The Ringer NBA Show - Bubble Basketball, LeBron vs. Kawhi, Duncan vs. AD, and More With Danny Green | Real Ones

Episode Date: October 26, 2020

Logan and Raja are joined by three-time NBA champion Danny Green to talk about what it was like to play and win in the bubble, playing with LeBron and Kawhi, when the next NBA season should start, and much more. Tap in. Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Danny Green Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is popping? This is Logan Murdoch with the real ones. We got the mad rapper, Raja Bell. Tell them why you're mad, son. Put it in the chat, son. Put it in the chat. But it's not just me and Raja today.

We have a special guest. I believe this is our first guest. World champion. Listen, I know Danny Green. Danny Green and I have this thing going on. Like, my wife is from Long Island. So, like, Danny Green was like a really good high school player. And I'd be in those gyms in Long Island.

and like Danny Green was all to talk and I was in the NBA and I knew of him and so like he heard I was kind of fanning out. Yeah, it was like it's interesting but I'm a big fan of his is because his game is the prototypical 3 and D dude. Like I see a lot of similarity between like things that I put stock in and what he put stocks in.

So I'm excited to get the rap to him. Yeah, I think it was a great time. Apparently you're a legend at the LA Fitnesses. It's the only place I'm a legend, bro. L.A. fitness, I'm a legend. legend i i didn't i didn't realize these things but actually we have a before we get to danny we have actually some news oh some news oh interesting wait what what voice what voice was that you just wanted this is the this is the curator of vibes voice okay i'm just taking your vibe um the clippers

have formerly interviewed chauncey billips for the spot on tyloos coaching staff which is hilarious because you were supposed, I thought, because in the, in the nets, you were, I feel like you were supposed to be an assistant and they gave that to somebody else. They gave it to Amari Stademeyer. Amari's very deserving, bro. Like, Amari's gonna do a great job there.

Okay. There ain't no mad rapper because, you know, like the gang's all getting back together and you all the way in Florida. You know what I'm saying? They FaceTime with you from Brooklyn and you're not even there. I'm good, I'm good, man.

I will be there in spirit, put it that way. And not for nothing, no bullshit. Chauncey's been linked to some jobs in the past. And while I think he could probably come right out and do a great job, I do think there's a lot of value in getting real experience. And Tyloo is a really good coach. And I know he's going to be trying to get Chauncey caught up to speed as quick as possible because there's some real value and have an experience when you do take your first job.

For sure. Also reported in that this is Mark Stein in New York Times. Kenny Atkinson is also in the running. and also Dan Craig is also in the running for to join Tailu staff. But forget all that. Let's get to Danny Green. It was a really, really great conversation. More than fanning out on Rajabelle, we talked about a lot of dope stuff.

Talked about Kauai. We talked about LeBron. Talked about the mental health in the bubble, which is a really, really important subject. And we talked about a lot of other things, man. So tap into the real ones, man. Tell them why you mad and put it in the chat. Tap in the chat. We hear.

Yo, what's good. Real Ones. Logan Murdoch. Roger, we have a special guest in the Real Ones podcast. Real special guest. Three-time champion. One-time bubble champ. Back-to-back. Back-to-back champ. Danny Green. What's popping, bro? What's up with it, man? Appreciate y'all having me on, man. I've been lucky. I've been very lucky, man. Be part of some great team. So I'm just glad to be out of the bubble, be honest with you. No, I see that. So that was, that's one thing. How do you celebrate a chip during all this time right now? It's, it's, you want a back-to-back titles, but it's a different, it's a global pandemic. How are you, what are your range of emotions right now? Like, are you celebrating more about getting out of the bubble or winning a chip?

Like, what has been the last few days, weeks been like for you? I think for me, it's been more of celebrating being out of the bubble. And I think I appreciate the fact that I'm in a pandemic because the party in, I'm not a big partier, but the partying has been cool when we do it, but it's not overcrowed and it's not too much. I said it's a gift and a blessing to be a part of other ones. But having to do it back to back, it's as long seasons, mentally, emotionally. You know, I've been able to experience celebration during, you know, some regular years. So I know what it's like.

I was excited for the guys that experience the beginning of their first. first title. For me, I was happy to get out of bubble and I'm good to be home. I'm glad we're able to celebrate a little bit here and there. We don't have to do anything crazy. Most of our obligations are virtual. So yeah, man, I'm just enjoying my, to relax at my house in L.A. What was the biggest difference for you? What was the biggest difference for you? What was the biggest difference for you in this celebration versus the next celebration? Or the other ones? in San Antonio and in Toronto. What was the biggest difference in this one for you?

Well, I always, each championship has gotten harder, but I think this one wasn't too much different than how we did in Toronto. Because we went in San Antonio, obviously we weren't in a pandemic. We were at home. So when you're at home, everybody goes with their families

and dispersed throughout the city at different places. In Toronto, we were on the road, so we kind of had to do a celebration together at a restaurant, kind of similar to this one. So it was our group, our organization. They put something together for us to celebrate as a team, which I liked and enjoyed more. Not saying I didn't enjoy San Antonio, but everybody went separate ways.

So we didn't really celebrate as a group, but on the road, you have no choice. The city shut down in the bay. Nobody's really open and stuff, especially nobody's going to celebrate you if you go out in the other opposing team city. So the bubble experience is similar to that in that sense. But, yeah, it was different because I said a lot of coaches, and they had a chance to see or have anybody.

in the bubble for them the whole time duration. And we had some people outside bubble experience so they had to stay in the arena and watch the games but from a higher up level. And once you win, the bubble's pretty much bursted. So they're able to now come down

and see the family. So coaches guys and see their daughters and wives and kids for the first time in winning and celebrating with them as well, which is pretty cool. But yeah, so I would say it's similar to winning on the road. There wasn't a bunch of options to do.

but they put it, the NBA did a great, great job of putting together something for us, the main restaurant that everybody ate at. So it was cool, man. We had to pack up and we had to, you know, for much pack up a whole room that we've been living in for three months and leave the next day. Yeah, I was, I was going to ask, like, how quickly did you guys have to exit the bubble? But let me pivot on that, though.

Let me, the bubble itself, Danny. Like, there have been a lot of, you know, accounts of it being, you know, tougher than people would give it credit for being from the outside looking in. aside from being away from your family, like what were some of the challenges about being in the bubble, like that you could speak to that you're excited to be out of the bubble for?

Well, yeah, so back to you. First question was we knew beforehand that most teams that had lost, had to leave the next day by noon or something like that. So even though we made it to the finals, people probably, we started packing up as soon as we got there, because we were to lose.

we knew we were leaving in about two weeks. So luckily we got people packing up beforehand. We had to leave the next day by noon. But the challenges, man, of being in a boat that nobody really had a chance to understand or see, outside of the physical plane every other day that I'm relieved to having. It's just, let's say, being in the same space over and over,

same restaurants do the same thing. It's kind of like a ground out day. Like a 48-hour ground-hug day. I use that same analogy. But let's say just having to, not have the escape that you want, the escapes, but you don't have very few options. And during this time in a pandemic,

there was a time we were the only sport playing. So you can't, you have no escape when you're in the bubble, but to see basketball on TV, social media, and everybody, you know, put an extra emotion and extra emphasis harping on every little move, mistake, play. So getting out of the bubble and being away from social media for a while, being away from the sport for a while, being away from my dogs.

I didn't really calculate that when I was leaving of how long I was going to be away from them and how much that void was going to be tough for me to fill being there because I'm not having kids yet, but we're working on it. So yeah, just the small detail, small little things not having, we had, the people say the food was bad. The food wasn't bad.

