Steve Novak: Untold NBA Stories, BTS Knicks’ Finals Run & Parade, and Marquette Hoops

SPEAKER_04
0:00

It was like $8,000 for the worst seat in the house. It was people paying $157,000 for a courtside seat. And you realize like if you could reprice it and resell those tickets, people would have paid more than it was kind of wild. I would, you know, text Carmelo or text Amari or text Jeremy. John Starks is on the bus and LJ's there. And Timothy Chalamet was on the bus with me.

SPEAKER_03
0:20

Kind of looking around like, you know, this is a wild scene.

SPEAKER_04
0:24

I get to my house, my boy texts me, like, hey, congrats on your new team. I put my name in Twitter. Can't even figure out which team I'm going to yet. 7 o'clock a.m. the next morning. There was a PJ waiting for us.

SPEAKER_00
0:36

Is there a Dwayne moment where you're like, oh, this dude's different?

SPEAKER_04
0:40

When I was a sophomore in high school, Coach Crean had started recruiting me.

SPEAKER_00
0:47

Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee on Cut. We've got a Knicks slash Marquette legend in the building today. Steve Novak dropped by, and it was co-hosted by Anthony Molochek from Annex Wealth Management. We talked about the Knicks finals run and the parade, which Steve was all part of. And we got some great stories that I'd never heard before. I don't even know if these are out there. They were about his former teammates Dwayne Wade, Jeremy Lynn, Enos Cantor, who's been in the news quite a bit recently, and Russell Westbrook. He's played with all those guys and many more. We also got to talk some Bucks and Marquette Hoops, and he lists the greatest Brown Deer High School athletes of all time. Did our guy, SimGod, make the list? You will have to listen through to find out. Just a great episode with Steve Novak. Before diving in, I just want to thank our partners who make Milwaukee on Cup possible. We'll kick things off with our good friends over at Annex Wealth Management, which includes our co-host Anthony and their CEO, Dave Spano, who we just put out a very nice wedding budgeting skit with on social media. You'll have to check that out. Anyway, Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything: retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies all under one roof. Annex, know the difference. You can just visit annexwealth.com. Nicola, injured. Get Nicola and Russ, and the team will take great care of you. We got to hang out with the man himself last Friday. He threw the first pitch at the brewer game. He was even warming up with our dog Oakley, who kept taking the ball from him and Cody in our backyard beforehand after we shot a skit at our house on Friday. And he got to the game, went right up to the mountain, safely got it right in the catcher's mit. Well done, Russ. And again, if you are injured, call Nicola. And last but not least, drink Wisconsin Blee Beverage Company, Best Vodka, Brandy, and Canned Cocktails in the game, available at bars and liquor stores across the state and at the corner bar in right field the damn fam. So get yourself an old-fashioned next time you're watching a Brewers game and hopefully a deep playoff run ahead for the crew. All right, let's dive in with Steve Novak. Hey everyone, welcome back to Milwaukee Uncut. Absolute legend in the building today over his 11-year NBA career. Attempted over 1,336 three-pointers and 27 shots from the paint in 467 games. Meaning you'd shoot from the paint once every 17.3 games.

SPEAKER_04
3:33

Wow. Yeah, I thought you were going to give like a one every half.

SPEAKER_00
3:36

I needed a calculator for that one. Um 17 games.

SPEAKER_01
3:42

Mix one in there, right? I like it.

SPEAKER_00
3:45

That's fantastic. I also did some research. I think 95% of your made attempts were assisted.

SPEAKER_04
3:53

Yes. I needed guys pass me the ball. Or are you saying that I couldn't create my own shot?

SPEAKER_01
3:58

Is that what are you saying? I think that's what he's saying. I think that's what he said.

SPEAKER_04
4:00

Was that a passion?

SPEAKER_00
4:02

Such an elite catch-and-shoot player, you didn't need to create your own shot. Does that sound better? Okay.

SPEAKER_01
4:07

Also, uh keep moving while without the basketball.

SPEAKER_00
4:10

I like how we're just working back up. Absolutely. Um 2002 Gatorade Wisconsin High School Player of the Year. I I do have to I I did see you did not win a state championship. You fell to my Edgewood Crusaders.

SPEAKER_04
4:23

Look, he had to bring it up. You see how we're starting out. I didn't talk about Madison High School.

SPEAKER_00
4:27

Was that that game in eighth grade, I think? Yeah. The Hansbrough Twins. I don't know if you remember. Oh, yeah. No, good play. Alva and Adriel, I believe. They played corner at uh um Northern Northern Illinois.

SPEAKER_04
4:38

Yeah, they played a little triangle in two on me. I didn't appreciate that. They put both of them on me. It helps to have a twin brother, both athletic.

SPEAKER_00
4:45

You were like a foot taller than the foot taller. You were dealing with you were so you were you were against two football D1 football cornerbacks trying to play basketball basically. I was.

SPEAKER_04
4:54

They won. They were a good squad.

SPEAKER_00
4:57

Okay, well, back on a better note, he may not have won the state title, but did make it to the final four with with Dwayne Wade and Travis Diener and the crew in 2003 Conference USA, sixth man of the year as well, and then led the NBA in three-point percentage. 11, 12, just a magical year in New York. Um in current Knicks TV analyst for MSG Networks, formerly with the Bucs in that role, did an amazing job. And two-time NBA champion analyst.

SPEAKER_04
5:28

That's true. Yeah, I had I'd never actually heard it said that way, but I'll take it. Add it to your resume. I would include it. I think so. Probably put that on the resume. Probably.

SPEAKER_00
5:40

Well, if you get anything out of today, that's that's a new thing you can say to people to flex on them.

SPEAKER_04
5:45

You're a good hype man. You know, you started out with the Madison Edgewood, but he brought it back to my head.

SPEAKER_00
5:49

I didn't start with that. I started high, then you know, they tried to take you on a little roller coaster through the intro. Also um joined by Anthony Molatchek. Again, back for the second time in three or four episodes recently. Um, over at Annex Wealth Management, also founder of 24 and Up, was was a very good basketball player in his own right, has done a lot of skills training over the year, coaches his kids now as well. So thanks for coming back for this one, too. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01
6:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00
6:18

Steve, should we start with the Knicks finals run? Yeah. What a ride.

