Front Burner - A conversation with Toronto Raptor Fred VanVleet

Episode Date: September 28, 2022

NBA superstar Fred VanVleet had a long road to becoming a beloved Toronto Raptor. He suffered a terrible loss growing up in Rockford, Ill., when his father was shot and killed when he was just five years old. As a young man coming out of Wichita State University, the point guard went undrafted in 2016 and had to fight his way onto the roster of the lone Canadian franchise in the league. But only a few years later, VanVleet was a key member of the team that won the 2019 NBA championship. Now, VanVleet is the undisputed leader of the Toronto Raptors. In this special episode of Front Burner, we meet VanVleet at the OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto to hear about his unexpected journey from underdog to all-star, and why he's partnered with the University of Toronto's undergraduate business program to launch a needs-based scholarship for Black and Indigenous students.

In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. This is a CBC Podcast. So, I had a chance to get drafted, but they were talking about putting me in the D-League for two to three years, you know, slaving away for $20,000 a year, $10,000 a year. Turned the rules down, you know, I bet on myself.

I was somewhat disappointed, but I just want to thank everybody for coming out. Fred VanVleet, back before he was a Raptor, when he was just a kid from Wichita State University, calmly explaining to a room full of supporters at his own draft party that he hadn't been picked. My story don't end here. This is the beginning. It literally makes sense for my story.

I didn't get picked. I think it makes sense for us to worry about you two. It's that kind of grit and poise that's become Fred's calling card in his career as a professional basketball player. It's really this sport story for the ages. An undrafted point guard from Rockford, Illinois, who suffered a terrible loss as a child, is passed on by 30 teams. Not once, but twice. Only to be picked up by the lone Canadian franchise in the NBA. Three years later, he's won the league championship. We the North are now we the champions, the Raptors, the 2019 NBA champs.

And now Fred is the undisputed leader of the Toronto Raptors and he's coming off a pretty blockbuster season looking forward to the next. And today he's talking to us about his unexpected journey from underdog to all-star. if you want to just back up a tiny bit and then go straight here yeah yeah and then the door is just right

here uh right there on the corner where it says OVO Athletic Center, which is the Raptors' private training facility. It is this really beautiful new building in the west end of Toronto, right by the water. And I don't know if you guys can hear, but a bunch of the guys are practicing on the court just down the hall it's pretty cool I feel super short and we're here to meet with Fred VanVleet and the reason that we're here is because Fred has just launched this scholarship with the University of Toronto for black and indigenous students and we're gonna talk about that with him and a bunch of other stuff.

So let's go find Fred. Hey. Hey, how you doing? Fred, it's so nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Thanks so much for doing this. Oh, thanks for coming. Appreciate it.

Can't wait. So you are an NBA champion, an all-star, but it's so crazy to think that it really wasn't that long ago. In 2016, you are this undrafted player out of Wichita State. Are you sick of people reminding you about that? No, I'm not sick of it. I think, you know, however people choose to tell the story is up to them.

It's definitely something that I carry with me, and all of those experiences kind of made up who I am today. So I don't run from it, but I feel like I'm much more than that. Can you take me back to that moment in 2016 when you're at that party with your friends and your family and you're explaining to them why you're going to bet on yourself? It was a good test. It was a good test at a young age. I've been pretty mature like ahead of my years, you know, for a long time, even since I was a teenager. But being in that moment and having to speak in public and, you know,

a night that we all thought we would be celebrating my name being called, turning into that pivotal moment, I wasn't necessarily expecting that. But, you know, I just got up there and spoke from the heart and really just try to let people know how I was feeling and what I was thinking at the time. And, you know, luckily there was a camera there, so people got to see that years later. a big point of the story, a big chapter, and a time for me to really grab, you know, my life by the horns and do what I always knew I wanted to do. When you talk about betting on yourself, like, what does that mean to you? What does that mean to you? For me, it just means that, you know, it's really just like self-belief, self-empowerment, and being your own biggest fan. And it was out of necessity.

