Tracy McGrady talks Knicks, ICONIC Rockets-Spurs comeback, toughest NBA matchup & ‘Cousins’ podcast with Vince Carter

26:52apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida? Call 1-88-ADMIT-IT. In Indiana, if someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9-WIF-IT. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLING. That's in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia. And now, another appliance triumph from your friends at Grand Appliance. Meet Chad. With the laundry piled high, Chad's washer died days before a two-week vacation with his family of five. But Chad didn't panic. I just called Grand Appliance. They recommended a large-capacity Samsung option with a super-speed wash mode that washed everything in no time.

27:34Best of all, it was in stock, and they delivered it next day. Another crisis averted by Grand Appliance. Shop grandappliance.com to learn more. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20 % year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work.

28:08It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the S &P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool.

28:38Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Ear Say, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary, massive sci-fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone very far from earth. I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections.

29:16And it's like, OK, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no, at this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that deeply emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great. Because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Ask yourself, what are your best people spending their time on right now?

29:53Expense reports, receipt chasing, month-end close that takes weeks. You become what you spend on, and that's not what you're building toward. Brex is the intelligent finance platform that eliminates that work before it starts. AI agents that handle the manual stuff automatically. So your team can spend their time on what actually compounds. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at brex.com slash AF.

30:22Do you think Tim's is supposed to get, um. No, Tim should still be coaching. I like Mike Brown. Like him. But Tim's, Tim's is built for New York Knicks. culture, like leading that team. Everything about him, brother, like strong, personality, holding guys accountable. The toughness. Dan used to be like this. The toughness. Jalen! Hey, Mike Brown and coach, I got respect for you. I got love for you. I know somebody going to tell you about this. Snickers? His snickers is foul. He got like converts on or some shit. The thin shit like that. The other day. No, the other day I'm at the game. You checking Coach Sneakers?

31:13Coach Sneakers pie, team pie. Coach Sneakers pie, team pie. If a nigga come up in there with the espadrilles, God forbid he wear the loafers, he come up in there with them shits like, yo, stop, all right? Trust me, okay? The sneakers got something to do with the whole shit. There'll be some good coaching shoes, bro. Them Delofus. But listen to what the... Fuck no. Fuck no. Y 'all want to get me thrown out of Madison Square Garden lifetime guarantee. Mike Brown come with them loafers on. They got their wish. Throw this motherfucker out the stadium. They're going to have that on TV like a handcuff.

31:56Like, yo, get this nigga out in the building. Joe. Yo, listen. the new balance gotta make the loafers the new coaching shoe it's a coaching shoe, looks good just look at them joints man, put the penny in there put the nickel in there I wouldn't let my landscape I wouldn't let my pool cleaner wear it on

32:20that nigga got the ankle dollars on can we please show them our camera take one off don't even do it Yo, come on, dog. Andre Eagle dog. Put that nickel. Put the quarter right there, dog. The official coach's shoe of the NBA right here. Don't say quarter. That shit put a quarter in your ass because you played yourself. This shit here, I love it. Hey, dog. Shit is in the fucking inferno, those right there. But anyway, coach got some shit a little less. A little less? I got some sneakers on every game. It's a little less than those. And the other day, I'm going to tell you a story. We played a WAC team, Chicago trash.

33:07I've never seen a trashed team. But the man came with some Air Max on. I stopped in the middle. Oh, I see, coach. Yes, he heard me. He looked at me, said, yo, keep the sneakers on, coach. We won by 40 that game. You gave us a good advice. You ain't got them fucking Esprit drills. Send him some shit, bro. What you want in the garage? Send him some. You know what? He lives near me. I'm going to find out where he's at. I'm going to send him some sneakers. I got to because I can't see him with them fucking thing. It look like he on a yacht. You in New York City. Skippies, man. He look like he's on a yacht.

33:49I ain't going to lie. Them shits is new every time, though. He got 100 pairs of Skippies. Whatever them shits he got on, them shits don't got a scuff. He got a new pair every day. We got to get you on the sideline of OBL, man. You'll bring us great energy, dog. You got to get him, Kess. I'm going to have him cold. Yeah, man. What OBL? Got the OBL. Yeah, got the one-on-one league. You know I can't lose. You know I coached the other day. Your son was there. How much I beat him, boss? I'm 99-1. I don't think you understand that. In the Ruck, I'm 99-1. The other game, the other day at the Nike Jordan shit, was you not there, nephew?

