The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Rory & Mal Don't Know Ball | Dwight Howard

Episode Date: June 21, 2025

On this episode of Rory & Mal Don't Know Ball, the guys are joined by future NBA Hall of Famer and all time great, Dwight Howard! Rory and Mal revisit the 2009 NBA Finals, ask Dwight about his altercation with Lance Stephenson last weekend during their BIG 3 matchup, and get a real time reaction to the Buss family selling the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 billion #volumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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You know, show that we have now to talk to some people that know a lot about Ball. And today, it's a special day because this is our first, first. This is our first number one overall. selection in his draft. That is true. So with the first pick in the 2004 NBA draft, Rorydolando. Magic selected somebody out of high school who had a lot of promise, a lot of upside. I think ended his career being probably one of the most underrated big men that I've ever seen play the game.

Definitely revolutionized the position. One of the most athletic. Big men we've ever seen in the NBA. And I probably have more respect for him today now. I got a chance to stand next to him. He's not as tall as I thought he was. So now I got even more respect for him because it's niggas on the perimeter that's taller than him.

And they couldn't do what he did. So we are joined today by Dwight Howard. Dwight, how are you feeling, brother? That's good. You're right. Listen, man. So when he got off the elevator, he was like, nah, he kind of small. You know what it is when you, no, no, definitely not saying that.

But you know what it is, Dwight, when you, when I've, I'm. I stand next to, you know, hanging out with KD. And I stand next to Katie. It's like, damn, I would think that Dwight is much taller than a Kevin Durant. Yeah. KD. Seven feet. Yeah.

But this is what I'm saying. A lot of people don't know that. Yeah. Right? But on the court because of aesthetically, you just look like. I looked like I was upset. It's crazy when I played for the Lakers and Antoine Jameson was one of my teammates. And I was standing next to Palagos.

He was like, bro, you really ain't seven feet. You're like six, eight for real. That's what I'm saying. I said, what you mean? He said, because pal seven one and he's killing you right now. He's way tall. I was like, bro, it's just when I get on the court. I look tall because I'm always jumping.

Yeah. Touching the top of the back. Yeah. But it's crazy. Like, yeah, I was one of the shortest centers to play. Yeah, I mean, one of the shortest, me saying that is crazy. But the way you played the position, though, Dwight.

Now, we know, me particularly speaking, saw you in high school. I obviously knew the talent was there. Everybody knew you would be the number one overall pick. But that position, and I think that time, the center position was kind of in a different kind of space. Yeah. We didn't have the, you know, the big dominant shacks was on the way out. You know what I'm saying? That was kind of the latter part of the career.

So the big, bulky. you came in and the way you were running, a lot of people don't notice, but Shaq kind of played that way in his rookie years in his early years in Orlando. He could run the floor a lot better than people thought. But what you did at the position was like, no, he's like freakishly athletic at the center position.

It's crazy because when I got to the team, I wanted to get out on the perimeter. So I would always be trying to bring the ball up to court in practice. And coach would stop me from juggling the ball. he would tell Steve Francis or one of the guards, no, we don't want you dribbling the basketball. And I'm like, well, what you want me to do? They just said, Dwight, we want you to bring down the house.

I'm like, what does that mean? Yeah. Dunk, everything. And so I was playing the four man when I got on the magic. And back then it wasn't no stretch fours or five. So it was always interchangeable. They saw how fast I could get up and down the floor and how high I could jump.

So they said, you know what, let's put you at the center position. let's get four shooters and then let's keep you in the picking roll because you're going to be faster than all the centers. It might be taller than you, but you can make up for that with your arms and jumping and stuff like that. So now we want you to put pressure on the rim.

So every time run as hard as you can, seal to the basket. If you don't have it, come set of pick a roll, we're going to get you on the lob, get you on the deep post up. So it was like easy money for me. No, but you came in and it almost seemed like right away you adjusted to the NBA game.

Was that due to you think you always just being a fan of the game, watching the game closely, or did you come in knowing that I'm going to have to make some adjustments to my game? And how fast did you pick up that adjustment? Because looking back, I don't think you really came out the gates like slow. You had like an adjusted period. Yeah, I did. But you had success early as well.

I think it was how I prepared to come into the NBA. So I woke up every morning at 4 o'clock And I went to the track train every day This is in high school Every day I was doing this waking up at 4 o'clock going to the track Then I would go to the court and lift Or try to lift as much weight as I could And then go to the court obviously and work out

I did this religiously That became my routine So I wanted to prepare myself for the traveling For the getting up early having to get on the plane ride And wake up and having to lift and do all that stuff and also to maintain my body. I had to train for that. Because I knew once I got to the NBA,

it's going to be tons of things that could distract me. So I said I need to work on being disciplined. So my first year, and it was going to be adjustment period. Kevin Willis was the one who woke me up. I tried to box him out one day. And he did chicken wane. Yeah. He pulled my arm down and it was stuck and I couldn't move.

And I was like, yo, let go on my arm. And Kevin Willis was an older guy. He was a super vet by the time. Super duper vet. 20 year in the league. Chicken weighing my arm and he held it down. And I said after that, I will not let nobody ever push it around in this league. I went that summer and eight weights.

My first year was an adjustment period because now I'm playing against stronger, older, and wiser men. AAU was a different type of game that we came from. High school was different. But now we're playing against all these savvy vets. It was more vets in the league back then. You know, with me coming in, number one pick, you know, everybody got all these high expectations. Every big man is trying me.

So now it's like I got to come back with a plan. The plan was to get bigger, stronger, and faster. And it worked out. What was the media side like that? Because, I mean, even, you know, high school, when did they cut that off? Right before the league? The next year. The next year, yes, I thought.

So it was a controversial time. And outside of being the number one pick, being a high school player as well, how did you deal with the media shit outside of dealing with grown-ass men in the paint. Man, I don't know what I was dealing with. I didn't know what was going on because it's like all I knew was basketball and God. You know, I went to a church school, so every day I'm waking up, do what I'm doing with basketball. Now we're mixing it with school and church. This is everything that I knew.

Now I go from the small school to the big world. Now I'm the face of a franchise. Now they're asking me to make sure to, you know, understand money and things. I didn't know none about this. So it was a big adjustment period for me. And I was very thankful that now I had to go through so many trials because it really made me better off the court, made me better on the court.

And the media, man, we didn't know how to deal with it coming in. I didn't have to deal with any negativity like that until that moment, you know, coming into the NBA. So it was like, how do I deal with, you know, everybody always in my business. You want to know everything about my life. The negative side that come with being famous and all these different things is now it's coming into play.

And it's not as easy to deal with if you don't have a strong faith or a strong foundation. Who pissed you off the most in the media at that time? I mean, it wasn't like the first take era where it's like every show is opinionated, a cundant shit. But people still, you know, there's still opinions going on in sports media. Back then it was probably like to skip bailesses. Like I would say, if I'm in a room with Skip, I'm a sleep. lap him.

That's how I was thinking back then. He always got something to say. Because people like that, I believe back in the day, it started what we call with everybody having an opinion. Based off, somebody who's never did this more. Like, I can understand. Do you respect it more coming from God? Because I like what the NBA is doing now,

and you've done a great job with it as well. I think I caught one of the Magic Games, and you was court-side talking. And I was like, well, Dwight, you've always been well-spoken. But it just seems more natural to have guys that played the game. Talk about the game. To have to talk about the game because y'all always see it from an angle. We obviously will never see it from and understand it differently.

