The Professor Checks In, Shares Street Ball Journey & Talks Infamous And1 Mixtape Tour

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 Ryan, Channing and Fred talk to The Professor about how a young boy from Oregon ended up on the most popular basketball tour of the early 2000s. He explains how he went from community college to playing JUCO levels and by chance attended a tryout that forever changed his life. Sharing details about the journey of being on the And1 and Mixtape basketball tours, Grayson talks about the success but also the pitfalls of the having fame and money overnight. Adapting to changing times, he turned his street ball skills and fame into a YouTube sensation amassing over 7M subscribers for his channel. 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

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• 0:09Speaker 01

  My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had. Impressions.

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• 0:30Speaker 02

  What's good?

• 0:30Speaker 03

  What's up?

• 0:31Speaker 02

  What's up, man?

• 0:32Fred Taylor?

  What's up with you?

• 0:33Speaker 02

  Great.

• 0:33Fred Taylor?

  What's good with you?

• 0:34Speaker 02

  Pleasure to meet you, man. My guy.

• 0:35Fred Taylor?

  You got it?

• 0:36Speaker 02

  Yes, sir.

• 0:36Fred Taylor?

  Pleasure, bro.

• 0:37Speaker 02

  Yes, sir. How you guys, man?

• 0:39Channing Crowder?

  That budget nice on yourself, huh? That budget nice.

• 0:43Speaker 02

  Decent, decent.

• 0:45Fred Taylor?

  That's right.

• 0:45Speaker 02

  Humble, man.

• 0:46Ryan Clark?

  Hey, he came here, Freddie T came here limping, man. See, he's still hooping, hooping. See, we don't...

• 0:52Fred Taylor?

  How do you twist your ankle in layup line? KD and the guy from Memphis, right? Was that Memphis?

• 0:58Speaker 02

  Had to be wet. I know somebody got fired over the...

• 1:01Fred Taylor?

  Somebody, yeah.

• 1:01Speaker 02

  Floor being wet, because he went up too regularly. Like, I don't... Could have gave out, I guess, but...

• 1:06Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, I understand, too. That's a little bitty leg for a size like 20 shoe.

• 1:11Speaker 02

  It's crazy.

• 1:12Ryan Clark?

  As well, you know what I mean? So you just never know. You take a misstep, man.

• 1:15Channing Crowder?

  He made like an alien now. KD's an alien.

• 1:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:18Channing Crowder?

  KD not normal human.

• 1:19Speaker 02

  You guys been on it, man. I saw you had Kevin Hart, Shaq. I think the first one I watched was Shaq.

• 1:24Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, that was...

• 1:25Speaker 02

  And then I just like binged out from there.

• 1:26Ryan Clark?

  Appreciate it.

• 1:27Speaker 02

  Even before this, though, like I had been on it, so...

• 1:29Ryan Clark?

  Appreciate it, man.

• 1:30Channing Crowder?

  Ooh, man, thank you.

• 1:56Ryan Clark?

  Well, welcome to The Pivot. We got Channing, Freddie T., I'm RC. The Professor is here. This is, for me, extremely nostalgic. I had pretty much every color and one you could possibly have. I was, I was one of those dudes that would watch the mixtapes or watch the stuff on ESPN, go outside with my basketball, attempt to do it and not be able to. So to have you sitting here, man, is really dope for us. Thank you.

• 2:20Channing Crowder?

  Let's drink one. Let's drink one for us, and one. Just saying the name got me to stop. I remember watching the videos. My roulette, Freddie. It's early, brother. We, we good. We just gonna toast up.

• 2:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, we'll toast up.

• 2:33Channing Crowder?

  We will.

• 2:34Ryan Clark?

  We will, you know what I mean? Happy Dad. Appreciate y'all. Obviously, I watched the Netflix special as well, and you know, you had some of the high school stuff. To be a freshman, be five foot, 85 pounds, and have a dream of hooping at the highest level, what were those days like for you, continuing to work but understanding the obstacles you'd have to overcome to make it where you wanted to be?

• 3:00Speaker 02

  I think, honestly, I didn't even understand what was needed, to be honest. Like, like, I would just practice out of the passion for the game, you know what I mean? A lot of people will, they'll look at my track and they'll be like, "Man, it was genius how you built the digital and did that." But a lot of it just came from, like, loving the game, you know what I mean? So especially when I'm 15 years old, I'm just spending all my free time playing basketball. So whether that's in the driveway, there was a gym 20 minutes away, I used to walk or ride my bike to. I just spent all my time in the gym. So as far as my ecosystem and what I knew was actually, like, really small. So like, I'm thinking I'm going to the league, you know what I mean? Like, I'm a kid, like, I know I'm a standout. Whenever I go to the park, or ever since I was in, like, fifth grade, whenever I would play, I'd like cross adults.

• 3:44Speaker 02

  Because like, I had a trainer starting when I was in fourth grade, and he taught me that Iverson crossover. And so like, people would always like love to watch when I play, like, call people and like, next thing you know, there'd be a crowd. So I was like crossing adults, so I figured, hey, if I'm 15 and I can... I can beat adults one on one and even compete with some college players. I'm like, I gotta go to the league. But you know, me just not knowing politics of the game, what it's gonna take. I was just an enthusiastic kid.

• 4:09Channing Crowder?

  Yeah. And how'd you grow up, man? What created the professor?

• 4:13Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well, I grew up in Kaiser, Oregon. It's like a super small town. It's the outskirts of Salem, the capital. Nobody's ever heard of it, but.

• 4:21Channing Crowder?

  He said, no.

• 4:21Speaker 02

  No. No. A lot of what had to do with it is my dad, you know, he just loved the game and he played in like men's leagues and played pickup. And so I would just go and just like watch and just became a fan of the game. His passion for the game just wore off on me like probably by about second or third grade. I started playing when I was two, but second or third grade, I like wanted to go to the NBA and be like my dad. And then what was key though is uh, my, my parents got me this trainer, this ball handling trainer before. Now everybody's a trainer, right? And everybody has a trainer, but back in the day it was like new, you know what I mean? This is the nineties, the, the early nineties. So when I was in fourth grade, I got that trainer and uh, this guy named Rodney Howard, he was really dope. He taught me like foundational ball handling stuff, you know, I remember the first movie talk was like in and out, then in and out crossover.

