Miles Bridges on LaMelo Ball, Michael Jordan, and best NBA rappers | The Draymond Green Show

Hi, it's Colin Cowherd. I started The Volume to bring you some of the most authentic voices in sports. While you're here, make sure you hit subscribe. Thanks.

Man, I am extremely honored and excited to have this next guest, a guy who I— is a little brother, not who I call, is a little brother of mine, who, man, I've known since probably his 8th or 9th grade year. And obviously I'm from Saginaw, Michigan. He's from Flint, Michigan. You know, we kind of one in the same, that Flint-Saginaw connection. But we also, them roots run a little deeper. Michigan State Spartan, played 2 seasons at Michigan State, was the Freshman of the Year at Michigan State, was All-American his 2nd year at Michigan State. And more importantly was then moved on to be the 12th pick in the NBA draft, was originally drafted by the Clippers, but was traded on draft night to the Charlotte Hornets where he is now making a huge impact, having an all-star worthy season. I think should have been an all-star, but you know, only gonna continue to get better so that'll happen. But, I wanna welcome none other than the absolutely incredible Miles Bridges. What's up, my brother?

What's good, Day Day?

Nothing much, man. I thank you for coming on. As you know, this is exciting for me. Just, I enjoy doing this not only to share this with the fans, but I also get something outta these conversations. And especially when I have opportunities to chop it up with guys who I have personal relationships with. Obviously, you know how that runs deep for us. But, and getting started, you know, you're having a great season, but we all know that you are an unrestricted free agent. I mean, I'm sorry, a restricted free agent coming up this year. How are you feeling about that process? Are you excited about it? Are you nervous about it?

I mean, I'm excited. You know, it's definitely always exciting for somebody to go through that. Especially the position that I'm put in. But for me right now, I'm really just worried about the season. You know, we fell outta the top 8. So I'm trying to get us to the playoffs and that's the main goal right now.

And speaking of falling outta the top 8, last year you guys were in the play-in game as well and you ultimately lost to Indiana. We were in the play-in game as well and lost. How did you feel about the whole play-in scenario? Did you think it was great for the league? Did you not like it? How do you feel about it?

I mean, for us, I mean, it's good because we have a chance to get in if we're not in. But I feel like if I was in the top 6, I don't know, or top 7, top 8, I don't really like it.

It's funny, B. Go ahead, go ahead.

Yeah, for our position, it's good. But for the ones that made it to the 7 and 8, I don't like that.

It's funny because we were actually a victim of that last year where I think we were the 8th. No, we were the 7th seed. We were the 7th seed. We lost that first game to Memphis.

Yeah.

And then we lost the second one to the Lakers. And I feel like I got the seeding off a little bit because then we played at the Lakers. So maybe we were the 8th, the Lakers were 7th. We lost to Memphis and then we lost to the Lakers in LA. And I think for me, I can't lie, I actually enjoyed the playing in the game in part due to, you know, I had missed the playoffs for a year. And so then having the opportunity to kind of feel that intensity a little bit, I enjoyed the actual game. But in saying that, where we were sitting in the AC, it was kind of a bit frustrating.

Right.

Because we lost to Memphis who we had just beat. 3 days before that.

Man. Yeah, nah, I understand that. That's why I said if I was in the 7th or 8th, I'll be mad for sure.

Absolutely. But last year, LaMelo Ball joined you guys' team, and I think we all know how incredible of a player that he is. But what's been most exciting for you about playing with LaMelo?

Just, The excitement that he brings to the game. You never know what he's gonna do, you know. You might think you're going up for a regular lob, he go between the legs and throw it up. Or just him getting hot at any moment. He's very, very streaky. If he sees one go in, he's excited. He's excited the whole game. So, like, I love playing with him. He's a great passer, great facilitator, great teammate. I love being around him as a person. So I'm happy that we got— Draymond Green. That we got Melo.

Absolutely. I think from what I see, his energy seems to be contagious. Like you guys go out there.

Thanks.

