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Welcome to the Lisa Barrigan on demand podcast, where we get to dive a

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little deeper with interviews you may have heard on my midday show on Big one

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hundred, like with Wizards assistant coach Joseph Blair. We talk Wizards about the

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upcoming season, but I was mainly drawn to JB and his story because he

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is all about conscious and sustainable living. He is an outspoken vegan. JB

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is actually known as the Vegan Coach, So we get to dive in what

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it's like to be a coach and an elite athlete and also be vegan.

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Here is my conversation with Joseph Blair. Hi, JB. It's Lisa.

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How are you hello, LUSA, very very good to meet you. Virtually

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nice to meet you as well. We're talking with Joseph Blair, assistant coach

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for the Washington Wizards, former globetrotter, former professional player, healthy lifestyle advocate

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JB. I love that you are known as the vegan coach. Can you

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talk about your story about becoming vegan? Well, I guess it goes back

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a little bit further too. When I became vegetarian first years ago, when

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I left college, I was coming down on my funds, so I went

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and bought a bunch of bulk items that were non meat items, and then

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that process, I lost a lot of weight. I just physically felt better,

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and I just extended that through my professional basketball playing career. For ten

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years I was vegetarian. The last three I went to pescetarian, and then

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I kind of fell off the wagon per se and went back to eating everything.

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And then about almost nine years ago now, my ex girlfriend at the

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time called me one day and said, hey, I just saw this documentary.

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I'm going vegan without a doubt, And I said, you know, I love you, I support you. I'm going to do the same.

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I was vegetarian before. I'm happy to go vegan now, and it's probably

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been the best decision ever made. I look back now and understand it.

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When I was vegetarian is all about health. I just felt better with this

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vegan lifestyleline lead now definitely still feel better. But also it's about the conscious

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living of just nothing dying for me to live. If I can live a

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life because there's no death, I'm living in better life and just consciously knowing

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that makes me feel better about my decision. Right now, Jabe, how

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long have you been vegan? This November it will be nine years, so

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quite some time now, I guess. Before the quote unquote fad began with

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It's so funny how we vegans and vegetarians all know our vegan anniversary. We

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all know when it happened. And I'm curious. For me, it was the documentary Peaceable Kingdom. What documentary was it for you? Or your former

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girlfriend that did it? You know, I don't even remember which one it

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was. She sent me a link and I went into the deepest rabbit hole

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you can imagine on YouTube videos on veganism, and I went from one to

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another, to another to another, to the point where I was so convinced

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that I would never never go back to meeting in again. And I will

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say, as much as I give people advice on how to become vegan,

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I was a cold turkey vegan. Decided that day I was coming with vegan

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went manfrigerator and I threw everything out there that was not plant based, and

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I've never turned back. There's still a lot of mysts out there perpetuated about

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a vegan diet. You know, where do you get your protein? And a lot of high performance athletes. They don't believe that they can perform at

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their best on a vegan diet. Do you run up against these stereotypes working

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in the NBA. It's something I will say, it's getting better now because

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obviously you can imagine and all of us that are vegan now we know the

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marketing propaganda that has been spewed out constantly about you no good and no body

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good and the food pyramid and all these things that we need and we need,

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and really it is just that marketing propaganda. But luckily, nowadays there's

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this emergence of plant based food marketing and that has really changed the way people

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think. And it's really bleeding over in the athletes as well. Where at

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one point they were so anti, now they're intrigued. They want to know

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what's that made of? How can how much proteins in that? How can

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that make me feel better? So as much as I'm still definitely going against

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some resistance, there's definitely an openness that was not there even I look back

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five six years ago. Now, in the last two to three years,

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probably maybe three to four years, even there's this a movement in plant based

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foods and plant based diets and athletes are up are more aware of the benefits

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of plant based eating, and even the options for our athletes have definitely definitely

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changed and evolved to now there are options. There's you know, the post

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workout protein drinks and smoothies. Now you can get plant based proteins in there.

