Transcription
How many people have played in the NBA? Have ever played in the NBA? Not play currently, right? Have ever played in the NBA. All I'm saying is when you do the math, there are 8 billion people, right? Now, obviously the population has increased, but when you look at how many players have come through the NBA, this is why I tweeted this a little while ago, cuz I don't think people understand.
If there's only been 3500 players that ever come in through the NBA, whatever it is, the number 4,500, whatever it is, right? And there are 8 billion people on Earth right now and we have 450 players or 450, 460, you know, sometimes it varies. If we have 460 players and there are 8 billion people in the world, there's not just NBA players walking down the street like, "Oh yeah, let me let me just pick up a basketball and let me go try to be professional."
And don't get me wrong, like I don't want to mistake my words either. There are a lot of talented players. There are a lot of skilled players that are not in the NBA, right? Not everybody gets a chance, the opportunity to play in the NBA, but that is not the end all beall of basketball excellence. Like there's a lot of other leagues that you can play in. Now, the most popularized one, the, you know, the most marketable one, the one that is makes the most money is the NBA.
But overall, outside of the politics and how, you know, behavior gets looked at, you know, people getting drafted, sometimes people lose their spot in the draft board because of performance and stuff like that. I'm saying outside of that, the people that have thrown on a uniform at least one time and clocked in one minute in the NBA. It's not that many. And that was my point. It's not that many.
So, for people to be like, "Well, he's trash." For me, it's hard for me to call somebody trash because I know how many hours it took. I know how many hours it took and and I don't care if people don't understand, you feel me? But it took a lot of time. It took a lot of sacrifice. I missed birthdays. I I I missed, you know, graduations, god damn it. I missed proms, god damn it. I don't want to say proms cuz it took a lot of sacrifice.
And and that's not me just applying the sacrifice to the NBA. It's just in every b multi-billion dollar business, it takes time to get there. And man, you you got to put in like weeks, months, years before you get rewarded. You know, before I was ever paid $1 for my basketball skill set, I was 19, 20 years old. I just wanted to make that point and make that clear.
Like, if you're going to call somebody trash, you better be great at your craft or you better be doing something that you do that you love to do. And you also understand the sacrifice. So, if you're going to call somebody trash, I'm going to call you out like, well, what have you done? What have you done for you to be calling someone a bad player or a bad this or he doesn't do this? Well, okay. Yeah, people could get better. Not everybody's perfect. Everybody's a different player. Not everybody's me. I'm not them. But what I can say is it take a lot of hours, man.
You can see the difference though on top of it. Don't get me wrong. There's difference. Difference for sure. Difference, right? We're all NBA players, but there's also a difference that we feel. And that's what we call our everybody develops differently. But for me, get let me get off this point. If anybody calls anybody trash that's playing in the professional ranks, nah, you trash.
I still owe two people on Twitter a one-on-one. Y'all, if y'all know, y'all know. Go check my Twitter. I think his name is something Gun Show. And then dude from Bartol, David Porto. Like these dudes, these are my prime examples. Like I have no personal issues with them. It's just when these guys, right, and I'm going to use these guys as examples. when these guys start talking out the side of their mouth about my craft and about my career and be like, "Well, you're not successful."
And I'm like, "Bro, success is is relative. Like, I'm going to be all right with or without basketball. I'm going to be straight." I didn't feel that way just because I made it to the NBA. I knew I was going to be straight without the NBA when I was 15, 16, 17, even years before that because I knew that I I would be able to use my mind. I would be able to to use that for more than just putting a a leather basketball on the rim.
I ain't no dummy out here. Like I know what the [ __ ] is going on. It's just if you're so focused on what the heck I'm doing and you're criticizing me, like you better be ultra successful in your business because I will play wacky with you. I will play go. I love playing wacky with people, you know. And I don't know if you know what wacky is or the go game, but I love taking people's territories. And it doesn't mean territories in the material life. It means territories up here. I love playing wacky. I love playing strategy.
And also, I love playing dumb around people. It's so easy to figure out people's intentions when you just play dumb. Just play dumb. So easy to play dumb. It is so easy, bro. Like, and and people will tell you like, "How do Oh, it's the funniest [ __ ] ever to watch people do their thing like around you and you just playing dumb like okay. You just don't think I'm You just don't think I'm aware." It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. Keep doing you though. This is the wacky game that I play, right? And this is why I say I love playing go. I love playing wacky because I love taking people's territory. It's so easy. They they they let their moves. It's like watching people in poker.
