The Ringer NBA Show - Rip Hamilton on His AAU Days With Kobe, the 2004 Detroit Championship, Being on Team Jordan, and More | Real Ones

Episode Date: January 14, 2021

Three-time NBA All-Star and NBA champion Rip Hamilton joins Logan and Raja to talk about growing up in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and playing AAU with Kobe Bryant (1:00), his championship run against Kobe’s Lakers in 2004 (27:00), having Michael Jordan as a veteran on the Wizards (45:00), his top five 2-guards of all time (59:00), and much more. Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guest: Rip Hamilton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's popping real ones? This is Logan Murdoch. I'm here with Raja Bell. How you doing, bro? I'm a little mad right now. Tell them why you're mad. Okay, we're with the mad. We're in the Mad Hooper right now. Why are you mad? Tell them why you mad? Yeah, we'll get into it. I had a chance to play MJ's golf course. Like, can I get into that today? I was had an invite from our special guest today and I had to pod instead of playing MJ's magnificent course in Jupiter. Oh, okay. Our special guest is none other than the legend Rip Hamilton. Huh? Ah, ah, tap in. What's good? The real one's Logan Murdoch and Roger Bell here.

Now, Roger, this guest just kind of disrespect to Joe. How a live coming on this Zoom call right now. He didn't even think you was up today. You need to get in gear, bro. You want to introduce our guests that we have here right now, sir? Yeah, let me take a shot at this. This was a, this person was a nemesis of mine, like heavy scouting report. A lot of work to do when I had to play him because of the offense that they ran in Detroit.

I probably just gave it away. We've worked together for a few years now. Our boys are around the same age. They've competed. And, like, my proudest most, like, best achievement when it comes to rip is I wear his ass out on the golf course. This is Richard Hamilton. He was with us on real ones. Wear my ass out, huh?

Yeah. I might give you the edge on that, man. But I'm happy to be on you guys' show, bro. Yeah, though. Thanks for popping on, man. Thanks for popping on. Man, I remember when I was, when I was growing up, like, this guy used to have the sauciest jerseys coming in, the Coachville jerseys, Roger. Whenever he will walk in, I would be like, oh, this dude, it's real right now. And he grew up one of my favorite players of all time, Kobe Bryant. Rip, how was, what, what is Coachville and where is Coachville?

And why is it such a great place? and why was it such a great place for you to grow up? Oh, wow. I mean, yeah, Coastville, Pennsylvania, 11,000 people. Most of the kids and most of the people that's from there stay there. Never really make it out. We're probably about 35, 40 minutes right outside of Philadelphia. And it's a lot of people from my town that never made it to Philadelphia.

I mean, the first time I actually left Coastville and went out of the state was probably, I was probably 17 years old. that was going on recruiting business, trying to attend the college. But small town, only restaurant we have there is McDonald's. No, like, as a kid, you never hear of none of the big restaurants like Ruth Chris and Outback and all, you know, all them other type of restaurants. Just a small, small town, everybody's family, you know. Everybody knows each other.

the kids I graduated with are the same kids I went to kindergarten with. So I loved it. I loved growing up there just on the simple fact that I had a lot of friends, a lot of organic relationships. It wasn't situations where, hey, you know what, I meet somebody, didn't know their family, didn't know their cousins, didn't know how they grew up because I knew they most likely grew up right down the street.

Coastville was probably two miles long, north-south, and two miles east-west. So it's one of small towns that, as a kid, you love to grow up with just because you're just familiar with everybody in the area. Yeah, that's what's up, man. I actually, Rip, I shared with you. Like, I lived in Coachville for two years in my younger life. Like, my mom's family's from right outside of Philly.

You know one of my cousins, Ramsey Stanton. You talked about the town itself. But talk about the hoop scene that is like Codzville and even expand into Philly. And then talk about how you and Kobe wound up crossing paths at that youth level and the relationship you guys developed being McDonald's, all Americans together and all of that. Man, Roger, yeah, no. I wish we had to cross pass during our basketball journey,

especially at a young age. Then I would know when we met up, when we played the NBA, why he was always mad on the court. But, but. Well done. Well done, sir. Yeah.

Cozfield, we have a lot of talent there. But a lot of kids don't make it out. We don't get a lot of media attention just on a simple fact that we are a small town. But me growing up there with all the talent that I know growing up, there's also a lot of different negative things to get into. And a lot of kids didn't make it out because of either drugs, alcohol, or just being in the wrong stuff. And I think that happens in any urban community,

especially when you got a lot of negative activity. around you. But I just think that growing up with my friends, they didn't treat me no different than anybody else. I thought I was really good, you know, and my friends thought they were really good, too. So they never gave me the edge and said, okay, Rip, you're the one that's going to make it. They thought that they were going to make it too. But funny story when, you know, by time I got to my junior year in high school, like, I thought I was the best shit since sliced bread by that time, because I'm 6-6. There's not a lot of height in our town.

Everybody else is 5, 10, and 6-foot if that, so, you know, when you're from a small town, they put you at the center position. But I had guard skills. And I remember coming to practice one day, and my coach was like, hey, Rip, man, you walking around here like you think you're good or something, man. Like, there's a kid right down the street

that's just as talented as you. And I'm like, yeah, right. man, go ahead. You're trying to figure out one of it. You know, Rod, you know how coaches try to figure out different ways to kind of motivate yourself, motivate you, right? So I'm like, yeah, right, man. He was like, yeah, you know, he's probably about the same height as you.

And I think he's probably more talented than you. And I'm like, man, this guy, he's just trying to make me go out and practice and kill these dudes in practice. And I was like, ain't no way. And this is before the social media era. Because nowadays, you can actually look on Instagram, look on Twitter, and find out who's the great players around you, especially in the state. And he was like, all right, we're going to match up with them.

Trust me, the team is Lower Merion. I'm like, all right, well, we're going to see them. We're going to blow them out because Laura Marion, Roger, as you know, is a suburb, right? It's a lot of Silver Spooned kids over there. It's a bird, bro. Yeah, it's a very, you know, very suburban. So we like, no, like most of my friends, you know, we're from the hood. Like, like, ain't no way we're going to let, you know, some suburban kids beat up on us.

And I remember playing against Laura Marion at our high school. And I looked down in the layup line at the team. So I'm like, who's this kid? Right. So I'm looking down there. I'm like, oh, man, yeah, he is 6'6, right? I said, oh, man, he could dribble just as good as me. Oh, now he's pulling up two feet behind the three point line.