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Now we have pre mixed plant based protein drinks, and definitely on all

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of our eating, whether there's dinner, lunch, post games, whatever,

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there's always going to be those plant based options as well. How receptive has

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the Wizards players been to this lifestyle? I mean honestly, they literally call

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me the vegan coach. They know they know, they know who I am,

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and they know what I'm about. So as much as it's interesting because

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we have, you know, we have new players that come in and right

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the way, they're like the vegan coach, the vegan coach, and then they pull me the side and say, so how long even vegan? Like

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what do you so? What do you eat? And they'll start asking more

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and more questions, which for me is a beautiful thing because if once you

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get them to ask some questions or even once they call me the vegan coach,

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for me, that means they're open to understanding there's a difference. It's

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really a beautiful situation for me, I think, because it gives me a

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platform which I can really get my hands on, in contact and really communicate

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with some of these high level people that not only that, but they have

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big platforms and influence if one of the one or two of these guys can

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become vegan. If you look in the NBA, we do have one,

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two, just a handful of vegans, and the guys that are the speak

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out on veganism are making them significant change and they make it okay, quote

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unquote okay to be vegan. Who are the NBA players that are vegan.

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Well, the ones I'm well aware of Chris Paul he's probably the biggest name

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in vegan is and the most outspoken vegan. He was very big and when

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Beyond Me took off, I know he's a major investor in them as well.

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And then one of the players that I love them is near day to my heart, Jared Vanderbilt. He's with the Los Angeles Lakers. He's been

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vegan for years now, and I coached him in Minnesota as well, So

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I have to get him that props because I got a lot of great meals

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because he was vegan. Movies like The Game Changers really shed a light on

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how much athletic performance can really skyrocket on a plant based diet. Have a

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lot of the athletes that you work with, have they seen that movie?

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Have they asked you about that movie? You know? Some have, some

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have not, And when I bring it up, most of them have not,

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And if they do, they're still skeptical. And I will say that

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I've been blessed that I'm a kind of a living example because I'm you know,

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i am their size. I'm six ten, I'm two hundred and fifty

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five pounds, and I'm still you know, I'm almost fifty years old.

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And you know, they watch me work out every day. They watch me.

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Yesterday a matter of fact, we did a run test and I ran

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with them during the tests and they as see that I can, you know, at my age. And they always say, though, how do you

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do this? What do you do? I say, really, it's just my diet. I eat well, I take care of myself. I'm very

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aware of the choices I make dietary, dietary wise, and it makes a

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big significant change in my life. So I think that even when they haven't

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seen those those movies or they haven't been exposed to things, I like to

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believe that I lead by example when it comes to veganism and how beneficially it

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can be for them as athletes and for their longevity and sustainability of just their

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livelihood. JB. I follow you on socials and I love the Vegan Diaries.

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What inspired you to do these videos? And are you working on a

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new episode of The Vegan Diaries? You know, I, first of all,

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I'm backlogged. I have like probably three different ones I need to put

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together. I've been slow slow putting them together. But it's one of the

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most fun things for me because it gives me an opportunity to explore new restaurants.

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I get to go find places, and as much as we travel throughout

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the year, I had some that are my favorites, but now I'm like,

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Okay, I've already done a Vegan Diary there, so I'm have to

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find a new place. So it's really great for me because I have all

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the excuse in the world to go eat at new places. So I'm excited

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for this season start just for the simple fact that I've already gone to certain

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places, I need to find new places. And it really just was inspired

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by the fact that when people when I first say I'm vegan, one of

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the biggest things people say, so what do you You just see salad and

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tofu. All the time, I was like, are you kidding me?

