Spencer Dinwiddie's Journey from the G League to NBA Stardom | Digital Social Hour #55

Does it worry you that like 80% of athletes go broke?

No, not really.

It's a whole new world out there.

Like 100 million is getting thrown out.

And you're at your peak right now, so you're good time.

Now, everybody's getting $100 million.

Every single team that you get traded to is better after you get there.

Like, this is like, this is not an opinion.

Like, this is math.

Welcome back to the Digital Social Hour, guys.

I'm your host, Sean Kelly.

You're my co-host, Charlie Cavalier, and our guest today, Spencer Dinwiddie.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

First NBA player.

Oh, applause.

It's an honor.

Yeah.

What you been up to out here?

You know, I mean, typical Summer League stuff,

you know, watching a couple games, attending a couple practices, having some meetings, talking to the young guys,

maybe a little blackjack, but nothing too too crazy that's your game yeah that's it oh man gambling out here is always always a miss for you know whenever i play why blackjack uh i was just the one i understand the most gotcha i have the highest probability started playing it with my uh college coach actually okay do you know how to count

no no on camera right yeah

casinos watching this as a no no i don't think they're gonna blacklist you even if you are a counting card man so yeah i'm not here often enough i come here maybe once twice max a year so yeah nice so you've been getting traded around a lot lately man how's that life been like getting traded every couple years a lot of upheaval um

spend a lot of time in hotels not just on the away games obviously you stay there for home games too

um

but i've been fortunate a couple of the stops have been a blessing dallas uh and brooklyn obviously are two places i love so you know it's been a blessing to kind of spend time in both those areas nice one of oh sorry no one of my favorite things i looked up was every single team that you get traded to is better after you get there

Like,

this is not an opinion.

Like, this is math.

Wow.

Like, you add wins to every single team you have ever joined.

And as soon as you leave, you know what happens?

Hey, man.

Hey, if the stats back it up.

The stats back it up.

That's an honor too.

I mean, I play the game to win.

You know what I'm saying?

I don't play for

stats and accolades and things like that.

So if the proof's in the pudding, then it means I'm doing my job.

So I'm happy about that.

That's dope.

Would you say a lot of players play to win, or is there some that play for money?

I mean,

in terms of the money aspect, obviously, it's a balance, right?

Like, we're growing men to feed families.

You know what I mean?

So, there is a piece of that to it.

In terms of like stat padding specifically, or playing to win, I'd say the majority of NBA players, I think, play to win.

Okay.

I mean, obviously, some people do have their different mentalities.

And, you know, obviously, I haven't played with every single person in the NBA, but I would say the majority have their intentions in the right place for the most part.

Oh, that's cool.

Because the money's so good, you never know.

Yeah, Yeah, no, I mean, again, like I said,

we're growing to feed our families.

We do want to get paid.

Like, I'm not going to sit here and be like, oh, like, you know, I would dedicate all this time to it if I was getting paid a penny.

It just, I couldn't do it, right?

I'd have to have a normal job as well.

But, you know,

given most of the players that I know, like,

they're out there really competing.

That's cool.

And you did have to compete from the jump.

I mean, first, I want to ask one funny question before we get into all the grind you had to do.

Do you think Jordan Farmar is upset that he's now the second best point guard to ever come out of your high school?

uh because you're obviously the best yeah probably i mean you know he had a better high school uh career though he was mcdonald's all-american and so he he wore that title for a very long time won a ring with the lakers so you know shout out jordan farmer but a great player i'm a kings fan so i don't really like the lakers stuff but i understand but uh no in in general though yeah nba career is not bad and you averaged more points in the nba than you did in high school and college wow how was that even possible yeah to be honest uh my high school team was stacked okay So we had a bunch of great players.

I mean, my junior year, we had Bryce Ezeane Jones, who actually UNLV and then played for the Pelicans for a second, DeAndre Daniels, who got drafted.

My senior year, we had a bunch of D1 guys as well.

So we were stacked.

So I passed the ball a lot in high school.

I think I went to Hoop Hall and had like two points and 15 assists.

And then

in college,

It's harder to score than it is in NBA.

Really?

Yeah, like the pain is so packed.

Like in the NBA, like, it's so spread out.

There's no defense in three seconds.

So it really is one-on-one.

And like, that was something that I've drilled since I was a kid and I played all the time.

