NBA All Star Fred VanVleet: Houston’s New $130M Man, Basketball Journey & Fatherhood

FOLLOW THE PIVOT PODCAST: MERCH | https://pivotpodcast.com YOUTUBE | https://www.youtube.com/thepivotpodcast INSTAGRAM | https://instagram.com/thepivot TWITTER | https://twitter.com/thepivot TIKTOK | https://tiktok.com/@thepivot FACEBOOK | https://www.facebook.com/thepivotpodcast FOLLOW HAPPY DAD: https://www.instagram.com/happydad FIND HAPPY DAD: https://www.happydad.com/find Going from undrafted to playing his way through summer league into an All Star Point Guard and NBA Champion with Toronto Raptors, Fred VanVleet tested the free agency waters and landed himself a $130M contract with the Houston Rockets and is sitting down with Ryan, Fred and Channing to talk about his journey and what’s next. Sharing his story about how at age 5 VanVleet’s life changed after his father was killed and struggling with the pressures of not going down same path and creating a different life for him, VanVleet has always approached the game of basketball with a chip on his shoulder and betting on himself. This approach led him to score the most points in a championship game by an undrafted player in the 2019 NBA finals and help lead his team to a title. Struggling with the choice to stay in Toronto or have a fresh start with a struggling franchise, VanVleet accepted the challenge to start over in a new city and hopes to make an immediate impact as a leader with the young Rockets’ roster. Ryan asks him what he does for fun and if he ever smiles, as he’s known for his serious all work attitude but as usual Channing and the guys get him to break the ice and share a few laughs and stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Here's your report.

• 0:01Speaker 01

  Oh, thanks, Jane. I wish I could hire someone just like you.

• 0:04Speaker 00

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• 0:20Speaker 01

  Let's do it. You're irreplaceable, Jane, but another you would be great.

• 0:24Speaker 00

  Hire right the first time. Post your job for free on LinkedIn today at LinkedIn.com/quality.

• 0:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I look like a lot of people.

• 0:31Ryan Clark?

  They call it like...

• 0:33Speaker 02

  Light-skinned with a beard.

• 0:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, they called him, they called him Drake for like the first three days.

• 0:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 0:38Ryan Clark?

  Then one of the homies called him Van Vliet, and that just stuck.

• 0:40Speaker 02

  Light-skinned with a beard, that's probably like 3,000 barbers that be DMing me.

• 0:46Speaker 02

  Say they look like me.

• 0:47Channing Crowder?

  That ain't nothing but jealousy.

• 0:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, you know it.

• 0:49Channing Crowder?

  Put your Hustler shirt on. I got this. Coop, me and Asia went over there the other day. That's when I bought it. That's that nucky in the middle. That's supposed to be a coochie.

• 0:58Channing Crowder?

  That's supposed to be a coochie. I thought it was cool, 'cause a hustler could be like, "I'm a hustler, I'm grinding." And if you really look at it, you'd be like, "I think that's a coochie."

• 1:04Ryan Clark?

  An infrared coochie?

• 1:06Channing Crowder?

  Man, we got some little injecting things that you put the lube in there, and it's like a... Stop, bruh. Never mind.

• 1:37Ryan Clark?

  Hey, man, welcome to the business, bruh.

• 1:41Ryan Clark?

  Hey, also too, man, I just want to say, basketball players, y'all look different. We've shot in a lot of offseason homes and temporary spots or new spots. This one is really up there. I felt like I walked into Nas' house on Belly. You know what I mean? Chan, Freddie T, Fred Van Vliet, man, we just appreciate your time. It's big time for you. You are a guy that's gone from undrafted...

• 2:09Ryan Clark?

  NBA champion, one of the greatest closeout quarters in finals history. You become an All-Star, but now you're moving on. Drake called y'all with the Guandango.

• 2:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, Dragons.

• 2:20Ryan Clark?

  Dragons, he was hating a little bit on your way out. But you're now the Houston Rockets, 130 million dollar man. We were talking about the way the money is moving in the NBA. But a lot of people with your story or the way you got into the league never get to that money. Fifth undrafted guy to ever be an All-Star. I want to know, and this is probably like a question that usually happens later. What's the difference between the dude that decided to pass up the G League contracts and go play in the Summer League to the guy now that has 130 million dollar contract? That's going to be expected to lead the Houston Rockets back to playoff contention after they finish what tied for the second worst record in the league? What's the difference in between those two guys?

• 3:04Speaker 02

  Not much, not much. I mean, obviously, life is a little bit better. Like, I can't lie about that. Mentality the same, a little older, a little wiser, a little smarter. Same drive, same everything, and just the vision. You got a division to come in, the way I came into the league, knowing where I wanted to get to, knowing that I was capable of making it to this point. You know what I'm saying? So if you ask what's the difference, I couldn't really tell you. You know, I always feel the same way. Anybody that's known me, that's loved me, they know that this is really who I am. I've been like this since, you know, as old as I can remember. And, you know, everything else that comes along the way. People who haven't been inside the story are surprised and enamored by all of the things that I've been able to do.

• 3:48Speaker 02

  But like, we just expect to do it, you know? And then we're more surprised when it don't happen than when it do, you know?

• 3:54Channing Crowder?

  What's the difference? Like you're saying, undrafted, go in, no expectations.

• 3:58Speaker 02

  Right.

• 3:58Channing Crowder?

  You know what I'm saying? And you know Toronto loves you.

• 4:01Speaker 02

  Right.

• 4:02Channing Crowder?

  Because they gave the chance on you.

• 4:03Speaker 02

  Right.

• 4:04Channing Crowder?

  Now somebody, when I gave you 130, you really don't know them dudes yet.

• 4:07Speaker 02

  Right.

• 4:07Channing Crowder?

  You really don't, you really don't vibe with them like that. But now they're putting that, I don't want to say pressure, but isn't more pressure with the money? Got to be a team leader, and you really don't know the people that you're going to the new organization with?

• 4:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, it's definitely more pressure. It's a lot of pressure, you know? Obviously, when you sign that dotted line, anything, you know, nine figures is. It's pressure, right? From a franchise, from a city, from an ownership standpoint, you know, they putting a lot of money behind me and what I'm able to contribute. What I will say though is I think that being in the spot that the team is in right now, I think is really only up from here. So, just like if you add to that with put some vets in there like we did with the young crew that they got, I'm excited about, you know, some of the things that we'll be able to do. And it's like that sweet spot of trying to turn young talent into something. And I think, you know, that's one thing that I'll be able to do is get the best out of my teammates.

• 4:58Fred Taylor?

  Man, we gonna get back to the money in a minute. Cause Houston Strip Club, boy, I'm sure they, and that's usually Channing's intro right there.

• 5:07Channing Crowder?

  What was that? Onyx, I think Onyx.

• 5:08Fred Taylor?

  Onyx, definitely down there. That's a lot of ones.

