Austin Reaves On Being a Kobe Stan, Hating on LeBron, Crushing The Grizz, Winning The IST and More

We are so psyched to welcome in member of The Los Angeles Lakers, Austin Reaves. Austin was kind enough to give us 45 mins and we were able to cover so much. Without further ado… let’s go. Topics include: JJ on the Coach of The Year race, Austin Reaves on adjusting to being a Los Angeles Laker, earning the trust of LeBron James, crushing the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs, facing Stephen Curry and The Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, being a fan of Kobe Bryant and hating on LeBron on social media as a teenager, facing the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, his Team USA experience at the FIBA World Cup and marveling Anthony Edwards, learning how to be a pro from LeBron, winning the first ever NBA In-Season Tournament and Austin’s flu game final, breaking down his confused LeBron James meme, lots of golf talk and so much more.

Timecodes:

00:00 – Start of interview
02:58 – JJ on Coach of The Year
14:24 – Start of Austin Reaves Interview
18:15 – From small town kid to being famous in LA
23:10 – Turning down The Pistons to go to LA
30:57 – Earning LeBron’s trust in the Grizzlies series
33:33 – On being a young Kobe stan/LeBron hater
36:57 – Austin on becoming an a-hole on the court
41:12 – What he learned from losing to the Nuggets in the playoffs
44:12 – Learning how to be a pro from LeBron
49:35 – Team USA / Anthony Edwards experience
58:05 – Austin’s flu game in the In-Season Tournament final
1:01:22 – Austin explains his confused LeBron meme

Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.

#nba #losangeleslakers

Literally I’ve always wanted to ask you this question since day one on the Lakers three years later you’ve established yourself great contract played on te USA hold on time sorry damn oh it’s a lot of Bill thoughting I wonder what the questions going be welcome to the old man in the three

With JJ reck and Tommy alter this is episode 195 Austin Reeves uh Tommy we met Austin in San Antonio when the Lakers were in town last week had a nice uh round at Austin country club before driving down to Austin to meet you guys tell us tell

Tell the audience about your drive well it’s normally I mean I I made it back to Austin after the interview in an hour and 18 minutes the drive down was damn near three hours I literally left Austin Country Club it’s next to uh 360 uh whatever in Austin and I went from the

The the exit of the club uh to the second stoplight in about 40 minutes which was about a quarter of a mile and I was like there’s a reason that I left Austin and I love Austin but wow tough wow it was tough uh Austin uh was a a

Fantastic interview just a great uh personality uh one thing on Austin before we get to our draftking sports book segment um as of the recording I had written some stuff down I wanted to mention it to him but I want to mention it now instead um as of this recording

Austin Reeves uh off of picks he’s top 15 in the league in points per direct chance off of pick he’s top five in points per direct pick when he goes to score and he’s eight in points on drives to finish so we we get into this a

Little bit with Austin just the idea of uh the the white guy being the just the standstill shooter yeah he’s got a a lot of [ __ ] to his game and he’s got a lot of [ __ ] to his personality we we really enjoyed this conversation yeah I I was

Joking um with the two of you guys before it’s like you guys are going to be best friends I think that process has already started process basketball golf white guy there’s a lot of there’s a lot of boxes that have uh are are currently being checked off in terms of uh in

Terms of this romance and it’s kind of In Motion at the moment uh stick around for the last question the robat question which is a golf related question we do talk a little bit of golf for all you uh sickos out there hash uh Country Club collection over on uh IG love your

Content love your content know you watch the Pod know you’re into this Austin Reeves interview I know I know all right draftking Sportsbook segment we are at essentially the the third of the way point in the season number of teams have played 27 is games um and I thought we

Could go look at the coach of the year race uh everybody knows I’m fascinated with coaches we do our coaching series we’ve had a couple of these coaches on hopefully we’ll get a couple of these coaches on at some point this season uh but right now Chris Finch and Mark

Dagnal have the one and two spot in terms of odds plus 250 for Chris Finch plus 250 for Mark dagnal uh they’re the co- favorites Finch began the season at plus 2800 and dagot I felt had some Buzz coming into the season he began the

Season at plus 650 I will say I we had Chris Finch on the show uh early September and I think you were ahead of the curve on this team and on him in particular my question about this particular race right now this this coach has to come from the West right

Interesting when you look at how when you just look at how stacked the conference is well it doesn’t have to come from the West I I think there’s there’s a world especially with the way Milwaukee’s playing offense right now and the defense is is normalized to a

Degree there’s a world where the Bucks end up with a number one seed and you would have to look at Adrien Griffin uh there’s a world where the Boston Celtics uh run away with the best record in the NBA and you’d have to look at Joe Missoula and there’s certainly a world

Where neither of those t two teams create any separation and the Philadelphia 76ers are right there at the end of the season and you’d have to look at Nick nurse Nick Nur by the way uh currently sixth in odds um but that to me would be

A play right cuz Nick nurse the job he’s done and the way Max’s playing of course Joelle uh you know Tim and I are going to talk about this uh next week a little bit the way he’s just elevated his game even more after the last three or four

Seasons it’s remarkable yeah and also just when you think about what he walked into off the court the other the only other the only other guy I’d mention who’s on here um is Mosley in Orlando depending on where they if they’re a top four finish maybe they’re in it I agree

I agree and if you look right now at sort of uh division odds uh in the Southeast Division uh Miami is still the betting favorite to win that division Orlando is second uh but certainly there’s a world with Jamal Mosley if that team continues to win at the pace

That they’re winning at and he’s built I think with coaching too it’s like do have you built an identity with your team yeah Beyond just do you have a bunch of talent you know what I mean by that like you need talent in the NBA I

