Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, listener. It's Stephan. I'm here a little early for my episode. I think we're probably waiting for Jason to clean his golf shoes and get his equipment going, which is very disrespectful for the golf community. But, you know, nevertheless, I'm here. This is Smartless. Smart. Less. More.
Listener, we had a record earlier this morning.
Went very well, very fun, nice. We had a... Today's a twofer. And we had a, what, a three-hour break, something like that. Yeah, what'd you guys do? Will took a nap. Will, did you really? I did take a nap. I did too. No way. I took a little nap, not too long. I watched, obviously, some...
You watched Arsenal get their first loss, huh? I did watch Arsenal get their first loss. So this is dating this podcast, but I did watch that match. It was very controversial. Was it? Yeah, there was a very controversial goal because they lost 1-0 and there was a controversial goal. People are really mad at the VAR, the video assistant referee. We don't need to put the audience into their own nap going over this. So, Sean, what'd you do?
I did. I took a little nap. Did you have some lunch before you napped? I had a BLT. You did? Yeah. I had a BLT with extra mayo. Your food is always so special. Do you ever just have like normal shit? What's not normal about a BLT? You have to make the bacon and put it on the side. No, no, no. He lives next to a Sonic. Do you live next to a Sonic?
He always has to live within four miles of a Sonic. That's my contract. Hey, can I guess what kind of bread it was on? It was just white, regular white bread, country white. Will, have you ever bought a loaf of... I know it was from the country. That sounds better. Will, have you ever bought a loaf of white bread?
Sure. Really? Have you ever what is it? Bought a loaf of white bread. Of course. What are you talking about? When you say I, I don't know if I have. Yeah, of course I have. And I will say that the little kids, the little kids, they like white bread. But not, you know, they get a sort of a, I don't know. It's children's food. That's all Sean eats. I eat white bread and drink milk almost every day. What did you guys have? Jason, you and Amanda went over for dinner the other night. What?
What did we have? It was a lovely dinner. Beautiful roasted chicken and roasted vegetables and a salad. And then... I mean, we had to hear about it the whole time. Scott and Sean were fucking furious that that's what they had to eat because we were there. No, we knew you were coming over, so we made sure it was like, you know, Jason and Amanda food. And then for dessert, there was brownies. This is Jason and Amanda versus Sean and Scotty. We had the brownies. They had chocolate-covered dates. Okay.
Listen. True. That's true. Well, first of all, you supplied them thinking we would enjoy them. Right. But you didn't touch the brownie. Oh, I sure did. Touched it big. You did? My mouth touched it. I've seen Jay, you know, sometimes like on a Sunday night, somebody will bring a, usually you and Scotty, and somebody else will bring a dessert. And I've seen Jason over...
get over overshared i have addiction issues you know but but but um eli was asking me today about dinner i don't know anyway i said he asked me jason what you oh we were talking about atlanta and uh i was saying he's like well what did he order in a lot when he was living up there in that building where we ended up i said no no i'm asleep by 7 30.
Home by 7.30, he'll have a little salad and some crackers. Well, dinner, yeah. True story. Really? I found his crackers. Listen, the body is no fluke. This body right here, it doesn't just happen. But last night at dinner, Jason, last night at dinner, we were at a restaurant. I'll have a McCarthy salad, no bacon. Dressing on the side. Dressing on the side and then something else. No egg or something? Nope.
Just don't fucking mix it and give me the dressing. Which dressing did you ask for for that? I know the place. Yeah, it's just a balsamic vinaigrette thingy. Yeah, it's nice. It's real nice. Yeah, and you don't want a heavy pour on the salad, you know? It just ruins all the vegetables. I know. I don't like a drinking salad dressing, yeah. Yeah, I don't think so. I doubt it. All right. Now, you want to talk about somebody who knows...
what to do with themselves when it comes to taking care of themselves. I got a guest for you. Hold on, let me pull up my notes here. There's that and here's this. Here we come. Ready? Quiet. Today we have someone who is equally successful in personal accomplishments as he is in teamwork. He is as rich as he is philanthropic. He is as famous as he is soft-spoken.
This man was the first to have been voted MVP unanimously in NBA history. He has nine NBA all-star selections. He has four NBA championships, and he was the first player to hit 103 pointers in the NBA finals.
He is widely regarded as the greatest shooter in NBA history. He's not a bad golfer either. And he's our guest today. Say hello to Steph Curry. Shut. Steph. Yes. Hello. Okay.
Shut the front door? Is this a booking? Shut the side door? Shut the back door? Shut it down. I can't believe this. And I married a Canadian. And you married a Canadian, and you spent a lot of time in Toronto. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Markham, to be exact. Steph, I'm very excited you're here today. Oh, me too. Thank you, fellas. It's great to be on. Oh, great to meet you, man. Yeah, really nice to meet you. Sean, you don't have to fake it, okay?
I'll introduce myself later to Sean. Let's talk about that. It goes deeper. It resonates. I, of course, know who you are. And I'm very impressed with you and your life. Yeah, it's incredible. Now, are we recording this at 3 o'clock because you had to play golf this morning? I wish. So...
I had a really great golf season, I guess, in the summer. I think I saw you out there on the links passing by your neck of the woods. But come October when we start our season, the golf clubs develop some cobwebs pretty quick. You don't take them with you at all? I try to. I play maybe twice a month if I'm lucky. But we are in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio right now. Sure. In between three games and four nights. So...
As a 35-year-old in my 15th year, most of the time is dedicated to staying as youthful as possible. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Now what's the big key on that for you? What do you try to avoid that gets you super duper tired? - BLTs. - And what do you-- - BLTs and white bread, seriously. I was laughing when I was talking about Sean's lunch. I was like, I wish I could have had that. - That's right. - See? - Right, Steph? Yeah.
We know each other. Sean, show them your cookie pouch. This is what Steph's trying to avoid. It's the cookie pouch. There it is. But you know what? I bet when you're 53, you might have one. I might have one. Yeah, so watch out. Something to look forward to. Did your dad ever get himself a cookie pouch after he stopped playing? He did. Really? So he played 16 years in the NBA. He did? He did. He played...
He got drafted in 86 by Utah, Cleveland, and he spent 10 years in Charlotte, which is where I grew up with my family. And then he ended up his last three years in Toronto, which is I lived there for three years. I can't wait for my obvious question. Dad did it. Does that mean you wanted to do it or was it forced upon you? It was a little bit of both. It's kind of forced upon you just by that's all you're in. You're in a gym all the time following him and you develop a love for it. But I played other sports growing up.
Baseball, football, obviously golf too. So you loved it. You loved sports. I loved it. Yeah, I loved it. I got to see most of his career, which was cool because I was born his third year in the league. And so he retired when I was 12.
Sorry, when I was 13, when I was in Toronto. But when he retired, he definitely, working out was not a priority for a while. And then when I, he got inspired when, actually when I got married back in 2011, that was the emphasis for him to get back in shape. He didn't want to walk down the aisle naked.
Right, we even wanted the photo to be out there. But you know what, Steph, let me ask you this. How long would a guy last in the NBA if all he ate was salad and nuts? You know what's crazy?
I'd say that guy, I'm the smallest guy usually out there. I'd be able to back that guy down in the post if it was a salad and nut diet. You'd have a hard time finding him. Exactly. The vegan lifestyle has taken over the league. Really? Yeah.
Honestly, I don't touch it. I don't know how they get their calories in. I know there's a science behind it, but one of my teammates, Chris Paul now, who's been vegan for about four years. Yeah. I'm fascinated by what he brings on the plane or at mealtime, you know, what he brings.
how he gets his nourishment. I'm just amazed. I just stare at him. I feel like I'm an awkward, like, you know, sociopath. I'm just staring at everything he eats, asking questions like, how, how? Now, you mentioned all those sports that you played growing up. Are there any sports that you're not great at? Like, just terrible at?
I've picked up a lacrosse stick once and just have no knack for figuring out how to do that. Anything really, soccer, I guess you could say I don't have anything flashy going on, but I'm athletic, so I could get by, I think. Yeah, right, you could fake it. There's a lot of similarities to basketball and soccer with the movement. What about tennis? How's your tennis game?
Tennis is solid. Pickleball is stronger. Pickle. See? Pickleball. You know what, actually, we just had our buddy John McEnroe on the podcast not long ago, and we talked about the idea of kids when they're young. He's such a big proponent of kids should not just play one sport. He's like, you should play multiple sports. That's really important. And it sounds like you did that. I prescribe to that for sure. There's so many, you know,
crossover skill sets and personalities that you interact with, the demands on your body, your mind, especially for younger kids to kind of get exposed, to be able to figure out what comes naturally, what doesn't, and how can you kind of close that gap. So I didn't pick basketball until I was 13 as my only sport.
And even then, I would still play golf on the side and had some other curiosities. But that was when it became solely focused. Wow. That's cool. I played basketball before high school in grade school. I need some footage. I need to see. Don't threaten me. I've heard you talk about the different sport experiences. I need some footage. I remember the coach saying, give it to Hayes.
because I never got the ball and give it to Hayes. He was screaming, give it to Hayes. And I would run down and all the teammates would separate. Just give me one shot like every 10 games. Bless him. You got a participation trophy for sure, huh? It's like one of those videos you see where they do that where they get like the towel kid and they bring him in and they let him...
It's true. Hey, so, Steph, were there any significant challenges right at the beginning to playing basketball? Probably not, right? I mean, you learned early. Your shooting technique, I'm sure your dad helped you. Was there, like, your height? You weren't small. You kept getting bigger. What did you top out at? How tall are you?
I'm 6'3 right now, but I was 5'7 and about 145 pounds my freshman year in high school. Wow. There's a picture of me and my varsity team sitting up front.
you know, cross-legged and just like who, you could have, how we just described Sean playing basketball. You probably, if you didn't know who I was, you look at the picture, you're like, oh, that's that kid. So then was your dad starting to condition you for like, it's probably not going to happen for you. We'll see how tall you get, but if you don't get to X, start thinking about other things. Yeah, that was, I mean, to the other question about was it forced on me? That was, I'm so grateful for how they, my parents approached me
introducing me to the game because obviously you have a dad that played 16 years. There's kind of an understanding of basketball is in his future, but the physicality deficiencies I had early and, you know, there was always just an encouragement to, to just work, figure it out, build confidence as you go, uh, without really thinking about what the results were. Like, obviously I knew what the NBA was. I knew what division one basketball was. I knew that that was a good way to try to get a scholarship to a good school. But, um,
Everything that they taught me and the coaches that I had kept me really in the moment, which is something I try to teach kids now because there's such a pressure on sports aside. It doesn't matter what you're talking about. There's such a pressure to fast forward the process and the journey of how you get there because you see the polished product forced on you every time you open up your phone. And so me shooting...
you know threes in the finals and you know overcoming all the adversity that i had in my career it's all just that snapshot but if you fat if you you know rewind the clock back and you talked to me when i was a sophomore in high school the nba was such a distant you know idea uh i was just enjoying playing basketball and being in that environment but but was it what but was it really i mean considering you know your your lineage right i mean your father like i i
Would imagine you had all the added pressure of if I am lucky enough to get in Am I gonna be as good and like how did you deal with that because you over indexed there? But not only that Jason think about this too Like what did you have the thing where you had you must have known you had good hand-eye coordination You played golf you played a lot of different sports. You knew that you were athletic and
And so you must have had an inkling that like, hey, if I can bring this stuff together, if I can land this plane, I'm going to do something outside of the pressure. But if you don't, that's going to be embarrassing for you, for them. How did you deal with all that? Yeah, it's a nice balance. And my parents, I guess inherently, they both embodied it on the daily. My dad played 16 years. My mom was a...
a founder of a Montessori school that I went to in elementary school. So it was kind of like a good balance of like priorities. So if I start talking about like, I missed my first middle school game because I didn't do the dishes as part of my chores. This is like a written. Sounds like my house. So like the strictness that came with, you know, the priorities, like obviously you had to make sure you had good grades, make sure that you took care of yourself in the classroom, took care of your family and things at home. And then sports was,
down the way, they didn't let us slide on any of that. So I think it gave us a perspective of, you know, sports is fun and this is something that is in our family. It's in our blood. Yeah. But there was always perspective. But to the point of, yeah, I knew I was talented and gifted in certain areas, but it didn't really match up to the
the feedback I was getting from, you know, coaches and recruiters, especially when I got to high school. Cause you know, I grew up in Charlotte. My dad played, uh, 10, 11 of his 16 years there. So Del Curry's son in Charlotte, like people know who you are. So there is that added pressure. Anytime you step foot in the gym, they have an expectation of who you're supposed to be. But, uh,
I didn't really have to, that wasn't the conversation at home, so I kind of could get away from it, if that makes sense. It was nice, it's a nice healthy balance there. Were you playing, did you play at school? You obviously went to school in Toronto or in Martin too. Yeah, Queensway Christian College. It doesn't exist anymore, but it was in Etobicoke.
Wow. Ontario, yeah. I know Etobicoke well. You know who's from Etobicoke? It's Shani. Brendan Shanahan, who's a friend of ours who runs the Toronto Maple Leafs. Good friend of the program. Friend of mine. I'm kind of a mentor to him. And that's Maple Leafs.
I just give him a lot of guidance. He goes on and on about it. It's crazy. Now, Steph, what's your feeling on this? You know, I was at the Laker game the other night, and, you know, they do a great job there for the crowd and everything, with the music and all that stuff, but... They'll be happy to hear that you approve. I realize... Well, I'm saying something nice before I say something shitty.
They're, you know, they got music going every single time the Lakers take the ball down the court. And I started thinking, well, I wonder if the Lakers are pissed off about this. They're hearing this distracting. It's basically, they're scoring this movie, you know, with, with music. Uh,
That's a new thing, isn't it? Didn't it used to be kind of like quiet and then they play music if something good happens? Now they just hear each other. This is part of our experience. We hear it, but it doesn't really bother or affect us. Kobe Bryant used to say, I guess there was a conversation he had where he talked about him working out in the summer and
He used to have it dead silent because that's what he wanted to impart on the home crowd. That was the feeling. I wanted dead silence in here, so I'm going to work out that way. I'm not that maniacal in terms of process, but when you're out there on the court, you hear the music, the atmosphere, you hear the fans chanting at you and all that type of stuff.
The funny part is I've been a part of one unique game in New York, Madison Square Garden. I think it was 2017. They tried like the old school method where there was no PA announcer. There was no in arena announcer.
music at all no atmosphere it was just the crowd noise it was like taking it back to the 1940s 50s whatever yeah it was the worst experience oh really like you just hear the shoes squeaking people clearing their voices and dropping cups and stuff they abandoned it at halftime they said this is not working let's let's go back to that at halftime
We all, everybody was complaining. So Steph, you know how in golf there's like, there's thing called swing thoughts, right? We have like this one thing you think about and it gets your whole swing all in a groove, right? Like just like tuck the right elbow in or, you know, right finger on the, whatever the hell it is. Do you have a swing thought that has consistently worked for you in golf?
shooting the basketball? Like, do you think back of the rim or front of the rim or bottom of the net that puts it in a certain arc that you can count on that has worked for you over the years? Yeah, I think the biggest, it's a thought and a feeling all at the same time, but if
If I'm in balance, and that can mean a lot of different things. I can be moving right, left, forward, backward, one foot, right, two feet, whatever it is. But there's a feeling of balance that no matter how many times I've been in the gym shooting any type of shot or envision...
you know, a game kind of unfolding with your mental process and all that. Like I can feel when I'm in balance and when I'm in balance, I feel like I'm never going to miss. And so you don't think too hard about it. No, you try to keep it really simple. The muscle memory and mechanics take over. But all I'm thinking about right before I shoot is can I get into proper balance? And then from there. It is something I noticed so clearly about you. It's such a unique quality of yours that it's,
you always seem to be so at ease and graceful and calm with everything that you do. Yes, you're explosive and you're fast when you need to. But for the most part, what I sort of take away is that there's just a calmness and an ease to everything that you do that I bet every player wished they had.
Well, I'll add to that. I had the same thing because sometimes, yeah, watching you in so many different situations, and obviously you're a competitor and you see guys get, some guys get really heated, whatever. You stay very calm. You seem very present in the moment. Is that something that you work on? Oh, for sure. What if he was like, what's the question? Come again, I missed that.
That's where the joy comes from. So there's a calmness to it, but I'm a little kid out there on the court, even 15 years in. If I ever lose that, then I know it'll be time to quit because that presence and the mindfulness of what's happening right now, and literally I get lost in the game. Yeah.
The work or the business of basketball creeps in from time to time because there's so much that goes on in terms of putting a team together and the ups and downs of an 82-game schedule or the pressures of performing every single night. But honestly, when I step foot on the floor, it's just pure joy. And that's where I live. Wow. We'll be right back. All right, back to the show.
My two questions that I have to ask is... One at a time, please. No, I was waiting for the two-parter because I know how this goes. It goes. Oh, yeah. Because I got to get them in. I got to get these in. Worst fight you've ever had on the court and worst injury. Great question. Worst fight. Has anyone ever gotten a beat down from you? No, I've gotten a beat down. It was in... I think it's on YouTube still. It was in Indiana in 2013. Yeah.
Roy Hibbert, David West, and my teammate at the time, David Lee. Roy Hibbert and David Lee kind of squared up underneath the basket and
And it was like big man on big man crime. Guards and little guys stay out the way. Like that's kind of a known thing in the league when the big guys are going at it. Like everything else around doesn't matter. My dumb ass wanted to get in there and protect my teammates. So they square up, they chest bump, and I run up behind Roy Hibbert. He's seven foot, probably 290, 280 pounds tall.
And I tried to grab him from the back and, like, pull him off my teammate. And when I tell you it was like swatting a fly off, he literally just took his left hand and just –
And I went, it was literally under the basket. I flew all the way to the corner, like feet off, slid across the court. So now I'm embarrassed. So I have to like get up and act like I'm coming back for more. And that's when David West, who's like the big punisher, the enforcer on the court, he like kind of chest, you know, stiff arms me and puts me in my place and like just holds me one hand.
And there's all this commotion going on. And later the story is, I would have gone for it. He just held me back. I was going to go for it. By the way, Roy Hibbert, nice guy. Very nice guy. Great guy. Got a mean left swim move. He's got a mean, he's got a left swat, he calls it. He's got a mean left swat. I never knew how strong Will was until we were doing our
And I had no idea. I'm not taking my shirt off, dude. No, but really. Yeah, show them. He's so unassuming. I tried to push him with all of my body weight. I couldn't push him an inch. Yeah, it's annoying. Anyway. I will ask you this. Do you apply that same kind of approach? And you talk about the balance and being present when you do things.
other sport, like when you play golf or do you have, 'cause some people, and I'm not gonna name names, some people, when they stand over the ball, they stand there like a psycho and they might be up to 30 seconds like a fricking psycho. Like you think this guy, I'm glad he's here over the ball 'cause otherwise he's gonna be out, you know, 19 people. - My checklist is much shorter now.
It is. I heard you're working on it, right? This is a process. He is working on it. His process. You've heard about the process. Yeah, I've heard about the process. So would you say, but do you do that or do you just swing athletically and just do it? The athletic tendencies take over. I am as maniacal about the game of golf as,
As Jason is just in terms of like, I know there's always something to work on and get better. And there's, I'm creative in that mindset where, you know, every little detail kind of matters. And I have to really try to turn all those thoughts off because they will get the best of you. Especially I've been playing, I mean, selfishly been playing the best golf of my life. And so it's like, how good can I really get? Yeah. This summer you were on fire. You're a scratch, aren't you?
I got to the other side of that. I'm like a plus two right now, which is insane. And how old are you? 35. 35. Okay, so you have 15 years before the Champions Tour if you want it. If you want it. So 15 more years of training. You could be unstoppable on the Champions Tour if you want to do that at 50, right? You can make that decision. That is a goal for sure. I know there's a...
In the golf world, there's a lot of, you know, there are celebrity and pro-am stuff. And so you can scratch the competitive itch here and there, especially when I get the nine months of my basketball season back when it's all said and done. But yeah, Champions Tour, I mean, I'm sick. Like,
Basketball could be on. I might have that on my phone, but on TV, it's Golf Channel. Yeah, you and me both. It's just a problem. My wife thinks I'm such an idiot. Well, you know, the other night... A lot of apologies. Jason was over, and I showed him my golf channel, which was This Old House on PBS. I still watch This Old House. Do you know that show? I do not. Oh, it's like from the 1970s. It's still on. They build homes. They build houses and stuff. Uh-oh.
It's really, you know, who likes it? People who are in comas. They play it just to have so that they know that there's... Or people that just can't... They'll roll a TV into a room if somebody's in a coma. And they can't find the remote control. Those are the folks that love that. Yeah, or if their remote is broken, it's all they're on. Or they're strapped to a chair and it's stuck on PBS. It's the best show that's ever happened. I sent Jason a video this morning. Jason's game has gotten so good, and mine is... I haven't been playing as much, but his game is...
You're not a plus, but your game's good. I sent him this video today of this dude who played 18 holes with a 5-iron this morning. Yeah, and all he wanted to do was break 80, and he shot, what did he shoot, 76? Yeah, he shot 78. Yeah. What? With a 5-iron. Yeah, he plays on the DP Tour, a European guy. That tells you how good those guys are. He's hit two greenside bunker shots. Yeah.
Flop shots with a five iron dude. It was crazy. We'll send it to you. Talk to me about you and Clay Thompson, the Splash Brothers. How did you develop the chemistry with him? Is that, you know, when anyone's ever asked me about chemistry with an actor or something like that, I always say, well, it's not something you, it's just, that person's just nice.
It's just, it's easy. If someone's not a prick, you can get along with them and you have chemistry immediately. Is that as simple as it is with you and Clay? It's transferable to this, to our relationship for sure. Like we've been together on the court now for 12 years. And then you add Draymond Green to that for 11. So it's insane to think
That two, you know, guys who've had dads that played in the NBA as well. That's what I was going to say. And like you said, have a good perspective about what we worked for to get here and, you know, approach life very similarly with appreciation and gratitude that we kind of hit it off from the jump. And I don't know, like when you get into these type of friendships and, you know, from your standpoint with your people in the same profession, you know, comics, whatever, actors that
You kind of sharpen each other's skill sets just by being around each other. Yeah, for sure. And that's how we've been this entire time. It's not something that we actually, like, really talk about. It's like, you know, we don't come in and sit down at dinner. What percentage are you trying to shoot this year? Is your elbow at 90 degrees? But it's more just when you're in that environment, our work ethics are pretty –
Top notch in terms of being able to try to figure out how to get better every single year. That iron sharpens iron is real. There's such a respect level for the way that he approaches basketball and life and
That's why we're still doing it. And I'll bet the two of you with that kind of harmony and kindness and quiet leadership and all that stuff, it's infectious in the team, correct? Like you guys, I'll bet, have created a culture over there that it should be no surprise that you guys have won that extra –
10 to 15 games each year, whatever it takes to get to a place where you're in the finals. And once you're in the finals, like that kind of harmony in a team environment really yields the extra thing that you need to be excellent as opposed to great. Yes? No, for sure. The culture part of a lot of different ways to lead, right? There's a lot of different ways. You can be the loud one that needs to say something about everything. You can be the lead by example type coach.
You can be the ones that show up when the lights are brightest and galvanize that confidence within the team. But
Following kind of Steve Kerr, our coach, and the legendary coaches that he played for, Phil Jackson, Greg Popovich, played alongside Michael Jordan. But Kerr has been famously a really, really nice guy. Yeah, he's just a great manager of people, like an impersonable guy. He seems to have a very sort of similar disposition, obviously very different personality, but different disposition to Greg Popovich, both of whom I don't know at all.
but it just seems like they have a very similar kind of vibe. Is that right? They're straight shooters. They have a great sense of humor. Yeah. They have a perspective that, you know, our problems in the NBA, they're real. Like, we're trying to win at the highest level. There's pressure. This is a multi-billion dollar industry that is set up to test you in all different ways. And if you want to win at the highest level, it's going to demand a lot from you. But...
He has a great way of explaining, we're blessed, man. We get to play basketball for a living. He reminds us of that every single day when we come in. That just levels the playing field. There's a level of trust within each other. He does the best job of...
When you come into a team kind of element, I don't care if it's sports, it's whatever facet of life, like everybody has a specific role to play and he makes sure that that's clear, but it doesn't diminish your value to the success of the group. And I think he has a great way of managing that process of, you know, from day one to the end. That's cool.
making guys believe in that. That's why we've been able to sustain this level of success for as long as we have. But what do you guys do season to season? I've often wondered, like, you come in, you win a few championships, and so you're the best. You guys are the best. You've got an unbelievable team. You've got great chemistry. What does a guy like Steve Kerr say when you come into camp, whatever that is, August, September, to get ready for the new season? Do guys like him go, okay, well...
we won last year, this year our approach is going to be... Because obviously the goal, if he sat there and goes, we want to win a championship, like, yeah, no shit. That's why everybody wants to win the championship. Do they set different goals? They go, this is what we're going to do this year, our approach is going to be different? Yeah, there's a... The way I talk about what's happening right now, like we've won four championships since 2015. We've been in six finals, so we've lost two of them. We lost in the second round last year to the Lakers.
on a down year for us, which is, that's how the high standard we've set came into this year. And to your point, obviously everybody knows if we don't win a championship, then it's a failed season for us because of the standard. Cool. You can't just come in and say that like there has to be a level of detail of how you proceed for us. It's we have to win the week. That's what we call it. So however many games there are that week, it gives you a singular focus on what do you need to do to win the week? We need to have a winning record every week and, and,
That's how you get the little bite-sized motivation for a nine-month journey that there are so many emotional rollercoaster rides throughout the year. And I think everybody, you want those little bit of celebratory moments, right? You know you're going to hit some tough parts of the season, some tough stretches, but you go 2-1 in a three-game week and everybody's like, yeah, we did that. For a team that's won four championships, that
It might sound weird, but it's real because it keeps you in the fight. And that was the way he came in for this year. For somebody who doesn't watch sports, basketball, nothing, but they're constantly striving to be the best that they can be and be excellent as much as they can, and they might struggle sometimes with –
the moment when it's time to go to, you know, hit the shot, land the plane. What would you tell, without getting too woo-woo, but is there something that you can...
say to the listener for them to maybe focus on that might get them centered and focused so that they've got their best chance at being the best part of themselves? Like, do you focus on anything that's kind of evergreen? Don't fuck up. I think that one was good. It's a great bumper sticker. We need to write that book. Nike was going to do that one originally. Yeah. Before Just Do It, it was going to be don't fuck up. Yeah.
Period. It's interesting because I guess, like you said, I don't want to sound too cliche with it, but it's literally like confidence is built off your preparation and that's first and foremost. And if you can't look yourself in the mirror and say you –
did everything that you knew and within your control to put yourself in position to be prepared for whatever that moment is, then you're already behind the eight ball. But then at that point, for me, the biggest hurdle that I had to overcome was like the legit fear of failure. It was legit, like sometimes wanting to hide from, you know, the backlash or the criticism or the,
The negative energy that you'll get if you don't accomplish whatever you set it out to do. And once you go through that and put yourself out there, you realize it's not all that bad because...
That's kind of what life is about, right? I'm going to do woo-woo for just one second because to that point, I always say the greatest safety net in anybody's life is the fact that you're loved, right? So if you know you are loved and you feel you are loved by your husband, your wife, your kids, your family, your friends, your teachers, whoever, your coach,
You are loved. So if you are loved, you can fail a million times and still have that love to fall back on. They'll always be there to catch you. That's the challenge too then, probably, yeah. Make sure you have that certain... All the orphans just got their feelings hurt. There you go. Fucking dick. You never think about the orphans. Hey. Fucking dick.
exclusion exclusionary motherfucker that's still a wait all right i think focusing i think focusing on all jokes aside i i um man i have and i can say what we especially in the profession that we're in uh jason started younger and so but he also knows what it's like i mean
I failed so much that I can't... All I did was fail for years. I didn't make... Listener, we're all nodding. We're all nodding. Yeah, I know. We all are nodding because it's true. And I continue to do it. And I failed from the time I moved to New York. I was 20. I didn't make it. I was so broke. And I just didn't... And I failed all the freaking time. And then there's that turning point. I was talking to my buddy Eli about it. That turning point where...
You know, whatever. It's just play. You start to get better at it. You start to get better at it. You start to get better. And then you also, I think you develop a, I don't know, it's like an armor. Like your skin gets thicker and you start just going like,
You don't think about the failures. For me, my own thing is like, I got to think about the stuff that's working. You know, because we, I think as humans, we just naturally, we can have 95% of our life is working great and some 5% shit is bothering us and we will think about that 5% and that's craziness, right? Yeah, yeah.
And so I had to do, I had to do so much sort of spiritual calisthenics to get to the place where I'm like, just think about what's working and focus on that. And, and I think that I got better at it, but fuck, it took a lot of feeling to get there. And that comparison is the thief of joy thing, especially for us when you're
you're looking around and you see people who are different on different timelines within their journey, right? Like you're, you're, who knows what they've been through, what they've exposed that has positioned them to that, that place or, you know, when you have those blinders on. So the, the,
whatever, like the journey, like the things that you learn through that failure, obviously we all know are key as long as you can make them useful and make them resources for the next step and not deter you from whatever you're putting, you're setting out to do. But that journey, when you look back and to your point, I love that the 95 to 5% thing is, is a real, real, uh, I'm putting that in perspective of everything that I've gone through. Cause it's,
It's the shared goals that you have with those people around you, orphans aside, that are extremely, I guess, the most memorable parts of life. I'm not walking in looking at trophies or my rings. It's nice to have them. Don't get me wrong. It's nice to pull them out, but those represent life.
the nine-month journey I was talking about with what Coach said, like how many weeks did we win that year? And just the little bite-sized things that make a difference in terms of your happiness and your peace of mind and the joy that you bring to it. So for us, that's a big part of dumbing down the pressure that you're in on a daily basis. And Sean touched on it, the love from family. And you've been, you know, it's hard to miss if anybody's followed you through your career, how present your family is.
Your parents, your kid, your wife, whatever, they're always, they seem to be omnipresent. That seems to be obviously a key to success. And how awesome is it that you can share this with your parents? Obviously, seemingly a lot. Oh, for sure. And even your family structures and things change and you start to, even as an adult, we get real deep with it. But like my parents got divorced a couple of years ago and it's like the way that kids
life kind of forces you to rethink and reimagine all your relationships and the growth that happens through that. It's a real, it's a real blessing and through, through some tragedy and through some trauma. Right. And even when you're in those moments, you kind of don't see it. But I think the maturity that comes, you know, through all those experiences you go through is the, the appreciation of who's pouring into your life on a daily basis, who's
you know, giving you a sense of confidence in who you are as a person and the value that you bring. And the more that you can put yourselves in those environments, and my family has been a huge support and stars all across the board in that respect. I'm now in the charge of passing on to my fam and my kids, and that's the beauty of life right there. Yeah.
Well, it sounds like, you know, no pain, no gain. You know, this is a phrase that I just thought up the other day that I've been using quite a bit. Oh, I'm going to write that down. I want to know the injury thing. What's your worst injury? No pain, no gain. I've had, what, four surgeries in my NBA career. No way. Yeah. I had two early in my career. I had two ankle reconstructions.
That were pretty nasty. And then I, was this four years ago, I broke my hand. A big seven-footer decided he wanted to take a charge while I was in the air instead of, you know, meet me at the rim and trying to block me.
block a shot and I fell over top of him and he landed back on my hand. So I have two beautiful scars on my left hand that I broke a hand, had a carpal tunnel syndrome relief surgery on it. The feeling just came back from texting him. Sean got carpal tunnel doing a musical.
We're in the same boat. We're in the same boat. Yeah, same. Add it to the resume. 82 games a year, 300 shows a year. Do your fans know all the things that you go through to put yourself in a position? Icing those fingertips. He did, by the way. He did. Every night he had to ice before and after because he had to play and do eight shows a week. It was pretty crazy. Piano injuries. Yeah, that's real. We all go through it. We all go through it. We'll be right back. And now back to the show.
Steph, can you speak a little bit to the extent the league allows you to criticize this in-season tournament? Do you have any comments? Yeah.
So this is not because I get paid by the NBA. I absolutely love it. Yeah. I'm hearing it's almost unanimous that you guys are all digging this. I'm still... What is it? It's brand new and... It's like soccer. They do it in soccer. I love it. We're playing the same... That's the biggest thing. The difference, obviously, we're playing the same teams. It's all 30 of us just mixed up in different groups than we normally are in our divisions. But...
What they did with the entertainment value and like we played last night. Explain it to Sean. Explain it to Sean. There's 30 teams in the NBA. Yeah. We're all already separated into six divisions, five teams in each division. Yeah. So that's been the way it's been for 30 years now.
What they did this year was they took each of the 30 teams and put you in six different groups within the Western Conference, there's three groups, and the Eastern Conference, there's three groups. And they designated four regular season games each
within those groups. So we play these teams anyway, but they designated these specific groups to say, all right, this counts towards the end-season tournament grouping. And so we played Oklahoma City last night, and we won. So we're 1-0 in our group. We'll play Oklahoma City again, but that game won't be...
designated as the in-season tournament game. So they're still playing the regular season and the game they played last night against Oklahoma, that still counts in the whole regular season. It still counts for the standings and counts for both. But it also counts towards this in-season tournament. Oh, that's crazy. Is it a way for them to sort of like keep the middle of the season exciting for the viewers? Yeah, it's for the viewers, obviously,
And it just brings a fresh energy to our first 20 games, basically up until Christmas. How does the tournament work in Vegas for the people who work in there? So that's where it builds up to. So after you play those four games in your group, the best team or the team with the best record in each group, which would be six teams...
And then there's two wildcard spots, one for the West, one for the East, with the next best record or all the tiebreakers they have. So you have eight teams that come out of the pool play. And then you'll play a bracket. So it's three games. And if you make it to the Final Four, then we go to Vegas, and they play two games there. Do those games count for the regular season as well? So the Final Four game does. The championship game is essentially the 83rd game of the season, so that doesn't count towards the regular season. Ah.
But if you play in that game and you win, the NBA, like the financial incentive is $500,000 for each player. Whoa. Wow. And for the championship team. So you have to have a degree in math as well. Math and travel planning, coordinating logistics. That's unbelievable. When's the end of that tournament, the end-season tournament? The first week of December is the, like,
championship week of the NCAA, of the NCAA tournament. So they'll have the, the semifinals, sorry, the quarterfinals, semifinals,
semifinals and the championship game. I think it's like December 9th. Don't call me on that. But it's the first week of December. And so basically they have, the cool part is they, they redesigned courts for this. Oh yeah. So if you were, if you were just having to be scrolling TV, it's like, Sean, you know, you used to watch the, you know, Boise State football games. With the field. With that blue field. The blue field.
And they did that with ours, so they kind of, you know, circused out the courts to make it look and feel way different. Was the Bucs-Knicks last night? Was that in season? Every game that was on, so I think it's every Tuesday and Friday –
or the in-season tournament games. So, yeah, you'll see that. You'll know. You'll be like, what the hell is going on on the court right here? So it'll stop you in your tracks. I like going to live basketball games. I think it's fun. Okay. Well, we got the quote. Hey, Tom, so would we... Listener, you can reach Sean at 310. That's a bumper sticker. If you have an extra ticket, are you looking for a single or does Scotty want to go too? Or what do you want to...
Do you like a box? What do you like? What kind of fan experience do you want, Sean? Hey, let me ask you. I need to know this because I've often wondered this. Some of the guys who you've known and played with over the years, a lot of them are extremely tall. And we're talking guys who are... And so they go through life as these incredible... They're not just sort of 6'4", 6'5". They're like 6'9", 6'10", 7'0".
I imagine, do they have to just live like freaks? I mean, do they have to have longer beds? What do they do with their cars? What do they do with their clothes, with their houses? Do they have to have special... Airplane seats? I've always wondered that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a process. Our road hotels, a lot of them complain about the feet hanging over the end. There's nothing you can really do about that. I know they probably can't just go to...
your standard malls and go shop off the racks. They got to have all the special tailoring and stuff. And it seems like a headache of just having to go an extra step or two for stuff like that. They're not eligible to...
drive certain cars right especially if they're in the market yeah i didn't think about some high luxury type stuff where they actually got to think about leg room and all that minivans that's it yeah straight up and you see like shack is the one who's had all his cars like custom made for him where they like put the seat really i know shack a little bit over the years he's such an awesome dude he's a hilarious dude and one time i was with my kids i was in los angeles and this dude pulls up in this uh
in this black car and the passenger rolls down the window and goes, somebody wants to say hello. And I was like, oh, okay. And I looked in and I had to keep looking back through the window and Shaq had moved, his seat was obviously custom done like it was in the back seat, basically. You see, like when he had a, I think he did an MTV. What's up, big man? He did a Cribs video where they went to his bedroom and he had like this, I think it was a Corvette if I'm not mistaken, but it was like a, not a Cowley King, it's probably like double the size of that
And he takes it to the extreme, but I know all these guys have to really kind of take into consideration. Speaking of tall players, we've got a brand new one this year, this rookie phenom, Victor Wembanyama. Have you played with him yet? Played a preseason game against him. He's 7'4", and he plays like me. Yeah, right. He shoots. He moves. It's insane.
First of all, let's not say plays like you yet. Let's give him a little bit of time. That's got a pretty good J on him. He is, but I'm talking about consistency over time is the marker here. I do these dribbling drills where you use two basketballs, and it's usually like a guard thing. We have the skill set and the hand-eye coordination. Can he do that? There's a video of him. You can look it up.
victor went by yamba two ball dribbling when i saw it it's just so smooth and fluid it's like what am i actually looking at right now kevin durant would would be the closest comparison yeah as far as agility and size and and and and shooting yeah yeah but then you see a side-by-side picture of what seven four versus six ten six eleven looks like and yeah that's this is a different ball um
Are they playing him? I've only seen one game, I think. Do they play him at center or do they play him at forward? Because his size, I mean, he's so skinny. Like, wouldn't he get beat up as a center? Like, would you play him at forward?
Greg, I'm not going to step in on his expertise, but I would say he's a matchup problem no matter what position you play him at. But they also put some beef around him and play him like at the 2-3, the extended guard, small forward position just to make it even more difficult to figure them out. Because he can go wherever he wants. I saw him playing against Durant the other night. I watched the highlights and it was...
Fucking sick. Just watching all the different shots that he hit, all the different things, the block shots, the moves that he had. I was like, it was, yeah, it's like you're like, like you said, what am I watching? You've never seen anything like that before. I like the Kevin Durant reference because he's the most pure scorer at that height where...
he can literally do everything with the ball, but this guy is different. Are there any other players in the league right now that strike you as kind of unique right now? Like, are you sensing any sort of new styles of playing that are coming into the league at all that are exciting to you? The interesting thing is they all said I ruined the game. And
By that, obviously, everybody wants to shoot threes and see how far deep they can shoot. I mean, you routinely put it in. I mean, Sean, this guy shoots from... There's a three-point line, which they give you an extra point because beyond this line, you know, it's too far away. So that's why they give you an extra point. He shoots from the four-point line, basically. I'm telling you, I played basketball. They play in an arena. Sean, it's a ball going in the hoop. Where? Where?
Where? Instead of outside, is it near my house? There's organs playing at most arenas, too. Yeah, and tank tops are all playing in tanks. Organs.
One day you look up there, I'm just like up there playing. Sean, if you end up as an arena organist. What do you mean end up? Wait, I want to know something. No, no, no. Style of play that you see coming into the league at all? It's just like positionless basketball where everybody can do everything. It's kind of cool because that's the influence of them seeing my style and the Warriors' style change.
You know, over the course of the last decade where you have guys who were... I get into the locker room now and I have a locker mate who sits to the right of me, Brandon Pajemski, who's just turned 21 or about to turn 21. And so he was...
When we won our first championship in 2015, he was in the sixth grade. Oh, boy. And so you kind of see the influence of our, he's watching this and now, okay, I'm going to work on this. I'm going to try to add that to my game now. So you just see that infused into the entire league where there's just so many guys that are pretty versatile to do things.
pretty much everything. And you asked the question about what position did, does Victor Wimba-Yama play? Everybody plays every position now. And it's kind of cool to kind of see the mix and imagine and the rotations there. Cause, um,
There's no stiffs that just are out there just to set screens and do nothing else. You've got to be able to be pretty skilled at everything. Sean, ask him what his pregame rituals are. Well, I want to know that. I actually do want to know that. And his favorite city to play in. I do want to know that. These are Sean's specials. And then I also want to know a deeper question, which is with all of your success and how phenomenal you are and the talent that you have been given,
And you're very young still. You're 35, you said? Mm-hmm. You're so young. You could probably do this for many, many more years. But do you ever think about when you're by yourself and think about, gosh, with all of my injuries and all this stuff, like...
I wanna set a clock myself before my body tells me the clock. Like before it's, I wanna think about this on my terms. Like, do I have five years left? Do I have 12 years left? Like, what is the span of somebody like you in the field that you're in? And you can hear that Invisalign, right, Steph? Right? Can you really hear it?
Can you really hear? Less is hard. He's trying so hard. Making use of the time. I think that's a great question, Dan, because I've started to think about that obviously a little bit more as of late because you know there's less years in front of you than there were behind you. And going out on your own terms is kind of the goal for us now.
My prime is, I don't know how long I can extend it because I really feel like I'm playing the best basketball of my life now at 35. When you mix in the experience and reps and wisdom and the know-how, even balancing on-court, off-court stuff. But then, to your question, I know I'm not going to be able to do it forever. So I talked to Tom Brady about it, name drop, and I feel like he was just saying, you can think about that and you can prepare for what the downturn looks like, but...
You kind of take it in two-year windows. So it's like, all right, what am I doing now that's going to prepare me for even just getting through next season? Yeah. And then you just watch, rinse, repeat that until you wake up one day and you realize...
One, I talked about earlier the joy of the game and making sure that's always there and being able to meet the moment of the competitive energy that you need to have. But then also, yeah, am I really spending eight hours every off day just to get ready for the next day? There's got to be a certain amount. And I love that Tom Brady has established the, no, just kidding. You can always say, yeah, yeah, no, I'm in.
I want to play school. Exactly. What's the sleep regime? How important is it? It's huge. There's always that joke, like once you're getting to later in your prime, I have so many different apps and devices to help me get to sleep. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Noise machines. Yeah, all the noise machines, blackout goggles, the whole deal. And so it's huge because that sleep debt is real. It's...
