Mind the Game - LeBron James Opens Up About the Lakers’ NBA Bubble Championship

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Welcome back to another episode of Mind The Game with LeBron James and Steve Nash. The Finals are in full swing between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacer and we decided to dive into the narratives surrounding small markets in The Finals, what makes a superstar and more. Then LeBron dives into what it’s truly like to play in the NBA Finals with the increase in media and hype. And finally, LeBron takes us back 5 years to the NBA Bubble and reveals new details about leading the Las Angeles Lakers to a Championship. This episode is quite a treat and we hope you enjoy. Thanks for listening!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You have this encyclopedia of everything, basketball, what it takes. How do you balance being dad and being able to help them? You don't want to get on their nerves too much because they're tuning you out. I mean, that's what having kids is all about. They would tune you out. I'd definitely be on their nerves a lot, but that's me. That's me. I mean, I'm like that.

My son, he's, I don't know how decide it is if he wants to keep on yours. But, you know, like, sometimes you know how it's like being a father. I'll say, like, you know, Mattina, you got to get your elbow in and create this, like, line to the basket. And because I'm dad, not, you know, a former NBA player, he's like, well, that's not the only way you can do it. There's this kind of thought out there that, like, you know, it won't be good to have two small market teams in the finals.

Like, I take offense to that. Like, you know, like, look, I love big market legacy names, brands. I get why Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, you know, Warriors. I get it. I love it. And it's great for our game. But these are two fantastic basketball teams that are you very, very unique, you know. How do you feel about this small market comments and, like, where does this come from?

I don't know. I don't know where it comes from. Because, I mean, listen, I played in Cleveland for 11 years. And we were a small market, you know, so. Until you got there. Yeah, until I got there, they became a big market. But I don't know. I just think that I think it's all about just the storylines.

It's about what people can say on TV and create these, you know, Superman versus Batman or DC Comics versus, you know, Marvel. Like, when it comes to the game of basketball, it doesn't mean. matter who's representing who it's about two great teams right you know and we talked we talked previously in a lot of our episodes about yes you know we we praise a lot of individuals and rightfully so we have unbelievable individuals in our sport over the years have done great things and have put themselves in position to be talked about i get it but one thing we cannot disrespect is is great teams right you know we can't disrespect the 2003 detroit pistons you know with chauncey rip

Tayshan, Ben, Rashid, rest of the old, like that, that group, you know? You know, these are teams that's completely put together. You know, you can't disrespect, you know, the, what was it, the 2019 Toronto Raptors, you know, with Fred Van Fleet, you know, Kauai, you know, past out. You know, we know guys get injured, yeah. And, you know, we know that, but that's a great freaking team.

When you look at that roster, you look at that roster, like, that is a great team, you know. So, like, you know, we have this Indiana. okay C situation, and these are two great teams. And if you are a basketball fan and you really love our game, and you can learn so much from watching the way both of those teams play. Yes, you're not going to, you know, I understand, you know, you have your favorite players, you have your favorite colors or whatever the case may be that drag it to it. And I understand. There is some, something about that. But if we're just talking about the purity of the game and

the sport, these are two teams that played the game the right way. And you know, and you love to see it. We love to see it. And even after that, they fucking earned it. They fucking earned it. They've been through the trenches. And yes, we, you know, injuries happen to things of that nature. But at the end of the day, you still got to show up and play the game. The game is won in between the four lines. You can't just, someone's injured. You can't just show up and be like, okay, forfeit, we won because you don't have your player. Like, no, you still got to play the game. And Indiana's been playing great basketball. OKC's been doing this all year. And I think it'll be a great finals to watch. I mean, I'm a bad. I love the game. So, you know, I'll be in a turn. No shit. But I was going to say, like, we want parity. You know, we don't want it every year to be the same two teams. We want, that's what we've done with our salary cap and the tax and revenue sharing, all that stuff.