You know, my uncle used to have us playing one-on-one like all the time.

That was like one of the main pieces of our workouts when we were like, you know, 12, 13, 14 years old.

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Thanks, guys.

So you'd attribute your success to playing one-on-one a lot.

Oh yeah, for sure.

Especially in the NBA game because it's two primary actions.

It's either picking rolls or some level of isolation.

Right.

Yeah.

And you got drafted in 2014.

Did you know you were going to get drafted?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did.

So, you know, coming out of Colorado in my junior year, originally I was supposed to be like in the lottery conversation, lottery pick or whatever.

I told my ACO, unfortunately.

And, you know, they told me at the time, obviously, I probably slipped to the second round.

I still declared.

So I fully expected to get drafted.

It was just a roll of the dice as to what pick, which team.

Like, I had, I think by the time I actually declared, I had a draft range of like 20 to 50, which is

super high.

Like, super, sorry, broad, right?

Broad, yeah.

Whereas most guys might have like 10 to 20, 17 to 22.

Like, it's like five to ten picks match.

I had a 30 pick match.

Yeah, I'd be anxious about that, not knowing where you're going.

It has to be hard, especially because, I mean, you came back from that ACL injury.

What was that like?

Just, you know, your entire career is in front of you, right?

Everything looks bright.

Everything's amazing.

And then, yeah, I mean, I tour my MCL, but I think ACLs and Achilles are probably two of the worst things you can do.

Yeah, I would say

probably Achilles won, ACL 2.

Yeah, more than likely.

Yeah, no, I mean, at that stage, that ACL,

it was scary, you know what I mean?

Because, like you said, I have my whole career in front of me.

I finally got into a place after not being the most highly recruited guy

coming out of high school that I was pretty touted.

You know what I mean?

And I thought, okay, lottery pick, getting ready to start my NBA career.

And what you don't know about the NBA is kind of like where you start can really affect what happens next, right?

Like if you are a lottery pick or top 10 or whatever it is,

you get the benefit of the doubt.

You get that initial shot.

You get a chance to make mistakes.

When you're a second-round pick, you know, it just comes down to investment, right?

Like they only got it at the time, I think my starting salary was like $500,000.

You know what I mean?

Like, that's far cry from $2,000, $3 million starting salary just in terms of my investment into you as a player.

And so you don't give me a chance to make mistakes.

You got to kind of really be perfect.

And that's honestly

in part why it it didn't really work out to start.

Yeah, a lot of players have that one injury and they're never the same.

Yeah.

What was it like fighting for minutes your rookie season?

Yeah, I mean, it was tough.

So like you said, I got drafted in 2014, the Detroit Pistons.

We had a veteran laden team.

We had a veteran

biased coach.

Like he liked the experience and you know how how they they kind of just knew the game better and obviously at the time I was what 20 years old or something like that

and so the the older guys they just they just know better like you know me now at 30 like I can look back and be like yeah like you know some of the things that are just kind of seamless and just ring off in my head now like I wasn't doing it 20 now still had the talent still had a you know the potential to produce but it was going to take time and you know it wasn't something that I was afforded at at that specific stop in my career.

Interesting.

I read that you spent a little time in Grand Rapids when you first got drafted.

Yeah.

And that there was a Steve Blake shooting slump that led to them going, you know, hitting you up.

You got a few starts and your first game out, I think you dropped like 15 points, Adisa, something like that on the Bulls, if I remember correctly.

And then from then on, you were in and out of the rotation for the year.

And then by that second year, it seemed like you were pretty locked in, like you weren't going anywhere.

Even by the end of that first year, like there was never going to be a G-League for you ever again again after that uh so actually that that's the crazy part so you know that that did happen and then um going to my second year it it kind of flipped back so you're you're referring to my my third year but that's uh when i got to brooklyn so i ended up having to get cut bulls and a whole bunch of stuff um and i'm chicago bulls not bulls

but yeah no so it was my third year actually where i got really locked in but yeah it was a little bit of a care so i spent time in grand rapids uh And yeah, sometimes it takes, you know, a shooting slump or, you know, an injury or whatever to get your opportunity.

And, you know, that's kind of been what got my foot in the door.

And then I think my work ethic and consistency have allowed me to kind of stay in the rotation.

Yeah.

What was it like in the G-League?

