Foreign.
Speaker BPodcast is brought to you by Head Start.
Speaker ABasketball just started from day one.
Speaker AWhen I got there, Chris Mullen said, what you want to do, man?
Speaker AI said, man, I haven't played basketball in three, four days.
Speaker AI'm feigning to play basketball.
Speaker AIf I don't play basketball, I'm about to pass out.
Speaker AI'm going to just go into convulsion.
Speaker AThey gave me some stuff.
Speaker AWe went to go play, man.
Speaker AWe played for about three, three and a half hours.
Speaker AAnd that's where the camaraderie started.
Speaker AMitch, Molly, myself, Rod Higgins, and we just went and played.
Speaker AI think Sharonis was there too.
Speaker AAnd we just went and played, man.
Speaker AAnd that's where the bond started.
Speaker CNBA hall of Famer Tim Hardaway is considered one of the best point guards of his generation.
Speaker COn this episode, we discuss Tim's new book, Killer Crossover with him and his co author Jake Udy.
Speaker CFollowing Tim's distinguished college career at UTEP, he was selected in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors.
Speaker CHe soon became a household name.
Speaker CIn Killer Crossover, Hardaway shares stories from his tough upbringing in Chicago through his collegiate career and on to the NBA.
Speaker BAs a part of Run TMC with.
Speaker CFellow Warriors Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullen, he immediately established himself as one of the top players in the league, joining the Miami Heat in 1996.
Speaker CAnd along with teammates Alonzo Mourning, Dan Marley and Jamal Mashburn, he would become a main protagonist in one of the most contentious rivalries in all of basketball with the New York Knicks.
Speaker CKiller Crossover is the story of a man who worked his way from humble beginnings to becoming an All Star at the highest level, not to mention a father to a future NBA standout, as well as all the trials and tribulations that come along with being one of the best in the game.
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Speaker BFeed your fire@drdish basketball.com.
Speaker DHey, this is Scott Morrison, Utah Jazz assistant coach, and you're listening to the Hoop Heads podcast.
Speaker CCoaches, you've got a game plan for your team, but do you have one for your money?
Speaker CThat's where wealth for coaches comes in each week, we'll deliver simple no fluff financial tips made just for coaches.
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Speaker CBe sure to grab a notebook before you listen to this entertaining episode with NBA hall of Famer Tim Hardaway and Jake Udy, the co author of Tim's new book Killer Crossover.
Speaker BHello and welcome to the Hoop Heads podcast.
Speaker BIt's Mike Clemsing here without my co host Jason Sunkel tonight, but I am pleased to be joined by Jake Udy and basketball hall of Famer Tim Hardaway, the co authors of the new book Killer Crossover.
Speaker BGentlemen, welcome to the Hoop Heads pod.
Speaker AHey, thanks for having us.
Speaker DHello.
Speaker BThrilled to have you guys on.
Speaker BWant to start with a question for you about how the idea for the book came to be and then how the two of you got connected to make this project a reality.
Speaker BSo, Tim, was it something that you had been thinking about putting your.
Speaker BPutting your career down on paper or where did the idea come from originally?
Speaker AWell, thanks for having us on.
Speaker AI appreciate it.
Speaker AAnd you know, I love talking about the book.
Speaker AI love talking about, you know, where I come from and, and, and what made Tim Hardway who Tim Hardway was on the basketball court and off the court.
Speaker AAnd I've been, I.
Speaker APeople have been telling me for 10, 15 years, man, you need to write a book.
Speaker AYou need to write a book.
Speaker AYou need to write a book.
Speaker AAnd I was thinking, Tim Donovan, I was just thinking about it.
Speaker ATim Donovan, media guy from, for the Miami Heat.
Speaker AHe's with the New York Knicks for a while, you know, with Pat Riley.
Speaker ADanny came to Miami Heat and he said, hey, Tim, this guy called me Jake and he said, I know.
Speaker AHe said, tim, I know you've been wanting to write a book.
Speaker AYou've been, you've been talking about, I hear the rumbles, you know, between me and you when we talking, you know, and I always told you to write a book.
Speaker AAnd I feel, I feel very, very confident and comfortable with Tim and his decisions.
Speaker AAnd we became, you know, very, very good friends and almost family, me and Tim Donovan.
Speaker AAnd he said, you, you need to call Jake.
Speaker AAnd I said, all right, I called Jake and we started talking.
Speaker AAnd I like what he was talking about.
Speaker AHe was telling me some books that he wrote for different people in the NBA and, you know, retired players in NBA.
Speaker AMichael Cooper.
Speaker AAnd I was like, all right, let me check him out.
Speaker ASo I looked around, looked, looked him up.
Speaker AI called him back.
Speaker AI was like, all right, yeah, let's do it.
Speaker AAnd I'm gonna tell you this.
Speaker AThere's been probably five or six guys that come to me and was writers and wanted to write my book.
Speaker ABut, you know, I know people.
Speaker AI, you know, you got to feel comfortable.
Speaker AYou got to feel comfortable.
Speaker AAnd I just felt comfortable with Jake, you know, and we just started talking and talking, and one day he said, next week, let's start doing it.
Speaker ALet's start.
Speaker ALet's start writing a book.
Speaker AAnd every Tuesday or every Monday, I think every Monday at the same time, we just was talking for about two hours.
Speaker AJust talking, just talking, just talking about, you know, what I want in there, how I wanted it.
Speaker AWe were in chapter by chapter.
Speaker AHe kept sending me, sending it to me, right.
Speaker AYou know, every month.
Speaker AJust write.
Speaker AI mean, just reading, reading, reading.
Speaker ASo that's how I started, man.
Speaker AThat's how I started.
Speaker AAnd Jake, you know, kudos to him.
Speaker DWow, that was such an in depth answer.
Speaker AWow.
Speaker DI did not expect anything like that.
Speaker DI thought you were just like, ah, this guy's okay, let's see what we got going.
Speaker DBut that's.
Speaker DThat's great, Tim.
Speaker BThank you.
Speaker DYeah, I appreciate that.
Speaker DThat makes me feel good.
Speaker DThank you.
Speaker BSo, Jake, how did you get started a just in your writing career and then be working with former NBA players?
Speaker BWhat was your process for getting to this point in your career?
Speaker DYeah, you know, I've been a writer for, I don't know, 20 years or something like that, working at small newspapers in New Jersey and then moving out here to Seattle and working for the Seattle Times and.
Speaker DAnd then more national publications.
Speaker DBut I've always loved the NBA.
Speaker DNBA has been a thing in my life that has been a steady, comforting thing throughout my entire life.
Speaker DAnd I'm born in 1983, so the 90s is like mid-90s is right there.
Speaker DAnd Tim Hardaway is at the center of the 90s.
Speaker DYou can't talk about the 90s without talking about Tim Hardaway.
Speaker DAnd so I'd actually just finished a book with Michael Cooper, and of course, he's connected closely to Pat Riley through the Lakers.
Speaker DAnd then Pat went to Miami, and I was speaking with Tim.
Speaker DWith Tim Donovan, the person that to partner with just mentioned about getting a quote for the Michael Cooper book with Pat Riley.
Speaker DAnd I.
Speaker DAnd I asked him about Tim and because obviously, Tim Hardaway is one of the greatest players of the 90s, and I had seen that he didn't have a book, and it seemed like it was darn time for that.
Speaker DAnd I didn't know this backstory, you know, I emailed Tim Donovan.
Speaker DTim Donovan said, yeah, here's Tim Hardaway's cell phone.
Speaker DLet you guys can get in touch and.
Speaker DBut the backstory is really cool that you guys.
Speaker DThat you checked it out and had had conversations about that, Tim.
Speaker DAbout wanting to write a book and stuff.
Speaker DIt's just sometimes these work.
Speaker DThese things work out with really good timing.
Speaker DAnd like Tim said, we just felt really comfortable.
Speaker DAnd it was.
Speaker DThese books go so well when it's like, you know, we didn't know each other before, but it sort of turns into a friendship where we could just ask each other questions and build it.
Speaker DAnd then.
Speaker DAnd then before you know it, you have a book.
Speaker DLike, you kind of.
Speaker DThe book almost happens by accident if it's done well between two people like this.
