Original subtitles

Kobe, you've been pretty critical of the AAU system

and the way American players are brought up.

Not pretty critical, I'm extremely critical. I hate it.

Because?

Well, because it doesn't teach our players

how to play the right way.

Or how to think the game, how to play in combinations of threes.

I think everything is, uh, you know, it's a reward system.

I think, uh, the coaches who are--

who aren't teaching the game and getting rewarded

in one fashion or another,

and, uh, it's just a showcase.

- Do you feel like that-- - It's absolutely horrible for the game.

So, as an American, when you're good at basketball...

...that's the only thing you want to envision from the time you're 12.

When you come up in America, your goal is the NBA.

That's all you see.

That's all you want to be a part of.

There's only 450 players in NBA.

With the first pick in the 2025 NBA draft,

the Dallas Mavericks select Cooper Flagg.

And there's only 60 players that are eligible to be drafted.

It's way more than 60 players going for those spots.

So it's really, like, you know, a lottery in a sense.

On the women's side, it's a little different.

So you only have one opportunity to get drafted,

and then once that's over, that's over.

Playing overseas is honestly where the money is.

I gotta go overseas

and then possibly try and make my way back over.

Everybody that plays ball overseas

has an interesting story, because nobody set out to play overseas.

You put all your efforts

and everything you can into making the NBA.

I got waived, like, right before the season was about to start.

And then I went undrafted.

My agent told me, instead, "You've got a offer in Italy."

Detroit says, "We want to pick you. I think a 33rd pick, a 36th pick?

But we want you to do a year overseas."

Hell no.

That shit says, "Siberia."

Like, where we at? Where did I... What the...

What did I get myself into, man?

So, off the lines, you wait for me!

Off the line! And all of you! Okay?!

This is the reality of life is you gotta figure shit out.

We're stepping outside of our comfort zone

to pursue a lifelong dream.

All I've ever wanted to do since I was seven

was be a professional basketball player.

I had a lot of success early.

You know, I was always a really good shooter.

So, I knew I had a lot of confidence early.

Now he have Michael Creppy...

There's a huge misconception about international basketball.

I've literally heard people say that it's semi-pro,

and that couldn't be further from the truth.

You hear Luca, you hear Giannis,

and a lot of these NBA players say that

the EuroLeague is much harder than the NBA.

They're-- they're very vocal about that.

Kobe Bryant, he made a statement a few years ago

that said international basketball is

a better brand of basketball than here in the States.

And he got a lot backlash for that.

You know, and I-- I got lucky 'cause I grew up in Europe.

- Right. - And you know,

everything there was still fundamental.

So I learned all the basics.

And I think we're doing a tremendous disservice

to our young basketball players right now.

That's something that definitely needs to be fixed,

and it's going to be one of things I definitely focus on.

I think my dream has become my family's dream.

My mother, she didn't know anything about basketball,

and now you can talk to her, she can tell you

about who she thinks is a good player and a bad player.

She can talk to you about a pick and roll and about who doesn't play defense.

My college recruitment, it was short.

My sophomore year, I jumped out there,

and I said I want to go to Louisville and play for Rick Pitino.

So, Coach Pitino was one of the first coaches

to come visit me during my recruitment.

So he came to my school, he kind of spoke,

and he spoke to my family, spoke to my high school head coach,

and that night I committed.

So, um, it-- it was short because I called out, you know,

where I wanted to go, and it ended up happening.

The amount of opportunities there are

to get paid to play basketball outside of the States,

if you could think of a country

or you think of a continent, they have basketball there.

Basketball in China probably

is the best basketball market in the world.

Even in the States.

Somebody told me a stat,

and I believe it after living there for two years,

there are more people that play basketball in China

than there are in the United States.

I lived in Shanghai, and I lived in Nanjing.

Like, those courts are packed.

Every-- every day after three o'clock when people get off work,

on the weekends, during the mornings,

like, it's an insane basketball market.

They really love the game out there.

I didn't know anything about the Italian League.

I didn't know about-- anything about the tradition.

I just knew that, you know, Italians, they love pasta and things like that.

I ended up signing a contract to go play in Turkey.

I go to Iran. So I go to the Middle East for the first time.

Then I come back to Italy, to Lebanon.

From Lebanon, I go to New Zealand.

I never really looked at basketball

as one of those things I was just really good at.

From New Zealand, I go to Italy.

From Italy, I go to France.

I did it 'cause it was fun. Kept me outta trouble.

From France, I go to Germany. From Germany to Egypt.

I played in Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey, and Australia.

Egypt to Iraq. And now I'm going to Saudi Arabia.

Y'all come off the pick tentative,

then it's gonna be hard...

Players that are coming up

that don't have the right resources in terms of agents

and mentors in this space get scammed a lot.

I had a contract one year where I played in Czech Republic

where I got a bonus for every basket that I scored.

I didn't even know you could get that.

You know, my agent at the time got that for me,

and that opened my mind up to, like,

you can ask for anything.

You know, you ask for a horse if you want one, you know,

and if the team agrees to it, they agree to it.

If we don't do this together, I'm talking about all of us,

then we all lose.

Let's go get it, man.

Let's get working. Come on, man.

Vindicated Sports is my company that I founded in 2017.

I started the company literally to educate and advise players

on the business of international basketball.

In this industry, if you have a gap in your profile,

which means if you have a year or more away from the game,

you're basically damaged goods to the industry.

They don't care what I went through.

"Are you able to play now

and can you produce the way we want you to produce?"

And it sounds heartless, it sounds inhumane,

but that's the reality of this industry.

I essentially became what I needed.

I'm giving more direction to players coming up,

and I can kind of help them navigate this,

this-- this interesting world that they're in.

So I'm Garric Young.

If you're in the DMV, you probably know me as Ross.

I play forward, small forward, power forward.

If you need a shooting guard or center, who knows.

Wherever you need me.

One day, I was working out with one of my close friends,

and some guy walks into the gym.

He talked to me about what he was doing.

His name is, uh, Mike Creppy.

Takes players on tours and does consulting for them.

I felt like I-- I tried out just to get my career started.

I wasn't hearing from any NBA teams or G League teams.

I tried the tour.

I believe it was about a week

in Denmark, um, in Copenhagen or Copen-ha-gen.

Don't know how you pronounce it.

I felt like I did pretty well at the tour. I had a good time.

Showed my skillset, at least a good part of it.

Then afterwards, just stayed in contact with Mike,

and then an agent reached out to me after the tour from the player agency.

The best opportunity that came up for me was to play in Germany.

It was called Oberliga, or more-- more specifically Bayernliga,

which is, uh, in South Germany.

- Uh, can I get a café latte? - Mm-hmm.

With caramel?

Caramel syrup, okay.

I've known Lindsey and her family

since she was maybe nine or 10 years old.

She's from my area in Silver Spring, Maryland.

She used to always come up to the same gym that we would train at,

and her dad would ask,

"Hey, can Lindsey jump in the drills with you?"

And she played a lot better than boys.

They call her Pull-Up Pulliam, because her mid-range game is so polished.

And, uh, and she had that ever since she was AAU in high school age.

How'd you find this restaurant, or this coffee shop?

- Mm. - It's pretty cool.

Honestly, I was just looking on, like, Bolt Food one day.

Uh-huh.

And I saw it, and I saw the acai bowl.

- And that was it for you? - Over. Mm-hmm.

And it's funny 'cause, like, when I'm overseas,

I find myself-- Like, I'll go to McDonald's sometimes.

More-- Like, I don't go at home.

- You would never go back home. Yeah. - I would never go at home.

But I don't know, it's just different here 'cause you want to get a taste

of, like, being at home in the States and stuff, so...

The last time I saw Garric play

was literally at our showcase in Denmark in 2023.

- You good? - Boy!

Long time, no see.

Since then, I've been seeing his Instagram posts

and different highlights,

but I've never seen him play in person.

So the role I play with Garric now is just advisor,

somebody that's like a big brother, big homie,

somebody that has lived in what he's trying to go into,

different places overseas.

I've seen a lot of contracts. I know how to negotiate.

I know what the teams are thinking.

So, just giving him perspective

and just being what I needed when I was his age.

And so, as we're interviewing the different players,

they're telling the camera about their journey.

It's amazing what basketball has been able to do

for so many players.

It's opened up the door to-- to the world,

and, you know, that's something that, you know,

is a blessing from God because so many people want to travel

and they don't know how to travel.