• 5:06Speaker 02

  And then the Iverson crossover and that was like the game changer. So, but I picked them up quick. I knew I had a gift. I know now looking back, it was a gift because I picked these up in like a couple of days, but all I would do was play and get reps in doing those moves. And so I think that was really foundational, but also just, just the love for the game, you know, I spend countless hours hooping, you know? It's like parents now that ask me like, what, what does my kid have to do to get to where you're at? Like how many days a week should he be, he or she be practicing? And I'm always like, well, play college or pro or to be known globally. Like you're gonna have to get your parents to make you practice less because getting on their nerve, my parents, I got on their nerves because all I did was play basketball. I didn't do nothing else, you know what I mean?

• 5:46Channing Crowder?

  You never learned the UTEP two-step?

• 5:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. You know, I didn't know the name of it though, you know, when I, when I was. I don't even know what I called that back in the day. Yeah, I guess I did. It was killer crossover though. Yeah, killer crossover. That's what it was. I think some people called AIs the killer. It's kind of like mixed up, but no, of course. Yeah. Yeah, that was the one. Early, I was on that. Yeah. Yeah, that was the one.

• 6:04Fred Taylor?

  What was the process like in auditioning or trying out? How did that all come about?

• 6:09Speaker 02

  I really had no college offers. You know what I mean? Coming out of high school, I actually got cut from three Juco's. Ended up finally landing on the local community college team only because my dad politicked with the coach. My dad owned a jewelry store. I bought jewelry from him and so he talked him into giving me a look. He literally just gave me a look. And so the guy gave me a look and I actually worked out. Well, scrimmage against the community college. So he saw I had some skills, but he didn't think I could guard anybody. So sure enough, there were a couple of injuries. Next thing I know, I'm suiting up. I only played like three minutes a game. You know, like I'd go in during garbage time. We'd get dunked on. You know what I mean? I was like those guys, but that next spring, summer, though, I dedicated my whole life was ba- like it already was heavy basketball.

• 6:52Speaker 02

  But now it was like three a days, you know, make 500 jumpers at 5 a.m. before class. Uh, open gym at like 2:30, then hit the weights and then the evening come work on my game some more. So I turned it up and next thing I know, I was like the best player in the gym. You know what I mean? Like, like we're going to open gym. My team's running it every game. Even the coaches, they're like, dang, this is like, transformed in three months, but it showed me that dedication. You can, you can change a lot just a few months. So coming into and one, I was just a fan, you know, Hot Sauce, Headache, A.O., Alley Mo, all these guys. They, they like shaped my game more than NBA players or just as much as Iverson, you know? So I just went up there as a fan, you know what I mean? And tried out. Next thing I know, a crowd going crazy.

• 7:36Speaker 02

  The, the players were watching the game, you know, the open run tryout. And then the way it was, you got to, if you made it out of the tryout, you got to play against the and one team. So for me, it was just, it was just a dream come true that night. You know, if I would have played against them one time on ESPN, I was like, that was amazing. You know what I mean?

• 7:52Fred Taylor?

  So how do you get to be on the tryout team before you can play against the guys? That, that whole entire process. So how do you get to the front of the line? I, I visualize a short, small, skinny little white dude waiting for his shot.

• 8:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 8:07Fred Taylor?

  You know, sign me up, you know, wherever I fall, but I gotta get there. So how, what was that process like?

• 8:13Speaker 02

  I was so focused on my like game, like, like coming back the next year to community college and trying to get a scholarship somewhere else. That I was really, I was so much of a fan. I was just excited about that night. So, but I really just thought I had nothing to lose because I would have been a fan just watching it too, you know? So I just went in there like, hey man, every time I, it's always a show, it's always Showtime I play. So I was like, might as well play, you know what I mean? See what happens. And then it went for the good, but it was a few hundred people to try it out, probably played in like four or five, you know, kept narrowing it down to the best of best and then like they picked two of us to go in the building and play against them.

• 8:43Ryan Clark?

  Oh wow.

• 8:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, there's two of us and then the other guys, the Ant One opposing teams, they were like overseas, it was like a few overseas players, a few guys from the city before, and then like a couple dudes from that day. Just went in there and you know, just had fun with it.

• 8:55Ryan Clark?

  The idea comes up, reality TV is starting to get big, you know, you got The Bachelor and all of those things and the Ant One mixtape tour where you guys, it's like Survivor of the Hooper, you know, and you're a part of it, you're coming from Oregon and you know, you had dudes that could jump out the gym, you had dudes that have handles, it's all these different things. When you are a part of that process and every day you have to prove yourself in order to stay on that tour, what is that like to handle for a kid from Oregon who had, who went to the community college in the neighborhood and all that? And now all of a sudden you're on ESPN with all these dudes that you said shaped your game?

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was very surreal. I didn't know what the fame life would be like, you know, I had no clue. But it was funny because, well, two things. First, I didn't know how good I had gotten, you know what I mean? Nobody really, like my college coach had told me I got a lot better, but they didn't really affirm like how good. And I don't know if we knew because I'm only playing people at the JuCo level, right?

• 9:54Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 9:55Speaker 02

  So I got a lot better, but also in terms of trying to like go through that Survivor contest, I'm just happy to be there. Like, I could have got sent home and it still would have been amazing to be on one or two episodes.

• 10:05Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 10:05Speaker 02

  That's the funny part. I actually wasn't told that like it was a contest that we were going on tour. I thought it was just about that day, you know, you play against the Ant One team. Because they did it the year before too, I actually played against the Ant One team. People don't know that, like I played against them the year before and that was it. There was no go on the bus thing, so when they told me to go on the road, I didn't know nothing about it. And so like to compete for a contract, I found out like that night.

• 10:28Ryan Clark?

  Okay.

• 10:28Speaker 02

  So my sights didn't really get reset on doing that because I was thinking I was going back to school and like.

• 10:33Ryan Clark?

  So how do you go home and tell your parents that though? Like when they say, hey, look, you can come on this tour and you know, try to earn you a spot on the Ant One tour. And you say, hey mom, we about to roll, I'm about to hop on this bus and go.

• 10:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 10:44Channing Crowder?

  With a bunch of dudes I don't know.

• 10:47Speaker 02

  This was the cool part. So basically, they did like a background check. You didn't leave that night.

