Jeff Teague on Jimmy Butler's “wild” T’Wolves era, guarding Steph Curry, Club 520 | Draymond Green

In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, former NBA guard Jeff Teague joins host Draymond Green to discuss a wide range of topics spanning his basketball career and media ventures. The conversation opens with Teague’s memories of the turbulent Jimmy Butler‑led Minnesota Timberwolves, highlighting the chaotic locker‑room atmosphere and on‑court challenges. He then recounts his experience guarding Stephen Curry, describing the preparation and mental adjustments required to defend the league’s premier shooter. The dialogue shifts to Teague’s post‑playing life, detailing the creation of his "Club 520" podcast, its partnership with The Volume, and his approach to interviewing NBA personalities. Teague walks through his journeyman NBA path—Boston, the Magic, the Clippers, and ultimately the Milwaukee Bucks—explaining trade dynamics, relationships with coaches (notably Bud Fisher), and his brief stint in "coach mode" after a knee micro‑fracture. He provides an insider’s view of the Bucks’ 2021 championship run, emphasizing injuries, the role of Giannis’ brother Thanasis (T.A.), COVID‑related setbacks, and the importance of locker‑room humor (e.g., jokes with PJ Tucker) in maintaining team chemistry. The episode concludes with reflections on his All‑Star recognition, the synergy between Club 520 and the Draymond Green Show, and plans for future crossover content.
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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. We are here at Resort World in Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League. We got all-star NBA champion, but what's starting to feel, which is crazy, even more important, podcaster, Club 520's own Jeff T. Welcome to the Draymond Green Show.
Yeah, appreciate you having me, man. I've been wanting to come on your show for so long, so I'm excited. I love what you do.
Thank you, man.
Appreciate you having me, bro.
Absolutely. I appreciate you coming on.
For sure.
I mean, let's get right into it, man. I think you're doing a rare thing right now that most people don't ever do. I think it's happened as of recent to Shannon Sharp.
Okay.
Draymond Green, Charles Barkley, in a sense Kenny Smith.
Mm-hmm.
Where you play a career, all guys who had great careers, All-Star, champion, Chuck, Hall of Famer, multiple-time All-Star, Kenny, champion, where you're almost becoming bigger now after basketball than when, than basketball and you, like I said, you were an All-Star, which is crazy to think. But what's this journey been like for you and getting into the podcast space with Club 520? Yeah. And kind of this journey that y'all been on. Number one, I said it on the pod, I'm a big fan of y'all podcast.
Appreciate that, bro.
To see you with your folks.
Yeah, yeah.
Take them and just, start your own thing and to be where it is today, I think is special. So number one, I just wanna say I'm a fan.
I appreciate it, bro. Nah, but we just be having a lot of fun. Now the journey's been great. I'm a basketball head from the start, but having fun with my guys and just doing what we do all the time, it's been cool. The attention's been different. 'Cause I was one of those guys who didn't want attention when I played. I just wanted to kind of like do my job and go home. But I always been a goofball. I always clown. In the locker room, I was a jokester. So just bringing it to the life where everybody else will get to know me and see, it's pretty cool.
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When you look at the podcast space and what y'all have been able to do, how far do y'all ultimately hope to take it?
Far as we can. We want it to blow up as big as it can. I mean, you coming on the show was a big help. You talking about it before you even came on the show was huge, but we trying to get it as big as we can, man. We wanna be as big as Shannon Sharpe and those guys. So we're gonna continue to keep working, keep grinding. I'm having fun with it. If it's not fun, I'm not gonna do it. But right now it's so fun and we are enjoying it.
Interesting enough, guys, he say I was a big help to they podcast. Their podcast is way bigger than this podcast. Just so y'all know, I know the numbers. I've seen the numbers.
Oh no.
Just so y'all know. Their podcast is bigger than this podcast.
No way, bro. You do it differently, bro. You started off, man, you actually pod after games and you give real intel on the game. And it's amazing to see you do that. Like I wouldn't have the confidence to do that, but you know who you are as a player and as a person. I could never do that. 'Cause I know I'm gonna have a bad night. You live with your bad nights, you live with your good nights and you like, you go forward with it. If I have a bad night, bro, I'm not saying a word. It's over. Like I'm going home. I'm not talking to nobody. I'm not doing none of that. And you get on the pod you own up to if you had a bad night. It's dope, dope to see.
Nah, I appreciate it, bro. But you know, a part of that for me is, and where it differs from you, I talk a lot.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know what I'm saying? So I let you know when it's going good for me. I hate nothing more than the guy that lets you know when it's going good, but when it's going bad, it ain't his fault.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? When it's going, I'd much rather, and how I approach things is, I'd rather throw myself even under the bus, even if it went good.
Mm-hmm. I've seen you do that plenty of times.
You know what I'm saying? As opposed to like, man, it's going bad, that ain't on me. Like, nah, that's when I wanna take that. But that's different for you though, because you're also not throwing it in nobody's face when it's going good.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? So that's a totally different thing, but— You know, like I always say to people, I've been able to win championships off of identifying front runners. You know what I'm saying? Like you go up against certain teams.
Who? Name 'em.
When we was playing the Clippers back in the day.
Oh shit, yeah.
We thought they was front runners. Now I've gotten really close with CP. So I take that with a grain of salt. Although I never thought CP was a front runner 'cause he was all, he played the same way all the time. Tough, physical as hell, smart, fast. If you talk, he getting into it with you.
I'm glad you said that. 'Cause people get mad at me when I tell the story about CP talking shit to me. Tell them that he talk shit, please.
Absolutely.
Thank you, C.
1000%.
I still love you, bro. It was just you talk shit that day. It's all good, bro.
1000% talk.
Yeah, for sure.
But a lot of guys on that team, we would walk into our locker room and say like, yo, those guys are front runners. Like, it's going good for them, it's great.
Yeah, yeah.
Once it start going wrong, everybody crumble.
Yeah.
You know what I'm saying? We thought that about quite a few teams we would run up against. Like, you just knew Houston, we thought Houston was really good. They challenged us. But we thought they was front runners. And every time you get down to it and it show itself in the most inopportune time. And so that's why, like, even through our runs, you see guys like flopping. Like Steph wouldn't flop. I remember at one point the flopping was so bad in the NBA, we'd be like, yo, Steph, you gotta flop, man.
Shoot.
Klay, you gotta flop.
I got paid off flopping. I can't say nothing, bro. I was stopping on the screen, shooting, doing all that stuff. That was me. I said, I got at least 6 points a game.
I know it.
