- All right, man, y'all
are tuning in live, bro. We're still live on location, Chi Town,
Illinois, we crackin'. You know what I'm talking about? We've got my dog in the building. - Yeah, yeah. - Stizzle, Amar'e "STAT"
Stoudemire in the building, man. Y'all tune in, lock in, we're
about to talk a whole lot, a whole lot of Phoenix, New York, Israel. My dog got a lot to say. (upbeat music) - We start off with this first
question, we ask everybody, it's like when you got
to the league and you just started playing and stuff, who's the first player to bust your ass? The first player to give you numbers and you went back and you were like, "Oh, shit, these
motherfuckers can play." - When I first got to the league? - Yeah. - Oh, man, when I first got to the league, it was
probably Kevin Garnet. We went hand-to-hand. I had 38, I think Garnet
had 44 and that was the first time I felt
like, "All right, this is "the real league right here like this." (laughing)
You know what I'm saying? This ain't no joke out here. They're playing every night. - [Amar'e] Every night. - Every night. - I went straight out of high school. I feel like that's a-- - A fraternity or a secret society.
- A secret fraternity. - Of course. - It's only a few of us,
you know what I'm saying, to make it and even just be here and play on that level straight
out from high school and I know you went
through a crazy journey. I went through two high schools, I went to two high schools, then I
went straight outta high school. Tell us about your journey
or your high schools from your freshman year all
the way to your senior year. - Yeah, I had to make decisions
on my own because my mom was a gangster so she was
always locked up in and out, and my dad died when I was 12. So I was going to Lake
Woods High School in Florida and I started hanging
around the wrong crowd so my grades started dropping. So I transferred. I went to my coach and said, "Listen, "if I stick around here
I won't stay eligible, "so I gotta transfer." And he said, "Well, there's
two options you can go "to, Oak Hill Academy or Mount Zion." Oak Hill Academy, an all boys school. (laughing) And the next convenience
store is a 30 minute walk. - Really? - I'm like, "Nah, an all
boys school, I can't do it." Mount Zion, Tracy McGrady went there. - Yeah, I remember that. - Came outta high school. So I was like, "Cool,
I'll go to Mount Zion." I went to Mount Zion. I was there for a little bit. The school started not panning
out the way I wanted it to so I transferred back to
Florida, so I went to a lot of different transfers making decisions as a 15 year old trying to figure
it out, but it wasn't easy. It's a tough grind. I stayed locked into basketball so I was always good right there. I was straight with basketball, other than that it was tough. - When I came up, the reason
that I felt like I was better because the only time I played with kids my age was when
I was in high school. - [Amar'e] Right. - Outside of that, I was playing the Pro-Am or I was playing with adults. - [Amar'e] Right. - I never was a weight room
person, so I got my game off just playing basketball so much and learnt from other people and took
moves from other people. When you came up, for you
to get that good you had to be working with somebody or
you was taken from somebody, or seeing a game, or being able to play on levels that you're
not used to playing with. So how did you get that? - Yeah, I played in a
lot of Pro-Am leagues. I played in the men's leagues. Every chance I got the chance to play, I played. My senior year, I started
lifting weights heavy. I started really getting into it, but actually, I take that back. When I got to Mount Zion, Mount Zion was a basketball factory. - Y'all, they was full. - Yeah, I was up there with
seniors and fifth year seniors and I was a freshman going
into my sophomore year. And everybody was like
top player in the country and these cats was running the football. So we used to go to Duke Football
Stadium, Wallace Wade, run and touch every step around, shaped in a U shape, you've gotta touch
every step around and back. So I was like, "Man, what is this?" (laughing)
- All right, all right. - I went, "Man, I'm not
running this stadium." - So you wouldn't do it? - It was my first day
of school, man, it's six in the morning. Coach would wake us up,
all right, give us a gallon of water, "There you go, drink this." What's going on? - [Darius] Drink a gallon of water. - The bus is ready, we get on the bus, go to Duke Football Stadium and run. He said, "Run around and back." I'm like, "What? "Do you see the size of this
stadium, man?" (laughing) I got halfway, I got around
and then halfway back I got to the top, put my back on
the wall, on the bleachers, and I slid down and it was over. I laid down and I was done. That's when I realized this
is a basketball factory. - This is what they do. - I went to school, after
school back to the gym. - Yeah.
- This was every day so I realized at that point, like, "I gotta start getting "in this weight room, I gotta start "training my body properly." This is my sophomore year
and so from that point on I started taking basketball
to a whole new level. - A whole new level. - And that's when I became
the top in the country because in my freshman year I was only in the top 100 in the state. - Yeah. - Which I wasn't even
ranked in the country. - In the country, yeah. - Then I started playing AAU basketball because I didn't play basketball
organized until I was 14. And Florida's a football state so they got all football programs
and baseball programs, and so until the Junior Magic
came into play in Florida in Orlando, in the central
Florida area around, I think, 98 or so, that's when I first
started playing organized, with a coach, out of bounds, referees. - Right.
- I was 14 and then from that point on I was drafted to 18. So four years of playing
organized basketball-- - That's pretty--
- I was there. - That's quick.
- And once I got to the league, well, even before then, with my pre-draft
workouts, man, I remember my first workout, my pre-draft
workout, my man said, he said dribble left handed, dribble to the left twice, spin
back, up and under. I don't know what he
was talking about, man. (laughing) I went to the left and just took off. (laughing) - I know what I'ma do,
I'ma just bang this shit. - Right.
- I don't know what you talking about, but I'm gonna show you what I'm talking about. - My dog, Drew Gooden, said,
man, he said from that first-- - There you go. - He said from that first
workout to the next time to when I saw you in summer league, he
said, "I've never seen "a player improve so much in
that short a period of time." (laughing)
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - 'Cause at the time, I ain't know a lot of things I didn't know because I was only playing organized basketball--
- Even though the-- - For four years. - Yeah.
- So I didn't know the fundamentals or how to do anything in a structured way. I was learning at the time and my high school coach was like, "This kid, this
kid's great, let's go out "there and play." - So for you, a lot of people say, "Man, it
was hard, it was long." Do you really feel like it was
hard for you to make the NBA? You started playing at 14,
four years later you're getting drafted, number nine in the NBA. - Yeah.
- Did it seem, I know you went through
transferring and doing it, but I'm talking about from a strictly basketball
standpoint, did it seem like this was something that was the
hardest thing in your life to do? - It wasn't, it wasn't, it
didn't feel hard at all, man. I felt like--
- I'm telling you. - It felt like it was a God
gift, you know what I'm saying? I was tall, I was athletic, and
I was always quick and fast. Even when I played football, when I used to play football, I was always fast and quick then I grew and
then I was proportioned. It wasn't like I wore a size
20 shoe and only six-four. I was evened out, so it
made it that much easier to be organized or-- - Get your coordination together. - Or coordinated, you
feel what I'm saying? And so it all just manifest
during my sophomore, junior year of high school. That's when I felt like, "Yeah, I'm going from potentially--" - You remember dunking on
him at Jordan Camp, right? You don't remember that? I talked shit to you, I talked bad-- (laughing)
To you about that, 'cause this was when I knew. You don't remember, bro? He caught the rebound and
just went up like (screams). Boy, I was like--
- Oh, yeah, yeah, I do remember that. I didn't count that as a dunk. - Nah, for back then,
y'all, look, I counted it 'cause back then he was
beating up everything. He was swatting, man, swat patrol. I got a goddam eraser right here. Man, and that's why I
said it was nasty, raw, like, he got the rebound like
this (makes smashing noise). I said, "Oh, shit." I said, "He just dunked it." (laughing) - I ain't count that one. - And you know what was
interesting, man, I don't know where it came from, but I had no fear. - That's a fact, that's
a fact, that's a fact. - Like a lot of times,
guys who get drafted, you see these players that are gods on Earth basically, right? You see 'em and, man, this dude-- - That's how we look at 'em. - Yeah, like, jeez, but
for me, my fear was gone. - You wanted him. - I wanted him, I wanted all of that. - Yeah, that's how mine was. Like I said, it was
going from nervousness. I was being nervous when
my mom made me concentrate just, before I even got
to the league, concentrate on that's not nervousness, that's not butterflies,
that's you so anxious-- - Right.
