How I Turned Basketball Into a 6-Figure Business | Hezi Almighty DSH #1040

As much as we spend time like working out, we spend more time like talking about life and books.

Dang, that's why he's so intelligent.

That's why he moves the way he moves on the basketball court.

I do want to apologize to him because I think he's upset that I posted like me having some good moves on him when we play one-on-one.

Because, you know, you post it on social media and the world goes crazy.

All right, guys.

Hezzy got in the building.

Next to coming on, man.

Man, appreciate you for having me.

Absolutely.

I've balled with you a few times.

I don't know if you remember me.

Yeah, not for sure from the Ball Dog Celebrity game.

I had to guard you a couple times.

You got me good once.

Yeah,

I think it was the Miami one.

I think I got you.

Yeah, you got me good, man.

Don't post that one, please.

Yeah, no.

But you put a lot of people on high.

Yeah, not for sure.

I just play a lot of basketball, so

it comes with the opportunity.

What was the highest level you played?

What did you get to?

Big three is probably my highest level as far as professional goes uh and that's probably as close as you know somebody like i'll get to the nba yeah well those guys can still play man yeah no for sure uh like guys like gerald green and jason richardson still got 40 inch verticals so it's easy like

jay rich was playing in the lifetime league in vegas right before he moved oh yeah he could still get you 30 for sure for sure Yeah, because just because they're in their 30s and 40s now don't mean they could still hoop.

Nah, and then when you've been doing something for so long, it's like second nature.

They don't really know how to do anything else when you've been training for something your whole life.

Like,

you don't know what else to do

but to continue to practice that craft.

So you're going to, even though you're getting older and certain things slow down, you're going to get better in certain areas because you work on it.

Yep.

You got to develop a shot as you get older, right?

Yeah, nah, for sure.

Did you have to add that to your game as you got older?

I've always kind of been blessed with the ability to score.

I guess my hindrance was my height and like the way I look.

I kind of look like a running back.

And so, you know, you don't really look for that.

But then when you see me score, it's like, hmm, I wonder if he can do it against this guy, this guy, and this guy.

I mean, I guess you don't know until it actually happens.

So I guess the big three gave me that opportunity to like, I guess, show that I could do it on a higher level with top-tier guys.

I mean, there's not many content creators that could.

could do that, honestly, I don't think.

Yeah.

I mean,

I feel like right situation,

right opportunity, some guys could succeed, but it's not as easy as guys try to make it out to be.

It's not a thing where it's like, oh, I'm going to go try out for the big three next year and you just think you're going to make it because you won a couple games on YouTube.

Did you have to try out?

I actually did.

I went to the Kanban and I didn't even make the draft or get picked up my first year.

But the second year, they didn't actually have a Kanban, but my name was still in the pool.

And so a guy left to go play in China.

Isaiah Briscoe left to go play in China.

Deion Glover, who's like an ex-Georgia Tech legend, his son watches me on YouTube.

He's like over player personnel and stuff like that.

And so he just kind of like shot the idea at Stephen Jackson.

And because me and him had had an interaction prior to that, he kind of knew who I was.

Nice.

Stephen Jackson, that's Matt Barnes co-host.

Yeah,

that's my, it's like my uncle now.

Oh, yeah.

I love that, dude you're in good hands yeah no for sure even matt barnes shows me love just because of how steven jackson loves me so that's dope do you like the three on three format more than five on five

i'm a five on five guy uh just because that's always what i've played like so i've understood angles and it's a lot easier to get four other players involved because you don't always have to touch the ball you can come set the screen so it's a lot more ways to get you know four get over other guys involved versus three-on-three.

It's kind of like whoever has the mismatch, take advantage of it because you're trying to win.

Yeah, three-on-one.

It's a lot more space to

you're gassed in three-on-three.

Yeah, no, for sure.

When you see LeBron say one-on-one is in real basketball, what do you think of that?

I agree because one-on-one, even if you're playing it with three dribbles, you can go from the top of the key to the corner.

And three dribbles when in actuality in a real game, you wouldn't be able to dribble from the top of the key to the corner without someone else helping or stepping up.

So it's like, it's not realistic, but it does showcase the ability to score the ball.

Like if you're an extremely great scorer, one-on-one showcases your ability to score in a variety of ways.

I feel there's guys that are nasty at one-on-one, but in a five-on-five setting, they just.

110%.

A lot of your favorite YouTube players are like that, like really good one-on-one players, but then you see them in a five-on-five setting and it's like,

where that guy goes, you know what I'm saying?

