You were a part of Story Chasers? Yeah, that was me. Oh, yeah. Because I remember we took a picture of Hugo through the game.

No, you all went crazy.

Hold on, that's for real? We got to find that video. Five, four, three, two, one. Hugo, start.

Bad, bad, pod with Rome. We have a very special guest.

Special, special guest. New York's Finest right now.

New York's Finest. So start it off right. Set it off right. Okay. New York, Nicks, point guard. His handles are smooth as hell. If you're claiming you eight miles, well, you'll probably lose yourself. He's got clamps, too. I swear he's the truth. I don't care if you're the shit. You're not dropping a deuce. The more he gets scrutinized, the more he dresses to the nines. The newest star in New York City. Welcome, Miles Deuce McBride. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. Thank you for being here, my friend. Absolute pleasure. I mean, we're across the street from Madison Square Garden. So if you follow basketball, specifically this spring and summer in New York City, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing this man's name, a new star in New York City. How does it feel to be putting your footprint in such a big city, get your name on the map like that?

It was amazing, honestly. It was been a grind my first two years. I wasn't playing as much. This year, opportunity opened up, and I feel like I took it and ran with it. So it feels good to be a little more stamped, I guess.

I'm a fan. You know me? Yeah. Everybody know me. I watch games. I'm like, Nicks, go win, man, because they bench. They got Deuce McGrind. Different energy. Play the right way. Pick up 9:40. Physical. Pull the trigger, get to the rack and really hoop. Happy when he signed a deal. Happy for you, bro. Fucking happy for you. Appreciate it. Because this league is hard to get in, but once you get in and you get fitted, the perfect words you use, stamp, once you get that, you can be in this this league for another 15, 16 years. So I'm happy for you. No doubt.

But you also have to have a confidence in yourself to be able to succeed on such a big stage. And we're watching these playoff games where you're not shying away from the moment. You're scoring a ton of points. Big baskets, too. Where does the confidence come from?

Preparation, honestly. I think the amount of work I put into my game, just growing up, playing in big games, growing up, I I always wanted that. I was a quarterback in high school, so I always like that attention. I think you understand you always want to be somebody making that play. You always want to be that person. So I feel like I put the prep into my work and it just shows.

What quarterback were you?

What type of quarterback you think I was?

Pocket presence, stood there like a statue, just with the ball around.

Yeah, I was definitely throwing it downfield. Were you? That's hard. Gunslinger? That's hard. Definitely.

Yeah? I know nothing about football. I couldn't play football. I'm not tough enough.

But being a point guard is like being a quarterback. Yeah.

But for me, though, everybody different. I had to learn how to be a point guard. I didn't come off the rip in a point, so I had to learn. I had to go through the trials and tribulations of getting my ball to get impressed. You know what I'm saying? All that shit. So it was a process.

Did it come naturally for you being a point guard?

Because the NBA point guard is different.

I was going to say it's different. I say yes and no, because I make good decisions. But then you also got to learn how to eat more off the rip. You know what I mean? You got to be downhill, constantly always putting a different type of pressure, I think. And I think that took a little bit of time.

That takes confidence from a coach. And most of the time, coaches already had the point guard. They already had that established. So you got to come in and you got to do what you do, especially new and off the bench, fast. You got to come in When you're in an eight-point game, you come in there, you feel me? 8-point game. You come in there and make next time out, it's a tie game. They're looking at you like, damn, what the fuck? You know what I'm saying? So you're like, NBA different. You got to get to it. As a guard, you got to get to it. You got to get to it or stop some shit.

There's different mentality starting and coming off the bench, too. I know you prefer to start. I mean, I'm sure everybody prefers to start. I'm sure there's nobody that does it. But it also takes a different type of mentality and game to be like, okay, I'm going to come in and I'm shooting right away. I don't give a fuck. I'm going to shoot cold. You had to do that sometimes.

Definitely. I mean, first few years, I wasn't shooting it as well because I feel like the limited time, I wasn't prepared. You come from college, you got the ball off rip whenever You can take a bad shot, still stay in the game. When you don't get that same opportunity, it feels like everything's a little more rushed. You work so hard and you want to show it. Then you get that pressure on yourself. I don't even feel, honestly, pressure from anyone else. I feeling on myself just because I know how hard I work. So I just want to make sure I'm doing everything the best to my ability, and I want it to show. That's hard. So I feel like that was the thing that really separated this year. For my first two years was like, I know I put the work in, so now I can just settle into it instead of jumping the gun on a little bit of a few things.

You was with New York the whole time?

Yeah.

So you was there when D-Rose there? Yeah.

People don't know.

He cold.

Man.

He cold.

I learned a lot.

I know. You could tell the way you You can tell the way you play. Listen to him talk, it literally sounds like D-Rose talking right now. Swear, I promise you, though. That's why I asked the D-Rose question. He's played like D-Rose. It's crazy.

People know his athleticism, but then he gets injured, and then his career has to take a different trajectory. So what do people not know about D-Rose? What do people not know about the way that he's instilling knowledge into the next generation players?

His ability to His ability to put pressure on the rim constantly. Come down, they're backing him up because you want him to shoot three. Instead of settling, he takes up space. So it might be a twin-cross twin. You know what I'm saying? It might be a 20-20-20 cross. You know what I'm saying? That space you take up, he takes it up with you. So you can't keep battling. The next thing you know, you backpedal too much. One dribble, you're going to the rim. You know what I'm saying?

Like a downhill playing style?

But all the time, though, in pick and roll, in transition. He know better. That's my homie. So just the way he does it in transition, pick and roll, and defensive deflections, him with the ball in transition, off the ball, off the catch. He a motherfucker.

He gave you the same type of... Is that what you glean from his game, those types of things, taking up space, tackling the rim and everything?

Absolutely. Because he was... Obviously, D-Rose's shooting ability got better over his career. At first, talking about guys going under on picking roles. He was like, I mean, you don't have to shoot that off rip. You know what I mean? The way you can beat people downhill once they go under because you're going through. You're going under.

Three motherfuckers.

Yeah. Now I'm downhill.

And so as far as who you feel like you got the most game from, give me a couple of people that you played with and then just people that you watched coming up being like, okay, this is who I'm going to emulate my game after. This is who, with my skillset and my physical attributes who I could realistically have a similar game to.

I mean, I watched LeBron, obviously being an Ohio kid. I mean...

Yeah, you're the same basically body type as LeBron.

I mean, honestly, I thought I was going to be. My dad's 6'6. I thought I was going to get close to it, but didn't happen. But as a kid, you think, I'm going to grow. I want to get people involved, but I'm also athletic, so I can get my own, you know what I mean? Pull up, get in transition, go downhill. And then when I felt like I wasn't going to get it to be that height, then I started really trying to look at more point guards. I liked Brandon Roy, watching him, Daron Williams.

That's a downhill player.

His pull-up game is crazy. People don't know about that Utah- Oh, my goodness.

He doing twin crosses off the pick and roll. Usually people just do that at the ISO. He coming off the pick and roll. He'll come here, switch, pound, quarele, come here. Yeah, he cold.

I feel like he's good coaching tape for point guards.

Tough.

Yeah. He had the ball for time, though. I was going to say he wasn't- His usage was pretty high.

He was the only person that could dribble.

Yeah. That's how it was, but for real.

The Utah scene? Him, Roni Brewer, Andre Karolinko. Yeah, that's tough. I mean, he wasn't nobody really else handling by him.

Mehmed O'Core? You know what I'm saying?

He wasn't nobody else handling by him. He nice, though. That's a good one. I like that. I played against him, too, in his career. Yeah? Yeah, he nice.

How was he?

He was like 30 something.

But he's a stocky guy. You know what I mean?

Pulse you up.

Yeah, he can be imposing with his physicality.

How's Tib? Because I had Tib when I was in Chicago. We did a close-out drill for an hour straight. Boxes and elbow, one, two. Shell drill, they call it. You all still do that?

Yeah. Damn. Full-court close-outs. Full-court close-out? Full-court close-out.

Explain.

You know, go to free throw line, close out. Go to half court, close out. Other side, free throw line, close out. Baseline, turn around, do it again.

I love it, Tips.

I love it. I mean, he gets the reputation of being a psycho. No, I love Tips. I'm playing his guys. I mean, you look at the minutes that your teammates are playing. They're in like, Josh Hart's playing 48 minutes in the game. There's a reason why he trusts his guys, and then he's going to play them for the entire time. Is he as much of a psycho as people say?

I mean, basketball genius. I agree with that.

Yeah, that's a nice way of saying psycho.

