Brandin Podziemski on Steph, Giannis, Going Viral, Drawing Charges & NBA Finals Predictions

Back on "Up Adams." We are a basketball show. Don't let anyone tell you differently. And my next guest just finished, let me make sure I get this right, his second season with the Golden State Warriors. He's a shooting guard, former safety and wide receiver for St. John's Northwestern Academy, go Lancers, the Polish Pierogi Prince, Brandin Podziemski. Nice to meet you.

Likewise, thank you for having me.

Thank you for being here. How are you? Nice to see ya.

I'm good. Summertime, it's all good.

Love that. I was asking for questions about you. I got no— I got every other question outside of like Wisconsin and some Warriors stuff is like you and Jack Harlow. Like, what is this Jack Harlow thing? People think you look like him?

Yeah. I mean, there's not many of us white guys with curly hair. So if you got curly hair and some facial hair, kind of look alike.

Yeah. Why did Jack Harlow write a song about somebody from Greenfield, Wisconsin and have it not be you and have it be Tyler Herro?

I mean, it was back in, what, 2020? I was still in high school, so maybe someday.

Maybe someday. Have you met him?

I've never met him.

No.

Got it.

Congrats on the great season. I know that you wanted to get even further, but you had like your first playoff action, which is amazing. I feel like it's a good time to be you right now. Coach Kerr just said, that you're not going to turn down a single shot next season. What is it like to get the Steph Curry green light from Coach Kerr?

I mean, it's definitely a blessing for sure. Don't take it for granted. Not a lot of young players in the Golden State Warriors system get, you know, freedom like I've gotten. So I don't take it for granted, but I also know what I put into the game, how much time I spend on it. So— I think it's an even balance, two-way street.

In the NFL, which is the sport, like, I live in, I know you played a little bit in high school, but of course we'll get to that. But I feel like there's, like, there's these leaps that happen, right? Like, for a receiver, for a quarterback, in year— from year 1 to year 2, year 2 to year 3. What does that leap look like from you, for you, from year 2 to year 3, you think?

I mean, it's hard to tell right now, but I've also looked at players in the past when they've taken their leaps. There's a bunch of things that increase for them and it's their 3-point field goal attempts and it's their drives to the basket per game. You look at Shai, Ant, guys like that, all every year they've gotten better. Their drives and 3-pointers have increased in volume. And so, you know, the more times you drive to the basket, I would obviously the more times you can get fouled, 3 points are worth more than 2. And so looking at those things and how can I, better myself in those areas. There's always something that I'm gonna look to improve on.

Yeah, I don't watch— I'm not like a basketball fiend, but I was at a game that I saw you go off on against Phoenix, like late in the season. And I was with my dad who's like born in Poland, like immigrated to Chicago. And like, we— my dad was just like so in love. Like, he was just like, who's this? Brandin Podziemski! And you're like, he's like the biggest fan of you now. So like, and your lefty shot is so freaking smooth. It's like insane to watch. And those, even in those highlights, which is so amazing. I saw this video just a couple minutes ago. They sent it to me. Something's going viral or like it's making its rounds where like you weren't allowed into your own arena locker room. What's going on here on these? Let's show this. Can you set the record straight on whatever might be going on here? They closed the garage door thing on you?

Oh yeah, Minnesota. I think it was before, might've been game 1 or 2.

Game 2.

Yeah, game 2. And we came in, everyone else got let in. They just, I don't know if it was on purpose, it was probably an accident, but they closed the door on me. And this is a, it's a good meme, little joke to laugh about.

That was clearly gamesmanship on Minnesota's side, right? Like that wasn't an accident.

I mean, it's the playoffs, so nothing's really an accident now.

We talked about just like the green light, obviously, you know, Kerr giving you that, and you saying you worked really hard for it and earned it. Like, I was going back and looking at your rookie season. I was going back this morning and like getting to know you a little bit since I don't know that much about you. What was the moment that you would say, whether it was last year or even this year, where you're like, "I belong in this league. Like, I feel good. I feel my best"? Like, did you have that sort of come-to-NBA or— I'm here moment?

