The Get Up Podcast Episode #41- Malevy Leons Joins!

This is J-Ham and you're listening to the Get Up Podcast. This is Malefy and you're listening to the Get Up Podcast. What up? This is Duke Dean and you're listening to the Get Up Podcast.

All right, so we're joined by 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, the voice of the Get Up Podcast, number 33 of the Golden State Warriors, Malevy Leons.

Let's go. How are y'all doing? Good, good, good.

Super excited to have you on, man. Thanks for doing it.

Making my return.

So, I mean, obviously you just got done playing LeBron on Saturday, right? Kawhi on Monday. Tuesday you're with the Get Up Podcast. I'd say that's, uh, the most, uh, normal transition you could ask for.

Oh man.

All right, being a Brave, first Brave to go to the NBA and get some minutes since, uh, Walt Lemon Jr., um, early what, 20—

2014, 2015.

Oh yes. Um, so super excited to kind of hear about you in, in the NBA. What's kind of been the biggest change for you going from D1 ball, JUCO ball to being in the pros and living that, that NBA lifestyle?

I mean, uh, I don't have to go to classes anymore. That's one thing. Uh, and other than that, I don't know, it's just a lot— like, a lot can change at any moment. And, uh, uh, you got like less certainty, but it's still fun at the same time. Like, I went from Oklahoma to, uh, California all of a sudden and was like On the Warriors, which like a historic franchise, and yeah, it's just been very cool. Like to like start my career, and yeah, I've been enjoying it every day.

Which one's nicer to live in, Oklahoma City or the Bay Area?

I like the Bay Area. It's very nice, but but both have their perks. But I love the good weather.

That makes sense. I know you kind of touched on a little bit, but you kind of been blessed with. Being a part of 2 great franchises with your first 2 teams in the NBA, what's it kind of been like being around some of these great players and just overall organizations as well?

I mean, just like learning a lot and like organizations that like help you develop and become a better player. I think that definitely helps or is helping me a lot in like the early stages of my career. And it's just cool, like listening to like the stories of like the players when they like talk about like the 2010s and like talking about the final series they've been in or stuff like that. I'm like just being a fly on the wall and like trying to see what's going on.

Yeah, definitely absorb a lot of information via that.

Yeah.

Who did you— who have you learned the most from? Like, who would you say has kind of been the mentor?

I couldn't really point to one person, to be honest. Yeah, everyone's been very nice and trying to help me out here and there.

For sure. For sure. So you went from playing for Brian Wardle, a notorious players coach who teaches a lot of his players a lot of amazing life lessons and just gives overall mentorship, to now playing— you've played for 2 Finals-winning coaches who have storied careers in the NBA so far. Mark, whose career is just beginning, and then Steve Kerr, obviously, who's won 5 championships as a coach. So what have they taught you about success in general, um, not just with basketball but like in life?

Because, uh, I mean, it's funny because, uh, Coach Wardle always tried to make us like a player-led team when we were at Bradley. And, uh, I mean, I think we got better at it, but I think here at, uh, uh, Golden State, I'm kind of seeing like the Final product of it because they are like the most player-led team I like ever seen. Like everyone's talking, everyone's like having input, and like yeah, the players take accountability for what we're supposed to do a lot. And yes, cool to see what coach was talking about all along. Like we might have not been all there yet.

Yeah, I'm sure that's hard too on a roster with so many legends of the game who have all of the right in the world to have massive egos, but don't.

No, definitely not. I think everyone is working towards the same goal. It's just a cool thing to watch and be a part of.

What have you had to improve on the most in your game since going from college to the pros? Because It's a very different sport in a lot of aspects.

I kept playing more on the perimeter in college. At Bradley, I was working on it a lot as well on the perimeter, but kept developing that going to the pros, making quicker decisions. And yeah, mostly that and my physical strengths and everything. But I definitely feel like I had a good foundation, like, just coming from Bradley. Uh, especially physical side with the coach out there. Yeah, we were lifting every day for sure.

And I'm sure being around Draymond too, just the defender that he is, you've, you've hopefully absorbed a lot of his knowledge as well.

Yeah, trying to learn a lot. Oh, uh, before I forget, the, a different former Bradley player, uh, Jason Kent, he just signed, uh, uh, his, uh NBA contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Oh really?

