Baron Davis on Kobe vs. Linsanity, “We Believe” Warriors, Clippers drama | Draymond Green Show

Welcome to the brand new Draymond Green Show YouTube channel. Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on any of our content. What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. I'm honored to have this next guest. Third pick in the NBA draft, something I'll never know anything about. 1999, I was also 9, he's old. Two-time All-Star, one-time All-NBA, two-time NBA steal leader. But this one go way deeper for me. And I'll tell you why this goes way deeper for me because Obviously I was drafted to the Golden State Warriors in 2012. And the Golden State Warriors had just come, you know, in the last 5 years of that, had just come off the most success that the organization has seen since 1975. And so I really came in living through that. And I always tell people, Like one of my fondest memories, or not even necessarily fondest, but like one of the memories that's like ingrained in my head was always being in Oracle and everybody saying, and they would ask the Golden State Warriors fans, Dub Nation, what's your favorite Warrior moment? And everybody's favorite Warrior moment was always the Baron Davis dunk on Andrei Karolinko. Mm-hmm. And I heard that, so many times and I saw that video so many times.

Man, who you telling?

I feel like I was there for the video. Nonetheless, I am honored to have you on. So welcome to the show, my man.

Appreciate you, my dog.

Absolutely.

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A lot of love and respect, man. I think, uh, You know, for me, what I wanna get into first is like growing up in LA. You obviously grew up in South Central and obviously Crips and Bloods originated here. You know, this is the heart of it.

Yeah.

Growing up in LA, growing up in that, how was it to navigate the streets? The Crips and the Bloods and trying to play basketball and trying to go to school. How was it growing up in that?

I think, well, one, you got Crips in your family and you got Bloods in your family. And so they all your cousins, you know what I mean? And at family reunions, it's kind of awkward, you know, 'cause they miss each other, but they can't, you know, fuck with each other or hang with each other, but they grew up together. So like dealing with that just in your family alone, you automatically like, forced to like who you, you know, you gotta pick a side in your family. All right, I'm gonna fuck with my Blood cousins 'cause they cooler. You know what I mean? My Crip cousins, they wild. I don't want to, you know, you don't go that way. But just in LA, I think basketball, if you stick to the game, you feel what I'm saying? Somehow, some way, like, it's around you 'cause, you know, hoopers come from more inner city shit just as much as rappers. You know what I mean?

Absolutely.

And we more visible. But like, you can navigate your way through it. And I think for me, basketball was like, almost like an instrument, bro, that I remember playing. We play every day outside the courts at the elementary school. Sometimes it's shootouts, sometimes it's fights. We see it all, but like, we was still hooping. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. And then you start playing in different parks. I was just telling the story. My first time really playing on an AAU team, we had K-Swiss, red K-Swiss, Hawthorne High School jersey. So it was red and gold. We had a red K-Swiss bag. We pull up and at the time, I don't know the jungles.

You know what I mean?

Where that was at?

South Central.

I don't know nothing but maybe 5 or 10 blocks. So we pulling up to the jungles and I'm like, damn, there's a gang of dudes outside. You know, and I'm telling my AAU coach like, "Hey bro, you sure we about to get out like this?" You feel what I'm saying? And I'm in there nervous as hell. I ain't even really, 'cause I'm like, you know, I'm, as a kid you thinking like, "Oh, I'm from this too." Absolutely. Man, we get out the car, we're in the jungles. You know what I mean? So it's nothing but Bloods. And bro, they lined up and they was slapping our hand going through the— These little fools hard. You know what I'm saying? We went and balled out. But it was just like, you start to learn through your teammates, 'cause A, you, everybody come from different places. And then you start to see like dudes who are good enough to make it, who ain't gonna make it. Like, you know who the kids who gonna fall in the gang banging. You know what I mean?

Mm-hmm.

And so for me, I was just like, it was so much bad shit happening in my family. You know what I mean? It was like so much negativity in where I lived. It was so much like trauma and traumatic shit that it was like, I just didn't wanna like get in trouble.

Yeah.

You feel what I'm saying? Like I ain't never been arrested, bro. I ain't never been caught doing no goofy shit. You know what I mean? And it was all because my grandmother, like, it was like, I'm seeing it all come through the house. You know what I mean? Or outside the house. And so I was just like, I just was like, fuck it, basketball is my thing. And when I get here, I'm never gonna tell people where I come from or my story or none of that. I just be a funny dude and a silly dude and, you know, trick them so I could stay. You know what I mean? Like that shit was like survival, you know? It's like, how do you stay somewhere where like, it's just you? You ain't got nowhere else to go. You know what I mean? You ain't got nowhere to fall back.

That's interesting. And then,— to make it as a pro, then how is it to navigate it? Because the whole dynamic changes. Oh, man.

Yeah, yeah. Now it's like, "Oh, ain't he a Blood?" Or, "Ain't his cousin Crip?" You know, it's like now you starting to get identified at a higher level, you know? And now you guilty by association. I used to always tell people like, "Yo, be careful, you know, how you move, who you move with, because you gonna be guilty by association." So you gonna be moving with them dudes in a space where you don't know they funky, funking with them dudes over there. You know what I mean? And so you can be the cool, baffly innocent bystander, but like you the first target they gonna hit.

Mm-hmm.

And so for me it was like, I'm public enemy number one, bro. Every time I come home, I'm public enemy number one. They wanna rob me, they wanna jack me. You know, it's just all kind of shit. And it wasn't a lot of LA, wasn't like LA, LA dudes, dudes from LA, but they wasn't like, you know, big in LA. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. Big in they hood, went to UCLA, you know? So it wasn't a lot of that. And so I was like, fuck it, man. I'm just gonna stay focused on basketball. You feel what I'm saying? But at the same time, you can't let nobody push you.

Yeah.

Right? And it had to be a decision where it was like, all right, dude, I see how this go. This ain't gonna never happen with me. You feel what I'm saying? And so I like had to go and start thinking 3, 4, 5 steps ahead and just like, all right, man, I'm just gonna bring my family together. You know what I mean? And if I can do that, then ultimately I can help bring LA together. But if I bring my family together, you feel what I'm saying? Yep. I ain't worried about nobody. We can move how we move. And then we just start really like moving through the city, collecting family. And LA became a bigger place. You know, you got the jackers and all, like the haters and shit. And back in the day, I say this, when I came up, bro, they shot at Jalen Rose. Why Jalen Rose? You know what I mean? Like he the nicest dude. I remember that. You know what I mean? Incredible dude, hooper. You know, they was shooting at people, bro. They was shooting at, it didn't matter, Rob, you coming out the club, you know, it's all the Jack Boys out there. When I was in college, you know, I used to hang out 'cause I couldn't get in the club. So I be hanging outside and I see all the dudes, you know, getting ready to bust they moves and shit. I'm just, you know, out there trying to get in. So you grow up through all that and you just know when to leave.

Yeah.

I always say, be smart, know when to leave. You know what I mean? Know who to shake hands and keep it pushing. Right. And then no discussions.

Right.

It's like, I don't know nobody.

I respect that.

That's the way you keep it. It's like, man, I hoop. I don't know nobody. 'Cause you know, LA is like a vortex and we all come from something. We all come from the hood. We all come from these people. And it's not like something to be afraid of. 'Cause they your friends, you play dominoes with 'em, they remind you of your uncles and it's like, but at the same time, you know, the channel they live on, you feel what I'm saying? Ain't the channel you live on. That's a fact. Or supposed to be, you feel me?

That's a fact.

Yeah, that's public access.

Absolutely.

You gotta live, you on cable, you know what I mean? So you gotta know how to navigate that.

So being an LA guy, And I think we're living in a, or I mean, just the last few months with the rap beef, Drake and Kendrick. I wasn't there in person, but I saw online the concert.

Yeah, it was cracking.

But being an LA guy and to see all those guys up there, Crips, Bloods, United like that. And then I was talking to DeMar a couple days later. He like, yo, it's been 2 and a half days. There's been no shootings, no fighting in Compton. He's like, see, this is the piece people ain't talking about. He said, so it's been, number one, 2 and a half days is crazy.

Yeah.

He's like, it's been 2 and a half days.

Yeah. And ain't nobody shooting.