I remember one time, it's funny. I did it to Steph and then he got pissed. He like, that shit. Well, he came down the next play and did it. Was like, you doing all this stuff to the crowd, was crying laughing. I was like, I don't care, bro. Shit, I'm just trying to get these, I need 8 points, bro.
Did you, in going through contract situations, 'cause I always hear, you know, Shawn Livingston and Andre Iguodala, David West. They would always say to us, yo, y'all don't know the real NBA. Y'all been here with the Warriors. They come in, obviously once they get, you see it, they see how the organization. And they would always tell me, Steph and Klay, like, yo, y'all don't know the NBA. Like y'all ain't never played in the real NBA.
Nah, y'all didn't, man. Y'all had it good. I played in the real NBA where people, like, I think it was one time you said something to Mo Harkless, why he wasn't shooting threes.
Facts.
Yeah. I've been on those teams. Like when I came into the league, I love Jamal Crawford, he was in a contract year. I think Marvin Williams just got paid. It was a couple guys was trying to get money. And that's the first time I heard about like stats and stuff. Like, 'cause when I played in college, you just tried to win.
Absolutely.
Like I'm doing whatever I can do to win. But I heard him say, man, Ginobili averaged 14 points. He got $12 million. I'm averaging 18. I'm like, you playing good for us though, bro. Like, man, fuck that, I need the money. I'm like, oh, okay. That's how that work. And then ever since then, I was on teams where it was always somebody Contract year, contract year. And it made our team weird. And the only year we didn't have a contract problem was the year we won all them games.
Wow.
Everybody had got paid and that's the year we were good.
And y'all had 4 All-Stars that year.
Yup, that's the year we were good.
That's crazy, man. I always, to your point, the Moe Harkless story. So we're playing, we're playing, it's the end of the season and Moe Harkless had a bonus in his contract. That if he shot a certain 3-point percentage and played a certain amount of games, which he had already played the amount of games and a 3-point percentage, that he would get like a million-dollar bonus. And so he was, I think it may have been like 35%. Take it with a grain of salt. I don't know the exact number, but call it 35%. And if he had to shoot 35%, he was at like 35.3.
Yeah.
And for the last 4 or 5 games of the year, He didn't attempt a 3.
I wouldn't have either.
And so, however, which I get it, like—
Yeah. You hurt your team, but like—
You killing them, by the way. I get it. I don't get it. I understand, I would say.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I understand. However, for me to know that you're doing that, I gotta now use that to my advantage. So we meet up with them in the playoffs, right after he's doing that. And I say to him right away, you gonna shoot tonight? 'Cause you got your bonus now. Are you still scared to shoot? Hey, he's scared to shoot, fellas. He don't wanna shoot tonight. He's still worried about his bonus.
That's a fact. It play a role.
He tanked the rest of the series.
He tanked. Oh man. Oh, you can't do that. Like you got the money now, you gotta hoop.
He tanked. And by the way, I love Mo Harkless. We came in the same draft, man. Like, love what he was able to do in his career. But it was situations like that, that for me, as someone who like to play mind games and like gotta try to get under somebody's skin.
Yeah, he gave him a layup.
I'm like, yo, you don't wanna shoot? It's crazy.
But you gotta understand though, like, that's why David West and them said y'all ain't been on the real NBA. Y'all always been in situations where like, I'm gonna get that. Like not you, 'cause you came in as a second round pick, but when you got there and you solidified yourself, you basically been almost a max player every time. So guys like me or guys who, you know, had to kind of like get their contract and they need those bonuses. I understand where they coming from, but as a player hooping, I couldn't have done that.
Like I gotta hoop.
Yeah, I just, I'm just gonna hoop. But in the back of my mind, if I would've went 34, I would've been pissed.
I missed that million.
And we were sad. Oh man, I was hurt. I was hurt.
Here's the thing though. I struggled with shooting for a couple years, 2, 3 year span of my career because I lost confidence in it. I got totally lost confidence in my shot. And so I struggled with it a bit. I still don't know if my mind would process like, yo, you can't shoot because your percentage about to drop.
That's crazy. Nah, you a hooper though. And you like to win, but you come from a winning, y'all, Michigan State, you a winner.
Yeah.
You've been in winning environments. Like you ain't never really been around losing. Like we, I've been around some losing before. And you start looking at stuff a little different. Like, ah, we about to win 20 games this year. I need my bonus. So I get where Mo at with it. But as a hooper, you can't do that. Especially if you was a playoff team.
No, that's a fact. That's a fact. Along the lines of podcasting, you actually just did it a little bit here. How did you figure out, because you have a skill that I'm not sure I've seen really anybody else do. You have this skill in the way about you're talking about yourself, talking about your career in a way that I've never seen anyone do before. And I guess my question is, how the hell do you remember all these stories? Like, are these stories that, amongst you and the guys that you shared before and they like, yo, you remember this? You just remember all these stories. Like, how did you come up on that?
I remember everything. I'm not gonna lie. I can tell you stuff from when I was 4 years old, but it really happened 'cause my wife, we were at home one day and she was like, we were doing a podcast and we would joke around all the time. She was like, nobody wants to hear about what y'all did up the street. She's like, nobody care about you going, upstairs and having a drink with your friends. Tell us something about the NBA. And I was like, like what? She was like, she watching the game. She liked basketball. She was like, Jimmy Butler out here playing with, I don't even know these white dudes. And I'm like, I'm like, what? She was like, that's how he did y'all in practice, right? I looked at her, I said, what? She said, go tell that story. And I swear I called him. I said, let's do a podcast. We went downstairs. I was like, Jimmy is literally playing with That's when, what's my guy name that play in Cleveland now?
Max Struess.
He was still, he was just starting to come on or whatever. And I'm like, yeah, that remind me of practice. I gotta tell this story. And it was just like perfect timing. And after that, it just kind of caught a wave. 'Cause I told stories before, but after that it just became a thing. And I was like, man, let me tell them about my experience in the NBA.
There's always a great woman behind all the greatness, man. So always a great woman behind the great things to come.
Nah, she literally did that.
So, and the way you talk about your career as if you wasn't Jeff T, like—
I don't take it serious. I don't take nothing. I take it all for like, it's love. Like I hooped, it was something I love to do. And it was like something I would do for free. So I don't take it too serious. Like everybody else be like, man, I'm a, 8-time champion, I did this. I'd be like, shit, okay, and then what? Like off the court, who are you? It don't really matter when you in a real world, like that you hooped. So I don't take it too serious, really.
Nah, that's a fact. And speaking of the business side of the podcast, you was just telling a story of when you went and bought your first cameras to record the podcast.