But is that something that you had to learn later on? Like, okay, these guys, they're just speaking about it. So I can't get so emotionally upset and, you know, and take it too seriously because they just doing their job. It's hard not to because people on the outside teams are also hearing this. stuff too. So now it could put them in a position like, is this true? Is it not true? Is this person or player really like this? Yeah, that's how we're taking it because it's like, yo, I'm really out here grinding every single day and now you're telling people, I'm a cancel

in the locker room, I'm lazy, I don't work hard. Like, that's, you can't do that. That's not, that's not fair. Yeah. Because my, my resume is showing otherwise. But now you're trying to tarnish that by saying this, so it's really not cool. So, it's great for everyone to have opinions. I think we need to hear both sides of it from a player that has played and somebody who's just observing the game because maybe they could see something a little bit different. Yeah.

So I can understand that, but to have the actual players who played in that era, I think they should be the ones that are talking. So, like, now the guys who played with me are against me and stuff like that, I feel like they would be great commentators for games. The older guys, they haven't been out there. They haven't been a part of this new generation's game. So I feel like maybe their opinions could be biased based off when they played and how they played.

So now you have the career that you have, obviously, eight-time, what, All-Star, NBA champion, all of these things. The one thing that I had an issue with was you being left off the top 75. And you've always had this personality where you're smiling, you know, things never seem to really upset you. I don't think I've ever seen you do any or say anything too crazy. But personally, how did you take that? Like when you got the news that you didn't make the top seven? Like we're not talking about cameras and media. I'm talking about Dwight Howard at home.

I was pissed off. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, man, there's no way I put in this much work. personally and for the league to be left off and I know it's not 75 guys that's better to me

okay that's the issue I have with it I'm like some of these guys I get it you he was good but I remember what this kid was doing in Orlando and it's totally different so I was very pissed off and I was like man this is not right because it got to be a bigger play

it got to be something else because I know for a fact some of these guys don't have my resume. Yeah. And they're on it. That's a fact. But as it got closer to when they, I think ESPN was doing a little coverage at a time when they were saying it's like 10 players left. Yeah.

When it got down to 10, I said, you know what, they ain't going to put me on it. Why do you thought? I could already sense it. But why? Because if I wasn't already on it by the time it got the 10 players left, come on. Oh, okay. I can't say it's 65 players better to me. that doesn't play.

Yeah, it would be hard for me to name 65. So for that to happen, our 60, 60 players, 65 players left, whatever. For that to happen, I'm like, yo, I'm not going to make it. I'm watching on TV like, damn. You would obviously know about NBA politics better than most for the length of a career you had. Do you think there's a reason why you were left off?

Was it politics as usual? Is there a specific person or entity that? Man, that's a tough one, man. I don't want to put nobody out there like that. I don't know. It got to be. Yeah. It got to be like it's just that the numbers don't add up.

And it doesn't matter. Like, it's the thing that people all say, well, he did this off the court. It has nothing to do with what happened when I stepped between them lines. Yeah. You can't take that away from nothing by rumors, stories, whatever people are saying. It has nothing. Talk about the real story.

Let's put in the film and my stats and accolades to show if I was really taking the game serious or not. You can't go by Skip and people said, oh, he was just playing the game. He wasn't playing for real. Like what? The numbers and stuff don't show that. Yeah. So then I'll ask for this listing because this just happens with podcasting. We go through every fucking complex music list, every rapper list.

And we just had the, what was it, L.A. rappers that complex just put out. And we were debating like, all right, yeah, there's legends. on this list, but they're from an era that, like, you're only on there because you were in the beginning. Yeah. Like, you're not better than this other rapper. You just have a legend status because you were there in the beginning. Do you think that also lends itself to basketball?

Like, some people on there? Yeah. Yeah. You wouldn't, in my era, you would have got cooked. Like, you shouldn't even be on this top 75. Like, it was somebody on there. What was his name? Sure, he's white, and his name was Bob Coosie.

That's his name. I play with him on 2K on live when I was in high school and I was better than him. Ain't no way, Dolph shades. His name Dolph, I'm sorry, and I love young Dolph. Rest in peace, I'm not talking about.

But his name, Dawes Saze, bro. There's no way he's top 80. Get out of here. No, listen, it's more names than that on that top 75 where I was just like, yeah, I just don't, see it like not because again Orlando magic Dwight Howard

like I went to games I went to games with the guard I went to games to Nets games like when those teams came into the city there was like a oh like it how do we stop him it was Jemir you know those other guys but it was like what's y'all going to do about him in the paint though so when you have that feeling in the arena for a part of your career there's no way you can say yo there's 75 players that had that same feeling.

I know it's not. I just know it because I, man, and it pissed me off. I remember seeing Sam Mitchell in the airport in Atlanta. And he was like, man, I just want to tell you, man, that top 75 shit still got me man. He said that I was like, man. Yeah, Van Gunner, your coach, he had some things to say about. Like a few people kind of spoke. I was like, nah, they got that one wrong.

Like, not. But who is they? Who are these people that actually voted? And how did they get the right to vote for these? You've never had that conversation with anybody. I'm saying we have talked. They've showed the list, but it's like, how are these people the ones who have the criteria to vote for these 75 people? What makes it?

I think one of the people was a player. You might not mistake. He's playing now. How could he have the right to vote for who should be top 75 now and he's still playing? Yeah. It should be players that I would say maybe wasn't superstars or all-stars in the league, but played in all the – who played in certain errors that can say, okay, now this guy, I played against him. Yeah.

He was cold. Now, you know, like the ninth, eighth man on the bench, he was – all these guys that don't play, that witnessed the game. No disrespect to nobody. But, like, they're the ones that should be saying, man, that was a cold dude that played. He topped. You know what I'm saying? They knew how tough it was to go against that person.

Yeah. And it's funny, Pige and Mall were having a conversation off mic before you came here that I thought was very interesting. Of we're getting to the era of young kids that did not see Jordan whatsoever. So now it's going to be the way I view Will Chamberlain. Like I've heard about it, but I don't fucking know. He don't exist. Yeah. And that's my favorite player.

So, Dan. Yeah. Okay. But we're just getting that part. But I've never seen him playing right now. How could they vote on the top 75 players ever? And say Will. They didn't actually watch them.

They didn't play against them. How do you even vote for that? Because the name, it's like for this. A lot of kids never seen Shaq play. But they're going to say he's the most dominant center. Which is true, but also that goes with branding and Shaq continuing to be in the space as well. Like his name is going to continue on. But Ahead y'all got YouTube, though.

YouTube Shaq. And then you tell me if I'm lying about what I'm saying about. Oh, I agree with you on one Shaq on that side. but I'm saying it's different to, like, I was young. I caught the very tail end of Jordan. It doesn't resonate the same way as Kobe with me. I watched Kobe. I hated Kobe, rest in peace.

I just hated him because I watched him kill every team I loved. Like, I know about it. Jordan, yeah, I could watch the highlights and be like, oh, my God, that guy's insane. Oh, but he never watched the season. There's not a feeling of watching Kobe crush, like crush us. I sat down in front of the TV, plenty of Sundays and watched Mike. Yeah, but we have a 10-year difference. So like nothing, nothing like it.

These are the greatest ever. Dwight, don't even look at him like. Who your number one all time? Michael Jordan. I think, don't say nothing. The goat got to be Corrine. Okay, but you, and I know why you're saying that. You're talking about just as far as basketball, career, high school, college, NBA.

He got to be the goat. And I'm not mad at that. Just strictly basketball. I'm not mad at that. I'm not mad at that. But Michael. Jordan, what he did, what he came in, his 84 season to this day. And now y'all are supposed to be more athletic, y'all are supposed to have more moves, y'all are supposed to, all these opportunities

to score and do all these things and nobody can still get close. Because it's harder. Then 84? You know what they're harder to score. Now? If guys are more athletic, they're stronger, they jump higher, they're faster on offense. What about the guys on defense? It's the same thing. Yeah, but I don't think that, again, and this is why we had to show. I don't think that NBA players now put as much emphasis on the defensive end as they did when you were playing. That's true because it was. So let alone. Like Iverson's one example.