Do you know how to pronounce the city that you're in?

Um, I sure could try.

I don't know if it would be spot on.

Bonska... B--

Alright. Banska? Bonska?

- Banská. - Banská Bystrica?

Bystrika?

Bystrica. Yeah.

- That'll be good. - Still learning.

- Once I do my back, it's done for. - It's almost like...

Oh.

Okay, see, for tomorrow, it's gonna be practice at 9:30.

It's just a shooting session, okay, to warm up a little bit,

and game is at 6:00, so please be ready.

Lot of fans will come. So...

Clearing you up?

Every time that we have a home game,

we-- we all come down here, have team dinner.

Mandatory, no phones, none of that. Or you're getting fined.

You didn't sit with me today.

- What? - You're mad at me?

Um, that's my coach's daughter. Yeah.

- That's her best friend. - That's my little best friend.

Coach didn't speak English.

Um, my assistant coach didn't speak English,

but there was a-- there was a couple guys on my team,

uh, that spoke English and-- and could translate to them

or could translate to me, so that helped me out a lot.

But it was for the first time in my career

that I played for a coach who didn't speak English.

So, me and him couldn't communicate, uh, verbally.

But, you know, just with both loving the game

and just seeing what's going in the game

just through gestures and pointing and stuff.

The way international basketball is broken down,

you have the EuroLeague, right?

The EuroLeague is right under the NBA, it's the top of the top.

Then you have EuroCup,

then you have Basketball Champions League.

And all of those teams that play in international play

also play in the domestic league.

So, in South America, like, some of the more notable countries

are Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico.

Than you have in Asia, Australia, the Middle East.

Then, a new league that just started,

which the NBA has sponsored,

is called the Basketball Africa League.

The leagues that I personally think are respected the most

and are looked at as the best leagues are Spain,

Turkey, Russia.

There might be Italy after that.

- You know what I'm saying? - Oh! He reaches.

This is why the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

is the best basketball league in the world, bar none.

Each league has a different style of play, too.

Like, the Spanish play a different way than the Turkish play.

The Italians play a different way.

Spain, you gonna play 20 minutes because it's 10, 11 guys

that's on ice.

Turkey, you going-- It's a lot of big dudes.

Strong, physical. They real physic-- Let-- let you play more.

Italian league is more of a guard league.

So, you going out there, you get busy.

France is a super athletic league.

Russia's a dope league,

you know, the VTB is a big time--

That's another type of league VTB is another type of league

So, you got a lot of different leagues,

and it's different style based off of where you at.

Just like, you know, you from the DMV, you-- you play a certain way,

as opposed to somebody from New York City,

as opposed to someone from the South.

You know, we-- we all have our different styles,

and these countries are the same way.

No, it drops for Mike James.

I met Marcus Williams when he was a teammate with James

in Unicaja Málaga in Spain.

Marcus was also himself a first round NBA draft pick.

And he also had a prolific EuroLeague career as well.

So I played summer league with Memphis,

and I signed with Memphis for the season.

But on that team, it was a few guys who played in Europe,

and they were just talking about the teams they were on,

the cities they were partying in, and just different thing.

And I'm like, "This is so--

I don't know what they talking about, man."

Like, I-- not my first year playing in-- in Europe, but my second year,

I started to hear about EuroLeague.

So I told my agent, like, I was just like, "I just want to play."

Like, my first year I was just like, "I just want to play somewhere."

And he was like, "Alright, like, whatever."

Like, "Alright, cool."

So he found me a team in Russia, right?

We was there for like two or three weeks practicing.

So they was like, "Alright, we about to go home.

Like, get you a apartment and everything."

So they was like, "Yeah, we flying to Moscow."

And I was like, "Alright, and then what? Like-- Like what's our next?"

They was like, "Yeah, the next flight is like six hours."

I'm like, "What? Like, what you mean?"

They like, "Yeah. Like, we stay, like, six hours from Moscow."

And I look at that shit on my map, I'm like,

"Wait, that shit says Siberia in the back."

And I'm looking at this, and I'm like, "Wait,

that's the same Siberia, like the husky and like the...?"

I go to list-- like, read about it,

that shit say, "minus 30, minus 40."

And that was just different, man.

It was-- it was cold, it was bad travels.

The basketball wasn't hard to adjust at all.

I kind of went with the mindset of like, "Man,

like, I should be in the NBA,"

like kind of feeling like I was better than that.

So, the approach I took is like,

"I'm just gonna try to come here and kill every day."

But then, you do get humbled playing overseas,

because like I said, those guys are talented.

Playing in the first division as a rookie,

you playing against some of the great talents of Europe.

So, I was humbled,

but I'm thankful that I was able to hold my own as well.

There's so many players,

- there's so much talent...

...and a team will put the money out there

and they'll say like, "Well, if you won't accept it,

someone else will." You know what I mean?

And that's kind of like the game that they play.

Um, but yeah, that-- that's-- that's just one of the other things

you have to go through being an overseas player.

Like, you know, in the NBA, you know,

who you are is who you are,

but overseas it's kind of like you have to prove it every year.

You can't understand what everybody's talking about

on the street or in the locker room with your teammates

when they're speaking their-- their native language.

You kind of have to be aware.

You gotta be aware of your surroundings, you gotta be, you know,

street smart, I guess people would call it.

Understand, you know, what's going on around you.

- How are you? - Good. And you?

- Doing well. - Thank you.

Yes, sir.

I'm okay, man. Thank you.

You learn very quick. You learn very quick.

I mean, I've done enough traveling, too,

you know, in general around the world where

everybody's trying to make a deal, everybody's trying to sell something.

And it's a hustle. I mean, it is what it is. I respect it.

You just gotta learn how to get yourself in

and get-- get yourself out.

The hardest part is getting out once you get in,

they're not gonna let you leave.

As soon as the season ended in Germany in April, I just,

I took a week to rest.

I packed my stuff, and I headed straight to Canada.

And then, I ended up in Australia by 2024.

All I knew about was, um, EuroLeague and the CBA in China.

Um, that's pretty much... I just thought, like,

old NBA veterans go overseas to play

in the EuroLeague or-- or China

when they're kind of towards the end of their career,

or if they kinda fall out of the NBA

and they want to still continue their career.

I didn't know how vast it was.

Like, how many opportunities, how many teams, countries

have leagues until I started talking to Mike.

Yeah, yeah, it's supposed to be crazy.

I didn't even know there was a league in Denmark before the tour.

Like, that-- that was a shock to me.

Just finding out, there's so many,

so many places to play and leagues to play in.

When I was younger, all I...

...all I-- all I knew was the NBA and G League.

That's all I watched. That's...

That's all that kind of mattered to me growing up playing basketball.

That's all I considered for my career.

I thought it was NBA-slash- G League or bust for me.

Um, call me delusional if you will.

I thought-- I thought I was-- I was gonna go, so,

I felt-- I felt like I was gonna figure out some way into it.

It's hard to get into the WNBA.

It's, uh... like I said, draft 36. Thirty-six picks.

If it's a good draft year, maybe eight people will make the team.

Once you get drafted, like, nobody's guaranteed

because spots are so limited.

You kind of have to go into that mindset of like, "Okay,

"this is training camp, it's a tryout for me,

and I gotta do whatever I can to fight for however many spots it is."

Probably a bench player

that never touches the-- touches the court in the NBA

is making more than any of us.

- Shout. - Oh my...

- Right in your face. - How we doing? How we doing?

- We're doing good, how are you? - Y'all got enough space?

- Yeah. - We take coach's spot.

You know she's gonna park right beside you, though.

Yeah, I know she will.

- She's not gonna care. - I know.

But still, figure I'd just...

go ahead and mess with her a little bit.

I think we'll both be gone soon.

I can't wait to sleep in my bed at home, home.

Oh, home, home.

It's, like, unmatched,

'cause I-- I can't-- Like, I can't do it with my bed anymore.

Now just the shooting, okay?

♪ It's the return of the Mack, I'm back hunny ♪

♪ I just hit the kill switch feel it in ya tummy ♪

♪ Ooh, I got the spice, I know it right... ♪

Just-- Just to think about it, okay?

♪ You know what it is, I'm a beast alright ♪

My name is Ruth Sherrill. I'm from Alexandria, Virginia.

And I was the starting center here at Slavia.

In the semi-finals game, I was posting up,

fucked-- messed my knee up.