SPEAKER_04
6:22

Yeah. It was a ride. It was a ride. I think every year you just know that there's, you know, come the end of the year, there's four to six teams that have a chance to win it all. And it's not always a team you expect. And I think the Knicks were in that group, and so you thought, like, wow, what a what a fun year it's been so far. 50 plus wins, you know, some great personalities. It's New York City, it was great. But uh, I think then what happened in the playoffs was was beyond I think what a lot of people expected. I think if you were close, closely watching the team, you felt like it was a a group that could win it, but there were there were stretches during during the year, like most teams, where you're like, I don't know if this team has it, they're they've lost the last three games, they're not playing well, and we'll see what happens. But then they won 13 in a row and won what was it? They lost you know two to Atlanta, but then they only lost one more playoff game against San Antonio the rest of that stretch before they won it. So uh it was a special run, and obviously 53 years is a long time to go without winning a championship. I know Bucks fans can relate to that with their last championship taking a while as well, and so you know, New York is just uh it's got a little different energy to it when there's a long time waiting and you know, some serious basketball fans. So it was it was fun to be a part of and some special uh performances, some comeback wins to to make it happen.

SPEAKER_00
7:38

Were you in the building for game four?

SPEAKER_04
7:41

Good question. So I was doing pregame, postgame, four games, three and game. Well, for all the playoff games, but for the two home games, the first two are in San Antonio, the Knicks won both. It comes back games three and game four. And game four, like you're alluding to, is the OG Ananobi tipping at the end off of Jalen Brunson's miss. I'm doing pregame, postgame across the street in our studio. And so we're in the building to watch the game, and I'm sitting next to Jeremy Lynn and Eddie Curry and some of the other former guys, and with seven minutes left in the game, I gotta get back to the studio. I gotta get back and get ready. We get to compare our notes and start talking about what we're gonna talk about in the show, get a rundown together. And it's like they had finally chipped back, they were down 29, down 27 and a half, they're getting closer and closer. When I left the building, I think they were down like 17 with seven minutes. With about seven minutes. And I got back across the street after getting through the barricades and everything and crossing the street like five minutes later. And it was like an eight-point game. And I'm thinking, this is crazy. Like they're within reach after thinking it was a 29-point deficit and 27 and a half, it's never gonna happen. And my wife was in the building, and when it happened, it was like I texted her, Do you know where you are right now? I am so mad that I just had to run across the street and be in the in the studio for this, because it turned into like this basketball gala where it was like they put on Frank Sinatra, celebrity row is on the court at Madison Square Garden, and it was like everybody was just hanging out, having a good time, and you just you knew you experienced like one of the most magical, memorable, historic moments in sports history, much less New York or Garden or Nick's history. And so uh it was it was really cool. But I was almost in the building, I was right across the street, and it was well, what a moment. It was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01
9:28

You could almost feel it too, like you know, playing basketball, like once you're playing kind of behind, and you're like, okay, there's really nothing to lose. You get down 17, then you get to eight, you're like, okay, like and it was, I mean, watching that, or uh how late was it East Coast time at that point?

SPEAKER_04
9:48

I was probably my body clock was already reset when I had been there, but it was pretty it was late. It's late night here for sure.

SPEAKER_01
9:53

It's like glued into that. We were sitting there just like with my kids, and like we jumped up and we're celebrating, and not even a New York fan, but kind of like got on the bandwagon just because I've never I've never seen New York, you know, win before. And that was my Bucks fan that I was like, all right, I'm going on in the Knicks here.

SPEAKER_04
10:13

Yeah, and and and to your point, it's like you could so I it was down, they're down 29 at the most, and then at halftime it's 27. And with about five minutes left in the first half, I'm sitting next to Jeremy, Lynn, and I said to him, jokingly but kind of serious, do you just want to go into the back where we kind of have a little player's lounge? Do you want to go in the back into the lounge and just get some sushi? Like this is brutal right now. I'm serious because in the first half, when you're down by the. Antonio couldn't miss. I felt like the calls were all going their way. It was the first game back in New York, the first final. People had just that was the game where they were putting up all the prices that people were paying. Oh, and they were astronomical. It was like $8,000 for the worst seat in the house. It was people paying $157,000 for a courtside seat, and they were posting them. And you know, people on Twitter are legit are saying, like, this is a real transaction, this really happened. And so you're thinking, like, this is you know, game three is crazy. Game four, obviously, you fast forward, and the the numbers were pretty much the same. They were selling for that much. And it's like you look back at the moment that it happened and you realize like if you could reprice it and resell those tickets, people would have paid more than they actually probably for that game, for that comeback.

SPEAKER_00
11:25

For that comeback.

SPEAKER_04
11:26

And and I'm and I'm like, Do you want to go back and just get some sushi or whatever? And he's like, Do you want to go back? Do you want to show it? I was like, No, no, we can't like we can't leave a seat. We're back at halftime. And he says to me, because he's doing some ESPN pre-game, post-game stuff, he says to me, Do you know that there's never been uh road, never been a finals where the road team has won the first four games. And obviously the Knicks had won the first two on the road in San Antonio, and then San Antonio came in and won game three. So if San Antonio won game four, would have been the first time in finals history the road team won each of the first four games. And I said, We're down 27. You're giving me a little hope, but are you serious? And he's like, I'm just telling you, like, that's what one of the stats I found interesting. And then lo and behold, it's like it takes that miracle tip into to make it happen. So it was it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00
12:14

Yeah, I I was indifferent on the team. I was kind of pissed because we do our Pottawatomy parlay of the week, and I remember I needed that one. I just put like I had Spurs money line. I was like, they they could win this one, and you know, would have been a decent amount of money, and uh went to sleep and woke up and was just like, what the fuck happened? That was um yeah, happy for you to get to experience.

SPEAKER_04
12:35

That's what gambling does, it takes the joy.

SPEAKER_00
12:36

Anyway, you did get to participate in the parade, though. Yeah, you had a nice tweet. I think you said something like it transcended the way you view humanity.

SPEAKER_04
12:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
12:45

It was that looked crazy.

SPEAKER_04
12:46

What was the parade day like for you? Yeah, it was uh it was it was kind of wild because you started to get like assignments where it was like I would you know text Carmelo or text Amari or text Jeremy.

SPEAKER_00
12:59

Were you working during it, or did you get to just enjoy it or a combination?