I'm like, oh, he can shoot the ball too. And then he gets up there. He's throwing windmills. And, you know, this is before you couldn't touch the rim in warm-ups. Remember, you had to go in and just like drop it in. He's doing windmills, dropping in, 360s, dropping it in. And I'm like, man, oh, that's, that's impressive. But let's wait to see when the ball is thrown up.

And once that ball was throwing up, man, I held my own, but that man gave that man gave us the business. I mean, rest of the peace to Kobe Bryant, he gave us the business. And that's when I first realized, hey, Rip, you know, you got to go back,

you got to go back to the gym. You got to get back in the gym. You got to work on your craft a little bit more because, man, if this kid right here is outshining you, what about the rest of the world? So that was my introduction

to playing against Kobe Bryant. What was it like to see him off the court. You know, you see him as this guy that you, you know, you meet him on the court playing against him, and it's one way. How was he off the court as a young, as a young kid? Like I said, you know, the first time we played was like 16, 17 years old. And after that, we were, we, we gained a really good relationship, uh, just from us being one of the two top guys in the state. And we were also, we also played on the same AAU team. So we were actually roommates and we were able to actually not just play against each other but also become really,

really good friends. And off the court, Cole was all business, man. He was serious at like 16 years old, which was crazy to me because at 16 years old, man, you just want to be a kid, right? Like before games, you didn't go into the gym and stretch and do all this other crazy stuff to get prepared for the game. Cold was on that. I mean, it was many times where, you know, we were sitting in the room and we'll just have just random conversations about guys we were playing against the next day in the AAU game.

And his mind was on the NBA. He was like, hey, Rip, you know, when I get to the NBA, you see some of these superstar guys out there in my position, I'm a dog. And I'm like, man, bro. like, bro, we're like 16. Like, I'm dudes as grown. Man, like, come on, man. Like, go to sleep, man.

Like, I ain't trying to hear that. You're dreaming right now. He's like, nah, rip I'm dead serious, man. I'm like, bro, we got, you know, shot. We play Shahim Holloway tomorrow. Or we play Tim Thomas the next. Like, but he looked over top of all that to say, hey, you know what?

I'm ready for the lead. And, boy, when he got there, he definitely showed everybody while he was ready. You and Kobe on the AAU, like, who was on your team? Because I've seen, like, you know, the websites where it's like unconfirmed reports of, like,

Kobe and maybe Vince Carter on the same team. Who was on your team with Kobe? What was the AAU team like? Because it's stuff of, like, legend of Kobe's AAU career in York AAU area. Yeah, so on her team, it was pretty much just, me and him were to,

We're the stars of the team. It was just me and him, right? And it was so crazy because me and him are not from Philadelphia. We're from outside of Philadelphia. So Philly had a whole group of talent out there from guys like Rashid Brooklynboro, who was elite guard coming out of Philadelphia. Arthur Davis, a guy that played at Glenn Mills, who was, man, he was unbelievable. Rashid Bay was another great guard.

So we had a lot of great guards from Philly. We were actually like from the suburbs of Philadelphia, right? And it was just me and him. Sam Ryan was our coach, right? And Sam Ryan's developed the team. And Sam went out and just got a whole bunch of guys that were pretty much role players on our team, right? So it was funny because before the game,

Sam will be like, all right, you know, Kobe, you need to average 35 this tournament. RIP, you need the average 30 this tournament, right? So, and he told everybody else, he said, hey, guys, your job is not to shoot the ball. Your job is to give them the ball. And when they make a play, if you open, shoot the ball. And, but other than that, I don't need you to go outside of your game to try to make plays out on the floor. These guys are the guys. And we added pieces during that journey,

but most of it, it was just regular guys trying to get Division I scholarship. And what he told their parents was like, hey, guys, hey, look, this is going to be one heck of a ride. If your kids listen and you buy in, a lot of times these college coaches are going to come in and try to get Ripper Coat, and most likely they might not get them, then there may be opportunity for your son.

And it's crazy, man. We probably had about four other guys go Division I. One guy went to Notre Dame. Another kid went to Providence. Another kid went to Bucknell. Another kid went to University of Penn. So we had like four or five kids still go Division I just because they bought in. They bought into their road.

They did it really well. And they end up getting a free ride to, to a Division I school. So I always tell kids, you ain't got to be the man, right? You just got to carve out a role and do it really well. And there's somebody out there that will fall in love with you. But when you hear the story about, hey, you know what, we played on this elite team with Vince and all that.

Yeah, I mean, at times, you know, Cole will play on other teams, you know, one-offs. But for the most part of it, it was just me and him on Sam Ryan's. That was a team that we played on out of Philly. Hey, that's a great, a great little lesson for people. And it's kind of an organic segue for me, Rip, because you talked about that coach really defining roles and getting people to buy in for the greater good, right?

I think it's interesting. I want to ask you, James Hardin going to Brooklyn. Now you've got James Hardin, Kyrie, and Kevin Durant. If you're Steve Nash, like Rip Hamilton is coaching this team. Like what's the approach in trying to, you know, manage that, which is getting guys, there's got to be a sacrifice made by everybody, getting guys to kind of figure out what their roles are for the greater good, which is winning a championship. Like, I'm interested to know how you would approach that.

First of all, I thought that you was going to be sitting on the sideline with your buddy, Steve Nash over there. I don't know what Roger we would have got. We would have got the host of his own show pod, Roger, or the guy that, Hey, I want to tell a funny story real quick before I get into that, right? Ain't nobody ask you for no story. No, no one asks for a story, Rip. I'll tell a story, Rip, please.

Yeah, yeah, listen. I don't understand if y'all know how crazy Roger was as a player, right? Like, I really don't, I really, really don't. I hope y'all understand. How crazy was he? How crazy was he, Rick? That dude was a little, little cuckoo for cuckoo pups, right? You know, hey, wait, wait, wait, wait, before you start, you know, like,

I have control of this a little bit, right? Like, I'm going to edit all of this shit out. So you can do it. No, he's not. Sasha owns this. So Shasha is the producer on this show. She is make sure, leave this in, Sasha. Go ahead.

Hey, listen, so, you know, like me and Roger, you know, end up being, uh, coming really close friends, especially after our career, right? But he was one of them dudes that I just didn't like to play against. I really didn't like to play against because Roger was a type of guy. Look, I remember playing a game before when he was in Phoenix and I was in Detroit, right? The National Anthem was just starting to play, you know, blah, blah, blah, whatever, right? And I'm looking at Raja, right? You know, as a competitor, like a boxing match, you're always looking at the person's eyes across you, right?

