Interviewing TikTok Star StevoLuddy

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another Strictly B-Ball podcast. I guess maybe our first official podcast and we have a very special guest today, Steve-O Luddy with over 2 million followers on TikTok. Steve-O, do you want to introduce yourself? Yeah, what's good? Steve-O Luddy. You may know me as the dude with the big shoe on TikTok. I do anything from like dancing to like answering questions to playing sports. I do sports from basketball, golf, tennis, swimming, snowboarding, you name it. I have a physical disability, but I don't let that slow me down and I use my platform to inspire others. Yes, sir. Favorite sport is basketball though, right? Oh yeah, by far, by far. There you go. I guess, so you mentioned it, you have a little bit of disability. Do you want to just talk about like how that diagnosis or like the journey that you've been on with that? Yeah, so like every interview or podcast I've been on, like I try to keep it short and sweet because it would be a three-hour conversation if I went into all the details, but basically my bone disease is called Mifushi syndrome and it's characterized by how my bones have grown in different shapes and sizes all throughout my body. The most noticeable things are my left leg is significantly shorter than my right. It's actually nine inches, so I wear like this foam boot or this lift or this platform under my shoe and then my left arm is a lot shorter than my right arm, but then of course like my ribs are different shapes and sizes, like my fingers, my like everything, my knees, my toes, every bone in my body is pretty much a little different and I've kind of grown up with this and one of the main questions or the most striking thing when you see me is the shoe and one of the main questions is like was it like hard to learn how to walk with that thing, but the immediate response is like no because as I grew up the shoe also grew up with me, so it was never like a learning curve, you know, like I literally grew up the shoe and so of course learning to like play sports has been a little bit more challenging, but like challenging, but I've always found a way to like be as competitive as I can and just be the best athlete that I can. For sure, yeah, your story inspires so many and congratulations, a little late congratulations, but congrats on two million, well deserved, glad to see it. So second question, if we're not mistaken you've met Kobe Bryant, correct? That's right. What was it like meeting Kobe? Oh man, so like Kobe, so this goes kind of along with my whole health story, so like Kobe gave me so much strength. I owe a lot, like my personality, like you know me personally, if you're my buddy, you know that I'm extremely competitive, like I like to argue, like I have a lot of swagger, like when I play sports, like I'll get up in someone's face and like all this like goes back to like just watching Kobe religiously from like the age of three, so like I literally fell in love with basketball at a very, very young age, just watching Lakers Pistons back in 01, and like from then on I knew that I wanted to be a pro basketball player, but of course that didn't happen because I'm 5'1 with the bone disease, but he gave me so much strength when I was in the hospital going through surgeries or when I had leukemia, just going, you know, I would shoot hoops from my bed, I was weak as crap. I don't know, can I curse on here? Yeah, you can go ahead. You're good. Yeah, I was weak as ****, like I was on heavy chemo, I was throwing up blood, but every time I'd blow my nose, I'd crumble off the tissue paper, we had like a Nerf bowl set up at the end of my bed, and we'd have a trash can under that, right, and of course ESPN's on the TV 24-7. I actually memorized every single NBA basketball player's name when I was only six years old. I literally memorized every, because I would just play NBA Live 05 like religiously, but yeah, so I'd shoot on this hoop as I'd watch Kobe highlights with all the strength I could. So then like after leukemia, I was given an 11% chance of surviving, chemo wasn't working, and I ended up having to have a bone marrow transplant, which is a very complex procedure. It's a very risky one too, and my brother was a perfect match for the procedure, and he saved my life. So then after leukemia, I was granted a Make-A-Wish due to like the severe nature of my leukemia, and so instead of, you know, picking Disney World, like a normal six-year-old, normal seven-year-old, I chose to go to the NBA All-Star Game. I remember telling my grandparents like, I want to go to the NBA All-Star Game, and they're like, what? Why don't you just go to Disney or something? I'm like, no, I want to go to the NBA All-Star Game, and it was mainly just to meet Kobe, right, and meeting him was absolutely like out of this world, like it was an out-of-body experience that I will never forget. I remember everything that happened frame by frame. There's like an iconic picture of him holding me up like this, and I'll never forget the conversation we had. He literally just taught me how to shoot a jumper. He sat me down after he was holding me, and he told me to go cross up Shaq. Shaq was like standing in front of green screen, like taking pictures or whatever, and Shaq had a basketball, and he like, he literally shoved the ball on my, you know, he like passed the ball to me really hard, and Connie's like, show me what you got, little guy, and like I did like a little hezi under the leg behind the back, and his seven-foot-one, you know, 350 frame, like fell to the ground, and everyone in the entire locker room was cracking up. Vince Carter, Allen Iverson, Calvin, Duncan, everyone was, Kobe, everyone was cracking up, so it was like one of those things that like, it's