Doc loves them, too. Really? What's something that tips on this? I want to know. I fucking love it, too. The way he's able to get players to buy into a system, not star players, not guys that need the ball. Josh Hart, he was just in Portland, bro. He didn't have no home. We didn't know what was Josh. Okay, cool. He was cool here. He was okay here. He really got home now. He can actually be himself, rebound a ball, push it, shoot tough shots, not feel bad if he missed one, not feel bad if he airballs him. That's all coaching. That's all tips.

Yeah, I feel like he really brings the dog out of people. I look at Jimmy Butler, I'm like, he brought the dog out of Jimmy Butler.

And he fuck with his guys. You come up on the tips, tips go make sure you're straight, Taj Gibson. You know what I'm saying? You got Taj forever, everywhere. But it's something about Taj, the locker room present, The leadership of it, knowing his system. Intensity. Everything. I fuck with him. For real.

It's real. I fuck with him.

So since he's such a rotation-oriented guy, and since he probably keeps it to eight guys, basically, he's not going to be going all the way down the bench. What was your mentality like before you're in that rotation, and then the trade happens, and then quickly gets traded, and then you wind up in the rotation? How do you make that shift being like, Okay, I'm ready?

Stay ready. I mean, my whole goal was to practice like I was going to go out there and play 48 minutes tomorrow. That's how I wanted to prepare because you never know. Somebody goes down or God forbid that, but you never know. And the NBA is a long season. Guys just miss games So if you're not preparing like that, why are you doing this?

Was there ever points where your mentality where you're like, Man, what the fuck is this, bro? Why am I not getting more minutes or when is it going to be my time? And if so, what's your support system and who do you talk to to be like, Okay, I'm on my path. I'm at the right age for where I am. I'm going to be all right.

Man, of course. When you're not playing, everything's going to remind self-doubt, disappointment. But I mean, I've been through tough situations growing up. So going back to my family, talking to them, just trying to relate to their struggles, too. And then my teammates, of course, and coaching staff. I'm just a guy that's always going to ask questions Just figure out whatever I can do to either get in, and then when I get in, make an impact. So I feel like asking questions is number one thing because you want to be as prepared as you can in every situation. So going to guys like D-Rose, Julius, when Jalen came, we had Kemba before. You know what I mean? Guys are- Yeah, I forgot about Kemba.

Damn.

I'm asking questions. They were probably tired of me.

Some good fucking guards, too. Yeah, that's a nice little- Man, that's some good guards. Yeah.

Those are guys who are successful.

So you're a rookie. Who was the starting guard there?

Kemba and Alec. Yeah.

So you got Kemba, you got Brunson, you got D-Roy.

Man, it makes sense, right?

Yeah, it makes sense. It makes sense.

That's a lot to learn from. But Brunson, he's still a young guy. Are you learning a lot from him? Are you growing with him? What's your guys' relationship like?

I would I mean, I'm only 23. I'm going into my fourth year. So I feel like everything for me is just to absorb as much as I can, ask as many questions, because I haven't been in certain situations that they have been in. He played in a playoff series before he got to New York. You know what I mean? It took over. And then he started off his career not playing as much. You know what I mean? So learning from those type of things, I feel like, really helped me this year. Seeing what he did, that also gave me confidence to know that, all right, not everybody's going to come into the league and just get going right away. You got to build your reputation. You got to build off the good games you have. You got to forget about the bad games you have and move on. So I feel like those type of things, having those type of players around you, that really helped me.

The Nova guys, are they sticking together? Are they eating at their own table and being an exclusionary to everybody else?

No, they're very welcoming.

Love that. Where were you and what was the exact moment in your life when you learned that Isiah Hartenstein is black.

For real, he was black. That fucked me up.

You're the first person that talked about it because you talked about it, and then they talked about it on their show.

I had a teammate when he was with the Clippers, Terrence Mann.

Yeah.

And Haraldsign said, So I'm on a court. I'm like, T-Man, hey, man, you better tell him what the fuck going on, man. What's wrong with him?

What the fuck?

He cool. You know me, so I think we lose. So now I'm really irritated. Hey, man, what's What's up with him? He's like, No, no, he cool, he cool, he cool. You know he's Black? He what? He's Black. A Black dude. No, man. No. I found out he was Black, man. That shit was a vibe. I like him even more. Why?

What the fuck? That's fucked up.

Why would you not just like him exactly the same? Because I like the way he play. I like how he impact the game. I like his whole attitude now. I like him. Now.

I like He was ready to go had it with him before.

Because he'll look at you crazy. He'll look at you like this. What the fuck is you looking at? You know what I'm saying?

Did you have a similar experience learning this important information?

I can't lie. I definitely dapped him up different.

You talk about a person, right? You talk about a guy who actually took his chance in a little opening. No one seeing him playing. Maybe a little backup. Mitchell Robinson, for sure. Everybody thought, a Julie's round to Mitchell Robinson, for sure. 100%. Like, okay, Harder style might come out, some energies to play. Somebody got hurt, he might play. Man, he's starting five, man. New York Knicks, bro.

And what was that shot? Was it a floater? He got the float. He got the float.

I'm talking about, he... That's a black move, bro. The float is a black move. It really is, bro. I'm telling you, it's a float. It is true.

I definitely saw a white chocolate. Who?

Jason Williams.

Okay, I have. Who next? When the last time you said, Why do shoot float?

I'll think of one. I just wasn't prepared for this question.

You don't have one. It's not a big either.

Luka does it? Jokuj?

No, man. Can't count them. Jokuj, they're euros, man. You're going to see.

I mean, all right. Yeah, you're right.

All right. Good flow. Left-hand flow, too. Fair enough.

The chat is going to happen.

And he got flowed off one leg, and he got flowed off two legs. Yeah, he's a skilled player.

He's a very skilled player.

And he know how to screen and roll. Catch the ball. Great hands, too. Great hands.

That was what was crazy about the Knicks is just like, there was reserves. Somebody goes down, Julius Randall goes down. Okay, next man up. Mitchell Robinson goes down. Next man up. Brunson's hurt. Next man up. It really didn't matter. Someone's traded. Next man up. It seemed like everybody was really prepared to be on that next line. And it's almost like, well, damn, that makes me wish that Tibbs went to his... For you guys, that Tibbs went to his bench earlier because you have this deep bench and you don't necessarily have to run guys into the ground.

Tom, I don't think it's running guys into the ground.

No, yeah.

I don't think it's running. I think when you have a... You got to understand, the NBA, when you have a lineup, and you're used to a rotation, and obviously, he's been having guys that has been in the system for years. But when you have things They complement each other. It's tough playing 9-10 guys because that means you'll be playing motherfuckers 10, 11 minutes a game. It's hard to catch rhythm like that. Eight, you'll catch rhythm. Eight guys, you're going to know exactly what you're going to get. Okay, cool. They're giving me this, they're giving me that. Okay, somebody get hurt, you put somebody else in with the eight. I know exactly what I'm going to get from these guys. They know exactly how many minutes they go play. You feel better as a player. Now, if you're the 9, 10 guy, you feel awful. You feel god awful. Fuck, I want to play. Yeah, I want to play. Like you said, getting your mind, I'm better than him, man. Coach Trippin. Those for the weak mind of motherfuckers. Strong mind of motherfuckers, okay? All my time will come. I'll be ready.

Like, Alex Birks came in and he was heated up immediately in the playoff.

Mcdonovan's playing Detroit, getting his head cracked in, come right to New York. Okay, cool.

That's who?

Talk about somebody like, Deuce. Deuce get in. He's a 19 guy before quickly is there. You understand what I'm saying? Like, okay, cool. Man, motherfucker, get hurt. I might play. You know what I'm saying? Okay, cool. Your ankle hurt today? Oh, shit. I might be playing the knife. I'm ready, but the excitement, I might be playing. You get all that, you go through all that, and now you're playing. You take advantage. I ain't never going back to the knife, man. Fuck that. I want to start now. You feel me? And that's the transition you go on your mind. You go from 10th guy to, okay, let me get 6-7 guy. You go from 6-7 guy. Hold on, hold on. He getting hurt. What's going on? I got a chance to start. You know what I'm saying? And that just takes off. Man, they told me Jalen's ankle was hurt. Hey, Pat, man, we're calling you up from the G League, man. Jalen's ankle. What? I wanted to drive there. What? Get me there now.

Where was the G League team?

What was the fucking team? What was the Houston Rock shit?

It must have been a Viper.

Where are they? Right on the border of Texas, too.

You driving-Not El Paso.

Rio Grande. Rio Grande. Rio Grande. Rio Grande.

You're about to drive from Rio Grande.

Man, look, man. I'm talking about what? His ankle hurt. Let me get up there. I need that smoke. I need it. I mean, because I'm the I'm the third guard. He heard that I'm the third guard. That mean I might get in if we down 20.

That's how I'm thinking. No, for real. That's how you start thinking. You'll take anything. Because you know you can do something with it. You know what I mean?

