0:00

Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutched

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Sports Group and I Heart Radio.

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It's it's in

0:19

Welcome back to Drafted, where we're following

0:21

two elite basketball players on their personal

0:23

journeys to the NBA. I'm keeking

0:25

Michael Key and we're less than one week

0:27

away from draft day. Right

0:29

now, we're at the Godby Road Gym on

0:31

the south side of Atlanta. Top NBA

0:34

prospect Anthony Edwards, his uncle

0:36

Drew, and his trainer Justin Holland

0:38

wrap up a workout and discuss

0:40

his training plans for the upcoming NBA

0:43

season. Maybe

0:47

two forty by Sailors say,

0:52

if I do lay at work, are you gonna maybe two? And

0:54

you're gonna be too for within the name three years

0:58

saying I'm the lose weight, thank and

1:00

you think about it, they're gonna put me on the me man.

1:05

Yeah, I said, when you they're they're growing away,

1:08

they're growing out way. I'm telling you I'm

1:10

not gonna be and you're still ruing what

1:14

still? But I'm trying to Ninety

1:17

year old Anthony is six ft five, carries

1:20

two hundred and twenty five ish pounds and

1:22

he's definitely not done growing you

1:25

gonna. I'm

1:31

looking at you right now. I'm just telling you don't trick

1:33

him up, but you have me. I

1:36

ain't say all that

1:40

you say your bro

1:42

he doesn't trim him up, but your your heart is a rock.

1:47

Say so, I'm after that.

1:50

Get

1:52

work out, God, work out. Wait

1:56

a little bit you want. I'm try

1:58

I'm trying to figure ot what you're gonna litle it. Lets you go and lets

2:00

you go all vegan that vegetables

2:04

as it over. They're not gonna

2:06

make me live like that Lebron

2:09

with two. You don't work

2:12

out, I say, now, Lebron two

2:14

f two, But

2:17

he was seeing that when he came in the league. The wan

2:20

to thirds damn two. Yeah

2:22

he's put on weight, no

2:24

weight. Yeah, but I'm saying I'm not gonna try to put

2:26

on I don't think you trying to put on weight.

2:31

You see the difference of Lebron when you go in

2:33

personally. Yeah, how you want me? No,

2:36

I'm saying, like Lebron wasn't big, got to

2:38

live. I'm

2:40

trying to tell the old already and I'm

2:42

young. The older you get, you're gonna put on ron away.

2:46

On average, people gain the most weight

2:49

during their twenties, roughly two pounds

2:51

a year. Even pro athletes tend

2:53

to fill out during that decade, like

2:55

Justin and Uncle Drew's example of Lebron

2:58

putting on ten to twenty pounds since he

3:00

started in the league. And you're gonna be sixing two

3:02

parters, but since two you don't nest

3:05

you want over those thirty Yeah, I know

3:07

I'm gonna be third, starting off way

3:09

about two and two. Problem, it's

3:15

the starry eight straight, right. Someone

3:18

saying built better million dollars that they won't

3:20

gain weight is usually worth ignoring. But

3:22

Anthony will likely make over six or

3:24

seven million dollars a year if he's

3:26

drafted in the top five. So if

3:29

he's serious about that beat, he can actually

3:31

back it up. It ain't being wrong

3:33

when they went next back. Yeah,

3:39

you're you're playing with probably two thirty five two

3:41

point when you get two points, like, damn, I gotta I gotta

3:43

run. Yeah, they all see you, right,

3:46

two point. Let me out here, run at

3:49

gonna say this, you're gonna make the most, gonna

3:52

do that. It's gonna pairt. I'm

3:57

selling that. Maybe looking like that, we don't we don't

3:59

win up two thirty, a lot of proteins,

4:04

maybe dread a whole lot of protein. Heat differently

4:08

do that. I'm saying, you look like you

4:10

look like you're lighter than your wolves three

4:12

months ago. But you hear you, You know what, muscle

4:16

muzzle. He's

4:19

always been bigger and stronger than the competition.