Do you think Iverson would have an easier time scoring right now or the error he played in? I would say the error he played in. No, right now he would have a way more time scoring. That's what I'm saying. Oh, okay. It'd be way easier for Iverson to score right now. Well, yeah. Well, that's Iverson.

I said prime example. This is one example. This is Michael Jordan. That's what we're talking about. If you were to drop Michael Jordan in this. I always say this. No, but listen, this is what I say. I say that if Steph Curry had the ego of Michael Jordan.

Just the ego. Steph Curry's game with Michael Jordan's ego, they would drug test Steph Curry every game. But what kind of ego? What do you mean? Because I say that because. Steph is such a passive guy. He doesn't care to be... His talent brings that to him.

But, like, he doesn't push that ego on to other players. Like, he doesn't get at other players and dominate in the way that Mike did. Like, Mike would create an issue with a player just to be like, yo, I don't like the way he looked at me. That's the error that we played in, though. I mean, that's the era that Bob Michael Jordan, like, they had to find the issue. Remember, it was no friends back then. People, like, they hated each other.

But they used to get mad at us for hanging out with each other. Like, why you hang with him? That's the enemy. It's like, no, we're just hooping against each other. We're supposed to be cool. Yeah. I think that that was just the error because I was looking at some stats. They said that Michael Jordan.

They said he had a 48-inchvert. That's ridiculous. You don't believe it? That's hard to believe. But why you don't believe that? Because that meant he would be touching the top of the whole backboard. Easy. 48.

He did the measurements at the dunk contest. We watched. Who? You? Me? Yeah. No, I'm saying Michael Jordan. I know, but I'm saying you know the exact measurements.

I think the top of the bag, boy, I think that's, we know it's exaggerated, a 48 inch. We know it's exaggerated. But if you go back and look at tapes of Michael coming out of North Carolina and just look physically the way he looked against everybody else. Maybe because everybody else didn't have it, but now everybody else got. all those same things. That's what I'm saying. But it still don't look like that. Because back then it was a whole different game.

Like now I'm trying to learn how to do the moves that the young is doing. Like the whole Euro steps, all these different moves, like the going side step and coming back, catching this shooting and then take another side step. They're learning how to travel. Yeah, travel. Okay, but that's the new age basketball. It's AI. This is AI basketball.

That's what I'm saying. Y'all got to get with chat G-TGV. I'm watching Halliburton and him. I'm like, he picked up his dribble in the paint. He's at the three. How did he do that? And it's no whistle. I'm like, all right, things change.

But that's how it is now. Like everything is, it's an upgraded system. Yeah, I get it. Like the way the players were back then, if they would have had the same type of train and the same type of facilities, they would have been able to do all the stuff that's being done now. But they was only going off what they had, which was simpler, which made. the game easier.

So to us, why Mike looks so cold because he won two dribbles into everything. That's what we like. We want all, why you got to take all those dribbles and do all that? Get right to it. Yeah, but that's the era that we grew up in. But now we're looking at an era where they take an angle. Somebody take this angle away because he's strong enough and he can get you to take that angle away.

Now you got to find another way to get to another angle. So it's just, it's a different ball game. Where is Mike at on your old-time list? Because I- He got to be two or three Okay I just have I respect that

If you would have had him Going five I'm like I'm like Dwight we can't What would he talk about Mike? It's just No you can't

But Kareem is just like I'm not mad at that I'm never mad at Nobody has Kremeadad No one How many points he got Total 39

39, no points 38 Sound something crazy All two You're saying you know how hard that is to do Annie only had one shot Yeah, I get it. No, he dominated every level of basketball without a doubt.

I'm never arguing Kareemma Ljibu. And he did it with two names. Yeah. He might be the coldest there. Ain't no player colder to him. He did it as Lou Al sent to Eddie with Bruce Lee, real ass. And then he got him in the goal, bro. Come on, what's up?

I'll never argue with him. He was at 38,000 points. Yeah. Is what he was at. That's crazy. I mean, do you think with how the league is, it's better for the league moving forward. Like with it less physicality,

people being more AAU-style friends and shit. You think it's better? Well, I just think that, see, the game is global and they want more scoring. They want more entertainment. The world we live in, people get so, like, distracted fast.

So they have to do things to keep it entertaining. And so I think it's in a great position. The only thing I see is it's oversaturated with talent And that it's not enough teams It's not enough All-Star spots It's not enough money To go around for all these players Because they're going to continue to get better

And the only thing for the players I want them to start doing more It's probably just playing more pickup The younger players To try to get to the league Because all the young players Everybody got a training Everybody one-on-one workouts and all that

Yeah, one-on-one workouts. The best way to play basketball is to play basketball. Yeah, once it go back to that, then the game itself is going to regain the love and the passion that it used to have. Just think about how back in the day it was just us hooping. Like, it just felt so good to get out there and hoop. You ain't got no money involved. Now the players, now they got to worry about making sure they hit the part,

what they call them the parlay? All that. People get mad about if somebody don't get enough rebounds or score, their points. Yeah. That could put a lot of pressure on these young guys, you know what I'm saying? So then people wasting their money doing it. I said people going to bet, do what they do.

They're going to always do that. Yeah. But how did you feel about the whole NIL? Like, do you feel like that's hurting college basketball? How do you feel about the transfer portal? Like, if Dwight Howard in high school had those options in front of him, how does that look for Dwight's career? I'm going to the league only because I wasn't going to the league for money.

I wanted to go to the league just to, because I wanted to be one of the greatest to ever play. That was my goal. It wasn't, man, I got to get some money so I could live. I always felt like God was going to provide for me if I used my gifts properly. So I think the NIL can be a great thing, and also it could be a bad thing depending on how people use it.

I know a lot of families would want to use it to get themselves out of a situation, But also at the same time, what if you don't know what to do with this money and this fame? Yeah. And you giving up your name, image, and likeness. Like, and everybody's doing that now. I don't think that's a – that part is a great thing for these young athletes to give up your name, image, and likeness. That's who you are. And if you're doing it at a young age, you know what I'm saying?

It's like you won't stop. Yeah. You have to keep feeding that beast. oh man I got to come back my name, image of lightness is on the line and that's a lot to give up you you know what I'm saying? So that's the only part I don't.

I mean but if hypothetically if like you know KG and Kobe didn't prove that you could be successful right at high school because I mean, Brown hadn't really been proven at that point. Do you still? Brown was what a year?

Yeah, what? He's right after me. Right before me. Right before me. Yeah. And more season. I'm talking about at that point, KG and Kobe we knew you'd come out of high school and be a superstar.

Brian, rookie the year, great, but that was one year. Do you think you still wouldn't have taken that time to develop in college, say maybe one or two years? How? Like, okay, this is what I told my mom. I said, people go to college to learn how to make money and whatever it is that they're trying to make money in. This is what the NBA is for me.

I'm making money and the thing that I want to do, but I'm not doing it for money. But guess what? if I could play this game every day and get paid for it, why not do that? You know? So she said, you're right, son. This is what you wanted to do. So you go ahead and be the greatest that you could be.

What were some of those conversations like with J.R. Smith, Sebastian's Hellfare, like at the McDonald's. Just like they knew what I was going to do. We know what you're going to do before. You go into the league. You better, you better go to the league. And I'm like, y'all, right. Like if I got a chance to go top,

if you get a chance to go top three in the NBA draft, you'll be a fool to go to college. You knew you was going one though. Yes, but I'm just saying for anybody in general, like, if you get a chance to go top three and you know you can go number one, come on now.

That would be like knowing that you got a box behind this door that's $100 million and everybody in the world know it. And you say, you know what, I'm going to go to college and go earn it. That's tough. Yeah.

