Boston's HOT Start + Life After Lakers Basketball w/ Derek Fisher + Gloria Glovan | Celtics Lab - video Dailymotion

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The histories of the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are forever intertwined via the greatness both ball clubs honed against one another over the decades of their storied rivalry. Lakers legends and Celtics greats have taken their on-court battles to the league's biggest stage as both have fought to lead the league in titles won, now tied at 17 each.  Iconic Lakers have since helped contemporary Celtics find their way as NBA players as was the case with Kobe Bryant and Jayson Tatum -- and former Celtics Hall of Famers now do a tidy business with a different sort of green the basis for the enterprise with Paul Pierce working with Derek Fisher and his wife and partner Gloria Govan.  That ancient rivalry still echoes in the present, and could even see the two old foes square off for Banner 18 in the 2024 NBA Finals if everything breaks right.  Which makes Govan and Fisher ideal guests to explore the state of affairs between the two teams, where they stand to start the season, and what Fisher, Govan, Pierce, Gary Payton Sr., and other Boston alumni are doing with those Los Angeles ties for the latest episode of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast.  This episode of the Celtics Lab Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media Network. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First online real money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234.  ODDS-R! Ever wished you could navigate the betting field with the confidence of a pro? Enter OddsR. They're not a sportsbook, but they're the sports betting advisor you've always needed. It's like having a playbook for smarter bets right in your pocket. Especially since CLNS Media listeners get a 30-day free trial! Elevate your game day and join the smart betting revolution! Go get it at https://oddsr.com/celtics  Visit https://factormeals.com/NEWSFEED50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.

Transcript

00:00:00 So when the draft lottery came and we ended up with the fourth pick,

00:00:03 um, some people were upset still that we ended up with the fourth

00:00:07 pick and not the first pick.

00:00:08 I personally, number four is a great number in our family.

00:00:13 Like many of I've worn number four, my brother, my nephews, like

00:00:17 number four is a great number.

00:00:18 So drafting Chris steps that year in 2015, uh, you just saw an immediate

00:00:24 seriousness and ability to focus in a young player that you don't

00:00:29 always see, uh, when guys come into the league.

00:00:31 So now seeing him in Boston, like he's, he's a grown man now.

00:00:35 I mean, he, he literally, his beard is obviously not as salty as mine is,

00:00:39 but you know, he has a beard.

00:00:41 He's, he's a grown man.

00:00:43 And, um, he played, he's always played a very mature style of basketball.

00:00:49 Um, but his confidence and he looks more relaxed and like

00:00:55 he's enjoying basketball more.

00:00:57 Celtics lab is brought to you by fan duel, the exclusive wagering

00:01:01 partner of the CLNS media network.

00:01:04 Alrighty.

00:01:05 Welcome to the Celtics podcast brought to you by fan duel, the exclusive wagering

00:01:09 partner of the CLNS media network.

00:01:11 For now, I'm going to talk to Dr.

00:01:13 Justin Quinn, the third member of the Celtics podcast and the spotlight for

00:01:18 today, because in the second half of the podcast, you're going to listen to a

00:01:21 conversation Justin had with Derek Fisher of formerly as arrival of the Boston

00:01:26 Celtics fame, but now he has new projects that Justin and Derek are going to talk

00:01:30 about later for now, Justin, you and I are going to talk about the red hot Boston

00:01:34 Celtics, dark white becoming a daddy and all of our other like early season musings.

00:01:40 How does that sound?

00:01:40 Sounds pretty good.

00:01:42 Uh, I am getting excited for the NBA Mexico city game, which

00:01:46 is happening here on Thursday.

00:01:48 So maybe I will have a couple of snippets from a couple of formal,

00:01:53 former Celtics, uh, coming to you next week.

00:01:56 Yeah.

00:01:57 If anyone is in Mexico or the Spanish speaking world, or just interested in the

00:02:02 NBA, reaching out to that part of the world, go check out Justin, but make sure

00:02:06 you're following him on appropriate social platforms for that reason.

00:02:09 Cause we're going to boots on the ground guy who can speak English and Spanish.

00:02:13 How's that?

00:02:14 Okay.

00:02:15 Um, and I would have tried to say that in Spanish, but I, I don't

00:02:19 know how to do the subjective.

00:02:20 So if you were a fan already, I'm I'm lost.

00:02:23 Okay.

00:02:23 Let's talk about the news.

00:02:25 The Celtics are good.

00:02:26 They are five and out at the time of this recording, they could be six now by the

00:02:30 time many people listen to this or five and one, which is nothing to sneeze at.

00:02:34 So we won't talk too much about being undefeated versus not, because we don't

00:02:38 know what's going to happen tonight in Minnesota, but good win against the

00:02:41 Knicks come back ish winner, or they were stagnant and then good win against Miami.

00:02:46 Uh, you can't call it a good one against the Wizards.

00:02:49 The Wizards stink very good win against the Pacers and a pretty solid win against

00:02:54 the nets.

00:02:55 That's how we got here.

00:02:56 Justin, uh, what are your major takeaways from Boston's very, very,

00:03:01 very good start to the season?

00:03:02 They have not played any contenders.

00:03:05 Yeah.

00:03:06 Miami looks not very good.

00:03:08 No.

00:03:09 And they're also very, very good.

00:03:12 I don't want to take away from it, but we do need to contextualize the fact

00:03:15 that they've probably played at most 1.5 playoff teams.

00:03:22 We're being honest.

00:03:23 Yeah.

00:03:24 I guess we're doing the rain cloud thing because Indiana was up without Hal

00:03:28 Burton.

00:03:29 Brooklyn was out without a bunch of people.

00:03:31 The Wizards are without quality NBA players.

00:03:33 Um, Miami was without, uh, Caleb Martin, the Knicks, but they beat the Knicks.

00:03:40 That was a good one.

00:03:41 Yeah.

00:03:44 The trend lines are easy to find if you want them to be the trend lines, right?

00:03:49 Like the offense is five wide and super explosive.

00:03:52 The defense as a bunch of guys being competitive with themselves about how

00:03:56 good they can be at playing defense on an individual level.

00:03:59 Tatum does look like an MVP.

00:04:00 All of those things are true.

00:04:01 I don't know that the data is like particularly rich to anchor that, but

00:04:06 you could go around the league and for everyone's good or bad or medium start,

00:04:10 you could probably pick it apart.

00:04:12 So let's, let's say that it's meaningful data.

00:04:16 What do you think is the takeaway that is most sustainable?

00:04:20 Uh, I think probably that the post play that we're seeing from Tatum and

00:04:27 Porzingis has been a critical element, uh, that the defense has been more

00:04:32 important than it was billed coming into the season and that the bench, uh, only

00:04:38 really needs to have one guy score kind of near double figures as long as

00:04:41 they're doing everything else for once.

00:04:44 They do not need the bench to score, but they probably do need to find some

00:04:48 regular guys who can put some points up when they're called on.

00:04:51 Yeah.

00:04:53 The bench has been the early thing to worry about.

00:04:56 And again, however much you want to read into the data, the data has not

00:05:00 been that favorable to the bench.

00:05:01 We will see when guys start taking real scheduled rests or tonight, for

00:05:06 example, in Minnesota, Derek White, who had a second child, congratulations to

00:05:11 him and his wife, um, and is not going to be playing in Minnesota.

00:05:15 Chris steps, Porzingis might be out, reset might be out.

00:05:17 So suddenly we might actually see Hauser and Peyton and others play

00:05:21 consequential minutes.

00:05:22 We might get a better sense of like how good or bad this depth is.

00:05:27 Cause I don't think Boston needs a second unit that looks the way you would

00:05:33 think a second unit looks like, cause they can stagger their stars as much as

00:05:35 they want.

00:05:36 So it really comes down to if they go long stretches without one of their top

00:05:40 six guys or without two or three of their top six guys, what does that look like?

00:05:43 And we just haven't seen it yet.

