The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump Tested Positive Before 2020 Presidential Debate | Ryan Busse & Scottie Pippen

Episode Date: December 2, 2021

Donald Trump reportedly concealed his positive COVID-19 test result before debating Joe Biden, Ryan Busse discusses "Gunfight," and Scottie Pippen talks about "Unguarded." Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Does anybody here celebrate Spotify? Yeah? It's like pretty popular. You love music. Yeah. Did you get your, um, like your year list thing that they do where they wrap up your yearly, because they send that to you and they go like, this is the music you listened to this year.

Like, first of all, why do they say congratulations? Like you achieved something. Congratulations, Trevor. You listened to 40 hours of music this year. Like, I had a choice. Like, I'm like, yeah, it was easily listening to music. Or listening to my 60-year-old neighbor's smash. Like, that was my choice, basically. Of course, I was going to listen to the music and the music, and the music, and the music, and the music, and to, and to, and to, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I, to, the music, to, to, the music, to, the music, to, to, to, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, th, th, th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music, the music music music music music music music music..... the music. the music. the music. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. toooooooooooo. th. th th thi. thooooooo. th. th. th. th on one of the music, you know? It's also like a weird thing to like wrap up all my... Have you ever been disappointed when you see what your wrap-up is?

Because everyone thinks they're a lot cooler than they are, right? With their Spotify, everyone's like, oh shit, my wrap-up's coming. I got this Kendrick, I got a little bit of this underground. like our lives as people. Just like a wrap-up of everything, everyone you hung out with, everything you did, just to realize, like, what a loser you actually were. Because we all think we're a lot cooler than we are. And then when you look at the wrap-up of your year, you'll think it was all the highlights,

and then you realize all the cool shit you did was like moments. Really most of your life was you, like, scrolling Instagram on the couch, and then scrolling Instagram on the toilet. And then going back to the couch and realizing that you left your phone in the toilets. Coming to you from the heart of Times Square in New York City, the only city in America. It's the Daily Show. Roe v. Wade, Aborted Ryan Bussie, and Scotty Pippin. This is the Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome to the Daily Show. I'm Trevor Noah. We got a lot to talk about, so let's jump straight into the news.

Our first story is about abortion. What? No? No, no, no, guys, I'm not starting the show with the abortion. What do you mean I have to? It's my show. It's my choice. Yeah, it's my show. It's my choice.

Yeah, it's my show. Well, you know what, I'm not going to start the show. Yeah, and you can tell the Supreme Court that I said it. You tell them. All right, we're going to get to the story of the Supreme Court, but first, let's warm up with a more fun story. Yeah, for years, one of Cable News's biggest stars has been Chris Cuomo, right? Cnnnnn anchor and human protein shake. But now, Cuomo's network has decided that they've had enough of his extracurricular activities. CNN has suspended anchor Chris Cuomo indefinitely. It comes after records showed Cuomo took an active role in helping his brother, the former governor of New York,

respond to sexual harassment charges. Text messages and interview transcripts released this week by the New York Attorney General's office, showing Chris Cuomo helped prepare his brother for a press conference, assisted in drafting public statements, and even shared a lead on a woman accusing the former governor of inappropriate behavior at a wedding. The documents also reveal Chris Cuomo offered to use his media sources to find out if more women were coming forward. In March, a top aide to then Governor Cuomo texted Chris Cuomo,

quote, rumor going around from Politico, want to do more people coming out tomorrow. Can you check your sources? Four minutes later, Quoomo responded, on it. Oof. Okay, look, look, look, on the one hand, this is a story about a guy helping his brother. And I mean, who tho tho thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu thu, thu, thu, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the their, their, their, their their their their their their the tooome, the to tooome, to to to to to tooome, I mean, who wouldn't do that for their brother? I mean, because you've got to remember, brother is the top level of male relationship.

Yeah, it goes, brother, my dude, homie, this guy, then stepdad. And don't forget, this is ingrained. Siblings learn to cover for each other from a really young age. Like, your brother tries to steal to to to to jar, you tell your mom the jar fell by itself, and then your brother shares the cookies with you. That's how it works, although now that I think about it, Isaac never did share the cookies. Mom! Isaac broke the jar! I changed my mind! Of course, it does matter, and it does make a difference how you help your brother and what you're helping him with.

