0:00

Welcome to the Big Niang Theory. Let

0:02

me ask questions my podcast. Joel

0:05

is a card shark, Danny gets swindled

0:07

fashion. I just like stuff that looks greatness,

0:10

just breads greatness and be off fit right

0:12

in. Welcome

0:16

everyone to another episode of

0:18

The Big Niang Theory with George

0:20

Niang and Lauren Rosen. Today's

0:23

a unique episode. It's more or less us

0:25

having some cool dialogue, maybe

0:28

me giving the listeners a little background

0:30

information about myself without

0:33

any guests distracting us.

0:35

So I'm actually pretty excited about today. And

0:37

I like that, despite being the

0:40

guest, you opted into introducing yourself.

0:42

So I think because you did, we can

0:44

just jump right in. You

0:46

know what, that was probably a little extra

0:49

of me, you know what I mean. But thanks for calling me out

0:51

on that. You're You're good for that, you know what I mean,

0:54

keeping me humbled. Whatever. Let's

0:56

set the scene today, and

0:59

I'm comfortable to this because I'm going to turn this podcast

1:01

around quickly. Today was your first practice

1:04

with your new teammates? Yeah,

1:06

what's it been like? What was today like? How

1:08

are we feeling? You know? It's kind of like a breath

1:10

of fresh air to be honest with you to know

1:13

like who your team is going to be like

1:15

moving forward. There's kind of like life

1:18

put it put it, a new life put into the team

1:20

where you know, we knew the situation coming into

1:22

the year, we had to play games. But now

1:24

that you know you have such a talented

1:27

piece and James Harden and

1:29

a player like Paul Millsap that you

1:32

know can affect the game on both ends of

1:34

the floor. I think that

1:36

brought excitement to the team. You

1:38

know, I think we feel very confident

1:40

going forward. Obviously we know it isn't

1:43

going to be easy. We still have our work cut out for us.

1:45

But you know, James brought a light

1:47

and an energy to practice today where you

1:49

know, he's flying around the balls,

1:51

flying around, he's making threes, you

1:54

know, and Paul with his veteran presence, it was just

1:56

something that was exciting to see

1:58

it. It's almost like you

2:00

can see the end of the tunnel and

2:02

you know what we're building and it's all coming

2:04

to light, which is which is really exciting. Because

2:07

Collin spadea spade within hours of

2:10

the trade deadline. You know, you want to go about

2:12

your day normally, but I mean I remember I

2:14

was laying down on the massage table thinking like

2:16

all right, Oh, like, how is this going to go if

2:18

we don't do anything? And you know, when you make

2:20

a big splash, and you know, we essentially

2:23

got a guy who was an all star, you

2:26

know at the moment, playing for a guy

2:28

that was not playing you know. So I

2:31

think we're extremely

2:33

excited, you know, to get the ball

2:35

rolling and see what happens next.

2:37

So for background, one of the reasons why we wanted to

2:40

do this episode was we've had a lot

2:42

of really positive feedback of people getting

2:44

to know our first few guests on a

2:46

deeper level, but realizing

2:48

that those first few guests have been around

2:50

longer than you have been. I'm talking

2:52

about for Khan, Tyrese, and Matisse.

2:55

So people know these people and they don't

2:57

know you. Yeah. So a lot

2:59

of the feedback that I I've gotten is that they want to

3:01

hear you answer some of the same questions. And so I think what

3:03

we could do is sort of go chronologically backwards,

3:05

right, Like, let's start with today and end up

3:07

where you came from. Something that

3:09

stood out to me when you spoke to media in

3:11

your most recent availability was

3:14

your recollections playing against

3:17

James Harden in the playoffs,

3:20

and I'm sorry to bring up a sore spot, thank

3:22

you, But what do you remember about

3:24

that and can you take us through? Like what makes you

3:26

so excited when you think about those moments and you can detach

3:28

yourself a little bit from the pain. What

3:32

excites you about having him on your side

3:34

now as you head down the stretch. I

3:36

think the thing that I remember

3:39

is just the tough shots that he makes and

3:41

putting pressure on defense where you know you

3:44

can just never you're never able to relax

3:46

as a defense. Like he's always putting pressure

3:49

on you know, your

3:51

defense, whether if it's driving the ball or fakingly

3:54

he's going to drive ball, skipping the ball across

3:56

the court. And then like I said, I obviously

3:58

said today in a media availability, I said, the

4:00

most underrated thing about him is that he's so smart,

4:03

Like the way and he's like pointing people around

4:05

and putting guys in different places. It's

4:07

like he's ten steps ahead of the defense and

4:10

wants to manipulate the defense.

4:12

And the first quarter will hurt see how this you

4:14

know, this format or this set

4:16

looks, and then in the fourth quarter will be like all right, Well,

4:18

that didn't work, but this works, and he's like moving

4:20

guys around. And when I said he was like a basketball

4:22

Savan, it's because he's like someone

4:25

out there that's just picking you apart mentally

4:27

and then has the athletic

4:29

ability and the talent to beat you single

4:32

handedly. And like I said, when

4:34

you can add someone like that, you know, halfway

4:37

through the year or three quarters through the

4:39

year, I mean, that's just special. You know, those

4:42

blockbuster deal called blockbuster deals for

4:44

ever reason. They don't happen every

4:47

day. So I'm thrilled to have him as a

4:49

talent. And that's what I'm most excited about playing

4:51

alongside him is you know, picking his brain.