• 5:11Channing Crowder?

  Don't go upstairs.

• 5:13Fred Taylor?

  Got it, got it, heard you.

• 5:15Channing Crowder?

  Let the man get the money first. I'm sorry.

• 5:17Ryan Clark?

  You're at eighty-five already.

• 5:18Fred Taylor?

  That ain't.

• 5:19Ryan Clark?

  This is the second time?

• 5:21Fred Taylor?

  Really just talking about mindset, based on what RC was saying and, you know, you got the podcast, Bet on Yourself, that's the mindset. Back in your youth, you stay with your local AAU and then go to the big time AAUs. And you recorded and said, if they see you competing and winning with guys that you shouldn't be winning with, maybe that's an even bigger advantage for you. Speak to your mindset, like, when did that develop? Like, what throughout your childhood led you to be that way? Cause a lot of guys, especially in this day and age, they see superstars jumping from ship, team to team. A lot of kids wanna go that way, even in football. They wanna go to the winning organization, the Alabama's, I hate to say this, the LSUs, you know, and things of that nature. They don't wanna go in and they wanna be a winner.

• 6:06Speaker 02

  Right.

• 6:06Fred Taylor?

  Take the easy road, but you wanna compete. Like, what struck that mindset?

• 6:10Speaker 02

  Like you said, just being a competitor in itself and just any time that I step on the court, you know, feeling like I have a chance. Proving that over and over, time and time again. And then, you know, just who I am as a person. Like, I would much rather, at that age, do it with my friends than hop in the car and drive either an hour to the Chicago, or get on a plane and fly to play with people that I've never met before. And that's kind of more so like a small-town thing, where it's like, you know who you know. And, you know, the same people that I grew up with is the same people that I'm still with, you know, here today, at 29. So, those two things, having a small-town mentality and just being a competitor. And then, as I got older, I mean, we would go to the tournaments and we would play against those teams.

• 6:53Speaker 02

  And if we weren't winning, we were losing, you know, by less than five. And so, AAU, as long as you can make it to the Sunday where the championships is played in the right bracket, all the coaches in the gym, anyway.

• 7:05Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 7:05Speaker 02

  I'd rather be playing with my guys, competing against the teams that's got all the money than on the other side. And then, my friends wouldn't even be in this tournament at all. You know what I'm saying? So, that's how I looked at it.

• 7:16Fred Taylor?

  It took us a minute to come up with the name for our podcast, The P.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:21Fred Taylor?

  How long did it take you to come up with Bet on Yourself?

• 7:23Speaker 02

  Uh, it didn't take no time at all. I mean, I was really born out of my draft night, you know, and then, ever since then, I just ran with it. But, it's one of those things where, just kind of putting words on my lifestyle, my character, and my personality, anyway. Like, that's just my personality, is to bet on myself. So, once those words became a thing, then, you know, pretty much everything I do kind of reflected that.

• 7:48Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I mean, you tweeted it, what, it was, uh, June 23rd, 2016?

• 7:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:53Ryan Clark?

  Things don't become, like, that can't be the name of your podcast, if you stink.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Right.

• 7:58Ryan Clark?

  If you never make it, if you never become a bench player that contributes, that becomes a starter, that becomes an All-Star, nobody wants to listen to you on a podcast. Anyway, Fred spoke to the mindset of not team-jumping and doing those things. I'm an undrafted guy as well. Stories very similar, right? I started three years at LSU. You know, I was all-conference, all SEC at LSU. When you play 36 games in a row and start there, you expect to be drafted. And then you put in that position where you aren't. You were a Missouri Valley conference player twice. And so you don't get that call. And I heard you say one time you were kind of upset with your agent about taking the 18, you know, workouts at 30 days. But when you finally got that basketball in your hand,

• 8:43Ryan Clark?

  with an opportunity to go up against some of those dudes that were drafted, whether it be that year or the year before, what gave you so much confidence in knowing that you could one day be in this spot by betting on yourself?

• 8:54Speaker 02

  Again, I think just being a competitor in itself and knowing the class, knowing the class rankings. So like Fred said, being an A U and playing against all of those top teams my whole life, like I always knew where I was in the class. And regardless of what somebody wrote as a ranking or whatever, shoe deal came with a certain team. Like I knew if I play against you and you were ranked number one and I bust your ass, I know I'm decent. And I just always kept that. And so that followed me all the way through college, had success in college. And then once I got to the league, I was more so looking up and seeing, you know, could I hang with some of the other top competitions? So it's more so just a basketball thing of being on the court and having a feel for where you are.

• 9:38Speaker 02

  And, you know, made it to training camp and I was, I felt good after the first day.

• 9:43Ryan Clark?

  People mess up your name a lot. I'm just gonna be honest. I pretty much practiced it the whole flight up here. I was like, bro, don't call this man Van Fleet. Which I didn't realize, I probably do sometimes just saying it fast for whatever reason. But people do know your name now because of your accomplishments. But it also goes to your first name as well. That's your mother's name, Van Fleet. But your father was Fred Manning. And your father was killed when you were young. And you were raised with a stepdad that poured into you, not just from a love and emotional standpoint, but taught you that hard work. Having someone step in and take care of a young man that's not his child like his own and give him that work ethic,

• 10:28Ryan Clark?

  what is that relationship like between you and your stepfather?

• 10:31Speaker 02

  Oh, it was great today. It was tough back then. You know, it was tough at first. Just being a stubborn arrogant kid, you know, he really took like a ball of fire. You know, I was more emotional and just, you know, hot-headed back then. And he really just taught me how to be a man. And I didn't actually appreciate it until probably like my first year of college. You know, we butted heads all through childhood. And then when I went away to school, I got a greater appreciation for, you know, some of the lessons and things that he instilled in me. So it was, it was cool like to see our relationship come full circle. But I mean, when I was nine, 10, 11, I hated him.

• 11:08Channing Crowder?

  Did you understand, because you were young when your father passed?

• 11:11Speaker 02

  Right.

• 11:11Channing Crowder?

  Do you remember it? And was that a pivotal point in your, in your, in your mind or your life?

• 11:16Speaker 02

  No, I remember it like vividly. That's the crazy part. And it's, it tripped me out because, you know, my son is four now. So he wasn't much older than I was. You know what I'm saying? My dad was 29. So it's, it's real similar. It's crazy. But I remember when that happened. I remember being numb. I remember them telling me, you know, how it happened. Like I remember all my family reactions. Like I remember a lot of it. But the biggest thing, the older I got, the more I realized how numb it made me. And unless you've been through tragedy, it's hard to like relate to it. But it just made me super numb to everything. And then it just was like, all right, I'm just focused on what I want to do.

• 11:53Channing Crowder?

  Did that make you the basketball player you are?

• 11:55Speaker 02

  Absolutely. And it gave me purpose too, from an early age. Because it was like, okay, if I go down this road, this is what's gonna happen. And that was, that was drilled in me from five years old. So it was like, all right, I know I can't do that. So I'm gonna go over here and do this. And I'm gonna put everything I do into that so that, you know, I don't end up that way.