surreal, like I still can't believe it happened, and I was so young, and I was still pretty sick, so like, I don't know, I wish I could go back and like thoroughly like enjoy it more, but like it was such a surreal experience. So now, wow, that's actually just an incredible story. I did not know that complete story. I mean, I saw, I saw the pic with you and Kobe, but that is, that's really crazy, and now you're trying to go back, right? That's right, that's right. The all-star game, when did that like idea come about? So it's kind of like something that I, it's like an idea I've always had, like just to play in, under the lights in the NBA game, right, just like any other kid, right, and this dream wasn't, I never thought it'd be a reality, and I don't consider myself a celebrity, but like yeah, on TikTok, right, and then, so like the way I think about it, I'm, you know, a 22-year-old, educated in college, like I like to think for the NBA, it makes sense, like they will be able to put ESPN, if they cover the story, if they talk about how, you know, a kid who uses Make-A-Wish after battling a bone disease, leukemia, thyroid cancer, all these things, uses Make-A-Wish to go to the NBA all-star game to meet Kobe Bryant, and then you fast forward 13 years, he has a large social media following with the goal of inspiring people, and to put a TikToker, especially, I'm sure they want a TikToker, the most popular app in the world, yeah, put a TikToker with his story in this like complete circle, put him in the celebrity all-star game, I feel like it would work, but also it's like obviously a dream come true for me, but also another thing is like it'll inspire kids, you know, who feel self-conscious about their body, or feel that they can achieve the dreams, their dreams, just because of the way they look. Yeah, I think that would be just, I really hope that happens, I mean, I definitely, Noel and I have been talking about how we were like super excited to go to All-Star Weekend this year, if it was gonna happen, but yeah, I'm just hoping that it does, because last year we went, and it was like a super fun experience in Chicago, imagine y'all are there, and I'm playing in it, exactly, that'd be so awesome, nuts, if you're playing in it, we would definitely have to get tickets, because we could not really afford tickets to, we went to the Rising Stars game, that was the only thing, okay, cool, but that was fair price, so I would say it's what, like a hundred, hundred-ish dollars, so yeah, it doesn't matter the atmosphere there, and we actually, I don't know if you know them or not, but Jesser the Lazer and LSK, two basketball YouTubers, they were previously 2k YouTubers, but now they kind of branched off to basketball, generally speaking, but you have a good following there, and Joe and I have been subscribed to them for a while, so like seeing them is just, it's just crazy, and you gotta meet them, yeah, we were waiting for the Rising Stars game, and they were right in front of us, so wow, that's crazy, yeah, for sure, so we've been friends for, I don't even know, I feel like at least a couple months on TikTok, so I feel like we've seen a good amount of growth in your account recently, what do you think is the reasoning for that, so like on TikTok, TikTok's such a complicated, the way the algorithm works, the way it changes so often, I don't really like, look, I kind of joke around on TikTok almost, I take it seriously, and I try to post as often as I can, obviously because people enjoy viewing my content, but for the most part, I post what I want to post, and like what makes me happy, and you'll see on TikTok that people go viral over a couple months, just because they're doing one specific type of video over and over, right, it becomes a trend, and like every one of those videos, like it's, you know, a lot of views, but if you go to my channel, like I do literally anything from like dancing with my girlfriend, or like answering questions, to playing sports, to to anything, right, and like random videos will go viral, and I think that that's extremely valuable, and like I really enjoy what's going on on my channel right now, because it's not just like one type of video is going viral, it's like people are actually enjoying like seeing different aspects of my life, and it's just like a very like, I don't know, it's very rewarding, I guess, because I'm posting what I want to post, what makes me happy, and yeah, so like recently with the whole NBA Celebrity All-Star Game thing, that went also viral on Instagram, so like I don't know if y'all saw SportsCenter, I saw that, that's crazy, and Overtime, and like Worldstar reached out to me, a couple other, yeah, and like, I don't know, a bunch of weird accounts, like Dak Prescott was like reposting me, and like, like CD Lamb, and like other, like Swaggy P DM'd me, like nuts, like crazy stuff, it's crazy, crazy, that's like what I was gonna say about you posting like different types of video, and not, different types of videos, and not staying to like one category, I feel like that emphasizes your personality, which is what a lot of people like, because it's truly showing your personality, which is extremely inspiring, and motivational for others, and that's what I feel like people enjoy, so that's what I like, I appreciate that, yeah, yeah, I just feel like a normal dude, like my friend, like I was in fraternity, like my friends are just like, what the heck is going on, because I'm just like a normal dude, and they're like, oh, have you changed, I'm like, no, dude, like I'll sit back and have this beer with you, like, just relax, like, I don't know, dude, just to clarify, he is, he is of legal age, he's 22 years old, I'm 22 years old, yeah, yeah, I don't look it, all my lives, I'm 22 years old, I promise, I