Club 520 - John Wall on becoming Wizards GOAT, BEST high school hoop mixtape

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1:42 All right, man.

1:42 Shout out to Couchy, our new business partners, man. Listen, it is an exchange where you can trade on any event. Be here. We ain't talking about just sports. We can go to pop culture, politics, whatever, man. How you feeling?

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1:58 We ain't just talking about sports no more, man. We can get into the BET Awards. We can go see who got album of the year. College basketball coming up, man. We're going to bet on Kentucky, too, man. Yeah, you know we got to tap in, man. They covering everything across the board, huh?

2:09 Yes, sir, man.

2:09 Let's get to it, T. Listen, man, for $ 25, you're that promo code CLUB520. What do they get, man? They get an extra $ 25. Yeah. You know what I mean?

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2:27 Let's get it, man. We got the president, man. It's only right. Howard Holcomb, make some noise for these. Oh, John Wall. My dog. Yes, sir. My dog.

2:38 My boy. Yeah, I'm toasted.

2:42 There you go. Yes, sir.

2:45 Want some water, cuz?

2:48 Water, cuz.

2:49 Yes. Yes, sir. It's been a long time coming. Okay, you got hard work in the crowd. Turn up. Oh, we got pictures. And the high security let you get in with that. We got to check you again, fam. Okay, respect, respect. That's hard.

3:02 Now, that's hard, brother, how D.C. embraced you, bro. You really came and turned this city up. So I know they're grateful to see you every time you pull up.

3:10 Yeah, for sure.

3:11 Like I said, come here as a 19-year-old kid, no facial hair, no kids, no tattoo. They embraced me. They act like I was from here. So it was great to be here. And through the tough times of not winning games early on and figuring out to learn how to win and change the culture, this has always been my second home.

3:28 Nah, for sure, man.

3:29 He good at this, ain't he? He the president, you know, boss. Locked in. Shout out to the good people at Atlanta Life, man. You're never too early to get life insurance. Tap in. John, I want to ask you this, brother. You obviously, one of the first people you think about when you talk about NAL conversations, right? What do you think life would have been like for you coming out of high school with the capabilities and opportunities they got now?

3:55 Am I getting paid in high school or waiting to college?

3:57 Oh, you get paid.

3:58 We know where you're going, brother.

3:59 You were top ten. You was getting paid as a junior.

4:02 It would have been different, but I think the most important thing I tell the kids with NIL is don't let it change you. I mean, some of these kids are getting the money and they're not working out the same way they were before because you can tell if they really love the game or they want the lifestyle.

4:14 So I got the cars. I got the jewelry. I got the clothes. I'm not working out the same way. So I think me, if I was in college, I probably would have got it. If they say Cooper got 20, I would have got 30. Because I had to dance and I had a song.

4:26 So you got to add that into it.

4:27 Oh, I forgot about the song.

4:31 Cooper got 20 million?

4:33 They say all together, like with New Balance and all the stuff he got, he got 20.

4:37 Damn. That's why I would reclaim it. 30 would have been sweet.

4:40 That's a good kickstart to life, though, too.

4:42 I mean, he had Five anyway, but that's 30.

4:44 I ain't get five.

4:45 I ain't got nothing. I ain't get nothing, T.

4:47 What are you all here telling?

4:50 We talking about that all the time. Dang, what?

4:54 It's over with now. You got 10? Carry the one.

4:57 They was giving out 10.

4:57 You got 10 what?

4:59 I got 10. See, but they ain't.

5:01 Talking about that 10. They ain't break y'all off. These horror stories that he tell, he for sure didn't.

5:06 Have no 10. 10K. That's it, 10,000. I was in the bed though. Now, listen, man, we always talk about you, period, because we rock with you heavy, but especially like that high school mixtape era. Where do you rank yourself as far as high school mixtape? Because you definitely have one of the best we've ever seen in that situation, bro. One.

5:26 Number one.

5:26 I'm going to be one.

5:28 I go Akil Cartu, Austin Rivers 3. Shout out to the Crime Stopper.

5:33 Was that a real school you went to?

5:35 Who?

5:36 Which one?

5:37 Akil?

5:38 Nah, I'm talking about you in that mixtape.

5:40 Word of God Christian Academy?

5:41 Yeah, Word of God Christian Academy.

5:42 They did.

5:43 Just for Josh.

5:43 It's a word of God in Indianapolis because of this.

5:46 It ain't no good. I want just for me. Randy Pulley used to go there back in the day. But I want just for me. Like Des Wells went there.

5:52 Bishop. Bishop Davis.

5:55 All them went there.

5:55 Because Tariq Evans had a school that didn't shut down.

5:57 What, American Christian? Yeah. Look at you tell him. You named it.

6:02 You said it.

6:03 You got to watch it.

6:04 You got to wire you over here. You're telling on everybody.

6:08 Nah, but it was amazing. Being in North Carolina at the time that you was coming up.

6:12 Yeah.

6:12 I was at Wake Forest, and I remember them telling.

6:14 Me it was somebody that was faster and a little more athletic than me, and I was like, hell no.

6:18 And then his mixtape came out. Yeah. I was like, y'all better sign him. For sure. They was like, we ain't got enough money, dog. I was like, yeah, it's true.

6:27 Man, I watched you a lot at Wake Forest. I even came down there, I think the year you had just left.

6:30 Yeah.

6:31 I came down there. Ishmith was down there.

6:32 CJ Harris.

6:34 Farouk and them. Because I was thinking about you was coming back that next year.

6:37 Oh, no.

6:37 And we would have played y'all in the tournament when you was gone. No, no, no.

6:40 You didn't have to worry about that. You weren't coming back? No, no, no. The first time they said, Jeff Teague on the draft board. You was gone. I didn't know where it was.

6:48 You got that money and I was gone.

6:51 I was definitely.

6:54 Wake Forest is on your list for sure?

6:56 No. No, they weren't on my list.

6:57 I just went down there.

6:58 Because my homeboy JT Terrell ended up going there. So he took a visit there and I went down there with him. We played pick up. That's the first time I seen James Johnson.

7:06 Oh.

7:06 Shout out to JJ. Nobody want no smoke with him.

7:08 Yeah, no smoke. Still to this day.

7:10 Nah, leave him alone.

7:11 Yeah.

7:11 Please leave him alone.

7:12 JT wore a zero. I was hot. Did he for real? Yes. Oh, I didn't know that. You know what I mean? What's going on?

7:20 Damn, they ain't retire your number nowhere. You play, cuz.

7:24 Everybody gets to wear a card, don't they?

7:27 Let me go get that cigarette.

7:30 I'm the high school coach at my high school in my jersey. I'm retiring this year. I don't care what they say. No, for sure, bro.

7:35 You got to do it yourself.

7:36 For sure, bro.

7:37 You earned that right. You earned that right for sure. How you end up at Kentucky, bro?

7:44 Wherever Coach Kyle was going, that's where I was going.

7:45 I remember my first time watching Derrick Rose play Oklahoma in the guard.

7:49 Yeah.

7:49 And I seen how he played. I was like, that's the exact way I play, so why would I go anywhere else? Me, I just wanted to take all the visits, get all the free gear. I did that, and my mom had caught an aneurysm my senior year, so I almost went to NC State. That was her dream school for me to go to. It was like five minutes from where I grew up, and then when she got healthy, she was like, just go to the best school for you.

8:08 It was where Coach Kyle was going, so I went straight to Kentucky.

8:10 Did you bring the guys on, D.C., Bledsoe?

8:13 Well, the funny part is DeMarcus was going to go to NC State with me. I had never met E. Bled.

8:17 I met DeMarcus when I was 14 at a camp. We said we wanted to go to college together. And then we ended up doing that. But Eve Bled came on his own. John Hood, Daniel Orton, or Darnell Dawson, all of them came on their own. And I remember getting that, Coach Kyle, like, I know you're leaving after eight months, but don't leave by yourself.

8:32 I'm like, what you mean? You're like, take some people with you.

8:35 I didn't think I was going to take four guys in the first round, but we ended up being the first group of guys to have five guys to.

8:40 Go in the first round.

8:40 For sure, bro.

8:41 Yeah, make some noise for that. I ain't going to lie, bro. Y'all were so special. I'm a diehard Louisville fan. That was the first time in my life I ever rooted for Kentucky. I was just like, hey, these young niggas hoop the way I like basketball. Like, I'm rocking with them. And y'all had a legendary game at the Garden against Kimba. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

8:59 Please speak on that. That's one of the hardest college basketball games I ever watched, boy. You going against Cartier and Kimba. It was electric, man.

9:05 It was probably like our baby, like seventh game of the season. It was like, all right, you got Kimba, you got Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, rest in peace to him.

9:13 Peace.

9:13 I'm out of Zoryaki.

9:14 They had all those guys, and they said every scout, every GM is here. I'm like, it's showtime.

9:19 The lights is bright.

9:21 I remember I got two fouls early in the first half, so Coach Kyle sat me down.

9:23 I was mad.

9:25 And then we scored, like, out of the last 16, I had 15 of the points the last four minutes.

9:29 Yeah.

9:30 And that was 25, and after that, it was written after that.

9:33 You knew you was gone after that game?

9:35 Yeah, it was over. Yeah.

9:37 My AU coach called me. He was like, you don't really got to play no more, but Do what you do. But I wanted to play, though, because the next game is we go back to school and we got Carolina.

9:46 Yeah.

9:46 And that was my dream school where I wanted to go. And they had got Larry Drew. And we had played them in the GlaxoSmith tournament.

9:54 We was at TAF.

9:55 So I was like, OK, I got to play this kid. He never played against me. He always does small and dexterous tricks. was there so i used to.

10:01 Be the number one point guard so i remember he was.

10:03 Uh pit jam fest he didn't want to play and then we go to saint pat's his pot something he wasn't playing and city of palms so i'm like this is my first time to play against him i gotta cook him yeah so when he subbed in the market looked at him was like yeah you're in trouble now So we cooked them, and everybody back home was mad.

10:19 You just cooked everybody.

10:20 No, we cooked them in college.

10:21 We was cooking. No, no.

10:22 We was cooking everywhere.

10:24 Now, you definitely went crazy in college.

10:26 Who was it that y'all lost to in the tournament?

10:28 West Virginia.

10:28 You lost me a lot. You damn near need to hit my hand. I ain't going to lie.

10:32 No, I don't got to do that.

10:33 Yeah, you damn near owe me about a billion.

10:35 A billion?

10:36 You and DeMarcus was out there bullshitting.

10:38 No, we weren't. I ain't going to lie. We was only two hooping.

10:42 DeMarcus' attitude, you know I love you, bro. Your attitude was.

10:46 Horrible, bro. It was, but I'm talking about that game. We was cooking, but you don't even know what happened that game.

10:51 Y'all was killing, bro, but DeMarcus' attitude was so fast. You know what happened?

10:54 Let me tell you what happened. They start off in man. We cooking them.

10:57 Bob Huggins, I got to end when he looked at me and said, we're going one through one. We're not playing you in man no more. They had Debbie Ebens guarding me. They didn't make a two-point basket the whole first half. They hit all threes. And Joe Mazzulla had his best game of his career. He hit like four threes.

11:09 He was cooking. He cooked me that game.

11:10 Yeah, Joe Mazzulla was killing me.

11:12 Why didn't y'all make no adjustments, cuz?

11:15 Adjustments?

11:16 Adjustments. We started off 0 for 31 from three. That's the adjustment right there. We couldn't make it three.

11:20 I'm sick of Eric Blesso still.

11:21 You go 0 for 31 from three, you can't make no adjustments. Gotta figure some shit out. They lost us worse than ours was. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no.

11:29 What was they lost? No, no, no.

11:30 Wait, was y'all's first game? What you mean first game? I can't remember, nigga. I didn't drink since then. He lost first game. How many shots you had up here? About four.

11:40 Hey, listen.

11:41 You know how Nolan was up here talking? Yeah. We was the game.

11:43 We would have beat them. We would have played Nolan in the final four in Indiana.

11:46 Y'all would have beat their ass too.

11:47 Yeah, we had smoke for them. Nolan just left. He was telling me he was the best. Yeah.

11:52 When he talk, when he leave, I'm back talking again.

11:58 Nah, but we kind of overlooked West Virginia.

12:00 We kind of like wanted to play Duke because Coach Kyle had never got to play Coach K. So as shoot around, he's like, I got, we got to win this game to get to Duke because he wanted to play Duke.

12:08 And we fell short.

12:08 So it was nothing telling you like, I'm going to come back and try to win it again.

12:12 Why?

12:13 Okay, I respect that.

12:14 Go get that money.

12:14 They say you won.

12:15 I knew DeMarcus wasn't coming back.

12:16 No, they say you won.

12:18 How can I go? You're right. You're right.

12:20 No, DeMarcus really wanted to come back. He went out to meet with Coach Kyle.

12:22 That nigga lying.

12:23 I'm dead serious. No, I'm dead serious. He's my roommate, bro.

12:26 He didn't think he was going to leave.

12:27 After one year.

12:28 Wow.

12:29 He was a top five pick.

12:31 You understand? This is my roommate.

12:32 I'm talking to him every day. He didn't understand he was going to be a top five pick. He was like, oh, I'm not good enough.

12:36 He didn't know what he was doing. I'm like, bro, you dominated. You're going top five. He was a double-double in college. But you know, some people just don't believe in themselves at times.

12:43 Yeah, shout out to my boy. That's my guy, man.

12:45 I love him. Now, we always have this conversation. Shout out to our guy, Mook, man. 520 Mook. He always says, you know what I'm saying? That Kentucky squad. Mookie's where he should be. They couldn't beat us.

12:56 They couldn't beat us. They nice, though. They couldn't beat us. They couldn't beat y'all?

13:00 Nah.

13:00 I said that, too.

13:01 Nah, they can't beat us. I said that, too.

13:03 They only said it because they won the championship.

13:04 Who checking me? Him. He said he was. Who?

13:08 Freaky Mookie.

13:10 Hey, listen. Let me tell you something. If Mookie was playing like he was in high school... I'll give him that. Mookie want to say Mookie when he got to Kentucky.

13:18 Because he had to tone it down.

13:19 Oh, let me talk to you. Turn it down what?

13:22 I ain't turn it down. D.

13:23 Rose ain't turn it down.

13:23 You got the floor, Cook.

13:24 Go ahead.

13:25 Deron Lamb, E. Blair. I'm taking E. Blair. E. Blair the dog.

13:28 Marcus is a dog.

13:30 Who?

13:30 Deron Lamb is not a dog. He's a bug he can shoot, but he ain't no dog.

13:34 What kind of dog?

13:34 Damn backcourt.

13:35 Backcourt connection.

13:36 Well, okay. It's going up.

13:39 Talk about it.

13:39 So what kind of dog would Deron be if you had to pick a dog? What kind of dog? What kind of dog? He a house dog?

13:44 You know, like you like a little.

13:46 French, like a little French bulldog.

13:48 God, he was Frenchy. He aggressive, but he look quiet. He a little shy, though.

13:58 What was y'all going to do about Anthony Davis?

13:59 What he was going to do about Boog?

14:01 I don't know, man.

14:03 Come on.

14:03 Hold on. Who?

14:03 Gilly.

14:04 Gilly going to do him. But what chance y'all going to do with Pat?

14:10 Patrick Patterson was.

14:13 T-Jones.

14:14 T-Jones was nice, but you got to think Pat was bully ball too, bro. That's a fact.

14:17 He still had old boy, but he was on y'all team too.

14:19 T-Jones was nice though.

14:21 No, T-Jones was definitely nice.

14:22 Y'all didn't have nobody for him.

14:24 Patrick Patterson.

14:25 Quiet, cuz.

14:26 It's not quiet, bro.

14:27 Quiet.

14:27 You think so? T.

14:28 Jones.

14:29 He was nasty. He was wrong. T. Jones is nice for sure. But you got to think, like, A.D. blocked a lot of shots and catches lots. He wasn't dominating scoring.

14:37 He didn't have to. He averaged four blocks, cuz.

14:39 I get that, but DeMarcus is going to be bullying him. He ain't just going for that. You think that. That's a tough matchup, for sure.

14:44 It ain't no cakewalk, bro.

14:45 DeMarcus is my favorite big of all time.

14:47 What's the big kid from Mississippi State that's blocking all the shots? Bull was cooking him. He did the same thing A.D.

14:51 Did.

14:52 His blocked shots. He led a country in blocks.

14:54 It wasn't the same as A.D. What? A.D.

14:56 Changed the whole game, cuz. Go watch Mississippi State.

15:00 If you go put a kid on Mississippi State and Kentucky, he's doing the same thing, I promise you. A.D. had more blocks than the whole nation.

15:05 That's a fact.

15:07 Go look at Mississippi State stats, I promise you.

15:09 I ain't no man. Google it on y'all podcast when y'all get in on that show. That's Kentucky beat. But they can't beat us.

15:15 I got y'all, though, cuz. I do got y'all. I just couldn't let you speak on little Mookie like that.

15:19 I thought Mookie was going to do the same thing he was doing in high school because he was electric. He just toned it down and let everybody else do their thing and try to be a true point guard.

15:28 So Cal couldn't tone you down?

15:30 How?

15:31 Oh, okay. Respect.

15:32 Because Mookie was a bucket. We always tell Mookie he should have went to Cincinnati.

15:36 No, he should have played the way he played in high school and never changed. He would have been good. He just toned it down.

15:41 He should have went to Cincinnati because of respect.

15:42 I told him to follow John. Yep. He was going to go to Cincinnati with who?

15:47 Yeah, but it's his brother's fault because he was following your black ass.

15:50 Yeah, but you go to Cincinnati, and then you're not getting no exposure.

15:53 You're not on those big games.

15:54 Mook would have averaged a dub. But you wouldn't have been on those big teams. Every night, you're going to be on CBS, ESPN, or ABC. That's real. All right, we got to ask about this. Be here. We know about this game very well, man. Lockout season, Pro-Am, you pulled up to the city, man. You and Teague went at it.

16:10 This is my first time meeting, bro. I said, he a cool-ass dude, bro. You came to my city and got to it, man, in the lockout.

16:16 And what you probably didn't know about this, Teague was a little motivated because of Be Here. It had nothing to do with you because of Shel. Shout out to Shelvin Mack. Yeah.

16:23 What happened? Why I started?

16:24 So, look, bro got drafted to the Wizards, right? I was already like, damn, John, he cold. You know what I'm saying? So, I knew he was going to do your thing. But I always told him, he used to always talk shit to me. I'm like, my nigga's way better than you, bro. I used to tell him shit because he used to just talk so fucking much. I'm like, you're not even like that. So we at the game, nigga, I'm arguing with Oscar Robertson people. I'm not even paying attention to him. He in the game killing, dunking his shit, dunking all on shells, crossing him over.

16:54 Fuck you, big nigga.

16:55 I wasn't even paying attention, though.

16:58 So I started to... I really was hoping that you would have went at him, but it didn't go like that, bro.

17:02 Probably had like two plays.

17:03 Yeah, but it wasn't crazy. He went crazy in that game.

17:06 It was good.

17:07 Yeah, for sure.

17:08 It was all because of you.

17:10 It was, bro.

17:10 I want to talk about when getting drafted here and being the number one pick going to D.C.

17:15 And like.

17:16 Obviously, they called it Chocolate City when I was coming up, and it was like a culture, it was a vibe.

17:21 Okay, respect, my boy.

17:23 Chocolate City.

17:23 My bad, old school.

17:25 Chocolate City. It still is Chocolate City from what I was told.

17:30 And, like, getting drafted here, and, like, I got drafted to Atlanta, similar kind of city, you know what I mean?

17:36 But being drafted here, what was that moment like?

17:39 It was surreal.

17:40 I think just, you know, everybody dream of making it to the league, but we don't know where we're going to go and get drafted.

17:45 My dad was from Southeast DC. A lot of people didn't know that.

17:47 So being able to drive four hours from North Carolina, my family could make it to every game. But like I said earlier, just embracing me, knowing that I was trying to figure it out with everything that just had went on with the organization, handed me the keys, understanding that it was a slow process. We had to learn how to win. We had a lot of young guys that was trying to hold new slate. And then we found a way to get back to the community. That's the most important thing. I think a lot of us think just because we make money, we, pulled to be cool and pulled to do all these things. But I think just touching the people and letting them know that you're normal just like them.

18:18 That was the most important thing for me, touching the people.

18:20 If I see people out, I always say what's up to them, taking pictures and doing those things. So, yeah, you know, I'm going there too when I got a little older. But just doing those things, coming back, and the city embracing me, we started winning.

18:30 And it was lit after that. It was Chocolate City, and it was great to be outside.

18:33 All right, man, it's Club 520. We're here to talk about our sponsor, baby, Michelob Ultra. You know what time it is. Football season in full effect.

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19:17 Zero. All right, man. You know what time it is. Club 520. We're here to tell y'all again about Factor. Listen, shout out to the Alpha Den. 520 been working on their fitness in the gym. B-Hen, how your journey going, brother?

19:28 Going pretty good, man. Usually I stop and get something else, but I just come to the studio.

19:32 We got to work.

19:33 Pop it in the microwave. Quick two minutes, bro. You ready to go.

19:36 Come on, man.

19:37 Teague, man. Professional athlete. You know how important it is to eat. A great meal after a great workout, man.

19:42 Talk to the people.

19:42 You know how I do.

19:43 I get my protein shake. But when we had these factor meals, bro, they've been here sitting for us. And we had some premium steak.

19:48 Yeah, premium steak, strip, down it.

19:50 You know what I mean? It was damn good.

19:52 I mean, I was like, I ain't had to go to nowhere else. I just come to the studio, pop it in the microwave, make things happen.

19:57 And that's the important part, man.

19:58 Listen, man.

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20:32 One wizard of all time.

20:33 For sure.

20:34 You put the city on your back by a landslide, bro.

20:37 And my biggest respect about it is no matter what was going on with you personally in the organization, you still always held your commitment to the community.

20:42 And I thought that was always the dope part.

20:44 Regardless of what was going on, whatever they was saying, putting smut on your name, you were still showing up, still doing what you said you did. And that's real respect because we see a lot of stuff happening. Yeah, make some noise for that. Absolutely.

20:53 That's 100%, bro.

20:54 Even, like, with the Jalen Brown situation, what happened in Boston, he still didn't give back. We see a lot of people, you know, say it's business at the end of the day, but you stayed tapped into this community, so respect for that, brother, for sure.

21:02 Yeah, I think that's just a testimony to my mom.

21:04 She was like, it's better to be known as a greater person than just a good basketball player.

21:08 And she always, even when I.

21:10 Made it, she would be up giving out tickets and doing the sales at the basketball AU tournament at 6 a.m. or going to TJ Maxx and Marshall's when she could have been doing all other type of things. So for me, just giving back, that was just something I always wanted to do. And I think most importantly, people, like I said before, we got the money and we just give stuff away. No, it's like give me your time, be present.

21:28 So if I got something from 9 to 12, I want to be there from 9 to 12 and not just show up for an hour, take pictures, and leave.

21:34 That's not being true to your fans.

21:36 Sure, bro. Sure. That's why you– Yeah.

21:40 That's why you're number one, bro.

21:41 For real.

21:42 You embrace the city like it was yours.

21:44 You get back to the city. Atlanta?

21:45 Atlanta? Yeah.

21:48 He give back.

21:49 It just depends on where it is. Yeah, it depends on where it is.

21:53 That one spot. Oh. Who sent that?

21:59 You going out there.

22:00 That's not your spot.

22:01 I don't be in the trenches.

22:06 You delivered?

22:07 Yeah, I've delivered. No, no, hold on. I went on that. Respect.

22:18 Hold on.

22:19 But we had a battle. I want to talk to you about this. We ain't had a pot yet. I want to talk to you. You got hurt. We played y'all in the playoffs.

22:25 Remember, you was mad at me.

22:28 You hurt your hand. I think you might have broke your hand. I broke five bones. He broke five bones in your hand. I remember I was like, damn, John hurt. I didn't say damn. I was like, yeah, John hurt. But.

22:39 That's crazy. That's some hey, man shit, Jay.

22:42 Nah, they trying to win the series. He being real, though.

22:44 Yeah, yeah.

22:45 I remember he was on the bench. He was like, yeah, yeah, I'm coming back. I'm like, ain't no way he coming back with a broke hand. I'm like, he coming back. He came back. I said, oh, he came back. And he was hooping, man. Like, that looked like the play with a broken hand.

22:58 Like, how did you do that?

22:59 Well, I was really mad because the doctors took too long. I finished game one when it happened.

23:03 I didn't know.

23:04 I went to the back and I was trying to take a shower. And I had like a white muffin hand. I couldn't wash my back. I'm like, y'all think my hand broke. So they don't even go to the doctor. It's like three days later before the next game.

23:14 I'm like, what are y'all doing?

23:15 Like, we need to go see what's going on. So I missed game two, missed game three. And then game four, I tried to warm up, but I had to get my hand on. I didn't know my hand. It's like for three hours, I wouldn't.

23:24 Feel no pain.

23:25 But once the game was over, it was about the reality. So they kind of did it on time for game five. And I'm mad because they tried to ISO Dennis Schroeder on me. And I blocked his shot. And then they dropped the rebound. I'll whoever pick it up. And make the layup, y'all win game five. And then y'all come back and close it out game six here. But I was mad because Schroeder posted a picture. I think he was next to Kent Bazemore. I'm not going to think of somebody.

23:45 And he like this.

23:46 So when I beat them in 2017, I posted a picture back.

23:50 Land on the ground like this.

23:51 I get up. For sure.

23:52 I had to get my get back.

23:54 Hell yeah. That was crazy.

23:55 But that series was crazy. Every time we played, y'all was always lit. It was always fun. I was like, y'all talk so... You didn't talk crazy to me, but you talked crazy around me. Yeah.

24:05 Not because I.

24:05 Respected you, but everybody else I didn't respect. Or he'd be like, they can't mess with me talking to the crowd. I'm like, I'm guarding you. Damn. What we doing, man? What's up? We gonna go out next year, man. What we doing?

24:19 But he would always have great moments, like, just incredible moments against us.

24:24 I'd be like, this dude was so good. I'd be pissed. And he was faster than me. And nobody ever was faster than me.

24:29 And I'm like.

24:30 There was a few. Who?

24:32 Nah, I ain't. Come on, cuz.

24:35 It was rare.

24:36 Show love. Show love, but tell the truth, too, at the same time.

24:39 All right, who was faster than me?

24:41 Russell Westbrook fans.

24:42 Oh, yeah, he on steroids. He was fast.

24:46 Oh.

24:47 I'm just saying, like, he's big.

24:48 Russell Westbrook. Derrick Rose had a quick step.

24:52 He was different.

24:52 He was different. But y'all had to go in the area of PGs. Yeah.

24:56 You held your own, though. You was definitely top five.

24:58 Yeah, I was.

24:59 Who?

25:00 You was top five.

25:02 I don't got to talk about it. Oh, fast?

25:04 Fast.

25:04 No, I'm just talking about the league. I like it.

25:07 Nah, I want some real shit. I'll give you a lot of shit. I'll give you a lot of shit.

25:11 You was, in that point in time, bro, that's when the point guards was driven in the league, bro. So you was in the woods for sure. Yeah, that was the best position. And bro definitely held his own every night.

25:21 Nah, he wasn't ducking no smoke for sure.

25:22 Nah, hell nah. He couldn't, bro. He had to see one of y'all every night.

25:26 Yeah, yeah. Shout out to them.

25:27 That's why we had an advantage, though, playing in Atlanta. Like, you kind of had an advantage playing in D.C.

25:32 Everybody's going to go out. Yeah. Like, I knew y'all was going out in Atlanta. I was like, I used to tell some of them.

25:40 Yeah.

25:40 Hey, Thundercat, they going to pull up tonight. Give them two. Set them up. Out the gate. Two for one special. Get John right. Hospitality for sure. That one, that's on me.

25:55 John Love, Don Julio.

25:59 Get him right. Out the gate. Oh, man, that's crazy. That's crazy. I want to ask you this, John. I was a part earlier in the market to see you on the full-on facade for the Zig Tag. That was your signature shoe. What was that like, man? Fresh out, you know what.

26:13 I'm saying?

26:13 Bullshit. Hey, I'm going to tell you one thing. It was BS, but listen.

26:17 When they come with five-year, $ 25 million at 19, you signing that paper.

26:20 Out the gate. I ain't care what them Z-Techs do. Make some noise for that guy. That's the way you embrace the shoe. But that's what it boiled down to. Really, in reality, a lot of people don't know, Adidas had bought Reebok at the time. I really was supposed to go with Adidas, but they was trying to build the Reebok culture back.

26:34 Up kind of like A.I. had it.

26:36 And it was just a Z-Tech way with the running at the time, so they put it as a basketball shoe. And that's the first time I really had a serious injury. We was playing Dare Rosen and him, and he dribbled towards me and I was playing it, Took a taxi shot, and I sprained my foot.

26:48 Let's frame you. I'm like, yeah, I don't think these it. I don't think these going to work.

26:52 Man, they trying to have us market those. I said, cuz, if John Wall can't market these, what the fuck are we supposed to do? For sure.

27:00 Did you keep hooping in them, though? For like another year. But I went to lower. I made like a mid-shoe. That was a high-top shoe. I was about to go boxing.

27:08 Damn. Damn.

27:09 Hey, because them was weak.

27:11 Z-Tag used to be like this. We made a Z-Tag like that. It was easier to run on. But the first Z-Tag was like this because it was basically a running shoot.

27:18 Oh, okay, okay, okay.

27:19 For sure, man.

27:20 Hey, what's the vibes like, man? Another number one pick in the city, man. Got AJ here.

27:24 Got AD here.

27:25 Yeah, make some noise. Hey, the Wizards are back. Trey Young here. Be here high on the Wizards this year? I'm high on the Wizards, bro.

27:33 I think it's super high. You know what I mean?

27:34 I think AJ come here, all he has to do, for him, it's not really the same amount of pressure that I had.

27:39 Yeah.

27:39 You know what I mean?

27:39 Like, you got Trey Young here, who's a superstar, all-star, whatever you want to call it. AD is a guy that's a top 75. They have a lot of young guys that's been building and trying to figure it out.

27:48 Yeah.

27:48 The thing most important, they stay healthy. They definitely make the playoffs.

27:51 It just depends on how you build that chemistry and commodity together because you got so many young guys that are still trying to get their next contract and establish themselves in the league. And that's the hard part of trying to figure out how can everybody get the right shots. Because if you look at they starting five, all five of them want 15 to 20 shots a game. So somebody got to take a backseat and let somebody else be the guy.

28:10 So who is going to take that backseat?

28:12 Alex Shaw, Keyshawn George got to take the backseat.

28:15 My boy Trey Johnson, yeah.

28:16 Well, he's already off the bench, so he got to take the backseat. You got Bilal Kulibale coming off the bench. I feel like Trey and AD, they already double-doubles every single night. But then you got to put your number one pick in there. And he's better with the basketball in his hands.

28:28 Yeah.

28:28 So, at times, you got to let him run pick and rolls and put Trey Young on the wing and let him be a knockdown catcher.

28:33 Shoot shooter. That's what Real Anderson was saying he was. Yeah. He cooked that one up.

28:37 That's my rookie of the year, bro. That's my rookie of the year.

28:41 A.J. DeBensa, bro.

28:42 The hard part about that is, and we talked about it, A-Cup going to get 30 shots a game.

28:46 Yeah. But, listen, they don't base it off winning nowadays. They base it off numbers.

28:51 You're right.

28:52 If they base it off winning, then I could go that way. But if they base it off numbers– A-cup might come in average 23, 24.

28:59 But what if A.J. is averaging 20 and they winning?

29:03 Then that's a big difference. You got to give it to him then if he's winning, if he's averaging 20.

29:06 Because that's what I say. I'm just saying that because that's what I see for him this year.

29:08 I think for him, he's going to have a great opportunity to get out in transition run, slash, and if he can make some catch-and-shoot threes, that's going to help him get 20 easily.

29:16 For sure.

29:17 Bobby on some hoop shit.

29:18 Did we ever see the Philadelphia 76ers looking at the way that they're looking right now? We thought Jalen Brown was a crazy pickup in the offseason. Them niggas get brawn, too. The East looking crazy. I don't know what's on the rise, bro. It's going to be interesting. It's going to be interesting. I think for them, it's the same thing, though.

