Club Shay Shay - Tyronn Lue Part 2

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Part two is underway.

Paul Pierce, it went viral for saying he's the best pure scorer.

I mean, I mean, I mean, name come to mind and like maybe Kobe, maybe Jay Hard, Jordan, KD.

Not saying that Pete, uh-uh, uh-uh.

He was a hell of a scorer.

Yeah.

And Pete was my guy.

I mean, he's my guy.

Right.

We came out of the drive together in 98 on the lockout year.

We worked out together, Englewood High School every single day.

Like, that's my guy.

But he said some crazy stuff.

But no, I mean, I'll take away, like, like I always say,

just because Braun's great don't mean KD isn't great.

Right.

So, like, and Pete Pitch was a great scorer.

Like, footwork, post, on the elbows, catching shoot threes, all the, he could do it all.

So he's not lying about that.

You know, so he gets a lot of, you know, but

he could definitely score.

But like you said, when you, you know, say KD and, you know, Cove and George.

R.G.

George.

I got to the feet of the line more than him.

But I love him.

That's why he is who he is because the confidence he has.

You know what I'm saying?

That's why he is who he is.

What was it?

Because I remember

the last time LeBron was in Cleveland, you guys beat him, and he had a monster game.

I think he had 27, 19, and 12.

That game six y'all ended up beating before he went to Miami.

Prior to that, I mean, prior to, you know, you guys getting KG and Ray Allen,

you know, it was more, I think he beat you guys a little bit more than you guys beat him.

But when he goes to Miami

and

that year,

y'all got him.

And I remember KG say it's over.

Y'all beat him in game five in Miami.

He was up 3-2.

You up 3-2.

KG say it's over.

We ain't coming back down here.

And then LeBron in game six.

45.

Everybody says that's the greatest game he's ever played.

Did you get a sense?

I mean, how soon, how early in the game did you know, boy,

we in for it?

I knew, I mean, I saw the look in his eyes, you know, when he first stood on the floor and just his mentality to start the game, how aggressive he was.

Yeah.

And we were always scared, and Doc was always scared to like trap and double team him because of his passive ability.

And so he figured that, like,

I figured, like, he's going to get everybody else involved.

Now everybody's going to get going.

He's going to get his anyway.

Right.

But we didn't think think he was going to get 45.

Right.

And like that game, when he's able to do that game, like that's what really took him to the next level.

Right.

Like 45, go to Miami game seven, win, game seven, and then you know, to move on.

Like, but that game was oh man.

I still have nightmares about that game.

Was Miami Heat LeBron?

Was that the best LeBron we've ever seen?

I don't know.

I mean, I think 2018, Braun.

The year we went to the finals when Kyrie was gone.

Kyrie was gone.

Yeah.

The way he put, and y'all go to Boston and that game seven.

Yeah.

And y'all beat Toronto.

Y'all beat Toronto.

Y'all beat Indiana.

Yeah.

And he had, what, like eight 40-point games in the playoffs.

He had that 51

against Golden State.

Yeah.

He was just, in Miami, he was extremely efficient.

Efficient, yeah.

You talk about somebody shooting 55,

from the speed.

Yeah, that's crazy.

Yeah, he was super efficient in Miami.

But I didn't get a chance to watch it like I wanted to.

Of course, you can't see every game.

But what he did in Cleveland, you know, you get him back, he comes back.

Yeah, that stretch he had in Cleveland, I think that was his best.

So you think the second, the second, the return to Cleveland might have been his best, LeBron?

Yeah, for sure.

I can't say I disagree.

Yeah, he

the year

16,

the 16-17 season,

we went back to the final, we played against KD for the first time.

Yeah.

Like that season right there, I think was one of the best seasons, like you said,

they've ever had.

And then I can't remember what that playoffs was, the playoff run he had, that might have been the best playoff run.

That 18.

That was 18?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

We had eight here.

I think he had eight 40-point games.

Yeah.

And you guys end up, y'all swept Toronto, who was the number one seed at the time.

Yeah.

And then you go on the road and gain seven.

And Boston, yeah, all 48 minutes.

Yeah.

That period, that 15 to 18, I think that might have been his best basketball he ever played.

People always, you know, and you get this a lot, and I'm sure you've heard it.

He wouldn't have done that if he played in the 90s.

He wouldn't have done that and he played in the 80s.

He couldn't have played back then.

Right.

The dude got Carl Malone's body.

He can handle the ball like magic.

He got Carl Malone's body, and he's more athletic.

Who's been having that kind of athleticism that can do all the things that he can do?

I mean, that's, I mean, I played in the 90s.

I wasn't sure.

So you guys said LeBron James couldn't play in the 90s.

Like, come on, man.

I played a lot of it.

I wasn't.

What are we talking about?

Like, I don't even make sense.

Like, if you're great, I don't care where area you're playing, you're going to be great.

Right.

And it is what it is.

Coach of the Clippers.

So you're now you're at the Clippers.

No, I want to go to this.

I want to talk about

the Cavalier situation.

Because when David Black, he gets, you were in line to get the job.

You were supposed to get the job, right?

Yeah, we interviewed the same time for the job.

Right.

And my agent called me and was like,

you know, Dan Gilbert decided that he wanted to go with David Blatt, but I got a crazy thing to tell you.

They want you to be the associate head coach.

And I was like, nah, like, I'm cool.

Like, no, I'm going to stay here with Doc.

Cause I figure, like, if I'm with Doc, who's the best coach in the league, like, I'm going to get a job next year.

I mean, it's coming.

So I'm not going to leave Doc.

I'm going to be loyal to Doc.

And he said, but you wouldn't believe how much money he offered you.

And I was like,

well, what they offer is they want to offer you a million dollars a year to be the associate head coach.

And at the time, I'm making $375 with the Clippers.

Yeah, I think I could do that.

Well, no, I still said no.

You said no.

Yeah.

I was like, nah.

Even in California.

Yeah.

I was like, because you know that's $155.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so I was like, man, like, no,

I ain't doing it.

I'm going to stay with Doc.

I was like, you sure?

Like, yeah, I can't do it.

So he came back an hour later, said, they said they give you one, two, one, four, whatever, whatever.

And I was like, nah, man, like, I'm going to stay with Doc.

I ain't going to do that.

Like, I'm going to be loyal to Doc.

So I called, you know, B.

Shaw.

I was like, B.

Shaw, man.

He said, what?

You, man, you got to,

you got to take that job.

I said, man, I ain't doing it.

And then, so I called Jerry West, who's my mentor.

Right.

And Jerry, like, you know, could you, mother, you, what are you thinking?

If you don't take this job, they'll never give you another job ever again.

Think you can't leave Doc's umbrella, whatever, whatever.

So I was like, man, man, I'm not doing it.

And so he's like going crazy.

So my agent called back again.

He said, like, they said, well, what do you want?

I said, man, just tell them 2 million, 222, whatever, whatever.

He called it back, said, they said, yes.

You're like, damn, I used to say 25.

So I was like, shit, all right, I got to go.

Hey, Doc.

So I called Doc, and Doc was like, You know what, Tyl, like, it's going to be hard for us to match that.

He said, but I think you're ready to leave my umbrella and like, you know, spread your wings and do your own thing.

I think it'd be good for you.

And I was like, you sure?

He's like, man, I think it'd be really good for you.

And so that's kind of how it happened.

I ended up going to Cleveland.

So now, okay, you're on the bench that first year.

Y'all go to the NBA Finals.

You lose to the Golden State Warriors in six.

Halfway through the season,

they make a change.

You get elevated.

Now,

being the head coach is one thing.

When you're the head coach and now you're coaching the best player in the NBA, that's something entirely different, T.

Lou.

Yeah, it is.

You and LeBron, what type of relationship did you have with LeBron before you became head coach?

So I had a relationship with Braun, Rich, and Mav, Randy, before

I even came to be the assistant.

Like, we always been cool and tight.

So, like, we always had that bond.

And so, when I became the associate head coach, like I said, he, then he came back.

So, we already had that bond.

And so,

which was cool.

Like I said, I had Rich and Mab behind me 100% and Randy.

So even Bron get mad.

I had them behind me anyway.