Obviously, you know, I didn't get picked. So I had no choice but to be my own biggest fan. But just not getting discouraged and having faith, faith in yourself, faith in the hard work that you put in, and, you know, faith in God, whatever you believe in. But for me, it was just more so like I knew what I wanted. I knew what I set my goals to be, and I wasn't going to let that moment, you know, deter me from that. What's your message to the guys who are trying to, you know, crack a new role in the NBA or even just crack the team for the first time? It's only one word. Fred Van Fleet. You can do it. Rise from championship to all-star to leader to community leader off the court. While he was learning the NBA and learning to compensate for maybe some size or quickness, you know, things,

he was able to hold on, get a roster spot, then finally work himself into a rotation and now be a high-level starter because he is tough and he is smart and he knows who he is. When you signed with the Raptors in 2016, I think there were three other point guards at the time, right? Including Kyle Lowry. Yeah. What did that feel like? Did you feel pressure at that time? Not really.

It really was not the smartest thing to do, to be honest, at the time. Like, now looking back, weighing the options that I had at the time, it wasn't necessarily the best option. back, weighing the options that I had at the time. It wasn't necessarily the best option, but just from communication, we knew that there was interest here in the front office. So whatever that meant, I just remember that being a thing like there's interest. Somebody in the front office likes you. There's interest. You have a chance to make the team. You just go to camp, run the summer league team, and try to make the team. And so that was good enough for me. That's all I needed to hear, and I took that and ran with it. When you say, like, it wasn't a good idea at the time,

is it because there were other point guards? Yeah, well, you have Kyle Lowry, who's ultimately the best Raptor of all time, right? Corey Joseph, who was one of the best backups in the NBA. And DeLon, who was, you know, a first-round pick that they just picked. So it was like, it wasn't necessarily the best odds for me or the best opportunity to make a team, but everything just ended up, you know, working itself out. So I know you say there was interest from the front office, like, of course, but then,

but why did you do it then? Like, why the Raptors? Since I guess you had other options, right? Yeah, I had a few, I had a few other options, but I had a great workout here. When I did my pre-draft workout, just the people treated me so nice. Obviously I love the city, but I had a great workout. And then there was just a straight up conversation. I was like, Hey, come, we want you to run our summer league team.

You have a shot at making a team and we like you. So just come, come try. And that's really what I did. Give the Warriors credit. They're spreading the floor out. Yes, indeed. Put a little energy into the game right there. And then Van Fleet says, wait a minute, I can top that. I would have to say he did it right there. I wonder if we could talk a little energy into the game right there. And then Van Fleet says, wait a minute, I can top that. Would have to say he did it. I wonder if we could talk a little bit about where you come from. You come from Rockford, Illinois, which I know is near Chicago, but not Chicago.

Yeah. And tell me a little bit about where you grew up. So yeah, Rockford, Illinois is a smaller city, you know, in comparison to Toronto. It's about 150, 200,000 people. That's outside of Chicago. It's not really anything connected to Chicago, but a small town that was kind of hit by, you know, the manufacturing wave and industrial things and factories shutting down and things like that so i'm growing up it was a little bit rough uh but you know just one of those hard working blue collar cities and real people real down-to-earth people small community and um it's really just made me who i am and and sharpened

me as a man and um as a person how how so um just your survival mode, you know, from day one. Obviously, I lost my dad at five years old. So, like, just from that early on, you're in survival mode. And being in survival mode, it gives you certain instincts and certain feel. And just learning how to deal with people and learning how to pay attention to your surroundings. And it just toughens you up. It just hardens you up a little bit. You go back there a lot, right? You spend tons of time there in the offseason.

I wonder if some people might be surprised by that. Like maybe they wonder why you don't spend your offseason in Lake Cuomo or L.A. or something. So why? I haven't outgrown it yet. You know, I still feel a strong connection there. I still have a lot of family there. I'm sure I'll venture off, you know, at some point in my life to experience things. But I bought a house there, so I live there in the off season.

All my family's there. And there's just nothing else that feels like home. You know, home is home, and you can't really make a new home as hard as you try. You know, I spent the first 20, you know, 18, 20 years of my life there. So I'll always have a strong attachment to it. You mentioned your dad. Do you have memories of him? Yeah, I have a lot. I have a lot of memories of my dad. Just, you know, fun memories, joyful memories. I would spend a lot of my mornings with him when my mom would go to work

and my brother would go to school. I think my brother was in kindergarten at the time or first grade. So me and my dad would just spend a lot of one-on-one time together. So I have some fuzzy memories. I think I was about five, four or five years old, but definitely have some good memories. Do you ever wonder what he would think about how your life turned out? Yeah, I know what he would think. He's proud and that's a connection that, you know,

I've tried to keep in terms of my faith and, you know, talking to God, I talked to him. So, you know, I feel like he's living through me. He's watching down. He's proud of me and my brother and my family. So something that I carry with me every day for sure. I wonder if I could also ask you about your stepdad, who I know plays an important role in your life as well.