00:05:44 Um, but you gotta nitpick something, right?

00:05:50 I mean, one of the things that I've been really excited about is the rebounding.

00:05:53 Um, it looks so that the rebounding and, and we talked about this last time we

00:05:58 talked, Joe Mazzola was not, uh, generous with explaining whether or not this is a

00:06:03 system thing or individual effort thing.

00:06:06 But between all the chase down blocks and the herring and people on the perimeter,

00:06:09 there's really nice offensive rebounding nights.

00:06:12 It does seem like Boston's players are individually making it their business to

00:06:17 make these plays rather than it's a product of system with respect to James

00:06:21 Harden.

00:06:22 So I'm curious about that.

00:06:23 How long that lasts.

00:06:26 Like if you'll remember when Kyrie was, was here, he talked to big game about he

00:06:31 and Marcus smart, uh, had a contest for how many steals they could get a game or

00:06:34 something. And that lasted all of like four weeks.

00:06:36 And you know, maybe that is a particularly flaky person history would suggest as

00:06:41 such, but I am curious to see how engaged the Celtics are for the breadth of the

00:06:48 regular season.

00:06:48 I mean, at the very least the model is there like in an individual quarter, I

00:06:53 mean, pacer stink, but they scored 44 in the first quarter and then 46 in the

00:06:57 fourth quarter.

00:06:58 That's pretty freaking remarkable.

00:07:00 So the model of this super five wide offense with Porzingis in particular, like

00:07:05 really spreading the floor and then just guys being dogs on defense, like that's

00:07:10 outstanding brand of basketball.

00:07:12 It's a very exciting brand of basketball.

00:07:13 Okay.

00:07:15 And this has been, not been particularly organized, but, uh, I had more takes

00:07:19 about this than I thought.

00:07:19 Um, anything that we've missed from the first few weeks of Celtics basketball.

00:07:25 So one of the other sticking points, uh, that has been coming up and has been to a

00:07:31 certain extent, uh, shall we say justified is the Celtics continuing to trust Luke

00:07:39 Cornette and me being a vocal critic of that decision.

00:07:43 He played like the kind of player they need for a third big in the Celtics, uh,

00:07:49 last game versus Brooklyn nets, where you put up 11 points and seven rebounds, which

00:07:53 I think, uh, by consensus of what I've been hearing, we all kind of think that

00:07:56 this is, this is about the best we're going to see from Luke, but on nights when

00:08:01 he needs to be the guy, uh, when he is either when they're, either when they're

00:08:05 going double big and he needs to play more minutes that way, or even more so on

00:08:08 nights when they have a big man out, like perhaps, uh, versus Minnesota, they might

00:08:14 be without a Chris Epps, Porzingis, because I think it was, you told me, uh,

00:08:17 they, as a sty in his eye, that is the kind of injury we probably, if we have to

00:08:22 have an injury to a player, you know, that's about as light as it can get, but

00:08:25 I mean, he would still have to play.

00:08:27 Right.

00:08:27 And in those situations during the regular season, if he isn't quite up

00:08:32 to snuff, that's okay.

00:08:34 I'm not worried about that.

00:08:35 I'm worried about the post season, which is not good enough.

00:08:38 So if you hear me criticizing him or see, hear me, see me criticizing him on social

00:08:43 media, uh, that is what I'm being critical of.

00:08:46 Not what he can do in the regular season.

00:08:47 He is a good NBA player who can do good minutes in the regular season.

00:08:52 Just fine.

00:08:53 Contribute to winning all that good stuff, but he is a liability in a post season

00:08:57 setting.

00:08:57 It's interesting.

00:08:59 I mean, it's, um, he's kind of a no man's land, even if he is effective, you know,

00:09:04 he's not a carbon copy of Porzingis or Horford too.

00:09:07 You can't like really plug them in, uh, to kind of keep things consistent.

00:09:11 And he also doesn't really give you a different look because he's not a great

00:09:14 shooter.

00:09:15 He's not a great post player.

00:09:16 He is a solid big man as you're identifying.

00:09:19 So I would be curious if they try to bring in a big man, not just to more

00:09:23 reliable, uh, or more effective, but it looks more like Porzingis or does

00:09:27 something completely different just to, um, keep things a little different.

00:09:31 But I don't know, maybe Cornette can, I mean, he has been an effective three

00:09:34 point shooter in his career.

00:09:35 It should be a good lob threat.

00:09:37 Like maybe they can turn him into that kind of gear shift off the bench if they

00:09:41 need to.

00:09:41 But yeah, if we're nitpicking things or storylines to be concerned about, I

00:09:48 suppose Luke Cornette is one of them.

00:09:49 Um, okay.

00:09:51 Let's go around the horn with just NBA news and then we'll visit this

00:09:53 conversation you had with Derek Fisher, which you've been humble about.

00:09:57 I mean, listeners, that's big deal.

00:09:59 Derek Fisher doesn't knock on everyone's door saying like, Hey, you want to have

00:10:02 a conversation?

00:10:03 So Justin is too humble and too proud to say how cool it is, but a good job out

00:10:09 of you.

00:10:09 Okay.

00:10:10 Or our bosses, whatever.

00:10:12 I don't know.

00:10:12 Anyways, again, congrats to the white family.

00:10:15 I'm sure you share that sentiment with me.

00:10:17 Congrats to the NBA for creating a storyline that has legs in these hideous

00:10:24 ugly courts.

00:10:25 Um, did you hear, I heard this on the hoop collective the other day that some of

00:10:29 the courts, three point lines were incorrect and they had to paint them day

00:10:33 of, they had to fix it.

00:10:34 You know what I think about these courts?

00:10:36 If they want the players to really be into it, uh, take all the money they spent

00:10:40 on those courts and give to the players.

00:10:42 Yeah.

00:10:44 I just can we, can we do a minute on how stupid the end season tournament is?

00:10:49 I think I'm fine with it as long as we don't have any like real major

00:10:53 expectations, like they seem like they're kind of trying to set us up for like,

00:10:56 just let it have like a little bit of significance this year and then a little

00:10:59 more and then a little more as things kind of like develop.

00:11:02 Right?

00:11:03 No, I'm not.

00:11:04 I like the premise, but a okay.

00:11:09 So if you're an average consumer, either somebody who watches half of the Celtics

00:11:13 games, or like I would hazard the average NBA consumer watches five Celtics games

00:11:18 a year, right?

00:11:18 This is the most confusing thing to figure out.

00:11:22 It has a stupid name.

00:11:23 You you like sit there thinking.

00:11:25 It doesn't have a name.

00:11:26 It does not have a name.

00:11:27 You think they're like, Oh, I got to click something else.

00:11:29 Cause I don't even know what's called yet.

00:11:30 It doesn't have a name.

00:11:31 The group a West group is also stupid and hard to remember.

00:11:37 It would have been super corny if it was like the half a check group and the

00:11:40 Korean group or whatever, but at least it's memorable and organized.

00:11:44 The point system is inconsequential because it's going to be weeks and weeks

00:11:48 and weeks.

00:11:48 And then the marketing with these courts in these jerseys are so ugly.

00:11:53 Commercials are good though.

00:11:55 I commercials have been really early in anything.

00:11:57 I will watch it.

00:11:58 Yeah.

00:11:59 I'm not important at all, but apparently Michael and poor period really believes

00:12:03 in ghosts to do with that.

00:12:05 What you will.

00:12:06 Anyways, I just, I'll get off this.

00:12:09 Sometimes I struggle with the MBA is a cheesy product, probably geared towards

00:12:13 teenagers and not, you know, the American Corona, the way that like the NFL does

00:12:18 prestige.

00:12:19 So, well, I just, this is, this is for no one.

00:12:23 Not that the product is a dumb idea.

00:12:26 I think the tournament is a cool concept.

00:12:28 And to your point, you could maybe convince the players as such, but just as like an

00:12:31 entertainment product and like introducing this to ordinary fans, what the hell?

