Stay Tranquilo - The Story of Courtside Basketball League & How to Run a Successful Business? - Stay Tranquilo

Episode Date: July 24, 2024

In this episode of the Stay Tranquilo Podcast, powered by Stay Tranquilo, were joined by founder of Courtside Basketball, FIU Martinez, in Miami, FL. We get into: - how Courtside Basketball began - celebrities that have played and currently play for the Courtside league - the life of an entrepreneur and how to start your own business - overcoming adversity and the mindset to be successful - how to grow and scale your business - basketball in South Florida AND MORE This episode is brought to you by: Curaleaf Florida: Johnny Cuba: https://www.johnnycuba.us/ Curaleaf FL: https://curaleaf.com/dispensary/florida Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

To me, it's like the only way. And I think when people get into business, they kind of have like a plan B. Like, if it doesn't work out, I could always, you know, I have my degree so I could go get a job over here. Oh, I could go work for my mom or whatever the case may be. To me, when I start a business, I make sure that I have no backup plan. Because if I don't have a backup plan, I know it's going to succeed because I have no choice. You don't have an option. Especially now.

I have a wife and two kids, right? So it has to work, right? And I think too many people have a plan B, something to fall back on. So in the times of adversity, they could just revert to that. If you really believe in something and are passionate about a business, I wouldn't have any backup plan. And I would make sure you just go all in. What is going on, everybody?

Welcome back to another episode of the Stay Tranquilo podcast. We're here with Fui with Courtside. Appreciate you for hosting us here. This place is sick. Thank you, man. I appreciate you guys having me on here. I'm a fan of what you guys are doing here in the community and the podcast you guys are hosting. So thank you.

Pleasure to be on here with you. Yeah, no, 100%. It's a dope spot. I mean, I'm born and raised in the Westchester area, went to Columbus High School, had no idea that this was even back here. So how long have you been in this space? I'll be honest. I had no idea this was here. This was, it's been about six years.

So the way it started, I used to be a basketball. a skills trainer. So I would work with the youth and the kids that had basketball camps, a basketball academy, you know, one-on-one training, small group training, things like that. So when I started my business, I was looking for a place to go indoors, obviously. You know, in Miami with the heat and the rain that comes up out of nowhere sneaks up on you. It's kind of hard to have a business solely outdoors. So, you know, I grind it and put some time into just, you know, the outdoor stuff in a park. And, you know, when my business, you know, when my business, business grew and I was looking for an indoor spot. A buddy of mine's dad told me about this place.

This gym, I think, is like ancient. I think it's been around since like, I don't know how far back. Supposedly the story is that they used to run high school games in here. Okay. I don't know how. It's not regulation size court. But when I came here, you know, one day I just showed up. Somebody had told me, you know, up the stairs in the back of Brave Church, there's a basketball court. So I just knocked on the door, spoke to the people. They've welcomed me here since day one, so I'm very fortunate to be a part of Brave Church. They've been awesome with me.

But when I first came here, it was like a place where they would do their youth group. So Wednesday nights, the kids will come and play. And then they had a stage. It was like a mess. Organized chaos is what they had here. But just a spot for the youth in the church to be able to come and play basketball and dodgeball and all types of stuff. So when I came here and started renting, Little by little, I renovated the place, you know, the flooring, the baskets, you know, the banner, everything you see here, the lighting.

Like, pretty much everything had to be redone. And little by little year by year, we now have what you see here, which has been a staple in the basketball community. And just like one of those legendary courts that are different from all other courts, but just has its own unique feel. Yeah. And people love it. So I'm proud to have been here for six years and it makes it, you know, a little bit of it. little bit cooler when you built it from from the ground up 100% that's the most uh rewarding thing for sure like and that feeling of being able to like hey this was nothing and i turned it into this is uh is a really

rewarding feeling correct the the backdrop that you have back here so can you talk a little bit about that and it kind of comes out in the shot but i mean you got tom brady on there you got masfidl on there calid and a bunch jimmy and a bunch of heads so um i mean so when i transitioned so in 2020 in COVID, you know, everything was shut down. It was very hard to work with kids, you know, in terms of, you know, summer camps and trainings. And with the adults, it was a little bit more, you know, it was more lenient, right? So that's when I had the idea of, you know, because this is my livelihood, my business. I've been an entrepreneur since day one, never really had a job, a nine to five. Like, this is just in my blood. So when I transitioned to, to this idea of courts at an

adult basketball league in 2020, that's when the gym started to kind of take form and we added the scoreboard and the wall and all that. So when we started that wall was just kind of blank. The name of our league is obviously court side basketball league. So me with a good friend of mine, Mandy Prieto, shout out to him. He does, you know, a lot of our printing and uniforms and all that type of stuff. So it was me and him where we were kind of talking like, you know, we got to put something cool on that wall. And then he had the idea of like, this is courtside. So why don't we put celebrities sitting courtside?

