Tyrese Haliburton Guest Hosts Mind the Game (Part 1)

Coming up on this episode of Mind the Game. We have a substitute teacher, Tyrese Halliburton, man. Welcome to the show. I'm excited to be a part of it, but I told him I'm only doing it if I get to ask one certain question to Bron. Obviously, you evolved as a player. Obviously. As overrated as you are. Or as everyone would like to put, which is ridiculous. It's so funny you bring up that in-season tournament game because if we win that game, do we ever trade for Pascal? I don't know. One of your greatest assets that no one wants to coach it is the jump pass. I jump to make a read, but I feel like I always jump with a plan more times than not. You can't tell me that Jokic is not All-NBA. Now, all of a sudden, because he's missed 30 games, you can't tell me he's not a first-team All-NBA. I think it's something that will be adjusted. I think a big reason for that is Wemby. I have a great story. I've never told anybody this story before. So, we're at the Olympics. I'm sitting there. I'm like, oh, no. Oh, my goodness. Here we go. Mind the Game is back, Season 3. And we have a substitute teacher host in the building today. You know, taking the place of Steve Nash that's in Europe covering a bunch of NBA games and things of that nature. And we can't get a hold of him. We can't find him. So, you know, to our favorite New York Knicks fan, you know, your favorite player, we decided to bring on Tyrese Halliburton, man. Welcome to the show, bro. We're happy to have you host these two episodes with us, bro. How you doing, man? I'm good, man. I'm good. I'm excited to be here. Obviously, I always tune in. You and Steve talking hoop, I'm excited to be a part of it. I wanted to bring up just, bro, how you've been playing lately. It's been ridiculous to see at your big age, you know, the way you've been hooping. Averaging 23, 6, and 7 this year. 31 players in history have played after their 40th birthday and only 10 have played over 1,000 minutes. But only 5 have averaged over 10. That is insane. You 24, 7, and 7 since you turned 40. Michael Jordan averaged 22. Karl Malone, 13. The real host, Steve Nash, 8 games over 40. 7 points and 6 assists per game. So I just want to ask, how are you able to still play at this level at this age? Bro, it's very fascinating to me, and it's kind of weird, too, at times. There's times where I wake up on game days, and I'll be like, I don't got it, man. I don't have the energy. I'm tired. I don't know how I'm going to be able to work up, you know, just to, you know, the ugh that you need to get through a 48-minute game or however long you're on the floor. So, you know, it took a lot out of me, obviously, getting ready for the season, obviously, as well, documenting, you know, my injury to start the season and missing the first, you know, missing the preseason, missing training camp, missing the first 14 games of the season and, you know, just trying to get my back and my body back, you know, according. So, you know, that was tough, you know, seeing if it was going to be able to respond. And I don't know, man. You know, to be playing at the level I'm playing at, just turned 41, you know, a couple weeks, you know, two weeks plus, you know, ago, and going out there and playing and feeling good, you know. I played in two back-to-backs this past week, played five and seven nights, and I didn't know if I was going to be able to get through them. And I came out of, you know, five and seven, six and nine feeling really good. And it's, I don't know, man. I'll be like, I don't even know how I'm doing it. So, I'm just trying to squeeze as much juice out of the lemon, out of the orange, out of whatever that's left as much as I can and just continue to go on and play the game that I love, man. No, it's crazy because even at, I mean, ----, I'm 25. I have days on those back-to-backs where I'm just like, oh my God, like especially the travel back-to-backs. Like, we play, you have to fly, land, and then you have to, and then like, no shoot around, you're just kind of like, I got to get through this day. So, I can't imagine, I think about that all the time as I get older, how things are going to change. And I'm curious for you, like, as you've gotten older, like when did that first kick in where the back-to-backs, it was kind of like a drag, like the first time you noticed, like, man, like this is tough. Yeah, man, I don't, you know, obviously, you know, throughout your career, like you just said, you know, depending on the schedule, depending on if you're flying from one, you know, time zone to the next time zone, depending on what time you get back home or get to the next city will have some factors on how you feel that next morning. But, you know, I would say probably like over the last like three years, you know, you know, three, four years, it's just like, it didn't matter if I was coming home, it didn't matter if we was going to a