• 10:51Ryan Clark?

  Okay.

• 10:51Speaker 02

  They had to do like a background check for a week and a half. So you missed the next game and then you come back on. So I think they went down to like Sacramento, LA, I missed those games. Then I came on to Phoenix or whatever. But no, I had told my parents thinking there was no way in heck they were gonna let me go on this tour, thinking I would go back to school. But they like supported it. They were like, ah, you gotta do it. You know what I mean? But I think now, looking back, it's like the investment in my game, you know, trainers, clinics, camps, Jordans, AAU, they probably feel like, hey, man, school ain't showing you no love. Like, why not?

• 11:24Ryan Clark?

  How close are we to when you figured out this could be financially sound for you? Because you were just playing ball. Now, jumping on that bus, you could have been the brokeest motherf**er on that bus ride and trying to dribble, dribble people in super duper X crossover, whatever y'all was just talking about. At what point did it become like, you were like, damn, I can make bread?

• 11:40Speaker 02

  Probably up until the very end. At a showdown with Hot Sauce in Detroit, we had like a back and forth. He came down, crossed me up. I actually slipped, like touched the ground. And then like I got back up and tried to get a piece of it. I tried to recover, but then he hit this three and they lost it, right? Like, I didn't even know what to do. You know what I mean? Like, when it got loud in the N1 game, it was like an NBA playoff game, like real talk. No exaggeration. So, so I didn't really know what to think. But then I seen the, our coach, he was like, go right back at him. So I was like, alright. So I came down, I did every move that I could even think of. I even did some of Hot Sauce's moves on this. Like, the last move is kind of like a little like sham, got like a little snatchback crossover. We went for it.

• 12:20Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 12:20Speaker 02

  And I drove the lane. I think I even got pushed down. Like, I threw it up and I didn't even see it go in. But then they lost it even more, all that. So that back and forth right there kind of gave me confidence, like, you know, maybe, maybe I could do this. But I don't think I really thought I could actually like get a job and sign a contract until I actually won it at the very end.

• 12:37Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 12:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. Cause the dudes like Helicopter and Spider, these dudes I was competing with, like, they were nice though. You know, these are like some of the most athletic dudes I've ever seen even to this day. Like, like till now, NBA, like, they were just crazy athletic.

• 12:51Ryan Clark?

  If you watch the doc, there is all of these dudes that you idolized and that really made N1 what it was. And then there's you. There's a clear outlier here, right? You're the one white dude. It's not often that you're in that minority. That's like playing wide receiver in the leagues, like playing cornerback. And sometimes that anomaly.

• 13:14Channing Crowder?

  Makes people famous and so you there, you're taking pictures and there's all these people before you. What was the dynamic between you and the rest of the guys? Because it did seem like you rose to fame extremely quickly.

• 13:27Speaker 02

  I felt like a kid with adults, you know what I mean? Because even like Hot Sauce is like 10 years older than me. Some guys were in their 30s at that time, you know what I mean? I'm 18 and they're like partying and hanging and they went from like adults to my friends years in. But like when I first got there, like I almost felt like I didn't belong in their circle socially. So I was just trying to enjoy the ride. I was super quiet, you know, just trying to basically learn too, you know what I mean? Like learn the ropes, how to approach a game. And then when I got on the Ant One team, that was kind of a hard figure out because the way they played, right? I never played that fast. Like I had my own speed at Showtime, but it wasn't quite that fast. They played like an NBA, you know, it's like, it's like a college player, you're getting an NBA run. Your head's spinning, right? You think, dang, this game fast when you feel it. So I kind of felt like that.

• 14:12Speaker 02

  But you know, just slowly learn the ropes. But socially, yeah, I was just quiet, just, you know.

• 14:17Channing Crowder?

  Speaking of socially and like honestly molding you, because I see you got the motherfucking G14 classified laser tape.

• 14:23Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 14:24Channing Crowder?

  You've got the, you've got the very, honestly, what I was talking to Travis Kelsey about. Like you pointed to the wrong color on the board at the barber shop. But, but you're talking about being around all these OG, old ball playing black dudes. Let's be honest. Is that, is that what molded, because you're from Salem, Oregon? Like they don't dress like this in Salem, Oregon.

• 14:44Speaker 02

  No.

• 14:45Channing Crowder?

  He's from the town outside of Salem, so that's even like worse. That's even smaller. Yeah, they probably think Supreme is a tractor or some shit.

• 14:55Speaker 02

  I always was a fan of hip hop. I remember like even in 92, they had the NBA Jam Session VHS tapes. Do you remember these? It had like Biggie, it had like a bunch of dudes rapping on there with the highlights. So I was like really into that. And then I don't know why, I was always into Showtime basketball. Like I was into Tim Hardaway and Rod Strickland. Obviously we all Jordan, you know, you know, top of the top. But then when Iverson came in the league, then it was like boom and then the mixtapes. So I was into this hip hop basketball and that whole lifestyle. But I was outcast for that because most people around me, they were in like rock music or alternative, stuff like that. Now it's different, right? If I go back, everybody knows hip hop now, but you mentioned my haircut. People always still talk, you know what I mean? Like, mixed opinions, but I, when I got on the tour, it's funny.

• 15:40Speaker 02

  I went to a commercial shoot, I think, after I got the contract. We did a commercial shoot for the clothing or something. And it was in New Jersey and Main Event had his barber up there. And he actually gave me, like, he was like, he looked at my hair and was looking crazy. He was like, hey, man, let me just transform you real quick. And I was like, alright, cool. He actually cut it a lot like this.

• 15:59Fred Taylor?

  He got a mirror, he was like, ooh.

• 16:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, but I already, I had like the, I just cut it on a two. You know, like, it was just easier for me, especially as a ball player. I never was a comb my hair type person. People are always like, why don't you spike it? I don't even know what that's like. It wasn't me, you know?

• 16:15Fred Taylor?

  You talk about the speed in which those guys was playing when you had an opportunity to play against them. 2003, you had an opportunity to play in the gardens. What was that, just stepping in the garden to say, you know what? I'm about to play in Madison Square Garden today. I'm sure that had to be a surreal moment for you.