Which I thought was brilliant. So that's where you see these guys. Now, this is, I think, our second banner there where we've changed up the celebrities. So the idea this time, you see Tyree Kill, which is played at Courtside, Nikki Jam, which is played at Courtside. Jimmy Butler actually came to watch a year ago. So he was in the stands. Jorge Mastodal came to watch about a year.

year ago. Osuna's played here a ton. Who else do we got here? And then we added some, is Osuna, like does he play ball well? Yeah, Osuna's actually really good. Super skilled, fiery, competitive, but he could play. Nicky Jam, you know, is in his 40s, but he just picked a basketball recently, but plays every single day for the last couple years. So he's not as advanced, but, um, but Osuna Cabal. Like, I don't, I'm not sure if he play like in the high school level or whatnot, but, but he's got the skill set. Yeah, he's got the skill set for sure. That's dope. But yeah, um, so you came, so you come, come up with this adult league essentially because of COVID, basically, right? Kind of built that model. So let's actually get into a little bit

about what court side is and, uh, yeah, how it's kind of evolved into this adult league, essentially. Man, so courtside. So I grew up, I'm 33 years old now from as long as I can remember, I've been playing basketball. Like, it's the only sport I've ever played, right? Born and raised in Miami, been in the basketball community in Miami forever, right? I've played in adult basketball leagues growing up since I think junior year of high school, like at 17. I played in all the local leagues. Okay. The day and age that we're at now with the internet and with social media and all that is able to, that's how we're able to provide the services that we do.

But even back then, it was kind of like a situation where you go play your game, you get up with some buddies, you form a team, go play your game, and then you leave, right? Which was cool, because you're able to play after high school or after college ball, you still could play competitively, like in an organized league with a ref and all that. My idea, especially when I really started

to think about what I could do in 2020, was like, why don't we create a situation where it's like, you almost feel like a college NBA player, like a pro, but just like in a rec league, you know, there's so many guys, not only in Miami, around the world, like, it's so hard to play college basketball. I think it's like 1% of all high school basketball players. And then even then, like, there's good players. Like, you went to Columbus. How many kids are there in Columbus?

Like, at the varsity level, there's 10 players on a team, maybe six or seven that are really, playing. It's an all-boy school, huge school. This is just an example. But in Columbus, for instance, there's so many guys there that could play that are good basketball players, but there's limited spots. So the idea was like, if we could get all these guys that have a passion for the game, because basketball's fun as hell, great workout. It's competitive too. Competitive, but like stress reliever, like an escape from the real world, especially at the time of 2020, you know. So the idea was if we could give like that feel where like you're noticed, there's highlight videos. We provide player rankings.

All our games are live streamed on YouTube. So you play, it's live streamed and then it gets posted. So you could go back two years ago and watch a game that you played, you know, with your buddies. So like just providing all that extra attention and like the content was really like my idea and really what we've done. and really what we've been able to execute. But that's really where it started, because I play college basketball. And I'm like, man,

not everybody got like that feel and attention. Like, if we could provide that for just an average Joe, we really have something. Yeah. You created something where people feel, like you said, that they're in something bigger than just a pickup game on the court.

Correct. You're going here. You're creating player rankings. You're creating kind of like something that people look forward to because, like, you said, You grew up playing basketball your whole life. You don't really lose that, right? Like, I played baseball and football my whole life.

And when it kind of got taken away from me, you almost like lose a little bit of that identity, right? Because like, you're so, that's all you know. Like, I remember going into college and just being like, I am done playing ball. Like now what do I do with my life, you know? So I was like, okay, I'll get into the strength and conditioning world because like that's what I like, player development and shit like that.

But reality is I was still looking for that. Then I started coaching like a Little League baseball team because I had a younger brother at the time that was playing baseball. And like that was my way of like staying involved and then going and playing and just throwing in the at the park with one of my boys like because you just you build such a relationship with the game. So now here you have people that they, whether you played even high school college ball like that's what you did when you were a kid. You went to the park and you go you go play with your boys. Right. So here now all of a sudden you have like a space. where you can come with your boys and play competitively, which is sick.

Yeah, man, I think mental health is like a huge issue, especially nowadays. I think it's more like, you know, popular and more out in the open. And we all understand how important it is. Even for me, like, I play in the league as well, like, knowing, like, you have a game, one day out of the week, right? You get to come here. It's an escape completely because, you know, as an athlete, like when you're in the game,

you can't be really thinking about anything else, any problems regarding finances or relationships. Like, you're just focused on that game. And being able to just focus on the game and on the moment, like when that game's over, especially after like sweating, so that physical workout as well, like it's almost like a reset.

Like you just feel refreshed. You feel happier. And then not only the game, but leading up to the game, you know, the group chat with your boys and being able to reconnect, they're going to Flannies after and having a beer.

And then the next day, getting the stats and going on the YouTube and watching, like, it's just a disconnect from everything that's, you know, going on. And, you know, life could be tough at times. As an adult, you know, as a kid, you just worry about the game and school. But as an adult, so many of these guys have so many responsibilities and things going on that the escape of, like, having courts at having a community that they could come and play and get excited for the next game. And it's just kind of like a hobby.

but like an escape, you know, like where when you just go play at the park, you play, you leave, it's great. Right. But this is like so much more. It's a buildup and then the after effects of the game. That to me is like the most rewarding part. And then also there's been a ton of guys, man, that were just, they came in the league out of shape, you know, especially in 2020.

You're home all day, you know, eating and depressed in a way. And then, you know, you come here and you're not only getting in shape in the one hour game a week or some guys are on two or three teams, but it's not. not only in those one to three hours, it's the motivation of like, I want to go to the gym because I want to be better in the league, right? So we've seen so many guys just be out of shape and drop 20, 30, 40 pounds and just like they're just back into it. Or even guys that were in somewhat shape, like, they just got that love for the game back

where they're like, shit, I got a league. Like, I feel like I'm playing high school again. And so we've been able to build a community over these years and just, it's really impacting people's lives for real. Oh yeah, it's crazy. The mental health thing is a big thing. You know, it's something that people, like you said, are becoming more aware of. And just like you have to take care of your physical health, you got to take care of the mental side of your health.