4:53

And you know, I like to think of myself if someone

4:55

that thinks the game of basketball, and

4:59

to have him him alongside to see what he

5:01

thinks, to understand what's going

5:03

on through his mind. I'm just really excited

5:06

moving forward, especially you know we

5:08

have a chance to compete for a championship. I think that's the biggest

5:10

thing. Obviously, you have a history playing against

5:13

him, so you knew how smart he was and you knew the way

5:15

that he directed his offense when you were a defender.

5:18

But were you at all surprised

5:20

to see what he was able to do with

5:23

guys that he's never played with on day

5:25

one? Like, was I wasn't there? So was

5:27

it apparent that he was? Like was it interesting

5:30

to watch him be on your side and be

5:32

that savant like on

5:35

day one with players he's never

5:37

played with before. Yeah, So today we

5:39

did a lot of like five on oh like

5:41

offense, and you know, you get to

5:43

see he's so game like

5:46

in his preparation. Everything he

5:48

does is you know, constantly

5:50

doing stuff at game speed, making reads,

5:52

trying to make accurate passes, or pointing

5:55

out to other people, Hey, if I do this, then

5:57

you should do this because this is what's going to happen in

6:00

the game. Or if they try to guard me like this, flip

6:02

this screen this way so I can get to my

6:04

left hand or my right hand or you know. And

6:07

it's just the fact that someone can

6:09

be so diligent and devour

6:11

the details in a five

6:14

on zero like and that

6:16

takes a lot of talent to do that, because

6:18

a lot of people look at five on oo is like, you know, this is

6:20

time for me to just trot around And those are

6:22

things that he's taken so serious, which

6:26

makes you appreciate how great he is in

6:28

games because the work was already put

6:30

in. So this is him just free flowing and

6:32

and doing what he loves. And I just

6:34

think that's so impressive. And twenty nineteen

6:37

was the last time you saw him in the playoffs,

6:39

right it was? Yeah, so right

6:41

before the bubble? Okay, yeah,

6:43

And what do you remember about that series?

6:46

You know, I remember being down three zero,

6:48

and obviously you know, once

6:50

you're down three oh, it's you know, pretty tough

6:53

to win. I don't I don't think anybody

6:55

has. People have come back from three one. Yeah,

6:57

that's happened to me also. But know,

7:00

just his ability to just get guys

7:02

shots, get Clint Compelling's shots, to

7:05

impact the game. You know, it seemed like

7:07

it didn't matter who was out on the floor. If he was out on the

7:09

floor, you know, the other team was

7:11

in good hands. No NBA team

7:13

has ever come back from a three

7:16

Yeah. So yeah, when you're down three oh,

7:18

it's like, all right, let's try and get one. I remember we won one

7:21

in Utah and then had to go

7:23

to Houston and it

7:26

didn't end up working out. I mean, he was carrying

7:29

that franchise, and it was very

7:31

impressive at Nalia. I mean, I remember

7:33

I was having a scouting report where we're just like, we

7:36

don't want him shooting step backs, like so

7:38

just let him drive or make him drive,

7:40

and it's like it was it was almost like

7:42

he drove and then he was passing and other

7:44

guys are baking threes and then he's strowing lobs

7:46

and it's like you're looking at the coaching staff

7:48

like what do you want? Like you know, you wanted to make

7:50

him drive, but he's killing that too.

7:53

So I'm just really happy to have

7:55

him on our side

7:57

now. It's a relief and I'm excited.

8:00

And so before we dive too far back in

8:02

this reverse timeline that we're using on this

8:04

podcast, can we talk a little bit

8:06

about Joel and what he's been able to do

8:08

since the last time we sat down

8:10

for a recording was like a month ago, and

8:12

in that time he's become the MVP

8:15

frontrunner and some would say

8:17

it's not that close. What's it

8:19

been like to be his teammate in the last few weeks.

8:23

Joel's done an amazing job

8:25

since I've been here of really dialing in

8:27

on the little things, and

8:30

you know, they've changed his game drastically.

8:34

You know, whether if it's holding us accountable, holding

8:36

himself accountable, doing thing

8:38

the little things that help his team

8:40

win games and help him

8:42

be the best Joel that he

8:45

can be. I mean, he's impacting the game defensively,

8:47

He's playing a ton of minutes,

8:50

and he's doing it at an elite level. I

8:53

think that's so impressive that you have a big man

8:55

that usually when big men

8:57

get double team they tend to struggle, right,

9:00

it seems like Joel thrives

9:02

individually and then helps us thrive as

9:04

a team. Like we just played Cleveland and

9:07

they're guarding him with Jared Allen and then sending

9:09

over Evan Mobley and those are like two

9:12

seven footers and he's making fadeaway

9:14

jumpers. He's passing the guys in the middle,

9:16

he's kicking to the other side. I just

9:18

think the way he's handled everything

9:21

in his life and then now

9:23

everything on the court, it's just like,

9:26

how can you not you know, root for this

9:28

guy, how can this guy not be like, hands

9:30

down the MVP candidate, Like

9:32

what more do you want to see? You

9:35

know, from up standpoint where it's like the most valuable

9:37

player. Yes, Joel is our most

9:40

valuable player without

9:42

a doubt, and the fact that you know,

9:44

I saw something to day him and wild Chamberlain

9:46

the only wants to have like forty triple

9:48

doubles. Like come on, Like, are we really

9:51

just because he's done it, like twenty fives,

9:53

had twenty five plus points and however

9:55

many games it's expected.