Uh, so yeah,

I found out it was a partial ACL tear.

But I do believe that my impact with the team

just being a leader, being super communicative,

being very supportive, you know, on and off the court

is the reason why I'm still here.

So, there's different ways that athletes can support their teams

even when they can't play.

I was told on graduation day that I couldn't play anymore.

So, I had like a really bad left foot,

and, like, the X-ray... MRI came back,

and it was like 75% black, which it should not be.

It should be more white on that-- on the, uh, MRI.

So he's like, "Yeah we're going to try and fuse,

"like, the Achilles and, like, your tibia, like...

You definitely won't be able to play."

And I was like, "Okay, that's not an option."

And I just remember going home and just being like, "What am I gonna do?"

I mean, my best friend is Tina Charles, she's the number one pick in the draft.

And my mom-mom just said,

"Hey, reach out to coach, ask him about an agent."

He got me an opportunity in Greece,

and that's kinda how everything took off.

The biggest thing with people,

especially Americans when we come overseas is that we get lonely.

We by ourselves.

My first job was in Italy, a team called Angelico Biella.

It was an experience, you know,

knowing that I'm not about to be in the States,

and I'm by myself at the time.

So, I'm going over to Italy by myself, you know,

I'm about to live in a whole another country.

No family, no friends, no nothing.

Um... interesting.

And as you can see, I'm Mr. Everything.

I'm the manager, I'm the agent, I'm the coach.

I'm the laundromat, I'm the financier.

It's extremely hard because

a lot of people view it as you on vacation, one.

Like, they don't understand you're really working.

Like, it's work.

And so, they think that, "Oh, you're in Athens, Greece,

"or you're in these beautiful-- Madrid, Spain, and all of these places,

why can't you answer the phone when I'm calling you?"

You know, "Why are you taking so long to answer back?"

And, like, you're working.

There's a time difference, there's all of these things, right?

And obviously, if you want to make it happen,

you can make it happen.

But it takes two people that want to make it happen

in terms of your spouse and whoever that is.

And then, obviously, once you have kids involved,

they do have international schools.

But these are all things that you can talk to your team about,

and they'll help you set that up.

Most FIBA, um, teams are reputable,

and they want you to be comfortable,

because if you're comfortable off the court,

you'll perform better on the court.

When I first landed in Australia,

I landed in Sydney, New South Wales.

What hit me first was-- was the plane ride.

That was the longest plane ride of my life.

That was-- That was a tough one for me.

Traveling to Tamworth, like, there's a lot of greenery.

You go through some bushland, but it, for the most part,

it's pretty-- it's pretty beautiful.

Like, you go through mountains, it's just, it was cool to see

how different the terrain is in the country.

Like, how-- how vast the ecosystem is out here.

I saw my kangaroo on the side of the road.

That was a big moment for me.

Yesterday, I went to go pick up my mom from the airport.

That is my mom.

- That's your mom? - Yeah. Yee-hee.

- Hi, Mom. - Good to see you.

I'm eating good. I'm eating good this time.

Good.

- Mm. How are you? - Oh!

- Auntie Alba. How are you? - Hi, sweetie.

I'm good, thanks.

Smooth flying?

- You look so handsome. - You really do.

I had to look good when you guys came, you know.

Okay, I'm stop-- I got it together. You know.

You guys look a little tan.

Oh, we look a little tan?

It's always a really emotional moment when I pick her up.

We always miss each other a bunch.

If she can, wherever I am in the world,

she-- she, like-- she loves traveling.

She misses me 'cause I-- I go long stints without seeing her.

And I'm kind of a mama's boy, not gonna lie.

So, she just came to see me, to be honest.

She wanted to see a game while she was here.

I feel like that just made the most sense, you know,

to see the reason why I'm out here pursuing this career.

So, when you came, was the water warm?

Yeah, it was a little warmer, like...

- But it is the Pacific-- - It was just, it was a lot warmer outside.

- Yeah, so it was refreshing - It's not as warm as it was back home.

Yeah, it was nice. It felt good.

I mean the Pacific is always gonna be the Pacific.

Just like the Atlantic is always gonna be the Atlantic.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. It's calm though, it's nice.

High school was like very cultural for you.

- Because you had so many-- - True.

It was very diverse...

- Yes, it was. - ...in terms of cultures.

But also, in some of the places you've been,

you've just been able to travel.

So, Europe, right? So when you were in Germany,

it was a small town,

but, like, we went to Salzburg,

- I mean everything... - Yeah, Munich.

Munich, everything was just so close.

So you can experience so many different things.

Even being centrally located in one area.

That's true. And it's--

It's a lot different living somewhere than, like,

visiting for vacation.

I think that was the biggest difference.

It is crazy though.

I hope, like, the career I can just show you

more and more places.

Whoever-- Wherever I play next, we'll see, somewhere crazy.

Maybe a dream destination.

I mean, it doesn't matter really.

- That's true. - You know this, again...

As long as you guys are there. Yeah.

- ...you go, I travel. - Yeah.

I told you, wherever you go in the world, I will be there.

That's true.

Hook or crook.

As a mom, you're always excited to get the FaceTime call,

but there was a rough patch there where I'd be like,

"Oh, my God, she's calling again!

"She's gonna be-- She's gonna be crying.

She's gonna want to come home. Call your father!"

Like, can you talk to her

- 'cause I can't hear it again. - I tell her, "Suck it up."

Well, I can tell, definitely, like, haven't seen

anyone love the game as much as her.

Um, literally puts all of her dedication into it.

Her p-- I can tell it's her passion.

Um, been at, like, most of her games.

Always, like, running around

with whoever had younger siblings at her games.

I'm happy to see her living out her dream right now

going overseas.

Rivals with a chance here

to win it at the death.

You can restart-- Sosa in the corner for the win!

- He drains it!

Édgar Sosa comes up with the enormous play!

You can't get time back.

And sometimes I feel... not that I feel a little guilty,

but sometimes I do,

because it's kind of like I'm leaving my-- my family,

my loved ones every year to go do my job

and do something I love.

But, you know, the nine-and-a-half, ten months that I'm not with them,

like that's-- I can't get that back.

So it's kind of like... am I putting my dream before my family

or my job before my family?

So, sometimes I battle with that,

um, but I have conversations with them

and they let me-- they let me know that they know that

I'm doing the right thing by following my dream and doing my job.

So, I try to stay as close as I can with my family

as far as FaceTime and text and stuff like that.

The first time I heard the word "import" was in Germany.

It was interesting to hear it.

It's like, "What do you mean 'import'?"

'Cause when people describe you to somebody else,

they'll say, "This is like, this is our American import."

I've started to understand what it means more

'cause we're kind of imported goods.

You know, um, these leagues have their-- their local players.

There's really no limit on how many players

in the country can play on that team.

If they want somebody for a specific task

or to really elevate the team,

um, Americans are pretty much considered the gold standard still

for basketball, I'd say.

So they kinda import us to help elevate their team,

bring us from another country, fly us out,

put us on a plane, and then we get to work.

A lot of NBA players can't play

the style of play that they play in Europe.

They go over there, and it's just not what they think about,

what they thought it was.

And it might not just be on the court.

Like, 'cause you can't deny their talent on the court,

but can you survive off the court?

Can you adjust to the culture, the lack of amenities

that you're used to getting in the NBA?

A lot of teams don't have five trainers, cryo machines,

and game-ready machines.

Sometimes, you have to tape your own ankles.

Sometimes, you have to go to the grocery store

and get frozen vegetables to ice your knees.

Aaron Brooks was-- was a very good player.

I believe he got Sixth Man of the Year, most improved, one of those awards.

So he was a really good player in the NBA, and he went to China.

He's a multimillionaire, and he's getting paid millions.

But his apartment that he was staying in didn't even have a stove.

He was using a hot plate to heat up his food.

And so, these are just some of the examples

that if you come play overseas,

you have to love basketball.

If you don't love basketball, you're going to be miserable

because basketball will be the highlight of your day.

Don't listen to the cap, bro.

I'm a little superstitious.

Um, as soon as I wake up on game day, I have to meditate.

I used to just look it up on YouTube,

now I have this app called Calm.

Um, I saw LeBron James use it, so I was like,

"Yeah, I might as well use it."

Before games, I definitely need to listen to music.

Like, I'm listening to, like, some calming music.

I like older music. Like, I listen to Roy Ayers,

like Everybody Loves the Sunshine or...

Searching or Isley Brothers.

