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This is the Dan Levatore Show with the Stugats podcast.

I mean, I hate this divorce article. I can hate it.

Oh my... I mean like... It's so long. It's long, but it's like so many twists and turns.

Am I reading the right one? Because half of it is They were just being like, I'm reading these books. Yeah, I think the essay, the way it got filtered into social media made me think it was going to be different also. And then I read it and I was like, this is just a sad personal essay. Yeah, it sucks. About her very mentally ill. I feel like I'm reading the wrong thing.

No, you're reading the right thing.

Because she cheated on her husband's.

Yes, but she brushed that under the rug so quickly. She was like, I did it.

That's none of your business. And now I can't go do yoga anymore.

But also buried it She went so many paragraphs about how, Oh, we're on the wrong page, and he's so career-oriented, and I'm over here, what's driving my career? Also, I some other guy, but that's none of your business.

This line I just read just sent me... It sent me, My husband would have to forgive me for cheating and wasting our money. I would have to forgive him for treading on my literary territory. Those are not the same thing.

My God. I was like, The ego that's happening here.

It's crazy.

Raging ego mania.

And I'm not even... I'm 75% of the way through. I've been I'm trying to read it. It's so tough to get to because everything is like- That paragraph stands out.

That paragraph where she's going, he needs to forgive me for this. I need to forgive him for this.

You guys have been talking about this for the better part of 4 hours during every break. What is it that's so fascinating to the three of you about this story?

I haven't finished it yet. It is a tough read. I don't think I'm fascinated by it. No? I read it. It's another essay in the cut about a woman. In the first two paragraphs, she talks about being institutionalized and having all these mental health issues. But the essay is about her divorce and about all these things that happened with her and her husband and how she convinced herself she needed a divorce. It's very long.

Basically, This woman is writing about her relationship with her husband and how she starts upping some antidepressants during a very stressful time. That leads to her becoming more and more free with her alcohol consumption. That leads to her coming to the conclusion that me and my husband actually don't get along at all. We should get divorced. As Jess said, there's a lot of stuff. She gets institutionalized at one point, and she has to clean up. When she comes out, she's off the stuff, but she still feels like, No, got to go through with this divorce. She's describing these things, and I think in her mind, she thinks it is the things about, A, the friction between two beings. Like my dad said, marriage is one of the things that goes against every human impulse. There's two impulses that all humans have. This is what my dad says. Number one is the need for companionship, the need for someone to share things with the need to be in a relationship. But then there's also the need to be individual. I do what I want. No one tells me what to do. I go where I want.

I sleep when I want. Those two things are conflicting at all times, and you got to balance that to be in a marriage for the entirety of the relationship. This woman, the impulses that she's talking about are very different ones. One is, Hey, my husband is more successful in his career than I am, Also, because of where we are at in our careers, we need him to work a lot in order to pay the bills. By the way, this is according to the cut. It wasn't just a cool way of saying, We saw this in the cut. It's like actual-That's what I thought it was when you said it.

I was like, Oh, it's in the cut. Okay. But why is it something that everyone is now talking about while Jessica is being made sad a couple of paragraphs in because people seem to be chewing on something here as conversation that seems depressing because someone is struggling with love, with antidepressants, with depression.

I think because it came out at the same time as the scam article. Yes. On the same platform, too. Yes. It was the same day or maybe a day before scam article in the cut.

It happened so close to each other that I confused one for the other. I learned of this story from Ethan Strauss, who potted about it. But as soon as he started talking about it, I was like, Oh, yeah, the thing on TikTok. I clicked on the article thinking like, it's going to be a nice write-up, and I was like, Oh, this is a completely different story because this is a woman who was in a relationship for seven years. The TikTok one- The TikTok one is completely...