4:22

Back when Anthony was in the ninth grade, he

4:24

was already six ft two and weighed over

4:26

two hundred pounds. Around that time, he

4:29

was starting to not so quietly destroy

4:31

the A A U circuit. Here's coach Rob

4:33

Allen, another core member of

4:35

Anthony's tight knit circle, who began

4:38

working with him around that time. When

4:41

I first moved to Atlanta, I started

4:43

doing AU coaching. First

4:46

time I met and he played with the Atlanta

4:48

Express AU team. They

4:50

were on the circuit and I got

4:52

to meet went Frey Jordan, who's over the

4:54

Atlantic Express. And then they they

4:56

were practicing and coach

5:00

Jordan was like, Hey, I got this sixteen year old team.

5:02

Do you mind training them for thirty minutes

5:04

for me so they can get some skill working. So

5:06

I said, okay, I'll do that. So I'm

5:09

watching this kid and he's

5:11

just going through drills, real

5:13

smooth, and I had

5:15

never heard of before. And he

5:18

was dunking, knocking down shots and

5:21

he said his name is Anthony Edwards. And

5:25

I never forget I said, well, he's

5:27

gonna have a chance. But Justin

5:29

would always tell him and I had to get him credit for

5:32

this. He told me when

5:34

he was in the tenth grade. He

5:36

said, Rob, I believe he could be a Lebron

5:39

James type talent. I didn't believe

5:41

him at first. I was like, I don't know

5:43

about that. We were in Indianapolis

5:47

at the on the on the circuit. I never forget

5:49

it. They played against the Illinois

5:51

Wolves. I

5:54

sat there right there with him

5:56

and scored thirty points in one quarter. So

5:59

I said thirty you know

6:02

we I mean, these guys were literally

6:04

double and triple team man. And he scored

6:06

thirty points. And this was timh grade year

6:09

and I just couldn't believe it. Here's

6:12

Anthony and his teammates after the game.

6:23

What treaty

6:32

point I'm telling him?

6:35

And him the Fish State.

6:41

He became the number one college basketball

6:43

recruit in the class of twenty nineteen, receiving

6:46

scholarship offers from premier programs

6:48

like North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky,

6:51

and despite his Florida state prediction, Anthony

6:53

ended up narrowing down his choice to two

6:55

other schools. Decision

6:59

came down with when in Kentucky and Georgia. I

7:01

was gonna go to Kentucky. But you know, everybody

7:04

that I loved and cared about was in Atlanta,

7:06

So I felt like Athens was just an hour

7:09

wait. And most of my people was like,

7:11

Georgia be a good idea staying home

7:13

and being near friends and family at the University

7:15

of Georgia versus going to perennial

7:18

contender and modern day NBA factory

7:20

Kentucky. That was the decision, along

7:23

with which top coach to play for, Kalapari

7:25

or Cream. Well, it's the Holy

7:28

Spirit Friend Academy in the heart of Atlanta,

7:31

and sitting next to me is a nation number

7:33

one player in the country, Anthony. Yet and

7:35

he is ready to announce his college

7:38

choice, and you know, you're

7:40

finally got in Georgia. We're

7:42

stay in Kentucky. Nothing both sides.

7:45

I mean the process of a pretty difficult on time

7:47

were coming in and our school every night on

7:50

coaches school, I mean, it was different.

7:53

Decision came to wait

7:57

where we in alf I'll

8:01

be attended

8:05

house basketball at

8:08

the University Georgia. Anthony

8:17

chose Georgia, staying true to his heart, or

8:20

as he puts it, not following the wave.

8:24

I felt like Georgia was the best I did for me, and

8:26

post Crane played a huge role in my

8:29

decision to Georgia because of just

8:31

his past and who he's coached, and you

8:34

know how his player development has grown over

8:36

the years. So I just felt like that was the right thing to do.

8:38

Bottom line is we had a lot of things in place.

8:41

This is University of Georgia head coach Tom

8:43

Crean. He's close to home, his

8:45

family could continue to be around

8:48

them, His coaches and the people that were most important

8:50

in his life didn't have to get in an

8:52

airplane or drive, you know,

8:54

hundreds of miles to be in his life.