I like Sade before the game.

Just smoother, chill vibes.

It helps me stay calm, not get too antsy before the game.

Just vibing out, singing, listening to the tunes.

It just kinda-- It gets me in, like, a... a serene head space.

Like, I-- I feel good before the game.

♪ Will you keep on loving me ♪

♪ You give me, you're giving me the ♪

♪ Sweetest taboo ♪

♪ Too good for me ♪

- ♪ There's a quiet storm ♪

♪ And it never felt like this before ♪

♪ There's a quiet storm that is you ♪

♪ There's a quiet storm and it never felt this hot before ♪

♪ Giving me something... ♪

Nobody has us winning this game.

Nobody outside of this gym or outside of this locker room

thinks we can win this thing.

Alright? The odds, the payrolls, whatever--

whatever metric you want to go to,

they're the favorites.

James Gist, um, he's a 6'9" power forward

with a 40-plus vertical, um, leap.

He went to University of Maryland, um, all ACC there.

Uh, he was drafted in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs.

And not only is he my best friend,

but he's somebody that has had a great career,

a legendary career internationally.

Now that cast is off...

Got a lot of respect for James and everything he's done.

We've been knowing each other for a long time,

and, um, we actually played against each other

the first time in high school

when he was the biggest name in the area

and was about to go to Maryland.

He's had a storied career.

He's one of those guys that

understood what he was great at

and stayed in that role and rode that wave.

Yeah, we stayed on the 35th floor.

So we like... There's 40 floors in that building.

We five from the top.

It took me a while to kind of get outside that box

of trying something new.

But now, yeah, I like to go to the more, like,

the... the hole-in-the-wall spots.

So, you know, the international food spots,

or you know, whatever this place, the state I'm in,

the country I'm in right now,

whatever they specialize in.

Like, out here, they got the kebabs and stuff like that.

I'm smashing them joints. Fire.

Yo, I was standing outside, I seen them wild dogs.

Oh, yeah.

They out here, bro.

They out here for sure. They out here for sure.

That's the one thing about Boss, man,

because he's, you know, I mean he a rottweiler, he,

you know, he commands whatever. Like, he a alpha and stuff.

At least we got a dog park in our apartment space,

and I don't have to walk him on the streets

'cause you walk him on the streets,

you mess around and go across one of the corners where it's like

- five, six dogs... - Oh.

...and you gonna have a problem.

They definitely will gang up on you, man.

And these dogs-- these stray dogs out here ain't small.

You know, they big.

Yeah, they got, you know them Kangals,

they got them Turkish Kangals, their back is this high.

They be on the street just walking around.

And it be hella cats out here, too.

That's the other crazy part.

Like, I hate that 'cause I'm allergic to cats.

Just think that joint was called a Dudu restaurant, bro.

Doo doo?

So I'd say we're probably

one of the smaller budget teams in our league.

Sutherland, very high respected team.

They've won the NBL1 before already. So they have that championship pedigree.

They have a good coach. Like, their coach is

the assistant coach of the Sydney Kings,

They have high level pro-professionals on their team.

Um, in the standings, they're far above us.

Um, I'm sure every other team is assuming

they kind of just blow us out the water.

So, we know like this-- this would be a huge win for us.

Beating a team we're supposed to lose to

and-- and it'll push us-- push us up in the standings pretty well.

If we lose the game, we move even further from playoffs.

So we'll probably go from ninth to tenth to, like, eleventh or twelfth

because the-- the standings are so close right now.

The entire game was a close game.

I'd say it was a battle the whole time.

We knew they were-- they came to play, we came to play.

Um, it was going back and forth.

A lot of energy, some trash talk...

...but it's just a very back-and-forth game.

A very close game. It was for sure a battle between both teams.

They want to make sure they stay high in the standings.

We want to make sure we get in the playoffs,

kind of a do-or-die game for us.

And the final score was 90 to 88.

We won it in the last 0.5 seconds.

So there was-- there was a real adjustment period

that I had to-- to get once going overseas.

I mean, it's-- it's less time. An NBA game is 48 minutes.

International game is 40, you know, 10 minute quarters.

You got 12 minute quarters in the NBA. Every possession in Europe,

- you know is valuable.

We were up one, we had the lead, and it was like last possession.

Other team had it.

Coach called a time out. He's like, "We're gonna foul."

I'm like "Foul for what? Why we gonna foul?"

He was like, "We want to foul, you know, this is a European strategy."

"We gonna foul. They get two free throws, make or miss.

At least we get the last shot. We get to hold our own destiny."

They scored two free throws.

We come down, we don't even get a shot. Lose the game.

I remember calling my agent after that like,

"Yo, you gotta get me outta here. This shit is crazy."

I was like, "I can't... nah, I'm not doing this.

"We're not just about to be losing games like this

off of some stupid stuff."

He's like, "Man, alright. You know, I'll figure it out.

You know, give me some time."

Three, four days go by, agent's like,

"You know, I'm making some calls, some teams are interested,

I let you know what I come up with."

We got, uh, my-- my first actual EuroLeague game now.

We play against Maccabi Tel Aviv,

and they come to Belgrade, they come to our arena.

This is my first home game there.

I go into the arena two hours before the game,

I got my headphones on, you know, about to go out and shoot,

get some warm-ups in,

and the stands are full, like full.

It was so loud in there I can't even hear the music in my headphones.

So, now boom, we start the game, the crowd's going crazy.

Maccabi beat us by 30. It was bad.

We lost a big game in front of them by 30 points,

you know, that's crazy.

We go in the locker room, coach is cussing us out

and he's like, "The fans want you to come back outside."

I'm like, "For what?" So now everybody's like, alright, we get our stuff,

you know, put the shoes back on, we're going back outside on the court.

Nobody's left the gym. This is like 30 minutes after the game.

I'm talking about, it's still a full arena.

And the fans are chanting, they're cheering,

and they just basically-- I'm asking the players, like,

to translate what they're saying, and they're like, you know, "We love you.

"We understand that you play with your heart, you play with everything.

You know, we still gonna support you to the end."

All that stuff. That's what they singing to us and everything like this.

So everybody's clapping, you know.

Mind you, we lost by 30,

and everybody's like, it's like a party.

And I'm like, "Damn, like this is crazy."

And I ended up going out, went out to a club,

and that was the first time I got to experience the Belgrade nightlife.

Once I saw the Belgrade nightlife,

and after realizing the game that we just had

and the fan base we had,

I hit my agent immediately like, "Yo, I'm good.

I don't gotta leave."

I said, "I'll figure this out.

Nah, I'll figure this out. This is a cool situation."

One of the best parts about playing overseas basketball

is giving your family an opportunity to see things

that they probably wouldn't see.

So like my kids, like, they went to school in Russia.

My kids go to school in Italy.

Like, they have friends from all different cultures,

all different races, all different languages.

Like, they've got a chance to, like, experience so many different things.

Like, you know, I-- Up until I was 21, 22 years old,

I never even rode an airplane, never even left the East Coast

except if it wasn't for, like, college basketball.

You know, my daughter is six years old,

and she's been to all over the world.

My son's first language is Hebrew, you know.

So, just being able to experience all the different things

that they've been able to experience, I think is only gonna work

in a positive for them.

So, I got three kids.

...the floor. Put those-- Put the cars back.

Come on, man.

My oldest is my daughter Maliyah.

Hi.

These boys getting big, man.

She's been traveling with me...

a good portion of my career, a good portion of my career.

She's been through Greece, she's traveled through Serbia,

she traveled to France, to Istanbul.

She came out to Germany with me. She's a-- she's a traveler.

She got more stamps in her passport than a lot of regular people, you know.

She enjoys traveling the world, you know.

She gets to see-- She knows that, you know,

the things that she's getting to experience,

not a lot of people get to experience that.

Um, so she's enjoying it in that aspect.

Okay, okay. Slow down.

Slow down.

You ready for lunch?

Yeah, we'll sit over here, we'll sit over here. Um...

Bash, come sit down.

Okay, you go eat and then you gonna go go play?

I got you.

My first fear I got is when I played in Iran in 2016,

I went out there, and I was just scared,

like, you know, 'cause you see all these things in the news.

You see the bombings and all-- and all that stuff.

And when you get there, you kind of feel like

that's what their everyday life is about.

And it-- and it's really not.

Like, Middle Eastern people for me

have been some of the nicest, most sensitive people

- that I've met, you know, in my life.