There's so much happening right now, Dan, on the Internet. A lot of personal essays in the in terms of personal essays and also in the form of 50-part TikToks that are four hours long, which was what Lucy was supposed to report back on about. Then she watched 7 Hours of Love is Blind instead, and I'm very disappointed in her. She still needs 3 more hours to go, by the way. I'm feeling so bad, just in general. I know too much about everybody's business, and normally I like that, but just not all at once. I can't keep track of all these things.

It is a bit overwhelming, is it not, to try and keep up with all of the content places where people are gossiping about things that you find interesting?

I'm 75% through this article. I don't know if her and her husband are still together or not. I don't know if they got divorced.

Read to the end. It's mind-blowing. What? Mind-blowing. I'm not going to tell you what happens, but read to the end.

I'm not going to read it, though, so you're going to have to tell me.

I'll spoil it for you in the break. Don't worry. It is such a long I have a long article.

Spoiler alert. Should we start with... No. Because you guys are now talking about something that a lot of people might not know what you were talking about, and now you're mixing and matching pop culture stories. You're damn right.

Keep up, folks.

You don't know what's going on. Here's the deal, Dan. What you do when you have these conversations, you're trying to lead people to the content. I want people to read that thing. I want them to read it and find out the spoiler alert at the end without me spoiling it for them altogether. But Jess, the TikTok scam wedding, that one was insane. And this one we will spoil because some people- Are we going to spoil this?

Because Lucy does not want us to spoil this. Now it's a scam wedding? What do I not want to spoil? The TikTok saga. The scam wedding. You know what? You can spoil it. I cannot consume all of this content at once. My brain, it is not working anymore. We haven't even gone to Laura and Jeremy yet. We haven't even talked about Laura and Jeremy yet. I haven't even started on Laura yet. Oh, man, Jeremy, that guy, red flag.

That's Love is Blind. That was a segment ago.

Yeah, but we had so much more to talk about.

This is what it sounds like when I talk about the US Open Cup. That is correct. The four cups, though. You wish. Which one are we saving again? Except on this one, everyone seems interested. Yeah, it's interesting. It doesn't do anything for me. It's like a- Mike, which one, though? All of Yes. I have a deep-seated need to be liked by everybody and want to take part in things that are popular, but nothing just doesn't register with me. I don't give a shit.

As an aside, not Mike.

You got to watch Jimmy. You'd hate him so much that you'd be in.

It's just like when people tell me my sign, I can't retain it. I'm allergic to it. I don't know what it is. It might be a cancer. I've been called a cancer several times.

When's your birthday? October ninth. You are not a cancer.

Mike, is the Lamar Hunt Trophy named after the Lamar Hunt?

Yeah, he's got a lot of things named after him.

Is he the only white Lamar in the history of Lamars?

Put it on the poll, please, Juju. Is Hedley Lamar. Is Lamar Hunt the only white Lamar at Levitard Show? It's called the Full Circle, Daniel. There's more, though, to all three of these things. It's rare, Mike, and I understand why you would feel excluded from this. It's rare that the whole place, popcorn pops over the same three things, like where the kernels are popping all over. You got the scam, you got the divorce, and you've got love is blind. These are different things. They're all different I walked in late.

Well, there's four things, technically, because there's the divorce essay. It's cool.

I don't give a shit, but I'm happy that you guys are super passionate about it.

Love is blind and the TikTok. The US Open Cup is like Love is blind. It's an institution at this point. It's been around the longest.

The TikTok isn't the scam? Wedding?

No. Oh, no. This is a complete... Oh, my. A mean. This is completely separate.

Now my mind is blown.

There's a four story. What I thought you were referring to was a 50-part, I think over 50-part TikTok series is that a woman has been talking into her camera on TikTok about a man that she married and what she found out about him after they were married. It is a saga. John Reid, thank you for bringing a steamer in here.

You all think you all are funny? First of all, this is an HR violation. It's not an HR.

You might burn him if it's actually plugged in.

John Reid is here with a steamer, with one of these steamers that take the wrinkles out of shirt. That shirt is going to defeat that steamer.