Yeah, I bought a $1,000 camera. 'Cause my guy Mike was like, "We not spending all that money on something that you not even good at." And now he the producer. So his cameras is weak now. Nah, but it's all good, man. Like, this is just the best stuff though. Like talking to you, get to chill. I love this. I like, it's like locker room talking to me though.
Facts.
Yeah, that's why I love it.
I agree. It's, for me, I enjoy when I have a guest on. Obviously I do a lot of shows by myself.
I don't know how you do that either.
Well, it's an interesting thing.
That's amazing.
And I bet you can do it because all it is is this, you're essentially, you kind of have to play the role of two people. Like, so you got your opinion, right? And in order for me to get you to understand it, I also have to give you the opinion of the other side.
Yeah.
So you can kind of compare it to, I can't just be like, oh, I think X, Y, and Z. And then move on. That's not a conversation, right? No, it's not. And so for me, when I'm all by myself, one of the things that I just start doing and trying to figure out is like, let me have a conversation with myself. All right, I think this, but if I think this, there's probably somebody that think this. So I'm gonna talk about this side too. And then ultimately I'll get to a space of like, nah, but this is what it is.
But that's kind of like low key crazy. Like you having a conversation with yourself, bro. But nah, don't worry about it. Nah, I do that too, but don't worry about it. Nah, it's crazy that you You can do that, bro. Like I cannot do that. Like we was talking about it before I came on here. I'm like, I ain't never did a podcast. I don't even know how this is gonna work. When I do a podcast, I'm with the guys and I can bounce ideas off of them. If you talking to us, I can defer the question to DJ, like get that one DJ. So this is cool. It's a cool experience. But like talking to myself, I tried to stream a game one time, a video game. I said, nah, bro, I ain't built for this. People in the chat like, you have to talk to the chat. I'm looking, ah, nah, I'm cool. So what you do is amazing, bro.
Thank you, bro. I appreciate it. And Stan, on the business side of the podcast, you, like I said, you started with your own cameras and then now fast forward to where we are today. Y'all ultimately decide to partner with the Volume. For sure. How did that partnership come about?
Man, it was so weird. It was a lot of companies and people reaching out, wanting to sign us the deals and trying to work with us. It was crazy. We got a call randomly. I got a call and this guy called Jamie and was like, yo, we need you. And I'm like, need me for what? He was like, we want you on Club 520. We want everything about you guys. We love it. We want y'all to partner with us. And I was like, who is it? He's like, The Volume. He was like, with Colin and Shannon. Shannon just came over here. And it was like right when Shannon had just signed and we came over, it was just like a perfect mix. They believed in us. They didn't want to change anything about the show. They want us to be ourselves. And I'm like, yo, we use some crazy language. He was like, yeah, we like that. And I'm like, okay. And everybody else was kind of trying to change the show a little bit. They wanted to be a little more, how can I say it? Politically correct, I guess. And The Volume was just like, nah, we like it raw and edgy how you guys are. So that made us really comfortable. And that's why we signed with them.
I think it's dope, man. I've been with The Volume now for 3 years, I think. And one thing I've appreciated is, the opportunity to create.
Yeah.
And create what I think is right. But then having that team to kind of turn back to and say, all right, this is what I'm doing. This is what, you know, Jackson, my producer, this is what we're doing. But now what do y'all see? Or what's working, what isn't working? And they're like, all right, well, this is working. Not gonna tell you to get rid of this because that's your thing. But you see these things, these things work a little more. This thing may work a little less. And kind of having that collaboration. But in the same token, the collaboration is still, but it's you, it's your show. You're doing the show. We're your partner. But we signed up to be your partner because we liked you. Yeah. And who you are. Because we wanted to then make you who we are.
Yeah, yeah. They let you rock, really. That's why I like them too. But, and you play, once again, you played a big role for me, like our group going there. 'Cause I'm like, damn, Draymond do this shit after games. They really let him rock. Like being in the NBA, you know how it goes. Like you don't post to say too much. You gotta talk to the media here and there. And then the media guy comes to you and like, oh, you, "you can talk to this guy, you can't talk to this person," whatever. And I'm like, he doing this after the game. He don't care what nobody's saying. He got his own thing going. I'm like, if they letting him do that and they helping him, I can only imagine what they gonna do for us. So it was big. Yeah, he played a role in that too.
No, no doubt. I'm happy y'all came over, bro. It's super dope to see. I think, you know, and watching what it's been built into over the last 3 years, it's night and day. And for me, Like I was just talking about y'all podcast being bigger. I absolutely love that because the way I look at it and the way it works is a high tide raises all boats.
For sure.
You know what I'm saying? You raise the tide, we all go. You know what I'm saying? I do something good, we all benefit. I think that's what I like about it. You know, it's a home for all of us. And ultimately, The more success you have, and DJ and Mike, the more success I have.
For sure.
The more success I have, the more success you have. And I think it's a beautiful thing. So really, really happy that y'all came over. 'Cause the audience that y'all bring also, it's a different audience. You know what I'm saying? It's an audience that like, you got the Draymond Green Show. It's more about basketball.
For sure.
Like it's an audience that, is driven by basketball, but also there's kind of a comedy spin on what y'all do as well.
Straight clown.
And then more importantly, there's a realness. And so you get that group of like people seeking the real stuff. And I always have an appreciation for that.
I appreciate that, bro.
But as a podcaster myself, enough about podcasting, I wanna talk about your career. Because for me, for you to become an All-Star at a time where the point guard position was probably deep as it's ever been in the NBA. You talking Steph, Russ, Dame, Kyle Lowry.
John.
John Wall. Man, Chris Paul. Rondo. Rondo.
Bunch of people.
Like at a time where the point— and by the way, I'm sure we're missing 7 names that—
Kimbrough.
Like at a time where the point guard position was as deep as it's ever been, you became an All-Star.
Yeah.
What was that experience like for you? Did you believe, like before you became an All-Star, did you believe that you were that caliber player? And then if so, what was it like? To then actually become an All-Star once you got the nod?
Nah, I told one of my best friends named Lou back home, it may have been like 2 or 3 years before that I was gonna make the All-Star Game in New York. And he was like, "What?" I was like, "Yeah, I'm gonna write it down. I'm gonna make the All-Star Game in New York and I'm gonna shake Jay-Z's hand at half court." And all that happened, by the way. So I was hyped. Like I knew I was gonna make it in New York. I had no question. Like I knew, I already had that in my head. The problem is I ain't make no more goals after that. That's where it got spooky. I ain't write nothing else after that. Nah, I knew I was gonna make it then, but I knew I was going in the right way. Like every year I was getting better and better. And then Coach Bud came and I had a score mindset. Like I wanna score, I wanna average 20 points. That was my goal to average 20 points. And he came to me and he was like, you'll be an all-star if you average 16 and 8 and we win 50 games. I believed him and it happened. And I hold him at a certain standard as a coach because he's unbelievable. But I just knew I was gonna make it there. I don't know how I did it. I don't know. I just knew and it happened and it was cool.