9:58

No, that's not unique. I've never

10:01

been Yeah,

10:04

what the heck, I've never I've

10:06

never been around

10:08

a player or seen a player that's been

10:11

able to score at

10:13

will and demand

10:15

that much attention on the offensive

10:17

end and be still be dominant.

10:20

So this podcast is going to come

10:22

out before Joel and

10:24

James ever play a game

10:26

together. For context, James

10:29

is out through the All Star break. This was released today

10:32

because he's rehabbing that left hamstring

10:34

injury. So you and I are both sort

10:36

of waiting to see what they look like on the

10:38

court together. But now having explained

10:40

what makes James special and what makes Joel

10:43

special, all the chatter in the media

10:45

is about, like, what's it going to look like when the two

10:47

of them finally play together. I

10:49

feel that obviously, not as a member

10:51

of the team, do you feel that, What

10:54

do you think it's going to look like? What excites you about

10:56

it? You have a really unique perspective that only fifteen

10:58

people in the world have sort of

11:00

waiting for these two to actually go out there together.

11:03

Right. You know, I've had to be

11:05

on the other side of, you know, scuttering

11:07

reports for Joel and for

11:10

James, right, And we've done scouting

11:12

reports for James while I've played

11:14

with Joel. You have to

11:17

guard these guys with more than one person,

11:19

and if you don't, that leads

11:21

to thirty forty

11:24

like points. And the

11:26

thing about us is that when you have a dynamic

11:28

guy like Joel that demands a double team. Okay,

11:30

so that means you're not

11:33

going to leave James if you're going to double

11:35

team Joel, right, and that

11:37

means you have three other guys

11:39

that are playing at a plus

11:42

one advantage, right, And Tyrese

11:45

has been really good this year. Tobias

11:47

has been really good matise

11:50

for Shake. You know, you go down

11:52

the list, we have guys that can score, and

11:54

they can definitely score if they're not being

11:56

guarded too, because you have to guard those

11:59

other guys. So it just offers a dynamic where you have

12:01

two superstars, two guys that are

12:03

the elite of the elite all

12:06

time in the NBA at scoring the basketball,

12:08

and you have them on one court. I mean,

12:10

it just makes for something that is going to be special.

12:13

And the best part is people don't

12:17

ever realize that. You know, James,

12:20

you had games where you had like seventeen fifteen

12:23

fourteen assists in Brooklyn with two

12:25

other superstars, so

12:28

he can pass the ball. This is not going to be

12:30

a thing where it's like there's only one ball. Like, we're

12:33

playing with guys, two guys that

12:35

are eager to win, eager to you know,

12:37

get a championship and play

12:40

at an elite level, and the

12:42

way they work is second to none. You

12:44

went down the list of guys that are going to benefit from

12:46

the two of them each drawing doubles, and

12:49

you didn't mention yourself. So I'll give

12:51

you some credit because I know you call me out when I

12:53

don't. Yes, George, career

12:55

highs across the board for you this year,

12:58

playing the best basketball you've

13:00

played since coming into the NBA in twenty

13:03

sixteen, You're gonna be one of those guys

13:05

that's a recipient of what James

13:08

does best. Yes, how

13:10

like, are you excited? How are we

13:12

feeling? I can't imagine what that's like to already

13:14

be having the best season of your career and

13:16

then bring in one of the best distributors

13:19

to ever distribute. As someone that gets

13:21

distributed too in order to literally

13:24

make a career, I thrive off of being

13:26

distributed too. I know, yes,

13:29

I mean away. He picks defenses

13:31

apart, and you know, and I could be a recipient of

13:33

getting open threes and open shots,

13:36

you know, just by his presence of me in on the court

13:38

and his ability to play make I'm

13:41

thrilled. It's going to be great. He's going to create

13:43

so many open threes

13:46

for our team guys

13:48

to get open looks, open driving lanes because he's

13:50

just going to draw so much attention. And like I said, you

13:52

have two guys in Joel and James that

13:54

draw so much attention. The other three guys

13:57

are just going to be able to feast just

13:59

off those guys, you know, drawing

14:02

the amount of attention that they do. I'm

14:04

looking forward to it, George, more

14:06

about you. One of the other questions

14:09

that I got most frequently that

14:12

folks want me to ask you I'm

14:14

nervous. What do we what is this? What's the

14:16

question that people want to know about me? So

14:20

you make a lot of threes, you make

14:22

most of them in the corner, and

14:24

almost always do you turn around

14:27

and yell at someone. People

14:29

want to know what you're saying.

14:34

Is this the PG version? Yes, you

14:37

know. I think the biggest thing for me is I play with a

14:39

lot of emotion, and I sometimes,

14:41

you know, try to get myself going and get myself

14:43

worked up. I feel like, you know, an

14:46

angry George, maybe a better George

14:48

on the course. I mean, Philly

14:51

fans they get it, you know what I mean, Like you kind of

14:53

got to have that mean streak and you know,

14:57

not take crap from anybody.

