Duncan Robinson- Reflecting on Miami & Looking Ahead to Detroit’s Future

Duncan Robinson- Reflecting on Miami & Looking Ahead to Detroit’s Future

You know, I’ve had a lot of great experiences in Miami and uh you know, that place has kind of become home in a lot of ways. With that being said, of course, you know, we’re always looking at all options on the table. And you know, the the Detroit one was just one that became increasingly more enticing. Season 3, episode one, you know, we got to drop a banger. I’m your host KJ Allison here, my guy Nudo Pomo. We got a great episode where we talk with the newest addition to the Detroit Pistons. One of the best shooters in the NBA, Duncan Robinson. Complete full circle moment to get him on the podcast. But before we talk about this episode, which was fire. Uh, sports is in a really good spot right now. NBA is right around the corner. The W playoffs are lit. Um, NFL’s like getting to the quarter mark of of the season. Baseball’s coming to the playoffs. just what you’ve been on, bro. Talk to me. No, I spent a lot of the day yesterday, bro, watching NFL. I think there were like three or four games that involved like some type of field goal or like block kick, whatever it was. It was crazy. I had NFL red zone on and all the different endings were playing on the screen. I was like, what is going on? But yeah, def definitely a great time in sports, bro. We love to see it. Can’t wait for NBA to start. Obviously, college basketball, too. We got to bring that up. Bring that up. Uh because October 15th is starting up. So D3 school is going to compete, D1 practices, start getting in the gym. So definitely a great time to be a sports fan. No facts. Uh I’m sick right now, bro. The Liberty lost the other day. Uh Stewie was carrying. I was like, she’s hurt. We probably not going to get it done, but she wasn’t the like in quotes weak part. Um Sandy Brondella, if you if you listening, I got some questions about some of the rotations I see. But like I said, sports is lit. Like you mentioned, NFL’s blockbuster uh games, all the one o’clock games were really competitive. Uh go Pittsburgh like always. But let’s talk about this episode with Duncan, our guy. It was it was good. We did an in person in New Hampshire. Uh my boy Ruda had me at his crib. It was a good time. But I think the first thing that I wanted to point out about talking with Duncan is just like he’s he’s really smart. I think I said that to you right after we done recording. I wasn’t expecting his intelligence just like some of even if it’s not about basketball he has a lot of like um good ideas about life stuff like that keep you levelheaded all that things but also people been uh having difference of opinions on the and you saw the rule change of the NBA uh like end of shot clock or end of quarters I think Duncan like spearheaded that idea so if anyone has any problems with it you got got to talk to Duncan about that but talk to about this episode with Duncan? Nah, man. It was it was definitely a great episode. You know, shout out shout out Duncan, man, for for doing it. Um, and like you said, definitely a full circle moment. You know, when I first hopped on the pod, I I uh had told you that I, you know, I’d been in workouts with him and I kind of known him a little bit and that maybe down the line it it it could happen. And it did, bro. And we finally accomplished it and it was great. It was a great interview. We talked about so many different things. And that’s why I kind of love the interview, bro, cuz we talked about NBA. We talked about D3. We talked about, you know, Michigan experience. We talked about life stuff. We kind of talked about everything you could have with him. And it was a great conversation, bro. I was glad that you finally got to meet him. And it was cool for me, as weird as this may sound, but it was cool for me to see you in that environment. And you, you know, being the authentic person you are, just totally killed it. And you know, you asked him a great question at the end in rapid fire. I’m excited for the viewers to see that. But great episode for sure, bro. Yeah. No, Duncan that Duncan is definitely like a good guy. You you talk to people in these spaces and it’s not always like the like respect given. You know what I’m trying to say? Like he was just welcomed us and it wasn’t like he was trying to just like get the interview over with. We got a lot of like I I’ve heard Duncan in some interviews. This might be the best one. So people got to let me know what they think about that. But I’ve also heard people say um about Duncan’s contract like they’re kind of questioning if Duncan’s worth the 16 mil per year. And I I wanted to address that real quick because if you look at the statistics like the or the playoffs, I should say, the one thing that the Pistons re were really bad at was three-point shooting. And Duncan’s already proved like year two in the in the NBA, he was shooting like 40 plus percent from three, did it big in the playoffs, made in the bubble. I think people kind of forgot about like Duncan’s run during that time. But just to bring up like the statistics, so the Pistons were 13th out of 16 teams in three-point shooting because they had Malik Beasley selling games. But no, let me be for real. Um, like they just they just didn’t have it. it was Cade, but everybody else kind of like didn’t show their regular ver regular season version of themselves. So, I think getting Duncan in the room, that’s automatically like putting them a level above. And especially when you talk about contending the East as it’ll be in quotes easier this year to to make a run. But also, I think it’s good for Duncan to get out of the Heat organization. Not anything bad or anything like he grew up with the Heat. you could see his transition or his development as a basketball player, as a person, but why he needed to like get out is he kind of like was getting left out of the rotation later on this past year. Um, I feel like the Heat culture kind of lost its identity a little bit with the Jimmy Butler stuff this past year and uh teams were kind of like prepared for their underdog mentality. So, it was good like the heat move off of Duncan, that chorus kind of getting lost. Um, and then Duncan moves to a situation where there’s a lot to be excited about, but I want to hear your thoughts um, regarding like him moving to the Pistons, what you think about the East, all that. No, I mean, when it comes to Duncan, bro, I’m definitely excited that, you know, he’s with the Pistons. They’re up and cominging team. I mean, they are they battled with the Knicks last year in a six game series and I think every it was like game four, five, and six like the difference the differences between the points was like added up to like six points or something like that. So, it was super close. And, you know, speaking to the fresh start, you’re right. I mean, he’s going to get a chance to play with Kate Cunningham, Jaylen Duran, right? All these great players that they have on the team. Assar Thompson, right? Tobias Harris. I can go on and on. They got Caris Levert, your boy. So, definitely excited, bro. And, you know, like I, you know, I know I’m a well-known Knicks fan, but when the Pistons play the Knicks, bro, I’m rooting for Duncan big time, bro. I’m rooting for him to have a big year. I know that he’s been in the gym grinding. He looks really good going into the season and he’s primed for a big year. The one thing I wanted to say though, like with this episode, like I just think with Duncan, bro, he’s just a genuine guy. And you know, I think his answer at the end kind of spoke to who he is. You know, he talked about how with the position that he’s in in the NBA, he wants everyone around him to be able to enjoy like his what he has going on in his life. So, so like bringing people down to Miami and like you know coming to games and like you know whatever it may be introducing introducing them to whoever like he wants to share this experience with other people and I think that’s the best thing about bro and you know I think he’s just a genuine dude all around. you kind of capped it off in the beginning. To add on to that, like I I don’t know if this is common knowledge to everyone, but the foundation that he just started it it just like if you don’t if you’re not aware of it is the um Robinson Family Foundation, and I’m not going to talk too much about it, but it’s to kind of uplift people going through mental struggles. They’ve dealt with some things internally in the family. So, if you’re not aware, go definitely check that out. But it it speaks to what you just said about Duncan’s genuiness. But real quick, bro, before we end this intro, what tell me who you got coming out of the East and tell me who you got coming out of the West. Man, you can’t do this to me, man. You can’t do this to me. You got to got to pick a side now. Oh man, I think the Knicks, you don’t got to go on a long tangent either. Just just find out where your head’s at right now. I I would say Knicks, Pistons, Eastern