00:12:39 Also, if I didn't speak English or I wasn't, you know, native to the language, I'd be

00:12:43 so confused because it's not easy.

00:12:45 Anyways, we'll get off it.

00:12:46 I hope this, I hope it generates many clicks and podcast conversations to come.

00:12:51 The Celtics happen to have fine jerseys and a fine court, but he.

00:12:56 Whatever the heat have done to deserve this, that court and those jerseys stink.

00:13:02 The best.

00:13:05 So he came as referencing some really stupid verbiage on the court, knew the

00:13:13 basket in the restricted area that babbles on and on about heat culture that matches

00:13:19 very poorly slash well, depending on your perspective of the new heat culture jerseys,

00:13:25 which are also hideously ugly.

00:13:27 And the best thing I've heard that being described as getting high on your own

00:13:32 supply, so that's great.

00:13:36 That's I wish I could remember who said that, but that sums up to a team.

00:13:40 And is a good teaser for your conversation with.

00:13:43 Their.

00:13:43 She's yeah, it is.

00:13:45 OK, it is indeed.

00:13:47 A few other things I can't believe

00:13:49 I however much I was rooting for the in-season tournament, I can't believe how

00:13:53 unappealing a product they have made it.

00:13:55 What else we got in the news?

00:13:59 You talked about Mexico City games.

00:14:01 Do you want to take 30 seconds on that just to really fluff it out?

00:14:03 Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic are coming here.

00:14:08 I also cover the Capitan is.

00:14:11 So let me give a little shout out to the folks over at How About Them Celtics

00:14:15 who have been talking about a Kenneth for Reed

00:14:17 move for Boston's third big.

00:14:20 I don't think it's going to happen because of his injury history.

00:14:22 But Kenneth Reed was pretty happy to hear about that when I asked him.

00:14:28 So probably we'll be seeing a bit of them this week as well

00:14:31 because their opening week, I will try to scrounge up as much Celtics

00:14:34 oriented content as I can here in Mexico City, which, as you might imagine,

00:14:38 is no easy task, but I will do my best.

00:14:40 Fair enough. Speaking of big men possibly joining the Celtics, Daniel Tice

00:14:45 was really happy to talk to Brian Robb, MassLives, Brian Robb

00:14:48 about possibly joining the Celtics.

00:14:51 The math is a little wonky there.

00:14:53 So if you were like, oh, it's happening, he makes about nine million dollars.

00:14:56 I talked to Yossi Gosselin of Hoops Hype to make sure I understood this.

00:15:00 Unless Boston is going to trade Al Horford or something,

00:15:03 they would need to use the Grant Williams six ish million dollar TPE

00:15:07 to have enough salary probably to get to that.

00:15:10 And then they would need to wait two months.

00:15:12 So if Tice is going to join the Celtics by way of trade in February,

00:15:16 Boston needs to use the grant TPE in like December.

00:15:20 Tice could also get bought out.

00:15:21 He does have two years left on his deal, so maybe a little less likely.

00:15:25 And I'm sure Indiana could trade him for something of value.

00:15:27 So exciting. Good pull for B-Rob.

00:15:31 I would be unlikely I would welcome it, but unlikely. OK.

00:15:36 In a moment, let's transition to your conversation with Derek Fisher.

00:15:42 Before that, I'll do our post roll.

00:15:45 But before that, just because I have been very bad with my

00:15:49 I'm going to pull up the NBA standings right now.

00:15:51 It's unclear what is a trend line and what is early and significantly

00:15:56 statistically insignificant.

00:15:59 But is there any storyline or team or player

00:16:02 that you just want to shout out right now from the early goings across the NBA?

00:16:05 Yeah, I want to shout out Marcus Smart and Rob Williams

00:16:10 for being amazing members of the Celtics organization

00:16:13 and now are dealing with being parts of other organizations

00:16:17 where their seasons are not going well.

00:16:19 I'm really hoping that whatever happened to Rob's knee in Portland,

00:16:22 ironically, against Memphis and Marcus Smart is minor in consequence.

00:16:28 Just a little tweak or something like that.

00:16:30 Obviously, we all know why it could be worse than that.

00:16:32 And then Marcus Smart situation.

00:16:35 He's just I think they got the first win of the season

00:16:38 in over either five or six games in that game, which is like

00:16:43 that's just like the it's like Celtics hell for those guys right now,

00:16:46 because like he basically got the win at the expense of his former teammate.

00:16:49 And it's not looking all that great in terms of the roster

00:16:53 health of the Grizzlies or, you know, the Portland Trailblazers.

00:16:56 But the latter is on purpose, so it's not such a big deal.

00:17:00 I'm just hoping that Rob gets well soon.

00:17:02 I hope Ricky Bobby gets well soon.

00:17:05 He's just finished his lunch and now he's coughing, he's got kennel cough.

00:17:08 Yes.

00:17:11 Shout out to Brad Stevens for maybe making a move faster than consensus

00:17:16 in a smart way.

00:17:17 Speaking of just funny treadmines in the NBA, the 76ers are four and one

00:17:22 without James Harden and the Dallas Mavericks are it was a

00:17:26 five and one predominantly without Kyrie Irving.

00:17:29 I'll just let that float for a little bit.

00:17:32 OK, you've been listening to the Celtics podcast, which is brought to you

00:17:37 by Fandul, exclusive wagering partner of the CNS Media Network

00:17:40 to the magic of editing.

00:17:42 We're about to enjoy a conversation between our Dr.

00:17:44 Justin Flynn and the Derek Fisher and Derek Fisher's wife, whose name is.

00:17:49 Gloria Govan, and let's be clear, Gloria is an important part

00:17:54 of this interview as well.

00:17:56 They are going to be talking about what they are doing with some other Celtics.

00:18:00 You might know this Paul Pierce fellow, Gary Payton as well.

00:18:05 They well, I'll just let you hear it.

00:18:08 But let's just say it's not legal in all 50 states.

00:18:13 I'm biting my tongue again because there's a lot of jokes

00:18:15 you can make about that one.

00:18:16 OK, thanks for listening.

00:18:18 Like and subscribe if you haven't.

00:18:19 And I'm going to disappear.

00:18:21 But you all will now enjoy this conversation between Dr.

00:18:24 Justin Quinn and the Fisher family.

00:18:26 Adios.

00:18:27 OK, I want to pause the action here and tell you that you can score early

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00:19:03 OK, so I want to talk to both of you about.

00:19:09 All the things that you're working on, I want to thank you

00:19:12 for taking some time with me to talk about these things today.

00:19:15 But let's dive in.

00:19:17 I want to start with Gloria with your role in the founder,

00:19:22 role as founder of Relentless Brands.

00:19:25 You're very busy, as I was just talking to you before we started recording.

00:19:29 How do you guys balance all of this stuff we're about to talk about?

00:19:33 Oh yeah, no, thank you.

00:19:35 I mean, being an entrepreneur, I think really has a lot of similarities

00:19:40 with being like with being a mom and, you know, kind of managing a household.

00:19:44 And we're a blended family and we have five kids and a dog who's nuts.

00:19:48 So we are constantly having to lean on one another, you know, to go, OK,

00:19:54 you got the kids, I got the kids. OK, who's making dinner?

00:19:56 Did you pick up the groceries?

00:19:57 You know, like where it's a constant flow.

00:20:00 And I think that Lens, it's really brought that type of,

00:20:04 I guess, like skill into being an entrepreneur, because during

00:20:09 while building a company, I have to wear a lot of hats.

00:20:13 You know, I was just saying, like I sometimes I'm the CEO

00:20:16 and other times I am literally the janitor

00:20:19 and, you know, and everything in between, you know,

00:20:22 we party planning, you know, identifying brands.

00:20:26 And what I really love about Relentless is that it's

00:20:29 I call it the picks and shovels of the industry.

00:20:32 It's very 360.