And I think from a fan perspective, we want that. We want teams to not all play the same way, right? The league has gotten smart playing in such a similar style to take advantage of the analytics numbers. Here's two teams that have uniqueness, unique defensively and offensively for okay. you see, but also like the Pacers, they play a unique style that's, I think, a look into the future. For me, I hope there's a lot of fans that are excited about this matchup, but for me, is there a comment on the nature of our media nowadays? So social media, our networks have talking head shows where we want to debate, right? I'm sure it's less expensive in some ways. I don't know

what is, but like we have these talking head shows where we got a debate. You know, go back to like the NBA on NBC. Bob Cost is doing a small story. with the right theme music and energy that brings the fans into a game and a series because they're telling this vignette like the Olympics. But now we don't do as much of that. We are talking and arguing. And if we're going to talk and argue,

let's talk and argue about the big names. Right. So in a way, I think it's the nature of the media. Do you feel like there's some truth to that? How we shove these like, you know, I don't know if we can call them coastal elites or the big brands down people's throats. Whereas like, we want parody.

There's a story to be told. here too. Yeah, absolutely. And we all have a story, you know, and there's a lot of stories that can be told that's on the OKC roster and on the Pacer's roster, you know, and it's like, do the guys that preach our game want to, do they want to do the homework and take the time out to actually tell these stories? And it doesn't seem that way. It's just, what can I say without truth or without knowledge, you know, or just this is what I want to say. And there's no accountability behind it and and I think that that now goes to our fans we we have to protect our players and protect our product and also bring an awareness I think our game is also about storytelling we have

to tell the stories of our players of how they've gotten there while they're there you know the journey it took for them to get there like like you said I used to remember watching you know when I was a kid or watching my younger days before it got to where it is today where before the finals would start there were multiple stories about these guys that were going into these games you would know these stories you will learn you will you will feel a sense of like emotion behind certain guys because the story was told it wasn't like this guy is not a superstar so it's going to be difficult to watch it or is he is he a superstar like is the only reason that this team is here because of this player being injured and only if it if that didn't happen well like you can't play the if game like like the if

that is ridiculous. You know, guys have earned a right to represent their teams and represent their franchises in the big stage. And I think the one thing that I know for sure when it comes to players

before it was like I couldn't be seen or I wouldn't be heard if I was in a small market. You know, I had to be in L.A. I had to be in New York. I had to be, you know, in Chicago.

I had to be, you know, in certain markets in order to be seen in order to be heard. Well, that's not. not the case now. You know, the case now with social media, with every single day around the clock coverage of our game, good or bad, you could, you could perform anywhere. You can perform anywhere and be great anywhere. So the whole notion of, I don't want to play in a small

market or you shouldn't be in a small market. That is, that is gone. That is flushed down the toilet because obviously we're looking now where, you know, we have the Indiana Pacers and we have the Oklahoma City Thunder, you know, and representing the NBA finals, you know, possibly. So that is, that narrative is gone. I just, we, we need to teach the game. We need to, we need to talk about the game, but also, like, just have a better understanding of, like, you know,

storytelling, you know, I think that just helps our product. And it helps, and it helps our fans to relate to the players that they, you know, that they may not outside the market of OKC or outside the market of Indiana, you know, maybe don't know a lot of these guys. it make a great point I think social media too you think of the impact has it made us lazy in a way

in this storytelling because I can go to Shea's page and like you know see what he wore to the game how he works out in the summer I think I know him but like that's not journey like that's not really knowing him

like what are the ingredients that got him there then also like all the fake stuff on social like you know we both have teenage boys like the stuff that they hear and think is true about the NBA

And it's like, absolutely not even in the world of true is amazing. And I think so sometimes it's like there's the misinformation, there's the clickbaity stuff. There's maybe that we've all gotten a little lazy because I could just go, you know, to Hallie's page and see what he's up to, what he's like, quickly scroll. I know him. Well, we don't really know. Like, we don't really know what makes them to tell me. So telling those stories in a way, we do more talking head on the networks. We do more doom scrolling on the social.

then there's all the fake news and all the click baity stuff. So we never really get to like where are the cold, hard facts or an interpretation of this player, this team, this coach. There's two great coaches. These two great coaches. These two really fascinating. Coach, one, a lifer who's been unbelievable. And one is like maybe the youngest, if not one of the younger coach in the league,

who's been able to manage this young team. I think I'm older to him. I think you are too, my friend. I think you are too. Oh, my goodness. Right? So like two brilliant coaches. Like we can tell these stories.