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There's more vegetables and fruits than there are meats, So how could you even

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say that? At beginning to fathom that. So I really wanted to start

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just showcase and I used to just use my social media to take a picture

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of something I eat, and I thought, you know what, I want

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to not only don't want to show what I'm eating, I want to show

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where I got it, where you can go get it. I want to

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kind of expose some of the restaurants that are doing it and charging this movement

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as well. And the more I can do that and let's just let people

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know, like, you know, this is not only is it. I think the perception of vegan restaurants also is terrible. You know, most people

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just imagine it's some someplace that just starves salads and it's hole in the hole

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in the wall. But there's these amazing locations amazing restaurants that cater to this

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kit or to vegans and non vegans alike. And there's some restaurants that I

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put on there that aren't vegan, but they have amazing vegan options, and

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I think that just people to be aware of you can go to your same

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restaurants and they'll still have options, and just making that one choice a day,

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that one choice a meal, one choice per month, even what a

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difference it makes. So the more I can put that out there and just

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show people that vegans don't just eat salad and tofu. We have just some

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amazing meals and there's some really really amazing restaurants out there, And that's one

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of the biggest things for me, is just exposing those restaurants and hopefully maybe

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some of those restaurants will see see the vegan divers and start inviting me there

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for some free meals. Yet, what is your go to vegan meal?

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You know, it's crazy. I don't have a go to vegan meal.

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I am like so all over the place. I see last night, I

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had some lentils, when some greens. Tonight I have what do I have

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in there? I have some chick peas curried chickpeas and some broccoli, and

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I always loved I do love big salds. I have to admit that.

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But then I love also you know, I had some couple of guys from

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the team over last week and I made them some tacos and I made some

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seviche and I made some impanadas. So I'm like, I love to cook

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for some foremost, but I really love to eat more than I love to cook. So I don't discriminate against food. I think that's a terrible thing

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to do unless it is not plant based. Well, Jabe, let's talk

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a little Wizards. Coming off the thirty forty seventh season, what can fans

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look forward to this season? You know, we're just going to be a

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younger, more dynamic team. I think the goal of us is just let's

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play hard, let's compete in every game, and really develop our younger players

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so they can become the stars of the future. And I think that we're

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going to have an energety team that the DMB is going to be proud of,

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and it's going to be proud to come see you and with this understanding

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that you can be a part of this growth process of the team and I

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encourage everyone to coming out to the games. You know, the more support

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we have, the better it is, especially for these younger players that we're

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going to have this year. And then also we have some really dynamic players

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that we signed back Kyle Kuzman, obviously, Jordan Pool. These are great

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guys that are going to be pillars of our team. So I just think

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it's going to be a team that's going to be dynamic. We're gonna try

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to play a little bit more fast paced. We're going to really defend our butts off and just give everything out on the court. And I think that

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our term for this year is just level up, and that's what we want

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to do. Level up the year right year with Bradley Beale gone. You

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know, casual fans looking at the roster, they may not recognize a lot

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of the names. Who do you think is going to step into that role?

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Well, you know, as I just mentioned, I think Kyle Kuzma

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is probably a big name. He's been here, that's going on his third

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year now. He really has proved himself, had some career years here in

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DC. Jordan Pool as well, he's a big name guy coming from Golden

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State and average big numbers, and I expect that of him as he's here

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as well. And then you know, we have some of our younger players

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are really expect to step up and take bigger roles. Dan Yavia, Corey

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Kispert. I think Tyas Jones also coming from Memphis, is going to be

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a great addition to our team. Gallinari after sitting out a year last year

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with injury, I think I'm expecting him to come back and want to have

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a breakout year as well. So there's just a lot of new faces for

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sure, but I still think that we're going to be a team that can

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compete and represent the district. Well. One new thing this year in the

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end that a lot of people are talking about the in season tournament for the

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NBA Cup. A lot of mixed reactions to this. What are your thoughts

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on it? You know, the league is going to do what it's going

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to do, whatever's pest for the league, and I feel that they did

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a good job of organizing where it's not too outlandish kind of we play those

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playing games for the tournament during the regular season, just certain games are marked

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playing games, so we would have the games regardless. But I do think

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it's something new and fresh for the league. I think the NBA is constantly

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trying to be innovative and what it can do to give a better fan experience,

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and that's one thing I've always appreciated about the league, and I think

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that it's going to constantly try to be evolutionary, and that's why the NBA

