The Bill Simmons Podcast - 2013 Heat vs. 2018 GSW plus the future With Chris Bosh Part Two (Ep. 337)

Episode Date: March 9, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by two-time NBA champion Chris Bosh to discuss the conspiracy behind the 2008 Olympics leading to LeBron's "Decision" (8:00), Bosh's blood clot issue (24:00...), Vince Carter's natural talent (38:00), Jalen Rose as a teammate (52:00), and NBA title contenders this season (1:02:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's special bonus edition of the BS Podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network, brought to you by ZipRecruiter, our presenting sponsor. And now that I've met them in person, I feel a little closer to them. I've got to be honest. Went down there. They have a nice view of the ocean. I always judge all my businesses by whether you have a view of the ocean or not. That's when you know you're doing well.
Starting point is 00:00:24 Needless to say, we do not have a view of the ocean at the ring or Tate. No. Someday. Maybe. Someday. 80% of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site in just one day. Their powerful technology distributes your job to dozens and dozens of the web's leading
Starting point is 00:00:37 job boards and identifies the right people with the right experience and invites them to apply to your job. My listeners can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com. Someday you can have an ocean view. Meanwhile, BMW. God, I love BMW. I've been driving BMWs for the past 12 years. They're all new BMW.
Starting point is 00:00:57 X3 has the level of performance you expect from a BMW. And iDrive 6.0 with an intuitive touchscreen, available safety features like active blind spot detection, next generation xDrive intelligent all-wheel drive. Oh, man, I need to test drive this one. You can test drive it. The all-new BMW X3 at your local BMW center today. BMW only makes one thing, the ultimate driving machine.
Starting point is 00:01:19 College basketball has heated up. Do not forget about Against All Odds with Cousin Sal and the degenerate trifate Trifecta, who really all they live to do is to give you who they think is going to win the semifinals of the WAC tournament. That's your go-to stuff for that. We also have one shining podcast with Tate and Titus that not only are they throwing up podcasts and micro-podcasts and all that stuff, but they're doing stuff for the Ringer Instagram as well. So keep your eyes open on that during the weekend.
Starting point is 00:01:46 Tate, what are we most excited for this weekend, college basketball? I'm excited for Tulane Temple this week. Okay. That's it? Mike Dunleavy Sr. vs. Fran Duffy. A little old school action. Mike Dunleavy Sr.'s coaching? Still coaching.
Starting point is 00:01:58 Tulane. What? Yeah. That's the beauty of college basketball. Everyone's got a job. He was such a bad corporate coach. That's unbelievable. Is there a chance he could coach you at Xavier Johnson at some point?
Starting point is 00:02:09 There's a chance in the tournament if Tulane wins it out. God, that would be great. Yeah, so check that out. We'll be covering riveting subplots like Mike Dunleavy Jr. Is he going to be in the tournament? No, the 10th seed in the American Conference. Oh, they could make it, though. They they could make it though I'm rooting for them I would love the chance to make fun of his coaching one last time
Starting point is 00:02:30 so check that out if you missed part one of this podcast with Chris Bosh we put it up yesterday and I really enjoyed it I've been waiting to talk to this guy in a long form for a while and I knew he had it in him, he's great here's part two but first
Starting point is 00:02:46 i gotta do it here they are one more time pearl jam This is the decade of, I think, people. You know, you think about when LeBron made the decision, and people were so mad, and nobody thought of athletes. People just say, I include myself. People think of athletes as, these are the guys, we watch them, we root for them, or we root against them. They're not real people. Yeah. You know's there's some sort of distance yeah and as the as the course of this decade went along that distance is gone like we're taping this on a
Starting point is 00:03:34 tuesday kevin love wrote this piece on players tribune today about you know basically mental health and some of his issues with it and it it was so personal. This is happening all the time between Twitter, Instagram, these Players' Tribune pieces, podcasts. And the distance is now gone. And I think people, Durant took a lot of heat for the Golden State thing, but also he came on my podcast four times last year. We talked about all kinds of shit. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:02 We talked about all kinds of shit. And this is a guy who's might be the best bass player in the world right now yeah giving us thoughts on everything and that's just kind of where we are in 2018 yeah i like it what do you think i don't i'm kind of mixed on it i'm on the fence about it i think for one i understand both sides i understand that um uh this is the age of information um the internet has allowed everybody to share and and at the same time this brand awareness of basketball players which is great they realize that it's more than just the game um so you're saying it's not you don't think it's 100 genuine or you think like it's just part of the game it's it's a
Starting point is 00:04:45 part of the game because the game's getting bigger right yeah so wherever you go in the world if you play an nba and that's been my experience you go anywhere in the world people know who you are and so you have that voice and that platform to express yourself um and then i'm kind of i was raised by raised by old school guys in the game, and it was always about competition and protecting yourself. So like with Kevin, in Kevin's instance, him writing that piece, and I read it, it was great. As a competitor, I would look how to exploit that. Interesting. Now, it's great for being awareness and mental health, and that's absolutely fantastic. And you need that.
Starting point is 00:05:25 But then there's a side at the same time where it's like, OK, your enemy is going to read that. And that's great that we're all friends. But then today is one trophy. Right. And information is currency. Information is definitely currency. And so, yeah, I mean, you allow people to kind of, you allow people in, which is great,
Starting point is 00:05:48 but then you allow guys on the other team in. So it's kind of, it's a balance. Did you feel that with Dallas in 2011 with those guys were talking all kinds of shit and once they smelled blood in the water with LeBron, they were really going at him? Yeah, I mean, it was a great learning experience. Jason Terry is still talking.
Starting point is 00:06:10 Yeah, I think it was in our heads because for me, I'm from Dallas, so I was back home and I had that pressure to deal with. I remember watching a couple years later some of my old high school teammates with Dallas gear on. Not teammates. Yeah, it was a teammate. It was a teammate, actually. But some people from my high school was wearing Dallas Mavericks gear.
Starting point is 00:06:35 You were like, okay. I said, oh, okay, that's cool. That's what we're doing now. That's cool. And I know we haven't spoken, but I see how you feel. Yeah. You know, I see who you're supporting. The line is in the sand, bro.
Starting point is 00:06:50 He's got on Dallas gear. I couldn't believe it. And that's after they beat us. Right. So I'm like, you know, you're a bandwagon dude. You know it. I know it. That's messed up, man.
Starting point is 00:07:01 You didn't go for the Mavericks. You wasn't wearing Mavericks gear back then. And then a person didn't go for the Mavericks. You wasn't wearing Mavericks gear back then. And then a person you know is against the Mavericks. And this is, okay, that's cool. I was always interested during that whole Miami experience. It seemed like you were really cerebral about the whole thing, even as it was happening. I think Battier was too.
Starting point is 00:07:20 I had to be. Both of you guys were kind of like, this is weird. I'll never be in another experience like this in my life yeah you have to you have to like i don't know what the word is but you have to rationalize yeah you have to rationalize what's going on because irrational things happen yeah and you have to kind of say all right well yeah this is because and then for me i started studying all the championship teams i started a deep study of that and i kind of found uh some clues in there and and so this is part of
Starting point is 00:07:53 what my basketball book was about so you must have read the disease of more pat riley i read your book yeah i read your book i didn't know i didn't read pat riley's book it wasn't that intense i told pat i was gonna read his books I think I'm ready to read his books now but as a player ah but like yeah I mean
Starting point is 00:08:10 I would watch the Celtics there's a lot of lessons from history with basketball many great lessons man and I watched them all and I watched
Starting point is 00:08:16 I watched Jordan and those guys there was a lot to learn through them I watched Shaq and those guys Shaq and Kobe Jordan and Pippen
Starting point is 00:08:23 in their 2-3 peak the back-to-back double clutch in Houston, the 80s with Bird and Magic, the Pistons getting theirs. I mean, in that study, I didn't realize that the Pistons lost in L.A., a game seven in L.A. Oh, my God. And that was a bad call. That was not a foul.