Like if your brother murders somebody, you can either help him get the best lawyer in the country or you can help him bury the body. I mean, both make you a good brother, but one makes you an accessory after the fact. That's a choice that you're making. And the big problem is that Chris used his influence as a CNN journalist to help dig up info on Andrews accusers. And people, that's not what CNN is about. CNN is about sitting 12 people together at a desk and having them yell at each other about whether Adele's Las Vegas residency is going to hurt Biden's poll numbers or not. That is CNN. Anyway, enough about CNN. Let's talk about COVID.

The disease that's been around for so long that it's now at high risk of catching COVID. Since first being discovered in South Africa, we've now learned that Omicron has been in countries around the globe. And today, they confirmed the first known case in the United States. Yeah. I mean, damn Omicron got here quickly, you know, say what you want about Joe Biden, but he got that supply chain moving. Am I right guys? No? All right. So yes, apparently they found a single case of Omicron in California, which is just so typical. You know, Omicron gets a little buzz and immediately wants to try and make it in

Hollywood. Oh, I'm special. But aside from learning about COVID's newest variant, now we're also learning more about its most famous supporter. Donald J. Trump. Do you remember how last year, a month before the election, he suddenly came down with coronavirus? Yeah, it was hilarious. I mean, it was very scary. We were all so scared, so scared.

Well, now, we're finding out that Trump was basically a one-man super spreader. We do begin with breaking news. Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus three days before his first debate against Joe Biden on September 29, 2020. This stunning revelation is in a new book by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that was obtained by The Guardian. A positive test the country never knew about.

Here is the timeline as we know it. On Saturday, September 26th of 2020, Trump hosted the Rose Garden event for Supreme Court Justice Amy Kony Barrett. And then later that evening, he made his way to a rally in Pennsylvania. As Marine One is lifting off for that event, the White House doctor calls and says to stop him because his COVID test came back positive. According to Meadows, he was then tested again. That test came back negative, so they moved on as though nothing had happened. On Tuesday, the day of the debate, Mead. M. M. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the. And, the th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. And, the. And, the. And, the. And, thean. thean. thean. thean. toda. toda. today, te. te. te. today. today. the. And, the day of the debate, Meadows says Trump was moving more slowly than usual,

but, quote, nothing was going to stop Trump from going out there. Of course, two days after that, Trump tested positive, again, alerts the world by tweet. Later spends three nights in the hospital getting treatment. Yeah, people. Donald Trump got a positive COVID test, then retested and got a negative test, and then just went about his life without telling anybody.

Which I mean, on the one hand, was incredibly irresponsible and dangerous. But on the other hand, it was very relatable. I mean, that's why you get second opinions, right? If one doctor tells you that you're very ill and you don't have much longer, but another doctor says, looking good, my man, you should go to Miami. I mean, you're going to roll with that doctor. But what was especially responsible about this is that he hid. He completely hid his positive test right before he went on stage and screamed at 98-year-old old Joe Biden for two hours.

I'm not saying that Trump was trying to as a a to as a to as a to as a to as a to as a to as a to as a toe-a-a-a-a-a-a-s-s-s-s-s-s-old Joe Biden for two hours. I'm not saying that Trump was trying to assassinate Joe Biden, but he definitely wasn't going out of his way to avoid it. If this is God's plan for Joe Biden, what can I do to stop it? Except maybe wear a mask, which I won't do, because it's totally gay. So gay. And looking back on it, we should have been able to tell that Trump had coronavirus at the debate. I mean, just look at the footage.