Shout out to Phil Ivy, by the way. He's he's one of my inspirations, one of my heroes. Like one of the best of the best ever do it. And I searched for his profile, right? His character profile a long time ago. And this before I even got a chance to get to know him at all. Before you even get to play your poker hand, you should know what every other player is going to do. And that's what this life is about.
Now, back to schedule programming. All right, let's watch some pro stuff. Not everybody on this court is a pro, by the way, in the NBA, but they're pro somewhere. And they're playing for their country because playing for your country is also uh it's a big deal. All right. It's a big deal. It's it's how many people? It's 200 some 20 million people in the in the United States of America and only 15 spots on the USA team or 12 spots. I mean, if we do math, like, you can't be that trash.
I don't care what the media says about this USA team. You can't be trash if we're sending our team over there. If y'all keep letting Dennis Roer get away with this move, dog. There's a few moves that like, come on, bro. Look at this. Come on, Deep. I love you to devil. Come on, bro. You know that's too easy. Y'all keep letting this dude get away with this move, man. Look at this. Go funny moves in basketball. I just love studying people, man. This dude Dennis Roer loves international play. That that three-pointer is so so close. It's so much closer than the NBA three line.
You know, I ain't mad. I'm trust me, I'm not mad that D Schroer uses that move. I'm never mad. Again, I don't hate on my peers. I don't have to have any hate on my heart when I got God's love in it. I don't I don't have to hate on anybody. Nothing. I'm my own person. I'm good. But when I see people use the same moves and it get and it works, I'm like, bro.
Playing against Dennis Sher for like the last 10 years, I I don't know what year he's going on, but even me and him had a little run in uh when he played for the Lakers and I just lost my cool on him and he was so surprised cuz we have been playing against each other for so long and we had never gotten into it with each other like that before. Yeah, man. It was crazy. It's crazy. He he got on his uh YouTube vlog and was like, you know, I got to throw away all the Kais now. I'm looking at that [ __ ] like, man, when I see you, Dennis, we going to have a conversation, dog. It's not even about the shoes. cuz I don't give a [ __ ] about the shoes that you have. It's just like, bro, you don't need to get on your YouTube to express yourself. You don't got to do that, bro. And it was like a vlog episodic type [ __ ] too. And I was like, bro, you do not This is unnecessary. This is unnecessary, bro. Just we had a run in. It happens and we move forward. But we we we definitely talked this year. So, it was cool, man. Necessarily getting a chance to express themselves in that moment and then feeling like they have to do it on other sorts. And I feel the same way at times. But I did see that he skates though, just like hoop culture, you know what I mean? It has its it has its roots from somewhere. I love skate culture, bro. Skate is what taught me my balance. Taught me no fear until I hurt my knee out there. It was like they got a good team, bro. Germany has a good team. Fron and and Moratz or Mo Vagner. They they're good, man. This Yeah, it's going to be good. But yeah, shout out to all my skaters out there, too, man.
I don't even know how much I've gotten fined in my NBA career at this point, but I wish it would go to charity. Somebody could be in the chat right now watching from the industry and be like, "Oh, that was questionable. Nope. Let's find him." That's why I'm I'm again, I don't want to get on anybody else's podcast. And no disrespect to anybody that's starting podcast. I just don't want to get on anybody's podcast until I get my own voice out there. It was cool to to be guest on certain shows, but again, even they have their own agendas and it's their show. They can control it.
Y'all saw that comment, man, that Debook left underneath, bro. That's why I love That's why I love I love people with that warrior spirit, cuz it really I I won't ever say it's beef, bro. But that it's just so hilarious, man. Like, because when you say how you feel, I think people be surprised like directly respond from your platform or your profile like, "Yo, what are you talking about?" Like people can't say anything cuz it's coming directly from you. But this team looks good though. I'm not going to like I'm glad that they put uh Anthony Edwards in the in the starting lineup. You can't have a number 10 coming off the bench, bro. Look at everybody that wore number 10. Can't have no number 10 coming off the bench. No disrespect to Steve Curry and all the coaches, but you can't have number 10 coming off the bench. It's not just by coincidence that some of the best of the best have wor. That's all I'm saying. It's not by coincidence. It's all planned out, carefully thought out.