Is it a different game over there, or is it similar to the NBA?

Completely different.

Really?

Yeah, I mean,

I tell people all the time, like, each level of basketball is almost like a a different style of dance.

Like, you could

dance ballet really well, but not dance salsa.

You know what I'm saying?

And so each level, high school, college,

you know, D-League, G-League, sorry,

you know, overseas, NBA, they're all, the style is different.

You know what I mean?

Obviously, D-League is similar just because of the rules, you know what I'm saying, obviously, but the players are smaller.

I'd say the game is probably a little more physical just in terms of people fighting for their lives, quite literally.

But

yeah, it's just a little bit different.

Yeah, because they're fighting for a roster spot, so it's a lot of emotions.

Yeah, the hunger is a little bit different down there for sure.

Yeah, that makes sense.

So we're seeing a lot of these like little viral questions going around.

Like, could an average person, you know, run for one yard in an NFL game if given 10 carries?

Could an average person score a point in an NBA game if they played all 48 minutes?

Could my unathletic

score two points in an NBA game if everyone's going full everything,

assuming that my stamina can make it 48 minutes.

Yeah, I was going to say that that's tough.

Like, you have to check your stamina first.

Okay.

I mean, obviously, the thing about two points are like one yard.

Miracle sounds.

Yeah, it's so many variables.

You know what I mean?

Like, you know, you could get fouled while they're in the bonus and just knock down two free throws.

Do I trust you to get a bucket?

No.

Like, and it's the same thing.

Like, you know, if would I trust a normal person to, like, try to run a go route

on a DB?

No.

But if, if the O-line gets a great push, could you fall forward and get a yard?

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

But if a better question would be, like, could you average 10 points or shoot, even average five points?

And the answer would be no.

Nah.

No.

No way.

No chance.

What's the most you've averaged in this season?

Like, 21.

That's impressive.

And you were top 20 in assists last season, right?

Yeah.

What made you step up that much last season, you think?

Honestly, it was the change back to Brooklyn.

I think for the most part you know in general like again i try to adapt to the team needs right so you know when you're in dows and playing with luca a little bit more spot up shooting um and then obviously when he's off the court there is that playmaking aspect but you're also thinking a little bit more score you know what i mean so you're you're trying to uh pick up the pace a little bit think score just to kind of give the defense a little bit different look right because luca's gonna play at his pace he's gonna have post-ups pick and roll it's gonna be a little bit slower and then my task was to try to pick up the speed a little bit.

When I went to Brooklyn mid-season, you know, it was a group that was thrown together, obviously,

and trying to figure things out.

And so the task was, how best can you kind of like keep the group together?

Well, of course, and stay in the playoff race, right?

Well, obviously one of the best ways to do that is make sure everybody eats, everybody gets touches.

You know what I'm saying?

Then you got to learn what people, you know, like the ball, et cetera.

I mean, you know,

some people jump off two feet to catch live.

Some people jump off one, right?

Some people only like shooting in the left corner or the right corner.

So you have to learn all those nuances on the fly.

And with that group, you know, we had a lot of shooting as well.

So, you know, my task was to find them more so than,

you know, scoring as much.

That's why it was like, I think it was like nine assists, something like that, with the Nets versus probably like five with Dallas.

Yeah, that's a big jump.

And you guys made the playoffs.

You ended the season pretty strong.

What was it like in the playoffs?

I mean, it was tough.

We ran to Philly, who has, you know, obviously a former MVP in Harden, but also the current MVP in Joel and Bi.

You know,

it's no real secret.

We couldn't really guard him.

So, yeah, we were doubling off.

Yeah, I mean, we were doubling Joelle, and then we were in rotations.

Harden ended up having a couple big games, and it was just, it was, it was tough.

It was a very tough matchup for y'all.

You just did not match up extremely as much as you wanted, probably.

Yeah, exactly.

Like, anytime you have, like, doubling is something you do typically when you're in a bind, bind right somebody gets cooking or whatever else it's usually an adjustment

in

this situation our game plan was to double essentially all the time which is perfectly fine and fair because obviously we you couldn't really guard your oil straight up right but when you do that now

Tobias Harris who's a very talented player Tyrese Max who's a very talented player they're catching you on closeouts and in rotations and things like that which makes it immensely more difficult.

You know what I'm saying?