And it takes work. You know, it takes time that you put in. And, you know, everyone, I think has their own way of doing it. And I do think sports and, you know, just being around a community is a great way to do it. It's something, like you said, you're working all day. You want something to disconnect, right? And like, and this is where you, you've kind of created that space, which is dope. For sure, man.

Yeah. That's huge. The next thing that I wanted to ask you, right? So I want to join Corside, let's say, like, how does that process work for someone that wants to join the league? Yeah. So, the biggest platform, like,

the platform that we use the most is Instagram. Okay. You know, we're on TikTok. TikTok, obviously we're on YouTube. We have a podcast of our own, and then we have our website. We post, like, a lot of, you know, announcements and what's going on in the league

through Instagram and now with our podcast, that's fairly new. But it's simple. Like, you just go on the website, and you can register when the registration is open. Now with courtside, there's no, like, restrictions in terms of, like, you bring your own team, right?

So it's not like you sign up, and then you're, like, in a draft type thing where we might pair you up with a dude that lives in Kendall that you've never met before, right? Like, so, and that's what's cool about it. Like, you bring your boys, right? You bring your friends. You bring people from work.

You bring all the time. So it's, like, kind of like a networking type thing, where it's like, all right, all my brothers from the bank come and play, you know, things like, that. So you go on, you register, you know, obviously there's a fee and a process of putting in on, you know, your registration information, but you bring your own team. It's limited. This league has grown so much. We're at an average of 110 teams a season. So we go.

10 teams. So we go every day of the week. There's games from Monday through Sunday. We have games. So there's limited spots in this location. We're in the process of opening other locations as well. Nice. But yeah, man, you just bring your. team and there's divisions. Right. You know, obviously. We don't want to pair a team up with a couple guys that haven't played basketball

in eight years, maybe play when they were younger in a youth league and, and they do no type of exercise with guys that play professional or are still playing professional because our highest division does have that. So, you know, our slogan on our Instagram is from pros to average Joe's. There's a division for you. That's kind of what we write. So that kind of explains our mindset, whether you're a professional athlete, playing in the NBA or whether you're a dude that hasn't touched the ball in eight years,

you could come and get good competition. Nice. Has there been any big upsets in like the pro leagues? Like these guys that you think are just like just going to run the show and they end of not? Well, really we try our best to group the divisions as good as possible. So like in our highest division, which is now called the Hooper's Division, the talent is evenly distributed.

But if you can't play, like if you're not. in shape. If you don't have size, if you don't have some type of elite skill or athleticism, you won't be able to play in that division. Like, it's extremely, extremely competitive. Carlos O'Royal, which is a legend in Puerto Rico, played in the NBA for like 10 years, played at FIU, still bawling at his age, early 40s, but he plays in our highest division. And dude, the guy looks like he could still play in the NBA to this day. But We don't want a dude coming from the park and just show up and ball gets thrown up and they see they have to guard Carlos Arroyo, right? So we make sure to distribute the talent in an even way. But you see upsets all the time, man. It gets so competitive. The format that we have, it's four on four.

Regulation basketball is obviously five on five because the court is shorter and not as wide. We do four on four, which makes it actually more competitive. Shorter core, you know, like... Exactly. So, man, this gym has a unique atmosphere where there are upsets because anything could happen in here, really. And then how's a format of the games? Is it four quarters? So we do two halves, two 20-minute halves. Gotcha. We go running clock, and then the last two minutes, the clock stops.

One thing that we do that's really unique, that there's never been an adult basketball league to ever do this, is that we have challenges similar to the NBA. Okay. So each team gets a challenge per game. So if the ref makes a call, it could be a file, a travel, and you think it's the wrong call, you call the challenge signal. We stop the game. We have our two refs come together with one of our managers that handles the videos. They meet a half-court, and through the YouTube stream, they could rewind, slow it down, look at the call, and change it. If you get the challenge right, you get another challenge.

Little things like that just make the league fun. We have a shot clock as well that we use the last five minutes of the game. 24-second shot clock. So it's just those little details that make the league unique and special. And you can you, and you can file out all that? No individual foulouts. Okay. Like a regular game, if it's 17 files.

Right. On the foul, it could be on the floor. And it's a one-on-one. 10 files would be two shots automatically. What we don't want, like, and people will be like, dude, this guy has 15 files in a game, right? Which is crazy. But like, you're paying money. You're coming to playing a league.

You don't want someone to, like, play 10 minutes. Right, and then foul out. And trust me, if there was foulouts, half the league would be filed out. Exactly. We got a lot of dudes here that don't know what to play, never really played organized basketball. The rules are different in the streets. The reaching and all that shit. Yeah, and our refs, a good amount of them, like, ref high school, some ref college.

So, like, the rules are a lot different in an organized game than in the streets. Gotcha. So a lot of the guys in the lower division will, like, file. And they'll be like, how's that a fight? But they don't really know the rules. You know, so, yeah, and guys pay to play here. Like, look, if you come here and file 10 times, then they're going to be shooting free throws the whole time regardless. But we don't want a guy to come here.