And Raja was the guy that I knew had to go ahead and compete against. So I'm looking at this dude in the National Anthem, and he's literally crying before the game. like like like like like like like like like like like like like like tears coming out like you know how that one kid in the neighborhood when he gets really really upset and he know he's about to fuck some shit up you know what I'm saying and the man just start crying and you'd be like oh man this dude is crazy like I better be careful I better be careful I mean I'd be careful with him that was raja bell I'm looking at this dude before the game and he's damn there in tears and I'm like oh bro So all the little stuff that I try to get away, cheap shots, elbows, trip, talking trash, whatever, whatever.

I got to be very careful because this dude is messing around to fight me in the middle of the game and that we both get kicked out. We both lose hundreds of thousand dollars. So I got to be very careful with. What kind of game was this? Was this a Tuesday in January or was this wasn't a postseason game, was it? Man, listen, no, this was a regular season game? This wasn't even for, let's say, a playoff. match. This wasn't for the finals. This wasn't

none of that. This was a regular game in Phoenix. You got to remember, he's in Phoenix, Arizona where it's Palm trees. You only go to Phoenix once a year. And Phoenix is very nice. Like, I'm in Detroit but we don't see the son. He see the son all day every day. So I'm like, what is he mad about? But that just showed you-

Tell me why you mad, son? Tell him why you're mad, son? Roger, why are you mad, son? Why? Why? I've already told Rip this, dog. Like, and it's true. This is a true story. But But it was the way, like, it was how I played, though. Like, I wasn't good enough to, like, go out there and not be, like, on the borderline of exploding, at least in my mind, right? So, like, especially when I saw a dude, like, RIP, who was a perennial all-star,

like, I knew it was going to be all night long, me coming off shit, like, chasing him, trying to run him off of that. Like, it was going to be a long night of work. Like, I had to be on the edge. And that made you emotional. The thought of that just made you cry, right? Because you had to, like. Is that what it was?

No, I would work myself up, like, the whole pregame. Like, I just would work myself up. Like, I'd fabricate, like, some shit. Like, I think about, I don't know, Greg Popovich cut me or, or, like, you know, they kept Derek Dial instead of me on this team or whatever, whatever, like, perceived slight or organic slight I had experienced, I would just be building that up in my mind to, like, to write when it was tip off. And then I try to take that shit out on whoever was against me.

Regardless who it was, it was, huh? Regardless who it was. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. So, so, Roger, you were talking about, you were talking about James Hardin and the Brooklyn Nets. Yeah, I'm interested, Rip, because, you know,

you two played on teams where you had, you know, they didn't dub them super teams, but you had excellent scores on those teams, all guys individually that could carry their own team. And you guys had to learn to work together and play together and sacrifice a little bit for that ultimate goal, was championship. So like if you're Steve, you know, how do you get on a page early with those dudes and get people to buy into that? Well, first of all, Roger, anytime you got three

great players like that, one, it helps that KD and James had a relationship and they already played together in OKC. So if I was Steve, which you probably, you know, former MVP, a guy that's been a multiple all-star. He played with great players, play with a guy like Dirk Novinsky, in Dallas. So he understands that, in order for them to be successful, it's going to be about sacrifices.

But I do think that all three of them have to get in the room and he got a carve out different roads for them, right? The big question mark is like, who's going to be the closer? Because you've probably got three of the best closers

in the game. But I think I feel personally that KD is arguably the best player on that team. So when it comes, down to the end of games. I think that Kyrie Irvin, who said it already, that he has the utmost respect for KD. And I would feel as though that James Hardin has the same type of respect for him also, too, especially in late games. But I do think that I had that question, Mark, when it was

just KD and Kyrie on the team, right? Both guys are on the ball, dominant guys, guys that need the ball in their hand to really make plays. But KD can play off the ball, too. But I, I just felt, though, that early in this year, Steve has done an excellent job of, one, playing with pace, right? It's different than when we played back in the day where teams were only shooting 65, 70 shots a game, other than your Phoenix Sun's team that you guys just played up a day on and played really, really fast. But I thought that Steve Nash was doing a great job of having them move without the ball,

like put the ball in other guys' hands, maybe like DeAndre Jordan and let him make a play, put him in a situation where you're dribbling handoff with Kyrie or KD where other guys can actually touch the ball and feel the ball at times. I think that was a big problem in Houston where James kind of just pound the ball, pound the ball, pound a ball. And it really don't give a guy a chance to really, you know,

touch it and get familiar with because by the time they catch it, they just got to shoot it, right? So I think Steve has to do a great job, which I thought he's done so far this season. It's just putting them guys in, different spots on the floor where they're just not pounding the ball where there's a lot like more of a motion style offense. But defensively, I think that's going to be the big question mark because now all three of them got to take challenges on the defense end. KD has stepped his

defensive game up over the year showing people that he's a way better defender than he was early in his career. Kyrie got to be a better defender. And we know about James on the defense end. So I just think that what New Jersey lost, especially with losing like Lavert and losing Jared Allen on the bench, they did lose some death and bench, but I just

feels like dumb guys got to be willing to buy in to do all the little things now. Okay, now James, you might be the guy that comes out, right, and maybe not score 30 and maybe have to shut down, let's say, a Kwai Lennel. Because that's your match up now. You can't,

You can't run from that. You can't say, okay, I'm going to put PJ Tucker on him, right? Same thing with Kyrie. Okay, I got to match up the night against Steph Curry. Now I got to chase him. I can't look for someone else to defend him. So I just think that these guys got to buy in now and take that superstar tag off right now, right? And say, all right, you know what?

I'm going to do anything possible to help my team win. But I think Steve has done a great job so far. but just trying to play fast, trying to get up and down and trying to get up as many shots as possible. What is it like, Rip? Because I think one parallel I can bring to your career

with this trade is getting a superstar player mid-season. And I know it was a little late when you got Rashid in the 2004 season. But what does that like to integrate a superstar? How were you guys able to integrate a superstar like Sheed midway through the season? And then win a title. How did you guys? that? Well, I mean, first of all, man, if she don't come to us, we don't win no world

championship. I mean, that's a talent. Like people always say, man, talent wins championship. Hardworking talent, but you need talent, man. I think that Rashid was probably one of the most underrated players that played in her game, a guy that could easily been a top three guy, you know, in the game. I mean, you had some of the great players. there's like Tim Duncan, KD, and Dirt and Vinsky during that air. They're put she right up there as one of the top guys at that position. But I feel as though, you know, during that year, we were good. We were solid, but I don't think we had enough to win the championship.

And me and Chauncey was in constant communication with Joe, Dumars, and was like, hey, you know what? We need an inside presence. where a guy that can demand a double team, a guy that can take some pressure off the guards because a lot of times I'm either coming off a pin down, Chauncey's coming off of pick and roll, and Ben is going to do his job on the boards.