Like even if we were playing, if I had to run full speed in one direction, you got to pick which way you're going to go.

It's going to be harder for me to stop you because now I'm just guessing.

Yeah.

Would you say there's certain players like MB that are just unguardable one-on-one?

I mean,

I don't think anybody is unguardable.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

I mean, I think it comes down to matchup, right?

Like, if you have,

I don't know, man.

But just another big enough body, I mean, maybe a Brooke Lopez or something, you put up a different type of resistance to that style of player, right?

And so a lot of that comes down to matchups.

Whereas, like, for example, Nick Claxton, our center, is probably the best five-man switching in the league.

Really?

Like, oh, yeah, like, he can switch out, guard a wing, et cetera, like, with the best of them.

So if we played a team that didn't necessarily have a, you know, I don't know how big it was, but let's say 275, maybe a 275-pound center, we probably would have been able to stick to switching everything, which is a big strength of our team with like Mikael and, you know, Dorian Finney Smith and Royce and Nick,

and then kept everybody in front.

And then that leads also to fueling our offense.

You know what I'm saying?

It helps us get more pace and get on transition.

Yeah.

I don't want to get you in trouble, so I'm going to ask a positive question.

Who's the most underrated player in the NBA right now?

Most underrated?

I was going to ask overrated, but I don't want to make any answers.

Overrated?

Oh, yeah, no.

Underrated?

Underrated that I'm a fan of?

Like, maybe somebody, who would you could put somebody on your team who you think is underrated tomorrow?

Oh, I mean, no,

that's two different questions.

But I would say somebody that I think got his flowers this year more so than he has in the past.

De'Aaron Fox.

You know what I'm saying?

And you mentioned the Kings of May, that's why it's on my mind.

And I went to Kentucky.

Oh, well, hey.

No, I think he got his flowers this year, but in general, though, he's

a really good player.

And I don't think prior to this season, he kind of got his flowers just in terms of the media and stuff.

Yeah, do you think it's because he's from a smaller market team?

I mean, smaller market.

No offense.

No, yeah.

Smaller market hadn't really won.

And, you know, sometimes, obviously, you know, you get dinged for not winning, which is understandable, but it's not always

that player's fault either.

You know what I'm saying?

So, you know, and I don't know the Sacramento dynamics or anything like that.

I just, I'm a fan of his game.

I think he's really good.

So you've been in the league for about 10 years now.

Have you seen the game change at all from when you first got in?

A ton.

Really?

Oh, a ton.

My first year, 2014,

our initial starting lineup was Brandon Jennings, Cantavius Caldwell Pope,

Josh Smith at the three, Greg Monroe at the four,

and Andre Drummond at the five.

Those three players that I just named.

Right now would probably be all centers in today's NBA just because of the shooting.

Now, obviously, Josh Smith would be more like a

stretch forward.

Yeah, stretch forward.

Like,

yeah, like Draymond Green-ish, like, because he was actually really good in the DHO and like, uh, you know, passing it.

I think he was really underrated in that.

But yeah, Greg Monroe is definitely a back-to-the-basket center, like Jokic style.

And Drummond is your typical lob threat center, like DeAndre Jordan style.

So we had three.

It had been like starting Draymond Green, Nicola Jokic, and DeAndre Jordan.

I can't wait to picture that.

That would be crazy.

So you've had to kind of change your game over the years to adapt to the game.

For sure.

I mean,

that's a part of it.

I would say for, you know, a guard, the transition has been a little bit more seamless

because it's not like my position got kind of eliminated or something like that.

Like the back-to-the-sket fours, they're gone now.

But I think the premium on three-point shooting is definitely a thing.

Whereas like when I first got drafted, that was right before the Warriors kind of took off.

I think the Warriors kind of took off in like 1516.

Yeah.

And so being in there in 2014, it was still before everybody was like, you've got to be able to shoot, not just threes, but from like deep.

Right.

Now you need to shoot or else you're a liability.

Exactly.

It's crazy.

Like, even centers are shooting threes now.

Yeah, and the mid-range game has disappeared.

Very few people are even allowed to take those shots anymore.

Like, you know, DeMar DeRose would be an example of someone who still gets the green light on that and stuff like that.

But where is your favorite spot?

to score from on the court?

And I'm sure this is in all the scouting reports, so we're not giving Andy too much away.