• 12:16Channing Crowder?

  What were some of those challenges?

• 12:18Speaker 02

  I think just growing up in the environment that we grew up in, you know, it's like a place that doesn't have professional athletes, doesn't have a professional team, don't see much success outside of what you see in the street. You know, that was who we really looked up to in the neighborhood. And so not being able to like physically see it in person, so. Really, we was brainwashed into not being like the people we knew. You don't want to be like that. And that's a weird way to grow up as a kid, to only use a negative example. But, I mean, it worked for me. I never wanted to be average and I never wanted to end up like, you know, all of the bad stories that you end up hearing.

• 12:56Fred Taylor?

  Does that help you, as your relationship develops with Freddie Jr., does that help you sort of develop a mindset to say, "I'm gonna steer this direction" as opposed to, you know, some of the things I've seen before in my upbringing?

• 13:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, absolutely. And it's, I mean, he gonna have a whole different world to live in than what I have. But more than anything, just understanding how much a kid can remember. And they learn by seeing. You know, they gonna do what you do more than what you tell them to do. So, just always, like, I get up and I get up early. I make him wake up with me. I make him get ready. I make him brush his teeth, wash his face. I take him to the gym with me. Like, we got a whole routine. And so, it's just cool for me to be able to do that, you know, with my little one.

• 13:38Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 13:39Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I think our experiences really shape the type of fathers we become, the type of men we become. And you got to deal with the loss of a father and then having to understand the man that raised you. And so, you'll see your son's view from different perspectives and prisms, but it's gonna be a different life, too.

• 13:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, for sure.

• 13:59Ryan Clark?

  You know what I mean? It's gonna be a different way that he gets to grow up, different opportunities. He's gonna be seen differently than you are.

• 14:05Speaker 02

  Right.

• 14:05Ryan Clark?

  When you think about what you've been able to provide through hooping and been able to give your family compared to how you grew up, how much pride, man, do you have? And not necessarily the success, but the work you put in that you do get to show your family. And like you said, the people that were in the small circle around you.

• 14:25Speaker 02

  Right, that's the ultimate pride, you know? That's really the reason why I do it, is to take everybody along for the ride. I mean, this is like the shit that we dream about. You know, this is what you think about in the backyard. You know, five, four, three, two, one. You know, we sit around in the basement just watching ESPN, watching SportsCenter, looking at different things.

• 14:45Speaker 02

  So it's like, we all still have all those memories. And then, you know, to see it unfold, I'm not even really appreciating it, you know, the best that I can because I'm still focused on all of the other things that I want to still continue to do. But that's why I keep everybody close to me, you know, just to keep me grounded.

• 15:02Ryan Clark?

  Well, you know, man, we've been working on this a while. I hit you up a while ago, tried to get it done. And everybody's like, just wait, you know, wait till the off-season. And I'll be honest, I'm sitting around, I'm like, what am I waiting for? I was like, he got a chip already? Like, he also, you know, because like, a lot of times, people are waiting to accomplish certain things. You don't know how many times we hear, man, let us try to win this Super Bowl.

• 15:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:25Ryan Clark?

  Well, man, like, your team ain't won a Super Bowl in a long time. Like, if we gonna wait on that, we may never get you on the show.

• 15:31Speaker 02

  Right.

• 15:31Ryan Clark?

  You know what I'm saying? So it's always like, something else that people are trying to achieve. And now, as you move on to Houston, it's a different sort of challenge for you, right? Like, you don't have to prove who you are as a player anymore.

• 15:46Speaker 02

  Right.

• 15:46Ryan Clark?

  People knew you could hoop. But now, it's like, okay, can this man lead a team?

• 15:50Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 15:51Ryan Clark?

  Right? This is a long way from coming off the pick and roll with Siakam and hitting the three from the top of the key and putting your team up to win it. Like, this is gonna be building from the ground up. Already saw you out running heels with Jalen recently. Y'all got Dillon Brooks. When you look at this new challenge, which is you being in a different position, how are you approaching who you're gonna be once you walk into that locker room?

• 16:15Speaker 02

  I'm just gonna be myself. I think that's the best thing that I learned about myself this year. And part of the reason why we never got to do it during the year is because I had a fucked-up year. You know, personally, one of my worst seasons, and as a team, not a great season for our standard in Toronto. So, just learning, you know, a lot about what it takes to lead a team, to be one of the guys on the team, to take the blame, to take the critiques. And so, more often than not, you get pulled in so many different directions. You trying to please these people over here, and please these people, and you just, you trying to serve everybody else instead of just, you know, walking in and standing tall and being yourself. So, it's a great fit. It's a breath of fresh air for me because part of the recruiting process was like, look,

• 16:59Speaker 02

  we just want you to come here and be yourself. And that alone is gonna help raise some of these guys' level with the professionalism, the way you work every day, leading, you know, helping the team. So, I'm excited about it.

• 17:12Channing Crowder?

  And, and bruh, being around you a little bit now, talking before the show, you got a little dog in you.

• 17:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, just a little bit.

• 17:19Channing Crowder?

  And then you bring up Pascal Siakam. I know you know, heard the stories that came out. I didn't hear it from your mouth. They say y'all two was starting beef with the team last year.

• 17:27Speaker 02

  That's what they said?

• 17:28Channing Crowder?

  They say y'all was starting beef with the team. Y'all didn't like the young guys and all this stuff. And then I saw you as a, what, you unfollowed Scotty Barnes? He unfollowed you and you followed him back. I don't understand the social. It was all kind of shit I read before that. Were you and Pascal Siakam starting shit, starting beef with the team? Did y'all were frustrated with the roster or something else I saw?

• 17:50Speaker 02

  No, I think that any, like anything is blown out of proportion.

• 17:56Speaker 02

  And the thing about nowadays, if you don't speak to a rumor, it becomes true. So what I will say is, for a team that have been, I don't know the exact number, at least one of the top three winningest teams in the decade from 2010 to 2020, the Raptors. Having a season that we had with a team that had just got to the fifth seed the year before, it was a letdown for everybody. And just the same way when you win championship and everybody level raises and everybody gets paid and everybody wins accolades. When you, when you underperform, it's the same. The coach gets fired.

• 18:30Channing Crowder?

  Yep.

• 18:31Speaker 02

  Your starting point guard is no longer there. Your best player on the team is now on the, you know, trade rumors every day. So it goes hand to hand. There's a, there was a mix of guys that had been there, new guys trying to prove themselves. It didn't work out. It wasn't a great fit. For whatever reason, the chemistry didn't click. And that's probably the most I can say about that. But to those stories that's coming out, I mean, I can't do nothing about that. I can't. I still got a great relationship with everybody that was there. If there was any issues with me personally, they was never addressed personally. So.