And maybe the refs do make bad calls. Maybe they make a couple of bad calls. And now you've got to go home early. You've been looking forward to the game all week. People bring friends, families, kids. That's cool. So, yeah, do you file as many times you're going to hurt your team, but you can file 40 times in the game. You're going to play regardless.

For sure. So then my next question is, how have you? you got in like the Tyreeks of the world, the Ozunas of the world to be able to come out here. So I mentioned Carlos O'Royo. He's somebody I'm super appreciative of. He's like the first former pro type celebrity, famous dude that's been at a court side. He's a guy that's been, you know, he has a house here in Miami, been playing in these men's leagues for as long as I can remember. So I hit him up through Instagram when we first started and he's like, yeah, I'm going to go check it out.

Loves basketball. So he came to play, loved the league, show love since date one. And then, you know, he's like a reggaeton artist and producer now. So he's linked in with the Nikki Jams and the Asuna's and all them. So when he saw we had different divisions, because usually all the men's leagues are like the competitive players play. There's never really been a league where it's like the couch potatoes, like the guys that sucks have a place to play.

There's never really been that. So he had a group of buddies in the music industry that play on a regular basis, never really at the time, they've gotten way better, never at the time good enough to like, that he could bring them to a five-on-five regulation type league. But he's like, hey, you have the lower, they're going to like this core. You know, you have some lower divisions. So it started with him bringing like guys in, in Nikki Jam's entourage. David Bocillo used to be an artist, a guy that's tightened in the entourage with Nikki Jam.

He started off with bringing Nikki. Nicky loved it that led to Osuna, some other smaller type artists in the reggaeton industry. Anuel, I met recently. He's in talks of coming, you know. These guys have busy schedules as well. Playing skills is a super famous artist in the reggaeton space that has played.

So that's how we got those guys. Tyree Kill was just straight up, I DM them. So I saw, this was before. This is when he was. still with the chief. Yeah, okay. But he had to come down to Miami. He has a house in Ocala, but he will come to Miami a lot.

Okay. So I had seen him playing for his birthday. He had rented out of gym locally. I think it was South Miami High School when I saw him playing. So I'm like, yo, if you ever want to play in a league, let's hoop, which is our slogan. And then he hit me up right away. He's like, yo, I'm down. It's crazy.

I think like the next day, like, yo, tomorrow at 10. And I'm like, yeah, I'll set up a game for you. So he came through. He brought Cole Hardman, which got the game. winner in the Super Bowl. So he brought him. He ended up bringing Waddle once he got to the Dolphin. So Tyree Kills come here like 10 times. Oh shit. Yeah. So he's played. He's actually played on my team in the actual league. But if there's a time where there's like I'll set up an exhibition for him with with refs and everything. Nice. So he brought Waddle, but Tyree Kill was always

super cool. But yeah, it was just a DM. Who else came? Jimmy Butler's cousin played in the league. So this was last year, we were up 3-0 on the Celtics. They had like a two-day break before game four. During that break, Jimmy Butler pulled up to watch his cousin play. I don't know if you remember, but right after that, the Celtics won three in a row. So it was like a court-side curse. So I'm praying like, too, we got to win game seven. Yeah, so he pulled up with a couple.

actually pulled up with C. Brickley, which is a famous basketball trainer in the New York area. So he pulled up with him. He was really cool. Did you guys know that he was going to show up? Yeah. So his cousin was playing like at 8 o'clock. It was a regular game. So game started six. So I usually pull up like around 4.30, depending on what I got going on. That day I pulled up like around four. I had a couple of things to do in the office. So as I start coming in, I see like three or four dudes like in suits. like around like in the corner like what the hell's going on here and it was only me so when I pull up they're like hey one of the guys came up to me and he's like hey is this area secure how do you get in how do you get out I'm like yo I run the league like what's going on he's like uh

Jimmy Butler's gonna pull up later to watch his cousin I'm like okay awesome so uh I introduced myself this and that showed him how to get up where he could exit all all that type of stuff so then he um he was like all right he'll be I'm gonna get your number So like around like seven o'clock, seven 30, send me a text. All right, he's coming through. So I made sure the number one thing when you have celebrities is you got to make sure that they get treated respectfully. And we want it to be a place that they could pull up and just chill. Right.

Right. Like we don't want them to be getting harassed and autographs and pictures. So we kind of gave him the red carpet to the corner. There's not a ton of space, but we kind of gave him his space. Didn't announce it to anyone. He watched the game. Left. And that was it.

Jorge Mastradal, we had a team called East Havana. Okay. From the Little Havana area. They were playing in a championship game. This place was packed, like people everywhere. And these were like his childhood friends. They told him to pull up. He pulled up, was like standing against that wall.

Well, he first pulled up. They played against Better, which is Jake Paul's company. Okay. Sports betting. So that game was hyped up. So he like pulled up, like talking shit to those guys, kind of making it fun, was here, watched the game, and then left. So, I mean, they all have kind of.

kind of like their unique story. I'm trying to see who else. But, but yeah, man, that's kind of the gist of it. And we have more celebrities we're working on. I have pull up too. That's dope. I mean, it's great exposure for the brand, too. Like, shit, people see that these guys are rolling through here.