Starting point is 00:08:43 It was terrible. Not a foul at all. You're talking about the one on Kareem. Yes. Thank you. Not a foul. The Laker fans don't want to admit that they won the title on a little touch foul. A little tiny one.
Starting point is 00:08:59 Take it however you get it, man. By the way, they beat us in 87 because they jumped over uh mikhail's back for the rebound and kareem's missed free throw in game four was it yeah that it's not like i don't still think about that or anything yeah and that's how it happened so in in that you learn that there are these little moments in sports that happen now did he go over his back yeah okay he went over his back but there was still more plays to be made and sometimes you get in a position where you're either gonna rise to the occasion or you know you get beat i'm always amazed by how much injuries play a factor in the title year to year when you look back and you piled up like even you look at d rose going down
Starting point is 00:09:42 when he did in 2012 which was the only reason the celtics were even in the eastern finals but you know i i think you probably would have been chicago but it was nice you would not have to see them fully kind of no no it was somebody that gave you guys trouble yeah they had and tibbs he's crazy and the chicago fans are great and you were still able to ground and pound a little bit. Yeah. And it was still kind of more of that feeling in the NBA. It wasn't as fast as it is now.
Starting point is 00:10:12 Yeah. And they could kind of, they were like, yeah, they were huge. They were a heavyweight. They were old school. Indiana was probably the last old school team with Hibbert. Yeah, for sure. Three years later, all of a sudden that team makes no sense at all. Your game was interesting because when you started shooting threes,
Starting point is 00:10:31 I remember I had the prehistoric reaction of like, what the fuck is that guy doing? Get near the rim. How are you helping them? And nobody understood the concept of A, three points are worth more than two. B, spreading the floor is great. C, now you're opening things up for LeBron to get into the paint.
Starting point is 00:10:48 Well, that's what it was about. You're not clogging the lane. We had two attackers. We eventually realized it. Yeah, we had two attackers, and I had to kind of really go deep into our team and kind of see who we were. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:58 I was the two guard. Right. LeBron and D were the classic kind of postmen. Those are our post players. It just so happens that LeBron was our point guard too, and Dwayne played off the ball. Yeah. And he can play the pick and roll too.
Starting point is 00:11:13 But post guys, those were our paint guys, and they could get there a bunch of different ways, but they're physical. Well, now the skills, I mean, you had, especially those last couple seasons, that's probably the number one thing everyone wants right now in basketball. Obviously, the creator guy first, but then the big who can guard anybody on one end but then stretch the four on the other is like, that's it. That's what people want.
Starting point is 00:11:37 I mean, yeah. You should have trademarked it. They should be calling that position the Bosh. Damn, I should have. Where were you? I will remember that. All right, yeah. Put that down. I will remember that, man. trademarked it they should be calling that position the bosh damn i should have i will remember that all right yeah put that down man but you know it's funny to watch it change you know it started in 08 07 08 um in toronto i played the five i pretty much played the five my whole career yeah i played the five as a rookie even when i was smaller it wasn't in a concept from
Starting point is 00:12:04 stretching the floor but it was just it was wasn't in a concept from stretching the floor, but it was just, that's all we had at the time. It was a roster issue, yeah. Yeah, and then we drafted Andrea Bargnani, and so we had to figure out how to play together. By the way, nobody ever figured that out without Andrea Bargnani. Sorry Andrea Bargnani, but a lot of people
Starting point is 00:12:20 ask that question. Yeah, but essentially I was the five. You know, I would roll to the basket, and I began seeing how it kind of affected the game. And we had Phoenix. They would call us the Phoenix of the East at the time. And you had Phoenix, and Phoenix started doing that. It was like, what do we do? Nobody knew what to do in the league.
Starting point is 00:12:40 And then in 08, in the Olympics, I got to play with D'Antoni and kind of see his concepts and what kind of plays we ran and how fast we played. And that was his whole thing. He wants to speed up the game. That was the breakthrough. Yeah, he wants to get you in multiple positions. And it was fun. I mean, it was fun basketball to kick it out to Kobe or D.
Starting point is 00:13:07 And you've got Brian filling the the lane i'm filling the lane did you say it was fun to play basketball with kobe it was fun yeah because he would go kobe you know i know kobe's super serious he was still mamba he had just lost the final so he was you know super mamba at the time but nobody remembers that gold medal game though which was amazing which was a heated game. That game was incredible. Man, I'm glad we had Kobe. We needed Kobe. Yeah, Kobe came through at the end. Everybody's looking at each other like, all right, who's taking over?
Starting point is 00:13:34 And Kobe's like, I got this. I remember it kept going back and forth. And I'm like, yo, we can't stop these guys. We can't stop them. You had the Gasols. You had 17-year-old Ricky Rubio going nuts. It was Juan Carlos Navlos navarro oh yeah he was killing us yeah he he started really turning it on in the fourth quarter he got a
Starting point is 00:13:50 contract from that game yeah he played in the league the next year for the next four or five years ricky rubio was playing great and just as a team i mean they were clicking and uh yeah kobe came through man he had the ball in his hands late. Yeah, that was stressful. That wasn't as fun as it looked. It didn't seem fun. It was fun when we were kicking ass, but then we got to that gold medal game. You know, you start breathing a little harder.
Starting point is 00:14:15 That heartbeat, it's like, hey, slow down. What are you doing? By the way, 2012 London had a moment, too. Were you on that team? No, I was not on that team. I was hurt. There was a moment when they couldn't get LeBron back in the game, and Spain was making a run, and it had a moment too. Were you on that team? No, I was not on that team. I was hurt. There was a moment when they couldn't get LeBron back in the game and Spain was making a run.
Starting point is 00:14:29 And it was the same thing. It was like, wait a second. In the gold medal game? Yeah, this is like, oh shit, this is a moment. Things are happening. Yeah, I mean, they were a good team. They had a lot of great players. They don't get notoriety for that international team.
Starting point is 00:14:40 But they had, I think, probably six or seven guys that played in the NBA. You know what else I remember at the 2008 Olympics? You and Wade and LeBron and Mickey Aronson all in a hotel room planning the decision two years later. You remember that one? I heard rumors. That was a good one. There was a maid who was cleaning the room
Starting point is 00:15:01 and heard you guys talking about it. She emailed me. I didn't even know Nick. I knew him, but I didn't know he was the son of didn't know he was until he masterminded the whole decision yeah then when we start masterminding everything it's like oh hey i thought you were you know nick harrison that's cool so what did he do he got room service and then he laid it out yeah did he write it out on a whiteboard fries Fries and shakes. So two years from now, your contract's up, your contract's up. We'll create the cap space. By the way, I 100% believe this.
Starting point is 00:15:31 I know I said I'm kidding. No, it didn't. No, it didn't happen. I mean, we're not that smart. I would have. You made a pact never to admit it publicly. Yeah, I mean, that's true. You're right.