Speaker DAnd that's exactly how it was.
Speaker BDid you guys have an idea as you started the talk early on, did you have a feel for kind of how you wanted it to play itself out?
Speaker BWhat were going to be the key points?
Speaker BIn other words, how soon into the process did you have an outline of what you wanted the book to look like?
Speaker BObviously, Tim, you're telling your story and you're going back to your childhood, and we'll dive into some of that.
Speaker BBut just going through the whole process, how did you come up with the outline for the book and sort of the way you wanted it to flow, how did that process work?
Speaker AI'll tell you this, Jake, after every conversation, he ended with, all right, next week we gonna get into.
Speaker AInto your family.
Speaker AYou know, high school, growing up as a baby, how far you can go, grammar school, high school, you know, college.
Speaker AIf we get to like, you know, say I get to, like, from as far as I know, when I was, you know, five years old, six years old, seven years old, whatever it is, all the way up to probably midway through high school, then he had come back.
Speaker AI mean, that date right after that, he'll say, okay, we gonna.
Speaker AWe gonna go into something else, and then we'll come back to that.
Speaker AOr he might say, hey, you know, I. I forgot to ask you this question.
Speaker ASo let me ask you this question.
Speaker AThen we go and start another, you know, around the questions, stuff like that.
Speaker AAnd I tell them about, you know, he say, well, what about your mom and dad?
Speaker AYour parents you know, how did you know they bring you up.
Speaker AWhat was that about?
Speaker AThis and that.
Speaker AAnd I tell them as far as I can remember, how I was brought up, what my parents was about, and, you know, and he was, I mean, he was prepared, he was structural.
Speaker AHe was.
Speaker AAnd like, he said he's been a writer for 20 years, so they, he knows what to ask, when to ask, what to think about next week.
Speaker ABecause this is what I'm gonna ask you next week.
Speaker ASo I want you to, you know, think about in depth what you're gonna say and how you're gonna say it, because this is going to be in a book.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker AAnd I mean, that's what you're supposed to do.
Speaker AYou're supposed to prepare a person, get them ready, right?
Speaker AAlmost like coach, get them ready to, to, to know what he's going to.
Speaker AWhat I'm going to talk about, how I go.
Speaker AGoing to talk about, and how I'm wanting to present it in the book.
Speaker DAnd if there are other writers listening, like the, the, the book and the theme and the core sometimes jumps out halfway through or towards the end, and, and sometimes it's the most obvious thing, but you weren't thinking about it anyway.
Speaker DLike Tim Hardaway killer crossover.
Speaker DLike those are synonymous, right?
Speaker DAnd so if you go into the book saying, I'm going to structure the book around the killer crossover, you're not going to get it right.
Speaker DBut if the book comes out and you're understanding the world and understanding the story, and then it clicks into this motif or this, you know, way to do it.
Speaker DI don't know, you rubric then.
Speaker DOh, okay.
Speaker DAnd then, and then, so, but you see, with Tim's life, you know, he grows up with such harsh conditions, and then he comes in, he's like a celebrity, you know, he's.
Speaker DHe's always sort of crossing over and going from one side to the other, and it's a really beautiful way to live.
Speaker DAnd Tim, you know, if you, when you read the book and when you talk to him, he's always willing to learn and always willing to get better and always willing to go the other side if he needs to, you know.
Speaker DAnd so this killer crossover motif by accident, but, but, but obviously started to sort of present itself, and that's why we titled it.
Speaker DAnd it's also, you know, Tim be practically invented it for the modern world.
Speaker DSo that, that's how, that's how it grew.
Speaker DAnd, and it grew as the book was coming.
Speaker ALet me piggyback off that, you know, and I, And I. I should have said this first.
Speaker AYou know, I didn't want it to just be about the crossover.
Speaker AI didn't want it to be just about how you invented the crossover.
Speaker AI wanted to be on the work ethic that.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AWhat made Tim Hardaway.
Speaker AWhat made.
Speaker AYeah, what.
Speaker AHow did I think.
Speaker AWhy did I think this way?
Speaker AWhy did I grew up this way?
Speaker AHow did I become this person, not only a basketball player, but a father?
Speaker AYou know, as I grew up as a kid, what was the.
Speaker AYou know, the.
Speaker AThe ups and downs, the negative stuff, the positive stuff, you know, that.
Speaker AThat's.
Speaker AThat's what people need to understand in a book, how a person really, truly grew up to become this basketball player or this man that he has become.
Speaker DHow do you make a point guard?
Speaker DYou know, how.
Speaker DHow has a point guard become a point guard?
Speaker DLike, there's so many breadcrumbs from Tim's early life that now that you know it, you go, oh, my God.
Speaker DOf course he's this floor general.
Speaker DOf course he's this type of person on the court.
Speaker DBut you wouldn't know that, obviously, unless you go sort of in depth into it.
Speaker BI felt like as I read through the book, one of the things that jumped out at me was the fact that the city of Chicago almost became a character in the book in terms of the way that the city shaped you, but also shaped your mother, shaped your father, shaped your interactions with your coaches as you're growing up and your high school coach and the fact that your grammar school coach coach you and then came with you to Carver High School and then left, and then you still stayed, which you think about how basketball is today.
Speaker BTim, you definitely wouldn't stay.
Speaker BYou definitely would not have stayed if you'd have been there now in.
Speaker BIn 2025, the way that.
Speaker BThe way that the basketball landscape is.
Speaker BBut just talk about the city of Chicago and how that shaped everything around you growing up, because I just felt like that was something that jumped out at me as I'm reading the book.
Speaker AWell, I'm not gonna give a lot of stuff out, but when you read the book, you will see why I didn't transfer with my.
Speaker AWith Donald Pittman.
Speaker AYou gotta.
Speaker AYou gotta read the book and it'll tell you why.
Speaker ADon't think I didn't try it, but it'll tell you why.
Speaker AAnd yeah, you know, Chicago was hard, man.
Speaker AChicago was hard.
Speaker AI mean, verbally, you know, it was hard.
Speaker AI mean, physically, it was hard.
Speaker AYou had to have tough, tough skin.
Speaker AYou know, this old cliche you know, and I always remember this, sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.
Speaker AMy mom always taught me that.
Speaker AAnd when you growing up and I, and I tell kids that today, listening is a skill.
Speaker AIt's not an arc, it's a skill.
Speaker AAnd if you listen, if you be quiet and listen, you can retain stuff what people has told you and it will help you out through your life.
Speaker AThat's if you want to listen.
Speaker ANow, if you don't want to listen, then you fall in these tribes and tribulations and you can't get out.
Speaker AYou can't do this.
Speaker AYou can't do this.
Speaker ASee, I was the type of person that I knew how to de escalate a lot of things.
Speaker AYou know, even though people, you know, wanted to escalate stuff, I knew how to de escalate a lot of stuff.
Speaker AYou know, I knew how to navigate around stuff.
Speaker AI watched and I, I, I'm, I paid attention to a lot of things that was happening to folks that didn't know how to get out of situations or that, that, that made the situation more difficult for everybody.
Speaker ASo like I said, I paid attention, I listened, I read the room.
Speaker AEvery time I come in the place, I read the room, I read the court, I, I come in the gym, I'm watching the game.
Speaker AEven though I might be talking to you, I'm listening, I'm, I'm looking at this game.
Speaker AI'm looking, I'm, I'm, I'm scouting, I'm scouting.
Speaker ASee who I'm playing, see who we playing, see what we need to do.
Speaker AAnd that's the way Chicago brought you up.
Speaker AAnd, and that's how I was brought up.
Speaker AMy dad always told me, when you walk in a room, survey the room, look at the room, make sure you understand them wrong and understand people.
Speaker AAnd that's, that's, that's what Chicago is.
Speaker AIf you don't understand people and if you don't understand the room, and if you can't take constructive, I call it constructive criticism.
Speaker ASome people call it hating, some people call it other stuff.
Speaker ABut you got to take constructive criticism or criticism to work on your game to get it better.
Speaker DI was just going to ask.
Speaker DI know you want to.
Speaker DYeah, you answered it with your father.
Speaker DBut how much of that is innate and how much of that is learned?