You just earned it. Yeah, that's tough. It's just weighing with stuff. I mean, even, you know, I won no beef with Kwame Brown at all. I don't want to go back and forth on YouTube. But, you know, that'd always be in the back of my mind, too. But what did he do? That point, what you ever see?

01? He didn't do anything wrong. Like, see. No, I agree. It was a weird system with the Wizards. And not even that. Like, he made it out of the rat race. Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? That's how you can't take it like, man, he didn't have an awesome career. He did. Played over 10 years. in the NBA. The average career in the NBA is three to four years, folks. So for somebody to go past that, now maybe he didn't meet everyone outside of himself expectations. Yeah. Because they had expectations for him. Yeah. But he met his. Yeah. He made it to the league. That's probably what his why was. I got to make it to the league. Everybody had a different reasons. Everybody

loved ball for different reasons. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, I can't fault him for that. Yeah. And just think about this. You coming into a. a league and your favorite player is on your team and it's Michael Jordan and like he's Michael Jordan and you're 18 like that's a lot on you and then for this person to be on you so heavy you're not understanding that's a lot that's a lot I never really like took a second and thought about just that like you grew up looking at this figure that is like so idle this is this is like and now he's mad at me because I dropped the pass he just threw to me and it's like nigga I'm watching the greatest player ever

I'm just in all I'm stuck staring at him like Michael Jordan just passed you to And that was a lot to say I was young but I remember the media like this is Jordan handpicked this draftic Even though he's on the team Jordan is drafting him

Yeah they were doing special I feel like he went to Jordan's like house In North Carolina like they made that He probably was so inspired And then he probably felt shit it on right after that Because he was like damn man I fucked up with Michael Jordan Yeah.

That could probably sting a lot as a young man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What is that pressure, though, like knowing that you're the number one pick? Like, what is that? For me, I... It's just a different glow you got in the green room when everybody know you're going number one. I was afraid if I was going to go number one and number two for a second. And then I remember one of the guys said, hey, Ashley wasn't one of the players.

I'm sorry, it's my agent. Aaron Goodwin, he said, Dwight, soon as they call your name, your mama, hugging a kiss, shake your pop's hand, you can get ready to smile. So I said, I mean, I'm going number one. As soon as he said, they could we in the green room. And I think they do the green room a little different now. I don't know how it goes, but man, back then it was a little, it was treacherous. It was like

we're in the garden. You know, the fans is everywhere. I think before they had all of us outside. It was a great experience, man. But being 18, looking back on it, it was a whirlwind. It happened so fast. Like one day I wake up, I'm in this, you know, 16 student class, my senior class, school is super small. Next day I'm getting drafted into the NBA. All my dreams come true. Like, man, this is sick.

Yeah. So let's talk about the 2009 season. So the Orlando Magic, y'all beat LeBron, the Cavs to go to the finals. What was that you had the close-out game, you had a crazy game. I think you might have 40. 41 and 19. Just a light double-double.

You saw Dwight threw that out there. He said, you know, and he still remembered it. You know, 41, 19. That was a light day at the office. That is crazy. 40 and 19 is stupid. 40 and 19 is absolutely, but against that team, against that player in that moment to go to the finals.

Like, in the, what do you, as a player, Take us in that moment where you feeling in the zone like, oh, I'm having one of those games. This is one of those. Like, what is that? How do you control that emotion? You can't. It's just like, one, you feel everything that's going on from the crowd.

Because we're in Orlando, so the crowd is hype because this is the furthest we've been in a long time. And you can feel that, the intensity. Everybody's so hype. And it's like the only thing on our minds is they've been talking about this. Cleveland, Laker matchup. Yeah, they wanted it bad. They wanted it so bad.

We're seeing all this stuff on TV, the commercials. Everybody's just counting us out. Yeah. And that just brought out so much anger that it was like we are fend to destroy Cleveland. Whatever it takes, we're going to send them home mad that they, from playing us. And that last game was like a statement. Like, nah, y'all going to remember Orlando Magic. Everybody going to remember we're the team that stopped LeBron and Kobe from going to the final.

That series was still, that time really was like some of the best basketball. Basketball, man. That I think that we had, the matchups, the individual players, the teams. When did it start to click for y'all, though, that obviously, you know, you felt like everybody was counting y'all out and things like that? But when did it really start to click like, oh, shit, we got a legit. shot. Well, really how we started out that whole season was not, but playoffs. We started out against Philly and we were down.

I think we had to go to game six. We lost the first game. Fans went crazy on us at home. How y'all make it this far? Y'all best team and y'all lose the first game. They're going crazy on us. So I get suspended game six. and we're already up.

We just needed one more game. And I'm like, man, we can't go to no game seven because anything can happen. Yeah. But I'm suspended. I'm tripping. So we end up winning a game. I think we played Boston the next round

and then we play Cleveland. Boston's a battle in itself. Yeah. So after beating Philly and Boston, we felt like we had the upper hand on Cleveland all year. and we knew about why the time of game come. We had a plan for LeBron. We had a plan for,

Elgouskas, anybody on the court we had a plan for. And we wanted to dominate them. And I think we did that. Did you have any moments in playing the Cavs where you're looking at LeBron and what they're doing like, damn, like he's really on a different level as far as just pure athleticism?

Because I think that series, like, Braun didn't show one of his best playoff series that y'all just beat them. But, like, he played at a high level almost every game. He had a great game. Like, you never looked across the court and was like, how the fuck is he still like, we can't stop him? No, we was in the mold. I didn't see him. I just saw the trophy. He was in the way.

I was looking at the trophy. Like, man, he is in the way. He is a person and this team is in our way. like he gots to go he gots to go yeah so the next round y'all get uh the organization that's probably the most prestigious organization and definitely in basketball maybe in sports but what is that feeling now we got l-a we got the lakers oh it's time i was like this is it we playing against the lakers in the finals the magic or orlando was going we saw orlando flags all over Orlando.

The crowd, the fans is going crazy. I'm like, this is the time. They put Mickey Mouse at number two. This is it. You know what I'm saying? At first, everybody was talking about this was Mickey Mouse town. They wasn't calling us Orlando Magic. It's calling us Orlando tragic.

So for us to go from that to being in the finals, man, the best feeling in the world to beat the Cavs and then now playing the Lakers, the games was crazy. And let's not act like Boston was a trash Boston wasn't a trash team So we went through hell to get to By the time we got to the Lakers We didn't have no more energy Look at all the teams you had to go through

Just to get to Kobe Yeah just to get to the big boss You ever play like a video game I was at the end of time He got one life left and now you're playing against He got all the he got everything I'm like bro this is not fair He got three seven footers

Oh, my God. Incredible team. Oh, my God. Now, when you got to the finals, your running mate, Jamir was hurt. Yes. But Skip.

Skip and Anthony Johnson. Yeah. Anthony's off the bench. No, no, Skip and Anthony started the whole playoffs. And it was hurt up until the finals. Right. I always feel like that was a bad call on Van Gundy. We can't blame Van Gundy.

And I, and I, you know, a lot of times we tried to blame Van Gunner because he was the head coach. But we all agreed to let, to have Jamir play too, for Jamir to come back and play. Because he wanted them to play, it's not like we did. Yeah, but I think it kind of messed up the chemistry between Anthony and Skip. You know, that kind of put them in a place like, man, we got y'all here. And obviously we rock with Jamir, but man, me and Skip did our job. So looking back on it, like, I can understand why coach and all of us wanted Jemir back because we're thinking at the time, like, man, we finally got them back.

Now, it's go time. But chemistry and time, man, it's super important. Everything has to be aligned in order to win those championships. That was our one time. That was our one shot. We got somebody that wanted to call in. and just talk to you. I told me what's coming in today.