• 16:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was. The stakes of that game were extra high, too. I mean, I'm not gonna lie, my stomach would tighten up crazy. Because like he said, the most people I ever played against before, and what was like, maybe 100, 150 or something? My Juco only had one side of bleachers, same with my high school. So to go in there and play in arenas was like, it was a trip. I remember my stomach would tighten up real tight before the games, but I swear, like, after one minute of running up and down, I never had no problem, I didn't even think about the crowd or nothing. So I learned that about myself as I went. But then when we got to the Garden, it was different because it was like a bunch of celebrities.

• 17:03Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 17:03Speaker 02

  Uh, streetball was a, it was his own big genre at that time. So every streetballer who was anybody was in the building, from Skip to Malou, a lot of rappers, DJ Clu. I think he was even suited up on our team. I feel like everybody was there in basketball.

• 17:17Fred Taylor?

  But you also had the pro guys that wanted to, to maintain that street edge and, you know, be a part of it. And they would show up too, right?

• 17:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, NBA players, yeah. NBA players were always playing our game, kind of like they would like the Drew Lee or something today.

• 17:31Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 17:31Speaker 02

  Um, so that was always really cool. But, yeah, in Madison Square Garden, it just felt like that game. Like, I don't think my stomach loosened up in that game probably until about like after the first quarter. But those games were hard, you know? I didn't even come alive in that game until the fourth quarter because it's an all-star showcase, right? It's, those aren't like games where you like play like three quarters or something like that, so. Some games I might play 10 minutes, some might be 15, might go crazy one, or you might get 25 minutes. But yeah, I remember that game, I think we had probably like 20 dudes on the bench, right? Because everybody. They wanted to play there. They're like, oh, he's a name in New York, suit him up against the Ant One team. So it was like tons of dudes and I think in the fourth quarter, I started, came alive. So they just like left me in for the rest of the game.

• 18:10Fred Taylor?

  But you hit the game winning three pointer.

• 18:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:13Fred Taylor?

  Take us through that moment.

• 18:14Speaker 02

  Yes, I think the play before that, Sick Wit it had hit like what would have been the game winner. He hit a shot with like a second left or two seconds left or something like that. And Sick Wit it was like super good. He was actually who I matched up with most of that first year, but he was like MVP of the Drew League multiple times. Right. You know what I mean? He was like a D1 player, a D1 player. I just had limited Juco experience. So I'm always going against this dude and I was getting moves off, but he was like, he was tough. So he hit that game winner. So I'm, in my mind, this is already over, but they're talking about winning, you know, all the OGs like, hey, man, we gotta, gotta get this done. So I'm like, all right, because the future was on our team and a pharmacist. The names, bro, the names are so cold. Yeah, they were, they were hyping me up like, hey, man, you know what I'm saying?

• 18:55Speaker 02

  You already hit a game winner a month ago because we'd be beating them for the first time like a month before that and I hit a buzzer shot. So this is like trippy, these moments couldn't be duplicated. It's like God's plan. And I don't even know why I was, why am I shooting a game winner? The future, the MVP of the Rutgers, you know what I mean? But I think it's, it was like a scramble, like this is how I know it's God's plan. And we just went out there and they're like, hurry up, you know what I'm saying? Like they hurried us up. I don't even think Team Ant One, I don't even think they were matched up. And so I was like standing in a place where I didn't even think I should shoot. But then by the time I got, I was like, oh, I have to shoot. Right. So I pulled up, it's probably like 10 feet, literally 10 feet behind the three. Kind of a surreal moment that it happened fast, but it was also like in slow motion at the same time. And then all I remember hit that three is I lost it, it was pandemonium.

• 19:37Fred Taylor?

  And the rest is history.

• 19:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. Wow.

• 19:39Channing Crowder?

  And talking about the nickname, that's funny, the nostalgia of these nicknames, man. Because I can't think of their faces, but Sick Wit, like I remember hearing those names watching it, watching them, like watching on the weekend. They always had it playing on the weekend. When I saw that you were gonna bless us with your presence and I saw the nickname.

• 19:54Ryan Clark?

  Two things popped in my mind. Either, you know, you're a professor, you're teaching people and all, or you look like a goddamn professor.

• 20:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:03Ryan Clark?

  Which one? Where did that nickname come from?

• 20:06Speaker 02

  You know, I think I asked Duke Tangle this one time, but I can't even remember what he said. I think when it was marketing, he said like schools, people like the professor, you know, taking people to school. He's the professor. But I think it had a lot to do with just how I looked at that time, too.

• 20:20Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 20:20Speaker 02

  Because he gave me a name the first, the first game I played. But he was just witty like that. He would do it because if you call a streetball game, instead of saying the dude over here, it's just better to have a name. So they gave out names a lot quicker, like on that tour. But he felt like I earned it because it like it was longstanding and there was a lot, you know, some years behind it. But it was probably both. I don't know.

• 20:39Ryan Clark?

  Oh, yeah. But what's cool, but even in that, how we think about the names, you being a fan of streetball and having, knowing who he is and what he means to streetball, to get a name that quickly or do enough on the court where they are already recognizing you, that had to be one of those moments where all the work I've put in has finally gotten me here. And then you hit the shot in Madison Square Garden. Does that?

• 21:06Speaker 00

  Are your ad campaigns lighting up the dashboard? But not the pipeline? That's bullspend and marketers are calling it out in. Dashboard Confessions.

• 21:16Speaker 01

  My boss asked for results, so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had. Impressions.

• 21:23Speaker 00

  Cut the bullspend. See revenue, not just reach. LinkedIn delivers the highest return on ad spend of major ad networks. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a $250 credit. Go to LinkedIn.com/campaign. Terms and conditions apply.

• 21:37Ryan Clark?

  Five-foot freshman, think about everything it took to get you to that point after you hit a shot like that?

• 21:43Speaker 02

  I think so. I think after I hit the shot or after I won the contract. And then it was funny, we were like celebrities overnight.

• 21:50Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 21:50Speaker 02

  You know, I remember in the hotel, watching the TV show. And I was a kid, they probably had filled me in, but like I didn't, I didn't know. So like when I watched it, I thought it was like season one where it was about the guys, right? The and one players. I thought maybe if I paused it, you might see me get a bucket or like, might be in there a little bit. But we were, it was about the guys trying out. I wasn't filled into that. So, so when I watched the first episode, I remember we were like in Mississippi, watching the first episode and came on, I was like, and I was the, the whole thing.