This is awful.

Does it hurt? It's a very hot steam coming out of there.

I feel like an animal at the zoo getting washed.

Is it damp?

It's not pleasant.

I'll say that. Jessica, you were saying?

I have no idea. There's just a lot of things happening right now, Dan, and clearly none of us can even keep up with it.

I can keep up. The one that I thought you were talking about, Jessica, was the one about the woman who married the former professional athlete who told her, hey- The CFL player?

The arena football guy? Yeah, I know what this is. That's not what this is.

That's not what this is. No, that's the 50 part one. Finish the story. Every time someone is- That's what Lucy was supposed to watch on the elliptical yesterday, and instead she watched Love is Blind.

And I didn't work out at all.

Okay, so again, it's a woman who's talking about she got married to a former professional football player. Arena League, I believe. Arena League, yes. And what happened was they got married during the pandemic, and they tried to buy a house, and then very quickly, he scammed her out of all her money, and she realized very late in the game that was-He essentially lied about every single thing he ever told her about himself. Everything about himself, including that he has a twin brother. He didn't tell her about that. The twin brother actually had the life that he was describing to her.

Like the prestige. Exactly. You get it, Dano? How are scams and lies so in right now?

Stugatz has never been hotter.

It's unbelievable. Stugatz is going to end up being the president of everyone. If Scams and lies are always going to win, and he's an author who's writing a book without writing anything.

The art of the steal.

Back in my day, scamming was harder. It's too easy now. Anybody can get scammed. Hey, that's the CIA. Can we get your social security? You got to give me 50 grand in a box. Back in the day, you used to have to work for that scam.

Like the pizza driver, you used to have to work for that shit.

I'm selling these $499 shoes.

Hey, I'm broken down by the side of the highway and I need to fly. My family's in the car, Can I have some money? Can I sell you my jewelry?

Can I sell you my jewelry?

Lucy. Fight the good fight. Which of these stories are you willing to retain? You now have a certain amount of bandwidth that's making you feel disgusting about not being able to keep up with the gossip. You're overdosing on gossip. Scamwith.

Yeah. Also, I definitely gave out my mom's social security number when I was a kid, and we're just talking about this, and it made me... I entered my family for so many free cruises, and I was like, Oh, we're going to get it. They're going to show up with a big check. I'd ask my mom for her information, she'd give it to me, and I'd be like, When this flat screen TV shows up, everybody's going to love me. It was her fault. She should not have trusted a 10-year-old with that information.

Why would an adult give a 10-year-old their social?

Yeah, that's a really great question. I gave out so much of my mom's personal information. Crazy. My family's Catholic. I don't know any of my parents' personal information.

I don't know my kids. What does that mean?

I don't know my kids' social.

They don't talk about things. They mean she's Catholic. Wait a second. I have to say that under a fake contact. There are sometimes I'm like, I got to be honest, I forget the birthday a little bit, so I just go back and I go to this contact. I'm like, it's not that I forget, but it's just like it reaffirms. Would somebody please put a bow on the six different scams it is and gossips that we're trying to chronicle here?

My mom did not get her identity stolen. Shockingly, surprisingly, huge dub for me. They didn't even get divorced. Well, my mom got divorced to my dad, but the couple didn't get divorced. They're still together.Spoiler alert. That's a good question.

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Don Lebatard.

Again, started on the Breakfast Flaw. Oh, man. I've been singing a song to myself all morning long. Breakfast Flaw. Stugatz. Have you never heard the Breakfast Flaw song?

No, hit me with it.

Okay. I wish I had some Breakfast Flawn.

Breakfast Flawn.

Where can I find a breakfast like that?

This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugats.

Let's start right there with a beat-up Paul pierce. He's coming in tired. I don't know if he's done a lot of media this morning, but he's an NBA champion. He's a Hall of Famer. He's had 19 seasons in the league, and now he's got a new show on DraftKings Network, all the smoke productions on YouTube, The Truth Lounge with Paul pierce. But he runs hard. He lives hard. And so he seems tired this morning. Are you okay?