I think there are definitely a few. First game I ever played in when Draymond and Klay got ejected against the Timberwolves and Steph was out. I got an opportunity at in-season tournament and got to play a lot of minutes that game. I think I played 39 minutes and I just got to show kind of what I could do. Nobody really knew who I was. So that was a big game for me, at least my rookie year. And then just towards this back half of the season, really being confident in what I was doing. I felt really good out there.

I thought you might say what your— this game that you had, and you're from Wisconsin, you're from Greenfield, which is near Milwaukee. I'm sure you grew up, I'm guessing, a Bucks fan, yeah?

Yes.

You had like one of your— you had like a really high-scoring game against them. Your rookie year. Can you just, like, tell me what that possibly could have been like growing up as somebody who, like, watched Giannis and then you're out there, like, taking him on? Like, and then you, like, turned up for that too. What was that game like? That had to be, like, it had to be a highlight in your welcome to the NBA.

Yeah. I mean, I always love playing Milwaukee, whether it's in Milwaukee or out here in San Francisco. But like you said, I saw Giannis get drafted. I was at a lot of games his rookie year and throughout his you know, development. And so to be on the same court as him, playing against him, competing, it's pretty cool. But it's also kind of a full circle moment for me just because I played at Illinois and we played in Marquette, which is in Milwaukee. And I didn't play any minutes that game and I had a bunch of people there watching me. And so to go back there my rookie year and, you know, play well and to play a lot in front of those same people, it was kind of like refreshing for me.

[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Yeah, you crushed it. It's gotta be so cool to see. I know Marquette, I know Milwaukee, I know Greenfield really well. There's, like, obviously, the rumor mill's, like, whatever with NBA stuff. The idea of Giannis, like, as a fan, not as a player, not as a— like, in a vacuum, as, like, that little boy who's a Lancer watching, you know, the rise of Giannis, like, the idea of him not playing for the Bucks, getting traded, not finishing his career there, like, what does that do to you? Where does your head go?

I mean, it's the same thing with any, you know, player like that. It's like Steph not playing for the Warriors. You know, all guys who've cemented their legacy and you know what they're about in this league with one team, you never expect it to change. The same with Luka in Dallas. Like, the whole world is shocked because of the player he is. And you could see how they were building around him. But like I said, it's like any star in the league that stays with one team. You just expect them to be in one jersey. And anywhere else doesn't just seem right at all.

In the morning, like we have like these morning production calls, like you would have like a team meeting and it's like, "Oh, we should ask about like, how do we ask about LeBron?" Or whatever. And I was like, "I think like Giannis is his LeBron." Is that true? Like, is LeBron your LeBron or is Giannis your LeBron?

I mean, I picked the game up late.

Yeah.

8th grade. So I don't know what year that was. Like, what, 8, 9 years ago. So 2015, '16, that's where I kind of went Steph, really was in his prime. That's when they won their first championship. So I've really been a Steph fan for a long time. Obviously my favorite player though growing up was Manu Ginóbili. I think there's a lot of resemblances in our games.

Yeah, you guys both like crush people with these charges you draw. Yeah, that makes sense. Manu was crazy at that. You watch a lot of him, like you loved him?

Yeah, definitely watched a lot of like European highlights, people growing up, just 'cause I knew I wasn't always gonna be the best athletically. And so really developing like an IQ for the game, how important, you know, dribble, pass, and shoot is if you can do it all three at a high level. So I just kind of learned from that. Learned from playing some video games and just took it and ran with it.

You're both lefties. Makes— all of it makes sense. Why did you wait? That feels like late, right? 8th grade to play— pick up a basketball. What's that about?