Conference Finals. Knicks taken in seven. That’s what I’ll say. Okay. I’ll say my East. I’mma go I got the I think the Cavs are going to like they’ve been number one seed for a few years now or right right near that. I think this is the year where they put it all together. And I’m going to say Cavs, Pistons, and the in the ECF. I know that that might hurt you as a Knicks fan, but that that’s my pick. that in the West. I’m not going to say who in the WCF, but the Thunder running it back, you know, two Pete, I think all like teams were kind of surprised. Um, and it’s it’s hard to go back to back with relatively the same roster, but Dub, Chad, and Shay all have the ability to get a lot better than what they showed last year. So, that’s my pick. What you got from the list? Thunder, man. I I’ll roll with the Thunder, bro. I’ll roll with I got my boy the Thunder. That’s tough. But let’s get into this conversation with Duncan Robinson. Real quick before we get into the episode, I just have to give a big shout out to Alex Stoddard and Hermy’s. You know, they filmed the episode, man. They came to New Hampshire. Um, and they really helped us out big time, man. So, I got to give them a shout out. We’re going to put the screenshots of their Instagram in the YouTube video and make sure to we’ll make sure to tag them on Instagram so you can follow them. But, let’s get back to the episode. [Music] All right, we are here, man. Another episode of Not Even D2 in person episode. We are here with the guy, my guy Dunker Robinson. How you feeling today, bro? I’m good, man. I’m good. I appreciate you guys coming up here. I know it’s not the easiest place to get to. Um, but yeah, I appreciate you guys making it easy on me to to come and be a part of the show. I’ve watched the show a handful of times, been a supporter of the show for a while. Um, so honored to be on it. Appreciate you. Definitely appreciate the hospitality, too. Um, well, obviously you’ve had a hectic summer, busy summer for you. You planning a wedding? I’m kind of curious like you taking any trips? You’ve been any Red Sox games? Talk to me. Red Sox games? No, I haven’t been to a Red Sox game in a Red Sox fan. I grew up a Red Sox fan. I grew up like basically everything like New England sports fan. Um, I will say once once you like play professional sports, it kind of like changes it a little bit. I still I still root for the Red Sox. Obviously don’t root for the Celtics. I went from liking the Celtics to hating the Celtics pretty quickly. Um, but yeah, man, I I grew up a diehard Patriots fan for sure. So, I mean, growing up in this area, one thing you do really get an appreciation for is how much people care about professional sports. And you know, a lot of people have it be their whole identity. Um, which is cool. I mean, that’s maybe another different conversation, but uh, but yeah, this is a great place to grow up from a sports standpoint just cuz it’s such a passionate sports area. You know, you’re saying that’s cool. People making that their whole life. I mean, they can teach each their own. You know, who who am I to judge? At least for me personally, like once I saw sort of the behind the scenes and the business aspect of professional sports, a little bit of like how the sausage is made, I think it put like fandom into perspective a little bit more. Um, I do think there’s a great aspect to professional sports or just like sports in general in that you care deeply about something that in the grand scheme of things doesn’t really matter. And I think having those sorts of things is important. Um, but I think also having some perspective over those things is equally important. Uh, that’s my my two cents on it. We don’t need to unpack it too much further than that. No, definitely great point though, for real, cuz the New England fan base in general, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, like super passionate. And I’m wondering, so you’re native New Hampshire, right? Uh, you know, you grew up not too far, Newcastle, I think, area. So, and it feels like a lot of NBA guys like when they go in the summers, like they’ll go to Miami. I know you played there, but or they’ll go to LA or New York, but you coming back here to little old New Hampshire, bro. So, talk about like the value of being back here. Yeah, I mean, this place is is special. I still think it’s like such a a hidden gem. Um, and I think what’s really cool that’s happening right now is there’s this sort of like ground swell and grassroots effort around basketball, too. um it’s becoming this little hotbed um in a in a town like I grew up, you know, Portsouth was really known as like a baseball town and I feel like it’s maybe kind of starting to shift. Maybe that’s just my own biased perspective. Um but yeah, I mean I I I spent the first, you know, seven years of my professional career in Miami. So I spent a lot of time there during the year, during the summer training, all that sort of stuff, you know, with the organization. And this was just an amazing like reprieve from that. like being able to have the duality of being in a city like Miami um and then come back here and uh it just shifts your whole perspective, you know, and Miami is probably that on steroids. I I love that city, but it it really if you’re not if you’re not kind of being aware, it can have you worrying about the wrong sort of stuff. And what I love about coming back here is there’s there’s really none of that. It’s like sort of the polar opposite. It’s like small town. um sort of vibe and uh you know whenever I come back here it’s almost like a little bit of like an emotional reset you know so I enjoy it. Um my my family’s up here so I love being around them and a lot of my people are up here too friends and and people that you know I’ve been on this journey with for a while so I try to spend as much time you know I’m away so much during the year and I have no say over my schedule when the season’s going. So to be able to like separate some time and be here is is special. Yeah, it’s definitely I mean you living good, right? Yeah. Uh so obviously Ruda’s like he is in some of your guys workouts and I hear stories or I might see a clip you and George just getting into it during just cuz like you guys are probably two of the like best players to come out of like this area or New England area. So just talking about like those battles and maybe a little insight into those workouts. Yeah, for sure. I mean uh George and I like grew up training against each other. you know, he’s from Methuan, like 40 minutes away, not too far. And um for a while there, we we had, you know, the same trainer that we would kind of get after it with. And um you know, we’ve both kind of been on our own respective journeys for a while now. Um we’ve had different sort of career paths and trajectories, but we’ve always been invested in in each other’s, you know, and wanting to see the other one do well. Um, you know, to to your point, and Arud obviously can speak to it firsthand, competing against George takes me to a place that I’m not always proud of. Um, but I think it’s necessary, you know, like I I think there’s there’s nothing like competition in the spirit of competition. And sometimes like I’ll be driving home from a workout and I’ll be like thinking about the things that I said like even to Nuda who’s really just there to serve and help like and and and I’m like man I really I really said that like and I I try to pride myself on you know being respectful and and caring for everybody and uh so that that aspect I’m not always proud of but it also takes you to another level uh of just competition and and it brings more out of yourself cuz it’s what’s required to try to in and I sometimes wonder I’m like man I’m like 31 now like am I ever going to stop feeling this way you know like and when I stop feeling this way it’s probably a good indication of I should be done you know cuz and it it George is great cuz it’s so close to home like literally and physically like uh and like emotionally that I’m we’re always going to like bash heads. Um so it’s fun to compete against him and we’ve been doing it for forever and it it just never really gets old. No, it’s cool. It’s like a out of body experience when you’re playing sports or even just a workout and someone’s hitting you or something. You just you can’t control yourself. You just start walling on whoever’s around. Yeah. I mean, I’m sure you guys know how it goes. It’s the same sort of interactions you have with your college teammates or your high school teammates or honestly like maybe even guys you grew up with. It might even be more personal, you know? So, like that that sort of thing. Um it’s just fun that we get to do it on a stage that we always dreamed of, you know? So, so we don’t I we both don’t take that for granted. Um because I know he doesn’t, but I know, you know, I definitely don’t either. Real quick, K, it’s also too like you being a competitor is probably like helped your career out so much. You know what I mean? Just the fact that you want to win and you want to succeed. It’s like now I’m going to do whatever it takes to win and say whatever I Yeah. I mean, I appreciate I appreciate you saying that. I think my competitive nature can maybe get misconstrued like publicly. Um, I don’t know that I have like a reputation for being like a fierce competitor, which is fine. I don’t I don’t need to have that. I think people that know me know like how badly I want to win in the lengths that I go to to try to do it. So, um, I sort of like liken it. I don’t know if you ever seen like a duck swim in the water, but like above they’re just kind of chilling and floating, but if you get the view below the water, like they’re they’re working. They’re doing whatever it takes to get to where they got to go. So, um I mean Rud has seen a little bit underneath the hood of of what that looks like. Um and like I said, I’m I’m not always proud of it, but I’m I’m always trying to like find guard rails to keep it within cuz I I never wanted to get to a place where it’s detrimental to anybody. Now, like you said in the beginning of that answer, like it’s needed that competitive, fiery, all that. But let’s talk about some Detroit basketball, bro. Uh obviously you were part of one of the bigger offseason moves. uh sign and trade three year 48 million. Congrats to you. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. I just want to hear all about like how this came to be, what other teams might have you be talking about or talking to and then also if you connected with like K, JB, Baker, staff, anybody organization? Um so without getting like too in the weeds of of everything that went down around for agency, but basically I have I had an option um for this last year to go back to Miami. And if I did pick it up, only half of my full contract for that year was guaranteed. So, it sort of was put in place originally to provide flexibility for both myself and the organization. And um you know, there was an effort to to try to work something out to try to come back and um you know, which which would have been which would have been great. Um you know, I’ve had a lot of great experiences in Miami and uh you know, that place has kind of become home in a lot of ways. With that being said, of course, you know, we’re always looking at all options on the table. And, you know, the the Detroit one was just one that became increasingly more enticing. Um, you know, what that group has super young, super ambitious, you know, really trying to take this this next step. You know, what they did from two years ago to last year, uh, was really impressive. I think the entire, you know, basketball world really took notice. And then obviously you get a guy like Cade who uh is only going to continue to improve, you know, like an AllNBA player, super talented. Uh we got to spend some time out in Vegas. We had like a little mini camp out there for four or five days. So got to work out um you know, see everybody in person, get in the gym, you know, break some bread, have some meals, hang out, uh just spend time around each other, which is, you know, honestly what’s what’s most important a lot of times with NBA, you know, groups is trying to get everybody together and on the same page. And one thing I definitely found with this group is there’s like a genuine connection and and people really enjoy being around each other which is not always the case. You know, it’s it’d be awesome to say that every professional team is what you like what you get in college where you know your best friends are are your your teammates and that’s just not really how it works always in professional settings. But um all these guys really you know seem to get along and care about one another and that’s you know only just going to continue to take us to to next levels. real quick point. Uh Rudy could bounce off it after, but you could see like the teams that are successful in the league right now, they have that camaraderie. They have that like the Thunder this past year or Yeah, that’s probably the best example of it. Yeah. And then I heard you speak in an interview a few years ago and you were saying like your Heat team in the bubble or the team right after that like you guys were really connected to. So showing like year to year the team that’s most connected, the young guys that just have fun, genuine connection is the ones that set themselves apart. But go ahead. Yeah, I mean I was going to to add on to that like you kind of touched on a little bit like what the team has in terms of the young talent and stuff like that and you know you’ve been a part of two finals runs so what type of you know voice you bring into the locker room experience like talk about that aspect of it. Yeah, I think it’s a great opportunity uh for me just from a leadership standpoint for sure. I mean my my leadership is going to look different than the person next to me. Um everyone has their own unique leadership style. I’m much more in the camp of like, you know, try to put my arm around guys, get to know people off the court, understand kind of, you know, what makes them tick, how they think. Um, and then also like take my experience and what I’ve learned and, you know, hold people accountable in moments that make sense on the court. Um, you know, one thing I I think I can bring is, you know, the margin for victory at all levels, but but particularly when like the talent is so high, it’s just so thin, right? like you can be so close to being a good team um and your record might not show it. So just like constantly instilling that belief and and having everybody sort of kind of come together and and believe and and really grow that that sense of belief I think can be a big difference maker. Um so for me, yeah, I’m excited for that opportunity. I mean I’m I’m one of like three guys that are over 30. Um Tobias and Caris. Caris is a college teammate of mine. So like I think between the three of us and Kade Kad’s like a leader in his own right. You know he’s 20 whatever years old but um you know the way he plays just commands respect. So um everybody kind of does it in their own way. You know you want to be authentic and genuine to who you are. I think the moment I start you know trying to lead in a way that’s not authentic to me then people can kind of see through it. So trying to be thoughtful about you know ways that I can actually move the needle in that regard. A little bit more of a basketball question too. Your twoman game with band was super elite. Like I don’t know if I ever told you this, but in Udica we had like a short row action that was like all bam. KJ probably remembers him playing. That’s funny. So talk about like now develop developing a different twoman connection with maybe Jaylen or Kade, whatever it is. Yeah. Um you know Jaylen Jaylen Dur like JD and and Isaiah Stewart both are like so selfless in their ability to screen and like you know wanting to get people open. I mean I experienced it playing against them for the last several years. Um, and that was one of the things that jumped out to me just when we were out in Vegas is, you know, how eager they are to to be a helper in that regard and get people open and free people up. And those are two big dudes setting screens, you know what I mean? Um, you know, Bam’s versatile in his own way. You know, Bam’s there’s not many people that that play and have the the athletic ability and mobility um and ability to handle the ball like Bam. Um, but you know, similar to my leadership point, like those guys, Isaiah and Jaylen are going to do it in their own way and and that’s the way they should be doing it. You know, obviously we can always draw inspiration, you know, from this player or that player, but uh, you know, you got to kind of figure out your own solutions and figure out your own way to kind of move forward with it. So, I’m excited to to hopefully help in in their development and growth. I mean, one thing I I can do is is draw, you know, defenses, put two on the ball, get the ball back to those guys, and then let them be the best versions of themselves, you know, playing four on three. Yeah, it would be electric watching you kind of build that new dumb bomb, a new teammate, stuff like that. One thing I was curious about just like you’ve been in the east past seven years going into your eighth and a lot of people in the media or people that talk basketball saying the east is basically down right now obviously with the injuries or it’s not as good as the west is easier to you know advance in the east. What what is the vibe or you know what what is your perception regarding the whole east but going into this year like does that go into your mindset at all? I mean, I think there’s great great parody, which is, you know, what everyone’s looking for. I think from a fan standpoint, um, from a team standpoint, from a league standpoint, everybody wants to feel like they have a shot, you know, and I think that’s particularly with the East, that’s what it’s looking like right now. Um, you know, you’ve had teams that have made runs in