You see a clip on social media and they're like, damn, we got to go to court side, like see what the hell is going on. What's really cool about it is like a lot of these guys will play like in celebrity games, right? We have guys. this is open to the general public this is not a celebrity league anybody could play you know what's cool is like

when Osuna plays they're playing against whoever they're scheduled to play like we're not setting up a special game Osuna's part of a team so he comes to show up he's playing against a random team of guys that graduated from Columbia whatever a coral park and then they're like oh shit I just pulled up to my

rec league game and I'm playing against Osuna happened with Tyree Kill a bunch too where they're like shit I played against the Cheetah so that's funny that makes it that makes it pretty cool. You never know. You come play and you might play against a celebrity. Yeah.

It happens. So, yeah, that's fun, man. It's definitely cool. Guys enjoy it. That's cool. I'm sure that's obviously one of the, like, highlights of why you do what you do and what makes it such a- rewarding.

But yeah, definitely helps the brand, man. We have a big following in Puerto Rico because of it. You know, we make sure to get content of these guys when they come play and we post it and stuff like that. So that's help go our Instagram following as well. Is the goal then to take it?

because you said about looking for other locations, are you going to just try to, like, dominate the South Florida region first and then see where it goes from there? Are you thinking, like, you have your Miami spot, maybe go, like, Orlando. How does that growth look like? I mean, like any entrepreneur,

I think what happens is, like, I built courtside from nothing. Like, there was nothing before. There's nothing I inherited. I started my Instagram page with zero followers, started the league with zero players. like straight from the bottom and then like,

and there's been a lot of help throughout the process and guys that have gotten involved and are part of my team now and partners and things like that. But on my side, like with the creative, I kind of like get paranoid about like franchising it

and then someone opening in Orlando and then them not running it the right way, you know? Yep. But I know as an entrepreneur that's kind of like a fear you got to get over if you want to continue to grow and expand. It's valid though because it could

it could hurt your reputation I know people that they've done that, like, on the restaurant side, and, you know, it came with those challenges of, yeah, we open another location, but now we got to deal with how they're operating. And it's not necessarily how I would operate it as the founder of it. So it is a real challenge when it comes to that. Yeah. And I think what makes courtside is kind of like those little details and the relationships and, like, there's so many little, can it be franchised? Absolutely. Yeah.

You know, I think it can. and maybe it gets to that at one point. But for right now, like you said, our main focus is like, let's just dominate the Miami area. Really, let's give back to the Miami area because it's been needed. You know, like, I have obviously, like, some, like,

skin in the game, not only, like, being a part of it, but also, like, I care about the Miami basketball community. So it's been something cool to provide this to people I've known forever and people coming up. who knows where it goes eventually. You know, I think sponsors are going to get involved. Nesquick recently became a sponsor of ours, which has been amazing, again, to start something from the scratch.

And then, you know, Nesquick giving you a check to just have their logo on the floor or be a part of it and give us product to give out to people for free. And that's something that's been really cool for me. And I think more sponsors and bigger sponsors, you know, maybe a Nike. great sponsor product. I mean, from, you know, obviously you have like the court and things that you could put on the court, but then you have the jerseys and stuff like that. Then that's something that you can get sponsored. You have then the digital component of it, which then can you could

really get sponsored. And like you said, you're starting a podcast. So like that avenue could help you monetize the shit out of this because obviously you can get monetization through the league and like players and people signing up. But the sponsorable revenue is like, that's endless what you could do with it because the product itself is so good. A hundred percent. You know, we've had thoughts of like starting like a like a series through YouTube, like episodes of like following the league, almost like a reality show type thing where you're following people.

Like a lot of these guys in the league through our content become like kind of famous like celebrities within this small news. It's almost like a reality TV show. So like we have guys that play in the league, right, that, you know, are not, they're nowhere near celebrities are influencers. But through the league, now they're known to these other thousand people where they're like, yo, this guy, let's stay and watch him, or now they follow him. You know what I mean? So we've created that.

I think there's so much more to expand in that area where like, especially in the day and age where there's so many, you know, influencers are a thing. Like people become famous through just content. Yeah. So I think something like that, I don't know the details is kind of like brewing in my mind, but something where we make kind of like, you know, a series on YouTube or another platform where like you're following them along. If we could expand in the digital space more than the actual like physical space,

that would be ideal for me. Another thing is opening a location where we have three, four courts with under one roof, you know, and we could provide, you know, whether it's a recovery, you strengthen conditioning, a smoothie bar, like kind of take the experience of like somewhere to come hang out to the next level where it's like if we have a game, we could go and, you know, get a lift in, and then after we could chill and go to like the little sports bar within the place and like kind of make it a whole experience with a membership. There's so many directions that it could take. People have pitched me so many different things. I think it's more just

hooking up with the right, you know, investor and the right people to really grow this thing. But right now we're just enjoying like the baby steps we're taking have paid off and the league has grown a lot. So as long as you're enjoying it, the process is always fun. I think that's where we're at right now with it. That's cool. That's cool. What would you say is the, the biggest challenge that you've faced since you've started this up? Like any business, like any business in art, whether it's, you know, a restaurant, school, like when you're dealing with a high volume of people, right, and we've been blessed that there's so many good people in relationships we've built in this league, but, you know,

when you have a thousand people, right, playing in a league, you're going to deal with some stubborn people, right? Some people that are not the easiest to get along with. So, you know, basketball is a physical sport. It's a competitive sport. You know, every now and then you have altercations on the court. Thank God we've been blessed where it's never exceeded anything. And we have a really good staff where it doesn't ever really get to like the fighting or the violence. Like people respect the space and respect the league where it doesn't get there. But obviously you got to manage that on a day-to-day basis and keep people you know, cool scheduling with so many teams could be tough as well.