Legacy talk here. I've been able to win on every level. gold medal except for college. NBA championship, high school championship, middle school championships, well on every level. The goal is to keep winning though. Last few years haven't been all that well. I mean, just because the the competition is getting better and then injuries suck. Circumstances sometimes are out of your control. I tweeted something a little while back like 2021. I felt like we had a great chance of winning, but it just wasn't in the cards. And you know, you got to start back over in September, October.
Hey, by the way, did y'all see the memes of these Dre and Katie? That was hilarious. By the way, I'm glad that they paned. This right here, this photo that went around online was hilarious. I don't know. If you know, you know. If you know, you know. And this this was hilarious. This meme. Look at the dude in the back. Him right here. The dude in the back. He's like, "What?" Hey, tell Austin Hey, tell Austin to stop working out with my when Look at Oh my goodness. Somebody tell Austin Reeves to stay out the goddamn stay out of coach Hy's coaching clinic. Hey. Hey. Got to make that though. Watch this drop. Hey, look at the drop. Oh my. But but look. Hey, that's a foul and one. [Applause]
And I consider myself an international player even though I I I played on Team USA. A lot of my peers laugh at me when when I bring it up. You know, some fans may not agree, but you know, I was born in Australia, Melbourne to be exact. And Team USA asked me to play for them uh when I was 17 or 18. So, I I wanted to play for Australia, but it just didn't happen. Coach K wasn't going to let that happen either. Shout out to Coach K, man. And I honestly didn't mind earning my spot. I I didn't mind earning my spot on Team USA. I don't mind going with the best of the best and get it shaken. That's what I like to call it. Like I I don't mind being with the best of the best and getting it shaken. I don't want anything handed to me. Nothing. Nothing. I I've had nothing handed to me. And I've won on every level except for college. I've won a championship on every level since college. So, I know how much of a winner I am. I know how much time I put into the game, right, into the craft.
I've seen a lot of different walks of life. if I played against all walks of competition, you know, I see the the unifying energy that basketball has, but at the same time, it's it's like you got to be ready to go compete for a spot. Next year, I'm sure that there'll be some some more tryyous. Definitely looking forward to just competing, man, with the best of the best again. I'm a little uh a little jealous. Healthy jealous. Healthy healthy. All right. Healthy jealous. Not envy, not hate, jealousy, but just out of like I I would love to play against the the world competition. The rest of the countries around the world, I mean, they want to win gold, too. And it's going to be some great competition going on in the next month or so, you're going to see, if you go look up some of the pros that are on these other teams, it's going to be some good matchups. like and there's no 3 seconds and there's like technically goalending or you can swipe the ball off the rim. These dudes right here, you know, these youngans out here, man, they definitely want to win gold. So, I I'm definitely praying that the USA team comes with it cuz these teams are not going to take it lightly on us. And I'm looking forward to seeing the best of the best, right?
And back in the day too, Team USA would have a lot of the current NBA players that had played on the USA team on the team for the World Championships. But giving the young guys a chance to go over there and get that experience is just as important as as us playing, right? You know, this is about the next generation developing and being better. Uh but again, they're going against a lot of competition. Guys that have been playing together for 15 plus years, 10 plus years, 20 plus years sometimes. Sometimes, you know, you're playing against a guy, this is his third Olympics. Second Olympics. No, for sure. Like it's sometimes it's these guys third Olympics. Can you imagine that? It's 12 years. And uh the pride never goes away. You know, they are proud to make uh their countries celebrate. You know, they want to have their country celebrate. So, you can see the drive right in a lot of a lot of the international players.
Watch some of these highlights. you guys could break down film with me. This is what I wanted to do on my Xbox, but once I saw that YouTube didn't authorize me to do it for my Xbox, I had to get a new setup. Looking at Italy versus Greece, I heard that Giannis isn't playing on the Greece team. That's a big hit for them. I don't know who else is going to really carry him. I know Giannis is is an incredible player as well, but um he can only do but so much. It's a lot of help defense. It's It's going to be a lot of zone and it's going to be a lot of letting people shoot, but we going to see if they won this game. I'm going be honest with you. It's not like they have a bad team. It's just they're a different team without Giannis.
And by the way, you it's it's okay to talk about your peers and you guys not necessarily be as friendly on the court. I'm just going to let that I'm just going to let that be known. beginning of the season, you know, who I could trust out here. Just being myself around, you know, like because when I love to be nice and I love to invite a lot of people in, but I I definitely gotta watch watch everybody. And don't think I forgot a lot of people trying to come at my neck. Don't think I forgot. This is a GTA. Like, this is not me pointing at anybody either. This is just me saying things. Don't think I forgot. Kai was one of the main ones texting me all the time just making sure you know he I knew that he was there and he's so young and you know he just has a big heart so I told him I appreciated him not too long ago.