Look, I mean, I have a mask right here. I put a mask on, you know, when I think I need it. Are you in favor of law and order? Go ahead. Yes, I'm a... Can I be honest? It's a very important question. President Trump. Thank you. I'm not sure how we missed it back then. All right, but let's move on from Trump to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court that he created in his image, in fact. Abortion has been a constitutional rights in the United States. Ever since the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade nearly half a century ago. But based on what happened at the Supreme Court today, it seems like it won't be a right for much longer. The Fox News alert oral arguments in a landmark abortion case wrapping up at the Supreme Court after nearly two hours. The hearing is setting up a decision by the high court now with a 6-to-3 conservative

majority that could change abortion laws across the country. Hundreds of protesters from both sides of the issue gathered outside of the Supreme Court. The stakes could not be higher. Roe versus Wade is on the line, as the justices consider, a law from Mississippi that would ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. After today's arguments over abortion, it appears abortion rights in America as they stand right now are in grave danger. After twooday's arguments over abortion, it appears abortion rights in America as they stand right now are in grave danger.

After two hours of questioning, the general consensus among legal experts is that there are at least five votes to uphold Mississippi's ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. And possibly as many votes to overturn a federal right to an abortion altogether. Who boy, based on the oral arguments in the Supreme Court today, it looks very likely that Roe v. Wade will soon be overturned. And you know what you think about it? It is wild. It's wild for the United States to take such a step backwards in women's rights. It's almost like the U.S.

It's almost like the US invaded Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban and then came back to the US like, actually those guys have some pretty good ideas. And now the truth is, the truth is that this is the culmination of a 50-year plan for the conservative movement to reshape the courts for this very purpose. And say what you want about it. But you got to admit, man, the conservative movement is just that dedicated to protecting life. I mean, not protecting life from coronavirus or school shootings or from a lack of health care or climate change or poverty or homelessness or... And I know, I know, I know there are guys out there right now who are saying, well, you know what, tough luck ladies, but this doesn't affect me.

Well, first of all, you're going to see it affect your bank account when you're paying child support for 18 years, and secondly, you guys clearly don't see what's happening here. Yeah, because first, they said a baby is only a baby when it comes out of the vagina. Then they said it's a baby when it's viable outside of the womb, right? Now you've got people arguing that if there's any electrical signal it counts as a heartbeat. You realize what's coming up next, right? At some point, they're going to be like, okay, we decided that sperm is babies, so you can't jack off anymore. We're like, what? But what if I have a wet dream?

Then your ass is going to jail? Yeah, now you're in your dreams, trying I can't do hard time. Please get dressed. I'm kidding, of course, I'm kidding. Obviously, nobody's ever gonna regulate what men can do with their buddies. Come down, everybody. Now, look, we don't know for sure what the ruling will be yet, and we won't find out until next year. But you can't tell a lot about where the justices stand based on what kind of arguments they made. For example, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump appointee and guy at the bar who insists he's totally fine to drive.

Well, he emphasized the view that overturning the right to abortion would actually be the neutral position because it is neither pro-life nor pro-choice, but simply leaves the issue up to the states. And I have to admit, guys, that argument actually makes a lot of sense. Like why should there be one abortion law for the entire country? I mean, people in Alabama and people in California have very different views on this. So maybe it should be different in different states. Although when you think about it, there are also differences in different parts of each state. So really, the law should be like by county, you know what I mean? That would be

better. They should say like red counties in a blue state can ban abortion, but blue counties in a red state can allow abortion. I mean, that seems fair, right? It's up to the states, but make it up to the counties. Well, except actually, sometimes you have urban and rural areas sharing a county so the county, so the county, so the county, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, the county, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the county, th, the county, th, the county, the county, the county, the county, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, thi, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, they, they.a, they. We should should be at the level of the city or the town. Yeah, no, wait. What if each house, oh yes, each house could have its own rule. Yeah, this makes sense, right? Because the neighbors, they don't always agree with each other, but in the house, you... Within the house, people have different opinions. You know what? What if each person made their own rule? Like each person could decide for themselves what they could do with their own? Shit, people, I figured it out.

Yo, get me a taxi to the Supreme Court. You know what? Get me a taxi to the bar next to the Supreme Court. I want to tell Justice Kavanaugh. Yeah, this is amazing. All right. I'm going to go back. I. I. I. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to go. to tho. tho. tho. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. t t to. to. te. te. to. te. te. to. te. to. to. th Scotty Pippin will be joining me on the show. You don't want to miss it. Yeah, tell the taxi to wait. I'm gonna get my robe. Welcome back to the daily show. My first guest is Ryan Busy.