34:29You think I didn't coach? Damn. Hey, nephew, good job. He was the G.U. It was Joe Cuncic. Okay, let me tell you something. I'm the best coach in the world. I took a team in jail that was the Bad News Bears. Them niggas was in jail. They was bouncing the ball like this. and I kept seeing them every Saturday out there. Them niggas was getting blown out, paused. And I went out there one Saturday. I said, you stand here. You stand here and you here. And when he goes, you give it to him. Bounce the ball to the thing. They wind up going like 8-0. Only reason I ain't win the chip, they threw me out the jail.

35:15The next week was the chip. I took the bad news bears to a chip in jail. I cannot lose. They stopped me from coaching an NBA celebrity all-star because I kept winning by 40 or 50. I can't lose that coach. And by the way, I did coach that game. You know what happened that game? It was halftime. First of all, the kid was threatening me, whatever the young boy, what's his name? Good guy. Met his whole family. Ryan what? Why ain't got a white boy named like that? He Puerto Rican. But listen, it's almost like for Risi. Listen, the man go, yo, the man go talk wild shit, right? The young boy, yo, wild, yo, you done, you washed up, this, that.

36:00I'm like, okay. I get Kareem Reid, Terrell Squatter, two official. He's coaching. He put the team together. This is what happened. We went into halftime, and this is how I coach. I said what's the score they was like yo we up 12 I said go up 30 triple the pay sat back down dumb niggas went up 40 points they played the most professional basketball you ever seen and you're like give it the shot clear it out they start moving that shit around like bro it's coaching you gotta know how to what to say at the right time players gotta be coachable They were playing around, throwing at this. Once I told them, go up 30, triple the pay.

36:52Them motherfuckers made the most, they played the most professional systemic basketball you've seen in your life. Here you go. Clear it out. Back up. Kiss Cupcheck right here. We got Kiss Cupcheck right here, the owner. He might have to bring you in as a coach for his OBL team. I don't lose. One-on-one, though. So my one-on-one league, crack? My one-on-one league, I created teams with it. It's one-on-one. Yeah, yeah. So he's the owner of the New York team. Kiss Cup Check. Kiss Cup Check. You see, who you use one-on-one? We had a tryout. We had a whole tryout. In the thing? In New York. Man, I would get a guy like that.

37:35May 15th, Orlando. One-on-one. May 15th, Orlando? In Orlando, yeah, yeah. Can you invite me? You got a plane ticket for me? Nice hotel. What's the hotel we like in Orlando? I got you. Look. What's the nice hotel? Rich Carlton. So, look. We got eight teams, crack. Viewer the River. That nigga here. Listen to him. Every time I travel, we get the best hotels in there. I tell him. I got you. Yo, Waldorf, story of this, this, that. Let's go kiss me in the lobby. Yo, what's up, crack? All right. They ain't good. You know what I'm saying? It's crazy, though. Yo. Tell him about the league. so yeah man I started this one on one league and for me it's you know because I got some ownership in the Buffalo Bills and you know when you look around hold on James Cook right James Cook's our guy for sure so I got some ownership in that and then when you look around our major sports and look at ownership it's not a lot of people that look like us, right?

38:41So, you know, with alternative sports growing, and it's a thing nowadays, and one-on-one is becoming, you know, real prominent, not just here, but even abroad. Like, they're playing one-on-one in China. It's crazy over there. And I was like, yo, I want to start this league, but I want to do it differently and give ownership to folks that look like me. So, So I, you know, came up with the eight cities and came up with eight guys that are influential in these eight cities. So that's why I reached out to Kiss, gave him that New York team, gave Lorenz Tate, my brother Lorenz Tate got the Chicago team.

39:22Love Lorenz Tate. Tim Hardaway Sr. got the Miami team. And I got my boy John Walls. John Walls involved. Yeah, man. So I got a great group of guys. Yeah, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and Orlando, Vince got Orlando. Fucking love Orlando. And we just going to build. And, you know, I got some good people behind me that's putting some money into this shit. There's a Puerto Rican gas station. They cook so good. We got to get you a Puerto Rico team. You got some guys in Puerto Rico that are cool? We want to go to Puerto Rico. You got some guys there? I know the guy who run the Bad Bunny team. There you go.

40:00We'll get him involved. I'm sure they got one guy over there to go crazy. All right, let's get him a team. It ain't Ryan Witherspoon. That motherfucker got beat. His ass lost by 40. Fucking with me. And the reason I ain't really coach because it was light work. I'm sitting there like, really? I'm sorry to get everybody upset. You know, because everybody was with him. That's the youth. The youth was with him. Like, yo, this is the young. Them niggas were sad by halftime. Everybody went home with a pastelillo and an L. It was like, yo, take your patel in with you and get that shit up out of here.