14:59

And obviously, when

15:01

you're shooting in front of the other team's bench, there's always

15:03

someone that has something to say, whether it's

15:05

the oh he's with us or hell

15:08

no, or he you know what that's going

15:10

in And like, you know, a

15:12

part of you in the midst where you're shooting is like, oh, I

15:14

can't wait for this to go in so I can turn around

15:16

and tell him, you know what I mean. And

15:19

that's kind of how it happens. And you

15:21

know, through the midst of the game, there's people that are

15:23

chattering while you're running by the bench, like you

15:26

know, saying this, saying that, oh,

15:29

you're too nervous to shoot dad da da, and

15:31

you make one. It's one of those where you

15:33

just want to be like hold that, like hold

15:35

that. And sometimes I get it's

15:37

like out about our experience, Like sometimes I'm

15:39

just so emotionally invested in the game

15:41

that like I just do

15:44

something with my hands or point at them

15:46

or say something. And with

15:48

the referees, I can't do that because it's led to

15:51

some technicals and we don't need those.

15:53

But towards the bench, it's like

15:56

I want to let you know, like I'm I fear nobody

15:59

and a little

16:01

yip yap and a little chair or chat. Whether

16:04

it's to a fan, a heckling fan, or

16:07

to the opposing bench,

16:09

I like to have a little fun with it. It's funny because

16:12

you mentioned just specifically the language

16:14

that you chose of like there's no way that's going in

16:16

as something that people will say to you. I

16:18

know for a fact that that's something you say to others

16:21

because you told the story of the first time you played

16:23

against Tyrese when

16:26

you were playing for Utah and he tried

16:29

for a floater, you told him there was no chance

16:32

and then he and now look at him and

16:34

he's putting up all starting numbers. He's

16:36

been amazing. M. Do you

16:38

what do you say if if it's your own bench

16:40

behind you, Like, do you turn around and get bummed that

16:42

you can't say something? No? I probably

16:44

just yell something, probably at like Sam

16:47

Cassell or something, And I'm like you

16:49

like that, Sam, You like that you have

16:52

more of that Sam? M No. But I

16:54

mean we have a fun group of guys, so admidst

16:58

like being on the game and being super

17:00

serious, there's moments where you can have dialogue

17:03

with the bench that's like fun or you

17:05

know what I mean. Like, I think the best part about this group

17:07

is that we just enjoy each other. Like it's

17:09

not like we're waking up and going to work like

17:12

we're it's like you're waking up and going to hang

17:14

with you know, fifteen sixteen

17:16

seventeen, your closest friends. We have

17:18

a close group. Everybody gets along, and

17:22

we're excited to welcome James and Paul

17:24

along because I think the chemistry that we've

17:26

built and synergy that we have

17:29

is going to be super easy to have

17:31

those guys coming and make an impact,

17:33

especially you know, on the court, but

17:36

also off the court. I think we're

17:38

all gonna continue to have fun, enjoy

17:41

each other. We have quirky things that we do, whether

17:43

it's Tobias or there's binocular is before

17:45

the game, picking someone to go

17:47

dunk and layup lines, or the

17:50

dancing on the sideline where everyone

17:52

everyone's each other's biggest cheerleader.

17:55

And when you have that, it's special.

17:57

It's been cool to see you guys maintain that too, because at

17:59

the beginning of the season there was a lot of chatter about how well

18:01

you guys were getting along and going to dinners and playing

18:04

your games during shoot around and whatever.

18:06

And I think, again, as someone who's not

18:08

on the team, I can't help but wonder how long

18:10

that lasts, right, And you've had some awesome

18:13

winning streaks, you've had some tougher times, and it is cool

18:15

to see that chemistry like enduring

18:17

over time. It's been a pleasure

18:20

to watch. Yeah, no, I mean credit

18:23

to you know, the leaders on our team that do that.

18:25

You know, Joel Tobias, even

18:28

Tyrese Is getting in the mix. I think the

18:31

biggest thing that I noticed coming here though,

18:33

was, you know, with the whole situation,

18:35

and credit to Doc Rivers is he

18:37

always puts the team number one

18:40

and there was never going to be one person that

18:42

was going to

18:45

impede the team's progress going

18:47

forward, even the situation that had happened earlier.

18:51

You know, I remember when we talk about

18:53

it, Doc would be like, you know, we

18:56

are not going to let one person be

18:59

more valuable than us as a

19:01

group. And when you have a leader

19:03

that's leading a group like that, you may have a four game

19:05

losing streak, you may have a six game losing streak,

19:07

but water always finds its level

19:10

if you guys can continue to find ways to stick it together,

19:12

make it about each other, not about yourself.

19:16

You somehow you look up and next thing you know, you've

19:19

lost four in a row. But you come and

19:21

turn around and you win seven in a row. Like it. You

19:23

just find ways to make things happen.

19:25

So, you know, credit to our leaders, and

19:27

you know, credit to Doc because that was a big

19:29

thing that was preached moving

19:33

forward. You know that this is about the

19:35

team, This is about any about you

19:37

guys. It's about the team. Let's

19:39

move away from the court. What have you

19:41

made of Philadelphia so far? Oh? The

19:45

food? I love

19:47

it. I love it so

19:49

much. I literally

19:52

try to find new places to eat all the time.