It reminds me a lot of Steph in a different way. Like Melo's more flashy in life overall, not just on the basketball court, but he's more flashy. He's, you know, he's just kind of more culturally into different things that Steph weren't. But when I say remind me of Steph, I mean the looseness. Like Steph is super loose, super chill, super casual. And he played a game of basketball that way. And in turn, our entire organization ended up following that. Like you come around and it's loose, it's, you know, you walk into a practice, guys throwing basketball all over the place. And I think I see some of that from you guys. Do you feel that way or am I off a little bit?

Oh yeah, I mean, right on the money. You know, as soon as he got here, the culture changed. He's always had a lot of fans since he was like, what, 13, 14? So he's always had that swag to him and all that, and he brought that to us. You know, that's how we've been playing. Our practice has been different. Our energy within the crowd during the games is different. You can tell whenever he steps on the court that they just love him, and he feeds off that. I feel like that helps us out too. And he does a great job of keeping everybody energized. Like you said, his energy is contagious. Yeah, he's been a great addition for that.

You guys have a lot of young talent in yourself, Kelly, who I had the opportunity to be a teammate with last year that I really enjoyed, Terry Rozier. But then you also have a couple veteran guys, and Gordon and Mason, I'm sorry. How is that mix? I know coming into this season, like we have, we're kind of in that same position where we have a mixture of some experienced guys and then also a bunch of young guys as well. And I wasn't sure, and you could check my interviews from the beginning of the season, I wasn't sure how that will work because, and I said it in my interview, I said historically we've never seen that work or where you try to mix a group group of young guys with some old guys who timeline are different. And it's been working for us and it's worked for y'all to some degree too. How do you feel about that mix and how it makes the magic of y'all team happen?

Oh, I mean, it's great for me. You know, like my first season I was in there with just straight vets. You know, like we had Kemba Walker, Nick Batum, Jerami Lamb, Marvin Williams, all those guys. And we were good, but, you know, it's just, it's hard just being a young guy coming in. You know, they got wives, they got all that type of stuff.

Mm-hmm.

You know, you don't really get to hang out with 'em like that. My second year, it was more so all young guys, and then we're inexperienced, we're getting blown out by 20 every game with no vet to tell us what's going on. So for us to have a mixture now, I feel like it's great for us. You know, you have Gordon, we have Gordon whenever things get outta hand, he calms us down. And then when it's time to go up and down the floor, you can rely on your young guys. So I feel like it's good for a mixture in the locker room and outside the locker room too when you're hanging out.

When I watch y'all team, to me it feels like you are the vocal leader and It feels like you've made a concerted effort to step your leadership up. And I think I see guys following that. Where do you feel you are in your leadership skills and just in your leadership journey? And how much further do you need to go?

I'll say, because I'm the longest team Hornet right now. So I feel like last season I tried to take initiative and become like a vocal leader, help the younger guys out. I mean, I'm saying younger guys like I'm not in my fourth season, but like just helping the younger guys out, the rookies, and keeping everybody's head straight, you know. I feel like everybody on the team likes me and they listen to me. So, you know, I kind of got it from you, what you did with the Warriors, you know, just keeping everybody straight, being that guy that leads and not afraid to get on anybody at any time.

Yeah.

So I feel like I try to be like you with that type of stuff. And I'm getting better at it too. I can also do a better job. You know, Trez came in, he's done a great job of that. But you know, I feel like I'm the leader of this team.

That's great to hear. How is it having the owner of the team that you play for being Michael Jordan? Like, are you guys able to lean on Mike for advice, for— just for different questions that you may have? Or is he not that connected with the team?

Oh no, he's connected. You know, I got MJ's number. I text him whenever, you know, we hit a rough patch and see what he would do in a situation. Or I text him about a game and he texts right back. Like, as soon as I text him, I give him 5 minutes, he texts right back. It's crazy. Yeah, I mean, before All-Star break, he came in and ripped our ass. We got beat at home by Orlando. So he's very in tune with us.

That's good.

And it's just nice having the GOAT just being there for you at all times, being connected, and just being able to rely on him and have resources like that. So, I mean, it's good for me.