00:20:34 Although we are vertically integrated and we own our own licenses,

00:20:38 we also help identify brands, market brands, create elevated events,

00:20:45 you know, because we can't do certain things within the industry.

00:20:47 We can't advertise.

00:20:49 We can't market, especially not on radio, social media, TV.

00:20:52 So we've had to become creative.

00:20:55 So, you know, really creating different events, different opportunities

00:20:59 to highlight and showcase the different brands that we have.

00:21:02 We work with Whoopi Goldberg and Paul Pierce and sorry.

00:21:06 And Gary Payton, he played for an LA team once.

00:21:10 That's true. You know, just a little bit.

00:21:12 He's a sweetheart.

00:21:14 We're working with Bill Bellamy and Tiffany Haddish.

00:21:17 But, you know, Relentless, I think, really is a brand and a company

00:21:21 that people come to when they want to develop, you know, their own strain,

00:21:25 their own merchandise, especially within the industry.

00:21:28 So I think we really lend those services, you know,

00:21:33 really well and help managing, you know, brick and mortars,

00:21:37 cultivation sites, you know, compliance, things of that nature.

00:21:40 So but it's it's overlap, you know, a mom,

00:21:45 you know, an entrepreneur, like literally almost one in the same.

00:21:49 So, yeah.

00:21:52 You got into this, as I understand it, because of your mother's

00:21:56 breast cancer diagnosis, something similar happened in my family

00:22:02 that made me aware of the medicinal uses of cannabis.

00:22:05 Could you tell me more about how you got to hear from there?

00:22:07 Absolutely. Yeah.

00:22:09 And I've actually been in the space about 10 years.

00:22:11 And it was, you know, because of my mom's diagnosis,

00:22:15 when she was first diagnosed, she did the chemo and radiation.

00:22:18 But when it came when her breast cancer came back,

00:22:21 she physically could not do any more chemo and radiation.

00:22:24 So at that point, it was a very difficult crossroad between,

00:22:28 you know, experiment, you know, testing alternative medicine or not.

00:22:35 And she's a fighter. She's a fighter all day.

00:22:38 So we chose, you know, we chose the latter.

00:22:40 And I think I certainly contribute, you know, that research

00:22:45 and those experiments, you know, to her recovery, you know.

00:22:48 So and it was interesting.

00:22:49 I mean, you know, being with Derek, obviously being a huge,

00:22:53 you know, athlete and a competitor, cannabis wasn't.

00:22:56 It has never necessarily been in his sphere like that, you know.

00:23:00 So I've actually enjoyed educating, you know, even him on, you know, the

00:23:05 the industry in general, the different, you know, compliances, just the

00:23:10 just the space and how much it's developed.

00:23:12 I mean, we've been together almost 10 years.

00:23:14 So he has certainly seen my journey from it being, you know,

00:23:17 non-traditional to, you know, licensed.

00:23:20 And I think that was a big adjustment for us, because 10 years ago,

00:23:25 cannabis was not where it is today.

00:23:27 I mean, I literally was, you know, on the

00:23:30 uglier side of cannabis 10 years ago, you know.

00:23:35 And it was scary.

00:23:36 Yeah, it was scary for him and for me.

00:23:39 There are times where I would like come home and be like, whoo,

00:23:42 that was intense, you know.

00:23:45 And so, yeah, but it's been really fun.

00:23:48 And sometimes I feel like I'm glutton for punishment.

00:23:50 I'm like, I must enjoy like ridiculousness,

00:23:53 because I chose a hell of an industry to be in.

00:23:56 I'm like, geez, Louisa.

00:23:57 But it's been really cool, too, to see, you know, Derek get behind me.

00:24:01 I think he's starting to enjoy the development as well.

00:24:05 You know, just kind of seeing where I've gone and where the company itself

00:24:09 is really, you know, become today and where it's going.

00:24:12 So it's been really cool.

00:24:14 So for the uneducated on the topic,

00:24:17 give us a little bit of understanding as to why you helping to professionalize,

00:24:22 shall we say, the industry in the way that you are is so important,

00:24:26 given even now the stigmas and other, you know, hurdles

00:24:30 you guys have to help people get over.

00:24:33 Absolutely. I think you've kind of, you know, hit the nail on the head.

00:24:36 It's really about, you know, changing the traditional stigmas in the industry.

00:24:40 You know, being and, you know, being a professional,

00:24:43 a functioning professional, a mom, there are so many similar

00:24:48 amazing people, you know, that really benefit from that from this plant.

00:24:53 And I think for me, that's been a really heavy point to drive is that,

00:24:57 you know, a lot of this traditionally systematic,

00:25:01 you know, rumors of, you know, bogus fat, like, you know, so many

00:25:06 like crazy things that they've said about cannabis in general has been really

00:25:10 it's really makes me sad to see.

00:25:13 And it's really frustrating.

00:25:14 And I feel like if I have an opportunity that I do to be impactful

00:25:19 and really, you know, be a part of changing what that looks like,

00:25:23 then I want to do that.

00:25:25 You know, I really want to be a part of that, you know, story changing

00:25:29 and creating a new narrative, because it's it really is.

00:25:33 And for me, I know personally, it's been it's been a miracle, you know.

00:25:38 So and I want people to understand that.

00:25:42 So another thing that really stood out to me was how you really work

00:25:46 to include people of color in this industry.

00:25:49 So I know why, but maybe you could tell our audience

00:25:52 why that's so important.

00:25:55 Absolutely.

00:25:56 You know, again, going back to like it being historically and traditionally,

00:25:59 like, you know, stigmatized on people, black people, brown people,

00:26:02 especially underserved communities.

00:26:04 I mean, essentially the industry itself, cannabis has been built

00:26:08 on the backs of those, you know, of those who have are still,

00:26:12 you know, in jail that are really, you know, the war against drugs

00:26:16 really been affected by the war against drugs.

00:26:18 And I think it's important, you know, to give us an opportunity.

00:26:24 You know, I speak directly because I, too, am you know, I'm a I'm a like

00:26:28 I'm a minority. I'm a woman.

00:26:29 You know, I know people that have been affected and are still in,

00:26:33 you know, in jail for small things like selling weed on the corner.

00:26:37 And now it's almost a trillion dollar industry.

00:26:40 And I just don't think that that's fair.

00:26:43 And I get I'm in a position, especially with Ulta Fund,

00:26:46 being a general partner there and giving people an opportunity to,

00:26:50 you know, be impactful, to help them build generational wealth,

00:26:53 you know, to change their narrative and their stories.

00:26:55 It is if I can be a part of that, like that, that alone is enough for me.

00:27:01 And, you know, especially with Ulta Fund being an owner, you know, we are

00:27:05 it's a real estate specific fund and, you know, giving people

00:27:10 that look like us, you know, that can really benefit

00:27:14 from this opportunity to be real estate owners, you know, to be an owner

00:27:17 of something really tangible that could change not only their lives,

00:27:21 but the lives of generations moving forward.

00:27:23 I want to I also want to be a part of that.

00:27:26 So I think it's really important, too.

00:27:28 And lastly, for women, we receive less than two percent of all funds raised,

00:27:34 less than two percent.

00:27:35 I think we're at point zero seven.

00:27:37 And it is almost impossible to build anything without money, you know,

00:27:43 so to have those type of relationships to be able to, you know, inspire

00:27:48 and encourage those to really get into the industry.

00:27:50 But not only that, really support and educate those on how you can get

00:27:54 into the industry legitimately, you know, with you know, with funds.

00:27:58 I mean, the the rate of return with women led companies

00:28:03 is significantly higher, you know, sorry, guys,

00:28:06 then men led companies and surprised, you know, and it's just again,

00:28:11 because I think we genetically have an like habit.

00:28:15 We kind of could do it all, you know, love you guys both.

00:28:19 But we're pretty awesome. So.

00:28:21 So if you could tell me, I ran across this concept of inclusive wellness

00:28:29 that I think maybe we should talk about, given what we've just been talking about.