19:55

Obviously, you know my favorite brunch place.

19:58

I think everybody knows this, Cafe mod

20:01

Um, hands down um.

20:03

But even like the little you know, hole

20:06

in the wall places like double knot you know

20:08

I'm not a hole in the wall. Well yeah, I mean

20:10

you're you drop, you're if you're going by, you would

20:12

not see that it's there. Yeah, So so

20:14

how's that on a hole in wall? Because I think a hole in the wall is

20:16

something that's like not on the radar but double

20:19

on the radar, like zeitgeis

20:22

well yeah, now because people are putting it on the map, but

20:24

you're not walking by and seeing like, oh look it for the big

20:26

double bots Um

20:29

sampan Um

20:32

elvez um.

20:35

Where else do we have? You know what I haven't I'm out on

20:37

the lookout for and I'll take Twitter recommendations.

20:40

Is a good Italian place? Oh my god, there's

20:43

so much. I don't think I've been to anyone's

20:45

so I've told you already. I know I'm the worst

20:47

but I evangelize d fourth

20:49

and Wood. Oh that's right, that's right. So

20:51

Furcan told you to go there on the podcast.

20:54

Sure you are right months ago, are

20:56

right? And I feel like I said I needed

20:58

a good Italian place to go do on that podcasts

21:00

and I haven't followed through another place

21:02

that I go do shout out by people at Harp and Crown,

21:05

Great Bowling Alley. Oh

21:08

man. I think the coolest

21:10

part about Philly is that, you know, I

21:12

don't ever look at myself as

21:14

something bigger than anybody else.

21:17

And I think Philadelphia has

21:20

people that you know, are normal

21:22

people and everyday hard working people,

21:24

and I look at myself like that where you

21:27

know, we can sit down and enjoy

21:29

a conversation. There hasn't been a time in Philly

21:31

where I'm like, oh I'm getting bombarded

21:33

or you know what I mean. It's it's good quality

21:35

people, good quality conversation and just

21:38

genuine people that care. I mean, I

21:40

know they're like, oh, they're tough,

21:42

they're this, they're that, but they care. And I think you

21:45

want that as a player in a city,

21:47

that you want people that actually care about

21:49

the thing that you put, the craft that you put

21:51

so much time into It's interesting. You just

21:54

talked about the fact that you play emotionally

21:56

and Philadelphia is emotionally invested

21:58

in its teams, and that's why you are such a good match.

22:02

You started your career in Indiana, but you didn't

22:04

spend the much time there. You spent the bulk of it in Utah.

22:07

Just off the top of your head. How

22:10

different, Like what did you love what do you miss

22:12

about Utah? But what do you love about Philly? Like They're

22:14

two of the most different markets

22:16

that you could possibly have spent your career in.

22:18

So tell me about the contrast. Yeah, So I've

22:20

lived in the city whichever you want

22:22

to call it, however you want to call it,

22:24

in Salt Lake City, in the city of Salt

22:26

Lake City, and it's totally different

22:29

than living in the city of Philadelphia.

22:32

You know, I hate

22:35

to admit this, but my parallel parking skills

22:37

are subpar.

22:39

Subpar. Yeah yeah, but

22:42

you know, so that was an adjustment at first. But I

22:45

think the best part about

22:47

it is like the hustle and bustle of like the city.

22:49

Like my favorite part is like before games,

22:52

you know, driving through, driving

22:55

through the city and seeing the mailman

22:58

or seeing the guy walk home from work with

23:00

his Sixers starter jacking on,

23:02

and you're, you know, you represent that

23:04

and just the whole drive in, you

23:07

know, down ninety five and

23:09

then you get to see the football stadium,

23:12

a baseball field. You know, it's

23:16

it's just a feeling that you know, you

23:19

don't often get, but I can

23:21

appreciate it every time that you

23:23

know, I passed through the

23:25

whole city and before I go to work

23:27

every day, and it's just the emotions,

23:29

the thoughts, the I

23:33

don't want to say fantasies, but it's like, you know, you

23:35

bring a championship home to Philadelphia, like

23:37

you I've said this before, Like you're good forever,

23:40

Like you will walk around here and

23:42

never be for God. And whether you're a guy one

23:44

or a guy you know fifteen sixteen

23:47

seventeen, Like this place takes care of their

23:49

own. And those thoughts go through your head

23:51

when you're you know, going

23:53

to the arena. You

23:56

know, it's a special city. It's I've I've

23:59

had a lot of good

24:01

memories here and I'm

24:04

looking to make more. But one that definitely

24:06

like shook me a little bit was so obviously

24:08

I live on a pretty busy street I'm not

24:10

going to disclose that information, but yeah,

24:14

I remember it was like six in the morning, and

24:16

uh, you know, in Philadelphia, the

24:18

streets are a little smaller than

24:20

they would be in Utah. There's more space

24:22

and which I loved Utah. Utah had great

24:25

mountains, you know, great people. It was. I

24:27

enjoyed my time there. I have no ill will towards

24:30

that state or those fans

24:32

or the team. But obviously,

24:35

getting back to the story, streets are smaller

24:37

in Philadelphia. And there was

24:39

a truck that was unloading at

24:41

six in the morning and stopped,

24:44

so obviously, you know, cars are parallel barked on

24:46

both sides, and all

24:49

I wake up to is like and

24:54

then like in someone's like hard

24:57

Philly act and they're like, hey,

24:59

buddy, why don't you get

25:01

that out of the road, and

25:04

you just hear them going back and forth, and

25:06

like I was so exhausted, but all I

25:08

could do is like just with my eyes closed,

25:11

just like smile and be like, yep,

25:13

this is this is definitely Philadelphia.