Just like, okay, I'm about to showcase.

I don't care if it's a deflection. Oh, God.

I was in there, oh, my plus minus was. Okay, plus one. And that went from... I've been a twelve-year starter now. Off that. Off that sprain ankle.

Off that drive.

Off that sprain ankle. You feel me? Off that once.

Spraying your ankle speeding to get there.

Well, I'm not going to fuck. I got to get it, man. I got to get it, man. Fuck that. I got to get it.

So I think that begs the question then, once everybody gets healthy in the offseason, then what does the rotation look like next year?

That's a great one.

It's a Tibbs That's a Tim's question. It's a Tib's question.

And I really think you really think about health issues. You got to think if they, that Indiana series, you really don't really know until you get in the middle of the playoff, second rounds, the finals, how healthy your team is. You think they got Julius Randall against Indiana. They got Mitchell Robinson against Indiana. They got Bogdanavich Indiana. I'm talking about like, that's a whole entire difference there.

It's literally a whole new starting five.

We literally named four starters. And then you talk about, I Boston has been dominant, so you can't take anything away from them. But like I always say, the healthiest team I always win. The healthiest team I always win. That's just how it is.

So what's your thought process as far as your playing time next year? Because when you're scoring When you're having basically these 20-point games in the play- Oh, no, he's playing.

For sure, he stamped himself. He only take play-offs. Once you get busy in the play-offs, you do anything in the play-offs, you're cool. You get your money off the play-off.

So you and Brunson can play together. You feel comfortable with you guys as a backcourt together?

I actually like them together, too. Yeah? Yeah. It's interesting. Because you can take Brunson off the ball. Not that you want him off the ball a lot because they're trapped. You get easier plays, but you can offset it because he I got to make a full. So you can put Brunson on my full, can't shoot. I do too much work. Now, you just put all your energy on offense. Can't just think. Yeah, Nicks got some shit, man. They're tough, man. They play hard as fuck. God damn, they play so fucking hard, man. I know. And that's the talk of the locker room. It He ain't even about the players. We watch a film, we playing the Nicks. We're not playing Nicks, we don't watch a film. They talk about all their body, they go to the bench. They, Yeah, Mcbribe. Hey, you all, he can hoop. Don't be thinking. Blood, you all could just come in and blood just go. You go pressure blood. He just go, No, he go hoop. He go, Pick your fool. Whoever get that bitch, whoever he guard, other guard set the screen, get the honest switch. He go hoop.

My mom, we played, they had he picking them up for the full court. They beat your shit out of us. Then he took my ball and everything straight up. Took your ball? Beat the shit out of us, man. I remember that game. You remember this? Brunson got busy in Philly. Yeah, I was about to say. Brunson got busy in Philly. He was doing this? Yeah.

No, I was there.

You was there? Yeah. I remember that game.

We had a gathering. We got everybody together. Everybody came down from New York.

They're like 33s.

We're going to take care of business against the Knicks because at this point in the season, the Knicks hadn't ascended to We had Joel.

Joe come off the 50-point game.

No, they ruined our party. We were going to have a party in Philly, and all our Knicks fans were-It was a day game.

I think it was a day game. It was like early evening. Yeah, it was a cool game. Come on, check ball. They beat the shit out of- No, it was a boat raced Philly.

It was bad.

That was awful. I remember that. I tell everybody, I'm doing an interview. Hey, Pacman, what's the key Nicks series? Deuce McBride. Straight up. He played well, they go win.

Then And you just have the whole city behind you. Because I went to game one against the Sixers. And before the game even started, I'm like, it's fucking loud in here, bro. It was like that for real? No, it was insane. Because I've been to play off games in a lot of different stadiums, but a New York Knicks crowd charged up behind one of the highest seas and probably half the people in there's lifetime. They were charged up in a different way. Did you feel All that energy? And what's it like being in the city as everybody's outside, fucking bing bonging and having a good ass time?

That shit look crazy, too.

Just out front, having the time of their fucking life. So what's the energy like from your end?

I mean, you take it and run with it. You feed off other people's energy. You know what I mean? So when everybody's in there at the 60 minute mark before the game starts, you know what I mean? Just yelling. It's just yelling.

Other arenas is not like People are talking shit to me. There's three motherfuckers in a certain arena, 60 minutes. My voice is 150 people. Mix. It was packed, packed, packed.

Running out for warmups, and it's already packed. It's ready pack, and you still see people coming up, going up and down the stairs.

The pyrotechnic show, there's fucking fire going off and shit beforehand. It was just eye-opening. And honestly, it made me want to go home to be like, you have to be loud if you're from another city. You have to match that energy. And especially if you haven't been to that energy, you don't necessarily know what level you have to take it to. And then in Philly, Nicks fans are coming down to Philly, and people from Philly are pissed off. They're like, what the fuck are all these Nicks fans doing?

They travel everywhere.

And just because there's so much money in New York, it's such an easy drive down to Philly. It was just fucking... The fans really did a good job of showing out for the Nicks this year. And Even though you guys came up short, it was a hell of a ride.

Hell of a ride.

How many games they go in Indiana?

Seven. Oh, yeah, seven.

That was your first game seven?

That was my first game seven. That was a good series.

That team different.

Indiana?

It's hard to explain. On paper, they don't look like or they don't feel like. But when you get in the game, they play so fast, right?

Who said they're a top five offense of all time? It might be by some metric. I don't know if it's points per game or possessions or some shit like that, but they're just flying up.

It was not a surprise. Rick Carlyoff offense is always on some of the best offense in NBA history, always. He had Luka, it was. So it's not so surprised. But the way they play with Miles Turner and you try to take Halliburton away, Nim Hart, guys step up guys that you're not really expecting to have a ball. And T. J. Is playing downhill all the time. And T. J. Mccartner was Indiana tough, man. I mean, you all know.

Got both of you guys out of here.

Got both of us out of here. Both of us right up out of there.

Yeah, that's tough.

And they played 13 games. What a seven. Yeah, they played 13 games. Got 6-1-7 with them. That's impressive.

Yeah.

That's impressive. Thirteen games in two weeks. Yeah. Yeah, that's impressive.

A lot of injuries on both teams.

No, we got to give them a break. We got to give them, yeah. It don't matter.

Got to give them their credit. It don't matter. So what do you think their future is the Pacers. Is that a team that has to add a couple of pieces, or is it just keep core together and grow?

Growth, keep core together. Maybe you add something else, maybe a lock on presence. You probably know better.

Yeah, for them, I think they grow. I think it's best for them to stick together because they got young guys. They have, I feel like, a good start with Tyrese.

So I feel like-Who's the kid that got hurt? Ben Matheron.

Yeah. I like him.

Don't forget about him.

He can who?

He a dog, too. He can guard, too. And he like tough shots, too. So they got a chance, man. I don't really like them when they had Buddy Hill because they didn't have a lot of defense out there in the backcourt. In the playoff, you need that shit. But when they made the change and got Ciacom on, I didn't think they were that good.

No, he fit perfectly with that.

They're a better playoff team, too, with Tiaq.

Guys, can we take a second and talk about game time? Game Time? Game Time, the official ticketing partner of Bar-School Sports, the official ticketing partner of the Pat-Bev pod with Roon, and my favorite ticketing app. I got it open right here to Philadelphia because my mom's birthday was this past weekend. And I said, what better way to connect with a family member than an experience? Of course, you give them something material. It'll last for about 10 seconds as the transaction takes place. You do an experience. If that's your gift, it It will last them their entire lifetime. They'll be able to fondly look back on those memories and say, yes, I am loved and I'm surrounded by people who love me. So I said, mom, let's go to an Eagles game. Hopped on game time, of course, you know me. And I picked the exact seats that I wanted, the exact price that I wanted to pay, club level, four tickets, and we're going to be having a blast. I said, You and me, you pick the other two people. So I I don't even know who I'm going with, but I know I'm going to have a good time because I'm getting there through game time.

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Are you in different card games and stuff like that? Or are you in different- Man, we slumped on the plane.

I'm not going to lie. Really? Our team slumped. No, it's crazy.

I haven't been on a sleep in one flight.

Yeah, because you have a different energy. That's crazy. He's probably waking people up on the plane.

Or like, why the fuck everybody's sleep? You know what I'm saying? It's crazy. You say that everybody playing different, though.

Yeah, you got to get us knocked out.

Yeah, we knocked out, man. Netflix, whatever on your iPad.

That's why about. I'm trying to see if you were an NBA, what table you would be at?

I'd probably get the same respect Hartenstein gets.

You'll probably be at the car game table.

You'll be at the car game table.

Yeah, bro. Gin, Rummy or whatever you guys are playing.

Yeah, a little Booray.

Booray. Oh, man.

You'll be on that flight.