But I read that he would wake you up at like the crack of dawn and make you and your brother wear these 30 pound vests to work out. And what was that like at the time? Oh, it was terrible at the time. It was horrible because, you know, after my dad passed, my mom kind of stepped up and had to play two roles along with my grandparents. So she was overcompensating a little bit. And we had so much freedom because we were, quote unquote, good kids, you know, to her knowledge. So she would work in and we would have time to run around the neighborhood and do as we please. And then once we moved in with my stepdad, it was like a complete 180. And, you know, he's a disciplinarian. He was a military guy, police officer.

So it was just a lot of regiment and strict rules. And, yeah, he was just a dictator. So that was a big flip for us. I'm sure it was awful then, right, obviously. But what do you think about it now? Oh, I look back and I can appreciate the lessons. And more than anything, you know, as a man and as someone who has kids of my own now, he provided, he protected us and he kept us out of trouble. And, you know, a lot of my friends that I grew up with and that I shared, you know, classrooms and hallways and bus rides and, you know, sleepovers like they didn't have the same household that we had.

And so we were safe at home, we were protected at home. It wasn't by any means like a great environment for kids to grow up in. I wouldn't want my kids to grow up how I grew up, but my parents did the best that they could with what they had. Maybe we could spend some time now talking about the 2019 championship. Yeah. So I remember at the time there were all these images of you.

Like, of course, you remember at the time you had like that black eye. And at one point you were bleeding on the floor and you, like of course you remember at the time you had like that black eye and at one point you were bleeding on the floor and you had like a chipped tooth. You see that left elbow right smack into the face of Ann Vliet. There's a tooth in the pain. And then I know there was this event that was kind of a bit of a game changer. It was the birth of your son right in the middle of the run.

And can you tell me what happened? Yeah, I think I was just a little bit stressed and a little worried and just uneasy with, you know, having my family not be with me. I was here in Toronto. They were home in Illinois. And knowing that my baby boy was on the way and just dealing with that and adding into the basketball part wasn't really going my way in the Philadelphia series. So just a little bit uneasy and unsettled.

And when my son came and I was able to fly back and see my family again and hold my first son, like, that was just a big weight off my shoulder, mental reset. Like, that was just a big weight off my shoulder, mental reset. Like, that's all I needed. I just needed something to change the momentum. And once I got it back, you know, I just never looked back. Yeah, you put up this enormous game. Yeah, I just never looked back.

And I'm streaky like that. So once I get hot, you know, I'm able to continue that for a while. In the playoff games since Fred Jr., his averages have ballooned to more than 14 points a game, shooting 54 percent from the field and 55 percent from three. This isn't the first time something like that's happened, right? Like I know when your daughter was born, you also had a streak. And so I guess I'm curious, is there something about fatherhood that kind of turned something on in you? And like, if so, what? I probably couldn't even explain it.

All I know is that I lost my dad, you know, at an early age. So I grew up without my biological dad. I had an incredible stepdad, step-in, who I call my dad to this day, who played a great role in my life. But just that natural biological thing that you can't explain, I didn't really have that growing up. So there's something close to my heart, dear to my heart when it comes to my children and being able to kind of be the dad that I never had, you know, growing up. dad that I never had, you know, growing up. And then, you know, adding in what I learned from all the important father figures that I had throughout my life, because there was a lot of important role models that I did have, you know, growing up. Yeah, I'm hoping we can talk more about your role models when we talk about your scholarship, because I'd love to hear your thoughts on mentorship.