saw you made a video about that, like literally saying like, I'm 22, because somebody was like freaking out, bro, it's nuts, I've posted probably three videos without calling on TikTok, because that's like who I am, that's also another thing that I want to get into, like, I don't like love alcohol, like, or anything, but it's part of my personality, I'm 22 years old, and like, whatever, and like, but all those videos have gotten deleted, really, yeah, I saw that you posted about that, that's, and there's dudes whose whole platform on TikTok is about drinking, like, oh, I've seen with this one dude recently, who literally just shotguns, he, like, does, like, what, he literally shotguns the thing, and then he, like, reviews it, okay, just because he's, like, an attractive dude, like, come on, oh, I know that dude, I think that's that dude who, like, oh, he, like, I'm pretty sure he blew up, he sits there with a butt light, and he, like, yes, yes, that dude, like, come on, it's just, it's just her pony, yeah, I don't know, like, dude, like, I would, I don't know, it's just something that annoys me, you think TikTok just, like, sits down, and, like, looks at videos, and is, like, all right, this guy might be under 21, like, my profile set, like, it has my birthday, and it has, like, I don't know, like, it is weird, especially when you specified your age, and yeah, that's just, it just doesn't make sense, and other people, like, other people are doing it, you know what I mean, but it's just, like, they just, yeah, so, like, when I'm in my lives, I'm, like, trust me, I'm 22, like, I do not condone underage drinking, uh, etc, etc, just so they don't, like, ban me or whatever, yeah, have you ever got, like, a warning of some sort, like, from a live, or no, lives are weird, I've gotten, like, banned for 10 minutes, one time I was dancing, I was literally just vibing and dancing for, like, five minutes, and I got banned for, like, two counts of, like, yeah, like, what, that's hilarious, dude, I was like, what, was I, like, hitting it too hard, like, what's going on, like, what, I got banned for 24 hours, do you remember that, like, at the start, we got banned, and we got, like, a warning to start, and then we got banned for 24 hours, and we couldn't figure out, like, if it was, like, swearing, or, like, and then we were, like, tweaking so hard, we thought it was, like, something in the background of, like, had no idea, but, yeah, because we'd, like, film, film us, like, playing, like, two games, and then doing other things, as well, but, yeah, really, in the conclusion of why we got, like, that striker, that 24-hour ban, it was super weird, yeah, no, I love y'all's page, like, whenever y'all come up with my FOP, I check, I watch the whole video, and I usually give it a, like, it's pretty fun, like, refreshing NBA content, appreciate that, out of curiosity, when did you, uh, start following us, well, like, months ago, right, it was before y'all even did the podcast with Mario, I believe, that's awesome, uh, yeah, so, like, months ago, I might have followed y'all before you followed me, for sure, really, yeah, I don't know, I think so, dude, I think so, dude, because you, you DM'd us in August, when we were talking, yeah, the first time, that was when we were in Arizona, so, yeah, so, like, I think I was already following y'all for, like, a couple weeks before that, awesome, well, greatly appreciate the support, awesome, when did you, uh, start your account, so, okay, so, like, literally right when quarantine started, so, like, I didn't have TikTok, uh, um, I thought it was cringe, uh, whatever, right, and, like, mid-March, I remember just sitting down with my friend at Biscuitville, and she was like, you should start a TikTok, and I was like, because, like, so, in high school, I gave inspirational speeches to, like, high schools, middle schools, churches, uh, businesses, camps, uh, and everything, and all the proceeds would go to charity, and then, going into college, I wanted to be a communications major, attend my dream school, UNC is my dream school, and just have fun, like, I literally just want to have fun, like, I, I knew I wasn't going to, like, work a nine-to-five, I wanted to inspire people in whatever way possible, whether that mean, like, give speeches, or be a writer, or, you know, do art, et cetera, so, like, I just want to have fun in college, uh, fast forward to when quarantine started, my friend was like, yeah, you should start TikTok, like, uh, start your career, and I was like, whatever, and then I literally downloaded TikTok, didn't watch a single video on TikTok, I just made my first post, I remember freaking out, I got, like, 2,000 views, or whatever, and then, like, a week later, I posted, or, I showed, I made a video showing, like, how I get my shoes done, or how I get the lift added, and that had, like, 400,000 likes, or whatever, yeah, and I remember when that was blowing up, it was like, I was golfing, and I was drinking white balls with my dad, and, like, his buddies, or whatever, right, and, like, I was on, like, the 14th hole, and, like, it had 20,000 views, or whatever, and I was like, holy ----, like, that's, like, that fills up the whole ding-dong, like, that's wild, 20,000 views, I always, like, I was freaking out about 20,000 views, yeah, and, like, 30 minutes later, it was at, like, 70,000 views, and I was like, okay, what is going on, yeah, I had, like, three, I, I've, one of my first videos is thanking my followers for 3,000 followers, yeah, that's literally, like, one week after I started, and, like, I like to look back on that, I'm like, holy ----, yeah, it's an unreal feeling, but kind of back to what you're saying about, like, starting with quarantine, I feel like a lot of things, or, like, a lot of times