Speaker DThis reading the room, you know, are you, do you think that's something born in you or did you develop that, you know, quickly over time?
Speaker AQuickly over time?
Speaker ABecause my dad always taught me that my Dad.
Speaker AI mean, your parents have to teach you things too.
Speaker AYou just can't come in and you have to listen to your friends and how they talk and how they act.
Speaker AAnd if you don't want to be that way, you got to be another way, you know, because sometimes your friends could be rude, your friends could be obnoxious, your root.
Speaker AYour friends could be some.
Speaker AAnd you got to know how to deal with them accordingly, too.
Speaker AAll right?
Speaker AAnd I could be an.
Speaker AAnd they got to know how to deal with me accordingly.
Speaker ABut I had some great friends in my life and my career that, you know, they told me and talked to me, and that's in the book too.
Speaker AYou got to have friends that you can listen to, but you got to have friends that will tell you the truth.
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker AAnd I always had friends that was around me that told me the truth and never, never, never lied to me and was in my face like, Tim.
Speaker ANo, I don't.
Speaker ANo, no, no.
Speaker AYou.
Speaker ANo, no.
Speaker AYou.
Speaker ANo.
Speaker AAnd I'm like, okay, cool.
Speaker AI understood and I listened and I went about my merry way.
Speaker ABut, you know, it's just about, you know, learning and understanding and.
Speaker ABut it comes from your parents.
Speaker AYou got.
Speaker ASomebody has to tell you how to, you know, learn and deal with stuff so you could, so you could remember it and go and let it sink in when you out or when you're walking around.
Speaker AWhen you add a basketball court by yourself and somebody trying to pick on you, somebody getting up in your face, you got to know how to, you know, handle yourself accordingly.
Speaker AAnd if it need, you got to know, if they got friends there, you got to know that you by yourself.
Speaker AIt's just a lot of things that go into it.
Speaker AAnd I knew how.
Speaker AI understood that.
Speaker AThank you.
Speaker BDo you think kids today miss out on some of those lessons because of the way the youth basketball environment is structured today for you?
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BYou're.
Speaker BYou're growing up, you're going to courts, you bring your own net in some cases, and you're stringing the net up so that you can work on your game by yourself.
Speaker BBut you're playing lots of pickup basketball.
Speaker BYou're going all over the city.
Speaker BAnd kids growing up today, they don't do that now.
Speaker BThey have more access to gyms and maybe they have more access to coaching in a lot of cases, but they don't get that sort of hard scrabble.
Speaker BYou're a 15 year old kid playing against grown men and having to figure out and navigate that and all the little social things that you just Talked about, right?
Speaker BOf understanding and being able to read the room and know, hey, in this game I'm the best player, so I can do this.
Speaker BBut maybe in this game I'm only a 14 year old that I'm playing with guys who are playing in college or playing the pros or whatever it might be.
Speaker BAnd you got to figure out how to navigate and do your roles and all those things.
Speaker BSo just how do you think that the way you grew up in the game with playground basketball and working on your game in that environment versus the way kids come up in the game today?
Speaker BI'm just curious to get your thoughts.
Speaker AI grew up playing against grown men every day.
Speaker ASo I play and people pick me on they team right away.
Speaker AI got Tim, I'm first 1 pick because they want to have a guard that can control stuff, that can make plays, that can make stuff happen and give them the ball.
Speaker ASo when I, when I came, when I came to play, I knew I was, to me, I was the best one out there.
Speaker AThat's how I feel.
Speaker AI probably wasn't athletically at that particular time, but I knew that I could compete and go out there and do what I need to do to win games.
Speaker ABut that was in, outside, outside with grown men.
Speaker ABut that was instill in me with my, my, my dad because he was a playground legend and Donald Pittman at an early age to put that confidence in me to don't fear nobody, to go out there and play against anybody and, and do well or conquer or bust their ass.
Speaker AWhatever you wanted to call what, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker ASo, so my confidence came from, from them, you know, instilling in me and being tough.
Speaker AI was always short, always short.
Speaker ASo I always had to, I always had to be tough.
Speaker AI always had to be gritty.
Speaker AI always had to be up in your face.
Speaker AI always had to make things happen.
Speaker AI always had to show people that I could do it, you know.
Speaker AYou know, oh, he not gonna be able to go to the hole.
Speaker AHe's not gonna be able to make a play around folks in the lane floaters.
Speaker AHe not, he, he not going to be able to do that.
Speaker ASo when a kid tells me that he can't go and work out by himself, that's insult, insulting to me.
Speaker AThat's very insulting to me because like you said, I went and did it by myself on concrete, went put nets up on the rim, had to climb up poles to, to, to.
Speaker AYou had to get the sweat and then you had to grab the pole and you had to go up there and get up there and hang on, you know, and be on the rim, sit on the rim, put it up on nets on both ends.
Speaker AAnd I, and I was playing one on one on one by myself with imaginary people that I want to go against.
Speaker AAnd I was playing hard.
Speaker AAnd that's in a book.
Speaker AAnd I tell kids, you got to have work ethic.
Speaker AYou gotta want it.
Speaker AYou gotta believe in yourself.
Speaker AYou got, you got, you got to work on your game, you know, stop, you know, being on these phones and you get access to gyms and some of these gyms, you, you in there by yourself.
Speaker AIf I.
Speaker AWhen I got in the gym by myself for an hour, I was like, oh, my God, I got the whole gym.
Speaker AOh my.
Speaker AOh, it was like I was playing against 20 people.
Speaker AWhole court, me, by myself.
Speaker AThat's how excited I was to have in the gym by myself to work on my game.
Speaker ASo when the kids tell me, yo, yeah, yeah, right.
Speaker AIt's insulting to me.
Speaker AI can't.
Speaker AI need somebody to shag the ball.
Speaker AI need somebody to go get the ball.
Speaker AIt's a net up there.
Speaker AMake the basket, it'll come down, you go get it.
Speaker AGo down to the other end.
Speaker AThat's what that, you gotta, you gotta concentrate on making baskets.
Speaker AYou got to concentrate on making shots, floaters, layups.
Speaker AAnd I'm talking about, I'm.
Speaker AI'm outside on a half moon steel basket, you know, half moon.
Speaker APlaying by myself, working on my game.
Speaker ASo, yeah, so it's just determination.
Speaker AIt's just determination.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker AAnd it came from listening to my, my dad.
Speaker AIf you want something, you got to go out there and get it.
Speaker AYou got to go out there and show people that you're the best.
Speaker AAnd that's what I did each and every time I stepped on that court.
Speaker BTell me about your experience at utep.
Speaker BAnd just when you think about Coach Haskins and the influence that he had on you, what's something that you learned from him that you carried with you throughout the rest of your career?
Speaker APatience.
Speaker AFrom, from Don Haskins.
Speaker ABut Bob Walters, my, my high school coach and, and, and Don Haskins is about patience.
Speaker AAll right, I.
Speaker ASo I'm in high school and I was listening out, I'm listening to Chris Paul.
Speaker AHe was talking to some kids the other day and he said something that's totally true.
Speaker AA friend of mine, a couple of friend of mine was playing on varsity as freshmen, and I knew I could play on varsity, and they put me on varsity, but I didn't play as Much.
Speaker AAnd, and I caused dissension on the team because as a, as a, as a, as a junior and a senior, it's their turn to go out there and play.
Speaker AAnd as a freshman coming in, thinking that, and I'm knowing that I'm better than them, but I should be playing, but I'm taking away, you know, their scholarships, their time to shine their, you know, their confidence and everything.
Speaker AAnd I was, and my coach, he was like, you know what, I got to bring you off the bench.
Speaker AI know you better than them, but I got to bring you off the bench.
Speaker AAnd sometimes you're going to play, sometimes you're not going to play.
Speaker AAnd my grammar school coach was a fossil coach.
Speaker AHe was like, yo, well let him play on a fossil team.
Speaker AThen he was like, no, because if he does, then he gonna be tired because back then Fossil played first and then varsity played second.
Speaker ASo if I was too tired to play, it would, it would take away from the varsity.
Speaker ASo I was on the varsity just sitting on a bench waiting, waiting my turn.
