Peace God, Carmelo Anthony | The Why with Dwyane Wade

[Music] [Music] all right everybody Welcome to the podcast I have the pleasure of sitting here with my brother I'm going to roll off a couple numbers that you guys may know he's a 10 time Allstar he's a three time Olympic gold medalist we talk about the other one as we go on um he's a NCAA Champion he's one of the coolest mofos that I know um Everybody call him Carmelo Anthony that don't know him but if you do know him he's the peace guy everybody welcome my brother Melo to the podcast yes yes sir peace peace God peace God peace God hey appreciate you my guy you know that love man anytime um so I wanted to start this podcast because I want to have conversations with people that I admired people that I love to learn from um [ __ ] people that are my friends are my brothers just having a platform to be able to just have conversations is what I wanted and so uh I appreciate you taking the time you know we've had many conversations easy money right here but uh easy uh but I I think you know you do we do a lot of interviews and some of the questions could be the same but when you're talking to someone who who knows you or seen you in in certain situations in life the answers are different facts and so to start this C this podcast off I want to go back to the beginning I want to go back to the Melo that I didn't get to meet I want to go back to Young Melo um so who is who was like young Melo like that that Melo that was in bore that was in Brooklyn yeah for the basketball that we all knew you for I was just a kid you know what I mean I was a kid and Red Hook I was a kid um you know Red Hook at that time was we talking 80s you know mid 80s late 80s early 90s so that you know it was it was very Community oriented right it was the projects you know it was Gatherings it was everything was every building did things together like it was a real real Community oriented and as a kid you look up you looked up to that you look forward to that you know I mean every year every summer you have your your Red Hook day your Paradise day and everybody coming together and his music in the park and his cookouts and his food and his basketball games and so that became what I was looking forward to like you wanted to be known for that at that point in time like I got to be known for the best in the games on Red Hook day and and things like that so as a kid I already had that mentality my brother played you know my cousins played was your brother nice or did my brother was a real deal man I give I always always yeah I always give him his credit man I I I like always give him his flowers you know what I'm saying cuz my brother was the he was the heart and soul of Red Hook you know what I mean in Brooklyn so my family we lived soon as you walk in the building 79 L Rain Street 1 SE we was the first apartment that you had to go to get to any other apartment in the building MH and to the steps so we really ran the the ACT you we The Gatekeepers of the actual building but my family was big in the projects you know we was like one of the staple families in the project so it was always just love community and that's what I that's what I grew up in and then I moved to Baltimore the summer of 92 and I thought the grass was green on that side well my mother you born in what 8485 I was born in ' 84 okay so you 1984 I moved to Baltimore uh summer of '92 yeah and I was hurt yeah hurt but and you so we have you were raised by your mother I was raised by my mom my dad passed when I was two right so I was raised by my mom my my brother sister that side of the family but I was always involved on my other side my brothers I mean with my sisters on my dad's side yeah so they used to take care of me but my dad had a a blended family he's Puerto Rican man he's like everybody's under one roof over here you know what I'm saying so you got to sense a family early on yeah but even though him and my mom wasn't together we still had that it was just that family like he come to the door with my sisters and what we doing yeah Ma what we doing so that was the environment M but that was that was the environment and then we have family in Baltimore that we used to go down there in the summer you know take those trips down in summer in the South and things like that um and then my mom was like yo we going down there and spend this summer and never came back never came back I was hurt man it's like you know when you're a kid right and you got to move you got to uproot you got to go it's the little things you like man my bike my homies you know my this my that and you know you you feel like everything is like they're just taking everything away from you everything that you knew you know I was I was just thinking about friends yeah I was thinking about like growing up in that environment like who I was going to be oh you know friends with growing up this was going to be my crew growing up like you know what I mean as a kid you eight n years old yeah these are the things you just starting to find out you starting to gather your friends you feel you realize who are your close friends and where're friends you know who does what and putting the team together that's when all of that that mindset actually starts so I was just leaving that at that point in time going going to Baltimore so I was estab I already established it but I didn't get a chance to play it out in in in in Red Hook and was it because of was it because of like a career was it your mom moving because a career mov was it just personal hell no Mom was like you know what Red Hook is crazy yeah listen we G to shoot down there for the summer and just get away from from from brookin for a minute okay and she loved it you know what I mean she had aunts and sisters and brothers out already down there you know my brothers was already moving you know back and forth down there anyway so at that point it was like man I'm the I'm the child that don't got a voice I gotta go Gotta Go I ain't going I'm not going so okay so what what do you do like outside of is this drinkable oh that's drinkable that's uh that's Wade cap right there oh yeah I pour that for you because I know love that I know you can enjoy that so outside of basketball which we going to get to we cover a lot of basketball but tell me something else that young Melo did like you know I I've heard a little bit you know you said a couple things like you know I've I've watched you I've watched you when you got paper in front of you you do do a lot yeah yeah of course like what what else did Young Melo yeah I I was um I was called my my name was cello right okay that's never nobody knows that cello cello that was my name in ra hook everybody call me cello all right you know I guess it was Melo cello good you know what I mean Hip Hop was big back then so they called me cello people in Red Hook call me cello so I was cello to people in Red Hook okay if you went back and be like Melo like [Music] yeah never I never understood where that name came from anyway I was in Baltimore and I was known as little New York okay right so you know I came down with the you know with the Anthony Mason in the back like yeah New York little little New York in the back of my head and my haircut yeah you know what I'm saying so that's what I was on I was into graffiti and and art and I used to get in trouble in school for drawing sneakers on the desk and and cartoon characters and Trac and I had tracing books so I used to I used to do all I was a kid I did everything a kid did I played with toys you know uh you know my buddies a black my buddy was one of my one of my the black my buddy black my buddy was my man like you know what I'm saying I had the the the wrestling the WWF uh the wrestlers I used to I love wrestling my mom my mom is a Die Hard wrestling fan so I used to tape my bunk beds like the ring and jump off the top bunk to my brother bed and while he sleep you know what I mean like it's oh you got a lot of weapons then bro your mom tell I stayed in a room with my older brother he had his own bed it was bunk beds my other brother just was on the top yeah and then me and my cousin on the bottom bunk so it's four of us in the in the Square we got to make something happen like I'm the I'm the one that's just liveing there you know what I'm jumping from bed to bed to bed I was when I got to Baltimore to answer your question man uh I just love I used to love drawing um paint you know I never paint I just never understood painting nobody show me how to paint but I know drawing and being creative like understanding you know just taking something and being able to break it down and put something around it and tell a story about I had that so was an outlet it was a yeah it was an outlet I had that as a as a little kid like I always had the vision of like damn if I if I was to do that then I would do it like this like I was always thinking like that as a kid so you were you were you were storytelling I was storytelling like I already had in my mind things that I would do when I was playing Little League football football like you know it was already like in my mind that story was already told M if I did it and if I didn't do it I had a story for that too you know I think that's one thing that's important for let's just say athletes or young young individuals that definitely come from the same Community the jungle where we come from right is understanding that we are storytellers because we have to create our own our own life in our mind we have to we have to close our eyes and and and put ourselves somewhere or Envision ourselves somewhere we have we create our own stories and so we have a skill set of Storytelling that we never tap into naturally naturally to be able to accomplish the things that we we accomplish to get to where we are we had to see it and we had to tell oursel that story no one get no one told us we're naturally gifted right we're naturally gifted right to your point we are storytellers everything that we ever lived experience is a story mhm We Tell those stories so naturally we a Storyteller we can look at somebody and and and understand the story without us even having any dialogue you can look at somebody eyes and understand what they going through right you can see somebody disposition and Aura and energy and understand what they going through so yes we are naturally storytellers but because nobody ever compounded on that hey you can be oh [ __ ] you can be that right we got shot down boy get out of here get the [ __ ] out of here nobody nobody why you drawing that it's like you got you know you got penalized for being creative you know back then and then when I said black my buddy if you ain't had a right you know what I mean toy or black my buddy like you was looked upon as as as a certain person or a certain kid yeah right so even the thought of that is being a Storyteller like I'm able to get this I'm able to have my story around this black my buddy that you don't have right because you don't see the vision you laughing you laughing at right yeah y'all got the white My you know my budy and I got the black I know know was a black my buddy I know I'm cool but I'm only saying that I'm only listen I know the black my buddy things don't go somewhere after this but I'm only saying that because when you ask a very specific question of who was Melo who was cello at that at that moment of seven eight years old yeah this is the things I was into climbing up the window trying to see my brother play outside and trying to understand what what's going on why I can't go outside that's big bro plan why I can't go outside not understanding the environment right the community right right so it was like lot of things as a kid man what at that time what music did you gravitate towards not not you know I'm sure you heard a lot of things because you had older siblings and so you had to listen to what they listen to but what music did you gravitate towards what artist was that that spoke to you that spoke to me or what I like grew up listening like no which one spoke to you I'm sure you grew up listening to it was like at the time where I can really understand the the impact that a lyric is having it was it was Rock Kim my brother used to play Rock Kim it was Biz Marquee you know what I'm saying like Biz was Biz was heavy and I in my household so I always understood kind of had the sound of of music just based off of you know those type of artists they wasn't like everybody else so I gravitated towards those type of artists but as I got to Baltimore you know it was more like uh you know some of not it was purple tape like it was you know what I mean what's purple tape no I mean so the listen we called the they came in a purple tape cassette tape okay okay so we called the purple tape you know what I'm saying in Chicago bro no but it was you know used to call it the purple tape though so you know that was only build for Cuban Link LS right so it was like I grew up on on that type of music that was like the music that was like my soundtrack to my back to my background my backdrop they was I was hearing as a kid everything that I was dealing with yeah they were speaking right to you they were speaking directly to right to what you seen what you experienced they were speaking it all I got is you like you know what I'm saying that song was like played over and over and over like watching that video when the they they in the projects and 7: a.m. plucking roaches out the seral box it's like I could had a big ass cockroach come out this seral box out here you know so you relate to what you're saying so that was that was like my backdrop yeah you know ghost race rayquan wuang and Nas like at early Nas you know it's it's a lot of people even in in my life today that when we share stories like that right cockroaches coming out of the cereal box they they don't understand that we live that life yeah you know what I mean like we like literally cockroaches coming out of cereal box that's that was the life we live roaches whatever you had in your community they came out of everywhere they was friends you see yo what's up you know what I mean bro my dad used to snatch them things off the wall like like it was I hated them but you know I hated them things but that's we a have no choice yeah so so those individuals that you know that you listen to were storytellers once again story they told stories that you can identify with um that made you feel seen that made you feel like you weren alone right U which is important right we understand with kids if you don't see something or someone that's doing something or or that is you know doing a certain act the way that you you know you do them or you've seen them then it's it feels foreign but these artists are telling your story straight to you you like yeah I got Kyro just coming out of Serial box speaking they speaking to you like to that point like I was used like music why you talking about music and what music was doing for me like you know me personally like I need music