- To get out there and show what you can do. - It's true. - So when I used to feel
some way or even if I felt like I felt like something
coming into a big game or anything, I felt it, I
psyched myself out I guess, so it'll be like I'm
anxious to get out there and get on--
- That's true. - Wherever I'm finna play or
whoever I'm finna go against. - Yeah--
- That's one thing-- - Is right, bro.
- Just as soon as we got to the league, it was like we
was out here so hard trying to prove ourselves.
- That's what I'm saying. - So we was going hard.
- We was going at whoever, they know that. - At whoever.
- We was going at whoever. - And I feel like that's what gained us the respect 'cause it was
like we don't care who you is. - Right.
- I remember one of your, probably one of your first real crazy highlights. I was in the game. It was against the Clippers over Olowokandi, you remember this? (laughing) - Oh, man.
- Man. - With Steph making the crazy face-- - The crazy face. - I was nearly in the game. I said, "Yo, this young
boy ain't playing." He just dropped the hammer and went up a whole 'nother level and
just hung up there on Olowai. Olowai's seven feet. He wasn't like no real, just
thrashing people's shots, but he went up to get
this one and he went, and hell, he had them miss it. Boy, I said, "Oh, God." - Yeah, man. - The whole crowd, I'm told
the building was buzzing for-- - It was crazy.
- The next three, four possessions. Boy, it was stupid.
- That was crazy. - I remember that. I just remember that play
all because of Steph's face. - Yeah, Steph Marbury
made the craziest faces. - It was just nasty. - It was stupid. - Dang.
- When you got drafted, who did you think was gonna go to? Did you think you was gonna go to the Suns or you thought you was
gonna go somewhere else? - I had my pre-draft workouts
and most of the success I had in my pre-draft workouts was in Phoenix. I had two workouts, back-to-back days, and they both were off the charts so I figured Phoenix
might take me at nine, but I knew the Miami
Heat wanted me at eight. They had the 10th pick and they
wanted to move up to eight. And then the Orlando Magic
also wanted to move up to get me as well, so I wasn't
totally sure what's going to happen as far as teams
being able to move up, but I knew for a fact that
Phoenix wanted me for sure. - Yeah, so you was happy with Phoenix? - Yeah, no question. - I always wanted to ask you, what was the difference between Steph
Marbury, Stephon Marbury being your point guard
and Steve Nash coming in and being your point guard? What was the difference that you had so much more success with Steve that you-- - I mean, I had success with Steph. - You did, you did. - It was premature, man. We had Frank Johnson as the head coach and we had a young nucleus,
you know what I'm saying? We had young players and I think with Steph, I'm not sure
why they traded Steph. It wasn't really based upon
basketball, I don't think. I'm not sure what's going on, but me and Steph had a great relationship. We hung out all the
time, he was schooling me to the game and I was locked in. Steph and I was always like a one-two. And so I think the system is
what switched up the flow. If Steph would've been
there with the system of Mike D'Antoni, I feel we
would've had a similar success being that uptempo style, Steph is also an offensive-minded guard. So he can pass the rock also,
so he would've fit perfectly in that system, but at the
time it was Frank Johnson as the head coach and we
had a different system. And so when they traded like six guys, they traded, Penny, Steph,
Gooves, they traded a lot of guys on their following
year, and then that summer, the upcoming summer, we
went and got Steve Nash. And then the system
changed with Mike D'Antoni. - And that's with Nash and Q? - Yeah, yeah, facts-- - Q.
- Yeah, and then the system became more of a, it was a different system from what I had with Steph, you see what I'm saying? So Steve stepped into a new system with these young players,
me, Q, Sean, Joe, you know what I'm saying? And that system just-- - Just talk about how sick that was. Remember how many times
we would be on the bench and once it started really happening and we were smacking people,
we was just sitting there on the bench talking to each
other, we looking back and forth, we could get used to this. - Yeah, no question. - In this fourth quarter,
like eight minutes to go, we chillin', getting iced up for real, up a dub plus-- - I remember that.
- People looking crazy. We looking crazy at each
other, not really knowing what's going on, then we got to that certain point,
remember Seattle was the other team that was doing well. We had a showdown with them in Seattle. - Yep.
- Right. - They was talking about and
we came into that thang-- - Sean Lewis.
- And bop, bop, bopped them. - I remember that.
- And it was like, "Okay, they for real now. "There's some respect on them." - Y'all came outta nowhere, dominating. Y'all was beating teams by like 30, 40. We were one of the teams
y'all beat by like 30, 40. I remember you had the 55 game. You had 55 against us, you shot 24 for 28 from the field, 20 of 'em was dunks, and I remember that year so vividly. You was arguably the best big
man in the league, Daniel. What did that change? Did that feel different? I know you're young, you ain't been in the league that long and-- - I was in the league
maybe two years, maybe. - You caressed.
- I feel like you surpassed. - Up in my third year, maybe. - I remember watching the
game y'all played against the Timberwolves and you
was dogging Ticket's ass. And I see Q just all in the
background, just getting-- - Yeah. (laughing) - Like, "Yeah, get it, he's here. "I brought the truth with me." I just remember watching
that game vividly, but that year was so amazing
for y'all that I thought I was so mad that you got traded the next year, but how did you feel to
feel like "I'm here?" You had all the success that year. - You know what it was like? My style of game was based off speed and athleticism and quickness. At the time a lot of
players didn't have that and with the force, you
know what I'm saying? So I was able to somewhat
utilize my speed, quickness, and force all at the same time. So when I realize that
that was a competitive edge that I had then I was able to
somewhat take over the games. I started realizing, "All right, cool, "if I just slow down, use my skillset "and be able to just let
the game come to me." It becomes much easier and I still can get to where I needed to get to. So that's why I was able to
be dominant at that moment and I was trying to tear the
rim down every chance I got. - And Steve was setting the table, bro. I'm telling you, people always would ask us,
"What are y'all doing? "Y'all be running and doing?" We sitting there, we keep up with him. If you're going to school, you keep, we were literally, remember they say, certain
teams say the four man take the ball out of bounds or the five man, like, nah,
Steve Nash catches it out the rim, whoever the closest
to it, we don't even want the ball to touch the ground. Get it in and go. - [Amar'e] Right. - He would catch the ball
sometimes one, two steps over the half court at the hash
mark and he got the big man and he about to bop, bop and he bombing, dunking
on 'em before you know it. - Right.
- Yeah. - That's no offense. Man, Coach D. would throw a play in. He would say, "If we get to this." - Right.
- Like, "All right, "all right, guys, if we get to this," like, "Hey, if we get
an offensive, if we get "an instant rebound, we can
go ahead and just go first." That's the first thing is, we gotta get it and go.
- 'Cause we had ball players and we had guys that didn't
have a position really. Everybody can play the game. - I was actually small in a league that had seven footers out there.
- First small bro. Yeah, first small bro. - Yeah, I was the first small bro. - Right, because when I played with 'em, I implemented the five. - Based on the first game they started, Jake Bosch scored and I came
off the bench though, remember? The very first game, but then something happened
when he got a couple of fouls, got in quick and we took off and then next game I started
at half time and that was it, that was it.