Speaker ASo, but, but I learned a lot.
Speaker AI really did learn a lot.
Speaker AI learned about being patient.
Speaker AI learned about how to play high school basketball because coming from grammar school to college is totally different.
Speaker AComing from high school to college is totally different and coaches are different.
Speaker AAnd you go into another coach with his philosophy and I understand his philosophy, his game plan and what he wants you to do and how you want you to do it.
Speaker AAnd it was the same thing at utep.
Speaker AI went there and a guy named Jeep Jackson, God rest his soul, he, he, it was his turn to start at point guard.
Speaker AHe was going into his junior year and it was his turn to start it at, at the point guard.
Speaker AAnd I had to wait my turn.
Speaker AEven though I was, my skills was better than him.
Speaker AHe, he, he proved that he was ready to take over the reins as point guard at that particular time.
Speaker ASo I understood that.
Speaker ASo I went in, I played my role.
Speaker AI only played sometimes 10 minutes game, sometimes I played 24 minutes game, sometimes I played 30 minutes a game.
Speaker ABut I had to understand patience and, and Don Nelson, Don Haskins taught me patience.
Speaker AAnd he, and you know, and when you, when you.
Speaker AI always knew how to take care of players.
Speaker AI knew all how to run, run plays, how to throw the ball in and, you know, and, and make, make things happen.
Speaker ABut you, you got to know how to do it in a setting as a coach wants you to do it, and you got to implement your own stuff.
Speaker ASo how I, how I got better was Playing defense, stealing the ball, making layups, making things happen on the defensive end, on the offensive end for me, and.
Speaker AAnd that's what Don Haskins told to be patient.
Speaker ABob Walters.
Speaker ADon Haskins taught me to be patient and work on your game and always be ready.
Speaker ABut I was always ready, always worked on my game, and.
Speaker ABut I knew I belong.
Speaker ABut them other guys, it was their turn.
Speaker AAnd when my turn happened my sophomore year, I took off, and I showed the coach that I was ready as a freshman.
Speaker ABut he said, I knew that.
Speaker AI knew that.
Speaker AAnd he said, you know who you remind me of?
Speaker AI said, who?
Speaker AHe said, and back then I heard some rumblings, but he said, you know, Nate Archie Ball?
Speaker AI said, get out of here.
Speaker AI said, you.
Speaker AI didn't know you, coach Nate Archie Ball.
Speaker AHe said, yeah, Nate came here, and after his juco years in juco, he came in, played two years for me.
Speaker AI was like, wow.
Speaker AAnd then Nate Archibald ended up being my assistant coach my junior senior year.
Speaker ASo, you know, and that really, really, really helped me out, propelled me to get to the NBA.
Speaker BThat's a case of being able to read the room, right?
Speaker BIt's another example of being able to understand, looking at what your coach wants.
Speaker BI think this is something.
Speaker BWhen I talk to people, players today, Tim, so many people, right, they want some bigger role, or they think they want to have this, or they.
Speaker BThey.
Speaker BThey're going after that, and they don't always understand, like, hey, sometimes you got to do what your coach wants you to do, what your coach needs you to do, and that's how you work your way into a lineup, or that's how you get the opportunity to have a bigger role.
Speaker BThat's how you get the opportunity to become a starter on your team, is by understanding what your coach wants.
Speaker BSo many guys fight against what their coach wants instead of figuring out, hey, this guy needs me right now to play defense and to get to the rim, he doesn't need me shooting threes.
Speaker BAnd some guys just push back against that, and they never figure it out, and then they never get what they want.
Speaker BAnd it sounds like you again, all through your career, there's.
Speaker BThere's a whole bunch of examples of you being able to understand that and figure out and navigate situations, to be able to get yourself into position, to be able to achieve the things that you want.
Speaker ACorrect?
Speaker BAll right, so obviously, your UTEP career, you guys go to the NCAA tournament four times.
Speaker BYou have a tremendous amount of success there.
Speaker BIt looks like you're going to be heading to the NBA.
Speaker BYou get an opportunity to go to Golden State, play for Don Nelson.
Speaker BRun tmc.
Speaker BI can honestly say I was surprised that Run tmc.
Speaker BThere it is right there.
Speaker BThat Run TMC only lasted.
Speaker BI was, I was stunned that you guys are really only played together.
Speaker BIt was a little over two seasons, right, that you guys were.
Speaker BThat the three of you were together.
Speaker BBut the thing that was interesting to me is, is that as I read it, I could just feel and sense from the book the love that you had for those two guys, not just as human beings, but also just the way you guys meshed on the floor.
Speaker BAnd clearly as you were doing it and experience it, it was tremendous.
Speaker BAnd then you could just sense the.
Speaker BThe disappointment when Mitch got traded.
Speaker BAnd then you would have loved to have been able to see what you guys were going to be able to do together.
Speaker BSo just talk about what made that pairing, that grouping so special, just from a basketball standpoint, but also just how you looked at those guys as people.
Speaker AAnd as friends wanting to win.
Speaker AMan, we just wanted to win.
Speaker AAnd we would do anything to win.
Speaker AYou know, practice harder, play harder, come in a few hours early to work and understand, you know, what we like to run, how we like to run it.
Speaker AI'm a point guard.
Speaker AI knew how to get the ball to Chris.
Speaker AI knew how to get the ball to anybody.
Speaker AMitch, I knew where they liked it.
Speaker AIn the pocket right here.
Speaker AThe only thing they had to do was catch and shoot lobs, whatever it was.
Speaker ABut it started, you know, the first day, very first day.
Speaker ABecause I love, first of all, we all three of us love to play basketball.
Speaker AWe love to be in the gym.
Speaker AWe were gym rats.
Speaker AThat's the first thing, you know, when you got three guys that love to be in the gym.
Speaker AGym rats love to, don't, don't like going home.
Speaker AWe want, if we can stay in the gym 24 7.
Speaker AWe're standing gym 24 7.
Speaker ASo that's how we was.
Speaker ABut we always wanted to learn.
Speaker AWe always wanted to get better.
Speaker AWe always, you know, wanted our teammates to get better.
Speaker AWe always wanted, you know, our teammates always wanted to.
Speaker ATo make us better.
Speaker ABut it just started from day one.
Speaker AWhen I got there, Chris Mullen said, what you want to do, man?
Speaker AI said, man, I haven't played basketball in three, four days.
Speaker AI'm feigning to play basketball, and if I don't play basketball, I'm about to pass out.
Speaker AI'm going to just go into confulction because, you know, I had to go To, I suppose had.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker ASo right before the draft, I suppose had.
Speaker ADraft was like that Thursday.
Speaker ASo that Sunday I was like.
Speaker AI was supposed to go to Golden State and, And yeah, to the Bay Area.
Speaker AAnd it was a typhoon at o' Hare Airport in Chicago.
Speaker AI couldn't get out.
Speaker ASo we tried to get out.
Speaker AI stayed there from 8pm until 2 in the morning.
Speaker AAnd they finally canceled.
Speaker AThey said, you know, hey, we're not going to be able to get out.
Speaker ATime ran out for the pilots and everything, so I had to get around.
Speaker AI had somebody drop me off.
Speaker AI had to get a cab all the way home from o' Hare Airport to the south side of Chicago.
Speaker AThat was a hundred dollars, all right, that I didn't have at that particular time.
Speaker ABut I tell you this, man, Then we went to New York.
Speaker AMy mom and, and I and my brother and.
Speaker AAnd my agent, Henry Thomas.
Speaker AThe great Henry Thomas, man.
Speaker AAnd we went there and.
Speaker AAnd I still haven't played.
Speaker AYou know, my agent's like, no, you need to chill out.
Speaker AYou don't need to play.
Speaker AMy mom's like, nah, you don't need to play.
Speaker AMy brother.
Speaker ASame way now, you don't need to play until you get drafted.
Speaker ASo in four days, I'm like, man, I haven't picked up a basketball.
Speaker AWhat are y' all talking about?
Speaker ASo, so when I get to Golden State the next day after the draft, it was like, what, three, four o'?
Speaker AClock?
Speaker AChris Mull was like, what you want to do?
Speaker AI said, man, I need to play basketball.
