The Bill Simmons Podcast - Kyrie Irving on Leaving LeBron, Boston's Future, Summer Rumors, and Empowered Players | The Bill Simmons Podcast (Ep. 378)

Episode Date: June 15, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons sits down with Boston Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving to talk leaving Cleveland, changing perspectives, empowered NBA players, summer rumors including the fresh-pressed Kawhi-to-L.A. Lakers, the 2017-18 season, recovering from surgery, 2018 NBA Finals, Boston next season, Uncle Drew, playing basketball in prosthetics, and more (1:40). Then Bill talks with Sean Fennessey about the new horror film 'Hereditary' [SPOILERS] (1:05:40). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Having a high sports IQ is important. Just look at the NBA lottery right now. You might have a top 10 pick, but if your GM doesn't know what he's doing or she's doing, you're screwed. Look at the Kings. They might trade that number two pick for God knows what. But when it comes to hiring, you don't need a high hiring IQ, just ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter's powerful technology scans thousands of resumes to find people with the right experience for your job. 80% of employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site in just one day. My listeners can try it for free

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World Cup. US Open all weekend. It's the place to be. TheRinger.com. Coming up, Kyrie Irving. And then we're going to talk to Sean Fennessey about Hereditary after that. So first, Pearl Jam.

All right. It's Friday afternoon, West Coast time. Just when you think the NBA gets quiet, stuff's always happening. Two hours before Kyrie Irving comes in, Kawhi Leonard comes out. He wants to get traded. It just never ends. This is just the NBA now. It's 12 months a year, 365 days, stuff happening. Yep. You were part of this.

NBA offseason. Last summer, you were in the middle of it for like six, seven weeks. When it's happening and you're in it, are you reading the tweets? Are you reading the stories? What are you doing? You try not to, but it's coming in waves. You can't help it? Waves.

Just the fans, the media, just in waves. It's coming. Because now you've become the center of attention. And also the value, you kind of notice how great you are as a player for like a good six seven weeks like teams are like yeah it's just the possibility of the mock trades and you know just it boosts the ego a little bit so you know it's it's heck of a situation to be in but you know hope for the best does it boost the ego or sometimes it's like oh man i'm I'm not, I'm worth more than that. Come on. It could do both.

Yeah. You know, it's a tough position to be in because at the end of the day, the speculation from everyone else of why you want to ask for a trade is going to come out. Stories of what you, what you were doing behind the scenes and leaking. And it's just like, it just becomes a mess. And at the end of the day, you just want to be happy playing basketball. What really happened? What's really going on?

The Kawhi thing is- Piercing questions. Yeah. Well, your thing was abrupt. Kawhi's thing was an all year thing. Yeah. Where he didn't come back. Then something was clearly wrong.

Then he was practicing away from the team. Then he didn't go to the playoff games and things like that. So I kind of felt like this was building. The thing with you in Cleveland last year, I think people were like, what? Yeah. He's going? Yeah. And then I never actually thought the trade would happen.

And then it happened to my favorite team. All of a sudden, my favorite team was one of the teams involved. I'm like, nah, this won't happen. Yeah. Nah. And then all of a sudden it happened. Gloo called me a little off guard too. But I mean, I was happy that they pulled the trigger

and they took a chance. When you knew you wanted to get traded, did you have a list in your head of teams or situations? What were you thinking? Yeah, I did. But ideally it was going to be up to the team regardless. So, you know, I would like to think I had somewhat of a leverage point. Yeah. But, you know, I would like to think I had, um, somewhat of a leverage point, but, um,

you know, at the end of the day, it was going to be a business move for the Cavs and, um, you know, in order to, for us to part ways kind of respectfully. What was the most important thing for you? Look at looking back a year ago, what was the first thing you wanted? Uh, just kind of being in a place where I could see myself for a few years and um kind of positioning myself with some other great players um you know that's when the texting and the calling starts happening hey man like yeah you're trying to do this and um you know the shift in the league of our generation is like we you know it's for me personally i'm gonna speak on kind of my my viewpoint of it's like we all want to play together at one point um you know whether's for me personally i'm gonna speak on kind of my my viewpoint of is like we

all want to play together at one point um you know whether that's now or later in our career you know we we kind of want to have fun playing with it you know we all kind of spend time in la or new york and we all see each other so it's cool when you can have like other great players on the team and other great uh player uh teammates and then you go for a championship you know we just want to be happy i want to be happy if anything so what what do you consider your generation because it's usually it starts you guys meet each other when you're like 12 13 14 at these au things so who's like in your class uh in terms of what like just like who are the guys you grew up with that you've been playing against since you were 14? Like Kevin Love's two years older than you.

Like Westbrook Love, those guys are a little bit older than you. I think Caleb's three years older than me maybe. But I would say that. Like Davis? Is he a guy from? Yeah, no, I've known AD for a little bit but um I would say you know kind of being you know being in that environment of high-level basketball at an early age meaning you know once I left Duke you know I was at the USA camp and yeah playing against Cobra you know

seeing ad play on the USA team and then playing with him in 2014 yeah you know playing with James and after a while you, I've been very fortunate to play on, you know, all-star games and stuff like that. So you start building relationships over time. So I didn't really know many people until I got into the league of, you know, this is high-level basketball, so why not build some relationships? It's good to be you in those games because you have the ball. Yeah.

The point guard's always the most important person in those games. Yeah, for sure ultimately you're deciding who gets to shoot yeah yeah but those guys are you know i've like i said i've been very fortunate to play with some great players so you know you kind of just you can sit and stare at times too they're they're just really great you know i did a podcast with kd i've done a bunch of them but we did one last year after i think it was right after you got traded or right when you maybe before you got traded he was talking about kairi loves to ball he doesn't want to do any of this he doesn't want to deal with any of this other stuff he just wants to know here's my team i don't have to deal with anything else i just want to play basketball and work on

my game and try to win basketball games is that that an accurate assessment? Oh, for sure, for sure. And it's like one of my close friends as well. So, you know, he definitely hit the kind of the hammer right on the head with that one. You know, I was appreciative that he even came out and said it because, you know, the appreciation I have for the game goes deeper than kind of what the lifestyle breeds sometimes. Yeah. You know, so it can get confusing at times it can get cloudy

just based upon you know kind of the responsibility you have as a professional athlete in the NBA and what you represent and your brand and stuff like that and then you know your love for the game kind of gets squandered and all that sometimes and you know you can see it some guys have lost passion for the game at times and they've had to you know deal with years of just kind of separating themselves or their down years you know that's not necessarily they haven't been working on their game it's just the passion sometimes can get lost and start making decisions and it could get it could get really really really hard you know and mentally it's it's a test so did you feel like your skills had become underrated just because you're playing with lebron who's one of the the three greatest players of all time, that some people kind of took it for granted a little bit,

some of the stuff you were great at? Not necessarily. I think that the authentic fans of basketball understood what I brought to the game. I think that playing with other great players and Katie said it the other day of how to stand out within that and just make sure that your confidence and you're working on your game and you're showcasing it.

Inevitably, you're playing with a great player like Bron. It's going to be a lot. And I feel like that right there is a testament of greatness of how you adapt to those situations instead of kind of whittling away from the challenge of figuring out and adapting and, you know, like why run away from it? So I went full force and just like took it, it took it by the head. And, you know, there are times it was really, really tough,

really, really tough. But I mean. What was tough about it? Just not having the ball all the time or just the spotlight that he brings? No, I would say like you, you're, you're being tested on, on the biggest stage in front of everyone, like all the time, all the time. I mean, like there was not a time where it was like the eyes wasn't on our team, wasn't on Bron, wasn't on me, wasn't on K-Love, like our team, it just, our organization. It was just like, I went from being in Cleveland to having kind of half the fans show up to now. Bron comes back now.

Every night is packed. Every road game is like somewhat of a home game for us. You think about the media attention that comes with all of that and just the elevated elevated pressure of like okay now it's championship or you fail and um you know then you got to figure out how do you fit in within this system like yeah basketball is a system system a game so how do you build that strategy and how do you fit in with that and it was tough i was caught the bullseye and i think the warriors dealt with this the last four years and especially kd walked into it the last two years we're just night after night after night i talked to gudal on the court after they won the the title last week and he was just saying just never ends it's like every day

yeah social media it's just day after day after day after day there's this bright bright spotlight on you and some guys get tired of it. Yeah. You know? It's like, well, I mean, we live in that day and age. At least you get paid, though. That part's good. Yeah, no, it's incredible. But it just, even that value. You can fly on charters.

Even that value of kind of building that, you know, like after a while, you're just like, all right, man, the game of basketball is, is really all I want to do and prepare every single day and work on my craft, you know, and have some fun with some great guys around, you know, as you get older. And I, and I talk like I've, like, I'm like, I'm not, but it's just like, you know, I'm going on my eighth year now and I've kind of experienced a lot within the league and, you know, it changes kind of your perspective a little bit over time. Like like i just want to be in a situation where i'm happy and going after championships rather than it feeling like it's a maniacal job every single day dealing with different personalities and everything just in in general in the workplace like you just you deal with that that stuff and you gotta find your happiness within that. Yeah, I was surprised when it became clear

that you were available last summer that you were weirdly underrated as a player. I felt like I was taking crazy pills because I was like, oh, he's worth this. He's one of the best nine guys in the league. And people are like, well, actually, we have no idea if he can run a team. We don't know if he's a franchise guy.

