The Real Report - Tim Thomas on Melo vs Brunson, the effects of NIL money, & playing at Rucker Park w/ Fat Joe

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Let me tell you where I quit. Y'all got to go on these guys' Instagrams and watch them when they travel. That's all they do. I don't even like this guy. I like this guy. He always wants to talk to him. We only friends on talk. We only friends on talk. We come home. We're not friends. He got kids and stuff. We ain't friends on talk. We go on talk with friends. Can I talk now? Can I ask you something? No, I wanna ask you something. No. Go ahead. He didn't get stabbed. Go ahead. Shut the fuck up. Okay. Okay. Bro, bro. What's up, boys? You get movies with this. Ow! Rammel! Yo, bro, bro, bro, bro, bro, bro, bro, bro. Get the fuck out of here. I'll get it for you. I'll get it for you. Get out, poppers, and you'll win. Listen to this, you dumb fuck. We're glad to have you here, New York legendary Nick from Paterson, New Jersey. Man, it's so noise. Y'all come on. It's so scary, it's so... So how did growing up in Jersey, how did it take you on your basketball journey? I mean, it was just, you know, like any other in the city, you got your suburbs, you got your hood. For me growing up in Paterson, I lived all over. Right. So I was able to connect with a little bit of everybody. And at that time, we had a lot of guys that was actually playing ball. So they was a little older than me and all that. So I was just following suit, you know what I'm saying? It's like anything else, you know? You see the hustlers and they got nice cars while they're blind. You fall in love with something and you just follow suit. So I was chasing those guys around, you know, just trying to make my mark on things. And, you know, once I got into like the fifth grade, started traveling, going to camps and shit like that, went out to this camp called Five Star, destroyed out there. And then next thing, you know, I was the best sixth grader in the country. So that, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, just moving, you know what I mean? Yeah, because you got more of a versatile game. Like you was a big man shooting the three. Yeah, yeah. How'd you build a game? That's the parks. You was doing that early, like a big man shooting. Yeah, yeah, but that's... Now it's like every day in basketball. Yeah, but that's the parks, man. You know, you on the playground and shit, and you out there and, you know, you might play one game at one o'clock, next game before o'clock if you lose, you know what I mean? So you have to go out there and be able to do multiple things to, you know, sustain. So that's from the park, man. Just, you know, having that. And actually God blessed me with the talent, you know what I'm saying? So just, you know, putting it through. I seen some a few weeks ago online, I think it was Swaggy Pete beefing with Kenyan Marley. They made me think about you and Kenyan Marley. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I talk about that a little bit. With that one, I'm like, how did that... You know, I like dramas. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what it's about. It's Uncle Murda. It's Uncle Murda. You know what I mean? No, no, no. So I was actually with the Knicks, and he was with the Nets. They beat us. And when his teammates came across and like kind of closed on me. So when he closed on me, I was like, I was numb on one side of my body. So I had to go to the hospital, IV, blah, blah, blah. So I was out of the series. So, you know, it's like anything else. Yeah, I remember it went that deep. Like, okay, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's my livelihood. That's how I'm feeding my family. Of course. You know what I'm saying? So me and Jason Collins, we actually had the same agent. So he called to check in on me, blah, blah, blah. So I was more pissed off at my teammates for not retaliating. You know what I'm saying? It's like anything else. You know what I mean? So ride out. Right. Exactly. Like how I murdered down when they run up on him for the rap on? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. That's like that. Same shoes. So, you know, it went back and forth in the media. And then he said something that caught my attention, like put us in the room and let's see who walked out. So now that's like some... Oh, he don't know he talking to someone else. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Pavies and Newtattles and New Jersey? Exactly. He's not as sweet in Jersey as... Yeah, so now it's different. So, you know, the rest of that summer is going on. So I actually caught him in a club in New York. He had his cool shoes on. He was in there. You know, he had the church shoes on, the cool shoes. So I caught him in there. He put his back up against the wall. So I'm like, we already know what that's about. You know what I'm saying? So you don't want no smoke, no nothing or whatever. So I just completely let it be. So you know, in the summertime, we do a lot of charity events and different events. So I had to go to Dallas like a week later, which where he lives. I mean, so I've been flying private. We've been playing with those things. I mean, before they started... Tell them Tim, tell them Tim. You know, before it was cool. Before