Always been a baseball player. So my dad played. It was something I was naturally gifted at. I could take a while off and just come back and be, you know, just as good as every other kid. And so I just wanted to try something new and, My work habits were very poor when I played baseball because I knew I was just physically gifted in that sport. And so I wanted to try something, first of all, more up-tempo, that had a little bit more pace to the game and something I knew I had to work at every day. And I think that's kind of driven my work ethic, knowing in the back of my mind that if I take, you know, time off, it's a lot of, you know, retooling that I gotta do to be the player that I want to be. So—

Yeah.

I think it helped me.

Brandin, that's not normal to like become an NBA player just trying something out. Like, that's unbelievable.

Yeah, I think when I started in 8th grade though, I told my parents that like it was the thing I wanted to do and it wasn't just like I was trying it to try it. I was like, you know, this is what I wanna do and this is like, Being in the NBA is my end goal with it. And so I knew from when I started, like, that's something I wanted to do. And it wasn't just like, "I'm gonna pick it up and try it and see how I like it for a couple months." I knew this is what I wanted. And so, you know, my parents, my family, my circle put me in the best situations possible throughout, you know, high school and college to get here. And that now I'm here, there's, you know, a whole bunch of other things that you want to do. And I think we're just kind of on that same path we did in high school, checking boxes.

Yeah. And part of that's playing in these big games and being trusted to take shots in these big games. Like, in going over your resume this morning, you know, and I'm like, "Oh, he played at Illinois," and, "Oh, did they make it to March Madness?" But you didn't play against Chattanooga or Houston. You didn't get to do that. You had to watch from the bench. How did that affect— what I'm picking up from you is, like, you have goals. You belong. You've worked your ass off. How did that experience, even just the March Madness, which I guess I think I would compare to the NBA playoffs, how did that affect you you as you fought your way to the playoffs this year, over these two years?

Yeah, I think being at Illinois did a lot for me. Everybody makes it out to be a bad experience for me because I didn't play. Fans really didn't get to see what I could do, but it taught me to play a role. A lot of kids nowadays, they are in AAU, they're in high school, and they're the guy on the team, top 2 player on the team. So everything's kind of for them in a sense.

Mm-hmm.

But at Illinois, I had to learn how to play a role, how to play with a bunch of other players that were, you know, the same talent level as me or higher. And so I think that helped me, especially coming into the league my rookie year, knowing that you have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Chris Paul, all in your position. And so it's like, where do you fit in in that group? And so my experience at Illinois playing behind, you know, All-American guards, Trent Frazier, Andre Curbelo, Learning from them, I think, just kind of helped me fit in with the rest of the guys here. And I found what I was good at, what they didn't like doing. And I just—

Yeah.

You know, took that and ran with it. And you look, you look at guys around the league, like the Kawhi Leonards, they find little things that they're good at. And each year they progress and get better and are trusted more, have more confidence in themselves. And then become, you know, All-Stars, Hall of Fame type players.

That's what you looked like in that Game 4 game, a situation like that. What that was, I mean, you always do the dirty work and you find your way, but like, you balled out in that playoff game this year. What did that feel like after everything you've been, like, everything you've worked for? Like, I can't even imagine. Like, you literally could not miss against Houston.

Yeah, it was a great moment. My family was here, so it was a great time. Obviously, we went up 3-1 after that. So it was great, but it's cool to know like what you can do and you know, when you're having a good game, what that can look like. And the thought process afterward is like, how can I replicate that all the time?

Yeah.

And I think that was a good learning experience for me in the playoffs in total of, you know, I had good games and I had some poor games. I had some in-between games, but it's like how to, You know, you do it for 82 games in regular season and in the playoffs consistently. And that's what, you know, the great players, all-stars do.

You made your goals known in 8th grade, which is crazy to think about. Like, I can't even— that doesn't quite compute to me. But you did that, and those were your goals, right? And you met them. You're meeting them. What are your goals now for, like, let's say, the next— I mean, you're 22, right? You just— you have your whole career ahead of you. What are your— give me like a couple specific goals I can manifest on for you.