SPEAKER_04
13:03

It was a little combo where we were doing some interviews on the float bus with some of the guys that were there. So it was like John Starks is on the bus and LJ's there, and Mello is on there, and Timothy Chalamet was on the bus with me, and you're kind of looking around, like, you know, this is a wild scene, you know, where it's like this is just one bus. It's like Jalen Brunson has his own bus, Carl Anthony Towns. It's like Chris Rock is over here, right? Mike Breen is over on his bus. It's just like Ben Stiller, right? I don't know whose bus he was on. And it's just a wild scene. But you basically got assignments like you're gonna be on the alumni bus, you're gonna be on you know, Jalen's bus. People started figuring out where they were gonna be, and and then it was like, hey, you got to be, you know, over at MSG at about uh 7.15. We're gonna take the buses over to City Hall, you're gonna get on the buses, then we're gonna do the loop and come back to to City Hall. So it was just this like really cool environment to start the day where it was like everybody was at City Hall. And then we loaded up on the buses, and then you go down the canyon of heroes, which was just I mean, that that tweet I had sent out about like it just like changing my view of humanity because I've never seen so many people, and it was millions of people so excited about a common thing. And and not just like on board with something or like we all aligned with that view. It was like people, you know, reaching their hands out for these guys and getting to see them for the first time, you know. Not everybody that's at the parade gets to go to games. And so it was this like really cool spectacle of I think it it meant so much to the city, you know, it was such a special moment. I think it was like this wild playoff underdog story that so many people, you know, got to be a part of. And the parade, it just went on and on. And some of the like you know, photos and videos I think that a lot of us put out, you couldn't even capture just how far the people went and how excited and how loud they were. And then you'd have those moments where you just would turn and look and you'd be like, that's Chalamet on the back of the bus as the hype guy. You know, he's like, New York City, like let's go. And you're like, what is going on? We're out of right now. And it was when it ended, you were like, that's a bummer. We should do, I want to do that again. Yeah, right. So it was yeah, it was a it was a cool, cool scene to be a part of, and uh something that feels like only New York City could put together. So it was uh it was special.

SPEAKER_01
15:24

Yeah, it takes me back kind of to to the bucks, you know, like a totally different level. But yeah, when they won that game six, as much as it was about the basketball, like the city, like you just walk around and it did not matter, you know, and high-fiving talking to different people that probably would never talk to, you know, it was it was such a good moment for the city and for kind of bringing people together. But that's what sports can do, too. It definitely brought New York together, you know.

SPEAKER_04
15:55

Like no, it did. And it was funny too, because you'd see some wild stuff on Twitter, you know, like people acting crazy and doing crazy stuff. But it was like all I knew was being there. I was like, this is the most loving, peaceful time I've to your point. Yep. About you know, when when the Bucks won the championship too, it was it was like everyone you you saw at lunch or if you're out at dinner, you knew you had a common topic and a common something to celebrate. And so it felt like that in New York too, where it was like, oh, there's this violence or there's something bad going on. I'm like, whatever's going on, it's the lowest percentage of something bad or violence going on ever in the history because everybody was so happy. And uh, like you said, I think it's you know, sports can be magical. And you know, when it's those kind of comeback stories like that, where it's like they were the Knicks were down in every one of those San Antonio games. When you saw those stats where it was like they trailed 72% of the series, yeah, you're like, I've seen teams win championships, I've seen you know the better team win. But at the end of that series, you were like, I don't know if we saw like quote unquote the better team. You heard Kenny Atkinson with Cleveland saying stuff like, well, analytically, I saw that. You know, and you were like, Well, if you're watching the series, you were like, I hear what you're saying, that's not how it works. Kenny's a friend of mine. But everyone was like, that's not how it works. But you were like, Yeah, they keep coming back.

SPEAKER_02
17:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
17:20

So I think that just I think it adhered a lot of people to kind of what was happening. Made it uh a little different, more religious experience because you're like, I can't believe it happened.

SPEAKER_00
17:31

Yeah, analytics doesn't always win games, it's just kind of pulling it out and hitting shots when it when it counts. And they squeezed a lot of those out. They did. They did. And I think I think whenever you know better than me, but um whenever a team wins, even looking at the Bucks winning, like there was a bunch of luck that was involved in that. Yeah. Maybe the years before when they arguably looked better and did not win, like there was some stuff that happened in those. But you know, if KD's foot's not on that line, none of that happens. Exactly. At all. So it's yeah, sometimes you need some breaks too, not saying the Knicks got a ton of them, but they like, you know, you miss a shot, you make a shot, you get a tip ball, or you get a cow, like a little tip in bio. Like the one thing Lendy did at the end of that one game, and I think Jalen stole it and went to the line. Yeah. Yeah, it's I think if you ask, you know, there's a small margin for error at that high of a level. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
18:24

And it's, you know, like you're saying, the the it's not guaranteed when you're the best team. No. It's just not. And I think I've heard so many like Hall of Fame high-level coaches say, look, of course it's about preparation and it's about personnel and it's about adjustments, and it's about all these things, but it's also, like you're saying, always a little bit about luck.

SPEAKER_00
18:42

And I think the Knicks just seemed a little looser too, like everyone thought the Spurs were gonna win. They had just gone through a grueling series with the Thunder where the Knicks kind of cruised and were arguably, I mean, fresher. They had a long break before that.

SPEAKER_04
18:56

But yeah. Yeah. Stars aligned. They did. Yeah. And when you start sweeping teams, like the Knicks swept Philly, swept Cleveland. It's like they're playing some good hoops, and then you're watching, like you said, San Antonio and Oklahoma City go at it into a beating each other up. Yeah, game seven was wild. Game one might have been one of the best basketball games I've ever seen in that in that series. And so you just you don't know how it ends up, but yeah, it was a magical year. And I think good for the NBA, good for basketball, too. You know, it's like for the Knicks to win in New York City and all that. It's like it's a unique champion. Yeah, it was good. It was good.

SPEAKER_00
19:33

Um, let's jump to this. I don't want to spend a ton of time on this because we got some ground to cover, but you you've you have quite the lineup of teammates you played with in the NBA. Yeah. Yao Ming, yeah, team Mac. You went to the conference finals with Westbrook and Durant. Yeah. Giannis, obviously, when you came back to the Bucks, Melo and Amari on the Knicks. I mean, Wayne, Wade, Deaner, Mike Kinsella, when you were with Mike. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04
20:00

A little shout out to Mike Kinsella.

SPEAKER_00
20:01

I swear to friend of the program. Apparently had a higher three-point percentage than you there. Yeah, I don't know. We're gonna have to look at minimum five attempts. Three for five careers.

SPEAKER_01
20:14

Casa Microsoft. Casa Micos.

SPEAKER_04
20:17

Um time goes on, we allowed stats to be the threshold to be even lower.

SPEAKER_00
20:22

You were involved in that. Um anyway, uh we don't have time to go through all of them, but if there was like one thing that surprised you most about one of those guys, yeah, what what would it be? Who would you choose and what would that be that like people like us would not be aware of?