I know they they're young and they be doing their own thing and and trust me art is art. That's why I'm saying art is art. You make a professional life out of your art and creating your art. I mean there going to be some things that go right and some things that go wrong. But the true warriors, they stick through. The last few years have been tough and tough is is not probably the proper word to use. It's just been a learning experience and I've enjoyed every part of it. Uh the ups and the downs, you know, just learning how to be a better man, be a better husband, be a better friend, be a better brother, be a better son. All those things matter to me. I keep God first and I strive to do my best every single day. That's that's all I can do.
It's already enough that I have to live my life in public. I be tired of that [ __ ] sometimes. You know, I see people all the time talk about it. Some of my, you know, peers in the entertainment industry, they talk about, man, I just want to go back to a 9 to5, you know, where I could just do normal things. And I'm not making fun of anybody. It's just the truth, like what comes with it. You know, you lose damn near all your privacy. If you don't update people, that's when all the madeup stories start happening. That's why I do my best to respond on Twitter to everybody. That [ __ ] be hilarious. Especially when I say something back to people that don't expect it. like that [ __ ] be hilarious to me cuz I I definitely I definitely love those conversations but I got to let people know man everybody has an opinion. Nothing special about your opinion. I could always voice my opinion.
It's just when your opinion uh doesn't necessarily conform with the societal message or what they're pushing cuz it's a lot of negativity and [ __ ] pushed out here. like they come for the good guys, you know, they come for the guys that or the girls as well, you know, they come for the guys and the girls as well that's exposing a lot of what's happening. So, when I'm on Twitter and I'm I'm liking things or, you know, I'm putting up pictures, it's it's really just to put my my tribe up on what's happening. This basketball stuff is cool and all, but there's real stuff going on. So, when I say like things are going on in the world and things are happening, I just mean be aware of what's being pumped out in the news and the media.
You know, I grew up in a generation where believed everything on the news, like everything that was in the media. I didn't know what propaganda was until I got a little older. I didn't know that, you know, the news media outlets lie and are owned by a lot of the billionaires until I got a little older. You know, you realize that a lot of these news sources and where people get their their information on social media is actually run by a lot of, you know, coders and people that, you know, are there to promote an agenda? I don't have an agenda pro to promote except for good living, healthy living, better diet, you know, being better spiritually, mentally, emotionally. And how do you do that, right? You can't just go out and meditate all the time. You you just you really got to find your tribe and people that are like-minded. You know, stop hanging around people that don't understand you or you're not making sense of them. Like you could try to save as many people as you want, but not everybody's going to get free. And I and I say that relatively to, you know, let me simplify that. When I say everybody's not going to get free, it just means like everybody's not going to vibrate on the same frequency. Everybody's not going to have the same consciousness. Not everybody's going to be motivated to learn new things.
67065 Italy. That's why I said it was and to not lose my point here, but I was I was really talking about what was going on in the world when I'm talking about like the news media cycles. Just pay attention. Just stay aware. That's a great play. Oh, wow. That's a dunk. You should just dunked it.
This game right here, I don't know if you see how many NBA players on the floor, but it's a lot. And games like this is, you know, what I'm looking forward to. It's what I'm looking forward to when I uh when I'm watching quarterfinal, semi-finals in the championship because this is what the game is really going to look like right here. A lot of spacing, a lot of shooting. You see the the size of the floors, right? You know, it's it's different, you know, than the NBA. Like, and and you've heard people talk about international games being different from the NBA, uh the pro style and stuff like that. But right here, this game is I don't really have any predictions, but if I were to predict today, like after watching this game, a lot of teams are going to struggle against Germany and Canada, uh, just because of how much talent they have. Now, it it's all going to be come to a head. The truth is going to come out and how well they gel as a team eventually once they get in these later rounds. But right now, if I had to choose, you know, two teams that I I would say will battle it out for that semi-finals or gold medal game, it would be these two. And just because of of the space, just because of the the the players that they have, the intangibles, and once they get used to that international game, it's it's a wrap. It's all NBA plays in this game. You going to see him.