29:33 Jalen Brown go from wanting to be the number one in Boston, and you was fighting for that, to now, is Embiid the number one?

29:40 One? And then is Jalen Brown the two, or is it Maxie the two?

29:43 If you coaching, though, who you tell to chill out a little bit?

29:45 Yeah, that's a great question.

29:47 If you're coaching the squad.

29:47 Embiid got to chill out. Out of the gate.

29:49 He got to chill out.

29:50 He's going to chill out. I got to go Maxie and Jalen Brown.

29:53 Now, listen, if we have a mismatch problem, we need to get an easy bucket in the half court, I'll go to you. But I'm putting Bron at the point guard in that situation. Let Maxie play off the ball, Vijay play off the rock. But you really, you can't do this, but you really, for their team to be better, they don't have a lot of space in with shooting.

30:07 Maxie the only catch and shoot guy on their team. You should start Caldwell Pope, but you can't put BJ on the bench.

30:12 You can't.

30:12 You cannot.

30:13 But that would be better for their team if they was trying to win, but you can't do that.

30:16 It look great. Yeah, it look all good.

30:18 So what you think, since you said Embiid take a back seat, what you think his stat line would be for them to be successful?

30:23 He's still going to get 20. He Embiid. He Embiid.

30:26 He going to flop, get to the free throw line.

30:29 So like 20 and 10?

30:31 Nah, 20 and like eight.

30:33 He can't jump like you. So you see him throw that lob in Brooklyn, bro. He can't even catch it.

30:37 Chill, bro.

30:38 He not going to average eight rebounds, though.

30:39 He did. But he don't really get a lot of rebounds like you think he do all the time, bro. I got him for six this year. Six rebounds?

30:47 He need to retire if he getting six rebounds.

30:49 He don't dominate with rebounds like that. He used to.

30:51 He ain't healthy like he used to.

30:52 Who going to rebound on the team? Braun, Brandon Brown, Vijay, all those guys. And the problem they're going to have, they don't have no depth at the center position.

31:00 That is true.

31:01 So they might use that.

31:02 Little injury exception to get somebody because they lost a guy that was with the Knicks last year.

31:07 They should have got Ben Simmons.

31:09 They should have got Ben Simmons.

31:11 Hey, the real is back.

31:13 Oh, God.

31:14 John, I know you tapped in. Yeah. But when we talk about the Kings.

31:17 You know who the starting power forward is for the Sacramento.

31:19 Kings, right?

31:20 Yes.

31:20 Yes.

31:21 The real is back. John, man.

31:23 The real 25.

31:24 Yeah. The real is back. Oh, yeah. The crowd is still here. He locked in. Yes. He the only Kings fan in the world.

31:31 I don't want to ask you, man.

31:36 My boy went from fishing to starting the league.

31:39 That's mean. That's mean. No, cuz. What was you going to say? I'm trying to get off the key.

31:52 Your take, bro. Your prediction right now, bro. Who do you think is going to win it all this year, bro?

31:55 Damn.

31:56 Spurs. Yes.

31:58 The greatest we ever seen. Y'all can do all that, all y'all want. I just think last year, they didn't have a closer. De'Aaron Fox was supposed to be their closer. He wasn't healthy.

32:05 Yeah.

32:05 Mitch Johnson was a first-year coach, so he was scared to make adjustments and call timeouts in certain situations.

32:10 Mm-hmm.

32:10 And then, Wimby didn't have a go-to move in the mid-post or anything. But we knew when it got to the last five minutes of a game or two minutes, we know where the Knicks going. We know where he going. You know what I mean? So, I think that's where they got at.

32:22 Yeah, bro. Okay.

32:24 Knicks in five.

32:25 Wow.

32:26 They was getting beat every game by 15.

32:27 Yeah. Yeah, it's quiet for that Knicks shit. Pacers back. Yeah.

32:32 Yeah.

32:35 And you got a white socks hat on to my Pacers back. I don't like the Pacers hat. God bless you. I need that weed you smoking, brother. That's some of the purest you got out here, family. I need this plug. Don't entertain that, John. For sure, man. Put me down here and make some noise one time for John Wall.

32:55 My dog, we appreciate you, family. Yes, sir. Also, November 3rd, make sure y'all do your part, man. Very, very important day, November 3rd. This is much we have fun. Very important things going on. Make sure y'all tap in as well. One more time for our good family at Atlanta Life. Tap in. You are never too young to get life insurance.

33:10 The only way we can pass down generational wealth, tap in for sure. Project 68, we love y'all. We appreciate y'all having us. However, we done had a ball out here. We're going to have some more fun tonight. One more time for Boost Mobile. One more time for Calci. This is Club 520 DC. We appreciate y'all. We out.