He's a former firearms executive who blows the whistle on the gun industry in his new book, gun fight. Ryan Bussie, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, wo, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the, the the the the the, the the the the., the the., the., the. to to to to to to to to to to to the show. Thanks so much, Trevor. That's fantastic to be here. You know, you've written a book that I think threads the needle in a very complicated conversation that America is having. And that conversation is, what are guns, what do guns mean to America? And is there anything that can be done to try and reduce gun violence in the country? And just so people have an understanding their their their their their their their their their to be their to be their to be to their. to to to to their. to their. to to to their. to to to to to to to to be to be to the. their. to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be th. th. th. th. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. thea. thea. theateateathea. teateateathea. teateateateat. toeateateathea. toeathea. th. th. thea. th. that can be done to try and reduce gun violence in the country? And just so people have an understanding of who you are, I mean, you're like the poster child for the NRA. I mean, you were gifted shotguns as a kid, right? You were an avid

hunter. You were an avid defender. You still are over the Second Amendment. You worked as a, you know, for a gun manufacturer for 25 years, and yet, you say that there is a lot that is wrong with the gun industry. Let's talk about that. What changed in your life? What was the moment where you thought this is not going the way it should? I think there's a few things that changed more than anything. I think the gun industry and the NRA changed around all of us and I think democracy, you know, there's a lot of freedoms in America which are beautiful. The right to self-defense and to own guns and to do things that I love to do with my boys and to shoot and to hunt and all of those things is fantastic. But if it's not balanced with responsibility, it's going to run out of control.

And I started to see things in the firearms industry and in my career where in my career where responsibility was not being inserted into the discussion anymore and just runaway rights were taking over. And in the early 1990s and in the 2000s when I got into the industry, it was a much different place where responsibility and decency were still inserted into the argument, and they're no longer there anymore. It's a very frightening, it's a very frightening place we live in now. It's interesting you say that because, you know, when I was reading the book, there were so many things I didn't know about the journey of the NRA. I didn't know about the journey of guns in America. You know, I've read about it, but as somebody as an insider, you really give an insight into a world I didn't realize that at some point the NRA essentially became more powerful than the manufacturers of guns themselves.

You talk about a moment where Smith and Wesson decided to stand up and say, actually, maybe we could do more for gun safety and the NRA let a boycott against them. Yeah, I think it's important to note I often hear on reports and the PR segments where people say, well, the NRA is just a tool of firearms manufacturers. I found that to be exactly the opposite. The NRA ran the show. They still ran the show. They set the narrative. Everything that they stated, every tactic that they laid down, everybody said,

yes, sir, can I have another? My experience is there's no separation between the NRA and the firearms industry because there's an intertwined sort of symbiosis between what drives success for the NRA, which is fear, conspiracy theory, hatred of the other, acceptance of racism. Those things drive electoral outcomes, and the NRA stumbled on to that 15 or 18 years ago. Those are exactly the same things that drive firearm sales. And so there's a very unhealthy symbiosis between those two entities. Yeah, you know, one of the parts of the book that really stuck with me was when you were talking about yourself as a gun owner and you're talking about your sons and your family, and you said something really interesting that I think a lot of people don't actually

think about and you said, we don't identify ourselves with the firearms. What did that mean and why is that important? Well, I think there's a couple different types of flags that we saw on January 6th. We saw Trump and American flags. And then we saw the other type of flag we saw were come and take an AR-15 thi. Political radical radicals in this country now are driven, are owned. They use guns as the central symbol of their identity. It's a dangerous thing. This is authoritarianism, you know, at its formative stages.