Oh yeah, he got an NBA contract?

Yeah, today.

Oh wow, shout out Jason, that's awesome.

That's sick. I, I knew he was playing with— what did they— like the Remix or something?

Yeah, that's super cool.

He worked his way all the way up from tryout player to starting and now making the NBA roster.

That's insane.

Very cool story.

That's insane.

I love that.

I love that.

Hey, they're built different from Bradley.

Yeah, exactly.

So now that you're in the NBA, I don't know if we asked you this last time we had you on, but did you— were you a big NBA fan growing up? Did you have a favorite team?

Now that's kind of how I got into basketball for the first Or how it started. I saw the 2010 NBA Finals with Lakers versus Boston, and I just thought it was like super cool, and I was like a big-time NBA fan growing up. Yeah, just watching it every year.

Have you had a chance to watch Nebraska play at all? Watch what Rink is doing?

Rink and Bryce Stanford? Yeah, they got a good team.

For sure. You got to put in a good word for Rink with Coach Kerr. I think that would be awesome to see you guys on the same team again.

That'd be very cool, yeah.

That would be sick.

I'm sure a lot of teams are gonna want Rink in their service next year.

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

Just the leadership from Rink, and he even like, he— I remember at the beginning of the year, um, there was like a press conference at the end of the game and he was like coaching— I can't remember his name, he's one of their starting bigs— but he was like coaching him up and he's like, you gotta act like this in a road game and not just like a, like A home game and stuff.

Yeah, that's definitely a rank for England.

I was just gonna say, was he like that at Bradley or did he not have that?

Yeah, no, especially me since we're both from the same country. He was helping me a lot, especially my first year just coming there. Like, he always— I mean, he's just a leader and like trying to help everyone else, and he's not necessarily the most vocal, but he's always there to like help you out.

I think we'll be cool talking some Braves, Braves now. All right. So Jake's going to kind of explain something that we like to do before every, every game. They're called our plays.

Yeah. So we adopted a new segment this year. We're still looking for a sponsorship. So if any, any people in the local Peoria area, if you want to reach out for a sponsorship, especially Jimmy's, but—

or Mel, if you know someone, you know, national.

I mean, if the Warriors If the Warriors want to sponsor the Peoria Playbook, we'd be happy. Obviously, you know, Shawn Livingston was from the area, went to the Warriors.

Oh yeah.

So, you know, we could even have him sponsor it. But we have this new thing, it's the Peoria Playbook, and it's pretty much we each come up with a play and it's what we think Bradley needs to do to get the win. So we kind of each take our turn and we kind of say what we think the team needs to do to get some success, and especially this week since it's Arch, it's really important. So I don't know if, Luke, you want to start us off with your play for the Peoria Playbook?

Yeah, for sure. So my play kind of relates to Malevy being on here as well, is just learn from history. We've had a lot of heartbreaking defeats in the championship and then a recent one in the semifinals. So watching those teams, what they did well in the first and second round to get the dubs in the harder games, especially that Indiana State I think it was the first Arch Madness that we went to, watching how they secured those wins against very, very tough teams. And then what, what went wrong in the, in, in the tough losses?

Oh yeah, I'll go. Mine's gonna be stay true to the identity, right? Wardle always preaches defense, and that's kind of what got us to this 2 seed is just elite defense. So stick to our identity. Don't be somebody that we're not and don't change up what got us to that 2 seed and just for a weekend of a championship run.

I think, I think my play for this, for this weekend is don't let the lights get too bright. Obviously, this team's very young and but we do have a lot of experience. We do have experienced players on the team. So you got to kind of lean on them during this run because there's players that have been there before. Obviously, Jaquan was there, was there last year. He didn't have as big of a role, but we have Meta there, Birch. We have players that have been in the moment before, so lean on them this weekend and just don't get too big for the moment. And I don't know if you have a play for us, Mal, but we—

I'm excited to hear one. Excited to watch them, especially this team. Very tough, very physical, and I mean, They got talent all around on the roster. And yeah, I think they can definitely do something. And they've been playing better like every month. Like every month I watch them, like, damn, they're becoming like real good, like real serious. And yeah, I think they're ready for the moment. And yeah, it's going to be exciting to watch them next week. And, uh, yeah, I'm definitely going to be rooting for them.