The food was pretty good. It was just a presentation of some of them, but it was the same thing every night. It was like, you know, even though it's unhealthy for us, you miss a Chick-fil-A. We miss in and out or, you know, Chipotle. We don't have those options. It was like steak, fish and, you know, some vegan protein, some different type of every night. It was the same, no good meal.

So it was a standard menu, like you had three options every night and that's kind of what you had to pick from, like if you were at a wedding or something? Yeah, I mean, it wasn't like, it was different. They give you different variations each day. It was like, all right, we're going to have different options of steak, different options of fish. some mashed potatoes. They give you all the protein, all the stuff that you need. We give you different types of options of greens,

but it's the same thing, you know, that we didn't have options to go, like to set out of the outside restaurants. We had great breakfast, great food, but it's every day like, some steak or some pasta or some fish, and it wasn't like we didn't get a chance

to get some sushi. We didn't a chance to get, even though it said the unhealthy foods, but we're used to be able to have that option to go to a place of fast food or somewhere different. instead of having to sit down every night or order room service and have the same type of option. So, you know, those small things are challenging.

But, you know, we got through it. It was all worth it. I'm happy to be out. And, you know, we're celebrating our championship by just being home. Yeah, I can dig that, though. There's no place like home. One more, Logan, because I'm really interested in, like, I saw some pictures coming out early about cats, you know, fishing in Orlando. I live in the Miami area.

We're in Orlando a lot. We play in those, you know, those ESP. in those facilities with our youth teams, you know? So I know the setup a little bit. What were guys, like, what did the Lakers do to pass the time in the bubble? Like, I know J.R., I spent some time with him. He's a golf enthusiast. Like, do you golf?

Like, what were you guys getting into? I'm not a big golfer, man. And I'm not a big fisher. But a lot of those activities that they had for us, the guys did that early in the bubble experience, like the first two weeks before we started playing. And once you get to playoffs, guys, every the day we're playing every the day.

And nobody's really, unless you're one of the guys that knows your rotation and you're not going to be playing much, then you can be, all right, I'm going to still golf, I'm going to still do this. But if you know you're playing, you're going to get off your feet and relax. But I said there was fishing, there was golf. They had arcade, but I don't think about you used it. Obviously, you can get, you know, pedicure, manicure,

haircuts, have those essential things there. Most guys, a lot of guys on our team did golf. We had guys have a little Madden tournament that play video games. I'm not a gamer, I'm not a golfer, but, you know, I was a guy that I'm a big binge watcher, TV shows, TV series, movies, that type of deal. So it really got to me because I thought there might have been a theater or an option to be able to watch new movies in there.

But there wasn't a theater in there. So all the new movies that came out, which weren't many of them, like Tenet or something else, I didn't have a chance to see and I'm still waiting to see them. So my duration, I started trying to pick up a Spanish class, which I haven't been back in like two weeks. So I have to start. I think tonight, I'll get back to my professor. I had a professor.

So we did a Zoom call like this, and I was trying to learn another language. So Spanish was the language I wanted to learn. So I picked up a Spanish class. I was doing my pod. The pod didn't take a lot of time. It was like an hour between, you know, each series. But outside of that, I didn't really do much but watch shows, stretch, take care of the body, kick it with my team. And, you know, just every other day, get ready for practice or a game.

It was, you know, same two days. Yeah. It seems like you were, were you in the room a lot more than more other people? Because that seemed like all the activities you say you wanted to do. do require just being in the room because you binge watching, you're doing that on television, where you, did you get a little cabin fever a little bit? A little bit, but I was in the room that much. Luckily said, the family, the family came, things made it easier.

But I was a type of guy just like, you know, Dwight and a bunch of others. Some guys on our team didn't leave the room much. But I always went to a restaurant to breakfast. I interacted with the workers and talked to. We, being there for so many days, we all knew the workers. They knew us very well. They knew our orders. Anytime with all you want you usual, they knew everybody's orders.

but you can walk around campus. I would walk around sometimes, you know, just stroll or be outside, get some fresh hair. So, yeah, it wasn't like I was just in the room the whole time. I just didn't indulge in, you know, the fishing or the golf. I'm not a golfer. They had like a driving range, top golf, I would do that.

But golfing itself, that's not for me. 18's too much, huh? I hear you. I'm not in patience, man. You go on to breakfast every morning. Did you frequent Jimmy B's coffee shop? Did it have to stop if once y'all got to the finals? How did that work?

No, I didn't. I didn't do the Jimmy coffee shot, the $20 coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker either, but if I was, I would have stopped by and checked it out. But I think it was their floor, their team type of deal. You see some of the guys with the coffee, you know, walking around. And they would, before we play them in the finals, they would be in the lobby, you know, after every series or game, celebrating or drinking a beer and maybe kick it. That was their kind of escape.

Their coach and staff would be there listening to music. They also had a 16th floor for us for a players lounge where we had our own. space where guys can, you know, play pool, ping pong video games. They had like a balcony up there to get fresh air. But, you know, I didn't do the coffee stop. How was it in the finals when you got to, when you're playing a team, usually like, I know last year, because I covered the Warriors last year. And you guys, you don't see each other after a game like that, like in those,

in those close proximity. So after they beat you, you got to see them in the lobby. and not partying, but you know, they're having a little vibe. How was that for you? That was a strange part of the bubble, man. I'm not going to lie to you. Even when we were playing Denver there, because the hotel, the resort, and what they build is made up of meeting rooms, food rooms,

so we all had our own separate food rooms throughout this back area. Yeah. I would say, unfortunately, but ironically, the two closest teams to us in the bubble was Denver and Miami, the last two teams we played. So our eating room is right here. Denver's right across the hall. And we were with them on the elevator all the time,

taking the same bus as Miami's right here. It's strange. You know, so fraternity, we respect each other, and we're also going through social justice stuff. So we have meetings and want to talk and be on the same page.

But during the time, we're a competitive mode and don't want to be interacting with them. But we have no choice because we're seeing it all the time. Their food room. So, like, if it was a clipper's or somebody, their room was all way down there. Boston was all the way down at the end.

How do you not throw sheds? How do you not talk, like, do you like, was there beef? Yes. No, no real beef, man, but there was, you know, some slight, I mean, some awkwardness of trying to avoid them, not trying to talk to them, but there's also the people that you knew, there was some slight little, you know, shit talking that we would, would say, you know, but it would be jokingly, you know what I'm saying? Okay.

Yeah. Jamal fucking hit his jumper or shimmy on us, and I have to see him in an elevator, and I'm like, you know, fuck you, small, you know, that's like that, you know, that's like that I keep it knew it, but, you know, it was nothing crazy, so we all respected at each other. There's not many, you know, dudes in the league that are, you know, wild, crazy and taking it that serious to that competitive level, only on the court. Some guys are very passionate about it.

But off the court, they said everybody. And you can see even when Utah and Denver went through that amazing series, they saw each a little time. And you see them actually have interaction and talking to you. So you see Donovan, Jamal, they see videos. But, I mean, outside of the videos, even the last game before they exit, they're, like, seeing each other everywhere. That's great.

And shout out to those teams. Those teams are great, man. Those guys are great guys. Denver was amazing. Miami, too, a lot of the guys I know on that team, the competitors, but I didn't get a chance to shake everyone's hand after the game. Understandable because they just want to get out of there. But, you know, UD, shut their right's hand. I think of chance to see, well, Coach Bow,

Spam is my guy, had a hell of a year. Some of those guys that played great, man, and setting a chance to actually congratulate New York because they had a hell of a year. They went way above and beyond the expectations that people had for them. In terms of just being in the bubble, and I know that we, what I kept seeing from the reaction from fans and like people outside the bubble, it seemed like they were reacting to you guys with the head based on like normal circumstances, right?