No, no, not at at all.

I mean,

my whole game is based on

breaking the paint, basically,

causing havoc in that manner, whether that be through isolations or picking rolls.

So, I mean, the low-hanging fruit would probably be a layup.

Yeah, I mean, just because, like, my job is literally getting the paint and then make the read off of that.

So, I would just probably go with that one.

And if not, then a step back.

Your step back's nasty.

Thank you.

I wish I had a step back.

What age would you say most people are in their prime in the NBA?

Oh

I Would say it kind of depends on are we looking for like a prime year are we looking for like yeah prime the winners like maybe three year period.

Yeah,

probably like

28 to 32 or so would probably be like your your peak in terms of athletically at least and then if you're

good and and with your body and stuff, and because your game's gonna continue to evolve, you know, we see like LeBron, for example, and guys get more skilled heading into like near 40.

Yeah, but I would say your athletic peak is probably that 20 to 32.

If you take care of your body, extend that to 35, 36, probably.

Nice.

You're in your prime right now.

Yeah, like dead smack in the middle.

You're feeling good right now?

Oh, I feel great.

So, yeah, I mean, you're talking about how much you take care of your body.

What does your daily routine during the season look like to take care of yourself, rest, recovery, all that?

Because it's hard.

You're in hotels, you're doing everything.

yeah yeah um I mean we have kind of like

I would say three days in during season it's it's not Monday through Sunday right it's like you got game day you got practice day and you got like light practice day right

you know practice day you could be in there hour and a half two hours right with the actual practice but you're gonna get there early you probably got an hour and a half worth of lifting prior to that you got some level of table work, so you're talking to the PT,

getting some level of adjustment, etc.

So that probably takes 30 minutes.

So you're looking at a two-hour block for that, two-hour block for practice.

Afterwards, you probably got massage or any other type of stretch routine.

So let's put hour, hour and a half for that.

Then you talk about sauna, cold tub,

things of that nature.

So, I mean, you're

you're you're not a nine to five, but you're probably like a nine to three,

you know, I'm saying

With no lunch break.

Man.

Yeah.

Wow.

Now you see a lot of these younger guys coming in the league getting injured, and there's talk on social media that they're playing too many games in high school leading up to it.

Like these tournaments are like five, ten games a weekend.

Do you think that's true?

I mean, I'm not a

biomechanics expert, but I would say, I mean, you would think, right?

Like.

We only have so much cartilage.

We only have so much, you know, miles, etc.

And if you wear it out, then, you know, you're not.

And remember, the other thing, too, is we play 82 games, but again, what I just say, we're there nine to three.

Four of those hours are body focused, right?

Whereas only two of them are like basketball focused for real.

So we're, we're, and we're going to have a different style of diet.

We're going to just, just the investment into our body is going to be a completely different thing.

With a kid, you know,

they're going to eat McDonald's between the kids.

You feel me?

Like, and not saying that's bad.

Like, you're a kid, like, go for it.

You know what I'm saying?

I don't want you to be like, you know, super strict at 12 years old and hate your life.

But all that contributes to breakdown.

Yeah, I feel like they don't teach the diet aspect when you're a kid.

Like, in high school, I ate terrible.

Yeah, I mean, it's getting more famous now, all the health and wellness movement and stuff like that.

And so, what was your welcome to the NBA moment?

Welcome to the NBA moment.

When you were like, holy

games are good.

I'm here.

I mean, probably just in practice.

Brandon Jennings was somebody I looked up to, being from L.A.

And then going into Detroit, obviously coming off injury and having to guard him and stuff in practice.

And, you know, people forget he was probably on pace to have an all-star year before he toured Achilles.

So

he was in prime form.

He was hooping.

And obviously, there was that balance of like, you know, a guy I looked up to because he was like a senior in high school when I was like going into high school.

You know what I mean?

and mcdonald's all american the whole nine one of the probably best uh

high school guys that we've had in america you know what i'm saying which is why he got to go overseas uh so i would say my my welcome to nbamo was probably just you know having to compete against him in practice because again like i didn't i didn't play that much like so people like you know who busted this rookie year was like honestly guys I didn't really play.

So nobody did, but this isn't being cocky.

This is literally like I wasn't on the floor to even get my ass busted.

Yeah, you know.