8:56

They could go literally down the highway to be in

8:59

it. And so his life was going to change

9:01

at some point at a young age. It didn't have to change

9:03

this quick as he was making his transition. So those

9:06

were selling points. But with all that being said,

9:08

the fact that he knew he needed to get better, that

9:11

he wanted to get better, that he bought into the fact

9:13

that we had made people that he looked up to better,

9:16

like Dwyane Wade and Victor Eladipo, I think

9:18

played into it. Coach Crean helped mega

9:20

stars Dwyane Wade and Victor Eladipo

9:22

go from mid level recruits to NBA

9:25

All Stars. So even though Anthony arrives

9:27

in Athens, Georgia at a more developed stage,

9:30

he wants to make the same kind of leap they

9:32

did. I think when you see somebody that's got

9:34

that level of talent, with the accolades

9:37

and the pageantry that's around him, and

9:39

then you get to know him, and the way he

9:41

took to what we were trying to

9:44

tell him in the sense of what he needed to get

9:46

better at it was this

9:49

is where you got improved. If you're going to be in

9:52

college for a short period of time, all

9:54

right, this is where you absolutely have to get

9:56

better. Because my goal always as a coach

9:58

is not for somebody to get draft. My

10:00

goal is for them to be ready to play and

10:03

have that NBA team be talking

10:05

about that second contract as early as they

10:07

possibly can be, because because

10:10

NBA ready is completely different

10:12

than being an NBA drafting and he

10:14

was going to be drafted. No matter where he went. It became

10:16

where is he going to be ready from? Then

10:18

he started to realize, like this is for real, as

10:21

good as I am all right, there's a lot

10:23

of things I don't know, or a lot of things I gotta

10:25

get better at. And then he started to see the improvement

10:28

and and then it took off even more. We'll

10:35

be right back well.

10:46

Anthony was wrecking the A A U circuit. Another

10:49

star was making his way into the top of the same

10:51

recruiting class, a fast, energetic

10:53

guard named tyrees Maxi. Tyrese

11:06

received twenty two offers from elite college

11:08

programs, but he always knew where he'd

11:10

be going. Honestly, I'll tell my friends

11:12

and my family in the eighth grade, I'm gonna

11:14

be a mcdonal's All American and I'm gonna go to University

11:17

of Kentucky. And it was simple,

11:19

like you know in eighth grade, seven, eighth

11:21

grade, you know, your friends and other people, adults

11:24

looking at you like for mans, like

11:26

pouring three chance that all that stuff that you're saying

11:29

is gonna happen. Everybody in the in the world, every

11:31

eighth grade of that played the basketball in the world is saying the same

11:34

thing you're saying. Like I was like, no, I'm

11:36

gonna play for the coach Cow. Coach Cow has had, you know, Derrick

11:39

Rose, John Wall, Darren Fox, Jamal

11:41

Murray, Brandon Night. I'm

11:44

I want to be a part of that legacy and I'm going to be a part

11:46

of Legs and that like that was I had my mind made

11:48

up in the eighth grade, and you

11:50

know, my family supported. They said just

11:52

go get it. Work extremely hard, and go get it.

11:54

So I wanted to go to Kentucky.

11:57

Since then, Tyrese turned this middle

11:59

school vision into a reality, and

12:01

in his very first college game in Kentucky,

12:03

he slated to play the number one ranked

12:05

Michigan State Spartans at Madison

12:07

Square Garden in New York City, the

12:10

mecca, one of the most revered sites

12:12

in all of basketball. So last

12:15

year, on my birthday, well you know, our

12:17

birthday is on November four, and our first game

12:19

against Michigan State, numb one team in the

12:21

country at Madison Square Garden was on November five.

12:24

So we're having our last practice, you

12:26

know, at Joe Kraft in Kentucky before we get

12:28

on the plane to go to New York City

12:30

to get ready to play, you know, no one team in the country.

12:33

So we're practicing, going along, good practice,

12:36

and I'm playing, you know, point guard on our call

12:38

and play. But one

12:40

of my teammates, Killan Brooks, didn't hear me. He doesn't

12:42

hear me, but everybody else on the court heard me. So

12:45

Keian messages like he he messed up the play,

12:48

and then like, coach ka, play

12:51

my bad, Coach, I didn't hear what we said. So

12:54

Coach Kyle turns to me and said, you're

12:56

not You're not ready. You're not playing. It's a matter of fact,

12:58

he told me. He tells, you know, the other guys on our team,

13:00

the other two guards that we had man you and Ashley, said

13:03

y'all get ready to play forty minutes. Because he's he's not

13:05

ready to play. He's not playing the marrow at all. He's not getting

13:07

the game one second. I don't care what anybody says.