It's just that thing. And ain't nobody fought. Ain't nobody shot at nobody. Nobody been killed. It's been 2 and a half days. He was like, what that meant for the city?

Like, it's huge.

For you as an LA guy, what was it to see that? And what did it mean, you know, from your perspective?

I say maturity, right? 'Cause like the basketball dudes, we do that.

Mm-hmm.

Absolutely. And then I think you starting to see like the rap community, all these dudes is just maturity. You know what I mean? When you see the G Perico, Jay Worthy, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. You know, the whole Meet the Woops coming out. Like, you got Bloods, you got Crips, you know? And for that to be at the Forum in LA, like how it was, it just show a level of maturity in LA. It show a level of appreciation for like, and separation for music. You know what I mean? 'Cause we all artists and we should all be kind of like pushing this movement in our sound and our music. 'Cause it is a character of LA and we all characters and play a part of the storytelling. And in the streets to be like, this is what's needed. You feel what I'm saying? Mm-hmm. So I just give a shout out to all the OGs. I give a shout out to K.Dot Top. You know, people like Jay Worthy, G Perico for sure. You know, people like these dudes, they always fuck with each other. You know, there's some knickknacks and shit like that, but a lot of these dudes really fuck with each other. Rest in peace to Nip, 'cause you know, I always felt like Nip was gonna be the person to bring everybody together. Yeah. You know what I mean? And it take that level of self-respect, you know what I mean? And respect for your city. And I think seeing all them dudes on the stage was crazy because I wish I was there. I threw my back out, bro. Like, Top Dogg was like, "Meet me at 4:30," and my back went out. So I was watching it on the floor. I would've been on stage too, bro. You imagine my shit would have went out on stage? I had already got hurt in the game, you know what I mean? Carted off on a fucking, uh, nah, I'm cool, my nigga. I'm gonna stay here and watch this shit.

So it was really perfect timing for you?

It was perfect. Hey bro, if I'd have slipped, if I'd have tried to bust one of them moves and would have slipped, oh. It would've been over.

Ah, that would've been bad.

That would've been two. That would've been one the league, now one in rap. Two career-ending injuries.

Crazy, man. Wow. So, and now, but then speaking of navigating that, navigating the Crips, navigating the Bloods, just growing up in this, then why the choice to stay home and go to UCLA?

For that reason specifically, like, you know, I wanted to go to Duke. I thought Duke was gonna be like a place where I can get outta LA. I don't have to worry about none of this shit and I can go hoop. And I wind up being like one of the greatest hoopers ever. You know what I mean? Or the responsibility was like, yo, you got young Pooh, you got young Trev, you got, you know, all these young, PGs that's coming up in LA and they going to Artesia and Crenshaw and losing, you know what I mean? It's like, man, they need to see me. You feel what I'm saying? And I need to stay connected 'cause I need to revamp this whole UCLA as point guard university.

Mm-hmm.

And so that's what it was. It was like, where do I wanna live for the rest of my life? Where do I wanna be comfortable? And at that point it was like, all right dude, I wanna, you know, do I wanna be the top 5 greatest point guard to ever play? Or do I wanna walk in a room and niggas be like, damn, that nigga Con, I can't fuck with him. Do you think you can fuck with him? No, no, no, no, no. You know what I mean? And so I'd rather put on for my city. And I was just thinking about like the next generation. And it's like, man, if they can come watch me play how I've been coming here getting recruited, man, that's, I'm giving tickets to all the little homies to come. You know, while we rock out at UCLA.

So when you look back on that decision, do you think it ultimately panned out the way that you wanted it to?

I mean, you know, I don't regret it. You know, I always say like, there's always a what if moment. Like if I would've went to Duke, I don't know if I would've went to Kansas, I'd have been a different type of player and shit. You know what I mean? But if I would've went to Duke, what that would've done? You know what I mean? 'Cause I just, I'd have been in and out. You feel what I'm saying? I'd have been in and out, all the East Coast love, all the flavor, you know what I mean? All that shit in my game fit with all that was cracking. And I would've just had to focus on basketball. You know what I mean? But who knew, like deep down in my heart, I always felt, you know, Ricky Price went there. He got hated on. Cherokee Parks wound up getting hated on. Chris Burgess, hated on. So I was like, man, I'm from LA. And it's something about like the LA dude at Duke that, and where I'm from, like they think I'm a nice dude, but when I snap, like they gonna send me home.

Yeah.

You know? And so I always felt like Coach K had like, would hate on me. You know what I mean? And I was right about that. You know what I mean? So I wasn't tripping.

Why do you say you was right about that?

'Cause he hated on me.

When?

Ah. During the Olympic tryouts.

Mm.

I was coming off a 23-8 and didn't get a tryout.

So. I feel that, man.

That's big hate. You know what I mean? Bro, I can't get a tryout? Like, name 30 people better than me. Okay, name 12. Name 4 guards better than me. Okay, cool. Now, can I practice against them? Now ask them niggas that. All right, enough said. You know what I mean? Yeah. I don't gotta try out? But Coach K a hater, I ain't tripping.

Do you think that stems from you not going to Duke and going to UCLA?

Absolutely, absolutely. He wrote about it in his book.

Oh.

Yeah, I always had like, that was my whole, and they can blame it on like the USA team and shit like that. But every sorry, every motherfucker that was in front of me or that got invited was sorry guards. You know, you ask me, they sorry.

Who were the guards?

Luke Rittenhour got invited. He weak as fuck. No knock on him, you know what I mean? But like, you know, this is my hurt talking. I respect his game. I think Luke Rittenhour is a good player, but like, you know, we talking as Hoopers, it's like, are you fucking kidding me? You like, start there. Now go to the top guard and be like, damn, I don't get a shot? "This is ill, homie." But I wasn't tripping, dude. I knew what it was. I was like, this was all this, you know, this is coming back, you know, to Roos from college.

So Kyrie recently just said that. Kyrie recently was like, the team came out, they asked Ky about it, and Ky said, "I'll be cheering them on." Yeah. But I just remember the days —when we had to go through that situation.

You had to go prove yourself, bro. Like, and it's not even that, it's like, there's 100 dudes in the league that deserve to all be in the gym together. If y'all really wanna know who the cream of the crop.

Yep.

You can't just handpick just some popular, like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I don't know. If you're gonna have a tryout, you gotta have like, once you have one tryout, you gotta have them try out every time. Because it's also showing like a level of chemistry, dedication, and who fit. You know what I mean? Who's a real glue, dude. Got all these superstars, but who gonna be the glue?

Yep.

Who gonna be the central intelligence? Who quarterbacking the defense? You know what I mean? Who making the ultimate sacrifice to make sure everybody sacrifice? You know what I mean? And so, you know, I'm rooting for 'em. I know they can do it 'cause shit, we got superpowers, but— Absolutely. There's, on a team, everybody is a superstar in they role.

Yes.

And in order to have a team, you gotta have those dudes who are superstars in they role. And you gotta let 'em try out. Like how the fuck Kyrie don't, can't get a tryout?

Yeah. Yeah. It's a fact. No, I get it. And speaking of Olympics—

How Draymond Green don't get a tryout? You feel what I'm saying?

I think I should have got it. You know the thing that really pissed me off about it? I haven't said much about it, but the thing that upset me about it was a 41-name pool came up.

And how you not in that pool?

And I ain't on the pool. And I played in the last—

Right.

I won the last 2 gold medals.

Right, you got 2 gold medals.

And with winning those 2, last 2 gold medals, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm at the absolute best now.

Nah, you was killing.

But right now today I am—

You at the top of your—

Still got to wreck it with me.

Bro, you at the top and at the peak of who you are. Absolutely. Like this means so much more, you know what I mean? Because it's like— I don't understand, bro. 100%. I don't understand. I feel that.

Like I said, I'm sure—

And when are you not qualified to like keep, usually people who win gold medals, they keep playing.

For sure.

So that's why you need to try out. Like some of these dudes gotta go, they gotta go take and say, hey, big dog, I gotta retire. It's over.

You gotta be like, you know what?

Damn, dog.

It's time. You got time.

But you gotta give you that chance. You gotta give them that chance. You gotta get a whole history of the legacy. Of the game and the storytelling that chance.

I agree.