I mean, he's going to be an enforcing on the defense end. You know, he's going to get his extra possessions, but we need a guy that's going to create a double team. And once Rashid came, right, I felt as though it was game over, not just a simple fact because of his talent, but his sacrifice. Man, I can remember when coming into the game and we were playing against somebody and I threw the ball to him in the post and the guy was on his back.

And Rajah noticed if Rashi got somebody on the back, he's either going to get a bucket or he's going to get to the free throw line. And I threw the ball to him and I cut off of him and he gave the ball back to me and I got a layer. I'm like, okay, you know, great high basketball eye. you make the right play. Appreciate it, homie. You know what I'm saying? We run down to court.

He says, rip, do the same play. I'm going to get you another wide open shot. That don't happen in the NBA, right? Especially when you got a guy that's a superstar, a guy that's been an all-star, a guy that could easily average 30 points. And I was like, whoa,

like, we got a real chance because he was willing to make the sacrifices. Like we talk about the Brooklyn next. he was willing to make the sacrifices and say, all right, you know what, this team don't need me to score third, right? In order for us to win, we're going to do this together, and we all got to make the right play. And it's all about brotherhood. So when he was, when he was the last piece that was added to our team, he was the perfect piece because he made everybody better. He made Ben Wallace better.

I mean, Rashid and Ben were like brothers. Like if Rashid didn't come to play, you. He knew he was going to hear from Ben Wallace. If Ben Wallace didn't come to play, he knew he was going to hear from Rashid. We held each other accountable, and he was the miss-and-piece for us to go ahead and win the championship. When you guys were going on your run, right, because I'll be honest, and Roger gives me stuff for this all the time. I grew up a Lager fan. So when I was growing up, you know, I thought we had it in a bag that year.

You know what I mean? I thought we were, we was about to, we was about to Detroit. Okay, right? How was that? Wait, are you from L.A. to be a Laker fan? Are you from L.A.? Not from Oakland. From the Bay.

Warriors were trash when I was growing up. So I just, you know, I was a Laker fan. So you just jumped ship. You just jumped ship. Okay, gotcha. All right. Rip, thank you, bro. Thank you.

Okay. It's whatever. Anyway, so I know the overall, the overall vibe was that the Lakers are going to beat you guys. What was that, what was that like for you guys going into that finals? Knowing that, but you guys just dominated the Lakers that year. They did. They did.

And there wasn't the overall vibe for anybody but Lakers fans, dog. Like, that was the overall vibe. That wasn't the overall vibe, like, nationwide or within NBA circles. Hey, Roger, bro, I'm trying to get a question off, G. You got it off. I'm just answering it. Like, that was your vibe. That wasn't the overall.

Ask Ripper that was his vibe. Hey, Rip, Rip, that was me and my homies vibe the whole time was that, hey, Pistons about to get served. So how did that feel? And I know you felt that. I know that that was just the thing, that was a thing, that a super team against the,

the Pistons. How did you guys deal with that and just say, no, we're going to serve them? Well, to be honest with you, we didn't look at it that way. I mean, once we got Rashid, man, we felt, we felt as though that we were invincible.

I'm telling you, we didn't believe that, that we could be beat by anybody. Tell you the truth. I mean, me and Chelsea had the attitude that we're the best back court in the NBA. Like, we felt that every night going in, like, all right, you know what, let's dominate this matchup, right? Like, that's just the type of confidence we had. Ben fails, though, he can guard anybody head up. Like, it didn't matter who it was.

It was like, hey, you know what, I'm a defensive player a year. I'm going to outwork you. Tashon was growing into his own, being long, lanky, do whatever possible that we needed to him to do to win. And then Adam Rashid was like the final piece. So by the time we got to the finals, I mean, we were like, man, bro, we're going to win. Like, I know what all the outside noise was saying, right? But one, for me personally, I couldn't allow Kobe to beat me again. He beat me for the state championship in Pennsylvania, right?

So, like, it was almost to the point where I was walking through the locker room looking at Ben and Rashid and Chaunceeing them guys. And I'm like, bro, I can't let this dude beat me again. Like, I just, I can't do it. You had the tears in your eyes now. No, you had the tears in your eyes. He was a bad rapper. Hey, Roger, I had the tears in my eyes because I knew that, one, he would always hold that over my head when he won the States.

He held that over my head. When I won a national championship in college, I called him. Like, look, bro, you can have that BS in high school champions, state champion. That don't mean I got an NCAA championship, you know. And he was like, oh, man, you know, hey, in two years, I'm going to have my, I'm going to have two rings. I'm thinking to myself, yeah, right, but I won up to you right now. So for him to go ahead and win one before me and then now we match up for a title game. I was like, bro, like, Ben, like, I can't let this dude like, bro, you got to come ready to play. I remember talking to

Ben in his locker. Like, bro, you got to come, be, come ready to play. I can't let this dude beat me again for the NBA finals. And he's. He's like, oh, rip, man, come on, bro. Get out of here, man. I got Shaq. Like, I got Shaq. Like, screw what you're talking about with your little high school wars with Kobe. Like, I got to guard Shaq and I got to guard him head up.

So I got my own problems and my own mission. But we felt as though that we were the better team. Like, when you say, okay, who had the best two players? Oh, absolutely. Lakers. I mean, they had Shaq and Kobe probably arguably the two guys that, in my opinion, should be in the top five greatest players of all time. But for that moment, like, we were feeling good, man.

We had this me against the world attitude. We were locked in. We were willing to do anything for each other. We knew that they had a little conflict on their team, especially in their locker room. And we were just, we were joined by the hit, man. We were just ready. We were prepared. to win it.

And I think that we never went into that series thinking that the Lakers was a better team. Were you guys even, y'all wasn't even nerd because, you know, I look at it in hindsight, you know, you guys show up and y'all kill them in game one, right? It's not even, it's, you guys dominate game one defensively. And then it seems like for the most part

you guys play pretty well in game two, enough to win. Should have won. Yeah. And then Kobe hits that ridiculous shot. Are you, how did that, how was that down the street? of that, you know, are you guys thinking, oh, we got a split, we good, or, damn, he just hit a three.

That was crazy. That's a momentum shifter. Well, first of all, like anything, Roger knows this, especially when you're playing in the playoffs and you're playing on the road. The goal is to go in there and get one, right? We knew that the first two games was going to be in L.A. Our goal was to get one. And where you can always sneak up on somebody is in game one, right?