I'm good. I had a good workout, though. That's what it really was. I got up at 5:00 AM, got to the gym. I've been disciplined for the last six months, man. So it was a rough one this morning. I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it.

But retirement is hard.

Making a comeback, though. So I'm just getting ready to get this in case.

Because retirement is hard, correct? Like leaving the game and being near the game and creating a career after you've played for 20 years in the game. That This position is a little bit rough, is it not?

Yeah, man, it's definitely rough. Since 80% of us get divorced, I've been one of those. After retirement, it's rough being a single guy retired. It's rough when you can wake up and do whatever you want, go anywhere you want, date whoever you want. That's rough.

Okay, so you've liberated. You're a Hall of Famer. Everybody knows this about you, and now you've started a media career as well. Why are you laughing?

I mean, I'm laughing because Paul is my guy, man.

That's my man. What's up, my man?

What's up, Paul? I'm going to veer this into a semi-serious part of the conversation, man. Paul, you didn't retire that long ago. You are a very newly retired player in my eyes, and a lot of your peers are also newly retired. Why is it that in a few short years, we've gotten so far away from when you all played an All-Star game and took it seriously, at least in the fourth quarter, to where we are now where nobody tries, and they tell you, Hey, I am not going to try.

You know what, man? It happens. Every era is different when we got to understand, because even my era was different from the era before. I think a lot of that responsibility has to do with the older guys as we start transitioning to a younger generation. We didn't do a good job with the younger generation, and I think we could have done better. Maybe there was a disconnect or something because Because what I learned and what I brought to the NBA, I learned from the O'G's from before. And so maybe the social media, maybe just the popularity or the money or the business of the game has changed it. It's a lot of things that can factor into it, too, man. So I can't really put my finger on one thing, but how are you going to tell a dude who out here making 50 million or a guy who making 20 million off the bench to go out here and play hard in an All-Star Game when it's supposed to be your time off. It's really, in my eyes, a disgrace to the game of basketball that I grew up, given everything I had to it, my competitive spirit to just go out there and watch this game look like this.

But I don't know how we get back to where it used to be either.

But disgrace, that's a strong word because it upset you to see them not trying, and you feel like an old head because you're coming after a 21-year-old because he wants to be on vacation in the middle of the season.

Well, there's over 400 players. Only 24 of them got to go. So the rest of them get some rest. People pay good money. And this is like, you understand, there's two parts to the NBA season that people always look forward to. It was the All-Star Game. You look forward as a fan, and me being a fan now, I look forward to the All-Star Game and the NBA Finals, the playoffs. The regular season you dip in and out, watch here and there. But them is the two big moments as a fan to where people pay lots of money to fly in. People pay lots of money to get tickets to be part of the weekend. And you just want a little bit more effort out of it. You want a little more out of it.

Paul, do you, as the one who was coming up and budding up against LeBron James, whose legacy you put up against Dwyane Wade and say, I'm the same player, when you watch LeBron James still doing it as the oldest player in the league, given however it is you feel physically right now, do you look at that and marvel at you can't believe he's still doing it at that age?

I really can't. It's a joy to watch, man. And I think us as fans got to really cherish it for many more years, LeBron can play at this level. Because I'll tell you one thing, when I was 34, I was waking up and it was hit or miss if I was going to be ready for the game. And then I'm looking at a dude who's 39. Lebron is probably the greatest athlete we've ever seen, just an athlete We've never seen nobody play at this level at this age. And yeah, you could say, braided, he played until he was 40 plus, but he didn't have to run up and down a court, jump. You still go out there and guard. He had a good line to protect him. With the physicality and with the athleticism he's displaying and still putting up these crazy numbers, and you say at 39, LeBron, any team you put him on as a contender at the age of 39 is just crazy to hear and watch.