- That was all, bro? - Yeah, he started Jake Bosch
for the very, very first game. Halftime, that changed
and then it was over with for the rest of the season. - I couldn't understand it. I was like, "Man, they
gonna get out rebounded." (laughing) And Sean, a key piece to this-- - Tricks was the-- - He was rebounding-- - He was the Tricks. - Yeah.
- Yeah, he was grabbing 10 boards a game. - Locking up big boys and everything. - Going one through five. - One through five and you
had Joe being a point guard for real and nobody,
they didn't even know Joe was this cold. He opened up his whole market, remember? We was trying to get $36 billion before the season, they was scared. That man waited and got double that. - So do y'all think
experience made y'all lose the Spurs Series? - I think so. - Yeah, I mean they was so locked in-- - I think so. - Bro, they was our achilles heel that entire year, that entire year. They almost beat us too. Remember they pop set everybody and they almost still beat us? It was ridiculous. - It was a good experience, man, they had a cold system and they ran it to a tee. And the experience they had of end of quarters, how to execute
end of quarters, end of halves, end of games, draw fouls, the small details that they've experience throughout the years was elevated. - And the adjustments. - Right. - We didn't adjust. Remember what we talked
about all the time? We allowed them to put Tony Parker on me and Manu Ginobili, and
Joe, and not post him up. - Yeah, yeah, we made no adjustments.
- Because we stuck to the just (makes whooshing noise) and remember we was saying
that the whole time like-- - He got hot too.
- "What--" - We were like, "Yo, man, you gotta--"
- "You was mad?" Man, we gotta put these, man, you know that was did to him and you know what Joe would've
did to him on the post. That was the advantage. We didn't-- - Demonstrate the upper hand.
- He never even-- - Right. - Liked that way to play. He wanted to have movement and all that. He felt like, even
remember when he was trying to do plays, he would have
us do all this cutoff, this? I used to be like, man, "All I gotta do "is screen Amar'e," he'd come
and drop it to me, remember? - Right, same way you used to do for me, bro.
- Throw it in the post. - That's it, he used to want
all this motion and stuff, and that was like, by
the time you get to it-- - Too much movement. - Yeah, by the time you get
to it, they can front you, do all of this.
- Yeah, it's a different team too so
you ain't got much time. - Man, San Antonio ain't on that. You already know. - And Phoenix, because
everybody was eating. - Yeah. - It wasn't just one player
scoring 30, one player doing this, everybody had a
big night, so any given night. - And we was all selfless. - Because we were able to be
that way, what made it easy. We all were good dudes. We had great relationships. The core to what made us work was our relationships, our togetherness. - Right.
- When we came together that month, the August and September before,
we literally, we hung out. We hung out, played
dominoes, played cards, we had barbecues, and Nash was there. - [Amar'e] Nash was there. - That's what I'm telling you.
- Nash was there. - That's what's key. - Ask one of the guys, man.
- He was like, Steve, the nice white dude,
Canadian, he ain't gon' be, Steve going out with us on the road to the hood clubs with us. - Right, right.
- Yeah. - Doing him, but what it was
was he allowed all of us to be a better version of ourself because we knew he was
gonna take care of you. You didn't have to worry about it. - You didn't have to worry about it.
- You didn't have to worry about, "Hey, I gotta
take this shot this time "because, if I don't get the ball," because the way our offense went, it was so funny that I might not get the ball for six, seven
straight possessions, but then I might get it
the next five straight. He might not get if for four
or five and then best part about Steve Nash is that
he had an intuition. Hold on, Amar'e's starting to feel kinda like
this, let me get him up. I don't give a fuck what
the play is, I'ma do this. Oh, Q's starting to get an attitude. He ain't got a shot or many. Let me go run in front
of him and just scoop the ball and screen his
man and give him a three. - Shoot the jumper, yeah. - When I say he gon' put
it, he gon' cater it to you. I don't care what's going
on and he ain't gon' do it. It ain't go be disrespectful
to coach, it ain't gon' be disrespectful to the
play, he just was cold. - Right, the next year that y'all played, y'all didn't have Q no
more, y'all didn't have the same team, what you felt like? - I didn't know what was going
on, man, because I wasn't all the way looped in on what's
going on in y'all seasons. - It just started happening, bro. - Things started happening and I'm like, "Man, hold on, what's going on?" - It wasn't the same. - No, where are my guys at? - Yeah. - And it felt different, and then Joe, then the
next year Joe was gone. - Nah, Joe left the same year I left. We both left the same year. - Right, so I'm like, "Hold on, man." - Yeah. - So I ain't know what,
I was hot, man, I'm not gonna lie, I was big hot. - So we felt like we needed another shot at it, bro, we knew we
had got us one, we knew. - I was big hot, I was big hot and Joe only wanted a
certain amount of money. - That's what I said at the beginning. - He was gonna settle for less. - Man, they tripped. - But then they were-- - They were signing this contract. - Yeah, he was signed for a lot. He was signed for $30, $40 million less
than he ended up getting. - He wanted six years, $36
million at the beginning of the season. - $60 and $36 million?
- Silver got skittish because he had just
signed me and Steve Nash and he didn't wanna, everybody, Rex Chapman, David Griffin was like, "Bro, we have to do this." - You gotta sign Joe. - We have to-- - You gotta keep Q-- - And you see what happened--
- Give him one more shot at it. Q was a three point champ that year in the three point shootout,
you know what I'm saying? We had all-stars on the squad, we got a squad building chemistry. - Yeah, I dominated at All-Star. - Yeah.
(laughing) - Talking about, remember this at All-Star though, remember
they didn't wanna let me in and Steve Nash had to big boy 'em. - Yeah.
- They was trying to say that my field goal percentage,
even though I was leading the league in makes and
attempts at this point, but they was saying my
percentage didn't meet the standards or whatever. Steve Nash stepped in
like the gangster he is. Steve Nash, would you tell 'em? People don't know. - Yeah.
- Steve Nash was one of the realest ever. That boy used to be with us, you hear me? With us, doing him,
but with us everywhere. That's what made us so good, but we know Steve Nash told those people they wanted Steve Nash in
the skills competition. He's Steve Nash, they wanted him in. Nah, Steve's all right. Q ain't gon' be in that he's supposed to be, I'm not gon' be in that. (speaker wiping his hands) Q won the three point contest. - You win it. - Then I go out there
and say, "You know what? "I'ma win this thang." Go on ahead and make
my boy move, look right and make y'all look crazy for trying to play with me anyway,
you know what I'm saying? - Right. - We cleaned house. - Yeah, we did. - We repped that weekend, boy-- - Yeah, we did.
- Phoenix was in the building. The only thing we couldn't do-- - Two All-Stars, skills challenge, and the three point champ. - And the little thing with Dan Majerle and Tricks, and was it Taurasi with him? - Taurasi.
- Yeah, Taurasi was with him. - Yeah, you feel 'em, they
won that little thing. We won everything, boy, we repped. We came back like, they thinking like, man, I remember,
bro, we had cartoons, fun and gun Sun where they come,
we running, they playing the drums, we passing
Steve Nash, passing, we shooting threes, he's dunking. It was like a cartoon in Phoenix, bro. - Yeah.
- Facts. - Well, we was so, on. (laughing) - On, big on. (laughing) - But I had never seen, talk
about remember when we landed in Dallas for the first time
when Steve Nash went back? - Right. - The craziest thing ever. - Yeah, them fans was nuts, man. - At the airport when we landed. - Nuts.