Now, you've played for a lot of different coaches.

I've seen Shaq, Shaq's take on coaches.

He said they don't matter.

What's your take on coaches?

Nah, they matter.

It's just that it's different than it is in high school, college, etc.

It has far less to do with like X's and O's.

You know what I'm saying?

It's more about managing personalities.

You know what I'm saying?

Managing egos.

You're almost like a professional psychologist at that stage.

Like I said, most NBA actions, like we may run a ton of misdirection.

We may have pinned downs over here and screens over there and all the other stuff.

Nine times out of 10, when it breaks down, it gets to a pick and roll in isolation.

That's where it's like, and we'll do a whole bunch of other stuff.

We'll run over here and run over there.

This guy will scream for that guy and whatever, but then you'll get it to one of your best players and he'll do one of those two things.

So that's why I think a lot of guys say it's less so about the coaching in terms of the X and O's.

But nah, you still got to be there and be a psychologist and create create chemistry and culture.

And, you know,

that's supremely important.

I think part of the reason we were able to have the run in Dallas when we went to the conference finals was just purely down to chemistry and culture because you wouldn't look at that team and think that we were the most talented in the world.

Coaching's a tough job, man.

They don't last long.

Nah, and you see, they get all them grades and stuff.

They're distressed, man.

I think three of the last four coaches of the years have been fired.

I saw that.

That was crazy.

I was like, don't win that award.

That's tough.

Hey, man.

You got to remember, like, the owner can't fire himself.

Right.

Right.

And then

the max player probably ain't going to get fired neither.

So, like, and the GM's going to point to the coach before he points to himself.

Well, I mean, you got to, the only two who are left are GM or coach.

You got to pick one.

Like, I'm just being real.

Like, you know, LeBron ain't getting fired and the owner not firing himself.

So that means the only two people you could point at are either GM or coach.

Yeah.

You know, I'd say it's probably.

kind of unfortunate in that respect.

It makes their job a lot harder for sure.

Was Stan the coach when you got to Detroit still, and Gundy?

Yeah.

That's why it's hard crack on the rotation because he loves vets.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's tough.

Do you think a lot of coaches don't get respect from the players?

I think

in any situation, just because of how I kind of like name that pegging order in terms of, you know, owner, max player, then we kind of get into the, and that's if you have a true max guy.

Like, some teams don't.

Right.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm literally talking about the LeBron Giannises of the world, right?

As long as the

top guys respect the coach,

then the coach has the respect.

It's just that you can have that fracture in the locker room if like, just like anything else, right?

These people over here, and then these people over there, and then, you know, that's over there.

And then it becomes hard for the young guys to follow, right?

Because, oh, I'm a rookie.

Do I, you know, listen to LeBron?

Do I listen to the coach?

Do I listen to GM?

As long as everybody's on the same page, and again, this goes with anything, you know what I'm saying, in life, any organization, any

group, whatever.

If you have a kind of a confirmed direction, everybody's on the same page, then everybody follows and everybody gets the requisite respect.

Yeah, that makes sense.

What's on your NBA checklist?

What are you trying to accomplish for your tire?

Oh, easy one will be championship.

Do the LSU point to the ring?

Yeah, yeah, easy one is championship.

Yeah.

I mean, like,

I think, especially for a guy

in my position, and to your point of how I approach the game, how I play the game, and then just understanding

how individual awards are won, it would definitely be a championship.

Have you made an all-star game yet?

No, no, I haven't.

There's an argument to be made that I should have, but I have not.

You definitely should have.

The 21-point a game season?

Yeah, that's a lot.

I wonder who got in over him.

What do you think has been...

Because there's been an overriding theme, right?

Like you said, high school, your junior year, I think you averaged seven points a game and like five assists, right?

Senior year, 11.2 and like seven assists.

You're talking about how you're on a stacked team.

You go to Boulder.

I don't know how your freshman year went, but I think sophomore year, you made Pac-12, all Pac-12 stuff like that.

But then you tear your ACL, you go to the league, you're fighting, you're in Grand Rapids, injuries are happening.

You've seized every opportunity, and it's been so important for you because you've been doubted until that opportunity came and then you kicked it out of it.

What do you think it is about, I don't know, I don't want to call it clutch, but you just seem to show up when it's time to show up.

Is there something that you think gets you going internally when it's like, this is my time, if I don't do it now, I might not get it again?