25:16

And you know, I laugh

25:19

and think about that, but it's it's

25:22

part of what makes Philly Philly.

25:24

I've never been to ames Iowa, but I

25:26

would imagine that it has even less

25:29

going on than Salt

25:31

Lake City, Utah. So going backwards

25:33

actually makes a lot of sense because you're going from a

25:35

big city, yeah, from a

25:38

mid sized city, from

25:40

a town. What do you miss most

25:42

about your days there? Because now, having having

25:45

done this podcast with you and having gotten to know

25:47

George Niang fans a lot better there,

25:50

a lot of them are in Iowa, like those

25:52

people love you. So what do you miss

25:54

most about that environment? Um? You

25:56

know, college it was

25:59

pure right, Um. You

26:01

know, you go to school every day, you

26:05

um in class, um in the dining

26:07

hall with the people that are in the

26:09

same people that are in the stands, you know, cheering

26:11

you on, and um,

26:13

you know I felt like it was the first time I left New

26:16

England. Well, it was the first time I left New England and

26:18

was embraced by a whole other community.

26:20

Um. So that's like your first love, right, You're

26:22

always gonna miss um,

26:25

your first love, because I mean four

26:27

years it goes by so quick. And then I

26:30

hate to say it, but it's like I don't want to say you're

26:32

forgotten, but people don't like yeah,

26:35

exactly exactly. So it's like, um,

26:38

I was Honestly, I hate to say it like this, but

26:40

I was like a number in a system. But like, yeah, I tried to

26:42

leave my mark, leave my legacy. But at the end of

26:44

the day, like there's a new George

26:46

Niang or new guy coming

26:48

in that is you know that they want to cheer

26:50

on that those kids are going to look up to, Like the kids that look up

26:53

to me that were young are like they're

26:55

they're the ones that are going to be going to Iowa

26:58

State soon. So um,

27:00

I definitely miss the people, and I think

27:02

the people definitely make the place.

27:06

The fan support was unreal, but

27:09

I think, you know, the

27:11

camaraderie of of college sports,

27:13

it's like you guys are all working towards

27:15

the same goal. Like not everybody's going home to

27:17

a nice, luxurious house.

27:19

You guys are all struggling together. You're all getting

27:22

through six am conditioning, you're all It's

27:24

that's the part that you miss because it's

27:26

like once you turn professional,

27:29

like all those things change, Like yeah,

27:32

you go home, you beat yourself up, but you

27:34

know you're you're well taken

27:36

care of. You can go home to a nice house, a

27:38

good family, you know what I mean. In college, it was

27:40

like you have a loss, You're like

27:44

hurting, you know what I mean, because you know the next

27:46

day you might have a three hour practice, where in the NBA

27:48

it's like you might have a gamer next day

27:50

and you've got to be able to just flush what just happened.

27:52

Where in college you had to sit that, let that

27:55

marinate, watch

27:57

yourself from your dorm room on ESPN

27:59

where you know, I feel

28:02

like now I can easily

28:04

turn off the TV and plug

28:06

into something else. Before

28:10

Iowa State was

28:12

the Northeast and New England. And this is

28:14

a part of your life that I don't think you've talked about

28:16

that much because you weren't speaking to

28:19

media when you were a kid. Yeah, in

28:21

Boston. I know you're close to your mom. Ye

28:23

can you tell me a little bit about her, a little bit

28:25

about what your upbringing was

28:28

like and like what that place growing

28:30

up there? I think it informed

28:32

your personality today quite a bit. So

28:34

can you walk us through just what it was like to

28:36

be a kid in the Boston area? Um,

28:39

you know it was. I mean I

28:41

lived, you know, such a great childhood

28:43

and you know, I love,

28:46

you know, giving back to

28:48

to the youth because I know the

28:50

opportunities that I was given, you

28:54

know, aren't given to everybody. So I

28:56

want everybody to have those those same

28:58

opportunities you know that I was given.

29:00

But growing up in Massachusetts, I was you

29:02

know, lucky enough to have you know, a mom and

29:04

a dad involved in my life and you know, my

29:07

mom's brothers, my uncles and

29:09

aunts who are constantly involved in

29:11

my upbringing. I remember my mom always telling me

29:13

like it takes a village, you know, to raise

29:15

a child. And I was lucky. Yeah,

29:18

oh thank you. Was that a compliment?