• 19:07Channing Crowder?

  But that's something else that football doesn't have. Like you hear about basketball players going up to talk to the GM, going up to talk, like, y'all really have input. Is that true? Cause we, if, I wouldn't dare go talk to the GM about a dude that I know can't play. Man, that's, y'all think, Tim, I'm gonna leave that the hell alone.

• 19:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. No, I think to a certain level, yeah, I think so. I think there's more.

• 19:27Speaker 06

  Blowing ad budget on metrics that look great till the CFO sees them, that's bullspend. And marketers are calling it out in Dashboard Confessions.

• 19:37Speaker 07

  I remember telling my boss, "It'll be good for the brand," when leads were slow. Yeah, it wasn't.

• 19:44Speaker 06

  Cut the bullspend. LinkedIn lets you target by company, job title, and more. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 19:58Speaker 02

  Collaboration, especially with the top players, because it's a fine line of like, we gotta make this work between the egos and emotions. And football is more positional. So it's like, you got your job, you got your position, coach. You know, y'all got your own separate meetings. Like, it's a lot more tight-knit than the whole team. You gotta manage everybody together. So there may be conversations here and there, but it's also, we're in the middle of like, a new generation, too. So a whole new generation of kids that's entering the NBA that's a little bit different from more say how I was brought up in the game, too. And I think that's where you're seeing some of the...

• 20:37Channing Crowder?

  Oh, these babies soft. I say it all the time. These young boys are different, man.

• 20:43Ryan Clark?

  It's a strange, but you're not old, though.

• 20:46Channing Crowder?

  No.

• 20:46Ryan Clark?

  Like, you talk like our generation. You know what I mean? Your demeanor is very much like it. The sort of loyalty you show to the people that you grew up with and say, "I'm gonna play with them, and if I could get..." And that's almost like an everybody goes together sort of relationship to have with friends and community. That's not how they grow up now. That's not how they push you to brand yourself. That's not how they push you to market yourself and say, "Okay, this is who I am individually." The game has changed a lot from team. How difficult has it been for you to deal with that change and adjust to it? You know, because sometimes, like, I know my personality is not good with it. Like, I train guys in the league now, and if they're recruiting somebody

• 21:31Ryan Clark?

  or somebody tells them they wanna come train with me, they give them the rundown before they get there. He's like this, he talks like this. This is the way he addresses things. He wants eye-to-eye contact when he's having a conversation. Don't whisper nothing under your breath. And if you wanna throw hands, y'all could throw hands. Y'all could be cool. Like, you know, and that's different. I know I wouldn't work in every locker room. How's that adjustment been for you?

• 21:51Speaker 02

  No, it's tough, for sure. And I mean, I know, like, age-wise, I'm not that old, but I still... I'm like right in the middle, you know what I'm saying? So like the first half of my childhood, there was no social media. It was play outside X, Y, and Z. Once I get to high school, then boom. So it's like I'm kinda right in the middle on that line. So I'm understanding there's a whole new generation that's coming after me. But I mean, more than anything, you just gotta be able to adapt and adjust. And I learned a lot, you know? Always gotta keep learning and try to find better ways to, to deal with things. But I think that, you know, my two years with the new team that we had in Toronto, I think is gonna give me a lot of valuable experience going forward, you know, for my next situation. And, you know, you just gotta be able to learn from it.

• 22:34Fred Taylor?

  If you had to go back to the crib and, and coach the kids, I think I saw your foundation shirts over there. Like what Fred walks in, in the building? Fred with the old school mindset? Or give them some leeway and kinda let them float along with, you know, what Ryan was saying?

• 22:50Speaker 02

  Oh, I don't play that shit at home, though. Not at home, like I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm full tilt when I'm at home because I'm home. This is, we got a whole different setup than anybody else in the world. Like we don't get opportunities, we don't get, so we gotta be a thousand percent, all the way right, buttoned up, on time, you know, looking in the eyes, all of that stuff. So, yeah, I cuss kids out my whole camp. Anytime I work out with kids, like, don't bring your kids to me, I'm cussing them out. Because we go, we gotta get them right.

• 23:21Ryan Clark?

  Hey, kids go, mom don't ever bring me back to, and you know, and they mess the name up when they get home too. I ain't never going back to my flea shit.

• 23:30Fred Taylor?

  My soft ass kid. Man, dad, I remember one summer, we put them in summer camp and they came home and they was like, dad, the kids say bad words at the camp. So I'm like, alright, what's the words they were saying? He said a little boy, all he kept saying was, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga, nigga. I'm like, that's some, that's some bad words? But my kids, they hadn't been exposed to us.

• 23:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:56Fred Taylor?

  Because the middle schools and the schools they were coming up in.

• 23:59Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:59Fred Taylor?

  We're the minorities, for real, you know, he's Hispanic, he's Caucasian, he's white. But when they got in the hood, tried to toughen them up, they was like, nigga. Excuse me, like, was a bad word. But you gotta get them out there, you gotta expose them, right? So, you gotta be tough on them.

• 24:14Speaker 02

  You got to.

• 24:15Fred Taylor?

  You gotta be tough.

• 24:16Speaker 02

  That's the only way I know how to do it, so, I mean. In a professional setting, it's always gonna be a different person than, you know, when I'm home, comfortable with my people, for sure.

• 24:25Ryan Clark?

  Let's talk about something good, man. Let's talk about the run. It's Jurassic Park outside the arena.

• 24:31Fred Taylor?

  Does it involve the Miami Heat?

• 24:33Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 24:33Fred Taylor?

  I know. I didn't like you then, bro.

• 24:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:36Fred Taylor?

  I mean, I'm just saying, I know, I know. We good now, we solid, solid. But I'm a Heat.

• 24:43Ryan Clark?

  You know, they said, they said, normally, good things happen around the time you have kids.

• 24:47Fred Taylor?

  Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

• 24:48Ryan Clark?

  In your life, man, and, you know, you guys go on that run, you know, everybody, it's the, the classic picture of Kawhi squatting in the corner, you know, after he hits the shot against Philadelphia. Obviously, you have the great run in the finals. You chasing Steph off all the screens, you know, he actually mentions you post-game after you guys win. You had that historic fourth quarter. What was that run like for you individually and team-wise? Like, I was prepared to just ask you about the run for you, but just seeing how your mind works, I know for you to bring something to Toronto like that and be a big part of it was huge for you.

• 25:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think you gotta go back to my first two years, which was like 57 wins or 59 wins both years, one second year was Coach of the Year. So, we had, we thought we had a championship teams. Two years in a row, we got swept by LeBron, we just didn't have an answer, you know what I'm saying?

• 25:45Ryan Clark?

  It's a little different.