I was like, what are you guys talking about? Okay, hit the finals winning shot in a game seven. And I just, what are you guys talking about? Okay. I hit the finals winning shot in a game seven. Yeah. And I just, I didn't understand it. Yeah, no,

it comes with it, man. The perception itself. Which is weird. I mean. Because I always judge basketball players, you know,

I love going to the finals. I love when that spotlight gets super bright in those games and you can feel it in the arena. And it's just like certain guys step up. And I love the that spotlight gets super bright in those games and you can feel it in the arena. And it's just like certain guys step up. And I love the 2017 finals.

I know it was only a five-gamer, but it really did feel like it was you and LeBron versus Katie and Curry and then everybody else. But it was toe-to-toe. And that series was closer than I think people realize. If I was running the Cavss i would not have traded you i would have just taken you to dinner out every night and bought you uh iphones and ipads and whatever just trying to make you happy what are you what do you need kairi oh my goodness i appreciate that i just thought you guys were really good last year yeah zach lowe was saying that uh in the playoffs you were a top five offensive team like all time all time in the 2017 playoffs. You went against a Warriors team that had lost the year before

and was super hungry and motivated. It was KD's first time. I don't know. And he played unbelievable. And he was great. He was just him and stuff. Could you identify with some of the stuff he was going through this year? Because he definitely was up and down.

And it did seem like the season wore on him a couple times. Yeah. I think that, you know, kind of being on top of, I call it being on top of Mount Everest, like that climb, you know, that steady climb that starts in the summertime, goes throughout the season. Once you get on top of Mount Everest and you're like, and you're standing there, like you're enamored with your personality,

like people are just loving like you know finals mvp you know nba champion and um you know after that it's like so what's next yeah you know and it's just like we have to do it all over again and i have to now go through game one through 82 as if it's has like it holds a certain value to to me like it you know after you get there you're like okay that's what that's what he was after i mean he was after winning a championship being the best player on the floor and he accomplished that now it's like okay what's next and people are going and i think he thought when they won the title it was gonna relieve some of the shit he took and he didn't people like yeah you chased the title and then he was like really? I'm still

the finals MVP I'm still taking shit and I do think it affected him I thought it affected him during the season but he I think that he he does an incredible job of kind of willing himself to those like even to those moments of showcasing why he is that

great you know and it's great to see as a fan of basketball. I love playing against him, but I also love watching him. It's just, he has a presence about him that's like really unassuming, but he dominates games and, you know, 30 plus is easy for him. But then you see him get 10 assists some games and eight assists or, you know, 14 rebounds where he had in the finals or the game four where he had the triple double. And he's just like working on his craft.

And I think that in itself was like, OK, I got the championship. Now I just want to work on my craft. And now, you know, of course, our platform that we're inevitably on as athletes becomes like everyone just starts attacking. Like, no, you're not. You're not enough. You're not this. You're not that. And it's just, bro, like, just give it a break. Like, like, seriously, bro, like, you're not enough. You're not this. You're not that. And it's just, bro, just give it a break.

Like seriously, bro, give it a break. Like let it go, man. Yes, he's on an incredible team, but he's also the best player on that team. Were you okay when he switched to them? What was your feeling? Yeah, I was happy for him. I was happy for him, man.

At the end of the day, if you can control your experience, like he wanted that so i'm not the one to be opposing in any way for that if someone making a decision for their lives which is kind of why i was an advocate of why i you know when i came out with my trade like like no i'm just trying to be in my own truth i'm trying to figure out you know kind of my life yeah no disrespect to anyone else but this was a decision I had to make for me. Some people understand it, some people don't, but at the end of the day, it just really doesn't matter.

You mentioned at the top of the podcast, you were talking about your generation, how it's definitely, and I think it started with the decision in 2010 when LeBron went to Miami and it's led to this decade of player empowerment and players being in control. We're seeing it this weekend with Kawhi. He's not a free agent yet. I call it when LeBron went to Miami and it's led to this decade of player empowerment. Yeah. And players being in control, and we're seeing it this weekend with Kawhi.

He's not a free agent yet. I think he's a pre-agent. A pre-agent? Yeah, he's celebrating his pre-agency right now. Yeah, no, I was talking to my best friend Alex earlier about this, and I was saying that when LeBron did that in 2010, I think as a free agent to do that is like what he did was incredible, you know, in terms of player empowerment. And then now you look at where players are now realizing their own value within the organization and what they bring to other teams. And now they're controlling it like as best you can, like not being disrespectful to the team. But now we're

just open and honest about how we feel about our life outside of basketball and how it affects. And there's a like a very, very smooth correlation between that, like life and then basketball. But it actually it's pretty cohesive. So, you know, and now you see it like, no, I don't want to be in this situation anymore. Like I actually want to be somewhere else and I'm going to communicate that with you. And I know my value. I know that, you know, if this is going to work, I have to part ways and you just go about it. And now it's like you don't have to wait until free agency to do that anymore. The team doesn't have to trade you, but it's like now you can communicate it.

You know, it's just you want your team to be happy. So, you know, you want your star player to be happy. And if he he's not then what are you going to do to fix it and are you going to trade him away do you think that's your generation though you're a millennial are you an official i love that word millennial you're a millennial or you might be too young to be a millennial like i can never tell what the what the age range is but i think the fact that the fact that we get grouped as millennials like as a an older generation is like, no, no. You guys are like, oh, we had the baby boomers. Okay.

We had the internet age and generation X. And now we got millennials. Like, all right. All right, guys. Okay. We're okay. We're just, we're just going to group everybody as millennials. I think you're a post millennial.

I mean, I don't even know. I'm 26. So regardless, your generation is used to, here we go. You're just, no, no. I love these talks. I'm bringing even know. I'm 26. Regardless, your generation is used to... Here we go. No, no, this is good. I love these talks. I'm bringing this around. You're going to be in on this.

Your generation decides your entertainment value at all times. The streaming. Whatever show you want to watch, you can watch it. If you want food, just order from wherever it's going to show up. Give your phone. Just everything. I'm sorry it's getting hot in here is one of the air conditionings on no you're good you're good don't worry about it um whatever you

guys want you can basically like all right i want to do that and it's available accessibility and now it feels like that's trickier than the nba in some ways where people are like i'm not happier i'd rather go there yeah and then that happens at the same time as somebody who studied nba history and wrote a book about it once, this has been the league the entire time. Like Will Chamberlain 50 years ago was like eh, I want to go to the Lakers and they traded him to the Lakers. So I do feel like

the league, the way it's built it's built around stars and if stars become unhappy or they start looking elsewhere they start thinking about moving. It's just the way it is so i think it's a little bit of both yeah no i i agree you see where i'm coming from yeah for sure for sure i i do and um i'm with you i agree i agree i think but the from the flip side is like

now it's becoming a little bit more consistent like where the communication like using our specific platforms to communicate how we're feeling. I mean, everyone has a, has a guy that they're like, Hey, look, I'm not really necessarily happy here. And then someone else gets that information. It's like, boom, it's now it's like a, now it becomes a rumor. And now it starts trickling, like roll becoming a snowball effect in terms of what you want to make happen. It's the weirdest thing ever. It's the weirdest thing ever. It's very easy to manipulate. If you run a website like the ringer.com like kawaii leonard last month was at a dodgers game we did a post we had a picture of it we did a

post about like hey kawaii leonard's at a dodger game it became a story so that's i mean that's all he was doing was going to a dodger game yeah but at the same time he was sitting on the side where the dodgers put their guests i was was like, oh, that's interesting. And then we knew he went to San Diego. There's little layers to it. Those details are like, it just becomes unbelievable. This content is just crazy. So when you go to Boston, the fans loved you immediately.

And I don't think people realized how fun it was to have Kyrie Irving on their team game to game. Because, you know, you'll do stuff every game. You get money's worth out of Kyrie. But what was really interesting to me, because I had never really watched you day in, day out like that. And obviously I love the Celtics. You leave like big scoring performances on the table. It's like, tell me if this is true.

You'll know in the first quarter, you'll set the tone, you'll go by somebody once. And then it's like, all right, I know I can do that. And then you just kind of get everyone else involved, but you kind of keep it in your back pocket. You had games where I was like, he's going to score 70. And then you wouldn't shoot for eight minutes. So it's like you kind of feel the game out and you do what you need to do,

but you don't feel the need to like dominate the game and get the hell out of my way. I'm shooting 35 shots tonight. You never do that. No, no, no. But I can say that as I've evolved as a player, I think that the management of the game has become a little bit better because you're going to need your teammates at the end of the game. So in order to have them get a rhythm, I know that, okay,

this is a particular player or defender I'm going against that I can take advantage of any time I want. And I could shoot this shot right here every single time down. But I have to make it easier for other guys as well. That management of the game has to just be easy for them just and and that's what i've learned as as being one of the one of the players on the team especially with boston like we had young guys you know they're they're you know just trying to do everything at once yeah and i'm like guys like just ease into it like the game it's a long game

it's a 48 minute game that That's an eternity, man. So like the first six minutes, I'll know like, okay, this is a big time. If it's a big time, high level game, I know I have to put my mark on the game right away just to set the tone. And then for the rest of the game, you just manage it. Isaiah, this is my favorite thing about Isaiah Thomas.