Think coach of the year uh so much of coach of the year you know like a lot of these Awards but coach of the year in particular I think is based off of uh what are your expectations and did you exceed those expectations yeah is that

And with that sort of metric would that be an argument for Finch and what he’s built in Minnesota with that defense yeah they they they have a great defense they figured out out how to be good enough offensively um he’s he’s getting a lot the thing I love about the Wolves right

Now he’s getting a lot from the bench um obviously Nas Reed has had some big nights offensively but I love what my guy nikil Alexander Walker’s doing yeah particularly on the defensive side of the ball just in terms of his pressure his length disrupting at the point of

Attack um and so he’s he’s getting a lot out of his players and I I think that’s important OKC of course uh you know top 10 offense top 10 defense dagnal we we sang his Praises last year I think I may have even had him in the top three at

The end of the year in my Awards vote for NBA coach of the year um I think I may have put him third um maybe even second I don’t I would have to go back and and rewatch that episode but I know I had him in my top three so I think

There was like some momentum going into the season particularly just with the with the OKC buzz and and they’ve been as good as expected if not better how how what is it today December December 20th 203 how surprised are you that Minnesota and OKC are the top two teams in the west right

Now um I would say I’m not surprised the one team that I think I haven’t been disappointed with but the one team that I thought would be number one at this stage was the Denver Nuggets particularly with the way they started the season and Jamal Murray gets hurt uh

That certainly factors into it they’ve had a tough schedule I know they have one of the the easiest schedules basically from here on out yeah uh not only in terms of opponents but in terms of back-to-backs so I think some of that is the Denver thing is a little

Surprising the other thing that’s surprising is that you know their fiveman unit has a a a PL you know 10 or more plus net rating uh they’re starting five which is great offensively they’ve been awesome they they’ve been a little disappointing that unit uh defensively

Um so yeah Denver is the the one team that I would say I I thought would be you know first or second right now right now they’re five games out of first in the last column that’s surprising that’s surprising but give credit to Minnesota Minnesota’s awesome um so yeah something

To monitor throughout the season uh as it pertains to the Lakers by the way going back to that division thing right now the Lakers have the fourth best odds to win the Pacific Division Clippers have the the the best odds then it’s the Suns then it’s the Kings then it’s the

Lakers um the Western Conference fascinating crazy well I want to ask about you can move like literally be in the third spot and then all of a sudden be nine a week later I want to I want to ask about two teams in the west who I

Don’t think are in the coach of the year conversation right now but I think we should talk about and that’s the Warriors and Memphis um you know the Warriors had had a great comeback win last night and then Jah you know where these are two teams if if the playoffs started today would

Be in the outside looking in but we talk got the Stacked the Stacked Western Conference I don’t think anybody wants to play The Warriors yeah and you know the the Memphis is a 30th rank offense right now but the job job was unbelievable last night yeah I mean I

Think the the thing with the Grizzlies right now just to basically be in that sort of probably eight nine 10 spot not even seven they’d have to go 35 and 21 from here on out to get to about 42 and 40 and that’s I I think that’s a lot in

The Western Conference and you know you got to do that uh with basically no other major injuries or no other setbacks it’s hard to do um and I’m not saying that because you watched them play last night particularly in the second half and you’re like okay I see

It jaw’s awesome jaw’s awesome I mean he just took over down the stretch it was like I’m getting to the basket and you can’t stop me it’s like I had this old t-shirt when I was a kid it was like like uh I I think I have a picture of it

Somewhere but it’s like uh I my decision around the rim was like Elevate and decide in the air and like obviously I never did that but funny think of you wearing that shirt but it but it is crazy I mean the end of the game last night we knew Lord

Is a 10-year-old I couldn’t even touch the net I feel like we should bring the shirt back but it’s like the end of the like we knew what he was going to do and he still did it first came back what what about um what about the Warriors

I’m not I’m not selling my warrior stock I’m not selling my warrior stock uh particularly with uh clay now heating up well how many times do we how many times at the beginning of a season since this injury have we had these conversations around Klay to I mean I don’t think I

Have I’ve certainly said he’s got to shoot better but we’ve had these conversations it’s it’s all it’s always it’s like a it’s like a touch point of the early NBA season oh Klay Thompson is off to a bad shooting start and then he heats up and by the end of the season

He’s going to shoot 41% from three he’s going to average around 20 points a game like come on we we’ve seen this movie before last four games he’s been on fire so I’m I’m very you know excited about that and on top of that kinga’s been

Good and pinsky’s been awesome as as as a role player he’s been awesome that charie took on Shaden sharp the other night yeah to win the game yeah come on that’s a winning play I love it and that’s that’s them find you we mentioned him you know this summer that’s them

Finding a young guy to develop put into this court the one other team um who’s looked shaky Phoenix mhm uh obviously the health thing is just you know it’s been a Content throughout the year but I don’t know I mean wasn’t important last night the Vibes just seem off yeah um listen we’re

Gonna have a conversation throughout the season about Phoenix uh I’m I’m because of the Bradley Beal injuries and and just the general sort of you know up and uh you know lineup changes and all that stuff I’m going to just I’m going to calm down I’m not going to say anything today but

I just I will say this is typical I feel like over the last 10 years when you try to put these teams together that are so topheavy topheavy roster yes Molly I said it they’ve got a topheavy roster and you’re an injury away You’re an off shooting night away from these stretches

Because your margin of error from 4 through nine is looks much different than every other good team that’s just how it is and it by the way Booker and Durant they’re so good some Sometimes some nights it doesn’t matter some nights it doesn’t matter it’s been