But that's kind of like, you know, like that's family.

Like that's family.

So

when I took over, like I said, I was scared because, you know, anybody can say, I would have did this, I'd have done that.

You know, like, especially all that social media show.

Yeah, you can say all that until you're in that number one seat.

And now you got to do, okay, let's see what you do.

You said you go do that.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

You know, and so

moving over six inches, you know, it's tough.

It's like, especially midway through the season.

Yes.

And so I just thought it was a lot of pressure, man.

Just like, we just went to the finals.

Game six, we lose.

No Kevin Love, no Kyrie.

And now you want me to replace Coach Black, who did a hell of a job.

And if we don't make it to the finals and make it to at least game seven, like, I'm a failure.

Right.

You know, and so that was, it was scary.

And I didn't really know if I could do it because like you're coming through halfway through the season.

Right.

You haven't really had a training camp.

You haven't implemented what what you want to run what you want to do because you you got to stick to what and then like i said and you got the best player in the world you know what i'm saying and then so it was it was it was tough you know but like i said i will give a lot of credit you know to um k-love kyrie braun um jr tristan like those guys like they said listen we got your back 100 like whatever you want to do let's do it we got your back and i said i'm gonna make some mistakes like you know what i'm saying i'm gonna make some mistakes but we all gotta stick together right and i give those guys credit like they have my back a hundred percent but you

the natural thing is like, man, T.

Lou undermined David Black.

He was just, you know, he was supposed to be there anyway, and he probably was doing X, Y, and Z.

Did you hear that?

All the time.

And that's why it was hard for me to want to take that job because I knew what it was going to look like from the outside looking in.

And if they knew the truth about it the year before, they would have never seen it.

And so my job as an associate head coach is to do whatever I can to make the head coach job easier.

And so I did that

to the best of my ability.

And

I would never undermine somebody for a job because that's just not who I am.

That's not my personality.

And I believe it will come back on you if you do things like that.

So what was it about Coach Black?

Was his message just not resonating?

What was it?

Because he did go to the NBA Finals.

Y'all did make it to a game six.

Minus Kevin Love, minus Kyrie.

I believe if you have those guys, we'll never, ever know.

I believe you win the series.

I do too.

But we'll never know.

And then halfway through the season, it wasn't like y'all was in the sixth spot, T.

Lou.

He was the number one spot.

And they fired a coach.

That's never been.

Well, maybe I think Milwaukee did something similar a couple years ago with Adrian Griff.

But I'm just saying, I don't recall a situation of something like that happening.

Was his message just not getting through?

Was it just falling on deaf ears?

Somebody go upstairs.

Why would you make

the number one seed and you change the head coach after you just went to the finals?

You know, for me, I think he did a great job.

And overseas, like when you coach overseas, you are the face of the team.

Right.

Like, it's what you say goes, no matter what, no matter what player is there,

you're the face of the team.

And when you come to the NBA, the players are the face of the team.

And so

it's a different dynamic.

And so just understand that dynamic that, you know, as much as you want to go in and go crazy and cuss somebody out, you might can't do it today.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, you know what I'm saying?

You just can't.

And like, his offensive system, like, was great.

Like, I wish I could run it today.

Like, all the stuff he did, but like, it didn't fit with Braun.

Like, Braun's not going to move like that.

Kyrie want to dance.

He ain't running around.

Kevin Love's not a mover, you know.

And so it was just.

The offense they ran over there was different when he came over here.

Now he's been successful over there, winning all the championships, and he's a great coach.

And I thought it was great stuff that we were doing, but it just didn't fit our team and what we're trying to do.

And so I think guys got frustrated with the process and got frustrated with

how we did things like offensively and defensively, because some of the stuff was different.

But there's nothing wrong with change if it works and it was working, but it just, you know, I think a lot of people got frustrated and didn't take the time, have the patience to really kind of wait for it.

And that's kind of like where things got, you know, got harder.

You know, so that was it.

Do you remember your first game getting booed?

Who y'all first?

Do you remember who y'all played first?

Played the Bulls.

Bulls.

And we was at, we played them in Cleveland.

Y'all lost.

And they booed me?

Oh, I don't even remember.

Did they boo me, man?

Y'all don't remember.

I mean, like I said, I got tough skin.

So

if I mess up, I mess up.

Like, I deserve to get booed.

I deserve to get cleaned up.

Y'all lost 96 to 83.

Okay.

But,

I mean, do you understand what you did?

They fired the coach mid-season.

You get that team.

Not only did you get them to the NBA Finals, you orchestrated the greatest comeback in finals history, down 3-1 to a guy that he was the first guy to be a unanimous MVP.

And two of the last three games were on the road.

How do you lie to them?

You got to lie.

Sometimes coaches tell us all the time, sometimes guys I got to lie to you.

How do you lie to them and tell them they really got a chance to win this?

You know, what's crazy is that I really, I swear to God, I thought that we can win.

Like even when we're down 3-1, I thought that we could win.

What?

You had just lost.

You had just went down 3-1 at your home court, T.

Lou.

But I'm saying, we lost the two games we lost first, we got blown out.

Yeah.

We win game three.

Yes.

We should have won game four.

We tricked it off the last two minutes of the game.

Right.

Right.

So we go down 3-1, and I'm like, we still have opportunities to win this.

Like, we still can win.

I really believed it, but we had to make some tweaks and we made some adjustments.

and like i said i give our guys credit for doing that but what's funny like getting to that point um every time we lost a game i never show film and so david griffin would go back to our uh video guy dv was like man what the hell is he doing like why he said listen just trust me you know what he's doing like just trust him like if he's doing it i believe in it right so like because after game one or even in the finals before like if we show film and like they was blowing us out like it was like you don't want mentally you don't want that you know you don't want we can't beat these exactly so you don't want the guys seeing that so we come in have a fun day shooting half court shots right tweak some stuff here and there and when we win that's when we'd be in long film sessions all the stuff we were making mistakes on and like what we got to clean up to be better and it worked because you don't want to psych your guys out thinking like man like how can we beat them right you know and so every time we lost i never show film we won i showed all the stuff we needed to get better at and um we just had to make some tweaks defensively and we made those tweaks like i give jr shump and all those guys credit for what we was able to do to change our strategy.

Because if you play Goldman State, the way they play, their pace, and how fast they play, you don't know until you're in it.

You can't go to practice and work on something.

You can't replicate that.

Can't do it.

And so I saw that.

When you playing up, when you switching everything, they're going to pick you apart.

Like Draymond with his passing, Steph and Clay with their movement, like you just can't switch everything.

And so after game four, I was like, listen, when Steph and Clay come together, splits and all that, we're switching it.

Anybody else, you stand locked in.

So it won't be no confusion.

We make a mistake, we're going to make a mistake on, you know, the other guys.

We ain't going to make a mistake on these guys.

You know, and so it worked.

Like, Jayon Schump locked into Steph and Clay.

Like, if you guard Eagle Dollar, Livingston, you pushing up, you just protecting.

And like, it changed our whole series.

Like, it changed it.

And then the performance that Braun and Kyrie had in game six.

Game six.

No.

Game five.

They were both 441.

Yeah.

And into game five and like going home for game six, like I thought we warmed down.

And then game seven, you got the best player in the world going into game seven.

You got to love your chances.

Right.

So that's, you know, kind of what happened.

Was it ever a situation that you had like

because it's hard because you got a LeBron man or any great player to like, bro, I need more from you.

You got to give me more.

Yeah, half time of game seven.

Yeah, half time of game seven.

We come in a locker room and

like this, we're going to show a film.

I said, no, I ain't no film.

Like, so I came and said, Brian, what you going to do, man?

What you mean?

So you got to do more.

Like, you got to be better.

Like, what you want me to do, T.

Lou?

I'm like, because he had 20 points and my dad had seven assists.

But he left a lot on the table to me.

And this is game seven.

You're the best player in the world.

I was like, we need, what would you want me to do?

I said, you got to guard Draymond better, score the basketball, stop turnover, be aggressive.

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Anything else you want me to say?

So he maddened him up, right?

So I go to the hobby.

I'll stay in the door.