Speaker AThey gave me some stuff.
Speaker AWe went to go play, man.
Speaker AWe played for about three, three and a half hours.
Speaker AAnd we.
Speaker AAnd that's where the camaraderie started, you know, Mitch, Molly, myself, Rod Higgins.
Speaker AAnd we just went and played.
Speaker AI think Sharonis was there too.
Speaker AAnd we just wouldn't play, man.
Speaker AAnd we.
Speaker AAnd you know, that's where the bond started.
Speaker ABut, you know, when he got traded was the beginning to the end.
Speaker AWe thought that we was going to be together throughout our careers, at least six, seven years there and try to make it happen and put some pieces around us to.
Speaker ATo try to contend for a championship.
Speaker AUs three, we had to.
Speaker AUs three was the core.
Speaker AAnd only you had to do is put pieces around us that we had to make things happen.
Speaker AAnd once, you know, Mitch got traded, that was the beginning to the end.
Speaker AAnd it was kind of tough, man.
Speaker AIt was tough.
Speaker AIt was tough for him.
Speaker AIt was tough for mid Muller and it was tough for myself.
Speaker AAnd man, you know, we.
Speaker AWe Never recovered from there.
Speaker AIt took us a while to, to and the warriors to recover from there.
Speaker AAnd, man, I'm, I'm, you know, but we still are friends.
Speaker AWe still.
Speaker AOur family.
Speaker AOur families are families.
Speaker AYou know.
Speaker AYou know, we, we talk all the time.
Speaker ALike I talked to Mitch today.
Speaker AYou know, I, I.
Speaker AWhen I saw Chris Mullen, y' all saw him in the wheelchair shooting because he had Achilles surgery.
Speaker AI'm like, mu.
Speaker AYou.
Speaker AYou just can't leave it alone.
Speaker AYou got to move around.
Speaker AHe got to move around.
Speaker AI'm like, man, you ain't got to move around like that all the time.
Speaker AAnd you showing us up because you 60 something years old, you in a wheelchair shooting and shooting it clean like you normally do.
Speaker ASo he was busting up at that.
Speaker AYeah, man, that's, that's what, that's.
Speaker AThat's how we are, man.
Speaker AThat's how we are.
Speaker AAnd, and we love getting together and we love hanging out together, and we, and once we get together, we just.
Speaker AWe.
Speaker AIt's like a.
Speaker AA comic view.
Speaker AIt's just like comic view, so you know that, that friendship will last forever.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BThat love for those guys came through in the book loud and clear.
Speaker BI mean, there was no question, as you read the section about the Run TMC time, that the affection that you guys had for one another was crystal, crystal clear and fun to.
Speaker BObviously, just from a.
Speaker BFrom a fan perspective, just a fun, A fun team to watch.
Speaker BThe way you guys played, each of you had your unique style and things that you guys brought to the T. Just made it a fun group to.
Speaker BTo.
Speaker BTo play.
Speaker BThat was probably your first introduction to the business of, of basketball kind of in terms of understanding that, hey, it's not always going to be.
Speaker BIt's not always going to go exactly the way that you think it's going to go, because there's other forces outside of what you think within, within the team as players.
Speaker BThere's other factors that go into it.
Speaker BAnd I'm obviously, that was your, that was your welcome to the NBA business.
Speaker AAnd like, you going through parts and bits and pieces and stuff.
Speaker AThat's how Jake did.
Speaker AYou know Jake.
Speaker AAll right.
Speaker ALike I said, he's like, okay, we're gonna get into nuts and bolts of this.
Speaker AAnd, and I want you to tell me exactly what happened this year.
Speaker AExactly that year.
Speaker AExactly.
Speaker AYou know, do you remember this game?
Speaker AYou know, do you remember that day when he got traded?
Speaker ADo you.
Speaker AAnd, you know, and I'm.
Speaker AI'm listening to him as he.
Speaker AWe going through chapters and as we going through my career, my life and everything, I'm like, after we hang up, I'm like, damn, I like that.
Speaker AYou know, I, I like how he did that today.
Speaker AI like, I like how he, he, he actually told a story, but I was telling in my words, but he was, he was, you know, getting it out of me.
Speaker AExactly what I, I, I, I, I need to say.
Speaker AAnd that, I guess that's what writers do.
Speaker ABut he, I mean, he, to me, he done a beautiful job.
Speaker BAre you a photographic mem.
Speaker BAre you a photographic memory guy when it comes to games?
Speaker BLike, can you remember, okay, this series we're playing the Knicks, it's game four, there's three minutes to go.
Speaker BI remember this exact play.
Speaker BOr, or, or just how do you, how do you recollect games?
Speaker BObviously, having played so many games in your career, some are more memorable than others.
Speaker BBut just how did you go about remembering those things and how vivid are your memories of each of those games?
Speaker AJake was amazed at that when he was asking me those questions, and I was like, yeah, I remember that.
Speaker AAnd, and so, and so, and so, and so.
Speaker AYeah, and this is how, this is what we was thinking.
Speaker AThis is what we did in the locker room.
Speaker AThis how we was at a shoot around and all this and all that.
Speaker AAnd Jake was like, for real, how you remember that?
Speaker AI was like, you know, you've been through so many games, but, but when you, when you played in the NBA, every game was special.
Speaker AIt wasn't like one game was special than the other.
Speaker AMaybe it was, you know, Eastern Conference or against the Knicks or.
Speaker AI needed this game here.
Speaker AWe got to have this game, you know, But I'm talking about, if you don't savor that, those memories in the NBA, why would the hell was you playing, man?
Speaker AYou got to savor those memories.
Speaker AYou got, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta love those memories, those battles, just going out there, having that, that NBA logo on you, you know, playing in different arenas, you know, you, you, you got to remember that stuff, man.
Speaker AYou got to remember that stuff.
Speaker AAnd if you don't, then I think that, you know, you, you really, you didn't care, or you, you, you just was playing for a check.
Speaker AI played.
Speaker AHave fun, man.
Speaker AI enjoyed the game.
Speaker DThat's what separates you, Tim.
Speaker DLike, I, I, you know, I didn't know you very well, like, as a person before doing this book, but that's what separates you, is that, you know, of course you made a living and made a good living, but, like, you would have done it for free on some level, right?
Speaker DLike you love the game so much and wanted to play.
Speaker DLike you're saying, like the stuff with Chris Mullen, you were feeding for it, you know, and I, and I, I, yeah, that's what stuck out to me so, so much when we were talking.
Speaker BIt's just interesting when you think back to again, the sheer volume of the number of games that you participated in.
Speaker BJake, how long did it take you before you trusted his memory and say when he was telling you, hey, the score was 74 to 70 with five minutes to go in the third quarter.
Speaker BDid you trust him right away or did you fact check him a few times?
Speaker DOkay, well, I certainly did.
Speaker DI fact checked.
Speaker DJust because that's the process.
Speaker DBut no, very quickly.
Speaker DYou know, you can tell the confidence in someone's voice and then you can tell if it's a shaky confidence or a real confidence.
Speaker DAnd Tim knew what he was talking about.
Speaker DAnd even we were going back months later editing the book and editing stories, I could, you know, because when you're in the process of it, maybe it's like in front of your memory.
Speaker DBut like even going back like three months later, after we're editing it, he still, he still recounted it.
Speaker DVery crystal clears it is.
Speaker DAnd I wonder too if that's from being a point guard.
Speaker DYou know, you're like, you're taking these snapshots of the game and so maybe you have that filing cabinet of all those snapshots, you know, to some degree.
Speaker BYeah, I think some guys just have that and some guys don't for whatever, whatever that reason is, the ability to recall.
Speaker BI got a guy that I coach with that, he has a photographic memory like that.
Speaker BHe'll tell me, hey, you remember that game and 1997 when we were up by 10 at halftime and then we gave this halftime speech and our guys came out and did X, Y or Z. I'm like, like, well, I might remember we won that game or we lost it.
Speaker BYou know what I mean?
Speaker BBut he's got like all this.
Speaker BHe'll just keep going and going and going with stories.
Speaker BI think some guys just have that and some and some don't.
Speaker BYou had an opportunity in Golden State to play with Manute Bowl, a guy who.