Unreal all year and it hasn’t made a difference yeah download the draftking Sportsbook app now and use code JJ new customers can get $150 instantly in bonus bets for betting just $5 on basketball only on draftking Sportsbook with code JJ the crown is yours gambling problem call- 1800

Gambler or visit www.1 1800 gambler. net in New York call 8778 hope Andy or text hope Andy 467 369 in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 8887895118 void in Ontario bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance see dk.com basketball for eligibility and deposit restrictions terms and responsible

Gaming resources um all right that has been our draft King sports book segment uh the coach of the year thing is going to be fascinating throughout the year uh really just want to also mention uh like em udoka Who’s fifth in odds uh building

A a a like comp like a great defense in in Houston and with a young group and obviously you know Fred and and Dylan have made a a big impact there they’re a team that I’m excited to monitor throughout the season um I love what they’re doing all right let’s get to our

Conversation with Los Angeles Laker uh from new ark Arkansas a I’ve always wanted to ask you this question for three years since day one when I saw you first play for the Lakers now nice contract Team USA you’ve established yourself as an awesome NBA player has anyone ever approached you or

Asked you about putting hair gel in your hair when you play how do you make that work with no hair gel I don’t know to be honest um I’ve gotten it a lot everybody you go through the comments on my pictures I don’t I don’t my family does

And I believe um one out of every three is cut your hair or put some Jael in it or something like that but I don’t know I kind of just gotten used to it you you seem like you have a uh like a simplified ver version of your life it’s

Very much uh golf and basketball I’m not sure which order that is it’s questionable it depends on the day yeah how much so I I I I joke with people when I was grown up I would like lay in my bed and I would picture myself making

Moves you know coming off a screen spin moves shot fakes whatever then when when I retired all of my thought I’ll go to bed thinking about my golf swing what’s the balance for you right now between you’re you’re just sitting around your house what are you thinking about

Oh that’s tough uh the politically correct answer is basketball but uh I’m sure I’m sure if you go back I can’t remember it was one game last year I walk around constantly like I’m trying to cut my wrist a little bit and in game I was sitting there at the

Free throw line some I was on the other end someone shooting freeos and I was sitting there kind of just like and I didn’t didn’t pay attention like I had no idea and my AJ Aaron looked at me after the game and was like was you what

Were you doing out there and I was like what do you mean he was like you were sitting here like this I was like oh no like was working on my golf site like uh but yeah no I mean obviously basketball’s you know the most important

Thing right now uh golf is a great getaway for me uh gives me a you know an area to escape you know how it is uh the league is you know tough all the travel and stuff and just an opportunity to get away from me you a dream H bogie

Guest uh I’m a huge Jordan spe fan like when I started to get into golf probably my junior year of high school senior year of high school is when he was making his push and you know just like the creativity around the the greens and

You know he’s kind of he’s kind of one of us you know he sprays it left sprays it right but you know his uh ability to get out of trouble is a beautiful thing and and um ever since then I’ve been a huge Jordan Speed fan so that would be

The one uh obviously tiger too but um you know he’s uh he’s got a lot of things going on my feelings are hurt we know this is going to happen I this is this is we’re saying before we start this is the start this to is the

Start of the biggest Bromance he’s like he’s like JJ you might be in my top 20 you might no you might being my top 20 Austin has a great uh social media uh profile hillbilly bogy based on hillbilly Kobe I assume uh also has a YouTube channel I follow you I watch

Your content it’s good stuff really like it you’re from a small town in Arkansas Newark did I say that right Newark Newark okay uh 2020 census 1,180 people was the population played in a witta midsize City Norman Oklahoma’s college town could you have imagined just the difference in your

Life playing for the Lakers and were you were you prepared not just like the on the court stuff and the attention but off the court just like moving to a city like that versus where you came from yeah it was crazy um I don’t think you can you know prepare yourself for that

Uh just being where I’m from and you know not really living in a big city ever and then you know draft night literally the next day I I fly to LA and I’m there and you know that’s where I’ve been since and uh it was It was kind of

Easy for me in a sense of like you said I love basketball and golf I don’t really do much else I’m not end of the night life um you can find me one of four places practice facility the golf course my house and Staples or crypto uh

I keep it very simple but you know the one thing that sucks is traffic out there you know you got to get used to that but other than that you know I got to appreciate you know the way my parents raised me and you know showing

Me that you know the main thing is the main thing like you can you know go anywhere and be anywhere and still keep you know your eyes on you know whatever you want to do and you don’t have to get distracted by all the other stuff so you

Know I praise them for that um just you know like I said keeping the main thing the main thing so so a Friday night for you and your hometown no game your hometown in Arkansas is the same thing as a Friday night for you in Los Angeles I

Mean other than everything else going on yeah I’m probably on the game playing Call of Duty or fortnite uh maybe some PGA um but yeah no I mean that’s really been my life um you know there and in La you know I you know constantly play the

Game with my friends my brother overseas um but yeah it’s it’s kind of similar which is crazy to say all I want for the holidays this year is some NBA action this week new customers can score $150 instantly in bonus bets just for betting five bucks an instant dub just for you

I’m particularly intrigued by Friday night’s Toronto matchup in Philadelphia will Joel embiid continue his scoring dominance I’m very curious to see what his odds are set at around his point totals download the draftking Sportsbook app now and use code JJ new customers can get $150 instantly in bonus bets for betting

Just $5 on basketball only on draftking Sportsbook with code JJ the crown is yours gambling problem call 1800 Gambler or visit www.1 1800 gambler. net in New York call 8778 hope Andy or text Hope and Y 467 369 in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 8887895118 Varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance see dk.com basketball for eligibility and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources the holidays are coming up which means early mornings big meals shopping returning items family I could go on forever we love the holidays but

