Jalen Rose On The Turning Points In His Life How Lebron Changed The Game And Why Steph Curry Is The

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This is controversial.

I love it. Let's hear it.

You're going to get me in trouble, but I'm going to be honest with you.

What's up, you guys? I'm Rachel Demita and welcome to the Courtside Club. I'm here in

Detroit today and I'm joined by the one and only Jalen Rose. Jalen, welcome to the Courtside Club.

What up, Doe? And the key thing you said is in Detroit.

I am in Detroit.

I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

I was honestly kind of surprised that you agreed to sit down with me,

seeing that I'm from Ohio.

Well, we beat the Buckeyes this past year.

You did.

I don't remember the other 19 of 21 that the Buckeyes beat us in football and had me delirious,

but we still own the Buckeyes in basketball. Shout to Clark Kellogg. That's my guy.

Shout to Jimmy Jackson. That's my brother. In all honesty, it's good to see the rivalry

between the Buckeyes and the Courtside Club.

You know, doing this thing.

I saw you going crazy in Indiana.

For real.

But that's the thing about Michigan fans and Ohio State fans. It runs deep and it

runs for life. Am I wrong?

Absolutely. And it's ride or die. It's not fair weather at all. I am not making this up. I believe

the last two decades, the Buckeyes beat us in football, maybe 20 of like 22 games.

Yeah.

I was at one of them, actually. It was crazy. It was at Michigan.

Yeah. I don't like that. And so we don't like that.

Yeah.

And the one thing about love and rivalry and support in our teams is that we're going to

represent that Maize and Blue. You're going to represent the Buckeyes. You're going to represent

Ohio. But we handled it last year. We handled it last year.

Do you guys do the same thing? You know how Nike and Adidas, it's like that other company

because they're both in Portland. And Ohio State is like that other team.

You know?

Yeah.

Do you guys do that?

Well, we substitute the B and Buckeyes with an F sometimes.

Okay. Interesting.

That happens. You know, I can't act like that doesn't happen.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying? But we don't, I guess, say each other's states. And it's fine. It's a

great rivalry. But here's the thing. USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten now.

Okay. That's a big one.

And those are going to be big time games, big wins.

Yeah.

And we're going to have to wait a couple of weeks to put notches in our built so when

we beat the Buckeyes, we can be in the top four.

Well, we're here breaking bread today.

Yes.

Even though I did hear you trying to pitch Michigan to Bronny. So I'm from Akron. I don't

know if you know that.

Wow. Okay.

So I grew up actually watching LeBron play. I used to go to his games at St. V. I played

at St. V as well, their girls team. And then they got moved to Akron U. And like that was

a thing for us on our Friday nights. Let's go watch LeBron, you know? So to hear you say,

LeBron should come to Michigan. I said, hold on a second.

I know to you that sounds sacrilegious, right?

It sounds crazy. I know that he didn't grow up there necessarily, but do you think that's

plausible that he would pick Michigan?

I think it's plausible, but let's talk about the Ohio.

Okay.

I'm going to end this for a second. If you Bronny, mom and dad, little bro, rest of the

fam in Cali, dad just re-signed. You got to go to Ohio and live in that house.

True.

Then why wouldn't you go to Ohio State?

I mean, to be honest with you, if I'm him, I'm going to live in that house and I'm going

to go to any school in Ohio. If he ain't going to do that, he got to go to Michigan.

You just want him to have that house so he can turn up.

No doubt. He deserves it.

Right.

That, that, that, that'll be a beautiful thing. He deserves it. He putting in his work.

A project X.

Party in LeBron's house when LeBron's at work in LA. I would be like all for that.

Correct. You're literally watching him play. We're going to watch the Laker game. In other

words, we know parents ain't on their way here. There he is playing right there.

Speaking of his basketball skills, is there anything that surprised you with him so far

or that you're looking forward to as his basketball journey keeps going?

Well, the thing that surprises me is his maturity. As somebody that was fortunate enough,

you know, play big time high school basketball at Detroit Southwestern and win a couple of city

and state championships, national championships, being McDonald's All-American. Like I understand

the magnitude. I understand like the pressure that he can be under. And he's LeBron James Jr.

Right.

As the son of a former player, for me, it was different because I never met my father.

So my case was vastly different.

I wore 24. I wore 42 out of spite. He wasn't in my life. Part of it was he's going to know

my name one day. For Bronny, it's a beautiful thing that he gets a chance to celebrate this

with his father, celebrate this with his family. And so I appreciate his maturity because I'll

tell you what, if I was in high school and I had a black card and my father was LeBron

James, I'd be coming to school.

You would have already had those black cards.

I would be.

I would be unapologetically rich.

Yeah.

See, here's the thing. What ends up happening is when you grow up in the city of Detroit

Northwest side as a poor kid, and I tell stories about not having heat in the house and eating

syrup sandwiches or mayonnaise sandwiches or sugar water or having kerosene heaters,

like people hear that side of the story.

Right.

But what they don't recognize is the dream side of the story. And the dream side of the story,

it's, I wish I was Bronny. I would be, I would be fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Like, like, you know,

the Rolls Royce sitting right outside while I'm at school. But in all honesty, I appreciate his

maturity and how he's handling things. And if he doesn't go to a school in Ohio, come on now,

you got to go to Michigan, play for Juwan Howard. He won a championship with LeBron.

True.