Oh, so, man. Oh, my God, Thunder. Oh, my God. Yo, we was just talking about the 0-9 finals. And Dwight was saying, Dwight was saying, Trev couldn't guard. He kept calling for a switch. Hey, caught in the switch.

One thing I will say about Trev is he was one of the most solid. people in the world. Outside of whatever's going on with basketball, here's one of the most solid. And on the court, we've been battling in each other since we were some jits. And it's crazy to see how long your dreads got mine ain't grown since. You know what I look like little Moses, bro? I saw the guy, a little Jesus.

When you started right at the same time? Yeah, we started at the same time I learned from you. Oh, I'm here. Baby I did. Yeah, man. So we were just talking about the 09, the 09 finals, Trev. When did you feel, when y'all got, because obviously Dwight was saying everybody wanted L.A. Cleveland to see obviously Kobe and Braun. But Dwight and them sent them packing. When Dwight and them sent Bron on the packing, did you feel like, oh, we got this? This is easy. We walking through them. Or did y'all feel like, damn, man, we got to go out there and beat this big shoulder dude.

Jamil Nelson and him. Man, first off, personally, for me, I wanted to play them so bad. So I knew, like, if they won, like, it would be, like, the energy of, like, just the world and the universe just coming back on their ass if we played them. Yeah.

You know, because I played there. Like, they traded me. Yeah. Orlando traded me from, well, I got traded from there to L.A. Mm-hmm. You know, so I feel, their whole, everything that they did,

I knew what pissed some of the players on. I knew what got under Dwight skin. I knew how to agitate them. So the things that I would share about what they did, you know, I would tell my team. We used that. Yeah. So, yeah, I felt like we had the advantage in a way.

Well, Dwight, he said that he didn't, because I kind of, I blamed, I still, I respect what Dwight said. All of them agreed to have Jemir come back and play. But I felt like what Skip and Anthony Johnson was doing, I think that that kind of messed up the chemistry. Did y'all game plan for Skip and AJ? And once Jemir came back, like, what was the switch that y'all made in the locker room?

It's crazy because I think MIR was an all-star that year, too, right? Yeah, he was. He was. Dwight? Yeah, he was. Amir was an all-star that year that he fucked his shoulder up. Mm-hmm. So when Skip got put in the whole lineup, they caught a rhythm.

Like a really, really good rhythm. But Jemir is the all-star starter who, year after year, like his play has, you know, gotten them to where they was at. But making that switch at that time, while you rolling or why their team was, like, moving, the way it was moving, it was a tough decision to make for a coach. and a team to try to adjust to without having like practice and shit like that. So that was another advantage that I think that I was able to have.

Now, I do, I think I do remember one time I think Trev, you got a poster on Dwight. No, you tried. Dwight is a fucking hack, man. The picture has Dwight literally slap it, hold him on. I do hack this top.

I'm probably 207 pounds. The white, all the 260. Yeah. I have my little ass on. You have to hack Trevor. I'm going to tell you why. Every time Trevor wants to dunk on you, he does a karate kick to kick you.

Yeah. Kick out. Before he does. So I had to make sure he wasn't going to kick me and then dunk on me. I got to hear you a hack, bro. Treve, I preach. You said you call it in, bro. You say to him, I am a hack.

My brother Trevor Reesie. I didn't know if he was going to get him free or not. Yeah. Hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We created our own podcast called,

Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to a... We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's...

extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas

Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas. And I'll put it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel. Help an Acapella band with their between-songs. banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for

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we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis. And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I'm breaking down everything happening at Roland Garris.

Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on clay. Genshin won. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lernerabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck.

Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. So, Dwight, take us to the last game. We lose the finals in 2017. 2009 to Trev and Kobe and the Lakers. What is that emotion in the locker room? Man, before we got in the locker room,

I sat on the court with Jamir and watched them celebrate. I was just like, mirror, man. I just got to sit here, man. This shit really, it really hurt, man. We put in so much time to get here. And we don't know if we can get back again because it's hard. Yeah. But let's remember this feeling.

So when we get back in the gym. Yeah. this is what we're fighting for. And so that's what we did. So when I got back home, man, I was so hurt. I sat outside in my house about five, five, six hours. And I listened to, um, the lose yourself in the moment your own. And I was like, man, I just lost the final.

And Colby and the Lakers, man. It was my one shot, man. It was my one shot. What if I never get back to this? Come, and he rings Kobe ass. He didn't need that one. I'm telling you, I was so sick, man. I just sat outside.

Like, that was my one shot, man. Like, this is him. This is Kobe, the Lakers. Like, I'm like, man, that the magic would have won the championship. Like, that would have been everything that we wanted in Orlando. And, uh, damn. Talk to me about the,

because you were on the bubble ring, right? The bubble. That's where you got to? Hey, why everybody keep calling it the bubble ring? Because it is the, what you mean? But it's, okay, let's have that. Let's have that conversation. You don't feel like we should call it the bubble ring?

Why? Well, because everything around it, the season will stop. Y'all on vacation for maybe three months. So that should make it harder. Well, this is why I want to have this conversation. I'm on the side of I don't see how it's harder from the standpoint of we know exactly how much traveling and having our fans screaming down on top of the other team affect the game. Don't. Dwight, don't say that.

Don't say the fans don't. What is it going? Fans in the arena don't affect the game? Okay, so then why didn't it affect either way when we didn't have fans? No, no, I'm not saying that I'm not saying that it didn't affect either way. I'm just saying I think that that's a bigger element that is now missing is the fact that we don't have to go into L.A. and beat the Lakers. Or we don't have to go into Orlando and beat the Magic or we don't have to go into San Antonio and beat the Spurs. But if we're the Lakers, everywhere we go, we're going to be the home team.

It doesn't matter where we play at. Name one place we're going to go play at. If we're the Lakers on that championship run. Boston. So you felt like, you could have never went into Boston and won. Who? As the Lakers, that team? We did it already.

The SEL doesn't even go to the finals. No, no, I'm saying. We had the best record. As opposed to having fans and not have, it's tougher to go into Boston and win in that building. No, it's not. When you were in Orlando, did you feel like the Lakers were at home when you guys played in Orlando? Yes.

Oh, shit, okay. Just like when we played Detroit back in the day. I could see Orlando being that way. Of course, I'm talking about where it's rivalry shit. Like, you're not going to go into. That's only one team. That's only Boston. That's like you're the Lakers. But I'm just saying if you're the Spurs, it's hard to win in San Antonio.

When we played the Spurs, we had more Laker fans there. You're talking about for the playoffs. You're talking about for the finals. If we're playing the finals team, that means it's an Eastern Conference team. They were more Lakers fans at Spurs games than Spurs fans in playoffs? We didn't play them in a, well. I'm just saying like when the Lakers played the Spurs, like when Kobe did play them. The Spurs is not.

But back then it was a lot of Laker fans at them game. I'm sure it is because the Lakers, the brand is just. So that's what I'm saying. We got home court advantage everywhere. We're not getting affected by that. But how does it? All right. So you got the bubble.

You said that we was out for how long? Three months. Almost three months, maybe. All right. So three months of no basketball, no training, none of that, but the oldest team to come back and beat everybody fair and square.

How many times, what was it for did we sweep everybody? I don't know if I sweat. It was close. It was pretty dominant. Oh, it was 4-1 everybody. Yeah, I don't like that. Okay. It was a quick time. So what does that mean? But everybody had the

opportunity. Well, let me ask you, is there a difference in the energy of when you went to the finals with the magic playing the Lakers than when you were in the bubble in the finals? You can't say there's no... I'm saying there was no different... There was no difference in the energy of walking onto the court.