people, like, like our age, we're college students, like, Joe's 19, I'm 20, you're 22, the thing we associate with, like, TikTok is, like, younger generation, like, dancing, it's, like, more so sort of cringe, so I feel like it kind of took a while, maybe you experienced this as well, but, like, it took a while to, like, come around to the platform, but now it's my favorite, it's my favorite app, for sure. Yeah, yeah, no, like, I didn't tell my friends I was on TikTok, like, they found, they just found out. I don't think we did either. Because I feel like, I don't know, because, like, if you tell your friends, like, you're on TikTok, and you're, like, starting your own, well, for us, like, starting a sports account, like, they'll be like, okay, whatever, like, what are you doing, but if you have a following to back it up, then they're like, okay, or whatever, that's, that's, like, the key factor, right, that's what we, like, when we started, we didn't tell anyone, I think, I remember this now, we didn't tell anyone, and then we were like, all right, when we hit 10k, we hit 10,000 followers, we're gonna, like, post on all of our stories, and just, like, flex it, because we thought that was gonna be, like, months down the road, yeah, yeah, yeah, we hit 10k in one night, it was a similar experience to you, like, we started, or, like, we went from a thousand to 10k in one night, and, was it one video that did it? Yeah, it was one video, we just, I was just playing basketball, and it was literally similar to you, where it was at, like, 20k, I posted it right before I started playing basketball, got back in the car when I was done, it was at, like, 20k, I was like, okay, this is, this is for, like, originally, we just posted, like, basketball highlights, and then, right, the first, like, talk, the first, like, talking video we did, it blew up, and, like, 20k when I got done playing basketball, and then, like, 30k when I got home, and that video ended up being, like, 900k, now it's at, like, a million, look back, it was, yeah, it was grading every, uh, was it grading number one overall, yeah, yeah, it was a part, like, a whole series on that, and that series just kind of, that's what, like, filled us, like, all that series, I saw part of that series, really, that was, like, a first one, but we didn't really tell any of our friends, or, like, our close friends knew, but we didn't really, like, tell a lot of people until, like, probably, like, 100k, I feel like, yeah, yeah, I didn't even tell any, because if you tell them, and, like, you fail, or whatever, yeah, yeah, because we have, like, I don't know, like, the motivation is there for us, like, we know, like, what we can maybe amount to, but someone else, and, like, I don't know, we just, I just didn't want to do it, and then people, like, it's just, it's just weird, I just didn't want to tell people initially, I don't know, right, y'all two should just start, like, a, like, a podcast, like, with y'all two, just discussing basketball moves, that's what we were talking about, the thing is, it's just, with school, like, we're both, we're both working part time, we're both in school, so that kind of, and we're, uh, like, uh, we're, like, an hour, we're, like, an hour away from each other, so that's a little more difficult, but doing, like, Zoom, like, Zoom meetings, if we did a Zoom meeting, each get a mic, and sort of do that at least once every week, that's something we want to do in the, in the near future, but also, like, interviewing, like, other TikTokers, or people who have some association with basketball, right, so you have two point, I think it's 2.1 now, 2.1 million followers, yeah, I think it's about to be 2.2, probably 2.2, like, that's crazy, so when did you first realize, like, okay, like, I'm gonna, like, I can do this, like, I'm gonna get, like, I have a lot of followers, like, I can build this platform, like, when did you first realize, like, this can be, like, something big come out of this? Dude, I don't even know, like, I don't even know, I kind of, like, always knew I had it in me, like, I've always been so, like, I've always been, like, an artsy dude, so, like, and I've always loved, like, film, and, like, production, and, like, editing, and stuff, so, like, even, like, before I started, I thought I had a chance, I didn't know, like, two million, like, of course, so I don't know when the turning point kind of was, I remember being at the beach, and I think I gained, like, 200k in, like, a few days, or a couple days, that's crazy, and I was, it was, like, so Marco, I don't know if y'all saw this, Marco Terzo, he's, like, a big shoe artist on YouTube, he's got, like, five mil on YouTube. I saw your custom, your custom shoe, is that who made it? That's who made it, yeah, this dude named Marco, so I made, like, a video series, it was, like, a three-part thing, like, the first one, I was asking, you know, my followers to, like, tag him in the comments, whatever, because, like, I couldn't DM him, because he was too big, and I was, I had, like, 50k or whatever at the time, and then the second video is him responding, and we got on a FaceTime call, and all this stuff, right, and then the third one was, like, me revealing the shoes, and me revealing the shoes had, like, I think it was, like, 29 million views, and, like, 3.5 million likes, or something crazy. That's unreal. Nuts, it's nuts, and that happened when I was at the beach, and then, like, posted a few other videos that, like, I think I put, I think I had, like, five videos that week that had, like, 600, 700k likes, so, like, it was just me, like, walking around the beach, like, playing in the water, I don't know, just random stuff that I did. I think it's always those, like, type of things that, like, really do, like, super viral numbers, is, like, the little series that, like, the followers, like, to get behind. Right. For us, yeah, for us, it wasn't as, probably as big as that, but we did, like, the, we did a virtual fans, like, emailing every team to become a virtual fan, or, yeah, email. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A virtual fan, and, like, the followers, when they, like, feel like they're a part of, like, a journey like that, they just, they just love it, or just, like, a series like that. Yeah, they latch on. Yeah, yeah, and they're watching the full length of every video, so then it pops up on their FYP every time it comes up, they're commenting, and then. Yeah, TikTok is fun. I mean, it's definitely a good place to start if you're trying to get going on social media. It's the best platform. Yeah. Like, hands down, it's easily the best. It's just so, like, user-friendly for content creators. Like, you can go from no followers to, like, 100K, even, like, a million in such a short span, like, you look at other platforms, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, like, it is extremely difficult to, like, grow a platform on there. Like, you see a lot of, like, the sports pages, or I guess any category for that matter, that have a good following, and in most cases, they've just been a part of it for so long, and that's why they have that following. But TikTok, like, it's just all, it's, like, everyone's, like, sort of a fresh user, almost. Like, it's only been, like, what, TikTok itself? I mean, there's Musical.ly, but, like, TikTok itself has only been around for, like, what, a couple, like, two years? Two years. It's by far the most used right now, as far as, like, time spent on the app, and it's ridiculous. And I know, like, there's a lot of political stuff going on with the app, but it persevered. It's just wild how, like, monstrous the app is. It's crazy. Were you scared when all the TikTok getting banned stuff was going around? No. The app was too big. There's too much, there's too many people on the app. There's too, it can't just go. Like, I know Vine went down, and it went down pretty easily. But, like, TikTok's, believe it or not, TikTok's, like, 10 times bigger than Vine ever was. Yeah. And it has the, just, international, like, Vine was just mostly requesting. And, like, TikTok is, it's not even, like, the biggest here. Like, it's, like, the Chinese version of it has, like, probably double the amount of people that use it here. Probably actually even more, so. Like, half my followers are not in the U.S. Are you serious? Really? Dead serious. I think it's, like, 49% in the U.S. That's really interesting. It's nuts. Because, like, to me, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, I feel like it's a good thing. I mean, you're getting that international reach. But it doesn't make, so it says, like, 46% United States, and then it says 5% UK, 3% Brazil, 3% Mexico. Like, I don't, like, how does, how do all the other countries, like, add up to the other 54%? Oh, we know a kid, not that well, but there's this one kid who, he, like, is from the U.S., from Minnesota, and he somehow, he never spoke English, but he somehow, or, yeah, he speaks English, never spoke Spanish, and somehow got to be, like, a famous Brazilian, like, almost sway boy. Like, he didn't speak Spanish at all. But somehow, I don't know it that well, like, his story. But TikTok is so weird and so international that he literally lives in Brazil now in, like, the Brazilian equivalent of the Sway House. Yeah. Logan, if you're watching this, shout out to you, dog. I sat with you at lunch. Do they have, like, Sway Houses out in Brazil? They have, like, dude, some dudes with, like, 5 million on Instagram, like, living in a house together in Brazil. Regardless, I see so many houses on TikTok. I don't know if your 4U page is showing them, but, like, it's, like, one's, like, the unexpected house, one's, like. Yeah, dude, the unexpected house. Everyone's, everyone's making a damn house. Like, bro, we gotta make a strictly house. A basketball house, yeah. But looking at our top territories, as TikTok says it, 72% of our following is from the United States, so. Okay. Yours is 49. Mine's 49. That's nuts. Yeah, that's, yeah, that's a little, it's kind of shocking, to be honest. To me, it's, like, maybe that means that, like, I have a lot of U.S. territory to, you know, potential to reach out to. That's true. That's very true. So, you mentioned to us, I don't know if it was already said on this podcast, but you're from North, you're from North Carolina, so how much do you, how much do you like living there? Oh, I love it. I mean, it's, we got, I live in the triad, which is, like, dream for basketball. We got UNC-Duke, NC State, we're college hoops, like, everyone has a basketball hoop. You know, in the driveway. Growing up, like, I don't know, it's great. I live in, like, right in the middle of North Carolina, so, you know, you go east, you're at the beach, you go west, you're in the mountains. My brother goes to App State, which is in the mountains, my girlfriend goes to App State as well, which is in the mountains, so, like, I don't know, like, geographically, like, it's awesome. I love where I grew up, right near Chapel Hill, and yeah, no, except, like, our professional teams aren't the greatest, the Panthers aren't the best, and the Hornets signed Gordon Hayward to a $120 million deal, so. Yeah. So, are you a Hornets fan, or are you a Lakers fan? No, no, no, no, no, I'm actually a Laker fan. Laker fan, okay. That's a good business decision. I mean, I guess the Hornets are my second favorite, but. So, you must have liked the Lomelo Ball signing, or maybe you didn't, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm actually in a Dynasty NBA Fantasy