We got that. We handled business. Game two came around. Like you said, it was a back and front. of game. We're up by what, one point? No, we're up by two, right? I think we were up by...

Don't you guys were up by three? No, no, we were up by three. We were up by three, yes, right? And I remember it's funny because we call the time out and we're in the huddle and Larry Brown comes down to Larry Brown was like, all right, guys, we're just going to fath.

Don't let them get up a three, right? And we, we had this one, We had this model on the defense end man up all season long. We ain't double, we everybody got to hold down their own position, right? We ain't sending no double teams, right? Like if you got your guy, you got to man up. If you ain't going to man up, you're going to get exposed, right? That was our mentality, right, all season long.

So when LB was like, hey, we're going to foul. We felt so that was a cop out. We like, nah, we man up. right uh just don't give up don't give up a three right so the play starts so lb is like looking at us like guys no i'm gonna found we we in the huddle like now we're gonna guard him head up tachian starts on him right somehow i switch on it right so i'm going on him now and i'm like bro this dude is no way like i'm i damn never want to just tripping on accident tell everybody my bag right like just tripping get into the pre-tho line and it looks like

accident, right? So he comes down, kind of whines me, hesitate, hesitate, and I know the move because I've been playing against the guy since we were 16 years old. He pulls up to three, game goes into overtime, we end up losing the game, right? After the game, Larry Brown comes, we're on the bus and we're on our way back to the airport, and he comes back to the, you know, coach is sitting in the front and all the players in the back. So coach comes to the back, and he's like, hey guys, you know, I want to apologize because, you know, I shouldn't, I shouldn't listen to y'all. And I, you should have, we, we, we should have, we should have found.

Like, that was my bad, you know, I, you know, I went through this with Philly. And as he's saying, Philly, because you got to remember when, when, uh, Roger, you was on that team when y'all played against the Lakers, right? Yeah. When y'all won, when y'all won one game won, right? Or y'all won one game in L.A., right? Game one. We snuck him just like y'all did. Okay, he got one game one, right?

So as soon as he says, Philly, right? Ben says, hold on, coach. You ain't in Philly right now. You in Detroit. We ain't coming back to L.A. So go back to the front of the bus and sit down. But yes, we got our one. We got three games in Detroit.

We ain't coming back to L.A. And we went back to Detroit. Coach took his butt right back to the front. you know, LB, you know, he always want to get the last say, right? But for that moment, we stunned him and we was like, yeah, coach, go back to the front. We ain't trying to hear that. We went back in the front, sat his ass now, and everything else is history. We end up wanting three games in Detroit.

Was it weird that you almost got traded for him for Coat? Can you shed light on that story from a Detroit point of view? Well, as a player, right, you hear a lot of, outside noise, right? And I, at the moment, I didn't think it was going to happen. I thought it was just outside noise until it came out years later in reports, because, you know, as players, we hear, and Roger can also attest to it, as players, you hear about trade rumors all the time, and you can't get caught up in outside noise, right? So when I heard it, I was like, yeah, you know, Kobe coming to Detroit, like him leaving L.A.

I just couldn't see that happen. So at the time, I didn't really even take any notice to it because I couldn't see the Lakers letting Kobe go. What's a rumor like that for basketball, though? Like, Roger, is there like that for basketball? Like, how do you know when it's a rumor is real? Like, I don't, I'm just, that's, you know, we think everything is real.

You really don't unless somebody can, like, confirm that as close to you. It's always rumors swirling around that. But, Rip, you hit on something I want to ask you, dog, about, you said that team had heard there was, some beef like in that LA locker room. What had y'all heard? What was going on with that? Well, you know, just like everybody else,

you heard all the issues that Kobe and Shaq was having over there, right? So to win a championship, you know, everybody got to be on the same page, right? So, you know, you hear all the different media outlets talking about that they had friction in the locker room with the guys that they had on their team. And we were just like, hey, no, this is our opportunity, right? Like, hey, bro, like, that's not our problem. Right. This is, this is that, you know, we know that we got to be locked in.

We understand that, hey, you know, this team is, I mean, they ran our air of basketball, right? Like, like, I mean, you know, going against the Lakers and knowing that they got two of the most dominant players on the team, like, bro, like, you try to find any different thing that's, that friction or whatever, just to exploit to go ahead and try to handle business. but we knew that it was something going on. We didn't know what, but we just knew that as long as we handle our business, good things that happen for us. You talked about a trade for Rashid that worked out for y'all,

bringing in that piece that you guys think you really needed. You were also involved in another trade for a huge name, not unlike the James Hardin situation when they brought Chuck over from Denver. Talk about the dynamics of that, Rip, what it did to your team because you lost Chauncey, you know, in the deal, you know, because that's kind of the opposite of the trade you're talking about with Rashid,

one that really solidify who you were. This one kind of was the beginning of kind of it may be falling apart a little bit, right? Yeah, no, absolutely. First, you know, first when you seen Ben go to Chicago, I think that was a huge blow, but we understood that, A, it was a business. Ben been underpaid this whole entire career, and this was the opportunity where Chicago stepped up and paid him a lot of money. And we had a conversation with Ben at the time, right?

And Ben was like, man, this is what Chicago was offering. This is what Detroit is offering. And we were so tight, bro. Like, it's crazy, man. We were truly brothers. And Roger, know this. This is a lot of times. When you're talking about the money that's at state in these locker rooms,

man, guys can get very, very selfish at times, right? And think about me. And during that time, it was just more like Ben said what Chicago was offering him. He told us what Detroit was offering him. We were like, body. Bro, you've been underpaid your whole career. We don't want you to leave, but you got to go get your money. Right?

Like, that's the type of brotherhood we had in our locker room where we had them conversations. When Chauncey got traded, it was a tough time, you know what I'm saying, for all of us. And especially myself because me and Chauncey had this place. that we were going to retire together, right? We were actually, when I went in there to get an extension on my deal, I was trying to match my deal up with his deal, right? So that was the goal. Like, all right, you know what?

We're going to be the back court, you know, forever here. We want a championship here. We're going to match our deal together. Like, bro, like, we were like peanut butter and jelly. We were best friends on the court and best friends off the court. So when that happened, it hurt, you know, and not to the point where, you know, I always say if Choncy was traded for Michael Jordan or whoever, you know, it would still have the same impact on our brotherhood in the locker room. I think when it happened, we didn't expect it. Chonsie was caught off guard, right?

I was definitely caught off guard because, one, I just signed an extension. like I signed an extension like two weeks prior to that, right? And that was never a conversation, right? It was never a conversation. Oh, we're thinking about trading Chauncey, right? Like I felt some type of way about that. And then I also felt some type of way that they didn't report that I got my extension to the day when they traded Chauncey.