He would just, you get everyone else involved for 44 minutes and we had to take over the last four. For sure, that's the most fun. Yeah. And the stats, it's funny because we're so stats obsessed now, and then people start comparing. They're like, oh, Isaiah Thomas, who's only 20 points a game during the two title runs.

And it's like, yeah, but he could have scored 35 a game. The whole point was he gave up the 15 points a game to the other dudes because he knew it was better for those guys, and he could always score when he wanted to. But I did see signs from that from you last year and you also had a young team hey you lose hayward in five minutes yeah it and that was tough that was tough yeah you were you were affected even the next game it took you like a week to shake that off it seemed like yeah i i just was pissed i was pissed i was pissed for our team and more or less for Gordon you know what I mean

it was like he was just now starting to get a rhythm in preseason and then you know it was just it was just tough it was tough and then I'm the one that threw the pass so I was just like you know for the alley-oop and I was like I was holding on to that for a while I was just like damn bro like because I at the time I you know and I'm not i'll take responsibility like i'll take part of the responsibility but he was he wasn't really open i saw d waited over there and then just he came down like wrong and i'm just like oh f like i thought he got nudged that knocked him off balance too i just was like man and then it just i was just i'm still sick about it it just was like man we because we had a really good training camp like a really good

training camp and the preseason games weren't even going to be the like the the factor to determining how we how great we're gonna be i knew it from the first day yeah like because the challenge of forming this team wasn't really hitting us we had already come from different situations like jb jalen brown didn't play last year as much. Yeah. But he played in the Eastern Conference Finals. Marcus is coming up a year where we're playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. He has a big game against us, game three.

They win at home. Yeah. Terry comes in. Me and him don't necessarily expect to go against one another, but we're now teammates. And now the challenge of like, okay, I'm going against you every day. You're going against me every day. That's only going to make us better. JT comes from Duke.

Very, very talented. I'm going to be a superstar as well as our other young guys. But he was nervous about like, okay, where do I fit into all this? Like any other rookie. But he was just talented as shit. Like I'm looking at him. I'm like, bro, you are, you do some things that I'm just like, they're Kobe-esque. Yeah. But he finishes around the rim really well.

And he's athletic and he has long arms. I'm like, okay, now how do I elevate him? Then when Gordon went down, the opportunity shifted to those guys. So my attention went to them of just helping them develop that attitude. Like you got to be a killer every single night. Don't take anything for granted out here on the floor and we'll be fine. Tatum, uh,

by December, it was like, wow, something's here, but he still didn't really even realize it in game seven of the Eastern finals when he dunked on LeBron and hit a three over him and then didn't get the ball for the next four minutes. Cause he's a kid,

but it's all there. I mean there I am not worried about that the tools are there yeah yeah I couldn't believe how well he did for how young he was and plus he hit the rookie wall and it was like all right hit the rookie wall that's fine we'll get some good stuff out of him sometimes but it's we've seen. And then after you got hurt, it seemed like he kind of regrouped. And then I thought he was really, yeah, he had no choice. He had to shoot at that point. And Brad just, you know, Brad is one of the most adaptable coaches that I've ever been around. He's just highly intelligent about the game, about life and talking to him is always awesome. I just had dinner with him the other night, him and his wife and his kids. And, you know, talking basketball with him is just,

it's such a relief to have a basketball mind like that and appreciation of the game. Like doesn't forget plays, like knows when the shift in the game happens. And, you know, we were going over like things that could have been done differently this season. And it just, it was like, it was a breath of fresh air talking to him.

Yeah, he's so good on those out-of-bounds plays that I get mad when we don't score. I usually let him on the team. It's like, what do you mean? It's eight seconds left. This is our time. Come on, have time out. Who's getting a layup? Guaranteed misdirection action for... He's like a savant.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. But for the most random person too yeah it's like aaron baines coming off a down screen for a mid-range jumper in the middle of the lane and it's like nobody expects that like should have set a chicago pick or al sets it for baines and baines curls and like if baines doesn't open he goes into a dribble handoff and it's just like okay now we play read and react game um i loved what he did against philly in the confetti game when he called the time out after he saw what they were doing on defense to set up the lob for horford under the basket and that was sick adapt he adapts

what compare and contrast him and coach k there is no compare and contrast between those two they're they're they're great individuals so i don't even you know but i i think that i would say that coach is also adaptable i would say that that that's something that they share coaches you know when i came into school coach was talking about um you know how i was gonna be part of it and yeah he's like no you're just gonna you're just gonna run the you're gonna run our team yeah you're not you're part of it and yeah he's like no you're just gonna you're just gonna run the you're gonna run our team yeah you're not you're part of the team but you're gonna run our team like you're a freshman i was 18 years old no you're gonna run our team and then you know we've just developed

a great friendship over the years um do you feel like a duke guy because how long were you there like eight months of course man look at this look at you had a cup of coffee there. I mean, I may have stopped that Panda Express on campus a few times. You wear Duke gear? Yeah, of course. Do you bet guys on the team during March Madness? Are you at that level? Yeah. I mean, everyone likes to bring it up, but I would just say this. This is my argument. It takes others 30-some games, 60 games to get to the nba it took me 11 right i wore duke on my chest we were number one in the country we were eight no and then

get to the tournament and lose to derrick williams in the arizona wildcats i was i'm still sore about that you tatum and then if they take grace and alan with 27 you have like a whole duke side of the locker room you. You just paint this side of it blue. Yeah. Put a Coach K picture up there. For sure. Idle-ized coach. Quick break to talk about Gillette.

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All under $10. That's high performance at a low price. Get Gillette performance delivered to your door. Find Gillette 5 at GilletteOnDemand.com. Subscribe today. What was it like sitting out the playoffs and then watching them make a run? It sucked, man.

It sucked. Because you have to be a supportive leader, veteran guy, but at the same time, you want to be out there. For sure. It absolutely sucked. I can't even sugarcoat it.

It was tough. Not of watching the guys, but of what I was dealing with outside of that. Like I was leaving the games at halftime because I had eight hour shifts of antibiotics I had to take. Oh, yeah. I had a PICC line in my arm, you know, for two months. And I'm just like every day is like okay you know I can't necessarily lift I can't run I can't do anything if I didn't have my um kind of pick line in for my infection then I would have definitely gone after trying to be ready for at least the eastern conference finals really yeah for sure but the infection was just I had no like I got two surgeries in a matter of, I think it was a three week span.

I got the screws taken out the night, you know, I had to take out everything completely. I got the wiring taken out first, excuse me. And then I got the screws taken out. So you felt, you were playing, you felt just a constant agitation. Yeah. I felt like my body was kind of rejecting the screws at a point. Oh, interesting. Probably because it had the infection, right?

Yeah. was kind of rejecting the screws at a point. Oh, interesting. Probably because it had the infection, right? Yeah, and it just was like, my body was just like, okay, the screws have, you know, that's talking about my body, I know it. And it's just like, after a while, my body was just telling me like, bro, what are you doing with this metal in your body anymore? Like, it served its purpose, I'm healed.

But now it's like, it's just getting in the way of you just being completely healthy. So, so they took the screws out and they found that the areas, the area was a little infected and was actually dangerous to you. Yeah. Really dangerous. Really dangerous.

So if they hadn't taken the screws out, what would happen? Uh, I would have just had, you just sort of felt like crap. Yeah. Like crap. And it was just got worse like i started to have some muscle deficiencies and um or atrophy excuse me in my in my left quad just because my my leg just started to shut down it just was you know after a while i just i couldn't i couldn't do it anymore so how do you feel now i feel good now yeah i mean i feel like

me you know before i knew I had screws in my knee. Now I'm just like, okay, I'm screwless. I have some friends with the Celtics. I have some friends with the Celtics, and I was envisioning this Willis Reed scenario for you in game seven. I was like, no, he's going to play, right? He'll be all right. And they're like, no, that infection's bad.

He's not playing. There's no chance. It was the same thing with Hayward. It was like, yeah, Hayward could come be all right. And they're like, no, that infection's bad. He's not playing. There's no chance. It was the same thing with Hayward. It was like, hey, Hayward could come back in round three. They were like, no, no, he's not coming back. He broke his ankle. He's not coming back. Even Gordon with his plate being taken out. I think, you know, yeah, it's just tough to have metal in your body for a while.

You know, when I got got it the doctor was like okay this may be in for a few years and it was like after two years it was like this is done yeah so so you was would you say it was a mistake not to do it last summer if you had to do it over again i i i i didn't it wasn't as uh as bad last summer like i didn't really it didn't affect me as much um you know then in the beginning of season two as well, I had maybe a little bit of pain and then it would be good. It would come back and then I would have to deal with it. Some games I just played with it just being the way it was, hurting,

but I didn't really mind. I was just focused on kind of – there was a lot of vengeance that I had in my mind of just I want to play great I want our team to be great I want to go into the playoffs like with our team being great I want to really go after this and then when I came back from all-star break I think I played maybe six games five games I came out firing like I was just and then I got to Houston. Yeah.

That Houston game. And after that, I was like, I guess. That was a great game. Yeah, it was. But I wasn't even, I wasn't even feeling it. Like I wasn't even feeling the game. I was so focused on my knee that I was like, and I hate that type of, you know, kind of performance from me. I'm a big game like that. Like going against Houston, it was a possibility that we could have been playing in the finals.

And it was like, man, I want to play great tonight. And, you know, fucking quiet 18 points. And I'm just like, man, I wanted to destroy them. Yeah. But I just, my knee just wasn't going for it. What's the best stretch of your career that you've had? Last three games of 16 finals? The best stretch? Yeah. Where you just felt like you were at the stretch of your career that you've had last three games of 16 finals the best stretch yeah where you just felt you're at the peak of your powers i've yet to feel that oh i like that

i like hearing that you're on the celtics yeah this is great i've yet to feel that like the championship run was incredible but i've yet to feel like 45 in game five, right? 41. 41? Yeah. Yeah. That was fun. Game seven finals, coming out of the timeout, and the shot's going to you. You know it's going to you. What are you thinking? Make the shot. First and foremost.

Are you like, I'm making this, or I hope I make this, or is everything blocked out? What's the mental process? Because that's a pretty big spot. Yeah. It was just calm. It was calm, man. It was calm. Either way, make or miss, I was going to be cool with the result.

It just was actually just stepping up and taking it. I had taken that shot since I've been 16 years old you know kind of right hezy step back going to my right hand and it creates enough distance um between me and the defender to get the shot off it's a little fade to the right um you know but my angle to the rim was just perfect you know just just knock it in can you work on your traveling this summer traveling is now in Harden takes five steps when he takes a three now I think you need to add that can you add two more steps on the step back I don't know have you seen what Harden does now and apparently it's still not a travel no I don't think it's a travel

I don't think it's a travel well because he's gathering the ball whatever the hell that is yeah but it was like he's at the point now James is at the point where he doesn't even see the defender anymore. Like it doesn't matter who's on him. Like that space he creates with his step back, he like lines up the ball. Like he just takes a step back and just like literally just like, I'm 6'6". Yeah. I'm an incredible shooter now.

I can go by you or I can shoot this. Yep. And also he conserves energy like it's so easier it's so much easier to get to 30 with five threes yeah then to get to 30 taking all twos and mid-range jump shots right like you know what I mean like yeah he probably I think he would have attempted eight nine threes a game yeah so you shoot what 36 36 to 40 you, you shoot nine threes, you know, you can live with those odds. Who's the worst guy to get switched on to? The worst guy?

Yeah. For you, we were like, oh God. I don't, I mean, switching on to bigs is like a. Yeah. That's like, I, I, I love the challenge, but I, I usually come out of that situation a little bit more hurt than when I went in. Like, I like, just like, yo, I'm about to, I'm about to bang with, I'm about to bang with them. I'm about to give them, I'm about to, I'm about to show them that I'm just, I'm actually pretty strong.

And then when they just put like one elbow in your chest or like, they just back their backs out into you. And you just like, you got to take that first initial hit. Like the, the first one's cool. And then the second one's just like, you got to take that first initial hit. Like the first one's cool. And then the second one's just like, what am I doing down here? Like get the hell out of here, man. Yeah.

LeBron had some moments like that when he'd have a small guy switch on. Like a couple of times, Marcus would try to reach in and LeBron would just get mad and he would just like flex his shoulder. So the next time it happened, all of a sudden he's a brick wall. Marcus is really strong too. Marcus is really strong. I actually thought Marcus did a pretty good job on LeBron. He's just six inches shorter than him. and he would just like flex his shoulder so the next time it happened, all of a sudden he's a brick wall.

Marcus is really strong too. Marcus is really strong. I actually thought Marcus did a pretty good job on the run. He's just six inches shorter than him. Yeah. He makes it tough. He's feisty. He's an incredible defender. What was it like to have Marcus Smart

as your teammate for an entire year? It was... He's a beloved Boston athlete. No, I know. He just does things for your team that you're just like... When he came back and the first thing he did when he got in was dive on the floor after he's just been out for a month and some change after getting thumb surgery. Yeah, he's got a split on his head.

That in itself is like... But he's on my team. You know what I mean? You got to love that type of effort. He adds a versatility on my team. You know what I mean? You got to love that type of effort. And he adds a versatility for our team. There was a lot of guys on that team last year and hopefully this year too that just kind of connected with the crowd. Marcus Morris.

When Marcus, when he gets that one offensive rebound in traffic and then flies back and gets a three-point play and goes flying into the basket support, people just get fired up you know and like when you would go on your little runs and i don't know i thought the crowds were like especially good oh this year they were incredible they were really helpful the fans are incredible i mean the thing about the houston game we're down by 26 yeah um you know two refs out there and like after a while you just the fans they just they're it got to the point where we were never out of a game basically like ever we were ever even on the road but more or less

at home like you make a we used to go on 10-0 runs and the final two minutes being down 16 like and the crowd just erupts they're like oh we have like we've had a chance this whole game i'm glad you guys stepped up your effort let's reward them by just giving them everything we have yeah you know so yeah you can feel it in the in the arena there's been some special Celtics teams over the years but the uh what happened i mean after you got hurt it was just like oh yeah all right we're gonna probably lose in round one maybe brad will pull off a miracle and then all of a sudden not with our coach three two of the eastern finals yeah not with our coaching staff and not with our players this year they they they did an incredible job our matchups are they're scary for for teams really really

scary think about next year yeah like really really scary no team is like because not only in terms of our defense but offensively we have guys that can create off the dribble other than kind of me terry or marcus those those our wings are just they're incredible what's cool about next year's team is how flexible the lineups are i do it in 2k all the time you can do yeah i do it in 2k all the time like yeah for sure i don't pick anybody else. I appreciate that. Anybody else. Nobody else. Starting five is me, JB, Gordon, JT, Al. Second five, Marcus, Terry. I'll leave JB or JT in there. I'll leave Gordon in there, and then I'll throw Baines.

So you like the eight-man rotation? Eight, nine-man. Eight, nine-man rotation. We'll have a pretty solid guy at the 27th pick. It was funny hearing people be like, well, what's going to happen next year when Hayward comes back? They'll be like, we'll play Tatum, Brown, and Hayward together. What's the problem? We'll switch on defense and it'll be great. It's scary.

It's scary how good. You're fired up for this year. You got to get through all this uncle drew promotion and then we need you we need you in what's your some remote high school gym in southern california just working on your game when can you start playing again like a month what so when you're not playing do you feel like a void does it feel weird no no i say you're not one of those guys like oh this is my my quiet place no no no um what i would say is that from the uh the another perspective is that when i when i was

injured and i was home i got to really really develop other interest and and sell it um kind of really really dive into some of my passions that i have you know so like what like just appreciation of art trying to create my business you know that you know kind of watching i fell in love with just watching cmbc i think that is one of the most really yeah hilarious channels it really is funny to watch them go crazy over like it's just companies and what the market is doing it's like funny like it's like this just in in. Pepsi just, oh, they're trying to reach millennials in terms of consumer and beverage. And they're in a competition

and they're trying to grow. And it's just like, well, welcome in. So-and-so from Goldman Sachs is going to speak on what they're investing in. It's just like, it's just all day though. Power lunch is one of my favorites. You know, so I just literally should just turn it on in the morning and just leave it on all day, though. Power lunch is one of my favorites. So I just literally just turn it on in the morning and just leave it on all day.

All day. Do you like the earlier NBA schedule? Yeah. Because all of a sudden it's like September and everything's going again. Yeah. Yeah. There's a demand for it.

So I don't mind giving that to the fans. There's a demand for the game of basketball. There's a demand to see great players on the floor. You get to see us 82 times a year, and then including the playoffs. What's your ideal schedule? 75? 70? No, man.

Probably like two college seasons, probably like 60. 60? 60. I don't think the owners will go for that. No, no. Like I said, there's too much of a demand yeah you know

people love basketball right now for sure did you watch the finals are you watching it like a fan it was it was like

I watched it as a as a as a kind of as a critic and then as well as a of like a fan of

of kind of both teams you know so it was just, man, it was an interesting finals to say the least. What, what was your reaction when JR forgot the score having played with him for

years? I mean, and LeBron as well. Like shit happens, man. you know, it just should happen sometimes in that type of environment. Of course it was gonna be like

the biggest thing ever like you know what could have happened in those four seconds you know could you put up a floater you start putting all the scenarios and all the pressure on like what what if what if like people love doing that shit all day that's what our society's like built on all the time like it's just like what if what could should have happened that's one of my favorite things to do that's what i'm. And then like, you draw emotion to that. And then like people just start kind of having their own like perception of it. You know, it's just like, but at the end of the day, like shit happens, bro. The clip didn't help of LeBron on the bench reacting and then sagging back with the hands over his head.

It did seem like that killed them going into the OT. I went to the game and you could feel like. Did they score? I think that, I mean, the Warriors into the OT. I went to the game and you could feel like. Did they score? I think that, I mean, the Warriors won the OT by 10. Yeah. It just felt like it took LeBron out. I've never seen LeBron angrier ever. Because he was so mad about the call.

He's mad about JR. And then he pinned the Steph shot at the end on the backboard and then was like talking shit to him, which he usually doesn't do. It was emotionally. He's very aggro. Yeah, emotionally. Emotionally, the finals is just, it's the biggest stage, biggest stage.

So you make one mistake on there, you say one misquote on there and they're killing you for it. They're just killing you for it. Do you like the press conferences? Are you amused by them? Amused? Yeah.

Because it's basically nine out of every 10 questions are going to be awful. And you have to sit there and pretend and just not be sarcastic and pick them apart. No comment?

Glad the NBA does a great job showcasing us. Oh, that's a great answer answer you're really good at this you might have to get your own cnb redirect you should get your own cnbc show someday redirect no but i think it's just like it just becomes it just becomes like just becomes entertainment there's too much of it like this you know draymond said about this about tristan tristan said this about Draymond. Give it a break. It's just the finals, man.

Who cares? We just want to see you guys play. Just play the game. All that personal stuff can go out the window. We have a winner. We have a loser. Everybody goes home. One team celebrates. One team goes home and makes offseason moves. It's just like offseason started. Once the game was over offseason started who's signing extension who and

like it's just like the Warriors just won the chip the offseason started the actually the offseason started today with this cool story we had about the offseason we had a week the offseason started at all-star break what does that mean oh with the texting and the all-star break the buttering up yeah all-star break

it started it started so you're a believer in what in the players hey man hey what about this summer

no I think I think we all have great relationships redirect can't get can't keep I don't want you to call for tampering or

alright it's tough it's tough it's a tough life out here Bill Celtics are the number two favorite next year are we? yeah

6-1 you already you already looked it up? I look this stuff up all the time this is what I do 6-1? yeah

how about the Lakers the Lakers climbed to 6-1 this week just cause of the rumors that LeBron was here I look this stuff up all the time. This is what I do. Six to one? Yeah. How about the Lakers? The Lakers climbed to six to one this week just because of the rumors that LeBron was here looking for schools with his kids. So that's happening too. And now the Kawhi thing as well. Yeah. Man, this is going to be intense.

LeBron, Kawhi, blank. That's a contender. Or also forget about Paul George. Well, that's what I mean. Paul George or maybe somebody we're not thinking of yet. That's the thing.

You never know. Nobody knew you were available in mid-June last year. And then all of a sudden you were available. So I always feel the biggest thing is the shorter contracts.

I think that's why there's more movement. It's just like you think about 15, 20 years ago like Jalen Rose. He signed like a seven year 100 million dollar deal or something in indiana yeah he's there for seven years or they

or they're in control of trading him but the way you guys have rigged it now it's basically like lebron has been the smartest of all it's like just constantly running it back one year one year one year one year so he has more power um tell you that value um that we that us as players have have really really just figured out like we know where we add value we know um kind of how great we are as players and how do you work with management to ultimately win multiple win a championship or win multiple championships go go after year after year. Yeah. You know,

and then at the end of the day, first comes first is be happy. Like, like I said, that's, that's, that's the main reason. Like I feel,

you know, I'm so supportive of players kind of doing what they want to do. Like if that's your happiness, bro, go after it. It's an amazing generation of players. I have talked about this on the podcast before, but you know,

when I was growing up, especially the younger guys were really hit or miss. It's an amazing generation of players. I have talked about this on the podcast before, but when I was growing up, especially the younger guys were really hit or miss. And some of them couldn't handle either their first big contract or the attention or just the pressure playing. And then you went through the 80s and drugs were a big issue in the 80s. Then you went to the 90s

and guys are 19 getting $80 million contracts. They're just handling it badly, like the hip hop generation. Then the LeBron generation comes in and now everybody handles their business well. Like I was talking to Donovan Mitchell at the finals. The guy's like, he's 35 years old and he's 22. Tatum's the same way.

Tatum already knows how to be boring in interviews. He's not going to say anything. No. But it's this whole generation. I think they learn from the LeBron, Wade, Bosch generation of like kind of how to handle their business. That's say anything. No. And, but it's this whole generation. I think they learn from the LeBron Wade, Bosch generation of like kind of how to handle their business. That's my theory. Yeah.

So you agree with it? No, I agree with it. I agree with it. I think that we all try to individually create our own, like we're, we all try to be a trailblazer one way or another. Yeah.

In terms of how we view our business, the opportunities that were afforded. How do we take advantage of that? I don't think necessarily, you know, athletes are just trying to position themselves with, with just a brand as just getting paid for it. Now, you know, you start looking in into the deal itself. If you were looking for equity, like we're not, we, we actually want to be part of this. If we're going to try to grow this business for you, like you can use my likeness, you can use who I am, you know, it comes with a lot, but the value i'm adding to this is just a lot more

than just maybe here take this amount x amount of money to you know promote this brand cool but now it's like on the back end like what are you what am i actually getting from it like what are we getting from each other so you want to cut from 2k basically basically. You want an extra tip? You're one of the most fun 2K guys. Is there anything they got wrong with your 2K character? Is there anything that they could have added that you don't have? Is the Hesi correct? My hair, man. Oh, the hair.

You don't like the hair? They gave me like I was losing my hair in the back of my hair. I'm just like, bro, I'm not losing my hair. So I think, you know, and then also they like completely disrespected me, like in terms of giving me a 90. I was just like, bro, how am I going to be the cover athlete? And then I'm a 90. I was like, come on, man.

And they, you know, after a while I told him I was going to work for it. And then now I'm a 93. So I was cool. Yeah. You could go a little higher than that. I'm humbly at 93. I don't mind it. I just would love to be over 90.

I was hovering around the 89, 90. They give you the 100 handle a bit. For sure. You have to. That handle, I mean, come on now. When did you start working on the handle? What age? Like six?

I've been dribbling since I was 18 months. Really? Yeah. You did? I didn't really start really, I didn't start getting creative with it until maybe high school high school I always had like I tried to emulate Allen Iverson's crossover but instead of left to right

right to left and then I just started kind of working on combinations and it just took off from there yeah cause watching you especially during some of the more boring games it seems like you were experimenting in the game. Yeah, it's fun. Going to the rim and be like, I know this could be conventional, but I'm going to do a double pump lefty instead to see if this goes in.

It's fun. Yeah. It's fun. Why not? That's what the game is for. I know I get that probably the situation may not be right all the time in terms of trying it. But I think that's kind of what what separates me is like all right cool you know we can have the normal stuff the mid-range pull up but then

hey let's throw like a little post-up like fade shimmy going baseline shooting over the like kind of over the side of the glass or let's get this bank shot going left like floater from like the free throw line right like just try it like i practice Like I practice it. So why not try it? Yeah. Curry seems like he does that too sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, I wonder if I can make this.

He's like, you're 37 feet away from the basket. And then it goes in. He knows he can make it though. Yeah. And it's like, he confidently shoots that because he practices it.

He works on it. I mean, he shoots half court shots before he, for his warmup. That's ridiculous. Right. Like I've never seen,

I've never seen him And he has a crowd. I mean. And his, the guy who passes the, those balls to him for the shots is like kind of a celebrity at the games. The guy with the beard. He throws perfect chest passes right at Steph's nipple.

Just gets it perfect. Right in the same spot every time. Clearly you've been watching this. I was, I was watching the finals. I was like, this is one of the best free shows we have. Steph,

Steph shooting like 30 footers routinely. That guy said he made 77. 77 threes? In a row. I believe it. He's an incredible shooter. The Celtics said that they were surprised how much, from a personality temperament standpoint,

you reminded them of KG. Was one of the notes I heard through the grapevine. Yeah. That you were very hands-on, very emotional in a good way about just getting stuff done correctly and right. Not really talkative in terms of kind of what people asked about what was going on on our team, because I didn't think that was necessarily important

for everyone to know. But yeah, just forming our identity. That was one of the most important things in order to go after championships is forming that identity in order to go after something that's bigger than yourself. And when you have guys that are kind of willing to listen, it makes it a lot easier. Those guys wanted it. So they wanted me to be hands-on, so it was easy for me to do it.

Did you know you wanted that? Because at Cleveland-on so it was easier for me easy for me to do it did you know you want that because you wanted that because at cleveland obviously lebron's deciding everything and part of being the best guy in a team is only one guy gets to kind of decide all kinds of stuff yeah but i think that narrative is like it just itself that you know kind of that thinking is just outdated like okay it's just outdated now like, you know, kind of that thinking is just outdated. Like, it's just outdated now. Like, because, you know, of course the best player, it should have that responsibility, but like, and then, and then it becomes, we blame everybody else if it's not, you know, a success for that best player. Like, it's just like, just let it go. You know what I mean? Like everyone shares a responsibility within winning and losing. So,

you know, don't have the responsibility to put mainly on, you know, him. And then, you know, when, when it falls,

it's like, okay, he falls with me and his teammates. Like, just like in it, I think it's just a little outdated. That's all. Like,

because we all are showcasing our talents one way or another. We're sharing this responsibility to win a basketball game. If we've come up short, we all must take responsibility. That's all I've tried to do in my career. Yeah. Even if I have to take majority of the blame, it's like, cool. But my teammates, even in wins and losses, I still have to elevate them. Still have to give them that confidence.