SPEAKER_04
20:41

Yeah, like you said, I think you know the Hall of Fame guys are I I was fortunate to to play with a lot of guys. Unfortunat I got traded a bunch like five times and played on nine teams in 11 years. But you know, playing with those guys is is such a cool thing, I think, when your your dream is to be an NBA basketball player because those were guys, all those guys you listed were guys I looked up to. And so I think it's like, you know, when I first played against Kobe, when I first matched up with, you know, Tim Thomas. Those were both guys I had like Tim Thomas from the Bucs? Oh, I had posters of them on my so did I, you know, and and T Mac was one of them too. I had a poster of T Mac in my college dorm room. And so, you know, that list that you ran off, I think it it really is one of those, like when you playing those guys, you have to just take a step back and go, like, all right, we have to I have to compete.

SPEAKER_00
21:30

I gotta realize this. I have to somehow compete with Kobe Bryant.

SPEAKER_04
21:34

Yeah. Yeah. And so, you know, I mean, I would say honestly, playing against those each for each one of those guys, and especially with the ones you list that were my teammates, those were all just like dreams dreams come true. You know, for me, as I got older in my career, they weren't all idols to me. But when I first got in the league, they were. Um But I would say, you know, like of my basketball stories, the the kind of the story that happened in my career that Was that stands out the most was like Lin Sanity. It was the lockout shortened year where we we unlocked basically to start Christmas. And that Knicks team ended up being with Jeremy Lynn and the year of Lin Sanity. And uh, you know, when when I look back at that year and playing hoops with Jeremy and kind of what that ended up becoming and the impact that you know being in the Knicks organization for me has meant, Jeremy and I were actually in the in the D-League. It was not the G League, it was a D-League at the time with the Reno Bighorns the year before that. I had gotten released by the Dallas Mavericks and I signed with the Reno Bighorns. I think he had been released by the Golden State Warriors, and he ended up on the Reno Bighorns. We were teammates and basically both not good enough or not enough room for us in the league. You know, and so I think seeing who he became and the phenomena that Linsanity was, I think might have been like the coolest basketball experience, most unexpected that you know I I definitely had, and is a story that I just continue to share with people because it was like I was with him the year before in the D-League where he wasn't, I wasn't, we weren't good enough to be at the playing in front of like 97 people in arena. Yeah, and then a year later it's like he is putting up whatever the 20, you know, 25, 8, and 7 on Kobe. Rest in peace on a you know, on a Friday night or up, was it a Saturday night at the garden, and he's in game winners against Toronto and putting up numbers on Darren Williams and going against John Wall. And so I think it's one of those stories that it's just like everyone can relate to where you're like, wow, he could do it, and you were with them. You didn't even realize. I'm like, he didn't realize he couldn't.

SPEAKER_00
23:42

You said on a show, he was like a day away from getting cut before that happened.

SPEAKER_03
23:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
23:47

Yeah, his 10 day was up. And Kenny Atkinson was our uh our player development coach, so it was like myself, Jeremy, a few other guys in the mornings getting our like we call our vitamin in, our pre pre-practice workout in. Dan Dantoni, coach Mike Dantoni's brother, was in the gym with us getting workouts in as well. And you know, there's the coaches are seeing, you know, who Jeremy is and they want to give him a shot and they like him, but there's just not room for him. And then we have enough injuries, and that it's coming close to the end of his 10 day that Dan Dantoni, Kenny Atkinson are like going to bat with our head coach Mike Dantoni, and saying, like, give him a shot, put him out there. Like, he's gonna get cut tomorrow. What do we have to lose? You know, I mean, it really, if you look at the it was actually the next day. So it's like fine, you know, go start against I think it was, I think it was Darren Williams. Yeah. And he put up a monster game, and it was obviously what ended up being the start of Linsanity, but it was like, all right, well, re-sign this guy. I think he's gonna be all right, and then played good enough through that stretch to get that that poison pill contract offered by the Houston Rockets, where they I think they they front loaded or backloaded, I think they backloaded the contract and put like 80% of the money in the third year because they knew the Knicks were in a bad spot salary cap-wise in that third year. And so it got a little messy and Jeremy had to go to the Houston Rockets, but it was uh just an incredible story of what you know the the human spirit can do, the belief in yourself, you know, even when people are telling you, like, ah, you went to Harvard, nobody really comes out of Harvard and doesn't, ah, you're Asian. We've not seen a lot of Asian guys do like this. And to hear Jeremy talk about it, he's like, Yeah, that's that's what I heard. And he was like, I just believed in myself, kept pushing, and then made some magic happen. So it's cool now.

SPEAKER_01
25:31

We get to be confident, yeah. Right? You probably saw that the year prior. Like he put the work in, he was confident. Yeah, so when that moment came, he cut he probably just kind of blacked out in a way, like he was just hooping, but he was a confident person.

SPEAKER_04
25:45

Yeah, he he was. He always did believe in, and he always said, like, you know, he believed in what he could do. No, when people ask him like that, but you know, did you think you would you do what you did? And he's like, Oh, no, no, no. No, I never you know, I never thought that, and it's and that I think it's is being just candid and honest, you know. It's like you don't think you can do it at that level against a Kobe Bryant against a Darren Williams, but but he did. And he's he's finally retired. Now Jeremy's retired from from hooping, he's doing analyst work. We'll see where he ends up, but it's uh it's wild just to see, you know, everybody I played with retiring. Yes, that makes me old.

SPEAKER_00
26:22

Hey everyone, the season is changing. We've got football. I I just saw some pumpkin beer on tap last weekend. Bree would love to go apple picking and and hopefully a nice deep Brewers playoff run. With all this change, it may be, it probably is, a great time to take a hard look at your finances. And that's where Annex Wealth Management comes into play. Annex is a holistic wealth management firm with offices in and all around Milwaukee that helps you with everything retirement planning, smart investing, estate planning, legacy planning, and tax strategies, all under one roof. That's our friends at annexwealth management, annexwealth.com. And let's get back to the episode with Steve Novak and our co-host, Annex's own, Anthony Milochnik. Steve, you put nine different teams in 11 years. What's the side of that that people don't really see that you have to go through? Because the NBA is so glamorized. Like we just see what's on TV essentially.

SPEAKER_04
27:25

No, it is. And rightfully so. You know, it's like the but but to your point, there is definitely another side of it. You know, it's like you could probably do a whole show with NBA wives. You know, it's saying like, tell us what you just said the Brewer's Wives on this week.

SPEAKER_00
27:38

Oh, did you? It was a great episode, but it was it was cool like hearing their perspectives and uh what they go through. And I remember one of them talking. Um, Erica hosted it, but I I listened through it, and um, yeah, like guy gets a call up at midnight. He has to be on the next flight at 5 a.m. going to a different city that they don't have a house or an apartment in, and then the the wife is like getting a U-Haul and moving the dogs and the kids all the way across country. And yeah, it's that was just one example.