Starting point is 00:15:40 So we'll never know, man. It's one of my favorite conspiracy theories. That's going to be the funnest part. I think favorite conspiracy theories that's gonna be the funnest part I think that's gonna be one of the funnest part cause nobody really knows yeah so like that'll kinda
Starting point is 00:15:51 always be a thing add the mystery to it it's 240 in the morning in Greece one night and you guys all looked at each other like man let's play together
Starting point is 00:15:58 in two years this'll be great we'll kick everyone's ass yeah it'll be a lot of fun we're gonna be hated at first but you know how that goes. Then we'll win some titles. Let's take one more break.
Starting point is 00:16:09 We're going to take one break here. Has your company outgrown QuickBooks or shared spreadsheets, manual processes, and legacy systems costing you time and money? Introducing NetSuite by Oracle, the business management software that handles every aspect of your business in an easy-to-use cloud platform. Save time, money, unneeded headaches by managing sales, HR, and finance and accounting instantly right from your desk or even your phone. Thousands of the best-known and fastest-growing companies use NetSuite to manage their business, and now it's available to you. Don't miss out on unleashing your business's full potential with their free guide, Crushing the Five Barriers to Growth. Learn how to acquire new customers, increase profits, and finally get real visibility into
Starting point is 00:16:54 your cash flow. Get NetSuite's guide, Crush the Five Barriers to Growth at netsuite.com slash BS. Right now, once again, netsuite.com slash BS. And again, it is free. Meanwhile, let's talk about the boatload of money you can make this week betting at my bookie. If you haven't checked them out, it's perfect time to get into the action.
Starting point is 00:17:14 The madness of March is here. You like that tape, the madness of March? I think it's a little twist. Lay down some money, score big on college hoops. They have odds for everything. Live betting, an all new prop builder where you can create your own bet slips, bet friends that mike dunleavy senior will run out of timeouts with five minutes left this weekend whatever you want bet it at my bookie put your
Starting point is 00:17:32 money where your mouth is bet from your desktop tablet on their world-class mobile site anywhere anytime my bookie offers the fastest no hassle paths when you win join now my book you will match your deposit with up to a 50 bonus bonus. Use promo code Bill Simmons when making your account. You can even enter for a chance to win their million-dollar bracket challenge. Visit mybookie.ag today and bet on the internet's favorite sports book where you play, you win, and you get paid. If you listened to Tate and Titus last week, you would add Michigan in the Big Ten. Hey, let's get back to the one and titus last week you would add michigan in the big 10 hey let's get back to the one and only chris bosh so when was your last nba game um i forgot the day but it was thursday or wednesday against the spurs but what year was it what year is this year's 2018 it was
Starting point is 00:18:20 2016 the game before all-star break you came back a little bit and then then you played every game that year oh i thought you had remind me that was the last year so 20 um 2015 i had um blood clot issue i had pulmonary embolism i was hospitalized uh for about two weeks or something like that i had um i had to get my lungs drained, fluid from my lungs drained. Was this life-threatening in the moment? Yeah, it was life-threatening in the moment. And so, like, I didn't know it was life-threatening, and they were like, yeah, we're going to check you in the hospital.
Starting point is 00:18:56 And as I'm being checked in the hospital, I see that, like, we just traded for Goron. And, like, I'm like, okay, I don't know what all this stuff means. But then they start hooking me up to machines and they start telling me oh the next 24 hours is crucial then I had to call my wife and um she googles blood class and um was it um who had just passed I think uh who had just passed Kersey Jerome Kersey did he I don't want to say the wrong name. He's still alive. But I think it was Jerome Kersey, and he had just passed.
Starting point is 00:19:29 And so she's freaking out. I'm freaking out. And, yeah, it just kind of turned into this thing. And then when I think I'm going to the hospital, they're like, yeah, no, we've got to do surgery on you. Wow. So you found that out pretty quickly. I found that out four days later yeah been in the hospital for four days i'm like all right going home they're like yeah um we gotta do surgery on
Starting point is 00:19:52 you tomorrow morning we've got to really just go in there and clean it out and uh uh so i had surgery and was there for another week and uh, yeah, it was a very interesting time. Very, very tough time in my life. And then after that, came back from that, came back the next year, and then going into all-star break. Played every game and then going into all-star break, you know. Felt a little sore in my calf. I'm like, oh, let me just make sure everything's cool and everything.
Starting point is 00:20:23 And then it was like a distal blood clot or whatever. when when you say that it's like everybody just jumps for the moon it's like oh my god and right you know the season was uh a wrap tried to get back but it just didn't work did you um did they ever tell you why they thought you had this just total fluke or yeah i mean i'm not hurt you know i don't have hereditary markers you know that's the first thing they check for is uh is it hereditary and it's not hereditary so there's really no explanation i mean we can theorize that's a whole nother if you like conspiracy stuff you can really get into medicine you'd be jesus as you don't want to deal with that stuff i was really worried about you beyond the normal reasons just because you know i was in boston when the whole reggie lewis thing happened and
Starting point is 00:21:05 they had a disagreement with the doctors and and i was at the game when he when he basically passed out yeah charlotte in the playoff series and we thought he like pulled a hamstring or something and i was sitting there telling me walked right by us and it was like oh i wonder if he's gonna come back and that was the last time we ever saw him wearing a Celtic uniform. And then there was this back and forth about whether he should play again or not. And found this one doctor who cleared him. They brought him back. And he died like two months later.
Starting point is 00:21:38 After that, I was just like, don't trust the one doctor. So when it was going through with you, I was like, I really hope he talks to as many people as he possibly can. Well, the thing about it is it hasn't been talked about. That's the problem. You know, there's nothing, you know, they treated me just like they treated an 80-year-old patient. So there isn't, there's one size fits all. Yeah. It's not a plan. It's not a program.
Starting point is 00:22:02 They don't know when. They don't follow up and say, hey, it's been six months or it's been X amount of time. Make sure you do this. There's no plan for that. They just put the medicine on you and any questions. And that's it. And this could be months later, weeks later, years later for some people. So you had to reconcile as an athlete basically in the prime of his career
Starting point is 00:22:26 yeah it's like it's in my calf it's a distal vein that was the whole argument it's a distal vein you know here it doesn't it's not like in a big vein and it's in my calf it's just weird and like i think it's one of those things if you kind of it's it's one it's it's a box you don't want to open yeah because if i you know if you if you test guys for that you probably find some information you don't want to find out so it's just one of those things and you know for whatever reason i'm in this position and and you know it's been a blessing really because i've been able to do other things and see kind of things from another perspective and yeah it's kind of whack to kind of be in that position because of that. I felt that we had a great team that year.
Starting point is 00:23:12 I wanted to compete for a championship. I wanted to get back to the throne, and it would have been classic to play Cleveland that year. That's all that was on my mind was to get to the Eastern Conference finals and compete. Once you're there, we felt that we had a chance if we get there. And I had all these factors that I was playing in my head. I'm like, all right. And it happened exactly the way that I thought it would play in Toronto.