You know, you got to get everyone their games and throughout the week. So, like, I think what happens is a stigma of like, you know, if we started a court set in the adult league, like, that's a brilliant idea. Like, we could do it too. Like, just put people together with the content. They have no idea how much time goes into this. How much talent you need to be able to run this, like creative, entrepreneurial, like, type talent and then how much like work goes into it.

Like running courtside is not easy at all. And if I didn't love it, I don't think it would be successful. Because the challenges I enjoy, but it's tough, man. It's a lot. I think it looks a lot more glorious from the outside than when you're on the inside. That's like any business, you know. I'm sure you know as somebody that is an entrepreneur. Like anytime someone sees a successful business,

they're like, dude, that dude's bawling. And they start counting the money and like, yo, he's got this many people at that, this price, but they don't know the expenses. They don't know how much money you've put into the business. They don't know your overhead. They don't know the time and effort that goes into it. So I think people look and say, man, if we really did something, but they don't like, not anybody could just run this.

And it's just like not everyone could run the podcast. Like it looks, yo, he's running a podcast. Like, it's so. Yeah, they don't know all the ends and outside goes. into it from the financial side, you know, the time-wise, the mental component of it. Like, I think about this shit all day, all day. I wake up. It's the first thing I think of.

I go to sleep. It's the last thing I think of. It's just on my mind all the time. But like you said, if you just enjoy it and you believe in the product that you're creating, nothing's going to really stop you. I mean, obviously there's a level of consistency that has to go into it and always kind of perfecting your craft, I guess. Right? But there's really no end game at the end of it. You choose when that end game is. Because there's always going to be an evolution to it.

I think the only way you're going to be successful as an entrepreneur is if you really love it, because it gets so hard and challenging that you'll just be like, screw this. I'm going to get a job and something that's safe. But as an entrepreneur, if you love it, like, even if I wasn't getting, like, if I hit the lotto, I think I'll still be running this because I enjoy it that much. It just feels all my, like, I'm so creative that I need, like, I have to be doing this, you know, or running a business in some type of way. But I think another thing that's underestimated in entrepreneurship is, like, the reason you're able to do this podcast so well and conduct interviews is because not only do you put the time, but you have a certain level of talent as well and God-given abilities, you know. I think with entrepreneurship, like you look at an athlete and you're like, obviously Steph Curry put in work, right? But Steph Curry was also blessed with the ability to be able to put a basketball in a hoop, right? So he started off. His baseline was probably here and then his skills helped them to get here where other people, regular people, probably start down here.

The fact that you're able to do these interviews and do what you do so well is because you've been blessed, I think, with a gift to be able to do it. it. It's true. And then obviously your hard work and all that helps you enhance your ability. But I think people look at entrepreneurs like anybody could do that. Yo, he's got that. Like if he could do it, I can do it. Right.

Like, to gov, do it. Because anybody could do it. Exactly. Anybody could start a business. You go on SunBiz and you open up an LLC and anyone could do it. But it's very hard to succeed in business. You have to have a certain level of talent. Yeah.

And then it's like, like, there's no like I left my office at five. It's the boss's problems. just going to focus on whatever I got. When you're an entrepreneur and have a business, you're like your brain's flipped on all day. All the time, bro. All the time. And I love it. Me too. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Right. I'm like, it's like it comes with a, you know, a level of flexibility. And you said it in the beginning as like you, you as an entrepreneur, have always had that in you, right? Because you knew like, hey, I want, I want that freedom and flexibility to do things my way, right? Whereas you go work a nine to five, you obviously don't have

that you're within the walls of your organization and you do what your job entails you to do. Whereas an entrepreneur, you have that creative liberty to be able to do it your way, the way that you believe is right. Whether it's the right way or not, that's a different story,

but you have that choice. And I think that's one of the best things about entrepreneurship, is that like you do it your way. And also, I don't think I have a choice whether to be an entrepreneur. I'm a terrible employee.

Like, I'm whole, horrible. Like, any job I have, I'm like really, really bad, right? Because my brain does not allow me to just go and do a job and then leave. Like, since I was, like, eight, nine years old, I was thinking of ways to make money. Like, I remember having, like, an entrepreneur book when I was, like, eight or nine. And it's just, like, it's just the way I was built, right? So to me, it's like the only way.

And I think when people get into business, they kind of have like a plan B. Like if it doesn't work out, I could always, you know, I have my degree so I could go get a job over here. Oh, I could go work for my mom or whatever the case may be. To me, when I start a business, I make sure that I have no backup plan because if I don't have a backup plan, I know it's going to succeed because I have no choice. You don't have an option. Especially now. I have a wife and two kids, right? So shit changes.

It has to work. Right. And I think too many people have a plan B, something to fall back on. So in the times of adversity, they could just revert to that. If you really believe in something and are passionate about a business, I wouldn't have any backup plan and I would make sure you just go all in. That's true. There's a podcast that I listen to and they're like, don't ever have a plan B because if you give yourself that option, you're going to have that in the back of your head saying, hey, you know what? If this doesn't work, at least I know I have that. you're not going to give it your all knowing that you have something on the back end in the case that it doesn't work. Like you said, if I say, hey, this is it and if I don't,

if this doesn't work, I have nothing. So I have to make this work. And I think that's the difference. It's like, it's a mental switch that you turn on, right? Because you're like, this shit doesn't work out. Like, I'm screwed. And you have your back against the wall 24-7 so you don't have an option but to figure it out.