And speaking of All-Star break, I have a question that I need to know for myself, especially coming on the heels of you fucking talking about I'm the guy you gonna dunk on, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. But first off, what would spark you to say that? 'Cause now, I mean, not that I wasn't already expecting you to try dunk on me 'cause you've tried it before.

Yeah.

But like now I'm, too on my toes for it. Now, like, what would spark you to say that, Myles?

Because every time I try to dunk on you, you foul me or something else.

Or I block or something. Get that shit outta here, Myles.

You've never blocked me. It's always been a foul. Every time. Every time.

So with this clip, we're gonna pull a clip of me blocking your shot and we're gonna post this when we promote this episode of the podcast. Is going to be a clip of me blocking your shot. Since you say I've never blocked your shot.

Show the fouls too.

No, no, no. We talking about the block. I ain't, I see, 'cause one thing I didn't say, I never foul you. I also didn't say I wouldn't foul you to stop you from dunking on me. I said, you not gonna dunk on me. So I really don't care about the fouls.

I'm gonna catch you. I'm gonna catch you one day. Watch. It's gonna happen.

But, and speaking of that, which is not happening. But, and speaking of All-Star break, I have a question, especially coming off the heels of probably one of the worst, if not the worst dunk contest we've ever seen in the NBA. Why is it that you don't participate in the dunk contest?

I mean, I participated my rookie year and—

Yeah, but you didn't win it.

I didn't win it at all.

So?

I did terrible. I don't know. I mean, it's just for me, I don't know. All-Star break for me is like me getting a break away from basketball, you know? And this year I played the most minutes in the NBA. So I feel like my legs definitely needed a break. You know, I know the fans, they wanna see the best dunkers in the league go at it. Like myself, Ja Morant, Zion Williamson when he's healthy, Anthony Edwards. But they gotta look at it like, like it's All-Star break, you know? If I would've made the All-Star game, I probably would've did dunk contest. But during that time though, I'm trying to rest my legs and get ready for the second half of the season. 'Cause it's a huge run for us trying to make the playoffs. I think fans don't get that, but at the same time, it's definitely entertaining. It's definitely entertainment. So, you know, I'mma think about it. I'mma think about it.

I think you make a great point there that most people don't realize, even when you are an All-Star, That weekend, or I mean, they've extended the break now, which kudos to our commissioner, Adam Silver, extending the break. 'Cause I remember when I first came in the league, like you would play your last game Thursday. You then get on an airplane after that Thursday night game, fly to whatever city you're going to, and like have media. And if you played your last game on Wednesday, you had to fly Wednesday night and be there Thursday morning for media. And then you're there till Sunday night. And at that point, games used to start back up on Tuesday.

Yeah.

And you see like now you had games starting back up on Thursday and Friday. You had teams finishing on like Wednesday. And so I think that was, that's a huge improvement for us. But most fans don't realize in being an All-Star, or participating in All-Star Weekend, you end up not getting a break. And especially when you're an All-Star and you are the last event, which is the All-Star Game, you don't get outta there. Like, I didn't leave Cleveland this weekend and I didn't play. I didn't leave Cleveland till 3:00 AM Monday morning. And so it's not much of a break.

Right.

And I think that's a very great thing that we have now. And we always talk about like you younger guys, as the younger the league gets, the more spoiled you guys get. 'Cause y'all get this long break now that we never got.

Yeah.

But—

My rookie year, I didn't get that break. You know, I did a dunk contest. I probably had like, what, 2 days? 2 days and got right back to it. So yeah, it was tough.

I think the NBA can do a better job in making the dunk contest enticing. Like, I'm not sure, —exactly what the bonus is currently. It's maybe $50,000 or $100,000 or somewhere in between there. I think if the NBA made it more enticing, you get more guys in it. Like all the guys that you just named, if it's a $250,000 bonus, or I remember when Blake Griffin jumped over to Kia and then he had that Kia sponsorship—

Right.

—for the next 6 years. I think if the league can incorporate create something where they maybe use one of their partners that they already have a deal with. Like, hey, you're gonna have a Kia deal or you're gonna have this deal or that deal.