different city, it didn't matter the time zone, just, you know, the back-to-backs they wear on you just because of the travel, you know, all the minutes I've played, all the cities I've continued to go to, you know, each and every year. And I think one thing that doesn't get talked about a lot as well too is like all the different like beds that we have to sleep in. You know, trying to be, you know. That's the worst thing. Yeah, you know, that's kind of, that's hard on your body, you know, different pillows, different beds, different, you know, that is taxing on your body too. So, you know, just trying to find some type of, some type of pattern, some type of comfort, you know, when you're going from different cities, different time zones, you know, coming back to your own bed, you know. So, you know, I would say over like the last three, you know, three years, Reese, man, just, you know, trying to figure it out, trying to, how can I get my body acclimated? How can I get my body recovered? How can I get my body as fully to, it's not going to get to 100. You're not going to get like a full gas tank, you know, on those back-to-backs, but you could try to get as close, you know, to 100 as possible to go out there and perform. And you hope that, you know, you hope that on that back-to-back, maybe some ---- talk and get started early in the game that'll get you going too. I need something to get me going, for sure. Yeah, I need something to get me going. You know, maybe one of the ref, maybe the ref look at me crazy. Maybe it's a fan in the stands, you know, say something crazy to you. That'll also get you going too. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. I'm still in that same boat. I think like in that same breath, what I always wonder for you, and especially for, like I always think about for myself as I get older, how is my game going to adjust once I start to slow down? Because obviously we play so fast. I'm a guy who gets the ball. I want to run. And I think back to like my early days watching basketball, like you in Cleveland and Miami and the pace that you're playing at to where now, like there's obviously been an adjustment for you. How have you went about that as you've gotten older, adjusting your play style to be less predicated on that speed and more methodical and, you know, using your physicality and stuff like that? Yeah, I think for me, it's just about like having like growth mindset, you know, understanding like the game of basketball evolves and the game of basketball changes. And you have to be able to see the table turn and you have to be able to evolve with it if you want to continue to stay, you know, stay abreast of what's going on with the game. So, you know, like you said, you know, my first seven years in Cleveland, you know, them first few years, the game was, you know, methodical. It was slow. It was slower pace. You know, you know, it was a lot of, you know, bigs, two bigs, you know, sitting in the paint, you know, so it'd be four total sitting in the paint out of the 10 guys on the court, you know, and then as the, you know, the 2000s kind of got more to like the 2000, you know, eight, nine, then you kind of had like the Phoenix Suns. You had the Spurs who started to open up the game and then, you know, we started to open up the game in Cleveland where, you know, our backcourt and the way we used to run and pick up the pace. And then I moved to Miami as well and then we started to pick up the pace. We started to play more of a widespread offense where we had Chris Bosh, you know, play a lot of the five with Shane Battier and myself and D Wade and Chalmers or Ray Allen or whatever, you know. So, you know, and now, you know, obviously, you know, you playing in Indiana and seeing how the pace itself today has completely changed, you know. You know, there's, you have to be able to kind of adjust with the time while you're getting older, you know, and how can you, you know, still be effective, you know, with the game changing, you know. And so for me, it was like, okay, how can I still be effective, you know, off the ball? You know, my, I don't, my usage rate is down a lot more now today than it was in the past as far as just handling the ball. So how can I still be effective on the court? You know, being able to slash from, you know, the 45 or, you know, setting pick and rolls and trying to get behind the defense. And now I know what's really good with my game is once I get the four on three, you know, or, you know, I know how to make those plays. If you put two on the ball, you know, AR get doubled, you know, for pick and roll or if Luka gets doubled off a pick and roll, I know how to master the game that way. You know, started to find my low post game, you know, understand I'm a threat there. I'm closer to the basket. So how can I draw the double team? So I think the most important reason, man, as you get to continue to get older, you know, and