When the olympics start will be the most talented team in tokyo. Hands down no question. Most talented team in tokyo with the roster that they have but this is like a five alarm fire right now howard. This loss to nigeria. I don't care if they win the rest of these pre olympic games which will take place through next sunday. This has to make you nervous if you're a fan of the team because not only is it this. The loss to nigeria. But you go back two years ago at the world championships where you had a us team. That was good. Didn't have probably better team now than they were back in two thousand nineteen but all nba players. They finished seventh. They've been seventh at the world championships. You have the seventh-place finish the loss of nigeria. How concerned are you howard beck about. Usa basketball. It's just an exhibition game. Chris oh no no. It's not just an exhibition game. Stop this team was thrown together over the last however many weeks they had what like three practices. I think i'll ever. Us team is thrown together. What are you talking about. There's no team. There's no no mid season practices for usa basketball. No but the nigerian team has been practicing. What i'm saying is some of the play in the nba though wants win the nba nba. A few of them play in the nba but that team has had time together more so than the team. Sorry brown coaching. that team. That i missed was that a facsimile of mike brown on the bench all season long. What what are we talking about. The warriors have been out for like two months kris k. Okay so two months. that's what matters. That's that's the number three three practices. Also they're still missing. I believe at least three guys because they're playing in the finals right now. Booker middleton chris paul get it. Yes not chris. Ball's not playing a holiday with the the what holland is your holiday. Those those guys will matter especially given that middleton and holiday are to the better perimeter defenders that that team. Usa has and if you look at the rest of team usa's roster. I don't see a ton of great defenders. There there are a few. I think those three guys by the way are going to be exhausted by the time they get to. They may well be. They may will be so. We're going to judge them. Judging when their whole judge when the games matter to strange to me like we don't judge nba teams based on the preseason but we judge team usa based on these exhibition games. That they do going into international competition. I feel like it's thirty. One point favorites. Why why is there betting line on a freaking exhibition better training but a little league baseball. Now country degenerates damn right. I didn't mean chris i'm with. Let's go monday. Nigeria money line. I just. I can't get too excited about this. If they lose the rest of the exhibitions does that mean something. Yeah that might be alarming if they're if they're still struggling to find some cohesion. That could be alarming. But i mean the talent is obviously their talent alone doesn't win on the international stage in style of game is different team ball matters. Shooting matters like yeah. There's a bunch of budget stuff that comes into play. But i i find the panic over this loss or at least the outcry to be a little bit much. So you don't take into account the seventh-place finish in two thousand nineteen. I mean that to me. It's the it's not just as game. The totality of it right. Like and i don't know howard like so in the early two thousands the world kind of caught up to the us ninety to ninety six thousand us. Gold maps then comes the two thousand two world championships in indianapolis and that's seven. The place finish was one of the worst worst outcomes in at least recent usa history. They got it together after that. They hired jerry colangelo. They bringing mike chef ski. They get their act together. Two thousand six two thousand eight then. They run off. Three consecutive years are three consecutive cycles of gold. Medals is argon. Made that like the world's caught up again that somewhere along the way and the last four or five years. The rest of the world has once again caught up usa basketball. I'm trying to understand this. I mean that's close games in those olympics cycles. No question about it. But i can't imagine the oh eight. Twelve or sixteen team losing nigeria. I can't exhibition or otherwise. I can't see it happening. No team and the and the one that followed it were built around like lebron koby. Carmelo enjoying wait. I mean that that groups at another level like as good as this group is that we're seeing right now as talented as they are after k. D. tatum's really good damian. Lillard is great. I mean come arbit- tatum. Bill lillard auto bio levin. Draymond dream ends up there in years but one has won some things. Jeremy grant jeremy grant zach living out of like. These are guys who have done anything in the nba yet. But they're all stars most they're they're also but are they to level of lebron kobe now but do you think is that what you're saying then is that what you're saying to be at the level you need to have like i'm saying the crop to win. I'm saying that if we're going to start comparing the twenty twenty one team to the twenty eight a two thousand eight two thousand twelve teams there is. There is not an equivalent right now. Lebron kobe laurent cobaine weight. And plus what we what. We called olympic. Mellow like carmelo. Didn't have the success in the nba. That some of his teammates did but carmelo in terms of talent level and certainly has resume like that group was at a whole other level. That group is a different level than jason. Tatum bam outta bios. Zach levine. Okay so not saying that you necessarily should have to have that level of time firepower to win an exhibition game against nigeria. Or anybody else. But i am saying comparing usa to itself different iterations of team usa. This one is not that one. This is not as dominant group as the ones we saw in eight and two thousand twelve. It just isn't what do you do like. What's the solution here. Like i mean i jerry. Colangelo deserves an enormous amount of credit for rebuilding that program when it was at. Its nadir mitra chefs. He comes in enormous amount of credit for what