That year y'all won a bunch of games, got 4 All-Stars in, but the people wanna know.
Yeah.
So I must ask, should there have only been 3 though?
I ain't gonna lie. Kyle was the main, like he was so much of a focal point on our team. He made all of our jobs so much easier. I got to go to my right hand anytime I wanted to because Kyle was sitting in that corner, you couldn't leave him. So I was walking to the basket. So I'm not gonna say he shouldn't have been an All-Star, but his numbers and stuff like that, I mean, whatever. But we knew how much he meant to our team. He was definitely probably the MVP of our team.
Mm-hmm.
'Cause he did all the little stuff and he made defenses change.
Mm-hmm.
When Kyle was on the floor, you had to account for him. Like he was almost like the go-to player for us. Like people had to take him out the game 'cause we ran our flow offense.
Yeah.
And it was based off him shooting threes. And when he wasn't making threes, we were tough. We were like, we was in a tough situation. When he made threes, we'd score 130 points.
Yeah.
So I don't know. I mean, people say a lot of times like, he shouldn't have made it, but I was happy he made it. He was one of my favorite teammates.
It's interesting because when I think back to playing against those teams,— to your point, a bunch of y'all sets were him coming off, flying off downstream. You get slips, you get guys completely fucking up the matchups.
For sure.
And if not, he coming off dotting the I. As someone who averaged 8 points and made an All-Star Game, you're not gonna get me to sit here and say his numbers wasn't right and he shouldn't have made it.
You the important part, bro. I tell everybody when we used to play y'all, I hated, playing y'all because maybe like back off of Draymond, but then you can pass and you see the whole floor, but then you will go dribble handoff with Steph and they don't got nobody to help up with me. And it's like, you know, that's good. Same thing with Klay. And I'm like, y'all don't understand what this man is doing. He the point guard. Like he really the point guard. He getting a rebound, pushing the ball. And y'all telling me to chase Steph around. This the point guard. So I'm yelling at Paul and them like, guard him like y'all guard me, get up. And they like, no, no, we gotta back up. He ain't gonna shoot it, man. I'm like, Y'all tripping. He Rondo. This is Rondo. He just a taller Rondo. But it's part of the game.
A lot of teams did it. A lot of teams do it. And I absolutely love when teams do it.
They be tripping, bro.
Like, oh, you just gonna let me sit here in this pocket and pick you apart?
They tripping. Kenny Atkinson, you know Kenny.
Yes.
He was the first one, me and him talked about it for hours. Like, Kenny is a great basketball mind.
Yes, he is.
And me and him, he's like, you gotta get up on Draymond.
You gotta get up on Rondo.
You cannot let him Don't sit back there like Tom Brady. They gonna pick you apart. But nobody would listen to him. I believe, I'm like, Kenny was my guy. So I'm like, Kenny, you right. I'm watching tape. You gotta get up on him. I was like, and you dang near gotta switch. You gotta make Draymond score. Like you gotta make him get 25 and you got the ability. I remember one time we played you, you was killing. I was pissed. And you was talking so much. He like, yeah, motherfucker. We kept up, we was doubling the ball and you was getting in the pocket. You was making floaters, throwing lobs to Bogan and shit. I'm like, "All right, man, fuck it." I'm like, "Man, I hate this dude, man." He was like, "Yeah, you better get out of there. That shit ain't gonna work tonight." But hey, that's what you did, bro. You unbelievable at it.
Nah, I appreciate it, bro. I'll never forget my first basket in the NBA. My first field goal I made was against y'all. I got the text. Smooth stood under the rim and was like, I came off the down screen, I caught it at the top of the key. He stood under there. I hit the 3, like, "Yeah, you better get your ass out here, Tak." First basket in the NBA. Been the story of my career ever since, man.
Legendary story though, for sure.
For sure. So I'm definitely rocking with that. But Al Horford.
Yep.
Teammate of yours. Just got his first championship.
So happy for him. Definitely so happy for him.
Like what were those feelings in watching? I know me and Al kind of had a thing in our finals. I don't know how he feel about it. I don't take nothing personal. Maybe he do. I really don't give a shit. But—
I love that about you.
Like he may fucking hate me. I don't really care. But a lot of people, including me, are happy as hell for him. What was that like for you? Somebody who, kind of started him on that trajectory with those teams that y'all had. And, but it wasn't able to get over the hump. In year 17, he finally gets it done.
What was that like for you? I was so happy for Big Al, man. 'Cause I know how hard he worked and I know how bad he wanted to win a championship. He always would talk about winning in, at Florida, winning back-to-back championships. And he was like, man, I used to make a joke. Like when we won in Atlanta, I'm gonna be on the Magic City float. And he used to be like, only you would say that. Only you would say that. He's like, let's just win and just get on a float. Why'd it have to be Magic City? And I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna be on that Magic City float. It's going, I'm gonna have $1,000. And each, everybody here, I'm just telling this crazy story. And he would be like, I want the championship so bad. So to see him win and to see his mom, his wife, his kids, his brother, his dad, they all there, his sister. I'm like, yeah, I know that meant the world to him. And to do it in Boston, 'cause he left Atlanta to go to Boston for a championship. And to have that happen for him, I was like, yeah.
No doubt.
I'm hyped for you, bro.
Absolutely. In our careers, I always say we all play to get replaced.
Mm-hmm.
Coach to get fired.
Yeah.
General managers create teams to get fired.
Mm-hmm.
That's just the business that we're in. Yeah. We get older, our talents deteriorate. I'm kind of headed towards that path now. What was it like for you, where I thought at the time you were still at the, top of your game, like still playing at an elite level. And then for a team to move on and kind of go with Schroeder after all that you have been doing in that organization.
Yeah, so that year was a tough year. 'Cause I had a tear in my patella the whole year. So I'm doing, I had to do PRP injection and all this stuff after the season. And I was just kind of upset 'cause I wanted an extension. Like I had just made the All-Star a year before.. And we had a pretty decent year that year. I had shot like 40-something from the 3 my first time in my career. And I averaged like 16. So I'm like, I just want an extension. I didn't want nothing crazy. I just wanted to stay in Atlanta. And they kind of like, eh, we don't know. And I was like, okay, that says a lot.
Mm-hmm.