00:28:32 What is that all about?

00:28:34 Absolutely.

00:28:34 Inclusive wellness is not only a skin care line, but it's also

00:28:39 what we like to call is it's just it's community within the wellness industry.

00:28:43 You know, we have, especially in America and just really just in general,

00:28:48 the beauty standards of, you know, are so unrealistic, you know,

00:28:52 especially again for women.

00:28:54 I mean, we have very high standards of what we're supposed to look like,

00:28:57 be how we're supposed to behave, you know, what we're supposed to wear, et cetera.

00:29:01 On a on a consistent basis, we're supposed to be this thing.

00:29:05 And that really that creates anxiety, depression,

00:29:08 you know, body dysmorphia, just so many different, you know,

00:29:13 so many different just anxious characteristics

00:29:18 that are really unnecessary.

00:29:19 And for me, it started during covid because I realized that

00:29:24 I think in that time it created this like

00:29:27 it created this pause in people, you know,

00:29:31 and then I think they've really started to tap into some of those things

00:29:35 because you didn't necessarily have to wear makeup as much, you know,

00:29:37 you could kind of be in sweats.

00:29:39 And so it created this like for me, it was about this opportunity

00:29:42 to speak to and support how much self care is really important.

00:29:47 And I think all of that I tapped into or and have going on

00:29:51 really speaks to one another.

00:29:53 So my mom actually was an influencer in inclusive as well, because for me,

00:29:58 being a mother of ten, she very seldom took care of herself.

00:30:02 And I was actually really angry with her when she got when she was diagnosed.

00:30:06 And although as selfish as that is, I was like, well, you're being selfish.

00:30:10 Like, you don't take care of yourself.

00:30:12 You don't go to the doctor.

00:30:13 You don't do you don't do you don't do.

00:30:15 And like so and you know, and now you have breast cancer.

00:30:18 You know what I mean?

00:30:19 Like and so I think for me, that was an important part of going, no, no, no, no.

00:30:23 Self care is important.

00:30:25 You know, self like and that's what inclusive

00:30:27 it kind of blossomed into this, like even if you just take an hour

00:30:30 and that's where the routine came in, you know, it's it's a skin cleanser.

00:30:34 It's a charcoal mask.

00:30:35 It's a body moisturizer.

00:30:37 But it also unfortunately, when you

00:30:40 you know, when you look good, you feel good, you know.

00:30:43 So we wanted to start there as well and let people know that.

00:30:46 But it's not just about the exterior.

00:30:48 You know, it really is about identifying, you know, supportive community.

00:30:52 And Derek's actually, you know, his high school has been really cool

00:30:56 and identifying these like wellness, you know, retreats and wellness conferences

00:31:01 and where they call assemblies, you know, asking his boys and his team

00:31:06 to do like yoga days and, you know, self care, you know, wellness days,

00:31:11 you know, making better choices and eating and things like that.

00:31:14 But it was inclusive for me as a passion project.

00:31:18 And but it really does speak to my heart, you know, so.

00:31:21 Very cool.

00:31:23 My wife is a yoga yoga professor, so I definitely know

00:31:26 all the benefits of that.

00:31:27 That's really cool.

00:31:29 I wanted to talk to you a little bit, being as I cover.

00:31:33 Sorry, Derek, the Celtics as my primary focus.

00:31:36 You said that you did a little bit of work with Paul Pierce,

00:31:41 and I've also read that you've done some work with Gary Payton.

00:31:43 Tell me a little bit about how they've been involved,

00:31:45 what they've done with you and that sort of thing.

00:31:48 Absolutely. Yes.

00:31:49 Gary and Paul are some of our clients, and they've been they've

00:31:53 what we've done for them is identify and build out a brand specifically

00:31:57 for each of them.

00:31:59 Paul's actually strand in in Massachusetts has been really welcoming,

00:32:03 of course, and has done really well.

00:32:05 And, you know, in the stories and presentations out there.

00:32:08 But we are also with Gary identifying a new he wants to, you know,

00:32:12 create a clothing line.

00:32:14 He's, you know, creating a merchandise and development, you know, like jerseys.

00:32:19 He wants to do, you know, do a whole line of that as well,

00:32:22 which is also some of the services that we offer.

00:32:25 But they've been really awesome.

00:32:28 You know, they both have supported the different events, because, again,

00:32:31 we can't market it and advertise.

00:32:33 So with one of our other subsidiaries called Bella Flora,

00:32:36 we've created an like these elevated experiences.

00:32:39 We were actually one of the first companies to do something

00:32:43 with the Phoenix Suns.

00:32:44 And both Paul, Gary and Derek actually came out to support that event.

00:32:48 It was a three v three.

00:32:50 It was a three v three, you know, tournament on the in the Phoenix

00:32:54 Suns at the Footprint Center.

00:32:56 But it's it's it's kind of funny to see.

00:32:58 Now, I wouldn't say rivals.

00:33:00 Well, I guess rivals.

00:33:01 But, you know, they're all really good friends.

00:33:04 Like, you know, I know Derek had a good time.

00:33:06 I think Derek actually told me a story that Gary told him, you know,

00:33:10 because they, you know, like when they played and, you know,

00:33:14 and then just to see Paul be competitive during basketball,

00:33:18 like it's still very much so at the core of them.

00:33:20 But they are they're great.

00:33:24 And what they're doing in the cannabis space has been really special, too.

00:33:27 And I'm excited for some of the future products that they'll be coming out with.

00:33:31 Very cool. Yeah.

00:33:33 What else should we know about Relentless Brands and its future?

00:33:36 You know, what I would say about Relentless is that we are continuing to build

00:33:42 and identify ways in which that we can help

00:33:45 highlight and showcase the cannabis industry in a positive light.

00:33:48 We do have some events coming up like Whoopi Goldberg

00:33:51 will be launching Emma and Clyde for Whoopi.

00:33:54 We have some additional like we're doing an HBCU tour here

00:33:58 coming out next year about educating, you know, kids within the space

00:34:01 just to let them know that this is a trillion dollar industry.

00:34:04 And there are a lot of places that they can get involved.

00:34:08 Education. Well, you know, we really want to continue

00:34:11 with the education of the space and how well and impactful

00:34:15 that this can be changing generations, both past, present and future,

00:34:20 you know, with the different stigmas and, you know, some of the,

00:34:22 you know, traditional statistics.

00:34:25 So, yeah, Relentless is it's going to be around for a while.

00:34:29 And I'm pretty excited about what we have going on.

00:34:32 Excellent. So, Derek, I've had you

00:34:35 patiently waiting to to talk with me, and I really appreciate that.

00:34:40 But I want to ask you beyond being supportive, what is your role

00:34:44 and what we've talked about so far in your words?

00:34:46 Um, beyond being supportive.

00:34:51 Yeah, I mean, I think you're pretty supportive, but like I need more stuff

00:34:55 and just be supportive.

00:34:57 No, I think I think supportive sums it up really well.

00:35:01 And then within the support, it's I think it's managing

00:35:06 or wearing different hats yourself.

00:35:09 Some of it could be support in terms of,

00:35:12 you know, just conversation and discussion, discussions and idea sharing.

00:35:17 It could be support in terms of,

00:35:21 you know, providing some level of awareness to Gloria or to her partners

00:35:26 about a project or initiative that they're working on that,

00:35:30 you know, someone from an outside perspective, so to speak.

00:35:34 Like here's another way to think about it.

00:35:36 Here's another thing to consider,

00:35:39 you know, as you guys are putting this event together,

00:35:42 putting this plan or initiative together, you're planning events

00:35:47 that include other, you know, stars and celebrities and athletes.

00:35:51 Like, here's what my experiences have been.

00:35:54 And these are things that, you know, you guys should keep in mind,

00:35:58 you know, when you're asking, you know, folks to come and be a part of

00:36:01 what we're trying to do.