13:09

I'm like, bro like,

13:12

I'm not gonna play. Bro Like all

13:15

the work that I've done, I was getting up at six am there

13:17

working out with four practice, four weeks or

13:19

four class, you know, doing what I had

13:21

to do on the court. Doing I'm not doing the classroom, and

13:24

I'm like, I'm not gonna get in the game. And

13:26

this is my this is my birthday, my nine team

13:28

birthday, first birthdayway from home. I'm like, bro,

13:31

I'm not even gonna get in the game. So like I'm I'm

13:33

like just sitting there. Like the rest

13:36

of the day, I was like, A, I

13:38

don't know how long the flight was in New York, but has

13:40

the nice house flight? Get to New York,

13:42

have meetings, eat and it's

13:45

still my birthday, so like I still should be excited.

13:47

I'm like, bro, I'm not gonna get

13:49

in the game. Like it's still hurts. I don't care who

13:51

you are, I don't care how great of a teammate you are. For

13:53

this, for the coach to tell you when when you expect

13:55

to get in the game and you expect to play, expect to do well, for

13:58

here to tell you're not gonna play, was

14:00

like devastated. But I talked

14:02

to my mom later on that night, and

14:04

you know, she gave me a little encourage and talk.

14:06

But you know, I just went to sleep

14:09

and I got an opportunity to play. I got an

14:11

opportunity to play the next day and the

14:13

rest of history. Max. She look at this first

14:15

of speed up and in deep

14:18

rot for MAXI three four

14:20

ft behind the line. Oh oh

14:24

you serious? How do you sewious?

14:27

Coxy? You're a huspers

14:30

your first game? Are you for real?

14:32

Oh man? Are you serious?

14:35

Look at that swa, Look at bet

14:37

Swan. Oh man, it's

14:40

the Kliparry. You got a storm. It's

14:43

to you. Gotta

14:45

storm Tyrese MAXI making

14:47

a name for himself in his

14:49

very first game, Kentucky

14:52

upsets top ranked Michigan State. Tyrese

14:55

scores twenty six points to go along with his five

14:57

rebounds. Coach Calipari's motivational

15:00

tactic worked exactly as planned. If

15:02

he planned it at all, I

15:04

don't remember it, but you

15:07

know, uh, I don't

15:09

think I maybe I did. I've done

15:11

many things to make kids tougher. You know what

15:13

I say to him, even that situation.

15:15

If you can't take me, the

15:18

guy that loves you and his whole

15:20

life is trying to get you and your family right.

15:23

If you can't take me, how the world

15:25

are you gonna take the opponent? You

15:27

must conquer yourself first

15:30

before you worry about conquering anybody else.

15:33

Basically, I'm saying time to grow up, time

15:36

to be a man, time to be responsible. And

15:38

I may have said it, and there are things

15:40

that you know I'll I'll be tough on

15:43

kids to get them to understand. Now

15:45

you think about it, that's coming from

15:47

someone who loves you, and it's for you.

15:50

If you can't take that, you

15:52

how are you tough enough to go in the game

15:54

and compete in Madison Square

15:56

guard against Michigan Stay. So

15:59

maybe I did do it. Here's Tyres

16:01

again. He

16:04

knew what my potential was. You know what my potential

16:06

is, and ha ha am I sailing it that you know I could reach

16:09

if I put it in the work, and I'll keep my head low.

16:11

So and like I said, I really appreciate

16:14

for that. He pushed me so hard that, uh,

16:17

nothing can phase me now. In

16:20

eleven years of Kentucky coach, Kellipari

16:23

has turned out three number one overall

16:25

selections, twenty one lottery

16:27

picks, thirty one first rounders,

16:29

and forty one total players taken

16:31

in the NBA draft. John Wall, DeMarcus

16:34

Cousins, Jamal Murray, Anthony

16:37

Davis, Devin Booker, an

16:39

almost endless list of league corner

16:41

stores, so he knows what it takes,

16:43

perhaps better than anyone. Tyreech

16:46

could have gone other places and solely

16:49

had the ball more we had Ashton Hagan's.