• 22:19Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 22:19Speaker 02

  You know what I mean? And so it tripped me out, but literally I remember going outside that next day and it was like crazy. So it's literally a celebrity in like one day.

• 22:26Ryan Clark?

  For us, it's, he played at Florida, he played at Florida, I played at LSU. It's the natural progression of life if you excel on the field. This was a totally different route. And then you take another route because it is a situation of, okay, how long is street ball gonna last? How can I move into the next thing? And you've done a great job of doing that. You started a YouTube in like 2009.

• 22:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:52Ryan Clark?

  Right, your own page and now, man, you've done all these dope things. About four years ago, you posted a video, you went to jail.

• 23:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:00Ryan Clark?

  And played. What was that experience like for you? Because a lot of times, people don't treat inmates as humans. Or that they can have fun, or even just want to be around them and that. And I thought for you to be a celebrity and to go do that and give them that kind of day of reprieve from what they're, they see inside those walls every day was just big of you, man. Tell us a little bit about that experience.

• 23:24Speaker 02

  Oh, humbled, man. Um, there's a guy who shoots probably like a third of my YouTube videos. The ones that are more high quality, look like a TV show, it's usually him doing it. Guy named Jay Lyons, he's awesome. We had kind of met, shook hands on possibly doing a documentary at some point. But along the way, he asked me, hey, cause we're both Christians. So he was like, hey, do you want to go to this prison and give your testimony? Think it would be really cool. He's like, I got hired by this, this company, Prison Fellowship, it's a ministry. And he's like, "Do you want to tell your story up there?" And he's like, "Maybe." He's like, "If we could get cleared to play ball in the prisons, I think it could be a good video also." And I was like, "Oh, the prison? Like, dang." I was like, "I didn't really know what to expect." But at the same time, I was like, you know, it could be impactful. Like, maybe it'll be a good thing.

• 24:08Speaker 02

  So I was like, "All right, cool. Let's, you know, let's give it a shot." And so we went up there, and I actually told my story of three prisons that were kind of in that area. But then we got cleared at that one. A lot of times when I have third-party people film my videos, they don't do it right. Because they try to, like, cinematize the ball. Like, there's a lot that goes into making a dope, like, YouTube vlog or like a good hoop video.

• 24:27Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 24:27Speaker 02

  So like, I didn't really think much of it, but I was like, "Hey, maybe this would be impactful." So the testimony part was received super well. And then we got cleared to hoop. And it's funny, though. I played for like 45 minutes. I don't think I missed a shot. Like, literally, it was like one of those moments, right? It was just meant to be. Like, I literally, I may have missed like two shots. And every move I ever pulled out worked. It was crazy. But then everybody was like, they were cool. Some dudes were like a little breaks, but it was pretty cool for the most part. They had a good time. And I think you made a good point. That's what I got going away from it was like, man, you know, they're still human. They made bad choices, especially at that maximum security. But I was glad that I did it because it felt like it was the time of their life. You know what I mean? Just that day. And getting a little notoriety on camera and stuff like that, so.

• 25:11Ryan Clark?

  When you are in the world that you were in and they're featuring you, those aren't things they talk about. Even in seeing your video with you in the prison, that isn't something that's spoken of. When you're giving your testimony and speaking about how God has poured into your life, what are some of the things you try to communicate to people about that?

• 25:30Speaker 02

  Well, that video, it's in there. It's just like sprinkled in. We knew if we went, if we went like heavy evangelistic, then they're like, it might not get as far. You know what I mean? Some of the things I try to convey, I mean, my life was super changed, you know what I mean? I became Christian 2011. It was actually at Escalade's funeral, believe it or not. Escalade was my closest friend on the mixtape tour. His brother is Mark Jackson. You know, Mark was doing the eulogy at the funeral. And I had no Mark because we came to the games. We were cool. So I was just listening to everything he was saying, you know what I mean? And I was like remembering, because I went to a Christian preschool and a Christian high school my senior year. And I just felt compelled to give my life to Christ, you know, when they did altar call at the end. And then just had a major transformation in my life.

• 26:13Speaker 02

  That's like the turning point in my life, like 2011. Like after An One and all that, going broke, you know what I mean? All those things, so. What I try to convey to people, I usually tell them my story, you know, just to try to keep it real. How things happened and how my life is better now and, you know, we're on a better track, obviously, and how it's changed my life for the good in a whole bunch of ways, so.

• 26:35Channing Crowder?

  What, going broke? I was gonna say, you said go broke. How was the money structure back then? Well, you say you signed a contract. When I hear contract, I think of our type of contracts, but I know it's not like football contracts. Like, where did the money come from? How did you maintain yourself? How did you let basketball, and you're not a professional, now that financially fuels your life? Where are the numbers?

• 26:58Speaker 02

  I think my first contract I signed maybe was like between 60 to 80K, something like that. And then it would always go up 10 or 20K as we went along. I know the last deal I signed was like 200K, 250K or something, and it would go year by year. Because the pinnacle of the popularity was probably like the year I tried out or the year after, and then it kind of like went slowly down from there. But we made more and more money, funny enough. And then the company got bought out in 2006, but it was bought out by some people that really didn't know much about basketball, much less streetball. And they brought in people to head up the branding from like Reebok and Adidas. But these cats weren't, they're not into streetball. Like, they didn't really know that was the DNA. I think they knew it was the DNA, but they wanted to like expand.

• 27:41Speaker 02

  But I felt like since the brand had already been kind of going down, wasn't the time to expand into other things, you know what I mean? When our contracts ended in 08, I think probably like the TV deal ended, the production deal with ESPN, we didn't even get a call, nothing. It was just over. And then money, you know, stopped coming in. I was kind of like living check to check, you know? Like, when you're young, I was super young. When it ended, people don't even know, when Ant won ended, I was only 24, 25. I started when I was 18. So, I didn't have an advisor, I didn't know how to manage money. I was spending a lot. I had like a four-story condo in West LA, Mercedes, a place in Oregon too, where I'm from, so. I was just spending a lot month to month and then I actually, oh funny enough, I saved my

• 28:26Speaker 02

  An One jerseys. I saved in a box, probably as big as this little footrest right here. I kept all my jerseys, probably a couple hundred of them. Actually, I sold them on eBay. I actually lived off of that.