40:40It was a Jordan through a Puerto Rican celebration, Puerto Rican vibes. And it was great. It was great. But, you know, I can't lose. I don't lose. So how does one-on-one work? Just one-on-one? Game 15? Game 30? It was game of nine. Game is nine. So you got four players on your team. And, you know, it's based off of how your players do against the other cities. Right? How many wins they get and how many. So you got players or one player? No, it's four players on the team. Four players on the team, but one-on-one. Yes. Oh, that's, wow. That's fire. Yes. So, you know, four of your guys is not going to play the same team.

41:26So one of your guys could play a team from Chicago. one of your team, your guys play a team from Miami. Like that. It's going to be crazy, man. We're doing it May 15th in Orlando. Real crazy. OBL, baby. Get the cap in. We flying all the boys in, man. You know what I'm going to do? Is I'm going to get the Puerto Rico team. I'm telling you. I'm going to get it together. I'm telling you, sort of Puerto Rico team. You know what I'm saying? So I talked to Lowe's. I was going to get Lowe's to the Miami team. I talked to Lowe's. That's good. Yeah. You got a Miami team? Yeah, Tim all the way seen. Are you listening?

42:03Crack just up here just bumping it, boy. No, I'm talking that. I'm running it. I ain't listening to shit. Listen. I'm running it. First of all, I'm going to be honest with you. Them shoes so fucking big, I feel like I got a gun in my face. That shit look like an AR-15. Caliber of shoe is that. That shit look like you putting a foot up in somebody's ass, they in trouble. Big top. And then it came up to me the other day. You seen the guy had the spikes on the pants. At the show. Yo, everybody got their own swag. Nah, he gets chased by dogs. Nah, nah, nah. Everybody, you can't be mad. If we went right now to Manhattan, there's some white girls walking by.

42:47Swag. You know where I do it? I go to Miami. I go to Bell Harbor. There's some mall that's really, really rich, and our people watch. And everybody got their swag. They could be from Texas. They could be from Memphis. They could be from... They throw their shit on that is in their hood or whatever. They good. Now, you got to understand the guy came to the show and I know he swagged out in his own way. I'm not even trying to disrespect. He had some leather pants on with the spikes all over there. Who was... Yo, Kate, was there... Man, I said, my man, if you kick me with them fucking pants right there, niggas start laughing because, yo, It's like, man, he got the spikes on his shit.

43:31That's how I feel when I look at them shoes. They the type of shit your moms will hit you anywhere in the house with them shits. She'll get you long distance with them shoes like that. You know? What is he, Donk? This guy's crazy. That nigga got the fucking piece, but you size 16, huh? 16. Height 6 '9". You the original 6 '9". How do you feel to be the original Cislam when this guy's out here? Rat king of the universe. How is your rat king, though? Don't you got to be from... We talked about this. We talked about this. If you're not cut from that cloth, if you ain't come from that, you ain't grow up in that.

44:15How you a rat? The man was sending people to do things. He was there telling them, shoot the place. Right. Go get this... Right. young boy that young boy you think that young boy so let me ask you something because I heard you say it twice behind the scenes so for you you think it's acceptable for people to snitch or rap a normal person if it's your sister your mother a hard working guy somebody robs them I don't have a problem with them saying all for a sudden I'm saying if you're a normal civilian you're saying a supposedly gangster who built their whole empire their whole image off of data realist ever.

44:54And they over here talking about this guy robbed me. This guy, you think that's like acceptable? Right. I answered every question. I'm asking you a question. If he didn't come from that, if he didn't come from that, he didn't grow up in that. And he got with a group of dudes that put a battery in there. So we going to push you this way to start him. that doesn't make him that you got you got a machine behind you that's pushing you you was never that he was never that I appreciate your opinion

45:35he was never that you gotta hear him out everybody got a perspective everybody got their own shit me I come from a time where the wrong guy walked past your building and you hear that shit like the cowboy movies your mom's closed the window motherfucking shit they don't see nothing I don't see nothing I don't you ever see that comedian he was on what's the shit the shit Russell Simmons had Def Jam comedy you ever see homeboy say I fuck with poppy from the fourth floor cause he don't see nothing he don't know nothing he don't know nothing he don't know nothing he don't see nothing yeah yeah yeah That's where I'm from.