Because I heard some nasty things about Obitoppin while he was on the Knicks and him paying his bets.Not.

Paying up.Not paying up. Not paying up. Okay. I think he still owe somebody, but I'm not namey.

He got bounced, though.

Yeah, he's got incredible bounce, but his checks are bouncing, too. What the fuck, man? This guy's got to pay.

Chill, chill, I got to pay up, bro. Hey, man, relax, man. You ain't going nowhere. Ain't nobody, you feel me? Ain't nobody's stressing. We know where to find you.

I know, but it's just funny that you hear the dynamics like that, and then it gets out to the public, and then there's people at the games being like, Oh, we pay your bets, and stuff like that.

I done seen my fuck get retired off the Booray game.

What do you mean?

I can't play no more. Really? I put this jersey in the raptors, Pa. No. They'll write his name on the wall.

They sat their asses down?

Got to. Really? The pastime getting wild. Every day, Every day, every flight, every game, every road trip, every flight.

Them numbers get up there.

Some numbers get up there. It's cool at the beginning of the year, you know you cool, you down this, you down that. You look at the end of the year, you damn.

Only a couple of flights left?

Now you got to try to get back.

Is there a pressure to be part of the game? No. When you're like...

No.

With your first contract and shit like that.

No, hell, no.

You go in at At your own risk.

You got to think, grown man now. You're a grown ass man. This is not college anymore. You're with guys who got kids, you're with families. You're a grown man. Can't play the game, don't play. Or just play another game. Just play the JV game. 10, $20.

Connect Four.

Everybody plays something different.

So reverse.

Speaking of college, though, you went to West Virginia. How many couches did you see get burned at West Virginia? What does that mean? Bro, they They burn couches like a religion out there. Why?

Celebration, Christmas, New Year's, big win, big loss.

Well, they burn couches. We visited West Virginia. They're burning couches out there, right?

Just burning couches. Yeah.

Burning a couch. We got jealous. So we went up to Penn State. We started lighter fluid to the- I'm not going to take you all that shit.

You all better stop. Too much.

No, we got away with it. But how many couches did you see burned up there? I know you saw a couple.

I think I went there during the COVID year, so I was probably like three, four.

That's crazy. I ain't never heard of that.

Burning couch.

Who's the coach?

Hugs.

That's a great program.

They say when he recruits you, he comes right in the door.

I got your son, don't worry about it. Take him under my wing, don't worry about it. I got this. Come straight like that, they say. Say you're a gangster. I like her. So that's probably where he get the way he played for him. Look how much shit he's been around. Look what he's been exposed to.

Hugs and tips is incredible.

Hugs, tips. That's great.

What was it like with hug? How did it start off with him? And then once you're a veteran on his team, how does this treatment differ for you?

It doesn't. I didn't get to that. I left my sophomore year. In his eyes, I'm an underclassman for sure still. I mean, I definitely was the leader of the team, and he understood that. But in his eyes, he's going to be the hardest. You know what I mean? He's making sure, All right, you want this? You want this? All right. I'm going to make sure you're ready. Make sure you're ready to go through any type of fire.

Did anyone ever storm the court at any games Where we were at?

Yeah, when we beat Baylor, my freshman year.

You started both years?

No, just my second year. I think it might have been me.

I think I might have stormed the court at West Virginia that year. For real? We're doing a video series called Storm Chasers.

You were a part of Storm Chasers?

Yeah, that was me.

Oh, yeah. Because I remember we took a picture with Huckle.

No, you all went crazy. Hold on, that's for real?

We got to find that video.

Caleb looks like he's a fucking real-ass criminal. It does look like a heist. We're like fake painters who got caught robbing a bank. We're just going to wear our normal outfits, and then we're going to have a police officer walks in. We're going to all have cuffs. Oscar, she's Let's go, Mount Nix. Let's go, Mount Nix. Five, four, three, two, Come on.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, What's your call? What was it?

Storm Chaser. With the Rade Coast. Storm Chaser. I remember seeing that. Storm Chaser. I remember.

That was me, Caleb, and Chef Donnie. But we had I think we had just got arrested the game before. We went to Yukon, and I guess they locked... That was right before COVID happened. I remember flying back and I didn't want to breathe in the bathroom because they're like, There's COVID in there or some shit like that. But that was basically the last game.

The last, yeah, the last game.

And then, yeah, we stormed. That's hard. It was crazy. Because we had just got arrested, so we had our cameraman walk. He dressed up like a cop, and he walked us in with handcuffs on or something. And then we broke off the handcuffs. The student section went fucking crazy.

No, that game was...

Yukon has all these rules. You can't do this. They literally arrested us. And then West Virginia, bro, no rules. The cops were like, Cops came up to us and we were like, oh, shit. They're going to give us a hard time. They're like, we just want to make sure you boys are safe when you run out there. Have a good ass time. They were legit. So, yeah, it was an incredible experience out of West Virginia. They run by their own rules out there.

That's a fight. I love that.

Did you ever stumble into any parties in college or anything by accident?

Probably not. No, not too many.

I want to know how... So when you all practice, I know how Tib's practice. They say he There ain't no half-course shots. There ain't no fucking lock in, my fucking. Do what you want to do while I ain't in this motherfucker.

Yeah.

You all's scrimmages must have been lit. I know your team changed, but the team they had in the beginning to start, you talk about 11, 12 motherfuckers, though. You're talking about him and Bronson going against each other that way. You're talking about Harasan and Julius Ronda going each other that way.

I mean, Barrett.

Oh, yeah. I forgot her, R. J. Now.

Damn. R. J. Dant. R. J. Dant. Quick. Quick, yeah.

And then, yeah, I mean, Heart just- And Sleeper.

Fournier.

Nice. F. C. Queen Grimes. Oh, yeah. Queen Grimes.

Oh, yeah. Queen Grimes. Cool little team.

Shaq Milton.

No, he got that in The Trade. Oh, he got the trade? Yeah, he got that in The Trade. And then after the trade, they got Shaq, they got Logdanovic, they got Bert. I'm missing somebody. Precious. O'g.

Precious is another dude who's just like, okay, he gets minutes automatically.

He played the right way, though.

He played the right way. He played the right way. Good size, good skills. And he's athletic. The eyes see it. He might not... Okay, athleticism, but it's more there. He don't care about getting dunked on. He'll try to dunk on everything. I like how he play.

Talk about this finals that we're watching right now. Why are Why are the Celtics so hard to beat? We're talking about how complete Pacers are, how complete the Knicks are when healthy. And then you look at the Celtics, and it's almost like they're the optimized version of this. Why are they so hard to beat? Are there any weaknesses on their team? If so, what would they be?

First off, shout out Joe Mazula, another West Virginia guy.

West Virginia guy.

West Virginia guy. I feel like they played the same way the They will play the same way in the first quarter, play the same way in the fourth quarter. So when you got that consistency, I feel like, and like he said, with the game planning, having your rotation, you know what you're getting from guys. So I think When Joe goes into a game, he understands exactly what they're getting, and he's giving guys confidence to go out there and do what you do. You know what I mean? He's not a guy to necessarily say, Stay in your lane, but he wants to build the team came up and really stick in the same patterns. You know what I mean? Feel that consistency. And I think that's the thing that they do better than the Mavericks right now.

From two guards, I want to know why you guys think that Kyrie Irving has been struggling.

I look at struggling different than everybody. I don't look at it struggling. I look like Kyle missing shots. Every shot that I've seen him miss has been back around. What? Step back. A step back more is all that. You know what I'm saying? So the era, and then I can go, I mean, you got to get Drew holiday credit, too. You know what I'm saying? Drew holiday, he got real straps. Probably the last decade, consistently, the last decade, he's probably been the best defensive guard. I had a couple of years. Marcus Smart had a couple of years, but consistently, Drew has always been there. So you got to give him some credit. And they showing him a ton of bodies. They right there at the nail, pass it to these motherfuckers. Make the Derrick Jones shoot. Make P. J. Washington shoot. Make eight threes. Fucking shoot 12 threes. We're putting our best defender on you. We're putting help defenders on you. And we got And we got the rim protection with Prazianians who's back there. So that's tough. It's tough, man. It's tough. But I just think he's just missing shots.

That takes me to our next- But that means good D, though. Yeah, great D. That's the next thing I want to talk about. So we do our little new Amsterdam starting Five. I want you to hit me with the five players who are the toughest to go against as far as their defensive prowess. So five players in the league where you see them, you know that you're about to see them on the scouting report, you see them, the box score going against you, whatever it may be, that you're like, Okay, that's going to be a test tonight. So give me five.

It's a great question.

Obviously, Drew.

Drew. He and mine, too.

Marcus. Marcus Smart. Yeah.