League, and, like, so, yeah, on Sleeper, do y'all, are y'all familiar with Sleeper app? Do you do fantasy football? Yeah, I do fantasy football, but just through. I do a little bit. So, there's a Sleeper app, and it's, like, completely devoted towards fantasy sports, like, I don't, I moved away from ESPN once I started Sleeper, because ESPN, like, they're doing a lot of other things. They're not focusing on fantasy, they're fantasy, like. Yeah. And all this stuff. So, like, we basically have a Dynasty, me and my boys back at home, and we have four rounds where we pick, basically, rookies. And so, I had the fourth pick, and Lomelo slipped to the fourth pick, so I picked him up. Who were the first three? Was it Edwards, Wiseman, and? Edward, Wiseman, and, let's see, who was it? I think it's my pick right now. I picked Precious as my second round pick. Oh, okay. Oh, let's see. So, wait, Wiseman, Edwards, and then Obi. Obi. Makes sense. Yeah, man. Put up good numbers, like, right away, just because he's older. I mean, the Knicks have, Obi, I mean, the Knicks have so many small forwards, so, so many young, talented forwards. It's going to be interesting to see his role. Another five. Lomelo, Killian Hayes, Denny. I like Killian Hayes, too. My boy, Cole Anthony. Yeah, Cole Anthony, he's sick. I don't know why Cole was picked up that early, though, but. That's true. So, on the topic of the NBA. Yeah. And you said you're a Lakers fan. Are they the front, are they your front runners for the 2021 NBA championship? Yeah, I mean, as long as you have LeBron on your team. Funny story, though, I'm not a LeBron fan at all. Not a fan. Don't really like him as a person, either. Maybe you've seen the videos, maybe you know how Joe and I think LeBron's the GOAT. Yeah, I mean, so, I don't. But I think he's one of the most dominant athletes to ever walk this planet. One of the most beast physical specimens to ever walk this planet. Like, he could have played any sport he wanted. I mean, you can't. I don't know. I don't think he's the most. When I look at basketball, I look at, like, the skill and the gracefulness and, like, the art. And I don't know if he's the most. He's very skilled. Like, his passing is ridiculous. But it also comes down to, like, I know he's clutch, too, by the numbers. But when you watch a game and he's passing the ball with 10 seconds left, it's just like, you can't be the GOAT. You gotta take the shot, bro. I mean, he's done it. He's taken the shot many times. He has. Yeah. Specifically, like, this year. Do you think he's been taking the time to pass it to Danny Green? Yeah, like, that should never happen. You've seen other instances, too. Jordan. Steve Kirt. Yeah, Jordan passing it to Steve Kirt. Yeah, that one time. Yeah, yeah. It was an iconic jumper. I mean, he passed it to Danny Green, who is, I mean, supposed to be a three-point shooter. But I mean, now there's just so much. All I'm saying is Ray Allen doesn't get enough credit for the ring that he bought LeBron. Oh, okay. He doesn't get enough credit. Part of that game is that LeBron absolutely wins. He went off on the fourth. Insane. The whole fourth quarter. I mean, he missed the three at the end. He made the three on the possession earlier, though. Right, he did. He did. But the game was over if Chris Boston tipped that pass out to Ray Allen, who arguably could have traveled and hit a corner three. Look, I'm not a LeBron hater, either. I, like, think he's an absolute animal. Like, that's why I'm saying we're favorites to win it all next year. I'm not, like, I look at the stats. He's a UNC guy. I mean, I said who's your second? Kobe? Your big Kobe? No, no, no. Probably LeBron. Yeah, I feel like he's probably, like, fourth. I don't know. I think Kobe's definitely top five. I think he's the best. I think he's the greatest Laker ever over Magic. Yeah, I agree. Maybe Magic said that. If Magic says that, I mean. Magic said it. Magic didn't play long enough, either, unfortunately, right? He played, what? 10 seasons? 8 seasons? Maybe, I feel like 12. I feel like 12. I knew it was an even number between 8 and 12. I think 12. Because he came back for, like, what? One season? He did. So, yeah. But yeah, dude. I mean, so, like, I was a big Laker fan. And then another reason why I don't like LeBron that much is because, like, everyone at my school knew I was, like, the biggest Kobe fan, right? So, like, all the LeBron fans. Like, there was, for some reason, there was a rivalry back in, like, 08 when Kobe was still cooking, right? Kobe's the best player in the league in 08, 09. And, like, the LeBron fans were, like, you know, like, they were rivals in a way. I wish they played in the finals at some point. I was just gonna say. I wish, man. That's a matchup we definitely missed out on. But I just love how, like, Kobe would block LeBron in, like, the All-Star game and ----. And Kobe would hit those turnaround jumpers in LeBron's face, like. Yeah. That was in his last game. Because he could go into another level, like, where he gets so competitive that he's not gonna miss. Like, he literally is gonna get a bucket on you. Like, he doesn't care. Just like his last game. I mean, Kobe, you could tell in his last game, he was done. He's definitely slowing down. Right, right. No one expected the 60-point last game. That was incredible. And it was, like, Shaq was, like. Even if he took, what, 40, 50 shots, like. He shot a decent percentage. I think he shot, like. Yeah, it wasn't that bad. It was above 40, at least. I was gonna say it's around 50 percent. I think it was, like. Yeah, yeah. But it wasn't, like. Dude, like. I don't know. It was insane. Like, putting up 60 points, period. Even if you're in a gym wide open for an hour. It's still ridiculous. I will never forget that night of NBA basketball. 