00:36:04 Some of it could just be at home.

00:36:06 Gloria needs to just not talk for a while.

00:36:09 Because when you're running companies and building businesses

00:36:14 and in that leadership role, 24 hours a day for seven days a week,

00:36:20 like at some point you need to find some time to take care of yourself or herself,

00:36:25 which means, you know, she needs to be able to kind of take a step back,

00:36:30 you know, let go of the wheel, let someone else lead.

00:36:34 And that could just be, you know, reminding her to not get up

00:36:38 and take the kids to school in the morning and, you know,

00:36:41 to try to steal that extra 30 or 40 minutes of sleep,

00:36:44 you know, so that she can continue to be productive in her day,

00:36:47 you know, week, month.

00:36:50 So I think supportive definitely has a bunch of different lanes

00:36:54 that it can go down.

00:36:55 And it it has to mirror that entrepreneurial spirit.

00:37:00 Like you could wear one hat on one day and a completely different hat the next day.

00:37:04 And, you know, it still all falls under that roof of just wanting to support

00:37:11 your mate and your partner, not just in business, but in life as well.

00:37:15 Very cool.

00:37:17 So I bet some of the skills that you bring to bear doing that

00:37:21 you picked up from your career, your post playing career as a coach,

00:37:26 which, of course, you have to wear a different half heavy player pretty much.

00:37:29 What made you decide to coach after being a player?

00:37:32 I think it's my, you know, it allows me to still be

00:37:40 intimately connected to the game of basketball.

00:37:42 Like, you know, it's hard to imagine completing my playing career

00:37:48 and then just kind of going off into the sunset to do something else,

00:37:52 not basketball related.

00:37:55 So coaching allows me to reinvest

00:37:59 the resources that basketball provided me.

00:38:02 And I get to reinvest that into other people and into the game.

00:38:07 And now, you know, specifically into our own three boys.

00:38:11 You know, it's just such a rare opportunity and experience to have.

00:38:16 And I think that's one of the reasons that coaching was attractive to me.

00:38:23 Like, I felt like there was more that I could give the game of basketball

00:38:28 that had given me so much.

00:38:31 Yeah, I just don't know how life would look

00:38:37 had I chosen to do something else.

00:38:39 I think we, you know, still still find ways to be successful, right?

00:38:42 Whatever life throws at you.

00:38:44 But basketball for sure would have found its way back

00:38:48 had I not chosen to go down that path immediately after playing.

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00:39:23 So when you first started, it was with the New York Knicks.

00:39:29 There was this rookie, I believe your first year, named Chris Dapps, who joined you.

00:39:34 So given, you know, his game better than most people,

00:39:38 what do you think of his fit with Boston this season?

00:39:40 Yeah, no. So Chris was funny, right?

00:39:45 He was the fourth pick in the 2015 draft,

00:39:49 which was a byproduct of us being so terrible my first year

00:39:53 that we ended up with the fourth pick.

00:39:55 And some people were upset that we ended up with the fourth pick

00:39:59 because we won a couple of games late when people felt like

00:40:02 we should have been tanking and trying to lose so that the pick could be higher.

00:40:06 So when the draft lottery came and we ended up with the fourth pick,

00:40:10 some people were upset still that we ended up with the fourth pick

00:40:14 and not the first pick.

00:40:16 I personally, number four is a great number in our family.

00:40:20 Like many of, I've worn number four, my brother, my nephews,

00:40:23 like number four is a great number.

00:40:26 So drafting Chris Dapps that year in 2015,

00:40:29 you just saw an immediate seriousness

00:40:32 and ability to focus in a young player that you don't always see

00:40:37 when guys come into the league.

00:40:39 So now seeing him in Boston, like he's he's a grown man now.

00:40:42 I mean, he literally his beard is obviously not as salty as mine is.

00:40:46 But, you know, he has a beard.

00:40:48 He's he's a grown man.

00:40:50 And he plays he's always played a very mature style of basketball.

00:40:56 But his confidence and he looks more relaxed

00:41:01 and like he's enjoying basketball more.

00:41:04 New York was a very challenging environment for him.

00:41:07 A lot of expectations were placed on his shoulder.

00:41:11 The organization was in a big transitional phase.

00:41:15 And I'm just happy to see Chris in a space where he's playing for.

00:41:20 I can I can say great things about the organization, even though

00:41:23 we're still battling it out for number 18.

00:41:26 Always. I'm so psyched.

00:41:28 I'll talk to you about that in a second, man.

00:41:29 But I grew up watching you guys.

00:41:32 I'm ready. But yeah, no, I think.

00:41:35 But I'm happy for Chris that

00:41:39 KP, this may be more so what I call him,

00:41:41 that he's a part of such a great and well-run organization.

00:41:46 I think Brad Stevens is one of the greatest basketball people alive.

00:41:51 How smart he is, not just as a person, but as a coach and now as an executive.

00:41:57 And I think Joe Mazzola is the right type of coach and personality for

00:42:02 for Chris Stubbs at this point in his career.

00:42:05 And the team is about winning.

00:42:07 And that's what Chris has always been about.

00:42:09 So I'm just happy to see him now in a situation where all those things are

00:42:13 are aligned.

00:42:15 So the next step for you after the Knicks was with the Los Angeles Sparks,

00:42:20 if I if I have that right, how is that different than coaching in the NBA?

00:42:25 If at all? Yeah.

00:42:27 No, I mean, honestly, the next step for me was Dancing with the Stars.

00:42:30 See, you see, I put that together.

00:42:33 Oh, and that experience actually led to,

00:42:38 you know, an even greater commitment to get into coaching like

00:42:42 you spend so much time convincing athletes to like step outside

00:42:47 of their comfort zone.

00:42:48 And that's where all the great stuff happens.

00:42:50 And I had never really done that, you know, to like step outside of my comfort zone

00:42:54 and do something in that way.

00:42:56 So once I got back into coaching, you know, choosing to coach in the W

00:43:01 kind of stayed along that path of

00:43:03 it's unconventional for a former NBA head coach to jump into the WNBA

00:43:10 and start coaching.

00:43:11 But why not?

00:43:13 I've always been a fan of the women's game.

00:43:15 I've always felt like it was high quality basketball.

00:43:19 And again, I love basketball and want to give as much as I can to it.

00:43:25 So we have two daughters, have a wife, have a mom,

00:43:30 have a mother in law, have sisters like.

00:43:32 Women run the world in a sense, and so I think as men,

00:43:36 we can't just say we love, you know, what women are about

00:43:41 and we want to support women in business and women in sports

00:43:44 and not actually show up and do something as well.

00:43:48 So so I was very fortunate to have had that opportunity to coach in the W

00:43:54 and be a part of such a historic WNBA franchise

00:43:59 until the Aces won a couple of weeks ago.

00:44:01 The Sparks were the only, you know, the last team to have won

00:44:05 back to back championships in the W since 2001, 2002.

00:44:09 So I was very fortunate.

00:44:11 And now, you know, I'm lucky to still have an opportunity

00:44:14 to coach basketball at the high school level.

00:44:17 Yeah, I want to talk to you about that.

00:44:18 Crespi Carmelite High School, former state powerhouse,

00:44:22 the Anthony Melton's alma mater, London Perrantes, Paul Mokesky

00:44:27 for the older guys among us.

00:44:29 Why is that extra important to you to have this prestigious appointment?

00:44:36 I think the importance of,

00:44:40 you know, having coached at the pro level and getting a chance to see players

00:44:44 that were kind of.

00:44:45 Coming out of the high school grassroots,

00:44:49 you know, collegiate portal and the expectations

00:44:54 that you have for them as pro coaches, right?

00:44:57 But you you make a lot of assumption that, OK, well, you must have been taught

00:45:01 some of these things in high school and college before you got to the pros.

00:45:06 And a lot of my experiences over the years

00:45:10 were seeing many players reach those high levels

00:45:15 that were still missing a certain level of understanding around footwork

00:45:19 and timing and spacing and passing and shooting mechanics.