That's what I'm asking. But what is the... All right, so... We're asking. We don't know. Obviously, if it's no fans there, it's going to feel different for when it's a whole bunch of fans there,

but we was the best team going into the pandemic anyway. No, I get that part of you. And I'm just saying, when you have the stoppage, and then you obviously have guys being outspoken about not wanting to go to the bubble. Mm-hmm. You have guys that's in a problem.

bubble that's not comfortable. They're like, yo, bro, I'm ready to get out of it. So I'm just thinking, like, guys don't really care. This is, it, it kind of came across like, we got the best players in the world. We put them inside the bubble. And they're basically like, AAU shit. They know what time their games are. Their teams are showing up to the gym. But to me, it's not the same as when I'm watching Orlando and the Lakers in 2009. But then, like, it just, just, just the box. What about the lockout year? Well, the lockout year was... We don't say lockout championship.

Some people put an action on it because it didn't, but it wasn't, but it wasn't as long as the bubble. It wasn't that much time more. It should have been the hardest time for us. That's a harder time. We're in a bubble. You play. I'm asking you, if you feel like it's tougher, then I'm taking it. Yeah, it was tough.

You actually played in 2009 and you played in the bubble championship. What I'm saying is tough. It's the circumstances that we're all up under. I would love to travel during the final. and be with my family and go to L.A. and chill. That's probably harder to play now. Because now I got to worry about everybody coming to the games. I got to worry about making sure the tickets is right.

The flights is right. So I'm saying it's harder. It's tougher. But it has nothing to do with basketball. This is pure basketball. You get out there once y'all playing y'all playing. But there are elements. In the bubble, it's pure basketball.

So it should make it harder to play against another team because there's no other circumstance besides basketball. So now everybody's playing their best. Jamal Murray, he's getting 50 pieces in the bubble. He had nothing to worry about. He had no other outside stress when it comes to game day. Now, the stress that we had is dealing with the whole world being that stopped. We getting COVID tests three times a day when we can't even catch a cold in there.

Why are we getting COVID tests so much? It's no reason for that It's nobody there but us Imagine waking up every day Getting a real COVID test Three times a day Just to play a game So

Yeah it's People could put an a astra But they wasn't there So of course they're going to say Well, that was easy It's LeBron That was his team Yeah

But come on man At the next little one Y'all I bet you wouldn't say It was an Astrid I would That would be a nasty championship I would say it was greatest championship of all time.

Because y'all got a championship. But I would say that's nasty. I don't even say bubble a lot. It would be nasty because there's no parade and no other stuff that's gone with it. That's the nasty part. Like, I want a parade. I want at least, we ain't get a chance to do nothing, man. Only parade I got was on my 2K, man, when I won.

All right. So see, this is damn. So you didn't win in 2009, but you won in 2020. Right? Tough question because I think I know your answer. would you rather had one in 2009 than 2020? Yeah. Orlando?

Why? It's Orlando. Okay. First championship. Yeah. That's a staple. That's like the first one. That changes everything.

So, of course, in Orlando. And then the crowd is there just before the new arena's finished. Yeah. Oh, my God. Going into the new arena with a ring? Yeah. All right. And the parade at Disney World would have been four months.

Parang. And to end up at Disney World, oh, my God. Yeah. You can literally say at the end, like, you just won the NBA championship. What are you going to do? I'm going to cross the street. Big game. I'm going back to my room.

I'm double parked in front of shit. I got some solid for you, Nicky. I'm going to my room. All right. Prime Shack or Prime Dwight? I got to go with myself, but Prime Shack is a big old beast, but I'm not backing down. No, I know you ain't backing down, but 32 in Orlando. 7-2.

7, 2, 320, and I'm pushing 6'11 with shoes on 265. It's cool. I'm going to battle my ass off. I'm stronger shit. So, hey, I'm going to prime Dwight. Okay. I'm not mad at that.

I'm not mad at that. I'm fired a shit out on two times. But you know, in our career, if you ever seen it, we both have, I think, we average like 5,000 every game against me. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Absolutely. It's a lot of that going on. Hell, yeah.

A lot of following. What does the NBA need to do? do with All-Star weekend in general. Not just the All-Star game, but three-point contest. Do I got to come back in the dunk contest? I mean, what you want people to do? I'm telling y'all, it's oversaturated. Like, think about it.

We don't see all the dunks in the world. What else can somebody do? Do you think they need to add in some of the, I mean, they try to do it, but some of the YouTube dunkers and bringing people up from the G-League just for that weekend? You can do that stuff too, but again, now, Everybody wants to be compensated for what they're doing. Their NILs. I mean, they make enough money, doing it.

I'm done for real. No, no, no, no. No, no. No, no. Nothing. Pay a YouTuber. I understand that, but the YouTuber is saying, hey, if you want my name, image, and likeness, and you want me to get out there and dunk, I want to get paid.

I want to go out posts. I want to do all this stuff. So now I think they're looking at all that. You know, the biggest thing is to attract this new market. So if I was them, they got all them chap. GTP servers. Just ask all the AIs. AIs going to tell them how to make All-Star better.

They're trying something where it's the world versus the NBA, right? They already do that, though. But that's what the younger guys. But when they're going to play that, the world versus U.S. in the States? Yeah, like Four Star Weekend. But is that, that's cool to add on to the All-Star Weekend. I'm going to watch it, but that's not a game-changer with me.

It's not going to be a game-changer. Because it's just going to be normal. You know who's going to be on one team, you know, who's going to be the only other team. It's not going to ever be the same. We don't have seen so much good talent. We don't seen the best of the best of the best of the world. So now we're expecting the All-Star game to be something crazy when it just ain't. The times we lived then, we probably got to let that go because it's nostalgic for us to be like, damn.

I remember when it was in the All-Star game. Everybody had their home jersey on all that stuff. Yeah, it's cool. And now we did the times is set for something different. I mean, I like the idea of having the world versus USA in the All-Star weekend, only because I don't know if the USA wins. Oh, right now? Right now? That's what the young guys were.

But who's going to play? The last three MVP is not even playing. But how are they going to, are people going to really play? What's the incentive? I think if it's that structure, that format. But what's the incentive behind it? And who do you pick? How do you vote now?

I think if they did it with the actual All-Stars, it would give more incentive because I think America would have something to prove because I think it would get a little embarrassing. That goes back to the Olympics then. So why do you got to do it? No, the Olympics difference because it's every single. If it's the world, everyone that's just not a United States citizen,

that's a match. Versus the U.S.? The best player. Yeah, there's something to prove that. That could be tough. Like, because now you got Luca on the same team. You ain't got enough time for it. you need more than the All-Star game.

One game ain't going to go to. You see what I'm saying. There's time because you're like, man, hold on who we're going to get. We got to make sure we pick the right guys. And then it take away from going back to the All-Star voting. Remember, these guys is also trying to make sure for longevity, they get on the All-Star team so they can get another year

and they contract all these different things. So now that the money is so much stuff involved, it just make it difficult. The one thing I would, like, to see is not with the All-Star game, but Olympics. Instead of having the Olympics in another city or another country every year, I think that they should go back to Greece, where it started at, fix it up to where it looked like the old school kind of style, but make it new school.

But just keep it there every year so we can bring the value back into it. Because when you have it in every place around the world, they putting all their money up for one year. for a couple years just to build this place up. And then now when the Olympics is over with, you got all these nice venues, but nothing to do with it. I do you want better. They'll build all that shit just to bid.

They might not even get the Olympics there. Just to bid for it. So just like they're happening in it. Are they still happening in California? It's in L.A., yeah. The next one's in L.A. So they're having in L.A. They have to bid for it for a couple years.

That's why you get Sophie Stadium because of the Olympics bid. What about all the people that live there that have to travel and work who are not going to go to the Olympics. We have to just live. I didn't want to do all that stuff. So now let's put it back to where it started. Let's bring the value back into it. Let's kind of get the real gold medals, the real silver medals.