- They were there for Stevie, boy. That's when I threw it, I used to call him "Stevie on a Strip." Every game it ain't on until
Stevie go into that bathroom and throw that water in
his hair and do this. That's when he's starting
to run out, ain't he? That's when it started. It ain't time to run out until
Steve do that, I promise. That's the indicator we
about to get outta here. - Right.
- And you hit that little bathroom--
(making whooshing noises) - Crazy, man. - So a free agent, come
after you'd be with Phoenix. You've set your mark, you're dominating in the league, you're a household name, and you go to the Nicks, why the Nicks? What made you choose the Nicks that signing?
- Well, I wanted to resign with Phoenix. That was my ultimate goal and
I sat down with the owners, and then the staff, and the
coaches, and we told them about the plans and we try and negotiate. And the negotiating
tactic was he came to me and said, "Well, we got guys I can replace you with tomorrow." - What?
- What? - We went to the Western finals
four years out of five out of six years, we just got to
the semifinals, and we lost to the Lakers with an air ball
shot that Ron Artest hit, caught it and scored at the last second. (laughing) We got a chance to still win the title and you come to me like this? I'm looking like, "Listen,
man, I just averaged 26 "a game, first team, All NBA." - Put on. - And you're coming at me like this? We've got a chance to win the title here, so I was like, "Listen,
man, here's the criterias." If we can make this happen,
we can keep the ball rolling. We've got a great medical
staff, we've got a great one-two coming at you with myself and
Steve, don't change it up. He was like, "Oh, well, I don't know, I'll "just stay in the third." I said, "All right, cool." Free agency hit, Miami called me, Houston called me, New York called me, so I'm thinking like, "What'd
be the best scenario?" Miami wasn't quite sure what was going on as far as with their third. They were trying to get
Lebron, everyone was trying to get Lebron at this point and Bosch and D. Wade got the same agent. So they're working out their
kinks, Lebron's still trying to figure out where he wanted
to go and I can't sit around and wait to see what
someone else is gonna do. - Is gonna do. - So I was like, "You know what? "I got history with Mike
D'Antoni," I was raised in New York, I was in New York for seven years of my childhood years. So I was like, "I love New York City." It was a great chance to not
only turn the team around, but also build my brand off the court. So I'm like, "I'm going to New York." So I went and met with Mike
and I met with the owners in New York and I sat down with them and the situation was perfect for me. And I was like, "All right, let's do it." - Hell, nah, it looked good, man. Especially when you first hit down in LA. It was rockin', you could feel it coming. - Yeah.
- I want you to talk about how it
was because we know how the landscape of everything is
and a lot of dudes are afraid to step up into that New York
Nicks Madison Square Garden and say, "I'ma be that dude. "I'ma be that guy, and you
know what comes with it." You know the criticism, the scrutiny, the spotlight, everything, and I felt like you was that
dude that stood up amongst the superstars, the max guys, and was like, "I ain't
trippin', what's up?" And then, not only that,
stood up, accepted the terms, but then when you got
there was putting it down. This was my take that
trade was a horrible trade for Melo when they could've
just waited until the off season and signed them and added it with all of that y'all had and y'all owned. - Right. - But you was the first one and still to this day, he ain't really do it. Melo was next and he stepped up. As far as forcing the
trade and coming through, and accepting it and signing back and saying, "I'ma be that dude, "but for real, you was the
first one of the big boys, "the big name guys,
whatever you wanna call them "that stepped up to that plate "and then handled it and was unfazed." You go out there and start taking wine baths, bro, what's up? (laughing) - Yeah, and that came years
after, man, the wine baths. (laughing) But I was in Grafton, New York, man. I made New York my home. I was going to the Met
Galas, the top fashion galas in the world, I was going to
the operas, I was going to all the Broadway shows, I was in the mix with the people in New York. - How did you get so
cultured though, coming from Florida where you came from, transferring around, going
through different scenarios and stuff, then when I met you, and you straight outta high
school, still had braces? I remember you'd miss a shooting round like, "I'm not coming, I
can get these braces off." And they was like, well, he was
like, "Nah, I'm not coming." - Yeah, yeah. - But going from there,
from being a country boy from Florida to now you at, like you say, all of the top fashion
shows, you got this. You got a really pristine taste in art. You got wines, all of these
different things that no one... 12, 13 years, you didn't
think that or did you? - Nah, when I was 13 or
so, I had already lived in New York for quite some
time or I was already there for four or five years, so
I had already experienced the New York taste when I was young. So I left Florida in the third grade. My mother and I, our
family, we moved to New York and I was there until the eighth grade and then from there I moved to Atlanta, and then I moved back to Florida. So I was real cultured as a kid because we moved around
and traveled a lot. - Right. - And then so when I got
in the NBA I wanted that to keep happening and Phoenix was great. It was great for me from a basketball standpoint
because there wasn't so much to do, there
wasn't a lot to get into and I would focus on basketball
almost 80% of the time. But I wanted more, I was wanting more, but I was putting winning
over wanting more. So I was willing to stay
in Phoenix just to win, but if that wasn't gonna happen,
then I wanna achieve more. So then I said, "You know what? "I'm gonna go to New York." When I first got there I
went to the Broadway shows. I started learning how the
culture is in New York City and then once I signed,
the goal was to not only be the guy on the basketball
team that helped bring the organization back, but also show the world what New York has to offer to help recruit other
players who come to New York. So that's when I was like, "You know what? "Let me get all the way
in Grafton, New York. "Let me go to the Met Galas, I'ma get "into fashion shows, I'ma
sit down at the front row "of the fashion shows, I'ma go "to all these prestigious
events and show the rest "of the league what
New York is all about." - Crackin'.
- Yeah. - Yeah, and that's how it got all the way involved in all
those different activities. - So we both, you got to play with him, we all know
Melo very well and all of us are sitting here
looking at this situation. Me and Darius, I'm gonna ask
you how you feel about it. We're sitting here looking at it like this is crazy that he's even in this scenario. I wanna know what do
you think sitting there? There's somebody you went to battle with who you know where his heart at, where his goals, where
his mind at, where he was about winning, and you see all this foolishness coming
out about him questioning. And the fact that he's not on a roster right now, that's
the most preposterous thing going on for me right
now with that scenario. What do you think about everything? - You know Melo, he wanted
just to play basketball, man. You know how we do it? We like to play basketball at a high level and we're trying to put
ourself in a position to play at a high level by any means,
and so he's still trying to solidify that he still
can play and he can. I don't see how Melo's not on a team. He could definitely be on
a team and he's willing to sacrifice playing time or
positioning to be on a team. - And not only on a
team, he can help a team. - He can help the team for sure.
- That's the most ridiculous thing, you're acting like he can't be.
- He's an offensive juggernaut, he can score with the best of 'em still right now today. And he for sure deserved to be on the team no question about it. - Yeah, man, I think it's just been a disjustice, it's been done to 'em-- - I was going around
with a lot of guys, man. I noticed that too, even with AI the last few years of his career. It was a similar situation
where he knew he had a lot left in the tank, but even
teams wasn't really willing to sign him and Melo got
a lot left in the tank. I see him training all the time. He's in New York-- - And hooping.
- He's always balling and keeping himself in shape, and he for sure can play
in the league, no question. - What team would you put him on if you had to choose a team? - Golden State. - If I had to choose a team
right now to put him on-- - That's what I would say,
I would say Golden State. - That's a good question, man. I think at this point a lot of
teams can use his expertise-- - Yeah. - From a scoring standpoint. Golden State is a higher tempo team. It may be a little bit
too high uptempo for Melo. But I also think that the Clippers, for one, would be a solid team for him. I think Doc Rivers has a firm idea on how he
wants to run his team. - He can get him going. - He can get him going. I would say the Lakers, but they got too many,
they got too many guys on their roster, too many
superstars on their team already. So it would be tough
for him to fit in there. - Big personalities, yeah. - A lot of personalities
on that team already. But I think the Clippers would be-- - I liked him with the Clippers.