Who you have to feel for. Getting traded away from the Celtics, and it looks like this is the year that the Celtics are going to do it.

But he didn't play this year, so I'm going to go healthy.

Okay.

So smart as never. I'm going to go Caruso.

Caruso? Yeah. I can rock with Caruso, too.

Caruso's in yours as well. Caruso's a problem. Current players only. Right. Not What guys that you played against in freaking eighth grade or whatever it is.

This is a great question.

Take your time. There's no rush. New Amsterdam is the thing you want to take your time with. This is a great question. You sip, put it over ice. You enjoy it.

I'm Caruso in there. I like Caruso. He in there.

Dejante?

Dejante is in there. Good call. Yeah. Yeah, he got straps. He played the right way. He played the passing lines. You can't just bring it up easy. He go, make sure you turn a couple of times. You go honor it. He's tough.

I feel like people really see... They see his offensive game, and they might not I really appreciate the fact that he's a two-by-player.

I mean, he has to do that. And that's a lot of energy, too.

Yeah.

So that's three.

Three for you, four for him.

So you have one more.

And we're not including ourselves. Right.

I'm not going to include myself I don't care if either, Phyllis.

We're not including ourselves because we strap up, too. Okay, fair enough. Yeah. So we're not going to include ourselves, which is better. He had four.

He's got four. He has smart. You have two more. So you need one more, you have two more.

Okay. Let me see. No one from Dallas. Is this a shot? No, I'm just trying to see NBA teams now. No one from Dallas. I want to say Derrick White, though, because Derrick White press you. You'd probably get to the line if he press you. So I'm not going to say Derrick White. Let me see. We played before that. A lot of people go, I don't know if I'm going to get shit for this. People ain't going to like it. I like Nemhardt.

Yeah?

That motherfucker was picking up Cool. All game. You know what I'm saying? I ain't saying he was a strappy. He go get stops every time, but he made the game different. You know what I'm saying? He made it difficult. You started your offense at 15 when you're supposed to be starting at 18. But I ain't saying he go sit down and once He's mano a mano, he go get stops. But you say people that make the game... He made the game real hard for a lot of people in the playoffs.

Okay. Nemhards and yours. So you both need one more unless you're taking Nemhardt as well. But I feel like you're an independent thinker.

Yeah.

I'm not taking That's your shot to them hard?

It's not even no shot to them hard. Stop, man. Nicks.

Nicks, who else?

Not rolling nobody, Nicks. Sixers. Sixers. See, I'm going backwards. He, hold on.

That's what I'm trying to think.

It's like you guys are specifically talking about guards, so we're not talking about-Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

We're specifically talking about guards. You know what I mean?

Not wings necessarily. Not bigs. Anybody on the wolves?

Ant.

Ant?

Sometimes. Sometimes.

You love Ant. You want to put him in there.

It's my shorty, man. You know I love him. But it seems like that was lukewarm. No, I'm not going to put him in there, though. Okay. Not Ant. I'm not putting him in there. Nobody from Denver, nobody from Minnesota. Okay.

There's no one good at defense.

Okay, see.

No, you're not talking about where you're thinking about.

The night before, you're like, damn, I got to deal with his ass, man. And we're taking us two off the list. You feel me? A lot of people We'll have us two definitely in that five. You know what I'm saying? To find other people, you got to go deep in the bag. The boys, the Sugs.

Jalen Sugs?

Jalen Sugs, not getting McDaniels. You could take my last pick off, put it J McDaniels. I like J McDaniels.

No, Sugs is your fifth.

Who did I have before, though? Because I didn't like the one I had before. You didn't like them hard? I didn't like them hard, because I'm thinking, I don't want him.

But McDaniels is his wing.

So you didn't even count as one. He pick a four, though.

Yeah, but he's a wing, though.

I'll be honest. He's like 6-9. What's his name? Jones. Not the one in Washington. Trey Jones. Trey Jones. San Antonio.

San Antonio. Good call.

Trey Jones. That's your last one. Keep Nemhar, though, because you have a full five or you want to keep on thinking.

I take Nemhar, fuck. All right.

That's five. That's a nice five. Who's yours? Caruso, I like Tyler Hero.

What's your name?

T. J.

Mcdonald.

They relax, man.

They relax, man.

Duncan Robinson.

I'd be like, That's your house.

Who else? I guess Pritchard. I guess Payton Pritchard. That's my five.

I ain't going to lie. You get cooked. You're in, you ain't getting no stops.

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Did you sign a new deal? Was it this year? Next year though? Who? You.

Yeah, this year.

We got a lot of money.

How's it been in New York with that money, bro? I know the taxes up here are insane, bro. They're going to take all of it. And for what, bro? Look outside.

No, relax off New York, man.

I love New York. No, I mean, I wouldn't live anywhere else.

How was that feeling getting that first? Because I know that feeling. Man, once you get the first one, you write your sofa the second one. Once you get the second one, you go be there for a while. That's how it is.

Where did you celebrate? Where was your go-to dinner spot in New York to celebrate?

Man.

Fuck that. You cry? No. I cry. I cry, I have mine. I couldn't believe it.

I cried in a barstool contract.

What was your first dinner spot?

I got this nice little spot, Little Maven. Okay. Little Maven.

It's a good little spot. Little Maven is always on the list. Little Maven, that's like a foodie spot.

How did you get the information? Agent?

No. Somebody on the Nicks went there, said it was valid.

No, about the contract.

Oh, about the contract? Oh, yeah. My agent.

The first person you told?

Hopped on the call with my parents. That's hard. That's hard.

Yeah.

That's hard.

Did they cry?

I mean, it was a phone call, but I'm sure they shed some tears. What? I'm sure. I'm sure they shed some tears.

How did you find out? So this is the brother. This is the older bro. Older bro in the cut. Older bro in the Cut. Older Bro in the Cut.

So it was 5:00 AM, 4:00 AM in Germany. I don't know if you played the day before or whatever, but at night, I might wake up, check my phone, see ESPN, if there's any updates on games. And I just get the... My phone was blowing up because here it's early. All right. So I check my phone and I see Miles McBride signs his- Three years, 13.

Yeah.

He knows his name.

My girlfriend was in the bed. Miles just signed three years, 13 million. I couldn't go back to sleep. It was like 4:00 AM.

I was like, oh, that's hard.

My teammates were just looking at me different.

That's how it's been. You signed that money, you get 13 million. That's right there. That's hard, bro. That's hard. That text me the next day, though.

He didn't even really tell me. I found out from 8:00 AM.

It's because Yeah, we talked. It's because when I was going through it, I couldn't really... I didn't want to, you know what I mean, say everything, talk about it like that. And then when it officially happened, it was real late.

Your next one, though.

Yeah, no.

His next one going to be him, 26, 27?

Oh, yeah.

Don't sign too early either.

You know what I mean? Some of these guys sign early. You know what I mean? Brunson sign. You know what I mean?

He going to get paid, though.

Trust me, a lot of things- It comes back around.

It comes back around. Always do. Good come to good.

It's interesting having money in New York, too, because a lot of places everybody's like, Okay, I'm going to get a fucking car. I'm going to get a crazy fucking car. But in New York, it's like, What's the point? I know what I mean. I mean, unless you did get a crazy car.

No, I got a nice little electric Mustang. Smooth, nothing crazy.

Environmentally friendly.

You can't drive it too much in New York anyway.

You just got to have a car.

Just have it, though. You got to be a grown man. I got to have a car, but you're not going to need it. My bad, bro.

I live in New York, bro. I'm not a grown man.

I'm not a grown man. I haven't been on it, but they say it's good.

You haven't You don't road the subway at all? No. It's interesting. Some places it's nice, other places, you have to hold your phone really tightly.

You hold your phone tight when you're on the train?

No, I'm willy-nilly with mine. Okay, say that. I'm like, Here, hold this for me for a second. I'm about to have some candy.

Yeah, I seen the deal go. I think I was watching the game, and I seen it go by. I tapped a homie like, Hey, watch. A homie like, What the fuck is that? I mean, I'm a buddy. He could play Man, you all watch me. You can play. So, yeah, I'm happy for you, bro. Appreciate it. It's hard to get that first one. It's hard, Ron. You got to do it. That first one, you got to prove to everybody in the organization that I am an NBA professional basketball player. Professional first. I'm coming to work before everybody. I'm here last. I'm not playing. Smile on face, towel hand. I'm cooking in practice. No one I'm really cooking to say less, though. I ain't going to say that. You feel me? Because I know how it was, and I was coming up. What? Fuck. I wasn't going to go in right at the starting guard. Jalen, come on. I got to get right to it. Every day, let's get to it. So you get that first one, boy. It's like a weight off your chest because it opened a door. It opens a door for anything else after that.

His future is bright, too.

Then you can hit these vacations, bro. Where are you going in the summer? Are you going to Italy or what?