In the league with the Miami Heat. Like it just, it just makes sense.

I'm going to be heartbroken if that happens, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

It's his decision.

It's his decision at the end of the day.

Yeah, no doubt.

Going back to Detroit, I know a lot about your story. I've watched a lot of interviews that

you've done and you always go back to Detroit and how it made you the person that you are today.

Was there ever a turning point for you that you, you were like, this is the moment. This is what

got me to, to be that college basketball star, to go to the NBA. Is there anything that happened?

It's, it's a, I believe it's, there are a lot of them,

but I'll give you one.

I'll give you two. So one of them from a basketball sports sense, the legendary Sam Washington at St.

Cecilia gym. I used to go to school there. And as a sixth and seventh grader, had some behavioral

issues, got into a lot of altercations. And I eventually got kicked out of school after seventh

grade, but for sixth and seventh, I was there. And I was one of the young kids that used to come in

elementary school and rebound for the,

OG grade players like George Girvin. I remember watching George Girvin make 25 finger rolls

in a row. And we sitting on the baseline, like one, two, three.

So wait, where are you rebounding for him at?

At St. Cecilia gym.

Okay.

The, the historic St. Cecilia gym. It's the equivalent of what you're now seeing with the

Drew league or what you see with the Rucker in New York city, or like that that's Detroit's

version. And so I was a camper there, a kid there that always,

went there and got a chance to be around the older players and Isaiah Thomas and whatnot.

So Sam Washington, he saw me kind of, you know, goofing off or whatever in the gym.

And he took me downstairs and he had like this old projector. He blew the dust off of it. And

he showed me footage of my father playing. And I was like, word, I was like, this is crazy.

You know what I'm saying? And to be honest,

Because this is your biological father that you hadn't met.

My biological father.

Jimmy Walker, who was the number one pick in the 1967 NBA draft. That's why I rocked this goatee like this right now for him and for Walcott Frazier for Magic Johnson. I remember being a shorty. I'm going to have a goatee one day, but anyway, and I can't grow facial hair. That's all it grows. Can't make this up. And so he showed me my biological father. Like he was one of the first guys that was doing a spin move. And he put in work. It was like, if you stay focused and you stay disciplined, like this is your chance to do something special.

Yeah.

And I started to feel like I was taking the game more serious after that. So I started wearing ankle weights to the gym. I started, you know, doing pushups when I'm watching TV, doing commercials. Like I started to take it more seriously.

Shooting on your back.

No doubt. All of that. All of that. Getting the rotation, messing up hangers, putting them at the top of the door, hooping in the house. Like I was like, I'm going to fall in love with the game. That's one. But another time I was playing for the Super Friends. Shout out to Curtis Hervey.

Shout out to my AAU team. And to get us out of the neighborhood, he used to have us practice in that Country Day. So we can be exposed to like things outside of Detroit proper.

So what is Country Day?

Country Day is one of the most prestigious high schools in the country.

Okay.

And Chris Weber went there. Shane Battier went there.

Okay.

And so it's an amazing school.

And a lot different than what you were used to.

Correct.

And I'm from the northwest side of Detroit.

I grew up in a few different homes and we were driving and the team used to let me sit in the front and kind of DJ and play the songs or whatever.

So I remember looking.

I was like, wait a minute.

We were passing by a few from Michigan.

We were riding past Cass Lake.

So it's like a two lane street.

And on the right side is mansions.

And on the left side, people's like boating and jet skiing.

And I was like, I was like.

Hold on.

I was like, that's happening here.

I was like, I need that.

I need that.

And so that was another time I told myself, like, the game is it's got to be something that I fall in love with.

And I take it serious.

So those two moments, I think, were big for me.

So you knew basketball was going to take you there.

I hope so.

I mean, I was for fifth grade signing my autographs.

I'm signing my papers as Dr. J in school.

Teachers looking at me like I was crazy.

That's kind of crazy that you found the motivation within yourself, though.

I mean, you got inspiration from others.

But to be that young and you didn't have somebody in your ear saying that you have to do it or you have to do this and that.

It came intrinsically from you, which is really cool.

And for me, it's a unique dynamic when I see sons of former players in the league.

So when I watch the Splash Brothers or any other players, because I get a chance to watch them interact with their father.

Yeah.

And for me, I didn't have that.

My mother gave me that.

So she was the person that introduced me to the game.

She was the person that was at all of my games that took me to every practice that made sure that I was in environments where I can play the game I love and people are going to protect me.

So she took me to St.

Cecilia Gym to introduce me.

She took me to San Washington.

She took me to Southwest and introduced me to Perry Watson before I played for him.

And so she was the person that allowed me to feel like my goal in being a great basketball player can happen.

And to be honest with you, there was some spite there and there was some some pride there because I always felt like my father not being in my life.

I wanted to give my mother that lifestyle.

I wanted to give my mother that opportunity.

I wanted to give my mother that opportunity to kind of, you know, get out of the hood.

And so I took on that burden as a youngster.

And you did all that and beyond.

Yes, indeed.

It's interesting that you talk about that.

And one quick story on my end.

I used to actually volunteer at LeBron James basketball tournament that he would hold in Akron.

So it was a lot of different high schools.

And some of the games were at my high school.

And Michael Jordan's sons would come through there.

And I just remember it would be, you know, it was all good players.

Teams across the country.

But there was this whole different energy when they walked in.