• 28:37Fred Taylor?

  Wow.

• 28:37Speaker 02

  I sold them, but they would go for like a thousand, a thousand a jersey. But it got to a point where really there was no gigs. When street ball was over, it like dried up. Cause I remember even AI, they called that carry, they called that crossover a carry. And that changed basketball altogether right then. People didn't really know it unless you were in it. But no more street ball exhibition games, no, no endorsement, obviously, no commercials, no nothing. It was like, I'm, I'm trying to figure out how do I start training kids? Like, what do I do here? But what I did was I sold those jerseys. I started my YouTube channel. And then I was still, the footage, the content on YouTube, you look at my first videos, like when I'm playing overseas, An One was still crazy overseas. Cause before digital, you couldn't even follow the narrative of a different country. You know what I mean?

• 29:21Speaker 02

  Before the internet. So they're still thinking it's like on high, right? We're only three years, three years removed from it being A-list, top tier of the sports world. So I did like An One Africa, An One Brazil, Russia, you know, just like random An One games. So I was doing that for a few years and then another company tried to relaunch An One. They tried to kind of like revamp it. It didn't really work out, but it kind of financially it held me over until YouTube went, started going viral like 2013.

• 29:50Fred Taylor?

  Speaking of going viral, pivoting from playing ball with prisoners.

• 29:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:55Fred Taylor?

  To pick up ball as Peter Parker, your Spider-Man.

• 29:58Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 29:59Fred Taylor?

  That went viral. I think it has about 50 million views to date. You dropped it like nine, 10 years ago or something like that. The creators behind that, what convinced you to say, I'm going to put on a Spider-Man costume and go hoop?

• 30:11Speaker 02

  That was my first attempt to actually go viral. So I was just, you know, from 2000, I was actually making YouTube to 06, believe it or not. Cause when we were on An One, people would rip the highlights from the show and then they throw them on YouTube. But they're getting like five, 10 million views per vid. It would be like the hot sauce compilation, main event compilation, professor compilation. So I was like, we should do this. This could encourage more bookings outside of An One. Cause back in that day, you could get a DM on. Youtube, so you could get like bookings. Okay. Yeah, so, so I tried to flood it. This is before you had your own channel, before AdSense. And then when AdSense came about, that's why I started my own page, 2009. So I had been on it. A kid taught me to edit. There was like this high school kid was uploading all of our episodes and he was like making these fly mixes,

• 30:56Speaker 02

  but he lived in San Diego. So I actually hit him up and I asked him, could you like show me how to, how you do this thing, you know, edit? So I learned how to edit firsthand. And so from 2009 up until that Spider-Man series of 2013, I was editing my own videos. If I happened to get the footage from the game and then once in a while I have somebody film on a Sony Handycam. I teach him how to film on my Sony Handycam and I edit the footage. But it was real, just like on the side, you know, we're not, we're not super focused on it. But one of my homies, this dude, Robert Monroe, he was the first dude to show me how to use like a DSLR camera and kind of like really put me on Youtube, you know, like the, the norms of like vlogging and stuff like that. He was like, man, why don't we try to go viral, try to do something, something crazy? He's like, one of these vids you got like half a mil, you didn't even try, you know? So I was like, alright, let's do it.

• 31:41Speaker 02

  So he came up with the prank idea, you know, dress as a superhero, play people one-on-one, don't take it off. So it'd be like a prank. We didn't even really know though, we combined like five genres. It was like prank, comedy, sports. Yeah. You know, wow factor, like all these things. And I went out there, I put on that little suit, I played for like 20 minutes. Like literally played for like 20 minutes. But again, it was one of them weird moments. I didn't miss a shot, every move worked. Not that the accomplice had everybody, it was just fun. Right. And then I left. It was funny because I edited the video myself. So I edited for like three hours, but then I was still touring at the time. We were on this tour, it's called Ball Up Tour. Yep. So we were getting ready, we had a game in Chicago, like the next day. So I had to fly out at like 5am. So I uploaded it, but I didn't know how to compress footage at times.

• 32:26Speaker 02

  It would take like 15 hours to upload. So I went to sleep and then I got up and the joint was still uploading. I'm like dang, so I just got to say screw it. I'll just leave the computer on all weekend, it'll be good, like I don't care, I ain't got no money anyway. So by the time I got to LAX though, it uploaded. And I remember before they had push notifications, they had like email. So I got like email notification, this video had like 350k when I got to LAX. But I remember double taking like 350k. Right. That ain't right. And then uh by the time I got in the plane, it was a million and by the time I got to Chicago, it was like three million. And back in that day, the algorithm's different now. It's a lot more friendly, right? People can do like, you could do five mil in a few days.

• 33:05Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 33:05Speaker 02

  Back then, if you did like five to 10 mil in a week, that was like, that's like having 50 mil today. It was like a true viral video.

• 33:12Ryan Clark?

  Hmm.

• 33:13Speaker 02

  So I got hit up by like, everybody you can think, CNN, ESPN, Good Morning America, TMZ, everybody had hit me to see if they could use the, you know, the footage for their story or whatever. So I was like, cool. But that's what blew up my YouTube channel. I got a million subs overnight.

• 33:28Ryan Clark?

  Damn.

• 33:28Fred Taylor?

  A million subs overnight?

• 33:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, literally. I had 17, I found a screenshot from my old channel, actually not even that long ago, and I had 17,000 subs. And uh, I literally got to, I got to like 800K overnight and then slowly got to a million.

• 33:42Ryan Clark?

  Damn.

• 33:42Speaker 02

  But yeah.

• 33:43Ryan Clark?

  You mentioned traveling and playing in Ukraine, Angola, different places. You had malaria.

• 33:49Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 33:49Ryan Clark?

  Correct? At one point. That experience of, okay, we're going to just hoop and play basketball, something I've always loved to do, to now kind of battling for your life.

• 34:00Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 34:01Ryan Clark?

  What was that like for you?

• 34:03Speaker 02

  It was weird because we had never been to Africa. An One was in 40 countries, and maybe it was in one of the countries in Africa, but we would only go where the retail stores were. So like, for whatever reason, we didn't go to Africa. But An One was crazy in Africa because I was just seeing it online, right? People always coming. So it was my first time going there. We played in Angola. It ended up being my last An One game of all time. So going out there, the sponsor of the tour was the airline. We flew private out of Houston. There was some airline that goes from Houston to Angola. It was like a big commercial plane, but every seat was first class. It was crazy.