You could find yourself in a really good situation.

You could find yourself in a great country.

- You could find yourself

being an icon of that country.

They treat you like family.

Oh, no wind. Nothing but net.

We gotta stay safe, man.

Another day y'all hear the sirens. Here we go.

My name's Jared Armstrong.

I'm a Jewish American professional basketball player

that plays in Israel.

I got a offer to play for Hapoel Haifa

in the Winners League in Israel.

- I got a call, 6:30 that morning...

...rockets and missiles with the attack in Israel.

That was from my coach. And I'm just like, "Come on, Coach.

It's 6:30 in the morning." So I didn't really,

you know, take the call as seriously as I should have.

Dozens of Hamas terrorists infiltrating into Israel this morning

taking citizens hostage,

roaming around the streets of Israeli towns

shooting all over.

- There are still, as we speak, shootouts

between security forces and terrorists in Israeli territory.

And around 7:30, I started hearing booms.

So, I'm, like, "Oh, shit."

And then the next boom that I got,

it almost was like a hundred feet from my apartment.

So I'm like, "Oh, shit, I gotta get outta here."

So I remember going downstairs to my teammate's place,

and I knocked on his door and he was asleep.

I'm like, "Yo, wake up. What the fuck you doing?

It's bombs and rockets outside."

I had a friend from Chicago

that called me and he like, "Yo, man, that shit look crazy.

What y'all doing? Like, come to Michael spot."

So we drive about 45 minutes,

into the city called Ramat HaSharon.

It's about 20 minutes from Tel Aviv.

And we just crashed at his place, you know, for the time being

until we figured out our next move.

I've had a few moments...

I don't want to say close calls,

but like, you know, where you kinda gotta understand

that you're not in America.

I remember we had a game when I played in Greece.

We had a game in Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, and during that time,

uh, you know, the Gaza strip is

maybe an hour away from Tel Aviv.

They lighting off missiles over there, you know, left and right.

You can see 'em in the sky.

You know, we got a game that night. We got a game that night.

And they're saying that, you know, if-- if the alarm goes off

because there's a missile coming in, you know,

everybody has to go underneath the floor, which is...

they have, like, a set bunker under the floor

of where the arena is.

You know, the referees, officials, game players,

everybody goes under the floor.

And I'm like, "What about the fans?"

They're like, "You know, the fans,

they'll figure it out."

- "That's their everyday life."

So I'm sitting here like, "Yo, there's a whole war going on,

"you know, 50 miles away

and we still got a basketball game to play."

I've never actually been in-- in Iraq.

And when I saw the contract, I was a bit hesitant.

I didn't know.

Uh, but then I said, you know,

I've been so many other places in the world,

I know what I'm there to do.

I'm there to-- to do my job and pretty much stay-- stay out the way.

So I was like, as long as I stick to just playing basketball

and doing what I do and in my free time just being,

you know, at home, then-- then I should be fine.

Oh, I know, look-it.

Personally, I didn't do, um, a lot of research on Iraq

as a-- as a-- as a country as a whole.

I did more research on the team I was going to play for

and my teammates and coaches like that.

What's up?

- Hey, you good? - How are you?

I had this pre-judgment of what I thought

the people out there were like or what it was going to be, and then, uh--

What was that?

That was just that, uh, like, that there's no regard for--

for-- for humans out there.

Like, you know, um, they have this hatred towards Americans.

And... That's what I thought before I got there.

And when-- when I-- when I got there, I noticed that it wasn't like that.

You definitely should do research

on wherever you're gonna play anywhere in the world

because, you know, you might go somewhere

thinking that what you're doing is normal or it's okay

and it might not be to the-- to the people of those countries.

Yo.

Personally, my team went kind of AWOL.

Like, other-- outside of my coach,

none of us heard from the general manager.

None of us heard from the president.

Everybody was just kind of on they own.

I mean, I understood the situation,

but it kind of was fucked up 'cause it left us in a tricky situation.

You know, we 5,000 miles away from home,

and you know, we never been in this situation before.

We ended up finding out our GM, he had lost family members,

you know, in the war.

And I understood it was a, you know,

un-circumstantial situation.

But for us, it was kind of just fucked up.

When you're overseas, you have a lot of people

that are just die-hard fans

and will come to every-- every single game.

Be there screaming at the top of their lungs

and-- and cheering for you.

When I first signed my contract,

and let's say the-- the club would post like,

"Welcome, Lindsey" or whatever to the team,

you'll start getting DMs and things like that on Instagram.

Like, "Welcome to wherever you're coming.

We're so excited to have you." And things like that.

There's just people that are really invested in the-- in the teams

because sometimes if you're in a small city, that's all they have.

You know, that's-- that's what really is

at the center of the-- of the city.

And people are invested in that.

And that's something that they look forward to every week

to go to a game.

The intimacy between you and the fans becomes more

because they build a relationship with you.

So they go crazy, they passionate, they jumping up and down.

Their families have the same history

in terms of the teams that they're rooting on.

So, you get a different kind of appreciation.

The NBA is entertainment, man, it's a family environment.

You just going to have a good time.

You know, it's like a party.

That shit is like a lifestyle.

I got stories for days when it comes to how rowdy

and hostile fans can get when you're on the road.

They love basketball more than we do.

They just can't play it. You know? So they want you to play it for 'em.

They want you to play it with the same emotion,

the same passion, the same everything that they feel for it.

They want that.

It's a game to us. To them, it's life.

To them, it's life. And in some instances, I've been in the arenas that, yeah,

you really had to worry about your well-being.

You had-- had to run off the floor

to get to the locker room before the fans got to us.

I had to wait in the locker room for two, three hours

so that they can evacuate the gym and the parking lot so we can leave.

I've been on buses where we got...

police escorts on both sides, you know, this high,

so that nobody can throw anything in the bus

or anything like that, you know?

And it's a sport to us, to them...

they-- it's more than just a sport.

Go to one of them Greek games, you know what I'm saying?

Go to the Panathinaikos and Olympiacos game.

That's like a real, true experience.

Like, you know. Here, it's more of an entertainment,

which is cool, both sides are cool,

but it's more of an entertainment, it's more of a party.

You got the kiss cam, you got this, you got this going on, you got--

They shooting things in the air. They got all type of stuff.

Overseas, it's just straight up chants.

You got the fire going, they got all types.

They booing every team, you know.

So it's a whole different... it's two totally different vibes,

two totally different energies.

Its Olympiacos versus Panathinaikos, they're playing in the Greek Cup.

So, you have on one end zone is the Olympiacos fans.

The other side of the basket is Panathinaikos fans.

And in between are police officers.

Like not just, like, one or two. I'm talking about the whole police force.

So I'm just out there casually not paying attention,

trying to like-- you know, trying to like, you know, be in the game and be focused.

So all my teammates leave.

I don't notice they leave, you know,

I'm just out there shooting and doing my normal routine.

So, I'm on the free throw line, shooting,

all of sudden something goes, "pew, boom!"

A flare knocks me in the head, knocks me down.

My pants is on fire.

So I'm over here brushing my pants up.

Two security guards come take me in.

I'm, you know, looked like I just got knocked in the head,

I'm half conscious or whatever.

My teammates, they just knock it off like nothing happened.

They're like, "Ah, Malaka, that's-- that's nothing.

That just-- that's just normal basketball."

The coach looks at me, keeps drawing on the board.

I'm thinking in my head, I was like, "Yo, I just almost lost my life,

"and we just gonna continue to play the basketball game

like... like nothing is happening."

When somebody thinks about Kyle Hines,

they need to think about somebody that has persevered,

that has known how to be a consummate professional, right?

He knows how to play the game inside the game,

being a good teammate,

sacrificing individual statistics for team goals.

And he's been rewarded handsomely, you know,

through opportunities and intangibly

through-- through achievements and awards for that sacrifice.

And he's somebody that every young player

that's considering playing basketball overseas should study.

This, this right here carries a lot of weight.

It carries a lot of pressure when you wear it,

but it's something that you want,

um, you know, all players want it.

The first American to win four EuroLeague titles,

Hines' place in history is already secure.

What's a misconception

that people have about overseas basketball?

A misconception that they have is that,

that there's bad players and there's bad basketball.

That's just on the basketball standpoint.

I feel like people who don't follow it,

don't know the talent that's out there.

And I would say another misconception

is outside of basketball, you know,

because maybe people think

just because you're a basketball player,

you're getting it easy or you don't have it as hard

as-- as someone who works nine to five.