SPEAKER_04
28:06

Well, and it sounds like, you know, I feel like when I used to hear that kind of thing, I'd go like, I bet it's not like that. Like, I bet they're saying that they got a U-Haul, but someone else did it and whatever. And after being traded five times, and you know, there was one example that comes to mind, and I know our guy is a little bit controversial right now, but NS Cantor, NS Freedom Cantor. He we were in Utah.

SPEAKER_00
28:26

Do you mean the number one WNBA prospect?

SPEAKER_04
28:29

This that would be what he'd be considered at this point right now. I think we'll see how that ends up. We should probably leave that alone. Um we can leave it alone, but you can still tell a cantor story. No, but so we were teammates in Utah, and he in in only uh an Ennis Cantor Freedom way, he actually, on the last game before All-Star Break, slipped a reporter a note and it said basically, I'm gonna demand a trade. I want out, more or less, of Utah. And we were all like, well, we didn't know at the time we did it. We get on the bus after the game, we're in Dallas, and the reporter was supposed to, he had done a little verbal, like, you gotta wait until we, you know, take off or we land back, or it's all start break until you release that I'm gonna demand a trade and whatever. The reporter put it out before we got on the bus. Phones, guys, phones are going off. They're like, Yenis, this guy's saying that you just gave him a note in the locker room, and he's like, you know, pretty much like, yeah, I did. And you know, some of us kind of knew that he wanted to be traded anyway. We I go to Hawaii for All-Star Break, don't think anything of it. It's a great time. Come back. First practice back, practice is at one. Practice gets postponed for an hour. We're like, oh boy, here we go. Like stuff's going down. And you don't move practice an hour right after all-star break unless there's some action. Two o'clock, we go and we practice. Ennis is sitting out of practice. At the end of practice, I leave, I see the assistant GM in the parking lot. Hey, I'm always getting traded. I know there's movement on Ennis. Would you just tell me I'm going home? Or am I gonna be traded again? Am I in any of this? He says, No, you're not in it. You're good. I get to my house, my boy texts me, like, hey, congrats on your new team. I put my name in Twitter. I it's a three-team deal. I can't even figure out which team I'm going to yet. And this because he put that note in that reporter's pocket, because that news broke and he demanded a trade. We got traded that afternoon, 7 o'clock a.m. the next morning. There was a PJ waiting for us, and I had to pack my stuff to go to Oklahoma City with basically three to four months of of my belongings. And it was like goodbye to my wife and my children, like, figure it out. Come visit me on the weekend. I hope that uh you guys can come see me. But in season, I mean that is what it looks like. It's like it's a business, you got a game the next day, you better hurry up and get there, get your physical done, and and make it happen. Off seasons a little more calm. You can go get your stuff, you can move your stuff, you can get established. But that side of it is is real and I think entertaining if you're not a part of it. So if you are, it's pretty brutal though.

SPEAKER_00
31:03

Any any good Westbrook Durant stories?

SPEAKER_04
31:08

Yeah, those guys were were both such competitors, and no question, it's I mean it's well documented. I think it's they were both running kind of in the same lanes, a little bit literally, but more figuratively, where it's like they both wanted the shots, and rightfully so. They both wanted the ball. They both were kind of like attack mid-range and to the rim players. KD could obviously stretch it out a little more, but there was almost, it seemed like when I was teammates with them, just a little too much overlap. And it was like you never faulted either one because you saw Russell when he was downhill, it's like he was averaging a triple double. And KD could score from everywhere, in the mid-post, in the mid-range, you know, like from three. So you almost never faulted either of them for wanting the ball every time and wanting to go to work, but there just was this not enough, you know, room for both of them, it seemed like. And so, you know, I think they they got along, but not as well as they needed to to, I think ultimately win the whole thing. Like everybody thinks that they were talented enough in the primes of their careers to to get it done. So, you know, both guys that I would say this, as far as you know, what I saw guys get on the inside get to see it's like Russell Westbrook after the game was a completely different human being than he was in the game. He was a guy who had a light switch, or he was a monster, an animal. He was crazy to the reporters, he was crazy on the court, he was going act out right, and we've all seen it. For sure. And after the game in Oklahoma City, the court is like is lined off, and only the players' families and kids get to go on the court after the game. And it's kind of a cool tradition. And Russell, when he would come out, he went right to the kids, not even just his kids. He would go play with you know my son and all the kids, and he was the most gentle, loving. He's my son's favorite player to this day. When he retired recently, he was devastated. And so I think that's one side that's uh you know, was he like that in the community too? Yeah, big time. And so I think that's one thing, you know, on the inside you get to see is you're like, he's crazy on the basketball court, talking trash, doing crazy stuff, but just one of those.

SPEAKER_00
33:18

And to the reporters, maybe he felt like he needed to project that because it's kind of like the kind of player he was out there and didn't want to show the the soft side to anyone.

SPEAKER_04
33:27

Yeah. No, but I I always appreciated that you know that I think it's it's hard to have like that I'm this sometimes and I'm this other times. You know, it's almost I feel like it it fights against you being yourself. But I found it very cool that he was kind of the epitome of that, where he had to be that ultimate competitor and was always with like no apologies. And then immediately after the game, it was like no matter he might have just cussed a reporter out and had a bad game, whatever, and he was like out there on one knee, yeah, you know, like rebounding and and hanging with the kids and so I just always thought I just always thought it was a cool thing to see.

SPEAKER_00
34:07

Should we go to Marquette? Let's do it. How are you feeling about the squad this year? Any anyone or anything you're excited about?

SPEAKER_04
34:14

Yeah, I am excited. I think, you know, coming off a year last year that was obviously down and disappointing because I think the you know, the four years, especially before that, the team played so well. And there's gonna be down years when you've got that many NBA draft picks, and you know, Shaka just did such a good job with with those guys, especially in in this NIL era where there was so little turnover. You know, you got the the Tyler Colex and the Cam Jones and the uh and all those guys who were the starters, you know, it seemed like for all four years almost. Um and then last year was a little bit down, but you know, I do think, you know, having having a lot of the experience like this group has, where it's you know, Adrian Stevens coming back, who I know the Shock is excited about, and Nigel James is obviously someone that's on a lot of people's radar as you know, one of the top players, you know, in college. Obviously, Sonanda Fru, the big transfer um coming through. I saw there was also a guy from Liberty that just signed today, a little backup, a little 5'10 5'10 uh guard who's coming in. Um so you know, I just think the development of guys like like Josh Clark, even, you know, it's like I just think this is gonna be a very different year from last year. And the NIL environment and you know, going and getting different guys at turnover is a little different, you know, than we've seen at Marquette over the last few years, but obviously with the with the down years, I think a lot to be excited about.