• 25:45Speaker 02

  Okay, but when you competing, I don't want to hear that shit. You know what I'm saying? Like, you can't think like that in a moment, right? So, fast forward to the third year, that run, people don't realize is about two and a half months. Right, so the season's over in April. Uh, April 15th playoffs probably start. I think the finals is ending in June, middle of June, right? So, about two months of extra basketball. So, it's a lot of ups and downs. Luckily, we had Kawhi to, to do most of the heavy lifting, but we had a lot of other great, you know, performances. I actually didn't even play that well the first two series. You know, just dealing with a lot of different stuff. My son is born and then, you know, I get hot. And it was really just like being in the zone.

• 26:28Speaker 02

  Anybody who's ever been in the zone, you just know how that feel. But I was able to do it for two weeks, you know, three weeks, whatever it was. So, yeah, special, special time for sure.

• 26:37Ryan Clark?

  I mean, it's gotta be good at some point, huh, Chan? This is a Fred and Channing question, to win the light-skinned wars.

• 26:44Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:44Ryan Clark?

  You know, you know what I mean?

• 26:46Channing Crowder?

  Oh, I was a Red, fellas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why I hate when you and Steph was playing against each other. I'm like, man, we got a civil war going on between us Reds, right?

• 27:00Channing Crowder?

  Figuring out that with Steph, like, you just brought up Bron too. And we, we all watched it, we watched what happened. Like, when you play them dudes, and I'll say you wasn't established like that then.

• 27:09Speaker 02

  Right.

• 27:10Channing Crowder?

  When Bron's out there doing what he did, do you feel defenseless? Cause watching it, it looks defenseless, like them boys can't do nothing.

• 27:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, sometimes, yes. Like, he, he had a second or third quarter against us. One of them playoff series where he just decided he was gonna just shoot turnaround jumpers the whole quarter. And there's just nothing you can do. Off glass, all net, like, you knew what move he was gonna do. And he still did it, and there's nothing you can do. And it used to be a lot more of those, like, older, you know, you just knew Kobe was gonna take you out. Like, there's certain guys, but Bron definitely.

• 27:46Speaker 02

  Gave us a couple of those performances where it was just like, I mean, what you gonna do?

• 27:50Channing Crowder?

  Yeah.

• 27:51Speaker 02

  Especially me, like, I mean, what the hell, what am I gonna do? It ain't nothing I could do, you know what I'm saying? Steph is a little different, cause like, alright, you know, I feel a little bit better, like, he's more closer to my side. You know what I'm saying? But, yeah, Bron was on a different time.

• 28:04Channing Crowder?

  And to that point, cause I know when, we talked about it earlier, there's more people on the football sideline.

• 28:10Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 28:10Channing Crowder?

  So, and I went out one time, Randy Moss caught four touchdowns on us in the game, and I'm looking at the corner, his name might have been Jason Allen. And you just lean up and stare at him like, do something, trip him, kick him, do something, don't let him dog you.

• 28:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:25Channing Crowder?

  When somebody's on Bron, or you on Steph.

• 28:27Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:27Channing Crowder?

  Cause Steph got off on you a couple times.

• 28:29Speaker 02

  No, he got off a lot.

• 28:30Channing Crowder?

  Okay, I just, we in your house, I ain't wanna get kicked out.

• 28:33Speaker 02

  No, he got off a lot.

• 28:34Channing Crowder?

  Like, do y'all, do y'all encourage him, and do you be looking at him like, Bron, get in front of him, do something?

• 28:39Speaker 02

  No, me, I, I had like, dirty football coaches growing up, so I got, still got that in my mind. So, it's like, certain things, you know, is just disrespectful when you on defense. So, it's like, I'm always thinking like, just do something, just make him think about it, you know? It was, one time, he was, he was spinning, he was jab stepping, and he was just fixing the laces, and he shot one. Another time, he fell into the stands and he took a sip of beer, and jumped back in, like, shit like that. I'm looking like, nah, we can't go for that. So, I actually tried to get, get with him one time, just, you know, just to shake the momentum up. But it was like, it just, there was nothing we could do.

• 29:16Ryan Clark?

  Basketball is a different sport too, because when all else fails in football, you just think physicality.

• 29:22Speaker 02

  Right.

• 29:23Ryan Clark?

  You know, it's like, I'm just gonna run down, put my face on him, and we gonna see what happens. For y'all, it's such a different sport, and also, man, we get to watch your reactions while it's happening. You know, if Steph hits the three, and he's coming down, shimmying, and doing all that stuff, like, we're watching you, whether you're defeated by it, whether you pissed off, and you wanna put hands on him. Have, when you went for 54. That night, did you have that same feeling from the other side though? He was like, hey, I know ain't nothing, none of y'all can do. It's the most ever scored by an undrafted player. Probably will stand the test of time. When you get into a zone like that, what's that feeling like?

• 30:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, especially, I mean, if they're not gonna send a double or nothing, or a switch up, nothing they gonna do, like, I mean, they, yeah, it's just a shooting drill at that point. For me, that night was just one of them zones that you get in and I find my spots. I had, luckily, I had Kyle Lowry to just kind of run the show and I could just run around and shoot. Yeah, that was like, just, it was like a workout with human comms.

• 30:23Ryan Clark?

  See what I'm saying? Like, I don't, I don't understand that though, right? Because like, when I go shoot basketball, even if I get hot, that's five for 10.

• 30:31Speaker 02

  Right.

• 30:32Ryan Clark?

  And that's a good day, like, I, I, I leave, I leave the over, over 40 hoop session at LA Fitness feeling good. I go stop and get a smoothie, everything, you know, I call my son, FaceTime, yeah, you know, I was on their head today.

• 30:45Speaker 08

  I, I show knees.

• 30:46Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, yeah, right, right. When, you know, you, you're playing with Kawhi and you go on that run and, you know, you talked about the way y'all even started your career. And now you mentioned losing last year. And it's almost, it gets to the point, you're the All-Star now, right? You're the guy now. And it's, all these things happened to get me to this point. I get a ring, we become one of those teams that's a perennial playoff performer. And now when it's my time, this is what it's like. How difficult was that for you, just individually? You said yourself, it was one of my worst individual years. How hard was last year for you?

• 31:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was tough. It was just a lot of things going on at once. But, I mean, you always gotta try to have great perspective. And that's one thing that I've been able to be blessed with is just having vision and feel to know there's a lot that goes into it. So, as a competitor, as somebody that's super proud and prideful, like, you always, I'm always my worst critic and I'm always way harder on myself than anybody. So, you can kind of pile up on yourself. But, I mean, if you really just look around and pay attention to what's going on, like... The NBA is changing, you know, the landscape is changing, there's more parity. You look around the league, there's other guys, great players that, you know, is in similar situations. So you just gotta try to find that balance of like, being honest with yourself, seeing what you can be better at,

• 32:07Speaker 02

  but also being realistic too.

• 32:09Ryan Clark?

  How much does an L really hurt though? Like, he didn't care.

• 32:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:13Ryan Clark?

  Like, I care, you know, we.

• 32:15Channing Crowder?