And that's totally false because, you know,

for a lot of us, we have to move to-- to countries

we've never been to,

adapt to cultures that we've never been a part of.

Maybe something that's done in our country as a norm

is not a norm in another country.

So, that's stuff that you definitely have to adjust to.

I don't know if many people seen The Godfather,

but the town where, you know, Michael,

when he's-- when he's leaving and he's kind of on exile,

- that's what Veroli looked like.

Literally, people were walking goats

- and chickens and horses and--

And people were-- you know, when they wanted to do laundry,

they would all go down to, like, the big watering hole,

and they're filling up their water to take it back to their house.

Like, that's literally what it was.

It was like, you know, coming from South Jersey, Philadelphia,

to kind of going back into time.

So, for that first, like, month, I was homesick.

And then I go to, you know, Russia, Moscow, where it's like,

you don't see the sun for 10 months.

Like, you get there, nobody's talking to you

'cause, you know, everybody's very, you know,

in Russia, everybody's very stoic.

I was like, "Man, what...

What decisions did I make? Why did I come here?"

But then, I kind of flipped my mentality,

and I started realizing, I was like,

"Man, this city is beautiful."

Like, the Red Square is one of the most, you know,

beautiful things that you can ever see in life.

Like, you know, the way that the architecture,

the different things that they have there in Russia.

Like, the-- the culture, the history,

the subway.

Every subway station is a-- is a museum.

You go there, and they have these beautiful tapestries,

this beautiful artwork.

The players who have had the most success overseas

are the players that really embrace the culture

and really embrace the lifestyle and really embrace what it is.

I'm on a team, I think-- They quit. No...

These are my brothers, right?

This is my younger brother, Abbas. We call him Kobe.

That's Kobe.

Jassim, say hello to the camera.

- Yes! My brother. - This is Nico, the captain.

- Hold on, don't go nowhere. - Okay.

This is Latif. Young Latif.

Don't be a killer...

This is Young Turkey right here, this is the family.

This is the masked man right there.

- What's up? - Hey!

- This is Khalid, my brother. - What's up, fam?

And this is Wes. My boy and my brother.

This is the best trainer in the Middle East.

These are my brothers. That's my family, man.

These are my family...

As Americans, when we go over to these places

and go over to these countries

and start learning these people's customs and cultures,

you have to be aware of what's offensive and what's not offensive,

and what can force someone to dislike you or try to harm you

or try to push you and jam you up, you know?

'Cause sometimes, we can dap each other up.

If I dap you up, it's a cultural thing

on how we shake hands.

It's a cultural thing on how people shake

or-- or greet each other in Italy,

they kiss on both sides of the cheek.

Now, if you're not familiar with that,

that shit can throw you off.

It's a cultural thing, you go to Turkey,

that if you with your son and you with your child,

someone will walk past, say "inshallah," and take your baby

and just walk off and just be-- and hold them,

and-and-and just walk around like it's nothing.

They'll take him to sit with-- at their table with them

and-- and feed them food.

Now, for us, that shit is wild.

But for them, that's a normal

because of their appreciation for children.

So with-- with-- The same thing goes with basketball.

You have to understand the natural customs

and the cultures of whatever country

or whatever gym you going into.

You know, you can't-- even if you here on the street,

you can't just walk up in somebody's house

and go in they refrigerator and just act like it's yours.

Nah, you gotta ask, "Can... May I do... What can I do? Da, da, da."

It's a certain type of courtesy and, um...

and rules that go along with it.

So, my first year, we was playing in Varese,

a team, uh, out in Italy, and I hit a game winner.

We beating them all-- all game.

They make a run, they, uh, make a shot, I get the ball,

eight seconds left, I go down, I hit a pull up

and I take my jersey off.

You know, in college, you know the thing you do,

you pop your jersey, you show yourself to the-- to the stands.

So, I took my jersey off and I pointed my jersey at the opposing--

the home team's fans, we was on the road.

And I just see a mob

of people coming towards me like they wanted to kill me.

Like, I had to be escorted out by police that day.

Like, I had to be brought out

and put onto the bus just myself.

And the whole time, I'm like, "Man, what did I do that's so bad?"

But it's just like, that's something you don't do over there.

There've been a lot of times where I've gone to different countries,

whether it's travel for vacation or for playing,

where I'm asking, "Do you speak English?"

And then I had to catch myself.

I'm like, "I'm asking them if they speak English in France

"or in Greece, you know,

"I should be making the effort to speak their language.

And if I see that they speak English, then I adjust."

But, uh, you know, that's not how we think.

We think because we're the greatest country in the world

that everybody just abides by how we think

and how we operate.

Obviously, you guys have been in Europe before,

but in a smaller town like this where there's not a lot of diversity...

- Yeah. - ...like, do you guys feel that like as...

- You know, the stares? - The stares?

- The stares is crazy. Like, and-- - Uh-huh.

And-- and people will stare and not say anything,

and it will just be like 100%...

We can go over to-- Uh...

will just continue to stare and not look away.

I'm like, "Wow, this is like-- this is bold."

- But... - So do you feel like it's--

Is it, like, malicious or are they just curious?

No, I think it's like, it's like curiosity

and it's kind of just like,

"Wh-- Like, what are you guys doing here?"

Because it's such a, like, a random city.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- Yeah. - But now we're getting

the stares of people recognizing...

- Right. True. - ...because we're in the finals.

- Yeah. - So now it's kind of different.

It's-- They're kind of afraid to approach us.

- Yeah, yeah. - Like, "Oh, you play basketball?"

- Yeah. - And-- 'Cause, like,

after you guys left, uh, in the restaurant,

- someone noticed us like, hey... - Mm-hmm.

He's like, "Finals tomorrow." I said, "Yeah, are you coming?"

He's like, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."

You go to places and you gotta--

you can't walk around with certain-- certain body parts showing

and you know, things of that nature.

So, you don't want to go there and get caught up

'cause rules are different over there than they are over here.

We might say, "Hey, this is more lenient so you'll be okay,

or it's just a slap on the wrist," but you go over there?

You're American, you not-- you don't have anybody fighting for you like that.

So you gotta make sure, like, you know what each country

kinda wants and expects from you.

And then you gotta-- you gotta carry it out.

When I'm having discussions with my agent

about where I'm going and I'm talking with my parents,

it's like, "Okay, what's the situation in the country?

Like, what's going on? Is it a safe area?"

Things like that.

My parents, they will always have those questions,

and I think they'll always be concerned and worried about me

no matter where I go.

One of the things we-- I said to Lindsey, you know,

my pet peeve, don't get involved in politics over there.

You're there to focus on basketball, enjoy,

learn about the culture,

but don't-- don't get into protests or whatever it is.

Because the political environment is very sensitive right now.

And seeing what happened to Brittney Griner

was a huge concern.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist

and WNBA star Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia.

Under Russian law, Griner could face 10 years in jail.

People were wondering why Brittney Griner is going to Russia

being the star that she is here in the states.

It's because she's getting paid millions.

Now some people might think $100,000, $200,000

is good money, um, for-- for a normal citizen

working a conventional job.

But, if you put it in the context of professional sports,

it's well below what most people are getting paid

for being a high level talent.

You know, people always think, "Okay,

"when Americans come overseas

"that they're automatically going to dominate

and carry the team."

But that's not always the case.

So that definitely could be a-- a misconception.

If they sit on the, uh, side...

She really brings a lot of energy.

She's able to score in all position

and, uh, you know, I like her game and I like her personality.

Uh, you-- She can, uh, she can make a lot of joke with me.

So-- so I'm really good with her.

Now she's able to score, uh, uh, 20, 25 points.

So, she needs just to continue in these, uh, in these things.

Uh, what she is doing now and we can be successful.

You think by myself?

You said you had it at home.

I'm gonna get annoyed with you. What is that?

What happened?

'Cause she said she still didn't eat hers. She got it at home. She said--

Oh, so you were gonna get another piece?

- Yeah. - So you're gonna eat two tonight?

- Worth it though. - No, I'm just going to have one tonight.

- You're just gonna save them, like... - I respect it.

I rather, you know... I keep that thang on me.

Little bit of cheesecake.

So you're going to put it--

- It's the princess. - Right?

Okay, but if I'm walking first...

But you gotta walk through, like, the narrowest...