right let's not take it for granted let's see how they've innovated how they've kept groups together how indiana's chipped away and gotten better every year also neither one of these teams are in the tax now obviously it's both can go there uh okayc is going to have tax problems in the future but they have all this incredible asset you know uh war chest to kind of manage that so there's so many stories other than we can tell styles make fights personalities like you said storytelling is everything right in life it's what gets people passionate about things so i think you make a great point there and i also wonder like has social media brought us a lot and also taken a lot of yeah it's definitely brought us a lot but it's uh desensitizes us quite a bit you know quite a bit and um

you know i just hope that you know people you know don't take for granted you know having the opportunity to to see you know two great teams you know uh play the game the right way and um You know, I understand, like you said, you have your favorites, you have your favorite players, you have your favorite colors, you have your favorite franchises. But, you know, when things are earned and not given, then we all have to sit back and appreciate it and tell that story. Right. This episode is sponsored in part by American Express. American Express has taught me that finding the perfect restaurant is a lot like finding the perfect play. It's all about timing, research, and sometimes.

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and earn up to $100 back annually on eligible purchases at U.S. Resi restaurants. Enrollment required. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more at Americanexpress.com slash with Amex. Well, shifting gears a little bit like, let's talk a little bit about what the fire. finals are like like how unique it is like let me throw some things out there and then i want to hear you kind of talk on it as someone who's who's got to the conference finals i don't know

maybe four times i never got to the finals i can imagine and i'd love to hear your perspective on things like the travel family tickets scouting intensity with more rest like there's so many factors that make this one not only the height of the height the end of the road the end of the road two teams that have the one chance at the end of the day to get there. And then you add all this extra stuff. Games, the games, the media, the, the, the intros. Yeah, everything changed. Start wherever you like, but tell me a little bit about that and like how the NBA finals are unique. Yeah, the NBA finals are unique in one way because it becomes, you know, you understand this is the hurrah. This is the last hurrah for the end of the season. So you know that

you're going to have family that wants to be a part of it. You know that the travel is going to be different. You know that the hotels is going to be a little bit different because of the excitement outside of the hotel room. You know, outside of your room, there's going to be horns and people yelling, whatever, getting excited, you know. And you think like, you know, for me, I've been in, I played in San Antonio a couple of times in the finals.

And being on the riverwalk for a couple of those finals, the horns and the people yelling, And whatever the case, maybe, it's like, oh, my God, I can't get any sleep. Couple extra margaritas for every person on the river bomb. Exactly. A couple extra margaritas for everybody. So I think you can't change too much, you know. And the only thing that, like, the change is that the games are a little later.

You know, I remember every game starting at like 9 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, you know. I hate that. I hate long days. Oh, I hate long days. Like, you're just waiting all day. Even after a nap, you still have time just to sit around in your room before the first bus or before or if it's a home game, you're driving to the game. But you've got to try to keep everything the same.

And also, like, for me personally, I never let my family come to a finals game unless it was a closeout game. If we were up, you know, 3-1 or we were, or if it was 3-3, so like game, game, we went to game 7 in 2016 finals, my family didn't come until game 7, you know. You know, it was just like I had to, I had, I didn't want to change anything. I didn't want to change anything. And obviously, if we had an opportunity to close out, you know, that final game,

if we was about to have our fourth win and we had an opportunity to do it and the family would be there. But other than that, I kept them home because I didn't want to, especially on the road. I didn't want my family on the road, you know, during the finals. And I'm trying to focus on not only myself, but carrying my team, making sure my teammates is locked in. And then if something happened in the stands with my family, it could very easily knock me out of my locked out zone. Now I can't be as locked in if I want to because, you know, some idiot or whatever,

some fan that says something to my wife or said something to my kids or say, you know, or my mom is there. They say something to my mom. So like, unless it was the closeout game, my family stayed home. And that's how I always kept it. And it worked for me, you know, and a couple of my finals wins. It's a, I mean, a great point about the sacrifice and what it means. Like you, that might be the last time you ever go to the finals.

