Digital Social Hour - Roger Mason Jr on Playing Against Kobe Bryant & Playing with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker | DSH #213

Episode Date: January 4, 2024

On today's episode of Digital Social Hour, Roger Mason JR reveals what his life has been like after retiring from the NBA, what it was like playing against Kobe Bryant & his time on the spurs playing with Tony Parker, Manu, and Tim Duncan. APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://forms.gle/qXvENTeurx7Xn8Ci9 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] SPONSORS: Opus Pro: https://www.opus.pro/?via=DSH Deposyt Payment Processing: https://www.deposyt.com/seankelly LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's a dream come true. As a kid, you grow up wanting to be an NBA player and watching all these great people before you. And where did you go after that three-year tenure? After that three-year tenure, I went to start my company, Vaunt, and I got approached by Ice Cube to start the big three with him. Welcome back to the show, digital social hour i'm your host sean kelly got an awesome legend with me today roger mason jr how's it going man going good man thanks for having me absolutely so what you've been working on post nba career oh man it's been a lot. It's been a lot. It's crazy how time flies. My last year was 2014 with

the Heat and that LeBron James era. And so since then, I've been up to a lot. When I first retired, I left because I got a better job and I was able, fortunate to be the Deputy Executive Director of the Players Association. So my first transition uh out of playing was with michelle roberts and uh representing all the players uh doing a collective bargaining agreement working on group licensing rights and uh all kinds of fun stuff with the pa so i did that for about three years uh went back to school for my mba and uh started my journey as an entrepreneur wow so you went back to school after your MBA and started my journey as an entrepreneur. Wow.

So you went back to school after your MBA? Yeah. After the MBA, I went to get my MBA. Yeah. What made you want to do that? I've always been entrepreneurial. And when I was in school the first time at UVA, I was really focused on getting good grades and getting to the MBA. But I don't remember what I really learned, to be fair, right?

So it was more life lessons and things like that. And so after I retired, you're older, you know, I felt like going back to school would be a cool thing for me to kind of learn, you know, some more finance type stuff, building businesses, knowing that I want to, you know, be CEO of, you know of big companies at some point. So I thought it would be a good thing to do. Nice.

What was it like at Virginia? How many years were you there? I was at Virginia for three years. It was great. ACC back then was super strong. Yeah. I left after my junior year and declared for the draft. And then my first workout, I got hurt.

You serious? Yeah. first workout. I'll never forget the Detroit Pistons. And I had injured myself while at UVA. I dislocated my shoulder in a game against NC State. And I didn't miss any games, and so I thought everything was fine. That first workout came, and I did it again twice. Yeah, so that kind of shut down my draft process. My stock dropped a

little bit because it looked like I was going to need surgery, which I ended up needing. Yeah. So it was, you know, it was a tough start to my career, but it all worked out. So did you know you were going to get drafted? I knew I was going to get drafted, but I had a really wide range. I was told I'd get drafted between either 14 or 31 would be the last and uh actually it was i got drafted 30th and that was the year that uh timberwolves didn't have a first round pick uh because they got penalized for something they did with joe smith yeah so uh just my luck oh so they would have picked you earlier? I mean, not necessarily them, but somebody would have picked and I would have been in the first round.

Oh, gotcha. Is it true the second rounders don't make as much salary or something? No, not really. It's just that, uh, you know, most second round picks, you're not slotted. So, you know, you don't necessarily get a contract. Oh, it's not guaranteed. If you're early in the second round, you do. I signed a three-year contract. But the later you are in the second round, a lot of times those guys don't make get a contract. If you're early in the second round, you do. I signed a three-year contract.

But the later you are in the second round, a lot of times those guys don't make it. What was your life like once you signed that paper and you became a millionaire overnight? I mean, it was great. It was a dream come true. As a kid, you grow up wanting to be an NBA player and watching all these great people before you.

And so I got drafted by the Chicago Bulls, and I grew up watching Jordan and Pippen and B.J. Armstrong and all those guys. So it was surreal to walk into the Berto Center to see legends on the rafters like MJ. Man, it was a great experience. That's sick. Did any of the previous Bulls players stop by and saw you practice once in a while? All the time.s like MJ. And, man, it was a great experience. That's sick. Did any of the previous Bulls players stop by and saw you practice once in a while? All the time.