Speaker BA very interesting character.
Speaker BAnd I got an interesting funny story about Manute bowl from my life.
Speaker BSo what's the best Manute bowl story that didn't make it into the book that you can tell us?
Speaker AShoot, I don't know.
Speaker ADad say that about the, the when I wouldn't Try to drive his car, Jake.
Speaker AOkay, so it's amazing.
Speaker AHe had a Bronco, right?
Speaker AThe seat was in the back.
Speaker AThe seat was in a bet.
Speaker AI'm like, how in the hell is this guy?
Speaker AAnd you don't see Manute.
Speaker AYou see him through the back window.
Speaker AYou see his knees in the front window.
Speaker AAll right?
Speaker ASo I was like, he's like, manute, man, truck is trying to come and get into the arena.
Speaker AAnd you park right there in the spot where the truck is at.
Speaker AI said, manu, let me go.
Speaker ALet me, let me move your car, man.
Speaker ALet me move your car.
Speaker AAnd everybody's like, why, why do you want to move?
Speaker AI said, I just want to see how this man drive this car.
Speaker AWhy?
Speaker AWhat?
Speaker AHis seat is back here.
Speaker AAnd I, so I sat down, I, I, this steering wheel was like another two feet in front of me.
Speaker AI couldn't even get to it.
Speaker ASo I, I, I, I was standing up, driving the car.
Speaker AI was standing up, driving the car.
Speaker AAnd I, and I slowed down.
Speaker AI had to stop.
Speaker AI was moving.
Speaker AAnd I got in there, I got back in there into the arena.
Speaker AI was like, man, if it was social media, if it was social media back then, oh, my God, people would have been dying laughing, Dying laugh.
Speaker ABut there was no social media.
Speaker ANobody took a picture.
Speaker ANone.
Speaker ABut I was like that, that, that was well worth me going out there driving this car.
Speaker AI, I enjoyed that.
Speaker AI was like, man, we gotta stop the presses, man.
Speaker DWe gotta put that story in the book.
Speaker AManu, you got a lot of stories.
Speaker AYou know, you say, I'm sorry.
Speaker AYou know, he's like, yes, I know you are.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AIt's not like he know you.
Speaker AYou are sorry for about what you did.
Speaker ANo, you sorry first.
Speaker DRemorseful.
Speaker ARight, Right.
Speaker BYeah, I got you.
Speaker DHe's a king, right?
Speaker DHe was a king.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BYeah, Manute was.
Speaker BSo my father was a professor at Cleveland State.
Speaker BAnd so when Manute first came to the United States, he came to Cleveland State.
Speaker BAnd so my dad comes home from work one day and he's like, mike, you got to come down to work and see this.
Speaker BHe's like, yeah.
Speaker BHe's like.
Speaker BBut he's like, I'm not going to tell you.
Speaker BHe goes, I'm not going to tell you what you're going to see.
Speaker BYou just have to see it for yourself.
Speaker BYou're not going to believe what you're about to see.
Speaker BAnd so we drive down, and the, the gym at Cleveland State has like a kind of like a balcony that goes around, around the court.
Speaker BSo we're standing on this balcony, which is like, at about the.
Speaker BMaybe the top of the backboard level.
Speaker BAnd so we're standing there, and there's guys kind of wandering into the gym, and all of a sudden, from out.
Speaker BFrom underneath this balcony, out walks Manute.
Speaker BAnd, like, everyone knows how skinny Manute was for the majority of his career, but we're talking about.
Speaker BManute had maybe been in the United States for, like, three days when I saw.
Speaker BBut he walks out in his head, you know, I mean, again, we all know how tall he is, but literally, his leg was just like his leg, his leg, his leg.
Speaker BAnd then his knee was like this.
Speaker BAnd then his thigh was no bigger than his calves.
Speaker BAnd just.
Speaker BMy dad's like, yeah, this guy just.
Speaker BThey brought him over from.
Speaker BThey brought him over from Africa.
Speaker BThey think he's gonna play or whatever.
Speaker BI'm just like you.
Speaker BYou could not fathom the combination of.
Speaker BOf.
Speaker BOf height and skinniness of a guy.
Speaker BIt was just incredible.
Speaker BAnd the only thing you could say was balloon.
Speaker BHe just walked around.
Speaker BHe'd be like, ball, ball, ball to everybody.
Speaker BIt was.
Speaker BIt was crazy.
Speaker BIt was unbelievable.
Speaker DDid you play against George Mirashon?
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker DI didn't ask you.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AYeah, did.
Speaker AWho's the.
Speaker DWho's the best giant that you ever played against?
Speaker DThe Sean Bradley's in there?
Speaker DMaybe you played against Mark.
Speaker AOh, man.
Speaker ASo.
Speaker ASo it was no way you could set a pick on mirror sign or.
Speaker AOr.
Speaker AOr.
Speaker AOr.
Speaker AOr eating.
Speaker AThere's no way.
Speaker AYou just.
Speaker AYou.
Speaker AYou.
Speaker AYou had to really, really watch yourself because if they fall.
Speaker AIf they fall on you, you was in serious, serious trouble.
Speaker AOkay?
Speaker AAnd.
Speaker ABut.
Speaker ABut Manute, you know, you.
Speaker AYou just had to watch out for Manu.
Speaker AElbows in his knees because, you know, he.
Speaker AIt.
Speaker AThey all.
Speaker AIf he falls that you.
Speaker AHey, hey, it's tough.
Speaker ASo Newt used to go like this.
Speaker ASo he used to get a rebound, and he used to.
Speaker ASo he'd get a rebound and he'll hold it up on the backboard like this.
Speaker AJust hold it up there.
Speaker AAnd he said, why not you?
Speaker AWhy aren't you going down court?
Speaker AYou're not gonna get it, you know, and you just run down court and he's just passing on to the point guard and let's go.
Speaker ABut I mean, he was just that funny like that.
Speaker AHe'll block somebody's shot and just hold it and just look around.
Speaker AWhat are you doing?
Speaker AWhat are you doing?
Speaker AAre you serious right now?
Speaker AAnd he'll get out.
Speaker AJust go.
Speaker ABut I mean, he's Just that funny man.
Speaker AAnd I, I tell you this.
Speaker ASo you watched it.
Speaker AIf you, you watched him shoot the ball.
Speaker AAll right, I watched him shoot the ball and it's just, you know, like that.
Speaker ABut in a game, when he started making them is not only effective, but you start looking at the other team's face, they'd be like, get the out of here.
Speaker AThis seven foot seven guys making three like that.
Speaker AI mean it's like he just slinging it in there, just throwing it in there and it'd be going in all net.
Speaker AAnd he practiced that.
Speaker AAnd Don Nelson wanted him to practice that, that jump shot because he said once he hit that, he make two or three of those.
Speaker AHe opens the game wide open and the big man has to step out.
Speaker ASo yeah, new was a great guy, man.
Speaker AHe was a great guy.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BDon Nelson way before his time in so many, in so many ways, right?
Speaker BI mean just thinking about the small ball and multi positional and just everything that, that Nelly kind of stood for.
Speaker BAnd you in your career were fortunate enough to play for Don Nelson and also play for Pat Riley.
Speaker BTwo hall of fame legendary coaches.
Speaker BSo when you think about those two guys, maybe compare and contrast a little bit of their coaching style, what you picked up from each one of them and just what it was like to play for two guys that, that are obviously at the upper echelon of NBA coaches.
Speaker AAll, you know, you got two coach that played in NBA, that played against some good, good guys.
Speaker AI mean some hall of Fame guys played with some hall of Fame guys played with, with some great coaches.
Speaker AAnd there was no nonsense coaches.
Speaker AYou know, Don Nelson and Pat Rally, always prepared, always prepared.
Speaker AWanted you to be prepared.
Speaker ABut you know, Nelly always was an innovator.
Speaker AHe wanted to, he wanted to innovate the game in a way where other teams could adapt or if they did adapt to your game, then we got, you know, we, we, they, they, they not used to playing this way.
Speaker ASo when we went small ball and had Mario Ellie stick a small, a big guy and then we come down and double team, they like, you know, they come down so quick.