They can be exhausting which is why SmartWater alkaline is key for anyone looking to elevate their lives and stay hydrated during this holiday season SmartWater alkaline is a premium Vapor distilled bottled water with added electrolytes for a pure crisp taste it has a higher pH level added antioxidants

And electrolytes for taste so if anyone out there is thinking about what to get me for the holidays I wouldn’t mind a bottle or two or a case or a truckload it’s totally up to you one last thing the bottle looks super slick especially with a nice big red bow attached to it

It so do yourself a favor and head to the store and get yourself and your loved ones a bottle of SmartWater alkaline as soon as you can you will absolutely thank me later SmartWater alkaline is available at a store near you looking looking back on draft night

Now can you explain um just you know the decision to turn down the Pistons to end up with the Lakers and also just like how you look at that obviously you it’s so much success which we’re going to get into but how you look at the decision

And you handling decision at the time it the way you did how you look at that now yeah I think I mean I got to give literally all the you know uh praise to my agents they come in from that morning and was like look you know we have a really good

Opportunity in La they’re very interested um if you were to go undrafted on a 2A you to get a 2A contract and so like when we got called at 42 at Detroit um uh that’s what they were offering they were been drafted in a 2A so we knew uh that we didn’t have

To press to you know hear my name being called and uh I feel like that’s a testament to you know my age if you would have told me when I was 18 19 years old that I could hear my name being called uh in the NBA draft I’d

Have jumped on that in a heartbeat but being a little bit older um kind of understanding situation and time and um you know the placement of where I was going to go and who I was going to play with you know it all kind of you know

Made sense and you know my agents did a tier list uh one to five I think tier one being the best teams that could uh get me for situational stuff and La was at two so it was kind of a no-brainer and you know that night obviously sucked

Because you want to hear your name called but uh ultimately I think we made the right decision so there was there was no Pride there little like like a part of you even even at that age you’re saying you had a a nice maturity about you at that time but you weren’t like

Bothered stressed I mean yeah I was you weren’t going to hear your name yeah I was pissed because that’s like that’s still like 18 picks that you’ve got to like sit there no for sure I mean I was pissed off just because I knew when it come strictly to basketball that there’s

No way that there’s 60 players better than me I know what could have drafted 42 you know I knew when it come down to it that you know um I believed in myself and so yeah I was sitting there pissed off the whole time uh that I wasn’t

Picked earlier um but like I said you know my agents did a great job of prepping me and basically keeping it you know 100 with me being like look you could go up to 32 30 or you could go undrafted and we have a situation where you’re going to you know fit well

In jail I’ve been on one lately I have been uh well I’m always on one but I’ve been on one lately going back to last week I was on first take Stephen A made some comments about yic and I pointed out that we we can’t always get caught up in the

Aesthetics um we can’t get caught up in hotel lobby Allstars and I feel like the draft is very much at times for some teams in exercise in hotel lobby Allstar you’re a random fan sitting in a hotel lobby an NBA team pulls up they get off the bus and you’re making judgment calls

Based on someone’s physical makeup the length of their arms uh what does their torso look like like legitimately that’s fact and we’re not actually prioritizing uh the Love of the Game competitive nature IQ and can the guy just [ __ ] play basketball and I get really frustrated by it what gave you

The sense of confidence that this plan of attack was going to work out uh I just knew at the end of the day it was going to come down to basketball um you know you can do all the other stuff um I signed with an agency that

Didn’t have any NBA players so I took a chance there I knew that they were going to work and put me in the best position because they want to make it too um but at the end of the day I knew like I said it was going to come down to playing

Basketball if I can get on an NBA court around NBA guys like I know with the IQ of the game and then like you said just the competitive nature that I’ll figure out a way to you know make myself stick and the whole you know the whole thing

Going into the draft was for me is I didn’t play defense and I went to I went to you know I went maybe one two practices when I was on my two-way and I was like defense is going to get me on the court and so that was all I did I

Played defense as hard as I could Dove on the floor for loose balls took charges all that stuff and you know we had a team at that time that nobody liked to do that and Frank was a defensive guy and that’s what really got

My foot in the door I read your uh your draft profile today actually it was interesting well was it was interesting was that you you know you weren’t really known as a shooter and I think uh I’m going to be honest here being honest maybe this isn’t politically correct but

When you’re a white guy it’s like you’re a shooter and you can’t play defense that’s just the knock the fact is you know you you had the ball in your hands a ton uh at OU your senior year you played in a ton of picking roles um and I I I’m curious

About the adjustment once you get to the NBA and you’re playing with Braun you’re playing with ad you’re playing more off the ball especially that first year it wasn’t really till about at least you know in me watching what didn’t feel like until about halfway through last

Year your second season that you really got to play more out of pick and roll and have the ball in your hands more so that initial part where you’re like trying to figure out how the league works but also really not being able to play to your strength

Yeah it’s tough but you know that was one thing I was really confident in is you know figuring out how to do all the other stuff and going back to even when I was in high school my my ninth grade year I played with my brother my 10th

Grade year I played with my brother and he was the best player on the team so it wasn’t like I was you know scoring 25 I was doing all the other stuff so I was kind of already prepped to do that I go to witto state I didn’t play on the ball

I shot the ball really well there catch and shoot uh I think my freshman year I shot around 50% from three and then shot like 44 or something like that so I had shot the ball well before um but then going to U the whole change of you know

Scenery you know style uh took a you know tough a lot of tough off the bounds you know shots um didn’t make them obviously shot bad percentages but you know going into the league I had already kind of done all that obviously at a a lower level but um anytime you know you

Can you know the game and you play with Bron you’re going to be you know set up for Success you know that’s what he does and that’s you know why he’s one of the greatest players ever is he helps people be good and that was the main thing when