- A solid fit. - Especially with what you said with Doc because I think that's, to
me wherever he goes he has to be on the one accord with the coach and the coach has to be somebody who has that rep--
- Looking good. - That can deal-- - Miami wouldn't be bad either. - Spo and Pat. - Yeah, the Spo, you've got
Jimmy Butler already there. - Jimmy, yeah. - At the two spot, you bring Melo in there and you got two guys that
can not only sell tickets, but they can also play
high level basketball. The rest of the guys gotta fit
in, Hassan Whiteside's going to Portland, they got Bam at the five. - I like Bam. - They've got some young
boys that can get after it. Miami wouldn't be a bad spot either. - And he gon' be in tippity top. - Yeah. - You ain't gon' be in Miami and not be in tippy top.
- You score on top, we gon' keep you in top shape. Yeah, ain't no question. - You know that. - I already know. I'm telling you, I already know. - Weighing body fat every Monday. - Man, every Monday. - Oh, baby, that thang
changed how you live your life, you can't even go out, right? - You be like--
- Facts. - "Hey, all right, boy,
you been here about two "or three years then now, all right, okay, "this Saturday, Monday,
you know what we gotta do?" - Facts. - So how was it and what,
when you went to Israel to play, how did that whole everything come together and come about? - I was in New York with the Nicks and a buddy of mine called me and said, "Hey, Amar'e,
there's a team out in Israel." And this is when I went to visit Israel in 2010, I think it was. When I first signed with New York. That summer I went to
Israel, went out to visit. And then so when they
found out about my roots and what I was studying, then it became something more than
what I wanted it to be, right? We wanted to keep it low. I was there to study and learn,
but it became something big. So what happened was, a few
years later, maybe a year and a half later, a
buddy of mine called me and said, "Hey, Amar'e, there's "a team out in Israel
that's up for auction." And I'm like, "What do
you mean up for auction?" I said, "The previous
owner, no one can find him. "He's been gone for years,
we're not sure where he is, "but the team is now up for auction within "the government and the
bidding is somewhat low. "Do you wanna be a partner in it?" I'm like, "Hey, man, giving
back to Israel, why not?" He's like, "It won't be a moneymaker, "but, hey, if you wanna get
back to Israel, you wanna "be a part of Jerusalem,
the team is in Jerusalem "and you have an opportunity
to be a part of the ownership." I was like, "Cool, so
I got involved in it." I played another four years in the NBA and I went into somewhere, going as a sabbatical trip and learn more. - I remember that. - So that's when I went to
Israel to play and I played for Jerusalem and I was
there learning every since. - That was dope and then you
won a 'chip with 'em too. - Yeah.
- That first one, right? - Yep, went and won the championship then. - You know what I'm saying,
went and put on for this city. - All-Star Game MVP, all that. - Straight up. - You've got to tell me what
happened that had you start taking the wine baths, bro? - You know what, man, I was-- - Let me just say, that
blew me totally away. I seen him, I said, "Hold up,
bruh, how much do that cost?" This man's just-- - All the wine you--
- Taking a wine bath. - Nah, it cost $300, man,
to get you a wine bath and they got these spas in
New York where you can go and take the wine bath. You can take a wine bath-- - So how did you, was this you doing your culture,
experiencing things and then you just went to a spa.
- Well, it was a gift. It was a gift that someone gifted me. (laughing) I got a gift.
- Only in New York, only in New York. - It was in New York. I got a gift from this young
lady and she gave me this gift for my birthday and it was
to go to this ancient spa. And you go there and the
gift was a wine bath. So you go there and you
check into your locker and you go to the, it's like a hot tub. It's full of wine and water, and you sit, it's 80% wine,
20% water, and you sit there in the wine bath and you just chill. They bring in a separate
glass of wine, they bring in some ice water. - So you drinking wine in a wine bath? - I'm just sitting there vibing. - Wining in the wine bath.
(laughing) - Yeah, I'm just sitting there vibing. I said, you know what? I don't take selfies, let me go and get this selfie. - Right, look, look, look. (laughing) - Took a selfie. - This one came all the way from Florida-- - It went viral.
- To the wine bath, boy it went-- - It went viral, it went viral, bro, and ever since that point on
it was like everyone keeps asking me about the wine bath,
but that's something that was a gift that I happened to just-- - You're just experiencing
culture, living life. - And just living life, man.
- It was a good experience. - You enjoyed that experience. - Yeah, it was great and
also I do it when I go home to New York, do the same thing. - So what did it make you feel like? - What the purposes is, yeah?
- What are the benefits or whatever you get from it? - I was dehydrated because
you're in there, it's hot you're sweating, you're in this wine bath, but-- - It's a hot wine bath. - Yeah, it's like a hot bath. - Okay, okay, so you know this.
- And so, yeah, you're just sitting there and just chillin', man. You should have 30 minutes or
so like a regular hot bath. You're initially feeling dehydrated and your body, after you
rejuvenate, your body feels like, you feel light,
you know what I'm saying. And if you keep doing that over and over you're gonna feel good. - Who was that one
player that he was just, you know how you always
go that player there's he always have a good game
or it was something about him that he always had your number. Who was that one player that used to play against it, that used
to bring that to the table? - Man, it was two players. It was always Dirk Nowitzki,
I could never stop him. - Stanky leg.
- We played a game of chess, man. - Tricks--
- Check yours, he'll check-- - Tricks--
- Stanky leg. - We had to put Sean on there.
- Put tricks on 'em. We had to put Tricks on 'em. - Yeah.
(laughing) - Real talk, Tricks ain't that old. - I couldn't check him, man. He was seven-one with
a fade, one leg fade. - He gamed me in Phoenix, remember?
- I tried to get into his body. I'm too strong to get into his body so the refs called fouls on me quick. - They'll call a foul quick. - So I'm trying to figure out.
- If you're chest bumping he's gonna call a foul.
- Yeah, so I'm trying to figure out how to play
him without getting fouls because the team needs me
not be in foul trouble, but it was tough to figure that-- - Figure it out. - Yeah, and Sean had the finesse game.
- Sean had it. - And played both. - Big threes had to go a third. - Yeah. - A basic power forward, it's hard for him because he's really a three. (laughing) - Remember he gamed me in the
playoffs on the fade away? - Pump, fake, fade? - That step back one leg-- - Stanky leg.
- Six-five trying to do something.
- You can't do nothing with that.
- You ain't gonna see none of that. Good game, right? I was--
- Another player too that gave me problems, Andrei Kirilenko. - AKA 47.
- AKA 47 shout out. That was literally--
- It was so hard. - For my entire career that
was my hardest matchup. Me offensively, you know
how I put the people. He was my nightmare. - AKA 47.
- Six-nine with a seven whatever wingspan, bro.
- He wouldn't stop moving. - He ran under every single time in Utah. - Yeah, man, every time. - I used to love his ass
though, I used to be going-- - No, I used to hate playing him, bro. - But defensively, me
guarding him, it's always like if I'm watching the ball and trying to see if somebody's coming at
me, he's already gone. So by the time they swing it, I gotta relocate, I rush
out, he's at the basket. It was tough to keep up with him. It was a hard matchup for me. - Straight up, straight up. - Let me ask you this. Your duo, the best duo,
you and Steve Nash. If you had to pick somebody
else to be a duo, who's the best fit for you that you've played with that you felt like, "Oh,
we was clicking, we coulda "maybe been good."