Starting point is 00:23:37 Cleveland's there and I couldn't do anything about it. How long did it take you to come to grips with everything? Two years. Two years, and that's just for that particular point in my life. It's tough, man. Well, you've been playing basketball since when? Since you were like three? Since I was eight years old. Yeah, eight. I mean, I picked up a basketball a long time ago,
Starting point is 00:23:58 but organized since I was eight, nine years old. And, yeah, you're kind of at a space where it's like oh well what do I do now um what am I even thinking about what even do I like and then you kind of you become bitter and it's just like a lot of stages you kind of have to beat but yeah I mean I was in the middle of more work I still wanted to be I wanted to it was like that last thing to be solidified, to be like, oh, he was pretty good. It was like the superficial muscles. It's like, okay, I'm in shape, but now I'm just doing my curls. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:24:33 Just working on my beach muscles. You know what I'm saying? Because we about to hit it. And, you know, if I do come back, it won't be in that capacity. Right. It'll be like end of the bench team guy. You know, blow the dust off of him
Starting point is 00:24:48 and see if he can do it. Well, the silver lining is, so let's say you're not a professional athlete. Maybe you don't even know you have this. And then, you know, like if you're just a normal person,
Starting point is 00:25:00 like an accountant or something, like maybe, how would you even know there was something wrong until maybe it's too that's true that's very true and i mean that's very true and i mean it got very bad i mean i knew because the first time my lungs were collapsed and yeah i was like having pains what the hell's going on yeah it's like something is wrong and then even and then like a month later then i went so i was very lucky and very fortunate i think about those things every day because it could happen any day but you know it didn't and the second time it's funny you know like you were saying everybody asked are you okay are you okay like i'm fine
Starting point is 00:25:34 it's just like you doing what you do now and then tomorrow sit over here and yeah no you just got to chill and that's that was it um and so and that's where the bitterness comes in yeah i mean not anymore that's where it came for a while um because you feel like it's some unforeseen force that kind of makes things happen or whatever but i didn't think of it uh like that for too long because there's no reason to you have to keep moving um it's not going to change your situation so you might as well kind of take it and work with it do you get along with the heat now or no yeah me and pat had lunch uh like two months ago great yeah i mean look it's business i understand that i understand the situation that they were in I mean it's well there and they're also worried about you as a human being well I mean you know yeah
Starting point is 00:26:29 and they're worried about me as a human being but it's also business also yeah and they have a ship to run yeah and and we had many conversations I sat down with Mickey I sat down with Pat many times. And sometimes we were disagreeing. And that's fine. But at the end of the day, we both got what we wanted. We both got severance. And that's what it's about. And after that, it was like, okay.
Starting point is 00:26:56 We moved on our separate ways. And even after that, I saw Pat a couple months ago. He was around and we sat down, had lunch, and we didn't even talk about us and basketball much. We just talked about life and the 80s. Right. Well, as a basketball fan, there was a last chapter of your career that didn't happen.
Starting point is 00:27:22 It would have been really interesting to watch you hitting your mid-30s, late 30s with how basketball is played because remember like sam perkins yeah he stayed till he was like 48 he was shooting threes he was like the first stretch four stretch five because he couldn't run he could only run from three point line to three point line yeah but i feel like you could have played till you were like 42 43 baby yeah i was trying to work on that game i was working on that game to sustain my ball playing. And that was the next phase in my career to be like, all right, I'm going to still be an all-star every year. I mean, I'm going to come back, and this is what I do, and we're going to be successful.
Starting point is 00:27:57 And I've been baptized by greatness, so I'll be back on the stage. And that's how I felt. And that's what I was working towards. That was my new goal. But, you know, for whatever reason, we weren't able to pursue that. It's still up in the air. But, you know, yeah, it's two years, two valuable, valuable years that aren't dedicated to basketball. But it's been even better because I've dedicated that time to my family.
Starting point is 00:28:25 I've dedicated that time to being a father and a husband. You have, like, how many kids you have now? I have five. My God, what are you doing? Stop having kids. I did. That's crazy. I know.
Starting point is 00:28:38 Five kids. Yeah, I got five, man. I can't handle two. You get used to it i mean it's just well five there's one that's just gonna be crazy and you just gotta let that one go that one's gonna move out when they're 15 and they're just gonna be gone you know we'll always have a close hand on them uh let's wait dad i'm out yeah i mean i'm moving to miami yeah no no you're 15 you can't move to miami yeah i'll step in in. I'm like, all right, that's enough.
Starting point is 00:29:06 Dad's here. I'll hear you. Dad's stopping that one. But, you know, I've gotten a chance to really dive into that and be a part of that and more. And you realize how much you miss as an athlete. And then you realize that there are so many other things out there in the world to pursue and i've really been exploring my creativity especially with the kids i mean i was sitting down painting with them my son is in the minecraft i had to go get him a computer
Starting point is 00:29:35 and load the software and everything and just like going these other different journeys and it's like a brand new world i can identify a tiny bit because like when i left espn abruptly and i had basically five and a half months until i knew my next thing was starting yeah and you have that first couple weeks and then it gets quiet and well in my case not this noisy in my case well but, but that's it. You have your family. But professionally, there's just all of a sudden there's no noise. And it's just you. And it's like, I'm going to hang out with my kids today. It's like, wow, this is kind of cool.
Starting point is 00:30:13 Yeah. I like this. Oh, you want to go to the movies? Yeah, I'd love to go. Yeah. And then all of a sudden it's Wednesday. And it's like, I don't even care what day it is. Well, I mean, I wasn't in that aspect because my kids were in diapers.
Starting point is 00:30:22 I think we had like three or four. We had all. We had three diapers at the time. Oh, my God. That's like my worst nightmare. Yeah, that's tough. Now it's a little easier. I'm like, hey, come on, we're going with Dad. I can fix a mean snack bag.
Starting point is 00:30:39 It's good when you can hand them the iPad and they can be quiet for 40 minutes. That's where you want to get to. All right, cool. Let's go. And we can go. But when it's a stroller and a diaper bag and a snack bag and sippy cups and bottles, that's tough, man. And we had a lot of that at the same time. Crumbs, they're going to do that. I think you keep doing crumbs until you're like 25.
Starting point is 00:31:02 Yeah. I think that's like the cutoff age. But it's been great, man. I mean, I've been able to do so many cool things. And I've been able to reflect on basketball and what it means to me and how it's kind of been my journey and everything and what I'm going to do with it in the future. There's no chance you play again, right?
Starting point is 00:31:23 No, there's no chance. There's a chance? Mm-hmm. Interesting. There's no chance you play again right no there's a chance there's a chance interesting what was the chance what chain of events would have to happen oh i would um talk to a team which i've talked to guys and uh you know they they're they're because like i said there hasn't been a plan know, so if a team creates that plan, then we can we can go from there. But we've we've explored those things and it's a lot of work. You know, we don't we don't that plan and talk on the phone and talk to the
Starting point is 00:32:06 docs insurance and all these things then yeah we can talk about it but um me as an athlete i just feel that it's something that um i have to pursue i mean it just left in the middle of the night pretty much and so you're 34 35 i'll be 34 this month 34 yeah am i yeah i'm 30 yeah 34 i'll be 30 so you're watching these old sam perkins highlights and getting fired up getting ready look at sam i'm going to the gym tonight but yeah i mean it's worth exploring and worst case scenario if it doesn't work out i'll be in phenomenal shape so that's all that matters to me and there's media stuff too not just this podcast yeah i mean there's a lot of things you dabble on countdown yeah i mean yeah dabble on countdown uh did you do area 21 yet no i haven't done that one yet one day you better have a lot of coffee before that one oh you know how kg is man he's
Starting point is 00:33:00 ready to go you guys you get along with him now yeah it's great i mean he probably insulted you a few times in 2011 and then i was like i'm not getting into you with you anymore you got me and he tricked me and i never talked trash to him again he'd be like three inches from my face like you're not getting me bro i fell for it once and no never again never again but yeah i get to dab on that i like i'm working on my youtube channel and stuff like that and just trying to figure out yeah the the thing i mean it's an interesting age that we're living in right now so i kind of want to kind of dabble in everything and see what kind of sticks i have the most important question i'm ever going to ask you
Starting point is 00:33:42 you were on i think you were a rookie on Vince Carter's team when he got traded. It was my second year when he got traded. The second year, okay. It really bothers me that there's this revisionist history with the Vince Carter thing and now they're thinking about retiring his number and all that because I always felt like he quit on Toronto
Starting point is 00:34:00 that year and you were there and everyone says Vince Carter's a good guy. I'm not saying he's not um I'm sure you liked him as a teammate but I really feel like that year he didn't want to be there anymore and he kind of tanked the situation and the stats back that up have you seen is that a fair I have not seen the car is that a fair comment that's a fair comment. That's a fair comment. But what people have to remember, he was 24, 25. He was a kid. Yep.