And you're not going to have to do it by yourself. Like, you know, you have people around you that are going to help you. And, you know, I think you have, like you said, you've built a good team of people around you. And I think that's where the magic happens, right? It's that level adversity that comes with, like, not having that option, supplementing it with, like, a good amount of people around you to help you kind of execute it. I think that's where basketball has helped me. You know, you could be a phenomenal basketball player. You could be LeBron James. You could be Michael Jordan. If you don't have the right role players, if you don't have a rebounder, a defender,

This guy could face the floor and shoot. This guy here comes off the bench and he has his role. I think the team concept is amazing. Like athletes that get into entrepreneurship because although I'm the head guy and everything falls on me, I know how to delegate and be like, I'm not very good in that area. So I'm going to hire. So it's almost like the game of basketball.

I know I'm a really good shooter, but I need a big man, right, to give the ball to it. Because when they double him, he could pass it back out to me and I could shoot it. Like, that type of training throughout my whole life put me in a position now where I don't, I just handle in court side what I'm good at and everything else is delegated. And I've had to invest a lot of money to get other people involved, but it's the only way the business is, you're going to want to grow.

But yeah, I try to not give myself any plan B. Like, for instance, I played four years of college basketball. I played at Palm Beach Atlantic, a Division 2 in West Palm Beach. I was eligible all four years. I do not have my college degree. When basketball season ended my senior year, I stopped going to class, right? I'm like a semester away from graduating college,

and I won't do it. The reason I won't do it is my brother. My brother is the same shit. But it's like without knowing, like a couple years ago, I really thought about it because everybody around me is like, just finish your degree. Like you put so much time, you have so many credits.

Like, just finish it. Subconsciously, like, it took me time to, like, meditate on the fact of, like, why don't I just go back and finish? And I think the reason why is because I knew that if I finished and business got tough, with that degree, I could go get a job anywhere. I could go work at a school and be a key teacher. I could go work anywhere, right? So I was like, I'm not going to get that degree.

It forces me to really go all in business. And it's, that's helped me. So I have zero aspiration and motivation to finish college. Yeah, it's, it's how you've wired the brain to work, you know? So you're telling yourself, if I do that, that might be my escape. I don't want anything to fall back. I don't want any, yeah. I don't want any, like zero excuse to be able to be like, all right, let me go do this.

Because you got to go all in, man. It's tough to make it in business. If you're not all in, you won't make it. I think they say like the average is like after four years, businesses are, you know, they shut them down because like the people just, whether they just, they run out of the capital or, you know, they just burnt, burnt out and they just don't want to do it anymore. But I think the average, like, life expectancy of a startup is, is four years. So, you know, if you just think about that, if you're able to even get past that point,

you're like, holy shit, okay, I'm doing something, right? Like, something's working. Yeah. And which you kind of need to remind yourself about that, right? Because, like, down that journey, you have, you, you're like, fuck, like, am I doing this right? Like, is it, you know, you're weighing every option, you're thinking of every situation for the business.

And you're like, you know what? I have to give myself more credit along the way to be like shit. Like I, I've lasted longer than probably like 90% of other entrepreneurs. And I'm creating a product that people actually care about. Like that's, that says something. I have to do that all the time. I'm always thinking about where Cortez is going to be. Right.

Right. And like the future of where out and sometimes I got to just like be in the moment and you can be like, dude, you work so hard and we're wishing so bad to be where you're at right now. That's true. where sometimes, and it's tough as an entrepreneur because you're always wired to make more. Sometimes you just got to sit in the moment and be appreciative of how far it's come.

Luckily, I have people around me that remind me how big it's gotten and how much we've improved. But yeah, that's like a daily thing because we're just wired to like want to achieve more and more and more. Sometimes you just got to chill and enjoy what you've been able to build. So I agree with that 100%. Yeah. So before we wrap it up,

I want to just get into a little bit about like what your thoughts are on Miami and South Florida basketball. It feels like over the last five years, it's really blossom. I mean, obviously high school has gotten big down here with a, you know, no bias, but Columbus. But you have other big schools in the state of Florida that are pulling a ton of talent. What's your just thought of the landscape of South Florida basketball right now? I mean, so I could speak on this. I'm the head coach at True North. Oh, okay.

Yeah. So I'm the head basketball coach. I started the program there five. five years ago. So that's kind of what I do on the side, my way of really being in the game even more and giving back to these kids and something I'm passionate about as well. I think that Miami basketball is at a place right now that it's really never been before. And I say that in a positive way. I think it really started, you know, with the big three when LeBron chose to come to the heat. You know, a lot of the kids, during that time when LeBron came over,

Forget what year it was specifically. I want to say it was like 2011, 2010? Yeah. 2010, yeah. So around that time, you got to think, these kids were probably in elementary, the kids that are now in high school. You know, when you have a player like LeBron James

and the buzz it brought in the city and all over the world, right? You're going to have kids that are, you know, in the process of choosing a sport that are just going to be so much more interested in wanting to play basketball because of LeBron and Wade and Bosch and the heat are winning. So I think in that time, it kind of sparked the city, and it's just been on an upward trend since then.