So I was like, what do y'all wanna do with me? And they was like, what do you wanna do? I was like, I never had somebody ask me that. And I was like, well, if y'all asking me, I mean, y'all want me to do, make a decision. Y'all don't want me here no more? And Coach Bub was like, I do, but GM, they might wanna go a different way. And it kind of threw me off. So I was like, all right, well I did a lot for this city. Where y'all gonna trade me? And he was like, Philly. I was like, and like it was outta nowhere. I was like, Philly, y'all really gonna trade me? I was hurt. Then Coach Bub was like, I can't do you like that. Where you wanna go? And I was literally sitting on my porch in my house in Indiana with my brother. I was like, I wanna play for the Pacers. He was like, "I got you. I'm gonna trade you to the Pacers. I'm gonna call him and we gonna figure out how to get you to the Pacers." He was like, "That's what my favorite, I'm gonna do for you." He was like, "I hope you sign an extension there. I hope you stay there for a long time. I love you, man. I'm gonna do that for you." Then he traded me to the Pacers.
Wow.
Yep.
Wow. So you got a lot of love for him.
Oh, I love Coach Bud, bro. 'Cause he didn't have to do that. He could have traded me to Philly. And that's when Philly was down bad. And he was just like, "Yeah, we wanna get a draft pick or something." Then he was like, "Man, you did too much for me. I mean, I just got paid $25 million." He was like, "You deserve to get paid, but I don't really control that." But he was running the team, but he was like, "The owner and assistant GM, they really wanna go with somebody younger." And he was like, "But I'm gonna trade you to the Pacers." That's fire.
Yeah. That's fire.
So I appreciated that 'cause I was at the crib and that was the funnest year I ever played playing basketball.
I was just about to ask you, like, what was that like going home to play, having all your guys there, all your family there? For most people that can be a distraction. What was it like for you?
See my family, they don't, we don't really take like the NBA too serious. Like it's like, all right, you playing the NBA, but you just Lil Jeff. You Nacho, you bro, you, that's you.
They call you Nacho?
Yeah.
Why?
I can't really say on camera, bro. I'll tell you one day, bro. But they call me that at the crib, but When I was at home, everybody just treat me like that. Like, when I go places, I go to the hole in the wall, bro. I don't gotta worry about nobody trying to, "Airball T, what up, bro?" It's just like Jeff, bro. It ain't, it's different. I don't know if you feel like that when you go home.
I do. I think the same way. Like, I don't go home much. I'm from Saginaw.
Yeah, yeah.
Indianapolis. Although it ain't one of the greater NBA cities.
It's definitely not. I mean, hey, it ain't. It's a better city in Saginaw.
So I don't go home a bunch, but when I do, it's the same thing. Like the people that I've known my whole life, I'm still just Day Day.
Yeah, yeah.
Like, that's just what it is.
Yeah.
It's like, and I'm never going to approach it like anything other than that. Like you should look at me different or you should like, no, I am just Day Day.
Yeah.
By the way, I actually appreciate that way more.
Yeah, that's what I love too.
Absolutely.
Like going home and people like, be here, one of the guys on the podcast, he has a brunch that he does once a month and I go, people just like, "T, what's happening? Boy, I know you gonna be in here on Sunday." Like they know I'm coming. Like they ain't even like, they don't even think I play basketball. They don't even look at it like that, bro. It's just like, that's just Jeff. Like I don't got no chains. I don't got no jewelry. I never, I got one watch my mom bought me. I never wore it. I don't do, I drive a pickup truck. I don't know, I'm just trying to be normal as possible. And I don't really tryna do anything too much out of the norm. And I think people appreciate that back home. So they just kind of treat me like one of the guys.
Neighborhood hero.
I wouldn't even say that, just one of the guys, bro. Just one of the guys.
No doubt. What was it like for you being in the NBA? Obviously we grow up with these dreams of making it to the NBA. We share these dreams with our siblings. I had a brother who's 2 years older than me. He never made it to the NBA, but that was a dream that we shared together. I can only imagine that was a dream that you and Marcus shared together. By the way, that nigga took my draft spot and I ain't never forgetting that.
Shout out to Marcus.
So you make sure you let him know I still feel a way, although I got nothing but love for him.
I guarantee he would trade you spots That's right.
He took my spot and it's cool. And I had to go second round. It worked out, but ah, I could have been in Chicago right near the crib. I had to go all the way to Cali, address to, excuse me, adjust to a new way of life that I felt like I was in Istanbul or something. I was so far away from home, homesick. So you just let him know he ruined my life for the first 2 years of my career. But it's cool. But what was that like when you saw him ultimately become a first round pick and you're already in the NBA?
Oh man, that was an unbelievable feeling. Like we knew he was going to the NBA. I mean, he was number one player, all that stuff since he was seventh grade. So I knew he was going to NBA, but it was just still a moment where it was like, damn man, your dream really came true. 'Cause my dream wasn't the NBA.
Really?
I mean, you know, as a little kid, you be like, I wanna make it to the NBA. But when I start getting older, I start realizing like I played against Eric Gordon in high school. I'm like, okay, that look like an NBA player. I'm probably not an NBA player. Like he got 30, I got 30, but his 30 a little easier than my 30. And then like when I went to college, I went to Wake Forest, we weren't that good. And I seen James Johnson. I'm like, that's an NBA player. I'm probably not an NBA player. So I started putting real goals together. Or I'm gonna graduate from Wake. I'm gonna probably play 5 years overseas. I'm gonna try to save up like $3 million if I can, as long as I can play. And I'm gonna go back to my high school, be the coach, probably teach a little bit and just live off the 3, you know, make a couple hundred, like $100,000 or 2, whatever. Hopefully being a teacher and a coach and doing some other stuff in business and then just live, have a family, have some kids. I would, all this, never in a thousand years would I thought this would happen.
Mm-hmm. Do you still wanna be a high school coach?
I am a high school coach.
You coach a high school now?
Yeah, I did it. Yeah, I coach, I'm the head coach at Pike High School.
Really?
Yep.
Y'all weak.
We was last year. We ain't gonna be this year though. We was last year, we was weak, but we gonna be better next year though.
Are y'all able to recruit players down there or no?
Nope.
Can't recruit?
Nah, so you gotta live in the neighborhood. They just opened up where, It's like the open the school gates, whatever you wanna call it, where we can like get guys from different neighborhoods.
Open enrollment.
Yeah. But barely at Pike, not really, barely. You gotta kind of be, kind of recruited, I guess you can say, suggested to go here or whatever, but it's getting better. But we got a really good team. We got some young guys who actually are really talented. We got some guys with Michigan State looking at, so we all right.