SPEAKER_00
35:38

Shaka does a great job at retaining people in this environment. He does. Like even Nigel James. There there was never he, I'm sure he could go get a ton more money somewhere else, but then it seemed like there was never a question he was gonna leave. Yeah. And that was after the year they had that year. So I just when you talk to the guys, they all speak so highly of him. I think it just speaks volumes of what he's doing. And I think it's good he's finally going in and getting some guys from the portal. You kind of have to now.

SPEAKER_04
36:02

But yeah, I agree. And and I think that retention, it like to your to your point, I think it just really speaks to the development that these guys are they personally feel they're experiencing. They want to play at the highest level. There's money to be made in college. But if your dream is to play in the NBA, it's like and you're being put around good guys and you're in a good place and you believe in your coach, it's like, you know, there's a reason. You know, guys like Cam Jones stayed. There's a reason guys like Tyler Kolek, you know, played his three years after he came in as a sophomore and stayed, you know. And so I think it's it was unique for sure over the last few years. And and now going to the portal, I don't think it's a bad thing.

SPEAKER_01
36:39

Yeah, it seems like NCAA is getting older, NBA is getting younger. For sure. So if you figure it figure that balance out, like Shaka seems to be figuring out, you know, you can be competitive it's kind of like even like the Knicks, right? Talent-wise, they were probably not the most talented team in the NBA last year, but they found their culture and they they had that defensive mentality. And they had a couple of guys that could go hit buckets in big moments. And it seems like to me that's the route that NCAA is going. And you take a Marquette, you could really build around that. Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna lose, you're not gonna get a top, you know, five guy, top ten guy, right? But you could you could keep one and build structure around that person or two, and that that is a winning approach, I think.

SPEAKER_04
37:28

Yeah, and it's challenging, you know, to your point. It's like it's just not what it used to be. I think about, you know, like you mentioned earlier, you know, the Final Four team, where it's like, you know, Travis Deaner and Dwayne Wade and myself. And you know, I think about if was there any chance that Duane would have still been at Marquette after his first season? It's like he showed the the talent that he was, he would have got a bag and he would have ended up, you know, getting all these offers. It was hard to play at Marquette. It was a uh you worked hard, Coach Korean was pushing us. It was like they were not friendly days. You know, like Dwayne talked about leaving, Travis talked about leaving, I talked about leaving, but I think about we all stayed and went through like how difficult that was and the adversity and me thinking I'm not good enough. I'm going against Rob Jackson, this big guy who's a senior and I'm a freshman, and Dwayne, I'm coming in and he's looking like some NBA All-Star. And Travis is one of the toughest dudes you ever played with. And I'm like, I don't know, man. Like, this isn't the right thing. Right. And it would have been easy to be like, ah, they're gonna give you a million and a half, or I don't know, maybe seven million now. I don't know. You know, to go over to here. You might want to.

SPEAKER_01
38:35

Yep.

SPEAKER_04
38:36

And so, you know, I think those stories and those kind of teams, I think, are gonna be I'm not sure there'll be any, you know. But but to your point about Shaka's job, you know, retaining guys and keeping guys in the program, it speaks to the environment he's creating, which is in I think still very, very important.

SPEAKER_00
38:53

Is there a Dwayne moment where you're like, oh, this dude's different?

unknown
38:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04
38:58

When I was a sophomore in high school, Coach Crean had started recruiting me. And Brian Wardle was the captain of the team, guys like Cordell Henry, Luminomica was there, John Harris, and uh Brian Wardle would text me. I think I just had my first cell phone or call, and he would say, like, hey, you want to come down and get some runs in over at the old gym at Marquette? And I'm like, oh god, like I guess, but these are grown men, like that's so intimidating. But coaches, Coach Crane was like, you know, go play with them, have a good time, get to know these guys. And there'd be some recruits that would, you know, come and play or whatever sometimes too. And one time there was some guy named Odarte Blankston, who was like this prized recruit out of Chicago, and he was gonna bring another guy who was from Chicago, Dwayne Wade. And Odarte was the the guy, and he was a legitimate, you know, high-level recruit, and he ended up going to Marquette, was a very good player. He ended up transferring to UNLV, but he brought some guy named Dwayne Wade with him. And I was in that run when Dwayne first came and played. And I didn't kind of know the story of like O'Darte's the guy at the time, and Dwayne's being brought along. I just was like, these are two recruits from Chicago, you guys can mix in and figure it out. And I went home to my house in Brown Deer that night, and I'll I'll never forget, I told my parents, like, I just played with, and it sounds silly, but I was a sophomore in high school. I was like, I just played with an NBA guy. A guy that's gonna be you know, I'd play with NBA guys, I don't know what that feels like. Of course, now I'm on the other side, and it's like a silly thing to say, but like I just saw a guy who's gonna be in the NBA, and he was so good. And he was still not like a highly recruited.

SPEAKER_01
40:37

He was was a senior at that point, too, right? Yeah, probably he was two years, yeah.

SPEAKER_04
40:42

He didn't have many other options, did he? No. No. I think DePaul was on the radar, I think Bradley was on the radar, but neither. He was Dwight was a partial qualifier, so he sat his first year, academic only his first year, and then played his second. So I think it you know scared some schools off that if I think if he had to do it all over again, I think he might have had some more offers and some more people willing to say, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00
41:01

We'll invest in you a little bit and and get it right. Um spe speaking of him, can you can you play this clip and and react to it and give your answer? Oh, geez. All right, let's see here. You would have added to that roster if you could take one from all of the years. We could go after you all play.

SPEAKER_03
41:17

It's easy for me. For me, it's easy too. I wonder if we're gonna say, Tyler. I don't know if another point. No, I definitely wouldn't go out with that one.

SPEAKER_02
41:26

I'd like to play with you.

unknown
41:29

Jake Rober for me. I mean, Tyler could have given us some. Yeah, we didn't have a backup point.

SPEAKER_04
41:36

I love it.

SPEAKER_00
41:37

Who is one market?

SPEAKER_04
41:39

Who would you take added to that roster if you've got to be able to do that? Boy, one any any market player in the in the history of the program?

SPEAKER_00
41:46

We could go history. Yeah, with them, I think we did it after after they played to make it more current. But you could go history. We could open it up.