Does it hurt you to have to say it out loud? Because I don't think you want to give these guys respect even now.

You know what, man? It ain't even that. I always spoke my truth toward LeBron. A lot of people always hear the negative aspect of things when I say things of he ain't this or he ain't that, but people never hear it when I say he is this or he is that. When he won that Championship for the Lakers, I put him up there with Jordan. I even went as far as to say he may be the GOAT all time. People I don't hear that. They hear the negative stuff I've said, but we were rivals to me. He brought the best out of me, and I feel like I brought the best out of him. But at the same time, I thank him that I had a chance to match up with him. And now in retirement, what more can I say? I got to give it up to him because I probably wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for him.

Have you heard this sound from Udonis Haslam? Surely it's gotten back to you. It's from the O. G.'s podcast. He is saying that still now, if he sees you guys, you and Kevin Garnett anywhere-Play the sound. Well, let's just play the sound.

Let's play. We used to hate the motherfuckers that we used to have to go against, and the rivalries and all that shit. To this day, you know what I'm saying? You all know how I feel when we got to play the Celtics. I can't stand the motherfuckers.

First of all. And I have nothing against it. And I have this.

And the crazy thing about it-Can I tell a story about in the huddle, man? I like Tate. I like Tate, I like Brown. Can I tell a story about in the huddle, man? I like Tateum, I like Brown.

No, not this.

The motherfuckers, KG and Paul, I don't fk with you all.

You all know that. It's cool.

There it go. I don't fk with you all.

I'm cool on that. I'm going to fuck that.

The young generation, you all can create your own beef, and you all can create your own whatever. The most important thing you all already know.

I see you all in the grocery store is on. Yeah, all right. That shit was crazy.

I don't care what all it is. It could be a 711 around the motherfucking What's your deal? It's like, whatever. All that shit getting flipped over. Man, listen. That's just how I feel. And they understand that. I told them that. They know that. I don't care what them people.

They told you that. He told you that.

First of all, I'm trying to remember when he told me that because I never remember hearing that. Second of all, when we played Miami, when Udonis Haslum was out there, I don't remember no hard springs, no hard fouls, no shit talking. And now that we're in retirement, trying to get our podcast off, I'm starting to hear this hate. But that's cool. I know I rub people the wrong way. I never like Miami. I respect them. But it is what it is. I'd rather do it in a telephone booth, but if you need more room in a grocery store, That's cool, too.

Okay.

I'm a grown man. I ain't dodging nothing, man. People are going to say what they want to say. So let it be what it is. I'm going to be ready for it.

Okay, but let's talk about some of those great memories. I don't imagine you have a lot of moments that felt as good as hitting the three in LeBron's face in Miami in game five when LeBron built the team to beat your team. You guys legitimately hated each other because you were playing for the top of the sport.

Yeah, absolutely. But it was all about basketball, Dan. I'm going to tell you that because every year when we went to the All-Star game, when we see them, it was a little tension, but it was respect. You know what I'm saying? It wasn't like nobody wanted to fight or put hands, but we showed that grit that when we was on the court, that was our identity as a Celtics. When we're on the court, I don't like you. You don't like me. So what? I'm not picking you up. You fall to the ground. I don't really want to shake your hand. And that's what the rivalry really was. And so It looked like that on the court. But to really hate somebody in real life, I hated them as a team. I hated that they formed their team just for us. You know what I'm saying? But that era of basketball is gone just because we was passionate about winning. We was passionate about playing against the best. And that's what I feel like is missing from the game right now. What rivalries is really out there? You don't see people get into it. You don't really see people...

It's It's just another aspect of the game that drew interest toward it. And I don't really see that out there no more. When everybody hanging out and shaking hands, and that's cool and all, it's a different air. But I like the rivals. And there's somewhat of a rival still with Miami and us, but it really ain't the same. You know that.