your body, you know, you listen to your body. How can you still be effective on the court, but also just having a growth mindset to know that, listen, it's 2026 right now, which sounds crazy to me. You know, I came in in 03, you know, but the game and, you know, in 2029 could look different than right now. So you have to have that type of growth mindset. And, you know, it's funny. It's a great segue to, you know, your question of, you know, how you guys play in Indy, you know, and from the time that you got to Indy, when you came from sack to the time, you know, it is now, how did it, how did it change? How did you guys get to that? Like random, but not random chaos, but not chaos structured offense to, you know, it was kind of hard for you guys, for guys to guard you guys. Yeah. You know, it's so funny. Cause I, I rarely ever even think about where, how we started. Like it feels like so long ago, but you know, like when I got traded with buddy and Tristan, we were going somewhere that had no identity, right. They were restarting by making that trade and trading is a bonus for me. We were restarting everything. And I remember when I got there, we played Cleveland the first game and Rondo was like, good luck, you know, talking about playing with RC. He goes, good luck, you know? And I'm like, what are you talking about? And the thing was we, I didn't, me and buddy, we didn't know any of the plays. So like we hadn't played like a day, a day or two after we got traded, we played Cleveland. We like broke the Pacers record for scoring in a quarter. The first quarter we played in a Pacers uniform. And really what it was, was honestly thinking about it. We, we played a lot of buddy ball. You know what I mean? Like me and buddy were just come set the blur screen. I'm gonna come off, I'm gonna throw it to you. If you don't got a shot, throw it back and then blur again. And we're just going to play off this. And it was like, we didn't really, we didn't know the other guys. Like we were really young at the time. And like a lot of those guys were really establishing their self as well. So we kind of just, I remember we were playing Minnesota, like one of my first games in Indiana and me and buddy are just passing the ball to each other the whole game. And Torian Prince on the sidelines like, hey man, y'all know there's other players on the team. I'm like, yeah, I guess that's a good point. I didn't realize that we are just throwing the ball to each other. But I felt like establishing that when we weren't good, you know, allowed us to go into that following year and RC to pull me aside and just be like, hey man, I don't want to call plays. I want you to dictate what we do more. I want to play more random. It's harder to scout that way. And so we just kind of ran with that. And I feel like buddy was a big part of that. And early in my career in sack, my rookie year, I hated it. Cause I was like, buddy's always in the way. And you know what it is when a dude wants to run towards the ball, they just want the ball. And that annoyed me. But then I realized, oh, this is a real weapon, especially in the half court as my one-on-one game has really grown from where I was early in my career. But I needed that blur screen to give me openings to really attack and learn from that. So I feel like him doing that, RC really adjusted to what we were doing. And then we just had to add pieces that really complimented what we did in a correct way that has allowed us to now build what we have offensively. Yeah. And I think we should give a lot of praise to RC on recognizing what he saw with that chemistry between you and buddy when y'all first got there and realized, wow, this could be a weapon that could be sustainable. So now let's get the pieces around Tyrese. Let's get the pieces around what I'm thinking. And I know Tyrese can execute that. And I think back to our end season tournament championship game. You guys played a totally different game than you guys play now. Yeah. And you guys are still playing fast. You were still getting the ball. Obviously, you was on the heater. The game before, what you did to Milwaukee was one of the best performances you had. And you guys were rolling. But I feel like you guys are even evolved from that moment, from when we played you guys in end season tournament championship a few years ago. And do we think it's like, obviously, you evolved as a player, obviously. As overrated as you are. As overrated as you are, as everyone would like to put, which is ridiculous. Do you think it also complemented, too, just like RC and the front office is like, OK, getting the right pieces around you, too, to be able to. You guys played 12 guys that time. And when TJ comes in, ----. The pace comes. Keep the pace going. You guys are the pacers for a reason. You guys keep that pace going. Do you think, obviously, that had a lot to do with it, too? Yeah, no doubt, man. It's so funny you bring up that