they started going and trying to figure out what you got in your bag. Yeah, yeah, right, right. So we get out there and, you know, I kind of embarrass them in his own town. You know, so that's why he constantly keep, you know, talking and saying... Talking about your guys. Okay. You know, the rest of my career, every time I would get a chance, I would just, you know, poke at them. You know what I'm saying? It was an incident in Phoenix. It's crazy that you've been mad humble. I knew you for years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But once I flip, man, it's all... Once that Patterson, once that Patterson, yeah. So to go back to what you're saying, like I completely left it alone. Like me and this dude, we're damn their neighbors in California. Okay, look at that. Same dentist, same grocery store, same gas station, same mall. Our wives had kids around the same time, same doctor. Like this could have, you know what I'm saying? Like we could have been got it on. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, that's pretty. Exactly. So what he's mad about is one of his teammates, good brother from the city, Julius Hodges. Julius Hodges was in the weight room one time I called him right before the game. I was about to rough him up a little bit. Julius stopped the action. And being that Julius stopped the action, that's when we had to wear suits and a league. So Kmart went and bought him five suits and a TV, you know what I'm saying? To try to keep everybody from knowing what's going on with the situation. But you know, for me, it ain't about nothing. And you know, for him, he understand and know exactly what it is. And you know, if you got a problem, do something when you see me suck it. That's crazy. God damn. You heard that. That's what I'm learning like that. We like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what we like. Good talk about that suit. Because I remember that that was like the Allen Iverson time. Yeah, Tom, like you had like the. Yeah, yeah. So they was that about because the younger generation don't know. Yeah. So, so, you know, shout out to my brother, AI just did his all American game down in the show to AI. So AI took the a lot of bullets for a lot of cats to be able to do what they doing now. You know what I'm saying? So the tattoos, the cornrows, all that. And it was getting out of control because everybody was dressing like AI. You know what I'm saying? So the league was like, yo, we can't have the five X t-shirts, the jewels, you know what I'm saying? Cats like that coming in and everybody's making millions, millions of dollars. So they wanted to tone it down. So they put us in suits, man. So it was cool. I mean, a lot of us, you know, we all grew up going to church. They're like that. So it was cool. You know what I mean? But, you know, it was more of a corporate thing to get to where the league is at now. I feel like the league need to put a dress code now to weigh some of these ball players dressed in times. Man, it's cool. These, it's cool. Some of them, it's just the style change. So, but, but this generation is more about they brand. Yeah. See, we was running around while, you know what I'm saying? Like if we was connected to a certain rap group or whatever, you had a little stigma on you and shit like that. But now these guys, they all about their brand. Like I just came in and said, you know, I ain't getting paid for this. We'll talk about it. That's what they on. You know what I'm saying? So it's different times. It's different times. Small world of highlighters. Yeah, definitely highlighters now. You know, hold up. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. This is what I love. No, no, no. Hold on. Let me tell the world. Let me tell the world right quick. Y'all got to go on these guys' Instagrams and watch them when they travel. It's all they do. I don't even like this guy. I like this guy. He always want to talk to you. We only friends on talk. We only friends on talk. We come home. We're not friends. He got kids and nothing. We ain't friends. We go on tour with friends. We always see each other. Can I talk now? Can I ask my brother something? No, I want to ask him something. Because you know he's a fucking LeBron fan anyway. That's what I wanted to hear. You was with LeBron earlier. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. We're going to get back to you. Did you see things like that? I wanted to know. That is my favorite play. I'm not going to let you know that. Go ahead. I know you went to Russia. That's what I mean. Like throw me on the top. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Now you was with LeBron early, right? Did you see certain things in him? Like did you see all of this in LeBron early? But you was with him? Like what did you see in him? When he first came in the league, you got to remember the league was physical. It was still physical. It was fading out to this new era. So I mean you could go back and look at it. He had some struggles, right? I think he ran up against that Detroit Pistons team. I'm not really sure. I think Orlando gave him a little promise. They stopped him from getting in and got him on with that. Yeah. So he had to go through his growing spurs to get to where he's at. You know what I'm saying? So definitely man. But I mean we, everybody knew that he was talented. He benefited off of all the things that myself, Kobe, Jermaine, all the other guys like that started before him from that high school side of things going coming up. So but we all knew he was talented. I mean obviously you got to get in and put your plant down, make your mark. And he definitely did that. Definitely. So how was he playing on the calves? I never played with the calves. I was against him. Oh okay. So you know when he first came in it was so much hype. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and all that stuff. And I like to get all that stuff for the kids. His teammates were sitting on them too. Well you know that's just part of it. I don't think this high school kid could come in here and really do nothing. That was the mouths and all. Yeah, yeah. I'm above all that. Because at that time man we only had KG as our guidance. A guy who came out and had some success in Minnesota. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. And then when Cole did it, people forget Cole struggled his first two years. And he didn't start right away too. Right, he was the back up. Jermaine O'Neill, he struggled his first two years not starting and shit like that. So KG was the only one that got in, went right to work and shit like that. But LeBron thing, I think it was perfect for him because he went to an organization that was trying to build. And obviously they had a bunch of young guys there. He came in and he just fit right in with the young guys and they was able to do what they needed to do. Alright now I could talk. Well let's talk, you asked the wrong question. I wasn't playing on the tabs. No, no, no, no. No, I don't know what I was thinking. Exactly, me neither. I don't know what I was thinking with that. Blame your man Marcus with that. I don't know how to blame Marcus for that. Because I never knew him playing for the Cavs. Marcus put that in the, you know, and he's fucking Q-Cars. So he blamed him. What I wanted to ask you is, because he's going to go with LeBron and him and my man, like they always argue, he always go with Kobe. Right, so I love when they argue it's like every day. I'm going to go with Jordan. You know what I'm saying? That's why I'm going with Jordan. That's always been my favorite player. How was it playing AAU games early with Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant, those two greats? So the way that shit happened was crazy because people forget Kobe was overseas. So when he came to the States, he was trying to catch up with the game. Like most cats would do coming from overseas. So he got what Sham got, get his handles together, and then he played with us to just get a foundation of how the speed and the strength of the game was. And you could just see the determination in him. Like he would pull up from deep, shoot an air ball, and then we'll be like, yo man, like get closer to that. He'll go right back to the same spot and shoot that bitch again, and it'd be all money. But you could just see it early in him. And then we was rock stars, man. Like, you know, the shit that the kids is doing now, playing, you know, AAU at college universities and high school games on ESPN. Like LeBron got that on ESPN. That was some of the things that was put in for us, but we was never able to capitalize on those situations. And one example, like me and Cole was an hour and a half away from each other. So in our class in 96, towards the end, it was basically who you like. If you like, you know, if you like McDonald's and you like Burger King. Definitely. So it was one and two in so many people's eyes. And we could have played a game, a high school game at the garden or at the spectrum in Philly or at any college against each other. Look at that. We never was able to make that game. You know what I'm saying? Look at that. But that AAU stuff with the players, you know, shout out to the players, shout out to everybody who came through the program. But that, that for us, man, we was like rock stars. We were seeing the stuff that everybody caught on later with Vince Carter. We were seeing that early. Early, gotcha. Early, like, damn, what the fuck he just do? Wait, did he really do that? We were seeing that shit early, you know what I'm saying? And then, you know, obviously Cole, you know, transitioning over and becoming a player that, you know, he became. Rest in peace to Kobe. Yeah, definitely, man. You know, Cole passed away, man. My West Coast Cribbers and Hitter Hills and Calabasas, Cole passed away maybe about five minutes away from me. Damn. You know what I'm saying? Rest in peace, man. Legend, man. How many sort of, man? Definitely. How do you think today's NBA is different from like around yet ever? You can't touch them. You had kind of a style like similar to today's game. Like, I feel like you was a little ahead of your time a little bit. So definitely. So it was, it was cats like Deadlift, Shrimp, Derrick Coleman, Billy Owens, Steve Smith, you know, six, nine can handle. That can shoot. That can still shoot. Tony Cuckold, guys like that, that came before me. But the difference now is basically all of the rules is European rules. So you're seeing all threes and you're seeing guys being able to move and go wherever they want on the court. In