Right. You've been, you've been fortunate. You've won multiple. You've been a bunch of times. But nothing's guaranteed, right? Nothing at all. Prioritizing the opportunity at hand. So there's one.

And then, so one, it's like making a decision like that, that, you know, to someone, a common person may be like, oh, that's kind of cold you. No, no, no. I played all year. I've trained my whole life to get to this moment to try to win a championship. Making tough decisions like that is important of a winning. Yeah. Right. And then on top of that, when they do come to a close-out game, how do you manage that? Like, you can imagine you, obviously, with all your experience, but what about a young player, the seventh, eighth guy in the rotation who's like, family wants to come? Hotel rooms, flights, tickets. Right, right. That's a factor. Right. That's a factor. And I hope that, you know, that you're with the organization that's like, hey, let us take care of that. Just tell us, okay, who's all coming? We will handle their flights. We will make sure that they get the room. we can settle the money

and all that stuff after the fact but like let us know let us handle it so you could just continue to focus on the job at hand like you know for a young guy like you said if he's a seventh eighth guy and he's playing

he's a big part of the rotation you don't need anything that's get into into his mind that he needs to worry about that can stop him from being as locked in as possible to helping his team you know when the ultimate

so you know that is that's the sacrifice and you also have to have a very understanding standing families. They have to understand. Great point. You know, and I can only speak for mine. My family has always been understanding of what

I wanted to accomplish in my career. You know, and it was never no pullback. It was never no, you know, I need to be there. You don't want me. Like, it was always, listen, handle your business. And when you want it's there, we're there, and we're ready to support. And, and that was,

it made it a lot easier on me. It made it a lot easier on me to be able to leave. And the four finals that I'll one, I've been fortunate to, you know, two of them was the closeouts at home. So that was much easier, you know, my two in Miami were, you know, close out game five at home versus OKC and a closeout game, game seven versus San Antonio. My third one was a closeout game in Oakland at the old Oracle Arena, which was very difficult and challenging.

But the family came to that. And then the last one was a game five closeout in Orlando at the bubble. and, you know, part of my family was there for that. So that was really cool. But, yeah, you have to have an understanding group of people around you that can take the pressure off. You feeling pressured because you're already getting so much pressure being a part of the finals anyways.

You made a great comment about, although it's the finals, it's our two-week Super Bowl, essentially. Although it's everything's different, the intros, the media outside the hotel, the travel, the rest. You get a little bit more rest in the finals. You know, you often get two games, two days between games. Yeah. But you want everything to stay the same, right?

Did you talk to your teammates about that or did you just show that? Like, I'm keeping it the same. Yeah, over the years, yeah, I definitely talk to them about it. Like, how do you manage your time, you know, because there are extra, you know, there's idle times. Like you said, it's two days in between and there's one day that you have to fly in just to do media. You know, they really just block off the whole court and there's tables set up and you're sitting there. It's like All-Star Weekend all over again. And it can be annoying, you know, but you, if I had to give one piece of advice, though, as much as it is annoying, you know, just you take full advantage of it because it's not promise.

Like you said, it's not promise that you can get there every year or multiple years. You just got to take full advantage of it, but also just keep the main thing, the main thing. And that's one of the one things that I learned from Pat Rowley. Like, he just always would say, like, listen, we're here for a reason. We're here to do a job. You know, enjoy it. But keep the main thing, the main thing. You know, and if you're able to do that, I think it gives you even a little bit more, you know,

than if your opponent is not keeping the main thing, the main thing, you know. So, you know, that's what I've always kind of trying to keep my guys focus on that. Like, we're here to do a job. We're right here. he's going to be the hardest possible four games that we could possibly win in your life there's never going to be a harder time than right now you know so let's just try to keep the main thing the main thing enjoy it have fun it's going to be a little different it's going to be like all-star weekend if you've been there it's going to be like and i've heard like NFL guys

say that they hate the Super Bowl you know they hate the Super Bowl there's guys i've seen that said even when they wanted they hated the Super Bowl because it didn't feel like a it didn't feel like a game it felt like a business it felt like it was just like bring us here show show and pony dog and pony show you know and it didn't feel like a regular game and sometimes it could feel that way you know throughout the course of the finals but it's fun i tell you that it is very fun once you're on the floor it's fun yeah those lights are bright and that's when competitors love it the most yeah but you bring up a good point um there's an advantage to be had potentially in managing all that managing the two days in between managing the fans and managing the fans and families, managing your approach, you know, there's nervous energy. And when you have two days and nervous energy, sometimes it can be the wrong approach. Yeah, for sure. You can get an advantage, obviously, just in how you manage your approach in the finals. Yep.