I think when I was younger, there was some of that like back against the wall feeling for sure.

Azure in the G League and things like that.

I think

like the resoluteness comes from like just the work.

I think

My parents instilled a work ethic in me.

My uncle's done a great job, you know what I'm saying, training me.

And I feel like I've worked harder than everybody or most people.

And,

you know, when you've done that, you just don't really have regrets.

So you live and die with whatever happens.

Like, I genuinely, again, to your point, like, I feel like I'm trying to make the best decision possible.

Like, I'm not out there just shooting for the of it, right?

Like, if I shot it, it's because I thought that was the best shot of the time.

If I passed this, I thought it was the best pass of the time.

And so I don't.

live with very many regrets.

And I think that's why I'm able to kind of do that.

And I understand, like, I'm going to shoot this shot.

And if if I miss it, 20,000 people are mad.

If I make it, 20,000 people are happy.

It is what it is.

You got to move forward.

Did the haters get to you at first, though, on social media?

Because they'd be ruthless.

Yeah, I mean, there were time periods like it would bother me.

I think,

you know, as you get older, as you mature, things like that,

a lot of times people that...

are that mad on the internet are only doing that because like something's going on with their lives.

You know what I mean?

And it's not to necessarily even say their lives suck or anything because I'm not taking this like, oh, my life is great approach or whatever.

But literally, like, if I'm angry, right?

If I'm pissed off at my job or whatever happens, and then

the one piece of piece that I get is the Nets winning a basketball game.

And I feel like Spencer stole that piece from me, and I'm already angry at my job.

Yeah.

Like, now I'm mad at him.

And, you know,

it's not even at that point really a personal attack because you don't know me.

Right.

You know what I'm saying?

And again, I wasn't trying to mess up.

Happens.

Yeah.

And so when you take it in that light,

you don't, it doesn't get to you.

You don't really get mad.

And then the funny part is most of the time when you're greeted with that type of energy and you're like, hey, look, bro, chill out.

They turn right back into like fans.

Immediately just like, oh man, like I was just mad.

Like it wasn't like that.

Much respect.

Much love.

I'm like, yeah, you know, it's all good.

So you got a burner account?

No.

No.

Honestly.

Honestly,

i don't have a facebook app on my phone i don't have a twitter app on my phone uh i'm not on threads like i'm just on instagram a little bit okay um

well a medium a bit i'm not even i'm not gonna say a little bit like a medium amount but that's really it i do mostly collab post basketball stuff but yeah that's it that's really it

i saw um you're into cryptocurrency uh-huh How do you invest all the money you're making now?

Do you have a plan, future business in mind?

Yeah, no.

I mean, I think think

the life cycle of

investment strategies is kind of like,

y'all ever seen those target funds with like Vanguard or something like that, where it's like you target it out to like 20, 60 or something like that, and it starts out with a bunch of stocks and goes to bonds, things like that.

I think, you know, I've been fortunate to do some VC stuff, you know,

have a couple hits,

you know, building a company, Calaxy, done some cryptocurrency stuff.

And, you know, now in my life cycle of investing, I'm looking into like multifamily real estate and getting into that.

And so I guess this would kind of be my bonds era of playing it safer.

Yeah, bonds era of investing.

You know, I've been very fortunate.

You know what I'm saying?

Companies like Lemon Perfect and Janie's and

being in the like seed rounds and stuff like that.

Yeah, no, like, no, you have misses too.

Don't get me wrong.

Like, you have, you have misses, but

I've had some hits that have that have been pretty fortunate.

Yeah.

Does it worry you that like 80% of athletes go broke?

Does it worry me?

Yeah.

Personally, or like just in general?

Like when you were coming into the league, was that a thought or nah?

Nah, not really.

Because you got to remember, like, when I was first in the league, I wasn't really making no money.

Right.

So, like, I was like, man,

I shouldn't even be in this statistic.

Then obviously once I broke through and, you know, kind of started hitting the contracts, and then everything is like set up the way it is and the TV money is going up and you know now everybody's getting a hundred million dollars you know I'm saying and it's only going higher right like we're supposed to get more TV money I think in 2025.

Wow.

So

like when everybody was like, oh man, how you know this guy get 80, this guy get 100 this summer.

Well, you got to remember,

the cap goes up next year.