end season tournament game. Because I think about that game often. Because we were playing so well up until that point. If we win that game, do we ever trade for Pascal? I don't know. I forgot all about that. I didn't play well. You came out, you blitzed. I still remember like it was yesterday, man. I came off the ball screen. I hadn't turned the ball over in three games. I was rolling. I came off. You were the MIG. I'm like, oh, I'm going to hit this pocket. And you ran through and stole it. And that was before the take foul, so I just grabbed you. And you looked at me, and I looked at you. And I was like, oh, ----. We in trouble. This is going to be a long night. Because I was like, it's hard. I'm coming off a blitz. And I think Cam Reddish might have started on me or Vando. And then I had AD in a blitz with you as the MIG. It's almost impossible for me to make that pass. And with me, I struggled that night. And we didn't have anybody else who really got us going that night. And so I think that was eye-opening to our front office in that moment to be like, we need to get another guy. And I feel like that game is the catalyst for getting a guy like Pascal. So it's funny you think about that. I would have loved to win that game. But I think losing that allowed us to build what we have. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I think adding Pascal, adding Andrew Nembhard coming into his own. We traded for Aaron Neesmith. We traded for Obi. We got all these pieces that go alongside the way that we want to play. And I feel like they've done a great job of constructing our roster. And I feel like it's allowed us to have a lot of success. And now over to our director Jason for a word from our partner DraftKings. Thanks to DraftKings for sponsoring the show. The NBA never stops delivering. 40-point quarters that rewrite the narrative of the game. 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If you're heading out of town for a big game or sporting event, why not let your home become part of the excitement? By opening your space to fellow fans, you're giving them the comfort of home and earning yourself some extra income while you're away. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Like one of your greatest assets that is kind of like no one wants to coach it is the jump pass. When I was a kid, all my coaches would say, do not leave your feet to make a pass. Do not leave your feet. It's either going to be a turnover or whatever it is, and you get in trouble for it. Get on the line. If you're jumping past the ball, like how did you perfect that to the point where, you know, like your jump pass, I see you make it. I mean, obviously I play with Luka. Luka jumps, jumps, hold, hold. See who's the MIG like you see? Is he going to stay? Is he going to stay? No. You know, or I could go skip it to the corner. If he doesn't stay with the big, then I can hit the big. Like how did you kind of change the misconception of like that past being so dynamic? And like, is that something that you've always kind of done? Yeah. No, honestly, I, I blame people like you, like for why it's that way. Like growing up, I watched a lot of NBA basketball. That's like the main thing I watched, you know? So I would see guys like you and my dad loved like magic. So we'd always watch old magic highlights and stuff. And I'd see them do that. And I understood, Oh, this is a way for me to pass the ball. And as I got, and I was always a taller kid. So as guys got taller as well, it was just a way for me to always be seen over the defense. Like I felt comfortable making that read in the air. And I know coaches say they don't want to teach it. And it was like kind of like taboo in a sense. But for me, it was just a way for me to hold the ball longer to make reads like you're talking about with Luka in the MIG. And I feel like as I got older and I think back to like my sophomore year college, where I really feel like when it came to the pick and roll, not that I had perfected it, but that I was really an elite pick and roll operator was coming off the pick and roll. And I, I've never been comfortable as a guy playing on my heels. I don't like backing up and, and kind of like picking the ball up and stepping through to make that read. That just feels so like, I feel old doing that. Like I'm athletic enough to make that read in the air. And I think that's a good point. What you're making. Like I never understood like MIGs and seekers and, and all these different reads just reading in the air was always my, how I wanted to do it. I don't, I don't jump to, I jumped to make a read, but I feel like I always jump with a plan more times than not when I'm in the air, I'm thinking, what are my outlets? One and two. And then if you take one and two away, **** it. I got to find a third one. I got to figure it out. But when I jump, I feel like I always have a plan. I feel like that's the thing that coaches and