46:18He don't know nothing. My father was not a gangster or criminal in no way. I promise you my life. My father or my mother wouldn't be testifying on no niggas. They be like, yo, we don't see nothing. We don't know nothing. We keep that shit moving. That's how I was told. Brought up family. You. Everybody's not brought up like that. Yeah, obviously. I know I've been there talking about, yo, just came out of PC. It's legendary in there. Is that really a thing nowadays, though? You see what's going on around this model. Everybody telling, bro. Yeah. Everybody telling. Like, that's not new. And so what we got to do is stay legit, guys, because this shit now and the camera work is horrible out here.

47:09There's cameras everywhere. where. Like, I honestly, honestly, honestly believe you can't get away with a crime. In 2026, you just can't get away with a crime. Yo, man, let me tell you something, man. A little while ago, what's his name? Played some shit, and I was like, thank God for rapping. Like, rap music is just... Who's hot now? Who's putting out good music? I think... Well, you can't let me because I'm old, so I'm going to say the OGs. I'm going to say TI. I'm going to say French Montana and Max B with that joint. I'm going to pick them. That's what I want to speak on. So, why is it the old niggas, bro?

47:56Why do old niggas stop rapping? What is it with the old... Right? So, historically, yeah. You wasn't T-Mac. You was Tracy McGrady. Nighting soul when you played for the Knicks. So historically, historically, over the years, especially before our era, a lot of - I'm after you. You own it. So let me - Crap, you can't make a hot song right now? Yeah, Right now? Right now? Have you put out music when the last - I put out an album like last year. And then, I got some missiles. Don't play with me, T-Mac. I'll play some shit for you. You'll be like, yo that shit crazy play some shit for me but what I'm saying to you is historically in time the most legendary of legendaries of legends the best of the best they always got whack when they got older don't ask me why they was off beat they sound like to the hip to the hop they just they just I don't know about 40 years later though we like nah times have changed like y 'all niggas are still hot see y 'all just put out some hot shit niggas y 'all old niggas can put out hot shit bro that's we wanna hear y 'all I wanna hear you I agree what I'm trying to tell I can't relate to the new shit nah it's not sustainable it's sad because I'm about the youth I'm about everybody winning I'm about I feel like if a guy is successful he ain't gotta rob your moms at the gas station I love it for sure I feel even though they do they rob a nigga successful now this shit out of control out here but it's crazy because nah shit out of control the whole world upside down shit crazy out here but T-Map what I'm saying to you is historically the legends that used to flow like they was the greatest in the world they tried to make music when they was older and they got whacked I don't know how now with this era you got Nas putting out good music you got Jada and them putting out music you got French you got TI you got a couple of guys that's putting out great music still consistent great music and so but that wasn't like that eras before our era you know I don't think they figured it out with the age bracket yet like hip hop is only 51 years old so they don't they don't know what's old they don't know what and all of that shit is still in the uproar how they categorizing it if you're too old to rap.

50:38If you're too old and this and that. I know that T.I. just put one out the park, five weeks, number one. For sure. I know that French Montana and them got a number one. I think if you make right now quality music and it's a smash hit, it could go. Yeah. That's it. I mean, it wasn't like that two, three years ago. I had a guy. I'm cool with a friend, because I'm one of the guys that consistently still kept putting music out, no matter how old I got, videos,$250 ,000. I'm independent. I pay for my own shit. So work my radio, work everything. And I had a radio guy that's a boss of bosses who's my man for 30 years sit me down and say, we are not playing old nigga music no matter what.

51:25I don't care if radio. I don't care if Jay-Z comes out with something. I don't care if Nas comes out with something. I don't care if Mary J. Blige come out with something. we are not playing it even if it sounds like a hit Joe save your money don't because you know to get radio you gotta hire a team that shit a couple of hundred thousand what my man what yeah hold on hold on what what you think shit free to get a song on a radio you gotta have a team what you mean a team to work out you got the chiropractor you got the shooter you got the this you got that this is to make music fly, you got to pay somebody who works the record.

52:08There's a million fucking records come out every week. Hold on. You're not listening. So if I want to put out some music, I want my shit to do. You are definitely not getting the plates, man. Maybe on, maybe Stack, maybe my nigga Stack Jack could play this shit and Matt Barnes and him. I'm not talking about me. You might get a spin on him. Let him go. So if I want to put out, if somebody wanted to put out Musa Musa and they want their shit on Hot 97. You got a higher team. You got a higher team. You got a higher team. Of course. No, you can get it on Hot 97. What's the bill? Don't you know it's a couple of hundred dollars.