All the time. I remember Charles Oakley would come and do pickup with us. No way. Yeah, it was like – and he became like, you know, someone that was a vet to me. Nice. But I'll never forget playing pickup. And there was like a fast break i went and i and i dunked it yeah and he was kind of in the vicinity and he was like next time you come down there

i'm putting you on the floor oh man in practice yeah it was uh it was summertime but i didn't mess with oak that's one guy you didn't want to mess with yeah i don't blame you back in the old days they played really physical well you were kind of part of it, too. I was like the tail end. Like, you know, my vets were all old school type players. Yeah. So I came in. Jalen Rose was my vet.

Yeah. You know, Oakley, guys like that. And you've seen the game change a lot from when you played, right? I mean, the game has changed tremendously. You know, the three-point shot has become, you know, dominant in our league. And I think you look at the statistics and the way they look at the game, the game goes a lot faster, less physical. But I think it's a better game for some to watch.

Oh, so you're actually a fan of it because most of the old school guys, they kind of hate on it a little bit. Yeah, you know, I just think everything evolves, right? So I think it's an exciting brand of basketball to watch. I mean, look, I grew up on 90s basketball. I love it. I love the physicality, but it definitely takes a toll on your body. And I think, you know, for the longevity of the players,

I think it's a good thing. Yeah, for sure. Were there any injuries you got that you still feel to this day? My shoulder, I – so during my rookie year i was playing at hoops gym are you familiar with hoops the gym is it out here in chicago oh no i'm not so this is where michael this is michael jordan's gym okay and so in the summer all the guys that are from chicago they play there you know all the bulls players jamal crawford you know the first time i saw lebron was at hoops the gym i mean nice everybody jay-zZ, Beyonce would be there watching,

Ray Allen, Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, you name it. That's wild. Yeah, Juwan Howard. And I had a moment where I went baseline and I dunked on Juwan Howard. And when I dunked it, my shoulder came out again. And that was the final straw for me to have to get surgery. Yeah. And after that, Jerry Krause said,

no more Bulls players playing at that gym. He's probably pissed. the final straw for me to have to get surgery. And after that, Jerry Kraus said, no more Bulls players playing at that gym. He's probably pissed. Man, so rookie year, what was that like mentally? Cause you're not getting the minutes you want and you're kind of just wanting to play like, and the vets are kind of yelling at you, right? Yeah, it's a good observation.

I mean, not being able to play or practice with your teammates and being a rookie and coming into a man's league, it was definitely a transition for me. It was tough. I missed the first 66 games of my career. So I think coming into the NBA that way, it made me realize that, man, this thing could be very quick. And so I really started thinking about business my rookie year as I was injured.

Wow. And what are the things that I want to do, you know, when I do transition? And so I kind of got started with that, my rookie year due to that injury. So you were thinking early, man. I was. Most people think about that later in their career.

Yeah. You know, and things happen in life and you kind of have to adjust. And so for me, that was the adjustment is like, all right, you know, what do I like to do? What do I want to do off the court from a business standpoint when I'm done playing? So do you think that shoulder injury kind of held your career back a little bit? You know what? Who knows?

You know, you could always go back and wonder. I don't necessarily think so. I mean, it allowed me to get great at certain things. I became a great shooter. I was a solid shooter coming out of the draft. But, you know, I really hung my hat on being a dead-eyed three-point shooter. Maybe I changed my game a little bit after the injury because I was much more of a slasher guy to go up and play above the rim at times and things like that. After the injury, I became more of a shooter. I feel that. You played on eight NBA teams.

Which ones were your most memorable that you enjoyed the most? The most memorable? Well, one, playing for the hometown Washington Wizards and being a hometown kid. And I actually had my breakout season that year. That was really enjoyable because my family got to watch. Nice. But the two favorite places that I played by far are the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat.

Wow. Those are two different cultures. Two different cultures, but more similar than you would think. Really? Yeah. You know, in San Antonio, what a great opportunity to learn from Popovich, from Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Michael Finley. Those were the first years I started in the NBA.

And so, you know, to be a part of such a storied franchise that's won championships, you know, really learned, you know, the intangibles needed to win. So that was a great experience with the Spurs. And then playing with the Heat, you know, they had won two in a row. Eric Sposra is one of my favorite coaches I've ever had. And LeBron James, one of the best teammates I've had. Being in the locker room with him.