'Cause like dudes ain't retiring. Ain't nobody retiring nobody. Ain't nobody getting retired. It's just like everybody walking away like, hey, thanks for the service. You know what I mean?

Yeah. No, I feel that. And I said, for me, I am going to cheer for them as hard as I would if I was playing on the team because I know how it feels to be on that team and everybody in the world cheering against you. And by the way, when I say everybody in the world, I mean everyone in the world.

Americans too.

Americans too. Americans be cheering against you. I know how it is. We was in Tokyo, locked in a hotel. We couldn't leave the hotel, couldn't go outside.

Wow.

Unless we were going to the gym.

'Cause they was hating.

Well, no, we was locked down. 'Cause it was 2021. They were still on lockdown from COVID Oh, shit. Yeah, yeah. And so—

Damn.

We're in a hotel for 22 straight days, not leaving the hotel. And so in turn—

That's nuts.

You see everything everybody's saying now. And then we lose the first game to France. Mind you, D-Book, who ended up being a critical piece, Drew Holiday, who ended up being a critical piece, Chris Middleton, who ended up being a critical piece on that team. They all arrived the day of the game.

Yeah, from the finals.

From the finals.

Yep.

We lose the first game and the rest of the Olympics, you turn on like ESPN, anything, and like the way they were talking about us.

They let us celebrate.

Rooting against, I couldn't believe it. I'm like, yo, these are Americans. And I talked to D-Wade about this, 'cause D-Wade tweeted like, "Good luck to Rudy Gobert." And I talked to him because we all sitting over there and we like—

What's going on?

I guess you just bought into the team. That's cool. But if you don't tweet that, nobody gonna be like, "Damn, D-Wade ain't say good luck to Rudy in the play."— in the Olympics. And it was, I think it was one more player on their team that— but Rudy was the bigger name for sure. And then we lost to France the first game. And I'm just like, we all over there like, yo. Why, why? Like, bro, you one of us. Like, you wore this jersey and you know how it feel to be on this island. Like, so between that and all the people talking, you like, yo, this is crazy. And so I said, like, I know that feeling.

Yeah.

And I know how it was sitting over there with my brothers. Like, yo, it's us against the world.

The world, for real.

And I don't want to be a part of that world. I want them to know, like, nah, like, the support comes from here.

You wanna go bring the gold back.

Yeah, like do that.

Flying colors. We gotta eliminate all everybody else that's close to us. We gotta make sure we the best.

By far.

Bingo.

So I'm rooting for them. But then speaking of that team, it's been a lot of talk. It's been a lot of talk about who should be starting on this team. Ant-Man just came out yesterday and said, "Nah, I'm the top, I'm the number one option. They gotta learn how to fit in to play around me." Comes outta say that yesterday.

That's crazy, man.

With a roster of Bam, Book, Steph, AD, KD, Ant-Man, Joel, Tyrese Halliburton, Drew, Bron, Kawhi, and JT. Who's your starting 5 if you putting that starting lineup together?

Start with the easy one, LeBron first.

Absolutely, no question.

Second easiest one, Steph Curry.

No question.

Third, KD. Then I'm gonna, Then I'm gonna rank 'em by merit based on previous Olympics. Some Drew Holiday. So I like the Drew Holiday, Steph, LeBron, KD, and then—

Bam. Bam played in the last Olympics.

Then Bam. Oh yeah, this Joel's first time.

AD also has played in the Olympics, but he was young.

Oh yeah, you got AD too. He was young. AD or Bam. AD probably. AD probably, 'cause AD gotta get off to a good start and we gotta get off to a good start defensively. So I would go AD over Bam, but have Bam come in with Joel Embiid, 'cause Bam can, he's mobile at the 4, you feel what I'm saying? And then put all offensive players around the next group, like Book, all them dudes.

So you're of the mindset though that, you can start small because FIBA different. They, you know, France will go, France lineup could possibly be Rudy Gobert, Wemby. They could move Wemby to the 3 if they want to for real. Because you can go out.

You can do that, yeah.

And then they got a couple other bigs, Poirier, I know they got a couple, but so you're of the mindset that— you can start the game small with Bron or KD at the 4.

Hell, I mean, no knock on Rudy Gobert. He is guardable. You know what I mean? Like, you just gotta rebound against him and keep him off the offensive glass and don't let him get close to the rim to shoot. You know what I mean? So I'm not worried about Rudy Gobert. I'm not worried about Wembanyama in that setting. You know what I mean? Because he gonna be— more perimeter oriented, you know what I mean? They not playing him down. Like I think that he gonna be shooting more threes. So having a KD or a LeBron or someone like that, Kawhi, you know, someone out on the perimeter with Wimby, he gonna be trying to do all the shit.

Yes.

You know what I mean? He ain't going in there. He ain't gonna mix it up and get dirty. So I would say a lot of jumpers, a lot of missed layups. If you playing against France. And then you got Batum, he can't get his shot off by himself. Who else they got over there in France?

Fortier.

He cold.

He get off if he— He get off.

Ooh, he get off. That's the one you gotta worry about. But then you got Jrue, you put a Jrue Holiday on him, that's gonna disrupt his magic. You know what I mean? And so his playmaking ability. And then the rest, like, not that I'm not worried about the rest of the French guys, but I just think, Fournier is like their Michael Jordan. You know what I mean? During the Olympics, like you see a whole different dude, but you put Drew on him, everybody else ain't, you know, they gonna get 12, you know, you looking at people getting 12, 8 points, you know what I mean? Superstars. So it's like, who has the highest capacity? Like who has the most impactful 15 points? You know what I mean? Facts. And I don't think it's gonna be Rudy Gobert or Wemby at that. You know what I mean? It being his first major Olympics.

Yeah, no doubt. And moving on to our next topic, obviously I started off with this. This one is very close to me as I know it is to you, the Warriors organization. Organization that I think quite frankly is the best organization in the league. But as I said in the beginning, coming in off on the heels of the We Believe team and you being the leader of that team, I heard a ton about you. That team in general, that team is largely celebrated in Warriors history.

Yeah.

But like, let's start at the beginning of that. When Don Nelson gets hired, what are your immediate thoughts? Thank God.

Thank God. Lord have mercy. You know, I had Mike Montgomery the year before and you know, he coached like, you know, like we stupid. He talked like we stupid. He talked to us like we stupid, bro. Like, you know. Give me an example. Like he's basically like, he, you know how a coach like just keeps coaching and telling you everything to do. And then when you like do something, he's like, no, don't do it. I'm like, whoa, homie. You know, like people who coach every play and don't understand that, that dude, this is a performance. You know what I mean? Like, yo, you gotta chill. Yo, you gotta chill.

Absolutely.

Like it got to a point with Mike Montgomery where we had a team meeting and you know, everybody was just not saying nothing and he was doing all the talking and he was like, 'Cause everybody is saying this about you. And I'm like, man, who? We all right here. Who got a problem? Who got a problem? Who got a problem with who? Like on the team. And so I had to address it, you know what I mean?

Mm-hmm.

And I had to get people to start speaking up, saying what they had problems and what they had issues with. And when it came out, when dudes were speaking up about their problems and their issues and what they was going to the coach for, it was some petty shit. That's why we suck. And so I had to tell Mike Montgomery, don't talk to me for the rest of the year, bro. Don't say nothing to me. That coach, you, you, you, cool. If you need to translate a message, please send it to them. You know what I mean?

Mm-hmm.

Because the signal is disconnected, bro. I have disconnected this line. You're telling me nothing to help me out here, bro. You ain't telling us nothing to help ourselves out here. You just out here coaching. You know what I mean? Like, you just coaching, bro. You just coaching. Like, every game you come prepared, you ready to coach. You ready to coach more than you care to see us play well.

It's all about— I hate coaches like that.

Oh my God.

Because it's all about you. You're gonna— over-prepare us, which we don't need, like all of that. And it's ultimately just so you can feel good about yourself.