I mean, honestly, like, for me, I-- when I first get there,

I'm thinking, like, about my first break where I can go home like in November.

No, like, real talk, I'm thinking about that like, "Okay,

I just gotta make it to then."

Then, by then, I kind of just, like, try and break it up

like, "Okay, we're in the middle of the season."

Like, okay, just trying to break up like

how many games we got or things like that.

Using basketball instead of letting basketball

just use you or use your body, like it's better.

I think-- I'ma say it. I think it's different in Canada

compared to the States.

One, just because there's so many schools out there.

- Yeah. - There are so many athletes graduating,

- trying to get to WNBA obviously. - Yeah.

But, like, in Canada, like,

- we don't have that same opportunity. - Mm.

Like, if you're good enough in Canada,

- yeah, you'll go D1 in the States, fine. - Yeah.

But other than that, like, the goal is overseas.

- Okay. Mm-hmm. - Like, that is the goal.

Like, I want to play professional basketball.

There's no professional league in Canada.

- Or women's at least. - Okay.

And then, men's, it's only in the summertime.

Mm.

Um, and that's only for like a couple months.

And then, yeah, other than that, like, it's like,

"Okay, let me just try to get something."

- Yeah, where-- - People--

Like, I know a couple people

that were pretty good in college

that are making like less than $1,000.

- I believe it. - Mm-hmm.

And I'm like, uh...

- You-- What can you do with that? - Yeah.

Like, you really have to, like, love--

- Less than $1,000? - Love the game.

- You have to love it. - You have to love the game.

And that's-- that's so many factors. That's your agent.

That's who your agent knows. That's the team.

Like, a team is gonna low-ball you for real, like...

- For sure. - If you worth a certain amount of money,

they're not gonna give it to you from jump.

Your agent has to work for that. Yeah.

- Exactly. - But people are taking it so it's like...

Because they don't know though, like...

Diana Taurasi, she played in Russia to the point

where her team one season in Russia,

paid her not to play in the WNBA.

Like, that's how important they are to these teams in Europe.

They have to go play overseas to give themselves the lifestyle afforded

to a professional basketball player

simply because the WNBA doesn't pay them

the amount of money that Europe does.

I was getting major attention from a lot of high level teams in Europe,

and I was getting a lot of attention from NBA clubs,

then I got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Now, to a story of commitment and persistence.

Chris Wright was playing professional basketball overseas

when he noticed an unusual tingling in his right foot.

After the sensation started to spread, Chris went to the doctor

where he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

But rather than marking the end of his playing career,

it actually marked a new beginning for him.

A year after his diagnosis, he became the first person with MS

to play in the NBA.

Chris Wright and his neurologist Dr. Heidi Crayton

join us now to discuss the condition and Chris's treatment.

MS is a condition that affects the central nervous system,

which is any part of the brain, any part of the spinal cord.

And how people experience MS really depends on where they're affected.

So, people can have visual issues, they can have sensation

or balance issues, weakness.

I told the head coach, I was like, "Yo, coach,

I don't know what's going on."

And you know that whenever a rookie say something,

they looking at you like, "Whatever."

I'm like, "Nah, for real. I'm not... I can't feel nothing."

So they told me to take the day off.

I went to the doctor,

and when I went to the doctor, they did all the little testing,

"Can you feel this?" "No, I can't feel this."

"Alright, well, take the day off."

Drink some water is what they told me. Mm... Alright.

Um, so I went home and kind of forgot about it.

You know, I'm walking around and stuff, but it just feels weird.

Then I go to sleep. The next morning, I wake up,

go to get out-- get out of the bed, I fall and collapse to the floor.

No feeling, I can't lift my legs, I can't lift my arms, nothing like that.

I had to crawl to text my teammate to come help me

in the-- in the apartment and all that stuff.

And then I went back, this time in a wheelchair

because I couldn't move.

Again, they told me nothing was wrong even though I came in a wheelchair.

So, I had some choice words, you know what I'm saying?

It got a little-- Got my point across

and they sent me to a specialist in Istanbul.

And that's when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

And at the time, I ain't gonna lie, I wasn't even tripping.

I wasn't even like... like devastated, nothing. I just-- It--

'Cause everything happened so fast.

I was like, "What you mean?" Like, what-- what--

"I can't play no more? I was just running and dunking and jumping,

"and flying around yesterday...

- "...and now you gonna tell me

because of something that just happened..."

I don't even know what it is.

I didn't-- had no clue what multiple sclerosis was.

"...that I could never play basketball again?

Nah, you got that wrong."

Chris Wright fancies his chances,

and why not?

I don't think people truly understand, you know,

how significant it's for Chris Wright

to be playing professional basketball in general,

let alone the NBA with multiple sclerosis.

He not only battled through that in Turkey

but subsequently ended up making it to the NBA

with the Dallas Mavericks and playing in a NBA game

with this same disease.

The league is made up of around 400 players every year, give or take.

And there are tens of thousands of American basketball players

that are trying to play professional basketball.

So, for him to get one of those coveted spots

while being diagnosed with that debilitating disease,

it's nothing short of a miracle.

Seven doctors said, "No, you can never do this again."

And I kept saying, "Alright, well, I'ma go find somebody else."

Yeah.

I had to teach myself how to do everything again:

walk, I had to teach myself how to run and teach myself how to shoot,

had to teach myself how to jump.

Now, fast-forward eight months,

nine months later, I was in NBA.

I had an opportunity to go-- go to the NBA,

um, specifically when I was leaving Olympiacos.

Um, it was either go to CSKA or go to-- at the time it was the Atlanta Hawks,

and I chose to stay overseas and not even like-- throughout my career,

not even necessarily explore those NBA opportunities

because I really enjoyed playing basketball overseas.

Kyle said something that was very profound.

He said that American basketball players

are signed overseas but set up to fail.

And I never thought about it like that, but it's very true,

because when you play overseas,

you know that there's a cloud over you,

and you have a very short leash to make mistakes

because you will always be the scapegoat and the first person they look at,

because they're paying the most money for you to be there.

It costs a lot to bring an American

to a team, internationally.

You have to pay for visas, you have to pay for the housing,

you have to pay for round trip flights,

you have to pay for cars,

you have to obviously pay a salary, insurance.

There are a lot of things that come

with signing an American in these countries

because they're not-- you're not just signing them as a basketball player,

you're signing them as a working citizen in the country.

The NBA is the NBA. Like, that-- There's no substitute for that.

But for me, like, you know, I found my niche,

and I was like, you know, I'm just gonna stick with it and stay with it.

And-and-and like I said,

I think it's-- it's worked out for me just a little bit.

In terms of what the-- the negatives are overseas,

not getting paid on time, not getting paid at all.

Um, and that's a big issue overseas.

So, I would say that,

because you can't really have a union over there.

It's tough 'cause it's so many different countries,

so many different rules.

So there's no-- And FIBA's going to side more with the clubs

because that's where they getting their money from.

You know, so it just makes more sense

that we will have some...

we don't have as much leverage as we want.

"2007." Yeah, 2007 Pan American Games, USA jersey.

That was a dope experience.

I consider FIBA, which is the governing body

of international basketball,

it's organized chaos.

And so, obviously everybody has contracts,

and there's, you know, stanzas in place

where if things go left,

then you go to arbitration in Switzerland

because Switzerland is neutral,

and all of these things are in place.

A lot of times, the teams know how to work around that.

So, for instance, like a country-- like a market like Greece,

they're infamous for not paying their players.

They have outstanding debts throughout the league.

Teams have that, and myself included.

That was the first and only place that I didn't get all of my money.

I went through a economic crisis when I was in Greece.

You know, it got to a point,

uh, where you could only take out 400 Euros a week,

you know, out of the bank.

You could swipe your card as much as you want

but only 400 Euros a week.

My thing was, I get that the Greek citizens, you know,

they can't take their money out the bank and stuff like this

but for the players that are over here,

like, between basketball, football, all the sports

that aren't Greek citizens, we should be able to take our money out

and send it back home.

And Greeks no-- uh, voted against it.

So, everybody kinda had to leave their money in the banks.

You couldn't take it out.

Uh, and this went on for probably like two years.

So. when you go to arbitration, one, as a player,

you have to pay for that out of your pocket.

That whole process. That meeting, it's expensive, right?

And it-- They can draw it out, too.

The team can draw it out and things like that.

And that's-- In that same breath, you're looking for your next contract.

So, what they bank on is the players saying, "Hey, well...