Yeah.

A Mercedes deal, whoever the league are partners with, if they can include in that an endorsement deal for the guy who wins, a much bigger bonus for the guy who wins, Would that be more enticing for you as someone who should be in a dunk contest or could be and should and could win it?

Hell yeah. Jumping over Mercedes for a Mercedes deal? Yes. I would definitely do that or for any type of endorsement. But really we just doing it for, what'd you say, $100,000?

Yeah.

But if it's more stuff like that though, like endorsements, Guys are definitely getting to it. And I think they need to change the format back to like just being timed on the dunks, you know? They had so many—

Yeah, yeah.

Because it be getting irritating, man, just watching guys just miss dunks over and over and over again. So it's good. I think the NBA's gonna fix it. Especially this year, it was kind of a wake-up call for them on the dunk contest, but it'll get fixed.

Michael Levine, you heard it here first. You need to bump your bonus up, my man. You need to get these guys an endorsement deal for winning the dunk contest. We gotta do something, Michael. 'Cause what I do know is, I don't think the answer is to get rid of the dunk contest. Like you heard so many people saying, "Get rid of the dunk contest." I don't think that's the answer.

Nah, that's definitely not it. That's definitely not it. Just make it a little more interesting, that's all.

Absolutely. Speaking of awards, there's a lot of guys up for most improved player, yourself being one of them. Jordan Poole is a guy who mentioned a lot, my teammate. Ja Morant, Darius Garland, Dejounte Murray, which are also two. So there's three of the top five clutch clients, by the way. But where do you feel like you rank as far as those, Guys go, and let me just throw this out here. I don't think Ja Morant is in the most improved player category. As, yes. Huh?

I think he's in MVP conversation. That's it.

Like that's the only conversation he's in. He's not in the most improved player conversation. Like last year, Ja averaged 20, 21 points a game. Now, yes, he's up to 28 points a game. Yes, that is a huge improvement. But if you know anything about basketball, you're not shocked by that improvement.

Right. Right.

And so I personally don't think he should be in that conversation, but nonetheless, where do you feel like you rank amongst those guys as far as most improved player goes?

I mean, beginning of the season, for sure, I thought I was first. My numbers went down a little bit. So, and plus Darius and DeJounte made the All-Star game. So I'll probably say I'm third right now. We forgot to mention the guy, Anthony Simons too. He's been having a great season. But yeah, for me to be honest, I'm probably like third right now. We still got 20 more games. I'mma stay in kill mode, continue to try to win. I feel like the more that I win, the more I have a chance to win MIP. That's really not my goal. My goal is the playoffs. But I think the MIP race is gonna be very tight. You know, there's a lot of guys that, improve their game during the summer. So we'll see.

No, no doubt. And I think, well, I'll ask you this question. Do you think with 20 games left that there is still something you can do to change that? I don't think so. Or do you think coming down the stretch in the NBA with 20 games left, most races are already decided?

Mm, you right about that. Most of those races are decided. But like I said, say if we going like crazy win streak, get to the playoffs, I'm still killing in that situation. Yeah, for sure.

No, and I agree with you. I think most of the times when you get to the point of the season where we are now, most of those awards kind of be already decided. I actually think this year, all of 'em are actually still up for grabs. Like, I don't think anyone has solidified themself as the MVP. I think we know the front runners for MVP.

Right.

And for me, in no particular order, that's Ja, DeMar, and Joel. For me. I think Joker also has to be in that conversation as well. Right. That's for me personally. But I think amongst those guys, there's still a race. I think if you look at Defensive Player of the Year, obviously if I didn't get hurt, I was running away with that. And you know I was running away with it because no one still has solidified themselves. And I had solidified myself at game 30. And so I feel like I was running away with that.

Even though what? Even though I gained you in Charlotte.

I mean, every dog has his day. Sun shines on a dog ass every now and then. You can't do nothing about that. You know, so you did. And it's crazy too about that because I was actually pissed off about that game winner because I got you to go to the exact shot I wanted you to go to. You drive middle.

Oh.