52:44The whole world got Hot 97s. So that's just one station. Right. So that's what I'm getting at. This one station, what am I putting in to get my shit played on this one station? It ain't just one station. No, and then they got syndicate. They got stations that's connected to 50 stations. I mean, it's a whole. So you paying to get your shit distributed to all of that. You need to get it everywhere. You need to spend it on all of them stations to get to become a number one. Let me explain. A couple of hundred thousand. Let me explain something. Yo, T-Mac, listen to what I'm saying. There's one million hip-hop records that come out every week.

53:26One million. Every day now? One million, right? The radio got 12 to 16 songs that they play on rotation that you hear it all day. You got to hire a team to get your record, you know, to keep talking to the radio. Yo, could you play Jadakiss this week? Could you play Fat Joe? Give us a little something. See if it blow. You got to hire a team to do that. But in any case, my man is the boss of all bosses of all radio. Look me in the face and say, listen, no old nigga music. I said, what do you mean? If Mary J Blige come out with a hit, we're not playing it. If Jay-Z comes out with a hit, we're not playing it.

54:10If Nas come, they just let me know that Fat Joe is expendable. He don't even want to tell me. Me, he's like, yo, their shit come out, we're not playing it. So be clear, Joe, you're wasting your money. Why? because they got an age limit. Whoever the radio station is, they keep trying to look at a younger audience. They did all that, and I'd bite them in the ass because young people don't even listen to the radio. I think now they don't. Young kids stream. So that's what I was trying to explain. It takes an old nigga to get in the car right now in New York. You go now and you play the radio, you old.

54:45That's like smoking a cigarette in front of the building. Yo, niggas just smoking in. analytic now. This shit is like, niggas got the vape. Nigga, you smoking a cigarette now? You old school. They smoking with fluidity now. Niggas hit it and they keep it moving. You listen to the radio, you a dinosaur. My daughter ain't listening. His son ain't listening to this fucking radio, but they want them. So they like, we got to play all the young shit, this, that. Now if it's a young cat that got fluidity, who got some hot shit out. I mean, I want to hear it on the radio too. I'm not gatekeeping. I'm not telling you that we're going to fight for hours.

55:32Good music is good music. It shouldn't be. We're going to, not just music. Chaz, whatever. Some people get mad that we got a podcast now. I don't look at it no different than you. I don't look at it no different than Chuck and Shaq and them. They played the game.

55:55JoeAndJayTheShow.com We got new merch Fresh off the presses Go get it Bang Out of big Bomb JoeAndJayTheShow.com You can get these Little call for a t-shirt Where the ladies at? It's my favorite right there I need an extra large JoeAndJayTheShow.com Go there and get it

56:23And now, another appliance triumph from your friends at Grand Appliance. Meet Jan. Her fridge died days before a dinner party, but she didn't panic. I just called my guy at Grand Appliance. He recommended a large-capacity GE profile option with fingerprint-resistant stainless steel and a convertible middle drawer. I can optimize for meat, beverages, snacks, or wine. Best of all, it was in stock, and they delivered next day. Another crisis averted by Grand Appliance. Shop grandappliance.com to learn more. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously.

56:58On Public, you can build a multi-asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20 % year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one-of-a-kind index, and lets you backtest it against the S &P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's.

57:32Go to public.com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 % bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com slash podcast. Paid for by Public Investing. Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC. Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com slash disclosures. Hey, everyone. It's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club.

58:02This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project Hail Mary, massive sci-fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone very far from Earth. I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections. And it's like, OK, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no, at this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it.

58:38But there's places in this book that deeply emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great. Because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Ask yourself, what are your best people spending their time on right now? Expense reports, receipt chasing, month-end close that takes weeks. You become what you spend on, and that's not what you're building toward. Brex is the intelligent finance platform that eliminates that work before it starts.

59:16AI agents that handle the manual stuff automatically. So your team can spend their time on what actually compounds. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at brex.com slash AF.

59:32Tell us about the Cousins podcast with you and Vince. I want to hear from y 'all. Yeah, so we, man, you know, Cousin and I, we talk on the phone. often. You know what I mean? It had to be other cousins in the NBA, but I don't know. Y 'all might be the nicest cousins. I don't think there's no other cousins. Nobody's equivalent to you and Vince that would have cousins in it. Not that I could think of. Not like that. No, we have some cousins that are pretty good. Shea and his cousin. Oh, Shea and Alexander. Yeah, they got Shea and the field. And Tracy McGrady. I'm sorry. But no, so we talk on the phone, man, often, hour, two hours, about family, about life, about the game.