they did. But as we sit here in twenty twenty one like it's almost to me howard like the usa basketball rebuilding. The program became cool. Like lebron wanted to do it. Chris paul like dwayne wade. These guys wanted to do it and then they did it. And i think playing for usa basketball didn't become quite as cool as it was fifteen years ago. Like is that what has to happen like does not need to have like a fifth place finish in tokyo for all of a sudden the next generation of a-list stars wherever that may be in two thousand twenty four to come back into the mix and is that the only way this team can win. I mean i think we need to pay attention to the overall context like obviously one. These olympics were supposed to happen a year ago. They're delayed a year because of covid got durant out of it though like that right. It's questionable whether these the olympic should be happening at all still but along the way because of these back to back brutal seasons and everything else like team. Usa doesn't have james harden right now. Doesn't have anthony davis because of the injury doesn't have steph curry doesn't have kyrie irving doesn't have lebron kawai again. If your argument is that the second or third tier it sounds like sounds like insulting. Somehow but if you're saying that the next wave believe after those guys should still be good enough to dominate on the world stage. Maybe but if the point is that the team as best are they still. Are they still able to win. Gold fairly easily. Your probably but a bunch of them aren't on this team right now because of injuries and just the stress of the last year or two so this this is not necessarily representative of the best of the best right now. It just isn't and yes. They should still be good enough to win. Yes the world has caught up to some extent. No the the group that at nigeria's put it put out there last week. Does not leap off the page improbably. Us should've still want it. But again i exhibition game after like three practices. Let's see what happens with the rest of this. This schedule out brought mellow back. I mean he's not what he was four years ago. Eight years ago twelve years ago but the guy knows how to play international basketball. He might have sat. maybe. I guess. I didn't really. I assume that he just want to keep. He didn't kind of like four formerly re retire from the olympics. But it'd be pretty much says like i'm done like lebron kinda did to get talked into it. I feel like. I don't know if i was if i was the usa team would try really hard to get carmelo blake because his style. Whatever it is to the nba is perfect for the national basketball. He's a really good or national basketball player. On this subject damian lillard. He spoke for the first time. Since the hiring of chauncey billips. Only listen to what little had to say about his future in portland. I'm prepared to go in and do my job every year. Like hopefully we make strides over direction and could become a better team a new coach notice. That's where i am. What soured it sounds like. Lillard is at least nominally on board with going back to the blazers. But if i'm a team out there with assets. I don't listen to that response and say well it's over damian. Lillard is back on the same page with the portland trailblazers. If i'm a team with assets i hold onto those assets because it feels to me like the blazers might be one like sixteen to start from blowing that whole thing up with louis mccollum on the way out the door so get the sense now. That seems more likely than not that damian lillard at blazers training camp. He's in ablaze uniform. He starts the season with the portland trailblazers. But if it doesn't work with chauncey billips early and you get close that trade deadline. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see portland decide. Look we've got a. We've got to do something here and opened the door for damian lillard trade. What do you think. I think that nothing has changed. I think that his remarks last week because he sounded a little bit lukewarm. Or just you know you hear one of two things. Well you want to hear one thing if you're a portland trail blazers fan or if you're just looking for any indication that lillard is all in your you want to hear him say listen. I know things are rough right now. But i'm all in you know this is. This is where. I want to be you to repeat all the usual talking points that you hear from players in his position and that we've heard from bradley beal that we used to hear from james harden houston. Which is a win in phil in city fill in the blank with the city. I want to win here. I don't wanna go somewhere else. You know we're going to get this right blah blah. He didn't go down the usual list. And so i think it left open. Some interpretation but getting has changed like the disappointment was clear when the season ended. Some of the things have happened since including obviously the the the train wreck away they went about the the coaching search and lillard. Being caught in the crossfire. There at feeling heat from fans about chauncey billips being selected and so. I don't think we should expect he's going to be rah. Rah right now The trailblazers have a lot of work to do. But we also have not even hit the summer yet. Like there's the draft hasn't happened yet. Free agency hasn't happened yet. There's there's a lot of work to be done. And i think if you're damian lillard which you're probably doing is internally saying here's what i need to see happen externally saying you know what let's let's wait and see i mean you see. He can't he can't say publicly the same things that he's telling say neal o'shea right about what the the state of the roster i i would think that there are some very impassioned debates or discussions being held behind closed doors about what they need to get this thing right and if they can't get it right the he might shift is his stance about staying there long term. But that hasn't happened yet that we know of. What do you think the most interesting potential conversation is amongst players over these next four weeks like i'm kind of curious what jason tatum bradley beal talk about. Tatum and beal close friends dating back to their highschool days both went to the