And the angle that I had you on, obviously I know you like to get back to your right hand, but the angle I had you on, if the rim is here, you almost shot it from like here. So I was a little frustrated about that, but I'll tell y'all what, funny story. Miles, myself, Jaren, Brent Forbes, Denzel Valentine, Travis Walton, Aaron Henry. Am I missing anyone?

Cassius.

Cassius. We're all in a group chat from our Spartan Dawg Spartan grind week group chat. The moment Miles gamed me, I went to the group chat like, "Hey y'all, Miles just gamed me." 'Cause I already—

You knew I was gonna say something.

Listen, the one thing I didn't want to happen, two things I didn't want to happen. I didn't want one of those guys to come posting in the chat like, "Oh man, Miles gamed Draymond." And then I also, and more importantly, I didn't want Miles to come in the chat like, "Yeah, I just gamed Draymond." So I went right away, soon as I got to my locker, like, "Man, y'all will never believe Miles just gave me." I was gonna let you do it.

I wasn't gonna do it. I was not gonna do it.

You smart, 'cause then I would've put them blocks in the group chat. But I wanna ask you a couple questions just going back to high school. You played your— Freshman year at Flint Southwestern. And then after that you transferred and you went to Huntington Prep. What was your reasoning for leaving Flint and going to Huntington Prep?

Just a lot of distractions. You know, most of my friends in the streets at the time and I was still trying to play basketball. So just me getting away from distractions, getting away from the city. And just focus, just have my main focus on basketball. And going to Huntington, West Virginia, it wasn't nothing else, literally nothing else out there but to focus on but basketball. So, I mean, my mom, it's crazy 'cause my mom, she didn't want me to go at all. She didn't want me to go.

Really?

Yeah, she didn't. She didn't want me to go. She wanted me to stay all 4 years. I mean, 'cause I'm her baby, you know? Yeah, true. I'm her youngest child. She didn't want me to go, but I kind of made the decision. And Jeff Greer, he helped me make that decision too, just to get away. And that was probably the best decision I ever made. And see where I'm at now.

You know, that's one thing that I admire about you since coming up. You seem to me, I mean, even when it came to not going in the NBA draft and going back to school, then once it came to, going in the NBA draft. Then once it was time to pick an agent, you to me, it feels like you're a young man that always has made your own decisions. And that's not always common for young men, young African American men, especially not young African American athletes. You know, you have the AAU coach. I was just putting on my Instagram earlier about KJ. Who you know, just the AAU coaches, you have leeches, you have all of these people who get involved in the decision-making process. And that's something that I've always admired about you. And I wanted to share that with you. But just going back to Michigan high school basketball, I think the MHSAA is a fucking joke.

Terrible. I hate it. And that's why everybody, that's why you see the top recruits leaving. It's terrible. It's really terrible.

And they still haven't figured that out. And for those of you that don't know, I'll share a little bit of history with you. If you are Miles Bridges, who's a top 15, top 10 player in the country, who gets invited to Nike camp, who gets invited to all of these different things. It used to be the Elite 24. When you came out, it was a Nike game in the Bahamas. That you went to. But you have all of these things that, you know, you have the sneaker companies with the grassroots programs and they have all of these things for the top players. And if you're a player in the state of Michigan, you can't go to most of those things.

Nope.

If you're at a camp and you make the All-Star Game, you're not allowed to play in the state of Michigan. In the state of Michigan, you're not allowed to travel, I think 75 miles, 75 to 90 miles outside of where you play. So for instance, for me in Saginaw, the furthest we could travel to play was Toledo, Ohio.

Right.

And you have all of these tournaments where you, where the world was first introduced to Miles Bridges was him playing in the Dick's Sporting Goods Classic, was him playing in, you know, all of these big-time games on national television.

Right.

In the state of Michigan, you're not allowed to go to any of those, or you forfeit your season. And I think it's so ridiculous. So now you start going down the list, and all of the top players leave the state of Michigan. I can't believe that the rule hasn't been changed. And I also think Coach Izzo and the coaches at the other schools down the way need to push more for that because the reality is, and I think you can probably attest to this, is do you— don't you think it ultimately costs them recruits when you end up letting a guy leave the state and go somewhere else to high school? Do you think that ultimately end up causing them recruits?