Like if you miss a shot, they're like, what's going on, right? What's going on? But we're thinking like it's normal times, right, in the lens that we look at this game and we not knowing what's going on in your life and in your bubble and what you're going through. How does it feel for you for people to just, go like, what the hell is going on with Danny Green and all the stuff? And like, bro, like, you're in a bubble for, you're confined for three months. How was that for you to get a reaction like that when we don't know exactly what's going

on with you when you know what's going on? How does that feel? Nobody knows what guys are going through. Even in normal life, people still have kids, people still have families, people have people that pass away, people have, you know, dogs, situations. They're planning a wedding or, you know what I'm saying? Or getting married or going through. through, who knows, it might be happy things, bad things,

but people, they look at us, they don't look at us as human beings as many times. You know what I'm saying? They look at us as athletes. So regardless in the bubble or not, you know, we're looked to perform. So I'm used to it. You know, I've been in his league long enough to know,

and I've been in L.A. for a good enough time before the bubble, to be used to that criticism. So it does naturally, you know you're going to see it. So part of it's going to get to you, to me is that I've been in this league long enough to understand. And, you know, people are like, even still, after we won, people were like, oh, you did this is,

yeah we won you know what you know me even even if i you know me and i play my best and we won i think we're pretty damn good we still come oh you failed how do you call a championship of failure you know right you know people are going to say with it there's just some you know human nature fans are just very emotional um they take the game you know very serious and so they see us as performers and if we're not performing the way we're supposed to then we're supposed to apologize for it no i don't i don't owe you apology whether i play shitty or not you're not my boss coach and i'm not gonna apologize for missing shots. I'm not going to apologize. You know, I'll apologize to my teammates for missed mistakes. I'm saying? That's missed assignments if I messed up a play or

defensively don't make a rotation. But no, I don't owe you anything. You know what I'm saying? Right. Mind you. So you don't know I'd do it in who I am. You know, a lot of them said fake people behind fake pages, you know, just typing on a keyboard and saying a little two cents. So, I mean, it's easy for me. You didn't through it. Luckily, I've been through most of my career with social media, probably half of my career. So first five or six years I didn't have a big abundance of it, but the last six years. So I'm used to it. We had it in San Antonio, we had in Toronto. So I know how to block out the noise.

I know how to just ignore or block people's pages. Let's say being in LA, I'm kind of conditioned to it. But it's just that I understood it. I understand it. It's human nature. They don't care about circumstances. They want to see good basketball. And that's my job to perform.

And that's the body pays the big bucks. We able to take that. And not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, we'll handle that. Were you, were you, were you, I know you've been in a league a long time. Me and Roger talked about this all the time. I'm just like basically fans being stupid.

But were you prepared for the stuff after game five, even knowing what you were going through? Even know that you know what it was. You know the job. But like, were you prepared already? I knew what time it was as soon as I missed the shot. But at the same time, normally the old me, I would have been in a way more crushed and affected by it.

So because of the fact that that game, outside of that shot, I thought I played pretty decently. It wasn't like a shot terribly. You know, I was playing well. We were down most of the game. I felt like we made a lot of mistakes previous to that shot for us to lose a game. I don't think we deserved it when that game.

Miami played a great game. We didn't. And it should never come down to the last shot. We know that as players. We know that, especially if you were a championship team, especially if we know how good we are, essentially what we're capable of. It should never came down to that.

But it did. And I had opportunity. And I would have loved to have that opportunity again. You'll see what I'm saying, be the hero and all those. But as soon as I miss it, I know people were going to say, but I didn't go home thinking I lost the game for my team. You know what I didn't go home thinking? I was just like, damn, I had a shot, I had a chance.

And it sucked, but I already know the game's going to be blamed on me with one shot. Regardless of all the 100 points before that, 106 points or whatever we gave up to them, 11 points before that, you know, they're going to knock, they're going to look at this one incident, which is, you know, human nature. as a normal regular fan that don't understand the game, you get that. But I went home,

I was not, my confidence was, I was like, damn, you know, I just, I wish I, I know I, wish I slowed myself down

in that time, took my time because I had more time, but I just knew, so, right, I was like, you know,

I'll get that shot again. And I knew, so we were up three, two still, they were celebrating, and, you know, their fans, their wives and girlfriends

were talking to our wives and supposed to it's right here. Oh, all in the lobby. I just heard it was a little bucking going on, about a bus is whatever, but you know, it is what it is. You know, we were still up three, two,

and I knew it was going to be very tough for them to beat us three times in a row. And I knew us, we had, our goal was over to never lose two games in a row. We always bounce back, you know, fine. But as badly as we played, we still had a chance to win. And I know we wouldn't play that bad again. We'll make the adjustments.

Obviously, a lot of fire on us, but we needed that. You know, we thought, oh, just, you know, we got them up 3-1. This is still a good team. You know, we just thought because we're wearing mama jerseys is going to happen, know, just because it's game. No, this team ain't going.

They're not just going to let you, they're not going to roll over and die. And it's not going to just happen because you expect it to happen and you think it's going to happen. Just like, we're game five for us in Toronto. We had everybody come out. So pre-celebrating the win before we even got the win.

You know, you have everybody in the city come out, everybody from other cities come out. And we lost. We're, you know, 3-1. We're in Toronto. We lose at home. Got to go on the road. Now we refocused.

But you need that sometimes to wake your ass up. You know, job's not done. Don't look at the end of the, Don't look at the light of the tunnel. Oh, we're getting out of the bubble already. People are already, you know, packing predeterminate. Y'all already see LA. Yeah, we got a job to do first.

So, Nat, let's refocus and play a way better game in game six, you know, than we did in game five. Hey, let me ask you real quick about LeBron, specific to, like, the moment you guys were just referencing, right? Like, you know, I played with some great players, too, like, you know, Steve Nash and Alan Iverson and guys like that. And, you know, every player, Danny, misses a shot, you know, you line it up. You shoot it. Sometimes it goes in. Sometimes it doesn't. But the great ones, you know, always find some time in the night to kind of let you off the hook. If you're a guy like yourself or like I was, they kind of maybe would beat yourself up a little bit because you felt like you might have let someone down. What's his leadership style like? Like you were with him early in his career in Cleveland. And now you're with him, you know, at this point. Like has it changed at all? What did he do for you specifically that night? Like what was the behind the scenes like for you with your teammates and the leadership on the Lakers? For sure. I think people don't get that we're our biggest critics. So there's nobody that's going to be as hard on me as I'm on me.

You know, so we're hard on ourselves. All that outside noise and the criticisms you give me, please. Like, that is, that's nothing. We're going to watch film. We're going to look at it. Most times, Brian has been, and I would say, Brian, R.P., Coach Vogel, all my teammates have been amazing throughout the year. But Brian has gotten so much better from my rookie year to now.

I was, damn it, 10 years ago. He understands the details. His memory is unreal. I think that's what makes him an unbelievable player when the greatest old time. And that's why he's a high IQ guy. But he just remembers every play. He remembers every person.

He remembers everybody's everything about every situation. And that could be even off the court. Or remember we were in Utah. We went here to eat dinner. You know, his memory is just unbelievable. Remember your family members. So even through the process, he remembers every situation. He's all, remember we were playing so-and-so, and you did this.