So later, after we, you know, it was over damon jones said um braun came to him like man can you believe t-lou man call me out like that that's some bulls whatever whatever djones said well i ain't been here all year but everything i read and you called and told me you trust him why not trust him now he's like f you you know so he goes to james jones james can you believe t-lou man i can't believe it james said did he lie So then Braun snatches Snub out of the locker, storm out.

That's all she wrote.

I mean, JR, people understand, JR scored the first seven points.

He did.

And then after that, he was down seven.

So JR scored seven straight.

And then after that, man, Braun, what he did after that was, it was all she wrote.

The chase down, and then Kyrie's three-point shot.

I don't know because you guys had gone like three minutes, T.

Lou, and nobody could score.

I know.

It was like somebody put a lid on the basket.

Everybody was bricking, air balling.

You could feel that it was tightening yeah everybody felt i don't care what anybody says everybody felt it yeah

do you feel that if iguadala had laid that ball up that was going to be the momentum that they needed to win the game or you felt you guys even if they had broke the score because you guys scored first yeah i mean um

no they scored first

The guy escaped, no, he was tied.

Yeah, it was tied.

He blocked, yeah.

And then Kyrie

and then Kyrie started to dance.

Right.

And so we called time out and

the thing about brawn was exhausted and so we get to the bench i mean he's like he's done so i'm like

you know kai it's time to dance you know what i'm saying so i'm like we want to run pick and roll you know what i'm saying because clay was a great defender right and like i said steph you know to where he's at now defensive wise like he took a huge step you know and take pride in garden right you know now and so they had no weak links right you didn't want draymond you didn't want eagle dollar you didn't want clay so i was like but we got to try to get steph into action Right.

You know, so

we run a pick and roll.

You know, Kyrie gets a switch.

I ain't never going to shoot a three.

You know what I'm saying?

I ain't never going to shoot a three.

And so he.

But

that's his shot.

Yeah.

That side step three.

That's his shot.

So he gets to that right wing.

He's dancing and he shoots it.

And like, man, like, from that point on, I just blacked out.

Like, once he made that shot, I like blacked out.

Like, nobody.

I remember K-Love, like,

guarded Steph.

Yeah.

Sitting in the chair on Steph.

Guard of Steph.

And I remember it was at the the end of the game, we were up

three, four.

Yeah, Braun gets fouled.

We up four.

And it was two things that we worked on.

They ran two knee three plays for shots.

And so the whole series, before we got to the series leading up to it, and the series, I was like, listen, we're going to work on these ATOs, but on their knee three plays, guys are going to be in different positions.

So every day we worked on their knee three plays.

I said, it's going to come a time we're going to need it.

So like Kyrie, man, we're doing this again.

Like, cause all the games were blowouts.

It wasn't no closed games until game seven.

Right.

And so we never had to use it.

And so we worked on it every day on this play.

Kyrie, you guarding this guy.

Tristan, you guarding this guy.

Braun, you here on this play.

When they do it, now you guarding over here.

Like, so we had guys in different spots.

So when Draymond goes to take the ball out of bounds, you see him, he's like, man, what the?

Like, because the matchups was crazy, but we knew how we wanted to switch.

Right.

We got a deflection.

So the ball goes out of bounds.

So they call the second play they run, ATO wise for knee-three, and guys go to different matchups.

And Draymond's like, man, what the?

Like, it messed him toe.

So then we win the game.

So the next day, I was like, see, that's why I'm working on it.

He said, man, you was right.

And like, we worked on it for set, like, eight days before the series started.

And then every day we worked on a knee three.

And they talked trash to me.

Man, we ain't going to never use this.

This is stupid.

And then in the game, we needed it.

How are you able to earn the players' trust in Cleveland so quickly?

I would say being around the players I coach and play with.

I think that's one.

I think winning, I think,

was something.

And then I think just having a relationship with Braun.

Like, I think having a relationship with Braun really set the tone for everybody else.

And I had a relationship with J.R.

You know, when he first came in the league, you know, he used to come work out with us in Vegas.

And so I knew J.R.,

but the other guys I didn't know, like you said.

But having Braun's respect and having a friendship with Braun,

that really helped me earn the respect of everybody else in the locker room.

You're the first coach in NBA history that wins first 10 postseason games.

Did you know that?

Yeah.

I don't think they're going to be broken.

Somebody almost broke it recently.

They did?

Almost.

When you good, they got to start over again.

Somebody almost broke it first year.

I can't remember who it was.

Was it?

Let me see.

Was it Missoula?

Did they go?

Yeah, you might be right.

Yeah, I think he broke it or got closer, tired or something.

I don't know.

I mean, it was right there.

I know that happened.

I read a story that you're,

is this true about the money that you put up in the ceiling?

Yeah.

Or you made that up?

No, it's true.

You knew after winning game five that you guys were coming back for game seven.

Yeah.

Because you didn't feel there was no way they could beat you in game six in your building.

I didn't think so.

And so after game five,

our owners and

front office people, they all in the locker room.

Everybody's going crazy we hype whatever so i walk in the locker room i said all right everybody give me 200 it's like what i was like everybody give me 200 i'm gonna put it in the ceiling and um we coming back for game seven to get our money and so everybody oh yeah they going crazy so everybody gives 200 200 the owner dan gilbert you know day forbid they all give money put it up in the ceiling um but i had got it from doc because doc did it um

we played the lakers in la right christmas day and they blew us out right And Doc said, listen, y'all remember this.

Remember how it feels?

Because we're going to play them in the NBA Finals.

And we come back to get our money.

And we put it, hit it in the attic.

I mean, in the ceiling.

Came back, and it was there.

And Doc passed the money out.

The only difference with me, I kept it.

Come on, Key Lou.

And I'm going to tell you how crazy Brian is, how tight he is.

So we win the championship.

We just won.

Man, they in the blocker room.

They spraying champagne.

Brian, like, man, we're that 200 at?

Like, come on, man.

We just won a check.

You won want about two?

I said, man, I think this ball boy stole it.

It ain't in there no more.

You know what I'm saying?

So I kept that.

I deserved it.

I deserved it.

Man, come on, Brian.

200.

He wanted it.

He wanted it back.

I wasn't giving it back.

There have been whispers about LeBron possibly returning to Cleveland.

Do you think he's going to return to Cleveland?

Before you answer that, are you surprised?

This is the first time in LeBron's career LeBron James is on an expiring contract?

I'm surprised by that.

I mean,

I mean, this is a player that, like, he's.

He gave you 24, 8, and 7 last year.

And he's changed the game.

Like, he's made it to where these guys are able to go to whatever teams they want to go.

Yes.

And, like, you said,

build their careers.

Like, he was the one to take that first step.

Yes.

You know, and so.

He took all the heat.

All the heat, you know, to get to this point where now you see everybody's doing it.

And he paved that way.

And so I think if he's on an expiring contract, I think it's something he wants.

I don't think that, you know, like the Lakers are only going to give you a, you know, finish this year out and that's it.

Like, I think if he's on a one-year contract, that's where he wants to be.

Going back to Cleveland, I don't know.

Yeah.

Like, can you see it?

I don't.

I don't.

I mean, I don't know.

You went to L.A., you've done everything you can do in Cleveland.

Right.

I think you finish it up in L.A.

I don't know how much longer, how much longer they want him in L.A., but I think the thing is, he finishes up in L.A.

I don't think he's done after this year.

No.

I don't think he's done.

No.

And the thing is, T-Bo,

I was talking to somebody the other day.

I said, if you play 24, you might as well go and get that 25.

Yeah, he's not done after this year for sure.

But I think he wants to set that record out there.

He wants to set that record out there.

Ain't nobody going to get it.

They can't catch it.

Because KD, he thinks KD is the closest, but KD is 10,000 points away.

That's 10,000.

So

if you average,

that's another seven, eight years.

That's right now.

Yeah.

LeBron plays another two, three years.

That thing will be a 45,000 point.

I mean, it's going to be hard to catch that.

I don't see no.

Because you have to play a lot.

You have to play.

You're going to have to have sustained greatness.

Because nobody thought Kareem

stay healthy.

And health.

Because nobody thought Kareem record would be broken because, first of all, only bigs played that long.