Yeah, in particular. I obviously do not need to tell you how insane toronto was when you guys won right i got one question for you are you ready estimates say this could be up to 2 million people, unified by one team and one feeling. This crowd brought a wide stretch of Toronto's downtown to a total standstill. What was it like for you to be part of the team that brought Toronto, and really this whole country, their first championship game? It was like living in a movie, if you can imagine that. Just like we were experiencing it just like everybody else was. I think that's what made it so great was that the buildup to that,

my first two years getting swept, you know, having to deal with that, having to deal with the slander and just the way that team came together and now we're competing for a championship in this city with these fans for this country. We got to experience the highs and the lows and the highs were really, really high. So it was just an incredible time for the city, especially, but even for the country and being a Canadian. And, you know, the Raptors are Canada's team. And we got to experience that firsthand. When you talk about having to deal with that slander, like, what do you mean?

Just, you know, we're professionals and we all hold ourselves to high standards. But there's only one team that can win a championship every year. So when you don't win or you get put out early, we had a 59 win team the year before who we all felt like we were championship caliber. We ended up getting swept. Like, that was a disappointment. Obviously, Coach Casey got fired. Nick stepped in. We traded to Mar.

Like, there was a lot of changeover. And all of the players, you know, we felt that. We saw it. You could feel the vibe. And so it was a great feeling to overcome all of that and and win a championship the following year do you feel like the Raptors get the respect that they deserve outside of this country probably not but I'm also not a person that really cares or pays attention to that because of my life. I know what it's like to be on the

other side of that. So I never really had the hype train or, you know, I was never winning a popularity contest. So I never really was into that. So probably not. And then may go deeper into business and things like that of the NBA. But I know we get a lot of love and we get a lot of support. And those are the things that I tend to focus on. It strikes me that your story is actually so kind of similar to the rapper's story, right? Like under-respected, overlooked,

both became these superstar forces really through hard work and grit and frankly, like will, right? Right. Which is cool. Yeah, so I think, again again like you got a choice to make if you want to make something out of yourself or your situation like there's really only one way to do that and that's to just have a crazy belief in yourself and your situation and that's something that I've been blessed, you know, to have.

I think it's fair to say that you have now stepped into Kyle Lowry's shoes as like the leader of this team. We were just talking about how so many of the players are younger, right? And so what does leadership look like to you? Like on a day-to-day basis, what kind of things are you doing as a leader? Yeah, I think first and foremost for me is always about accountability. And there's a lot of different ways to do that, but I'm going to be one of the first ones in. I'm going to get my work in. I'm going to be professional. And I'm going to continue to try to get better. I'm going to put the team first. And then it's really just my job to challenge guys, you know, and try to get the best out of them.

So after I show you that I'm trying to get the best out of myself now is, you know, I feel like it's my job to help guys reach their full potential, um, all while focusing on the team aspect. So, um, I've had a chance to be around some incredible leaders. I've had a chance to learn and sit back and play all different roles. Like I was a guy trying to make the team and now, you know, I'm the leader of the team. So I've seen the range and all just experience that I add, you know, for my daily use. Do you like it? Do you like this role? Oh, I love it. I love it. daily use. Do you like it? Do you like this role? Oh, I love it. I love it. I love it. It's a little more stressful, more sleepless nights for sure, because there's more weight to carry. But it's a

challenge and it's fun. It's what we do it for. You know, I don't work as hard as I work to be anything other than the best. Can we talk about President Masai Ujiri for a second? So he obviously has this reputation as someone who can find and maybe more importantly develop talent. And so what kind of faith do you have in his vision for the team? Again, like one of those leaders that I spoke about, I think he has a vision. I think he knows how to execute vision and I think more than anything he's not afraid to challenge people and whether that's players coaches staff whatever I think that's kind of what's needed you know I mean it's not always going to be comfortable but he lets you know you know you probably can't talk to him for five minutes without him saying win

500 times and he's, he wants to win. You know what I mean? And he put that at the top of the board. That's a program that I can follow. And so everything else falls under that. I wonder if I could also ask you about something that recently made headlines, because talking about you as a leader, you've also been quite vocal about issues around racial justice.

And of course, what has happened with the Phoenix Suns and Sarver. The owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Mercury has been suspended for one year and fined a record $10 million for racist and sexist behavior in the workplace, according to an investigation.

When you learned about his behavior, what was your reaction? What did you think? Not surprised, to be honest. I know it's probably not the most politically correct thing to say, but just not really surprised. I think we all have an understanding of what really goes on behind closed doors. I feel incredibly sorry for the people that had to experience that, you know, with his misconduct, the people that he affected. I think that's where the focus should be as on those individuals. But, you know, with the penalties and the suspension and all that, like, you know, that's it's a big business.