You know, they had the same faith and encouragement. But regardless of how good shooting night or a bat shooting night, he was still encouraging me, still called me, I have not lost any faith in you're any conference. I know you're still my shooter. What's up, shooter? Every morning, you know, let it fly. Yeah, I'll be ready, locked and loaded.

Like, talking to me, KCP, and everybody else around them. So, but that night in particular, I think they were just frustrated to talk about things. And I think one wasn't worried, but it was more of a refocus. I was like, you know, we need to do this moment. The mistakes are more glaring and a loss. When you win, you just kind of, you know what I'm saying?

So we needed that. I think even games before that, we, you know, one three one, we're three one, but there was some games, at least one game that we didn't play well and we won. It was easy to just scrap it because we want, but we needed that loss to refocus and see what adjustments we need to make better to beat this team. But that night in particular, I think most guys were kind of giving me space,

but next day they saw what stuff. Everybody texts me like, yeah, let's finish this. We're going to do this. We're going to do this. We already know you're going to hit six or seven one of these games, seven or eight. You know, that was every game. I can feel it. You're going to have six or seven or night.

And I'm like, yeah, man, maybe whatever. As long as I get one or two, two or three is cool. I may not even get six or seven attempts. I mean, it happened. But as long as I do my job defensively, that's all that matters to me. Offensively space the floor for you guys run.

And I'm like, you know, our best offense is up our pace. You know, I have half card offenses. Not really, but I think the biggest change for us, obviously we hit some shots. KCP has some shots. You know, Alex Cruz or brought energy defensively. But we see AD do what he does.

That is a force that makes us unbeatable. When he's catching that ball on the block and not, you know, off the block, getting five or six offensive rebounds because they're smaller. Teams are going smaller. We take advantage of our size. Then it's like, there's nothing y'all can do because we're fast too.

And we can guard, switch them down the line. And we can have guard, guard your guards one-on-one. So you're not going to just beat him to the rim. But when he's offensively, that force on the block, on the paint,

or that pressure on the rim, there's no stop. Regardless of how bad we're shooting. You know, AD, Brian's always doing his thing. He's going to lead in charge with his pace and, you know, that freight train downhill. When AD is on that block,

getting to the free line and putting pressure on the opposite glass, blocking shots, of course, but making them, you know, forcing that double team, which they can't even guard them with the double team. You know, some of those guys getting in foul trouble, so we're an unstoppable force. That's what's up. I want to ask Danny real quick, because you talked about a guy telling you you get six or seven looks, but you know you might not even get six or seven looks, let alone make six or seven shots.

Yeah. You know, the casual fan watches and they see an NBA player who has a role on a team. And to some degree, like, they don't understand who you are as a total basketball player. Could you talk about, like, you know, you're from the Long Island area. I spent a lot of time in Long Island, so I'm... Yeah, no, you were at the L.A. Fitnesses, man, that's all they talked about, man. But Raja, I was here when I was a kid. You know, Rajah was here, he was always at every L.A. fitness that I walked out.

That's what sucks. That's what's up. So, but you were, you know, a hell of a high school player, a hell of a college player, well-rounded games, more probably responsibility for all. overall offense. Talk about the transition. When did you realize when you got in the NBA that you may have to streamline? Because like real talk, you know, some guys never realized that and they don't ever really have the opportunity to play on great teams because they're not willing to give up something for, you know, the cause. And that's a great question, man, because I think it'll shed

light to some of the fans that don't really understand the game. But, you know, obviously everyone's a man on their high school team. And most guys in this league are the man on their college team. Luckily for me, I say luckily, but it was really not that lucky, that I wasn't the man. on my college team. And my high school team, I had a lot of D-1 players. But in college, I had to figure it out.

So it was easy for me to adapt to a role. When you're a role player in college, I came up with a bench, most of my college career. I didn't start to my senior year. So I understood what I came with the bench. I was not the first, I was like the fifth option behind me.

We had Tyler Hansborough. We had Tyler, we had Ty Lawson. We had, you know, Wayne Ellington, we had Dion Thompson. And we was all back then, it was post. We had true big man offense,

be in the post. Then you get shots. And the shots on the outside. I wasn't saying, Wayne, Ty. So adjusting to that, it made it easy for me in the league. And obviously, being with Pop and San Antonio, they let you know your role. It wasn't like, oh, this is what you're going to do,

and it's just how you're going to be successful. And obviously, they let you thrive in that role and be very successful. They know how to make everyone and also get the best out of you. But you said, what people who don't understand is they don't look at you as a role player. They look at you as a contract. So regardless of what your role is, they say, oh, we're paying us, got all this money. you need to be doing this. Right.

When I'm not this, you're asking me just because you're saying, you're supposed to be an all-star, you're supposed to be putting up these numbers. No, oh, well, Kuh is supposed to be this guy because he's, no, that's not his role here. You know what I'm saying? Obviously, we love for him to score basketball. We have so many different guys that can score baskets in depth any given night.

But that's not his role. You're asking a guy to do something that's not what our team is looking them to do. So my role is to play defense. And I said, sometimes I'll get looks. Some games I might not get to look until, you know, the second half. You know, you might get five or six looks.

Sometimes you might get 13 looks. You never know. It's different on a basis, but I'm not a guy that they run the offense through. Kuhl's not a guy that they run offense through. We're not running plays for us like that, for us to be like, oh, you guys need to be having 15, 20. It's not how it goes.

You know, our job is play defense. Complement the guys that are the stars, you know, Brona A.D. Figure out, obviously, we can do a better job. And it takes sometimes a year to adjust to that to learn their spots, how to make it easy for them, you know, also your spots within the offense around them. like, all right, he's going to post.

I know how to rotate around. I know not to do this with AD because he's not comfortable with that. I don't want to bring a double team. So those small details are what fans don't understand. So they just see you as a call. You're making this money. You play this many minutes. You're not doing this.

Well, I'm also not a guy running opposite through him not getting that many shots. But you try to find a way to be efficient in those shots around the guys. So next year is finding your rhythm, finding, you know, building rhythm and chemistry with those guys, the all-stars, and find the best way to attack and be efficient. also you find ways to get more looks or better looks with them and vice versa they find ways to get you involved but you have more of a rhythm,

more of understanding of how to play around them and, you know, do your job. Defensively, obviously bring it every night, but offensively give them the space they need and knock down shots when they need and hopefully be there in the spot that they are used to throwing to or where they need you to be. So that's all of a lot of things that people don't understand

behind the scenes that you have to calculate and figure out and understand. And the game's moving so fast that, your switch has to be very quick of knowing personnel, who you're closing out to, who you're going to, who has got the ball. Oh, should Ron's got the ball? I'm able to be over here.

I can cut this way or I can go over this way. If you got the ball, I'm just going to stretch over here to give me an easy outlet. So you have to have, you know, that type of quick mindset that people just thinks it happens easily and you're supposed to just score a bunch of points because of a contract, they don't look at you as a role player. But, yeah, I was able to adjust and adapt to that

because of San Antonio, obviously, Carolina. And it just made me easy. And just embrace it. You know, you can still be very successful making a lot of money and they're doing that. But obviously, people with expectations are going to be high regardless because they expect me because you win so much. And because contracts and contracts are gone off for everybody, they expect you to, you know, do more and be more. And we want you to be an all-star. And, Dan, I do want to talk about the evolution of your role.

Also your evolution of your role alongside LeBron. Like, you came, you've seen him in a lot of different stages of his career. I mean, your first year was, if not mistaken, was a decision year. What was that like being on the team and trying to scrap and stay on while there's so much uncertainty around that team on his last year in Cleveland? I mean, I was just a rookie, man, so I didn't know about the uncertainty and stuff. I didn't really know. And we didn't have social media to the units to hear about it, see it every day like that. It wasn't Instagram back then or Twitter at the time.