There are millions of responsible gun owners in this country who love to shoot with their kids and hunt and do all the things that I love to do right and believe in the right-of-the-self defense but this but this idea that guns are somehow the symbol of some right-wing political movement that that's dangerous 1936 Germany stuff it's it's frightening so do you think there's a world then where America can find a balance between owning guns and still living in a safer society? And I ask this question because I mean here on the show, you know, we've done a piece on Switzerland and how Switzerland I think has more guns per capita than the US and yet has

lower gun deaths than the US. You know, because the Swiss say they teach people to hold the weapons, play with the weapons, use the weapons in the right environments. Even kids are taught how to shoot in some of the schools. You know, and it feels like there's a culture around the gun, but what I found interesting again in the book is you talk about how that culture used to exist, and then it started getting mocked. Like you talk about the fuds, the fududududud, the fud, the gun, the fud, the gun, the fud, the, the, the, the, the, thu, thu, thu, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and it feels, and it feels, and it feels, and it feels the the, and, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and it feels the, and the, and the, and the the, and the the the the the the, and thu, and thu, and thinks, and te, and too, and too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, too, the too, too, they. to be safe with guns now in the world of gun ownership. Well, that sort of responsible activity slows down the desired outcome. It's not cool to be responsible in our politics anymore. If you haven't noticed, all of these social norms that once existed, where you didn't

say certain things, you didn't tweet death threats to members of Congress. These norms were not broken. That's the same thing happened in the firearms industry 15, 18 years ago. These norms of self-control, responsibility, decency. And to your point about, like, what is the way out of this? Well, America is a democracy that operates in the gray spaces. It's a beautiful thing, but it only exists because of norms and imposed self-responsibility.

And gun owners for a long time were a poster child for that sort of responsibility. I tell stories in the book about how the firearms industry 15 or 18 years ago would not allow tactical anything to be displayed in its own trade show. Gloves, tactical vests, AR-15s, high-cat magazines, those were not displayed in its own trade show. And why was that? Because it imposed, the firearms industry imposed these rules upon itself, upon ourselves. We knew that this was a bad thing to infiltrate society with. So they sort of like a fringe idea of what only a gun was about. And we knew that that was a dangerous thing. Right. That meant that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that we that that that that that that that that that that that that that that that the the the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the a dangerous thing. Right. That meant that we accepted a certain level of sales and that we wouldn't infiltrate

guns, proliferated guns, and lack of decency throughout society. But you have to accept that sort of self-restraint. That sort of self-restraint is now gone. And the same exact thing is happening in our politics, right? Like the the sorts of things that we once that we that we that we that we th th th th th th th th th th th th th th the sorts of things that we once knew not to say, not to do, not to call your relative, not to call your co-worker, not to say in polite society. That's all gone. The NRA and the gun industry perfected that. When we talk about some of the policies, what do you look at? I know one of the proposals right now are selling guns to people, and they know that it's

going straight to the black market, let's go after those dealers. Are you for legislation like that? And what are the policies do you think America could actually implement where people would see a change in gun violence? I'm in favor of two things right now. One, we need to close a gun show loophole. We've been trying to to to to to to to the their to their to to their to their their to to close their their to close to close theirn, theirn, theirn, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thoom.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.eanananananananananananananananl.e. Wea. Wea. Wea. Weaugh, tool. tool. thooooo The kids in Columbine used guns that were purchased through the gun show loophole. Twenty-some years later we still haven't closed it. It's a simple thing. It's unforgivable. We should do it. It's not going to be perfect. It's going to fix some things. It's

going to mitigate some things. impacts and the graph of where gun radicalization and right-wing radicalization is taking our country. I don't think Kyle Rittenhouse was an aberration. I think he's a warning of what's to come. We need to outlaw as a country, state by state, county by county, or hopefully as a nation, open armed intimidation. You can't have open civil society. You can't have democracy when one party is standing over the other with a loaded AR-15. That's not civil. So I believe two things would help now. Close a gun show loophole.

And legislation to outlaw armed intimidation and open carry. Well, you've written a really compelling book. I know there'll be people who will be fought, people who will be against it, but that's what arguments are for. Thank you so much for joining me on the show. Thanks, Trevor. Appreciate having you here.

All right, gunfight is available wherever books are sold. When we come back, the NBA today. thau-au-n't too' too' too' too' too' too' too' too' too' too'n'l-s'lu, too'lu, tho'lu-s'lu-s'l-s, tho'er, the the Daily Show. My next guest is NBA Hall of Famer and six-time NBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Scotty Pippin. He's here to talk about his brand new memoir, Unguarded. Scotty Pippin, welcome to the Daily Show. Thank you, it's a pleasure. Thanks for having me.