And they never, I don't, correct me if I'm wrong, they did not play in the NBA.

And, you know, didn't become what I think a lot of people thought they might become.

But the amount of people that came in with them, the stands that were packed because they were on the court, the girls, the friends, the everything.

And we're all in high school and we're all looking up like, wow, that was Michael Jordan's sons, you know.

That's crazy.

Yes.

So I got a little piece of that.

And he never came.

You know, he didn't come to the games.

But there is, you know, it doesn't always pan out that way, even if your father is in your life.

Correct.

And helping you get that.

You need that intrinsic drive that you had.

Absolutely.

Which is really cool.

Absolutely.

I love your story.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

And the thing about, like, it hits different when you're born into the world and you never carry your father's name.

Right.

It's different.

Yeah.

Because that's an acknowledgment that this is going to be a single parent situation.

Or hopefully, you know, you're lucky enough to find a stepfather type of situation.

But in my case, that didn't happen.

I had great brothers to lead me.

I have great family support.

You know, my sister, my uncles.

And so my grandmother.

And it was just an amazing opportunity for me.

To say, I want to try to do something special with my life.

And the time I got a chance to talk to my biological father on the phone, I made sure I told him.

I was in the league by then.

And I made sure to tell him I appreciate him.

I love him.

I have no hard feelings.

Him not being in my life clearly was the best thing to happen for my life because I became a success story without him being in my life.

Well, you came a long way from switching your number in spite to, like, rocking your goatee.

No doubt.

In honor.

Yes, indeed.

You know what I mean?

You got to represent.

Absolutely.

So your time at Michigan, what really stood out to me is you've been a pioneer in so many aspects of your life.

And starting that young.

And even from down to you guys wearing t-shirts that didn't have logos.

And you just kind of recognizing immediately, like, they're making money off of us.

How do you feel about the NIL and how it stands now?

And what these kids are now able to do in their college careers?

It stands.

It's not the true solution that people describe it as being.

On paper, it's great that athletes now get the opportunity to profit off of their name, image, and likeness.

However, there's some fine print.

How many times have you downloaded an app and all you do is accept, accept, accept?

You don't even read it.

Oh, yeah.

At this point.

Right.

You're not reading it.

Right.

You're just accepting it because I need this app for this meeting.

That's the same thing with a letter of intent.

What happens with the letter of intent?

You're basically not going to be able to have any contracts that interrupt the deals that they already have.

True.

So you're in Detroit for the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy golf outing.

I am.

Absolutely.

So here are a couple of our sponsors.

Say I was a high school senior.

Whom was one of our sponsors?

I couldn't go to Michigan and be sponsored.

I bought them.

They already have a shoe company.

Jeep is one of our sponsors.

Say I pick a school to have another car company as their sponsor.

Jeep couldn't be my sponsor.

So now what ends up happening is you're actually getting a diluted opportunity to actually be represented.

And if you notice, look over the past few years.

It was great to see Paige Beckers with UConn.

Get well soon.

She's dealing with an injury right now to have a million-dollar sponsorship deal.

But if you really know how much money UConn brings in women's basketball to that university, that's a drop in the bucket.

It's not fair market value at all.

So how do you think you remedy something like that?

Because it's so early.

And I feel similar to you in the fact that we don't really know how this is going to settle.

It's not super regulated.

It's not super regulated at the moment.

I don't know if that's the best word to describe it.

But what do you think could, I guess, remedy what's going on right now or speed up the process to where these kids know what they're getting, they understand their value?

Oh, here's the remedy.

For the universities, look at Alabama.

We're going to talk football.

So there are layers to how they make money in football.

Nick Saban, look at the antennas that he can make money.

He can make money doing speaking engagements, shoe company, TV, radio.

The sky's the limit for the ways he can make money.

But what ends up happening is those sponsors are for him and the school.

They're not necessarily for the top flight recruit.

So what happens is the sponsor may give the school $50 million.

They don't care if you give.

They don't give it to the players.

But the school's going to say, we're keeping that money.

We're not going to now say, hey, we'll take 45 and give our starting quarterback $5 million to come as an NIL athlete.

When that starts to happen, that becomes the game changer.

But that's not happening.

And here's another reason why it's not happening.

Because in basketball and football, those players,

they must continue to feed the system after high school.

They still have restrictions.

So even as a football player, you've got to go to college.

What do you mean, restrictions?

You've got to.

Oh, you mean because you can't just go straight to the NBA?

Or the NFL.

Right.

So if I'm a talented football player, and I just graduated from 12th grade,

I still got to go to college.

So they don't have to give me a deal.

Right.

So that, to me, is the disappointment.

I don't.

I would have hoped that it would have been an opportunity for players.

You're going to see Ray Jackson.

You're going to see Jimmy King.

They didn't have 10-year NBA careers.

Players like that who helped feed the system,

helped make multi-millions of dollars for universities,

deserve the opportunity to get paid at their age,

not necessarily have to wait.

You don't have to wait in NASCAR, tennis.

Golf.

True.

Yeah, those golf pros are like 14.

You don't have to wait.

Yeah.

It's only in basketball and football.

So how do you see, then, college basketball panning out

if it does go to this completely different wave

to where it's back like LeBron can go straight to the NBA?

You might not like this answer.

Somebody that loves college basketball.

I played three years of college basketball,

and I'm a member of the Fab Five.