Exactly.

Long jet.

And then you could play that long if you were big because, guess what?

You go down to the block, they dump it down to you.

You ain't trying to get up and down the court like that.

You're averaging eight, nine, ten points.

Yeah, you know what I'm saying?

When you get that old, it's a big.

Yeah.

Like, think of all our great bigs when they played, you know, past their prime, they only averaged eight, nine, ten points.

Braun averaging 25.

Yeah.

Like,

like, so, I mean, I think he's going to put it out of reach where it's going to be hard to, it's going to be hard to get there.

But he was working at the, I saw that, you know, he posted a video.

He was working at the clipper facilities.

Yeah, I know.

I seen that.

Yeah, I saw that.

What that means?

I don't even know if I can speak on that.

You gave him the key?

Nope.

Yeah, he's working out at our old Prax facility.

The one that we had in Plya.

So, yeah, put that out there.

The one at Plya.

Not the new one.

Yeah, he went at our facility.

You know what I'm saying?

I can't say nothing about that.

Had LeBron and Kyrie stayed together,

they won another championship?

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

And I think,

also, I think if

KD doesn't go to Golden State.

Oh, yeah,

they had to get him.

They had to get him.

They were never going to beat you guys again, T.

Lee.

Yeah.

If KD doesn't go to Golden State, I think we win three in a row.

And I think Kyrie stays because you can't leave after that.

Right.

You know what I'm saying?

And so

I think he stays.

And I think, like I said, we had a chance to win two or three.

Is there anything you could have done differently to maybe keep Kyrie and LeBron together?

Or has Kyrie made his mind up that he wanted to go elsewhere?

He had made his mind up, but that's like another Kobe and Shaq situation.

I would never let it happen.

Like, and I begged and pleaded.

I begged and pleaded.

You know, Kobe and Jack.

LeBron said he begged and pleaded.

Hey, don't trade him.

He still got a year on his contract.

Don't trade him.

Braun was doing an autograph signing with jerseys and stuff for his foundation.

So I come sit next to Braun.

We sitting there handing the phone, sports center.

Kyrie Urban's just been traded to the Boston Celtics.

Man, Braun dropped the marker, and just lays back in his chair for about 10 minutes, doesn't say a word, like just pissed off.

And Braun was crushed.

And I saw when that happened, I thought things would like be.

I thought Braun would do something different, you know, sooner than later.

And that's what he did.

So you don't believe LeBron would have stayed in Cleveland had Kyrie stayed in Cleveland?

Yes.

I think so.

Damn.

I mean,

you've seen breakups.

You were there.

I mean, you weren't there at the time, but Kobe and Shaq.

You saw Blake and CP3.

You saw LeBron and Kyrie.

If somebody would have told you in the beginning how well it was working that this was going to be the ultimate outcome, would you have believed it?

As far as what?

Them parting ways.

All those guys?

Yeah.

No.

No.

I mean, I couldn't see it, you know, the way it happened.

You know, especially like I said, Colby and Shaq being in it every single day in the locker room.

Like, because he had too many great guys around him.

Like, you had a lot of great buffers, you know, like Rick Fox, Robert Ore, B.

Shaw, Harp.

Like,

they were old enough to

understand

what was at stake.

Yes.

And understand, like, we got something special.

Yeah, something special.

And so they would never let it come to where it came to, you know.

So that was tough.

And then, you know, I think Kyrie, his biggest thing is like,

because he's a competitor.

Yeah.

He's a killer.

And so he wanted to show, kind of like Kobe did, you know, with Shaq.

Because that's his mentor.

He's yeah, I want I could win, you know, without Braun.

And for me to take that next step, this is what I got to do.

And so to have his own team and to do that, like that was his, that was his goal.

And that's what he wanted to do.

Right.

So I don't think it was nothing, no ill will against Braun.

It was just something he wanted to do for his career.

Right.

KD

he starts out in OKC, goes to Golden State, wins 2-3, goes to Brooklyn, leaves Brooklyn, goes to Phoenix.

Now he's in Houston.

How different are we looking at KD if he doesn't go to the Warriors?

As far as if he won or not?

Yeah.

I mean, I think the only difference would be if he won an OKC.

And which they could have easily done that too.

Right.

You know, so, I mean, I wouldn't look at him different.

You know, I think

a lot of great players,

like, they think, you know, you have to win a championship to be, you know, to be on this tier, whatever.

Well, it's us now.

It's fair.

It's us now.

Yeah.

The meeting.

We've done that.

Yeah.

Because we say you're bum.

We say you're not any good.

We don't say you're bum, but we say you're not any good.

Or they put, who's the greatest NBA player that's never won a championship?

Yeah.

So rings are everything now.

We'll take a guy that's averaging 10 points and put him above somebody that's historically great because he has a ring.

And Kenny's one of the best players of all time.

All time.

Yeah, so like, it just, it just,

you know, everybody doesn't win, you know, so.

And they shouldn't.

Yeah, exactly.

No, no.

What's the value of a championship if every great player won it?

But, you know,

if he goes to Golden State and wins, oh, well, he went to Golden State.

Well, what you want him to do?

Right.

If he don't win, you're going to say he didn't.

You'll criticize him.

Y'all still do it.

If he goes and wins, it's criticized as well.

It's just not fair.

And so,

I mean,

what else can you say?

He's a bad dude.

Whether he won a championship or not won a championship or whatever,

he's one of the best, greatest players to play this game.

And so.

What did you guys need when

he goes to the Warriors?

What did Cleveland need to combat that?

Because

I believe without KD, they're not going to beat you again.

After you beat them at 2016, coming back from 3-1, I don't believe they can beat you again.

I think we had the blueprint on how to beat them.

Steve Kerr is a mastermind, so he probably figured something out.

But I thought we had the blueprint.

But for us, probably, I would say like a dominant center.

Like a guy you can throw the ball to.

Dump it down to him and punish him inside.

Yeah, so Draymond's not helping all over the place.

Like, because Tristan was a really good player, but like, offensively, being able to throw the ball, post the basketball, and make plays, because K-Love played more of the four.

So, but I think a bigger center that can, you know, can protect the rim, right?

Could be dominant on the block, I think that would have helped us out a lot.

But it was just when they got KD, like you, you blitz.

It wasn't even far.

It wasn't even far.

You blitzed Steph.

Draymond's the best pocket, catch the ball in the pocket.

And now you got Klay and Steph.

I mean, Klay and KD sitting in the court.

Like, I mean,

Eagle Dollar for the lob,

Clay in his corner, KD in his corner.

Like, what you gonna do?

And you still worried about Steel?

Yeah, like, it just,

it was unfair.

That last year, you guys had D.

Rose, you guys had D.

Wade,

and

it just didn't, it wasn't working.

Yeah.

It wasn't working.

Why wasn't it working?

I think

D.

Wade and like I said, D.

Rose is, you know, coming down towards the end of their career, but D.

Rose ended up playing a lot longer than he thought he was going to play.

But you have,

like I said, great players.

You know, D.

Rose, one of my favorite players, like to play the game.

And then D-Wade, you know, as well.

And then what they've been able to do with other teams and then coming to Cleveland with Braun, I think, like, Braun gave them the leeway to do whatever they want.

But I just think just trying to figure it out, playing with each other, the spacing, the shooting, you know, all those components played a factor.

And it just wasn't a good fit.

Like, it wasn't, they could still play.

It just wasn't a good fit, you know, basketball-wise.

And

that's that's just kind of like how it didn't work.

And but if I'd had a little bit more time, I would have been able to figure it out.

Right.

You know, but it just like, it just didn't fit the style that we wanted to play or had to play or need to play.

It just didn't fit.

Uh, Adam Silver says he's changing the all-star game.

It's become unwatchable, T.

Loo.

It ain't number threes and ain't number threes and dunks.

And that ain't the way, man, nobody, bro.

I, I, I, I grew up on the all-star game.

They played.

I ain't saying you got to play it like it's a game seven.

I ain't got saying you got to play it like a playoff game but this is unacceptable yeah so they've changed the format what's the format now uh uh the it's the u.s versus the world isn't it

yeah

so yokich luca uh yannis uh-huh and bi

shea

gonna be stev kd lebron book yeah

and what's the

If they win, then what?

