The Exchanges

Q You're a Texas boy. How'd you end up at Georgia Tech?

A I wanted to, I wanted to play in the ACC. I wanted to play in the ACC. Um, to me, that was the best league, uh, short of the NBA. All of, most of my heroes had gone there. It had the storied, uh, colleges. It had tobacco road, had the rivalries, and I was into, uh, Um, academics as well, and the coach Paul Hewitt at the time, he was a, um, uh, black man. I felt it was, uh, necessary to play, uh, for somebody who could understand me a little more, and he did, um, and it was just a natural fit. I had been to Atlanta, had family in Atlanta, been to Stone Mountain, Atlanta many times, you know, and, and it was a place that was familiar, and so it was like the perfect mix, you know, academics, ACC ball, um, It just seemed right, and, and when I took my visit there, I, that was where my heart was. It just felt right, and And I can't tell you why, but for whatever reason, I was listening to my gut way back when I was a teenager. So I'm one of the lucky ones, and, and, and, you know, I, I made the right decision.

AI assessment note: “I wanted to play in the ACC... academics, and the coach Paul Hewitt at the time”

Q But like, how much in practice is it like you're trying to get too cute, too fancy, and you get away from the basics, and then you got to come back to it?

A You know, that's all about your work ethic and your personal taste, and really just how the coaches take it. Eric Spolstra, he always had a saying when we were in Miami, do not get bored with the process. Because, and you find, and I think that's a huge part where greatness lies. Because, yeah, like you were saying, yeah, the fundamentals. Somebody will want to do something fancy. Let's say you do an in and out between the legs, behind the back, step back, fade away, three. Awesome. Somebody passes it to me, I catch, I shoot it. Three. They count the same. There is a mastery to staying within those fundamentals. You know, Tim Duncan was known as the big fundamental. Kobe Bryant does not get enough credit for how fundamentally sound he was, and the most technical of the technicians was Michael Jordan. He was the most fundamentally sound player I've ever seen.

AI assessment note: “There is a mastery to staying within those fundamentals.”

Q A lot of talented kids, uh, lack hunger. Where does the hunger come from? And how do you keep going back to that? Well, even when you don't feel like it, like when you're doing suicides in the gym, like how do you keep going back to that?

A I did suicides early. Um, that, that's like a, a good practice, uh, to shock them early. Uh, you know what? I wanted to, I just wanted to be the best that I could be. That was important to me early. And to be honest with you, I realized how You realize the difference in treatment, to be honest with you, when you're playing basketball, or not only playing basketball, but you're excelling in the, in the classroom. You put those things together. I learned very quickly. The first time I played basketball in front of people was in the fourth grade. I distinctly remember to this day, people, oh, Chris is good. Chris, I mean, people always called me Chris Bosh my whole life. And so it's like, oh, Chris Bosh can play. Chris Bosh is, Chris Bosh can play basketball. And, and I was so interesting. I had never heard that before because up until that point, you, you just, you're just a student. You just kind of mix in. But after that, I said, okay, yeah, I want to do that. And then I kept getting the confirmations and the, the exterior treatment, I suppose, that's what What kind of aided, like, okay, that goes along with how I feel. I feel good about it, and then people are smiling when they see me play, or see me after a win, or even a loss sometimes, you know. It was a, it was a good feeling.

AI assessment note: “I wanted to be the best... I kept getting the confirmations and the exterior treatment”

Q People called you KG in high school because you wanted to emulate Kevin Garnett so badly, and I'm curious as to the relationship between emulation of somebody, like one of your heroes, and at what point does that turn into creation on your own?

A I think when you emulate so much to where it just becomes a part of you, um, Then you're doing it without thinking about it. Then you're able to put your own sauce on it. You're going to, it's going to happen anyway, because your personality will come out. You know, I never encourage people to just try to copy everything, but copy the things you like, you know, and, and put them together and it makes, it makes you, you, um, because we all have influences if we're lucky. But, you know, for me, when I saw him just having the face-up game, like, that was the thing, the face-up game, the mid-range jumper, handling the ball in the full court, the finishing, that's what I tried to emulate. You just start saying, okay, well, I'm left-handed, so, and I like it here, so since I'm left-handed and this is where I am, this is how I'm gonna do it now, and you have to take your own data, Right. The data that you gather from playing in the games or being in the boardroom or doing that speech, you want to take the things that work and take the things that don't work just because you emulate doesn't mean it's all going to work. Right. So you continue to take things that work and, and put your own spin on it. And, and, and, you know, I was always confident that, yeah, naturally it would just kind of just show through, um, In my playing, because the ultimate, um, you know, pinnacle for me as an a…

AI assessment note: “when you emulate so much to where it just becomes a part of you”

Q And is there a message to everybody that you have about that? Cause it strikes me that we have the same thing in life too. You don't know when your last hug is. You don't know when the last time you talked to your parents.

