The Breakfast Club - Around the Way: Oakland w/ Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson

Episode Date: February 10, 2023

This episode is sponsored by American Express. Oakland is a vibrant city with tons to see and do and holds a special place in our heart.  The art, sports, food but the people highlight what makes this so unique to the Bay Area. The hosts of All The Smoke take you on a tour and share a few must-stop places you have to see - and you know we always set you up right - so we have a few ideas for the best way to experience the Bay. To create your own epic experience and learn more about the Elevated Membership, go to AmericanExpress.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored by American Express. Now, you guys know that the Bay Area holds a special place in our hearts, and it's a vibrant city with tons to see and do. The art, sports, food, but the people what makes the city very unique. There's a few must-stop places you have to see so you know we're gonna set you up right.

So we have a few ideas for the best way to experience the city. Well yeah you know I'm from Northern California actually born right next to the Bay Area. To give a chance to play out here twice uh was amazing and and one thing i always liked about the bay area was the food spots uh what are some of your favorite food spots i know you're a big shellfish fans and you're always eating crab and shrimp uh any places come to mind yeah me even the southern boy i always you know was it was a faint of crab and uh seafood but coming out to the bay I experienced it in a whole different way. I think the first time I ate crustacean,

I think the garlic crab and the garlic noodles was a different experience to me that I fell in love with. And I think it's one of my favorite spots out there. Also, I got a chance to go to a spot called Aliotto's, Frank White. I don't know why Frank White is by Aliotto's. Great Italian food, great crab and seafood. So definitely my top, my number one place to go is Crustaceans in the World.

Yeah, I was always really big on breakfast, but I actually got a crustacean story too. So it was right when I started dating my ex-wife. I took her to Crustaceans in San Francisco. We were living in Alameda at the time, and I forgot my wallet. So we went out in alameda at the time and i forgot my wallet so we went up we ate i didn't realize i had my wallet i had to go downstairs and literally scrounge like 100 i remember the 110 dollars i was able to find 110 dollars in 20s 50s ones changed

just to pay the bill so great meal had to hustle to get it paid for. But I was really being on the breakfast bus, man. Brenda's Sweet Maples. If you ever stop by their mission, get the steak, egg and potato breakfast. Second to none. Plus, they got the million dollar bacon, which I know you love, Jack. Back on our playing days, I remember we went out. Maybe six or seven of us went to a restaurant. One person there was our teammate, Baron Davis.

It was a nice little Italian restaurant right across the street from his house. And I remember he didn't want to pay. Tell the fans what happened after. Yeah, man, you know, it was one of those nights. You know, we always go out to eat after the games. We was one of those teams that really started the, we're brothers on and off the court. We went everywhere together so

you know it was a night out to beat you know it was baron davis baron davis trying to pay well he don't want to pay fake like he didn't have his wallet we had to pat him down like we were the cops five end up buying his wallet he still was complaining about paying the bill uh so we end up putting all our amexes in the hat everybody had put the amexes in the hat and uh we let the waitress pick who was going to pay since bd was giving us a hard time well coincidence she pulled this car and he ended up paying anyway so he tried to get out of pay as you know we all take our time but that's bd man but he had to pay that night and i think the bill was kind of nice yeah absolutely

classic warrior moments off the court well mav Matt, recently we hit the Bay, man, our second home, man, and was able to spend some time with one of the future stars of the Bay Area, man, LaRussell, really getting a chance to go to the pergola. That's when he calls his backyard and stage. Really get a chance to be around his family. We had a great experience with a dope breakfast spot called Momo's. Do you remember that?

Do you remember Momo's, Matt? It was a great experience. I mean, first of all, thank him and his family for welcoming us. His mom, his dad, his family was there. Obviously, the pergola.

You don't know the pergola. Google it. It's a spot in his backyard in the heart of Vallejo where he has the whole entire city come and listen to him perform. So we got a first-hand experience with that. Gave me a chance to interview him, meet his

friends and family and really his all inner organs of his team. He really reminded me of Nip on his independent push in this record space. He got our creativity behind getting his music out there. As you mentioned, Momo, some of the best breakfast potatoes I've had in my life. They so good, make you want to slap your mama.

Man, we had a great time out there, man. But big hats off to LaRussell and Stevia Vallejo for welcoming us. Good company. Yeah, the one thing that I really found special about LaRussell and his team was just everything is in-house, from music production to ticket sales to having concerts in his own backyard. Tell me how important it is for stuff like that to continue to happen where he's doing a lot of black-owned in-house stuff.