Yeah, I mean, that's— I almost went to Kentucky. When I went to West Virginia because it was like, what, 2 hours away? 2 hours away. So they were coming to literally every practice, every game. And Michigan State, they're coming, they're coming, but they couldn't come as much as Kentucky.

Okay.

But yeah, so I don't know. I don't know. I don't know why they haven't changed the rule yet. We still don't have a shot clock.

It's ridiculous.

Like I said, the national schedule is what put me on. You know, I was playing against the top players every game. Jason Tatums, Josh Jacksons at the time, the Harry Giles, those guys, I was playing against those guys. And Michigan, I was playing against, I don't know who, getting 30 easy.

Absolutely.

They definitely need to change that, especially with the All-Star games. 'Cause I didn't even know about the All-Star games complain that.

Yeah. Well, in part, dude, you left the state so early that by the time you were making them All-Star games, you could play in them.

Yeah.

And so—

Like I said, like you said, they're losing recruits because of that. Michigan State, the other school, and they just gotta fix that. 'Cause they're not giving kids out of Michigan a chance to, to showcase their talent and stay in a public school or a private school there and put on for the state of Michigan. Like it used to be like you had it, you had Saginaw Lit. Saginaw, what was our school called?

Saginaw High Trojans, man. I ain't go to no damn Arthur Hill. Saginaw High. Saginaw High though. All right. And you went to Northwestern. All right, we cool. No big deal.

I went undefeated against them. I'm undefeated against him, so I'm good.

Northwestern was still a school when you was in high school?

Yeah, it was, it was for sure. That's crazy.

That's funny. But, and a couple more questions and I'll let you go. But when it comes to AAU basketball, do you want an AAU basketball team? Would you rather just support the family? What's your view on AAU basketball and the way it is today?

I mean, right now I feel like AAU is a mess to me. You know, the kids, they really, I don't know, it's different nowadays. It's a different generation. You know, kids play for the highlights. They don't play to win. They don't play the game the right way. It's all iso ball to me. You can find some good basketball in the EYPL. But I honestly, I'm trying to, I'm in the works of starting my own. Program, putting it in the EYBL, Miles Bridges Elite, soon for the state of Michigan.

Okay.

You're the first person to hear about this, so.

Respect.

But when I get that team, I definitely wanna teach them how to play the game the right way. Go back to old AU style when you're playing to win, you know. If you win, you get offers, you get all the highlights, you know, Baller's Life and all that. They're gonna be there. So yeah, hopefully I could change the game when I get in there. But right now I feel like AAU's kind of a mess.

About how far out is that? Like when should we expect Miles Bridges Elite to hit the scene?

If not this AAU season, then next. I'm gonna start off with the 15U first.

Okay.

And then go from there.

One thing I will say to you is make sure you have the right people running the program. I tried to get into the AAU business and I was in it for a year. And it's like, if you don't have the right people running your program, it's done before it even gets started.

Right.

And so just make sure you have the right people running the program, doing it for the right reason and not to take advantage of these kids like guys tried to do myself, like guys tried to do you. Because that what it ends up turning into is something, something that you did from the kindness of your heart and something that you did because you simply wanted to help. It ends up turning into a negative, you know?

Right.