Starting point is 00:34:28 They had just got to the second round. They pushed Philly to the second round, probably feel that they could have won that or at least competed in the finals that year. Yeah. And they had a great team moving forward. Injuries start piling up. Then it was all on Vince. I didn't realize this until I watched the Carter effect. You have to watch that movie whenever it comes out.
Starting point is 00:34:49 But I'm looking back on the story. Things just he was having a tough year the year before they had a losing year and he probably won it out. They they didn't really go the direction, you know direction that ended up being successful. And I don't think he agreed with those things. I don't think he agreed with the front office. And this is just me, my opinions. It's just me outside looking in. I think he was just in a tough place. And, yeah, did the numbers reflect?
Starting point is 00:35:21 Yes. So were you mad when he went to New Jersey and all of a sudden he's put up 28 a game? Nah, you knew. I mean, you see it and you know. Look, Vince, probably, other than until Brian came along, he was the most talented basketball player I've ever seen. Vince Carter.
Starting point is 00:35:40 So to me, it's like him and T-Mac, I think, are the two from that decade that I remember like him and T-Mac, I think, are the two from that decade. I remember going to a T-Mac game once in Boston when he was at the Orlando peak of his powers. I was like, oh, my God, what the hell is this? The 6'8 guy who can do everything. He was 6'10". Yeah, whatever. He was 6'10".
Starting point is 00:35:59 He was ridiculous. It's hard. It's hard. Davis is like that now. I wrote about Davis last week on The Ringer. I watched Davis. I'm like, what the hell is this? What's happening?
Starting point is 00:36:08 I remember playing him on Christmas, and me in my mind, I'm like, I have to get back to this point. This is important for me. I have to have a good game. We have to win. We're going to the playoffs this year. I'm playing this young guy. And I remember guarding him, and he gave me, it was about five plays in a row.
Starting point is 00:36:25 He went to him. He scored three out of five. I remember thinking, like, man, I can't stop this guy. He's woo. He doesn't know that. I didn't tell him at the time, but I remember he gave me a move, gave me two moves, went by me, and then he jade me. Jab, jumper, bop.
Starting point is 00:36:42 I said, oh, boy. And, you know, I get him on the ice, so I can't even get my shot off i'm scared to shoot a jumper he might block it well he's got the freak arms yeah he's i mean he's quick off the ground he's he's he's deceptively quick how many guys have you felt like you couldn't stop just like him kg early kg and you know who else, man, used to kill me? Who? Louis Scola and Al Jefferson. Oh, because they're old school moves. Couldn't stop them.
Starting point is 00:37:13 They would kill me, man. I was like, hey, somebody get him. Switch. I'd be like, UD, help me, man. You get this dude, man. Al Jefferson would annihilate me. One game, Brian had 60. I'm lucky he had 60 because Al had like 38 and like 18.
Starting point is 00:37:29 Yeah. I couldn't, man. It's just those strong, big-body guys who are crafty. I couldn't do anything with those guys. The guy who's like that now is Jokic. Oh, yeah. See, he'd be like a guy, yeah, I'm about to kill you. Help!
Starting point is 00:37:46 Like, man, he scooped me. He got the scoops. Yeah. Big body, skilled, crafty. Those are the guys that used to just, man, kill me on the court. I have the second most important question I'm ever going to ask you. Let's talk about Jalen Rose as a teammate quickly. As a who?
Starting point is 00:38:02 As a teammate. As a teammate. He came to the T-dot yeah and took he claimed he took you under his wing yeah he did yeah he he taught me a lot of things this is great he taught me a lot of things too this is this is the only time we've been on complete common ground in this podcast because i've also learned a lot of things from yeah from jay rose he he was very um he taught me how the way the league works and how it moves i think he was one of those guys that he understood too well you know he understood how to use the media yeah he
Starting point is 00:38:40 understood you know how to kind of position himself in a way to where, you know, he can get the ball on the court. Interesting. And he was very time. I mean, I didn't know he was that tall, but playing with him, it's like, wow, I'm playing with Jalen Rose. And you see how good he is. He had he was one of the first guys I saw with the true old man game. Like, yeah, handling it. Yeah. and then back you all the way down he was the guy he give like eight up face he he had his left shoulder that was his move turn do like eight up face yeah jump dot you right in the eye he still has that game by the way yeah we played pickup like four years ago and these guys talk shit and And he did that back down spin move thing. Yeah, man, come on now.
Starting point is 00:39:25 Where he's just, it's like he's rotating back and forth. All of a sudden he's two feet from the basket. Oh, he got that big body now. You can't stop him, man. But he taught me a lot of ways how to move off the court and what to look out for and what to look for, you know, in dealing with people, in dealing with media. Women? Yeah. Yeah, women. That too too i mean not not that much i was a shy kid nightclubs yeah clubs you know did you champagne and campaign with him nah not that much okay a couple times a couple times that's probably for
Starting point is 00:40:01 your benefit yeah he threw you know he threw some birthday parties in toronto was fun it was a fun town that was like that's before everybody knew about it it was like before drake you know that's what he's he's mad that drake kind of shined a spotlight on toronto it was like under the radar place man i think a lot of people feel like that because it's like man toronto that was like a hidden gem now everybody knows about it you think they can make the finals yeah i did too they're pretty good and and and that's what's messed up about playing in toronto and i don't feel right if i don't give them their due their first place in the east they're three and a half games behind the best record in nba nobody's talking about it they're two and a half behind the Warriors is it two and a half yeah yeah I think it's three in the last calm come on like there nobody's even talking about
Starting point is 00:40:51 them in this day and age where everybody watches their screens everywhere nobody's talking about you know what happened to them because last year they had their moment with nobody's talking about the Raptors watch out for them yeah Cleveland just killed them so now i think people just assume that's gonna happen though they should have went to seven but they went to six but i mean my point is that demar de rosen isn't even top two in mvp category they're talking about anthony davis before demar de rosen both divert deservedly so heart is gonna win it. We know that. But as far as two and three are concerned. There's like a 4% Davis lingering possibility. Yeah, well, I mean, they're fourth in the West now.
Starting point is 00:41:31 If they get the three seed with that Kraft team he's on, at least the conversation has to be had. You have to have those conversations. But my point is that usually in this instance, we're not even talking about it if you're first. Yeah. It's not even conversation. it if you're first. Yep. It's not even conversation. It's Harden, it's DeRozan, and it's them two to duke it out.