Typical, typical Wardle team. They, they're better in February and March.

Yeah, true.

Obviously you played with a lot of great players while at Bradley, but if you were to construct a lineup to win Arch Madness just with your former teammates, which players would you take?

Uh, that's a hard one. No, I don't even think I can answer that question.

I honestly, I think you're— the last, the last team you were on for Bradley had had the makeup to do it all and, and get there. It just came up short.

Honestly, I thought we were gonna win it. Uh, first year was hard. We were like brand new, all new, and I didn't know what to expect. We lost to Loyola. We lost to the winner every year as well. But, uh, uh, but I, I thought we were gonna win, uh, every year after. But yeah, unfortunately Never got it done. I can't hang in the past anymore. I hope the new guys can get it done and that at least they can say I was there or know where I was when the Braves won.

All right.

I'm going to ask you, it might be a hard one. You might not be able to answer this one either. Who's the better defender, you or Jaquan? Because it looks like Jaquan's going to be a DPOY this year. Who's the better defender?

I give it to Chukwuan.

Really?

Yeah, the way he gets steals. I think he'll get like 5, 6, 7 steals like multiple times. Yeah, he's insane. And yeah, I don't know how he does it. I'm not as good at defense as Chukwuan. I'm just tall. I block shots every now and then. That's maybe the one thing I got over him. The way he gets steals is insane.

Yeah. Back-to-back 50-block seasons just every once in a while.

Let's see if Jaquan— when Jaquan gets 50 blocks, then we can have a fair comparison. Besides Jaquan, we've talked a lot about Jaquan and his impact on this team. The Larry Bird candidate, probable DPOY. Besides Jaquan, who or what has been the most impressive part of this Bradley roster and who's going to be the difference maker this weekend for the Braves?

I mean, they have a lot of depth on their team. I like how much better my former roommate Meta has become.

Yes. Yes.

How long has it been?

5?

No, no, no. 4 years. 4 years. And yeah, he's improved every year. Uh, I like— he's a freshman, Montana Wheeler. He's really good. I think he just won the All-Bench Team as well. He did, yeah, I'm pretty sure.

Yeah.

Uh, Alex, uh, Ubriggs, he had like 9 threes against Indiana State. Yeah, yeah, Indiana State. I mean, he broke— did he break Duke's record or like tied it?

Tied it.

Yeah, he tied it. I mean I never thought somebody would tie Duke's record. Uh, Timo is very good. Uh, AJ Smith. Yeah, they got a deep team. They got a lot of guys. I like their squad. Everyone, I always remember, Ward always told us the story about how Ja'Sean, uh, Henry, like, it's— I think it was his sophomore year when they won the championship that he like stepped up. And, uh, I think you just need like different guys to like step up in the, in the game on different moments. I definitely think they got the making for someone to do the— Osho, Demarion, he can step up with an insane game. Like, yeah, they have a lot of guys.

Oh, I was, I was gonna say something about Demarion because that boy needs to play.

I don't necessarily know. I think he got hurt in the middle of the season.

He had a toothache. It came out in— yeah, he was dealing with pain management with that, and then I think Montana kind of seized this opportunity a little bit down the stretch.

He gets like 5 assists a game or so, Montana.

Yeah, yeah, he's a good backup point guard for sure.

Yeah, and I like that you mentioned Meta. I mean, he was one of the guys who stepped up last year and was arguably our top player in the tournament. So I think he's primed for another— he's a big game riser.

He's so physical. And like just seven foot, like nobody can really deal with it. And then you have like different because you got the Kaiyu and CT coming off the bench as well. So you have like a lot of versatility to the big guy position as well. Like Kaiyu is very fast, so he can block shots. CT can shoot the three pointer.

I mean, I was impressed by Kaiyu's like footwork down low. He it just seems so natural for him.

Yeah.

Wasn't expecting that. Like it felt like he was going to be like a project that they were going to have to like work with like they did with Meta.

And he looks like he's— oh, sorry.

No, I was just saying he looks like he's on his way.

Oh yeah, no, definitely.

You kind of, you kind of said this with like the Jashawn story, but I mean, you, you've gotten to a championship, you've gone— come close to winning championships, um, in Arch. But what does this team specifically need to do to kind of get over that hump that we've recently had these past 5 years and, and finally bring home the trophy where it belongs?