And so I would say, make sure you have the right people running your program. A funny story about this actually, Miles is getting ready to come out in the NBA draft. Obviously Michigan State Spartan. I flew, we were playing in Oklahoma City. Miles' last game was in Tulsa against Kansas. I'll never forget it against Kansas, Josh Jackson, those guys. And I told Miles after the game, I said, "Man, great year. You had a great 2 years. I'll see you next year in our league." And he's like, "Ah, I don't know yet, man. I really like school, but." "Uh, whatever." And so I'm like, "Yeah, whatever. I'll see you in our league next year." Fast forward about within the next week, I get a call or I get a text from Ms. Cynthia Bridges. And she said to me, "Hey, Draymond. Hey, Draymond. I am so thankful for everything, all the guidance that you've given Miles and being there for him. When it comes to his decision of whether he's going going to the NBA or not, you can stay out of it. And I said, huh? I said, well, with all due respect, Ms. Bridges, I told Miles I'll see him in the league with me next year. So whoever's contacting you and telling you that I'm telling Miles to go back to school, they're lying to you. She then proceeded to say, well, They told me you telling Miles to go back to school and get a cut so you can get a cut. I said, well, Ms. Bridges, well, there's a couple things wrong with that statement. Number one is I would have to be telling Miles to leave in order to get a cut from anything. But you're actually telling me I told him to stay. Also, Ms. Bridges, I'm actually pretty rich. Like I'm doing pretty well for myself. Yeah. I don't really need a cut from Miles and like what Miles gonna do. But just so you know, the cut would actually come from getting Miles to sign with an agent. And I don't know, do you recall what I said to you when you asked me about my agent and who I was with? Do you recall what I said to you?

Uh, nah, but I know for sure that you told me to go to the league. —telling me that for sure.

I told Miles, I said, I'm with BJ Armstrong and BJ has been— he's been good for me. We have a great relationship, but if I wasn't with BJ, I'd be with Rich Paul, who you ultimately ended up signing with, which leads me to what diff— or what have you gotten from Clutch that has helped propel you in this league? Because I know, There are a lot of agents in the business. I think there are other great agents in the business. I'm not saying it's not, but I know Klutch has given me something that I never got from someone else. What is it that they've given you that you don't think is normal or is common in our league?

You know, being a teenager, being a 20-year-old, being thrown into this lifestyle, It's tough. It's tough for everybody. And I feel like Rich does a great job of just making sure that you're on your P's and Q's 24/7. Like with basketball, with girls, with partying, all that type of stuff. Like he always try to give you some type of advice to make sure that you're doing the right things. And I feel like other agencies don't reach out to the guys like Rich or Brandon or Farah. Or all those people to do. But Clutch does a great job of doing that. And it's like a brotherhood. And it kind of reminds me of Michigan State.

Mm-hmm.

Just like the events they be having, putting guys in group chats, making sure you're talking to the main guys. Like, soon as I got in the Clutch, me and Bron, we're texting. And he was giving me advice about anything. So nobody's off limits in Clutch. No big, and they treat everybody the same. So I feel like that's what it is about Clutch for me. Absolutely. What about you?

No, I think all, I agree with all of those things. I think also one of the most beautiful things to me is how they teach you and try to prepare you for life. How they try, how Rich and Farah and the entire team, how they're trying to give you things that most people don't give to young African American men. You know, when I was looking to buy a house, Rich walked several homes with me. Like, I mean, at one house that I thought we were gonna buy, I called Rich, Hazel and I had walked the house and I called Rich and I was so excited and I'm like, "Man, I found the house, it's the one." And Rich walked in the house and when he walked in, he's like, Mm-mm. And he just literally walking through the house pointing to stuff like, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm. And then we walk all the way back through the house and everything he pointed to and said, uh-uh, he told me why he was saying, uh-uh. Like, look, this stone doesn't match. You go in the backyard, there's 4 different stones back here. It's just like they pieced this together. He's like—

Right.

He said, He said, "They're gonna get a sucker to buy this house and I'm not gonna let you be that sucker." You know?

Yeah.

And it's things like that. It's him teaching young African American men about the art business because you buy a $20,000 piece of art and in 3 years that piece of art can be worth a million dollars. Like it could be.

Yeah.

And so I, One of the things that I really appreciate about Clutch is, are those things and just helping guys adjust to life. You know, we get thrown into this fire, into this world that none of us has ever been privy to because we're all poor Black kids from the inner city.

Right.

And you're just expected to figure it out. And most agents don't take the, like most agents don't give a damn what house you buy. Most agents don't care whether you go buy a chain or you go buy art. Like, most agents won't do that. And so that's what I'm very appreciative of about Klutch and something that I think separates them from the bunch.

Yeah, I definitely agree with that, sure.