I love college basketball.

One of the most iconic teams ever.

Exactly.

So this is going to be a trip for me to say,

but it's going to become a diluted product

because in a couple of years,

what's going to happen is the top players

are going to go straight to the pros.

Why wouldn't they?

That's one.

And then two, the other players,

you've seen this with Lonzo Ball, Jalen Green,

may decide to go overseas,

may decide to play in the G League.

After those options get exhausted,

then that player goes to college.

But then it's not.

It's not that top tier that we're used to seeing, I guess, now.

Correct.

And so now you'll see a list of the top 10 players in high school,

but nine of them won't end up in college.

Yeah.

So that becomes a diluted product.

Maybe it becomes diluted, but maybe we just think of it differently.

And maybe it goes back to these hometowns like us,

like Michigan and Ohio State.

We just ride for our team,

no matter who's on the team.

And it's, you know,

maybe not guys who will go to the NBA,

but maybe it gets back to being kind of this homegrown pride thing

with these college teams.

They're able to make some money.

They don't go to the NBA.

They pick a different career after,

but hey, they spent their college making money.

Well, that's the second thing that happens.

I didn't play pro.

Right.

But the second thing that happens to your point is

now that athlete that couldn't go overseas,

that couldn't go to,

that didn't go to the G League,

that didn't go straight to the NBA,

goes to Michigan,

goes to Ohio State,

goes to Gonzaga,

and becomes a sophomore,

a junior,

a senior.

Right.

So that strengthens,

in theory,

the play of the college game.

But what ends up happening as a prospect,

the more you play in college,

the more they now think you're not ready for the league.

And now all of a sudden,

it's not like when Tim Duncan played for a year.

Or a Draymond Green played four years.

Now, it's like,

why did he have to stay till he was a junior?

Yeah.

Why does she have to stay till her senior year?

And the NBA loves fresh legs.

Right.

Fresh legs, you know?

Exactly.

Exactly.

What?

You're 21.

Exactly.

Which is crazy.

Correct.

So I feel like that goes back a little bit to the NBA now.

And we're not getting as much of a sense as guys

wanting to stay in one city.

The players have a lot more control,

I feel like,

over the league.

Right now,

which I think is a good thing in some ways

and not so great in other ways.

How do you feel about that?

So,

this is controversial.

I love it.

Let's hear it.

And you're going to get me in trouble.

That's why you asked me this question.

I'm not trying to get you in trouble.

You're really good at your job.

I follow your movement.

You're doing a great job.

You're killing the game.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

So,

you're going to get me in trouble here,

but I'm going to be honest with you.

You play ball

on every level.

That you played

when you went

to do a pickup run.

Who picked the teams?

The best player.

Boom.

The best players

played against each other.

The origin of the game,

when we show up at the park,

everybody know who's been running here every Saturday.

Yeah, you're picking a team,

I'm picking a team.

Boom, right?

This is what,

we're not running together.

No.

Even if we're not guarding each other,

we're not running together.

We're not running together.

We're not running together.

We're not running together.

We're not running together.

We're not running together.

We ain't playing on the same team.

It changes when an MVP player

like LeBron leaves Cleveland.

That changes the game.

Yes.

That changes the game.

Yeah.

And the one thing that he did

that's so legendary

is went back to Cleveland

and won a championship.

Because had he not done that,

he'd be still searching like KD right now.

Oh, you think?

I think.

Because,

let me give you some game.

Let me give you some game.

I told you this is controversial now.

Let me clear my throat.

I'm getting it so far though.

It makes sense so far.

Okay, so,

when he went to Miami,

the great LeBron James,

billionaire Brian,

I love him very much.

When they did their press conference,

how many championships did they say they were going to win?

Not one,

not two,

not three.

Keep going.

Exactly.

Not five,

not six,

not seven.

Yeah.

They ain't win five.

This is true.

D-Wade,

that's my brother.

I love him.

He inspired me showing my ankles today.

Shout out to D-Wade.

Shout out to Chris Bosh.

Played with him in Toronto.

My gosh.

But when they hooked up

and they joined that big three,

they formed that super team,

what ended up happening is

LeBron was like,

Cleveland's not going to get me.

He's going to give me the resources to get this done.

And my time here has expired.

So I need to go somewhere

where a championship pedigree exists

with Pat Riley,

with the Miami Heat,

who had just won a championship.

I covered it.

When they won it,

I was there with my all white everything.

I saw them win it.

And so that was a great player

for the first time,

an all-time great player conceding.

We can't just win

because we got me.

See, I grew up watching an era

where Magic,

Bird,

when they went to bed at night,

we going to win because we got me.

Jordan,

Isaiah,

Hakeem,

Kareem,

Shaq,

Kobe,

we going to win because we got me.

And so that changes when he leaves.

But he rectified it

when he went back to win.

In Cleveland.

I will say being from Ohio,

I wasn't somebody who burned the jerseys.

But I was sad when he won in Miami first.

Yeah, you were.

Because it felt like,

and I get it from a business side,

but you know what I mean?

I'm like, wow,

that could have been ours first.

And for Ohio sports,

even in general,

we don't have much.

And then being from that hometown.

So for him to come back,

that was also,

I remember watching from an airport,

the finals,

and I was about to tear up.

I was like, this is the one.

But it hurt.

It stung.

As a fan.

You can't tell me.

