this and we love doing it for you. We're going to do it no matter what. Please donate. Give us iTunes reviews if you like us. Don't make us as broke as J.R. Ryder. God, no. Jesus Christ. So we're going to do shout-outs at this point.

If you would like a shout-out, very easy way to do that. Number one, iTunes review or Patreon donation. That will get you the biggest shout-out and we'll tell you how much we love you. No doubt. Also, too, if you just get a hold of us on social media, on Instagram or at Crime and Sports, Twitter at Crime and Sports, Facebook.com slash Crime and Sports, at Crime and Sports at gmail.com. Anything Crime and Sports, you can find us, please. And, Jimmy, why don't you give us these shout-outs for this week?

Real quick, let's say a big thank you to Tenkan Dan again. Again. Thank you, Tenkan Dan, for your donation. He has so much money, I guess. He's just throwing it at us, and thank you so much. Thank you. It's amazing. We can't do it without you.

It warms our hearts and helps us tremendously more than you know. Honestly, I wish I could tell you. Jono Armston, Brian Drouillard, Stephen Schnell, Tony Q, Rick Grimes, Tyler Ingram. Ingram. Ingram. That's a tough one. Francis Doughton, Chris Lane,

Luke Barker, Glenn Schnell, and Heavy Metal Scientist is my favorite. That's my favorite Twitter handle. That's pretty dope. And Liz Levine and Tony Duncan. Thank you guys so much for being so involved in Twitter and Facebook. Thank you. All the social media has been fucking incredible.

And, of course, the regular, obviously, also, too, glad to hear the good Reverend Jonathan Gilliard is feeling better. He was just a little sick. But, obviously, too, the Busby, Mark Busby, you know, Munch Sanja, Wed Better, Story of Sean, all you guys. Thank you guys so much. We love you guys to death. You guys rock, man. Seriously.

You guys are why we're able to do this. So thank you guys for all the support. We love you so much. Jimmy, you want to give him your social media? At WismanSucks, W-H-I-S-M-A-N, on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. And Snapchat's been fucking crazy. Nice. So many people have been snapping me.

That's the gayest fucking thing. It sounds like they're. It sounds so teenager to say. It does. But I get so many messages on there, and it truly warms my heart. It's a lot of fun. Might have to kick in the nuts for that, too. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. I spend a lot of time talking to Kerrigan. That son of a bitch snaps me every day. I like that guy, too. Good shit, man. That's good shit. But I'm at Jimmy P is funny. You can find me on there. If day. I like that guy, too. Good shit, man. That's good shit. But I'm at Jimmy P. It's funny.

You can find me on there. If you can spell my last name, good luck. Best of luck. You can friend me on Facebook. Friend me, call me a cunt like we did with Randy Lanier. We love that. But guys, honestly, thank you so much for everything. Hope you enjoy the sound from the new studio because it's beautiful.

I love it. And it's because of you guys. It's because of the crime and sports movement. Keep spreading the word. Yeah, man. We're getting bigger every week, and we couldn't be more excited. We love it so much. Live from the crime and sports movement keeps spreading the word. We're getting bigger every week and we couldn't be more excited. We love it so much. Live from the crime and sports studios.

We'll see you next week, guys. Hey, prime members. You can listen to crime and sports early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and add free with one three plus an Apple podcast. Before you go,

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