Bro, I don't remember nothing this man is telling me. That's why I couldn't give you no scenarios. I cut him off, bro. I had to cut him off. When I first got there, when I first got to Golden State, I walked into, you know, you walk into the, you know, dudes on the bosu ball on the little mat part. And I walked in, it's like, you know, practice like probably like 10:15, you know, I guess they started practicing, they had a little film was gonna start. But like nobody was on the court. Dudes was like still in the training room. One dude was lifting, couple dudes on the court. And I'm talking to Chris Mullin. I said, "God damn, what's wrong with y'all?" It's like a damn funeral. Like every day you walk in, it was like a funeral. Like, damn, man. Somebody don't wanna be here today. I was like, yo, we can't keep doing this, dog. I can't keep coming to the gym and it ain't cracking.

Mm-hmm.

Like, why are we depressed? Like, we hoop. And it was really because of like how we was practicing. You know what I mean? And like, when I first got traded, I was like back-to-back player of the week. And that was because I was like, "All right, man, look, this is what we gonna do. We gonna run one play. Other than that, we hoopin'." Like, "Man, don't look to the sidelines. Like, we gonna get crackin'." And I think that kind of like started giving us life. We had a great, we finished like 9-2 to finish the season.

Okay.

Something that we believed, but we was way out the playoffs. Then the next year, man, we came back, man. And from the first day he started coaching again, and it was like, "Goddamn, dude, we about to have a whole." I'm about to have a whole season of this shit. Like you can't perform when you just constantly, someone's trying to like tell you what to do. And like then it's condescending, you know what I mean? Facts. And so I just kind of like wrote Mike Montgomery off and just was like, you know, if I see him today, what's up coach? Like, would, He is not, to me, a basketball mind. You know what I mean? And some people get credit for being highly intelligent in our space. You know what I mean?

That's a fact.

Where we have to be of the most intelligence, where our senses gotta be connected. You know what I mean? We gotta make the decisions or make a decision to make a decision. You know what I mean? "You getting credit for this, bro? You better knock it off." Yeah. Get out there, shut up. Get out the way. So that was kind of like walking into that corpse. And then when Don Nelson came, it was like, "Oh man, hell yeah." All I can think about was Run TMC. Okay, we out. He called me, he was like, "Man, get in shape. This gonna be the type of game. I'm gonna use you in the post, how you play below the free throw line, just kind of use you all over the space." And I was like, "All right, shit, I'm with that." You know what I mean? Like, shit, I get to fly up and down the court and like, and play free, I'm with it. And then when the season started, we was good, but we wasn't good. You know what I mean? We just like, we couldn't beat no, we could beat people, we couldn't beat nobody. We couldn't put it together. And we were missing something. And I didn't, you know what I mean? It was like, I didn't, I wasn't there with what I was in New Orleans. You know what I mean? Like, damn near, you know, New Orleans had to trade me and I had to get outta New Orleans. 'Cause it was too fun. It was crackin', it was culture, but I was just there to play basketball. So the culture part was like, that's what was missing. So when they made the trade with Stack and Al, they kind of like woke everybody up. Like, nah, it's crackin'. We gonna have parties, we going out, we gonna hang out, we gonna go to the mall, we gonna go eat, we gonna have fun. Because before that, nobody on the team fucked with each other. And so that just kind of changed the dynamic to where we was like, all right, man, we like the new rap group.

Yeah.

And we just took on that persona everywhere, every city we went to. And it was like, we gonna party on the court is our club. "If we win, we going out." You know what I mean? And it's up. And it's up. And what I, you know, it's up. And so that's kind of like how that energy started. 'Cause we was like— Nah, we was winning, going on the "We Believe" run, but them fools go out all the time. But once we started winning, like all this is way before the playoffs. We had won like, you know, you win, well, you don't know that because you've only won championships from before. You win 3 or 4 games in a row as the Warriors, oh, it's sold out in Oracle, it's cracking.

Yeah.

Dog, we was winning like 3 in a row, go out to the club, it's cracking. Oh, we won 6 outta 8, go to the club, it's cracking. The whole We Believe run, we was just out.

Yeah.

And so like the fans was like, damn, like these motherfuckers real. You know what I mean? Like they partying with us. Like we don't know if this shit is gonna last. So everybody was getting it in.

So you embracing it.

Yeah, everybody, it was a big party. It was like a big party. We party, dude.

I heard a story about y'all partying before. I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard the story. One night with Snoop.

Yeah. That was—

That night's real?

That was, I think that was the night we beat Dallas.

Yes.

Yeah, that was the night we beat Dallas. And Snoop, we went to go fuck with Snoop. Snoop was at the Ritz or whatnot. And then we was all fucking with Snoop. Of course, you know, Snoop, we smoking. So we smoking and Snoop like, "Hey, cuz, man, let me show you one of these cartoons." Did they tell you this?

Nah, I ain't hear this part.

Hey, bro, Snoop Dogg had a cartoon, like music videos, right? And I think it was to his whole album. Yeah. Hey bro, hey bro, we was sitting there, no bullshit, watching the cartoon, dog, for like 45 minutes. I was like, hey bro, I gotta go. Hey, it was nothing but music videos and it was Snoop. It was like a Snoop Dogg video album of cartoons, bro. We was sitting there talking hoop, baked, and all that was playing was the cartoon. And I was like, I was like, damn, is this shit on a loop, bro? Is this the same shit? Song, wait, or is this the same 3 songs that I was over there fucked? I was like, yo, I gotta go, yo, I'm done. I can't do this. You got me, Snoop.

He smokes y'all out.

Man, big time.

That's Snoop. Good times.

It was cracking.

What was it like Y'all beat Dallas. And then going into that next round, was it like, man, we done? Like, or did y'all start to really believe like, no, we can keep—

We believe we could beat Utah. It was all predicated on like, it was almost like we, before the series, we start tripping with each other, but not so much like the team. It was just like when we started talking, dudes was like, "All right, how much you got left, bro?" It was like, "Man, I like, bro, honestly, I ain't got much left." But you know, like we had, we was just like pretty much depleted. And so, you know, like in that next round, it's just like, 4 good minutes of mental focus and plays that can turn the series. Mm-hmm.

You know? Yep.

And I think, you know, at the time, like, we didn't get game 1. I missed some free throws. Mike, Mikal Peaches missed some free throws. And then we wind up winning overtime. So we had game 1, we didn't get it. Game 2, we thought we had, we didn't get it. Game 3, we blew 'em out, dunk on 'em. It was like, all right. "We finally over the hump, we back." And then game 4, they snatch it from us. Then it was like, "Goddamn, 3-1 going back to Utah." Niggas was like, "Man, you know, Monta wasn't playing in this series. Stack was guarding Mehmet Okur. Al wasn't matched up with Boozer." It was just like all our matchups was right for Dallas. All our matchups for Utah was all the way off, bro.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? And dudes was like, you know, if you ain't got that matchup you want, it's hard to like, match up. Try to be effective.

People don't understand matchups in the playoffs are everything.

Everything.

You get the wrong matchup, you fucked.

Steven Stackjack was like, yo, bro, I want, he wanted to guard Karolinko. He coming off, you know, guarding Dirk, you know, Karolinko, big time defensive player. Stack like, man, put me on Karolinka. You feel what I'm saying? 'Cause Karolinka gonna guard Stack. And then Al and Bulls, like they had a little battle thing, but Coach didn't, like we didn't use it. We didn't play our talent to our advantage in that series.

You know what I mean?

Absolutely. We were trying to like figure it out when guys were convicted. You know what I mean? I'm like, man, I know how to, "I need this matchup." You know what I'm saying? And it was just like, man, we was just arguing every game about the matchups or what, you know?

And it was just, it wasn't that same, "Oh, we gonna beat these fools." So for y'all then having that level of success, and then 5 years later I'm drafted, which puts it 8 years later, we win the first championship. What's that been like coming back?

Man, I just wish I had one year on the team to get one. I should have joined Matt. Like, "Matt, man, tell him, plug me in." Yeah, that was straight by then. For me, it felt incredible because the day I left the Bay, you know what I mean? I kind of like knew I had to leave.— for bigger reasons. You know what I mean? Because like, it wasn't never gonna get no better. The owner that was there, he was never gonna do right by the dudes. And then at the same time, it was just like, if I'm not valued here, y'all not gonna never value nobody here. You know what I mean? And like, we not trying to win a championship. Like, we was close. You know what I mean? Or we was close to like being close. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And we didn't take that step. And it was just like, the fans deserve better. And they struggled the next year, they got Steph. And when Nelly drafted Steph Curry, I remember watching the draft. I said, oh shit, he found his guy. I was like, he found his guy. He found his next Steve Nash. You know what I mean? That potentially could be better. And with him and Monta and Stack, I was like, oh shit. And so I used to always— Mm-hmm. Dial in, drill in, watch the Warriors and shit. Because I was like, man, if this kid can do what he, you know what I mean? What Nelly want him to do or where he can get you, like they, they gonna be tough.