It goes up again the year after, and it's going to apparently balloon after that.

Damn.

Now they have the minimums.

Yeah, like the minimums are higher.

I mean, like I said, when I came in the league, the minimum was like $500,000.

Now it's like $1.3 million.

Even though

the team has a minimum.

Oh, that's right.

The Spurs had to sign somebody just to get over the team salary cap minimum.

That's how low they were spending.

Yeah.

Wow.

So it's like a

whole new world out there.

Like $100 million is getting thrown out.

And you're at your peak right now.

So you're good timing.

I mean, well, yeah, I mean, I hope to stay on the nets long term and not have to

go through any of that.

But

if it does happen, obviously, like, yeah, it's just, it's just the market.

I mean, so, you know, 100 million in terms of real life, that's a boatload of money, right?

But everything has to be done to your point with percentages of cap, right?

So it's like the team has to spend 90% or they have to spend, let's say it's $150 million any given year, right?

And then this guy is my starter, so he has to get 18% of said cap.

So it's a slot.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, so it's not like, man,

$100 million is a lot in real life.

Spencer didn't get that.

Well, if Spencer's getting the slot for a starting point guard, then he has to get this amount of money for a basketball

team.

That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, like it's just the slots dictate what it is.

And, you know, the TV money has a huge effect on that.

Yeah.

I saw a Gilbert Arenas thing recently where he said, obviously, you have a, you know, you have bonuses structured in if you get certain points per game, stuff like that.

He said on

shitty teams that they purposely will

try their best to make sure that you don't hit some of those bonuses.

Do you think that's true?

Oh, I've never been in that situation.

Okay.

Maybe back in the day.

Yeah,

I've never been in that situation.

Yeah, Gil was talking about how, like, you know,

if you're at 19.9 and they're going the last game of the year and you get like a mil bonus for hitting 20, like,

they ain't playing any of that game.

Oh, I'd be pissed.

Yeah, I'd be hot.

I saw in the Miami Heat, you got to have a certain body fat percentage.

Have you heard of that?

I think it's eight, eight or less.

That's crazy.

Does everyone do that?

No.

No.

Wow.

But the Heater definitely,

I mean, I don't say notorious because that could have a negative connotation, but you just hear the stories about how dedicated they are to like fitness, conditioning, like team-wide.

You know what I'm saying?

And, but at the end of the day, though, they're in the finals like every other year.

So I saw that stuff.

So I said, like, I saw some things like Pat Riley's been involved in almost half of every NBA finals that has ever existed as either a player, coach, or executive.

You serious?

Yeah, it was like, it was like literally like,

like, it was like literally like a third or half of every NBA finals that has ever existed.

Pat Riley has been involved in one of those three.

That's f man.

Yeah, that's crazy.

Yeah, he's a goat for that.

So you're mentioning like different training staffs, Miami and stuff.

Phoenix is

famous for having all the, you know, stretching the ligaments and stuff like that.

What has been the most ridiculous training or physical thing that anyone's ever asked you to do as an athlete?

Like, like, go, I don't know, do a handstand underwater for 30 minutes or go, we're going to stretch all your hamstring, you know, just weird stuff that we would never think about.

No,

I haven't.

I've witnessed the water workouts

that

I guess would be weirder or tougher.

You know what I'm saying?

But I've never really

been in any of those.

I think I've been blessed to have a phenomenal trainer.

Shout out Mike G, Mr.

Do It Moving on Instagram.

Yeah, it's all like applied movement

style lifting and conditioning and stuff.

So

I've been really fortunate to have him in my quarter.

I love that.

Spencer, what's next for you, man, and what are you working on?

What's next for me?

Well, I mean, I said in terms of investing multifamily, but honestly, like...

When it's all said and done, I really enjoy being a dad and I really enjoy cooking in my spare time.

So

I'm pretty chill.

Like when it's all said and done, I'm going to be be relaxing for a minute.

Okay.

You're going to drop some food company or something?

Maybe.

Or a cookbook or something.

I mean, maybe put together the family recipes.

I don't know.

But something creative, feed my mind a little bit, but chill, at least for the first couple years, probably.

Hell yeah.

Well, thanks for coming on, man.

It was a blessed.

Nothing for having me.

Yeah.

Thanks for watching, guys.

I'll see you next time.