Man, I wanna be NBA champion. Going through the playoffs, I think you don't realize how hard it is to win until you're out of the playoffs. If I'm gonna be honest with you, the first 4 games against Houston, we were up 3-1. I was like, well, if they're the second best defense in the league and we're up 3-1, like why can't we beat anybody else? And we kind of just took, I wouldn't say for granted that we could win, but, you know, we easily could have put our best foot forward in one Game 5, I think, and then wouldn't have had to go 6 and 7. But I think winning in the playoffs and winning a championship is, is definitely like some on top of my list. I've always said it before, but now that I've been through the playoffs and I've seen how hard it is to win, that's something I wanna do. Obviously, I want to be an All-Star, you know, as soon as I can be. Whether that's with Steph and them here or it's when they're done. I want to do that. I want to be an Olympian in 2028. It's definitely something I have my sights on. And I just want to be a household name.

Yeah.

You know, somewhere. Somewhere where it can be me and another bunch of guys. You know, win the championship, that'd be kind of ideal for me.

You keep saying this, Steph not being their thing, and I just can't— I need you to not allow that, Brandin. Like, when he's saying all this stuff about, like, his golf and his media, like, what are you doing to keep him in the NBA? I'm putting it on you, Brandin.

I think just for him to know that he got some young guys that that's willing to help and that can, you know, relieve some pressure and some stress for him throughout the year. Obviously, he's getting older. So is Jimmy and Dre. And so for them to know, like, hey, we got a little young core group of guys that can win us some games out the 82 when they might not have their best night or they need to take some nights off, I think that helps them because, like Dre My said, the back half of the season this year, post-All-Star break, it seemed like every game was a playoff game for us because we were fighting uphill battle 'cause we was in 11th before we got Jimmy. And so it just, you know, it took a lot outta you. February, March, April, always trying to win games.

Mm-hmm.

Not having them games where the end of the season, the last 5 games, you're a top 2 seed, you can rest your starters and let the bench play. Every game we're trying to win all the way up until, you know, the playing game against Memphis.

I don't— when I watch him, and like, I've gotten— I'm blessed to have seen him in person a couple of times, and you, of course, your whole team. It's just like magic. Like, it's just, you know, he's like a star. And like, you've gotten to play with him. Like, obviously you're saying like your entire career, college career prepared you for that. What does the world look like for you? Like, when you think about like entering the facility, when they let you in because it's yours, like, what does the locker room, what does the court look like, the bench, like, without Steph there eventually? Like, what is— What does that feel like when you visualize that?

I mean, for me, it doesn't look any different. I think it was just the same way in Game 5 when we played without him. I mean, at the end of the day, you're gonna have to figure out how to make it work. Is it gonna look the same ever? No, because no one is him. And so you just find a way. It's gonna look a little different. The fans, they gotta know it's gonna look a little different. But, you know, that's what teams are for. You find ways to make things work. And I trust, and I know everybody else in the Warriors organization trusts, that everybody's gonna get better. And like I said, things are looking a little different, but we're gonna figure it out.

We were talking about, like, Giannis and, like, potentially playing for someone else, and you're sort of saying, like, that's kind of what happens. And then, like, Steph, Steph, like, has played with the same team, right? Like, that's what makes— Mm-hmm. Like, as somebody who loves the NFL, like, that's— I feel like what I hear from guys is, "It's a business. It's not in my control." But, like, the goal is always to sort of stay where you are, staying with one team, loyalty on both sides, right? The ownership group and the team side, and the player side wanting to embrace that and be there. Like, how important is loyalty to you personally, NBA players? Like, can you speak to that and, like, how that plays into Steph and how he's viewed?