people, when they teach it, if you're going to jump, have a plan. If you don't have a plan, then don't jump. Yeah. And I also, I also think too, like your game has a jump rhythm to it. Like even when you're on the ground, you, you, you like you skipping, you skipping, you side, skip, dribble, you cross and skipping. Like it has a jump element to it, even when you're on the ground. So a jump pass for you is just in rhythm. You know? I would be remorse if I didn't ask, obviously we're talking about, you know, you playing and, you know, we talk about the end season tournament or whatever case may be, but you know, I want to kind of get an update on, you know, the rehab process. You know, obviously the last time we've seen you on the floor was game seven of the NBA finals. You know, you come into the game, boom, three straight threes. You know, I'm a big time fan of yours. So I was going crazy. You talking ----, popping your ----. And I know how you feel, you know, doing that, like, you know, from, from that moment, obviously to today and everything in between, like, how have you done with the rehab? How have you done with the process? And of rehabbing, you know, watching the games, you know, from the sidelines, have you learned some things? Have you like, you know, kind of take us through the process? Yeah. Well, I'm approaching week 31 here. So almost, almost going on eight months. Man, I feel really good. My body feels really good. I just started playing like three on three and four on four full court. That's been good to like be with the interns and stuff. It's it's been funny. Cause as I started to play with the interns and, you know, Genaro Pargo being one of our player development guys, I'm playing with these guys and I feel so nice. I'm like, Ooh, I could play an NBA game right now. And then the other day, we had like the low minute guys come and play with us. So we had like our two ways, Ethan Thompson, Cam Jones, Benedict Mathren still he's getting back from injury. So I'm guarding Ben first play. He comes down, Hezzy shoots a three and they're like, go at him. And he's like, ah, his leg. And I'm like, Hey bro, like I'm fine. Like attack me like normal. I got to see where I'm at. He Hezzy'd me one time. He was at the rim. I was still at three point line. I still got some time, you know, like I still, there's still, I got to give myself some grace, understand it's going to take some time. But I think the, the biggest thing is like, I really am glad for where I am. I'm thankful for it. The process has sucked man. Like, you know, there's been, there's been good days, bad days. There's days where I sit there and I just keep asking like, why is this happening to me? It's hard for me to understand in this moment, but I understand that it's allowing me to grow in different ways, to grow in my faith, to grow in, in all these different ways that have been good for me. I think seeing the game of basketball, I'm watching it in a different light. Like I think it's different when you, when you're getting ready to play like a team like Boston, for example. And they're like, okay, we got a Peyton Pritchard. I'm like, okay, he's nice. But I'm all I'm focused on is how can I get a stop? I'm not thinking about how he making his reads and stuff. And I was watching him the other day and just the way that he gets to guys bodies at the rim, that's really something that I'm trying to focus on through my rehab through my time to get back is just being more physical. Like, bro, I'm, I'm up right now today. I was 180 pounds on game seven day. I'm 210 right now. Like I'm up 30 pounds, bro. And I, and obviously when I start to run, I'm going to get that off. Some of it's not like good. Cause you know, I've been, I've been drowning my sorrows and cookies and ice cream and stuff, but I think I see that. And it's just a way for me to be more physical at the rim to get more free throws. I think that's important versus just slowing the game down. Peyton's one of the guys I watch. I see the way he can get to a guy's chest at the rim. I think AR is like the perfect example, the way that he is so physical and can get to the free throw line. I remember when we were at the world cup together, I used to always be like, bro, I don't understand how you shoot all these free throws. Like I'm, I'm a point guard. I play 40 minutes a game. I play way more than you. I can't even touch the free throw line. He's like, Tyrese, I don't think you're doing a good job of getting the guy's bodies. Like he was real honest with me and I didn't understand at the time, but as I've watched you guys play more, I watched him play more. I'm seeing the way that he's just does such a great job of getting the chest tangling arms, like making all these like perfect reads to get to the free throw line. It's just something that I'm really trying to focus on adding through the rehab. And just as I watched the game. No, that's great. And I think our fans