So you hear some things, but I wasn't focused on any of that. I mean, I was just excited to be there, to be honest. Yeah. As a rookie, I was happy to be an NBA. I was second round pick. I wasn't sure if I was only good opportunity to play or be there. So I was happy to be there. I was just a sponge.

So everything that you hear on certainty, I didn't care. I was just like, y'all'm playing with LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neill, some other greats. And I just learned every day from them in practice, just how they operate off the court. I always had to bring the donuts and everything else. But, you know, I just was working on my game every day, lifting weights, almost every opportunity I got to get stronger,

get faster, work on my ball handling, work on my shooting. so my opportunity came. But I did want to get to the what's the name thing because Rajah brought up the whole Timmy AD thing. I'm still, I'm getting stuff for that. I'm getting stuff for that too as well.

People are like, oh, I can't believe you could compare AD to Timmy. Like, what? I'm not saying he was better than Timmy, you know what I'm saying? I was just saying there's a lot of similarities. I would say, skill-wise. That doesn't mean he has a better career. You know what I just thought, you know,

AD right now as a far, I mean, I'd say far ahead. He's a little ahead of this. I think he can handle the ball a little better than Timmy. You know, I think he's a skill set. That doesn't mean it's a better career or is better than Timmy. But, you know, fans that take certain things, they blow it out the water and say,

oh, I can't believe you're disrespectful. Let's say I didn't believe these things anyway. What do you expect me to say about my teammate? Nah, it is trash. I think Timmy, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm not going to say that. I'm not saying that's what I believe, but what do you expect me to say,

I'm going to talk my teammates up, you know, they're my brothers. Sure. But this is, I'm going to give you the truth. I'm going to give you true of that. And I said, I love Timmy. Timmy's my brother too. And Timmy might probably would agree with that.

You know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, he's probably, that kid's talented. Timmy gives people, he's not impressed by a lot of people, but he'll give people their dude, he'll give him their credit. So he'll be like, you know, Steph Curry, this is before step. Look, that kid's talented. He's got some good stuff with him. And AD, he probably knows he's very talented.

But I don't mean he has the same IQ, the same drive of mindset as Timmy does or the same act. Like, Timmy was unbelievable with that. And, you know, some of these guys are learning that. but, yeah, AD and Timmy is the comparison because of how long they are defensive, great defensive players and what they do on that block. Instead, just versatile, Timmy wasn't as versatile.

That's why they both give the comparisons. But the AD, I think, could be, but he has a ways to go, you know, to get to that level. Timmy, obviously, the greatest of all time at his position. So, but I'm looking forward to seeing AD try to get there and comps that. And I'm saying, I'm lucky to be a part of his team and his process of that.

And hopefully we continue to keep winning games and hopefully another championship before, you know, it's all setting done. Hey, do those two, like, you know, I know Timmy, I grew up with them in the Virgin Islands so that it was about 13, but I don't know AD. Like what personality-wise, like you just kind of drew some comparisons to their games. You know, I think Timmy, all of those bigs were raised in a day and an age where they didn't put the emphasis on teaching them those guard skills. So I tend to agree with you that AD's just, you know, got more of a skill set, like perimeter-wise

and stuff, is a different game. But as people, as leaders, as voice. like in the locker room? Are they, you know, I know Timmy's kind of reserved. We'll speak when he needs to, funny guy, but doesn't let everybody into that. Who's AD? Yeah, well, I think Timmy, people just think Timmy's reserve.

He is, but he speaks out. He's not a quiet guy, but he's just known to be a quiet guy. He just don't talk to us. Yeah, exactly. He don't care to talk to y' out. He talks to his teammates. He knows what he needs from them. And he's one of the greatest teams,

probably the greatest team, obviously him and Bronner, right there. Greatest teams all the time. They're constantly talking to us, encouraging us and you know timmy treated us like we were the greatest power for the old time and he was the role player you know what I'm saying that's just how he was um but AD I think because AD is the young and he's he uses his voice and speaks up a little bit but because he's a younger guy in our locker room is hard to compare him to him saying because Timmy was old when I was there

he's always older guy and he didn't have to like AD's still learning from us I got you Timmy wasn't learning from us. Timmy was teaching us and letting us know I was one of the younger guys in that locker room there at a time. So AD said that he's under somewhere. Timmy wasn't under anybody's wing. Everybody that was there was under Timmy's wing. Even though Tony became Tony Mono became monom,

they still were there after him. You know, AD is kind of under bronze wing learning from him under Rondo, all the Kentucky guys, the Marcus cousin, even though he wasn't playing for us. Those guys had a relationship, he learned from all of us, guys that have been in league longer than him. That's interesting.

One of the younger guys on our team who's only been in the league, what, seven, eight years maybe? I don't know. We have a team full of guys that have been in the league, you know, 10 plus years. Dwight had 16 years. Javelle 13 years. 13 years. There's so many vets. So, and obviously he respects us.

That doesn't mean that he doesn't speak up and let us know what he needs, what he wants. He will. He'll let us know, yo, he's more talkative. He's more goofy and have more fun. And Timmy has a lot, you know, Timmy wouldn't say he wasn't. Timmy was serious,

but he did have fun, but, you know, I obviously, A.D. Brown have a special relationship. They have a lot of fun together, but it's harder for him to speak out the way he wants to speak out

when everybody's older than him. You know what I'm saying? We all been here and not just older than him. A lot of these guys have accomplished championships before. You know, Javelle had to, even Quinn Cook got, you know,

one in the Golden State or won in Golden State. I already had one before. Doe has had one before. You know what I'm saying? DeMarcus had been final. A lot of guys have been the finals. A.

New Orleans where, unfortunately, he was able to get past, you know, first, or first second round, you know, so I said it was, I wouldn't say harder, but it's just naturally he's going to fall into the, you know, listen to the groups, see what's up, see what, we all kind of respect each other and listen to each other's ideas because we're all in the same kind of respect, level, or playing field in terms of that of IQ and being there. But so with Timmy, we were just so far behind him, everybody was so far behind him, except for, you know, Manu and Tony, everybody else underneath him, and we just had to follow suit, especially Pop. Pop was pretty much the

guy that we, Tim, you followed Pop, we followed, Tim, we followed, Pop, we followed, Pop was the guy, so, but yeah, it's easy for Timmy to just put us in line when we needed to. I think, uh... Tony especially, Tony especially. You talked about the Tim, the Tim Duncan that we see versus

the Tim Duncan that you see all the time. It's Kauai in that same breath where, like, we always see, we always see and, you know, he don't talk to us, you don't really, you know what I mean? But is, is that different for him? Like, what is he like that we don't see? And I know you get that

question all the time. I know. I think they're both very similar in that sense. Because what you see, just like with Pop, because Pop has that persona that he hates the media. And he's just a stand-up comedian. He likes to mess with people. You know what I'm saying? He likes to message to the media, especially. Timmy and Quayah's saying. They talk

to people. They talk to people they know. They talk to us and have a good time. They just don't care to talk to the media much. Timi is a guy that's, you know, I don't say eccentric, but You know, he's open. You know, he tries new things. He likes to learn new things.

I think in another life, he probably was an assassin. You know, he loves, you know, guns and doing action movie type stuff. He loves cars, paintballing, kickboxing. Is he on the Call of Duty a lot? Is Kauai on the Call of Duty? I think why he plays some games. I don't know if he does Call of Duty. He might have been like two cases.