  How you gonna say I didn't care?

• 32:16Ryan Clark?

  Cause you say it all the time, that you used to count your money before the game started.

• 32:19Channing Crowder?

  I, I wanted to win, but I also knew I was making seventeen thousand a year, one twenty-three thousand a game too.

• 32:24Speaker 02

  You had tussies, the Rolex.

• 32:26Channing Crowder?

  I would party to celebrate.

• 32:28Speaker 02

  You was one of them, you was one of them. Yeah, I'm still one of them.

• 32:31Channing Crowder?

  Huh?

• 32:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:34Channing Crowder?

  Let's say hypothetically, cause that's a good word.

• 32:36Speaker 02

  Yes, it is.

• 32:36Channing Crowder?

  Don't tell nothing. I had a table every Saturday night. Yeah, you have to celebrate them on.

• 32:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:41Channing Crowder?

  But the people in the club was celebrating them on it with me.

• 32:45Speaker 02

  Amen.

• 32:45Channing Crowder?

  I, I was a shirt off guy.

• 32:46Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 32:47Channing Crowder?

  You ever take your shirt off in the club?

• 32:49Speaker 02

  Nah.

• 32:50Channing Crowder?

  You never?

• 32:51Speaker 02

  Nah.

• 32:51Channing Crowder?

  Even at twenty-one?

• 32:53Speaker 02

  Nah.

• 32:53Channing Crowder?

  Man, I worked too hard not to show them what I got.

• 32:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:55Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, I'm like a woman, they can wear a little, they can wear a little clothes.

• 32:58Ryan Clark?

  You also have to realize what your face and teeth look like at that time as well.

• 33:02Speaker 02

  The cameras wasn't as crazy back then.

• 33:03Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, it killed me back then.

• 33:06Ryan Clark?

  You, you weren't a ten yet, now you a ten, you ain't gotta do that.

• 33:08Channing Crowder?

  They used to let me get on the stage at the strip club and dance with the girls on the stage.

• 33:13Speaker 02

  You can't do that in twenty twenty-three.

• 33:14Channing Crowder?

  You can't, cause they, remember Lil Wayne's song, "The Wildcat Offense"? Check my paw print, I could really run the thing with the stripper. I told the story before, I used to kick my leg and the stripper would act like she snapped the ball and I would run the little hand fake and then take off.

• 33:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, you might get cut if you do that.

• 33:30Fred Taylor?

  So check, with, with the legends that have gone through Toronto, Vince, T Mac, Chris Bosh, you would think one of those guys would be the single game high point person. But speaking to that fifty-four that RC was talking about, is it, is it more special knowing that you're the high point man, uh, over those guys? Or you're the high point man in NBA history, undrafted person, uh, player?

• 33:56Speaker 02

  Both, because you just gotta know your history. I mean, if you think about all of the great undrafted players that's come along, and then you look at all of the players that's, I mean, just off the top, you know, T-Mac, Vince, Chris Bosh, Hall of Famers. DeMar, Kyle Lowry, Right. Kawhi, like, that's six. Yeah. You know, right there. We could just stop right there. And so, yeah, I mean, I took a lot of pride in it, but again, I'm like a different person on the court. So it was like, all of these things I expected to do. It would be nice when I would have 30 and people was, you know, going crazy. And I'm in my head, I'm like, I should have had 60. So it was like, it was something I expected when it happened. I couldn't, you know, believe it, but it's like, I mean, that's what I do. You know what I mean?

• 34:41Speaker 02

  So I never really looked at it like that.

• 34:42Ryan Clark?

  I feel like we're striking out with basketball players, right? I wanted to actually do a show with a basketball player who acted like a basketball player. Right? Like, I don't want a tough one, right? I want one that does go to the club a lot.

• 34:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:57Ryan Clark?

  I want one that doesn't care about winning or leaving the locker room, right? We had him and Chris Paul.

• 35:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:03Ryan Clark?

  Right? Two mean mother effers, you know what I'm saying? Like, two guys who so for win.

• 35:09Speaker 00

  Here's your report.

• 35:11Speaker 01

  Oh, thanks, Jane. I wish I could hire someone just like you.

• 35:14Speaker 00

  Try LinkedIn Hiring Pro. It's more than a job board. It's like the recruiter you always wished you had. Hiring Pro uses real-time insights to match your role to LinkedIn's unique network of professionals and delivers a shortlist of best-fit candidates. You'll spend less time sorting applicants and more time talking to the right people.

• 35:30Speaker 01

  Let's do it. You're irreplaceable, Jane, but another you would be great.

• 35:34Speaker 00

  Hire right the first time. Post your job for free on LinkedIn today at LinkedIn.com/quality.

• 35:40Ryan Clark?

  You want to relax, Fred, and like, you actually want to become human, man, and laugh. Like, what do you do? Like, what do you, when you won the championship and they ask you at the game, you's like, well, Kawhi can't take all the shots.

• 35:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:51Ryan Clark?

  You know what I'm saying? Like, when do you relax, man, and just enjoy what you've accomplished?

• 35:55Speaker 02

  Uh, vacation. Vacation, that's my time. I like to travel, vacation, beach. But that's only like two weeks out the year. You know what I'm saying? The rest of the time is I'm trying to figure it out. Obviously, when I'm home with my kids and my family, like, you know, it's a different me as well, but... I just, I don't know. I just, we don't borrow time, man. That's just how I wake up every day and, you know, you gotta try to make the most out of it, you know, while you can.

• 36:19Ryan Clark?

  You been with your lady a long time.

• 36:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:22Ryan Clark?

  I always find, you know, those stories interesting because there is so many times, there's so many different options. And for, one, for her to stay down in the way she has and for you to be that way, that sort of loyalty is something that's unique in today's world. As you guys are building your family throughout your success, how much do you use that as a foundation to make sure that no matter what happens in the gym, no matter what happens in the season, like, I know that's why I always come back to, to find my peace.

• 36:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, that's the rock, you know, that's, it's always been like that. And more, more earlier than now, it was my way of like just staying focused, you know, like I would go to the gym, I would be with her. I'd go to the gym, I'd be with her. She went to school with me, so it was like I wasn't really running around doing too much. But yeah, just building that and having somebody that you could share that with, you know, it means the most. Also, it's a small town thing where you meet your childhood sweetheart, you just stay with her, you know, your whole life. Like, that's just what we know, you know what I mean? So I didn't really know no better. But, um, all this time later, you know, here we are. I'll tell the real story, you know, probably when I'm retired. Because you gotta keep it PC now, but she been, she been thugging, bro. She, she's, she been right there the whole time.

• 37:38Speaker 02

  And it's a, it's a huge blessing, especially, you know, once you make it professionally, you hear all the stories and you read about things that's going on, or you got teammates in the locker room telling you about their situations. Like, I've been super blessed, for sure. You like to travel. Um, you ever do any nudist colonies? No, no, that's, that's, that's a little bit outside of my, uh, my range there, but, but you a wild boy, though. I was gonna tell you that. I obviously, I watch y'all's show. Right, that's his first stop. I just had to throw it out there. You know this one in Toronto.