Mm-hmm.

So I always rooted in them when you came and then Klay, you know what I mean? And then you got, and then y'all started bringing back, you know, older dudes, you know what I mean? From the legacy. And I was like, man, this is, Y'all rocking our jerseys to the game, bro. All that shit, y'all was turning it up. Like, how can we not be excited? You know, I would say, well, like when y'all won the first one, I didn't go, you know, everybody was like, come out to the parade, come out to the— I was out there partying my damn self. Me and the homies, I ain't go to the parade, but we was in the city. Oh man, we was up.

That was a good time.

That was a great time.

Great time.

And it was deserved. And it was just like, man,— it was 17 years to when we had We Believe and then another, what, 8 or 9 to y'all. And I was like, man, this is like all the people who are a part of— I'm glad y'all won it so fast.

Yeah.

So people can feel like that connectivity. 'Cause it was a lot of people that when we got there for We Believe, they was like older people like, man, we never thought that we would win again. You know what I mean? And that shit was just crazy to see. How everybody came out and showed out for y'all, but how y'all showed out for the city. And then like y'all just start embracing each other.

Yeah, absolutely.

Like the, "Nope." Nope. Yep. You know what I mean? And I'm like, "Dawg, that's what we was on." You know what I mean? Like that's what we was on. Like we didn't know all the songs and shit, but we was, you know what I mean?

Absolutely.

But y'all was like, yeah, it became one.

Yeah.

You know, Mr. Fab, he got him a championship. Too Short, you know, all the Bay Area legends.

40.

40. Like E-40 didn't really come to the games like that when we played, you know what I mean? But like, that's how you know, like the Warriors had evolved into something new. 'Cause now E-40 at all the games.

Yeah.

You know, E-40 like a juggernaut. You feel what I'm saying? For him to start making that a thing, it just, the Bay just started rising. You know what I mean?

They repped it more. I always tell, I start telling this story, love Marshawn to death. That's my big bro, Marshawn Lynch. When I got drafted to the Warriors, he laughed in my face. He was like, y'all suck. Like, you going to the Warriors? Warriors ain't never been good. I'm like, all right. So to your point, The way they rally behind. Yeah. It's crazy.

It's crazy.

It's crazy. Nah, it's dope. You then leave the Warriors, you go to the Clippers. What was your experience like with the Clippers?

Terrible, man.

Was it, answer me this, was it hard for you growing up being so LA?

Hey, it was. Growing up in South Central. It was.

You see how, did you go to the Clippers and not the Lakers? Was that hard for you?

It was very hard. Like I always wanted to play for the Lakers and go ahead and be a Laker like my entire career. Every time I tried, you know, I tried. And then I was like, well, fuck it. I guess I'm the underdog guy. So I go to the Clippers. In 3 years, I'd be able to create a We Believe type of magic with the Clippers if we can get the right, you know, people involved and shit. And then like going to the Clippers, bro, was like the worst. It was like the worst. I thought the Warriors was bad. Like it was like a bad soap opera. The Clippers, bro, was like a bad soap opera in prison.

What?

So it's like, imagine going to art class and they take all your paint and your tools, you know what I mean? And all your paintbrushes. Then they give 'em back to you when you painting. They be hitting your elbow, say, "Nah, you ain't doing it." It's like they, it was, you walk in, you know, you walk into the Warrior facility, you like, "All right, cool, I can hoop." You walk into the Clippers facility, you like, "Man, who is about to snitch on me now? Where are these fucking cameras at?" You know what I mean? And who's crying today? Somebody is crying today. Somebody. Somebody is pissed off, crying. And it's all because of the owner. You know, you walk in, community relations lady, she boo-hooing and shit. Like, what's wrong? Like, "Oh, he's—" I'm like, "Oh man, before I get to the gym, bro, I gotta have all kind of diplomatic conversations." You know what I mean?

This is Donald Sterling.

This is Donald Sterling and the Clippers with Mike Dunleavy coaching. So I leave Nelly, then I go to Mike Dunleavy, who's like a little bit like Mike Montgomery. He just got more personality and he, you know what I mean? He got more stories to tell, but Mike Dunleavy will tell you what play to call, who you supposed to throw the ball to, where you supposed to go, all in the game.

That's just like the old school way of coaching, 'cause the Van Gundys were like that, weren't they?

Bro, I don't know. I ain't never played for him.

I heard they were like that.

I'm pushing the break. I'm pushing the break. We get the steal, I'm pushing the break. I'm just about to cross half court. He like, "Man, pass it." All you hear is going, "Pass it, pass it." And I don't see nobody, you know what I mean? So I'm like, "Pass." And I keep hearing, "Man, pass the ball." And I see somebody over here. So I'm about to go, you know what I mean? And I see somebody run, I'm like, okay, so somebody must be hauling ass. So I dropped it by the hash. Man, it was, no offense, it was Paul Davis. He coming off of knee surgery. Bro, it took him like 7 dribbles to get to the rim from there. And so, you know, it's like you look at the coach like, what the fuck, yo? "Like, leave me alone, yo." You know, so that's how it was with Dunleavy. But then with Sterling, it was like, you know, he used the team as like his, like almost like his duck off, like his little duck off business. You know what I mean? So like his PR, everything, all the shit that he did was all through the team.

Okay.

You know, and then he was just a weirdo, bro. He was just, hella weird with weird people around him. And I felt like anybody who hung around that dude had to be a weird motherfucker. You know what I mean? 'Cause like he was like beyond weird. You know what I'm saying? And not that he was racist, he was a hate everybodyist.

So it wasn't even that he just hated Black people, he hated everybody. No, he hated everybody.

He probably hated himself. Like he just, he was delusional and hateful. So he would say anything to anybody, woman, man, Black, brown. Man, he brought some old-ass ladies in at the end of one of the games and was like, "Man, we getting—" All right, well, I'm gonna leave that one alone.

No, you cannot tell me now.

Hey bro, they walk here, bro. It's like 7 old ass white ladies, right? And he walk in the locker room, we had one. And then he had walk out, he was like, "Man, you wait for them to get in the shower." And then he pointed at me and he was like, "Especially him, like you should." And this lady was just sitting, hanging out at my locker room talking. I was like, "Hey, hey, yo." And I, you know, I'm sitting there just like she a reporter. Yeah. Very respectful and shit. But she just talking like, where are you from? Oh, you went there? I'm like, bitch, get your ass. Like waiting for me to get up. You know what I mean? Like, it was foul, bro. It was like, it was hella foul.

So when the thing happens in 2008—

I could have sued for sexual harassment.

Facts, that's what I was just thinking like.

Bro, trauma, all that shit.

Yeah, that's crazy.

Hey bro, it was the worst. And I'm from LA, so you gotta think I'm from LA, I ain't hooping, I ain't playing the way I normally know how to play. They plotting against me every day. You feel me?

Mm-hmm.

And every day I leave this place, I'm trying not to, I'm just trying to come here and work. And who, y'all about to make me turn into somebody I don't wanna be. So I'm struggling with that. And then you got the homies like, "Yeah, you know, why you play like that, man? You a bust, you gonna let it—" You know what I mean? It's like, yeah, I used to think about it every night. Like, man, am I gonna walk in here and lose my mind? Am I— you know, I used to tell people on the team, they was so scary, yo. I used to tell dudes, "Man, run down the sideline." You know what I mean? So I— Pew! They were like, "No, man, no!" I was like, I throw the ball on the side. Like, nah, I used to go to the game thinking like that. Like, Draymond, run down the left. When you pass the owner, I'mma throw the ball as hard as I can and try and pop him in the face. And the dude be like, nah, man, I'm not doing it. I'm not gonna pass. I'm like, just one time. Just one. But that's just one time. But nobody would do it.