So I take pride in being good at decent or above average at one-on-one, three-on-three, five-on-five, because it just shows,

I guess, your overall ability to play the game.

Yeah.

And I saw you training with Dev in the live.

You still working with him?

We don't train as often, but Dev's like a brother to me.

We spend so much time together, like traveling and training.

He's just like one of those guys I could call, and it's like I talked to him yesterday.

So

Dev's my guy.

I learned a lot of stuff from him just

with how to maneuver in the I guess social media world as a basketball player.

Right, because you started blowing up overnight, right?

Yeah, it I wouldn't say overnight because you know, I've been playing basketball my whole life.

So it was like a

not an overnight success, but in a sense to the social media world, yeah, like once I got on the scene, it was kind of like rolling.

What was that first video that went viral uh i actually went viral a few times before i was actually the hezzy guy so uh i used to make music or i still make music in my free time but uh my music name or rap name is camaro carter and so um

prior to becoming a hezy guy you know i moved out here and i played in the superstar league uh rest in peace to the owner who owned that league but um i bounced the ball and the defender kind of like ran under and i caught it and dunked it And so I posted it and that was when I had like 2,000 followers overtime posted it.

It like went crazy on Twitter and Snap and then it made its way to Instagram.

And then

maybe the next year is when I was at Venice and kind of they coined the Hesseguard name for me.

Wow.

So you were dunking back in those days.

Yeah, I can still dunk.

I don't see it all.

Yeah, yeah, it's no need for it now.

I'd rather save my knees for a time when I really have to dunk it.

I mean, you're already using so much energy energy just getting by them.

Yeah, and even just playing so much, just playing every day and stuff.

But I'm one of those people who like

feels the soreness when I don't work out versus just staying active every day.

You don't really feel those little nicks and bruises.

I feel that.

So you're hooping every day, though?

I pretty much do something every day, bro.

Like workout, whether it's like...

Shoot for an hour.

I do something every day.

Wow.

That's respect, man.

You're working on your craft still.

Seven days a week.

Holy crap.

So no recovery time?

You don't take time?

I take time to recover, but I mean, recovering doesn't mean not doing anything.

You know what I'm saying?

Recovery means like, you know, I guess being light on those muscles and stretching those muscles, hitting the sauna, doing things like that.

I hit the sauna every day.

I stretch every day in the sauna.

Yeah, I hit the sauna daily.

It's excessive.

You ever have any bad injuries?

Not since I started playing in the social media world.

Okay.

You've taken good care of yourself.

Yeah.

Respect.

You like outdoor or indoor better uh i don't particularly care bro i'm just a hooper bro i really just like to hoop like if it's a nice event at an outdoor court i'm gonna pull up and put on the show same as well as in the gym like

dude those outdoor courts i just feel so sore after uh i i mean you can feel the difference but i don't particularly care bro i just i really just love to play basketball bro i really just love hoop damn i love that it's cool to see your mindset with the game like yeah no and then it makes it easier to love it when you found a way to make some money off of it.

It's kind of hard to love something when you got to still provide for yourself outside of that love.

But when that love is providing, you know, the money for you, it makes it easy to love it so much.

Yeah, that's probably why a lot of people give up sports because only a certain amount of people can go pro.

Yeah, no, 110%.

But I think that was my advantage

as far as the social media realm goes with basketball and making it to the big three.

Just staying the course, bro.

A lot of people just

i wouldn't say give up but you know don't continue to hone their skills don't continue to work on it go to work be like oh yeah i'm tired i'm not going to the gym today and you know that could be the difference from when that phone call come and you like get the opportunity now you i was confident when i got the call for the big three because i know i had been working on my game so

the confidence was there all i had to do was have the opportunity and when it presented itself my confidence showed yeah because you were working for years without getting paid yeah, not for sure.

Uh,

even from college, like, you know what I'm saying, before NIL, right?

Yeah, before NIL, and I kind of broke my foot as a senior because I played football and basketball, and so I was literally on a fractured foot playing throughout a whole football season, but didn't know it.

And then basketball came, and I kind of like literally just like tapped my foot against somebody else's foot on the screen, and like it broke finally.

Holy yeah, and I missed like

almost 20 games, games it was 20 plus games of my senior year but because then you couldn't get a medical red shirt if you played more than 33% I played 33.7%

and they wouldn't

and they wouldn't give me a year back so that kind of took a toll on me but even after that I continued to like work out playing the summer pro-Ams back in Charlotte just still be a face of like oh yeah that guy can get a bucket you know like I've won summer league summer league championships in Charlotte.

I've won MVPs at money tournaments in Charlotte.