• 38:08Channing Crowder?

  This one in Toronto?

• 38:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's in the city, too. I rolled past it on accident.

• 38:13Channing Crowder?

  No, not accident.

• 38:14Speaker 02

  No, it was an accident. We was on a boat, we was going, on a boat, going through the, uh, the water. And you just on the boat and, and we jumped in the water, just chilling, and then there was a dude just swam past us. Ass naked. You looking like, what? And then you look up on the beach and there's a whole bunch of naked people there.

• 38:31Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, because it's, it's just a chill spot, man.

• 38:35Ryan Clark?

  You know what? Robert, the dude, you can get your boy that was on the side of the road today with his pants pulled up.

• 38:40Channing Crowder?

  They wild out here.

• 38:41Ryan Clark?

  With his hands like this.

• 38:42Channing Crowder?

  A naked dude side the road coming over here.

• 38:44Speaker 02

  Did you get up?

• 38:45Channing Crowder?

  Nah, I don't wanna hang with him.

• 38:48Ryan Clark?

  Did you tell him about the party you throwing?

• 38:50Channing Crowder?

  What was that?

• 38:50Ryan Clark?

  The one you and Freaky Z go throw. You and Zion. So we gonna do.

• 38:56Channing Crowder?

  I can't hang with him.

• 38:57Ryan Clark?

  Next year at the All-Star, next year NBA All-Star, Channing Crowder, Zion Williamson, especially.

• 39:05Channing Crowder?

  He on a different vibe. He wild. What a tornado position. I don't even know what, I had to look it up, but I'm nasty. I had to look up something.

• 39:14Speaker 02

  Tornado.

• 39:14Channing Crowder?

  I said the tornado. Look it up. It gonna blow your fucking mind. Look it up. He too big to be tornado. And the girl big too, Mariah Milton, whatever. See, they both big. You know what? It was funny, it lead right into one of my questions talking about nudist colony. Can you sneak around? Not sneak around, I'm talking about sexually, but like, can you just go to the store? Can you go to Walmart, Publix, like the people?

• 39:36Speaker 02

  All the time.

• 39:37Channing Crowder?

  And nobody?

• 39:38Speaker 02

  Especially hooded up, hat, I'm good. That's why I don't go nowhere with NBA players. They too tall. Like even if people don't know who they are, they just know they just don't fit. Like anything six three and six four and up, you just look out of place wherever you go.

• 39:51Channing Crowder?

  So you vacation and you just a dude hanging out?

• 39:54Speaker 02

  Nah, it depends on where I'm at. You know what I mean? It depends on where I'm at, but like grocery store, just running around. Yeah, I definitely can get where I need to go by myself for sure.

• 40:02Channing Crowder?

  And is it different in Canada? Cause Canadians are nice as hell.

• 40:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:06Channing Crowder?

  Is it different in Canada? Cause you about to be in a different city.

• 40:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's super different and the visibility up there is way different, cause it's only one team for the whole country, basketball wise, you know? So it's like, you got the whole Canada, this is Canada's team, you know, we're super famous up there. So it's a whole different ballgame.

• 40:25Channing Crowder?

  You gonna miss it?

• 40:28Ryan Clark?

  Did you get Van Vliet or Drake more though?

• 40:30Speaker 02

  Van Vliet. No, they know it. They know Drake. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, they know Drake, for sure.

• 40:34Fred Taylor?

  What are you gonna miss the most about Toronto and what do you look forward to about the new city Houston?

• 40:40Speaker 02

  I mean, Toronto is like.

• 40:44Speaker 02

  Where I became who I am, you know what I mean? Obviously, grow up in your hometown, you go to school, but I've spent the last seven and a half years there. So, um, I've missed so much about it. You make so many relationships with so many people, the fans there, the way they support, the franchises is top tier. The history that we made, the accomplishments that we made. Those are all things that will stand the test of time.

• 41:08Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 41:08Speaker 02

  We brought the team's only championship there. Um, just being a part of all of those memories, that's like, you leaving behind, you know, a special moment in time. So I can't even really give you a great answer on. I'm gonna miss everything about it.

• 41:23Channing Crowder?

  They love ketchup up there, right? They love syrup. The milk comes in a bag. Did y'all know this? Don't it, don't it?

• 41:30Speaker 02

  I just wanna tell.

• 41:31Channing Crowder?

  Fred, don't the mil- no, no, no, the milk, no! Motherfucker, the milk come in a bag, don't it, bruh?

• 41:36Speaker 02

  You can get it in a bag.

• 41:37Ryan Clark?

  The milk come in a bag? I think you can get milk in a bag anywhere.

• 41:40Channing Crowder?

  Go get milk in a bag in L.A.

• 41:41Speaker 02

  You can get it in a bag.

• 41:42Channing Crowder?

  In the bag?

• 41:43Speaker 02

  It's different up there, I'm with you.

• 41:44Channing Crowder?

  Tim Hortons?

• 41:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:46Channing Crowder?

  I did my research, man, they got poutine.

• 41:48Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 41:48Channing Crowder?

  All that shit, it's...

• 41:49Speaker 02

  Have you been, have you spent time there before? I know y'all go in Buffalo, y'all do the little trip.

• 41:53Channing Crowder?

  We play Buffalo, I wouldn't even go to my hotel room. We land in Buffalo, I drop my bag at the concierge desk, and we go straight to Toronto to the strip club with the red lights all around the top. I forgot the name now, they had a little Perkins across the street. Ooh! Fred?

• 42:10Speaker 02

  No, no, Toronto's a special place, like, in the world. It's like a top city in the world.

• 42:14Fred Taylor?

  Been trying to get to Carabana for my whole life.

• 42:16Speaker 02

  It's a special place in the world, I'll just say that.

• 42:18Fred Taylor?

  If you know somebody that knows somebody, put the pivot plug in.

• 42:22Speaker 02

  Y'all wanna go for Carabana?

• 42:24Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Oh, say no more.

• 42:25Ryan Clark?

  Hey, don't put the pivot plug in.

• 42:26Fred Taylor?

  I just wanna, I just wanna see the culture.

• 42:29Speaker 02

  Okay, just for Fred.

• 42:29Fred Taylor?

  Nah, I just wanna see the culture. You ain't gonna come?

• 42:31Ryan Clark?

  No! No, sir. Not unless we got a show.

• 42:36Fred Taylor?

  We got a show.

• 42:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, you gonna make a show.

• 42:37Fred Taylor?

  We got a couple players.

• 42:38Speaker 02

  I get you a, I get you an interview.

• 42:40Ryan Clark?

  So, yes, that's a good idea. Well, I like that. When, when you get into the, the offseason, and you're prepping for free agency and, and knowing, I'm gonna assume, did you know you were going to leave Toronto? That going back was...