You cannot tell me

when he left Ohio

that that wasn't one of the most painful things

in the history of sports in that time.

Yeah, it was pain for sure.

And then he go join the big three

and win a championship.

Right.

Two of them.

Yeah.

He had to go back

and make it right.

So,

championships,

as I've learned,

I would love to have 15,

rest in peace,

Bill Russell.

And by the way,

every team,

don't just retire his number.

Every team should hang a banner

in their arena

with the Russell six lifted

because it doesn't become

out of sight,

out of mind.

That's truly what I believe.

So now,

you're KD.

You do the same thing.

You leave OKC.

Even though the Warriors beat you

and you join the Warriors.

Win finals MVP twice.

Two championships.

They would have won the third one

had he not gotten hurt,

had Klay not got hurt.

But they didn't.

He wasn't happy.

You know why he wasn't happy?

Even when they won their first championship.

Bob Myers was at the press,

Bob Myers was at the parade.

People was joking about him joining a bandwagon.

You know it.

I know it.

Yeah.

Everybody felt like,

like that Saturday run

you just talked about.

Instead of y'all playing against each other.

Seriously?

Seriously?

We was up 3-1

and you played.

Yeah.

How many times you cry in the locker room

with your team?

A lot.

OK.

Yeah.

So imagine what happens

when we up 3-1

and we lose the series.

You in the locker room like,

Yeah, I'm sick.

Screw them.

Yeah.

And then you go join them.

So when you do that,

Right.

It's like LeBron in Cleveland.

That is a professional admission

that I can't get it done in OKC,

which you're allowed to do.

All-time great player.

You're allowed to do that.

But when you go to the Warriors,

it didn't necessarily make them happy.

Right.

And so now you go to the Nets

looking for that happiness.

Like LeBron was able to do in Cleveland,

but LeBron delivered.

And now look,

the Warriors go on and win a championship

without LeBron.

Without KD.

They're the only team this year

that didn't win a game in the playoffs.

And what did he do after that?

I would like to go elsewhere.

OK.

OK.

OK.

OK.

That's the perfectly correct way to say it.

OK.

Like, I love Scottie Pippen,

the OG.

And one of the greatest disrespects

to his career

is people called him Robin.

Six-time champion.

And it's sad

when the last dance is being played

that he can't even sit back and enjoy it.

Yeah.

He can't even enjoy it.

Six championships.

Can't even enjoy it.

Right?

KD.

Two championships in the Warriors.

Left.

To go do his own thing.

With Kyrie.

And it ain't happened yet.

Do you think Steph has that mentality

that you talked about with Magic Kobe

where he goes to bed at night

and he's like,

I can win because of me?

Absolutely.

No doubt about it.

And that's why he's a babyface assassin.

See,

here's the thing about Steph

that people underestimate.

He going for the kill.

There's signature shots

in the history of the league.

There's Kareem Skyhook.

There's George Gervin's finger roll.

There's other signature things

like Michael Jordan.

A man played basketball

wagging his tongue.

That,

that's,

that's incredible.

Right?

And so,

who was we talking about?

Steph Curry.

Steph Curry.

So here's a signature thing

for Steph Curry.

The popper shot three.

That used to be,

that used to be a bad shot.

Right.

Dribbling across half court,

pulling up from the hash mark.

You know this.

I used to do it.

Okay.

What did your coaches say?

Well, yeah.

Actually,

I was like the only one

who had the green light.

But otherwise,

yes,

I don't,

in some situations,

yeah,

they were like,

Rachel,

we don't need it right now.

But yeah.

Especially early in the clock.

Right.

See,

this all looked different.

Let me tell y'all

what makes Steph Curry different.

I would not want to coach

youth basketball right now,

honestly.

Let me tell y'all

why Steph Curry

shattered the mold.

Because like

Wilt Chamberlain's dunk,

like those signature shots

that I just talked about,

volume,

shooting 10 threes in a game.

Like,

I played with Reggie Miller.

I believe he shot

16 threes

maybe once.

In his entire career.

Like Larry Bird,

Ray Allen,

like those guys

didn't have the chance

to like shoot

a volume

of threes.

Yeah.

And be great shooters.

Both.

The other thing,

unlimited range.

The shots that he make

that's longer than 25 feet,

30 feet,

it's only him,

Dame Lillard,

and Trey Young.

And he practices

from the hallway

before every game.

That's crazy.

And makes it.

You know?

And here's,

here's two other

Steph Curry things.

Great finisher

of layups.

Jump off both feet,

finish with both hands.

People underestimate

that about his game.

And then lastly,

he got a handle.

Usually the person

that shoots like that.

That's one or the other.

Correct.

Yeah.

Don't got a handle like that.

Like,

uh-uh,

between the legs,

behind the back,

Chris Paul falls down.

Like,

he got a handle.

Splitting screens.

Yeah.

Doing all that.

So those four things

is what makes

Steph Curry

the greatest shooter

of all time.

Do you think he is

the most influential

NBA player

in the game right now?

Right now,

yes.

Yes,

right now.

Because

LeBron James

is a,

a 20 plus year veteran.

And when you see

LeBron James,

you can't ignore

the fact that

he's a,

a physical specimen.

But,

but when you see

Steph Curry,

you're like,

him?

Yeah.

You're like,

ma,

ma,

I could,

him?

I could do that.

Like,

I'm taller than him.

Um,

we're the same height.