same high school bill with something of a mentor to jason. Tatum actually got him involved with his trainer. Drew hanlin which helped. Tatum elevate his his personal skills and they've talked about how happy they are to be playing together. Played the all star game together for the first time beal last year of his contract. Like you know we've seen these conversations yield real tangible conversation. You'd like to be a fly on the wall on for any of these guys in the next couple of weeks. Yeah i mean look we. We have a history now going back over a decade. If we're to believe that the that the heels were formed in part through team usa activities. You know which is true which is true. That's that's yielded an extra things guy. You know guys who you mentioned. Tatum and bill because they were already friends but guys also become friends through this experience right and then they start getting the ideas about playing together. Like oh hey. This is a lot of fun. Let's do this again in the nba. So there's i'm i'm sure some of that is is happening. It always does. Who else in that group. I mean man. If any of these guys that'd be trying to recruit bam out a bio but he's too early in his in his contract with miami to pry him loose from there And you know the heater still a pretty potent team but you know jimmy butler is up there in miles and outta bios future won't necessarily be there forever. That's the way it goes in the nba. I think tatum has the potential to be like the biggest recruiter. They're like he's about to start the first year of his max level extension. He can recruit bill. But like you can also does damian lillard like. It's great to play in boston. I love it here. Answer some questions of my have a playing on the east coast for the first time. Like i think data might be boston's best asset at this point. Yeah again some of this comes down to bradley. Beal's coming up to that point where he has the leverage to task out because of his contract lillard under contract for several more years and so he's not in that position. So what if it says. Like i need to go like. I don't foresee the blazers being no finish your contract. Just don't see it. i think right. And they would work with him on a deal to sure but directing it is harder so beal can use the leverage of his free agency to say well if you send me to team x. I'm not gonna resign there. Which then blows up that deal and he can direct himself to the team he really wants to be at lillard would have a harder time to doing that. Because he doesn't have free agency looming two to play that card. Yeah well i encourage any reporter. That's in tokyo tatum. Beal and lillard talking to each other. Just take a picture and then let the internet go wild crazy because it will unquestionably last thing for you. Howard the breaking news. This week in the coaching ranks. Is that jamal moseley is headed to orlando moseley of course last with dallas. A really well respected assistant coach there. Who was a candidate for that. Maverick job before. It went to jason kidd my immediate reaction to that higher howard beyond i think being an excellent choice for orlando is that we're gonna look at at moseley and jason kidd on parallel tracks. The next couple of years moseley. There was a strong case to be made that he should have been elevated to that head. Coaching job he'd been considered for other head coaching jobs. Before most recently in new york he had by all accounts a great relationship with luka doncic i understand bringing kit in he's got a history with dallas and as riccar lau said publicly having a player that played the game like kid and having a player that plays the game like don-shik make some sense to pair those two guys together. But there's always going to be as i watched these two situations unfold. I'm gonna wonder you know. Did the mavericks make the right choice. Leading jamaa moseley go and bringing jason kidd in and there's so many variables in this the first being at orlando's in step one or maybe even steps zero of a massive rebuild right there in the negatives right now. I think there's still maybe more fat to trim on that roster before they really bottom out. Yeah and you know you talk about trying to build around. You know markelle foltz. And and jonathan isaac jonathan isaac for so long. They're getting hurt and he's a great player but they've loved writing in a weird way john stays healthy. He's still more of a complementary store right like he's he's a potentially defensive player of the year at some point. He's not a guy who you're building an offense around though and marquel foltz okay. He he got himself back on track in orlando. He has a career now where he didn't have one but he's not a foundational building block. Come on like that's crazy so the roster doesn't have much talent jamal. Moseley's is coming into a situation. Which a lot of first time head coach is committed to which is all right. There's a lot of work to do so You're gonna have to do a lot of development. You're going to have to take a lotta lumps in the win loss column. It's gonna be rough going for the first year or two or maybe three. Let's see how they can get things going. But you know as it has been a certain other like kenny. Atkinson came to look a completely hopeless situation in brooklyn but was known as development coach in atlanta. And sure enough. Everybody who went there. Joe harris spencer. Dinwiddie jared allen versus lower. First round picks. Guys who were you know whether they were reclamation projects whether they were low picks everybody seems to get better the second they went to brooklyn and play kenny atkinson and his staff congenial. Moseley have the kind of effect in orlando can the front office. Get him to kind of guys. That will thrive in that in that kind of environment and carve out careers from cells and carbon identities. Jamal moseley has a lot going for him. And we've heard like many great things about it but we often hear great things about assistant coaches who don't end up panning out so i always. We have to caution ourselves on these things. Because i thought. Brian shaw was gonna be a great head coach and he was. Everybody loved him all the players sung as praises when he was associate head coach