That, you know, like all this back of the scene stuff that that I just didn't agree with, right? because it made me seem like, oh, I signed my extension on the day that Johnson got traded, right? That just didn't sit right with myself. But when Alan came over, man, like me and him talk, right? And I felt as though that we had a great conversation.

And when we're out there, both of us are scores. Both of us guys like to attack the rim. Both guys, you know what I'm saying? Like to leave it all on the line. and we were saying to ourselves, bro, we're going to figure this out, right? Like, like, you put the talent on the floor, guys are going to figure it out. But I think that the situation was more like, okay, I don't know what they promised Stucky when making the trade because Stucky was added to the starting lineup. And it's funny because Stucky was more like, hey, bro, let you and AI do your job.

thing and let me learn from y'all like let me you know and and it was crazy how they kind of used me and alan against each other which it was never no beef we always had a strong relationship we all had a great relationship we thought that it was going to work but it just happened that they were using all these different pieces once they started bringing me off the bench and then bringing alan off the bench it was like man what do you do and what do you say when knowing that hey you promise Allen sort of stuff when he came there. You promised me, sir. So it was just, it was just crazy, man.

It was just, it was craziness. How do you separate that where it's, you know, you're playing a, you're good with a player, but, you know, it's just not jibbing well on the floor. Like, how do you separate those two and make sure that you cool with the players is just not working out? Well, I think, I think one that we're all professionals, right? And over the years you learned to depending on where you're at or what team you are or who's the head coach, I mean, everybody comes in with different philosophies, right? So I think it's just all about the buy-in, right?

You got to be able to buy in, like, at times where, you know, like, I might have been the man for the first eight, nine years of my career. And then a young guy might come in and they might say, oh, you know what, you have to pass the torch. it's hard for some guys, right, to do that because you're so used to being a man and the team is surrounded by you and now you've got to do other things. I think that every great player in our game, you know what I'm saying? Especially when you get older, right? Like it was hard for me at times when I got older and I said, RK, you know, you can't just be a score.

You got to be more of a facilitator now because we've got better scores on the team, right? So I think it's a situation that's buying in over your journey, especially when you get older. Rip, you talked about stuck saying he wanted to learn from you and Chuck. And it always brings me to a question I ask everybody we have on is about their vets. I mean, you might have had like the best vet of all time. Like you had MJ when you were in Washington, right? Yeah.

Man, talk to me about getting to learn from Mike, the Wizards organization. And then I do think it's interesting because they got a player now in Bradley Beal that's just going bananas. and the talk is that he might, you know, want to get out of town. So it's like a three-part question, but I'm really interested. Like, what was it like learning from Mike? Tell me some wild shit that I wouldn't know about dealing with Mike. And then what's your take on the Bradley Beale situation there now? Oh, no, yeah, Roger.

I mean, get an opportunity to play with the greatest player of all the time. Like, Eddie's plays your position. Like, you can't get no better, like, school. foolish than that. I mean, how many kids would pay for an intern, like pay for an intern with Michael Jordan at your spot, at your position? But MJ was great. I thought it was great for me personally. One, being a young kid trying to figure out this whole craziness of the NBA, and being able to watch him and ask questions, and he was very receptive to all that. Like I said, people always talk about my median range jump shot.

A lot of that was because of Michael Jordan and going against him and competing against him each and every day and him being able to say to me, hey, Rip, you know, I'm garning. I feel like I'm locking him up in practice, but, you know, he's going to tell you something different. But he take two dribbles and he pull up on me and he knocks down a shot.

He says, Rip, add that to your game. And I'm like, why? And then he's able to break it down. He's like, okay, you know, you're driving downhill. the guy's backing up, you get him all balanced, he can never jump to his highest height going backwards. You got the advantage. You don't know if you want to shoot or get all right to the basket.

He was like, that's the hardest play in the game, the guard. And I'm like, okay, put that in my notes. I appreciate it. And I added that to my game. And that was a big part of my success as a professional athlete. So I just think that being able to be around him and learn from him day to day, he wasn't a guy that just stood on this pedestal and was like, pointing fingers down, like,

you need to do this, you need to do that, I'm the goal, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, which, in my opinion, you could do that because he's MJ. He just didn't do that with any of us. So I just think that that was a huge plus for me in Washington to be able to have a guy like MJ right, right on my side. No doubt. When you were talking about MJ, how do you, because we all know the stories about MJ's leadership and how tough he is on players. Did you get the other side of that as well? Just the, you know, the Burrell side of that, of where, you know, he is rating you.

If you do have that side, the Scott Burrell side, how do you? Did he get in the Rips ass is what you're asking him, right? Did he ever have to get a RIP's ass? Thank you. Thank you. Yes, exactly. Did he do that? Oh, man.

man, you know what? I would say, like, I watched the documentary, right? It was awesome. It was great. I loved every piece of it, right? But my experience with MJ was totally different, man. MJ was great for me. Like, MJ, he never really chewed me out, like, where you would say, like, okay,

did he try to, like, chunk me on? Nah, not at all. Like, for me, Le Ron Prophet, Courtney Alexander, we had a bunch of young guys on that team. MJ was more of a teacher to us, right? Like he, he, like, you gotta remember, he wasn't just a teammate, but he was also the president of the team, right? And he knew that these, like,

we were the young kids on a block. We are supposed to be the future organization, right? So he always was always supportive. I mean, he was super competitive. I mean, we talk trash to him, right? Me and prop, we talk trash to him every day in practice. And that's what young guys do, right? Like, like, Rajah.

Like, me and Roger are retired now, and our kids probably talk more trash than us. Like, we didn't play basketball. We don't even know what the hell we're talking about about this game. That's what young kids do. But I just felt as though that M was, you know, he was a guy that really looked out for the young guys who made sure that they put us in the right position.

I remember one time, like Doug, because, you know, Doug Collins was really hard on young players, right? and Doug will ride us way more than MJ, right? And I remember MJ got hurt for, I think his knee was bothering him for a minute and he was out for a couple of games. And Doug, we used to just light us up on the bench, just light us up, right?

So me and a couple of young guys with the MJ and it was like AM. And this is crazy. We'll go to MD, AM. Can you please just come sit on the bench? Because, you know, MJ was sitting in the back and he wasn't sitting on the bench during the games because he wasn't playing.

We was like, bro, can you please sit on the bench, man? Because he brought us comfort. Like, he was a guy that patting us on the back, you know, or tell Del, all right, that's enough. You know what I'm saying? To give us that even kill that we need. So when I tell people, people be like, yeah, right. No, it was like our security blanket.