Hey, just ask him this, though. If he was a free agent, ask him how much he would get, though.

This year, yeah. It's Do you wish that you... I'm saying if you waited.

60, 80.

Yeah, three years, 60.

Easy.

Yeah. Easy. Not even a negotiation. It'll be just like the... Okay. Four years, 60. Okay. Any team in the NBA take it right now. Don't listen to him, bro.

Thirteen million is a lot of money, bro. Don't listen to him.

Like I said, it comes back around. He come back around.

Right.

My deal, my first one, I signed a four-year, 23, 24, but the last year wasn't even guaranteed. Some Daryl Morey shit.

Darryl Mori gets you on the craziest. Darryl Mori will be like, four years, $2 million. I swear to God, that's what Ricky Council's contract.

No, my first deal I signed coming from overseas to Daryl Morey was a three-year, $4 million deal. My first year was like 300,000. I got like 125,000. I was still in Houston living with my mom in the NBA. She going to work doing nails. I'm going to an NBA gym. So I know them Daryl More deals. Yeah, bro. Yeah.

And You're not going to have to get out of that. For vacation, you're going to your side job.

No, no, no. What? I'm working right. It's crazy.

Yeah, the summer time, you're at the fucking...

It's good. Come to good, like you say. It worked out.

A hundred %. So how do you make sure that you maintain in the focus and that you're like, obviously, now we see you on like, Complex. We see you out doing media of your own.

We see you doing the Pad Bed podcast.

You know what I mean? You're blossoming, and then With that will come more attention. With that will come more scrutiny. How do you manage your own ego within all of that and say, Yeah, keep me going around?

That's the honest thing. Honestly, they keep me grounded. I ain't done nothing yet. You know what I mean? It's love. It's love. But also in my mind, I feel like I've worked hard to get what I've earned, and I feel like I got a lot to go. You know what I mean? I'm just at the surface.

I still got a lot to go. My advice to all my young guys, any young guy I get, work on your game. You're going to get in the middle of the season, you're not going to be playing. It's not the young guys that's not playing. I'm talking about the young guys who the 10th, 11th, G League guys. Work on your game, bro. I don't fuck. My father tell you to shoot some spot threes. Cool. Shoot spot threes. Play once out of it. Work on your game because it's going to be a new batch coming in the next year. You got to work in your game. You will get lost in the shuffle, bro. You got to continue getting better, right? Because you, no disrespect, Michael Jordan didn't play for the same team as Hopefully. Played for Washington Wizards, too. I ever ended up. You feel me? It's very rare you see one player play for the same team in different teams, different coaches, different coaches, different opportunities, different schemes. You got to be able to work on your game because you'll be in a system. You'll be in there for four years. You'll be doing spot shots for four years.

You're not really worked on the handle in four years. New coach might come in. He might want you to run pick and roll. You don't know shit about picking roll. You've been shooting spots the last three years. Fuck, you can't do it. Come on, next young guy then. Now you lost in the shuffle. Work on your game.

Yeah, you got to add something every summer. I'm adding the Euro step this summer to my That game.

You know what? I like the hero. Yeah? Yeah.

We can both work on it then.

I don't like it, though, for me because I'm small. I like it more in transition. Yeah? Yeah. I'm going to try to work on that.

Okay. We'll both work on it. What are you adding this summer?

Growth overall. I mean, it's not just one area I feel like I can just... I need this, need that. I feel like it's just everywhere. I got to raise it up.

Are both of you guys going to find any games this summer in the city or whatever? Where are you? Who are you at? Shirts and Skims.

I've been at Black Ops before. I didn't get over to the Columbia runs.

But you train in New York for something or you go back home?

No, I'm going to go back home. You're not going to Yeah.

That's where to get better, go back to crib. Where's from everything.

Yeah. Ohio, right?

Yeah. Cincinnati. Cincinnati.

Oh, okay. Good hoop. Come out of Cincinnati. Yeah? Yeah. Get hit with elbow. Get up. I don't want to hear that shit. What do you Good hoop. I like that.

Cincinnati is an interesting city.

Why do you say that?

I just had a crazy experience there when I was younger. What'd you do? Scribble Jam. You know what Scribble Jam is? It's like a freestyle rap competition or something. People were on drugs I'd never heard of.

What drugs you haven't heard of?

I don't know. People smoking pills. It's like, what the fuck? Okay.

We don't know nothing about that.

I don't know that. That's a different Cincinnati.

It's a different Cincinnati. They might I'm trying to close that part of Cincinnati.

I think you're probably the only motherfucker that know about that. We always had a Picasso.

We went to somebody's house. They were like, this is a real Picasso. Because it was in a... What's the really nice area of Cincinnati, where all the football players live? Something Hills or something like that?

Indian Hills.

Indian Hills, yeah. And there was a real Picasso on the wall. We tried to take it off the wall, but it was pretty firmly-They'll try to take it off the wall? Just to see if it was what it felt like.

A real? Were you all invited to this house that you all went to try to take this paint off the wall?

We were invited.

You all tried to take a Picasso off someone's wall that's not your house? We were unsupervised.

We were unsupervised.

We were having fun. So you all were stealing.

We were 20 years old. We didn't steal. I took one. It would have been a heart hike. You guys were like, Oh, they're stealing when we're doing Oceans 11. No.

Or Oceans 12. I'm just saying this role is reversed. You know what they call it? We Do It, Stealing. Good old stealing, too.

Yeah, privilege. But I think I took a ceramic bird from that house. It was the only thing I took. A small ceramic bird.

So you still have it?

It was on my... I think it might be in my parents house.

Or did somebody steal it from you?

My dad stole it from me. I was like, I like the ceramic bird. You're a family of thies.

The family of thies.

It was driving around and it fell off my windshield and one of the wings broke or something. I think it's still in my childhood home. I'll go find the ceramic bird, see if I can bring it back. Cincinnati. Maybe you return it to the house because now I feel bad about it.

Who's assisting coaches on the Knicks?

We got Johnny Bryant, Darren Erman, Andy Greer.

Okay, yeah. You got some hitters. Tiers got a squad. They say Tiers being there at 5:00 in the morning for his whole staff.

I heard he lives under the stadium.

I said, That's how he was in Chicago. I don't know if he the same way in New York.

Well, he the same.

Yeah. They say he don't play without his staff, but he want his staff locked in.

When are they going to fix that ramp that everybody has to walk up to so they're out of breath by the time the game starts?

Oh, and you be having that new fit on, too. You've been up this march right up that big ass realm.

Linons with a pit stain and stuff.

You know what? You tired of saying, you get up. That's so true. You all don't have to take that way, do you? No. That shit's the only for you.

I didn't even know they had to walk up it. I've only been with the Knicks, so I didn't know how you all got up there. For real? I had no clue.

And then our elevator- You all have been walking this shit for 12 years. What? You get up there, you be, damn. For real, though. That been Steve. It's Steve. That bitch is Steve.

I can't lie.

You got the tight-ass jeans on, some motherfucking boots, trying to look fly and shit.

That's why people wear baggy clothes now.

Man, that shit's crazy. I love playing New York Knicks, man. You all got some of the best fans, man. I remember when they was trash, though. They had motherfuckers, of course, with paper bags on their motherfucking head around. I say the Knicks don't give a fuck, man. But now it's good, though. You see all that?

It's great times to be Spike Lee and Jon Stewart, Ben Stiller, and Steven A. Smith, and everybody who- So what you all practice that?

Because a lot of the fans don't know the next practice and plan schedule. So could you inform us a little bit? What are you all practice that?

Good old Terry town.

Where's that for the city?

It's about a good 45, 50 minute drive.

North?

North.

Damn. So how do you... Living-wise, do you stay in the middle or you stay there?

First, I lived out by the facility. That's what they recommend for rookies.

Do it right. So you're on late.

Yeah, stay by the facility. Then I moved in the middle. I was in a nice little area, Riverdale. That's exactly the middle point. Now I'm in the city now. You got to be in the city now.

You're rich.

I pay my dues, you know what I mean?

So you wake up what? Practice 11?

Practice 11.

You got to lead what? For him, 23, you got to practice 11, you got to lead 8:30. What?

Sometimes, yeah. What?

Yeah. If I was 23, I just got my first check. Car service? I'm in I'm in that bitch. Practice 11, I'm in that bitch at 9:15 latest.

What? Practice 11 across the board in the league? Yeah. Does anyone else do it earlier or later or anything? At least traffic.

Oh, really?

That's what it comes down to.

For everybody, too. It's traffic. Yeah.

That's why you get the electric car.

Exactly.

Burn that shit up in New York. What?

That's crazy. What bus you on? Because I don't know if you know about this. Nba players, we take different busses.