So when this story comes out in 2014, you're not at all shocked?

Nah, hell nah. Like, I was more surprised that they were— like, I couldn't do it, bro. I was struggling with so much. My identity, who I was, where I was from, all this shit, bro. Like, is this dude racist? Like, what the fuck? Like, I'd never been in no shit— like, I've been in some bad shit. I ain't never been in no shit where I feel depressed, you know what I mean? And so I had more admiration for those dudes 'cause I was like, they must have figured out how to like win for themselves and not include him, you know what I mean? And not think that they winning. You know what I'm, it was hard 'cause it was like, man, if we win, he win. And then it's more of that shit. And it's like, that shit, you don't know what you winning. You don't know what you playing for at some point. You know what I mean?

That's interesting.

And we didn't have enough, —like, we weren't, like, crystallized enough, you know? Blake was a rookie and all that, and so everything was catered to Blake. So Blake wasn't really aware of, like, at some point, bro, they gonna pit people against you too, you know what I mean? Like, the more attention you get— definitely this ain't the type of attention you want. Mm-hmm. But I was— I admired the fact that them dudes were able to play like that. And build a team like that. And I was like, damn, dude, like you never thought that they would get the talent. And once you got the talent and start winning, it was like he didn't matter. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And so when they, I was at that game too.

Really?

Yeah, I went to the Clipper locker room.

Okay.

I was at that game.

That game was crazy, man.

Because I needed to ride back on the plane with the dude who was like the, at the time, like the right-hand person of the owner.

Okay.

And I needed to ride back on the plane. I needed him to see us on this private plane. You know what I mean? And it was just 4 people and I needed to sit there and say, "Mm-hmm." Have you watched the show clip? Absolutely not. Hell no, I don't watch that goofy shit. That ain't even, hey bro, that's like—

I haven't watched it. I don't know what—

But then I think like, By the time all that shit came out, it was like, that shit was already happening. So people took, you know, and then you turn, you take your jersey off and throw it at half. I went in the locker room 'cause Doc was like, "Man, go talk to him." I was like, "Man, what y'all gonna do?" Man, shit, I'm waiting for them to be like, "BD, what you think, man?" "Whatever y'all think. If y'all don't wanna play, I stand beside you." I was gonna go over there and be like, "Yo, da, da, da, da, da." Them fools did not look, like they was shook. It was just like, "What are we supposed to do?" You know what I mean? Like that was the energy. Like they didn't know, they were caught into something that nobody on that team was prepared for or had an opinion of. You know what I mean? Or was really privy to, you know, because they hadn't, maybe they hadn't had to deal with it.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? At that time, like that was just some whole other shit that his girlfriend snitched him out. You know what I mean?

Yep.

And ratted him out. So it wasn't like, we don't know his dynamic and effect on that team. You know?

Yeah.

We just know like who he was and what he was doing. You know, how he was talking shit about Magic and people like that.

Speaking of Magic, so, Being from LA, also played with the Clippers. It's my last question on the Clippers, but I need to know this 'cause I think I know the answer to this. If the Clippers were to win a championship, what does that do to the city of LA?

Nothing. No, I'm just playing. Nothing.

Do you think the city wouldn't care if the Clippers won a championship?

No, no, no, I think the city would care. Like the Clippers have their own fan base. I don't think it would be, I don't think it would be as big media coverage as the Lakers.

Okay.

Right? I would, I don't think it would be, you would get, you get a, like a local city turnout.

Yeah.

Yeah. You know what I mean? 'Cause the Clipper fans are great. The Clipper fans are incredible. You know, you go all the way from the South Bay to the Valley. And I would say, you know what, I would say I take that back because now the Clippers are actually putting in the work in the city with the courts, you know, Bomber, new owner, they doing a good job, man. And can they do a better job? Of course, you know, to just establish more, like they gotta tell a better story.

Yeah.

And they can't be afraid to tell, a story of they past of a losing story. You know what I mean? Because they so accomplished now that they have to cuss at winning, which I'm not gonna say the city, you ain't gonna turn the city. You know what I mean? But you got players on the team that's from the city.

That's a fact.

That can bring the city out.

That's a fact.

So the Clippers gotta do a better job of like bringing the city out. You know what I mean? Because when you look at the Lakers, Lakers is an LA team. People got tattoos. Yellow bumper stickers and shit on green cars. Like, they don't care. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's a city thing. And people don't remember, like, when the Lakers, back when I was a kid, they used to have tryouts for everybody in the city. Tryout for the Lakers.

That's crazy. Really?

Yeah. So it was always like an LA legend or like some LA high school legend who wound up on the Lakers.

That's crazy.

Preseason.

That's crazy. That's dope though.

That's super dope, right? 'Cause it's like, LA is the basketball town. Dr. Buss respected that and he respect, you know, like you look around like all the kids, AAU, like this is a real basketball city. And so like for them to embrace that at that time, you know, but I think the Clippers had the same chance. To like really dive into like all these dope, all this dope local talent and local talent that's been in the league that live here. So like, built their own culture and then they can turn the city.

No doubt, no doubt. A few more questions before we get out of here.

'Cause the Lakers stars are like sideline stars are getting old. Like, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

Like they Holly, like the Hollywood shit ain't sticking no more. You know what I mean? I mean, if Denzel is there, that's Denzel, but like, who else? Who else is moving the needle? It's like, oh, you know what I mean? Like if Denzel, okay, Denzel at the game, but who else is it? Like the Lakers ain't refurbished, they ain't updated their star and legacy roster for them to be, No, I never thought about that.

That's facts. I never thought about it like that.

Yeah, yeah. They need to—

That's an interesting thought.

Probably need to rotate them seats, brother. Get some new stars like Kevin Hart. He ain't no Laker fan.

He not.

Philly. You know what I mean? But he don't be at the game. When they kicked Lil Wayne out, he was going to the games. Now they, didn't they ban Lil Wayne?

Yeah, I heard.

So Clippers can do all that shit. And they can actually turn the city by with the young Hollywood stars and rappers and just piggybacking off like really the city vibe.

I wanna talk a little more about you and who you were as a player. 'Cause I think there's a lot of guys from this young generation that don't know who you were as a player, how nice you were. And I go back to one person in particular, of saying that you was his toughest guard, and that's AI. And I think AI, for all of us, man, like what AI meant to the culture.

Man.

Like how good he was is one thing, but what he meant to the culture.

It was crazy.

Was crazy. And for him to say about you, like this is my toughest matchup. What was that like for you coming from AI at that time?

You know, you look up to AI, you know what I mean? 'Cause there was a part of Allen Iverson that everybody wanted to be. And that was like 100% themselves.

1000%.

And not what the league wanted them to be. You know what I mean? And so anytime I play against AI, it was like a moment for, you know what I mean? A moment. 'Cause like you watch him at Georgetown, you know, it was like he was the dude that I was rooting for all the time. And now you match up against him him, you know what I mean? And it's like, I was just trying to catch him on the island like he caught Jordan. It just never happened. You know what I mean? Like, you see that shit, it's like, damn, dude. You know, like, that was that, Iverson-Jordan, that was a moment. Like, at the top of the key, hold on, let me back up. Let me make sure everybody's watching. Like, I never got that moment with AI. You feel what I'm saying? Well, it's— So it was just like, I was just going for broke. You know what I mean? And I feel for me, like passing was the thing that I love to do. And then like making moves, you know what I mean? It wasn't a move. It wasn't like a killer crossover. It was like moves. You know what I mean? Like this dude got a thousand moves. And 1,000 counters to those moves. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And so it was really about like, can I get to the front of the rim and drop a dime? But you know, if I can dunk or lay it up, I'm cool. But all I did in the summer, rest in peace to my dude, his name was Mitch, Mad Moves. We just work on combos and counters, combos and counters. You know what I mean? With Rico, combos and counters. With Dark, combos and counters. So it'd be like in and out, in and out, in and out, in and out, hands up, hesi, push through, high crossover, Euro step, reverse layup. It's like, what? And it's like, you gotta do all that shit when you tired. You know what I mean? So like a boxer. So it was always like, do the Steve Smith, you know, Smitty, Smitty. You know what I mean? Go down low, Elijah Juan, Dream Shake, step through, step under. It was like all these kind of callouts. And so my game, it was just like, I was unpredictable. You didn't know if I was gonna post up or come out shooting threes or, you know, going to the hole, you know what I mean? Or if I wanted to try to embarrass you. And so that's just kind of like, for me, it was just like, I wanna be that maestro. I wanna be that painter. Basketball is art. So when I'm coming to the game, I'm thinking about, man, how can I get this crowd going? How can I get my teammates to look good? You know what I mean? And like, I'm gonna have a moment. You know what I mean? I hope that moment is at the end of the game where I get the last shot. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't mind that. That's the moment, but it's gonna be some moments and I'm gonna be a curator of that. You know what I mean? And so, you know, with the young generation, I'm starting to get like a lot of their dads like, yo, bro, Got my son watching your highlights and shit. But like, when you watch the highlights, you just really see me dunking on people. So like, you think like, all he do is dunk. It's like, nah, bro, you gotta go, you know, you gotta go dig in the files. 'Cause I let it pass and I let it like make plays for my teammates. I think the path, like what you do, bro, is just like, you have to be so smart. And intelligent, you know what I mean? To be a great passer.