So

even before I moved to California, like I was a pretty prevalent face in my city with the basketball.

That's cool that you're saying that because I read your comments.

You get some haters and they say like you're selfish and stuff.

But at the end of the day, you got some championships under your belt.

Yeah, no.

What people don't know is I played college basketball for one of those coaches who called to play every time down.

And so as a freshman, I was that high school kid who averaged 20 plus points, you know, like third or fourth in the state and scoring.

So I came to college, considering I had some Division I AA offers and small, mid-major offers, I went to a Division II school to play both sports.

So I'm thinking like, oh, yeah, I'm going to go in there and

do what I got to do.

But, you know, when you're playing for an older coach, you know, he he holds like his seniors to a high level.

They've been with him for four years.

They understand what he wants to do.

And at the end of the day, it's about winning.

And so I played behind a guy, two guys who scored over 15,000 points in their career in college.

One of them is Dennis Scott's,

the three-point shooter from the Orlando Magic, NBA analyst now, his son.

So like I played with some really good guys.

My way of standing on the court was running his plays and making sure those guys got the ball.

And it's better to do what you have to do to get minutes versus doing what you want to do and get no minutes right you know like it sucks to be in college and you know you walk around campus and everybody like dang bro you don't get no playing time versus playing 30 minutes and only scoring four points but you see me on the court you know not to mention I average eight assists in my career and so that's why now I kind of like like to showcase my scoring ability because that was something that I wasn't able to showcase in college because I just had to do what I had.

Hey, you had a chip on your shoulder.

Wow.

Then I played quarterback as far as football is concerned.

So my coach kind of looked at me as like a leader facilitator.

So he kind of wanted me to bring that on to the basketball court.

And I just did what I had to do to play.

Love it.

Were you better at football or basketball compared to everyone else?

Some people who know me from growing up and knowing like my story of how I became a quarterback would say I'm a better football player.

But those who like truly have known me since I was like,

you know, elementary school, know like basketball was my first love.

I feel that.

Did you always want to go pro?

Was that the goal growing up?

Yeah, the goal was always to play two sports in college.

I used to always say I wanted to play two sports for the University of North Carolina, but I played two sports just not there.

Yeah, you know, so.

Well, that's unheard of these days to do two sports.

And those are two of the most physically demanding sports, I'd say.

Yeah, and to play point guard and quarterback is tough because you got to to know both all of them.

You've been in the game the whole time.

Yeah.

Damn.

Yeah.

Touch the ball almost every single play.

I don't know anyone that's pulled out off football and basketball.

Well, one of my influences growing up was Ronald Curry.

He was actually a Tar Hills quarterback and point guard.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

But he also became like a wide receiver in the NFL for the Raiders.

Damn.

These days, I feel like the competition is so big that it's almost impossible to.

Yeah, now you kind of got to choose.

Like, even kids like Jalen suggests was like a the top player in his state at quarterback but like it's like all right which route are you going to choose because there's no way you could play nba and an nfl just for example like we're in week what six of the nfl and the nba just started yesterday or two days ago so it's like there's no way you could physically do it so with those two sports you got to kind of choose one fact whereas

you know if you're a football player and a baseball player or a basketball and a baseball player, it could kind of like work itself out.

Yeah, I'm a Notre Dame fan.

I remember when Pat Conaton was thinking about going to the NBA and MLB.

I thought he was going to pull off both, but he chose NBA.

Yeah, no.

I would have loved to see like Russell Westbrook play baseball.

He was a heck of a player.

He played?

Yeah, he played at NC State.

Oh, wow.

I didn't know that.

Dude's an athlete, man.

50-inch vertical.

Have you ever measured yours?

Well, not Russell Westbrook.

I'm sorry, Russell Wilson.

Oh, Wilson.

Okay.

He played quarterback, and I think he pitched at NC State.

Damn.

Yeah, shout out to him.

Have you measured your birth, though, before?

It's been so long.

Yeah.

What was your peak, though?

Probably like 35 or something like that.

So you get up there.

Yeah, I've never measured mine.

It's harder when you're taller, though, I feel like.

Yeah, not for sure.

When you're shorter, the vertical is, you know what I'm saying?

It's a lot taller because you...

I guess essentially jumping.

Hey, you're Robinson.

Right.

50 inches.

Who were your favorite players growing up watching?

Growing up, watching, or I'll take you through the process.

So like, I was a huge Penny Hardaway fan, like, as a kid, like with the small penny doll.

I loved Penny Hardaway.

And, of course, when you grow up, you know, in early 90s, you kind of, there's no choice but to be a Michael Jordan fan.