The NBA is a big business and you got to know how businesses conducted behind closed doors. But there's no place for that in our game, in our league. And I think we've been pretty forward thinking. And as we've seen since it came out, I think they're pushing to have them sell the team. So, you know, the NBA is marketing itself on being progressive and standing up in the face of injustice. And we've got to continue to do that

and make sure that we hold ourselves to higher standards. And that's from the owners down to the janitors. I think everybody, you know, just has to do our part. Do you think it's doing a good job of being progressive? I think so. I think so. I think, you know, there's worse businesses, right? There's worse corporations. I think with anything this big as a global entity, I think you'll find stories like this one. But again, there's nothing that's going to be perfect. But how are we going to combat that? How are we going to address it? You know, there was a lot of backlash about the initial penalty. But, you know, we've seen things progress as the time goes by. And the power is always in the community and the power is always in the people and how we manifest that and stand together. I think, you know, as long as we all just try to be good people and stand on that and

help each other out, I think we can kind of combat these things as time goes on. And there's just no place for it anymore. You were sidelined last season with an injury, and you're heading into a new season. How are you feeling? I feel great. I feel really good. I feel strong again. I feel confident again. Definitely didn't realize it until, know things slowed down and I had to go home and sit and couldn't really move and I had to sit down for you know six

weeks how affected I was because I was still in the fight but um yeah I was that was a pretty low point for me anytime I get injured it's not fun you know you just I love the game so much But being able to have a full summer to rehab and recover and come back and start all over again I'm feeling pretty good. Okay, and your family's here with you in Toronto and my family's here Yeah, you're saying to me before you always keep them close. Yeah, try to keep the family close again We have a crazy schedule so I miss a lot but when I'm free and when I have time I like to be present a lot, but when I'm free and when I have time, I like to be present. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection.

Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem, brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Hi, it's Ramit Sethi here. You may have seen my money show on Netflix. I've been talking about money for 20 years. I've talked to millions of people, and I have some startling numbers to share with you. Did you know that of the people I speak to,

50% of them do not know their own household income? That's not a typo. 50%. That's because money is confusing. In my new book and podcast, Money for Couples, I help you and your partner create a financial vision together. To listen to this podcast, just search for Money for Couples. Okay, well, we didn't actually have to wait for the next NBA season to start to catch a glimpse of Fred VanVleet's leadership skills at work

as we waited for Fred's scholarship recipient to arrive, Pascal Siakam, number 43 of the Toronto Raptors. He actually walked by, and Fred helped us talk to him. Hi, we're with CBC. Hello. Oh, hello. Sorry. Hey. What's happening?

They doing a podcast with Fred? They're so scared, man. Nah, I'm like, that's kind of like cutting my gut. Answer the question, man. Huh? I don't want people to answer the question. Oh, okay. I don't know what's going on. I was a little surprised.

I didn't know what was happening. What kind of leader is he? Huh? What kind of leader is Fred? Oh, okay. I don't know what's going on. I was a little surprised. I didn't know what was happening. What kind of leader is Fred? Oh, damn. I was putting him on the spot. I'm sorry. I know. I was like, I'm not expecting this at all. So what was your question again?

Sorry. What kind of leader is Fred? I think he's vocal. I think he learned a lot from Kyle, DeMar, and all those guys. And you can tell. I think he's always carried himself in that way, being a point guard, directing the team, and just making sure that everyone is in the right spots.

He has that good relationship with the coaches. He sees the game in a different way than a lot of people, so I think that ability helps him just just put everyone in their positions and and and also he's just got that presence about him um which which helps and and and i think that also when you see someone you know his journey and how he got to where he's at right now um you can only respect it and i think that you know as a leader that's important thank you they call me one take p's my name. You know what I'm saying? Okay, so once One Take P headed on his way,

it was time for Fred to meet 17-year-old Abdullahi Hassan. He's going to be the very first recipient of the Fred Van Vliet Scholarship at the University of Toronto's Rotman Commerce Undergraduate Program. And he entered the OVO Training Centre court with two very proud-looking parents. Yo, yo. What's up man? How you doing? I'm good. Good. Congratulations man. Thank you. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. How you doing? How you doing? Good man. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. How you doing? Alright? How you doing? Good.