• 34:34Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 34:34Speaker 02

  I've never seen nothing like that. So we sponsored by it, flew out there, got to the airport in Angola, and then they were like, they asked us as an option, like, do you want to get your shots and take the pills? Like for whatever. And like, we're funny at the time. We don't really know. We're like, nah, I don't know. No needles, you know what I'm saying? I'm good. We only here for a game. So we passed on it, but now, no, it's the dumbest thing ever, right? You go to Africa, India, you gotta use shots. So, one of my teammates got sick right away and he was out of there. And then, after the game, I remember went to sleep that night and I woke up, my bed was like all sweated out, like on another level though, like, like this much water on the entire bed, like it was nasty. So I woke up and I get, I felt a little like out of it. She was like, you wanna go get looked at? I was like, sure, I'll go in there. So I go to the hospital.

• 35:17Speaker 02

  The teammate that had the fever, whatever, he passed me, he was getting out as I was going in. And then, I get in there and they start talking or whatever and they told me I had malaria. And I was like, nah, I feel fine, I'm good, you know what I'm saying? I can't be malaria, I just feel a little weird, whatever. And then like an hour later, I was like, like I'm white now, I was white as this jacket. Like it was crazy, like in an hour. And I was out of there, but I was there for like three weeks.

• 35:39Ryan Clark?

  Dang.

• 35:40Speaker 02

  And so, yeah, I even got like, I had a flip cam before they had like selfies on it. I said some last words on a flip cam, I thought I was gonna die.

• 35:47Ryan Clark?

  Wow.

• 35:47Speaker 02

  It was wild, so, but I took the medication, it takes away your hearing and it takes away your taste. It was way, it was quite crazy, but I was there for like three weeks trying to recover from that and finally, finally got out of there, you know, healthy, but.

• 36:01Ryan Clark?

  This is an old dude question, I ain't gonna lie to you.

• 36:03Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 36:03Ryan Clark?

  What insurance paid for that? Because you, did you have anyone insurance?

• 36:08Speaker 02

  You know what, I don't even think I paid the bill, I never paid it.

• 36:13Ryan Clark?

  Your face dirty as Mongolia, well.

• 36:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know, the promoter was cool though, she sat there bedside with me. The team had to go though, they had like, they had a game in Puerto Rico and somewhere else, so they, they had to dip. And I, I couldn't blame them, you know what I mean? It's not like they're gonna, you know, not go, cause they just thought I was casually sick.

• 36:28Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 36:29Speaker 02

  You know? To be fair, malaria, I think especially now, it's real casual, like you get it, you take the treatment, you're fine.

• 36:35Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 36:35Speaker 02

  I think back then, it was sort of weird, weird grounds or whatever, but they thought I'd be fine.

• 36:40Ryan Clark?

  That's crazy.

• 36:41Speaker 02

  So, so yeah, but I remember, I think, I think they paid it, I don't know, the promoter, I guess.

• 36:44Ryan Clark?

  Yeah. You look back on it now, man, and all the things you've accomplished, you've been in movies, you've started and been on other tours, you're CEO of your own company. When you see how far you have come, like how proud of you are you of that kid from Oregon?

• 37:03Speaker 02

  You know, humbled, yeah, definitely proud, like, you know, all the, all the work put in, I think.

• 37:08Speaker 00

  Flowing ad budget on metrics that look great till the CFO sees them. That's bull spend and marketers are calling it out in dashboard confessions.

• 37:18Speaker 01

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

• 37:25Speaker 00

  Cut the bull spend. 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.

• 37:38Speaker 02

  It's funny because it's such a unique route, right? Like you, we play ball at the beginning. You want to go to the NBA for the fact it turned out this way. I think some people think I'm regretful like, like, because I didn't make the NBA. You know, I was trying to make the NBA while I was on and one. A lot of people don't know that. And I got to the CBA, which is like the old G League. It didn't work out, but it's funny because I saw how political it was and like, I still don't pass the eye test. And then in that day, and one was frowned upon, you know, by like B-ball elites, you know, GMs and they not respecting that and what so like having that tag on my name was difficult. Like even Skip, he had to change his game. No, Ray, Ray change his game to fit the mold of the NBA and get kind of like dumb down the showtime a little bit.

• 38:20Speaker 02

  So I was dealing with it on steroids because I didn't even look the part. And like, it's like the CBA and like, nobody's at the game anyway. So putting on a show don't even make no sense. But yeah, I have no regrets. I'm definitely proud, you know, thank God for the, you know, the path that, that I've taken and what's come of just like you said, the kid spent all those hours working on the game.

• 38:39Channing Crowder?

  But those guys are so great at and one. Why do most of them? You got Skip to my Lou. You got a couple of guys that made in the league, but majority of guys don't make it in the league.

• 38:48Speaker 02

  Right.

• 38:48Channing Crowder?

  This will be my guess. I don't want you to get mad at me.

• 38:50Speaker 02

  No, you're good.

• 38:51Channing Crowder?

  All of y'all are defensive liabilities. Y'all work on dribbling and doing all that stuff. Y'all get on the other side of the court and y'all can't stop a damn child. Am I wrong?