Speaker AYeah, we come right on the, on soon as you, they throw the ball, we right there.
Speaker ASo it was like we took people out of their rhythm.
Speaker AIt only, you know, maybe for a quarter, maybe for three minutes, maybe for two minutes, you know, but it was very innovative playing small ball, moving pass and cut passing, cut back screen on a big, you know, small.
Speaker ADidn't never switch back then.
Speaker ASo his innovation of the game revolution to today's game.
Speaker AAnd that's why I.
Speaker AAnd I say this in my book.
Speaker AIf I was there because I hurt myself, I hurt my acl.
Speaker AIf I was there when we got Chris Weber, I think Weber, the team would have took off again after we lost Mitch, but they didn't see eye to eye, and I wasn't there to.
Speaker ATo talk to Webb or.
Speaker AOr talk to Nelly and to try to get them to see eye to eye and make sure that, you know, whoever this is, how we need for you to play, this is going to make you better.
Speaker AThis gonna make you this way.
Speaker AAnd he found out at the end of his career with the Sacramento Kings that this is the way Nelly wanted you to play and you thriving at it.
Speaker AIf you would have understood that and if I could have made him understood that back then, oh, man, he wouldn't never left Golden State, you know, so.
Speaker ABut yeah, that.
Speaker AYou know, that.
Speaker AThat's another instance in a book where I talk about.
Speaker ABut, man, you know, Nelly, his.
Speaker AHis.
Speaker AHis mind was always trying to just innovate and make opposing teams really.
Speaker AAnd coaches really, really, really, really think about what we gonna do and how we gonna do it.
Speaker ASo we might add four different things that we could have pulled out in the game, and you better be ready for those four different things.
Speaker AIf you wasn't ready for those four different things, then you was in trouble.
Speaker AAll right, then I go to a guy that Pat Rowley.
Speaker AOh, man.
Speaker AOh, man.
Speaker AYo, this is how we gonna do it.
Speaker ANo switching.
Speaker AThis is how we gonna play.
Speaker AWe gonna get over picks, we gonna double team picking rolls.
Speaker AWe gonna get back.
Speaker AWe're gonna do this and this and that.
Speaker AAnd that was every day.
Speaker AEvery day, two and a half hours every day.
Speaker ANelly might be an hour.
Speaker ANelly might be two hours.
Speaker ANelly might be five minutes.
Speaker ANo, Pat Riley was every day, every day, same thing every day.
Speaker AAnd you went out there and played that way, which I love.
Speaker AI love both styles.
Speaker AI played both styles.
Speaker AI knew I could play both styles coming from Chicago and dealing with the people and.
Speaker BAnd.
Speaker AAnd the coach that I dealt with in Chicago and with Don Hastings.
Speaker ASo, you know, it was.
Speaker AIt was great for me.
Speaker AAnd I love both coaches and I.
Speaker AAnd I thrived in both offenses and both defenses and, you know, and I.
Speaker AAnd they both gave me the keys to the engine, And I ran 18.
Speaker BMuch of the.
Speaker BHow much conversation were you able to have with those two guys day to day, whether during practice, outside of practice, sitting down with them, talking about what the team needed, what you were seeing?
Speaker BHow was that Relationship in terms of being able to.
Speaker BTo have a conversation about with them, about what went on on the floor.
Speaker BWas that something that was common with you and them, or was that something that didn't really happen that often?
Speaker ACome.
Speaker AYou got to be on a point with a point guard.
Speaker AYou got to understand what the coach wants, how he wants it, and.
Speaker AAnd what you want to do and what you think about it.
Speaker ABecause you out there on the court and you talk about it, you look at film, you.
Speaker AYou go out there and execute it, you know, and you got to relay it to your teammates, too.
Speaker AAbout what, you know, what.
Speaker AWhat you seeing as a point guard.
Speaker AThis how they gonna play.
Speaker ASo I'm gonna pass it to you here.
Speaker AThis how they gonna play pick and roll.
Speaker ASo most of the time it's gonna be bounce pass because they got great hands.
Speaker AAnd if I.
Speaker AIt might be a deflection, so I got to get you the ball.
Speaker ASo it might be late, so be expecting it late, you know, and you got to communicate with your team in practice.
Speaker AYou got to communicate with your coach, and you got to understand, you know, different stuff that.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AThat you and your coaches, you.
Speaker AYou and your coach have a point guard, and coach has to be on the same page.
Speaker ASo it was a lot of communication, and it was a lot of talking and it was a lot of understanding about what I need to do, what I wanted to do, and how I could do it in both instances with Don Nelson and Pat Rowley.
Speaker BTell me about your relationship with Alonzo Mourning and what that meant to you while you're playing with the Heat.
Speaker BObviously, you go through all those wars with the Knicks, you win a gold medal with them.
Speaker BJust talk about that relationship.
Speaker AGreat person.
Speaker AI will tell you this on the court.
Speaker ADon't bother him.
Speaker AHe, he, he, he, he, he, he.
Speaker AHe's a beast on the court.
Speaker AHe don't want to hear it.
Speaker AHe just competitive.
Speaker AHe just go, ain't.
Speaker AThere's no fun in games.
Speaker AThere's basketball.
Speaker AI've come down here, I'm gonna do what I take to need to do to win this game, no matter what.
Speaker AAll right?
Speaker ABut off the court, loving guy, you can approach him, you can talk to him.
Speaker AYou know, we had to work on that a little bit because some.
Speaker ASome kids, you know, he.
Speaker ASome kids really thought he was mean and stuff.
Speaker AAnd I said, man, he's a gentle giant.
Speaker AYou just.
Speaker AYou just can't rush up to Zoe and be like, hey, yeah, you know, give me an autograph.
Speaker ANo, no, no, no.
Speaker AIt's a Way to do things.
Speaker AYou know, I, I tell people it's a way to do things, you know, hello, Mr.
Speaker AMorning, how you doing?
Speaker AOr, you know, Alonzo, how you doing?
Speaker AGreat game or whatever, Whatever.
Speaker ACan I have autograph?
Speaker AJust don't rush up to him, say, can I have autograph?
Speaker AYou're gonna say no all the time.
Speaker AYou know, you got to be polite and, and you gotta, you gotta, you know, make sure you come off in a, in a way where he, he's not going to be mad at you.
Speaker AAnd that.
Speaker DGood advice in general, just be polite, right?
Speaker DBe polite to people.
Speaker BThat usually works.
Speaker ADid that.
Speaker AHe was all right, but if you come up and not polite to him, you know, he was like, nah, leave me alone, and kept on walk.
Speaker ABut great guy, though.
Speaker AGreat guy.
Speaker DHe's in the news.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BYeah, absolutely.
Speaker BHow special was the Olympic experience winning the gold medal?
Speaker BWhat were your emotions when you guys win the medal and you're standing on the platform and the anthems playing?
Speaker ASure.
Speaker AJoy.
Speaker AJust, just, just pure joy.
Speaker AJust being, just, you know, just, just pure joy.
Speaker AWe hugging each other.
Speaker AWe, we laughing.
Speaker AYou know, we like, do you believe this?
Speaker ADo you believe that we are gold medalists?
Speaker AYou know, And I was like, man.
Speaker AAnd both of us at the same time said, we work so hard for this.
Speaker AOf course, of course, of course.
Speaker AAnd then, you know, we, we, we.
Speaker AAnd then at the end of that, it was cool, but it wasn't cool because, you know, we, we saw something that me, him, and the doctor saw something.
Speaker AAnd that's when that happened at that particular time.
Speaker AAnd we, we was worried.
Speaker AAll the way home, we was worried.
Speaker AYou know, we can't give too much.
Speaker DOf the book away, Mike.
Speaker DYou're doing a good job here, but we can't give too much away.
Speaker BThere's a. I got, I got it.
Speaker BI'm trying, I'm trying.
Speaker BI'm trying to dance.
Speaker BI'm trying to, I'm trying to dance.
Speaker BDancer, dance around.
Speaker BD Round topic.
Speaker BSo, yeah, for sure.
Speaker BI, I, I, I completely understand.
Speaker BAnd again, like I said, with the relationship that you had with the, with Chris Mullen and, and Mitch Richmond in Golden State, that came through.