my era, motherfucker, Chuck you, you cut through the lane and you're not looking. They're going to give you a quick one. You know what I mean? So then you had the hand check in and stuff like that. So they took that style of play out and now that's why you see scores 135 to 110. You know, 145 to 120. So you can't even, you can't even determine like, yo, this going to be, you know, a low scoring game. So speaking of Nick's, right? Who you think had the not, not the better player overall, but the better Nick career so far between Brunson and Mello? That was my fucking question. He's talking to fucking much today. You know, basketball, you know, because he feels like, you know, he's basketball. So you got to let me fucking say something. Because we was going to say, who you think is better, Brunson or would you say Mello? Because that was really, that was the, not better, better Nick career. I feel what you saying, but all around that was with the comparison on Instagram. Mello and Brunson shout to stay Mello too. Make sure you get that stuff. Stay Mello. Good stuff. So Mello actually is a whole of fame, right? So as far as career, he's reached the tip top. Oh yeah, he's a whole of famous. Brunson is still climbing, going through his process. I will put Mello you. But Nick, right now is, you got to say, you got to say JB because he's winning. And that's the bottom line. That's what it comes down to. You know what I'm saying? So like, I don't know Mello's full Nick career. I know he, you know, he averaged certain points and did his thing or whatever, whatever, but winning that takes it all. Like, you got to put some respect on JB. Yeah, definitely. Got you. You know what I mean? So it's, you know, let me ask you another question. How do you feel about like kids making money in college now? Because I know back in the days it wasn't like that. You think a kid should rush to go to the NBA? They not. The draft? They not. But that's, that's part of the problem. Like a Cooper flag. Like, I know he's first round pick. So yeah, I mean, you know, the kids that have the desire and the heart to want to pursue that shit and go after it, those are the kids that's, that's going after. Right. Now you got kids that's just going to college where they go, they're going from high school, trying to get into college just for the NIL deal. And they trying to stay in school six years, five or six years. They can still get a bag. So think about it. How do deals look too? So think about how about to break it down? So think about it. If you play division one basketball and you're a starter, you can make anywhere between two to five million dollars. Wow. And that's just off of an NIL deal. The school, the university can actually pay you as well. So in reality, in one year, you can make eight million dollars. You see what I'm saying? Or 10. Stay in school. They have them when you was growing up. Hell yeah. I'm not. They're going to have to have a school now if you're coming up. Meanwhile, if you what? Yeah, because if you make second round, you ain't, you might not even be making that kind of money. Yeah. So that's what I'm saying. So the other, the other part of, about it too is basketball players know now that the G League is like prison. You get into the G League and they're telling them, you coming out. A lot of cats don't, they don't, they signed two, two way deals. Everybody not Bernie James, right? But not even that. Like they signed, they signed, you know, two way deals, but they only going to play in the one, the one league. So they might bring them up if a guy get hurt, they'll bring them up for a week, two weeks, or they might even put you on a playoff roster, but you're not going to go in and play. You know what I'm saying? Unless a lot of people get hurt. Unless. Yeah. The cars got to flip crazy. You know what I'm saying? So, so cats now in high school, I mean, in college, they're like, yo, we might as well just stay in school and make as much bread as we can. And then if the opportunities there later, we're going to go later. Cool and take them. But let's just secure this bag first. Yeah. The other thing too that's killing the game is that the kids that are, that are actually in college playing, they're older now. So they're 26, 27, 28, you know what I'm saying? Junior seniors. So now when you do go pro, you're already kind of old. So now you've got a good 19 years to play. You know what I'm saying? So that's, you know, You learn something new every day, man, with the legend. What was your Ellis Rutgers experience? You said? Rutger Park. Yeah. Um, what should you know? I played with, I played with Tervor Squad. I played with Fat John Tervor Squad. Oh man. We cool now. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We got that drama. So I remember a little bit before I was with G. I remember G. You and Tervor Squad drama. How did that affect your relationship with Steph? I'm not bad. It was great. Steph don't remember it because we both was kids. We first of all, we grew up together. I know it was, I knew his dad. I know his moms, his brothers, everybody, you know what I mean? So, um, I played with the gout shows. We was always going to camps and shit together. But when we got here together, both of our heads were so fucking big because we was both excited to be home playing, you know, in the Mecca. Um, my very first game, I'll never forget was on ABC. I played against a teen that traded me Milwaukee bucks. And we was down. We was down like 14, 15 and a half. We came back with one. And, um, that was like one of the best films because, um, the first half, I stuck it up. Second half I got going and he just kept giving me the ball. You know what I'm saying? So I thought right then and then I'm like, yo, this shit going to be crazy because he know I could score the ball and he got the ball. He could go do his thing when he want to, you know what I mean? But when that shit happened, it was like, it took us back so far because me and him both stopped hanging out. We stopped talking to each other. And then you could see that chemistry also on the court. You know what I'm saying? So it'll be times and he don't remember this shit. There'll be times where like he'll be trying to create and make a play and he'll pass me the ball. It'll probably be like seven seconds on the clock, but he'll pass it to where I'm not in range to catch and shoot or catch and do something. It might be at my ankles. I'm 6'10. So I gotta go get it. Hold on. You feel like he was doing it on purpose. What do you mean? You feel like he was doing it on purpose. That's what the sound like. Exactly. So I would have to go get the ball. I would have been down to get it by the time I square myself up. Now I see him running right behind the ball to get the ball. You know what I'm saying? So it'd be stuff like that. But yeah, it definitely, it definitely, definitely affected us. Look at that. A whole lot. She ran in first service squad. He wasn't around. No, he wasn't around. So I'm going to tell you another story. He was in the M.T.M. studio back then. You know that? Exactly. I had murdered all lot of people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. I had murdered people. It'd be funny with this guy because like I be meeting people like for the first time like you can't wait a machine and certain dudes and he'd butcher and murder be like, yeah, remember you first mixtape. He got it. He always have his feet, you know, on the ground. So back in the day, man, we used to, we was doing the podcast stuff before it even started. Oh, wow. Yeah. So it was called off top radio in the studio. So we had my man was a DJ. So he had all the new music and bringing artists in and shit like that. They had models doing the interviews and shit. So it was, it was like one of the first podcasts before podcast started way back then. But let me, let me tell you a funny story about the G unit terror squad. So fifth had just bought me a, it wasn't the spinner chain, but it was, it was similar. It was a G unit chain and I'm in season. So we fly to Miami, we get ready to play the heat and shit. So we go to the club and I see everybody from TS. Right. So it's, yo, it's me, it's me and my man. So I'm juiced up. I'm feeling good. I'm in Miami. You know, the bars is right. I walk in the club, everything's shipped. I see these niggas. I'm like, oh, yo, these niggas are to get me. Ain't no way I'm getting out of here. Right. You see there's a whole bunch of Spanish niggas. Yeah. So CS pieces. So I tell her, I tell her, host. I'm like, yo, you got to put us wait, you're different, you know, put us somewhere else. Yeah. So, so they must have seen what I was trying to do, whatever, whatever. So I get to my section way away from these motherfuckers and next thing I know before I could order bottles, they had already sent bottles up. So I was like, oh, okay. So I was like, you know what, what they drinking? So I sent some bottles back down and shit like that. Cause that's basically, if they did that, shout out to Brad Joe, a bridge, shout out to pistol P everybody. They basically let you know, you know, we got a problem with you. You know, here we going to send you these bottles. We actually were to chill with you. So yeah, yeah, yeah. I thought for sure it was over that. I didn't walk into a trap. And then on the flip side, right? To talk about the stuff shit. We was in LA. We was in LA shooting banks video. Hands up. Yeah. And Steph came through and the stretch limo, you know, niggas was riding stretch limo. He come through in the stretch limo, bunch of people, models, whatever, whatever. And he dripped out and God rest his soul, P from my deep was like, yo, he ain't leaving here without that shit. So I'm on that. I'm like, no. No. Proud of you. Proud of you. Yeah. He was like, yo, he ain't leaving here with that. So I'm like, nah, we teammates. You think he got Carl Jack back in the days? Remember when, because you remember when, remember when, what Jay said, what Jay said? I won't be slipping like Marlberry at the line. Yeah. I don't know. And Coney Island? I thought you would know murder. I think something happened like that. That's something like that. Yeah. No, I'm just saying you, I just remember that. Yeah, I do remember that too. Jay put him in the Rom No Laver. Yeah, I know it was hot over there. I know it was hot over there. So, you know, it might have happened, but now Steph, one of us, man, you gotta look out for the nine facts. Now Steph, man, we love that. He's a good man. Definitely a legend, bro. We trying to get him on here next to us