you know what I'm saying I need anything I do I need music it's it's I'm just the moods of mellow like it's coin that coin that the mood to you know what I'm saying keep that in the pocket Co you know I was just always you know my mom was Soulful my my uncles and aunts they were Soulful you know what I'm saying 9 10 11 12 people in three bedrooms you get so much information as a kid so you start gravitating to sound you start gravitating to who don't like what you know as a family what we like what we don't like so you take all of that so by the time I got to 92 93 94 that only buil for Cuban links was my backdrop you know and I'm actually understanding it better now it's like Dam I just went I went do that so I wanted to be them I wanted to be n not you know be like Nas as a kid like damn because he he talking to me as a as a kid yeah but I wanted to they inspired me as a kid I didn't want to be him like I was smart enough because I grew up with uncles and and aunts who really held things down you know what I'm saying who was had morals and standards and stood tall on on on their Square so I never wanted to follow nobody yeah it was just I would take little pieces of information know sh I see how he moving I see how he talking I you know what I mean like what's what's making it work and what's not one of my uh I mean I probably share this with with you before but or not but one of my favorite moments even over our 20 years of relationship um that we've had was connecting over music I don't know if you remember this moment uh we were on vacation and you played the most jiss I've ever I've ever listened to in my life but we set up we had some wine yep we set up up for hours as you and I and you play me music from your from your upbringing from your community from your hood and I got a chance through that music to understand my friend a little bit better you know what I'm saying music speak to you man music spoke to me and and I can and I can see your your expressions and see what you would when you know when that music hit you like oh listen to this listen to this and I was sitting there listen and I I got a chance through the music of you know a lot of the you know fabulous and you know all the things that you had you had me listen to some fabulous that I ain't never heard some kiss I ain't never heard we had the mixtapes yeah we were going deep into the New York bag it was cool though you know cuz I was we was learning each other like you know what I mean so it a't like we knew everything about each other like now we could talk of 30 years of experience 20 years of experience like then we was dealing with little pockets right of each other so at that moment it was the energy it was the environment that we was in that it was a no judgment zone right and we was all filling each other out like you know what I'm saying as far as like what are the likes of each person you we still sizing each other up in the in the in a in a wonderful way as far as like or what what do he like what he like what he don't like what is he into what he not into we know certain tidbits about each other but that I think that moment was a was a very critical moment in the growth of a friendship yeah because music was like at that point we was vibing like we was just on there vibing we a had no first of all we couldn't go nowhere middle middle of the water is it's it's just the vibe that you ask for you know what I'm saying and so I think the music also enhan you know what I mean the backdrop enhan the music the music enhance Al conversation and that energy well well when I'm if someone is ask me in an interview about about you I always go back to that moment because you know when you compete against someone and you know obviously we're friends you know we get to see each other when we play each other or we get to talk or we get to you know see each other Allstar games but you ain't really getting in depth relationship building and at that moment through that through that moment we bonded bonding and also too I don't know if you remember that was the first time where I uh I talked about my intro in like when I was getting into the wine industry what year was that where we was at uh it was 2014 it was like 20 it was like 2014 20 it was somewhere around that time um I had I was just getting into the wine industry and it was was it New York was it New York Allstar Weekend that that was 2015 2015 but when we were on a vacation I was I was just getting into the wine industry okay okay so it's coming back okay yeah I don't know you remember actually I had some of my wine that I poured that I pour and I pour for you yeah yeah I snuck it in at the time now I didn't tell y'all that I was in it tasted it I just yeah I just had little something just and I was just trying to see what y'all thought about it or whatever case be because it was it was me UCP and and Bri and we just all drinking wine one day I pour some wines that I had brought that's dope that's the way do it yeah yeah just to see how that's the but that's the way you do it like I'm doing it that way you know what I'm saying I'm here yeah you know it was early on I love that I love that right memories you know what I mean perspectives and stories and storytelling yeah I mean cuz it was important for me even like I was entering this this industry of wine which we both are in which we'll get to a little later but it was important for me that you know my you know my journey you were there in the beginning when I didn't drink yeah hell no he ain't drink right I ain't even drink and so it was important for me that like I was like I want see what mellow what Mello face look like cuz I don't know I don't I don't really know what I like yet I'm just entering this industry yeah it's crazy it's crazy the flip side so the flip side of that story while you don't know what you like right I only know what I like right meaning I wasn't as open to exploring other Vineyards and and regions and grapes and I I didn't want to I was so like Avid on I got to have a first growth board up I got to like I'm not drinking nothing else so I got stuck in that first growth bordo New York mindset anything else was like oh I'm like this yeah so no so it wasn't that it was just like I wasn't introduced to anything else it was like once I went from you know Cali Nappa to First growth on my journey yeah D I'm not I'm not doing nothing else so I was on that Journey at the same time you was on that Journey so cool yeah it's crazy that's dope um you know so being a kid man and I I think we all know that pivot that pivotal moment in our life when we looked at that ball and we was like I love that ball I want to not I want to do this for the rest of my life you're not thinking that at that time but you know when you going to sleep you you thinking about it when you waking up you thinking about it when you're in class you're thinking about it what point in your life do you remember early on where basketball became like the thing that brought you your confidence the thing that brought you Joy in the midst of the chaos of growing up in the jungle high school so it was at high school it was high school when I was I I baseball was my first love okay there we go I just learned something what you what what what talk to me about baseball I just love baseball you know maybe it's the Puerto Rican Jee like you know what I'm saying like it's I just love baseball and and when I was in Red Hook we had a court right outside in the right outside the window of the projects right so yeah I love you know I love playing basketball I love going out there on the court I love watching my brothers and family play and Friends Play and I love playing on the monkey bars and jumping off to you know you know imitating being a kid but I didn't know it I just knew it was an activity when I got to Baltimore I got a chance to play Little League Baseball you know you know pop you know baseball and football season I can play football and oh basketball I can play basketball too it was like basketball was like third on the list at that point but I can play it yeah I just had something about it a different style of game that they were seeing down there in Baltimore right so I bought that New York Flash and that you know what I mean that that grit that toughness down there to where I was at on top of the grit and toughness that was already there right said that what is be more basketball at be more basketball is is as tough as it come grit tough uh get to it did y'all played 21 like what would y 21 we play 50 you know what I'm saying We we played 101 we played you know you drive around somebody you calling them out yo me bet it you know what I'm saying like that was the culture yeah this neighborhood got they they basketball player we got out bask you know what I mean let's go play and a lot of that happened outside it didn't happen in the rec no no no so I was intrigued by that part of the game okay getting to it I knew how to get to it as a kid I knew I had to fight I knew I I put I got to push somebody into the fence when I score I got to you know what I mean like it was like you got to exert that energy as a kid you learn that as a kid so in Baltimore coming from New York with that flashiness and you know I a know what the hell I was doing at eight at 9 years old but when you get down there it's like oh I can take my toughness on top of thisg grittiness and this environment that I that I'm in oh this is this is a win-win situation so I had that mentality young but baseball was like baseball I remember just I was first base so you played first base was you were you a hitter were you a home run hitter were you talk to me about what kind of battle you were I was the the I was the the basketb the baseball version of me as a basketball player oh so you went for it yeah I was I was yeah I was going I was I was it it wasn't fun if I wasn't you know what I mean like I was young I was young so it wasn't fun for me to get it to second base like n I'm going yeah you I say that I love baseball because I really was excited about baseball yeah right I was excited about doing the essays to pass the essay so you can go play on you know play make the team and doing book reports I was excited about that I wasn't excited like that about basketball now was base now we know baseball is uh especially growing up uh a white sport yeah in bore when you was playing baseball n so the the the Latino side okay is what we know you understand the Puerto Rican side is what we know America they that's what but you know you know what I mean it's that's baseball and even in New York it was baseball like it was you know hitting rocks and you know playing t- ball and you know baseball in the streets you know and a car is every car is a base like you you know what I mean like this was this was the sport that we had to definitely every car is a base you know what I'm saying we had to figure figure it out but you know home base was somebody stoop so you know what I'm saying these are these are things that I remember vividly you know I'm so when I got to Baltimore I had a Rec Center where I can do all of these things I can go right after school I could sign up for baseball basketball footb they had a soccer team hell yeah I'm signing up for soccer I get to get out the hood I get to get out my block so it's more Latinos in no no there no Latinos noer R I was I was a sore thumb in Baltimore I'm coming there as a little Puerto Rican right you know what I mean I'm looking Puerto Ric you know what I mean they looking at me like oh he's a Puerto Rican [ __ ] from New York oh [ __ ] like little New York you know what I mean so I had to I had to fit in I had to find a way to fit in I have no friends I moved in there in the summer of 92 in June of '92 it was the worst summer Baltimore has ever had in my neighborhood in what way killings drugs homicides everything and that was better than ra hook and it it was like at least ra hook you was in a building like you was in one building you know what I mean you had six floors in the building so everybody Baltimore was like but it was Community I learned what it meant to stand with your community and honor your community and represent those stripes of your community I learned that even though it was rough it was whatever happened you just you immune to that some of that stuff you just be immune to so growing up that way is your mentality at this time when it comes to basketball is it's an individual mentality like we know now as we sit here it's a basketball is a team sport but early on today oh but more so like to win and to do the things that people say it's it's five it's other players out there but did you have a mentality like I got to go get it and it was was it more the individual mentality or was it like oh I'm I'm a pass and I'm going to get this guy a shot or was you like I'm going to get this bucket no I just had an understanding of who I was right as a kid and what I can do I know I can score like you know what I mean like I knew that like I eight nine 10 years old I knew I I'm going to get a bucket some way somehow if I got a hang Court I'm going to get a bucket right so that came from playing as I got older outside because you have to do whatever you have to do to win that one-on-one game MH I don't care what you got to do back down foul hit bully I gotta get this bucket so that was my mentality so when I went to play on the team sport I that was what I was known for being tough being a bully being strong you know what I mean hanging Court trying to get easy back you know what I mean [ __ ] like just he want to get he won a bucket because I knew that win games at that age you know what I'm saying because that's my mentality that I had outside playing one on-one five on five two on two under the lights on the crates you have to get a bucket and that always stuck with me go get a bucket what about the other side what about the defensive side of the game was more Pride it was more pride of it just like someone not scoring on you I'm not it was like I got too much pride like I I can't go back to the block and he talking about he you know what I mean because then that conversation leads to other things you get what I'm saying so it's like no oh yeah no and I also know what I'm representing behind me okay my community my neighborhood my block guys you know I'm representing something bigger than me yeah so even as a kid I I did whatever I had to do it wasn't about just scoring it was like I got to do what I got to do to win this game okay if it's out there I got to you know go rebound I got to go whatever whatever it is at that age you got to go get it whether you need six I got to go get 12 rebound I you got to go get you got to get 12 yeah to win the game so I always had that like the fear of like losing or or not fa I want to say failure just like losing and somebody like [ __ ] s you know what I mean I had that as a I got as a kid man you know so you just you you build this mentality this mindset of just like a no [ __ ] mindset and any situation that you're in you have to go get it so you have Brooklyn rare hooks you have bore but you also got this Puerto Rican s you got Puerto Rico tell me about how that play right how did that play into this whole young mellow that's an interesting story so my dad passed when I was two uh I just I remember going to a funeral I don't remember you know nothing I just remember being being at a funeral and as I got older my sister's my dad's side always took care of me you know I went back and seen them I was my older sister in Puerto Rico no they was in New York they were in New York okay yeah my family was in New York okay right so I would go to Queens I would go to bed you know bed sty you know sister was over there my my grandom on that side was in in bedy uh in in in flat you know in in Bushwick in in Brooklyn so I had family on the Puerto Rican side yeah all over Brooklyn so I would go stay over there and spend spend time with my sister and nieces and nephews and things like you know I was into that side I didn't understand it I just knew this is fun like I come on with my sister I get to hang with my nephew you know sis taking care of me I can get away from Red Hook right right so I had that Duality that you know both sides of that so as I got older and it wasn't until high school when I went to Puerto Rico and they wanted me to play on the N like the junior national team represent Puerto Rico I knew I was Puerto Rican M I didn't know the ties and I knew my dad was Puerto Ric I didn't know how deep it goes right and honestly like that was a moment of like I have to go figure this out I got to start asking questions because now now I'm in this as a this this void of like having not having a dad right it's like damn like I'm about to make it to the NBA like that ain't you know this thing ain't here like I wish he was here I wish my cousin you start having all of these moments I'm doing it for him and and I started to kind of like search man what my dad was into like everywhere I would go in in Brooklyn they were like y your dad you act just like your dad mhm you walk like your dad you talk like your dad like you pop sh like like it's like your whole Ora is your dad I'm like yo what was my what what he was doing right I hope he wasn't no sucker like you know what I'm saying I hope he was no sucker man please but you hear all this stories man I'm just like yo your dad man curlyy my dad name was curlyy called my dad Curley okay curlyy curlyy and even like when I got ex cuse my dad was locked up Upstate for a while they called him Mr Wonderful right he was average sco like 50 something points Upstate in the jail so he was known as fly Puerto Rican fro you know classy you know what I mean tall do tall 66 6566 but he hung with the blacks so it was always that that connection black Puerto Ricans I always knew that connection okay so as I'm on this road of Discovery L gives me a picture for Christmas and I'm in Denver and knowing the it's a painting and knowing the painting it's me as I think it's me as a kid it's my dad but he like in the jail po white beater on red bandana Beret M so I'm like oh other pictures I've seen he got the black trench Lev coat on you know he got the camel lever coat on trench coat like he's turtlenecks you know what I mean throw fly yeah and I'm like nah he this was everyday attire for him that's something different that's looking too powerful for what is that and as I started to discover I realized okay my dad was a young Lord right the young Lords are really basically the the you know the Puerto Rican version side black p black pan right it's the version of the black pands whoever depend on who you actually ask but um yeah that was it right so I started digging deep into who is it what is a young Lord oh the look fly so you start going now I can use the internet now I start pulling up pictures and researching like oh fly like that's why I get it from it makes sense that's my Revolution revolutionary arm yeah seeing that and now I'm going now I can talk intellectually with the guys and the people and the women sitting down with them going to Spanish Harlem and Brooklyn and sitting down and talking to the original young Lords yeah and they're telling me stories and as they telling me stories it's just like so you got your stories about your dad not from your mom sitting there telling you you got it from my mom told me and this probably the realest [ __ ] she ever told me when you ready I'm ready you ain't ready yet though mean I ain't ready what you you on that on you bu come on I'm out man I've been too long man um but n she told me that like when you're ready and you'll know she said you you going to know when you ready yeah when you ready I'll be ready took a while yo so I'm sitting here and I'm thinking how awful 2004 Olympic lost to the Puerto Rico had to feel for when you ready I'll be ready I didn't even think about that I didn't even think about that how losing to Puerto Rico in the Olympics in 2004 it's all about B objective man it's that was oh man now you see the story that I'm telling you is adding up to the moment of don't ask me I didn't play in ' 04 against Puerto Rico oh yeah well I know about that yeah I mean the whole world heard about that St leading up to that right nobody knows wow right yes you're right it's like yo like I ain't I could have I should have played with them I should have played with pu Rico yeah and then I'm over here I left I left PR I just was in PR I left Puerto Rico about to say yay mhm and then I'm like ah I realized that I plan on being in this league for a long time usab is the Pinnacle so at the time Puerto Rico basketball wasn't it you know they was good at great players had good players on the island but it was like I want I I want USA Basketball us was it was it's the prestige yeah it's the highest honor at that time at that time yeah at the time it wasn't where we put it at we lost you understand so I'm I'm break the game I'mma break it down to you from my perspective right' 04 I was going to play with Puerto Rico Bay uh just think about it y you ain't going to never be able to play with USA B all cool all right boom right after that I get the call for 04 Olympics yep cuz all the players opted out everybody opted out so this is telling you where where USA B was at at that point in time everybody opted out mhm all the top dogs opted out yep it was only a couple people left they call us [Music] mhm H hell yeah I'm playing that mindset of I'm going to get to it I put in Olympics I'm going to get to it I don't care I don't care who out there I'm going to get this is my mentality like man I get to play USA Basketball Olympics after my first year in the NBA damn okay like this is what it is like I can establish myself this is Dream Team and we go play that game in no full get the [ __ ] beat out of us and the rest is history the rest is history you know and as it because I'm not playing I'm hearing I'm seeing this the slow death like just unraveling Puerto Rican is getting louder and louder and louder and louder and louder and the game just start opening up oh man you starting to make so much more sense to me now I thought you was just pissed that you weren playing because you were you were that guy like right like you a 20 point score as a rookie bro this is why I don't speak you understand this is I you know it's a time for everything but no I wasn't pissed off because I wanted to play I knew what I was up against right but I also was a little bit tight because we were killing on the exhibition right the Young Guns we were hooping we were hooping yeah so when we get to the Olympics in my mind I'm like oh this is our role on the team come in bring en bring en if we down bring it back up if we up keep it up yeah that was my mentality and then it's like we get to match up with Puerto Rico so like damn like I was about to play that's the team I'm about to play with yo we got to get them like I got to play today shout out to caros World shout out to Lo shout out to Lo yeah man got to I have to play in this game and then you don't play okay and then you you know at the end you get caught as a 19 20 year old oh what you think about Puerto Rico shout out to Puerto Rico yeah shout out to out right away shout out to Puerto Rico yeah like I'm not about to say nothing bad about Puerto Rico yeah shout out to Puerto Rico that was a great game about Puerto Rico yeah what do you I don't know don't ask me I I didn't wasn't in there I wasn't in there don't ask me but I wasn't saying it like disrespectful I was just saying it like a teenager would say it right I don't know man go like I ain't play going ask him it's the it's the image it's the it's the no shirt on oh it was crazy it's the that you had the backwards head on it was it it was crazy man it was the image that they put out there image that they put out there on the sideline I know that image I have that image in my in my crib just on the sideline I'm just I look at it every time that's what [ __ ] started really okay so stand on that same wavelength of your father let's talk about fatherhood right and so I know as as we you know how we are man we whether we're raised by our father or we're not raised by Our Father we always want to be better right I'm going to do it different I'm going to do this I'm going to be a better father whatever the case may be so how did you approach early fatherhood when it came to being a young parent yeah with cayenne yeah I didn't know I looked at it as yo Dam I got my son like you know what I mean like I got a son like we gon to have fun together yeah I was projecting what I was missing meaning not having my dad around at two and growing up in Baltimore Red Hook I'm projecting [ __ ] that I used to say like damn man what my dad could see this yeah yeah this game one what my dad would have did you know what I mean he' came outside and seen me me fighting all you know what I mean like little things like my dadd never teach me how to ride a bike like those things is like damn as you get older so when Kai came it's like holy [ __ ] I get to do this all over you about to ride a bike in three months you know that was the the actual excitement like I was it was more like a little brother to me at that point in time because I was always the little brother and I always crave for a brother like a not a younger brother like that I wish I had a younger brother that I can be a big brother to so when Kai came I was still in that like damn man I get to I'm going take all the game I'm taking them over here we G to do this and I'm going dress them like this and I'm take like all the things that you wanted to do he was your black my buddy he was my black my and yo but that's so real right when you really put it in in into two perspectives yeah right it was a void of it was something that I was wanting that I was needing that I was yearning which was the my buddy to be around to have he was my little brother now that I put the you know the knowledge to the to everything it's like that was my little brother that was the the part I was yearning so I felt good with the black my buddy with Kai it was the same he was my black my buddy at that point in time yeah and that's a that's a true fact and I carried it like that my he going everywhere with me it's my son this is my it's my first born this is seed this is this is me yeah I'mma do what I didn't have with my Dad I'm I'm going to do it all I'm going get everything I didn't have house I ain't never been to ha house going to yeah hell yeah hell yeah we going to H we want to go to three come on it's whatever you want to do yeah you know what I mean so it became I was able to have some type of standards and morals that he can look up to as a little kid growing up one two even though he probably didn't understand it he saw mhm my dad wake up boom here boom there like he's going to work mhm so as he get old he understand all right there you going to work like I go get to it I I get it you start having that type of Report with him you know you start having that type of Report with him to the point where now it's like we can sit here just like this and have that report right and you would still be my son but I also feel like that that void is fil yeah of the black my buddy yeah because I got I got you you know what I'm saying I got you that void that void is filled that's real I know I I know about it obviously I had zier when I was 19 20 years old so let's let's move on to some hoop bro all right let's let's move on to can I pour man you can do please pour me some as well so first of all as I think about you po I remember being in New York a couple summers ago maybe like two years ago we uh we went to the restaurant and bro we poured you poured so much wine you remember that we were there bro at about 5: in the morning a good day good day good sit in the restaurant about 5: in the morning we 51 minutes in wow okay we rocking um let's talk about let's go to hoop bro so now high school was when you you start having when you was in bore High School yeah what made you leave bore and go to oakill how did that what happened there Force I was forced out you got to get out of bore you got to go oh okay you got that kind of forced out you got to go ain't no you gotta go don't even play around with this yeah I'm not going nowhere I'm I was hiding the day they came to get me to drive me to oill and my man in the pe's like in the projects like you bet not answer the phone don't somebody come to the door you haven't seen me I'm not going to oill bro I'm not going to oill why oill so let me go back to your question though so it was a point in time so I went to high school at talson Catholic you know got to get to school I have a way you got to get to school two hours one hour and a half train somewhere whatever CS people on the Block whatever MH I was always late because of you move a little slow though bro you you know you yeah I do I do little mellow I do so imagine 6:00 a.m. 6:30 mellow it's like at that age but now I just but I I couldn't be slow because I had to meet my times I had to this bus is is based off of this train is BAS to this connect yeah so you got to be you got to be H it so every time I was just always like walk in the door Time Boom so I step foot the bell ring all right cool I ain't late go to class but I want up my transcript started being crazy because I was enrolled in two schools coming out of eighth grade I was going to another high school with with my my my man Kenny Kenny Miner right so he was going to dumball high school which was the prestige High School one of the powerhouses of high school basketball I was going to go there I was about to I started to go I was enrolled in Dumar High School being and my best friend we cool boom boom we the only two from West Baltimore going to school in East Bal it was just like what are we doing but anyway as I'm going to school stepping foot into the the classes at sometimes like two weeks into school I get talson Catholic saying the financial aid goes through so now I can go to talson C originally I wanted to go to talson kathle that's the C League was the best thing and you know what I mean like caic league is but you couldn't get in at first I had to wait for fin which is a whole another story I never even knew my mom was paying to find you get what I'm saying like this I thought I had a scholarship cool that's whole another beef I got with with that so I'm like oh cool tson Catholics I'm going like I just I Boogie I just go to talson Catholic I don't unenrolled if that's a word I didn't unenroll from from from is that a word uned something unrolled I unenrolled you know what I mean it's a word on this podcast I didn't unenroll from Dum bar so my transcript never was closed on that side so by the time I got to my junior year number one player it was what am I'm I going to do next year you can't you can't come back here you can't come back you causing too much trouble you causing too many problems bringing too much attention to the Catholic to the you know what I mean to the arch dasis is like and no you don't want to cut your hair you know what I'm saying it's like oh I'm dealing with all of this yeah I had detentions because it wasn't I was like bad it was my tie wasn't straight my head was a certain length I could wear this this type of boot but I can't wear that like you know what I mean so they was really like he was on your first prince of B they was picking with me like you know what I mean it was they was really picking with me and they used to get me detentions and I used to get detentions and add on so after the after the school year my junior year they told me I have to make my detentions up I got to come down Summertime Summertime right we Deep In Summer now I got to get back up there two hour never want to come back up here in the summertime two hours get on train I don't got no ride up there and you want me to come do detentions so I said you know what I'mma go up there do do like 2 three days we sitting there clapping chalk you know chalk powder and [ __ ] like that washing the desk and I'm not doing this no more man this is crazy just to get my transcript just to pass and go to my senior year you bugging just kicked me out my transcript was so bad because I was enrolled at dumball high school so I couldn't get my transcript I had to go to summer school I had to go to night school that summer before I went to oill to get my grades up M so now I'm in lean on me like the Lean on Me school I'm coming through in the craziest High School in Baltimore City Douglas Frederick Douglas High School night from 4: to 8 from 4 to 7: anything and everything you can imagine is happening in at night school but I'm cool I got to do I gotta get my I gota get my grades my transcript is messed up so I did all of that to go back to tal Catholic for them to tell me I can't come back so at that point it was like oh [ __ ] y'all [ __ ] y I'm going back to dumbar we going to be the top dogs and now I'm who I am no one playing you're number one player at this time like in the state though so I that the state is mine at this point you know what I mean the city and state is mine me and my man Kenny we we running the whole city at this point in time so I get a call I had committed to Syracuse my junior year on my birthday that was like my own my birthday gift to me I committed that summer happens somebody calls and say yo you getting out of Baltimore not the somebody call somebody called somebody called you know I don't know if he really want me I I like to somebody called somebody called and was like yo you going to Oak Hill you getting the [ __ ] out of Baltimore like you better not go to Dum you can't go to you can't spend your senior year in D yeah you can't W it's imp possible you already on that path of going left like no you we getting you the [ __ ] out of Baltimore and he had a real conversation with me yo if you don't go man like you really putting a lot of things at Jeopardy M all right cool yeah all right man like I'm sitting outside on my steps and on my block man all right cool man yeah all right man whatever yo Kenny look they call you don't answer they come to the crib don't answer you ain't see me in a couple days I'm not going to O bro and I went down there they like let's go down there to visit go down there to visit we drove down there in the middle of the night let me out they peeled off left me old kill in the rest is history I call my mom yo mom I don't know where I'm at please send me a bus ticket send me a Greyhound ticket when you there son like don't call me man like figure it out figure it out that's how Melo got to oill that's got to that's the oill story wow yeah so I had to do summer school at Oak Hill so I couldn't go to no camps my junior year going to that summer in between junior senior I had to get my grades right okay so I had to go to that's why Sun Eva Carol allowed me to go to Adidas and I was at a joy in school because Nike had me on the waiting list on the honorable mention or waiting whatever was back then many W to go to Nike Camp to go to Nike Camp bro you still feel aware about that I just seen it in your face yeah bro what all right cool so I'm mad I can't go to camps that summer that's I'm just mad cuz I'm missing Nike you want to go hoop and you one of the best or I can't go to Adidas ABCD cuz I'm at oill which is a Jordan school so it's like can't do that I'm missing Eastern Invitational I'm missing five star I'm missing like the yeah this is my summer going to my senior year and I'm sitting at Old killing trees and woods and cows and like a this ain't life bro so at this point so your junior year all right now you're the number one player in the state is NBA like why not I've heard you say this so many times why not it just seemed too farfetched it it was it was NBA to me was like The Wiz like the wizard of odds like it was like like no that's impossible to make it like you get so hammered down and you would never make it you would never make it you would never make it statistics right you become one out of every 5,000 like million bro you hear that I was saying that since eighth grade so cancel them basketball dreams and cancel them going to make it cancel your dreams they not coming to West Baltimore to Myrtle Avenue to come get you so get that dream out your head like go be a cop firan even nice man them dreams is wased they kill your dreams before you even have a chance to dream that's real and we don't even know that we just oh that's tough be tough be tough no you constantly tell somebody man you ain't going to make it you ain't going to make it you ain't going to make it you ain't going to make it yeah stop thinking like that you a you a killer kid yeah and you you get what I'm saying so you becoming to I'm not going to make it right you right like and then you start seeing stories of how hard it was for guys to make it to the NBA and videos man that a I can't do that that's impossible it's different today every kid think they gonna make it right every play basketb make I think it was a fleeing thing for me like just to kind of like I ain't going to make it so let me stop thinking about that I don't right cool I'm moving on to something else like block that out because of those statistics and just the the people saying that you ain't going to do [ __ ] like you ain't gonna be nothing biggie was right man you ever Slinger crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot right you know what I'm saying your teachers is telling you you hearing these from your teachers these are the leaders these are the the Educators Scholars is telling you oh put that ball down so do you understand why they were saying that or do you feel like they shouldn't say that period to kids do you understand I understand why they said now now but you still don't say right the way that they said and how they say right is right wrong is wrong but right was wrong you know what I'm saying and and those cases like you got to encourage kids like if that's your dream right boom then this is what you need you need do everything I'm do my part as a leader as a scholar as a educator to help you get to that not shut the door on you when they tell you to write your goals and your dreams on the little index card and you write it down and they like ah basketball player NBA why get out of here right well you'll be right over there in a couple like it's so that's the well going into the next year I mean I see images I see video and I didn't know the story beforehand but I do know when I got introduced to Caro Anthony and a lot of it was because LeBron James right for me because it was these two powerhouses and I didn't even know nothing about neither one of y'all because I got you know we different time yeah yeah of course but was it Oak Hill when you and Brian got introduced to each other or was it before Oak Hill that you knew so it was I'm I mean as you I'm a year older a grade older right so I was uh we go to USA Kent us it's crazy this the irony of I just came back from that with cayenne the same thing yeah like it's it's crazy I'm sure you'll get to that but that's crazy sitting there I was there in 2001 doing the [Music] same that's crazy the same D I'm sitting there like he like yo dad why you so serious that you don't understand what's going on to my mind right now but that's that's another but so we meet really at USA okay on the invite where they invite everybody and they break the teams down to north east south you know what I mean so and this is what year this this is I want to say 01 okay 200 I want to say around 2001 okay and we there and it's like you just catch the energy of in those type of environments when you're around all the players like good players you Auto guys automatically gravitate towards each other without you even saying nothing and slowly by the time that camp is over y'all going to be you link you link what you got and slowly we was building that M you you get what I'm saying we was slowly building that we ain't know what we was building but it was like yo oh he seemed cool like he got good energy like all right cool we hang out after the courts you know after practice go outside at night everybody outside the girls Team guys team we just you know we we all there having a good time outside talking [ __ ] and playing with USA basketball and after that boom it was and like no communication you how the fu we going to communicate it's a whole different world time going back over there going back to be I might I never see you you going Ohio you going to be I might not never see you ever again but it was real you know what I'm saying if we do meet it's real yeah and go to oakill the year before I went to oakill they play oakill St Vincent St Mary's play oakill they they Lo they lose St Vincent lose St Vincent's lose to O kill yes if I'm not mistaken I come the next year so now they already got a two-year deal of playing each other this year and next year you know it's the get back MH I'm not thinking about this is the get back for him you know what I mean like this is the second time he's playing low kill they just beat them like oh oh now the hype I get it so that's when we met like now we like meet at the hotel boom and it's like damn you me similar situations you gr up with your mom gr up with my mom like some upbringing you know what I mean like I'm telling him my story he telling me his story and like we connecting on little little pieces M man little brother Dam I wish I had a little brother too you know what I mean like it's and you know it's like oh like oh okay and then you became interested in his story I became interested in his story but by the time I'm interested in his story I got to run out on the court and play him so it's the build up of all of this I just I'm sitting here I'm a senior he's a junior so we sitting here then it's Allstar Weekend in Philly I'm hyped about Philly I ain't thinking about the game I'm hype about Man Who coming to the game like how you get over it I'm the number one player I'm trying to get to Philly right the hype is in Jersy so we play you know the game happens and the buildup yeah to that was so astronomical like for high school basketball at that point of time and to be honest I had no understanding of what what it was I was just like man I get I get to play against Brun like [ __ ] this is this is Big Time nice let's go yeah that's it I got to get to it that's only thing I'm thinking man can't get you can't get best of me you know what I mean like every it was oh was a game so the game was in Jersey game was in Jersey was in Jersey yeah they The Prime Time shootout in New Jersey they put that game together you know son of a c you know what I mean you know how the inner workers of all of that work it's it's it works you know what I mean it's air the movie air yeah you know what I'm saying know we experienced I was a part of that experience on his behalf so it just just so happened I was older well a year older I had already committed to go to Syracuse um and that was the game that was marked on the schedule for o kill that was the game and just so happened I was a part of that if I wasn't there that game would have still been marked on the schedule right so me coming into that fold is like now we really got some action you en heightened it like you took that moment to a whole another level yeah we got motion now oh now this we got put this on TV yeah now they TV game ESPN you get what I'm saying this is where all of that kind of started was that the first TV game was that the first big TV game I want to I want to say that but I don't want to be you know I mean you know they fact checked out here now but you know I want to say that but I could they keep receipts they keep receipts they keep receipts you got to be careful and now you've committed to cuse already and I have this iPad just to show you the photo that you probably know and You' seen but this is for everybody else right so bringing me back now you go to now you go to Syracuse yeah you you've committed your junior year you've been you know where you going yes you play one year Syracuse um I always on I go on record to say the first time I seen Melo play in person was uh in New York at Madison Square Garden we were in the same tournament we didn't play each other but we was in the coaches versus cancer tournament to start of the year off we played Memphis y'all play Memphis yes and we played Villanova yes and and I'm sitting there and I'm watching this player that I've heard about in high school they supposed to be nice but I'm like you know I'm kind of hating a little bit like let me see what this and he older he older I'm older I'm sitting here I'm you know I'm my second this I'm a sophomore in basketball but I'm a junior I was supposed to be a junior but I set out a year so I'm sitting here and I'm watching you had like 30 you would get like you would get you would get into the money look so easy and I was sitting there like damn I ain't never seen like I ain't never seen this up close in personal it you were doing it with a smile you doing it with a flare you were just hoping and I was like this the best I think this the best basketball player I watch with my with my own eyes because man I ain't seeing MJ and all with my own eyes but in my eyes I'm like this is the best player I've ever watched I walked away from there like yo this another one picking the draft next year yeah in my mind now I've never seen LeBron at this time right and so we you go through that year and obviously it ends it ends this way right wow right this is how it ends this is Young 19 how old are you I was 19 you were 19 when you got to Syracuse that's the moment this the moment right here I remember that moment what was going through my head at that moment but I'm going let you ask the question when you got to Syracuse was this moment something you you dreamed of you thought that was possible never okay and if you notice my story is always never did you dream about the NBA never did you think about winning a national championship never never because it was those things wasn't reachable to me those was never my goals and also I had a problem with attachment at that point in time during my teenage years because of everything I was getting attached to taking away cousins family friends every time B gotta go B you know what I mean everywhere oill T C gotta go oill next year boom Syracuse one year it's like I'm on my whole career was like double dutching almost you know what I'm saying so I never got a chance to really reflect on anything that I've ever done so my point is I never thought about college it was just like yo I want to be I mean about leaving college or winning the national championship it was Dam I want to go to college I want to be there yo it's crazy you just thought about college Years going to be CRA like this was when you go to college you stay four years yeah there wasn't a culture of leaving one and done like no I never even heard of that that was like oh he did that he is special he one it done right it was like four people that's unicorn like yeah that's like coming straight out of NBA and and producing right I'm like nah like man don't might do that like I'm like man I'm going to school I'm planning for three four years CRA I'm about to be I'm about to be on campus going crazy because that's what I grew up underneath people going to school for three four years and building as they get you know the more years you campus you know the moreing people and you know what I mean it's like this is what college is supposed to be about I'm not thinking going one and done never even crossed my mind when I did a press conference after we won it everybody thought I was kidding when I said I thought you supposed to stay in school for four years not one I was dead ass serious when I said that because they was CH one more year and I'm like why y I might come back he's like what y talking about one more it was it was a pep it was a pep rally I'm like I might come back if we don't win this I'm coming back even if we do win it I might come back yeah you like n you win this your asses out like nah bro I'm coming back like I'm just it take you a year in college to get your feet wet you got to especially you got to go through the weather you got to go through not seeing people the ups and downs every FL of college then you got to go through the winter the falling winter to get to the spring in in the Good Times by the time you get to the spring in the good times it was time for me to go so I'm like and we just won it I kind of experiment College I'm coming back your college experience wasn't really an experience I was at the end right and I was like oh this is what college is supposed to be about before it was like 30 Ines of snow you still got to go to class you right so you got April and May I got March a may turn up turn up got three months up to turn up yeah so for the listeners out there and we we talked about it before uh I seen Melo play that first game but I never met Melo until the final four yes until we both were in the final four it was Syracuse it was Texas it was Kansas and it was Marquette wow what did you think of what what was you thinking at that time what you thinking about like obviously Syracuse in Kansas and Texas and then Marquette talk to me about what was you feeling the way I felt Mar about Marquette was the way that people felt about cuse we wasn't supposed to be there right y our cards was so stacked against the deck Oklahoma Texas Kansas Oklahoma State Auburn Manhattan was the first game which was a tough game until we opened the game up at you know what I mean at the end but that was a stacked deck against us so every game that we won by the time we got to the final four it was like man we here man we don't care what you know what I mean we here man we going to go out here and just play our game just have fun yo we here 60,000 like we don't play our game and hoop we win we win we don't we don't we already overachieved we overachieved when we beat Oklahoma nobody thought that they was number one seed beat them almost about 20 we overachieved when we was down 16 the Oklahoma State I have came back came back yeah I remember that overachieving Texas in the fin we overachieved Auburn Maris Daniels and we overachieved wasn't supposed to be in no Mar Daniels was nice too you know what I'm saying we wasn't we wasn't supposed to he was killing our Zone in the middle of the Zone like we wasn't supposed to beat those teams so every game we just gain confidence so by the time we get to the final four it's like we looking at it hey I know Marquette probably CR ain't nobody saying that they gonna win it's like we saying the same thing about Marquette but it's like but we got to meet Marquette like it's like man [ __ ] Texas I mean Kansas and we don't want them like we we already five and four and0 against the Big 12 right we want to play in somebody that's different we want Marquette and we actually thought we was going to play yall bro like we was in the real chair like [ __ ] yo go get this [ __ ] get that cuz you had just came off the quadruple double whatever triple double versus Kentucky came off of that so I'm like yo we and y'all on the other side yeah so we rooting for y'all yeah we supposed to meet y' in the finals right so like yo they yo Mar D way going to do it he going do it every time yeah we going do it we got to play these [ __ ] Texas Kansas I just knew we were going to play Syracuse dog it was it was it was so crazy man now that we can reflect back on that a lot of thing it was written like that was the play that was the play you understand what I'm saying like yeah to be honest like yeah it's me and Braun that was the story me and you and the championship and find the fin a national championship that I'm just saying you talk about putting things in perspective like what what I don't I don't like doing what could have been or what if it is what it is right but that could have been something totally different I'm like my mind cuz in my mind at that time I'm like all right was going we the we the we the it's the perfect matchup because we got Shooters they got Zone they got length they got we got so my mind I'm like this is the perfect matchup for us I ain't saying Overlook Kansas cuz they obviously they were they beat they beat our ass and you w Overlook in Texas but I wanted the Syracuse match up because I felt we matched up better versus y'all than we did versus anyone else so I was like all right get get the Z because we had slashers y' had slash you was slashers and we had sh we had Novak the shooter we had D Sho you knew how to slash you was 10 out Zone up right and I'm slashing yeah and so I'm like okay that's why we was like we got that's Aller that's all but yeah man that was the again man I get a chance to reflect on all of these years cuz I never had a chance to yeah when you playing you just you're so you're so focused and committed on went from junior year to oakill in a in in a couple months oakill to Syracuse in a couple months sahu to the NBA in a couple months and it's like every season just started to compound and then like you don't get a chance to reflect it took me n 10 years to watch the national championship game cuz you don't have that time to just to back yeah sit back and it's not so you start wondering why everybody feel like it's 10 years later why everybody talk about the cuses it been done yeah when do you understand it you start learning it understanding you start putting things into perspective and you start appreciating it a lot more so I'm sitting there and I'm watching you um you got so my bird's ey view right you you down on the Rec and you have a whole another emotions and everything going on I'm up here I'm furious inside you got your own emotions I got my own emotions and I'm sitting here and I'm and not not from you I don't know you like that but I'm sitting here and I'm like oh I'm coming back next year yes because in my mind no we I want that he was close I'm too close I'm coming I'm coming back I got two more years elge coach I'm coming back M I'm very similar to I'm sure that coach beheim told you get your get your ass up out of here he did he did he did man it was when I got back when we got back off the plane coming from New Orleans that year it was Mayhem it was Mayhem like from the airport to the campus came imagine crazy it's about 10 to 15 miles from the airport to the campus about 10:15 it was packed took us damn near three hours to get from the airport to the with people so I had a parade without the parade right no bu par we a even had a parade yet it was just you couldn't go yeah you just was there so by the time we get to campus the part [ __ ] is burned down cars is burned trees you know what I mean like it's real national championship college atmosphere and couple days go by and you like come to the office now that now that we calm down and you know I got the monkey off my back that's what he say he got the monkey off his back he say what you doing man like what's talk to me I'm getting agents calling oh you know teams is calling NBA teams why damn I'm trying to hit the party later on man I ain't trying to talk about no agent no NBA like like I'm trying to go we got the party on the quad I'm going to the party of the Quad I'll see you later 19 years old be I'm not thinking about no I'm not thinking about man you handled like you talk to that I a you talk to that right I'm going I'm going to enjoy this moment and for two weeks straight we just party on campus like it was you know what I mean like Syracuse was they've been in that position before in 83 8 like 87 I think Keith smart hit this same shot from the corner that hakeim blocked in the same stadium wow Indiana smart yeah Mike Woodson in there yeah yeah he drained that shot in that corner I remember ke Hit That Joint shout out to ke that shot bro like so when that shot is Going H blocks it is [ __ ] changes it's it it freezes because in our mind this is all we was playing was that shot in the corner by keep smart so by the time we get the Q back the qes fast forward we sit down and he's just like what you doing I'm like man I'm about to had a press conference and saying I'm coming back what said what listen I'm going out there we do the Press if you say that you you coming back you're not allow back I'm going to say it on National televis you're not allowed back so yo why you kicking me out like I'm like I really starting to love this like I'm really starting to love this place you trying to find a home you trying to find a family you I've been on the road for three years just boom boom boom boom so cuse is like finally I could rest my head it's home I won right I'm good here ah for life and you telling me to go he told me get my [ __ ] and go I don't want to see you back on this campus leave your stuff though like you can leave everything you you could buy more of that like she got to go go nowhere man I'm still in the I'm still in my apartment I'm still driving around Camp I'm not going nowhere this man is crazy and I did the press conference with him and the press conference I'm like shed a tear man like [ __ ] man like I gotta leave Gotta Go Gotta Go so to not go through every step of the way you go right you were the number three draft pick mhm and one of the most iconic drafts mhm um in the world in 2003 one of the most iconic drafts ever um you go to Denver yes at the third pick you're a Jordan athlete which it's a big deal yeah right you got your own me you got your own mows and you you know you got that whole swag um tell us about Denver tell us about that experience um coming from where you come from right coming from New York coming from bore Syracuse I love Denver Melo okay right from the simple fact that I'mma keep reiterating I was 19 20 like 19 so coming into an organization a city it's like here like like here help you know we had just won 16 17 games year before like I UND I understood that coming into that to Denver I never thought about Denver though I thought I was going to Detroit so Denver was never in my mind so you thought you were going to be the number two pick in the draft that was sold it was done yeah which was how you were told that and you I was told told that okay yeah by him you know I'm I'm I want to get with him one day but I was told that by him that you going to be the pick so in my mind my confidence shoots straight up I'm on campus and I get this inform oh this is you give I'm getting Detroit sweatsuits I'm getting the practice basketballs I'm getting B I'm getting NBA socks with like I'm Detroit pissing in college right then it don't happen so I never when did you know it wasn't going to happen draft day so you you didn't know until draft day yeah I kind of have inkling but they was talking about dark talking they started talking about Detroit and anytime somebody start talking about something all a sudden some [ __ ] is happening so as we hearing it about Darko oh we shoot to Detroit we got to go find where Darko was working out we got to get to it D way we got to find him man where they hid him at right we going to work out with him we D we P we pulling up they was ducking they was hiding no no he's not in that gym he's BR where is he at first of all Detroit Pistons is in Detroit this kid is working out for Detroit Pistons so somebody know where this kid is at we going to find him we going to every gym we this is true story we going to the gym we want Darko we want to work out wait so wait hold on so you we want to we wanted Detroit we want to work out we want to find him to show like I'm the number two I might be the number one pick is what I'm saying like so I got to prove that and you now you tell me I'm going be number I ain't going to be the number two pick and I think I might be number one Pi now I know okay Cleveland they may take braon but they' be a fool if they don't take braon right so I'm I know that and I'm already got the basketball from Detroit sweatsuit Detroit bags I'm going to Detroit so