• 39:01Speaker 02

  No, I don't think so. I don't think so. No, here's where I think a lot of guys like, like you know how it is in the NBA, it's like guys have the complete package. So like, somebody like A O who definitely had NBA talent, defensively, offensively, everything, but like, maybe at that time, time, maybe, maybe he wouldn't want to be coached, you know what I mean? Like he's a little used to just be, you know, playing street ball, doing your own things. And like, he never lifted a weight. So like, you know, playing the league, you don't have to lift weights, you know what I mean? So I think like, people lacked, oh, some people were tweeners, right? I think even like, say like, Main Event, like, he's, he had NBA talent. He played at Rutgers, NBA play,

• 39:42Speaker 02

  he's gonna get his against that dude too, right? But, and he, he plays D, like, he's like Barkley, you know what I mean? And he could fly, but he's like, you know, he's like 6'4", 6'5", but he kind of plays like a Barkley. So is he gonna get a shot in the NBA, playing like a 3, 4, where nowadays they're like 6'9", you know what I mean? So like, I think some guys were tweeners, but I think that, what was, what was interesting about it, the talent level was super high. It's funny, it's even like with me today, some people think the talent was higher than it was. Somebody would be like, oh man, I love, you know, you know, Professor and Iverson, man, they, they should go head to head. You know what I mean? Like, that was a narrative back then, right? But then, some people would be like, oh, these dudes can't play at all, they're garbage. You know what I mean? That's even like with me, like,

• 40:24Speaker 02

  my fans always like a big divide of like, opinion or whatever. But, no, the truth is, like, it was actually a very high, it was the highest level I played. I mean, think about, I played at community colleges, this way, like, if M1 played my Juco team, it'd be, oh, like, it's not even a game, right? Even the D1 team, I don't know if D1 teams could beat the M1, like, because we play overseas, we would play D2 and D1 overseas teams when we'd go play. And we'd put on a show and kill it, you know what I mean?

• 40:51Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 40:51Speaker 02

  So, yeah, I feel like it was underestimated by a lot of people.

• 40:54Fred Taylor?

  Around the time you were getting ready to go on the M1 tour, was around the same time, J. Will, White Chocolate, had entered the NBA. And having seen someone like J. Will, similar game, molded in the same style, fancy, we hadn't seen a point guard, definitely not a, a white point guard, to do the things he was doing, dribbling, hitting behind the back, all that stuff. How much did that inspire you to keep your hopes and dreams alive, that you can make it to the NBA and do those same things?

• 41:24Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 41:25Fred Taylor?

  Or did you even watch J. Will?

• 41:26Speaker 02

  No, I love J. Will. Yeah, I love, because J. Will and Iverson, like after Jordan, it was like J. Will and Iverson. These are my guys, you know what I mean? He was super inspiring, but I did know he took a different path, right? He was a D1 player.

• 41:37Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 41:37Speaker 02

  He's 6'2".

• 41:39Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 41:39Speaker 02

  I just wouldn't, he's definitely bigger than I am. He outweighed me by a lot. Being that he already had taken that D1 path, I felt like he already had the edge, right? Like, I don't know if it inspired me to do it, because I knew for me, it would be like this whole nother. I would have had it been like Rudy to make the NBA, you know what I mean, at that time? But I was inspired by his play style. Like, I always tried to do that elbow pass and like...

• 41:59Ryan Clark?

  That joke was cold, though.

• 42:02Fred Taylor?

  Really quick.

• 42:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:03Fred Taylor?

  We would play at the rec at UF. He ended up leaving Marshall and going to Florida.

• 42:06Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 42:07Fred Taylor?

  So we came across paths, and the football guys would play at the campus rec. You see him, you see us, vice versa. We were coming down on a break, 3-on-1, and he did the fucking elbow pass. Before he did it, showed the NBA he could do it. And he hit it that way, and it came back to me. Out of bounds. Me up. I wasn't ready for it.

• 42:29Speaker 02

  Oh, he hit you in the chest?

• 42:31Fred Taylor?

  No, I didn't even see the ball. He's like, Freddie, you gotta keep your hands up. And he did the shit again. Bricks. But it's so many moves, so nice. It's so amazing, like, I was just honored to be out there and then to see him do it in the NBA.

• 42:46Speaker 02

  That's fire.

• 42:47Fred Taylor?

  It's crazy. But my game was whack.

• 42:50Ryan Clark?

  My last question is this. The mixtape tour was bigger than N1. The apparel and shoe brand. And it ended up being basically a culture and entity in its own. And I don't even know that they were ready to handle, and if you kind of watched the doc, they weren't. Are you, though, the most famous of the N1 ballers?

• 43:13Speaker 02

  Like, today? Oh, I think today. I think a lot of those guys were, like I said, they were halfway through their career, or even some of them were in the fourth quarter of their career at that time. And then also, they were really, like, we all did social media, but like, we used it to like chase girls, you know what I mean? Like, I think I was the only one that was doing it for branding. And maybe it's because I was from the young, I was like a younger generation and I saw like, I remember we went to Paris, France and some kids ran up on it like, "Professor, professor", you know, or whatever and they were, and I was like, "Oh, thanks for watching the show, I appreciate that" and they're like, "No, YouTube, YouTube, we saw you". So I had foreseen that this could be like the new TV when we didn't have a TV show. So I was the only one like to brand out like that.

• 43:55Speaker 02

  Hot Sauce was mainly the headliner, like when I was there.

• 43:59Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 43:59Speaker 02

  You know, and I give them majority the credit too because they built and won, you know what I mean? Like I was a fan. I came on like the halfway.

• 44:05Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 44:06Speaker 02

  I feel like it was, it was on the way up and then I came on to help it like go to just hit the tip, you know.

• 44:12Ryan Clark?

  Make the peak, the pinnacle.

• 44:13Speaker 02

  Top it off, yeah, right to the, to the pinnacle. And then when it got bought out a couple of years later, then it like started to go down. I think that like, I wouldn't be who I am without them.

• 44:22Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 44:22Speaker 02

  You know?

• 44:23Ryan Clark?

  I respect that, man. Thank you so much for coming through, bro. I think, you know, when you were a part of like our era and our generation, getting an opportunity to watch and won basketball was what like Hooper's dreamed of. You know, because like everybody could think, "I can go get a ball and I can try this or I can do this". When you watch Michael Jordan, there's like, "I know for sure, I can't do that". And it turned out I couldn't do what y'all were doing either, man. But we appreciate you, bro. Continue to do the things that you're doing, also keep inspiring.

• 44:51Speaker 02

  Hey, man, humbled and I, I didn't even get a chance to tell you, man, congrats on your guys' success too. I mean, I'm humbled to be sitting here with you. You guys are like beast athletes yourself. And then I saw like the episodes and the caliber of people you had on here, so humble, man. Appreciate you guys.

• 45:05Ryan Clark?

  Thank you, fam.

• 45:05Fred Taylor?

  We appreciate the jewelry, the jewelry, man.

• 45:08Ryan Clark?

  True, Pops got it on.

• 45:11Ryan Clark?

  Pops got it on. Oh, man, appreciate you too. That was good, man.

• 45:50Speaker 07

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