under frank. Vogel indiana he goes to denver probably just the wrong guy at the wrong time but he hasn't had another shot since then but that went really badly. Brett brown was really great in in some respects for the for the early years of the process and then suddenly. It seemed like they'd hit some sort of ceiling. Eager kokoschka of had been talked about for years is a great assistant. Coach didn't work out. Swells head coach in phoenix. David dale bumpy ride in memphis and then disastrous in new york. We just don't know like luke walton. Another example like there are plenty of coaches who as their when their assistance. We hear and see the best of them and then you know some of them be go on it and have great success coaches. I mean tyler has been fantastic. Mike malone has been fantastic money williams. Nick nurse dwayne casey a lotta longtime assistance. Get their shot and then you know it. It works out in a dozen. It's all contextual. It's all just the opportunity you have the thing for dallas is. They went with a guy who has experienced jason kit. That experience was not necessarily good experience. Like i think most people around the would look at what he did in milwaukee in brooklyn and say. I'm going to steer clear. Maybe you'd rather have the the unproven. Jamal moseley versus the somewhat proven jason kidd but. I don't think we'll know what the right choice was there for a while yet. Because it's it's gonna take some time before we can evaluate moseley as head coach. I maybe jason kidd learned something in two years as an assistant. I mean that happens. You know working with lebron for entire for two entire seasons working under frank vogel maybe picked up some things that'll be useful to him as a head coach. Moseley to me. The key is giving him time. Like you've got to be committed to moseley for a minimum. I think of three years and more likely five years. And then you see what you have in head coach. You mentioned gore. I mean it's worked out for phoenix. Absolutely but i do think he got hosed out there i mean he only had one year on the job and that year was without deandra aiden chris. Paul had devon booker of course but that was not a good team that he was coaching. There i gotta get moses the because you want to see what the guy can do when you put that team in a position to win a great example to me is james breglio in charlotte. I mean berea. Was one of those guys assistant coach elevated to head coaching position in charlotte. Not great first couple of years there but when he was given players and chance to win he did pretty well. I mean up until lamelo ball went out the horns were really good team and i think they will be a good team. Going forward in part because of the borrego is a pretty good coach. I want to see this magic team. Invest heavily in jamal. The you're the guy developed these guys and we'll keep you around no matter what the won loss record says until you get a chance to win then you judge like brett brown six or seven days since brett brown left but i can see the for letting go of brett brown. I mean they had a talented team and to a degree the underachieved. But you've got to let the coach get a roster on that level before you really make any decisions about whether they can coach. Yeah well and that's the thing about. This is what set up says apart. I think the good organizations from the bad ones is that you you decide when you choose a guy. Especially if he's a longtime assistant not a guy with head coaching experience. And you've said we believe in this guy. This is somebody who's got a great trekker record as an assistant. We're going to first opportunity. It's your obligation to when you say investment. Yeah it's time investment. It's a give them all the tools to succeed. Give him the time to succeed. You've decided you believe in him. So stand behind that have the conviction to stand behind that and take some bumps along the way you know maybe maybe memphis and or the knicks should have stuck with david physed longer. You know we had heard nothing but great things about fiscal coming out of miami. Initially we may yet you know. Find out that he. He can be great head coach in the right situation. Maybe those worth rights situations. He might be one of those guys though. I love physios and assist one of those guys. Though the just the temperament is always important. Like the government like memphis yet. Some battles with market assault didn't work out your plus new york. You just might be one of those guys that doesn't have the right temperament to be is based on what we've seen a memphis in new york might be better suited for these ranks but if he succeeds in l. a. I think he'll get another chance right. Maybe i think the point being though that if you as an organization have identified a guy instead he we believe in him then. Okay then believe in him. Stick with them and make sure you've given them enough tools to succeed Is it a pulling the plug at the first sign of of struggle and that's what happens in the nba. too often. is that seems panic. You know the fans turn. There's some minor flare up. Oh the coach and player got into it. Whatever it may good teams that can happen on as well. And it's it's just. It's the way franchises. React so you have to know whether or not the guy is is is right and then stick with them. And so yeah. Let's jomo's should get a nice long here. She got a ton of latitude in orlando given where they are as an organization given the state of that roster. Yeah i agree. Howard enjoy milwaukee looking forward to hearing the conversation with the lazarus on friday. You can check podcast. Right here on the crossover feet again. Make sure you listen to howard's interview. Spencer dinwiddie from last week. It was really really strong. Enjoy -joy the mid west our. We'll talk when you're back on the northeast always a pleasure. My friend the newest player in the pre nba basketball landscape is overtime. Elite elite will begin playing sometime in the fall. And we'll be headlined by some of the top now. Former high school players in the country players would be paid minimum one hundred thousand dollars with some making north of that and have access to high level facilities training as well as educational