South Florida, Miami specifically, has dominated the state tournament in Lakeland. You know, you have, you know, Belen won a state championship last year. Riviera Prepp has won back-to-back state championships. Matterlakes won it last year. Columbus has been dominant with three state championships in a row. The amount of Division I basketball players getting full rides from the United States. the Miami area, which is known as a football, you know, a place, football city and then baseball with our Hispanic background. But basketball is, I think, slept on throughout the whole country.

But if you really look at it now, like the amount of success that Miami's had in basketball, you know, even the University of Miami, we went two years in a row, we went to the lead eight, and then went to the final four. FAU is another one. And, you know, there's so many good coaches down here. There's so many parks where people play. Like, it's gotten, you know, years ago, like five, six years ago, I made a video about how parks are kind of dead and people aren't going to play anymore, but now, like, parks have picked up.

And I really think that this could be considered a basketball town now because of the amount of success, man, even from, like, the youth, like the small youth, they're having a lot of success in the travel ball circuit as compared to, like, you know, around the country and states and cities that are known for basketball, like a New York and like a D.C. or Texas, like, we're able to compete with those guys now. So it's a blessing to me because I'm running my business and I'm coaching, but it's a really good time for Miami basketball. Yeah. I think social media also plays a big part in it because like these kids see it. You know, they're like on TikTok, Instagram and things like that and they're like, you know, this is cool, right? Like being in a league

and they do the travel ball and all that stuff. And they kind of be like, I want to be that. You know, so I think that's really evolved, I guess, basketball, because basketball was really an afterthought. Like you said, after football and baseball, then it was basketball. And now I feel like it's right up there in the mix with the other two. If anything, I think it's definitely surpassed baseball. Baseball feels like a little bit of a dying breed, unfortunately. It's not like as cool. It's not as entertaining, not as cool.

I don't think they help themselves. I don't think the rules change too much. I think in social media, they don't have as much of a presence, but basketball is just a sport that people love, man. It's cool, it's exciting. And it always helps when the heat are good, which even when LeBron left went to the finals,

like the heat continue. Yeah, the heat, I'm a heat fan, but the heat helps all types of businesses. And you'll be surprised how much, like, our professional team in the Miami Heat will influence the youth and that buzz that the heat will bring, how much it helps, and just the overall interest from everybody

in the city on basketball is good for businesses like mine. So I'm always hoping that he could, yeah, could win. And let's see what they do now in the offseason. Hopefully, I know. I know it's been a topic of conversation this off season that they're not making moves and that Riley likes his team and he thinks it's been more of an injury thing than a talent thing, which I don't necessarily disagree with it. That's why I saw a lot of people.

I'm like, I don't think people realize what the heat have accomplished over the last eight years, you know, two finals appearance. is and injuries were a big reason why we probably didn't win those championships. And you're talking about a completely different situation if you win those two, right? And everyone's like, well, yeah, maybe we do have the team. So I think everyone's just kind of like frustrated, obviously, but we also haven't gotten the breaks maybe that ultimately maybe would have gotten us a couple championships. I think Miami is a city where everybody wants results fast, right?

Yeah, 100%. Instant gratification. And it's like, you made it to the championship last year. year, although we were missing key players and we got eliminated to the eventual champs, it's like dismantle the whole team right away, which I don't think is the answer. I think, um, first of all, we need to trust Riley and Spolstra because they know way more than any of us, myself included. Exactly. And they've proven to be, look at what they've built, the heat culture, right? So I think Miami fans, number one, need to be a patient, right? And trust the organization.

But I think you're absolutely right. I think with our full team healthy, I think we have a very competitive team. But everybody loves the big names. Like, yo, but they have this and we don't have those big names. Exactly. They want the superstar name. The only guy I want personally is Anthony Edwards. And if that means tanking and playing with a middle school team for the next three, four years, whenever he's a free agent, I would do that because I do the beast. He is a beast. That's like way to 2.0 coming to Miami.

So that's selfishly what I would want. Anthony Edwards. But yeah, I think if we're fully healthy, you know, with Jimmy, Hero, Ban. And you develop these guys in Triple J. and Jovick and now the rookie that we just got. I think the roster's there. Man, listen, I love the heat. I support the heat.

And whoever's on that court, it could be me, you, us four, just us four against five NBA players. And with Spow and Riley and that coach, we're going to find the way to be in the game, right? So that's what I love about the heat. It's tough nowadays from the high school, college level and on with so many transfers and so many, like, free agency.

It's so common to leave. it's hard to really build like a culture and we always find the right guys. So I'm a proud heat fan. Me too. Win or lose or whatever Pat or Spole decides to do, I'll be at Heat Games and I'll be supporting them and they're going to win. Absolutely. It's a proven product for sure.

Well, we appreciate it, brother. It was a good time. I really enjoyed the conversation. Honestly, I could talk for another hour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I appreciate it and the space is awesome. I've definitely got to, I want to come to a couple games. You got to get you out here.

Yeah, yeah. for sure. Oh, I'm down as fuck. Sure. I haven't looked in a while, but I'm down. Stay tranquil. I get, I get, I'm a good shooter. I get shoot the three ball well. That's all you need to do. Stay out of the floor. Nowadays, it's a three-point conference. Exactly. Yeah, cool. All right, man, thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you, guys.