Speaker BAnd then again, your affection for Alonzo Morning and that relationship through, through everything that you guys battled through with the Heat and those four series against the Knicks and, and going back and forth and all that, and anybody who remembers 90s basketball, if you read the book, you're going to go back and you're going to take a trip down memory lane with those series and just how emotional and physical and everything that went into those series back in the day, you, this book will transport you back into 90s Knicks, Heat, Eastern Conference basketball, and you'll, you'll get a, a real good sense of what that was like from the inside, for sure.
Speaker BThen the next thing I want to ask you about is just as a dad and your son makes it all the way to the NBA.
Speaker BAnd in the book, you kind of detail the way that goes back to your theme, Jake, that you talked about with the crossover.
Speaker BRight.
Speaker BThis is another example of as a parent, you started out one way kind of handling his basketball career, and then you crossed over and went a different direction.
Speaker BSo maybe just for anybody who's out there, and there's lots of coaches who are listening to the podcast who are parents that probably have kids that are playing basketball.
Speaker BBut if you had one piece of advice to give to basketball parents, and obviously your son's made it to the highest level possible, what piece of advice would you give to parents of young basketball players or a high school basketball player that can make the experience better for the kid and also for you as a parent.
Speaker AI always tell parents, let your kid be a kid.
Speaker AThe kid didn't grow up the way you grew up.
Speaker AYou made, you made it possible for the kid to grow up the way he's supposed to grow up now and, and be a parent.
Speaker AYou know, go out there, watch him play, have fun watching him play.
Speaker ABut he has to learn.
Speaker AHe has to learn.
Speaker AYou can't like force it upon him because you're going to force it and he not going to be able to respond to it and he's going to quit and you might, you might mess up something that he loved to do.
Speaker ASo I tell parents, yo, calm down, be cool, chill out, and let them learn on their own.
Speaker AThey, if they want it, they will go out and get it.
Speaker AThey will go out and get it if they want it.
Speaker ABut you have to check yourself and don't be over there screaming and hollering at them, yo, you shoot the ball and you shoot the ball every time.
Speaker ABecause if you shoot the ball every time, then you just being selfish and you just doing what they want you to do.
Speaker AAnd that might not make help you make it to where you want to be.
Speaker ASo I tell them, let them be, Let them learn on their own because if they want it, they gonna get it.
Speaker DThey'll climb up and put the net.
Speaker AOn the, on the gym because they essential they're accessible to gyms now.
Speaker AOnly thing they gotta do is just drop them off and let them go do what they need to do, you know, but there's a lot, a lot of these parents baby them, they, you know, pass them ball.
Speaker AYou need to do this.
Speaker AYou need.
Speaker ANo, just let them be.
Speaker AThey're figuring it out.
Speaker AWell said.
Speaker BI think every parent, when they are signing up for their kids first basketball team, you should just hand them a piece of paper with what you said, calm down.
Speaker BTwo words.
Speaker BHand them the paper.
Speaker BCalm down.
Speaker BAnd if we could get parents to just step back and understand what you just described in terms of.
Speaker BI always tell people, look, if your kid loves it enough, then they're going to do.
Speaker BThey're going to climb the pole and put the net up, they're going to go and find a gym, they're going to work by themselves.
Speaker BThey're going to love it.
Speaker BAnd what you do as the parent.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BIn some cases you gotta, as you said, drop them off.
Speaker BYou got to provide them opportunities.
Speaker BBut you see so many people that just go completely overboard.
Speaker BAnd I think if you could sum it up, when I, when I heard you say, calm down, it's perfect because I've said that to so many people just like, look, it's.
Speaker BIt's going to work out.
Speaker BAnd it has nothing to do with you as the parent.
Speaker BWhat, what you want is irrelevant, man.
Speaker BIt's like, it's.
Speaker BIt's about what your kid is or isn't going to do to get to where they want to.
Speaker ALeave the coaches alone.
Speaker ALeave the coaches alone.
Speaker AThey.
Speaker AThey gotta deal with 10 different personalities.
Speaker AThey gotta deal with 10 guys that they trying to help each and every day get better and better and better, not only as an athlete, but as a person.
Speaker AAnd you are hampering the coach from doing that from high school to college.
Speaker AYou are hampering your coach and your son from getting better.
Speaker BAll right, last question.
Speaker BTim, you get elected to the Basketball hall of Fame.
Speaker BWhat's been the coolest part about being a Basketball hall of Famer?
Speaker BWhat has it meant to you?
Speaker BWhat's been the most meaningful part of being a member of the hall of Fame?
Speaker ASo is.
Speaker AIs not only being in a Hall of Fame most important, but my parents was there to witness it and put that jacket on me and to be a part of it.
Speaker AYou know, my parents mean so much to me.
Speaker AEven though when y' all read the book, y' all gonna see a lot of things that evolved and, and what happened and stuff is this and that.
Speaker AI still only got one dad.
Speaker AOnly I still got one one Mom.
Speaker AAnd for them to be there with me and to see the.
Speaker AThe joy on their face of the hard work that they helped me go through.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AThat was satisfying right there.
Speaker AThat was glorifying.
Speaker AJust to have my parents there to watch me and to say my speech, you know, that.
Speaker AThat man.
Speaker AYeah, that was it.
Speaker AThat.
Speaker AThat was the whole weekend that they was there.
Speaker BIt's a full circle.
Speaker BA full circle moment.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BYou go back to when you're a kid.
Speaker BWe started out the conversation talking about Chicago and the impact that it had on you, and obviously that it had on your mom, your dad, your family.
Speaker BAnd then we take it all the way to making it to the hall of Fame, and we're kind of right back where we started with the influence of your mom, your dad, and how they shaped you into who you became not only as a basketball player, but as a person.
Speaker BAnd I'll say just the book is outstanding.
Speaker BI loved reading it.
Speaker BThat took me back to a ton of memories of watching you play, of watching basketball during the era that you played.
Speaker BYou're only a couple years older than me, so I remember clearly just a lot of the things that went on in the book.
Speaker BAnd then to be able to get your perspective and to hear from somebody who went through some of the trials and tribulations that went through throughout your career and in your childhood, and then for you to make it and have it culminate in making the Basketball hall of Fame.
Speaker BIt's just a great story.
Speaker BIt's really well done.
Speaker BI would highly recommend anybody out there please pick up the book.
Speaker BJake and Tim did a great job of collaborating called Killer Crossover.
Speaker BJake, I'll give you one more opportunity.
Speaker BGive us the elevator pitch on the book.
Speaker BWhy should people go out and buy it?
Speaker BYou're the.
Speaker BYou're the co author.
Speaker BTell us why we need to get out there.
Speaker BObviously, I read it and I couldn't recommend it anymore, but let's hear from.
Speaker BLet's hear from you on.
Speaker BOn what makes the book so special.
Speaker DIt's the greatest book ever written.
Speaker APerfect.
Speaker BI love it.
Speaker DAnd, and, and Tim's amazing and his story is incredible.
Speaker DAnd there's all twists and turns and crossovers and everything else, but it.
Speaker DIt's the subject that makes the book.
Speaker DAnd Tim is a great.
Speaker AYeah, it's a must read.
Speaker AIt's a must read.
Speaker AEverybody want to know what.
Speaker AWhat made me why I'm this way and.
Speaker AAnd, and the book will tell you everything.
Speaker AWhy I'm this way and why I was like that on the court and off the court.
Speaker BIt's a great read.
Speaker BPlease pick it up.
Speaker BAbsolutely.
Speaker BGuys, Tim, Jake, cannot thank you enough for taking the time out of your schedule tonight to join us.
Speaker BReally appreciate it.
Speaker BTo everyone who's in our audience, please go out, pick up killer crossover.
Speaker BRead it, enjoy it.
Speaker BI guarantee basketball fan, basketball coach, basketball anything.
Speaker BYou're going to love the book.
Speaker BPlease go out and pick it up and we appreciate you listening tonight and we will catch you on our next episode.
Speaker CThanks.
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Speaker EThe Coaching Portfolio Guide is an instructional membership based website that helps you develop a personalized portfolio.
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Speaker APodcast presented by Head Start, Basket Sat.