Like, he was still on the bench. Yes, put his arms around us, you know, and tell us, okay, you know what, you were wrong here, you were right here. but he was more of a big brother to us. Who was worse on young fellas? Who was worse on young fellas? Doug Collins or Larry Brown?

Oh, oh. That's tough, right? Like, that's two notorious killers of young people. Oh, man. I mean, I seen, oh, man, that's a good. That's crazy. Because you look at it, right? When I was in Washington,

we had the number one pick with Kwame Brown, right? Doug Collins coached Tommy Brown. In Detroit, we had Darko Militia. Larry Brown, number two pick, right? Like, man, both guys were tough on young guy. Hey, Rajah, that is a, that is, I can't put one hard than the other on that one. Both guys were super tough.

I didn't want to be a rookie during that time. I had two. When I had Doug, I was. My third year in the lead, and Doug was tough on me, right? He was tough on me also, so I think they're neck and neck. Do you think because there's the other side of that with MJ Rip? Because, you know, there's the other side of that argument of his leadership style, even on the Wizards, right?

Because there's the rumor that he just berated Quame Brown throughout his rookie season, and it hurt his development. I mean, his credit is hurting his development. Do you think it's because he had respect for you that he just was like, all right, I'm not going to mess with Rip. Rip is good. Rip is a good player. And Rip has my respect, whereas someone like Kwame Brown or somebody else just doesn't have Mike's respect. Well, it was different.

I already had a couple years in the lead, right? And like, I was already seasoned on what the lead is, right? And it was more like, you know, when you come in, you got to earn your respect, right? Respect is not giving. So I knew I had to earn it. And you got to remember, before MJ came down to play with us, he was the president. So he was able to come to practice, watch us compete. He will, you know, scrimmage with us at times.

That was the moment where he's actually looking at the team and seeing, okay, who can I be in the foxhole with? Just by him coming down there competing against us, playing with us and everything else. When Kwame came, MJ was actually came and played. So it was like, okay, he's coming as the player. But the way that people talk and say that MJ was on him like that, no. No, he wasn't that Doug was on him. I would say Doug Collins was on Kwamey way, way more than MJ ever could be. And Doug was on all of us, you know.

But for Kwame to be a young kid and didn't have any experience at the pro level, still trying to find his identity, sometime that could be, you know, a situation that is not really good for a young kid, especially him still trying to find himself. But MJ will put his arms around Kwame, too. I think the media took it, took it to another level. Hey, talk to me about your, like, you've told me this story. You probably told it before publicly, too, about wanting to wear or wanting to be a team Jordan,

dude. Like you talk about having to earn Mike's respect, right? And him watching you like from up top before he came down to plane knowing he could be in a foxhole. Tell a story about wanting to be Team Jordan and like MJ's response. And then ultimately, you know, getting to be Team Jordan. And wear my damn golf shoes, by the way. I wear 15s. You know I've been asking for them 11s for like two years.

Hey, I got you. Man, I invite you on my house every week and you never come. You know what I'm saying? Because you're too busy, but that's for a whole new other story. Right. This neighborhood beef. The neighborhood beef, absolutely, right? Exactly.

Last time I talked to Raji said, hey, you know, I'll bring the kids over to come play. We're going to set up some twos and threes during the pandemic. I ain't heard back from himself. Oh, my God. Wow. But that's another story. Okay.

But nah, yeah, no. MJ, you know, like the one thing about MJ, right, M.J gets all the sample gear. when Michael was like unreal because now you're able to see all the different product that's that hasn't come out or is going to come out four or five months from now. And he's just wearing it around the locker room. Me, prof and Courtney Alexander, we used to be all around. Like, yo, M, let me get down. Man, like, yo, put us on a brand. Like, you know, like, it's a kid's dream to be with Brand Jordan. And like I said, we're still young pups, man. We still got snotty nose.

We don't, we don't, we're really nobodies when it comes to players in the NBA, right? We're still trying to figure it out, trying to find our own niche. And I used to go up to him all the time, me and Prof, you know, Courtney, we go up to him all the time, be like, A.M, man, we got to put us on a brand, man. Like, you got to remember at this time, we're probably just coming off of an 18 and, what, 18 and 50 record or something crazy like that with, with, with, the Wizards like the year before we didn't win a lot of games so mj would just boss up on us at times right and i'd be like yeah i'm like man put me in put me put me put me with the brand put me on it and he'd be like

hey rip uh are you are you an all-star i'm like nah nah nah nah man he was like hey man my sneaker my sneakers for all-star and champions. And I'm like, damn, damn. I'm not an all-star and I'm damn sure ain't no NBA champion.

So I'm thinking to myself, damn, maybe I should say I won that college championship, NCAA championship. But we know that, Roger, we know that don't hold no weight. In the locker room, right? That only zero weight.

So I was like, man, bro, like, really? So once he told all of us that, Right. And I don't know if he was joking or I don't know if he was telling the truth, but I looked at it like, okay, lo-key, he's serious, right? My mission from that point on was to be an all-star and to be a champion. And the day I became an all-star and the day that I became a champion, I reached out to him.

I called and I said, yeah, bro, we just won the championship. Because at the time, you know, I was still wearing Nike, but MJ, when you were with Nike, I would wear Jordan sometime because I'm playing with Jordan. But I wasn't really on the brand Jordan actual team. As soon as I won that championship, I called him M. What's up? He just started laughing.

You know what I'm saying? And I said, man, remember what you said to me? He said, don't worry about it, Rip. I got you. I got you. So, you know, me got a little M. I need a commercial too. Right?

Hey, Raj, I need a commercial too. I just don't need to be on a brand. Right. So he was like, become an all-star, I'll get you a commercial. Became an all-star, same call,

got me a commercial. So he was a big part of my success, a big part of my drive. You know what I'm saying? He knew how to push the right buttons, you know, for young guys. I always say that to everybody, man, you know how to push the right buttons for a player like me to be super successful.

That's dope. That is fire, man. I mean, Jordan, it just seemed like, you know, he was motivating, man. You had, you know, that's all it was, right? You had to take it as motivation, right? Is that fair? And see, I'm from, and I'm from Codesville, right? So, coming from where I come from, it was so many people telling me that I couldn't do stuff.

So I respond better when someone tells me I need to achieve something or I can't do. anything. Like, I don't like stuff just giving to me. And, you know, I didn't wake up, I didn't grow up with everybody just hand-delivering everything to me. I had to work for it. So I looked at it as a challenge and it was great for my career. Yeah. Now, before we get to real ones, I got a real question for you, Rip, you were one of my, you know, contrary to like being a Laker fan, you were one of my favorite guards growing up. Now, I want to get your list, man. I respect you. I think you're one of the best.