Like, he was.

Essentially the GOAT.

But, like, I always liked that guy who challenged the best player.

And so Penny Hardaway was that for me.

Like him and Shaq were like that for me.

And then

like I kind of got to this middle school stage where everybody were Laker fans because Shaq and Kobe was together.

And so I loved Chris Weber.

But it was Jason Williams, White Chocolate, that made me like grow a liking for the Kings.

But then when I realized like Chris Weber was the actual best player, like he throws the nice dimes two as a 6'10 big man, then I kind of did my like research.

You know, when you love basketball, you kind of like watch those things.

So I was a huge Fab 5 fan before they even dropped the documentary from just doing my research on Chris Weber and realizing basketball players didn't wear black socks or black shoes until they decided to do it.

Like it was just like, I guess.

My love is for the innovators.

You know what I'm saying?

And so like, I grew a strong liking for Chris Weber.

True fact, I wore

the patent leather dot Dotas

as a middle school basketball player because it was Chris Weber's shoe.

And I was just such a huge Chris Weber fan.

Shout out to Chris Weber.

Nobody like Dotas.

Like, come on.

People don't even really remember that that was.

Yeah, like it was like a no-name brand.

And I got him.

Like, that was like Kyrie now doing what he did with Anta.

Like, Chris Weber did that.

And I wore him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I like, I really didn't like Kobe at that time because the Kings and the Lakers were always always battling in the Western Conference Finals.

I always felt like the Kings got cheated.

Oh, I mean, but then

once like the Kings kind of broke up, Jason Williams left, Mike Bibby came.

I love that they became a better team when Mike Bibby came, but Jason Williams was that like swag that I liked about him.

And so I got older and started like really watching Kobe and seeing how he just approached the game and

like how he just

really spent more time in the lab than everybody else.

That's what made him better.

Like how he took Michael Jordan's game and

I guess made it a 2.0 to like, dang, Michael Jordan looks at Kobe like, hey, I couldn't even do that.

And that's my move.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

So like, I grew a strong liking for Kobe once I got to high school.

And then,

you know, once, you know, Kobe passed RRP, I became a huge Kyrie fan.

It It helped that I got in the gym with him, with Devin in the lab,

and just seeing the type of person he was, like, genuine human being.

As much as we spend time, like working out, we spend more time like talking about life and books.

And I'm not a reader, but just to hear like, dang, that's why he's so intelligent.

That's why he moves the way he move on the basketball court.

I guess an

intellectual person and he plays that type of way.

And since I'm here on your platform, I do want to apologize to him because I think he's upset at that I posted like

me having some good moves on him when we played one-on-one.

Nah, seriously, like I had some good moves on him and I think he took offense to it because, you know, you post it on social media and the world goes crazy.

Like, oh, you let regular everyday Hezzy guy like cook you.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying?

But the only reason I posted it, and I didn't even actually have the video.

Like somebody basically dev put it on like YouTube.

No, in the Lab Plus.

And so you had to pay for it to actually watch it.

And so somebody paid for it, basically screen recorded it or whatever they did and did like a reaction video to it.

And that guy sent me my highlights.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

But I had been getting cooked online by saying, oh, Kyrie was cooking you.

This, that, and the third.

You know what I'm saying?

And so, like,

you know, of course, that's how I make my money.

I'm a basketball player on social media.

So I'm like, hold on that's not how it went we were like cooking each other and so nobody actually ever seen an nba guy just cold rip kyrie irving's crossover and i did it in a video and i like posted it and i understand like he's one of the greatest ball handlers of all time so it doesn't look good on his image that you know i plucked his pocket one out of 30 times that we were there you know what i'm saying so but i just wanted to in case this runs across him i just wanted him.

Admired, and my

what did you learn from playing against him?

Anything you took?

I learned a lot from him, bro.

His patience is bar none.

Like how he can just like, you know, make his move and you'll be right there and he'll just wait you out and just rise over the top and shoot it without you like even being there.

How he uses his offhands to like keep defenders from being in a place to like knock the ball down.

And the finishing ability is just bar none, like how he plays the backboard.

And I just got to see all of that firsthand.

So it was cool.

But it was dope that he liked the way that me and the other guys who worked out with him were playing.

And he kind of stole some stuff from us.

So it was dope to like hear him like asking questions about moves we were making.

So that just lets you know.

what kind of person he is.

That's cool, man.

Not too high and mighty to ask

somebody he just met like, hey, bro, how you do that?

And of course he gonna take what you gave him and put his own sauce on it.