the past that have their, you know, key guys or best players go down. So obviously, you know, that that makes other teams feel like, okay, we have some real opportunity opportunity here. And I think that’s what you really want, you know, whether you are a fan, a player, coach, or whatever. Like, you want everybody trying to push, you know, in the same direction and trying to do something special. You don’t want people playing for ping- pong balls and, you know, thinking about draft classes in the future. Obviously, at some point in the season, that’s kind of what it becomes for for certain teams. Um, but at least early on, I think the great thing about the way that the East is formatted and and you know, who’s in and who’s out is everybody feels like they probably have a chance, which is, you know, what you want if you’re a real competitor. That’s that’s what you want. No, definitely excited to see what you guys do this year, bro. Definitely locked in. But, you know, I want to switch over to your career with the Heat, bro. Seven years with them. Like, legendary career, top five shooter all time. Shout out UD back like that. But, just talk about the gratitude that you have for the Heat. You know what I’m saying? taking a chance on you, spending time with your development, and also some of your core memories and memories that you just will always like cherish from your time there. Yeah, gratitude is a is a great word to describe it. Um, you know, I mean, they they gave me they’re the first professional team to really give me an opportunity in summer league and, you know, give me a 2-way contract and let me sort of metriculate up through their development system. Um, you know, super grateful for for all the the time and energy and resources that they poured into my career. Uh, you know, I I know wholeheartedly that it might not have looked that way in a in a different place. So, um, you know, Spo obviously being, you know, the head of the basketball side, uh, you know, him believing in me and instilling confidence in me, you know, I’m I’m super grateful for that experience. Um, yeah, we we we had some amazing years, amazing runs. Uh it it was fun being a part of that that group that kind of felt like nobody wanted to play against you, especially you know, as the season got later and later. Um you know, the bubble is definitely a run that sticks out just cuz they’ll probably I want to say definitely won’t be, but probably won’t ever be a situation like that again where, you know, you’re living in Disney World for 100 100 straight days. So, uh it’s it’s weird looking back like it almost feels like it’s like a fever dream or something. Like I can’t believe that it actually happened. Um but I’m thankful that it did cuz that was uh you know for me a big part of that that stretch was like really growing this like belief that that I was good enough and I was capable and um you know the organization sort of really like guided me through that process. So, uh, and then not to mention, you know, the front office believing in me and and wanting me to stick around and and be a part of that group. Yeah. I feel like that season kind of put a stamp on you in the NBA. Like your whole career has been about opportunity, getting to Michigan, getting a chance with the Heat. And then that season when you were like breaking at heat records in the playoffs, doing your thing, like it kind of made there was always questions like is Duncan Robinson a good enough shooter to like pay him money. Yeah. That that season kind of like stand for sure. I mean I think the cool thing about that was like the whole world was kind of on standstill, you know, like uh everybody was at home. Like the amount of people that I heard from I still have the same number that when I was a kid, like the first phone I ever got. So like the amount of people I heard from be like, “Oh, I haven’t talked to you in so long, but I never watched basketball, but I saw you, you know, doing this, that, whatever.” So I think everybody, it was kind of the only thing going on cuz the NFL wasn’t happening and it was during the summer, baseball wasn’t happening, and you know, the NBA found a way, credit to them, to to finish the season. And, uh, it was like the ultimate platform. Um, so in that, I think you’re right, in a lot of respects, it gave me a big boost of confidence of like, all right, I I’m I’m capable for sure. No, I mean definitely like KJ said, it was a huge stamp and I’m wondering what do you think about the Heat allows players to succeed because you talked about how like they don’t let players like fall through the cracks. So what about the Heat separates them from like other organizations? Obviously you’ve only been with them, but yeah, I think to your point, the fall through the cracks point, I think they just really do a good job of maximizing every single day. And that’s not to say that like what they do from a development standpoint is like totally better, different than anybody else. I think I think when you look at any craft that you’re trying to improve on, the the most important mark is is consistency and and just being there every single day showing up. The reality is with NBA seasons are so long and monotonous and they can get to that point where you know if you haven’t played in the last seven games and you know you’re probably not going to play tonight like it’s it’s pretty easy to skip that individual workout. You know be like oh you know we we’ll get you conditioned tomorrow and when we practice or whatever, right? they don’t really allow that to happen. They’re they’re constantly trying to put one one foot in front of the other and and push it forward. Um, and what you get after time is, you know, the accumulation of all that work and all those days where you could have said, I’m just going to, you know, head off to practice today instead of sticking around and getting my work in. Um, you get the effect and it might just be 15 20 minutes every single day or whatever it is, but they’re going to hold you accountable to that and make sure that you’re doing it. Yeah. And that equals heat culture. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I I kind of want to like transition kind of on the same lens, but talk about Jimmy in that aspect because I heard you talk with Dante Jvenenzo. Um, I think it was last year or so. But anyways, you were talking about how culture kind of stems from your best player like what is your best player doing to instill that grit, toughness, whatever the the case is. And like a lot of people talk about Spo or Pat Riley UD and Heat culture, but I feel like you pointing out that it’s like, “All right, Jimmy Butler is our best player and that’s how our culture stems from.” I kind of just wanted to hear like you playing with him, what you saw from him that makes you believe that, but also your relationship because uh the the dumb comments he made about you like Duncan’s one or he was like, “I play with a bunch of small smart players, but Duncan’s dumb.” So obviously you guys are like kind of close or whatever. So, just talk about like your relationship with Jimmy and playing with him over the years. Um, yeah. I mean, I I’ve I’ve learned a lot from Jimmy. Jimmy’s like as fierce of a competitor as as there is. Um, you know, when you talk about his game, it’s hard to pinpoint like one thing that he’s really great at. Probably drawing fouls would be the main one. But I think what I learned from just watching him every day is when it comes to, you know, crunch time or clutch time or whatever, I don’t know that you really want anybody else just on on either side, you know, like he’s just going to find a way to get it done. And it might not be the prettiest or the most skilled or whatever, but he he sort of just wills his way. Um, so I think, you know, we as a team kind of em tried to embody that, you know, as much as we could. I will say like heat culture existed before Jimmy got there and it’ll exist, you know, now that he’s gone. It’s not it’s not that he’s that uh or he’s the embodiment of it. Um you know, cuz you could also say, you know, everything that that went down last year. Um, to my point about best player, I I think it’s it’s easier to establish a culture if you’re a front office when your best players are sort of over themselves and about doing the right things because naturally it permeates throughout the rest of the group. It’s hard to sit up in a front office and say we’re going to do this, this, and this when your best players are not abiding to that. So, um, yeah, learning learning from Jimmy, you know, was and playing with Jimmy was, uh, a luxury in a lot of respects just because he’s one of the, you know, handful of superstars that really does it in every aspect of the game. You know, he’s not just trying to go out there and score 40, but he’d probably rather have, you know, 26 on 12 shots and 10 free throws and, you know, guard the other team’s best player and have four steals and seven rebounds and seven assists. you know, that’s that’s more like the way he wants to play. So, to play with somebody like that, um, is definitely a luxury. I mean, for better, for worse, your best players can really, you know, inspire you guys. You know what I’m saying? And you see that at the college level, too. You see have, you know, the best player on the college team who’s working the hardest, who’s in the lab, who’s getting. It’s like those freshmen are going to be like, “Oh, I want to get to where he or she is at, so I need to work just as hard.” Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think, you know, I’ve been a part of college teams. um where exactly to your point like when I stepped on campus at Michigan I’ve always tried to hold myself to a higher standard of work but then when you see Caris Levert in there you know as much if not more than anybody it requires you to be like all right if I want to get to that level or if I’m going to be taking shots while he’s on the floor like I got to show him and build trust with him that I’ve earned this opportunity too. Um, so I I think I think cultivating that culture, it’s got to be player driven. And that’s that’s more my point is obviously you can have an organization that that is solid and foundational pillars of we want to be this, this, and this, but uh, at the end of the day, if it’s not player driven, it’s going to be hard for it to really be sustainable. I mean, that’s what you hear from the best coaches, too. Like Nick Sabin talks about like how his best players are making plays at the end of the day. You know what I mean? It’s like you put the coaches can put them in the, you know, best way to succeed, but it’s ultimately like, like I said, the players who are making the plays and changing the game. Yeah. And the best coaches find a way to tap into that aspect of their best players and and, you know, put wind in their sales and and breathe life into them so that when it comes to, you know, playmaking time that that they feel they have the confidence to go out there and do that. So, um, those have been my favorite coaches that I’ve played for. Obviously, we have to have an acumen and understanding and an IQ of the game, but you want people that are going to uh uplift the group and push it, you know, in the right direction. For sure, bro. And, you know, talking about uplifting the group, I mean, you know, you went on two different finals runs with the Heat, 2020 and 20 2023. And I’m just wondering, is there like a game or play that kind of stands out from those two finals runs? Cuz they were both crazy in their own right, both for the team and both for yourself, too. Yeah. uh game I’d probably say for the first one in 2020 um game five uh we were down 3-1 in the series and obviously trying to trying to force a game six I I ended up playing well in that one uh and it was like all the way down to the wire so like for us and then a big part of that was like you just didn’t want that season to end you know I mean you did cuz you wanted to get out of the bubble but you didn’t from the standpoint of like it never felt like we were going to lose lose. And and the weird thing about both runs is both had like similar feelings in that, you know, we were the eight seed in 2023 and we kept beating, you know, we beat uh the one seed, then we beat, you know, whatever all the way through the East and even when we got to the Nuggets, as much of a buzzsaw as they were, like we never felt like we were going to lose. Um, and I remember being on the plane home, you know, sitting next to to Kevin and being like, it feels like we’re like going to go to shoot around tomorrow and like, you know, walk and talk and go over film and uh it was obviously the end of it. So, I’d say game six and then in in uh the next run, we only won one game, but game two, uh, the start of the fourth quarter, I had like 10 points straight. Um, I think it was my only 10 points of the game, but it it sort of like gave us a little a little bump to get that one. So, um, good memories obviously. I mean, you wanted you wanted to be in a winning effort, um, in terms of the series as a whole, but, uh, you know, you can’t always control that. So, so just talk about the games that that you played well in and in the Yeah, I mean, I try to obviously like learn lessons from the other ones. Um, you know, the major takeaways being just how elite the best players in the world are on the biggest stages. You know, LeBron in 2020. um you know the level that he got to to secure that and uh and then Yokic in 2023. I mean uh you could make a solid argument that in both years those were the two best players on the planet. So yeah uh Brown in the 2020 series Brown was just like towards the end of the game just like where’s Duncan at? Like we’re going at him. Yeah, a little bit. I mean it it still looked a little different back then. It’s not. It’s even gotten crazier since 2020 in terms of like uh you know what the Thunder are doing with like matchup hunting. Back then it was a it was a little bit different. He was more it was still a little more like chess. Like he was out there trying to figure out all right if I if I get into this action this guy’s pulling over like I can create an opportunity. Um but I think he had triple doubles in at least a couple of the games. And uh that was the first time, you know, obviously you see it on TV, but then like playing against it and game planning against it, you know, seeing his his IQ and impact of of the whole game, uh, you know, really come to fruition. And it took him, you know, a while obviously to get to that point like at a young age. And it’s a good example of like what wins, right? Like at a young age, he was, you see the clips of him running by everybody and dunking in transition, but he couldn’t ever get over that hump. and he clearly got to a point in his career where he was like, “All right, I I got to think about this from a more sort of cerebral perspective.” And when he was able to make that jump, then obviously, you know, you see the championships follow. It’s kind of the idea of like learning how to win almost, it’s like, you know, like he goes to Miami, he loses that first year, but then he runs off two championships the next year cuz he’s, you know, processing defeat and learning how to be better on a game-to-ame basis. Yeah, for sure. and and that you know you see a lot of people you know losing sort of break them and break their spirit um and not think that they can get over the hump. Obviously you know the run in Miami they were they had a really talented group and part of that you know could also be the complimentary pieces that they had in in years three and four to kind of get them over the hump. But um yeah man I mean he’s he’s obviously like he’s the greatest player to ever play the game. So, uh, it’s still like a marvel to see what he’s doing at his age. Um, not necessarily surprising because, you know, we’ve been watching it our whole lives. All of us have. Um, but still just incredible when you take a step back and and try to process what he’s still doing. You know, one thing I was wondering about like every playoffs you see or you hear, but I see it is like the Heat zone off or defense is really effective. So, I’m kind of curious how Spo kind of is teaching that, but because like when most teams play zone, it’s so easy for people just hit shooters and flare it out that way or just dribble penetrating and then you’re getting alleys to the low guy or dunker spot. So, just talk about like how that why you think the the heat zone has been effective over the years. Yeah, I mean, we work on it all year. Um, you know, it’s it’s sort of an example of like sharpening the sword. uh you know if you were to cut down a tree you know and you have 4 hours you spend 3 hours sharpening the sword right so um we work on it all year he he like uses it in spots all year so by the time the playoffs come around we have like a collective trust and understanding of what we’re trying to do and uh there’s also a belief in it um cuz it’s worked in the past and you know it’ll never be I don’t want to say never but knowing him I don’t think it’ll it’ll ever a base defense. Um, but it’s a curveball. You know, it’s it’s a good opportunity to sort of throw an offense off that’s in rhythm. Um, there’s no like I I really don’t think there’s like a secret to it. I think it’s more just about like making multiple efforts. That’s what all you know, all defense is really. Um, and when you’re in a zone, you have more ground to cover in a lot of cases. Uh, and it requires more out of particularly the guys up top. Like those are hard positions to play. Um, but we’ve had some really good defenders, you know, over from my time in Miami. Yeah, that zone definitely messed up my Knicks in the playoff game, though. But we didn’t run that much zone against them. You’re saying what, two years ago? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That wasn’t I don’t remember playing that much zone. Knicks are tough though, man. They obviously had a great great year. Um, and to your point about the East, I mean, we’ll see see what it looks like. It’s going to be some good battles this year for sure, bro. Talking about good battles, I mean, you played in Division 3 and Division 3 has a lot of talent, bro. And you know, I think it’s highly publicized on your transition from D3 to D1 to the NBA. So, we’re not going to spend too much time on it, but we do have a fan base, let’s say, of division 3 supporters. So, I think we’d be remiss if we didn’t touch on it a little bit. Yeah, for sure. Um, so one thing I’m just kind of wondering about is your experience, right? So, Coach Maker recruiting you and taking and like really giving you a chance and giving you a real opportunity your freshman year coming from high school, right? but also some of your relationships that you made in the locker room, playing in Nesco basketball, and ultimately your NCA tournament run. Yeah, I mean, I’m I’m a huge huge fan of division 3 basketball still to this day. You know, I try to follow it as much as I can. Follow Williams uh a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. I follow more like people that I have personal relationshipships with and, you know, feel like emotionally invested in their success. I don’t I would love to see Williams do well. I don’t I know Coach App a little bit. Um, I don’t know a lot of those those players super well. Um, but I just I just have an appreciation and love for for that level. Um, you know, a lot of my friends played there. A lot of my obviously former teammates play there. I played there. Uh, and it’s just it’s a special level. I think it’s an amazing blend of uh skill, competitive spirit. Um, it’s not nearly as far off from division one as people think. Um, it’s it’s a super high level. there’s those leagues are riddled with scholarship level players. Um, and I think it’s like it’s a great educational experience for the whole whole person, you know, the division 3 experience. Um, if I have kids one day, I think it’d be amazing for them to play at that level. You know, I think people have this idea of, you know, you got to play division one or you’re a bum or whatever. And obviously, we all know that’s not the case. Um, but there’s a lot of misinformed people out there, you know, who don’t understand, you know, what it takes and requires to to play division 3 um, basketball at a high level. I think I think from a uh, you know, one thing I had in my experience there is because there there aren’t the time mandates and there aren’t necessarily the resources from a facility standpoint or having managers or staff. there can be, you know, for you to like go and show up to the gym every day, like you got to really love it. You know, there’s no one holding your hand, there’s no one bringing you in. Um, and I think what you can sort of get and what I found is there’s actually an opportunity to create an even more competitive advantage against your counterparts because, you know, if you go to I’ll use Michigan for example, cuz I was there. uh you know, we have 10 hours a week in the offseason with the coaches and we’re lifting and we’re doing this and you know, we’re getting individuals and we got managers that are rebounding. We have all that stuff. Nobody’s doing that stuff. Nobody has that stuff at Divi at at the division three level. So, you going to the gym every day is you’re doing it not cuz someone’s making you, but because you really love it. And what I would say and encourage young players at that level or have aspirations to be at that level, don’t let your circumstances kill your spirit and love for what you’re doing. Don’t And a lot of people can be at at that level cuz I saw it with with, you know, other teams or some of my teammates or whatever is what’s the opportunity cost of me going into the gym every morning at 6:00 a.m. Like what’s what’s the upside of that look like? Am I going to play in the NBA? Maybe not. Probably not. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it. Like if you love it and you’re trying to like strive for success and build towards something, um I think you should go after it. And a lot of people would be like, “Well, that’s a waste of time.” Like I can cuz the reality is there’s a lot of really talented people at Division 3 that can put in a couple hours a week and still be all conference. Um, but if you really want to if you really want to like lean into it and and and you know, pour everything you have into it, don’t let your circumstances discourage you from doing that. Um, because I I had teammates that were that were that way in terms of they were in there with me, you know, wanting to be there, wanting to put in work, and I had some teammates that weren’t. And and there’s no right or wrong, like no one’s wrong for choosing one path over the other. Um, it’s just if you love hoop, it can still be a great level. Yeah, for sure. That’s that’s got to be quoted up. You said, “Don’t let your circumstances What was it the I don’t even know. I I just blacked out.” Have you connected with Cedric Coward at all? I was curious about that. No, I I’m not sure who that is. Uh who’s that? He just he just got drafted, but he’s uh played D3. Uh then he went to I don’t remember his first D1 school, but he played at Washington State. Oh, cool. Then he got drafted. I’ll be honest, bro. I It’s bad, but like I am not as tapped in with college basketball as I used to be. Connect with him now. Yeah, I I’d love to if he has any, you know, if he wants to connect, I I would love to uh you know, help in any way that I can. Real quick, uh I have a question about KJ. KJ has a question on the heels of this, but your perspective on you touched on the beginning of your answer, the differences between obviously outside of the outstanding differences like the athleticism and intangibles, what you see from division division 3, division 2, division one, and what those differences could be cuz now in the media, you know, at least we’re promoting it, but you know, D3, TBT, they’ve made a run to the final four this year and put a lot of people on the map. So, what’s your perspective on that? You’re saying from a talent standpoint? Yeah. Um, I think there are I think the skill level is like pretty comparable. I think um, now if we’re talking like high high major, division one, I think there’s also like a little bit of a a separator there, but you know, you’re talking about like Ivy League, Patriot League, American East, like I think the skill level is is pretty close. I think what you tend to get with division one is you get those like division one bodies like guys that are a little more athletic, a little bit more physically refined. Um you don’t see a lot of like rim protectors in division 3. Um you get a lot of like you you can get like 65 66 centers, you know, who get by at that size. You don’t really see that as much with division one. So I think I think the bigs tend to be a little bit different. Um, not to say that there aren’t really good bigs in Division 3, cuz there are. I played with one. I tell people all the time, I was the second best player on our team cuz Mike Mayer was the best. Um, with that being said, I think the the wing and guard play from a skill standpoint is like pretty pretty comparable. Um, obviously there’s there’s some physical differences. You know, when you get someone that’s 65, 66 and jumping out of the gym, they’re probably going to get a scholarship. You know, that’s just the way it is. even though right now it’s really hard to get a scholarship no matter where. So, um, you know, I to your point with the with the the TBT stuff, like it’s awesome to see these guys like putting, you know, Division 3 on the map because I think everybody who knows knows and and knows that those guys can play with with just about anybody. Yeah, definitely preaching to the choir. um like kind of transition into your Michigan experience trans like transferring D3 to D1 is becoming a lot more popular with the portal now, but when you transferred obviously it wasn’t like that like you were probably one of the few to go D3 to D1. I’m just kind of curious what recruitment looked like for you. Um cuz you weren’t like player of the year. You were like four team all-American. So just talk about how Michigan came to you. What other schools are contacting you? I know Coach Maker had a relationship with coach, but just talk about that recruit. I mean, I was I was going to come back to Williams and and then coach Maker took another job. Uh he got a division one job at Maris and that sort of opened the the door to we had this weird stretch for like 3 weeks where we didn’t have a coach. And I remember my AA coach and my high school coach hearing some things about, hey, would Duncan be interested in potentially transferring? And at first I was like, no, probably not, honestly. you know, maybe I I wouldn’t really want to go to like a Patriot League school or an Ivy League school. It felt like it was just I really liked Williams. I was in a good situation. I felt like it wouldn’t really be worth it, so to speak. Um and then the recruitment kind of