D. Wade, also unbelievable guy. Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis. The list goes on and on. Playing on that team was a real blessing and a great way to end my career. Were you part of that team that lost to the Mavs in the finals? No, this was the team that lost to the Sp in the finals Spurs and oh that was a good one yeah that was a good series so you were playing against the team you came from that's right that's crazy yeah so you kind of knew all their their strategies and stuff yeah yeah yeah I mean but

you know to be fair you know Miami had played those guys in the finals the year prior if you remember it and uh when Ray Allen hit that shot, they ended up winning the championship. So who was like the leader on those Spurs teams? Cause Duncan seems kind of quiet, right? And so does Parker and Ginobili. Tim definitely was a leader. I think Manu, you know,

is one of those guys that definitely leader himself and Tony as well. But Tim, even though he's quiet, he still, it was still his team. He wasn't leading by loudness of voice. It was more directional. Well, one, he's working his butt off. So I think he's one of those guys that he leads by showing,

but also he's very thoughtful with when he does speak. And he's the type of guy that when he speaks everybody listens right and so i think his leadership style was kind of a mixture of those two i feel that you mentioned spolstra was one of your favorite coaches were there any coaches you had that you didn't see eye to eye with mike d'antoni on the knicks yeah because he's all about offense right yeah you know i was young too. I take some of the blame with that, right? Because I was coming from San Antonio. And in San Antonio, you know, defense is a big priority with Coach Popovich.

Right. And so, you know, when I got to the Knicks, there was no talk of defense. And we were getting carved up defensively. And I remember early on, and this was a mistake on my end, we had practice, and I said, well, instead of doing it like this, when I was in San Antonio, this is how we would do it. And I could tell that that did not go over well with Mike D mike d'antoni because i didn't see the court i did he did not he refused to play me and uh and yeah and i always kind of wondered like

you know why they bring me in if they didn't want to play me and so i think uh my conversations about spurs defense didn't sit over too well with him interesting yeah he's always had good teams but he's never been able to win a chip. You know what I mean? But he's had some solid teams. I think Suns and then the Knicks. I don't know where he's at now, but he's always been like between the two and five seed.

But he could never win that chip. And I think it could be due to the defense, right? Yeah. I mean, it's an important part of winning the championship. Speaking of defense, you prided yourself on that. You were a really good defender. Who were the toughest matchups you had to face in your career? Toughest matchups for me are two players.

My first game, I played the first few games, Michael Jordan, but it was a different Jordan. But Iverson was really tough to guard. Baron Davis was, to me, one of the hardest guards to cover. Yeah, so explosive, so strong. Like, you know, has moves, can shoot it. Like, he's underrated as far as the type of talent he was. Like, he was a load.

Him and Steph Marbury, both of those guys their explosiveness were off the charts uh those guys were tough to guard and then kind of later in my career um you know d wade was always a a challenge yeah um and obviously kobe right you know i played against kobe a ton and uh it was always a fun challenge with him yeah did you ever have any people guiding you on like mentorship on any skills in the game yeah um definitely man i had i had amazing mentors and guys and vets you know when i first got into nba a guy named pete myers was one of the assistant coaches in the front office and uh he had played a while he's somebody that really kind of helped me uh a guy that i didn't like at the time rick brunson actually jalen brunson's dad oh yeah

yeah we almost fought several times really yeah i mean and i never there's nobody really that i ever got into it with in the nba he was the one that just we just did not like each other and um but one thing he did is he really instilled a toughness early in my career and uh you know guys like him Jalen Rose uh they were hard on me but it it actually helped me uh you know last 11 years in the league oh so they were your teammates they were my teammates and they were hard on you yeah yeah and jalen and i ended up being very close friends over the years nice yeah so you said you trash talking wasn't really part of your game uh if you woke if you woke me up it would be but you know i wasn't like seeking you know talking trash to players but um if if it if it if you open me up to it i would i remember I remember my last year playing, I was playing against Caldwell Pope with the Pistons.

He was with the Pistons at the time. Chauncey Billis was still on the team. Wow. And he said something to me at the free throw line. He was a rookie. Yeah, he's a rookie. And he's, like, talking trash and, like, said something. And I hadn't scored.

Yeah. I was, you know. But when he started talking to me, man, I probably scored, I don't know, 12, 14 points in that quarter. And after the game, I came to Chauncey. I said, man, tell that young fella, don't wake a sleeping beast, man. Yeah, yeah. Man, it's different these days. These rookies are getting away with a lot. I feel like back in your day, you couldn't really speak like that, you know?