will definitely be excited to hear your update and hear where you are and know that, you know, like you said, that's growth mindset right there. Just like, you know, watching other guys seeing ways you can implement your game or implement what they've doing into your game when you come back. But obviously the game miss you and we look forward to whenever, you know, whenever that, that time come back when you put that uniform back on and that's a great segue to kind of our next conversation reaches like the 65 game minimum, you know, and you know, our game is different, you know, obviously, you know, they, they want to implement that rule in because of, you know, low management, I guess, you know, late season guys not playing or you know, back to back. So a lot of the big guys wasn't playing, but you know, sometimes if guys are not able to play, the guys are literally not able to play. It's not like we're like shitting on, you know, national televised games or, you know, whatever the case may be. But I mean, I'm looking at this list right now. We got, we got our, one of our biggest names, Nikola Jokic, you know, we got Giannis, we got Wimbayama, you know, we got, you know, Steph didn't miss games, Kawhi didn't miss games, Sangoon, obviously AR, my teammate, you know, Jalen Williams is out again. J-Dub is out again. You know, how do you think that's going to like impact, you know, going into the, you know, the future, you know, you got guys going to miss all NBA nods because of that. When you, you can't tell me that Jokic is not all NBA. Now all of a sudden, because he's missed, you know, 30 games, you kind of tell me he's not, you know, first team, all NBA, there's guys averaging 29, 13 and 14 or some ---- like that. So like how long do we go with this and how was it going to affect, you know, not only today's conversation, but also like individual guys' legacies. Like, you know, it's, it's a topic of conversation. Yeah. I think that's the biggest thing, bro, is the legacy talk. I think that's the most important. And I think when this was first implemented, I get the idea. We want more guys to play. And I'm, I was known as one of the first guys to say, I hated it because the year the 65 game rule was implemented was my contract year. I had to play 65 games to make all NBA, to be eligible for the super max. And I said that I didn't like it at the time and I still feel that way. I definitely don't like it. I've talked with commissioner silver and like we talked about how like it from a financial standpoint, it can only hurt so many people in that year. Guys who are like me at that time, it was me and in the mellow at that time that we're trying to get that super max. But I think that's the biggest point is legacy talk because what I think about is in 20, 30 years when I'm not playing and I'm hearing my kids argue about compare, you know, they want to compare arrows or something and they're going over the list of accolades. And they're telling me right now that, you know, this guy might've played only made all NBA so many times, but he was ineligible and they don't know that. And that could skew it in that way, which I don't necessarily appreciate in any way. But I think it's something that will be adjusted. I think a big reason for that is Wemby. Like I think like for him to not be in the conversation for defensive player of the year, when he could, he, there's a very good chance that he could win multiple over the course of his career. If like, you know, knock on wood, I hope that, you know, his injury, you know, future is not consistent with, with what it's been, but you know, it's, it's not under his control at all times, not under our, us as players are controlled. So I feel like to take that away from him or other guys because of health, I feel like is incorrect. Cause I feel like, like you're saying, like we're saying NBA players, we want to play. We don't want to sit down. We want to play. So I feel like there has to be a conversation for sure. Yeah. I mean, you said it best. I can't even say it any better than what you just said. Recent. We just, you know, it's, it's just weird. It's going to be, it will be so weird to see the all NBA teams come out. First team, second team, third team, and Yoka just not on there. Or Giannis is not on there. Or if, you know, if my teammate, if Luca happened to miss some time and he's, you know, not able to be eligible because he didn't play 65 games to make all NBA or, you know, like you said, even more important, we talk, you know, we're not just talking about legacies for guys of conversation, but also legacies for their families. you know, if you have an opportunity to be in a contract year where you can get the super max, or you can get a, you know, you're eligible for extra year and you're playing exceptional basketball, you having a career year and you play 64 games, that could be like catastrophic. Like, like it'd be something that you'd be