Nah,

we want to see some action.

We want to see the...

Man, we always had a 200 somebody almost scored 200 points at the all-star game no i'm saying but it's like in baseball if you if you win like you know well that's what he should have did we should have went go back to the east west and the winning side get home court advantage no matter what the record is the whoever wins the all-star game gets the home court advantage right then you'll start playing yeah because this come on them jokes shooting 73s

I mean, I don't know, man.

However, Adam Say was going to fix it, it's going to be great because, like I said, he makes sure he does you know he does a great job so um i believe in him it's been a while since we had a an american boy mvp t-lou it's been a minute

i mean yokie's got three yannis has got two and b's got one now we got shea

maybe not as a whole

a whole but are

Is the world catching up with us as far as basketball?

Like, not overall because each player is

from a different country.

Yeah.

But they are getting better.

Yeah, they're getting better.

I mean, um.

You know, it ain't a foregone conclusion 28.

Now, you do realize that, right?

Because think about it, what it took.

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T-Lou, it took Herculean effort, T-Lou.

No.

T-Lou!

I mean, it took Lebron.

Basketball still comes through here.

T-Lou, it took LeBron, it took KD, and it took Steph.

Okay.

That's why we the best.

They're not going to be there at 28.

How many MVPs Braun got?

Four.

How many KD got?

One.

Steph?

Two.

Okay, there you go.

You tried to have them around for 20 and for 28?

No, I'm just saying.

I'm just saying, like, that's why we're the best players in the world.

I mean, they have, like, Joker, like, they have great players, too.

But what I'm saying is, they're not going to be able to catch us because it's one or two guys in each country.

Right.

Like, we're one place.

Right.

And we have all the talent.

We have all the skill.

We have all the athleticism.

But, like I said, they are really good.

I mean, they're great.

Because they're playing, because the thing is, T.

Lou, is that

the Germans, they've been playing together their whole life.

The Slovenians, the Serbians, the Lithuanians, Australians,

they've been playing together 10 years old.

Yes.

We come together for two weeks, come to Vega for two weeks, practice.

Then we go to somebody to play like three exhibitions, and then they go play.

Right.

Now, I do think Wimby.

Oh, geez.

Wimby.

I think, but I don't know, man.

I just, y'all, we, no, we're the greatest.

We got this in 28?

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah, for sure.

I'm going to check out a game now.

If If you can rewind his tape in three years and say, you know what, T L.

But no, no, we're going to win.

You were on the staff at the Clippers when Shay was there.

No.

You were there?

Nope.

I was in

when Shea got there.

I was.

You still in Cleveland?

Yeah, I was in Cleveland.

Yeah.

Doc said he pleaded with them, since, look, this guy is going to be special.

Don't trade him.

But to appease Kawhi, you had to, because Kawhi was like, I ain't got time.

I need somebody that's proven.

PG was proven.

He's been an all-NBA player, can play both ends of the court.

But watching him, I mean,

watching Shay, did you know Shay was going to be this?

No.

No, I didn't.

And we talked about it all the time.

And,

you know, 30 GMs or presidents or whatever, even like,

If it would have been done all over again, I mean, I'd have done the trade too.

Yes.

Like, PG was second in MVP voting.

Yes.

Like, two-way player.

Like, it was like Jordan Pippen.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

And Shea, like I said, he was a really good, you know, young player, but you didn't know he's going to be this.

Right.

You know, and I think it was the best thing for Shea because Shea would have stayed with the Clippers.

He wouldn't.

He wouldn't be, yeah, he wouldn't be.

He's going to have the ball in his hand.

Exactly.

And so he was able to grow and figure it out, have his own team.

Yes.

And like, I mean, anything hindsight 2020, you can say, oh, I would have never done that.

But who wouldn't have traded, you know, a first-year player for a guy like PG, you know, to team up with Kawhi?

Right.

Like anybody would have done that.

They lying, they said they wouldn't have.

Right.

You know, and so now Shea with Shea now.

Yeah,

it's not a question, but yeah, that was a no-brainer to me.

Did you guys try to trade for Paul George when you was in Cleveland?

Yeah.

When he was in Indiana.

And why didn't it happen?

I don't remember.

Damn.

Yeah, we tried to get him.

PG, LeBron, and Kyrie?

Ooh.

Now, see,

that might have been enough to

come back.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because now you can throw LeBron.

I mean, obviously, you let PG start with him, and then you can have LeBron, but you still got guys.

Now you got three guys that can really score the basketball.

LeBron, Kyrie, and

PG.

And Kay Love can score.

Yeah, yeah.

So,

man, we tried.

Damn.

Ooh.

You got to answer me this.

This is what I want to know.

The bubble.

Because this is what I got.

Man, the Clippers didn't even want to be there.

Okay, they wanted to be there when they got the 3-1 lead.

Once they lost the 3-1 lead, they didn't want to be there.

I'm like, what kind of boy job is that?

Am I wrong?

So

explain to the people that was in the bubble because I see a lot of people that didn't win try to undermine it.

I think, who was that that said something the other day about it?

I think it was

the GM, right?

GM.

Was it David Griffin?

No, the one at the one at Philly.

Maury.

Yeah, Darryl Maury.

Darrell Maury.

Now, he almost blew the whole thing up talking about what he was talking about.

And now he want to talk about the championship don't mean nothing.

Now, had he won it, I guarantee you he wouldn't have been talking about that.

I'll take it.

Give it to me.

I'll take it.

So,

how

with the team that you guys have, did you lose a 3-1 lead?

And you guys had double-digit leads in every game?

Yeah.

Man,

Jamal Murray and Joker, like, they took it to another level.

Yeah.

You know, they took it to another level.

And

they played great.

I mean, I mean, like you said, if you build a 16, 15, 16-point lead, you was doing something right.

Right.

You know, and so

it just, they played better than we did, you know, coming down the stretch.

You you know, and so if you get high at the right time, like you said, it's tough.

And so

being up 3-1 and having an opportunity to close them out,

and we would have done that, I think we could have won.

We could have won the bubble.

We could have won it.

Yeah.

I'd have took it.

You took the jams.

Doc would have took it.

What you mean?

Yeah, we took it.

But after that,

Doc ends up getting fired.

He and PG have a back and forth.

PG said, well, I'm not playing playing the kind of basketball that I want to play.

Maybe he said, I think he wanted to run Pendians and Docs had him running Flares or whatever the case may be.

You know, whatever the case may be.

I've really never heard you say anything about, you know, obviously players move on.

And you understand that, having played in this game, having coached in this game,

that players are going to move on.

And sometimes we might not ever get out, but we don't see eye to eye.

Me and the player don't see eye to eye.

Is there ever a scenario where you you feel you would

play or said something that you would counter that, or you just let it walk?

I let it walk.

I mean, unless it's something that's

egregious or you're testing my man who, like, you want to scrap?

No, I ain't running from that.

You know what I'm saying?

Like,

but yeah, I ain't running from that.

But, like, you know, players are going to be upset.

They're going to, you know, they're going to say what they're going to say.

But I think if you're the leader and you're a coach, like, you got to take the higher road.

Right.

You know, I do believe in that.

And so, you know, to me, like, I'm always going to take the blame, whether I'm wrong or not.

Right.

You know, and so if you're the leader at any corporation or any profession, like if you're the leader of the team, like you should take the responsibility and you should take the blame, even though you know 100% it wasn't.

Right.

But my job is to take that pressure off you guys so you're not getting, you know, crucified.

And

so that's just how I feel it should be, you know.

And so I wouldn't go back and forth with a player.

You know, I wouldn't do that.

The Lakers had a vacancy.

You were in the running.

I think LeBron called you a couple of times, wanting you to take the job.

Why didn't you take the job?

I mean, you played for the Lakers.

I mean, I think it's always a good story

when a guy can go back and coach the team that he played for.

I would have loved it.

I mean, it had been a dream come true.

Yeah.

Why didn't you take the job?

One,

they offered me short years.

They offered me three years, and I want to do five.

Right.

I guess they were trying to tie me to LeBron.

Two,

the money was low.