So what is your, what is Rip Hamilton's top five guards of all time? Top five guards. Two guards, two guards, two guards. Two guards. Wow. Wow, man. Oh, I would have to go,

Michael Jordan won, right? I mean, I think that's everybody's answer. I would have to go with Kobe Bryant, too. I would have to go with the Wayne Wade three my fourth would probably be I mean there's a lot of great guards

back in the day that I didn't play against whatever man so four I might have to go with Ray Allen five I'm going with

James Hardin is considered a three, right? We're going to put him as small position as he a point out. He's a two. What about him? AI, is AI a two? Richard Hamilton is it two? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. But we put AI at the one or the two?

I was going to put it. I usually put them at the two, but Eric Snow. Gotcha. If we're putting Alan Iverson at the two, I'm going Alan Iverson. man AI 3, 4

like him and DeWaywee like the way he got the championship so I might have to go D-Way 3, Allen Iverson 4 5 you're gonna put Ray at that 5 maybe Ray out of 5 yep okay boom all right that's what's up

Who's Rogers who's Rogers I want to hit Rogers what I didn't do one bro you're the I'm a co-host I'm a co-host man you also NBA player I'm very I'm very curious who's No, I think that's, I think it's actually a really good list. I like MJ. MJ is always going to be one, Covis, too.

You know, I think you are splitting hairs to some degree three and four, but because of the championship, I like, I like going D-Wade. I, you know what? I'm going Alan Iverson 3, D-Wave 4. And 5 is tough, dog. Like, not that, you know, not because you're on a show, bro, but I put you in a toss-up with Ray for me at number 5. I appreciate that.

No doubt. Straight up. And, ooh, and Reggie, too. Like, and real talk, you guys all kind of had similar stuff that was run for you, right? Like, it was, it was the similar task of running off of, like, 22 screens per possession trying to chase y'all, dog. So I put that as a trifecta because I think all three of y'all deserve being there. That's why Roger was crying before games.

He knew he had to run through all them screens. It was some real bullshit, though. Like, and you're talking about, like, with Reggie, it was the Davis' brothers trying to light you up. And with Rip, you have Rashid and Ben. Like, these are big ass dudes laying wood, like, as you're coming around the screen. It's crazy. Man. No, yeah, now, listen, I used to lick my chops waiting for Raja and whispering and Ben and them's ear, like, look, you better hit him too. You know, you know, you're going to try to run through the screen, you know, like, he ain't going to, he ain't going to be no chunk. He ain't

going to try to run away from the screen. He's going to try to run through it. So, Make sure you knuckle up and put his ass to the ground. They did a good job. All right, man. Well, let's get to a real one of the week. Now, real one of the week is a person or an agency that you were impressed with this week, that earns your respect. I will go first. We'll go with Roger's second and say the best for last to rip.

So my real one of the week is none other than Kevin Durant, who was bawling out of control right now off of torn Achilles. He's averaging nearly 30 a game. And his last three games, he's averaging 32 points, seven rebounds of seven assists on 57% shooting and 47% from three point range. I've never seen anybody ball like this off in Achilles. And for Kevin to do that, he's my real one of the week. Roger, who's your real one of the week?

Yo, my real one of the week is Lamar Demetrius Jackson, pompano's finest from right around the corner they said the man couldn't do it. Like they really were like he can't win from behind. He was only the MVP, like the Heisman. They said like his style wouldn't translate to the playoffs. Look at it. He's Owing two.

I mean, you talk about Peyton's a 500. Peyton Manning's a 500 record quarterback in the playoffs, right? Like you don't win every damn playoff game. I thought it was hilarious that the man was 0 and 2 when they had already said he couldn't win one. And all he did was come out and go down like 10-0 and then come back and do it his way. too. Not like he was ripping

it all over the field and playing in the pocket. Like brother said, this is my style and this is how I'm going to do it and he did it. And he got him a playoff dub and he's my real one of the week, Lamar Jackson. Now you're going to leave it up to me, man. Listen, bro, that's a hard question, man. Like, y'all prepped for this, man.

Y'all literally prepped for this. Fair, fair. That's fair. You did not prep for this. No, absolutely. Man, for me, my real one of the week is since we was talking a lot about it and I'm going to say Michael Jordan and the reason why is

this man has his own golf course guys like literally he created his own experience out here in Florida where he has four or five hundred acres of land right the clubhouse is something like a spaceship

right there's no rules just don't be an asshole it's an unbelievable Boy experience. The one thing that they said was the golf course don't create your experience. You create how you experience want to be at a golf course. Got members there from Obama to Tom Brady to Dustin Johnson and all these other great athletes. For a former NBA player to create his own golf course, how many guys you know have their own golf course, own facility,

That's a different bag. A different bag. And it takes care all the caddies with everything that they need. So I'm going with Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Damn it. Hey, listen, can I just follow up on that? Richard Hamilton. This is my commitment to you, Logan, and Sasha.

Rip Hamilton asked me if I'd like to play MJ's course. He hit me one night. Do I want to play MJ's court? You know what my response to Richard Hamilton was? This is MJ's damn golf course now, bro. I'm a golf addict. This is MJ's shit, right? Yeah. I said, no, I have to podcast in the morning. Yeah. I said I have to podcast in the morning because that's my job. That's my commitment

to the ringer dog. And I did not get to play fucking MJ's golf course. He did say that. If I was, Rick, Rip, can you ask him again? No, no, no, no, no, you don't get that opportunity, man. You don't. I mean, like, what do you mean? Like, you know what I'm saying? I'm like, come on, bro. let's go do it. And he hit me with that. He should have brought his iPad. You should have got made sure he had the proper connection.

And we could have did it from the golf course. That's what I should have done. Like if I was, that's what I should have fucking done. Now I feel bad. Real one of the week. It's not us. You don't sound like you feel bad, bro. I feel bad, man.

You know what I'm saying? I never get the opportunity to golf all MJ's course. And we took that away from you. Sorry. Apologies. My bad. That was a really, this has been a really good edition of the real ones. Thank you so much, Rip, for coming on.

Man, it was an honor to interview you, bro. And we will see you guys next week. Make sure you tap in to all the other Ringer podcast. Make sure you tap into the Ringer NFL show, the mismatch group chat. Ringer University, a new podcast we got going out right now. And also The Answer with Chris Ryan. We will see you guys next week. Talk to y'all soon.