programs to help. Get a better grasp on that. I'm joined by brandon williams the head of basketball operations for overtime. Elite and kevin ollie the former. Nba guard uconn. Coach was the head coach and director of player development bread. And i want to start here with you. Just kind of give me the ten thousand foot view overtime elite. What are the objectives. What what what was behind the formation of this league. I think any of us. Chris who've been around for a long time i've actually seen Sort of the downside of young players who entered into professional ranks to this point. It's been the nba Who are not ready. And so what does that mean you know not not ready to form and be stars or is it just not ready to be great teammates or is it not ready to be good partners. is sort of all that you know the idea that the work day is much longer than they know. And that there's more responsibility to be in a professional athlete The responsibilities to families and communities we just have to do a better job preparing them and here was an opportunity to be part of a program that wanted to address all that. It's not just about being a good player. It's like we wanna address the whole athlete. Hope so on. Three levels were hitting basketball. Easiest thing understand. I think businesses in our world is education And then there's brand you know. These young people now are moving at a speed that we aren't as older folks and they want to build things An earlier age particularly off the court so building a brand is important something that can last well beyond their tread on tire so we're hitting it in basketball business brand. That's that's that's really thirty thousand foot view. Kevin what attracted you to this job. Just like his dad is the whole person being able coach them from a mind body and soul Experience and understanding the mindfulness athlete I've seen it from a pro level. Got up tune into play thirteen years with twelve different teams so i understand like the different trials and tribulations you go through with a player not saying that these players are gonna go through that but is getting them more prepared if they do come into some certain situations where it's not typically going the right way. How can they manage that situation. So what they do today can echo into tomorrow and having the ability to kana paint on a black blank. Canvas is what a really attracted to me to to this you know. Ot league program we can take the player really shape the curriculum you not with teaching them about subjects. But we're really teaching them about themselves as well from media training From mental health issues. All the different things that come involved because we all know chris is stress. You know from success is a lot of pressures is a lot of people pulling at you. It's a lot of people won't certain things. But how do you deal with that from a player's standpoint where you can play when you get on the basketball court and half clear and not be caught up in the distractions of off the court issues. Um as desks desks were really kind of vocal. Spirit to give back in it and how these kids you know. Have these players be available at the moment of truth to make the right decisions and that was very important to me. Kevin as you mentioned you played in the nba brand. You played in the nba. As well i wanna ask both of you guys and kevin. I'll start with you like if this was available to you as sixteen. seventeen year. Old looking back. Would you have founded attractive with a definitely founded attractive You know i kind of thought the box anyway. I was from chris. Shaw from from from south central and i chose connecticut. So you places that. I didn't even know nothing about growing up. You always thought out the box and never wanted to go down a path that everybody was going down So i was always curious. And i think that's how my mom especially my mom. My dad raised me. So i definitely been curious of this situation. No no speaking now without you know took it. I'm not sure. But i think it really gave me another option to look at it and this is what we're trying to do not saying that the ncaa is wrong overtime. Leaders wrong or right. It's not about that. It's about if you really care about the student. Athletes you give them as much options as possible. And i think this gives the lee student athlete. Another option and i think you know it's a very Great option for them to have and if they choose overtime league we're going to give our whole heart to make sure they're developed on and off the basketball court chris i- jumping after coach It would have been interesting. Chris but i certainly would not have been a candidate i would. Let's just get that right. What what things that's important. We sit down going through just grassroots community and we spent months just talking to people educating about. You know what we're about who we are. Each of us has a reputation in some other space. Not here The this program isn't for everybody is not the right fit for everybody. We are cherry picking and a lot of ways. These are players that feel like they are destined for professional basketball. There are a lot of sixteen year olds. That don't know that yet and their parents aren't convinced that yet in people that support them. Don't don't feel that confidence yet. They may be another year away or two years away but this is not. This is not the right path for everyone. Twenty four athletes roughly twelve per class. We're looking at juniors and seniors and the truth is at this age. What was really funny about scouting them is everybody's skinny and like a lanky and underdeveloped and still has like a mountain of upside to you know to to get through before you can really see who they're going to be but you know if you have a young player like brand williams who's just dreaming of being an nba player but does not much certainty. That's even realistic We gotta be very careful about this approach In taking because there there are risks but for those that that have already established in this deke. They've established a day of separated from their class. You know jaylen. Lewis has an example the most recent example. He's he's he's elevated in separate. The draft isn't tomorrow though so there's