A I think make sure you talk to your parents. Make sure you do that. Give that hug. And not in a sense to where it's gotta be like, this might be the last time ever, bro. Come in. No. Just do it because it really might be the last time. I really did play my last game and didn't know it. So thank goodness I was just in a mode to where this was my practice. To say what's up to the popcorn guy when I'm coming out. To give the high five to a janitor. To help the young fella with their game when it was time. To go through my routine to better myself and my game. To listen to my coach. Execute the game plan and be the best leader that I could be, because one day it was over. So, yeah, I mean, yo, yo, hey, yeah, call, call that person. Yo, I just wanted, yeah, I just wanted to call you because I wanted to call you. Hear your voice. Yo, you good? Okay, yeah. It don't have to be long. It doesn't have to be. Win one for the Gipper status all day, but it does have to be a part of the process, right? It does have to be, hey, just call and check on you. Hey, give me a hug. Come on. Even when my kids hug them every day, you know, and you know, boys, I have three boys. They're in that mode. It was like, ah, ah, ah, like, no, no, no. Give me a hug. We hug each other. I see my good friend that I haven't seen in years. I give him a hug, tight one, you know, cause yeah, you never know. I mean, I di…

AI assessment note: “I think make sure you talk to your parents. Make sure you do that.”

Q Did social media change the game at all? Like, just going back to that last half second, Michael Jordan in the air, That's a shareable clip. Everybody sort of wants that attention, that spotlight, but there's also a whole mental health angle, I would imagine, to being a player and social media.

A It's changed, you know, and there is, um, there is an aspect to it that I do not understand. I do, but then I didn't grow up in it. You know, my experience with social media, I remember social media on the desktop. Once we got to Miami, that's kind of when the supernova sonic boom happened, and then the video and the ability to have the bandwidth to share all these things, that's when those things happened. I was disinterested by then. I wasn't all the way in. I was more concentrated on my craft, you know. It's different now. Yeah, everybody wants that moment, but do you want to put in the work? That'll be the easiest thing you do is to pick up a trophy. Now, do you want to go through everything in between that, you know, and then once, once you're successful, do you think that that's going to make your life perfect? It will not. So I, I love the discussion around mental health because you don't want to be in a position where it'd be like, man, I didn't even really enjoy this ride the whole time. It was just, um, Everybody's happier than me, and I'm the one that won. I did all the work and stuff like this, and sure, we got the team, and we did that, but ah, I don't feel like it's fulfilled me like I thought it would, and you know, you have to find those reasons to play the game, or whatever your game is, you have to find those reasons for yourself.

AI assessment note: “It's changed, you know, and there is, um, there is an aspect to it”

Q And then, then when you got those things, so you kept going, like as an adult, you know, playing professionally, drafted fourth overall by the Raptors, millions of dollars. Now all of a sudden your environment is all those things. How do you still keep going?

A You know, I never, it was never about those things. I never, to be honest with you, I never had a concept of money. Um, I do now as I'm older, of course, I have kids and bills, um, that need paying and taxes and stuff like that. You become more aware as, as, as a citizen. But at that time, I hustled for everything I had. I was joking earlier today. I tell people like, yo, the NBA was my fourth job. You know, it wasn't my first job. It wasn't, it was just the, the amount of money being talked about was so astronomical. There's no reason to talk about it. I want it to be like Kobe. I want it to be like Michael. I want it to be like KG. Now it's about the glory. It's about the name on my back of my jersey. And, you know, it's about me establishing who I am and achieving and continuing to achieve great things. Cause yeah, now I'm here and I see that from so many young athletes, they make the mistake of just saying I made it and they don't have to work anymore. No, you have to continue to work. As a matter of fact, it gets harder, uh, because you're making millions of dollars. Take money out the equation. You can't complain about money anymore, even if people are stealing it from you. Okay. Put that to the side. You can't talk about being happy anymore, uh, because everybody assumes that you're happy. Uh, so for me, It was just about putting everything into the game and, and, and, a…

AI assessment note: “Now it's about the glory. It's about the name on my back of my jersey.”