29:21

Um no? But um

29:24

so, I just had so many great

29:26

people in my life, whether if it was you

29:28

know, my uncles, my dad, my dad's brothers,

29:30

and uh so I was lucky enough to be pushed

29:32

in you know, all the right directions. And you know,

29:35

growing up, my mom was always making sacrifices,

29:37

whether it was you know, taking

29:39

time out of her day or from work, or doing things

29:41

that she liked to drive me to hockey practice,

29:43

to wrestling practice, basketball

29:45

practice, aau, you know, sleepovers

29:49

with friends, like she was always going above

29:51

and beyond tonight. You

29:53

know, never have

29:56

ever seen her turn down

29:58

something for me for herself,

30:00

um which is you know, what moms are for, and that's

30:02

my rock. She's amazing. But

30:05

that being said, you know, I

30:08

went to public school for

30:11

eight years and then my eighth

30:13

grade year, I went to a boarding school. And when

30:15

I tell people like, yeah, I went to a boarding school, there

30:19

seems to be a thought that would

30:21

lead them to believe that I was

30:23

a horrendous kid. Which mom, if

30:26

you're listening to this, don't

30:29

admit that I was a horrendous kid.

30:31

I think she might. Um, but no,

30:34

they would they would think like, oh, you must have been getting in trouble

30:37

all the time, but that wasn't the case. Um. You know, I

30:40

had to try really hard in school,

30:43

and you know, I'm a talker,

30:46

and when there's thirty plus kids in the class

30:49

and one teacher, it was easy

30:51

for me to get distracted from what

30:53

was going on in the class and talking

30:55

with my friends. So

30:58

therefore, they decided to send me to a board school

31:00

that was like two hundred and fifty kids, the

31:02

Tilton School in New Hampshire, and

31:05

it was a boarding school and there

31:08

was like ten kids a class, so it was one

31:10

teacher with ten kids. So I was like, I'm

31:12

a big person of relationships, so

31:15

I got to mingle

31:17

with the teacher like as if we were peers,

31:19

but they were also teaching me and I

31:21

was building their trust, and you

31:24

know, they were teaching me specific

31:26

things where you know in a thirty person class

31:28

where kids are just like if they read it up on the board,

31:31

if you don't get it, you're getting left behind rather than

31:33

them pulling me along. So long

31:35

story short, it just gave me structure in my life

31:38

that I needed. You know, we went to school

31:40

Monday through Saturday. Half a day's

31:42

on Saturday. Yeah. When I tell people that, I'm like, oh

31:45

my god, I went to school on Saturday, Like that's

31:48

crazy. But it

31:50

was half a day Wednesday, half a day Saturday.

31:52

So we kind of it kind of like equoed out had something

31:54

to do with like I

31:57

want to say, game sports, because everybody

31:59

had to do an activity, so sometimes you'd

32:01

have to travel two three hours to go play sport.

32:04

So Wednesday's or the days that you played along

32:06

with Saturdays.

32:08

But we had study hall from eight to ten.

32:12

You had like breakfast cleaning crew. Like it's almost

32:14

sounds like it's terrible, but it was like the best structure

32:16

that I needed, Like I had to I remember I had

32:18

to learn how to do my own laundry. Like there was one time

32:20

my freshman year, I'm sitting

32:22

in a building and I'm looking at I'm like, dang,

32:26

that's that looks like my polo? Is that like

32:28

my polo? And you know, my mom would

32:30

do my laundry and I was at home. So I went and did laundry

32:32

at the school, like in the laundry room

32:34

and left it there for two weeks, and my

32:38

clothes were everywhere. George, Oh, I

32:40

know it was bad, but you gotta look like those are

32:42

like the life lessons that you have to learn, like the hard

32:44

way, where you're like, all right, like I'm not gonna be

32:46

lazy. I'm not gonna wait like an hour for my

32:48

laundry. I'm gonna sit down there on one day and get

32:50

it all done. Do you still do your own laundry?

32:54

Yeah?

32:58

You could still do it. Yeah, I if

33:00

need be, I could get it done. Like if something

33:02

needs to be washed, I could get it done. But so,

33:05

besides doing your own laundry, when you're

33:07

not at practice and you're not playing

33:09

and you're not traveling for games, what

33:12

do you do for fun these days? Outside

33:14

of your job. Oh I'm

33:17

a big Is this appropriate

33:19

Netflix in chill like by myself?

33:22

Yes? Yeah,

33:25

I love like catching up on like documentaries,

33:27

like I'm like a super nerd for

33:30

like history, Like I'm almost

33:32

embarrassed to say it, because I could sit and watch

33:34

like World War one, World War two

33:37

documentaries are like, Um,

33:42

it's not my intention to use the other episodes

33:44

against you, but you made fun of me for saying that

33:46

I was into British history on

33:48

the Metis episode. So now that you're coming

33:50

out, I know, but this is like, yeah,

33:53

we were talking about beds. Yeah, I know what

33:55

you were making fun of me for like being into nerdy

33:57

stuff. This is exciting for me being

34:00

vulnerable right now, and I feel like you're punishing me.

34:03

Well okay, which I should never do.

34:05

So that's good. We have that relationship where

34:07

we can go back and forth like that. But um,

34:10

that is true. I shouldn't have done that, but

34:12

I shouldn't have done this. History

34:15

we had a moment. History is actually

34:18

just like fascinating, Like I'm to think

34:20

that like life happened with

34:22

like no cell phones, no Instagram,

34:25

no Twitter, Like I'm

34:28

mad at myself that I use the word like so much.

34:30

But I'm mad at you too because I try

34:32

to edit it out sometimes. It's uh,

34:35

it's cool. I love history and I

34:39

besides, you know, hanging out playing

34:43

or sitting back and watching Netflix. I'm

34:45

a basketball junkie. I love sitting

34:47

back watching basketball. Um. I

34:50

try to spend an hour or two hours

34:52

of my day contact and my family.