Paul, what's your favorite part of retirement?

My favorite part of retirement? Man, I'm enjoying my kids, being a father to my kids. I'm enjoying them traveling. I'm enjoying being in the media, doing things that I didn't know I can do business-wise because I always played basketball my whole life, podcast stuff, real estate. I'm in a Different business ventures. I like the time we're in. We get to tell our own story, control our own media. I'm excited about my new podcast. I'm coming out with The Truth Lounge. We're launching this Friday. So join us. We're going to address all these issues, too. All these issues people got with me. The wheelchair game. We're going to address lifestyle, basketball, but it's going to be all in good and fun, man.

Well, help me sell this part of it to the people because the Truth Lounge with Paul pierce, it debuts this Friday on the DraftKings Network. We are in partnership now with all the smoke productions on an assortment of projects, and this is one of them. I would imagine, you correct me if I'm wrong, your nickname is the truth and your ending in mainstream media. You had a very good job. It probably felt less honest to you however that ended. I'm wondering if there were lessons in it for you that now birth this project in a way you could do it a little more you than the way you were doing work before.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you're going to get the authentic Paul pierce. I feel like by ending with ESPN, I think I ended in February or March. I think that was going to be my last year anyway. I just feel like I couldn't really express myself like I want to. With my show, I'm going to be my authentic self. You're going to get the whole truth, nothing but the truth. So help me God. I get to tell my story and get the stories from other different people. I got truth serum coming. It's going to be you got to tune in. You got to tune in. Truth serum.

Is that Clase Azul or what is it?

It's the truth serum. Why don't you take a sip of the truth serum? Hey, better pray.

Don Levatard. I think I'd like to know when I'm going to die because I romanticize the idea of living like you were dying when you're on a countdown clock. Imagine all the life experiences. I could go skydiving or rocky mountain climbing. Stugatz. Roy brings up a point, though. Roy does bring up a point. You might be risking paralysis. That's a pretty correct- I just totally trampled my bit. But what if, God forbid, it says you're going to in a week. What if it says a week, though, or two days, or a month? I don't want to know that. Well, then you just love deeper and speak sweeter and give forgiveness as those that you've been denying. Someday, I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying. Do you have more or is that it? No. Thank you guys for letting me go through that smoothly.

This is the Dan Levatard Show with the Stugats.

How does this work for you creatively, though? Because I am curious whether this incarnation of your media career, you see the young people in these spaces, everybody's got a podcast, why will yours be something that's different than everyone else's?

Because I'm not one, Dan, to just say things or do things for clicks. I'm really authentic about mine. I get to tell my whole story. I get to talk with great people and just live my lifestyle to the fullest in retirement. I don't think nobody's enjoying their retirement more than Paul It's the truth. And so I just want to be able to just... A lot of things I want to get off my chest and a lot of things I want to give to the people, sports-wise, pop culture-wise, just pure authenticity. And like my nicknames say, it's going to be the truth, and everybody's going to understand it and really hear from the horse's mouth.

Dan, I'm going to say this about Paul. Paul, I said this when you said Dwyane Wade You made your comparison to Dwyane Wade's career, and everyone went crazy. I said, What Paul said is something that a lot of NBA players think, and I'm not even agreeing with you, to be honest, but I understood what you were saying was from the heart and the truth, because I know there are a lot of players that think that but aren't brave enough to say it out loud. And so you ask about what we can expect in the truth lounge, I think you could expect Paul to speak his mind regardless of what backlash he might get for it because he authentically feels that way.

You know what? I'm not one to shy away from the booze or the criticism. I think that my career and my life was built on that. Even when I got drafted, I was projected number two. I got picked number 10. I get booed in different arenas. I got booed at the All-Star Game in LA. So the crowd noise don't affect me. As a matter of fact, I thrive in chaos, I think.

How did that start? Because it seems like so many players nowadays are very, very sensitive to what people say about them on social media, what Skip Bayliss said about them, what Steven A said about them.