1:00:23And opportunity came up, you know, for the podcast. I mean, we, you know, we watch all the podcasts and are out here. You know, we the biggest in the baguettes. And, you know, when the opportunity came, I didn't want to do it. But then we started talking about numbers. That really, that caught my attention. How do you analyze numbers? How do you see your podcast turning into money? Yeah. Monetizing. Well, I mean, that's obviously sponsorships. The more sponsors you get, the more money you're going to start making. But I think for us, you know, you see a lot of, you know, bullshit out here on the podcast.

1:01:04Motherfuckers trying to create stories and narratives and poking and, you know, trying to grab your attention on some non-authentic shit. But that's not what we want to do. Everything we want to put out is just real and authentic and, you know, be relatable and not just trying to create a firestorm on social media. That's not that's not my thing. I'm cool on that. So and that shit is not sustainable. You're just creating and trying to make up some shit. And you get caught in your bullshit. We call it no fluidity. So it was just about, man, really with all the shit that I got lined up with my one-on-one league, with ABCD, the camp that I got coming out, with NBC.

1:01:46So it was just, you know, it's only right that I started it with him. No doubt. Perfect. How's the new broadcasting gig with Vince and Melo and them guys over there? How's that going? Dope. Dope. Hall of Fame class. You know, Mel, Maria, Cuzzle. you know, for them. Who's the girl? They got a girl there. Yeah, Maria Taylor. They put a good team together. You know, Mel coming, he's staying mellow, doing his thing. Very articulate. Funny. Pro-Knicks. That's on what? NBC. Yeah, we see. We got my guys over there at Prime. They getting busy too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. That's cool too. I love seeing all y 'all.

1:02:32I like seeing D-Ways on NBC. They got the new analysts that are spread out with different companies that are doing a great job of pushing the game forward. Before, they were talking about how the old niggas was just shitting on the players. I think the new regime is doing a great job really uplifting these guys. You know, I want to be the Knicks analyst. I apply for the job. Come on, NBC. We're right. We 40 minutes. You know when Stanford We're in Stanford, Connecticut I want a job And Stephen A. Smith was sitting right there He said you ain't never getting a job He said by the time you explain your story The whole game will be over, Joe He said Motherfuckers trying to see I forget who told me You should have told that motherfucker Go fuck himself You can do whatever Somebody told me Somebody told me So my analyst told me you should tell him go fuck himself.

1:03:33You can do whatever you want, Joe. Don't let them count your blessings. You got to be quick. You got to be quick on TV. You got to be quick. You got to be quick. Yeah, man. That's what you say, like, Joe, by the time you start to, hey, I knew him in kindergarten, shit. Yeah, no, you can't. You can't tell him. Your story's got to be clipped. You won't even have enough flags on the show. You like, because they moving. They moving. They playing the game. The play-by-play, like the in-game play-by-play? No, I ain't worth that. That's what he didn't tell you. He told Stephen A he want Paul Clyde Frazier's job.

1:04:05Nah. Look, see? Nah. You don't want that. Yo, you'll still be on the first story. Them motherfuckers don't want 10 trips up the car. Yo, yo. You ain't said a play yet. Flag on the plate. You got to give me a shot. Swishing and distant. Swishing and distant. Listen, I come from nothing. I think I can adjust. After one game, after one week, I'll be like,

1:04:33You know, I be going. No? Nah. Dang. Nah, that ain't it. Yo, so I had some crazy moments in my career. We talked about one. What is like, give me one of your, like, give me one of your best verses you spent. I'm going to tell you his best moment in hip hop history. Oh, I already know his. I'm talking to you. What was it? Shit. The versus joint. Versus shit. Yo. The versus joint? He took a shot at me, too. Yo, the versus joint. He said, yo, them guys, them fake New York guys live in Miami. I'm like, oh. When he started talking to the crowd. I'm looking like Miami. I had the Coach Brown sneaker on.

1:05:17Looked like I came off the yacht. Niggas got hoodies on. He was talking. Pooh shiesties. I'm up in there looking like Hermes. I'm like, you guys fake New Yorkers living in Miami. You say come to my block. What do you say, kids? I'm outside. I'm outside, man. Come outside. I ain't in Colorado. That's it. No, that was fire. That was fucking fire. 81. But you a guy that we believe you could have hit 81. I believe you could have hit 81. In the versus, I believe you're scoring champions. I asked you a question, Joe. Nobody thought that you was going to have a problem. Joe. My best verse, I can give you a break.