00:45:23 And, you know, basketball IQ,

00:45:25 watching film and understanding things about the game.

00:45:30 So like as our boys kind of transitioned

00:45:34 into kind of grassroots middle school,

00:45:37 obviously, as parents, you see things, you feel frustrated

00:45:41 that certain things could be happening or should be happening.

00:45:45 That just the combination of the timing

00:45:48 where our boys are, the desire and love for the game of basketball.

00:45:53 Like it just all kind of aligned at the right time.

00:45:57 And so there's a lot at stake.

00:46:00 Like I want our boys to do well, but

00:46:03 basketball is also something that you just can't

00:46:08 like the basketball guys are real people.

00:46:12 So so you have to you have to treat the basketball guys

00:46:17 with a high level of respect.

00:46:19 And so I don't approach it differently because it's high school.

00:46:23 Like I'm going to coach it like it's the NBA or the WNBA.

00:46:28 Like we're serious.

00:46:30 You know, we're going to be about our business and we're going to try

00:46:32 and help these young guys develop pro like habits

00:46:36 so that if they are fortunate enough to play in college,

00:46:40 if they are fortunate enough to play professionally at any point,

00:46:43 like they were taught some things in high school that can last them a long time.

00:46:47 And I know that had I not been coached a certain way in high school,

00:46:51 if I were not taught certain fundamentals, I would not have been able to have

00:46:56 a successful pro career in the way that I had.

00:46:58 And, you know, I want to kind of try and play that role

00:47:01 for some of our guys as much as I can.

00:47:04 So. You draw on your considerable professional NBA experience,

00:47:10 I'm sure, in the role of coaching at any level.

00:47:13 During that time, you had the opportunity to play against several players

00:47:19 who were former teammates, in particular, for me, one that stood out was Shaquille O'Neal.

00:47:24 What was it like going to war with him in the Lakers uniform?

00:47:28 And then suddenly he's your opponent?

00:47:31 Yes, interesting, like.

00:47:35 Which is kind of strange now that I think about it, like Shaq,

00:47:39 you know, when Shaq was traded from the Lakers, went to Miami

00:47:43 to help build, you know, the championship foundation of that 2006 title team.

00:47:49 You know, Shaq was traded in '04.

00:47:54 I opted out of my contract, signed with the Golden State Warriors in '04.

00:47:59 And so Golden State and Miami are almost like

00:48:03 literally opposite ends of the calendar, I mean, of the map.

00:48:07 And I, to be honest, I don't even remember playing against Shaq.

00:48:12 Those few years, like.

00:48:14 The two years I was in Golden State and then one year in Utah.

00:48:18 I remember playing against Kobe.

00:48:23 And like feeling sorry for, like I saw Kobe struggle

00:48:28 with those teams between '04 and '07, like it was rough.

00:48:32 And I felt bad for, I saw like he always had a fire about him

00:48:38 that he couldn't put out.

00:48:40 And I saw that fire soften or dampen during those three years.

00:48:45 But with Shaq, I don't.

00:48:48 I bet you if we look back.

00:48:51 He may have missed.

00:48:54 You know, because Western Conference and Eastern Conference

00:48:56 teams play each other two times a year.

00:48:59 And if he misses one of them, you could sometimes go a calendar year

00:49:03 almost two without even playing against the guy.

00:49:05 So I want to look back and think, one thing I can tell you,

00:49:10 is for anybody that's ever played against Shaq.

00:49:12 And I'm glad I didn't play the center position.

00:49:14 It is not fun.

00:49:16 It's not fun, man.

00:49:19 But he is one of the greatest human beings on the planet.

00:49:24 Like he.

00:49:25 He just makes people laugh.

00:49:28 And even though he's not human in size, like

00:49:33 he really kind of is very human when you get a chance to be around him.

00:49:38 And I think that's why he's been able to do so well in his life

00:49:40 and career post basketball.

00:49:42 Yeah, I'm a big Shaq fan as well.

00:49:47 I've been following some of his podcasts that he's been putting out,

00:49:51 and the man, he's like you guys, he has a finger in like

00:49:54 all kinds of different little businesses. It's pretty cool.

00:49:56 You mentioned Kobe.

00:49:59 Now, again, with the Celtic stuff,

00:50:02 but this is something I think you like a little bit more.

00:50:05 Jason Tatum grew up the biggest fan of Kobe,

00:50:10 wanted to be a Laker.

00:50:12 Sorry, we stole him. Happens.

00:50:14 He would later become a mentee of Kobe and models his game on Kobe.

00:50:22 We all know the step back daggers that he loves to drop

00:50:25 that look almost like a mirror image of Kobe's.

00:50:28 But you know, Kobe's game like very few people do.

00:50:31 And Kobe himself as a person.

00:50:33 Do you see anything else in Jason Tatum's game

00:50:36 that you can see a connection to Kobe?

00:50:38 Yeah, I think.

00:50:44 Jason's like.

00:50:47 To some degree, he's becoming unflappable.

00:50:50 And that was that was a characteristic that.

00:50:54 Kobe had that not many guys were able to have like.

00:51:00 Yeah, they would just allow things to throw them off

00:51:03 and they couldn't find their way back.

00:51:08 And. Jason's had, you know.

00:51:11 Games and performances where it just looks like

00:51:15 when you think about the playoff run last year.

00:51:17 It just looked like he wasn't going to be able to get it going that night.

00:51:22 And then, you know, the performance he put together in Philly

00:51:26 after missing every shot, every shot he took.

00:51:30 And then some of the shots that he made, you know, late in some of those playoff games

00:51:33 like that, that's something that Kobe was capable of doing where he could still.

00:51:39 Will us to win without necessarily playing great himself.

00:51:46 Because of just how cool and calm

00:51:50 and relaxed he was and how driven he was like.

00:51:54 It was it was infectious to the rest of us.

00:51:57 So even when he wasn't at his level, like the rest of us were at higher levels

00:52:01 than we would be without him.

00:52:03 And I think Jason has that ability, almost regardless of his individual performance,

00:52:09 like every team he plays on is going to be really freaking good

00:52:13 because you feel like you got the best player on the floor on your team.

00:52:18 And that's. You know, it's a small list of guys that are in that category.

00:52:26 Yeah, his ability to have a good game when his shot is not falling

00:52:31 is something that has really been growing in recent years, too.

00:52:34 And I think that is definitely tied to that Mamba mentality.

00:52:36 Moving back to the present a bit, on top of everything else you guys do,

00:52:43 you also do some nonprofit work, including the Be Better Foundation

00:52:46 and the Team Derek Fisher Girls and Boys AAU programs.

00:52:50 Could you tell me a little bit about that?

00:52:53 Yeah, I mean, when we, you know, we are both people that like to show up

00:52:59 to things that we're involved in.

00:53:01 So with both the foundation and the girls program, like

00:53:07 we really try and roll our sleeves up and be as fully present as possible.

00:53:11 And we've started finding ways to blend

00:53:14 what Bella Flora does and is about in terms of events

00:53:19 and bringing great people together with the foundation

00:53:22 so that we can have impact both in corporate and business,

00:53:27 as well as in the community.

00:53:30 And over the last couple of years, that's worked out really well for us.

00:53:33 You know, we just want to

00:53:36 make a difference like we know that coming from the communities

00:53:41 that we were born and raised in, whether, you know, in the Oakland area,

00:53:45 in Bay Area, whether in Little Rock and then now our home being in L.A.

00:53:52 We just try to serve folks that aren't always best served.

00:53:56 And whether that's young people of color, whether it's women of color,

00:54:00 whether it's from a social justice perspective and, you know,

00:54:05 fighting for the rights of folks that have been convicted

00:54:08 in terms of cannabis charges and crimes that need to be or should be overturned

00:54:13 or even just as they are getting their lives back on track

00:54:18 and looking to serve their community and make sure that they are not

00:54:23 just standing by while people are wrongfully,

00:54:25 you know, accused of things or held back in different ways.