- You mean, like the second best after him and Steve? - Yeah, after the stadium game. - That I played with. - Yeah, that you played with. The best USA team or whoever, whoever you felt like, oh, it clicked. I felt like that would've been a good duo. - I mean, Raymond Felton and
I had a good run in New York. - In New York. - And me and Ray was also in the same high school class so we-- - I was about to say,
you rock with him heavy when y'all came--
- In high school. - And Jordan too. - Yeah, so we had the chemistry in New York because we
were learning each other. It's all about learning each other, man. With Steve, Steve was
a engine, you feel me? He'd get the ball and we gotta keep up with him as far as the pace. - Yeah. - Everybody can do what they
do, you know what I'm saying? - I'ma finisher, Q, a three
point shooter, Joe off the dribble, so once you got
that formally figured out on what guys can do, then
the point guard's job is to get the ball-- - Everybody doing what they do.
- In position, right. - Yeah, yeah. Me and Ray were starting to figure that part out,
that first half of New York. All right, cool, Ray, and we're vibing. - Yeah, yeah. - 'Cause that was fast.
- Y'all was hooping, y'all was hooping. - So as far as All-Star, as far as USC games, I play
with AI, I play Lebron, I play with a lot of great players. But to have a point guard who's not afraid to pass the ball first-- - Yeah. - Is always the best thing for all players on the court.
- I always look for a point guard. - Yeah.
- I feel like if I had a dope point guard to find me when it's time to
find me, I'ma be successful. - Yeah, and the team gon' be successful, you gon' win,
you gon' have fun winning. - With James Harden's
success, did y'all want Nash to shoot the ball more? - With James Harden's success, I mean-- - No.
- No, I don't think so. - Seeing the success of
James Harden in their system. - No.
- And you know how in the playoffs they used to say, man, Nash needs to score more. It was cool doing it all season-- - Whenever they tried him, he-- - But Nash needed to score more. I heard it before, but-- - Yeah, yeah, but see,
Nash, whenever he was open to score, he shot the ball. - When they forced us in he got buckets. - You know what I'm saying,
they go under on pick and rolls, he shoots it, penetrate, the big stays with me
on the pick and roll. He got a 15 foot jumper. - Here come the floaters.
- He shoots it. - Yeah. - So he was always
playing the game the way the game was supposed to be played-- - Yeah, yeah.
- You feel me? So everyone can say, "All
right, he shoulda shot more," but he was still playing
the game the right way. - He's playing the game
how I'd probably play it. - Right.
- And think about it like this though, if he did shoot more, then we don't be what we were. - [Quentin] Right. - You feel me? Him sacrificing whatever shots people might have wanted him to take and doing what he did,
he allowed everybody else to blossom to they're full
potential which made us better as a whole overall team. - Yeah.
- Right. - Because with that much
talent and everybody trying to get out the block, we had
go-getters, Tricks trying to get another bag. He's still on his rookie deal
trying to establish his self as a boy in this league, and he was literally our best player, but Tricks on the max, me
and Stevie just got paid, him and Joe trying to get paid, but he our for real best player overall. Tricks' an olympian, all of
that, All-Star, max player. - Yeah.
- You feel me? So if it wasn't for Stevie
coming and handling things the way he did, he kept
so much in check, bro. I'm telling you, Steve used to do, just by the way he played.
- He really did, man. Right. - That eliminated so much
that could've popped off, that you see popping
off on a lot of teams. Man, he'd take himself, right? And then just the way he was with us, bro, I was super shocked by that. Man, this boy in there, where are we going tonight guys? Like, oh, word. (laughing) Word, okay, that made you embrace and bring him in like,
boy, he one of us for real. - So that was part of y'all
success, him coming in and-- - The camaraderie, the camaraderie, man.
- Yeah. - Hanging out with us like that. - Think about the parties we had. Remember my birthday party at my crib when we bused people with bro-- (laughing) It was stupid. - Crazy. - Like stupid, buses from
LA coming to Phoenix, bro. - Facts. - It was crazy. - Crazy. - We had a ball, man, we had a ball. - I'm talking, we used to for
real get in there and Tricks-- - We got in there.
- Out there barbecuing all the time. We were over at his house. It was every time, it was always. Then we got a OG Jim
Jack come to the team. We had one of the coolest squads, bro. Think about it Jake
Voskuhl was super cool. - Right.
- Even Casey Jacobsen, super cool.
- Sure, sure, sure, sure. - We had all cool the whole time, bro. What was my man's name, the first ever Japanese
player, Yasu, Yasu, Something? - Yeah, I remember him. - He was super cool. - Right.
- Man, we had-- - We had good vibes, man. - Yeah, man, and that
was all in one year, bro. - That's crazy.
- I remember Steve Nash hitting me when they traded. Steve Nash was at Mike Finley's wedding. - Yeah, man. - Steve Nash was at one year. - Bro, Steve Nash was at Mike
Finley's wedding calling me from the bar at the reception like, "What the hell is going on?" That's when I first got traded. He called me like, "Bro,
what the hell is going on?" He's trying to call
everybody and figure out, just like you said, nobody,
they ain't say nothing. They start pulling triggers, making moves. They traded me. After our exit meetings,
everything was told to us, his top priority was to sign Joe and we're coming back, going
to take another stab at it. We go home, whenever
that thang started, I was the first chip. I got traded, then they signed Raja Bell and Joe was like, "What, how you gon' sign "any wing before me?" He was done right there,
like y'all trippin'. They're still talking about we gonna, nah, then they told him
to go get his own market and show it, but he-- - Oh, okay.
- Joe went and got that bad. - Because he's still-- - 88. (laughing) - And then became a six time all-star. - Man.
- For real. - And went on to get
120-something after that. - Like, come on, man.
- You're hearing me, like please, y'all completely tripped. Y'all coulda had him for 36. - Then they got rid of
Sean, then they let me go, and then they ain't
made the playoffs since. - Boy.
- You're hearing me. - Encouraged.
- So this-- - They ain't made the playoffs since. - For all of our, 'cause we got, I'm telling
you we got hardcore fans for that '04, '05, you see
we the team they put on 2K, and all of the retro greatest teams though for the fans because I tell
people this all the time. I'm like, "Yeah, any time any "of us get back together
we all talk about that "and how we wish we woulda
had another run at him." - Yeah, man, I mean-- (laughing) - Just think how some of these teams had two
or three shots there. If we had that original five for two, three, four years, man, we woulda got us two rings, bro. - No question, ain't no question about it. - We talk about it all the time.
- We can talk about it all year.
- We woulda got us two rings, bro, at least. We ain't had no second shot at it. We coulda came back the next year and had adjustments--
- We'd have the same chance, man. - Like, "Look, we coulda posted Tony--" - Y'all feel like you got a better bench.
- "Parker, man, all of that--
- Sure, man, everything. - We coulda made it, man, bro. - Yep, it's crazy. - And I'm talking about
years later, bro, I swear when I was working for the Pistons. I was working for the Pistons, this is when Dan D'Antoni had
first got back in the league. He was a special assistant or something with Philly when he first got back-- - Right.
- And we sat on the sideline and he was sitting there, he was like, "I let him pressure me. "I screwed that up. "I let him pressure me into
thinking that we needed a big," 'cause remember when they
traded me for Kurt Thomas? - Right. - They traded me for, and that's no disrespect to Kurt, but that wasn't our team, that
wasn't what we were doing. - No, Kurt's gon' pick and pop. - Yeah.
- Slow pick. - Slow.