16:51

You know, all of a sudden, Emmanuel quickly we

16:53

played with three point guards. But guess

16:56

what we did it with Jamal

16:58

Murray too, and Jamal wanted

17:00

the ball more. Well, he's got it more now and you look

17:02

at him. You know. They had to be a great teammate

17:04

here because they had to share one about one

17:07

or two guys shooting all the balls. I

17:09

mean, you don't have to be a volume

17:11

shooter in college. You have to develop

17:13

professional habits. You

17:15

have to develop a pro mentality

17:19

and in those kids and Tyrese

17:22

come on now, Uh, he sacrificed

17:25

and gave up, But I learned

17:27

to play without the ball. This became

17:29

evident on January seven, when Kentucky

17:32

faced off against Georgia, where Anthony Edwards

17:34

waited for him once again. On their

17:36

way up, tyres and Anthony played each other in various

17:39

circuits and then committed to Southeastern Conference

17:41

rivals Georgia in Kentucky. Now

17:44

they go into a much hyped head to head

17:46

matchup the number eight ranked Wildcats

17:48

playing a tenant for Georgia team contending

17:51

for the conference lead, and Anthony Edwards,

17:53

arguably the best player in the country, would

17:56

be facing his toughest test yet. Anthony

18:02

would lead all scorers with twenty three points

18:04

in five rebounds, and on an

18:06

infamous play with Tyrese guarding him, he

18:08

drives to the basket, overpowering his

18:11

friend for an easy two points. Maxi

18:19

falls to the ground and Edwards makes

18:21

a taunting gesture indicating Tyrese

18:24

was too small to guarding. The

18:26

announcers say it should have been an offensive follower.

18:29

Social media calls Anthony an unstoppable

18:31

scorer. After the game, Tyrese

18:33

has his own thoughts, Yeah, we don't

18:35

have to have a really conversation about that. I probably will call him

18:37

as soon as I get have to play, so you know him, Yes,

18:40

okay, so you don't have to have a conversation about I

18:42

did say he

18:46

probably did, but it's okay. I mean I think

18:48

at the end of the day, I think we had one points to him, So it's

18:50

okay. You

18:53

guys are friends and he played up. He played

18:55

against each other in high school. How it

18:57

play on this stage? It was amazing. I

18:59

mean, especially on the road in front

19:01

of their home crowd. We had a lot of slower can

19:04

really talked during the game, you know, but

19:06

after the games, what's up, my man? After

19:09

the game, you know each changed. We're I hugged each other. Say

19:11

keep doing what you're doing and see him in a couple of weeks or in a week.

19:18

He's great. He's really took the guard, especially

19:20

when he had the green light like that. Um,

19:23

he has to make play for that team to win, and she

19:25

really hard to guard him. Proud, Um, keep

19:27

working on his game. Kentucky wins by nine.

19:30

Maxi ends up with seventeen points, eight

19:32

assists, and seven rebounds, approaching

19:34

a triple double. But maybe even more impactful

19:37

was his defense. He had four blocks

19:39

and a steel to go along with his offensive

19:41

output, and spent a large portion

19:44

of the night helping guard Edwards, harassing

19:46

him into a night of eight for seventeen

19:48

shooting. The performance highlights Tyree's

19:51

as one of the top defenders in college while

19:53

revealing how much more Anthony and

19:55

Georgia still needed to improve. Here's

19:58

coach Crean speaking to what he saw. We

20:01

got caught in the hype of that game after

20:04

beating Memphis on the road, and

20:07

I think it was almost more it was the

20:09

pageant try. It was almost like we've

20:11

forgot just all hard Kentucky

20:14

plays, right, and and not only

20:16

how talented Kentucky is, but how hard

20:18

they play. And you can't

20:20

make mistakes, whether your home road

20:23

or in a parking lot in Alaska,

20:25

playing against them, you can't make those mistakes.

20:28

So I do think there's some learning that came from that game,

20:30

no doubt. Just two weeks later, Kentucky

20:33

and Georgia play once more. The Wildcats

20:35

get the better of the Bulldogs yet again, holding

20:38

Edwards, still hyped as the best guard in the country,

20:40

to sixteen points. By March,

20:43

Kentucky racks up wins

20:45

and the number eight ranking in the country, putting

20:48

them in position for a high seed in the n

20:50

C Double A tournament. Well, Georgia drifts

20:52

with sixteen wins and sixteen losses.