It can't be a pleasure. Let me tell you what a pleasure is. A pleasure is me talking to one of my favorite basketball players of all the time. I'm someone who didn't even know basketball, but all I knew was the number one player to play with NBA Jam was Scotty Pippon. I had two favorite players in the NBA Jam game. It was Scotty Pippon. I.ugsy Boggs and if I wanted to play like the cheat codes I'd play with Mugsy Boggs so thank you for being on the show and thank you for writing the book man it's it's it's been a really amazing journey getting to know who you are as a human being I think let's

let's start with the life sidethat you lived, you had to really get over so many hurdles in life. You know, you come from a big family. You come from a family that went through a lot of struggles, you know, you talk about your brother and him being paralyzed at a young age. You talk about your dad suffering a similar fate but from a very different standpoint. When you look at that journey that Scotty Pippen had, you know, you have to to be a to be a to be a theiraaa, theira, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, throwne, thin, thia, thiolk, thiolk, thoomorrow, thiolk, thiol-a, thi, thi, thi, thi, thiol, thiol, thiol, thiol, thi. thi, thi.e, thi.e, thi.e, thi.e, thi.e, their, their, their, their, their, thi.e, thin, thin, thin, thr.e, throwne.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e. You're, tooooooooooooooooooomuuu. You, today, t Pippin had, you know, you had to make decisions in life and you had to become a really resilient person. What do you think it was that gave you the fortitude to get through the things that you got through, to get to where you got to? I would say it was my parents,

just kind of seeing the life that they had taken on and you know it wasn't something that they were prepared for and by any means could we afford to have, you know, two disabled people living in one household, but we were able to pull it through it through the struggles and ups and downs and you know we we made the best of what we had. I found myself wondering the whole time reading the book. Did young Scotty Pippin know that he was going to be one of the greatest every time he toucest? the ball or was young Scotty Pippin just trying to get from one play to the next, one moment to the next? I think I was taking it day by day step by step. I, like any kid, I was dreaming and wanting one day to play an NBA. But along that journey, you gotta reach certain other steps, you know, like playing college

basketball, like in my education, things of that nature. So those things were important to me along the way, but ultimately I didn't know what type of basketball player I would be if if I would be one to 50 greatest, if I just, you know, maybe get a trial for an NBA team, you know, you just hope for the best and you work as hard as you can to make sure that you're prepared for it. You know, it's a long journey and I, you know, I feel like that I prepare myself for it. I feel like you've lived a life as one of the greatest basketball players and now you've become an author of one of the greatest books that delves into the minds and the inner workings

of one of the greatest teams and sports legacies of all time. Let's start with the beginning. I mean, that's where the book starts, the prologue, if we jump right to the beginning. In the prologue, you talk about the last dance, you know, the documentary that everyone was watching during the pandemic, the story that everybody was talking about, and you talk about how, you know, you wanted to speak your truth, you wanted to get your story. When you were writing the book, was this your way of feeling like you could answer some of the questions that people asked from the documentary and maybe didn't show your side of the story? Well, I think I kind of, you know, took myself away from being in the public guide during the documentary.

Right. I don't know if people even recall, but I was working for ESPN when the documentary came out and took a little hiatus because I didn't want to have to really telling the story about what happened, you know, 20 years ago. So that was one thing, but I did feel like that the documentary was not really about the last dance because I felt like that it was a lot of footage that was taken that was going to be really praising one of the greatest teams that had really ever been put together in the NBA and really praised a lot of the people that was a part of that great team.

And I felt like that the documentaries was solely built and controlled, you know, through Michael Jordan. And I didn't feel like it really gave justice to a lot of the great players, coach, just that were a part of that journey. It was truly something that I felt like needed to be expressed from a team standpoint. You know, Michael Jordan is undoubtedly one of the greatest to ever do it. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tho, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, tho, tho, tho, you, tho, you, you tho, you, you, you tho, you tho, you tho, you tho, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho-a, tho-a, tho-a, tho-a, tho, ththat I felt like needed to be expressed from a team standpoint. You know, Michael Jordan is undoubtedly one of the greatest to ever do it, but clearly as a person,