We're,

we are the same build.

I can,

I can be him.

And so,

that influence

plus

what I said

about his game

and his championship pedigree

and getting his finals MVP

to,

this,

this past year.

It's like,

Steph Curry's not a point guard

or a striker.

He's not a shooting guard.

I've called him

the vanguard for years.

The,

the leader of the new school.

And that's what you said

you think the league is going,

right?

Where it's people not fitting

into these cookie cutter molds

of like,

here's your point guard.

Here's your shooting guard.

Here's your small forward.

You know,

you said everybody's

going to have to do

everything.

Correct.

And,

well,

you're getting me in trouble again.

So,

this actually happened

in a debate

that I had 10 years ago.

And,

this same,

this same debate

I was talking about,

the debate ended up being

about Russell Westbrook.

I think I know

what you're talking about.

Correct.

And,

the debate was,

I was trying to explain

that positions

were only created

so a novice

can follow the game.

Right?

Just because

you're a power forward,

that don't mean

you're built like Carl Malone.

Or,

just because you're

a shooting guard,

that don't mean

you're raising up

like,

um,

Reggie Miller.

Like,

they're,

they're just an infrastructure

for people to follow the game.

And,

it was something

that I followed,

too.

And,

our team followed.

I was a two,

and I was a shooter.

And,

that was my job.

Yes.

You know?

And,

I was fine with that.

Correct.

But,

at this level,

it's different.

Correct.

But,

what ended up happening is

the thinking of,

um,

coaches,

the thinking of media,

the thinking of fans

had to graduate.

So many times,

it was like,

what position does he play?

What position does she,

play?

Oh,

my God.

She's not tall enough to do this.

She's not big enough to do that.

Not a,

but now,

it's,

you're a basketball player.

And,

the,

the beauty of that is,

you see a guy like Jokic,

who can be among the lead,

leaders in

points and assists.

A guy like MB,

playing center,

amongst,

led the league in scoring,

but still giving me

10 plus boards.

And,

and then,

the,

the,

the,

the backcourt guys

have changed also.

It used to be,

when it was positions,

the,

the lead guard

was responsible

for making the other 14 guys happy.

Well,

because that was something

with Westbrook,

right?

Because everybody's like,

he's not the greatest point guard.

And you're like,

he doesn't,

he's more than that,

is basically what you were saying.

He broke the big O's

triple,

double record.

Let me tell y'all something.

Anybody that's ever played basketball,

you know how much you got to play basketball.

You know how much you got to hustle

to get a triple,

double.

You,

you know how much,

you know how much energy

you got to spend

to get a triple,

double.

There's a reason

that nobody averaged a triple,

double except two human beings

in the history of basketball.

Well,

it's not as easy as everybody said.

Oh,

he's just stat padding.

Well,

like you try to do it.

Correct.

I promise you,

I would love to get a triple,

double.

I promise you,

if it was that easy,

everybody would be doing it.

Yeah.

I remember,

I remember like believing

if magic didn't break it,

if Jason Kidd didn't break it,

it's never going to get broken.

So for him to have

the Hall of Fame career that he's had

and have that be a part of his resume

is incredible.

So who are your starting five

NBA players of all time?

So positionless,

positionless.

Positionless,

yeah.

No doubt.

So magic and Isaiah.

This is your fab five.

Yes,

exactly.

So it's,

it's gotta be,

it's good.

Here's the team.

Are we getting him in trouble for a third time?

So magic.

Okay.

Isaiah.

Jordan.

Bird.

Okay.

Fifth.

El Capitan.

Kareem.

Okay.

That,

that,

that's my all time five.

It's a unique list.

I have to say.

And by the way,

like you can hate me,

you can hate me and or hate my list.

But when you really break down the history of the game,

like all of them is top 12 of all time.

Do you think it makes a difference when you,

you pick your top five on what era you kind of watch?

Cause it's hard for me to ever.

I know Kareem is the greatest,

but I haven't studied basketball back in that day.

So I know for me,

it's like,

I saw a little bit of Michael.

I saw a lot of LeBron from 14 and up,

you know,

Iverson was my favorite player going up.

No doubt.

So,

so that was kind of the era.

And then you,

but you hear some people ride or die.

Jordan's greatest of all time.

There's no discussion in this net,

but then there are people younger than me.

It's hard to even imagine that.

And you can watch tape,

but if you didn't live through,

am I wrong?

If you didn't live through that era,

it's hard.

Well,

it's hard to compare eras,

but there are a few things that allow you to do so.

And when you talk about the best players of all time,

you,

you ultimately start talking about who's the goat.

And when you talk about goat,

the first word is greatest.

That means achieved more than somebody else.

And if we're comparing Michael Jordan and LeBron,

for example,

Michael Jordan got 10 scoring titles.

Bron has one.

Michael Jordan has been all NBA,

Michael Jordan has been defensive player of the year in the NBA.

LeBron hasn't.

Michael Jordan has two separate three peats.

LeBron doesn't have a three peat.

LeBron doesn't have one three peat.

Yeah.

And so like,

you don't necessarily even need to watch them play to acknowledge that what

Michael Jordan achieved,

achieved,

just solely on the court is greater.

It's more than.

So why isn't Bill Russell in your top five?

He is.

Wait,

he is.

I just gave Kareem that starting spot at the five.

Okay.

So I have never,

he's on your team,

but he's not starting.