so pissed off about. Like, you know, so, you know, I, at some point, like you said, it'd be a conversation that'd be brought up again. And I, hopefully we can kind of figure it out and get to a better place about it because the game is different. Like I want people to understand and our fans to understand that. Playing 82 games in the eighties and nineties is not the same as playing 82 games in the 2020s. It's just not the way we play the level of pace, the level of the, the speed that we're playing at. It's a different game now. It's a totally different game. And, you know, it's a lot of soft tissue injuries that's happened now because of it. I hope we can get a handle on that as well, you know, because that's big in our game. I think when I first came into the, you know, to the league Reese, like some of the biggest concerns of injuries was like, you know, a high ankle sprain, you know, you was afraid to step on somebody's ankle because there was four or five guys sitting in the paint. So, you know, guys, what athleticism myself, Tracy McGrady, you know, Vince Carter, you know, to name a couple guys, sometimes you're afraid to take off into the lane because it was four or five guys sitting in the pain. If you land on somebody's ankle, you get a high ankle sprain, you out four to six weeks, you know, now that's not really much of a, you don't really see that as much now because the game is so spread open. It's so much pace, but now you see the new high ankle sprain is the calf. Right. You know, so, you know, hopefully we can get a handle on that from a medical standpoint, but it's just the game. I just want the fans to understand that the game is a little different. 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There's nothing like platinum terms apply. Learn more at American express.com slash with. Let's go to a little lighter. You know, uh, I want to talk about the, one of the best experiences I've been on having you there, having the rest of the crew there. Let's talk about the Olympics, man. You know, I want to get your take looking back on it. You know, how was it for you? Your first Olympics, you know, being out there, you know, let's just, you know, let's, let's tap back into the days that people didn't see, you know, some of our practices, some of our bus rides, and then just like the competition, like our practices was crazy. When we used to compete, we go out there and then all the way to us, just like bringing home gold. You know, um, I think our, our fans, they, they see a lot of it. Obviously there was a documentary came out about it, whatever the case may be. Um, that was super cool to see the insights and things of that nature. And, one of my favorite quotes from that one, from the doc is when, uh, Katie said, but, but who's guarding Steph? Is that going to help you all guard Steph? And then it's funny because Steph did what he did, you know, those final two games, but like, you know, that let's, let's, let's tap back into the Olympics a little bit. Yeah, it was super cool to, to, to have that happen. Being the second youngest guy on the team with Ant, like us, just being two of the younger dudes and just kind of soaking up all the knowledge that we could from you guys every day. Um, I had so much fun, like the, like you said, the practice stories, uh, like are somehow, I'll never forget. I'll never forget playing five on five at the gym, the Metro positive or whatever, uh, in France. And it's me, you, it was like me, you and Steph on the same team. And you caught the, you caught the long outlet and jumped up without looking. And I was like, what is he doing? But I saw you, I'm like, Oh, I think he's seeing Steph set the backpack for the three. Like, I'm like, that was the coldest moment in my basketball history to even be involved in that play. But I think there's just so many moments and so many things that I learned. uh, obviously I didn't get to, like, I didn't play a turn, but I have a great, I have a great story. I've never told him. I've never told anybody this story before. So we're at the Olympics. We're in the back doing film before the Olympics start. And before it starts, it's like, all right, we're going to have the team meeting where we acknowledge that all 12 guys cannot play. And so Steve starts talking about everybody can't play. and Brian is talking about how, you know, in the old four Olympics, I didn't really play that much. And you kind of, you got to put your pride aside that, you know, it's bigger than you. And, and Katie's over there, like at the end of the day with 12 all-stars, everybody's good. You're always trying to win. Right. And I'm sitting there and I'm listening. I'm like, yeah. And as we start film, I'm like, but who are they talking about? Like, who are these two? And I'm looking, I'm looking around. I'm like, oh, he ain't talking about him. He ain't talking about him. I'm like, oh, they talking, they talking about me. I'm