I walked into the doors my first day I was like look I’mma I’mma make him respect me and trust me and that was him and AD I was like those are the two things I want to do all right so I was going to ask you about the trust thing

And we’ve talked with I think we talked with Caruso right after uh their championship in the bubble about sort of when he felt like he had gained LeBron’s trust when did you feel like you had gained LeBron’s trust fulley um still working on it no

No no fulley was uh was game one of the Memphis Series last year um you know we have we had great chemistry from day one um and you know I could there was trust there um but I remember like it was yesterday wasn’t that long ago I don’t

Know why I’m saying that but uh in the fourth quarter when I had it going um there was a shot I forgot I think DLo might have got the rebound and he alled it to Brun and obviously I’m GNA run to the corner Bron’s got the ball and I get

To half court and I hear him yelling my name he was like come get the ball I was like oh [ __ ] uh I got to make something good happen uh I think that’s maybe when I hit the three or the jump shot one of the two but you know everything for me

At least everything went to slow motion at that time like I was like oh [ __ ] like I can’t make him look stupid he’s giving me the ball everybody’s probably looking at him sideways for giving me the ball but um it ended up working thank God and after that I kind of sit

There after the game it was just like trying to Fathom what actually just happened we we talked with a lot of a lot of uh other guys about his insane bball IQ just how he’s like I remember when Demar came on he was talking about the the Cavs Raptor series and now he

Was calling out their plays ahead of time have you had any specific moments from that standpoint either in a game or in practice where you’ve seen him do something like that and you just have been like what the [ __ ] is going on uh not really on the IQ standpoint

Because I see it every day um I every game I see him calling out a play that they’re about to run and literally exactly what he says is what happens but I do remember he shot shot the craziest we’re playing five on five my rookie year in training camp he shot

A crazy one-footed hook shot from the elbow over DeAndre Jordan off glass for game and that was the only time in my life that I was I don’t think I belong on this court I was like this is this is insane did did you not I don’t want to say idolized but

Like certainly LeBron was an icon he was I think five years old when you made where when you were five years old when he made his NBA debut and I don’t know who your favorite players growing up I was a huge Kobe fan you were a Kobe fan

So go to Lakers was yeah that’s I mean that was my favorite team growing up uh I I mean crazy that your agents had the Bucks as the number one best fit they was just doing their job but I I mean it’s it’s out there publicly I wasn’t a huge brown fan just

Cuz I was a Kobe fan like I didn’t you tweet about something there you go yeah you had a hater tweet or you brought that up you shouldn’t have said no I mean I’ve already I’ve already I don’t remember the exact in the room uh ESPN

IG tried to tried to snitch you to talk in we were in New Orleans and I didn’t play I think he played but he might not have in I pull up my phone right after the game and it’s first thing I see Sports Center and it’s a picture of Kobe

Like this and it’s like when I when I need some rest I put my phone to LeBron mode no rings I was like [ __ ] it’s like there’s one of two things I can do I can shut up and hope he don’t see it or I could call him over here and

Be like look man and I did I was like R come here he was like what’s up he walks over there like I was a Kobe’s fan back in the day I was like I was [ __ ] on back in 2012 he just busted out laugh and he was

Like I don’t care about this a random 14-year-old dude in arkans exactly and then it happens to be my teammate that that transition though from Braun being an icon and you know whatever you thought of him apparently was kind of negative growing up uh to a friend and teammate and cooworker uh

What what is that sort of process like and and what did it happen overnight or did it take time uh I think it I think it took a little bit of time um but I don’t know I think it’s more so just kind of the age Gap

Like realistically like he’s got a whole family like all this I’m just you know trying to figure out life in in LA and uh but you know now I can actually genuinely say that we have a friendship uh I could pick up the phone call him whenever he’ll

Answer um but yeah it’s genuine and and you know you put braon on this such pedestal just because who he is and what he’s done and I’ve said this a million times he acts like he’s an 18-year-old kid he’s joking around always having fun never in a bad mood um always brighten

In the room um regardless of you know any situation and and it’s it’s crazy to see cuz you know if there’s anybody that could be kind of a a prick or an [ __ ] um off what they’ve done it could be him but he’s the exact

Opposite one of the things that I re you know just you know I’m supposed to be unbiased as media member but I get so I get a pass because I played for so long so I’m allowed to be a basketball fan sure but one of the things I I I I love

About you um is that uh you have some [ __ ] to you you you know you did the too small to Pat Bev um the I’m him in that Memphis game that you were talking about that you referenced earlier um how did you develop that

Because I I I kind of have a theory on it because I had I had some [ __ ] to my game and and some [ __ ] to me I still do have some [ __ ] to me unfortunately it never leaves um how did you develop that I don’t know I mean honestly think it was almost

Natural uh I remember naturally an [ __ ] yeah I really think so uh because I remember I played one year aou and I didn’t play ebl I just played on a hand pick select team and I walk on the court and everybody be like I got the white boy

I’m like it’s going to be hell like I I in three possessions your coach is going to ask someone else to come guard me and it’s been like that since I was in high school and I always like I said I’m just real confident in you know the work I

Put in because obviously you know that’s where it starts um but yeah I seen it’s funny you brought that up I seen the clip last year of when you were having conversation I don’t know it was about me and Braun and but all I seen was the

Clip of you saying you know he’s an [ __ ] I was like what the hell did I do this I was like damn I I can’t win around here but then like 20 minutes later I was sitting there for like 20 minutes like what did I do and then I I

Actually listen to the full clip and it was it was positive I was okay let me let me stop yeah just so you know when I refer to someone as an [ __ ] it’s a good thing for sure it’s Jason it’s the highest praise I’ve actually I’ve