Really? I thought you guys would have more money than that to be able to... Tee their own. I guess that's an environmental-First bus is mostly media, rookies, young guys, maybe some interns, trainers, photographer people.

Second bus, you got road players, you guys that fly to seven years, maybe some different coaches. Last bus, you got Supervets, the head coaches.

So which one?

First bus. See, we only got two. When we do. Yeah, we do two. But-first bus? First bus.

Anybody on the first bus that people wouldn't expect? Anybody's like, Oh, he's on the first bus. Good for him. That's going to make me work harder.

I mean, honestly, it's only two or three guys that take that second bus. Most of our guys on that first.

See, it's a different team. They got two bus, we got three. You get a chance, you're going to 5, 515, 535, 545.

And has it always been three for the last couple of teams?

Yeah, for me, it's I've always been through. I was first bus for my first 10 years. No, I was first bus my first 10 years. My next two years, I was second bus this year. The only time I took the last bus. But then I learned because me, I don't take bus. My first year, I take first bus, I sit all the way in the back. Now I take bus, I sit first seat on the bus. Right behind me, Doc River. So it forced me to lock in even more now. Can't be on a phone. I don't listen to headphones, none of that shit before games anyway. So I'm just locked in.

I want to talk about the Lakers situation real quick. I just wanted to get your guys' takes on the fact that Hurley turned down the contract. He turned down $70 million.

Yeah, we were just talking about that on the ride.

He turned down $70 million. He's like, No, I'm just going to go to college and try and win another championship there.

He making some solid money in college.

He is, but $70 million, $70 million.

But you also think that man got probably like... He probably told some kids' parents that he... It's different with college. It's more intimate with college.

Yeah, lie. I know.

No, that's not true. He's been winning national championships for the last two years, man. You got to get that man credit. You can't just up and leave that for no money. But if you get to 70, that's your starting point now. I'm playing chess, too.

Yeah, but if he doesn't win another championship, then the price changes.

No, that's not true. No. You get that tag from the NBA, you get that tag from the NBA.

Back to back.

That is crazy.

Billy Donovan, my friend, did it.

Yeah, but did Billy Donovan get... I mean, he's not in a '70s conversation.

That was years ago.

But I'm saying if it all transferred, if having two national championships in college means you're 70 million, no matter what happens this year for him, then Billy Donovan will be in the same boat.

No, no, no, no, no. If Billy Donovan would have won back to back championships and was a free agent for coaching, 70 million, he had it on his desk.

It's just a lot of money to pass up.

Perspective, though.

What were you guys talking about? What was your conversation?

It's a lot of money to pass up. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You're all good. I mean, we also went into the same thing. He got something he built. He built that. You know what I mean? It wasn't like he took over.

It was trash.

Yeah, he built that.

Yukon went through a phase.

Yukon wasn't trash.

Yukon went through a phase. They were not as competitive.

They were not.

Yukon has five championships in the last 25 years.

But they went through a phase.

A small little transition period where he really- Were not competitive at all.

He does incredible things with the offensive set, but it's like you wonder, would he be able to run these complex zone-busting sets with the Lakers?

Obviously, it's a judgment with anything. But with pros. Yeah, you got some good assistance. You can run anything you want. Yeah? Yeah.

They're not going to want to... Like, LeBron is not going to grab the clipboard and be like, No, we're actually running this?

No, I don't think you got to think players really don't do that.

What? You said you did it the first game.

I didn't do it to the coach. I did it to... Okay, Big Father. They're not calling a defensive three on you. Stay in the paint. You feel me? The shit like that. Ain't no guys really taking no clipboards. It's just the media, you might see it one time, and the next thing you know, they make you like, Oh, he's off the team. Hey, look at him. He's not even with his team. My folk might be over there in their head like, Now I just turned this bitch over four times, bro. I ain't made a shot in two games, bro. Let me lock in, bro.

You might dab everybody up before you came and sat down. You know what I mean? Then people just see you over there like, Man, he tired.

He zoned out, blood just turned the ball over five times today. He getting his mind right.

Yeah, it's tough. I mean, The media and also you've benefited from a great season with the Knicks, but then the media in this town can turn on people in a crazy way, too. That's something that you're... It seems like you have a good support system that you have a bulwark against that. But is that something that factors into your mindset at all?

No, man. I've been through ups and downs.

Sports Talk radio. You're not on Sports Talk radio listening to...

No. What's Sports Talk radio?

Like The people on the local radio station who are-Oh, you could bet not listen to that shit.

You have a good game. They still tell you how bad they are. Man.

So it's calling in.

Now, the internet is trippy now, though. Internet is trippy. It is so fast. You can play a crazy game. You can go right to the internet, get all your highlights. You can play a bad game, go to the internet, watch motherfuckers literally kill you the next day.

Damn. The same night. Yeah, not the next day, bro. They're killing you as soon as you get to your- Tuesday game, you kill.

Wednesday game, you play okay, you all lose. They kill you. You're like, damn.

A couple of days off, you just got to sit in it.

I just had a double-double like yesterday. What the fuck just happened? So you got to stay off the internet, especially if you're not strong enough. If you ain't strong enough, stay off that shit.

Don't listen in that car ride. You can't be listening to whatever, Mike and the Mad Dog or whatever, shit like that. But it's more on Twitter though. Smooth jazz.

It's more on Twitter from Hoopers though, because it's more easy. Everybody's showing highlights, so you can go to certain people, get your highlights real easy. Yeah. And they even doing shit nowadays. They're showing them motherfuckers highlights, you ain't even good. They don't have motherfuckers on there. Just all blooper real. Damn, man, that's fucked up. Now they I'm paying the whole perception of him off, but you don't even know. Right. He's a nice saloon, man. They do him the worst, too. They do him badly. They do him the worst, man. And if you put him in the gym with pros and play one-on-one, he'll win a lot of one-on-one games. That's the crazy thing about it.

And he's good energy.

Great energy. It's crazy. But anytime he get in the game, he do something that don't go right, he go be on blue for real. It's crazy.

It's tough, bro.

Crazy. He in practice, we doing five on no, he windmilling and shit. Feel me? That's how the guy. That's just how people just don't... The game is different. All NBA, my father's on the- Is he on the Greek team?

Yeah. He's going to be on the Greek Olympic team? Yeah.

As a casual fan, watching the NBA, when you get past the starters, you get past the first three guys on the bench. As a casual fan, you all think the rest of the bench is trash, huh? Me? Yeah.

I'm the guy who is like, I'm looking at mock drafts deep into the second round. I want to know all the players.

Okay, well, you might be a rebe, but most people, they look at the end of the bench like, Okay, your clown show time when they check in.

Well, who said recently they're like, The NBA has 50 or 60 of the best players in the world, but then everybody else is the best role players in the world or something like that. And I disagree with that sentiment.

No, I do, too.

That they're like, A lot of the best players are still in Europe.

You give motherfuckers the opportunity, you give some stars, you give some role players the same, the ball, the confidence. It's not just the ball. When you get the ball, the ball comes with confidence.

You're saying if you put them on the 2005 Utah Jazz and let them just pound the rock? I'm not saying usage-wise.

Or I don't know, a guy goes down and he's down for two months and you're the starting guard now and everything has to go through you. It's different confidence that comes with it. You start doing shit that you used to do when you used to hoop back in the day. You just ain't had this opportunity to do it this much. You can make mistakes. I kick him out. I'm going to dribble the ball off the court, kick that bitch out of bounds five, six times. I know I'm going to be cool. Who else is going to sub me in? Jordan. Motherfuckin shit. Starting guard heard, backup guard heard as me. Me and Jordan. Who are you going? All right, come on, sub me in.

Jordan, yeah. Jordan, what are you talking about?

Sub me in for five minutes. Okay, Coach, I'm ready, Coach. But yeah, he know. Respect on Jordan. If you switch from Roles, bro. You switch some roles, bro, you switch some roles, man, you get some role players, some quality time, 30 minutes, 30 shots. You'll be seeing some similar numbers, bro. I'm telling you. It's just timing.

A lot of dudes can hoop.

A lot of dudes can hoop, bro. Really go. And the 14th guy can hoop. That's why on my team, I only play with the young guys. I don't want to play with no other older guy. You play one, I want all young guys. You play five on five, me and the film guys versus the young guys. Because I know I ain't ever seen them play. All they ask that game. They all can jump. They all fast. They all physical. They go foul. I need that.

I need that. It's what keeps me young, man, playing against the young guys.

Deuce Mcbribe came to join us, man.

Thank you, bro.I appreciate you. You're an absolute legend for being here.

I appreciate your brother coming to, man.

Enjoy your offseason, bro. Enjoy the newfound trappings of success.

We got to ask one more question before we leave because we got NBA Euro guy here.

Okay.