still a lot of work to do but he's already in front running physician and it gives everyone low confidence that this is the kind of investment and the kind of pet that would make a ton of sense for players like that. Let me follow up on that brandon. Because you're you're entering. What suddenly become a fairly crowded space in terms of leagues like this. You know the g. league ignite is one season in but they've had a measure of success. We've seen jalen green probably a top pick. Jonathan kamenga top five or six. Then you have the ncw with this. Recent ruling allowing top players to make money off their name image and likeness. How does how does the elite separate itself from that group. Why think i is. We start a little bit sooner so the g. league zone a great job with what we call it a year the prep year that year. That a recent graduates would be going to college and they've already been hacking the system you know going to italy or china So so there's a market for those players and we want an alternative to college for for for us though. Our players are seeking an alternative to high school so we are a school but we think about the resources that were bringing to the table first of which being an nba like environment You know start coach. Ali coach lehto in a robust set of staff. I mean scouting staff a high performance staff administrative team. Our goal was to simulate an nba organization for for young athletes at sixteen seventeen eighteen. Th there there is no other environment. Like that. And i think the big way that we separate with high school athletes Is that both domestically and internationally. We're able to put twenty four of them together in a building. So what we're selling is the best competition for these guys starts at home. I mean every day in line coaches don't minister drills administer competition aspects of practice and getting ready for games but when you look to the right and left and i noticed as a player. There's no weak link. I mean everywhere you look. There's somebody that's doing what you're doing and possibly doing more. Because they they are not just dreamed about the into the league or to the high level. They're on their way there That's where we've been able to. I think create a little separation from others that have tried or looked at something. Like this kevin. How do you approach this job. Do you do it in a similar mindset and you had at uconn where you have young players you also you know yukon. You had to keep them academically eligible you to follow that pretty closely. I mean is there is it a similar mindset or do you take a different tact. I think you just let it be you know. Similar is not. It's just whatever comes you say yes to it and you cultivate hope from it I never coached high school players. They was always you know graduated from high school. And now they're freshman's This situation is a little different in in was recruiting for two to three years. This situation is a little different. But you know from me. Chris i love the unknown about it. And that's the space i live in. Not just wanna make sure that. I have the space incorporate something in these players that they can just think about it can build from a have a foundation so when they make the transition they have every tool in the toolbox to say okay. Oh that's a problem Assess it let me be able to correct it. Let me obsessed. Let me be aware of it and i think that's the difference between you know coaching a high school kid in in the college. Kid i mean you get able to mold them a little bit better and then you have to understand where they at. Now you know back then. I didn't have social media. We didn't have social media now. These kids these players are building their brand a little bit earlier and now you just meet them where they are. And i can't wait to get them up on campus get them up until atlanta just continue to build a great relationship. Welcome spend time with the one on one in. This situation is going to provide us to do a lot more skill development that i didn't have a really good opportunity and it had not one say good opportunity. I didn't have the best opportunity. Because there's so many things we own a row recruiting You own a row fundraising these different things. Brandon's taken care of in. Dan porter is taken care of. I can just really coach the player and work on his skill development on and off the basketball court. So it's really given me my own lane. So i can really perform my job. Mama job is really breaking down and relationships it starts. Relationship is start with trust. Stars will hold is spending time with the the young student athletes on and off the basketball court and pushed them to greatness and the competition is not on. our side of competition is with him. You know can you beat your previous best bestself. Can you be better than today you know. Can you be better tomorrow than you were date. And that's what i'm coaching. And that's what i love to do. And i think we're going to have some great young man as open as biden has going to be vulnerable going to try to reach for the sky. In the sky is going to be ob- you is not going to be limits. I can't wait to get up to atlanta. We've been having some many camps. Chris has been wonderful to get back on the court with the guys. And i'm looking forward to the next mini camp and dan looking forward to getting them up to atlanta. So we really can go to work. You know when. I was was talking to brian. shaw a couple of months ago. Kevin about how he was coaching. The ignite you know it was a lot of pro stop. He was trying to bring to that team. Are you taking that same. Approach you trying to coach them like their nba players or something different. No it's nothing different is just. I'm building pro. Habits in every situation is going to be different. Chris this is going to be some guys. Come in you know. Say for instance like a. John montero will we got him and he you know is a little bit more advanced than some other players because he's been a pro- already and then it's going to be another situation where we gotta talented guy might not be able to get quick but these opportunities we can go at our own pace we can sit down and talk to them but we're really teaching and building