picked up a little bit, but this was all in like July in in August um pretty late in the game. And uh I ended up taking two visits. I I visited Davidson. Um they offered me a scholarship and I visited Michigan. uh they obviously offered me a scholarship and I had some other opportunities, you know, Kraton didn’t have any scholarships, but they’d take me for a walk-on and then give me one, you know, for three years. And I was just sort of like trying to figure out what the best pathway was cuz I I really felt like the most important thing for me was fit. I needed to be in a situation where I could be myself and uh you know, excel as as my as being myself. And Michigan really kind of jumped off the page as that. And you know, once I got there, it was just really about how do I get on the floor here. It was never about like trying to play in the NBA or anything like that. And just over time, you you experience some success, you build a little confidence, and then you just keep pushing the goal post, you know, a little further and further. And um, you know, ended up trying to make the most of my my Michigan career. And obviously that was that was a scary decision, you know, making that jump, but it was it was, you know, one of the better decisions uh I ever made. So, no, for sure. definitely was a great fit at Michigan. I think you shot 45% your first year at Michigan. You were definitely lighting it up. You had a good career. I think you’re fourth all time. But I’m kind of curious about your senior year. You guys made it to the Natty. Uh played against the Nova Knicks with um Brunson, Dante, and Mikuel. So, one, I want to just hear about that matchup maybe like scouting process, but also um Jordan Pool was on your team. He hit the the buzzer against Houston. So, I want to hear that perspective. So just talk about like senior year that that run in the tournament. Yeah. Um you know one thing about coach Beline is we were always playing our best at at the right time. You know we won two Big 10 tournaments and made a couple runs uh in the NCA tournament. Um obviously one was all the way to Monday night. Yeah JP I mean that that shot in the round of 32 was uh was a big time shot. I I fouled out of that game so I was I thought I thought I thought my career was over. I was sitting on the bench thinking that that was it. And uh yeah, I mean JP did something only JP could do. You know, he’s obviously so skilled and talented, but like he would do that stuff all the time. So he shot it mad weird. Yeah. Nobody was like really surprised. Um I we were all surprised and happy, but like you know, we’d seen it before in different ways. So uh and then yeah, you know, we kind of ran into a buzzsaw with with uh with Villanovva. They’re Jaylen was you know, player of the year and Dante went for 30. So when they that happens, it’s, you know, Dante was coming off the bench going for 30. Like when you get a bench bench player in in NCA tournament game have 30, it’s going to be tough to beat. So, uh, but they were good. I mean, they had, I think, five NBA players. Um, so you know, just the way it goes. No, for sure. I’m I’m wondering too, like I see you, you know, still hang out with Mo and, you know, you still close with Caris. That’s, you know, KJ. You you like Caris, right? You’re big. That’s my guy. Yeah. Yeah. Caris, he’s a good dude, man. Really good dude. No, he’s a bucket. But I see you, you know, you’re about to hoop with him this year at the Pistons and, you know, when when I was in Miami last year, you talked about, you know, enjoying your senior spring um at Michigan. So, just talk about like both the highs and lows that kind of came with that experience overall. You’re saying at Michigan? Yeah. Um yeah, I mean definitely challenges, struggles. I I feel like, you know, college basketball um can be a grind in its own way. It’s very different than the NBA. NBA’s grind and the length of the season and uh you know how many games we play and all that sort of stuff. College basketball the amount you practice there’s like the preeason leading up you have like 30 practices before you even even play a game beat up on somebody else. Um but what you get is you know the guys that you live with, the guys that you go to class with, study hall, lift, train, eat, like you do everything with them all the time. So you get really really close. Um, and like those guys are, you know, like like my brothers. Um, you know, I keep up with them, uh, you know, as much as I keep up with anybody in my life. So, uh, you know, just having that shared bond and experience, it makes going on a run and and having something to remember even more special. So, um, I love those guys and and I love my time in Michigan. Michigan was an amazing place to to be a student athlete for sure. You still stay. Do they have like you charism come back and talk sometimes? We always try to get back for like a football game. Um, I’ll definitely go to a football game this fall, especially now that I’m I’m in Detroit for sure. Well, we got two more questions for you. Um, this is outside of basketball. I’m just curious. Uh, I see that you’re a longtime podcaster. I believe you had a pod in college. You had the long shot for a little bit. We need to get that going back up again. Oh, maybe. Maybe. Um, more what I’m curious about is like your relationship with uh 342 because I see now that sometimes you’re like a co-host with Tyler. So, talk about your relationship with Tommy, Jason, and JJ. And then I’m more curious about how it works. Like, cuz Tommy will have you or he’ll have Trey on. Does he just like hit you up like, “Yo, post this.” I mean, obviously with JJ, uh, finding a new employer, uh, you know, it sort of like put a wrinkle in everything they were trying to do. And I think they were just trying to, you know, be creative around what it could look like. Um, you know, I’m really close with those guys over there. And it basically was like, hey, we’re going to kind of do like a revolving host sort of thing and at least try it out for this year. And for me, you know, I had a podcast. I’ve had two different podcasts. Um, I was sort of done hosting my own. I was just kind of like tired of of the scheduling, the people to come on. I mean, you guys know how it goes. There’s a lot of really great aspects. There’s a lot of really great aspects and rewarding components to it. Um, but I I had just felt that it was time for me to to stop doing it. And Tommy hit me and was like, “Hey man, would you be interested in in just kind of like, you know, doing an episode every couple months?” And, you know, I’m happy to help those guys out. It’s also fun for me to kind of tap back in and uh, you know, still sort of flex that muscle a little bit and at least like stay up to date uh, you know, keep my skills polished, I guess, in case I want to bring them back at any point, which for right now I don’t. Sneak peek. Sneak peek. No, it’s always good content when you on the pod though. I appreciate that. You got good basketball in mind. You got good like ideas for the league and stuff like that. I appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah, it’s fun. They they uh Tommy does a good job of like mixing it up. Like he’ll have I always tell him like I don’t always really want to just talk to an NBA player. Like I’d rather do some random stuff, you know? So, we’ve done some funky stuff that sometimes gets off the rails. Um but it’s fun. It’s always good. That’s what’s up, bro. And I I think this is going to be our last question for the episode, bro. It’s been a great great time, bro. definitely appreciate you having us for sure. But you know, we like ending these episodes with like a bigger than basketball type of question. And you know, I’m wondering for you in a lot of your articles you talk about having resilience as your superpower, right? You talked about it and I think I seen an article with athletic you had talked about it with them. So I’m just wondering I’m sure there are moments in during your career life that you have like people in your corner to help you as as along with you know you being resilient. So resilience. So talk about just some people who are integral to your to your own success both on and off the court. Uh there there’s a long list, man. I you know I think I think my favorite part about my journey is cuz I’ve been in so many different places and I played for different coaches and you know I went to two high schools, I went to two colleges. um is that I get to have those shared experiences where maybe for a year or two, you know, we became really close and then we get to carry that relationship on forward. And you know, I always want people to feel invested in my career because I know I wouldn’t be where I am with without them. So, I try to do my best to keep up and and keep in touch um you know, with people that have had an impact. I mean, there’s definitely people, you know, like my day ones, people that go back, you know, that have been for the there for the entirety of of the journey. Um, but, you know, there’s