Yeah, no, you'd have a vet that lets you know. So when you retired in 14, you went to the NBAPA for three years, you said? Yeah. What was that like throughout that process? You know, that was an adjustment because as much business that I was doing and I thought I knew it was a whole new world, you know, in that environment. And Michelle Roberts was just an amazing mentor for me, someone that, you know, I guess Forbes had her as the most powerful woman in sports at one point and first woman to lead a sports union. And so, and she's a lawyer.

So I really got to learn a lot from her and, you know, how to operate in kind of corporate America. I mean, you know, the difference between a Players Association and a Fortune 500 business is obviously it's not for profit, but a lot of the things that I learned were really helpful for me in my business journey. Yeah, so what exactly does the NBAPA do? So the NBA Players Association is essentially the union

that protects the players, right? So make sure that players are protected, whether it's from their agents, making sure there's rules in place there, negotiate with the NBA on the salaries. Obviously, that's the number one thing. Oh, they help with that? Yeah, the Players Association does the negotiation. Oh, wow. So when there's a CBA, right, you know, the players and the owners, you know,

we have to come together to decide how do we split the pie up, right? So if the pie is, you know, back in 2010, the players were getting 57% of all the revenue. Wow. The owners were getting 43%. Okay. That 57% is essentially where the contracts come from. Got it. Right?

That gives you the salary cap. When we had the lockout, the owners were like, we don't like this arrangement. We're going to lock you out. And now when we go back to negotiate with the Players Association, we're going to renegotiate what that split is. And so that split went from 57% to 50%. And so that was a really big change in the dynamic.

And so now it's still a 50-50 split. But essentially the Players Association, you know, they draft the CBA in partnership with the NBA. So all the rules, all the salary cap, there can be no changes to the NBA without the Players Association coming together with the nba to approve it wow i never knew they came up with the salary caps and everything yeah so the nba comes up with the salary caps but the nbpa you know negotiates what those numbers are

what those numbers look like and you've seen the numbers go up every year pretty much right seen the numbers go up a lot of the catalysts like the the sports the the media rights deal right which is coming up here in the next year or so so yeah i mean it was a great opportunity for me to really learn the business of basketball yeah you know you're drafting a cba with the lawyers you're seeing the mid-level exception you're seeing all the exceptions and and so really really great opportunity for me to really you know grow in my knowledge of the CBA. Nice. And then where did you go after that three year tenure? After that three year tenure, I went to start my company Vaunt and I got approached by Ice Cube to start the big three with him. I'd be the first president commissioner of that.

So I did that with Cube, wrote the official rules you know did the whole thing it was a great experience that first year um and then i left and started really focusing on my company vaunt nice and what exactly does vaunt do so vaunt does two things one we create content media shows um one one show we did with post malone oh that, that was you guys? World Pong League. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, that's Vaughn. We did that in partnership with Dre London. So that was a really cool one.

You guys should run that back. That was lit. We're working on season two right now. Yeah, yeah, working on season two right now on that. And then on the other side, we create alternative sports competitions. Okay. So, you know, if you've ever seen the match phil and tiger woods play one-on-one i saw that we create those types of competitions in our off seasons yeah i think uh steph and clay

just golfed here they played you guys that was the match no that wasn't us but that's just an example of you know the types of things we do that's cool man yes you're all about content and celebrities and content partnering the two industries yep yep and also you know creating live sporting events you're about the uh the three-on-three basketball right i'm sorry the three-on-three basketball yeah how many teams were in that league uh how many teams did we have when we started you know i'm not sure maybe it was maybe it was 10 i don't even remember okay and then now it's probably grown a bit. Yeah, nice Yeah, it's cool to see basketball kind of having multiple leagues instead of just the NBA, right? Yeah, I mean, I think there's an appetite for it Yeah, especially in the months like now where there's not a whole lot of sports

They're choose from NFL hasn't started yet summer leagues over with there's no NBA game So there's some pockets of time where you know, people still want to see the sport Yeah, and now you're out here in Vegas with the USA basketball team. What's up? And like, oh, it's been great. It's been great. You know, I work with Minnesota Timberwolves as well. And Anthony Edwards, obviously, Nas Reed was playing on the select team. So spent some time with those guys. Nice. How's the team been looking? They look strong. They look strong they look strong i mean i think they're very young yeah um which i think is a good thing um allowing those guys to

grow i think it's going to be a competitive world cup though so uh you know we'll see what happens with team canada if jamal murray plays but you know jamal murray and shy gilchrist in the back court would be interesting yeah that'd be cool yeah but I mean, I love the USA team, and I think they'll be fine. Who won it last time? World Cup, U.S. U.S.? Do they win it like every time pretty much? No, no.