34:54

Rather that's talk on the phone, text,

34:57

FaceTime, new new

35:00

thing, this FaceTime thing we have. Yeah, they

35:02

didn't have that. Yeah,

35:05

so it's uh. I

35:07

like to take time because you know, this life is

35:10

I want to say lonely, but you know you do

35:12

miss your family isolated. Yeah, there are moments

35:15

where you don't have the

35:17

time that you want. And you know, I've

35:19

been lucky enough to get home for holidays since we are

35:21

close, but where you miss out on

35:23

those moments. And I think those moments are huge

35:26

in family development, whether you know is

35:29

it's your grandmother or your brother,

35:31

sister, mom, dad. I

35:34

always like to take time on my day to catch up with them

35:36

and not miss those moments. It's crazy

35:38

how much history is

35:40

interesting now compared to when

35:42

we were in school. I don't know if you share that experience,

35:45

but history, what used to be a thing where I memorize

35:48

all the facts and I got good grades

35:50

on my tests. But I love you're that girl. Huh.

35:52

I got very good grade. Storage the people

35:55

that listen to this are not going to be surprised that

35:58

I got good. Great, but I

36:01

was like memorizing stuff because I had to,

36:03

not because I thought it was interesting. And it's interesting

36:05

now as adults that I've had this conversation

36:07

with so many people. So much of the stuff we were learning is

36:09

actually really cool, but at the time we

36:12

didn't appreciate it at all. Your spitfire

36:14

and some facts like off just some documentary

36:16

I'm so interested in. I mean, like the British

36:19

royal family at anything royal

36:21

family related from like seventeen

36:24

hundred, I mean way earlier than that, but anything

36:26

British aristocracy from like the beginning

36:29

to now. I Oh, you love

36:31

it. I love it. I eat it up. Well,

36:33

why can we get you memorizing like NBA

36:35

history statistics? I mean, I can do that too, but

36:38

that's my profession. So I wanted to ask you about

36:40

that. How much NBA do you watch outside of your

36:42

own tone League pass

36:45

all that it's on, all the TVs, who

36:47

are you having the most fun watching this season? Um?

36:51

You know what, recently, I've actually enjoyed

36:53

watching the Trailblazers like a young

36:55

group. Like obviously,

36:59

you know, Amil Loader is a special talent,

37:01

um, but you know,

37:03

those young guys have done a great job of

37:06

you know, winning games. Um. I

37:08

catch myself watching the Warriors a

37:11

ton um obviously,

37:16

you know, being that I did play on Utah, I

37:18

like to watch my boys and hope

37:20

that they hope that they do well.

37:23

Um, but there's not really one team.

37:25

I mean, obviously you try to watch the teams like your

37:27

division, whether it's Brooklyn, Boston.

37:32

You you just you get

37:34

trapped in like you know, you're looking at your phone, you get

37:37

an update, it's like such and such as a close game, and then

37:39

you're you're changing into that game. And it just seems

37:41

like from seven to like midnight every

37:43

night is like I'm almost nervous for All

37:45

Star Break. It's like what am I gonna do? Like

37:47

how come am I going to occupy those five hours

37:51

of time? Because you

37:53

know, as much as this is a job,

37:56

it is something that I really enjoy. I tell

37:58

it, someone all the time, someone told me they pay my Bill, So

38:00

the rest of my life and all I had to do is

38:02

play basketball. I would do it

38:05

again and again and again. It's interesting

38:07

that you said the Trailblazers first, because one of

38:09

your close friends is a new Trailblazer.

38:12

Send him a little bit of love because obviously he was

38:14

recently injured, and I know you've been doing that, and I

38:17

know you've talked to him and all that, but he's

38:19

one of the all time good guys and a guy

38:21

that so many people on your

38:23

team now in Philadelphia have

38:26

affinities for. Yeah, just sending

38:28

him a little bit. Joe Angles

38:30

were sending you good vibes. I

38:32

wonder if Joe Ingles listens to the podcast.

38:34

I don't know your mom, Joe Ingles my

38:36

mom. That might be it. Hey is

38:40

three fans, George. I

38:42

feel like I learned more about you. I really enjoyed

38:45

this good And if anyone's listening

38:47

and wants to hear more, we can always do questions

38:49

with George at the beginning or end of any episode.

38:52

M There have been a lot of requests for

38:54

guests. I

38:56

don't know if I should name any of them explicitly,

38:59

but we have some interest as well. The good

39:01

guests are coming down the pike for

39:03

sure. I think that's a guarantee. Yes, they are,

39:06

they are. We uh you know, with the with

39:08

the COVID outbreak that we had, we kind

39:10

of had to slow up to take a little break.

39:12

Yeah, on how much content

39:15

we were getting because we were rolling for a little bit um.

39:18

But now I think we're back on the horn. The

39:20

playoffs are coming up, the podcast is going

39:22

to be booming. Let's roll, Let's

39:24

do it. George Niang, thank you so much for joining

39:27

the Big Niang Theory with George Niang.

39:30

This is my podcast. I hope you enjoyed your

39:32

stay. Thanks, thank

39:34

you. Yeah,

39:37

I know