I mean, I might be the wrong person to ask. I, I couldn't tell you, to, to be honest. I, I believe they can do it, but, uh, who am I to say that they can do it?

All I, all I care about besides Bradley winning is that Drake is finally not in contention, that, that era is over. They can't haunt us anymore.

I mean, they still have a chance.

That's true.

Yeah, that's what they're— that's what their marketing is.

Are they playing on Thursday?

Yeah, they are.

Oh, okay.

They're the 9 seed, I believe.

I see.

Okay, so the whole marketing is they're going for a 4th straight, uh, Arch Madness championship, but can't see that— can't see that happening from coming on a Thursday.

But it, it is hard to win the, uh If you play on Thursday to make it 4 days.

Yeah, and I, I know most of the team, uh, is new to you, but like, if you were able to kind of tell any of these players that are on the current Bradley team, if you were able to give them one piece of advice kind of going into Arch, what would you— what piece of advice would you give them?

I mean, just, uh, enjoy it. Like, enjoy the moment. Uh, I still remember like every moment from the times I played there and I had a great time until the end every time. But yeah, just enjoy it too.

I like that. I like that. When you were on Bradley, was the— did the preparation look different for Arch Madness? Like the practices, like your rest? How did you kind of get into that headspace for 3 games in a row potentially?

I mean, everything like goes super fluent once you like start practicing for Arch Madness because You've been through it like all year, like, like a— you're like a well-oiled machine by the time you get to Archimedes. And I think the best practices, uh, we had were always right before.

I know you kind of mentioned it a little bit before when, um, talking about how it's very hard to win from Thursday, obviously, because then you're playing all 4, all 4 days straight. But even starting on Friday, how do you kind of manage to keep your legs and your mind fresh when you're if you make it to the final, you're playing 3 or 4 games back to back to back. So how do you kind of— how are you able to kind of stay in that game-ready state when it's something you're not as used to, just given the time off usually during the season?

Yeah, but it doesn't matter as much. You just want to win that bet, and there's so much adrenaline rush going through your body that you probably could run into a brick wall if you wanted to at that point. Like, It's like something you work to all year, and being a little tired from 2 games before is not really going to stop you.

Definitely.

I, I remember when I was managing that Jashawn specifically, he like swore by this. And Coach E, I think he would buy like jars and cans of like Cherry Tart or whatever.

Oh yeah.

Did you guys— did you do that too?

We did the same thing. Honestly, uh, it gives you great sleep. It actually does.

Really?

Right after, because you drink it before you sleep and yeah. Wait, you can't be giving away like our secrets and stuff.

We'll cut that out.

That's inside information.

I just remember they like, they died by it. They were like, that's what got us the championship.

They were like I believe it.

Cherry tart juice?

Yeah.

Never heard of this.

Is it— I don't remember exactly what it's called, but it's like—

it is cherry tart juice. And if you sleep the day before, or if you need like a good night of sleep, you gotta like drink it right before you go to bed.

That's crazy.

We gotta make sure the boys are doing that this weekend then.

They probably are. I mean, Coach E's still there, so definitely will be. Um, kind of going into more of this preparation and stuff, um, I'm always kind of curious. I always liked listening to Wardle, um, kind of speak, but there's— there are times like where, you know, you guys had more time with him. And so what, what are some things that Coach would, would say, or what was kind of his— I guess his, like, how would he motivate you guys? Um, for your matchup every single day because you're playing back-to-back days?

I mean, he's just so good at like installing like confidence in you as a team and as a person. I don't know exactly what he said, but I know that after like his speeches or just him talking to the team, I know I could like face the world like it doesn't matter who's like against us. We're probably going to win. And I mean, that's probably what makes him a good coach. He instills confidence in his players. And, uh, yeah, I think he's probably gonna do that again this— that's coming up.

He's got 10 minutes. We're, we're too cheap to buy the, the pro version of Zoom.

Waiting for the sponsor still.

Yeah, exactly.

Waiting for better days.

You talk to the Warriors about it, it won't be like an Aspiration Clippers deal or anything like that, if that's a concern.

So I got you.