Actually I’ve called a a few uh uh friends and and former teammates that word in a in a positive way again and uh and I’ve had a couple of them call me and be like hey man like I know what you’re saying but like my kids my kids

Watch the podcast they don’t quite get what you’re saying Daddy why is JJ calling you an [ __ ] you know that’s funny I have a when you’re talking about your out of- body experience in the Memphis series looking back on the Warrior series playing the defending champs doing what you did to Steph to

These guys who are you know first Pallet Hall of Famers what was your perspective at the time what’s your perspective now um just because we were when we were watching it we were like that’s when I was like this guy has really arrived yeah I mean I didn’t have I

Didn’t play well the first two games I think maybe three um couldn’t I front rim everything uh the Memphis series was for me um the toughest series uh the physicality having to chase Bane around everywhere constant mover and then literally moving into chasing Steph and Clay around everywhere my legs were gone um

But had to figure it out and you know that’s what know I’ve kind of done my whole life was figure it out on the go and figure out how to be successful um but I mean I got to you know tip my hat to you know literally

All my teammates like every time out Miss shoted I had like there was no negative anything uh towards me or any any type of way uh it was just keep being you and I think from game three or four on played really well uh obviously against you know one of the best

Teams uh or organizations the last 10 years um were so successful they know how to win and you know obviously you know Steph at the you know head of the snake um it was it was a great feel feeling cuz it’s it’s kind of like you

Know last 10 years we’ve seen these guys you know in the finals a million times and seen all their success so to beat them you know was a really good feeling what what did you what did you learn from last year’s playoff run both both the good and the bad you know beating

Memphis beating Golden State whatever happened in Denver series um were close games yeah I mean were close games we got swept but every game we could have won yeah um but the the bad is just is I mean it’s just it’s long season’s long the playoffs is long and

Even you know especially when you get into the playoffs that everything just goes up more like physicality goes up more intensity goes up more attention to detail goes up more which is great for me because I mean that’s basically how I play every game have to I have to be

Locked into the you know game plan situations um I’m not blessed enough to you know kind of just freestyle it um but you know the what I learned most was just you know kind of that too was the attention to detail attention to every single play that matters um you know and

Obviously having Brun in your corner you know helps uh just because he’s you know been there a million times he’s played in all those games but you can tell as soon as the playoffs rolls around like him and ad their attention to everything is is it’s ler laser focus two things

You said there you know number one I would say like the difference between the regular season and the playoffs is that in the regular season on a given possession you might have 50% of the people on the court truly locked in and 50% of the people on the court given Max

Maximum effort and maximum energy in the playoffs it’s generally closer to like 95% where everybody’s locked in so every possession just means a little bit more every possession is a little bit harder and if you’re not locked in or you can’t do it you get benched in the playoffs

It’s not like the regular season we’re just going to keep trotting out the same lineups it’s like no no this guy’s not playing the series not his series second thing was you know just the the toll that the previous series takes on the next series I always talk about 2015 you

Know beating the defending champ spurs in a game seven where like kawhai guarded me most of that series I’ve got to guard janobi you know when he’s coming off the bench seven Games took everything for us to beat them then we go to we go play Houston I’ve got to

Guard James Harden now and I’ve still got to do what I do running around an offense and by game seven I’m just like taxed and and then the last thing was just you know just when you mention Braun there like Tommy and I were in Vegas

And I was honestly blown away it was my first time watching him in in person this year I was honestly blown away at the energy level at his conditioning level and this guy’s you know obviously played 21 20 21 now but he’s played 20 previous regular seasons plus all of the

Playoffs plus the USA basketball stuff he’s been in all these High Press environments and yet somehow he’s like in Vegas I’m like he’s the most energetic player like it matters more to him than anything and and it’s just like the competitive stamina doesn’t turn off

With him and the fact that he’s in such great shape like being around him every day you know people talk about I learned a lot from so and so from playing for so and so but just observing him watching him what are like your takeaways oh the main one is obviously L

Just a being a pro um first in the gym F the last to leave you know his body of work literally on his body you know not many people can play this long I mean honestly nobody’s done it that this high of a level and you

Know he I mean he basically lays out the blueprint for you you just got to pay attention and and apply that to yourself um but it’s just every day it’s it’s I asked him I forgot where we were coming back from maybe the Detroit uh we had

Like a four game road trip we were coming back from Detroit and we were on the plane and I was like what’s what’s tomorrow look like for you because I asked this man a million questions anyway I was just like what’s what’s tomorrow look like for you cuz we got

Back probably 1:30 too he was like uh I’ll get up I don’t know he didn’t didn’t say a time he’s like I’ll do some treatment at 10: uh then I’ll probably get a massage at 11: eat and he just kept going on about treatment stuff he was like I’m going go

Lay in my whatever the chamber is he hasic chamber yeah and I was just like so your day is treatment and he was like yeah pretty much I was like all right cool like there’s the blueprint like he he’s a professional and takes care of himself do you feel like you’ve at least

Started to figure that or have figured out that part of it for your own sort of day-to-day inseason existence for sure um you know where I come from I never had I never had a basketball trainer I never had a trainer I never had any like I did everything myself like and I

Didn’t know how important recovery was like nobody ever taught me that stuff so this like all this stuff was kind of new for me and you know like I said I asked him a million questions so this isn’t the first time I’ve asked him about you

Know stuff that he does for his body but but yeah like we’ve had conversation about it and definitely anything that he says that he does should why not try it like uh I remember in the playoffs uh my legs were dead and I was just like he was talking about the