That's fire.
Yeah, we all right.
Speaking of James Johnson, Probably the most feared man in the NBA. Definitely.
I seen him in action for real, so.
I was just about to say, have you ever seen him get at somebody?
Yeah, I seen him. So that's why when people be like, oh, it's a story, is it? Bro, I've seen this in real life. Y'all do not want that, bro. I tell everybody, I seen him knock out 3 dudes at one time. Seen him knock out 7-footer. I done seen it all. Like he not nothing to play with, bro. And he get into a kickboxing stance. So like, you know, you about to fight somebody, you square up. He pulling his pants up kickboxing style. Like, I'm like, nah. And I remember one time I told him like, I don't care, you gonna have to show me.
Mm-hmm.
That whole day in practice, bro, I was sitting there thinking like, if this dude really show me, bro, I ain't gonna make it home, bro. I'ma have to, I'm gonna have to do something different, bro. I'm gonna have to go to the store and get something 'cause this ain't gonna work. His hands is different, bro.
That's hilarious, man. Are y'all still close today? I know he been with the Pacers last few years.
Yeah, that's my guy. I don't see him as much 'cause you know how the NBA is. I'm chilling, he moving around, but that's my guy. When I see him, it's my brother, bro. We did so much in school and been together, man. He the nicest dude in the world, bro. He'd give you a shirt off his back. And how you treat people is unbelievable. But when it— when he turned on that switch to be the black belt James Johnson, bro, nobody wants that, bro. And I've seen videos of his whole fam— his whole family black belts.
Really?
Oh, from the pops, his mom, she's Samoan. Like, their whole family is lethal.
Okay, this is all starting to make sense.
Yeah, so his whole family, I think he's got like— it's like 6 of them, right? Brothers. He got videos, his dad beating his legs with like wood to keep, like, but they got their feet up 6 inches, beating his legs with wood. So when you see James, his legs is massive and super strong, but it's for kickboxing. So nah, he different, bro.
Yeah.
Somebody trying, bro.
I'm telling y'all.
I just want somebody to try. Y'all see, bro, it's crazy.
What is also crazy is, What he does for that team, no one will ever know. And I know what he does for the team because playing against them young dudes, the demeanor they carry is almost as such a like, y'all ain't gonna do nothing.
Yeah.
And it's as such, like, if you know, You know why?
Yeah, like big bro right there.
Absolutely. So they out there, they just playing free as hell. And ultimately knowing like, ain't nobody gonna mess with us. And it allows them to just ball. It allows them to just play free, which is their style, which is their brand of basketball. And when they didn't bring him in initially last year, I was like, They don't have they enforcer.
Yeah.
It's gonna look a lot different. I'm not, I probably should know. I don't know who the hell's the general manager of the Indiana Pacers. Pritchard.
Oh, he's still there? Yeah, KP's still there.
Wow, I didn't know he was still there. Okay, Kevin Pritchard. I did not know he was still there. He realized really quick, we should get him back in here.
That Milwaukee situation, they said, yeah, Gotta bring JJ back.
Yeah.
For sure. But that's how I was in college, bro. Our freshman year, they kept calling me Mike Conley when I came to Wake Forest, the football players. And they used to, it would piss me off. Like, he like, yo, they was like, Mike Conley, what's up? And I'm like, bro, don't call me Mike Conley, bro. And JJ, we ain't really know each other yet. He was like, you calling Mike Conley again, I'm gonna knock you out. But didn't nobody know who, that he had this kickboxing resume. And we like, I'm like, damn, bro, right on. He's like, nah, bro, I'm tired of hearing him say that, bro. He say it again, I'm gonna knock him out. And you know, football players like, well, show me. James like, come on. Football players like, we just talking shit, bro. We cool, bro. And then somebody told him, like one of the coaches was like, hey bro, leave him alone. He not who y'all think he is. And everybody like, what'd he do? And the coaches started telling him like, bro, he a kickboxer. And so we didn't know either. So we had a meeting as a team. This dude had a kickboxing match set up. While we in college. No, this is real true, the true story, y'all. I told y'all plenty of time. The coach has to sit us down and tell us like, yo, are you gonna be a kickboxer or a basketball player? He like, I need some money. He like, damn, oh, you about to go fight for money? Oh, I'm not fucking with this dude. Hey, you're different, bro. I'm like, you about to really go fight? He's like, yeah. I think he was like 10-0 or something. He had a record already. He was just like, yeah, I'm like 10-0 in kickboxing. I need some extra money around here. He had a match set up, bro. He had a— he chose basketball though, but it's crazy.
Was what, the 4th pick in the draft?
The 6th pick in the draft? He went 16th. 16th pick in the draft? I went 19th, he went 16th.
And he wanted to kickbox.
Bro, I'm telling you, that's what he said he was gonna do when he retired from the sport.
It's a much better life being a basketball player.
Oh, way better. He said after he retires, he's gonna be a kickboxer. He gonna go back. You ain't see him talk crazy to Jon Jones? Oh, I know he not doing that. But Jon Jones is different. JJ, I love you to death. Listen, I don't know, that's a different world. I don't want no smoke with either one of y'all. But he said he wanted to fight Jon Jones. I'm like, all right.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm cool on that too.
I'm cool, bro.
I'm cool on that. I've heard you talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves practice with Jimmy.
Yeah.
Where Jimmy kind of called out everybody. You just kind of mentioned it in the sense that he took guys and beat everybody.
Yeah.
Was there always tension? Like that day is infamous and everybody knows about that day. But like the guys in the locker room are still the same guys. Was there always that type of tension amongst that group? Because I mean, let's just face it, some guys are a little softer than others.
Nah, it wasn't that. Like, it really was based off of Jimmy wanted to be paid. That's where it came from. Like, it wasn't about KAT, it wasn't about Wig, it wasn't about me, Taj, D-Rose, none of that. It was about him getting paid. And when he came here, Tibbs told him like, yo, we gonna take care of you. So he was like, I'm gonna make— I'll never forget Jimmy called me and was like, yo, come to Minnesota. And I'm like, all right. He got Taj to come. All right, we come to Minnesota, Jamal to come, we all coming. He was like, we gonna win, bro. He was like, we gonna be a top 5 seed in the West. We gonna win, we gonna shock the world. People don't believe me. He was like, I'm that good. I was like, damn, Jimmy, I'm good too.
Like, you know what I mean?