sitting there. I'm like, oh, no, this is what it is. I'm like, oh, I was sitting there. I'm watching film. I can't even pay attention to film. So it's over. It's over, man. Oh, I get no PT out here. It's over. I'm the one guy in the school project that didn't do nothing and got an A. I'm sitting there. I'm like, oh, it's over. It's over for me. I'm not, you know, it's cooked. But man, like, for me to even be like, be able to be there and I saw you talk about that Serbia game last night. Like, bro, when I talk about that game to people, I get chills thinking about it because like, I didn't, I mean, you were out there. Y'all are out there. I'm, I'm on the, I'm on the bench and I'm sitting there like, damn, we might lose. We might lose, bro. That was the first time we never felt like we were going to lose a game. Bro, I'm starting to sweat now thinking about it, bro. Never in a whole Olympic run did we think we were going to lose a game. Like, even like, we had the really close South Sudan game and like, that was, you know, the exhibition or whatever. I was still like, we're winning. We're not losing. That game against Serbia, we was down, going into the fourth. Going into the fourth. And Steve and Ty and Spo over there like, talking about what we're going to do and we all over there and y'all just like, man, the way we just turned it up from there and like, I still think about, I get chills thinking about like, them trying to go to the clear side post for Jokic and you fighting them in the front and then it happens in the next position and now KD's fighting them in the front with y'all help on the back side. well, we were like, it was unbelievable. I get chills thinking about that game. It was unbelievable. I mean, you know, it's only 10-minute quarters too and them quarters go like that. Like, you know how the NBA, you know, 12-minute quarters, you know, you're like, okay, cool. All the way up until like the six, five-minute mark, you're like, we still got a chance. Yeah. But you know, in the Olympics, bro, like, it got like, under seven, under six and we like, if we don't make a push, bro, we're toast. Like, we're toast and, you know, I forgot the lefty point guard's name, man, who came into the game shooting like, 17, 18, 18% from the three-point line, bro, and was lighting our ass up. Right. I'm like, oh my, you know, one of those, them like, them the games that you lose. You like, when a guy is not, when a guy is shooting less than 20% from the three-point line and he comes out and hit three or four to start, you like, oh my God, oh my goodness, this is not how it's supposed to play out. But that was like, like you said, I said that last night when they asked me about some of the greatest games ever, you know, that was one of the greatest games I ever played in and to be able to share that with y'all, man, and then, it's like a storybook finished, the fact that we, you know, we had some truth that we may play Canada. Right. You know, we, you know, like, you know, they got all the NBA guys on their team and they was playing well to a certain extent and then, you know, France was able to knock them off and we like, what's the odds that we beat Serbia in the semis and then we play the host team in Paris for the gold medal, man, that was a, that was a storybook finished and the way Steph just put everybody, he just put everybody to bed at the end of that game was insane. I still, the image of him looking at you and Katie off to shoot the stage is still the craziest and it was funny because, remember, he wasn't shooting well like the whole Olympics. No, no, he wasn't. I forgot, somebody who was playing the Olympics didn't shoot too well from three and we were in the locker room and I was reading, I said, and Steph was like, man, I ain't far off. I wasn't shooting well either and we were like, it's just going to take one game, like, Steph, you're Steph. It's coming, it's coming. And then, that Serbia game, first quarter, oh my God, and then the France game, like, it just never, it never, it was like a flurry but he was due, it's law of averages. It's like, you're due for these moments and it's so funny to look back and be like, my boy Steph, man, he just got to France. Welcome, welcome to the Olympics. Like, I think just all the stories and what I'm most thankful for is now just the relationships that I have with all you guys. Like, it's so much deeper than the NBA just like, you know, there's the NBA relationship where you see somebody, hey, what's up fam? How's the fam? Everybody good? Like, you just keep it moving. Like, that's like the base level NBA relationship. I feel like it's gotten, I have a deeper relationship with all you guys and that's something I'm very thankful for to be, you know, one of the younger guys on the team. That's super dope. Thanks for watching Mind the Game. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. 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