Uh uh the normat tech and the stem at the same time and so I went home tried it legs felt great the next day and I was like all right cool I’m doing this do you cold tub do you cold punch okay you do all right that’s the secret

That’s the secret to everything I think now to you couldn’t have got me in it in college when now it’s you all these kids coming up now and I I see it like I I coach my my nine-year-old and we we have a new player this year really good

Really good player and his dad played college basketball and this kid is is obsessed he gets up in the morning works out at 700 he’s got a basketball trainer and the dad was telling me we were having a conversation the other day the dad was telling me he’s like yeah you

Know New York Galos Riverside Church these are like legendary Au programs in New York City like all these kids have trainers now basketball trainers personal basketball trainers at nine and 10 years old it’s crazy and all of them have IG Pages oh God with all their basketball content to follow this is

True this true story for sure we played a game the other day we played a game the other day and after the it was good game other team was good one kid was really good after the game all the parents were like did you know number 15 is the 64th

Ranked 9-year-old in the country I’m like come on now no I did not know that so we didn’t have this grown up but for you getting the NBA and then having like your own Player Development guy and that you work with and to work on your game

That was like the greatest thing ever good I I didn’t have to chase my ball anymore in high school I shoot it and go get it and um you couldn’t pay a friend to rebound for you that’s what I did I didn’t have no money I was going to ask

My mom for some money um I’m when my brother was around uh he’s two years older than me um before he went off to college obviously we would go rebound for each other but after that it was I was by myself I was um I was with you in

Manila for a little bit uh and I wanted to get your perspective we haven’t seen I want to get your perspective on that experience looking back and then also you obviously were just you know matched up with Tyrese in in Vegas last week but just the the talent from that team um

You know this is the you know a lot of these guys are the future of the league just like what you enjoyed the most about playing with them what you learned from them everything like that uh I mean obviously we didn’t you know finish the

Way we wanted to uh winning is the main goal it um and he I mean win is the main goal and everything but uh um the best thing for me was you know just um you know learning from them but also like creating friendships with them

Like when I come into the NBA I had I knew one guy in the league and it was landre shamon I was my roommate my sophomore year at witw State um so when I you know come into the league like I didn’t know anybody so everything was kind of new everybody’s always buddy

Buddy now um so going into that whole situation that was kind of one of my like how am I going to fit in cuz I know all these guys know each other already and uh probably have played together or you know been around each other but for

Me this was my second year in the league at the time and uh I didn’t know anybody um but you know being able to create real relationships you know with these guys uh Mel and cam um from the get-go were great for me you know obviously you

Know both of them and Kel personality you know made everything easier for me just cuz he’s so outgoing so goofy um and we kind of see you know we kind of go about life the same way uh so it was great but I just learned you know a

Little bit of everything from everybody even the coaches just kind of the way that they you know see the game they go about the game the way they do Scouts and stuff like that um so yeah it was a great experience did you did you feel

Like an outsider when you got to the NBA yeah for sure 100% I I mean I I joke all the time I said this other night I was like I’m not supposed to be here uh I got I got lucky and they gave me an opportunity and I ran with it what was

The uh can you just sort of explain to like from a basketball perspective the difference between FBA not just the rules but the way the game is played what officiated whatever FBA versus the NBA I mean it’s just a a lot more physical and I think obviously the style of play is way

Different you know here in the States now it’s you know you go to a lot of one-on-one stuff uh there’s not really much offense your offense is a lot of the times High pick a role um but I remember when we played Spain uh like our second or third game

You know down screens back screens you know and you don’t guard that in the league um you know more so when you played that was real stuff but you don’t get much of that anymore just retired to your easy guy easyy back here we go

Start y’all know what I mean no I made this I made this comment during the I think I think it was maybe after the first loss or maybe it was right after the the metal round but I made the comment I think the adjustment for us like meaning you know Americans that

Didn’t grow up playing in Europe or Africa or Asia where you know Australia whatever that aren’t used to playing FBA basketball is that there are uh continuous actions that just flow into the next action and there’s certainly some offenses that function like that in the NBA for sure night to night but

There’s less than a handful yeah less than a handful so your your your habits you’re not just a custom to playing and defending that way and on the other end I made the comment like our go-to at times was just like let’s run a high pick and roll with Jaylen or

Let’s run a high pick and roll with Anthony Edwards we didn’t get the continuous you know second action third action fourth action Germany was running some [ __ ] man yeah they were running [ __ ] for real and I mean I remember after the Spain game which we ended up

Winning I looked at one of their players and like yo y’all play the most beautiful B basketball like y’all might not y’all might not score you know as much or make as much shots whatever but like y’all’s actions the way like it’s in sync you know pin Downs the elevator

Screens like if someone is ball watching for half a second you’re back cutting like and everybody knows exactly you know where to go when all this stuff is happening um so I I personally really enjoy it like it’s it’s beautiful basketball do do you think that like

There could ever be buyin from NBA players to play more I think more like that I wouldn’t because like my thing with the NBA is like you literally have you know On Any Given team you have one of the 30 best play basketball players in the world why would the ball not be

In his hands as much as possible right and two with the NBA rules three second all that stuff right it makes sense but sometimes I think maybe there’s an inefficiency in the market marketplace where if a team just started running [ __ ] like that all the

Time it’ be hard to guard it would be I mean I but are but but in some ways I’m like maybe maybe it would just be wasted energy because you could just run a high pick and roll with tyres Halbert that’s a fact that is a fact I I mean I kind of

Just think when you go to Golden State and obviously they put Sacramento in there right now too for sure 100 they move really well um but you go to those teams and they’re top you know probably top five in the league in offense I don’t know about Golden State as of this moment