So nobody will ever know that you know it's something you did but that's probably why he's successful he's open-minded-minded yeah you have to be you have to be it's cool to see that side of him because the media painted him in such a way yeah now without really understanding who he is you know what i'm saying and i guess that's partly you know his fault i have their problem like I'll show you what I want to show you.

I'm a basketball player, so that's what I show you, you know, but sometimes the way I play basketball could come off as a jerk or

an asshole.

And so that's not who I am as a person.

I just know that character brings entertainment on the basketball court.

And it's about winning, entertaining.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I read your comments, man.

You get some hate.

Yeah.

But

it doesn't bother me.

At times, I like, bro, what?

Like, I can't believe they mad about this, but it doesn't bother me because I'm one of those people who know as long as people are like hating, you're relevant.

Like you're being talked about.

Even if you've been talked about where they're like, oh, all he does is travel, this, that, and the third.

There's a conversation about you.

There's another conversation about you.

You know what I'm saying?

And now you got a debate with amongst the whole world.

Bro, do you think he traveled when he did the, and now you got somebody with an opinion of, nah, I don't think it was a travel.

I actually like the move.

You know what I'm saying?

There's whole pages on that.

Yeah.

MTW basketball.

Yeah, nah, for sure.

He opened.

I'm not even going to lie.

he helped open my eyes up.

Like all of the Euro between the legs and all of the stop on one legs and pause.

Like a lot of those videos that went viral for me, like it was him saying that it wasn't a travel and me just going to these leagues and runs and just testing it out to see if people would call travel or, you know, and a lot of times people be so confused that

they just play on and don't call anything.

Yeah.

The one I always see you is a slow two-step.

And I just pause and the referee calls a travel.

Yeah.

But do you know the referee went back to the league owner and was like, yeah, I missed that call.

I missed that.

Oh, so at least he owned up the car.

Yeah, at least.

But yeah, he said,

at least I

was wrong about that one.

I think it's a new type of playing that they're not used to, so they just see it.

They're like, what the hell?

Yeah, no, I was actually thinking about posting that clip alongside of the one LeBron did the other day where he actually traveled.

Oh, I saw that.

That was a travel.

Yeah, but I was going to post it alongside of it and say what LeBron tried to do.

I mean, these NBA players, they be traveling, let's be honest.

Yeah, but with the way the rules set up, it's kind of based on the referee, like when the referee considers the ball dead, because

knowing, like,

once we all learn something, we kind of manipulate it.

All right.

Like, even so much as, all right, let's go to cryptocurrency.

All right.

That was something new, fresh.

Everybody was hip to it.

Everybody was trying to do it.

But not really realizing there were millions of ways to manipulate it and take your money his money their money but you know what i'm saying and it's the same way with the rules of basketball like once i learned something or once i learned that you can manipulate it this way now i can come up with a million ways to manipulate it and it's not a travel or it's not illegal and you like It looks fishy though.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Oh, facts.

That's why these NBA players are so good.

Yeah, and that's why I say like a lot of times, yeah, some NBA players get away with travels, but a lot of times it's based on when the referee considers the ball like dead or stopped.

It's the referees more than it's the players.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, they got to change the rules constantly.

I remember if you jumped into someone while they were shooting, that was like foul at first.

Yeah, and it was like a shooting foul, and now they call it on the floor.

But a lot of times those rules are made.

in regards to certain players.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, if you watched the Clippers game last night, a lot of those fouls that weren't called in the fourth quarter for James Harden, three years ago, they called him without a hesitation.

But because so many people complained about him being at the line so much, referees falling for him, grabbing the opponent's arm and then going up, like.

Now he don't even get the just do of when he really gets fouled because he manipulated the rules so much.

I could see it from a business point of view because if you're at the free throw line, that's going to hurt viewers and make the game more.

Yeah, nah, 110%.

So you want to see high level moves yeah are you just a fan of the game do you have a team do you have a player uh i don't have a team i'm just a fan of the game i like players certain players uh like i've grown i like into certain players uh

now that i've i guess become a face in basketball i've grown like into players that i've met so like

I'm a huge fan of Darius Basley.

He's not actually in the NBA anymore, but he's one of those guys.

Like, it's like, man,

it's really people out here six foot ten who can dribble the ball like me, move like me,

do everything I can do when he's six foot ten.

Um, these days, you have to, you know,

you got to shoot, you got to be able to dribble.

Yeah, nah, so I've grown a lot of liking to like guys like that, but like I said, Kyrie's probably my favorite player as far as basketball player now.

Uh, I love Devin Booker, he's just like that second image of Kobe to me with like how he moves.