He was talking about Tim. I was talking about Tim. Tim does all that extra stuff. Tim does the, you know, the kickbox and the paintball and the guns. in cars. So he's like, action will be Kauai. Wouldn't say so much the same.

He does watch some TV series, but he's not into all that type. But he is quiet, especially to the media. He's going to give you the basic answer where he's going to make you seem, because I think that's, I'm going to say it's just a San Antonio thing. That, you know, Pop definitely will answer your question to make it seem like it was a dumb question. But, well, quiet, what happened on a dunk?

You know, I drove to the basket, I jumped as high as I could, and I dunk the ball, you know, you know, you can answer your answer to make it seem dumb. And it makes it seem like, you know, he doesn't, he's a smart guy. He's not a dummy. You know, he's funny in that sense, though, but he's more laid back. He's a dad. He has funds with his kids.

You know, Timmy is the same. They love the kids. But, you know, they're not as introvert as people think they are. They just don't do it around people they don't know or care for or the media as much. But, yeah. Danny, let's get to the shits, man. Let's get to the shit. Let's get to the shit.

So I'm trying to pay the picture. It was a year ago. Kauai and PG come to the come to the clippers from my vantage point because I was a summer league it seemed like they were sticking their chest out there was the L.A.R. Way billboards

of not mistaken, there's a billboard around the corner from the practice facility where you guys are at. How did you guys feel? Did you, because Jared Dudley was on Simmons's podcast about a week ago and he said that y'all wanted them.

What did it feel like? What did it feel like? like when they fumbled a bag and they were talking all that mess and they stuck their chest out and they did not see you guys in the Western Conference Final. They even took two from you during the regular season. Basically, it seemed like they were strutten. How did that feel to you throughout the season to see them with their chest out? And then for them not to make it to the Western Conference Finals to see y'all.

Well, they're a very confident team, rightfully so. They got some great additions and it might have been different in an outside of a bubble situation. I don't see, I mean, not saying it's impossible, but I think it's very tough for a team like Denver to come back three, one, two times in a row and beating them in their home building like that. Mind you, a restart, guys get out of rhythm, maybe out of shape or something.

So it's different from them. They had issues with guys that had to leave the bubble for family issues, you know, funerals, etc. So I think that took a toll with them chemistry-wise. But seeing the billboards, you know, as expected, you know, them talking a little bit, you know, as expected. Did it make you feel some type of way? No, I mean, I do think that when you're, I don't know how to say this.

I think, I do think that when you're, you know, say predetermined or if you're just, I think the basketball gods will humble you if you don't, you know, play the game the right way or do the right thing. I think you shouldn't speak. I mean, a lot of people say speak things into existence, which is cool. I like that, but I'm not, you shouldn't be as cocky. Because a lot of times you're talking that it's going to go the opposite way, you know, some way, somehow, you know, things ironically, you're going to turn out the way of you. opposite of you talking shit. So you're saying don't write checks that your ass can't cash, basically.

That's what, is that what you're saying? Maybe. I think they, I think, I think, I think they, I think they were very capable of cash in it. But I just said, I got you. I got you. You shouldn't, you shouldn't, I'm not saying you shouldn't do that. You can do that. I just don't like to do that.

I don't like to go, oh, yeah, we're going to beat their ass tomorrow. You know what I'm saying? I hope, I hope that we play well. I hope they, I'm saying, because if you go in that type of world, especially staying publicly, publicly. Yeah. Most of the time it backfires, you know what I'm saying? How was the game seven night?

I think we were just very shocked. First, we were shocked that went to seven, you know, and I'm like, no way they lose three in a row. You know what I'm saying? I said, if they lose three in a row, I'd be very shocked. I mean, I think the world was shocked. We were shocked, too, like, oh, shit, actually. But before game seven, I think a lot of people were like, you know,

they're in trouble. You know what I'm saying? Because Denver's got confidence now. They're playing well, and anything can happen. And that's why you can't let it get to that because, you know, you could have a dud of a night on a game seven. like they did. Yeah.

Yeah. And so that's not normal. It's not how they play. It's not Kauai or PG. When the hell of you ever seen Kauai or PG ever play like that? Even on their worst nights, you never play like that. That's why you can't let it get so games of it. Because anything can happen.

Especially in a bubble because there ain't no fan. You're not like you're at home or we have home court advantage. When a bubble, there ain't no fans there. So let's say you have a dud of a night and they have a hell of a night. That's going to, that happens. That's why it's hard. People think, oh, you should sweep them. You should go 4-1 or sweep.

He's a good team. first of all, second of all, they're going to have a good night in one of these games. You know what I'm saying? We're going to have a bad night. It usually happens simultaneously where we have a bad night to have a good night. And if we have a bad night and we still lose by five, you know, we're like, we're in pretty good position. That's going to happen in a seven game series. Unfortunately for them, it happened in game seven.

And that's the risk of you letting it get to game seven. So I'm like, shit, they let it get to seven. And they had a dud of an, I'm not saying, I'm not doing it. We were laughing at them. I was shocked. I wasn't laughing at them. I was like, damn. That's crazy.

Y'all watch the game together, right? Oh, we all watch, I mean, ain't the shit up to do in the bubble. Some guys watch the kids. It's all the same time. So we know what's going on. We're in a group chat. Like, yo, you know, this is what happened. It's just crazy.

You know what I'm saying? But we wanted them because we didn't want to hear, obviously, because we were in the city. And they were talking shit. Obviously, that too. You know, we wanted to, but we also don't want to hear BS of, you know, oh, they had an easy road. You know, they didn't play the top teams. No, we want all the best teams.

But Denver deserved to be there. They were the best team at that time. You know, maybe he said their chemistry, the eclipse side wasn't there. The, you know, the fatigue and physical side wasn't there because of the restart. But Denver deserved that. They earned to be there. And they were a very good team. But, yeah, we didn't want to hear also because of, you know, bragging rights in the city, that would have been great.

But we'd want to hear that we had the easy road. And this was an easy championship. We should have asterisk next to it. No, it was bullshit. We wanted to play the best teams. Also to prepare us for being the last team standing. and wanted to say, you know, was given to us or it was easy. Even though there is no easy route to winning a championship.

I'll tell you that right now. But, yeah, I think we both wanted each other. People wanted to see, I think the world, just for the sports world, not even said Bragging Rights in the City, but I think everybody just wanted to see those two teams matchup. You see some guys tweeted, even after the bubble, can we still get that, you know, Lakers Clippers series when it's all said that. People just wanted to see it, you know,

because it thinks would be a great basketball matchup. You know, so it's just good for basketball. And so we wanted them. I think they wanted us, but the team that got there was a team that deserved to be there. Hey, let me, let me ask you, Danny, because this is going to be, I mean, the bubble was a unique situation. Like, but now you're going to have to run it back and they're talking about, you know, condensing all of this and trying to have that December 22nd start date. What, what are you, you know, like, where are you at mentally? Like, you guys are just coming off of it, but like, real talk, you, right.

December 20 seconds, I am in mind. I think most guys, if they said we start in December, I think they're like, I'm not. going to be there. If I had to guess, if I had to guess, because we have a lot of vets on our team. It's not like we have a bunch of young guys and rookies. We probably have like three or four young guys or rookies. We bring, say we're fortunate enough to bring the same team back. We have Doe, who's on year 15, Dwight's in year 16, Braun, year 18, so, you know, 17

and these guys who just played a whole season. Bronn's been in the finals 10 years out of his 17 years, which is unbelievable mentally. you know, it's training to do that. And to have that quick of a restart, I wouldn't expect to see him there. I wouldn't expect to see him probably for the first month of the season. They're probably working out with us, probably do some playing.