I don't know the history of it, but I know Argentina has won the Olympic. Oh, with Ginobili? Yeah, with Ginobili. I'm not sure who won, if the World Cup has been dominated by the U.S. or not. Yeah. I remember when they lost at Olympics. It was like a huge deal because the team was stacked and they lost somehow. Yeah.

Yeah. That's the whole redeemed team. Yeah. There was like a documentary about it. Yeah. Yeah. Did you see the Jordan documentary? Of course.

That was sick. Yeah, of course. And you got to play against him? I got to play against him. We had the same trainer, Tim Grover. So when I was from D.C., when he was playing with the Wizards and I was still in college, I got a chance to meet him. That guy's a legend, obviously.

You ever talk to him? When I see him. Yeah, we're not in touch often, but when I see him, it's always love. Yeah. He just sold the Hornets, right? Three billion. So he's got like, because he was already a the Hornets, right? Three billion. So he's got like, because he was already a billionaire before that, right?

He's made all the right business moves. Doesn't hurt being Jordan. Yeah, it definitely doesn't. What athletes do you see getting to that billion dollar mark like him? Athletes that I see getting to the billion dollar mark, I mean, LeBron's already there. I think a guy like Chris Paul, who's not only done so well on the court, but he's been a great investor, a great kind of entrepreneur.

It wouldn't surprise me if years from now we're talking about him as another NBA player that's a billionaire. That'd be cool. I think KD has a good shot too. 100%. Yeah, because he a good shot too. 100%. Yeah, because he's already investing heavy. 100%. KD and his partner Rich, they've done a great job

of expanding his portfolio and boardroom obviously is dope. So KD 100% I think will get it. Have you made any solid investments? Were you making any as a player? Or did it sort of come after? Yeah, I wasn't really making investments as a player. I was more so building my own businesses yeah um and so that for me has been more uh of my lane i've made some small bets here and there nothing crazy um but um and then we'll

see where those goes i think they'll be successful yeah um you know one that i'm really excited about is this company called plant press which is uh similar to like c Celsius, but it's super healthy. I'm getting some guys involved in that, but I think that's going to be a win. It's an energy drink? It provides energy, but it's not necessarily classified as an energy drink. Gotcha. It's like all natural plant. Yep.

Nice. Are you vegetarian? Vegan for five years. Yeah. Five years? Yeah. nice are you vegetarian uh vegan for five years yeah five years yeah i went vegan uh six years ago wow just recently over the last year i started introducing a little bit of fish yeah yeah but i'm still plant-based still no meat i haven't had red meat in almost 14 years wow yeah i remember eating out with you at some sushi restaurant here and you were going in on

that uh that one fish yeah i forget which one it was but five years what what inspired you to do that um what originally inspired me to stop eating meat is just you know i saw how we treat our meat here like adding a lot of stuff to it and my mom actually had gotten cancer and so we were looking at ways to, you know, increase her likelihood of beating it. And her eating was one. So I originally stopped eating red meat with her. My body just felt better. I had more energy.

I slept better. So I just kept going with it. And then when I retired, you know, the first few years, you know, I was continuing eating the same way. And one day I just said, let me just try going vegan for two weeks. And two weeks turned to five years. I just felt better, slept better. For me, it really worked. But after a while, I did start really missing fish.

And so I figured I'd give it a try and see how my body reacted to it. Because you need some protein, right? You do. So it's tough to get that as a vegan, I feel like. There's ways to do it. There's definitely ways to do it. Yeah, because you need some protein, right? You do. Yeah, so it's tough to get that as a vegan, I feel like. There's ways to do it. You know, there's definitely ways to do it.

And, you know, I eat a lot of protein shakes. But what I didn't want to do is start depending too much on fake meat. Right. Because that's processed and I try to stay away

from those things. So the fishes would allow me to still keep a healthy lifestyle. And you eat wild caught only, right? That's right. Yeah, because that farm-raised stuff

is terrible for you. Yeah, that's what they say. It's nasty. Well, what are you working on next, right? That's right. Yeah, because that farm-raised stuff is terrible for you. Yeah, that's what they say. It's nasty. Well, what are you working on next, man? And where can people find you? Yeah, people can find me at MoneyMace8 on Instagram, MoneyMace on Twitter.

Just continuing to build Vaunt and, you know, hope to bring a championship to Minnesota. All right, let's get it. Thanks for coming on, man. Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for watching, guys.

Peace.