it must be challenging to play with somebody like that who, you know, has a certain frame of mind for what they're doing. When you were playing with him as a teamate, did you have to situate yourself according to him, or how did you manage Michael's ego whilst also playing in a team with Michael? Well, it was an adjustment. You know, when I came into the NBA and to the Chicago Bulls organization, Michael had

been with organization for three season, three losing seasons. So it was an adjustment for him to change his style of play and how he played the game. And it was, I guess, up to me. to me. to me me. to me me me me. to me. to me. to me me. to me. to me. to me. to me, I to me, I to me, I to me, I to me, I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their the the their their their their the the the the the the their, their, their. their, their. their. their. their, their, their, their. their, their, their. their. their. their, their. their. their their their their their their their their their their their their the. the. the. theea. too. tooea. tooea. tooea. tea. tooea. thea. thea. thea. thea. the adjustment for him to change his style of play and how he played the game. And it was I guess up to me to sort of pick up areas where I felt like that I could be a good fit for the team to, you know, get us in a position where we could be successful but also opening up as a player where we could be successful, but also opening up as a player where I could show my talent and my greatness on the court as well. You know, every page I turned to, I could see why this became a New York Times bestseller, because it's Scotty Pippin telling us his truth.

It's one of the greatest NBA players delving into the inner workings of one of the greatest periods in basketball. And there's a part that I, that really stuck with me. It's when you wrote your own tombstone, which is really funny. I mean, it seems morbid, but it's really funny where you write, you know, I'm almost convinced that literally to my grave, this will be my tombstone, Scotty Maurice Pippin, beloved husband and father, 1965-2, you know, and then it's seven-time NBA All-Star, six-time NBA champion, and below that it says, sat out the final 1.8 seconds of a playoff game between the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knows. And I was interested in that. Obviously, that's something that people have talked about, but I wonder why you think

that would always follow your legacy. Why do you think that moment was so big, not just for you, but for how people saw it from the outside? Well, I think for what people saw from outside, they had never saw a player really stand up for himself against a coach in that type of situation. And I think I was that player to sort of break that ice and it was a moment in time for me because I had been challenged my whole life and I had been playing under the wings of Michael Jordan for I guess at that time, six years, three championships, so I feel like it was time for me to break out and to let them know that hey I came here to be a star player. I didn't come here to be a

second fiddler to anyone and I think I needed to make that stance and just so happened it was in a game that I felt like you know it was that moment where I needed to speak out. Well, you know what, there's a reason you're a Hall of Famer. There's a reason you have your six rings. There's a reason you're a New York Times bestseller. And in my heart, because of NBA Jam, there's a reason you're still the best video game character of all time.

That move, I used to do that move with you the whole whole the the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole the whole to the to the the the the to do the move with you the whole time. Just to get the guy off the ball. Scotty could rebound better than anyone in that game. Have you ever played yourself in that game, by the way? No, I can't miss my time. You're missing out in life, Scott. Let me tell you something now, man. You did this thing with,this move you would get you would just you would rebound right you jump up scotty could get it before everybody and then as soon as I'd land I'd do this as do this and then everyone would like fall

around me and then I go to the other side and then I'd dunk I was like I don't know who's Scotty Pippin I literally knew you as a video game character like in my world it was like in my world it was like the like the like the like the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th is was th. th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was like th. I was the. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was like th. I was like th. I was liked. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was like I was like th. I was like th. I was like th. I was like th. I was like, this is a real person in a real country. I was like, that's ridiculous. No one can jump that high and then fight people like this. But here he is. So thank you again, Scotty, I appreciate you, man. Thank you, Trevor. I appreciate it. All right, don't forget people.

Scotty's memoir, unguarded, is available right now. You're definitely going to want to read it. We're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back after this. Well, that's our show for tonight, but before we go, please consider supporting Choose Love. They work to provide refugees and displaced people with everything from life-saving search and rescue boats to food and legal advice. At the link below, you can go to the choose love store and buy essential emergency items and services for the refugees who need them, diapers, hot meals, medical services and so much more. So if you'd like to support, choose love, then please check out the link below. Watch the Daily Show, weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast.