Hawks AF - Dominique Wilkins on his favorite dunks, matchups with NBA legends, & today's NBA

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Yeah,

you got the, oh, you got it down.

Yeah, I'm trying to get it right.

You got the silhouette down.

Yeah,

we ain't playing.

Hey, listen, man, America.

We're here again on another beautiful day on the Hawks and Friends podcast, man.

And I'm just trying to keep my composure because we don't get a chance to be shoulder to shoulders with legends, shoulder to shoulders with icons, man.

And listen, man, today's guest needs no introduction, okay?

A Hall of Famer, an icon, a legend.

Everybody make some noise for Dominique Wilcox.

Appreciate it, appreciate it, appreciate it.

What's happening?

What's happening, man?

It's good to see you outside of the Hawks arena, man.

I'm telling you, man.

You're not as amped up today as you are at the arena.

Nah, man, because you know, I really be into it.

I really be into it.

You know what I'm saying?

But you amped up, but you ain't amped up like that.

I'm amped up because I'm a fan.

When I'm at that arena, I paid for them to hear my frustration.

I feel you.

You feel what I'm saying?

No cap because they represent us.

I am really from Atlanta, but you have been representing Atlanta for quite some time, man.

And we want to say thank you.

Oh, you're welcome, man.

I appreciate it.

You know, Atlanta basically made me who I am.

Right.

You know, when I came out of high school,

actually,

I moved to Atlanta first before I went to the University of Georgia.

And Georgia kind of got me out of the situation that I was in in North Carolina, which was a pretty intense, dangerous situation.

Right.

And

this was the first city that I came to.

Man,

and take it back to the 80s, man, the NBA draft.

82.

First round,

third overall pick.

Like, how does that feel?

Because, you know, I had a dream to be in the NBA, but it's people that actually lived our dreams.

You know what I'm saying?

So we be living through people.

So when we say that, and when people say that to me, I really understand.

And when we see y'all on the court, everybody had a dream of being an NBA star.

Oh, you know what?

That was our dream growing up because I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.

Right.

And at the time, Baltimore had the highest crime rate in America at that time.

And I left home when I was 16 and got discovered on the playground the next day in North Carolina That's where my high school career started.

And a guy asked me, he said, hey, son, you live here?

I'm like, I'm not sure yet.

He said, where are you going when you leave from here?

I'm like, I'm not sure.

And he looked at me.

He said, come go with me.

I don't know why I followed her.

And

he showed me his house, showed me a kitchen, showed me the bedroom.

He said, you can have all this.

The only trade-off is you have to play for my high school team.

He was the high school coach.

In North Carolina.

I looked, I'm like, okay.

And that's

how my career started.

We were 76 and one in three years in the state of North Carolina, high school.

How many championships?

Back-to-back.

Back-to-back.

Back-to-back championship.

See, I don't know how they feel.

I don't know how they feel.

You know, in North Carolina, that type of record is unheard because I came out the same time with James Worthy.

We had so many.

We had Mitchell Wiggins.

We had a lot of

stuff.

We had a lot of guys come out of North Carolina.

Of course, you had Mike come out of North Carolina, and you had Jimmy and Black.

It was so so many guys that played

in basketball in the state of North Carolina back, especially in North Carolina, Duke.

You know, Wake Forest.

My high school teammate went to Wake Forest.

So we had a lot of guys, man.

And so to have that type of record in high school in that state, that's basketball Mecca.

And for somebody to pull over to say, for somebody to stop their car, get out.

And say, man, I want you to play for me.

You got talent because my parents didn't even stop to even watch watch me.

But you know, the funny thing is, his players was playing on the playground that day.

And I just went out and started playing with them, you know, after I got off the bus.

And he walked up.

Right.

And, you know, and all was, the rest was history after that meeting.

I'm going to tell you what,

he might be the greatest coach that I ever have outside of Mike Fotello that I've had in my career.

He was, he refused to let us lose.

I was just going to say that.

You know, so we had a different, man, that team had a heart of a line.

So speak on like having like coaches because people don't understand roles are important.

Let me explain something about coaching.

Coaches are put there

to help you develop,

teach you how to play the game.

And, you know, sometimes coaches use the best players as an example.

to push all the other players.

Correct.

Both of all the coaches I ever had always jumped on me harder than anybody else.

Because they, first of all, they know I could take it.

Two, is that if they could say stuff like that to me and get on my case and sometimes even belittle you sometimes,

nobody else can say anything.

And so, and that's the way all the coaches taught and developed me.

And that's how I learned how to play the game from a fundamental standpoint, from a toughness standpoint.

One thing I hate when guys, when, you know,

if a coach gets on you too hard, you shut down.

You clam.

Got to build aggression.

I mean, this is what we signed up for.

Right.

You know, so it's a lot come with being the king when you're the leader of a team.

Now, you got to speak on that.

Because you got to be able to take the heroics as well as

the criticism.

You are the target.

Yeah.

And you know what?

That's what I love.

Right.

That's what any great player would tell you from Michael to Magic to Bird, and I played against them.

These guys was monsters.

The pressure builds us.

Oh, and the pressure makes us who we are.

And the only way you can measure your greatness is you got to play against the greatest.

And I'm glad you said that because I feel like it ain't no pressure in today's basketball.

If you look at it, because OG, listen, man, when y'all was playing from the 80s and the 90s, even the early 2000s, you still seen it.

Like,

they call fouls.

It's like the game has gotten soft.

Well,

you know, you could get away with a lot more.

I mean, they're shooting from full court.

The fouls are,

you know, it is what it is.

Right.

But

this is the thing.

Big guys, right?

If you stayed on the perimeter, I'm going to use a guy like Miles Turner.

If you stayed on that perimeter as a big guy, like he does, and a lot of the big guys, and if you miss four or five of those threes, you're coming out.

I'm coming out.

You're coming out again.

You know, even as small forwards.

And if I wasn't making those shots, Coach said, hey, step in, get to the free throw line, get to the polls.

Take somebody off the dribble.

And so we was able to mix up our offense.

Right.

You know, because when you see highlights, I mean, what do you see?

Right.

Slam dunks, slam dunks, slam dunks.

Well, it's very difficult to get over 26,000 points on dunks.

I was a creative score.

Every day, you see,

talk your talk now.

You know what I mean?

Because, you know, the mid-range game, post game, getting to the free throw line, jump shot.

I had all that.

Yeah.

Back then.

So it's like a lot of times people think that this is a new invention.

Right.

It's not.

It's been there.

We took a lot more high percentage shots.

It's just a fact.

Because I hear a lot of times people say,

well, the mid-range shot is obsolete.

It's just a dumb comment because it's the most high percentage shot outside of a player for a dunk.

Now, if you're great shooters like Curry and a lot of these guys and Luke and all these guys, you're great shooters like them, them guys can make those shots.

But you got a lot of guys taking that shot that shouldn't be taking shots.

You could develop a good mid-range shot.

Yeah.

you know, you dangerous.

Kawhi Leonard.

Right.

You know,

even Steph.

You look at Durant,

DeRosen.

Right.

He rarely ever takes a three.

What about Luca?

I like Luca.

Luca.

All them guys who can score all shoot mid-range shots.

Well, again, guys like that kind of, you know,

revolutionize.

the mid-range shot.

Right.

Because, you know, it went away for a long time.

Everybody trying to shoot three.

And then it came back.

But them guys really showed the analytical guys that y'all are dead wrong right because this mid-range shot i can still get 30 right now i mean i've had games where i had 52 54 and had one three

and people say oh it's possible it's impossible for you to get 57 points and three quarters you didn't shoot three

buckets on them all but what that says though

is I shot a lot of free throws.

Right.

That's where my threes came and ones.

And so my whole objective was to get to the line.

Get to the line.

And you have to attack people.

And that's what we did.

So, so

looking at these matchups, because Michael stopped a lot of great,

great teams that could have possibly been champions.

If you're looking at the matchups right now, like, what was your toughest matchup?

Oh, man.

I mean, you know, Chicago

was always tough.

Right.

Chicago was always tough.

New York, Philadelphia.

You know, Indiana.

Had Milwaukee.

I mean, Philadelphia, they had a super team back then.

Tokyo, Tokyo.

So

everybody was tough.

But, you know, I never feared anybody I ever played against.

There's one guy that made me nervous.

Who?

Out of New York.

His name was Bernard King.

Wow.

If you don't know who he is.

You got to look up Bernard King.

What happened now?

What happened?

Because he's getting 40 and nothing you can do about it.

Nothing.

I mean, I couldn't sleep the night before I played against this.

And he's getting 40 off top.

Yeah.

And when I used to say to him, I said, look, I know he's going to get 40.

So, you know what?

I'm going to get 40.

We just call him Wash.

We should call it Easy.

Because everybody got that Michael Jordan effect like they scared.

Michael and I are the only two foes in NBA history to average over 30 against each other for a whole career.

Every time y'all played each other.

Oh, and I didn't think about it.

Somebody brought it to my attention.

I look back on those games.

I'm like, whoa, he had 47.

I might have 42, I might have 45, he might have 40, he had 60 when I had, you know, 40.

And all those games was like that, man, because he brought out the best in me.

And I know I brought out the best in him.

You know, we love competing against one another.

And that's one of the things.

It ain't no competing no more.

I had to guard Larry Bird.

I had to guard Dr.

J.

I had to guard Worthy, English, Dantley, Aguire every night.

We couldn't duck each other because I was not going to go over there and play the power four position.

They had a a license to kick your butt.

And I was not dealing with them guys.

So at 6'8.5,

you know, I'm going against some guys who are 6'11, 6'10, small forwards.

But that's the way it was.

We didn't think twice about it.

We were like, hey.

Now they picking.

They nitpicking.

Yeah, I'm like, hey, man,

I'm like, bring it on, you know, you know.

Because most of the time that I played against Boston, you know, Kevin McKell at seven foot was guarding me.

And you had to go out there and bust.

It didn't matter.

It didn't matter.

You know, the size.

Right.

We never, because this is the thing, you know, most great scorers will tell you.

And, you know, Bird and Jordan, the prime example of this.

We never worried about the guy who was guarding us.

We worry about the guy who was double teaming.

Because we knew we can beat this guy.

But if they beat him,

only guy.

And see, people ask me sometimes, you know, how do you beat a double team?

Okay.

You go before it gets to you.

Right.

You know it's coming.

But if you can get by this guy first the double team comes it's too late right and there's now somebody open yeah and that's how i used to get a lot of my points because i knew the double team would come now if the double team comes quick

you know you give the ball up because we're always gonna come back so nowadays you don't really too much see it though it's just a lot of the elements of the game it's just change you don't really see a double team you don't see double teams the double teams is like you play an area right so if he comes to the area you got help it was a lot of one-on-one defense back then.

And of course, you need to help with certain guys because certain guys are

monsters.

And because, like I said, my first eight games, I felt like I played against eight Hall of Famers as a rook.

And I finally had to get over it because I thought I know I had to play against these guys,

but I'm going to let them know I'm a god too.

And that was my mentality because you had to have that mentality.

Them guys you're going to, you need the Dr.

J's and the choirs and Worthy and all them guys.

Because Worthy and I, we all came out in 79 out of high school.

We actually, our high school senior class across the nation got voted as the greatest senior class ever.

Tokyo Talk.

Because of

the level of professional athletes

that created.

Yeah, we had a lot of guys in that class to go to pros.

And to speak of that class, like

the aggression and knowing the highlight factor was real back then.

So even knowing that, you know, nowadays it's like the highlight countdown.

It's cool.

You done saw it before, but it was like you, it was demanded, like you had to go out there and make the highlight.

Like, speaking of your iconic dunks, what's an iconic dunk that you remember and remember who you did and all?

Man, there's a lot of them, man.

I think one of the ones that,

and it's been a lot.

Well, I think the one that they show a lot of is the one against Bob Lanier in Milwaukee where the clock was running down and I'm on the post.

They throw it to me.

I will go to the middle.

They cut me off.

I went back baseline.

I jumped.

And Bob Lanier, who was 6'11, covered the rim.

I think he crossed his arms when he covered the rim.

And I turned in air.

He was coming down.

I was still going up.

Still going up.

And I dunked it on him right before the buzzer.

And that was one of my favorite dunks because most of my dunks

in traffic

was my favorite.

You know, the dunks I had against Boston where I shot and it hit the rim and I caught it over like three or four guys.

I mean, those type of plays kind of changes the momentum in the game.

So,

I mean, a lot of my favorite dunks, believe it or not, was in high school.

In high school, I was looking in the rim in high school.

I was really

the one where you gliding all across the court.

Oh, in high school, man, you know, our point guard was a wonderful point guard.

And it was every game on the jump ball, we were trying to get alley up.

Every game.

If we got the tip, we had a design where we run wide and he'd just throw up either corner of the backboard and we would go get it.

Is there a moment in your career that you wish you could have done differently?

No,

you know,

only thing that I regret that I didn't do is bring a championship here in Atlanta.

I think that's the only thing I regret.

But as far as if I would do anything differently, no.

Because what I did and the way I did it, it helped build character,

personality, respect.

And so,

you know, winning a ring, a lot of times people don't understand.

It ain't always about winning a ring.

It's about competing to the highest level.

Because I look at this, my ring was...

giving me the ability to play something that I love.

That's my ring.

And so, you know, it's only one team that wins every year.

A lot of great players has never felt that you know so you know that's that's the nature of the beast that's that's the way it is but would i change anything no maybe one thing the money they make now but you know it's different it's different yeah he bugging 256 matching and a good nine piece of beast yeah i changed that

oh man i can't even fathom that you know it's crazy that's crazy now me and you enter the same part of the building of the arena you know and and

you got a statue you gotta you got something that's out there that's that's very you know i'm saying inspiring to the city like you said like even though we ain't got no ring it's it's you the energy the compassion the aggression that the fight that you wanted to go out there and represent us we feel that and we we're thankful for that you should that is our ring it's the love that you showed our city that's our ring do you ever go into the front to even see the statue and just take it all in let me tell you a funny story.

First of all, let me just say this.

What he captured in that statue is everything about who I am.

And so when I saw it for the first time, man, I was blown away.

I was so emotional, I couldn't even shed a tear.

That's how

I was that choked up about it.

Because it's not just about basketball when you receive something, it's what you've done in that city, how you connected with people, relationships, or everything.

So, you know, when it went up,

I remember a couple of times I went down, I drove by.

So one day I stopped by there, I put a lawn chair out there, had a beer,

looked up.

That's a big fella.

We come a long way.

We come a long way.

You know, and that really felt good, man, because

it was a moment in my life that I never dreamed of.

And even to this day, man, it's still surreal.

So, you know, I was talking to Steve Koonan,

our GM, and I'm sorry, our president and CEO.

I said,

I rode rode by the statue the other day, and it looks a little ashy there.

I knew y'all got

some lotion on that.

Y'all gotta put some lotion on that.

It's Deal LeBron's statue.

Listen, I went back a couple weeks later.

It was shiny.

Shiny.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Shiny.

So

it's just fun, you know, for people to see me go down the interact because sometimes I'll walk by there and I see people stop by and they'll look at me.

And it's like,

is that you?

I said, yeah, most people think it is.

Yeah.

Yeah, it looked like me.

But

it's just a pleasure to see people admire it.

No, man, it's just amazing, man, just to see you.

You know what I'm saying?

Just get to smell your flowers while you're still here because, like you say, it's not about the ring.

It's about the love.

You know how many times I say that?

You know, I said, don't wait till someone's gone before you give them their roses.

Give them their flowers while they're here and appreciate what they've done.

You know, I remember when I first came to the league and I said to Dr.

J the first time I played, I said, you know, I grew up emulating everything you ever done.

I just wanted to be that next

doctor.

And I just wanted to let you know how much you meant to my life.

And directly, you really helped me elevate my game to a different level.

And he said to me, he said, I know they're calling you the next doctor,

but it's only one Dominique with one, Dr.

J, but today you can start learning.

And I remember he had a great game against me, and I wasn't upset.

I said, that's the doctor.

that's my idol

you know but once i got over that you know it was nothing but come competing what

when when did you realize i am dominique wilkin when did you realize like you know what i have to start making my own marking game because i'm here now um

i knew before i came in the league to be honest with you because uh before i came to the nba i used to work out a lot of people didn't know this because you couldn't do it at the time but i did it right i worked out with pete mavericks and Maurice Lucas.

So I got one of the most skilled guys in history who was for his time and Pete Mavericks.

And I got the toughest guy and one of the toughest guys that played the game and Maurice Lucas, the enforcer.

So when I came to NBA, I mean,

I wasn't worried about it.

I'm ready to go.

But the thing about coming to NBA in those days as a top three picks in the draft,

you still got to pay your dues.

Yes, you do.

I could have averaged 20, 25 plus my first year, but the old heads, as y'all said.

Steel bus.

I had Dan Roundfield, Eddie Johnson, the Tree Rollins, young fella, just play the game.

Don't try to do too much.

Ain't no time yet.

But once I got their blessing,

because that very next year, I remember Dan Roundfield said, now it's time for you to be the captain.

You earned it.

So you had to earn their respect.

You know, they didn't hand you the keys that early.

Right.

That's right.

Okay.

So, so, speaking of

being in the game, like, was there any time where you got knowledge from an individual that you was inspired by?

You know, especially like once you come in and you actually meet somebody that you've seen on TV.

Yeah.

Because, you know, Dr.

J, that was just, that was authentic.

That just so happened to be there.

Was it somebody like you were truly like, I want to meet this guy?

Well, he was the one.

He was the one.

The guys I really learned from when I first came, it was Dr.

J, it was

Maurice Lucas.

Magic.

I started playing somber ball with them before I came in.

They made George Iceman Gervin.

Them the guys, Moses, Malone, them the guys that I learned a lot from

before I came late.

God,

these were not just superstars.

These were legendary guys.

They were playing the game.

And so I learned a lot from them.

And I said, I want to be as good or better.

than those guys.

Again, the only way you do that, you got to play against the greatest if you want to be the greatest.

And it's crazy that you say that you played against the greatest but not only did you play against the greatest your your career is longevity and

you you can attest to this in the nba a nine years is that's cool that's good that's that's that's all right you play long enough where you can establish make you some money once you get in the double digits 10 or better 12 13 14 like you good good like they trying to get every little juice about you yeah you know i could have played two or three more years if i wanted to i could have got to 19 20 years right but at that time it was it was changing it was about

really kind of

nurturing the young guy

you know investing that because i remember chuck daley said to me when i was in orlando at the end of my career and

i had i was starting averaging like

19

20 points and like eight nine rebounds but i was but i was only playing like 18 minutes a night.

That's still the night.

And I remember he came to me, he said, we're going to start Matt Harper because we need more scoring.

And I said, Chuck, let me say this to you.

You don't have to blow smoke out.

I said, don't insult my intelligence.

I was leading the league in points per minute.

I said, if you want to start the young guys, hey, I'm not no problem with that.

I understand things are changing.

That's cool.

But

don't come with me with that.

Come on, really?

It's scoring 20 points.

In 20 minutes.

Yeah.

You're going to score every minute.

Yeah, like, guys,

this is what I've done.

Right.

So if it's about development, I'm cool with that, but let me know up front.

This is what it is.

Right.

It's about the business, too.

Instead of, you know, insulting your intelligence, you know.

Come back with correct.

Yeah.

So I saw the change and I said, you know what?

Maybe I'm going to retire and go into the front office.

And that's what I did.

Say no more.

Now,

you've been in the game for quite some time.

Like, what is the most craziest fan interaction that you had?

Because today's fans ain't fans.

Wait, no, no.

Back in in the day was fans.

Hey, listen,

they had a guy in Detroit called Leon the Barber.

I can't even tell you the stuff he said.

Some of the stuff he said to us behind the bench.

And he sat right behind our bench and two big bodyguards sitting there.

And some of the stuff he said, you can't say on air.

It's not clean enough for television.

But see, it was bad.

People don't know that fans back there was trash talkers.

They didn't get thrown out.

Because it wasn't for us.

It was entertainment.

You know, we didn't get upset, get fans thrown out.

We just didn't do it.

Not unless a fan came out of stands and did something they right.

But talking, it all they did to motivate us.

Right.

Because he's supposed to make you bring the dog out.

Because that shows you your toughness, too.

Kind of like shut up.

I'm going to get that fan thrown out.

He obviously is a fan of mine because he's.

He came to see me play.

He's talking crazy and because this is what motivates him.

But you know what?

There's something that same fan, Liana Barbara, after the game would ask me for my shoes.

All the time.

So it was never personal.

He was supporting his team, you know.

So it was a lot of fans around the league like that.

And I mean, we loved it.

We embraced it.

Who was the best trash talker as a player?

Oh, man, a lot of them.

My brother was one of them.

Cheryl.

Yeah, I remember he told me, he said, Big bro, you ain't scoring no more tonight.

I said, little bro, I got 40.

I don't want to score no more.

I'm done.

A matter of fact, coach, take me out.

I don't even want to play no more.

Well, you had to be taken out because you're too good versus you asking the coach, why you taking me out?

The only reason I said that because he was talking trash but it was a lot

chuck person indiana pacers oh my god it was almost like we fought every game we had a fist fight or shelve me at something

every game every game yeah and then you got larry bird larry bird if you wasn't ready he took your heart

you know larry was great it was a lot it was quite a few guys that talked like that but larry And Chuck was some of the best.

Larry was number one because everything he said,

he did it.

He backed it up.

he backed it up that's a bad

he's a bad and that's why again i don't i hate when people ask i had a guy ask me did i think i could score 15 points a game in today's game could you i said is that a trick question

i said which quarter

i like are you serious right and i said i i i averaged 30 in the hand check area right said what do you think i do if you can't touch me

i'm like come on man really can't touch me we all like physical contact.

Man, I wanted to bump and grind down around the basket because the thing about

when you can feel a guy,

you know how to play him.

I already know how you play.

I already know how you can play because if I can feel you, I got you.

Because if I can make you commit one way, I'm going opposite.

And people said, well, what do you mean by that?

I said, a lot of times when you guys catch the ball, the first thing you do is dribble.

Well, what you do, when you can feel a guy, you commit one way or the other.

If you feel a move to your right, you know you drop and go left.

And those are all the things we learned in high school, college to prepare us for the pros.

So all that stuff, up and under, drop step, you know, power.

We learned that at a very early age.

The thing is, is how can you put pressure consistently on a team

if you don't attack?

Right.

You have to attack.

See, my whole thing was, this is my strategy.

If I'm playing against another great player on the other side of the board,

if I can get two fouls on him early, now I create an advantage for myself because now he's not going to play me as hard.

He's going to bad.

He's going back.

He's trying to get that third foul.

And so you create that advantage early.

Now you get going.

Now the ball is going in the basket.

You know, your level of confidence is elevated.

And, you know,

you're trying to get that third foul on before you get to halftime.

I feel like we're getting our coaching on.

And since we're in our coaching, and this is Hawks and friends,

what you think them Hawks got to do, my man?

Well, first of all, we got to stay healthy, man.

I mean, injury had been hit with that injury bug, and, you know, we got guys out right now.

But, you know, I got to give it to these guys, man.

They still fighting.

Right.

We got to fight.

They're still fighting.

They playing hard.

Got to fight.

You know, and each night, it's a different guy.

to step up.

Last game was Trey hitting a big shot.

Need that.

Big fourth quarter that he had.

But, you know, you look at Reese the Shay, he played well that night.

Dyson Daniels played well.

And that's what you got to have when you're decimated, you know, with injuries.

You got to do it collectively.

It's hard to do it with one guy.

Yes, sir.

And that's crazy because as a collective, as the city, we all want to say thank you again for bringing that energy and that love.

And that's why you got a statue.

Ain't nobody got no statue.

You know what?

There's only one jersey I felt good in throughout my career.

And I'm not just saying this.

It's a Hawk jersey.

When I was with boston and la clippers and sam i didn't feel right i didn't look right in those jerseys you ain't look right in them colors man only this red and yellow matter man that's right that's right boss fade

here you in the head oh g it's an honor man don't let this be your last oh no we can do it anytime man

your crib yeah

they got a picasso

got a pool and he got ain't he got a gazebo don't nobody be over here the gazebo

you're right.

Yeah, that tiny house when I want to get away from my grandkids.

I'll go over there.

He got a tiny house to get away from his house.

He got a house to get away from his original house.

He's tired of that house.

Hey, man, it's a blessing and an honor, man.

And you know, like you said, we just want to continue to give you your flowers while you're here.

And we appreciate you.

We're thankful for everything that you've done for the city.

And we're glad that you came and did it for our city.

That's why I wore this jersey, let you know, man.

It's still here.

That's crazy that you could do something so long long ago, and it's still, you know, what's funny?

I'm 33.

You know, you can get my jersey.

I can't get it.

Why?

And so they had to order it, which is a good problem.

Yeah.

I'm about to say, bitch, you created it.

No, but no, they then the Hawks will always make sure that I have a jersey for the families and grandkids.

And I have two great-grandkids.

I'm a great uncle.

Oh, man, you're too young for a great uncle.

That's what you say.

My mama had me when she was 45.

My daddy was 61, OG.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay, makes sense.

My My dad had graduated high school before you

show you right now.

Show you right.

Hey, OG, Atlanta, man, you know what's up, man.

Hey, man, it's a great episode of House and Friends.

Get it?

Yeah, this is my area.

You got to have a pad.

You know, only time I really come in the house of them to eat

or go to sleep.

Right.

These two rooms.

This is the getaway, man.

This is my humor door, right?

That's why I can't wait till my house is done so I can get my

pads down on here.

You know why these are here, right?

Uh-uh.

Because when you smoke in here, you can't burn my chest.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

This is this is

to cover my chairs.

I thought it was just like, you know, how old folks keep the plastic on their furniture.

Well, it's something like that.

Okay.

It's a booty rug.

Hey, look, I don't want nobody, you know, burning holes in my chest.

But, you know, both these areas, like, it's like my

cigar bar, you drink,

uh, yeah, you know, I got a little see, this one, this one, like, more family-oriented when even when the family want to get out, but this one, I had my business meeting, yeah, yeah.

I have a lot of meetings out here, yeah.

You know, we do a lot of podcasts from time to time out here, but I wanted this to look more like a log cabin, yeah, ain't nothing wrong with that.

And then, you know, I have my own, my own, um, got your own going yet, I got my own bourbon,

bourbon, I'm gonna give you a bottle, Yeah, give me a bar.

Oh, there you go.

That was yours.

We're walking around the crib with you.

What we do.

I built the floor myself.

I did the floor myself.

So you telling me you got down here and you fooled it, leveled it, sand.

Until you realized you needed somebody professional to finish it.

No, no, I finished it.

For real?

Yeah, I did this whole floor.

I did this.

I did this backsplash here, that whole wall there.

That's fine.

And the only thing I had, because we had shingles at the top.

Got to get rid of the shingles.

So I had somebody that could do the roof, but the floor stuff, I did.

Oh, yeah, that's it.

Then I came and put heat and air, and then I put, you know, cigar.

So you do, you do, so you be reconstructing houses, too?

I ain't going to say all that.

I mean, anybody that can do a flow,

that's the starters on.

You need a flow before you get a build.

I'm really handy.

I like that.

So I'm a country boy myself.

I built a lot.

Even the little boards on my tiny house, I built those.

I put those boards on.

Oh, that's all right.

And

actually, we took my old fence down, but my uncle and I built the fence.

Y'all built the fence too?

Yeah.

You dug it up.

Oh, yeah.

Stuck the wood down.

You know, I got my nail gun and the whole thing.

You know, that's engineering.

That's engineering.

Right.

That's engineering.

See, people don't know that that's engineering.

I've always been a handyman.

I come from a family that the men of the family always work.

You got to.

And work inside and out.

Right.

So, yeah.

Got to get dirty.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Only thing I don't like when my kids come here, they take basketball and they throw them all over the yard, and I got to come pick them up.

I'm about to say, I thought it was a boat.

I'm going to say, you don't do no fish?

Oh, no, no, no.

You don't fish?

Oh, well, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

I bass fish.

Okay.

I've been bass fishing.

My dad, father from North Carolina.

That's all they did.

Fish and hunt.

I used to hunt too.

I used to steal my grandfather.

He had a gun to shoot 16 times.

It was silent.

I used to go out and shoot at the barn.

Boy.

See, I thought I was good.

I ain't good.

I'm gonna keep this bourbon right here.

This is my championship trophy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's what, hey, that is excellent bourbon.

And you know what?

I don't drink, but I'm gonna drink that.

You know, I'm not much of a drinker.

Usually, it's for other people.

Right.

I kind of experiment a little bit, but not a big time.

Well, you know, I'm getting ready to replace this whole floor because I've had it here for a minute and it's starting to fade.

So, CBA Sports, which I'm partner with,

this is what we do.

We do outdoor courts.

Right.

We do indoor courts and yeah you got this you got the oh it's you got it down yeah i'm trying i'm trying to get around you got the silhouette down yeah

we ain't playing

what

hey wow that's the boss fade i was talking about man hey that's funny that's funny so yeah so we we we have a court building company actually i have my own signature floor coming out right you know how would they because i i

refer them to me so so i got you just If you want a court, just call me and I'll make sure they get over and look at your property.

Yeah, I need one.

Matter of fact, I want this same silhouette.

Matter of fact, I want this same court.

You know what?

That's why I'm going to do it.

With the Hawks, I'm going to go.

Make sure he get my information and I'll send the guy to the hell because they'll come out and look at your property.

Same court.

See where you want it.

And

I got up now.

And see, this is also a tennis court, too.

Right.

Because

I have rebounders here these are rebounders right and then you have the hookup these right here rebounders yeah it's the rebounder for for not oh for the tennis let me down actually like if you want him shooting by yourself right you can you know this is this is this is your rebound so what's it what's you what's what's your technique of a perfect jump shot well i don't know what it is now but back then it's just keep it it's going straight up and down give it balance you know what i mean right i'm pigeon told so you know i like this go straight up and down

it goes crazy Let me see.

Yeah, you got to have form, baby.

You got to have form.

I'm old, man.

Now I can't shoot it like I used to.

Don't worry about it.

That's a good-looking shot.

That's a good-looking shot.

Nah.

Coach,

told me that I wasn't going to beat you.

But I'm going to tell you, though.

I'm going to tell you, though, the first thing I would tell you, though,

start right here.

See?

Most kids.

What's the shot they take?

The three.

A three.

You two.

You know what?

See the ball go down.

Take an easy shot.

See what I mean?

Take like two of them and then you step out right knock down like two of those

there you go now you can step out or go to the corner what whatever you're comfortable with now you're not seeing that ball go down right you know i've coached both of my sons both of them see but look and my daughter is it isn't that like a blessing for you to give off some game to your loved one especially that you know that they can use i think we have A social responsibility to give back what we've learned.

Right.

And when I hear people say, oh, oh, well, I'm not a role model.

I don't like being a role model.

But you are.

Once you put in that position,

you have an obligation to give it back.

Right.

You know, that's why, if you ever see me with bodyguards, all that stuff,

how can you connect to people if people can't even touch you?

Interact with you, touch you.

I mean, so that's why I get respect from.

Places I go, especially in the city of Atlanta, because I'm one of you guys.

That's how I like when I'm moving in the city.

Like, I understand when I'm out.

That's cool.

Certain times you may need that.

But when I'm in the city, man, I don't need no security.

I know how to move around.

You need nigga wood.

I go to the grocery store.

I'm outside.

Yeah.

I'm telling you, I go to the grocery store, all that stuff, and people are like, hey, Nick, how you doing?

Because they see me so much.

How you doing?

So, you know, I don't have to have all that around me.

Right.

Right.

And that's how you stay connected.

with the earth, with life.

You already know what's going on because I'm a people.

Just because I do this, I'm still a human being.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying?

And

that's why people love you because when you do that, man, you got a little jump shot there.

Man, I tried to do a little something.

Once he told me I wasn't going to be nothing, I put the jump.

I put it down.

I put everything down.

So

my youngest son, 6'11, right?

Right.

He used to come out here, him and his friends all the time, and they kept the gold.

All they wanted to do is dunk.

I said, man, put the gold up.

What are you doing?

I said,

if you want to learn how to play the game, put it up 10 feet.

Well, dad, it's just me and the fellas.

I like, put the go up.

I mean, I'm screaming at him all the time.

Right.

Now he finally realized why.

Because he done tried on it.

He didn't learn anything with the game.

Sound flutter.

You ain't did nothing.

I see him.

And actually, it was a little bit lower than this.

I'm like, come on, son.

So the funniest thing, so as he got taller,

I think he was six.

eight at the time.

He had a couple of his friends come over and he asked me to come out and play with him.

I said,

I don't know.

I'll be out there in a minute, son.

So I saw him on the court from the window, and he kept looking back and see if I was seeing him.

See if you were coming.

I said, you know what?

I got a call.

I got to go.

I got a call.

So it was me and him against two of his guys.

And these kids were like 6'8.

Both of them, 6'8.

And, you know.

And one of the guys said, don't worry about his pops.

This guy, Jacob.

I'm like, what?

What?

What?

He tried me.

Oh, man.

I was wearing this little kid out, right?

And so he tried tried to go by me he hit me in the chest my son said oh he hit a brick wall

You gonna learn today son hey, I heard for two weeks that was the last time

that wasn't in my um

that wasn't in my uh

forte right as uh

playing with

every day yeah and it wasn't in my wheelhouse so I'm just gonna be some game

it was fun while it lasted Because I knew he wanted he wanted he just wanted that experience wanted me to come out he wanted that experience to tell his you know say this friend, his dad out there playing.

I remember me and dad to bust y'all.

Yeah.

Yeah, you got to pull that goal up.

But, you know, first of all, it's a God-given talent, a gift of being able to elevate, you know.

But somebody dunk for the first time,

make sure the goal is at a height that you can reach it.

I'm sorry.

You know.

You know, I believe my first dunk was 13 years old.

I had to dunk 10-foot before.

I don't think I can do it again.

I mean, I don't say cane in my vocabulary.

I can.

See, practice makes perfect.

You know, I don't practice the dunk.

You know.

I just noticed that shirt, man.

Yeah, we don't play.

That's a nice shirt.

We don't play, man.

We represent Ryan Henlina, man.

We get it in blood.

And we represent.

All right.

They want to see what you got.

See what you got.

It's all about which dunk you want me to do.

Quit.

What off the backboard?

I'm gonna go crazy.

I'm gonna go crazy.

Okay, they want off the back boy.

Off the back boy.

Off the back boy.

I ordered a two half of myself.

You know,

that was one of my Slam Dunk contest winning dunks there.

See, but this now I gotta be.

It's all timing, baby.

It's all timing.

It's all about time.

It's all about time.

It's all about how you bounce.

I know that backboard.

I know that backboard had a little semen on.

Oh, yeah, that's it.

There you go.

There you go.

Dunk contest now done got soft.

Hey, oh man.

They be doing stuff looking at it.

I'll be like,

you ain't do nothing.

And you know what?

Now, McClone is doing it again this year.

Right.

For a three-peat.

Right.

It's amazing because you got a guy coming out of G-League.

Tell me the little shot one.

Yeah, he's been doing the thing.

If I'm an NBA player, man, I'm embarrassed.

Embarrassed.

G-League got beat me.

Embarrassed.

No, sir.

Okay.

So think about it like this, right?

How you looking at it?

How do you see that

right now?

You don't have to make it to the NBA.

They got so many.

That's what it's saying.

They got so many avenues.

You right, coach.

I probably won the NBA player, but I'm an NIL Europe League player.

Yeah.

You never taught me that.

I only thought NBA was the only way.

You know what?

If you're an NBA player, you work all your life to get to this level.

Right.

And ain't nobody at this level.

Right.

And this, that's, I'll pay you that sure.

Michael Jordan match him all text.

Right.

Ain't come and beat me.

Right.

No.

Not happening.

Because it's pride.

Right.

You know,

pride.

It's all about pride, man.

You know, hell.

We were going to the toughest guy to do the contest.

Right.

You know,

and we had to bring it.

You know, my first dunk contest was Dr.

J, Larry Nance, uh, Daryl Griffiths.

I mean, these are legendary dunkers that was in this dunk contest.

Right.

And again, I didn't do very well in that dunk contest because I'm stargazing because of Dr.

J.

That was my guy, you know.

And so once I got over that, that next year, I said, I'm not going to just be in a dunk contest.

I got to improve.

I got to show myself.

I said, I'm going to win it.

Right.

And I won it that next year.

So, you know, that was my mentality.

Right.

I played the game at one speed.

That was all out.

That's the only way I knew how to play.

Right.

You know, I wasn't going to come at you.

And I get out on the break.

Ain't nobody beating me down for it.

And you look at guys like myself, James Worthy, Smooth Pippa, how

fast we ran the lanes.

I think suicide and all that came about.

Ain't nobody suicide.

We ran the fast break.

We wasn't going to stop at the three-part line.

We get into that rack, especially early in the game.

I see, okay, cool.

Getting to the rack because it's easy to get.

Now you talking.

It's easy to right and you got a chance to get a I see too many people right here.

See, when you want a fast break, and there's nobody between you and the basket, especially early in the game.

Now, late in the game, the game close, you need to be, of course, but early in the game, you rush it, punch it.

You get that too easy, too.

Now you're seeing the ball go in the basket.

But this is what we see.

You don't start pressing.

We see three, four people in the three-point line, one person at the post, and you like, and you got one person on the side, like he waiting on him to come over here with the you like, ain't no move.

Y'all ain't making no, y'all ain't set up no plays.

The classic way of running a fast break is when you get it, you get it to that point guard.

Right.

And you fill the lanes.

You go wide and then you cut in.

So you got a choice.

Either side.

Now, if they don't get it, you go through and you cross.

Right.

Now the big guy comes down and you have what they call a secondary break.

So the ball never stops.

So check this out, right?

Just like he said, if you would have missed four or five shots back then, you're getting out the game.

Oh, I could.

They got Siller coming up the court with the ball.

How?

When we start doing that?

But see, the thing is, the object of the game to get the ball up the floor as quickly as possible by any means necessary.

So, yeah, I brought the ball up the floor a lot, but I was pushing it.

Right.

But most time, I wanted to be the one to finish the play, not start it.

So I get that ball to Doc Rivers, Spark, wherever, and I just feel those lanes.

Right.

Because I know it's coming back to me.

But how are you going to get a rebound if you're so bringing the ball?

There's so many layups and dunks and one plays with the rim because we were willing to run.

We ran the ball before makes and misses.

So we'll never get secondary chances, second darry chances if our center is bringing the ball up.

Who's going to get the rebound?

The guard.

How?

When the power, when he came, he ain't taller than the power four.

Oh, yeah, but you know, again, it was just a different way of playing back then.

I was trying to be very efficient.

Right.

And how do you do that?

You got to attack.

Got to attack.

See the ball going to battle.

Get to the free throw line.

And like, what you see in the mid-range, I was doing all that mid-range stuff way back then.

How you feel about people doing this?

Because I see this a lot.

I see this a lot.

Guard or powerful, whichever one on them, beat their man.

You can tell them ain't in their contract to shoot too many shots.

They got a free shot.

I already know what you're saying.

And here they go.

You know what?

I'm going to give to you.

God.

Boy, that gets on my nerves.

It drives me crazy with big guys to see them get get right here.

And they pass the ball.

If you did that back on, if a big guy would have passed that ball back out when you're right here, again, especially early in the game,

you might not see a lot of playing time because you're giving up an easy

baby.

You know,

he ain't going to make it.

Because this is a high percentage shot.

But I see so many guys, Rim is right there, and they do this.

Throw it out.

That's bizarre to me.

Because even as a smaller guy I'm not a son out with small forward right if I got the ball in here it ain't coming out

I'm trying to get this guy in foul trouble and get it easy too, you know the thing you don't see

I had a jump hook, right?

You know, I get the ball here, for example, I get a step right dribble using this using my bowl to give me bowls to throw it out, but that's hold the guy at bay got a jump hook.

Or if I get it right, right, and that's like I said, come here for a second.

Let me show you something.

Right.

If I go this way and you go with me, right?

Right.

Then go me now.

So if I'm gonna go with me, I'm this.

You're gone.

You gone.

Yes.

Right.

You're done.

You're gone.

You know, or if you guard me, right?

I think you step up.

I rip through.

Then I come through.

Right.

Or I go the opposite way.

You got options.

Then I go this way.

Right.

Then I throw it off the glass and then.

Right.

You know, that's that's the things we were taught.

You know.

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