How did that change your life Didn't change your life?

Um, yeah, honestly, I think it wasn't just the vertical.

It was the vertical, coupled with the way that I tested in the other, you know, athletic challenges, if you will.

The half full court run the cone drill changed directions.

Drill.

I think if you looked at all of them, I placed in the top three and every categories for guards at the combine.

And I think for me, it was something I always knew.

I always knew I had some athleticism.

I always knew that.

Um, you know, people didn't really know.

Uh, but I was also playing a power forward in our name, so I understood why people didn't always know it.

I was playing the position.

So you like, hit the exact Okay.

You had, like, the like, the little chin go Teoh Baseball goatee.

Floaty, right?

Yeah.

You're the flow.

Yeah, You were like coming off.

You were going in the heritage of the luke hair and goatees, the way we jumped, like, two inches.

Yeah.

Yeah, my guy from New England who's tall but not like Wow, Look at this freak athlete like you did.

You could have, like in another age.

You probably could have been a hustler.

Yeah.

Did you ever do any hustling?

Uh, I like to think I house alone.

Floor.

I mean, like, you know, went to it like white men can't jump where you go in.

Like people think that you can jog salt.

I didn't do any hustling, per se.

One of my favorite basketball stories, actually involved with my good friend Serb as Napier.

And I got recruited basically by an area close to where I went to high school upon the North Shore in Boston to playing a game with them.

It was one neighborhood verse, another neighborhood, one neighborhood on the north Shore, one neighborhood in Mission help projects and, ah, West Side story.

That kind of a little bit.

And I was good friends with all the guys in the North Shore, and I said, Absolutely no problem.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and I vividly remember it.

And how well do you think I was?

Probably It was before I committed it for my junior high school.

Shabbas had been committed to UConn, if not at Yukon for some school and came back.

And I remember this is like New York first Boston action to hear.

Yeah, kind of.

And so I remember them inviting me to play and me saying Absolutely My dad asking where?

The game waas?

Because at the time I could drive myself.

I set out in Mission Hill right near you know, uh, right near the Reggie Lewis center in Roxbury, and he was all, like, I'll come in with you.

I was like, All right, like, figure you want to watch again?

Basketball.

I got a call from one of my buddies, uh, who was on the team that was playing for when I was on my way and behave like before you get here.

Like, call us when you get the Reggie Lewis center will come get you, and then you can come in.

I was like, all right, I didn't think much of it.

When I got to the jam, I realized I was I was the only white guy in the gym, and, um, the level of by that the level of basketball that was being played was very high.

And that was those of situations I loved.

I loved being in the situation.

I love playing as the best competition, and the best part about it was when I stepped on the floor.

No one expected much of me.

Now my buddies from the North Shore and the team that I was on understood what was what I was capable of, but nobody else did.

She bats did a little bit cause we have gone back and forth.

But everyone was focused on the bass.

The whole gym was wondering when she would be there when she was a bit, and when she bad showed up, the place erupted because it's technically a home game in their eyes, for for the team.

And so game goes on.

Um, throughout the game, I made a few shots.

The gym started to wonder who I waas, and I remember going down the right wing on a fast break.

When my buddies Darryl hit me on the bounce pass, I went up a guy, one of blocking, and I dunked on and the gym exploded.

The game stops like the videos that you see now you're correct, and at that moment, the whole atmosphere kind of change in our favor.

Now they bats will tell you they went on to win the game by three in the But I remember after I dunked, um, going over, they took me out for a minute.

Little kid running up to me and pointing to my dad and asking if I was related to him.

And I was like, I was very student observation.

It was good, but so he wanted to go for talk to my dad about how I was able to jump, which actually was also pretty astute of the kids.

Try toe, learn how he could be able to jump that I.

So it was one of my favorite basketball memories just because, um, you know the city of Boston in the Massachusetts, that's where I'm from, And the people in places in that area have helped get me to where I am, But that's kind of the same type of shock and awe that people have had it every single level that I've gotten to.

So, um, but you are always been a freak athlete because you're obviously a picture.

Successful picture.

Um, you've been a good shooter.

Your career.