Yeah, loyalty's a big thing. Just even growing up as a kid, you're loyal to the people that are loyal to you. Family's a big thing to me. I know it's a big thing to Steph. And I know, you know, there were times early in his career, you know, with his ankle problems, they didn't know like if he could last in the league. And for the Warriors to, you know, stay with their word and keep trusting him, through struggles, maybe with injury or performance, like, that's big as a young player. When you see, like, you're struggling or things aren't going your way and the team doesn't go away from you and, you know, they tell you, like, you know, we trust you, you're our guy. Like, that's big for somebody's mental and it's big for somebody's performance. And for them to trust him, you know, what is he in year 17 coming up, 16? All these years, like, to see him in a different uniform, it doesn't make sense. And I know—

Yeah.

If he was to be in a uniform, different uniform, it'd be by his choice and it wouldn't be, You know, by the Warriors organization.

That's nice of you to say, as the annoying little brother. Did you hear him say that about you?

What'd he say about the annoying little brother?

He said that you're like an— here's the quote. "He's kind of the annoying little brother who asks questions all the time, and he's always talking, but I love that about him and tell him to tap into it more." Is he an annoying big brother? How is he an annoying big brother?

I just— he's not even the annoying big brother. The annoying big brother's probably like Jimmy or Buddy, but Steph's just kind of like one of them wise uncles that just, you know, sits around in a rocking chair and just has a bunch of knowledge and wisdom and is good at a lot of things, but doesn't say much unless it needs to be said.

Does Steph need to retire as a Warrior?

100%.

100%. And then you get his All-Star, you get his All-Star spot? Like it's just business like that? That's crazy.

I mean, I don't know about that, but I do know the All-Star Game's in Milwaukee sometime soon. So it'd be nice to be an All-Star in Milwaukee.

If you, if you could visualize like your entire career, like you're gonna have 25 years, you're gonna win your ship somewhere. Like, do you ever picture or daydream or thought about like if you were a Milwaukee Buck? Like, is that like part of your future lore in your head?

I mean, of course you think about it as a kid. Growing up, like going to the games, watching Giannis, like how cool would it be to, you know, wear the same jersey as him, do the same things he does. But once you find yourself like in the NBA and like you said, business is a business, like you want to be with that team that invested in you from the start when you haven't, you hadn't accomplished anything. And so that's what Golden State has done for me. Mm-hmm. And so for me to be here for as long as I can, you know, that's obviously the goal. It'd be pretty cool to win a championship in Milwaukee against them.

Yeah.

That'd be something cool. But, you know, I love Golden State. I love everything that they've invested in me despite having, you know, Hall of Famers all the time around me. And so it's pretty cool to be wanted as a young player.

They love you. I mean, you don't know this about me, but I have a knack for recruiting players too. Packers to Wisconsin. So if you ever— if that's ever a part of your future, um, you, you let me know and we'll try to work something out because Wisconsin fans will go crazy just hearing that. Um, we're gonna take a short break. We're gonna talk on— just, just follow my lead. Short TV break, we'll be back. We're also live on YouTube. Morning with these drawing charges. Okay, but you're like so good at it, it's like insane. You led the league your rookie year, second this past season. Now this is something It might be hard to believe, Poge, I will never experience this. I will never know what this feels like. What— talk me through exactly what it feels like to have someone bowl you over but crush their spirit in the process.

I mean, it's not as bad as people make it out to be. I feel like the skill in taking a charge is you have to make the fall and the contact that the offensive player delivers kind of look like not flawless, but like in sync. I don't know how to put that. Like you can't like let 'em hit you and then be a little delayed or fall before they hit you. So it's like you're almost using the, you're using the offensive player's momentum to kind of just let your body just kind of float in a sense and then just kind of fall gracefully. And I think just over time, I learned how to do it in high school.

Mm-hmm.

And I just kind of gotten better at it over time. But I think it's just using the offensive player's momentum and just making the fall look smooth. And so that entices, I think, the ref to look— be like, okay, like, that's really a charge.

Like, the skill to stay there and not flinch at all is insane. And you're saying it's not that hard? It's not that hard?

No, I think outta every charge I've took in, I've only felt like one of 'em where it hurt.

Which one?