How did you develop this thick skin of you don't care? I think growing up as an athlete, as a basketball player that was trying to make it, I always read the criticism, and every time I read it, it made me better. It made me work harder. It made me get an attitude. All right, they think this about you, so I'm going to do this. So I think it carried over in life. Not only a sportsman in life, it's like, Hey, I'm going to brush this off and be better. I use it to motivate me. So it's just gotten to the point to where I thrive in it, I welcome it. Somebody's got to wear the black hat. Everybody can't ride on the white horse. Somebody's got to be the bad guy, and I don't mind that.

Well, Paul, I hope you're being prodded into places where you're telling some of the more honest stories because I want to know what's the best of the memories, for example. Kevin Garnett is a world-class trash talker who has an assortment of clashes in his past. You're very close to him. Is there one above all others that is the story that gets told because it's the impressive one about Kevin Garnett had 20 years running where he talked more than anybody in the league?

You know what? There's certain things I will not ask Kevin. There's certain trash talk moments that to this day I don't know, and I will not ask him. And that went crazy.

Too personal. Too personal.

I promise you, I do not know the answer to a couple of them that was rumored to be said in the trash talk. And I don't want to know. But there's a lot of stories in the locker room and on the court that have been really good. I'm going to save it for the podcast, so make sure you all tune in.

He's embargoing it. He's embargoing it.

He's doing everything right now, you all. You all sneaky. I think you all think you all slick.

We'd like to share. We'd like to share with your stories. We don't want you to have them for yourself. We're media partners now, Paul. That's the way that works. You share it over here, we share it over there, you scratch my I know. I don't talk about the poop wheelchair.

When you put your hand, when you all come in on Truth Lines, I got a book. It's called the Truth Chronicles. You got to put your hand on it and look.

I spread it to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing was the truth. All right, well, then tell me one of the most memorable heat Celtic stories that people don't know. This was the rivalry of our time over a decade. You fighting. They built their team to beat your team. I don't even know how you feel about Ray Allen right now, today, because he went over to their team. What's the greatest truth that can be told here of something that hasn't been heard?

All right, look, this is what I did here, and this is about Ray Allen. I'm not even sure if this is true. In the game, we played Miami game. I think it was either game two or game 5 in Miami. Before the series was over, I heard Ray Allen was already looking for houses in Miami.

Oh, wow.

I'm not sure how true that is.

Oh, wow.

Ain't that crazy? During the series-When did you hear it, though? I heard a little later, maybe that summer.

Okay.

I heard that he was already looking for houses during the middle of the series while we're in Miami, while we're trying to beat them to go to the Championship. I did hear that. I don't think nobody heard that.

That's wild. I hadn't heard that one for sure.

Well, and I imagine somewhere in there because Tell us, explain to me what the rivalry means from a personal place when as you describe that all these years later, you tell that story because it feels like a betrayal to you.

It did. It did feel like a betrayal, man. When you When you go to war with your brothers and you do family stuff with them and their kids and your wives get along and you in that house, and then next thing you know, you go to the team that we're trying to beat and you don't even tell us or warn us or give us a phone call and you just jump shit without even no goodbyes, no hugs or nothing. That did feel like a betrayal. You know what I'm saying? That's almost like your girl going to your best friend. You know what I'm saying? That ain't cool. That wasn't cool. At least give me a proper break off. You know what I'm saying? So it did feel like a portrayal. And so that's why for a lot of years, we didn't talk to Ray or we didn't address him. It was tension. It was tension every time we played him because I just felt like if you brothers, you're supposed to acknowledge one another where you like to or not. And be like, Look, I'm not feeling what happened with the team. I'm not feeling what's happening with management.