Make it mean something again. Like every country when they go playing in Olympics, it really means. It don't seem like it's like for us in America. So I think that would get back to everything else. Like, hold up now. If we want to be the most dominant, let's do it in Olympics. Let's be the most dominant in NBA. baseball, whatever it may be.

Now, this news just broke. The bus family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of Diversified holding company, TWG Global. This just happened? News just broke.

The bus family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership. How much money did they just get? Is there a number? They must have brought a bank. Jesus Christ, you're talking about billions. We talk about easy. Because I know the one who had transitioned a couple years ago.

He don't walk about that great. Y'all did what? Yeah, yeah. 10 billion. $10 billion. Alleged now. Alleged 10 billion. Is that enough?

That is enough. That's enough. Yeah, that'd get it done. 10 billion, that'd get it done. Gene. Genie. Jeannie. You're never going to see her again.

It's funny because the same shit right doing. That's what Phil Jackson is doing right now. Jeannie! Come back. I'll do the triangle again. Scotty. Scottie. Oh, my God.

10 billion is crazy for majority ownership. Majority on. Jeannie, man, just give me a... Since we didn't have our parade. We can do the five-year anniversary. Thank you. Come on, man. Give me something.

Yeah, that's a crazy, you know, hearing numbers like that is like, you know, you never think that you would, I don't think we've ever seen anything like that. No, I'm. I've never seen it. But what does that mean for the Lakers, though? Like, what do you think that means for, you know, the Los Angeles Lakers? Because now they still, they sold majority ownership. It's not like a sports organization. It's like it's so far beyond that.

All right. Our whole lives we've known the Lakers to be from where. Los Angeles. No, no, no, no. From who? The bus family. There you go, the bus family. We know bus, bust, bust.

They own it. And then it ain't the buses no more. It's just like a, the world is changing, bro. Yeah, that's, that's exactly with that. That's, that's like Steinbrenner not having, or the Steinbrenner's not having anything to do with the Yanke. But that's the only family I could compare that to them. With those type of organizations, $10 billion, this change is, you know, they're not

in the sports orders. They're fucking Walmart. This shifts a lot of. This shifts a lot of things. $10 billion. Yes. What are they about to do to the Lakers? I want it.

Listen. I would be whatever y'all need me to be on the team. Hey. And now. I totally understand why it's not the Staples Center anymore because who shopped at Staples? They can't afford this. No. See, and then they're smart.

Cryptocurrency. Now it's blowing up. Can we Google? Who bought it? A multinational conglomerate holding company found about Mark Walter with interest in financial services, insurance, AI, technology, sports media, entertainment, and energy. So it's one of those companies where you know absolutely nothing of what they do. It's just a bunch of words and they're billionaires. Okay.

A private investment. everything. Oh my God. Anytime you see private investment services with an enterprise value exceeding $40 billion. And they just got, they gave the Lakers $10 billion.

Just that 10 piece. Don't worry about it. Hey, here's 10 billion. We're going to take this company that you had for 30. How long the Lakers were done? Probably 50 years. Oh, yeah.

What can they do with the Lakers now? 70s, I believe. Do y'all think that was a great move? Well, money talks. That'll get it done. In this world. 10 billion dollars. We always bring up AI.

Who knows where AI and sports are going? I know where AI sports is going. Now you own everything that has to do with the Lakers. Where's it going? It ain't going to be no more players. It's going to be all AI. So, why I'm not doing this. No, no, no.

That's really what I was getting that. Now they own the Lakers for AI and all the likeness of every player that was ever on the Lakers. It's over with. Who knows what they just bought for $10 million? It's always. He was following in that deal. Ain't none of what's going to be playing. Everybody's going to be at home looking at VR sets of fake LeBron James.

Now, I do believe the way we'll view basketball games is going to change. Yeah. I can see them doing something where each player has a point of view camera on them. And you can kind of walk and figure out who you want to follow the whole game. That's too damn much. See, they're taking away from the integrity of the sport. But at the same time, it's AI and this is what people want. They always try to stay a step ahead of the game.

So this is a major move. When you see numbers like that, though, Dwight as a player, a young Dwight Howard, let's say he's drafted by the Lakers, amazing first three years. It's time for you to get your extension. Your negotiation now. You negotiate with the Lakers. This deal happens for $10 billion. What does Dwight and his agent sit down and talk about?

I'm going to say, agent, I love you. And refer to him as an agent. You know it's phone. Yeah, agent, I love you. Yeah, agent, I love it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this next deal, I think I'm going to do it on my own. You're not taking 10% of this.

If you get 10% of this, 10 billion, it's up. No. But, I mean, does that change any of the market value for Lakers players, just because that deal happened? There's a salary, yeah. Yeah, I mean, the cap's going to be the cap. The cap's going, yeah. Well, that's the,

The cap is always a cap in this league. Everything is capped. Everything is. I didn't know I mean that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yo, the big three. We can't let you go without talking about this. Now, big three.

They hit the chat the other night. They said, we had Dwight coming in on Wednesday. I'm like, yo, you had Dwight. Man, I hung up with Dwight and Treve a couple nights when they was here in New York. I said, Dwight, cool, man. Then they send because we were supposed to have Lance here earlier today. Yeah. But he missed his flight.

So they was like, yo, any overlap? Like, I said, what happened? So he's seen the clip, I'm like, that's just basketball, man. Yeah, we are. We over there. Yeah, like, it ain't. See, I think before that, they had allowed so much stuff to happen before the game. And I think it had, I was just out of my element.

Okay. And I was pissed off more so at myself after that for allowing, you know, allowing that, allowing that, whole game to even get to that point. Okay. You feel like you played a part in it? Getting to that point? Yeah. Okay.

Because, I mean, one, I didn't know how the game goes in the big three. Okay. So, you know, before the game, everybody's like, yeah, this is a trash talking league. We want you guys to talk trash and all the time. I'm like, okay then, I can talk trash. What else? Yeah. Yeah.

I want you all to, you know, get, it gets way physical. I'm like, Okay, all right. So when we're playing, like certain things was happening. It was a play where Lance had kind of, he got scored on, and then he shoved the ball in Jordan Crawford's chest. Yeah. And so that kind of got Jordan heated.

Yeah. To the next play, you see Jordan taking his finger and going all up at his nose. Yeah. He was searching for boogers and shit. So that happened. Then more in the game, they yelling in our faces. Before the game, they're doing the same thing. So I'm like, man, this is a little bit too much, man.

And so it was the play where me and Lance kind of get into a scuffle. Kind of like pick up his fist out like he's going to throw a punch. So I put my hand up like, hold up. Oh, what the fuck going on? Did he did it again? So I'm like, yo. Yeah. And then at that point, I'm like, I kind of blacked that for a second.

Yeah. Then when I grabbed him and started to pick him up, I'm like, oh, shit, I'm fucking tripping. I'm fucking tripping. I'm fucking tripping. But that's how I thought. I thought, but in the moment, I'm in the moment, so I'm like, oh, shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I also thinking, too, like, by the time they see us really starting to go,

I'm thinking everybody, because I'm like, oh, shit, this is too much. Yeah, they're going to break it up, yeah. Yeah, then it just, I start tripping over shit in the, the floor, the people on the, uh, by the, uh, the basket. Yeah. And then I'm looking at babies and shit. I'm like, man. You too big.