pro habits and those habits is going to translate over to them being great pros when that opportunity come invest in the nba are the euro league so every day you know we are building like a practice plan like more of a college practice plan nba practice bandwidth doing drills. That i got from my numerous stops in the nba. You know we're doing sets in the nba. Then we gotta understand that sixteen years old as well you know and maybe sometimes you gotta you know kinda doubt it down a little bit. But i'm gonna let com. I'm going to let that go. i'm not going to focus on one of it. I'm not gonna say oh. We're doing this process. Each and every day every day is different. And that's what i love about the unknown. And i'm gonna treat it like that and we just gonna continue to bill because i think we got great mas and organization that really want to coach the whole person. And that's what i'm really excited about. You decided to upgrade your outdoor deck. So you ordered the essentials. Power washer said a patio chairs and a shiny new grill. And you use your bank of america. Customized cash rewards credit card choosing to earn three percent cashback online shopping and up to five point. Two five percent preferred rewards member which you put toward your most essential deck addition a bird feeder of yours at bank of america dot com slash more rewarding copyright two thousand twenty one bank of america corporation support for this podcast comes from invent together according to studies less than thirteen percent of all inventors who hold a us patent are women black and hispanic college graduates patent at half the rate of their white counterparts. But we can fix that by increasing participation innovation and patenting by underrepresented groups. It would quadruple. The number of american inventors and increase annual gdp by almost one trillion dollars. Invent together is a coalition of organizations companies. Universities and concerned citizens committed to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to invent and patent because the more diverse. The american patent system gets the stronger and more successful. our nation will become. What can you do to help. Divers inventors patent and unleash economic opportunity. Find out at invent together dot org learn more and take action today brandon not to continue to compare this team to the ignite but when i talked to sharieff abderrahim about that i mean. I had asked him about the sustainability of that team. Given how much. Money was being poured in to pay some of the players. And he bobbed and weaved floyd mayweather trying to answer that question. Because it's it's hard to commit to it without say a television contract more sponsorships and things like that when you can you speak to kind of the sustainability of this because we've seen startups with an influx of cash. Get get in big the first year. But then peter out. I mean what needs to happen. Four overtime elite to become a long term successful program while has got to answers. I think you know a concept. I mean we're we're selling on the ability to develop young players and have a more more pro ready right. So this is. This is the path we are offering basketball development. Call it professional Business development And we are also like leveraging. What is an incredible media platform that again. The things that we like to call a distinguishing factors. That's a huge one. So not to bob and weave one. We gotta be good ass. You know that. That's how have long deputy spurs the spurs. They were good for really long time. And so we've got the that there were good at this note. No pressure on kale right The the the second piece though is you know and this comes from my my time in the nba. It just wasn't that long ago where it out of chicago. Pre-draft combine interview. If i said. I wanna build my brand. Everybody in the room was like smirking and like you know what. What are we talking about like. It's about basketball basketball basketball And you know if you are young team developing and not winning a lot of games truth is you can't sell just basketball because your basketball isn't great you got to sell personalities and stories in that there's something that people can invest in in fall in love with other than like the final score like otherwise. The sixers had no chance right any any development team yet to buy into a story and for us. I think we have a chance to create stories but we get a chance to show those stories because we have a platform. So it's it doesn't take much. I mean i'm not a social media guru. But when i got recruited for this job haven't been around the block a little bit certainly from an nba perspective. I heard a couple of things. I really got my attention. One was fifty million followers That's eyeballs and we all know that that Business follows the eyeballs in whatever in whatever respect. The other was which is unfair. Because i think that number changes month over month but it started at one point four and not set maybe one point eight or one point nine billion with a b. billion views of content a month that overtime in some ways has found a way to the heart. The mind of young people It is being communicated and solid as you know the generation z. sort media and content engine We are doing an amazing thing here which is developing young talent in a pure way that we want to make sure that they are prepared. Top to bottom to do well on the court to do well and communities to do well in business but then there's this other thing which is they want to be known like. No player wants to play in an empty building. Everybody wants to play where it matters. They wanna play. When nick can rock and like the building and just like recognizing their talent. We're just artists. And one thing that is kind of showcase. By one event that that overtime overtime the media company producing s called. You see it on youtube to. Is that over. Hundred million people watched that. I mean that that's not an insignificant number that players that are going to play overtime. Lee will have the opportunity to be known The the opportunity of bring brick big brands to the table and support this platform If not already indicated by the kinds of investors that that have shown