They were for sure you see it but I think you can definitely trickle that stuff in then obviously you’re not going to go away from high ball screens with your best player as you shouldn’t but if you could do actions around that even during that and I think it’s becomes

Even harder to guard you think some of the issue is just just the continuity of players staying long enough that’s interesting potentially I see that because I think about Germany like we were talking about this before it’s like those guys Dennis and T they’ve played together since they were

13 so they know this and it’s like NBA teams it’s like people are getting paid they’re getting traded you know you hardly ever have the same team yeah I can see that I I do think like you can teach Concepts so I’ll give you an example like with Sacramento mhm like sabonis is

The Hub you can run your initial action but they’re always going to get to a second action because the concept is we can always just go to a dho with sabonis right that’s going to create some level of movement that’s going to bring a second defender in um I I I think the

Buyin would be tough and part of the reason it’s like it’s actually it’s actually hard to play offense that way for 48 minutes in an NBA game it’s just hard I can see that did you realize how good ant was before playing with him there I mean I I

Knew I mean just because I mean basically our whole defensive scheme was when we played them to to stop him you know I think he just was talking about it on you some uh they asked him who’s one person that he wants to you know cook and he was like LeBron but they

Never let it happen because they’re always doubling um yeah yeah I don’t know if I knew he was that good uh the Germany game in Abu Dhabi when he just took over in the second half um I remember he made a a baseline fade uh like double pump and I was I was

On the right wing and I don’t know what everybody else was thinking at the time but I it was a close game I was just like everything went slow motion again and I was just like that might be one of the best shots I’ve ever seen in person

Like the degree of difficulty time and score all that for him to you know have confidence in himself to shoot that and make that that was uh it was really impressive Vegas last week can you walk you were sick as a dog this gu out a

Little bit can you walk us through your day uh your day leading up into that game and then and then how you felt afterwards yeah um I don’t I can’t remember the days exactly but say we played on a Tuesday Thursday I think no was it was Thursday Saturday Satur yeah

So we played Thursday felt great we got a good win um get some good sleep and I had like a 8:00 tea time uh at the wind and go out play we had film at like 1 maybe so I got 14 holes in went straight to film

Did film went to Media when I was at media I kind of got a little headache my nose was running a little a little bit but I didn’t feel bad went to my room afterwards and was like all right I’m going to take like an hour nap I’m going

To get up go get a massage I took the hour nap woke up and felt like my life was coming to an end like I was burning up at the time I was under the covers I was burning up sweating head hurt couldn’t breathe out of my nose body

Every time I moved I felt every muscle every joint every everything I was just like [ __ ] so I didn’t want to say anything to anybody for a while I was like maybe this will pass knowing it wouldn’t and then text my trainer and was just like look these are my symptoms

Blah blah blah so he brings he come up we had a FaceTime with our doc cuz he wasn’t there at the time and he was just like all right we’re going to give you some medicine and we’ll see how you feel tomorrow so I took the medicine slept from

Probably seven to didn’t go to the team meeting that morning uh probably left the hotel like 2 I was in the bed from 7 to 2 uh feeling like death was around the corner um but you know there was one point I was like I

Don’t think I’m going to be able to play and for me not to play is is tough I don’t I don’t like to sit out games I feel like I’m letting my team down um and things like that but finally you know got up got a shower and got out the door

And the whole time before the game I’m God I can’t catching the ball hurt everything hurt and when got some activation was moving slow felt slow um and then the game happened and I played well you know how I know that Austin is a is a

Sicko I’m G tell you how I know because he went and played 14 holes of golf it was a team meeting not 18 it was I’m I think I’m obsessed but I’m like bro I mean I might play nine but if I I’m not going to if I can’t finish the

Round I’m not going to play 10 and 11 12 13 14 you did a video with Garrett from good good where you played three holes before we got we got we got we got five in we got five we got five we got five we had practice that day you’re you’re a

True sicko you’re a true sio in all aspects um before we let you leave we we I I don’t know the this you probably talked about this publicly but the the GIF the the video of uh Lebron and you where he says something uh in your ear

And you have just the most incredible reaction what what did he what did he say to you uh so we were in we were in Brooklyn and the game was over we were up 25 and Coach called a timeout and Drew up a play and you know how it is

You’re up 25 some people might not be listening some were staring somewhere else and uh especially that year it was my rookie year like I said I asked a million questions so I never so I knew exactly what I was doing so he draws up the

Play and as I’m walking out I’m like Frank I’m I wasn’t doing anything I was standing on the left wing not literally not moving and I just had to make sure and so I’m walking on the court and me being me I asked Bri again I was like I

Ain’t doing [ __ ] am I like I’m just chilling he was like no you he I think he got mine and Russ’s spot backwards okay so he thought where I was supposed to be where Russ was supposed to be and he was like no you’re coming over the top and then setting the

Back screen and I’m just looking at him like I don’t I don’t think so but I was just like oh God and then literally when I did it I was like that’s going to be I go get my phone after the game and my phone was fully charged and I looking it

Was on like 5% it was just blowing up I was like oh no that’s amazing uh Austin appreciate the time for sure can’t wait for our first golf trip I may it’s I think it’s during training camp week but I may have a spot for you for my 40th birthday trip

To Ireland so I I’ll keep the spot I’ll make I’ll confirm the training C we might have to push that back uh time for one last question question the roback question uh our listeners can get 20% off on roback.com r h o BAC K uh.com with code Oldman uh Austin very simple question

What is your number one golf course you haven’t yet played on your bucket list uh definitely austa um obvious reasons I watch literally every live feed any live live stream of that tournament um I see it all I think I could go one to 18 in

My head right now um yeah it’s it’s pure I birdied seven and nine not yeah that’s that’s nice what’ you shoot I want talk a