Still have to echo that I believe in them. How long did you film Uncle Drew for? A month and a half in Atlanta. And you were in prosthetics and playing basketball? Yeah, it was hot as shit out there. How many hours of prosthetics? Sometimes it would be 16-hour shoot days. In Atlanta?

Yep. That sounds like torture. Yep. How heavy were the prosthetics? Heavy. God. Yeah. Intense, bro.

I mean, intense. How long did it take to get off? I ripped it off. I used to rip it off. Like, because we'd be playing basketball or we'd be kind of in a nursing home or be, you know, in the club dancing. And, you know, it was like it just got really hot. It got really hot. But I was well worth it, though, because I got to kind of like work on, you know, kind

of my language a little bit with the ladies. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Like if you could fall for Uncle Drew, if you could fall for Uncle Drew like if you could fall like if you could fall for uncle drew if you could fall for uncle drew if i could talk to a female with uncle drew makeup on bro i'm living it i'm living it like if i could if i could talk even though they knew it was me underneath but yeah just uncle drew talking to like a female, like, yo, we're in an all velour suit.

You know what I'm saying? It's going to be weird if you're going to bars two years from now, dressed as uncle. What made you want to be a star of a movie? Uh, I, I had, I really had no, I didn't really want to,

it just like happened, you know, it started as like an internet short, um, kind of series and then elevated to a commercial. And they were like Lionsgate and Temple Hill. And, uh, Jay Longino wrote the, wrote, uh, kind of the storyline, the narrative and Charleston the third directed it. And I was like, boom, you're our lead. And that was it. I was just like, boom, you're our lead. And that was it. I was just like, okay,

this is a real thing. Like, this is a real thing. Like I, it took me a while to really come to terms with, I have a fricking movie coming out. Like I just couldn't. Yeah.

Like I'm okay. We're, we're focused on getting, getting better as an athlete. And then like, no, I actually have to promote this movie. Two different sides of the spectrum. Like I'm now talking to living arts media outlets about my acting. Did you study up on the history of NBA players as lead actors in movies?

Because it's enjoyable. Yeah. That was my childhood was Dr. J and Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. My dad told me to watch that. Bernard King and Fast Break. My dad told me

to watch that. Yeah. I'm trying to think who else. Ray Allen and He Got Game. Epic. Eddie had a lot of dudes. Epic. Yeah, no.

One of my favorite movies. Eddie and Malik Sealy was really good in Eddie. I liked Eddie. I ride for Eddie. Was that with Whoopi Goldberg? Whoopi Goldberg comes out of the stands and saves the Knicks.

It's terrible, but it's great. I just remember that one scene when she got on the airplane and was like talking to the team. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember that scene. They used all NBA players in the jerseys,

which is kind of crazy. That she got that to be done. The NBA endorsed the movie. Then, of course, you got Space Jam. Yeah. That was also good, seeing Michael. Blue Chips had, those guys weren't in the NBA yet, but Shaq and Penny. I thought that was epic.

That was legendary for the amateur culture. Yeah. Amateur basketball culture. Above the Rim didn't use anybody. They used Dwayne Martin. I don't know. I think he might have played for a year in the NBA, but they didn't have the Rim didn't use anybody. They used Dwayne Martin. I don't know. I think he might've played for like a year in the NBA, but they didn't have like the,

you know, Tupac obviously was. Yeah, I mean. Yeah. Yeah, no, that was incredible. So you have high hopes for this movie, it sounds like. Yeah, for sure. I'm like,

now I'm starting to turning to the exciting part of it. Yeah. You know, this is like, we're getting towards the date. The promotion itself is really, really epic. I get to kind of experience different avenues within kind of the movie, the film realm,

you know, and just talk about, you know, things other than basketball all the time. So it's like, it's, it's cool, you know? And then of course my cast, like, they're awesome. About to leave here and go do a kind of a video capture with them. And it's just exciting. Oh, it's a different, it's a different,

it's a different feel. Yeah. Like, it's like, cool. You know, no, you play for Boston,

but like, what the hell are you doing in the acting world? Yeah. Like, what are you doing here? And I was like, uh, just a lead,

lead actor in a movie coming out. So, yeah. So you'll do it again. It sounds like if there, if there is you'll do it again, it sounds like. If there is a sequel, then I definitely would. Definitely would.

My strength and conditioning coach, Robin Pound, though, would absolutely say no. Absolutely say no, though. Were you surprised your shoes became as popular as they did? Like my son, who plays basketball, like the Kyries were like the shoes to get if you were 10 years old in Los Angeles. They were like a thing.

Yeah. How did that happen? Are the shoes cool or is it cool to say I have the Kyries or is it you or is it all a combination of all those things? Because I was asking him and he's like like i just like the shoes and i like how he plays yeah and that was it yeah i was being authentic man like in terms of also having that connection to the youth of making it seems like you do have that connection yeah yeah because i like the 2k thing helps i think the 2k thing helps as well think. The 2K thing helps as well as kind of, I would say my personality onto it as well.

And also where I get my inspiration from, it really comes from that 10-year-old place of being in my backyard or being with my dad and being in intimate settings and learning the game of basketball, but while still developing other interests outside of that. And then just releasing like really dope colors. Like the aesthetics on the shoe are, you know,

we start out as like kind of like this blank shoe and then I just come and chop it up. Yeah. Oh, so you have real input on it? Yeah. That's what I'm, yeah. You can tell. I mean.

I never know with this stuff. I never know if people pretend to have the input or they actually have the input. No, my meetings are like, I run my Nike meetings. Like, I'm, yeah. No, if it's my name on it, then I'm definitely running the damn meeting. Like, hey, like, I love what you guys are doing here, but here we go. Let's do it here. And then we just, I have an incredible relationship with Nike.

So they give me the freedom to be me. So when you have the Kyrie Irving podcast on the ringer, you're going to run that. You're going to run the meetings when we have the show meetings and stuff. You'd be good at podcasts. Maybe in the works. Ah, that's bullshit.

Come on, Tommy. Maybe, maybe in the works. Be good. We'd be in the road. We'll send you some mics. You and Jalen Brown.

Jalen Brown's a smart dude. Really smart. Yeah. Really smart. He is one of the most interesting people to talk to. I'm really interested to see what happens with his life over the next 15 years. Because I do think, especially as his profile gets bigger and the Celtics are good and all that stuff. I do think he'll use his platform in ways that guys don't normally use

them. For sure. For sure. And we got it. And you got to tell Tatum, he's got to shoot more next year. You got to do the Isaiah next year. He's got to do the 89 Pistons Isaiah.

You just get your 19 a game, but take over when they need you and just get the shots for everybody. You're going to be like the dad. You're going to be like the dad at the table, like making, you're gonna be like the dad you're gonna be like the dad at the table like making you have to divide up the the food the mac and cheese it's my favorite food uh no it's gonna be fun it's gonna be a challenge though which is what i'm most uh excited about because now you go from being able to kind of make some mistakes. And now like our expectations from everyone are just going to be totally

different. People are picking him in the title, assuming everybody comes back healthy and Danny doesn't make a crazy trade. Who knows? He loves trading. He's Danny. He'll trade anyone. He doesn't care.

Why do you got people excited by the way, when you talked or not, I guess excited is not the wrong word. Scared. When somebody asked you about what was happening in a why do you got people all excited by the way when you talked or not i guess excited is not the wrong word scared when somebody asked you about what was happening in a year and you're like i don't know i don't know what's gonna happen a year from now yeah i can't do that in boston people are too crazy it's hot there now they're made they're crazy people it's you know i wouldn't i couldn't be anything but truthful so so you really don't know you're just thinking year to year. I have to.

That's where my focus is. Because I know that question is going to come up a lot. And I'm doing my best to really just redirect that attention towards what we're able to accomplish next year. So that's all I'm focused on. It would be great to like, I'm doing this for sure, but you just don't know. If you sign with the Knicks, I'm canceling the Kyrie Irving podcast

on the Ringer Podcast Network. How do you know I'm going to the Ringer? I don't know. I don't know. Just saying. I'll be very upset. Maybe I won't cancel it, but I might doctor the tapes a couple of times.

Are you going to delete our podcast? I'll delete the archives. Kyrie left. Screw this. Good luck with the movie. Good luck with the knee a couple times. Are you going to delete our podcast? I'll delete the archives. Curry left. Screw this. Good luck with the movie. Good luck with the knee. Thank you. I'm glad everything's well.

Thanks for coming on. I'm glad we finally did this. Appreciate it, Bill. All right. Thank you. Hey, if you're like me and you're not so great at planning ahead, I've got some good news for you. Our friends at Hotel Tonight have an awesome app that helps you find amazing hotel deals

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start scoring amazing deals instead at incredible hotels. All you have to do is download the hotel tonight app right now. All right. I'm here with Sean fantasy next week. Sean and I are doing Forrest Gump for the rewatchables. Hell yeah. You people voted for it. It's not our fault. And guess what? I'm here with Sean Fennessey. Next week, Sean and I are doing Forrest Gump for the rewatchables. Hell yeah. You people voted for it.