It was last year, my rookie year against the Lakers against Anthony Davis. That's the one I felt and that hurt. But like Jokic, that was fine. Embiid was fine.

Have you tried, has LeBron happened or no? I know you guarded him in the post. I don't know. I saw that this morning. I think we have the Anthony Davis one and the Jokic one, don't we? Let's see.

I don't think LeBron.

Here's the Jokic one.

Yeah, like this one was fine.

This one didn't hurt. Why did the Anthony Davis one hurt?

'Cause he was like full speed, like coming off the pick and roll. Like I flew outta bounds on that one.

He's also like 250, 6'9" coming at you full speed. That's absolutely insane. You're kind of insane. That's fine. I know you played football, so like, Obviously high school, St. John's Northwestern Academy. What takes more guts, do you think? Drawing a charge, like LeBron coming at you full steam, or catching a ball across the middle with like a Derwin James, Minka Fitzpatrick bearing down on you?

Oh, catching the ball across the middle. Because at least, you know, when you taking a charge, like you can brace yourself for being hit. When you playing football and you going across the middle, all you thinking about is catching the ball. And so, You don't really think about getting hit until you've gotten hit. So definitely football for sure.

I just got a text from a producer that said, not me, saying Anthony Davis gets hurt all the time. That probably hurt him more than it hurt Poach.

Sure.

I hardly know what that means because I'm not a basketball girly, but I call it like I see it. Do you ever see, do you ever watch, does Kerr ever have you watch his highlights? Oh, Steve?

Yeah.

No. Ever? Do you don't think you like have a— there's no similarities outside of the obvious? There's no like, you don't see similarities there?

No, I don't. I don't see it. We, we, I mean, maybe, maybe that we can shoot the ball.

Shooting? Yeah. You don't think the shooting's similar? He definitely doesn't sit there and like put on YouTube highlights for you guys?

Not of him, no.

Not a fem. Okay. I love that. Okay. We have the Finals. Tell me what you like, what you're thinking. Like, give me like your, you know, if you're talking to a 5-year-old that doesn't watch much, much hoops, what do you think?

Yeah, I'm super excited for it. I'm glad it was the Pacers, not the Knicks, because I feel like if it was the Knicks, it would've been a sweep just because I don't think the Knicks had enough to compete with OKC, both offensively and defensively.

Got it.

So I think, The Pacers, you know, on any given night they play what, 10 guys, I think. And you know, there's games where all 10 of 'em score in double figures. And so you don't always necessarily know where the points are coming from with Indiana. And I think that's what OKC's really good at stopping. You know, you look at—

Mm-hmm.

The Timberwolves, they know the majority of the points are from Randle and Ant. And so they're really good at taking that away and forcing others to beat you where, Indiana's like, we have a pass-first point guard in Tyrese and then a bunch of other guys, Nembhard, Tyrese, Benedict Mathurin, Nii Smith, all guys that can like get buckets at random times of the game. You saw Nii Smith's comeback against New York, just him single-handedly and he's a role player. You know, you put TJ McConnell in, he scores his buckets. So it can come from anywhere with Indiana and I think That's the thing that's gonna be challenging for OKC. But OKC's, you know, they're the best team in NBA for a reason. And they won 68 games, not by mistake. And you know, they got the same thing where, you know, the points can come from anywhere on any given night, whether it's, you know, Shade, J Dub, Caruso can have 20, Isaiah Joe can have 20, Kayson Wallace could have 20. So it's like it can come from anywhere. And I think that's what's gonna be— good about the series.

So you're gonna be on, like, television before Steph Curry analyzing NBA games. That was un-freaking-believable. I'm so happy to talk to you, to meet you, to hear you. I'm gonna teach you Polish next time I talk to you. I know you want that citizenship. I got you. We've got you covered. Thank you for hanging out. Great to get to meet you and heal up, and I can't wait to see next season.

Thank you for having me.

Appreciate it.

Bye, Poj.