You've been a stretch for everything.

Have you always been, like, multi talented in this way?

Like what else?

What other talent do you have that maybe we don't know about world?

Didn't know you could jump 44 inches.

What else did we not know about?

Tried to convince Coast Bread.

Let me play football, too.

At Notre Dame to play position.

Quarterback.

So can you throw the ball Ixe 65 yards to throw it like 50 from my knees.

Really?

Yeah.

I think I've thrown 80 before.

Well, your picture.

So you got someone, in fact, So you play quarterback in high school?

I got recruited a little bit before I stopped playing.

And, honestly, owners and I stopped playing.

Was because it was a sport that in start And like, organized until high school.

And I didn't want Do you put up big numbers in that to Ah, yeah, you try?

You were the Karada piss.

I think I caught a touchdown, ran a touchdown and threw a touchdown in one year.

Yeah.

We're gonna know your name.

Yeah, well, say someday.

Back up.

Tom Brady.

When what age were you?

What age were you When you realize you were the best basketball player on your team were like, I'm better in all these guys.

Uh, so it's a tricky question, I think.

When I was young, sixth grade, I started to realize that playing travel it just, you know, place coffee on the house back home.

But that was just in the town of Arlington.

Like, that's why I grew up.

It wasn't a big town still, um, but I think I started to realize it then.

I mean, when I was in, like, for a second and third grade, Um, I got to play up, they let me play up.

So at that moment, I knew I wasn't the best player.

My team for those point against guys older, but I really like it.

Really enjoyed it.

But once I got the high school, I went to high school that I didn't know anybody.

1300 all boys, very good athletically.

And everyone for my town was worried I was gonna be able to compete there, ordered wide and go.

Maybe this 1 may go town high school, but they didn't think I could compete there And then once I made varsity as a freshman, once I started to become the best player as a sophomore.

Um, it was the same same story.

You're great in high school, but if you want to play college sports, you'll play baseball.

Um, and then things started to change.

Finally, I got some offers from from schools and once in our name, and it was the same story that you're you're great in college, but you'll play baseball professionally if you want.

If you have a chance to play pro anything.

Um so I think for me, it was always trying to fight that uphill.

So many never did.

Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm pretty able to admit I'm not the best player on my team right now.

When did you realize you were not the best player on your team?

What happened in high score did happen in college.

Ah, I would say I mean college.

We had some great play.

I would say it was different.

Like one of my closest friends, General Grant, played in the NBA.

Um, no, my senior year, I would say we were both Hey, he put up better numbers in May, but I think he would say that without me, we wouldn't been as good either.

So I think we had a good little 12 punch or one a one B, if you will.

But as I got the MBA, I obviously knew my role was gonna be different.

And I think one thing that young guys especially second round draft pick struggle with is you've been the man the entire, your entire career.

It's going to be different and be a little You need to buy into that very quickly.

Kind of like I'm buying into the underdog story in the dunk contest like you need to buy into that quickly and you need to accept that.

But you overcome last question.

How what was the process like?

How long did it take you to convince the MBA?

Well, to give you an invite to this, I would say, took a solid six months and I will give the majority of credit to the city of Milwaukee.

Started a little bit of a grassroots hashtag if you will let pat dunk.

Um and I think that got some mo mentum.

I think that's kind of where it started.

I think, Look, I think dunk contest, dunking it in game dunking are different, both hard in their own rights.

I think in game dunking people know I can do now.

Or at least if you're a basketball fan.

You know, you still might not know lights out there.

Yeah, 100%.

I've gotten up in the lane, Yeah, 100.

And that's different type of difficulty, obviously dunking in a game.

There's a lot of people in the MBA, if not all that can dunk.

Dunking in games different.

There's significantly less that do that often.

But then dunk contest dunker also different level.

I think that was the biggest thing with the N B A.

That I had to try to convince them I could do is look, I actually am happy that you guys don't think I can do it because when I come on Saturday night and I show that I can do it, if you guys are my the whole league on, I'm one of the 4 15 league and you don't believe I can do it.

What's the rest of the world gonna think when I do it on, it's gonna have the same reaction as it did in the mission of projects.

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