20:54

The Bulldogs need to win their conference tournament

20:57

to make the final bracket of sixty eight teams,

20:59

which likely means another high profile

21:02

matchup with Tyrese in Kentucky. Then

21:04

suddenly the season is canceled.

21:07

March Madness is canceled. The coronavirus

21:09

unravels plans across the globe.

21:17

When this thing ended, some of the guys

21:19

who were a little more outgoing than others,

21:21

I think some of them were just stunned, like

21:24

stunned, like what in the world this

21:26

is coach Calipari once again. So

21:29

you know, we had a couple of guys cry. I don't know if

21:31

he was one of them. I do know when we arrived

21:34

back on campus, they played five on five,

21:36

just the last time to be together.

21:40

The basketball world has turned upside down, along

21:42

with the rest of society. Anthony and

21:45

Tyrese both realize their next

21:47

step. Beckons the NBA

21:49

is calling. Well,

21:56

I wasn't worried about him going. I think I

21:58

knew he'd be fine. I thought that if

22:00

we had finished the season, it would have been

22:02

better for him. But I still

22:04

thought, you know, you're gonna be a lottery

22:07

late lottery most but um,

22:10

yeah, I never had any doubt that

22:12

he was trained for that moment, and he

22:14

was ready. You're good, You're

22:17

good to go with

22:19

classes and basketball called off, Tires

22:21

goes to Los Angeles to train for how

22:23

long. He doesn't know. What started

22:26

as a few weeks turns into the entire

22:28

summer. We'll

22:38

be right back. Here's

22:49

Tyres again with his uncle Brandon, after

22:51

just finishing another session at the gym, still

22:54

waiting in limbo, still imagining

22:56

what life would be like as

22:58

a pro. I

23:03

mean they go crazy. They go crazy. If you at

23:05

the crib now they go

23:07

I said, they're going crazy if you have to crib. Now when

23:09

you go somewhere for

23:11

being like dad, they crib. That's what I'm saying. Now,

23:14

just imagine you want to go somewhere

23:17

and grab something, eat or something. That's

23:20

the crazy part about it's like really

23:23

over bro chick week,

23:28

Oh my god. And that's

23:30

what l A taught us to most. They did how

23:33

to move, how to move as

23:36

a professional as I don't move, you

23:38

move, you different, absolutely go down.

23:41

They come with chicken, you working on my as doing

23:44

you know what we're thinking about. If it was in dallasall this whole time,

23:47

well we would be so confused and so so

23:49

yeah, it didn't come out here, dude, this to be like damn,

23:53

y'all, you donta do it like I don't know what

23:59

you know. It was so funny because I went

24:01

with Chris Paul when he was in his hometown and

24:04

he was dropped because he was he drops at the camp, but

24:06

he came to the hospital, came to the hospital.

24:08

Bro. It was just like that went

24:11

to Chick fil a orderful? Who Chris,

24:15

Chris? Who? He said, Just

24:17

Chris put it the window. I knew who was you?

24:19

Chris Paul. I'm

24:22

like to that. Yeah,

24:27

but he was cool. I mean, ain't

24:29

it ain't crazy? Oh

24:32

shoot, I left my wallet? Oh god,

24:35

what I got?

24:38

Eight dollars? Eight dollars? My wild

24:41

Can we do? What's you gonna

24:43

do? Apolicies? What he

24:47

put it back? Bad

24:50

job and that and

24:52

that Polinasia did, as

24:54

we heard in the last episode. All the time in Los

24:56

Angeles has given Terres a chance to focus

24:59

and train, well as teach him how to navigate

25:01

life off the court as a pro athlete.

25:03

Then the draft gets rescheduled

25:05

a second time from mid November, and

25:08

neither he nor Anthony have played a real

25:10

game since March seven. That's

25:12

eight months straight without being in a situation

25:15

where teams can evaluate the progress of

25:17

these young players, and that's a huge

25:19

deal. For a player like Tyrese. The question

25:22

marks about his game and when and where he's going

25:24

to be taken. Are all still up in the air.