He like, nah, I'm that good, bro. I'm gonna change this whole thing around. And then we forgot about Cat and Wiggs. Like, we wasn't even thinking about them until we got to practice and I seen Cat and I'm like, hey, he the best player on the team. And Jimmy like, He the best one. Then I'm like, Wig dynamic too. He be like, Cat gonna average 25, Wig gonna average 20-something. I'm gonna average like 18. He was like, you gonna get your 14 ties, gonna get his 12, 13, whatever. He was like, but them, they gonna be the main focal point. I'm gonna do all the little things. I'm like, cool. First 2 games of the season, we wasn't looking that good. Jimmy come in the locker room, he was like, fuck this team. I gotta be me. I gotta take over this whole thing. He start killing. We go on this run, we start winning games. And he just started like, "They ain't the ones. Like they don't got it." And I'm like, "Damn Jimmy, they got it." Like, he like, "They ain't got it. They don't believe like we believe. They used to losing. I don't know how to lose. I ain't used to losing. They used to losing." And he just started being him. And the whole thing changed. We started believing in him. But you know, when somebody got that kind of willpower, some guys can't handle that. Like I'm all in, 'cause it wasn't bothering me. I'm like, "Shit, all right, dude, you the star." I will follow you, you the star. But KAT was still young. You know, Wig, you play with Wig, Wig ain't tripping.
At all. Not one bit.
He looking at me like, I like Jimmy. So Jimmy heard that and was like, I'm rocking with Wig too. But KAT, KAT liked Jimmy, but the way he used to talk to people, KAT just really couldn't handle it. Jimmy get hurt. We went from 3 to the 8th seed. Like fighting to get in the playoffs. Jimmy realized that. Jimmy came back for like 3 games, we get in the playoffs. But when we losing the first round, whatever, Jimmy was still hurt. That summer, Jimmy like, y'all see when I'm out what the team look like? When I'm in, what we look like? Take care of me. I wanna get paid right now. But it was KAT turn to get the extension. We like, it's just KAT turn, bro. Your turn next. He like, nah, my turn now. Like Tibbs calling me like, can you just tell Jimmy we're gonna play him next year? Jimmy said no, now, or trade me. Tibbs like, I can't do it. I was like, pay him, Tibbs. Tibbs like, I can't do it. I literally can't do it. Jimmy was like, I'm out. We have a meeting. I'm like, Jimmy, please.
I'm calling.
I don't even know why I was calling him, because I didn't even care. I'm being real. Look, this is just me being real. I didn't care. I'm like, Jimmy, if you want to leave, you go leave. I just signed up. I'm mad you brought me here 'cause I could have stayed in Indiana. But if you gonna leave, leave, bro. All right. We gonna hoop regardless. I love you to death, but I can't be begging no man to stay somewhere I don't care that much. He like, yeah, I'm out, T. I'm like, all right. We have a meeting, Taj. Like, no, Jimmy, you can't do that to me. He was, I'm gonna have a meeting. If anybody tell anybody, this is how Jimmy was talking to us. Jimmy, you got me messed up, man. He said, if anybody tell anybody about this meeting, I'm out. I bust out laughing like, bro, all right. We lead a meeting, bro. Literally Jimmy tweets, I'm out. And we like, from what? Nobody said nothing. Like he having a meeting where he doing the show with Rachel Nichols, bro. He about to talk about this. Jimmy, you crazy as hell, bro. But I love Jimmy though. He crazy. But it was just money.
I can dig that. Before we get outta here, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the championship.
Ah man, you don't gotta talk about that.
Nah, I got some things that I wanna know as well. But, and also as an NBA champion, I must talk about that because there's a certain level of respect that comes from me for champions.
I feel you.
Because that shit is hard to do.
It is.
It is hard whether you are the first option or whether you are the 15th man.
For sure.
It is extremely hard for that shit to come together and to win a championship.
A lot of luck.
And a lot of luck.
A lot of luck.
And people don't take that into account. I have a huge appreciation for people that win a championship and a huge respect because also you also create your luck too.
You know what I'm saying? It affects.
And so, You go to Milwaukee, reunited with Coach Bud.
Yep.
What was it like with that team? Did you guys like believe initially like, yo, we got a championship team? It kind of had to come together. What was it like then going to play Coach Bud, Giannis, Chris, Drew, and ultimately winning a championship with the Bucks?
So I started that year off with Boston and that's when I met JT. Jason Taylor, that's my guy. That's one of my good friends. Him, JB, and all them guys. And I thought that was like a championship team. I'm like, I'm going to Boston. And I started off the season playing pretty good there. And I'm like, yeah, this is a team I think we can win. Kemba was out though. So Kemba was hurt for a little bit. And when Kemba came back, you know, the chemistry was trying to get everybody going. We just couldn't figure it out. And they was like, all right, we about to make a trade. And they was like, you could stay, but we don't think you gonna play as much as you're playing. I was like, ah, well, shit, I'm gonna leave. And they was like, you can go wherever you wanna go. We'll put you on, we're gonna trade you. And John Hammond, good guy, a guy I know for a long time. He was like, we gonna trade, they gonna trade, we gonna trade you to the Magic. He was like, I'll waive you unless you wanna be here. He was like, you can sign back here as a vet. You're not gonna play though. And I was like, nah, I wanna play. He was like, I'll waive you so you can go wherever. And Coach Bud called me immediately, like, come here. You gonna play, which I ain't play that much. Coach Bud lied to me, but it's all good. And then Ty Lue called me and was like, come to the Clippers, bro. We play everybody. Like we didn't brought Reggie Jackson back to life. We bring people back to life. Like if you wanna play, come play here. Coach Bud called me again. Like we gonna win the championship. I'm gonna rock with Bud, man. I know Bud. Go there, good year. We, you can tell we had something. But I didn't know if we had championship. I never been on a championship team. So I don't know what that feel like. I just know we were a good team. We ended up playing, that's when I hurt my knee. So I hurt my knee, I get an MRI, they tell me I need microfracture surgery. I'm like, oh snap, it's over with. So now I'm in like—
Jesus Christ.
Yeah, I'm like, all right, I'm in coach mode now. So now I'm going to Coach Bud office talking, you know, PJ Tucker, my dog. So he complaining about every play. Like, I don't get the ball. I'm like, man, y'all is on your team, bro. You gotta get the ball, bro. Go to the corner.
Also, what you gonna do with it, Tuck?