73-9. Oh my gosh. And Kobe. Yes. Luckily, I was watching. I mean, I feel like most people would be watching Kobe. At least in the fourth quarter. But, yeah. I watched the whole game. Just the whole game. The whole game. I cried afterward. Yeah, back to the Lakers. Definitely the title favorites. I feel like this is, like. The best, like, team. The best, like, supporting cast that LeBron has had, like. Like, maybe not ours. But even, you could say. Anthony Davis might be the best player LeBron's ever played with. And the supporting cast is looking a lot better than last year, so. I mean, you're adding the two best bench players in the league. And I feel like. Anthony Davis is a top four player in the NBA. I think he's at four or five for sure. I actually think he might be. No MVP. That's why, I think it's either going to be. I made a video on this. But, you think Kawhi? No, I think Anthony Davis is better than Kawhi. Oh, I do too. I do too. Honestly, I. And that's coming from a Kawhi fan. Honestly, seeing Anthony Davis in the playoffs. I think he is. I think he's better right now than Kawhi Leonard is. Who would you say is your prediction for MVP? MVP next year? Kind of a tough one. That's tough, dude. Dude, he's kind of open. I would say. I would say Giannis. If he hadn't won it the past two years. Gotta be Giannis at some point, like. But like. But the thing is, there's only. Like with Giannis. I did a video on this. There's only three players in NBA history to have a 3P for MVPs. It's Larry Bird, Will Chamberlain, and Bill Russell. It could be Giannis. He'd be joining some elite company. But if I had to pick, I'm going with Luka Doncic. I'm going with Luka. Also, I think Anthony Davis is a very solid pick as well. LeBron might be coasting through the first few months. Anthony Davis. Can Anthony Davis win most valuable player on a team award? With LeBron there. That is a good point. More valuable than LeBron. Very true. I just feel like at the end of the year. LeBron could win it every year. He could. If you didn't have. If his whole career there was no playoffs. Because LeBron is definitely strategic about like. Being able to like coast a little bit through the regular season. If he can. And then just go off in the playoffs. But like if there was no playoffs. LeBron probably would have like. Six or seven MVPs that he deserves. Or maybe even more. Yeah. Back in the mid 2000s. Like Steve Nash was winning MVP at 15 and 10. The thing is if you look. Nash literally won MVP over Kobe. When Kobe averaged 35. And Steve Nash averaged 15 and 10. Like statistics don't say. Don't tell the full story. He's the most valuable player. Yeah. I mean. Like you compare. Nash's season. To LeBron and Kobe's. When he won MVP. You would be seen as. Idiotic. If you pick that. That's just like statistics aren't everything. And Nash winning MVP is like a prime example. Of why statistics aren't everything. I agree with that. Voting is just inconsistent. It is. Because like Derrick Rose. Was like a great story. Great young player. But he might not even. Deserved his MVP either. I feel like. He kind of. That's tough. Yeah. And it's like. He had a lot of hype behind him. Yeah. It's hard to say. Because like. Everyone loves D Rose. But. Did he really deserve MVP? I don't know. Maybe. It's great to see. When he. Oh my god. How long ago was that? When he like. Popped off for like. Was it 45. 50 points. And he's like crying. Don't get us started. We should have. That was so like. That was such a good like. Feeling in sports bro. We were so. We were so close. To going to that game. Because. What the Timberwolves do. Is they do. They do this thing called. College night. And basically. We didn't even get tickets. Like through this. But we'd buy tickets. To the college night game. And then they would do. A bunch of like other things. Like for college students. Like it's called pack deck. And you can submit a photo. Um for the call. For a college night winner. If you won. You got $50 to the team store. Tickets to. An upcoming Wolves game. Which for. When we won. When I won. And another one of my friends won. It was to the Raptors. Sick game. And also a chance to win $1,000. To your team. To the bookstore. Of the school you go to. So. We were always like. In the back. Back of our mind. Like what. Like going to college night games. And it was a college night game. And for whatever reason. We decided not to go. Because it was on Halloween. Yeah it was on Halloween night. We must have been doing something else. And I will never. It was Halloween night. And we were literally. This was last year. Or two years ago. 2017. Okay. Three years. Oh wow. Okay. There was nobody there. It was like 7,000 people there. It was. No. Or no. No he wasn't. That must have been the next year. Oh we won the. We won the college night. The year after. And then went to that game. This was a whole nothing. Yeah this was 2017. 2017. There was like nobody there. To watch D-Rose's 50 point game. Which is crazy. So mad. That's like. I always regret that. That's like the biggest. That's like one of the. That's like the only regret I have. I used to go to. Oh man. That would have been crazy. I used to go to Bobcats games growing up. And stay at the away like team hotel. Okay. And I would wake up at like 5 a.m. To like catch the Lakers. Like go to the bus. So I've met Kobe probably seven, eight times. Wow that's awesome. Like him just walking out to the bus. Bobcats that's. I lie. I had. Bobcats baby. Had to laugh a little bit dude. The Bobcats. I mean we laughed. We laughed. I was there when they went to the playoffs bro. I mean. They went. What year was that? 2013. 