And, you know, you said it right. It becomes an advantage of how you manage your approach from facts. That's a fact. Tell me a little bit about the bubble. Like, the bubble is the bubble. I'd love to hear that, but like, then playing the finals in the bubble. Like, you literally are going back to the same hotel or maybe two different hotels on the same property or um was the heat and i i don't remember no i think the heat was in our hotel and so like you're

getting on a bus right next to their bus and you're like literally going back to the same place and yeah going back to the same place you um you know every morning you have to get tested in the morning you might bump into them in the courtyard when you're eating that that that's another part of like um that's like some that's like some mental that's mental warfare right it's another level of No escape. It's no escape. It's like, okay, I've battled this guy. He's pushed me.

He's cursed me out. It's a physical game. And then when it's time for me to finally relax and go back and have a glass of wine, I'm bumping into this guy in the elevator. Right. You got to ride up with him. Yeah, I got to ride up 40 floors to get up to my room. It's another set of mental warfare.

And it's like, who's going to be the one who, who's going to be the one to fall? Who's going to blink? You know? And like, that was a very challenging. difficult thing because you just don't want to be around the competition until I get on the floor. Yeah, you want to save it for the winning counts. Yeah, you want to save it for one of the counts. So that's exactly. Exactly. It was so different. It's challenging for sure. And you said your family came to that. The whole thing or click. No, no. My family didn't come to the whole thing,

but they, you know, and during the bubble, they had to be there at least a week to quarantine. And then they were able to. So they were there. You know, you had to be there like a week before they can even see us. So they're in their rooms for a week just to be able to come to a game. Yeah, just to be going to come out of their room. Nope. And it was off campus too. It wasn't even in the property where we were.

They stayed off campus. So they would have to be there for a week to 10 days in their rooms. You know, they have to stay with their parties that was over there who also came down at the same time. And that was, so you had to bring them in like two weeks beforehand before the games even started. Yes. And practicing in the finals.

So like the media had to question. Were they there? Was that all on Zoom? No, they were there. No, they were there. Media was, media was there too. So they had the same on the court media day type stuff between with the media in person. Yeah, with the media in person. Some up, they only allowed a certain amount of media members in. So you would do, you will sit down like I'm sitting down right now and there would be a camera set up for the people that was not invited to be there on Zoom and then other like beat writers. They let the like the local beat writers in in person. Yep, the ones that was quarantine. Yep. And for practice, are you

busting over to the court or is there other courts in the building no that they had the day they set up a they set up a court they set up like five courts inside of the hotel where we where we stayed at a ballrooms yep they brought in the court and everything so you will literally go down you have your time slot you know and it's funny because right after practice you have to be off you can literally be walking out of practice and walking right past the team that you're about the play even with five courts like so let's talk about you in the heat would you guys had your own practice court for the finals or we yeah we had our own practice court yes Yeah. So once you lost, if you didn't, you know, didn't advance, then you're gone. You can leave. You're gone back home. So once it got to us versus the heat, you know, there were different rooms, different ballrooms. So they had their, they had their main floor, court, and we had ours on the other side of the hotel. But like I said, you can still bump into a guy, you know, if I came downstairs for dinner and I wanted to go to the courtyard where they had served food or whatever, or if I wanted to go to another restaurant today, They had, I could literally bump into the guy and I'm about to compete for a championship

with tomorrow night, which is different. Yeah. Are you kidding me? How many, like that's, that's like you said, that's war, mental warfare. Memorial went to, yeah, mental warfare. How many restaurants were in there, though? Like, were you sick of the food? There was only there for two months or whatever.