I just don't expect guys to want to be there or show up willingly. I think this moment, it might be different in about two weeks where guys are like, all right, we get back in the gym, start working at when we get back in the gym, it's not right to basketball.

It's like, all right, let me start getting in shapelifting a little bit, start running a little bit. Then I'll pick up a ball. You know what I'm saying? No, no. Do you think that's going to happen? Do you think the 22nd start is going to happen, whether LeBron and those, because that's

another thing. Like you want your stars to be playing in the league, right? During the start date, do you think that because of that it might ultimately get pushed back, or do you think it's going to be that 20 second start? I think if they had the power, and they do have the power to do, I think we'll try to push back for some, but I think it's a possibility. Okay. I think because the league really wants that Christmas Day game, I think some teams, some leagues

want that some way somehow. But in my mind, I think it's highly unlikely because I think a lot of the, which is, it's a back and forth thing because a lot of the stars that are on our team, a lot of other stars haven't played in a long time. They've had enough break. Some guys have been out the bubble for a while.

Some teams haven't played in a year. So majority of the league can be like, okay, we'll play with it. We start and stuff for Miami and us for the last two teams. And maybe the teams before that, you know, Denver and Boston. Outside of those four teams,

You know, teams have been, they had an extra month more than us. They're probably like ready to get, mind you, you have a chip in a show. When you lose, you have that chip in a show and you're ready to get back to it. Like, you know, fuck, we just lost, I'm ready to get back to it. You know, when I lost 2013, you know, I was in the gym probably a week later. I mean, it wasn't shooting, but I was lifting. I was ready to get back to it. So those teams definitely is tough when you have different voices.

And majority is against us, probably. So it's a possibility, but I don't think that it will. And I think for us to go back to normal, which, a lot of us are begging for for and the league is begging for for and obviously makes sense with TV deals, money deal or all that makes sense

to at least have the arenas open for at least half the fans. You know what I'm saying? Well, however you want to do it. But if we start before 2021, I think it'd be very tough for all the arenas to be open. We'd have to have another bubble situation

or multiple bubble situations. That's interesting. Like regional bubbles or something like that, you think? Yeah, that was a discussion. There's been many discussions of maybe having, you know, maybe four bubbles or anything like that or two, you know, how to do it.

But we'll see, I don't know. I'm just behind the scenes waiting to get the word. I'm a player rep. I just relay the messages, but I'm really hoping that we don't start that early in December. We'd like to have some type of offseason. But we do, we do. It's part of the job, part of league.

I'd show up for work. And so we don't get sick days. We don't get, you know, you can't just not, you know, call in, ah, I'm taking this week off. I'm going on to the Bahama. Gotta be there. So that's part of the mental grind as well. That's why a lot of us leave this game.

just drained and happy and having a good time being retired. But hopefully get into another field when it's all set in the year. We'll see what it happens when the restart happens. All right, quick, quick thing before we get to real ones, because we know you got to get you out of here. You play with both Kauai and LeBron. I'm going to put you on the spot here, Danny Green. This is what we do on the real ones.

Okay. LeBron or Kauai? In terms of what? What category are you talking? In terms of teammate and player. They're both great teams, both great players. And I think... When you're comparing them.

Each one has advantage in different categories, you know what I'm saying? Okay. And it's hard to compare. It's hard to compare that because Brons, been in league 10 years longer than cool. I hear you what I'm saying? And their primes are different players. You want to compare their primes, compare their nows,

or compare who would I rather have? I don't know what kind of... Who'd you rather have on your team? There we go. There we go. Can't lose, man. I have either one of those guys in my team. I got a question that you will, that you can't answer, bro.

I got one. Listen, when Kauai was a young buck, when he came in, when he first came in, right? Was there any evidence to you all, like, behind the scenes? You talked about Timmy, like, as it pertained to Steph early, saying, man, that kid's got a lot of talent. Like, there's, did you, could you guys see this for Kauai? Like, was there evidence of this? I think that's why it's such a shock. Nobody could see that with Kauai.

You know, Brown, Bronsonsonsonsons high school was like, you know, So this guy's it. Most people are like, I doubt him, but they predicted this. You know what I'm saying? A lot of people predicted to Kauai. He just had a physique

and sort of a demon's point and nobody predicted him becoming, you know, all world. But once again, this is what also shocked me too. And I said, I watched him grow,

you know, because I was older than him. He came in. I was one of the guys that had to work out with him. So see, his growth over the years was amazing. It was shocked to me because,

I won't say he's an introvert, but he's just quiet. He's a guy that, let's say sneaky, but you don't know what he's doing, you know, when he's doing. You don't really see, you see him working sometimes in there, but he kind of kept a lot of his workouts under wraps and did his own thing, and it just, it just came, it happened very fast. So yeah, you, you could not see it in him. You did not see it.

It was like, a lot of people, I think, were like, because they loved George Hill when we had, when he was there. Yeah. Like, we're trading George for this guy. And I was like, you know, he's big body, big hands, you know, he's saying. He has a physique that's unreal, but, like, nobody think there was anything special about him. I thought he was good, but nobody thought like, oh, you know, especially because of how much they love Georgia. But over the years, I think everybody became a believer. But we were obviously could see it behind the scenes.

I became a believer sooner than other people. Right. When did you see it? I mean, I think there was a real drastic time of when it happened publicly than it did behind, said the scenes closed doors. We said he was so, what is work ethic, you didn't really know me. You'd seen some of it, but you didn't really know

because of how sneaky he was. But you could see it on the court, you could see it in practice, and you're like, and obviously coaches have to make a decision, organizations have to make a decision of who, you know what? People would decide who they want to bring,

who they want to put in that position. And I think at the time, obviously pop and then probably seen it before us. At the time, we're like, you know, why are we running through things through, you know, bye. You got Timmy, Tony and Mano here.

And I'm like, it was guys, but I'm like, all right, we're trying to change the offense to him. And we're grooming him to, you know, be the guy because they know Timmy's probably going to Manu and Tony getting older.

So I understand it now, but at the time, I'm like, when did this happen? It was the fourth quarter. I remember it was very evident to me. It was a fourth quarter of one game. At the end of the game, we always had ball in Tony's hands. And Tony was the guy because he had a couple MVP, you know, years at that time and just was all-star and was great.

And obviously, I point guard, told us where to be, where to go, what to do. And in the game, it was him and Timmy pick and roll or just him one-on-one on pick-pick-roll with somebody else. he's going to make a play happen. This time was very glaring to me and stood out to me where I seen the keys or the torch being handed over,

not by Timmy Tony Mano, but by Pop to Kauai. And Pop yells out, give him the fucking ball. I'm like, who's he talking to? You know what I'm saying? Like, who's he talking to? He's talking to Tony.

I'm like, well, that's strange. I'm like, give it to Kauai. He told Tony Parker to give it to it. We're giving, I'm like, whoa, oh shit, okay, this is what we're doing now. And from that point forward, I was like, all right, well, he's got it. And then, you know, let's see what he does. And obviously, his work out. I think he'll just see what he does with it.

Yeah. And he did everything. He ran with it. He's like, you know, this is mine. I'm going to, and rightfully so, he put the work in. He put the time in. And I said, I've never seen a guy grow that fast, especially at this level. Because at this level, usually your habits are who you are.