No, no, no.

Don't they know the cost of living in L.A.?

Well, I'm saying it wasn't low for like for me personally, the money.

It was low for

the head coach and for what it meant to everybody else going forward.

It's kind of like, you know, the Players Association.

If you take a bad deal, they're going to give us all bad deals.

And so I just felt for me, being a championship coach and being black,

you know, I thought it was up to me to make sure I set the standard.

Got to take a stand.

Yeah, if I take a bad deal, then what's everybody else going to get?

You know, a worse deal.

Yeah, a worse deal.

So I just thought it was up to me, you know,

to make sure I did that.

Right.

And then,

and I, it's hard because, you know, loyalty is tough, but then I couldn't pick my coaching staff.

You know, I had to.

Well, they wouldn't let me pick my coaching staff.

So they was going to pick my coaching staff for me.

And so I had to leave a lot of guys behind.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What do you mean?

Pick your coaching staff.

They wanted to pick my staff for me.

So, in other words, instead of saying, I want to hire, you know, John Drew or this guy, that guy, they're like, no, you got him, him, and him.

Yeah.

But you don't know them like that.

I knew some of the guys.

I mean, it wasn't a thing why they didn't like the guys they wanted me to hire.

My thing was just leaving guys behind.

Right.

Like, so if I'm fired and my guys are out of work, then,

you know i'm i get a job and just say i'll forget them and you leave them behind like we won a championship together right went to four straight finals together like you know what i'm saying and so without what we've done we showed is it worked you know and so i just felt that that wasn't um

that wasn't something that i wanted to do and so those three things kind of you know nipped it in the bud and you know we went i mean it wasn't no bad blood like it was just it was what it was it wasn't

and then you know uh monty williams yeah saved the world.

You know, getting that big deal.

Yeah.

And then, because we had coaches and meetings in Chicago just talking about,

you know,

it's going to be hard to fire coaches if we make more money.

Right.

You know, and so they don't really respect us as a leader, as an organization.

Like, we're running a billion-dollar organization.

You know, they don't really respect us.

Like, we're getting three, four million.

I mean, that's a lot of money.

But I'm just saying, like, in the coaching world, they can just let you go.

They're paying, you know, sometimes paying three, four, or five coaches.

You know what I'm saying?

But like Monty Williams.

So I told Steve Kerr.

I told Phoenix.

I told Doc.

I told

Spo, like, because this was like, you know, four years.

I was like, y'all, y'all are the face of the league for us, coaches.

Like, y'all got to get the money up.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

And they're like, well, you know, whatever.

And so two years later, Monty goes and gets.

And then he gets the bag, then Spo, then Steve Kerr, then Pop, and then me.

You know what I'm saying?

And then now everything's gone up.

And so um and i think it's fair i think you know when you you you have a a coach and there's 15 players and you like the fourth 13 14th highest paid player i mean i mean i out of the the players and the coaches like that ain't that ain't fair like you know and so um i thought he did a really good job of just you know showing appreciation for coaches and and you know because it's a hard it's a hard job

i've always wanted to ask you this why do you like i look at you you give John Wall an opportunity, you give Russ an opportunity, you give Ben Simmons an opportunity.

What is it about that?

Why do you do that?

Give guys an opportunity?

Because, you know, Ben, for whatever reason, seemed like he lost his confidence, and we'll touch on this a little later.

John Wall had a situation.

He went through some stuff with his mom and had some tough injuries.

Russ,

why do you do that, T.

Lou?

Because I played and I understand.

And so, you know, a lot of times you just need, you know, a coach that can give you confidence and

get you back to, you know, where you want to get to, you know, and so

I've been a player when, you know, the time's almost up, you know, like the clock is running out.

Right.

And, you know, you never want to see those guys go out like that.

And having relationships with those guys and giving them opportunity.

I will always do that.

And so, you know, a lot of guys have career years playing under me because, like I said, I give them confidence or guys that didn't want to play the game no more, like Reggie Jackson and Nick Batum.

And then they're playing six, seven, eight more years, you know, when they was ready to retire.

You know, and so it's important to be able to give back, you know, to our guys

in any way I can.

And so I really enjoy that.

What happened with Ben Simmons?

You talk about a guy that was rookie of the year.

He was an all-NBA player.

He was a perennial all-star.

And then all of a sudden, it just didn't click.

Something happened.

Me, I trace it back to that Atlanta game where he had a layout.

I mean, he had a, a,

looked like a dunk and he passed it.

And his coach was critical.

The best player was critical.

And I remember I was undisputed with Skip.

I said, it's over.

I said, he's never going to be the same.

And he said, why do you say that?

I said, because the head coach said what he said and his best player said what he said.

I said, it broke his confidence.

I said, and that city?

And then, you know, you see the meme with this is Ben Simmons and it's a trash can going down the street because the city is flooding.

It broke his confidence.

And

he hasn't been the same player since.

Now, I know he's had some injuries, but how do you, when a guy, he's the first overall pick, he's rookie of the year, he's

a perennial all-star,

how does

confidence is that big of a thing in basketball, Steelou?

Confidence is everything in life, whatever you do.

You know, and I come from one of the most confident places in the world, Mexico, Missouri.

Listen, I'm telling you, you would think everybody down is Michael Jordan.

I'm saying, everybody.

You know, it doesn't matter.

Like, you know, from all my God, Damon, to J-Roll to Conrad to Stacey to Fitz, like everybody think, they think they're it, you know, so having that confidence plays a big factor in everything you do.

For me,

I think I equated to just that, you know, that play, whatever.

I don't think that.

changed.

I think the injuries really set him back.

You know, having two back surgeries, you know, then we acquired him this year, seeing what his knee, you know, seeing like how his knee was, you know, all the the things he had to fight through to be able to get on the floor, I think played a big role.

I think you saw in Brooklyn last year, like he was, he was, he was good.

Like he was back to being, you know, who he is.

And the thing that didn't work with us, you know, last year, which I'm pissed off of myself about, is that

he needs the ball in his hands.

And so does James.

And then so does Kawhi.

You know what I'm saying?

So it's hard.

It was hard, you know, and it was hard.

Because he can't play off the ball.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And you shouldn't want him to.

No.

Because the way he plays, the way he passes, his pace, the way he plays the game, and how he can make people better, you don't want him off the ball.

So it was just a tough dynamic.

And I take full responsibility.

I didn't figure it out the way I needed to.

So he really didn't have a fair shake.

So I'm still pissed about that.

What's it like, Russ?

No matter what you think about him, he has the most career triple doubles.

He's the average triple-double, I think, what, three seasons.

He ain't going to cheat you.

You know exactly what you're going to get, Russell Westbrook.

You're going to get an outstanding player.

You're going to get a turnover.

You're going to get an air ball.

You're going to get a big three.

But he's going to give you everything

he has.

And you can appreciate that.

Every single night, every single practice, every single day.

And the thing that

which,

you know, I equate him with LeBron, like when you give great players like that,

always on time.

Early to the bus, early to the meetings, never late.

Like, you know, that means a lot.

You know, that should show you respect for your teammates, for the staff, and for, you know, who you're working with.

And every day he's going to bring it no matter what.

Practice, like I said, games, shoot around.

You know what you're going to get every single day and you can respect that.

So that's why so many people love Russ because you know every single day you're going to get this and you can't ask for

anything more.

What's it like?

Being a coach for Steve Balmer?

You see him there, bread.

I've never seen an owner that has more emotion watching a game.

I mean, he is a true fan because he goes through the gamut of emotions just like, I'm like, bro, you do realize you got like 100 billion and you're supposed to be just sitting there just like stoic.

And he.

Yeah.

Hey, every, every shot, turnover, I mean, you can tell.

I'm like, man.

He's fully invested.

1,000.

You know, people just see the games and like how the game and his actions and

reactions or whatever.

But what I've learned from him is, Shannon, is that no matter how much money you have or how rich you are, you know, you could be a good person.

Yes.

And that's what he is.

Like to treat people the way he treats them, like, is, like, if you got a guy who's worth $150 billion

and to treat everybody like...

I mean, everything's so personable, bro.

Everything is like genuine.

You know, he's not faking.