also like people can’t always control when they come into your life, you know what I mean? So, uh, I’m super grateful for for everybody that’s played a role in me getting to where I am. And I try to share that with them as much as I can and and tell them, uh, you know, just knowing wholeheartedly that I wouldn’t be where I am without them. So, uh, and I want people to like experience my experience as much as they can. You know, I want people to come and come to games and and, you know, let them see, you know, the life that I live and and know that they help me get to where I am. Um, it’s definitely one of my favorite parts about my journey. So, um, yeah, without like saying anyone specific, there’s so many people. I just don’t want to get into that game because there’s a lot. You’re going to miss you’re going to leave someone out. Yeah, exactly. You know, you know how it goes. I I appreciate you guys, man. This this is great. Um, I say this to you guys, like, if this is what you enjoy doing, like, keep keep going after it, man. I mean, you guys are building out a special little niche and, uh, it sounds like you guys got some some fans. You definitely have a fan in me, you know, who follows you. So, um, appreciate y’all. No, most definitely, bro. Appreciate you getting on. But, we like ending these episodes though with rapid fire and starting five. I run two minutes. Two minutes. Two minutes. So, first rapid fire question. your ideal sneaker rotation for the rest of your career? Like just hoop like on court? Uh, how many? Starting five. Three. Three. Yeah. Uh, the Sabrina twos I’ I’ve worn. Um, I probably have one coat like Kobe 6. I really like Kobe sixes. And I just started wearing the Sabrina 3es, but they seem like they’re good. So, I’ll say Sabrina 3s. Those are three good choices for the show. Next rapid fire question. You played in some big games, bro. So, I’m wondering loudest pop in an arena that you ever heard. Um, I would say probably when we beat the Bucks, I think it was game three when Jimmy had like Jimmy went nuts. That was probably the loudest I’d ever heard an arena ever. I mean, that that was crazy. Um, yeah, I’ll probably say that. And then sec last, I know KJ has a bonus one, but last rapid fire question. There’s a golf course right here. JB told me you went golf with him back in the day. I think Jaden Bob. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, your dream golf I don’t even know what you would call it. Like four zone. Oh, is that what you call? Like play with three other people. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, who would I want to play with? Uh, Steph for sure. Would love to play with Steph. Um, Dream. I’d love to play golf with Obama. I think that’d be really cool. I know he plays a lot. I like you a lot more now cuz you Yeah, I would I would love to play golf with Obama. And who’s our fourth? Um I don’t know. Maybe Jordan. I mean, he bets a lot, I guess, when he golfs. So, I don’t know. But he raises stakes a little bit. I guess that’d be fun. That’s tough. So, I usually don’t do a rapid fire, but I think this is a good one. All right. What you got? You’ve been to two national championships, two finals appearances, and I’m not trying to hate, but you lost. Yeah, I lost them all. Yeah. So, which one would you want to relate experience? Ah, man. That’s a good question. Actually, no one’s ever asked me that. Um, there’s a part of me that wants to say Michigan, but if we had won that bubble final, I feel like that would have been like truly iconic. As much as as much as being an NCA national championship or champion would have been fire, especially knowing how much like Michigan loves sports, I don’t know that I could turn down the opportunity to be an NBA champion. And I I I hope and pray that one day I get that get to raise that trophy. Um but especially to win that one, that would have been special. I mean the 8C12 would have been crazy too against against against the Nuggets cuz that the one thing about the bubble is everyone wants to say like the Lakers had an asteris like Mickey Mouse ring and all that stuff which anyone who knows anything knows that’s not the case but people would have said said that. Um so maybe maybe actually 2023. I don’t know. I’m all over the place but it’s tough. It’s a good question. Um all right starting five editions. So if you’re a coach assembling a lineup point guard through center, who’s your lineup going to be? And this edition is going to be the best shooters that you’ve played with. So it could be play with on the same team. Yeah. From high school all the way to Oh man. I gotta hear this. Uh start. So I need I need one through five. Yeah. You can like you don’t have to like Yeah. Position. Okay. Okay. Um best shooters that I’ve played with I would say uh I’ll put Tyler. Tyler here on there. I would put You could put yourself in too. Uh, sure. I just so I don’t have to come up with another name. I’ll throw put myself in. There’s two. Um, so there doesn’t have to be like positional representation like kind of like you’re sort of Okay. Okay. Um, probably the best shooting big that I played with was probably Mo in like Mo in college. He could really shoot. Still can. Um, so I’ll say Mo. This is a random one. Alec Burks can like really shoot. He’s got the gun. Yeah, he’s got a burner. I would put him in there. One, two, three. I need one more. And I will say it’s funny, man, because I’ve only been in in Miami, so I’m trying to think of Miami teammates. Bam. Yeah. Uh, dang. Caleb. Caleb. Yeah, Cale Love. Yeah. Yeah. Cale Love in his prime. That’s That’s a good one. That’s a good one. Uh, well, Caleb right now. He can still really shoot. Um, but yeah. Yeah, that’s a good lineup. definitely play some shooters. But that’s going to do it for another episode. Not even D2. Definitely appreciate you getting on the pod. I know we went over a little bit, but um appreciate you getting on, fam. Oh, good. Appreciate you guys, man. Thanks for having me. Thanks for tuning in to another episode. I’m not even D2. Make sure you subscribe, follow us on Instagram, Tik Tok, and Twitter. That’s how you support the pod. You can catch all episodes released on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your podcast. That’s going to do it and we’ll see you next week on Thursday. Yo, bro, that was a fire episode. O D [Music]

Duncan Robinson, the newest addition to the Detroit Pistons joins this week’s episode of @Notevend2. After spending 7 years with the Miami Heat, which included two runs to the finals, Robinson was involved in a sign and trade with the Pistons (3 yrs/$48M). The Pistons off-season moves, along with their 2024-25 playoff appearance (1st playoff appearance since the 2018-19 season), have put themselves in NBA title contention.
The hosts get into all of Duncan’s career starting at the Division 3 level where he played one season for Williams College. He’d spend one year before playing the rest of his college career at Michigan University under coach Beilein. Robinson and the Wolverines won back-to-back Big 10 championships, and made the NCAA championship game in 2018. Duncan talks about growing a bond with Mo Wagner and Carris Levert, Jordan Poole’s game winner against Houston, and the national championship game in the episode; you don’t want to miss those stories!
Transitioning into his Miami Heat career, Duncan breaks down why players are so successful in the Heat organization, playing with Jimmy Butler, and his favorite moments during the finals run in the bubble & their finals run to play against the Denver Nuggets. Duncan became one of the best shooters in Heat history early on in his career, and he finished his time there with the most 3pt field goals made.
We also talk about what went into his decision to play for the Pistons and what the future for his team is. The Pistons have high expectations going into the 2025-26 season.

This episode is available wherever you get your podcasts. Make sure to subscribe to the podcasts YouTube channel @Notevend2 for more sports content.

Enjoy the episode!

Sneak Peak- 00:00-00:19
Intro- 00:19-10:26
Growing up / Spending Summers in New Hampshire, Battles w/ Georges Niang, Duncan’s Competitiveness- 10:26-18:02
Signing with Detroit Pistons, Early Connections with Roster, Bringing Leadership to a Young Group- 18:02-22:40
2-Man Game w/ Bam Transitioning to Chemistry w/ Pistons Frontcourt- 22:40-24:17
Thoughts Regarding the East- 24:17-25:48
Reflecting on Time w/ Miami Heat, 2020 Bubble, Heat Culture- 25:48-30:20
Playing w/ Jimmy Butler, Favorite Memories from Different Finals Runs, Coach Spo’s 2-3 Zone- 30:20-41:21
Division 3 Experience, Recruitment to Michigan, NCAA Tournament Run w/ Michigan- 41:21-54:10
Media Journey, Working w/ ThreeFour Two, Valuing Support System- 54:10-58:52
Rapid Fire (Ideal Sneaker Rotation, Loudest Arena, Dream Golf Foursome, Change Outcome of One Championship L)- 58:52-01:02:02
Starting 5: Best Shooting Teammates- 01:02:02-01:03:50
Outro- 01:03:50-01:04:23

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