SPEAKER_04
41:54

No, no, yeah. It's a I I love that question because I do you want a different point guard as well? Yeah, no, I'm sticking with Deaner. I would never talk that kind of trash. You he lives close to him. He lives close to him. That's right. I gotta watch it. He knows where I live. Oh, that's a great question. You know, I do think about how well-rounded we were, which I think is what makes the the question tough. It's like that final four-year, I was I came off the bench. You know, we had guys like Todd Townsend and Rob Jackson and Scott Merritt, and Duane was obviously playing all the positions, and Deaner at the one. So I'm trying to think, other than talking trash and saying we need a new point guard or a new backup point guard, it's hard to replace the two guard because he was pretty good. The five man was Rob Jackson. He had a pretty big game against Kentucky, and Scott Merritt was all the things, the Swiss Army knife. So, you know, I would say I think if I had to pick a guy just based on who I am and who I would have thought would have especially been like a hybrid guy during that time, and Anthony Pieper put another guy in the corner. Anthony Pieper. Spot up in the corner. What year was he, Steve? He was before he was before us. I'm going back to those Kevin O'Neill sweet 16 days.

SPEAKER_00
43:01

You're taking him over Jimmy Buckett's, etc.

SPEAKER_04
43:03

I yeah, I mean, I'm thinking, right, if if we're going with Tyler. I like the pick. I don't even know the guy.

SPEAKER_00
43:10

I think about You know who this is, Anthony? Okay. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01
43:13

Yeah, he's legendary. All-time scorer in Wisconsin history, I believe.

SPEAKER_04
43:17

Yeah. Big time. Sweet 16. What year? Play with McIvane, okay, Kevin O'Neill, maybe with Mike Dean as well. I'm not sure what total years he was, but mid-90s, if I had to guess.

SPEAKER_01
43:28

See, look, you know your stuff.

SPEAKER_04
43:30

I like that. I I gotta go with the shooter. And uh and I just gotta think, you know, in that Missouri game when Rob Jackson fouled out and we were in our our final four run, I was banging down some threes, and I just think if we had another guy in the corner, space the floor, me in the other corner, we probably wouldn't have even been in overtime. So I'm gonna keep it real. I'll go with I'll go with Peeper shooting shooting the three ball.

SPEAKER_00
43:51

I want I want to go to a few uh uh list questions with basketball players and stuff. But before that, and would like both of you to answer, what what advice would you give? to younger hoopers looking to make it but also as as basketball parents yourself maybe to some parents too for it.

SPEAKER_01
44:08

Yeah I mean I think surrounding yourself with with good people um is key and so getting good direction like anything it's not practice makes perfect it's perfect practice makes perfect so if you're learning a technique or doing something the wrong way you're probably gonna build bad habits so it's really important early on the younger you are is to have a really healthy foundation because once you have that foundation and it sounds boring and it's repetition and all these things but once you have that you can really expand upon your skill set too.

SPEAKER_04
44:40

I love that and I would honestly echo a lot of what you said because you know you talked about the foundation the fundamentals and the skills. I think when I think back to you know how I was raised and the reason that I love basketball it comes from the environment that was created you know around basketball for me. And I think like not to bash any parents or talk trash but I I think that what what I often see now is the is it the uh what is the the King Richard documentary? What is the the the the Williams sisters where it's the it's the dad just forcing it into the girls saying like you're gonna be a dead the Tiger Woods story where it's like here's the club the reason I didn't make it I didn't get enough reps I didn't have enough muscle memory we're just gonna pound it into you and you're gonna become that I think is the opposite of my story and I think is what I believe is so powerful and impactful is creating positive environments and calling them basketball. Because for me it was like my dad was a high school coach he was at Brown Deer High School I was with him at all the practices from kindergarten on my mom would pick me up from school bring me over I'd go to the vending machine get some candy and I would think I was at the gym playing basketball. And maybe I was you know dribbling around or shooting or whatever. Yeah. And obviously as the kids get more get older and I take it more serious yeah there's real development that has to take place but I think creating that love of the environment wanting to be in the gym wanting to be with these coaches wanting to be with those players in this program I think is important. So finding the right program, the right environment and uh you know not not turn it into something that's like if you don't do a million reps, the truth is if the kid doesn't choose to do a million reps it's it's never going to work out anyway.

SPEAKER_00
46:24

Yeah you you get those outlier stories like a like a tiger but that is also a recipe for burnout and anxiety for probably the majority of people and just putting so much pressure where which it's harder to perform under that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01
46:39

I like going back real quick your your D Wade story is similar to mine and I was lucky enough to come work out with Marquette going into my freshman year at Chicago State because Bo Ellis was was my coach there and didn't really know who Dwayne was in an open gym all of a sudden he makes a move and just takes off a foot inside the free throw line and dunked on some freshman I don't know who it was like Travis I remember like started running around the gym and jumped on somebody's back and I was just like went home I'm like who is this guy? What was that I just like he is an NBA player for sure and then sure enough that was I think that your freshman year right is really where he took off yep and what year was that was that like the year he was sitting that was the year that uh he must have played as a sophomore what when did he leave to go to the league? Junior so he played two years two years but he wasn't as good the first year I think that he played like the notoriety he really like his stock rose quick his Steve's year freshman year. Right the triple double against Kentucky helped too but I I just remember walking out of the gym like man that guy that was impressive I've never seen anything like that in my life.

SPEAKER_04
47:57

Yeah he would he was there was some you know as the years went on and you would see him match up with when he was at Marquette some of the Bucks guys would come over and I remember Desmond Mason who was a cowboy yeah he was a D-Wade esque type player a long wing who could do so many things he could dunk over guys could dunk it was a it was a spectacle for sure those two guarding each other and neither could stop each other and it was just like the things they were doing the finishes the dunks the stuff on the break and you're like so hold on so if he's on the bucks and he's a however many million dollar a year guy and you're like then who is that Ryan Wade like who is he about to be and you know that was his the year he sat out and I think the year his first year playing where everyone was like in-house was like we know we know how good he is we've seen him go against NBA guys.

SPEAKER_00
48:43

So for sure well it's cool you guys ran with the Bucks a little bit back then. Yeah in the summer those guys would come over and um you know especially when guys were getting back in shape and remember it was like TJ Ford who I think is back on the Buc staff cool to see that yeah yeah with the shorts down here back then exactly I hope he still has a photo he should he should yeah those yeah some of the is Darvin Ham still on the staff yeah yeah Darvin still he could dunk oh yeah I liked watching him back then yeah the ham slamwich the ham slamwich come on now back in the lighted up days I believe oh yeah yeah he was nasty nasty remember some of the he was the fact that the stanchions yeah couldn't even stay up he was trying to rip the rim off yeah when you see him now you're like he's the biggest dude you'll ever see still I was a huge Bucks fan in the 90s and early 2000s I made my dad drive me like from Madison even before the the you know Ray Allen Glenn Robinson Cassell days that little period before where like Terrell Brandon and Ellie were the point guards and and those guys and you know I'd buy some stuff off eBay back then and I have an autographed Darwin Hamm Sports Illustrated. I think he was at like was he at Arizona or Texas Tech or something and yeah shattered the backboard I might still have it somewhere in the basement where um I think all that stuff still is it loves it I'd bet she does I want an autographed Ricky Weeks jersey in a golf outing this week. How excited are you for that? It's gonna go in the basement is that where that's gonna go it's probably stashed away in in there um if anyone would like one. Anyway um let's get to some of those list questions. Steve, you'll be back in New York um soon. Yeah where would you recommend people go if they fly out there?