He's not, he doesn't have to.

He doesn't need anybody.

Right.

But just see how he treats people, like, it just goes to show like, and that's why I try to be good at everybody.

I keep on saying that you come across because, you know, you never know.

And I just seeing how Steve Balmer did for me in Mexico, what he's done for this organization, what he's done for the city of L.A., what he's done for the city of Seattle.

Like, he's just a genuine person.

It's a great person.

And, you know,

you don't see too many better human beings than he is.

Hold on.

He went back to you.

to Mexico, Missouri with you on a private jet and stayed to the best Western?

Best Western.

And said it was some of the best sleep he's had in a long time so I said you know what if he can come and stay anybody I don't want to hear nothing from nobody anybody can come and stay in Mexico if Mr.

Obama can come and stay in Mexico like

only what five other people can say they can't other outside of that everybody else should come yeah

who's your favorite player to watch in the NBA right now today

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I have a few.

I love Ant-Man.

I love Tatum.

Just from guys that are not on my team, Bill said.

Love Steph, you know, still what he brings.

Who am I missing?

Fella.

Oh, Kyrie.

Yeah.

Kyrie.

Good care.

Kyrie be dancing.

I mean, it's just so many great players.

It's just hard to remember, but like, yeah, Kyrie loves to see him dance.

Yeah.

I love Ant-Man,

the stuff talking.

Yeah.

And I think, and I love, you know, watching, you know, Tatum play.

But Tatum is a cousin of yours, correct?

And y'all play real cousin or play play cousin?

Real cousin.

Okay, because you know, sometimes you know how we are.

Too grown to play cousins.

Yeah, but you know, but you know how we are.

Hey, we'll came call somebody, and we be close akin to a German Shepherd than the actual person.

Yeah, for sure.

What

you got to help me understand.

Where all this hate for JT come from?

What hate?

Man, they be killing JT.

Man, he ain't do this.

And I want to ask you, because you were there.

How that man, a three-time all-NBA selection, they can't get but two minutes a game in the Olympics.

Two minutes a game?

Yeah, okay, my bad.

Five.

No, he played more than that.

T.

Lou, you got to figure it out.

You told me we've been sitting here for over an hour and a half, and you say you could figure it out how to get guys made and how to get guys shot.

You mean to tell me you couldn't figure out how to get that man more playing, getting that man on the coat more than that?

Yeah, I mean, I take responsibility because I'm part of the coaching staff.

Right.

So whatever we decide to make as a, as a, um, as a staff, I'm never going to go against that.

I'm not going to go whisper and say, oh, we should like, no, like, once the decision is made.

That's what that's.

Everybody got to buy into it.

That's what it is.

And as much as it hurt me, like, you know, I thought.

He's like, damn, cool.

Yeah, I know.

Like I'm saying, like, you know what I'm saying?

I wanted to play.

I thought he should be out there.

But, like, you know, once you make a decision, I'm not going to go, but, oh, man, this is the.

No, I mean, that's the decision that I'm going to be.

The decision we made is coaching.

Yeah, and I'm not going to never throw a coach on the bus or a player or nobody else.

You know what I'm saying?

So, of course, it's my cousin.

So, you know, of course, you would.

You want to see him do well, right?

Yeah, hell yeah.

Upbringing.

Mexico, Missouri.

What was it like?

What kind of town is Mexico, Missouri?

What do y'all grow?

Is it livestock?

Y'all have, you know, you have corn.

Bricks.

Bricks.

We were known for bricks.

Okay.

AP Greens and Nationals.

We were known for having the number one, was it Firebrick?

Yeah, Firebrick,

I think in the United States.

And so that's where all the money was generated from.

And then when they closed those plants down, that's when Mexico kind of went down.

But to me it was like a small city right you know because it's a town of 11 000 people well back then it was 13 5 but now it's like 11 000 okay but it was a small city because um you had people that did everything so if you want to gamble yeah all the guys taught you how to lock the dice on three car mile

yeah taught you how to you know whatever you know if you wanted to you know you don't get drugs you had people who were you know went to college and had you know got degrees so you had everything you needed around and it was a small community So you're getting that every single day, you know, and so you learn about it, you know, every single day, what you're supposed to do, what you're not supposed to do, what to get into, what not to get into.

And what it teaches you is like, when I got to the league, you know, you get around all these guys that grew up in the city and you look and they don't understand and see what's going on.

Like guys are cheating or when guys are locking the dice or they don't know what's going on.

And you're looking like, damn, they're from the city, but they don't see what's going on.

You know, it kind of, so like me, I'm like, in Mexico, you learn everything at an early age.

You know, 10, 11, 12, you know about gambling, you know about, you know, if you're going to be in, you know, the drugs scene, if you're going to go out and party, if you're going to be whatever you're going to be, you can learn about it right now.

And so I thought it really did a good job of just teaching me everything at a young age.

So when I got older, I wasn't numb to none of the bullshit.

You know what I'm saying?

I've seen it.

I've seen it from every angle.

And so that really helped me to grow.

And like I said, just having the confidence that they have back home.

Like from a, you know, crackhead to a whatever confidence.

They walk around, you know, just as confident as anybody else.

And that's what I love about being in Mexico because everybody's together and everybody's one.

And it don't matter, you know, what you've done, if you dropped out of high school, if you dropped out of junior high, whatever, like we all people, we all together.

And that's why, you know, I love, I love it so much.

You don't drink or smoke.

Never tried it.

Because your father had a substance.

Is that why?

It's also an abuse problem.

Is that why?

Yeah,

I could say that.

You know, know,

my dad, you know, like I said, he smoked crack, you know, growing up.

And

I give him credit.

You know, once he went to prison and got out,

he's been clean for 23 years.

Wow.

Yeah, never had a drink, never had a, you know, any drug.

And we form a really great relationship.

And so shout out to Ronald Kim for getting himself together.

But, you know, that takes a lot.

Yeah,

absolutely.

You know, being on drugs the way he was and to be clean and for us to have a clean loot.

You know what as as an addict, a recovering addict, is every day.

Every day, you got to drive by the liquor store.

You got to drive by the package shop.

You got to somebody smoking.

Right.

You got to do this every single day for the rest of your life.

And I'm a sugar addict.

And I understand.

And I understand when Shirley Temple's coming out on the table.

I see it.

You know, like I'm saying, my grandpa, he drank a lot.

And so I love my grandpa Tyro.

So just seeing those things and how it, you know, my grandpa drank, when he come home at night, how he would act, you know, and how my dad was.

And just, you know, seeing those dynamics, you know, made me want to stay away.

And then also, like, it was like a badge of honor, like all my friends or, you know, they're drinking.

I don't want to do that.

Like, I want to be different.

You know, and so

it's 48 years now, so I don't need to do it now.

Hey, yeah, you're too late.

Yeah.

You said you live with your uncle.

And you spoke about your uncle briefly earlier.

Two.

Two different.

Yeah, my uncle Jay, who idolized basketball.

Okay.

That's not the one you live with.

No.

Okay.

Yeah.

And I went and lived with my uncle Kevin.

Okay.

Is that your mom's brother or your dad's brother?

My mom's brother.

Okay.

Yeah.

And so I saw him more year in high school.

I got some trouble back home in Mexico.

And

the family came to an agreement that I needed to get out of there, like, you know, and have a father figure, be in a bigger city and have a chance to, because like

teams wasn't coming, college coaches wasn't coming to Mexico to recruit.

You know, and so

to try to display my, I took my talents to South Beach, you know what I'm saying?

And went to Kansas City.

My uncle, like I say, he took me in, you know, and

as a sophomore, you know, that's tough.

You know, he took me in and, you know, hit the ground running.

You know, it was, it was hard because in Mexico, you used to being out on the streets till one, two in the morning.

Right.

You know, you're being policed and by all the different, you know, my mom's, you know, friend or, you know, the community they raised you.

Yeah.

So, you know, ain't you such and such boy?

Right.

Yeah.

You know, you know better.

Right.

And so you get to Kansas City.

It's a big city.

You know, and so it was, the dynamics were different, you know, having to be, you know, in at a certain time and, you know, being, you know, being more safe.