They're not giving me my money. I'm not starting no more. Whatever it is, the bond that we created in the locker room on and off the court, that's something you can talk to us about. Whatever you got with the management, And the ownership, Danny, Angel, and Doc, that's between you all. But with your brothers, we in the locker with it every day. We deserve better than that. And that's why it was a lot of tension. And me and Ray was able to clear that up. Some years later, as a matter of fact, how we cleared it up, we had an exhibition game in China, and I learned that Ray was there. And I just said, You know what? Let me go holler at him. And that's when we cleared the air. And I told him my truth and I felt about it. And then we've been cool since then.

It's interesting that you say that because you strike me as the type that would get hurt very often by sports business being cold. My guess is that that's a veteran team there. They know how cold that business is. To hear the hurt in your voice on that one is interesting when you're just talking about, We cared about winning the championship, and we went from somebody who played for us and was helping our businesses and our families and our economies and our place in Boston. And now he's against us, and we didn't even get to say goodbye the way we wanted to.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, come on. I mean, that That right there. Like I said, the stuff that we went through, you got to give me a goodbye, give me a hug or a dab or something. I know how cold the business is. Yeah, you can leave a free agent, but it's just certain respect levels that you have amongst players like me, Ray, and Kevin. It's just certain respect levels to this. I would have never been like, Look, you all, hey, man, I'm not feeling it over here no more. They're not getting me the money I want. I I'm about to go over here, which I think I'm going to talk to my family. It's a lot of things that's going to come in with it. I just think it's a respect level, and we've all felt disrespected.

Dan, on that note, I do have something I want to I asked Paul that I've been thinking of for a long time, and I never brought it up to him, but I have been hurt by it. When I ran American Ninja Warrior the second time, Paul was there, right? We all show up, we're watching the ninjas go through it, and Paul looks at me and he says, $500, you can't go through the first obstacle. I said, You're wrong. Then Michelle said, I'll put in another... Michelle Beatle said, I'll put another $500 on it. Then a couple more people went and failed. Paul says, I'll give you $10,000 if you do this. And so at that point, I said, Okay, let me go stretch, because now it went from a little bit of money to, Man, this is life-changing for me. I don't make money like that. So $10,000, let's do this. Paul, I got up on the stage and I looked at you. I didn't even look at the camera. I looked at you and I had up 10 figures. Like, 10? You sure about this? And you said, Yes. And I ran through it.

And I got so excited about the money because I was running great through it that I did not pay attention to the last step, and I fell in the water.

You was almost there, though. You was right there. I was actually pulling it for you. I was actually pulling it for you. Boom, boom.

That wasn't the one.

That was the first one. That is the most viewed clip in American Ninja history. I didn't know there was a second story to this.

There was a second one in LA. This one was in Miami, the one in LA.

But you're saying you failed the second time? Why have I never seen the video of the second time? Paul Pierce- That wasn't it.

That wasn't the one.

No, that wasn't the one.

You choked is what you're saying.

Absolutely, because I was thinking about the money. Because I looked at Paul and I said, Oh, it's about to happen now. I'm like, going boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And I missed the last step because I was thinking about what I'm going to do with the money, to be honest with you. I was like, Should I buy Put a down payment on a car? And I saw the rope, I was like, I got to jump. And I ended up skipping that last step. Paul, at any point during my run, did you actually believe that I was going to do it?

You know what? I saw the other participants, and they were some pretty good athletes in there. I mean, not to take anything away from your athleticism, but I'm looking at their build and your build, and they didn't do it. I was like, This is going to be tough.

All right. Amin just wanted to to tell glory Day stories about himself there and ended the interview with total self-involvement. Paul, the Truth Lounge. You will tell your gambling stories. You will tell your deep, dirty NBA secrets, and people will have to swear on the truth serum in the Bible that they're there to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, correct?

All right.

We can do that. Truth in the Modern Age of Media. He's right here. Thank you, Paul. It's good to be in business together. I'm looking forward to what comes from this.

All right. Thanks, Dan. Thanks for meeting.

Thanks, Paul.