25:27

I would say to you that

25:30

no other draft class has

25:32

been through this. No

25:35

other draft class was a crap

25:37

shoot like this draft class

25:40

because they didn't get to dam they didn't

25:42

get to have their normal workouts, they

25:44

didn't see him in the n State Tournament. They

25:46

didn't see guys play their best when

25:49

it really mattered. So this was

25:52

one of those let's take a guess draft

25:55

um and and you

25:57

know, I felt for the kids. I called each of our kids,

26:00

do you need my help? There's seven months

26:03

without anything, They're

26:05

on their own. I just checked

26:07

in with them mainly like do

26:09

you need my help? How are you making

26:11

it now? Maybe their agent helped,

26:14

maybe their family was what But I'm calling

26:17

them to say, do you need me to help? You tell

26:19

me? Because you know, no one

26:21

they're they're they're in a in

26:24

flux. They don't no one knew

26:26

what was going on. So yeah, it's

26:28

it was a rough run. Facing

26:33

these challenges, Clutch Sports comes

26:35

up with a new idea to showcase their

26:37

clients. Here's Omar Wilkes, head

26:40

of their basketball division. Obviously,

26:45

given COVID, things were going to be

26:47

different, So we were tinkering with the idea

26:49

of a pro

26:52

Day. This was before they were going to allow via

26:54

team to join, Like could we stream it and

26:56

send it to each individual team? Um,

26:59

you know, how can we get creatives? You know? Through

27:01

this pandemic. Eventually it was okay

27:03

that certain team personnel could come to Pro

27:06

Day, but not everyone could

27:09

come or there's limited numbers, and so we're like, all right,

27:11

after we're joining with the streaming idea, Rich

27:14

thinking outside the box, was like, forget

27:16

to streaming it. Why don't we see

27:18

if we can get it televised, Like, why don't we try

27:20

to put it on ESPN. They urged Tires and

27:22

Anthony to try something no one has ever

27:24

done before, their own televised

27:27

Pro Day, just the two of them on ESPN

27:30

for an hour with

27:33

Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Trey

27:36

Young and some of the best players in the world

27:38

sitting in the crowd. All eyes will

27:41

be on Tyrese and Anthony

27:48

next time undrafted. It's

27:50

crazy because people ask them how different it is,

27:53

But this is all we know. This is all I

27:55

know, Like this is the only time being in the draft process

27:57

though the zooe is all we know. What is this

28:00

over nineteen that everybody's talking about and Rudy

28:02

Gobert has it, is Rudy gonna die? Like I think

28:04

initially nobody was really thinking about basketball

28:07

at that point. We're not allowed to have fast, all right, cool?

28:09

Then the NBA canceled that same day.

28:11

If they're not going to play, there's no way that we can

28:13

play well doing the pandemic. What what you find

28:16

out real fast is the plan is there

28:18

is no plan. Somebody can say what you think about

28:20

a hundred million dollars and only ten million

28:23

of it is guaranteed, So what are you talking about?

28:25

So we had been planning on having a pro

28:27

day twenty two minutes on a nationally broadcasted

28:30

channel to just kind of introduce them to the

28:32

world. In his workouts when I'm nearly

28:34

watching workout or when he's talking

28:37

to me, he's always got a chip on his Showlder

28:39

Terris Maxe is a prime example. He's

28:41

gonna be a good pro for a long time.

28:53

Drafted as a production of tree Fort Media, Clutch

28:56

Sports Group, and I Heart Radio. The executive

28:58

producers are Kelly Garner, Lisa Ammerman,

29:00

Eric s A. Loot Sean to Tone l

29:03

Key and me Kegan Michael

29:05

Key. The series is produced and written by Eric

29:07

Weiner. Jared Brom is our coordinating producer.

29:10

Trey McCain is our associate producer. Tom

29:12

Monahan is our senior audio engineer. Mixed

29:15

and edited by Steven Johnson, additional

29:17

production help from Tim Shower, June

29:19

Rosen, and Hayley Mandelberg. For

29:21

transcripts of the show and more information on Drafted,

29:24

go to tree Fort dot fm. For

29:26

more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit

29:28

the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

29:31

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.