Transcription
Bam. For you, you put this on social media with photos. Wilt, Kobe, me. Really? That that's it. That's the list. Was there a moment that you looked at yourself in the mirror, maybe after you were chatting with your family and had a quiet moment where that finally sunk in for you?
Uh, I would say it would sunk in after I hit the the free throws. That's when that's when it really sunk in like okay, you know, it's one thing to like when you're chasing it and it's the other thing when it actually happens. Uh, and for it to happen, like I said, at home uh with my with my people there, obviously the home crowd and just having that experience in Miami. Uh, you can't write a better story than that.
Guys, I got the chance to travel the world with Bam a couple of times with Team USA and I got to tell you, he is so popular and well respected by the superstar Pierce that he has. And we saw Bam those guys come out yesterday, some of them into in the media, some of them on social media just congratulating him on on that, congratulating you. I want to know when you got to your phone, what message maybe made the most impression on you after that incredible night?
Uh, I mean, LeBron, Joel, uh, all my teammates from the past. Uh, Dwade, Michael Jordan.
What did Michael say? Whoa. What did he say?
Just congratulations. Uh, very short and short and sweet. If you know, Mike, he's he's not talking a lot.
Bam. Coach Malone here. Congratulations. Uh, as I watched that game last night, I marveled at the fact that in your first six years in the NBA, you made eight total threes, and now you've turned yourself into a player that can come down off the break, hit the pull up three. You made seven last night. Uh, and for me that speaks to your work ethic and the fact that you do not want to be pigeonholed into being just a defensive-minded player. Talk to me about your evolution as a player as well as coach Spo's empowering of you to become that player and give you the freedom to play that way.
Coach, I'm still mad at you because but uh but as you grow in this league, you understand you you see the stat sheet, you see how people guard you. Uh and it's up to you as a player to shift how that scouting report has to change. Uh, and to me, I've always wanted to be a three-level scorer where you have to guard me at all three levels or you're going to have to pay for it. And when it comes to my work ethic, everybody knows who's around me, who's ever been around me, like when it comes to work ethic, like I don't waste my time.
That's the biggest thing with me. Like, I do I do not waste my time. And uh I'm one of those people like when it comes to these workouts, I do not take them for granted. Uh I'm one of those people that every time I step in the gym, it's all business. So, uh it's just a testimony of my true work ethic.
Bam. You you know it's no going backwards now from here, right? It's only it's only up. First of all, look, congratulations. But now I wanted to ask you because you basically gave us and the organization an appetizer. Now everybody want the full entree. You 28 years old. You 28 years old. So you're just entering in your prime. No Jimmy. Jimmy left last year. Can you be that cornerstone franchise guy to take this organization back to the promised land?
Uh I feel like that's the way it's been presented. That's the way a lot of things have shifted in in my career coming from. Obviously, you know, we had D. Wade here when I first got here and then he retires and obviously you got UD then you have the Jimmy area and then obviously it shifts to me as you know being somebody that's the captain and obviously the leader of this team. You know, I've I've said it a long time, like we we're sick of being in a plan. Um, and trying to do whatever I can to make sure we get to that promised land is like that's a goal of mine.
And we saw that bam on on really full display here. One of the fun wrinkles I I find in this is that Asia Wilson is the tied with with the leading scoreer in WNBA history. And now among active players, you you set that bar. You have the second most points scored all time. The bragging rights in your household right now, what's what's that looking like?
Uh uh I'm just honored to obviously be in the same conversation as somebody like that. Obviously, uh when you look at the accolades and what she's done, like I don't think there's anybody else that's going to catch her. And if you do, good luck. Uh that under 30.
Yeah.
Uh so there is no bragging rights.
Um me it's just being able to at some point, you know, tell people I did a little something in my life.
I You know what? I think I I think maybe just a little bit more than a little something.