Well, I call that the LeBron effect. We talk about how LeBron is the only basketball player in history to get it right, to bring his friends along, put them in position to succeed, and we all win together. I call that the LeBron effect, and that's what LaRusso's doing. All those people that he grew up with, everybody has a talent. Like you say, everybody could be a star in their own role. And it's super dope that he's taking that same blueprint

and doing it with good company. Everybody around him has a talent to use, and he's benefiting from it all. And they're all winning together, and I think that's the best thing you could do, man, because if you're not putting somebody up in what you're doing, and I think, like I said, LeBron is a blueprint, and everybody else is taking that, and the Russ is doing a great job at it as well i think he made a great

point too i mean remember when he introduced the whole team there was nobody that hung around everybody he introduced there was at least 15 to 20 people had like he said a talent and a job and and he was part of the bigger picture of what he was trying to build out there so homegrown it is something they're big on homegrown is something they're big on. Black owned is something they're big on. And obviously, I think that's going to be the key to his success as he needs to elevate in this music space. One thing that is different for me, you know, being from here and out here,

is the musical inspiration that the area draws, drawn all the way back from T-Pox saying that the Bay gave him a lot of his game to the greats like E-40, Too Short, Rest in Peace, Mac Dre. All that music and all that energy is really entrenched

in the entire Bay Area. It's just a different world out here. When I say the Bay is different, they don't know what I world out here. When I say the Bay is different, they don't know what I mean, but talk to people how the Bay is different with the energy and the inspiration they draw from their music out here. You know, well, I mean, for me, I mean, every, you know, culture,

or I say every side of the map has their own style of music, but being on the West Coast and the Bay, you know, there's a lot of people consider being on the West Coast and the Bay, a lot of people consider it all the same, but for me, I know the difference because I grew up on the Bay music. I grew up on E-40, I grew up on Spice One, I grew up on Mack Mall,

I grew up on all that, the Click, I grew up on all that music. So the bass sound was definitely something that's in the soundtrack of my life. And it was coincident, it was just odd that I was able to play out there and have some success in basketball. But the bass music, that all sounded, it was just a different sound that's been standing alone forever. I guess that sound at E-Party and the click and the Spice One was the block sound. You know what I'm saying? The sound that we all love to listen to on the block growing up for barbecues and stuff like that.

And it was big in the South, whether a lot of people know it or not, man. So, you know, the Bay Area music scene has touched a lot of people worldwide. But me speaking from the South, bro, I think it's almost bigger than our own music. Yeah, it was a huge inspiration. We obviously scored in what you brought from the Oakland area. And when I tell people the energy in the Bay is different, I think obviously it's inspired by the music. You just have to be in it and feel it to really understand it. It's hard to explain, but, you know, the Yeats differ from the Bay Area and Arleigh. The Bay Area is Sacramento. It's the Bay Area. It's really a standalone

place with great music, great food, great people, all different kinds of ways to get around the city. And it's really something you have to experience yourself to fully understand how beautiful it is. I mean, one thing that's very special to me about the bay is the way you're able to move around. You know as a child I was all around on my bike or walking. You know I've helicoptered around the city obviously taking cars is norm but there's trains. One form of transportation that was new and crazy to me was riding the VART out here. My girl at the time was from Oakland and we took the VART from Oakland to San Francisco and I didn't know how we were going to do that.

There's like an underground tunnel under the water that gets you to San Francisco. We had a great experience on the boat traveling from downtown San Francisco all the way to Marin City with a former teammate of mine. Tons of beautiful views and sights. What were some

of your favorite ways to move around outside of just normal transportation in a car when you were at the Bay? For me, Matt, I didn't travel much but by car and bus. I mean, I didn't travel much but by car and bus. I mean, you know, I remember one time we drove from the game, you know, when we played Sacramento, the Kings,

we used to drive back and forth. So, you know, I remember those bus rides. Those bus rides for me, man, I used to enjoy pulling my Rolls Royce out, man, hitting that bridge, hitting that bridge, man, and seeing that beautiful bridge and that beautiful skyline and that fog and mist sitting over the city, man. I used to love doing that, going over there to the city and going to Houston, getting something to eat,

going to those restaurants we talked about. You know, I think that's something you want to experience. You want to be able to, you know what I mean, to get behind that wheel on a nice Sunday and hit that bridge and just see that beautiful scene everywhere. I see Alcatraz and all that stuff. For me, I think that was something I really enjoyed being in the bay. Top down or top up? I was for a hard top.

I wasn't top down, but I would cruise at a low speed so you can feel me as I'm riding. Obviously, the one thing that really sticked out, the risk of that boat ride and, you know, being able to stop out there and seeing how therapeutic being on that water was, seeing all the amazing houses, seeing how big bridges are, just kind of really understanding that, you the bay is just special you know being able to drive right by alcatraz it's really getting this feel again the history and the significance of the bay new travel for me is always something special

these epic experiences are nothing without a plan that can be elevated with american express amex offers invaluable experiences for many travel, and entertainment needs for you to take a break from your everyday grind. The adventure doesn't end here. You can listen to what's going on down in Miami, New York City, and over the Black Effect Presents show feed. To create your own epic experience and learn more about the Ele membership. Go to American Express dot com slash elevated membership. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy.

Fifty five gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my god. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q Estan on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.