Good. Good. Nice to meet you guys. Thank you. Welcome. Good to see you. How you feeling? Good, good. Nice to meet you guys. Welcome. Good to see you. How you feeling? Excited. You excited? Awesome man, good to see you. Got the drip on. Yeah, it's going out. So when you found out you got the scholarship, like where were you? What was going on? So I was in my second period accounting class. I was just on the computer doing my assignments and then the U of T official and my guidance counselors, they strolled in and they said,

oh, we have a letter for you. We would like you to read it in front of the whole class. And then that's when I found out that I got the scholarship. And the first thing that I did, I just had to text my sister and tell her, like I got a scholarship. Don't tell mom, I have to tell her when I get home. Like, I have to surprise her.

And I just felt great, excited, and just grateful for the bullet screens. What happened when you told your mom? I told my mom. She just was, like, in tears. She was just so, like, grateful and, like, you know, proud of me. It was, like, a great feeling, you know, seeing your mom in that state, feeling like, you know, she accomplished, like, seeing me accomplish so much. And, like, I feel like that's what made her feel like that.

Tell me, like, what this means for you, like, to get this. For me, I feel like it's just an opportunity for me to grow even more. You know, like, I'm grateful for this whole experience and, like, you know, the scholarship and meeting Fred himself. And I feel like this is just an opportunity for me to do better, you know, work harder, and it's definitely motivating me to do better you know work harder and it's definitely motivating me to be better uh was it like being Fred Fred I was nervous so nervous but then after that when we took the pictures and then we went in the room we had a conversation

I felt more at ease you know he was talking to me like it was just a normal conversation and I felt like you know I could I feel better you You did look nervous. You looked super chill. I did? Yeah, I know. No, I was inside, I was napping. I couldn't, I couldn't function. He's gonna be your mentor now. Yeah. Which is pretty cool.

Mm-hmm, yeah, it's cool, I'm excited. Like, what are you into? Like, you know, this is Rotman, it's business, so like, what do you wanna do with it? Yeah, I was just discussing it with him. Like, I have a, you know, I'm looking into going into maybe accounting, but obviously I'm more open him. Like, I have a, you know, I'm looking into going into maybe accounting, but obviously I'm more open to seeing something else that interests me,

so I definitely want to look into that. But for now, I'm looking to go into accounting. My name is Aboukar Mohamed, and I am Abdullah's dad. I'm happy for it. I would like to thank Freddie that he's doing a good job for the city, for the community, and we appreciate that. So let's talk now about why we're here today, why we get to come and talk to you, which has been great. Thank you so much.

Thank you. And what you let us kind of be a part of to watch is this scholarship that you are launching with the University of Toronto for black and indigenous students. And so why why did you want to launch a scholarship? I think just rewinding a bit coming out of the bubble, like we spoke about, there was this huge social justice push in the world globally. And I think just some of the internal conversations we had was how do we push envelopes and how do we challenge the corporations, whether that's the team or local businesses or a college in this instance, to team or local businesses or a college in this instance to make an effort, you know, in the community. And I think this is one of the things that was born out of that, which was to offer a

full scholarship based in entrepreneurial skills and pursuits. And just something that I'm just honored to be a part of. For somebody who didn't love school that much. I think it's a great cause and given a kid that may not have had as good of a chance at this, a chance I think is pretty special. You mentioned entrepreneurship. You're like an entrepreneur too and you have a podcast. It's called Bet on Yourself about entrepreneurship. And so what what has drawn you to that? I think just one to maximize all of the opportunities that I have. And it's something that's allowed me to become a great basketball player. But just in life in general, just trying to maximize everything that I do.

So having a business mind, having business savvy and just wanting to progress as a businessman, I think this is something that I find connection with people on. It's something that I have a passion for. So I usually always reach up, you know what I mean, to try to learn and pick people's brains and learn from people that are ahead of me. But this is something where I feel strongly about being able to mentor and just give assistance and confidence to somebody who's following in the footsteps behind me. So it's definitely a special situation. I feel like we've talked about mentorship and leadership a lot during this interview. And I

know as part of the scholarship, it's tuition, it's money for books, but it's also a mentorship with you. And so why was that important to you to offer that? Because I think it's the most important, to be honest, because more than anything, we go wherever we do it throughout the day, we still got to go home to ourselves. We still have to talk to ourselves.

