Transcription
[Music] I can't imagine you stopping, you know what I'm saying? Like you stopping as much as you love the game. How hard was that, and how did you do that transition?
So think about this. I play for 20 years. I get paid to talk the game on TV, and I, I couldn't watch it. I didn't start watching basketball, get into Kobe, pass, to be honest with you. Really? Yeah, real talk. Because I was like, I couldn't figure out why I had 51 points in my last game. I averaged 31. That, that was my highest scoring month of my career. I'm 39 years old. I did off the bench, 31.6 assist. I came, get a minimum job. I just won teammate of the year. So you can't question my character. I couldn't figure out the answer, and it took me a while. It took me a while.
And leads me into coaching. And these kids saved me. They really did. Because I, I needed my passion to be with basketball. And coaching my son, and coaching his kids, like it made my journey go full circle again. So now I'm teaching things I learned at 9, 10 years old that I haven't even thought about since then. You know what I mean? So that's why coaching these kids is the most important thing I can do around the game. More than me playing, more than me talking the game, it's being with them and helping to see them through.
That's amazing. Because I know we do this to talk to the people out there who listen, but that's literally, I feel like you was talking to me. Wow. That's literally what I've been going through the last year. Wow. Because I'm pretty much done. I'm not, I don't know if I'm going do it anymore. And I ain't even said this out loud, but I am now. Because AJ and them, they don't even understand. I just reached out, and they gave me opportunity, and I love it. Right? You see what I'm saying? And I personally couldn't understand how I didn't get a job job this year. I was hooping. I'm a great teammate. Oh, you can't ever, you don't have to worry about me for nothing. I'm going to be on time. I'm going to do my job, no matter what. Low maintenance. I'm low maintenance, and I'm out the way, and you can count on me, no matter what. I've been put in a game in the third quarter, and you won't, and I will go. I will produce. I might, I don't care if if I don't score, I'm going to give you something. My last year in Dallas, I knew I wasn't going to play, but they always said, Theo, we only trust you to take the ball out right at the end of game. You go watch the Laker game when I was in Dallas, my second to last year, they put me in the game at the end of the game just to take the ball out, a play for 3 seconds, just to get the ball in, get it to Kyrie, go make a play, get the [ __ ] out the way. Did it. I've always done that. And I couldn't understand. Shot 40 from three, play point guard, and everything. Like, damn, I could. I guarded Rudy Gobert the year before. Yeah, I can play literally whatever position you need me to play.
And the thing you just said, right? You're saying, and he's saying the stuff people can see. Let me give you a win to the world. They can't see the days of training every single day, not knowing a call's going to come. The days you're in the gym by yourself. The battles you're playing where you, you don't know. Like, then you go, you may make a thousand shots a day and be like, what the [ __ ] am I doing this for? Yeah. The mental games that go into it. Running the extra sprints, running the extra miles, not knowing that there's something on the other side. But if there is something on the other side, you got to be ready for it. Like, there's so many of those moments where it's like, man, what am I? I'm fighting a ghost right now. And that wears at you and it tears. Like, man, I'm, I'm done with this. Yeah. Yeah. And that for me, honestly, for me, that's where it came to. And it was like, you know what? I'm tired of somebody else having the control of my life, of when I can play or not. Yeah. It's over. I'm not doing it. I'm taking control of my career. I've earned that. That's absolutely where I am. Because I've built the, I've, that's why I say the ball isn't everything. Because you, CJ, like, I've had so many opportunities thrown at me, and everyone's saying like, you can do this. We would love for you to come, right? And I'm like, wait a minute. You want me, right? You like, you want me to be here? Theo, wait a minute. You just, I haven't felt this [ __ ] in a minute. Yeah. What I'm, you, oh, you value me. That's all people in the world want. They want to be [ __ ] valued. You see what I'm saying? So that for me, that's what it, that's what it is for me, bro. Like, I, I, I just can't. I'm tired. I'm just mentally tired. I was tired of it dictating because you're uprooting everyone. Like, I got a family. I got a fiance and a kid, and I'm uprooting them, going to another city, and I don't know. When you don't know, it's a ghost. I'm telling you, what's what's next? I don't know. I don't have. But now I, now I can tell you clear. We in Dallas. Yes. We living in Dallas, and we good. And I got you. You know what I'm saying? Like, that's, it's a peace of mind. It's a peace of mind. It's like, you did it. You took control back of your situation.
I had, I had to allow myself to get out of shape because it was driving me crazy. I know I could still play. So I had to let the, okay, I can't play every day now. I'm just going to play once a week now. I'm going to play. And that gave me peace. Like, I'm not doing this every day on. Now I do it just for cardio. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Because I love it. It's no like, if I do this, I can get like, no, I just love it. I'm just getting sweat. AJ asked me last time where I said, hey, I just hoop. I just go play basketball because you love it. I, I, I was trying to get a pickup game the other day here. See, I said, I'm just feing to just hoop, just to hoop. Like, right? Get a group, got a group here. Let's see if we can just get five, get 10, and go hoop, bro. I'll be doing media runs like with the other media that they be critiquing people and like all the people, you know, I'll be doing media runs when I'm out there just to get a sweat. Or I pop in LA Fitness or whatever. Oh, damn. That's do. Yeah. I'd say it's Drake 2000 with his flu. I just pop in anywhere, bro, and just go do what I do.
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