00:54:29 We just we try and do our part in those areas.

00:54:32 And then with the then that's more so through the foundation.

00:54:37 And then with with our our girls and boys,

00:54:40 you know, basketball club team and you programs,

00:54:43 you know, sports, a powerful thing.

00:54:47 And we feel like sport allows us to access

00:54:50 the hearts and minds of young people, then compared to if we just

00:54:55 tried to walk up to them and tell them a bunch of stuff.

00:54:58 So, you know, so through basketball and sport, we just try and find ways

00:55:03 to build into some life skills and life lessons and things

00:55:08 that it's not really about trying to tell them

00:55:11 that they're going to make it to the NBA or WNBA.

00:55:14 It's really just trying to help them be involved in something positive,

00:55:17 feel the essence of being part of a team and part of a group,

00:55:21 thinking less about yourself and, you know, what's important to the team.

00:55:25 Those are lessons that you're going to need in this life.

00:55:29 If you want to do well, if you're only thinking about yourself,

00:55:33 it's not going to work out.

00:55:35 So we just we try to do that through our teams.

00:55:37 That's really cool.

00:55:39 That really actually struck a chord with me, because as training

00:55:41 anthropologist, as I was telling Gloria, I fear one of the reasons

00:55:46 I'm into covering sports journalism, which I didn't get to mention,

00:55:51 is that people will have conversations with you through sport

00:55:56 that you couldn't normally have otherwise.

00:55:58 And for example, I was able to talk with one of Joe Biden's

00:56:04 COVID czars during the pandemic because of sports.

00:56:07 Whereas if I had done it as an anthropologist, if I even got the opportunity,

00:56:11 my audience would have been so much smaller and frankly, not as useful.

00:56:15 So the way that it can unite all kinds of different ideas and stuff like that,

00:56:19 I think, is a really important tool.

00:56:22 And I'm glad to hear you guys are using it.

00:56:24 I want to shift gears a little bit as a Gator alum.

00:56:28 There is a certain beverage on the market who I'm not going to give

00:56:31 any more advertising because it doesn't need it.

00:56:34 So tell me about barcode, because

00:56:38 I when you get older, in particular, it's very easy to get dehydrated.

00:56:43 As I have learned, you can even do as a sports writer.

00:56:45 So tell me about barcode.

00:56:49 You know, barcode is

00:56:51 the next best, you know, fitness, water and sports beverage.

00:56:56 Healthier, all natural, all vegan.

00:56:59 We don't have to hate too much on what everybody else is doing.

00:57:04 Like, just look at our bottles, look at our packaging, look at our ingredients.

00:57:09 Look at where it's available.

00:57:11 And we feel like it's a better and superior beverage to serve

00:57:17 in terms of hydration purposes, but also as wellness and performance.

00:57:22 A lot of women and people that are not elite athletes enjoy the beverage

00:57:26 because it isn't only about sport.

00:57:29 It's about putting great things in our bodies that are going to allow us to be

00:57:33 healthy and thriving people.

00:57:35 And then, yeah, it helps to have Victor Wimberjama as the face of your product,

00:57:40 because he is literally the face of everything at this point

00:57:45 and deservedly so.

00:57:47 He's a great young man, great family.

00:57:50 And we feel very fortunate as a brand that he chose us.

00:57:54 He had other options, but

00:57:57 he's a young man of substance.

00:57:59 We're a brand of substance.

00:58:01 And, you know, we hope to continue to build over the years.

00:58:05 Very cool.

00:58:06 I've also heard that you have a broadcasting gig coming up with Spectrum Sports.

00:58:11 Is that correct?

00:58:12 Yeah, I've kind of, you know, as you talk about all the things that we have going on,

00:58:17 you know, dabbled in some of the sports analysts work from time to time.

00:58:23 I was, you know, with the job now at Crespi, what, you know, I'll pick and choose

00:58:27 the right amount of time.

00:58:30 But I love talking basketball.

00:58:33 The family always laughs at me when we're at home and I'm watching the game

00:58:37 and I'm not just sitting watching it.

00:58:40 I'm literally standing like I'm coaching it.

00:58:42 And then I'm rewinding the play and going over the game and replays,

00:58:47 talking to the kids about, see, you need to shoot the ball this way.

00:58:51 You should jump more forward.

00:58:52 Like so.

00:58:54 So working for Spectrum Sports, that kind of allows me to get some of that energy out.

00:58:58 And then that way, when I get home, Gloria doesn't have to listen to me talking

00:59:01 basketball, it's time to just go to sleep at that point.

00:59:03 I might have to do something like that myself.

00:59:07 So my wife should get mad at me.

00:59:09 Any chance in the NBA finals

00:59:14 that we get a game between a pickup game between you and Eddie House and Scal

00:59:17 for the old days? Because see what I did there?

00:59:20 See what I did there?

00:59:21 Yeah, no, no, I have no desire to.

00:59:23 We're not going to do this.

00:59:26 Yeah. You're not going to interview us next year.

00:59:28 And we're having to explain to people why we have ruptured our Achilles.

00:59:32 We're still trying to play pickup and relive these 15 year old days.

00:59:38 Like, no, no, thanks. I'm good.

00:59:40 Just, you know, I mean, you guys won one.

00:59:43 We won one.

00:59:44 And now the battle is for number 18.

00:59:47 We let these guys have it.

00:59:49 You think there's a good chance that they can actually meet in the final?

00:59:51 I do. I hope so.

00:59:53 I think the NBA could use it.

00:59:57 The individual storylines are great.

00:59:59 I don't think talent is the question in the league anymore.

01:00:03 But people are really looking for, you know, genuine rivalries.

01:00:09 They're, you know, sportsmanship is cool.

01:00:12 But, you know, NBA fans do want to see some some dislike.

01:00:17 And they want to see guys that are making the amount of money

01:00:21 that these guys are making really.

01:00:24 Appear at least to care more

01:00:27 about the winning part than the money part.

01:00:30 And rivalries are how that starts to live itself out.

01:00:33 Like, you don't necessarily want to always see guys

01:00:36 hugging it out after the game.

01:00:39 You want to know that they really don't like each other.

01:00:41 And at least on the court. Right.

01:00:44 Yeah. Yes. At least on the court. Yes.

01:00:46 No, not personally at all.

01:00:48 But, you know, when you think about like the Warriors Kings kind of thing

01:00:52 starting to bubble and develop because of the playoff matchup.

01:00:56 I just think that.

01:00:58 The league would benefit from a Lakers Celtics

01:01:02 finals matchup again, while definitely not.

01:01:06 Being surprised if two other teams make it to the finals,

01:01:11 I just think that the league is really

01:01:13 it's top heavy in some sense, but you also have four to five teams

01:01:21 in each conference that could break through.

01:01:24 Every year you think the Miami Heat are done.

01:01:26 They figure out a way to to get to the finals.

01:01:29 Obviously, the Bucks are a real threat.

01:01:33 I think the Sixers are going to be better than people think they are.

01:01:36 You know, and then the Celtics are, you know, right there.

01:01:39 And then in the West, it's, you know,

01:01:42 if I imagine all of those teams are healthy.

01:01:46 I imagine what that looks like.

01:01:51 Well, I've kept you guys for considerably longer

01:01:54 than what we originally agreed to for this interview,

01:01:56 and I don't want to eat up any more of your day.

01:01:58 I'm really, really.

01:01:59 Thankful that you were so gracious with your time.

01:02:03 Anytime either of you guys ever want to talk with me about any of this stuff,

01:02:06 reach out, I'd love to chat with you more.

01:02:09 Awesome. Yeah, no, thank you.

01:02:11 Just appreciate you.

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Boston's HOT Start + Life After Lakers Basketball w/ Derek Fisher + Gloria Glovan | Celtics Lab

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