We still have the car rides, the showers, we still got to go home to ourselves. We still have to talk to ourselves. We still have the car rides, the showers, you know, dreams. Like, you can talk yourself out of your dreams. You can talk yourself out of your goals. And I think just having somebody to bounce ideas off of, whether it's reassurance or just an ear to listen to or, you know, we all internalize all of our issues. And I think if you have someone to share with you'll realize that most of us all go through the same thing so I'm really looking forward to just being there as a ear you know for for the student you've mentioned people who have been mentors to you could you tell me about some of them yeah I mean starting early right my big

brother who's three years older than me, he played a pivotal role in my life. He kind of raised me, you know, after we lost our dad. Fast forward to my stepdad, obviously, who stepped in and became my dad, my high school coach. Brian Ott was a huge mentor, figure in my life. Really a lot of my coaches, my basketball coach, college coaches, and then, you know, the NBA.

I get here, I get to learn from Kyle Lowry as, you know, on and off the court. Asai's an incredible leader. Nick Nurse is an incredible leader. I just try to learn from all the great people that I have encounters with. And so take bits and pieces, take all the good stuff and the bad stuff that I don't like, you know, I throw it to the side. But, yeah, I've had a chance to be around some pretty cool people. What do you think the most important thing you learned from Kyle Lowry was? I think Kyle is just the ultimate pro.

pro. I think that he has a really good understanding of what it means to be in the NBA, what it means to be the face, to be the leader, to be presentable. He works incredibly hard. He's active in the community and he just plays this professional game better than anybody I've seen. So I definitely got to learn that from him. He's a hell of a competitor when it's time to lace him up, but he's just, he was just a great guy to have, you know, running the show. Your career in the NBA and also all the work that you've been doing as an entrepreneur, you have this very cool sweatsuit on right now, which is part of your company. When you started making a lot of money, how did your relationship with money change? That's a great question. Thanks. Yeah. I think, I think it just humbled me a bit because you just, there's so much that

you just don't know. Like there's so much things that you don't know until you realize that you don't know them. So now you got to go actively search out this information. And so for me, coming into a lot of money at a young age, it was just more so like, let me go figure out what to do with this because they don't teach you that part. They just teach you that you work hard and the American dream is to come from nothing and become rich. But it's like, OK, now what? What if you get that at 22 or 23 or 24 you god willing have 60 70 years of life that you gotta you know make it make sense so um it just took me back to the drawing board of like feeling like a student again and just learning and seeking out more mentors in different areas and different aspects of the financial world

um and just I just had to learn so much it's an interesting answer I'm I feel like most people mentors in different areas and different aspects of the financial world. And I just had to learn so much. It's an interesting answer. I feel like most people would not have said humble to describe their reaction to coming. I'm just really curious about this, like what it feels like for you to know that you now have the kind of wealth to take care of your family. I saw a video of you buying a house for your mom. I don't own enough furniture for this house. Oh, my God.

Oh, we got them good. Did I like it? Oh, hell yeah. And you now know that your children will want for nothing, and really, like, probably their children children and even so on right and what is like what is that like for you this idea that you have been able to bring generational wealth to your family uh something that just hasn't really set it set in yet something that I just refuse to believe you know it's just I don't operate like that like I said I try to be humble I try to still be a regular person.

I keep all of my family and people that have known me since I was a baby around me for that reason. But, yeah, I think obviously I work hard. It makes me work even harder because there's just more. There's just more out there. There's more stuff to do. I know what I can do with what I have. So, like like if I go get some more, I know I can do more. And I just I just like to have fun, work hard, make money and do fun stuff with the money and do good stuff with the money. impact and having to reach is more empowering than like the actual dollar amount because the money will come and go and I could lose it I could save it like it's not necessarily all about the money once you get it you can't really understand that until you do yeah Fred thank

you no thank you it's been such a pleasure. Appreciate it. All right. That was very fun. But that is all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. And thank you so much for listening to FrontBurner, a low-key Raptors podcast, and also a daily news podcast. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.