And it's hard to say, oh, we're going to do. just his shot, we're going to change him. We're making him a shooter. We already went through college high school. It's just a change your shot now. People say, oh, it's too late. But he is the definition of it's never too late. You know what I'm saying? Like, shit, he changed everything, because he wasn't a shooter. Like, then he's shoot 40 from three. You know, you have to respect everything he does. He had a mid-range, but he didn't have like a post. He had to work on his post game. His IQ passing game. Now, you know, he was getting triple doubles and shit. So, yeah. And I was like, okay, well, shit, this is what we doing, you know? And

And, um, you know, excuse me. Yeah, I think Tony was thinking the same thing. It's like, shit, my bad, pop me. Excuse me. But yeah, so I think they, they saw it before we did. Nobody can predict it. But they were grooming it that way. I think they were trying to see what he couldn't do with it before they gave

what they'm saying. And he showed that he's very capable. And pop in ours, I said they, pop our C, our coaching staff, like, all right, we're going to, you know, this is the guy we're going to groom to be the franchise. And they made the right call. Did you know, did you, um, did you, did you, um, did you, um, Did you know that he was going to leave early in Toronto when you were there? Did you have a sense or, like, was he going to leave Toronto?

Yeah, yeah. Because, I mean, that was the rumor going on around and stuff. And, like, it seemed like a foregone conclusion he was going to L.A. at some point, at least from the outside looking in, did you have an idea that he was going to leave before he did? Or was that caught, did you catch you by surprise? A little bit. I mean, it wasn't a surprise that he left. I think everybody knew before he got there.

Because the fact that we won because he was a king of the fucking country, not just the city, king of the goddamn country, you know, 36 million anywhere. He wanted to go in Canada. You could do whatever he wanted. Yeah, I was at the finals. It was all collide. They, the free meals, all that stuff. Yeah, he could do whatever he wanted.

But I think once he waited and over time, it seemed forever, even though it was only a week long of free agency of waiting. I think each day, I think Toronto lost their hope or lost their, what I say, their adrenaline of whatever it is to get him back. I think each day he lost a little more of, their chances of getting him back. Because it's fresh off of a championship, I think if he was going to go back,

he would have made the decision right away after day two or three. But also the fact that I think, well, I knew and I think he knew that they couldn't bring everybody back, even if he did go back. And I don't know if that played into his decision or not. And I know he makes enough money.

I don't think he cared about the money. Obviously, he could have made the most money there. But I don't think that mattered to him that much. But I knew if he went back, I couldn't go back. Even if he didn't go back, they didn't really have cap space for me to go back.

So you weren't, you weren't tripping either way on that sense because you're going to be gone either way, right? Pretty much. Pretty much. Yeah, yeah, okay. But I think him knowing that not able to bring everybody back

and that the league was changing, Golden State was probably going to get healthier. You know, certain guys made movements. He was like, you know what, I'm probably going to need more firepower and if I'm going to do that. I don't know if it's going to be there unless they bring twice in.

But if not, if I can't do that, I'm at least go home and be in California. Toronto was a lovely city. It was gracious. I love Toronto. I love Toronto. I used to being in, you know, California, man, where the weather in Texas, where it's warm.

You know, Toronto had Cali weather, I would be a Canadian. You know what I'm saying? Toronto and June is crazy. Yeah, I'm still a Canadian. Doing me wrong, I love Canada. I love Toronto. But obviously, I think for him, said growing up in California, that's what we want to be. And once they made Paul George move easy for him, all right.

I think I know five power a minute. How'd you get the news? He texts the group. The group chat? Yeah, our Toronto group chat. but it wasn't a lot of notice ahead of time. It might have been five minutes before. It might have been like 10 minutes before.

How does he text? Does he like leaving or does he like y'all, man? No, I don't know. Is it like a whole like paragraph like I love y'all? No, he talks to me like that. But he don't talk to us like that. He's like, you know, fellas just let y'all know, I made my decision. You know, I'm going to be a part of, you know, so this group next year.

You know, that type of deal. Got it. Okay. And once his decision made, I send the same group check. So after knowing that information, fellas, you know, and let y'all know you know things happened i was updating the whole time though like you know i'm talking to them they're waiting on kauai i don't think i have enough felt for me to come back so i'm like down no i'm probably gonna be somewhere else but once he made a decision i'm like yo i love y'all boys

family forever i'll obviously bond it forever but um this is where i'm gonna be a part of you know they're making much of you know they all happy congrats and they're brothers so um but yeah he let us know a little bit before the decision made but obviously paul jorstein came after but we knew that was orchestrated before his decision made the reason why his decision was at that time because it was midnight on the West Coast. So I think in East Coast it might have been like, you know what I'm saying, 2, 3am. So obviously they must have given him word that, oh, we got Paul underwork. So that's when he made decisions.

Paul happened to why he went there and then, you know, kind of fell into place. Right, man. So before we get you out of here, we'd like to include you in a segment we do every week called Real One of the Week where we pick a person, an organization, or someone that exemplifies all the characteristics of being a real one. Are we going to make you your guest? Are we going to make you go last and make you comfortable the best for last?

Mine, I'm going to start off where we get to Raja. Mine is cornerback Jalen Ramsey of the Rams. He pledged a million dollars to Purpose Prep Academy, a free charter school for kids in his native Nashville, Tennessee. Out here making a difference during COVID. So I'm going to go with Jalen Ramsey for being a real one this week. What's up with you, Roger? All right.

This was tough. I'm going to go with two. One, Jock Peterson from the L.A. Dodgers was kind of, you know, when they brought the All-Star team to the outfield out there, he was kind of the eye man out. But his number got called and he's been holding it down in the World Series. But my real, real one is Ben Rothelberger, dog. Coming off of the Tommy John surgery, AFC supremacy, at least record-wise on the line yesterday against Ryan Tannenhill and the Titans. And he came out. He did throw three picks.

six dog, but they threw the ball 49 times. He was 32 for 49. They won. They're sitting at 6 and 0. So Ben Rathosberger is my real one at a week. Okay. All right. I got two as well, man.

For my team, I'm going to go with Jared Dudley. He's always a real one man because he puts... Boom. Doug is with the shits, man. He makes it happen, especially he's the MVP of the off season. You know, he puts together the group. He makes sure we're having a good time. We were just in San Diego this weekend.

He hosted us in his hometown city and we had a great time. That's for football. I'm going to go with Devante Adams. I had a hell of a day, man. I've been meeting the text of the guy, man. Because he's one of the main guys that reached out to me when I was going through the bullshit, I was going through in the bubble

and publicly said, I hope Danny has a game with his life. And he's supportive from a mental aspect. But he had a hell of a game the other day, man. And I just want to shout him out. He's a real one. So I appreciate his support. And I hope he gets a ring this year.

And he continues to ball out because he bawled out the other day. Me too, because that boy helped me win. fantasy game yesterday. You know. Man, we appreciate you coming on, Danny. Man, make sure y'all check out the Inside the Green Room podcast. That's also simulcast on Spectrum out there in Los Angeles, right? I think I saw that around there.

You guys are, you guys have that simulcast there, right? I believe so. Listen, I just show up, man. You got to talk to Trent and Harrison. All right. Well, check out. The Brains line operation is not me, bro. Show up.

For sure. Shout out to Spectrum. shout out to everybody that news has been covering us. Yeah, during the past. pandemic we have random everybody we have some great sponsors supporters but I don't know the details of every outlet

for sure man well check out the inside the Green Room podcast check out all the ringer podcast on the ringer NBA feed you can check us out every Monday the real ones on Spotify and wherever you get podcasts thanks again Danny for coming bro it's an open invitation whenever

you need to come in you're real one having me man much love always I appreciate you guys sir we'll see you guys sir we'll see you guys You know,