It's not our fault. And guess what? We love doing it. And we defend Forrest Gump. Turns out it's good. Spoiler alert. Forrest Gump's a good movie. Want to talk about Hereditary?

Yeah. Which I finally saw this week. I went with my wife and my 13-year-old daughter. That's really terrifying that you did that. Yeah. Guess what? It didn't freak the living hell out of me or anything like that but what about zoe she was fine she covered her eyes for the last 20 minutes so that helped okay but what was your thinking

here you were like i want to mess with her tonight no she wanted to go she's seen the conjuring the conjuring this guy the hereditary is so different so different from the conjuring. I like the conjuring but I mean I didn't think it was as Horrifying as everybody seemed to think to me. It was more like the shining level of scary. We're not a lot happened Yes, but my kids love the shining the con movies like The Conjuring which I really love Don't stick with you the way that movies like The Shining do. The Shining embeds itself in your DNA and it fucks with you for a long time. And I do think Creditory is one of those movies that there are images in it that will just stick with you. And so you may have exposed your 13-year-old

daughter to awful, awful things. No, she's fine. Okay. I think The Shining is actually scarier and nothing in this movie is as scary as Scatman Crothers get in the acts. I agree. Which is just terrifying. But I mean, what an amazing testament to Hereditary that we're even making that comparison. The Shining is one of the darkest, most troubling, most fascinating movies ever made. Yeah.

So it's interesting. Like, I think that the reaction to this movie, which I saw, I think in March, and I told you when I saw it, I was like, you're going to want to see this. It's a big deal if you care about horror movies um it's interesting because there's a long hype train that leads up to these movies now where people like me are like oh you gotta see the scariest movie in years it's it's crazy not not since xyz have you been this scared and then people's expectations get really high and they come out of the movie they're like okay i wasn't scared i wasn't scared that wasn't that scary and it messes with the power of the movie like in 1980 it was a little bit easier to show one

trailer for the shining and then you didn't see it or really even hear about it until you got in the theater and so we're in a weird expectation game now with movies like hereditary i did a really i was really proud of myself i read nothing i stayed away from everything and knew nothing about what it was about so um we're about to spoil the movie so if you don't want to actually wait you can keep listening for a couple more minutes okay and then we'll spoil the movie so there's a twist about 40 minutes in i actually didn't know that twist was happening. Yes. And I was really happy because if you read the reviews, everyone spoils that twist in the reviews. Unfortunately, we did as well in our review. Yeah. But I think it's I think when something happens in the first 30 to 35

minutes, I think it's it's really hard to write about the movie if you don't write about this event. Yeah. So I think almost every review identifies it. And it's also because of the way that the movie was sold, because one of the characters in the movie who is like really forward facing in the trailer, you think is going to be the center of the movie and then becomes not the center of the movie. Yeah. And, you know, that's a big deal when you're telling a story like this. Toni Collette is really good in it. What do you think about the Oscar conversation around her? I'm all in. You believe it? I think that's a hard role. We always talk about how hard it is to find good roles for females.

That's a great role. And she has through a million things in it. She's in a lot of scenes. And I thought she was excellent. She's got a great horror movie face. Yeah. You know? Really like a little like how Shelley Duvall had a great horror movie face.

Like certain people do. Yeah. She's great in it. I know The Shining was for the filmmaker, for Ari A aster was definitely a reference point and that's true they have all that kind of like when her mouth is open and she's like like appalled by something it looks terrible yeah she looks like she almost convulses yeah that the the person who made this aria aster yeah first full-length film yeah how is that possible i don. How old? I think he's in his early 30s. He went to AFI.

I had him on my podcast a few weeks ago. He had made a couple of short films. One of them is called The Trouble with the Johnsons, I think. And it's a very, very disturbing movie. It's about 30 minutes. It's on Vimeo if you want to watch it. And he's just one of those guys who just has been waiting 10 years to make his first movie. And he was ready. I like some of the shots in waiting 10 years to make his first movie. And he was ready.

I like some of the shots in it. Had some great horror movie shots. Really welcome. Some good like camera, you know, the camera turns and you think the people are upside down. They're not. And the music, which we wrote a great piece about on The Ringer, which I started reading. And then I realized it was going to spoil the movie and I stopped. Yes.

But it seemed like it was really good. But the music is overpowering. Like if that's, it'll definitely get nominated, but I can't imagine anyone's going to have better music in a movie that matters more to it. All of the sound in general and that clicking sound that the young daughter does is like, sound design in horror movies is so important. But that clicking sound, which becomes, I think Adam Naiman on the site wrote about how it becomes almost like the imminent the imminent sign of terror whenever you hear a click you know something awful is going to

happen and i don't know it's just really effective i saw it at arc light and the sound in there is just that really good so though if if the director intended for the sound to come to your right you'll actually hear it on the right it's funny though it was such an intense movie to go to which i liked and it really relied on everyone in the theater kind of shutting the fuck up buying in yeah and that's just not possible in 2018 you know why because people are assholes did people talk through your screening no but i had the person right behind us who was finished with the soda but was not finished with the ice she's going back for more ice oh i think there's more ice in there oh i'm gonna make loud noises with the ice and it's like that's what

i just want complete silence with that movie i don't want the fucking ice guy behind me yeah then i had the other person two rows behind with popcorn and getting it am i done no i'm not gonna i'm gonna reach down from under my seat again and get more popcorn. And it's one of those movies where you're just hyper aware of everything that's going on in the theater and you can really get thrown up. I almost would have rather seen this in my house. That's an interesting way to put it, because the movie, especially the first 90 minutes of the movie, is all about atmosphere and dread. It's not about scary. Which is like The Shining. Yeah, there's no like jump scares. There's nothing that shocks you for the most part, with the exception of that one

scene that you're talking about. It's mostly just this impending doom. Something awful is going to happen. We're going to learn what's at the core of what's terrorizing this family. And so you don't want to hear anybody else talking like you want to absorb as much of it because every little sound matters. So I know what you mean. I saw it at a midnight screening at a film festival and that was awesome because those people are really respectful and they're in it there with you. It's very similar, though, to A Quiet Place. You know, A Quiet Place, also the huge horror hit of the year.

If people talk in the theater while that movie is happening, it fucks up the movie. You know, the quietness is so important. And Hereditary is effective the uh cinema score yeah it's been a big thing about how audiences don't like this movie as much as critics it got a d minus which is up to a d plus now is it a d plus now so so people really hated the ending which we're not going to spoil yet we're going to spoil at the very end of this. I have some problems with CinemaScore. I think anything that attempts to narrativize

with metrics whether people like or don't like a movie is pretty much flawed. You know my stance on Rotten Tomatoes. Even Metacritic, which I think is a little bit more sophisticated with how they measure reviews, doesn't do a perfect job. CinemaScore is like a survey company, and they're gradingScore is like a survey company and they're

grading people coming out of a movie. And it's just a question of what movie you thought you were getting versus what you ultimately got. Hereditary has actually been very, very, very successful at the box office. It's going to be $20 million in less than 10 days. This is a small movie that didn't cost a lot of money to make. It's funny. It feels like Buzz is back for movies where, oh, you got to see that. Yeah. it's a word of mouth movie. Get Out definitely helped. Get Out had a good ad campaign too, but Get Out definitely became a, you got to see that. I think Lady Bird was a little like that as well. For sure. But we've seen, but Buzz is back. Buzz went away for a while now because you can never decipher the good Buzz from the manufactured Buzz.

Yeah, I think it's because going to the movie theater is still like a big commitment. So you want good word of mouth on your movie. It's weird for a movie like this to have a D cinema score, but have great word of mouth. But I think it does. It was also interesting because I had multiple people leave the movie. Oh, yeah. That's not surprising. But that's common in horror movies.

I mean, that's like the story of The Exorcist. 40 minutes in, when the thing happened. and then the next morning and some more stuff happened and these two people just got up and left and the lady like stomped out with her purse do you think she was i don't know what she thought what movie she thought she was going to that was it we never saw them again and then uh had another person i had like three more people leave and then at the tail end when we were walking out one of the people left was just sitting waiting for her friends like terrified like sorry i just couldn't take it wow so that was interesting that doesn't happen very often do you like that feeling when a movie because this movie's kind of punishing like

do you like to be punished it's an uncomfortable movie i actually i was rooting for it to end yeah usually with movies unless you have to go somewhere you're like i'm really enjoying this i hope it doesn't end this one i was like please let's let's get to the finish line this is tough it's all depends on what the goal is like this isn't speed you know or you're just like what a thrill ride i mean it's it's meant to feel awful and i think it's a pretty serious movie you know the themes are like the things that our parents give us that are terrible yeah and that's not the most comfortable stuff the music i think also is not a great hang after about an hour and a half it's just strangulating yeah yeah all right now it's time to spoil it so the ending so please leave if you don't want the movie spoiled this will be it then

we're done with the podcast uh the ending gets super weird payment the fucking devil and uh there's people in the in the treehouse which we should have known was satanic because the lights were so red it was pretty obvious the way it's shot, the whole movie, it looks like Satan's home, like a devil's lair. It's the only time in the movie really where we get horror movie payoff. We do get the seance and the levitation. Do we need naked people? I think that that's something you believe in a satanic cults do. For whatever reason, they're just not wearing clothes, especially all those old people.