The difference we spoke about, bro, the NBA grind. I know we We were speaking on it before we started, but the NBA grind versus the overseas grind. I was fortunate to play in both of them. Could you get a little background of history on your European life? Just a day.

Swing your mic around. Yeah, swing your mic around. That was nice. That was good. I was ready for him.

The Luka done, like the day-to-day?

Day-to-day. I've been in about five different countries. Every place is different. Eastern Europe is usually two a days, so morning practice. That morning practice in Serbia looked like it was COVID, so we didn't get a lot of games. We would start out with a mile and a half run. And what is it even outside. It was in the gym. Laps. Laps. There's nothing to look at but the bleachers, for real, and all the Serbs, they only spoke Serbian to each other. I'm just I'm running alone. I'm running alone. I'm in the group. I'm trying to lead the pack. But you do that every day. There's going to be a day where you're like, dang, I want to at least pass the time a little bit. I can keep up, but, dang, I just want to talk to somebody. That first practice is running, and then it's a shooting practice. Then the second practice, I think, was around 6:00. I'd go home after the 10:00 AM start. I was getting to the gym just like you all at 8:00, 8:30. I'd take a quick nap, go get something to eat, and then back to it because I can't lay in bed all day.

And then that practice looked like straight up five on five. Nothing, you don't really- Just playing? Yeah. It's hard to say you don't work on anything. I don't know how you all do it. If you break down different segments, like how you did in college. Yeah, we do that segment. But overseas, you just go into playing five on five. We started out, the first 45 minutes was five V five, no dribble. Oh, man. So you're just running the entire time.

That might be one drill. Yeah, nah. That might be one drill of four minutes.

No, it was 45 minutes, the first part. Second part, you got one dribble. So that was Serbia. Germany It was cool because they're not really crazy like that. But the practices were also five on five. But the day to day, we only practiced once over there. I would just try to find to get my workout, and I played for a pretty big club, so I couldn't always get in the gym. That's something European players actually struggle with. If you're with a big club, you can't really get in when you want to get in. Then the gym access, not everybody has a practice court, so you really only got practice to get You might have 5, 10 minutes to get some individual work either before or after before your volleyball team or your handball club comes in.

You're sharing the court with the handball?

Yeah. They'll full on Roll the... They'll go their full hour and a half, two hours, roll the goals off, and then you got to jump right into practice because somebody's either coming in after you or you got to tear down the gym and get it ready for the next team. So It's a real... It's a crazy car. It's very stressful. And on top of that, you got the pressure to perform. And like you said, he's big on preparation. I'm also big on preparation. So I need to just get 20 minutes to myself to really just feel the ball, mentally just feel comfortable with where I'm at. And like, Serbia, I didn't have that opportunity. Germany, I had it a little bit, but you just didn't know if you're going to have the gym that day.

The Serbian fans are crazy?

Yeah.

I'm sure you all seen the video because you were Greece and Russia, correct? A similar style. So you know exactly what I'm talking about. My first game, I remember, was during COVID and nobody was supposed to be in the gym and they still somehow got in. There were no police officers, so So it was just like, they're chant and loud. I'm like, dang, dude, this is my first contract. I haven't played in a real arena because I was D2 as well. So it was a weird moment for me. The whole world shut out. In this little country, these guys are still Still showing out for basketball. It's real love over there. But Germany was different. Australia was dope, too. They only practice twice a week, but the first league, they practice every day. Similar schedule to you all, but it's more like an American style. So it's not as crazy and it's segmented. But Europe is crazy. Compared to the NBA, not...

I see your mic.

My shit doesn't Here you go.

I'm going to say- I'm going to say- Compared to the NBA, not the superstars in NBA, right? The LeBron James. Take everybody on the All-Star Game All. Can the top guys from Europe compete with the role players in NBA?

I think they can. I mean, a lot of people don't know. Just because you're not in the league, even as an American, just because you're not in the league doesn't mean you can't hoop. Same situation with that 10th man, ninth man, 14th guy. Some dudes are really just one injury, one situation away from actually making the lead. As Americans, same with the Euro guys. Like, Isiah is from Germany. He grew up playing against the club that I played for. He was just one of the bigger prospects coming out. So he got lucky. But there was another guy, I'm sure, that was just as good or signed a deal with a BBL club at or 16. And Izea, I think, didn't sign over here until what? 19 or something like that, '20. So it just happened earlier for him or some guys. A BBL club? Yeah. Sounds amazing. Yeah, it's great. You know what I'm saying? Everywhere I go, you get that.

We had the argument about NBA and the European ball. Like he said, and he made a great point, one injury, one call up, one coaching challenge away from I've been in the NBA for 10 years.

You know what I'm saying?

And some guys in the NBA, the 10th, 11 man who take it for granted and they show up to the gym late and they, Oh, I'm cool. I'm going to make it through. And, Man, your coach ain't playing me. Man, they're tripping. Man, I'm better than all these motherfuckers. They are one situation from being in Europe.

Yeah, but I think that you're the best testament that the pathway exists to be playing in a Vladivostov and eating Borscht and shit like that. Then next thing you know, you're in the NBA with a house in sunny Los Angeles. Enjoying Fendi shoes.

I work my ass off.

Fendi shoes. I relax. I saw myself. They're beautiful.

They're beautiful shoes. Okay, then Lauren Piani then. Lauren Piani. Yeah. Pop my shit as we name it. Exactly. Not too much. Let Bruce go, man. I love you all. Thank you.

I appreciate you guys. Thank you, bro.

Bruce, thank you for man. I appreciate you, bro.

Thank you so much for coming through. All right, guys, let's take a second and talk about Uber Eats, the basketball final. The basketball finals are here, and you can now get almost anything you need delivered to watch the bitter end delivered with Uber Eats. What do we mean by almost? Well, you can get a deep dish pizza, but you cannot get a... Well, you can't get a deep bench delivered, but you can't get a deep dish pizza delivered along with breadsticks and wings to share. A layup, no can do. But a logger, yes, can do. We can even deliver a few six packs if you plan on hosting the watch party. Three pointer, you're on your own. But three cheese dip, it's on its way. Buckets, well, we can't help with that. But a bucket of chicken, oh, yeah, we can help you with that one. Game going into OT, no. But a delivery of TP, yes, absolutely. A big play, no. Paper plates, yes. And you can even get a pack of paper napkins to go with it. Wow. A Championship? No. But friendship, now that's a yes. A buzzer beater? Sorry. No. But a Bacon Burger, Uber Eats can handle that no matter what you need to make the victory parade get almost everything Almost anything delivered with Uber Eats.

Check out the best game day deals on our app and order now. Check it out with all of our best game day deals on ubereats. Com. Now, at www. Ubereats. Com, alcohol and select markets, product availability may vary by regions. See the app for details. Darvin Ham to the Milwaukee Bucks. Interesting.

Interesting.

You know him well. Will he fit in well in Milwaukee?

Yeah, he knows all the guys there.

The Hammer set?

Yeah. He's under Doc. He's a Doc operation. He's a very detailed man. I think having a system like Ham, it helps, doesn't hurt at all. So He's familiar with the staff. He's familiar with the organization. He's familiar with the city, with the players. I think his son was one of the workout coaches I was working out with this summer. I mean, this past season with the Buc. I look at it as a plus. I think it's a big chest move, especially. They've let some coaches go. They were real important to some guys on the team. Bringing Ham in, I think, feels that void a little bit.

How did you leave your relationship with him in Los Angeles? Great.

Good vibes? Yeah, always good vibe. I wanted more, obviously, with Ham, I wanted more opportunity to play pick and roll and do stuff like that with the ball of my hands. Obviously, you got brush, you got brawn, you got AD, up and I'm an AR at the time. So it was hard, especially a first-year coach, not seeing me a lot, him being in the East, I'm being in the West, so him not doing my game a lot. Him being a first-year coach, all that stuff matters. But he's back in Milwaukee, and I think he going to thrive. I think he All right.

Does that close the door on Sam Casselle?

You don't know. He might get a head coaching job.

So it sounds like he closed the door on Sam Casselle.

No, I don't think so. As long as Doc alive, Sam Casselle go have a job with Doc. Say what you want.

But that budget, though.

I mean, yeah.

Like a former coach gets a big chunk of that budget.

Hold on. You might see Sam get in the interview for a head coaching job. We'll see. Hope he does. He deserves it.

Well, that Los Angeles job is still open. Well, he deserves it. The head job in Los Angeles?

It's open, I heard.

Man, what a great head job for him. I'm hoping for him to be able to get that head job. That'd be huge for him. But, Darvin Ham, welcome to Milwaukee. Welcome to the bus.

Lee Ham.

Yes, sir.

He's great.

And that was the Pat-Pab pod with Ron. Ron. See you guys next week.