Imagine, I'm seeing the baby like, oh, I'm like, man. Damn, this is a lot. So I'm like, man, damn. But I mean, it's not, but that's just basketball. I think, I think, you know, but I think that's in the chat, I say, man, that's just bad. They didn't throw no punch. Yeah, I'm like, man, first of all,

throwing a punch with, they're so disrespectful. Yeah. And basketball, all these kids and families that's there. Like, that's when it becomes a brawl when you have some kind of situation like that happened. And so I'm glad it didn't escalate. late to that. But I'm glad it did happen too. We kind of got all that extra energy out of the way now for the rest of the season. Everybody can just hoop. Now we saw Michael Beasley and

Lance just played one-on-one last week. How good is Michael Beasley? To me personally, I feel like he probably has the same skill set as a Carmelo Anthony. I don't think he had obviously the professionalism and maybe some other things kind of, you know, hinted his potential in the NBA and what he could have accomplished. But just from a skill set, to me, Michael Beasley is one of the most gifted basketball players I've ever seen. I think he is too. I think, man, it's just timing.

He was in a team and a situation at a time where it wasn't accepting, I guess, with how they felt his behavior was, Miami, whatever. And, you know, once you get kind of a bad rep in the league, and it was really hard to come back from it. And I think he's awesome. I remember meeting, you know, Mike in high school, him in KD at the Top 100 camp. And they had asked me to talk to both of them. And I saw both of them.

I'm like, man, both of these guys got a chance to really be special. I told KD then, I said, man, you can be one of the best scores in the NBA ever. he is absolutely sure bees is just one of the coldest basketball players it's just all about time and an opportunity

I think Miami he was on a team where it was who was on that team man was it Dway Dway yep um it's if you don't have that team if you don't have a team when you come into the league

like Mike deserve to have his own team so his talent is that big yeah that's how good that's how talented he is I just feel like maybe he didn't have, I don't know, I don't know why they did him like that, man. Yeah, he, he, I don't know why. And I think that it can make you depressed.

Oh, yeah. I've had those days and those moments and those times. Of depression? Why does team do that? And it's like, you can't expect me not to make a mistake or fail in certain situations like, you know, one, I'm human. I'm young as hell. You give me all this at 23, 24. What do you expect?

Right. You know what I'm saying? Like, we didn't grow up. I may have, you know, both my parents, but my parents didn't know about millions of dollars. They understand the lifestyle that come with this. And I'm the one that living in it. Mike's the one that's living.

And all these other players, we're living this lifestyle. So it's like, if you're not in it, if you haven't been a part of it's like, how can you understand it? And, you know, for Mike, man, and a lot of guys who'd be depressed and stuff like that, it can be difficult. How do you deal with those moments of having the success that you have and, you know, achieving things that not many people will ever achieve and reaching these heights?

But then also feeling those moments of not being fulfilled, not being motivated. How does Dwight Howard, how does. you navigate those moments in your career? Oh, man. Sometimes I just have to travel. Get away from the States. Okay. Get away from, you know, my normal routine and just, you know, see the world different.

You know, sometimes traveling, you see how people live and, you know, other places. And it's like, man, you know, everybody's out here. And there's one mission for everybody in the whole world. We're just trying to survive until the next day. everybody, no matter where you are at in the world, everybody's just trying to survive. And you see that. And I'm like, man, I done did so much of my younger days

that, you know, I can rest easy knowing that the hard work is, a lot of my hard work behind me. I don't work so hard to build up this life that I have now. I should just be thankful. You know, so when I had those moments, I'm like, man, God, I'm just so thankful for you. I could have been dead. I could have been out in the street.

streets. I could have been doing anything else, but you allowed me to play this one sport for all these years. And it's because of my dedication, my discipline to the sport, to you, and to my faith that I have these things. So, man, thank you. Going overseas is probably one. They're really just getting alone, man. Was that one of the things that played a fact that your decision to go to Taiwan? Was it just wanting to get out of your norm and kind of like find motivation again? Yeah, man. Taiwan was amazing. getting ready to go to Taiwan, people's like, why would you go over there? Taiwan's a third world country. I'm like, how would you know what Taiwan is and you ain't never been in?

Right, right. Like, you don't know what I'm going from going out over there. But if God is telling me to go to Taiwan and he's opening doors, I'm going to go. Right. I go to Taiwan, stay there for eight months, end up getting my own basketball league, getting a gold card, which means I can do business all over Taiwan and my whole family. So it's like I don't set myself up for the few. future by listening to God and taking a step, a leap of faith.

You know what I'm saying? So Taiwan really gave me wings, you know, going overseas, you know, playing basketball again, just obviously NBA and the Taiwanese league is different. Yeah, you know. So little bit. I would say, like, the fans really inspired me while I was there, motivated me to just remember why I played. you know, what drove me back in the day.

And I'm like, man, this is awesome. Seeing 90-year-olds come to the games. Yeah. Ujada! Ujah! I'm like, yo, this is awesome, man. Just to witness this, man. These people coming from different parts of the world.

Yeah. And they know who I am. Like, I'm from college part, Georgia. Yeah. There's somebody all the way in whatever part of Taiwan, This is, don't got no TV screen and they know my name, my family name. They're going to give me anything they can to show me. They love me.

That's an awesome feeling. I was happy to see you, you know, just being yourself and having fun. But I'm going to be honest. When I saw them stats, I said, Dwight got to cut this shit out, man. He over there. I said, why, Dwight? That's a premeditated murder. I'm like, what is Dwight?

It was for funzies. Yeah. Dwight went over and at like 60 and 30. I was like, though, come on. man, get your ass back over here, man. What's the wrong with playing over there like that? No, there's nothing wrong with it, Dwight. But, God, you can't.

You was over there putting numbers. It's just like, yo, come on, man. Stop playing with those people, man. Lead them people alone. Man, I had so much fun. No, I bet you did. I bet you did. I like dunking on my knees, too.

No, the people are taller than me. Man, listen, they could be taller to you, but they ain't never seen nothing like Dwight out in Taiwan. You're right. Exactly. That's not so upset. But. I had so much fun just being able to be outside of, like, it was like, I know you probably

heard people say it before, like, they have a person, then they have another personality. Yeah. So, DH12, that's the basketball player. Yeah. Now I got a chance to be Dwight Howard over there. Yeah. Get out, just walk. Okay.

You know what I'm saying? Just go to the park and just sit. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like little stuff like that. Human experiences. Yeah. The greatest human, though, these are experiences like in America sometimes it's

to be hard because it's an expectation. I go out. Hey, Camille. Yeah. Let me take a picture. Yeah, you will talk to my cousin. Yeah. You know, when I'm over there, they just, who I do.

I love you. Yeah. And did they just let me, you know, go about my day? Now, obviously they want pictures and stuff. But sometimes they see me like, oh, he just, they go to Dwight. And that felt really good. Yeah. That's dope.

I mean, I think you need those moments. Even Steph talked about his experience in China that was similar as well. So, yeah, I think that's great. That's where Steph was, right, China? Yeah. Stepping all over. Yeah. But, no, we really appreciate you, man.

This was great. Thank you for coming through. Yeah, Dwight, it was, I mean, we, again, you know, I was around you and Trev some nights when y'all was here. We hit the club a little bit. But I was telling the guys, I'll give one thing about Dwight, what you see on TV when he's speaking. he's the same person, like, on and off the floor.

Like, he just has this energy and spirit about him. That's just very welcoming, very, you know, no ego. And you have all right to have ego. You're larger than life figure, done some great things in the NBA. But always, even from when you came in, had the same spirit in. And you're very humble, the way you carry yourself, very professional. I think that in that played a lot in the success that you had in the NBA as well. So thank you for coming through.

appreciate you. Thanks for having. Yeah, man. Call Jeannie, man. Get some of that 10 bill, man. Geney, man. Come on. We ain't get no. Listen.

We didn't get no parade. They're calling it a bubble ring. A couple hundred thousand, a couple hundred million to let everybody know that the bubbles is real. What's up, Jenny? Come on, Jenny. Stop playing. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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