"yeah, I know I'm owed this money, but I have my next contract coming up

and they still might not rule in my favor."

You know, that's-- that's the risk,

and that's the reality for a lot of players.

So teams know that. And there's really little recourse

that you have to get your money.

I've been in games where I've been three for five from three...

...and I'm thinking to myself, in the middle of a game,

"Alright, if I shoot above 50% this season,

I'll get more money next year on my next contract,"

in the middle of the game. So I'll turn down wide open shots.

I'm no longer playing basketball,

I'm making business decisions on the court.

Thank you.

Just kind of like packing up,

trying to get myself organized, um, to pack up

as the, like, the season's kinda coming to an end,

trying to figure out

how I'm gonna get all this stuff back home,

and what I can kind of leave and maybe give-- give away here,

uh, and what I can take back home.

It's kind of like a bittersweet feeling

of knowing the season is ending

and I get to go home, see my family, um...

but also knowing that, like, basketball

is-- is kinda coming to an end for this year

is a little bit-- is a little bit sad,

but also very exciting for me to go home.

'Cause you're-- you're here for majority of the year

and it gets tough.

Like, you-- you spend a lot of time by yourself

without seeing people that you see on a day-to-day basis at home.

So this-- it's kinda exciting for me,

besides the stressful part of, uh, just trying to pack and everything.

For my career, I definitely have--

I definitely have some huge decisions to make very soon.

The season ends, the regular season ends in three weeks.

If we have playoffs, the season ends in five to six weeks.

So, I'm pretty much getting to the near-- near the end of it,

and it's time to figure out what my next steps are.

I don't really want to stay idle too long.

I'm just gonna have to talk to-- to my agent,

gonna have to talk to Mike, and see what--

see what the market is saying,

or what my-- my new value in the market would be

as a basketball player.

Will I come back to Australia and play for the same team?

Will I play for a different team in the same league?

Will I go to one of the different NBL1 leagues,

like the south and north in Australia?

Will I go to Europe, South America?

I'm not sure if there's a country that I can think of right now

that I definitely wouldn't play in.

Um, I'd be open to-- to plenty of markets.

Um, I'm very adventurous.

So even if it's a-- a country that seems weird,

I feel like I'd end up going to the country

just to see what it's like.

As I've gone through this career,

getting to know some players that played in the EuroLeague.

When I was, uh, training earlier this year, for example,

I got-- I got to train with somebody named James Gist,

who's-- who I heard played in EuroLeague, which was pretty cool.

He was telling me about his experiences,

and it's-- it's just amazing to see people live their life, you know?

I'm first generation in my family doing something like this.

I never had somebody lay out the blueprint for me.

Now I have the blueprint.

I feel like it would be a sin

to... waste the gift that God blessed me with,

to not give back to the next generation that's coming up.

To not teach the game, to not help them understand,

you know, what this game can really do for you.

And not just the game of basketball, but how it correlates to life, you know?

Overseas basketball is a grind,

but what he went through to get to where he is now

in the NBL1 in Australia, is beyond a grind.

Like, he was subjected to things

that most people couldn't handle.

When people think of professional basketball,

you don't equate it to struggle.

He truly had to struggle and adjust

and... and change his life, literally.

You know, when you see him sitting here today

playing in the NBL1, what he truly had to sacrifice

and go through just to get to this point.

That's one of the biggest things I want people to get from his story.

Even when-- if I retire from basketball,

I'm still gonna play, you know, you still gonna see me playing everywhere.

That's just... I mean, that shit, it's in me.

I don't-- I don't have to get paid necessarily to play basketball.

I ain't get paid for a long time,

and I was playing that shit, you know what I'm saying?

So, when I stop playing, uh, professionally, who knows?

What I've learned from my career

is that you don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring

as far as a professional athlete.

You don't know if next season is when

you're gonna get your big-- big break and make the league.

You don't know if you're gonna get a raise.

You don't know if you're gonna get injured.

About Saudi Arabia, I'm excited about the team

that I'm gonna be playing on,

but for me, I'm just thankful overall that, you know,

I'll be turning 36 this year.

I'll be going into my 13th season,

and I'm still able to do this.

So, that's how I'm looking at it.

I'm just thankful that at 35 I can still do what I love

and still get signed and play to do what I love.

So, I'm thankful.

I know a lot of guys get discouraged off that,

like they need the nice apartment,

they need the-- the-- the nice car to drive, or whatever.

I'm just there to get the job done, you know what I'm saying?

I'm there to get the job done, be the best player I can be,

be the best teammate I can be, the best person I can be.

And with the understanding that-- that that's not my home,

that my home is here with my family.

I want to squeeze every bit of juice I can out of my career.

So when I'm done, I will never be like,

I could have done this, I could have went harder.

Like, I'm real-- I'm-- I'm trying to go as hard as I can

and live with whatever happens,

live with however my career played out knowing that I did all I could.

That's why I go hard.

To go places and-- and-- and shake hands and meet people

and then people are like, "Yo, who are you?"

Like, "'Cause why is everybody coming up to shaking your hand?"

And I'm like, I'm just, you know, just a-- just a overseas basketball player.

I've won four EuroLeague titles,

which I'm the only American in the history of EuroLeague to do so.

People would say that I'm the most decorated

or the most accomplished American

in all of overseas basketball.

I still pinch myself, you know, every single day.

- To get respect from your peers, you know,

means more than any accolade or any individual accomplish--

or any, you know, team accomplishment I can ever have.

If I need to go clear my head, I'm going to the gym.

If, um, I'm upset, I'm going to the gym.

If I'm happy-- Like, it doesn't matter.

That's just something that-- that just--

It's like my-- my safe space and my happy place.

So, um, I don't see myself stopping anytime soon,

even though it is a grind and it is tough.

I didn't know how good she was gonna be,

but being able to be there every step of the way

- and watch her evolve... - Here we go!

...with the type of basketball player she is now,

and even a sister, like, how much growth I've seen in her,

it's amazing, really.

She can still go way higher than she already is.

I'm like, "Hold up, overseas ain't that bad" for one,

and two, like, you could really come over here

and live like Kemba.

I'm sure he just got off the plane the other day in Monaco,

and was he just like, "Damn, man, I'm-- it's better than Charlotte."

I mean, if you in the NBA, yes, you are, but you in Monaco.

You talking about James Bond, 007, like you Formula One.

This is the dream.

We get paid to play basketball, we get to travel the world.

I feel like chasing this dream is worth it.

I remind myself of that every day,

how far I've come in a-- a short time,

the experiences I've gotten to travel the world,

experience cultures,

still playing competitive basketball, it's worth it to me.

I went to Greece, and I played there for seven years.

I played in an arena

that at one point had 30,000 people in there,

you know, for one of our playoff games, 30,000,

and, you know, they're all screaming my name.

"Gist, Gist, Gist, Gist, Gist."

Why would I give that up... to go play in the NBA

and not be the main guy?

♪ Why'd you think that I bruck this weight? ♪

♪ Tagging it into different shapes ♪

♪ Supply and demand, I got deals all day ♪

♪ Really take trips pulling up on estates ♪

♪ But I ain't seeing not one familiar face ♪

♪ Feds in the rear, fully gas, no brakes ♪

♪ I'm in a blacked-out ding dong with no plates ♪

♪ I'm tryna see how much bread I can make ♪

♪ Why'd you think that I bruck this weight? ♪

♪ Tagging it into different shapes ♪

♪ Supply and demand, I got deals all day ♪

♪ Really take trips pulling up on estates ♪

♪ But I ain't seeing not one familiar face ♪

♪ Feds in the rear, fully gas, no brakes ♪

♪ I'm in a blacked-out ding dong with no plates ♪

- ♪ Dots came long, chopped it shorter ♪

♪ Numb to the fact death's around the corner ♪

♪ Masked up, creeping around like a stalker ♪

♪ Tryna put somebody's son on my bora ♪

♪ Six shot spin parked off and it's greased down ♪

♪ Weak in the knees now he's seen this, yeah ♪

♪ Slap more than one, I ain't inna no beat down ♪

♪ This ain't tables, ladders and chairs ♪

♪ I'm tryna better my circumst... ♪

Uh, playing with the Maryland Flames, um, my team.

And then, this is also another poster with just our team.

So, it's cool to just look back at stuff like this

when I come home,

um, and just, like, just take it in

and realize like how-- where I started

and where I'm at now is crazy.