And, you know, it was, it was, it was, it was an adjustment for me, but I needed it.

You know, and so, you know, Kevin took me in and did my three years there.

And then I was able to go to Nebraska from there.

And then kind of, you know, so it got my life on track because I was going the wrong direction.

So it was, it was very much needed.

You had some health issues.

There was some chest pain this past season.

Damn, coaching stressful, huh?

This season?

Yeah.

Was it last season?

A couple years?

In Cleveland.

Cleveland.

Yeah, in Cleveland.

Well, this year I had...

No, I messed my backup.

Yeah, my shoulder and my back.

What did you do?

I'm trying to get big like you, man.

You know what I'm saying?

You know, trying to throw that weight around and all that.

Just, you know what I'm saying?

I know better, man.

Them days are over, man.

Yeah, man.

Yeah.

And so I had, you know, I messed my backup.

Possibly?

No, it was like, it was like this.

Oh, you a pack?

Yeah.

And so, but Cleveland is when I had the chest pains and

didn't understand what was going on.

Like, you know, I felt like a heart attack, you know, or whatever heart attack you think you feel like.

And

I was scared to sleep at night because like these sharp pains would like just like shoot through my chest.

I'm like, I was scared to go to sleep because I didn't know what was going on.

So I wasn't sleeping.

And we did all the testing.

So I went to

Cleveland Clinic.

Yeah.

And I did all like the EKGs, the echo testing, the treadmill, all that stuff.

And so the doctor said, listen, you might die, but it won't be from your heart.

Your Your heart is perfectly fine.

So I'm like, damn, like, what's, so I was like, okay, I feel better about that, you know, whatever.

So we still kept trying to find what was going on and got with a doctor.

And he said, oh, man, you're experiencing anxiety and depression, you know?

And so I'm like, depression?

I'm from Mexico.

I ain't depressed.

They're like, yeah, I ain't depressed.

Whatever.

He's like, no, like, that's what you're experiencing.

And so he was like, I want you to do this.

So they had some medication for me to take for a couple of weeks.

And I took some time off, which I give Cleveland.

Give you an opportunity to do that.

Yeah, yeah.

They were really like serious about it.

And I give Kobe Auburn a lot of credit for just saying, listen, take the time you need.

Don't unness.

So took a couple of weeks off, changed my diet, took some medication, started doing yoga and all that stuff.

And it helped.

And then I got the medication like right after the playoffs.

And so the guy, the doctor said, my happy place is

gambling, like being

in Vegas and the playoffs.

Really?

That was my happy place.

And so he's like, anytime you get a a chance.

So, like, what was crazy is like our general manager, like David Griffith, he'd come to the house two times a week.

We have a poker game.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, they did everything they could to keep me engaged.

But once I found that out, but like, it hasn't been a problem ever since.

But that was some stressful times.

How many hours a night were you sleeping?

Probably three.

Tops.

Damn.

Hell, I might be stressed in anxiety too.

Three times.

But I, I mean, since I retired, I mean, I used to sleep fairly good when i was when i was a player but once i got to a certain age i don't

yeah i mean but i mean because my young when you get older you don't sleep grandma

no but we having

i wonder why you're come them old people be up yeah they go to bed at seven o'clock but they up at they up at three yeah so but when you go to bed you're having chest pain yeah then sometimes you're spitting up blood like and you don't know what's going on right you know so like

you know because like coach it's tough like you when you want to be the best when you want to win and get the best player in the world you wouldn't even know you wouldn't eat too many oxtails and hog malls and stuff like that, wouldn't you?

No, no.

You got a lot of sugar.

A lot of sugar.

So you got a sweet team?

Sweets, yeah.

Yeah.

Because we see

Coach Popovich had to retire.

I mean, obviously, coaching is very stressful.

Yes.

Because...

You coach a team and the expectations are very, very high.

You understand that.

You understand when you get into this profession, what is expected of you.

So it ain't no pretense.

Well, you know, I want this team.

It ain't that no more.

AA.

It's now, and the players that you have, you got a guy that was a top 75 player.

As a matter of fact, you got two of them on your team.

So the expectations are

to win.

Yes.

You feel that.

I like that.

Yeah, I like that.

Because if you're in a position to win a championship,

that's all you can ask for.

Yeah, that's all you can ask for.

And so if it was a situation where you're not playing for a championship, you're not competing for a championship.

What are we doing this for?

Yeah.

You know,

I like those expectations.

Give me your all-time starting five teammates, your former teammates, guys that you play with.

For talent, or who I love?

Give me your starting five.

Who you gonna start with?

You got five, you got a starting five, but you know, I'm saying who I like the most, or who's the best players.

You had to put together a starting five of the five teammates who want to be and why.

Shaq, Shaq is one, Kobe, Kobe,

Jordan, Jordan,

T-Mac, T-Mac.

Oh, damn, Yao me.

Yeah, we got Yao.

Dirk.

Dirk.

JK.

I'm sorry if I leave anybody here.

So, I mean, you're going by position, right?

So it's Shaq,

Dirk,

Kobe,

Jordan.

You can put T-Mac in there.

You can put JK in there.

Yeah, go big.

Yeah.

Yeah, T-Mac,

Cobe, Jordan, Dirk, Shaq.

Damn.

That's a nice little squad, didn't that?

Y'all might win some championship.

Has ring culture become a problem?

We kind of touched on this a little bit earlier because now if you ain't got ain't got a ring, you.

I think it has.

I think it's become a problem because now you have guys

thinking that winning is more important than loyalty and doing it the right way.

And it's not their fault, but it's like you said, it's what it's projecting projecting to the world now.

I think it's hard to see franchises draft great players, young players, and you're willing to grow with, but they leave to

try to pursue a championship because they think that's what's going to get them to this point, to the pinnacle.

And so

I just think, yeah, it's definitely clouded our game, you know, just as far as saying, oh, you got to win, you got to win championship.

Like, he's got to be a great player and a great person.

Like, everything's going to take care of itself, You know, and so I know Steve A.

It ain't no guarantee, even if you go someplace, you're going to win a championship.

Yeah, exactly.

You know, and so I think winning is important.

Like, you play to win.

Correct.

That's the number one goal.

Like, that's the ultimate goal.

You know, but I think there's the right way to do it, though.

Like, you can't sell yourself

because you want to win a championship.

Like, I just, you know, it's just so to me,

being the best player you can be, doing it the right way, grinding to get to that point,

I think is important.

And it's more of a feeling when you do it that way.

Is the era of the super teams over?

Yes.

I think so because of the way the cap is structured now, the first April 1st.

They're going to punish you.

Yeah, it's going to be hard.

If you want to spend a billion dollars a year to try to win a championship,

the NBA says, be my guest.

And then also, if you're going to do it, it's going to be with...

older talent.

Right.

Guys that's 35, 36, that's going to take less money to try to win.

But

I think the super teams, and especially the way the game is played now, with all the cutting, slashing, picking up full court, like stars ain't doing, like, so you need three or four guys around to do the dirty work.

So it's going to be a little different.

So it might be one here, here, or there, but for the most part, I think that's over.

Expectations for the Clippers this season?

To win at a high level.

To me, I want to get to the conference finals

or better.

And we have a talented team to do it.

Like, our biggest thing is over the years has been healthy,

which has held us back and still think about and dream about my first year.

Like a Kawhi don't get hurt that year.

Is that the Utah series?

Yeah, he gets hurt.

We beat the number one seed Utah.

And then we play in the conference finals against Phoenix, go to game six.

You know, PG had a hell of a series and you know, came up short, you know, and so every year it's been something.

You know, Kawhi's missed every playoff series.

PG's been out for playoff series.

And so it's just been tough.

So for me, I think

with our coaching staff,

the team that we've assembled with, you know, Jeff Van Gundy, like I said, Brian Shaw has done a great job.

Jay Lara Nega, you know, Larry Drew, Jeremy Castleberry, Dante.

So we got a great group of guys that have played the game and some that understands the game and been head coaches before.

And so I think with that dynamic with our players, I think we've got a chance to be pretty good.

So I'm excited about it.

Clippers head coach Tyron Liu, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate you, bro.

Yes, sir

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