Starting point is 00:41:50 Not even talking about DeMar. And he's playing amazing basketball. Again, he's a perennial all-star. And the coach is good. Yeah, Dwayne Casey's doing a great job. I was lukewarm on him for a while, but I think now he's in the top five. Yeah, he's doing a great job with that team. And if they have home court in the East,
Starting point is 00:42:07 if you've got to go in there and win a game, good luck. The best thing they have going for them, other than the fact that Cleveland's team isn't very good, is they own the Celtics. Oh, do they? Yeah, it's just a bad matchup. One of the matchup things, yeah. Maybe it can flip when we get to the playoffs, but it's just –
Starting point is 00:42:24 What if the game slows down just they can't guard the rose and there's nobody in the team that can really get him yeah yonas has has killed them yeah i think i think they can make the finals man they have they have the pieces and they have the confidence and they've got that teamwork and they've got the spirit in the city and i think you combine all those things and they have the underdog effect because even if they play boss and they're going to be an underdog nobody believes in us yeah because nobody knows yeah nobody's pumping the story so like i think for them yeah they can make the finals what do you see with uh cleveland man you know what i see coming to jesus and figuring it
Starting point is 00:43:03 out yeah you know what i see is there's no no Kyrie Irving and no second guy that he knows he can count on every night. Yeah, that's important. He had two in Miami. He's got zero in Cleveland. Well, I mean, yeah. If love can come back in time, maybe that's it. Yeah, but he's not that kind of player.
Starting point is 00:43:17 He's a post-up, grinded-out player. He's that guy that, yeah, if you do get in that boxing match on the ropes, he can kind of. Who's the second guy? Yeah, but in the fast-paced style, he's going to spread the court and he's going to get second-chance points and rebounds. The post-play, all they're going to do is double, you know, and you can force that, but it's tough.
Starting point is 00:43:39 They have a lot of dudes who have not been there before, which is another – Yeah, and that's the thing too. Like Rodney Hood is fine on paper, but let see game six down three two two minutes left down five yeah and he's in the corner and he's got to make a shot or they're going home that's a hell of a time to figure out you know who it is but you have to go through those moments and for them yeah they don't have the experience but it'll be very interesting to kind of see, you know, who and who does what and if they rise to the occasion. Cause when we know what Brian's going to bring, yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:09 But who's going to be those other guys to say, did you, did you feel like he was leaving in 2014? No. Didn't see that coming at all. No. Didn't see it coming. I was on vacation. I was in Ghana.
Starting point is 00:44:23 We were doing basketball camps in Ghana when I found out. And you know, I didn't know. I mean, I was, I. I was on vacation. I was in Ghana. We were doing basketball camps in Ghana when I found out. And, you know, I didn't know. I mean, I was I was just busy on vacation and and then free agency started. And I'm glad I was out of America. But. Yeah, I mean, it just kind of went on and then they start passing by and it's like, OK, well, let me take care of what I need to take care of and and be a free agent while i can and uh yeah i mean the longer it went the that's not good for us right so and i it put me in a position where yeah i don't know where i'm playing yeah you almost signed with houston yeah me and my wife were looking up houses i'm friends with the gm and there was a three hour window where he was like we got chris bosh. Yeah. We saw Darryl. He tells me that every time. Like we should have got you,
Starting point is 00:45:08 man. He's like, he texted me. It's like, we got him. And then like three hours later, it's like, we didn't get him.
Starting point is 00:45:14 Yeah. It was in the 25th. I was at a camp in Ghana. We were doing basketball without borders with the USA, the NBA. I'm sitting with the USA, with the NBA. And we're with the USA, with the NBA. And we're with kids at a camp and like they're doing a dunk contest.
Starting point is 00:45:30 So it's like I'm just on the court with the kids and we're having a good time. And so, you know, I started getting information. I got information from LeBron, you know, and then all the information started going everywhere. A few minutes later. And then I remember like, you know, it's a dunk contest. They trying to be official. So they got the microphone, a loudspeaker. Dude's looking at his phone.
Starting point is 00:45:53 He said, oh, we've got big news. I stood up and looked at him and was like, don't say a word. And he said, oh, okay, okay, okay. I gave my phone to my wife because my phone started going crazy, and I knew I was going to be on the phone like all night because we were still doing this camp, and it was evening time, but it was still like afternoon, early morning or something like that back in the States.
Starting point is 00:46:18 And so, yeah, that's when I was on the phone with Houston, and then Miami called, and it was like kind of crazy for a while and so I had a decision to make and I didn't think I was going to be in that position Houston wasn't a bad alternative it was not a bad alternative James Harden's good at basketball yeah I mean I was talking to James I was talking to James talking to Dwight was playing at the time did James have to step outside from the strip joint to try to recruit you? He's like, hold on. I just got to settle my bill. Hey, what up, CB?
Starting point is 00:46:48 Hey, hold on. Hold on. It was great, man. I'm on stage number two. Yeah, he came out. We were talking, and then they start upping the pressure. I was talking to everybody. I was talking to Mikel, who was the coach at the time.
Starting point is 00:46:59 I had a conversation with him. And then I was having conversations with Miami. At what point did Riley just do the Pat Riley on you? At the end. I didn't have that many conversations with Miami. It was just the offer. We'll call you back and then, hey, we're going to make you an offer. They made the offer and I said, okay, just give me an hour because I wanted a break.
Starting point is 00:47:23 He didn't do a Pat Riley speech on you? No, there was no need. There was nothing to say. He didn't do a Pat Riley speech on you? No, there was no need. There was nothing to say. He didn't do the – He gave it to me already like four years before. A man takes care of his – oh, yeah, that's right. You got it in 2010. Yeah, I got it all.
Starting point is 00:47:34 And then in the years leading up – Did he put the rings on the table? Yeah, it was one, but he had a whole bunch of different versions of one. What was it? Wait, are you going to tell me more? Yeah, I mean, I can't remember exactly what he said. It was a very moving speech. of different versions of one what was it wait are you gonna tell me more yeah i mean he um i can't remember exactly what he said it was a very moving speech but uh he pretty much his message was before he started talking he put the championship rings out and was like that's what
Starting point is 00:47:55 it's about good start yeah i'm listening okay and then he was like we have an opportunity for this and that to happen and this is what we need because you seem like this sort of guy yeah he starts relating to you and then you say you're tired of you know his thing tired of banging your head against the wall i'm sure he said that in many press conferences and then yeah he's like yeah you're right and then you know he's just like yeah you can sell water to a well, man. But he didn't, this situation didn't call for it because I had an offer. So it was very quick. And then, you know, they told me the number.
Starting point is 00:48:35 And I said, all right, let me call you back. Yeah. Hung up the phone and looked at my wife. Yeah, so we've got this. She's like, oh, okay, great. And I'm going to go sit down for a minute and kind of process this. And then, like, damn, my phone was really blowing up. But then I made a decision, and, you know, it ended up working out.
Starting point is 00:48:54 I mean, I only played, what, how many games after that? Like 80 games. Signing with them was the right move. Yeah, it was the right move. It was home. I wanted to see what you could do as the lead guy, too. And, you know, it was a chance to kind of shake off the dust and get back to that place. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:11 Because that's what people are expecting of me now. Oh, we get Toronto, Chris Bonds. Like, man, I'm way better than that. You know what I mean? It's like, why would I go back? And it was just a chance to evolve my career. And it was good. It spiced up the league a little bit.
Starting point is 00:49:26 It got competitive with Brian for a little bit. And it was a good time. I'm glad I made it. I actually really liked what Riley said before LeBron left when he had that press conference and he was like, crusty old man. And he was like, this is what happens. Sometimes you don't win the title and
Starting point is 00:49:45 you gotta handle it like a man and yeah he was but he basically made the mistake of calling out LeBron I don't think it helped but I liked what he said I kind of agree like teams aren't supposed to win the title every year yeah you have ups you have downs like retool this thing retool you gotta retool you get the hunger back you add a couple pieces you try again and i mean yeah that's up for debate a lot of the times that's you know the age that we live in now it's up for debate before people would be like all right coach you right now it's like uh i don't agree with you and or yeah i hear you but free agency is free agency and i'm gonna make the best decision I feel that you know and and be unapologetic about it and that's kind of the situation that we confronted um that year but
Starting point is 00:50:31 it ended up working out for me I made you know more money so that's cool and then um things kind of worked out and um you know unfortunately I didn't get to play the whole entirety of the contract. But for me as a competitor, that juiced me up and gave me more motivation as a player to do my job every night. I always felt like LeBron left Miami because Cleveland was actually, in a weird way, a better basketball situation. Yeah, I think.