yeah I got to find this guy wherever he's at I'm going to I got to get to him I got to get to him I got to play him I got to show what time it is with these Scouts I like that so they gave us a run around come back to the draft you know draft week now the Detroit conversation picking up with dark go and it's like who the [ __ ] is this guy man who is this guy came out of nowhere who is this guy came out two weeks ago we sitting down it's a picture that me and Brun is sitting like at an angle and he I'm like leaning this way he's like talking to me and he's like yo you was there he like yo you next so I'm like yo he like man we gonna be playing you in Detroit I'm in rival Detroit Cleveland y man get the call Y Detroit say they taking Darko at the at in the green room before the number one pick though okay y we got to shift to Denver like Denver yo I ain't work out for Denver like I ain't I had a terrible workout in Denver I went to Denver almost died that altitud it was rough in that altitud I did five spots in sell listen Kiki B was like M up come on come on come on we can't no no come on we ain't going to let nobody see this come on ain't going to let nobody see this I was dying yeah that altitude was crazy crazy D I was dying please K you work with me two in a row and move like I was dying you know but I never I had a go I I had one work out and then so wait did you work out for Detroit or you just worked out for Scouts I was supposed to work out for Detroit I didn't work out for nobody for nobody none Den was like the only one I worked I was going to Detroit to work out they cancel my workout M and then come to find out they was working out Darko so I'm like oh hell no so footage came out I seen the footage when they was working on dark in the in the high school Jimmy shooting left fan H and all that yeah I know the footage I was going there where is yeah open the doors I'm going to that high school man open the doors man bang bang open the door I'm here like let's go let's get to it right they was giving me the run around and at that point I just I started going back to throwing up and every time somebody tell me they going to do [ __ ] is taken away so [ __ ] it I don't give a [ __ ] Denver it is this is what we doing this is how I'm carrying it out there in Denver you want me to come out there y'all just won 17 games 18 games I'm feeling out a high I just won a national championship but I I don't I don't have a ego I'm coming in like trying to work with Marcus CI Vashon Leonards you know what I'm saying like they my vets Andre Miller errl boy those are my life vets so now I'm like I ain't coming and trying to take a spot bro they are giving me this [ __ ] like I can't give it back I it's not like I got to I had to work for this [ __ ] like right no they threw me the keys they threw you the keys they do Braun the keys and said Drive figure it out as you go build the car while you while you drive it go I don't know what kind of car but go just go and build it and that's the spot that I was in in Denver so I always played with a edge I always played with like it's it wasn't a nervousness it was just like a sense of like this [ __ ] could be taken away from me so I was always afraid of it being taken away from me which is I why I always approach the game the way I approach the game the Denver the did Detroit ever say why they why they decided to go with Darko over you no man they no they never said it n i mean I want to sit down you I'm a man now you know what I mean I want to sit down I want to sit with Joe Dumas like sit and like yo what's up like let's build let's talk like I don't got no I want to know what Tope you know cuz we talk about [ __ ] that could have been different you know what I mean and I got I had to like grow out of that as a man and be like you know [ __ ] that [ __ ] like I ain't it's written you know what I mean like maybe if I went there [ __ ] would have been different you feel what I'm saying like who knows like but you that's the older me the younger me is like man I was in Detroit right [ __ ] I was an hour away from bore Dam you imagine we had Detroit along with the culture and the vibe and the love that Detroit already have like we would have been more the city we' have been crazy out there so the the video of Darko comes out that we see two weeks before the draft right my heart I'm going tell you what happens on my side man I worked out for 13 teams 14 days 15 days or something like that but anyway I get a late call to go to Denver like the day before the draft I'm like so now I'm like why am I here like I'm not supposed to be top three pick why am I here you did yes you did so I go to work out of Denver that altitude jumped on my they had me work out with like a junior college uh guy right we hooping I don't know I don't remember his name I don't want to disrespect him but I feel like I did my thing anyway I go into the office with Kiki and I'm like Kiki why am I here y'all like they taking dark at too y'all taking mellow why am I here he was like well just in case Detroit take mellow at two that's why you here so now I'm in all the fluxes all I don't know where I'm going in life now at this point me either Kiki tells me yo it's either you or D way he tells he's telling me this yo if you if you there it's you or dwade this is what he's telling me he's telling me this so I could have been in Detroit and you could have been in Denver definitely Darko would have been in in Miami they needed a big they wanted a big they needed a big this was what Miami needed at that point in time big yeah they had to figure out what to do with you they couldn't let you pass on the board right they just grabbed me up we going to make this work with him yeah yeah you feel what I'm saying yeah so [ __ ] could have been totally totally totally different bro but it's a blessing you know what I'm saying it's it's good to that we can the what ifs of it you know what I mean at this point in time let's move on to New York yes big move I remember was it it was around Allstar Weekend when it start coming out that you were you know that you were moving from Denver yeah right it was around Allstar Weekend and Y forget where we were it was allar La it was La allar okay I remember when this news started coming out that Melo was it was it was it was over the relationship was it was over and you went to New York at all places now mind you on one end you're going to New York which is incredible but on the other end New York is building they had just got Amari that summer Rond Fon Raven Feldman so they and they were balling they was Allstars yeah Amari was MVP Runner like Le of the Season yeah first half of the Season that was our two that was a 2010 summer yeah right we 2010 the big three in Miami Amari goes to New York he was the first move to go to New York that summer big move for New York they're balling Amari hooping and then Allstar Weekend the trade happens in melow goes to New York talk to me about it what are you thinking did you want to go there New York never was the place though like oh okay it was people people think that like I went in there and was like get me out of here to Denver like that never was the case you understand the case was hey I see what's happening here 08 okay we building 09 we take a step and go to Western Conference Finals play the Lakers we battle now we now we now we understand where we at compared to the Champs like compared to the Lakers and the San Antonios and you know those teams now we we have a a taste of that like me personally is like yo I can get it just I we got get there I'm going to get it I am going to get it if we we two plays away from winning that you know what I mean it's like we win that series after two plays so in my mind it's like yo T I just need y'all to let's get there let's dominate Dallas let's not play around with them let's dominate New Orleans CP and them let's not play around with them let's show everybody we serious we want the Lakers we this is our time to like get Trump Trump the Lakers mhm whatever happened in the series it happened that next following year my mind Hey this is what we had we analyze the series Analyze That team we plug and play put this place right put this person here oh we might lose this person but we going to get somebody let's just plug and play we ain't got to reinvent nothing we already there we Two Pieces away right whatever those pieces were we Two Pieces away you trade Dante Jones which was at that point was a pivotal piece for our team the type of team we had T was great with you know what I mean great leader locker room guy great guy great teammate great great person great man you get rid of him I'm telling you yo Dante take less just oh give him this just give him give him another 750 like I know I'm saying like 750 is but give it to him bro like you going to let him walk away to go over here so you felt like they for a million dollars more so you're going You're trying to go this way you final I'm going this is my chance to get to the to the finals right cuz I know we beat the Lakers we sweeping Orlando that year and that's just real talk and this is 2009 2010 Seas this is Lakers sweep Orlando that year almost mhm we beat Orlando well regardless of what anybody thinks we would beat Orlando that year okay so this is the Lakers first championship of they back to back the first one okay yes for Boston got you so it's like we catching you know conglomerates like San Antonio Lakers we catching the best teams ever I got to face that so this is my time to be a part of that that's what I'm thinking and then y'all get rid of a major piece right because you want to go you think you get younger in the same effect no so hey I'mma play this season but look y'all got to show me what y'all going to do I'm not trying to rebuild I just got a taste of the Western Conference Finals I'm not trying to rebuild and you signed a fiveyear deal yeah so now I'm like I got like a year two years left right in that deal on that deal so now y'all about to make me rebuild with two years left on my deal here's here's the play look I'm not rebuilding I'm hearing Rumblings of y'all about to amnesty chy right amesty try y'all gonna send JR and and na to Chicago for somebody they wanted Joe Kim r Joe Kim they G ship na out who you about to have me over here you know what I'm saying like who who it took me six years to get to this point of making to the West Conference Finals and now you want me to start all over again no so here's what we going to do I don't know what y'all thing is but I'm not I'm not trying to rebuild I'm not saying I want to get out of here but y'all got to show me y'all cards and they cars was you got you out of there their cars was you know no we want you to stay you know how I go we want you to stay it's like no y'all playing with me now I said this in June we went to a baseball game Oreo Stadium and had a good time and we talked like men and we figured it out and like I understand you at understand where you at let's make this happen here's the teams Chicago the deal was done with the Lakers me and na n for Lamar Oldman B them that deal was done I never thought about New York the Lakers but then when they turned that deal down when George had that deal and turned that deal down thought that didn't happen right he turned that down now it's like oh y'all want me in the west you want send me to the east yeah get out the West give me to New York the deal never was with New York the deal was with New Jersey Nets so when he was Allstar Weekend the deal was with the New Jersey Nets George car had a deal with Utah behind the scenes for the young boy Derek favis Oh Derek favis yeah cuz he wanted Derek favis he was liking Derek favis out of Georgia Tech and he thought that was a power forward de he was a na ne type power forward so that was like going to be he wanted him to be the next na ne so you got to go got to go so you ended up in New York ended up in New York that deal was wasn't supposed to happen though we we need another podcast another hour to tell that specific Story New York that deal but that's another but yeah the deal happened um I went to the airport from La driving to the airport Leon called yo go back back to the house ain't No Deal boom I'm in the house in the bathroom in La family everybody there pop up on the screen Denver Nuggets make a trade with New Jersey Nets B it works I'm like what the what's going on yo Denver is saying they not don't want to send you to where you want to go like I'm not forcing it to go to New York like if they want you can [ __ ] me I could stay here in La like you can make this deal where I'm already here I'm not going to New Jersey so we met about Jersey and that was when all the Brooklyn stuff was about to happen two years after two years later doing bar he in Brooklyn next year I would be there right but it was a couple years down the line I can't play at a credential Center CH I just can't got time but I can't two years no I can't do that yeah you know so then then the New York thing happened and cuz it sounded good I ain't going to even hold you the whole Brooklyn thing and everything they were trying to build it was just too far it was incredible yeah it too was incredible oh incredible and if it was that next season I I probably would have been in that so how was it when you got there and Amari it was aari's team it was aari's team and I made it my point to let everybody know this is a Mar's team I'm coming here to enhance what he already got going on because I know he need a a wingman he need a sidick that and that's my man from high school like you know what I get a chance to play with Amari in New York he already eight games 30 points again you know what I mean it's like oh this is this is the time to do it yeah I can't go to Miami I can't go to you know what I mean I'm going to a place where I can go and Blossom and be that so I never stepped on his toes it was it I got you like whatever you want me to do I got you but the but the the from the style didn't really fit so so Dan Tony was there early that system was working because now I'm I am at small boy I'm at a four I'm at the stretch four right so now Ami can play the stretch five like you know what I'm saying which was nobody was doing that at that point in time nobody put Amari at the stretch five right d just pick and rolling pick and roll so now when he at the stretch five and now I'm at the stretch four it's a different type of matchup that's out there you got to pay attention to Amari and you got to pay attention over here so pick your poison on one of them cuz Amar is going and I didn't want to step on his to because I didn't want to [ __ ] his rhythm up of that those 30-point games so I'm coming in saying hey look we playing through you bro like you go I'm going I'm going to get to it like you know what I mean but you you got to go so I wanted to establish that early and that fit as we started to go go along with Dan Tony kind of Ste down now we get we start getting a different type of