Facts.

And to be able to play defense, right? 'Cause I love playing defense. Get the rebound. So I am my own engine.

Yes.

I'm gonna stop you, get the rebound, push, get the assist, and I know who to pass to, when to pass. Come on now.

Yeah.

That's, you know what I mean? That's kind of like what you live for. To see your teammate be jogging back after he hit a shot and know like, I just said, I did all the work. Mm-hmm.

Facts.

You know what I'm saying? Like I got it for you, bro. I did all the work.

I feel great about it. It's cool. I'm moving on.

Do what you gotta do.

I'm gonna do all the work. I got you.

Exactly. And that's kind of like, was my joy of playing was like, I live to make, I live to get my centers paid. Any center that I play with, watch, look at they numbers, they got paid because I'm at the rim, but— Draymond Green. You know what I mean? Here you go. Make you look good.

You see any young guys, any of the young guys in the league today that remind you some, or some similarities to you?

Yeah, I would say I like Jamal Murray. You know, I feel like, 'cause he post up. Yeah. I like him 'cause he post up and he know how to, he bigger than everybody. So he kind of know how to use his body to, you know, to get into a shot and shit like that. So I do like Jamal Murray. I love Halliburton game just from like his playmaking ability, his science. Jalen Brunson is nothing like me, but like, goddamn, I wish I was like him, dude. I wish. I wish I was like that fool. He get busy. You know what I mean? He get super busy. And then Kyrie, I would say just from— I think I got top 5 handles all time, but I ain't on people list, but I ripped like 4 of the people on the top 5 list. You feel me? So how can you be on the top 5 handle list if you get ripped?

That's a fact.

All right.

That's a fact. You know what I always think about when people get ripped like that? Man, when I was growing up, I used to watch this documentary like crazy. Shout out to Bassey. Bassey was—

Oh yeah.

Bassey was a ghost to me. Through the fire. When his brother told him, "You get ripped at half court, you tired." Yeah. Like, because there's no way. And what he was pretty much saying was like, "There's no way you just got ripped." Yeah. So if you just got ripped, you must be tired.

You must be tired.

Like—

Or your handles ain't all the way there.

Facts.

You don't get like, people with habits don't get ripped.

For sure.

So.

No, that's a fact. I can agree with that.

Yeah.

Before we get outta here, on your journey with the New York Knicks, Linsanity.

Mm-hmm.

And playing through that. First off, What was your point of view just on that whole thing? Like—

I went to Mike D'Antoni and I was like, yo, I need another week to come back. So that's how I started. 'Cause I couldn't, he was supposed to get cut. Remember he was supposed to get cut.

Yeah.

And I was supposed to get activated, but my back was messed up. And so it started with that. And then we lost to Houston and I was like, "Coach, you gotta play Jeremy Lin." He was like, "You out your mind. He's the only guy that goes north and south in your offense. Tony Douglas this way, Iman Shumpert this way. And so if they go this way, nobody dives. So when Melo come up, Melo frustrated." Mm-hmm. "I don't care who it is, you gotta find somebody to go north or south." You know what I mean? And he played Jeremy Lin in the Houston game. I think the fool had like 6 points for, 4 rebounds, like in a steal, assist. We got beat by 30. And I was like, see, coach, like if you can get 4 in a reg— if you can get this just in a regular game while we're losing by 6 and 8, we'd be like, we got enough. You know what I mean?

Mm-hmm.

And so Jeremy Lin locker was next to mine. So I got to witness the whole entire thing, bro. From the first game he balled to the next game he balled, like, it was like, we got his locker here, we had an empty locker here, and this is my locker. To where like, I was getting dressed, bro, in like the damn near, in the bathroom. In the handicap stall, I had to hang my shit up. Bro, it was like 1,000 people in the locker room. I mean, you was hooping, right?

Yeah.

So you weren't, I don't know how y'all was looking at it, but he was on CNN, MSNBC.

It was crazy.

MTV, BET, the Weather Channel, VH1, they was all in there. 'Cause I kept having to move my seat out. I'm like, damn, what's the Weather Channel doing in here? It's like Jeremy Lin, "Make It Rain." Chinese, bro, so many China media, it was crazy. They had to move him to a press conference. Like, granted, this is like maybe like 3 weeks before All-Star weekend. He is doing press conferences.

Yeah.

In a full room of people. Kobe came in town. Hey Kobe, don't let this dude bust your ass. He hot. You know what I mean? He hot. Don't let him get you, bro. You know, Kobe like, "Psh, come on, BD. Psh, psh, not worried about none of that." I'm like, "Hey yo, he is going to kill you guys tomorrow. And I'm telling you this now, bro. Just so when I come in here after the game," Right, you not mad at me. So me and him at dinner, and this is all I'm talking about. No matter what Kobe is talking about, all I keep coming back to like, "Hey, Doc, he's going to bust y'all ass tomorrow. And I'm going to show up in your locker room and I'm gonna be laughing." Right. Lakers come in town. Hey dude, he served the Lakers. And after the game, I went right down there. He was tight. Hey dude, Kobe was so tight. He was so tight. He was hot. 'Cause he didn't, you know what I mean? He didn't, you didn't know what to, like this kid had magic. It was just like, it was just some shit that you only see the greats have. You know what I mean? But you see people have these moments. Yeah. On 10-day contracts or like filling in for somebody. Like you see somebody have a great 1 or 2 weeks, but like the attention and the level he was playing at was like ridiculous. And then we played Miami and LeBron then was like, all right, we done with all this shit.

It's over.

They ended it. They ended it.

What, you being the veteran point guard on that team, what was y'all relationship?

With Draymond Green?

Yeah.

Oh, we was super cool. Super cool. 'Cause remember, that's supposed to be my spot. I'm supposed to start, but now he balling. So I'm like, oh shit, I'll come off the bench and lead me, JR, Shump, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm. No back. So we had a nice little bench mob that complimented it. So I was just, I was for him starting 'cause I couldn't really, I didn't know how long I was gonna be able to make it through the season if my minutes were to increase. And so me playing 20 minutes a game right now, you know, for the second half of the season and get myself all the way right for the playoffs, that's all I was banking on. And so I needed him, you know what I mean? And we would work out together 'cause he was trying to get me right to come back to play.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

So I had a great relationship with him, you know. And you watch a lot of people see an opportunity.

Mm-hmm.

And a lot of people was trying to help him. And it was just like, I just think all that shit was just overwhelming. You know what I mean? It got real overwhelming. And you know, for a dude who's never had media attention.

Yeah.

Like, bro, I don't think you could have handled it. Like, I couldn't have handled it. I definitely couldn't have handled it. You know what I mean? But like, you get a lot of media. I don't think you could have handled it. 'Cause it was just like, where are these people coming from?

Yeah.

You know what I mean? And it was like in the middle of the season. And it was just, at some point this shit was gonna have to die out, but the media coverage wasn't dying out. You know what I mean? So it was a little dissension. Whose team is it? You know what I mean? Like all the goofy shit, like, who is Melo, Amari? Everybody team but Jeremy Lin. You know what I mean? Like we gonna rock with this Linsanity.