- Hard, firm pick. - He ain't runnin'--
- He hit that 15 footer though. - And if you're gonna hit that 15 footer-- - And Kurt was a great dude,
great vet, great OG, great in the locker room, but
it wasn't what we were and y'all went and tweaked
this and tweaked that. Then, Raja, great player, great wing, great defender, everything. He ain't Joe Johnson though. - Nah.
- You know what I'm saying. It ain't no disrespect
to him or nobody else, but it's just like-- - He is not Joe Johnson.
- He said that man went on to be a six time all-star and made over $200 million. He's not a Joe Johnson. - He's not a Joe Johnson.
- He's not a Joe Johnson. - That's not disrespectful, that's a fact.
- And as a basketball guy we know that-- - That's what I'm saying--
- If he would just talk to us about it.
- That's not disrespecting, - You know what I'm saying.
- I'm just being truthful. - We could've handled that properly like, listen, keep Q,
we keep Joe, let's build our bench strong and
let's get back out there. - If we still had Leandro,
Leandro was young. He was just getting to where-- - On most of the nights.
- He got to be good. - Nights on the bench, you know? - Yeah. - They didn't give us--
- Nights on the bench, yeah. - They didn't, man, bro, I swear that was the one thing, bro, you remember
the house I was building. - Right. - I was saying--
- Oh, really? - That hurt me more than
getting traded, boy. - I was a modern, futuristic, and I was truthful--
- Oh, boy. - Everything was-- - They just had a river. - Yeah.
(laughing) - I had a lazy river two different pools-- - He has rivers going around,
that's what I'm saying. - Let's not talk about it. - Yeah, yeah, man.
- I got a river in your backyard. - Just-- - Man-made river.
- Just everything touch screen. - I was trying to be like Amar'e. I'm trying to live and experience. How many times, bro? (laughing) Look, boy, I'm trying to,
look, remember, we can drive the coach bus through my front door. I said--
- Facts. - I'm talking about it was that big, bro. - You can drive a--
- I don't know-- - That's fly, bruh.
- Coach bus through the front door. - Come on, man. - You played in the big three. If you had to pick two other players to make your big three, all time, whoever, who would you pick?
- Houston, anybody you want? - You mean, like a big
three team or with me? - A big three team, but you can pick anybody you
want that played basketball. - Man, in their prime? - Yeah.
- Whenever. - Whenever you want,
the greatest, whatever. - I'm going with the GOAT for sure, we gotta go with MJ.
- I know who that is. - I was like-- - Man, you ain't gotta say his name. - I'm going with Michael Jordan--
- You ain't have to say his name.
- No question. - You know, for those
silly people out there, them Internet trolls that
be talking that foolishness. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- We'll clarify it for y'all-- - We'll clarify it for 'em. - For future reference, it's
on this knucklehead's podcast, if we ever mention him,
MJ, the GOAT, the best, the greatest, we ain't talking about nobody, but Michael Jeffrey Jordan. - Michael Jordan, baby, that's it.
- That's it. - There ain't no question. - No, don't get it misconstrued. We don't wanna do this every time. - Michael Jordan. - Go ahead. - Mike Jordan, I gotta have Shaq. - Told you. - And they said Shaq too.
- That's two of the ones I said, right?
(laughing) I said, "Go ahead, I'm with the third." (laughing) - You've gotta get Shaq and
then my third, I will have to probably go with, tough one, I need a play maker, I need a point guard. If I don't go with Nash, I
gotta go with, I'm gonna go with probably Steph Curry. - Okay, I went MJ, Shaq, and KD. - Okay.
- I ain't going with no point guard. You know, in this big three-- We don't need point guards. You see how we play, we play big boy ball. - Yeah, it is, it is, it is. - So, but I'm not mad at the Steph because you verified you
wanted a point guard-- - You gotta get a PG.
- So I'm not mad at that. - If you had to start-- - Bench or cut?
- Bench or cut somebody, I mean, cut one of these people, who would it be, Tim Duncan, KG-- - Dirk. - And Dirk? - You gotta start one, bench
one, and cut the other. - Yeah, if I'm starting
one, I'm starting KG. If I had to cut one. (laughing) If I had to cut one, I'm cutting Dirk. - [Darius] I knew it. - If I had to bench one, I'm benching TD-- - It's TD.
- Tim Duncan. - See I was trying to-- - That's tough. (laughing) - I knew that was-- - The reason why I'm starting KG because he's also a
defensive player on the wing. Tim is good defensive
player around the basket. He don't even jump, but he blocks shots.
- But he has a way with him going around him though. - You can go around him. - Yeah. - KG, he always-- - He'll move a little bit. - Yeah, yeah.
(laughing) And he got offensive threat. - Yeah, yeah. - Dirk, there's no defense. Dirk didn't play any defense at all.
- At all. - So Dallas would hide him defensively.
- He would never guard him, Dan Peter and-- - Yeah.
- And all these other people. - They would always hide Dirk. - Yeah.
- And you would never hear about "Dirk can't play defense," but you always hide Dirk, so I would have to probably cut Dirk from that standpoint. Offensively-- - He was a problem. - And he's one of the all time greats. You can't guard him. - Yeah. - Trail three, post up
fade away, all that. - Yeah. - But Timmy D was also
a good offensive player and he's a good defensive player as well. So I would have KG start,
bench Tim Duncan and cut Dirk. - Straight up. - You feeling me? - So it's safe to say that the
Suns season that y'all had, the first, the original Suns season, the most the fun that you've
had in a season your whole-- - Oh, yeah, no question, as far as basketball-wise.
- Basketball, yeah. - And even off the court, you know what I'm saying?
- Yeah. - For sure, man.
- Yeah, man, 'cause-- - We've really kicked it, bruh. I'm telling you, people don't understand. We really had, that
really went into us having a good time together, but--
- And we was just getting started. - I was 20, I was in my early
20s, everybody was young. - Yeah, everybody was young. - Everybody was young, man.
- I was just coming off of my rookie deal. That was the first signing, that was my biggest.
- Come on, man. - So I was definitely a young boy. - Crazy. - So talk about now, like right
now, you're definitely one of our dudes that should be in the NBA. Even from last year to this
year, I feel like you went out and you got yourself in
way better condition. You know what I'm saying,
you're body ain't never been a problem as far as, you
know what I'm saying, weight and them, but you always
look, but I just feel like the way you're moving, your
agility, what you was talking about and stuff you were
doing with your knees and everything, you looked
way more fresh, more springy, banging on people, you
know what I'm saying? So what do you look forward
to as far as your opportunity with the NBA and we
know you don't need it, but it's something that you
belong so you should be able to take that step and go out there. - As far as the NBA is concerned,
I think it's more so about a lot of the NBA teams are going young. - Right. - And so they are,
there's so many new gyms, so many analytics and all
these things taking place now to where the game is somewhat changing in that fashion.
- Yeah, they don't wanna have a veteran in their locker
room, they'd rather have a young dude in the locker room.
- This is my take on it and I get it right, I get it. The want young guys,
they want this and that, and they're softer on
the cap, they're cheaper. My thing is they need
to lower the vet minimum because the NBA's vets are
now 24, 25, 26 years old. - They're not vets.
- You've got the kids telling the kids what's going on. They don't got a Kurt
Thomas, they don't got a Rasheed Wallace, they don't got a Sean Rooks, they don't got a Derek Straw, they don't got a UD. UD the last one left. They don't got these dudes who are really Gatekeepers--
- Can score. - Who can really advance, who can really-- - Lead by example.
- Be part of the village. - Yeah, be part of that
village that we had that they're trying to show you. I'm telling you, these teams need that. Everything going too
young and they're looking while crazy stuff happens because you've got the young
boys leading the young boys. - Yeah.