How long were there? I was there for 96 days. Three months. Yeah, I was there. I would never forget. Oh my goodness. I was there for 96 days. And there was there for 96 days.

There was one restaurant where it was outside that was called Three Bridges, but that didn't open until, like, after the first six weeks that we was there. So the only place that they allowed us to go to. Something different. Oh, my. The only place they allowed us to go to was a restaurant inside the hotel was kind of like a little sports bar, you know, that was in the hotel. They opened it up after, after like, two weeks. After we had everybody quarantined, we would go downstairs.

And it was like a sports bar. They had the TV set up of all the games that was playing in the bubble, all the, you know, the regular season games that we had to finish and then the playoffs. And you would go down there and you could order a little food, you know, and watch the game just to get out of the room, just to get out of the room. And that's all we actually wanted was to get out of the damn room, you know? So, yeah, that's all.

It was only like two places, like two places. Of all the things being in a bubble for 96 days, it just, I think about the food, like how do you get it, just something different all that time and like how i would play a toll on you oh man they played a toll on my body for sure when it because i eat so i have a set regime about what i eat especially during the playoffs you just it was certain quality of food and certain quality of you know produce and greens and things that i know that has my my engine running that i you just it was not it was not available to you so you just had to you just had to figure it out you had to figure it out and what about uh

That's crazy, 96 days, finals, doing for a ring, and it's the same garden salad. Right? So what about, like, shipping stuff in? Like, did you, was there something that you remember I had to ship in it? I don't know. I'm not talking like contraband. I'm just talking like a books or video, like stuff. You're like, I took some, I took books with me.

I took my video game with me. But one thing I did ship in, I ordered a wine freezer. Okay. wine fridge and I ordered a bunch of fucking wine. There you go. I promise you. I kept you saying. Yes, I have a photo in my phone and I'll show you one day of all.

And after I drank the wine, I would just sit them and line them up on the floor of my room side by side. Keep the cork in a little container. That's what, that was my priority. I would get up every single day. I will play my video game. I was stretching my room you know I would go down to practice

I would do a little reading in my meantime I would call home you know because they weren't there for you know family couldn't come for like the first six to eight weeks

and then at night I will open up a bottle of wine man that that was it it's like castaway vibes but it was like castaway vibes yeah man it got to a point

where they started allowing us to get out of the rooms you were really at one point, you were only really supposed to have like one or two guests in your room, like your teammates. We kind of broke the rule one time and like, like, squads up in there. Yeah, we just squatting everybody's room and like play cards. And it was one thing about it, it was definitely a crazy bonding experience because it was just us.

You know, like even when you travel on the road during the finals or during the playoffs, you don't really go to each other's rooms too much. Everyone has their regiment, whatever the case may be. But in the bubble, you had no choice. It was literally just us. It was you and your teammates. And the coach and staff was there. It was like, bro, can I, like, yo, pull up, bro.

Like, come have a glass of wine with me. Like, my kids again. We got to, like, do something. Like, we got to do something. Like, I don't know, my kids are not here. And my wife is not here. Like, bro, like, just, you know, I'm going to pull up to your room. What are you doing?

Nothing. Same thing I did yesterday. Same thing. So it was, it was a mental, mental, mental. Oh, man. If you, if you, if you couldn't, if you couldn't, if you couldn't sustain your focus and your mental waver a little bit, then the bubble was definitely not for you. It was not for you.

Well, it's a King's Flex to have a wine cellar in the bubble, so kudos to you. Kudos to you for that. I needed it. That would have been right there with you. Yeah, for sure. You know what I love more than the perfect assist? The perfect story. And I've got just the one for you.