interest but the brands that are coming to the table our sustainability is going to be showing value delivering value to not just the athletes but to overtime visibility. I would imagine great for them but can you monetize it. Can you make it so this league is in the black or does it need to be in the black every year. Well my the good news is as a basketball man. No different than a different than the is Get a budget. My job is to be fishing and and spend wisely. I i'm not. I'm not asked to sell tickets or generate revenue that's for a tremendous And in successful a business operations Our job is to make sure that what we are delivering is high is a high level product That you see the growth and development of our young players. What's there recruited. We gotta make them better. They need to be able to perform and probably the best testament of our success is going to be our nba. Gm voting with this pick right but with a coach saying like they did a nice job. This guy was. Well coached testament to takeo and the rest of the coaching staff. That if we're doing that will prove successful. Because guess what the next crop of recruits when we're in the gym like we're not chasing them. There's sort of meeting us at at minimum half way. We need to keep bringing high level taliban and developing talent to prove successful and i have a tremendous set of partners across academics and across content media. That will will do their part to elevate our business. Can you expecting to tap into some of your. nba relationships. I mean as you mentioned thirteen teams in twelve seasons. You've made a lot of friends over the years. We're going to see like san preston sitting in the crowd for your practices as a whole so sam and so many gyms that i know you know Kevin durant and all these guys are destinies in overtime. Just having them be around. We had our first minicamp. Ray allen showed up and not only showed up. He brought his son to work out with guys. Just it was just amazing. does just see how the branches that we can continue to pull up on and they continue to pull on us and be a partnership in. This thing is going to be great. Are you expecting to have kind of drop ins. Durant's involved with the league. You expecting these guys. Just be around. Which i would imagine would be both a resource for you but also an attractive quality to this league definitely. Definitely we going to build a place where it's going to be hopefully a development premier development destination for everybody and you know hopefully katie can come out and work out with guys and russell westbrook and james harden and all these guys that we know and i know i had opportunity to be evolved. Then it's kinda beat a veteran guys We want them to be around. Because it's not. Just me sean. It's also watching tape like these are the different drills and look how k. d. and look how chris paul is using the pick and rolls and now they're showing up that's a that's a big big bang for us with us growing these young talented student athletes To get them inspired to the next level and they're doing a great job done only gonna do. I coached him. Chris a coach me on a day to day basis. I'm open to that and we just really want to have a love affair with guys and and the end of the day chris. We want appease the basketball guys. We wanna play the right way. We want to share a basketball. We wanna run. We wanna have fun. We want how to join the game but it can't just be me me me. It has to be weak. And i'm wanting to teach guys how to be involved in any system they get drafted about. They can be a part of a productive system and be a productive partner in in the community as well no matter what city they when they arrive to the nba brandon. Before let you go. What schedule gonna look like i mean is this team playing. Just walk me through kind of what these kids are getting into. And what kind of schedule you gonna be able to put together so schedule that that is really interesting for everybody. And i wanna try to illuminate. But i've got to be careful we are still contracting with some teams But for the audience the think about it in buckets. We're gonna play independent prep schools. That's going to be a significant part of our schedule. We are a high school so we are looking to schedule. Some of the top independence that you would typically no to have a national schedule can travel that have the ability to be mobile. We're scheduling home and away with with With those folks and it looks like net set as an example It looks like you know. Folks that are playing for a national title Arizona florida california. So it'll be a widespread travel schedule for us. We're also looking at European competition so think about junior euroleague as an example. Some of the best clubs the Insects as an example Where we can get a collection of sixteen to nineteen year old elite talent to compete against us. And then as i mentioned earlier on the show we really feel like the best competition is gonna come internally and that's where our league play Comes into effect so we are looking at our group of twenty four as three teams of eight. There will be standings you'll be able to track will compete against each other. That'll be a significant part of our schedule as well. We don't want to overstep our guys one of the things. We really wanna correct leading science. Guide us here. is is minimized the wear and tear. Nobody's while still developing and preparing for a professional level place so a schedule of maybe thirty five. To forty games is our target. We started september Training camp will will begin Play by mid august. We'll be done by by Late march is how we see our schedule shaping up i'm looking forward to it brennan kevin. It's a really interesting concept and hope you guys have a lot of success with an. I'll certainly be watching a lot of. Nba people will be watching but brandon. Stay out of a set of massachusetts. Kevin has like some basketball. Ptsd from all those bc. Matchups i'm sure would probably were so tough. I don't remember kevin. It's not real like talk about it. But lita past. We'd be six thousand. That's not very nice. That's hovering kevin brand. Thanks for joining me. I appreciate it all right. Thank you chris. Thanks so much.