It's the only way to really rejuvenate and recover. Do you miss home when you're on the road that much? I miss it all the time, but it's where I get the best sleep. I'll admit it to y'all. I know this is going out to the world. When I see the family, I really miss you guys, but I do look forward to road trips. Yeah, because you get better sleep. Because you get better sleep. All day long. I do the same thing. And I feel guilty. I'm in Atlanta right now for a couple weeks, and I feel guilty because...
my partner, she's like, our three-year-old, he woke up four times. And I'm like, do I tell her I had nine hours straight of sleep? Because she'll be so mad.
She'd be so happy for you. Steph, I want to let you go because we're already at an hour. We don't like to keep guests too long, but I want to give you a chance to talk about this incredible philanthropy that you have going as well as your company, Unanimous Media. I mean, any part of that you want to highlight? I mean, there's so much there between underrated golf and eat, learn, play. And I mean...
I don't know how you have time to be so philanthropic and generous and diversified with your production company too. Yeah. I appreciate that. It's awesome to know the doors that basketball has opened and the lanes that I never thought I'd be able to play in and build and grow and make impact. And so when you talk about our foundation, me and my wife Aisha started a foundation that –
It's called Eat, Learn, Play, and we are the village for the next generation of young kids, especially in the Oakland community, that need the necessary and vital resources to achieve and unlock their full potential. And so we've been doing that for a little over four years and have...
$47 million you've channeled that way. It's been a huge community that's come to support. And our goal, we cover all operational expenses for the foundation so that every dollar that comes in is 100% is going directly back into the community. And now working with the Oakland Unified School District to hopefully infuse $50 plus million over the next four years into the school system to...
That's where kids go to eat, learn, and play every single day. And so we're trying to meet them where they are. So we're super excited about that. And even when it comes to Inspire the Next Generation, you talked about Unanimous Media, which for us is an unbelievable avenue and venture to continue to elevate storytelling in the way that I can in the themes of faith, family, and sports.
And, you know, I've been on that journey for the last four years and have been a part of some amazing projects. And truly feel like with all of the ventures that I have, we talked about underrated golf. I feel like I could talk about that for hours. But we're just being able to leverage all the new platform that I have that basketball has blessed me with to have something for the next chapter.
when the ball stops bouncing. I love that. Giving so much access and opportunity to folks that wouldn't necessarily have it. Please run for president. You're rich enough. I'm not even kidding. I'm not even kidding. I know. I was thinking the same thing. You're the kind of person that we need, man. I swear to God. At a minimum, see what you can do for the Oakland A's and keep them in town. We're trying to keep some inspiration in the Bay for sure, but I appreciate that. And just the fact that basketball is a small sport.
So my life has been a part of, you know, the ability to leverage all the things we just talked about. But, you know, hopefully a couple more championships and then what comes next I'll be prepared for. And then the Champions Tour. I tell you what, I'm rooting for the Warriors from this point on. I am. Come on with it. Yeah, dude. It's so awesome to talk to you. You're such a cool dude. And to think that you brought so many people together
so much joy over the years and entertain them and then to to then take that and and continue you gave a lot of your time and you obviously got you were the beneficiary of a lot of things but you to be able to take it and do what you're doing now man it's super impressive really really cool yeah yeah really cool and it makes me it makes me go like what the fuck is sean done zero zero he's done a fucking he's ignoring the orphans no he's just eating fucking white bread and
White bread. White bread motherfucker. Jesus. Well, cheers to you. Really well done. Keep it going. You got plenty left to give and we can't wait to see it. And I can't wait to see your golf swing in person next time you're down here. I gotta see the process in person too. I'll tighten it up. Come down to
LA, come down and play with us, man. Absolutely. Nice to meet you, pal. Well, thank you so much for doing this. I know we were trying for a while. Thanks for making the time. Absolutely. I appreciate you guys. Obviously, big fans listen to it all the time, so keep doing what you're doing. Okay, thanks, Charlie. Thank you, man. Good luck for the rest of the season. Appreciate you. All right, Steph. Take care. Bye, buddy. He's amazing. I tried real hard to understand the...
The visions and then the subdivisions. You know what, Sean? I thought... I was proud of you. I actually thought I am going to show you when I come home. Yeah. I'll draw it out for you. I swear to God. And then you go, oh. I actually would be really interested in that. Yeah, yeah. It's very interesting. He is...
Super interesting and cool. Right? Yeah, so cool. Oh, my God, Jay. That's a solid fella. Yeah, have you been trying to get him for a while? Yeah, you know, his schedule, as you can imagine, is hard to sort of, you know, when it works for him, you know, we're flexible. I mean, he was, like, traveling and just, like, showed up. Yeah, he's on the road. Did he say he's playing tonight? No, it's 7 o'clock over there. Last night. Last night.
day game there or something? Anyway. Last night. I forgot that he was, that there's a Toronto history there with him. Yeah, his dad ended up there, yeah, and went to school in Etobicoke. But there's no, it's no wonder he is attached to so many things. He seems he's got the personality. Like, not every sports figure, not every actor, not everybody in the, you know,
you know, on the planet has the personality to do what he can do. He seems very, very kind, very genuine, very nice, but I'll bet you a thousand dollars that Aisha, his wife is, uh, uh, a saint even larger than him. And I'll bet she's driving a lot of, a lot of this stuff. And she probably deserves a huge, I'm sure. But as you, of course, of course. And, and, and as you know, doing stuff, uh,
when, you know, doing what he does at the highest level requires a lot of, um,
and he's, I'm sure, got a lot of people pulling at him at different directions because he's got to deliver, he's got to deliver on the court, which is the first thing, right? That's the main, that's how he got to where he is. And then there's all this other stuff that's part of that. There's the celebrity and there's the foundation and there's the this and there's that and blah, blah, blah. And it's production committee. It's like thing. Production. That requires so, each one of those things requires so much energy and time and attention and,
And to think how, kind of like you said, JB, about when he plays, how effortlessly he seems to do it and,
Maybe that betrays, like, maybe he is, you know, he does have a tougher time managing, but it seems, like, so balanced, as he said. Yeah, it seems very solid. It's impressive. It's so unbelievably impressive, all the stuff that he does at the highest level. Yeah, but that whole thing, like, that was a, you know, his whole, like, journey, that's a story I was blown away by. Hey!
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