• 42:55Speaker 02

  No.

• 42:55Ryan Clark?

  Not a part of the conversation?

• 42:56Speaker 02

  Not at all. I mean, obviously, I'd signed two years ago. They offered me an extension at the beginning of the season. I decided not to take the extension just to enter free agency and, you know, kind of see what the market was. But I never really even thought about leaving until probably like a week ago. You know what I mean? Like, it just happened that way. I was just so invested in, you know, trying to figure out how we could bounce back from, you know, the year that we just had. That's all I was thinking about. But, you know, free agency things go as they go. And I had to start thinking about some other options. And, you know, that's when Houston came along.

• 43:30Ryan Clark?

  What was the turning point? Because there always becomes a point. I was in Miami. It's my free agency. And they told me, they say, we're gonna start you with an offer that's higher than what Pittsburgh's offering. So I go down, I spend the day. I'm sitting in the hotel waiting for the offer. I'm thinking I'm gonna stay there and sign. Because you already told me, you're gonna start me higher than where we were. And they didn't start me there. I called my agent. I said, I'm not even waiting no more. I said, book a flight. I said, because they lied. That was the turning point for me. Where I called Pittsburgh, like, look, let's just get this deal done. Right? There's always something throughout free agency that kind of wakes you up to know, okay, I may have to look at other places. Or I may have to figure something else out. Was there one point in your process where you said, okay,

• 44:14Ryan Clark?

  leaving Toronto is now a high possibility?

• 44:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think, you know, you always have your own perspective on what you think your value is. And so just throughout those conversations and kind of where we started at and how it was going, then, you know, yeah, you look at it and say, okay, well, that's not matching up with what I think. Or why do they have my value at what they have it at? And let's look at the whole total picture. And I just think it was just time for a change of scenery for everybody. For me, for them, for everybody. And ultimately, you know, we weren't able to keep going. But... On the other end, you know, I had a great offer on the table already while I'm still talking to them. You know, so now you put them together and you weigh them out and it's like, it was really tough, like really, really, really tough.

• 45:00Speaker 02

  My stomach was in knots trying to figure out, you know, because it was no wrong choice. And those are the hardest choices to make when there's no wrong way to go. I could have went back for whatever the deal was, or I could go start something new. And ultimately, I just chose, you know, a new, a new setup.

• 45:16Channing Crowder?

  And RC laughed about Drake and you and, you know, light-skinned dudes, Barack, Steph, you know, all those dudes taking over the world. And, uh, but with Drake, man.

• 45:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:26Channing Crowder?

  My opinion, he does too much. I watched him physically assault Nick Nurse in the playoffs. Y'all calling it a shoulder rub. Can I walk in the Piccadilly or the, or the Piggly Wiggly and rub the cashier's shoulders?

• 45:38Speaker 02

  No.

• 45:39Ryan Clark?

  That's harassment.

• 45:40Channing Crowder?

  That's harassment.

• 45:41Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 45:41Channing Crowder?

  Does Drake be doing too much? Cause I, you were there for years and you watched him be there assaulting Nick Nurse.

• 45:47Speaker 02

  I mean, you can't walk into the Piccadilly, but you could, you could give him a different interaction than a stranger, right? Yeah, like he's there, you know, that's our guy, you know what I'm saying? And more than anything, he, he messing with the other team the whole game, so I ain't got no problem with it. He was, he was distracting them, making, making them miss free throws and get texts and all of that. So it was cool. It's just, you know, he's the biggest superstar in the world, but he act like a regular crazy fan during the game. I think, I think it was a good setup.

• 46:15Channing Crowder?

  And the players like, cause we got Cali down. Cali ain't wired as Drake, but Cali, you know, Cali put pillows down and put his suit on and all. The players don't, like the players don't care about it, even on the other side, when you go to another team that got one of them famous super fans. Y'all ain't, it ain't really phasing y'all. Y'all don't care about it.

• 46:30Speaker 02

  Nah, not me. I don't really do too much interaction with the fans, cause I just don't. I'm not wired like to be joking and like, I'm not wired like that. So, but when it's your people, it's easy. When it's somebody else, it's like, all right, just watch your mouth, you know? Just, just keep it, keep it on the basketball side.

• 46:47Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, he definitely don't look like the type that like joke with them, like share their, like fake share their drinks and all that. He don't really have, he doesn't have, he got a demeanor like mine.

• 46:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:56Ryan Clark?

  Like the joking. could can go too far like there is a joke to me even if you're famous that means you want to fight

• 47:03Speaker 02

  for sure

• 47:04Ryan Clark?

  like there's a joke somewhere in there and I'm gonna find it too

• 47:06Channing Crowder?

  he don't smile during game first time I seen him smile was today

• 47:09Ryan Clark?

  he barely smiled now

• 47:10Speaker 02

  I don't be out there to play around like that I'm out there to get a job done and I got little man syndrome so it's like what's up you know what I'm saying that's everywhere I go

• 47:20Fred Taylor?

  so check it Fred you uh you watch the show

• 47:22Speaker 02

  yo

• 47:22Fred Taylor?

  we don't need no hesitation when I ask you this because most of our guests hesitate when I ask this question or we ask this question their biggest pivot in life

• 47:31Speaker 02

  I would say when I was five I was thinking about I knew you was gonna ask me that I was thinking about that earlier today and I think the the perfect answer would be draft night not getting drafted blah blah blah but if I'm really being honest it would be when my dad died and not even knowing what a pivot is but just understanding that in my life that's like the point where it's like that's where I would start the movie at you know what I'm saying boom and then we go from there

• 47:58Ryan Clark?

  I mean that's the perfect answer bro I mean we were trying to get it done for a long time man I think this was the the perfect time to do it uh you got what you deserved you were on the phone with your agent you heard how negotiations go people don't try to give you money you don't earn you know from from being undrafted man to playing in the D league to winning a championship there what you did at Wichita State bro you earned this opportunity and they could talk about height athleticism whatever it is the film don't lie right the success doesn't lie man just keep it going and my last question to you is like what can we expect man from Bet on Yourself

• 48:39Speaker 02

  hey we gotta get them Houston Rockets in the playoffs man that's what my mind is at I've been in the lab this week so you know I gotta get we gotta get the Houston Rockets you know where they supposed to be at that's that's all I've been thinking about

• 48:49Ryan Clark?

  can't wait to see it big dog

• 48:50Speaker 02

  yes sir appreciate you

• 48:51Ryan Clark?

  appreciate you bro see he was already ready for it though Fred you can't you can't ask somebody who ready for it you know what I mean he he watched the show

• 49:00Fred Taylor?

  they watched the show too right

• 49:01Ryan Clark?

  yeah he watched the show

• 49:02Fred Taylor?

  it's love bro appreciate it yeah

• 49:27Speaker 09

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• 49:35Speaker 10

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