- Yeah. - And that's no disrespect to them because they don't know
no better, they learning on their first try and
they're figuring stuff out as they go trying to do the
best they can with a boatload of money in their hand,
you know what I'm saying? - Right, and it's a lot
they need to learn, not only from basketball, but how to train, how to be on top of things-- - How to eat right. - How to eat properly, how
take care of yourself off the court, all those little
attributes they gotta learn and it's tough for,
like you were saying 25 is your vet, you know what I'm saying? That's not your vet. He's really just like a, he's only been in the league maybe five years,
six years, you're not a vet. I think a 10 year guy
is a vet, a 10 year plus is your vets, right?
- Yeah. - These guys ain't been
in the league 10 years. They've been in the league five, seven years.
- Yeah, at least eight years, at least.
- That's why I said-- - We can play into two or three contracts. - That's why I said-- - I'ma hook you up, yeah. - That's why I like--
- Yeah, so you learn-- - That offensive loop, a
boy like D. Wade, what he doing right now with the invite. You see, he had 20 of them kids.
- That's dope. - Young boys, all of these boys. He's bringing them in
to LA, to the facility. Now he's showing them top to bottom-- - What it takes? - How to work, how to
train, how to prepare, and how to rehab, after you
take care of your body they got the movement test, they got people there massaging, cupping,
they got all of this. He's showing them, he's
giving them the tools so that they could go
forward and do what he did and the stuff he learned.
- Exactly. - That's what players need and he's doing it on his own accord. - There should be players--
- And teams need those guys on their team.
- Coming, more players should be coming every year. - Yeah.
- You need those kinda guys-- - You need somebody.
- In the NBA. - That's what I'm saying, on NBA teams. It's like on a daily basis. This ain't just a week
doing it or something. This was a week, that
only lasts him a week? And it's awesome that D. Wade did that. He not even playing no more. - Right, oh, no, that's definitely a dope--
- That's him being who he is, the great guy he
is and still paying it forward and sharing his gifts, but he ain't, like you just said it should be somebody like that
on almost every team. - Yeah.
- Yeah, for sure, man. - And it phased that position out.
- He just feels right. - Phased that out.
- And the league is being hurt by that. That's not because when you
got people like a D. Wade or like-minded people that's
trying to pour into him and pay it forward like the ones that did for us, that ain't go do
nothing but help build your brand.
- Yeah, yeah, sure, yeah.
- You're gonna have less idiotic things happening on social media and in the news, period. - Who the best coach you ever played for? - The best coach I ever played for? Oh, man, I mean, offensively
Mike D'Antoni, no question. Defense, we didn't really
discuss defense hardly at all in the practices. (laughing) If they scored, we took the ball out quick, we scored on them. (laughing) Y'all scored it.
- If it's our defense, we gon' score on you anyway.
- We'll outscore you. I did like the way Phil Jackson was
orchestrating the offense. I was actually enjoying
the triangle offense because it allows you to be able to score from anywhere on the basketball court. If you're an all around
player, you can score from anywhere on the basketball court and it's all predicated
upon ball movement. - Ball movement. - Yeah, and so I was like-- - Cuts and all this. - Yeah, it's just fundamental basketball. So I was asked to join the
regime under Phil Jackson, but Phil wasn't the coach. Derek Fisher was a coach at the time, but I think my favorite
coach that I played for was probably Mike D'Antoni. - Mike D'Antoni. - If you had to pick one, what would be your favorite Steve Nash
story because I got a great one, but I can't share it 'til we actually have him sitting on here. I can't share it 'til then. - Oh, man, my favorite Steve Nash story. - So we're coming for you Stevie. I know we didn't talk, but
you know, we gon' do this. - My favorite Nash story is
probably when we was gearing up for the dunk contest. (laughing) - I remember this. - And I was in the gym, going
through all my dunks, right? A 360 windmill, between the
legs, I was going through all my dunks. Now I went to Steve, I
said, "Hey, Steve, man, "maybe you can do one
of your soccer tricks. (laughing) Kick it off the backboard,
or kick it off your head, or something like that and
see if it I can catch it in a windmill or 360,
or something like that. And so Nash was like, "All right, well,
let me work on something." So he, full court, off the
foot, both feet, knee, elbow, all that, chest, back, everything, and-- (laughing)
And he threw it up one time for me in a practice and I caught it and (making gun shot noises). So I bet that's what we're gonna do. So we get to the All-Star Game. (laughing) We get to the All-Star
game and we got through the moments before the dunk contest, and so I'm not trying to show
anybody what we got planned. So I'm just going through the motion and it happened spontaneously on the court once you got
in the dunk contest. And when Nash kicked it
off the backboard, I caught a windmill and that was one of my favorite moments with Steve and I. - Straight up. - I wanted to pick him up
and do a dance with him. - Right. (laughing) - And I was so caught up in the moment of just the dunk contest
and it was just one of those great moments for me and Nash, one
of my favorite stories. - Straight up. - I remember when y'all
was practicing there, dog. I was sitting here, we used to all be amazed at
Stevie's whole psychic game. Stevie, people don't
know, remember Stevie used to get on the ice when the
ice would be down in Phoenix. Boy, he would go out there,
coach and them be pissed. Steve out there going full court. He was crazy, dog. Steve was cold at soccer and hockey. Like what he said, Steve would go up the whole court hitting it off his knee, hitting off, he dropping
it to his foot, kicking it, kicking it, kicking it, then
he booted that thing up there. All of us just sitting there watching like this dude is really just-- - Easy.
- Trying to back kick it, back kick it. He go in there, I said,
"Man, this dude's crazy "talented, crazy, bro."
- Facts. - That's that Canadian
South African side of him because he grew up in the--
- Remember how he used to get on that boat, how he used to get on that ball with all them bands on him? - Yep, even in his training.
- That boy would boy jump on the ball like spider monkey, boy. I'm talking about on the Bosu ball, boy. Man, bro, Steve, you would
come in the gym, Stevie got a puddle of sweat, bands on him and he ain't doing nothing but move. - 'Cause he had that back injury.
- 'Cause, yeah, he was trying to keep that
back straight, boy. That boy used to go crazy on that stuff. He used to be cut up. We was calling him Wolverine, remember? - He was always ripped, man. - So he was chopped? - Chopped, always in shape. - Always.
- Always running. - I didn't know Steve Nash
was chopped like that. - Could run forever.
- Yeah, yeah, we had to because that back, man, he had to keep his core tight. - All I remember is Steve Nash
out there throwing them dimes and he kept on putting
his hair behind his-- - Putting it--
- Run at you full court, drop the ball and-- - Get to the free throw line,
hits with that one, 90%. (laughing) - 90% from the line.
- What? - 90%. - So, man, yeah, man, we
definitely wanna show love to my big dogs, Thizzle. - Yes, sir, I appreciate the fellas.
- Coming out, showing love to your man. - Straight up.
- For sure, man. - We got this-- - What do you got? - We got this special Hennessy
VSOP, very special privilege with the special edition knucklehead. - Hell, yeah, say no more. - Yeah.
- You know what I'm saying, man? - Say no more, I'm in there. - This was all fire right here. We got my dogs, Thizzle, STAT,
you know what I'm saying, they're building with the boys. (upbeat music)
I know it's been said, but the Knuckleheads is a great podcast, and goddamn does Quentin Richardson love Steve Nash.
He damn near had to win it after Steve did that 😂
Joe Harris wasn't supposed to be in the contest this year either.
Way to go, Nashty!
Nash on knuckleheads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRFZt9hYtg4
Still mad that Bertans wasn't in last year :(
What was the percentage requirement?
Man I sure do remember when everyone used to emulate doing the Steve Nash hair slick back before shooting the 3.
Good guy Steve