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is the greatest basketball league in the world because of those evolutionary decisions that they

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make. I think it's continue to be that, and this in season tournament,

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it's just one of those things. I think now we look at being at the first year and like what's going on. But you know, from

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my playing experience, I played in all over Europe and there's always we actually

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always had a cup tournament inside the league, inside of possibly a European league,

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So it's more natural for me, I think. But I will take

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a little bit of getting used to I think, more of the understanding of

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the rules and how it's going to get done. But I know I know

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the NBA is going to make it as seamless as possible and make it fun

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and make it a great fan experience. Well, JB, you mentioned your

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years playing in Europe. Is it true you speak fluent Italian from your years

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playing over there, of course I speak. Yes, it is true.

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I'm definitely a fluent Italian speaker. I have three, three boys, my

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two youngest are born and raised in Italy, and actually with my my two

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youngest, I only speak Italian. Typically we only speak English as someone's around.

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Some people don't think we're talking bad about them, right, But I'm

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definitely a fluent Italian speaker. Is Italy vegan forward? I mean, can

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you find a good vegan meal in Italy? I guess pasta? You guess

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you'd eat a lot of pasta over there? Well, you know what?

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Surprisingly you know? I go to Italy every year, and I want to

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say, when I first became vegan, I started going, it was one

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of the biggest fears as I was like, Okay, what do I eat

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every day when I'm over there? But they were more forward thinking at that

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time we were here in the States that I remember going a grocery store the

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first time and there was a whole aisle. But they've always been somewhat more

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biological friendly, meaning they are more organic foods. But they kind of evolved

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that into organic section plus a vegan section and I remember just the last two

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years I went as the first I'm at the vegan Carpazzio, the vegan pursciutto,

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all those types of things, they were already there, which surprises me

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because even if you try to find vegan purscuto're in America, you're gonna you're

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gonna be looking for a while. Yeah, but this was in multiple supermarkets

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there, so they're more vegan friendly what you think. And also again goes

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back to the restaurants with vegan options. They were always if I said I

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was vegan, there was no questions about. You know, even today there's

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times where you'll say I'm vegan, they'll say, oh, I can bring

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you mac and cheese, Like, no, that's not vegan, that's cheese.

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They don't understand what the difference between vegetarian and vegan. But when I

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was in Italy, when I said vegan, they totally understood what it was

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and they always had options for me. So it's surprising. And not just

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in Italy, you know, I was just in Poland last month and the

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same thing, one of the most vegan forward countries in Europe. In my

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opinion, it was an amazing experience, you know, I got all my little vegan friendly out there, and it was so many restaurants within a one

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mile square radius at where I was located. I was just shocked, all

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being fully vegan, not just vegan options. So I think that Europe in

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general is really doing a great job of being forward, getting ahead of things

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more than we are. And honestly, when you look at the money making

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process, it does actually make sense. So we're making more money in the

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America off a livestock dairy industry than other countries are, So I think we

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are going to be slower with that because there's always going to be that just

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attempt to keep things the way they are because of the financial gain. Right.

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Well, JB, thank you so much for spending time with us this

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afternoon, and it's great to see you using your time and your platform to

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promote veganism. How can we stay connected with you? Oll? Obviously I

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am on social media Instagram, mister Joseph Blair on Instagram, same on TikTok,

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but I post those vegan diaries everywhere, but that'd be the best place

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just stay in touch with me. At least, I want to thank you just having me on to be able to speak about what I'm doing and my

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life, and my goal in life is always just trying to influence people to

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live in a positive way and do the right thing. And I believe, I do believe veganism is just that the conscious living of understanding that the choices

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we make in life, including the choices we will affect other beings and other

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lives on this planet. So hopefully I'll always bleed over the other aspects of

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by life where we to become more cognizant of the fact that the choices we

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make in life and effect of their lives. So thank you for giving me

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this opportunity to speak on that. JB. Thank you so much for your

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time. I really appreciate it, and thank you for everything you're doing for the animals. Thank you God bless