team now we start getting Tyson Chandler we start molding it out Omar you playing the four Mel you at the three man you know what I mean like we start molding this Raymond Felton oh we GNA go get Jr from China come back now we G to start putting a little team together with with Mike Woodson more traditional more traditional of now we going to play with two bigs Amar you going to be the stretch four when you already been working at that position I know you've been playing the five but now you going to play the four you know what me T we got the defensive play of the year that's what we was trying to establish with Amari and everybody else and then injuries started to happen and then you sitting out and then you got to come back and fit back into what already is trying to be Woody is trying to establish something totally different now got to he got to adapt to you being hurt right you know what I'm saying but the understanding of the knowledge of that is like nobody wants to see that it's Melo is taking over it's who whose team is it Melo or Mari it's like I don't want this [ __ ] you know what I mean you can have this [ __ ] I never came out of Denver said this was my team I never came out New York but when you went to New York did you feel like you were going to be in New York for a while or you felt like it was just a bus stop that was it you you felt like that was it that was done okay I was retiring in New York done how was that until my free agency what year was that I was a free agent um in 12 11 12 so I signed I I remember the lockout year was the year after the season that I got traded that next summer we played the lockout year then we came back December that was 1213 that was Jason kid in them year came back 1314 and then that next that year 14 15 around that time I was becoming a free agent and that was when a Chicago didal was about to happen yeah I thought you gonna be in Chicago it was done yeah it made sense it was done it was done and at that point in time I was looking for something totally different I was looking for cuz I had been through so much [ __ ] up until that point like dealing with New York I was looking for like some type of appreciation right from from and like a validation almost from the work that I put in and Chicago was validating I went out you know it was just valid it was always been love in Chicago with me and the connection with Chicago so they was just validating that part of it so when I got there it was love it was and so when I go back to New York it's like nothing right it was like oh you ready to sign like what like I just got what I just flew into Chicago and this is what's going on I just flew to Dallas Cuban just did this and I come back to New York and we Mee in that American cut you know what I mean it's like so how do you feel you know you ready to sign no you got to you got to do the same thing I'm a free agent right recruit me you got to do the same thing right because now it's now you playing the game you know that I want to be in New York like everybody knows that but you playing a game with me now you don't do nothing like nothing all right cool I see what type of time this is I see what me you stand that I'm going to sign back back because I want to sign back and my family is here I'm going to sign back and this is m i can't let you dictate what happens with me right you know what I'm saying so cuz you're you're the man in New York that's right and I'm willing to give that up to go to Chicago so you would to give up but you so that move like think about New York now court on the court is the one thing but off the court is a whole another beast and you're the you're the guy like you and Amari are the guy right f is blowing up in New York you and la like in New York right like your family's there like New York is the yeah that's home and you're willing to give New York up to go because you ready to go to a different organization because of the environment that I was around in that in the organization I was willing to walk away from that because it wasn't feeling like the right energy in place to be I knew New York was a place to be for me for everything for every other reason for every other reason moment I I was looking for all we got you like I I I didn't need it but I would Embrace that instead of you fighting instead of them fighting it I already had to deal with the media I already had to deal with the fans I already deal with all of that I'm G to play ball you get what I'm saying I'm going to perform so whether you like it or not whether you like me or not you I'm going to perform you didn't want that you didn't validate why you didn't validate that you you allow me you said go and if you come back then I got you I got you cuz now you you underneath of me now because you came back you could have left you could have went but you came back okay so now now you under you under this you under my right do you feel with all that being said shifting gears a little bit that New York was probably the best place to raise Cayenne yes I just come from Colorado and I you know Cen was born in Colorado in Denver in Sky Ridge Hospital and I say k you just roll past we just roll past your hospital like man I went born I said I went Bor I ain't lit I said what you was born at Sky Ridge Medical Center like he don't want that he don't want that he want that New York time to that point but he still like he knows it he appreciates like oh you know Denver like then full circle now him being in Cado Springs it's like damn that makes sense like y this is full circle but New York I was very strategic with moving to New York I could have went to Miami right could have figured that out I was very strategic in the sense that I knew me I knew what I needed to operate my son is an identical image when it comes to understanding what he needs to operate he don't like it he ain't operating with it he leave it alone he ain't gonna argue with you leave it alone coming to New York gave him so much diversity right where yeah we can we came to New York we we lived in Harlem we lived on upper Harlem like we lived on 102nd and 5th Avenue across from Central Park right there by 110th and Hall you know what I mean like we was in the next block over is the projects we Central Park in the projects like this is diversity at at the highest level facts so for him to be able to as a young kid walk around those streets in that environment and be a part of that Community now he's playing he was going in Harlem you know Queens as a little kid Bronx Brooklyn we moving you know what I mean like I'm moving the way that I'm moving around the city and now you get a chance to see that and move the move with me now you moving that way now so the grant the foundation is already laid for you now you just got to know how to move when to move and how to move so he know he knows how to navigate the situations that he's going to be put into a lot a lot better than a lot of kids because of how he had to navigate New York absolutely and I think New York is the belly of the Beast like it's the belly of the Beast so anything that people go through is New York the stresses of New York the tension of New York the loudness the noise the smell you get what I'm saying the amount of people like you got to have to be able to navigate through all of that and I'm I tell him I said look you have a chance to be the face of all of of this think about that in high school you represent New York you represent Brooklyn New York and you live in Brooklyn New York you represent New York you've been there since four years old you get what I'm saying you have an opportunity to be the face of what New York has to offer that's a lot of pressure on top of me being your dad you get what I'm saying this ain't like you we in South Carolina where you can just chill and go to you know be the number one player you ain't the number one player so you still grinding yeah so I would prefer you to grind and get that grit and grind in New York and Baltimore and during these years because I'mma give you everything else me and your mom going to give you the education we going to give you the knowledge we going to give you the jewels that you really need but now you you inside of this Belly of the Beast and it it it's going to go as you go so I'm able to tell him these type of stories and he be you know sometimes he oh he like man man that's right but sometimes he's just like do you see do you see the effect or do you see those things that you that what you had in your mind is this is what you're going to be able to have and be able to do do you see him being able do you see him embracing it or do you see him running from it and I I know the answer but I'm asking so everybody else of course so the beauty and what my son has and what like what men and have like our bond is that he Embraces it you know what I mean but I I think that comes from me and as Mom just always like you ain't running from you you're not going to run from it you have to embrace this life you have to embrace who your mom is you have to embrace who your dad is you have to embrace it if you don't embrace it it's going to be harder on you CU you gonna feel like you have to fulfill some shoes and then you can't do that I don't want you to do that you get what I'm saying I could have named you Carmelo Cayenne Anthony Jr I a want that I flipped it around for you as much as I wanted a junior I gave you your own identity but you always we connected so I you cool you get your own Cayenne you Cayenne Carmelo Anthony like that's different so you get the opportunity to stand on your own a little bit M so for me I just wanted him to understand you got to embrace who you are you can't run from it bro like yeah you know D way yeah you know Jay yeah you know D yeah you know Bri yeah those was are family those are people that see these are people that you call if you really need some [ __ ] if you in some [ __ ] if your pops is in some [ __ ] you call you get what I'm saying like these are the people so yes Embrace who you are when people out and they say Kanye they want to take embrace it yeah Embrace because the more you embrace it the easier it will be for you to navigate through those through those doors and through that life cuz now you can just do what you do go poop go play ball live your life you know what I'm saying but you also know that you got this support system on this side it's so much we can talk about and we're going to save the business melow for our next interview but well we going to do is we're going to wrap we're going to end talking about the end of your career yes and how that went down right now we talked about the beginning and how it all plays a part right so let's go to the end now now you're are one of the greatest you're a top 10 scoring in this league which is this league been around for a minute there been some buckets in this league5 lot of lot of hitters it's a lot of hitters you're top 10 in scoring you're top 75 you have all the the the accolades that you worked your ass off for you can't control always if you can get a championship that ain't based on just you I sto woring about that you can't control that but you got one in college sure you got you one but your career path of how it ended wasn't what you would think a superstar of your caliber how it would end tell me about how you dealt with and this is obviously a lesson for all of us how did you deal with being up here for so long and then feeling like nobody wanted you yeah it took me back to a kid it took me back to [ __ ] always being taken away I done work this hard to get to this point and it's just that easy you could just take it away from me without no explanation what is the explanation to this day I don't know the explanation you get what I'm saying so yeah I can laugh about it now but at that point in time that [ __ ] was difficult to deal with cuz you coming from Allstar 24 23 points game like to I can't make a ninan roster bro like what are we talking about here like you what me then now now I'mma be selfish now me this is me you talking about I know what I do I know everybody know what I do you telling me I'm a I can't make a ninan roster in this NBA [ __ ] out of here like you are bugging you know what I mean you are bugging so how did it get there nobody and what you understand bro I don't understand this [ __ ] to this day I really don't understand it there's no explanation bro listen I I'm just try to give you this in a quick summary when I left New York right I I didn't leave New York I got pushed out of New York let's be be technical I got Phil pushed me out of New York you know me I struggled to leave New York OKC and I've never I'll support Sam prey to this day and anything that he ever want to do he came the 25th hour Melo we are taking you we believe in you you are the peace that we need in OKC this is the conversation I never thought we would be in this situation to be able to have somebody like you Leon yo OKC we out a world they got P oh they got oh we they got Russ I am the I'm they still got Stephen Adam you know what I me I'm like oh this is perfect OKC smaller Market you ain't got to worry too much boom boom like I can just play ball go hoop and go hoop I got Russ I got PG I oh I'm cool man that happened and I felt it starting to happen in OKC with that team and it was what did you feel it was slowly like like almost pulling back on Melo all right it goes from not being a part of this play and it's like oh you go from this eight you know 29 30 minutes you start going to 28 26 it's like oh we just they had the game going and it's like okay I get that that part of it they got it rolling let them roll but then you start you ain't incorporating to the offense you ain't you ain't part of the system and then it's like I'm asking what's going on so is it is it no you figure it out you you can figure it out it's not Talent it's not Talent based so is it is it is it a part of the game changing and they want you to change your game no at this point at this point it was I was willing to change my game I knew PG Russ so I'm going there as to figure this out with all three of us right so it ain't like I'm coming in like yo I'm mellow and no like yo I'm in the film sessions and the meetings and yo PG what you need me to do like you got it I'm playing off for you Russ I'm I'm playing off for you I'm going to do some other [ __ ] I got y'all you let me know would but not even but cuz I hate using but that's not in my my my dictionary with that being said I'm still a part of this champ you know what mean throw it down tell me let me work let me get to it let me work let me you know what I mean I can go like but don't throw me a bone like make me a part of what's going on because guess what Pete you going to get more points cuz I'm out here Russ you going to get way more cuz I'm out here because at the end of the day I'm the fourth option on this team on OKC Steve Adams was option before me on that team all the pick and rolls and I understood that I didn't fight it none