1:05:58I'm going to tell you right now. My best verse of all time was with Big L, the enemy. Enough's enough. Federalist tried to set me up, put me in cuffs and crush what I lost into dust. Plus, they want a nigga's soul, but they know Big Joey crack and never rat a cat. They didn't know for sure. That'd be for the sauna. Now, that one, Big L's my little brother digging in the craze, and he threatened me. We had D &D studio where Primo did the beat. And he was like, yo, I'm going to take all your fans. He made me write the shit in front of him. And he was like, yo, I'm going. And so I take the most pride in that verse.

1:06:38But I think my biggest moment ever that I ever felt like a fake versus, because he had the world in his hand, was lean back at Summer Jam. That shit was only out two days. Right? and Hot 97 fronted on me performing there. Hot 97, the actual structure, home of hip hop, said, nah, you can't perform. I understand it was only two days old. Lil Jon, that's why I said it took a brother in the remix. It took a damn south brother to bring your boy out. Lil Jon said, I want you to do that new song. Two days. My lifestyle was like that in the hood too. Two days. and that 70 ,000 started leaning back. And that's how we knew.

1:07:28I seen Kanye West. We got him. That's what I'm in my life. Kanye West was performing that day. I seen him in the back. Somebody must have told him he's going to do the lean back. Yeah. And he was peeking out the back like, and them niggas went quick. Two days. We got him. The whole stadium was like, we actually did it, I think, twice in a row. And it was just, that was my moment where I was like, and I needed it. Yeah. You know, all my hits came at a time where, you know, I really needed that hit. You know, financially. Yeah, yeah. Y 'all look at my man with the witherspoons on, man. You got Ryan Witherspoons on.

1:08:06Yeah, I don't really. You got too many. I think it's just different meaning. Different feelings, different emotions. It would probably be one with X or one with Big. You know what I mean? Because those are the days you was able to be in the studio with them and make the song. That's that competition. Yeah. It makes you stay. Yeah. Except your game up. I was back in the day. Except your game up. So you're actually in the studio with these dudes. John Blaze and all that. All that. They was there. Nas was there. Ray Korn's there. He's there. Everybody's there. Back in the day, it wasn't no fire. I think that's what separates the music of today.

1:08:48you're not, you can be in Egypt and somebody send you the files or the stems, that can never compare to being in the same room. Just imagine you have like, oh, everybody got low input. Right? So everybody's there working together. It's going to come out better. And I believe in great minds, you know, more than one. And so that, you know, at that time, it was a great time for hip-hop where everybody was working with each other. Another thing for me is, you know, this guy, I don't know, you know, Jay-Z, Big Pun, Jadakiss, Eminem, they were just going to be rappers. There's just no way around it.

1:09:41He was born, you know, some people were fucking carpenters, some people were bakers, or something. They just born with that shit. Me, I weaseled my way in as a street hustler and said, this is the way out. I'm going to talk some real shit and work on my shit to get better. So when I finally put a number one out the park, I couldn't believe it. I was on my knees praying to God. Like, what the fuck? Because it's like, number one! What was the first one? Fuck out of here! What's love? and Irv Gotti rest in peace called me I was in Houston, Texas I was at a Marriott Marquis and he woke me up and he just was like it's platinum it's number one and I was just like what?

1:10:31and I went on my knees immediately and started praying to God because I couldn't believe wow, that Joey from Forest Projects got a number one everybody singing this shit everywhere that shit was unreal. And every time I did it, every time I had a number one, a number two, or a top 10 record, I couldn't believe it. I never could believe it. I was just like, yo, this is crazy. We put one out again. We give it, it's just really nothing like that. It's like you at a dunk contest or some shit. I don't know how to explain it. Here we got like, here we don't, well, here I'm from the hood. Yeah. Miami, I'm bougie.

1:11:15You know what I'm saying? So here, we don't have malls. We got like Fordham Road. We got 125th. We get, bro, it's nothing like standing out there and you hear every single call. Bumping your shit. Bumping your shit. And they used to do it. No doubt. I'm not going to lie. Those are big moments to me when I would be like, if I dropped the album and I went to 125th and every car was driving by, bumping that shit. You ever did that? No. That's like me, man. You ever did that? Going around, going to other countries. Everybody did that. Yeah, for sure. So that was the way to see him. That was lit before lit.