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going home. You can? It's like this little, although the ball. bubble must have been drove you crazy in some ways it's like what an incredible place for like you to do everything you can to prepare leave no stone on turn for the young guys to develop um like you're just there to hoop some people say it's like the purest form of basketball being in the bubble like this experiment in a way and then others like oh it's not real at the end of the day like your human beings competing it doesn't matter if you're competing on the moon or in the bubble yeah for

Sure. And I believe it's, yeah, it was like I agree with a lot of people say when it's the purest form of hoops. Like it was just, it was strictly basketball. Like it is no, you know, we're all like, you know, have the ability to do whatever we want in life. You know, we've made a bunch of money. We have all the access, you know, that was, that's gone in the bubble. You can't just, you know, oh, I'd mother go to a restaurant or I'm about to do this or I have this. You can't do none of that. Like, everything in the bubble was strictly about basketball. And obviously we was there, you know, you know, talking about a lot of the off-the-court things that was going on, you know, social injustice and the police brutality and stuff, all that, rightfully so. But when the basketball portion was the focus, you know,

that's all it was. Like, you know, so you could go downstairs, you know, you had an opportunity to go downstairs and just work on your game or, you know, they made these, you know, they brought, you know, weight rooms in where you can go just be in a wait room. or if you want a cold to cold plunges.

Like you could, but it was strictly, strictly basketball. And it was all about like, of all my championships I've won, that level of focus, like if, how long can you maintain your focus in order to get the job done? Because you have all the, you have all the reasons if you want to to get out of focus because you're so accustomed to a certain lifestyle that you like, the hell with this. Like, I don't want to do this. Like, why am I here? Like, I don't want to be a part of this.

Like, this is not what, you know, I can't get a certain meal. I can't do this. I can't see my family. I can't lock in on, like, and you can very easily get out of why you're there. And that wasn't, once I got there, once I got there and I knew the team that we had and I knew we was capable of, once I locked in, I was like, it's survival of the fittest right now. like and and I'm and I'm locking in and let's hit it let's hit it that's what I was gonna that's what where it led me was like you have everything right there you have no choice right like I got like you said you got the cold tubs and hot tubs and compression units you got a court you got a wait room like

you just have to go downstairs you don't have to get in the car you don't have to do anything right right so you have this all access easy access ability to maximize basketball other than obviously like you said like maybe not all the produce or like you you you got a day and the challenge comes in that 96 days so yeah man you you have it all in front of you but the mental approach the toughness the resilience maybe talk a little bit about the days when you'd had enough yeah i mean it cross your mind every day steve i'm not even you know maybe you across your mind every day because you're like, this is, this is, what we doing? Like, what are we, what are we, what are we really, like, how is my life got me here?

Yeah, how am I at this point? Like, like, my wife is not there. My kids are not there, you know, FaceTime, thank you. Steve Jobs, late, great rest of soul, but thank you, but like, you know, you're not having that, you're not having that comfort zone, you know, so, you know, you're going through the rest of the regular season, and once the postseason start, you know, we started out with, with, Portland, you know, and then the second round was versus Houston, you know, and then the Western Finals was versus Denver, you know, and it gets to a point as you keep advancing,

you're like, like, we're here, y'all. Yeah. We're here. The games are going to keep going. We're here, and we're playing good basketball. What the fuck else are we all going to do? You're going to go home, and by the way, the world is here in quarantine. It's not like we can go home, and now all of a sudden you can just go start doing things.

So why not accomplish something that we all have wanted to do before the shut down anyways? Great point. You know, okay, you're going to go home, you'll be in your home, yes, you get to see your family, you get to see your kids, you know, that's there, you know, that's in the home. Okay, yes, I can attest to that. I agree. But we're here and we have a great team and there's a Larry O'Brien trophy to be won and we have the ability to do it.

Why not fucking do it? Like, let's do it. I know this is not what we're cussing to. I agree. And it plays with my mind, too. Every day you wake up and it's the same, same, same thing. But listen, we're here. You lock in, man.

Let's go get it done. And then when we get it done, we can go home and sit in the house and do nothing. But let's go get it done. Yeah. That was my mindset. Yeah. And obviously it shows that you persevered. You guys got over the line.

Not all teams did. Did it also give you life in a weird way? I don't, like, not every team went to the bubble, did they? No, not every team went to the bubble. So you start out with, you know, whatever, not the whole league. You start out with most of the league. Then you get to the playoffs, teams go home. And after the first round, teams go home.