of that when [ __ ] wasn't working OKC I went to him and what do I need to do I know I ain't doing [ __ ] wrong what do I need to do cuz I know I got to do that for the sake of p and the sake of Russ so I'm going to sacrifice my whatever you need me to sacrif fight I'm going to do it then we get to the playoffs and it's like we playing Utah bro we first of all we all had a terrible series we all had a terrible nobody feels comfortable nobody knows what to do nobody Russ got the ball there PG is on top you know what I mean it's like what are we doing here bro oh by the way metal bell is out I ain't shoot the ball since first quarter you want me to B you you know what I'll take the bomb though I'll take the bomb go I I'll I'll take it I'll take it I don't want my man to deal with that I don't want Russ to deal with that I don't want PG to deal with I I'm cool with taking that cool with it so it started there that summer I was supposed to sign back with I still had a year left from OKC okay I was going back to OKC I start hearing the The Whispers hey you might want you want to restructure your contract I'm owed $28 million how you want me to restructure 28 what you want me to do CH you want me to do y better way if you had a better way please come tell me how to restructure $28 million bro and it wasn't even about the money but I felt like y'all was playing with me at this time so I said y'all want me to restructure this how y'all want me to restructure I want to be here I'm willing to do what I got to do to be here I want to build me PG and Russ yeah let's do it yeah I'm willing to do that I'll take less you know what what kind of deal y'all wanted you want to cut this down to 3 years to 28 over three let's four years let's do it give me seven a year let's do it I'm G to work with it wa you willing to go down to seven a year after you had 28 because they was trying to figure out a way how to make the contracts work for everybody so at this point I was ow 28 at one year my last year also p& them had deals coming had deals so I'm talking to them like yo P Y I want to be here Russ we gonna make this work you know what yo I'mma I'mma I'mma break my deal down you got to come off the bench what where did this come from you went from for who who you coming off the bench for bro on the team they was like uh they was trying to put Jeremy Grant like make him the next you know kind of thing at OKC I guess they looked at me like Melo ain't going to be here long I didn't even know Jeremy Grant was in OKC I don't remember remember being there he ain't going to be here long this is going to be our future all right but I'm here now you just want to dismiss me right away right well I'm still here I'm still here all right cool so now at that point she started you know I start understanding what's going on I'm in Africa bro chilling family I get a call Houston Melo you are our missing peace how old are you at this time oh this is 2017 like this you're mean you're early 30 I'm 3 three I don't know all right just for just for everybody know you're 33 years old you know I'm still like like you 38 then they trying to give I was just Allstar in New York two years ago you get what I'm saying like like come on I went from New York to go on OKC aage 24 you you get what I'm saying so it's like it ain't wasn't a talent wasn't ain't nothing no basketball wise so yo boom Houston calls hey need to make this happen you're the piece you see what happened to us last year we was missing this uh what you can bring that all of that where CP at cp's in Houston cp's in houon Mike donon in Houston Mike Danton Houston okay PG's in Houston I mean uh R not R CP James PJ Tucker capella capella girl green you know I mean it's like they just lost they was just up 3-1 you know what I mean like they just lost that Trevor arza they get Trevor out of there which is why they were saying you are the missing piece right I already knew going into Houston that they was looking at me as a Trevor arza and there's no knock to Trevor arza but they wanted that type of mentality somebody who was was a three and D guy somebody who didn't mind sitting in the corner didn't mind cutting didn't mind you know playing off of those why were they comeing get you this is my question I'm glad you asked this question I'm asking them that so how do you see me in this offense because I know y'all are layups and threes I got a I'm a rhythm guy right but I'm I'm I see CP playing so I'm like okay CP is kind of a similar mid-range guy I got to get to got to get a rhythm got you know I mean I'm I'm okay he's there so oh they would accept that for me man I get the I get the Houston man they tell me D way no mid-range shots I ain't talking to [Music] me what you bought me here for what no they ain't talking to me they ain't talking to me they a talking they talking somebody else I'm looking at CP like behind me on the on the chair see like leave it alone there only 40 they broken down numbers we only allowed 17 mid-range shots a game uh here's who could take him broke him down CP could take the majority of the mid-range shots James can take Melo you get maybe one maybe one I got 25,000 points from mid-range you could tell me I only can take one mid-range game a game but you want me to shoot 12 threes okay no if I can't if I ain't shooting this midrange I I ain't going to be for them 12 threes not at all and they held that they held that against it and yo D way I had to swallow my pride and ego so much in Houston like you know what I'm going to do it I'm just going to do it because everybody says I can't do it nobody believes you're going to be able to do it nobody believes that I a think you can do he's going to come off the bench he's like it's like that can't do that bro I never said I ain't coming off the bench I told yo y'all do what y'all got to do I'm I'm just here like y'all do what y'all got to do right go there well we we want to keep PJ in the in the D lineup cool I go ahead I already accepted the fact that I'm coming off the bench Cool D way I went on a spree of like averaging like 24 like for like seven out of 10 games I remember you hoping bro come back to San Antonio we on a San Antonio trip in the room I get the call hey I'm coming in town we need to meet we like three and five or something like that need to meet I'm thinking he wanted to meet with me to figure out what's going on with the team and the players and I don't want to say his name I don't come to my room and says yeah I think uh your services are no more no longer needed straight to it I say no foreplay no foreplay so I say ah man get out of here man what you talking about we going to figure this [ __ ] like that like I'm now I got a take it on a joke he like ah man yeah we going to figure but nah we just don't see you part of the plans going into playoffs playoffs we are nine games into the season you talking about playoffs so now I'm getting serious he's just like very stoic and like well this is what it's going to be and this is and I say damn bro like you don't I say you don't have a soul man you don't have a heart you don't I said I'm I can take it but the fact that you just came in here and just said we don't have no place for you on this team and I ask you why and you tells me well it's just not a fit I thought it was going to fit it's just not it's not going to fit what's not going to fit so now Will's attorney call CP no CP listen bro you're my family you're my brother if you you knew anything about this not you knew anything about this this is real talk this is 1:00 in the morning yo come to my room right now CH like he like what I ain't there now I don't give a [ __ ] where you at I need to holl at you yo you know anything about this come in the room man I swear I ain't yo see don't lie to me bro like come on like I'm hurt at this point like [ __ ] you my best friend like like nah like I'mma find out what's going on I said see I just need you to tell me I asked him three times bro CP tell you that asked him three times did you know anything about this he like nah I promise you he T so I'm like oh all right my [ __ ] ain't you know what I mean like all right boom like I'mma figure this out like I'mma figure it out see don't need trip call somebody else y you know about this no no no no no what's going on but I was just with you at dinner so I of course I ain't you don't got nothing to do with this I'm just with you you know I'm about to head a meeting and I to this day I can't figure out what happened I don't know what happened I get Rumblings of right you know what you know right how the game go we was in that seat before you know what I'm saying just a matter what you do with that seat yeah you feel me so now that year happens I'm off away from the game and I say I'm done with it so you were you were done with the game after that yeah CU I didn't have no answers no answers none 28 the night before 25 you have no answer why you sitting at home you like why am I sitting at home told me you want you I should come to the game but sit behind the bench what the [ __ ] is what oh you really trying to embarrass me now like you know what I mean you really trying to make me flip to make me look bad like no I'm not going to give you that you know what you ask me to leave I'm cool I ain't going to the game don't ask you know what I mean like you ask me to leave the the basically the team and then you ask me to come to the games I'm not doing that no disrespect we ain't going to make no scene out of this though yeah I'm gonna bite the bullet I'm gonna walk away yeah but it ain't that easy I'mma deal with it on my time though okay I'm not going to deal with in the public right I'm a dealer behind closed doors which [ __ ] me up for four months right I was about to say how was your Wellness how was your [ __ ] up [ __ ] all how did you deal with it reading lessons getting into my lessons back into my lesson um working out like I was working out like three four times a day yeah because I didn't want to think like [ __ ] just think I'm a loser like [ __ ] think he whack and that's what was going on like oh he lost he boom he this he deser like I heard all of that [ __ ] and I'm like you know what Click Boom unplug and I unplugged for about 7 months started working started getting myself together started talking started going through the the therapy started going through talking started going to life coach started really putting [ __ ] into perspective of what really was and what it is and what it's not understanding the business of the game understanding you know it was just everything was on the table and I was like you know what I'm walking away from it I'm done with the game I'm done because you know what if I love this game more than this game loveed me I don't deserve to be here it's over there no relationship at that pointed nothing can work in life with that type of relationship I love you more than you love me so I'm cool I'm I'mma walk away from the game and I had to make that decision I didn't watch games I didn't listen to it I didn't no Sports it was no Sports it was music it was books it was writing and that was 2018 2018 I started writing that's when I started writing my book you know talking about my book [ __ ] this is the time to like quarantine hit so I was in a double doozy and the the first time you showed up at a game was my last year it was in the garden it was my last game and that was so hard to come to I know hard I said man I'm not going to what tell my man we going to dinner after know I already know I already know CH hell in the garden I know champ bro I'm like no way no please why do that to be go next [ __ ] leave my last game in the guard you showed up I'm like you know what and then I it was a point where I was like feeling bad for myself I'm like why am I feeling bad I feel guilty about I don't even know what I feel gu you did something wrong did I do something wrong I started asking that and then like the media like Dam what the damn was like oh they was waiting for this moment like I ain't do [ __ ] bro what did I do you get what I'm saying so I was fighting myself with that so I had to get my mind right my mental right talking to people being around my kids really was like my son is like yo dad like man you you the [ __ ] man like what you doing like man I ain't son [ __ ] that game I'm here with you and it started to cause not friction but it was like I ain't going to that game to his game I ain't going no I don't want to be around that and he started you know what I mean he started like y that don't even don't even come like don't even worry about it I already know like but if I'm there with that energy that's giving that energy to you cuz I can't be like into it the way I want to be I'm I'm gone so I'm coming there looking empty I'm just hoodie on I'm empty I'm just trying to figure the [ __ ] out and those kids man been around the the A and those kids those are the kids that really like gave me back my swagz they like man what man you can't you ain't supposed to be out you know you supposed to be bo but they realized that and I they're going to realize this later that they were a part of a journey that they don't even know about with me being in there during that time that being therapeutic for me around those kids yeah take you back to the the reason why you started playing it took you back to the beginning took you back to the innocence of of it all the business you start listening differently mhm you start moving differently you start approaching things differently because now y'all built me yall so now I have to give back to y'all which is why I do what I do today all right we'll stop there this was about a three hour interview and we ain't even halfway through um man I appreciate you coming through man I appreciate you having this Cera we are not done we will finish this at a later date no man I can talk all day you understand he you know you talk to me I'll talk back but I appreciate you being like vulnerable and open and these are the things and the tools that the kids that's playing this game they need to understand the guys that's in the game right now and today that that feels that organization say oh it's family it's it y need to understand the realness of this the business of this the other side of this which we don't see because the money and the and the and the celebrity and the all the things that you know all the shiny things yeah but this is the other side too the Dark Side of sports Dark Side of sports you don't think it's going to happen to you and we all got a story which was I was that guy right this can't happen to me this ain't happening to Mellow champ this ain't happening to the god the greatest ever play what the hell no stay mellow conversations with dwade [Music] peace

Channel: DwyaneWade

Views: 369,897

Keywords: rick ross, dwyane wade, the why podcast, the why dwyane wade, iheartradio, iheartpodcasts, rick ross music

Id: qJdkxMD9mRI

Length: 135min 43sec (8143 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 14 2024