I'm growing a liking for Jason Tatum too, just because he gives that like Kobe movement feel.

And Edwards?

I love his attitude more than I like the way that he play.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, I just love his confidence and how he carries.

He's the character I would be if I was in the NBA.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like,

he's the YouTube.

Like, if you could compare YouTube players to NBA players like he's my personality like you know what I'm saying

yeah it's confidence but it's like a confidence where I don't sound super arrogant because I'm joking with you but you know that I'm serious about what I'm saying so it's like I appreciate Anthony Erwood and not that he doesn't have a smooth game and not extremely athletic but

I like his confidence and his attitude more than you know his style of yeah where does your confidence come from because I've seen you play against really good competition and you still have the same confidence uh honestly bro just knowing that i put the work in when you know you go work out every day you know you go shoot every day

when you know you've been playing since you were five like damn five yeah your parents wanted you to play early uh i just grew a liking to it early and they didn't like you know keep it away from me they let me i play pretty much everything i played baseball i played baseball up until a senior in high school i quit playing baseball because my fastball was too fast for anybody on my team to catch what because my high school wasn't that good oh wow yeah you were throwing so fast they couldn't even catch it i had 19 strikeouts in a game and lost

because the catcher was dropping the ball oh my god and so they were getting on base from the catcher dropping from the from me striking him out on strike three and the catcher dropping the ball so you got to now throw him out at first if he runs and they were miss throwing the the out on first and so they were getting on base from that holy crap What was your batting percentage in high school?

I think I batted like

somewhere close to like 360, but I was really good.

And then I played in a conference with a lot of schools who didn't have good baseball teams.

So there were very few far-in-between schools where they had guys who could just strike me out.

Because I played baseball.

From about just as long as I played basketball.

Was this in Cali growing up?

No, I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina.

So, yeah.

yeah.

Wow.

So baseball's not big over there?

It is big over there, honestly.

I just went to a, how do we say, urban or black high school.

And so the surrounding schools were kind of like similar.

So we were all really good at football,

basketball, you know what I'm saying?

Track.

But like our soccer team sucked, our baseball team sucked.

White people sports.

Yeah.

But when I was a freshman, like our baseball team was really good.

But then like, you know, gentrification happens.

New schools get built.

People go to the new schools.

And like, you know.

Who you got winning the World Series?

I honestly don't care.

You don't follow it?

We've been watching it, but it's like, I guess, Go Dodger since I live in L.A.

Yeah.

But I don't particularly care.

Yeah, I don't care anymore.

I used to love sports growing up, but I don't watch full games anymore, to be honest.

Yeah, no, me either.

I honestly won't really pay attention to a game unless we like gambling on it or something.

It's not the same.

Like, as a kid, it just.

Yeah, not as a kid, it was like, man, I can't wait to go watch this game, but now it's just like

you could be waiting to watch an NBA game, and then now all four of the superstars not even playing.

Facts.

Yeah, how do you feel about the load management stuff?

I understand it.

So, you know, I'm not opposed to it because I'm a basketball player.

So I do understand like going at it five nights in a row or four nights in a row, just what it does to your body.

And then you're expected to play at an even higher level after playing 82 games.

So it's a lot of games.

People don't realize that's taxing on your body.

A lot of games and a lot of flying.

And flying and playing basketball.

That's as much as we try to make it mix.

It really don't mix.

Dude, when I fly, I get a cold every time.

Like, my nose is running shit.

Yeah, no,

I need a day at least

to react.

Nah, like, if I, if i all right say there's a basketball event on a saturday i need to be there friday so like i could just like acclimate yeah walk walk around get the get the jet lag off me maybe even go to a run and like stink it up so that i don't stink it up at the event like

yeah so now your game's pretty physical i'd say it's more like 92 000s era right uh yeah i

i get to the basket so that i could really get what i want with the jump shot.

Like, I really want to shoot jump shots, but like, it's not so easy shooting jump shots with people all over you.

So, if you, you know, I guess you bully them and get to the basket a few times, a guy kind of bags up and prepares to like accept the contact, and then now you can just relax and take practice.

Yeah, I feel like that's a rarer thing these days.

I feel like everyone just wants to shoot it up.

Man,

I may, in some games, like,

take a long jump shot the first one just to see what kind of day it's going to be.

But, like, if I don't make one out of those first three, I'm downhill.

I feel that.

What's the most points you've had in the game?

113 in the ABA game.

Holy crap.

But to my defense, I think it was like 106 real points, like real basketball points.

Because in the ABA, so like...