Starting point is 00:51:04 I never bought that hole, I'm coming home. I just thought it was bullshit. It's calculated. Wade was at the tail end of, he was about to head into a different phase of his career. Kyrie had just got the All-Star MVP that year. You were still in your prime. But he had Kyrie, and they had that number one pick that he knew he could get Kevin Love with. And they had a ton of cap space.
Starting point is 00:51:23 And another number one pick. It was a better situation. Yeah, they had flexibility. so for him like to be like oh it's time to come home it's like yeah you're going home that's much better yeah you could plug him right away yeah and they could um you know they went to the finals that first year but you know yeah i mean it's uh it's a it's a it's a thing that we had to you know deal with and learn and that's a part of the story and that's kind of what makes it cool too, just looking back on it because things happen, and things happen the way you don't want them to.
Starting point is 00:51:52 And, yeah, we would have been just the old dudes if you would have came back. That would have been fun, though. I like the old dude stage. Don't sleep on the old dude stage. It's good. But, man, you get there and you lose a lot. You get there.
Starting point is 00:52:04 Look at Brady. I mean, two of the last three years, well, three of the get there and you lose a lot. You know, you get there. You know, look at Brady. I mean, two of the last three years, what, three of the last four they've gotten there, right? And they win one. That's cool. But, you know, you're 40. Wait, don't short me a Super Bowl. Two of four? They lost two.
Starting point is 00:52:17 They lost the AFC title game and then lost Super Bowl. AFC title. Yeah, two out of the last four. Yes, but it's still at the mountaintop. Yeah. You get there, and it's like you're 40, and these young dudes running around, and you're just trying to get it one more time.
Starting point is 00:52:32 Yeah, you lose sometimes. That's a part of the game. You get all the way, and you're playing a hell of a team, and you get beat by another champion. That's kind of the thing you have to accept. It's good to watch, but it's tough to go through that shit. You know, it's tough, man. How many years do you think LeBron plays?
Starting point is 00:52:50 Is that 15 right now? I think he's 40. I think 40 and he's out. 40 plus. Unless something happens where he's like, man, all right, I'm going to do this. But I've never met someone who just hoops. That's – he just – you put a basketball in here with a nerf basket he'll start shooting shots you know i think he's just one of those guys that's kind of like what
Starting point is 00:53:11 brady's like yeah brady's like that that weird facebook show he did that i actually kind of like but all he wants to do is play football and prepare to play football and it's like yeah that's it that's his entire life i'm taking care of my body i'm eating these veggies it's kind of what lebron is like right yeah i mean his he he translates that into his body and by the time he's done playing he will be a master in kinesiology yeah um he's learning his body he's learning how to perform and get the most out of his body and he's learning how to just those you know the older you get you know you're like indiana jones on the quest for the fountain of youth you know what i'm saying it's like you're on a quest and you have to go find these different things so you can continue to elevate your game the problem is when you get older you saw it happen with kobe because i think kobe was wired like that but when you get hurt
Starting point is 00:54:02 and you can't do that process for six seven eight months and you have the all the miles yeah that's funny it gets tough to get that back at that point yeah it's tough man you gotta it's got to be every day day after day and i think kobe was like uh i'm you know i'm done i'm gonna go win an oscar you know this damn this is too much i'm working on this Oscar now. So tell stories. Yeah. That's what Kobe was on. But, you know, I think that's the moment where he was that were like, damn, I'm mortal.
Starting point is 00:54:31 And you start kind of realizing like, you know, now, barring that happening to LeBron, you know, moving forward, I think he can keep going. Kobe's next short film should be about the 2008 Olympics when he was in the next hotel room and heard you guys playing the whole Miami thing out. You playing the Harrison kid. I'm going to get that story at some point in my life. I'm getting everybody drunk one night. I'm getting that story. He would have stopped. He was like, hold up.
Starting point is 00:54:59 So we were hanging around. Kobe comes in. Hold up. Act like we're just friends. Hey, Kobe. What's happening, buddy? Kobe, what's up? We're not masterminding anything, man. We're just here, just hanging out, just having a in, hold up, act like we're just friends. Hey, Kobe, what's happening, buddy? Kobe, what's up?
Starting point is 00:55:07 We're not masterminding anything, man. We're just here, just hanging out, just having a little, you know, having some edamame at lunch. Kobe's like, what's that whiteboard with Miami, the Knicks, and Chicago on it? Yeah. The Knicks would have been an interesting alternative. Too much. Too much?
Starting point is 00:55:22 Too big of a fishbowl? Yeah, too much. Too much for you or for LeBron? Everybody. Yeah. Could you imagine if that was like that situation in New York? Oh, my God. Jesus Christ.
Starting point is 00:55:32 Oh, my God. Well, Miami, it was like you guys could be super famous, but also under the radar. Yeah. That was always what amazed me about South Beach. It was a small market, big market, small market kind of deal. Nobody, people, whatever happened in South Beach. Miami could only take so many. There's only so many hotel rooms. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:45 Miami, I mean, New York is, I mean, that's the hub. Yeah. Nah, that wouldn't work. It would have been broken promises, broken friendships. It just would have been all bad. Houston's another one that is just under the radar. Huge city. I think Houston, man.
Starting point is 00:56:01 NBA players love playing there. Houston, man. What do you think about Houston this year I was really impressed Saturday night when the Celtics had them and were about to close it and Houston was just like
Starting point is 00:56:13 we're not losing and they turned it up a notch I liked it even though it made me mad I was like wow that's a little tough little toughness from them that I didn't expect
Starting point is 00:56:21 what I like about Houston is that they can force they're like they're the grinded out team team of the future, of now. So they can spread it, but they have very, very good ISO basketball players. I mean, Harden's the best right now. Harden's playing amazing. And, yeah, he can step in those three-easy shoots.
Starting point is 00:56:38 It's like typically that's a bad shot. That's a bad shot. Right. But James Harden has got the the ball and the game is tied or you're up three down three you're just nervous in that situation and chris paul too he's a very good iso basketball player and i mean you know they're got eric good shooters gordon's been good they have their their system they know what they do and and they're comfortable in their thing. All right, so 27-game win streak Heat are playing them. Walk it through.
Starting point is 00:57:08 Who's out there in crunch time? How do you handle this? You're going to end up on Harden, I think. They're going to try to switch it so that you're guarding him at the end of the game. Yeah, but we didn't switch. We only switched if we had Braun, so one thing we'd probably do is— But we're in a time machine now. I'm taking your team and putting you there.
Starting point is 00:57:24 Yeah, so what we do late game. Would you be switching in 18? Maybe. Crunch time only. Yeah. We're switching. But if they keep running the five up there, we'll put Brian on the five. We'll put me on Ariza or somebody like that, and we'll switch that late game.
Starting point is 00:57:41 So who does Harden have on him? Brian. So everything you're doing is like it ends up no matter what the switch is, it's LeBron. How do we get to that thing? We're playing Houston. You know, Harden likes to do the ISO late game. All right, cool.