Let me tell y'all something about basketball.

One-on-one.

If y'all ever do a list and y'all get past three and I don't hear Bill

Russell's name,

delete block.

You know what?

I'm going to just block you.

That's what I'm going to do.

If I see any social posts,

yeah,

I'm going to block you because 11 championships in 13 years is greater.

Then me trying to act like LeBron is ahead of him.

Yeah.

Like,

and what ends up happening is,

and by just so y'all know,

I love LeBron James.

That's my guy.

Maverick Carter is my brother.

We played fantasy together for years.

Rich Paul.

That's my guy.

I loved him.

Randy.

I loved him.

So what ends up happening is people think if I don't say he's the greatest

that I don't like him or I'm hating.

You haven't hated on him once here.

Correct.

No,

but that's what allowed me to start kind of realizing I'm good at my job

because that's my man.

Yeah,

but I can't act like what he's achieved so far is greater than Jordan.

Then Kareem.

Then Russell for sure.

Now you can argue with me about magic,

but here's some magic math.

Magic played 13 years.

He went to the finals nine times.

Yeah.

And he won five championships,

including as a rookie.

Yeah.

I played against LeBron when he was young in his career.

As a matter of fact,

he had his career high against us.

55 killed us.

We won.

I had 30.

It's not bad.

Yeah.

But he had 55.

Yeah.

So I've seen LeBron's greatness and this is not to dismiss,

but I can't act like what he's accomplished is quote unquote greater than

those three for sure.

The finals MVP is named after who?

Bill Russell.

The award is named after Bill Russell.

It's named after him.

Right.

Okay.

So starting five in the NBA currently.

Ooh,

starting five.

Starting five right now in the NBA.

I haven't done this.

Yes.

Steph Curry got to be in the backcourt.

Okay.

You had Luca as MVP,

right?

Recently you said that?

Steph Curry and Luca are my backcourt.

Okay.

I love Luca.

Luca going to win MVP this year.

I always said this.

When I saw Luca,

I was like,

when I saw Luca,

just like when I saw Zion,

when they look at themselves and be like,

I'm going to get in the best shape of my life.

They're going to flirt with MVP and Luca going to do that this year.

So it's Steph Curry and Luca backcourt.

Up front,

the Kang,

K-A-N-G,

LeBron James.

Okay.

Oh,

easy money sniper,

Kevin Durant.

What's for?

Oh,

and Giannis.

That's a good five.

Yeah, Giannis.

That's a really good five.

Yeah, Giannis.

I wanted to take Embiid.

I wanted to take the Joker,

but I got to get an edge to Giannis.

Okay, they're coming off the bench.

Yeah.

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So you're familiar with Courtside Club?

Mm-hmm.

We like to end things with some buzzer beaters.

Let's get it.

What is the best game that you've ever sat courtside for?

Not played, sat courtside.

The best game I ever sat courtside for?

That is a good one.

I physically was at the game,

and I always sit courtside.

So right now,

I'm just going through a jukebox in my mind.

Okay, so let's hear it.

I've been sitting courtside for 35 years.

So what games are you thinking about?

I'm giving y'all like,

this is going to be an archival answer.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying?

You got me on the basketball Barbara Walters type questions.

You want to make me cry?

No, you know what's funny?

You know what I'm saying?

Buzzer beaters are supposed to be like fun,

and I've had so many people get mad at me during buzzer beaters.

They're like, this is hard.

This is hard.

But I want to give a quality answer

because this is a great question and a great topic.

I would say sitting courtside.

Any finals, any,

it could be college games, honestly.

You know what?

This is sacrilegious

because I sit courtside at Pistons games

because that's my hometown team,

which means I also get a chance

to see the other team clearly perform

and have historic nights.

And I was at the game

when LeBron scored 25 straight against us.

And I was sitting courtside.

Do you remember what year that was?

That was, I just see him do the crossover against Max Hill

and do that dunk with his right hand.

It was just crazy.

I believe that was like 2005.

That was like early on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He scored 25 straight.

It was, and I was rooting for the Pistons.

Right.

But in your mind, you're like, respect.

I had to bow down.

I was like, I was like, that man is special.

So I would say that one.

Okay.

So who is one person dead or alive

that you'd love to sit courtside with?

Dead or alive that I would love to sit courtside with?

My guy, Kobe Bean Bryant.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

We got another 81 olives commercial in us.

You know what I mean?

My guy, my guy's lost way too young.

And it just like that whole memory hits different

because he's not alive anymore.

Like that's my, that's like, he's my friend.

Yeah.

You know?

And like, just for him not to be here anymore.

And you know, the way he, you know, perished

and, and just, it's just tragic.

So I would love to sit courtside with him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I literally went so I can watch him dunk.

Yeah.

And I was like, I'm wearing my Coogee, you know,

from the watch Kobe do his thing.

So that that's my answer.

He impacted so many people in so many different ways,

whether you met him or you didn't, everybody has a Kobe story.

And so it is sometimes I like have to pinch myself

because it doesn't, it still doesn't seem real.