Say if your team's on offense and I get a steal before you cross half court,

however many points I score, you add one.

So if I make a layup, it's three.

Oh, wow.

If I make a three, it's four.

If you foul me on a three, I shoot four free throws.

Like, you know, that's weird.

Yeah, like they add a point.

I guess they're rewarding you for getting a turnover in the backcourt.

Oh, wow.

And I forgot.

What did they call it?

I forgot what they call it.

A 3D rule is what they call it or whatever.

Will Chamberlain out here.

100-point game, man.

Yeah, but

I've done it twice.

You did it in the ABA twice?

No, I did it in the ABA, and then I did it in an adult league called the Elite Five

last year.

Damn.

Good shit, bro.

What's the best city competition-wise, you think?

Because you played everywhere.

I'm not going to say no city is better than other as far as competition, but I will rank cities based on the vibe that basketball brings.

Like the energy that they bring when it, you know, you in a basketball setting.

And New York's energy is bar none.

Wow.

Like, I've been to New York in like a small gym setting where, you know,

somebody made a caller and was like, bro, Hesse's about to pull up to the gym.

We're about to start a run tonight at 10 o'clock.

And this was maybe, you know, 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

And then they pack out a small gym and this cat sitting there yelling, talking trash.

You're not doing that to me.

Everybody got their phones out.

And then I've also been like,

At Rutger Park.

My flight got there late, showed up at halftime, stands full.

And like, it was like crazy love and energy.

Like, as soon as I got on the court, people was standing and clapping.

It was just the energy in New York is just different.

Or maybe I just receive a different energy in the New York basketball world.

But like,

bar none.

That's respect, man, because you live in L.A.

and you're saying that.

Yeah,

like, I can't say particularly any city's competition is better because I've

met cold basketball players in almost each city I've been in.

Yeah, these days, I'm sure.

Yeah, it's just, it's a cold dude everywhere.

It's a dude that challenged me everywhere.

Are you a big trash talker?

Nah, what people don't know about me is like when you hear me talking trash, it's because someone started talking trash to me first and I just don't shut up once I started talking trash.

So it's like, you know what I'm saying?

I'll hit a three-pointer and you'll say something as simple as, yeah, you won't get another one.

That's your last one.

You're not doing that again.

Oh, so now every time I score, I'm going to be like, that's another one.

That's another one.

And then you're going to get annoyed because it's like, all right, I already know I can't stop you.

You already got 20 points.

It's the end of the first quarter.

We're going into the second quarter.

All right.

It's, it's evident I can't stop you.

But now I'm pissed off because you won't shut up.

And you shouldn't have started talking to me first.

I'm just one of those.

You won't let it go.

Yeah, I won't let it go.

Ever, anyone try to fight you?

Of course, hundreds of times.

Damn, that many?

Yeah, but holy crap.

It's actually annoying because that's not why I'm talking trash.

I'm just, it makes for a good video.

One,

I want to give you a little taste of your own medicine because if the shoe was vice versa and you were cooking me, you'd be talking crazy trash to me.

Like, hazy guy, oh, I'm cooking.

Like, you'd be talking crazy trash to me.

So, like, I'm just giving you the same.

Energy you would have given me had the shoe been on the other side.

I feel up.

I feel up.

Are you posting on YouTube and stuff?

I do post on YouTube.

I think I'm at like 226K.

Nice.

Yeah.

It's really good.

What's the error right now?

Because I know with basketball content on YouTube, now it's like making your own team, right?

That

was the thing, but like now it's the one-on-one, though, like the one-on-one thing is back again.

Like, I guess not so much as

with like, you know,

the Jessers versus the

Cash nasties, but like,

you know, your Nasis versus Nesco's and you're, you're, like,

there's like a, the, the one-on-one world has changed dramatically since when I started YouTube.

Yeah.

So Tracy McGrady's league is going to do well then.

I think it is going to do well because it's a lot of guys who like, one,

want to be in that world.

It's a lot of people like, I guess, starting their one-on-one platforms.

And then

Friga and and Scotty started something next chapter that everybody has been trying to mimic.

And they just have been doing an amazing job of like,

I guess, coming up with new ideas, staying different, staying relevant, like including everybody from cities you wouldn't even thought had hoopers.

Like,

I find myself watching guys from Oklahoma.

Like,

you know what I'm saying?

Like, there's a guy named Burke who, like,

from Oklahoma, literally like had a nice little rise from all his life, like been doing a little one-on-one tear.

There's a guy named Nesco from.

I've seen him.

He's nasty.

He's from Delaware, though.

Exactly.

Like, who would have thought there's hoopers in Delaware?