1:11:55Yeah. You go see him where his shit is at. You got to go outside and see him. They coming by for him. That's like seeing people. I was like, yo, we got your shit. We playing this shit. Yo, this shit is hot. That was it. No, I know that feeling, man. That's like the first time I saw somebody with my shoes on, my signature shoe. That shit was dope. And that's all I used to look for, man. Damn, they got the max on. That's another moment. Let me tell you what happened to me. We put out the terrorist squad of the Air Force, right? And I think I was in Vegas or somewhere. I had a show. Man, they sent me pictures of the lines out the stores.

1:12:36I was looking at every customer's face. like sneakers are different like so I'm looking at every yo they fuck with us yo they did for the sneaker that's different putting out a sneaker and it's fucking lines down the block I still got the pictures on my phone I looked at every single person I was like yo this shit is crazy why should bad houses send me some pictures from Dubai Dubai ain't even into sneaker culture like that they had to line out that shit 10 minutes they bought them shits out in Dubai and I was looking at every single person's face. Cause what kind of love they got to have to go spend a hundred something dollars on a pair of sneakers is different for just even the music.

1:13:21But yeah, you know, I'll give you one thing. And then we go, uh, when big pun died, right. The day big pun died that night, Steph Marbury used to be, you know, we was family. We was with him every day. And Steph said, watch the game. and um and so as strong as Steph was he was more of a finesse player he liked to shoot he liked to lay it up he liked to cross you that night he had a fast break and he did a windmill 360 boom dunk that shit and when he landed he pointed up to the sky and after the game I talked to him he was like that's for pun you seen the dunk I was like yo Steph good looking man that shit was crazy that night.

1:14:06He did that shit. You know, those are moments. You know what I'm saying? You gotta create those moments, man. Those are the ones that last. It's all about those moments. That's crazy moments. Man, I'm tuning into your podcast. I don't watch a lot of podcasts because we number one. So why we gonna watch niggas number two and number three? Or number four? We all get money. I don't give a damn number one, number two, number three. Shout out to Stat. I fuck with Stat. Matt Barnes I fuck with they shit a lot of people I fuck shout out to my brother Nori for inspiring me to even get in the game Papi Papi we love you and uh and so it's a you know I'll just be talking my shit threatening everybody just get him on I got rid of a whole section of dudes it's enough money he told me to have mercy yo yo your man Jadick is really for the streets he really loved the streets he said yo have mercy He came to me and said, mercy, Joe, mercy, Joe.

1:15:06You're going too crazy on these guys. Please let them eat, man. Stop. And I backed up. I'm from that. I'm from the dirty section. Oh, my God. I am the dirty section. Ah! Ha-ha! Yo, look, when you're doing that with the hospital shit on right now, yo, you're looking real rich right now. Dirty section. You got to make me sit the dirty section sometimes. See, look at this. Nah, you want the smoke. Please film me before I get out of here real quick. Film me. You got a record? You got a record, teammate? Oh, Nigel, Sebastian just came with a record. Oh, you got a request? You want to hear Phil? Yeah, I got to hear Phil before I get out of here.

1:15:45I got to go do another interview. Wasting your time doing a podcast with somebody else. I'm telling you, there's no flow with it. You want me to come over here with y 'all? I'm just saying, whenever you want to come up and do a podcast, you come here. Sports and hip-hop. Everybody else trash. All I want you to do is feel me. Yeah. I'm going to walk off on this one. You play this in the locker room. I grew up very athletic, hard-headed.

1:16:19Only child. The only thing I do is hold it down. Since little kid. Been wicked with the flow. Since little kid. G.I. Joe's the Icy's. After that, it was like a skin girl for Nikes. In high school, couple of semesters of college. And then night school. Grown man, so the thoughts are flipping. Hey.

1:16:53What? What?

1:17:00Hey!

1:17:05Me and Kay keep having talks and letting coke again. But the block is crowded, waiting for opening. Meanwhile, shit still slow. Shit flowing. Look back, we're still going. Bop passed the demo to Mary. She passed it to Cousin. We thought it was on, but it wasn't. And we can't blame nobody Look at us now, dawg We came in the game Nobody's Double R, Interscope Put that cake up And we ain't go platinum But we made niggas wake up Got them all talking about pumping a brick And they only go and see Papi to get something to sniff About to fuck the game up for real Like in the World Series Nigga, that paris, you down the field The whole rapper provide you bars And the pain is invisible But you can't hide the scars And I'll never be on the level that we're on The ability to have dope thoughts and spit around.

1:17:54I'm good just waking up. That's I know I got one more chance. They're going to catch him. Can't get up. Woo! Woo! Woo! This ain't that. That ain't this. Track. Take care. Take care.

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