SPEAKER_04
50:30

Any any insider spots if people are looking to get food or drinks or anything in New York City Yeah I'll give some pics I'm I'm I usually stay close to Madison Square Garden, which is in Midtown. The area that I stay is usually uh it's like the Hudson Yards area beautiful Pendry Hotel would be my my first stay there. Stay there really nice would be my first recommendation uh Hudson Yards has some great restaurants there's a carbone that's right in there walking distance uh that's really become a nice part of New York especially post-pandemic I mean they they've done a great job in that area they have they have it's like the little Peloton studio in there people getting their workouts in there's the Highline park you can walk to right there Whole Foods is right next to the next to the Pendry Hotel in the Hudson Yard so I check out that so travel to New York to go to Whole Foods yeah I mean Whole Foods why go to North Ave when you can go to New York City it's just one flight exactly one quick flight direct in Milwaukee airport too I'm telling you that that commute Milwaukee Airport's like a private terminal right LaGuardia if you fly Delta it's the easiest brand new terminal you fly in it's like driving to Green Bay flying to New York driving to Green Bay it's like same commute but that would be my first pick Pendry Hudson Yards uh Avra is a really good Mediterranean uh restaurant that's right there a couple blocks from the garden right by Hudson Yards as well one of my other favorite spots in uh West Village would be Cafe Clooney C-L-U-N-Y-U just a good relaxing spot West Village you walk around a bunch of young people in neighborhoods and you kind of just feel like you're hanging in the third ward a little bit and got some New York vibes so yeah those would be my my neighborhood picks. And you gotta check out the garden obviously go walk around see what see what kind of action's over there.

SPEAKER_00
52:26

Next one do you have any top brown deer high school athletes of all time oh yeah I got a I probably have a wild list.

SPEAKER_04
52:36

But no one's gonna know who these people are they're all right we might we might let's hear it all right let's hear it and I have a few I would have some inklings for who you might know so I might I might add a few in. So obviously there's the Zach Bonds okay right legend T Palmer legendary female stud athlete football player Justin Austin stud athlete. Those are more recent which I'm saying because I know that those maybe maybe are who the people know but if I go back to who my my heroes were when I my dad was coaching Brown beer high school when I was born and he's coaching football and basketball like these were my people always say like who are your NBA heroes who are the guys you looked up to and I didn't watch that much NBA. I didn't watch much college I was with my dad every Tuesday and Friday night watching all of his games and these guys are like grown men right his high school players and they're my heroes. So guys like Brian Lamy really from Lamy Sports Marketing he's not gonna want to well maybe he would want to hear this. But it's like those were the guys that it's like my dad had me up in the bleachers filming the games and he's shooting the three and he's running the wing and Brian Lamy could ball. He could ball I think if you ask him he'd probably tell you he can still ball I don't know that for sure he would he would he would yeah he's not that big he'd he can shoot yeah okay there's a guy Chad Fisher who was his who was his teammate could shoot it. He lives in Whitefish Bay now. Regular guy super nice he was for sure one of my hooper heroes because he was shooting the three guy named Chris Kite he was running with him he played football for my dad and basketball there's also a couple football guys that I remember uh Mike Shepherd there we're looking for Mike Shepherd if you'd if you'd have worked out a little more I probably would have been higher on the list I'm not sure he had I'm joking because it's a guy in high school who had no neck he was just the most jacked high school guy you ever seen. Stimmer or Michael Shepard Shepard Shepherd of course guy named Andre Renault legendary football player running back but yeah there were some other guys.

SPEAKER_00
54:42

I think uh Michael Shepherd I think was cook coaching university school like five years ago in his early 40s or late 30s apparently he'd still put the pads on and run high schoolers over. Yeah you don't you don't want to see that because I bet he's still got I mean he's still got some power I went to his um Cinco de Drinco party a couple years ago at his house and he won he wanted me to invited the closet I didn't get invited yeah yeah once you guys are on my level you get invited to these kind of things you can talk all you want about these nice spots in New York but when you get invited to Michael Shepherd's Cinco de Drinco that's when you know you have a rack you've made it there we'll get there. But but anyway he wanted me to spin the pinata so I'm like a buck ninety five uh he picked me up like I was a feather you know threw me around and yeah then I uh you know hit the hit the pinata it opened and um there was candy Jack Daniels mini shots came out of the pinata Cinco de Drinco this is how brown deer people parted this is how brown people if you do you know Joe Vilmo the Muffin man I know the muffin man he ran track at brown deer he didn't make your top athlete I wasn't done Joe was on there muffin man has to he um cracked an egg over my head and said it's good luck in Mexican or in Spanish yeah even though he was do you think he just totally made that up or do you think that's a real thing? I think I asked one of my friends who's actually Mexican and they said it was pretty made up or there was a much different variation of of that stuff. Was this at the Cinco de Drinco? Oh it all was and then Bree and I retreated where I remember we retreated and Cheesecake Factory was still open and I had never been that happy and relieved to be in a cheesecake factory or a chain restaurant overall in my I feel like don't you think this is its own episode the Cinco de Drinco's bring bring back Cinco de Drinco get these guys on the exclusive invite list and um we'll watch our emails for that I think I think sugar Shane Blackman was probably there. Yes you know that I have a good Shane Blackman store. I mean that guy's phenomenal who who else can attend 203 Christmas parties every year wow is that a thing is that a real number I think so he's he's he's just he just he just hits hits them all I mean the guys in 203?

SPEAKER_04
57:04

I I don't know it's a big number he stole a meatball from me at Mo's one time.

SPEAKER_00
57:08

Did he what'd you do did you crack an egg over his head?

SPEAKER_04
57:11

I didn't crack an egg but I I did turn and I was at the bar and I said I was you know we were socializing with someone and then Shane was there and my meatball one meatball was left on my plate and he helped himself to it and I turned and I said I said Shane where did my meatball go?

SPEAKER_00
57:29

And he just looked at me like I said you ate my meatball and he said he only he might have had a little Tito's before then potentially thank you for listening to this episode of Milwaukee on Cut a huge thank you to Steve Novak for coming on and Anthony Milochnik for co hosting and just want to thank our partners before signing off annex Wealth Management Know the Difference Nikola the Midwest law firm and drink Wisconsin Bleed Beverage Company best vodka brandy and canned cocktails in the game