So, like, did it give you life almost as like survivor? Like teams are heading out and going home. That point was really cool. Yeah. That you just, like, kick someone off an island. Like, if you win now, they, you kick someone off the island. And now the, you know, it feels like the air is getting a little bit more clearer. You know, you know, less guys is there to pollute the air.

I don't have to see his ass in the elevator. Right. I don't have to see him no more. So they, like, had, like, three different areas. Like, I think the, the teams that were ranked higher got to stay in certain hotels. And then the teams that were ranked kind of lower stayed in, like, these casitas that was. Hunger Games. Yeah, it was like, it was like hunger games, for real.

You know, so they had, like, this whole community. And, like, and if you stayed in the hotel, you were not allowed to go. over to where they were staying at, like, because they had their own setup as far as, you know, getting tested every morning, whatever the case may be. But, yeah, as you play teams, you know, and you beat them, like, you know, they got it, they basically was like off the island. So it became like a pride thing. Like, you was like, let's get them off the island.

Like, let's get them out of here. So it's just us, you know, and it definitely gave you a sense of pride for sure. And then winning it, like, what does it look like? You win a championship in the bubble and then you go back to the hotel and you say, throw a party. Like, what was that like? The one team goes home and cries in their room. The other team, like, has a party in the bubble. Like, family is there. Yeah, like,

we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we won it. And, yeah, we went back to the room. I started packing, which was very different. I went back to my room. I went back to my room and started packing my shit. Like, I started throwing and stuff. I was like,

let me get some of my, yeah, I can't wait. Yeah, I can't wait to get the hell out of here. And then, like, they had the little after party down. at the little outdoor place. And we all went there and celebrated with the family and had drinks. And it was, but it was fun. Like, you got an opportunity to finally see your family.

Everybody was excited and happy. And shit, we won a championship. So I didn't, I didn't take that for granted. Like, that was an amazing feat. But I was like, I'm ready to get that hell out of here. It's been 96 days. I cannot wait to get home. Oh, my goodness.

But in a way, like, that celebration will be, like, obviously you have a celebration in Miami or Cleveland. It's going to be off the charts. It's going to be exciting, like the city's there. But there must be something special about it's just us. Yeah, yeah, it was. There's no, like, there's no, like, the extended families and friends and guests in the city and, you know, it's just you guys spending that great time together. Yeah, because we have built that time.

You know, like you said, you know, that was a combination of 96 days with just us, you know, and to be able to, you know, last and finish it with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Like, you had a sense of, like, you know, sentiment. Like, he was like, oh, shit, this is very, like, you know, you saw 80 crying. You know, you saw 80 crying when we won it, you know. Is he crying because he won? Because he gets to go home or because he's like, this is enough. I got to get down out of it. Oh, my God.

It was like, it was probably emotions of all of it, like everything. Like, everyone's excitement about all of it, you know. So, but it was definitely pretty cool, man. And it's something that obviously I would never forget, you know, being a part of the bubble, us winning it there, you know, and just being with that group of guys, you know, for that amount of time. It was, it's a very prideful thing for sure.

Oh, thanks for sharing that, because honestly, I can't imagine what that would be like. Yeah, and nobody can, man. It's almost like you had to be there. Like, I don't think people, people, you can't fathom what that looks like unless you've been there, man. It was like, it was some different,

it was some different shit. That's amazing. It's good. Ron, you know what somebody told me that was there, a league person? He said, you made it such a point to be so kind to all the media people, all the hotel staff, or whatever, that they were like, I think he kind of created home court advantage for himself. Everybody there in the final was going for you. He was like, we were all like, there was nobody. Everybody was going to be.

Well, I mean, I would like to say I'd take credit for creating a home court advantage. But also, I can't not not take credit. I would just take my mom raised me a certain way. Just to be kind to people, man, no matter the circumstances that you is. Also, you got to run into those people every day for 96 days. Yes, for sure. And I'm, you know, I ain't no telling what I could do to my food that I would like to eat. So, but it was great, man.

It was a great experience. It was challenging. It was one of the greatest, most fucked up. experiences in my life. I'll just say that. That's the title of the episode. Thanks for watching Mind the Game. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe for more content.