What did you think of Ann Dowd? As the evil, I don't know, the extension of her mother's satanic interest. I didn't trust her. Did you know right away? No. I felt it when she jumped on the

stop the car when the car was about to leave. That was, I thought, a giveaway. But I still wasn't 100% sure. She was good. She'll get nominated. What about the big moment when the daughter dies? That one I did not see coming. Did you think that that worked?

Because that's been a point of contention among some people. I didn't understand. No, I thought that was the weakest part of the movie actually interesting because the the boy killed his sister and was stoned and then left the headless body in his car all night and just went to bed and then they were like hey how's your chicken like two scenes later yeah hey why aren't you talking? It was, it probably should be in jail, first of all. Yeah.

And then second of all, it was just weird that the family didn't resent him a little bit more for the whole thing. Did you, I took that to be like a commentary on how families like don't know how to communicate with each other when terrible things have happened. Except he should have been in jail. He should have gone to jail for what happened well could you have just said it was an accident though i mean i don't you know who's pressing charges there mom i think the police are like uh you you swerved to avoid a carcass you decapitated your sister you left her head on the side of the road drove home and left her headless body in the car overnight. We're going to bring you in.

Maybe. That's what I would have done if I was the sergeant there. Did you think that kid was good? Alex Wolfe? So he's the kid from the Wahlberg, the Boston bombing movie. Yes. He was good in that movie. Yes.

He played one of the terrorists. I like that kid. I think he's a good actor. He's a very good actor. Yeah. My biggest issue is what I texted you. Which is? I thought Gabriel Byrne was terrible.

I have never been a fan of his. I've always thought he was overrated. Yeah, I'm not a fan. Not a fan. What? Not a Gabriel Byrne fan. Miller's Crossing? No.

Usual Suspect? I think he's the same guy in every movie. I don't think he's a good actor. Oh my God. He's a one-note actor. He's got the same look on his face at all times. The Irish part of Bill Simmons, your Irish heritage. That's fine.

It doesn't matter. I'm only 25%. I just think that was a great part. And the dad, I just had no feel for the dad at all. I would have loved to see a real actor. He was supposed to be recessed. He was supposed to be absent. He wasn't supposed to really know how to communicate or how to bridge the gap between mother and son. And he was like, he was just this limp, neutered, weak, middle-aged man. I don't know. I thought it was, I thought it was good. I thought he was good. performance no matter what okay no matter what you told him you wanted him to do for that movie do you think the movie real actor for that movie a criticism i've heard of the movie is

it's either a half an hour too long or an hour too short i thought it was too long too long i would have gone like an hour 45 yeah when when i talked to ari he said that the first cut was three hours and then i talked to somebody else who worked on the movie and they said the three-hour cut worked better but you just can't release a three-hour horror movie that feels that bad into theaters no but they could do a cool blu-ray yeah extended version i mean i think you would have had several more fucked up scenes of like a young child cutting a dead bird's head off i mean there's so many images in the movie that are so awful and so uncomfortable i think they could have gone further with the girl who dies.

Just do more with that character? I wasn't totally sold on how fucked up she was. They had a couple scenes, but I needed more. She was clearly the future devil or whatever their position was. I needed a couple more things with her. A couple Damien Omen type moments. It does have that great like psycho effect though where you think you're getting one movie and then you get the other yeah you know i i like

to have the rug pulled out from under the party's good they're cutting the knives with the cutting the nuts with the knife you know like oh this is gonna go bad that's brutal yeah uh also don't bring your 13 year old daughter to a high school drinking party maybe big mistake yeah big mistake don't sign off on that one mom yeah i like i liked it there's like a new category of horror movie that i don't know i don't know if you were into these but like the witch and the babadook and oh i thought what they're calling elevated horror i thought babadook was incredible yeah i love babadook they're and they're all these movies are always like families you know they're always about like children betraying their parents and children parents

not trusting their children. I don't know. It's an interesting moment for horror movies right now because Get Out and A Quiet Place have been these super popcorn successes. Get Out was a thriller. I don't consider that a horror movie. Interesting. I like the – we've talked about this before,

but there's something wrong with The House always works for me. There's something wrong with My Child. That always works. They're just going to keep making versions of those same two movies and they're going to keep working so there's there's a few uh horror movies coming out for the rest of the year you want to talk about those real quick is one of them called there's something wrong with the house they're kind of all called that um one of them is called the nun or there's something wrong with the nun um which is a sequel to The Conjuring, Conjuring 2. Yeah.

Which looks fine. There's a trailer for this for this week. This summer is Unfriended Dark Web. Yeah, you saw that one. I loved Unfriended. I'm in on I'm in on the sequel. Unfriended Dark Web. You told me that my kids can't see this.

Is fucked up. It's fucked up. Not in the way Hereditary is where it's like it'll stick with you. It's more like if you spend your life on the internet the way that you and I do it'll make you feel bad about what happens on the internet. My daughter said last night that Unfriended is still the scariest movie she's ever seen.

Okay. That made me feel like a bad person. Do you know what happens on the dark web? No. Okay well you'll find out July 20th. Is that 824 or one of the other? no it's Blumhouse our friends at Blumhouse oh I'm excited for our friend Ed

and then Halloween this is the golden age of horror movies or the new golden age it's a good time it's a fun time last four

four years or so have been great and by the way like there was a great Netflix piece that Vulture wrote a few days ago

yeah inside the binge factory great that there's a lot of information i hesitate to call it like a great piece like a must read it's the first time we've gotten to look at that company that deeply and it's clear that they have basically daryl morey billy beamed it with the metrics and they can tell what works and one of the things that they know works is horror movies. Now, I know they're catering toward my habits when they go, but there's always horror movies on there. And I feel like I've either seen the ones – I've seen all the ones I've wanted to see

and I've decided that I didn't want to see the other ones. But there's so many choices. Yeah. And it never ends. I watched a horror movie that wasn't as effective this week. It was the sequel to The Strangers. You act like I didn't see it. Okay.

What did you think? It was not great. It was awful. Yeah. What happened there? They threw away the first half hour. Nothing happened. Yeah.

That's so strange. And then it was like 50 minutes of a movie. They killed off the star right away. Oh, that was another spoiler. Whatever. Well, we didn't need another Strangers. I just feel bad for Christina Hendricks. What happened?

Why is Christina Hendricks not more famous doing better things? She's a good actress. She's a good actress. Why Elizabeth Moss and why not her? It's a good question. I don't know. That's another podcast. Yeah.

When they do those movies, they do these sequels. Like, they did this with The Purge, too. You almost know they're going to be bad, but you kind of want to get it anyway. Kind of want to see it, but the expectations are so low. That's why I'm surprised that Unfriended is good. Good is an interesting word. It's definitely, like, interesting and watchable. But I'll watch, like, every Purge movie because that premise is so sturdy like there's a new purge movie this summer um

that is the first purge it's like it's like a prequel and it'll probably be fun yeah no i the strangers though the strangers was such a perfect horror movie that felt like it came out of nowhere and in the attempt to like what was the other one with naomi watts that was scarier uh happy people or oh funny games funny games yeah the remake of the michael honica film yeah that one's pretty scarring that's a fucked up movie yeah that's kind of in the hereditary zone i think home invasion seems like the most reliably decent movie premise for horror movies other than something's wrong with the house. Yeah, I like those.

Because people can identify with that more than anything, right? Oh, we're at the Cape. We're having a great time. Uh-oh, somebody's at the door. That's like everybody's fear. I'm always going to be more interested in the supernatural. I'm always more, and especially like the demonic. Shining, Exorcist, Hereditary.

Those are the movies that I most respond to because they're also like they're very religious in a way. They're very connected to like spirituality. If you're a Catholic weirdo like me, you know, you grew up all messed up on that stuff. So I don't know. That's my favorite. So you're afraid of Satan is basically what we're learning. Yeah. Yeah.

Basically, you get that beaten into you when you're a kid. Yeah. I'm working on a list of... I feel like I've seen every relevant horror movie ever. And at some point, I'm just going to have to rank them. You're going to tease that right here, huh? At some point in my life. Okay.

Before I get beheaded when I lean out the window and I'm having another allergy attack. It's a great place to go out here. Or the home invasion finally happens or whatever. Yeah, horror movies. They're back invasion finally happens or whatever. Yeah. Horror movies. They're back. I would recommend

Hereditary. I would also really be careful about where you see it would be my final recommendation. Yeah. Although now at this point nobody's listening

who didn't listen to it. We told people to go away who I didn't see it yet. If you're going to see it again make sure you see it on an empty stomach.

Yeah. Okay. Sean Fantasy thank you. Thanks Bill. Thanks to zip recruiter. Don't forget to check out zip recruiter.com slash BS. Thanks to Gillette. They offer a variety of shaving products for every guy, regardless of his personal style, skin needs or budget, whether you want three blades or five, the Gillette three and Gillette five razors have you covered all under $10. High performance, low price. Get Gillette performance delivered to your door. Find Gillette 5 at GilletteOnDemand.com. Subscribe today.

On Monday, we're going to do a big fun mock draft thing. So be ready for that. Until then. I don't have.