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, somebody that cold from Delaware.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

So that's why I say you can't really, like.

Say which city is, like, the biggest.

Everyone's got hoopers.

You know what I'm saying?

Austin Reeves.

Canada's looking nice.

I mean, they got.

Yeah, not even just watching Dawn Connect in preseason games, just like, dang, bro.

We knew you could play a little bit at Tennessee, but we didn't know like you could do that.

Yeah.

You liking college hoops more than pro?

Honestly, I don't particularly care.

I see good basketball.

I watch it.

Certain people I pay attention to.

I'm really intrigued with Mikey just because of what he's been through.

It's like,

all right, is he going to let that like bother him?

And then it helps that he's playing with Dior, who kind of, I wouldn't say been through something similar, but like one of those top high school kids people kind of put on the back burner because of situation.

So, just kind of want to see how they're gonna respond to it.

Yeah, I'm rooting for him.

I mean, he's been through a lot, man.

So, if he could turn that around, that'd be sick.

Yeah, nah, for sure.

And with Bronny, too, I know he's getting a ton of hate, but I mean, he didn't ask for that.

Yeah, nah, over time, though, he's gonna be a player that we never thought

he would be.

Yeah, for sure.

With just the way the NBA is, even in college, you could tell he was like, he was already a pro player.

That's why the college system didn't like work for him because he's already a pro player.

He's been watching someone be the best pro player for the last 10 years.

I've heard that from a lot of pros, that college is like a step backwards.

It is, for real.

Especially if you already like.

You know what I'm saying?

Ready for the next level.

Because you saw it with you.

I mean, if you went from high school to maybe playing pro somewhere, it would have been better.

Just off the strength of they would have allowed me to be me or just opportunity.

I wouldn't say particularly college or the pro, just opportunity.

Like just make sure you get the right opportunity for yourself.

That allows you to be you.

Because when you go to an opportunity that allows you to be you, like

you're

you'll be surprised what you see within yourself.

Facts.

You know what I'm saying?

If the CBA hit you up, would you take it?

Chinese Basketball Association?

I would.

They would have to offer me a nice little chump of change because I know they will want me to stay a while.

And China sucks for me

just because I'm a smoker.

I smoke weed, bro.

Oh, it's illegal there?

Yeah, it's like crazy illegal.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, that girl got

China.

Yeah, no, that was Russia, but China's even more strict, bro.

Like, so you'd have to give up weed.

Yeah, bro.

You think you could do that?

But you know, like, that's one of my like

recovery things.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Like, just a relaxing, meditating.

Yeah.

After

killing yourself on the court, trying to get better.

So, well, a lot of the old NBA guys used to smoke even before or during games.

Yeah, no, you even heard Kevin Durant say he smoked.

Really?

Yeah.

You didn't see him.

I forgot who the interview was with, but he was actually doing the interview.

I was at Logan Paul.

And

who was the interviewer?

It was an older guy.

I want to say Letterman, but I'm not sure if it was him, though.

It could have been Letterman, but I'm not sure.

And he was, you know, sitting down with Kevin Durant, and he asked him, and

he was like, you know, do you smoke before games?

And he was like, yeah.

And Kevin Durant was like, I'm actually hot right now.

You know what I'm saying?

It was like funny.

It was super funny.

I love that.

Yeah.

KD's one of a kind, man.

Well, dude, what's next for you?

Where can people find you and everything?

You definitely find me on YouTube, Instagram, at TheHezzyGuy, TikTok as well.

If you're a Facebooker, Camero Carter.

What's next?

Working on a Wii strand called Hesse OG with my guy Quinn from Salt Serve.

I'll get you in some dispensaries in Vegas.

All right, for sure.

So we can stay connected on that.

I actually

have hundreds of tracks I've been debating on should I just narrow them down to the best 10, drop a mixtape, and just get back into the music.

You should drop a hoop mixtape.

Yeah.

I was going to go ahead and just drop all my lost files to let people know that I can rap and then like step into like dropping like a hoop mixtape to try to like make the 2K sound trash.

Oh, that'd be mad.

Yeah, I already did like mocap for 2K like years ago.

Let's go.

Do it, bro.

Yeah, I wouldn't be scared of that.

Yeah, but nah, man, just staying active, trying to stay relevant.

The more relevant you stay, the more money you make.

Facts.

You know what I'm saying?

Continue to,

I guess, in my case, innovate moves or in case of the world, innovate more travels.

I love it.

All right, man, thanks for coming on.

No, for sure, appreciate you.

Absolutely.

Thanks for watching, guys.