For sure.

You know, we gonna ride that way, but it definitely ain't his team. And there was a little bit of confusion in that. Now I talked to Melo about the podcast 'cause they had a breakfast. All them fools, and we was in Milwaukee and I passed by, I was like, "What y'all doing?" He was like, "Man, we trying to figure it out." I was like, "Figure it out? Showtime, showtime, showtime. You, come over here with us." Mm-hmm. You balling. You balling. You about to get paid.

But it's not your team.

Bro, this is— you ain't built for what these dudes is built for. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

But the type of year you having, we gonna rock with you. You know what I mean? Ain't gonna be no, hey, we gonna love you. You know what I mean? We gonna protect you. We gonna learn. We gonna grow together. But these are your guys.

Yeah, I don't think people understand the mentality, but also what it takes to be a superstar in this league. He was getting superstar attention, superstar treatment, but to really be a superstar in this league, like how different you gotta be to have to do that on that level every single night. It's a totally different ball game.

And you gotta be wired different.— Yes, you do. You gotta be completely wired different and you not wired like that. You know what I mean? Like you gotta be like, the world revolves around me all the time, me only. And everything that I do tonight is about us. You know what I mean? My performance is a win.

Yep.

You don't want that pressure on yourself as you start. Now as a point guard, you want that pressure because if you got these 3 people, okay. "I like my chances with my superstars." Yep. Which makes a point guard a superstar because of your value. You know what I mean?

100%. That's facts. That's a fact. Was there any misconceptions about Melo?

Like how Melo viewed— Oh, Melo and Draymond?

Yeah. Because you just started this off, you said, "Yo, we need somebody to get downhill for Melo rolling up." So if he's then getting downhill, then it sound like Melo would appreciate him as opposed to the way it was built out during that time. Yeah.

Melo was out. Well, you gotta think Lensanity happened when Melo was out.

Yeah.

So whoever was rolling, like the offense is rolling now because it's spots to fill.

Mm-hmm.

And there's no Melo around and Melo wanna post. You know what I mean? Melo wanna get into it. Melo gotta get into his rhythm for End of Game shit.

Absolutely.

So when Melo came back, it was more so like, Melo just didn't wanna stand in the corner, bro. You know what I mean?

Rightfully so.

Yeah, he called Melo Anthony. Bro, he called Melo Anthony. And so when Melo came back, our bench was aligned. Like, we was smacking people. But it was the bench that was running up the score. Yeah. So people were like relating that to like, they weren't really like working in, clashing in together, but it was a different offense too. It was Woody's offense.

Yeah.

So it went from D'Antoni to Mike Woodson in the same season.

So it was a totally different offense.

That's a two diff— like Woodson is like, hey, this is my guy, this is my guy. My point guard does this and I'm gonna let my point guard eat and however, but like this is how my point guard plays.

So Woody was the worst thing that could have happened to Jeremy Lin.

Nah, Woody was the best thing that could have happened to Jeremy Lin because he was gonna save him from like walking out there by himself.

So save him from the false sense of what everybody else was trying to give him.

He would've had to maintain Lin sanity and go this way with D'Antoni. Which means, yeah, if we winning and we rolling, like, dude, you the next Steve Nash, Luka, you know what I mean? But like, at some point, people ain't gonna believe that shit. Yeah.

No, that's a fact.

You gotta make people believe it every day. And it's not just 2 weeks. You dig what I'm saying? So when Miami went and, ah, locked it, you know, came and was like, okay, we locking everything up. You know what I'm saying? It forced, It forces you and then D-Will came back to New Jersey, had a great game, we lost to them. You know what I'm saying? So now it's like, oh, you're a superstar? Okay. How do you feel about superstars? You know what I'm saying? Now you was loved, now you hated. Superstars are hated.

Hated. That's a fact.

Can you play being the most hated person on the court? That's a fact. And so that was like, Woody coming in was like, yo man, you can be a starting point guard with, Melo, Amar'e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler. And I think it was maybe like Landry Fields or somebody like that. You can be in this starting five and wind up being a good point guard, growing into the guards he had, Bibbys and Teags, you know what I mean? And then I'm coming off the bench so I can stabilize you. You know what I mean? Yeah. So like, all we gotta do now is just play for wins, but you ain't about to be getting these 25-7s. 10, 15s, like those days are over. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because we're actually pretty good. We got, we deep, we got 10, we go 10 deep and you're a good fit with these guys. But if you wanna come off the bench and rock with them, like you may have a little bit more freedom, but you're not because you got JR, you got Shump. Like we all clicking and rolling. And I think what Woody was trying to do, But Jeremy was get him in. So like, you got a name, bro. So people be like, okay, you not a fluke. You know what I mean? You're starting point guard in this league.

Yeah.

You dig what I'm saying? And so I don't think Woody hurt, I don't think, Jeremy Lin got hurt.

Yeah.

And he didn't come back. I think that's ultimately what hurt his, how people looked at him. 'Cause when you went to Houston, you know what I mean? Now you got a big deal. Now you the man.

Yep.

And there's no Linsanity, you know what I mean? And so sometimes you gotta realize when you are of a moment and a moment and how to take the moment and like create something bigger than yourself for other people. You know what I mean? But I don't think he could have kept up that frequency. Mm-hmm. You know, and so as it was dying off, I think him being established, solid point guard would've been the best thing for him. Melo was trying to help him. Like, him and Melo was cool. Only thing they were trying to figure out was off, like, the offense.

Mm-hmm.

But everything else, like, Melo was trying to help him get marketing deals with his team. Like, 'cause the dude was like, it was crazy. Like Hollywood actresses that I knew, and I ain't gonna say no names. They was like, uh, so like, yeah, what's happening? How you like New York? I'm good, what's happening? How you doing? Like, what's up with Jeremy Lin? Like, huh?

Jeremy Lin?

Like, well, how is he? I'm like, like, who's asking? Like, is that the word? It was like, yeah, we got a couple friends, wanna meet him, come to the game. I'm like, dude, I'm like, "Jeremy, you have no idea, bro." Like everybody, he was the most famous person in the world for like 2 weeks. That's crazy, man.

That was a crazy run. Last one before we get outta here. As a former Warrior, your thoughts on Klay?

Klay going to the Mavericks. Ah, damn. You know what I mean? Like, you hate to, I hate to see it because, you know, y'all was babies.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? And it's, and, You know, it's similar to how we feel about Kobe here in LA. Yeah. 'Cause you watch y'all go from young men to men to superstars to like legends. You know what I mean? And so, you know, I wish Klay the best. 'Cause I'm a Klay fan. I'm the player fan first. So whatever the player feel like, is best for them, I'm always rocking with a player.

100%.

But as a Warrior fan and what he meant to the Warriors, I just hope like they do the documentary to welcome back, like let me direct a video or some shit like that. Like just honor the man the way he's supposed to. But shit, man, the dynasty is over. You know what I mean? And I don't know, I wanna ask you how you feel 'cause I asked you on my podcast, but like, I don't know how you just kill my, you know, how you kill a dynasty without letting, you know, letting your gunslingers ride off in the sunset, bro. Like, you know, I'm a movie dude. I'm like, damn, like, who did this? Who took, who took my guy out?

Where the storybook ended at.

This is not the storybook ending. That is supposed to happen. But you know, the league is a business. I think it's good for Klay. You get to go to a team that he can help.

Yeah.

Help win. I think it's good for the Warriors. 'Cause the Warriors are gonna get better. You already got, you know, Derrick Jones. Is it Derrick Jones Jr.?

No, it's D'Anthony Melton, Kyle Anderson.

I thought Derrick Jones Jr. went to the Clippers.

Went to the Clippers.

D'Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson. Kyle Anderson.

And Buddy Hill. Yeah, my fault.

Yeah, y'all got better too. You know, 'cause you replace Klay with some shooting, you replace, you add some playmaking shooting, you know what I mean? And like, I just think that y'all, the way y'all play, y'all gonna be there. You just need one of them young dudes to figure out that shit easy out here for them.

You know what I mean?

Like J.K.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Hell yeah.

No doubt. I appreciate you, brother. Appreciate you, man.

Thank you. Thank you.

Absolutely. That's a wrap. Peace.