Starting point is 00:57:58 We're going to put LeBron on the five because they switched. We're just going to switch that. And then LeBron will be on them late clock. And that's the if they want to get to that they'll get to it and that's how we're going to get you know that's going to be our model if they you know get the iso what about golden state when they're doing the little curry durant high screen on the right side tough that's tough i don't know that's a good one we would just have to it's just our system against their system pretty much you just gotta outscore them yeah yeah well we weren't gonna outscore you like that we could slow it down and outscore we want to slow you down and we want to
Starting point is 00:58:35 beat you up and we want to like we wanted to play fast and physical yeah so yeah i mean that's kind of a tough one we would probably have to switch that. And, you know, yeah, I mean, he's passing it back to KD on a mismatch. But we just go from there. We probably, you know, maybe have D guarding Curry maybe and Braun on KD. You know, the problem is Klay is on the weak side and Curry is always, you know, it's tough. And then our rotations, that's the tough part that would be the thing i'm not even thinking about kd and steph right there i'm thinking about everybody on the weak side because that's opens it up for them and that's what they want to be
Starting point is 00:59:17 able to exploit you and they're very good and zaza would trip you at some point early in the series yeah get in your head i know he He'll knock you into basket support. Nah, I'd knock him too. Look, that's what I don't understand today. He's playing dirty. Yeah, of course. Hit him back. What happened to that?
Starting point is 00:59:34 You know, what happened to the old school? He's just an old school player living in the new school rules. So it's like, yeah, he might push me in the stands. I'm like, okay, I'm going to push you in row two. How far do you want to take it? Because I want to win. Well, you talked earlier about the one time KG came at you. Yeah, he killed me.
Starting point is 00:59:54 He crushed me. You figured out how to handle that, and the enemy always knows whatever. With Westbrook, I would be trying to get in that dude's head all the time because I think it's doable. That's going to be his thing. He's so passionate passionate get him so mad and so get him in fifth gear and then that's actually to his detriment yeah because you're not gonna beat him in basketball yeah yeah so yeah as a player what can I do just to yeah what can I do to kind of ag him on a little bit and that's the only thing I mean that's the only way you can beat Russell Westbrook and get him out of the game or get him flustered.
Starting point is 01:00:27 And I'm sure he knows that, and he continues to work on that. But then you run up against a guy who's doing it on purpose, and, yeah, you feel like where are the referees? Who's controlling the situation? You know who can control the situation? An elbow off the top rope like Randy Savage. That'll cure this whole situation and bring it to a halt. All right, so we're going to go Houston or Golden State?
Starting point is 01:00:54 I just want to see a game. Seven-game series in Houston. I think Golden State's tough to beat, man, just based off of ball movement. I think Golden State's going to be fine. Yeah, it's going to be fine. Iggy will get going. Their bench will get going. They need their bench to get going. Yeah, it's going to be fine. Iggy will get going. Their bench will get going. They need their bench to get going.
Starting point is 01:01:05 Yeah, but Houston hasn't been. See, that's like the whole – they're polar opposites but the same. They can both put up 130 on you. They can both defend top five. You know, it just comes down to matchup, coaching, those other intangibles, and who plays their game. And, yeah, the game slows down. That's more suited for houston
Starting point is 01:01:25 but man when that ball pops with golden state wait let's do let's practice you're on one of the studio shows now now your studio show chris bosh yeah you're waiting your turn oh and so oh here you're 22 seconds to talk chris what do you think happens in this series i think it all comes down to the ball movement i think think if Houston wins the turnover battle, if they can force Golden State in the turnovers, if they can force them in the low percentage shots, Houston's got a chance. But if Golden State averages 25, 30 assists a game,
Starting point is 01:01:58 they're not going to get beat. We'll be back after this. Chris Bosh, this was fun. I'm glad we finally did this. Yeah, yeah yeah appreciate it man keep in touch man we're here you live near here
Starting point is 01:02:07 anytime you want to come talk hoops man we're here we're ready for you you know what think about getting a podcast and stuff too well we happen to have
Starting point is 01:02:14 a podcast network so you tell us yeah man tell us make a deal man what's up yeah we'll do some negotiation
Starting point is 01:02:21 you brought a guy with a suit we're gonna have to talk to him after and I won't be here you know I'm not here I'm just And I won't be here, you know. I'm not here. I'm just here for a little bit.
Starting point is 01:02:27 I'm, you know, I'm in Texas. Texas is, you know, I'm part of the Lone Star State, you know. But your podcast is universal. You're a man of your Canada. You belong to Canada. You belong to the South. You belong to Texas. Yeah, so, you know, I'm telling Canada I'm going to come up there.
Starting point is 01:02:42 I see they're doing well, so I'm going to come out there and experience a playoff game out there. That's going to be amazing. I feel bad for the family that is sitting on the plane with you and your five kids as they're all throwing tapioca at each other. No, see, I don't bring the gang. That's the in-and-out trip. That's like 20 hours and then back.
Starting point is 01:03:03 You can't bring the gang, man. When we bring the, you know, we roll like Prince Jackie Joe. then back you know you can't bring the game man when we bring the you know we roll like prince jockey joe yeah you gotta get it you're yeah we got the we got the you know the we got like about eight cars yeah the flags on the you know flags on on the hood you know what i mean we're coming in there chicks throwing flowers you know and the princes and princesses coming out and getting their luggage and then i get my one carry on and yeah you know then we roll but yeah it's too tough bringing all the kids man that's like yeah that's vacation if it's like a good or a bad thing it's very good or very bad if you see with me with all my kids somewhere i'm gonna say almost all the time kids vacation somebody gets sick at some point somebody starts throwing up it's like a day to go nobody did on
Starting point is 01:03:51 my last one though oh man you yeah we took the kids we took the kids to montana we did like a whole camping thing it was cool and then everybody had a great time only thing it was cold you know we got the weather didn't break all the way yet but for the most part nobody got sick it was cold. You know, we got, the weather didn't break all the way yet. But for the most part, nobody got sick. It was great. Well, you have a starting five. Maybe you need a sixth man out of these kids. That'd be a draft. Draft or a sign.
Starting point is 01:04:14 I'll pick somebody off waivers. I'm not adopting right now, kids. Free agent babysitting. Yeah, I'm not adopting kids. Keep your eye on them. Will Trinasky will break it when it happens. All right. Hopefully we'll see you soon.
Starting point is 01:04:25 Yeah, man. Absolutely. This was fun. Thanks, man. Thanks for the time. Thanks for having me. All right. That's it.
Starting point is 01:04:29 That was so much fun. Thanks to Chris Bosch. Thanks to ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. My listeners can try for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash BS. Thanks to Credible.com, where it takes less than two minutes to find out if you're overpaying on your student loans. You can save thousands by refinancing. Go to Credible.com slash bill.
Starting point is 01:04:47 Answer a few questions. Right away, you'll get real rates, not ranges of rates, from multiple lenders. Checking your rates won't affect your credit score. You really have nothing to lose. Right now, my listeners get a $200 welcome bonus when refinancing through Credible.com slash bill. Once again, that is Credible.com slash bill. Hope you, that is Credible.com slash Bill. Hope you enjoyed the four podcasts
Starting point is 01:05:07 we put up this weekend. I had a blast. I'm excited for March Madness when we come back on Monday. I will have a couple surprises in store for you. Until then. I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:29 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:29 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:30 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:30 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:30 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:31 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:31 I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have I don't have
Starting point is 01:05:48 I don't have

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.