How, how long has it been?

like two years now yes so but you're not also not the first person to say that they'd love to sit

courtside with kobe because i think being able to process the game with him one more time and he was

always ahead of the curve like you are too so yes that was my answer for sure all right so what is

one event in history that you would have loved to have been courtside for it could be a sporting

event or just any other event uh oh um i would have loved to been courtside so as a detroit kid

i love the pistons father got drafted by the team they're a terrific sponsor for the jayden

wills leadership academy their owner right now tom gores is my good friend but i would have loved

to sat courtside when the bad boys was playing against bird and the big three

crazy yeah of him mikhail and parish and dj you know oh bird steals the ball underneath the dj i

remember oh get the tv i got a whooping that day oh no whooping that day did it break no we had

we had the the the big tv that didn't work you know saying the little tv on top of that that

didn't work you know saying and so yeah that that play in isaiah's legend and like the bad boys

legend

you know

and so i would say i would love to sit courtside to watch the bad boy pistons perform

the microwave vinnie johnson joe

i feel like you would fit right in you would be trash talking from the sidelines you'd be ready

to go are you ready for this there's footage of the pistons not shaking the bull's hand

in the early 90s when they finally beat us

and we walked

off because that was our rival yeah and at the time we weren't shaking their hands and the key

word i keep using is we you cannot tell me i wasn't in that line you cannot tell me i didn't

walk off and didn't shake their hands either like in detroit we didn't rock jordans like that we

didn't root for mj we rooted against mj and that just acknowledges greatness so last thing on

for the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy Celebrity Golf Tournament.

Yes.

I'm super excited for it.

Yes.

Golfing tomorrow.

But how did the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy get started?

And what have you been most proud of so far?

So I appreciate you for covering this.

Because respectfully, I'm a high-profile individual.

I'm a former NBA player.

I grew up in this town.

I worked for ESPN and ABC.

I worked for the New York Post.

I worked for Amazon.

I DJ at a show.

I'm as high-profile as somebody can be.

But the sad thing is, you ain't got to bust through other multimedia outlets to cover this.

So I thank you for being here.

It means a lot.

And the reason why we're open enrollment, we're tuition-free, we're public charter,

and we're a 9 through 16 model.

Those are the things that make me the most proud.

The fact that we're not a part of a network, we didn't have a feeder school,

it didn't get started because I had a blank check to kind of do whatever I needed to do

to help change education in my community.

And so the fact that we currently serve 400-plus scholars and another 600 alums,

some of which are in their secondary education, which could be trade school,

military, police, force, college, university, community college.

What did your high school do for you when you graduated?

Nothing.

Wrote an article that I was going to college to play basketball.

Yeah.

Correct.

Nothing.

Yeah.

That's what makes JRLA different.

See, when scholars graduate from JRLA, it's not throw your hat in the air and,

whee, we'll see you at the 10-year reunion.

No, it's like, we'll see you later.

We're going to help you get enrolled in school.

We're going to help you get the support you need on campus.

Yeah.

Help you get you registered in class, try to help you meet your financial needs.

Like, we're going to still support you.

And those are the things that make me the most proud of what we've accomplished since 2011.

And the success rate, I think, is like 100% graduated.

Mm-hmm.

Another 97% are on to that next level or in college.

Correct. Matriculating, yes.

Yeah.

So that's incredible.

I love what you're doing.

And I love that we get to have fun with it, too.

Yes.

Taking me out of my comfort zone.

Yes, yes.

Let me play a little golf.

Yes, yes.

And again, that's the beauty of this.

Like, this is our 12th golf outing.

We're starting our 12th school year.

Like, this is extremely meaningful for what I call the charity that makes it to the hood.

Like, everything that we do, we're already underfunded.

So now when you talk about competitively paying,

by the way, teachers, let me just say this.

We come from a sports background.

And I love that people pay a lot of money to be entertained in sports.

Yeah.

So therefore, I got to make the big bucks as a player and an announcer and players get to make what they make.

But let me tell you something.

We need to stop the world on its axis right now.

And to me, this ain't enough.

But every teacher, especially those that are really good at their craft, should at least be making $100,000.

My mom's a teacher, been my whole life.

And she became a teacher to be able to have summers with me.

And I was always in the classroom with her.

But I wholeheartedly agree.

And I also agree because they're with your child sometimes way more than parents are.

Teachers are, in society, the most overworked and underappreciated human beings that exist.

A thousand percent.

I agree.

Because just think about it.

It's only 24 hours in the day.

You're waking your kid up and they're going to school by 8.

Yeah.

They're going to be there till 3 or 4.

And if they play sports, do extracurricular activities, that's also teachers.

That's also administrators.

Teachers who are coaching, who are getting, what, $10 an hour on top of it maybe?

Correct.

It's a drop in the bucket.

Yeah.

You know, so one of the things I hope to do as we're now raising funds to expand our facility

is if I had a blank check and somebody came to me and said,

Hey, Jalen, what is something that you want to do to change the dynamics of education starting at your school?

It would be to make sure that the teachers got compensated vastly more than they get paid right now.

They're babysitting your kids.

They're doing therapy with your kids.

They're educating your kids.

Setting them up for life.

Setting them up for life.

And so as we fundraise, that's still something in my mind that I hope that I could try to be a game changer as it relates to making sure that they're compensated more than they are currently.

Once again, changing the game.

I'm glad I'm able to be a part of it as well.

Yes, indeed.

Thank you so much for coming on Courtside Club.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me here this weekend.

Yes, indeed.

Thank you.

Anything we should be on the lookout for?

JRLADetray.com.

Just continue to support what we're doing.

No enter or learn or exit a leader.

Love it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Yes, indeed.