well, man. So that's what's gonna make it happen. Yeah. So we do something we call a quick fire round, right? And that's what we ask questions about quick. So, um, Paterson or NYC? You know he's gonna say Jersey. Oh, shit. That's what I said. I don't know. You don't know. It might be a hard question. Let the man answer the question. No, he gonna go Jersey. I mean, Paterson is home, man. That's home. But you can't, you can't get what you can get out of New York City. Like, there's so many birds, so many different spots. Like, shit. I mean, Brooklyn is looking totally different. Brooklyn? Queens is looking different. My city don't look different. My city is still fucking different. Shout to Paterson, man. But nah, man. I mean, you know, home is home. But New York, it provides so many different things. Definitely. Which rappers you like out of Jersey? Oh, man. I mean, obviously the hometown right here, you know, Nordy, those my guys, they took care of me in college. Nordy by nature, yes. Yeah, yeah, KG. Oh, you was messing with them in college? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so I went to Nova. Nova had a Nike deal and KG from Nordy, he, you know, he loves basketball and shit. So they will always get, you know, the newest shit, you know, the pennies and the Jordans or whatever. So he will send me the kicks. Like, yo, y'all play Kentucky on, you know, CBS, yo, weddings, I'm gonna send these blah, blah, blah. So at that time, I'm the number one player in the country. There's no NIL. Number one player in the country type shit. We just put that out there. Come on, man. No, let them talk. No, that's money. Let them talk. You gotta let them talk. Let them talk. Let them talk. Let them talk. So there's no NIL deals. We not getting no money, no nothing. So I went to lab as I was like, look, it's Nike. I'm still in the same brand. I'm wearing different shoes. So they just started flooding me with different shoes and shit like that. So, you know, they kept me fresh, man. But, you know, as far as rappers in Jersey, like, you know, I rock with a little bit of everybody, man. I like Al Biel. I like Al Biel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna swim him right in. Yeah, so, you know, I call myself Jersey. I don't just say, you know, I'm from Paterson. I move around and wrap the Jersey all over. Yeah, old Jersey all over. For sure. What was it like growing up in Paterson back then? Well, you know, moving, not just Paterson, just moving around. Shit, y'all seen the movie Lean On Me, right? Yeah. I grew up, like, when I was in pre-k, well, not pre-k, let's say third grade. My school was on one corner. My park, my house was on the same block and East Side High School was right behind me. So when that crack ever hit, nigga, it was on. It was crazy. It was crazy. You started seeing, you know, guys that was going to school now high on the drug. Damn. You know, I was seeing the cats that didn't have no money with money. It was like, yo, what the? Then you start, you know, as a kid, you start seeing all the blue tops, the red tops, yellow tops all around. It was like, yo, this shit is unreal, you know what I'm saying? But Paterson is like any other city, man. Any other borough. Got you know what I'm saying? Bad parts, you know what I'm saying? But, you know, for us, man, like I always tell the youngsters, like with the gang banging shit, right? The city is too small. New York, LA, you got land, you can move around a little bit. And even in New York, it's still small. You know what I'm saying? I think it's big, but it's really small. But you know, in Paterson, like you can have an incident with, here, Paws. You know, in Paterson, like you can have an incident downtown and you could live on one side of the town. And before you get home, that person could even catch up to you. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, but, but Paterson is like any other hood, man. Yeah, I know, but you, but you made it. We all made it. And you know, God is good. And, you know, you sometimes you look back and you'd be like, damn, look what I've been through. Like right now you could be, you could stay in Calabasas in California and be Hollywood, but you come back, talk about your mentorship and how you work with the kids in Jersey. You don't have to do that. Yeah. So I started my program. Tim Thomas play as my rookie year in 97. So this summer makes 29 summers. Come on, make some money. 29 summers. Yeah. 29 summers. It's for the kids, for the kids. So, so the program itself, we produced 28 pros, 20 McDonald's, all Americans. And I sent over 15 K kids off to college. So that's just the start in life. You know what I mean? That's good. And, you know, now being back and coaching high school ball and just trying to share my experiences with the kids, you know what I mean? You know, a lot of them, you know, they don't really have that desire like we had, like the trying to make it out there, there and better situations financially and stuff like that. So, you know, the hunger is not there. So I just, It's not social media. It's too many drags. Yes. It's so, it's so many different things. This, you know, that's, that's out there and we didn't even get into the girls. You know what I mean? That's so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, so, but with all, with all of that that's going on, I'm like, you guys got it made because now if you put in the work for four years in high school and your parents is paying for trainers and AAU and this is that you can reap the benefits of it with the NIL. You know what I'm saying? So all you got to do is put in the work for four years. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, it's kind of hard, but you know, at the same time, I enjoy it man. You know, just, you know, eight million in college. Yeah, I might stay for a couple of years instead of rolling my dice with the NBA. Right, Merck? I ain't know all that. I see that. Yeah. Off the jerseys, you know what I mean? Eight million. Man. Yeah. Kids, I'm staying. I'll be like, yo, let me stay one more year, man. You know, eight million. Yo, it's a kid that actually came through my program. He was at Tennessee, young boy Zekai. I don't really know a situation, but if you go on on social media, you'll see he's trying now to fight the NCAA to get back into college basketball. Wow. So therefore he probably doesn't have a real situation pro-wise or he's probably not on the, on the draft board as a high draft pick. So now he's trying to get back, he's trying to get back into college. Eight million a year. Yeah, man. It's, it's, it's. Rookie's ain't making that. Yeah. That over there. You know what I'm saying? So, word, word. So you know how rappers always ask each other, who's your top three and this down to third? I want to know who's like, yeah, your dream squad. Yeah, your dream team. Your top five. Yeah. Oh, man. That's a good question. I can't put myself in it. Yeah, you got to, you got to, you got to put yourself in it. You got to put, you got to be able to put himself in it. Come on. His top five that he want to play with. Put himself in it. You put yourself in it. You, you, you is. So I'm going to go, I'm going to go, I'm going to go Shaq at the center. I'm going to go Tim Duncan at the four. I'm going to go Scotty at the, at the three. Scotty Pippin at the three. Scotty. Okay. All right. Okay. Because he played both fans. He's a little bugging out a little bit lately, but okay. Yeah, that's my guy. That's, that's my OG. That's, that's, that's my OG. And you know, Ron Harper is my OG. Hey, got you. You know, sometimes, sometimes you got to lead the big guy alone. Yeah, got you. And you know, with MJ, but, but again, they, they, they both won the same amount of range. Yeah, you cannot go with that. But yeah, Scotty, yeah, he too much, too much. Yeah, yeah, got you. What was he on? The brand, whatever he drinking. How do you balance that because like a lot of bowl players like between the finances, like you have kids, you know, you're married. I need to get this. I need to get my boy. We didn't finish talking. I ended up Scotty. At the two. She got the two. You got to go MJ and the two and at the one, man, you got to go magic. Magic over stuff because I had people argue. They go, they debate over that two step magic stuff. Yeah, but I mean, again, it all depends on what you like. But I got you, okay. So me, I'm gonna go more of the old school. I could have went further deeper and say guys like Elgin Ballard. Gotcha, got you, got you. You know what I'm saying? Taking the weight back. Yeah, but if I said that, these young kids would be like, who? What? Now I like that. I like that stuff, five, okay? That's a big five, you know what I mean? So we have magic. And then I'll be coming off the bench. You know what I mean? Okay. I'll come off the bench and then I'm back. Okay. Yeah, yeah. You know, he's hype. He knew you that now. No, he didn't know. I thought he didn't know. Yeah, yeah. That's my God. I'm poor side Tony. I'm poor side Tony. You know what I'm saying? He being a nosebleed. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, man. But yo, how do you balance the lifestyle? Because when you look at basketball, right? Yeah, yeah. A lot of the cocky players that, you know, you know, out there, got all the chicks, the cars, you know, they ain't not going. I feel like, do you feel like those guys are going to win chips or the guys that settle down, have their wife lay back like a shea? You look at the shea, he don't look like he club a lot. He don't look like he's outside. He might have a little jewelry. Like, but how do you feel about that? Like, I mean, it's how you balance the lifestyle and trying to win a chip at the same time. Well, the season is so long, man. Like you, you with your bro, it's like y'all, y'all always on the road. Right. So you y'all probably together out of the year, maybe eight months out of the year with traveling. So it's the same thing with basketball, right? So guys got to have different outlets to kind of get their minds off of the day to day work because it is work. You know what I'm saying? It's fun. It's the best job in the world, one of the best jobs in the world. But you got to have, you know, different things to kind of balance yourself out. Some guys like the gamble, some guys like the club, some guys like the fish, some guys like the, you know, fly planes and do different shit. You know what I mean? So that's you. But, but at the end of the day, man, like every man is for themselves. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, it's there, it's going to be presented. It's no secret, but it's how you indulge in it. You know what I'm saying? And some guys dive in and they can swim. You know what I'm saying? Some guys, you know, figure it out, shit like that. So, but for me, man, like I just knew my upbringing and that I was the the only guy in my family to break the generational curse. So I just knew at that point I got nieces and nephews behind me. There's no way I could just, you know, be out here just going, going wild. You know what I'm saying? Now I have my moments. You know what I'm saying? You got your jury. I know you got all of that. You know, I have planes, all that shit. Do all that. Come on. You know what I mean? But he was turnt up. He was on some street. Like he was. He was on some. That's what I was. I was. Jack. Yeah, you was. You was on some. You know, Jack. I was. I was. I was. Jack. I was. That's why I came on anyone. No shit. It's the only guy that you know when you go to the VIP section, you know the section you never in Never Shout out to Brandon, but you know he's the man Look He's the only guy that can have like when you go to the bar there's never been Hennessy or nothing back there. Yo, give me a Tim Thomas. They pull out the Hennessy Me you Jadakiss And I want to say spree if somebody else that drink Henny only feel that drink that Henny Don't worry, I'm gonna have One game I went to Dainl White was there. Mm-hmm. Gil King It was so many I was kind of massive Shout out to gardener dreams charity James Dolan, you know, I'm New York nix the NY Rangers. I'm New York everywhere Definitely, cuz I always look at New York was we the most hating everywhere where we go. Yeah, that's how it was back in the day Yeah, yeah out of town, you know, New York nigga come out of town. We mash up the town. Yeah But talk about the water man, cuz we should have broken some up. Yeah, I'm gonna get my water up here man It's called RX water You know it's good tasting water got electrolytes in it. So if you having a night out you drinking that Branson or whatever You need to recover. You don't need no red bull and on none of that Drink that before you go to sleep soon as you wake up in the morning bounce right back Let's turn it around Murder talking earlier, right? I know he was his kids a young seven right and you was talking about them He wants to um, you know get trained by you and you told them don't put too much pressure on them now What did you mean by that? Well, seven right seven eight. I got eight eight year old or five year old that I'm gonna get them right So my son is seven right so at this age man, you don't want to take away from they livelihood because When when they love it's like rap right when you guys love it you gonna dive all the way in you know I mean so when the kid fall in loves with whatever sport it is They gonna fall in love with it and dive all the way in and that's when they gonna come to you asking you for help Right now if you force it on them, you might be taking a love away from them Got you. You know I'm saying and that's what's going on with a lot of the kids in youth sports The parents is trying to live through the kids because they see in what we see they see in LeBron or Steph Signed for three hundred million Yeah, so they see that now now it's at the lower level with college So they see in it so now they everybody's trying to speed up the process got you know I'm saying everybody has talent But if you don't love it You never gonna be able to do that shit every day consistently. You know I'm saying so it's like Yeah, so like y'all put y'all been performing the last year and a half right the songs ain't change You doing the same song different spot, right? But you got to get up for that shit like yo we doing this song that's on this song You got to get up to go perform that shit and it's just like that with sports, right? You got to go travel or wherever St. Louis or California or whatever But you're going to just play that scene game. You know what I mean? So if you if you force them now You might just drain them from it You know I mean from the experience or you might just pull all the blood away from them and they won't even love it no more Hmm You hit our parents you hit out of there don't put too much pressure on it Basketball baseball and soccer so you said I see whatever one they actually fall in love But I just had to be work without my son. He's playing soccer. He's playing basketball. Um, he just started hitting the baseball No I'm glad to have you here man. We got Tim Thomas here. Definitely took out his time out as million dollar schedule to be on the Podcast we live from the hard rock, you know, I'm saying murder. I mean, what's good? I was glad to have you on my show and I like to have you Good luck surviving the offseason football fans At first I was afraid I was betrified For buzz over it's like a part of me just died inside 200 days still for balls back, but tonight I won't just cry cuz I've got a ways to play and that's the place with hard rock bet I will survive Offered by the Seminole tribe of Florida must be 21 plus and physically present in Florida to wait your terms and conditions apply If you are someone you know as a family problem, please call 1-833 play wise. This is an I heart podcast Guaranteed human