But last question before we get out of here, man, a very simple one. I just want to hear how your children are doing. How old are they? Or like, and secondly, how did becoming a father change you as a basketball player and as a young man?

Well, I have two, well, you already know this, but I have two children, you know, Ace Miles Bridges, Ayla Marie Bridges. Ace is 3, and his birthday October 26th. Ayla, she's 2, she just turned 2. Turned to February 23rd. And I feel like that changed my life.

Pisces gang, go don't bang, you heard?

He definitely a Pisces. Pisces, Pisces, Pisces. But yeah, I had my son, what, a month before the season started or no, it was a month after the season started. It was a month after the season started in October. And it just changed my life for the better, you know? Before I came into the NBA, I really didn't have anything to play for, you know, except my mom, my mom, but she was good. I got her a house and all that, but I really didn't have nothing to play for. And I feel like my kids were born, I had something to play for, and it's definitely a good responsibility. It gives me a good motivation to go out there and do what I do. And the best thing about my kids is I never changed to them. You know, I could have the worst game in the world, Come back, I'm still dad, you know? And that's the best feeling ever, man. Just coming back to my kids, being loved by them, and me giving them love. It's unconditional love and you can't explain it really. So I'm happy to be a dad. I'm a dad first, always. So yeah.

Oh, absolutely, man. I think the one thing it gives you, it just puts everything into perspective, you know?

Right.

Before kids, you have a bad game, you go home, you think about that game until you play another game. Right. You have kids, you go home, bad game. Daddy, what's up? What's going on? Like, it's like nothing ever happened. So I definitely understand it, man. I am extremely proud of the father that you have become, that you're growing into. And more importantly, I think we all can get better, that you'll continue to grow into. I think it's a beautiful thing, man. And I also, obviously having kids young, I also have an appreciation for them being able to see your career, you know, like.

Right.

And you know, your kids, your kids are going to come into money that they'll never, they would've never understood how the money was made had you had kids older. And so I think it's incredible, man. As a big brother, I'm super proud of you. Keep going. I appreciate you coming on the show, my brother. We'll link soon and we definitely doing Spartan Grind Week again. But I actually have one more question before I let you go. I lied and I'm sorry about that. But recently Darius Bazley just came out and said he's the best rapper in the NBA. Now I've never heard a DB song, so I can't say he's not, but I do know two rappers in the NBA that I absolutely respect and that's—

Draymond Green.

Draymond Green, Damian Lillard, and you. And where do you rate yourself? Y'all my top 2. Maybe you know someone else who's better, I don't know. But where do you rate yourself or rank yourself as far as rappers in the NBA?

I mean, of course I'm gonna rank myself number 1. You know, I don't want Dame to try to get in no rap beef with me.

Dame, he don't want the smoke, Dollaz. He don't want that smoke, Dollar. He saw what you did to Shaq. He don't want the smoke.

Hey, but I definitely think I'm number one. You know, Dame got a great sound. He's very lyrical. I heard D-Bae's stuff. D-Bae's not messing with me or Dame. But, you know, and the crazy thing is you heard my first ever rap song I ever made when I was in Michigan. When I took my official Michigan State, I played it for you. I was like, hold on, start this over. Start this over. I wasn't good at the time. So it's crazy. But yeah, I have to say myself, Dame, D-Bays, he all right. But Anthony Edwards, he's pretty good too.

Ant-Man Rock?

Yeah, y'all gotta get hip to him. He's pretty good.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay. All right. I'll tell you what, and I'll let you go. Since I feel like you've changed your whole rap style since I last heard that song. Like it's, I think your rap style now is more like the, it's like the Detroit, like, there's a sound and everyone—

Right.

There's a sound to it. And I think if people hear it and they know, that type of music, they'll understand it. But nonetheless, brother, I appreciate you, man. Thank you for coming on the Draymond Green Show, bro.

Nah, I appreciate you, Dede, for sure.

Get in them playoffs, man, 'cause that's gonna make that bag bigger. Believe that.

I got you. Appreciate you, bro. Love you. All love.

Yes, sir. Love you too, bro. Thank you.