Dribble handoff. Listen, go to the quarter, Tuck. You my dog, bro. But look, go to the quarter. So me and him was joking every day. And Coach Bud was like, I think we gonna win a championship. He kept saying that to me. We started playing KD, Kyrie. I mean, KD, James Harden, Kyrie. The first game we get beat by like 40. I go to his office like, coach, I don't think we about to win this championship. And he like, he felt like he was about to get fired. I'll never forget that. He like, He being real with me, he kind of like felt like it was like over, like, you know, his run was over in Milwaukee. And he like, I'm lowkey, I'm like, man, I think the Pacers gonna hire you. Like they been calling, I'm trying to like, I'm setting myself because I know I live in Indiana. So I'm like, if the Pacers hire you, like you gonna sign me? Like, you wanna, I wanna be a coach. And he like, what, what? Ah, I'm not even thinking about that right now. But I knew he was, then we got beat by 50. The second game we get blasted by like 55. Like it's crazy. Like it's not even close. We like, we don't stand a chance. Kyrie rolls his ankle third game. And you could see like the light switch it like, oh, we can beat 'em now. And Giannis stepped up, Chris, Drew, they all started just playing phenomenal. And now we knew we get past them, we was winning the championship.
Mm-hmm.
And we got past them, we ended up winning. KD had his toe on the line.
Yeah.
We ended up getting there. After that, I knew we was winning the championship. Like the Hawks, I came back, they let me play. I started rehabbing my knee. They was like, we gonna let you play against the Hawks. I had a little moment. I hit some threes. I'm talking crazy to the Hawks. They booing me. I'm like, damn, I'm getting booed in Atlanta. I ain't never thought that'd happen, but it was a cool run. So I know what you say, how it feel to like, you know, the championship run was special. But I guess just for me, I always like imagine like, damn, I was in the game, man. I threw a pass to the corner or something good happened while I was in there. And it just didn't happen in the championship series, but it definitely take a team effort though.
No, it does for sure. I had this conversation with Matt Barnes before, because what I'm picking up from you, you kind of feel like him.
Yeah.
Which is as a true hooper, like Matt is, as a real one, like Matt is, you like, yeah, but I ain't really give to it what I know I would've liked to give to it. And that's irrelevant.
Yeah, I hear you, but—
That's irrelevant.
It's different for you, bro. You've been like in that moment, you've been a guy, like you one of them guys. So like championships were won and lost off stuff you did. You know what I'm saying? Like I was going to the game in the finals, bro. I didn't have insoles in, bro. Like I knew I wasn't getting in the game, bro. Like I was had on the, I'm wearing the freshest Kobe's. These are going back home. Like, it's not, I know I'm not getting in. And like, that's a different feeling than like, you know, like I'm looking at the scouting report. I'm in coaches mode, really. I'm looking at the scouting report. I'm helping Drew, but Drew, you don't really need my help. You know the scouting report good as me. Like, I ain't doing nothing. I'm just making y'all laugh, bro, on the plane at this point.
Which matters.
It did.
And it matters because it gets so thick and like uptight. That if somebody is making us laugh, the benefit that they have on the team keeps us loose. It matters.
Matter of fact, you right. 'Cause T.A.
Sure.
Giannis' brother.
Mm-hmm.
When we went down 0-2, he had COVID. So he couldn't come to the plane. That's why we went down 0-2. Giannis was messed up. Like him and his brother, bro, they got some different kind of connection. He can't function or play if he don't see his brother. I'm being for real. It's not even for real. It's different, bro. He was like, where's T.A. at? Where T.A. at? We in the middle of the game. I'm like, bro, we in the finals, bro. Play. Like, where T.A.? Where T.A.? So T.A. make this magical like COVID recovery. I know he still had it. Ain't no way, bro. It's 14 days, bro. He's back in 3. He's back. Then when he see him, tunnel vision back on him, they started hooping, but his energy, was like contagious. Like he running in the locker room, COVID, everything he got, yelling, screaming. And I'm like, yeah, he matters. Like he makes a difference for our team. When he's not here, something's not clicking. But when T.A. was there, he made it, like he mattered. And then somehow he's in the locker room, he does all that. When the parade come, he has to ride by himself 'cause he got COVID. I'm like, bro, we all sick, bro, at this point.
Who cares?
Yeah, I was like, bro, there's no way y'all got him riding by himself now. And he just was in the locker room, bro, get outta here.
Yeah, that's wild. That's wild. But I agree with it because you gotta do it, what you gotta do to win a championship. It's funny, I was about to, my next question was actually about T.A. and you just brought him up. He gets this rap on social media because of the funny clips. Like people almost try to make him out to be a clown.
Yeah.
And I've actually gotten to know the person.
Yeah.
Very, very, very, very solid, good dude.
For sure.
Smart.
Yeah.
Good dude. And I've also talked to people, other people that has played on teams with him. I've never heard one bad thing about him as a teammate. And I'll take it a step further. I've also heard people say, even him as a basketball player, some of the stuff that he do in games is like, they can't even believe it when they see it because he's nothing like that.
Yeah. I tell them all the time, 'cause we make, we laughed at the clips too. We make fun of it or whatever. You know, we joke all day, but I tell them like, nah, bro, he can really hoop. Like y'all gotta see his highlights too. Now he got where he dunked on a couple people. He Eurostep like, The lowlights are funny. They, and they super funny, T.A., I ain't gonna lie. But his highlights are amazing too. And I tell people he can really hoop. He not just there 'cause he Giannis, bro. I'm like, y'all know he got picked before Giannis was in the NBA. Like he got drafted and he played in the NBA before Giannis. Like he can hoop, bro. And I'm glad you brought that up 'cause T.A., he do his job very well. I mean, he cheer on the team. He's a great part of that organization. Like he makes it run. I'm not gonna lie. He gives that energy, but he can actually hoop. Yeah. Yeah.
Nah, no doubt. No doubt, man. I appreciate you coming on the show, bro.
Nah, man. Thanks for having me, bro. This has been a blast.
Absolutely.
For sure.
It's dope. I'm looking forward to coming back on Club 520.
Yes, sir.
Have a good time with the fellas.
For sure.
But man, like I said before, I'm gonna say it again. I love y'all show.
Thank you.
What you doing. I love your trajectory on everything that you're creating. To see you be an All-Star in the NBA, which is one of the hardest things in basketball to do. Especially at the time that you had to do it as a point guard. And to be bigger right now today, already in just the first year or two of you doing this and to be bigger and going that way is a beautiful thing to see, bro. Keep going. Y'all keep doing it. Keep bringing the content 'cause I need to watch it a lot.
Nah, man, nah, you keep doing your thing, bro. I'm happy to be on this show, bro. I really appreciate it. The guys, they wanna come on your show. So—
I will do that.
One day we gotta have it on there. They like, "Damn, you gonna do the show without us?" Say less.
Yeah, so—
We'll do that. Another crossover show for sure.
We'll definitely do that. That's a wrap. This episode of Draymond Green Show here at Resort World in Vegas, Summer League 2024. Peace.
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