Q Is that off season? Are you as hungry?

A That's the challenge. That's the true challenge that I found out when we won that. And I've had people tell me this. Yeah, anybody can do it once. I said, oh boy, here we go. Now it's about staying at the top, baby. Anybody, yeah, any, and I truly do feel that too, and I mean, that's no offense to one-time champions. There is greatness in that. All I'm saying is there's more greatness into sustaining that. How can you sustain it? Can you? Can you? You know, can you do those same drills that you did last preseason at the beginning as a team and not get bored? That you're diving on the floor. Matter of fact, you got to dive more now. Matter of fact, there's less shots now. There's more of a challenge now because it's harder to repeat as a champion because everybody knows your best punch. Everybody can see you coming, and everybody's motivated to beat you and your team. You know, that was, that was the truth. That's what we wanted. We wanted to be one of the dynasty teams to be mentioned, and that was a part of it. And I know, I know how I was in my head, but then I would have conversations. I remember I had a conversation, quick conversation with Bron, not too long after the season. You know, you play the season, and it's like, okay, guys, I see you in a, you know, Two and a half months. I hit up Brian probably less than a month later, and he said, yo, man, I've been working on m…

AI assessment note: “That's the challenge. That's the true challenge that I found out when we won”

Q You mentioned the training yourself mentally. What does that involve, and how important is the mental aspect?

A I mean, it's everything to me, um, to me, and there's, you know, it's a totally different thing, but you have to be strong mentally to get to where you want to go. There will be obstacles, unforeseen obstacles, as a matter of fact, that you don't see coming, and you have to be prepared for that, and you know, you're going to take a few punches. I'm not going to sugarcoat that. Um, especially if you want to do, um, something great, you know, so being able to continue to do that job, to continue to stay with the fundamentals, even when you feel like you should be doing more or to get your body out of bed when you don't feel like it. Those days when you don't feel like it, that's, that's where the magic happens. And Kobe told me this, like, yo, you got to get in that day where you don't want to go in the gym. You got to go. You have to, because the, one of the things that helped me was to think like, okay, how many people are stopping now? How many people felt what I'm feeling right now? Nobody's looking. Nobody cares. Am I going to that gym or not? And you gotta continue to do, um, your job. Do those things that you said you were gonna do to help you get there. Or if you have a mentor, have the trust and to say, okay, I'm gonna do those things that you said you wanted me to do to be able, uh, for me to, to accomplish my goal.

AI assessment note: “it's everything to me... you have to be strong mentally to get to where you want”

Q What do you think makes an effective coach?

A Being prepared, being ready, um, having a game plan, and being ready to deviate from that game plan whenever, if it's not working. There's that fine balance of sticking with what you said you were gonna do, and just, alright guys, hey, that game plan, throw it out. This is what we're doing now. You have to know, you know, you kind of have to know in my opinion, um, when to deviate from that. But I think overall, just someone who can connect with their team. Can, uh, communicate, uh, effectively, which, with each member of the team, and that's including, uh, their staff as well, and that can get everybody on the same page and keep everybody on the same page. I think, uh, you know, that's really what a coach does, because at the end of the day, the players are going to go out there, and it's about the players. It's nothing a coach can do outside of saying the right things to get the right response out of their players. Other than that, It's just all preparation and, and, and, you know, thinking ahead.

AI assessment note: “Being prepared, being ready, um, having a game plan, and being ready to deviate”

Q What do you think makes an effective coach?

A Being prepared, being ready, having a game plan, and being ready to deviate from that game plan whenever, if it's not working. There's that fine balance of sticking with what you said you were going to do, and just, all right, guys, hey, that game plan, throw it out. This is what we're doing now. You have to know, you know, you kind of have to know, in my opinion, um, when to deviate from that, but I, but I think overall, just someone who can connect with their team, can, uh, communicate, uh, effectively, which, with each member, Of the team, and that's including, uh, their staff as well, and that can get everybody on the same page and keep everybody on the same page. I think, uh, you know, that's really what a coach does, because at the end of the day, the players are going to go out there, and it's about the players. It's nothing a coach can do outside of saying the right things to get the right response out of their players. Other than that, it's just all preparation and, and, and, you know, thinking ahead.

AI assessment note: “Being prepared, being ready, having a game plan, and being ready to deviate”