2014. I think that's who they were led by. They had like. Who did they even have? Like Sheldon Henderson. Michael Keaton. Oh they had a DJ. Did they have DJ? No, no, no. They were playing the Magic. They have Michael Keaton. I think it was before. Dude they had a. God who's the best player. They were playing against. When Dwight Howard was on the Magic. Yeah. But that was so fun. Because like. We suck. Yeah. Always. Like MJ is the worst owner. Don't tell myself that. He's the goat owner. Or the goat. Excuse me. The goat player. But like terrible owner. Great businessman as well. Yeah for sure. So back. We'll kind of wrap up this interview. What would you say. Is your favorite memory. Of this whole. Of this whole journey of experience. Like in the past. I guess whole journey. And this like past year with TikTok. Because I've been quarantined. It's been less than a year. So past year just everything. Best memory from it. I guess it's just like. I found that I've grown as a person. And like I've gotten to understand. That the world is a smaller place. Than I ever knew. Like. So like my bone disease. Only 200 people have ever been. Diagnosed with it. Worldwide ever. And I actually found. There's this girl. Who has the same exact bone disease. As me on TikTok. Yeah didn't you do out with. Do at her on TikTok. Yeah I just. I recently do editor. So like she does. The exact same thing as me. And like it's just crazy. Because like I never. Ever would have thought. I would have met anyone. You know with the exact. Same thing as me. It's just wild. The power of social media. That is a really special thing. A lot of like. Old people hate on social media. But like. That is such a cool connection. That you would never get. If you didn't have like. That kind of platform. Like that's that's really cool. Yeah another thing is like. I don't know if y'all saw the video. There's this Malaysian kid. Who glues together sandals. He has a lift like me. But it's like four inches. And he made a video. Just kind of like talking about like. You know his lift. And like how he's not confident. Like going to school. And like how people bully him. And I duetted it. Saying like hey man. Like keep your head up. Like it looks cool. And so he made another video. Saying oh my god like. Please everyone tag. Sivo and like. Ask him where he gets his lift. Because what he does is. He glues together a bunch of sandals. He just he makes sandals. And he glues them together. I have like a professional guy. Who like makes these things. Right it's like foam. It's lightweight. It's like two and a half three pounds. So my girlfriend was actually like. You should actually like help him out. Like I'll buy some shoes. And like you buy the lift. And ship it out to him. It'll be really cool. So like that's what we're doing right now. I actually just brought. My guy some shoes. And we're gonna ship it out. To the kid in Malaysia. Wow. I would never would have been able. To do that without TikTok. Now this kid's gonna have. A shoe that you can wear. Without you know. Having to glue together sandals. And they're nice Nikes. We customize. Awesome yeah. That is that's really cool man. So would you say like your. Your dream out of this. Would just be to like. Kind of grow as big as you can. And just inspire as many people. Like what would you say your. Like long-term goal would be. Yeah so like. Even so my mantra. Even when I gave speeches. And I'm gonna give speeches. In the future. I really enjoy doing that. But social media is the. The quickest. And like the most profound way. To share your story. And like share it. With millions of people literally. But like I always said. Before these speeches like. If I can inspire one person. If one person can come up to me. And be like hey man like. You changed the way. I thought about today. Like I'm gonna go home. And I'm gonna you know. Change this or that. This aspect of my life. I'm gonna change the way. I think about this. That right there is worth. Me sharing my story like. It's free for me to share my story. You know like. I've lived this experience. And like it's been tough yeah. But like I'm so used to it. That like I always say that. Everyone fights their own battles. And like everyone grows up. In their own life. And like everyone's battles. Are kind of the same. And it or everyone's battles. Are different in the same way. Like everything is. It's all subjective. Like our pain is all subjective. So like I always say. I just want to inspire one person. So like with TikTok. It's gotten to the point where like. I'm so blessed to have the platform. To inspire people. Just by being myself. And I'm just having fun with it. So like going forward. I'm just gonna keep having fun. And try to expand to YouTube. So like obviously I can you know. Another important part is. Getting paid on these platforms. So I can reinvest it in what I do. And like I can help communities. Like physically help communities. Or like I don't know. I got big plans going forward. But I don't know. I'm excited. It's something I've always wanted to do. It's like if you ask my parents. I've been talking about inspiring people. Since I was like six years old. That's not usually what a six-year-old talks about. Yeah so like. Well you're definitely doing a good job of that. Yeah I'll say that. I appreciate it. Yeah and just props to you on the philosophy. Like that's of just like helping. At least one person that will. Make it make it worth it for you. That's philosophy and outlook. And props to you. Like that's awesome. That's sick. Well I think we're gonna wrap it up. But thank you so much for talking with us today. It's been a really really good conversation. Yeah nah. Thank you guys for having me. I love y'all's channel. Everyone go check them out. If you're listening on Apple Music or Spotify. They're homies. I've been following forever. Genuine like content. But yeah. All right we'll see you guys later. Appreciate it. See you guys.