Are you planning a visit back to Peoria anytime soon, or—

Uh, I'm gonna try to in the offseason.

Offseason, nice. You went back to— did you go back this summer at all, or—

Last summer. So I was, uh, gonna visit the, the team and stay with Kate and Sam, and because they had a house, and I was planning to stay for like a week or a weekend, and then a week turned into like a month, and then a month turned into 2 months, and All of a sudden, I was leaving when they were leaving. That's funny.

It was a good time.

Sounds like a blast.

Yeah, I had a great time. I work. I was because I don't think they went to class either. I guess that's the senior year for you. But we would lift every morning and go. I would go shoot. They wouldn't shoot with me, and then just relax the next rest of the day and. Peoria is great in the spring.

Yeah, it is.

It's nice weather.

Yeah, when it's nice weather, it's so nice.

What's your favorite— what's your favorite area around Peoria? Not necessarily like restaurant, but like favorite activity to do.

The Heights is very nice. Uh, yeah, yeah, the Heights. Uh, Cruisins is nice.

Yep.

Yeah, around there, Farmington Road. Uh, Just being around the town, it's, uh, yeah, it's always good vibes. For sure, for sure.

We still gotta— when you're in town, we'll DoorDash you— what is it, Dang? Get you that teriyaki bowl, right? We still have to do that. We owe you, dude.

That is true. That's all good. We're buying the NBA player food.

By that time, he'll be coming in a limo and No, you know.

Oh, I got a shout out to Ford Hennessy. I got a car from Ford Hennessy, a Ford Explorer.

Oh, nice.

Yeah, a riff or few.

There we go. Shout out from Al for them. They can sponsor us too.

Be very nice. Got to get Sam on the podcast.

Yeah.

Is that Sam's dad's dealership?

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh, okay.

For him. Yeah, looking that up.

Connections.

That's awesome.

Hey, it'd be great on the podcast also. They were trying their podcast thing as well, but they never made it past the first episode.

Well, that's why I remember when that first happened, it would be like, oh, we should just do it, do an episode together or something.

But yeah, purchase the Tattle Boys.

Yeah, and then they had the, um, they're selling them on the NIL.

They—

it was either Kate or Sam, they had like the bikinis.

Yeah, both of them, like their face was like, uh, but both on there. Yeah, they picked too high, they started on top and yeah, it never took off.

I'm sure it would have if they stuck to it. Like, I guarantee you that would have People would have ate that up.

No, definitely. Yeah, it's just hard to stay consistent. Y'all definitely the biggest Bradley podcast though.

You think?

I mean, is there any other competition?

Um, most of them, they have like a couple episodes and they drop off.

Yeah, the, the Tao Boys that never made it, they were trying to come for y'all.

Al, you're our first recurring, uh, guest, by the way. I don't know if that's special to you or not.

Wasn't I? No, no, no. Wasn't I the first guest as well? Maybe never, never recorded.

Technically it was Jason.

Yeah, it was Jason.

You were the first current Bradley player.

All right, I'll take that. I'll take this.

Yeah, because Jason was on Indiana State when we interviewed him.

Yeah, that was the enemy that year. That was a good team too, the Indiana State.

They should have made the tournament.

Absolutely.

They were— weren't they ranked top 25 as well?

Their net was like 24 at the end of the year. Yeah, you see, and they didn't make it.

You got to win Arch Madness, otherwise you're not going to the tournament.

It's so stupid.

Unless they— unless they rework the net formula, that probably is the future of the conference.

Maybe. Yeah, I like it though. It all comes down to one tournament.

It makes the stakes so much higher. That's why, that's why Arch Madness is the best tournament in college basketball, because power conferences, teams don't care. The seed lines might change a little bit, but it's like a much purer basketball. Exactly, exactly. And they're still top teams.

Yeah, definitely. And everyone goes to like great schools after even.

Like seriously, like thanks for even just like responding to us. Like that means means the world to us, and we wish you the best, of course, too.

Thank you. Appreciate y'all.

Yeah, sure.

Thank you.

Doing great things, man. You're killing it.

Go Warriors!

Let's go. And I said, he said, I said, are you strong?

They said, I'm strong if you strong.

I said, we strong, man.

Who would have thought it could ever be? The Braves are the champs of the MBC!

We're back!