Okay, Dylan. And by the way, shout out to Dylan Brooks, man. I me and him had a whole viral moment this year where after the game, I was pissed that I got hurt again. um you know during the game I was pissed. I was not necessarily just pissed. I was pissed at him and he knew it too like cuz he hurt me. He didn't do it on purpose or I don't know if he did it on purpose but he hurt me again in that game. I had like 26 going 28 going into the fourth quarter at Memphis. We were supposed to win that game. We needed that game to go into the playoffs. And here he is just you know doing doing Dylan Brooks things, you know. And I didn't take his jersey after the game cuz I was just so focused on getting to the locker room and just getting my my rehab done and my recovery. Some people thought I played the [ __ ] out of him. I wasn't trying to play the [ __ ] out of him, you know, but I I text him after the game and was like, "Bro, you know, it's just heated the moment, you know, send me your jersey when you get a chance cuz, you know, it's nothing like being in the pressure cooker. It's nothing like being in a pressure cooker when a lot of the people are turning on you." It was kind of messed up.
It's kind of messed up. I don't think people understand it's a lot of time that you got to put in to be a professional in any industry, let alone talking about basketball. It's a lot of time that goes in. So all the people that you be saying trash, you know, a lot, and I'm not saying you guys, right, but I'm saying the people that be talking crazy, he's trash. Then you got these media members at time saying, "Oh man, he's not that good." Bro, I had a lot going on, a lot to figure out myself, but ultimately it made me who I am today, right? I can't I can't change the past. All I could do is prepare for a better future. So, shout out to all you guys out there that tuned in. Shout out to all you guys that are probably going to catch up to this on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. You know, these thumbnail thumbnails are going to go crazy. like, "Hi." Talking some real stuff on on Twitch and it's going to be like the full on uh 50 minutes or however long I've been on here, you know? Like I always try to prepare my tribe for people always trying to sneak in some some slick [ __ ] You know what I mean? Try to put something in put something out in the in the ethos. Oh, he meant this, but I really meant this. Man, don't pay attention to none of that [ __ ] You know, I'm going to close out the stream. It's all even tribe. Um, you know, I'm praying for each one of you guys families as always. I'm praying for your peace of mind. I'm praying for uh, you know, you to stay healthy. I'm praying for all your family members all across the world. Um, you know, it's an international community now. It's not just a domestic one, an American community. It's international.
I'm so appreciative of how many people have grown with me over the last few years and I just want to pay it forward um, you know, for the rest of the years that I have playing basketball in the NBA. You know, I I really want to leverage uh this opportunity to connect in a more intimate way where we can just have a lot of meetups. We we can do a lot of giveaways. We can do a lot of drop offs, but ultimately it's just conversing about things that we align with. You know, this community is going to become very mature over time because I I don't have time for the BS. I don't have time for the I don't have to be on here. Y'all don't have to be on here. We could just be chilling, living our lives, you know, drinking some M thighs if you old enough. You know, drinking some Mexican mules, you know, a little extra tequila in there. Um, you know, I'm 31 years old. I I don't I'm not any of these young streamers. I have nothing to hide. And I'm not saying that the young streamers do. I'm just saying I'm not on the come up. I don't I don't need your money, sort of say. Like, I don't I don't want to take your money. I don't want you to guys just be investing in things I'm investing in. N like it's going to be a real real real quality commune, you know? It's going to be a real quality tribe. And I say quality tribe because we need that moral compass to shine through. Quality over quantity. We don't need that many people tuning in, but when people are tuning in, make sure you show them love in the chat. Make sure you show them the love in real life, too. You know, it costs nothing to be generous and be compassionate, right? And it costs nothing to take the last shot off your back to give it to somebody that needs it more than you do. Which basically means there could be somebody in a in a in a different situation than you are. And I think you should be grateful for the one that you're in. So, you know, I'm just going to leave you with that message. I got to head upstairs, take a shower, get dressed, but I'll be back on live in probably like two hours or three hours. So, tune back in, man. And if you didn't catch the beginning of this stream, we talked about a whole bunch of nothingness. No, I'm joking. We didn't talk about just a whole bunch of nothingness. We talked about, you know, our fair share of things and and just being able to uh have some some topics to talk about later, right? We watched some highlights. Uh, you know, I'm trying to get the music going. I'm trying to get things set up in this room where now I could just stream from here and I could, you know, pick up this. So, you know, you guys let me know, man. All right. You guys be well. Cheers up to all y'all. Be safe. All right. Much love. You already know. [Music]